100 Days of #NITIAayog

NITI completes 100 days on 11^th April, 2015. The last three months have been tremendous for the institution: from its inception as a ‘Think Tank’ of the Government – a directional and policy dynamo to taking steps in liaising with States while fostering the spirit of cooperative federalism. Here are some highlights from this preliminary journey towards transforming India:

1) The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi made appointments to the NITI Aayog, with Dr.Arvind Panagariya as the Vice Chairman, and Shri Bibek Debroy and Dr. V.K. Saraswat as Full-Time Members. The Vice Chairman and Members took charge of their offices here. Ms. Sindhushree Khullar was appointed as NITI Aayog's Chief Executive Officer.

2) The Prime Minister interacted with eminent economists on 6^th February, 2015, for formulation of the Union Budget and discussion on the state of the economy, in his first visit to the NITI Aayog.

3) The Prime Minister chaired the first Governing Council Meeting of the NITI Aayog on 8^th February, 2015 with Chief Ministers of States and Lt. Governors of Union Territories to work with the Centre to forge a model of cooperative federalism, whereby the Centre and States – TEAM INDIA – can come together to chart a common course for progress and prosperity.

4) A meeting for reviewing progress in Infrastructure sectors for 2014-15 was held under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister on 9^th February, 2015. CEO, NITI Aayog made a presentation on the performance of infrastructure sectors in 2014-15 for the period of 10 months from April, 2014 to January, 2015.  The sectors covered were related to Physical Connectivity (Airports, Ports and Inland Waterways, Railways and Highways), Digital Connectivity (Telecom) and Energy (Power, Coal, Renewables and Gas).  In order to prevent cost and time overruns of important infrastructure projects, the Governing Council of NITI Aayog has requested States to create appropriate institutional mechanisms to address issues which cause delay in execution of the project. This is being further monitored by NITI.

5) Prime Minister constituted three Sub Groups of Chief Ministers on the following themes: Rationalisation of Centrally Sponsored Schemes, Skill Development, and Swachh Bharat.

6) The Union Budget 2015 announced the setting up of Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), Self-Employment and Talent Utilization (SETU) and Unified National Agriculture Market under the NITI Aayog. The Union Budget also has a provision for providing special assistance by specific intervention through NITI.

7) The first meeting of Sub Group on rationalisation of Centrally Sponsored Schemes, convened by the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, was held in the NITI Aayog on 27^thMarch, 2015.

8) In pursuance of the decision taken in the Governing Council Meeting, two Task Forces have been formed in order to tackle the crucial subjects of Agriculture Development and Elimination of Poverty under the leadership of Dr. Arvind Panagariya. The initial meetings for both Task Forces have been held. In addition, every state will constitute Task Forces on these subjects.

9) NITI Aayog has initiated the process of undertaking the mid–term appraisal of the Twelfth Plan. This opportunity is also being used to weave in the national development agenda discussed in the meeting of the Governing Council for its suitable implementation in the remaining two years of the Twelfth Plan. 

10) As NITI’s first initiative, the report “India’s Renewable Electricity Roadmap 2030—Toward Accelerated Renewable Electricity Deployment” was released at the Renewable Energy Global Investors Meet & Expo (RE-INVEST 2015) on 15^th February, 2015.

11) Pioneering the change in Government Buildings, NITI Aayog was awarded a five star rating by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE). NITI Aayog has retrofitted its electrical appliances to achieve the highest energy efficiency rating for commercial buildings.

12) The erstwhile Planning Commission won the Web Ratna Gold Award under the Open Data Champion category. NITI will continue promoting initiatives like Open Government Data Platform India.

13) An e-book on the NITI Aayog was launched. The book is available on the following link: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/pdfdisplay.aspx?docid=404   

14) A delegation of the National Planning Commission of Nepal, Dr. Ziad Bahaa-Eldin, former Dy. Prime Minister of the Republic of Egypt and Mr. Anthony Foxx, the Secretary of Transportation for the United States of America, are among the distinguished guests who have visited the NITI Aayog in the last 100 days.

15) A pilot was successfully completed for universal enrollment of children aged 0-6 years by concurrent Birth Registration and Aadhar Enrollment in Haryana between 23^rdFebruary and 6^th March, 2015. NITI Aayog participated in this exercise along with other ministries and departments.

