Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is very close to becoming world’s second biggest tech employer. Currently, with over 3 lakh employees, it has already become the world’s 3rd largest employer in the technology sector. Considering the pace at which it is expanding, it could become the second largest employer by the end of 2014, overtaking Hewlett-Packard, and would be fast closing in on leader IBM.

TCS has been India’s one of the biggest job creators in recent years. On an average, the number of employees in TCS is rising each year by between 25,000 and 35,000. In fiscal 2013-14, the $13.4-billion Tata Group company hired 61,200 people, with the net addition being 24,268, brushing aside those who left the company. As per the company, it will hire 55,000 people in 2014. If the net addition is half of that, it will be significantly ahead of HP’s number by the end of fiscal 2014-15. Among Indian IT companies, Infosys is almost 50% of TCS with 1.6 lakh employees.

India 143rd on Global Peace Index

India 143rd on Global Peace Index
Ranking India among 20 most violent places in the world, a global study today said the country's economy took a hit of over Rs 1 lakh crore in containing and dealing with cases of violence last year.

In the latest annual ranking of Global Peace Index, India has been ranked at 143rd position out of 162 countries surveyed.

While India has slipped two positions, Iceland continues to top the list as the world's most peaceful place. However, Syria has replaced Afghanistan as the most violent place.

"The economic impact of containing and dealing with the consequences of India's levels of violence was estimated to cost the national economy USD 177 billion (about Rs 1.07 lakh crore) in 2013," the Sydney-based international think tank Institute for Economics and Peace said in its report adding that is equivalent to 3.6 per cent of India's GDP, or USD 145 per person.

It estimated the impact of violence on global economy at USD 9.8 trillion or 11.3 per cent of world GDP in 2013, an increase of USD 179 billion from the previous year. The increase has been largely attributed to upward revisions of China's military expenditure and the number and intensity of internal conflicts.

Within South Asia, Bhutan has been ranked as the most peaceful country, followed by Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. India is ranked fifth in the region -- better than Pakistan at sixth and Afghanistan at seventh.

Globally, Pakistan is ranked 154th, while Afghanistan is at 161st position in this year's list.

As per the report, India suffers chronically from international tensions and widespread internal conflict.

"While Maoist movements are one of the biggest threats to India's internal security, sporadic conflict with its neighbours also threatens the country's external security," it said.

In concurrence, India is ranked number 4 out of 159 countries in the Global Terrorism Index.

"If India could improve its overall levels of peace, the dividend that would flow from this would substantially improve the country's economic growth rates. This can be achieved by a renewed government focus on building the underlying qualities that create and sustain peaceful societies such as low levels of corruption, well-functioning government and equitable distribution of resources," IEP founder and Executive Chairman Steve Killelea said.

The GPI is the world's leading measure of global peacefulness produced by the IEP. It gauges on-going domestic and international conflict, safety and security in society, and militarisation in 162 countries by taking into account 22 indicators.

India gears up for combat exercises with US, naval war games to include Japan

NEW DELHI: India is gearing up for the next round of military exercises with the US, with the top-notch "Malabar" naval war games in the Pacific and the intensive "Yudh Abhyas" counter-terror drills in Uttarakhand, in the first such maneuvres after the Modi government came to power last month.

Just before Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves for Japan to meet his counterpart Shinzo Abe on July 3 and 4, India will dispatch four to five warships, including a Rajput-class destroyer and a Shivalik-class stealth frigate, on the long-range overseas deployment.

"The warships will first head for the 'Indra' exercise with Russia off Vladivostok and then reach the North Pacific towards end-July for the Malabar exercises, which apart from India and US will include Japan," said an official.

India had invited Japan to participate in this year's Malabar war games, which have ruffled the feathers of a prickly China in the past, during Abe's visit to New Delhi in January.

Modi himself is very keen to further strengthen the strategic partnership with Japan, the second country he will visit after Bhutan. The chemistry is reciprocated by Abe, with Modi being one of the only three persons he follows on twitter.

Both India and Japan are wary of China's growing military might and increasing assertive behavior in the Asia Pacific. India, however, prefers to be seen as "neutral" in the escalating power-play between the US, Japan and others on one side and China on the other in the region.

