24 March 2017

India ranked at 122 out of 155 countries in the World Happiness Report 2017 published by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network on the eve of International Day of Happiness

India ranked at 122 out of 155 countries in the World Happiness Report 2017 published by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network on the eve of International Day of Happiness (20 March).

The rankings are based factors such as inequality, life expectancy, GDP per capita, public trust (i.e. a lack of corruption in government and business), and social support. Together they are used to generate a happiness score of country on a scale from 1 to 10.

This year it is fifth such report since the first was published in 2012.

Key Highlights of report 10 Happiest Countries: Norway (1), Denmark (2), Iceland (3), Switzerland (4), Finland (5), Netherlands (6), Canada (7), New Zealand (8), Australia (9) and Sweden (10).

5 Saddest Countries: Rwanda (151), Syria (152), Tanzania (153), Burundi (154) and Central African Republic (155).

The entire top ten were wealthier developed nations. But the report mentioned that money is not the only ingredient in the recipe for happiness. Countries in sub-Saharan Africa and those hit by conflict were ranked lower. India was placed behind the majority of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations, apart from war-ravaged Afghanistan (141). In the previous edition of the report, India ranked 118.

Eight SAARC nations: Pakistan (80), Nepal (99), Bhutan (97), Bangladesh (110) and Sri Lanka (120). Maldives did not figure in the report.

BRICS Countries: Brazil (17), Russia (56), China (79), South Africa (116) and India (122).

India was ranked 131 in the 2016 Human Development Index (HDI) among the 188 countries

India was ranked 131 in the 2016 Human Development Index (HDI) among the 188 countries. India scored 0.624 and was placed in medium human development category. The index was unveiled recently as part of the Human Development Report (HDR) 2016 titled Human Development for Everyone published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Key Highlights of 2016 HDR Top three countries: Norway (0.949 score), Australia (0.939) and Switzerland (0.939). SAARC countries: Sri Lanka (73) and Maldives (105) were placed in “high human development” category, followed by India (131), Bhutan (132), Bangladesh (139), Nepal (144), Pakistan (147) and Afghanistan (169).

BRICS Countries: India ranks lowest among BRICS nations. Russia (49), Brazil (79), China (90), South Africa (119) and India (131).

India related facts: India’s HDI value increased from 0.428 in 1990 to 0.624 in 2015. However, its average annual growth in HDI (1990-2015) was higher than that of other medium HDI countries.

In 2015 HDI, India ranked 130 with score of 0.609 and was placed in the medium human development category. Life expectancy at birth: In India, it has increased from 68 years to an average of 68.3 years — 69.9 years for women and 66.9 years for men. Access to knowledge: India’s expected years of schooling remains at 11.7 years, while mean years of schooling increased from 5.4 to 6.3 years. India’s Gross National Income (GNI) based on per capita purchasing power parity (PPP): It has risen from $5,497 to $5,663.

Gender Inequality Index (GII): India ranked 125 among 159 countries. Only 12.2% of Parliament seats are held by women. 8% of women above the age of 15 years are part of India’s labour force — compared to 79.1% men. The ratio of maternal mortality is 174 against every 100,000 live births.

Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI): It is difference between the HDI and IHDI, expressed as a percentage of the HDI, indicating the loss in human development due to inequality. India’s HDI was pegged at 0.624, but its value falls 27.2% after being adjusted for inequalities, resulting in a HDI value of 0.455. Life expectancy adjusted with inequalities between 2010 and 2015 fell 24%, resulting in a value of 0.565. The percentage of inequality in education in 2015 was 39.4% or 0.324 and inequality in income 16.1% or 0.512.

About HDI The HDI is a measure for assessing countries progress in three basic dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life (life expectancy), access to knowledge and access to a decent standard of living. Countries are ranked based on scale ranging between 0 (low) to 1 (high)

Performance of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) during 2015-16

The Public Enterprises Survey (2015-16), brought out by the Department of Public Enterprises, Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises, Government of India on the performance of Central Public Sector Enterprises was placed in both the Houses of Parliament on 21^st. March, 2017. There were 320 CPSEs in 2015-16, out of which 244 were in operation. Rest (76) of the CPSEs were under construction. The major Highlights of the performance of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE), during 2015-16 are mentioned below:

Performance of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) during 2015-16.

