Think India Foundation

Resources, implementation bugbears for environment management

Issues concerning the quality of air, water, soil, trees and other environmental and ecological attributes are at the top of the agenda in almost all discussions of our transforming society. However, the economic linkages that these issues deserve are not coming together owing both to India's economic position and individual commitment. As a result, we see a huge environmental and economic imbalance resulting in a slow pace of environmental improvements in the country.

If only intent and the content of policy are taken into account, India's environment should have been on a par with the rest of the developed world as legislations are comparable. Water, air and other waste are expected to be managed effectively and there are obligations to protect the ecology and the environment. However, implementation is far from satisfactory. Read more

Source : articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com

SECC awareness programme held at Longleng

Dimapur (MExN): An awareness programme on Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011 was held on February 10 at PPC hall Longleng. The Deputy Commissioner, Longleng K. Libanthung Lotha chaired the programme. The main resources person included Petevilie Khatsu, Assistant Director, Directorate of Urban Development, Nagaland and Dr. Juthshutho Phoji, Sr. Lecturer, State Institute of Rural Development (SIRD) Nagaland.

A press release issued by the DC Longleng said that a detailed and through explanation on SECC was made during the programme. Various functions and queries were raised during the program and those were being clearly clarified by the resource persons. A good number of village council chairman, Enumerators, Supervisors, Charge officers, master trainers attended the program beside the officials of Phom Student Conference led by its president Chaupong Phom and PPC officials. Chongphe Phom Finance Secretary, ENSF and Chuyalo Kath Census Nodal officer Longleng in-charge also attended the programme. Read more

Source : morungexpress.com

Expect Indian economy to pick up next year: India Inc

Disappointing! That is the word that you will hear from experts, economists, when you ask them about December index of industrial production (IIP). India's industrial production growth has slowed down sharply in December to 1.8% versus 5.9% in November, slowest pace in two months.

However, corporate India is hopeful that the industrial output will pick up ahead. According to them, global problems were weighing on the Indian economy. Since the global economy is improving now, they feel it will have spill over effect on India as well. Read more

Source : moneycontrol.com

Who's who to attend summit on changing Bihar

PATNA: Top honchos of various fields are expected to attend the three-day Global Summit on Changing Bihar, scheduled to open here on February 17.

To be inaugurated by Nepal PM Baburam Bhattarai, the summit will be spread over various sessions and workshops on themes like agriculture, health, industries, urban development, infrastructure, finance, tourism, education and socio-cultural renaissance. It is being organized by Bihar Foundation, Institute for Human Development (IHD) and Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI). Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Educating India’s 'Demographic Dividend': The Role of the Private Sector

The growth prospects of the Indian economy depend to a large extent on how the country tackles certain issues of intellectual capital today. The concern largely centers on the much-debated demographic dividend, or the rising proportion of working-age people in India. The recent One Globe 2012 "knowledge conference" in New Delhi emphasized the role that industry needs to play.

Some 54% of India’s 1.2 billion people are under the age of 25. The TeamLease Indian Labor Report 2009 estimates that 300 million will enter the labor force by 2025, and by then, 25% of the world’s workers will be Indians. The National Skills Development Corporation (NSDC) is already grappling with the challenge of providing training and retraining to 500 million people by 2022. The non-negotiables to meet the challenge include fundamental education reform across primary, secondary and higher education, and significant enhancement of supplementary skills development. Read more

Source : knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu

Karnataka CM predicts increase in tax

BANGALORE: Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda told the Assembly on Tuesday that the collection of commercial tax could increase by `500 crore at the end of the current fiscal. He said that the increase in tax collection would be due to the introduction of e-sugam. “Under this scheme, people can pay taxes online where funds can be transferred from one bank to another,” the chief minister added.

Congress demands Bhat’s arrest

The Congress on Tuesday demanded the arrest of RSS leader Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat for making inflammatory speech against minority communities. Home Minister R Ashok said that a case was booked against Bhat and an investigation is on. Read more

Source : ibnlive.in.com

Three-fold rise in urban renewal funds likely: Kamal Nath

The second phase of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) could witness a three-fold increase in its budget, Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath said Monday.

