Pib Dec to April

7/28/2019 Pib Dec to April

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Important Stuff from PIB(December 1 onwards)

National Innovation Council

Constituted in September 2010To realise the vision of the Government of shaping the next decade asIndia's 'Decade of Innovation' (2010-2020)

Includes eminent personalities from diverse walks of lifeChairman: Sam PitrodaSecond 'Report to the People'

Need to evolve our own model of development(challenge ofequitablegrowth) Prime focus: affordability, sustainability and scalability(i) affordability: No compromise on either efficiency or quality(ii) sustainability: Model of sustainable development for the rest of the

world

(iii) scalability: Pervade our working environment3) To launch India Inclusive Innovation Fund

- finance innovative enterprises focused at the bottom of theincome pyramid

4) Facilitate creation ofIndustry Innovation Clusters

- Enhance innovation in the 5,000 small and medium scale regionalindustry clusters

5) National Innovation Scholarship Scheme from the academic year 2013

6) Creation of a Meta University in Delhi, as a global first- Will ride on the National Knowledge Network

- Promote multidisciplinary learning

7) Setting up ofState Innovation Councils in each State, and SectoralInnovation Councilsaligned to Union Government Ministries.


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The Minister of Culture Smt. Chandresh Kumari Katoch has said that 39

locations in the Western Ghats in the States of Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu

and Maharashtra have been inscribed as a World Heritage Site in the UNESCO

World Heritage List during the 36th session of World Heritage Committee held

in July, 2012 at St. Petersburg, Russia.

Coastal Security

Review of the coastal security apparatus in the country, including that of

Maharashtra, is a continuous process. A three tier coastal security ring all along

our coast including Maharashtra Coast is provided by Marine Police, Indian

Coast Guard and Indian Navy. Government has initiated several measures to

strengthen Coastal Security, which includes improving surveillance mechanism

and enhanced patrolling by following an integrated approach. Joint operational

exercises are conducted on regular basis among Navy, Coast Guard, Coastal

Police, Customs and others for security of coastal areas including island

territories. Further, continuous review and monitoring of various mechanisms

have been established by the Government involving various agencies, including

the State / Union Territory authorities. The intelligence mechanism has also

been streamlined through the creation of Joint Operation Centers and multi-

agency coordination mechanism. Installation of radars covering the country`s

entire coastline and islands is also an essential part of this process.

Fertilizer Subsidy :

Fertilizer subsidy is provided through two schemes: New Pricing Scheme (NPS-

III) for Urea and Nutrient Based Subsidy Policy for Phosphatic and Potassic

(P&K) fertilizers. Under NPS-III Urea is being provided to farmers at subsidized

MRP of Rs. 5360 per MT. The difference in delivered cost of Urea and its MRP is

provided as subsidy by the Government. Under NBS Policy, a fixed subsidy on the

basis of nutrient content of P&K fertilisers is announced on annual basis. Under

this Policy at present 21 P&K fertilisers are provided at subsidised rates to

farmers. The Fertiliser subsidy is provided to all farmers of all states in the form

of subsidized MPR of fertilisers

Director, Intelligence Bureau----Shri S. A. Ibrahim

Four crop insurance schemes are being implemented namely NationalAgricultural Insurance Scheme (NAlS), Pilot Weather Based Crop Insurance

Scheme (WBCIS), Pilot Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme


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(MNAIS) and Pilot Coconut Palm Insurance Scheme (CPIS). States have the choice

for notification of areas / crops under the schemes. Schemes are implemented by

Agriculture Insurance Company (AI C) and private insurance companies

according to provisions & guidelines laid down in the schemes. Compensation of

the loss is assessed under NAIS and MNAIS based on yield data provided by

implementing States and under WBCIS based on weather data recorded by

automatic weather stations notified by implementing States. The extent of

damage to the plant is the basis of compensation of the loss under CPIS which is

assessed by a team of experts. Department of Agriculture & Cooperation, GOI,

regularly monitors and reviews compensation of the loss and payment to

farmers under each scheme.

Regulatory Commission on Coal : The Government proposes to set up anindependent regulatory Authority for coal sector to ensure more optimal

development and conservation of coal resources; more effective regulation;

adoption of best mining practices; rational pricing, better distribution,

evolution of a more competitive market, creating a level playing field for new

entrants in coal sector etc.

Steps for Regulating the Working of Contract Farming The Consolidated ForeignDirect Investment (FDI) Policy, 2012 provides FDI in agriculture and animal

husbandry, with certain conditions, in (a) floriculture, horticulture, apicultureand cultivation of vegetables and mushrooms under controlled conditions, (b)

development and production of Seeds and planting material, (e) animal

husbandry (including breeding of dogs), Pisciculture, Aquaculture, under

controlled conditions, and (d) services related to agro and allied sectors. Besides

these, FDI is not allowed in any other agricultural sector/activity. In order to

regulate the working of contract farming, the Ministry of Agriculture has framed

Model State Agricultural Produce Marketing (Development and Regulation) Act,

2003 and Model State Agricultural Produce Marketing (Development and

Regulation) Rules, 2007 for adoption by States / Union Territories. The Model

Act, inter-alia, provides provisions for the registration of contract farming

sponsors, recoding of contract farming agreements with the Agricultural

Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) or a prescribed authority under the Act

and dispute settlement mechanism. It also provides for protection of title or

rights of the farmers over the land under such contracts. These are intended to

protect the interest of farmer. Since Agriculture Marketing is State subject, the

State Governments are persuaded to adopt the provisions of Model Act in the

interest of farmers.


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gBICS

The global Breastfeeding Initiative for Child Survival (gBICS), together with the Ministry

of Health and Family Welfare and Ministry of Women and Child Development, is

organizing a 4-day World Breastfeeding Conference Babies Need Mom-made, Not

Man-made, from 6th to 9th December, 2012, at New Delhi.

The Conference will position breastfeeding and infant and young child feeding

interventions as a key to accelerate progress on the Millennium Development Goals

of reducing malnutrition and infant and child mortality.

According to WHO and UNICEF, following optimal feeding practices could save 1.5

million infants every year, because under-nutrition contributes to more than one-thirdof these deaths. Under-nutrition, particularly in children below two years of age,

prevents them from reaching their full development potential as the brain develops

almost 90% by that time. Breastfeeding has also been identified as a key intervention

providing long-term health protection against childhood and adult obesity and

lowered risk of diabetes, hypertension and cardiac diseases.

Neutrino Observatory Project

The India Based Neutrino Observatory (INO) project is being set up in the BodiWest Hills at the Pottipuram village in Theni district of Tamil Nadu. The land for thisproject has been acquired. The project aims at carrying out research to study theproperties of neutrinos which are the second most abundant particles in theUniverse. Neutrinos are neutral particles and weakly interactive particles which arevery difficult to detect. Therefore, they need a massive detector. INO detector will bea multi layer stack of magnetized iron plates. A large number of such plates will beneeded to build the INO detector and with back up of electronics, these detectors areexpected to detect neutrinos passing through them. The INO will ultimately help in

understanding the evolution of universe. The detectors developed for the INOproject will also have societal applications such as in medical imaging


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National Mission on Food Processing for Ensuring Growth Impetus and

Value Addition to FOOD Processing Sector

Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) had launched a CentrallySponsored Scheme - National Mission on Food Processing (NMFP) during 2012-13 of

12th Five Year Plan through States / UTs. The basic objectives of NMFP are: (i) torealize the Ministrys next leap forward in terms of ensuing requisite growth impetus

and value addition to the sector; (ii) decentralized approach; (iii) greater role ofState/UTs; (iv) betteroutreach and (v) effective supervision and monitoring.

The Major Programmes/Schemes to be covered under NMFP during 2012-13 are:

(i) Scheme for Technology Up-gradation/Establishment/ Modernisation of FoodProcessing Industries.

(ii) Scheme for Cold Chain, Value Addition and Preservation Infrastructure forNon Horticultural Products.(iii) Scheme for Human Resource Development (HRD)

(a) Creation of Infrastructure Facilities for Running Degree/Diploma/ CertificateCourses in Food Processing Technology.

