Gujarat CM Laid the Foundation Stone of the Statute of Unity

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on 31 October 2013 laid the foundation stone of the Statute of Unity-a 182-metre tall statue (World’s largest statue) of iron man Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on his 138th birth anniversary at Sardar Sarovar Dam site in Bharuch district in Gujarat.

 The Statue of Unity will be double of the height of the Statue of Liberty (93 metres) in the USA. 

About Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
• Vallabhbhai Patel was born on 31 October 1875 in Nadiad, a small village in Gujarat.
• Sardar Vallabhai Patel was an Indian freedom fighter and one of the great social leaders of India. 
• He is one of the leaders of the Indian National Congress and one of the founding fathers of the Republic of India. 
• After India's independence, he became the first Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of India. 
• He was the man behind the consolidation of 565 semi-autonomous princely states to form a united India.

Ireland set to Exit International Bail-out Programme

Ireland on 13 October 2013 announced that in December 2013 it would become the first member of the Euro zone, to exit an International bail -out programme. From then on, the Republic will borrow the money it needs, from the financial markets rather than relying on the loans, it was granted by Euro zone agencies and the IMF.

Ireland followed a four-year austerity programme that was sparked when its property bubble burst, tipping banks into financial crisis. Ireland can become an example of how austerity and reform policies can return crisis-stricken member states’ economies to health.
The Eurozone crisis (often referred to as the Euro crisis) is an ongoing crisis which has been affecting the countries of the Eurozone since late 2009. It is a sovereign debt crisis as well as a banking crisis and a growth and competitiveness crisis.

The Eurozone crisis took place because of the following factors, including the globalisation of finance; easy credit conditions during the 2002–2008 period that encouraged high-risk lending and borrowing practices; the financial crisis of 2007–08; international trade imbalances; real estate bubbles that have since burst; the Great Recession of 2008–2012; fiscal policy choices related to government revenues and expenses; and approaches used by nations to bail out troubled banking industries and private bondholders, assuming private debt burdens or socialising losses.

The Irish sovereign debt crisis was based on the state guaranteeing the six main Irish-based banks who had financed a property bubble. Irish banks had lost an estimated 100 billion euros, much of it related to defaulted loans to property developers and homeowners made in the midst of the property bubble, which burst around 2007. The economy collapsed during 2008.  Since government debt increased rapidly it was clear that the Government would have to seek assistance from the EU and IMF which resulted in a billion euros bailout agreement of 29 November 2010.

Union Government Launched the Inter Company LPG Portability Scheme

The Union government of India on 5 October 2013 launched the Inter Company LPG portability scheme in 24 cities across the country. It started with Bangaluru, Karnataka. The cities are Hyderabad, Patna, Dehradun, Faridabad, Kolkata, and Chandigarh among others. The scheme will not be launched in the five poll-bound states including Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh due to model code of conduct.

Under the portability scheme, a consumer can now opt for the distributor of his choice within a cluster of LPG distributors in the vicinity and across the oil companies. Presently, an LPG consumer is attached to a distributor and cannot change its distributor even he is unhappy with the service.

The consumers will be able to see the service ratings of all the distributors in their clusters and choose the one they want to based on service levels. This will usher in improvement in consumer service by the distributors as it will bring in competition in the cluster of distributors.

CCEA approves Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA)

October 5th, 2013

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved theRashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for reforming the state higher educationsystem.

Key features of RUSA in the 12th Five-year Plan

•  RUSA will have a financial outlay of Rs 22,855 crore out of which Rs 16,227 crore will be borne by the Centre.
• Besides this, Centre will also allocate Rs 1800 crore for the existing scheme Sub-Mission polytechnics.
• Total financial contribution from Centre, including the existing scheme of polytechnics, will be Rs 18,027 crore.
• Ratio of Centre-State funding would be 90:10 for North-Eastern States, Sikkim, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh andUttarakhand and 65:35 for other States and Union Territories.
• Spread over two plan periods, RUSA aims for improving access, equity and quality in the state higher education system.
• It also aims to incentivize States to step up plan investments in higher education.

What are the main objectives of RUSA?

The key objectives of RUSA are:

• Improve the overall quality of existing state higher educational institutions by ensuring adherence to the prescribed norms and standards and adoption of accreditation as a mandatory quality assurance framework.
• Rectify regional imbalances in access to higher education through high quality institutions in rural and semi urban areas as well as creating opportunities for students from rural areas to get access to better quality institutions.
• Establish higher education institutions in unserved and underserved areas.
• Improve equity in higher education by providing adequate opportunities to socially disadvantaged communities; encouraging inclusion of women, minorities, SC/ST and OBCs as well as differently-abled persons.
• Ensure adequate availability of quality faculty in all higher educational institutions and ensure capacity building at all levels
• Build an enabling atmosphere in higher educational institutions to devote themselves to research and innovation.
• Integrate skill developments efforts of the government with the conventional higher education system through optimum interventions.

Future grants to RUSA would be performance based and outcome dependent. Commitment by States and institutions to certain academic, administrative and governance reforms will be a precondition for receiving funding.

Indian Railways inks deal with RINL to build India’s biggest Forged Wheel plant in Raebarelli

October 5th, 2013

The Indian Railways inked an agreement with Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) to set up the country’s biggest Forged Wheel plant atLalganj, Raebarelli in Uttar Pradesh.

The Plant to be set with an investment of about Rs 1100 crore will manufacture 1 lakh Forged Wheels per annum in the first phase. The capacity of the plant could be enhanced to double in the second phase to produce 2 lakhs Forged Wheels. The factory likely to be operational in around 3 years, and would provide direct employment to 500-600 local people and an indirect employment opportunity to about 2,000 people.
The plant will bring down India’s dependence on imports of high speed forged wheels for trains. Forged wheels are stronger wheels required in the rolling stock for running longer trains at higher speed. The forged wheel factory will require about 50,000-60,000 tonnes of steel, which will be sourced from RINL’s plant in Vizag.

GoI appoints panel to define FDI and FII

October 5th, 2013

     Government of India set up a four member committee headed by Arvind Mayaram, Economic Affairs Secretary to clear the ambiguity between Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Foreign Institutional Investment (FII). The panel will look into the difference between them and it will also give definition of FDI and FII.

Finance Minister of India in his Budget speech (2013-14) had proposed to follow the international practice with regard to definitions of FDI and FII. He had said that if anyone investing in a company 10% or less is considered as FII and above 10% is considered as FDI.