Cabinet approves "Mission Karmayogi"- National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building (NPCSCB)

 

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister; Shri Narendra Modi has approved launching of a National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building (NPCSCB) with the following institutional framework: -

 (i)   Prime Minister's Public Human Resources (HR) Council,

(ii)   Capacity Building Commission.

(iii)  Special Purpose Vehicle for owning and operating the digital assets and the technological platform for online training,

(iv)  Coordination Unit headed by the Cabinet Secretary.

 Salient Features

NPCSCB has been carefully designed to lay the foundations for capacity building for Civil Servants so that they remain entrenched in Indian Culture and sensibilities and remain connected, with their roots, while they learn from the best institutions and practices across the world. The Programme will be delivered by setting up an Integrated Government Online Training-iGOTKarmayogiPlatform. The core guiding principles of the Programme will be:

• Supporting Transition from 'Rules based' to 'Roles based* HR Management. Aligning work allocation of civil servants by matching their competencies to the requirements of the post.
• To emphasize on 'on-site learning' to complement the ‘off-site’ learning,
• To create an ecosystem of shared training infrastructure including that of learning materials, institutions and personnel,
• To calibrate all Civil Service positions to a Framework of Roles, Activities and Competencies (FRACs) approach and to create and deliver learning content relevant to the identified FRACs in every Government entity,
• To make available to all civil servants, an opportunity to continuously build and strengthen their Behavioural, Functional and Domain Competencies in their self-driven and mandated learning paths.
• To enable all the Central Ministries and Departments and their Organizations to directly invest their resources towards co-creation and sharing the collaborative and common ecosystem of learning through an annual financial subscription for every employee,
• To encourage and partner with the best-in-class learning content creators including public training institutions, universities, start-tips and individual experts,
• To undertake data analytics in respect of data emit provided by iGOT- Karmayogi pertaining to various aspects of capacity building, content creation, user feedback and mapping of competencies and identify areas for policy reforms.

 

Objectives

It is also proposed to set up a Capacity Building Commission, with a view to ensure a uniform approach in managing and regulating the capacity building ecosystem on collaborative and co-sharing basis.

The role of Commission will be as under-

• To assist the PM Public Human Resources Council in approving the Annual Capacity Building Plans.
• To exercise functional supervision over all Central Training Institutions dealing with civil services capacity building.
• To create shared learning resources, including internal and external faculty and resource centers.
• To coordinate and supervise the implementation of the Capacity Building Plans with the stakeholder Departments.
• To make recommendations on standardization of training and capacity building, pedagogy and methodology
• To set norms for common mid-career training programs across all civil services.
• To suggest policy interventions required in the areas of HR Management and Capacity Building to the Government.

iGOT-Karmayogi platform brings the scale and state-of-the-art infrastructure to augment the capacities of over two crore officials in India. The platform is expected to evolve into a vibrant and world-class marketplace for content where carefully curated and vetted digital e-learning material will be made available. Besides capacity building, service matters like confirmation after probation period, deployment, work assignment and notification of vacancies etc. would eventually be integrated with the proposed competency framework.

Mission Karmayogi aims to prepare the Indian Civil Servant for the future by making him more creative, constructive, imaginative, innovative, proactive, professional, progressive, energetic, enabling, transparent and technology enabled. Empowered with specific role-competencies, the civil servant will be able to ensure efficient service delivery of the highest quality standards.

Financial implications

To cover around 46 lakh Central employees, a sum of Rs.510.86 crore will be spent over a period of 5 years from 2020-21 to 2024-25. The expenditure is partly funded by multilateral assistance to the tune of USD 50 million. A wholly owned Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for NPCSCB will be set up under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013. The SPV will be a "not-for-profit" company and will own and manage iGOT-Karmayogi platform. The SPV will create and operationalize the content, marketplace and manage key business services of iGOT-Karmayogi platform, relating to content validation, independent proctored assessments and telemetry data availability. The SPV will own all Intellectual Property Rights on behalf of the Government of India. An appropriate monitoring and evaluation framework will also be put in place for performance evaluation of all users of the iGOT-Karmayogi platform to generate a dashboard view of Key Performance Indicators.

Background

Capacity of Civil Services plays a vital role in rendering a wide variety of services, implementing welfare programs and performing core governance functions. A transformational change in Civil Service Capacity is proposed to be affected by organically linking the transformation of work culture, strengthening public institutions and adopting modern technology to build civil service capacity with the overall aim of ensuring efficient delivery of services to citizens.

