Saturday, November 21, 2009
MOBILE NUMBER PORTABILITY FROM 31.DEC.2009
In a move that that has the potential to further intensify pricing competition in the world's fastest-growing telecom market, India will introduce mobile number portability on December 31, 2009. This move will further push call charges lower. Mobile Number Portability (MNP) will allow users to retain their number even if they switch operators. As per TRAI, the scheme will first be introduced only in the metro and tier I cities. The regulator has also notified that switching charges for users must not exceed Rs 19. While MNP is expected to act as a catalyst for the service providers to improve their quality of service, it may also set the ball rolling for consolidation in the sector.
Wealth distribution in India and China
Plenty of research has been done on the inequality of per capita income between countries and also on income inequality within a country. The Gini coefficient is often used to measure the level of inequality, with a low number indicating low inequality while a high number indicates a high degree of inequality.
The index lies between 0 and 100 with 0 denoting absolute equality and 100 absolute inequality. The United Nation's latest Human Development Report, for instance, puts the Gini index for India in 2007 at 36.8, better than China's 41.5. The richest 10% of the Indian population gets 31.1% of the country's income, while the poorest 10% get 3.6%. But economists such as Pranab Bardhan, professor at the University of California at Berkeley, have for long pointed out that while income inequality may be comparatively low in India, inequalities in wealth are far harsher. But data on wealth are much harder to get. Economists James B. Davies of the University of Western Ontario, Edward N. Wolff of New York University and Susanna Sandstrom and Anthony B. Shorrocks, both of World Institute for Development Economics Research of the United Nations University at Helsinki, have now tried to fill in this huge hole in research, by taking on the daunting task of estimating the level and distribution of global household wealth.
They used data on national wealth distribution available for 20 rich countries, accounting for 59% of the world's population. For countries on which no direct data are available, the researchers used national household balance sheet data, survey data and what they call "regressionbased imputations". They agree that there are significant gaps in the data and data quality in many countries leaves a lot to be desired. But then, that's entirely to be expected given the magnitude of the task.
What do they find? Unsurprisingly, the US is the world's richest nation with wealth per adult of $201,319 in the year 2000, in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms. According to the authors' calculations, mean wealth per Indian adult in 2000 was $12,021 in PPP terms.
For China, wealth per adult was estimated at $19,056 in 2000. That makes an average Chinese one a half times as wealthy as an average Indian.
But if we take gross domestic product (GDP) per adult instead of per adult wealth, then the income of an average Chinese was only 1.18 times as much as that of an average Indian in 2000. The study says that India's share of global GDP was 5.9% in 2000, while its share of global wealth was 4.2%.
Even more interesting are the estimates of wealth inequalities within countries. In India, for example, the top 10% of the population had 52.9% of the country's wealth in 2002-03, while the top 1% had 15.7%. China was more egalitarian, with the top 10% owning 41.4% of the nation's wealth. The Gini coefficient for wealth in India is 0.669, against 0.550 for China.
Wealth is distributed very unevenly in the US, with the top 10% getting 69.8% of the country's wealth and the top 1% own 32.7%. The Gini index for the US is a very high 0.801.
In contrast, the very poor own very little. In India, for instance, the bottom 10% of the population own a meagre 0.2% of the country's wealth and the bottom 20% own just 1%. Despite China's pretensions to communism, it is only marginally better, with the bottom 10% getting a mere 0.7% of the country's wealth.
The researchers find that the top 10% of households in the world own 71% of global wealth. The inequality in wealth distribution is much higher than for income distribution. North America, with 5.2% of the world population, owns 26.8% of the world's wealth and Europe, with 12% of the world's people, owns 28.2% of global wealth.
Aren't more people from the emerging countries joining the global rich? The researchers say "The popular press sometimes suggests that high wealth individuals from emerging market economies--especially China, India and Russia--are already strongly represented among the world's rich. Our figures indicate that at least as of the year 2000 the emerging market economies did not supply a significant share of the top 1% of global wealthholders.
With the possible exception of China they appear unlikely to do so for some time."
By Manas Chakraborty
Plenty of research has been done on the inequality of per capita income between countries and also on income inequality within a country. The Gini coefficient is often used to measure the level of inequality, with a low number indicating low inequality while a high number indicates a high degree of inequality.
The index lies between 0 and 100 with 0 denoting absolute equality and 100 absolute inequality. The United Nation's latest Human Development Report, for instance, puts the Gini index for India in 2007 at 36.8, better than China's 41.5. The richest 10% of the Indian population gets 31.1% of the country's income, while the poorest 10% get 3.6%. But economists such as Pranab Bardhan, professor at the University of California at Berkeley, have for long pointed out that while income inequality may be comparatively low in India, inequalities in wealth are far harsher. But data on wealth are much harder to get. Economists James B. Davies of the University of Western Ontario, Edward N. Wolff of New York University and Susanna Sandstrom and Anthony B. Shorrocks, both of World Institute for Development Economics Research of the United Nations University at Helsinki, have now tried to fill in this huge hole in research, by taking on the daunting task of estimating the level and distribution of global household wealth.
They used data on national wealth distribution available for 20 rich countries, accounting for 59% of the world's population. For countries on which no direct data are available, the researchers used national household balance sheet data, survey data and what they call "regressionbased imputations". They agree that there are significant gaps in the data and data quality in many countries leaves a lot to be desired. But then, that's entirely to be expected given the magnitude of the task.
What do they find? Unsurprisingly, the US is the world's richest nation with wealth per adult of $201,319 in the year 2000, in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms. According to the authors' calculations, mean wealth per Indian adult in 2000 was $12,021 in PPP terms.
For China, wealth per adult was estimated at $19,056 in 2000. That makes an average Chinese one a half times as wealthy as an average Indian.
But if we take gross domestic product (GDP) per adult instead of per adult wealth, then the income of an average Chinese was only 1.18 times as much as that of an average Indian in 2000. The study says that India's share of global GDP was 5.9% in 2000, while its share of global wealth was 4.2%.
Even more interesting are the estimates of wealth inequalities within countries. In India, for example, the top 10% of the population had 52.9% of the country's wealth in 2002-03, while the top 1% had 15.7%. China was more egalitarian, with the top 10% owning 41.4% of the nation's wealth. The Gini coefficient for wealth in India is 0.669, against 0.550 for China.
Wealth is distributed very unevenly in the US, with the top 10% getting 69.8% of the country's wealth and the top 1% own 32.7%. The Gini index for the US is a very high 0.801.
In contrast, the very poor own very little. In India, for instance, the bottom 10% of the population own a meagre 0.2% of the country's wealth and the bottom 20% own just 1%. Despite China's pretensions to communism, it is only marginally better, with the bottom 10% getting a mere 0.7% of the country's wealth.
The researchers find that the top 10% of households in the world own 71% of global wealth. The inequality in wealth distribution is much higher than for income distribution. North America, with 5.2% of the world population, owns 26.8% of the world's wealth and Europe, with 12% of the world's people, owns 28.2% of global wealth.
Aren't more people from the emerging countries joining the global rich? The researchers say "The popular press sometimes suggests that high wealth individuals from emerging market economies--especially China, India and Russia--are already strongly represented among the world's rich. Our figures indicate that at least as of the year 2000 the emerging market economies did not supply a significant share of the top 1% of global wealthholders.
With the possible exception of China they appear unlikely to do so for some time."
By Manas Chakraborty
Conference on “Emerging China: Prospects for Partnership in Asia”
20.11.2009 16:27 IST
The Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari has said that a glance at the Asian map shows that over a wide arc extending from West Asia, through Central Asia, to South and South East Asia to East Asia, Indian and Chinese interests intersect. Delivering inaugural address at a Conference On ‘Emerging China : Prospects for Partnership in Asia” organized by ICWA and AAS here today , he said that the active partnership between New Delhi and Beijing and mutual sensitivity to each other’s concerns is thus vitally necessary if stability, security and prosperity in the shared spaces in their near and distant neighbourhood are to be effectively ensured.
The Vice President said that the leaderships of India and China during the past two decades have cooperated in creating mutual political and economic stakes for mutual benefit. Economic cooperation between us has become a principal driver of our strategic and cooperative partnership for peace and prosperity. Yet, cooperation does not preclude competition. We realize that countries compete in global markets and such competition is constructive and beneficial rather than adversarial.
Following is the text of the Vice President’s address: -
“I am happy to be here at this seminar organized by the Indian Council of World Affairs and the Association of Asia Scholars. Sapru House itself has a place in the evolution of our foreign policy thinking. Established in 1943, the Council is tasked to promote the study of national and international affairs. More than a generation of scholars, analysts and diplomatists has passed through its portals.
It was here that Jawaharlal Nehru, with his vision of Asia forged in the fires of the struggle for freedom that raged across the entire continent of Asia, organized the Asian Relations Conference in 1947 as a non-governmental gathering.
Human societies live in time and space. A historian has noted that in the year 1500 each one of the great centres of world civilization was at a roughly similar stage of development, some more advanced in one area but less so in others. Subsequent events were to show that initiative, technological innovation, intellectual liberty and a flourishing economic base provided the critical mix that allowed the West to dominate the world for almost five centuries. The Asian Relations Conference was held at the end of one era and at the threshold of another. One theme of the Conference was the contours of the awakening of Asia; another was cooperation and partnership among the countries and peoples of Asia. The objective was spelt out by Nehru: “We propose to stand on our own feet and to co-operate with all others who are prepared to co-operate with us.”
Six decades later, the continent stands at the threshold of another Asian era. In this period the Nehruvian vision of Asia, indeed the geographical unity of the continent so to speak, has ceased to matter for geo-politics or economics. Asia developed, but the development was perceived and reflected in individual countries, sub-regional and trans-regional groupings. Japan emerged from the ruins of the Second World War as an important economic powerhouse, South East Asia has witnessed rapid economic growth and there has been a dramatic change in the economic, military and political profile of China. India has developed at a much faster pace in the last decade bringing millions out of poverty and showing that substantive social and economic progress is possible through democratic governance.
In this period, even as India and China enunciated the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence as the corner stone of inter-state relations, the bilateral relations between them did not always conform to those very principles. Yet, as Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi presciently put it in 1988: “What must not be forgotten in a listing of differences is a listing of commonality in our world outlook. There has been significant parallelism in the views expressed by India and China on a wide range of issues relating to world security, the international political order, the new international economic order, global concerns in regard to environment and space”.
A glance at the Asian map shows that over a wide arc extending from West Asia, through Central Asia, to South and South East Asia to East Asia, Indian and Chinese interests intersect. Active partnership between New Delhi and Beijing and mutual sensitivity to each other’s concerns is thus vitally necessary if stability, security and prosperity in the shared spaces in their near and distant neighbourhood are to be effectively ensured.
The leaderships of India and China during the past two decades have cooperated in creating mutual political and economic stakes for mutual benefit. Economic cooperation between us has become a principal driver of our strategic and cooperative partnership for peace and prosperity. Yet, cooperation does not preclude competition. We realize that countries compete in global markets and such competition is constructive and beneficial rather than adversarial.
The post-Cold War world also demands that we readjust our theoretical models of state behaviour. Traditional concepts of polarity, alliance building, balance of power and spheres of influence have to contend with the impact of globalization where opportunities for, and threats to, human welfare and national progress have a global character. How India and China deal with various trans-national challenges such as terrorism, illegal migration, smuggling of drugs and arms and pandemics would affect large parts of Asia. The joint vision of the leaderships in India and China is to ensure a global order in which our simultaneous development will have a positive impact for our peoples and economies, as also for the rest of the world.
Allow me to dilate a little on conceptual frameworks. Partnership in Asia has primarily taken four forms. The first is one of Asian regionalism. Asia has been primarily reduced to the total of its constituent sub-regions like GCC, SAARC, SCO, ASEAN, BIMSTEC and the MGC or the Mekong Ganga Cooperation framework. The second means of partnership has been through inter-regional dialogue forums like Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) and APEC. The third framework is one of global and multilateral organizations. These include the UN and its specialized bodies, the IMF and World Bank, WTO and WIPO, Asian Development Bank etc. There also exist thematic organizations such as the G-20, Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) and the League of Arab States. The fourth framework is that of bilateral relations between countries of Asia.
The last decade has seen two contradictory trends at work. Even as market-driven globalization is a reality, the global political and economic institutional framework has weakened and is evident in the diminished role and influence of bodies such as the United Nations, IMF, World Bank and WTO. Nations have resorted to regional political and economic institutions to resolve problems and cooperate for mutual gain. This phenomenon is most visible in the economic arena. With progress being stalled in the Doha round of trade negotiations, countries of Asia have concluded regional and bilateral free trade and economic partnership agreements creating the so-called “noodle bowl” of Asian regionalism, spurred on by the inability of global multilateral bodies to address the Asian economic crisis in 1997 and leading to the emergence of the ASEAN+3 framework.
The evolution of community building and partnership in Asia thereafter led to the launching of the East Asia Summit (EAS) process. The first Declaration issued in Kuala Lumpur called for the EAS to be an open, inclusive, transparent and outward looking forum. The ultimate vision is one of Asian economic integration by converging the Free Trade Agreements among Asian countries into an Asian Regional Trade Agreement. This could, later, lead to the creation of a broader Asian Economic Community.
Partnership and cooperation among Asian countries is a necessity to take advantage of the opportunities emerging as a result of the region’s increasing economic integration, as also to face the common threats of terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, energy shortage, security of sea lanes, pandemics, natural disasters and others. China is an important element of this architecture of cooperation, as are India, Japan, Korea, ASEAN, Australia, New Zealand and all other Asian sub-regions.
The future weight and success of Asia is the sum of the success of each of these national and regional components and the tenacity of their inter-linkages. Long-term security and stability in Asia is dependent on the ability of Asian countries to build mutual stakes in one another. Every framework that can further this process should be encouraged and welcomed. A few caveats however would be in order:
1. No partnership architecture or process should be exclusive or exclusionary. It should seek to bring into the fold as many Asian nations as possible and articulate an inclusive, open and transparent process of community building.
2. Community building in Asia should not be a reflection of the emerging redistribution of global or regional power nor should it be a platform for projection of narrow economic and political interests of a nation or group of nations.
3. Soft regionalism based on informal dialogue and consultation mechanisms, consensus building and open structures is a better alternative to hard regionalism based on rigid and definitive institutional structures, inflexible mechanisms and formal dialogue.
4. A multitude of formal cooperation structures could lead to a pick-and-choose policy for ‘forum shopping’. The “noodle bowl” of free trade agreements and comprehensive partnership agreements is overflowing and the impact of these numerous bilateral and multilateral agreements on trade efficiency is an open question. Eventually, there would be no alternative to effective and functioning global multilateral institutions such as the United Nations, IMF, the World Bank and the WTO to ensure that there is a fair, transparent, open and rules-based global political and economic order.
Before I conclude, and in a gathering of strategic thinkers and analysts, it is relevant to recall the words of a master of statecraft of the 19th century. Nations, he observed, travel on the stream of time which they neither create nor direct but upon which they can “steer with more or less skill and experience.” I am confident that this conference would make a contribution to this compendium of skill and also come forth with some practical suggestions about how trans-Asian connectivity can be achieved in an early time frame.
I thank the Indian Council of World Affairs and the Association of Asia Scholars for inviting me to inaugurate this Conference and wish your deliberations all success”.
SK/RS
20.11.2009 16:27 IST
The Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari has said that a glance at the Asian map shows that over a wide arc extending from West Asia, through Central Asia, to South and South East Asia to East Asia, Indian and Chinese interests intersect. Delivering inaugural address at a Conference On ‘Emerging China : Prospects for Partnership in Asia” organized by ICWA and AAS here today , he said that the active partnership between New Delhi and Beijing and mutual sensitivity to each other’s concerns is thus vitally necessary if stability, security and prosperity in the shared spaces in their near and distant neighbourhood are to be effectively ensured.
The Vice President said that the leaderships of India and China during the past two decades have cooperated in creating mutual political and economic stakes for mutual benefit. Economic cooperation between us has become a principal driver of our strategic and cooperative partnership for peace and prosperity. Yet, cooperation does not preclude competition. We realize that countries compete in global markets and such competition is constructive and beneficial rather than adversarial.