"We are looking at 0.25 percent of the GDP. It will be almost two and a half times or rather three times the size of the first JNNURM," the minister told reporters here. Read more

Source : prokerala.com

Boost financial instruments, discourage gold imports: Assocham

Mumbai : Encouraged by the government’s intention to categorise gold as a holding asset not to bring in circulation, the premier industry body Assocham has urged the government to encourage formal financial instruments to make the investment more productive. A senior government official had recently said that gold is a holding asset which increases massive strain on investible resources.

Terming the current gold import as huge burden on the balance of payments, Assocham’s secretary general D S Rawat said. Read more

Source : business-standard.com

Focus on providing urban amenities in rural India: APJ Kalam

NEW DELHI: To become an economically developed nation by 2020, India needs to focus on sustainable development of villages by providing urban amenities in rural areas (PURA), former President A P J Abdul Kalam said today.

"The development of 6,00,000 villages is vital for developed India. The foundation of sustainable development of rural areas is PURA which means providing urban amenities in rural areas," Kalam said after inaugurating the second Global Agri-business Incubation Conference here. Read more

Source : articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com

Healthcare sector will offer enormous growth opportunities

There are plenty of investment opportunities in the healthcare technology space but most have long gestation cycles and challenging business models

I for one was glad when we bid 2011 goodbye. There was hardly anything to be positive about in the year gone by, what with a scam a day, the rupee at an all-time high and our gross domestic product (GDP) growing the slowest among the Bric (Brazil, Russia, India, China) countries. However, we are off to a much better start this year with some key verdicts from the Supreme Court on the 2G case that has sent a strong message that even powerful politicians and top business houses are not above the law. Additionally, the judgement in favour of Vodafone in the capital gains tax case is a positive development.  

In my interactions with my global investor friends, I notice their faith in the Indian judicial system is renewed and they are slowly back to feeling cautiously optimistic about India. As Raghuram Rajan, professor of finance at Chicago University’s Booth School of Business and economic adviser to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said at Davos last week, we need to aim for at least 8.5-9% GDP this year and only then will we end up with 7-7.5%. Read more

Source : livemint.com

Sunny side up

The global job market may be in a turmoil as the economic slowdown forces companies to downsize, but some sectors will buck the trend.

Even as thousands are losing their jobs worldwide on deteriorating economic condition, there is a reason to cheer. Recession or no recession, one may fall ill and, hence, will need a doctor. An economic slowdown or not, one still needs education. Like it or not, business trips will always be part of the corporate world, and, hence, you need hotels to check in and flights to make it to your destination. In other words, at a time when the world is ridden with uncertainty, it is important that job seekers try and choose those sectors that are resilient to economic upheavals. Read more

Source : educationtimes.com

Britain begged India to accept aid money: Telegraph

Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee last year asked the UK to cease giving aid to the country’s booming economy, but relented after being begged to take the money for fear of “grave political embarrassment”, reports the UK’s Telegraph newspaper.

“We do not require the aid. It is a peanut in our total development exercises [expenditure],” Mukherjee told the upper house of Indian parliament, during question time, adding that the government wanted to give it up. Read more

Source : minivannews.com

Building a new urban India

A recent opinion poll sponsored by this newspaper, across the country's biggest eight urban agglomerations, found even the best rated among them barely making it to a rating of 'average'. The frequent sloganeering about Delhi soon becoming "the world's most beautiful city" or Mumbai "a global financial hub" appears straight out of the famous British serial 'Yes Minister'. There, Sir Humphrey Appleby underscores the law of Inverse Relevance - the less you intend to do or are capable of doing something, the more you have to keep talking about it.

What Delhi, Mumbai or Kolkata are left to mean to an ordinary citizen is crime, grime and chaos; vast wastelands of miseropolis. Our cities keep bearing the brunt of traumas such as an Uphaar blaze in Delhi or the AMRI inferno in Kolkata. Monsoon downpours paralyse Delhi by waterlogging year after year, much like they turn Mumbai into a familiar cesspool along with its potholed roads and gridlocked traffic. Fires, floods, even terror can benumb any of our cities any time. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

CAG to audit NRHM scheme in 18 states

NEW DELHI: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has decided to audit the spending of all states under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) scheme. 