(b) Entrepreneurship Development Program (EDP)(c) Food Processing Training Centre (FPTC)(iv) Scheme for Promotional Activities

a. Organizing Seminar/Workshops b.Conducting Studies/Surveys

c. Support to Exhibitions/Fairs d.Advertisement & Publicity

The State Governments are responsible for implementation of National Missionon Food Processing (NMFP). Under the mission State Governments receive theapplications for various schemes of NMFP and thereafter sanction as well as release thegrants-in-aid to the eligible beneficiaries. NMFP also provides flexibility to States / UTsin the selection of beneficiaries, location of projects etc. for the development of food

processing sector. This initiative of the Ministry would give an impetus to foodprocessing industries and also help in reducing the spoilage / wastage of fruits &vegetables.

Defence agreements

Intergovernmental agreements on defence cooperation have been concluded inthe last three years with Republic of Korea, Ecuador, Mongolia, Spain and Thailand.These agreements are in the nature of enabling, framework agreements and do notinvolve supply of defence material.


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Indias Rank in the Global Competitive Index

As per the latest Global Competitiveness Report 2012-13, brought out by World Economic

Forum, a Swiss non-profit foundation based in Geneva, India ranks 59th

amongst 144 economies

in the Global Competitiveness Index for 2012-13, as against 56th

position out of 142 economies

covered in 2011-12.

The Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) measures the competitive performance of theeconomies around the world for doing business. It is a composite index that combines threecomponent indices covering 12 different parameters (termed pillars). The details of the threecomponents along with the weights assigned to them and the pillars are presented in table below:

Components Weights

for India Pillars

Institutions

Infrastructure

Basic requirements (60%) Macroeconomic

environment

Health and primaryeducation

Higher education andtraining

Goods market efficiency

Efficiency enhancers (35%) Labour market efficiency

Financial marketdevelopment

Technological readiness

Market size

Innovation and Business sophistication

sophistication factors (5%) Innovation

During the visit of the Prime Minister of Japan to India on 28th December, 2011, the two Prime

Ministers decided to strengthen efforts to improve infrastructure such as ports, industrial parks

and their surrounding facilities in Ennore, Chennai and the adjoining areas. Prime Minister of

Japan conveyed Japan`s intention to extend financial and technical support to the preparation of

India`s Comprehensive Integrated Master Plan of this region based on which planned

development and work on related facilities could be taken up.


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Comprehensive Skill Development Policy

The Ministry of Labour & Employment has formulated National Policy on Skill

Development which was approved by the Union Cabinet on 23rd February, 2009. Thepolicy is a guiding document for implementation of various skill developmentprogrammes of the country.

Presently, Government is not considering a Public Private Partnership (PPP) modelfor certification of skill development courses by global major and top Indian Companies.However, Sector Skills Councils are being setup which will may play an important role indevelopment of National Occupational Standards, Training Standards, Certification etc.

National Skill Development Mission encompasses the efforts of severaMinistries of Central Government, State Governments and the activities in the psector guided by National Policy on Skill Development and supported by the follthree institutions:

(i)The Prime Ministers National Council on Skill Development under thechairmanship of Honble Prime Minister, to review the spectrum of skill developmentefforts for policy direction;

(ii) National Skill Development Coordination Board under the chairman ship ofHonble Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission to enumerate strategies to implementthe decisions of PMs council; and

(iii) National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), a non-profit company underthe Companies Act, 1956, of which 49% of equity base is contributed by the CentralGovernment while 51% by the private sector.

The Corporation is expected to meet the skill training requirements of the labour mincluding that of unorganized sector.

National Policy on Skill Development (NPSD),has set a target for skilling 500 m persons bythe year 2022. The detailed road map for achieving the above target by Na Skill Development

Corporation (NSDC) and different Ministries/Departments is at Annex-

Government is not considering relaxation of formal education norms for peopleinto ITI institutions and other skill development courses. However, a new scheme, titledDevelopment Initiative through Modular Employable Skill (MES) courses has been lauunder which short term modular courses are offered through institutions including scand public/private training institutions/NGOs, etc. Under the scheme, there is a provisiotesting and certification of skills acquired by a person with educational qualification uptclass, after assessment by independent assessing bodies.


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The Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre (ITEWC) established at Indian National Centre for

Ocean Information Sciences, (INCOIS - ESSO) Hyderabad, autonomous body under Ministry

of Earth Sciences, is being upgraded continuously to provide tsunami advisories for the

events occurring in the global oceans, though it has been recognized as one of the best

systems in the world.

Overseas Indian Facilitation Centre

The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs has established an organization, namelyOverseas Indian Facilitation Centre (OIFC) in 2007, to facilitate potential NRIs andoverseas corporate bodies of overseas Indians that desire to invest in India. OIFC hasorganized several Investment and Interactive Meets / Road shows in different countries andalso organised Market Place during Pravasi Bhartiya Divas (PBD) in India. An electronic

portal has also been launched by the Ministry to reply to the queries of potential overseasinvestors by OIFC and its knowledge partners to promote and facilitate economicengagement by OI.

The annual PBDs and regional PBDs also provide a platform for facilitation of investment.

India is Worlds 2nd

largest cotton exporter after U.S.A and 2nd

in production after China.

With a view to elongating the life of banknotes, particularly in lower denominations, theReserve Bank of India (RBI), in consultation with the Government of India has been

considering various options including printing of banknotes on polymer substrate. A

decision had accordingly been taken to introduce one billion pieces of Rs. 10 banknotes on

polymer substrate on a field trial basis in five cities. The primary objective of introduction

of polymer/plastic notes is to increase its life and not to combat counterfeiting.

The polymer banknotes are made from a non-fibrous and non-porous polymer. The Indian

Banknote paper is made from long fibres obtained from cotton comber and linter. There is

thus no direct relation between paper based currency and cutting of trees.

The RBI has informed that the Energy and Resources Institute was commissioned by them

to estimate the environmental impacts and carbon footprints of plastic currency vis-a-viz

paper currency. Their study has found that polymer notes would be more environment

friendly than paper based currency.

The Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) are sanctioned in Educationally Backward

Blocks (EBBs) with rural female literacy below the national average as per Census 2001,

provided such residential schools are set up only in those EBBs which do not have a

residential school at upper primary level for girls under any other scheme of the Ministry

of Social Justice & Empowerment or the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.


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National Plan for Electric Mobility

Government has formulated a separate Mission Plan for electric vehicles (including hybrid

vehicles) viz. National Electric Mobility Mission Plan 2020 (NEMMP 2020) which was

adopted by the National Council for Electric Mobility (NCEM) in its first meeting on 29thAugust 2012. The NEMMP 2020 provides a roadmap for facilitating the manufacture and

use of electric and hybrid vehicles through a series of interventions in order to support

R&D in technology including battery technology, create demand for such vehicles, and to

enhance manufacturing of such vehicles significantly by the year 2020. The ultimate

objective of NEMMP 2020 is to enhance the energy security of the country and reduce the

impact of transportation on environment through electric and hybrid mobility.

The Government has been supporting R&D to promote automotive vehicles, including

Green & Clean vehicles through the automotive Cess that is levied on sale of vehicles. The

Government provides 200% weighted deduction on income tax for in-house R&D

expenditure incurred by companies.

As far as the infrastructure related investments are concerned, it is expected that most of

these will come from the industry and the Government will need to invest mainly during

the initial pilot project stage for the charging infrastructure.

Meta Universities

The main purpose of the Meta University is to share learning resources with different

Universities by using the latest technologies available in order to enable the students tobenefit from the learning resources available in different institutions. The University

Grants Commission (UGC) as the apex regulatory body for universities, has decided to

come out with detailed guidelines on Meta Universities.

The participating institutions/universities share their learning resources to provide

students with a more holistic learning experience. Hence such programmes are joint

degree programmes, as clarified by UGC to Delhi University.

Higher Educational Institutions being fully autonomous entities, it is now left to them to

collaborate and identify the courses/programmes to be offered in the Meta Universities.

One such Meta University has already been started in Delhi.

The Government has merged Janashree Bima Yojana (JBY) and Aam Aadmi

Bima Yojana (AABY) into one scheme, since both the schemes have similar structure ofbenefits, premium and target group and are being implemented through Life Insurance

Corporation of India (LIC). The schemes were merged for better administration and

services in providing life insurance cover to the economically backward sections of the

society. It will also avoid any duplication of coverage of lives under the two schemes andthus allow more accurate claim experience

The objective of the merger of the two schemes is not to increase the savings but to


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ensure better administration and services under the schemes and also avoid anyduplication of coverage of lives under the two existing schemes.