Following is the text of the Vice President’s address: -
“I am happy to be here at this seminar organized by the Indian Council of World Affairs and the Association of Asia Scholars. Sapru House itself has a place in the evolution of our foreign policy thinking. Established in 1943, the Council is tasked to promote the study of national and international affairs. More than a generation of scholars, analysts and diplomatists has passed through its portals.
It was here that Jawaharlal Nehru, with his vision of Asia forged in the fires of the struggle for freedom that raged across the entire continent of Asia, organized the Asian Relations Conference in 1947 as a non-governmental gathering.
Human societies live in time and space. A historian has noted that in the year 1500 each one of the great centres of world civilization was at a roughly similar stage of development, some more advanced in one area but less so in others. Subsequent events were to show that initiative, technological innovation, intellectual liberty and a flourishing economic base provided the critical mix that allowed the West to dominate the world for almost five centuries. The Asian Relations Conference was held at the end of one era and at the threshold of another. One theme of the Conference was the contours of the awakening of Asia; another was cooperation and partnership among the countries and peoples of Asia. The objective was spelt out by Nehru: “We propose to stand on our own feet and to co-operate with all others who are prepared to co-operate with us.”
Six decades later, the continent stands at the threshold of another Asian era. In this period the Nehruvian vision of Asia, indeed the geographical unity of the continent so to speak, has ceased to matter for geo-politics or economics. Asia developed, but the development was perceived and reflected in individual countries, sub-regional and trans-regional groupings. Japan emerged from the ruins of the Second World War as an important economic powerhouse, South East Asia has witnessed rapid economic growth and there has been a dramatic change in the economic, military and political profile of China. India has developed at a much faster pace in the last decade bringing millions out of poverty and showing that substantive social and economic progress is possible through democratic governance.
In this period, even as India and China enunciated the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence as the corner stone of inter-state relations, the bilateral relations between them did not always conform to those very principles. Yet, as Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi presciently put it in 1988: “What must not be forgotten in a listing of differences is a listing of commonality in our world outlook. There has been significant parallelism in the views expressed by India and China on a wide range of issues relating to world security, the international political order, the new international economic order, global concerns in regard to environment and space”.
A glance at the Asian map shows that over a wide arc extending from West Asia, through Central Asia, to South and South East Asia to East Asia, Indian and Chinese interests intersect. Active partnership between New Delhi and Beijing and mutual sensitivity to each other’s concerns is thus vitally necessary if stability, security and prosperity in the shared spaces in their near and distant neighbourhood are to be effectively ensured.
The leaderships of India and China during the past two decades have cooperated in creating mutual political and economic stakes for mutual benefit. Economic cooperation between us has become a principal driver of our strategic and cooperative partnership for peace and prosperity. Yet, cooperation does not preclude competition. We realize that countries compete in global markets and such competition is constructive and beneficial rather than adversarial.
The post-Cold War world also demands that we readjust our theoretical models of state behaviour. Traditional concepts of polarity, alliance building, balance of power and spheres of influence have to contend with the impact of globalization where opportunities for, and threats to, human welfare and national progress have a global character. How India and China deal with various trans-national challenges such as terrorism, illegal migration, smuggling of drugs and arms and pandemics would affect large parts of Asia. The joint vision of the leaderships in India and China is to ensure a global order in which our simultaneous development will have a positive impact for our peoples and economies, as also for the rest of the world.
Allow me to dilate a little on conceptual frameworks. Partnership in Asia has primarily taken four forms. The first is one of Asian regionalism. Asia has been primarily reduced to the total of its constituent sub-regions like GCC, SAARC, SCO, ASEAN, BIMSTEC and the MGC or the Mekong Ganga Cooperation framework. The second means of partnership has been through inter-regional dialogue forums like Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) and APEC. The third framework is one of global and multilateral organizations. These include the UN and its specialized bodies, the IMF and World Bank, WTO and WIPO, Asian Development Bank etc. There also exist thematic organizations such as the G-20, Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) and the League of Arab States. The fourth framework is that of bilateral relations between countries of Asia.
The last decade has seen two contradictory trends at work. Even as market-driven globalization is a reality, the global political and economic institutional framework has weakened and is evident in the diminished role and influence of bodies such as the United Nations, IMF, World Bank and WTO. Nations have resorted to regional political and economic institutions to resolve problems and cooperate for mutual gain. This phenomenon is most visible in the economic arena. With progress being stalled in the Doha round of trade negotiations, countries of Asia have concluded regional and bilateral free trade and economic partnership agreements creating the so-called “noodle bowl” of Asian regionalism, spurred on by the inability of global multilateral bodies to address the Asian economic crisis in 1997 and leading to the emergence of the ASEAN+3 framework.
The evolution of community building and partnership in Asia thereafter led to the launching of the East Asia Summit (EAS) process. The first Declaration issued in Kuala Lumpur called for the EAS to be an open, inclusive, transparent and outward looking forum. The ultimate vision is one of Asian economic integration by converging the Free Trade Agreements among Asian countries into an Asian Regional Trade Agreement. This could, later, lead to the creation of a broader Asian Economic Community.
Partnership and cooperation among Asian countries is a necessity to take advantage of the opportunities emerging as a result of the region’s increasing economic integration, as also to face the common threats of terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, energy shortage, security of sea lanes, pandemics, natural disasters and others. China is an important element of this architecture of cooperation, as are India, Japan, Korea, ASEAN, Australia, New Zealand and all other Asian sub-regions.
The future weight and success of Asia is the sum of the success of each of these national and regional components and the tenacity of their inter-linkages. Long-term security and stability in Asia is dependent on the ability of Asian countries to build mutual stakes in one another. Every framework that can further this process should be encouraged and welcomed. A few caveats however would be in order:
1. No partnership architecture or process should be exclusive or exclusionary. It should seek to bring into the fold as many Asian nations as possible and articulate an inclusive, open and transparent process of community building.
2. Community building in Asia should not be a reflection of the emerging redistribution of global or regional power nor should it be a platform for projection of narrow economic and political interests of a nation or group of nations.
3. Soft regionalism based on informal dialogue and consultation mechanisms, consensus building and open structures is a better alternative to hard regionalism based on rigid and definitive institutional structures, inflexible mechanisms and formal dialogue.
4. A multitude of formal cooperation structures could lead to a pick-and-choose policy for ‘forum shopping’. The “noodle bowl” of free trade agreements and comprehensive partnership agreements is overflowing and the impact of these numerous bilateral and multilateral agreements on trade efficiency is an open question. Eventually, there would be no alternative to effective and functioning global multilateral institutions such as the United Nations, IMF, the World Bank and the WTO to ensure that there is a fair, transparent, open and rules-based global political and economic order.
Before I conclude, and in a gathering of strategic thinkers and analysts, it is relevant to recall the words of a master of statecraft of the 19th century. Nations, he observed, travel on the stream of time which they neither create nor direct but upon which they can “steer with more or less skill and experience.” I am confident that this conference would make a contribution to this compendium of skill and also come forth with some practical suggestions about how trans-Asian connectivity can be achieved in an early time frame.
I thank the Indian Council of World Affairs and the Association of Asia Scholars for inviting me to inaugurate this Conference and wish your deliberations all success”.
SK/RS
Disinvest, use money for green assets: FC chief
New Delhi: The government should sell off half its public sector undertakings and use the 200 billion dollars it will thus make to build environmental assets, 13th Finance Commission Chairman Vijay Kelkar said here Friday.
"India built physical assets by setting up public sector undertakings when that was needed. Now private firms are able and willing to buy these assets. But they are not willing to build natural resource assets, which is what India needs now. That is what the government should build," the noted economist said.
Kelkar was speaking at the release of a report by the think tank The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) on what India should look like in 2047, a hundred years after independence.
With just about a month left before the 13th Finance Commission submits its report, Kelkar said there were three inter-state issues "where we need to shift from negative to positive externalities through transfers -- forests, green energy and water". Externalities are the unintended consequences of an action.
Releasing the (TERI) report, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh predicted that by 2015, India would include environmental resources in its economic accounting and planning. While commending TERI for providing a blueprint for India's growth without damaging the environment, Ramesh pointed out that the country had excellent laws to protect nature, but they were not being implemented. "Environmental governance is the key," the minister said, pointing to his plans to start a national environment protection authority and a national green tribunal as steps in this direction. (Agencies)
New Delhi: The government should sell off half its public sector undertakings and use the 200 billion dollars it will thus make to build environmental assets, 13th Finance Commission Chairman Vijay Kelkar said here Friday.
"India built physical assets by setting up public sector undertakings when that was needed. Now private firms are able and willing to buy these assets. But they are not willing to build natural resource assets, which is what India needs now. That is what the government should build," the noted economist said.
Kelkar was speaking at the release of a report by the think tank The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) on what India should look like in 2047, a hundred years after independence.
With just about a month left before the 13th Finance Commission submits its report, Kelkar said there were three inter-state issues "where we need to shift from negative to positive externalities through transfers -- forests, green energy and water". Externalities are the unintended consequences of an action.
Releasing the (TERI) report, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh predicted that by 2015, India would include environmental resources in its economic accounting and planning. While commending TERI for providing a blueprint for India's growth without damaging the environment, Ramesh pointed out that the country had excellent laws to protect nature, but they were not being implemented. "Environmental governance is the key," the minister said, pointing to his plans to start a national environment protection authority and a national green tribunal as steps in this direction. (Agencies)
Sikkim gets ceramic membrane plant for drinking water
Minister calls for public participation
SE Staff Reporter
GANGTOK, November 20: Appreciating the effort of the State Science and Technology Department in the successful experiment of Ceramic Membrane Plant at Marchak, near Ranipool, the department Minister Bhim Dhungel said the initiative will help provide job opportunities to the unemployed youth in Sikkim.
He said this after inaugurating the ceramic membrane plant at the premises of Sikkim Science Center at Marchak, few kilometres from here.
Calling for more participation from the people in making the water purification plant a successful venture, the minister said, the SDF government led by Chief Minister Pawan Chamling shall leave no stone unturned in making Sikkim a water pollution free state. Mr. Dhungel added that all assured all possible help to promote bottled water in the State.
The first of its kind of experiment in purifying the water in Sikkim have been initiated by Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute (CGCRI), Kolkata and have been sponsored by Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.
Later while addressing a workshop on performance of community model plants for supply of quality drinking water, Dr. Sibdas Bandhopadhaya, the senior scientist of CGCRI said, the technology is capable of treating ground water containing higher concentration of arsenic and iron and the level of purification is achieved as per World Health Organization recommendation.
Dr. GJ Samanatham, the advisor to the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India said, Sikkim is the 16th State in the North East Region to implement the ceramic membrane plant. “Although the technology was lately introduced in Sikkim, I am sure it will give a steady run,” he added.
Mentioning that the plant has come as a blessing in disguise for the unemployed youth in Sikkim he said, the bottling and the marketing of the water would bring more profit for them. At the same time, he encouraged opting bio-degradable bottles for the bottling of the waters.
The Secretary of the State Science and Technology Department ML Arrawatia on his part informed that the department is in the process of demonstrating several science-related programmes. He said, Sikkim will soon have its own Bio-Technology research centre at Sajong, Rumtek with more automatic weather stations in the block development centres.
Minister calls for public participation
SE Staff Reporter
GANGTOK, November 20: Appreciating the effort of the State Science and Technology Department in the successful experiment of Ceramic Membrane Plant at Marchak, near Ranipool, the department Minister Bhim Dhungel said the initiative will help provide job opportunities to the unemployed youth in Sikkim.
He said this after inaugurating the ceramic membrane plant at the premises of Sikkim Science Center at Marchak, few kilometres from here.
Calling for more participation from the people in making the water purification plant a successful venture, the minister said, the SDF government led by Chief Minister Pawan Chamling shall leave no stone unturned in making Sikkim a water pollution free state. Mr. Dhungel added that all assured all possible help to promote bottled water in the State.
The first of its kind of experiment in purifying the water in Sikkim have been initiated by Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute (CGCRI), Kolkata and have been sponsored by Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.
Later while addressing a workshop on performance of community model plants for supply of quality drinking water, Dr. Sibdas Bandhopadhaya, the senior scientist of CGCRI said, the technology is capable of treating ground water containing higher concentration of arsenic and iron and the level of purification is achieved as per World Health Organization recommendation.
Dr. GJ Samanatham, the advisor to the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India said, Sikkim is the 16th State in the North East Region to implement the ceramic membrane plant. “Although the technology was lately introduced in Sikkim, I am sure it will give a steady run,” he added.
Mentioning that the plant has come as a blessing in disguise for the unemployed youth in Sikkim he said, the bottling and the marketing of the water would bring more profit for them. At the same time, he encouraged opting bio-degradable bottles for the bottling of the waters.
The Secretary of the State Science and Technology Department ML Arrawatia on his part informed that the department is in the process of demonstrating several science-related programmes. He said, Sikkim will soon have its own Bio-Technology research centre at Sajong, Rumtek with more automatic weather stations in the block development centres.
India to be third largest economy by 2050’
An article “The G20 in 2050”, carried in November bulletin of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said, “China, India, and the United States will emerge as the world’s three largest economies in 2050. Their total GDP, in real U.S. dollar terms, will be over 70 per cent more than that of the other G20 countries combined.”
Other main findings include, China will become the world’s largest economy in 2032, and grow to be 20 per cent larger than the United States by 2050. Over the next forty years, nearly 60 per cent of G20 economic growth will come from Brazil, China, India, Russia, and Mexico alone.
The article was written by Uri Dadush and Bennett Stancil. A Frenchman and former director of World Bank, Dadush is the director of the International Economics Programme at the Foundation, and Stancil is a Fellow at the Programme.
“In China and India alone, GDP is predicted to increase by nearly USD 60 trillion — the current world GDP—but the wide disparity in per capita GDP among these three will persist,” they noted.
India’s annual average GDP growth between 2009-2050 is predicted to 6.19 per cent, and these emerging markets will not rise among the world’s richest countries in per capita terms — their average income in 2050 will still be 40 per cent below that of the G7 nations presently.
Stressing that the world’s economic powers are shifting dramatically, the economists noted that the “G20’s recent transformation into the world’s principal economic forum highlights the beginning of a more integrated and complex economic era.”
Over the next 40 years, the G20 GDP is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 3.6 per cent, rising from USD 38.3 trillion in 2009 to USD 161.5 trillion in 2050, in real US dollar terms.
Nearly 60 per cent of this USD 123 trillion dollar expansion will come from Brazil, Russia, India, China and Mexico (BRIC+M).
The experts also find that out of the G20 countries, “India is predicted to grow most rapidly, but its current modest size will prevent it from surpassing either China or the United States in real US dollar terms.”
The authors observe that the growth could be even faster, but the low quality of education, infrastructure, governance, and business climate will hold back progress in developing countries. Technological convergence is expected to be lower in India and Indonesia than in China and Russia.
India’s Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) will be 97 per cent as large as that of the United States by 2050. India is expected to become the world’s most populous nation in 2031 — and an average exchange rate appreciation of 0.9 per cent per year will push annual GDP growth to an average of 6.2 per cent, according to the study.
“India’s US dollar GDP will balloon to USD 17.8 trillion in 2050, sixteen times its current USD 1.1 trillion level,” write Dadush and Stancil.
On the future of Europe, the report stresses that “to retain their historic influence, European nations will increasingly need to conduct foreign policy under an EU banner, a shift implied by their recently ratified constitution.” It warns that the once great power Russia may be marginalised in the new economic order if it remains outside regional coalitions.
Currently, Germany, the UK, France, and Italy are the fourth through seventh largest economies in the world. By 2050, the UK, helped by demographic trends, will be the largest of the four, ranking seventh in the world. Italy will be the smallest, ranking fifteenth.
PPP GDP in these four countries will be less than half of that in India and less than one-fourth of that in China, the report finds.
source:PTI
An article “The G20 in 2050”, carried in November bulletin of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said, “China, India, and the United States will emerge as the world’s three largest economies in 2050. Their total GDP, in real U.S. dollar terms, will be over 70 per cent more than that of the other G20 countries combined.”
