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Current Affairs - 15 July 2015

Please donate, our funds have exhausted, Kejriwal appeals to public
  • Please donate, our funds have exhausted, Kejriwal appeals to publicNEW DELHI: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday made an appeal to people to give donations to the Aam Aadmi Party, which he said had run out of funds. 

    "After we came to power, our funds exhausted. Now we want funds to run our party and we want it from the public," Arvind Kejriwal said. 

    "We are indebted to the people for their help. But now we need funds for our day-to-day expenses," the Delhi CM said. 

    Justifying his plea for donations from public, Kejriwal said, "You would say I am a bizarre CM by asking for funds like this. We can get money the wrong way but that is not who we are." 

    "The public funded us, we never took any money under the table. We gave a record of every rupee we got," he added.

India to go by Ufa statement, plays down remarks by Sartaz Aziz
  • NEW DELHI: India will go by the joint statement issued after Ufa talks between Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif and remarks by Sartaz Aziz will not affect the road for engagement agreed to by the two leaders.

    Playing down comments by Pakistan Prime Minister's adviser on national security and foreign affairs on Monday, sources said Aziz did not say anything which affected the "actionable propositions" agreed upon during talks between Modi and Sharif in Ufa last week on the sidelines of the SCO summit and his remarks were ostensibly aimed at "domestic audience".

    They said India was looking forward for implementation of the decisions agreed upon in the meeting.

    Describing the joint statement as a "considered, honest, accurate and reasonable summary of the substance" of the talks, the sources said for India what Islamabad tells is important and not what they say to the domestic audience.

    It was Modi's idea to have a joint media interaction by foreign secretaries of both the countries after the talks following which the two sides drafted the statement, the sources said.

    Three days after talks between Modi and Sharif, Aziz had issued a statement on Monday in Islamabad in which he asked for "more evidence and information" from India on the Mumbai attack case and asserted that talks cannot take place without Kashmir being on the agenda.

    Viewing that Aziz may have made the statement for the domestic audience, the source said it was a "kind of a mix and match exercise" as the comments included known Pakistani positions along with what Aziz claimed figured in talks between the two Prime Ministers at Ufa.

    "The fact that he (Aziz) is offering additional comments obviously speaks of a certain situation there," said a source.

    They said one should not "pre-judge" possible outcome of a process which is yet to start.

    Modi had raised the Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi issue as well as Mumbai attack trial case in the meeting, they said.

    They said the joint statement was like a summary of what was actually said and agreed upon at the meeting and it was prepared with great rapidity, adding that it was signed by the Pakistani side.

    The sources said India was looking forward to talks between NSAs and DGMOs of the two countries.

Mandal politics makes a comeback before Bihar poll
  • NEW DELHI: Shrill demands for release of OBC numbers collected under the socio-economic and caste census and claims and counterclaims on who is the first backward Prime Minister make it clear that Mandal politics will dominate the coming Bihar elections, be it the JD(U)-alliance or the BJP. 

    The Parliament session is likely to witness a strong demand from the backward class lobby that the OBC population figures collected in the socio-economic and caste census be released. The Modi government did not make the caste figures public while announcing the poverty figures this month, triggering strong resentment among backward satraps, especially those from Bihar. 

    RJD chief Lalu Prasad led a march to Raj Bhavan in Patna on Monday in protest. JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav said the issue would be raised in the coming session of Parliament starting on July 21. 

    If the gambit of the "secular" lobby is to corner the BJP government in the OBC den that is Bihar, the strategy appears dictated by the success of the saffron camp in selling Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha elections as the first likely PM from the backward community. 
    The RJD-JD(U) combo appears to be alert that BJP may play the same card to mobilize OBC votes in the assembly polls. 

    No wonder, there is a dispute over the claim of Modi being the first backward PM. Former premier HD Deve Gowda has said he was the first OBC to occupy the high post and that BJP was lying by making the same claim about Modi. Charan Singh's name too has been cited to question the BJP.

    Behind the shrill pitch over Mandal politics lies the competitive claim to backward votes. While Lalu and Nitish have joined hands in what is seen as the OBC grouping led by the strong communities of Yadavs and Kurmis, the insertion of Congress in the alliance would make it the sole "secular" combine with claim on the vast Muslim votebase. 

    However, BJP played the Mandal-plus card in Lok Sabha polls, combining the Modi-OBC appeal with development plank, reaping dividents. Combined with its Hindutva appeal, it would be seen as a winning formula.

    But Nitish too has gained stature over a decade as a development-oriented politician different from Lalu mould, a fact that is evident in his election slogans.

13 dead in stampede at Godavari Pushkaralu in Andhra Pradesh
  • NEW DELHI: At least 13 people, including four women, died and 10 were injured when a stampede occurred at Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh on Monday.

    Thousands of people had converged on various bathing ghats in the city for the holy dip. The stampede occurred when some people allegedly scaled a wall to enter one of the bathing ghats. As the rush was very heavy, the police and volunteers could not maintain the crowd resulting in the stampede, said Kulasekhar, deputy SP East Godavari district. He said the deceased are senior citizens and police are yet to establish their identity.

    Only two bodies have been identified while the identification process for the remaining victims is going on at the mortuary of government general hospital in the city. The incident took place at the Pushkar Ghat. Bodies were seen lying on the steps leading to the ghat.

