Lessening Dependence on Middle-East Countries for Crude Oil

The Minister of State (I/C) in the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply today that Public Sector Oil Companies have made significant efforts to diversify their crude oil supply sources from other regions as well.  India’s crude oil import basket is continuously expanding over last few years, with increased imports from South American and African countries.  The region-wise crude oil import details are as under during 2011-12 to 2013-14: Quantity in MMT Percentage Share Region 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 (P*) 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 (P) Middle East 118.6 115.4 115.9 69.1 62.4 61.2 Africa 31.1 29.6 30.4 18.1 16.0 16.1 Asia 3.4 3.3 3.4 2.0 1.8 1.8 South America 14.5 29.8 31.7 8.5 16.1 16.8 Eurasia 1.0 2.4 2.1 0.6 1.3 1.1 N. America 2.3 4.1 5.2 1.3 2.2 2.7 Europe 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.1 Australia 0.7 0.2 0.4 0.4 0.1 0.2 Total 171.7 184.8 189.2 100.0 100.0 100.0 *Provisional data Public Sector Oil Companies have term contracts for supply of crude oil for its own and associate refineries, with various National Oil Companies (NOCs) of the Middle East.  Supplies of crude oil from Middle East sources have by and large been smooth.

Fund for Indians Abroad

Government has set up the Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF) at the Mission level for welfare of Overseas Indians. The Indian Community Welfare Fund (lCWF) is aimed at providing the following services on a means tested basis in the most deserving cases: (i) Boarding and lodging for distressed Overseas Indian workers in household/ domestic sectors and unskilled labourers; (ii) Extending emergency medical care to the Overseas Indians in need; (iii) Providing air passage to stranded Overseas Indians in need; (iv) Providing initial legal assistance to the Overseas Indians in deserving cases; (v) Expenditure on incidentals and for airlifting the mortal remains to India or local cremation/burial of the deceased Overseas Indians in such cases where the sponsor is unable or unwilling to do so as per the contract and the family is unable to meet the cost; (vi) Providing the payment of penalties in respect of Indian nationals for illegal stay in the host country where prima facie the worker is not at fault; (vii) Providing the payment of small fines/ penalties for the release of Indian nationals in jail/detention centre. The fund is raised by the Indian Missions by levying additional charge on consular services. According to the information received from the Missions, during 2010-11, 2011-12 & 2012-13, the total fund raised by Missions was about INR 300 crore (Three Hundred Crore). Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs provides budgetary support for setting up ICWF to the tune of Rs. 5 lakh per year. This contribution is initially for a period of 3 years or till the period fund become self sustaining, whichever is earlier.