Other main findings include, China will become the world’s largest economy in 2032, and grow to be 20 per cent larger than the United States by 2050. Over the next forty years, nearly 60 per cent of G20 economic growth will come from Brazil, China, India, Russia, and Mexico alone.
The article was written by Uri Dadush and Bennett Stancil. A Frenchman and former director of World Bank, Dadush is the director of the International Economics Programme at the Foundation, and Stancil is a Fellow at the Programme.
“In China and India alone, GDP is predicted to increase by nearly USD 60 trillion — the current world GDP—but the wide disparity in per capita GDP among these three will persist,” they noted.
India’s annual average GDP growth between 2009-2050 is predicted to 6.19 per cent, and these emerging markets will not rise among the world’s richest countries in per capita terms — their average income in 2050 will still be 40 per cent below that of the G7 nations presently.
Stressing that the world’s economic powers are shifting dramatically, the economists noted that the “G20’s recent transformation into the world’s principal economic forum highlights the beginning of a more integrated and complex economic era.”
Over the next 40 years, the G20 GDP is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 3.6 per cent, rising from USD 38.3 trillion in 2009 to USD 161.5 trillion in 2050, in real US dollar terms.
Nearly 60 per cent of this USD 123 trillion dollar expansion will come from Brazil, Russia, India, China and Mexico (BRIC+M).
The experts also find that out of the G20 countries, “India is predicted to grow most rapidly, but its current modest size will prevent it from surpassing either China or the United States in real US dollar terms.”
The authors observe that the growth could be even faster, but the low quality of education, infrastructure, governance, and business climate will hold back progress in developing countries. Technological convergence is expected to be lower in India and Indonesia than in China and Russia.
India’s Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) will be 97 per cent as large as that of the United States by 2050. India is expected to become the world’s most populous nation in 2031 — and an average exchange rate appreciation of 0.9 per cent per year will push annual GDP growth to an average of 6.2 per cent, according to the study.
“India’s US dollar GDP will balloon to USD 17.8 trillion in 2050, sixteen times its current USD 1.1 trillion level,” write Dadush and Stancil.
On the future of Europe, the report stresses that “to retain their historic influence, European nations will increasingly need to conduct foreign policy under an EU banner, a shift implied by their recently ratified constitution.” It warns that the once great power Russia may be marginalised in the new economic order if it remains outside regional coalitions.
Currently, Germany, the UK, France, and Italy are the fourth through seventh largest economies in the world. By 2050, the UK, helped by demographic trends, will be the largest of the four, ranking seventh in the world. Italy will be the smallest, ranking fifteenth.
PPP GDP in these four countries will be less than half of that in India and less than one-fourth of that in China, the report finds.
source:PTI
State Commission for Protection of Child Rights
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15:50 IST
LOK SABHA
The Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act 2005 provides that a State Government may constitute the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights. The State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has been constituted so far in Delhi, Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Sikkim. The other States/UTs are yet to set up the State Commissions.
The Ministry of Women and Child Development have been requesting the State Governments and the Union Territory Administrations from time to time to set up the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights at the earliest. Some of the States are in the process of constituting the State Commissions.
This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Women & Child Development, Smt. Krishna Tirath in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
*****
NCJ/SR
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15:50 IST
LOK SABHA
The Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act 2005 provides that a State Government may constitute the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights. The State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has been constituted so far in Delhi, Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Sikkim. The other States/UTs are yet to set up the State Commissions.
The Ministry of Women and Child Development have been requesting the State Governments and the Union Territory Administrations from time to time to set up the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights at the earliest. Some of the States are in the process of constituting the State Commissions.
This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Women & Child Development, Smt. Krishna Tirath in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
*****
NCJ/SR
SIKKIM: ASDMU to act as watchdog for implementation of CM’s directives to industries
Gangtok: All Sikkim Democratic Mozdoor Union (ASDMU), labour front of the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front party, will act s a watchdog and visit all the industrial units in the state to check whether the directives given by Chief Minister in a recent meeting with the industries have been implemented or not. The union will also check whether the 12 discharged employees of CIPLA have been reinstated as asked by Chief Minister. This was decided by ASDMU in a meeting on Thursday, November 19, at its office in SDF headquarter. The meeting was presided by Mr. B. M. Ramudamu, informs a press release by SDF General Secretary (Publicity), Mr. T. N. Sharma.
The meeting also resolved that ASDMU will form branches and committees in all the four districts of the state for which the charted schedule is 22.11.09 west Sikkim and 1.12.09, 6.12.09, 13.12.09 in north, south and east district, respectively.
In another resolution, the meeting heartily welcomed the 30% rise in daily wage of government and private sector employees but, in view of price rise, demanded a 50% rise in the daily wage of employees, along with insurance and provident fund facilities for all employees.
Having included members of all the old committees in the fold of its central committee, ASDMU will now speed up its movement, the release said.
source: sikkim reporter
Gangtok: All Sikkim Democratic Mozdoor Union (ASDMU), labour front of the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front party, will act s a watchdog and visit all the industrial units in the state to check whether the directives given by Chief Minister in a recent meeting with the industries have been implemented or not. The union will also check whether the 12 discharged employees of CIPLA have been reinstated as asked by Chief Minister. This was decided by ASDMU in a meeting on Thursday, November 19, at its office in SDF headquarter. The meeting was presided by Mr. B. M. Ramudamu, informs a press release by SDF General Secretary (Publicity), Mr. T. N. Sharma.
The meeting also resolved that ASDMU will form branches and committees in all the four districts of the state for which the charted schedule is 22.11.09 west Sikkim and 1.12.09, 6.12.09, 13.12.09 in north, south and east district, respectively.
In another resolution, the meeting heartily welcomed the 30% rise in daily wage of government and private sector employees but, in view of price rise, demanded a 50% rise in the daily wage of employees, along with insurance and provident fund facilities for all employees.
Having included members of all the old committees in the fold of its central committee, ASDMU will now speed up its movement, the release said.
source: sikkim reporter
Friday, November 20, 2009
Sikkim’s organic products showcased in organic trade fair
Sikkim signs MoU with ICCOA for organic research on five major export-oriented crops from the State.
GANGTOK, November 19: A delegation of State Agriculture and Horticulture Department led by its minister Dawcho Lepcha, farmers and members from Mevedir participated in the International Organic Trade Fair – ‘BioFach India’ organized by Nurnberg/Messe Gmbh, Germany together with ICCOA (International Competence Centre for Organic Agriculture) and India Organic at Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai.
The International exhibition was inaugurated by Mr. Lepcha amidst a galaxy of players in organic field from across the globe, said a press release issued today.
The Sikkim participants showcased Sikkim’s organic products. Biofach India also has given the participants a platform to learn about the various developments taking place in the organic sector around the world and also interact with other farmers and share their experiences, said the release.
“The state pavilion bedecked with all the organic farm produces from the state received lot of appreciation and enquiries from everyone visiting the stall,” the release further said adding that the same depicts the prospects of organic farming.
It is also informed that Mevedir, a private company from Sikkim serving as service providers for establishing Internal Control System for Organic Certification in Sikkim benefitted a lot with these interactions. “This event will serve as a boost to strengthen their forward linkages ultimately benefitting the organic farmers of the state,” the release said.
During the inaugural session, a Memorandum of Understanding between ICCOA and Government of Sikkim was signed which will deal with organic research on five major export-oriented crops from the state.
Mr. Lepcha in his inaugural address highlighted the different activities vis-Ã -vis organic farming being undertaken in Sikkim and strongly emphasized the vision of Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling, of converting Sikkim into a fully ‘organic state’ by the year 2015. He also expressed Sikkim’s aspiration to place itself as one of the prominent players in the global organic map in the near future. Lastly he wished Biofach a grand success and strongly commended the efforts put in by the organizers to hold an event of such a magnitude. He also thanked the organizers for recognizing the potential of Sikkim and for the invitation to participate in this international event on Organic Farming.
The delegation from Sikkim comprised of SK Sinha, Principal Director, FSADD, Phetuk T. Bhutia, Director NRM, Directors DK Rai and Topchen Lepcha, Addl. Director HCCDD, GP Chauhan, Jt. Director, KK Pradhan and other departmental officers. The team from Mevedir was led by the Managing Director Neil P Chettri, Executive Director Arjun Chettri, Chief Coordinating Officer Renzino Lepcha and other members.
source: sikkim express
Sikkim signs MoU with ICCOA for organic research on five major export-oriented crops from the State.
GANGTOK, November 19: A delegation of State Agriculture and Horticulture Department led by its minister Dawcho Lepcha, farmers and members from Mevedir participated in the International Organic Trade Fair – ‘BioFach India’ organized by Nurnberg/Messe Gmbh, Germany together with ICCOA (International Competence Centre for Organic Agriculture) and India Organic at Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai.
The International exhibition was inaugurated by Mr. Lepcha amidst a galaxy of players in organic field from across the globe, said a press release issued today.
The Sikkim participants showcased Sikkim’s organic products. Biofach India also has given the participants a platform to learn about the various developments taking place in the organic sector around the world and also interact with other farmers and share their experiences, said the release.
“The state pavilion bedecked with all the organic farm produces from the state received lot of appreciation and enquiries from everyone visiting the stall,” the release further said adding that the same depicts the prospects of organic farming.
It is also informed that Mevedir, a private company from Sikkim serving as service providers for establishing Internal Control System for Organic Certification in Sikkim benefitted a lot with these interactions. “This event will serve as a boost to strengthen their forward linkages ultimately benefitting the organic farmers of the state,” the release said.
During the inaugural session, a Memorandum of Understanding between ICCOA and Government of Sikkim was signed which will deal with organic research on five major export-oriented crops from the state.
Mr. Lepcha in his inaugural address highlighted the different activities vis-Ã -vis organic farming being undertaken in Sikkim and strongly emphasized the vision of Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling, of converting Sikkim into a fully ‘organic state’ by the year 2015. He also expressed Sikkim’s aspiration to place itself as one of the prominent players in the global organic map in the near future. Lastly he wished Biofach a grand success and strongly commended the efforts put in by the organizers to hold an event of such a magnitude. He also thanked the organizers for recognizing the potential of Sikkim and for the invitation to participate in this international event on Organic Farming.
The delegation from Sikkim comprised of SK Sinha, Principal Director, FSADD, Phetuk T. Bhutia, Director NRM, Directors DK Rai and Topchen Lepcha, Addl. Director HCCDD, GP Chauhan, Jt. Director, KK Pradhan and other departmental officers. The team from Mevedir was led by the Managing Director Neil P Chettri, Executive Director Arjun Chettri, Chief Coordinating Officer Renzino Lepcha and other members.
source: sikkim express
ADB sanctions $20 million for developing Sikkim as Buddhist circuit destination
GANGTOK, November 19: The growing popularity of Sikkim as a Buddhist circuit destination has been endorsed by Asian Development Bank (ADB) who is ready to bankroll a project worth 20 million US dollars for Sikkim centric Buddhist circuit in India.
The ADB project was cleared by the bank board on November 16 where India will receive a loan of $20 million from Asian Development Bank(ADB) for its tourism infrastructure development projects, which will improve key tourism sites in the country.
The creditline is specifically aimed at developing Buddhist sites in Sikkim. The State tourism will act as the executing agency and project is likely to be completed by September 2014.
The concept clearance for the project ‘South Asia Tourism Infrastructure Development Project – India’ was given by ADB on September 30, 2008 after the fact finding mission took place from September 1, 2008 to September 6, 2008. The appraisal of the report was done in February-March earlier this year before the project was cleared by the board on November 16.
In the South Asia tourism infrastructure development project component of India, the project focuses on Sikkim where the report points out that Sikkim has a good road connection to Bagdogra, a regional hub and an airport site with potential links to North Bangladesh, East Nepal, Bhutan, and other North Eastern states.
Sikkim is part of the sub-regional Buddhist circuit and the Great Himalayan Trail, the ADB project states adding that the State has been experiencing high tourism growth rates at an average of 15% per annum at the aggregate, with international increase at 10% per year.
The ADB project for the Sikkim state of India involves creation of access and on site infrastructure and visitor facility improvements to well known Rumtek monastery, nature based tourism destination infrastructure and facilities including trail development, signages, sanitation improvements and other tourist facilities.
Funds would be utilized for setting up a sub-regional training institute to be specialized in ecotourism and mountaineering in Sikkim and also for related capacity building activities for public sector institutions and communities in tourism and heritage management.
Of late Sikkim has been attracting international interest as a Buddhist circuit hub thanks to the initiatives taken by the State government to promote Sikkim as an all-round tourist destination. The State government has already set up the world highest statue of Guru Pamdasambhava at Samdruptse in Namchi, South Sikkim.
Presently, works are going on a warfooting to complete the Sakyamuni project which envisages installation of the statue of Lord Buddha at Manichokerling monastery in Rabong, South Sikkim. The statue in a sitting position would be of 148 feet from the base to the top including the throne and is expected to be the highest Buddha statue in the world.
The project is expected to complete by next year.
Already the project has garnered international attention when thirteen relics of Lord Buddha from 13 different countries were handed over to the Sakyamuni project on November 25 last year by the team of Thai monks led by the Venerable Jamnian Chonsakhorn Seelasettho, the chief of priests of the Thai monastery leading the delegation. The relics had been offered by Somdet Phra Nyanasaamvara, the 19th Supreme patriarch of the kingdom of Thailand.
Recently in the month of October, a seven member core committee headed by Chief Minister Pawan Chamling as its chairman was reconstituted for overseeing the project.
Former minister and presently Advisor, Ecclesiastical Affairs, DD Bhutia is the vice-chairman of the committee with Barfung MLA Sonam Gyatso Bhutia as a member.
The other members of the committee are Chief Secretary TT Dorji, Additional Chief Secretary Karma Gyatso Bhutia and District Collector (South) AK Singh while principal secretary, Ecclesiastical department is the member secretary.
Meanwhile, the funding agency has also noted that though the South Asia region comprising Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and the Northeastern States of India is one of the poor regions of the world, the sub-region has vast and diverse cultural and natural resources and the many of the world’s major Buddhist sites which potentially position it as a world destination for spiritual and culture and nature-based tourism.
During 1999 to 2006, international tourist arrivals in the participating countries had grown at an average rate of 8%, much higher than the world average. The subregion received 3.7 million visitors in 2006 representing an increase of 118% from 2002 arrivals. Tourism plays a vital role in the sub-region’s socio-economic development. It generates much needed foreign exchange.
The expected impact of the proposed project is sustainable and inclusive economic growth and reduced poverty in the subregion and the expected outcomes of the project are increased arrivals and length of stay of tourists, seasonally and geographically diversified and expanded tourism and consequent greater incomes and wider distribution of benefits from tourism to the sub-regions communities, and enhanced natural and cultural heritage management in the sub-region.
source:sikkim express
GANGTOK, November 19: The growing popularity of Sikkim as a Buddhist circuit destination has been endorsed by Asian Development Bank (ADB) who is ready to bankroll a project worth 20 million US dollars for Sikkim centric Buddhist circuit in India.
The ADB project was cleared by the bank board on November 16 where India will receive a loan of $20 million from Asian Development Bank(ADB) for its tourism infrastructure development projects, which will improve key tourism sites in the country.
The creditline is specifically aimed at developing Buddhist sites in Sikkim. The State tourism will act as the executing agency and project is likely to be completed by September 2014.
The concept clearance for the project ‘South Asia Tourism Infrastructure Development Project – India’ was given by ADB on September 30, 2008 after the fact finding mission took place from September 1, 2008 to September 6, 2008. The appraisal of the report was done in February-March earlier this year before the project was cleared by the board on November 16.
In the South Asia tourism infrastructure development project component of India, the project focuses on Sikkim where the report points out that Sikkim has a good road connection to Bagdogra, a regional hub and an airport site with potential links to North Bangladesh, East Nepal, Bhutan, and other North Eastern states.
