Gist of Yojana Magazine Part II

Important FactsImportant point of Energy Security

With the domestically available uranium and without any additional import beyond Kundankulam I and II lants under construction we can set up no more than 48,000 MW of nuclear plants by 2031 and only about 2,08,000 MW by 2051. With additional import of 30,000 MW of uranium based plants by 2020, we can reach 4,70,000 MW of nuclear capacity by 2050 if the three-stage programme is fully developed.Since India is short of Uranium, the first phase plants cannot exceed 10,000 MW unless imported uranium is available.

Facts Regarding Energy Security• Some 600 million Indians do not have access to electricity and about 700 million Indians use

biomass as their primary energy resource for cooking and ensuring life line.

• A sustained economic growth of at least 9 Percent over the next 25 years is necessary for India need to eradicate poverty and meet its larger human development goals.

Guiding principles of the integrated energy policy:• Energy markets should be competitive wherever possible for economic efficiency and for

promoting optimal investment in energy.

• Given the need to expand supplies of energy public sector investment in energy must be supplemented by private investors.

• Subsidies are relevant but they must be transparent and targeted. Consideration should be given to alternative means of achieving the social objectives sought to be achieved by energy subsidies, through different methods including direct transfers to eligible households.

• Energy efficiency is extremely important and can be promoted by setting appropriate prices and this is particularly important where energy prices are rising.

• Public Sector Undertakings operating in the energy sector must operate with autonomy and also full accountability to ensure incentives for adequate investment through their own "resources and improvements in efficiency in energy production and distribution.

• For the second stage of India nuclear programme, India has already developed fast breeder reactors and a 500 MW Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) is under construction at Kalpakam. It is expected to attain critically in 2011.

Growth in India's energy demand:• Various projections indicate that by 2031, India's energy requirements may increase to about 5

to 7 times at of 2001 levels. The Integrated energy Policy report brought out by the Planning Commission estimates that in an 8% GDP growth scenario, India's total commercial energy requirements would be in the range of 1514 mtoe (million tonnes of oil equivalent) to 1856 mtoe by 2031 under alternative scenarios (Planning Commission, 2006)

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• TERI estimates indicate an import dependency of 78% for coal. 91% for oil and 34% for gas by year 2031 with current estimates future availability of indigenous energy.

Lighting A Billion Lives• Over 1.6 6illion people in the world lac access to electricity; roughly 25% are in India alone.

• Recognizing the need to change the existing scenario, TERI, with its version to work for global sustainable development and its commitment towards creating innovative solutions for a better tomorrow, has undertaken an initiative of Lighting a Billion Lives' (LaBL) through the use of solar lighting devices.

• The Campaign aims to bring light into the live of one billion rural people by replacing the kerosene and paraffin lanterns with solar lighting devices. This wife facilitate education of children; provide better illumination and kerosene smoke –free environment for environment for women to do household chores; and provide opportunities for livelihoods both at the individual revel and at village level .

The RGGVY was launched in 2005 with the following goals.(a) Provide access to electricity to remaining un-electrified households.(b) Electrification of about 1.15 lakh un-electrified villages.(c) Free electricity connection to 2.34 Below Poverty Household (BPL)

The target year of achieving these targets is 2009 and under this scheme capital subsidy was given on basis of 90% grants and 10% loan. Rs. 33000 crore as capital subsidy would be provided by Government of India for projects.

BIOFUELS In India• Biofuel , or fuel derived from non-fossil plant sources is being seen today as a cleaner

alternative to diesel. Biofuel development in India centers mainly around the cultivation and processing of Jatropha plant seeds to give biodiesel and producing ethanol from sugarcane. Ethanol can be blended with petrol for automobiles. Similarly, bio-diesel can be blended with high speed diesel for transport vehicles, generators, railway engines, irrigation pumps, etc. Large volumes of such oils can also substitute imported oil for making soap. In its National Biofuel Policy the Government of India has set a target of a minimum 20 per cent ethanol-blended petrol and diesel across the country by 2017. Bio-diesel plantations would be encouraged only on waste community / government / forest lands, and not on fertile land. Minimum Support Price (MSP) would be announced to provide fair price to the growers. Minimum Purchase Price (MPP) for the purchase of bio-ethanol by the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) would be based on the actual cost of production and import price of bio-ethanol. In case of bio-diesel, the MPP would be linked to the prevailing retail diesel price. The National Biofuel Policy also envisages bringing bio-diesel and bio-ethanol under the ambit of "Declared Goods" by the Government to ensure their unrestricted movement.

Important Points Of Climate Change1. India's per capita energy consumption (2006 figures) question is at 51 kg oil equivalent

compared to the world average of 1818 kg oil equivalent. China has a per capita energy consumption of 1433 kg oil equivalent, which has been rapidly rising since 2002, and the US average of 7778 kg oil equivalent. The annual growth in India's per capita energy consumption


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has been minimal.2. India's submission to reduce the emission intensity of its economy by 20 to 25 per cent by 2020

can he bettered through these two options. India has already announced its national solar mission and an enhanced energy efficiency mission is in the works.

Point You Should KnowCarbon Storage and Sequestration Potential of India’s Forests and Tree Cover:-

• India's Forest Cover accounts for 20.6% of the total geographical area of the country as of 2005. In addition, Tree Cover accounts for 2.8% of India’s geographical area2 .

• Progressive national forestry legislations and policies have transformed India's forests into a significant net sink of CO2, From 1995 to 2005, the carbon stocks stored in our forests and trees have increased from 6,245 million tones (mt) to 6,662 mt, registering an annual increment of 38 mt of carbon or 138 mt of CO2 equivalent.

Mitigation Service by India's Forest and Tree Cover:-

• Estimates show that the annual CO2 removals by India's forest and tree cover is enough to neutralize 11.25% of India’s total GHG emissions (C02 equivalent) at 1994 levels.

• This is equivalent to offsetting 100% emissions from all energy in residential and transport sectors; or 40% of total emissions from the agriculture sector. Clearly, India's forest and tree cover is serving as a major mode of carbon mitigation for India and the world.

