151 Part CA 2012

Economic Affairs 2012
delivery system. It will also explore ways to strengthen the rural co-operative credit architecture. The sevenmember panel will make an in-depth analysis of the STCCS, and examine various alternatives with a view to reducing the cost of credit. It will also look at the feasibility of setting up of a two-tier STCCS as against the existing three-tier structure. The STCCS targets the credit requirement of the small and marginal farmers in the country. The panel will submit its report within three months from the date of its first meeting. It will mainly assess the role played by State and district cooperative banks in fulfilling the requirement of agriculture credit. Indian Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said in Colombo on 3 August, India will help Sri Lanka establish a special economic zone to manufacture auto components in Trincomalee. The SEZ would promote exports to the production chains in India.A Joint Task Force on the SEZ would be set up and submit its report within 90 days. Anand Sharma also announced the setting up of a pharmaceutical manufacturing hub in Sri Lanka.
September
The Reserve Bank of India on 17 september, cut the Cash Reserve Ratio, the portion of deposits that banks keep with it, by 0.25 percentage point to 4.50 per cent, pumping in Rs.17,000 crore into the banking system. It will be effective from September 22.The RBI, however, kept other policy indicative rates at the same levels. The move is likely to reduce the liquidity pressure on banks, avoiding a rate hike, which means that as funds are released, banks may even compete to reduce rates on retail loans in the festive season. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has retained his position as the richest person in America for the 19th year in a row this year, according to Forbes annual ranking of the nations 400 super rich people who have a combined net worth of $1.7 trillion.With a net worth of $66 billion, Gates not only remained the richest person in America but is also the planets most generous person.Five Indian-Americans, including Silicon Valley venture capitalist Vinod Khosla and founder of IT major Syntel, Bharat Desai, have been named among the richest people in the U.S. by Forbes. Mr. Desai, with a net worth of $2 billion as of September 2012, has been ranked 239 in Forbes annual list.Founder and Chairman of the Symphony Technology Group Romesh Wadhwani is ranked 250 with a net worth $1.9 billion.Google board member and shareholder Kavitark Ram Shriram occupies the 298th rank with a net worth of $1.6 billion.Manoj Bhargava, founder and CEO of the popular energy drink 5-hour energy, is ranked 311, and has a $1.5 billion net worth. Russian government on 18 September 2012 declassified its diamond reserves formed after a 7 kilometer wide asteroid stroked the graphite rich area of Russia, about 35 million years ago. The most valuable secret of Russian Cold War was kept hidden from the rest of the world for more than five decades. The reserve was discovered by the Russians during the mid 1960s.The huge deposits of hard diamond, which can fulfill the demands of the world for next 3000 years was discovered in the Popigoi crater in East Siberia in an asteroid with diameter of 120 kilometers. Russian scientists from the Novosibirsk Institute of Geology and Mineralogy claimed that the total quantity of the available diamond in the crater is more than 10 times of the total reserve of diamond that the world have.These diamonds are an ideal material for industrial use and are twice harder than that of the technical diamonds generally used for industrial purposes. Declassification of the hidden reserves cant be used as jewellery item, so will not have any impact in the jewel making industry of the world. Duty on non-subsidised LPG cylinders abolished: In marginal relief to consumers, the government on 21 September, abolished import and excise duties on LPG cylinders they buy beyond the 6 per annum quota of subsidised cooking gas, and asked state governments to subsidise the requirements of households at their level. The government had last week restricted supply of subsidised cooking gas to 6 per household in a year. Any requirement beyond this was to be purchased at market price, which currently works out to Rs. 895 per 14.2 kg cylinder. After the abolition of 5 per cent customs duty and 8 per cent excise duty, the consumer price in Delhi would come to Rs. 798. Subsidised cooking gas (LPG) in Delhi is currently sold at Rs. 399 a cylinder. Since some LPG cylinders will not be subsidised, we have amended the notification for the non-subsidised household LPG cylinders... customs and excise (on them) will be zero, Mr. Chidambaram told reporters. Non-subsidised commercial LPG cylinders, however, would continue to attract customs duty of 5 per cent and excise duty at 8 per cent. Taking a cue from the Congress ruled states which have increased the number of subsidised cylinders to nine per year, the Minister asked other states to follow suit.
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Reliance Communications raises call rates by 25%, others may follow suit: Reliance Communications, India's third-biggest mobile phone carrier, raised call prices by a quarter in four service zones and said it will extend the hike to all zones in the next 30 days, sending its shares to a two-month high. Reliance Communications increased the base call price to 1.5 paisa a second from 1.2 paisa, the company said in a statement on 21 September, citing rising costs and lower competition. A court order to revoke permits of several smaller rivals will significantly reduce competition in the cut-throat Indian market, giving operators such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone's local unit room to raise call prices."We have seen on ground competition tapering off. Hence we need to restore back the price," Gurdeep Singh, chief executive of Reliance Communications' mobile business, told Reuters. Foreign Investment cap hiked to 74 percent for Broadcasting Services: The Government of India on 20 September 2012 hiked the foreign investment cap for the broadcasting service providers to 74 percent. The registered hike in foreign investment cap is for service providers of Direct to Home (DTH), modernized cable network and mobile television. This move of the government will allow the global players in acquiring major stakes in the broadcasting companies. Before his decision was passed, the eligibility of DTH and multi-system cable operators to make foreign investment was limited to 49 percent only. In its decision last week, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs cleared its stand on the companies of broadcast content that the TV news Channels and FM radio channels can have a foreign investment cap of 26 percent. This decision was made to make sure that majority of control remains back in the hands of Indian Partner. Cuts tax on External Commercial Borrowings : In yet another move to draw in international capital, the government on 21 September, reduced tax on External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) by domestic companies to five percent from 20%, making it easier for local companies to raise funds abroad. Finance Minister said the reduced tax rate will be applicable to the funds borrowed between July 2012 and June 2015. Liability of the company to withhold tax on such income would also be at the reduced rate of 5%. "This lower rate of taxation will apply to interest paid to a non-resident by an Indian company for money borrowed in foreign currency from a source outside India, either under a loan agreement or by way of long-term infra bonds,"FM said. To lower the compliance burden and reduce the time lag which would arise on account of case-by-case approval, the government has decided to grant approval to all borrowings by way of loan agreement and long-term infras bonds that satisfy certain conditions. A consortium comprising Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Indian Oil Corporation, and Oil India has jointly placed a $5-billion bid for buying stake in ConocoPhillips six Canadian oil-sands assets in Alberta. Early in 2012, Houston-based ConocoPhillips had announced that it was planning to sell as much as 50 per cent of its oil-sands reserves in Alberta.Early this month, ONGC Videsh (OVL) had bought U.S. energy firm Hess Corp's stake in Azeri, Chirag and Guneshli (AGC) group of oil fields in Azerbaijan for $1 billion. ConocoPhillips has hired Scotia Waterous for selling stake in six Alberta properties that produce about 25,000 barrels of oil a day from an estimated 30 billion barrels of bitumen in place. Citing volatile global economic situation, the Standard and Poors (S&P) has lowered the growth forecast for India to 5.5 per cent for this fiscal, from 6.5 per cent projected earlier. According to S&P, Asia-Pacific is feeling the pressure of ongoing global economic uncertainty, and it has lowered India growth forecast by one percentage point to 5.5 per cent for this fiscal from 6.5 per cent earlier. The report says, lack of monsoon rains has affected India, for which agriculture still forms a substantial part of the economy and global investors have become more critical of Indias policy and infrastructure shortcomings which was recently highlighted by the power outage in early August that affected 20 of Indias 28 States. S&P said Asia Pacific economies were witnessing cautious growth conditions and any worsening of the economic conditions in the euro zone would increase contagion risk for the region as these economies were sensitive to capital flows and trade. S&P has lowered the base case forecasts of 2012 real GDP growth by about half a percentage point for some countries, with Chinas revised to 7.5 per cent (from 8 per cent); Japan to 2 per cent (from 2.5 per cent); Korea to 2.5 per cent (from 3 per cent); Singapore to 2.1 per cent (from 2.5 per cent); and Taiwan to 1.9 per cent (from 2.5 per cent).Earlier this month, Morgan Stanley had also lowered Indias growth forecast to 5.1 per cent for the current fiscal from its earlier estimate of 5.8 per cent; HSBC to 5.7 per cent from 6.2 per cent and Standard Chartered to 5.4 per cent from 6.2 per cent projected earlier.
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A global study, puts India ranks very low at 111th position in terms of economic freedom, behind countries like China, Nepal and Bangladesh, in a worldwide index of 144 nations. The annual ranking, titled 'Economic Freedom of the World: 2012', is topped by Hong Kong, followed by Singapore, New Zealand, Switzerland (8.24) and Australia in the top-five. The index has been prepared by Canada-based public policy think-tank, Fraser Institute, in cooperation with independent institutes in 90 nations and territories, and claims to measure the degree to which the policies and institutions of countries support economic freedom. The Securities and Exchange Board of India, on 28 September, issued draft norms for mandatory safety net mechanism in IPOs , to protect the interests of retail investors. The SEBI has sought comments from the public on the draft norms till October 31.According to SEBI, the safety net mechanism would be available for all securities allotted to original resident retail individual allottees, who had made an application for up to Rs.50,000.SEBI also said the total obligation on safety net provider will be capped at 5 per cent of the issue size. The proposal for such a mechanism, discussed at SEBIs board meeting held on August 16, is aimed at protecting the interest of retail investors. Ratings firm Fitch in its Global Economic Outlook report on 28 September, lowered Indias growth projection for the current fiscal to 6 per cent for 2012-13 from 6.5 per cent estimated earlier citing challenging economic outlook. Indias economic growth has slowed to a three-year low of 5.3 per cent in the April-June quarter of the current fiscal. The growth had fallen to 6.5 per cent in the 2011-12 fiscal. Fitch said the high fiscal deficit left little scope for government for fiscal easing and increasing spending. It said weak investments were affecting supply capacity and thereby pointing towards weaker growth outlook. The study on the Impact of Internet on the Indian Economy by McKinsey, which is still to be released, says that its contribution to Indias GDP will explode to $100 billion (Rs. 5 lakh crore) by 2015 from $30 billion (Rs.1.5 lakh crore) at present. Revealing the highlights of the study, on 29 September in the presence of Union Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal at a curtain-raiser held to announce a two-day multi stakeholder conference on Internet governance to be held at FICCI in New Delhi on October 4-5, McKinsey said the contribution of the Internet to global GDP is roughly three per cent or $1.7 trillion and its performance in India will eventually mirror this trend. Mr. Sibal said the government is also alive to the growing power of the Internet, including as a communications multiplier. The world currently has 2 billion Internet users, of whom 50 per cent live outside the developed world. The global Internet population is projected to climb to 2.6-2.9 billion by 2015. By 2015, based on existing projections, India, which with 120 million users has the third largest Internet user base in the world, is projected to hit 350 million, catapulting it to a global ranking of 2, with the fastest rate of growth. Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, said in Coonoor,that the Union Government has set up a directorate, as part of the Tea Board, exclusively to address the issues of small tea growers. Speaking to presspersons after inaugurating the 119th conference of the United Planters Association of Southern India (UPASI), he said this was an important measure for the welfare of small growers. The initiative was now only for the tea sector. This could be extended to other plantation sectors, if needed. The plantation sector was expected to see higher outlay in the XII Plan with focus on various areas such as research and development and small growers. Mr. Scindhia said ,the domestic market for tea was seeing healthy growth. However, India should also increase its tea exports, and, hence, the government had come out with the Triple Five (555) scheme.Under this, the focus would be on five markets with five major measures for five years. For the first phase, the government had sanctioned Rs.6.5 crore for this scheme. Tea production was 976 million kg last year and domestic consumption 840 million kg. Exports were 191 million kg. G. J. Ancheril was elected as President of the United Planters Association of Southern India (UPASI) for 2012-13. Indian IT firms among 10 worst paymasters in world: Indian companies are among the world's 10 lowest paying employers in the IT space, with their mid-to-senior level staff getting an average salary of USD 38,767 (about Rs 21.5 lakh) per annum less than one-fourth of the IT pay package at globally top-paying Swiss firms. Salaries in the IT sector of Switzerland are the highest in the world at an average of USD 168,211 (about Rs 93 lakh) per annum as per a study titled 'World wide IT Salary 2012'. The study, conducted by global recruitment service provider MyHiringClub.com, has ranked India at eighth spot among 10 worst IT paymasters globally. On the other hand, Switzerland stands at the top spot among the top-paying nations in the IT sector. The study, which was conducted in August this year, took into account the average salaries for people
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with four and more years of experience for the Indian and other companies. The report compared the total annual cash compensation and total remuneration information for IT staff in more than 6,000 companies across 40 different countries and found that employers in western Europe are the best paymasters. It also found that compensation in developed countries focus more on variable factors, such as bonus schemes, to attract staff. At the same time, the emphasis remains on cash compensation in the lower-paying countries. "Experienced IT managers are highly sought-after in India and there is strong competition to attract and retain skilled employees. MNCs rely heavily on Indian IT managers, so they need to ensure their pay is competitive.''"Although pay in Asia and Eastern Europe tends to be much lower, it would be difficult for firms to outsource the IT manager role to these regions. Instead, we may see a migration of IT skills from lower paying nations to places in Western Europe and North America," MyHiringClub.com CEO Rajesh Kumar said. Interestingly, IT managers in India fare better than their counterparts in neighbouring China, where the average annual compensation package were lower at USD 38,624. In addition, IT employees in India, scored better than their peers in Bulgaria, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia, where the average annual salaries were even lower at USD 23,745, USD 29,831, USD 33,768, USD 33,965, USD 34,107 and USD 36,790 respectively. Among the best IT salaries paying countries Belgium bagged the second position with an average salary of USD 144,980, followed by Denmark (USD 136,542), the US (USD 128,632) and the UK (USD 127,890). Sales percentage of car declined in India: The sales of cars in India declined in the month of August 2012 by an overall 19 percent. It is counted among the biggest drop in one year timeline, resulting to which Society of Indian automobile Manufacturer (SIAM) asked the government to cut the excise duty. The next disappointing part is that the export of cars is also declined to a figure of 26.83 percent in the August month which has affected overall production of companies in India. It is the highest decline in 11 years of time. The automobile industry has entered into a desperate situation. The excise duty on automobiles, which was increased in this years Budget, needs to be reduced, particularly for the commercial vehicles segment to regain the sale in momentum. In contrary to that, Chinese market saw a robust sale of car in the month of august. Indian external debts are within manageable limits The Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) published its annual publication- Indias external debt: a status report 2011-12. As per the published report, Indias external debt in the end of March 2012 was $345.8 billion, which is 13% high than the previous years debt or $ 39.9 billion from where India stood at the end of March 2011. The publication points out about the upward movement of the stress that is put on the current account deficit (CAD) of the nation because of the risks thrown on it, from the external sectors that comprises Fall in the reserve cover for imports and external debt, depreciation in the exchange rate of rupee, rise in the level of external debts and the increased share of the short term commercial borrowing in the complete external debt quantum. The finance ministry cleared on 10 September 2012 that there can be a rise in the global economic risks that may rise with a weakened recovery and a slow growth scopes that may lead into high debts and seek growth finances even in the advanced economies. This clearance was based on Indian Vulnerability Index indicators, which has been experiencing the euro zone debt crisis and the global slowdown. A detailed analysis of Indias position in external debt at the end of March, 2012 has been presented in the status report. It is also based on the data released by the Reserve Bank of India on 29 June 2012. The report not only presents the analysis of external debts trend and composition on the country but it also presents a comparative picture of this debt in reference to other developing nations of the world with respect to the fluid global economic situations. The best part of the report produced is that instead of all the facts presented and developments Indias debt is within manageable limits and can be indicated by the debt service ratio to 6 percent and external debt-to-GDP ratio of 20 percent in 2011-2012. Thus India continues to be within the less vulnerable countries when it comes to external debt indicators compared to that of the indebted countries. The Global Development Finance, 2012 from World Bank, India stood at the fifth position for absolute debt stocks when compared with the 20 other developing debtor countries. But when taken care of the ration of external debt to that of the gross national income, India was at the fifth position from the lowest side. Guidelines on overseas loans for companies eased: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 11 September, relaxed guidelines for Indian companies to raise money overseas through external commercial borrowings (ECB). The RBI allowed companies to raise more funds through ECBs to repay rupee loans or for new capital expenditure in rupees. It raised the maximum limit of ECB to 75 per cent of the average foreign exchange earnings in the past three fiscal years, or 50 per cent of the highest export earnings in any of the three years, or whichever is higher. Earlier, a company could raise a maximum of 50 per cent of its average
