Strategy to Double Trade with USA

The Department of Commerce has prepared a Strategy Paper for doubling India’s merchandise exports over the period 2011-12 to 2013-14 from US $ 246 billion in 2010-11 to US $ 500 billion in 2013-14. The paper is available on the Department’s website (www.commerce.nic.in).

An aggressive product promotion strategy for high value items that have a strong manufacturing base is the main focus of the overall growth strategy. The core of the market strategy is to retain presence and market share in traditional markets, move up the value chain in providing export products in the developed country markets; and open up new vistas, both in terms of markets and new products in these new markets. In the area of technology upgradation and R&D, the sectors of focus are pharmaceuticals, electronics, automobiles, computer and software based smart engineering, environmental products etc. Department of Commerce is working with the relevant stakeholders to effectively implement the Strategy.

Department of Commerce in its annual supplement to Foreign Trade Policy on 13.10.2011 announced certain sector specific and country specific measures under the schemes such as Special Bonus Benefit Scheme, Special Focus Market Scheme, Focus Product Scheme and Market Linked Focus Product Scheme. ‘Niryat Bandhu’ Scheme for international business mentoring to boost exports has also been introduced. In addition, to give boost to the apparel exports, it has been decided to extend Market Linked Focus Product Scheme to USA and EU. Firozabad, Bhubaneswar, and Agartala have been notified as towns of export excellence.

It is a constant endeavour of the Government to enhance trade with our trade partners for mutual benefit. In this context, India has been taking various initiatives like Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreements (CECA), Free Trade Agreements (FTA), Preferential Trade Agreements (PTA) etc. with different countries.

Set Up of Textile Industry by Farmers

In order to boost modernization and technology upgradation, Government has launched the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme and the Scheme for Integrated Textile Parks with a total allocation of Rs.15404 crore and Rs. 1419 crore respectively in the 11th Five Year Plan.

In order to protect the interests of the farmers, every year Government fixes the MSP on the basis of the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).Accordingly, taking into consideration recommendation of the CACP the support price during 2011-12 for medium staple length cotton has been fixed at Rs. 2800/- per quintal and for long staple at Rs. 3300/- per quintal. MSP for raw jute has been fixed for Rs. 1675/- per quintal for the year 2011-12.

Amendment to Apprentice Act, 1961

The following amendments are under consideration of the Government.

(i)    Implementation of apprenticeship training scheme in those organisations which are operating business/trade in more than four States, will rest with Central Government.

(ii)  Employers who are ‘proven’ willful defaulters of serious violations be subject to imprisonment. Penalty should be provided for in cases of minor violations.

(iii) Change in the definition of ‘worker’.

(iv) Preference would be given in the employment to those apprentices who have been trained by a particular industry when job opportunities open up in that particular industry or firm.

Inter ministerial consultation has been completed and proposal is being sent to cabinet secretariat for consideration.

Certain amendments to Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, including the proposal to ban all form of child labour upto the age of 14 years are under consideration of the Government.

Carpet weaving, handloom, zari etc. are already included in the list of 18 occupations and 65 processes where children below 14 years are prohibited from working.

There is currently no proposal under consideration in the Ministry of Labour & Employment to change the existing definition of Child Labour.

This information was given by Minister of Labour and Employment Shri Mallikarjun Kharge in reply in reply to a written question whether the Government proposes to ban child labour completely in all the trades and processes in the country; the details of policy initiatives that have been taken/proposed to be taken in this regard; the likely impact on handicrafts, weavers, carpet and other such industries which are dependent on child labour and the manner in which the Government plan to compensate these industries; and whether there is a proposal for revision in the definition of child labour to bring uniformity in all laws and recognize all working children up to 18 years as child labour.

The Pension Implementation Committee, a sub committee of the Central Board of Trustees, Employees’ Provident Fund [CBT (EPF)], has recommended that the minimum monthly pension under EPS, 1995 be increased to Rs. 1000/- per month as an interim measure. The issue was placed for consideration of the CBT(EPF) in its 198th meeting held on 22.02.2012 wherein the Board decided to defer the discussion.

As on 31st March, 2011, the number of employees getting pension benefits from the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation is 36,00,089.

This information was given by Minister of Labour and Employment Shri Mallikarjun Kharge in reply in reply to a written question whether there is a proposal toprovide fixed minimum pension to all the employees who are covered under Employees' Provident Fund Organisation(EPFO); if so, the details thereof alongwith the minimum amount the Government is planning to give to the pensioners; whether the Government has decided to revise the existing scheme in view of the demands of the workers for a reasonable hike in their EPF pension; the time by which the enhanced pension is likely to be disbursed; and the number of employees who are getting pension benefits from the EPFO at present?

Skill Development Mission

Government  launched a National Skill  Development Mission in the Eleventh Five Year Plan with a following three tier structure:

(i)Prime Minister’s National Council on Skill Development under the chairmanship of Hon’ble Prime Minister, for policy direction and review of skill development efforts in the country.

(ii) National Skill Development Coordination Board (NSDCB) under the chairmanship of Deputy Chairman Planning Commission to enumerate strategies to implement the decisions of PM’s council.