Carbon Stocks in the Future:-

• India is one of the few developing countries in the world that is making a net addition to its forest and tree cover over the last two decades. Based on actual and projected trends of investments in the forestry sector, we present three scenarios of the future carbon stocks in the forest and tree cover of India.

• In the first scenario, the carbon stocks in India's forest and tree cover decrease at the rate of the world average and the total carbon stored in India's forests in 2015 will decrease to 6,504 mt.

• In the second scenario, the carbon stocks continue to increase at the historical rate of the last decade (0.6% p.a.). And the total carbon stored in India's forests in 2015 will increase to 6,998 mt.

• In the third scenario, the carbon stocks increase at a rate higher than the historical rate of increase and the total carbon stored in 2015 will increase to 7,283 mt. This is the path that we intend to tread in India.

• Computations for the third scenario are based on a series policy initiatives on Sustainable Management of Forests (SMF) and A forestation and Reforestation (A&R), additional resources like Forest Restitution Fund5 with US$ 2.5b , a policy to include forestry related activities in the flagship employment scheme of the country and introducing new forestry related schemes on components such as capacity building in the forestry sector ..

Value of Mitigation • Putting a conservative value of US$ 5 per tonne of CO2 locked in our forests; this huge sink of

about 24,000 mt of CO2 is worth US$ 120b, or Rs 6, 00,000 crores. Incremental carbon under scenario three will add a value of around US$ 1.2b, or Rs 6,000 cores every year to India's treasury of forest sink, assuming a value of US$ 7 per tonne.


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Important Points Of Food Security For increasing the availability of food several steps have been taken such as the

following:• Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana with an outlay of Rs. 25000 crore.

• Naitonal Food Security Mission with an outlay of about Rs. 6,000 crore.

• National Horticulture Mission with an outlay of Rs 10,363.46 crore during the 11 the Five-Year Plan period.

• There are many other schemes dealing with different areas of production, such as soil healthcare, crop protection, and irrigation. Inspite of all these schemes our agriculture is still very vulnerable to the behaviour of the monsoon.

• Our country faces the challenge of producing food not only for 1.2 billion people, but also for about a billion farm animals.

• Nearly seventy per cent of our population lives in villages and their main sources of livelihood are crop and animal husbandry, fisheries, agro-forestry, agro-processing and agri-business

• The National Commission on Farmers (2004-06) has provided a detailed strategy for the agricultural progress of India.

• Food is the first among the hierarchical needs of a human being. Therefore, food security should have the first charge on the available financial resources.

• A National Food Security Act giving legal rights to food can be implemented only by attending to the safe storage of both grains and perishable commodities like fruits, vegetables and milk.

Indian Agri-Business FACTS AND FIGURE:-

1. 2nd largest arable land (184 million hectares) in the world 2. Largest irrigated land (55 million hectares) in the world 3. Largest producer of wheat (72 million tones), accounting for nearly 15% of global wheat

production 4. Largest producer of pulses (15 million tones), accounting for nearly 21 % of global pulse

production 5. Largest producer of milk (90 million tones)6. Largest producer and exporter of spices 7. Largest producer of tea, accounting for nearly 28% of the global tea production 8. 2nd largest producer of rice (92 million tones), accounting for nearly 22% of global rice

production.9. Largest producer of world's best basmati rice 10. 2nd largest producer of fruits (50 million tones) and vegetables (100 million tones) 11. 2nd largest producer of sugarcane (296 million tones), accounting for nearly 21 % of the global

sugarcane production 12. 3rd largest producer of coarse grains (31 million tones), including maize, accounting for nearly

4% of the global coarse grain production


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13. 3rd largest producer of edible oilseeds (25 million tones), accounting for nearly 7% of the global oilseed production

14. Largest livestock population 15. India produces 6.3 million tones offish (3rd largest in the world) Meat production is estimated

at 2.3 million tones.

Progress under the national horticulture Mission • Between 2005-06 to 2009-10, 2199 new nurseries were setup, additional area of about 16.56

lakh hectares was brought under new gardens of various horticultural crops and 2.78 lakh hectare of old and senile orchards was rejuvenated under the national Horticulture Mission. An area of 1.37 lakh hectare was covered under organic farming. Integrated Nutrient Management (INM) and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) were adopted in an area of 7.48 lakh hectares apart from setting up of 307 INM/IPM infrastructure which include 66 disease forecasting units, 78 bio control labs, 95 plant health clinics and 68 leaf/tissue analysis labs. Under Post Harvest Management Component, funds have been provided for setting up of 1328 pack houses, 343 cold storage units, 5 CA storage, 30 refrigerated vans, and 346 mobile/primary processing units. To ensure proper handling and marketing of horticulture produce, funds have been provided for setting up 32 whole sale markets and 298 rural markets. 7.74lakh farmers have been trained under various horticultural activities.

• A web enabled progress monitoring system has been put in place to monitor progress under NHM on monthly basis. The system enables online uploading of physical and financial progress for each of the activities approved for implementation as per the Annual Action Plan at the state level as well as at the district level on the NHM web site. The System also facilitates the generation of different types of reports at national, state and district levels for the purpose of analysis and review.

• AGRICULTURE in India still accounts for 52% of employment .12 % of national export and 17.8% of GDP.

Important Points Of HRD-Human Resourse Development• The higher education System in India at present comprises 504 university and university-level

institutions which include 243 state universities, 53 state private universities, 40 central universities.

• At the commencement of the 11 the Five Year Plan, there were 19 Central Universities, 7 Indian Institutes of Technology (UTs), 20 National Institutes of Technology (NITs), 4 Indian Institutes of Information Technologies (IIITs), 2 Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (USERs), 6 Indian Institutes of Management (UMs) and 1 School of Planning & Architecture (SPA), apart from few other centrally funded educational institutions.

• In 2007-08 the share of university & higher education and technical education was 11.83% and 5.33 respectively of the total expenditure on education.

• The share of technical education has increased from 3.8% in 2006-07 to 5.33% in 2007-08.

