India Ranks Among Top Investment Destinations

India has received total foreign investment of USD 306.88 billion since 2000 and 94% of this amount has been received during last 9 years. India’s Foreign Direct Investment policy has been progressively liberalised to make the investment regime more investor friendly. In a recent review of the policy the government has amended the sectoral caps and/or entry routes in some sectors viz. petroleum & natural gas; commodity exchanges; power exchanges; stock exchanges, depositories and clearing corporations; asset reconstruction companies; credit information companies; tea sector including tea plantations; single brand product retail trading; test marketing; telecom services; courier services and defence. The review of FDI policy is done with a view to boost investor confidence thereby stimulating FDI inflows and contributing to accelerated economic growth.

The government approved liberalisation of FDI norms in a number of sectors, including 100 percent in telecom and higher caps in insurance and defence sectors. FDI in multi-brand retail has been allowed up to 51%. The minimum foreign investment requirement is US$ 100 million, at least 50% which shall be invested in 'backend infrastructure' within three years of the induction of FDI. The FDI limit in Single Brand Retail has been enhanced to 100%. It was also decided to allow 49 percent FDI in single brand retail under the automatic route and beyond through the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) route. While the FDI cap in defence sector remained unchanged at 26 percent, it was decided that higher limits of foreign investments in 'state-of-the-art' technology manufacturing would be considered by the Cabinet Committee on Security.

The result of the liberal foreign investment policies is that India has been consistently rated amongst the top three investment destinations globally by all international bodies including World Bank, UNCTAD. This is also mirrored in the foreign investment data. Between 1999- 2004, India received US$ 19.52 billion of foreign investment which increased to US$ 114.55 billion between 2004-09, and increased further to US$ 172.82 billion between 2009- September 2013.

FDI inflows have a positive impact by supplementing domestic capital, technology and skills of existing companies including in the aviation sector, as well as through establishment of new companies. It has indirect multiplier effect on other related sectors also, and thereby stimulates economic growth. FDI inflows also have a positive impact on the current account balance.

When it comes to the impact of FDI in retail trading towards the consumers, it is beyond doubt that they have gained a lot from organised retail on multiple counts. Studies in comparable situations have revealed that lower income consumers saved more. Farmers too have benefited significantly from the option of direct sales to organised retailers. The profit realisation for farmers selling directly to organised retailers is about 60 per cent higher than that received from selling in the mandi.

Small manufacturers will benefit from the safeguard pertaining to a minimum of 30% procurement from Indian small industries. This would provide the necessary scales for these entities to expand capacities in manufacturing, thereby creating more employment and also strengthening the manufacturing base of the country. They will also derive the benefits of technology upgradation, which will provide a fillip to productivity and local value-addition, thereby raising the profitability and earnings of the small manufacturer. The sourcing condition will also enable the small enterprises to get integrated with global retail chains, thereby enhancing their capacity to export products from India. Small retailers would continue to be able to source high quality produce, at significantly lower prices, from wholesale cash and carry points. The young population joining the workforce will benefit from the creation of employment opportunities, in the entire range of activities from the backend to the frontend retail business, as also from the skills imparted to them by the prospective investors.

Price stabilisation and inflation control could be achieved through direct buying from farmers, improving supply chain inefficiencies to lower transit losses, improved storage capabilities to control supply/demand imbalances, better quality and safety standards through farmer development and increased processing of produce. FDI in retail may thus be an efficient means of addressing this issue as this would bring in large investments required for the back end infrastructure & value chain and requisite technical &management know-how.

India has highest population of illiterate adults: UN report

India has by far the largest population of illiterate adults at 287 million, amounting to 37 per cent of the global total, a United Nations report said highlighting the huge disparities existing in education levels of the country's rich and poor.

The 2013/14 Education for All Global Monitoring Report said India's literacy rate rose from 48 per cent in 1991 to 63 per cent in 2006, the latest year it has available data, but population growth cancelled the gains so there was no change in the number of illiterate adults.

India has the highest population of illiterate adults at 287 million, the report published by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation said.

