1/3rd of world's extreme poor in India: Report

One third of the extreme poor global population reside in India which has also recorded the highest number of under-five deaths in the world, the latest UN Millennium Development Goals report has said.

Minority affairs minister Najma Heptulla, who released the report here, said its findings present a challenge to the government under Narendra Modi and that they would be able to surmount it. "Good days will come," she said.

"We don't have to be proud of what we have done. Poverty is the biggest challenge... I am sure when the next report comes, we will have done much better," she said, stressing on Prime Minister's commitment to poverty elimination and "sabka saath sabka vikas (With all, development for all)".

Though the report's figures for various human development parameters are mostly specific to different regions of the world, it has made references to India none of which, she said, are "flattering.

Heptulla has had a long association with the UN programme and was closely involved with it during the previous NDA government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

According to the report, almost 60% of the people who defecate in open reside in India, which has also accounted for 17% of global maternal deaths.



China, which has made rapid strides in reducing poverty, follows India in housing the extreme poor global population and was home to 13% of them in 2010, followed by Nigeria at 9% and Bangladesh at 5%, it said.

South Asia, of which India is the largest and most populous country, has fared worse than other Asian regions in most of the parameters.

The region has, however, done well in school enrollment.

Next BRICS Summit to be held in Russia

Fortaleza (Brazil): The next year’s BRICS Summit will be held in the Russian city of Ufa after the grouping’s successful meeting in Brazil that saw an agreement being reached on establishing a development bank and a contingency reserve arrangement.

“Brazil, India, China and South Africa convey their appreciation to Russia for its offer to host the Seventh BRICS Summit in 2015 in the city of Ufa and extend their full support to that end,” the BRICS leaders said in the Fortaleza Declaration.

Ufa is the capital city of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia, and the industrial, economic, scientific and cultural centre of the republic.

The sixth summit held here was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia, Xi Jinping of China, Jacob Zuma of South Africa and Dilma Rousseff of Brazil, as they deliberated on global economic, political and strategic issues.

BRICS Summit last night decided to establish the New Development Bank with an initial authorised capital of USD 100 billion for which the initial subscribed capital will be equally shared by the founding members, a point New Delhi emphasised to prevent domination by anyone of the members.

During the summit, agreement was also reached on establishing a contingency reserve arrangement with an initial size of USD 100 billion.

Russia, India, China and South Africa also extend their warm appreciation to the Government and people of Brazil for hosting the Sixth BRICS Summit in Fortaleza.

Southern States and Union Territories Lead Urbanization in the Country

14 States and 6 UTs Report Higher Urbanization than the National Average between 2001-11 Urban Delhi Grows by 4.3%; gets Rs.6,649 cr under JnNURM for Infrastructure Development Shri Venkaiah Naidu says per capita Water Supply in Urban Areas is 69 litres Against the Bench Mark of 135 litres

Urban population in the country has increased from 27.80% of the total population in 2001 to 31.10% in 2011 marking an increase of 3.30%. People living in urban areas of the country have increased by over nine crores during this period. Four southern states, six Union Territories besides the states of Gujarat, Goa, Haryana, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura have led this growth in urbanization. Details of urbanization in the country during the said period were today furnished by the Minister of Urban Development, Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation and Parliamentary Affairs Shri M Venkaiah Naidu in reply to an Unstarred Question raised by Shri B.Sriramulu, Shri Sanjay Haribhau Jadhav and Shri D.K. Suresh. Shri Naidu informed that as against the national trend, urban population in the southern states increased by 21.70% in Kerala, 6.10% in undivided Andhra Pradesh, 4.70% in Karnataka and 4.40% in Tamil Nadu. The increase in respect of UTs has been-Daman & Diu (39.00%), Lakshadweep (33.60%), Dadra and Nagar-Haveli (23.80%), Chandigarh (7.50), Delhi (4.30%), Andaman & Nicobar Islands (5.10%). Puducherry reported an increase of only 1.70%. Other states to have exceeded national average in urbanization included: Goa (22.40%), Sikkim (14.10%), Nagaland (10.70%), Haryana (6.0%), Gujarat (5.20%), Uttarakhand (4.50%), West Bengal (3.90%) and Punjab (3.60%). Major states to have fallen below the national average in urban growth included: HP(only 0.20% increase in urban population),UP(0.50%), Bihar (0.80%), Assam (1.20%), Rajasthan (1.50%), Odisha (1.70%), Jharkhand (1.80%) and Maharashtra (2.80%). In reply to another question raised by Shri Sultan Ahmed, Shri Venkaiah Naidu informed the Lok Sabha that Delhi was sanctioned 23 infrastructure projects under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission at a total cost of Rs. 6,649.55 cr out of which central assistance has been Rs.2,327.34 cr. Replying to Dr.Thambi Durai, Shri Venkaiah Naidu stated that the per capita water supply in urban areas is 69.20 litres per day as against the bench mark of 135 litres. He also said that the average coverage of water supply connections is 50.20% as against the bench mark of 100%.