16) Every week, employees of NITI Aayog devote time by performing Shram Daan and Samay Daan towards the Swachh Bharat Mission and maintain cleanliness around the premises of the institution.

UNESCO report lauds India’s progress

India has made remarkable strides towards ensuring education for all, a new global monitoring report shows. While access is now close to universal, the quality of education remains a major challenge, it says.

In April 2000, the governments of 164 countries adopted the Dakar Framework to deliver Education For All commitments by 2015. On 9 April 2015, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) published the Education For All Global Monitoring Report to evaluate the progress of countries on these goals.

India is likely to reach the EFA’s first goal of 80 per cent enrolment in pre-primary education by 2015, has already reached the second goal of universal primary enrolment, and will fall just short of universal youth literacy by 2015, the report said. The one measurable goal India will not reach is to reduce its adult illiteracy rate by half (it has reduced it by 26 per cent). The country’s major success has been in reaching gender parity for primary and lower secondary enrolment, the only country in South and West Asia to do so. It has also made progress towards improving the quality of education, but major gaps remain.

According to the report, nearly half of all countries have achieved universal pre-primary, primary and lower secondary enrolment. Only 25 per cent of the countries have reduced by half their levels of adult illiteracy, and women continue to make up two-thirds of the illiterate. Two-thirds of the countries have also achieved gender parity at the primary level, but less than half at the secondary level.

“Overall, not even the target of universal primary education was reached, let alone the more ambitious EFA goals, and the most disadvantaged continue to be the last to benefit. But there have been achievements that should not be underestimated. The world has advanced by 2015 beyond where it would have been if the trends of the 1990s had persisted,” the report says. “A lesson re-emerging over the past 15 years is that while technical solutions are important, gaining political influence and traction is of even greater significance,” it notes.

However, major challenges remain. The efficiency of public spending in India comes in for criticism, as does the expansion of contract teaching jobs in public schools.

Most crucially, the “Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) said that while India’s education system succeeded in enrolling many more children, there were wide disparities in students’ achievement of basic skills across the States, a finding validated in the official National Achievement Survey of grade 3 students,” the report says.

India’s first #IFSC becomes operational

India’s first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at GIFT City near Gandhinagar became operational on Friday. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley unveiled rules and regulations for this global financial hub.

Jaitley also attacked the previous UPA government for being “lethargic” in giving permission to the IFSC.

“Luckily, as soon as the government changed, things started moving fast and the new government has given all the due permissions. As a result, IFSC has now formally become operational from Friday. I am confident it will provide a huge lift to the economy of Gujarat as well as of the country,” he said.

The regulations are aimed at creating a vibrant IFSC on the lines of those in Dubai and Singapore and check the flight of trading in rupee and Indian securities to such offshore financial hubs.

IFSC rules allow companies incorporated outside India to raise money in foreign currencies by issuance and listing of their equity shares on stock exchanges within the IFSC, where individual and institutional investors from India and abroad, including NRIs, would be allowed to trade.

The IFSC regulatory regime allows Indian and foreign stock exchanges to set up separate bourses within IFSC as subsidiaries, while market entities from India and abroad would be allowed to operate there by providing issuance and trading in depository receipts and debt securities of domestic as well as overseas companies.

The capital and other requirements have been relaxed for some time for exchanges, clearing corporations and depositories to set shop in the IFSC.

Mutual funds and Alternative Investment Funds set up in the IFSC can also invest in the securities listed there.

Speaking at a conference on ‘Regulatory Framework for IFSC in India’, Jaitley said proposal for IFSC had been sent to UPA government by the state in 2011, but “due to the lethargic attitude of that government, we have to wait for three years to realise that idea” and it “contributed in bringing down India’s growth rate”.

US to offer smart transport solutions for Allahabad, Ajmer and Visakhapatnam

Shri Venkaiah Naidu and US Secretary of Transportation Shri Anthony Foxx discuss cooperation

The US Department of Transportation has agreed to offer sustainable transport solutions for the cities of Allahabad, Ajmer and Visakhapatnam. Bilateral cooperation in the field of transportation was discussed during a meeting between the visiting US Secretary of Transportation Shri Anthony Foxx and Minister of Urban Development Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu here today. Shri Foxx was leading a 9-member delegation including Ms.Susan Kurland, Assistant Secretary for Aviation & International Affairs. Secretary (Urban Development) Shri Madhusudhan Prasad, Secretary(HUPA) Smt.Nandita Chatterjee and other senior officials of the Ministry participated in the discussions.

