Target of Opening of Bank Accounts under PMJDY to 10 Crore by 26th January, 2015;

FM Revises the Target of Opening of Bank Accounts under PMJDY to 10 Crore by 26th January, 2015; Calls for more Active Participation by the Private Sector Banks ; Directs Bankers to take-up Financial Literacy Programmes to Promote Savings and other Financial Services The Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley revises the target for opening of accounts under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) from 7.5 crore to10 crore by 26th January, 2015. This will amount to opening of one account for each household in the country. The Finance Minister also asked the officers that Aadhar card numbers may also be seeded with bank accounts as the same will help in directly transferring the subsidies to the bank accounts of the desired sections of the society under Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme. The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley was speaking while Chairing the meeting of the Mission of PMJDY here yesterday. The meeting was also attended among others by Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Communication, Information & Technology, Chaudhary Birender Singh, Minister of Rural Development, Dr.Hasmukh Adhia, Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Shri L.C. Goel, Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development, Shri Rakesh Garg, Secretary, Department of Telecomunications, Shri S.S. Mundra, Deputy Governor, RBI and Shri T.M. Bhasin, Chairman, Indian Bank’s Association. It was informed that 7.64 crore bank accounts have been already opened under PMJDY till 18th November, 2014, out of which Public Sector Banks (PSBs) have opened 6.15 crore accounts, Regional Rural Banks(RRBs) have opened 1.28 crore accounts and private sector banks have opened 0.20 crore accounts. The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley called for more active participation by the private sector banks under PMJDY. In terms of deposits, Rs. 6015 crore has been collected upto 18th November, 2014. However, the growth has moderated after 30th September, 2014. Out of 7.64 core accounts opened till 18th November, 2014, 5.74 crore accounts opened are zero balance accounts. The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley asked the bankers that efforts be made to raise the deposit level in the zero balance accounts through financial literacy program. The Finance Minister also asked the Mission to take-up financial literacy to promote savings and other financial services. The Finance Minister stressed the need to ensure transactions in these zero balance accounts. He asked that dovetailing of various Central and State Schemes in the PMJDY accounts will also help to increase transaction/deposits in these accounts. The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley also asked the bankers to ensure availability and activation of RuPay cards issued under PMJDY. He also directed for setting-up of required number of bank mitras and close monitoring of their services so as to ensure availability of banking services to the people at large. The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley also discussed the possibility of integration of PMJDY with National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) through convergence with Self Help Groups and integration of MGNREGA Scheme with DBT. The Union Finance Minster Shri Arun Jaitley said that opening accounts in ‘sweep mode’ based on the results of the survey (conducted by the end of next month) be expedited so that the target is completed by 26th January, 2015. He said that Zila Parishads, District Administration and DRDA authorities may also be instructed to ensure completion of the targets at their respective district level. He said that the State Governments can use these accounts for benefit transfers under the various schemes. It was informed that the State of Madhya Pradesh has already achieved more than 90% of the target of opening of accounts under PMJDY and is likely to achieve the target of 100% soon.