India has largely restricted the Malabar exercise to a bilateral one with the US after China protested against its 2007 edition in the Bay of Bengal since they were expanded to include the Australian, Japanese and Singaporean navies as well.

On the US front, though the flurry of joint combat exercises has slowed down a bit, Indian and American officials in the "initial planning conference" last week decided to hold the Yudh Abhyas exercise at Chaubatia (Uttarakhand) from September 17 to 30.

"The main thrust will be counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency in hilly terrain. There will be around 250 troops from each side, including special forces. The two armies usually hold two to three exercises every year but this will be the only one this year," said a source.

Yudh Abhyas, the last edition of which was held at Fort Bragg in the US in May last year, was to be held earlier but got delayed amid the diplomatic wrangling during the Devyani Khobragade episode.

India and the US have held over 70 exercises between their armed forces over the last decade, in what is one of the most evident symbols of their military cooperation. The US, of course, has also bagged Indian arms deals worth almost $10 billion, with the latest being the $1.01 billion one for six additional C-130J "Super Hercules" aircraft, as was first reported by TOI.

The other deals on the anvil are the ones for 22 Apache attack helicopters, 15 Chinook heavy-lift helicopters, four P-8I maritime patrol aircraft and 145 M-777 ultra-light howitzers, together worth another $4 billion or so.

A foolhardy scheme best forgotten

Recently there has been a revival of interest regarding the controversial proposal of inter-linking of rivers (ILR). This is despite the fact that only a short while ago the Planning Commission had raised very serious objections to several aspects of this now-off now-on proposal.

The 12th Plan (2012-2017) document said that the ambitious scheme for interlinking of rivers presents major problems. On the costs side, this document said that the comprehensive proposal to link the Himalayan Rivers with the peninsular rivers for inter-basin transfer of water is estimated to cost around Rs. 560,000 crores. Land submergence and rehabilitation and resettlement packages would be additional to this whopping estimate, and the huge running costs like power will be extra. All this massive money is being demanded for a project of dubious merit, for as the Planning Commission points out, "because of our dependence on the monsoon, the periods when rivers have 'surplus' water are generally synchronous across the sub-continent."

Further, the Planning Commission points out, "given the topography of India and the way links are envisaged, it might totally bypass the core dryland areas of Central and Western India, which are located on elevations of more than 300 metres above mean sea level." This review then goes on to mention the possibility of other adverse impacts, such as coastal and delta erosion, as well as possible disruptive impact on the monsoon.

Apart from the serious reservations raised by the Planning Commission, attention may also be drawn to a statement signed by 65 senior academics, former government officials, scientists, engineers, lawyers, journalists, environmentalists, activists and others. This statement has attracted a lot of attention, not the least because among those various eminent persons who have signed it there are also quite a few who have occupied senior government positions in the past. We can identify, for example, three former Secretaries to the Government of India and one former Member of the Planning Commission. In addition among the signatories we have a former Under Secretary-General of the United Nations. Some of the senior-most people of the most reputed academic institutions are also included in this list. This statement criticises the ILR as a 'reckless and major redesigning of the geography of the country'. "The grand design (of the ILR) consisting of 30 projects involving upwards of 80 dams is bound to have major environmental/ecological consequences, which might even be disastrous in some cases."

Pointing out that the very notions of 'surplus' and 'deficit' are highly problematic, this statement says that there will be hardly any flood-moderation as a result of ILR. "This project holds the potential of generating new conflicts between basins." Finally, this statement recommends that "careful, economical, conflict-free and sustainable intra-basin management should come first, and bringing water from elsewhere should be the last recourse".

Himanshu Thakkar, a member of the Ministry of Water Resources' first expert committee on the ILR, has said, "Based on available information, the ILR will require at least 7.61 lakh hectares land and will displace at least 14.8 lakh people. In addition ILR will need at least 20 lakh hectares of land for the canal network. The ILR will also need at least 1.04 lakh hectares of forest land as per available official information." Bharat Singh, Professor Emeritus, Water Resources Training Centre, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, has stated clearly that "any water resources engineer will immediately discard the idea of the ILR as a flood control measure".

