India's Communication Satellite GSAT-16 Launched Successfully

India`s communication satellite, GSAT-16, was successfully launched at 0210 hrs IST today (December 7, 2014) by the Ariane-5 launch vehicle VA221 of Arianespace from Kourou, French Guiana. Ariane-5 precisely placed GSAT-16 into the intended Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO), after a flight of 32 minutes and 20.4 Seconds duration. ISRO`s Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka started acquiring the signal from the satellite at 0241 hrs IST and the commanding of the satellite was initiated. Initial checks have indicated normal of the satellite. The present orbit of the satellite will be raised to Geostationary Orbit of about 36,000 km altitude through three orbit raising manoeuvres by the firing of GSAT-16`s Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) Engine. Preparations are underway for the first firing, planned in the early hours of December 8, 2014. The satellite will be placed in the Geostationary Orbit by December 12, 2014 and subsequently the satellite`s communication transponders will be switched on for in-orbit testing.

Indian Navy the First to Respond in Maldivian Crisis

The island nation of Maldives is facing a national contingency that occurred due to fire on 04 Dec 14 in its desalination plant. This plant produces drinking water for Male. Responding to Maldives’ urgent request for assistance, INS Sukanya, on patrol off Kochi, was diverted pronto to arrive Male PM 05 Dec 14. The ship carried 35 tonne of fresh water and has the capability to produce 20 tonnes of water every day. The ship has already transferred approximately 65 tons of fresh water till this evening. Additionally INS Deepak, a large fleet tanker with 900 tonnes of water was also sailed from Mumbai and has reached Male this evening (07 Dec 14). Indian Navy warships have the capability to produce drinking water using their desalination plants (INS Deepak is capable of producing 100 Tons water every day).. The IN ships will continue to produce and supply potable water to Male even whilst at anchor. The responsiveness, unique capabilities, flexibility and versatility of warships in meeting various contingencies has yet again been demonstrated. The Indian Navy has always been amongst the first responders to crises in Maldives. The first instance was in 1988 after mercenaries attempted a coup against the elected government. INS Godavari and INS Betwa responded to Maldives’ request and rescued abducted people from the fleeing mercenaries. This earned the lasting goodwill of the Maldivian Government and its people. IN was also the first to respond after Maldives was struck by a Tsunami in Dec 2004. IN Ships Mysore, Aditya and Udaygiri, along with their integral helicopters undertook prolonged and extensive operations to provide immediate succour to many islands in Maldives. In these efforts the Indian Navy established a Maritime Coordination Centre at Male for coordinating relief activities and assisted in distribution of relief supplies, restoration of power and provision of safe drinking-water. Medical aid was provided in the form of mobile medical camps and serious cases were evacuated by ship’s helicopters to Male. In addition to responding to crises, the Indian Navy is actively cooperating with Maldives in meeting their maritime security requirements. These endeavours span provision of warships, training, assistance in surveillance of their maritime domain, medical cover, Search and Rescue operations, as well as exchange of white shipping information. The Indian Navy has been to the forefront in supporting Maldives whether in disaster relief, responding to various contingencies or in meeting their maritime security needs. This sustained engagement has positionedIndia and the Indian Navy as ‘the first port of call’ and a ‘dependable partner’ to our close maritime neighbour Maldives.

An industry built on black money

The Noida neighbourhood where I stay has finally made it to prime-time television. People from Delhi and Gurgaon want to be shown around. Friends and family from distant cities want to know if everything they have been watching on television and reading in the newspapers is true. You see, this is where Yadav Singh, the former chief engineer of Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway, stays. (As chief engineer, he had the authority to approve public projects of up to Rs 1 crore.) All colony guards know the way to hiskothi. Many of them are ready to leak gossip about him - without baksheesh. That's because of the fabulous riches the income-tax authorities are reported to have recovered from him in recent searches: expensive cars, Rs 15 crore stashed away in an SUV parked outside his house, diamonds worth Rs 100 crore, two kilogrammes of gold jewellery and papers that suggest he owns several properties.