Sikkim is part of the sub-regional Buddhist circuit and the Great Himalayan Trail, the ADB project states adding that the State has been experiencing high tourism growth rates at an average of 15% per annum at the aggregate, with international increase at 10% per year.
The ADB project for the Sikkim state of India involves creation of access and on site infrastructure and visitor facility improvements to well known Rumtek monastery, nature based tourism destination infrastructure and facilities including trail development, signages, sanitation improvements and other tourist facilities.
Funds would be utilized for setting up a sub-regional training institute to be specialized in ecotourism and mountaineering in Sikkim and also for related capacity building activities for public sector institutions and communities in tourism and heritage management.
Of late Sikkim has been attracting international interest as a Buddhist circuit hub thanks to the initiatives taken by the State government to promote Sikkim as an all-round tourist destination. The State government has already set up the world highest statue of Guru Pamdasambhava at Samdruptse in Namchi, South Sikkim.
Presently, works are going on a warfooting to complete the Sakyamuni project which envisages installation of the statue of Lord Buddha at Manichokerling monastery in Rabong, South Sikkim. The statue in a sitting position would be of 148 feet from the base to the top including the throne and is expected to be the highest Buddha statue in the world.
The project is expected to complete by next year.
Already the project has garnered international attention when thirteen relics of Lord Buddha from 13 different countries were handed over to the Sakyamuni project on November 25 last year by the team of Thai monks led by the Venerable Jamnian Chonsakhorn Seelasettho, the chief of priests of the Thai monastery leading the delegation. The relics had been offered by Somdet Phra Nyanasaamvara, the 19th Supreme patriarch of the kingdom of Thailand.
Recently in the month of October, a seven member core committee headed by Chief Minister Pawan Chamling as its chairman was reconstituted for overseeing the project.
Former minister and presently Advisor, Ecclesiastical Affairs, DD Bhutia is the vice-chairman of the committee with Barfung MLA Sonam Gyatso Bhutia as a member.
The other members of the committee are Chief Secretary TT Dorji, Additional Chief Secretary Karma Gyatso Bhutia and District Collector (South) AK Singh while principal secretary, Ecclesiastical department is the member secretary.
Meanwhile, the funding agency has also noted that though the South Asia region comprising Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and the Northeastern States of India is one of the poor regions of the world, the sub-region has vast and diverse cultural and natural resources and the many of the world’s major Buddhist sites which potentially position it as a world destination for spiritual and culture and nature-based tourism.
During 1999 to 2006, international tourist arrivals in the participating countries had grown at an average rate of 8%, much higher than the world average. The subregion received 3.7 million visitors in 2006 representing an increase of 118% from 2002 arrivals. Tourism plays a vital role in the sub-region’s socio-economic development. It generates much needed foreign exchange.
The expected impact of the proposed project is sustainable and inclusive economic growth and reduced poverty in the subregion and the expected outcomes of the project are increased arrivals and length of stay of tourists, seasonally and geographically diversified and expanded tourism and consequent greater incomes and wider distribution of benefits from tourism to the sub-regions communities, and enhanced natural and cultural heritage management in the sub-region.
source:sikkim express
NEPAL: Controversy over glaciers hots up
FROM SOUTH ASIAN MEDIA NET / THE HINDU
KATHMANDU: Water scarcity, which could affect more than a billion people, is the most serious threat that Asia faces from climate change An official discussion paper on the status of Himalayan glaciers is coming under fire. The paper, issued recently by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, argued that the glaciers, which nourish several great rivers such as the Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra, have not retreated abnormally. It also questioned the link between climate change and the glaciers’ decline.
Releasing the paper, the Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests, Mr. Jairam Ramesh, remarked that there was no conclusive evidence to show that global warming was responsible for the glacial retreat.
Contradictory views
Such views completely contradict the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Nobel-Prize-winning international body of scientists that weighs up the scientific evidence. Two years back, the IPCC released its comprehensive Fourth Assessment Report on Climate Change.
The report pointed out that glaciers and ice caps provided the most visible indications of the effects of climate change. The Himalayan glaciers were receding faster than in any other part of the world.
If these glaciers continued to recede at the present rate, there was a very high risk of their disappearing by the year 2035, perhaps sooner, if the earth kept warming at the current rate.
Biggest threat
It warned that water scarcity, which could affect more than a billion people, was the most serious threat that Asia faced from climate change.
The Ministry’s riposte has been prepared by V.K. Raina, a retired Deputy Director-General of the Geological Survey of India. In the discussion paper, he agreed that glaciers in the Himalayas, barring a few exceptions, have been in constant retreat since observations started in the mid-Nineteenth Century. Moreover, studies showed all glaciers under observation to have lost mass during the last three decades of the last century.
However, “Himalayan glaciers, although shrinking in volume and constantly showing a retreating front, have not in any way exhibited, especially in recent years, an abnormal annual retreat of the order that some glaciers in Alaska and Greenland are reported [to have shown].” It would be premature to state that these glaciers were retreating abnormally because of global warming.
Glacier movements are primarily due to climate and snowfall. But then Mr. Raina goes on to state that movements of the ’snout’, the visible end of a glacier, “appear to be peculiar to each particular glacier.” The Gangotri glacier, which fed the Ganges River, was practically at a standstill for the last two years.
Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the IPCC, has criticised both the discussion paper and the Minister. He did not understand why the Minister was supporting such unsubstantiated research, he told the Guardian newspaper.
The discussion paper was unscientific and biased, said Syed Iqbal Hasnain, a leading glaciologist who is currently with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in New Delhi. It had ignored scientific papers published in peer-reviewed journals after the 1980s when the impact of long-lived greenhouse gases became more visible. These papers clearly showed that warming of the climate was leading to the Himalayan glaciers melting at an exceptionally high rate, he said in an email.
The discussion paper had been sent to him a month back by the Minister’s office for review and he had responded with detailed comments. He had also provided the Minister with all recent papers published by Indians in peer-reviewed journals on the subject. But the paper had been unfortunately been released without any change.
Short-lived pollutants
Himalayan glaciers were not only affected by long-lived greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide but also by short-lived pollutants like black carbon, methane and atmospheric ozone, according to Prof. Hasnain.
In the eastern part of the Himalayas, the excessive melting of glaciers had led to lakes being formed in Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan, remarked Shresth Tayal, another glaciologist at TERI.
Just recently, the prestigious science journal Nature carried a report on how the mountain kingdom of Bhutan was trying to drain such glacial lakes. Otherwise these lakes might burst their embankment and flood neighbouring areas.
In a paper that appeared in the journal Current Science in 2001, geologists from the HNB Garhwal University in Uttarakhand pointed out that the Gangotri glacier had retreated by two kilometres in the past 200 years. Over 40 per cent of that retreat had occurred in just the last 25 years.
Satellite images
A group led by scientists at the Indian space agency’s Space Applications Centre in Ahmedabad used satellite images to study 466 glaciers in the Chenab, Parbati and Baspa basins.
They found that the glaciers had shrunk by 21 per cent since 1962. The glaciers had also become more fragmented, which was likely to profoundly influence their sustainability, said Anil Kulkarni and others in a 2007 paper.
In recently published research, the space scientists used a model to study how loss of glaciers could affect water flow in a tributary of the Sutlej River.
They estimated that a one degree Celsius rise in temperature by 2040 would more than halve the area occupied by the glaciers that fed the tributary. The runoff in the tributary could therefore come down by between eight per cent and 28 per cent, depending on the season.
source: Barun Roy
FROM SOUTH ASIAN MEDIA NET / THE HINDU
KATHMANDU: Water scarcity, which could affect more than a billion people, is the most serious threat that Asia faces from climate change An official discussion paper on the status of Himalayan glaciers is coming under fire. The paper, issued recently by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, argued that the glaciers, which nourish several great rivers such as the Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra, have not retreated abnormally. It also questioned the link between climate change and the glaciers’ decline.
Releasing the paper, the Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests, Mr. Jairam Ramesh, remarked that there was no conclusive evidence to show that global warming was responsible for the glacial retreat.
Contradictory views
Such views completely contradict the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Nobel-Prize-winning international body of scientists that weighs up the scientific evidence. Two years back, the IPCC released its comprehensive Fourth Assessment Report on Climate Change.
The report pointed out that glaciers and ice caps provided the most visible indications of the effects of climate change. The Himalayan glaciers were receding faster than in any other part of the world.
If these glaciers continued to recede at the present rate, there was a very high risk of their disappearing by the year 2035, perhaps sooner, if the earth kept warming at the current rate.
Biggest threat
It warned that water scarcity, which could affect more than a billion people, was the most serious threat that Asia faced from climate change.
The Ministry’s riposte has been prepared by V.K. Raina, a retired Deputy Director-General of the Geological Survey of India. In the discussion paper, he agreed that glaciers in the Himalayas, barring a few exceptions, have been in constant retreat since observations started in the mid-Nineteenth Century. Moreover, studies showed all glaciers under observation to have lost mass during the last three decades of the last century.
However, “Himalayan glaciers, although shrinking in volume and constantly showing a retreating front, have not in any way exhibited, especially in recent years, an abnormal annual retreat of the order that some glaciers in Alaska and Greenland are reported [to have shown].” It would be premature to state that these glaciers were retreating abnormally because of global warming.
Glacier movements are primarily due to climate and snowfall. But then Mr. Raina goes on to state that movements of the ’snout’, the visible end of a glacier, “appear to be peculiar to each particular glacier.” The Gangotri glacier, which fed the Ganges River, was practically at a standstill for the last two years.
Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the IPCC, has criticised both the discussion paper and the Minister. He did not understand why the Minister was supporting such unsubstantiated research, he told the Guardian newspaper.
The discussion paper was unscientific and biased, said Syed Iqbal Hasnain, a leading glaciologist who is currently with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in New Delhi. It had ignored scientific papers published in peer-reviewed journals after the 1980s when the impact of long-lived greenhouse gases became more visible. These papers clearly showed that warming of the climate was leading to the Himalayan glaciers melting at an exceptionally high rate, he said in an email.
The discussion paper had been sent to him a month back by the Minister’s office for review and he had responded with detailed comments. He had also provided the Minister with all recent papers published by Indians in peer-reviewed journals on the subject. But the paper had been unfortunately been released without any change.
Short-lived pollutants
Himalayan glaciers were not only affected by long-lived greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide but also by short-lived pollutants like black carbon, methane and atmospheric ozone, according to Prof. Hasnain.
In the eastern part of the Himalayas, the excessive melting of glaciers had led to lakes being formed in Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan, remarked Shresth Tayal, another glaciologist at TERI.
Just recently, the prestigious science journal Nature carried a report on how the mountain kingdom of Bhutan was trying to drain such glacial lakes. Otherwise these lakes might burst their embankment and flood neighbouring areas.
In a paper that appeared in the journal Current Science in 2001, geologists from the HNB Garhwal University in Uttarakhand pointed out that the Gangotri glacier had retreated by two kilometres in the past 200 years. Over 40 per cent of that retreat had occurred in just the last 25 years.
Satellite images
A group led by scientists at the Indian space agency’s Space Applications Centre in Ahmedabad used satellite images to study 466 glaciers in the Chenab, Parbati and Baspa basins.
They found that the glaciers had shrunk by 21 per cent since 1962. The glaciers had also become more fragmented, which was likely to profoundly influence their sustainability, said Anil Kulkarni and others in a 2007 paper.
In recently published research, the space scientists used a model to study how loss of glaciers could affect water flow in a tributary of the Sutlej River.
They estimated that a one degree Celsius rise in temperature by 2040 would more than halve the area occupied by the glaciers that fed the tributary. The runoff in the tributary could therefore come down by between eight per cent and 28 per cent, depending on the season.
source: Barun Roy
Six women in Forbes India rich list
New York 19 Nov 2009
Savitri Jindal is the richest with a net worth of $12 billion; She is followed by Bennett, Coleman & Co’s Chairperson Indu Jain
As many as six women, including O. P. Jindal group chairperson Savitri Jindal and Biocon’s Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, have made it to the Forbes’ list of 100 richest Indians this year.
Ms. Jindal has retained the tag of being the richest woman in India with a net worth of $12 billion, according to the annual India rich list compiled by business magazine Forbes.
She is ranked seventh in the list, which is topped by Reliance Industries Limited Chairman Mukesh Ambani with a fortune of $32 billion.
Ms. Jindal, who has been the chairperson of the O. P. Jindal Group since her husband Om Prakash’s death in 2005, saw her wealth grow by $9 billion since November 2008, when Forbes had last published its annual India rich list.
She is followed by Bennett, Coleman & Co’s Chairperson Indu Jain, who is ranked 19th with a net worth of $2.4 billion. Ms. Jain continued to witness a spurt in her fortune with her wealth rising by $600 million since November 2008.
Anu Aga of Thermax group and Biocon’s Kiran Mazumdar Shaw have been ranked 55th and 73rd with a net worth of $935 million and $730 million respectively.
Referring to Ms. Shaw as “pharma tycoon,” Forbes called her “India’s richest self-made woman, whose Biocon is developing the world’s first oral insulin.”
Besides, Shobhana Bhartia of the Hindustan Times and Vidya Murkumbi of Shree Renuka Sugars have also made it to the Forbes list this year.
The 52-year-old Ms. Bhartia, Chairperson and Editorial Director of the Hindustan Times group has been ranked 76 with a net worth of $690 million.
Ms. Murkumbi is ranked 93rd.
According to the list, Ms. Murkumbi along with her son Narendra Murkumbi, has a net worth of $490 million.
The magazine said, “Net worths were calculated using stock prices and exchange rates as of October
New York 19 Nov 2009
Savitri Jindal is the richest with a net worth of $12 billion; She is followed by Bennett, Coleman & Co’s Chairperson Indu Jain
As many as six women, including O. P. Jindal group chairperson Savitri Jindal and Biocon’s Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, have made it to the Forbes’ list of 100 richest Indians this year.
Ms. Jindal has retained the tag of being the richest woman in India with a net worth of $12 billion, according to the annual India rich list compiled by business magazine Forbes.
She is ranked seventh in the list, which is topped by Reliance Industries Limited Chairman Mukesh Ambani with a fortune of $32 billion.
Ms. Jindal, who has been the chairperson of the O. P. Jindal Group since her husband Om Prakash’s death in 2005, saw her wealth grow by $9 billion since November 2008, when Forbes had last published its annual India rich list.
She is followed by Bennett, Coleman & Co’s Chairperson Indu Jain, who is ranked 19th with a net worth of $2.4 billion. Ms. Jain continued to witness a spurt in her fortune with her wealth rising by $600 million since November 2008.
Anu Aga of Thermax group and Biocon’s Kiran Mazumdar Shaw have been ranked 55th and 73rd with a net worth of $935 million and $730 million respectively.
Referring to Ms. Shaw as “pharma tycoon,” Forbes called her “India’s richest self-made woman, whose Biocon is developing the world’s first oral insulin.”
Besides, Shobhana Bhartia of the Hindustan Times and Vidya Murkumbi of Shree Renuka Sugars have also made it to the Forbes list this year.
The 52-year-old Ms. Bhartia, Chairperson and Editorial Director of the Hindustan Times group has been ranked 76 with a net worth of $690 million.
Ms. Murkumbi is ranked 93rd.
According to the list, Ms. Murkumbi along with her son Narendra Murkumbi, has a net worth of $490 million.
The magazine said, “Net worths were calculated using stock prices and exchange rates as of October
Livelihood Schools will have RAC as headquarter: CM
Gangtok: Chief Minister Dr. Pawan Chamling convened a meeting with the Heads of Departments (HoDs) at Samman Bhawan here on Capacity Building programmes of the State Government on Wednesday, November 18. It may be recalled that the Cabinet in its meeting on 31st October, 2009 has, in principle, approved the establishment of
Livelihood Schools in 31 constituencies. In the meeting, venues for Livelihood Schools were finalized. Chief Minister informed that each Livelihood School will have a Secretary or HoD of the concerned Department as its in-charge. He said that the Livelihood Schools will enable the unemployed to develop their capabilities and skill to sustain themselves economically.