Ramaswamy R. Iyer, a former Secretary, Union Ministry of Water Resources, has observed: "Linking a river to another will merely provide additional water to areas already served by rivers. Most of the uplands and dry lands of this country are distant from rivers, and at elevations of 300 m to 1000 m above mean sea level. The ILR will serve very few such areas." The National Commission for Integrated Water Resources Development (NCIWRD) had commented on the Himalayan component of the ILR: "The storages and links involved are of very large sizes and lengths, and the costs of construction and environmental problems would be enormous."
In the context of the peninsular component of the ILR, the NCIWRD report stated: "These links will involve stupendous engineering activity. They'll have large-scale, socio-economic, human and environmental impacts and will involve very high financial outlays." More specifically, the Commission said: "Studies of important east-flowing peninsular river-basins, mainly Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Pennar, Cauvery and Vaigai indicate that there is no imperative need for large-scale transfer of water."

A new Central University for Himalayan Technology will be set up in Uttarakhand says Human Resource Development Minister

Highlights the need for a Rashtriya Aavishkaar Abhiyaan and National Framework for Ranking Universities/Colleges 
National e-Library to be established by the end of this year, says Smt Smriti Irani 

The Union Minister of Human Resource Development, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani has said that a new Central University for Himalayan Technology will soon be set up in Uttarakhand. The Institute will also have international faculty, the Minister said, while having an interactive session with state representatives at the Conference of State Secretaries of Higher and Technical Education in New Delhi today.

Smt. Smriti Irani expressed concern at the large number of Institutes and Universities mushrooming in various parts of the country with no standard facilities or full faculty. She asked the States to monitor such Institutes to ensure that they conform to the standards. The Minister also supported a strong “Know Your College” drive whereby it would be possible to get the details of Colleges on the website, which would help the students to make correct choices.

The Minister sought the help of states to create an enabling environment for education of children in backward areas, minorities, women, weaker sections and tribal zones. Special steps are being taken by the Ministry to meet needs of higher education of students from the North-east in the form of collaborative efforts with premier institutes of the country, she said.

Mrs Smriti Irani highlighted the need for a Rashtriya Aavishkar Abhiyaan to make science interesting for children, system of finding patents and to make parents and communities a part of the innovation realm. She asked the States to revisit the Right to Education Act in the light of their experiences. The fragmentation between the Primary, Secondary & Higher Education should be removed and skill development should start at the school level while continuing upto the higher levels, she added. Technology will be leveraged for empowering the students and teachers. For this, the Ministry proposes to launch a large number of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) and also establish a National e-Library by the end of this year, she explained.

The Minister also said that there should be a National Framework of Ranking of Universities & Colleges suited to the local conditions, circumstances and requirements. The Shaala Deep Programme of schools can also be replicated in colleges, she added.

B2B” PM’s formula for stronger relationship with Bhutan

On his first foreign visit after becoming PM, Narendra Modi who is on a two-day Bhutan visit promised to foster bilateral ties which he described as “B2B —Bharat to Bhutan” as he held talks with the Bhutanese King and countries Prime Minister, discussing an entire range of relationship between the two nations.

Mr. Modi also unveiled the Supreme Court complex built by India as part of the developmental cooperation. Modi described the bilateral ties as “B2B relations — Bharat to Bhutan relations”.

He announced doubling of scholarships granted to Bhutanese students in India which will now be worth Rs 2 crore. Modi also assured to help Bhutan in establishing a digital library, which will provide access to Bhutanese youth to two million books and periodicals.

Prime Minister’s visit to Bhutan holds significance since China has lately scaled up efforts to persuade it and set up full-fledged diplomatic relationship with Bhutan.

NTPC seeks revocation of ban on Lata Tapovan Hydro Power Project
NTPC has filed a plea seeking continuation of work on its Lata Tapovan Hydro Power Project in Uttarakhand that was put on hold following the Supreme Court’s May 7 order. The apex court has issued notice to the government in this regard.

The court had ordered a halt to 24 projects that were proposed within 100 km of eco-sensitive zone from Gangotri. It had also directed the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) and the Uttarakhand government not to grant any environmental or forest approvals for any hydroelectric project in the hill state.

The court had asked the MoEF to form an expert panel to carry out a detailed study whether hydroelectric power projects both existing and under construction have contributed to the environmental degradation in Uttarakhand, if so, to what extent. The expert committee was also directed to examine whether these projects had contributed to the natural disaster that had hit the state in June 2013.