Farm sector growth at 0.02%; rural-urban divide widens

India’s agriculture growth rate dropped to 0.02% in the last quarter of 2014-15, according to the latest government data, compounding predictions of a bad monsoon ahead.

The meteorological department on June 2, 2015, lowered its rainfall projections, predicting the monsoon rainfall would be 88% of normal. If this prediction pans out, 2015 will officially be a drought year, declared when monsoon rainfall shortfall exceeds 10%.

Unseasonal rains caused crop damage and a farm crisis this year, forcing wheat imports from Australia.

While agriculture–which supports 600 million Indians–faces significant distress, the warning signs have been evident for many years. Over the past 20 years, the farm sector has experienced negative growth during five years, three of those being drought years.

Two indicators of India’s struggle to keep its people fed are foodgrain production and per capita availability of foodgrain.

Although foodgrain production increased 32% over the past two decades, the population has increased by roughly 42% over this period. Per capita availability of food grains has increased marginally, from 471 gm in 1994-95 to 511 gm in 2013-14.

With final figures for the financial year 2014-15 awaited, here is a look at India’s agriculture sector over the past 20 years.





Agriculture in India is mostly weather dependent, and that is a major reason for the fluctuations in farm growth.

The year 2014-15 has not been a good year for agriculture and productivity. Our recent report shows how hunger and malnourishment are growing in India, and why agriculture needs a boost in innovation for better productivity.

Instead, India’s farmers are sinking deeper into distress.

Why farmers are becoming workers
 

Data gleaned over last three census periods–1991, 2001 and 2011–indicate that the population of cultivators has declined and farm labourers have increased.
 
This indicates that more people engaged in agriculture are landless and work on other people’s land for wages.
 
The census defines two categories of workers engaged in farming: cultivators and agricultural labourers. While cultivators own land, agricultural labourers work on farms.
 
People engaged in the farm sector are mostly unskilled workers.
 
 

Meanwhile, India’s urban-rural divide appears to have widened between 1993-94 and 2011-12, according to this IIM Ahmedabad study, which indicated two trends over this period:
 
•     Per capita GDP for rural India increased 7 times and for urban India by 8 times.
 
•     Urban per capita GDP was 2.3 times more than rural in 1993-94; this difference was 2.5 times in 2011-12
 
The increasing gap shows that instead of moving towards greater economic productivity, rural India is engaged in low wage-earning activity on farms.

Plans to set up a centre “Hall of Nuclear Power” at the New Delhi Science Centre at Pragati

Plans to set up a centre “Hall of Nuclear Power” at the New Delhi Science Centre at Pragati Maidan , says Dr Jitendra Singh

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi today to highlight the achievements of the Department of Atomic Energy during one year in office of the present Government, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh disclosed that decks have been cleared for the first-ever atomic energy plant to be set up in Haryana. He said that the northern States of Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh were so far somehow not actively involved in the atomic energy programme of India which was hitherto confined mostly to other parts of the country and therefore, with this new initiative, India’s atomic energy programme has assumed a pan-India visibility.

Dr. Jitendra Singh said that during his first-ever visit to Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) as Prime Minister in the month of July last year, Shri Narendra Modi had set a target before the scientists for increasing India’s nuclear energy capability to three times within next ten years and with the new Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor to be set up under Gorakhpur Haryana Anu Vidyut Pariyojana (GHAVP), a rapid step forward will be accomplished in the direction of achieving such similarity in the times to come. He said that only yesterday, the Department of Atomic Energy succeeded in launching an insurance pool of Rs.1500 Cr and with this, the decks have been cleared for further progress in installing a Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor with a capacity of two units of 700 MW each in Gorakhpur, Haryana. This reactor is expected to get commissioned by 2022 or 2023, he added.