“It is a new concept and Regional Administrative Centre (RAC), Karfectar, South Sikkim, will be headquarter of Livelihood Schools”, Chief Minister said. He directed that RAC, Karfectar, should be vacated immediately and handed over to the Directorate of Capacity Building for the said purpose. He said offices located in RAC, Karfectar, should be relocated elsewhere within 25th of this month so that the Directorate would be fully functional by 12th December, 2009.
During the meeting Chief Minister also directed officials of Building and Housing department to expedite assessment of private houses earmarked for Livelihood School if the government buildings are not available for the same. He also directed the government departments and officers to impart training on different vocational subjects as specified by the government. He emphasized that the training should preferably be imparted by local resource persons. Chief Secretary, Mr. T.T.Dorji also expressed his views and gave suggestions in the meeting. (With IPR input)
SOURCE:SIKKIM REPORTER
Gangtok: Chief Minister Dr. Pawan Chamling convened a meeting with the Heads of Departments (HoDs) at Samman Bhawan here on Capacity Building programmes of the State Government on Wednesday, November 18. It may be recalled that the Cabinet in its meeting on 31st October, 2009 has, in principle, approved the establishment of
Livelihood Schools in 31 constituencies. In the meeting, venues for Livelihood Schools were finalized. Chief Minister informed that each Livelihood School will have a Secretary or HoD of the concerned Department as its in-charge. He said that the Livelihood Schools will enable the unemployed to develop their capabilities and skill to sustain themselves economically.
“It is a new concept and Regional Administrative Centre (RAC), Karfectar, South Sikkim, will be headquarter of Livelihood Schools”, Chief Minister said. He directed that RAC, Karfectar, should be vacated immediately and handed over to the Directorate of Capacity Building for the said purpose. He said offices located in RAC, Karfectar, should be relocated elsewhere within 25th of this month so that the Directorate would be fully functional by 12th December, 2009.
During the meeting Chief Minister also directed officials of Building and Housing department to expedite assessment of private houses earmarked for Livelihood School if the government buildings are not available for the same. He also directed the government departments and officers to impart training on different vocational subjects as specified by the government. He emphasized that the training should preferably be imparted by local resource persons. Chief Secretary, Mr. T.T.Dorji also expressed his views and gave suggestions in the meeting. (With IPR input)
SOURCE:SIKKIM REPORTER
PREVENTING MONEY LAUNDERING - KODA EXPERIENCE
Recent coverage on the Madhu Koda case has hogged the limelight. Ac- l cording to newspaper reports, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has lodged a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Koda and three former ministers as well as his associates Vinod Sinha and Sanjay Chaudhary.
So who is Koda and what is the case all about? Koda is a former chief minister of Jharkhand and is alleged to have amassed wealth beyond his known sources of income.
Some estimates put the amount of money laundered by Koda and associates at more than Rs4,000 crore--almost one-fifth of the annual budget of the state he once governed.
Koda allegedly was in touch with two individuals in Mumbai, Sinha and Chaudhary, both of whom incidentally are natives of Jharkhand.
Till just five years ago, Sinha used to be a milk vendor while Chaudhary's father used to sell tobacco products on a cycle. During Koda's tenure as chief minister, Sinha swiftly managed to procure property at different locations in Jharkhand and Jamshedpur, an iron sponge mill, a rolling mill, collectively valued at more than Rs200 crore. Investigators allege this was all Koda's money being invested in Sinha's name. Sinha is also reported to have deposited as much as Rs20 crore on several occasions in a Jamshedpur bank. Also, payment for the much-talked-about mine bought in Liberia was allegedly made in cash by Koda.
People familiar with the matter in ED also allege that Sinha was involved in investing and routing Koda's money through illegal or hawala channels. The income-tax (I-T) department has uncovered illegal transactions worth Rs2,500 crore, including Rs550 crore sent to foreign nations such as Dubai, Thailand and Malaysia, among others.
Politicians illegally pilfering public money may not be new, but an incident of such magnitude has jolted everyone. PMLA was enacted specifically to curb money laundering, which begets the question: Is there weakness in our anti-money laundering (AML) regulations? In India, politically exposed person (PEPs) are defined as individuals who are or have been entrusted with prominent public functions in a foreign country, such as heads of states or government, senior politicians, government/judicial/military officers or senior executives of stateowned corporations.
PEPs are considered high-risk under most AML regulations; the reason is that the law assumes that PEPs in general represent a potential risk for corruption and bribery, given their position and contacts.
Surprisingly, most jurisdictions, including India, prescribe increased scrutiny of politicians of foreign origin, but are silent on local politicians.
This case hopefully should provide an impetus for India to include domestic politicians as high-risk and demand that financial institutions undertake enhanced due diligence (EDD) on them.
One other factor that has escaped attention is the role of financial institutions in effectively implementing AML guidelines. How did banks allow transfer of high-value funds through their accounts without raising a red flag? According to newspaper reports, one branch of a bank in Mumbai failed to inform about transactions worth more than Rs900 crore by one of the group companies owned by Koda's frontman. All financial institutions need to maintain a profile of their customers, including high-risk customers, and also identify details of all known sources of wealth. Any transaction mismatch with the profile of the customer should be investigated thoroughly. Thus, the bank owes an explanation as to how someone who used to be a milk vendor till a few years back could amass so much wealth.
Mere implementation of a transaction monitoring system is not the solution. An information technology solution is just an enabler and banks need to have proper policies and procedures in place to identify suspicious transactions. In case some transactions occurred before the implementation of their AML I-T solutions, banks need to conduct a transaction look-back exercise to identify suspicious transactions from the past and investigate them proactively. Further, financial institutions should revisit their AML policies/procedures and enhance their EDD process to include identification of beneficiaries of each account. This would also enable identification of any person associated with PEPs who would then need to be considered as high-risk.
India is a large cash economy.
With the earlier incident of the display of cash in Parliament and current allegations of payment in cash for buying mines and to Bollywood personalities, it is important for competent authorities to find a remedy to this malaise sooner. A good starting point would be to expand banking services (especially to rural India) and encourage use of cashless services through channels such as cheques and credits cards.
This will enable the regulatory agencies to monitor transactions effectively.
Is this case likely to have an impact on the impending Financial Action Task Force (FATF) review of India's case for membership? A good starting point would be to rethink and expand the scope of designated non-financial businesses and professions under the AML regulations as there are certain professions in India that are recommended by FATF but not yet covered by AML regulations such as real estate agents. While it is evident that the AML regime in India has enough checks and balances in the system to identify potential cases of money laundering, what is needed is stringent implementation of these policies by the regulated entities in letter and spirit.
Writer:Arpinder Singh is executive director and K.V. Karthik is associate director, both at forensic services, KPMG.
So who is Koda and what is the case all about? Koda is a former chief minister of Jharkhand and is alleged to have amassed wealth beyond his known sources of income.
Some estimates put the amount of money laundered by Koda and associates at more than Rs4,000 crore--almost one-fifth of the annual budget of the state he once governed.
Koda allegedly was in touch with two individuals in Mumbai, Sinha and Chaudhary, both of whom incidentally are natives of Jharkhand.
Till just five years ago, Sinha used to be a milk vendor while Chaudhary's father used to sell tobacco products on a cycle. During Koda's tenure as chief minister, Sinha swiftly managed to procure property at different locations in Jharkhand and Jamshedpur, an iron sponge mill, a rolling mill, collectively valued at more than Rs200 crore. Investigators allege this was all Koda's money being invested in Sinha's name. Sinha is also reported to have deposited as much as Rs20 crore on several occasions in a Jamshedpur bank. Also, payment for the much-talked-about mine bought in Liberia was allegedly made in cash by Koda.
People familiar with the matter in ED also allege that Sinha was involved in investing and routing Koda's money through illegal or hawala channels. The income-tax (I-T) department has uncovered illegal transactions worth Rs2,500 crore, including Rs550 crore sent to foreign nations such as Dubai, Thailand and Malaysia, among others.
Politicians illegally pilfering public money may not be new, but an incident of such magnitude has jolted everyone. PMLA was enacted specifically to curb money laundering, which begets the question: Is there weakness in our anti-money laundering (AML) regulations? In India, politically exposed person (PEPs) are defined as individuals who are or have been entrusted with prominent public functions in a foreign country, such as heads of states or government, senior politicians, government/judicial/military officers or senior executives of stateowned corporations.
PEPs are considered high-risk under most AML regulations; the reason is that the law assumes that PEPs in general represent a potential risk for corruption and bribery, given their position and contacts.
Surprisingly, most jurisdictions, including India, prescribe increased scrutiny of politicians of foreign origin, but are silent on local politicians.
This case hopefully should provide an impetus for India to include domestic politicians as high-risk and demand that financial institutions undertake enhanced due diligence (EDD) on them.
One other factor that has escaped attention is the role of financial institutions in effectively implementing AML guidelines. How did banks allow transfer of high-value funds through their accounts without raising a red flag? According to newspaper reports, one branch of a bank in Mumbai failed to inform about transactions worth more than Rs900 crore by one of the group companies owned by Koda's frontman. All financial institutions need to maintain a profile of their customers, including high-risk customers, and also identify details of all known sources of wealth. Any transaction mismatch with the profile of the customer should be investigated thoroughly. Thus, the bank owes an explanation as to how someone who used to be a milk vendor till a few years back could amass so much wealth.
Mere implementation of a transaction monitoring system is not the solution. An information technology solution is just an enabler and banks need to have proper policies and procedures in place to identify suspicious transactions. In case some transactions occurred before the implementation of their AML I-T solutions, banks need to conduct a transaction look-back exercise to identify suspicious transactions from the past and investigate them proactively. Further, financial institutions should revisit their AML policies/procedures and enhance their EDD process to include identification of beneficiaries of each account. This would also enable identification of any person associated with PEPs who would then need to be considered as high-risk.
India is a large cash economy.
With the earlier incident of the display of cash in Parliament and current allegations of payment in cash for buying mines and to Bollywood personalities, it is important for competent authorities to find a remedy to this malaise sooner. A good starting point would be to expand banking services (especially to rural India) and encourage use of cashless services through channels such as cheques and credits cards.
This will enable the regulatory agencies to monitor transactions effectively.
Is this case likely to have an impact on the impending Financial Action Task Force (FATF) review of India's case for membership? A good starting point would be to rethink and expand the scope of designated non-financial businesses and professions under the AML regulations as there are certain professions in India that are recommended by FATF but not yet covered by AML regulations such as real estate agents. While it is evident that the AML regime in India has enough checks and balances in the system to identify potential cases of money laundering, what is needed is stringent implementation of these policies by the regulated entities in letter and spirit.
Writer:Arpinder Singh is executive director and K.V. Karthik is associate director, both at forensic services, KPMG.
Growing CO2 could cause 6 metre rise in sea level: A study
If the world fails to get the growing carbon emission under control, sea levels could rise by up to six metres, said a new study.
According to the study by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), temperatures in the Antarctica were increased by six degrees Celsius during the past periods when the volume of high carbon dioxide (CO2) was high in the atmosphere.
This could cause a sea level rise of up six metres, threatening coastal cities like London, New York and San Francisco, it said.
Louise Sime, who led the BAS study, looked at ice cores to see how temperatures changed during periods of high carbon dioxide.
During the last period of high CO2, 125,000 years ago, she found temperatures were up to 6 degrees Celsius higher than present day levels.
Such a hike in temperature could lead to a rise in sea levels of between 4 to 6 metres over hundreds of years as the ice sheets melt, The Telegraph reported.
“We didn’t expect to see such warm temperatures, and we don’t yet know in detail what caused them. But they indicate that Antarctica’s climate may have undergone rapid shifts during past periods of high CO2.”
Dr Sime said the study suggests that current high levels of CO2 could also cause a rise in temperature. She said further research could predict the affect on sea level rise.
“If we can pin down how much warmer temperatures were in Antarctica and Greenland at this time, then we can test predictions of how melting of the large ice sheets may contribute to sea level rise.”
It is the latest research to warn of the consequences of increased greenhouse gases on the Earth’s climate, The Telegraph Reported.
All the recent studies are adding pressure on world leader to agree in international deal on climate change at a UN summit in Copenhagen this December.
A recent study appeared in in Nature Geoscience found that carbon dioxide levels rose by almost a third in the last seven years. It warned that if the world continues to pump out pollution at such a rate it will cause temperatures to rise by six degrees Celsius, causing massive droughts, extinction of species and sea level rise.
Another study yesterday added to the urgency by claiming that the oceans are losing their ability to absorb CO2. Samar Khatiwala of Columbia University, found that the proportion of fossil fuel emissions absorbed by the oceans since 2000 may have decline by as much as 10 per cent.
“What our ocean study and other recent land studies suggest is that we cannot count on these sinks operating in the future as they have in the past, and keep on subsidising our ever-growing appetite for fossil fuels,” he said.
But, Dr Wolfgang Knorr, of Bristol University, who has been studying the same subject said there is not yet enough evidence to prove that the Earth is losing its ability to absorb CO2.
If the world fails to get the growing carbon emission under control, sea levels could rise by up to six metres, said a new study.
According to the study by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), temperatures in the Antarctica were increased by six degrees Celsius during the past periods when the volume of high carbon dioxide (CO2) was high in the atmosphere.
This could cause a sea level rise of up six metres, threatening coastal cities like London, New York and San Francisco, it said.
Louise Sime, who led the BAS study, looked at ice cores to see how temperatures changed during periods of high carbon dioxide.
During the last period of high CO2, 125,000 years ago, she found temperatures were up to 6 degrees Celsius higher than present day levels.
Such a hike in temperature could lead to a rise in sea levels of between 4 to 6 metres over hundreds of years as the ice sheets melt, The Telegraph reported.
“We didn’t expect to see such warm temperatures, and we don’t yet know in detail what caused them. But they indicate that Antarctica’s climate may have undergone rapid shifts during past periods of high CO2.”
Dr Sime said the study suggests that current high levels of CO2 could also cause a rise in temperature. She said further research could predict the affect on sea level rise.
“If we can pin down how much warmer temperatures were in Antarctica and Greenland at this time, then we can test predictions of how melting of the large ice sheets may contribute to sea level rise.”
It is the latest research to warn of the consequences of increased greenhouse gases on the Earth’s climate, The Telegraph Reported.
All the recent studies are adding pressure on world leader to agree in international deal on climate change at a UN summit in Copenhagen this December.
A recent study appeared in in Nature Geoscience found that carbon dioxide levels rose by almost a third in the last seven years. It warned that if the world continues to pump out pollution at such a rate it will cause temperatures to rise by six degrees Celsius, causing massive droughts, extinction of species and sea level rise.
Another study yesterday added to the urgency by claiming that the oceans are losing their ability to absorb CO2. Samar Khatiwala of Columbia University, found that the proportion of fossil fuel emissions absorbed by the oceans since 2000 may have decline by as much as 10 per cent.
“What our ocean study and other recent land studies suggest is that we cannot count on these sinks operating in the future as they have in the past, and keep on subsidising our ever-growing appetite for fossil fuels,” he said.
But, Dr Wolfgang Knorr, of Bristol University, who has been studying the same subject said there is not yet enough evidence to prove that the Earth is losing its ability to absorb CO2.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
MoUs for setting up of Biogas based power plants at Gaushalas in Haryana
18.11.2009
The MoUs for setting up of Biogas based power plants at five Gaushalas in Haryana were signed in the presence of Union Minister of New & Renewable Energy, Dr. Farooq Abdullah and Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Environment and Forests, Shri Jairam Ramesh in New Delhi today.
The projects proposed to be set up at five selected Gaushalas for power generation from biogas to be produced from a mixture of cattle dung and agricultural residues / crop wastes are going to be based on the state-of-the-art technology. Since the Gaushalas only have the land and access to raw material and not the technology or finances, a project developer who is implementing similar projects of larger capacities in the State of Punjab, has been identified. The Developer M/s Sri Krishna Captive Energy Ltd. will implement these projects on BOOT basis in partnership with the Gaushalas. The Developer will fund the projects, execute and operate them for about 10 years and hand them over to the Gaushalas thereafter.
