Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched Micro Unit Development and Refinance Agency, or MUDRA to fund and promote microfinance institutions (MFIs), which would in turn provide loans to small and vulnerable sections of businesses. Modi said these businesses would provide almost 10 times the jobs to that were being generated by big companies. MUDRA will have an initial corpus of Rs 20,000 crore and a credit guarantee corpus of Rs 3,000 crore. The initial corpus would be provided by banks from their priority sector lending shortfall. To be a Non-banking financial company (NBFC) and a part of Sidbi, MUDRA will later take the form of a bank through a Bill, which the government will present in Parliament within the next year, according to financial services secretary Hasmukh Adhia. With this, the long-awaited Bill on MFIs would not come and some of its provisions would be incorporated in the Bill on MUDRA, Adhia added. “It will also put in place an entire mechanism as to how much interest rate can be charged for the micro sector,” he said.
The issue had become quite contentious after the MFI sector faced a tough time, particularly in Andhra Pradesh when the state government tightened the noose on MFIs for recovery of loans in the wake of the over-indebtedness of the loanees. On whether MUDRA would regulate the NBFC (MFI), Adhia said, “That decision would be taken when the Bill will be framed.” He added the government was yet to take a call on whether MUDRA would be transformed into a universal bank. The Modi government is working on creating self-employment opportunities rather than conventional employment opportunities in the country.
—Prashant Tewari, Editor-in-Chief
The Supreme Court has struck down a sweeping law that allowed police to jail people for online posts thought to be offensive, with potentially far-reaching consequences for civil liberties and the right to free speech in India. After three years of protests by free speech campaigners and others, a bench comprising justices J. Chelameswar and Rohinton F. Nariman held section 66A of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, to be unconstitutional. “Section 66A is unconstitutional and we have no hesitation in striking it down,” declared Justice R.F. Nariman, reading out the judgment. They added: “The public’s right to know is directly affected by section 66A.” The apex court ruled that the controversial section 66A is “open ended, undefined, and vague” with every expression used in it “nebulous in meaning”. “Section 66A is cast so widely that virtually any opinion on any subject would be covered by it, as any serious opinion dissenting with the mores of the day would be caught within its net,” the court said.
Supreme Court looks to balance interests in Internet regulation. The ruling was widely welcomed by free speech defendants who have been at the forefront of a campaign against the provision that has been used by the police in recent years to arrest social media users for posting comments that others deemed offensive. “Internet as a medium is meant to be free and transcend territorial borders with minimal regulation and monitoring,” said R. Chandrashekhar, president of the National Association of Software and Service Companies, an industry lobby group. “The IT Act has well served the objective to provide the legal framework for data security and Internet laws in the country. The changes enabled by the Supreme Court judgment would provide a much-needed boost to the citizens of the country and help the objective of a digitally connected India.”
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has recommended the strengthening of sections 153A and 505 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) instead of modifying section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Section 153A of the IPC prohibits hate speech and punishes any form of action or communication that leads to disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will among people. The maximum punishment is three years in jail. Section 505, on the other hand, punishes statements that amount to public mischief. Both sections have ramifications similar to section 66A, but unlike it, are non-bailable offenses.
It is also learned that the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeiTY) supported the idea mooted by the MHA. The MHA’s recommendations hint at the possibility of heightened censorship, which was not what the panel set out to achieve, experts say. The Cyber Regulation Advisory Committee (CRAC) was formed by the MHA to study the Supreme Court’s judgment that called section 66A “unconstitutional” and “draconian”. Since the IT Act was originally formed to promote the IT industry, it should be amended to allow for preventive measures, it said. The WCD Ministry’s areas of concern are the cyber security of women and children. As part of its prescriptions for a comprehensive overhaul, it has mooted the idea of a green channel for raising cyber crime cases on a real-time basis, where the abusive content can be taken down immediately.