Another major announcement made by Dr. Jitendra Singh was that, since Department of Atomic Energy was one of the rare departments of Government of India which had its headquarters in Mumbai and not in the Union Capital of Delhi, it has been planned to shortly set up a centre called “Hall of Nuclear Power” at the New Delhi Science Centre at Pragati Maidan in the heart of the Union Capital. This will not only establish the visibility of Department of Atomic Energy in the national capital, but will also help in spreading public awareness about the kind of work and accomplishments being done by the Indian nuclear scientists.

Giving credit to extraordinary patronage and encouragement to science activities from Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, Dr. Jitendra Singh said, it was during Prime Minister’s recent visit to Canada that a deal was accomplished to obtain 3000 tons of uranium over the next five years and during his earlier trip to France, a pre-engineering agreement was signed between NPCIL of India and Areva Company of France while another one between Larsen & Toubro and Areva, which would greatly improve India’s capability to develop its own indigenous components and heavy water reactor in line with “Make in India” goal.

It was a coincidence, Dr. Jitendra Singh said, that he was destined to be a part of the Department of Atomic Energy during the year when Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) is observing its Diamond Jubilee having been established by the legendary scientist, Dr. Homi J. Bhabha 60 years ago. It is a tribute to Dr. Bhabha and a credit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that during the last few months, Department of Atomic Energy has enabled India to assume a leadership role in the Southeast Asia through a series of landmark developments, including an atomic energy agreement with Sri Lanka in February 2015 and very recently last month, the decision to set up tele-therapy facility for cancer patients in Mangolia.

Secretary Department of Atomic Energy Dr. R.K. Sinha, Director BARC Sekhar Basu, CMD NPCIL K.C. Purohit and DG PIB Frank Noronha were also present at the conference. 

राज-काज और पीएमओ का विकास

पिछले कुछ समय में एक बड़ी सहमति यह बनी है कि एक साल पहले के मुकाबले देश की अर्थव्यवस्था सुधरी है। इसके अलावा, शासन की मोदी शैली पर ध्यान अधिक केंद्रित हुआ है। मोदी-केंद्रित शैली प्रधानमंत्री कार्यालय के कामकाज से जुड़ी है। हाल के वर्षों में प्रधानमंत्री कार्यालय इतना सक्रिय व निर्णायक कभी नहीं रहा, जितना पिछले एक साल में रहा है। इस तरह की भी धारणा पैदा हुई है कि प्रधानमंत्री कार्यालय (पीएमओ) अधिक सतर्क हो गया है, वह मंत्रालयों की भूमिका में कतर-ब्योंत करता है और मंत्रियों के अधिकारों को भी कम कर रहा है। पीएमओ अधिक सत्ता केंद्रित है।

इस मसले को समझने के लिए प्रधानमंत्री कार्यालय के विकास पर गौर किया जाना चाहिए और यह भी कि कैसे यह पहले से अलग है। इससे भी महत्वपूर्ण यह कि पीएमओ से क्या उम्मीद रहती है? केंद्र सरकार में हर मंत्रालय के कामकाज केंद्रीय सचिवालय द्वारा जारी 'ट्रांजेक्शन ऑफ बिजनेस रूल्स, 1961' से निर्धारित होते हैं। इसके तहत पीएमओ से पहली उम्मीद यह होती है कि प्रधानमंत्री के सामने जो मुद्दे आएं, उनसे वह नियमानुसार निपटे। दूसरी, सरकार के मुखिया के नाते प्रधानमंत्री के ऊपर जो सारी जिम्मेदारियां हैं, उनमें वह मदद करे। इसमें केंद्रीय मंत्रियों से लेकर राज्य सरकारों से संपर्क साधना भी शामिल है, जिनमें प्रधानमंत्री रुचि दिखाते हैं। तीसरी, नीति आयोग के अध्यक्ष के तौर पर प्रधानमंत्री की जो जिम्मेदारियां हैं, उनको पूरा करने में मदद करना। चौथी, प्रधानमंत्री के दफ्तर की तरफ से जन-संपर्क को देखना, यानी प्रेस व जनता से संबंध बनाना। पांचवीं, तय कानूनों के तहत प्रधानमंत्री के सामने पेश मामलों को परखने में उनका सहयोग करना।