The projects are supported by the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) under the Programme on Energy from Urban and Agricultural Wastes being implemented by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
The development of projects at the Gaushalas has at its roots in the success of the first project for generation of 1 MW power from cattle dung installed at Ludhiana in the year 2004-05 under a UNDP / GEF assisted project implemented by MNRE. With a view to promote power projects based on cattle dung, a Field Visit-cum-Seminar was organized at the Project installed at Ludhiana in August, 2008, which was also attended by senior members of the AWBI. Secretary, MNRE had called upon the Gaushalas to set up such projects. MNRE and AWBI have been working on setting up of a few commercial projects on ‘build own operate and transfer’ (BOOT) basis at Gaushalas. This included MNRE’s participation in the Annual General Meeting of AWBI and meetings in the Ministry with the chairman of AWBI and representatives of some of the selected Gaushalas.
Each project of 350 KW is expected to cost around Rs.4 – 4.5 crore and would be eligible for a Central Financial Assistance (CFA) of upto Rs.1.05 crore (@Rs. 3.00 crore/MW) under the Programme on Energy Recovery from Urban Wastes, which also includes the component of biogas based power from cattle dung and agricultural residues. Proposal for sanction of subsidy will be considered in accordance with the provisions of Ministry’s programme as and when received. Further, even after sanction, while the first installment of CFA is to be given upon commencement of project execution and disbursement of 50% of loan sanctioned for the projects, the 2nd installment will be released after successful commissioning of the project.
The MoU essentially includes conditions for co-operation between the Gaushalas and the Developers. After signing of MOU, the project development activities including preparation of DPR, signing of PPA and financial closures would commence and it is expected that project execution would begin before the end of the year 2009 for projects to be completed in 6 to 9 months.
These projects are based on a concept that has already become popular in several European countries. The Developer M/s Sri Krishna Captive Energy Pvt. Ltd. is working in collaboration with a German technology company namely M/s. Envitech.
It is expected that these projects will lead to setting up of a large number of such projects for energy recovery from cattle dung and agricultural residues for decentralized power generation through an environmentally benign technology.
PRA/SKK
18.11.2009
The MoUs for setting up of Biogas based power plants at five Gaushalas in Haryana were signed in the presence of Union Minister of New & Renewable Energy, Dr. Farooq Abdullah and Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Environment and Forests, Shri Jairam Ramesh in New Delhi today.
The projects proposed to be set up at five selected Gaushalas for power generation from biogas to be produced from a mixture of cattle dung and agricultural residues / crop wastes are going to be based on the state-of-the-art technology. Since the Gaushalas only have the land and access to raw material and not the technology or finances, a project developer who is implementing similar projects of larger capacities in the State of Punjab, has been identified. The Developer M/s Sri Krishna Captive Energy Ltd. will implement these projects on BOOT basis in partnership with the Gaushalas. The Developer will fund the projects, execute and operate them for about 10 years and hand them over to the Gaushalas thereafter.
The projects are supported by the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) under the Programme on Energy from Urban and Agricultural Wastes being implemented by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
The development of projects at the Gaushalas has at its roots in the success of the first project for generation of 1 MW power from cattle dung installed at Ludhiana in the year 2004-05 under a UNDP / GEF assisted project implemented by MNRE. With a view to promote power projects based on cattle dung, a Field Visit-cum-Seminar was organized at the Project installed at Ludhiana in August, 2008, which was also attended by senior members of the AWBI. Secretary, MNRE had called upon the Gaushalas to set up such projects. MNRE and AWBI have been working on setting up of a few commercial projects on ‘build own operate and transfer’ (BOOT) basis at Gaushalas. This included MNRE’s participation in the Annual General Meeting of AWBI and meetings in the Ministry with the chairman of AWBI and representatives of some of the selected Gaushalas.
Each project of 350 KW is expected to cost around Rs.4 – 4.5 crore and would be eligible for a Central Financial Assistance (CFA) of upto Rs.1.05 crore (@Rs. 3.00 crore/MW) under the Programme on Energy Recovery from Urban Wastes, which also includes the component of biogas based power from cattle dung and agricultural residues. Proposal for sanction of subsidy will be considered in accordance with the provisions of Ministry’s programme as and when received. Further, even after sanction, while the first installment of CFA is to be given upon commencement of project execution and disbursement of 50% of loan sanctioned for the projects, the 2nd installment will be released after successful commissioning of the project.
The MoU essentially includes conditions for co-operation between the Gaushalas and the Developers. After signing of MOU, the project development activities including preparation of DPR, signing of PPA and financial closures would commence and it is expected that project execution would begin before the end of the year 2009 for projects to be completed in 6 to 9 months.
These projects are based on a concept that has already become popular in several European countries. The Developer M/s Sri Krishna Captive Energy Pvt. Ltd. is working in collaboration with a German technology company namely M/s. Envitech.
It is expected that these projects will lead to setting up of a large number of such projects for energy recovery from cattle dung and agricultural residues for decentralized power generation through an environmentally benign technology.
PRA/SKK
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
TIBET IS PART OF CHINA SAYS OBAMA
Tibet a part of China, says Obama
Xinhua
Bejing'17 Nov 2009
United States President Barack Obama on Tuesday said the U.S. government recognizes that Tibet is part of the People’s Republic of China.
He also said that the United States supports the early resumption of dialogue between the Chinese government and representatives of the Dalai Lama to resolve any concerns and differences that the two sides may have.
“The United States respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China,” Mr. Obama said at a joint press conference with Chinese President Hu Jintao at Beijing's Great Hall of the People.
Source: The Hindu
Xinhua
Bejing'17 Nov 2009
United States President Barack Obama on Tuesday said the U.S. government recognizes that Tibet is part of the People’s Republic of China.
He also said that the United States supports the early resumption of dialogue between the Chinese government and representatives of the Dalai Lama to resolve any concerns and differences that the two sides may have.
“The United States respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China,” Mr. Obama said at a joint press conference with Chinese President Hu Jintao at Beijing's Great Hall of the People.
Source: The Hindu
SIKKIM: Four held for Sikkim overdraft fraud
FROM THE TELEGRAPH
Gangtok, Nov. 16: Four persons were arrested today for their attempts to withdraw Rs 85 crore as overdraft from the State Bank of Sikkim by fraudulent documents.
The four arrested — Sunil Rai, Subroto Banerjee, Gautam Das and Sudip Malik — have been charged with cheating, fraud and criminal conspiracy under different sections of the IPC, said S.T. Bhutia, the senior superintendent of police, crime branch.
“We had started investigations into the case after receiving credible information. Today, we registered the case against the four following nightlong raids at their residences,” Bhutia said. He refused to elaborate further.
Sources said the CID seized four cheques drawn in favour of one P.K. Anand — three worth Rs 25 crore each and one worth Rs 10 crore — from the bank, besides documents. The cheques were dated between November 10 and 13. The identity of Ananda is yet to be established.
Investigations reveal that as part of the overdraft deal, the four had provided collateral based on false documents from three companies which are based in different parts of the country but have offices in Gangtok. According to the agreement, the payment would have been made in November 2014.
A probe is on the antecedents of the companies and whether they had adequate funds in their accounts held with the bank. The CID has not ruled out the involvement of bank officials.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sikkim Police nabs 4 person in connection to fraud Rs 85 Crore Sikkim Bank Cheque
16 Nov, Gangtok: Sikkim Crime Branch an Investigating authority has nabbed four person Sunil Rai, Subroto Banerjee, Gautam Das and Karma Chewang Bhutia possessing post dated cheque of Rs 85 crore of the State Bank of Sikkim. Two of them Banerjee and Das is identified as a partner of Kolkata based Global Solutions sources said. They planned to invest the said amount in a Coimbatore based company sources further said. It is yet to find out the actual owner guardian or company of the huge amount under whose roof these activity was pre-planned, the necessary investigation are on and Investigating Department is all the way in search of root “King Pin”.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CID busts refined scam to dupe Rs. 85 crores from SBS
GANGTOK, November 16: Four persons have been arrested by Criminal Investigation Division (CID) of Sikkim police with the crime fighting agency nipping in the bud an outrageous ploy to dupe the State-owned State Bank of Sikkim with an initial amount of Rs. 85 crores.
Sunil Rai, Subroto Banerjee, Gautam Das and Sudip Malik have been arrested under sections 420/423/120 B and other sections of IPC for fraud and submission of forged documents, said Senior Superintendent of Police (Crime Branch) ST Bhutia to reporters here today afternoon.
The CID had started investigations into the case after credible information was received and a case registered against the above four accused even as investigations were being launched. The four were arrested from the Capital in a swoop which continued till late into the morning today.
While Mr. Bhutia said that it was a case of fraud and also an ‘economic offence’, he said more details could not be provided since investigations are still on and the case is in a preliminary stage.
Though nothing much came from the officials on the investigations so far, sources inform that the four accused had tried to withdraw an amount worth Rs. 85 crores from the State Bank of Sikkim (SBS) which would be paid later.
The modus operandi so far reveal that the four cheques were seized from the arrested persons include three cheques worth Rs. 25 crores each while the other one was worth Rs. 10 crores.
One of the cheques for Rs. 25 crores was signed by Sunil Rai, another two worth Rs. 50 crores (Rs. 25 crores each) by the Director of Om Mantra Infra Projects Limited and one cheque worth Rs. 10 crores by United Sales, all of whom operate accounts in the State Bank of Sikkim.
It is yet to be known whether they had money worth the amount in the bank.
The cheques which were payable in favour of one person named PK Anand have been seized by the CID wing. All the cheques were to be paid back in later different dates in November 2014.
Sources also inform that some documents confiscated by the CID reveal that a proposal had been put up by one Auroma Impex, a company who had authorized Global Solutions on behalf of the parent company Excelsior Consultants and Investment company based in Coimbatore to have an understanding with the SBS.
A letter by Auroma Impex has authorized Global Solutions to provide collateral for raising of funds to the extent of Rs. 2,500 crores through International Bills of Exchange (IBOE) issued by the United States Treasury. The letter has also requested the SBS to issue a Letter of Intent (LOI) to accept as Collateral for Rs. 2500 crores on creating Line on Credit from the SBS banking source.
They have also put a term that 50 per cent of the total amount was to be returned to the provider of IBOE and the collateral was to be returned to the US treasury after 5 years and could be renewed for the next 5 years.
In another letter, Auroma Impex has authorized Subroto Banerjee and Gautam Das, partners of Global Solutions, Kolkata to introduce and capitalize on IBOE issued by US Treasury to the SBS Chairman and other high officials.
Sources reveal that those four arrested have been dropping big names even as the investigations are in the preliminary stages. They were today produced in front of chief judicial magistrate (North/East) Gangtok and were sent for police remand for four days.
source: sikkim express
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CID detects financial fraud, arrests four
Gangtok, Nov 16 (PTI) The police today claimed to have detected a Rs 85 crore fraud and arrested four persons in this connection.
Acting on a tip off, a Criminal Investigation Department team arrested four persons here and recovered from their possession four post-dated cheques of the State Bank of Sikkim worth Rs 85 crore which they had planned to invest in a Coimbatore-based company, official sources said.
The accused have been identified as Sunil Rai, Subroto Banerjee, Gautam Das and Karma Chewang Bhutia.
Banerjee and Das are said to be partners of a Kolkata-based company Global Solutions, the sources said.
It was immediately not clear as to the sum mentioned in the cheques belonged to the four accused or they were acting on behalf of some local people or companies, they said, adding an investigation was underway to find out the modus operandi of the accused.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------BJP demands CBI probe in multi-crore scam attempt
Sikkim Express
GANGTOK, November 17: State BJP unit has demanded a CBI probe into the case registered by Criminal Investigation Division (CID) of Sikkim Police against four persons accused of trying to hoodwink Rs. 85 crores from State Bank of Sikkim.
A case of such magnitude which has national security implications should be handed over to CBI so that the crime and the persons involved comes out in black and white, said State BJP vice president Padam Chettri today.
The money could be used for anti-national activities or to fund terrorism, said Chettri asserting the demand for a CBI probe in the case.
It may be recalled that the CID had stumbled into an outrageous ploy to commit the economic crime and had arrested four persons, Sunil Rai, Subroto Banerjee, Gautam Das and Sudip Malik and registered criminal cases against them.
----------------------------------
SBS denies involvement in multi-crore scam
SE Report
GANGTOK, November 21: The State Bank of Sikkim (SBS) has denied and condemned allegations of its involvement in a multi-crore scam.
Denying the allegations as reported in the local media over the past few weeks, the Chief General Manager of SBS, Gangtok, in a press statement, has said that the there is no scam involving the Bank or any of its employees.
“The Bank would like to take this opportunity to assure the public in general, that the accounts which were mentioned in the news reports were opened by the Bank only after following the "Know Your Customer"(KYC) norms prescribed by the Reserve bank of India. The Account holders had filled up the forms and submitted the requisite supporting documents and the account were opened only after proper scrutiny of the documents supplied by the customers. Added to this, the new applicants were also introduced to the Bank by our existing account holders. Further, contrary to report in certain news papers that the account were started with Rs. 500 only, the Bank would like to state that the Current Account are started with an initial deposit of Rs. 5000 and not Rs. 500,” read the press statement.
SBS has further clarified that the issuance of cheque books to the account holders is done to facilitate the smooth operation of the transactions of the account. “This is a normal procedure followed by the Bank in all Current Accounts maintained with us. The cheques issued to the account holders by the Bank become their personal property and the account holders are themselves responsible for the cheques issued by them. The Bank does not have any say in the amount filled in by the account holder and only upon the presentation of the cheque before the teller can the bank vouch for its authenticity.”
Reacting on the newspaper reports about the statement on the reverse side of the cheques on behalf of the SBS making assurances to fulfil the obligation and honouring the cheques on the due date i.e. in November 2014, the Bank has said that these cheques were never presented before the Bank and were not signed or stamped by any official of the Bank. “Even if these cheques were presented for signatures and seal before any official of the Bank, it would still not have been completed since it is not a policy of the Bank to endorse any such cheques in this manner,” it said.
Regarding the issue pertaining to the Internal Bills of Exchange (IBOE), the Bank has clarified its position and said that it does not deal with any Foreign Exchange or IBOEs. “Even if the IBOEs are authentic, the Bank would have to seek permission from the Finance Department of the Government of Sikkim before any transactions are made with regards to the IBOEs. Hence, without proper scrutiny and prior permissions the Bank has no authority to accept any proposals relating to any transactions with regards to any IBOE or Foreign Exchange,” it said.
“The Bank would like to reiterate that there is no "scam" involving the State Bank of Sikkim and any employee of the Bank. These may have been intent to defraud the Bank and any individuals by certain people, but due to the quick action of the Police Department and Criminal Investigation Department (CID) such an attempt was thwarted,” the press statement added.
source: sikkim express
FROM THE TELEGRAPH
Gangtok, Nov. 16: Four persons were arrested today for their attempts to withdraw Rs 85 crore as overdraft from the State Bank of Sikkim by fraudulent documents.
The four arrested — Sunil Rai, Subroto Banerjee, Gautam Das and Sudip Malik — have been charged with cheating, fraud and criminal conspiracy under different sections of the IPC, said S.T. Bhutia, the senior superintendent of police, crime branch.
“We had started investigations into the case after receiving credible information. Today, we registered the case against the four following nightlong raids at their residences,” Bhutia said. He refused to elaborate further.
Sources said the CID seized four cheques drawn in favour of one P.K. Anand — three worth Rs 25 crore each and one worth Rs 10 crore — from the bank, besides documents. The cheques were dated between November 10 and 13. The identity of Ananda is yet to be established.
Investigations reveal that as part of the overdraft deal, the four had provided collateral based on false documents from three companies which are based in different parts of the country but have offices in Gangtok. According to the agreement, the payment would have been made in November 2014.
