Great achievement,congratulations for great career.Your politeness,sincerity,and hard work had resulted in such high rank (52)

Great achievement,congratulations for great career.Your politeness,sincerity,and hard work had resulted in such high rank (52)

Shame of debt, steep costs driving farmers to suicide: RBI-commissioned study

The RBI-commissioned study listed faulty crop choices and aspirational consumption patterns as other major factors leading farmers to commit suicide

The study observed that close to 270,000 farmers have committed suicide in the past 15 years.

Shame arising out of inability to repay loans taken from relatives and acquaintances is a key reason for farmers resorting to suicide, a study commissioned by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) found.

The study titled “Lives in debt: narratives of agrarian distress and farmer suicides”, conducted by researchers at Shiv Nadar University and published in the latest issue of Economic and Political Weekly, listed faulty crop choices, rising input costs, and aspirational consumption patterns as other major factors driving suicides, following field investigations in two of the most suicide-prone districts in India—Yavatmal in Maharashtra and Sangrur in Punjab.

The findings come at a time when a farm debt waiver in Uttar Pradesh has sparked demand for similar relief in these two states. In Punjab, despite a record harvest, farmer suicides have continued.

Despite formal credit to farmers growing tenfold between 2001 and 2012, commercial banks have “deepened” credit instead of “widening” it, making loans more accessible to farmers with large landholdings, the study said, adding that “it (the surge in formal credit) was insufficient to rule out the predominance of non-institutional sources”.

Citing data from the National Crime Records Bureau, the study observed that close to 270,000 farmers have committed suicide in the past 15 years, and despite wide differences in cropping patterns and access to irrigation, the crisis in farming is strikingly similar in districts like Yavatmal (rain-fed cotton belt) and Sangrur (irrigated region growing three crops in a year).

In Yavatmal, the survey showed that small and marginal farmers (owning less than 2 hectares) who lacked non-farm sources of income were most likely to commit suicide.

“The shame associated with one’s inability to repay is immense in a village society and it is all the more acute if money is borrowed from relatives,” the study observed.

In Sangrur, the study found that most families where a farmer suicide took place had outstanding debts over Rs200,000. Many families were indebted to traders and commission agents and had exhausted all formal credit channels, the study found.

It further said that crop choices in these districts were not in tune with the agro-climatic features of the region. Cultivation of Bt cotton in Yavatmal where rainfall is unpredictable and growing rice in Sangrur where water tables are depleting has put farmers under considerable stress, according to the study.

The researchers observed that a Bt cotton farmer is barely able to meet the rising costs of cultivation, let alone generate a profit sufficient to sustain the household. In Punjab, a highly input-intensive farming and low support prices that did not keep pace with production costs have meant little surplus left with farmers to repay loans.

While consumption expenditure of small farmers usually exceeds their income from farming, the mismatch is higher in Punjab, the study said, adding the state tops in purchase of consumer durables often financed by loans form non-institutional sources.

Due to massive defaults caused by repeated crop failures, “the most frightening point emerging from the field study is the exhausting of informal sources of credit” leading to a situation where moneylenders prefer buying out assets of farmers than mortgaging them, the study said.

It suggested several interventions, including discouraging loans to crops not suited to the ecology of a region, restructuring of loans into smaller instalments, and introduction of cashless loan components to avoid diversion of loans towards consumption expenditure, as possible measures to curb suicides.

Criticising the pitifully low public expenditure on agriculture (less than 1% of the GDP), the study said “an economy driven by jobless growth, compulsive migration” (from rural India) creates new “serfs” in informal services and construction, “while existing rural and agrarian problems remain unresolved”.

Environment ministry panel defers clearance to 600 MW Tawang power project

Environment ministry’s forest panel defers clearance to the 600 MW Tawang hydroelectric project, noting that it could severely hit the biodiversity in the region

Representational image. The Arunachal Pradesh government had sought a diversion of 187.20 hectare of forest land for construction of the Tawang hydroelectric project stage-I (600 MW) on Tawang Chu River in Tawang district by the NHP

The expert forest panel of the environment ministry has deferred clearance to the 600 megawatt (MW) Tawang hydroelectric project in Arunachal Pradesh until a study is conducted on it, noting that the location is a vital wintering ground of the black necked crane, an endangered species, and other birds.

The decision came at a 16 May meeting of the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) of the ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC). 

The Arunachal Pradesh government had sought a diversion of 187.20 hectare of forest land for construction of the Tawang hydroelectric project stage-I (600 MW) on Tawang Chu River in Tawang district by the NHPC Ltd.

The project, whose estimated cost is about Rs4,824 crore, would also result in about 200,000 trees being felled. The trees include threatened plant species.

“FAC after thorough deliberation observed that BNHS (Bombay Natural History Society) had represented to the members of FAC that Tawang valley in Arunachal Pradesh is very high in biodiversity having several critically endangered species as well as several endemics. The particular location of the project is also vital wintering ground of Black Necked Crane,” noted the minutes of FAC’s meeting, which were reviewed by Mint.

Black Necked Crane, an endangered bird, is a protected bird under India’s the Wildlife Protection Act 1972. It is also counted as a ‘vulnerable’ species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), an international NGO working on environment and conservation issues. 

“These birds require quality wetlands. The proposed project (even if it is river run off project) has an ability to significantly alter the wetland characteristics thereby significantly affecting habitat of Black Necked Crane and in worst case scenario losing one of the finest wintering habitat of the species,” FAC held.

The expert committee also noted that the proposed area has been identified as an important birding area by BNHS.