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export earnings in the past three fiscal years. The RBI will also allow refinancing of bridge finance, or short-term credit taken by companies in the infrastructure sector for importing capital goods, with an ECB under the automatic route. Earlier, companies had to seek approval from the RBI for replacing the bridge finance with a long-term ECB. The central bank said companies in the infrastructure sector can seek trade credit for up to a maximum period of five years for importing capital goods, up from one-to-three years previously. Trade credit is a short-term loan. Chidambaram pitched for Prime Minister led National Investment Board: Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on 15 September 2012 pitched for institutionalization of a National Investment Board under the leadership of Prime Minister. The formation of the board will help in speeding the approval of the proposals, for the mega projects and their implementation. Formation of the board will help the country in achieving the targeted growth for the twelfth five year of 8.2 percent. At the meeting of the full planning commission under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the finance minister expressed his concern on the delayed implementation of the mega projects and stressed on the fact that the decision made by the National Investment board (NIB) to be taken as the final decision. Chidambaram also insisted interference by any other authority on the approvals and decisions made by the NIB will be entertained. He also added to his statement that NIBs role will be limited to the projects with investments of Rs 1000 crore or more. The Supreme Court, on 6 September, held that Indian courts have no jurisdiction to pass interim orders in foreign arbitration awards between an Indian company and a foreign company under the provisions of the Indian Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. Disposing of a batch of appeals, a five-judge Constitution Bench, comprising Chief Justice S. H. Kapadia and Justices D. K. Jain, S. S. Nijjar, Ms. Ranjana Desai and J. S. Khehar, said, if the arbitration agreement is found or held to provide for a seat/place of arbitration outside India, then the provision that the Arbitration Act, 1996, would govern the arbitration proceedings would not make Part I (relating to domestic arbitration) of the Arbitration Act, 1996, applicable or enable Indian courts to exercise supervisory jurisdiction over the arbitration or the award. The government of India approved a 14000 crore rupees fund to spur the production of hybrid and electrical vehicles in the country. According to a new policy approved, Automobile companies and the government plan to put six million electric vehicles on road by 2020. The government under the new policy will fund research and development, infrastructure and subsidies. With an aim at reducing the burden on fossil fuels, the Union government in national budget 2011 had proposed a plan to develop electric and hybrid vehicles. Later, the government set up a National Council for Electric Mobility led by heavy industries minister Praful Patel, and a National Board for Electric Mobility to ensure uniform rules in all the states. According to an estimate about 130000 electric vehicles were sold in India in 2011-12. Electric scooters cost between 26000 rupees and 43000 rupees in Indian market, while countrys only indigenously built electric car Reva starts at 3.5 lakh rupees. Japan-based Nissan Motor Co. Ltds electric car, Leaf, is the largest-selling car in the world that runs on battery. It costs 33000 dollar (around 18 lakh rupees) in the US and its battery cost is at least half the cars price. Government on 6 September, approved a Rs 768 crore proposal to hive off engineering and ground handling services of Air India into two wholly-owned subsidiaries as part of its turnaround plan. A meeting of the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, cleared the proposal to create the two subsidiaries -Air India Engineering Services Limited (AIESL) and Air India Transport Services Limited (AITSL). With this decision, Air India would begin the process of transferring the assets and manpower to AIESL and AITSL, which would be treated as separate profit centres. AIESL would carry out Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) business, for not only Air India but other airlines too and tap the potential of nearly $1.5 billion MRO business in the Asia-Pacific Region. India claims the second biggest haul after China in Asia's Fab 50 with 11 Indian companies, up from seven last year, figuring in Forbes 2012 list of 50 best publicly traded companies in Asia-Pacific. The US magazine's 2012 list sees the return of the big Indian IT software services and consulting firms, HCL and Tata Consultancy, while an Indian drug company, Sun Pharmaceutical, breaks into the elite ranks for the first time. Once again, China dominates the list with 23 mainland entries, the same as a year ago. Malaysia, Japan, Philippines and Singapore each had one representative on this year's list. South Korea could only muster four companies this year, down from eight last year.
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The Reserve Bank of India directed all banks to issue cheques with uniform features conforming to the Cheque Truncation System (CTS) 2010 standard by the end of this month. The homogeneity in security features act as deterrent against frauds, and the fixed field placement specifications facilitate straight-through-processing at drawee banks end through the use of optical or image character recognition technology, the RBI said in a notification. ``Adherence to CTS-2010 standards has inherent advantages as the security features in cheque forms help the presenting banks to identify the genuineness of the drawee banks instruments while handling them in the image based scenario, it said. sAll banks are advised to arrange only multi-city or payable at par CTS-2010 standard cheques, not later than September 30. State Bank of India, Indias largest bank, on 5th September, announced a reduction in interest rates on fixed deposits by 0.5 per cent for most of the maturity periods, a move likely to be followed by other lenders. However, for deposits between 241 days and one year, the downward revision is 1 per cent. The new rate would be 6.5 per cent as against 7.5 per cent. Of the total nine maturity periods for fixed deposits, the 0.5 per cent downward rate revision is for six categories. The new rates would be effective from September 7, the bank said in a statement. With the revision, the interest rate on 7-90 days fixed deposit would come down to 6.50 per cent from 7 per cent. Similarly, term deposits of 91-179 days would be down by 0.5 per cent, at 6.50 per cent, and 180-day fixed deposits would also attract 6.50 per cent interest rate. Fixed deposits with maturity of 181-240 days would now provide interest rates of 6.50 per cent, down from 7.25 per cent. For maturity years of one year to less than two years, the new rate will be to 8.5 per cent as against 9 per cent, down by 0.5 per cent. At the same time, interest rates for fixed deposits with maturity period between 2-3 years and 3-5 years have been slashed by 0.5 per cent to 8.5 per cent. However, the bank has left interest rate unchanged at 8.5 per cent for term deposit of 5-10 years. Five Indian companies including Larsen & Toubro, Hindustan Unilever and Infosys are ranked on Forbes magazine's list of "The World's Most Innovative Companies" topped by four US companies. Larsen & Toubro with an annual sales growth of 19 percent is ranked ninth in the world followed by Hindustan Unilever (12) with 11.4 percent. Infosys (19) comes third with 12.7 percent growth thanks to what the US business magazine called a lower "innovation premium." This measures the difference between the value of the company's existing businesses and its expected future innovations. Companies must also have $10 billion in market capitalization and spend at least one percent of their asset base on research and development. Tata Consultancy Services (29) with 19.5 percent was fourth among Indian companies with Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (38) with a 14.6 growth bringing up the rear. Four US companies- Cloud computing king Salesforce.com, drug major Alexion Pharmaceuticals, internet retail giant Amazon.com and open source software leader Red Hat took the top four places. Forbes said its analyses show at least three key things that the innovative companies do to create and sustain an innovation premium. These were: How well companies leverage people, process, and philosophies, differentiates the best in class from the next in class when it comes to keeping innovation alive and delivering an innovation premium year after year. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will allow domestic entities to invest in Pakistan if they apply for approval, the central bank said in a statement on 7 September. Indian entities were earlier not allowed to invest in Pakistan. On 1 August, the Indian government formally allowed foreign direct investment from Pakistan in an attempt to build trust between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. Pakistani citizens and companies are now allowed to invest in all sectors apart from defence, space and atomic energy, a government statement said. The move to allow FDI from Pakistan had been announced by India's trade minister earlier this year. India and Pakistan have fought three wars since they broke from British colonial rule in 1947. Both sides have implemented measures to improve trade and business ties, as they slowly rebuild relations that were shattered by the 2008 Mumbai attacks. India received over USD 66.13 billion in remittances in the year 2011-12 as compared to USD 55.62 billion in the previous, a hike of 19 per cent. "We have received USD 66.13 billion in remittances in 2011-12," Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi said on Friday in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha. The remittances to the country through private transfer of funds have been on the rise in the last few years. In wide-ranging recommendations aimed at soothing the hackles of investors and revive the inflow of foreign capital, the expert committee on General Anti Avoidance Rules (GAAR), headed by Parthasarathi Shome, on 2 September, has advocated postponement of the controversial tax provision by three years till 2016-17 along with abolition of capital gains tax on transfer of securities. In a further reassurance to foreign institutional investors (FIIs) operating through the Mauritius route, the expert panel, in its draft report submitted to the government on August 31
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, has suggested that the GAAR provisions should not be invoked to examine the genuineness of the foreign investor entities residency in the island nation. Highlighting that the objective of GAAR should be deterrence rather than revenue, the panel has recommended that the Approving Panel (AP) for purposes of invoking GAAR provisions should consist of five members, including Chairman, who should be a retired judge of the High Court. Besides, two members should be from outside government and persons of eminence drawn from the fields of accountancy, economics or business, with knowledge of matters of income- tax, and two members should be chief commissioners of income-tax or one Chief Commissioner and one Commissioner. It also suggested that GAAR can be invoked only with the approval of the Commissioner.
October
The RBI on 30 October 2012 left interest rates unchanged but had cut the cash reserve ratio for banks and told that the inflation remained a primery concern.The repo rate unchanged at 8.00 percent, which is at the same level for the past six months. The reverse repo rate also remained at 7 percent.The new rates will be effective 3 November 2012. D. Subbarao mentioned in his quarterly policy review that with the reduction in inflation, there is an opportunity for monetary policy to act in conjunction with fiscal and other measures to mitigate the growth risks and take the economy to a sustained higher growth trajectory.The RBI, however, cut the Cash Reserve Ratio (the amount parked by banks with the RBI) by 25 basis points from 4.5 per cent to 4.25 per cent. This measure is expected to infuse Rs 17,500 crore liquidity into the banking system. The RBI cut its GDP growth forecast for Asia's third-largest economy to 5.8 per cent for the current fiscal year, from 6.5 per cent previously, and increased its projection for headline inflation in March to 7.5 per cent, from 7 per cent earlier. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has released data about achievement of Digitization in the 4 metro cities as on 30th October 2012. The data shows that in Delhi the Cable TV digitization has touched 92% and with DTH the percentage of digitization has gone upto 95%. For Mumbai the percentage of digitization is 100% whereas for Kolkata Cable TV digitization alone has crossed 82%, along with DTH the percentage of digitization goes upto 85%. In Chennai the Cable TV digitization has reached 62% and with DTH it goes upto 86%. The overall percentage of achievement in 4 metro cities, therefore, is 89% as far as the Cable TV is concerned and with DTH, the percentage goes upto 93%. Digitization would usher in a regime of addressability and transparency, bringing a host of exciting benefits to the consumers. Digitization of the Cable TV Network would open up several opportunities for the consumers to get access to Movies and Games on Demand as well as internet. Worried over high budget deficit derailing growth, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on 29 October, unveiled a five-year road map for fiscal consolidation to promote investments, contain inflation and take India to high growth trajectory. The government, the Minister said, will continue efforts to restrict fiscal deficit in the current financial year to 5.3 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and reduce it to 3 per cent by 2016-17. The fiscal deficit was 5.8 per cent in 2011-12. As fiscal consolidation takes place and investors confidence increases, it is expected that the economy will return to the path of high investment, higher growth, lower inflation and long-term sustainability, he said. Economic growth slipped to nine-year low of 6.5 per cent in 2011-12 and it is expected to fall further this fiscal. Referring to fiscal consolidation in 2012-13, Mr. Chidambaram expressed the confidence that government would be able to raise Rs. 30,000 crore from disinvestment and Rs. 40,000 crore from sale of spectrum. As regards the revenue targets, he said, every effort will also be made to realise the revenue budgeted under tax receipts. Government also expects to be able to contain and economise on expenditure, both on Plan and non-Plan side. While funds will be made available for essential expenditure, especially capital expenditure, every effort will be made to avoid parking or idling of funds, he said. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 25 October, approved the proposal for i. ii. iii. continuing the Special Plan for Bihar in 2012-13 with an allocation of Rs.1500 crore, based on the enhanced level of cost of Rs.9985.54 crore of all existing projects, revised cost of existing projects, and the cost of new projects, if any, that may be approved by the Empowered Committee continuing the Special Plan for the Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput (KBK) districts of Odisha in 2012-13 with an allocation of Rs.250 crore, and continuing the special package for implementing drought mitigation strategies in Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh in 2012-13 with an Additional Central Assistance of Rs.1400 crore. The
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Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF), which aims to catalyze development in backward areas, was approved by the CCEA in August, 2006. In its present form, the BRGF has two components, namely, District Component covering 272 backward districts in 27 States (including 22 additional districts covered in 2012-13) and State Component which includes Special Plan for Bihar, Special Plan for the KBK districts of Odisha, Special Plan for West Bengal (covered in 2011-12), Integrated Action Plan (IAP) for Selected Tribal and Backward Districts (covered in 2010-11) and Bundelkhand Package (covered in 2009The implementation of the programmes is being done by the State Governments. The aim of the programme is to accelerate socio-economic development in the States concerned.
iv.