• At the beginning of the academic year 2009-2010, the total number of students enrolled, in the formal system, in the Universities and Colleges has been reported at 136.42 lakhs. This enrolment translates into a Gross Enrolment ratio of about 12.9%. While the world average of


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the Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education is 26.7%, the average of the developed countries is 57.7% and that of the developing countries is 13%. Thus, many more universities and colleges will need to be opened to improve the Gross Enrolment Ratio to a respectable level.

• In case the GER in higher education is to increase to 30% by 2020, either the capacity of existing institutions has to be increased by approximately 200% or the number of institutions has to be increased additionally by double the number of existing institutions

• The Yashpal Committee and also the National Knowledge Commission (NKC) have dealt with various issues affecting the higher education system in the country and both have suggested definite framework for improvement by way of institutional as well as policy reforms. One of the main suggestions is establishment of an overarching regulatory body, namely National Commission on Higher Education and Research, which would subsume the functions of existing regulatory institutions like University Grants Commission (UGC), All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and National Council for Teacher's Training.

• Based on the recommendations and suggestions of the YCR and NKC, the central government has initiated the process for (i) establishment of educational tribunals; (ii) to provide for prohibition of certain unfair practices in technical and medical educational institutions and universities, (iii) to provide for mandatory accreditation of higher educational institutions and to create a regulatory authority for the purpose and (iv) to provide for regulation of entry and operation of foreign educational institutions. In addition, a Task Force constituted by the Ministry of Human Resource Development has developed a framework for the establishment of National Commission for Higher Education and Research

• Indian economy in terms of purchasing power parity with an equivalent GDP of US$ 3.666 trillion is the fourth largest economy in the world after USA, China and Japan. In US Dollar Terms, it is the twelfth largest in the world, with a GDP of US $719.8 billion.

• The Indian economy is expected to expected to grow with more than or about five percent growth till 2050 as projected by BRIC Report (2003).

• According to the Eleventh Five Year Plan Document, only 2% of existing workforce in India has skill training, while the corresponding figures are 96%, 80% and 75% respectively for Korea, Japan and Germany.

• As per the 2001 census India has a BPL population of roughly 260 million and 300 million school dropouts in the age bracket of 6 to 16.

• In this country with the youngest population, nearly 13 million people enter the market every year.

Initiatives taken by the government of India:- Coordinated Action on Skill Development:-

• Coordinated Action on Skill Development is the major initiative for achieving 11 the Plan objective of inclusive growth through coordination and harmonization of skill development initiatives of different players. The action aims at creation of a pool of skilled manpower with adequate skills that meet the employment requirement across various sectors of the l1ational economy.

The main functions of the Council are:-

• To lay down overall policy objectives, financing and governance models and strategies relating to skill development.

• To review the progress of schemes, and guide on midcourse corrections, additions and closure


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of parts or whole of any particular programmed / scheme.

• Coordinate Public Sector private Sector Initiates in a framework of a collaborative action.

• The Council has set a target of creating 500 million skilled persons by 2022 with emphasis on inclusion so as to deal with divides of gender, rural/urban, organized/unorganized, employment and traditional contemporary work place.

National Skill Development Corporation:-

• The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC); a non profit company under Section 25 of the companies Act, has been set up under the Ministry of finance it has an equity base of Rs 10 crore which 49% is contributed by the Govt. and 51 % by the private sector.

Community information initiatives in IndiaName of the Project Coverage Institutions Involved

Akshaya Karla State Information Technology Mission

Bhoomi Karnataka Revenue Dept., National Informatics Centre

Community Information

North Eastern States and Jammu & Ministry of Development of North Eastern

Centres Kashmir Region, National Informatics Centre Digital Gangetic Plane Uttar Pradesh Media Lab Asia, IIT- Kanpur

Drishtee Haryana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Drishtee Ltd.

Rajasthan, Bihar

E-choupal Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh,

International Business Division of ITC Ltd.

Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan

Gyandoot Madhya Pradesh Gyandoot Samiti, National Informatics Centre

Rural e-seva Andhra Pradesh West Godavari District Administration

TARAhaat Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Developmental Authorities

Uttar Pradesh Village Knowledge Centres

600,000 Villages in India in 2007 Government Agencies and NGOs

Important Points Of Tourism In India1. Except for a very brief lull last year, the arrival of foreign tourists has maintained a steady

upward trend, and foreign exchange earnings from the sector were an impressive 11.7 billion


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US dollars in 2008. A sector that is perhaps the fastest growing tourism sector in the world sector that accounts for 5.92 % of India's GDP, provides employment to 49.8 million of her people and has the potential to bring prosperity to rural and backward areas.

2. India has over 150000 medical tourists each year and this figure is rising at a high pace. Currently, the medical tourism market in India is estimated to be worth over US$ 300 million with approximately. 170,000 foreign patients coming in every year. The reports estimating that medical tourist to India are growing by 30 per cent a year. This industry is enjoy such a massive vacation with elective or plastic growth that it is moving into a new area of "medical outsourcing”.

3. In a developing country like India, alternative medications like Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy have an important role to play in alleviating diseases both chronic and acute

Important Points Of Inflation• The causative factors at the initial stages were the sudden boom in global commodity--12rices

which transmitted to the Indian economy.

• The gradual accumulation of steam in inflation was now again led by commodity prices, but this time the push came from domestic causes. The government to its credit over the last few years has pumped in additional purchasing power in rural India through the NREGA and other better directed schemes. So the impoverished ends of villages are now demanding a better life chance, meaning more food. This is one of the reasons why food inflation refuses to go away.

Inflation Basics:-Inflation may be caused due to several economic factors:

• When the government of a country prints money in excess, prices increase as there is too much money in circulation chasing too few goods.

• Increase in production and labor costs have a direct impact on the price of the final product, resulting in inflation.

• When countries borrow money they have to cope with the interest burden. This interest burden may result in inflation.

• High taxes on consumer products can also lead to inflation.

• Demand pull inflation is when the economy demands more goods and services than what is produced.

• Cost push inflation or supply shock inflation is when non availability of a commodity would lead to increase in prices.

The problems due to inflation would be: • When the balance between supply and demand goes out of control, consumers could change

their buying habits forcing manufacturers to cut down production.

