PRIME MINISTER'S COMMITTEES AND COUNCILS

The Economic Advisory Council

The Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister was constituted on 29th Dec 2004 with the Chairman of Cabinet rank. Dr. C. Rangarajan is the current Chairman.

 

The Members of the Council are Dr. Saumitra Chaudhuri, (Economic Adviser, ICRA), Dr. Govinda Rao (Director-General, National Institute of Public Finance & Policy), Dr. Vijay Shankar Vyas (President, Asian Society of Agricultural Economists) and Mr. Suman K. Bery (Director-General, National Council of Applied Economic Research.) The members of the Council will have the rank of Minister of State.

 

Apart from advice on policy matters referred to the Council by the PM from time to time, the EAC also prepares a monthly report on economic developments at home and abroad for the Prime Minister. It monitors economic trends on a regular basis and bring to the PM’s attention important developments at home and abroad and suggests suitable policy responses.

 

PM's Council on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)

The Prime Minister had announced setting up of the Task Force in August, 2009 when representatives of prominent MSME associations had met him to highlight their issues and concerns. Accordingly, the Task Force under Shri T.K.A. Nair, Principal Secretary to Prime Minister was constituted on 2nd September, 2009 to reflect on the issues raised by the associations and formulate an agenda for action after discussions with all stakeholders. Its members included Member, Planning Commission, Secretaries of concerned Government Departments, Deputy Governor, RBI, Chairman and Managing Director, SIDBI and representatives of MSME associations.

 

The report provided a roadmap for the development and promotion of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). It recommended an agenda for immediate action to provide relief and incentives to the MSMEs, especially in the aftermath of the recent economic slowdown, accompanied by institutional changes and detailing of programmes, to be achieved in a time bound manner. In addition, it suggested setting up of appropriate legal and regulatory structures to create a conducive environment for entrepreneurship and growth of micro, small and medium enterprises in the country.

 

Subsequently, the Prime Minister’s Council on MSMEs was formed on 7th April, 2010 to lay down broad policy guidelines and review the development of the MSME sector.  The Council shall meet once a year.

 

A steering group has also been put into place comprising of Secretaries to the Ministries of MSME, Finance, Labour etc. This steering group has already met in April and reviewed the progress of implementation of the recommendations of the Task Force.

 

PM's Council on Trade and Industry

The newly reconstituted Prime Minister’s Council on Trade & Industry held its first meeting on 26th May, 2010. The Council held discussions on wide-ranging issues. It was decided to form Sub Committees comprising of the Members of the Council to discuss and formulate their recommendations to the Government on the following issues:
(i) Skill development, Affirmative Action and Corporate Social Responsibility;
(ii) Enhancing Agriculture Production and Food Security;
(iii) Promoting Public Private Partnership especially in R&D and clean energy;
(iv) Promoting Financial Inclusion; and
(v) Backward and Tribal Area Development.

PM's Council on Climate Change

Constituted on 6th June 2008, a committee chaired by the Prime Minister called Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change will coordinate national action for assessment, adaptation and mitigation of climate change. 

 

The Committee would focus on the following tasks:

 

a)     Evolve a coordinated response to issues relating to climate change at the national level ;

b)     Provide oversight for formulation of action plans in the area of assessment, adaptation and mitigation of climate change;

c)     Periodically monitor key policy decisions. 

 

The committee would be serviced by the Prime Minister's Office, which may obtain assistance as required from any Ministry/ Department/ Agency of Government. Specifically, the Ministry of Environment and Forests will assist PMO in facilitating the work of this Committee.

 

PM's National Council on Skill Development

The Prime Minister's National Council on Skill Development was  constituted on 1st July 2008 in pursuance of the decision of the Cabinet at its meeting held on 15th May 2008 on "Coordinated Action for Skill Development and setting up of the National Skill Development Corporation".

 

The Council is at the apex of a three-tier structure and would be concerned with vision setting and laying down core strategies. The Council would be assisted by the National Skill Development Coordination Board chaired by the Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission which will  coordinate action for skill development both in the public and the private sector.

