Economy showing signs of stability, will take necessary measures to promote growth: RBI Governor Das

 

In a FICCI virtual conference, Mr Shaktikanta Das, the RBI Governor, stated that the Indian economy is displaying signs of stability and the central bank will take all the necessary measures to promote economic growth and ensure liquidity in the system. He further added that the recovery is going to be gradual and the government’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data was a ‘reflection of the ravages of the COVID-19’.

While addressing the conference, the governor added that RBI had reduced its repo rate by 115 basis points to 4% since March 2020, wherein the high liquidity and low interest rate ensured low borrowing costs for the government. As the reduction in policy repo rates have eased operations and markets are bouncing back, he asked businesses to capitalise on the new opportunities created by COVID-19 worldwide.

"INR3.2 trillion (US$0.04 trillion) of bond issuance in corporate bond market has happened till 28 August," he added.

"There are five key areas that I propose to focus on that I think will determine stability and step up India's growth in the medium term. First is human capital with specific emphasis on education and health; second is productivity; exports which is leading to India's role in the global value chain; fourth tourism; food processing associated productivity areas," said Das.

Extension of date of implementation of Toys (Quality Control) Order, 2020

 

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Govt. of India today issued notification, extending the date of implementation of Toys (Quality Control) Order, 2020 as 1.1.2021 in place of 1.9.2020.

This decision allows domestic manufacturers four months of extra time to make necessary arrangements for compliance of standards in view of difficulties arising out of COVID-19 pandemic.

Single Window System

 

The Central Government is working on setting up a Single Window System for clearances and approvals of industry in the country. Despite the presence of several IT platforms for investing in India such as in departments of the Government of India and State Single Window Clearances, investors need to visit multiple platforms to gather information and obtain clearances from different stakeholders. To address this, the creation of a centralized Investment Clearance Cell which would provide end-to-end facilitation support, including pre-investment advisory, information related to land banks; and facilitating clearances at Central and State level was proposed and the same is also a Budget Announcement 2020-21.

The cell is being planned as a One-stop digital platform to obtain all requisite central and state clearances/approvals required to start business operations in India. The Investment Clearance Cell will be a National portal that integrates the existing clearance systems of the various Ministries/ Departments of Govt. of India and of State Governments without disruption to the existing IT portals of Ministries and will have a single, unified application form. This will eliminate the need for investors to visit multiple platforms/ offices to gather information and obtain clearances from different stakeholders and provide time-bound approvals and real time status update to investors.

All the concerned State Governments including Tamil Nadu and Central Ministries/Departments are being taken on board for the Single Window Clearance System.

Further, a GIS enabled land bank under Industrial Information System (IIS) is being developed, and it has been launched in a phased manner by the Department on 27th August, 2020 with integration of 6 States Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Odisha and Goa; other concerned states are being on boarded.

With the objective of facilitating investment, fostering innovation, building best in class manufacturing infrastructure, making it easy to do business and enhancing skill development, the Government is focusing on 27 sectors under Make in India 2.0. Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade is coordinating action plans for 15 manufacturing sectors, while Department of Commerce is coordinating 12 service sectors.

This information was given by the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

Air India earned over Rs 2550 crore revenue from Vande Bharat flights till Aug 31: Puri

 

Civil Aviation Minister, Mr Hardeep Singh Puri, stated that under the ‘Vande Bharat Mission’, Air India gained a revenue of INR 2556.60 crore (US$ 25.5 billion) from flight operations till August 31, 2020. Due to the ongoing pandemic, scheduled international flights were suspended in India since March 23, 2020. However, in order to help citizens stranded in various countries to reach their destinations, the Central government started this mission from May 06, 2020, by starting special international flights.

Mr Hardeep Singh Puri, said that as on August 31, 2020, the total number of inbound and outbound special repatriation flights undertaken by the Air India group were 4,505.

Until August 31, 2020, about four lakh passengers, out of a total of 11 lakh Indian nationals, were flown into India. The Air India flights also carried about 1.9 lakh outbound passengers (including foreigners) to overseas destinations from India.

Wipro to provide engineering services support for Intel's solution

 

Wipro announced to offer engineering services support for commercialization of solutions built on Intel’s OpenNESS toolkit. Developed by Intel, Open Network Edge Services (OpenNESS) software is a multi-access edge computing (MEC) toolkit that helps developers to create and deploy applications on-premise edge or at the network locations.

The engineering services for OpenNESS uses Intel’s FlexRAN software reference architecture and OpenNESS and is built upon an ongoing collaboration between Wipro and Intel on innovative 5G and edge solutions.

Wipro to leverage its long legacy of engineering services for the deployment of commercial solutions based on the OpenNESS platform, said the company.

Mr K R Sanjiv, Chief Technology Officer, Wipro, stated that the collaboration with Intel will help build 5G solutions enabled by edge computing, that would power industry applications, deliver superior experiences and drive business efficiencies.

Ms Renu Navale, General Manager, Edge Computing and Ecosystem Enabling, Intel stated that the successful commercialization of open source innovations requires partners who can expertly integrate technology components as well as provide engineering services and Wipro’s collaboration with Intel on OpenNESS and several other Intel technologies makes them a valuable partner.

