Success in my Habit
Monday, May 29, 2017
Maruti aims to sell 3 lakh automatic cars annually by 2020
India's First Fleet of 200 Electric Vehicles Launched in Nagpur
Speaking on the occasion Shri Gadkari said that it was his Government’s vision to make India a 100 percent e-vehicle nation. Shri Gadkari said his Ministry was prepared to facilitate manufacturers and other companies to take the Nagpur model to other parts of the country. He said e- vehicles need to be promoted in order to cut down the huge crude oil bill, reduce pollution and create cost effectiveness in transportation. To begin with, the emphasis would be on commercial vehicles and then on others.
Shri Gadkari informed that growing demand, coupled with R&D would gradually help to bring down the operational costs, and especially the battery cost. He added that once the cost of batteries comes down, e-vehicles will compete with diesel and petrol vehicles and finally phase them out.
India on right path to becoming global steel player: Steel Association
Our Country is the Largest Producer of Milk in the World: Shri Radha Mohan Singh
It Is the Responsibility of Veterinarians to Contribute in Keeping the Nation Healthy By Increasing Availability of Animal Protein
By 2022 the Government of India is committed to Double Farmers' Income
Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Radha Mohan Singh today said that the Government of India has undertaken several new initiatives in the field of animal husbandry in Gujarat. Under Rashtriya Gokul Mission, on the lines of Gokul Gram ‘Gir, Cow Sanctuary’ has been approved. This will be established in Dharampur, Porbandar under Livestock insurance coverage. Earlier only two milk animals were included , now 5 milk animals and 50 small animals are included. This scheme has been implemented in all the districts of the state, whereas earlier only 15 districts were included. During the year 2014-16, about 26,000 animals have been insured in the state. To fulfil the shortage of veterinarians, a veterinary college has been established in Junagadh. The Agriculture Minister was speaking at the inauguration ceremony of polytechnic at Kamdhenu University, Sabarkantha.
The Agriculture Minister said that it is a matter of immense pride that our country is number one in milk production in the world. In the year 2015-16, the growth rate of milk production has been 6.28 per cent due to which total production has reached 156 million tonnes. And now, per person milk availability is 337 gram on an average, while on the world level it is 229 gram. It is worth mentioning that in comparison to the years 2011-14, the growth in milk production during the years 2014-17 has been 16.9 per cent.
He said that the standard of living of urban and rural families is rising, therefore, the demand for the animal protein is increasing. So, it is necessary that we constantly make effort to increase the production of our livestock, poultry and fish so that the country's citizens are well-nourished and healthy. That is why it is the responsibility of veterinarians to contribute in keeping the nation healthy by increasing availability of animal protein.
He said that the Government is committed to double farmers' income by 2022 and veterinaries play a significant role in fulfilling the Government’s resolution to double the farmers’ income. A healthy animal will result in greater production which will automatically enhance the farmer’s income and the country will proceed on the path of economic prosperity.
Agriculture Minister said that India is world’s highest livestock owner at about 512.05 million out of which 199.1 million are bovines, 105.3 million buffaloes, 71.6 million sheep and 140.5 million goats. In the case of goats, India is at the second position in the world and it is approximately 25 % of the livestock. India is second largest poultry market in the world and it includes the production of 63 billion eggs and 649 million poultry meat. India's marine and fish industry are growing at around 7 percent compound annual growth rate. Overall, India’s livestock sector is growing fast and emerging as a major contributor in the global market.
The Agriculture Minister said that the Government of India is ensuring the quality of education in universities is of international standards. In this direction, ICAR’s Fifth Deans Committee Report has been approved. Schemes like ‘Student’ and ‘Arya’ have been started with scholarships. Students’ scholarship amount has been increased.
In the end, the Minister said that to see our nation prosper and agriculture sector and farmers flourish, we need to work together. When the agriculture will grow, the farmer will be happy and the country will move forward.