Renewable Energy

The total installed capacity of renewable energy based power in the country is 26,267 MW.

A capacity addition of 30,000 MW is proposed from renewable energy during the 12th Plan

period. The Ministry is supporting research in various renewable energy technologies for

improvement in efficiency, reduction in cost and to develop new applications.

Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission has set a target of installed capacity of 20,000MW of grid connected solar power by 2022.

The "MCA21 Project" of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, launched in February 2006, is amajor e-Governance initiative covering all aspects of incorporation and regulation of

companies as defined under the Companies Act. It is an end-to-end e-Governance program

envisaging electronic filing of documents, registration of companies and public access to

corporate information online through a secure interactive portal. The portal services can

be accessed/ availed from anywhere, at any time that best suits the corporate entities,

professionals and the public at large.

Competition Commission of India(Amendment) Bill 2012 (check)

Free and fair competition is one of the pillars of an efficient market economy. Therefore,

competition has become a driving force in the global economy. In India, CompetitionCommission of India (CCI) was set up in March, 2009 under the Competition Act, 2002 to

protect and promote competition. Sections 3 and 4 of the Competition Act, relating toanticompetitive agreements and abuse of dominance were notified in May, 2009, whilesections 5 and 6, relating to mergers and acquisitions, were notified from June 1, 2011. TheIndian competition law has thus fully come into force. The overarching aim of theCommission is to make markets work well for the benefit of consumers.

Cartelization doesnt pay: Cement companies penalized

One of the Commissions most significant priorities has been to build an efficient merger

control regime.

Initiatives in Health Sector by Government

Since the launch of National Rural Health Mission 7 years ago, substantial progress has

been made in health sector. Over 8,60,000 ASHAs have been appointed to act as bridge

between the communities and the health facilities in the villages. New Health

Infrastructure has been created. A total of 70,000 beds have been increased in

government health institutions for provision of essential and emergency services.

The government has launched a scheme wherein male and female contraceptives arebeing delivered at the doorstep in the high focus districts of the country by ASHAs at a


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nominal cost. Another scheme has been initiated for the promotion of menstrual hygiene

among adolescent girls of rural areas in the age group of 10-19 years covering 1.5 crore

girls in 152 districts of 20 states.

Several new initiatives have been envisaged during 12th Plan period. These are:- (1)

Strengthening of Sub-Centres, which are the first port of call for the community for

healthcare services in the remotest and inaccessible areas by providing additional

manpower; (2) The District Hospitals would be equipped to become strong hubs for

advanced secondary and multi-speciality care; (3) To cope with the increasing load at

government facilities, 20,000 additional beds for mothers and children have been

approved for District Hospitals and Community Health Centres; (4) It is proposed to

introduce universal screening for all children for disease, disability and deficiency which

would be followed up by free treatment where required; (5) Medicines account for 70% of

out of pocket expenditure. It is proposed to ensure availability of free generic medicines to

everyone coming to a government health facility; (6) Another area would be the launch of

an urban health initiative to address health concerns of urban poor specially those living inthe urban slums.


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CCTNS Pilot Launch Programme

CCTNS is a Mission Mode Project under the National e-Governance Plan of Government

of India.

CCTNS aims at creating a comprehensive and integrated system for enhancing the efficiency and

effectiveness of policing through adopting of principle of e-Governance. The Project also includes

the creation of a nationwide networking infrastructure for evolution of IT-enabled-state-of-the-art

tracking system around `Investigation of crime and detection of criminals`.

CCTNS Project will create a nation-wide environment for the real-time sharing of crime

and criminal information.

Fourteenth Finance Commission :

As mandated by the Article 280 of the Constitution, the Government has constituted the Fourteenth

Finance Commission consisting ofDr. Y.V.Reddy, former Governor Reserve Bank of India, as the

Chairman

Science,Technology and Innovation Policy 2013

The STI Policy seeks to send a signal to the Indian scientific community,both in the private and public domain, that science, technology and innovationshould focus on faster, sustainable and inclusive development of the people. The

policy seeks to focus on both STI for people and people for STI

Unveiling the STI policy, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said it aspiresto position India among the top five global scientific powers by 2020.

The policy also talks of raising gross expenditure in R&D to two per cent ofGDP from the current one per cent in this decade by encouraging enhanced

private sector contribution.

The aim of the policy is to accelerate the pace of discovery, diffusion and

delivery of science-led solutions for serving the aspirational goals of

India for faster, sustainable and inclusive growth.

The key features of the STI Policy 2013 include making careers in science,research and innovation attractive, establishing world-class infrastructure for

R&D for gaining global leadership in some select frontier areas of science.

The policy also includes linking contributions of science, researchand innovation system with the inclusive economic growth agendaand combining priorities of excellence and relevance.


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It also stresses on creating an environment for enhanced private sector

participation in R&D, enabling conversion of R&D outputs into societal and

commercial applications by replicating successful models as well as

establishing of new public-private partnership structures.

"Inculcating rational thinking among the ordinary people is a task thatscientists, from their vantage point, should take upon themselves as a sacred

mission."

stronger interface between the academic institutions and the industry

WHO congratulated India on recent success in WHOs assessment of the countrys

National Regulatory Authority for Vaccines.

India- Southern African Custom Union (SACU) Preferential Trade Agreement

(PTA) negotiations going on

The Central Statistics Office (CSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation

releases Consumer Price Indices (CPI) on base 2010=100 for all-India and States/UTs

separately for rural, urban and combined every month with effect from January, 2011

The Third India-China Annual Defence Dialogue took place in Beijing today. Defence

Secretary Shri Shashikant Sharma led the Indian side and the Chinese Deputy Chief ofGeneral Staff General Qi Jianguo led the Chinese side. The discussion took place in a

friendly and cooperative atmosphere and in a forward looking manner. The two sides

discussed bilateral, regional and international issues of common interests including

the situation in the Asia-Pacific region and in the India-China border areas.

Both sides agreed to expand and enhance bilateral exchanges covering the Army,

Navy and Air Force of both countries.

The two sides agreed to advance mutual strategic trust and also enhance

mutually beneficial practical cooperation.

The two sides reviewed the ongoing measures to maintain peace and tranquility on

the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The two sides agreed upon a plan of bilateral military

exchanges for 2013 which includes conduct of the next joint military exercise.

The Ministry of Environment & Forest (MoEF) in its endeavor to promote Non

Timber Forest based Handicrafts, Herbal/Health/Cosmetic Medicinal & Food items


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(Forest/Argo/Biodiversity food) is organising 15 Days program: GREEN HAAT with

primary objective of Connecting nature with our lives.

Green Haat is an initiative of Ministry of Environment & Forest (MoEF), Govt. of India

to raise awareness on the rich forest and bio diverse heritage of the country among the

growing urban population often living far off from the forests. The initiative is to

showcase various value added forest based products developed by Rural Artisans,

Community Self Help Groups, NGOs, and State Federations and thus provide support to

biodiversity conservation and sustainable livelihoods.

Aligning National Investment Fund operation to enhance Disinvestment Policy

(iv) The disinvestment proceeds with effect from the fiscal year 2013-14 will becredited to the existing public account under the head National Investment Fund (NIF),

and they would remain there until withdrawn/invested for the approved purposes.

(v) The NIF will be used for the following purposes:(f)Subscribing to the shares being issued by the Central Public Sector Enterprise

(CPSE) including Public Sector Banks (PSBs) and Public Sector Insurance Companies, on

rights basis so as to ensure that 51 percent ownership of the Government is not diluted.

(g)Preferential allotment of shares of the CPSE to promoters as per Securities andExchange Board of India SEBI (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations,

2009 so that Government shareholding does not go down below 51 percent, in all cases

where the CPSE is going to raise fresh equity to meet its capexprogramme.(h)Recapitaliztion of PSBs and Public Sector Insurance Companies.(iii) Fund Managers presently managing the NIF will stand discharged of their

responsibility from the date the funds and the interest income are transferred to the

fund.

The NIF was constituted by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 27th January

2005. The objectives structure and administrative arrangements, investment strategy were

notified in November, 2005, and the NIF started functioning from October, 2007. As on 31st

August 2012 the corpus in the NIF consisted of Rs.1814.45 crore, comprising thedisinvestment proceeds of Power Grid Corporation of India and the Rural Electrification

Corporation Limited done during 2007-08. This corpus is presently invested through three

Public Sector fund managers (SBI, LIC and UTI Mutual Funds).