(iii) National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), a not- for-profit company under the Companies Act, 1956. The corporation is being funded by the trust “National Skill Development Fund” to which the Government has contributed a sum of Rs.1495.10 crore. So far, four meetings of the PM’s Council  have been held to review the skill development efforts under the mission Seven meetings of the NSDCB have been held  in which reports of following  5 working Groups set up by the Planning Commission on various aspects of skill development have been discussed and various other decisions taken:

• Remodeling India’s apprenticeship scheme,
• Vision for Vocational Education and Vocational Training,
• Improvement in Accreditation and Certification Systems,
• Reorienting Curriculum on continuous basis, and
• Establishing institutional mechanism for providing access to information of skill inventory and skill map on real time basis

Till 29^th February, 2012 NSDC has approved 52 proposals involving a total financial commitment of about Rs. 1214 crore. Out of this, Rs. 179.36 crore have been disbursed. Number of persons actually trained so far is 104712.

The composition of the  PM’s National Skill Development Council is given at Annex and functions  are as under :

i. Lay down overall broad Policy objectives, strategies, financing and governance models to promote skill development ;

ii. Review  progress of activities relating to skill development periodically and provide  mid-course corrections, including changes in part or whole of current schemes under implementation;

iii. Orchestrate Public Sector/Private Sector initiatives in a framework of a collaborative action

Following major decisions have been taken by the council for developing skills among    India’s youth and for labourers in various parts of the country:

i) Formulation of vision, strategy and core operating principles to guide the action for creating 500 million skilled persons by year 2022.

ii) Clearance of the National Policy on Skill Development which provides a road map for Skill development efforts in the country.

All the major schemes of Skill Development are implemented through active participation of respective  Departments of State Governments. Non- Governmental Organisations (NGOs) are also being involved to run skill development programmes of Government Departments / Ministries.

State–wise status of skill requirement and availability in major sectors is not available. However,National Policy on Skill Development has indicated requirement of 81-83 million skilled workforce by 2015 in sectors namely Auto, Construction, Retail, Healthcare, Banking & Financial services, Creative Industry and Logistics. Policy has also indicated incremental human resource requirement till 2022 as 300 million in sectors, namely, Mines and Minerals, construction, Engineering, Banking and Finance, Drugs and Pharma, Biotech, Healthcare, Textiles, IT and ITIs, Tourism, Agro and Food Processing, Paper and Chemical & Fertilizers.

This information was given by Minister of Labour and Employment Shri   Mallikarjun Kharge  in reply in reply to a written question regarding the details and status of the Skill Development Mission undertaken by the Government during the Eleventh Plan alongwith the amount spent on this Mission so far; whether the Government has formed a National Skill Development Council to form core strategies for developing skills among India’s youth and for labourers in various parts of the country; if so, the details of the council thereof alongwith the different strategies of the council with regard to train such people; the involvement of State Government and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in such programme; and the present State–wise status of skill requirement and availability in major sectors?

MGNREGS under RSBY

The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), providing for smart card based cashless health insurance cover of Rs. 30000/- per annum per family ( a unit of five) to BPL families in the unorganized sector, has been extended to such Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) beneficiaries who have worked more than 15 days during the preceding financial year.

The premium is shared between Central and State Government in the ratio of 75:25 and in case of States in North Eastern Region and Jammu & Kashmir, the ratio of sharing of premium is 90:10. The beneficiaries are required to pay registration/ renewal fee of Rs. 30 per annum only.

The numbers of beneficiaries under RSBY, Health insurance scheme for handloom weavers, Rajiv Gandhi Shilpi Swasthaya Bima Yojana (RGSSBY) for handicraft artisans, Universal Health Insurance Scheme (UHIS) are at Annexure- I to IV respectively.

The RSBY has also been extended to building and other construction workers registered under the Building and other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Condition of Service) Act, 1996 and street vendors, beedi workers and domestic workers. It is the endeavour of the Government to extend RSBY to other occupational groups in the unorganized sector in a phased manner.

This information was given by Minister of Labour and Employment Shri Mallikarjun Kharge in reply in reply to a written question a)whether the Government is planning to bring Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) workers under Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY); if so, the details thereof; the premium, required to be paid by the workers under the revised scheme; the number of workers from unorganised sectors benefited from various health insurance schemes so far during the last three years, State-wise including Uttarakhand; and whether there is any proposal to provide health insurance to all citizens for basic health under the scheme; and the steps taken by the Government to cover more such workers under the RSBY?

The Government proposes to set up 67 new Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) in different States and Union Territories during 12th Plan.

Presently 610 Krishi Vigyan Kendras are functioning in the country to assess, refine and demonstrate agricultural technologies; to provide training to farmers; and to make them aware of latest agricultural technologies through extension programmes.

The location of new KVKs has been identified. As per the proposal, 10 new KVKs will be established in Rajasthan, followed by 9 in J&K, 5 in Assam, 4 each in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal. Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh will get 3 KVKs each. Two KVKs each will be set up in Daman & Diu, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Pondicherry. One KVK each is planned for Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra.

The total installed capacity of grid connected solar power in the country is reported to be 503.9 MW so far. The capacity addition during years 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12 is 8.1 MW, 25.1 MW and 468.3 MW, respectively.

The total investment for grid connected solar power projects is estimated to be about Rs. 6,000 crores at an average cost price of Rs. 12.0 crore per megawatt capacity.

The solar power projects are installed on build, own and operate basis, and the solar project developer is paid solar tariff for the power injected into the grid. No data on the amount of loans granted by financial institutions to developers is provided to the Ministry.

11th Plan target of 78,700 MW was revised to 62,374 MW during Mid-term Appraisal of the plan by Planning Commission. The reasons for scaling down the target included delay in placement orders for main plant and civil works, contractual disputes between project developers and the contractors /vendors, delay in land acquisition, environmental concerns, flash flood and difficult climatic conditions.