“The view point of BNHS was taken into consideration and same was discussed with user agency. After detailed deliberation and discussion with user agency it is recommended that a study in this regards shall be conducted through Wildlife Institute Dehradun at the cost of user agency. The case shall be deferred till the study is conducted,” said FAC.

Not just birds, the area is also home to important animals like barking deer, sambar, wild yak, serow, goral, wild boar, red panda, clouded leopard, snow leopard and musk deer.

The project is among the 11 proposed hydropower projects totalling 2802.20 MW capacity in the ecologically sensitive Tawang River Basin (TRB) in Arunachal Pradesh. This particular project had first come to FAC in 2011 but has been pending since then for varied reasons.

Harnessing of hydro power potential has been on top of the central government’s agenda for nearly a decade now. The government wants to establish prior user rights on rivers that originate in China and fast-track overall development of north-east India.

As per official estimates, north-east India has a hydropower potential of about 65,000 MW and of that nearly 50,000 MW is in Arunachal Pradesh, which is claimed by China in almost its entirety.

But environmentalists have repeatedly opposed such large-scale projects, saying that they could severely hit the biodiversity-rich north-eastern region, resulting in irreversible environmental damage.

“Arunachal Pradesh is the richest biodiversity area in whole of India. But the destruction has already started and is getting faster now. Whatever little dissent people have expressed has been squashed,” said ornithologist Bikram Grewal. “They (government) are pushing everything in name of national security, defence and progress...Sadly it is anything but progress. If conservationists can stand their ground it will be a major achievement. But this seems difficult at the moment.

ISRO braces to tame GSLV Mark-III that could launch Indians into space

The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk- III) is heaviest rocket ever made by India that is capable of carrying the heaviest satellites till now

An indigenous rocket as heavy as 200 full-grown Asian elephants could well be the one taking “Indians into space from Indian soil” as the country inches closer to joining the big boy’s space club.

Standing tall on the rocket port at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh is the country’s latest rocket called the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk- III), the heaviest rocket ever made by India that is capable of carrying the heaviest satellites till now.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) enters into a bold new world muscling its way to make its mark in the world’s heavy weight multi-billion dollar launch market. “We are pushing ourselves to the limits to ensure that this new fully self-reliant Indian rocket succeeds in its maiden launch,” ISRO chairman A S Kiran Kumar said. It is the maiden experimental launch of GSLV-Mk III earlier named Launch Vehicle Mark-3, but if all goes on well in a decade or after a slew of at least half a dozen successful launches, this rocket could be India’s vehicle of choice to launch “Indians into space, from Indian soil using Indian rockets”.

This heavy lift rocket is capable of placing up to 8 tons in a low Earth orbit, enough to carry India’s crew module. ISRO has already prepared plans of hoisting a 2-3 member human crew into space as soon as the government gives it a sanction of about 3-4 billion dollars. If the human venture materialises, India would become only the fourth country after Russia, the US and China to have a human space flight program. Incidentally ISRO asserts the first Indian to go into space could well be a woman! “In principle, it will be the GSLV Mk-3 or its variant that will be human rated in future,” Kumar confirms.

In the intense pre-monsoon heat, India’s rocket port is buzzing with feverish activity as engineers from the Indian space agency get set to launch an all new indigenously-made rocket. It is the heaviest fully-functional rocket to reach the launch pad weighing 640 tons or almost 5 times the weight of a fully loaded Jumbo Jet airplane.

The new rocket is capable of carrying satellites of four ton class into the geosynchronous orbit and opens a whole new window through which ISRO can now explore the universe. It is estimated that the new rocket costs a whopping Rs 300 crore but the country would end up saving almost as much when an Indian launcher is used to place New Delhi’s communication satellites.

Today India uses the French Ariane-5 rocket launched from Kourou in South America to place its heavy 4 ton class of communication satellites. Kumar asserts that the GSLV-Mk III is a rocket designed and made in India from scratch and hence engineers from ISRO are very keen to tame this new monster in its very first attempt. Not an easy task, since India’s track record suggests that maiden launches of its rockets often end up in failure.

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) failed on its maiden launch in 1993 and since then it has had 38 consecutively successful launches and the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk-1 (GSLV Mk-1) failed in 2001 and since then it has 11 launches with half of them successful. Space fairing is a very risky business and all nations the US, France and Japan and even the new private companies have had failures in recent times like the spectacular Falcon-9 rocket in 2016. Hopefully, the GSLV-Mk III will break that jinx. India already has two operational rockets—the workhorse PSLV that can hoist satellites of 1.5 tons into space and was the preferred vehicle for India’s maiden mission to Moon and Mars.

The second— the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark II can hoist 2 ton class of satellites and because of its repeated failures it was dubbed ‘the naughty boy of ISRO’. Between them, ISRO has done 50 launches and recently even earned a world record by successfully placing 104 satellites in orbit.

The new GSLV-Mk III is an all new vehicle designed and developed in India and in 2014 a sub-orbital successful test of this vehicle was conducted to understand how it performs in the atmosphere. The rocket never went into space but helped test India’s future astronaut capsule. It had a dummy cryogenic engine and was a single stage vehicle. Even though the GSLV-Mk III is 43-m-tall, making it the shortest of the three big Indian rockets, it carries a huge punch as it weighs almost 1.5 times heavier than India’s next biggest rocket the GSLV Mk-2 and almost twice as heavy as India’s PSLV. This monster rocket has an elegant design and is capable of carrying loads equal to the weight of two sports utility vehicles or SUVs into space.