The National Innovation Council is launching a Public Lecture Series where it will host

eminent individuals from diverse fields to talk to students across the country via the

National Knowledge Network (NKN). The first public lecture on Democratising Information,

Justice, Equality and the Rule of Law will be delivered by Professor Michael

Sandel,


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The NKN is a multi gigabit pan India network, built by the Government of India to

connect all education and research institutions in the country and is being implemented

by the National Informatics Centre. Currently, NKN has connected over 900 nodes in

the country with a dedicated bandwidth of 1Gbps/ 100mbps.

The National Innovation Council has been constituted by the Prime Minister, under the

Chairmanship of Mr Sam Pitroda, to outline policy recommendations and interventions to

boost innovation performance in the country, with a focus on inclusive growth.

The Government has unfolded the new policy framework for creating an ecosystem of

Electronics System Design and Manufacturing in the country. The new policy framework

has been specifically formulated to cover sectors like avionics, automotive electronics,

medical electronics, LEDs. This Round Table was organised to understand the needs andrequirements of these sectors - to be dovetailed with the new policy.

AUTOMOTIVE ELECTRONICS

Automotive electronics is an area where we can build on our softwarecapabilities and growing manufacturing capabilities in the automotivesectors. Most major brands of car manufacturers are already in India.Electronics is becoming an increasing part of modern automobiles.Electronics can drive fuel efficiency and reduce accident hazards and need

to meet the price points of economy cars in the Indian perspective.Automotive electronics manufacturers can customize their control units tosuit these requirements and the percentage of automotive electronics wouldincrease significantly.

AVIONICS

Avionics sector has huge potential in India. The demands of both passenger aircraft anddefence and homeland security are huge. Some acquisitions have been made in recent years.

More would follow. Based on Indias fleet of aircraft, we could aspire to become a regional hubfor maintenance, repair and overhaul of aircrafts.

MEDICAL ELECTRONICS

Medical electronics devices is an area of immense potential. We need to develop devices

which would meet the needs of 1.2 billion people. Currently a very small fraction of the

population is able to take advantage of medical technology. We need devices which suit Indian


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diseases, Indian operating conditions of temperature, humidity, dust etc. Ministry of Health and

Family Welfare is already in the process of bringing out amendments in the legal framework to

create standards for medial devices. This will help new devices to arrive in the market much

faster. The Department is supporting the development of new medical electronic devices in a

public private partnership model.

LEDs

LEDs are being used in large number of applications today starting from TVs, automobiles,

mobile phones, computes, and of course luminaries. LED fab facility is being set up in India

which will cater to both domestic and international demands. LEDs is an area where our

domestic demand can itself spur a hugely vibrant manufacturing ecosystem. Opportunities to

export to Middle East and Africa are additional.

3rd

National Voters Day celebrated on January 25th

----Theme Inclusion

The Union Minister for Commerce, Industry & Textiles Shri Anand Sharma launched an eBiz

portal at the CII Partnership Summit in Agra today. The portal is Indias Government-to-Business

(G2B) portal developed by Infosys in a Public Private Partnership (PPP) Model. This MissionMode Project will mark a paradigm shift in the Governments approach to providing

Government-to-Business (G2B) services for Indias investor and business communities, said Shri

Sharma while launching the portal.

In order to enable businesses and investors to save time and costs and in order to improve the

business environment in the country, an online single window was conceptualised in the form of the

eBiz Mission Mode Project under the National eGovernance Plan. Shri Sharma said that the

project aims to create a business and investor friendly ecosystem in India by making allbusiness and investment related regulatory services across Central, State and local

governments available on a single portal, thereby obviating the need for an investor or a

business to visit multiple offices or a plethora of websites.

The Union Cabinet today gave its approval to the proposed amendments in the Regional Rural

Banks (RRBs) Act, 1976 to enhance authorized and issued capital to strengthen their capital

base. The term of the non official directors appointed by the Central Government is proposed to

be fixed not exceeding two years.

The proposed amendments will ensure financial stability of RRBs which will enable them to play


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a greater role in financial inclusion and meet the credit requirements of rural areas and

the Boards of RRBs will be strengthened.

Background

Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) were established under Regional Rural Banks Act, 1976 (the RRB

Act) to create an alternative channel to the `cooperative credit structure and to ensure

sufficient institutional credit for the rural and agriculture sector. RRBs are jointly owned by the

Government of India, the concerned State government and sponsor banks, with the issued

capital shared in the proportion of 50 percent, 15 percent and 35 percent, respectively. As per

provisions of the Regional Rural Banks Act, 1976 the authorized capital of each RRB is Rs. 5

crore and the issued capital is a maximum Rs. 1 crore.

Ministry of Agriculture is promoting a new strategy for farm mechanization through its

various schemes and programmes. A dedicated Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization

has been proposed for the XIIth Plan which includes custom-hiring facilities for agricultural

machinery as one of its major components. The Sub-Mission aims at catalyzing an accelerated

but inclusive growth of agricultural mechanization in India. Its focus is on increasing the reach

of farm mechanization to small and marginal farmers and to the regions where availability of

farm power is low.

Custom hiring of farm machinery envisages promoting establishment of farm machinery

banks for custom hiring by way of providing financial assistance to individual self-help groups

or farmers co-operatives since the prohibitive cost of hi-tech and high productive

equipments renders it difficult for individual ownership..

The other major components included in the Sub-Mission, apart from custom hiring facilities

for agricultural machinery are promotion and strengthening of agricultural mechanisationthrough training, testing and demonstration; post-harvest technology and management

(PHTM); financial assistance or procurement subsidy for agriculture machinery and

equipments; establishment of farm machinery banks for custom hiring; enhancing hi-tech, high

productive equipment hub for custom hiring; enhancing farm productivity at village level by

introducing appropriate farm mechanisation in selected villages; and creating ownership of

appropriate farm equipments among small/marginal farmers in eastern/north eastern region.


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Amendments to the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) Act, 1981

The Union Cabinet today gave its approval to the amendments to the National Bank for Agriculture

and Rural Development (NABARD) Act 1981

The following amendments to the NABARD Act 1981 are proposed:-

. 1. Raising the authorized capital of NABARD to Rs. 20,000 crore from Rs. 5,000 crore.

The meaning of cooperative society is proposed to be enlarged to include multistate cooperativesocieties registered under any Central law or any other Central or State law relating to cooperative

societies.

Change of ownership to facilitate the transfer of the remaining share capital of NABARD from theReserve Bank to the Central Government.

Increasing the scope of operations of NABARD under short term funding purposes andother changes.

The following benefits are projected by this amendment:-

By increasing the authorized capital of NABARD to Rs 20,000 crore from Rs 5,000 crore, theability of NABARD to mobilize resources from the market will be enhanced thereby new creditproducts, new credit linkages and new clients will be developed.

The amendments allow NABARD to lend to new institutions, mainly Societies covered undermultistate cooperative societies act and other central laws, producer organizations or such class of

financial institutions which are approved by the Central Government. This is likely to benefit a

larger segment of the financially excluded farmers in the country.

The amendments allow combination of credit, creation of short term operations fund andswapping of debt of farmers.

The decision of the Government to transfer the balance one percent shares to the Govt. ofIndia from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in NABARD shall be carried out, which will provide for

increased public accountability, as the Government will acquire the equity held by RBI.

NABARD will combine the post of Chairman and the post of Managing Director, into one,therefore Chairman and Managing Director, under the provisions of the NABARD Act relating to

these two posts. This shall ensure a distinct line of command.

Background


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NABARD was established on 12 July 1982 to provide sharp focus to agriculture credit and rural

development. NABARD adopted, as its mission, the promotion of sustainable and equitable

development of agriculture and rural prosperity through effective credit support, related

services, institution development and other innovative initiatives.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today approved the proposal for the merger of National

Lake Conservation Plan (NLCP) and National Wetlands Conservation Programme (NWCP) into a new

scheme called the `National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Eco-systems` (NPCA).

