Tuesday, May 31, 2016

26 May 2016 - Two Years of Modi Government - Progress Card


India Today Special: Modi Government Report Card After 2 Years | Part 1
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India Today

Modi Government Report Card After 2 Years | Part 2
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Special PIB Website on 2 Years of NDA Rule


http://pib.nic.in/nda2/


http://www.narendramodi.in/category/infographics




























http://www.narendramodi.in/pm-modi-at-vikas-parva-rally-in-saharanpur-uttar-pradesh-483540


Updated 31 May 2016, 26 May 2016

Friday, May 27, 2016

Hindu Religious Rituals - Are Changes Required?

It is interesting to note that Sociology says most of the present day practices of societies are functional. They came into existence to serve some purpose of the society. Even Vedas, the foundation of all knowledge of Hinduism have functional utility for the society. As society evolves, certain practices may not give the benefits which they were giving earlier and hence get modified. Many such changes occurred in Hinduism.

I am looking at two issues first.  One the cost involved in rituals. Two, the cleanliness involved in the rituals. Should Hindu religious leaders have a fresh look at these two issues and modify the rituals.

Regarding cost aspect, the after death rituals are costing a cool packet coming to around  Rs.30,000 to 50,000 for a middle class family. Normally, the medical expenses are also involved in the period before. Is such an expense required? Will it not strain the family members unnecessarily? Already education is so much commercialised in this country that people are now forced to spend lakhs of rupees even at high school level. Should religious leaders say, religion also requires expenditure, so strain yourself and spend? You are paying taxes to government, incurring various expenses for unwarranted things and services under the spell of advertisment. You should pay to the religious establishment also. Should it be the line of religious leaders?

Rituals after death: Vinayak Damodar Savarkar said just dispose my dead body. No further rituals are required. Is there a need for making daan after death of a persons. Will it give punya to him? After punya is earned by the man by his deed during his life time. Why trouble people already troubled by death of a family member for more expenses?

Gift of clothes:  Are people having  trouble to clothe themselves? Why insist on compulsory gifts of clothes on various occasions? Already marriage of a girl is made costly by various customs and rituals connected to the bridegroom's family which they demand as right? Why expenses on bride's family also. Probably these are vestiges of a society that lived on agricultural land. Basically the customs of rich people are foisted upon poor people. In modern days where boy and girl work and earn income, the customs need change. But religious leaders are not taking enough interest in changing and moulding social customs. They and their followers are more concerned with using imaginary powers to increase their wealth further or punya with rituals. If present religious leaders do not take interest in social affairs, the vacuum will be filled by others.

Purohit system: Purohit system is an established practice that can be used by religious leaders, social leaders, and government for changing the culture of people. But there does not seem to be a good system in place to provide inputs to purohits in the modern practices that help to increase welfare of families, villages and towns. Purohit system is a stable system even now and it has to be used imaginatively so that it genuinely contributes to the progress of the family and society.

While Hindu religion emphasizes cleanliness in general, the present scientific practices of cleanliness have advanced and the religious practices have lagged behind. There is a need to have fresh look at some of the practices that only trouble a person's stomach and chest. Modification of such rituals to incorporate scientific cleanliness is warranted. The psychological satisfaction of a person should not lead to physical debility.

Readers are requested to give their comments.


Shodasha Samskars

http://shaivam.org/pra-hindu-rituals.htm
http://hinduonline.co/HinduCulture/ListOfSamskaras.html


Updated 27 May 2016,  25 Jan 2012

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Panchayat and Municipal Governments in India - Functions and Finances





If we accept the data mechanically, as done by Govind Rao (2001, pp.12-13), all ULBs would be found to incur in 1997-98 an expenditure of over Rs.151308 crore while all PRIs spend about Rs.20931 crore, suggesting that all local bodies spend roughly Rs.172239 crore (which would be more than half the revenue expenditure of the Union Government of India). Based on this database,
M.G. Rao (2001, pp.12-13) wished us to believe that the total expenditure of all governments
put together spent in a sum equivalent to 34.8 percent of the GSDP (GDP?) while revenue
collection and accrual stood at 18.3 percent and 19.8 percent respectively! He also tries to
make us believe that the three levels of the government were spending almost equal amounts
(ibid).

