Impact of ‘make In India’ Programme

New Delhi : The Prime Minister of India launched the “Make in India” global initiative on 25th September 2014.

‘Make in India’ initiative aims at promoting India as an important investment destination and a global hub for manufacturing design and innovation, to invite both domestic and foreign investors to invest in India. The initiative is aimed at creating a conducive environment for investment, development of modern and efficient infrastructure, opening up new sectors for foreign investments and forging a partnership between government and industry through a positive mindset. The “Make in India" initiative is based on four pillars, which have been identified to give boost to entrepreneurship in India, not only in manufacturing but also other sectors. The four pillars are (i) New Processes, (ii) New Infrastructure, (iii) New Sectors and (iv) New Mindset.

25 sectors have been identified under ‘Make in India’ initiative, viz., (i) Auto Components, (ii) Automobiles, (iii) Aviation, (iv) Biotechnology, (v) Chemicals, (vi) Construction, (vii) Defence Manufacturing, (viii) Electrical Machinery, (ix) Electronic System Design and Manufacturing, (x) Food Processing, (xi) IT and BPM, (xii) Leather, (xiii) Media and Entertainment, (xiv) Mining, (xv) Oil and Gas, (xvi) Pharmaceuticals, (xvii) Ports, (xviii) Railways, (xix) Roads and Highways, (xx) Renewable Energy, (xxi) Space, (xxii) Textiles, (xxiii) Thermal Power, (xxiv) Tourism and Hospitality and (xxv) Wellness. A National Workshop was held on ‘Make in India’ initiative on 29th December 2014 in Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi to prepare Action Plans for one year and three years for the identified sectors. Ministries/Departments concerned have updated their action plans to identify quantifiable and measurable milestones in respect of each activity of their Action Plan. The progress on ‘Make in India’ Action Plans is being monitored.

The ‘Make in India’ programme has received a very positive response. FDI inflow has increased 29% during the period October 2014 to December 2015 (15 months after ‘Make in India’) compared to the 15 months period prior to the launch of ‘Make in India’. FDI equity inflow has increased 36%. There is an improvement in business environment with the initiatives taken to improve Ease of Doing Business under the ‘Make in India’ programme. This has resulted in the UNCTAD World Investment Report (WIR) 2015, in its analysis of the global trends in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows, ranking India as the third top prospective host economies for 2015-2017. Frost & Sullivan has ranked India as number 1 amongst 100 countries on the growth, innovation and leadership index. In November 2015, a global consultancy firm namely Ernst & Young (EY) India conducted the India Attractiveness Survey 2015, where they had taken responses of 505 investors on three most attractive markets for investment. On the basis of response received from these investors and data provided by FDI Markets (a service of The Financial Times Limited), India ranked number one FDI destination in the world during the 1st half of 2015.

This information was given by the Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Ministry of Commerce & Industry Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today. 

Indian firms invest $1.7 billion for stake in Russian Taas-Yuriakh oilfield

New Delhi : Three Indian oil firms plan to invest $1.7 billion to pick up a stake in the Russian oil field Taas-Yuriakh, said a source close to the matter.
ONGC Videsh Ltd [ONGCVD.UL], the overseas arm of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Oil India Ltd and Bharat Petro Resources Ltd, the upstream arm of state-owned refiner Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd, will also invest $180 million each as part of future capital expenditures, the source said.
The Taas-Yuriakh field is currently producing 20,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil and is expected to go up to 100,000 bpd in the next two years.

Safety Standards for Cars

The Government has formulated safety standards for car manufacturers to make safe cars. These are contained in the Automotive Industry Standards (AIS) under the Central Motors Vehicles Regulations, 1989 (CMVR). There is provision under rule 126 of Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989 (CMVR) that every manufacturer of motor vehicles other than trailers and semi-trailers requires to submit the prototype of the vehicle to be manufactured by him for test by any of the agencies specified therein for granting a certificate to the compliance of provisions of Central Motor Vehicle Act, 1988 and Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989. Rules 126A of CMVR requires the test agencies, referred to in Rule 126, to also conduct test on vehicles drawn from the production line of the manufacturer to verify whether these vehicles conform to the provisions of Rules under Section 110 of the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988. Enforcement of provision of CMV Act and CMV Rules come under the purview of the State Governments/UTs.

Further, India is taking steps towards harmonization of national regulations of safety standards for passenger cars with UN-ECE regulations. Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has formed a dedicated panel for introducing safety features in new vehicles under ‘Bharat New Vehicle Safety Assessment Programme’ which will be voluntary from October, 2017 and mandatory by October, 2020.

