Friday, April 22, 2011

FREE Market Zionist Brahaminical Economy is all for CORRUPTION, LOBBYING, DOMINANCE, EXCLUSION, ETHNIC CLEANSING and EXODUS Plus HOLOCAUST. Progressive Marxists Brahaminical Bengal Opts for FREE MARKET and USA Supports!

FREE Market Zionist Brahaminical Economy is all for CORRUPTION, LOBBYING, DOMINANCE, EXCLUSION, ETHNIC CLEANSING and EXODUS Plus HOLOCAUST. Progressive Marxists Brahaminical Bengal Opts for FREE MARKET and USA Supports!

Indian Holocaust My Father`s Life and Time - SIX HUNDRED TWENTY

Palash Biswas

http://indianholocaustmyfatherslifeandtime.blogspot.com/


http://basantipurtimes.blogspot.com/



Ruling Marxists Brahmins opened Floodgates and Mamata Banerjee riding over Popular Change Waves NOT Only Sustains Regimented Gestapo Manusmriti Rule but ENSURES OVERWHELMING Foreign Capital Regime in Bengal and United states of America, Global Hindutva Zionist Order, Pro US PRO Corporate Brhamincal CIVIL Society, Intelligentsia and Media back Ms Banerjee who has ROCK SOLID India Incs and MNC Backing. WTO Blue Eyed boy , the FICCI Man AMIT MITRA is all set to lead the VEDIC ASHWAMEDH Yagna supported by Dinesh Trivedi, Industrialist, Upen Biswas,EX DIG CBI, IPS officers Rachpal Singh and Sultan Singh, EX Chief Secretary manish Gupta and so on!

After roping in the former state chief secretary Manish Gupta, who will be pitted against Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee in Jadavpur, the Trinamool has roped in another heavyweight.

Amit Mitra — Padma Shree award winner and general secretary of the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FICCI) - will be fielded against state Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta at Kharda constituency.

On Monday evening, Mitra met Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee at her Kalighat home and after emerging, announced that he has become a member of the party.

"There will be a tectonic shift in West Bengal after Mamata Banerjee comes to power," said Mitra, an eminent economist who has taught in several foreign universities. "For 34 years, we were under party rule and cadre rule and not government rule. Today, it is only because of Mamata Banerjee that people like us feel inspired to come forward and work shoulder to shoulder to bring about change in West Bengal. There will be a new sunrise soon."
FREE Market Zionist Brahaminical Economy is all for CORRUPTION, LOBBYING, DOMINANCE, EXCLUSION, ETHNIC CLEANSING and EXODUS Plus HOLOCUST. Progressive Marxists Brahaminical Bengal Opts for FREE MARKET and USA Supports!After Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee's excellent performance in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, her stock rose proportionately among the Americans. Ironically, the CIVIL Society, Intelligentsia and Media which support Economic Reforms and LPG Raj Most, have launched a PRO US  US sponsered JP Like Zionist Gandhian Anti Corruption Campaign TARGETING Constitution of India and Dr Ambedkar. Entire NGO Brigade and RSS and Hindutva represented by Ravishankar and Baba Ramdev supports it. And it is hyped too much that This month, the whole nation rallied behind social activist Anna Hazare as he launched a campaign against corruption and setting up of a strong anti-corruption body.His victory came after the government agreed to setup a committee, which includes members from the government as well as the civil society, to draft the Lokpal Bill to fight corruption.But a flurry of allegations of corruption and questions over the credibility have targeted the civil activists on the Lokpal Bill committee, which pairs five ministers with five activists.

But the Cup Boards are full of Blood, Bones and Human Flesh as the CIVIL Society memebrs in the Lokpal Panel are themselves siezed with Seripus GRAFT Chrages!Meanwhile,Activist Binayak Sen , who last week got bail from the Supreme Court in a case of sedition, has been awarded a prestigious South Korean award for human rights for 2011.

Now, speaking on the issue, Finance Minister and Congress party's chief troubleshooter Pranab Mukherjee has said that the government is committed to a strong Lokpal Bill.

"Controversies have been raised about some members of the joint drafting committee on the Lokpal Bill. I would like to make clear that in the view of government as well as the view of my party, the Congress, the working of the committee will not, in any way, be affected by these controversies. The government members on the committee are looking forward to working with Anna Hajare and his colleagues on the committee and to draft a strong and sound Lokpal bill in order to fight corruption."


Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/govt-committed-to-strong-lokpal-bill-pranab-mukherjee-100842?cp

Tip: These results include the word "mamata". Show results that include only "mamta".

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Now, speaking on the issue, Finance Minister and Congress party's chief troubleshooter Pranab Mukherjee has said that the government is committed to a strong Lokpal Bill.

"Controversies have been raised about some members of the joint drafting committee on the Lokpal Bill. I would like to make clear that in the view of government as well as the view of my party, the Congress, the working of the committee will not, in any way, be affected by these controversies. The government members on the committee are looking forward to working with Anna Hajare and his colleagues on the committee and to draft a strong and sound Lokpal bill in order to fight corruption."


Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/govt-committed-to-strong-lokpal-bill-pranab-mukherjee-100842?cp


US President Barack Obama today said that America needs to adapt to a changing world wherein countries like India and China are rising and areas like the Middle East are becoming less stable.

"We were seeing changes around the world -- countries like China and India rising; areas like the Middle East becoming less stable; the world shrinking because of technology, much of it invented right here in this region," Obama said in his remarks at a fund raising event in San Francisco.

"So I think we understood that we were going to have to adapt in some fundamental way in order to make sure that our kids and our grandkids ended up inheriting the kind of America that we inherited," he said.

Noting that there are moments in history that are inflection points, Obama said he understood this in 2008 that the US was entering into one of those periods.

"Domestically, we had gone through a decade in which the economy was growing but it was growing on top of a bubble. And people at the very top were doing very well, but the wages and incomes of ordinary families had flatlined, and we were starting as a government to live beyond our means with tax cuts and two wars that weren't paid for," he said.

"So I think people understood even before the recession hit that somehow the way our economy was operating was not conducive to long-term sustained economic growth or making sure that everybody had a chance at the American Dream," Obama said.

Soon thereafter his speech was interrupted by a group of people attending the fundraising. Through a song they protested against the alleged mistreatment of WikiLeaks suspect Bradley Manning.

Earlier this week, Obama created controversy by targeting "cheap health care" in countries like India and Mexico arguing that Americans should avail of "high quality" treatment available here.

"My preference would be that you don't have to travel to Mexico or India to get cheap health care. I'd like you to be able to get it right here in the United States of America that is high quality," Obama said at a community college in Virginia.

Earleir, Obama's remarks on American companies outsourcing jobs to Indian firms had stirred a controversy in India.

The government intends to complete the draft of the Lokpal Bill by June 30 and table it in the monsoon session of parliament, Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily said today. 

With allegations levelled against some civil society members of the joint committee on the Lokpal bill, Moily said "we should not give more credence to such allegations. Arguments and counter-arguments should not dilute such an important step". 

"What is important is the dedication, willingness and determination to table the important bill. When the government is determined to table the bill, all others should cooperate", Moily said. 

To another question, Moily said the draft bill would be formulated by all the members of the joint committee. "All their views will be taken into account and the bill will be formulated through a consensus". 

He said even though social activist Anna Hazare did not indicate the deadline for drafting the Lokpal Bill, "suo moto we want to complete it (drafting) by June 30 and we aim to introduce the bill in the monsoon session of parliament". 

"Emotions aside, all of us need to work together to bring out a strong Lokpal Bill", he said responding to a query on the threat by Karnataka Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde, a committee member, that he was contemplating to quit the panel as he was fed up with the allegations against its members. 

Refusing to comment on the sense of hurt expressed by Hegde over Congress leader Digvijay Singh's statements, Moily said "people are entitled to their emotions. I would not like to comment on this. However, what is important is the implementation of a strong Lokpal Bill".
Global Arena: US no longer No 1?
US default would be systemic, but unlikely: JPMorgan
US default would be systemic, but unlikely: JPMorgan
The White House & Congress must agree on a deal on raising the $14.3 trillion cap on borrowing or the US will be at risk of defaulting on its debt.
In a diplomatic cable, leaked by whistleblower website WikiLeaks, sent by the US consulate here in 2009, the officials advised their political bosses back home to cultivate the mercurial leader who is likely to be the next West Bengal chief minister.

The cable painted an appreciative picture of the railway minister who it said was "conscientiously trying to transform her image from a political maverick and firebrand to a woman ready, able and willing to lead India's fourth most populous state."

The Americans have a reason to back her ascendancy to the top political post in Bengal as the CPM led-Left government had maintained their aversion for everything imperialistic. "Banerjee is inspiring the faithful and convincing the agnostic that the CPM's 33-year uninterrupted rule in Bengal is set to end. Her July 21 (2009) rally in Kolkata, with crowds estimated up to half a million, was this summer's largest political demonstration and dwarfed the CPM's August 31 timid and lacklustre response."

The cable went a step ahead to advise US government: "Her party's public rhetoric, devoid of any anti-Americanism... is encouraging signs that a Banerjee-led Bengal government will be friendlier to the US".

Biman said so...

CPM general secretary Prakash Karat said the leaked cables on Mamata Banerjee proved what Left Front chairman Biman Bose had been claiming -- that capitalists, and especially the US, were campaigning in favour of the Congress-Trinamool Congress combine in the Bengal polls.

THE UNQUIET GRAVE
- Free market principles have a place for bribery
CUTTING CORNERS: Ashok Mitra

If he were all by himself, the well-meaning, if somewhat confused as well as loquacious, Gandhian might have been more effectively tackled. But a different situation emerged with this wild rush on the part of stalwarts of India Incorporated and the film industry, undoubtedly the real cognoscenti of goings-on in the dark world of corruption. To avoid any embarrassing development in the awkward election season, the prime minister had to sign a post-dated cheque. What would happen once the polls in the five states were safely over is a bridge which will be crossed only on arrival.

Meanwhile, please, please, do not run away with the impression that the regime in New Delhi is unconcerned with regard to the matter. No question corruption is eating into the vitals of the nation; ministers shaping economic policy have asked their pet backroom boys to come up with ideas about how to get rid of the scourge. The backroom boys are burning midnight oil in search of the right medicine. One of them — a very high ranking flunkey — has a brainwave. He has hit upon a stratagem to weed out, once and for all, corruption from the country: let bribe-giving be made legal so that offering inducement to someone to render an undue favour ceases to be a punishable offence; hey presto, corruption will disappear, the nation will regain its moral stature.

The senior government functionary has made this suggestion in a public forum; it has been taken note of in the media. No, he is not being frivolous; nor is he off his rocker. He is obviously a votary of the free market and must have arrived where he has after arguing it out in his mind — most probably in the following manner. An individual or a corporate body in a free market milieu should have the prerogative to maximize profit. To further this overriding goal, the individual or corporate organization directly may need to secure a government contract. If bribing this or that politician or civil servant is the easiest way to swing the contract, he/she or it must be allowed to go ahead; issues of ethics must not intrude, nor should the government act as spoilsport. The corporate world in particular should have the freedom to dangle a bribe if that would hasten the completion of a project and thereby speed up economic activity. To consider bribe-giving as a crime, therefore, goes ill with the principles of the free market. True, the authorities could have a problem. The general public might not quite comprehend the organic relationship between profit maximization and gross domestic product growth or between bribe-giving and profit maximization. Given society's primeval prejudice against bribery, it might be politically unwise to give blanket clearance to bribery. Well, in that eventuality, the government has still a way out. While it decriminalizes bribe-giving, it might retain the interdict on bribe-taking. Let civil servants and others in key positions in public institutions, including banks and insurance companies, be made to keep away from accepting bribes; the market for bribery will then cease to exist since the demand for bribes will dry up, society will automatically be free of corruption.

Breathtaking logic; there are a couple of thorny issues though. First, will it not be equally felicitous if, instead of attacking the problem on the demand side, the law comes down heavily on acts of bribe-giving, so that the supply side of the market for bribery disappears? Along with bribe-giving, the taking of bribes, too, is in any case at present a criminal offence. That has not inconvenienced the acceptors of bribes. If those who receive illegal gratification have no fear of god now, how will things change under the dispensation proposed by the eminent bureaucrat? It can, of course, be maintained that once investigating officers are relieved of the burden of tracking down bribe-givers, there will be more time and resources at their disposal for identifying and prosecuting habitual bribe-takers. Consider, however, the instance of a corporate body which currently engages a whole army of lawyers, accountants and fixers to ensure that their various bribe-giving activities escape the eye of the law. If offering bribes becomes an honest, legally permissible enterprise, the corporation will make a great saving of money and other resources. It will nevertheless still need to land luscious contracts by suborning individuals who distribute contracts or award permits and licences. The risk involved in accepting illegal gratification will now be somewhat greater than before for those who are targeted for seduction. The demand price of a standard bribe will, in the circumstances, tend to move up. The corporate entity will however experience no special difficulty. Despite the stiffening of the demand price, the resources it will have saved on account of lawyers, auditors, fixers, et al previously engaged for covering up its bribe-giving ventures can now be deployed to offer extra inducements to bribe-takers. The business of bribery, instead of shrinking, would, for all one can surmise, actually prosper further.

Bribe-givers and bribe-takers in any event together constitute a gigantic concordium. They are two ends of the same transaction, and share a common vested interest. Why not recognize another harsh reality too? Bribery will refuse to die out in a climate where freedom of the market is held sacrosanct. Investigating officers at different levels are themselves increasingly succumbing to the charm of the practitioners of the open art of bribe-giving. And it is not just investigating officers; zealots determined to corrupt society are buying up ministers, civil servants, police personnel, lawyers, accountants, economists, journalists, writers, even some members of the judiciary.

Even if the issue of ethics is kept aside, the brainwave of the high dignitary is therefore grossly unrealistic and might, in fact, provide a further boost to the corrupting forces in society. Even so, it is interesting to take note of the frightening fuzziness in the general environment that encourages functionaries occupying important positions in government to broach ideas of such an absurdly outrageous nature. Cynicism is the reigning king. Money-making through means fair or what was considered even till the other day as foul is now being taken for granted and regarded as the quintessence of existence. In this malign — or is it benign — climate, a tolerant view of hitherto taboo acts has slunk into the core of public policy; if a little greasing of some palms enables a tycoon or a corporate body to add to his/her or its earnings, why should the government demur? — it should rather extend a helping hand, look the other way when the ceremony of palm-greasing is taking place or, better still, decriminalize what has been till now a cognizable criminal offence. No stigma, the hint is being dropped, must attach to bribe-giving if it is for the noble cause of profit maximization on the part of an individual or a corporate body; don't you know, such practices accelerate the rate of growth of the gross domestic product?

Once the moral shackle is removed, the consequences can indeed be bizarre. For if bribery is going to be no longer illegal, and bribe-givers are showered with accolades for their efforts towards raising the rate of GDP growth higher and higher, other pressure groups are soon bound to appear on the scene, arguments may even be stretched to extraordinarily monstrous lengths. A rapist, it could even be suggested, should go scot free, the onus would be shifted to the victim who was careless enough to get violated. A murderer might remain a free bird; he was merely out on a lark, the murdered individual had no business to get killed. The fake pilots who have been for years endangering the lives of thousands of passengers would continue to enjoy high living while the petty official in the directorate general of civil aviation who issued licences to them for a consideration would languish in prison.

Adam Smith, whose tract, An Enquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, is the bible of freebooters and votaries of unbridled money-spinners, was the professor of moral philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. He must be quaking in his grave.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110422/jsp/opinion/story_13873307.jsp

Amit Mitra | We desperately need technology from US

Amit Mitra, secretary-general of the Ficci spoke about what the various steps like delisting of Indian organizations, namely Isro and DRDO from entities list, mean for India-US trade ties even as US commerce secretary Gary Locke visits India

Elizabeth Roche

The US last week removed companies under the Indian Space Research Organisation and the Defence Research and Development Organisation off the commerce department's "entities list". In another move, it also opened up previously prohibited dual-use technologies for export. Amit Mitra, secretary-general of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci), spoke about what these steps mean for India-US trade ties even as US commerce secretary Gary Locke visits India. Edited excerpts:

There were two steps the US government took last week—one on the entities list and the other on export of dual-use technology. What is their significance?

First, we need to understand that technology denial in terms of specific companies being in the entities list is very different from the export-control regime... We had a total of 212 Indian companies which were on the entities list originally. What that meant is that no American company could trade or invest with these companies. That 212 has slowly come down to four in the last six months or so. Those four are conglomerates and under them there are 16 companies... Out of the 16 companies on the entities list, nine companies have been taken off it. In effect, only the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and nuclear plants not inspected by the international inspectorate system remain on the entities list... Other than these, all companies are open for trade with the United States. That does not mean they will not meet with licensing requirements that they may meet with denials of dual-use technologies... Now in this, there has been a big change that nobody has talked about. On the 27th of January, India has been raised from the three-country grouping called D1, D2, D3 to a higher level of strategic alliance called A2. This is the big step—that means a whole lot of areas which we could not trade in, whether you were in the entities list or not, areas where you needed licensing, which was prohibitive in the nature of licensing, we have been raised from that level to the equivalent of many European countries. Obviously, this in a way has been timed with the visit of Locke.


Could you give an example to show what this elevation to A2 means for Indian businesses?

I think the biggest advantage of this is vaccines. We could not import mature biotechnological materials to convert into vaccines... What this will do is, while many prohibited items would remain in the licensing structure, licences would be much easier to acquire as compared to the previous process.

You had said once that the US denied India 10 out of a list of 16 dual-use technologies, whereas European allies were denied four. After the change, how many types can we access from the US?

One example I have given you—which is vaccines. Even on homeland security technologies, there was one section that relates to terrorist combat technologies. So out of 10, I would not be surprised if five or six get dropped and we get close to the European numbers. We may not be equal to Nato (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) members, at the A1 level...

Would you say that the US has taken these steps as it is struggling to revive its economy and needs India more today as a big market for technology?

It would be wrong to say the US needs India and we don't need them; its technology we desperately need. If we have an F16 or an F18, it strengthens our capacity to deal with our neighbours in terms of potential threats. In terms of civil aviation, millions of jobs have been created in India. When you go to the nuclear sector, we have promised over time 274,000 megawatts in the next 15 years. Once the shift takes place from uranium to thorium, that becomes an even bigger play. As far as safe cities is concerned, our cities are prone to terrorist activities because we don't have the latest technological prowess. Just as the United States needs to sell its technology to create new jobs, that is their challenge of this decade, we need them as desperately to upgrade our economy...

What do you think will be the thrust areas during Locke's trip?

...One of the agendas of secretary Locke will be how does he get over the question of (civil nuclear) liability, which has been dogging the US and many other countries. Two: civil aviation. Air India was expected to have been supplied with 28 Boeing Dreamliners...Then there are Jet Airways, SpiceJet... Then you come to defence, which is the third item. We are looking at a global competition for medium multirole combat aircraft. Now the US has two of those in the competition—the F16 from Lockheed Martin and the F18 from Boeing...Then we come to ICT (information and communication technology), which is the fourth item...The key to ICT to them is technology driven—which is homeland security. India today is facing a massive Maoist insurgency, it is facing terrorism from across the border, so homeland security is a matter that is going to expand massively. All this means huge purchase of advanced, cutting-edge, newly developed homeland security material.

India to grow at 7.8% this fiscal: Goldman Sachs
03:21PM | April 22,2011
The estimate is way below the government's forecast of 9% growth in 2011-12
ED issues notice to Kalmadi under Fema
11:40PM | April 21,2011
Agency seeks details of bank transactions, foreign exchange, details of travels abroad since Feb 2005

Panel aims 9.5% growth for 12th Plan
12:23 AM | April 22,2011
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh says he wants the 12th Five Year Plan to fix new targets and tackle issues like energy and urbanization
Karnataka to issue iron ore export permits next week
05:24 PM | April 21,2011
It had banned shipments of iron ore from 10 ports and stopped its transport to other ports for exports in July last year, citing a drive against illegal mining and the need to preserve the raw material for local steelmakers
SC cancels bail to PWC partner, Satyam audit head
12:33 PM | April 21,2011
A bench comprising Justice P Sathasivam and Justice B S Chauhan cancelled their bail and directed them to surrender within this period, failing which the central investigative agency will take steps to arrest them
More>>
Deadlock continues in MPs' panel on 2G spectrum report
01:15 AM | April 22,2011
The members of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on 15 April had disrupted the proceedings of the PAC, citing the JPC probe
ED issues notice to Kalmadi under Fema
11:40 PM | April 21,2011
Agency seeks details of bank transactions, foreign exchange, details of travels abroad since Feb 2005
Probe finds Air India Express ignored safety audit findings
11:20 PM | April 21,2011
None of the senior supervisors responsible for flight safety underwent any formal training in this specialized area, the report says
More>>
Monsoon likely to be normal
04:44 PM | April 19,2011
Forecast to be reviewed in June; earlier forecasts have been for normal rains;
Bumper harvest to ease inflation to 6% in FY'12: PMEAC
03:23 PM | April 19,2011
Food inflation has moderated to 8.28% for the week ending 1 April, 2011 from 9.18% in the previous reporting week
Wheat procurement drops by 69%
04:36 PM | April 18,2011
Procurement in major producing states of Haryana and Punjab, which generally starts from 1 April and picks up from 15 April, had been very low till Sunday because of less arrival of crop in the markets due to delay in harvesting
More>>
B-Schools | A placement report card
01:15 AM | April 22,2011
Around 200 students, who had already been placed, were given an option to apply for the top-dollar jobs on offer, but only 18 pursued this option
Closing the gap
12:16 AM | April 21,2011
India is on track to meet most of its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) due to its strong growth since the 1980s, says the latest Global
India's literacy rate rises to 74%: Census
04:4 PM | March 31,2011
In past 10 years, female literacy rate rose to 65.46% in 2011 from 53.67% in 2001; male literacy rose from 75.26% to 82.14%
More>>
India to grow at 7.8% this fiscal: Goldman Sachs
03:21 PM | April 22,2011
The estimate is way below the government's forecast of 9% growth in 2011-12
Going nowhere for lack of funding
12:58 AM | April 22,2011
The death of student start-ups due to the shortage of financing and mentoring is intriguing because investors and mentors say they are open to helping such ventures; the problem, they say, is that students don't know much about the business they...
Investment downturn signals growth slowdown
11:59 PM | April 21,2011
A detailed study by Crisil Ltd says that not only will Indian companies face a squeeze in their margins as the Reserve Bank of India progressively hikes policy rates, cut back in investments will force them to contend with a capacity constraint
More>>
Mah govt to build MTHL linking Sewari and Nava-Sheva
09:3 PM | April 07,2011
The project is important for the city as it will not only reduce the distance between Pune and city by at least forty five minutes but also provide better connectivity to the proposed second airport for city in Navi Mumbai
Govt seeks World Bank assistance for 37,000 km roads
07:30 PM | April 01,2011
The Road Transport and Highways Ministry has requested the World Bank for financing the projects that include conversion of 20,000 km of state highways into national highways, besides upgrading 17,000 km of the latter
ADB extends $250 mn loan for Bangalore metro rail project
02:48 PM | April 01,2011
The BMRTSP has a total cost of $2.7 billion and is scheduled to be completed in 2013
Mo
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CORPORATE NEWS
A media statement says Transpole is expected to post revenue of Rs350 cr in this financial year
Bank's net NPAs as a percentage of its loan book stood at 0.26% against 0.36% in the year-ago quarter
MONEY MATTERS
When Fast Growing Economies Slow Down: International Evidence and Implications for China By Barry Eichengreen, University of California, Berkeley, Donghyun Park, Asian Development Bank, Manila, Kwanho Shin, Korea University, Seoul http://www.nber.org/papers/w16919
Silver also rose to its 31-year high at $46.86 an ounce, the highest price since 1980
TECHNOLOGY
The subscribers can get exhaustive and latest information regarding health, education, finance, weather information, mandi (wholesale) rates, livestocks, agriculture and fisheries
Production to begin in July/August; it will have a faster processor but look similar; suppliers include Wintek, Foxconn Tech and Largan
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Environment

Millions Celebrating Earth Day Around the World

VOA News April 22, 2011

Earth Day organizers are calling on people worldwide to pledge
Photo: photos.com

Earth Day organizers are calling on people worldwide to pledge "a billion acts of green" to improve the planet's environmental health

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Millions of people around the world celebrated Earth Day Friday by pledging to commit personal "acts of green" to improve the environment.