Rao, M. Govind (2001) Fiscal Decentralisation in Indian Federalism, Working Paper 98,
Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore.

Interesting Paper with good amount of information on the topic

URBAN LOCAL BODIES IN INDIA: QUEST FOR MAKING THEM SELF-RELIANT
P.K.CHAUBEY
Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi
Presented in the National Seminar on Municipal Finances to be held on December 29-30,
2003 by the Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi under the auspices of the
Twelfth Finance Commission.
http://fincomindia.nic.in/writereaddata/html_en_files/oldcommission_html/predocs/speech/chaubey_ulb.pdf

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

India to be the third largest economy in the world



India may be third largest economy after 2030: UK think tank Centre for Economics Business and Research (CEBR)

Dec 27, 2015
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-12-27/news/69334750_1_largest-economy-cebr-india-and-brazil


India May Be 3rd Largest Economy After 2030: Study

India's projected GDP in 2030 was $10,133 billion

http://www.businessworld.in/article/India-May-Be-3rd-Largest-Economy-After-2030-Study-/28-12-2015-89721/

Top 10 world economies in 2030 

India to be world’s third largest economy by 2030: US study Jun 25, 2015



In the macroeconomic projections for 2030 by the US Department of Agriculture,  in the next 15 years, India is believed to rise up the rankings and for the first time, enter the top three to become the third largest economy in the world.


http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-to-be-worlds-third-largest-economy-by-2030-study/

India displaces Japan to become third-largest world economy in terms of PPP: World Bank
Apr 30, 2014

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-04-30/news/49523310_1_capita-income-third-largest-economy-world-gdp



India to be the third largest economy in the world by Year 2043



17 February 2014 (PIB Note)

While   presenting    the  Interim   Budget    2014-15,   the   Union   Finance  Minister Shri P Chidambaram said that in the next three decades India will become the third largest economy behind USA and China.

The Finance Minister Mr. P. Chidambaram announced ten policies or tasks that his Government intends to pursue to achieve the goal of becoming the world's largest economy.

i.                    Fiscal Consolidation: A target of fiscal deficit of 3 percent of GDP must be achieved by 2016-17  and must always be kept below that level.

ii.                  Current Account Deficit: Since the economy will run a Current Account Deficit every year for some more years, it can be financed only by foreign investment, whether it is FDI or FII or ECB or any other kind of foreign inflow. Therefore, foreign investment must be encouraged.

iii.                Price Stability and Growth:  In a developing economy where the aim is high growth, a moderate level of inflation will have to be accepted.  RBI must strike a balance between price stability and growth while formulating monetary policy.

iv.        Financial Sector Reforms:  The recommendations of the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission must be implemented immediately as they do not require any change in legislation.  Also, a timetable must be drawn for other recommendations that require  legislation.

v.         Infrastructure:  The country must rebuild its infrastructure and add a huge quantity of new infrastructure.  Every proven model must be adopted but the  PPP model must be more widely used.  New financing structures must be created for long term funds and pooling of investments.

vi.          Manufacturing:  The Government  must focus on manufacturing and especially on manufacturing for export.  The Minister  proposed  that all taxes, Central and State, that go into an exported product should be waived or rebated.  He also proposed that there should be a minimum tariff protection so that there is an incentive to manufacture goods in India rather than import them into India.

vii.     Subsidies:  Given the limited resources, and the many claims on the resources, the Government must choose the subsidies that are absolutely necessary and give them only to the absolutely deserving.

viii.  Urbanisation:  The country’s cities will become ungovernable, and perhaps unliveable, if attention is not paid  to  the decay in these cities.  Cities have wealth and also create wealth.  But that wealth should be tapped for resources to rebuild the cities with a new model of governance.

ix.    Skill Development:  Skill development must rank alongside secondary education, university education, total sanitation and universal health care in the priorities of the Government.

x.         Sharing responsibility between States and Centre:  States have the fiscal space to bear a reasonable proportion of the financial costs of implementing flagship programmes and must willingly do so, so that the Central Government can allocate more resources for subjects such as defence, railways national highways and telecommunications that are its exclusive responsibility.

