Baba Ramdev being felicitated with a Saropa Sword by Sikh leaders during his hunger strike against corruption at Ramlila Grounds, in New Delhi on Saturday. Photo: Sandeep Saxena
Saturday, June 4, 2011
NEW DELHI: Ircon International, a state firm under the Railways Ministry , is targeting turnover of Rs 5,000 crore in the current fiscal and vying for projects under the freight corridor and border areas connectivity, a company official said.
Ircon is constructing the country's longest rail tunnel in Kashmir. It is eying more such projects entailing construction of tunnels to provide connectivity in the border areas.
" We are targeting 70% of our revenues from railway projects over the next few years," said Hitesh Khanna, director (works), Ircon.
The company's order book as on March 31, 2011 stood at Rs 15,000 crore, while it had achieved a turnover of Rs 3,237 crore. The company has cash reserves of about Rs 1,200 crore.
Some of the important projects being executed by the company in India include construction of a 45 km railway line from Sivok, near Siliguri, to Rangpo in Sikkim. Built at a cost of Rs 3,500 crore, the line would be the first railway line in the state of Sikkim. Besides this, a 4.5km rail cum road bridge on the Ganga river is being constructed at a cost of Rs 1,200 crore which would be completed by 2014.
Ircon is constructing the country's longest rail tunnel in Kashmir. It is eying more such projects entailing construction of tunnels to provide connectivity in the border areas.
" We are targeting 70% of our revenues from railway projects over the next few years," said Hitesh Khanna, director (works), Ircon.
The company's order book as on March 31, 2011 stood at Rs 15,000 crore, while it had achieved a turnover of Rs 3,237 crore. The company has cash reserves of about Rs 1,200 crore.
Some of the important projects being executed by the company in India include construction of a 45 km railway line from Sivok, near Siliguri, to Rangpo in Sikkim. Built at a cost of Rs 3,500 crore, the line would be the first railway line in the state of Sikkim. Besides this, a 4.5km rail cum road bridge on the Ganga river is being constructed at a cost of Rs 1,200 crore which would be completed by 2014.
Friday, June 3, 2011
No compromise yet, Ramdev to ‘sit on fast’
Baba Ramdev emerges from a meeting with Union Ministers in New Delhi on Friday. Photo: Rajeev Bhatt
After a five-hour marathon meeting, the government and Baba Ramdev on Friday failed to reach a compromise on the demands raised by the yoga guru, who said he will launch his indefinite fast on Saturday as planned.
Emerging from the meeting at a hotel in New Delhi, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said the two sides had constructive dialogue on several matters and they are very happy with the progress but these issues cannot be resolved in a day.
“We have not reached a compromise yet and I will sit on fast (from tomorrow),” Baba Ramdev said after his meeting with Mr. Sibal and Subodh Kant Sahay.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also briefed President Pratibha Patil on the deliberations.
Mr. Sibal said the government has responded positively to the Baba Ramdev’s suggestions and hoped that the yoga guru will do “what is right“.
However, he refused to confirm or deny whether the yoga guru will go on his fast on issues of corruption and black money.
“We had constructive dialogue on several issues and the government has addressed all the issues Baba has raised in writing. Most of these issues are of national concern and the government is already seized of many of them,” Mr. Sibal said.
Before the crucial talks with Baba Ramdev, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Home Minister P. Chidambaram and some of their colleagues went into a huddle to prepare a draft for the meeting.
Making all-out efforts to placate the yoga guru, the government made senior Ministers stay put in the capital.
While Mr. Mukherjee scrapped his plan to visit Kolkata, Law Minister Veerappa Moily ended up cancelling his scheduled trip to Mangalore apparently for the same reason.
The meeting between Mr. Sibal, Mr. Sahay and Mr. Ramdev came after Baba Ramdev’s address to his supporters where he indicated a softening of his stance.
”...Barring one or two issues, a consensus seems to be emerging between us and the government,” said the yoga guru, who had held his first round of talks with senior Ministers, including Mr. Mukherjee, who had met him at the airport after his arrival in New Delhi on June 1.