For conservation of lakes and wetlands, the Ministry of Environment and Forests is presently,

implementing two separate Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS), namely the NWCP and the NLCP. To

avoid overlap, promote better synergies and to ensure conservation and management works, an

integrated scheme, NPCA is proposed, with the objective of conserving aquatic ecosystems (lakes

and wetlands), through implementation of sustainable conservation plans and governed with

application of uniform policy and guidelines.


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The principal objectives of the new scheme will be holistic conservation and restoration of lakes and

wetlands for achieving desired water quality enhancement, besides improvement in biodiversity and

the ecosystem, through an integrated and multidisciplinary approach with a common regulatory

framework, The scheme would contribute to reduction of pollution loads and improvement in goods

and services provided by these water bodies to stakeholders.

The new scheme will have conservation and management of lakes and wetlands in the country

within its scope, to include inventory and information system on lakes and wetlands national level

directive on criteria for lakes and wetlands, regulatory framework, capacity building at state

government and local body levels, evaluation etc.

An Advanced Light Helicopter Mk-IV army version `Rudra` was handed over by Dr RK Tyagi,

Chairman, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to Lt Gen Narendra Singh, Deputy Chief of Army

Staff (P & S), Indian Army during AERO India 2013 at Yelahanka Air Base, Bangalore today.

At the outset of the ceremony, Shri P Soundara Rajan, Managing Director said Rudra, first

armoured helicopter - is the Mk IV variant of the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) designed and

manufactured by HAL. This helicopter is fitted with Day and Night Targeting systems and can

carry a mix of weapons (70 rockets, anti-tank missiles, air to air missiles and 20 mm turret gun),

providing the required capability to search and destroy any targets.

Rudra is designed indigenously at the Rotary Wing Research and Design Center (RWR & DC)

India Sweden DTAC

The Convention and Protocol between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government

of the Kingdom of Sweden for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion

with respect to taxes on income and on capital (DTAC) was first signed here on 24th June 1997. In

April 2011, both India and Sweden concluded a Protocol to amend the Article 27 of the DTAC

concerning Exchange of Information to bring it in line with the international standards and to add an

Article in the Protocol to the DTAC to include tax examination abroad.

The Protocol will replace the Article concerning Exchange of Information in the existing DTAC

between India and Sweden and will allow exchange of banking information as well as information

without domestic interest. It will, now, allow use of information for non-tax purpose if allowed

under the domestic laws of both the countries, after the approval of the supplying state.

The Article added in the Protocol to the DTAC will enable both the countries to assist in

conducting tax examination abroad by allowing officials of one country to enter the territory of

other country for this purpose.


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The President of India has appointed Shri Kalyan Kumar Chakravarty, as Chairman of Lalit Kala

Akademi

Indira Gandhi Peace Prize for Peace,Diarmament and Development for 2011 to Ela Bhatt, founderof SEWA

Government of India is giving special attention to the promotion of Electronics system Design and

Manufacturing sector in India. According to the assessment of the Task Force constituted by the

Department, the demand of electronics hardware in India is projected to grow from USD 45 Billion

in 2009 to USD 400 Billion by 2020. At the current rate of growth, the domestic production can cater

to a demand of USD 104 Billion by 2020 and the remaining would have to be met by imports. The

value addition in the domestically produced electronics goods is also very low varying from 5 to 15

percent in most cases.

The Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) is expected to attract investments of

nearly USD 100 Billion and create direct and indirect employment for nearly 28 million people

over the next decade or so. India offers 400,000 engineering graduates per annum and equally

large skilled blue collar job force at one of the lowest wage rates anywhere in the world. India is

already becoming a favoured destination for chip design, embedded software and board design

which are important part of any electronic product. Government permits 100 percent FDI through

the automatic route for most ESDM products.

It is with this objective that the Cabinet has, recently approved the National Policy on

Electronics (NPE) 2012 which envisions making India a globally competitive destination in the

sector and attracting investment of USD 100 billion by 2020. Several incentives have also been

approved to attract investment in the sector. These incentives include:

(vi) Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme which provides upto 25% capital subsidy forinvestment in the sector

(vii) Electronic Manufacturing Clusters Scheme which provides 50% of the cost fordevelopment of infrastructure and common facilities in Greenfield clusters and 75% of the cost for

Brownfield clusters

(viii) Preference to domestically manufactured electronic goods in Governmentprocurement and those electronic products which have security implications.

(ix) Additionally Government of India is finalizing a partner for setting up a Wafer FabManufacturing in India.

Sibal Visits Japan and seeks co-operation on Electronics Front.

Japanese electronics companies have been facing some form of a crisis due to global economic

slowdown and competition from South Korea and Taiwan. Collaborating with India will help them toinnovate rapidly at a cheap cost and manufacture at costs competitive with China.


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Sibal : 1. We would like to work with Japanese Government and its agencies to explore greater

interest among Japanese companies to invest in India in the ESDM sector.

2. We would like to support Delhi Mumbai corridor by setting up Electronic Manufacturing Clusters

(EMC) along the corridor. Rajasthan Government has already been approached in this regard to

make land available

Indian Coast Guard Ship `Rajratan, the fifth of a series of eight Inshore Patrol Vessels (IPVs) was

commissioned by Director General Indian Coast Guard, Vice Admiral MP Muralidharan in Kolkata

today. In his address during the commissioning ceremony, Vice Admiral Muralidharan dwelt upon

the criticality of capacity building towards tackling emergent maritime challenges. He reiterated the

need for continuous vigil along the nations maritime frontiers to preserve and protect our

maritime interests. He further stated that several far-reaching initiatives towards augmentation of

manpower and force levels were underway, that would provide the requisite fillip to the Coast

Guards capabilities.

Indigenously built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Kolkata, the 50m long IPV displaces

300 tonnes and can achieve a maximum speed of 34 knots, with an endurance of 1500 nautical

miles at an economical speed of 16 knots. Equipped with state-of-the-art weaponry and advanced

communication and navigational equipment, it makes an ideal platform for undertaking multifarious

close-coast missions such as surveillance, interdiction, Search and Rescue, and medical evacuation

Farmers are being educated under IPM(Integrated Pest Management Programme) through Farmers

Field schools on safe, judicious and need based use of approved pesticides besides IPM skills and

pest control techniques to be adopted by them in their crop fields, thereby making them self reliant

in decision making

Activities under IPM

(i) Popularization of IPM approach among farming community.(j) Conducting regular pest surveillance and monitoring to assess pest / disease situation.(k) Rearing biological control agents for their use and conservation of naturally occurring bio-

agents.

(l) Promotion of Bio-pesticides and neem based pesticides as alternatives to chemicalpesticides.

(m) Play a catalytic role in spread of innovative IPM skills to extension workers, land farmers invarious States / UTs.

(n) Human Resource Development in IPM by imparting training to master trainers, extensionworkers and farmers through Farmers Field Schools (FFSs).

(o) Organization of Farmers Field Schools (FFS) through KVKs/SAUs/ICAR institutes todevelop the sufficient human resource.

(p) Further, farmers are being educated through 2 days short duration programmes. Nonformal education through participatory approach is also being adopted for educating the

farmers.


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Cooperative Credit Societies are not required to obtain banking licence from the Reserve Bank

ofIndia (RBI) under the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

As per the existing instructions of RBI, the Primary Agricultural Cooperative Credit Societies (PACS)


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are not authorised to collect deposits from the public except members. They offer deposit services to

their members and, in turn, use these resources to lend to the needy members of the Societies.

The Department of Pharmaceuticals under the Ministry of Pharmaceuticals under the Ministry of a

Chemical & Fertilizers has informed that as per the Report of the Working Group on Drugs and

Pharmaceuticals for 12th Five Year Plan, the Indian Pharmaceutical Industry has grown from

Rs.71000 crores in 2007 to over Rs.1 lac crores in 2009-2010 comprising Rs.62,055 crores of

domestic market and exports of over Rs.42,154 crores. The Industry is ranked 3rd

globally in volume

and 14th

in value, supplying around 10% of total global production. This also amounts to around

20% of total volume of global generics.

The government has notified the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy, 2012 (NPPP-2012) where it

has also been proposed to regulate and control the prices of National List of Essential Medicines-

2011.

The salient features of National Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy, 2012 (NPPP- 2012) are as under:

The regulation of prices of drugs is on the basis of essentiality of drugs as under National List ofEssential Medicines 2011.