 

To promote private sector action for skill development, an institutional arrangement in the form of a non-profit corporation called the National Skill Development Corporation is being set up by the Ministry of Finance. The Chairperson of the National Skill Development Corporation, a non- profit corporation to be set up by the Ministry of Finance would also be a  Member of the Council.

 

The Trade and Economic Relations Committee

Constituted on 3rd May 2005, the Trade & Economic Relations Committee is an institutional mechanism for evolving the extent, scope and operational parameters of our economic relations with other countries in a coordinated and synchronized manner.

  The Committee is serviced by the Prime Minister’s Office, which may obtain assistance as required from any Ministry/Department/Agency of Government.

 

PM's National Council on India's Nutrition Challenges

The Government has decided to constitute a Prime Minister's National Council on India's Nutrition Challenges for (a) policy direction (b) review and (c) effective coordination between Ministries which all will have a sectoral responsibility for the challenge of nutrition.

Council of Ministers

Cabinet Ministers

Serial Number	Portfolio	Name of Minister
1.	Prime Minister Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Ministry of Planning Department of Atomic Energy Department of Space	Dr. Manmohan Singh
2.	Minister of Railways	Shri Pawan Kumar Bansal
3.	Minister of Finance	Shri Palaniappan Chidambaram
4.	Minister of Agriculture Minister of Food Processing Industries	Shri Sharad Chandra Govindrao Pawar
5.	Minister of Defence	Shri A.K. Antony
6.	Minister of Home Affairs	Shri Sushil Kumar Sambhajirao Shinde
7.	Minister of External Affairs	Shri Salman Khurshid
8.	Minister of Science and Technology Minister of Earth Sciences	Shri Jaipal Sudini Reddy
9.	Minister of Health and Family Welfare	Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad
10.	Minister of New and Renewable Energy	Dr. Farooq Abdullah
11.	Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas	Dr.(Shri) M. Veerappa Moily
12.	Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs	Shri Vayalar Ravi
13.	Minister of Civil Aviation	Shri Ajit Singh
14.	Minister of Labour and Employment	Shri Mallikarjun Kharge
15.	Minister of Human Resource Development	Dr. M. Mangapati Pallam Raju
16.	Minister of Communications and Information Technology	Shri Kapil Sibal
17.	Minister of Commerce Industry and Minister of Textiles	Shri Anand Sharma
18.	Minister of Road Transport and Highways	Shri C. P. Joshi
19.	Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation	Shri Ajay Maken
20.	Minister of Culture	Smt. Chandresh Kumari Katoch
21.	Minister of Shipping	Shri G.K. Vasan
22.	Minister of Urban Development Minister of Parliamentary Affairs	Shri Kamal Nath
23.	Minister of Water Resources	Shri Harish Rawat
24.	Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment	Kumari Selja
25.	Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers	Shri M. K. Alagiri
26.	Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises	Shri Praful Manoharbhai Patel
27.	Minister of Coal	Shri Sriprakash Jaiswal
28.	Minister of Law and Justice	Ashwani Kumar, Shri
29.	Minister of Minority Affairs	Khan, Shri K. Rahman
30.	Ministry of Mines	Shri Dinsha J. Patel
31.	Minister of Tribal Affairs Minister of Panchayati Raj	Shri V. Kishore Chandra Deo
32.	Minister of Steel	Shri Beni Prasad Verma
33.	Minister of Rural Development	Shri Jairam Ramesh

Ministers of State with Independent Charge

Serial Number	Portfolio	Name of Minister
1.	Ministry of Women and Child Development	Smt. Krishna Tirath
2.	Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports	Shri Jitendra Singh
3.	Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution	Prof. Kuruppassery Varkey Thomas
4.	Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation	Shri Srikant Kumar Jena
5.	Ministry of Environment and Forests	Smt. Jayanthi Natarajan
6.	Minister of Information and Broadcasting	Shri Manish Tewari
7.	Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region	Shri Paban Singh Ghatowar
8.	Minister of Tourism	Chiranjeevi, Dr. K.
9.	Minister of Drinking Water and Sanitation	Shri Bharatsinh Madhavsinh Solanki
10.	Minister of Power	Shri Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia
11.	Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises	Shri K.H. Muniyappa
12.	Minister of Corporate Affairs	Shri Sachin Pilot