At the moment these are just allegations, and the charges of political patronage and caste vendetta have really muddied the waters, but it could well be yet another instance of black money finding its way into real estate. A few days before the Singh affair blew up, Cobrapost had disclosed the findings of a sting operation codenamed "Black Ninja": 35 real estatedevelopers from all over the country were ready to accept black money from buyers and convert it into white. It found their CEOs and mid-level executives alike ready to accept 10 to 90% of the payment in cash. Some were willing even to accept money abroad through hawala. We all have known that payment in cash is the norm in the secondary market; the Cobrapost investigation shows the practice is no less prevalent in the primary market.

It is not difficult to find out why builders accept cash. While obtaining the various clearances for their projects, they need to grease many a palm - all in cash. Speed money, a Gurgaon builder had told me, can add 10-20% to the land cost. And since land accounts for 30-50% of the project cost, it escalates overall cost by three to 10%. The builder recovers this cash from customers. So if black money has to be curtailed in real estate, the processes need to be made transparent and discretionary powers need to end. But so much money is involved here that I doubt if any political leader will ever dare to clean up the Augean stables.

According to Liases Foras, a real estate consultancy, about 30% of all property transactions in the year to June 2012, were in black. As real estate is about a tenth of the Indian economy, the extent of back money floating around in the sector is huge - many times more than what is said to be stashed away abroad. Pankaj Kapoor, the managing director of Liases Foras, says cash transactions are the highest in the National Capital Region. The cash component, according to him, is the lowest in affordable housing, high in the luxury segment and maximum in land.

 

 

Black money in the secondary market is almost impossible to track. In cities, there is a circle rate that is used as a ready reckoner by the authorities. If there is a big gap between the market price and the circle rate, it acts as an incentive for the seller to under-declare the payment: he accepts a large chunk of the payment in cash in order to save on income tax. So it makes sense to fix the circle rate as close to the market price as possible. But there is a flip side to it: a high circle rate reduces the scope for price correction when the market enters a downturn - like now. In Rajarhat in Kolkata, for instance, the market price has fallen below the circle rate, and that has ensured that no transactions will happen because in such a scenario, the difference is treated as residual income in the hands of the buyer and is liable for taxation.

To curb black money in the primary market, the government has made it mandatory for all buyers to quote their permanent account number in all transactions. But buyers have got round it by using multiple such numbers. In an interview to Mint last month, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that the government is looking at linking all real estate transactions with Aadhaar, the unique identity number. Such a move could indeed bring some sanity into the real estate market.

Mistaking black money in real estate as genuine demand from home buyers, many developers overbuilt in the last few years. As a result, most real estate markets are sitting on massive inventories. According to data provided by Liases Foras, Delhi and its suburbs were sitting on inventory of 83 months at the end of September 2014. In Mumbai as well as Chennai, the inventory would take 50 months to clear. In Bengaluru, it would take 41 months; and in Hyderabad, 38 months. The prevalence of black money has ensured that real estate prices stay totally out of whack in the country. According to one study, it will take an Indian with the average per capita income 580 years to buy a top-end property in Mumbai, compared to 65 years in Hong Kong, 62 years in Paris and 47 years in New York.

As real estate is about a tenth of the Indian economy, the extent of black money floating around in the sector is huge - many times more than what is said to be stashed away abroad

PM Presentation on present and future of planning commission,samveg ias,dehradun

must read for ias mains 2014.see the presentation

http://pib.nic.in/archieve/others/2014/dec/d2014120701.pdf

Seeking to strengthen cooperative federalism, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Sunday said states must have a greater role in the new body to replace the existing Planning Commission.

The process of policy planning also had to change from “top to bottom” and “bottom to top”, he said, stressing it was impossible for the nation to develop till states developed.

Modi said this at his meeting with chief ministers, convened to discuss the structure of the new body that will be alternative to the Planning Commission.

The meeting was attended by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and chief ministers of all states except West Bengal (Mamata Banerjee) and Jammu & Kashmir (Omar Abdullah).

Modi said the replacement to the Planning Commission must incorporate the concept of “Team India”, which according to him, was a combination of three teams — the prime minister and chief ministers; the Union council of ministers; and the bureaucracy at the Centre and in states.

The states should have a key role in the new body, Modi said, adding “states sometimes feel there is no platform to express their views... there should be an effective mechanism to address inter-state disputes”.