2015-16	2014-15
Overall net profit of 244 CPSEs is Rs.1,15,767 crore in 2015-16	Overall net profit of 236 CPSEs is Rs.1,02,866 crore in 2014-15
165 CPSEs posted net profit of Rs.1;44,523 crore in 2015-16	159 CPSEs posted net profit of Rs.1,30,364 crore in 2014-15
78 CPSEs incurred net loss of Rs.28,756 crore in 2015-16	76 CPSEs incurred net loss of Rs.27,498 crore in 2014-15
Total investment in 320 CPSEs stood at Rs. 11,77,844 crore in 2015-16	Total investment in 298 CPSEs stood at Rs. 10,95,554 crore in 2014-15
Dividend paid by CPSEs during 2015-16 is Rs. 70,954 crore	Dividend paid by CPSEs during 2014-15 is Rs. 56,527 crore

Highlights

· Total paid up capital in 320 CPSEs as on 31.3.2016 stood at Rs. 2,28,334 crore as compared to Rs. 2,13,020 crore as on 31.3. 2015 (298 CPSEs), showing a growth of 7.19%.

· Total investment (equity plus long term loans) in all CPSEs stood at Rs.11,71,844 crore as on 31.3.2016 compared to Rs.10,95,554 crore as on 31.3.2015, recording a growth of 6.96%.

· Capital Employed (Paid up capital plus reserve & surplus and long term loans) in all CPSEs stood at Rs. 19,68,311 crore on 31.3.2016 compared to Rs. 18, 66,944 crore as on 31.3.2015 showing a growth of 5.43 %.

· Total turnover/gross revenue from operation of all CPSEs during 2015-16 stood at Rs 18,54,667 crore compared to Rs. 19, 95,176 crore in the previous year showing a reduction in turnover of 7.04 %.

· Total income of all CPSEs during 2015-16 stood at Rs. 17,64,754 crore compared to Rs. 19, 65,657 crore in 2014-15, showing a reduction in income of 10.22%.

· Profit of profit making CPSEs stood at Rs. 1,44,523 crore during 2015-16 compared to Rs 1,30,364 crore in 2014-15 showing a growth in profit by 10.86%.

· Loss of loss incurring CPSEs stood at Rs.28, 756 crore in 2015-16 compared to Rs 27, 498 crore in 2014-15showing an increase in loss by 4.57 %.

· Overall net profit of all 244 CPSEs during 2015-16 stood at Rs 1,15,767 crore compared to Rs 1,02,866 crore during 2014-15 showing a growth in overall profit of 12.54%.

· Reserves & Surplus of all CPSEs went up from Rs. 7,71,389 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 7,96,467 cores in 2015-16, showing an increase by 3.25 %.

· Net worth of all CPSEs went up from Rs 9,84,409 crore in 2014-15 to Rs. 10,20,737 crore in 2015-16 registering a growth of 3.69 %.

· Contribution of CPSEs to Central Exchequer by way of excise duty, customs duty, corporate tax, interest on Central Government loans, dividend and other duties and taxes increased from Rs 2,00,593 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 2,78,075 crore in 2015-16, showing a growth of 38.63%.

· Foreign exchange earnings through exports of goods and services decreased from Rs 1,03,071 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 77,216 crore in 2015-16, showing a reduction of 25.08%.

· Foreign exchange outgo on imports and royalty, know-how, consultancy, interest and other expenditure decreased from Rs.5,44,561 crore in 2014-15 to Rs.3,88,045 crore in 2015-16 showing a reduction of 28.74%.

· CPSEs employed 12.34 lakh people (excluding contractual workers) in 2015-16 compared to 12.91 lakh in 2014-15, showing a reduction in employees by 4.42%.

· Salary and wages went up in all CPSEs from Rs.1,26,777 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 1,28,263 crore in 2015-16 showing a growth of 1.17 %.

· Total Market Capitalization Market Capitalization (M-Cap) of 46 CPSEs traded on stock exchanges of India is Rs. 11,06,766 crore as on 31.03.2016 as compared to Rs. 13,27,393 crore as on 31.03.2015 showing a reduction of 16.62% .

· M-Cap of CPSEs as per cent of BSE M-Cap decreased from 13.08% as on 31.3.2015 to 11.68% as on 31.3.2016.