Petronet LNG will set up a third LNG terminal, having initial capacity of five million tonne per annum, with an investment of Rs 4,500 crore at Gangavaram Port in Andhra Pradesh. The oil and gas explorer had signed an agreement with Gangavaram Port towards setting up a joint venture company and development of the terminal in May. The detailed feasibility report for the project had been prepared by Tractebel Engineering Limited. Petronet currently caters to over 20 per cent of the natural gas requirement of the country from its first LNG terminal at Dahej in Gujarat, which is being expanded further by another five million tonne. The company will also commission a green-field LNG terminal, having capacity of five million tonne, in Kochi by year end. The industry body ASSOCHAM and Yes Bank claimed in a joint report that India requires 9-10 million tonnes of additional cold storage capacity in order to prevent post-harvest losses. Inadequacy of storage facilities causes heavy losses to farmers in terms of quality degradation and wastage of farm produce. India produces approximately 200 million tonnes of fruits and vegetables annually out of which 35-40% are wasted. The total warehousing capacity in India is 108.75 million tonnes and another 35 million tonnes capacity is required in the 12th Five-Year Plan. The report also said that following the relaxation of FDI norms in retail, India is expected to see an investment of over Rs 40,000 crore in multi-brand segment and the organised market is likely to grow to Rs 4, 80,000 crore by 2016-17. Major foreign players are now expected to create positive atmosphere for farmers, suppliers, consumers, economy and the enterprise itself. The Government has planned End-to-end Computerization of Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) to make its reach more effective and beneficiaries friendly with an outlay of Rs. 884.07 crore . This plan consists of Digitization of rations cards/beneficiary and other databases, Computerization of Supply-Chain Management, setting up of Transparency Portal and Grievance Redressal Mechanisms. Digitisation of beneficiary database and computerization of supply-chain are expected to be implemented by March, 2013 and October, 2013 respectively. With computerization of supply-chain, the movement of food grains upto FPS level can be tracked and the problem of leakage and diversion can be addressed. Facilities of SMS, e-mails, toll free numbers will be used to inform the beneficiary about the availability of the TPDS supplies in the Fair Price Shop, which will ensure timely and transparent distribution of foodgrains to beneficiaries as per their entitlement. Shares of Government of India and State Governments in the cost are estimated at Rs. 489.37 crore and Rs. 394.70 crore respectively. The pattern of cost sharing between Centre and States would be on 90:10 for the North-eastern States, whereas for other States/UTs, cost is to be shared equally. The Prime Minister has constituted on 25 October, a coordination committee called the National Committee on Direct Cash Transfers, as a mechanism to coordinate action for the introduction of direct cash transfers to individuals under the various government schemes and programmes. The National Committee chaired by the Prime Minister will have as its members eleven Cabinet Ministers, two Ministers of State with independent charge, the Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, the Chairman UIDAI, the Cabinet Secretary with the Principal Secretary to the PM as the convenor. The Prime Minister may invite any other Minister/Officer/Expert to any meeting of the Committee.The National Committee on Cash Transfers will be assisted by an Executive Committee on Direct Cash Transfers chaired by the Principal Secretary to PM and the Secretaries of the concerned Ministries and the DG UIDAI. The Secretary Planning Commission will be the convenor. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 25 October, approved the disinvestment of 10 per cent paid up equity capital of NMDC out of the Governments shareholding of 90 percent through Offer for the Sale of Shares through Stock Exchange (OFS) method, as per SEBI Rules and Regulations. As of March 31, 2012, the paid up equity capital of NMDC is Rs.396.47 crore. The Government of India holds 90 percent of the paid up capital in
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the Company. NMDC is a listed, Navratna CPSE. After the disinvestment, the Government of India shareholding in the Company would come down to 80 percent. The NMDC is a Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) under the administrative control of the Ministry of Steel. It is primarily engaged in the business of iron ore mining, but is also expanding its activities towards production of steel and other value added products. It is India's largest producer of iron ore, operating two mining complexes in Chhattisgarh and one in Karnataka. The Union Cabinet on 25 October approved the National Policy on Electronics 2012. The draft National Policy on Electronics was released for public consultation and it has now been finalized based on comments from various stakeholders. India is one of the fastest growing markets of electronics in the world. There is potential to develop the Electronic System and Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) sector to meet our domestic demand as well as to use the capabilities so created to successfully export ESDM products from the country. The National Policy on Electronics aims to address the issue with the explicit goal of transforming India into a premier ESDM hub. The strategies include setting up of a National Electronics Mission with industry participation and renaming the Department of Information Technology as Department of Electronics and Information Technology (Deity). With a vision to create a Centre of Excellence for capacity building in the areas of post harvest management of foodgrain by providing training on latest developments to the aspirants internationally, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) has been signed between Department of Food & Public Distribution, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & PD, Government of India and Central Warehousing Corporation in New Delhi on 25 October. Under the MOU, CWC will take over the management of training functions and related facilities of IGMRI, Hapur for developing it as a centre of excellence for the purpose of training in post harvest management of foodgrains and other agricultural commodities besides the training programme being presently conducted by CWC in different functional areas. The MOU has been signed for a period of five years effective from 25th October, 2012. The MOU envisages that CWC will develop IGMRI, Hapur as an institution of excellence to attract overseas participants from SAARC nations, neighbouring and other countries for training on post harvest management of foodgrain. Apple opened its biggest Asian store in Beijing to cash on the flourishing Chinese market which has become the second largest for the American tech giant after the US. The store, located in the city's commercial street of Wangfujing, is Apple Inc's third in Beijing and its sixth on the Chinese mainland. According to John Browett, Apple's senior vice president of retail, the new store is the company's largest store in Asia with an area of 2,300 square meters and more than 300 employees. A full range of accessories for Apple products is available in the store, Browett told state-run Xinhua news agency. China is the company's largest market outside the United States in terms of sales. China has the largest Internet population globally and is a significant market for mobile Internet devices such as tablet PCs and smart phones, according to Apple officials. Mukesh Ambani has retained his position as the worlds richest Indian for the fifth year in a row, although his net worth declined by $1.6 billion to $21 billion but remained well above that of the second-ranked Lakshmi Mittal Steel baron Mr. Mittals net worth also fell by $3 billion at $16 billion, making him the second richest, as per global business magazine Forbes annual ranking of 100 wealthiest Indians, released Thursday. Mr. Ambani, who heads energy-to-retail conglomerate Reliance Industries group, and Mr. Mittal were followed by IT czar Azim Premji ($12.2 billion), construction major and Tata groups major shareholder Shapoorji Pallonji group patriarch Pallonji Mistry ($9.8 billion) and drugmaker Sun Pharmas Dilip Shanghvi ($9.2 billion) in the top five. Mr. Mukeshs younger brother Anil Ambani, who heads telecom-to-infrastructure conglomerate Reliance Group, was ranked 11th with a net worth of $6 billion. Others in top-10 ranking include Adi Godrej at sixth position ($9 billion), followed by Savitri Jindal ($8.2 billion), Shashi & Ravi Ruia ($8.1 billion), Hinduja Brothers ($8 billion) and Kumar Mangalam Birla ($7.8 billion). Even as the net worth of top-ranked persons like Mr. Ambani and Mr. Mittal fell, the collective wealth of Indias richest 100 rose by 3.7 per cent ($9 billion) to $250 billion in the past one year, Forbes said.The number of billionaires also rose to 61, from 57 last year. Sun Pharma groups Mr. Shanghvi entered the top five for the first time.
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Andhra Pradesh ranks fourth in the country in total outstanding private sector investment, both domestic and foreign, as of June 2012, apex industry body Assocham said on 26 October. It accounts for an investment of 8.4 per cent. Gujarat (12.5 per cent), Odisha (10.7 per cent) and Maharashtra (8.9 per cent) are the three States ahead of Andhra Pradesh in this regard. A press release issued by Assocham said that of the total outstanding investments of Rs. 12.3 lakh crore in AP, private sector accounts for over Rs. 6.9 lakh crore thereby registering a share of over 56 per cent in the overall investments. At the national level, the private sector, with a share of over Rs. 82.9 lakh crore, accounts for over 59 per cent of the total outstanding investments across India worth over Rs. 140 lakh crore as of June 2012, the Assocham said. Private sector investments account for a whopping 86.6 per cent in the total outstanding investments worth over Rs. 4.5 lakh crore in Haryana which has a share of about 4.8 per cent in the total private sector investments made across India. Flow of the private investments is decided by the attractiveness of investment opportunities as they are mostly driven by profitability considerations, said Ravindra Sannareddy, chairperson of Assocham Southern Region Council. Bureaucratic efficiency, infrastructure facilities, and ease of land acquisition influence the flow of private investments, said Mr. Sannareddy. Tax concessions, product market conditions and exit policies are effective tools of private investment attraction. Microsoft on 25 October 2012 launched the latest version of its most awaited operating system Windows 8 in India that is designed to work across PCs, tablets as well as for smart phones. The new Window 8 operating system comes with a new start screen and adds more colours. Windows 8 is available in two versions, Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro. User who are running PCs with Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7, can download Windows 8 Pro for an estimated retail price of Rs 1,999. To keep its users engaged, Microsoft In India is offering a range of immersive,free and paid apps which can be downloaded using Window 8 and that includes Bharat Matrimony, BookMyShow, Burrp, Goibibo, Hindustan Times, ICICI Bank, iMobile, ICICIDirect, JustEat, MakeMyTrip Explore, Map my India, Yahoo Cricket, and Zovi. The Civil Aviation Ministry on 16 October 2012 announced to abolish the airport development fee on Delhi and Mumbai Airports, from 1 January 2013. The ministry directed the operators of the two airports to stop levying the charges for Airport Development Fee from the travellers from next year and also asked the Airport Authority of India to infuse equity in form of joint venture firms that operates the two largest airports of the nation. The Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh asked the DIAL (Dial International Airport Ltd) and MIAL (Mumbai International Airport Ltd) to submit proposals for stopping the Airport Development Fee to the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA). Charges paid by domestic fliers in Delhi and Mumbai are 200 rupees and 100 rupees and for international fliers it is 1300 rupees and 600 rupees respectively. The Union Cabinet on 18 October, approved setting up of a National Automotive Board (NAB), a body which would act as a facilitator between the government and the industry and promote R&D activities in the sector. According to sources, NAB will be a specialised body for promoting sustainable development of the Indian auto sector. Besides, it would also have a larger role in developing skills for the growing automobile sector. Director General Civil Aviation (DGCA) has suspended the Scheduled Operators Permit of Kingfisher Airlines. The permit has been suspended with effect from 20th October, 2012 till such time the Kingfisher Airlines submits a concrete and reliable revival plan ensuring safe, reliable, efficient and sustainable Scheduled Air Transport Services to the satisfaction of DGCA. DGCA has observed that the Kingfisher Airlines have not addressed any of the issues raised by the DGCA during the meeting held with the Airline on 02.10.2012 and the points raised in the show cause notice. They were asked to submit their operational preparedness plan for resumption of flight operations. Instead, they have sought more time to file a reply to the show cause notice not indicating any period for submitting the detailed response; therefore, the request could not be acceded to by the DGCA. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for forging partnership between National Culture Fund (NCF) and Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) for heritage initiatives was signed in New Delhi on 18 October , in the presence of the Minister of Culture and Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation Kumari Selja. Through a series of meetings and deliberations with NCF, HUDCO has outlined 5 main areas of interest in developing the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects: Training Programmes and Capacity Building, Heritage and Disaster Management, Up-gradation of Museums, Environmental improvement and Visitor amenities and Conservation and Restoration of Heritage Buildings. NCF Executive Committee has approved the signing of the
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MOU with HUDCO and the offer of heritage projects that match their CSR criteria mentioned above. Subsequently a dedicated Memorandum of Agreement will be signed per project between NCF/HUDCO/implementer. The Union Cabinet on 18 October, revised the norms and enhanced rates of pension for widows and persons with disabilities. This is in fulfillment of the announcement made by the Finance Minister while presenting the Union Budget 2012-13 in the Parliament on 16th March 2012. In view of the above decision, 76 lakh Below Poverty Line (BPL) widows and 11 lakh below poverty line persons with severe or multiple disability would get enhanced amount of central assistance @ Rs. 300 p.m. This would be in addition to the contribution by the States. Further, 3.56 lakh BPL families will receive one time lump sum enhanced grant @ Rs. 20000/- in the event of death of the primary breadwinner in the family. The following are the details:1. 2. 3. 4. To increase the rate of pension under the ongoing Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme (IGNWPS) from Rs. 200/- to Rs.300/- per month per beneficiary and to revise the eligibility criteria from 40-59 years to 40-79 years. To increase the rate of pension under Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme (IGNDPS) from Rs. 200/- to Rs. 300/- per month per beneficiary and to revise the eligibility criteria from 18-59 years to 1879 years. To increase the lump sum grant under National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS) from Rs. 10000/- to Rs. 20000/-and also to revise the eligibility criteria from 18-64 years to 18-59 years. To continue implementation of the NSAP during the 12lh Five Year Plan and to provide 3 per cent administrative charges on approved items.