A Public Human Resources Council comprising of select Union Ministers, Chief Ministers, eminent public HR practitioners, thinkers, global thought leaders and Public Service functionaries under the Chairmanship of Hon'ble Prime Minister will serve as the apex body for providing strategic direction to the task of Civil Services Reform and capacity building.

India jumps 4 places to rank 48 on Global Innovation Index 2020

 

India jumped four places to rank at 48th position at the 2020 edition of the Global Innovation Index (GII). The index, compiled by World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) along with Cornell University and the INSEAD business school, presents the latest global innovation trends and annual innovation ranking of 131 economies.

Moving up four positions since last year, India became the third most innovative lower middle-income economy in the world. The report noted that the jump can be attributed to newly available indicators and improvements in various areas of the GII.

India ranks in the top 15 in indicators such as ICT services exports, government online services, graduates in science and engineering, and R&D-intensive global companies. "Thanks to universities such as the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay and Delhi and the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru, and its top scientific publications, India is the lower middle-income economy with the highest innovation quality," the report noted.

India increased the most in three pillars: Institutions (61st), business sophistication (55th), and creative outputs (64th), it noted. While the data shows stability at the top, WIPO said it also clearly indicates that "a gradual eastward shift in the locus of innovation" is under way, with a group of Asian economies advancing up the rankings.

China, India, the Philippines and Vietnam have made the most progress on the index in recent years, with all four now among the top 50, it said. China, which is the only middle-income economy among the top 30, now holds the 14th place.

India's pharma firms see strong growth

 As India battles the Covid-19 pandemic, its pharmaceutical industry and health care services have seen a strong growth. Companies such as Ipca showed improved sales and profitability led by its export’s formulations and APIs (active pharmaceutical ingredient) business which jumped by 72 percent year-on-year (y-o-y). The demand for malaria drug Hydroxychloroquine Sulfate (HCQ) to treat Covid-19 had led the momentum in APIs for Ipca.

Dr Reddy’s, another significant player in the API space, which partners with global pharma companies across the United States, Europe, Latin America, Japan and China, saw an 88 percent jump in its pharmaceutical services and API business, totalling ₹855.3 crore, in the three months to June.

In the June-ended quarter, strong growth was also seen through domestic sales of drugs for chronic therapies—particularly cardiac, anti-diabetes and immunity boosters (see table)—in the June-ended quarter. A similar trend continued in July, where cardiac therapy, anti-malaria, analgesics and respiratory-related drugs saw strong sales.

A visible element of the earnings was also a rise in margins, as pharmaceutical companies were able to lower their operational expenses in the past three months. This was across segments where companies managed to cut their travel expenses, marketing and advertising costs and on-the-ground expenditure, says Isha Chaudhary, director at Crisil. All of these boosted margins and profits earnings.

Global innovators are trying to gradually shift their focus from China to markets like India, which has led to an increase in the API business. And analysts are confident that the outlook for pharma companies’ earnings will continue to be bright because of this.

Currently, about 65 percent of the raw material for Indian drug makers is being sourced from China, often used for tuberculosis and vitamin medicines. But there is a conscious move by India to reduce its dependence on imports of APIs from China. This could be done by looking for alternatives to China or increasing the domestic production. The ministry of pharmaceuticals in June released the guidelines for a production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme to kick-start the domestic manufacturing of key APIs and key starting materials (KSM) in India. This gives details of the API or KSM to be manufactured, the minimum production level, investment to be made, applicants to be selected per category and the rate of incentive.

The focus in the near-term will, however, shift towards the research Indian manufacturers have been carrying out for a Covid-19 vaccine. At least five Indian manufacturers are in the race, led by the Serum Institute of India for the Oxford University vaccine, followed by Bharat Biotech, Zydus Cadila, Gennova Biopharmaceuticals and Biological E, which are in various stages of research or boosting manufacturing capacity.

India's bicycle market on a fast track amid pandemic

 Indians lanes are now dotted with cyclists. The industry was growing at 5-7 per cent every year but because of the coronavirus pandemic, it is now expected to grow at 15-20 per cent, led by a surge in first-time users.

Indian cycle industry is second largest in the world, followed by China. It is worth mentioning that 22 million units are made in the country every year and the annual turnover is Rs 7,000 crore.

According to industry numbers, 22 million cycles were sold in 2018-19 and 18 million were sold in in 2019-20. Not just adult professionals but kids, too, are increasingly taking up cycling as an activity. Since more people are taking up cycling as an activity, many have requested the government to make arrangements to make it a safer sport in India.