As far as capacity addition through renewable energy, during current 11th plan period, the target of 12, 380 MW has been achieved.

Carbon Emission Norms

The European Union (EU) has included emissions from international civil aviation in their emissions trading scheme with effect from January 1, 2012, following which all airlines including Indian Airlines, flying into and out of EU will be subject to a limit on emissions and will have to buy emissions permits up to a certain limit.

The Minister of State (I/C) of Environment and Forests Smt. Jayanthi Natarajan replied this to a question in Lok Sabha today. She added that exemption under the scheme arepermitted only for those foreign airlines that operate at a frequency of two flights per week or less. The EU measure is likely to result, on a conservative estimate, in an additional cost to an extent of Euros 6-8 per passenger for a flight from India to Europe and vice versa.

The Minister informed the House that India considers the step taken by EU as a unilateral measure and in violation of the Chicago Convention and the provisions of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The Government has expressed its serious concerns to the European Union on this unilateral measure both at multilateral and bilateral level. India is a party to the joint declarations issued in Delhi and Moscow by a group of like-minded member states of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) that are opposed to the EU’s decision.

The Minister revealed that the joint declaration issued in Moscow suggests a basket of measures that may be taken by the concerned country against EU measures. The basket of measures includes invoking dispute resolution mechanism under the Chicago Convention, prohibiting the airlines from participating in the EU’s scheme, submission of data/flight details and reviewing the bilateral air services agreements.

Rehabilitation of Asiatic Lions

The Kuno-Palpur sanctuary is found to be the most suitable site for relocation of Asiatic Lions from Gir forests, Gujarat. The Minister of State (I/C) for Environment & Forests Smt.Jayanthi Natarajan stated in Lok sabha today that wildlife Institute of India carried out a survey for identifying potential sites for relocation of Asiatic lions to alternative areas outsideGir, Gujarat. Three sites, namely Darrah Wildlife Sanctuary, JawaharSagar Sanctuary, and Sitamata Wildlife Sanctuary in Rajasthan and Kuno-Palpur Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh were identified for lion introduction. Out of these four, Kuno-Palpur Sanctuary was found to be the most suitable site on account of its area, shape and vegetation.  In its report submitted in 1995, the Wildlife Institute of India recommended the following actions to be taken up before relocating lions to the area:

(i) Complete acceptance of the proposal for lion relocation by the concerned State Governments, as well as the Central Government;

(ii) Initiating an awareness and eco-development scheme in the Kuno-Palpur area to elicit support and participation of location community to the relocation of lions;

(iii) Establishment of the Kuno National Park over an area of approximately 700 sq. km. involving translocation of all human settlements from the National Park area and stoppage of livestock grazing therein;

(iv) Establishing a special team of adequately trained forest department personnel to implement the scheme and to ensure adequate protection to the area;

(v) Undertaking habitat improvement measures including weed removal, and enhancing the availability and distribution of water;

(vi) Augmentation of the resident wild ungulate population by additional release of chital and nilgai to build up an adequate prey base for the reintroduced lions.

Smt. Natarajan added that The Ministry of Environment and Forests has so far released an amount of Rs. 1545.00 lakh to the State Government of Madhya Pradesh for rehabilitation of 1545 families from the Kuno-Palpur Sanctuary. An amount of Rs. 168.435 lakhs has been released during the last three years to the State Government of Madhya Pradesh to take up various measures for improvement of habitat and management of the Sanctuary. The Minister however clarified that no specific time limit has been fixed for the relocation of lions.

“Evolve Own Strategy for Self Reliance”

The Defence Minister Shri AK Antony has called upon the DRDO to take a relook at the goal of self-reliance in a globalized economy.

“Today, we are again standing at the crossroads, where the imperative need for modernization in a globalized environment is exerting pressure on the very essence of ‘Self Reliance’. In such a scenario, we need to evolve our own strategy for ‘Self Reliance in 21st Century’,” Shri Antony said, in his inaugural address to the 36th DRDO Directors’ Conference here today.

Shri Antony stressed on the need to meet the timelines of the three Services. “No doubt, there may be a few legitimate reasons for the delay, but we must make every effort to strictly adhere to timelines. DRDO can win the confidence and trust of the Users, i.e., our Armed Forces, only if it meets timelines and delivers the best and the latest equipment and weapon systems,” he said.

The Defence Minister underlined the need for synergy between the DRDO and the Services. “The single most important facet of your operations must be the DRDO-User relation. Both the Services and DRDO must increase their synergy, while finalizing developmental projects and strategies. Secondly, I would like our Armed Forces to actively participate in development programmes, both in management, as well as implementation to ensure that more indigenous systems are inducted,” he said.

Shri Antony said the government recently approved technology acquisition through offsets. “We must leverage offsets to bring in critical technologies to provide a further boost to our existing capability. Today, there is enough space in our defence industry for both the Public and Private sectors to do business. We must ensure active participation of all stakeholders, including Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in defence production,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion the Chairman of the Standing Committee of Parliament on Defence Shri Satpal Maharaj noted with satisfaction that the share of R&D in the Defence Budget has risen to 6 per cent from 1 per cent in the 1960s. The Standing Committee had recommended 10 per cent as compared to 15 per cent being invested by certain countries in our neighbourhood, he added.

The National Security Adviser Shri Shivshankar Menon asked the DRDO scientists to “avoid reinventing the wheel” and instead focus on reducing critical dependency on foreign suppliers in specialized sectors like defence electronics.