India is expected to see a slower economic growth of 5.9 percent in the current fiscal even as there are reasons to believe the "economy has turned the corner", an United Nations agency report said on 18 October. The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) said India's growth has been slowing down since 2011, mainly on account of "severe" monetary tightening by the Reserve Bank of India. "India is projected to grow at 5.9 percent in 2012-13 compared with 6.5 percent in 2011-12," UN ESCAP said in the report titled 'South and South-West Asia Development Report 2012-13'. Projecting a GDP growth of 6.8 percent for 2013-14, it said there are reasons to believe the economy has turned the corner. The Cabinet on19 October approved the constitution of a 14th Finance Commission to recommend on division of taxes between the Centre and the states and related financial matters for the period 2015-2020. As reported earlier, former Reserve Bank governor Y V Reddy is considered likely to be chosen as chairman of the Commission. The finance ministers former advisor, Parthasarathi Shome, and former finance secretary Sushma Nath are reported as likely to become members. An Officer on Special Duty has been appointed to help finalise the terms of reference and decide on a venue for the Commissions secretariat, along with other administrative issues. The 13th Finance Commission was headed by former finance secretary Vijay Kelkar. The World Steel Association gathered in New Delhi from October 9 2012 through October 11 2012 for its 46th annual convention to renew its authorities and present an outlook of the industry status. This meeting, was attended by top executives from almost 70 steel companies. During the board meetings, the industry position towards industrial safety was discussed, and the Safety Excellence awards were delivered. The association also presented an update of its steel consumption projection for 2012 and 2013. The new forecast anticipates a 2% global steel consumption growth, which clearly opposes the expansion of more than 6.3% in 2011. The debt crisis worsening in the Eurozone and the slowdown in the growth of emerging countries such as China, India and Brazil account for such decrease. It is expected for the situation to gradually improve in 2013 with a global steel consumption expansion rate of 3.1%. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) presented on 9 October, the 2011 Carbon Footprint Report for the Indian Aviation Industry, in line with Indias initiatives to address the climate change challenge. The report was released at the 49th Conference of Directors General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Asia Pacific Regions being held in New Delhi. Compiled for the first time in such a detailed format, the report was prepared in
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cooperation with the major airlines and airports of the country and with the support of the European Union/India Civil Aviation Cooperation Project is another milestone for the Indian Civil Aviation strategy of developing a sustainable aviation framework. Some of the key points in the report are1. 2. 3. The carbon footprint of Indian scheduled airlines for domestic and international operations was 12,704,000 tonnes of CO2; a 6% increase in comparison to 2010. The carbon footprint of foreign airlines serving international destinations from Indian airports, based on fuel uplift from India, reached 3,623,000 tonnes of CO2. CO2 emissions from Indian scheduled airline operations as well as from foreign airlines to international destinations represent less than 1% of the countrys total CO2 emissions. This number is significantly lower than the global average contribution of airlines, which represent approximately 2% of global anthropogenic emissions. Secretary General of International Civil Aviation Organisation, Mr. R. Benjamin while unveiled the Report. While, DGCA Arun Mishra was participated in this occasion.
The National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD) an organization of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Government of India, engaged in training, research and other interventions with the objective of promotion of entrepreneurship and development of small and micro enterprises in the country, on 8 October, has inked MoU with the Sun Online Learning India Pvt. Ltd. for promoting the E-learning initiative developed by the Company for career planning and career enhancement. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed today between Arun Kumar Jha, Director General, NIESBUD and Kris Srikkanth, the former Captain of the Indian Cricket Team and Director of the Company. The digital learning package consists of two Modules : Employability Skills and Entrepreneurship Skills. The understanding between the two organizations besides promoting the Initiative among the associates of the Institute is also expected to contribute towards promotion of entrepreneurial culture among different strata of the society through their holistic development. The Government decided to upgrade five airports -- Tiruchirapalli, Coimbatore, Mangalore, Lucknow and Varanasi -- to the international level. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCI), at its meeting, approved a proposal for the upgradation of the five airports, which have the required infrastructure in place like large terminal, immigration and customs facility to handle international operations. An international airport is one that can accommodate international flights that requires separate layers for immigrations and customs including high-end facilities at the terminal like aerobridges and mandatory runway length to accommodate jets. Currently, all of the five airports are servicing at least one international operation from airlines like Air India Express, FlyDubai, Air Asia, Thai Airways and Mihin Lanka. Unitech has agreed to sell its stake in the joint venture, which operates under the "Uninor" brand, for "a nominal amount", it said in a statement to Indian stock exchanges on 11 October. The company declined to comment on terms and conditions. Unitech, the Indian partner of Norwegian telecommunications group Telenor ASA, has agreed to sell its share of their mobile phone joint venture.. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has decided to introduce electronic IPOs from January 1, 2013. The facility to submit the application forms would be available in more than 1000 locations which are part of the nationwide broker network of the stock exchanges and where there is a presence of the brokers terminals (broker centre). In the first phase, around 400 broker centres would be covered by January 1, 2013 and the remaining centres would be covered by March 1, 2013. Accordingly, details of locations including name of the broker, contact details such as name of the contact person, postal address, telephone number and e-mail address of the broker, where the application forms shall be collected, will be disclosed by the stock exchanges on their websites at least 15 days before the dates specified by SEBI for introduction of electronic IPO. SEBI also asked stock exchanges to ensure that the details disclosed on their websites are regularly updated. World bank and the Government of India on 5 October 2012 signed a loan agreement of 500 Million US Dollar for Secondary Education Project named Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan(RMSA). The project is going to help in achieving increased and good quality secondary education as directed in the framework of Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan, the flagship government of India program for gradual Universalisation of secondary education. The agreeement was signed by Prabodh Saxena, the joint secretary, department of economic
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affairs and Onno Ruhl, the country director of World Bank. Like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), the Department of School Education and Literacy of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) under Government of India is launching Rastriya Madhyamic Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) with an aim to achieve Universal Access and Quality Secondary Education. Under Rashtriya Madhyamik Siksha Abhiyan, the responsibility to develop Secondary-Education Management Information system (SE-MIS) is given to the Department of Educational Planning, National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA), New Delhi. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has slashed Indias growth forecast to 4.9 per cent for 2012 due to low business confidence and sluggish structural reforms. The IMF had in July projected a growth rate of 6.1 per cent for the current year. During the first quarter ended June 2012, Indian economy expanded by 5.5 per cent. Indias activity suffered from waning business confidence amid slow approvals for new projects, sluggish structural reforms, policy rate hikes designed to rein in inflation, and flagging external demand, IMF said in the World Economic Outlook (WEO) released in Tokyo ahead of the IMF-World Bank 2012 Annual Meetings. In India, the report said, growth weakened more than expected in the first half of 2012, an outcome of stalled investment caused by governance issues and red tape, and a deterioration in business sentiment against the backdrop of a rising current account deficit and the recent rupee depreciation. Compared with the regions growth performance in recent years, the near and mediumterm outlooks are less buoyant, the report said. The report has projected 6 per cent growth for the next year (2013), compared to an earlier 6.5 per cent projection. For 201213 fiscal, the IMF said that growth is projected to average 56 per cent in 201213, more than one percentage point lower than in the April 2012 WEO. Number of millionaires may rise 53% to 84,000 in India by 2017: report As many as 84,000 Indians are expected to become millionaires by 2017, according to a global wealth report. "India is likely to see a substantial jump of 53 per cent in the number of millionaires to 84,000 by 2017," Credit Suisse Research Institute's Global Wealth Report said. According to the report, the number of millionaires in emerging economies is expected to jump substantially in the next few years. China could see its number double by 2017 to almost 2 million, it said. However, the report warns that India still sees a significant amount of poverty. While wealth has been rising strongly, and the ranks of the middle class and wealthy have been swelling, not everyone has shared this growth and there is still a great deal of poverty," the report said. The report states that 95 per cent of Indias population has wealth below $10,000. In comparison, only a small proportion of the population (just 0.3 per cent) has a net worth over $100,000. According to Credit Suisse, India has 237,000 members of the top 1 per cent of global wealth holders. There are 1,500 Ultra-High net-worth individuals (UHNW) with wealth over $50 million and 700 members with more than $100 million. Falling growth rate has seen India shedding $700 billion from its household wealth during mid-2011 to mid-2012 period, the steepest in Asia, the report said, adding that this amounts to 50 per cent of the total erosion that the continent has seen."There's no question that the economic uncertainties of the past year - particularly those affecting the Eurozone - have cast a huge shadow over household wealth," Credit Suisse said. From mid-2011 to mid-2012, aggregate global household wealth fell by 5.2 per cent in current dollar terms to $223 trillion due to the economic uncertainties, particularly those affecting the Eurozone. During the period under consideration, Eurozone members suffered the largest losses, led by France ($2.2 trillion), Italy ($2.1 trillion), Germany ($1.9 trillion) and Spain ($870 billion). Moreover, there was also a significant rise in household debt, which rose in aggregate by 81 per cent from 2000-2012. However, despite the setbacks in 2007 and the recent slowdown, household wealth has grown strongly over the past decade. The global aggregate doubled from $113 trillion, recorded at the start of the millennium, the report said. A similar kind of uptrend was witnessed in the case of India as well, where aggregate wealth more than tripled during 2000 to 2011. The report further states that household wealth is expected to rise by almost 50 per cent in the next five years from $223 trillion in 2012 to $330 trillion in 2017 and the number of millionaires worldwide would reach 46 million in 2017 Sonim Technologies, holder of the Guinness World Record for the 'World's Toughest Phone' on 3 october, gave the team responsible for initiating such an incredible phenomena in the field of telecommunication.company said it was the hard work of a team of 77 skillful engineers in Bangalore who worked with teams in China and the USA. The team successfully designed the tough mobile which is intended to appeal more to construction workers, builders, site engineers and workmen.