The regulation of prices of drugs is on the basis of regulating the prices of formulations only.The regulation of prices of drugs is on the basis of fixing the ceiling price of formulations throughMarket Based Pricing (MBP).

The provisions under National Pharmaceuticals Pricing Policy- 2012 (NPPP- 2012), are to put in place

a regulatory framework for pricing of essential drugs as per the strength and dosages as specified in

National List of Essential Medicines- 2011 which satisfy the priority healthcare needs to majority of

the population.

With a view to conserve top soil and prevent soil erosion and land degradation. Ministry of

Agriculture is implementing various watershed development programmes, namely National

Watershed Development Project for Rainfed Areas, Soil Conservation in Catchments of River

Valley Project and Flood Prone River and Reclamation and Development of Alkali & Acid Soils

across the country. Ministry of Rural Development is also implementing a major Integrated

Watershed Management Programme for restoring ecological balance by harnessing, conserving

and developing degraded lands in the country. Parts of such developed degraded lands have

been put to cultivation, leading to net sown area remaining largely unchanged in last two

decades.

As per available estimates of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR-2010), out of totalgeographical area of 328.73 million hectare, about 120.40 million hectare are affected by


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various kind of land degradation across the country. Soil formation and its erosion are a

natural phenomena occurring simultaneously. Such soil erosion leads to land degradation in

upper reaches of the river system, whereas when deposited at various locations of river

systems, it may increase the soil fertility.

The Government is promoting the use of bio-pesticides and these are registered/provisionally

registered on simplified guidelines. Provisional certificates of bio pesticides registrants are given

extension of validity period for manufacturing, sale and usages liberally.

Pesticides are inherently toxic in nature. However, they are allowed to be used in such quantities,

where the leftover residue does not pose any harm to human beings. These quantities are

prescribed by Registration Committee[on pesticides], constituted under the Insecticides Act, 1968

and are mentioned on label and leaflets, which form the part of Certificate of Registration. Before

registration, comprehensive data is obtained from the Registrants of pesticides with respect totoxicity issues, bio-efficacy, chemistry and packaging. If pesticides are used as per directions

mentioned on label and leaflets, they do not pose any harm to human beings. Only their misuse or

overuse can be harmful to human beings.

As per the annual report submitted by SPCBs/PCCs/Directorate General of Armed Forces Medical

Services (DGAFMS) for the year 2010, some of the Health Care Facilities (HCFs)/Common Bio-

Medical Waste Treatment Facilities (CBWTFs) are reported to be violating the provisions of the Bio-

Medical Waste (Management &Handling) Rules, 1998 notified under the Environment (Protection)Act, 1986.

Health being a state subject, it is the responsibility of the concerned State Government to take

necessary steps to monitor the disposal of biomedical wastes through the State Pollution Control

Boards (SPCBs)/Pollution Control Committees (PCCs) in the Union Territories, as per the provisions

made under the Bio-medical waste (Management & Handling) Rules in 1998, as amended in the

years 2000 & 2003. The State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs)/Pollution Control Committees (PCCs)

are the prescribed authorities to grant authorization for the BMW Management. They are

empowered to ensure the compliance of provisions of these Rules.

The Government of India have delegated necessary powers vested in it under Section 5 of the

Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 to all the SPCBs and PCCs in UTs, to issue directions to any

industry or any other authority for violation of standards and Rules, inter-alia, relating to Bio-

medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998. The SPCBs/PCCs are required to closely

monitor the implementation of the Rules by the Health Care Establishments (HCEs) and take

necessary legal actions against the establishments which violate these Rules.

As per the Bio-Medical Waste (BMW) (Management & Handling) Rules, 1998, every occupier of an

institution generating BMW has to ensure that such waste is handled without any adverse effect to

human health and environment. It is the responsibility of the occupier to to ensure the BMW is


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segregated according to the colour code for containers/bags prescribed and to treat and dispose of

bio-medical waste in accordance with the BMW rules.

Vice Admiral Anurag G Thapliyal,will take over as the 20th Director General of Indian Coast Guard

tomorrow and will be succeeding the present Director General Vice Admiral MP Muralidharan.

Smart Cards under PDS

The Government has initiated implementation of Component-I of the scheme for End-to-end

Computerisation of Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) Operations, which comprises

digitization of ration cards/beneficiary and other databases, computerization of supply-chain

management, setting up of transparency portal and grievance redressalmechanisms.

As part of Fair Price Shop (FPS) automation, some States/UTs namely, Chandigarh UT,

Chhattisgarh, Haryana,Odisha, Puducherry, etc. have reported issuance of TPDS commodities on

pilot basis using Smart Cards wherein existing ration cards are replaced by Smart Cards. These Smart

Cards have biometric features of members of beneficiary families, based on which verification of the

beneficiary family takes place and only thereafter, the essential commodities are issued to the

intended beneficiaries from the FPSs.

The exact model of FPS automation, that is, Aadhaar based authentication through Point of Sale

(PoS) devices, Smart Cards, etc. would be finalised by the Government in consultation with

States/UTs and taken up in the next phase.

PSLV C 20 launched with Saral Mission

Drug called Nimesulide containing medical products was banned for use for children below 12 years

after safety issues of the drug were assessed as the use of drug is likely to involve certain risks to

human beings and whereas safer alternatives to the drug are available. Further, it has been directed

to all manufacturers of nimesulide containing formulations, on recommendations of the DrugTechnical Advisory Board (DTAB), to incorporate a box warning on label as well as package insert and

other promotional literature of nimesulide formulations that use of nimesulide should ordinarily be

restricted to 10 days. If longer clinical use is warranted, liver function test should be assessed

periodically.

This follows international suspensions of the drug becauseof serious side effects affecting the liver.

Clinical Trials


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Recently, several new regulatory initiatives and legislative measures have been taken by the

Government, especially for the safety and well-being of the clinical trial participants and

compensations have been paid to the clinical trial participants. The Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945

have been and some of the changes are

Provision for compensation in case of injury or death due to clinical trials and free medical

management as long as required.

Expansion of responsibilities of Sponsor, Investigator and Ethics Committees to ensure that the

reports of Serious Adverse Events (SAEs) including deaths are reported, analyzed as per the

prescribed timelines and in case of clinical trial related injury or death, compensation is paid as per

the prescribed procedures.

Revised and more elaborate informed consent documents.

Time-bound reporting of injury or death to the DCG(I).

Constitution of independent Expert Committee by DCG (I) to examine the cases of deaths andgive recommendations to the Drug Controller General of India ( DCG (I) ).

Registration of clinical trials at Clinical Trials Registry of India before enrolling the first patient for

the study.

Registration of Ethics Committee, valid for a period of three years and suspension or cancellation of

the registration in case of non-compliance to the provisions.

Authorization to CDSCO to inspect, search and seize any records, documents, drugs, etc.

Provision for suspension or cancellation or debarment from conduct of clinical trials in case of non-

compliance to the provisions.


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The Government of India has launched a scheme on Vegetables Initiative for Urban Clusters (VIUC)

within the overall Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) Scheme. It has also launched the National

Horticulture Mission (NHM) for holistic development of horticulture sector. Under NHM, financial

assistance is provided for taking up various activities relating to horticulture crops including onion.

In order to facilitate the farmers to sell their produce to direct consumers with a view to reduce

intermediations, marketing costs and to improve farmers share in the consumer price, several

States have promoted farmers-consumers markets.

Promoting Balanced and Judicious Use of Fertilisers for Improving Soil Health

The Government of India is implementing National Project on Management of Soil Health &

Fertility to promote soil test based balanced and judicious use of fertilizers for improving soil health

and its fertility through setting up / strengthening soil testing laboratories, trainings and field

demonstrations on balanced use of fertilizers. However, there is no scientific evidence of declining

soil quality with judicious use of chemical fertilizers yet indiscriminate and imbalance use of

fertilizers or pesticides coupled with low addition of organic matter over years may result into

multi-nutrient deficiencies.

In order to promote organic / ecological farming, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research

(ICAR) has developed technology preparation of enriched / vermin-compost from various rural

and urban wastes. Besides, improved and efficient strains of bio-fertilizers specific to different

crops and soil types are being developed under Network project on biofertilizers.

Greenpeace India launched Living Soils Campaign nationwide to bring out grass root level realities

concerning soil health and soil fertility management policies of the Central Government to save soils

from the harmful impacts of chemical fertilizers. Greenpeace has been making the following

suggestions:-

(iv) Create an alternate subsidy system that promotes ecological farming and use oforganic soil amendments.

