Scheme on Enhancement of Competitiveness in the Indian capital goods sector

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, today approved the "Scheme for Enhancement of Competitiveness of the Capital Goods Sector" to boost the Indian economy. This scheme, on its implementation, would attempt to make the Indian capital goods sector globally competitive. The sub sectors of Capital Goods covered under the scheme are mainly for Machine Tools, Textile Machinery, Construction and Mining Machinery, and Process Plant Machinery. The proposed scheme addresses the issue of technological depth creation in the capital goods sector, besides creating common industrial facility centres. The Scheme on Enhancement of Competitiveness in the Indian Capital Goods Sector will be implemented in the 12th Plan period and spill over to the 13th Plan period with an estimated outlay of Rs. 930.96 crore. The Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) from the government for the scheme would be Rs. 581.22 crore and the balance Rs. 349.74 crore would be contributed by the stakeholder industries. The scheme has five components to achieve the desired result in pilot mode - (i) Creation of "Advanced Centres of Excellence" for R & D and Technology Development with National Centres of Excellence in Education and Technology such as the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur and the Central Manufacturing Technology Institute (CMTI), Bangalore. (ii) Establishment of "Integrated Industrial Infrastructure Facilities" popularly known as Machine Tool Parks with a basic objective of making the machine tool sector more competitive by providing an ecosystem for production. Establishment of Machine Tool Parks will cut down logistic cost substantially and would be a step forward in making the sector cost effective, having enhanced export capability and favourable for attracting more investment. The park would be established by a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) formed by local industries, industry associations, financial institutions, Central / State Governments, R & D Institutions, etc. (iii) Common Engineering Facility Centre" for Textile Machinery is to be set up with active participation of the local industry and the industry association, which in turn would improve facilitation to the users along with visibility. The Common Engineering Facility that can be provided within such set ups are common foundry, common heat treatment, testing laboratories, design center, common prototyping, general and specific machinery, etc. The facility would enable textile machinery and other capital goods manufacturers to develop capital goods to meet the large requirements and improve capacity utilization, thereby reducing the variable cost of operation. This would also be established by a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) formed by local industries, industry associations, financial institutions, Central/State Governments, R&D Institutions, etc. (iv) Testing and Certification Centre" for earth moving machineries in view of the fact that it is soon going to be made a mandatory requirement and at present there is no test facility to test earthmoving machinery like that in the automobile industry. By setting up of the test centre, the import of second hand and outdated machinery could be restricted through mandatory testing and certification, In addition, the centre would facilitate evaluating the performance, statutory and regulatory requirements of construction and mining machinery and equipment. The setting up of Test and Certification Centre for Earthmoving Machinery will be done by the SPV specifically created by the Department of Heavy Industry with the approval of the Cabinet. After approval of the Scheme, a separate proposal for information of SPV for implementation of this particular scheme component will be sent to the Cabinet for approval. (v) The creation of a "Technology Acquisition Fund" under the Technology `Acquisition Fund Programme (TAFP) in order to help the Capital Goods Industry to acquire and assimilate specific technologies, for achieving global standards and competitiveness within a short period of time. The TAFP will provide financial assistance to Indian capital goods industry to facilitate acquisition of strategic and relevant technologies, and also development of technologies through contract route, in-house route or through joint route of contract and in-house. The Fund can extend partial support to industry to enhance their technology level, for achieving superior product quality / functionality, production capacity, safety and sustainability performance. This programme would bridge the technology gaps identified in the 12th Plan Working Group Report on "Capital Goods and Engineering Sector". Background: The Capital Goods value added contributes a fairly constant proportion of 9-12 percent of the total manufacturing value added. This establishes that manufacturing is the key end-user sector of Capital Goods and drives the performance of the latter. Another key determinant of the demand for Capital Goods is the gross investment undertaken in the economy. The apparent consumption of Capital Goods constitutes a constant share of 17-21 percent of the total Gross Domestic investment in the country. The investments in the Capital Goods sector have declined with the decline in the relative profitability of the Capital Goods sector with respect to other sectors. The capital goods sector determines global competitiveness of the manufacturing sector by being a vehicle of technology.