Medical education of Indian System of Medicine and Homoeopathy to get revolutionary revamp

 

With the passage of two important bills of the Ministry of AYUSH by the Parliament, the country is all set to bring revolutionary reforms in the medical education of Indian System of Medicine and Homoeopathy.

The National Commission for Indian System of Medicine Bill, 2020 and the National Commission for Homoeopathy Bill 2020 were passed in Lok Sabha on 14th September 2020. These twin bills seek to replace the existing Indian Medicine Central Council Act, 1970 and the Homoeopathy Central Council Act, 1973.

Rajya Sabha had already passed both the bills on 18th March, 2020. Getting the approval  of the Parliament for these bills is a landmark achievement in the history of AYUSH. The enactment of the said Bills will revamp the existing Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM) and Central Council of Homoeopathy.

It is expected that the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine and the National Commission for Homoeopathy shall aim at bringing reforms in the medical education of Indian System of Medicine and Homoeopathy respectively.

The National Commission for Indian System of Medicine Bill, 2019 and National Commission for Homoeopathy Bill, 2019 were introduced in Rajya Sabha on 7th January, 2019. Both the bills were subsequently referred to the Department related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare.

The Committee examined the Bills and suggested certain amendments in alignment with the National Medical Commission Act, 2019. Accordingly, the Ministry considered the key suggestions and introduced Official amendments to the said Bills after which they were passed in Rajya Sabha on 18th March, 2020 as ‘the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine, Bill, 2020’ and ‘the National Commission for Homoeopathy Bill 2020’.

Cabinet approves Haryana Orbital Rail Corridor Project from Palwal to Sonipat via Sohna-Manesar- Kharkhauda

 The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval to the Haryana Orbital Rail Corridor Project from Palwal to Sonipat via Sohna-Manesar-Kharkhauda.

This Rail Line will start from Palwal and end at existing Harsana Kalan station (On Delhi-Ambala section).  This will also give connectivity enroute to existing Patli Station (On Delhi-Rewari line), Sultanpur station (On Garhi Harsaru-Farukhnagar Line) and Asaudha Station (On Delhi Rohtak Line).

Implementation

The project will be implemented by Haryana Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (HRIDC), a Joint Venture company set up by Ministry of Railways with Government of Haryana. The project will have joint participation of Ministry of Railways, Government of Haryana and private stakeholders.

Estimated completion cost of the project is Rs. 5,617 crore (US$ 0.8 bn). The project is likely to be completed in 5 years.

Benefits

The districts of Palwal, Nuh, Gurugram, Jhajjar and Sonipat districts of Haryana will be benefitted through this rail line.

This will facilitate diversion of traffic not meant for Delhi thus decongesting NCR and will help in developing multimodal logistics hubs in Haryana State sub-region of NCR. It will provide high-speed seamless connectivity of this region to Dedicated Freight Corridor network resulting in reduction of cost and time of transportation for EXIM traffic from NCR to ports of India, making exports of goods more competitive. This efficient transport corridor along with other initiatives will provide enabling infrastructure to attract multinational industries to set up manufacturing units to fulfil the 'Make in India' mission. The project will connect unserved areas of the state of Haryana, thereby boosting economic and social activities in Haryana State. This multipurpose transport project will also facilitate affordable and faster commuter travel, long distance travel in different directions from Gurugram and the industrial regions of Manesar, Sohna, Farukhnagar, Kharkhauda and Sonipat.

Approximately 20,000 passengers each day will be travelling through this line and 50 Million Tonnes goods traffic would also be carried out every year.

Background

The Orbital Rail Corridor from Palwal to Sonipat by passing Delhi is a crucial infrastructure project for sustainable development of the National Capital Region and to decongest existing Indian Railway network in Delhi area. The alignment of this project is adjacent to the western peripheral (Kundli-Manesar-Palwal) Expressway and has been under consideration for some time. The project will have connectivity with all the existing Railway routes originating from Delhi and passing through Haryana State as well as with the Dedicated Freight Corridor network.

Cabinet approves establishment of new All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Darbhanga, Bihar

 

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has approved establishment of a new All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Darbhanga, Bihar.This will be established under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY).The Cabinet also approved creation of one post of Director in the basic pay of Rs 2,25,000/- (US$ 3,082.5) (fixed) plus NPA (however pay + NPA would not exceed Rs 2,37,500/-) (US$ 3,253.8) for the above AIIMS.

The total cost will be Rs.1264 crore (US$ 0.4 bn) and is likely to be completed within a period of 48 months from the date of the approval of Government of India.

Benefits to the common man/highlights

• New AIIMS will add 100 UG (MBBS) seats and 60 B.Sc (Nursing) seats.
• New AIIMS will have 15-20 Super Specialty Departments.
• New AIIMS will add 750 hospital beds.
• As per data of current functional AIIMS, it is expected that each new AIIMS will cater to around 2000 OPD patients per day and around 1000 IPD patients per month.
• PG and DM/ M.Ch Super-specialty courses will also be started in due course.