Ministers of State

Serial Number	Portfolio	Name of Minister
1.	Ministry of External Affairs	Shri E. Ahamed
2.	Ministry of Health and Family Welfare	Shri S. Gandhiselvan
3.	Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment	Shri D. Napoleon
4.	Ministry of Human Resource Development	Shri Jitin Prasada
5.	Ministry of Human Resource Development	Dr. Shashi Tharoor
6.	Ministry of Home Affairs	Shri Ramachandran Mullappally
7.	Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Prime Minister Office	Shri V. Narayanasamy
8.	Ministry of Commerce and Industry	Smt. Daggubati Purandeswari
9.	Ministry of Railways	Shri Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury
10.	Ministry of Railways	Shri Kotla Jaya Surya Prakash Reddy
11.	Ministry of Textiles	Smt. Lakshmi Panabaka
12.	Ministry of Finance	Shri Namo Narain Meena
13.	Ministry of Finance	Shri S.S. Palanimanickam
14.	Ministry of Road Transport and Highways	Shri Sathyanarayana Sarvey
15.	Ministry of External Affairs	Smt. Preneet Kaur
16.	Ministry of Agriculture Ministry of Food Processing Industries	Dr. Charan Das Mahant
17.	Ministry of Agriculture Ministry of Food Processing Industries	Tariq Anwar, Shri
18.	Ministry of Tribal Affairs	Smt. Ranee Narah
19.	Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment	Shri Porika Balram Naik
20.	Ministry of Health and Family Welfare	Shri Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury
21.	Ministry of Road Transport and Highways	Shri Tushar Amarsinh Chaudhary
22.	Ministry of Communications and Information Technology	Shri Milind Murli Deora
23.	Ministry of Communications and Information Technology	Dr. (Smt.) Kruparani Killi
24.	Ministry of Coal	Shri Pratik Prakashbapu Patil
25.	Ministry of Minority Affairs	Shri Ninong Ering
26.	Ministry of Rural Development	Shri Pradeep Kumar Jain Aditya
27.	Ministry of Home Affairs	Shri Ratanjit Pratap Narain Singh
28.	Ministry of Planning Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs	Shri Rajeev Shukla
29.	Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers	Shri Srikant Kumar Jena
30.	Minister of Urban Development	Smt. Deepa Dasmunsi
31.	Minister of Labour and Employment	Shri Suresh Kodikunnil
32.	Minister of New and Renewable Energy	Shri S. Jagathrakshakan
33.	Minister of Civil Aviation	Shri K. C. Venugopal
34.	Minister of Parliamentary Affairs	Shri Paban Singh Ghatowar
35.	Ministry of Defence	Shri Jitendra Singh
36.	Ministry of Defence	Shri Lalchand Kataria

V Narayan Murthy honoured with 2012 Hoover Medal

V. Narayan Murthy was honoured with 2012 Hoover Medal at the Global Humanitarian Technology Conference in Seattle in Washington on 22 October 2012. Murthy, who is the 70th recipient since the medal's inception, was recognized for establishing a foundation that forges outstanding improvements in healthcare, social rehabilitation, rural uplift and education. Previous awardees include former US presidents Herbert Hoover, Dwight D. Eisenhower and James Earl Carter.
Narayan Murthy co-founded Infosys limited in 1981. He contributed significantly in India's success in information technology outsourcing.

The Hoover Medal was established in 1930 to recognize great, unselfish, non-technical services by engineers to humanity. The Infosys Science Foundation was established in 2009 to promote science research in India.

The Hoover Medal is administered by a board representing five engineering organizations: The American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

Gov. of Bangladesh Awarded Babu Jagjivan Ram with Friends of Liberation War Honour

Former Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister of India, Babu Jagjivan Ram was awarded with the Friends of Liberation War Honour by the Government of Bangladesh for his contribution in the 1971 War.

