efficiency in financial matter is necessary for timely implementation

efficiency in financial matter is necessary for timely implementation

Nobel-winning team spots merging neutron stars

Nobel-winning team spots merging neutron stars
For the first time, a cosmic event has been observed with gravitational waves and also light waves.

The LIGO-VIRGO collaboration, three members of which won this year’s physics Nobel Prize, strikes again, this time, to detect the merger of two neutron stars — extremely dense, massive but tiny, objects. What is more striking is that gamma rays bursting from the event were observed by nearly 70 ground and space-based observatories.

This is the very first time that a cosmic event has been observed with gravitational waves as well as the light emanating from it. Earlier observations made by LIGO have been of black hole mergers, and as no light can escape from a black hole, there was no such light counterpart to the measurements.

According to a press release circulated by the collaboration, “On August 17, LIGO’s real-time data analysis software caught a strong signal of gravitational waves from space in one of the two LIGO detectors. At nearly the same time, the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor on NASA’s Fermi space telescope had detected a burst of gamma rays.”
“The fact that these two signals [the gravitational waves and the gamma ray bursts, which are essentially light waves] arrived at nearly the same time tell us that the speed of gravitational waves is extremely close to the speed of light. This was predicted by Einstein, but it is the first time we are making a direct measurement,” says P. Ajith, of International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Bengaluru. Dr. Ajith is one of the leading contributors to the theoretical studies on gravitational waves. In all, the LIGO-VIRGO collaboration includes about 1,500 scientists and of this about 40 are Indians.

The neutron stars of the signal detected on August 17 were located about 130 million light years away. As these neutron stars spiraled together, they emitted gravitational waves that were detectable for about 100 seconds. When they collided, a flash of light in the form of gamma rays was emitted. This “gamma ray burst” was seen on Earth about two seconds after the gravitational waves were observed. As a result, the gravitational wave detectors caught the signal which is the longest “chirp” heard so far — it lasted 100 seconds.

Neutron stars are the smallest, densest stars known to exist. These could be about 20 kilometres in diameter and have masses much greater than the Sun. A teaspoonful of neutron star material could hold a mass of a billion tonnes. They are formed when massive stars explode in supernovae.

“From informing detailed models of the inner workings of neutron stars and the emissions they produce, to more fundamental physics such as general relativity, this event is just so rich. It is a gift that will keep on giving,” David Shoemaker, spokesperson of the LIGO collaboration, is quoted as saying in the press release.

CONGRATULATIONS FOR THEIR SELECTION AS FRO

CONGRATULATIONS FOR THEIR SELECTION AS FRO
Dear your hardwork and patience finally converted into good result.GOODLUCK FOR FUTURE ENDEAVOURS.
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Nutrition Value of Food under MDMS

Nutrition Value of Food under MDMS

The cooking cost which includes the cost of vegetables, pulses, oil, condiments & fuel is being upwardly revised annually since 01.04.2010. The cooking cost has been enhanced by 7% w.e.f. 01.07.2016 and it now stands at Rs.4.13 and Rs.6.18 per child per day for primary and upper primary stages respectively. Besides the above, the Central Government provides 100% funding for foodgrains, transport assistance, kitchen devices and Management/Monitoring Expenses. Several State/UT Governments are also contributing additional funds over and above their minimum mandatory share under Mid Day Meal Scheme.  Food grains under mid day meal scheme are provided through Food Corporation of India (FCI) to States/UTs at rates under National Food Security Act i.e Rs. 2 and Rs. 3 per kg for wheat and Rice respectively.  The economic cost of wheat is Rs. 23.45 per kg and that of rice is Rs. 32.67 per kg.

The Central Government has notified the Mid Day Meal Rules, 2015 in September, 2015 under the National Food Security Act, 2013.  These Rules, inter-alia, provide that hot cooked meal provided to children shall be evaluated and certified by the Government Food Research Laboratory or any other laboratory accredited or recognized by law so as to ensure that the meal meets with the prescribed nutritional standards and quality.  The samples are to be collected at least once in a month from randomly selected schools or centralized kitchens for testing by such laboratories.