However, if a safety defect which poses risk of accident or harm to the vehicle occupant is recognized in vehicles, the manufacturers conduct a voluntary recall and offer to rectify the vehicles free of charge.

All safety norms prescribed under the CMVR 1989 are based on the UN/European Regulations which are internationally accepted. Some of the regulations like Frontal Crash Test which requires mandatory fitment of airbags, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has already notified crash regulations for new vehicles from 1st April, 2017.

This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Shri G.M. Siddeshwara in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

India's FM Shri Arun Jaitley expects progress on landmark tax bill in April-May

The Union Minister for Finance, Corporate Affairs and Information & Broadcasting, Shri Arun Jaitley and the Managing Director, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ms. Christine Lagarde exchanging the signed documents in the presence of the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, at the MOF-IMF Conference on “Advancing Asia: Investing for the Future”, in New Delhi on March 12, 2016.
New Delhi : India's Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Sunday he expects lawmakers to make progress on a goods and services tax bill and a bankruptcy law in the second part of parliament's budget session that runs from April 25 to May 13.
Jaitley said the government was also working towards bringing the tax regime at par with global levels.
"What is work in progress still is that we are trying to easen the environment for people doing business in India," Jaitley said, addressing the final leg of an International Monetary Fund event in New Delhi.
The proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill would pave the way for a single market for goods in India for the first time.
The bankruptcy law is aimed at unifying and overhauling rules governing the liquidation or revival of ailing companies into a single code and for the first time imposing deadlines.

FSSAI connects with Corporates, Media Specialists and Food Experts to promote food safety

In somewhat different and highly creative initiative, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) arranged a brainstorming session with the corporates, media specialists and food experts, here today. This session aimed to develop strategies and action plan to ensure food safety and promote wholesome food in the country. For this, FSSAI plans to reach out to about 130 crore citizens/consumers and over 3 crore food businesses in the country across the entire food value chain.

Co-organized with the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi, this session was attended by about 70 experts from a diverse fields including branding experts, theatre, print media, food and nutrition experts, consumer organizations, Indian Dietetic Association, officers of Food Safety Commissioner and FSSAI. Amongst the corporates, Nestle, Dabur, GSK, Cargill, HUL and Pepsi were the key participants.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Pawan Agarwal, CEO, FSSAI stated that India faces a huge burden of food-borne diseases and ensuring food safety is shared responsibility of all. There is no way to ensure food safety for all unless each citizen and all food businesses are involved in the process. He stated that capacity building of food businesses and advocacy with citizens is central to the working of FSSAI. Shri K.L. Sharma, Joint Secretary (Food & Drugs), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare pointed out that this is a paradigm shift that was brought about in the umbrella food law in 2006. He noted that after the initial years of its formation, actual work on guidance and compliance FSSAI on this key aspect has now begun.

Deliberations were held in five groups covering five themes, namely - safe food for all, promotion of wholesome food, bringing food businesses under FSSAI fold, capacity building of food handlers and leveraging technology. Many out of the box ideas came up during the deliberations. Five electronic groups amongst the participants have been formed to carry forward these ideas to the next stage of implementation.

On this occasion, FSSAI also announced the launch of Project Clean Strategy Food. Under the Delhi initiative of this Project, FSSAI with Skill India and many other partners would train about 20,000 street food vendors in Delhi over the next four weeks. It was announced that launch function for this Project would be held at New Motibagh on 13 March. These initiatives places the Food Authority at the centre of food ecosystem in the country.

World Culture Festival starts in Delhi

NEW DELHI Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the opening on Friday of a giant music and dance festival that has been criticized for environmental damage and the possible safety risks of its enormous stage.
Large crowds braved heavy rain for the start of the event, crossing army-made pontoon bridges across Delhi's main river, the Yamuna, to the "World Culture Festival", where 35,000 dancers and musicians will perform to an expected audience of millions over three days.
Modi, the star guest at the opening ceremony, sat next to organizer Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, a well known guru, on a specially built VIP stand, as hundreds of holy men chanted in harmony and women dressed in red and gold danced to drum beats on the stage below.
The festival has pitted Ravi Shankar against environmentalists, concerned about damage to the nature-rich floodplain, and the Delhi police, who said the 7-acre (3-hectare) stage - which organizers say is the world's largest - lacked a safety certificate.

India's top environmental court this week fined Ravi Shankar's organization 50 million rupees ($750,000) and questioned why authorities had allowed the festival to be held in such an environmentally sensitive area, but it did not stop the event going ahead.
Green groups say the event will destroy the biodiversity of the 1,000-acre (400-hectare) site by ripping up vegetation, flattening land and altering the river's flow.