    Godavari 'Pushkaram', the once in 144-year event dedicated to worshipping rivers in the two states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana began on Monday.

    The pushkaralu, which is observed once in 12 years, this time is considered auspicious from astronomical point of view as it is Maha Pushkaralu which comes once in 144 years.

    The 'Pushakaram' is a similar to the 'Kumbh Mela' performed alongside rivers elsewhere in the country and taking holy dip is the main ritual of the festival.

    The two state governments have made elaborate arrangements in terms of convenience of pilgrims and also security for the smooth conduct of the event.

    The stampede has brought to the fore the failure of the official machinery in making proper scientific ground work as the Godavari Pushkaram witnesses the second highest human gathering in the country after the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad. An estimated six crore pilgrims are likely to take the holy dip at various bathing ghats in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana during the 12-day river festival. Many pilgrims complained of exhaustion due to the high temperature and lack of moisture in the air. The old and feeble collapsed for want of drinking water. With officials stopping the vehicles about half a km away, the pilgrims were forced to walk during the hot sun.

Iran, major powers reach historic nuclear deal
  • Iran, major powers reach historic nuclear deal
    VIENNA: Iran and six major powers have reached a historic nuclear deal, which will grant Tehran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme, an Iranian diplomat said on Tuesday. 

    "All the hard work has paid off and we sealed a deal. God bless our people," the diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

    Another Iranian official confirmed the agreement.

New Horizons reaches Pluto: 10 things you should know
  • History is being made today as the NASA spacecraft 'New Horizons' hurtles past the dwarf planet Pluto, some 4.8 billion kilometers from earth. Here are ten things you should know as you watch the news roll in.

    1. At the time of writing New Horizons is about 2.4 lakh kilometers from Pluto, speeding towards it at an incredible speed of nearly 50,000 kms per hour.
    New Horizons reaches Pluto: 10 things you should know2. New Horizons is targeting a tiny region of space 12,500 kms from Pluto. This 'window' is just 100 km by 150 km in size. It will whizz through this window, turning all its seven scientific instruments towards the mysterious Pluto, giving us the first ever close-up details of its surface features. New Horizons will also send pictures of some of the Pluto's six moons.
    3. The exact time when New Horizons is closest to Pluto has been estimated at 7:49 AM today (14 July) in Maryland USA, where the command center is located. This translates to about 5:19 pm in the evening today (14 July) here in India.
    4. At about 8:45 Indian time today morning the latest picture from the approaching New Horizons was received by the scientific team on Earth. It is a full frame black and white picture taken by the LORRI camera aboard the spacecraft. It will need to be processed and will likely be released today evening.
    5. NASA and Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (which is handling the mission) say that there is a one in 10,000 chance only that some flying piece of debris hits New Horizons. At the speed at which it is going, even a tiny piece of rock can completely destroy the 478 kilogram spacecraft.
    6. But we on Earth won't know for sure whether New Horizons was successful in its flyby until much later. About an hour after the closest flyby, at about 8:53 PM in USA today (14 July), that is about 6:25 AM tomorrow (15 July), the team will receive a signal saying the mission has been successful.
    7. Tomorrow (15 July) evening, India time, at about four o'clock, a full image of Charon, Pluto's moon would be downloaded. Later around midnight tomorrow (15-16 July) the first high resolution image of Pluto will finally be released.
    8. Here are some tips if you want to get the breaking news on New Horizons's tryst with Pluto straight from NASA or JHUAPL. You can follow @NASANewHorizons on Twitter. Or you can follow any of the following key people: Alan Stern, New Horizon's principal investigator, Mike Brown (@plutokiller), Kimberley Ennico Smith (@kennicosmith), John Grunsfeld (@SciAstro), NASA's science lead.
    9. Today evening, NASA TV will have a special one and a half hour slot to coincide with New Horizons' flyby starting at about 5 PM Indian time. You can check it out at the NASA site. Mind you, the actual closest flyby images from Pluto will not be released in this coverage. The images will be from earlier.
    10. The final word on mission success will be available tomorrow (15 July) at about 7 AM Indian time through a scheduled media briefing.
    So prepare for some fascinating stuff for the next couple of days.

CSK, RR suspended from IPL for 2 years; Meiyappan, Kundra banned for life
  • NEW DELHI: Star-studded Chennai Super Kings, two-time champions in the IPL, and Rajasthan Royals were on Tuesday suspended from the cash-rich cricket league for two years for the betting activities of their key officials Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra during the 2013 season.

    Meiyappan, the former Team Principal of CSK, and Kundra, co-owner of the Rajasthan Royals, were suspended for life for indulging in betting and bringing the IPL and the game into disrepute.

    The punishment was handed down by a Supreme Court- appointed three-member committee, headed by former Chief Justice of India R M Lodha, putting a spanner on the high- profile T20 league, which began in 2008.

    "He (Meiyappan) is declared ineligible for participation in the sport of cricket as explained in the anti-corruption code for a maximum period of five years under article 2.2.1. Two: He is suspended for life from activities as explained in article 7.5 under level 4. And three: he is suspended for life from being involved in any type of cricket matches under section 6, rule 4.2. The above sanctions commence from the date of this order," Justice Lodha said while giving out the verdict in a packed press conference.