He was given the honour by the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina and President of Bangladesh, Mohammad. Zillur Rahman.

The award was received by Babuji's grandson, Anshul Avijit at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka. Anshul Avijit, is a journalist and academician and also the son of Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Meira Kumar.

Babu Jagjivan Ram as the Defence Minister and chief strategist of India in 1971, helped in liberation of Bangladesh. He assured that the war for liberation of Bangladesh ended in the remarkably short time of 13 days.

 He was among the remarkable figure that had helped in creation of the Joint Command of Bangladesh and the Indian forces for the final outrage which led to the victory.

An Insight into Political Career of Babu Jagjivan Ram

Babu Jagjivan Ram was born near Arrah in Bhojpur district of Bihar in 1908 and had joined the freedom struggle while student in BHU in Benares and at Calcutta University.

• He as a freedom fighter founded the All India Depressed Classes League.

• He was the youngest serving member of Jawaharlal Nehru’s Interim Government of 1946 as the Minister of Labour and had also hold a number of critical portfolios including Agriculture, Railways, Communications and Defence.

• He holds the record for having an uninterrupted Parliamentary career that spanned almost half a century – from 1936 as a member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly to 1986 as a member of the Eighth Lok Sabha.

Sharmila Tagore gets honorary degree from Edinburgh University

Veteran actress Sharmila Tagore on 25 October 2012 was Awarded with an Honorary Doctorate of Arts for her outstanding contribution to Indian cinema by the Edinburgh Napier University. The Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University Dame Joan Stringer called her as an excellent ambassador for the Indian Culture.

Sharmila Tagore whose films are appreciated and enjoyed all over the world is also a strong advocate of educational rights of Indian children. At present, she is a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF that is working for literacy, maternal health and AIDS-related issues and is also an active spokesperson for Indian Children Child Rights and YOU (CRY).

The University stressed its strong links with India and Indian Culture and pointed out that to promote and establish a relationship with Indian culture, philosophy, education, art and literature it has created a Scottish Center for Tagore Studies (ScoTs), which highlights the legacy of Rabindranath Tagore the first Asian, who won a Nobel Prize for Literature in the Year 1913. This study center is first of its kind in United Kingdom.

The 67 year old Indian actress announced that her recognition and honour from the University proves the role of Indian Cinema and its cultural influence across the world.

Career of Sharmila Tagore in the Indian Film Industry
Sharmila Tagore started her career as an actress in 1959 with Satyajit Ray's Bengali film Apur Sansar (The World of Apu). Some more films of Sharmila Tagore includes Kashmir Ki Kali in 1964, Evening in Paris in 1967, Aradhana in 1969 and Amar Prem in 1972, Safar in 1970, Daag in 1973, Maalik in 1972and many more. For Mausam,a film directed By Gulzar based on the novel named The Judas Tree by A.J. Conin, she won the National Film Award for Best Actress in 1976 and received the Silver Lotus Award at the 23rd National Film Festival for this film.

Awards and Honours
•    Filmfare Best Actress Award for Aradhana in 1969
•    Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress Award for Safar in the year 1970
•    National Film Award for Best Actress in 1976 for her role in the movie Mausam
•    Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997
•    Star Screen Lifetime Achievement Award in the year 2002
•    National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for Abar Aranye in the year 2004
•    Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters of France in 2004
•    In the year 2006 was nominated for Filmfare Best Actress Award in Viruddh- Family Comes First
•    Lifetime Achievement National Award (Actress) in the year 2007 honoured by Journalist Association of India
•    In 2011was awarded with Outstanding Achievement in Indian cinema at Floriana IIFA Awards, Toronto

Sharmila Tagore has also served the Central Board of Film Certification in India as its Chairperson.

Approval of National Policy on Electronics 2012

The Union Cabinet today approved the National Policy on Electronics 2012. The draft National Policy on Electronics was released for public consultation and it has now been finalized based on comments from various stakeholders.