While the number of people taking up cycling as an activity is increasing, the trend of people going to work on cycles has not kicked off in urban India yet. It may be noted that the number of employees who ride bicycles to work in India are much lower in comparison to European countries.

Another challenge is that India’s growing cycle enthusiasts is the cost of good bicycles.

Good bicycles cost anywhere between Rs 40,000 and Rs 60,000 rupees — an amount most Indian households will think twice before spending. Many feel that the time is appropriate for Indian manufacturers to jump make good cycles available at cheaper rates.

It may be noted that a lot of bicycle components come from China and cyclist have urged Indian manufacturers to make these components in the country at cheaper costs. And if the costs for good bicycles reduce in future, cycling could become much more than a sport or activity in the country.

Government of India to develop an AVGC Centre for Excellence with IIT Bombay

The Government of India plans to develop an AVGC (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comic sector) Centre for Excellence along with the Industrial Design Centre of IIT Bombay. “The Centre will provide a place where different technologies, developments in the field of animation, gaming will be brought to one place. It will also train the thought leaders in the field of AVGC,” Amit Khare, secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said. The centre is likely to come off the ground in the next one-two years.

According to Khare, the M&E sector has a huge growth potential and is already currently growing at nine percent. Within the M&E sector, the AVGC sector is growing even faster at around 29% while audio visual sector and services is one of the champion sectors identified by the Government of India growing almost at the rate of 25%.

Khare also highlighted that the entire M&E industry, but for a few interventions from the Government, is totally a private-led initiative. And even while the Government is closely coordinating on developing the AVGC Centre for Excellence, the underlying policy of the Government is to act as a facilitator where it requires any intervention, not as a regulator. He further stated that there is a huge market for gaming globally and if the country can go by having ‘Make in India’ for the world, that is, it develops Indian stories for audiences across the globe, the sector will see a great success. 

Koppala to get India's first toy manufacturing cluster

 To boost the India’s toy manufacturing industry and be in line with Vocal for Local campaign, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa announced the proposed toy cluster in Koppala in Karnataka.

This will be the India's first toy manufacturing cluster and is expected to attract over Rs 5,000 crore in investments. The proposed toy cluster will have connectivity to NH-63 and Belagavi Airport. It will be a 400-acre SEZ with top-class infra and will generate 40,000 jobs in five years.

The Karnataka government is trying to enhance its outreach to global investors to set up units in the South Indian state; and to make this easier for industries to consider Karnataka for its investments it has also  amended the industrial, land and labour laws.

Karnataka is the third-largest market for toys in India (USD 159 million) 9.1 percent of the national market.

The state's toy industry has grown at a CAGR of 18 percent (2010-2017) and is expected to reach USD 310 million by 2023.

Railways likely to run 100 more trains soon

 

The Indian Railways is likely to announce the operation of nearly 100 inter-state and intra-state trains passenger trains very soon; the railway ministry is seeking go ahead from the home ministry.

These trains would be designated as special trains. Out of the 230 express trains being operated, 30 are of Rajdhani type trains.

The timing of these trains will remain unchanged when railways launch its zero-based timetables in next couple of months or in April With Unlock 4.0 announced and Metro Rail services starting from September, there is high probability of the workforce moving from one place to another.

Growth first time since March: India's August Manufacturing PMI at 52

 

India’s Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for August has come in at 52, compared to 46 in July, signalling growth and rebound in production volumes for the first time in five months.

“The upturn was led by an improvement in customer demand as client businesses reopened, after lockdown restrictions eased amid the COVID-19 pandemic,” IHS Markit said. It added that output and new orders expanded at the fastest paces since February – recording a 21-month high.

The decline in foreign exports weighed slightly on overall new orders as firms cited subdued demand conditions from abroad. Despite easing from July - job shedding continues in August at a strong rate, extending the current sequence of decline to five months. The pace of contraction in workforce numbers softened from that seen in July but remained strong overall.

Higher levels of production supported a modest rise in the quantity of purchases during August, but firms told Markit that limited availability of goods, which onset a further reduction in stocks of purchases, has extended the current rate of depletion to five months.

Higher raw material costs due to supplier shortages and transportation delays stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, resulted in rising input prices during August.

Cost burdens rose for the first time since March, with the rate of input price inflation at its highest since November 2018. Despite rising cost burdens, Indian manufacturers reported lower factory gate charges due to competitive pressures and efforts to boost sales.