The massive first stage along with strap-on boosters weighs 610 tons and comprises multiple engines all firing nearly simultaneously. It is the second stage which is all together a new animal for this mammoth rocket, it is a novel Indian cryogenic engine that weighs about 30 tons.

The new cryogenic engine is being tested on a fully functional rocket for the first time and it is the development of this technology that uses liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen as propellant is what took more than 15 years for Indians to master. There is a lot of excitement at the rocket port as Kumar says “a whole new rocket and an entirely new class of a high through put satellite system is all set to be launched”

Great Barrier Reef bleaching worse than first thought

Great Barrier Reef suffered its most severe bleaching on record last year due to warming sea temperatures during March and April

Coral bleaching on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is worse than first thought and the impact will accelerate unless global greenhouse gas emissions are cut, scientists said Monday.

The 2,300-km (1,400-mile) World Heritage-listed reef suffered its most severe bleaching on record last year due to warming sea temperatures during March and April.

Initial aerial and in-water surveys showed 22% of shallow water corals were destroyed in 2016, but it has now been bumped up to 29% and with the reef currently experiencing an unprecedented second straight year of bleaching, the outlook is grim.

“We’re very concerned about what this means for the Great Barrier Reef itself and what it means for the communities and industries that depend on it,” Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) chairman Russell Reichelt said.

“The amount of coral that died from bleaching in 2016 is up from our original estimates and, at this stage, although reports are still being finalised, it’s expected we’ll also see an overall further coral cover decline by the end of 2017.”

Bleaching, which occurs when abnormal conditions such as warmer sea temperatures cause corals to expel tiny photosynthetic algae, draining them of their colour, also extended to deeper corals beyond depths divers can typically survey.

But mortality of those reefs could not be systematically assessed.

The most severely impacted region was an area north of the popular tourist town Port Douglas, where an estimated 70% of shallow water corals have died.

Cairns and Townsville, also hugely popular tourist destinations, are among the regions hardest-hit from the 2017 bleaching event, although southern parts of the natural wonder escaped the worst.

Corals can recover if the water temperature drops and the algae are able to recolonise them, but it can take a decade. The reef is already under pressure from farming run-off, development and the crown-of-thorns starfish, with the problems compounded this year by powerful cyclone pummelling the area.

Reichelt said the storm impacted a quarter of the reef but a complete picture for 2017 would not be available until next year. The GBRMPA hosted a summit last week of more than 70 of the world’s leading marine experts to work on a blueprint on how best to respond to the threats.

Among options explored was developing coral nurseries, strategies to boost culling of crown-of-thorns starfish, expanding monitoring systems and identifying priority sites for coral restoration.

Key to the talks was the need to slash greenhouse gas emissions to prevent warming sea temperatures.

“The Great Barrier Reef is a large and resilient system that’s previously shown its capacity to bounce back, however the current changes are undermining the resilience of the reef,” said Reichelt. “Summit participants voiced their strong concern about the need for global action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the driver of climate change.”

The world’s nations agreed in Paris in 2015 to limit average warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial levels, by curbing fossil fuel burning.

What India can learn from Israel

India has much to learn from Israeli’s application of hard power, who are living in a part of the world where most of their neighbours don’t even acknowledge their right to exist

The year 2017 marks important anniversaries for Israel: the Balfour Declaration of 1917, the first official British declaration recognizing the need for a Jewish state; 1947 when the United Nations passed a resolution in support of a Jewish state, a year before its creation; and 1967, which saw the Six-Day War resulting in an overwhelming Israeli victory over Arab aggressors, establishing Israel’s control over all of Jerusalem, West Bank, Gaza, Golan, and Sinai.

This year also marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between India and Israel. To commemorate this important anniversary, and by remarkable coincidence coinciding with all these other important anniversaries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit Israel on 4-6 July, in what will be another first: the first time ever that an Indian prime minister will visit Israel.

It’s noteworthy that the customary add-on, a visit to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, is being skipped. This signals in no uncertain terms that India no longer hyphenates Israel and Palestine and acknowledges what has been evident below the radar screen for years, the enormous importance of the India-Israel bilateral relationship. Whether it’s military cooperation, trade or combatting Islamist extremism in their respective neighbourhoods, Israel is fast becoming one of India’s staunchest and most important partners. Credit for the ramping up of this long overdue boost to the relationship is due both to Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

A recent visit to Israel reinforced all of the reasons I already believed India and Israel are natural partners. That begins with the natural affinity and warmth between the two peoples. Israelis love to travel to India and love seeing Indians in their own country.

India is perhaps unique in having a long history of Jewish migration without any persecution of the Jews from the indigenous population. Anti-semitism came to India with the arrival of European colonizers and in fact it was the Maharaja of Cochin who sheltered members of the ancient Jewish settlement when they were marauded by the Portuguese. Much later, Baghdadi Jews played an important part in Bombay’s rise as a modern metropolis and commercial centre. Indeed, one of the so-called original merchant princes of Bombay was David Sassoon, a Baghdadi Jew. As it happens, about 80,000 Indian Jews have settled in Israel and are great ambassadors for India there. They contribute to India’s soft power in the Israeli consciousness which is considerable.

In the opposite direction, India has much to learn from Israeli’s application of hard power, living as they do in a part of the world where most of their neighbours don’t even acknowledge their right to exist and many are trying actively to wipe them off the map. India too faces existential threats but for too long, our political elite were both unwilling to acknowledge this fact and to draw the correct lessons from the Israeli experience.