“Can we develop a new mechanism that plans according to India’s strengths, empowers states, and brings on board all economic activity, including that which happens outside the government,” the Prime Minister asked, setting the tone for the discussion.

Later, Modi described the meeting as “fruitful”, saying all chief ministers had offered significant suggestions.

Recalling the remarks of former prime minister Manmohan Singh, associated for a long time with the Planning Commission, Modi said Singh had noted that the body had no futuristic vision in the post-reform period.

Singh, he added, also wanted the Planning Commission to reinvent itself to remain more effective and relevant in the present situation.

Invoking the spirit of “cooperative federalism”, the prime minister said the current global scenario offered a chance for India to take a big leap forward.

This, he added, was possible by formulating a suitable replacement to the Commission with a view to suitably harnessing the strengths of the country.

Modi said the role, relevance and restructuring of the Planning Commission had been repeatedly questioned for more than two decades.

The first introspection was done after the launch of economic reforms in 1992, when it was felt a different approach was required in the light of changing government policy, he said.

Even in 2012, the Parliamentary Consultative Committee stressed the need for a serious look at the Planning Commission and the need for a new body to replace it.

The prime minister further said development was now a priority for all, and the time had come to develop a new mechanism to deliver growth and development.

Modi noted think-tanks in countries like the US functioned independently of the government and had a major role in policy-making.

In India too, he added, there was a great deal of economic activity that happened outside the government set-up, and there was a need to design policies for them as well.

Modi further said inputs provided by chief ministers would help shape the structure of the new body to replace the Planning Commission.

New Batch for IAS-2015 & UKPCS(MAINS),SAMVEG IAS,DEHRADUN

China overtakes U.S. as world’s largest economy

 The International Monetary Fund has said that China has overtaken the Unites States for the first time as the largest economy in the world.

According to Fox News, the U.S. has been overtaken as the largest economy for the first time in decades. The IMF recently released the latest numbers for the world economy, stating that China will produce 17.6 trillion dollars and the U.S. would produce 17.4 trillion dollars in terms of goods and services.
According to the IMF website, each country’s statistics must be converted into common currency to compare data and the result may vary in different answers
However, China’s economy may be the world’s largest not but is still not the richest as per head GDP is less than a quarter of U.S. levels.

IISc emerges as No 1 Indian university

The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has emerged as India's new No 1 in the latest rankings for universities from BRICS and other emerging economies.

The Times Higher Education (THE) Rankings 2015 has placed Bangalore-based IISc at No 25 in the overall 100, topped by China's Peking University.
According to the latest rankings, India has four varsities in the top 40 –- IISc, IIT Bombay (37), IIT Roorkee (38) and Chandigarh's Panjab University (39) -– and seven more in the top 100.
"There is some good news for India as it has universities in the top 100, which is a good sign and it also has entirely new entrants arriving in the higher echelons of the table," said Phil Baty, editor of the Times Higher Education Rankings.
Baty, however, said there are "some major challenges for India's higher education system and there is clearly a national priority to improve quality across the system."
"These leading universities need special extra levels of funding to stay competitive and pay competitive salaries. They also need improvements to infrastructure and there is a need to invest more in research as well as teaching," he added.
The other seven universities that complete India's tally of 11 institutions in the 2015 list -- up from 10 last year -- are: IITs Kharagpur (43), Madras (44), and Delhi (56).
The Jawaharlal Nehru University (71), IIT Kanpur (74), Aligarh Muslim University (78) and IIT Guwahati (98).
Some 22 countries classified as emerging economies by FTSE have been analysed for the rankings, including Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS).
China has dramatically strengthened its position as the number one nation of the emerging economies, matching its economic dominance with rapidly improving universities.
"The big story this year is that China dominate these tables so powerfully and has increased its dominance yet further," said Baty.
"India for example is some distance behind China and this should be a concern for India's future economic strength and its global competitiveness," he said.
The new annual tables are based on a comprehensive range of 13 separate, rigorous performance indicators used to create the definitive THE World University Rankings, covering all aspects of the modern university's core missions (teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook).
The indicators have been specially recalibrated to better reflect the character and development priorities of universities in emerging economies.
The top five after Perking University is completed by China's Tsinghua University, Turkey's Middle East Technical University, University of Cape Town and MV Lomonosov Moscow State University, respectively.