India pips US, China as No. 1 FDI destination

New Delhi: TIMES NEWS NETWORK





Rises 16 Places In Ranking Of Competitiveness

India has emerged on top of the foreign direct investment (FDI) league table, overtaking China and the US, according to fDi Markets, the FT data service.A ranking of the top destinations for greenfield investment (measured by estimated capital expenditure) in the first half of 2015 shows India at number one, having attracted roughly $3 billion more than China and $4 billion more than the US.
India has also moved up on the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Index by 16 places to 55th position from 71st.
The two reports come as a shot in the arm for the Modi government, which has taken several steps to attract foreign investment and has helped revive the mood of investors since it came to office in May 2014.
“Satisying, our efforts are paying off,“ finance minister Arun Jaitley tweeted.
The government has unveiled several initiatives like `Make in India' and `Digital India' to lure investors.
It has moved to ensure that the country moves up on the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business and states have also started their clean-up act on this parameter.
But experts say there are several areas where the government needs to step up reforms. The areas where investors want more reforms include tax policy, labour laws, cutting red tape and issues linked to land acquisition.
Investors have started taking interest in India and the recent visit of PM Modi to Silicon Valley triggered enormous interest from software and technology czars. India's growth is expected to be the fastest among large economies. Several multilateral agencies have also pointed out that India is a beacon of hope at a time when emerging economies are taking a hit and the Chinese stock market is witnessing volatility. Experts say India is expected to benefit from the slowdown in China and the overall sluggishness in global commodity prices including crude oil is expected to provide a cushion to the growth fortunes of Asia's third largest economy . The government is confident of achieving close to 8% growth in the current fiscal year. India has also moved up on Global Competitiveness Index by 16 places to 55th position.
The FT said that for the past several years, China and the US have vied for FDI supremacy and fought each other nearly to a draw last year, with the US ranking as the number one greenfield destination by number of projects and China coming in first by capital expenditure.
It said India ranked fifth last year for capital investment, after China, the US, the UK and Mexico. In a year when many other major FDI destinations posted declines, India experienced one of 2014's best FDI growth rates, increasing its number of projects by 47%, the article said.
“India is tracking well ahead of where it was at this time last year: it has more than doubled its midyear investment levels, attracting $30 billion by the end of June 2015 compared with $12 billion in the first half of last year,“ the newspaper said.
“Research from fDi Markets found 97 of 154 countries typically classed as emerging markets experiencing declines in capital expenditure on greenfield investment projects in the first six months of this year compared with the same time period last year,“ it said.

Source: Times of India, 30.09-2015

Refugee Crises in Europe: A Human Catastrophe

Monday 28 September 2015, by Bharti Chhibber

How images affect the human mind is quite evident with the kind of effect the picture had of a crumpled body of a three-year old face-down, washed ashore the Turkish coastline or that of rubber dinghies overfilled with desperate women, men and children. These images have brought out the enormity of the contemporary refugee crises in Europe, the biggest movement of people to Europe since the Second World War.

However, how ironical is the fact that the civil war in Syria, which is entering its fifth year, has caught the world attention only now when there is a massive influx of people to Europe. The reality is that already about five million Syrians have fled to neighbouring countries of Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon. In fact these countries may actually face potentially serious issues in the near future in the eventuality of non-resolution of the Syrian war.

The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (Article 1) defines a refugee as a person who “owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country...” This convention is the key legal document in defining a refugee, his/her rights and the obligations of states. The geographic and temporal restrictions were removed from the Convention by the 1967 Protocol. However, this definition is being interrogated by human rights activists who argue that this is against universality and indivisibility of human rights. In fact states and many international organisations are using this definition to highlight the ‘forced migration’—the refugee crises—as mere voluntary movement for better livelihood. This is exactly what the European countries are projecting right now by repeatedly terming Syrian refugees, who have been forced to flee Syria due to the ongoing civil war, as ‘mere migrants’ for better economic opportunities.

With Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the Western countries blaming each other for the refugee crises, it is the common masses who are bearing the brunt. Protests against the government in Syria in 2011 soon developed into a civil war. Later the rise of the Islamic State forced about 11 million people from the homeland to flee to other states. On the one hand, the Western countries argue that President Assad has deliberately encouraged the refugee flow, both to the neighbouring countries and to Europe, by using excessive force against his own people to get rid of potential opponents. On the other hand, the role of Euro-Atlantic powers in this present crisis cannot be negated either. Owing to rich energy resources, West Asia has always been geo-strategically significant for the US and European countries. This is the reason for the Western states using coercive measures in West Asia, be it Iraq or Syria, where in the name of the supporting pro-democratic elements, the Western states ended up helping the radicals by giving enough room to them, resulting in the growth of the Islamic State.

Under the present scenario, the European countries cannot absolve themselves of the responsibility to protect the refugees who fear being persecuted in their own homeland. With scores of refugees seeking asylum in Europe, sharp differences have surfaced among the European Union (EU) member-states. Recently German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her Austrian counterpart, Werner Faymann, met in Berlin and called for an emergency EU summit. Earlier the EU’s Interior Ministers also met but failed to reach an agreement on the European Commission plan for a binding quota system that would distribute 120,000 refugees among the member-states. The Eastern European countries have showed fierce opposition to this proposal. Germany, which has accepted a good number of refugees, even proposed cutting EU subsidies to the member-states that refuse to take their share of refugees. Hungary sealed its border with Serbia with barbed-wire fences resulting in the refugees marching into Croatia. Many critics of the EU have already questioned the EU as an organisation. Presently the EU is facing its greatest humanitarian challenge with the pronouncement of the end of the Schengen agreement that sets up free travel in most of the EU.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is the international organisation whose function is to assist and protect refugees throughout the world. António Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, has said: “It is a tragedy without parallel in the recent past.” The conflict has left at least 250,000 people dead and displaced more than 11 million. According to the UNHCR estimates, two-thirds of the refugees in Lebanon and Jordan live in absolute poverty. Turkey is the only country in the region in which some Syrians are allowed to work, attend school and receive medical care. Funding is another crucial issue. The UNHCR has spent more than $ 5.6 billion on housing and food for Syrians since the conflict began, but that was less than half the amount it said was needed.

In the final analysis, it is high time that instead of some ad hoc mechanisms, Syria, its neighbours, the US, Russia and the European countries work out a solution to the Syrian crises as they are responsible for this state of affairs. Moreover, the EU, which projects itself a champion of human rights, has to rise to the occasion. It is a question of the very survival of refugees. Already thousands of refugees have died in the Mediterranean Sea this year alone trying to make it to Europe. Refugees have a right to live a decent life till a solution is found to the Syrian crises. They cannot be forced to go back and be persecuted. It is also a test of the EU as an organisation with a common policy. Moreover Gulf states, like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain, should also be involved and be willing to resettling the Syrian refugees owing to many similarities in the field of language, religion and culture. It is a global collective responsibility to protect these refugees and find a solution to this human catastrophe instead of just pushing them from one country to another and merely debating on the issue.

Dr Bharti Chhibber teaches Political Science in the University of Delhi. Her e-mail isbharti.chhibber@ gmail.com

Source: Mainstream, 26 Sep 2015

A Positive Attitude

CHANDER GUPTA





A senior officer of a large banking conglomerate was addressing newly recruited personnel. He exhorted them to be the `right employee'. Elaborating the phrase, he explained that a `right employee' should have three qualities: delivering right customer service, practising right compliance, and exhibiting the right attitude.The meaning of the phrases `customer service' and `compliance' drove home instantly .However, the import of `right attitude', or the more commonly used phrase, `positive attitude', is ambivalent to many of us. So also it seemed the case with the audience there. The quizzical expression on their faces revealed they were at sea.What is `right attitude'? The speaker explained that delivering right customer service and practising right compliance `happily' is `right attitude'.
An employee with positive attitude will enjoy doing `right' things. The motto of a person with positive attitude will be, `Don't complain, don't blame'.We do find people sulking all the time while doing their duty .
Reluctance in doing work betrays lack of positive attitude.A person with a positive attitude will never react, rather respond positively . Positive attitude imbues all our actions with positive vibes. A person with positive attitude will not feign helplessness in doing things.The hallmark of positive attitude is helping others.
All this radiates on the face of the person practising it. It's not for nothing it's been said that it matters not so much what you do, but how you do it. That makes a world of difference.