The Chief of Naval Staff and Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee Admiral Nirmal Verma noted that self-reliance in defence industry still remained elusive. “Achievement of total self-reliance in a globalised world is neither affordable nor practicable. To my mind it could be far better to aim for optimum self-reliance”, he added.

Voicing concern on delays, the Defence Secretary Shri Shashikant Sharma said that it has resulted in lag in technology with the role of self-reliance taking a severe beating. He said that in a bid to give boost to R&D, the Transfer of Technology (ToT) will soon be a part of the offset component of defence contracts.

The Scientific Advisor to Raksha Mantri, Secretary, Deptt of Defence R&D and DG DRDO, Dr. VK Saraswat called for the setting up of the Defence Technology Commission and a bigger role for DRDO in picking up the production partner post-development stage of products developed by the DRDO. He said that the first flight of the Agni-V missile is likely to take place next month.

Defence Production Policy

Purchase of Trainer Aircraft

Consequent upon the grounding of HPT-32 aircraft due to flight safety concerns and shifting of basic flying training to Kiran Mk-I/IA aircraft, the syllabus for basic flying training has been reduced, keeping the available resources in mind. However, flying hours have been increased in other stages of flying to ensure wholesome training.

A proposal is being progressed for the procurement of 75 Basic Trainer Aircraft from M/s Pilatus Aircraft Limited, Switzerland.

There has been no delay in acquiring Advanced Jet Trainers (AJTs).

The Hawk-132 Advanced Jet Trainer has been selected for the Indian Air Force. A total of 106 Advanced Jet Trainer aircraft are being inducted into the Indian Air Force.

The delivery of the basic trainer aircraft from M/s Pilatus Aircraft Limited, Switzerland is scheduled to commence 15 months from signing of the contract.

Acquisition of Fleet Tanker

Indian Navy awarded a contract for acquisition of a fleet tanker to foreign shipyard.Steel offered by the shipyard, M/s Fincantieri, in response to Request for Proposal (RFP) for construction of Fleet Tanker, was technically evaluated by a Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC). Based on technical clarifications offered by the shipyard, which were ratified by two classification societies, the steel offered by the shipyard was accepted by the TEC for the stated purpose.

In order to ascertain reasonability of cost, the Contract Negotiation Committee (CNC) undertook costing for the tanker based on two separate costing models. Taking into account both the costing models, the CNC considered the cost quoted by M/s. Fincantieri of Euro 127.26 Million (Rs.747.65 crore) as the basic cost of the ship to be reasonable.

Submarine Fleet of Navy

The existing submarine fleet is being constantly upgraded with modern weapons and sensors which has ensured that the underwater combat capacity of the country remains at the desired levels.

Six Scorpene submarines are being constructed under Project-75 at M/s Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL), Mumbai under Transfer of Technology (ToT) from M/s DCNS, France.

Government approval for construction of the six submarines at M/s MDL under Project-75 was accorded in September, 2005 at a total cost of Rs.18,798crore. The contract was signed in October, 2005. The Government approval for revision in cost of the project to Rs.23,562crore was accorded in February, 2010, along with revision in delivery schedule.

The original delivery schedule of the first submarine was December, 2012 and remaining submarines were to be delivered with a gap of one year each. Consequent to the approval of Government for revision is cost and delivery schedule, the delivery schedule of the first submarine has been revised to June, 2015 and that of the last (6th) submarine to September, 2018. The delay in construction of Scorpene submarines is attributable to initial teething problems in absorption of new technology, delay in augmentation of Industrial Infrastructure at MDL and delay in procurement of MPM items by MDL due to their high cost as compared to the earlier indicated cost. Most of the teething problems have been resolved and various plans have been put in place to minimize delays.

As part of the TOT for the six submarines under construction at MDL, Mumbai, a Technical Data Package has been provided by the Collaborator. This will enable attainment of significant indigenous competence in submarine construction, especially in the field of hull fabrication, outfitting, system integration etc. by the end of the programme

No pact has been signed between India and China to tackle piracy. However, India, China and Japan have recently agreed for better coordination amongst their Naval ships deployed for escort of Merchant ships in the Gulf of Aden

There are no plans to sign such pacts. Nevertheless, the security and surveillance apparatus for coastal defence has been enhanced over the years. Further, strengthening of the coastal security apparatus is an ongoing process considering the needs and changing security scenario as well as the threat perception.

Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has been entrusted with construction/improvement of 499 roads under various schemes with different time frames of completion; Long Terms Perspective Plan-II's schedule of completion is 2022. Lack of air effort by helicopter for mobilization of resources, delay in forest/wild life clearance, restricted working period and adverse ground conditions are the major factors that affected improvement of infrastructure in border areas.
Following steps have been taken to expedite completion of work:

• Regular monitoring of forest clearance cases, establishment of single window system at district, State and Ministry of Environment & Forest (MoEF) levels, simplification of form for use of one form for both forest and wild life clearances have resulted in expeditious forest clearance of these roads.

• Air effort availability has been increased through close coordination with IAF.

• Modern machineries/equipment havebeen approved for procurement. Allotment has been increased and also an equipment bank has been created exclusively to expedite works.

• Four new Projects have been inducted.

• Outsourcing have been allowed to augment capacity of BRO This information was given by Minister of Defence Shri AK Antony in a written reply to Prof. Sk. SaidulHaque, Shri P. Karunakaran and others in Lok Sabha today.