India is one of the fastest growing markets of electronics in the world. There is potential to develop the Electronic System and Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) sector to meet our domestic demand as well as to use the capabilities so created to successfully export ESDM products from the country. The National Policy on Electronics aims to address the issue with the explicit goal of transforming India into a premier ESDM hub.

The strategies include setting up of a National Electronics Mission with industry participation and renaming the Department of Information Technology as Department of Electronics and Information Technology (Deity). The Department has since been renamed on February 26, 2012.

The policy is expected to create an indigenous manufacturing eco-system for electronics in the country. It will foster the manufacturing of indigenously designed and manufactured chips creating a more cyber secure ecosystem in the country. It will enable India to tap the great economic potential that this knowledge sector offers. The increased development and manufacturing in the sector will lead to greater economic growth through more manufacturing and consequently greater employment in the sector.

The Policy envisages that a turnover of USD 400 billion will create an employment for two million people.

ESDM is of strategic importance as well. Not only in internal security and defence, the pervasive deployment of electronics in civilian domains such as telecom, power, railways, civil aviation, etc. can have serious consequences of disruption of service. This renders tremendous strategic importance to the sector. The country, therefore, cannot be totally dependent on imported electronic components and products.

The key objectives of the Policy are:

(i) To create an eco-system for a globally competitive Electronic System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) sector in the country to achieve a turnover of about USD 400 billion by 2020 involving investment of about USD 100 billion and employment to around 28 million people at various levels.

(ii) To build on the emerging chip design and embedded software industry to achieve global leadership in Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI), chip design and other frontier technical areas and to achieve a turnover of USD 55 billion by 2020.

(iii) To build a strong supply chain of raw materials, parts and electronic components to raise the indigenous availability of these inputs from the present 20-25 per cent to over 60 per cent by 2020.

(iv) To increase the export in ESDM sector from USD 5.5 billion to USD 80 billion by 2020.

(v) To significantly enhance availability of skilled manpower in the ESDM sector. Special focus for augmenting postgraduate education and to produce about 2500 PhDs annually by 2020.

(vi) To create an institutional mechanism for developing and mandating standards and certification for electronic products and services to strengthen quality assessment infrastructure nationwide.

(vii) To develop an appropriate security ecosystem in ESDM.

(viii) To create long-term partnerships between ESDM and strategic and core infrastructure sectors - Defence, Atomic Energy, Space, Railways, Power, Telecommunications, etc.

(ix) To become a global leader in creating Intellectual Property (IP) in the ESDM sector by increasing fund flow for R&D, seed capital and venture capital for start-ups in the ESDM and nanoelectronics sectors.

(x) To develop core competencies in strategic and core infrastructure sectors like telecommunications, automotive, avionics, industrial, medical, solar, Information and Broadcasting, Railways, etc through use of ESDM in these sectors.

(xi) To use technology to develop electronic products catering to domestic needs, including rural needs and conditions, as well as international needs at affordable price points.

(xii) To become a global leader in the Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) segment by promoting progressive higher value addition in manufacturing and product development.

(xiii) To expedite adoption of best practices in e-waste management.

(xiv) To source, stockpile and promote indigenous exploration and mining of rare earth metals required for manufacture of electronic components.

To achieve these objectives, the policy proposes the following strategies:

(i) Creating eco-system for globally competitive ESDM sector: The strategies include provision of fiscal incentives for investment, setting up of electronic manufacturing clusters, preferential market access to domestically manufactured electronic products, setting up of semiconductor wafer fabrication facilities, industry friendly and stable tax regime. Based on Cabinet approval, a high level Empowered committee has been constituted to identify and shortlist technology and investors for setting up two semiconductor wafer manufacturing fabrication facilities. Based on another Cabinet approval a policy for providing preference to domestically manufactured electronic goods has been announced. Separate proposals have also been considered by the Cabinet for approval of Modified Special Incentive Package for the ESDM Sector and for setting up of Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMCs).

(ii) Promotion of Exports: The strategies include aggressive marketing of India as an investment destination and providing incentives for export,

(iii) Human Resource Development: The strategies include involvement of private sector, universities and institutions of learning for scaling up of requisite capacities at all levels for the projected manpower demand. A specialized Institute for semiconductor chip design is also proposed.