Hectic back-channel efforts were on for the last two days to placate Baba Ramdev, who has raised the issues of black money and corruption, as the government is keen to avert an Anna Hazare-like protest on the streets.
Addressing a gathering of more than 5,000 people, Baba Ramdev said his movement is being undertaken in “national interest” and is not sponsored by any political party.
“Our agitation is not against any political party or individual. We are neutral, not being sponsored by any party or organisation and people from all castes and religion are joining us. We appeal to all parties to join us. We are erecting a special stage where representatives from all parties can come to put forth their point of view,” he said.
Flanked by leaders of various religions, he also tried to deflect criticism that he is crossing the tenets of yoga by taking up issue of corruption. “I am not crossing the limits of Yoga. Not lying and stealing is also part of yoga and I am trying to bring those who have crossed that limit back within the limit.”
In an apparent reference to suggestions that his movement is aimed at undermining Mr. Hazare’s agitation on the same issue, Baba Ramdev said, “We do not want to show anyone as inferior or defeat anybody.”
Baba Ramdev claimed his movement was aimed at bringing back the Rs. 400 lakh crore black money stashed overseas and change the corrupt system. “Not all politicians, businessmen and officers are corrupt but those who are corrupt among them have created a black empire by looting people’s money. Some people have hijacked democracy and turned it into a corrupt system.”
The fight against corruption will not be easy as those who benefit from graft are powerful, he said, adding “I am ready to fast for not only three days but for 30 days as we are doing it for the starving people in the country,” he said.
He demanded a public service delivery act under which government officials have to respond to any issue brought by common man within a time-frame, failing which they will be fined and suspension will be given to repeat offenders.
Apparently targeting his critics, Baba Ramdev said, “Those on Constitutional posts must have failed to some extent so that we are being forced to take up these issues.”
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Down and out in Nathula
Trade between India and China through Nathula, the 14,140-foot-high Himalayan border near Sikkim, has made no significant headway five years after it opened up for commerce between the two countries, says Debaashish Bhattacharya
Deadlock: The snow covered trade mart at Sherathang, about 5km from Nathula. Picture by Prabin Khaling
It’s quite a distance for a Sikkimese to travel for yak’s hair and tail. But then, Tibetans have to come all the way to this remote market for their jaggery and tea. If they are lucky, they can buy some snuff, and perhaps a tin of tobacco. And buyers on the Indian side can look forward to goat or sheep skin.
It wasn’t meant to have been like this. When India and China resumed trade on July 6, 2006, through Nathula, the 14,140-foot-high Himalayan border that had stayed shut since the 1962 war between the neighbours, it was a dream come true for many. Sikkim, after all, has had a long history of trading with its neighbour Tibet, Nathula being part of the old Silk Route.
Five years down the line, traders in Sikkim rue that the vision was a mere pipe-dream. “Who’s going to go all the way there to buy yak tail or yak hair or for that matter goat or horse imported from Tibet,” asks trader Gompo Tshering Bhutia.
The border trade — which takes place four days every week between May 1 and November 30 at Sherathang in Sikkim, 5km from Nathula, and Renquingang in Tibet — got off on the wrong foot this year. Because of bad weather, the opening was delayed by one day and then trade was suspended for two days after landslides blocked the road to Sherathang.
On May 4, when some traders tried crossing into Tibet, they were stopped by Chinese customs officials, says Bhutia, who is also the Indo-China Border Trade (Sikkim) Association general secretary. This led to a week-long boycott of trade by the Sikkimese, starting May 5. East Sikkim district collector D. Anandan, who issues some 300 “trade passes” every year to enable Indian traders to visit the trade mart on the Chinese side of the border without a passport or visa, says the issue has now been resolved, and trade has resumed.
But what’s clear is that traders are unhappy. Bhutia points out that a yak tail bought for Rs 2,500 in Tibet sells for barely Rs 3,500 in Sikkim. “It is simply not worth it.”