Government focused on Integrated Development & Inclusive Growth
Press Information Bureau: May 29, 2017
New Delhi: DD committed to provide truthful information & wholesome entertainment to people - Venkaiah Naidu
I&B Minister releases 14 short films produced by Doordarshan on success stories of various Flagship schemes of the Government
Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu, Minister for Information & Broadcasting has said that the focus of the Government under the leadership of Prime Minister has been on Integrated Development, Inclusive Growth and Good Governance. The Government in the last three years had taken various initiatives for the welfare of the people ensuring Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas. The 14 Short Films produced by Doordarshan showcased the success stories under various Flagship Schemes of the Government which had positively impacted people’s lives and had brought a transformational change in the country. The films have successfully portrayed the underlying development narrative through testimonials from the beneficiaries at the field level all across the country. The Minister mentioned this while releasing the 14 short films produced by Doordarshan on various flagship schemes of the Government here today.
Speaking further, Shri Naidu said that these films would be showcased on all Doordarshan channels in Hindi and all other Indian languages with the purpose to motivate and inspire others also to use the benefits under various Flagship Schemes of the Government. These films would also be used by all other Media units of the Ministry of I&B to enhance outreach across media platforms. Shri Naidu also mentioned that Ministry of I&B would be facilitating the outreach programmes of the Government through MODI (Making of Developed India) fests all across the country along with its media units.
Speaking on the Freedish initiative of Doordarshan, Shri Naidu said that DD Free Dish was the largest free DTH Service available to the people in the country. As per the recent estimates it has reached more than 22 million homes. The Government has planned to further enhance the reach of DD Free Dish by distributing Free DD DTH boxes in the remote and interior areas of the country through State Governments, especially in the LWE impacted areas. He also mentioned that the Ministry would be giving 10,000 DTH boxes to the Government of Chattisgarh for distribution in the LWE areas.
The following themes have been covered in the short films produced by Doordarshan.
1. Mission Indradhanush
2. Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna and Soil Health Card
3. Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas
4. Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana
5. Skill India
6. Beti Bachao Beto Padhao
7. Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojna
8. Kaushal Bharat Kushal Bharat
9. Pradahn Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna
10. National Solar Mission under Ujjwal Bharat
Shri Naidu also highlighted that Doordarshan would be organising a Sports Conclave tomorrow i.e. 28th May, 2017 at its studios at Asiad Village New Delhi. Leading sports personalities, sports federations, editors from various sports magazines and newspapers would be participating in live discussions. DD sports would connect live with Varanasi, Guwahati and other places to interact with local players and State Authorities. The conclave would discuss the future of Indian sports and policy interventions required for India to become a formidable force.
Sunday, May 28, 2017
Indian Oil Q4 profit jumps 85% to Rs3,721 crore
Chairman B. Ashok told reporters on Thursday that the net profit rose mainly because of inventory gains, higher refining margins and operational efficiencies. The country’s largest state-run refiner had reported a Rs2,005.89 crore profit in the year-ago period.
State-run Indian Oil is in the midst of a massive expansion programme, especially in refining capacity and in liquified petroleum gas (LPG) and liquified natural gas (LNG) import and processing capacity to meet the government’s goal of raising gas consumption in the economy. It is also adding to its petrochemical production capacity to strengthen alternative revenue streams to the refining business.
Indian Oil’s board recommended a final dividend of Re1 per share, which is in addition to the Rs18 per share interim dividend paid during the year. Consolidated net profit for FY2016-17 jumped 64% from a year ago to Rs20,385 crore.
The company exceeded its capital spending target of Rs15,395 crore for the year 2016-17 by over 30%, the chairman said. Indian Oil plans to invest Rs20,737 crore in the current fiscal.
A part of the investment will go into logistics that will see the bulk of the company’s petroleum product transport go off roads and railway lines into long-distance pipelines. A plan is underway to add 7,550 km of long-distance pipeline for petroleum products, which along with another 8,000 km under-construction pipeline projects, will take the company’s total network to 27,550 km over the next few years for fuel transportation.