Unorganised Workers in the Country

The Minister of State for Mines, Steel, Labour and Employment, Shri Vishnu Deo Sai has said that as per the survey carried out by the National Sample Survey Organization in the year 2009-2010, the total employment in unorganized sector is 43.7 crore. State-wise data of unorganized workers is not maintained. In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today, Shri Vishnu Deo Sai said, Government has already taken various initiatives to strengthen social sector security for the unorganized sector. Some of these initiatives are listed as under: The details of the schemes in as under: 1.     Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme. (Ministry of Rural Development) 2.     National Family Benefit Scheme. (Ministry of Rural Development) 3.     Janani Suraksha Yojana. (Ministry of Health and Family Welfare) 4.     Handloom Weavers’ Comprehensive Welfare Scheme.(Ministry of Textiles) 5.     Handicraft Artisans’ Comprehensive Welfare Scheme. (Ministry of Textiles) 6.     Pension to Master Craft Persons. (Ministry of Textiles) 7.     National Scheme for Welfare of Fishermen and Training and Extension.(Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries) 8.     Janshree Bima Yojana and Aam Admi Bima Yojana. (Department of Financial Services).       9.     Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana. (Ministry of Labour and Employment) The Minister said, as a social security measure for workers in the unorganised sector,  ‘Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana’ was launched on 1st October, 2007 to provide smart card based cashless health insurance cover of Rs. 30,000/- per annum to BPL families (a unit of five) in the unorganized sector.  The scheme became operational from 01.04.2008.   The premium is shared between Centre and State Government in the ratio of 75:25.  In case of States of North East Region and Jammu & Kashmir, the premium is shared in the ratio of 90:10. The definition of BPL is the one prescribed by the Planning Commission. The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) is currently active in 26 States and Union Territories covering 3, 85, 15,411 families.           He said that, it is the endeavour of the Government to extend Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) to all unorganised workers in a phased manner. During the course of implementation, apart from BPL families, RSBY coverage has been extended to various other categories of unorganised workers viz. Building & Other Construction Workers, licensed Railway porters, Street Vendors, MGNREGA Workers (who have worked for more than fifteen days during preceding financial year), Beedi Workers, Domestic Workers, Sanitation Workers, Mine Workers, Rickshaw Pullers, Rag Pickers and Auto/Taxi drivers. He said that at present there is no scheme to register all workers in the unorganised sector.           The Minister informed that International Labour Organization is the specialized agency of UN mandated to formulate international labour standards. These labour standards are prescribed in the form of binding and non-binding instruments known as Conventions and Recommendations. ILO Conventions are international labour instruments or treaties, which on ratification create legally binding obligations upon the States to ensure that the national legal framework is in conformity with the provisions of the convention. He said that ratification of an ILO Convention is a voluntary process. In India, we follow an elaborate process of ratification. We ratify an ILO Convention only when the national laws and practices are brought fully into conformity with the provisions of the Convention in question. After adoption of an ILO instrument in International Labour Conference, the member country has to place it before the competent authority for information as required under Article 19 of ILO Constitution.  Thereafter, a detailed examination of the possibility and feasibility of ratifying an ILO convention in the context of our existing legal framework is undertaken through consultation with concerned ministries and other stakeholders. Once Concurrence is obtained on the ratification issue, a Cabinet Note on the Convention in question is prepared by MOLE. On approval of the cabinet note, a statement is placed before the parliament and the same is communicated to ILO for information. Once an ILO Convention is ratified, we are obliged to provide periodic report regarding the application of the conventions under Article 22 of ILO Constitution. The Minister said that India has so far ratified 43 conventions of ILO includes four core or fundamental human rights Conventions like Forced Labour Convention (C-29), Equal Remuneration Convention (C-100), Abolition of Forced Labour Convention (C-105) and Discrimination (Employment & Occupation) Convention (C-111). Ministry of Labour & Employment conducts regular meeting of Committee on Convention (CoC), a tripartite working body to explore the possibility of ratification of ILO Conventions. We are alsoinregular consultation with other social partners & stake holders to obtain a consensus for enacting new laws or bringing about changes in the existing laws to bring it in conformity with ILO convention. He said that India has also actively supported  the adoption of Social Protection Floors Recommendation (R-202) in 101stSession of the International Labour Conference held in Geneva in June, 2012 adopted  to protect the rights and welfare of all workers including unorganised sector.