The report further said that the richest young women in India have already achieved universal literacy but the poorest are projected to only do so around 2080, noting that huge disparities within India point to a failure to target support adequately towards those who need it the most.

"Post-2015 goals need to include a commitment to make sure the most disadvantaged groups achieve benchmarks set for goals. Failure to do so could mean that measurement of progress continues to mask the fact that the advantaged benefit the most," the report added.

The report said that a global learning crisis is costing governments USD 129 billion a year. Ten countries account for 557 million, or 72 per cent, of the global population of illiterate adults.

Ten per cent of global spending on primary education is being lost on poor quality education that is failing to ensure that children learn.

This situation leaves one in four young people in poor countries unable to read a single sentence.

In one of India's wealthier states, Kerala, education spending per pupil was about USD 685.

In rural India, there are wide disparities between richer and poorer states, but even within richer states, the poorest girls perform at much lower levels in mathematics.

In the wealthier states of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, most rural children reached grade 5 in 2012.

However, only 44 per cent of these children in the grade 5 age group in Maharashtra and 53 per cent in Tamil Nadu could perform a two-digit subtraction.

Among rich, rural children in these states, girls performed better than boys, with around two out of three girls able to do the calculations.

Despite Maharashtra's relative wealth, poor, rural girls there performed only slightly better than their counterparts in the poorer state of Madhya Pradesh.

The report said widespread poverty in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh affects the chance of staying in school until grade 5.

In Uttar Pradesh, 70 per cent of poor children make it to grade 5 while almost all children from rich households are able to do so.

Similarly, in Madhya Pradesh, 85 per cent of poor children reach grade 5, compared with 96 per cent of rich children.

Once in school, poor girls have a lower chance of learning the basics. No more than one in five poor girls in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh are able to do basic mathematics.

The report added that children who learn less are more likely to leave school early.

In India, children who achieved lower scores in mathematics at age 12 were more than twice as likely to drop out by age 15 than those who performed better.

In some countries, the engagement of teacher unions has improved policies aimed at helping disadvantaged groups. In India, teacher unions have a major influence on state legislatures and governments.

If days are lost because teachers are absent or devote more attention to private tuition than classroom teaching, the learning of the poorest children can be harmed.

Across India, absenteeism varied from 15 per cent in Maharashtra and 17 per cent in Gujarat – two richer states – to 38 per cent in Bihar and 42 per ccent in Jharkhand, two of the poorest states.

There is much evidence of the harm done to students’ learning because of teacher absenteeism.

In India, for example, a 10 per cent increase in teacher absence was associated with 1.8 per cent lower student attendance.

Governments should work more closely with teacher unions and teachers to formulate policies and adopt codes of conduct to tackle unprofessional behaviour such as persistent absenteeism and gender-based violence.

It said codes of practice should be consistent with legal frameworks for child rights and protection and a range of penalties, such as suspension and interdiction, clearly stipulated.

Policy-makers should ensure the curriculum focuses on securing strong foundation skills for all, is delivered at an appropriate pace and in a language children understand.

"India's curriculum, which outpaces what pupils can realistically learn and achieve in the time given, is a factor in widening learning gaps."

India ranked 155th in global environment performance list at World Economic Forum

India has been ranked at a low 155th position in a global list that places countries on how well they perform on high-priority environmental issues.

The 2014 Environmental Performance Index (EPI), released today here, has ranked 178 countries in total. Among them, India is placed at the 155th position, with an index score of 31.23 points. Its rank is also much lower than BRICS peers.

Among the BRICS, South Africa was placed at the 72nd rank with an index score of 53.51, followed by Russia (73rd rank, 53.45 points), Brazil (77th rank, 52.97 points) and China (118th rank, 43 points).

Besides, India has fared poorly compared to neighbouring countries like Nepal and Pakistan -- which are ranked 139th and 148th, respectively.

The overall list is topped by Switzerland followed by Luxembourg, Australia, Singapore, and Czech Republic.

"Emerging economies, including China, India, Brazil, Russia, and South Africa, have had modest improvement over the past decade, but they have also paid an environmental price for their rapid growth," the report said.