The two sides focused on cooperation on the transportation elements of smart cities including efficient public transportation systems, Intelligent Transport Systems, Traffic Information and Control, multimodal integration and capacity building and training in the field of urban transportation.

Shri Venkaiah Naidu gave a detailed account of initiatives being taken in the urban sector including building of 100 smart cities, New Urban Rejuvenation Mission for 500 cities, Housing For All, Swachh Bharat Mission etc, with the objective of enhancing the quality of lives of the people in urban areas and enabling cities to drive economic growth.

Shri Anthony Foxx, who was earlier Mayor of Charlottee, North Carolina during 2009-13 stressed that efficient urban transportation based on proper planning and execution holds the key to making cities more livable. He said the US Government is focusing on promoting regional transport solutions. He described the initiative of building 100 smart cities in India as ‘very exciting’.

Shri Venkaiah Naidu suggested to the delegation that Task Forces have been constituted for promotion of Allahabad, Ajmer and Visakhapatnam in association with United States Trade Development Agency and the US Department of Transportation can work with the city-wide teams for promoting sustainable transport solutions.

PM announces relief to farmers in distress

• Input Subsidy to distressed farmers increased by 50%

• Input subsidy made available for farmers even if 33% of crop destroyed
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today made two major announcements aimed at providing relief to farmers in distress.

The Prime Minister expressed concern over the problems faced by farmers due to abnormal weather over the past year. He said that helping the farmer in this time of distress is our responsibility, and therefore, the Government had sent teams of Central Ministers to affected areas, to assess the extent of damage. He said the Union and State Governments, the banks and insurance companies would all do their utmost to provide relief to the farmers.

Announcing a landmark change in norms for input subsidy, the Prime Minister said farmers will now be eligible for input subsidy if 33 percent of their crop has been damaged, as opposed to 50 percent or more, which was the norm till now.

In another major announcement, the Prime Minister said that the input subsidy given to distressed farmers will be enhanced by 50 percent of the existing amounts. He said this was a major departure from the incremental changes in input subsidy that had been made hitherto.

The announcements were made by the Prime Minister in his address during the launch of the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana. 

#PrimeMinister Narendra Modi today launched #MUDRA or Micro Units Development Re-finance Agency in New Delhi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today launched MUDRA or Micro Units Development Re-finance Agency in New Delhi.

‪#‎MUDRA‬ aims to provide credit of up to ten lakh rupees to small entrepreneurs. Mr Modi said self-employment will be the biggest target group of MUDRA.

The Prime Minister said banks have been asked to restructure loans of farmers hit by unseasonal rains.

He said the eligibility of farmers for getting compensation for crop damage due to natural calamity has been lowered from 50 per cent of crop area to 33 per cent. Mr Modi said the quantum of compensation to affected farmers has been increased by 50 per cent.The Prime Minister expressed concern over the problems faced by farmers due to the abnormal weather in the past year. “Helping farmers in this time of distress is our responsibility, and therefore, the government has sent teams of Central Ministers to affected areas to assess the extent of the damage,” Mr. Modi said, according to an official release.

He also gave the assurance that the Centre, State governments, banks and insurance companies would do their utmost to provide relief to the farmers.

Mr. Modi said banks had been asked to restructure loans of farmers hit by unseasonal rain and insurance companies had been advised to pro-actively settle claims.

MUDRA bank launched

He also launched the MUDRA bank with a corpus of Rs. 20,000 crore and credit guarantee of Rs. 3,000 crore.

The bank will be responsible for refinancing micro-finance institutions in the business of lending to small entities.

While big industrial houses provide jobs to only 1.25 crore people, small entrepreneurs have given employment to nearly 12 crore people, Mr. Modi said. The postal network would be used for increasing access to the formal financial system.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the MUDRA Bank was a step in the right direction for “funding the unfunded.” He had proposed the MUDRA Bank in his budget speech in February.