—Prashant Tewari, Editor-in-Chief
Halting the Modi juggernaut in its tracks, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday scored a landslide victory in the Delhi Assembly elections by winning as many as 67 of the 70 seats leaving BJP with only three and completely decimating Congress which drew a blank. In an election that was billed as a referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the AAP tornado threw veterans of both BJP and Congress into the electoral dustbin in their traditional bastions. BJP leaders accepted the defeat as a “setback” but dismissed suggestions that it was against the Modi government’s performance. The AAP’s feat was rarely achieved in any state in the past. Only once in 1989, the Sikkim Sangram Parishad won all 32 seats in the assembly. Former Revenue Service officer Arvind Kejriwal, the AAP mascot who spearheaded the party’s victory march, himself won the prestigious New Delhi seat by a margin of over 31,500 votes defeating the nearest BJP rival Nupur Sharma, a political novice. Former Minister and Congress veteran Kiran Walia was poor third with 4,700 votes and lost her deposit. The BJP’s humiliation was complete with its Chief Ministerial face Kiran Bedi losing in the traditional stronghold of Krishna Nagar which was long held by party veteran Harsh Vardhan. She lost by more than 2,000 votes. Congress’ CM candidate Ajay Maken also suffered a crushing defeat by a margin of over 50,000 votes at the hands of a novice from AAP Som Dutt in Sadar Bazar constituency and lost his deposit. Maken resigned as Congress General Secretary taking responsibility for the debacle. Those who bit the electoral dust included BJP leaders Jagdish Mukhi, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri and Krishna Tirath who had defected from Congress on the eve of elections and Congress leaders AK Walia, Harun Yusuf, Chaudhury Prem Singh and Raj Kumar Chouhan, who are all ministers and Mahabal Mishra, a former MP. President Pranab Mukherjee’s daughter Sarmistha Mukherjee also lost in her electoral debut on a Congress ticket in Greater Kailash. Kejriwal will be sworn in as Chief Minister on February 14, exactly the day one year ago he stepped down after 49 days in office.
The Aam Aadmi Party has set a record in India with the election that it swept in the capital. The party, fronted by Arvind Kejriwal, won 67 of 70 seats in Delhi, which is nearly 96 percent. The only other parties to have touched the 90 percent mark, in states that have more than 60 seats, are the National Conference and the Congress. In 1962, Farooq Abdullah’s National Conference won 93 percent of the seats in Jammu and Kashmir. In 1952, Congress won a little over 90 percent of the assembly in Uttar Pradesh.
—Prashant Tewari, Editor-in-Chief
Beginning 2005, good times prevailed in the real estate sector in India with the market peaking in 2007. The Indian real estate story, however, experienced a revision in 2008, with the recession slowly making its mark on the market. The revised market dynamic brought with it scope for speculation, a questioning of fundamentals and a bouquet of uncertainties for investment and development decisions.
The experience of the past year has apparently made it clear that there is an inherent need to understand cities as complete entities. The real estate dynamics within a city are determined by the socio-economic and infrastructure development of the city.
Delhi retains the number one position. New Delhi, the second largest metropolis of India, is its national capital. Located on the banks of the Yamuna River, it is one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world. The archaeological remains in Delhi stand testimony to the ancientness of this city. It has a rich history of being a capital of many Indian empires of the medieval period. Delhi is the proud home of many important government offices, most importantly, the Parliament of India. In the recent years, Delhi has attracted many immigrants, thus emerging as a cosmopolitan city. Today, it is a prominent political and commercial center of India. The Delhi-Agra highway joins Delhi to the beautiful city of Agra, which is a major tourist attraction. The world-famous Taj Mahal and many other great historical monuments like the Agra Fort, Fatehpur Sikri and Sikandara are located in Agra. In the epic, Mahabharata, it was mentioned as Paradise. The city is demonstrating the fastest transformation in the country, steadily moving closer to achieving the status of a global city by 2010 because of the Commonwealth Games. Some of the key developments enveloping the city include Delhi's Rapid Mass Transit System (Delhi Metro), which is operational in most parts of the city. By 2010, Delhi Metro will be world's second-largest network.
The Indira Gandhi international airport is being modernized with the introduction of new amenities to increase flight handling capacity. Road-widening projects are under-way, with dedicated efforts to make the ring roads- the main arterial roads signal free. Flyovers, underpasses, pedestrian walkways, high capacity buses, hotels and townships are the other elements that seem to dot the emerging cityscape.
Mumbai, a close second, scores better on the business environment index.
The city, however, loses to Delhi when it comes to the infrastructure index. The pace of infrastructure development in Mumbai has been slower, pushing down the city a notch. Capital city of the state of Maharashtra, Mumbai is the financial capital of India. Housing around thirteen million people, it is the second most populous city in the world. Mumbai houses the world-famous Hindi film and television industry, Bollywood. Important financial institutions such as the Reserve Bank of India and the National Stock Exchange of India are located in Mumbai. It houses the headquarters of several multinational companies and has thus become an important commercial and entertainment center of India.