Launching of National AYUSH Mission

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today gave its approval for launching of the National AYUSH Mission (NAM) with its core and flexible components. The proposed Mission will address the gaps in health services through supporting the efforts of State/UT Governments for providing AYUSH health services/education in the country, particularly in vulnerable and far-flung areas. Under NAM special focus will be given for specific needs of such areas and for allocation of higher resources in their Annual Plans. The Mission will help in: i. the improvement of AYUSH education through enhancement in the number of upgraded educational institutions; ii. better access to AYUSH services through increase in number of AYUSH hospitals and dispensaries, availability of drugs and manpower; iii. providing sustained availability of quality raw material for AYUSH systems of medicine; and iv. improving availability of quality Ayurvedic, Siddha, Unani and Homeopathy (ASU&H) drugs through increase in number of pharmacies, drug laboratories and improved enforcement mechanism of ASU&H drugs. Background:  India possess an unmatched heritage represented by its ancient systems of medicine like ASU&H which are a treasure house of knowledge for preventive and promotive healthcare. The positive features of the Indian systems of medicine namely their diversity and flexibility; accessibility; affordability, a broad acceptance by a large section of the general public; comparatively lesser cost and growing economic value, have great potential to make them providers of healthcare that the large sections of our people need.

Biodiversity informatics vital for sustainable growth

Biodiversity informatics vital for sustainable growth  Environmental protection and development need to be integrated with informatics- Prakash Javadekar Minister addresses 21st meeting of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility Governing Board

The Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Shri Prakash Javadekar has said the concept of sustainability was an integral part of Indian ethos which ensured balanced approach to issues pertaining to conservation, access and growth. Environmental protection and economic development needed to be integrated with an informatics supported mechanism so as to efficiently manage and use natural resources as a natural capital asset. It was therefore critical to manage natural resources and ecosystems that harboured unique and varied bio diversity. The Minister stated this while delivering the inaugural address at the 21st meeting of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility Governing Board in New Delhi today. The Minister said that India stood committed to developing “biodiversity informatics” as an essential element of India’s economic, environment and social well-being. Adding further, the Minister said that India was in the process of building a comprehensive and decentralized biodiversity information infrastructure to serve the national interests and to provide inter-operability with regional and global initiatives. Elaborating further, Shri Javadekar said that while around 6500 natural history museums throughout the world housed approximately 3 billion specimens of Indian origin, access to these specimens was both time-consuming and expensive. It was therefore important to promote and facilitate an informatics mechanism to provide easy and better access. The momentum in this process had already begun. In the last two decades, many natural history museums in developed nations had digitized specimen collections that they were holding. Several ongoing global and regional biodiversity informatics initiatives for sharing data about these specimens with the countries of origin were gaining impetus. In the given situation, GBIF and its partners needed to mainstream the process of institutionalizing the digital exchange of data. The Minister also mentioned that keeping in mind the contemporary trends it was essential for countries across the world to transform a 500 year old tradition of (slow) information transfer by lines of type on paper into a digital (rapid) interchange among thousands of distributed, heterogeneous, and multilingual databases. This transition needed to take place while dealing with complexities of the information management and tools for dissemination and integration. The Minister further said that India was amongst the few countries in the world that had developed a “National Biodiversity Information Outlook (NBIO)”. The development of NBIO was a strategic decision taken by India to provide a national vision and a long term roadmap to facilitate free and open access to biodiversity data. The Minister also said that the implementation of NBIO would entail the establishment of Indian Biodiversity Information Facility (InBIF) on the lines of GBIF request the global experts to assist us in this endeavor. The Minister also said that as a signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), India was committed to developing a national clearing-house mechanism to facilitate access to biodiversity information both nationally and globally. Highlighting several initiatives to conserve biodiversity and compliance with international obligations, the Minister said that one such step taken by India was to join the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) in 2003, an inter-governmental network that aims to facilitate free and open access to the world’s biodiversity data. The GBIF had been instrumental in developing capacities in various areas and aspects of biodiversity informatics. The Minister complimented the GBIF leadership for accomplishing this in a relatively short period. A number of eminent scientists have come from all over the world to take part in the 21st meeting of Governing Board of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and the associated events, particularly the Science Symposium. These events are being organized during the period of India’s Presidency of CBD Conference of Parties (CoP11), which will be handed over to the Republic of Korea, which is hosting the CBD CoP 12 in October, 2014.