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The government on 4 October, decided to move ahead with its proposal to hike foreign investment ceiling in the insurance sector to 49 per cent from the present 26 per cent. A decision in this regard was taken by the Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The government also gave the green signal to foreign investment in pension funds and said the FDI limit could go up 49 per cent in line with cap in the insurance sector. Allowing FDI forms a part of the amendments to Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) Bill, which was approved by the Union Cabinet. TheFinance Minister clarified that state-run insurance companies will remain in the public sector. With the Cabinet approving the proposal, the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill is likely to be taken up by Parliament for passage in the forthcoming Winter Session. The Bill introduced in Rajya Sabha in December 2008 proposes to increase the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in the insurance sector to 49 per cent. The Insurance sector was opened up for private sector in 2000 after the enactment of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 1999 (IRDA Act, 1999). The Supreme Court on 5 October, stayed until further orders all mining operations, including transportation of mined iron ore and manganese in leases, in Goa. The Forest Bench comprising Justices Aftab Alam, K.S. Radhakrishnan and Swatanter Kumar granted the stay on a writ petition filed by the Goa Foundation, an environmental action group, and asked the Central Empowered Committee to give its response in four weeks. The court made it clear that no mineral, whether lying at a mine head or stockyard, would be transported until further orders.The Foundation pointed out that the Justice M.B. Shah commission, appointed in November 2010, said illegal activities in mining had been going on in the State since 2000. All 90 mines were functioning without the mandatory permission from the National Board for Wildlife and 33 of them were located within 1.5 km of wildlife sanctuaries. The International Monetary Fund has lowered its forecasts for global economic growth to 3.3 percent this year and 3.6 percent in 2013 from earlier forecasts of 3.4 percent and 3.9 percent respectively. For India, growth forecast is seen at 6 percent versus a previous forecast of 6.6 percent for the year 2013.The IMF expects the euro zone economy to shrink by 0.4 percent this year and then grow 0.2 percent in 2013.Chinese growth for 2013 is seen at 8.2 percent, versus a previous IMF estimate of 8.4 percent and Brazilian growth at 4 percent versus 4.7 percent. ADB lowered India's growth projection to 5.6 pc from 7pc projected earlier citing falling global demand and impact of delayed monsoon on agricultural production. India, however, can reverse the trend of falling growth by promoting economic reforms and taking steps to improve investment climate, said the ADB's Asian Development Outlook 2012 Update. India, China consumer market to touch $10 trn: BCG China and India combined will add up to a $10 trillion consumer market by 2020, says 'The $10 Trillion Prize', a book by Boston Consulting Group (BCG). The book further says that consumer spending in China and India will triple by the end of the decade. According to Boston Consulting by 2020, Chinese consumers will spend $6.2 trillion annually on consumer goods while Indian consumers spend would be around $3.6 trillion. The book also finds that China which had only one billionaire in 2001 witnessed a tremendous growth and the number grew to 115 by 2012. Similarly, the number of billionaires in India grew to 55 in India from 4 in the year 2001. The book written by BCG consultants Michael J Silverstein, Abheek Singhi, Carol Liao, David Michael also said that China already has three of the worlds top 10 companies by market value. In 2000, there were eight Chinese companies and one Indian company in the Fortune 500. By 2010, there were 46 Chinese companies and eight Indian companies. Further, it said by 2015, around one billion people in the country would have cell phones. Around to $350 billion in payment and banking transactions will flow through those phones more than the total Indian credit- and debit-card market today. According to the BCG global consumer survey, 36% of Chinese and 19% of Indians expect to increase their discretionary spending over next 12 months Deepak Parekh panel for hiking power charges, rail fares: Suggesting big-ticket reforms to attract investment in the infrastructure sector, a high-level committee, on 3 October, recommended increasing electricity charges and rail fares. The high-level committee on financing of infrastructure, which is headed by HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh, also pitched for 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the telecom sector. The limit at present is 74 per cent. The panel also suggested raising prices of natural gas. These recommendations are aimed at attracting Rs.51.46 lakh crore for funding the infrastructure sector during the XII Plan (2012-17), according to the report, which was presented to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh earlier. The
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government, the report says, should draw a time-bound action plan...with a view to improving the enabling environment for private investment, which is expected to finance about 47 per cent of the projected investment during the XII Plan. The share of private sector in infrastructure funding was 37.53 per cent during the XI Plan, the report says, adding that the contribution of public sector is estimated to decline to 53.32 per cent during the XII Plan from 62.47 per cent in the previous Plan. Total premium collections of life insurers dip 3.2 pc at Rs 39,357.6 c: Total premium collections of life insurers dipped by 3.18 per cent in April- August period this year at Rs 39,357.6 crore, according to Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA). During the first five months of current financial year the largest public life insurer Life Insurance Corporation of India's (LIC) premium collection also declined by 3.2 per cent at Rs 29,893.21 crore, the insurance regulator's data showed HDFC Bank on 4 October 2012 tied up with Indian Oil Corporation where rural Petrol Pump Outlets of Indian Oil will act as HDFC Bank Business Correspondent (BCs). It is unique and first kind of tie-up, where an oil distribution company is coming up with the bank to make available modern banking services to the people of remote areas. The Indian oil is going to make it possible through Kisan Seva Kendra which is an retail outlet model pioneered by Indian Oil to cater to the needs of customers in the rural segment. HDFC Bank planned to cover 1000 Kisan Seva Kendras in a phased manner and each of these outlets will be able to serve around 1,500 customers. The Kisan Seva Kendra outlets will offer banking services such as preliminary processing of loan applications, disbursal and collection of small value deposits, sale of micro-insurance, mutual funds and other investment instruments. HDFC plan is to bring 10 million families into its banking Fold. Govt approves draft of 12th Five Year Plan: The Union Cabinet on 4 October 2012 approved the 12th five-year plan with its aim to renew Indian economy and use the funds from government in improving the facilities of education, sanitation and health. This plan has seen a three-fold increase in the budget constraints when compared to that of the 11th five-year plan. The plan would infuse a huge fund of Rs 47,70,000 lakh crore and this will help to accomplish the economic growth to an average level of 8.2 percent. 12th five-year plan is guided by the policy guidelines and principles to revive the following Indian economy, which registered a growth rate of meager 5.5 percent in the first quarter of the financial year 2012-13. The plan aims towards the betterment of the infrastructural projects of the nation avoiding all types of bottlenecks. The document presented by the planning commission is aimed to attract private investments of up to US$1 trillion in the infrastructural growth in the 12th five-year plan, which will also ensure a reduction in subsidy burden of the government to 1.5 percent from 2 percent of the GDP (gross domestic product). The UID (Unique Identification Number) will act as a platform for cash transfer of the subsidies in the plan. The plan aims towards achieving a growth of 4 percent in agriculture and to reduce poverty by 10 percentage points, by 2017. The formulated draft of the plan would be presented for final approval before the National Development Council (NDC) that is headed by the Prime Minister having the Cabinet Ministers and Chief Ministers on board. National Development Council (NDC) is the apex decision- making body and authority to signal the five-year plan in the nation
November
The Minister of State for Finance, Namo Narain Meena in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha on 29 November that ,the Government is considering to develop a Producer Price Index (PPI) which will reflect price movement at the producers level as proposed by Governor, RBI. The Office of the Economic Adviser, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion has already constituted a Working Group under the Chairmanship of Dr. Saumitra Chaudhury, Member, Planning Commission on 19th March, 2012 to consider issues relating to the compilation of Producers Price Index together with the revision of base of the current series of Wholesale Price Index. Maldives cancelled its Biggest Foreign Investment Project with GMR Group Maldives cancelled its biggest foreign investment project with Indian firm GMR Group to develop its international airport. The total value of the project was 511 million dollar. The deal with the GMR was signed during former President Mohamed Nasheed's administration. Prior to this, a competitive bidding process was
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conducted by the World Bank's International Finance Corporation (IFC). The project was implemented through a joint venture company comprising GMR Infrastructure Limited and Malaysia Airports Holding Berhad. However the contract was termed invalid by the new regime as it included a 25 dollars airport development charge per outgoing passenger. This was not authorised by the Parliament of Maldives. PSU banks report Rs 6,457 crore fraud cases in 2012 Fraud cases involving an amount of Rs 6,457 crore have been reported by public sector banks in 2012, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha on 29 November. This was much more than Rs 3,850 crore reported in 2011, he said. Chidambaram was replying to a question about scams that took place in banks. Indian Overseas Bank reported fraud cases involving an amount Rs 758 crore so far in 2012, followed by Punjab National Bank which reported cases involving Rs 728 crore. On measures taken to prevent/frauds, he said, "RBI is sensitising banks from time to time about common fraud prone areas through issuance of modus operandi circulars on various types of frauds." The Reserve Bank of India and the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) concluded a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote greater co-operation and sharing of supervisory information between the two supervisors. The MoU was signed at SBV Headquarters, Hanoi, Vietnam, by G. Jaganmohan Rao, Chief General Manager-In-Charge, Department of Banking Supervision, Reserve Bank of India and Nguyen Huu Nghia, Chief Inspector, Banking Supervision Agency, SBV. The occasion was graced by Dang Thanh Binh, Deputy Governor, SBV and Shri Ranjit Rae, Indian Ambassador to Hanoi. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 22 November, noted the acquisition of 50% equity shares by NMDC Limited, a Navratna PSU, in Legacy Iron Ore Limited (Legacy), which is a listed entity in Australian Stock Exchange at a total investment of Rs.99.63 crore under the delegated powers available to the Board of NMDC Ltd. The acquisition process has been completed and NMDC has now a majority shareholder on the Board of M/s Legacy. The total investment of NMDC in Legacy towards acquisition of its 50% share is Rs. 99.63 crore. NMDC has sourced the above funds from its internal accruals. This is the first overseas acquisition of iron ore resources by an Indian Public Sector Company. This initiative will encourage further acquisition of strategic raw materials overseas by other PSUs for long term mineral security for domestic industry. Legacy Iron ore Ltd (legacy) is a Perth-based Australian exploration company with focus on iron ore, gold, manganese and base metals. Incorporated in April, 2007 Legacy was listed on the Australian stock exchange (ASX) in July 2008. Legacy has six exploration stage projects in Western Australia. The Central Government, on 23 November, cleared the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy that will bring 348 essential drugs under price control, leading to reduction in prices.official sources said that the National Pharmaceutical Pricing policy has been approved by the Cabinet with an objective to put in place a regulatory framework for pricing of drugs to ensure their availability at reasonable prices. At present, the government through the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) controls prices of 74 bulk drugs and their formulations.The source said the government had also considered providing sufficient opportunity for innovation and competition to support the growth of the pharma industry. Finance Minister P Chidambaram disclosed that the Amendments to GAAR, the controversial law against tax avoidance through foreign investments, have been finalized. He says, I have finalised the amendments to the Chapter 10A of the Income Tax Act. Now it will go to the PMO and then we should be ready with the amendments and then the GAAR rules will reflect the amended Chapter 10A. Chapter 10A of the Income Tax Act deals with taxation of investments.GAAR (General Anti-Avoidance Rules), which was proposed in 2012-13 budget with a view to preventing tax evasion, evoked sharp reactions from foreign as well as domestic investors who feared that unbridled powers to taxmen would result in harassment of investors. The government later appointed a committee headed by tax expert Parthasarthi Shome to look into their concerns. The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure on 22 November, approved the Project for Development of Single Point Mooring (SPM) and allied facilities for the import of crude oil off Veera (outside Kandla creek) in Gulf of Kutch at Kandla Port on Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis for a period of 30 years
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at an estimated cost of Rs. 621.53 crore. Kandla Port is strategically placed to function as the gateway to Western and Northern India particularly for import of crude oil. Several refineries in the North-Western India require support facilities like SPMs. The expansion of existing refineries in the Northern and Western Regions are expected to create additional demand for SPM facilities for ports on the West Coast. Kandla Port proposes to capture this incremental demand, and this project has been conceived accordingly. The SPM project will enable the Kandla Port Trust to enhance its capacity by 12 MTPA taking the total cargo handling capacity of the Port to 104 MTPA and this will also augment the energy security of the country. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 22 November has approved disinvestment of 9.50% equity of NTPC Ltd., out of its holding of 84.50% through an offer for sale of Shares through Stock Exchanges as per SEBI Rules and Regulations. After this disinvestment Government of Indias shareholding in the company would come down to 75%. The paid up equity capital of the company, as on 31st March, 2012 is Rs. 8245.46 crore. The President of India holds 84.50% of the paid up capital in NTPC Ltd. NTPC is a listed Maharatna Central Public Sector Enterprise. NTPC Ltd. is a Public Sector Enterprise under the administrative control of the Ministry of Power. NTPC is primarily engaged in business of power generation through coal based and gas based sources. The Reserve Bank of India, in its notification released directed banks not to provide loans to its customers for purchase of all types of gold, which includes primary gold, jewellery, bullion, gold coins, units of Gold Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) and units of gold mutual funds. The order was directed for discouraging people from getting involved in speculative activities. The notification from the Reserve Bank of India also directed the banks not to grant advances against gold bullion to traders or dealers, as such advances would be utilised with the purpose of offering finance for gold purchase at auctions and speculative holding of stocks and bullion. This notification allowed the banks to provide finances to the jewelers for their general working capital requirements. The decision of RBI came up in response to the suggestion of the working Group constituted after the announcement if the Monetary Policy Statement of April 2012. The working group suggested that the banks are not permitted to finance purchase of any type of gold other than the working capital. This decision of RBI came up in response to the significant growth in the imports of the gold in past few years that has created pressure on the current account deficit. The Gold imports of India in 2011-12 stood up at 60 billion dollar. A world-class Media City will come up in Hyderabad to promote animation and gaming, Andhra Pradesh's Minister for Information Technology Ponnala Lakshmaiah said on 15 November. The state government has allotted 30 acres of land for the project, which is expected to provide an entertainment technology-based ecosystem."Gaming and animation is a key sector which is coming up and to utilize the opportunity, the chief minister has given a go-ahead for a world-class Media City in Hyderabad," Lakshmaiah said while addressing eIndia 2012, billed as India's largest information and communication technology event. The minister pointed out that Hyderabad is the largest film producing centre in the country. Last year out of 289 films made in India, 180 were produced in Hyderabad, he said.The Media City initiative is aimed at tapping the huge animation and gaming market, both domestic and international. The IT minister had last month said the proposed Media City at Raidurg near Hitec City would be on the lines of international media cities in Manchester, Montreal, and Dubai. A state delegation led by the minister visited Dubai, Manchester and London from Nov 5 to 11 to gain first-hand knowledge of media cities. In Dubai, the four-member delegation visited Dubai Media City, Dubai Studio City and International Media Production Zone. The global market size for animation and gaming is expected to be $80 billion and $40 billion respectively during the current year. The market for animation and gaming development (combined) in India is estimated at $1 billion. The US and the Europe remain the biggest markets for outsourcing animation and gaming related activities. Talking about the IT and ITES as a whole, Lakshmaiah pointed out that Hyderabad ranks third globally in terms of cost of operations after Qinding in China and Subaya in Malaysia. "There is no secret why over 18 million sq ft has been taken on lease by various companies operating in Hyderabad," he said. The minister said despite the apprehensions voiced in some quarters over the growth of IT sector, 150 new units were registered during 2011-12. The city accounts for 12 percent of the total office space in India. Hyderabad is home to 1,200 IT companies including all top 500 global firms like Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Amazon, Deloitte, Accenture and IBM. The state has about 300,000 IT professionals and the sector is also providing 12 lakh indirect jobs. An Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) has also been approved in Hyderabad, which will create an employment for 15 lakh people over the next 25 years. The ITIR will be coming up with an investment of Rs.2,300 crore in external infrastructure. It
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will have 50,000 acres of IT and ITES area. Three hardware clusters are also proposed in Andhra Pradesh and they would be the first under the new policy of the central government. The President of India Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the 32nd edition of the India International Trade Fair on 14 November at Pragati Maidan,New Delhi. Addressing the function, the President said the fair has been an excellent platform for micro, small and micro enterprises (MSMEs) to showcase their products and penetrate both domestic and international markets at attractive prices. President stressed that MSMEs are a source of rural empowerment, which is one of the key objectives of Governments agenda of inclusive growth. The theme of the IITF this year is Skilling India. At the 32nd IITF, the focus state and country are Andaman Nicobar Islands and South Africa respectively. The partner state and the country are Uttarakhand and the Republic of Belarus respectively. ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar has been named as the most powerful woman in business in India for the second consecutive year by Fortune Magazine. Mallika Srinivasan of TAFE and Aruna Jayanthi of Capgemini India follow Kochhar in the second and third place, respectively.In the Fortune list of 50 most powerful businesswomen, there are six new entrants. The six new entrants this year includes Prabha Parameswaran, MD, Colgate-Palmolive India; Aisha De Sequeira, MD, Morgan Stanley India Investment Banking; Debjani Ghosh, MD, Sales & Marketing Group, Intel South Asia; Abanti Sankaranarayanan, Country Head, Diageo India; Anjali Bansal, Managing Partner, Spencer Stuart and Asha Gupta, MD, Tupperware India. The government on 15 November said it would finalise the Rs 15,000 crore-capital infusion plans for public sector banks in the next few weeks to help them enhance their capital base and increase lending capacity. The top three banks which require capital are Indian Overseas Bank, Central Bank of India and the Bank of Maharashtra. In 2010-11, the government pumped in Rs 20,157 crore for infusion in public sector banks to maintain tier I capital at 8 per cent and increase the government equity in some banks to 58 per cent. In the following fiscal, public sector banks got Rs 12,000 crore for improving their capital adequacy ratio. The implementation of the capital adequacy guidelines based on the Basel III capital regulations will begin from January 1, 2013. The guideline envisages banks to maintain a minimum total capital (MTC) of 9 per cent against 8 per cent prescribed by the Basel Committee of total risk weighted assets. The government plans to put on auction the circles that went without bids in the just concluded sale of 2G mobile phone spectrum, by March 31, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal said 16 November. The "intent" is to have the auction of spectrum in four circles, including Delhi and Mumbai, before the end of the fiscal, Sibal told a news conference here. Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the government "was not celebrating" the flopping of the auction and will continue to move forward. An Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) "will be meeting soon" to decide on the next course of action, he said. The auction, which lasted just two days, got total bids worth Rs 9,407.64 crore, just one-third of the minimum Rs 28,000 crore the government was expecting. The auction was a far cry from the 35-day bidding for the 3G spectrum in 2010 that got Rs 67,719 crore. Sibal said besides Rs 9,407.64 crore from the auction, the government will also get Rs 7,936 crore by way of one-time fee to be levied on existing telecom operators holding spectrum more than a prescribed limit. "There will be substantial net gain," Chidambaram said. A meeting of the Executive Committee on Direct Cash Transfers was held on 9 November by the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister along with the Cabinet Secretary. The purpose of the meeting was to move forward and operationalise Direct Cash Transfers for which many steps need to be taken. Based on the extensive discussions that took place and the issues raised by the participants, the following decisions were taken in the meeting. A. All departments engaged in transferring benefits to individual beneficiaries will quickly move to an electronic Direct Cash Transfer system, based on an Aadhaar Payment Bridge/ Platform. B. They will identify the schemes to move to this system and also prepare a roadmap with timelines so that the rollout is smooth and fast. The roadmap for each scheme will broadly have the following timelines: a. 51 districts - from 1 January 2013 b. 18 states - from 1 April 2013 c. 16 states - from 1 April 2014 or earlier.