इस तरह से, ये कामकाज कई राज्यों के मुख्यमंत्रियों के कार्यालय से अलग नहीं हैं। वर्षों से, पीएमओ अलग-अलग नियुक्तियों और तत्परता के साथ इन कामों को देर-सबेर करता आया है। आजादी के बाद पंडित नेहरू के समय में प्रधानमंत्री को संयुक्त सचिव स्तर के अधिकारी सहयोग करते थे। विदेश महकमे व राष्ट्रमंडल महकमे के प्रधान सचिव विदेश मामलों पर प्रधानमंत्री का मुख्य सलाहकार होते थे और घरेलू मामलों पर कैबिनेट सचिव। कैबिनेट में सरदार वल्लभभाई पटेल, मौलाना अबुल कलाम आजाद और चिंतामन डी देशमुख जैसे वरिष्ठ मंत्री थे। किसी भी कामकाज में अपनी शक्तियों के कमजोर पड़ने की बात उन्होंने कभी स्वीकार नहीं की।

प्रधानमंत्री का सचिवालय फैसले लेने के मामले में निकास-द्वार का काम करता था, जिसमें मंत्रालय महत्वपूर्ण भूमिका निभाते थे। जब लाल बहादुर शास्त्री ने नेहरू की जगह ली, तो प्रधानमंत्री के निजी दफ्तर को प्रधानमंत्री सचिवालय का नाम देने के अलावा, उन्होंने एक सचिव नियुक्त करके इसके नेतृत्व को मजबूत किया। इस पद पर सबसे पहले बिहार कैडर से एक अधिकारी लक्ष्मीकांत झा आए। वह मेरे पिता के बैचमेट थे। प्रधानमंत्री के सचिव के तौर पर उनकी नियुक्ति पर मेरे पिता ने बताया था कि कैसे उनकी पदोन्नति ने कैबिनेट सचिव के कामकाज को प्रभावित किया। पारंपरिक रूप से कैबिनेट सचिव प्रधानमंत्री का अंतिम सलाहकार होता था और अब यह काम प्रधानमंत्री के सचिव का था।

जब इंदिरा गांधी, शास्त्री की उत्तराधिकारी बनीं, तो कुछ समय तक एलके झा और बाद में उनकी जगह पीएन हक्सर आए, जो पहले सचिव और बाद में प्रधान सचिव बने। यह एक बड़े बदलाव का संकेत था। दरअसल, राजनीतिक घटनाक्रमों को देखते हुए उन्हें प्रशासनिक ढांचे पर अपने नियंत्रण को मजबूत करने की जरूरत पड़ी थी। वाम पार्टियों के सहयोग को भी उन्हें बचाए रखना था। इस तरह से प्रधानमंत्री सचिवालय आर्थिक, घरेलू व विदेश नीति मामलों के बीच तालमेल बनाने और उसके विकास का एक शक्तिशाली केंद्र बन गया।

आपातकाल के बाद मोरारजी देसाई ने, जो नए प्रधानमंत्री बने थे, प्रधानमंत्री सचिवालय का नाम बदलकर प्रधानमंत्री कार्यालय कर दिया, क्योंकि इसके अधिक सत्ता-केंद्रित होने की खूब आलोचना हो रही थी। यह सिर्फ नाम बदलना नहीं था, बल्कि इसके अधिकार और किरदार को घटाना भी था। इसके बाद तो पीएमओ आने वाले प्रधानमंत्रियों की शख्सियतों, वरीयताओं और धारणाओं के आधार पर खुद को बदलता रहा। राजीव गांधी के कार्यकाल के दौरान प्रधानमंत्री का दफ्तर मंत्रालयों के साथ नीतिगत ढांचा तैयार करने में महत्वपूर्ण भूमिका निभाता था।