• Inflation can create major problems in the economy. Price increase can worsen poverty, affecting low income household,

• Inflation creates economic uncertainty and is a dampener to the investment climate, slowing


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growth and finally reducing savings and thereby cutting consumption.

• The producers would not be able to control the cost of raw material and labor and hence the price of the final product. This could result in less profit or in some extreme case no profit, forcing them out of business.

• Manufacturers would not have an incentive to invest in new equipment and new technology.

• Uncertainty would force people to withdraw money from the bank and convert it into product with long lasting value like gold, artifacts.

Migration Food Inflation• Food commodity driven inflation has become a persistent phenomenon and the corrective

measures involve concerted efforts over in extended period of time with public investments already hiked substantially in the recent years, there is now a need to pay attention to improve efficiency of such investment As area available agriculture and food production is going to shrink.

• Focus should be given enhancing the productivity of crops to keep pace with growing demand for food.

I. Focus should be given on enhancing the productivity of crops to keep pace with growing demand for food.

II. Overhaulting the PDS is another corrective measure which can be undertaken in the medium term.

III. Piling up of food grains in the granary beyond the stipulated levels is an avoidable proposition. Resorting to open market sales at specific intervals would help in both relieving the granary of excess stocks and checking the build up of rices in the domestic market simmultaneously.

IV. It is also logical to widen the scope of PDS by including more essential commodities like pulses, edible oils and sugar, to provide some protection to the poor against food inflation.

V. However, it is not clear wheather expansion in PDS coverage to inflation or it is adding to food inflation because of rising in subsidies and leakages in our delivery system.

VI. Resorting to food imports can help in checking domestic prices to make up the supply shortfalls, provided imports are plannes on time. Our past experiences with wheat imports turning costlier with international prices moving up with India's decision to go for import. We need to develop a system for getting advance information on demand and supply imbalances and tune our trade policy accordingly.

VII. As an immediate remedy, all steps to prevent hoarding and speculation in food commodities have to be expedited.

VIII. The States should be proactive to forego some taxes on account of interstate transport of commodities at least for the time being till the prices of inputs used in agriculture.

Important Points Of Water Resources In India• The supply-demand gap for water is projected to rise to about 50% by 2030, with demands

doubling from current levels of 700 billions cubic meters to around 1498 billion cubic meters, and supply barely reaching 744 billion cubic meters.


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• Even after years of work on Ganga and Yamuna Action Plans, and crores of rupees spent, we have not managed to clean up these rivers.

• The average annual rainfall in the country has been estimated about 1170 millimeters (mm). This, along with the, total snowfall and glacier melt in terms of Volume works out to about 4000 bil1ion cubic meters (bcm). However due to losses through evaporation and evapo-transpiration, the water availability in the country has been assessed to be about 1869 bcm.

• Even this available water cannot be fully utilized due to topographical constrainta and hydrological features and utilizable water has been estimated to be about 1123 bcm comprising of 690 bcm of surface water and 433 bcm of replenishable ground water.

Irrigation:-

• Only about 62 million hectare (mha) or about 44% of the cropped area in the country is reporteed as irrgated todya

Drinking water supply:

• The access to safe drinking water sources in urban areas of India was about 90% in the year 1990 and 93 % in the year 2000 and this has improved ed to about % by the year 200 ' n rural India access to safe drinking water sources has increased from about 58% in 1990 to about 73% in the year 2008

Hydropower:-

• India is endowed with estimated hydropower potential of more. Than 1500 mega watts. However, only about 21 % of the potential been developed so far and a further 10% being developed.

Flood Management:-

• The total flood prone area in the country has been estimated to be about 46 million hectares.

• A network of 175 flood forecast station is also maintained which provide reasonably accurate forecast to help in warning and advance actions to reduce the damages from incoming flood.

Challenges in Water Sector:-

• The per capita availability of water in 1951 was assessed to be 5177 cubic meter. Due to increase in population, urbanization and industrialization this has come down to about 1650 cubic meter.

The five goals identified for the National Water Mission are:-

• Comprehensive data base in public domain and assessment of impact of climate change on water resources.

• Promotion of citizen and state action for water conservation and augmentation.

• Focused attention to vulnerable areas including over-exploited areas.

• Increasing water use efficiency by 20%;

• Promotion of basin level integrated water resources management.

• The Ministry of Water Resources has taken up the development of a web-enabled Water Resources Information System in cooperation with the National Remote Sensing Centre of Department of Space

Improved Management:-

• 13th Finance Commossion has provided special water sector management grant of RS 5000


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crore for four years i.e., from 2011-12 to 2014-15, which is subject to setting up of a Regulatory Autority and avhieved the normatively assessed state-specific recovery of water chages.

Improving the efficiency of the Water facilites:-

• The National Commission for Integrated Water Resources Development has assessed that irrigation efficiencies from surface water in India can be improved from the present level of 35 to 40% to about 65% to about 75%. With the improvement in efficiency – both through efficient end water use as well as by improving the efficiency of facilities created for irrigation.

Two Scheme Of RRR Of Water Bodies Approved• Two state sector schemes for Repair, Renovation and Restoration RRR) of water body have

been approved by the government of India, the first one with external assistance with an outlay of Rs. 1500 crore and another with domestic support with an outlay of RS. 1250 core for implementation during the XI Plan period.

• Under the scheme with external assistance, the Union Government provides central assistance to the extent of 25% of the project cost whereas 75% state share is to be borrowed from the World bank by the concerned states)

The main objectives of the scheme are: I. Comprehensive Improvement of water bodies including restoration.II. Improvement of catchments area of water bodies.' III. Community participation and self-supporting system for sustainable management for water

bodies covered by the program.IV. Ground Water Recharge. V. Increase in storage capacity of water bodies.VI. Improvement in agriculture/horticulture productivity.VII. Environmental benefits through improved water use efficiency.VIII. Irrigation benefits through restoration of water bodiesIX. (X) Promotion of conjunctive use of surface and ground water/ X. (XI) Development of tourism, cultural activities, etc.XI. (XII) Increased availability of drinking water.