During the fourth quarter, Indian Oil’s refining margin rose to $8.95 a barrel, sharply higher than the $2.99 a barrel reported in the year-earlier period. Refinery margin for the full financial year 2016-17 was $7.77 a barrel, against $5.06 a barrel in the previous year.
Indian Oil reported an inventory gain of Rs2,634 crore in the three months ended 31 March as compared to an inventory loss of Rs3,417 crore in the same period a year ago. The country’s largest refiner has three weeks of inventory, including crude oil and finished products at various stages starting from vessels in the ocean to pipelines and warehouses.
Revenue from operations jumped 24% to Rs1.22 trillion in the March quarter. The company processed 17.1 million tonnes of crude oil into fuel in the fourth quarter compared to 15 million tonnes in the year-ago period.
Ashok said that standalone annual profit or Rs19,106 crore in 2016-17 was the company’s highest ever. That was facilitated by a record sale of 83.49 million tonnes of products including exports.
El Nino weakens, monsoon expected before schedule
Normal rain in June is 164 mm. In July and August, respectively 289 mm and 269 mm. “After its onset on May 29-30, the southwest monsoon is expected to make steady progress over the west coast, southern peninsular India and even the east and northeast,” says Mahesh Palawat, chief meteorologist at private weather forecasting agency Skymet.
He said Chhattisgarh and Vidarbha were expected to get a good amount of pre-monsoon showers during June, where the usual onset date is late June or early July.
D S Pai, director of long-range forecasts at the government’s India Meteorological Department (IMD) agrees. He says after the monsoon’s onset around May 30, the rains are expected to progress quickly over the west coast, due to formation of a low pressure area, aiding its push into the mainland. As of now, said Pai, distribution of rain across the country looks fairly well. IMD is to issue regional and month-wise predictions early next month.
As of now, it feels the monsoon could be even more than its initial forecast of 96 per cent of the Long Period Average. This is the average rain India got in the 50 years from 1951, around 890 mm.
One reason for its optimism is weakening of the adverse El Niño weather condition. The Australian Weather Bureau, considered among the authentic voices on El Niño, has said there is a 50 per cent chance of it this year but most of its models are suggesting this would be a weak one.
IMD’s first forecast had said a weak El Niño, coupled with a neutral to positive Indian Ocean Dipole, should greatly benefit the southwest monsoon.
And, that the rains in 2017 could be very evenly spread, a critical element for India. That and a timely southwest monsoon would ensure a good kharif harvest, following the record production in 2016-17.
Environment ministry planning to ease coastal regulation norms
Environmentalists say that the proposed norms would have serious implications for the marine environment and are weaker compared with the current Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification, 2011.
The draft of the new coastal norms, accessed by environmentalists using the right to information (RTI) law, reveals that it would open the coastline for activities such as tourism and real estate.
The draft Marine and Coastal Regulation Zone (MCRZ) notification 2017 was accessed by Meenakshi Kapoor, who works at the Delhi-based think tank Centre for Policy Research, using the RTI Act 2005, on Tuesday. Kapoor criticized the environment ministry for not releasing the draft to the public for wider consultations.
“Since 2014, the entire process of reviewing and revising the CRZ notification, 2011 has been a closed-door exercise, she said.
“Instead of the environment ministry inviting suggestions and feedback from coastal communities, researchers, urban planners and legal experts on the implementation of the CRZ Notification and proposals for reform, there has been a reluctance to share the details of this review.”
The draft, reviewed by Mint, is currently under inter-ministerial consultation.
An environment ministry official, requesting anonymity, said the draft is expected to be finalized soon. The draft has already been discussed with the Union ministries of tourism, shipping and urban development.
“Once views of the ministries are included, it would be put online for views and suggestions from all stakeholders including public and experts,” the official said.
An analysis of the draft reveals that it proposes to shrink the no-development zone in rural coastal areas from 200m from the high tide line now to merely 50m, where temporary tourism facilities will be permitted.
The draft proposes to also allow temporary tourism facilities in ecologically sensitive areas.
The proposed notification also states that state and Union territory governments are to prepare tourism plans for their respective MCRZ areas.