राजीव गांधी ने पीसी एलेक्जेंडर के नेतृत्व में एक कुशल टीम बना रखी थी, जिसमें बड़े-बड़े विशेषज्ञ और नौकरशाह थे। मोंटेक सिंह अहलूवालिया और मणिशंकर अय्यर उनमें ही थे। पीवी नरसिंह राव के कार्यकाल के दौरान अमरनाथ वर्मा के नेतृत्व में पीएमओ 1991 के मुद्रा संकट से निपटने का केंद्रबिंदु बना था। आईएमएफ और विश्व बैंक की शर्तों के साथ प्रभावी तालमेल बनाना इतना आसान नहीं था, लेकिन यह हुआ। वाजपेयी के दौर में पीएमओ ने उत्प्रेरक की भूमिका निभाई।

विदेश नीति, अर्थव्यवस्था और आंतरिक मोर्चे पर यह दफ्तर काफी सक्रिय रहा। उस दौरान अर्थव्यवस्था के मुद्दे पर प्रधानमंत्री के सचिव के तौर पर काम करने का मुझे भी सौभाग्य मिला। पाकिस्तान के मामले में नई सोच बनी। दूरसंचार, राष्ट्रीय राजमार्ग कार्यक्रम, ऊर्जा क्षेत्र, बैंकिंग और वित्तीय बाजार क्षेत्र में सुधार किए गए। इन सबने आर्थिक तरक्की को महत्वपूर्ण रफ्तार दी। मनमोहन सिंह के समय में पीएमओ की भूमिका में संयम देखा गया। यह साफ हो चला था कि महत्वपूर्ण नीतिगत मुद्दों और नियुक्तियों पर फैसले पीएमओ के बाहर लिए जाते हैं। यह विडंबना ही थी कि वित्त मंत्री के तौर पर 1991 में मनमोहन सिंह बड़े आर्थिक सुधार लेकर आए, लेकिन दस साल के अपने प्रधानमंत्रित्व में वह शायद ही कोई निर्णायक आर्थिक बदलाव ला सके।

यूपीए-एक के दौरान सरकार वाम पार्टियों पर निर्भर थी, जिनका आर्थिक सुधारों पर गंभीर ऐतराज रहता है। यूपीए-दो के कुछ गठबंधन साझेदारों ने महत्वपूर्ण आर्थिक सुधारों को रोके रखा। कई लोग यूपीए-एक और दो के कार्यकाल को भारत का बेकार गया दशक बताते हैं। मोदी सरकार अपनी पूर्ववर्तियों से कई मायनों में अलग है। पहला, देश  के हालिया राजनीतिक इतिहास में ऐसा आम चुनाव देखने को नहीं मिला था, जो प्रधानमंत्री पद के उम्मीदवार के नेतृत्व पर काफी हद तक निर्भर रहा हो। दरअसल, यह मोदी-केंद्रित जीत थी, भारत के लोगों ने उनके नेतृत्व पर अपना भरोसा जताया था।

मोदी ने भी महसूस किया कि जनादेश उनके और प्रशासनिक नतीजों के लिए है। इस तरह, पीएमओ ने मोदी विजन को पाने के लिए अपने को फिर से गढ़ा है। भारत के लोगों के लिए यह कम अहमियत रखता है कि मोदी अपने पास ज्यादा शक्तियां रखते हैं या नहीं, बल्कि उनके लिए महत्वपूर्ण है कि वे निर्णायक बदलावों को महसूस कर सकें, अधिक सुरक्षा पाएं और आखिर में भविष्य के प्रति आशावाद का माहौल बने। इस मामले में मोदी का प्रधानमंत्री कार्यालय विशिष्ट है। 

FM's wage bill worries

In less than three months from now, the Union governmentwill have to contend with a difficult fiscal challenge. Though not entirely of its making, the National Democratic Alliance government can hardly excuse itself for not taking necessary advance steps to withstand the adverse impact of the time bomb that is ticking away and in all likelihood will explode before the end of August. Yes, we are talking about theSeventh Central Pay Commission and the implications of its recommendations.