This is the 41st anniversary of the first Earth Day, observed in the United States in the aftermath of a disastrous oil spill off the country's West Coast. Earth Day is now celebrated in one form or another in nearly 200 countries.

This year, Earth Day organizers called on people worldwide to pledge "a billion acts of green" to improve the planet's environmental health.

As Friday began, organizers calculated that more than 100 million people had already made promises to improve the environment. Those pledges ranged from individuals' plans to reduce the use of toxic chemicals, to switching to compact fluorescent lights at home, to using mass transit for travel to work and eating locally grown food.

U.S. President Barack Obama said the day is a chance to "renew America's commitment" to environmental protection, and to ensure that American leadership "will continue to be pivotal" in confronting global environmental challenges.

U.S. first lady Michelle Obama had planned to help work on the habitat at an urban park in Washington, but the event was canceled as rain fell in the capital city. Public officials around the U.S. planned other events, such as in Baltimore, where the governor of the state of Maryland opened an electric-vehicle charging station at an airport.

Much has changed in the U.S. since the first Earth Day in 1970 – a time when many factories still were allowed to belch smoke and pollutants into the air, and all cars burned fuel containing lead, a dangerous automobile-exhaust pollutant. Over the following decades the nation's Environmental Protection Agency was established, and federal and local jurisdictions enacted many laws protecting air and water supplies and endangered species of animals and plants.

Environmental regulations nevertheless still cause controversy in some parts of the U.S. The two main political parties, Democrats and Republicans, frequently contest each other's claims about the effect of greenhouse-gas emissions on the warming of the planet. As the nation has struggled to recover from the worst economic downturn in 70 years, some have questioned whether environmental laws contributed to the loss of jobs and whether the resulting rise in energy costs is worthwhile.

With more than 13 million Americans still jobless, many U.S. consumers have hesitated to purchase higher-priced "environmentally friendly" products. A recent survey has shown that consumers are not buying as many "green" products, such as cleaning supplies for household use, as they did several years ago.

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Hegde's decision to quit Lokpal Bill drafting panel on Saturday
BANGALORE: Scores of people, including leaders of Congress and Janata Dal-Secular, Friday pleaded with Karnataka Lokayukta N. Santosh Hegde not to quit the Lokpal Bill drafting panel over Congress leader Digvijay Singh's attack on him. 

"I think he should continue in the panel," leader of opposition in the assembly Siddaramiah of Congress told reporters here on Hegde's plan to quit in view of "malicious vilification campaign" against civil society members of the panel. 

"You should not get disheartened by these attacks and should not quit the panel for any reason," JD-S state president and former Karnataka chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy pleaded while talking to reporters here. 

Hegde also came under pressure from the public to stay on in the panel, which is mandated to draft the Lokpal bill aimed at curbing corruption at the national level. 

Hegde told reporters that he would announce his decision in New Delhi Saturday after talking to other civil society members on the panel, which also has five central ministers. 

Carrying placards reading "We are with you", "Please do not quit the panel", and "India against corruption", around 100 people, many of them senior citizens, met Hegde at his residence in upscale Sadashivanagar locality in north Bangalore to express support for him. 

Hegde, a retired judge of the Supreme Court, told them that he would not act in haste and only announce his decision Saturday. 

Besides Hegde, the other four members are Gandhian Anna Hazare , social activist Arvind Kejrival and leading lawyers Shanti Bhushan and his son Prashant Bhushan . 

The group members told reporters that Hegde had informed them he had not taken any decision and would consult other civil society members on the panel before finalizing his stand. 

The Bhushans are caught in a CD controversy and also over alleged preferential land allotment to them in Uttar Pradesh. 

Hegde said Thursday he was thinking of quitting the panel, upset at the "malicious vilification campaign" against him. 

Digvijay Singh, a former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and now a Congress general secretary, Thursday questioned what Hegde had done to curb corruption in Karnataka. 

This is the second time in a month that Hegde has come under attack from senior Congress leaders. 

Central Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily had said March 19 that Hegde "starts a probe but does not complete it" and that "his actions against corruption are superficial". 

The next day an angry Hegde ticked him off saying "I don't need a certificate from Veerappa Moily. It is enough if I get a certificate from the people of Karnataka". 

Like Digvijay Singh "clarifying" his remarks, Moily too had written a letter to Hegde hoping that media reports would not spoil their long and cordial relationship. 

  2. Disclosure of unaccounted money in Gujarat jumps to Rs 950 cr
  3. AHMEDABAD: The disclosure of unaccounted wealth during the Income Tax searches in FY10-11 in Gujarat stood at Rs 950.54 crore against Rs 576.51 crore last year, up by 64.86 per cent, a top Income Tax official said here today. 

    Twenty-eight searches were conducted in 2010-11 of which ten were at real estate developers. 

    "The admission of unaccounted wealth during searches was up by 64.86 per cent in 2010-11 as compared to the period a year ago," Director General Income Tax Investigation (DGIT) Gujarat region B N Dutta told reporters. 

    The assesses during searches admitted undisclosed income of Rs 950.54 crore against Rs 576.51 crore in a year ago period, he said adding that admissions per case stood at an average of Rs 33.95 crore against Rs 21.35 crore in the corresponding period. 

    "Ten real estate developers have admitted undisclosed income of Rs 565.80 crore, while a seizure of Rs 23.33 crore was made during searches on their premises," Dutta said. 

    "A Surat-based builder group made a maximum disclosure of Rs 129.60 crore in FY-10-11, while the second highest admission of unaccounted wealth of Rs 103.03 crore was by a infrastructure group," Dutta said. 

    The detection of undisclosed income stood at Rs 1,655.59 crore in FY-10-11 against Rs 977.20 crore in a year-ago period, he said. 

    The average per case detection of undisclosed income during the searches has also shot up to Rs 59.13 crore in FY10-11 as compared to Rs 36.19 crore in the period a year ago, Dutta said. 

    The national average of per case detection is Rs 19.86 crore.

  4. Fifty constituencies in second phase of election in Bengal

    NDTV.com - ‎1 hour ago‎
    PTI, Updated: April 22, 2011 22:46 IST Kolkata: Fifty constituencies will go to polls tomorrow in the second phase of Assembly polls in three districts of West Bengal in which over 93.33 lakh voters would cast ballots to elect representatives from ...

    Bengal MP gheroed for distributing money, EC promises action

    IBNLive.com - ‎2 hours ago‎
    PTI | 09:04 PM,Apr 22,2011 Bolpur/Kolkata, Apr 22 (PTI) CPI-M MP Ramchandra Dom was today gheraoed for about three hours by villagers who alleged that he was distributing money to lure voters in West Bengal's Birbhum district which goes to the polls ...

    WB minister realised Rs 200 crore by selling plots, says TC leader

    Indian Express - ‎2 hours ago‎
    Trinamool Congress leader and MP Kalyan Banerjee on Friday demanded the arrest of West Bengal Housing Minister Gautam Deb for allegedly 'realising' Rs 200 crore by selling 600 plots in Rajarhat township adjacent to the metropolis, in violation of the ...

    Buddha questions source of Trinamool''s election funds

    IBNLive.com - ‎3 hours ago‎
    PTI | 08:04 PM,Apr 22,2011 Kolkata, Apr 22 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today questioned the source of the "huge amount of money" the Trinamool Congress has been spending in its election campaign and said that the Election ...

    Biman disapproves of Deb''s alleged remarks against Mamata

    IBNLive.com - ‎4 hours ago‎
    PTI | 07:04 PM,Apr 22,2011 Kolkata, Apr 22 (PTI) CPI(M) star campaigner for Assembly polls in West Bengal and state housing minister Gautam Deb was today criticised by Left Front chairman Biman Bose for allegedly making unsavoury remarks against ...

    EC begins probe into allegations of money distribution by MP

    IBNLive.com - ‎4 hours ago‎
    PTI | 07:04 PM,Apr 22,2011 Kolkata, Apr 22 (PTI) The Election Commission has started an inquiry into alleged distribution of money by CPI-M MP from Bolpur in Birbhum district's Sainthia assembly constituency, a senior EC official said today. ...

    Polls 2011: Trinamool accuses CPI(M) of buying voters, demands probe

    Daily News & Analysis - ‎5 hours ago‎
    Place: Kolkata | Agency: PTI Trinamool Congress today demanded a thorough inquiry into the alleged distribution of money by a CPI(M) MP Ramchandra Dom in a Birbhum village and said the Marxists were trying to allure voters fearing defeat in the ...

    WB poll battle enters phase two on Saturday

    IBNLive.com - ‎5 hours ago‎
    Kolkata: The Congress-Trinamool Congress alliance, making a determined charge to unseat the Left Front in West Bengal, faces the challenge from its own dissidents as the stage is all set for the second phase of assembly elections on Saturday. ...

    POLL-WB CASES

    IBNLive.com - ‎6 hours ago‎
    PTI | 05:04 PM,Apr 22,2011 False cases will be withdrawn if TC wins- Mamata Canning (WB), Apr 22 (PTI) Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee today alleged that the CPI-M had filed hundreds of false cases and even tried to kill her once. ...

    'CPM plotting with BJP to split opposition votes'

    IBNLive.com - ‎6 hours ago‎
    Canning: Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Friday accused the CPI-M, which leads the state's Left Front government, of forging an underhand deal with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to divide opposition votes. Addressing an election rally at ...
    All 105 related articles »

    Timeline of articles

    Timeline of articles
    Number of sources covering this story
    Bengal MP gheroed for distributing money, EC promises action
    ‎2 hours ago‎ - IBNLive.com
    Left defeat on Sonia's mind
    ‎Apr 21, 2011‎ - Hindustan Times
    Central funds misused by Bengal govt: Sonia
    ‎Apr 20, 2011‎ - Hindustan Times
    Pranab attacks CPM, left, right and centre
    ‎Apr 20, 2011‎ - Hindustan Times

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Let Somnath campaign if he wants to: Karat

Indian Express - ‎20 hours ago‎
The CPM is okay with Somnath Chatterjee campaigning for the Left Front but is silent on the possibility of taking back the expelled leader. "Whoever supports the Left Front, any personality, is welcome to campaign," said CPM general secretary Prakash ...

Somnath welcome to campaign for Left Front: Karat

The Hindu - ‎Apr 21, 2011‎
PTI The CPI(M) on Thursday said the party's expelled leader and former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee was welcome to campaign for the Left Front in the West Bengal Assembly elections. "Somnath Chatterjee, Dr Ashok Mitra are welcome. ...

Vote for Left Front in WB, appeals Somnath

IBNLive.com - ‎Apr 20, 2011‎
Kolkata: He was expelled from the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) three years ago, but former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee has appealed to voters to return the Left Front to power in the ongoing West Bengal polls. ...
"Somnath Chatterjee, Dr Ashok Mitra are welcome. Anybody who wants to extend support to Left Front are welcome. We have taken a clear stand," CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat told reporters here when asked about Mr. Chatterjee campaigning for the party in the Assembly poll.
more by Prakash Karat - Apr 21, 2011 - The Hindu(2 occurrences)

Once a communist, always a communist — that's Somnath

Hindustan Times - ‎Apr 20, 2011‎
Though spurned by his party, Somnath Chatterjee's heart still beats for the Left. The Bolpur heavyweight, along with several other local intellectuals and influential people, have requested the citizens to cast their votes for the formation of eight ...

Bengal polls: Veterans pitch in to save Left

NDTV.com - ‎Apr 18, 2011‎
Veteran Communists who distanced themselves from the Left in the last few years are now coming to the aid of the party in West Bengal as it goes to the polls from today. After Somnath Chatterjee, who is scheduled to campaign for a CPM leader, ...

Karat disowns veterans

Express Buzz - ‎13 hours ago‎
KOLKATA: The dour CPM general secretary, Prakash Karat, on Thursday splashed cold water on the latent excitement over the old-guard-Somanth Chatterjee, Ashok Mitra and Prabhat Patnaik-doing their bit for the Left Front regime in West Bengal in its hour ...

'Left will come to power'

Times Now.tv - ‎14 hours ago‎
Amidst the poll fever in West Bengal, former Lok Sabha Speaker and veteran Left leader Somnath Chatterjee spoke exclusively to TIMES NOW. Somnath admitted that he did not resign from the party but was expelled. However he did not fail to mention that ...

Karat denies CPI-M asked Somnath to campaign

Mangalorean.com - ‎Apr 21, 2011‎
Kolkata, April 21 (IANS) CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat Thursday denied that the party was forced to allow sacked leader Somnath Chatterjee to campaign in West Bengal's assembly elections. "Please don't draw any interpretation," Karat told the ...

Vote for Left, appeals Somnath

Deccan Chronicle - ‎Apr 20, 2011‎
He had summarily been expelled for not following the diktat of the Red Book, nevertheless former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee's love for the Lefts has not diminished yet. Besides giving his nod and breaking his stint of political retirement to ...

''Media creating hype over Chatterjee campaigning for CPI-M''

MSN India - ‎Apr 20, 2011‎
Kolkata, Apr 20 (PTI) The CPI(M) today accused the media of creating a hype over expelled leader and former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee campaigning for the party''s candidates. "When Chatterjee was expelled, the media had a headache and the ...
All 12 related articles »
22 APR, 2011, 09.57PM IST,ANI 

$500 mn gambled away in Indo-Pak WC semi-final: Malcolm Speed

SYDNEY: The money gambled on cricket now is astronomical, and if former International Cricket Council (ICC) CEO Malcolm Speed is to be believed, at least 500 million dollars was gambled away during the recent World Cup semi-final between India and Pakistan in Mohali , India. 

The Age quotes Speed as saying in his book "Sticky Wicket: A Decade of Change in World Cricket", that any game involving India attracts about 200 million dollars. 

Betfair chief executive Andrew Twaits believes it would be naive to suggest approaches to players were confined to punters or bookmakers in illegal, unregulated markets. 

He argues all states should adopt the Victorian requirement for all betting agencies to gain approval from the relevant sport and for all gambling operators to move towards an account-based betting regime. 

''The transparency that an account-based model creates is a vital first step towards guarding against corruption in sport,'' Twaits said in a blog. 

Speed adds: "The other vital ingredient is for there to be specific criminal penalties for those involved in gambling-related corruption whether those allegations relate to outright match-fixing or spot-fixing or trading with the benefit of price-sensitive information.'' 

Speed, now executive director of the Coalition of Major Professional and Participation Sports, is expected to recommend both of those things in a research paper in its final drafting stages. 

Lord Paul Condon, the former chief of the ICC's anti-corruption unit, told the ICC board in 2009 the absence of the council's investigators from that season's Indian Premier League called into question the integrity of the event. He also expressed concern about the party atmosphere, which enabled easy access to players. 

ICC investigators now have a presence at the IPL and the Twenty20 Champions League, in which CA has a financial stake.
Govt planning 100% FDI in sea plane operations
Government is planning 100 per cent foreign direct investment in sea plane operations as there is scope of phenomenal growth of sea plane, general aviation and helicopter travel. 

"With India having a long coast line, there is a need for concerted efforts to promote sea plane operations. They are significant for the economy of islands like Anadaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep," said S N A Zaidi, Civil Aviation Secretary while addressing a seminar on "Operations of Sea plane in India". 

The seminar was organised by Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited which has started the country's first sea-plane operations -- Jal Hans -- in Andamans and Nicobar Islands. 

He said that after general aviation and helicopter operations, there is scope of phenomenal growth of sea plane operations in India. 

To promote the sector, the Civil Aviation Ministry has created a separate department to look after the matters related to infrastructure, safety, security and regulatory issues. 

This would take care of disposal of cases related to cost and time of transactions in this sector, Zaidi said adding the the Ministry was strengthening the regulatory authority with the setting up of Civil Aviation Authority.

The Civil Aviation Secretary said there was a requirement of over 1,000 sea planes world wide in next decade and "10 per cent of them should come to India". 

Manufacturers like Donier, Viking and Russia BE 200 Jets also said there was tremendous scope for sea plane operations in India.

  1. [DOC] 

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'We don't want revenge. We want change.' This is Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's anthem for the most decisive encounter of her life. Has it struck a chord with the people? Or will the longest serving government in the country survive the battle for West Bengal? A Headlines Today-ORG opinion poll has come out with the result showing, who will emerge victorious: Mamata or Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. A poll that projects the number of seats the two arch-rivals will win, the most definitive sign of which way the wind is blowing.  

When asked if they would prefer another term for the Left Front or is it time for a change of government, 38% voters said they preferred another term for the Left, but 53% said they favour change. That confirms the reading of most poll pundits.

When asked whom they favour as the state's next chief minister, Mamata Banerjee was a clear favourite with the people of Bengal. The railways minister polled 49% of the votes to Buddhadeb's 20. Six per cent said they would rather have Pranab Mukherjee as CM.

It follows that people are deeply disappointed with Buddhadeb's performance as CM, with 27% rating his performance as poor. Another 27% believe it is average. And 13% have judged it very poor. Twenty-two per cent of the voters though have rated Buddha rule as good.

What will come as a rude shock also for the chief minister is the fact that between him and Jyoti Basu, 56% prefer Basu over Buddhadeb. Buddhadeb polls a dismal 13 % of the votes.

Even as Buddha's ratings collapse, Mamata's are rising. Asked to rate her performance as railway minister, an overwhelming 74% of voters said it is good. Only 18% believe it is bad.

When asked how good or bad a chief minister Mamata will prove to be, 25% said she will be very good, 29% said she will be good. Nineteen per cent though are willing to bet she will be bad.

Asked whether Trinamool's Singur/Nandigram agitations were pro or anti-people, 54% said it was pro-people. Thirty-four said it was anti-people.

Despite what happened to the Nano, 62% of people believe industries will not flee Bengal in a Mamata regime. Twenty-four say they will.

In fact, 52% believe that Kolkata has fallen behind other metros because of Left's policies.

The Trinamool's alleged connection with Naxalites isn't a big problem for the voting public. Twenty-nine per cent believe it will work in favour of the party. Twenty-seven per cent say it will work against the party, while forty-four per cent decided not to hazard a guess on the matter.

Finally here's a look at what Headlines Today-ORG are projecting for the 2011 elections to West Bengal.

In 2011, the ORG projects the Left will get 43% of the vote share, 44% for Trinamool and allies and 12% for others. ORG projects Trinamool and allies will get 182 seats, the Left will get 101 seats, and others 11.

ORG have been careful to qualify their prediction of a Mamata Banerjee victory by noting that the difference in vote share between the two alliances is not as large as is the public impression. What is working for Mamata is a palpable, consuming desire: after three decades of the Left, the voter wants change.
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/story/mamata-has-edge-in-west-bengal-opinion-poll/1/133957.html

Fifty constituencies in second phase of election in Bengal

Press Trust of India, Updated: April 22, 2011 22:46 IST


Kolkata:  Fifty constituencies will go to polls tomorrow in the second phase of Assembly polls in three districts of West Bengal in which over 93.33 lakh voters would cast ballots to elect representatives from among 293 aspirants.
        
The three districts where election would be held are Murshidabad having 22 seats, Birbhum--11 and Nadia--17. In all 11,531 polling stations have been set up.
        
Tight security arrangements have been made in all three districts to ensure free, fair and peaceful election.
        
Police sources said about 4800 security personnel including central para-military personnel have been deployed in the three districts.
        
Defying the party's warning, four rebel Congress candidates backed by party MP Adhir Chowdhury are contesting as independents in Murshidabad district and an equal number of dissidents are in the fray in Nadia. All of them have been suspended by the party.
       
Congress president Sonia Gandhi and union Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, an MP from Murshidabad and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee campaigned in the districts urging voters not to vote for any rebel candidate and utilise the opportunity to oust the Left Front government.
        
Prominent Left leaders who campaigned included Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee in Nadia besides CPIM politburo member Biman Bose and Housing minister Gautam Deb.
        
BJP veteran L K Advani and party chief Nitin Gadkari also took part in the campaigning.
        
The main poll plank of Trinamool Congress-Congress combine is for ushering in 'paribartan' (political change) in the state ruled by CPIM-led Left Front for the last 34 years.
        
Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has ridiculed the slogan for change.
        
Prominent candidates whose fate would be decided are Union Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee's son Abhijit Mukherjee from Nalhati, Panchayat minister and CPI(M) leader Anisur Rehman, former High Court judge Nure Alam Chowdhury contesting on Trinamool Congress ticket from Murarai and Rukbanur Rehman, brother of computer graphics teacher Rizwanur Rehman from the Chapra constituency.
        
CPIM has fielded candidates in 31 seats followed by TC in 29 and Congress in 21 seats. BJP has put up nominees in all the 50 constituencies and Bahujan Samaj Party in 27 seats.

  

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Story first published:
April 22, 2011 22:44 IST

Fifty constituencies in second phase of election in Bengal

NDTV.com - ‎47 minutes ago‎
PTI, Updated: April 22, 2011 22:46 IST Kolkata: Fifty constituencies will go to polls tomorrow in the second phase of Assembly polls in three districts of West Bengal in which over 93.33 lakh voters would cast ballots to elect representatives from ...

Bengal MP gheroed for distributing money, EC promises action

IBNLive.com - ‎1 hour ago‎
PTI | 09:04 PM,Apr 22,2011 Bolpur/Kolkata, Apr 22 (PTI) CPI-M MP Ramchandra Dom was today gheraoed for about three hours by villagers who alleged that he was distributing money to lure voters in West Bengal's Birbhum district which goes to the polls ...

Buddha questions source of Trinamool''s election funds

IBNLive.com - ‎2 hours ago‎
PTI | 08:04 PM,Apr 22,2011 Kolkata, Apr 22 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today questioned the source of the "huge amount of money" the Trinamool Congress has been spending in its election campaign and said that the Election ...

BJP takes a dig at Trinamool on black money issue

iNewsOne - ‎53 minutes ago‎
Kolkata, April 22 (IANS) Taking a dig at former alliance partner Trinamool Congress on the issue of black money being used in the ongoing assembly elections, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Jaitley Wednesday said the 'new richness' of ...