The Mid Day Meal Guidelines prescribe the following nutritional content and calorie count to achieve the objectives of the Scheme in the mid day meal: 

Items	For children of Primary classes	For children of Upper Primary classes
A) Nutritional Norms (Per child per day)
Calorie	450	700
Protein	12 gms	20 gms
B) Food Norms (Per child per day)
Food-grains	100 gms	150 gms
Pulses	20 gms	30 gms
Vegetables	50 gms	75 gms
Oil & fat	5 gms	7.5 gms
Salt & condiments	As per need	As per need

This information was given by the Minister of State (HRD), Shri Upendra Kushwaha today in a written reply to a Rajya Sabha question.

Robust Statistical systems – A Tool for Good Governance

Robust Statistical systems – A Tool for Good Governance

The role of Statistics in formulation, monitoring and evaluation of developmental policies needs no emphasis.  Statistics is also required for improving transparency and accountability in the implementation of policies through better understanding and control on delivery of public services. To cater to the requirements, a robust statistical system needs to be in place for collection, validation, compilation and dissemination of data. The roots of statistical system in India can be traced in Kautilya’s Arthsastrha and AbulFazal’s Ain-i-Akbari. During the British era, the Indian statistical system started getting the shape and Prof P. C. Mahalanobis ‘father of Indian Statistical System’ laid the foundation of modern statistical system. I also acknowledge the contribution made by Prof. P. V. Sukhatme particularly in the field of Agriculture Statistics.

Keeping the importance of statistics in view, the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI) was created in the year 1999 by bringing the Department of Statistics and Department of Programme Implementation under one umbrella. To oversee the entire gamut of official statistics, the National Statistical Commission (NSC) was set up in 2005.

            At present, India has a laterally decentralized system of statistics over different Ministries at the Centre and a vertically decentralized system between the Centre and the States and the Union Territories. The authority of collection of statistics on any subject generally vests in the organization that is responsible for that subject. My Ministry through Central Statistics Office (CSO) and National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), plays a pivotal role in streamlining of collection of statistics over activities under its direct control, while we also assist the other agencies wherever such assistance is required.

The adoption of UN Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics by the present Government is a reiteration of its commitment to good governance. In keeping with the spirit of considering official data as Public Goods, the Ministry is making available data of various large scale surveys to users. While all published reports are available for free download from the Ministry’s website, detailed data of surveys is made available at nominal charges to academics, researchers, etc. However, while doing so it is ensured that identity particulars of survey respondents are not shared, thereby honouring the principle of maintaining confidentiality of respondents.

The NSSO of my Ministry conducts regular socio-economic surveys on various subjects across the country. During last three years, surveys were conducted on Domestic Tourism Expenditure and Household Consumption Expenditure on Services & Durable goods, Unincorporated Non-Agricultural Enterprises and Enterprise focussed Survey of Services Sector. Based on the experience and understanding acquired during the ‘Enterprise Focussed Survey on Services Sector’ carried out in 2016-17, the possibility of conducting an Annual Survey of Services Sector in line of Annual Survey of Industries will be explored. In the year of 2017-18, NSSO is undertaking surveys on Household Consumer Expenditure and Household Social Consumption on Education and Health. In 2018, two surveys, one on Disability and one on Sanitation, Hygiene & Housing have been planned. To assess the conditions of farmers and villagers, a Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households and a Debt & Investment Survey are proposed to be undertaken in 2019.

One of the major initiatives taken by the Hon’ble Prime Minister after assuming office was the Swachh Bharat Mission. NSSO conducted a rapid survey on Swachhta Status during May-June 2015 covering 3788 villages and 2907 urban blocks. The survey gave the baseline position of the situation on the availability and accessibility of toilets and solid waste and liquid waste management.

The data collected by NSSO on employment-unemployment in India is presently available at an interval of about 5 years. Considering the importance and the fact that the employment data is required more frequently for effective policy interventions, we have launched the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) from April 2017. Now, the employment data for urban areas would be available every quarter, while that for rural areas on annual basis. This survey will also give data on distribution of workers by industry and occupation, as also on workers employed in informal sector, besides condition of employment of the workers. In this survey, we have replaced the traditional approach of using paper schedules for filling-in information at the field level by the Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) method.

