Current Affairs - 8 November 2015

General Affairs

One Rank One Pension Notification Cleared by Government

• NEW DELHI:  The notification for the implementation of the One Rank One Pension scheme for armed forces veterans was issued by the government today.
  
  About 25 lakh military veterans are expected to benefit from the scheme though in first reactions they said the details of the notification would be studied before calling off the protest.
  
  Yesterday, the ex-servicemen upset at the delay in the One Rank One Pension or OROP scheme being notified, had decided to return the medals they have been honoured with in the country's service.
  
  The government had promised the veterans that a notification to effect OROP would be issued as soon as the Bihar assembly election is over, pleading that a model code of conduct prohibits it from notifying new schemes during elections. Votes will be counted on Sunday, November 8.
  
  The government had, after negotiations that went on for months, announced on September 5 that it would implement OROP, which ensures that armed personnel of the same rank will draw the same pension regardless of when they retired.
  
  Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had earlier said the government was trying to issue the notification before Diwali, which falls on November 11.
  
  Veterans protesting in New Delhi said last week that they have no faith in Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar's promise. "The minister has changed the goalposts and hence the veterans have no faith in this statement," Major General Satbir Singh (retd), who has led the ex-servicemen's protests, said.
  
  Some groups of veterans had also said that the provisions that the government has announced on OROP has shortcomings.
  

India's Culture Goes Beyond Tolerance, Talks of Acceptance: PM Modi

• NEW DELHI:  Amid the raging intolerance debate, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today asserted that Indian culture goes beyond tolerance and talks of acceptance.
  
  He said this when a delegation of 51 artistes and writers led by veteran actor Anupam Kher met him and expressed concern over protests by a section of the people while describing them as one with a "political agenda".
  
  "The Prime Minister stated that Indian culture goes beyond tolerance, and talks of acceptance," a PMO statement said after the meeting.
  
  The delegation of artistes earlier in the day submitted a memorandum to the President, after they marched to the Rashtrapati Bhavan to counter the protests by writers, artistes and others against alleged "rising intolerance", which they felt projected India in bad light.
  
  The Kher-led delegation described the protests by writers and others after return of their awards as a bid to "tarnish" the image of the country and derail the development initiatives of the Prime Minister.

Tight Security for Counting of Votes Across Bihar

• PATNA:  Elaborate security arrangements have been made for Sunday at 39 centres across Bihar for counting of votes polled in the five-phased assembly elections, officials said today.
  
  Counting of votes polled for 243 assembly seats will begin at 8 am and the first trends will be available from 9 am onwards, sources in the Bihar chief electoral officer's office said.
  
  State's Additional Chief Electoral Officer R. Lakshmanan said the first result was expected after 11 am. The entire process was likely to be completed by 5 pm.
  
  One observer would be posted at each counting centre to oversee the process, he said.
  
  According to the Election Commission, around 60 per cent of the over 66.8 million voters exercised their franchise to decide the fate of 3,450 candidates, including 272 women.
  
  A record turnout of women voters was witnessed in all five phases.

No Wave in Left Front's Favour in Kerala Civic Polls: Oommen Chandy

• THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:  As the opposition Left Democratic Front maintained an impressive lead in local body elections in Kerala, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy today said it "in no way reflects a wave in favour of the Left".
  
  "There is no wave in favour of the Left. In the 2010 local body polls, we got a bigger mandate but no one then said there was a wave in favour of the Congress-led UDF. Ours is the second best performance this time in all local body elections in Kerala," Mr Chandy told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram.
  
  He also said the marginal gains by the BJP were a "temporary phenomenon".
  
  "In Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation, they (BJP) came second. But if you go by the party's performance in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP should have won 60 seats. But it could win only half that number. It is just a passing phase and nothing else," Mr Chandy said.
  
  The LDF beat the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in the gram and block panchayats whereas in the district panchayats, the two were equally poised with leads in seven districts each.
  
  Polling was held for 21,871 seats in 941 villages, 152 blocks and 14 district panchayats, besides 86 municipalities and six corporations.
  
  With results of just under 1,000 seats to come in, the LDF was ahead in 548 of the 941 gram panchayats, the UDF in 367 and the BJP in 13. Others were leading in 13 panchayats.
  
  Of the six municipal corporations, the Left won two, the UDF one whereas a hung verdict was recorded in three others.
  
  "I accept the people's verdict. We will discuss it within our party and the UDF. Something appears to have gone wrong and we will find out what it is," Mr Chandy said.
  
  The chief minister also dismissed the contention that the UDF defeat was due to the bar scam in which state Finance Minister KM Mani was alleged to be involved.