(iv) Developing and mandating standards to curb inflow of sub-standard and unsafe electronic products by mandating technical and safety standards which conform to international standards.

(v) Cyber security: To create a complete secure cyber eco-system in the country, through suitable design and development of indigenous appropriate products through frontier technology/product oriented research, testing and validation of security of products.

(vi) Strategic electronics: The strategies include creating long-term partnerships between domestic ESDM industry and strategic sectors for sourcing products domestically and providing Defense Offset obligations for electronic procurements through ESDM products.

(vii) Creating ecosystem for vibrant innovation and R&D in the ESDM sector including nanoelectronics. The strategy includes creation of an Electronic Development Fund.

(viii) Electronics in other sectors: The strategy includes supporting and : developing expertise in the electronics in the following sectors of economy: automotive, avionics, Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs), Industrial, medical, solar photovoltaics, Information and Broadcasting, Telecommunications, Railways, Intelligent Transport Systems, and Games and Toys.

(ix) Handling e-waste: The strategy includes various initiatives to facilitate environment friendly e-waste handling policies.

Background:

The Electronics industry reported at USD 1.75 trillion is the largest and fastest growing manufacturing industry in the world. It is expected to reach USD 2.4 trillion by 2020. The demand in the Indian market was USD 45 billion in 2008-09 and is expected to reach USD 400 billion by 2020. Domestic demand is expected to be driven by growth in income levels leading to higher off-take of electronics products, automation demands of corporate sector and the government`s focus on e-governance. The domestic production in 2008-09 was about USD 20 billion. However, the actual value-addition in the domestically produced electronic product is very low, ranging between 5 to 10 percent in most cases. At the current rate of growth, domestic production can cater to a demand of USD 100 billion in 2020 as against a demand of USD 400 billion and the rest would have to be met by imports. This aggregates to a demand supply gap of nearly USD 300 billion by 2020. Unless the situation is corrected, it is likely that by 2020, electronics import may far exceed oil imports. This fact goes unnoticed because electronics, as a "meta resource" forms a significant part of all machines and equipment imported, which are classified in their final sectoral forms, for example, automobiles, aviation, health equipment, media and broadcasting, defence armaments, etc.

Electronics is characterized by high velocity of technological change. Consequently the life cycle of products is declining. As a result, the value of design and development in the product has increased quite significantly. Given India`s growing strength in chip design and embedded software, the increasing importance of design in product development has potential to make India a favoured destination for ESDM.

Electronic components, which are the basis of an electronic product, are low volume-low weight, cheap and easy to transport across the globe. Moreover, under the Information Technology Agreement-1 (ITA-1) of the World Trade Organization (WTO), which came into force in 1997, a large number of electronic components and products are bound with zero tariffs making trade unrestricted across international borders. Under the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) with various countries, the import of electronics hardware from these countries is allowed either at zero duty or at a duty which is lower than the normal duty rate.

PM constitutes National Committee on Direct Cash Transfers

The Prime Minister has constituted a coordination committee called the National Committee on Direct Cash Transfers, as a mechanism to coordinate action for the introduction of direct cash transfers to individuals under the various government schemes and programmes.

            The National Committee chaired by the Prime Minister will have as its members eleven Cabinet Ministers, two Ministers of State with independent charge, the Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, the Chairman UIDAI, the Cabinet Secretary with the Principal Secretary to the PM as the convenor. The Prime Minister may invite any other Minister/Officer/Expert to any meeting of the Committee.

The National Committee on Direct Cash Transfers would engage in the following tasks:

a) Provide an overarching vision and direction to enable direct cash transfers of benefits under various government schemes and programmes to individuals, leveraging the investments being made in the Aadhaar Project, financial inclusion and other initiatives of the Government, with the objective of enhancing efficiency, transparency and accountability.

b) Determine broad policy objectives and strategies for direct cash transfers.

c) Identify Government programmes and schemes for which direct cash transfers to individuals can be adopted and suggest the extent and scope of direct cash transfers in each case.

d) Coordinate the activities of various Ministries/ Departments/ Agencies involved in enabling direct cash transfers and ensure timely, coordinated action to ensure speedy rollout of direct cash transfers across the country.

e) Specify timelines for the rollout of direct cash transfers.

f) Review the progress of implementation of direct cash transfers and provide guidance for mid-course corrections.

g) Any other related matter.