India After 60 YearsA Mathmatical Mind

• Algebra originated in India: Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi learned the technique of Indian mathematics and introduced it to the world through his famous book on arithmetic text, the Kitab al-jamwal tafriq bi hisab aI-Hindi ("Book on Addition and Subtraction after the Method of the Indians"), around 780-850 A.D The first use of algebraic transformation was described by Brahmagupta in his book Brahmasphutasiddhanta, where he first proposed solution of Linear Algebra and Quadratic Equation.

• The ancient Indian mathematicians were also very familiar with Trigonometry. Aryabhata in 499, gave tables of half chords which are now known as sine tables, along with cosine tables.


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He used zya for sine, kotizya for cosine, and otkram zya for inverse sine, and also introduced the versine.

• The largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas numbers as big as 10 to the power of 53 with specific names were used in ancient India.

• The Place Value System' and the 'Decimal System' were .developed in India in 1 00 B.C.

The Peace Loving Country• India never invaded any in her last 1000 years of history.India provides safety for more than

300,000 refugees originally from Sri Lanka, Tibet, Bhutan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, who escaped to flee religious and political persecution.

Iindia's Sporting Spirit• The game of Snakes & Ladders was create in Industry the 13th century poet saint Gyandev. It

was originally called 'Mokshapat'. The ladders in the game represented virtues and the snakes indicated vices. The game was played with cowrie shells and dices. In time, the game underwent several modifications, but its meaning remained the same, i.e. good deeds take people to heaven and evil to a cycle of re-births. It is also widely believed that some forms of Martial Arts were first created in India, and later spread to Asia by Buddhist missionaries. Yoga has its origins in India and has existed for over 5,000 years.

Challenges To India,s DemocracyDivisive tendencies:-

• In a country of over a billion people, Indian nationalism has for long survived the divisive tendencies of caste, crass, religion and languages. But recent past growing violence in the name of religion and sub nationalism has posed a great threat to the smooth functioning democracy in India.

Extremism:-

• There is an organized attempt by forces inimical to freedom and peace in our region to destroy Indian democracy by striking at the every roots of our nationhood. Over a period of time there has been a systematic effort to spread communal disharmony and conflict in India

• Unemployment The employment growth in organized sector, public and private combined has declined during the period between and 2006 and the situation has got aggravated during the last year due to the global financial crisis.

Regionalism:-

• This is the main weakness of Indian democracy today. A large part of the Indian politics has been reduced to 'Identity politics, be it caste, religious or regional identities, ~ and this brings divisive forces to play.

Illiteracy:-

• Literacy in India, says UNESCO, is an indispensable means for effective social and economic participation, contributing to human development and poverty India is one of the countries (along with the Arab states and sub-Saharan Africa) where the literacy levels are still below the threshold level of75% hut gigantic efforts a on to achieve that level. Without literate and well inform 'Citizens, no democracy can be participative in the true sense.

Corruption and nepotism:- This is another major problem in our country today. Many of us have simply accepted it as sad


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reality. But unless we are able to fight corruption, the benefits of development can never be shared equitably and democratically.

Important Persons Who Drafted Our ConstitutionSome names feature prominently when we talk about the framers of our Constitution. There are others who may not be remembered as widely, but their contribution to the entire process was immense. A brief on some such personalities:

• K M Munshi: Was one of the most prominent members of the Assembly. He was a member of several committees including the rules, steering and advisory committees. Went on to become a minister in the government and then the governor of UP.

• M A Ayyangar: A prominent member of the steering committee. Went on to become the speaker of the Lok Sabha.

• N Gopalswami Ayyangar: A member of the rules, business, drafting and several other committees

• Benegal Narsing Rau: Not a member of the Assembly, he assisted the assembly with his knowledge and erudition and also enabled the other members to perform their duties with thoroughness and intelligence by supplying them with the material on which they could work.' He represented India at the United Nations.

• N Madhava Rau: Was a member of the drafting committee.

• Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar: A was a member of the rules, drafting, union powers and several other committees. I

• Jairamdas Daulatram: Was a member of the advisory, union subjects, and provincial constitution committees. Went on to become the governor of Assam.

• Shankarrao Dattatraya Deo: Was a member of the minorities, and the fundamental rights sub-committees; besides, he actively participated in several other advisory committees.

• Shrimati G Durgabai: Was a member of the steering and rules committees.

• TT Krishnamachari: Was a member of the drafting committee. A businessman who went on to become a minister in the government.

• H C Mookerjee: Was vice-president of the assembly and member of the minority rights subcommittee and provincial constitution committee. Went on to become governor of Bengal.

• Saiyad Mohammed Saadulla: Was a member of the steering and drafting committees.

• Satyanarayan Sinha: Was a member of the steering committee and the provincial constitution committee. Went on to become the minister of parliamentary affairs.

• B Pattabhi Sitaramayya: Was a member of the rules, states, union subjects and provincial constitution committees.

BUDGETGovernments Investment For AAM ADMI

• Rs. 40,100 crore for Mahatma Gandhi Nation Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.


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• Rs. 48,000 crore allocated for rural infrastructure programmes under Bharat Nirman

• Unit cost under Indira Awas Yojana up to Rs. 45,000 in the plains and to Rs. 48,500 in the hilly areas.

• Allocation to Backward Region Grant Fund raised by 26% from Rs. 5,800 crore to Rs. 7,300 crore .

• Additional Central assistance of Rs. 1,200 crore for drought mitigation in Bundelkhand region

• Allocation for urban development up by more than 75% from Rs. 3,060 crore to Rs. 5,400 crore

• Allocation for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation raised from Rs. 850 crore to Rs. 1,000 crore

• Scheme for 1 % interest subvention on housing loan up to Rs. 10 lakh, where the cost of the house does not exceed Rs. 20 lakh, extended up to March 31, 2011

• Plan allocation for school education raised by 16%

• Plan outlay for Women and Child Development stepped up by almost 50%

• National Social Security Fund for unorganized sector workers to be set up with an initial allocation of Rs. 1,000 crore. This will support schemes for weavers, rickshaw pullers, bidi workers, etc.

• Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana benefits extended to all MNREGS beneficiaries who have worked for more than 15 day during preceding financial year

• Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyajana to meet needs of women farmers to be launched with Rs. 100 crore

• Plan allocation for Minority Affairs up by 50% from Rs. 1,740 crore to Rs. 2,600 crore

• Rs. 16,500 crore provided to ensure that public sector banks attain a minimum 8% Tier-I capital March 31,2011

• Indian rupee to get a symbol.

Highlights Of Economic Survey 2009-10• Economy likely to grow by up to 8.7sper cent in 2010-11

• Full recovery; return to 9 per cent growth in 2011-12

• Broad recovery gives scope for gradual stimulus roll back

• High double-digit food inflation in 2009-10 major concern

• Signs of food inflation spreading to other sectors

• Farm & allied sector production falls 0.2 percent in 2009-10

• Serious policy initiatives needed for 4 percent agriculture growth

• Moots direct food subsidy via food coupons to households

• Favours making available food in open market

• Favours monthly ration coupons usable anywhere for poor

• Gross fiscal deficit pegged at 6.5 percent of GDP in 2009-10

• India 10th largest gold holding nation at 557.7 tonnes


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• Exports in April-December 2009 down 20.3 percent

• Imports in April-December 2009 down 23.6 percent

• Trade gap narrowed to $ 76.24 billion in April-December.

• 32.5% savings & 34.9% investment (of GDP in 2008-09) put India in league of world's fastest growing nations.

• Initiates steps to boost private investment in agriculture

• Wants credit available at reasonable rates on time for private sector to invest in agriculture

• Slowdown in infrastructure that began in 2007, arrested

• Domestic oil production to rise 11 per cent in 2009-10

• Gas output up 52.8 per cent to 50.2 billion cubic meters with RIL starting production

• India world's 2nd largest wireless network with 525.1 million mobile users

• Virtually every second Indian has access to phone

• Auction for 3G spectrum to provide existing and foreign players to bring in new technology and innovations.

Scheduled Banking Structure In India

What Government Is Doing To Develop India's Infrastucture ?• The Eleventh Five Year "plan recognizes that adequate, cost effective and quality infrastructure

is a pre-requisite for sustaining the growth momentum and that investment in physical infrastructure would have to be increased from about 5 per cent of GDP during the Tenth Plan (2002-07) to 9 per cent Recognizing that improvement of GDP by the terminal year of the


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eleventh Plan period (2007-12)

• Infrastructure development is capital intensive and requires huge resources. However. public resources available for investment in physical infrastructure are limited, as social sectors have a priority in the allocation of budgetary resources. The strategy for the Eleventh Plan encourages private sector participation directly as well as through various forms of PPPs where desirable and feasible. It is expected that as in the case of telecommunications sector, competition and private investment will not only expend capacity but also improve the quality of service in Indian infrastructure.

• The Eleventh Plan has al made an assessment of the deficit various infrastructure Sectors and set targets for these sectors.

Infrastructure – Deficit and Eleventh Plan Physical Targeys

Sector Deficit Eleventh Plan Targets

Roads/Highways

65590 km of NH comprise of only 2% of network; carry 40% of traffic; 12.4% 4-laned; 50% 2-lanes; and 38% single-laned

6-lane 6500 km in GQ; 4-lane 6736 km NS-ES; 4-lane 20000 km; 2 lane 20000 km; 1000 km Expressway

Ports Indequate berths and rail/road connectivity

New capacity: 485 m MT in major ports; 345 m MT in minor ports.

AirportInadequate runways, aircraft handling capacity, parking space and terminal buildings

Modernize 4 metro and 35 non-metro airport; 3 greenfield in NER; 7 other greenfield airports

Railways

Old technology; saturated routes; slow speeds (freight: 22kmph; passengers:50 kmph); low payload to tare ratio (2.5)

8132 km new rail; 7148 km guage conversion; modernize 22 stations; dedicated freight corridors.

Power

13.8% peaking deficit; 9.6% energy shortage; 40% transmission and distribution losses; absence of competition

Add78577 MW; access to all rural households

Irrigation

1123 BCM utilizable water resources; yet near crisis in per capita availability and storage; only 43% of net sown area irrigated.

Develop 16 mha major and minor works; 10.25 mha CAD; 2.18 mha flood control

Telecom/ITOnly 18% of market accessed; obsolete hardware; acute human resources' shortages

Reach 600 m subscribers- 200 m in rural areas; 20 m broadband; 40 m Internet


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Status of Proposed UMPPs (Ultra Mega Power Project)

UMPPPower Procurer States

Company MW Project Cost (RS. Billion)

Tariff (Rs./ kWh) Status

Pithead UMPPs

SasanMadhya Pradesh

Delhi, Haryana, Up, Rajasthan, Gujrat, Maharashtra, Bihar and Jharkhand

Reliance Power

3960(6x660) 160 1.77

PPA signed.Commissioning expected in 11th / 12th Plan

Tilaiyadam

Delhi, Punjab, UP, MP, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujrat, Maharastra, Bihar and Jharkhand

Reliance Power

4000(5x800) 160 1.77

PPA signed.Commissioning Expected in 11th / 12th Plan

AkaltaraChattisgarh - - 4000

(5x800) 150 -Held up for land and water issues.

Sunderharh, Orissa - - 4000

(5x800) 160 -

Coal clock allocated, Land under evalution

Coastal UMPPs

Mundra,Gujrat

Gujrat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana

Tata Power 4000(5x800) 160 2.26

PPA signed. Commissioning expected in 11th / 12th Plan

Krishnapatnam,Madhya Pradesh

Adhra Pradesh, Karnataka, MP and Tamil Nadu

Reliance Power

4000(5x800) 200 2.33

PPA signed. Commissioning expected in 11th / 12th Plan

Girye,Maharashtra

Maharashtra, Mp, Rajasthan, Karnatka and Chhattisgarh

- 4000(5x800) 160 -

Land issues stalled the project

Tadri,Karnataka

Maharastra, Kerala,

- 4000(5x800)

160 - Land issues stalled the


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Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka

project

Cheyyur - - 4000(5x800) 150 - 4000

(5x800)Total 35960 1500

Priority Areas for Government:-

• Universalize secondary education.

• Eradicate all urban slums in 5 yrs.

