PM encourages self-certification in place of affidavits and attestations to benefit the common man

• All Union Ministries and State Governments asked to make provision for self-certification and abolition of affidavits, not required by law • PM steps in to reform the public service delivery system, bridge governance deficit

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, has sought minimum use of affidavits and shift to self-certification, so as to benefit the common man. In a citizen-friendly initiative, all Ministries and Departments of the Union Government, and all State Governments, have been asked to make provision for self-certification of documents in place of affidavits. The requirement of attestation by Gazetted Officer is also sought to be replaced by self-certification by the citizen. Under the self-certification method, the original documents are required to be produced at the final stage. The Prime Minister, during his meeting with all Union Secretaries on June 4th, 2014, had spoken of reforming the public service delivery system, and bridging the governance deficit. This measure is a start in that direction. It is expected to benefit the people immensely, as all affidavits not required by law shall eventually be done away with. In communications addressed to all Secretaries of the Union Government as well as the Chief Secretaries of States/Administrators of Union Territories, the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances has noted that “obtaining either an attested copy or affidavit not only costs money to the poor citizen but also involves wastage of time of the citizens as well as of the Government officials.” The Department has called for a review of the existing requirement of affidavits and attestation by Gazetted Officers, and replacement by self-certification.

Utilisation of Accumulated Pension Wealth on exit from the National Pension System for Corporates

As per the rules regarding exit of government employees from the National Pension System (NPS) before the age of normal superannuation, at least 80% of the accumulated pension wealth of the subscriber needs to be utilised for purchase of annuity providing for monthly pension to the subscriber and the balance is to be paid as a lump-sum payment to the subscriber. A subscriber at the time of exit from NPS can lodge his claim through his/her nodal office at NPS Claims Processing Cell (NPSCPC) at Central Recordkeeping Agency (CRA).             The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) settle the claims of the subscribers who have lodged their claims along with complete set of documents with NPS Claims Processing Cell through the CRA             The details of the NPS account settled in Government Sector are: Sector No. of PRANs Total amount disbursed (Rs.) Central Government 431 27,890,438.19 State Government  46   3,748,157.53 All contributions received from Government and employees are accounted for and invested once they are uploaded in the CRA System by the concerned Government department. Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) is taking proactive steps to encourage corporate employer to join the National Pension System (NPS) for providing pension benefits to their employees.             PFRDA, inter alia, supports its intermediaries in their promotional efforts. PFRDA officials visit corporate, including with intermediaries, for creating awareness and interface with corporate to provide NPS related information/clarifications. PFRDA officials also participate in conferences/seminars/panel discussions organised by intermediaries or by industry associations like CII, FICCI, ASSOCHAM, PHD Chamber of Commerce etc.

BRICS Development Bank to be set up to Support Infrastructure and Sustainable Development Projects among others

Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) have decided to set up BRICS Development Bank. The decision was taken by BRICS countries in the Summit held in Fortaleza, Brazil on July, 15, 2014. The BRICS nations have signed the agreement to establish the New Development Bank. The designated signatories of the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Russian Federation, the Republic of India, the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of South Africa signed the Inter-Governmental Agreement on July 15, 2014 at Fortaleza Brazil, to establish the New Development Bank. The major objectives behind setting-up this Bank are as under: • to utilize resources at its disposal to support infrastructure and sustainable development projects, public or private, in the BRICS and other emerging market economies and developing countries, through the provision of loans, guarantees, equity participation and other financial instruments; • to cooperate as the Bank may deem appropriate, within its mandate, with international organisations, as well as national entities whether public or private, in particular with international financial institutions and national development banks; • to provide technical assistance for the preparation and implementation of infrastructure and sustainable development projects to be supported by the Bank. The Bank will be an additional source of long term finance for infrastructure projects in India. In addition, such a Bank will also be instrumental for increasing economic cooperation among BRICS countries, which will ensure more productive use of resources among BRICS countries including India. The Bank will be established after each signatory country has deposited with the Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil an instrument setting forth that it has accepted, ratified or approved this Agreement in accordance with its own laws.

About 81.35 Crore People to Get Subsidised Foodgrains Under National Food Security Act