In conversations with senior Israeli military and security officials, it became clear that the Israeli approach is to balance strength and military and strategic superiority and a focus on deterrence on the one hand, with the ability to be compassionate and emphatic on the other. Thus, it is little known that on Israel’s northern border with Syria on the Golan Heights, where civil war is raging between government and rebel forces, those in need of medical care, often injured in the shelling and firing, cross over to the Israeli side and get treated at Israeli hospitals free of cost. These were people who grew up thinking of Israel as their mortal enemy that needed to be destroyed.

It’s striking that Israeli settlers have ventured right up to the UN administered buffer zone between Israeli occupied Golan, neighbouring Syria and Lebanon, confident that Israeli forces will protect them. There’s a good reason: as several security officials said, their goal is to ensure life is as normal as it can be for those they protect.

Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Jammu and Kashmir, where indigenous Pandits were driven out while the Indian state looked the other way and in which it’s not even legally permissible for non-Kashmiri Indians to settle there. Nor can Indian security forces guarantee safety in regions affected by Maoist and other insurgencies.

India could well take a cue from how Israel maintains stringent external and internal security, allowing Israeli settlements right up to the border of conflict zones. In India, by contrast, we seem to be in perennial reaction mode, trying to contain situations as they’re unfolding rather than pre-empting trouble before it happens.

Israelis understand that genuine compassion and empathy even toward those bent on destroying them comes from a position of strength, not of weakness. But all of this requires political will and a deeper commitment and investment to our military and security establishment. The former requires that there be a broad political consensus that India faces existential threats from within and without. The latter requires taking these existential threats we face seriously as the Israelis do theirs.

In 1967, Israel faced a threat to its very existence from Arab neighbours and vanquished its enemies. In 1962, India faced abject defeat at the hands of Chinese neighbours who continue to occupy some of our territory. When will India get its act together and learn from Israel?

Who are the biggest buyers of gold in India?

World Gold Council says India’s gold demand was what supported the global market in Q1 2017, but where in India does the gold go to?

The latest report from the World Gold Council says that gold demand from India was what supported global gold demand in the first quarter of 2017. Indian purchases of gold jewellery in the first quarter of 2017 accounted for a little over a fifth of world jewellery demand. That is completely out of proportion to India’s share of world gross domestic product (GDP), which is around 3% or so, in current US dollars. During Q1, 2017, India’s demand for gold jewellery was 92.3 tonnes, compared to 22.9 tonnes for the US. Investment demand for gold in the form of bars and coins was 31.2 tonnes in Q1 2017, compared to 16.2 tonnes for the US.

India’s hunger for gold is not surprising—people have been complaining about the “drain of gold” into India for ages, starting with Pliny the Elder, the Roman writer of the 1st century AD. But where in India does the gold go to? And who are the people who buy all this gold jewellery?

The short answer to the first question is, in one word: Kerala. For a longer answer, turn to Chart 1, which shows the monthly per capita expenditure on gold ornaments among the Indian states. The data have been taken from the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO)’s survey on Household Consumption of Various Goods and Services in India, 2011-12. Only data from the states have been taken here and Union territories have not been included.

The first thing that catches the eye in the chart is how different Kerala is from the rest of India in terms of spending on gold ornaments. For instance, not only does rural Kerala top the rankings for spending on gold ornaments, its per capita spending is six times higher than the state that ranks number 2—Goa. Indeed, rural Kerala’s per capita spending on gold ornaments is far ahead of the total per capita spending of all the other six top states by gold consumption shown in the chart.

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Urban India, being richer, spends more on gold ornaments than rural areas. Nevertheless, here too urban Kerala ranks first by a mile among the states. To be sure, Kerala has relatively high per capita income, but it’s certainly not so different from other Indian states as the gold consumption data suggests. Cultural factors must be behind its status as an outlier. It is no wonder then that the Kerala chief minister wants a low goods and services tax (GST) for gold.

At the other extreme are the states with the lowest per capita expenditure on gold ornaments. As the chart shows, the north-eastern states figure prominently in this list—again the reason is likely to be cultural factors rather than poverty. It’s likely though that poverty is the factor behind states like Bihar and Jharkhand having low per capita gold consumption.

What about the second question—who buys all this gold? Well, the rather obvious answer is it’s the rich. Chart 2 has the details. The population is divided into 12 fractiles depending on their consumption. Fractile 12 is the top 5% in terms of consumption, fractile 11 the next 5%, fractile 10 the next 10%, fractile 9 the next lower 10% and so on, with fractile 1 being the lowest 5%. In other words, the fractile classes used are the percentile classes 0-5%, 5-10%, 10-20%, 20-30%, 30-40%, ..., 70-80%, 80-90%, 90-95%, and 95-100%. These fractiles are taken separately for rural and urban India.

As the chart shows, the richest 5% in rural India spend 6.2 times more on gold ornaments than the next 5%. In urban India, this multiple is 3.9 times. Sure, even the poor buy some gold jewellery. But note how much more the top 5% spend on gold ornaments compared to the middle percentiles. Clearly, the people who will benefit the most from a low goods and services tax (GST) rate on gold will be the rich.

To Make in India, Modi govt approves Buy in India

Union Cabinet clears national procurement policy that gives preference to locally made goods and services, in line with PM Narendra Modi’s Make in India policy

To promote its flagship Make In India programme, the Narendra Modi government has cleared its own version of the US’s Buy American policy through a national government procurement policy, giving preference to locally made goods and services.