• 50% reservation for women in panchayats and urban local bodies.

• Add 13,000MW power each year.

• Broadband coverage to reach every panchayat in 3 years, 40% rural teledensity in 5 years.

• Enact Communal Violence Prevention Bill for special action against communal violence

• Unique Id card for all citizens in 3yrs.

• 500 millions skilled people by 2022.

• FDI flows to be in banking and insurance. PSU banks to be recapitalized and regular for pension sector.

• Reach banks, schools and credit to minorites. Wakf reforms.

• Enlarge NREGA, converge other programmes, consolidate flagship programmes.

• National Counter-terrorism Center to be, up to counter Naxalities and Insurgents.

• Police reforms for participation of citizenry, community policing.

Telecome Sector: Ringing in new Era:-• The telecom sector in India has shown tremendous growth in the last few years. The Indian

Telecommunications network with 430 million connections (as on March 2009) is the third largest in the world. The sector is growing at a speed of 46-50% during the recent years. Following are csome of the milestones achieved and targets set:

Expansion of Network:-

• Number of telephones from 54.63 million on 31.03.2003 to 429.72 million on 31.03.2009.

• Wireless subscribers from 13.3 million on 31.03.2003 to 391.76 million on 31.03.2009.

• Fixed line subscibers from 41.33 millions on 31.03.2003 to 37.96 million on 31.03.2009.

• Broadband subscribers from 0.18 million to 6.22 million during the last 5 years.

• Tele density: 36.98% - Rural – 15.11%, Urban 88.84%.

• The Government has set a target for providing mobile coverage to 90% geographical area and setting up 500 million connections by the year 2010.

Rural Telephony:-


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• The fixed and WLL connections in rural areas reached 123.51 million in march 2009 85% of the villages in India have been covered by the Village Public Telephones (VPTs). This is in addition to more than 3 lakh PCOs in villages and 2772 Mobile Gramin Sanchar Sewak Scheme (GSS) – a mobile public Call Office (PCO) service- in 12043 villages. Internet service is being provided by Sanchar Dhabas (Internet Kiosks) in more than 3500 Block Headquarters out of the total 6337 Blocks in the country. The target of 80 millions rural connections by 2010 has already been met during year 2008 itself.

3G & Broadband Wireless Services (BWA):-

• The government has decided to auction 3G $ BWA spectrum.Allatment of spectrum has been planned through simultaneously ascending e-auction process by a specialized agency. New players would also be able to bid thus leading to technology innovation, more competition, faster roll out and ultimately greater chice for customers at competitive tariffs. The 3G will allow telecom companies to offer additional value added services. BWA will become a predominant platform for broadband roll out services. It ids also an effective tool for undertaking social initiatives of the Government such as e-education, telemedicine, e-health and e-Governance.

• BSNL & MTNL have already launched their 3G services.

ENVIRONMENTConcept of Carbon Footprint:

• Carbon footprint is a measure of-The amount of CO2 emitted through the combustion of fossil fuels; in case of an organization, business or enterprise as a part of their everyday operation; in the case of an individual or household as a part of their daily lives; or in case of a product or commodity in reaching the market. In other words, the total amount of GHG emission caused directly or indirectly by an individual, organization, events or products is called "Carbon Footprint" of that entity. A carbon footprint is expressed as tons of carbon dioxide (C02) or tons of carbon emitted usually on yearly basis. A ton of carbon dioxide is released when we for example travel 5000 miles in an airplane or drive 2,500 miles in a medium - sized car, or cut down and burn a tree that was about 1 foot in diameter and 40 foot tall.

Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Fossil Fuels Burning in Top Ten Countries, 2006

Country Emissions Share of Global Total

Million Tons of Carbon Percent

United States 1,656 19.8

China 1,480 17.7

Russia 437 5.2

India 391 4.7

Japan 342 4.1

Germany 221 2.6


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Canada 177 2.1

United Kingdom 171 2.0

South Korea 130 1.6

Mexico 123 1.5

All Other Countries 3,249 38.8

Global Total 8,379 100.0• Carbon footprint consists of two parts – The Direct/ Primary footprint and Indirect/ Secondary

footprint.

• The Primary footprint is a measure of direct emissions of CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels including domestic energy consumption and transportation (e.g. car and Plane).

• The secondary footprint is a measure of the indirect CO2 emissions from the whole lifecycle of products that are used. These are associated with their manufacture and breakdown. For a country the total amount of CO2 release is associated with the carbon foot print of the individuals and business houses that belong to that country.

• Carbonyatra.com, India's only carbon emissions news and information portal, launched the country's first carbon footprint calculator on 22nd August 2007. This will enable Indians and everyone worldwide to check, calculate and offset their carbon emissions and fight global warning.

Offsetting carbon and obtaining credits for reduction of carbon emissions by adopting "flexible mechanisms:

• Under Kyoto Protocol, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) members is divided into two groups: Annex 1 countries include mainly the OECD and eastern European industrialized countries and the Non Annex-l countries are the developing economic.

• Three emission trading based 'flexibility mechanisms' were adopted to help in minimizing the global economic cost of achieving The agreed emission reductions. They are namely:

• International emission trading that would involve the transfer of the Assigned Amounts Units (AAU) among the Annex 1 countries.

• Joint Implementation (JI) involves project based activities undertaken between Annex 1 countries.

• Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) involves emission reduction projects undertaken in non Annex- 1 countries. For each tonne of CO2 that an industry in the developing world saves by adopting cleaner technology or energy efficiency or shifting to non-conventional sources of energy generation, the United Nation's body on climate change gives a certificate called Certified Emission Reduction (CER) to the concerned industry. The company receiving the CER can sell the surplus credits (collected by surpassing the emission reduction targets) if any, to entities in the developed countries either immediately or through a future market at a price that is mutually agreed upon by both the parties involved in the deal. In the process the entities in the developed countries find it cheaper to buy "offsetting" certificates rather than achieving emission reductions in their own backyard.


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Networking India• A country that started off with just 54.63 million telephones in 2003 and a very poor teledensity

of barely 5.N-percent now has the world's second largest telecommunications network. In 1999 the government had set itself a modest target of achieving 4 percent rural teledensity by 2010.