Under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) 2013, the coverage under TPDS has been delinked from the poverty estimates and shall extend at the all India level upto 75% of the rural population and upto 50% of the urban population. As per the above coverage and based on 2011 census population, the number of persons eligible for subsidised foodgrains under TPDS is estimated at about 81.35 crore. This information was given by the Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Shri Raosaheb Patil Danve in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today. The Minister said that evaluation studies of TPDS have shown that there are instances of improper targeting of the poor households and there are inclusion as well as exclusion errors. For allocation of foodgrains (rice and wheat) to States and Union Territories (UTs) under the existing Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), Department of Food and Public Distribution uses the number of Below Poverty Line (BPL) families based on 1993-94 poverty estimates of Planning Commission and the population estimates of Registrar General of India (RGI) as on 1st March 2000 or the number of such families actually identified and ration cards issued to them by State/UT Governments, whichever is less. As per these estimates, the total number of BPL families is 6.52 crore, which includes about 2.42 crore Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) families. As per the Public Distribution System (Control) Order, 2001, State/UT Governments are to review the lists of BPL/AAY families every year for the purpose of deletion of ineligible families and inclusion of eligible families. Food Subsidy Estimated to be Around Rs. 1,31,086 Crore Annual food subsidy implication of implementation of National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA) at 2014-15 costs, is estimated to be around Rs. 1,31,086 crore, against which, Rs. 1,10,500 crore has been provided in the current year budget. In addition to this an amount of Rs. 4500 crore has been allotted for Sugar subsidy. This information was given by the Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Shri Raosaheb Patil Danve in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today. The Minister said that NFSA is deemed to have come into force on 05.07.2013. Its implementation is contingent upon identification of eligible households by States/UTs for receiving subsidized foodgrains under Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS). For which a period not exceeding 365 days has been provided in the Act. However, as this exercise is yet to be completed in many States/UTs, they have been requested to complete the identification and take other preparatory measures at the earliest and ensure implementation of the Act within next three months. The issue of payment of food security allowance arises only after implementation of the Act starts in respective States/UTs.

Steps to Make Farming More Profitable

Farm profitability is central to achieve rapid and inclusive agricultural growth and diversification to high value crops such as horticulture and livestock remains the best way not only to improve farm incomes and accelerate growth, but also to reduce stress on natural resources which form farmers production base. Creating an enabling environment for greater public and private participation is an objective of the overall policy for development of agriculture. Mission on Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) has been launched w.e.f.1.4.2014 to promote holistic growth of horticulture sector, including bamboo and coconut through area based regionally differentiated strategies which include research, technology promotion, extension, post harvest management processing and marketing in convergence with comparative advantage of each State/region and its diverse agro-climatic features. Aggregation of farmers into farmers groups like Farmer Interest Groups/Farmer Producer Groups and Farmer Interest Groups/Farmers Producer Groups and Farmer Producer Companies to bring economy of scale and scope is a new feature of MIDH, aimed at empowering the farmers. Assistance under MIDH is provided for promoting primary/minimal processing units for processing of horticultural produce and value addition. For technological dissemination, latest technologies are promoted on crop specific cultivation use of Integrated Pest Management/Integrated Nutrient Management, Protected cultivation, organic farming through farmer participatory demonstration/front-line demonstrations at strategic locations/farmer’s field. To make farming competitive and profitable as well as to step up investment, both public and private, in agro-technology development and creation and modernization of existing agri-business infrastructure, government has proposed to establish two more institutions of excellence in Assam and Jharkhand at par with ICAR Research Centre at PUSA, New Delhi. For this purpose, an initial sum of Rs.100 crore has been provided in the Union Budget 2014-15. In addition, an amount of Rs.100 crore has also been set aside for setting up an ‘agri-tech infrastructure fund’. Further, Government has proposed to establish Agriculture Universities in Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan and Horticulture Universities in Telangana and Haryana for which an initial sum of Rs.200 crores has been provided in Union Budget 2014-15. Ministry of Food Processing Industry has restructured the ongoing schemes from 12th Five Year Plan and accordingly under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme-National Mission on Food Processing, assistance is provided for implementation of the schemes for technology upgradation/establishment/modernization of food processing industries, cold chain, value addition and preservation infrastructure for non horticultural products, etc. Integrated Scheme on Agriculture Marketing (ISAM) also provides for creation and promotion of integrated value chain upto a stage of primary processing only to provide vertical integration of farmers with primary processors. Under the scheme, a subsidy of 25-33.33% of project cost is provided to promoters from general categories and special categories upto a sum of Rs.4 crore and Rs.5 crore respectively.

9 reasons why India's WTO veto shocked the world

India's tough diplomacy blocked a landmark world trade treaty late on Thursday, despite last-ditch talks to rescue what would have been the first global trade reform since the creation of the World Trade Organization 19 years ago.

Trade diplomats in Geneva have said they are "flabbergasted", "astonished" and "dismayed" and described India's position as "hostage-taking" and "suicidal".

Here are nine reasons why they say India's stance made no sense.

1. India has been a vocal backer of world trade reform. It has criticised the small clubs of countries, led by the United States and European Union, that lost patience with the slow pace of global reforms and started to discuss faster liberalising of trade in certain areas, such as services and information technology products. India is not in any of these groups. But Thursday's veto is likely to give them even more momentum as hope of a global trade pact, long in doubt, appears to be over.

2. India's veto may be the beginning of the end for the WTO. Trade experts say that if the WTO's 20-year-old rulebook does not evolve, more and more trade will be governed by new regional agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which will have their own rules and systems of resolving disputes. That could lead to a fragmented world of separate trade blocs.