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=103766


India 2039: An Affluent Society in One Generation

Harinder S Kohli, Anil Sood
SAGE Publications India, 20-Jan-2010 - 300 pages
https://books.google.co.in/books?id=jfyHAwAAQBAJ


Updated  18 May 2016,  15 Dec 2014


Sunday, May 8, 2016

#WeRequestModiGovt - Twitter Hashtag 8 May 2016



The tag is trending on 8 May 2016 with 13.6K tweets.


https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeRequestModiGovt

 
#WeRequestModiGovt Every MP has to present investment plan for Rs.10,000 cr in his constituency. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUn4JmyWHPU
https://twitter.com/knoltweet/status/729179735167639553


#WeRequestModiGovt  Start one PSU in every state with Rs. 1000 crore. It will be good Make in India initiative.  http://guide-india.blogspot.in/2014/09/make-in-india-campaign-by-prime-minster.html
https://twitter.com/knoltweet/status/729175492717219840

 
#WeRequestModiGovt  Investment in security has to increase in proportion to increase in Foreign investment.


Prakhar Mehta ‏@prakharrulzz
When r we going to follow #indaFirst approach ?
#WeRequestModiGovt
https://twitter.com/prakharrulzz/status/729178123791650816

Jhankrit Soni ‏@jhankritsoni17  4m4 minutes ago
Improvisation in food stock management in FCI godowns. Every year thousand tonnes of grain went down the drain
#WeRequestModiGovt
https://twitter.com/jhankritsoni17/status/729177982040834048


Allah Raka Rahman ‏@God_Rahman  May 8
#WeRequestModiGovt not to forget their promises

Vikram Hans ‏@vh_vikram  May 8
#WeRequestModiGovt toRectify Lack of Nationwide Adequate Govt Downstream WasteDisposal/Treatment Facilities,Bottleneck in CleanIndiaMission

@ImManishSingh ‏@lovesonuu  May 8
To connect all the river to solve the problem of drought flood and many more #WeRequestModiGovt


Aditya ‏@lethalw2010  May 8
#WeRequestModiGovt
1) Appoint people of integrity in probe/judiciary
2) Speed up all corruption cases: Set up deadlines
3) Review RTE ACT

Aditya ‏@lethalw2010  May 8
#WeRequestModiGovt
4) Review economic reforms
5) Review depts lagging behind
6) stop govt interference in temples
7) Review promises made

Raju Kandari ‏@rajesh4868  May 8
#WeRequestModiGovt to support the Defense research to boost the #MakeInIndia.

Avinash ‏@avinash_mailme  May 8
#WeRequestModiGovt to teach govt Babu's in every department to respect public, and teach them public are masters and they r only servants



Friday, May 6, 2016

Make in India - Thermal Power - $20 Trillion Economy Opportunity












Expansion in industrial activity to boost demand for electricity.
A growing population is likely to boost demand for energy.
Increasing market penetration and per-capita usage will provide further impetus to the energy industry.
Large capacity additions (174.9 GW) are targeted upto 2022.
Ambitious projects and increasing investments across the value chain.

http://www.makeinindia.com/sector/thermal-power/


Related Sectors

Make in India - Renewable Energy and Related Equipment - $20 Trillion Economy Opportunity

Make in India - Electrical Machinery



6 May 2016

Kiran Bedi ‏@thekiranbedi  

What a long way to go.. V r poorest in power consumption in comparison to developed countries.Tragic! @EconomicTimes


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https://twitter.com/thekiranbedi/status/728487495889981440
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The data shows the growth avenue to Indian Economy. If we want to grow the economy, there has to be energy available in convenient form. In today's world electricity is a very convenient energy form. The country needs a plan to treble energy production in the shortest time possible with adequate utilization.