Auction of Coal Blocks

Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in its judgment dated 25.08.2014 and order dated 24.09.2014 passed in W.P.(Criminal) No.120 of 2012 and other connected matters has declared all allocations of the coal blocks made through Screening Committee and through Government Dispensation route since 1993 as illegal and has cancelled the allocation of 204 coal blocks out of 218 coal blocks (i.e. except, Tasra coal block allocated to Steel Authority of India Ltd. and Pakri Barwadih coal block allocated to National Thermal Power Corporation and 12 coal blocks allocated for Ultra Mega Power Projects). In case of 42 coal blocks (37 producing and 05 likely to come under production), cancellation shall take effect from 31.03.2015. This was stated by Sh. Piyush Goyal, Minister of state for Power, Coal & New and Renewable Energy (Independent Charge) in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today. The Minister further stated that for management and reallocation of cancelled coal blocks, Government has promulgated ‘the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Ordinance, 2014’ on 21.10.2014 to ensure smooth transfer of rights, title and interest in the mines along with its land and other associated mining infrastructure to the new allottees to be selected through an auction or allotment to government company, as the case may be. In order to provide sufficient coal to small consumers, medium and small enterprises, cottage industries, household consumers and to overcome the acute shortage of the country and augment its production; the Ordinance has amended the Coal Mines (Nationalization) Act, 1973 to insert section 3(A) and the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 to insert section 11(A) through the Ordinance, thereby removing the restriction of end use from the eligibility to undertake coal mining, in the national interest. The auction of coal block is decided to be carried out in e-auction mode. The decision regarding allotment of coal blocks to public sector companies and allocation by auction to private and public sector companies as well as earmarking of blocks for various eligible sectors is made keeping in view the contemporary requirement of the sector at the time of earmarking. The Minister further stated that the Ordinance provides for allocation of coal mines and vesting of the right, title and interest in and over the land and mine infrastructure together with mining leases to successful bidders and allottees by the Nominated Authority with a view to ensure continuity in coal mining operations and production of coal, and for promoting optimum utilization of coal resources consistent with the requirement of the country in national interest. Further, the Government has constituted a Committee for valuation of 42 producing and ready to produce coal mines out of coal blocks cancelled by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Ordinance. As per the Ordinance, the proceeds from e-auctioning of coal block is required to be transferred to the respective State Government where the coal block is located after adjustment of preferential payments, if any. The quantity of coal to be produced after allocation of coal blocks and its impact on the import of coal can be assessed once the production from the e-auctioned/allotted coal blocks has commenced, the Minister added.

Thorium Reserves in Country

India has reserves of thorium in sufficient quantity as compared to other parts of world. The Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD), a constituent unit of Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), has so far established 11.93 million tonnes of in situ resources Monazite (Thorium bearing mineral) in the country, which contains about 1.07 million tonnes of thorium. The state-wise resources of in situ monazite established by AMD as of September 2014 are as follows: State Monazite (Million tonnes) Odisha 2.41 Andhra Pradesh 3.72 Tamil Nadu 2.46 Kerala 1.90 West Bengal 1.22 Jharkhand 0.22 Total 11.93              Both Uranium and Thorium have got distinctive characteristics governing their utilisation in nuclear reactors. Unlike uranium, thorium alone cannot be directly used as nuclear fuel in a reactor.  Utilisation of Thorium with either uranium or plutonium, without going through the second stage of Fast Breeder Reactors, to build sufficient inventory of plutonium first, will be counter-productive by limiting thorium utilisation to a very small fraction of the total available resources in the country. Utilisation of Thorium in the third stage makes it available as a sustainable energy resource for centuries. With this mode of utilisation, Thorium offers not only a sustainable energy resource, but also excellent fuel performance characteristic in a reactor, better than Uranium with respect to lower inventory of long lived nuclear waste.                         The three stage Indian nuclear programme was formulated at the inception of the DAE and has as its main stay objective of utilisation of large resources of Thorium in a sustainable manner. As explained above, Thorium cannot be used for overcoming power crisis in the short term.     The resources of xenotime, another rare-earth bearing mineral, are negligible in India.  AMD has established about 2000 tonnes of xenotime-bearing heavy mineral concentrate containing 2% xenotime in the riverine heavy mineral placer deposits of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.                         Monazite is a mineral mainly containing rare earths and thorium-a prescribed substance to be handled by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). Accordingly, Indian Rare Earths Ltd. (IREL) wholly owned by the Govt. of India, under the administrative control of the Dept. of Atomic Energy (DAE) utilises monazite mainly for production of rare earth compounds, and thorium, as needed in the Department of Atomic Energy.  Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD), a constitute unit of Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) has estimated the presence of 11.93 million tonnes of monazite resources in the beach sand mineral placer deposits along the coastal tracts of India. Monazite in general, contains about 55 – 60% total Rare Earth Oxide