Under a 2003 agreement between India and China, only people from Sikkim and Tibet can participate in this border trade. Indians can sell 29 specified items, which include tea, coffee, dry fruit, snuff, jaggery, spices and tobacco. And they can buy 15 items, including yak hair and tail, used for religious rituals, goat and sheep skin, goats, sheep and horse and wool.
The list, the Sikkimese traders say, would have made sense half a century ago, but has few takers now. “There is a great demand for Indian biscuits, cooking fats and incense sticks in Tibet. But these don’t figure on the list,” rues another trader. “The list of items may not be very realistic in today’s context,” admits Sikkim chief secretary N.D. Chingapa.
No wonder Motilal Lakhotia has stopped trading on the border, even though he’d waited for almost 44 years for it.
Lakhotia, who travelled on horseback regularly from 1954 to 1962 with mules carrying merchandise into Tibet, was initially full of hope. “I went all the way to Tibet from Gangtok on the opening day itself,” Lakhotia, 85, says. But he and his sons have stayed away from the border trade in the last five years, for it makes no economic sense to them.
The list needs to be revised to galvanise traders — but this is something Sikkim says it is powerless to do. “It is for India and China to make or revise the list. We cannot interfere with it,” Sikkim commerce and industries secretary M.G. Kiran says.
Union commerce minister Anand Sharma did not respond to requests for an interview. But commerce ministry sources say a request for a revision, received from the Sikkim government, has been forwarded to the ministry of external affairs, which will have to take it up with Chinese authorities.
Economic projections for Nathula trade — and the resultant expectations that it would alter not just the economic landscape of Sikkim but of the entire eastern region — painted a rosy picture.
A Sikkim government study, prepared by economists and trade experts led by Mahendra P. Lama of the Jawaharlal Nehru University in 2005, predicted goods worth Rs 206 crore flowing through Nathula by 2007, rising steadily to Rs 2,266 crore by 2010.
Even in a worst-case scenario, the study said Nathula would witness a trade volume of not less than Rs 353 crore by 2010.
According to the Sikkim commerce and industries department, goods worth only Rs 6.54 crore — both exports and imports — have flown through Nathula over the last five years.
Lama, now vice- chancellor of Sikkim University, says the projections were based on the assumption that it would be an open international trade and not a restricted border trade. For increased trade, he says there is need for basic infrastructures like roads and electricity and facilities like banking, transport and communications. “But unfortunately, that hasn’t happened,” the economist says.
The 54-km road to Nathula from state capital Gangtok is pot-holed and treacherous, with regular landslides blocking traffic. Though the Border Road Organisation is widening the road, the ensuing digging and blasting are triggering more landslides.
“The road condition on the Indian side is terrible and there is nowhere to eat or rest. We are doing this trade only because we want to see Tibet,” says merchant Sonam Bhutia, lauding the two-lane, all-weather road on the Tibet side.
What’s worse, Sikkim Chamber of Commerce president S.K. Sarda says, is that people have to go to the trading marts on either side in person for the trade. “In any international trade, you usually sit in your office, place orders and ask your bankers to pay through letter of credits. But here, you have to do everything in person, so naturally few established traders are inclined to engage in border trade,” he says.
Curiously, officers in the State Bank of India, which has a satellite office near Nathula, say hardly any traders exchange money even though all payments are to be made in US dollars.
“We stayed there for four days last year, but no traders came to us. We are short-staffed, so we locked the office and came away,” says Sonam T. Bhutia, deputy manager of SBI’s Gangtok branch, which runs the satellite office.
A Nathula trader says traders from both sides use the currencies of their respective countries for business, a practice officials call illegal.
That’s not the only illegal activity. Chinese flasks, blankets, carpets and beers — none of which figures on the list of importable items — are finding their way into Gangtok and adjoining towns, allegedly via Nathula, which is denied officially but acknowledged privately.
Intriguingly, the official import figure via Nathula for 2010 stood at “nil” while the export figure stood at a little over Rs 4 crore. “Then, the question one may ask is, what did the Chinese traders who came in droves in 2010 sell? Obviously, they sold items that were unlisted, so the official import figure for listed items stayed nil,” says Pema Wangchuk, editor of Sikkim Now, a local paper.