WB minister realised Rs 200 crore by selling plots, says TC leader

Indian Express - ‎2 hours ago‎
Trinamool Congress leader and MP Kalyan Banerjee on Friday demanded the arrest of West Bengal Housing Minister Gautam Deb for allegedly 'realising' Rs 200 crore by selling 600 plots in Rajarhat township adjacent to the metropolis, in violation of the ...

Biman disapproves of Deb''s alleged remarks against Mamata

IBNLive.com - ‎3 hours ago‎
PTI | 07:04 PM,Apr 22,2011 Kolkata, Apr 22 (PTI) CPI(M) star campaigner for Assembly polls in West Bengal and state housing minister Gautam Deb was today criticised by Left Front chairman Biman Bose for allegedly making unsavoury remarks against ...

Mamata dismisses charge of use of black money in polls

Economic Times - ‎11 hours ago‎
KOLKATA: Rubbishing charges that black money was used to fund the Trinamool Congress' poll campaign in West Bengal, party chief Mamata Banerjee today claimed the "wild accusations" would not cut much ice with the electorate. "What is the credibility of ...

Left defeat on Sonia's mind

Hindustan Times - ‎Apr 21, 2011‎
Sonia Gandhi was the main face behind the Congress victory in the Lok Sabha election.... She left nothing to speculation. Her only wish is to see voters oust the CPI(M)-led Left Front government from Bengal. All India Congress Committee (AICC) ...

Sonia seeks end to Left Front reign

The Hindu - Ananya Dutta - ‎Apr 20, 2011‎
PHOTO: PTI Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and his son Abhijit, who is contesting the West Bengal Assembly election, at a rally at Nalhati in Birbhum district on Wednesday. NALHATI (West Bengal): Reaffirming her ...

Pranab attacks CPM, left, right and centre

Hindustan Times - ‎Apr 20, 2011‎
Union finance minister and Jangipur MP Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday attacked the Left Front government for the deteriorating law and order situation in the state in his election campaign for Congress candidates. He said the alliance with the Trinamool ...
All 91 related articles »

Timeline of articles

Timeline of articles
Number of sources covering this story
Bengal MP gheroed for distributing money, EC promises action
‎1 hour ago‎ - IBNLive.com
Left defeat on Sonia's mind
‎Apr 21, 2011‎ - Hindustan Times
Central funds misused by Bengal govt: Sonia
‎Apr 20, 2011‎ - Hindustan Times
Pranab attacks CPM, left, right and centre
‎Apr 20, 2011‎ - Hindustan Times

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Shanti Bhushan refuses to comment on CD controversy
Eminent lawyer Shanti Bhushan today refused to comment on the CD controversy which has led to a certain section demand his resignation from the joint committee to draft the Lokpal Bill.

"I do not want to give any interview. I don't want to talk (on the issue)," Bhushan said when reporters asked him for comments on the CD controversy.

The co-chairman of the joint drafting committee of the Lokpal Bill arrived here to contest a case of Noida Power Company at the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court.

The case was lodged in 2008. He was present during the one-and-a-half hour hearing by Justices Uma Nath Singh and Satish Chandra, who fixed May 12 as the next date for hearing.

The former law minister also went to meet members of Awadh Bar Association on its request.

Bhushans should quit Lokpal drafting panel: Mayawati
Wading into the raging controversy involving the Lokpal Bill drafting committee members, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati today virtually demanded resignation of the Bhushans .

"The committee should distance itself from those whose integrity is doubted," she said, without naming anyone in the wake of the CD controversy involving lawyer Shanti Bhushan and property allotments to him.

Shanti Bhushan and his son Prashant are both members of the 10-member committee.

At a press conference, she also demanded inclusion of an "apolitical scheduled caste member" in the committee.

"Of the 10 members including those of civil society, there is not member of scheduled caste in the drafting committee. We want the committee to be re-organised and an apolitical scheduled caste member included in it," she said.

Alleging that Congress forgot to include an SC member in the committee "due to its casteist mentality", Mayawati said the party has ignored the caste on important occasions.

She said Anna Hazare should have discussed before giving names of drafting committee members.

"How could he forget to include the name of an SC member in the committee when Maharashtra, the state to which he belongs, has witnessed a number of social agitations for giving rights to the community?" she asked.

She also said that Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar also belonged to Hazare's state.

Welcoming Hazare's anti-corruption agitation, she said BSP has been fighting corruption and criminalisation and was determined to root them out from the society.

"The evil of corruption and criminalisation has become chronic in the state due to previous governments. BSP will root them out but it will take time," she added.

Godhra case: Gujarat HC reserves order on summoning Modi

The Gujarat High Court today reserved its order on whether Chief Minister Narendra Modi should be summoned or not by a panel probing the 2002 post-Godhra riots. 

A Division Bench of Chief Justice S J Mukhopadhaya and Justice Akil Kureshi reserved the ruling after the state Government completed its argument where it questioned the locus standi of Jan Sangharsh Manch (JSM), the NGO which had sought questioning of Modi, in the matter. 

JSM had approached the High Court last year seeking quashing of the Nanavati Commission's order of not summoning Modi, and issuing summons to the BJP leader and three others for cross-examination with regard to the communal riots. 

Today, Advocate General Kamal Trivedi argued that JSM, which represents some of the riot victims, had no locus standi to seek summoning of Modi. He demanded that the NGO's plea be rejected by the court. 

JSM counsel Mukul Sinha submitted that the State had no right to oppose his plea as it was the Government which amended the terms of reference of the Commission in June 2002 for inquiring into the role and conduct of the Chief Minister and other Ministers with regard to the riots. 

Therefore, Sinha, submitted, it was absolutely necessary to summon the Chief Minister and others. 

During an earlier hearing, Sinha had maintained that by not summoning the CM and other Ministers, the entire amended terms of reference would be nullified. 

He had argued that summoning of Modi and others was required for collecting evidence with regard to the Godhra train burning incident and subsequent riots.
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FX reserves $307.917 billion as of April 15

: India's foreign exchange reserves fell to $307.917 billion as of April 15 from $308.203 billion in the previous week, the central bank said in its weekly statistical supplement on Friday.

Changes in foreign currency assets, expressed in dollar terms, include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of other currencies held in its reserves like the euro, sterling and yen, the central bank said.

Foreign exchange reserves include India's Reserve Tranche position in the International Monetary Fund ( IMF )), the central bank said.

POSCO

Posco: Orissa govt asks for report on 2 village resolutions 

Indian Express - ‎2 hours ago‎
Criticised for allegedly ignoring resolutions of gram panchayats in two villages under Posco's proposed plant site area, Orissa government has asked the district administration of Jagatsinghpur to submit a report on the controversy.
Orissa govt asks for report on 2 village resolutions in PoscoIBNLive.com
Orissa govt asks for report on 2 village resolutions in Poscoarea Times of India
Sify

Posco Profit Drops on Costs; Aims Higher Earnings on Prices

BusinessWeek - Sungwoo Park -‎8 hours ago‎
April 22 (Bloomberg) -- Posco, the world's third-biggest steelmaker by output, reported a 33 percent drop in first- quarter profit as raw material costs increased and forecast higher earnings this year after boosting steel prices.
Posco Profit Falls 33% Wall Street Journal
Posco posts sharp drop in Q1 net profitAFP
Yonhap News - Platts - Reuters Africa -The Korea Herald

CPI welcomes Ramesh's decision to putPosco clearance on hold 

Daily News & Analysis - ‎11 hours ago‎
Place: New Delhi | Agency: PTI The CPI today welcomed environment minister Jairam Ramesh's decision to put the forest clearance for the Rs54,000 crore Posco steel project in Orissa on hold and suggested that he should withdraw the clearance given to it ...
POSCO war zone - No to POSCO until village bodies approve SteelGuru
Posco project: Eco Ministry decision hailed Business Line
हिंदी में
Rediff

Orissa hopeful even as POSCOproject stalls 

Hindustan Times - ‎Apr 20, 2011‎
PTI South Korean steelmaker POSCO's Rs 52000-crore Orissa project appears to have slipped into a limbo with the environment ministry halting forest clearance for the project.
Posco not just Orissa Business Today
Orissa govt claims fake villagers stoppingPosco Economic Times
Hindu Business Line - IBNLive.com -Moneycontrol.com
Orissadiary.com

Political parties protest againstPosco 

IBNLive.com - ‎Apr 20, 2011‎
PTI | 10:04 PM,Apr 20,2011 Bhubaneswar, Apr 20 (PTI) Intensifying their stir against the proposed Posco project, workers of five political parties staged a demonstration here today accusing BJD government of submitting false report to the Centre on ...
Five Political parties allege Odisha Govt submit false report to centre over ...Orissadiary.com
5 political parties protest against PoscoExpressindia.com

Seoul shares end flat after gains, techs fall

Reuters - Jungyoun Park - ‎10 hours ago‎
Shares in POSCO rose 0.5 percent ahead of its quarterly results announcement after market close on Friday. The world's No.3 steelmaker was expected to report first quarter operating profit of 1.1 trillion won, according to ThomsonReuters I/B/E/S.

POSCO carries out print media campaign 

SteelGuru - ‎Apr 20, 2011‎
Based on the inherent characteristics of each media,POSCO has implemented the win win campaign through a television, which is advantageous in delivering a corporate image, and since last month, it has carried out a campaign promoting management ...
Reuters India

Posco raises price of steel products to boost earnings 

JoongAng Daily - Jung Seung-hyun -‎Apr 19, 2011‎
Posco, the nation's largest steelmaker, announced bigger than expected price increases for its main product by 160000 won ($147.04) per ton.
POSCO to Raise Prices on Major ProductsThe Chosun Ilbo
POSCO to lift domestic steel prices by KRW 160000 a tonne SteelGuru
MarketWatch - Arirang News -People's Daily Online
STLD
Calcutta Telegraph

Orissa optimistic about Tata Steel, Bhushan and Jindal 

IBNLive.com - ‎Apr 21, 2011‎
PTI | 09:04 PM,Apr 21,2011 Bhubaneswar, Apr 21 (PTI) Admitting that progress of projects proposed by two global steel majors - Posco and ArcelorMittal - were "not satisfactory," Orissa government today said it was optimistic about Tata Steel, ...
Orissa hoping to see steel MoUs starting production in 2013 SteelGuru
BOM:500055
Orissadiary.com

Posco's battle continues on forest dwellers in project area 

Moneycontrol.com - ‎Apr 13, 2011‎
Korean steel major Posco (The Pohang Iron and Steel Company) may have won the larger war against environment hurdles, but it is still fighting battles on the ground site.
No tribal dwellers in Posco project site, says Orissa Economic Times
Orissa says no tribal or OTFDs in Posco''s proposed plant site IBNLive.com
The Hindu - Financial Express -Business Standard (blog)
Sify

Forest Rights Act comes to aid anti-POSCO agitators 

Daily News & Analysis - ‎Apr 17, 2011‎
Place: Dhinkia (Orissa) | Agency: PTI The Forest Rights Act, framed five years ago, has come to the aid of anti-POSCO agitators in Orissa in a big way and villagers in Jagatsingpur district where the plant is proposed to be built are well aware of the ...
Posco by Due Process: The company must engage with people Economic Times
State asks district administration to examine palli sabha resolutions Business Standard
Real Time News, India -Steel Business Briefing (subscription) -MSN India
The Hindu

Jairam backs two villages against Orissa govt, Posco 

Times of India - ‎Apr 14, 2011‎
NEW DELHI: In the David-Goliath story playing out in Jagatsinghpura over the Rs 54000 crore Posco plant, environment minister Jairam Ramesh has come out in favour of the two villages ranged in battle against the state government and the Korean steel ...
Video: Patnaik says no tribals in Posco's plant site, but locals differ NDTV Profit
Jairam Ramesh's letter on POSCO sent to forest department: Naveen Patnaik Daily News & Analysis
Economic Times - Wall Street Journal -Indian Express - Chandigarh Tribune

POSCO hosted 1st POSPIA 3 Steering Committee 

SteelGuru - ‎Apr 19, 2011‎
POSCO has hosted the 1st POSPIA 3.0 Steering Committee at the Incheon Songdo Global R&D Center on April 6th 2011 and April 7th 2011, discussing the way of working 10 years in the future and sharing the direction of change.

JFE eyes Asian recovery after Q4 slammed by quake 

Reuters Africa - Yuko Inoue - ‎Apr 21, 2011‎
JFE, which vies with Asian rivals like POSCO , Baosteel and Nippon Steel, failed to provide earnings guidance for this financial year after the March 11 quake and tsunami disrupted supply chains for carmakers, key buyers of steel, and forced them to ...

Jairam Ramesh asks orissa to give more info on Posco 

Hindustan Times - ‎Apr 11, 2011‎
Even as the Orissa government announced on Monday that it was set to complete the process to seek final environment clearance for Korean steel major Posco, environment minister Jairam Ramesh has presented another hurdle to the project.
Protest may queer pitch for Odisha Govt's Posco assurance report Economic Times
Orissa hopeful of Centre's nod to Posco project Business Standard
Wall Street Journal - Indian Express

Naveen to "look into" Jairam Ramesh''s letter on Posco project 

IBNLive.com - ‎Apr 12, 2011‎
"I will look into that matter," Patnaik told reporters while replying to a question on Ramesh's letter to him on the Poscoproject. The chief minister who was reluctant to visit Posco'sproposed plant site villages near Paradip due to prolonged ...

Report on Posco fails to impress Ramesh 

Business Standard - ‎Apr 14, 2011‎
Even as the government has speeded up efforts to put in place the much-awaited auctioning regime for coal allocation, the domestic industry is against the move arguing that it would increase the financial burden of companies and lead to market ...
Reuters India

POSCO outlook cautious, Q1 misses forecast on higher costs

Reuters India - Hyunjoo Jin, Ju-min Park -‎7 hours ago‎
SEOUL (Reuters) - POSCO's annual earnings may remain under pressure due to fragile demand and high raw materials costs after the world's No.

Posco Profit Drops on Rising Costs; Targets Earnings Improvement on Prices 

Bloomberg - Sungwoo Park - ‎7 hours ago‎
Posco (005490), the world's third-biggest steelmaker by output, reported a 33 percent drop in first- quarter profit as raw material costs increased and forecast higher earnings this year after boosting ...

Price freezes expected to eat into Poscoprofits 

JoongAng Daily - ‎Apr 12, 2011‎
Korea's leading steelmaker, Posco, is expected to report an operating income of less than 1 trillion won ($917 million) for the January-March period due to a price freeze amid soaring raw materials costs, analysts said yesterday.

DGH to summon RIL next month on falling KG-D6 output

Livemint - ‎4 hours ago‎
PTI New Delhi: Concerned over fall in output at India's biggest gas field, oil regulator DGH will summon Reliance Industries (RIL) to seek explanation on its failure to meet drilling commitments that were a few years back used to justify over $8.8 ...
NSE:RELIANCE

RIL's 14 pct profit rise disappoints on low margin

BusinessWeek - ‎6 hours ago‎
Reliance Industries says its profit rose 14 percent to 53.76 billion rupees ($1.2 billion) in the quarter ending in March. The number is less than expected. The company says profit was dragged down by falling oil and gas production revenues and lower ...
NSE:RELIANCE

RIL, DE Shaw to combine core strengths in financial biz JV

Economic Times - ‎10 hours ago‎
NEW DELHI: Mukesh Ambani-led RIL has said it will capitalise on the core strength of its businesses and expertise of global investment major DE Shaw in its proposed foray into the financial services sector. Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has entered ...
NSE:RELIANCE

Indian Stocks Rally for Third Day; Lenders, Metal Shares Gain

Bloomberg - ‎Apr 21, 2011‎
By Rajhkumar K Shaaw - Thu Apr 21 12:00:55 GMT 2011 Indian stocks advanced for a third day, led by lenders and metal companies, amid expectation their earnings growth will be robust. State Bank of India (SBIN), the biggest lender, paced gains among its ...

Gas production to be key trigger in RIL Q4 results Choksey

Moneycontrol.com - ‎Apr 21, 2011‎
In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Deven Choksey, MD of KR Choksey Shares and Securities spoke about his expectations from the oil and gas major Reliance Industries' quarterly numbers. He expects the company's net level the profit to be around Rs 5450 ...
NSE:RELIANCE

Reliance Industries misses forecasts, reports 14% rise in net profit for Q4

Economic Times - ‎18 hours ago‎
NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: Reliance Industries reported a 14% rise in quarterly net profit. Despite missing forecasts, the country's top company, by market value, signaled a rosy outlook as it announced promising gas discovery in a new basin and ...
NSE:RELIANCE

RIL's Q4 performance is not going to please market: Experts

Moneycontrol.com - ‎Apr 21, 2011‎
India's largest private sector company, Reliance Industries (RIL) on Thursday reported 14% rise in its standalone net profit to Rs 5376 crore in the quarter ended March 31, 2011. The results were below analysts' estimates as flat production from its ...
NSE:RELIANCE

Government gets tough with RIL on KG gas

Business Standard - Ajay Modi - ‎Apr 21, 2011‎
Tells it to implement official utilisation policy without more delay, end lag in drilling targets. The petroleum ministry has hardened its stance on the fall in development plan targets from the D6 gas field of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) in the ...
NSE:RELIANCE

RIL net profit rises 14% to Rs 5376 cr

Business Standard - ‎22 hours ago‎
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) today posted its highest ever quarterly net profit, but failed to meet the street's expectation on lower than expected refining margins and flat natural gas production from its flagship Krishna-Godavari basin. ...
NSE:RELIANCE

RIL net rises 14.14%, below expectations

Livemint - Aveek Datta - ‎22 hours ago‎
Mumbai: Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), India's largest company by market value, recorded a 14.14% year-on-year growth in net profit for the quarter ended 31 March at Rs5,376 crore, which was below Street expectations. A consensus of the earnings ...
NSE:RELIANCE
All 67 related articles »

Timeline of articles

Timeline of articles
Number of sources covering this story
RIL, DE Shaw to combine core strengths in financial biz JV
‎10 hours ago‎ - Economic Times
RIL: Nothing to write home
‎Apr 21, 2011‎ - Business Standard
Reliance Industries posts record Q4 profit, lags estimate
‎Apr 21, 2011‎ - Economic Times
India Shares Edge Higher
‎Apr 21, 2011‎ - Wall Street Journal

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Ramesh''s environmental concern hypocrisy: Achuthanandan

IBNLive.com - ‎1 hour ago‎
PTI | 09:04 PM,Apr 22,2011 Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 22 (PTI) Slamming Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh's stand on endosulfan in view of its adverse effects on health, Kerala Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan today said the concern voiced by him was ...

Will ban endosulfan if adverse effect on health proved: Ramesh

Deccan Herald - ‎3 hours ago‎
Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh today said endosulfan will be banned countrywide if its adverse effect on health is proved inviting a caustic comment from Kerala Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan who said his environmental concerns are ''sheer ...

Centre not in favour of banning insecticide endosulfan

Economic Times - ‎15 hours ago‎
NEW DELHI: Even as an all-party delegation from Kerala meets Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here on Friday to press for the imposition of a ban on the use of endosulfan, the Centre has stuck to its position that a precipitate action on the issue would ...
...will be banned if its adverse effect on health was proved. "Endosulfan is banned in Kerala. I respect the decision of the government of Kerala and if there is evidence to show that it has all India health effects, we will ban it at the national level," Ramesh had said.Lashing out at the Union minister, Achuthanandan said ...
more by VS Achuthanandan - 1 hour ago - IBNLive.com(13 occurrences)

Chemical and non-chemical alternatives to endosulfan exist

The Hindu - Roy Mathew - ‎Apr 20, 2011‎
The Hindu Kerala Chief Minister, VSAchuthanandan inaugurating a signature campaign against the use of endosulfan in Thiruvananthapuram on Wedneday. His ministerial colleagues, MABaby, Binoy Viswam and M. Vijayakumar are in the picture. ...

Endosulfan ban: Kerala team to meet Prime Minister

The Hindu - ‎Apr 20, 2011‎
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Cabinet on Wednesday decided to send an all-party delegation to the Centre to press for India's support to the proposal for global ban on Endosulfan at the conference of parties of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic ...

NGO seeks ban on Endosulfan, wants implementation of NHRC report

The Hindu - ‎Apr 20, 2011‎
ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA), a non-governmental organisation, has urged the Centre to immediately ban pesticide Endosulfan. Indiscriminate use of the chemical in cashew groves in Kasargod district and adjoining areas in Kerala for several years has ...

VS tells Union Ministers to clarify stand

The Hindu - ‎18 hours ago‎
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan demanded here on Thursday that Union Ministers from Kerala should clarify their stand on banning Endosulfan. The Chief Minister said there were six Central Ministers from Kerala, including Defence ...

Kerala govt steps up relief for endosulfan victims

Indian Express - ‎Apr 20, 2011‎
On Monday, when the four-day Stockholm convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants begins in Geneva, Kerala would observe Anti-endosulfan Day with government-sponsored programmes across the state. Besides, an all-party delegation would meet the Prime ...

'No records available for pesticide use in state'

Indian Express - ‎Apr 19, 2011‎
The Gujarat Agriculture Department has in a reply to a Right To Information (RTI) application said that there are no records available for the amount of pesticides being used in farms in the state. The department also said it has not conducted any ...
All 22 related articles »

ABOUT FICCI
 
Office Bearers

Dr. Amit Mitra 
Secretary General

Recipient of the Country's Prestigious National Civilian Award "Padma Shree" conferred by the President of India in 2008

Dr Amit Mitra did his Masters in Economics from Delhi School of Economics in 1970 and further attained the Doctorate Degree in Economics from Duke University, USA in 1978. Later he taught in major Universities including Duke University & Franklin Marshall College in Pennsylvania in the United States for over a decade and received the prestigious Sears-Roebuck Foundation Award for Distinguished Teaching, 1990. Furthermore, he has wide Post Doctoral Research experience as senior consultant and has undertaken many commissioned research projects of importance from various national and international organizations.

He is Chairman of the Expert Committee constituted by the Hon'ble Railway Minister of India to advise the Railway Ministry on innovative financing and implementation of the economically unviable but socially desired projects. He has also been appointed a member on the Board of Air India-National Aviation Company of India Ltd. (NACIL). He is also on the Board of IL&FS –CDI, a hundred per cent subsidiary of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited (IL&FS) which is one of India's leading infrastructure development and finance company, Also on the Board of Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (DMICDC).

Dr Mitra was also a Member on the Advisory Board of the India Fund of the Unit Trust of India (UTI), Member, Advisory Board of Microsoft Corporation (India) Pvt. Ltd., a marketing subsidiary of Microsoft in India, Member, Central Listing Authority, established by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Member, Life Insurance Council, Member of the 'Eminent Persons Group' established by the UNCTAD Secretary General on Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs)- 2006, Member, Consultative Group set up by the Inter-State Council Secretariat (ISCS), Member, Committee on Public-Private Partnership in the area of Defence (2004-2005), Member, Advisory Committee on Competition Advocacy for advising Competition Commission of India, Member, Expert Committee to formulate energy Policy by Planning Commission (2005-06), Member of the "India-China Eminent Persons Group" from the Indian side, and Member, Advisory Committee to Union Commerce Minister of India on International Trade (WTO), and Member of the "Indo - EU Roundtable" from the Indian side (initiated by Government of India and the EU). He is a Member of the Joint Study Groups set up between the Governments of India-China, India-Japan, India-Israel, India-Korea & Indo-Russia. He is also represented on various sectoral Committees/Sub-Groups constituted by the National Manufacturing Competitive Council and the Planning Commission, Member of the 'Expert Group on Equitable Development' set up by the Planning Commission for preparing the Eleventh Five Year Plan. He was also Trustee of India Brand Equity Foundation He was appointed in the two-member Committee by the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India for suggesting Alternative Scheme of Collecting Excise Duties. He was also the Chairman of important Committees set up by the Government of India – the Expert Group constituted by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to advise the Government on Statutory framework for regulation of valuation professionals (2008), the Radio Broadcast Policy Committee set up by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (2003). He was also formerly on the Board of Directors of GAIL (India) Ltd., the largest Gas Infrastructure company of India. Also was on the Board of SAIL, the largest steel making company in India.