Details of project:

Establishment of new AIIMS involves creation of Hospital, Teaching Block for medical & nursing courses, residential complex and allied facilities/services, broadly on the pattern of AIIMS, New Delhi and other six new AIIMS taken up under Phase-I of PMSSY. The objective is to establish the new AIIMS as Institution of National Importance for providing quality tertiary healthcare, medical education, nursing education and research in the Region.

The proposed institution shall have a hospital with capacity of 750 beds which will include Emergency / Trauma beds, ICU beds, AYUSH beds, Private beds and Specialty & Super Specialty beds. In addition, there will be a Medical College, AYUSH Block, Auditorium, Night Shelter, Guest House, Hostels and residential facilities. The establishment of the new AIIMS will create capital assets for which requisite specialized manpower will be created, based on the pattern of the six new AIIMS, for their operations and maintenance. The recurring cost on these Institutions shall be met through Grant-in-Aid to them from Plan Budget Head of PMSSY of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Impact:

Setting up of new AIIMS would not only transform health education and training but also address the shortfall of health care professionals in the region. The establishment of new AIIMS will serve the dual purpose of providing super specialty health care to the population while also help create a large pool of doctors and other health workers in this region that can be available for primary and secondary level institutions / facilities being created under National Health Mission (NHM). Construction of new AIIMS is fully funded by the Central Government. The Operations & Maintenance expenses on new AIIMS are also fully borne by the Central Government.

Employment Generation:

Setting up new AIIMS in the state will lead to employment generation for nearly 3000 persons in various faculty & non-faculty posts. Further, indirect employment generation will take place due to facilities and services like shopping centre, canteens, etc. coming in the vicinity of the new AIIMS.

The construction activity involved for creation of the physical infrastructure for the AIIMS Darbhanga is also expected to generate substantial employment during the construction phase as well.

This will fill the gaps in tertiary health-care infrastructure as well as facilities for quality medical education in the State and adjoining areas.The AIIMS would not only provide the much needed super specialty / tertiary health care at affordable costs, to the poor and needy, it would also make available trained medical manpower for the National Rural Health Mission / other Health Programmes of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.This institute will also create trained pool of teaching resources / faculty which can impart quality medical education.

India beats China to win crucial election to UN commission on women

 

India has been selected as a member of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, the principal global body focussed on gender equality and women empowerment.

The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is a functional commission of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

The 54-member ECOSOC held its first plenary meeting of 2021 session, wherein it contested elections for two seats in the Asia-Pacific States category. The members included Afghanistan, India and China.

Afghanistan, which was led by Ambassador Adela Raz at the UN, garnered 39 votes and India received 38 votes of the 54 ballots cast.

China, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, got only 27 votes and could not even cross the half-way mark and failed to get the required majority of 28 votes.

India and Afghanistan will join Argentina, Austria, Dominican Republic, Israel, Latvia, Nigeria, Turkey and Zambia, which were elected by acclamation, to the Commission on the Status of Women for a four-year term beginning from 2021–2025.

Former UN Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director of UN Women Lakshmi Puri congratulated the Indian Mission and Ambassador Tirumurti on the election win.

"Victory Earned! #CSW is an important normsetting organ for #Gender #Equality & #WomenEmpowerment & #India has made a significant contribution to evolving global women's human rights standards in UN including #SDG5 in Agenda 2030!," she tweeted, referring to the Sustainable Development Goal of achieving gender equality and empower all women and girls.

Indian fantasy sports app Dream11's parent firm raises US$ 225 mn at over US$ 2.5 bn valuation

Tiger Global Management, TPG Tech Adjacencies (TTAD), ChrysCapital and Footpath Ventures financed $225 million in Dream Sports, the parent firm of fantasy sports app Dream11 through primary and secondary investments, the 12-year-old Indian firm said, taking the valuation of Dream Sports at over $2.5 billion.

Dream11 has cashed in on cricket 's success — a game that has drawn considerable attention from many big companies including Disney and Facebook. Dream11 explores the fantasy aspect thereof, enabling gamers to choose their preference of the best players for an upcoming match. Depending on how their chosen team performs they will win cash prizes.

Dream11 is also the title sponsor for the 2020 season of Indian Premier League cricket tournament. The startup acquired the rights previously owned by Chinese smartphone vendor Vivo by bidding for it $30 million.

Dream Sports has expanded in recent years into new areas, such as merchandising. Dream Sports chief executive and co-founder Harsh Jain said the company had accrued more than 100 million users. (The Dream11 app is not accessible on the Google Play Store, and the company depends either on people using their mobile web or sideloading their Android app to their phones).

Mr Akshay Tanna, Managing Director at TPG said that he is proud to continue adding value to our 10 crore Indian sports fans, advertisers, employees and the overall sports ecosystem in India as a homegrown Indian company. In the last two years, they have expanded to sports entertainment, merchandise, streaming, experiences beyond fantasy sports, and others and their mission is to Make Sports Better for India and Indian fans through sports technology and innovation,”

The financial advisor to Dream Sports on the transaction was by The Avendus Capital.