Titled “Government procurement preference to Make In India order, 2017”, the new policy, cleared by the Union cabinet on Wednesday, is expected to give a substantial boost to local manufacturing and services sectors, thereby creating jobs. “It will also stimulate the flow of capital and technology into domestic manufacturing and services... (and) provide a further thrust towards manufacture of parts, components, sub-components etc. of these items, in line with the vision of ‘Make in India’,” a cabinet statement said.

The national procurement policy involves purchases of at least Rs2 trillion a year and also covers autonomous bodies, government companies and entities under the government’s control.

Mint first reported on 28 February that the government was considering such a proposal.

The government has defined local goods and services as those where at least 50% of the value addition has been done in India.

Small purchases of less than Rs500,000 are exempt from the policy; procurement of goods and services worth Rs50 lakh or less, where the nodal ministry determines that there is sufficient local capacity and local competition, can be made only from local suppliers.

For procurement of orders worth more than Rs50 lakh, or where there is insufficient local capacity or competition, local suppliers will get a 20% margin of purchase preference. This means that the local supplier will be given an opportunity to match the lowest bid if its own bid is not more than 20% higher.

“If the procurement is of a type that the order can be divided and given to more than one supplier, the non-local supplier who is the lowest bidder will get half of the order and the local supplier will get the other half if it agrees to match the price of the lowest bid. If the procurement cannot be divided, then the lowest cost local supplier will be given the order if it agrees to match the lowest bid,” a cabinet statement said.

The policy also requires that specifications in tenders must not be restrictive for local suppliers and the procedure for verification of local content should be based on self-certification. “There will be penal consequences for false declarations. In some cases, verification by statutory / cost auditors etc. will be required,” the statement added.

A standing committee in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion will oversee the implementation of this order and issues arising therefrom, and make recommendations to nodal ministries and procuring entities.

Keval Doshi, partner at EY India, said the decision is unlikely to be controversial as it doesn’t make a distinction based between foreign or domestic ownership and, rather, focuses on local manufacturing.

“This will make India more competitive as more foreign companies manufacture in India and choose to export from India,” he added.

Three years of Modi govt: Are NDA’s big programmes delivering?

When it comes to big-ticket programmes, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government led by Narendra Modi has launched a raft of new schemes, championed old ones or silently embraced those it was once critical of. Here’s how four such big programmes have fared vis-à-vis their stated objectives and targets in the three years of Modi government.

HOUSING: Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban), or PMAY

Target

With the aim of ‘housing for all’, the centre plans to facilitate the building of 20 million ‘affordable’ houses in Indian cities by providing financial assistance to urban local bodies, implementing agencies and households. The scheme is scheduled to run from 2015 to 2022.

Progress

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Much of the scheme’s first two years have gone in spadework. Thus, against the 2022 target of building 20 million new houses, 9.3% has been approved. In terms of completion, the figure is 5.3% of the houses approved and 0.5% of the overall target.

Funding

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The central government spend mirrors the scheme’s slow physical progress. So far, the centre has released about 31% of the amount it has committed for the cleared projects.

Highlight

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The scheme’s progress varies across states. Other than Gujarat and Karnataka, all states with the maximum PMAY houses approved have little to show in terms of completion.

Challenges

Private involvement: Private builders have been reluctant to take up PMAY projects, citing low margins in the affordable housing segment, which are further compounded by the opaque and high-cost approvals process endemic to Indian real estate.

Affordability: The need for housing in cities is the greatest at the lowest income strata. Even as the government struggles to service this segment at a low price point, it has relaxed the income cap for households to avail a discount on home loan rates. This can boost PMAY numbers, but it won’t help meet the ‘housing for all’ objective.

Source: pmaymis.gov.in, indiabudget.nic.in

FINANCIAL INCLUSION: Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)

Target

Aims to provide “universal access to banking facilities, with at least one basic banking account for every household, financial literacy, access to credit, insurance and pension facility”. The scheme was launched in August 2014, with no end date specified.

Progress

Measured on number of accounts, progress has been brisk in this top-down scheme—entailing a government push to banks—going from 0 to 280 million new accounts in under three years. But usage levels are still low: the average account balance is only Rs2,278.

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Funding

The programme is driven by a government nudge to banks and the unbanked: increasingly, welfare benefits will move through Aadhaar-linked direct benefit transfers to bank accounts. It doesn’t entail the government paying banks, and barely affects the exchequer directly.

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Highlight

While releasing its year-end review for 2016, the department of financial services (DFS) reported that 99.9% of the 212 million households it surveyed had a bank account. But did it under-count households? Census 2011 counted 246 million. At an annual growth of 2.5%, as between 2001 and 2011, India would have 278 million households in 2016. If all households the DFS did not survey did not have a bank account, 66 million households (24%) still don’t have a bank account.

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Challenges

Usage needs to pick up, especially given that the system is being primed for delivery of welfare benefits through Aadhaar-based direct benefit transfers. Although the numbers are continuously improving, 24% of Jan Dhan accounts have no money and 34% are yet to be linked to Aadhaar.

Source: www.pmjdy.gov.in, indiabudget.nic.in, Census (2001-2011) data, year-end review of department of financial services (2016 data)

RURAL ELECTRIFICATION: Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY)

Targets

Aims to achieve electrification of 18,452 villages by May 2018, and electrification of 45 million rural households by December 2018.

Progress

About 73% of the 18,452 villages that did not even have power infrastructure now have it, and the government should reach its target on this count. But this doesn’t necessarily mean every household in the village has access to electricity. At present, in only 6% of these 18,452 villages do 100% households have access. Increasing this metric is the scheme’s next big target.