Nepal to Import Fuel From Bangladesh to Keep Planes Flying

• KATHMANDU:  Nepal has struck a deal with a private supplier to fly in fuel from Bangladesh to ease crippling shortages that have sparked fears of domestic flights being grounded, its state oil trading company said Saturday.
  
  Protesters seeking changes to Nepal's new constitution have blocked a key checkpoint bordering India for more than six weeks, cutting off vital supplies and forcing fuel rationing across the landlocked Himalayan nation.
  
  "We have reached an agreement with a private company, Petromax Nepal, who will air-lift ATF (aviation turbine fuel) from Bangladesh in the next three to four days," said Mukunda Ghimire, a spokesman for Nepal Oil Corporation.
  
  

  "Petromax has agreed to bring 400,000 litres of ATF per day, this should solve our problem and allow to supply international airlines with fuel as well," Ghimire told AFP.
  
  The fuel crisis has forced international airlines to make additional stops overseas to refuel while the state-run Nepal Oil Corporation has struggled to supply domestic carriers.
  
  Nepal Oil Corporation had earlier warned that domestic flights could be halted due to shrinking supplies. The country is home to six airlines, including state carrier Nepal Airlines.
  
  Saturday's agreement comes after Nepal signed its first-ever petroleum supply agreement with China last week, ending a decades-long monopoly by India, but details have yet to be worked out.
  
  Nepal has faced crippling fuel shortages since September 24, when demonstrators from the Madhesi ethnic minority kicked off a blockade in the southern town of Birgunj.
  
  They are protesting against the country's new constitution which they say will leave them politically marginalised.
  
  In a crackdown that dashed hopes of a compromise between the government and demonstrators, Nepali security forces on Monday broke up the blockade for a few hours, sparking violent protests and leading an Indian man to die in police firing.
  
  The movement of cargo across other Indian border checkpoints has also slowed to a crawl, prompting authorities in Kathmandu to accuse New Delhi of imposing an "unofficial blockade" to show its dissatisfaction with the new charter.
  
  New Delhi has denied the charge and urged dialogue with the protesting Madhesis, who have close cultural, linguistic and family ties to Indians living across the border.
  
  The constitution, the first drawn up by elected representatives, was meant to cement peace and bolster Nepal's transformation to a democratic republic after decades of political instability and a 10-year Maoist insurgency.
  
  But it has instead resulted in deadly violence with more than 40 people killed in clashes between police and protesters.

Business Affairs 

India-China ties globally significant, says President Pranab Mukherjee

• Relations between India and China have a regional and global significance, President Pranab Mukherjee said when Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao called on him, said a statement on Saturday.

  Li called on Mukherjee on Friday and the two leaders reviewed ties between India and China, according to a Rashtrapati Bhavan statement.

  Mukherjee pointed out that Li was the first ever vice president of China to visit India.

  India-China relations have witnessed all round progress in recent years, he said.

  The two countries have expanded high level political exchanges. As two emerging economies, relations between the two countries have a regional and a global significance. India-China trade now stands at $70.59 billion.

  India welcomed Chinese companies to participate in 'Make in India' campaign, the president said.

  Li warmly reciprocated the president's sentiments and said closer ties between the two countries would not only benefit both but also help usher in the Asian century. He congratulated India on its rapid development and said China was determined to promote cooperation in all fields.

  Prior to meeting the president, Li on Friday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

  During the meeting, Modi recalled the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to India last year, and his own visit to China in May this year, according to an official statement.

  Modi said there was tremendous potential for India and China to grow their economic and developmental partnership, and highlighted opportunities in railways, smart cities, infrastructure and urban transport for cooperation.

  Li, who arrived in Maharashtra's Aurangabad on Tuesday, also visited Kolkata where he met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi, before arriving in New Delhi on Thursday night.

  Li will depart from India on Saturday.

No hike in petrol, diesel prices despite higher excise duty

• Petrol and diesel prices will not be increased following government's decision to hike excise duty by Rs 1.60 per litre and 40 paise a litre respectively as state-owned oil companies have decided to absorb the raise for the time being.

  The government late last night raised excise duty on petrol and diesel to mop up additional revenue to meet budgetary targets.

  "There will be no change in retail prices of petrol and diesel for now," a top oil company official said. "We are not passing on the excise duty hike as of now."

  The increase in excise duty on the fuels is likely to yield an additional revenue of about Rs 3,200 crore to the government during the rest of the current fiscal.

  The government had collected Rs 99,184 crore in excise collections from the petroleum sector in 2014-15. This was Rs 33,042 crore in the first quarter of current fiscal.