15 Feb 2016

Coal, Power & Renewable Sectors to Provide an Oppourtunity of One Trillion Dollar Investment by 2030: Shri Piyush Goyal 


While speaking at Seminar on Power & Coal during Make in India Week in Mumbai today, Shri Piyush Goyal said, “The efforts of Government have ushered the power sector in a new level of growth altogether which provides for the sector a possible investment opportunity, between 2015 & 2020, a five year period, of about $ 250 billion.

When I extrapolate that to a 15 year programme until 2030 the coal, power and renewable sector alone provides $1 trillion opportunity.
Infact the ADB has calculated a $ 2.3 trillion opportunity by 2035”.

He further added, “when I talk about $1 trillion investment by 2030, it’s a well defined area wise plan- what will go into transmission, what will opening of new mines, how will we bring technology into the coal sector, what will be our push towards energy efficiency, how are we going to bring in new coal generating plants which will be environmentally superior plants, what will we going to do about our gas based plants, how are we going to ensure the distribution sector works as a vibrant profitable business for the state discoms- all of these have been drawn out in great details. It provides great opportunity for the investors both in India and International.”


Talking about rural electrification, Shri Piyush Goyal said, “I am delighted that Prime Minister has taken up the task of rural electrification on mission mode and assured that in 1000 days (when he announced on 15th August 2015), there will be no village in this country without electricity access and I am even delighted to inform all of you that the ministry has taken the challenge to the next level and committed to the Indian that each of this 18,452 villages will be electrified in 730 days not the thousand days. Nearly one- third of the work is already done and as we speak about 5279 villages have already being electrified in last 10 months. By 31 March 2016, we expect over 6500 villages to be electrified and by 31st March 2017, our efforts will be to almost to electrify 80 to 90% unelectrified of villages across the country. By 2019, the effort is to ensure that every home gets electricity connection, most of them through the grid some of them through distributed energy and micro grids.”

Shri Piyush Goyal said that our global share of LED consumption has gone up from 0.1% to 12% in just 2 years on the global scale and the LED programme will save 100 bn units of electricity and $6.5 bn every year for consumers.

Shri Goyal stated that he is happy by the fact that India has surplus power and surplus coal because that is where we can ensure the success of our programmes to bring power to every individual, every business, ensure adequate power for our farmers and that’s the enabler which will help the Make in India programme to scale new heights of success and invite people from all across the world to come and invest in India, to come and enjoy the huge market demand that a billion plus aspirational Indians offer to the world.

RM/PS
(Release ID :136409)
pib.nic.in




 THERMAL CAPACITY ADDITION PROGRAMME (RFD FOR THE YEAR 2015-16

http://www.cea.nic.in/reports/proj_mon/broad_status.pdf
April 2015 report

State Project Name Impl Agency Equipment Supplier  LOA Date Unit No Targeted Cap. (MW)
Commd.
Cap.
(MW)
Actual
Comm.
Date
At the
beginning
of the
year
CENTRAL SECTOR
Assam Bongaigaon TPP NTPC BHEL 05.02.08 U-1 250 Jun-15
Bihar Muzafferpur NTPC BHEL 12.03.10 U-4 195  Feb-16
MP Vindhyachal TPP-V NTPC BHEL 05/2012 U- 13 500 Dec-15
Tripura Agratala CCPP NEEPCO Thermax 12.09.12 ST-1 25.5 May-15
Tripura Monarchak CCPP NEEPCO BHEL 23.07.10 ST 35.6 Aug-15
TN Tuticorin TPP NLC BHEL 28.01.09 U-2 500 Jul-15
WB Raghunathpur TPP, Ph-I DVC Chinese 14.12.07 U-2 600 Jan-16
 Total Central Sector  MW  2106.1 0