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Funding

This is one of the big programmes the centre has been pushing, and its spends and allocations have stayed consistent.

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Highlight

Even in the villages that have power infrastructure, there are many households that don’t have access to electricity—across India, 45 million of the 179 million rural households, or 25%. Linking them to the grid is the next big step for the programme. At present, DDUGJY is addressing 0.7 million.

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Challenges

Power for all: Even as villages are getting new power infrastructure, there are issues of last-mile connectivity and supply, making the ‘power for all’ goal a challenge.

M1 to M12: When it comes to electrifying a village, there are 12 stages outlined by the ministry—from M1 (awarding a village), M2 (receipt of poles) to M12 (handing over a village). Work is at various stages, which is something the headline numbers don’t always convey.

Source: garv.gov.in, indiabudget.nic.in

RURAL EMPLOYMENT: Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS)

Target

Launched by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government in 2006, the scheme aims to provide 100 days of assured employment to a rural household in a year.

Progress

When the current government entered office, Prime Minister Modi portrayed MGNREGS as a symbol of the Congress’ ineffectual legacy. But, following a drought which led to a fall in farm output and incomes, the BJP-led government has increased employment and spends to the scheme.

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Funding

Average daily wages have increased from Rs132 in 2013-14 to Rs161 in 2016-17. As a result, after a small dip in 2014-15, total funding by the centre has since increased sizeably.

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Highlight

Non-BJP states have registered an increase in MGNREGS spending in the past two years, while BJP-ruled states registered a spike in 2016-17.

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Challenges

Lengthy delays in paying workers have marked MGNREGS. Recently, the centre said it had cleared 89% of wages within 15 days of the work being done. In the past four years, this figure ranged between 27% and 50%. Can the government maintain this year’s high numbers?

Environment ministry planning to ease coastal regulation norms

The environment ministry’s plan to revamp coastal regulation norms could open up the 7,500km-long coastline for developmental projects but environmentalists fear for marine life

The environment ministry is planning to revamp India’s coastal regulation norms, a move that could open up India’s 7,500km-long coastline for developmental activities.

Environmentalists say that the proposed norms would have serious implications for the marine environment and are weaker compared with the current Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification, 2011.

The draft of the new coastal norms, accessed by environmentalists using the right to information (RTI) law, reveals that it would open the coastline for activities such as tourism and real estate.

The draft Marine and Coastal Regulation Zone (MCRZ) notification 2017 was accessed by Meenakshi Kapoor, who works at the Delhi-based think tank Centre for Policy Research, using the RTI Act 2005, on Tuesday. Kapoor criticized the environment ministry for not releasing the draft to the public for wider consultations.

“Since 2014, the entire process of reviewing and revising the CRZ notification, 2011 has been a closed-door exercise, she said.

“Instead of the environment ministry inviting suggestions and feedback from coastal communities, researchers, urban planners and legal experts on the implementation of the CRZ Notification and proposals for reform, there has been a reluctance to share the details of this review.”

The draft, reviewed by Mint, is currently under inter-ministerial consultation.

An environment ministry official, requesting anonymity, said the draft is expected to be finalized soon. The draft has already been discussed with the Union ministries of tourism, shipping and urban development.

“Once views of the ministries are included, it would be put online for views and suggestions from all stakeholders including public and experts,” the official said.

An analysis of the draft reveals that it proposes to shrink the no-development zone in rural coastal areas from 200m from the high tide line now to merely 50m, where temporary tourism facilities will be permitted.

The draft proposes to also allow temporary tourism facilities in ecologically sensitive areas.

The proposed notification also states that state and Union territory governments are to prepare tourism plans for their respective MCRZ areas.

According to the draft, housing and basic infrastructure for local inhabitants will also be allowed after 50m from the high tide line in rural areas, compared with the 2011 notification which permitted houses for coastal communities after 100m.

The draft also proposes to reduce the coastal protection zone for islands from the present 500m from the high tide line to just 20m.

The proposed draft also proposes to give powers to state authorities to decide the extent of developmental activities.

The draft, however, clarifies that activities related to Defence Research and Development Organization, Indian Space Research Organisation, exploration and extraction of oil and natural gas and extraction of minerals will continue to require clearances from the environment ministry.

India’s first CRZ notification was issued in 1991, under the Environment Protection Act, 1986, empowering the central government to restrict industrial activities and processes to protect the coastline. It was amended 25 times before being comprehensively revised in 2011.

In June 2014, the National Democratic Alliance government constituted a committee under Shailesh Nayak, then secretary in the ministry of earth sciences, to look into issues raised by states regarding the 2011 CRZ notification. In January 2015, the Nayak panel submitted the report. That report has also not 
been made public by the ministry.

Three years of Modi govt: The Lexicon

The Narendra Modi government continued to dish out slogans, acronyms and alliterations in the third year in power to create a buzz around its missions and programmes. Like in the first year and the second year , Mint updates the list with the new buzzwords and phrases that were added to the government’s lexicon in its third year.

A

Year 1

Abki Baar Modi Sarkar: This time, Modi government.

Achhe Din Aane Wale Hain: Good days are about to come.

ART: Accountability, Responsibility, Transparency—aimed at good governance.

ABCD: Avoid, Bypass, Confuse, Delay—comment on the culture within the Indian bureaucracy.

AMRUT: Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation—a programme to replace Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.

AIM: Atal Innovation Mission— a programme to promote a network of world-class innovation hubs.

Year 2

Accessible India: To ensure universal accessibility for persons with disabilities.