The data will be directly entered into Tablets from the field by the field workers using a specialised software developed by my Ministry in collaboration with the World Bank. By combining the tasks of data collection and data entry, this process will save substantial time. We intend to extend this technique to various other surveys of NSSO in due course of time.

Recently, we have also revised the measurement standards of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to make them better compliant with the United Nations System of National Accounts (SNA), 2008. Further, due to advancement of the Budget session to 1^st February, 2017, my Ministry has revised the Advance Release Calendar of Annual and Quarterly Estimates of GDP and policy of revision of Annual & Quarterly Estimates of GDP and related Macro-economic Aggregates to make available the estimates before the presentation of Budget 2017-18.  Work has been initiated towards revising the present base 2011-12 to 2017-18.

To reflect the structural changes taking place in the industrial sector more accurately, the base year of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) has been revised to 2011-12. The new series of IIP with base 2011-12 was released in May 2017. The methodology has been changed in the new series to make the indices more robust and representative. We are also planning a web portal for collecting data from the respondent units. On operationalization, this will considerably reduce the time lag in release of the monthly index from the current 42 days.

My Ministry has also revised the Base Year of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from 2010 to 2012. The revised series was launched in January 2015. The Reserve Bank of India uses Consumer Price Index (Combined) as the key measure of inflation for formulating the Monetary Policy of India.

To ensure standardisation of procedures, National Accounts Division of CSO and Survey Design & Research Division of NSSO have been certified ISO-9001:2008 compliant for quality of performance. The Ministry has also been making all efforts towards e-governance. Some of the achievements are:

§  To facilitate the users, new website of the Ministry was launched last year which has been designed and developed as per the prescribed guidelines.

§  Bharatkosh, e-receipt portal gateway, is being used by Indian users for dissemination of Unit level data of NSS, ASI and Economic Census. The process of online payment by non-Indians for supply of data has been initiated.

§  Creating of a web-based Survey Data Catalogue/ Micro Data Archive to disseminate NSS Survey, ASI and Economic Census Data.

            The Programme Implementation Wing of my Ministry deals with implementation of Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS), monitoring of Central Government’s projects costing more than Rs. 150 crore and the Twenty Point Programme (TPP).

            My Ministry has been responsible for the policy formulation, release of funds and prescribing monitoring mechanism of MPLADS. A new Integrated MPLADS Portal has been developed for use of all stakeholders, namely, Hon’ble Members of Parliament, State Nodal Authorities, District Authorities and Citizens. This Portal is an attempt towards ensuring transparency and making Citizens aware of the implementation of the Scheme. The MPLADS Portal also provides an opportunity to the Citizens for suggesting the developmental works in their areas to the Hon’ble Members of Parliament. To give a boost to completion of works undertaken under MPLADS, particularly old pending projects, officers from my Ministry are visiting the States to review the progress with senior officers of State Governments, including the Chief Secretaries. To imbibe systemic improvements in the design and implementation of the Scheme and to ensure optimum utilization of Government Funds, the Guidelines on MPLADS have been modified with changing requirements as well as on advice / feedback received from the stakeholders, including members of public, Hon’ble Members of Parliament, Comptroller and Auditor General of India (C&AG), etc.

Our Government is committed to the welfare of the less privileged. It has been made mandatory for the durable assets created under MPLADS to be friendly to persons with disability, wherever feasible. Retrofitting in existing durable assets created under MPLADS to make them friendly to persons with disability has also been permitted. All moveable assets specifically permissible under Guidelines on MPLADS such as school buses, ambulances, etc. procured with MPLADS funds must be friendly to persons with disability.