Sikkim’s lone Lok Sabha MP Prem Das Rai, a former entrepreneur, says the Centre has to demonstrate that it is serious about the trade. “If it is, it should build infrastructure and create a land port in Nathula and start doing trade systematically and substantively, if necessary in phases,” Rai says.
If not, octogenarian Motilal Lakhotia has a simple solution. “Seal the border and close the trade. Let me go with my memories of free and open trade.”
Trade between India and China through Nathula, the 14,140-foot-high Himalayan border near Sikkim, has made no significant headway five years after it opened up for commerce between the two countries, says Debaashish Bhattacharya
Deadlock: The snow covered trade mart at Sherathang, about 5km from Nathula. Picture by Prabin Khaling
It’s quite a distance for a Sikkimese to travel for yak’s hair and tail. But then, Tibetans have to come all the way to this remote market for their jaggery and tea. If they are lucky, they can buy some snuff, and perhaps a tin of tobacco. And buyers on the Indian side can look forward to goat or sheep skin.
It wasn’t meant to have been like this. When India and China resumed trade on July 6, 2006, through Nathula, the 14,140-foot-high Himalayan border that had stayed shut since the 1962 war between the neighbours, it was a dream come true for many. Sikkim, after all, has had a long history of trading with its neighbour Tibet, Nathula being part of the old Silk Route.
Five years down the line, traders in Sikkim rue that the vision was a mere pipe-dream. “Who’s going to go all the way there to buy yak tail or yak hair or for that matter goat or horse imported from Tibet,” asks trader Gompo Tshering Bhutia.
The border trade — which takes place four days every week between May 1 and November 30 at Sherathang in Sikkim, 5km from Nathula, and Renquingang in Tibet — got off on the wrong foot this year. Because of bad weather, the opening was delayed by one day and then trade was suspended for two days after landslides blocked the road to Sherathang.
On May 4, when some traders tried crossing into Tibet, they were stopped by Chinese customs officials, says Bhutia, who is also the Indo-China Border Trade (Sikkim) Association general secretary. This led to a week-long boycott of trade by the Sikkimese, starting May 5. East Sikkim district collector D. Anandan, who issues some 300 “trade passes” every year to enable Indian traders to visit the trade mart on the Chinese side of the border without a passport or visa, says the issue has now been resolved, and trade has resumed.
But what’s clear is that traders are unhappy. Bhutia points out that a yak tail bought for Rs 2,500 in Tibet sells for barely Rs 3,500 in Sikkim. “It is simply not worth it.”
Under a 2003 agreement between India and China, only people from Sikkim and Tibet can participate in this border trade. Indians can sell 29 specified items, which include tea, coffee, dry fruit, snuff, jaggery, spices and tobacco. And they can buy 15 items, including yak hair and tail, used for religious rituals, goat and sheep skin, goats, sheep and horse and wool.
The list, the Sikkimese traders say, would have made sense half a century ago, but has few takers now. “There is a great demand for Indian biscuits, cooking fats and incense sticks in Tibet. But these don’t figure on the list,” rues another trader. “The list of items may not be very realistic in today’s context,” admits Sikkim chief secretary N.D. Chingapa.
No wonder Motilal Lakhotia has stopped trading on the border, even though he’d waited for almost 44 years for it.
Lakhotia, who travelled on horseback regularly from 1954 to 1962 with mules carrying merchandise into Tibet, was initially full of hope. “I went all the way to Tibet from Gangtok on the opening day itself,” Lakhotia, 85, says. But he and his sons have stayed away from the border trade in the last five years, for it makes no economic sense to them.
The list needs to be revised to galvanise traders — but this is something Sikkim says it is powerless to do. “It is for India and China to make or revise the list. We cannot interfere with it,” Sikkim commerce and industries secretary M.G. Kiran says.