In one of the rare policy actions initiated in the latter half of its second term, the United Progressive Alliance government had ordered on February 28, 2014 the constitution of the Seventh Central Pay Commission to review the pay packages for all central government employees including those belonging to different all-India services, and personnel of governments in union territories, regulatory bodies (excluding the Reserve Bank of India) set up under an Act of Parliament and the Supreme Court of India. The Commission, headed by Justice Ashok Kumar Mathur, was also asked to recommend a suitable structure of pay and benefits for the defence forces.

There was, however, one aspect of that order that got largely ignored in the debate over the need for constituting a new pay commission a few months before the general elections were due. And that pertained to the government notification's mandate that the Commission would submit its recommendations within 18 months of the order. In other words, the recommendations would be made public before August 31, 2015, unless of course Justice Mathur decided to seek an extension of the term of the Seventh Central Pay Commission. So far the Commission seems all set to present its recommendations before the August-end deadline. This would mean that it is the NDA government that will have to take a call on these recommendations.

The prospects of an increased burden of pay and allowances on government finances, however, cannot be wished away, even if the Commission takes a few more months to complete its work. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, therefore, would do well to keep in mind at least three lessons from the manner in which governments have faced up to the challenge of managing the recommendations of past central pay commissions.

One, apart from raising the pay and allowances for employees, the recommendations of most pay commissions in the past have also suggested measures to rationalise and reduce the government's staff strength. Invariably, all Union governments in the past have accepted the recommendations for salary revision, but have ignored the more difficult and unpopular ones on staff rationalisation. The Seventh Central Pay Commission too is expected to make some suggestions on downsizing the government's manpower strength. And Mr Jaitley should seriously consider making the acceptance of higher pay and allowances conditional to a reduction in the size of the bureaucracy as may be recommended by the Commission.

Two, the impact of recommendations of all past central pay commissions on the government's public finances have been adverse. These have always led to a significant deterioration in the fiscal deficit for the years immediately following the acceptance and enforcement of higher pay and allowances as recommended by the commission. The impact of the central pay commission recommendations is also felt on the finances of state governments, which invariably accept the new pay scales. The Seventh Central Pay Commission has been given a specific mandate that it should keep in mind the impact of its recommendations on state finances. The Centre's response to the Commission's suggestions for pay revision should, therefore, be guided by the impact they would have on state finances. If necessary, Mr Jaitley should consider the feasibility of postponing the implementation of the recommendations or other steps to reduce its impact on public finances.

Three, it is widely recognised that there has been a steady deterioration in the quality and competence of government employees, in spite of periodic salary revisions at all levels. The salary revision at the lower level of employees has mostly raised their wages to levels that are much more than what the market or the private sector pays. This has resulted in a huge rush for government jobs at the lower level of bureaucracy. Unfortunately, however, this has not led to any qualitative improvement in skills at this level because of lack of adequate and proper recruitment and screening methods. Nor has the absence of upward mobility at this level helped in getting quality manpower, since all-India services in any case block almost all avenues of promotion above a certain level.

In contrast to what has been ailing the process of government recruitment of junior employees, the salary levels for the higher levels of staff in the government has been much below the market or what the private sector pays to people with similar profiles. This has resulted in an exodus of talent at the top end of the pool of government employees, undermining the overall quality of employees at senior levels in government departments. The fear now is that the Seventh Central Pay Commission's recommendations could make the situation worse. Mr Jaitley should go beyond what the Commission says in this respect and devise methods to attract better talents at the higher level even while reducing the overall size of the government.