  The basic excise duty on unbranded or normal petrol was increased from Rs 5.46 per litre to Rs 7.06 a litre, according to a CBEC notification.

  After including additional and special excise duty, the total levy on petrol will be Rs 19.06 per litre as against Rs 17.46 at present. Similarly on unbranded or normal diesel, excise duty has been increased from Rs 4.26 per litre to Rs 4.66 a litre. After including special excise duty, total incidence of excise duty on diesel will be Rs 10.66 per litre as against Rs 10.26 now.

  The excise duty on branded petrol has been hiked from Rs 6.64 to Rs 8.24 per lire. Special and additional excise duty of Rs 12 per litre will continue as before. On branded diesel, excise duty has been increased from Rs 6.62 to Rs 7.02 per litre. Additional excise duty of Rs 6 per litre will continue as before.

  The government had previously in four instalments raised excise duty on petrol and diesel between November 2014 and January 2015 to take away the reduction in retail rates that was warranted from falling international oil prices.

  The four excise duty hikes during this period totalled Rs 7.75 per litre on petrol and Rs 6.50 a litre on diesel. It led to about Rs 20,000 crore in additional revenue to the government, helping it meet its fiscal deficit target.

  Tax on petrol and diesel was first raised by Rs 1.50 a litre each from November 12, 2014.

  Then again from December 2, 2014, the excise duty on petrol was raised by Rs 2.25 per litre and by Re 1 on diesel.

  This was followed by government hiking excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 2 per litre each from January 2, 2015 and a similar proportion from January 16, 2015.

India positioned more favourably for future than China, says World Economic Forum

• In the coming years, India is positioned much more favourably than China in terms of growth, the World Economic Forum has said though it observed that it is not entirely smooth sailing just yet.

  "There is now a consensus among analysts that there are only a few bright spots in the global economy, and India is one of them," Viraj Mehta, head of India and South Asia for World Economic Forum, said in an op-ed on its website.

  Based on pure fundamentals, India's outlook is promising; the art is in navigating the inevitable social, political and cultural complexities of the world's largest democracy, he wrote.

  "From a macroeconomic perspective, India is positioned much more favourably for the future, even when compared to China," WEF said.

  Growth accelerated this year to around 7.5 per cent, putting the country on course to overtake China by the end of 2016. It is no wonder that India jumped 16 places in the World Economic Forum's latest competitiveness index to 55.

  China remained steady at 28, whereas Brazil fell 18 places to 75, the WEF article noted.

  "It is clear that India is no longer considered part of the 'fragile five' emerging economies, as it was just a few years ago," the article said but quickly noted that it is not entirely smooth sailing just yet.

  "In order to continue on this path, India must carry on building foreign investor confidence, something that has been more variable in recent months," Mehta wrote.

  In another op-ed, Philipp R sler, Head of the Centre for Regional Strategies and Member of the Managing Board at the WEF said in this year's Global Competitiveness Report which sets out every year to assess the long-term economic prospects of over 140 countries, India comprehensively turns around five years of decline.

  "Climbing a total of 16 places in one year to 55th worldwide, India's performance is one of the strongest seen anywhere in the world," he wrote.

  This ascendance up the ranks arrests a decline that began back in 2008, when the economy was growing at a healthy 8.5 per cent rather than the five per cent rate of recent years.

  The country's competitiveness, along with its economic growth, had been declining since, with last year representing a nadir as India ranked 71st, the WEF said.

  Twelve months ago, the index highlighted infrastructure and the country's institutions as particularly problematic areas (they ranked 70th and 87th respectively).

  Yet the past year has witnessed solid signs of progress in both these areas, with its institutions climbing 10 places year-on-year to 60th, and infrastructure moving up by six to 81st, it noted.

  There has also been seen a considerable improvement in the state of the country's macroeconomic environment over the past twelve months.

  In the last edition of the index, this fundamental driver of competitiveness was certainly acting as a brake in India, with the Global Competitiveness Report ranking the country 101st and singling out regular government deficits, a narrow tax base and double-digit inflation as particular causes for concern, it said.

  "India's rise can be put down to small yet significant and hopefully sustainable reforms across a number of key areas," the WEF wrote.

  "These reforms are also beginning to bear fruit: improving infrastructure means removing a key bottleneck to growth and investment and allowing key areas of the economy farming and manufacturing, for example to become more productive," the WEF op-ed said.

Maharashtra government to disinvest assets in 7 loss-making Public Sector Enterprises

• The Maharashtra government has decided to disinvest its assets in seven loss-making Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs) in the state.

  At present, there are 55 such PSEs under administrative control of 20 departments of the state government.