Union commerce minister Anand Sharma did not respond to requests for an interview. But commerce ministry sources say a request for a revision, received from the Sikkim government, has been forwarded to the ministry of external affairs, which will have to take it up with Chinese authorities.
Economic projections for Nathula trade — and the resultant expectations that it would alter not just the economic landscape of Sikkim but of the entire eastern region — painted a rosy picture.
A Sikkim government study, prepared by economists and trade experts led by Mahendra P. Lama of the Jawaharlal Nehru University in 2005, predicted goods worth Rs 206 crore flowing through Nathula by 2007, rising steadily to Rs 2,266 crore by 2010.
Even in a worst-case scenario, the study said Nathula would witness a trade volume of not less than Rs 353 crore by 2010.
According to the Sikkim commerce and industries department, goods worth only Rs 6.54 crore — both exports and imports — have flown through Nathula over the last five years.
Lama, now vice- chancellor of Sikkim University, says the projections were based on the assumption that it would be an open international trade and not a restricted border trade. For increased trade, he says there is need for basic infrastructures like roads and electricity and facilities like banking, transport and communications. “But unfortunately, that hasn’t happened,” the economist says.
The 54-km road to Nathula from state capital Gangtok is pot-holed and treacherous, with regular landslides blocking traffic. Though the Border Road Organisation is widening the road, the ensuing digging and blasting are triggering more landslides.
“The road condition on the Indian side is terrible and there is nowhere to eat or rest. We are doing this trade only because we want to see Tibet,” says merchant Sonam Bhutia, lauding the two-lane, all-weather road on the Tibet side.
What’s worse, Sikkim Chamber of Commerce president S.K. Sarda says, is that people have to go to the trading marts on either side in person for the trade. “In any international trade, you usually sit in your office, place orders and ask your bankers to pay through letter of credits. But here, you have to do everything in person, so naturally few established traders are inclined to engage in border trade,” he says.
Curiously, officers in the State Bank of India, which has a satellite office near Nathula, say hardly any traders exchange money even though all payments are to be made in US dollars.
“We stayed there for four days last year, but no traders came to us. We are short-staffed, so we locked the office and came away,” says Sonam T. Bhutia, deputy manager of SBI’s Gangtok branch, which runs the satellite office.
A Nathula trader says traders from both sides use the currencies of their respective countries for business, a practice officials call illegal.
That’s not the only illegal activity. Chinese flasks, blankets, carpets and beers — none of which figures on the list of importable items — are finding their way into Gangtok and adjoining towns, allegedly via Nathula, which is denied officially but acknowledged privately.
Intriguingly, the official import figure via Nathula for 2010 stood at “nil” while the export figure stood at a little over Rs 4 crore. “Then, the question one may ask is, what did the Chinese traders who came in droves in 2010 sell? Obviously, they sold items that were unlisted, so the official import figure for listed items stayed nil,” says Pema Wangchuk, editor of Sikkim Now, a local paper.
Sikkim’s lone Lok Sabha MP Prem Das Rai, a former entrepreneur, says the Centre has to demonstrate that it is serious about the trade. “If it is, it should build infrastructure and create a land port in Nathula and start doing trade systematically and substantively, if necessary in phases,” Rai says.
If not, octogenarian Motilal Lakhotia has a simple solution. “Seal the border and close the trade. Let me go with my memories of free and open trade.”
India's per capita income increases by 17.9%
Jun 1, 8:53 AM
Per capita income of Indians grew by 17.9 per cent to 54,835 rupees in 2010-11 from 46,492 in the year-ago period, according to the revised data released by the government. The new per capita income figure estimates on current market prices is over 8,000 rupees more than the previous estimate of 46,492 rupees calculated by the Central Statistical Organisation. Per capita income means earnings of each Indian if the national income is evenly divided among the country's population.
Jun 1, 8:53 AM
Per capita income of Indians grew by 17.9 per cent to 54,835 rupees in 2010-11 from 46,492 in the year-ago period, according to the revised data released by the government. The new per capita income figure estimates on current market prices is over 8,000 rupees more than the previous estimate of 46,492 rupees calculated by the Central Statistical Organisation. Per capita income means earnings of each Indian if the national income is evenly divided among the country's population.