NITI Aayog OKs Revamp of Indira Awaas Yojana

Yogima Sharma

New Delhi:





Plan to build houses for 2.95 crore people over the next 7 years . 2.5 lakh crore at `

The government's think tank NITI Aayog has approved a proposal to restructure the decades old rural housing scheme Indira Awaas Yojana to provide houses to 2.95 crore people over the next seven years at an estimated cost of ` . 2.5 lakh crore, drawn entirely from the Union budget. This paves the way for achieving the Narendra Modi government's goal of providing housing for all by 2022, officials said.The nod to the proposal, approved by the project appraisal and management division under NITI Aayog, is likely to be followed by renaming of the scheme to The National Mission for Rural Housing, officials said.
ET had in July last year reported that the rural development ministry was reworking the scheme to align it with the Modi-led NDA government's vision.
The scheme, which has also been approved by the expenditure finance committee, will now go to the Cabinet for consideration.“The scheme is likely to be approved in two months at most, after which the ministry will declare the list of eligible beneficiaries under the scheme based on the Socio Economic and Caste Census,“ said a senior government official.
According to the official, who did not wish to be identified, the scheme will be funded entirely through the Union budget and the ministry is in the process of mak ing systematic changes to ensure that the money reaches the benefi ciaries on time.
The centrally sponsored Indira Awaas Yojana was funded by the Centre and states in 75:25 propor tion in the plains while the cost was shared in 90:10 proportion in hilly or difficult terrains.
The Cabinet in June gave the go ahead to the National Mission for Urban Housing and once the rural scheme is approved, the pro gramme will be implemented on a mission mode to achieve the robust targets. Launched in 1985, Indira Awaas Yojana has provided houses to 3.25 crore rural families at a cumulative expenditure of about ` . 1 lakh crore.The proposed changes include increasing the size of the houses from 20 sq mt to 25 sq mt, making toilets a mandatory part of the house, increasing the cost per unit from . 1.2 lakh per unit and do. 75,000 to ` ` ing away with the standard block design of houses under the previous scheme. “Under the new scheme the ministry has proposed to encourage local design for houses suiting the geographical conditions and made out of locally available material in place of standard block houses under IAY,“ the official said. The government plans to set up an autonomous registered society to implement and monitor the scheme, and tap into institutional or sovereign overseas funding to implement the project in mission mode.

Source: Economic Times, 29-09-2015

Wages for the parliamentarians

The idea of creating an Emoluments Commission to recommend salaries and allowances for Members of Parliament has not come a day too soon. The pay and reimbursements drawn by lawmakers may not be unusually high in India by global standards, but two points have been agitating the people in recent times: the power enjoyed by legislators to fix their own salaries and the loss suffered by the exchequer as day after day is lost to parliamentary logjam, resulting in MPs drawing daily allowances through whole sessions during which no business is transacted. In this backdrop, the proposal of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs to establish an independent, three-member commission to fix the pay and allowances of parliamentarians is a sign that the government and the elected members themselves are sensitive to growing concern about the public expenditure incurred in their name. The proposal is on the agenda of the All-India Whips’ Conference to be held in Visakhapatnam, and may form the basis for future legislation to de-link members of the legislature from the process of fixing their emoluments. Members of Parliament currently draw a monthly salary of Rs. 50,000, a constituency allowance of Rs. 45,000 and a sumptuary allowance of Rs. 15,000. They may also hire secretarial assistance for Rs. 30,000. They are entitled to daily allowances and travel concessions besides other perquisites. The present levels of pay and allowances, however, have not been revised since 2010.