He is also the Recipient of highest civilian Awards conferred by His Majesty the Emperor of Japan- 2006, President of the Republic of Italy in 2005 and 2007.

Dr Mitra has authored several Academic and Policy writings as also several articles in the leading Indian Newspapers.

 

Amit Mitra to contest: Mamata's image makeover?

Sougata Mukhopadhyay , CNN-IBN 
Updated Mar 14, 2011 at 10:51pm IST

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Kolkata: Is Mamata Banerjee trying to carve a business-friendly image after driving out the Tatas? Amit Mitra, the secretary general of FICCI will be the Trinamool Congress' candidate against CPM's veteran finance minister Asim Dasgupta.
For years the television face of industry, the urbane Delhi School of Economics educated Amit Mitra is as corporate as they come. The former secretary general of FICCI will be the Trinamool Congress' candidate against the CPM's veteran finance minister Asim Dasgupta in Kharda 24 Parganas.
Mamata Banerjee may have driven the Tatas out of Singur and fought against land acquisition for industry in Nandigram but Mitra vows to bring industry back to West Bengal and revive Bengal as a business destination.

"Industry unfriendliness CPM epitomizes because over 30 years industry flight took place from West Bengal. Never can industry prosper on the dead bodies of others," said Amit Mitra

Secretary General, FICCI and Prospective Trinamool Congress Candidate.

Mamata and her party members have been accused of being sympathetic to Maoists but now her candidate list shows an attempt at creating a new Bengal. Former West Bengal chief secretary Manish Gupta will fight Buddhadeb Bhattacahrya in Jadavpur and Hotmail co-founder Sabeer Bhatia will spearhead Trinamool's campaign on the net. Mitra, who is also the grand nephew of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose says history is on his side.

"I have no hesitation in saying that if it means to contest Asim Dasgupta, so be it. I shall do," said Amit Mitra.

Industry, internet and influential former babus, Mamata's list of candidates show a commitment to change and new ideas.

She is clearly attempting an image makeover from her rabble rousing anti-industry, anti-modernity profile. Her message to her voters is that this time, Mamata Banerjee means business.

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/tmc-ropes-in-ficcis-amit-mitra-to-fight-polls/145873-37-64.html

A practical test for economists' theories
Namrata Acharya & Ishita Ayan Dutt / Khardah April 22, 2011, 0:51 IST

Amit MitraIn the rough and tumble of Assembly polls, CPI(M)'s Asim Dasgupta and Trinamool Congress' Amit Mitra cross theoretical swords in Khardah.

Earlier, they would often meet in air-conditioned conference halls buzzing with discussions on taxation and economy. These days they are more likely to run into each other in the heat and dust of Khardah, an unlikely intellectual hotspot in the rough and tumble of West Bengal Assembly polls, but studiously avoid crossing each other's path.

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Twenty-five kilometers from Kolkata, Khardah, which goes to polls on April 27, is host to the battle of the economists: Amit Mitra and Asim Dasgupta. Not surprisingly, it's a battle of theories out there.

Mitra, who did his masters in economics from the Delhi School of Economics and PhD from the Duke University, USA, went into teaching before moving back to India where he eventually became the secretary-general of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry, or Ficci. Under Mitra, the industry lobby rediscovered its voice and became a worthy rival to the Confederation of Indian Industry which in the 1990s had got used to setting the industry's agenda in its parleys with the government. After Mamata Banerjee became railway minister, Mitra came to be identified as her trusted advisor. Since he threw his hat in the Khardah ring, he has been thought of as the state's finance-minister-in-waiting.

Asim Dasgupta, in the other corner, is no lightweight. A doctoral student of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he was helped by an economist no less than Paul A Samuelson in establishing that there was not necessarily a contradiction between growth and equity. In this bout, Dasgupta is the defending champion, in the sense that he has been the state's finance minister since 1987 in the CPI(M) government.
 

THE BENGAL ACTION PLAN
Communist Party of India (Marxist): The remedies

# Don't treat small savings as debt, and centre must change the rule

# States' revenue is set to increase in the GST regime, and debt situation would improve with the burden of the Sixth Pay Commission decreasing

# Financial discipline will be strengthened

# Revenue deficit would be brought down in stages

# Special cell would be created to speed up maximum utilisation and implementation of the Central projects, with states contribution

# Intensive farming would be raised to over 200% by use of technology
Trinamool Congress: A three-pronged strategy

# Broad and deep focus on West Bengal MSMEs

# Restarting and re-modelling closed PSUs across the state

# Attracting private investments in sectors like engineering, steel, tea, jute, textiles and other areas of manufacturing, mining, power and food processing
Highlights of the 200-day agenda

# Massive cluster development drive

# A supportive mechanism involving grant of property rights for the unorganised sector and a social security mechanism for employees of the informal sector

# Work plan in first 200 days to set up industrial hubs in each district

During the 34 years of the Left Front rule, West Bengal may have achieved equity to some extent, but has faltered in achieving growth. This Assembly elections, the Opposition has made the plight of the state's finances a major issue, and Dasgupta's thesis of growth with equity is now being put through a practical test.

Dogged by high revenue and fiscal deficits, high committed expenditure and high debt compared to revenue receipts, West Bengal is nearing a debt trap. In the current year (2010-11), the state's accumulated debt stood at Rs 1.86 lakh crore, compared with Rs 1.92 lakh crore in the previous year. The state's debt burden increased 29 per cent last year (Rs 1,48,110 crore in 2008-09). As much as 85 per cent of the state's revenue receipts have to be spent on committed expenditure such as salaries, interest payments and subsidies, leaving little room for expenditure on development projects.

But Dasgupta has answers, backed by numbers, and dismisses the claim that the state is nearing a debt trap. At Khardah, flanked by a group of self-help group women, he says: "They are our strength."

The state government last year decided to invest more than Rs 250 crore, up from Rs 162 crore in the previous year, in small scale industries. According to the National Sample Survey (2005-06), West Bengal tops the list in the number of small scale industries in India with 2.753 million. The number of employees in these units is 5.493 million.

For West Bengal, small savings is a big source of funding, and the state has been asking the Centre not to consider it as debt. If conceded, this will, in a flash, dilute the debt column in the state's books. Even under the current norms, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra have higher debt than West Bengal.

"If you see the debt burden component, of the Rs 1.86 lakh crore, Rs 78,000 crore is from small savings. The Centre passes the small savings as loan. We are discussing the situation with the Centre. It is their rule, and they need to change it," says Dasgupta.

The Opposition, dismissing Dasgupta as one who is living in a state of denial, has prepared a 200-day revival plan for state's finances. The plan includes a "deep" focus on medium and small industries, revival of state public sector units and private investment. However, this plan, too, hinges on the same thing that Dasgupta is hoping for: A bailout by the Centre. But a Trinamool government in the state, given the criticality of the party's 19 MPS to the United Progressive Alliance, may be seen as the more likely to have its way with New Delhi.

"In the short term, when Mamata Banerjee becomes the chief minister, she will talk to Pranab Mukherjee for a short-term relief. The Centre and the state will cooperate under Mamata Banerjee and Pranab Mukherjee's leadership, who is also from Bengal. There are great hopes for this partnership. Certainly short-term measures can be taken to get temporary relief through a collaborative approach," Mitra says.

For the Left Front, the Centre's "deprivation" of the state is the reason for the state of Bengal's finances. "They are not doing charity, this is our legitimate share," Dasgupta says about the Centre's debt relief schemes.

The state has been asking for a raise in the share of funds under the 13th Finance Commission from 32 per cent to 50 per cent. "West Bengal is one of the few states which decided to take the entire responsibility of giving salaries to all teachers. No other state does it. With the Sixth Pay Commission's revision, there has been a financial burden on the state," says Dasgupta.

At Khardah, Mitra has been sweating it out, literally. The 63-year old, having discarded the lobbyist's pinstripes for dhoti and an occasional Panama hat, walks almost six hours a day going from one household to another.

"In the short and medium term, the resurgence of Bengal's economy will automatically take care of the state's finances," he says.

The other ace up Mitra'a kurta sleeve is reopening of the 68,000 closed factories. "About 68,000 factories are closed in Bengal. The Left Front government had a confrontational approach. If you adopt a win-win approach for the workers and the owners, some of the factories could reopen. For small and medium enterprises, too, there is an inspector raj, which will improve," he says.

Interestingly, Banerjee's tirades against globalisation, big capital, disinvestment policies and privatisation, are not exactly in tune with what Mitra has been advocating as an industry lobbyist. Mitra, however, sees no conflict. "It is a wrong notion that Trinamool Congress is against industry and globalisation. The party is against companies who come and try setting up factories through eviction of farmers."

If Dasgupta is to be believed, the Left will have the last word. "This is not the last time that we are meeting," he says, looking too composed for the madness around him.

Amit Mitra helped Modi, says Yechury

Hindustan Times - ‎Apr 16, 2011‎
The Trinamool Congress supremo, Mamata Banerjee's decision to field the Ficci secretary general, Amit Mitra, as one of the candidates in the Bengal assembly elections proves her continuing affinity to the BJP, according to CPI(M) politburo member, ...

Yechury slams Mamata for terming CPI(M) and BJP as brothers

The Hindu - ‎Apr 15, 2011‎
Mr. Yechury had a dig at Ms. Mamata Banerjee's selection of candidates on the basis of political leadership backed by bureaucratic efficiency, and said, "Trinamool's Khardah constituency candidate Amit Mitra had projected Gujarat Chief Minister ...

Mamata has relations with BJP, not us: CPI-M

Mangalorean.com - ‎Apr 15, 2011‎
Yechury also took a dig at Trinamool Congress candidate and former FICCI general secretary Amit Mitra for his links with Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP leader Narendra Modi. "Amit Mitra during his tenure in FICCI had gone to London in 2003 to project ...

Advani campaigns in N Bengal, avoids Didi

Hindustan Times - ‎Apr 15, 2011‎
Lal Krishna Advani, former Union home minister and senior BJP leader, on Wednesday took entirely an entirely different path to woo voters while remaining conspicuously silent on Mamata Banerjee and her party, the Trinamool Congress, ...

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‎Apr 20, 2011‎ - The Hindu

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PSUs should procure min 20% of requirement from SMEs: Minister

Insisting that the Public Sector Units (PSUs) should procure at least 20 per cent of their requirements from the 2.6 crore small and medium units, the MSME Ministry has sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention in the matter.

The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) are demanding that the government should make it mandatory for all government departments, public sector units and state-funded infrastructure projects to purchase 20 per cent of their requirements from the sector.

The government now procures a meager volume of 4 to 5 per cent from MSMEs, out of its annual Rs 1,70,000 crore purchase.

"We have asked them (Prime Minister and Finance Ministry) to look into the demand of the industry," MSME Minister Virbhadra Singh told PTI here.

According to the industry experts, government agencies impose criteria during bidding like minimum turnover and special brands, which the sector finds difficult to fulfill.

Singh also said that the sector has a huge potential to boost India's exports and compete with other foreign markets.

MSME contributes over 40 per cent to the country's total exports, which stood at USD 246 billion in 2010-11 and 45 per cent to manufacturing output.

Meanwhile, MSME Secretary Uday Kumar Varma said that the sector was facing challenges like availability of easy credit, modern technology, proper marketing of products and skill development in its growth.

"The level of funding is still not sufficient. We need to work upon it," Varma said.

The sector employs about 60 million people and contributes 8 per cent to the country's GDP.

22 APR, 2011, 06.53AM IST,ET BUREAU
Takeover panel, industry discuss new M&A rules

NEW DELHI: The Takeover Regulations Advisory Committee , chaired by chief economic advisor Kaushik Basu , met industry representatives on Thursday to discuss the amendments in the new mergers and acquisitions code as proposed by the C Achuthan-led Sebi panel .

"We have received comments from all parties. The government will now review these recommendations. If required we may hold another meeting before finalising the new norms," said a senior government official. The meeting was also attended by senior officials from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and Securities and Exchange Board of India .

While industry bodies, such as FICCI, have supported raising of the initial acquisition threshold to 25% from the current trigger of 15%, the cost accounting body ICAI has suggested that the limit should be kept at 15%. "We have argued that this will lead to hostile takeover threat to listed companies with lower promoter shareholding," said Vinod Jain, chairman of the committee on financial markets and investor protection, ICAI.

CII opposed the proposal which requires board of directors of a target company to appoint a committee of independent directors to provide recommendations to the shareholders on the open offer . "Increased liabilities for independent directors may have the effect of further discouraging competent and experienced individuals from assuming (the post of) independent directors of listed companies, which would be detrimental to the overall interests of corporate governance," said CII in its presentation.

There were also divergent views on allowing open offer for 100% of the shares with ICAI opposing the move on grounds that this will result in more companies getting delisted. This will reduce the market cap of Indian companies and investors will have lesser investment opportunities. All participants also suggested to the government that there should be clearer definition of 'control' and the need to harmonise the new Takeover Code with the requirements of merger regulation under the Competition Law.

Indian Railways need a makeover

Raghu Dayal, Former CMD, Concor

It is passenger operation which helps people at large connect with Indian Railways (IR) and its pervasive ubiquity. Trains like the Himsagar , with its 75-hour 3,745-km long journey from Jammu to Kanyakumari, or the Dwarka, hurtling along a 3,296-km stretch from Guwahati to Okha, testify to what Paul Theroux perceived as "the railway possessed India and made her hugeness graspable".

And yet, passenger services have generally been viewed by IR management largely as social service obligation. Passenger business have inflicted an annual loss of over 20,000 crore. Earnings of 23,488 crore from passenger traffic in 2009-10 accounted for only 27% of IR's gross revenues; freight earnings of 58,502 crore contributed 65%.

Passenger business worldwide accounted for 57%, and freight 43% of the $313 billion global rail market (in 2005). Not that railway passenger business is inherently loss-making. On IR, it is the ordinary second-class segment that is the major culprit; upper classes (AC I, II, III, chair car, first) account for only 1% of total number of rail passengers, 6% of passenger kilometres, yet 24% of passenger revenues, and more than pay for themselves.

With inexplicable obduracy, IR prices its services irrationally low, besides being riddled with a myriad unwarranted concessions and free passes. The second class mail/express fare was 23.1 paise/per km in 2000-01; it remained stubbornly stuck at 23.2 paise even in 2008-09. The ordinary second-class fare, largely responsible for loss-making, has remained untenably low at 14.9 paise/per km, and suburban travel still lower, at 12.9 paise/ per km. The fare on state road transport services in 2008-09 averaged 48.37 paise/per km.

While about 10 million passengers in India travel by air in a month, IR transports twice as many in a day. Even so, IR accounts for a meagre 12% of India's total passenger traffic, roads carrying over 87%. Cost-effective rail travel demand, far outstripping supply, will further grow substantially in view of the country's declining agriculture sector driving migration from rural areas for an integrated national labour market. The urban population is projected to rise from current 286 million to 575 million by 2030, keeping the foot-loose population on the move. Also, the spectre of climate change favour IR to reposition rail travel in preference to car and airlines.

For IR, therefore, it can no longer be business-as-usual. Considering historical growth rates and crippling capacity constraints, RITES' projection of 7,189 million inter-city passengers by 2025-26 against 2,835 million passengers in 2007-08 is too conservative. If GDP grows 8% or more, annual demand for transport generally rises 10-12%, implying the number of originating non-suburban rail passengers exceeding 12,000 million by 2025.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/comments-analysis/indian-railways-need-a-makeover/articleshow/8052803.cms

6 MAR, 2011, 07.25PM IST,PTI
'Indian economy expected to reach $ 6 trillion by 2020'
COIMBATORE: Former ISRO chairman and Planning Commission member K Kasturirangan today said if India sustains a nine per cent GDP growth then by 2020 its economy is expected to approach $ six trillion.

Kasturirangan said that the size of Indian economy would expand close to $ 1.8 trillion in the next 2-3 years.

"If the present expectations which are reasonable and realistic, fructify, India is poised to become a world power," he said.

"If we maintain the present rate of growth of GDP at around nine per cent, by the end of the present decade, 2020, this economy is expected to approach $ six trillion, with per capita GDP crossing $ 4,500 from the present $ 1,500", Kasturirangan said in his Graduation Day address at Kumaraguru College of Technology here.

"If all goes well," the economy could even grow to 9-10 $ trillion and per capita income could rise to in excess of $ 6,000 by 2025, he said.

Talking about India's space programme, Kasturirangan said since its inception, the secret behind its success has been "team work".

"India is globally recognised today as a significant space faring nation. This is the result of teamwork in facing several challenges squarely and maintaining focus on our goals," he said.

In the case of India, the role of technology is important since we became independent from colonial rule only about six decades ago and the need for development on several fronts is acute, he said.

India targets lower deficit, higher farm output to tame prices

Stubbornly high inflation could be tamed through reducing its fiscal deficit and boosting farm output, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia said, as mounting price pressures threaten to slow the economy.

Headline inflation surged to nearly 9 percent in March, far above forecasts, on higher fuel and manufacturing prices, prompting calls for aggressive rate hikes by the Reserve Bank of India.

"We identified that the revival of inflationary pressures is one of the weak points in the global economic situation and in our own situation," said Ahluwalia after the commission's meeting.

"The solution to that lies in having a proper fiscal balance. I have already said that we totally endorse bringing the fiscal deficit under control plus very good performance in agriculture," he said.

Ahluwalia, an influential adviser to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh , said he expects average annual inflation in the five years to end-March 2017 to be 5 percent.

The government aims to cut its fiscal deficit to 4.6 percent of GDP in the current fiscal year through March 2012 from 5.1 percent a year ago. Farm output is expected to grow at least 4 percent in 2011/12 from an estimated 5.6 percent growth in the previous fiscal year.

Prime Minister Singh on Thursday held a meeting of the Commission to set out India's economic policy path for the five years to end-March 2017.

Analysts have been trimming their near-term growth forecasts for Asia's third-largest economy, citing high inflation and prospects of higher interest rates.

New Delhi expects the economy to grow at around 9 percent in the financial year that began on April 1. But private economists expect the economy to grow at a slower pace than an expected 8.6 percent expansion in the fiscal year that ended in March.

Goldman Sachs on Thursday cut its India growth forecast to 7.8 percent from 8.7 percent for this fiscal year. The Wall Street bank raised its inflation forecast for the fiscal year that began this month to 7.5 percent from 6.7 percent.

"We now expect the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to hike policy rates by another 125 bp (basis point) in 2011, significantly higher than market expectations," it added.

The RBI has raised its main lending rate eight times since March 2010 and is expected to deliver another hike of at least 25 bps in its May policy review

Fast-growing India is prone to inflation after years of underinvestment in everything from power and roads to agriculture and education, which creates capacity constraints that will take years to rectify and leave the economy vulnerable to shocks like a bad harvest or a spike in coal prices.

Singh asked the Commission to target 9-9.5 percent annual economic growth in the five years to March 2017, higher than an estimated 8.2 percent average annual growth between April 2007 and March 2012.

20 APR, 2011, 07.02AM IST,ET BUREAU
Exports grow fastest since Independence

NEW DELHI: India's exports surged 37.5% in 2010-11-their fastest annual growth since independence-despite a strong rupee and weak demand in developed markets, data released on Tuesday showed.

The country shipped goods worth $245.9 billion during the year as attempts to diversify markets and increase regional trade paid off. Exports surpassed the government's initial target of $200 billion. "This is the highest annual percentage growth in exports (in dollar terms)," Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said.

An emboldened government has set an export target of $450 billion for 2013-14. It will target a 25% rise in exports in the current fiscal. Exports in March added to $29.1 billion, highest for a single month so far. The base effect, however, contributed to a part of the rise.

Exports had fallen 3.5% in 2009-10 because of the global financial crisis. Robust growth in exports and slower rise in imports helped the government contain trade deficit at $104 billion as against a worrying mid-year estimate of $130 billion.

New Markets Drive Growth

Imports rose 21.5% to $350.5 billion in 2010-11. The strong growth was driven by higher exports to new markets in Latin America, Africa and Asia.

"There was a slump in global demand in 2009 and the initial months of 2010, especially in the traditional markets, and we felt that there was a need to reach out to new destinations," the minister said. The government had announced incentives for shipments to 41 markets, most of which were new trading destinations for the country. Exports to Latin America were up 74% in the first three quarters of 2010-11 compared with the year-ago numbers while those to African countries jumped 50%.

Exports to the EU and US-traditional markets for Indian merchandise-grew a more modest 22.6% and 26.4%, respectively. "Most of the growth has come from new markets in Latin America, Africa and also Asia, which has now emerged as the main market for India's exports," said Ajay Sahai, director-general of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations . The thrust on new markets is likely to continue in the export strategy to be announced by the commerce ministry later this month, which will aim at increasing the country's exports to $450 billion over the next three years.

"Countries in Latin America and Africa are the growth poles of the world," said Biswajit Dhar, director-general of Delhi-based think tank Research and Information System for Developing Countries. "It is good that we are managing to get in there as they would be the fastest-expanding markets." Engineering exports rose 85% to $60.5 billion in the year, accounting for onefourth of total exports. Petroleum, oil and lubricant exports also posted an impressive growth of 50.6% to $42.5 billion.

Other sectors that performed well include gems & jewellery, textiles, electronics, chemicals and drugs & pharmaceuticals. "The shift from low- to high-end exports has also helped the cause," said Shubhada Rao, chief economist with Yes Bank . The growth was despite the rupee remaining reasonably strong through the year. The currency appreciated the most in October 2010, reaching an average exchange price of Rs 44.41 to a dollar. "Exporters have managed to survive when the dollar had fallen to Rs 39. The current situation is not a problem," Sahai said. However, Dhar cautioned against complacency.

"There is a sense of complacency that we can absorb any amount of hot money, which is not correct," he said. "We have to take steps to check it as the global market is very competitive and to maintain high growth we have to take all possible steps." India's crude oil imports rose 16.7% to $101.7 billion; machinery 19% to $27.2 billion; pearls, gems & jewellery 72.8% to $28.2 billion; and electronics 3.6% to 21.7%. The final import figure could go up by $5-10 billion.

The actual figure is not yet available due to a software problem. "The current account deficit could be in the neighbourhood of 2.5% to 2.7% (of GDP), but we have to wait for the finance ministry to give us the final figures after taking into account services exports and invisibles," Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar said.
20 APR, 2011, 01.18PM IST, URMI A GOSWAMI,ET BUREAU
Twelfth plan: Government looks to establish clean image with inclusive growth agenda

NEW DELHI: The beleaguered UPA government is looking to re-establish its aam aadmi credentials in its Twelfth plan approach paper. With an eye to countering its tarnished image, the government is expected to focus on needs of the marginalised as expected to give special on its inclusive growth agenda.