Setting up of Indian Institute of Information Technology

The Union Cabinet approved a Scheme, based on Public-Private-Partnership(PPP) model, for setting up 20 new Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) in December 2010, with an outlay of Rs.2808.71 Crores (Rs.2558.71 Crores for non-recurring, Rs.200.00 Crore for recurring expenditure and Rs.50.00 Crore for faculty development expenditure). The capital cost of each IIIT is Rs.128.00 Crore to be contributed in the ratio of 50:35:15 by the Central Government, the State Government and the industry respectively (57.5:35:7.5 in case of North-Eastern region). Concerned State Government will provide 50-100 acres of land, free of cost and encumbrances. A total of sixteen proposals from fifteen States including Gujarat (IIIT Vadodara), Karnataka (IIIT Dharwad) and Kerala (IIIT Kottayam) have been approved by the Ministry. IIIT Vadodara, Gujarat has started their Academic Session in 2013-14 with 60 students each in Computer Science and Electronics & Communication at the temporary campus at DA-ICT, Gandhinagar. There is a proposal of State Govt. of Gujarat for setting up of 2nd IIIT in PPP mode at Surat. In case of Karnataka, the Site Selection Committee (SSC) has approved 61.06 acres of land at Thadasinakoppa village, Dharwad Taluka, Dharwad, Karnataka. The Government of Karnataka has been requested for forward the MoU and MoA. In case of Kerala, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and Memorandum of Association (MoA) have been signed and IIIT Kottayam Kerala Society has been registered. The Project of establishing 20 Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIITs) in Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Mode by the Government is targeted to reach full capacity in nine years from 2011-12 to 2019-20. Out of the 20, the Central Government has approved establishment of 16 Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIITs) in Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Mode. The remaining IIITs would be approved as and when the State governments are able to identify land and the industry partners. The status on the scheme for setting up 20 new IIITs in PPP mode is as follows:   Ministry of HRD had invited proposals from all the State Governments for setting up of the 20 IIITs.  The State Governments who have identified land are Andhra Pradesh (Chittoor & Kakinada) Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra (Pune & Nagpur), Manipur, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh.  The proposals of Andhra Pradesh(Chittoor), Andhra Pradesh (Kakinada), Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu , Maharashtra (Pune), Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal , Manipur and Tripura have been approved by the Ministry.  The MoU of IIIT- Chittoor (A.P) IIIT-Kota (Rajasthan) and IIIT-Guwahati (Assam) IIIT, Vadodra (Gujarat) & IIIT, Tiruchirapalli (Tamil Nadu) , IIIT Bodhjungnagar (Tripura) and IIIT Kottayam (Kerala), IIIT Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) & IIIT Una (Himachal Pradesh) , IIIT Senapati (Manipur) and IIIT Kalyani (West Bengal) have been signed.  The MoU of IIIT- Chittoor (A.P), IIIT-Kota (Rajasthan) and IIIT-Guwahati (Assam) , IIIT Tiruchirapalli (Tamil Nadu), IIIT Kottayam, Kerala , IIIT Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) IIIT, Una (Himachal Pradesh) , IIIT Vadodara (Gujarat) , IIIT Senapati, (Manipur) and IIIT Kalyani (West Bengal) have been signed and they have been registered as Societies under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.  Academic Session has started in 2013-14 in 5 IIITs with admission in Under Graduate courses in IIIT-Kota (Rajasthan), IIIT Chitoor (Andhra Pradesh), IIIT Guwahati(Assam) and IIIT Vadodra(Gujarat) and Post Graduate Courses in Tiruchirapalli(Tamil Nadu).  An amount of Rs. 3.75 crore during the F.Y. 2012-13 to IIIT-Kota (Rajasthan) has been released. Rs. 5.00 crores to IIIT-Guwahati, Assam, Rs. 2.8 crores to IIIT, Vadodara (Gujarat), Rs. 5.00 crores to IIIT, Tiruchirapalli (Tamil Nadu) and Rs. 2.0375 crores to IIIT Una (HP) have been released during the F.Y. 2013-14.  Detailed Project Reports are awaited from State Government of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Orissa and Goa.

Bilateral issues with China

China disputes the international boundary between India and China. In the Eastern Sector, China claims approximately 90,000 square kilometers of Indian territory in the State of Arunachal Pradesh. Indian territory under the occupation of China in Jammu & Kashmir is approximately 38,000 sq. kms. In addition, under the so-called China-Pakistan “Boundary Agreement” signed between China and Pakistan on 2 March 1963, Pakistan illegally ceded 5,180 sq. kms. of Indian territory in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir to China. The fact that Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir are integral and inalienable parts of India has been clearly conveyed to the Chinese side on several occasions, including at the highest level. Government has seen reports with regard to China constructing a rail link through Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK). Government has conveyed its concerns to China about their activities in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, and asked them to cease such activities. China regards Kashmir as a bilateral matter to be settled between India and Pakistan. The Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited India on June 8-9, 2014 as the Special Envoy of the President of China. The External Affairs Minister Smt. Sushma Swaraj held extensive discussions with him. The discussions were comprehensive and substantive and various issues of significance were raised and discussed in a frank and candid manner. At the invitation of the Vice President of China, the Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari, paid an official visit to China from June 26 to 30, 2014. The Vice President held bilateral discussions at Beijing on June 30, 2014 with his counterpart, Vice President Li Yuanchao of China and called on President Xi Jinping. He attended events to mark the 60th anniversary of ‘Panchsheel’ at Beijing on June 28-29, 2014. MoU on Cooperation on Industrial Parks in India, MoU concerning communication and cooperation of training in the area of Capacity Building of Public Officials and the Implementation Plan for Provision of Hydrological Information of the Yarlung Zangbu/ Brahmaputra River in Flood Season by China to India were signed during the visit. The Encyclopaedia of India-China Cultural Contacts was also released in the presence of two Vice Presidents. There are regular meetings between India and China at various levels, including at the highest level. During these meetings entire gamut of bilateral, regional and global issues are discussed. Both sides are committed to resolving bilateral issues through dialogue and peaceful negotiations and in a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable manner.