After unearthing a Rs 5,754-crore NRHM scam in Uttar Pradesh, the CAG will conduct independent audits of the scheme in 17 other states to ascertain losses to the exchequer, if any. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Urgent challenge to create 600 m jobs over next decade, says ILO

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) recently warned there is an “urgent challenge” to create 600 million jobs over the world in the next decade as one in three workers worldwide are either unemployed or living in poverty.

According to the annual report on global employment by the ILO, the world faces the “urgent challenge” of creating 600 million productive jobs over the next decade in order to generate sustainable growth and maintain social cohesion. Read more

Source : deccanherald.com

India shining: Per capita income crosses Rs 50,000

New Delhi : Reflecting growing prosperity, India’s per capita income grew by 15.6 per cent to Rs 53,331 per annum in 2010-11, crossing the half-a-lakh rupees mark for the first time, according to Government data.

“The per capita income at current prices is estimated at Rs 53,331 in 2010-11, as against Rs 46,117 for the previous year, depicting a growth of 15.6 per cent,” said the Quick Estimates of National Income released by the Central Statistical Office (CSO). The growth in per capita income comes on the back of 8.4 per cent expansion of the Indian economy during the last fiscal. Read more

Source : dailypioneer.com

Hunger and riches coexist in India

A national daily presented the other day two contrasting pictures of India. On its front page were the findings of a research indicating the extent of hunger and malnourishment in the country and in one of the inside pages was a report on the explosion on its roads with millions of private vehicles causing traffic jams in its urban centres. One wonders whether these contrasting pictures in a single edition of a daily have caught the attention of those who frame and implement the country’s economic policies. They show, if anything, the growing economic inequality in the country, which can directly be attributed to the policies pursued since economic liberalisation. The government has taken some initiatives to deal with the pervasive hunger and malnutrition but the measures that have been taken seem to have failed to yield the desired results. Read more

Source : groundreport.com

India needs huge infrastructure investment: FM

Chicago (IBNS) : Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday said that India needed a huge infrastructure investment boost in the 12th Five Year Plan to accelerate and sustain growth in the country.

During his ongoing visit to Chicago, Mukherjee said, "Rapid development of infrastructure is the key to sustain high growth and strengthening the domestic growth dynamics of our economy. Read more

Source : indiablooms.com

Scientists urged to find solutions to problems faced by Karnataka

MANGALORE : Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda and top space scientist and Chairman of the Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad U.R. Rao on Saturday urged the scientific community to find solutions to the “burning” problems of the State and the country.

They were participating in the inauguration of a two-day seminar on “Science and Technology: Challenges and Opportunities” organised by the Karnataka Science and Technology Academy, headed by Prof. Rao, at Mangalore University. Read more

Source : thehindu.com

Second industrial rubber park built in Tripura

India's second industrial rubber park has come up in Bodhungnagar in western Tripura to boost the country's elastic polymer industry.

The park, a joint venture between the Tripura Industrial Development Corporation (TIDC) and the Rubber Board, is the second of its kind in the country after the rubber park in Irapuram, Kerala. Read more

Source : smetimes.in

Jump in registration income in TN may be unsustainable

While the steep increase in registration income may be good news for the Government, the real estate developers believe this would be counterproductive in the long run. 

Driven by worries of an expected increase in guideline values in the State, developers and property buyers appear to have speeded up document registrations during the last couple of months, leading to a spurt in revenue to the State Government. Read more

Source : thehindubusinessline.com

Finding the innovation key to million problems

From cars to vaccines, companies are busy introducing a slew of cost-effective products

India’s image in the eyes of the world undergoes a major shift in every 30 years or so. From Independence to the import of PL-480 wheat, it was one of abject poverty and utter helplessness — of a nation unable to feed itself. Read more

Source : mydigitalfc.com

Bharat craves for innovation

Attempts for rural technology incubations have been small and somewhat sporadic so far 

As the Indian economy grew rapidly over the past 20 years, it generated wealth for its citizens. However, the rapid economic rise has been accompanied by high differential growth in prosperity of the people — as incomes of certain sections have grown much faster compared with others. Read more

Source : mydigitalfc.com

MGNREGA enhanced financial inclusion of farmers: WEF report

DAVOS : Allegations of fund leakages notwithstanding, the MGNREGA scheme has improved access to financial services for farmers and holds a great scope for further agricultural and economic growth of the country, a World Economic Forum report said on Friday.