My Ministry monitors the ongoing Central Sector Infrastructure Projects costing Rs150 crore and above on time and cost overruns, through its Online Computerised Monitoring System (OCMS) on the basis of information provided by the project implementing agencies. The OCMS serves as a reliable MIS tool for review of projects by the Administrative Ministries and Cabinet Secretariat, as well as the PMO through its PRAGATI meetings. A number of other steps have been taken to ensure timely completion of projects. It is because of these measures and painstaking efforts that the cost overruns have come down from 19% in March 2014 to 11.2% in January 2017.   

            My Ministry’s future roadmap envisages a large number of important initiatives.

Firstly, Technology will increasingly be used in data collection through the technique of Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) on cloud server, online web portals, etc. and for maintaining the activity of Ministry for Digital India/e-Governance/e-Kranti.

Secondly, we have initiated actions on formulation of National Policy on Official Statistics consistent with the United Nations Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics. Adoption of these principles aims to ensure data quality through consistent and transparent procedures in data collection, compilation and compliance with the laid down practices.

We are also exploring developing a framework for bringing out National Factsheet of the Indian Economy with 100 indicators, on a quarterly basis using data provided by various source Ministries/ Departments through a dynamic user-friendly Dashboard, and 13 indicators on annual basis.

INDIA AT 70: SUSTAINING SOCIAL JUSTICE

INDIA AT 70: SUSTAINING SOCIAL JUSTICE

More than 16 percent of our population comprises of the scheduled castes. Owing to a long history of social exclusion, a section of our society was not exposed to opportunities of personal growth and development. This section was called ‘Depressed classes’ by Babasaheb Ambedkar. Coming from the same social background Babasaheb was cognizant of the needs and challenges of the community. In course of his public life, Babasaheb scaled great heights of achievement. After being educated at institutions of eminence worldwide, he came back to homeland to work in the furtherance of interest of the community.

Being the chairperson of the drafting committee of the constitution of India, he ensured special preference is given in education and employment to people coming from the so-called depressed classes. Apart from affirmative action in specific sectors, he also ensured political representation of socially and politically deprived segments of our society through reservation of seats in union parliament and state legislatures. However no such measures were adopted in nomination to the upper house of the parliament (Rajya Sabha) and the state legislative councils.

Dalit Icons

History is often a product of interactions between individuals and circumstances. Similarly, Dalit history is fraught with examples of heroes and heroines who successfully contested the challenges thrown upon them by the prevailing social order and emerged subsequently with renewed strength. Dakshayani Velayudhan was a first Dalit woman to be a member in the constituent assembly of India that went on to draft the Constitution of this country. Babu Jagjivan Ram again was the member of the first union cabinet of independent India. He played a stellar role as defense minister of India during the 1971 war that led to birth of a new nation. Gary Bass, noted American diplomat and author of ‘The Blood Telegram’, refers to him as the most hawkish defense minister. Likewise, there are many legends who sacrificed their present in the interest of the future of the Dalit community.

Constitutional Safeguards

Globally, there are strong constitutional measures to ensure justice to the weaker segments of the society. American society is hugely diverse in nature. Historically, American citizens who are of African- American origin have had suffered unfortunate predicament by the dominant nativists. Keeping this in mind, American policy makers had made clauses for ‘Affirmative Action’ and ‘Positive Discrimination’. Such policy measures are usually envisioned to warrant effective representation in key areas and equitable distribution of national resources. 

Indian experience also entails similar constitutional scheme to empower those who were left behind in the course of history of our nation. There are many important provisions enshrined in the constitution for the same.

Article 17 is a considered a pioneering effort towards bringing social reforms. By enacting this Article, the government of independent India acted earnestly to abolish the scourge of social discrimination. The Constitution-makers not only provided for criminalizing any form of social discrimination but also punishing those who practice such discriminations.

Similarly, Article 46 states, “The state shall promote with special care the educational and economic interest of the weaker sections of the people, and in particular, of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, and shall protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation.” To achieve this objective, Article 15(4) empowers the State to make special provisions for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward class of the citizens and for SCs. This article enabled the State to reserve seats for SCs in educational institutions.

Article 335 is an enabling provision which allows relaxation in qualifying marks for admission in educational institutes or promotions for SCs/STs. Similarly, Article 243D mentions reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in every Panchayat.