    The former CJI then read out exactly the same punishment for Kundra, husband of Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty.

    The Committee was constituted by the Supreme Court in January this year with its terms of reference being to announce the quantum of punishment against Meiyappan, Kundra and the two franchisees -- India Cements Ltd, owner of CSK and Jaipur IPL, owner of Rajasthan Royals.

    "India Cements argued that they have done a lot to grow the game of cricket. But it cannot be a mitigating factor because they as franchise owners did not punish Gurunath, who was clearly identified as a team official, after he was found guilty of betting. It was only the BCCI who suspended Gurunath from participating in cricket," Justice Lodha said.

    "Jaipur IPL claims it is highly celebrated as a nursery of players. But three of its players have been accused of alleged spot-fixing. This shows that all is not well in their handling of affairs. The position of Raj Kundra with the Rajasthan Royals franchise - part owner and team official - means his actions brought the game, BCCI and IPL into disrepute," he added.

    Making scathing remarks against the accused, Justice Lodha said the credibility of the game has been hurt quite grievously.

    "Disrepute has been brought to cricket, the BCCI and the IPL to such an extent that there are doubts abound in the public whether the game is clean or not," Justice Lodha said.

    Giving the committee's observations on Meiyappan, Justice Lodha said it has proved beyond doubt that the CSK official was heavily involved in placing bets on his own team.

    "His (Gurunath) habit of regularly placing bets in IPL matches renders the argument of his being first offender and unblemished antecedents in previous IPL tournaments of no worth. That he lost up to Rs 60 lakhs in bets shows that he engaged himself in heavy bets. It is his bad luck that he did not make money out of these bets," he said.

    "Any agony suffered by him because of media coverage or any hardship that may have been caused to him is too small in comparison to the huge injury he caused to the reputation and image of the game, the IPL and the BCCI. If the reputation and image of the sport are lost, what remains? Being 40 years of age, he is not young but middle-aged. It is difficult to accept that he has passion for the game," he added.

    After making similar observations on Kundra, the committee, which also comprised retired Supreme Court judges, Ashok Bhan and R Raveendran, took questions from the waiting media and was asked whether any action against IPL COO Sundar Raman, who was also accused of wrongdoing, is being contemplated.

    Justice Lodha said it will be some time before his fate is decided.

    "About Sundar Raman, we examined the material about him and we believe it requires further investigation. Vivek Priyadarshi has been appointed by the Supreme Court to look into it and he is examining the matter, we are awaiting his report. After that we will decide what will be the action," he said.

    The committee said its observations with respect to the much-talked about conflict of interest in the BCCI would be given after completing interactions with various stakeholders of the game.

    "Conflict of interest questions have been raised, once we complete the process of interacting with all the stakeholders, we will take a view on that. That exercise is not complete. This order is confined to determining the quantum of punishment to the two individuals and the franchises," he said.

    "We have interacted with 40-45 people, we are yet to meet a few others. Once that is done we will decide what guidelines are to be given. Our idea is to get inputs from all stakeholders. It is not confined to cricket administrators and politicians," Justice Lodha added.

    He also refused to comment on the criminal cases pending against the suspended officials, saying, "No aspect touching criminal liability has been decided by us."

    On whether the two franchisees would be allowed to participate in case there is a change in ownership, Justice Lodha said that aspect is for the BCCI to decide.

    "This question was brought to us. But the BCCI has to take a call and whatever legal recourse is there, it is available. You must appreciate that we cannot address every aspect of the matter," he said.

    Asked whether the committee took a considered view of the impact this ruling will have on the players attached with the two suspended franchises, Justice Lodha said the game is bigger than the individuals.

    "Players will not be attached to a franchisee which has been suspended. We thought that if cricket is bigger than individuals then financial loss to players and franchises is not of significance," he said.

    The IPL spot-fixing scandal broke out in 2013 when the Delhi Police arrested Rajasthan Royals cricketers S Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila for allegedly indulging in betting and spot-fixing during the then edition.

    This was followed by revelations that Meiyappan was also involved in the scandal along with Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundra.

    Meiyappan was eventually arrested on May 24 on charges of cheating, fraud and forgery.

    The storm triggered by the shocking developments prompted the IPL Governing Council to appoint a three-member probe panel, including two former High Court judges, to investigate the allegations against Meiyappan and Kundra.

    The panel gave a clean chit to the duo despite the police's firm assertion that they were involved in the scandal.

    This was followed by the unrecognised Cricket association of Bihar filing a PIL in the Bombay High Court which ruled that the BCCI's probe panel was constituted illegally and there was disparity in the evidence collected by it.

    Thereafter, the Supreme Court issued notices to Srinivasan, BCCI, India Cements and Rajasthan Royals when the Board appealed against Bombay High Court's ruling.

    In September that year, the BCCI slapped life bans on Sreesanth and Chavan even as the Board's disciplinary committee continued to hold back a decision on Chandila.

    In October, the Supreme Court formed a three-member committee to investigate the scandal afresh within four months. The panel comprised former High Court judge Mukul Mudgal, senior advocate and additional solicitor general L Nageshwar Rao and Assam Cricket Association member Nilay Dutta.