The current government manpower numbers are revealing. In March 2014, the total number of employees for the central government was estimated at 3.32 million. By March 2015, the employees' strength increased by five per cent to 3.5 million and by March 2016, it would go up further to 3.55 million, though at a lower rate of 1.5 per cent. In the last three years, the Union government's expenditure on salary, allowances and travel has seen a steady rise - from Rs 1.21 lakh crore in 2013-14 to Rs 1.5 lakh crore in 2014-15 - an increase of 14 per cent. For the current year, the salary bill would go up by about nine per cent to Rs 1.5 lakh crore. Taken together with the combined wages burden of close to Rs 5 lakh crore for all states, the total wage bill to be impacted by the Seventh Central Pay Commission is estimated at over Rs 6.5 lakh crore - close to five per cent India's gross domestic product. For Mr Jaitley, therefore, the challenges from what the Seventh Central Pay Commission recommends will be formidable and he needs to prepare for the consequences it will have for his fiscal consolidation plans.

From Plate to Plough: Modi sarkar’s toughest test

When the provisional estimates of GDP growth for FY15 were released last week, showing an overall GDP growth of 7.3 per cent but agri-GDP at 0.2 per cent, one wondered whether one should celebrate or cry, or do both simultaneously. The reason is simple: agriculture still absorbs about 49 per cent of the workforce, and an average household still spends about 45 per cent of its expenditure on food. And it is not just in FY15, but during the first three years of the abandoned 12th Plan, the average agri-GDP growth works out to a paltry 1.7 per cent, less than half of its target of 4 per cent. So, if agriculture is limping and farmers are facing deep stress, how could one realise the grand vision of “sabka saath, sabka vikas”?

Now, the official Met (IMD) has revised its forecast for the current monsoon to 88 per cent of the long period average (LPA), down from 93 per cent in the first forecast. Twelve per cent below the LPA could mean an impending drought, almost the same as experienced during the monsoon of 2014, although the government did not officially declare it a drought for reasons best known to itself. This back-to-back drought, technically a deficit of more than 10 per cent rainfall compared to the LPA, has happened only thrice since 1900 — in 1904, 1905; 1965, 1966; and 1986, 1987. This surely does not auger well for the Modi government, and could be its mega challenge.

What is it that the Modi sarkar can do in the short run, and also for the medium to long run, to put agriculture back on track and bring smiles on the faces of our farmers? The standard drill in the government is to prepare a contingency plan, asking state governments to ensure ample supply of seeds, fertilisers and fodder, and give some subsidy on seeds, diesel, fodder, etc, if need be. How much of it reaches the millions of farmers varies from state to state, but the overall situation remains grim, although the Central government says it is fully geared to face any problem resulting from drought.

(Illustration by Pradeep Yadav)