(v) Shift the irrational subsidy policy for synthetic fertilizers to sustainable ecologicalpractices in agriculture.

(vi) Re-focus scientific research on ecological alternatives, to identify agro-ecologicalpractices that ensure future food security under the changing climate.

The Government of India is implementing various Crop Development Schemes through State

Governments likeNational Food Security Mission (NFSM), Integrated Scheme on Oilseeds, Pulses, Oil

palm and Maize (ISOPOM), Technology Mission on Cotton(TMC), Jute Technology Mission(JTM),

Integrated Cereals Development Programme (ICDP) for Rice/Wheat/Coarse Cereals and Sustainable

Development of Sugarcane Based Cropping Systems Areas (SUBACS), etc. under Macro Management

of Agriculture(MMA), Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) including its sub-schemes i.e. Bringing


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Green Revolution to Eastern India (BGREI), Initiative for Nutritional Security through Intensive

Millets Promotion (INSIMP), etc. during 11th

Five Year Plan and in 2012-13 the first year of the 12th

Five Year Plan for increasing production and productivity of field crops through the use of improved

crop production technologies.

Under the Crop Development Schemes, States/UTs are extended financial support to the farmers

for use of latest production technology/ critical inputs such as seeds, micro-nutrients, soil

ameliorants, plant protection chemicals, farm machineries and efficient micro irrigation devices, etc

for enhancement of production and productivity of crops.

In the year 2011, the share of nuclear power generation was 3.7% of the total electricity

generation in India. At present, nuclear power capacity is 4780 MW. It is expected to reach 10080

MW by 2017 on progressive completion of four ongoing projects of 5300 MW capacity.

Vice Admiral Anurag G Thapliyal took over as the 20th Director General of Indian Coast

Guard. The Director General has succeeded Vice Admiral MP Muralidharan.


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PIB March

The Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari released a book entitled Walking with

Lions : Tales from a Diplomatic Past written by Shri K. Natwar Singh,former diplomat and

Union Minister foe External Affairs.

The Tikku Committee was set up to look into all aspects of career improvements and cadre

restructuring of Doctors of Central Health Services (CHS).

The quality of drugs, whether generic or non-branded or branded manufactured or imported

for sale in the country is regulated under the provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetic Act, 1940

and the Drugs and Cosmetic Rules, 1945 made thereunder. Under these laws, the manufacture

and sale of drugs are regulated by the State Governments and the import, approval of newdrugs and banning of drugs are regulated by the Central Government through its drug

regulatory body, namely, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO).

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy, 2012 (NPPP-2012) notified on 7th December,

2012 has the provision of bringing the medicines under National List of Essential Medicines-

2011 (NLEM-2011) under price control.

There is no classification as essential medicines in the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 1995.

However, under the provisions of the DPCO, 1995 the prices of 74 bulk drugs as listed in its

First Schedule and the formulations containing any of these scheduled drugs are controlled.National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) fixes or revises prices of scheduled drugs /

formulations as per the provisions of the DPCO,1995. No one is authorized to sell any scheduled

drug / formulation at a price higher than the price fixed by NPPA. Therefore, in the case of

scheduled medicines based on same chemical combinations, there may be bare minimum

difference in prices among different brands.

In respect of drugs - not covered under the DPCO, 1995 i.e. non-scheduled drugs, manufacturers

fix the launch prices themselves without seeking the approval of Government / NPPA. There is

no control over the launch price of non-scheduled medicines. Therefore, differences in prices

among different brands of medicine based on same chemical combinations in non-scheduledcategory are not ruled out.

The information on the share of generic and non-generic medicines in the total medicine sale in

the country is not maintained centrally.

The prices of scheduled drugs / formulations are controlled and fixed/revised by NPPA as per

the provisions of the DPCO,1995. As a part of price-monitoring activity, NPPA also regularly

examines the movement in prices of non-scheduled formulations. Wherever a price increase

beyond 10% in a period of one year on moving basis is noticed, the manufacturer is asked to

bring down the price voluntarily failing which, subject to prescribed conditions, action isinitiated under paragraph 10(b) of the DPCO, 1995 for fixing the price of the formulation in


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public interest.

In order to provide relief to the common man in the area of healthcare, a countrywide campaign

in the name ofJan Aushadhi Campaign was initiated by the Department of Pharmaceuticals,

Government of India, in collaboration with the State Governments, by way of opening up of Jan

Aushadhi Generic Drug Stores in the Government Hospitals by way of supply of medicines

through the Central Pharma Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs), to make available quality

generic medicines at affordable prices to all. Under this campaign, it is intended to open at least

one Jan Aushadhi Store in every district of the country to begin with, followed by at least five

stores in each district so as to have 3150 stores by the end of the 12th plan. Efforts are on to

open more stores in the country with the collaboration of State Governments. However, much

depends upon the prevailing health policy or the health programme being followed by the

respective State Governments, in order to determine the feasibility and the viability for

opening/managing such stores and also the extent of support and cooperation the State

Governments provide in allotting the space in more number of places including identification of

the agency to manage such stores, besides ensuring the cooperation of the Government Doctors

in prescribing generic medicines.

The report Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2012 by the International Food Policy Research

Institute (IFPRI) is based on three equally weighted indicators, namely undernourishment

(proportion of undernourished people as percentage of population), child underweight and

child mortality. This report mentions that India has lagged behind in improving its GHI score

despite strong economic growth along with the statement that GHI data is based partly on

outdated data.

Ministers speech on National Youth Policy 2012

The goal of the Youth Policy is to empower the youth of the Nation by bringing a holistic

development, whereby every youth should be able to grow to their potential, fulfill their

aspirations and remain healthy and active and participative. As skill development is the thrust

of the Nation and following the national objectives, Ministry of Youth Affairs is proposing to

declare 2013-14 as the Year for Skill Development of the Youth.

The unique feature of the Youth Policy is monitorable indicators under 5 domains. They are

Youth Health Index, Youth Education Index, Youth Amenities Index and Youth Participation

Index. These constitute the Youth Development Index. The Youth Policy advocates

establishment of strong coordination mechanism between the Centre and the States. Youth

being a State Subject, there is an urgent need for evolving a youth Policy at the State level in

consonance with National Youth Policy. The National Youth Policy will be reviewed after every

census.

The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs & Sports Shri Jitendra Singh has

said that in order to focus on the high quality of research study and targets of sports science and

medicine for producing sports champions who could spearhead the Indian challenge on the

world sporting arena, it was felt necessary to create a national hub which could contribute to


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the growing corpus of research, as seen in other developed and prominent countries like

Australia and China. Accordingly, it has been proposed to set up a National Institute of Sports

Sciences and Medicine (NISSM). The proposed NISSM would be leading institute in the

country to support high performance of sportspersons and integrate sciences and medicine into

the training of elite sportspersons in the country as well as into the teaching curriculum of sport

coaching in the country.

Panchayat Yuva Krida aur Khel Abhiyan (PYKKA)----under Ministry of Youth Affairs and

Sports itself

Objectives :

(i) To create a network of basic sports infrastructure throughout the country;(ii) To provide universal access to sports in rural areas and promote a sports culture;

(iii) To harness available and potential sporting talent among rural youth, through a welldesigned competition structure starting from the block level.

Ministry of External Affairs

DTAA with Bhutan

The DTAA provides that business profits will be taxable in the source state if the activities of anenterprise constitute a permanent establishment in the source state. Profits derived by an

enterprise from the operation of aircraft in international traffic shall be taxable in the country

of place of effective management of the enterprise. Dividends, interest, royalty income and fees

for technical or professional services will be taxed both in the country of residence and in the

country of source. However, the maximum rate of tax to be charged in the country of source will

not exceed 10% on such dividends, interest, royalties and fees for technical services. Capital

gains from the sale of shares will be taxable in the country of source.

The DTAAs provide for allocation of taxation rights to source State and residence State in

respect of business profits including that of a permanent establishment, operation of ships or

aircraft in international traffic, dividends, interest, royalty, capital gains etc. Further, DTAAs

have provisions for exchange of information for tax purposes. This agreement also incorporates

provisions for effective exchange of information and assistance in collection of taxes between

tax authorities of the two countries including exchange of banking information and also

incorporates anti-abuse provisions to ensure that the benefits of the Agreement are availed of

by the genuine residents of the two countries.