New OBC commission to get constitutional status The National Commission for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes will replace the existing National Commission for Backward Classes

New OBC commission to get constitutional status

The National Commission for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes will replace the existing National Commission for Backward Classes

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has approved a proposal to provide constitutional backing to the National Commission for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (NSEBC).

It will replace the existing National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC), created in response to a Supreme Court ruling in 1992; it examines and recommends requests for inclusion and exclusion in the list of Other Backward Classes or OBCs.

The decision, though long in the works, comes within weeks of a landslide win for the BJP in the Uttar Pradesh polls—in which OBCs played a key role for the party. It is, therefore, being viewed as a tacit acknowledgement of this social formation by the BJP.

“The Union cabinet...has approved setting up of a National Commission for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes as a constitutional body by making an amendment to the Constitution, mainly by insertion of Article 338B. The bill will be introduced in Parliament,” a senior government official said, requesting anonymity.

A constitutional amendment requires two-thirds approval of both houses of Parliament and subsequent ratification by 50% of the state assemblies.

Senior advocate and human rights lawyer Indira Jaising said the proposed change was significant. “First, making it a constitutional amendment means that it cannot be amended by a simple majority in Parliament. Secondly and more significantly, the earlier provision says ‘The President may appoint’ whereas I am presuming there is no choice here and it will be a permanent commission in place, similar to the SC and ST (Commission),” she said.

Like the NCBC, the new body too will comprise of a chairperson, a vice-chairperson and three other members. According to a former member of the NCBC, the demand for giving it a constitutional authority has been pending for years. “We did not have powers to hear complaints from OBC members like the SC/ST commissions did, and in that sense, a constitutional authority will ensure it has more power. The government has opted for a new body altogether instead of giving NCBC more powers; more details will emerge once the bill is tabled in Parliament,” the former member said requesting anonymity.

Interestingly, the government’s move comes at a time when the Jat agitation is demanding OBC status for the community. The commission has powers to examine requests for inclusion of any community in the list of backward classes and hear complaints of over-inclusion or under-inclusion, following which it advises the Union government. In its new form, the constitutional authority could give it more teeth.

According to Jaising, the new body is likely to be similar to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes under Article 338 and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes under Section 338A which were introduced in the Constitution by way of two constitutional amendments in 1990 and 2003.

In the case of Indra Sawhney versus Union of India, the Supreme Court in 1992 found that it was not invalid to identify a group by any criteria like occupation, social, educational or economic situations. However, it noted that social and educationally backward class under Article 340 had to be construed in a limited sense and did not have the wide sweep as under the fundamental right guaranteed to backward classes in Article 16(4). This provision empowers the government to make reservations in appointments in favour of “any backward class of citizens”.

Dream of ‘Har Ghar Jal’ will be realized by 2030:

Dream of ‘Har Ghar Jal’ will be realized by 2030: Tomar

Centre allocates Rs 25,000 Crore to tackle problems of Arsenic and Fluoride in drinking water in four years.

Government today launched National Water Quality Sub Mission on Arsenic and Fluoride to provide safe drinking water to about 28,000 affected habitations in the country by March 2021 with an outlay of Rs 25,000 crore. Inaugurating the mission here in collaboration with the States, the Union Minister for Rural Development, Drinking Water and Sanitation and Panchayati Raj Shri Narendra Singh Tomar said that while West Bengal is badly affected by the problem of arsenic, Rajasthan suffers from presence of fluoride in drinking water with serious health hazards. He said, there are about 17 lakh 14 thousand rural habitations in India, of which about 77 percent have been provided with safe drinking water of more than 40 liters per person per day and about 4 percent of the habitations are suffering from problems of water quality. The Minister assured the participating delegates that there will be no discrimination of funds against any state to address the twin challenges of drinking water and sanitation. Ministers of Drinking Water and Sanitation from 12 States participated in the National Workshop on Water for All and Swachh Bharat.

Shri Tomar said that Government is committed to providing tap water on a sustained basis in every household by 2030 as per the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for which Rs 23,000 crore of central fund will be required annually till the target is achieved. The Minister said that the dream of ‘Har Ghar Jal’ cannot be realized without the involvement of the citizens. He said that there are about 2,000 Blocks in the country with an acute shortage of surface and ground water sources and called for conservation of water on war footing through convergence of schemes like MGNREGA.