STATE SECTOR
Chhattisgarh Marwa TPP CSPGCL BHEL 11.04.08 U-4 500 Sep-15
Gujarat Sikka TPS GSECL BHEL 10.05.07 U-4 250 Dec-15
Karnataka Bellary TPS St-III KPCL BHEL 28.09.10 U-3 700 Dec-15
Karnataka Yermarus TPP KPCL BHEL 09.04.10 U-1 800 Jan-16
Maharashtra Chandrapur TPS MSPGCL BHEL 25.07.08 U-9 500 Oct-15
Maharashtra Koradi TPS Expn MSPGCL L&T 23.09.09 U-9 660 Sep-15
Maharashtra Koradi TPS Expn. MSPGCL L&T 23.09.09 U-10 660 Feb-16
Maharashtra Parli TPS MSPGCL BHEL 20.01.09 U-8 250 Jan-16
Rajasthan Kalisindh TPP RVUNL BGRES 09.07.08 U-2 600 May-15
Telangana Singareni TPP Singareni Collieries Co Ltd BHEL 11.11.11 U-1 600 Jan-16
Telangana Kakatiya TPS Extn. T GENCO BHEL 13.10.08 U-1 600 Dec-15
UP Anpara-D TPS UPRVUNL BHEL 24.10.07 U- 6 500 Jun-15
UP Anpara-D TPS UPRVUNL BHEL 24.10.07 U- 7 500 Dec-15
WB Sagardighi TPS-Extn West Bengal BHEL 11.03.11 U-3 500 Sep-15
WB Sagardighi TPS-Extn West Bengal BHEL 11.03.11 U-4 500  Jan-16
 Total State Sector MW  8120


PRIVATE SECTOR
AP Painampuram TPP Thermal Power Tech Corporation Ltd hinese 09/2010 U-2 660 Aug-15

AP Vizag TPP Hinduja National Power Corp. Ltd HEL 03/2010 U-1 520 Oct-15
Chhattisgarh Bandakhar TPP M/s Maruti Clean (Chhattisgarh) td. hinese 07.06.11 U-1 300 Jun-15
Chhattisgarh Uchpinda TPP RKM owergen Pvt. Ltd Chinese 06/2009 U-1 360 Jun-15
Chhattisgarh BALCO TPP BALCO Pvt Ltd Chinese 20.08.07 U-1 300 Jun-15
Chhattisgarh BALCO TPP BALCO Pvt Ltd Chinese 20.08.07 U-2 300 Sep-15
Chhattisgarh Raikheda TPP GMR Non-BHEL U-2 685  Dec-15
Chhattisgarh Salora Vandana Vidyut Chinese U-2 135  Sep-15
Maharashtra Nasik TPP Ph-I Ratan India (Nasik) Power Ltd BHEL 24.11.09 U-2 270 Jan-16
MP Anuppur TPP Ph-I MB Power(MP) Chinese 15.11.10 U-1 600 600 20.04.2015 Jun-15
Orissa Ind Bharat TPP ( Orissa) Ind. Barath Chinese 16.05.09 U-1 350 Oct-15
Punjab Talwandi Sabo TPP Sterlite Chinese 18.07.09 U-2 660 Jun-15
Punjab Talwandi Sabo TPP Sterlite Chinese 18.07.09 U-3 660 Dec-15
UP Lalitpur TPP Lalitpur power Generation o. Ltd BHEL 21.03.11 U-1 660 Sep-15
UP Prayagraj (Bara ) TPP Prayagraj power Gen. Co. Ltd(J.P.Power Ventures) BHEL 21.10.09 U-1 660 Oct-15
Total Private Sector MW 120 600
 Grand Total 2015-16  MW 17346.1 600




7 June 2015

First company and power plant in the world to be certified to ISO 50001:2011

PARIS and MUMBAI, India, June 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Bureau Veritas Certification is pleased to announce that it has certified the Dahanu Thermal Power Station of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd. to ISO 50001:2011.

This is the first company and power plant in the world to be certified to ISO 50001:2011, the new standard for Energy Management developed by ISO (International Organization for Standardization), and published officially on June 15th 2011.

The Dahanu Thermal Power Station has a production capacity of 2 x 250 MW, and uses coal as its primary fuel.  Among the benefits of the implementation of the standard, the most remarkable achievements are:

A complete review of the consumption of all major auxiliaries, equipment areas and  buildings
Improvement in the monitoring of the energy consumption for all operations
The definition of energy use and consumption limits for the most important energy operations and the implementation of deviation controls for energy and maintenance operations

In addition to operational improvement, Dahanu Thermal Power Station has conducted a series of targeted investments since March 2010 at an average breakeven time of 27 months is expected.