Military Base in Lakshadweep

Establishment and/or augmentation of military base in Union Territory of Lakshadweep is based on analysis and assessment of the threat perception to coastal security and merchant shipping, as well as requirement from strategic perspective. This is an ongoing and continuous process. Presently a naval detachment is operational at Kavarathi Island.

Salary to Trainees

The cadets undergoing their pre-commission training at the various training academies get a fixed stipend of Rs.21,000 per month for the last one year of training before commissioning. This stipend is converted to pay for all purposes on successful completion of training and the arrears of the allowances admissible are paid. The VI Central Pay Commission did not agree to the Services' demand to grant provisional commission in the last year of training with full pay and allowances and all attendant benefits of the commissioned rank as successful completion of pre-commissiontraining is a pre-requisite for the grant of commission in the Defence Forces.

Water Level of Siang River

Central Water Commission maintains river water level and discharge data at Tuting in Upper Siang District near border to Tibet Autonomous Region, China. Based on the available river data, it is stated that there is no fall in Siang River flows near the point of entry of river Siang in India.

The analysis of Siang River flows at Tuting for January and February months of preceding five years (2007-2011) shows that the average monthly flows in January/ February, 2012 are at least 50 to 150 % higher than the corresponding average monthly flows during the previous years.

Government of India keeps a constant watch on all developments in China having bearing on India’s interest and takes necessary measures to protect them. In this regard, in October, 2011, Vice Minister of Chinese Ministry of Water Resources also stated that the Chinese Government has no plan to conduct any diversification project on Yarlung Zangbo River. Government has ascertained that construction activity on Brahmaputra river at Zangmu on the Chinese side is a Run of the River hydro electric project, which does not store water and will not adversely impact the downstream areas in India.

Rivers Interlinking Project

The Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR) (erstwhile Ministry of Irrigation) had formulated a National Perspective Plan (NPP) for Water Resources Development as early as 1980 envisaging inter-basin transfer of water from surplus basins to deficit basins/areas which comprises  two components, namely, Himalayan Rivers Development Component and Peninsular Rivers Development Component. The National Water Development Agency (NWDA) was set up under the Ministry of Irrigation in 1982 for carrying out various technical studies to establish the feasibility of the proposals of NPP and to give concrete shape to it. NWDA has already identified 14 links under Himalayan Component and 16 links under Peninsular Rivers Component.  Out of these, Feasibility Reports of 14 links under Peninsular Component and 2 links under Himalayan Component (Indian portion) has been prepared. The present status of links identified for preparation of Feasibility Reports is given at

Five Peninsular links namely (i) Ken – Betwa, (ii) Parbati – Kalisindh – Chambal, (iii) Damanganga – Pinjal, (iv) Par – Tapi – Narmada & (v) Godavari (Polavaram) - Krishna (Vijayawada) have been identified as priority links for taking up their Detailed Project Reports (DPRs). DPR of one priority link namely Ken-Betwa has been completed and was communicated to the party states. Modifications of the proposals and final Detailed Project Report preparation have been taken up by NWDA in light of observations of the concerned states. The Ken-Betwa link project has been included in the scheme of National Projects.

The NWDA has received 36 proposals of intra-state links from 7 States viz. Maharashtra, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Orissa, Bihar, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.  Out of these, Pre-Feasibility Reports (PFRs) of 20 intra-state links have been completed by NWDA.  The details  of intra-state link proposals received from the State Governments along with their status and target for completion of their PFRs is given at Annexure-II.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Water Resources & Minority Affairs Shri Vincent H. Pala in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today pertaining to river interlinking projects. He said the certified copy of the recent direction of the Supreme Court on the subject has so far not been received in the Ministry of Water Resources.

ANNEXURE-I

STATUS OF   WATER TRANSFER LINKS IDENTIFIED FOR PREPARATION OF FEASIBILITY REPORTS (FR) BY NWDA

Peninsular Rivers Development Component

1. Mahanadi (Manibhadra) - Godavari (Dowlaiswaram) link - FR completed

2. Godavari (Polavaram) - Krishna (Vijayawada) link * - FR completed (Taken by   the   state as per   their own proposal)

3. Godavari (Inchampalli) - Krishna ( Pulichintala) link - FR completed

4. Godavari (Inchampalli ) - Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) link - FR completed

5. Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) - Pennar (Somasila ) link  - FR completed

6. Krishna (Srisailam) - Pennar  link  - FR completed

7. Krishna (Almatti) - Pennar link - FR completed

8. Pennar (Somasila) - Cauvery (Grand Anicut) link - FR completed

9. Cauvery (Kattalai) – Vaigai – Gundar link - FR completed

10. Parbati – Kalisindh – Chambal link* - FR completed

11. Damanganga – Pinjal  link* - FR com­pleted & DPR started

12. Par – Tapi – Narmada link* - FR completed & DPR started

13. Ken – Betwa link* - DPR (Phase-I) Completed

14. Pamba – Achankovil – Vaippar link  - FR completed.

15. Netravati - Hemavati Link  - PFR completed

16. Bedti - Varda link  - FR work taken up

Himalayan  Rivers Development Component

1. Kosi-Mechi link  - Entirely lies in Nepal

2. Kosi-Ghaghra link - S&I works taken up

3. Gandak-Ganga link - S&I works completed

4. Ghaghra-Yamuna link - FR completed (for Indian portion)

5. Sarda-Yamuna link - FR completed (for Indian portion)

6. Yamuna-Rajasthan link - S&I works completed

7. Rajasthan-Sabarmati link  - S&I works completed

8. Chunar(at Ganga)-Sone Barrage link - S&I works completed

9. Sone Dam - Southern Tributaries of Ganga link - S&I works taken up

10. Manas-Sankosh-Tista-Ganga (M-S-T-G) link - S&I works taken up

11. Jogighopa(at Brahmaputra) -Tista-Ganga at Farakka (Alternate to M-S-T-G) link - S&I works taken up

12. Ganga (Farakka)-Sunderbans link  - S&I works completed

13. Ganga-Damodar -Subernarekha link - S&I works completed

14. Subernarekha -Mahanadi link  - S&I works completed

*    Priority links

PFR- Pre-Feasibility Report; FR- Feasibility Report; DPR- Detailed Project Report