Power Generation Through Atomic Energy

There are 20 Nuclear Power Reactors in the country with a total installed capacity of 4780 MW. In addition, Unit-1 of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project, in Tamil Nadu with a capacity of 1000 MW was connected to grid in October 2013. It has so far generated 2825 Million Units (MUs) of electricity. The generation of electricity by the nuclear power reactors in the country was 35333 MUs in the year 2013-14, including 1106 Million units from Kudankulam-1. The details are as follows: (i) Additional Protocol with regard to safeguards. (ii) Regional Cooperation Agreement (RCA) with 21 countries in the Asia Pacific Region and the International atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for collaboration in peaceful uses of nuclear energy. (iii) Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership (GCNEP) of Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) - for collaboration between IAEA and GCNEP for furthering the objectives of GCNEP. Government plans/proposes to develop and carry forward the nuclear programme in the country. The resources of xenotime, another rare-earth bearing mineral, are negligible in India. AMD has established about 2000 tonnes of xenotime-bearing heavy mineral concentrate containing 2% xenotime in the riverine heavy mineral placer deposits of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. Monazite is a mineral mainly containing rare earths and thorium-a prescribed substance to be handled by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). Accordingly, Indian Rare Earths Ltd. (IREL) wholly owned by the Govt. of India, under the administrative control of the Dept. of Atomic Energy (DAE) utilises monazite mainly for production of rare earth compounds, and thorium, as needed in the Department of Atomic Energy.

New Atomic Power Plants

The XII Five Year Plan proposals envisage start of work of nineteen new nuclear power reactors with a total capacity of 17400 MW.  The details are as under: Project Location Capacity (MW) Indigenous Reactors Gorakhpur Haryana Anu Vidyut Pariyojana (GHAVP 1&2) Gorakhpur, Haryana 2 x 700 Chutka Madhya Pradesh Atomic Power Project (CMPAPP 1&2) Chutka, Madhya Pradesh 2 x 700 Mahi Banswara, 1&2 Mahi Banswara, Rajasthan 2 x 700 Kaiga 5 &6 Kaiga, Karnataka 2 x 700 Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR 1&2) Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu 2 x 500 Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) Location to be decided 300 Reactors with Foreign Cooperation Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP 3&4) Kudankulam, Tamil Nadu 2 x 1000 Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project (JNPP 1&2) Jaitapur, Maharashtra 2 x 1650 Kovvada, 1&2 Kovvada, Andhra Pradesh 2 x 1500 Chhaya Mithi Virdi, 1&2 Chhaya Mithi Virdi, Gujarat 2 x 1100                In respect of the reactors to be set up in the future with international cooperation, necessary provisions will be made in the commercial contracts to ensure fuel supply for the entire lifetime of the reactors.  In respect of indigenous reactors, the fuel supply will be ensured from indigenous and imported sources (for reactors to be placed under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Safeguards).  Decisions on use of indigenous/ imported fuel (after placing them under IAEA Safeguards) in respect of new indigenous reactors will be taken by the government at an appropriate time.                          This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, PG & Pensions and in the Prime Minister’s Office Dr. Jitendra Singh in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.

NOTICE REGARDING TWO APPLICATION (UKPCS-2012),SAMVEG IAS

http://ukpsc.gov.in/files/recruitment/PCS_vigyapti_for_new_admit_candt.pdf

Defence (procurement) minister

Going by the public statements made so far by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, one could be forgiven for mistaking him as minister for defence procurement. In practically every statement he promises "transparency and speed in defence procurement". To be fair, he admits it will take him time to grasp issues relating to national defence. Even so, if he continues promising only faster procurement, it might well become a self-fulfilling prophecy. It would be worrying to have a defence minister who measures his success in capital rupees spent. Instead, Mr Parrikar must focus on adding capability. This can be done at relatively nominal cost.