3. India's new government was widely seen as being pro-business. And yet it blocked a deal on "trade facilitation", a worldwide streamlining of customs rules that would cut container handling times, guarantee standard procedures for getting goods to and from their destinations and kill off vast amounts of paperwork at borders around the world. Some estimates said it would add $1 trillion to the world economy as well as 21 million jobs, 18 million of them in developing countries.

4. Nobody else was negotiating. Thursday's meeting was simply supposed to formally adopt the final trade negotiation text into the WTO rulebook, following its agreement by ministers at a meeting in Bali last December. India's then Trade Minister Anand Sharma hailed the Bali deal as a landmark in the history of the WTO. "We were able to arrive at a balanced outcome which secures our supreme national interest," Sharma said at the time. India did not hint at any further objection until days before it wielded its veto, and even then it made no concrete demands until the WTO meeting to adopt the new rules wasin progress.

5. India did not object to the deal it vetoed. Its objections were unconnected to trade facilitation. It blocked the trade facilitation deal to try to get what it wanted on something else: food security.

6. India had already got what it wanted on food security. At Bali, it forced a big concession from the United States and European Union, which initially strongly opposed its demands, but agreed that India could stockpile food at subsidised prices, reversing the trend of trying to reduce and remove trade-distorting food subsidies globally. The arrangement was temporary, but the WTO agreed to work towards a permanent solution within four years, by the end of 2017.

7. India's demands reversed its previous position. India blocked the trade facilitation deal because it wanted the WTO to move to a permanent solution more quickly than the four-year timeline. But diplomats say that India was offered a two-year timeframe before Bali but it insisted on four.

8. India's veto could put it in legal danger. As part of the Bali deal, India won a pledge that nobody would bring a trade dispute to challenge its food stockpiling programme, which is widely thought to have broken the WTO rules. However, diplomats say that Bali was a "package" of 10 agreements, and the only legally binding part was trade facilitation. If that fails, the package unravels, and India may lose its protection.

9. India was isolated. Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia voiced support, but diplomats say other big developing countries such as Russia, China and Brazil, as well as India's neighbour Pakistan, were among the chief opponents of its veto. Poorer countries stand to lose most, WTO chief Roberto Azevedo told the WTO meeting after the deal collapsed. "They're the ones with fewer options, who are at risk of being left behind. They're the ones that may no longer have a seat at the table."

Opposition stages walkout in RS over UPSC row, Rajnath assures ‘early resolution’

The opposition parties on Friday staged a walkout in the Rajya Sabha over the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) row. According to the opposition parties, the walkout was staged as the government did not give any timeframe to resolve the issue.

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that the government was studying the report submitted by a committee on the issue. He further said that the government wanted early resolution over the issue.

This comes after The Indian Express reported that the UPSC is understood to have opposed any move to either postpone or cancel the 2014 Civil Services Preliminary Exam scheduled to be held all over the country on August 24.

The Department of Personnel and Training sent a communication to the UPSC earlier this week, which contained a list of “suggestions” received by the government from agitators opposed to the current format of the CSAT paper which is part of the Preliminary Exam.

According to DoPT sources, the UPSC has since sent detailed responses to each of the “suggestions”, along with the reasons why a majority of them would be difficult to implement at this late stage of the 2014 examination cycle

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is understood to have opposed any move to either postpone or cancel the 2014 Civil Services Preliminary Exam scheduled to be held all over the country on August 24.

The Department of Personnel and Training sent a communication to the UPSC earlier this week, which contained a list of “suggestions” received by the government from agitators opposed to the current format of the CSAT paper which is part of the Preliminary Exam.

According to DoPT sources, the UPSC has since sent detailed responses to each of the “suggestions”, along with the reasons why a majority of them would be difficult to implement at this late stage of the 2014 examination cycle.

Significantly, the communication, sent by DoPT Secretary S K Sarkar to UPSC chairman D P Agarwal, sought the commission’s response on postponing the Preliminary Exam by a month, and on the possibility of the CSAT marks (currently 200 marks) not being tabulated at all during evaluation and, if this was not possible, scrapping the CSAT paper altogether.

Officials said the UPSC has given reasoned responses to each of the proposals. It has said that postponement at this stage was difficult because over nine lakh candidates had enrolled for the exam over a year ago, and over two lakh candidates had already collected their admit cards.

UPSC is also understood to have stressed the huge logistical exercise involved in conducting the exam in over 2,000 centres across India.

On suggestions that the CSAT marks be “qualified” or not added to the marks tally, or that the CSAT paper be cancelled for the current year, the commission is learnt to have cautioned that adopting either course of action at this late stage might invite vexatious litigation.

UPSC has also said the recommendations of the Arvind Verma panel, which submitted its report to the government on Thursday, should be taken into consideration before a final decision.

The DoPT communication, officials said, also mentions the option of candidates — possibly those who had exhausted all their attempts before 2011 when the new CSAT format was introduced — being given one more chance to take the Preliminary Exam. The UPSC has given the government some leverage on this suggestion, adding, however, that its views on capping the number of attempts have been reiterated before, and the implications of this proposal should also be examined carefully.