India-China ties from “Inch towards Miles”

India-China ties from “Inch towards Miles”

PM`s conversation with Chinese journalists based in New Delhi Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in a conversation today with Chinese journalists based in New Delhi said, “India and China are bound by history, connected by culture, and inspired by rich traditions. Together they can create a bright future for the entire mankind.” Prime Minister summarized the possibilities of our bilateral ties moving ahead as “Inch (India and China) towards Miles (Millennium of Exceptional Synergy).” He said that every inch we cover can rewrite history of humanity and every mile we cross will go a long way in making this planet a better place. He hoped that together India and China cover several miles. Several miles that take not only the two nations forward but also all of Asia and humankind towards the path of progress and harmony. Referring to the large population base of India and China, Prime Minister said that when India and China gain, almost 35% of the world’s population benefits; when India and China strengthen relations, almost 35% of the world’s people come closer; when economic cooperation between India and China increases, the lives of almost 35% of the world’s population undergoes qualitative changes. In response to a question on how he foresees India and China relations developing, Prime Minister explained that our relations go beyond plain arithmetic. They have a unique chemistry that can make for a defining moment. Elaborating on the nature of the relationship he said, “the arithmetic and chemistry of our relations convince me that together we can script history and create a better tomorrow for all of mankind.”

National Livestock Mission (NLM) to Ensure Quantitative and Qualitative Improvement in Livestock Production

Shri Radha Mohan Singh, Union Minister of Agriculture has said that National Livestock Mission (NLM) launched in FY 2014-15 shall ensure quantitative and qualitative improvement in livestock production systems and capacity building of all stakeholders. The Minister was speaking during the Conference of State Ministers of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries in New Delhi today.The agriculture Minister said that the Sub-Mission under NLM on Fodder and Feed Development will try to address the problems of scarcity of animal feed resources, in order to give a push to the livestock sector making it a economically viable enterprise for India, and also to harness its export potential. The Agriculture Minister said that the biggest impediment to growth of dairy and livestock productivity is the large-scale prevalence of animal diseases like FMD, PPR, Brucellosis, Avian Influenza etc, which adversely affect the productivity. Taking into account the fact that effective control of a number of animal diseases requires national strategy; the existing scheme of livestock health has been strengthened. Foot and Mouth Disease Control Programme (FMD-CP) which was under implementation in 221 districts since August, 2010, was extended to all the remaining districts of Uttar Pradesh and all the districts of Rajasthan during 2013-14 thus covering 313 districts as of now. It has been decided that FMD-CP will be extended to whole of India during 12th Plan subject to availability of funds and vaccine. The Minister also said that increase in milk production has to be achieved by increasing productivity of the milch animals rather than increase in the number of animals. In order to encourage farmers to produce more milk, effective system of milk collection has to be ensured so that the farmer is assured of selling his produce at a profitable price which can be ensured by putting in place an effective procurement systems connecting milk producers. Shri Radha Mohan Singh also said Steps are needed to reduce wastage of milk by expanding the cold chain infrastructure in the rural areas to collect and preserve milk till such time it is collected for sale or taken for processing. Systematic planning has to be done for location of bulk milk coolers so that farmers from neighbouring villages can easily access them. He informed that Rashtriya Gokul Mission has been initiated by the Department with the aims to conserve and develop Indigenous Breeds in a focused and scientific manner. Rashtriya Gokul Mission is a focused project under National Programme for Bovine Breeding and Dairy Development, with an outlay of Rs.500 crore during the 12th Five Year Plan. During 2014-15, Rs.150.00 crore has been allocated for development, preservation and conservation of indigenous breeds. The agriculture Minister informed that Government is also proposing to establish “Rashtriya Kamdhenu Breeding Centre” for development, conservation and preservation of Indigenous Breeds as a Centre of Excellence to develop and conserve Indigenous Breeds (37 Cattle and 13 Buffaloes) in a holistic and scientific manner with the aim of enhancing their productivity and upgrading genetic merit. As concerned with fisheries production, the agriculture Minister said that with a production of 9.58 million tonnes in 2013-14, India has maintained its position as a second largest producer of fish in the world contributing 5.7 percent of the total fish production globally. Keeping this in view, the Government is now focusing on Blue revolution in the sector. Blue revolution means an intensive and sustainable growth in fish production providing for food and nutritional security, employment and improved livelihood. The Conference is being attended by Ministers of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries from different States of India, Secretary, Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries, Secretary, Agriculture & Cooperation, Secretary, DARE & DG, ICAR, Chairman, NDDB and other senior officers from Central and State Governments