Chennai, which ranks 3rd in the study, is the largest city in Tamil Nadu and is located on the south-eastern coast of India. Chennai is also called as the 'Gateway to South India'. Today, the city has gone through a tremendous change and is developing rapidly. Located on the Coromandel Coast of Bay of Bengal, this capital city of Tamil Nadu is the home of around 7 million people. It was established in the 17th century by the British and formerly known as Madras. Chennai hosts an international airport, two major ports and five national highways stretching to other parts of the India. Its contribution to India's exports of automotive products has conferred upon Chennai, the title, 'Detroit of India'.
Bangalore is known as the Silicon Valley of India because of its position as the nation's leading IT exporter. It is today Asia's fastest-growing cosmopolitan city. It is home to some of the most high tech industries in India. The IT industry views Bangalore as the 'byte-basket' of India. Bangalore is also home to some of India's premier scientific establishments. Officially known as Bengaluru, it is the capital city of Karnataka state and the third most populous city of India. Bangalore houses some of the most recognized educational and research institutes of India. Numerous public sector industries, software, telecommunication and aero-space industries are located in Bangalore. Its remarkable contribution to the Indian IT sector has made it the Silicon Valley of India.
Hyderabad, the fifth largest metropolis of India, is known for its rich history and culture with monuments, mosques, temples, a rich and varied heritage in arts, crafts and dance.
Hyderabad has developed into a major hub for the IT industry in India. It is the financial and economic capital of Andhra Pradesh. The city is the largest contributor to the state's GDP, state tax and excise revenues.
Kolkata is the main business, commercial and financial hub of eastern India and the northeastern states. It is home to the Calcutta Stock Exchange - India's second-largest bourse. Kolkata is the capital of West Bengal and one of the very important cities in India. It has been a center of education, industry and culture. However, it has undergone economic stagnation that continued till the recent times. It was after 2000 that the city witnessed economic growth. It houses the Salt Lake Stadium that is largest in Asia and the second largest in the world. The Indian Institute of Management, one of India's most prestigious management schools is also located in Kolkata. Victoria Memorial, located in Kolkata, is now a museum and remains a popular tourist attraction.
Trade & Industry in Kolkata plays a significant role in developing the economical condition of West Bengal. For the last couple of years, Kolkata is showing tremendous performance in the industrial sectors like information technology, real estate, electronics, apparel and plastic products.
Referred to as the 'Oxford of the East', the city has gained significance due to a large number of institutions imparting quality training across streams. Pune, by virtue of its strategic location near Mumbai and a successful regional setting, is an emerging economic hub for tertiary economic activities such as services, trade and commerce in the western region. The city is the second-biggest commercial centre in Maharashtra.
Post 2000, there was a spurt in economic activity in the city with IT/ITES, automobile and auto component industries being the primary growth drivers. The city has the distinction of having the first STPI unit in India. Pune is also the largest auto hub of India. The industry accounts for 54% of the total excise revenue collection of the district.
Ahmedabad is the commercial capital of Gujarat. Historically, Ahmedabad has been one of the most important centers of trade and commerce in western India. The city was once well known as the Manchester of India on account of its flourishing textile industry. The city is considered as a major industrial and financial center contributing about 14% to the total investments in all stock exchanges across India and 60% to the total productivity of the state of Gujarat.
The city is an industrial base for sectors such as chemicals, textiles, drugs and pharmaceuticals and agro and food processing industries. Four major industrial estates within the city's municipal limits, namely Naroda, Odhav, Vatwa and Behrampura, house various manufacturing, chemical and petrochemical products, metallurgy, food products, textile, paper, and leather companies. Prominent business conglomerates such as the Adani Group, Reliance Industries, Nirma group of industries, Arvind Mills, Claris Life Sciences, Cadilla Pharmaceuticals, Shell, Vadilal Industries Ltd, Rasna, Bosch Rexroth (Germany), Stork and Rollepaal (the Netherlands) have set up their operations in these industrial estates.
Surat, the second largest city in Gujarat, is a port city situated on the banks of the Tapti river. The city is largely recognized for its textile and diamond businesses. It is also known as the diamond capital of the world and the textile capital of India. Surat is also the third cleanest city in India after Chandigarh and Gandhinagar.
Chandigarh has moved up from 10th to the 9th rank in this year's EY City Ranking. Known internationally for its architecture and urban planning, it is the first planned city of India. The government is a major employer in Chandigarh with three governments having their base here. Chandigarh has a well developed market and banking infrastructure. Nearly all the major banks in the country have registered their presence in Chandigarh. The economy of Chandigarh depends for its revenue on the agricultural, industrial, animal husbandry, fishing, IT, and tourism sector.