According to the draft, housing and basic infrastructure for local inhabitants will also be allowed after 50m from the high tide line in rural areas, compared with the 2011 notification which permitted houses for coastal communities after 100m.
The draft also proposes to reduce the coastal protection zone for islands from the present 500m from the high tide line to just 20m.
The proposed draft also proposes to give powers to state authorities to decide the extent of developmental activities.
The draft, however, clarifies that activities related to Defence Research and Development Organization, Indian Space Research Organisation, exploration and extraction of oil and natural gas and extraction of minerals will continue to require clearances from the environment ministry.
India’s first CRZ notification was issued in 1991, under the Environment Protection Act, 1986, empowering the central government to restrict industrial activities and processes to protect the coastline. It was amended 25 times before being comprehensively revised in 2011.
In June 2014, the National Democratic Alliance government constituted a committee under Shailesh Nayak, then secretary in the ministry of earth sciences, to look into issues raised by states regarding the 2011 CRZ notification. In January 2015, the Nayak panel submitted the report. That report has also not
been made public by the ministry.
Start Up -Definition changes
In order to promote entrepreneurship in the country, the Government of India has amended the definition of a Startup. The following significant changes have been made to the definition of Startups –
a) Age of Startup increased: Taking into account the long gestation period by Startups to establish, an entity shall be considered as a Startup up to seven years from the date of its incorporation/ registration (from earlier 5 years). However, in the case of Startups in the Biotechnology sector, the period shall be up to ten years from the date of incorporation/ registration.
b) No Letter of Recommendation required: No letter of recommendation from an incubator/industry association shall be required for either recognition or tax benefits
c) Potential of Job and Wealth Creation: The scope of definition has been broadened to include scalability of business model with potential of employment generation or wealth creation.
As a constant endeavour to facilitate the Startup ecosystem, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has been holding extensive consultations with stakeholders. The above changes are an effort to ensure ease of starting up new businesses to promote the Startup ecosystem and build a nation of job creators instead of job seekers.
GDP to grow at 7.1% in Q4 FY17, says Icra
Gross domestic product (GDP) had grown marginally lower, at 7 per cent, in the third quarter of FY17, down from 7.4 per cent in the second quarter.
Principal Economist of Icra, Aditi Nayar, said: “Benefitting from gradual remonetisation, GVA (gross value added) growth is likely to improve to 6.9 per cent in Q4 FY17 from the initial estimate of 6.6 per cent for Q3 FY17, while remaining weaker than the robust 8.1 per cent in Q4 FY16. Our forecast of a 6.9 per cent GVA expansion in Q4 FY17 builds in a healthy 8.8 per cent year-on-year- growth in services, and moderate rise of 5.4 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively, in industry and agriculture, forestry and fishing.”
The Central Statistics Office is expected to release its estimate of fourth quarter growth on May 31.
Higher growth of the services sector was likely on account of robust growth in air cargo traffic, bank deposits as well as central government non-interest, non-subsidy revenue expenditure, the report said. Construction activity, though, would continue to fare poorly as the effects of the note ban linger.
The Icra estimated agriculture to grow at 4 per cent in the fourth quarter, based on the third advance estimates of crop production which showed healthy growth of rabi output of pulses, oilseeds, wheat and coarse cereals. Agriculture had grown by
6 per cent in the previous quarter.
But the CSO might revise the GDP estimate in light of the release of the new Wholesale Price Index (WPI) and the Index Of Industrial Production (IIP) series.
The new IIP series shows higher industrial growth than was estimated under the earlier IIP series. And with the WPI series showing lower inflation, which would impact the deflators, it is likely that the revised estimates may well show higher growth.
“The new WPI and IIP data could lead to revisions in GDP and GVA levels and growth rates from FY13 onward, at constant prices. In particular, the FY17 growth rates may differ materially from the second advance estimates released by the CSO in February 2017. Some additional data on the impact of the note ban on the informal sectors may result in a sharper dip in growth in H2 FY17, relative to the revised levels for H1 FY17,” added Nayar.
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