    The Mudgal panel concluded that there was evidence of wrongdoing against Meiyappan and Kundra. It went on to give the apex court a sealed envelope which had the names of cricketers and administrators involved in the fraud.

    However, the committee ruled that Srinivasan was not involved in either spot-fixing or betting but stated that he knew of an IPL player's involvement and chose to turn a blind eye to it.

    The Supreme Court then appointed a new three-member panel, headed by Justice Lodha, to decide punishment for Meiyappan and Kundra and their respective franchises declaring that the verdict "shall be final and binding upon the BCCI and the parties concerned".

Modi Schemes: Technology Part 3
  • Dear Readers & Aspirants, We collected Modi Schemes in Agriculture & Irrigation and make it in PDF format. We Hope it will definitely help you for your SBI PO,IBPS,RBI assistant and many more upcoming Exams. All the Best My Dear Aspirants & Readers.
    • Modi Schemes: Banking & Insurance Part 1
    • Modi Schemes:  Agriculture & Irrigation – Part 2
    #1.MAKE IN INDIA
    VISION_
    To become a manufacturing nation, India has to quickly move beyond rhetoric to create a clear  strategy and favourable policy environment for manufacturing to take off. A close dialogue and partnership between government and the private sector is critical At this moment, the Prime Minister’s “Make in India” campaign appears to be exactly this — an imaginative marketing campaign.  But there is much thought and even more work that is required to convert this to reality.
    Need of make in india_
    The theory behind “Make in India” is as simple as it is compelling.
    1.India must become a manufacturing powerhouse in order to gainfully employ its demographic  dividend.
    2.Big labour pool and a large domestic market. In addition, with China’s competitive advantage  in manufacturing eroding
    1. India has the opportunity to take some share of global manufacturing away from China.
    All we have to do to improve the ease of doing business in India are these_
    • stop tax terrorism
    • improve infrastructure
    • reform labour laws
    • invest in skills development
    • make it easier to acquire land
    • implement Goods and Services Tax (GST)
    • fast track approvals.
    Make in India
    EFFECTIVE STEPS
    1.Global manufacturing hub_
    This welcome emphasis in our foreign investment policy on efficient and competitive domestic manufacturing will serve multiple objectives.
    • First and foremost, it will enhance job opportunities within the country,
    • second it will minimisze the imports of such products into the country, thereby mitigating the pressure on our trade deficit.
    • third in the long run, if not in the near-term, it will help augment and diversify our exports from the manufacturing sector
    • fourth it will help in bringing latest technologies into the countryand lastly, such domestic manufacturing will help minimize some of the trade frictions we have with other countries. The importance of domestic manufacturing with foreign investment in reducing trade frictions with other countries is at present ignored or underestimated
    2.Competitive environment­
    The best way to ensure that foreign investment is of a high quality and yields value to the
    country is to have a policy framework that requires it to operate in an unprotected, open and
    competitive environment, and not behind high tariff walls or import restrictions, nor with the
    aid of subsidies or other giveaways.
    encouragement of exports with various kinds of subsidies and prop-ups, and curtailment of imports by high tariffs and other so-called  trade remedy measures like anti-dumping or countervailing duties or other import restrictions.
    Encouragement of domestic manufacturing of world-class standards, either by domestic or foreign investors or both, has not been a major objective of our foreign trade policy so far.Our foreign trade policy must recognise that encouragement of domestic manufacturing of world-class standards, catering solely even to our own market, is a preferable alternative to protection and subsidisation through high tariffs, trade remedy measures and financial giveaways.
    3.Ensure IP protection
    IPRs do not consist only of pharmaceutical patents as is commonly understood in our country they include as well copyright (computer software in our country is protected by copyright), trademarks, trade secrets, geographical indications, designs, trade secrets, business confidential information and data, and the like.Even if our IPR policies do not have domestic manufacturing as a central objective, they need to be implemented in such a way that they do not impede or deter technology-oriented domestic investments from foreign investors.
    Our intellectual property laws are largely in conformity with international standards as reflected in the TRIPS Agreement of the WTO and other international conventions to which we have subscribed. Yet we tend to create an impression around the world that we do not value intellectual property or respect its adequate protection.
    4.Address local woes
    One other aspect that does not fall within the ambit of the aforesaid policies, but which is crucial to competitive domestic manufacturing needs to be touched upon here. Among the major reasons for our domestic industry being competitively disadvantaged vis-a-vis the rest of the world, two stand out prominently: first, the inadequacy and poor quality of our infrastructure, and second, the high cost of our capital. While protection and subsidisation is not the solution, this huge disadvantage faced by the domestic industry requires to be addressed with priority and ways and means found to mitigate it.
    STRATEGIES FOR VARIOUS SECTORS _
    1.Energy factor
    This is an attractive proposed that has a lot of merit. A simple step of making it easier to do business will make a huge difference to India’s manufacturing competitiveness. It is one plank of a manufacturing strategy. India ranks 142 on the World Bank Index; China is ranked 90. If we  were to improve by just 50 places, it would be a huge perceptual breakthrough. However, this is  not a manufacturing strategy in itself.