However, the rate of decline eased to only a fractional pace that was the weakest in the current sequence of decrease.

Looking ahead, Indian manufacturers remained optimistic for the next 12 months. “Positive sentiment was often attributed to hope of the passing of COVID-19 pandemic, improving client demand, and new business wins. Nevertheless, market uncertainty and the onset of a global recession weighed slightly on the degree of confidence which was below the series average in August,” it notes.

India aims to achieve 100 MT coal gasification target by 2030: Pralhad Joshi

 

India aims for 100 million tonnes (MT) coal gasification by 2030 with investments worth over Rs. 4 lakh crores said Shri Pralhad Joshi, Union Minister of Coal and Mines. Addressing a webinar on Coal Gasification and Liquefaction, Shri Joshi said that Coal Gasification and Liquefaction is no more an aspiration, but a requirement. He added that for encouraging use of clean sources of fuel, government has provided for a concession of 20% on revenue share of coal used for gasification. He emphasized that this would boost production of synthetic natural gas, energy fuel, urea for fertilisers and production of other chemicals. The webinar was organised by Ministry of Coal (MoC) in New Delhi for discussing the road map for achieving the target. The webinar was attended by around 700 delegates from Government of India, CIL and the coal sector.

Reiterating on government’s commitments for green initiatives in the coal sector, Shri Joshi said that Coal Gasification and Liquefaction are well in the government’s agenda and various actions have been taken for development of Surface Coal Gasification in India. A Steering Committee has been constituted in this regard under the chairmanship of Dr. V.K. Saraswat, Member, NITI Aayog comprising of members from the Ministry of Coal. CIL has also planned to set up at least 3 gasification plants (besides Dankuni) on BOO basis through global tendering and has signed an MOU with GAIL for marketing synthetic natural gas.

Shri Joshi urged the attendees of the session to explore more about technologies & other aspects in Coal Gasification sector, in line with our country’s SWOT analysis. He added that this will help in harnessing nation’s reserves for maximum utilisation while heading on the path to sustainability, as per global standards.

Dr. V K Saraswat, Member NITI Aayog and Shri Anil Kumar Jain, Secretary, Coal also addressed the webinar.  Shri Binay Dayal, DT, CIL; Dr. P K Singh, Director, CIMFR; Shri Ashutosh Prasad, GM, PDIL; Shri Naveen Jindal, Chairman, JSPL; Shri Rajesh Jha, CEO, Mundra Synergy; Dr. V R Sharma, MD, JSPL; Dr. Dev Gavaskar, Partner, True North Ventures; Mr. Bob Carter, Group VP, Air Products also shared their views and valuable information.

Mumbai adds highest data centre capacity in January-June: Report

Mumbai has witnessed highest data centre capacity addition in the first half of 2020, as it continues to be the preferred choice for large cloud players. The city also accounts for 62% of India’s total cloud capacity, followed by Pune and Chennai, showed a JLL India report.

Mumbai continues to command premium for enterprise demand driven by its infrastructural benefits, followed by Hyderabad and Chennai. Further, the city is expected to witness the highest capacity addition of nearly 360 MW during 2020-2025, followed by Chennai with a capacity addition of 134 MW.

India’s data centre capacity is expected to grow from 375 MW in the first half of 2020 to 1,078 MW by 2025, presenting a $4.9 billion investment opportunity, JLL India said.

“India’s data centre market will outperform over the next five years, supported by a combination of growing digital economy, increased investor interest and stable long-term returns. Growth in the sector will be further powered by colocation sites which, via, lower upfront costs, heightened data security, uninterrupted services and scalability will, further, influence investors to re-imagine the potential of India’s data centre space,” said Karan Singh Sodi, Regional Managing Director – Mumbai, JLL India .

India’s data centre industry has provided a boost to the digital economy during the first half of 2020. Daily data consumption rose from an average of 270 petabytes (PB) during pre-lockdown period to an average of 308 PB post lockdown period registering a 14% rise.

The dependence of several industries on digital infrastructure has partially helped mitigate the impact of the lockdown as IT/ITeS, Banking and Financial Services, e-commerce, capital markets, social media and education remained operational.

“Mumbai is expected to see highest capacity addition as it continues to be the preferred choice for large cloud players because of its infrastructure advantage. Chennai is also proving to be an attractive destination due to its advantages of submarine cable landing stations and low development costs.” says Dr Samantak Das, Chief Economist and Head of Research & REIS, JLL India