MUDRA will be set up through a statutory enactment. It will be responsible for developing and refinancing all micro-finance institutions (MFIs) which are in the business of lending to micro and small business entities engaged in manufacturing, trading and service activities.

Bank’s role

It will also partner with State and regional-level coordinators to provide finance to last-mile financiers of small and micro business enterprises. Its proposed role includes laying down policy guidelines for micro enterprise financing business, registration, accreditation and rating of MFI entities.

The agency will also lay down responsible financing practices to ward off over-indebtedness and ensure proper client protection principles and methods of recovery, according to an official release.

These measures are targeted towards mainstreaming young, educated or skilled workers and entrepreneurs, including women entrepreneurs, the release said.

“A vast part of the non-corporate sector operates as unregistered enterprises and formal or institutional architecture has not been able to reach out to meet its financial requirements. Providing access to institutional finance to such micro, small business units, enterprises will not only help in improving the quality of life of these entrepreneurs, but also turn them into strong instruments of GDP growth and employment generation,” the release said.

#India registers #recordproduction of #nuclearfuel

In a major milestone for the nuclear industry, India has registered a record production of over 1,252 MT of uranium bundles, manufacturing close to double the annual fuel requirement of atomic reactors in the country.

The production has also exceeded country’s annual fuel requirement of 650 MT for the Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (#PHWRs), which means the country has surplus nuclear fuel, for at least a few months.

The Hyderabad-based Nuclear Fuel Complex, which produces fuel for nuclear reactors in the country, has produced over 30 per cent more fuel compared to its 961.023 MT production in 2013-14.

“We have gone beyond our requirement this year,” Chief Engineer of NFC, N Saibaba, told PTI here.

The news is a breather for the power reactors in the country, which for all these years had been “under- performing”, primarily because of lack of fuel.

NFC, set-up with an initial production capacity of 100 MT per year, was augmented several times to a capacity to 850 MT, to cater to the fuel requirement of all the 18 operating PHWRs and the two Boiling Water Reactors at Tarapur.

“The credit for this achievement goes to the employees. The average working hours of NFC employees have increased from 6.25 hours to 8.15 hours. Secondly, we have made changes in almost all the manufacturing processes, which saved on time,” Mr. Saibaba added.

The nuclear fuel production in the country has seen a steady increase over the last seven years. A lot has been attributed to the Indo-U.S. nuclear agreement and the subsequent ones with Nuclear Suppliers Group that made the process of acquiring uranium simpler.

In 2008-09, NFC produced 226.89 —— the year Indo—US nuclear deal was signed. In 2009-10, the figure increased to 600.91 MT. In 2013-14, it crossed its rated capacity of 850 MT for the first time and produced 961.23 MT of uranium fuel.

India produces around 5,780 MW of nuclear power. Of this, 4,780 MW of electricity is generated by fuel processed at the NFC. Fuel for the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) unit 1 is provided by Russia, as per the bilateral agreement.

Legendary #Tamil writer #Jayakanthan passed away

Legendary Tamil writer Jayakanthan passed away on 8 April 2015 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He was 81. He was known for charting a new course in Tamil literature with his bold and progressive works.

Awards- Sahitya Akademi Award (1972) for his Tamil novel Sila Nerangalil Sila Manithargal, Jnanpith Award (2002), Padma Bhushan (2009). Russian government had conferred Order of Friendship (2011) on him for his translation works of Russian novelist Pushkin.



अतंर्राष्‍ट्रीय रेटिंग एजेंसी मूडीज ने भारत का दर्जा बढ़ा दिया है और अब उसका रेटिंग स्‍तर स्थिर से सकारात्‍मक बताया है। रेटिंग एजेंसी ने भारत के लिए बी ए ए 3 रेटिंग की पुष्टि की है। मूडीज के अनुसार भारत के नीति निर्धारकों द्वारा पिछले वर्षो के मुकाबले देश की आर्थिक शक्ति को बढ़ाए जाने की अधिक संभावना है।
• Rating agency #Moody's has raised the #rating outlook of India from stable to positive, saying there is an increasing probability that actions by policy makers will enhance the country's economic strength and, in turn, the sovereign's financial strength over coming years. The ratings agency affirmed India's Baa3 rating.