Dwelling on the issue of Swachhta, Shri Tomar said that sanitation coverage has increased from 42 percent to 62 percent since the launch of the Swachh Bharat Mission, SBM in October 2014. He said, apart from Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala which are ODF (Open Defecation Free) States, 4 to 5 more States can become ODF in next six months. So far, 119 districts and 1.75 lakh villages have become ODF and the Centre has announced to incentivize the states for their timely progress. The Minister informed that since the launch of the SBM, more than 3.6 Crore toilets have been constructed in the rural areas and 16.41 lakh toilets were constructed under MGNREGA. He said, when we are seeking to transform India into a 21st century economic giant: open defecation and garbage cannot be part of this

Inclusion of Cities in World Heritage List

Five Indian cities have been included in the Tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, namely, Historic City of Ahmadabad, Delhi – A Heritage City, Jaipur City, Rajasthan, Ekamra Kshetra- The Temple City, Bhubaneswar and The Victorian & Art Deco Ensemble of Mumbai. The criteria for inscription of a site, including cities, in the UNESCO World Heritage list is given is given below.

All the required information for Tentative list proposals has already been submitted to UNESCO World Heritage Centre.

Criteria for consideration:-

To represent a masterpiece of human creative genius;
To exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design;
To bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared;
To be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history;
To be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change;
To be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance. (The Committee considers that this criterion should preferably be used in conjunction with other criteria);
To contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance;
To be outstanding examples representing major stages of earth's history, including the record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features;
To be outstanding examples representing significant on-going ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals;
To contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation.

Steps to Improve Trade Deficit

The value of India’s overall trade deficit for the last three years and the current year is as follows:

(in US$ Billions)

Years	Exports	Imports	Trade Balance	% growth
2013-14	466.22	528.97	-62.74	--
2014-15	468.45	529.61	-61.17	-2.52
2015-16	416.60	465.64	-49.04	-19.82
2015-16 (Apr-Jan)	348.44	396.90	-48.46	--
2016-17 (Apr-Jan)*	355.22	389.29	-34.07	-29.68

Source: DGCI&S, (* Provisional)

The above data reveals that the overall trade deficit of the country has improved over the years.

India’s overall balance of payment for the period 2013-14 was valued at US$ 15508 million which increased to US$ 61406 million during the period 2014-15 and for the period 2015-16 the overall balance of payment was valued at US$ 17905 million.

The Government has taken following steps to increase country’s exports:

(i) The New Foreign Trade Policy (2015‐20) was announced on 1^st April, 2015 with a focus on supporting both manufacturing and services exports.

(ii) The Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) was introduced in the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2015-20 on April 1, 2015 and is a major export promotion scheme implemented by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. MEIS aims to incentivize export of merchandise which is produced/ manufactured in India. Rewards @ 2-5% under MEIS are payable as a percentage of realized FOB value of covered exports, by way of the MEIS duty credit scrip, which are transferable and can also be used for payment of a number of duties including the basic customs duty. At present, 7914 tariff lines at 8 digit HS Codes are covered under MEIS scheme.

(iii) The Government has also launched Services Exports from India Scheme (SEIS) in the FTP 2015-2020. The Scheme provided rewards to service providers of notified services who are providing service from India. The rate of reward under the scheme would be based on net foreign exchange earned. The present rates of reward are 3% and 5%.

(iv) The Government is implementing the Niryat Bandhu Scheme with an objective to reach out to the new and potential exporters including exporters from Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and mentor them through orientation programmes, counseling sessions, individual facilitation, etc., on various aspects of foreign trade for being able to get into international trade and boost exports from India.

(v) By way of trade facilitation and enhancing the ease of doing business, Government reduced the number of mandatory documents required for exports and imports to three each, which is comparable with international benchmarks. The trade community can file applications online for various trade related schemes. Online payment of application fees through Credit/Debit cards and electronic funds transfer from 53 Banks has been put in place.

(vi) Interest Equalization Scheme on pre & post shipment credit launched to provide cheaper credit to exporters.

(vii) Further, the Government continues to provide the facility of access to duty free raw materials and capital goods for exports through schemes like Advance Authorization, Duty Free Import Authorization (DFIA), Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) and drawback / refund of duties.

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