How competitive is Sikkim?
source:
In Business World’s State Competitiveness Survey Sikkim ranks 21. With the overall score of 43.06, Sikkim is third most competitive state among the northeaster states. The two northeastern states more competitive than Sikkim are Meghalaya (45.40) and Assam (46.41). The top rank goes to the state of Maharashtra at 58.38.
The per capita GDP of Sikkim at Rs. 34821 is better than all other northeastern states. The nearest northeastern state in this regard is Mizoram (Rs 29165). But the demand conditions in Sikkim is worst in the country and so is its competitiveness in terms of strategic context.
What gives Sikkim a relative edge, at least among northeastern states, are the supporting conditions. Sikkim ranks 10th in this particular regard. Only Manipur among the NE states fares better than Sikkim in supporting conditions. Manipur ranks 6th in supporting conditions. Sikkim has the lowest population among all Indian states. The Himalayan Kingdom is the fourth best state in factor conditions.
State Competitiveness Index
State Competitiveness Index
But what after all is competitiveness? Honorary Chairman of the Institute for Competitiveness, Amit Kapoor wrote in an article in Business World, “Competitiveness is the productivity (value per unit of input) with which a nation or a region utilises its various resources.” Again productivity depends on the value of products and services as well as the efficiency with which they are produced.
The underlying principle is that each state has to look at growth by understanding its present state of economic development. Factor-driven economies focus on low-cost basic factor conditions (low-skilled labour, natural resources, geographic location); investment-driven economies would produce standard products and services of high quality using efficient methods but at lower wages than advanced economies; and innovation-driven economies would focus on innovative products and services at the global technology frontier.
Gujarat’s high-growth model continues to set an example for other states to follow. With 5 per cent of India’s population and 6 per cent of geographical area, Gujarat accounts for 17 per cent of the country’s fixed capital investment; 22 per cent of exports, 42 per cent of pharmaceuticals; 62 per cent of petrochemicals; 65 per cent of plastic industry; and 80 per cent of diamond processing.
Rajasthan, which topped the rankings among low-income states, has emerged winner on the basis of the highest income and consumption capability. It has also scored the highest in communication infrastructure and human capacity.
An interesting conclusion has been that on human capacity, Assam, Nagaland and Manipur top the list of low-income states with high human capacity.
Way ahead for Sikkim
High GDP per capita is a good thing for Sikkim. GDP is the best measure to assess the standards of living. The measure for competitiveness is supported by four pillars or dimensions that assess the competitive potential of a state: factor conditions, demand conditions, supporting conditions and strategic context. These factors in turn are quantified on the basis of sub-indices, which are based on basic sets of indicators. Each of the sub indices is dependent on basic factors such as literacy rates and density of population; something in which Sikkim already has some advantage.If the state can innovate, it will soon be able to address the sub indices that improve competitiveness.
(With inputs from Business World)
Monday, May 30, 2011
Government Commissions Fresh Study Through Top National Level Institutions for Estimation of Unaccounted Income/Wealth both Inside and Outside the Country.
Ministry of Finance, Government of India has commissioned an in-depth and fresh study, engaging three top national level institutions for estimation of unaccounted income and wealth held within and outside India. This study will bring out the nature of activities that encourage money laundering and its ramifications on national security. The study has already commenced in March, 2011 and is expected to be completed within a period of 18 months.
The study is being undertaken by the following national institutes:-
a) National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP);
b) National Institute of Financial Management (NIFM) ; and
c) National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER).
The terms of reference of the study are as follows:-
(i) To assess/survey unaccounted income and wealth both inside and outside the country.
(ii) To profile the nature of activities engendering money laundering both inside and outside the country with its ramifications on national security.
(iii) To identify important sectors of economy in which unaccounted money is generated and examine causes and conditions that result in generation of unaccounted money.
(iv) To examine the methods employed in generation of unaccounted money and conversion of the same into accounted money.