The city houses over 15 industrial areas, 45 large and medium scale units and approximately 19,000 small scale units. IT/ITES have also emerged as a prime sector in the city. Being one of the cities of the Golden Triangle, it enjoys improved connectivity and accessibility, with the National Capital Region (NCR) and Agra, enhancing tourist footfalls. The upcoming bus rapid transport system, the Jaipur Metro and construction of a 12-lane ring road is expected to provide further impetus to real estate and economic development of the city. Three SEZs have been proposed around the city to cater to a vast array of sectors and variety of customised products. There is a 365-acre Export Promotion Industrial Park (EPIP) set up at Sitapura (Jaipur) provides manufacturing facilities to units in key sectors. The expansion of the Jaipur international airport is due for completion by 2015. The government is planning implementation of the Metro Rail project in Jaipur in consultation with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).
The city is expected to become one of the largest urban agglomerations (among the other Tier-II cities) in the country by the year 2011. With the upcoming Lucknow-Unnao industrial corridor proposed by the Lucknow Industrial Development Authority, the city and its surrounding areas are likely to experience a growth in industrial activities.
The proposed industrial corridor, to be developed on an area of 2,000 acres, is likely to see investments from national as well as international players. The upcoming metro rail network is expected to improve connectivity of Kanpur Road, Sultanpur Road and Faizabad Road with Hazratganj (CBD) and some other prominent corridors within the city. Elevated expressway is expected to improve connectivity with major centres such as Kanpur, Rai Bareilly, Sitapur and Sultanpur.
The Lucknow Development Authority and UP Housing Development Board in turn, are promoting affordable homes for the low budget buyer. The UPHDB is promoting the Integrated Housing Scheme wherein private developers will be permitted to develop hi-tech townships on 25-100 acres of land.
Coimbatore is one of the most industrialised cities of South India. The chief reasons behind the city moving up the ranking include infrastructure projects here such as widening of the narrow bridges and flyovers at crucial transport intersections, a ring road around the city and plans to upgrade the Avanashi road between Uppilipalayam and Neelambur to a four-lane road. IT space is also coming up on Dr. Nanjappa Road and Rajshree Itec on Avinashi Road. In addition to this, four IT parks are under various stages of construction; while more than 10 are proposed aggregating significant supply in the region
Bhubaneswar is witnessing substantial real estate development activity with national and regional realty players active in northern and western India reportedly acquiring land. Key players include DLF, Unitech etc. Prominent IT/ITES players in the city such as such as Infosys (46 acres), TCS (45 acres), Wipro (27 aces), Mindtree (20 acres) and Satyam (2 ment across the real estate spectrum, including residential, hospitality, retail and IT office spaces.
Infrastructure projects in Guwahati include the development of Inter-State Bus Terminus (ISBT) at Kathabari, a flyover project on GS Road near Vangagar, an international trade centre, and an athletics stadium at Saru Sajai. Modernisation plan is underway for the Guwahati airport (likely to be completed by 2010). On completion, Airports Authority of India plans to make Guwahati a hub for air connectivity.
Guwahati is among 50 train stations identified for development as world-class stations. The key real estate developments are seen along the Guwahati Shillong (GS) road, with most office space and retail (high street retail and large format malls) activities developed along this corridor.
Satellite townships are being planned around Guwahati using the PPP route to accommodate a growing population and ease pressure on the city centre.
he Corporation of Madurai (CoM) is undertaking construction of toll roads through PPP to decongest the city. It has constructed a 27km, two-lane Inner Ring Road (MIRR) between Kanyakumari Road and Melur road under the scheme. Infrastructure upgrade, such as robust e-governance and proactive urban governance, has eased approval timelines and increased operational efficiency.
City suburbs are being planned through participatory town planning schemes (TPS). Various IT spaces, such as Tidel Park, IT Park and software city, are planned by the state government, and are expected to augment real estate development across the city.
The key infrastructure drivers include the Kochi Port, which is set for an expansion with various green field infrastructure projects, including the Vallarpadom International Container Transshipment Terminal. The Kochi international airport was the first Indian airport to operate on a PPP model with multiple stakeholders such as the government, airline operators, financial institutions and non-resident Indians (NRIs). "Aerotropolis" is an airport based industrial park being developed by the Cochin International Airport 450 acres of land under the ownership of CIAL. The focus on developing Kochi as a centre for information technology has led to the development of the Thrikkakara-Kakkanad belt. The "Smart City" project at an investment of Rs17 billion estimated to create 90,000 IT jobs has been on the horizon since 2007.
