Environment Minister Releases India State of Forest Report 2015

Total Forest and Tree Cover has Increased; Increase in Carbon Stock an Assurance to Negotiators at Cop 21: Javadekar

Environment Minister Releases India State of Forest Report 2015

The Government today announced that India’s forest and tree cover has increased by 5, 081 sq km. While the total forest cover of the country has increased by 3, 775 sq km, the tree cover has gone up by 1, 306 sq km. According to the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2015 released here today, the total forest and tree cover is 79.42 million hectare, which is 24.16 percent of the total geographical area. The total carbon stock in the country’s forest is estimated to be 7, 044 million tones, an increase of 103 million tonnes, which is an increase of 1.48 in percentage terms over the previous assessments. Speaking after releasing the India State of Forest Report 2015, Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Prakash Javadekar said that the increase in the carbon stock is an assurance to the negotiators at COP 21 that India remains committed to increase the carbon sink. The increase in the carbon stock is in line with the INDC targets. The INDC target for forestry sector envisages creation of additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3.0 billion tonnes of CO2.

The India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2015 states that the majority of the increase in forest cover has been observed in open forest category mainly outside forest areas, followed by Very Dense Forest. While Open Forest area has increased by 4, 744 sq km, which is 9.14 per cent of the geographical area, the area under Very Dense Forest has increased by 2, 404 sq kms, which is 2.61% of the geographical area. About 40 per cent forest cover is in 9 big patches of 10, 000 sq km and more. The increase in total forest cover also includes an increase in the mangrove cover.

Complimenting the states for the increase in forest cover of the country, Shri Javadekar has said that the Government is committed to take necessary steps to ensure that the forest cover goes up from 24 per cent to 33 per cent of the total geographical area. The maximum increase in forest cover has been observed in Tamil Nadu – 2, 501 sq km, followed by Kerala – 1, 317 sq km and Jammu & Kashmir – 450 sq km. Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover of 77, 462 sq km in the country, followed by Arunachal Pradesh, with a forest cover of 67, 248 sq km and Chhattisgarh – 55, 586 sq km. Mizoram, with 88.93 percentage of forest cover has the highest forest cover in percentage terms, followed by Lakshadweep with 84.56 per cent. The ISFR 2015 states that 15 States/Union Territories have above 33 per cent of the geographical area under forest cover. Out of these, 7 States/Union Territories – Mizoram, Lakshadweep, Andaman & Nicobar Island, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Manipur have more than 75 per cent forest cover, while 8 states – Tripura, Goa, Sikkim, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Chhattisgarh and Assam have forest cover is between 33 percent to 75 percent.

The Minister emphasized that more than planting trees, ensuring the survival of trees beyond five years is crucial. He added that the Government has taken several steps to combat pollution and has held four meetings with Environment Ministers of states of the National Capital Region (NCR) and all concerned agencies of these states. He said that the government is planning to implement Bharat IV norms by 2017, Bharat V norms by 2019 and Bharat VI norms by the year 2021.

The India State of Forest Report 2015 is the 14th report in the series. It is based on interpretation of LISS III sensor data of indigenous Resourcesat – II satellite. The satellite data interpretation is followed by extensive and rigorous ground truthing.

Director General of Forests and Special Secretary, Dr. S.S Negi, Special Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Hem Pande, Director General, Forest Survey of India, Shri Anmol Kumar, Additional Director General of Forests, Dr. Anil Kumar and students from schools of Delhi were among those present on the occasion.

Steps to improve efficiency of PDS

Steps to improve efficiency of PDS

Government of India has enacted the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA) on 10.09.2013, which inter-alia provides for coverage of upto 75% of the rural population and upto 50 % of the urban population of the country for receiving foodgrains at subsidized prices under Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS). Under the Act, the coverage under TPDS has been delinked from poverty eestimates. As per the above coverage and based on 2011 censes population, the number of persons eligible for subsidized foodgrains under TPDS in the country is estimated at about 81.35 crore. Based on the preparedness and identification of beneficiaries for coverage under the NFSA, reported by them, allocation of foodgrains to 23 States/UTs, including Bihar and West Bengal (7 districts) have started under the Act. About 50 crore beneficiaries have been covered in these 23 States/UTs. The number of beneficiaries under NFSA in Bihar and West Bengal are 8.57 crore and 1.59 crore respectively. NFSA has not started in Uttar Pradesh. In remaining 13 States/UTs including Uttar Pradesh and partially in West Bengal foodgrains allocation under existing TPDS is continuing. This information was given by the Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Shri Ram Vilas Paswan in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.