The company was recognized for its best-in-class energy practices by many awards, such as the Energy Management Award of the Confederation of the Indian Industry,  Certification audits were conducted by the Energy Efficiency and Carbon team in the Mumbai office of Bureau Veritas Certification, which originally audited Dahanu Thermal Power Station to EN/BS 16001:2009 in January 2011.


For more information on Reliance Infrastructure Ltd. and Dahanu Power station, please visit:
http://www.rinfra.com/kar_energy_generation.html

For more information on ISO 50001:2011 or Bureau Veritas Certification’s services, please visit:
http://www.us.bureauveritas.com/bvc

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dahanu-thermal-power-station-of-reliance-infrastructure-ltd-is-the-first-company-in-the-world-certified-to-iso-500012011-124658773.html




8 April 2015

Power and Coal Minister said at CII National Conference 2015:  In the year 2019, power from thermal plants will be double of now at two trillion units, renewable energy will be five times of current at 300 billion units.  Coal output will increase to 150 billion tonnes (increase 1.5 times).

160 Giga Watts renewable energy will be installed by 2022 and $250 billion investment will be made.



Updated 6 May 2016, 28 Feb 2016

10 June 2015,  7 June,  8 April 2015, 14 Feb 2015



Sunday, May 1, 2016

Make in India - Roads and Highways





USD 3.8 Billion outlay planned for highways.
4.86 Million kms of roads and highways.
USD 19 Billion infrastructure development between 2012-17.
100,000 kms of national highway by the end of 2017.
100 completed Public Private Partnership Projects.


http://www.makeinindia.com/sector/roads-highways/



The government is expecting investments worth Rs. 25 lakh crores in infrastructure over the next three year according to Shri Nitin Gadkari, Cabinet Minister for Roads and Shipping.

This includes investments in Roads, Ports, 27 industrial clusters at ports and smart cities.

Clusters will have investment of Rs. 8 lakh crores.
5 lakh crores on road, railway and port connectivity.
by May 2017 Rs. 5 lakh crore road projects will be awarded.
by May 2016 Rs. 2 lakh crore road projects will be awarded.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/infrastructure/government-expecting-rs-25-lakh-crore-investment-for-infra-development-nitin-gadkari/articleshow/52042932.cms

http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/govt-to-invest-rs-25-lakh-cr-in-infra-says-gadkari-116042901265_1.html


Updated 1 May 2016,  16 Mar 2015

Make in India - Construction - $20 Trillion Economy Opportunity








India has an estimated urban housing shortage of 18.8 Million dwelling units. The housing shortage in rural India is estimated at 47.4 Million units, in 2012.

Present levels of urban infrastructure are inadequate to meet the demands of the existing urban population. There is need for re-generation of urban areas in existing cities and the creation of new, inclusive smart cities to meet the demands of increasing population and migration from rural to urban areas. Future cities of India will require smart real estate and urban infrastructure.

The Government of India is in the process of launching a new urban development mission.
This will help develop 500 cities, which include cities with a population of more than 100,000 and some cities of religious and tourist importance.
These cities will be supported and encouraged to harness private capital and expertise through PPPs, to holster their infrastructure and services in the next 10 years.

100 smart cities are planned.

To provide quality urban services on a sustainable basis in Indian cities, the need of the hour is that urban local bodies enter into partnership agreements with foreign players, either through joint ventures, private sector partners or through other models.

http://www.makeinindia.com/sector/construction/

http://www.nsdcindia.org/sites/default/files/files/Building-Construction-Real-Estate.pdf

30 April 2016

Real Estate Act comes into force tomorrow after 8 year long efforts

Countdown for making operational rules, setting up Regulatory Authorities, Appellate Tribunals begins.

Rules to be made within a maximum period of 6 months; Authorities and Tribunals in one year  

Ministry of HUPA begins work on preparation of model Rules under the Act .

Central Government notifies 69 relevant Sections initiating action under the Act
States can provide protection to home buyers before the outer limit of one year and three months
http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=142595


Updated 1 May 2016, 9 Jan 2016, 15 Feb 2015