Year 3

AMRIT: Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for Treatment

B

Year 1

Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Abhiyaan: Mission to save and educate girl children

B2B: Bharat to Bhutan (Aimed at improving India-Bhutan ties)

Year 2

BAPU: Biometrically Authenticated Physical Uptake (aims to verify identity of beneficiaries of government schemes by scanning fingerprints)

Year 3

BHIM: Bharat Interface for Money (app for making digital transactions and payments)

Bharatamala: An umbrella program for National Highways to connect coastal/ border areas, pilgrimage sites and district headquarters

C

Year 1

Cooperative and Competitive Federalism: Aims at improving centre-state relationship through teamwork.

Year 2

Climate Change to Climate Justice: Need for change in focus in environment debate.

Creative India, Innovative India: Aims at a new national intellectual property rights policy.

D

Year 1

Digital India: Aims to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.

3 Ds: Democracy, Demography and Demand—a comment on India’s advantage over other countries.

Year 2

DIPAM: Department of Investment and Public Asset Management—a new name for the disinvestment department.

Divyang: People with extraordinary capabilities, instead of Viklang (handicapped).

DigiLocker: Government of India’s secure cloud-based platform for storage, sharing and verification of documents and certificates, for paperless governance.

Year 3

DEEP: Discovery of Efficient Electricity Price (e-bidding web portal for electricity)

Digidhan: an event to promote digital transactions

DISHA: Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (Digital literacy mission)

E

Year 1

Ek Bharat Shreshth Bharat: One India, Best India

e-Kranti: Digitizing the delivery of government services.

Year 2

e-Boat: Solar-powered boats on river Ganga at Varanasi.

eNAM: Electronic National Agricultural Market

ePACE: Project Appraisals and Continuing Enhancements—an online portal for monitoring progress of national highways across India.

eBASTA: To make school books accessible in digital form as e-books.

3E: Enterprises, Earning, Empowerment—the motive behind Mudra Bank

Year 3

EPI: Every Person is Important (The new VIP)

Evergreen Revolution: Sustained increase in agricultural production

F

Year 1

FDI: First Develop India

5F: Farm to Fibre, Fibre to Fabric, Fabric to Fashion, Fabric to Foreign

Year 2

FASTag: Electronic tolling system introduced on all national highways across the country.

Year 3

FUTURE: F: farmer, U: underprivileged, T: transparency, technology upgradation, U: urban rejuvenation, R: rural development and E: employment, entrepreneurship.

G

Year 1

#GiveItUp: Programme to inspire consumers to give up the LPG subsidy.

GIAN: Global Initiative of Academic Networks—aimed at American academicians and scientists to teach in India at their convenience.

Year 2

GARV: Grameen Vidyutikaran

Gramodaya Se Bharat Uday Abhiyan: Aimed at increasing social harmony across villages and strengthen the Panchayati Raj.

Year 3

GEM: Government e-marketplace

H

Year 1

HRIDAY: Heritage Development and Augmentation Yojana

Hunar Hai to Kadar Hai: If you have skill, you have respect.

Himmat: A mobile application to ensure women’s safety in Delhi.

HIT: Highways, Informationways, Transmissionways—a mantra for Nepal’s development.

Year 2

HOPE: Harmony, Opportunity, People’s participation, Equality—aim of Indian constitution.

HELP: Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy—a uniform licensing system to cover all hydrocarbons under a single licensing framework.

I

Year 1

IT + IT = IT - Indian Talent + Information Technology = India Tomorrow—part of the Digital India initiative.

INCH towards MILES: Indo-China towards Millennium of Exceptional Synergy—for the future of Indo-Sino relations.

Year 2

Iron Fist 2016: India’s show of air power.

Ishan Uday: Scholarship scheme for north-east students.

Year 3

Imprint: Impacting Research Innovation and Technology (Funding research in 10 socially relevant domains)

J

Year 1

JAM trinity: Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile—for direct cash transfer and subsidy rationalization.

K

Year 2

KVY: Kaushal Vikas Yojana

Karein Prayas, Payein Vikash: Make Effort, Gain Progress—the tagline for Standup India.

Year 3

Kayakalp: An award to promote cleanliness, hygiene and infection control practices in public health facilities

L

Year 1

Link West, Act East: Aimed at making India a part of the global value chain.

M

Year 1

MISIDICI: Make in India, Skill India, Digital India and Clean India

Mera Kya, Mujhe Kya: Modi’s comment on the attitude—what is in it for me; why should I bother—that has ruined the nation.

MUDRA Bank: Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency Bank

Mann Ki Baat: A radio programme hosted on All India Radio where the prime minister addresses the nation.

Mission Indradhanush: Achieving universal immunization with special focus on 184 high-priority districts.

Maximum Governance, Minimum Government: Simplification of official procedures and governance by leveraging technology.

Make in India: Creating the ecosystem to transform India into a manufacturing hub.

Year 2

MIS: For the first time, the Indian government organized the Maritime India Summit (MIS) focusing on investments in shipping, port and inland waterways sector.

Year 3

MODI: Mood Of Developing India

MANAS: Maulana Azad National Academy for Skills (to address skill development needs of minority communities)

N

Year 1

Namami Gange Mission: A national mission for clean-up of the Ganga.

NITI Aayog: National Institution for Transforming India—it replaced the Planning Commission.

Year 2

NAVIC: Navigation with Indian Constellation—India’s own navigation satellite.