India’s first coral garden to be set up in Gujarat

In an effort to protect numerous coral species at one place and to enhance tourismin the state, the country’s first ‘Coral garden’ will be set up at Mithapur coastal region of Devbhoomi-Dwarka district in Gujarat, which will conserve coral species. Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and Tata Chemicals Limited (TCL) have inked a MoU to set up the first of its kind coral garden. The project will be financed by the Gujarat forest department as WTI has inked a broader MoU with the state also.

As per the project plan of the Mithapur Coral garden, the reef will be divided into several divisions where nearly all the coral species will be made accessible at one place. It would be beneficial not only for education and tourism, but also for refurbishment of the reef.

Tourists will be able to view the beauty of corals as the authorities intend to have wading, snorkeling, diving, representative pool, jetty and boat anchoring areas in it.

Getting real about jihadi terror

India cannot afford to be oblivious to the growing danger from jihadi terror outfits because of the implications for its domestic stability. Tackling this calls for monitoring cadre mobilisation, ensuring better security preparedness and mobilising religious leadership in fostering harmony

U.S. President Barack Obama’s recent television address, on a strategy to combat the violence and influence unleashed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) couldn’t have come a day or a moment too soon. What he said may not have been spectacular or path-breaking in its content, but the categorical announcement of all-out air strikes in the affected areas reveal a steely resolve to destroy the monster that the terrorist outfit — a splinter group from the al-Qaeda — has become.

Both Mr. Obama and the Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, are under great stress following the phenomenal rise of ISIS. They are bewildered by the complexity and the way in which it has shaped itself. Outsmarting the parent outfit, al-Qaeda, in just a few years of its existence, ISIS has shown itself to be even more brutal and acutely driven by a fundamentalism that ostensibly strives for a Caliphate, whatever such a body means. With a cadre strength of about 10,000 it seems to have the resources — control over a few towns in Syria and Iraq as also some oilfields — and the determination to hold on to its gains against the odds. Its achievements have been spectacular and have lured many away from the al-Qaeda, whose presence in the region could become nominal if the trend continues.

Mobilisation trends

There is now unassailable evidence that ISIS has managed to draw substantial support from highly motivated youth. What is even more serious is the arrival into Syria and Iraq of an estimated 1,000 young men from abroad, especially the United States and the United Kingdom. This is however not something new. We do know of how a large number of youth from the West became fascinated by the al-Qaeda in the late 1990s and in the days following 9/11, with many even having received training in Afghanistan and Pakistan. One sees a revival of the trend after a short lull following the liquidation of bin Laden in 2011. Only very few countries, including those in Africa and Asia, can be blind to this sinister development because of its serious implications for their own domestic stability.

What should be of great concern to India is the report of the body of an Indian youth — Arif Majeed, an engineering student from Maharashtra — having been found recently in Mosul, Iraq. The son of a doctor from Kalyan, he is said to have gone to Iraq sometime ago, along with three of his friends, presumably on a jihadist mission. There is no news yet of what happened to the other three. This report confirms the existence of the regular movement of youth from India to the Middle East on religious-cum-terrorist pursuits. This again should not come as a surprise to our intelligence and law-enforcement officials. An investigation of the activities of the Indian Mujahedeen (IM) in the past few years has shown that some young men, especially from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, had been drawn to the cause and were maintaining contacts outside the country. The IM’s role in terrorist adventures, inspired by the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), is all too well known for us to ignore the dangerous implications of this on our national security.