As part of this, the Plan's approach paper is likely to address livelihood issues of tribals and other marginalised forest-dependent population. This is likely to include the proposal to introduce a minimum support price for minor forest produce like bamboo and tendu leaves.

In most areas, the collection and sale of minor forest produce provides the mainstay for the livelihood of tribals and other forest dwellers. Improving earnings will have both an economic impact but also provide the basis of a response to the stranglehold Maoist have in the forest areas. This is perhaps another reason why the long standing demand of a minimum support price for minor forest produce is finally gaining momentum.

Even as the preparations for the Twelfth plan period are underway, the environment ministry is moving ahead with its efforts and ground work to ensure a minimum support price (MSP) is fixed for minor forest produce (MFP) . Environment minister Jairam Ramesh has reiterated his ministry's commitment to work with the Planning Commission, ministries of tribal affairs and panchayati raj to make this possible.

The idea of fixing a minimum support price for minor forest produce is not new, as Ramesh points out, it "comes up frequently in the Prime Minister's meetings on Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas Act." The environment minister has said that he will pursue the issue with the finance ministry.

As a first step, in March Ramesh wrote to state chief ministers to declare bamboo as minor forest produce. Bamboo is among the more profitable of the forest produce. By seeking its classification as a minor forest produce the government is giving control over the produce to the local people and the village assemblies thereby improving their incomes. Legally, the gram sabha or the village assembly has control over minor forest produce.

The move has been described by deputy chairman Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia described Ramesh's effort as "a decisive move in the right direction" which would "go a long way in providing justice to the tribal and forest dwelling communities."

As a next step, Ramesh has written to deputy chairman Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia about the consensus plan that has been worked out together with member sectretary Planning Commission, and T Haque, who heads the committee on minor forest produce set up by the panchayati raj ministry.

It has been agreed that MSP must be fixed by a central committee to serve as a bench mark for the states. State government are free to fix a price which is higher than the benchmark. In its interim report the Haque committee , set up in August last year, recommended constituting a central agency to fix MSP for the produce collected from forests.

The Haque committee, which is expected to submit its final report soon, suggested the minimum price should take into consideration wages paid under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, transportation cost, value addition to the produce and local market prices. Ramesh has argued that since these areas fall within the purview Schedule V of the Constitution, the Centre has the power to step in and introduce MSP for minor forest produce.

The committee's interim report had identified ten products for which MSP would be set. This excluded bamboo and tendu leaves, both of which proved to contentious, as it is currently the monopoly of state governments. Ramesh has opted to move ahead under the power that the PESA gives the Centre. He lists out the twelve products identified in the discussions, which will be taken up by the central committee. These include bamboo, tendu leaves, wild honey, tamarind, mahuwa flower and seed, sal leaf and seed, lac, chironjee, gum karaya, myrobalan and karanj.

To ensure more money in the hands of tribals and other forest dwellers, it is suggested that monopoly, even that of state agencies, on purchase of minor forest produce, including tendu and bamboo, be removed. Doing away with this monopoly to improve prices has been suggested by the Haque committee. At present, the more valuable items of minor forest produce such as bamboo and tendu can only be sold to state government bodies.

While tribals can collect and utilise these minor forest products, the aggregation, processing, value addition and marketing of MFP is in the hands of local contractors, forest officials, and forest produce marketing federations. This allows for the exploitation of local population, who earn very little for their efforts. This will also help towards the actualising the gram sabha's control over minor forest produce as laid out in the Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas Act, 1996 and Forest Rights Act, 2006.

To this end, it has been decided that the gram sabhas must be empowered to take on a more proactive role in the management and regeneration of minor forest produce. Forest regeneration plans will have to be prepared with the full participation of the gram sabhas.

As part of the effort to improve livelihoods, it is felt that state agencies should be committed to buy all minor forest produce, rather than restricting to the more profitable ones. To give an impetus, all transportation barriers in movement of these products need to be removed. Also basic value addition of MFPs should take place at the village level, and units to ensure this must be established.

Ramesh has assured Ahluwalia of co-operation by the environment ministry. "Reforms in forest administration necessitated as part of the initiative will be given the highest priority." The environment ministry had been approached by the Planning Commission to prepare management plans for minor forest produce and ensure technical support through the forest departments in imparting scientific practices for planning and extracting forest products that will lead to "significant increase in production with concomitant increase in incomes of tribals and other inhabitants of interior areas".

In putting these measures in place the government hopes will lead not only to improved incomes, but prevent the exploitation of tribals, and help stem a steady revenue stream for the Maoists. hold of Left wing extremism in these areas.

Supreme Court wants explaination from Planning Commission about BPL percentage
The Supreme Court Wednesday slammed the Planning Commission, asking its Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia to explain how was the percentage of people living below poverty line (BPL) fixed at 36 percent and how has their purchasing power remained unchanged since 1991.

An apex court bench of Justice Dalveer Bhandari and Justice Deepak Verma asked Ahluwalia to file within a week an affidavit explaining the Planning Commission's position.

The court said several states, including Congress-ruled states, have disputed the 36 percent figure and argued that the people living below poverty line were much more in numbers.

The court said that "you (India) are a powerful economy. Yet, starvation deaths are taking place in many parts of the country. What a stark contradiction in our approach. How can there be two Indias?"

The court's observation came in the wake of the hearing of a petition by Peopls'e Union of Civil Liberties which contended that adequate foodgrain were not being given to the people living below the poverty line. It also challenged the Planning Commission estimates of the BPL families.

News Results for Planning commission
India targets lower deficit, higher farm output to tame prices
2011-04-22 10:48:35.0 ... Planning commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia said, as mounting price pressures threaten to slow the economy.Headline inflation s
...http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/india-targets-lower-deficit-higher-farm-output-to-tame-prices/articleshow/8054628.cms

India to outpace China as fastest growing nation by 2015: ICICI
2011-04-22 04:33:58.0 ... Planning commission is looking at 9-9.5 per cent GDP growth for the the 12th Plan period (2012-2017), from 8.2 per cent in the
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/india-to-outpace-china-as-fastest-growing-nation-by-2015-icici/articleshow/8049412.cms


Spend checks, resource levelling seen in Twelfth Five Year Plan
2011-04-22 03:56:44.0 ... Planning commission noted the resource constraint and the need to prioritise some sectors over others. "Resources available wi
...http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/spend-checks-resource-levelling-seen-in-twelfth-five-year-plan/articleshow/8052355.cms

Prime Minister says expects 8.2% growth in 5-yr period to March 2012
2011-04-21 16:30:44.0 ... Planning commission meeting called to set out India's economic policy path for the next five years to end-March 2017.The gover
...http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/prime-minister-says-expects-82-growth-in-5-yr-period-to-march-2012/articleshow/8046963.cms

Environment Ministry working to fetch minor forest produce
2011-04-21 04:53:35.0 ... Planning Panel and ministries of Tribal Affairs and Panchayati Raj to finalise a road map for working out a support price. Ramesh has writ
...http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/environment-ministry-working-to-fetch-minor-forest-produce/articleshow/8043158.cms

Ministers' panel to look into FDI in pharma sector
2011-04-21 03:25:06.0 ... Planning commission member," said a DIPP official. DIPP is the nodal FDI policy-making body. India had opened its pharmaceutic
...http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/ministers-panel-to-look-into-fdi-in-pharma-sector/articleshow/8042819.cms

10% growth not feasible, 12th plan to target 9-9.5%: Montek
2011-04-21 03:06:47.0 ... Planning commission is likely to set a realistic average growth target of 9% for the 12th plan, despite some early enthusiasm
...http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/10-growth-not-feasible-12th-plan-to-target-9-95-montek/articleshow/8042749.cms

SC seeks explanation from Plan Panel about BPL percentage, expresses unhappiness
2011-04-21 02:38:58.0 ... Planning commission to explain the rationale behind the criteria determining the BPL categories of the people to get the benef
...http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/sc-seeks-explanation-from-plan-panel-about-bpl-percentage-expresses-unhappiness/articleshow/8042641.cms

10% not feasible, 12th Plan to target 9-9.5% GDP: Montek
2011-04-20 20:29:49.0 ... Planning commission . Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wants the commission to aim at higher growth targe
...http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/10-not-feasible-12th-plan-to-target-9-95-gdp-montek/articleshow/8039071.cms


Supreme Court wants explaination from Planning Commission about BPL percentage
2011-04-20 13:41:46.0 ... Planning commission , asking its Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia to explain how was the percentage of people living bel
...http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/supreme-court-wants-explaination-from-planning-commission-about-bpl-percentage/articleshow/8036039.cms
22/04/2011

Maoists deny anti-India activities, raise counter-charges

Kathmandu: Nepal's Maoists have rejected Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna's view that they are involved in anti-India attacks, and have instead raised concerns at "obstructions" to them as Maoist chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda met the Indian minister Friday.

Maoists deny anti-India activities, raise counter-charges

The meeting Friday was probably the most crucial during Krishna's three-day visit to Nepal, with the minister raising the issue of Maoist attacks on Indian Ambassador Rakesh Sood as well as on Indian investments in Nepal.

After the nearly one-hour-long talks at Kathmandu's celebrated heritage hotel Dwarika's, Prachanda told the media that his party - the largest in Nepal - was keen to consolidate ties with India based on a new foundation.

Replying to Indian concerns that his party was opposing Indian joint ventures in Nepal and attacking the Indian envoy, Prachanda said the Maoists too had growing concerns of their own.

During the nearly two years of his government, he said the repeated clashes he faced with the then chief of the army, General Rookmangud Katawal - who persistently refused to allow the Maoist fighters into the army despite a peace agreement - raised fears that there were attempts to obstruct the Maoist government.

"Even during the prime ministerial election, we felt attempts were being made to obstruct (the Maoists from coming back to power)," he said.

Prachanda was referring to the unprecedented 17 rounds of election Nepal underwent to elect a new prime minister after his successor Madhav Kumar Nepal resigned in June 2010.

Prachanda's chances of winning the tri-cornered election were nixed after a mysterious audio tape surfaced, recording a phone conversation between the Maoist party's foreign affairs in-charge - and current information and communications minister - Krishna Bahadur Mahara and an unidentified middleman. Mahara was recorded as asking for money from a businessman "well-wisher" in China to buy MPs' votes for Prachanda during the prime ministerial poll.

The Maoists allege India's external intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing engineered the tape after tapping Mahara's phone.

Maoists deny anti-India activities, raise counter-charges

Though, Krishna reiterated New Delhi's position that it has not interfered in Nepal's internal matters, both the Indian and Maoist denials have rung hollow at times.

Despite the documented attacks on Indian ventures in Nepal, Prachanda said his party was not anti-India. However, he said attempts were being made to weaken his party.

The Maoists say India should realise they became Nepal's largest party after the elections in 2008, winning the people's trust. India should, therefore, not try to control them like it did the other parties but treat them as equals.

Indian diplomats, however, point out that while accusing India of interference, Prachanda himself urged New Delhi to send an envoy when his party became embroiled in a battle with the army chief.

New Delhi, however, declined to do so. Krishna also asked about the Maoist stand on the peace process and the new constitution, that has to be promulgated by May 28.

The Maoist chief, who was earlier calling for a new "People's Revolt", dramatically changed his stand this week, urging his party instead to focus on the peace process and the new constitution.

On Thursday, he said that it was possible to ready the new constitution within a week.

However, New Delhi realises that the constitution may not be ready by May 28 and is urging all the parties to put their heads together and come up with an alternative to prevent a crisis after the deadline elapses.

After the meeting with Prachanda, Krishna flew to Birgunj city on the Indo-Nepal border to lay the foundation for the integrated check post being built with Indian assistance worth nearly Rs.87 crore.

Maoists deny anti-India activities, raise counter-charges

The Birgunj-Raxaul check post is the main route for Indo-Nepal trade, accounting for almost 75 percent of it.

He will also lay the foundation for PRN120, the highway that is part of the network of roads to be built in the southern terai plains, for which India has pledged assistance worth Rs.805 crore.

"These projects aim at strengthening the cross-border connectivity between India and Nepal to facilitate better people-to-people contacts and economic opportunities for the people of Nepal," Krishna said.

The fallout of Krishna's visit will be manifest only after the Maoist central committee winds up its meeting, called Friday.

If the central committee endorses Prachanda's call for peace and the constitution, India can look forward to better ties with the former guerrillas.

However, Prachanda's position is likely to be challenged by his hawkish deputy Mohan Baidya, who is advocating revolt and resuming hostilities against India.

Source: IANS

21/04/2011

Bhushans to stay, Hegde has a rethink

New Delhi/Bangalore: Unfazed by controversies surrounding the Bhushans, civil society activists today rejected demands for their resignation from the joint drafting committee on Lokpal Bill but one of its members Justice Santosh Hegde said he is thinking of resigning from it.

Bhushans to stay, Hegde has a rethink

The demand for the resignation of lawyer Shanti Bhushan and his son Prashant grew today following a CFSL report that a CD allegedly involving the senior Bhushan was not not tampered with.

While the Bhushans kept mum, activists Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi ruled out their resignation because of the "malicious campaign" against them.

They told a press conference in Delhi that the civil society members were together and the "entire malicious" campaign launched by some "corrupt elements in and out of government" was aimed at derailing the drafting of a strong Lokpal Bill.

"There is no question of anybody resigning from the joint committee. No one will resign. We are at a historic juncture where we are going to have a strong anti-corruption law. We are not the ones who run away from battle zones."

However, upset over the "vilification campaign", justice Hegde, who is also Lokayukta in Karnataka, said in Bangalore that he was thinking of resigning, but would consult his colleagues in the anti-corruption movement in Delhi on Saturday and take a decision.

He was angry that Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh had attacked him, alleging that he was protecting the Karnataka chief minister from corruption charges.

Bhushans to stay, Hegde has a rethink

"This is absolutely false. This is contrary to facts. I am not not a politician. I cannot fight this type of battle," he said, adding the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister's remarks were "hurting" at a time when his party leader Sonia Gandhi had made it clear she does not not support any smear campaign.

"No one has fought the Karnataka chief minister as I had done, not even the Congress in the state. People here know it," he said.

Hegde said he would discuss with his colleagues in the civil society movement, including Anna Hazare, and take a decision whether to continue in the joint drafting committee.

Acting on a complaint, the Delhi police had referred to the Central Forensic Laboratory (CFSL), a CD purported to have conversations between Shanti Bhushan, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh, in which a suggestion is being made about fixing a judge.

The CFSL has found that the CD was not not doctored as "the recorded conversation is in continuity and no abrupt change in speech signal detected".

This contradicted a report obtained by Prashant Bhushan from a private lab in Hyderabad that the CD was tampered with.

Bhushans to stay, Hegde has a rethink

None of us are going to resign: Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi: As corruption allegations swirled around Lokpal Bill drafting panel members Shanti Bhushan and his son Prashant, social activists Thursday came out in strong support of the duo and said that none of the civil society members on the joint committee would resign.

"No one is going to resign," Arvind Kejriwal, a member of the drafting panel, told reporters in the national capital.

"Rumours are doing the rounds that some people are quitting from the panel, and that we are looking for substitutes, (but) no one is going to resign," he stated at a press conference.

He was referring to allegations against joint committee co-chair Shanti Bhushan, a former law minister, and his lawyer son, Prashant Bhushan, of wrongdoing in land deals, which they have vigorously denied.

"We believe the Bhushans are innocent. From our side we are in favour of a non-partisan investigation," Kejriwal said adding that the activists have filed a petition in the Supreme Court for a fair probe.

"We have filed a petition in the Supreme Court, we want a non-partisan probe under the monitoring of the Supreme Court," he said.

Bhushans to stay, Hegde has a rethink

The Bhushans have also figured in a controversial audio CD which has purported conversations between Shanti Bhushan, Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh and expelled SP member Amar Singh trying to fix a dubious legal deal.

On the alleged report of a state forensic lab certifying the CD as authentic, Kejriwal said that there were "vested interests" carrying out a "malicious campaign" against the Bhushans.

He also pointed out at the possibility of involvement of some 'government elements' in the 'malicious campaign' to derail the process of formulating a strong anti-corruption bill.

"There are vested interests which may include government elements as well. The Central Forensic Science Laboratory report was expected, had it said the CD is fake we would have been surprised," Kejriwal said adding that their information of the forensic report was based on media reports.

He also pointed out that Truth Labs in Hyderabad and an independent US audio forensic expert George Papcun had found the CD to be spliced together from earlier conversations.

Former IPS officer and a member of the civil activists group India Against Corruption, Kiran Bedi meanwhile 'appealed' to the Bhushans not to quit the panel.

"We are appealing to the Bhushans whatever they are suffering, bear with it as it is for national interest," Bedi said.

Kejriwal added that withdrawal of any member at this point of time will mean derailment of the process of forming a strong anti-corruption law.

"If any of the members quit, who will benefit? The events are at a historic turning point, where the country could get a very stringent anti-graft law," he added.

The joint panel, including five ministers, was formed following the fast unto death by crusader Anna Hazare to demand a stringent anti-corruption law.

I will answer Bhushan's notice in court: Digvijay
Bhushans' CD not tampered: Delhi police
Hegde rethinks decision to be on Lokpal panel

Source: PTI & IANS

22/04/2011

Lokpal panel: Hegde to announce decision tomorrow

Bangalore: Amid mounting pressure from the civil society asking him not to quit the joint drafting committee on Lokpal Bill, Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde on Friday said he would announce his decision on the issue on Saturday.

Lokpal panel: Hegde to announce decision tomorrow

"I will announce my decision tomorrow," Hegde said, a day after he threatened to quit the panel upset over the "continuous and day-to-day vilification" campaign against civil society activists who are members of the committee.

Hegde, who will be leaving for Delhi on Saturday, said, "I will discuss the issue with my colleagues and then announce my decision in the evening."

Asked about AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh reportedly saying sorry for his remarks against him if it had hurt him, Hegde refused to react, saying he was yet to read it.

On the demand for him to continue on the panel, Hedge said, "Yes, I know there is demand for me to continue. My phone has been ringing since early morning and I have had so many people coming over to request the same. But I will speak after my interaction with my colleagues in Delhi," he said.

Meanwhile, members of the civil society on Friday came out in support of Hegde continuing on the panel. The supporters holding placards urged the Lokayukta not to quit. They said his presence was vital as he was aware about the legal procedure and nitty-gritty of combating corruption.

Janata Dal (Secular) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy also urged him not to quit in "national interest".

Lokpal panel: Hegde to announce decision tomorrow

Voices of dissonance against Anna and Co

Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, historian K.N. Panikkar and activist Shabnam Hashmi Friday strongly objected to the "authoritarian" attitude adopted by social reformer Anna Hazare in his fight against corruption and accused him of being affiliated to right-wing Hindu groups.

The trio expressed their reservations over the formation of the joint committee for drafting the anti-graft Lokpal Bill and the way Hazare "dictated" his conditions to formulate the panel's terms and references.

They claimed the Lokpal Bill was inherently flawed because the ombudsman that the proposed legislation seeks to create was like creating "a permanent state of emergency in the country".

"It (the bill) goes... militates against democracy. A legislation may be necessary to prevent corruption in the country but the Lokpal Bill cannot do that," Panikkar, a renowned historian, told reporters.

"The Lokpal is likely to function in a social vacuum as a super judicial authority, undermining and subversive of the judicial system. It is an escapist institute. It also provides the state a safety wall to get out of the crisis," he said.

He said the anti-corruption campaign launched by Hazare has been hijacked by right-wing Hindu activists.

Lokpal panel: Hegde to announce decision tomorrow

"RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) activists have been participating in the movement. And the attitude of Anna has been one of justifying the past history of Hindu communal forces," Panikkar said, referring to Hazare lauding of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's developmental efforts.

He alleged that Modi has in the past targetted the Muslim minority of Gujarat. "Development is comprehensive and you cannot have a section kept away from the process."

Mahesh Bhatt too objected to some people comparing Hazare with Mahatma Gandhi and Jaya Prakash Narayan. "You cannot claim to be fighting against corruption but neglect communalism. Being apolitical, Anna could praise Modi for development, but ignored his moral problem."

He likened the whole drama of Hazare's fast-unto-death anti-graft protest and the government capitulating so swiftly, to the climax of a Hindi movie or an Indian television soap.

"This will raise TV TRPs but won't solve the problem."

Lokpal panel: Hegde to announce decision tomorrow

Shabnam Hashmi, who had earlier also objected to Hazare's praise for Modi, alleged that the literature distributed near Jantar Mantar where the social reformer was on fast was anti-minority.

"One wonders if this (campaign) has been launched with an ulterior motive. Suddenly the talk of the Sangh terror network has disappeared."

In a joint press statement issued later, they noted that there was nothing that the Lokpal would bring to bear in the form of greater sense of transparency and accountability in the system "than what the existing institutions have achieved or not achieved".

"For that, a necessary condition is the creation of a social consciousness which would decisively disapprove and reject the culture of favouritism and nepotism."

Source: PTI & IANS

22/04/2011

Best Bakery witness says she was forced to lie in the court

Mumbai: As the appeals filed by the nine convicts in the 2002 Best Bakery case are pending before the Bombay High Court, a key prosecution witness, Shaikh Yasmeen Banu, has claimed that she was "lured and misguided" by social activist Teesta Setalvad into giving a false testimony.

Best Bakery witness says she was forced to lie in the court

"Teesta Setalvad made me give false testimony in the Best Bakery case by luring and misguiding me. I had written everything in the affidavit submitted to the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court in June last year," Yasmeen said in a statement issued earlier this week.

Reacting to the allegation, Setalvad said, "The trial is long over. The guilty have been brought to book. I do not know why this statement has been made now. Her (Yasmeen) statement is manipulative."

Yasmeen was the only prosecution witness from the Shaikh family who stood by the police's case against the 17 accused.

Rest of the family, including prime witness and Yasmeen's sister-in-law Zaheera Shaikh, had turned hostile, alleging that they were forced by Setalvad to lie.

In her affidavit dated June 17, 2010, Yasmeen has stated that her deposition before the trial court was made at the behest of Setalvad.

Best Bakery witness says she was forced to lie in the court

According to Yasmeen, one Rais Khan, who is a close associate of Setalvad, had met her along with local Muslim leaders claiming that her life was in danger in Gujarat and she should shift to Mumbai where she would be taken care of.

"Setalvad and Rais promised to help me. I am leading a poor and miserable life. My affidavit should be treated as a petition. I don't want to say anything more," Yasmeen's statement reads.

Apart from the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, Yasmeen's affidavit has also been sent to the Chief Justice of India, Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission and Director General of Police, Gujarat.

In February 2006, the sessions court here sentenced nine accused to life imprisonment. The court later tried and convicted Zaheera and others who had turned hostile for perjury.

Fourteen people who had taken refuge in the Best Bakery -- owned by the Shaikh family -- in Vadodara were killed on March 1, 2002, during the post-Godhra riots.

All the convicts have filed appeals in the Bombay High Court, which are yet to come up for hearing.

Source: PTI

22/04/2011

Mr Pawar, learn from Narendra Modi

Agriculture Minister Pawar has to learn a few lessons from Gujarat's silent Green Revolution

Mr Pawar, learn from Narendra Modi

New Delhi: Even as the Planning Commission says that India's desire to hit double-digit economic growth is being constrained, among other things, by the inability of the farm sector to grow at an annual average rate of 4 per cent a year, largely semi-arid Gujarat, with poor agro-ecological endowments, has reported an average growth rate of close to 9 per cent per annum over the past decade.