The Minister said that TPDS is operated under the joint responsibility of the Central and the State/UT Governments. Central Government is responsible for procurement, allocation and transportation of foodgrains upto the designated depots of the Food Corporation of India. The operational responsibilities for allocation and distribution of foodgrains within the States/UTs, identification of families, .issuance of ration cards to them and supervision over and monitoring of functioning of Fair Price Shops (FPSs) rest with the concerned State/UT Governments.

Shri Paswan said that strengthening and streamlining of TPDS is a continuous endeavour. To improve functioning of TPDS to curb leakage / diversion of foodgrains, Government has been regularly issuing advisories and holding meetings, conferences, etc. wherein State/UT Governments are requested for review of lists of beneficiaries, improving offtake of allocated foodgrains, ensure timely availability of foodgrains at FPSs, greater transparency in functioning of TPDS, improved monitoring and vigilance at various levels, improving the viability of FPS operations, etc. The NFSA, 2013 also contains measures for reforms in TPDS, to be under taken progressively by the Central and State/UT Governments. These reforms inter alia including cash transfer, door-step delivery of foodgrains at the FPS, application of information and communication technology tools including end to end computerization, performs to public institutions/bodies in licensing of FPS, etc.

He added that the NFSA also provides that while implementing the provisions of this Act and the schemes for meeting specified entitlements, the Central Government and the State Governments shall give special focus to the needs of the vulnerable groups, specially in remote areas and other areas which are difficult to access, hilly and tribal areas for ensuring their food security.

Mobile Governance Programme

Mobile Governance Programme

The Department of Electronics & Information Technology (DeitY), Government of India has started the delivery of public services through mobile platform since July 2011. The following steps have been taken to implement Mobile Governance so far:

DeitY has developed and notified the framework for Mobile Governance in February, 2012.

DeitY is implementing Mobile Seva project as a one-stop solution to all the Central and State government departments and agencies across the nation for all their mobile services delivery needs.

As on date, over 1973 Central Ministries/Departments and State Governments are using Mobile Seva for providing SMS based services and over 690.6 crore SMS notifications have been sent to citizens for various mobile based services.

Citizens can now directly interact with Government Departments through SMS. As on date, over 583 public services have been made available to the citizens.

A Mobile Applications Store (m-AppStore) has been developed as part of Mobile Seva project and currently hosts over 659 mobile applications.

The Government of India is implementing the “Digital India” programme with a vision to transform India into a digitally empowered society and a knowledge economy. Under the Digital India programme, Government has proposed to implement e-Kranti which envisages provisioning of various e-Governance services in the country. The focus of the e- Kranti programme is to transform the e-Governance services by expanding the portfolio of Mission Mode Projects (MMPs) in e-Governance under various Government Departments, undertaking Government Process Reengineering (GPR), work flow automation, introducing latest technologies such as Cloud and mobile platform and focus on integration of services.

Various projects are being implemented under Digital India to transform the functioning of Government Departments and Governance services in order to make them more efficient e.g. MyGov, Digital Locker System, eHospital, National Scholarships Portal, Common Services Centres (CSCs), Mobile Seva etc.

New Initiative to Enable Higher Agriculture Yield Per Unit

New Initiative to Enable Higher Agriculture Yield Per Unit

With the view to reduce cost of cultivation, enable higher yield per unit and realize remunerative prices, for farmer, some of the important new initiatives taken.

(i) Soil Health Card (SHC) scheme by which the farmers can know the exact nutrient level available in their soils which will ensure judicious use of fertiliser application and save money. The balanced use of fertiliser will also enhance productivity and ensure higher returns to the farmers.