Tourist Visa-On-Arrival

The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Culture & Tourism Shri Shripad Yesso Naik has said that the Ministry of Tourism (MoT), as part of its on-going activities, annually releases print, electronic, online and outdoor media campaigns in the international markets, under the ‘Incredible India’ brand-line, to promote various tourism destinations and products of the country and to increase foreign tourist arrivals to the country. In addition, a series of promotional activities are being undertaken in important and potential tourist generating markets overseas through the India Tourism Offices abroad with the objective of showcasing India’s tourism potential and promoting tourism to the country. These promotional activities include participation in travel fairs and exhibitions; organising road shows, Know India seminars and workshops; organizing and supporting Indian food and cultural festivals; publication of brochures, offering joint advertising and brochure support, and inviting media personalities, tour operators and opinion makers to visit the country under the Hospitality programme of the Ministry. In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today Shri Naik said, road Shows are being organised in important source markets overseas in collaboration with trade associations to promote tourism to the country. Such Road Shows have been organised in USA, Eastern Europe and China during the current financial year. He said, MoT is organising the International Buddhist Conclave in Bodhgaya, with a visit to Sarnath, in September 2014 with the objective of attracting Buddhist tourists from all over the world especially from Asian countries. MoT is also organising the third annual International Travel Mart at Shillong, Meghalaya in October 2014 with the objective of promoting tourism from the world over, to the North Eastern region. The Minister said, Tourist Visa on Arrival (TVoA) significantly influences the decision to travel to India. The majority of tourists availing Visa on Arrival (VoA) visit India for purposes of holidaying and are independent tourists. The benefits that accrue when VoA is implemented by any country are as follows: i. Reduction in planning time for the international tourist intending to travel to an overseas destination. ii. Attract repeat and weekend visitors. iii. Enhance the image of the country as being “tourist friendly”. Shri Naik said, the decision to extend Visa on Arrival to other countries rests with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The Ministry of Tourism has taken up the matter with MHA in various forums including Inter Ministerial Coordination Committee for Tourism Sector and this year VoA was extended to South Korea.

Funds for Scientific Research

India’s Research and Development expenditure as percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) during the last three years and corresponding figures for BRICS countries are Annexed.                 The Government as per the Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (STI) 2013, plans to increase investment in Research and Development (R&D) as percentage of GDP to 2% by the end of XII plan period from the current level of 0.88%. Government plans to achieve this target provided private sector increase its R&D investment to match at least the public sector R&D investment. STI Policy has accordingly enumerated several measures such as various policy changes, increase in investment in R&D including by-industry and strategic sectors, extension of basic science infrastructure, new models for public private partnership and encouraging international collaborations, etc.             At present there is no proposal to introduce schemes to encourage novel research by Universities. There are, however, already several schemes such as Promotion of University Research for Innovation and Excellence in Women Universities (PURSE), Consolidation of University Research for Innovation and Excellence in Women Universities (CURIE), Fund for Improvement of S&T infrastructures in Universities & Higher Institutions (FIST), Patent Acquisition and Collaborative Research and Technology Development (PACE), etc. being run by the Ministry of Science and Technology to foster and encourage novel research in the universities.  Annexure R&D Expenditure as percentage of GDP for BRICS Countries Country 2009 2010 2011 Brazil 1.17 1.16 NA Russian Federation 1.25 1.16 1.12 India 0.87 0.87 0.88* China 1.70 1.76 1.84 South Africa 0.87 NA NA                 Source:  a. UNESCO Data Centre (Data extracted on 11 July, 2014)                                 b. Research and Development Statistics, 2011-12 DST (GoI)  Data for the years beyond 2011 not available for India and other BRICS countries.

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.