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C. The list of schemes, roadmaps, and timelines will be sent to the Planning Commission and PMO by 20 November 2012 D. UIDAI will set up a dedicated cell of technical experts in UIDAI to facilitate Aaadhaar enabled Direct Cash Transfers and help individual Ministries. E. Department of Financial Services will go for universal Financial Inclusion through individual Bank Accounts for all in line with the roadmap. The Prime Minister will be holding the first meeting of the National Committee on Direct Cash Transfers on 26 November 2012 where the roadmap and timelines will be presented. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has launched its Public Data Portal (data.uidai.gov.in) for the Aadhaar project in line with the National Data Sharing & Accessibility Policy (NSDAP) 2012. The portal will enable the public to access several anonymised datasets generated in the UIDAI ecosystem. The public data portal is in consonance with the larger vision of the Government of India to make data available through data.gov.in. The UIDAI has also been sharing information about the latest developments of the project in the public domain through its website www.uidai.gov.in The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved to divest 10 percent equity in Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) out of its holding of 100 percent through an Initial Public Offer (IPO) in the domestic market as per the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Rules and Regulations. Five percent discount on the issue price will be allowed for retail investors as well as to eligible employees of HAL applying under the employees reservation portion. The paid up equity capital of the company, as on 31st March, 2012 is Rs.120.50 crore. Currently, the company is unlisted. After the divestment of 10 percent, Government of Indias shareholding in the company would come down to 90 percent. HAL is a Schedule A, Navratna Central Public Sector Enterprise under the administrative control of the Ministry of Defence. It is engaged in the designing and development of Fixed Wing Aircraft, Rotary Wing Aircraft and their systems/accessories/avionics, manufacturing of Aircraft (Fighter, Trainers and Transport), Helicopter and associated aero engines, accessories and avionics for both military and civil applications. Mr. Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group on 8 November, has announced the appointment of an independent panel of experts to conduct a review of the World Banks Doing Business report. Mr. Arun Maira, Member of The Planning Commission, Govt. of India, has been appointed as one of the ten international experts to this panel. Mr. Trevor Manuel,Minister in charge of the National Planning Commission of South Africa, would chair the panel.The other members include experts from China, Brazil, Germany, UK, and Korea. Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, welcomed the appointment of Mr. Maira to this Panel to review this important report which has become a measure of a country's ability to compete and attract investments. TheDoing Business report, now in its tenth year of publication, measures and analyzes regulations that apply to small and medium size local businesses in 185 economies. India (which ranks 132nd out of 185 countries in the 2013 edition of this report) needs to improve its regulatory framework to create a favourable business environment. The Union Government of India on 6 November 2012 decided to digitise Cable TV network in thirty eight cities, spread over 15 States, by 31 March 2013 in the second phase of digitisation.Earlier, the digitization was completed in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata on the 31October 2012, while in Chennai the deadline was extended till the 9 November 2012 by the Madras High Court. India Signs Agreements with World Bank for US$ 320 Million AID for Assam State Roads Project. The Loan and Project Agreements for World Bank (IBRD) assistance of US$ 320 million for Assam State Roads Project were signed between Government of India and the Government of Assam respectively and the World Bank in New Delhi on 5 November. The Objective of the project is to enhance the road connectivity in Assam by assisting the Public Works Road Department to improve and effectively manage its road network. The project will have three components: 1) Road Improvement. 2) Road Sector Modernization and Performance 3). Road Safety Management.The project will be implemented over a period of six years. The GAIL Gas Limited and the Rajasthan State Petroleum Corporation Limited (RSPCL) signed an agreement of Joint Venture on 5 November 2012 to lay down the natural gas supply pipeline in the state.
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Both the bodies will together formulate a long-term plan on commercial, domestic as well as industrial consumption of the gas. The agreement was signed by GAIL Gas Limited Chief Executive Officer J. Vasan and Ajitabh Sharma Managing Director of RSPCL in presence of C.K. Mathew, State Chief Secretary. The joint venture would help in supply of pollution free LPG, CNG and LNG to consumers of different categories and would also be responsible for development of the CNG stations on the road sides of the state and national highways. The project would also supply the gas required by the industrial units that is coming up on the DelhiMumbai industrial corridor. The Union Government body, Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 1 November 2012 lifted the export ban on milk products, especially on whole milk powder (WMP), dairy whitener, infant milk foods and other milk products till March 2013. In February 2011 to meet the domestic supply of Milk Products the Union government had imposed ban on export of all kinds of milk products that is skimmed milk powder (SMP), whole milk powder (WMP), dairy whitener, infant milk foods, casein and casein products. However the ban was withdrawn in for Casein in April 2012 and for Skimmed Milk Powder (SMP) in June 2012. The decision of withdrawing the export ban was taken in to consideration by CCEA after acknowledging the flush season of milk that started in October which had improved the supply of milk within the country. As per the Government Statistics, there is a stock of 1.12 lakh tonnes of milk powder in the country. As much as 300 lakh kilos of milk per day were procured in the country in September 2012 while sales were to the tune of only 260 lakh kilos per day. Out of the approximate 125 million internet user base in India, the female population accounts for almost 40%, according to a joint study by apex industry body ASSOCHAM and ComScore. The study has observed that one out of every 10 Indians is online thereby making it about 10% online user penetration in India. Among the BRIC Nations, India has been the fastest growing market adding over 18 million internet users and growing at an annual rate of 41%. India is also among the top 3 fastest growing markets worldwide in the last 12 months. China added over 14 million users to reach 336 million internet users by the end of July 2012. Russia and India show similar trends in online usage patterns along with similarities in e-Commerce and payment types. The Loan and Project Agreements for World Bank (IBRD) assistance of US$ 320 million for Assam State Roads Project were signed between Government of India and the Government of Assam respectively and the World Bank in New Delhi on 5 November. The Loan Agreement was signed by Prabodh Saxena (Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs) on behalf of Government of India and Mr. Onno Ruhl, Country Director, World Bank (India) on behalf of the World Bank. The Project Agreement was signed by Mohan Chandra Boro, Commissioner & Special Secretary, Public Works Road Department on behalf of the Government of Assam. The Objective of the project is to enhance the road connectivity in Assam by assisting the Public Works Road Department to improve and effectively manage its road network. The project will have three components: 1. Road Improvement 2. Road Sector Modernization and Performance 3. Road Safety Management. The project will be implemented over a period of six years. Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for IT & Telecom, called on President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, in Baku on 4 November. Kapil Sibal delivered greeting from the President and Prime Minister of India to the head of state of Azerbaijan. Sibal who is participating at the 7th Meeting of the Internet Governance Forum thanked President Ilham Aliyev for its organization at the highest level in Baku. Sibal said that there are big opportunities for the expansion of cooperation between the countries in the field of Information and Communication Technology. The President of Azerbaijan said he was interested in the expansion of cooperation between Azerbaijan and India in different fields, including Information and Communication Technology sector. President Ilham Aliyev stressed on the establishment of relations between the countries in many areas and also noted the importance of mutual visits for further development of these relations. The City of Hyderabad was named as World Third best city to visit in 2013 by Travel guide book Lonely Planet published. Hyderabad the capital city of Andhra Pradesh was described as "elegant and blossoming" by the Lonely Planet.The top 10 cities according to Lonely Planet to visit in 2013 are San Francisco, Amsterdam, Hyderabad, Derry/Londonderry, Beijing, Christchurch, Hobart, Montreal, Addis Ababa and Puerto Iguazu.Earlier in 2011, New York Times rated Hyderabad among the 41 top destinations to visit in the world.
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Planning Commission has given investment clearance for the scheme Khuga Multipurpose Project (Medium Revised) of Manipur. The Project is estimated to cost Rs. 433.91 Crore (2011 Price Level). The project shall be completed in the financial year 2012-13 and Plan accounts would be closed by 31st March 2013.
December
The government on 26 December, announced Rs 65 per quintal hike in the support price of wheat to Rs 1,350 per quintal and allowed additional exports of 2.5 million tonnes of wheat from its godowns to clear surplus stock and ease storage crunch. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved these two decisions in its meeting held in New Delhi. The increase in wheat MSP would enthuse farmers to cover more area under crop. Till last week, farmers have sown wheat in 25.3 million hectare, marginally lower than 25.7 million hectare in the same period last year. The CCEA also approved a proposal of the Food Ministry to allow export of an additional 2.5 million tonnes of wheat from the FCI godowns. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 26 December approved the disinvestment of 12.5 percent paid up equity capital of the Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd., that is 6,89,61,012 shares each of face value of Rs. 10/- each, out of Government of Indias shareholding of 92.5 percent, in the domestic market, as per SEBI Rules and Regulations. Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd. is a Schedule 'A' listed Mini-Ratna Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) under the administrative control of the Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers, Department of Fertilizers. It is engaged in the business of manufacturing and marketing fertilizers, industrial chemicals such as methanol, methylamines, ammonium bicarbonate, ammonium nitrate etc. from its two operating units at Trombay and Thal in Maharashtra and marketing of these products through its Zonal/ Regional Marketing/Area offices located in different States of the country. The Union Minister for Commerce, Industry and Textiles Anand Sharma announced additional incentives to boost exports in New Delhi on 26 December. These incentives came in the backdrop of the Annual Supplement of the Foreign Trade Policy announced on June 5, 2012. Sharma said that the 2% Interest Subvention Scheme on rupee export credit which is available to certain specific sectors including handicrafts, carpets, handloom, readymade garments, processed agriculture products, sports goods and toys, has been given an extension up to March 31, 2014. At present, the Scheme is scheduled to end on 31st March 2013. Along with this, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) for all sectors will now be able to avail the benefits of the Scheme. Sharma, while highlighting that the engineering sector has been a major contributor for both job creation and value addition of Indian manufacturing, extended the benefits of 2% interest subvention to certain specific subsectors of the engineering sector. He also announced the introduction of a pilot scheme of 2% Interest Subvention for Project Exports through EXIM Bank for countries of SAARC region, Africa and Myanmar. Apart from these, Sharma announced that five new countries have been added under the Focus Market Scheme while Eritrea has been added under the Special Focus Market Scheme. The five countries being added under FMS are New Zealand, Cayman Islands, Latvia, Lithuania and Bulgaria. Under FMS Duty Credit of 3 per cent is given on the FoB value of exports while inder the Duty Credit is 4 per cent. Sharma further announced that sixty new products which include Engineering, Rubber, Textiles, Drugs & Pharmaceuticals products among others, and three countries (Taiwan, Thailand and Czech Republic) have been incorporated under the Market Linked Focus Product Scheme. Under the Focus Product Scheme, Sharma said that more than 100 new products have been added from sectors including Engineering, Textiles, Chemicals, Drugs, Pharmaceuticals, Paper, Books, Publication and Printed Material. The products will be benefitted by 2 per cent Duty Credit. The Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has expressed optimism that the Indian economy will continue to grow at a healthy rate even as the global economies face recession. This, he said, is because our economy has strong fundamentals and factors such as high savings rate, growing services sector, a large middle class which continues to create demand and technical and qualified manpower and the youth. The Finance
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Minister was speaking at the National Development Council meeting in New Delhi, on 27 December. The Finance Minister said that it was imperative to contain the fiscal deficit by augmenting resources and controlling expenditure. He said that some measures may cause immediate pain but this was necessary to ensure that the fiscal deficit came down to 3 per cent in the next three years. Steps were also being taken to contain the Current Account Deficit (CAD). He said that there was need to control gold imports which contributed US $ 64 billion to the CAD. Chidambaram lauded the States for containing the fiscal deficit to 2.1 per cent of the GDP and also for generating revenue surplus of 0.75 per cent. He urged all States to adopt the Direct Benefit Transfer scheme as it provided a technology enabled platform to transfer benefits in an efficient manner directly to the people. He said that in the initial phase subsidies relating to petroleum, food and fertilizer would not be distributed through this scheme and only those schemes which are amenable will be taken up. The Direct Benefit Transfer will be a game changer and it will be a transform the way in which subsidies are managed and will be past breaking for governance, said the Minister. ITC's Deveshwar, 7 other Indians in Harvard Business Review's list of top 100 CEOs Eight Indian CEOs have made it to the list of 100 global chief executives, compiled by Harvard Business Review (HBR), with ITC's Y C Deveshwar and late Subir Raha of ONGC finding a place in the top 20. Mr. Deveshwar was first among the Indian CEOs featured in this list, and cornered the seventh place overall. Under his leadership, ITC delivered industry-adjusted shareholder returns of 1,574 per cent and saw its value increase by $45 billion. The other Indians on the list include late Subir Raha of ONGC, at 13th place, ahead of Reliance Industries' Mukesh Ambani who was ranked 28th. Larsen and Toubro's A M Naik was ranked 32nd, followed by BHEL's A K Puri (38), Bharti Airtel's Sunil Bharti Mittal (65), Jindal Steel and Power's Naveen Jindal (87) and Steel Authority of India's V S Jain (89). Meanwhile, the best-performing CEO over the past 17 years globally was Steve Jobs of Apple. From 1997 to 2011, Apple's market value increased by $359 billion, and its shareholder return experienced average compound annual growth of 35 per cent. "That remarkable accomplishment is likely to go unbeaten for a long time," HBR said. Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com was at the second place. Others in the top 10 include, Samsung Electronics' Yun Jong-Yong (3rd), followed by Vale's Roger Agnelli (4), Gilead Sciences' John C Martin (5), Hyundai Motor Company's Chung Mong-Koo (6), ITC's Y C Deveshwar (7), Simon Property Group's David Simon (8), eBay's Margaret C Whitman (9) and Cisco Systems John T Chambers (10). The highest-ranked woman on the list is Meg Whitman, currently the CEO of beleaguered HP, whose performance as the CEO of eBay from 1998 to 2008 earned her the 9th spot. Interestingly, overall, only 1.9 per cent of all the CEOs studied were women. The HBR 100 best performing CEOs in the world list, assessed the long-term performance of each CEO, from the first day on the job to the last and for CEOs still in office, until August 31, 2012. The list accessed how much total shareholder returns had changed over the tenure of the respective CEO, and the overall increase in market capitalisation. Union Government exempted Service Tax for Janashree and Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana Union Government of India on 24 December granted service tax exemption on the services of life insurance business provided under the Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana (AABY) and Janashree Bima Yojana (JBY). Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana (AABY) was launched in August 2007and it basically covers death and disability insurance for the benefit of rural landless households. The Government expects the economy to grow between 5.7-5.9 per cent in the current fiscal, which is much lower than 7.6 per cent projected in the Economic Survey. This estimate has come out in the MidYear Economic Review tabled in Parliament on 17 december. The Finance Ministry also estimates inflation to moderate to 6.8-7 per cent by March 2013. It also says that trade deficit would not be significantly higher than last year. The economy, it added, would have to record a growth rate of 6 per cent in the second half of the current financial year to reach the desired growth rate. It grew 5.4 per cent during April-September 2012-13. The Economic Survey had pegged the growth rate at 7.6 per cent for this fiscal. The economic growth rate during 2011-12 had slipped to a nine-year low of 6.5 per cent due to both domestic and global factors. Earlier, the RBI had lowered the growth rate to 5.8 per cent for 2012-13. Referring to inflation, it said, further moderation in price rise is likely to commence from the fourth quarter of the fiscal. As regards fiscal deficit, the analysis said the Government would endeavour to restrict it to 5.3 per cent of GDP against 5.1 per cent envisaged in the budget. It said agriculture is expected to improve because of better prospects with rabi crops benefiting from greater moisture content in the soil and dominance of irrigated wheat and rice crops. The document further said that most services, particularly the trade, transport, communication and financial services, will also have a better growth.