(v) To suggest ways and means for detection and prevention of unaccounted money and bringing the same into the mainstream of economy.
(vi) To suggest methods to be employed for bringing to tax unaccounted money kept outside India. (vii) To estimate the quantum of non-payment of tax due to evasion by registered corporate bodies.
The issue of black money has attracted a lot of public and media attention in the recent past. So far there are no reliable estimates of black money generated and held within and outside the country. The different estimates on quantum of black money range between USD 500 billion to USD 1,400 billion. A recent study by Global Financial Integrity has estimated the illicit money outflow to be USD 462 billion. These estimates are based on various unverifiable assumptions and approximations. Government has been seized of the matter and has, therefore, commissioned these institutions to get an estimation and sense of the quantum of illicit fund generated and held within and outside the country.
*******
DSM/SS
(Release ID :72383)
Ministry of Finance, Government of India has commissioned an in-depth and fresh study, engaging three top national level institutions for estimation of unaccounted income and wealth held within and outside India. This study will bring out the nature of activities that encourage money laundering and its ramifications on national security. The study has already commenced in March, 2011 and is expected to be completed within a period of 18 months.
The study is being undertaken by the following national institutes:-
a) National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP);
b) National Institute of Financial Management (NIFM) ; and
c) National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER).
The terms of reference of the study are as follows:-
(i) To assess/survey unaccounted income and wealth both inside and outside the country.
(ii) To profile the nature of activities engendering money laundering both inside and outside the country with its ramifications on national security.
(iii) To identify important sectors of economy in which unaccounted money is generated and examine causes and conditions that result in generation of unaccounted money.
(iv) To examine the methods employed in generation of unaccounted money and conversion of the same into accounted money.
(v) To suggest ways and means for detection and prevention of unaccounted money and bringing the same into the mainstream of economy.
(vi) To suggest methods to be employed for bringing to tax unaccounted money kept outside India. (vii) To estimate the quantum of non-payment of tax due to evasion by registered corporate bodies.
The issue of black money has attracted a lot of public and media attention in the recent past. So far there are no reliable estimates of black money generated and held within and outside the country. The different estimates on quantum of black money range between USD 500 billion to USD 1,400 billion. A recent study by Global Financial Integrity has estimated the illicit money outflow to be USD 462 billion. These estimates are based on various unverifiable assumptions and approximations. Government has been seized of the matter and has, therefore, commissioned these institutions to get an estimation and sense of the quantum of illicit fund generated and held within and outside the country.
*******
DSM/SS
(Release ID :72383)
South West Monsoon reaches Kerala two days ahead
May 29, 8:48 PM
South west Monsoon has touched Kerala coast today bringing wide spread rain in the state. Thiruvananthapuram met department has confirmed that monsoon has set in two days before the earlier forecast. Conditions are favourable for advancement of monsoon in remaining parts of Arabian Sea and some parts of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in next two to three days.
AIR Correspondent reports that the good news to farmers and planners of the sub continent has reached the Kerala coast two days in advance. Isolated to heavy to very heavy monsoon rainfall will occur in Kerala and Lakshadweep in next 48 hours. Strong wind up to 55 KM/hr is likely along Kerala coast in next 24 hours. Like last year, good rain fall has been forecast during the four month long monsoon season in the country.
May 29, 8:48 PM
South west Monsoon has touched Kerala coast today bringing wide spread rain in the state. Thiruvananthapuram met department has confirmed that monsoon has set in two days before the earlier forecast. Conditions are favourable for advancement of monsoon in remaining parts of Arabian Sea and some parts of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in next two to three days.
AIR Correspondent reports that the good news to farmers and planners of the sub continent has reached the Kerala coast two days in advance. Isolated to heavy to very heavy monsoon rainfall will occur in Kerala and Lakshadweep in next 48 hours. Strong wind up to 55 KM/hr is likely along Kerala coast in next 24 hours. Like last year, good rain fall has been forecast during the four month long monsoon season in the country.