Gujarat's agricultural performance this past decade has turned out to be as impressive as its performance on the industrial front. What are the secrets of Chief Minister Narendra Modi's "Gujarat model of farm development"?

The twin mantras that seem to have spurred agricultural growth in this drought-prone state are improved diffusion of technology and better utilisation of water, both achieved through extensive and concerted extension services and the pooling of individual, community and official initiatives. These seem to have been followed by essential support services that provide inputs, credit, power and marketing facilities.

Other states, like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Assam, have also performed fairly well on the farm front, but they have along way to go before they can match Gujarat.

The original Green Revolution states in the north-west, on the other hand, have begun to lag behind on agricultural growth owing to laxity in developmental efforts and inadequate attention being paid to the over-exploitation of natural resources, including groundwater.

West Bengal, which had a record of good performance in agricultural development, has slipped and is among the poorly performing states, with agricultural growth going down from over 5 per cent in the early 1990s to under 2 per cent in recent years.

Mr Pawar, learn from Narendra Modi

The new and innovative approach that Gujarat adopted to rejuvenate its virtually defunct farm extension system involves bringing farm scientists and service providers on the same platform and taking them to the farmer's doorstep, rather than the other way round.

For this, Krishi Raths (mobile agricultural units), carrying experts and service providers, traverse the state during month-long Krishi Mahotsavas (farm fairs) organised every year to take care of all needs of the farmers.

Soil health checks are carried out to counsel farmers on the right kind of crop to grow and the precise amount of inputs to use to optimise farm production with minimum cost. Given the scarcity of water in Gujarat, several unconventional initiatives have been taken to ensure its judicious and sustainable use.

Stress on water conservation, through rainwater harvesting, and on expanding area under irrigation, to enhance crop productivity, has helped. Apart from digging ponds on individual farms, bori-bandhs (sandbag dams) and concrete check dams are being constructed at appropriate sites in watersheds to hold water in the natural depressions so that part of it percolates down to recharge the groundwater aquifer and the rest could be used for irrigation.

And most importantly, dedicated feeder lines have been put up for assured power supply to the farm sector at fixed hours under the Jyotigram scheme. This has encouraged farmers to reduce wasteful use of pump sets and excessive use of groundwater.

Consequently, Gujarat's farmers seem to be making better use of scarce water. Clearly, there is much that farmers from the rest of India can learn to improve productivity, output and incomes.

If India follows Gujarat, 10 per cent growth should be possible!

Source: Business Standard

By Dipankar Paul, India Syndicate, 22/04/2011

Dada or Didi? A new Act in the Great Bengal Drama

After thirty four years in power in West Bengal, the Left is at the crossroads. Criticised by the opposition as well as the people, it finds itself facing the stigma of being voted out of office. Is this good news for Bengal? Or is the TMC uprising just a flash in the pan? The Left remains confident of victory.

The Great Bengal Drama: Time for Act II

Paras Gambir is a blanket trader who operates out of Kolkata's busy Burra Bazaar. But in the past month he hasn't sold one blanket.

"On a daily basis we have been selling an average of 2,000 umbrellas, t-shirts, caps, vests, hair clips, badges and saris," he says.

All of them emblazoned with the symbols and faces of political parties and their leaders. Some of the fast movers: 'Congress sari' bearing the face of party chief Sonia Gandhi and the 'Trinamool sari' containing the twin-flowers logo. Ask which party's items have the greatest demand, and everyone points at the umbrellas with the twin flowers of the Trinamool Congress printed on them.

And this is the drama that is unfolding in West Bengal today, a drama that been 34 years in the making.

The people of Bengal are currently faced with a strange predicament: Electing the lesser of two evils. The Left Front holds the upper hand (if you may) of knowing what it is to be in power, but the Trinamool Congress dismisses their chances, calling the combine a one-man army.

When the Left Front assumed the reins of government in 1977, it was Jyoti Basu, the talismanic Communist leader, who took up the mantle of Chief Minister. Buddhadeb Bhattacharya succeeded Basu to the chair in 2000, and that's the way it has remained thus far. With Basu's death in 2010, West Bengal now has only one person who has had any experience of being Chief Minister.

One-man army or not, what the Left has done for Bengal cannot be ignored.

The Great Bengal Drama: Time for Act II

The first major achievement relates to agriculture. This may seem surprising because of the recent controversies surrounding the land question, one that Mamata Banerjee has so often raised, alluded to, driven at. There is a tendency to portray the state government as being insensitive. However, nothing could be further from what the reality is.

Land use and rural property have been the cornerstone of policies and discussion in West Bengal ever since the Left Front government came to power in 1977. And in these 34 years, land reform and acquisition have been the greatest economy issue. In fact, this is the biggest point of difference between the Left-led governments across the country and other state governments in India: The Left has confronted the agriculture question directly.

West Bengal has less than 4 per cent of the country's cultivated area, but accounts for 23 per cent of the total land distributed in the country since 1947, and has 55 per cent of the total number of those who have benefitted from of land distribution programmes in the entire country.

The figures are available at any government database, but what is not so well known is the fact that Bengal is one of the very few states where agricultural land is still distributed to the landless.

Over the past few years, all the publicity has been given to the few attempts at land acquisition for industry, but the amount of land involved is a fraction of the amounts distributed among the people. In fact, land distributed under the reform process is much larger, more than double the amount of land acquired for all purposes, including industry. Between 2005 and 2008, when the Bengal government was being accused of taking away land from farmers to fuel industrialisation, 30,000 acres was distributed to the landless. In 2007-08, when the rest of the state and, indeed, the country, was agog over the Nandigram agitation, what no one thought important enough to report was the fact that the same 'anti-farmer' government distributed 11,000 acres to more than 25,000 peasants.

This focus on land distribution is laudable: It singles out West Bengal from other states of the country, where there are no active programmes of land distribution. Land distribution remains the most important element to prevent landlords from ruling the roost, as well as the advent of the regressive social tendencies that are so prominent in other parts of rural India. If West Bengal does not wish to undo decades of good work, the Left must remain in power.

The Great Bengal Drama: Time for Act II

The second important achievement of the Left government is about the improvements in health indicators. While the focus has only just shifted to health, the pace of progress has been commendable. Data from the Registrar-General of India shows that West Bengal is now one of the best-performing states in the country in terms of the most basic health indicators.

The crude birth rate (live births per 1,000 people in a year) in Bengal declined by 28 per cent, from 22.4 to 17.5, between 1997 and 2009 (India, as a whole, saw a decline of 19 per cent). The death rate in Bengal fell by 25 per cent over the same period, as compared to 20 per cent for India as a whole.

However, while these achievements paint the Left Front in good light, the grey areas remain.

Left Front chairman Biman Bose is confident that the combine will return to power in the April-May assembly polls. But he stresses that the Left has made mistakes in the past few years, going to the extent of asking his cadres to apologise to the people. He says the apologies have helped.

The fact that this year's Assembly polls comes on the backdrop of the drubbing handed to the Left in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections is not forgotten.

The Left Front got 10 lakh votes less than the opposition in the 2009 because of "improper activities of Left activists" says Bose.

"By mid-2010 we started revamping our party organisation and adopted the campaign. We asked our party workers to admit and regret their mistakes and ask for apology from the people. Now the political situation has changed a lot," says Bose.

The Great Bengal Drama: Time for Act II

Most political observers agree that the Front faces the stiffest test of its 34-year rule in the coming elections from the Trinamool-Congress combine. But Bose says the Left would overcome any anti-incumbency factor.

"The opposition campaign is based totally on falsehood and manufactured stories. [Moreover] the way the zilla parishads and municipalities are being run by TMC, it is making people realise how this 'lot' of bad managers will run the state," said Bose.

Perhaps, the strongest word of confidence comes from the man who has seen it all in Bengal.

"I will set up a factory at Singur after the formation of the 8th Left Front government, this will be the largest factory in the state" says Buddhadeb Bhattacharya.

"Let me see if they (Trinamool) have the courage to resist it."

Paras Gambir's TMC umbrellas may be flying off the shelves, but the mood in the Red bastion is upbeat.

Will May 13 be a Red-letter day, or will Bengal see the rise of Two-flower power? The stage is set, Act II is about to begin.

Source: India Syndicate/Agencies

21/04/2011

Black money: Were agencies sleeping all these years: SC

New Delhi: "Were government sleeping all these years on the issue of blackmoney," was how the Supreme Court today said while criticising Centre's probe restricting to an individual and being evasive about the idea of an investigation by the Special Investigating Team.

Black money: Were agencies sleeping all these years: SC

The apex court said the investigation into the issue of black money required "complete" and "full-fledged" involvement of government as the most important question was about the disclosure of source of money stashed in foreign banks which may be terror money or money coming from drug peddling.

A bench of justices B Sudershan Reddy and S S Nijjar asked the governemnt to explain why its investigation is focused only on Pune stud farm owner Hassan Ali Khan and no other name has come out who have stashed money in overseas banks.

"Your whole focus is centred on one individual. Does it mean that all the black money parked in foreign banks belong to only one person? Is it that black money issue is surrounding around one person? Do you have information beyond that?" the bench said.

"We put it very simply and bluntly. Do you have any information regarding other persons also? It seems there is only one person (Indian) who has bank account in Switzerland and no other persons'' account has come under suspect in Swiss bank," the bench told the governemnt.

Responding to the specific question put by the bench, Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium said the matter has to be investigated on different fronts and the court should ask the RBI to file a report on black money stashed in UBS Bank, Switzerland, on the basis of which further action could be taken.

He said the issue of passport case should be investigated by CBI as the offence in this regard was not restricted only to Maharashtra but to other states and earlier also it was stated that "it is not an offence simplicitor".

Black money: Were agencies sleeping all these years: SC

Not impressed by the arguments of the government, the bench said "do you want to say that all government agencies were sleeping till now on this issue? Now you are saying that different aspects of the case have to be handled by different agencies."

"Is it your case that there is no suspect account in foreign banks other than this man? Since you have been working on the case at least since 2009, we did not say investigation has be a person specific. What is your information"?, the bench said adding "the source of money has to be found whether it was terror money or money coming from drug peddling".

It further said the fresh status report filed by the ED has reflected more and speaks about a group company having money stashed in a foreign bank.

"During the course of investigation, something else has come which is there in the status report about Rs 600 crore. What is the source of Rs 600 crore? What is the problem? It belongs to a group of company," the bench said.

The government also opposed the idea of setting up a SIT comprising members of various agencies to probe the case saying the ED has been conducting the investigation properly, which is reflected in the status report filed before the bench.

The court, however, said that in view of the gravity of the case more than one agency is required to conduct the investigation as the ED itself had expressed "helplessness" on numerious occasion while probing the case.

Black money: Were agencies sleeping all these years: SC

"We are very clear in our mind that more than one agency is required to conduct the investigation and it should be monitored by a person of eminence which could be a retired Chief Justice of High Court," the court said.

"There is nothing wrong in more than one agency and no one's jurisdiction would be taken away. In fact, the ED has itself shown helplessness many times in the case," the court said adding "we do not say the ED would not be part of the team. The case is very serious and we are of the opinion that more than one agency is required to conduct probe in it."

The bench was not impressed with the idea of the Solicitor General for segregation of the probe by different agencies like CBI, ED and RBI.

"Instead of segregation, we propose the constitution of SIT. For the purpose of effective investigation, SIT can be notified," the bench said.

Senior advocate Anil Divan, appearing for the petitioners, said the government did not want SIT and lose control over the probe.

The court asked Subramanium to take instructions from the governemnt on the issue of setting up of SIT and posted the case for further hearing on April 25.

The court was hearing a petition filed by noted lawyer Ram Jethmalani and some former bureaucrats seeking the court's direction to the government to bring black money stashed by Indian nationals in foreign banks, which is said to be to the tune of one trillion US dollars.

Besides Jethmalani, five others, including former Punjab DGP K P S Gill and former Secretary General of Lok Sabha Subhash Kashyap who are petitioners, have alleged the government was not taking action to bring the back black money stashed in foreign banks.

NGO People's Political Front and former top cop Julio F Riberio are also among the petitioners. Earlier, the court had expressed displeasure over the government's reluctance to come forward with full information on the black money stashed by Indians in foreign banks, saying keeping national wealth abroad amounted to "plunder" of the country.

The court had also asked the government to track the source of the blackmoney which might have originated from arms deals, drug trafficking and smuggling.

Source: PTI

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Harbhajan Singh's five-for thwarted Chennai Super Kings as they fell nine runs short chasing 165 against Mumbai Indians
Harbhajan Singh's five-for thwarted Chennai Super Kings as they fell nine runs short chasing 165 against Mumbai Indians© Associated Press
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Economy of India

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Economy of The Republic of India
Indian rupees.png
Modern Indian currency notes
Rank10th (nominal) / 4th (PPP)
Currency1 Indian Rupee (INR) (Indian Rupee ₹) = 100 Paise
Fiscal year Calendar year (1 April – 31 March)
Trade organizationsWTO, SAFTA, G-20 and others
Statistics
GDP

$1.53 trillion (nominal: 10th; 2010)[1]

$4.06 trillion (PPP: 4th; 2010)[1]
GDP growth8.2% (2010, Q3)[2]
GDP per capita

$1,265 (nominal: 138th; 2010)[1]

$3,339 (PPP: 129th; 2010)[1]
GDP by sectorservices (55.3%), industry (28.6%), agriculture (16.1%) (2010)
Inflation (CPI) 8.31% (February 2011)[3]
Population
below poverty line		 37% (2010)[4]
Gini index 36.8 (List of countries)
Labour force478 million (2nd; 2009)
Labour force
by occupation		agriculture (52%), industry (14%), services (34%) (2009 est.)
Unemployment 9.4% (2009–10)[5]
Main industriestelecommunications, textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, information technology, pharmaceuticals
Ease of Doing Business Rank 134th[6] (2011)
External
Exports$201 billion (20th; 2010)
Export goodspetroleum products, precious stones, machinery, iron and steel, chemicals, vehicles, apparel
Main export partnersUAE 12.87%, US 12.59%, China 5.59% (2009)
Imports$327 billion (11th; 2010)
Import goodscrude oil, precious stones, machinery, fertilizer, iron and steel, chemicals
Main import partnersChina 10.94%, US 7.16%, Saudi Arabia 5.36%, UAE 5.18%, Australia 5.02%, Germany 4.86%, Singapore 4.02% (2009)
FDI stock $35.6 billion (2009-10)
Gross external debt $237.1 billion (2010 est.)
Public finances
Public debt$758 billion (2010)[7] 55.9% of GDP
Budget deficit5.1% of GDP (2010-11)
Revenues$170.7 billion (2010 est.)
Expenses $257.4 billion (2010 est.)
Economic aid$2.107 billion (2008)[8]
Credit rating$1.164 trillion (2010 est.)
Foreign reserves$308 billion (7th; April 2011)
Main data source: CIA World Fact Book
All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars
GNI per capita:
  India (1,170 $)
  Higer GNI per capita compared to India
  Lower GNI per capita compared to India
"Dollar" and "$" refer throughout to the US dollar.

The Economy of India is the tenth largest in the world by nominal GDP[1] and the fourth largest by purchasing power parity (PPP).[1] The country's per capita GDP (PPP) is$3,339 (IMF, 129th) in 2010.[1] Following strong economic reforms from the post-independence socialist economy, the country's economic growth progressed at a rapid pace, as free market principles were initiated in 1991 for international competition and foreign investment.[9]

Contents

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[edit]Overview

Social democratic policies governed India's economy from 1947 to 1991. The economy was characterised by extensive regulation, protectionism, public ownership, pervasive corruption and slow growth.[10][11][12] Since 1991, continuing economic liberalisation has moved the country towards a market-based economy.[10][11] A revival of economic reforms and better economic policy in first decade of the 21st century accelerated India'seconomic growth rate. In recent years, Indian cities have continued to liberalise business regulations.[6] By 2008, India had established itself as the world's second-fastest growing major economy.[13]

However, as a result of the financial crisis of 2007–2010, coupled with a poor monsoon, India's gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate significantly slowed to 6.7% in 2008–09, but subsequently recovered to 7.2% in 2009–10, while the fiscal deficit rose from 5.9% to a high 6.5% during the same period.[14] India's current account deficit surged to 4.1% of GDP during Q2 FY11 against 3.2% the previous quarter. The unemployment rate for 2009–2010, according to the state Labour Bureau, was 9.4% nationwide, rising to 10.1% in rural areas, where two-thirds of the 1.2 billion population live.[5]

India's large service industry accounts for 57.2% of the country's GDP while the industrial and agricultural sectors contribute 28.6% and 14.6% respectively.[15]Agriculture is the predominant occupation in India, accounting for about 52% of employment. The service sector makes up a further 34%, and industrial sector around 14%.[16] However, statistics from a 2009-10 government survey, which used a smallersample size than earlier surveys, suggested that the share of agriculture in employment had dropped to 45.5%.[5]

Major industries include telecommunications, textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, information technology-enabled services and pharmaceuticals.[17] The labour force totals 500 million workers. Major agricultural products include rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, potatoes, cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats, poultry and fish.[17] In 2009-2010, India's top five trading partners are United Arab Emirates, China, United States, Saudi Arabia and Germany.

Previously a closed economy, India's trade and business sector has grown fast.[10] India currently accounts for 1.5% of world trade as of 2007 according to the World Trade Statistics of the WTO in 2006, which valued India's total merchandise trade (counting exports and imports) at $294 billion and India's services trade at $143 billion. Thus, India's global economic engagement in 2006 covering both merchandise and services trade was of the order of $437 billion, up by a record 72% from a level of $253 billion in 2004. India's total trade in goods and services has reached a share of 43% of GDP in 2005–06, up from 16% in 1990–91.[18]

[edit]History

Main articles: Economic history of India and Timeline of the economy of India

[edit]Pre-colonial period (up to 1773)

The spice trade between India and Europe was the main catalyst for the Age of Discovery.[19]

The citizens of the Indus Valley civilisation, a permanent settlement that flourished between 2800 BC and 1800 BC, practiced agriculture, domesticated animals, used uniform weights and measures, made tools and weapons, and traded with other cities. Evidence of well-planned streets, a drainage system and water supply reveals their knowledge of urban planning, which included the world's first urban sanitation systems and the existence of a form of municipal government.[20]

Maritime trade was carried out extensively between South India and southeast and West Asiafrom early times until around the fourteenth century AD. Both the Malabar and Coromandel Coastswere the sites of important trading centres from as early as the first century BC, used for import and export as well as transit points between the Mediterranean region and southeast Asia.[21] Over time, traders organised themselves into associations which received state patronage. However, state patronage for overseas trade came to an end by the thirteenth century AD, when it was largely taken over by the local Jewish and Muslim communities, initially on the Malabar and subsequently on the Coromandel coast.[22] Further north, the Saurashtra and Bengal coasts played an important role in maritime trade, and the Gangetic plains and the Indus valley housed several centres of river-borne commerce. Most overland trade was carried out via the Khyber Pass connecting the Punjab region with Afghanistan and onward to the Middle East and Central Asia.[23] Although many kingdoms and rulers issued coins, barter was prevalent. Villages paid a portion of their agricultural produce as revenue to the rulers, while their craftsmen received a part of the crops at harvest time for their services.[24]

Silver coin minted during the reign of theGupta king Kumara Gupta I (AD 414–55)

Religion, especially Hinduism and the caste and the joint family systems, played an influential role in shaping economic activities.[25] The caste system functioned much like medieval Europeanguilds, ensuring the division of labour, providing for the training of apprentices and, in some cases, allowing manufacturers to achieve narrow specialisation. For instance, in certain regions, producing each variety of cloth was the specialty of a particular sub-caste. Textiles such asmuslin, Calicos, shawls, and agricultural products such as pepper, cinnamon, opium and indigowere exported to Europe, the Middle East and South East Asia in return for gold and silver.[26]

Assessment of India's pre-colonial economy is mostly qualitative, owing to the lack of quantitative information. The Mughal economy functioned on an elaborate system of coined currency, land revenue and trade. Gold, silver and copper coins were issued by the royal mints which functioned on the basis of free coinage.[27] The political stability and uniform revenue policy resulting from a centralised administration under the Mughals, coupled with a well-developed internal trade network, ensured that India, before the arrival of the British, was to a large extent economically unified, despite having a traditional agrarian economy characterised by a predominance of subsistence agriculture dependent on primitive technology.[28] After the decline of the Mughals, western, central and parts of south and north India were integrated and administered by the Maratha Empire. After the loss at the Third Battle of Panipat, the Maratha Empire disintegrated into several confederate states, and the resulting political instability and armed conflict severely affected economic life in several parts of the country, although this was compensated for to some extent by localised prosperity in the new provincial kingdoms.[29] By the end of the eighteenth century, the British East India Company entered the Indian political theatre and established its dominance over other European powers. This marked a determinative shift in India's trade, and a less powerful impact on the rest of the economy.[30]

[edit]Colonial period (1773–1947)

An aerial view of Calcutta Port taken in 1945. Calcutta, which was the economic hub of British India, saw increased industrial activity during World War II.

There is no doubt that our grievances against the British Empire had a sound basis. As the painstaking statistical work of the Cambridge historian Angus Maddison has shown, India's share of world income collapsed from 22.6% in 1700, almost equal to Europe's share of 23.3% at that time, to as low as 3.8% in 1952. Indeed, at the beginning of the 20th Century, "the brightest jewel in the British Crown" was the poorest country in the world in terms of per capita income.

– Manmohan Singh[31]

Company rule in India brought a major change in the taxation and agricultural policies, which tended to promote commercialisation of agriculture with a focus on trade, resulting in decreased production of food crops, mass impoverishment and destitution of farmers, and in the short term, led to numerous famines.[32] The economic policies of the British Raj caused a severe decline in the handicrafts and handloom sectors, due to reduced demand and dipping employment.[33] After the removal of international restrictions by the Charter of 1813, Indian trade expanded substantially and over the long term showed an upward trend.[34] The result was a significant transfer of capital from India to England, which, due to the colonial policies of the British, led to a massive drain of revenue rather than any systematic effort at modernisation of the domestic economy.[35]

Estimates of the per capita income of India (1857–1900) as per 1948–49 prices.[36]

India's colonisation by the British created an institutional environment that, on paper, guaranteedproperty rights among the colonisers, encouraged free trade, and created a single currency withfixed exchange rates, standardised weights and measures and capital markets. It also established a well-developed system of railways and telegraphs, a civil service that aimed to be free from political interference, a common-law and an adversarial legal system.[37] This coincided with major changes in the world economy – industrialisation, and significant growth in production and trade. However, at the end of colonial rule, India inherited an economy that was one of the poorest in the developing world,[38] with industrial development stalled, agriculture unable to feed a rapidly growing population, a largely illiterate and unskilled labour force, and extremely inadequate infrastructure.[39]

The 1872 census revealed that 91.3% of the population of the region constituting present-day India resided in villages,[40] and urbanisation generally remained sluggish until the 1920s, due to the lack of industrialisation and absence of adequate transportation. Subsequently, the policy of discriminating protection (where certain important industries were given financial protection by the state), coupled with the Second World War, saw the development and dispersal of industries, encouraging rural-urban migration, and in particular the large port cities ofBombay, Calcutta and Madras grew rapidly. Despite this, only one-sixth of India's population lived in cities by 1951.[41]

The impact of the British rule on India's economy is a controversial topic. Leaders of the Indian independence movement and left-nationalisteconomic historians have blamed colonial rule for the dismal state of India's economy in its aftermath and argued that financial strength required for industrial development in Europe was derived from the wealth taken from colonies in Asia and Africa. At the same time, right-wing historians have countered that India's low economic performance was due to various sectors being in a state of growth and decline due to changes brought in by colonialism and a world that was moving towards industrialisation and economic integration.[42]

[edit]Pre-liberalisation period (1947–1991)

Compare India (orange) with South Korea (yellow). Both started from about the same income level in 1950. The graph shows GDP per capita of South Asian economies and South Korea as a percentage of the American GDP per capita.