  The seven ailing PSEs in the line of disinvestment are - MAFCO, MELTRON, Maharashtra Land Development Corporation, Maharashtra Textile Development Corporation, and Vidarbha, Marathwada and Konkan Development Corporations.

  Principal secretary Finance (Reforms) Bijay Kumar said that in case of MAFCO, the land owned by it has been given back to the original owners.

  The land belonging to MAFCO has been handed over to BMC, CIDCO and other government departments, he told PTI.

  The idea of closing down some of the loss-making state PSEs has been on the agenda of governments since 1990.

  In 2000, the then government by an Act had set up the Maharashtra Board for Restructuring State Public Enterprises (MBRSE) to decide on disinvesting or restructuring these ailing PSUs in the state.

  However in 2007, the Act was scrapped. The MBRSE had then recommended disinvestment and revitalisation of the 11 state PSEs.

  A High Powered Committee that is now entrusted with the task of deciding the fate of the loss-making PSUs has asked various departments to make presentations on their status, Kumar said.

  An official from the Finance department said that the government at present is undertaking selling off the assets of these state PSEs and returning the land to the concerned government departments.

  The staff in such PSEs have either been offered Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS)or absorbed by their parent departments, he said.

  Out of the 55 loss-making state PSEs, 14 belong to the Industries, Energy and Labour department, six belong to Social Justice department, six belong to Water Resources department and five to Cooperation and Marketing department.

  The rest of them belong to Agriculture, Dairy Development, Tourism and other departments. Notably, some of the state PSEs have out-lived their utility.

  The Maharashtra Land Development Corporation was set up to develop agricultural land, and through the Maharashtra State Farming Corporation, the government engaged itself in farming and producing crops and vegetables.

  The government also sold milk through the milk distribution scheme. Interestingly, BJP Maharashtra Unit President Raosaheb Danve and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had announced appointment of party leaders and workers in PSEs.

  The sharing of PSEs between BJP and Shiv Sena is yet to be finalised as both parties have not reached a final conclusion over the sharing formula.

  After the seven ailing PSEs are scrapped, the BJP and the Sena will have to distribute 48 PSUs between them and their allies that include Republican Party of India, Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, Rashtriya Samaj Party and Shiv Sangram.

ONGC net profit dips 11% on sharp fall in oil prices

• State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) on Friday reported a 11 per cent fall in its September quarter net profit because of a sharp fall in oil prices.

  Net profit in the July-September quarter at Rs 4,842.02 crore was 11 per cent lower than Rs 5,444.89 crore clocked in the same period of last fiscal, the company said in a stock exchange filing.

  Its total income was marginally higher at Rs 20,679.56 crore in second quarter of the current fiscal as compared to Rs 20,477.75 crore a year ago.

  The company also declared an interim dividend of Rs 4.50 per equity share amounting to Rs 3,850 crore.

General Awareness

Madhya Pradesh proposes Rs.1,656 cr AMRUT Action Plan

• • Under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) in the current financial year (2015-16) worth Rs.1,656 cr of which Central assistance Rs.672 cr, State government Rs.756 crand Rs.228 cr from the resources of respective urban local bodies

    

    To improve basic infrastructure regarding water supply and sewerage network services likewise storm water drainage, urban transport and parks and green services in 32 citiesand towns Rs.8,279 cr investment proposed in 5 years to safeguard water and sewerage connections to the urban households.

    • It has submitted State Annual Action Plan (SAAP) to the Ministry of Urban Development.

    Report: Madhya Pradesh government 

    • 51% of all urban households in the state have water supply connections the supply is 88 litres per capita per day as against the norm of 135 lpcd at present.
    • 11% of urban households have sewerage network services.

    Coverage of  water supply connection

    From 21% to 74%	Below 50%	50% to 73%	No sewerage networks in 11 of the 27 mission cities and towns
    Pithampur ,Gwalior and Dewas	Bhopal, Satna, Morena, Singrauli, Burhanpur, Shivpuri, vidisha, Chhatarpur, Damoh, Hoshangabad, Sehore,Datia and Nagda.	Jabalpur, Ujjain, Sagar, Ratlam, Rewa, Katni, Chhindwara, Khandwa, Bhind, Guna, Mandsaur, Khargone, Neemuch, Betual and Seoni.	Indore and Gwalior have coverage of 62% and 60% respectively. In other cities and towns from 3% to 25%

    AMRUT(Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation):

    It was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi(June 2015) for urban renewal projects to establish infrastructure that could ensure adequate robust sewerage networks and water supply to establish infrastructure.

    • Housing for All by 2022 and AMRUT were launched on the same day.
    • Rajasthan was the first state in the country to submit State Annual Action Plan(SAAP)