While Article 243T provides for reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in every Municipality, Article 330 makes provision reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in the House of the People and Article 332 in the Legislative Assemblies of the States.

The Scheduled Caste and Schedule Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) act, 1989 is another protective legislation intended for providing a legislative umbrella against caste based violence and discrimination. Only recently some important amendments were effectuated by adding more teeth to it. The list of offences inflicted upon the person from socially deprived communities has been made more exhaustive like garlanding with footwear, imposing or threatening a social or economic boycott etc. This amendment has also added a separate chapter according rights to victims and witnesses.

The Way Ahead:

The key initiatives undertaken by the Union Government for social and economic security are enumerated below:-

·         Financial Inclusion of the Poor: Prime Minister Jan Dhan Yojana.  This is a very significant scheme that strives to end Financial Untouchability by ensuring that the economically weaker sections have access to bank accounts.

·        Expansion of Social Security Net. This has been achieved through Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (Accident Insurance), Atal Pension Yojana (Unorganized Sector) and Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Yojana (Life Insurance), which provide social and economic security to the marginalized sections of the society.

        Stand up India- This scheme was recently launched to boost the spirit of entrepreneurship among the most vulnerable groups of the society. The specific groups are Scheduled caste, scheduled tribes and women. Under the umbrella of this scheme every single branch of a public sector bank is asked to support one entrepreneur each from women and SC/ST. category.

       Declaration of Panchtirth by GoI- The government of India has decided to dedicate 5 key places related with Babasaheb as Panchtirth which means places of pilgrimage to inspire the present generation Dalits. The state government of Madhya Pradesh has established a grand memorial at Mhow, the birthplace of Babasaheb. Government of Maharashtra has purchased the house situated at 10, King Henry Road in London where Babasaheb pursued his higher education. The Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi inaugurated this during his visit to the city in 2015.

These schemes clearly highlight that the present government is committed to the cause of upliftment of Dalits and other disadvantaged sections of the population. As outlined, various landmark initiatives have been initiated under the present regime to eliminate poverty and empower the weaker sections of the society.

Much has been done, much needs to be done.

India’s Changing Transport Landscape

India’s Changing Transport Landscape

The progress of a country is closely linked to the efficiency with which it transports its man and material. A good transport system aids economic growth by providing essential connectivity between available resources, centres of production and the market.  It is also a vital factor in promoting balanced regional growth by ensuring the  delivery of goods and services to the last man in the remotest part of the country. 

Despite  having one of the most extensive transport networks in the world, India has, for long, been plagued by very slow and inefficient movement of passenger and freight.  The sector is faced with many challenges. The penetration of the transport network in remote areas and difficult terrains is inadequate. Highways are narrow, congested, and poorly maintained, leading to slow movement of traffic, valuable loss of time and a heavy burden of pollution. Accidents are rampant , leading to the loss of nearly 1.5 lakh lives every year. A very high percentage of the freight moves on roads even though it has been established that this is the costliest mode of transport, with the highest pollution burden. Rail transport is cheaper and more environment friendly than road transport, but the network is slow and inadequate,    while the waterways which are the cheapest and most environment friendly of the three are grossly underdeveloped. The result of this unfavourable modal mix is high logistics costs that make our goods non competitive in the international market. 

This narrative has, however, started changing since the last three four years. The government has made it a major  priority to build a world class transport infrastructure in the country, that is cost effective, easily accessible to everyone, safe, creates minimum load of pollutants  and relies on indigenous inputs to the maximum possible extent. This has involved  strengthening the available infrastructure by leveraging world class technology, building new infrastructure and modernizing the legislative framework to support this work.  This has also involved partnering with the private sector and creating and nurturing an enabling environment for such partnership.

National highways  constitute just two percent of the country’s road network but carry 40 percent of the traffic load. The government is working hard to augment this infrastructure both in terms of length and quality. Having started with about 96,000 km of national highways in 2014, we now have over 1.5 kms and soon hope to reach  2 lakh kms. The upcoming Bharatmala Programme will  link border and international connectivity roads, develop economic corridors,  inter corridors and feeder routes, improve connectivity of national corridors, build coastal and port connectivity roads, and greenfield expressways. This means that all areas of the country will have easy access to national highways.