S&I - Survey & Investigation in Indian portion

ANNEXURE-II

STATUS OF INTRA-STATE LINK PROPOSALS RECEIVED FROM THE STATE GOVERNMENT

* Targets being fixed in consultations with concerned states.

@ PFR prepared and sent to the State governments for comments

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has announced the annual awards and commendation certificates for the seventeenth prestigious Rajiv Gandhi National Quality Awards for the year 2010.

The Best of All Awards has been won by Vikram Cement Works (A unit of Ultratech Cement Limited), Khor, Madhya Pradesh. The other category award winners include Ashok Leyland Limited, Bhandara, Maharashtra (Large Scale Manufacturing Industry); Kudale Instruments Private Limited, Pune, Maharashtra (Small Scale Manufacturing Industry); and Chaitanya Hospital, Chandigarh, Punjab (Small Scale Service Industry).

In addition to these awards, ten organizations have been selected for commendation certificates under various categories.

The award winners and recipients of commendation certificates were selected from a total of 64 applicants from various sectors following vigorous evaluation by a group of qualified and trained professionals from different spheres of intellectual activity. Awards would be presented by Prof. K.V. Thomas, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution in a ceremony scheduled to be held later on.

The awards, given annually, were instituted by the Bureau of Indian Standards in the year 1991 with a view to encouraging Indian manufacturing and service organizations to strive for excellence and giving special recognition to those, who are considered to be the leaders of quality movement in India.

Public Sector Units to be at par with Private

Sector Companies in Grant of Mineral Concessions

The High Level Committee constituted by the Planning Commission has recommended that PSUs of the Central and State Governments be treated at par with private sector companies in grant of mineral concessions, and reservation provisions for PSUs for exploration and mining should be modified so as to limit the scope of such reservation to meet the requirements of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) for raw material. The Government has introduced a draft Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Bill 2011 in Lok Sabha on 12th December 2011, presently referred to the Standing committee on Coal and Steel, which provides for reservation of mineral bearing areas for purpose of conservation, and giving weightage in grant of prospecting licence or mining lease in notified area to such applicants who have committed ore linkage through long term agreements with domestic industry (including SMEs).

National Tribal Awards, 2011-12 Announced

Smt. M.C. Mary Kom from Manipur will be conferred the National Tribal Awards, 2011-12 as the Best Janjatiya Achiever for outstanding achievement in the field of sports and Shri Guru Rewben Mashangva from Manipur for outstanding contribution in the field of tribal art and culture in category-A. Smt. Binny Yanaga (Maya) would be awarded for Exemplary Community Service rendered to the Scheduled Tribes in category-B.

The National Selection Committee (NSC) headed by Minister, Tribal Affairs & Panchayati Raj, Shri V. Kishore Chandra Deo in the meeting held this month selected the awardees. In Category ‘A’ - Best Janjatiya Achiever carries cash prize of Rs. 2.00 lakhs, a citation and a trophy and Category ‘B’ award carries cash prize of Rs. 5.00 lakhs, a citation and a trophy.

The Awards will be conferred to the recipients during the National Tribal Festival – Prakriti to be inaugurated on 20th March, 2012 at 7 pm in Siri Fort Auditorium.

Agreement Between India and Tunisia

A Cooperation Agreement in the field of small and medium-sized enterprises was signed on February 2, 2007 in Tunis (Tunisia) between the Governments of the Republic of Tunisia and India for promoting cooperation in the field of MSME. As per Article-5 of the Agreement, a Joint Committee from the Indian side has been constituted and communicated to Tunisia through Ministry of External Affairs. The composition of the Joint Committee from Indian side is:-

The Ministry of MSME has not received any formal composition of the Joint Committee from Tunisia.  However, representative from the Tunisian Ministry of Industry, Energy and SMEs and representative from Industry Promotion Agency (API) along with others have attended the 1^st and 2^nd meeting of Joint Committee held so far as per Article-6 of the said Agreement. 1^st Joint Committee Meeting (JCM) was held on April 8, 2008 in New Delhi and 2^nd Joint Committee Meeting (JCM) was held during September 30, 2009 and October 1, 2009 in Tunisia.  Tunisian side designated their Director General of Tunisian Ministry of Industry, Energy and SMEs as Tunisian focal point and head of the Tunisian party in the mentioned Committee.

Welfare Schemes for Women in MSMEs

The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) has been implementing a number of schemes in the country, including in Andhra Pradesh, through Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) and Coir Board for the holistic development of the khadi and village industries and coir sectors and for persons engaged therein, including women. Women are covered in all schemes. However, special dispensation is provided for women under the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), which is a credit linked subsidy programme for providing assistance including margin money subsidy to unemployed persons for setting up micro-enterprises in the non-farm sector. For general category the margin money subsidy is 25% and 15% in rural and urban areas respectively, but for women (and others in the special category) this is 35% and 25% respectively. Also, the beneficiary’s contribution is 10% for general category, but for women (and others in the special category) this is 5%. In the coir sector, the Mahila Coir Yojana, wherein motorized ratts are provided at 75% of the cost, is meant exclusively for women.