The emerging economies represent 55 per cent of global growth from the end of 2009 to 2012.

Urbanisation without sufficient investment in environmental safeguards is a key reason for emerging economies' poor showing when it comes to air quality, biodiversity and habitat protection.

The 178 nations in the index represent 99 per cent of the global population, 98 per cent of the world's total land area, and 97 per cent of the global GDP, the report said.

"The EPI reveals that improved environmental results are possible when measurement and management practices align. When data and measurement are poor or not in concert with policy priorities, natural and human systems suffer," Yale University Professor Daniel Esty said.

The index also demonstrates what happens when countries are unable to prioritise environmental management, EPI said.

As per the report, the bottom five performers Somalia, Mali, Haiti, Lesotho, and Afghanistan ¿ all are grappling with civil unrest, significant economic development pressures, and political turmoil.

EPI ranks how well countries perform on high-priority environmental issues mainly in the areas of protection of human health from environmental harm and protection of ecosystems.

The index is prepared by researchers at Yale and Columbia Universities in collaboration with the World Economic Forum (WEF) as well as with support from the Samuel Family Foundation and the McCall MacBain Foundation.

National Communal Harmony Awards 2013 Announced

The Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, Mumbai has been selected for the National Communal Harmony Award 2013 in the Organization category. Dr. Mohinder Singh of Delhi and Dr. N Radhakrishnan of Kerala have been selected for this Award in the individual category.

Established in 1996, the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS) is a Mumbai based organization working to promote peace, secularism and communal harmony in the country. It has also been working on human rights issues and issues of the marginalized and deprived sections of the society.

The Centre has published a number of books and literary material highlighting different facets of violence and communalism, peace, secularism and communal harmony which have a wider readership. The Centre has also been regularly publishing a quarterly journal ‘Indian Journal of Secularism’ which is popular amongst academics and the masses.

Dr. Mohinder Singh, aged 72 is a scholar and presently member of the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions. Earlier, he was also Member of the National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities from 2005 to 2007.In 1984, he along with other social activists, organized relief camps at Delhi and restored friendship between the Hindu and Sikh communities in the wake of anti-Sikh riots. In 1985, he set-up a Communal Harmony Forum along with Dr.Nirmala Deshpande, which worked for nearly four years and organized inter-faith meetings and visit to holy places by its members

Dr. N Radhakrishnan, aged 69 is a well known academic, a Gandhian scholar and a peace worker. He initiated the Shanti Sena programme at the Gandhigram University and extended this work to other parts of the country. He has been actively working to restore peace in communally tense areas of Tamilnadu and Kerala. Having served as Director of Gandhi Smriti & Darshan Samiti, New Delhi for more than a decade, he was instrumental in initiating and implementing many innovative activities in educational institutions by using Gandhian values and principles. His campaign ‘Himsamukth Bharat Andolan’ motivates people to become foot soldiers in campaigning for peace and sustainable development.

Cern physicists have succeeded for the first time in producing a beam of antihydrogen atoms

Physicists from Cern's Atomic Spectroscopy and Collisions Using Slow Antiprotons (ASACUSA) experiment said they have produced at least 80 atoms of antihydrogen. 

Primordial antimatter has so far never been observed in the universe, and its absence remains a scientific enigma.

Nevertheless, it is possible to produce significant amounts of antihydrogen in experiments at the Geneva-based European Organisation for Nuclear Research (Cern) by mixing antielectrons (positrons) and low energy antiprotons produced by the Antiproton Decelerator.

The spectra of hydrogen and antihydrogen are predicted to be identical, so any tiny difference between them would immediately open a window to new physics, and could help in solving the antimatter mystery.

It has been a puzzle to scientists why humans, stars and the universe are made of matter, rather than of antimatter.

With its single proton accompanied by just one electron, hydrogen is the simplest existing atom, and one of the most precisely investigated and best understood systems in physics.

Thus comparisons of hydrogen and antihydrogen atoms constitute one of the best ways to perform highly precise tests of matter/antimatter symmetry, researchers said.