Focus on soft infrastructure in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has led to successes in land rights issues, it said. Read more

Source : thehindu.com

Indians may be getting fat, but think of getting fitter: survey

India’s urban population may be rapidly gaining weight as lifestyle changes take hold, altering dietary habits, but most people seem to have the right idea about what constitutes healthy living.

That’s the finding of a Nielsen survey that a dietician describes as a result of rationalization by and a reflection of intent among the people surveyed. Read more

Source : livemint.com

‘New urban development models must focus on eco sustainability, inclusive growth'

CHENNAI : The UN Habitat is pushing for a new urban development agenda focussed on economic and environmental sustainability and inclusive growth, according to Mr Andre Dzikus, Chief, Water and Sanitation Section, UN Habitat.

The new principles of urban development should be through a coordinated and long-term approach with national level policies that prevent investor-driven, irrational urban land prices. Such a national urban policy should coordinate different areas of government, take into account public transportation development, connectivity, economic development and energy strategy. Read more

Source : thehindubusinessline.com

Foreign travel no more an incentive for techies

BANGALORE: For IT engineers, the periodical one- or two-year stints in the US or Europe used to be the primary attraction of their jobs. They not only got to live in places that most Indians aspire to but, during those stints, they also received salaries substantially higher than in India and which allowed them to make significant savings. For business development professionals in IT, foreign travel used to be for shorter stints, but more frequent. 

But that opportunity for travel is now fast diminishing for economic, business, diplomatic, strategic and technological reasons. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Digital drive holds promise for India

NEW DELHI: Boosting mobile and internet penetration in India could offer substantial benefits for the country's economy, according to a new report.

IAMAI and DIT, two government bodies, and ICRIER, a think tank, argued that rising usage of these channels would fuel activity in areas from ecommerce and education to agriculture, healthcare and finance. Read more

Source : warc.com

West Bengal opts for e-Governance to boost tax revenue

With the objective of encouraging greater tax compliance, the Finance Minister of West Bengal, Amit Mitra, is launching a series of e-Governance initiatives. The tax system is going to be more simplified. Traders will able to generate their way bills online from next week itself, and they will be able to pay their taxes with the click of a mouse.

Amit Mitra said that the e-Governance steps were being taken to prevent businessmen from being harassed. Read more

Source : egov.eletsonline.com

Public health needs public systems, too

Expenditure on health as a proportion of GDP continues to be among the world's lowest

India’s health indicators do not match our recent economic performance. Public expenditure on health as a proportion of GDP continues to be among the world’s lowest. The crib deaths in West Bengal, the misuse of NRHM funds in Uttar Pradesh, the poor state of maternity homes in the country’s capital, rightly raise a public outcry. The state of the public system, subjected to unprecedented neglect for decades, is truly shocking in many parts of the country. Nor does the conduct of some government health workers generate confidence that the public system will ever deliver basic health services of decent quality. The despair is so overwhelming that critics often miss out on some of the emerging positive trends in many hitherto backward states, on account of the attention given to the public system with the advent of the NRHM. Though NRHM is a Centrally-sponsored programme, health is a state subject and it is the leadership at the state level that makes all the difference.