(ii) Neem Coated Urea is being promoted to regulate urea use, enhance its availability to the crop and cut on cost. The entire quantity of domestically manufactured urea is now neem coated.

(iii) Parampragat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) is being implemented with a view to promoting organic farming in the country. This will improve soil health and organic matter content and increase net income of the farmer so as to realise premium prices.

(iv) The Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY) is another innovative scheme to expand cultivated area with assured irrigation, reduce wastage of water and improve water use efficiency.

(v) The Government is also implementing several Centrally Sponsored Schemes - National Food Security Mission (NFSM); Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH); National Mission on Oilseeds & Oilpalm (NMOOP); National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA); National Mission on Agricultural Extension & Technology (NMAET); National Crop Insurance Programme (NCIP); Unified National Agriculture Markets; and Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY).

(vi) The Government undertakes procurement of wheat and paddy under its ‘MSP operations’. In addition, Government implements Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) for procurement of agricultural and horticultural commodities not covered under the Minimum Price Support Scheme on the request of State/UT Government. The MIS is implemented in order to protect the growers of these commodities from making distress sale in the event of bumper crop when the prices tend to fall below the economic level/cost of production. Losses, if any, incurred by the procuring agencies are shared by the Central Government and the concerned State Government on 50:50 basis (75:25 in case of North-Eastern States). Profit, if any, earned by the procuring agencies is retained by them.

How to fix PPP financing

Structuring infrastructure PPPs is complex. Optimal risk sharing among stakeholders is needed. Also, delays in achieving project milestones weaken project economics and reduce investor appetite

 

 Make in India" is the hallmark programme of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration. It envisages India increasingly becoming a global manufacturing hub, attracting investment, and generating the employment needed to grow the economy and power it to middle income status and beyond.

But the hard reality is that attracting investment in India will hinge on filling the sizable infrastructure investment gap. Whether to service the vast domestic market or target export markets, the success of "Make in India" will require overcoming delays in infrastructure investment and implementation.

Until recently, public investment has been the main vehicle for infrastructure development in India. Since 2012, however, the government has shifted some of the focus away from public spending. The Twelfth Five Year Plan envisages the private sector contributing $500 billion - about half of the $1 trillion of investment planned - primarily through public-private partnerships (PPPs).

However, structuring infrastructure PPPs is complex. Optimal risk sharing among stakeholders is needed to ensure a proper alignment of incentives. This is especially true in India where adequate project development requires detailed feasibility studies, negotiating complex land acquisition processes, obtaining environmental and forest clearances, and mobilising scarce equity. Delays in achieving project development milestones weaken project economics, resulting in completion delays and reduced investor appetite.

A recent study commissioned by the Asian Development Bank and undertaken by CRISIL Infrastructure Advisory found that on average 40 per cent of projects in major infrastructure sectors are delayed for reasons beyond the project's control. The reasons include delays in land acquisition and obtaining environmental and forest clearances beyond the time envisaged in the concession agreement, along with interstate coordination issues and local protests. Delays of two years are the norm, resulting in average cost increases of around 30 per cent - mostly due to accumulating interest costs during the delay period and cost escalation. These account roughly in equal measure for the resulting cost escalation.

Moreover, with infrastructure accounting for around 30 per cent of stressed assets, banks are increasingly unable and unwilling to lend further to infrastructure. While the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) guidelines allow banks to fund additional "interest during construction" (IDC) to stressed projects, this still requires banks to take on additional risk exposure to stressed projects and fund accumulating costs.

This makes financing infrastructure a hard sell, given that banks are reaching exposure limits and face asset liability management mismatches on their balance sheets. Many banks in India have already begun to limit their infrastructure exposure. Against this backdrop, it is not surprising that the high-level Deepak Parekh committee on infrastructure has scaled down its achievable infrastructure investment estimate by nearly 40 per cent for the Twelfth Plan.