    As Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan  correctly and controversially pointed out, much has changed in the world since China elbowed  itself into becoming the world’s factory two decades ago. The nature of manufacturing is changing. Low-cost automation and robotics are making pure labour cost arbitrage less important. Lead times and a flexibility of supply chains are far more important, leading many companies to move manufacturing back closer to the big markets, the United States and Europe
    2.Industrial policy
    To become a manufacturing powerhouse, India needs a manufacturing strategy, otherwise known as industrial policy. The idea of an industrial policy is out of vogue these days. It is seen as ineffective at best and even retrograde, running contrary to the idea of free trade. This is patent nonsense. Japan, Korea, China, Germany have all prospered by having a clear industrial policy and vigorously implementing it. The U.S., the United Kingdom, France and Italy have seen themselves deindustrialise by not having a clear industrial policy and are trying hard to course-correct this mistake.  Policy has always mattered and when it comes  to manufacturing competitiveness, India must have a clear industrial policy that spells out  priority sectors and how we will build competitive advantage in a way that is consistent with our  obligations to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
    We must focus on building competitive advantage and global scale in sectors where we have a large domestic market and certain inherent capabilities. Strategy is all about making choices.
    Here,five priority industries come to mind. Defence, because we are the world’s leading arms importer. Localising what we buy as a condition for all defence deals along with a willingness to allow majority foreign ownership can turbocharge our local defence industry.
    The second critical  industry is electronics hardware.India imports $45 billion of mobile phones, computers and  communications hardware; by 2020, this is projected to grow to $300 billion and exceed our oil  import bill.
    This is unsustainable. We have to create policy incentives to create a local electronic  hardware manufacturing ecosystem. Since most component suppliers, Original Equipment  Manufacturers and Original Design Manufacturers are Chinese, this will necessarily imply  incentivising Chinese companies to establish factories in India.
    The size of our domestic market  should make this possible. Concerns about security are misplaced; all our personal computers,  cellphones and a lot of switches and routers are already made in China, so we are conceding  nothing.
    3.CONSTRUCTION
    India will invest a trillion dollars over the coming years in improving infrastructure. We need to create incentives that not only spur investment in manufacturing materials such as cement and steel but also construction equipment, locomotives, power generation equipment and so on. Everything we install should be made in India.
    4.HEALTH CARE
    India’s generic pharmaceutical industry is world class. We must not concede on intellectual property rights that neutralise our advantage. India is also exceedingly good at frugal innovation in medical devices such as low cost X-ray and ECG machines. We have a real shot at being a world leader in innovation and manufacturing in this space.
    Finally, agro-industries. We are one of the largest agricultural nations. A third of what we grow just rots and spoils. Investing in agro-industries such as food processing and establishing a reliable cold chain would make a huge difference in terms of rural employment and food security. If we had to pick just five industries where we want to bootstrap a strong competitive advantage it would be these. In other industries, whether it be textiles, toys, or automotive, we need to ensure that we do not disadvantage local manufacturing.
    Creating ecosystems
    Another critical strategic question is this: where do we want to make things? It is difficult to make a country the size of India into a uniformly attractive manufacturing location. Even China started its manufacturing odyssey by creating a few oases in the form of four special economic zones which were remarkably easy places to manufacture in. Where is India going to start its global odyssey? Manufacturing is all about hubs that are ecosystems for innovation, specialised skills and supply chains.
    Where will India’s hubs be for pharma, for defence, for electronics, for machinery and construction equipment? How do we catalyse these hubs by creating world-class academic institutions and skills training institutes? What incentives will attract the world’s leading companies to establish global innovation and manufacturing centres in these hubs? Pune, Chennai, Bengaluru and Delhi are already emergent hubs but what will enable them to scale up to compete with Shenzen and Tianjin?
    CONCLUSION_
    • To become a manufacturing nation, India has to quickly move beyond rhetoric to create a clear strategy and favourable policy environment for manufacturing to take off.
    • The government has chosen to quietly dismantle the sclerotic National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council (NMCC) but it needs to foster a more vibrant think tank in its A close dialogue and partnership between government and the private sector,  both domestic and foreign, is critical.
    • Indian companies along with Chinese, Japanese, German, American and Swedish companies are all vital partners and we must create an environment that is open and welcoming. For this, the right leadership of this vital mission is critical. There is a clear and short-lived window of opportunity to become a manufacturing nation. We must not squander it.
     RECENT IN NEWS -MAKE IN INDIA _ intiatives _ 
    • Spice Group said it would start a mobile phone manufacturing unit in Uttar Pradesh with an investment of 500 crore
    • SAMSUNG –MSME-Samsung Technical Schools” will be established in India
    • Hitachi said it was committed to the initiative, It said that an auto-component plant will be set up in Chennai in 2016
    • Huawei opened a new research and development (R&D) campus in Bengaluru
    • AIRBUS with MAHENDRA said that it will manufacture its products in India and invest $ 2 Billion US dollars.
    • Marine Products Export Development Authority said that it was interested in supplying shrimp eggs to shrimp farmers in India under the initiative
    • Tata JLR (Jaguar Land-Rover) announced that it will move its production of the Land Rover Defender to its Pune facility in India in 2016