Let us look at hard evidence. The just published Sample Registration System data from the Census office places India’s infant mortality rate (IMR) for 2010 at 47, a three-point decline for the second consecutive year. IMR declined by a bare three points, from 60 to 57 between 2003 and 2006. Between 2007 and 2010, the decline is of 10 points. More interestingly, the rate of decline in rural areas is almost double that in urban areas during this period. The IMR decline in hitherto backward states like Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, has been 3-5 points per year, a rate never achieved previously in consecutive years. States like Tamil Nadu and Gujarat have also made significant gains during this period. Read more

Source : business-standard.com

Boomburbs: the next urban wave

The near double digit growth rate in India is bringing in its wake migration of people, both highly skilled and unskilled, from the hinterland to urban centres. India now has nearly 400 million people living in urban areas, having added 50 million of them in the last decade alone.

This wave of growth is impacting how existing cities are expanding and new cities are being built, by design and by accident. To address this growth, the government is planning to build new cities, both next to existing ones and at ‘greenfield’ locations, as growth in existing megacities is spilling over to their suburbs and the inherent deficiencies in planning, or the lack of it, are choking them. Read more

Source : indianexpress.com

Small town, big spends

Non metro cities hold tremendous potential for marketers

Coimbatore skyline. Photo:M. Periasamy

Don't dismiss the small towns. That's where the big pockets are, when it comes to quantifying the purchasing power of the country. Recent research has shown that cities such as Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Indore and Pune have three quarters or more of the affluence levels of Mumbai.

This is precisely why marketers are rushing towards smaller towns. Their enthusiasm, according to a MART study, is also triggered by the availability of adequate land at a reasonable price. These towns have the advantage of low construction costs and lower rentals. Read more

Source : thehindu.com

As China Urbanizes, India Remains Overwhelmingly Rural

China just reached a historic demographic milestone – the vast country now has more people living in cities than in the countryside. 

The Chinese National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) stated that about 691-million people – or 51.3 percent of the nation’s total population -- are now city-dwellers, versus 657-million people living in the rural regions.

But what about India, China's principal rival in Asia and which is also acclaimed for its growing economic dominance? Read more

Source : ibtimes.com

States with more internet use likely to grow faster

NEW DELHI : States with higher internet penetration can be expected to grow faster, and by 1.08 per cent for every 10 per cent increase in the number of internet subscribers. So, if Bihar had half as many internet subscribers as in Punjab, it would have resulted in an increased growth of over 7 per cent in the State per capita income, according to a study.

Similarly, States with higher penetration rates show a greater growth with the developed States (having higher per capita income and level of internet penetration) will grow at 2.36 per cent for every 10 per cent increase in the number of internet subscribers, according to India: The Impact of Internet, a study done by the Indian Council for Research and International Economic Relations (ICRIER) sponsored by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and the Department of Information Technology. Read more

Source : thehindu.com

Social inequality the real culprit in India’s ‘shameful’ malnutrition problem

It’s the grim statistic that just won’t budge: new child malnutrition numbers are out for India, and there is no good news to be had.

The exhaustive door-to-door survey covered a fifth of India’s children and found that 42.3 per cent of children under the age of five are underweight for their age, 58.8 per cent are stunted and 11.4 per cent are so severely underfed as to be considered “wasted.” Read more

Source : theglobeandmail.com

Diet snacks market growing meatier

India is poised to be amongst one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Thanks to the rising income and booming economy, higher incomes are expected to drive shifts in the dietary patterns from basic subsistence foods to more value-added food categories like health & wellness products. 

India, the next big market
India’s population, second-highest in the world, is expected to reach 1.3 billion by 2015. Population of under -29s is projected to reach a staggering 56% by 2015. With more than half of the population young and single, shopping as a form of entertainment is bound to be redefined. Higher consumer spending will be witnessed across processed food, eating out, leisure, and health and fitness sectors. Read more

Source : fnbnews.com

Revival in investment in India key to recovery in growth: Morgan Stanley

In India, structural measures are needed to help boost private investment. India will continue to have strong support from favorable demographic trends, as the age dependency ratio (proportion of non-working age population to working age population) will continue improving until 2040, according to UN projections.