The strong commercial base and manufacturing hub with several large format industrial parks, is attracting the attention of major corporate and foreign investors in the country.
Developments such as the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and Auto Testing Track in Pithampur, and IT Park at Khandwa Road are expected to provide further impetus to the growth of the city. The city also has several industrial clusters such as pharmaceuticals, textile, food, IT and auto components clusters. Key infrastructure developments include the upcoming AB Indore Bypass road that is expected to improve access to other major commercial cities (for example Mumbai) of the country, thus providing tremendous potential for real estate and industrial investments. The upcoming Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) is expected to enhance industrial activity around the satellite towns of Pitampura and Dewas region. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is undertaking the upgrading of the existing domestic airport to an international airport.
Nagpur has been the main center of commerce in the Vidarbha region Nagpur's economy is now recovering from past slowdown and city has attracted Rs 8,000 crore in investment post 2004.The city is important for the banking sector as it hosts the regional office of Reserve Bank of India, which was opened on September 10, 1956. Sitabuldi market in central Nagpur, known as the Heart of the city, is the main and major commercial market area of city. The Butibori industrial area is the largest in all of Asia in terms of area. The estate's largest unit is of Indo Rama Synthetics, which manufactures synthetic polyester yarn. Other units in Butibori include the power transmission company KEC, Hyundai Unitech, ACC Nihon Castings Ltd. Koradi Thermal Power Station and Khaparkheda Thermal Power Station are the two major thermal power stations located near Nagpur and operated by MSPGCL.
Amritsar is anticipating in-creased penetration of organised retailing in the next two to three years with a large inventory build-up of mall space distributed approximately across 10 malls. There are around 1012 upcoming hotel projects identified in and around the city, which are expected to augment the existing hotel room inventory across segments by 800-1,000 rooms over the next two to three years.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has replaced the 65-year-old Planning Commission, which he had accused of stifling growth with Soviet-style bureaucracy. The new body will give state governments a much larger say in crucial decisions, he says. The new National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) will act more like a think tank or forum, say its supporters, in contrast with the Commission which imposed five-year-plans and allocated resources to hit set economic targets. NITI will include leaders of India’s 29 states and seven union territories. But its full-time staff - a deputy chairman, Chief Executive Officer and experts will answer directly to the 64-year-old Prime Minister, who will be chairman. The opposition Congress mocked the launch as a cosmetic relabelling exercise - the new body’s acronym-based name means ‘Policy Commission’ in Hindi, suggesting a less bold departure than the English version does.
Despite being blamed by critics for the slow growth that long plagued India, the Commission survived the market reforms of the early 1990s, riling Mr Modi with its interventions when he was Chief minister of industry and investor friendly Gujarat. Mr Modi, elected by a landslide last year on a promise to revive flagging growth and create jobs, had vowed to do away with the Planning Commission that was set up in 1950 by Congressman and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. But his plans have been derided by the Congress party, which wants to defend the Nehru legacy and describes Mr Modi’s vision of “cooperative federalism” as cover for a veiled power grab.
—Prashant Tewari, Editor-in-Chief
The success in Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand have capped one of the most successful year of the BJP, which romped home with a thumping majority in May last. However, as the New Year begins, the proverbial six-month honeymoon period for the NDA government is about to be over. So, the focus now should be on governance. Experts say that there are three issues Modi has to keep an eye on: These issues have emerged as problem areas from the experience of recent months, they are far from irresolvable and not even remotely crises. Even so, they need to be addressed as quickly as possible. First, however one may explain it, the government’s pace of economic policymaking has been slower than expected. It has not helped that key legislations, such as those for enhancing FDI limits in insurance and opening up the coal mining sector, have been blocked or delayed by the Rajya Sabha. True, this has not always been the government’s fault. The BJP’s numbers in the Rajya Sabha are simply not large enough and the NDA is in a minority. Given the fractured nature of the Upper House, small but effective parties such as the Trinamool Congress and the CPI (M) have deployed a Duckworth-Lewis tactic of filibustering and punched well above their weight. They have disrupted the House and prevented voting on Bills. The Congress, actually much weaker and much more confused that its numbers in the Rajya Sabha suggest, has hidden behind these fringe parties and been happy to hurt the government.