A probe is on the antecedents of the companies and whether they had adequate funds in their accounts held with the bank. The CID has not ruled out the involvement of bank officials.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sikkim Police nabs 4 person in connection to fraud Rs 85 Crore Sikkim Bank Cheque
16 Nov, Gangtok: Sikkim Crime Branch an Investigating authority has nabbed four person Sunil Rai, Subroto Banerjee, Gautam Das and Karma Chewang Bhutia possessing post dated cheque of Rs 85 crore of the State Bank of Sikkim. Two of them Banerjee and Das is identified as a partner of Kolkata based Global Solutions sources said. They planned to invest the said amount in a Coimbatore based company sources further said. It is yet to find out the actual owner guardian or company of the huge amount under whose roof these activity was pre-planned, the necessary investigation are on and Investigating Department is all the way in search of root “King Pin”.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CID busts refined scam to dupe Rs. 85 crores from SBS
GANGTOK, November 16: Four persons have been arrested by Criminal Investigation Division (CID) of Sikkim police with the crime fighting agency nipping in the bud an outrageous ploy to dupe the State-owned State Bank of Sikkim with an initial amount of Rs. 85 crores.
Sunil Rai, Subroto Banerjee, Gautam Das and Sudip Malik have been arrested under sections 420/423/120 B and other sections of IPC for fraud and submission of forged documents, said Senior Superintendent of Police (Crime Branch) ST Bhutia to reporters here today afternoon.
The CID had started investigations into the case after credible information was received and a case registered against the above four accused even as investigations were being launched. The four were arrested from the Capital in a swoop which continued till late into the morning today.
While Mr. Bhutia said that it was a case of fraud and also an ‘economic offence’, he said more details could not be provided since investigations are still on and the case is in a preliminary stage.
Though nothing much came from the officials on the investigations so far, sources inform that the four accused had tried to withdraw an amount worth Rs. 85 crores from the State Bank of Sikkim (SBS) which would be paid later.
The modus operandi so far reveal that the four cheques were seized from the arrested persons include three cheques worth Rs. 25 crores each while the other one was worth Rs. 10 crores.
One of the cheques for Rs. 25 crores was signed by Sunil Rai, another two worth Rs. 50 crores (Rs. 25 crores each) by the Director of Om Mantra Infra Projects Limited and one cheque worth Rs. 10 crores by United Sales, all of whom operate accounts in the State Bank of Sikkim.
It is yet to be known whether they had money worth the amount in the bank.
The cheques which were payable in favour of one person named PK Anand have been seized by the CID wing. All the cheques were to be paid back in later different dates in November 2014.
Sources also inform that some documents confiscated by the CID reveal that a proposal had been put up by one Auroma Impex, a company who had authorized Global Solutions on behalf of the parent company Excelsior Consultants and Investment company based in Coimbatore to have an understanding with the SBS.
A letter by Auroma Impex has authorized Global Solutions to provide collateral for raising of funds to the extent of Rs. 2,500 crores through International Bills of Exchange (IBOE) issued by the United States Treasury. The letter has also requested the SBS to issue a Letter of Intent (LOI) to accept as Collateral for Rs. 2500 crores on creating Line on Credit from the SBS banking source.
They have also put a term that 50 per cent of the total amount was to be returned to the provider of IBOE and the collateral was to be returned to the US treasury after 5 years and could be renewed for the next 5 years.
In another letter, Auroma Impex has authorized Subroto Banerjee and Gautam Das, partners of Global Solutions, Kolkata to introduce and capitalize on IBOE issued by US Treasury to the SBS Chairman and other high officials.
Sources reveal that those four arrested have been dropping big names even as the investigations are in the preliminary stages. They were today produced in front of chief judicial magistrate (North/East) Gangtok and were sent for police remand for four days.
source: sikkim express
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CID detects financial fraud, arrests four
Gangtok, Nov 16 (PTI) The police today claimed to have detected a Rs 85 crore fraud and arrested four persons in this connection.
Acting on a tip off, a Criminal Investigation Department team arrested four persons here and recovered from their possession four post-dated cheques of the State Bank of Sikkim worth Rs 85 crore which they had planned to invest in a Coimbatore-based company, official sources said.
The accused have been identified as Sunil Rai, Subroto Banerjee, Gautam Das and Karma Chewang Bhutia.
Banerjee and Das are said to be partners of a Kolkata-based company Global Solutions, the sources said.
It was immediately not clear as to the sum mentioned in the cheques belonged to the four accused or they were acting on behalf of some local people or companies, they said, adding an investigation was underway to find out the modus operandi of the accused.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------BJP demands CBI probe in multi-crore scam attempt
Sikkim Express
GANGTOK, November 17: State BJP unit has demanded a CBI probe into the case registered by Criminal Investigation Division (CID) of Sikkim Police against four persons accused of trying to hoodwink Rs. 85 crores from State Bank of Sikkim.
A case of such magnitude which has national security implications should be handed over to CBI so that the crime and the persons involved comes out in black and white, said State BJP vice president Padam Chettri today.
The money could be used for anti-national activities or to fund terrorism, said Chettri asserting the demand for a CBI probe in the case.
It may be recalled that the CID had stumbled into an outrageous ploy to commit the economic crime and had arrested four persons, Sunil Rai, Subroto Banerjee, Gautam Das and Sudip Malik and registered criminal cases against them.
----------------------------------
SBS denies involvement in multi-crore scam
SE Report
GANGTOK, November 21: The State Bank of Sikkim (SBS) has denied and condemned allegations of its involvement in a multi-crore scam.
Denying the allegations as reported in the local media over the past few weeks, the Chief General Manager of SBS, Gangtok, in a press statement, has said that the there is no scam involving the Bank or any of its employees.
“The Bank would like to take this opportunity to assure the public in general, that the accounts which were mentioned in the news reports were opened by the Bank only after following the "Know Your Customer"(KYC) norms prescribed by the Reserve bank of India. The Account holders had filled up the forms and submitted the requisite supporting documents and the account were opened only after proper scrutiny of the documents supplied by the customers. Added to this, the new applicants were also introduced to the Bank by our existing account holders. Further, contrary to report in certain news papers that the account were started with Rs. 500 only, the Bank would like to state that the Current Account are started with an initial deposit of Rs. 5000 and not Rs. 500,” read the press statement.
SBS has further clarified that the issuance of cheque books to the account holders is done to facilitate the smooth operation of the transactions of the account. “This is a normal procedure followed by the Bank in all Current Accounts maintained with us. The cheques issued to the account holders by the Bank become their personal property and the account holders are themselves responsible for the cheques issued by them. The Bank does not have any say in the amount filled in by the account holder and only upon the presentation of the cheque before the teller can the bank vouch for its authenticity.”
Reacting on the newspaper reports about the statement on the reverse side of the cheques on behalf of the SBS making assurances to fulfil the obligation and honouring the cheques on the due date i.e. in November 2014, the Bank has said that these cheques were never presented before the Bank and were not signed or stamped by any official of the Bank. “Even if these cheques were presented for signatures and seal before any official of the Bank, it would still not have been completed since it is not a policy of the Bank to endorse any such cheques in this manner,” it said.
Regarding the issue pertaining to the Internal Bills of Exchange (IBOE), the Bank has clarified its position and said that it does not deal with any Foreign Exchange or IBOEs. “Even if the IBOEs are authentic, the Bank would have to seek permission from the Finance Department of the Government of Sikkim before any transactions are made with regards to the IBOEs. Hence, without proper scrutiny and prior permissions the Bank has no authority to accept any proposals relating to any transactions with regards to any IBOE or Foreign Exchange,” it said.
“The Bank would like to reiterate that there is no "scam" involving the State Bank of Sikkim and any employee of the Bank. These may have been intent to defraud the Bank and any individuals by certain people, but due to the quick action of the Police Department and Criminal Investigation Department (CID) such an attempt was thwarted,” the press statement added.
source: sikkim express
Torrent Pharma Plans New Investments
The company is also eying the US from its facility in Dahej and the manufacturing facility in Sikkim, India is expected to begin by October 2010.
Sanjay Dalal, chief operating officer of Torrent Pharma, said: "We will invest around Rs 350 crore in the Dahej SEZ and have already started work on land development there.The acquisition process is complete. The facility will take around three to three and a half years to come up."
Torrent Pharma is focused on therapeutic areas of cardiovascular and central nervous system and has achieved significant presence in gastro-intestinal, diabetology, anti-infective and pain management segments.
The company is also eying the US from its facility in Dahej and the manufacturing facility in Sikkim, India is expected to begin by October 2010.
Sanjay Dalal, chief operating officer of Torrent Pharma, said: "We will invest around Rs 350 crore in the Dahej SEZ and have already started work on land development there.The acquisition process is complete. The facility will take around three to three and a half years to come up."
Torrent Pharma is focused on therapeutic areas of cardiovascular and central nervous system and has achieved significant presence in gastro-intestinal, diabetology, anti-infective and pain management segments.
South Asia Taps Tourism Potential for Inclusive and Sustainable Growth
16/11/2009
ADB Board of Directors today approved a total of $57.5 million in grants and loans for the South Asia Tourism Infrastructure Development Project, which will develop and improve infrastructure and services for key tourism sites in the three countries. It will also help increase the capacity of sector agencies to sustainably manage and protect sites, and will target increased involvement by local communities in tourism.
South Asia is one of the poorer regions of the world but has many renowned natural and cultural attractions, including the world’s highest mountain and the Sacred Garden in Lumbini, Nepal, where Buddha was born, the Rumtek Buddhist Monastery in India’s Sikkim state, and ancient monasteries and temples in western Bangladesh. Countries in the sub-region, including India, Nepal and Bangladesh have formed a working group for collective action to tap the synergies of their complementary tourism sites in order to expand tourism. However, development has been hindered by limited connectivity to sites, inadequate infrastructure, and a lack of capacity by sector agencies to develop and manage key destinations.
The project will target transport and other infrastructure upgrades and will improve water supply, sanitation and solid waste management services to enhance the environment at key sites. Support will be given to increase the capacity of sector agencies to sustainably manage and protect attractions, while steps will be taken to increase involvement by local communities in the tourism sector.
“Tourism plays an important role in the regional economy and this project will benefit around 2.4 million people through increased income and employment, health and environmental improvements, and reduced travel time,” said Gülfer Cezayirli, Principal Urban Development Specialist in ADB’s South Asia Department.
"The project features a subregional approach to tourism development that will bring wider benefits than a single country approach, and will help spread jobs and income to areas currently bypassed by existing tourism markets," added Ms. Cezayirli. "It includes a program to ensure that poor and remote communities have the knowledge and skills to take advantage of new tourism opportunities."
Along with ADB’s loans and grants, the governments of the three countries, and the OPEC Fund for International Development, will provide the balance of the project cost of $89.5 million.
India will receive a loan of $20 million equivalent from ADB’s ordinary capital resources. Nepal will receive a grant of $12.75 million, and a loan of $12.75 million equivalent, both from ADB’s concessional Asian Development Fund (ADF). Bangladesh will receive a $12 million equivalent ADF loan.
The project executing agencies are Nepal’s Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation, India’s Sikkim State Department of Tourism, and Bangladesh’s Department of Archaeology, Ministry of Cultural Affairs.The project is due for completion by September 2014.
16/11/2009
ADB Board of Directors today approved a total of $57.5 million in grants and loans for the South Asia Tourism Infrastructure Development Project, which will develop and improve infrastructure and services for key tourism sites in the three countries. It will also help increase the capacity of sector agencies to sustainably manage and protect sites, and will target increased involvement by local communities in tourism.
South Asia is one of the poorer regions of the world but has many renowned natural and cultural attractions, including the world’s highest mountain and the Sacred Garden in Lumbini, Nepal, where Buddha was born, the Rumtek Buddhist Monastery in India’s Sikkim state, and ancient monasteries and temples in western Bangladesh. Countries in the sub-region, including India, Nepal and Bangladesh have formed a working group for collective action to tap the synergies of their complementary tourism sites in order to expand tourism. However, development has been hindered by limited connectivity to sites, inadequate infrastructure, and a lack of capacity by sector agencies to develop and manage key destinations.
The project will target transport and other infrastructure upgrades and will improve water supply, sanitation and solid waste management services to enhance the environment at key sites. Support will be given to increase the capacity of sector agencies to sustainably manage and protect attractions, while steps will be taken to increase involvement by local communities in the tourism sector.
“Tourism plays an important role in the regional economy and this project will benefit around 2.4 million people through increased income and employment, health and environmental improvements, and reduced travel time,” said Gülfer Cezayirli, Principal Urban Development Specialist in ADB’s South Asia Department.
"The project features a subregional approach to tourism development that will bring wider benefits than a single country approach, and will help spread jobs and income to areas currently bypassed by existing tourism markets," added Ms. Cezayirli. "It includes a program to ensure that poor and remote communities have the knowledge and skills to take advantage of new tourism opportunities."
Along with ADB’s loans and grants, the governments of the three countries, and the OPEC Fund for International Development, will provide the balance of the project cost of $89.5 million.
India will receive a loan of $20 million equivalent from ADB’s ordinary capital resources. Nepal will receive a grant of $12.75 million, and a loan of $12.75 million equivalent, both from ADB’s concessional Asian Development Fund (ADF). Bangladesh will receive a $12 million equivalent ADF loan.
The project executing agencies are Nepal’s Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation, India’s Sikkim State Department of Tourism, and Bangladesh’s Department of Archaeology, Ministry of Cultural Affairs.The project is due for completion by September 2014.
HP UNITS SHIFTING TO SIKKIM
New Delhi:16.nov.2009:
Himachal Pradesh has called for extension of the area-based tax incentives, which are going to expire for the state’s industrial units in March 2010. Area-based exemptions are under review as part of the central government’s plans to revamp the indirect tax regime and amid the efforts to introduce a comprehensive goods and services tax (GST) .
Himachal Pradesh is worried that many factories in the state are planning to shift to Sikkim and North Eastern States, as the central government’s policy to exempt duty and tax would continue in the areas.
Speaking at a conference organised by PHD Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Himachal Pradesh chief secretary Asha Swarup said: “We are in dialogue with the government of India to extend it (area based tax exemption). There is a view that will have to be taken on central incentives. The idea for such incentives is not that the industry comes in to for a short period of time and then moves to another state later when the incentives expire. I think you need to take a view that is holistic. The states create infrastructure, that is capital intensive and then there is a flight of industry. It does not help any body,”.
The area based tax exemptions are enjoyed by North Eastern States, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttaranchal, Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh, which have not seen much industrialisation. Factories and industrial units in these regions get full income tax waiver for five years from the date of commencement of the policy and excise duty exemption for 10 years for new projects.
Punjab and Haryana have been complaining about the area based exemptions, as many industrial units shifted to the hill state, especially the Baddi industrial area. Many pharmaceutical companies like Dabur, Ranbaxy have set up manufacturing units in Himachal Pradesh. Swarup said that’s the date for the expiry of area based exemptions draws closer in the state, many pharma companies are planing to move to North East, where factories will continue to enjoy the tax benefits. However, industry secretary Ajay Shankar and senior officials of Punjab and Haryana governments reaffirmed that providing tax incentives is not a sustainable way of attracting investments in to states.
“Incentives do not gives you industry. Good governance, easy labour norms and infrastructure are key to having a right industrial ecosystem,” Shankar said.
YS Malik, principal secretary, Industries, government of Haryana had a similar view to share. “Short term
Himachal Pradesh has called for extension of the area-based tax incentives, which are going to expire for the state’s industrial units in March 2010. Area-based exemptions are under review as part of the central government’s plans to revamp the indirect tax regime and amid the efforts to introduce a comprehensive goods and services tax (GST) .
Himachal Pradesh is worried that many factories in the state are planning to shift to Sikkim and North Eastern States, as the central government’s policy to exempt duty and tax would continue in the areas.
Speaking at a conference organised by PHD Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Himachal Pradesh chief secretary Asha Swarup said: “We are in dialogue with the government of India to extend it (area based tax exemption). There is a view that will have to be taken on central incentives. The idea for such incentives is not that the industry comes in to for a short period of time and then moves to another state later when the incentives expire. I think you need to take a view that is holistic. The states create infrastructure, that is capital intensive and then there is a flight of industry. It does not help any body,”.