    # 2- Digital india
    Digital India is a Programme to prepare India for a knowledge future
    • The focus is on being transformative – to realize IT + IT = IT
    • The focus is on making technology central to enabling change.
    • It is an Umbrella Programme – covering many departments.
    • It weaves together a large number of ideas and thoughts into a single, comprehensive vision so that
    • each of them is seen as part of a larger goal.
    • Each individual element stands on its own. But is also part of the larger picture.
    • It is coordinated by DeitY, implemented by the entire government – both at the Centre and State.
    • The weaving together makes the Mission transformative in totality
    The Programme_
    • Pulls together many existing schemes.
    • These schemes will be restructured and re-focused.
    • They will be implemented in a synchronized manner.
    • Many elements are only process improvements with minimal cost.
    • The common branding of programmes as Digital India highlights their transformative impact.
    Digital India
    Vision of Digital India Centered on 3 Key Areas­_
    • Digital Infrastructure as a Utility to Every Citizen
    • Governance & Services on Demand
    • Digital Empowerment of Citizens
    KEY components of digital india
    • digital infrastructure-to support national optic fiber
    • INTERNET OF THINGS (IOT)-essential building of smart cities
    • Foreign ICT investments — make in india policy
    9 pillars of digital india
    • Broadband Highways
    • Universal Access to Mobile Connectivity
    • Public Internet Access Programme
    • E-Governance –Reforming government through Technology
    • eKranti – Electronic delivery of services
    • Information for All
    • Electronics Manufacturing –Target NET ZERO Imports
    • IT for Jobs
    • Early Harvest Programmes
    Digital india targets
    1.Broadband for all Rural–>
    •  Coverage: 250,000 GP ——–>1yr: 50,000 GP
    • Timeline: December 2016 —–>2yr: 100,000 GP
    • CAPEX: Rs 32,000 Cr            —–>3yr: 100,000 Gp
    • Nodal Dept: DoT
    2.Broadband for all urban_
    • Virtual Network Operators for service delivery.
    • Mandate communication infrastructure in new
    • urban development and buildings.
    3.National Information  Infrastructure
    • Coverage: Nationwide
    • Timeline: March 2017
    • Cost: Rs 15,686 Cr
    • Nodal Dept: DeitY
     DIGITAL INDIA intiatives _ 
    • India’s top billionaires pledged around Rs lakh crore to projects related to Digital Indiagenerate employments for some 18 lakh people. 
    • government’s Rs 13-lakh-crore Digital India programme, saying it had the potential to bridge the digital divide and benefit billions of people through digital solutions in education, healthcare and irrigation sectors. 
    • Tata Consultancy Services which is majority owned by the Tata Group, has been an active contributor to e-governance programmes and the company will hire 60,000 IT professionals this year. 
    • Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani said his company would invest Rs 2.5 lakh crore across different Digital India heads 
    • Digital India where 2 billion connected Indians drive the nation,” said the Prime Minister at the launch of the Digital India Week, which will take technology to the villages and block levels over the course of the next week. 
    • Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, which owns telecom company Idea Cellular, said it would leverage its network of 165 million subscribers across 350,000 towns and villages in India to provide mobile-based healthcare and education services as well as weather forecasting advisories and ‘mandi’ prices to over one million farmers. 
    • Bharathi Mittal said his company would build on India’s existing extensive telecom network and spend over Rs 1 lakh crore in the next five years. Bharti group company Bharti Airtel is India’s largest mobile phone operator. 
    • Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani, who helms Airtel’s rival telco Reliance Communications, pledged to invest Rs 10,000 crore to fund transformational initiatives across the cloud, digital and telecom space. 
    • Vedanta Resources Chairman Anil Agarwal, to provide education through digital medium, or e-Shikhsha. We have set up a prototype near Delhi where children will be provided e-Shikhsha and women will be taught skill development. 
    • Digital India programme, it will empower women and improve health and education of children,” he said. He also announced an investment of Rs 40,000crore to set up an LCD fab which could potentially employ 50,000 The fab is aimed at reducing the electronics import by 20 per cent, in line with Prime Minister Modi’s vision to reduce dependence on electronics imports.
    • Intel keen to partner ‘Digital India’ initiative
     #3-SKILL INDIA
    After ‘Make in India’ and ‘Digital India’, the government is expected to come up with a revised skill development policy or the ‘Skill India’ scheme by March 2015, minister of state for skill development and entrepreneurship Sarbananda Sonowal
    TARGET
    Skill India          
    The new scheme is expected to move beyond the target of skilling 500 million youth by 2020 that was set by the UPA government.
     Focusonyouth
    With a focus on creating jobs for youth, the government has decided to revamp the antiquated industrial training centres that will skill over 20 lakh youth annually and devise special courses based on industry needs.
    The move is a part of the labour ministry’s massive overhaul of the near obsolete Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and skill development institutes that would now be armed with revised curricula, new courses and an expanded reach across the country.
     ITI Skill Centres_