Expansion of Micro and Small Industries

The Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) is a major credit-linked subsidy programme being implemented by the Ministry of MSME aimed at generating self-employment opportunities through establishment of micro-enterprises in the non-farm sector. The number of units assisted per year under PMEGP has increased from 25,507 units in 2008-09 to 1,53,277 units in 2011-12 (as on 29 February 2012).

Electricity for All

The Government of India launched ‘Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana – Programme for creation of Rural Electricity Infrastructure & Household Electrification, in April 2005 envisaging providing access to electricity to rural households. So far, 576 projects covering electrification of 1.10 lakh un/de-electrified villages, intensive electrification of 3.49 lakh partially electrified villages and providing free electricity service connections to 2.31 crore BPL households have been sanctioned under RGGVY. Cumulatively, as on 29.02.2012, the electrification works in 1.03 lakh un/de-electrified villages, intensive electrification of 2.44 lakh partially electrified villages have been completed and more than 1.86 crore electricity service connections to BPL households have been released in the country under RGGVY. The State-wise targets and achievement for the sanctioned projects under RGGVY, is at Annex. The Bharat Nirman targets i.e. electrification of 1 lakh villages and 1.75 crore BPL households by March, 2012 set under RGGVY have been achieved.

Under RGGVY, all projects covering all the districts of Odisha and Jharkhand have been sanctioned. Recently, under Phase-II of RGGVY, Twenty Two (22) supplementary projects for 22 districts of Uttar Pradesh covering left out villages and hamlets/tolas/majras have also been sanctioned. Similarly, eight (8) supplementary projects for 8 districts of Bihar have also been sanctioned. Ministry of Power and REC, nodal agency for RGGVY, is continuously monitoring this progress of work in the States of Odisha, Jharkhand and Bihar and extending support to State Government for expeditious implementation of the projects.

MoUs With Kerala, Mizoram, Sikkim and Lakshadweep

Signed Under the Indian Statistical Strengthening Project

New Schemes of the Ministry of Minority

Affairs in the 12th Five Year Plan

Based on the recommendations of the National Advisory Council (NAC) the Ministry of Minority Affairs has proposed to implement the following new schemes in the 12th Five Year Plan towards inclusive development to empower the minorities:

(i) Interest subsidy on educational loans for overseas studies scheme for the students belonging to minority communities with the objective of providing financial assistance by way of extending interest subsidy on education loans to students of  minority communities for pursuing higher studies abroad;

(ii) Free bicycle for Girl Students of Class IX with the objective of retention of minority girl students from Class IX onwards;

(iii) Support for students clearing Prelims Conducted by UPSC/SSC, State Public Service Commission (PSC) etc. with the objective to support candidates from the minority communities who qualify at the preliminary Examinations conducted by Union  Public Service Commission (UPSC), Staff Selection Commission (SSC), State  Public Service Commissions (PSCs) etc. to improve their representation in government services;

(iv) Scheme for promotion of education in 100 minority concentration towns/cities  having substantial minority population, for empowering the minorities. This would be in the form of providing infrastructure for various levels of schools, including teaching aids and also for up-gradation and construction of infrastructure for   skill and vocational education along with hostel facility;

(v) Village development programme for villages not covered by minority concentration blocks (MCBs)/ minority concentration  districts(MCDs) to address the development needs for 1000 villages inhabited by minority communities but falling outside the  selected minority concentration districts. The main objective of the scheme is to provide infrastructure for socio-economic development and basic amenities;

(vi) Support to Districts Level institution in MCDs to give financial support for setting up and running district level institutions for minority welfare in Minority Concentration Districts; and

(vii) Skill Development Initiatives to enhance employment and livelihood skills of  minorities by providing skills and skills up-gradation to the minority communities.

Earlier, the National Advisory Council had submitted its  report titled “Towards Inclusive Development to Empower Minorities” with the following major recommendations:

(i)   For implementation of the Multi sectoral Development Programme (MsDP) and Prime Minister’s New 15 Point Programme, rural and urban areas with a high concentration of minorities  should be the Unit of Planning with focus on access to basic services such as ICDS services, clean drinking water, individual sanitation, sewerage and drainage;

(ii) Formal engagement of non- governmental organizations (NGOs) in all the Minority Concentration Districts for monitoring and mandatory social audits;

(iii)  Substantially enhancing allocation for MsDP in 12th Plan;

(iv)  Revision of MsDP guidelines to ensure that need based proposals have synergy with the 15- Point Programme rather than duplication;

(v)  Establishment of a credible data bank on an urgent basis for operationalisation of the Assessment and Monitoring Agency;

(vi) Expansion of the 15 Point Programme to include schemes such as small and medium industries, youth affairs, agriculture;

(vii) Scholarships  Schemes: a) Make  the Pre-Matric scholarships a 100% Centrally Sponsored Scheme ; b) Make the Pre- matric and Post- matric scholarship Schemes   demand – driven and universal schemes; c) Increase the scholarship amount for Post- Matric scholarships with rationalized and differing scholarship structure for different categories (10+2, Basic Degree Courses, Professional Degree Courses); d) Increase amount and number of Merit-cum- means and Maulana Azad National Fellowships; e) Ensure a radical simplification of procedures at all levels to make schemes accessible to those who need them most; and

(viii) Establish residential social welfare hostels for minority children from class VI to XII and residential schools in minorities blocks and towns/cities.