The good news is that there may be a solution. Drawing from global experiences in several PPP markets, notably in Latin America and Indonesia, a potential solution can be fashioned that could help both investors and lenders alike. The solution entails establishing a facility that guarantees servicing interest to banks during delay periods, so long as the delays are beyond the control of the project. Under this arrangement, the project developer would apply for a guarantee from the proposed facility against delayed interest payments by paying a fee prior to financial closing, and negotiate a reduction in bank charges that would compensate for the guarantee fee. Interestingly, this is also beneficial to banks because even though they are charging lower rates, they are no longer subject to completion delay risk. Subsequently, the facility becomes a lender to the project and recovers the paid-out amount by way of senior or subordinate debt. The advantage of the subordinate debt structure is that it reduces the additional equity needed to fund the cost escalation and to maintain a constant debt-equity ratio in accordance with RBI guidelines.

The proposed mechanism addresses several issues in one fell swoop. First, the facility would secure developers' interest obligations due to delays and potentially reduce the incremental equity needed to fund cost escalation. Second, because the risk profile of projects would improve, banks would be able to expand financing for guaranteed projects. Next, non-performing assets and restructuring would be reduced as interest payments would be serviced through the guarantee facility.

The proposed facility would also expedite financial closure and reduce delays resulting from re-negotiating bank lending to already stressed projects. Finally, the facility promises a more effective use of capital against reduced downside risks from adverse selection, which can be mitigated by pooling guaranteed projects.

The trick is of course in getting the pricing right. The guarantee fee and the terms of the subordinate debt must hold value for both the facility and the project developers.

For the government, getting investments into essential infrastructure projects will help it to deliver on the promise of "Make in India". But it will also require innovative solutions to significantly scale up investment. It cannot afford facing further delays in the drive to bridge the infrastructure investment gap. The proposed project completion risk guarantee scheme represents a win-win-win situation for government, financiers and developers alike and is worth pursuing in the interest of current and future generations of Indians.

Four ways how women suffer more from climate change than men

Climate change affects men and women differently and the difference mostly boils down to cultural norms and expectations 

Women hold up half the sky.” But as man-made changes damage the earth’s atmosphere, former Chinese communist party chairman Mao Zedong’s metaphorical statement is imbued with new meaning today. Climate change affects men and women differently and the difference mostly boils down to cultural norms and expectations. Here are four ways how women suffer disproportionately from climate change.

1. More women die than men during natural disasters
Research on natural disasters has shown that women suffer more. A United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) study shows that in a natural disaster, women and children are 14 times more likely to die than men. During the 2004 tsunami in Asia, more than 70% of the dead were women. This is not due to physiological or biological reasons, but cultural norms. For instance, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has noted that in Sri Lanka, men survived the tsunami more easily than women as the latter are usually not taught to swim or climb trees: skills which can prove life-saving when natural disasters strike. Cultural norms which privilege men can also see food and relief material directed more towards men than women.
While research on gender-related mortality during natural disasters is mostly based on events and case studies, a 2007 paper by researchers Eric Neumayer and Thomas Plümper analysed disasters from 141 countries during 1981 to 2002. They found that not only do more women die than men in natural disasters, but that the rate of death of women increases with the severity of the disaster.

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However, there can be regional differences to this. An analysis of natural hazards during 2004 to 2013 in the US also showed that more men died than women. This may be the result of cultural expectations that encourage men to take more risk (without taking adequate precautions) during natural disasters. 2. Water stress impacts women more adversely
Climate change also leads to droughts and water scarcity. This adversely affects women and young girls as the burden of water collection largely falls on them. This is especially true for India where only about half the households have access to clean water on their premises.

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Studies in Kenya have shown that finding and fetching water can consume up to 85% of a woman’s daily energy intake. Drought situations can see women spend up to eight hours a day searching for water. Similarly, collecting firewood is also predominantly a woman’s responsibility in many countries. Dwindling forest resources also mean greater hardships for women who have to travel longer distances just for gathering solid fuel sources.
3. Climate change increases health risks for women
Women and children are more vulnerable to the health effects of climate change. For instance, data for 2000 and 2012 from South-east Asia show that diarrhoeal diseases, which are common during instances of flooding, killed more women than men.