At a present figure of about 26.4 percent, we have far surpassed the target.• The first and the most talked about one is the spectrum. In the electromagnetic spectrum the

human voice can travel easily only between 500 megahertz and about 3000 megahertz. Some years ago this seemed a lot of space but as a billion plus people got talking and more, this road too has got talking and so the government has wisely decided to auction the remaining space among the bidding companies.

Wireline and Wireless subscriber numbers

Year Wireline sub-scribers (million) Wireless sub-scribers (milillion)

March 2005 41.42 52.22March 2006 41.54 90.14March 2007 40.75 165.11March 2008 39.42 261.07March 2009 37.96 391.76March 2010 36.96 584.32

Mobile Market SharesService Provider Market share Dec 2009 (%)Bharti Airtel 22.6Reliance 17.9Vodafone 17.4BSNL/MTNL 12.9IDEA 11TATA 10.9Others 8.23

E-Government Projects In India Akashganga:-

• This project is being used at the Dairy Co-operative Society, Gujarat. The project uses IT to help rural milk producers by integrating all operations from .procurement of milk to accounting using DISK (Dairy Information -Services Kiosk). Akashganga has facilitated more than 1,000 villages,in 34 districts spread over 8 States covering 2,00,000 rural families in Gujarat and other states


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eChoupal:-

• This was established by ITC's Agri Business Division in June 2000. It was specifically designed to tackle the challenges posed by the unique: features of Indian agriculture, characterized by fragmented farms, weak infrastructure, and the involvement of intermediaries. In order to protect agriculture farmers from opportunistic practice of intermediaries, it provides farmers with information relating to farming equipments, weather, crop, and the like.

TKS (Tata Kisan Sansars):-

• The TKSs, or farm centre, provide end-to-end solutions, right from what crops to grow to how to sell .Them for the maximum returns in Maharastra unique concept in the Indian countryside, TKSs are changing the face of Indian agriculture and improving the quality of rural life. TKS provides farmers with services for optimum util1ization of nutrients, plant protection, chemicals, water, and seeds. TKS tracks key parameters such -: as soil, ground water, and weather on a real time basis with the help of Geographic information Systems (GIS) and satellite mapping technologies. Retail outlets at each Kendra are set u to sell products but are not made online.

TNCDW (Tamil Nadu Corporation for Development Of Women Ltd.):-

• The project IS aimed at social and economic empowerment of women m Tamil Nadu state. TNCDW maintains a database containing the details of citizens, births and deaths, land and revenue records.

Drishtee:-

• Drishtee is present in over 12 states including the north eastern states of Assam, Meghalaya,

• anipur, Arunachal Pradesh, .and Bihar, Orissa. UttarPradesh, Uttarakhand, Harvana, Tamil Nadu. It has also started to work in Africa along with partners. Drishtee is a revenue-generating platform for rural networking and marketing services that enable e-governance', education, and health service. The project provides online buying and selling facilities citizens through its e-commerce and agri-business services. It maintains the database of people as It Issues ration cards. The system tries to Jedress the grievances raised by the public and enhances customer relationship.

Gyandoot:-

• Gyandoot is an Intranet based Government to Citizen (G2C) service delivery portal commissioned in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh in January 2000.Gyandoot aims to create a cost-effective, replicable, economically self-reliant and financially viable model for taking the benefits of Information and Communication 'technology (ICT) to the rural masses. The goal of the project was'

• to establish community-owned, technologically innovative and sustainable information kiosks in a poverty-stricken, tribal dominated rural area of Madhya Pradesh. Kiosks have been established in the village Panchayat buildings.

Jagriti E-Sewa:-

• Jagriti E-Sewa was inaugurated in March 2003. It touches the rural life with activities from agriculture, financial, travel, and e-Government to communication services. The whole system can be adopted to any language in the least possible time. Jagriti is a platform for application of Information technology for the masses, with special focus on the needs of rural areas. Its activities, named as d-commerce (desi commerce), include both physical and electronic mode involvement.


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Lokmitra:-

• Developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) in Himachal Pradesh State, in order to make people aware of government policies an programmers, and also providing an interface to interact with various government functionaries and solicit their active and direct contribution in the process governance. Lokmitra maintains a database with details on public, such as address, contact number, age, driver license, etc.

Bellandur:-

• Develop by COMPUSOL, it is the India's first ICT enabled Gram Panchayat e-Government solution. Bellandur is situated about 20 km from Bangalore. All district offices, taluka offices, and gram panchayats are connected. Committee meetings

• are aired on cable television. The software handles records of property, tax collection, birth and 'death certificates, and other financial..

Janmitra:-

• Janmitra was launched in March 2Q.Q2_It is an Integrated e-platform that was implemented ill the Jhalawar district rajasthan and is replicated in the state of Uttaranchal. All sections and departments of collect orate are connected through Local Area Network (LAN) The main objective of the Jan Mitra project is to provide a single- window facility

• to citizens to access government work, various government procedures through computerization and use information and communication direct communication between the administration and the people to ensure transparent, accountable and responsive governance and make the right to information an effective tool in the hands of the rural masses.

eUttaranchal:-

• The project is aimed at bringing people of Uttarakhand state closer; with the purpose of enabling native’s to share their culture, tradition, news, and other thoughts from generation to generation. The Web site allows meetings and sessions in big cities' to small villages, with "general awareness meetings" in remote villages.

Telemedicine:-

• Apollo Hospitals provide super specialty healthcare to millions of rural Indians through this project. Telemedicine is the use of ICT to facilitate healthcare when patients and doctors are separated by distance. Using the software Med- Integra, patients and specialists can interact visually. It presently operates more then telemedicine centers in several states.

Lokvani:-

• Lokvani was conceptualized by District Magistrate Sitapur in September 2004. The project is a public12rivate partnership program that was implemented within the Sitapur district (88% rural population a1d 39% literacy rate) of Uttar Pradesh state.


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Gist of Yojana Magazine Part II

Documents

energy sector

energy efficiency

energy subsidies

energy prices

energy production

energy markets

indias energy requirements

indias energy demand