CCI highlights the competition

issues in public procurement

Under the competition advocacy initiatives, the Competition Commission of India has been organizing meetings, seminars, workshops etc. with the various stake holders to spread awareness about the Competition Law and the Commission.

As part of this initiative CCI organized a workshop on the topic ‘Public Procurement & Competition Law’ at SCOPE Convention Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi on 14th March, 2012 in collaboration with SCOPE. The objective of the workshop was to familiarize Central Govt., Public sector enterprises, about the importance and benefits of fair competition and ensuring compliance of the provisions of competition act by them.

The workshop was inaugurated by Shri Ashok Chawla, Chairperson CCI and was attended by 77 delegates representing 36 CPSEs. The Chairperson in his keynote address highlighted the shift of focus on public procurement. An overarching law on the subject is in the offing which will address the concerns of both procurers and supplies. Sharing his knowledge about procurement laws in other jurisdictions, the Chairperson mentioned that procure and competition laws have become flavor of the season.

During the technical sessions, the resource persons in addition to giving a general overview of the Competition Law have also underscored the competition issues in Public Procurement. The grey area of bid rigging in public procurement and its detection and prevention remained the focus. The preventive measures in the form of Competition Compliance Programme to be adapted by CPSEs were apprised to the participants. Draft Public Procurement Bill which is in public domain for eliciting comments was discussed in detail. Queries, views, comments of the participants on the draft bill were addressed up to their satisfaction. All the sessions have been very interactive with takeaways for both the sides.

Setting Up of NCLT and NCLAT

The Government proposes to set up National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). Provisions have been incorporated in the Companies Bill, 2011 which has been introduced in the Lok Sabha on 14.12.2011.

The establishment of NCLT and NCLAT as specialized Quasi Judicial Bodies with professional approach will have the following beneficial effects:

(i) reduce pendency of winding up cases and shorten the period of winding-up process;

(ii) avoid multiplicity and levels of litigation before High Courts and quasi-judicia Authorities like Company Law Board (CLB), Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) and Appellate Authority for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (AAIFR) as all such matters will then be heard and decided by NCLT;

(iii) the appellate procedure will be streamlined with an appeal against order of the NCLT lying before NCLAT and with further appeal against the order of NCLAT lying with the Supreme Court only on points of law, thereby reducing the delay in appeals; and

(iv) the burden on High Courts will be reduced and BIFR and AAIFR will be dissolved.

These Tribunals can become operational only after the enactment of the said Bill.

This information was given by the the Minister of State in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs Shri R.P.N. Singh in Rajya Sabha today in reply to a written question whether Government proposes to set up National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT); the details in this regard; the reasons for setting up of NCLT and NCLAT; and by when these Tribunals would start their operation in the country ?

Blacklisted Companies

As per general circular No. 33/2011 dated 01/06/2011, the Government has marked 1,55,394 companies as “Defaulting Companies” for failure to file Balance Sheet or Annual Return for any of the financial years, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10 with the Registrar of Companies as required under Section 220 and/or Section 159 of the Companies Act, 1956. In order to ensure Corporate Governance and proper compliances of provisions of Companies Act, 1956, these companies are not allowed to file certain event based document with the Registrar of Companies.

The number of defaulting companies has been reduced from 1,55,394 (as on 04/07/2011) to 78,529 (as on 14/03/2012).

This information was given by the the Minister of State in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs Shri R.P.N. Singh in Rajya Sabha today in reply to a written question whether Government has blacklisted 1,55,392 companies, one-fifth of the total, for violating norms and whether those companies are not allowed to borrow from banks and financial institutions and also not allowed to enter into new contractual agreements with various parties; the details thereof; and whether these measures are aimed at getting companies to make available balance sheet and related documents thereby improving corporate governance.

Delay in Implementation of IFRS

Keeping in view the consultation held with various stakeholders on certain issues including tax related issues, it was decided to implement convergence of Indian Accounting Standards with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in a phased manner to ease the process for all the stakeholders.

The date of implementation will be decided after the relevant issues are resolved. However, the relevant Indian Accounting Standards which are converged with IFRSs namely, the Ind Accounting Standards (Ind-AS) have been placed on the website of the Ministry for information of all the stakeholders so that they get familiarized with such standards and take timely steps to implement them once these are implemented.

This information was given by the the Minister of State in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs Shri R.P.N. Singh today in reply to a written question regarding the reasons for which the Ministry is not implementing the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) accounting system in the country by internationally committed deadline of April, 2011; the implications of the delay in implementing IFRS; whether implementation date has been decided by the Ministry; and the details thereof in the Rajya Sabha today.

Corporate Houses Found Involved in Various

Scams During the Last Three Years

Corporate Houses found to have prima facie violated provisions of the Indian Penal Code can be regarded as being ‘involved in scams’. As per investigation reports received in the Ministry, 21 Companies fall in this category. List of such companies against whom prosecutions have been sanctioned under the provisions of Indian Penal Code is placed at Annexure ‘A’.

During the last three years, no such case came to the notice of this Ministry.

This information was given by the the Minister of State in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs Shri R.P.N. Singh in Rajya Sabha today in reply to a written question regarding the details of the Corporate houses found involved in various scams during the last three years ; what action has been taken against each of them; and whether there any nexus exists amongst politicians, bureaucrats and corporate houses and if so, how Government proposes to deal with the situation.