Sikkim spent more than Rs 7,000 per hectare but Rajasthan spent less than Rs 330 per hectare on average between 2001-10
May 28, 2011,
Agriculture has to feed 1.2 billion Indians. But while the economy grew 7.4% in 2009-10, agriculture grew by just 0.2%. The production of foodgrains grew 1.96% per annum from 2001-10 while the area to produce food-grains has just increased by 0.3%. Meanwhile the population has increased over 17% over the period 2001-11. How can we increase farm productivity?
Public spending which varies across states, has to increase. States like Delhi and Sikkim spent more than Rs 7,000 per hectare but Rajasthan spent less than Rs 330 per hectare on average between 2001-10. Many farmers in India don't have access to enough capital to buy seeds & fertilisers. Land holdings are also small, restricting production. Without more public spending yields can't go up.
More foodgrains have to be produced for every hectare to feed our people. Gujarat and Chhattisgarh have improved their productivity by more than 90% and 70% respectively but are still behind Punjab and Haryana. In Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, productivity fell in 2009-10 compared to 2001. Higher productivity can also help farmers gain from higher food prices. In UP, Rajasthan, Orissa, and Himachal Pradesh more than half of the workforce is engaged in agriculture but at very low labour productivity, defined as agricultural GDP divided by total agricultural workforce. This shows how much states can leverage their agricultural workforce for development.
source ET
May 28, 2011,
Agriculture has to feed 1.2 billion Indians. But while the economy grew 7.4% in 2009-10, agriculture grew by just 0.2%. The production of foodgrains grew 1.96% per annum from 2001-10 while the area to produce food-grains has just increased by 0.3%. Meanwhile the population has increased over 17% over the period 2001-11. How can we increase farm productivity?
Public spending which varies across states, has to increase. States like Delhi and Sikkim spent more than Rs 7,000 per hectare but Rajasthan spent less than Rs 330 per hectare on average between 2001-10. Many farmers in India don't have access to enough capital to buy seeds & fertilisers. Land holdings are also small, restricting production. Without more public spending yields can't go up.
More foodgrains have to be produced for every hectare to feed our people. Gujarat and Chhattisgarh have improved their productivity by more than 90% and 70% respectively but are still behind Punjab and Haryana. In Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, productivity fell in 2009-10 compared to 2001. Higher productivity can also help farmers gain from higher food prices. In UP, Rajasthan, Orissa, and Himachal Pradesh more than half of the workforce is engaged in agriculture but at very low labour productivity, defined as agricultural GDP divided by total agricultural workforce. This shows how much states can leverage their agricultural workforce for development.
source ET
Railway Board team to inspect Sikkim rail link
GANGTOK, May 27 – The long-awaited survey for rail link to Sikkim is in advanced stages of completion. Last year, a preliminary survey was carried out to connect Sikkim with New Jalpaiguri station in North Bengal.
The company conducting the survey in its first report had mentioned that the stretch will be of 52 kms. However, in the final survey the route was decreased to 44.3 km which included 32km under tunnels.
The Ministry of Railways after going through the report sanctioned Rs 3,380 crores for the rail project for Sikkim.
Considering the rail connectivity in Sikkim, the Chairman of Railway Board Vivek Sahai along with seniou Railway officials will be visiting the State today to carry out the inspection along with a meeting with the State Chief Secretary and the nodal department.
source:Assam Tribune
GANGTOK, May 27 – The long-awaited survey for rail link to Sikkim is in advanced stages of completion. Last year, a preliminary survey was carried out to connect Sikkim with New Jalpaiguri station in North Bengal.
The company conducting the survey in its first report had mentioned that the stretch will be of 52 kms. However, in the final survey the route was decreased to 44.3 km which included 32km under tunnels.
The Ministry of Railways after going through the report sanctioned Rs 3,380 crores for the rail project for Sikkim.
Considering the rail connectivity in Sikkim, the Chairman of Railway Board Vivek Sahai along with seniou Railway officials will be visiting the State today to carry out the inspection along with a meeting with the State Chief Secretary and the nodal department.
source:Assam Tribune
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