    • The ministry, will set up 1,500 new ITIs across the country and another 100-odd such centres in North East and Left Wing Extremism affected states, has also taken advice from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to locate some of these institutes in industrial clusters.
    • Based on inputs from the Prime Minister, the new institutes will not only be set up in so far uncovered areas but majorly in industrial clusters so that students can be trained according to industry needs and placed with these companies said a senior official involved in the development, adding that the first preference to requests from industry.
    • But while these ITIs will be set up by the year-end, the ministry has also decided to allow the existing institutes to meet the immediate needs of industry by offering courses of their interest.
    To this end, the ministry has also decided to formulate courses for the skill development institutes based on industry needs. Firms will have to sign agreements with the Directorate General of Employment and Training to avail these specialised courses and will recruit at least 80 per cent of the students for a minimum of six months. The specialised courses will be run for an 18 month period and based on their success in terms of placement will be continued on a permanent basis.
    “There has already been a lot of interest from companies in sectors such as manufacturing, construction, chemical and even e-commerce. We will be holding discussions with industry chambers later this month,” said the official.
    Industries with at least 300 permanent workers can sign such MoUs with the DGET. The labour ministry is also banking on the over 2,500 industry bodies in the MSME sector to recruit the students.
    PM Narendra Modi has stressed on his vision of transforming the country into a ‘Skilled India’ and the  government is expected to go much beyond the targets set by the  UPA government.
    Currently, there are 11,000-odd ITIs being run by the government as well as on PPP basis with a seating capacity of 15.5 lakh students.  The new ITIs being planned will train 4.5 lakh students.
    The labour ministry is also fixing the biggest challenge before these ITIs in attracting students — outdated curricula that had little use for …continued »
    *Finance Minister Arun Jaitley  said the government plans to launch a National Skills Mission through the Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Ministry*
    In his budget speech, he said that the mission would consolidate all skill development initiatives which are spread across several Ministries.
    Key factors_
    India is one of the youngest nations in the world with more than 54 per cent of the total population below 25 years of age. Yet today less than 5 per cent of our potential workforce gets formal skill training to be employable and stay employable,” Mr. Jaitley said.
    He said that the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Grameen Kaushal Yojana was launched to enhance the employability of rural youth which is the key to unlocking India’s demographic dividend. A sum of Rs. 1,500 crore was allocated for this scheme in the budget, for which disbursement will be through a digital voucher directly into qualified student’s bank account.
    The Union Budget 2015 paved way for the launch of a much-awaited National Skills Mission to complement Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Skill India’ and ‘Make in India’ exhortations. However, much work needs to be done on the ground for the government to prove that this step is a departure from rhetoric lip service.
    Problems to over take_
    1.The magnitude of the problem has been analysed by numerous experts for a country that adds 12 million people to its workforce every year, less than 4 per cent have ever received any formal training. Our workforce readiness is one of the lowest in the world and a large chunk of existing training infrastructure is irrelevant to industry needs.
    2.This is not as much due to lack of monetary investment as it is a predicament about grossly inefficient execution. The government already spends several thousand crores every year on skill development schemes through over 18 different Central government Ministries and State governments. The need of the hour is to improve resource utilisation and find solutions that can address the systemic and institutional bottlenecks constraining the sector.
    3.Keeping in mind the revised National Skill Development Policy due to be announced in a few months that will also outline the contours of the National Skills Mission, we present an analysis of three priority areas that the government needs to address.
    # 4-Smart cities
    imagenes_meetinpoint_smart-city_2b637ab6
    uses digital technologies to enhance performance and well being, to reduce costs and resource consumption, and to engage more effectively and actively with its citizens.
    * Key ‘smart’ sectors which  includes__
    • Transport
    • Energy
    • Health care
    • Water and waste
    A smart city should be able to respond faster to city and global challenges than one with a simple ‘transactional’ relationship with its citizens
    terms that have been used for similar concepts include ‘cyberville, ‘digital city’’, ‘electronic communities’, ‘flexicity’, ‘information city’, ‘intelligent city’, ‘knowledge-based city, ‘MESH city’, ‘telecity, ‘teletopia’’, ‘Ubiquitous city’, ‘wired city’.
     COMMERCIALISATION_
    Large IT and telecommunication companies such as Cisco, IBM, and Microsoft have developed new solutions and initiatives for intelligent cities as well. Cisco, launched the Global Intelligent Urbanization initiative  to help cities around the world using the network as the fourth utility for integrated city management, better quality of life for citizens, and economic development. IBM announced its SmarterCities  to stimulate economic growth and quality of life in cities and metropolitan areas with the activation of new approaches of thinking and acting in the urban ecosystem.