This warrants a rise in investment to GDP, which would help to generate productive capacity, and is crucial to kick-start a virtuous cycle of faster growth in productive job creation - income growth - savings - investments - higher growth, without a rise in inflation challenges. Read more

Source : myiris.com

Ahatas razed, booze business falls flat in Gurgaon

GURGAON: Days after the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) demolished illegal open drinking joints (ahatas) in the city, the excise department has expressed its concern about possible loss of revenue due to this.

Department officials say that they have received complaints from liquor vendors that they are losing business after demolition of ahatas. As many as six ahatas have been demolished in the past two months by HUDA under direct supervision of chief administrator Praveen Kumar. Read more

Source : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Tech connectivity among varsities a must: Kalam

AHMEDABAD: The first convocation of Charotar University of Science and Technology (Charusat) was held in Changa where 160 students were awarded degrees on Wednesday.

Former President A P J Abdul Kalam in his address laid emphasis on research and said that the university will achieve great heights if the culture of research is imbibed in students by their teachers. He urged the students to focus on research and help achieve his vision 2020 targets which envisage a nation where the urban and rural divide has reduced to a thin line, where there is equitable distribution and adequate access to energy and quality water. "Technological connectivity among universities should be pursued on war footing using cost effective virtual classrooms," said Kalam. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

States seek less Centre schemes

New Delhi : State governments on Wednesday urged the Centre to reduce the number of centrally-sponsored schemes and transfer funds to autonomous bodies only through them.

Some of the states also made their apprehensions clear about sharing any financial burden for implementing the Food Security Act. Read more

Source : business-standard.com

Rising Middle Class Fuels Global Energy Surge: Catherine Wolfram

Income Growth

In recent research, my co-authors and I observed that energy consumption and the energy needed to manufacture goods increases sharply when households move out of poverty into the middle class. This is true in every country we analyzed. On the other hand, when households move from extreme poverty to just being poor, energy use doesn’t increase by much, because these households typically use their growing incomes to consume more calories or higher quality food. Similarly, when households move from the middle to upper-middle class, their energy use doesn’t change much.

Our research also showed that in countries that improved the living standards of the poor, a 1 percent increase in gross domestic product leads to a 1 percent or higher increase in total energy consumption. Conversely, in countries where the upper-middle class or the wealthy benefit the most from growth, a 1 percent increase in GDP increases energy consumption by only about half as much. Read more

Source : bloomberg.com

Socio economic and caste census begins in Nagaland

Nagaland today joined the nationwide Socio- Economic & Caste Census (SECC) with Chief Minister of the state Neiphiu Rio being enumerated. The SECC is being launched for the first time in the country and the record is going to be used for the 12th Five Year Plan. Nagaland Census Operations Director Hekali Zhimomi said the exercise is targeting completion within 45 days and has sought cooperation from everyone. “It is a massive coordination exercise,” she said.

Also, officials of Rural Development said the issue pertaining to an organization, Eastern Naga Students’ Federation (ENSF), expressing non-cooperation with the Socio Economic Caste Census 2011 has been settled at the meeting held on January 14 last. Read more

Source : morungexpress.com

Delhi, Mumbai slip in APAC realty rankings, B'lore holds on

New Delhi : Delhi and Mumbai have slipped in an Asia-Pacific (APAC) real estate investment opportunities list for 2012 owing to economic and inflationary issues, says a joint report by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and PwC.

The report, titled, 'Emerging Trends in Real Estate Asia-Pacific 2012', found Delhi and Mumbai dropped from fifth and third place in last year's list of real estate investment prospects to 12th and 15th position, respectively, in 2012. Read more

Source : business-standard.com

No shortcuts, please

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh began 2012 by delivering two significant speeches. He spoke at the Indian Science Congress on January 3 and on January 10, released a report by some NGOs and corporates on the status of hunger and malnutrition in the country. Though the two speeches were on divergent issues,put together, they convey a disturbing approach towards realising India's potential. 

Invoking the legendary mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan (whose 125th birth anniversary is on December 22, 2012) and Satyendranath Bose (the elusive search for a sub-atomic elementary particle bearing his name, Boson, that may revolutionise humanity's understanding of our universe, continues at the CERN laboratory's Large Hadron Collider experiment), the PM ended by candidly admitting that India's spending on scientific research and development (R&D) is "too low and stagnant". At present, we spend less than 0.9% of our GDP on R&D. The PM bemoaned that China has left us behind on this and urged that we should spend at least 2% of our GDP on R&D by the end of the 12th Plan period. Read more

Source : hindustantimes.com

Is India ready for a green drive?