Climate Change

India has been actively engaged in multilateral negotiations in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in a positive, constructive and forward looking manner based on the basic principles of the Convention and its subsequent decisions. The last 3 Conference of Parties (COP) were held in Durban (COP 17 in 2011), Doha (COP 18 in 2012) and Warsaw (COP 19 in 2013). In COP 17, Durban Platform was created with an objective to develop a protocol for negotiating another legal instrument having binding commitments under the Convention for enhancing the emission reduction ambition by 2020. Further Institutional Mechanism for finance and adaptation was created. An Ad-Hoc Working Group on Durban Platform (ADP) was established to facilitate the negotiations. In Doha Conference, decisions regarding enhancing actions as envisaged in Bali Action Plan were taken. The Conference held in Warsaw further discussed about the possible decision on 2015 agreement. A decision in this regard was taken with a request to invite all Parties to initiate or intensify domestic preparations for their intended nationally determined contributions to be submitted by the first quarter of 2015. In addition the discussion on equity, finances, technology transfer including IPR issues and Capacity building was held. The negotiations are still underway. However, the stand taken by the Government of India in regard to the 2015 agreement to be negotiated by the ADP that it should follow the existing principles of the Convention. Besides, India has been pursuing these issues very closely in the meetings and the COP and other UNFCCC forums by aligning with the G-77 and China, BASIC (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) and the LMDCs (Like Minded Developing Countries). Studies under the aegis of India’s Second National Communication (NATCOM) submitted to the UNFCCC in May, 2012 and scientific study titled “Climate Change and India: 4X4 Assessment - A Sectoral and Regional Analysis for 2030s” in 2010, have assessed the implications and impacts under a projected Climate Change scenario, based on which adverse effects on agricultural, water, forests, health, sea level rise, extreme events and infrastructure have been assessed.

Conversion of Sea Water into Potable Water

The National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Earth System Science Organization (ESSO) has indigenously designed, developed and demonstrated desalination plants for conversion of sea water into potable water based on Low Temperature Thermal Desalination (LTTD) technology. The LTTD is a process under which the warm surface sea water is flash evaporated at low pressure and the vapour is condensed with cold deep sea water. This technology is efficient and found suitable for the Lakshadweep islands Three LTTD plants have been successfully commissioned in the country, one each at Kavaratti, Minicoy, and Agatti islands of the Union Territory of Lakshadweep. The capacity of each of these LTTD plants is 1 lakh liter of potable water per day. Work has been initiated to set up a prototype LTTD plant with a capacity of generating 2 million litres of potable water per day (2 MLD) at the Tuticorin Thermal Power station, Tamil Nadu. The Lakshadweep Administration requested ESSO-NIOT for setting up similar plants in remaining six islands. ESSO-NIOT has sent a detailed project report to the Lakshadweep Administration in this regard. The cost per liter of desalination would depend on the technology used and cost of electricity which varies from place to place. According to the cost estimates made by an independent agency for LTTD technology, the operational costs per litre of desalinated potable water is about 61 paise for island based plants. The plants set up at Lakshadweep were funded fully by the Central Government.