    CRISTISM_
    The main arguments against the superficial use of this concept in the policy arena are_
    • A bias in strategic interest may lead to ignoring alternative avenues of promising urban development.
    • The focus of the concept of smart city may lead to an underestimation of the possible negative effects of the development of the new technological and networked infrastructures needed for a city to be smart.
    • As a globalized business model is based on capital mobility, following a business-oriented model may result in a losing long term strategy: “The ‘spatial fix’ inevitably means that mobile capital can often ‘write its own deals’ to come to town, only to move on when it receives a better deal elsewhere. This is no less true for the smart city than it was for the industrial (or)manufacturing city.
    NEED OF SMART CITIES INDIA
    India has a population of 1.27 billion plus, and growing
    • To accommodate rapid urbanization, the Government of India has allocated Rs. 6,000 crore for the smart cities project and to develop infrastructure in another 500 cities
    • Most other funding will come from Indian and overseas private sector companies
    • The exhibition and conference will connect Indian and foreign exhibitors, with various ministries, state governments, municipal bodies, industry leaders, decision makers, and stakeholders, who are developing smart cities
    • The platform will attract government officials, investors, industry leaders and experts from around the globe to discuss and exchange ideas, information, project reports, etc., on the opportunities and future requirements for developing smart cities in India
    • We invite you to participate at the event as an exhibitor, sponsor, visitor or speaker
    Policy to boost smart cities
    • govt could drop all conditions regarding FDI in constrction for smart cities
    • special despension for afforable housing too
    • govt plan to built 100 smart cities
    • A cabinet note is readied for policy change
    • Relaxation for genaral FDI condition for constrction likely too
    *SMART CITIES – Assistance from other countries
    • SINGAPORE –100 smart cities across the country
    • USA–AJMER, AHEMEBAD, VISHAPATNAM
    • JAPAN–VARANASI
    • FRANCE –Pondicherry and Nagpur & gujarat
    • SPAIN —DELHI
    • ISREAL — Maharastra
    • CHINA -PUNE
    • CHINA – Andhrapradesh
    • JAPAN –MUMBAI
    • AUSTRALIA– ATAL scheme
    • AUSTRIA — JNNURM
    • GERMANY –3 more smart cities * no mentiones cities
    • CANADA — Wooden multi-storey housing technology in urban cities
    LIST OF 100 PROPOSED SMART CITIES__
    BJP Smart Cities
    1. Pune – Maharashtra
    2. Mumbai – Maharashtra
    3. Nagpur – Maharashtra
    4. Nashik – Maharashtra
    5. Aurangabad – Maharashtra
    6. Bhivandi – Maharashtra
    7. Calcutta – West Bengal
    8. Durgapur – West Bengal
    9. Haldia – West Bengal
    10. Habra – West Bengal
    11. Jangipur – West Bengal
    12. Ahmedabad – Gujarat
    13. Surat – Gujarat
    14. Vadodara – Gujarat
    15. Rajkot – Gujarat
    16. Bhavnagar – Gujarat
    17. Junagadh – Gujarat
    18. Gandhi Nagar – Gujarat
    19. Bhopal – Madhya Pradesh
    20. Indore – Madhya Pradesh
    21. Gwalior – Madhya Pradesh
    22. Burhanpur – Madhya Pradesh
    23. Jabalpur – Madhya Pradesh
    24. Chennai – Tamil Nadu
    25. Coimbatore – Tamil Nadu
    26. Madurai – Tamil Nadu
    27. Tiruchirappalli – Tamil Nadu
    28. Salem – Tamil Nadu
    29. Tirunelveli – Tamil Nadu
    30. Bangalore – Karnataka
    31. Gulbarga – Karnataka
    32. Bidar – Karnataka
    33. Bijapur – Karnataka
    34. Badami – Karnataka
    35. Pattadakal – Karnataka
    36. Mahakuta – Karnataka
    37. Thiruvananthapuram – Kerala
    38. Kollam – Kerala
    39. Kottayam – Kerala
    40. Tiruvalla – Kerala
    41. Ernakulam – Kerala
    42. Cochin – Kerala
    43. Thrissur – Kerala
    44. Hyderabad – Telangana
    45. Warangal – Telangana
    46. Karimnagar – Telangana
    47. Nizamabad – Telaganana
    48. Nalgonda – Telangana
    49. Guntur – Andhra Pradesh
    50. Vijayawada – Andhra Pradesh
    51. Kurnool – Andhra Pradesh
    52. Chittoor – Andhra Pradesh
    53. Kanpur – Uttar Pradesh
    54. Allahabad – Uttar Pradesh
    55. Lucknow – Uttar Pradesh
    56. Jhansi – Uttar Pradesh
    57. Faizabad – Uttar Pradesh
    58. Varanasi – Uttar Pradesh
    59. Jaipur – Rajasthan
    60. Ajmer – Rajasthan
    61. Bharatpur – Rajasthan
    62. Bikaner – Rajasthan
    63. Jodhapur – Rajasthan
    64. Kota – Rajasthan
    65. Udipur – Rajasthan
    66. Ludhiana – Punjab
    67. Amritsar – Punjab
    68. Jalandhar – Punjab
    69. Patiala – Punjab
    70. Muzaffarapur – Bihar
    71. Patna – Bihar
    72. Gaya – Bihar
    73. Bhagalpur – Bihar
    74. Bihar Sharif – Bihar
    75. Faridabad – Haryana
    76. Gurgaon – Haryana
    77. Panipat – Haryana
    78. Ambala – Haryana
    79. Guwahati – Assam
    80. Tinsukia – Assam
    81. Odalguri – Assam
    82. Tangla – Assam
    83. Goalpara – Assam
    84. Bhubaneswar – Odisha
    85. Cuttack – Odisha
    86. Rourkela – Odisha
    87. Sambalpur – Odisha
    88. Balasore – Odisha
    89. Shimla – Himachal Pradesh
    90. Dehradoon – Uttarakhand
    91. Haridwar – Uttarakhand
    92. Roorkee – Uttarakhand
    93. Jamshedpur – Jharkhand
    94. Dhanbad – Jharkhand
    95. Ranchi – Jharkhand
    96. Gangtok – Sikkim
    97. Pelling – Sikkim
    98. Yuksam – Sikkim
    99. Bishnupur – Manipur
    100. Chandel – Manipur


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