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UN Slashed World Growth Forecast to 2.4 Percent for year 2013 United Nations on 18 December 2012 slashed its global growth predictions to 2.4 percent for 2013 and 3.2 percent for the following year and warned of a lasting employment crisis for western countries. The UN's World Economic Situation and Prospects 2013 report warned that the Debt crises in Europe and the United States and a slowdown in China could all throw the world economy into recession. Earlier in the t month of June 2012 UN had predicted a growth forecast 2.7 percent for 2013 and 3.9 percent for the year after. As per the Report, With existing policies and growth trends, it is going to take at least another five years for Europe and the United States to make up for the job losses caused by the Great Recession of year 2008-2009. sThe report also predicted growth in South Asia averaging 5 percent in 2013, up from 4.4 percent in 2012, led by a moderate recovery in India. Centre mulls gold-backed schemes to curb imports Attributing the surge in gold imports to high current account deficit, the government on 17 December said it was considering schemes such as gold deposits, accumulation plans, gold-linked accounts and pension products to curb demand for the precious metal. In its mid-year economic analysis tabled in Parliament on Monday, the government said gold-backed products would help investors enjoy benefits of investment in the metal without investing in the physical commodity. Now gold backed financial instruments in the form of modified gold deposits and gold accumulation plans, besides gold-linked accounts and pension products linked with the precious metal are some measures being considered to reduce the attraction of a direct investment in bullion and jewellery in the domestic market and check a substantial rise in imports, the review said. However, gold-linked investments would have to be monitored to see whether the overall demand for the metal actually falls, it added. RBI maintains status quo on interest rates; FM skips customary statement The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) maintained status quo on interest rates despite calls from the finance ministry for measures to support growth, but the prospects of cuts beginning January have increased because of easing price pressures and signs that the fiscal situation is on the mend. RBI Governor Duvvuri Subbarao's rigid antiinflationary stance for more than a year appeared to be easing, even though he disappointed investors by not even reducing the cash reserve ratio (CRR) to ease liquidity pressures. Subbarao left the key repo rate - the rate at which RBI lends to banks - at 8%, and CRR - the proportion of deposits banks need to keep with the central bank - at 4.25% as inflation remains elevated despite signs of moderation. Parliament passes banking Bill Parliament on 20 December paved the way for corporate houses to enter the banking sector by approving the banking bill, a key reform legislation pending for long. Parliament also passed the amendments to the debt recovery laws or Sarfesi law after a reply by Finance Minister P Chidambaram on the combined discussion on the two bills in Rajya Sabha. These two Bills -- Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2012, and Enforcement of Security Interest and Recovery of Debts Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2012, -- he said, will strengthen the financial sector and help in establishing large-sized banks, besides promoting financial inclusion. We need 2-3 worldsized banks. China has three among the worlds top 20. We have none. We need more banks, he said. Banks have opened 6,489 branches in 2011-12 alone, that is around 18-19 per day. We dont have the capacity to open more branch. We need banks, he said. The Lok Sabha had already passed these two Bills. Mr. Chidambaram said the amendment was not intended to give banking licences to big corporate houses alone, but also to allow eligible public sector entities to enter the sector. The Banking Bill was approved by the Lower House earlier this week after the government dropped the controversial clause concerning allowing banks to trade in commodity futures. Referring to todays strike by bank unions against reforms, Mr. Chidambaram said he could only request the bank employees to refrain from such activities. Standard and Poor's expects India's economic growth at 6.5% in 2013 Global rating agency Standard and Poor's (S&P) has said it expects India to grow by 6.5 per cent during 2013, amidst the possibility of global economic recovery continuing during the year. For China, S&P expects the growth rate to move back to eight per cent level in 2013, after it slipped to 7.4 per cent in the third quarter of 2012. In a report on global credit outlook for 2013, S&P said that "the ball is in the policymakers' court" to sustain the recovery in global economy
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US intelligence community in its report called Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds which was released on 10 December 2012 declared that India would straddle international commerce and will also dominate the economy of the whole world by 2030. This would happen with decelerating Chinese economy as well as declining West. Indias chance of powering would begin only after 2015 as Chinas fortunes would start diminishing. By the year 2030, Asia (mainly India) would return back to its position of being the powerhouse of the world, like it was before 1500. Pakistan might not exist at all.India will rush forward after 2020 as China would begin decelerating, primarily on certain demographic trends. It was however made clear that the journey of economic development of both India as well as China will not be smooth. But if the difficulties were handled well, India as well as China would be dominating the world in 2030.The latest National Intelligence Council's (NIC) Global Trends Report was released on 10 December 2012 by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. This report is called Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds. First Global Trends Report was released back in 1997. New global trends report is being published after every four years after the U.S. presidential elections. For the production of Global Trends 2030, a range of analytical tools, in-depth research as well as detailed modeling was employed. India and the United States on 12 december have started an initiative to develop solar energy through photovoltaic (PV) projects and concentrated solar power (CSP), also known as solar thermal.This comes four months after India experienced one of the worlds biggest blackouts, which affected more than 680 million people.Titled SERIIUS (Solar Energy Research Initiative of India and the United States), the $50 million project would be conducted by the Bangalore-based Indian Institute of Science and the Washington-based National Renewable Energy Laboratory.Unlike traditional solar panels, CSP projects concentrate a large area of sunlight onto a small area of contained liquid. The liquid heats up, emits steam, and a generator converts the steam into electricity. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), on 13 December, approved a urea investment policy, which is likely to incentivise fertilizer companies to set up new plants and expand existing capacity.India imports over 30 per cent of its urea requirement and the policy aims at reducing that. But it is unlikely to have any impact on existing prices.The policy, which aims to attract fresh investment of about Rs.35,000 crore to increase domestic production by eight million tonnes, has been cleared as the previous policy failed to attract the much needed funds.Under the new policy, the government will give 12-20 per cent post-tax return on fresh capital infused by the manufacturers for setting up of new plants as well as for expansion and revamp of the existing ones.To ensure this return, the government would cover the entire cost of natural gas, which is the main feedstock of urea, and accounts for 80 per cent of the cost. The government controls the urea sector and has fixed the maximum retail price (MRP) at Rs.5,360 a tonne.The difference between the MRP and the cost of production is given as subsidy to manufacturers.The new investment policy was approved, by the Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by the then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, on February 24.However, sources said the Ministry made some changes in the draft policy after inter-ministerial consultation. It proposed covering entire cost of natural gas, while the GoM had favoured providing subsidy on gas price within the range of $6.5-14 mmBtu.The country produces 22 million tonnes of urea, against the requirement of 32 million tonnes. Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is the biggest company in terms of revenue, followed by Reliance Industries, according to the Fortune 500 list of Indian companies for 2012.This years list of the countrys 500 largest corporations, compiled by the business magazine Fortunes Indian edition, features as many as 55 new entities.IOC is the biggest company with annual revenue of Rs.4,20,287 crore, followed by Mukesh Ambani-led RIL with a full-year revenue of Rs.3,67,539 crore. Bharat Petroleum Corporation is at the third spot with a revenue of Rs.2,14,866 crore.The three firms IOC, RIL and BPCL have retained their last years respective ranks.Hindustan Petroleum Corporation is ranked fourth with annual revenue of Rs.1,87,693 crore and State Bank of India is ranked fifth with Rs.1,77,033 crore revenue.Among others in the top 10 are Tata Motors (sixth), ONGC (seventh), Tata Steel (eighth), Coal India (ninth) and Hindalco Industries (10th).The magazine said that total sales of Fortune 500 companies had grown at 23.77 per cent year-on-year.The government continued to play a big role in business, with a total of 83 state-owned firms on this years list, Fortune India said.
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Andhra Pradesh HC orders fresh scrutiny of Satyam, Tech Mahindra merger In a fresh blow to the proposed merger of Satyam Computer Services with Tech Mahindra, the Andhra Pradesh High Court has ordered a fresh scrutiny of the scheme of amalgamation and accounts of Satyam through an independent auditor. AP High Court judge PV Sanjay Kumar on 6 December passed the orders when the Official Liquidator expressed inability to offer views on the merger scheme, given the complexities around two suspense accounts in the balance sheet of Satyam involving about Rs 2,370 crore. Nearly three years after Satyam's founder Ramalinga Raju confessed to falsifying accounts at what was then India's fourth-largest software exporter and pushed it to the verge of total collapse, the company, now known as Mahindra Satyam is close to being merged with Tech Mahindra. Both Satyam and Tech MahindraBSE 0.53 % have obtained the approvals of their respective shareholders, stock exchanges, Mumbai High Court and also the Competition Commission of India. The only approval pending is from the AP High Court. The AP High Court is currently hearing objections from various parties, including certain minority shareholders on the merger swap ratios and unsecured creditors who are claiming that the company owes them Rs 1,230 crore. The minority shareholders, including IL&FS, were opposing the swap ratio and timing of the merger. According to the merger scheme approved by the majority shareholders, the shareholders of Satyam will get two Tech Mahindra shares of Rs 10 each for every 17 shares of Rs 2 each of Satyam. Moving the AP High Court, 37 entities belonging to the Raju family and IL&FS urged the court to reject the scheme of amalgamation in its current form and direct the company to obtain approvals from unsecured creditors for the proposed merger. After taking into account the submissions of the Official Liquidator on the scheme, the Court has directed for appointing an independent auditor to scrutinise the merger scheme and accounts and submit a report within four weeks. The court's orders would further delay the merger process, a Satyam spokesperson said. RBI moots photos on debit cards Debit cards will soon contain photographs of the accountholder with the Reserve Bank of India asking banks to consider incorporating photos as a security feature. Although the requirement of a photograph is not a diktat yet, banks say that RBI recommendations usually end up being a requirement for in the banking industry. However, by making this a recommendation banks are given enough time to migrate their systems to one where debit cards can be issued with photograph. Among lenders, Axis Bank has been incorporating photographs in its debit cards. Telecom Commission approved 1500 crore Rupees subsidy for BSNL The Inter Ministerial body Telecom Commission of India on 12 December 2012 gave its nod to a 1500 crore Rupees subsidy to state owned BSNL for supporting its landline operations in rural areas. The approval came in line with the TRAI recommendation which had suggested that 2700 crore rupees should be given to BSNL as operations in rural areas dont generate enough revenues. TRAI had suggested that subsidy be given in two installments-1500 crore for 2011-12 and for 2012-13 1250 crore rupees. The subsidy is going to be paid out of the Universal Service Obligation (USO) Fund. BSNL had demanded 2580 crore rupees per from the government to support its rural operations. As per the Chairman and Secretary of Telecom R Chandrashekhar, commissions recommendations have been forwarded to Department of Telecommunications (DoT). The commission also had preliminary discussions on Telecom Security Policy but did not take any decision. The government, on 2 December, decided that all foreign investments in existing domestic pharma firms should be allowed only after clearance by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), amid mounting concerns over availability of affordable essential drugs in the wake of multinationals acquiring local companies.According to sources, the decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The meeting was attended by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma and Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, among others.The source further said that any foreign company acquiring an Indian firm, which had been producing essential medicines, would have to continue to do so till the time the Competition Commission of India was empowered to vet such deals. The Supreme Court on 5 december, gave a sigh of relief to the Sahara group by directing it to deposit Rs.5,120 crore immediately and pay its investors in two instalments, the first instalment of Rs.10,000 crore in the first week of January 2013 and the balance amount, including interest, in the first week of February.A three-judge Bench of Chief Justice Altamas Kabir and Justices S. S. Nijjar and J. Chelameswar passed this order on a submission made by senior counsel Gopal Subramanimum, appearing for the Sahara group, requesting for
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more time to repay the amount to the investors money they had collected through optionally fully convertible debentures (OFCD).He told the court that Sahara India Real Estate Corporation and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation, the appellant companies, were ready with demand draft for Rs.5,120 crore and he needed more time for repaying the balance amount. The Asian Development Bank (ADB), on 7 December, cut Indias growth forecast to 5.4 per cent in 201213, barely two months after it had made a projection of 5.6 per cent growth for the Asias third largest economy. The ADB says in its supplement to the Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2012that,Indias growth forecast is revised from 5.6 per cent to 5.4 per cent in fiscal year 2012 and from 6.7 per cent to 6.5 per cent in 2012-13. This is the fourth time that the Indias economy has slowed in the recent years on the back of domestic and global factors. Three-year disclosure must for promoter share transfer: SEBI Promoters of a listed company need to have made their shareholding disclosures at least three years before any transfer of shares between themselves without triggering an open offer for public investors, SEBI has said. The capital markets regulator has said disclosure as promoters in the shareholding pattern filing is a must for at least three years to get exemption from open offer, even if the company has been listed for a shorter period of time. If the shareholding of any entity hits the 25 per cent threshold limit in a listed company, it is required to make an open offer for an additional 26 per cent shares from public shareholders of the company. However, the open offer is not triggered if the threshold is hit because of transfer of shares between two promoters who have been listed as promoter entities in the companys shareholding pattern filings for at least three years, besides some other conditions, SEBI has said. The observations have been made by SEBI in an interpretive letter sought by a company, Commercial Engineers and Body Builders Company Ltd, which has been listed on the BSE and the NSE since October 18, 2010. The Andhra Pradesh Assembly on 2 December 2012 passed Andhra Pradesh SC, ST Sub-Plans Bill 2012 providing statutory status for implementation of the sub-plans for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The legislation will ensure fund allocation proportionate to the SC and ST population and is expected to prevent diversion of sub-plan funds for other activities and not allowing them unspent. There is also a mandatory provision for allocation of almost a fourth of the States annual plan of the budget for SC, ST. The bill was introduced on the recommendations of the Cabinet Sub-Committee.The demand for according legal status to the Sub-Plans was made on states for a long time by the Planning Commission of India and National Development Council (NDC). With this, Andhra Pradesh has become the first state in India to enact such legislation.