Ravi Shankar has rejected criticism and promised to leave the area better than he found it.
Delhi police expressed concern about whether organizers were equipped to manage such a large number of people, warning of the potential for "utter chaos".

The Yamuna, a tributary of the Ganges and the source for much of Delhi's water, is revered by many Hindus who bathe in it, despite high levels of industrial and human waste.

PSLV-C32 successfully launches India's Sixth Navigation Satellite IRNSS-1F

In its thirty fourth flight, ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C32, successfully launched the 1,425 kg IRNSS-1F, the sixth satellite in the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) this afternoon from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota. This is the thirty third consecutively successful mission of PSLV and the twelfth in its 'XL' configuration.

After PSLV-C32 lift-off at 1601 hrs (4:01 pm) IST from the Second Launch Pad with the ignition of the first stage, the subsequent important flight events, namely, strap-on ignitions and separations, first stage separation, second stage ignition, heat-shield separation, second stage separation, third stage ignition and separation, fourth stage ignition and satellite injection, took place as planned. After a flight of 19 minutes 34 seconds, IRNSS-1F Satellite was injected to an elliptical orbit of 284 km X 20,719 km inclined at an angle of 17.866 degree to the equator (very close to the intended orbit) and successfully separated from the PSLV fourth stage. After separation, the solar panels of IRNSS-1F were deployed automatically. ISRO's Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan, Karnataka took over the control of the satellite.

In the coming days, four orbit manoeuvres will be conducted from MCF to position the satellite in the Geostationary Orbit at 32.5 deg East longitude.

IRNSS-1F is the sixth of the seven satellites constituting the space segment of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System. IRNSS-1A, 1B, 1C, ID and IE, the first five satellites of the constellation, were successfully launched by PSLV on July 02, 2013, April 04, 2014, October 16, 2014, March 28, 2015 and January 20, 2016 respectively. All the five satellites are functioning satisfactorily from their designated orbital positions.

IRNSS is an independent regional navigation satellite system designed to provide position information in the Indian region and 1,500 km around the Indian mainland. IRNSS would provide two types of services, namely, Standard Positioning Services (SPS) - provided to all users – and Restricted Services (RS), provided to authorised users.

A number of ground stations responsible for the generation and transmission of navigation parameters, satellite ranging and monitoring, etc., have been established in eighteen locations across the country.

IRNSS-1G, the remaining satellite of this constellation, is scheduled to be launched by PSLV in April 2016, thereby completing the IRNSS constellation.

Waste Water Recycling by RO Companies

New Delhi : Government is aware that a drawback of Reverse Osmosis Technology is that some water gets wasted due to the use of this technology. However, application of Reverse Osmosis in drinking water treatment systems is preferable when the Total Dissolved solids (TDS) in raw water is high or there are multiple contaminants in raw water which warrant the use of Reverse Osmosis technology. Further, Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has issued specification on Reverse Osmosis based point of use water treatment system in its specification IS 16240:2015. The specification states that RO system is not recommended for arsenic level above 0.1 mg/1 and fluoride level about 8.0 mg/1. also, the minimum recovery shall be equal to or more than 20 percent.

State Governments take several measures for providing safe drinking water to the people of the State by using different water purification technologies/processes like pre-chlorination, aeration, coagulation, sedimentation, filtration , disinfection etc. Central Government supplements the efforts of the State Governments in this regard through various schemes and programmes.

Central Government has been taking necessary action for encouraging recycle and reuse of water among different stakeholders including government and private industries. The National Water Policy, 2012 has also recommended that the recycle and reuse of water, including return flows, should be the general norm. The Policy has further recommended that recycle and reuse of water, after treatment to specified standards, should also be incentivized through a properly planned tariff system.

This information was given by Union Minister of State for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Prof. Sanwar Lal Jat in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

Standards certification for products and services concerning health, safety, and environment to be made mandatory

New BIS Bill provides compensation to the consumers if the goods and services do not conform to the standards

Self-declaration of conformity of the Standards introduced along with stringent penalty provisions for violation for ease of doing business 

Bureau of Indian Standards Bill, 2016 passed by the Parliament yesterday, is a major step forward in ensuring high quality products and services in the country. The provisions in new Bureau of Indian Standards Bill, will promote a culture of quality of products and services through mandatory certification and also through voluntary compliance of Indian standards. The Bill was passed by Rajya Sabha yesterday after getting the nod of Lok Sabha on 3rd December, 2015. Some of the salient features of the bill are:

• The Bill empowers the Government to bring any article, process or service, which it considers necessary from point of view of health, safety, environment, prevention of deceptive practices, security etc, under the mandatory certification regime.  This will help consumers to get quality products and will also help in preventing import of sub-standard products;
• In order to supplement ease of doing business by limiting unnecessary field inspections, the Bill has provisions for self-declaration of conformity of the Indian Standards for certain categories. Simultaneously stringent penalty provisions have been made for violation of compliance to the standards which include imprisonment up to two years or with fine up to ten times of the value of goods produced or sold, or with both.
• As per provisions of the bill, BIS can now order recall of products, not confirming to the standards, in addition to cancellation of the license of the manufacturer.
•  BIS can also order compensation to the consumers in case goods and services do not conform to the standards.
• The Bill empowers the Government to implement mandatory hallmarking of precious metal articles such as Gold and Silver.
•  As the service sector in the country has grown and now become major part of the economy, so to ensure quality of kea services such as health services, education services now services and systems have also been included under the standardization regime in addition to articles and processes.
•  The Bill positions the Bureau of Indian Standards as the National Standards Body.

‘Nari Shakti Puraskar-2015’ conferred on 22 Institutions/Individuals by the President

International Women's Day 08 March 2016

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi with the award winners of "Nari Shakti Puraskar - 2015", in New Delhi on March 08, 2016. The Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi is also seen.

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee conferred the ‘Nari Shakti Puraskar-2015’on the occasion of International Women’s Day today.  The awards are given every year by the Ministry of Women & Child Development to institutions and individuals who have made exceptional contribution towards empowerment of women.

            Speaking on the occasion, the President Shri Pranab Mukherjee said that it is intolerable that in this day and age, women are still being exposed to barbaric brutality and violence because they are women. He said that the government, civil society and public at large should pledge to work together for developing relevant legal, administrative and other measures to ensure the safety and security of our mothers and sisters. The President said the best practices for the development of women - that have worked well at the grassroots in States and Union Territories should be adopted and up-scaled in Government of India schemes. The president explained that the key - and urgent - priority is to develop a comprehensive approach to the holistic empowerment of women.

            In her introductory speech, the Minister for Women& Child Development, Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi said that the Nari Shakti Award is the highest and most prestigious Indian National award conferred by the President of India upon exceptional women in recognition of their achievement in promoting positive change and being examples among women. The women recognized by this award have a history of overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles through courage and foresight to bring about positive change they wish to see in the world, the Minister added.

Outlining the priorities of her Ministry, Smt Maneka Gandhi said that the Government is fully committed to promote women’s rights and gender equality in all policies and planning. The ‘BetiBachao, BetiPadhao’ (BBBP) launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister last year to save the Girl Child, Educate the Girl Child, has shown paradigm shift in attitudes towards the girl child.

 The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi with the award winners of "Nari Shakti Puraskar - 2015", in New Delhi on March 08, 2016.

Lauding the efforts made by the state of Haryana, the WCD Minister said that a year after the launch of BBBP many states have shown improvement and particularly Haryana has shown exemplary improvement in sex ratio at birth which  improved to 903 in December, 2015, the first time in a decade that it had crossed 900. Initially, BBBP Scheme was implemented in 100 selected Districts and keeping in mind the criticality of the issue and the success of the scheme, the BBBP Scheme has been now expanded to additional 61 districts covering 11 States/UTs, the Minister announced.

            Smt Maneka Gandhi highlighted the major steps taken by the Ministry of Women and Child Development  for safety and security of women as well as their welfare including One Stop Centres to provide integrated support and assistance to women affected by violence, Scheme for Universalization of Women Helpline intended to provide 24 hours immediate and emergency response to women affected by violence, the SABLA scheme for out-of-school adolescent girls which is being expanded to cover all districts of the country, the Special Mahila Police Volunteers scheme and the Gender Champion programme among others.

The government  of India confers “Nari Shakti  Puraskars” on eminent  women and institutions rendering distinguished service  to the cause of women  especially  belonging   to the vulnerable  and marginalized  sections  of the  society . The recipients draw from institutions and individuals.

Nari Shakti Puraskar include Institutional awards in 6 categories instituted in the name of illustrious daughters of India i.e. Rani  Rudramma  Devi, Mata Jijabai, Kannagi Devi, Rani Gaidinliu Zeliang, Devi Ahilyabai Holkar and Rani  Lakshmibai. Besides, there are Individual awards in two categories for courage & bravery and for making outstanding contributions to women’s endeavour / community work/ making a difference / women empowerment.  

Nari Shakti Puraskar carries a cash   award of Rs. 2 Lakh and a certificate for institutions and Rs.1 Lakh and a certificate for individuals.

This year, 7 awards have been given in the Institutional Category and 15 in the Individual Category.