Matter and antimatter annihilate immediately when they meet, so aside from creating antihydrogen, one of the key challenges for physicists is to keep antiatoms away from ordinary matter.

To do so, experiments take advantage of antihydrogen's magnetic properties (which are similar to hydrogen's) and use very strong non-uniform magnetic fields to trap antiatoms long enough to study them.

However, the strong magnetic field gradients degrade the spectroscopic properties of the (anti)atoms.

To allow for clean high-resolution spectroscopy, the ASACUSA collaboration developed an innovative set-up to transfer antihydrogen atoms to a region where they can be studied in flight, far from the strong magnetic field.

"Antihydrogen atoms having no charge, it was a big challenge to transport them from their trap," said Yasunori Yamazaki of RIKEN, Japan, a team leader of the ASACUSA collaboration.

"Our results are very promising for high-precision studies of antihydrogen atoms, particularly the hyperfine structure, one of the two best known spectroscopic properties of hydrogen.

"Its measurement in antihydrogen will allow the most sensitive test of matter/antimatter symmetry. We are looking forward to restarting this summer with an even more improved set-up," Yamazaki said in a statement.

India and China launched the ‘Year of Friendly Exchanges’

India and China launched the ‘Year of Friendly Exchanges’ at a lively Republic Day reception attended by Vice President Li Yuanchao in Beijing, China. From India, new Indian Ambassador Ashok K Kantha hosted the function.

This year China will commemorate the 60th year of Panchasheel (5- Principles), along with Myanmar.

Correspondingly, in February 2014, a function is expected to be organized by the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi to formally inaugurate the Year of Friendly Exchanges in India.

Facilitating Administration of Justice that Ensures Easy Access and Timely Delivery of Justice to All

 


The vision for our justice system is to provide the people of India with a court system that fairly and impartially administers justice, efficiently resolves disputes, and ensures that the rule of law protects the rights of all. However, increasing case loads and complex court procedures have led to cases pending in courts. Many factors contribute to this pendency - shortage of judges, lack of basic infrastructure, the accepted practice of repeated adjournments in courts and a general lack of urgency. The Government has launched several initiatives, including providing support for better court infrastructure, ICT enablement of courts, encouraging increase in the strength of subordinate judiciary, recommending policy and legislative measures in the areas prone to excessive litigation and suggesting re-engineering of court procedures for quick disposal of cases, to achieve this vision.

About three hundred court buildings are expected to be completed by March, 2014 with Central Government funding support to State Governments through the Centrally Sponsored Scheme for development of infrastructure. Against targeted computerization of 14,249 district & subordinate Courts under the eCourts Project March 2014, 13,227 courts have already been computerized by 31st December 2013. Services such as case filing, registration, cause-lists, daily proceedings and orders/judgments have been initiated in many of these courts. Along with the better availability of infrastructure facilities and ICT enablement of courts through these initiatives, States in consultation with respective High Courts have also taken necessary steps to increase the number of subordinate courts at district/taluka level to reduce the burden of cases on existing courts and improve justice delivery. They have also set up many fast track courts for trial of cases of rape.

A pilot National Judicial Data Grid has been launched in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra, to be available in all States shortly, to facilitate information and analysis of performance of all courts in the country, performance management of all judicial officers, and improved planning of the justice sector. In parallel, High Courts are undertaking an overhaul of court procedures through a process re-engineering exercise.

Special attention has been given by the Government to situation of the marginalized sections of society through two projects on Access to Justice, one in eight States in central India and another in the eight North Eastern States and Jammu and Kashmir. The first project has already created legal awareness in more than two million people and trained 7000 para-legal workers and 300 lawyers to provide free legal aid to them. Voice based information kiosks that provide information about laws and entitlements are being established in 25 locations each in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.

As a result of a number of initiatives taken by the Government and Judiciary in the recent past, the increasing trend of pendency of cases in subordinate courts has been checked and older cases are being taken up for disposal on priority basis besides the cases relating to crime against women and children, senior citizen and other marginalized sections of society.