Challenge before intelligence

It is in this context that we need to know whether there is the possibility of a link between the IM and ISIS. This is a real challenge before the IB and State intelligence agencies. At this stage, this proposition could seem preposterous, but the evolving picture is one of many such dangerous possibilities. Our intelligence agencies are no doubt sharp and clued in. The IB, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and the State police should get their act together to monitor the situation and take follow-up action. Unfortunately, the weakest link is the police, especially in the form of police stations. With the exception of a few States, the priorities and preoccupation of the police have been skewed, with the accent on perpetuating the fortunes of the ruling dispensation, rather than in taking care of public security.

State of preparedness

What is crucial is to keep an eye on all those travelling to the troubled Middle East region and their purpose of visit. This exercise could lead to some harassment of those who have genuine business to undertake in the area, but this should be no ground for lowering our vigil. We have a new National Security Adviser who knows his job well. His forte is counter-terrorism against religious fundamentalism, and this gives us some optimism that important happenings will not be missed out.

 “Every taxpaying citizen is entitled to information on how his contribution to the government treasury is being utilised towards enhancing his safety” 

On the negative side however is the poor track record of our State intelligence and police agencies. We have had far too many incidents of terror in our major cities since the 9/11 attack for us to be confident that our law enforcement agencies will be able to thwart any IM-LeT-ISI-ISIS joint manoeuvre to disturb peace in India. Memories of the 26/11 attack on Mumbai have not faded away either and should serve as a reminder to avoid repeating the mistakes that were glaring then. Both the Union Home Ministry and the Maharashtra government have no doubt been sensitive enough to beef up the manpower and equipment needs of the Mumbai police. Some evidence is available to prove that these steps have strengthened the capabilities of the city police substantially. Notwithstanding these steps, there is still a sense of unease that the mindset of the average policeman at the forefront remains unchanged. Also, till a few years ago, the politicisation of the force and a more than sly appeasement of rival religious groups within and outside the police were rampant. This undermined professionalism in tackling both conventional crime and terror. Acts such as taking out processions in defiance of prohibitory orders and inflammatory speeches capable of inciting religious bigotry in Mumbai shockingly went unpunished in the name of sheer political expediency. Nothing could be worse for policing at grass-roots level. Things have improved, but only slightly. This is no guarantee however that major terrorist designs will be unearthed in quick time and defeated.

Training in handling new equipment is another grey area. In our view, there is a need for greater transparency in this area. Every taxpaying citizen is entitled to information on how his contribution to the government treasury is being utilised towards enhancing his safety. There is nothing wrong in a government being more forthcoming in sharing details with the community on the state of our security preparedness. The obsession with secrecy in this area that we often see is odd.

Pro-active steps

Trickles of information emanating from some parts of the country point to sections of our youth being indoctrinated by propaganda from the Middle East. Media material such as compact discs with material that indirectly provokes religious animosity have come to notice. This is disturbing. There is at least one report that speaks of ISIS using the Internet to disseminate pernicious ideology and training material. This is vividly reminiscent of the days when the al-Qaeda was active. There is only a little that we can do to prevent the propagation of mischief in cyberspace. What we can certainly do is to use the same medium to counter false propaganda.

There is substantial and credible leadership in religious communities across the nation. In the context of the al-Qaeda’s recent announcement of the setting up of a branch in the subcontinent, all religious groups must sink their dogmatism and petty differences and take up this momentous challenge at a time when India faces immense danger from terrorism. The objective should be to fight prejudice and violence, and promote inter-religion harmony and understanding. The police are as well equipped as the general administration in fighting terror. They must be active in this regard.

We are happy that the Mumbai police and a few other law enforcement agencies are using social media to disseminate public safety information. The same medium can be employed effectively to counter vicious terrorist propaganda that is unabashedly sectarian. Or else we could face a repeat of 26/11 and all that emanated from it.