If an independent body is created for the purpose, India will be following the example of the United Kingdom, where an Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority has been created by law to oversee and regulate ‘business costs’ or the expenditure incurred by lawmakers in their parliamentary functions, and fix their pay and pension. Such a mechanism may help put an end to criticism, and sometimes public outcry, over legislators rewarding themselves with pay hikes and additional allowances from time to time. In a country where public life is associated in the popular imagination with unbridled greed, and parliamentary representation is seen as a means to amass wealth, it will be tempting to wonder why lawmakers need a salary at all, or, looking at legislative work often coming to a standstill, to question the present pay structure or the need for regular revision. However, payment for legislative work is an important element in attracting public-spirited citizens to participative democracy. As a general principle, pay ought not to be the primary attraction for elective office, nor the privileges and perquisites that come with it. At the same time, it cannot be so low as to be a disincentive to the public for entering the legislature. An independent pay panel for parliamentarians is surely a welcome proposal.

Keywords: salaries of Members of Parliament, Members of Parliament

Source: The Hindu, 29-09-2015

English is a language of opportunity

It is a heartening sign that enrolment in English-medium schools has grown 89% over the past five years. It is also a sign of progress — and a bit ironical — that enrolment in English-medium schools of Bihar and UP has gone up by 4,700% and 1,000%, respectively, because these two states have been the hotbed of opposition to English. The advantages of being literate in English will certainly be apparent in the coming years. Among the states with the highest proportion of English-medium schools, Jammu and Kashmir tops the list, at 99.9%, with the second-highest being Kerala at 49%.

All these years, low enrolment in English-medium schools was largely bound up with political resistance to the language, which has been a post-Independence phenomenon. This gathered steam when vernaculars also became a medium of instruction. Earlier all the examinations, Class 10 upwards, were conducted, by and large, in English. Hostility to English cottoned on among a section of the middle-classes and got entangled with regional aspirations. For those at the lowest end of the social scale, the issue did not matter anyway because they were (and, in many places, still are) deprived of all kinds of education. But four years ago articulate sections of the Dalit community built a temple in UP dedicated to English learning. They also celebrate the birth anniversary of Thomas Babington Macaulay, whose educational minutes in 1835 set the stage for the growth of English education in India.

The more the times roll, the more it becomes obvious that there is no alternative to English education in whichever field one joins. This is true for more than reason. First, books are in English. Second, the medium of instruction in any institution worth the name is English. Third, as mobility grows, a person without a working knowledge of English will find herself or himself thrown in at the deep end if she or he moves to another part of the country. English is here to stay. Depriving some people of its advantages can only result in creating deep social divisions. However, all this is not to say vernaculars should get short shrift.

Source: Hindustan Times, 29-09-2015

Expert panel mulls separate UPSC test for each service

Bharti Jain

New Delhi:





The expert committee set up by the government to review the scheme, syllabus and pattern of UPSC's civil services examination will examine if there is a case for prescribing different papers for selection to different participating services like IAS and IPS, and study the option of expediting selection process through IT solutions including an online examination.As per terms of reference of the panel headed by former IAS officer B S Baswan, it will suggest suitable changes to both the Civil Services (Prelims) exam and Civil Services (Mains) exam considering that different sets of skills are required for different services. The panel will also review the time-frame within which the examination is conducted and suggest changes to reduce the time taken for selection of candidates by utilizing information and communication technologies and revisiting procedures mandated by the examination rules.
“The purpose is to overhaul the entire examination scheme and suit the selection process to the skills required for each set of services,“ a senior officer of the department of personnel and training (DoPT) told TOI.
The panel will evaluate the effectiveness of the current examination scheme in selecting suitable candidates keeping in mind the need for inclusiveness in the selection process; fair mix of candidates from different disciplines; skill-sets required for a modern, effective and efficient civil service; and trainability of selected candidates, after reviewing recommendations of previous expert committees, and will submit its report in six months.
Source: Times of India, 29-09-2015