3 Ns for Indian Railways: Nav Arjan (new revenues), Nav Manak (new norms), Nav Sanrachna (new structures)

Year 3

NIDHI: National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations

(Umbrella programme for nurturing ideas and innovations (knowledge-based and technology-driven) into successful start-ups)

O

Year 1

Operation Rahat: Evacuation effort in Yemen.

Operation Maitri: Relief operation in Nepal after the April 2015 earthquake

P

Year 1

PRASAD: Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spirituality Augmentation Drive

PAHAL: Pratyaksha Hastaantarit Laabh—direct benefit transfer of LPG subsidy.

Padhe Bharat, Badhe Bharat: India that is educated is the India that will progress.

PRAGATI: Pro-Active Governance And Timely Implementation—aimed at addressing the common man’s grievances, monitoring and reviewing of government programmes.

Per Drop, More Crop: Promoting farming through optimum utilization of water.

P2G2: Pro-People Good Governance, which the government claims to be its focus.

P4: People Private Public Partnership for good governance.

Project Mausam: To revive ancient maritime routes and cultural linkages with countries in the Indian Ocean.

Year 2

Padhe Padhaein Desh Badhaye: Study and Teach for the development of India.

Project Unnati: To mordernize major ports.

R

Year 1

ROAD: Responsibility, Ownership, Accountability, Discipline—for improving the work culture among bureaucrats.

Red Tape to Red Carpet: Facilitating the ease of doing business.

Year 2

Reform To Transform

4 Rs: Recognition, Recapitalization, Resolution and Reform—for resolving the twin balance sheet problem.

S

Year 1

Swadesh Darshan: Integrated development of theme-based tourist circuits.

Shramev Jayate: Labour reforms plank by the government.

Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas: All together for the development of all.

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan: Clean India Mission

Sagar Mala Project: Promoting port-led development along the coastal regions and communities.

SETU: Self Employment and Talent Utilisation—providing support to all aspects of start-ups from credit to incubation.

Swasth Dhara, Khet Hara: Healthy Earth for a Green Farm—aimed at boosting farm productivity.

SMART policing: Strict but Sensitive, Modern and Mobile, Alert and Accountable, Reliable and Responsive, Tech-savvy and Trained policing.

3S: Skill, Scale, Speed—what India needs to do to compete with China.

SWAYAM: Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds—for IITs, IIMs and central universities to offer free online courses.

SAMAVAY: Skill Assessment Matrix for Vocational Advancement of Youth—to allow multiple entry and exit options between vocational and formal education courses.

Year 2

Sahayak: New name for railway coolies.

StandUp India: Promoting entrepreneurship among SC/ST and women.

SWIFT: Single Window Interface for Facilitating Trade

Startup India: To encourage the startup ecosystem in India.

Setu Bharatam: Programme to build bridges for safe travel on national highways.

SAGARMALA: To connect all seven coastal states through ocean and sea routes.

Shipping Samvad: A new portal for submitting innovative ideas for shipping sector.

3S: Speed, Simplicity, Service—the desirable elements in technology.

SRESHTA: Special Railway Establishment for Strategic Technology and Holistic Advancement—a special unit for conducting in-house research in railway.

SMART: Specially Modified Aesthetic Refreshing Travel—specially designed railway coaches.

Year 3

SOLVE: System for Online Vigilance clearance Enquiries (Online platform for vigilance clearance for board-level appointments in central public sector enterprises)

SUPREMO: Single User Platform Related To Employees Online (Integration of seven different software for central government employees)

SHAKTI: Scheme to Harness and Allocate Koyla (Coal) Transparently in India (New coal linkage policy)

Setu Bharatam: For building bridges for safe and seamless travel on National Highways

SAMADHAN: (the new anti-Maoist strategy): Smart Leadership to convert failure into success—Aggressive Strategy, Motivation and Training, Actionable Intelligence, Dashboard Based KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and KRAs (Key Result Areas), Harnessing Technology, Action plan for each Theatre and No access to Financing.

SEVA: Saral Eindhan Vitaran Application ( App to ensure transparency and accountability in coal dispatch for power sector consumers)

SAMPADA: Supplement Agriculture Modernise Processing And Decrease Agriwaste (Scheme for Agro-Marine Processing and Development of Agro-Processing Clusters)

SAUNI: Saurashtra Narmada Avtaran Irrigation Yojna

SANKALP: Skill Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion program

T

Year 1

Tax Terrorism: Comment on aggressive tax policies including retrospective amendment of tax laws.

5Ts: Talent, Tradition, Tourism, Trade and Technology, aimed at building Brand India.

Year 2

Twin Balance Sheet problem: The impaired financial positions of public sector banks and some large corporate houses.

Year 3

TIES: Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (Scheme to build export infrastructure at state level)

Tarang: Transmission App for Real Time Monitoring and Growth (monitoring tool to track the progress of Inter-State & Intra-State transmission systems in the country)

U

Year 1

USTTAD: Upgrading Skills and Training in Traditional Arts/Crafts for Development

Unnat Bharat Abhiyan: IITs and NITs providing technological resources to rural areas for sustainable development.

Year 2

UJALA: Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All

UDAY: Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojna

Udaan scheme: Aims to provide skills training and enhance the employability of unemployed youth of Jammu and Kashmir.

Year 3

URJA: Urban Jyoti Abhiyaan (To improve consumer connect on electricity related issues)

UDAN: Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (regional air connectivity scheme)

V

Year 2

Vidyut Prabhah: Portal provides power availability in the country on real-time basis.

Year 3

Vidyanjali: A school volunteer programme

Z

Year 1

Zero Effect, Zero Defect: Aimed at improving the quality of goods produced in India