The DTAAs facilitate mutual economic cooperation and provide tax certainty to the resident tax

payers of both the countries. Further, the DTAAs aim to avoid the burden of double taxation on


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the income of residents of the two treaty countries and also simulate flow of investment,

technology and services between them.

India has signed 88 Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAAs) out of which 85 have

entered into force, with various countries including Sri Lanka and South Korea.

A Social Security Agreement (SSA) was signed between India and Portugal. About 75,000

Indians are living in Portugal, most of them are working as professionals and self-employed.

The bilateral Social Security Agreement is significant requirement from the futuristic point of

view to take advantage of the emerging employment opportunities and to further strengthen

the trade and investment between the two countries.

The Social Security Agreement between India and Republic of Portugal will provide the

following benefits to Indian national working in Portugal:

For short term contract upto 5 year, no social security contribution would need to be paidunder the Portuguese law by the detached workers provided they continue to make social

security payment in India.

The above benefits shall be available even when the Indian company sends its employees to

Republic of Portugal from a third country.

Indian workers shall be entitled to the export of the social security benefit if they relocate to

India after the completion of their service in Republic of Portugal.

The self-employed Indians in Republic of Portugal would also be entitled to export of social

security benefit on their relocation to India.

The period of contribution in one contracting state will be added to the period of contribution

in the second contracting state for determining the eligibility for social security benefits.

India has so far signed the SSA with seventeen countries viz. Belgium, Germany (Social

Insurance), Switzerland, France, Luxemburg, The Netherlands, Hungary, Denmark, The Czech

Republic, Republic of Korea, Norway, Germany (Comprehensive SSA), Finland, Canada, Japan,

Sweden and Austria.

INIDA- ASEAN

With a view to promote trade with ASEAN Countries India has signed Agreement on Trade in

Goods under the broader framework of Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement

(CECA) between India and the ASEAN on 13.08.2009. India and the ASEAN have also concluded

negotiations on Agreement on Trade in Services and Agreement on Investment in December,

2012. India has also entered into Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreements with

Singapore and Malaysia which came into effect on 01.08.2005 and 01.07.2011 respectively.

India and Thailand signed a Framework Agreement (Early Harvest Scheme) on 09.10.2003.


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India and Thailand are presently negotiating a Comprehensive India-Thailand Free Trade

Agreement. India and Indonesia have also agreed for negotiating a CECA.

The priority areas and sectors identified by the Government for expanding trade and economic

cooperation with the ASEAN countries include Machinery & Machine parts, Transport

Equipments, Petroleum and Petroleum Products, Electronic Goods, Agro Industries, Gems& Jewellery, Steel & Steel products, Oil Cake, Wheat, Meat & Meat Products, Automobiles & Auto

Components, Chemicals, Synthetic Textile, Drugs & Pharmaceuticals etc.

India has applied to join the Arctic Council as an Observer on permanent basis in November

2012. The participation as an Observer in The Arctic Council would facilitate India contributes

in the areas of scientific research, environment protection and development in Arctic regions.

India and Liechtenstein have signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) today atBern, Switzerland.

is a doubly landlocked alpine country in Central Europe, bordered by Switzerland to the westand south and by Austria to the east and north. Its capital is Vaduz. The biggest town is Schaan.Liechtenstein has the highest gross domestic product per person in the world when adjusted bypurchasing power parity,and has the world's lowest external debt. Liechtenstein also has one ofthe lowest unemployment rates in the world at 1.5% (Monaco has the lowest).Not a EUmember.

There is gap of about 50% between demand and supply of edible oils in the country

which is managed through imports.

Consumption of edible oils in the country has been increasing steadily due to increasing

population and increase in purchasing power whereas the production of oilseeds is not

increasing as compared to demand. At present to bridge this gap, import of edible oils has been

kept under Open General Licence (OGL) and import duty on crude and refined edible oils is

maintained at 2.5% and 7.5% respectively. In order to enhance the production and productivity

of oilseeds, Government is implementing a Centrally Sponsored Integrated Scheme on

Oilseeds, Pulses, Oil Palm and Maize (ISOPOM) through Department of Agriculture in major

oilseeds and oil palm growing States.

Government Policy and Updates related to GM crops

Field Trial of GM Plants in the Country

The Government has allowed field trial of Genetically Modified (GM) plants in Agriculture sector

in India. The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), apex body notified under Rules

1989 has approved experimental field trials for the purpose of biosafety research and event

selection in respect of GM crops such as cotton, rice, tomato, groundnut, potato, corn, sorghum,

okra, brinjal, mustard, wheat, watermelon, papaya, sugarcane, rubber, castor, banana, pigeon

pea, Artemisia annua L. and Chickpea. Out of the 20 crops approved, field trials of onlytransgenic cotton, corn and mustard were initiated after obtaining NOC from the State


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Government. In respect of other crops, NOC from the State Governments are awaited. Currently

there are no ongoing field trials with GM crops

The Minister further stated that the Government of India is following a policy of case by

case approval of genetically modified (GM) crops. In view of various concerns related to the

safety, efficacy and agronomic performance of transgenic seeds, extensive evaluation andregulatory approval process takes place before any GM plant is approved for commercial

cultivation. This includes generation of relevant biosafety information and its elaborate analysis

to ensure food, feed and environmental safety. The environmental safety assessment includes

studies on pollen escape out- crossing, aggressiveness and weediness, effect of the gene on non-

target organisms, presence of protein in soil and its effect on soil micro-flora, confirmation of

the absence of terminator gene and baseline susceptibility studies. The food and feed safety

studies include assessment on composition analysis, allergenicity and toxicological studies and

feeding studies on fish, chicken, cows and buffaloes. In case, the transgenic crop is not found

suitable for release in the environment or human consumption, the product is rejected during

the trial stage itself. A final view on the commercialization of GM plants is taken only whenthere is a clear economic and technical justification for release of the product, the Minister

added.

The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee, notified under Rules for the Manufacture, use,

Import and Export and Storage of Hazardous Micro-Organisms/ Genetically Engineered

Organisms or cells, 1989, has approved the commercial cultivation of Bt cotton and import

of GM Soybean oilderived from Roundup Ready soybean

The Government has imposed a moratorium on commercialization of Bt. Brinjal event EE-I a

genetically modified (GM) crop in the country till such time independent scientific studies

establish that Bt brinjal is safe for the environment and human health. .

She further stated that as a follow up to the moratorium on Bt brinjal, a meeting of the Genetic

Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) to consult with experts and scientists on the safety of

Bt. Brinjal was held on April, 27, 2011. While several of the experts recommended limited

release of Bt brinjal seeds to evaluate its performance under strict supervision, some experts

have suggested additional biosafety studies with respect to long term impacts on biodiversity

and health. In the absence of consensus, a final decision on the issue may take from couple ofmonths to several years. Therefore, it is not feasible to furnish any tangible time period at

present. The final decision on the matter, whenever available will be put up in public domain,

she added.

Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) Project consists of various infrastructureprojects for development of new industrial cities in the DMIC region. The projects are to beimplemented at the State level in partnership with the State Governments. The process of landacquisition/ land procurement is in progress in the States of Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya

Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra and master planning has started in Uttar Pradesh. Followingindustrial cities have been taken up for development in a phased manner:


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Government of India (GoI) approved the financial and institutional structure and financialassistance for the development of industrial cities in the DMIC in September, 2011. Thefinancial assistance will be in the form of grant of Rs 17,500 crore over five years for thedevelopment of industrial cities @ Rs 2500 crore per city on an average subject to a ceiling of Rs3000 crore per city through a DMIC Project Implementation Fund set up as aTrust. The GoI also approved the setting up of an additional corpus of Rs 1000 crore within theFund for providing financial assistance to DMIC Development Corporation (DMICDC) over fiveyears for undertaking further project development activities.

The industrial cities would be launched with the development of townships of 25-50sq km which are envisaged to be completed by the end of 2018. The developments plannedunder the project are expected to result in the following benefits:

i. Increase in the industrial output

ii. Increase in employment opportunities in the manufacturing/ processing industrybesides upgrading and developing their skills thus making them partners in the growth process.

iii. Increase in the exports from the region.

iv. development of industrial cities with

Pib Dec to April

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