Indian economic policy after independence was influenced by the colonial experience, which was seen by Indian leaders as exploitative, and by those leaders' exposure to democratic socialism as well as the progress achieved by the economy of the Soviet Union.[39] Domestic policy tended towards protectionism, with a strong emphasis on import substitution industrialisation, economic interventionism, a large public sector, business regulation, and central planning,[43] while trade and foreign investment policies were relatively liberal.[44] Five-Year Plans of India resembled central planning in the Soviet Union. Steel, mining, machine tools, telecommunications, insurance, and power plants, among other industries, were effectively nationalised in the mid-1950s.[45]

Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India, along with the statistician Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, formulated and oversaw economic policy during the initial years of the country's existence. They expected favorable outcomes from their strategy, involving the rapid development of heavy industry by both public and private sectors, and based on direct and indirect state intervention, rather than the more extreme Soviet-style central command system.[46][47] The policy of concentrating simultaneously on capital- and technology-intensive heavy industry and subsidising manual, low-skill cottage industries was criticised by economist Milton Friedman, who thought it would waste capital and labour, and retard the development of small manufacturers.[48] The rate of growth of the Indian economy in the first three decades after independence was derisively referred to as the Hindu rate of growth, because of the unfavourable comparison with growth rates in other Asian countries, especially the East Asian Tigers.[49][50]

Since 1965, the use of high-yielding varieties of seeds, increased fertilisers and improved irrigation facilities collectively contributed to theGreen Revolution in India, which improved the condition of agriculture by increasing crop productivity, improving crop patterns and strengthening forward and backward linkages between agriculture and industry.[51] However, it has also been criticised as an unsustainable effort, resulting in the growth of capitalistic farming, ignoring institutional reforms and widening income disparities.[52]

[edit]Post-liberalisation period (since 1991)

Main articles: Economic liberalisation in India and Economic development in India

In the late 1970s, the government led by Morarji Desai eased restrictions on capacity expansion for incumbent companies, removed price controls, reduced corporate taxes and promoted the creation of small scale industries in large numbers. However, the subsequent government policy of Fabian socialism hampered the benefits of the economy, leading to high fiscal deficits and a worsening current account. The collapse of the Soviet Union, which was India's major trading partner, and the Gulf War, which caused a spike in oil prices, resulted in a major balance-of-payments crisis for India, which found itself facing the prospect of defaulting on its loans.[53] India asked for a $1.8 billion bailout loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which in return demanded reforms.[54]

In response, Prime Minister Narasimha Rao, along with his finance minister Manmohan Singh, initiated the economic liberalisation of 1991. The reforms did away with the Licence Raj, reduced tariffs and interest rates and ended many public monopolies, allowing automatic approval of foreign direct investment in many sectors.[55] Since then, the overall thrust of liberalisation has remained the same, although no government has tried to take on powerful lobbies such as trade unions and farmers, on contentious issues such as reforming labour laws and reducing agricultural subsidies.[56] By the turn of the 20th century, India had progressed towards a free-market economy, with a substantial reduction in state control of the economy and increased financial liberalisation.[57] This has been accompanied by increases in life expectancy, literacy rates and food security, although the beneficiaries have largely been urban residents.[58]

While the credit rating of India was hit by its nuclear weapons tests in 1998, it has since been raised to investment level in 2003 by S&P and Moody's.[59] In 2003, Goldman Sachs predicted that India's GDP in current prices would overtake France and Italy by 2020, Germany, UK and Russia by 2025 and Japan by 2035, making it the third largest economy of the world, behind the US and China. India is often seen by most economists as a rising economic superpower and is believed to play a major role in the global economy in the 21st century.[60][61]

[edit]Sectors

[edit]Industry and services

See also: Information technology in India, Business process outsourcing in India, and Retailing in India
India has one of the world's fastest growing automobile industries.[62] Shown here is the Tata Nano, the world's cheapest car.[63]

Industry accounts for 28% of the GDP and employ 14% of the total workforce.[16] In absolute terms, India is 12th in the world in terms of nominal factory output.[64] The Indian industrial sector underwent significant changes as a result of the economic reforms of 1991, which removed import restrictions, brought in foreign competition, led to privatisation of certain public sector industries, liberalised the FDI regime, improved infrastructure and led to an expansion in the production of fast moving consumer goods.[65] Post-liberalisation, the Indian private sector was faced with increasing domestic as well as foreign competition, including the threat of cheaper Chinese imports. It has since handled the change by squeezing costs, revamping management, and relying on cheap labour and new technology. However, this has also reduced employment generation even by smaller manufacturers who earlier relied on relatively labour-intensive processes.[66]

Textile manufacturing is the second largest source of employment after agriculture and accounts for 20% of manufacturing output, providing employment to over 20 million people.[67] Ludhianaproduces 90% of woollens in India and is known as the Manchester of India. Tirupur has gained universal recognition as the leading source of hosiery, knitted garments, casual wear and sportswear.[68]

India is 13th in services output. The services sector provides employment to 23% of the work force and is growing quickly, with a growth rate of 7.5% in 1991–2000, up from 4.5% in 1951–80. It has the largest share in the GDP, accounting for 55% in 2007, up from 15% in 1950.[16]Information technology and business process outsourcing are among the fastest growing sectors, having a cumulative growth rate of revenue 33.6% between 1997–98 and 2002–03 and contributing to 25% of the country's total exports in 2007–08.[69] The growth in the IT sector is attributed to increased specialisation, and an availability of a large pool of low cost, highly skilled, educated and fluent English-speaking workers, on the supply side, matched on the demand side by increased demand from foreign consumers interested in India's service exports, or those looking to outsource their operations. The share of the Indian IT industry in the country's GDP increased from 4.8 % in 2005–06 to 7% in 2008.[70] In 2009, seven Indian firms were listed among the top 15 technology outsourcing companies in the world.[71]

Mining forms an important segment of the Indian economy, with the country producing 79 different minerals (excluding fuel and atomic resources) in 2009–10, including iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, chromite, limestone, asbestos, fluorite, gypsum, ochre, phosphoriteand silica sand.[72] Organised retail supermarkets accounts for 24% of the market as of 2008.[73] Regulations prevent most foreign investment in retailing. Moreover, over thirty regulations such as "signboard licences" and "anti-hoarding measures" may have to be complied before a store can open doors. There are taxes for moving goods from state to state, and even within states.[73] Tourism in India is relatively undeveloped, but growing at double digits. Some hospitals woo medical tourism.[74]

[edit]Agriculture

Farmers work outside a rice field inAndhra Pradesh. India is the second largest producer of rice in the world after China,[75]and Andhra Pradesh is the second largest rice producing state in India with West Bengal being the largest.[76]
Main articles: Agriculture in India, Forestry in India, Animal husbandry in India, and Fishing in India
See also: Natural resources in India

India ranks second worldwide in farm output. Agriculture and allied sectors like forestry, loggingand fishing accounted for 15.7% of the GDP in 2009–10, employed 52.1% of the total workforce, and despite a steady decline of its share in the GDP, is still the largest economic sector and a significant piece of the overall socio-economic development of India.[77] Yields per unit area of all crops have grown since 1950, due to the special emphasis placed on agriculture in the five-year plans and steady improvements in irrigation, technology, application of modern agricultural practices and provision of agricultural credit and subsidies since the Green Revolution in India. However, international comparisons reveal the average yield in India is generally 30% to 50% of the highest average yield in the world.[78]

India receives an average annual rainfall of 1,208 millimetres (47.6 in) and a total annualprecipitation of 4000 billion cubic metres, with the total utilisable water resources, including surface and groundwater, amounting to 1123 billion cubic metres.[79] 546,820 square kilometres (211,130 sq mi) of the land area, or about 39% of the total cultivated area, is irrigated.[80] India's inland water resources including rivers, canals, ponds and lakes and marine resources comprising the east and west coasts of the Indian ocean and other gulfs and bays provide employment to nearly six million people in the fisheries sector. In 2008, India had the world's third largest fishing industry.[81]

India is the largest producer in the world of milk, jute and pulses, and also has the world's second largest cattle population with 175 million animals in 2008.[75] It is the second largest producer of rice, wheat, sugarcane, cotton and groundnuts, as well as the second largest fruit and vegetable producer, accounting for 10.9% and 8.6% of the world fruit and vegetable production respectively.[75] India is also the second largest producer and the largest consumer of silk in the world, producing 77,000 million tons in 2005.[82]

[edit]Banking and finance

Main article: Finance in India
See also: Banking in India and Insurance in India

The Indian money market is classified into the organised sector, comprising private, public and foreign owned commercial banks andcooperative banks, together known as scheduled banks, and the unorganised sector, which includes individual or family owned indigenous bankers or money lenders and non-banking financial companies.[83] The unorganised sector and microcredit are still preferred over traditional banks in rural and sub-urban areas, especially for non-productive purposes, like ceremonies and short duration loans.[84]

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi nationalised 14 banks in 1969, followed by six others in 1980, and made it mandatory for banks to provide 40% of their net credit to priority sectors like agriculture, small-scale industry, retail trade, small businesses, etc. to ensure that the banks fulfill their social and developmental goals. Since then, the number of bank branches has increased from 8,260 in 1969 to 72,170 in 2007 and the population covered by a branch decreased from 63,800 to 15,000 during the same period. The total bank deposits increased from Indian Rupee ₹5,910 crore (US$1.31 billion) in 1970–71 to Indian Rupee ₹3,830,922 crore (US$850.46 billion) in 2008–09. Despite an increase of rural branches, from 1,860 or 22% of the total number of branches in 1969 to 30,590 or 42% in 2007, only 32,270 out of 500,000 villages are covered by a scheduled bank.[85][86]

India's gross domestic saving in 2006–07 as a percentage of GDP stood at a high 32.7%.[87] More than half of personal savings are invested in physical assets such as land, houses, cattle, and gold.[88] The public sector banks hold over 75% of total assets of the banking industry, with the private and foreign banks holding 18.2% and 6.5% respectively.[89] Since liberalisation, the government has approved significant banking reforms. While some of these relate to nationalised banks, like encouraging mergers, reducing government interference and increasing profitability and competitiveness, other reforms have opened up the banking and insurance sectors to private and foreign players.[16][90]

[edit]Energy and power

Main article: Energy policy of India
As of 2010, India imported about 70% of its crude oil requirements.[91] Shown here is an ONGC platform at Mumbai High in theArabian Sea, one of the few sites of domestic production.

India's oil reserves meet 25% of the country's domestic oil demand.[16][92] As of 2009, India's total proven oil reserves stood at 775 million metric tonnes while gas reserves stood at 1074 billion cubic metres.[93] Oil and natural gas fields are located offshore at Mumbai High, Krishna Godavari Basin and the Cauvery Delta, and onshore mainly in the states of Assam, Gujarat andRajasthan.[93] India is the fourth largest consumer of oil in the world and imported $82.1 billion worth of oil in the first three quarters of 2010, which had an adverse effect on its current account deficit.[91] The petroleum industry in India mostly consists of public sector companies such as Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL). There are some major private Indian companies in the oil sector such as Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) which operates the world's largest oil refining complex.[94]

India has the world's fifth largest wind power industry, with an installed wind power capacity of 9,587 MW. Shown here is a wind farm in Muppandal, Tamil Nadu.

As of 2010, India had an installed power generation capacity of 164,835 megawatts (MW), of which thermal power contributed 64.6%, hydroelectricity 24.7%, other sources of renewable energy 7.7%, and nuclear power 2.9%.[95] India meets most of its domestic energy demand through its 106 billion tonnes of coal reserves.[96] India is also rich in certain renewable sources of energy with significant future potential such as solar, wind and biofuels (jatropha, sugarcane). India's huge thorium reserves – about 25% of world's reserves – are expected to fuel the country's ambitious nuclear energy program in the long-run. India's dwindling uranium reserves stagnated the growth of nuclear energy in the country for many years.[97] However, the Indo-US nuclear deal has paved the way for India to import uranium from other countries.[98]

[edit]External trade and investment

Further information: Globalisation in India and List of the largest trading partners of India

[edit]Global trade relations

A map showing the global distribution of Indian exports in 2006 as a percentage of the top market (USA - $20,902,500,000).

Until the liberalisation of 1991, India was largely and intentionally isolated from the world markets, to protect its economy and to achieve self-reliance. Foreign trade was subject to import tariffs, export taxes and quantitative restrictions, while foreign direct investment (FDI) was restricted by upper-limit equity participation, restrictions on technology transfer, export obligations and government approvals; these approvals were needed for nearly 60% of new FDI in the industrial sector. The restrictions ensured that FDI averaged only around $200 million annually between 1985 and 1991; a large percentage of the capital flows consisted of foreign aid, commercial borrowing and deposits of non-resident Indians.[99] India's exports were stagnant for the first 15 years after independence, due to general neglect of trade policy by the government of that period. Imports in the same period, due to industrialisation being nascent, consisted predominantly of machinery, raw materials and consumer goods.[100]

Since liberalisation, the value of India's international trade has increased sharply,[101] with the contribution of total trade in goods and services to the GDP rising from 16% in 1990–91 to 43% in 2005–06.[18] India's major trading partners are the European Union, China, the United States and the United Arab Emirates.[102] In 2006–07, major export commodities included engineering goods, petroleum products, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, gems and jewellery, textiles and garments, agricultural products, iron ore and other minerals. Major import commodities included crude oil and related products, machinery, electronic goods, gold and silver.[103] In November 2010, exports increased 22.3% year-on-year to Indian Rupee ₹85,063 crore (US$18.88 billion), while imports were up 7.5% at Indian Rupee ₹125,133 crore (US$27.78 billion). Trade deficit for the same month dropped from Indian Rupee ₹46,865 crore (US$10.4 billion) in 2009 to Indian Rupee ₹40,070 crore (US$8.9 billion) in 2010.[104]

India is a founding-member of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) since 1947 and its successor, the WTO. While participating actively in its general council meetings, India has been crucial in voicing the concerns of the developing world. For instance, India has continued its opposition to the inclusion of such matters as labour and environment issues and other non-tariff barriers to trade into the WTO policies.[105]

[edit]Balance of payments

Cumulative Current Account Balance 1980–2008 based on IMF data

Since independence, India's balance of payments on its current account has been negative. Since economic liberalisation in the 1990s, precipitated by a balance of payment crisis, India's exports rose consistently, covering 80.3% of its imports in 2002–03, up from 66.2% in 1990–91.[106]However, the global economic slump followed by a general deceleration in world trade saw the exports as a percentage of imports drop to 61.4% in 2008–09.[107] India's growing oil import bill is seen as the main driver behind the large current account deficit,[91] which rose to $118.7 billion, or 9.7% of GDP, in 2008–09.[108] Between January and October 2010, India imported $82.1 billion worth of crude oil.[91]

Due to the global late-2000s recession, both Indian exports and imports declined by 29.2% and 39.2% respectively in June 2009.[109] The steep decline was because countries hit hardest by the global recession, such as United States and members of the European Union, account for more than 60% of Indian exports.[110] However, since the decline in imports was much sharper compared to the decline in exports, India's trade deficit reduced to Indian Rupee ₹25,250 crore (US$5.61 billion).[109]

India's reliance on external assistance and concessional debt has decreased since liberalisation of the economy, and the debt service ratiodecreased from 35.3% in 1990–91 to 4.4% in 2008–09.[111] In India, External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs), or commercial loans from non-resident lenders, are being permitted by the Government for providing an additional source of funds to Indian corporates. The Ministry of Finance monitors and regulates them through ECB policy guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank of India under the Foreign Exchange Management Act of 1999.[112] India's foreign exchange reserves have steadily risen from $5.8 billion in March 1991 to $283.5 billion in December 2009. [113]

[edit]Foreign direct investment

Share of top five investing countries in FDI inflows. (2000–2010)[114]
RankCountryInflows
(million USD)		Inflows (%)
1Mauritius50,16442.00
2Singapore11,2759.00
3USA8,9147.00
4UK 6,1585.00
5Netherlands4,9684.00

As the fourth-largest economy in the world in PPP terms, India is a preferred destination for FDI;[115] India has strengths in telecommunication, information technology and other significant areas such as auto components, chemicals, apparels, pharmaceuticals, and jewellery. Despite a surge in foreign investments, rigid FDI policies were a significant hindrance. However, due to positive economic reforms aimed at deregulating the economy and stimulating foreign investment, India has positioned itself as one of the front-runners of the rapidly growing Asia-Pacific region.[115] India has a large pool of skilled managerial and technical expertise. The size of the middle-class population stands at 300 million and represents a growing consumer market.[116]

During 2000–10, the country attracted $178 billion as FDI.[117] The inordinately high investment from Mauritius is due to routing of international funds through the country given significant tax advantages; double taxation is avoided due to a tax treaty between India and Mauritius, and Mauritius is a capital gains tax haven, effectively creating a zero-taxation FDI channel.[118]

India's recently liberalised FDI policy (2005) allows up to a 100% FDI stake in ventures. Industrial policy reforms have substantially reduced industrial licensing requirements, removed restrictions on expansion and facilitated easy access to foreign technology and foreign direct investment FDI. The upward moving growth curve of the real-estate sector owes some credit to a booming economy and liberalised FDI regime. In March 2005, the government amended the rules to allow 100% FDI in the construction sector, including built-up infrastructure and construction development projects comprising housing, commercial premises, hospitals, educational institutions, recreational facilities, and city- and regional-level infrastructure.[119] Despite a number of changes in the FDI policy to remove caps in most sectors, there still remains an unfinished agenda of permitting greater FDI in politically sensitive areas such as insurance and retailing. The total FDI equity inflow into India in 2008–09 stood at Indian Rupee ₹122,919 crore (US$27.29 billion), a growth of 25% in rupee terms over the previous period.[120].

[edit]Currency

The RBI headquarters in Mumbai
Main articles: Indian rupee and Reserve Bank of India

The Indian rupee is the only legal tender in India, and is also accepted as legal tender in the neighbouring Nepal and Bhutan, both of which peg their currency to that of the Indian rupee. The rupee is divided into 100 paise. The highest-denomination banknote is the 1,000 rupee note; the lowest-denomination coin in circulation is the 10 paise coin.[121] However, with effect from 30 June 2011, 50 paise will be the minimum coin accepted in the markets as all denominations below it will cease to be legal currency.[122][123] India's monetary system is managed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the country's central bank.[124] Established on 1 April 1935 and nationalised in 1949, the RBI serves as the nation's monetary authority, regulator and supervisor of the monetary system, banker to the government, custodian of foreign exchange reserves, and as an issuer of currency. It is governed by a central board of directors, headed by a governor who is appointed by the Government of India.[125]

The rupee was linked to the British pound from 1927–1946 and then the U.S. dollar till 1975 through a fixed exchange rate. It was devalued in September 1975 and the system of fixed par rate was replaced with a basket of four major international currencies – the British pound, the U.S. dollar, the Japanese yen and the Deutsche mark.[126] Since 2003, the rupee has been steadily appreciating against the U.S. dollar.[127] In 2009, a rising rupee prompted the Government of India to purchase 200 tons of gold for $6.7 billion from the IMF.[128]

[edit]Income and consumption

Main article: Income in India
See also: Poverty in India
World map showing the Gini coefficient, a measure ofincome inequality. India has a Gini coefficient of 0.368.

India's gross national income per capita in 2008 was $1040.[129] Indian official estimates of the extent of poverty have been subject to debate, with concerns being raised about the methodology for the determination of the poverty line.[130][131] As of 2005, according to World Bank statistics, 75.6% of the population lived on less than $2 a day (PPP), while 41.6% of the population was living below the new international poverty line of $1.25 (PPP) per day.[132][133][134] However, data released in 2009 by the Government of India estimated that 37% of the population lived below the poverty line.[4]

Housing is modest. According to The Times of India, a majority of Indians had a per capita space equivalent to or less than a 100 square feet (9.3 m2) room for their basic living needs, and one-third of urban Indians lived in "homes too cramped to exceed even the minimum requirements of a prison cell in the US."[135] The average is 103 sq ft (9.6 m2) per person in rural areas and 117 sq ft (10.9 m2) per person in urban areas.[135]

Around half of Indian children are malnourished. The proportion of underweight children is nearly double that of Sub-Saharan Africa.[136][137]However, India has not had any major famines since Independence.[138] A 2007 report by the state-run National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS) found that 65% of Indians, or 750 million people, lived on less than Indian Rupee ₹20 (US$0.44) per day,[139] with most working in "informal labour sector with no job or social security, living in abject poverty."[140]

Since the early 1950s, successive governments have implemented various schemes to alleviate poverty, under central planning, that have met with partial success. All these programmes have relied upon the strategies of the Food for work programme and National Rural Employment Programme of the 1980s, which attempted to use the unemployed to generate productive assets and build rural infrastructure.[141] In August 2005, the Parliament of India, in response to the perceived failure of economic growth to gene rate employment for the rural poor, passed theRural Employment Guarantee Bill into law, guaranteeing 100 days of minimum wage employment to every rural household in all the districts of India.[142] The question of whether economic reforms have reduced poverty has fuelled debates without generating clear-cut answers and has also increased political pressure against further economic reforms, especially those involving the downsizing of labour and cutting agricultural subsidies.[143] Recent statistics in 2010 point out that the number of high income households has crossed lower income households.[144]

[edit]Employment

See also: Labour in India and Indian labour law

India's labor regulations – among the most restrictive and complex in the world – have constrained the growth of the formal manufacturing sector where these laws have their widest application. Better designed labor regulations can attract more labor- intensive investment and create jobs for India's unemployed millions and those trapped in poor quality jobs. Given the country's momentum of growth, the window of opportunity must not be lost for improving the job prospects for the 80 million new entrants who are expected to join the work force over the next decade.