The current system of crop insurance is also patchy, time consuming and corrupt. It needs a major overhaul, from raising the sum insured to at least 80 per cent of expected income to using latest technologies, from digitisation of land records to satellites, drones and all-weather stations to assess damages, and Aadhaar-based bank accounts, where compensation can be wired within days of the damage, and not six …to 12 months, which is the current practice. The prime minister will have to lead this transformation of crop insurance with high priority, as he did for the Jan Dhan Yojana and social security schemes. Else, this will remain in limbo for years and farmers will keep suffering. But the real answer to droughts is developing our water resources and learning to manage them well. In reality, however, the water sector is already in deep crisis, and this crisis is going to deepen unless bold and urgent steps are taken to reform it. The culture of free (or highly subsidised) water and power is depleting our groundwater fast, and surface irrigation schemes are embroiled in long delays, with a thin spreading of resources due to the paucity of funds. And whatever funds are allocated, a substantial part of that simply disappears like water disappears in sand, without any tangible increase in irrigated area. No wonder, even after spending lakhs of crores of rupees on irrigation, more than half of India’s cropped area is still rain-fed. With climate change and erratic rainfall, this rain-fed area is exposed to high risk, and this risk is going to become increasingly more intense. But despite being water-stressed, India is a net exporter of water. One kilogram of rice uses 3,000 to 5,000 litres of water for irrigation, depending upon where it is being grown. In the Punjab-Haryana belt, it inches towards the upper limit of about 5,000 litres of water for every kilogram of rice. In FY15, India exported more than 10 million tonnes of rice, which means anywhere from 30 to 50 billion cubic metres of water. It is almost a similar story for sugar, where one kilogram of sugar uses about 2,000 litres of water. If we have to learn to use water more rationally, there has to be economic pricing of water and power. But none of the state governments will be willing to touch it, with it being a politically sensitive issue, especially in a drought year. The alternative for the Centre is to put, say, a 5 per cent tax on exports of common rice and sugar to recover a part of the subsidy that flows to these crops, and discourage exports of water-guzzler crops, in a way restricting exports of “virtual water”. But our policies are perverse, subsidising exports of sugar (read water). Another key issue in a drought year is what happens to food inflation, and how consumers can be protected from spikes in food prices. The fundamental principle for that is to create an all-India market for all food products, keep the taxes and levies on food items to less than 5 per cent, compress the value chains by allowing direct buying from farmers, and have a liberal import policy to augment domestic supplies wherever there are shortfalls. Currently, there are ample stocks of wheat, rice and sugar. The problem is likely to emerge in the case of pulses, oilseeds and fruits and vegetables. In the short run, liberal -imports can help, but in the medium to long run, we need to invest in raising the productivity of these on a per unit of land and water basis. This is a huge agenda for reforms in agriculture. It requires massive resources, from resurrecting crop insurance to stepping up irrigation to investing in markets and value chains. And time is running out. How will the Modi government garner enough resources to accomplish these? Humongous food and fertiliser subsidies (more than Rs 2,00,000 crore a year) hold the key to this puzzle. The management of food and fertilisers hides massive inefficiencies and leakages in the system. Streamlining these through direct cash transfers can unlock at least Rs 40,000 to 50,000 crore a year, without giving up on the objective of helping consumers and farmers. It is these savings that can be used to overcome various bottlenecks in agriculture. Will the Modi sarkar have the time to focus and undertake these bold reforms? Only time will tell.

ASHOBAA

The deep depression over eastcentral Arabian Sea further moved north-northwestwards and has intensified into a cyclonic storm (named as:ASHOBAA).  It is about 590 km west-southwest of Mumbai. It is further expected to move north-northwestwards to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm during next 36 hours. Under the influence of this system, rainfall would occur at most places with isolated heavy falls over coastal Karnataka, Konkan & Goa and south Gujarat during the next 24 hours.

            Strong winds speed reaching 70-80 kmph gusting to 90 kmph would prevail along and off Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra   coasts during next 24 hrs and 90-100 kmph gusting to 120 kmph during subsequent 24 hours. Sea condition would be very rough to high along and off Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra coasts during the next 48 hours.

Joint Indo UK Exercise Ajeya Warrior -2015

Joint Indo UK Exercise Ajeya Warrior -2015

Exercise AJEYA WARRIOR, a Joint Exercise between the armies of India and UK, will be conducted from 13 June to 28 June 2015 at Westdown Camp, Salisbury Plains Training Area, UK. The Exercise is held biannually in the two countries, alternatively. The aim of the Exercise is to build and promote positive military relations between Indian and UK Army and to enhance their ability to undertake joint tactical level operations in Counter Insurgency/Counter Terrorism Environment under United Nations Charter.

A Company strength will participate from a Battalion of the Kumaon Regiment of the Indian Army, nominated for the Exercise. The Indian Army Contingent after reaching the Exercise location at Westdown Camp, UK, will familiarise with the weapons, equipment, tactical drills and orient themselves with the terrain. The Opening Ceremony for the Exercise is scheduled on 13 June and the Closing Ceremony on 28 June 2015 which will be attended by senior officers from both the armies.