The North East region, naxal affected areas, backward and interior areas are being given special attention in terms of building road connectivity.  Bridges like the Dhola Sadia in Assam and state of the art tunnels like Chenani Nashri  in Jammu and Kashmir are coming up to shorten distances in  difficult terrains and make remote areas more easily accessible. High density traffic corridors like the Vadodara-Mumbai, Bangalore-Chennai and Delhi-Meerut routes can look forward to  world class, access controlled expressways, while travel to places of religious and tourist importance  like the Char Dham and the Buddhist Circuit will get faster and more convenient. 

Apart from adding kilometers, we are also committed to make the highways safe for travel.  For this, a multi-pronged approach has been adopted that includes incorporating safety features in road designs, rectifying known accident black spots,  , proper road signages, more effective legislation, improved vehicular safety standards, training of drivers, improved trauma care and enhanced public awareness. Under the Setu Bharatam programmes all railway level crossings are to be replaced with over bridges or under passes and an inventory with structural rating of all bridges on national highways  is being created so that timely repair or rebuilding actions can be undertaken. 

The Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill has been passed by the Lok Sabha, and awaits passing by Rajya Sabha.  The Bill addresses road safety issues by providing for stiffer penalties,  making fitness certification of vehicles and issue of drivers licenses transparent by computerizing it and minimizing human intervention, statutory provisions for protection of good Samaritans and recognition of IT enabled enforcement systems.   

The issue of reducing pollution is being addressed through a programme for replacement of old vehicles, adopting  BS-VI emission norms from 1stApril 2020, developing plantations along highways by involving the local participation and Electronic Toll Collection based on RFID tags called FASTags that will reduce waiting time at toll plazas.  The use of alternate fuel like Ethanol, Bio-CNG, Bio-Diesel, Methanol and electricity is being promoted and some of these are already running in some cities on an experimental basis. 

Looking at the cheaper and greener water transportation, efforts are underway to utilize the navigational  potential of India’s 7500 km long coastline and over 14,000 km of inland waterways through the Sagarmala programme and by declaring 111 waterways as National Waterways. Sagarmala envisages developing ports as engines of growth. The idea is to industrialize the port areas by developing 14 coastal economic zones. This would be supported by modernization  and augmentation of the port infrastructure, improving connectivity of ports with the hinterland through  road, rail and waterways, and development of the coastal community.   It is expected that besides saving Rs 35000-Rs 40,000 crore as logistics cost annually, boosting exports by about USD 110 billion  and generating one crore new jobs,  Sagarmala will also double the share of domestic waterways in the modal mix in the next ten years. 

In addition to the above, work is already in progress on several waterways including Ganga and Brahmaputra to develop their navigational potential.  The World Bank aided Jal Marg Vikas project on Ganga aims to develop the river stretch from Haldia to Allahabad to allow navigation of 1500-2000 tonne ships. Work on building multi modal terminals at Varanasi, Sahibganj and Haldia and other necessary infrastructure on this stretch is progressing rapidly.  With this, much of the cargo movement to the eastern and north eastern parts of the country can be done through waterways, resulting in lowering of the price of commodities. Thirty seven more waterways will be developed in the next three years .

While the highways and waterways sectors are being modernized rapidly, work  is also underway for developing  an integrated transport system based on an optimal modal mix and seamless intermodal connectivity. In this context a Logistic Efficiency Enhancement Programme (LEEP) has been envisaged to enhance the efficiency of freight transportation in the country. This would include construction of fifty economic corridors,  upgrading feeder routes, developing thirty-five multimodal logistics parks with storage and warehousing facilities and  constructing ten inter-modal stations to integrate various transportation modes .

The transport sector in India is definitely transforming rapidly, and is poised  to become  the biggest enabler for the country’s  growth. As this  revolution unfolds over the Indian landscape, we can not only hope to see the country developing faster,  but also see the  benefits of progress  embracing regions and people who are still out of its bounds today.