– World Bank: India Country Overview 2008.[145]

Agricultural and allied sectors accounted for about 52.1% of the total workforce in 2009–10.[77] While agriculture has faced stagnation in growth, services have seen a steady growth. Of the total workforce, 7% is in the organised sector, two-thirds of which are in the public sector.[146] The NSSO survey estimated that in 2004–05, 8.3% of the population was unemployed, an increase of 2.2% over 1993 levels, with unemployment uniformly higher in urban areas and among women.[147][148] Growth of labour stagnated at around 2% for the decade between 1994–2005, about the same as that for the preceding decade.[142] Avenues for employment generation have been identified in the IT and travel and tourism sectors, which have been experiencing high annual growth rates of above 9%.[149]

Unemployment in India is characterised by chronic (disguised) unemployment. Government schemes that target eradication of both poverty and unemployment (which in recent decades has sent millions of poor and unskilled people into urban areas in search of livelihoods) attempt to solve the problem, by providing financial assistance for setting up businesses, skill honing, setting up public sector enterprises, reservations in governments, etc. The decline in organised employment due to the decreased role of the public sector after liberalisation has further underlined the need for focusing on better education and has also put political pressure on further reforms.[150] [151] India's labour regulations are heavy even by developing country standards and analysts have urged the government to abolish or modify them in order to make the environment more conducive for employment generation.[152][153] The 11th five-year plan has also identified the need for a congenial environment to be created for employment generation, by reducing the number of permissions and other bureaucratic clearences required.[154] Further, inequalities and inadequacies in the education system have been identified as an obstacle preventing the benefits of increased employment opportunities from reaching all sectors of society.[155]

Child labour in India is a complex problem that is basically rooted in poverty, coupled with a failure of governmental policy, which has focused on subsidising higher rather than elementary education, as a result benefiting the privileged rather than the poorer sections of society.[156]The Indian government is implementing the world's largest child labour elimination program, with primary education targeted for ~250 million. Numerous non-governmental and voluntary organisations are also involved. Special investigation cells have been set up in states to enforce existing laws banning the employment of children under 14 in hazardous industries. The allocation of the Government of India for the eradication of child labour was $21 million in 2007.[157] Public campaigns, provision of meals in school and other incentives have proven successful in increasing attendance rates in schools in some states.[158]

In 2009–10, remittances from Indian migrants overseas stood at Indian Rupee ₹250,000 crore (US$55.5 billion), the highest in the world, but their share in FDI remained low at around 1%.[159] India ranked 133th on the Ease of Doing Business Index 2010, behind countries such as China (89th), Pakistan (85th), and Nigeria (125th).[160]

[edit]Economic trends and issues

Shown here is a residential area inMumbai.

In the revised 2007 figures, based on increased and sustaining growth, more inflows into foreign direct investment, Goldman Sachs predicts that "from 2007 to 2020, India's GDP per capita in US$ terms will quadruple", and that the Indian economy will surpass the United States (in US$) by 2043.[12] In spite of the high growth rate, the report stated that India would continue to remain a low-income country for decades to come but could be a "motor for the world economy" if it fulfills its growth potential.[12]

[edit]Agriculture

Main article: Agriculture in India

Slow agricultural growth is a concern for policymakers as some two-thirds of India's people depend on rural employment for a living. Current agricultural practices are neither economically nor environmentally sustainable and India's yields for many agricultural commodities are low. Poorly maintained irrigation systems and almost universal lack of good extension services are among the factors responsible. Farmers' access to markets is hampered by poor roads, rudimentary market infrastructure, and excessive regulation.

– World Bank: "India Country Overview 2008"[145]

India's population is growing faster than its ability to produce rice and wheat.[161] The low productivity in India is a result of several factors. According to the World Bank, India's large agricultural subsidies are hampering productivity-enhancing investment. While overregulation of agriculture has increased costs, price risks and uncertainty, governmental intervention in labour, land, and credit markets are hurting the market. Infrastructure and services are inadequate.[162] Further, the average size of land holdings is very small, with 70% of holdings being less than one hectare in size.[163] The partial failure of land reforms in many states, exacerbated by poorly maintained or non-existent land records, has resulted in sharecropping with cultivators lacking ownership rights, and consequently low productivity of labour.[164] Adoption of modern agricultural practices and use of technology is inadequate, hampered by ignorance of such practices, high costs, illiteracy, slow progress in implementing land reforms, inadequate or inefficient finance and marketing services for farm produce and impracticality in the case of small land holdings. The allocation of water is inefficient, unsustainable and inequitable. The irrigation infrastructure is deteriorating.[162] Irrigation facilities are inadequate, as revealed by the fact that only 39% of the total cultivable land was irrigated as of 2010,[80] resulting in farmers still being dependent on rainfall, specifically the monsoon season, which is often inconsistent and unevenly distributed across the country.[165]

[edit]Corruption

Overview of the index of perception of corruption, 2010
Main article: Corruption in India

Corruption has been one of the pervasive problems affecting India. The economic reforms of 1991 reduced the red tape, bureaucracy and the Licence Raj that were largely blamed for the institutionalised corruption and inefficiency.[166] Yet, a 2005 study by Transparency International(TI) found that more than half of those surveyed had firsthand experience of paying bribe or peddling influence to get a job done in a public office.[167]

The Right to Information Act (2005) which requires government officials to furnish information requested by citizens or face punitive action, computerisation of services, and various central and state government acts that established vigilance commissions, have considerably reduced corruption and opened up avenues to redress grievances.[167] The 2010 report by TI ranks India at 87th place and states that significant setbacks were made by India in reducing corruption.[168]

The number of people employed in non-agricultural occupations in the public and private sectors. Totals are rounded. Private sector data relates to non-agriculture establishments with 10 or more employees.[141]

The current government has concluded that most spending fails to reach its intended recipients. A large, cumbersome and overworked bureaucracy also contributes to administrative inefficiency.[169] India's absence rates are one of the worst in the world; one study found that 25% of public sector teachers and 40% of public sector medical workers could not be found at the workplace.[170][171]

The Indian economy continues to face the problem of an underground economy with a 2006 estimate by the Swiss Banking Associationsuggesting that India topped the worldwide list for black money with almost $1,456 billion stashed in Swiss banks. This amounts to 13 times the country's total external debt.[172][173]

[edit]Education

Main article: Education in India

India has made huge progress in terms of increasing primary educationattendance rate and expanding literacy to approximately two thirds of the population.[174] The right to education at elementary level has been made one of the fundamental rights under the eighty-sixth Amendment of 2002, and legislation has been enacted to further the objective of providing free education to all children.[175] However, the literacy rate of 74% is still lower than the worldwide average and the country suffers from a high dropout rate.[176] Further, there exist severe disparities in literacy rates and educational opportunities between males and females, urban and rural areas, and among different social groups.[177]

[edit]Infrastructure

Shown here is the Chennai Port.
Shown here is the Mumbai Pune expressway in Maharashtra.
India has built numerous new airports in recent years. Shown here is the new Terminal 1D at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi.
See also: Transport in India, Indian Road Network, Ports in India, Electricity sector in India,States of India by installed power capacity, Water supply and sanitation in India, andCommunications in India

In the past, development of infrastructure was completely in the hands of the public sector and was plagued by slow progress, poor quality and inefficiency.[178] India's low spending on power, construction, transportation, telecommunications and real estate, at $31 billion or 6% of GDP in 2002 had prevented India from sustaining higher growth rates. This has prompted the government to partially open up infrastructure to the private sector allowing foreign investment,[141][179] and most public infrastructure, barring railways, is today constructed and maintained by private contractors, in exchange for tax and other concessions from the government.[180]

Some 600 million Indians have no electricity at all.[181] While 80% of Indian villages have at least an electricity line, just 44% of rural households have access to electricity. Some half of the electricity is stolen, compared with 3% in China. The stolen electricity amounts to 1.5% of GDP.[182][183] Transmission and distribution losses amount to around 20%, as a result of an inefficient distribution system, handled mostly by cash-strapped state-run enterprises.[184] Almost all of the electricity in India is produced by the public sector. Power outages are common, and many buy their own power generators to ensure electricity supply.[181] As of 2006–07 the electricity production was at 652.2 billion kWh, with an installed capacity of 128400 MW.[185] In 2007, electricity demand exceeded supply by 15%.[181] However, reforms brought about by theElectricity Act of 2003 caused far-reaching policy changes, including mandating the separation of generation, transmission and distribution aspects of electricity, abolishing licencing requirements in generation and opening up the sector to private players, thereby paving the way for creating a competitive market-based electricity sector.[186] Substantial improvements in water supply infrastructure, both in urban and rural areas, have taken place over the past decade, with the proportion of the population having access to safe drinking water rising from 66% in 1991 to 92% in 2001 in rural areas, and from 82% to 98% in urban areas. however, quality and availability of water supply remains a major problem even in urban India, with most cities getting water for only a few hours during the day.[187]

India has the world's third largest road network,[188] covering about 3.3 million kilometers and carrying 65% of freight and 80% of passenger traffic.[189] Container traffic is growing at 15% a year.[190] India has a national teledensity rate of 67.67% with 806.1 million telephone subscribers, two-thirds of them in urban areas,[191] but Internet use is rare—there were only 10.29 million broadband lines in India in September 2010. However, this is growing and is expected to boom following the expansion of 3G and wimax services.[192]

[edit]Economic disparities

Main articles: Economic disparities in India and Poverty in India

Lagging states need to bring more jobs to their people by creating an attractive investment destination. Reforming cumbersome regulatory procedures, improving rural connectivity, establishing law and order, creating a stable platform for natural resource investment that balances business interests with social concerns, and providing rural finance are important.

– World Bank: India Country Overview 2008[145]

Slums next to high-rise commercial buildings in Kochi. Hundreds of people, mostly comprising rural residents who are forced to migrate to cities seeking low-income jobs, live in squalid conditions like these.[193]

A critical problem facing India's economy is the sharp and growing regional variations among India's different states and territories in terms of poverty, availability of infrastructure and socio-economic development.[194] Six low-income states – Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh – are home to more than one third of India's population.[195]Severe disparities exist among states in terms of income, literacy rates, life expectancy and living conditions.[196]

The five-year plans, especially in the pre-liberalisation era, attempted to reduce regional disparities by encouraging industrial development in the interior regions and distributing industries across states, but the results have not been very encouraging since these measures in fact increased inefficiency and hampered effective industrial growth.[197] After liberalisation, the more advanced states have been better placed to benefit from them, with well-developed infrastructure and an educated and skilled workforce, which attract the manufacturing and service sectors. The governments of backward regions are trying to reduce disparities by offering tax holidays and cheap land, and focusing more on sectors like tourism which, although being geographically and historically determined, can become a source of growth and develops faster than other sectors.[198][199]

[edit]See also

India portal
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[edit]Notes

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[edit]References

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Economic liberalisation in India

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The economic liberalisation in India refers to ongoing economic reforms in India that started in 1991. After Independence in 1947, India adhered to socialist policies. In the 1980s, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi initiated some reforms. In 1991, after India sold 67 tons of gold to theInternational Monetary Fund (IMF), the government of P. V. Narasimha Rao and his finance minister Manmohan Singh started breakthrough reforms.[1] The new neo-liberal policies included opening for international trade and investment, deregulation, initiation of privatization, tax reforms, and inflation-controlling measures. The overall direction of liberalisation has since remained the same, irrespective of the ruling party, although no party has yet tried to take on powerful lobbies such as the trade unions and farmers, or contentious issues such as reforming labour laws and reducing agricultural subsidies.[2] The main objective of the government was to transform the economic system fromsocialism to capitalism so as to achieve high economic growth and industrialize the nation for the well-being of Indian citizens.[3][4] Today India is mainly characterized as a market economy.[5]

As of 2009, about 300 million people—equivalent to the entire population of the United States—have escaped extreme poverty.[6] The fruits of liberalisation reached their peak in 2007, when India recorded its highest GDP growth rate of 9%.[7] With this, India became the second fastest growing major economy in the world, next only to China.[8] An Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report states that the average growth rate 7.5% will double the average income in a decade, and more reforms would speed up the pace.[9]

Indian government coalitions have been advised to continue liberalisation. India grows at slower pace than China, which has been liberalising its economy since 1978.[10] McKinsey states that removing main obstacles "would free India's economy to grow as fast as China's, at 10 percent a year".[11]

For 2010, India was ranked 124th among 179th countries in Index of Economic Freedom World Rankings, which is an improvement from the preceding year.

Contents

 [hide]

[edit]Pre-liberalisation policies

Part of a series on the
History of Modern India
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Pre-Independence British Raj Red Ensign.svg
British Raj (1858–1947)
Indian independence movement (1857–1947)
Partition of India (1947)
Post-Independence Flag of India.svg
Political integration of India (1947–49)
Indo-Pakistani War of 1947
States Reorganisation Act (1956)
Non-Aligned Movement (1956– )
Sino-Indian War (1962)
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
Green Revolution (1970s)
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
Emergency (1975–77)
Siachen conflict (1984)
1990s in India
Economic liberalisation in India
Kargil War (1999)
2000s in India
See also
History of India
History of South Asia
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Further information: Economic history of India and License Raj

Indian economic policy after independence was influenced by the colonial experience (which was seen by Indian leaders as exploitative in nature) and by those leaders' exposure toFabian socialism. Policy tended towards protectionism, with a strong emphasis on import substitution, industrialization, state intervention in labour and financial markets, a large public sector, business regulation, and central planning.[12] Five-Year Plans of India resembled central planning in the Soviet Union. Steel, mining, machine tools, water,telecommunications, insurance, and electrical plants, among other industries, were effectivelynationalized in the mid-1950s.[13] Elaborate licences, regulations and the accompanying red tape, commonly referred to as Licence Raj, were required to set up business in India between 1947 and 1990.[14]

Before the process of reform began in 1991, the government attempted to close the Indian economy to the outside world. The Indian currency, the rupee, was inconvertible and high tariffs and import licensing prevented foreign goods reaching the market. India also operated a system of central planningfor the economy, in which firms required licenses to invest and develop. The labyrinthine bureaucracy often led to absurd restrictions—up to 80 agencies had to be satisfied before a firm could be granted a licence to produce and the state would decide what was produced, how much, at what price and what sources of capital were used. The government also prevented firms from laying off workers or closing factories. The central pillar of the policy wasimport substitution, the belief that India needed to rely on internal markets for development, not international trade—a belief generated by a mixture ofsocialism and the experience of colonial exploitation. Planning and the state, rather than markets, would determine how much investment was needed in which sectors.

– BBC[15]

In the 80s, the government led by Rajiv Gandhi started light reforms. The government slightly reduced License Raj and also promoted the growth of the telecommunications and softwareindustries.[citation needed]

The Vishwanath Pratap Singh government (1989–1990) and Chandra Shekhar Singhgovernment (1990–1991) did not add any significant reforms.

[edit]Impact

[edit]Narasimha Rao government (1991–1996)

Present Prime Minister Manmohan Singhwas then Finance Minister in Cabinet of Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao

[edit]Crisis

Main article: 1991 India economic crisis

The assassination of prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1984, and later of her son Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, crushed international investor confidence on the economy that was eventually pushed to the brink by the early 1990s.

As of 1991, India still had a fixed exchange rate system, where the rupee was pegged to the value of a basket of currencies of major trading partners. India started having balance of paymentsproblems since 1985, and by the end of 1990, it was in a serious economic crisis. The government was close to default,[19] its central bank had refused new credit and foreign exchange reserves had reduced to the point that India could barely finance three weeks' worth of imports.

A Balance of Payments crisis in 1991 pushed the country to near bankruptcy. In return for an IMF bailout, gold was transferred to London as collateral, the Rupeedevalued and economic reforms were forced upon India. That low point was the catalyst required to transform the economy through badly needed reforms to unshackle the economy. Controls started to be dismantled, tariffs, duties and taxesprogressively lowered, state monopolies broken, the economy was opened to trade and investment, private sector enterprise and competition were encouraged andglobalisation was slowly embraced. The reforms process continues today and is accepted by all political parties, but the speed is often held hostage by coalition politics and vested interests.

– India Report, Astaire Research[8]

[edit]Later reforms

  • Economic and technology-related sanctions have repeatedly not proved to be very effective in compelling nations to change their sovereign decisions made in enlightened self-interest. India faced severe sanctions after Pokhran-I (five nuclear tests on May 11 and 13, 1998 at the Pokhran range in Rajasthan Desert),and sanctions that were more comprehensive were imposed following Pokhran-II. There were dire predictions of the collapse of the economy, double-digit inflation etc.
  • After five years, most of the sanctions have been lifted and the Indian economy is continuing to grow at an acceptably satisfactory rate. The anticipated growth rate for 2003-04 is 6.0%. Though India's Gross National Income is only $477.4 billion by conventional calculations, it translates into $2,913 billion purchasing power parity (PPP), according to the latest world development indicators. In PPP terms, it is the world's fourth largest economy, behind only the US, China and Japan.
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

[edit]Impact of reforms

The HSBC Global Technology Center inPune develops software for the entire HSBCgroup.[21]

The impact of these reforms may be gauged from the fact that total foreign investment (includingforeign direct investment, portfolio investment, and investment raised on international capital markets) in India grew from a minuscule US$132 million in 1991–92 to $5.3 billion in 1995–96.[22]

Cities like Gurgaon, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai and Ahmedabad have risen in prominence and economic importance, become centres of rising industries and destination forforeign investment and firms.

Annual growth in GDP per capita has accelerated from just 1¼ per cent in the three decades after Independence to 7½ per cent currently, a rate of growth that will double average income in a decade. [...] In service sectors where government regulation has been eased significantly or is less burdensome—such ascommunications, insurance, asset management and information technology—output has grown rapidly, with exports of information technology enabled servicesparticularly strong. In those infrastructure sectors which have been opened to competition, such as telecoms and civil aviation, the private sector has proven to be extremely effective and growth has been phenomenal.

– OECD[9]

Election of AB Vajpayee as Prime Minister of India in 1998 and his agenda was a welcome change. His prescription to speed up economic progress included solution of all outstanding problems with the West (Cold War related) and then opening gates for FDI investment. In three years, the West was developing a bit of a fascination to India's brainpower, powered by IT and BPO. By 2004, the West would consider investment in India, should the conditions permit. By the end of Vajpayee's term as Prime Minister, a framework for the foreign investment had been established. The new incoming government of Professor Manmohan Singh in 2004 is further strengthening the required infrastructure to welcome the FDI.

Today, fascination with India is translating into active consideration of India as a destination for FDI. The A T Kearney study is putting India second most likely destination for FDI in 2005 behind China. It has displaced US to the third position. This is a great leap forward. India was at the 15th position, only a few years back. Thanks to the hard work of the politicians in control in Delhi for the last five years. To quote the A T Kearney Study "India's strong performance among manufacturing and telecom & utility firms was driven largely by their desire to make productivity-enhancing investments in IT, business process outsourcing, research and development, and knowledge management activities".

Still, India has not made into the grade where manufacturing investment will be targeted to it. That status belongs to China. But, progressively positive noises are being heard in the world financial circles to consider India at par with China. A few of the remaining antiquated labor laws in India need to be repealed and neglected infrastructure are upgraded to put an investor at ease. The irony is that all plans to redress the labor laws or upgrading of the infrastructure are shot down by left leaning politicians at the federal level. Only recently a proposal to use a part of India's huge foreign reserves to rebuild infrastructure was shot down by these politicians. To the contrary, they have nothing-worthwhile alternative to offer.

[edit]Ongoing economic challenges

Main article: Economy of India
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

OECD summarized the key reforms that are needed:

In labour markets, employment growth has been concentrated in firms that operate in sectors not covered by India's highly restrictive labour laws. In the formal sector, where these labour laws apply, employment has been falling and firms are becoming more capital intensive despite abundant low-cost labour. Labour market reform is essential to achieve a broader-based development and provide sufficient and higher productivity jobs for the growing labour force. In product markets, inefficient government procedures, particularly in some of the states, acts as a barrier to entrepreneurship and need to be improved. Public companies are generally less productive than private firms and the privatisation programme should be revitalised. A number of barriers to competition in financial markets and some of the infrastructure sectors, which are other constraints on growth, also need to be addressed. The indirect tax system needs to be simplified to create a true national market, while for direct taxes, the taxable base should be broadened and rates lowered. Public expenditure should be re-oriented towards infrastructure investment by reducing subsidies. Furthermore, social policies should be improved to better reach the poor and—given the importance of human capital—the education system also needs to be made more efficient.

– OECD[9]

[edit]Reforms at the state level

See also: Economic disparities in India

The Economic Survey of India 2007 by OECD concluded:

At the state level, economic performance is much better in states with a relatively liberal regulatory environment than in the relatively more restrictive states".[9]

The analysis of this report suggests that the differences in economic performance across states are associated with the extent to which states have introduced market-oriented reforms. Thus, further reforms on these lines, complemented with measures to improve infrastructure, education and basic services, would increase the potential for growth outside of agriculture and thus boost better-paid employment, which is a key to sharing the fruits of growth and lowering poverty.[9]

[edit]See also

[edit]References

  1. ^ Timeline:India -BBC 1991
  2. ^ "That old Gandhi magic". The Economist. 27 November 1997.[dead link]
  3. ^ "India's surprising economic miracle". The Economist. 30 September 2010. Retrieved Sep 30th 2010.
  4. ^ Chakrabarti, Anjan; Cullenberg, Stephen (2003). Transition from socialism to capitalism in india. ISBN 9780415934855.
  5. ^ "India's great journey to market economy". Rediff.com. Retrieved 2010-03-29.
  6. ^ Nick Gillespie (2008). "What Slumdog Millionaire can teach Americans about economic stimulus". Reason.
  7. ^ https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/in.html#Econ
  8. ^ a b c "The India Report". Astaire Research.
  9. ^ a b c d e f "Economic survey of India 2007: Policy Brief". OECD.
  10. ^ "India's economy: What's holding India back?". The Economist. 6 March 2008.
  11. ^ "The McKinsey Quarterly: India—From emerging to surging". The McKinsey Quarterly.
  12. ^ Kelegama, Saman and Parikh, Kirit (2000). Political Economy of Growth and Reforms in South Asia. Second Draft.
  13. ^ Sam Staley (2006). "The Rise and Fall of Indian Socialism: Why India embraced economic reform".
  14. ^ Street Hawking Promise Jobs in Future, The Times of India, 2001-11-25
  15. ^ a b c d "India: the economy". BBC. 12 February 1998.
  16. ^ "Redefining The Hindu Rate Of Growth". The Financial Express.
  17. ^ "Industry passing through phase of transition". The Tribune India.
  18. ^ Eugene M. Makar (2007). An American's Guide to Doing Business in India.
  19. ^ India's Pathway through Financial Crisis. Arunabha Ghosh. Global Economic Governance Programme. Retrieved on 2 March 2007.
  20. ^ J. Bradford DeLong (2001). "India Since Independence: An Analytic Growth Narrative".
  21. ^ "HSBC GLT frontpage". Retrieved 2008-08-22.
  22. ^ Local industrialists against multinationals. Ajay Singh and Arjuna Ranawana. Asiaweek. Retrieved on 2 March 2007.
  23. ^ "IMF calls for urgent reform in Indian labour laws".
  24. ^ Kaushik Basu, Gary S. Fields, and Shub Debgupta."Retrenchment, Labor Laws and Government Policy: An Analysis with Special Reference to India". The World Bank.
  25. ^ R. C. Datta / Milly Sil (2007). "Contemporary Issues on Labour Law Reform in India".
  26. ^ Aditya Gupta (2006). "How wrong has the Indian Left been about economic reforms?".
  27. ^ Basu, Kaushik (27 June 2005). "Why India needs labour law reform". BBC.
  28. ^ "A special report on India: An elephant, not a tiger". The Economist. 11 December 2008.
  29. ^ "India Country Overview 2008". The World Bank. 2008.
  30. ^ Gurcharan Das (July/August 2006). "The India Model". The Foreign Affairs.

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