Human exploitation is the industrial world is the biggest tragedy of recent times. From the factories exploiting children in the country’s biggest cities like Delhi and Mumbai to the hinterland of Odisha and Jharkhand where children are still illegally employed as bonded labourers, his organisation has rescued them in almost all parts of country. He has advocated for stricter laws against child trafficking and labour and met with mixed success so far. While growing up, Satyarthi has said he was concerned about the plight of child labourers around him and it finally prompted him to start an organised movement. His early attempts to raid factories employing child labourers met with hostile reaction from the factory owners and at times the police but the significance of his work was slowly recognised. He also played an important role in the movement for Right to Education law for free compulsory education to children. Several prestigious awards have been conferred on him, including Defenders of Democracy Award (2009-US), Medal of the Italian Senate (2007-Italy), Robert F Kennedy International Human Rights Award (USA) and Fredric Ebert International Human Rights Award (Germany) etc.
The national resources of the country are exploited by certain group of powerful industrialist with government tacit support. In August, while declaring the block allocation illegal, the court had remarked that they were done by an “adhoc and casual” approach “without application of mind” and without looking into aspects of “common good and public interest”. The allocations lacked “transparent procedure” resulting in “unfair distribution” of a “national wealth” – coal – “which is king and paramount Lord of industry”, the court had observed. The disputed coal block allocations to private companies were made on recommendations by a screening committee set up in 1992 to evaluate the merit of applications from such power-generating companies to run captive coal mines. The government companies were allocated coal blocks by the coal ministry through the government dispensation quota. Shares of metal companies like Jindal Steel, Tata Steel, Usha Martin and Hindalco fell in the stock market soon after the court order. Finally we are looking for justice for the common man to whom the countries resources actually belongs.
—Prashant Tewari, Editor-in-Chief
The rising number of violent incidents notwithstanding, the trouble-hit Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Elections have started its brush with the electoral process after six years. The first phase of the five-phase election is over on November 25. The results will be declared on December 23. Unlike other States of India, members of the J&K assembly are elected for a six year term as opposed to the common five-year format. The term of the 87-member Jammu and Kashmir assembly ends on January 19. The ruling National Conference (NC) is facing an anti-incumbency factor. NC has been in power for 3 full terms, while the PDP and the Congress have enjoyed little, each having shared 3 years in power from 2002-08. The BJP has never been significant (despite considerable support in Jammu) J&K is divided into its three major geographic zones, Jammu, Ladakh and the Kashmir valley. The more populous Kashmir region bags 46, Jammu 37 and Ladakh only 3 seats. In the past 3 elections (1996, 2002, 2008), J&K has always given an anti-incumbency mandate. Among others, issues that have dominated the electoral process in the state are the self-rule or autonomy for J&K, militancy, presence of security forces. Issues like development, unemployment, education, electricity and water are also crucial. The issue of unemployment among the youth poses a big challenge for political parties.
From the factories exploiting children in the country’s biggest cities like Delhi and Mumbai to the hinterland of Odisha and Jharkhand where children are still illegally employed as bonded labourers, his organisation has rescued them in almost all parts of the country. He has advocated for stricter laws against child trafficking and labour and met with mixed success so far. While growing up, Satyarthi said he was concerned about the plight of child labourers around him and it finally prompted him to start an organised movement.
His early attempts to raid factories employing child labourers met with hostile reactions from the factory owners and at times the police but the significance of his work was slowly recognised. He also played an important role in the movement for Right to Education law for free compulsory education to children. Several prestigious awards have been conferred on him, including the Defenders of Democracy Award (2009-US), Medal of the Italian Senate (2007-Italy), Robert F Kennedy International Human Rights Award (USA) and Fredric Ebert International Human Rights Award (Germany) etc.
In August, while declaring the block allocation illegal, the court had remarked that they were done by an “ad-hoc and casual” approach “without application of mind” and without looking into aspects of “common good and public interest”. The allocations lacked “transparent procedure” resulting in “unfair distribution” of a “national wealth” – coal – “which is king and paramount Lord of industry”, the court had observed. The disputed coal block allocations to private companies were made on recommendations by a screening committee set up in 1992 to evaluate the merit of applications from such power-generating companies to run captive coal mines. The government companies were allocated coal blocks by the coal ministry through the government dispensation quota.
Shares of metal companies like Jindal Steel, Tata Steel, Usha Martin and Hindalco fell in the stock market soon after the court order. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his first speech from Red Fort on Independence Day, announced that the government would replace the Planning Commission with a new body, bringing the curtains down on the 64-year old institution founded on the former Soviet Union’s command-style development model.