A striking example has been reported in this newspaper on Tuesday ("Sonar contract provides major boost to navy"). Over the last two decades, the navy has built up a powerful and enormously expensive fleet of capital warships - the aircraft carriers, destroyers, frigates and corvettes that control the seas in war. Yet these warships, each costing several thousand crore rupees and crewed by a couple of hundred sailors, have remained desperately vulnerable to enemy submarines. This is simply because they lack "advanced towed array sonar", or ATAS, which the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) had promised to deliver but did not. By now procuring ATAS from the global market - each worth a piffling Rs 50 crore - tens of thousands of crores worth of naval warships have become combat-capable.

Such examples abound within the military. Yet the ill-informed public narrative on defence procurement centres on enormously expensive weapons platforms that, in many cases, are operationally ineffective even after lavishing billions because smaller systemic or structural drawbacks restrict their full employment. In militaries like that of Pakistan, where money is short even after unfairly burdening the national exchequer, there is awareness of the need to obtain bang for the buck. India's relative wealth has not nearly been translated into commensurate capability.

Remaining with the navy (ironically the most cost conscious service), there is constant breast-beating over the submarine shortfall and China's growing lead in submarine numbers. The media constantly harps on how India has just 13 submarines compared to China's 53 conventional and five nuclear attack submarines, though that lead could increase this afternoon, giving how fast China is building more. Everyone's solution, predictably, is to throw more money at the problem, by quickly sanctioning (quickly and transparently, as Mr Parrikar would say!) Project 75I, which envisages building six new submarines for a mind-numbing Rs 50,000 crore.

Yet if one were to scrutinise the ongoing Project 75, under which Mazagon Dock Ltd, Mumbai, is building six Scorpene submarines, a sane planner would be aghast to discover that these submarines - which have been in the works for more than a decade - will be operationally hamstrung when they finally roll off the line. The submarine's key weapon is the heavyweight torpedo and, incredibly, the defence ministry has omitted to buy any for the Scorpene. In 2011, Finmeccanica subsidiary WASS had been selected to supply 98 torpedoes for some Rs 1,850 crore. Since that contract remains unsigned, the Scorpenes will join the fleet without their key weapon.

Yet nobody in the military, the ministry, the government or the media is called to account for allowing a Rs 1,850-crore procurement to stall the battle-readiness of Rs 24,000 crore worth of submarines. One can forgive the ministry, manned as it is by generalists for whom torpedo sounds like a variety of libido. The Prime Minister's Office, with so many ministries to meddle in, can only focus on big-bang procurements - and that means those that are regularly reported on, or those that the military is pressing for. The media, especially top editors, choose not to waste mindspace on the nitty-gritty of defence economics, and instead, focus their collective gaze on high-voltage procurement contracts that can be easily remembered by the billions they cost.

Take the media fanfare over the selection of the medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA), an apparently fixed match that was won by the French Rafale fighter, the least expensive of the two most expensive fighters on offer, which were predictably ushered into the final selection. Currently, this $20-billion tender remains the single-most reported defence story, with uncounted column inches speculating on the imminent signature of the Rafale contract. This newspaper has been practically alone in carrying cost-benefit analyses on the Rafale proposal, and in debating whether the opportunity cost of buying this fighter is too high.

In contrast, there is little mindspace for the little things that would improve operational capability at little cost. Maintenance, that boring process that can put a hundred additional Sukhoi-30MKIs into the sky just by better inventory control and technician training. Light fighters, especially the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), which should be the pride of India, but is sadly the bastard child of the laughably named Indian Air Force. Force multipliers, like airborne refuelling aircraft and airborne early-warning and control systems, can be wisely procured and deployed to make each squadrons as effective as two. But this is humdrum stuff. So are issues like night-blindness that dramatically reduces combat capability across the three services, especially the army.

It is these mundane essentials that Mr Parrikar must focus on. Appointing a tri-service chief would spare him the confusion of having to navigate the tri-service jockeying for funds and resources. He must institute a detailed capability audit, in which each service presents a plan for optimising their existing weapons and platforms rather than just stretching out their palms for newer, better and, of course, more expensive toys. It is militarily prudent to get our existing kit working optimally - the military equivalent of fixing the Indian Railways before building fancy new bullet train lines.