The area based tax exemptions are enjoyed by North Eastern States, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttaranchal, Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh, which have not seen much industrialisation. Factories and industrial units in these regions get full income tax waiver for five years from the date of commencement of the policy and excise duty exemption for 10 years for new projects.
Punjab and Haryana have been complaining about the area based exemptions, as many industrial units shifted to the hill state, especially the Baddi industrial area. Many pharmaceutical companies like Dabur, Ranbaxy have set up manufacturing units in Himachal Pradesh. Swarup said that’s the date for the expiry of area based exemptions draws closer in the state, many pharma companies are planing to move to North East, where factories will continue to enjoy the tax benefits. However, industry secretary Ajay Shankar and senior officials of Punjab and Haryana governments reaffirmed that providing tax incentives is not a sustainable way of attracting investments in to states.
“Incentives do not gives you industry. Good governance, easy labour norms and infrastructure are key to having a right industrial ecosystem,” Shankar said.
YS Malik, principal secretary, Industries, government of Haryana had a similar view to share. “Short term
Monday, November 16, 2009
Sikkim eager to protect the environment around the Himalayas, says Chamling
Source:PTI
Sikkim government will always like to become a willing partner in the regional endeavour to protect the Himalayas, Chief Minister, Pawan Kumar Chamling has said.
Mr. Chamling made the commitment to noted environmentalist Sundarlal Bahuguna’s call to the countries and states located in the Himalayas to evolve a policy to protect the mountain range from the impact of global warming and climate change.
The state government has taken a series of measures to protect the environment since Sikkim Democratic Front came power in 1994, Mr. Chamling told Mr. Bahuguna in a meeting here on Thursday.
There was a ban on grazing of cattle, free distribution of LPG cylinders in rural areas to dissuade the people from using woods and forest resources for fuel and constitution of a commission to study the glaciers were some of those measures, he said.
Source:PTI
Sikkim government will always like to become a willing partner in the regional endeavour to protect the Himalayas, Chief Minister, Pawan Kumar Chamling has said.
Mr. Chamling made the commitment to noted environmentalist Sundarlal Bahuguna’s call to the countries and states located in the Himalayas to evolve a policy to protect the mountain range from the impact of global warming and climate change.
The state government has taken a series of measures to protect the environment since Sikkim Democratic Front came power in 1994, Mr. Chamling told Mr. Bahuguna in a meeting here on Thursday.
There was a ban on grazing of cattle, free distribution of LPG cylinders in rural areas to dissuade the people from using woods and forest resources for fuel and constitution of a commission to study the glaciers were some of those measures, he said.
A flight to snow:
By rekha menon
Aflight to Kolkata, then by rail to New Jalpaiguri, and from there by ‘share taxi’ to Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim — that’s where we met our first Sikkimese friend Priya, who treated us to momos, steamed with a stuffing of chicken, fish or vegetable, and served with spicy red chilly chutney.
Little did we realise then, that the rest of our eight-day stay in Sikkim would be stuffed with momos!
The journey to Gangtok was a long but fascinating one as the landscape gradually transformed as we moved uphill. The road with hairpin bends took us along a silent river — the Teesta — and around mountain peaks and thick forests. We later realised that we had followed the Teesta all through Sikkim — right up to its source in North Sikkim.
Buzzing with activity
Gangtok is the archetypical Indian hill station, a buzzing town with rows of tightly-packed shops, chaotic traffic and crowds. As in most other Indian cities, Gangtok’s M.G. Road is where it’s all happening — antique shops, sweetmeat shops, pubs, ATMs, restaurants… Vehicular traffic is barred on this three-km stretch, which means a leisurely stroll, interrupted only by window shopping and stops at various shops mostly selling not-so-inexpensive Chinese goods.
Rajan, our taxi driver, from Parali in Palakkad and settled in Gangtok with his Buddhist wife, took us to Yemcheng Monastery.
The awe-inspiring architecture was embellished with intricately-carved structures and the walls were painted in colourful patterns. I was mesmerised by the sight of hundreds of slightly-built monks sitting in a large hall and chanting.
Our next trip was to the famous Nathu La Pass on the Indo-China border. The rough terrain and the pot-holed muddy roads did not matter as my eyes soaked in the sight of the Himalayan ranges.
Winter wonderland
After a nerve-wracking drive of two hours, we finally reached Changu Lake at an altitude of 12,000 ft. Frozen eight months in a year, the sight of snow and water is truly picture-postcard like.
We continued our journey to Nathu La, my first-ever Indo-China border sojourn! We were just a kilometre away from the pass when we were told that the roads were closed due to excessive snowfall.
We next headed to explore North Sikkim. We were lucky to get Karma Bhutia, a seasoned tour guide and driver, who took us to the less-visited areas of Sikkim. During the six-hour journey by jeep, we saw the seven waterfalls — ‘seven sisters’ — cascading down the mountain ranges, the Teesta winding its way down, tiny villages, and rows of cute kids walking to school.
Our first halt in North Sikkim was Lacheng, where we spent the night. The next morning, after soaking in the sunrise, we travelled three gruelling hours to Gurdong Mar Lake, easily the top must-visit spot in Sikkim. This is along the Indo-China border. We could only see Army bunkers, Shaktiman trucks, and, through binoculars, Chinese army trucks at a distance. The temperature was minus two!
Gurdong Mar Lake lies frozen at 18,000 feet above sea level, the highest point in Sikkim. The Army personnel there served us hot chai, and advised us to head back since heavy snowfall was expected. We had travelled three hours for a 10-minute visit! Nevertheless, it was worth it.
Snow-clad
Back at Lacheng, while looking for a place to have dinner, we met Naomi, who manages a grocery shop-cum-bar-cum-home. While cooking for us, Naomi was fixing drinks for a few men. In Sikkim, every little shop doubles up as a bar. My North Sikkim journey continued to Katau, a place perpetually covered in snow.
However, there are several areas in Katau where civilians are not permitted to visit.
We went to Yungtham Valley, where we walked for miles along the Teesta and its hot springs. Several species of flowers, including the Rhododendron, bloomed all over — probably why this place earned the name ‘Valley of Flowers’
By rekha menon
Aflight to Kolkata, then by rail to New Jalpaiguri, and from there by ‘share taxi’ to Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim — that’s where we met our first Sikkimese friend Priya, who treated us to momos, steamed with a stuffing of chicken, fish or vegetable, and served with spicy red chilly chutney.
Little did we realise then, that the rest of our eight-day stay in Sikkim would be stuffed with momos!
The journey to Gangtok was a long but fascinating one as the landscape gradually transformed as we moved uphill. The road with hairpin bends took us along a silent river — the Teesta — and around mountain peaks and thick forests. We later realised that we had followed the Teesta all through Sikkim — right up to its source in North Sikkim.
Buzzing with activity
Gangtok is the archetypical Indian hill station, a buzzing town with rows of tightly-packed shops, chaotic traffic and crowds. As in most other Indian cities, Gangtok’s M.G. Road is where it’s all happening — antique shops, sweetmeat shops, pubs, ATMs, restaurants… Vehicular traffic is barred on this three-km stretch, which means a leisurely stroll, interrupted only by window shopping and stops at various shops mostly selling not-so-inexpensive Chinese goods.
Rajan, our taxi driver, from Parali in Palakkad and settled in Gangtok with his Buddhist wife, took us to Yemcheng Monastery.
The awe-inspiring architecture was embellished with intricately-carved structures and the walls were painted in colourful patterns. I was mesmerised by the sight of hundreds of slightly-built monks sitting in a large hall and chanting.
Our next trip was to the famous Nathu La Pass on the Indo-China border. The rough terrain and the pot-holed muddy roads did not matter as my eyes soaked in the sight of the Himalayan ranges.
Winter wonderland
After a nerve-wracking drive of two hours, we finally reached Changu Lake at an altitude of 12,000 ft. Frozen eight months in a year, the sight of snow and water is truly picture-postcard like.
We continued our journey to Nathu La, my first-ever Indo-China border sojourn! We were just a kilometre away from the pass when we were told that the roads were closed due to excessive snowfall.
We next headed to explore North Sikkim. We were lucky to get Karma Bhutia, a seasoned tour guide and driver, who took us to the less-visited areas of Sikkim. During the six-hour journey by jeep, we saw the seven waterfalls — ‘seven sisters’ — cascading down the mountain ranges, the Teesta winding its way down, tiny villages, and rows of cute kids walking to school.
Our first halt in North Sikkim was Lacheng, where we spent the night. The next morning, after soaking in the sunrise, we travelled three gruelling hours to Gurdong Mar Lake, easily the top must-visit spot in Sikkim. This is along the Indo-China border. We could only see Army bunkers, Shaktiman trucks, and, through binoculars, Chinese army trucks at a distance. The temperature was minus two!
Gurdong Mar Lake lies frozen at 18,000 feet above sea level, the highest point in Sikkim. The Army personnel there served us hot chai, and advised us to head back since heavy snowfall was expected. We had travelled three hours for a 10-minute visit! Nevertheless, it was worth it.
Snow-clad
Back at Lacheng, while looking for a place to have dinner, we met Naomi, who manages a grocery shop-cum-bar-cum-home. While cooking for us, Naomi was fixing drinks for a few men. In Sikkim, every little shop doubles up as a bar. My North Sikkim journey continued to Katau, a place perpetually covered in snow.
However, there are several areas in Katau where civilians are not permitted to visit.
We went to Yungtham Valley, where we walked for miles along the Teesta and its hot springs. Several species of flowers, including the Rhododendron, bloomed all over — probably why this place earned the name ‘Valley of Flowers’
Torrent Pharma to invest Rs 475 cr in Sikkim, Dahej
Ahmedabad November 15, 2009
Torrent Pharmaceuticals is looking at regulated drug markets, like the US, for selling products from its upcoming formulations facility in the Dahej special economic zone (SEZ), while its other formulations manufacturing facility in Sikkim is expected to come on stream by October 2010.
The Dahej SEZ is a 50:50 joint venture between the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) and ONGC. Already, 28 companies have finalised their plans for setting up manufacturing units in the area. “We will invest around Rs 350 crore in the Dahej SEZ and have started work on land development there. The acquisition process is complete. The facility will take around three to three-and-a-half years to become operational,” Chief Operating Officer Sanjay Dalal said.
Meanwhile, the company’s Sikkim project is on track and will start commercial production with an annual capacity of 3.50 billion tablets from the middle of the next financial year. The company has invested around Rs 125 crore in the six-acre facility. Torrent also has seven discovery projects in the pipeline. It has filed 336 patents for NCEs (new chemical entities) in all major markets worldwide, of which 144 patents have been granted so far.
Torrent’s manufacturing plant at Chhatral has a capacity to manufacture approximately 3 billion tablets, capsules and vials and 15,000 kg of Bulk Drugs/API (active pharmaceutical ingredients).
Ahmedabad November 15, 2009
Torrent Pharmaceuticals is looking at regulated drug markets, like the US, for selling products from its upcoming formulations facility in the Dahej special economic zone (SEZ), while its other formulations manufacturing facility in Sikkim is expected to come on stream by October 2010.
The Dahej SEZ is a 50:50 joint venture between the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) and ONGC. Already, 28 companies have finalised their plans for setting up manufacturing units in the area. “We will invest around Rs 350 crore in the Dahej SEZ and have started work on land development there. The acquisition process is complete. The facility will take around three to three-and-a-half years to become operational,” Chief Operating Officer Sanjay Dalal said.
Meanwhile, the company’s Sikkim project is on track and will start commercial production with an annual capacity of 3.50 billion tablets from the middle of the next financial year. The company has invested around Rs 125 crore in the six-acre facility. Torrent also has seven discovery projects in the pipeline. It has filed 336 patents for NCEs (new chemical entities) in all major markets worldwide, of which 144 patents have been granted so far.
Torrent’s manufacturing plant at Chhatral has a capacity to manufacture approximately 3 billion tablets, capsules and vials and 15,000 kg of Bulk Drugs/API (active pharmaceutical ingredients).
Sunday, November 15, 2009
SIKKIM: Hydropower will make Sikkim richest state – Union Minister
10.11.2009:Gangtok: Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has praised the Pawan Chamling government for going ahead with optimum utilisation of the hydropower resources of the state. The Himalayan state was on course to become the richest state in India upon commissioning of the ongoing hydel projects in a few years’ time, he said. The revenues from the hydropower projects will not only boost the coffers of the state exchequer, but also bring about an overall socio-economic development in Sikkim, he added.
Mr. Shinde came to Sikkim on Saturday on a three-day visit within four months of his taking charge of power ministry for second consecutive terms in the UPA government led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. On the day he chaired the 16th Power Finance Corporation Ltd (PFC) meeting held in Sikkim. Later in the evening he was talking to reporters.
Asked about the status of the six hydel projects which were put on hold by the ministry of environmengt four months ago, the Union Minister said, “I have taken up the matter at the higher level for grant of clearances to the six hydel projects.” He however maintained that the environmental issues must be taken due care of in conceiving hydropower projects. Even his ministry has made necessary changes in its hydropower policy in view of the environment-related concerns being raised by various quarters, he said.
He mentioned that a broad range of issues like the local area development, compensation to the project-affected people, jobs to the local people and setting up of training institutes for developing skills of local youths and their absorption in the power projects, etc, have been committed by the power developers engaged in the state.
Source: sikkim reporter
10.11.2009:Gangtok: Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has praised the Pawan Chamling government for going ahead with optimum utilisation of the hydropower resources of the state. The Himalayan state was on course to become the richest state in India upon commissioning of the ongoing hydel projects in a few years’ time, he said. The revenues from the hydropower projects will not only boost the coffers of the state exchequer, but also bring about an overall socio-economic development in Sikkim, he added.
Mr. Shinde came to Sikkim on Saturday on a three-day visit within four months of his taking charge of power ministry for second consecutive terms in the UPA government led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. On the day he chaired the 16th Power Finance Corporation Ltd (PFC) meeting held in Sikkim. Later in the evening he was talking to reporters.
Asked about the status of the six hydel projects which were put on hold by the ministry of environmengt four months ago, the Union Minister said, “I have taken up the matter at the higher level for grant of clearances to the six hydel projects.” He however maintained that the environmental issues must be taken due care of in conceiving hydropower projects. Even his ministry has made necessary changes in its hydropower policy in view of the environment-related concerns being raised by various quarters, he said.
He mentioned that a broad range of issues like the local area development, compensation to the project-affected people, jobs to the local people and setting up of training institutes for developing skills of local youths and their absorption in the power projects, etc, have been committed by the power developers engaged in the state.
Source: sikkim reporter
SIKKIM: Sikkim raises workers’ daily wages
FROM THE ECONOMIC TIMES
GANGTOK 12.11.2009: The Sikkim government labour department has proposed to increase the minimum daily wage of workers to Rs 130 from the present Rs 100. It has defined four categories of workers under the Minimum Wage Act 1948 as unskilled, semi-skilled, skilled & highly skilled.
According to the proposal, unskilled workers will get Rs 130 instead of Rs 100, semi-skilled Rs 145 instead of Rs 115. Similarly, skilled workers’ enhancement is Rs 35, taking their daily wage to Rs 165. For highly skilled workers, the new wage will be be Rs 190 per day as against the earlier Rs 150.
Sikkim has among the highest daily wage rates for labourers in the country and with the enhancement Sikkim would be leading the way in this regard.
FROM THE ECONOMIC TIMES
GANGTOK 12.11.2009: The Sikkim government labour department has proposed to increase the minimum daily wage of workers to Rs 130 from the present Rs 100. It has defined four categories of workers under the Minimum Wage Act 1948 as unskilled, semi-skilled, skilled & highly skilled.
According to the proposal, unskilled workers will get Rs 130 instead of Rs 100, semi-skilled Rs 145 instead of Rs 115. Similarly, skilled workers’ enhancement is Rs 35, taking their daily wage to Rs 165. For highly skilled workers, the new wage will be be Rs 190 per day as against the earlier Rs 150.
Sikkim has among the highest daily wage rates for labourers in the country and with the enhancement Sikkim would be leading the way in this regard.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)