—Prashant Tewari, Editor-in-Chief
Nobel Peace Prize to Kailash Satyarthi is a recognition of three decades of his selfless service to protect childhood. He gave up his job as an electrical engineer to dedicate himself to protecting and advancing child rights for over three decades now, freeing 80,000 child labourers and giving them new hope in life. It is largely due to his doggedness and zeal that NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan has emerged as by far the most prominent child rights group in the country even as 60- year-old Satyarthi rose to become a global voice for the children’s cause. He has passionately argued that child trafficking and labour perpetuate poverty, unemployment, illiteracy and population growth.
From the factories exploiting children in the country’s biggest cities like Delhi and Mumbai to the hinterland of Odisha and Jharkhand where children are still illegally employed as bonded labourers, his organisation has rescued them in almost all parts of the country. He has advocated for stricter laws against child trafficking and labour and met with mixed success so far. While growing up, Satyarthi said he was concerned about the plight of child labourers around him and it finally prompted him to start an organised movement.
His early attempts to raid factories employing child labourers met with hostile reactions from the factory owners and at times the police but the significance of his work was slowly recognised. He also played an important role in the movement for Right to Education law for free compulsory education to children. Several prestigious awards have been conferred on him, including Defenders of Democracy Award (2009-US), Medal of the Italian Senate (2007-Italy), Robert F Kennedy International Human Rights Award (USA) and Fredric Ebert International Human Rights Award (Germany) etc.
In August, while declaring the block allocation illegal, the court had remarked that they were done by an “ad-hoc and casual” approach “without application of mind” and without looking into aspects of “common good and public interest”. The allocations lacked “transparent procedure” resulting in “unfair distribution” of a “national wealth” – coal – “which is king and paramount Lord of industry”, the court had observed. The disputed coal block allocations to private companies were made on recommendations by a screening committee set up in 1992 to evaluate the merit of applications from such power-generating companies to run captive coal mines. The government companies were allocated coal blocks by the coal ministry through the government dispensation quota.
Shares of metal companies like Jindal Steel, Tata Steel, Usha Martin and Hindalco fell in the stock market soon after the court order. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his first speech from Red Fort on Independence Day, announced that the government would replace the Planning Commission with a new body, bringing the curtains down on the 64-year old institution founded on the former Soviet Union’s command-style development model.
India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, inspired by the Gosplan-aided industrialisation of the Soviet Union, set up the Planning Commission in 1950. The dominant view at the time, drawn from Fabian socialism, backed the need for state-led planned industrialisation and development. For the first eight Plans, the emphasis was on a growing public sector with massive public investments in basic and heavy industries. The commission, housed at Yojana Bhawan a few hundred yards away from Parliament House, emerged as the government’s primary go-to think-tank for policy prescriptions. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as well as President Pranab Mukherjee both served as the Planning Commission’s deputy chairperson, the body’s topmost executive. The prime minister is the chairperson of the commission.
—Prashant Tewari, Editor-in-Chief
By cancelling 214 out of 218 coal block licences, allotted between 1993 and 1011, the Supreme Court has tried to correct a historic wrong. Of the 214 blocks cancelled, 190 allocations were done during the UPA administration between 2004 and 2011. The four blocks that have been spared are run by central firms, two of them allotted to ultra-mega power projects and two to state utilities. In August, the apex court had had declared these blocks illegal. Allegations about illegal coal block allotments first surfaced after the CAG in 2012 said that the government gave away as much $33 billion in windfall gains to companies by underpricing the allocations. The apex court also asked stateowned Coal India Limited to take over the operational blocks in six months. The allottees have been given a breathing space of six months to wind up, and the government has been allowed to auction these blocks again after March 31, 2015.
While declaring the block allocation illegal, the court had remarked that they were done by an “ad-hoc and casual” approach “without application of mind” and without looking into aspects of “common good and public interest”. The allocations lacked “transparent procedure” resulting in “unfair distribution” of a “national wealth” – coal – “which is king and paramount Lord of industry”, the court had observed. The disputed coal block allocations to private companies were made on recommendations by a screening committee set up in 1992 to evaluate the merit of applications from such power-generating companies to run captive coal mines. The government companies were allocated coal blocks by the coal ministry through the government dispensation quota.