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Science & Technology 2012

January
The prestigious 99th Indian Science Congress was inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at KIIT University Bhuwaneswar, Odisa. Noted scientist Geetha Bali, vice chancellor of Karnataka State Women's University, will preside over the event, being held on the theme of 'Science and Technology for Inclusive Innovation - Role of Women'. KIIT University and National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER) are jointly hosting the event, which will also feature the Childrens Science Congress and Women Science Congress. Former president APJ Abdul Kalam will inaugurate the Childrens Science Congress, while Nirupama Rao, Indias ambassador to United States of America, will inaugurate the Womens Science Congress. Prime Minister announced that 2010-20 decade would be declared as Decade of Innovation. President Pratibha Patil visited the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota on 2 January 2012 and inaugurated the new Mission Control Centre. The new centre has been developed with state-of-the-art facilities to meet the requirements for the launch of the Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark-III and future missions of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).The President on this occasion also presented ISRO awards for the year 2008 and 2009. The lifetime achievement award for contribution to the Indian space programme was conferred on former ISRO chairman K Kasturirangan.
February
Researchers at the Harvard Smithsonian centre for Astrophysics discovered that the planet GJ1214b was largely covered in water. They used Hubble Space Telescope to discover the water on planet. GJ1214b was discovered in 2009 by the ground-based MEarth Project. GJ1214b was described as a super-Earth. India's indigenously developed micro-light pilot-less target aircraft(PTA) Lakshya-1 was successfully test flown from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur near Balasore on 8 February 2012. Lakshya , a sub-sonic, re-usable aerial target system is remote controlled from the ground and designed to impart training to both air borne and air defence pilots. The PTA has been developed by Indias Aeronautic Development Establishment (ADE), Bangalore to perform discreet aerial reconnaissance of battle field and target acquisition.
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A new study claimed that the theory proposed by Charles Darwin on life's origin was correct. Darwin proposed that the life originated on land in a pond and not in the oceans. The study held by the researchers at the Osnabruck university in Germany found that the first primitive cells might have originated in pools of condensed vapour. This was caused by underground hot water.The scientists discovered that the oceans did not contain the best balance of ingredients to support life. DRDO on 10 February 2012 conducted a successful test launch of the interceptor missile. DRDOs Air Defence Missile AAD-05 successfully hit the ballistic missile and destroyed it at a height of 15 kms off the Coast of Orissa near the Wheelers Island. Astronomers found the fourth habitable planet outside our solar system called GJ667C. The planet is 22 light years from Earth. The newly found planet is rocky in nature. It orbits its star every 28.15 days.
March
A NASA spacecraft, Messenger in the last week of March 2012 discovered further evidence for the existence of water ice at Mercury's poles. NASAs previous work revealed patches near Mercury's poles that strongly reflect radar, a characteristic of ice. Messenger is only the second spacecraft, after Mariner 10 in the 1970s, to have visited the Mercury, which is the innermost planet in Solar system. The National Green Tribunal on 30 March 2012 suspended the environmental clearance granted to Posco's mega steel project in Orissa in January 2011. The tribunal comprising Justice C V Ramulu and D. K. Agarwal held that the clearance given to Posco's mega steel project in Jagatsinghpur district of Orissa will remain suspended till the environment ministry reviews it afresh. The Government of Niger, in the first week of March 2012, declared the whole area of the Termit Massif and Tin Toumma desert, to be a national nature and culture reserve. Significantly, the area is home to some critically endangered species. It is now the largest single protected area in Africa. It has an area of 100000 square kilometers. The Department of Atomic Energy plans to set up three more nuclear fuel complexes to meet the requirements arising out of the proposed massive expansion plan to increase the capacity of nuclear power plants to 63,000 MW by 2032, from the current level of 4,780 MW. Presently, the Department has only one such complex at Hyderabad. It produces fuel bundles and other components for all the 20 reactors in operation in the country. The first of the three additional plants would come up at Kota in Rajasthan and would be used to supply fuel to the four 700 MW Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors being built at neighbouring Rawatbhata and Kakrapar in Gujarat. The sites for the other two are yet to be finalised. To provide easily accessible and high-quality Science and Engineering education through information and communication tools, the Human Resource Development Ministry on 23 feb launched a series of virtual laboratories that will aid studies in nine disciplines. The 91 virtual laboratories will enable hundreds of experiments in nine disciplines of Science and Engineering.
April
The Supreme Court of India on 10 May 2012 directed the union government to put off its decision to reintroduce the cheetah in India. The cheetahs faced extinction in the sub-continent nearly a decade ago. The government was planning to import Cheetah from Africa, while the plan was not discussed with the National Board for Wildlife, a statutory body for the enforcement of wildlife laws in India. The court, while pronouncing
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its order, took note of the scientific studies, which showed that the Asian cheetahs and African cheetahs are completely different, both genetically and also in their characteristics. The Indian navy inducted newly built INS Teg in its fleet at the Yantar shipyard in Russia's Kaliningrad on 27 April 2012. The Southern Naval Command chief Vice Admiral K.N. Sushil at a ceremony in Kaliningrad commissioned the warship. INS Teg is a modern and contemporary warship with advanced technologies. INS Teg is the first of the second batch of Talwar-Class warships to have completed. India on 26 April 2012 launched its first indigenous all-weather Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT-1). The satellite, whose images will facilitate agriculture and disaster management, was launched successfully on board the PSLV-C19 from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. The newly launched satellite can capture images of the earth during day and night as well as in cloudy conditions. Besides use in the agriculture sector, RISAT-1 could also be used to keep round-the-clock vigil on the country's borders, but this satellite would not be used for defence applications as RISAT-2, primarily a spy spacecraft, is already doing that job. The RISAT 1 Launch is the 20th successive successful flight of PSLV. India in April 2009 had launched an imported Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT-2) with all weather capability. The satellite was bought from Israel for 110 million dollar largely for surveillance purposes. Gujarat has emerged as India's largest solar power destination. The Chief Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, dedicated 600 MW of solar power projects to the nation on 19 April. Currently, India's total solar power production is nearly 900 MW, two-thirds of which will be produced by Gujarat alone. Mr Modi launched Indias first Solar Power Park with generation capacity of 500 MW in 3,000 acres Charanka village, Randhanpur taluka, in Patan district. Currently, it has an aggregated operational capacity of 214 MW of solar power projects commissioned at a single location. India on 19 April 2012 successfully test-fired its maiden nuclear inter-continental ballistic missile ( ICBM) Agni-V. The missile successfully struck its target ranging more than 5000 kms away from its launching point. It was test-fired from a mobile launcher at the Wheeler Island off the Orissa coast in the Bay of Bengal. With the successful launch of Agni-V, India has entered into an elite group of nations (USA, Russia, China, UK and France) which has such technology. India now has acquired the capability to hit targets in China, including Beijing, Eastern Europe, east Africa and the Australian coast. Indigenously built Agni-V is 17.5m tall, solidfuelled, surface to surface, three-stage missile with a launch weight of 50 tons, which includes a 1.5 tonne warhead.The DRDO Scientists began to work on the project of Agni-V three years ago. This was the first testing of the missile. Agni-V has multiple independently targeted re-entry (MIRV) capability. Its range is over 5000 Kms. MIRV enables a missile to hit several targets in an area. The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) on 16 April 2012 banned the use of live animals in dissection and other experiments in educational and research institutions. However, the ban wont be applicable on scientists conducting new molecular research. The ban is based on the prevention of cruelty to Animals Act (1960). Ministry issued guidelines to ministry of health and family welfare, Pharmacy council of India and the Medical Council of India and the University Grants Commission. The guidelines asked colleges, hospitals, laboratories and research institutes to use alternative like computer simulation instead of animal dissection.
May
Scientists at the Tomato Genome Consortium (TGC) successfully sequenced the genomes of tomato. It will increase the vegetables production worldwide and decrease its price. Indian scientists were also the part of the research. The Department of Biotechnology funded the Indian initiative and it was supported by the Indian Council for Agricultural Research. AWARDS
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Indian author Rahul Bhattacharya, on 29 May 2012 won the prestigious Ondaatje Prize 2012 for his book The Sly Company of People Who Care. He is the first Indian author to have received this award. Bhattacharya was also conferred with the Hindu Literary Prize for Best Fiction, 2011 for the same book. The award is presented to the author who is a citizen of or who has been resident in the Commonwealth. A Russian-made Soyuz craft with three-man team blasted off from Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on 15 May 2012 for a half-year stay at the International Space Station. The crew will join the three astronauts on the orbiting laboratory. Russia is now the sole nation capable of transporting humans to the International Space Station after the withdrawal of the US shuttle. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) released its report Living Planet Report 2012 on 15 May 2012. It revealed that; Biodiversity has decreased by an average of 28 percent globally since 1970. The WWF also urged the global community to take the issue of environmental degradation seriously.A global environmental summit is to be held in the Brazilian city Rio De Janerio from 20 to 22 June 2012. The summit is expected to draw more than 50000 participants from different nations.
June
Rio+20 the U N Conference on Sustainable Development took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 20 to 22 June 2012. The conference marked the 20th anniversary of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), in Rio de Janeiro (Since the conference marked 20th anniversary of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), it was named Rio+20). The UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Sha Zukang was appointed the UN SecretaryGeneral for the Rio+20 Conference. The two-day conference was held with an objective to renew political commitment for sustainable development, assess the progress to date and the remaining gaps in the implementation of the outcomes of the major summits on sustainable development, and address new and emerging challenges. Heads of 172 States and Government have attended the conference. The themes for Rio+20 Conference were- Green economy in the context of sustainable development poverty eradication and Institutional framework for sustainable development. Eight core issues were discussed by the representatives in the summit which comprises- decent jobs, energy, sustainable cities, food security and sustainable agriculture, water, oceans and disaster readiness. The various stake holders of Rio+20 conference, agreed on seven specific committments. The committments made by the global stake holders in the summit include-1). Planting 100 million trees by 2017. 2) Greening 10000 square km of desert 3) Saving 1 Megawatt-hour of electricity per day 4) Empowering 5000 women entrepreneurs in green economy businesses in Africa5) Establishing a Masters programme on sustainable development practice6) Developing an Environmental Purchasing Policy 7) Waste Minimization & Management strategy 8) Recycling 800000 tons per year of PVC by 2020.The summit provided global leaders with a chance to develop a collective framework to meet their poverty eradication goals while not letting the environment get destructed. The summit, which came after the failure of number of conferences such as Kyoto Summit, Copenhagen Summit, widely focused on the need of sustainable development and green economy by addressing environmental degradation and building a bridge to the future. The United Nations Environment Programme released its food security report, Avoiding Future Famines: Strengthening the Ecological Basis of Food Security through Sustainable Food Systems during Rio+20 conference. The report noted that food security must be at the top of the priority list of countrys policy if the world has to provide food to its seven billion population. Indian nanotechnology scientist, Rao Papineni and his colleagues invented a cancer treatment system in which a nano-particle carries the payload of anti-cancer drug and releases it only in the cancerous cell, thus protecting healthy cells around. The newly invented system got patented in the USA on 19 June 2012.The title of the patent is High Capacity Non-Viral Vectors. Papineni is presently the chief scientist and senior principal investigator in medical applications of nanotechnology at Carestream Health, Inc USA.
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