Three lakh electric vehicles on the roads by 2020 would mean a reduction of over 16 lakh metric tons of pollution and savings of over Rs 3,700 crore in foreign exchange over the same period.

Go Green’ is the motto for all leading economies of the world, as reflected by the increasing focus on electric vehicles. US President Obama has envisioned a target of one million electric cars on US roads by 2015 and allocated USD 2.4 billion to boost the development of electric vehicles. Almost 17 European Union nations including UK, France, Belgium, Italy and Spain provide specific tax rebates to promote usage of electric cars. China has also joined the green initiative and has plans to produce one million electric vehicles annually by 2015. However in India, we are still testing the waters to understand the sustainability of these vehicles in the long run. Read more

Source : business-standard.com

Plan panels poverty figures understated

CHENNAI: Over time, the Planning Commission of India, like the World Bank, has de-linked the estimation of poverty from its own definition, thereby painting a false picture of the number of people living below the poverty line, said noted economist Utsa Patnaik.

Delivering the T.G Narayanan Memorial lecture organised by the Asian College of Journalism here on Friday, Patnaik said that the Planning Commission, by employing a method of poverty line calculation that de-links it from the original definition, ensures that the nutritional standard purchasable continues to decline. In other words, the standard itself is lowered and then poverty reduction is claimed, she said. Read more

Source : ibnlive.in.com

Lack of access impeding eco activity in remote areas: A P J Abdul Kalam

NEW DELHI: Lack of physical access is impeding economic activity in a number of remote and tribal places in India, says former president A P J Abdul Kalam.

This observation is made in his latest book "Target 3 Billion: PURA: Innovative Solutions Towards Sustainable Development", co-authored by Srijan Pal Singh. Read more

Source : articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com

Next stage: Reforms must now move to states

Two (not unrelated) issues made 2011 special. Answers to both will mark developments in 2012 and beyond. One was the unprecedented urban response to Anna Hazare's call for legislation to end corruption. The second, an impassioned signed plea by senior industrialists to take economic reforms forward. The response to Anna was unprecedented as it showed that mass mobilisation was possible without bribing crowds (as is usual in most political rallies). 

The response to Anna was largely due to his call in August that he was not 'like one of them', namely, the politicians. The tepid response to the same movement last month was because by targeting the Congress in forthcoming elections, he now seemed 'like one of them'. How Anna resolves this paradox will determine the future of his movement. Now that the BJP in particular has internalised the corruption issue (and many states have responded with suitable institutions), Anna will have to differentiate his product from their's. But this article is about the second issue. Read more

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com

Development should be all inclusive

It's not just policies that spur growth, but the implementation of such policies which is crucial to that growth. Stakeholders must be involved in that process 

There are certain key issues in the transaction of business in India which are not always factored in when enterprises draw up their strategy. This is often true when one looks at the environmental factors which determine the relationship among resource generation/ identification, resource accessibility and resource affordability.

What is required is a careful designing of the architecture of the delivery processes and the delivery institutions. These institutions which undertake the supply, by definition, could be embedded in the private sector ethos or the public sector ethos or be a part of the essentially governmental sector. Each of them would have its distinct defining characteristics. Read more

Source : dailypioneer.com

Southern industrial corridor on anvil

Hyderabad : Centre plans to raise manufacturing share in GDP to 26 per cent

Building on the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor model, the Union government is planning to set up two industrial and manufacturing corridors in the eastern and southern regions to increase the industrial production and manufacturing output, said union minister for commerce and industry Anand Sharma.

He also announced that seven industrial zones would be set across the country including one in the Southern state of Andhra Pradesh. These will have a mega industrial zones and an integrated township to promote innovation and industry. These zones will have the potential for employing 43 million people. Read more

Source : mydigitalfc.com