Shares of metal companies like Jindal Steel, Tata Steel, Usha Martin and Hindalco fell in the stock market soon after the court order. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his first speech from Red Fort on the Independence Day, announced that the government would replace the Planning Commission with a new body, bringing the curtains down on the 64-year old institution founded on the former Soviet Union’s command-style development model.
—Prashant Tewari, Editor-in-Chief
If it was not happening for real and if it had not concerned India's principal opposition party and one of its most senior leaders, the rather unsavory dismissal of Jaswant Singh would have been seen as a kind of political farce. Mr Singh's book (Jinnah: India, Partition, Independence), released earlier, was in the news because of the raise it lavished on the founder of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah. In his book, Mr Singh described Jinnah as a great man who has been "demonised" in India. This praise for Jinnah was unacceptable to some senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders who disagreed with his assessment.
But regardless of the controversy, hardly anyone predicted that praise for Jinnah would lead to such an unceremonious outcome for the former defense finance and foreign affairs minister. Fury at Jaswant Singh has sparked protests by some on the right Mr Singh was not given even an opportunity to explain himself. It is not the first time the founder of Pakistan has come to torment the right-wing Hindu nationalist BJP. In 2005, the then-party president Lal Krishna Advani saw his political career almost coming to an end after he described Jinnah as a secular leader who stood for Hindu-Muslim unity. For the BJP rank and file, such comments from their leader were unacceptable and almost blasphemous. Partition is an emotive issue for many Indians and a majority of them - not just the Hindu right - have grown up believing that Jinnah was the architect of the two-nation theory based on religion. For right-wing nationalist organisations like the RSS - which provides ideological moorings to the BJP and wields considerable clout in it issues like partition and Jinnah's role in it are an article of faith.
They blame Jinnah and his Muslim League for the partition. By the end of 2005, Mr Advani was forced to quit his BJP post and though he did manage to claw his way back to the top rungs of the party leadership (he was the BJP's prime ministerial candidate in parliamentary elections earlier this year) he never fully regained his stature and clout. Jaswant Singh has not been so fortunate. While he will retain his parliamentary seat, his expulsion from the BJP could mean the end of the road in terms of power politics. The party is plagued by infighting, Mr Singh ruled out the possibility of apologising to the BJP leadership and regretted that they did not even bother to seek an explanation from him.
He was also critical of the manner in which BJP leaders resorted to what he described as "thought policing". But for the BJP top brass - which began a "chintan" or introspection meeting in the salubrious climes of the hill town of Shimla on Wednesday - the Jaswant-Jinnah issue is perhaps the least of their worries. Maybe that is why they have been able to take such quick and arguably not very well thought-out action. The other issues confronting India's principal opposition party are far more challenging, serious and fraught with far-reaching implications. Having lost two successive national elections in 2004 and 2009 the BJP is desperately trying to refocus, rejuvenate and reinvent itself. It needs to focus on issues that help it play the role of an effective opposition and win back the support of the people.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his first speech from Red Fort on Independence Day, announced that the government would replace the Planning Commission with a new body, bringing the curtains down on the 64-year old institution founded on the former Soviet Union’s command-style development model.India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, inspired by the Gosplan-aided industrialisation of the Soviet Union, set up the Planning Commission in 1950. The dominant view at the time, drawn from Fabian socialism, backed the need for state-led planned industrialisation and development. For the first eight Plans, the emphasis was on a growing public sector with massive public investments in basic and heavy industries. The commission, housed at Yojana Bhawan a few hundred yards away from Parliament House, emerged as the government’s primary go-to think-tank for policy prescriptions. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as well as President Pranab Mukherjee both served as the Planning Commission’s deputy chairperson, the body’s topmost executive. The prime minister is the chairperson of the commission.
Globally, Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, an Isis spokesman, defined the Islamic state’s territory as running from northern Syria to the Iraqi province of Diyala north-east of Baghdad, a vast stretch of land straddling the border that is already largely under Isis control. He also said that with the establishment of the caliphate, the group was changing its name to the Islamic State, dropping the mention of Iraq and the Levant. Through his campaign, Mr Modi had vowed to reboot the economy and deliver efficient governance -he said today “development for all” would be his mission. With its allies, the BJP now has over 300 of the 543 parliamentary seats. The stunning numbers provide incontrovertible evidence of the “Modi wave” that the BJP name-dropped for months. The twin headline to Mr Modi’s phenomenal win is the colossal defeat that he has enforced upon the incumbent Congress. Headed by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, the party has crashed to its worst performance with less than 50 seats after 10 years in power.
—Prashant Tewari, Editor-in-Chief
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