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This is chiefly due to perpetuation of gender inequality, which results in unequal access to health services as well as a general neglect of women’s health in unequal societies. Studies in India, Bangladesh and Indonesia showed that the sex of a child influences the extent of the care given. Delayed hospitalization and lower rates of hospitalization is more common for girls than boys. In another instance, the Women’s World 2015 report notes that certain effects of climate may affect older women more as they tend to live longer, citing examples of the 2003 heatwave in Europe and Shanghai.
That’s just one part. Women are primary caregivers for families and this responsibility increases during times of emergency and disaster. Women are also more likely to suffer from malnutrition following a disaster as the nutritional needs of pregnant and breastfeeding mothers may be neglected, owing to food hierarchies that favour men.
4. Women farmers face greater hurdles in adapting to climate change
Across the world, women make up 43% of the agricultural force. However, they often have smaller landholdings and face greater hurdles in accessing farm credit and technical know-how. The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) has noted that gender gap exists in agriculture, whereby women farmers’ productivity is hurt due to the challenges women experience in accessing, using, and supervising male farm labour and the fact that women use less fertilizer and of lower quality, among other things. This vulnerability raises the risks women farmers face from climate change.

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What makes it harder for women is that they are under-represented in decision-making when it comes to climate change. They have far lower access to management of natural resources. Studies conducted in 24 developing countries showed that women were under-represented in formal forest user groups. Even this can be traced back to bias in education, whereby women face disadvantages in educating themselves and advancing in fields such as science, technology, engineering and management.

GST: Arvind Subramanian panel recommends standard rate of 17-18%

Panel backs scrapping proposal of a 1% additional levy by states on the cross-border transport of goods

 A panel under chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian, constituted by the government to decide on goods and services tax (GST) rates, has recommended a revenue-neutral rate of 15-15.5%, with a standard rate of 17-18% which will be levied on most goods and all services.

A revenue-neutral rate is a single rate at which there will be no revenue loss to the centre and states in the GST regime.
The panel has recommended a three-tier rate structure wherein some essential goods will be taxed at a lower rate of 12%; so-called demerit goods such as luxury cars, aerated beverages, pan masala and tobacco products at a higher rate of 40%; and all remaining goods at a standard rate of 17-18%.
All services are proposed to be taxed at the standard rate of 17-18%.
The committee has recommended doing away with the additional 1% tax to be levied on supply of goods over and above GST.
It has also recommended broadening the GST base by including petroleum, electricity and real estate.
The rates proposed by the Subramanian panel are much lower than the 27% rate initially arrived at by the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP), working at the behest of the centre and the states. The government said the rate was too high.
Subsequently, last month, NIPFP submitted its revised calculations. The report said that the standard rate could be in the range of 23-25% if goods are taxed at three different rates—a special rate for precious metals, a lower merit rate for some important goods as well as a standard rate that will be applicable to most goods.
It had also suggested a GST rate of 18-19% in case of a single GST rate—that is all goods are taxed at the same rate.
GST is expected to remove barriers across states and integrate the country into a common market, reducing business costs and boosting government revenue. The indirect tax would replace existing levies such as excise duty, service tax and value-added tax.
A low GST rate is considered key for the successful implementation of the indirect tax regime as a high rate will not only be politically unacceptable, it will also encourage tax evasion as many small traders may prefer to stay out of the tax net.
A moderate rate will be politically more acceptable than a revenue-neutral rate.
The government had set up the committee under Subramanian in June to arrive at GST rates by factoring in the economic growth rate, tax compliance levels and taxpayer base.
To be sure, the final rate will be decided by the GST Council, a representative body made up of the Union finance minister and finance ministers of all the states.
However, this GST Council can only be constituted after the Constitution amendment bill is passed by Parliament. This bill, needed for implementation of GST, is currently awaiting legislative passage in the Rajya Sabha.
Though the government will miss the April 2016 implementation deadline for GST, it is hopeful of implementing this reform in 2016-17 itself.