 The National Committee on Cash Transfers will be assisted by an Executive Committee on Direct Cash Transfers chaired by the Principal Secretary to PM and the Secretaries of the concerned Ministries and the DG UIDAI. The Secretary Planning Commission will be the convenor.

The Executive Committee on Direct Cash Transfers would engage in the following tasks:

a) Identify and propose for the consideration of the National Committee on Cash Transfers such Government programmes and schemes for which direct cash transfers to individuals can be adopted and suggest the extent and scope of direct cash transfers in each case.

b) Ensure the preparation of and approve strategies and action plans for the speedy rollout of direct cash transfers in areas agreed to and in line with the timelines laid down by the National Committee on Cash Transfers.

c) Coordinate the activities of various Ministries/ Departments / Agencies involved in enabling direct cash transfers to ensure that the architecture and framework for direct cash transfers is in place for rolling out direct cash transfers across the country.

d) Review and monitor the rollout of direct cash transfers and undertake mid-course corrections as and when necessary.

e) Any other related matter entrusted by the National Committee on Cash Transfers or relating to direct cash transfers.

            The Chairman may invite any other Officer/Expert to any meeting of the Executive Committee as may be necessary. The National Committee and the Executive Committee would be serviced by the Planning Commission, which may obtain assistance as required from any Ministry/Department/Agency of the Government in this task. The Planning Commission will designate an officer of the rank of Joint Secretary in the Planning Commission to coordinate and service the work of the National Committee and Executive Committee.

            In order to finalise the operational and implementation details relating to the design and implementation of the direct cash transfer system, and for ensuring a smooth roll-out of direct cash transfers in an orderly and timely fashion, Mission Mode Committees will be constituted.

These will be:

a) Technology Committee to focus on the  technology,  payment architecture and IT issues.

b) Financial Inclusion Committee to focus on ensuring universal access to banking and ensuring complete financial inclusion.

c) Implementation Committees on Electronic Transfer of Benefits at the Ministry/ Department level to work out the details of cash transfers for each department such as data bases, direct cash transfer rules and control and audit mechanisms.

The notifications for these three committees will be issued in due course.

The composition of the National Committee on Direct Cash Transfers is as follows:

1.      Prime Minister                                              -        Chairperson

2.      Finance Minister

3.      Minister of Communications & IT

4.      Minister of Rural Development

5.      Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment

6.      Minister of Human Resource Development

7.      Minister of Tribal Affairs

8.      Minister of Minority Affairs

9.      Minister of Health & Family Welfare

10.    Minister of Labour & Employment

11.    Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas

12.    Minister of Chemicals & Fertilizers

13.    Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission

14.    Minister of State (i/c) of Food & Public Distribution

15.    Minister of State (i/c) of Women & Child Development

16.    Chairman, UIDAI

17.    Cabinet Secretary

18.    Principal Secretary to PM                                -        Convenor

Shome Panel Report on GAAR

The Government had constituted an Expert Committee on General Anti Avoidance Rules (GAAR) to undertake stakeholder consultations and finalise the GAAR guidelines as well as a roadmap for implementation. The Committee, chaired by Dr. Parthasarathi Shome, has submitted its draft report after analysis of the GAAR provisions and noting the concerns expressed by various shareholders. The draft report has recommended certain amendments in the Income-tax Act, 1961; guidelines to be prescribed under the Income-tax Rules, 1962; circular to clarify GAAR provisions along with illustrations; and other measures to improve tax administration specifically oriented towards GAAR matters. The terms of reference of the Committee are: a) Receive comments from stakeholders and the general public on the draft GAAR guidelines which have been published by the Government on its website. b) Vet and rework the guidelines based on this feedback and publish the second draft of the GAAR guidelines for comments and consultations. c) Undertake widespread consultations on the second draft GAAR guidelines. d) Finalize the GAAR guidelines and a roadmap for implementation and submit these to the government. Highlights of the Recommendations: a) Recommendations for amendments in the Income-tax Act, 1961 • The implementation of GAAR may be deferred by three years on administrative grounds. GAAR is an extremely advanced instrument of tax administration – one of deterrence, rather than for revenue generation – for which intensive training of tax officers, who would specialize in the finer aspects of international taxation, is needed. Hence GAAR should be deferred for 3 years. But the year, 2016-17, should be announced now. In effect, therefore, GAAR would apply from 2017-18. • Abolish the tax on gains arising from transfer of listed securities, whether in the nature of capital gains or business income, to both residents as well as non-residents. • The Act should be amended to provide that only arrangements which have the main purpose (and not one of the main purposes) of obtaining tax benefit should be covered under GAAR. An arrangement shall be deemed to be lacking commercial substance, if it does not have a significant effect upon the business risks, or net cash flows, of any party to the arrangement apart from any effect attributable to the tax benefit that would be obtained.‖ • As regards constitution of the Approving Panel(AP),  the Committee recommends that – The Approving Panel should consist of five members including I. Chairman; II. The Chairman should be a retired judge of the High Court; III. Two members should be from outside Govt. and persons of eminence drawn from the fields of accountancy, economics or business, with knowledge of matters of income-tax; and IV. Two members should be Chief Commissioners of income tax; or one Chief Commissioner and one Commissioner. The Approving Panel should be a permanent body with a secretariat.  It should have a two year term. A decision of the AP should occur by a majority of members. b) Recommendations under Income tax Rules • The GAAR provisions should be subject to an overarching principle that – (1) Tax mitigation should be distinguished from tax avoidance before invoking GAAR. • A monetary threshold of Rs 3 crore of tax benefit (including tax only, and not interest etc) to a taxpayer in a year should be used for the applicability of GAAR provisions. In case of tax deferral, the tax benefit shall be determined based on the present value of money. c) Other recommendations The Committee has made following recommendations in respect of tax administration:- • The administration of Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR) should be strengthened so that an advance ruling may be obtained within the statutory time frame of six months. • Shall not invoke GAAR where the taxpayer submits a satisfactory undertaking to pay tax along with interest in case it is found that GAAR provisions are applicable in relation to the remittance during the course of assessment proceedings; or • To minimize the deficiency of trust between the tax administration and taxpayers, concerted training programmes should be initiated for all AO‘s placed, or to be placed, in the area of international taxation.

BSE joins UN's Sustainable Stock Exchanges global initiative

The Bombay Stock Exchange Ltd (BSE) announced that it has joined the Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) initiative.

The SSE initiative was launched by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and UNCTAD Secretary-General Supachai Panitchpakdi in 2009 at UN headquarters in New York City.

The BSE has been the first amongst global peers to join five other leading exchanges that have publicly committed to promoting sustainable investment practices.

Other exchanges include the Brazilian stock exchange BM & FBOVESPA, Egyptian Exchange (EGX), Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE), Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and NASDAQ OMX made a commitment towards improving sustainability at the Sustainable Stock Exchanges 2012 global dialogue in Rio de Janeiro earlier this year.

BSE is also credited with launching the first-ever live Carbon Index BSE-GREENEX in India, earlier in 2012. The index measures the performances of companies in terms of carbon emissions.

"BSE is committed to working with investors, companies and regulators in playing a transformative role towards enhancing sustainability in Indian capital markets.

The initiative aims at exploring how exchanges can work together with stakeholders to enhance corporate transparency and performance on ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) issues besides encouraging responsible long-term approaches to investment.

COP 11 held in Hyderabad Emphasised on Biodiversities Well Being

The XIth Conference of the Parties (COP 11) - Convention on Biological Diversity was organised by the Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India from 8 October to 19 October 2012. Eleventh meeting of the COP 11 was held at Hyderabad International Convention Centre, and the conference included a high-level ministerial segment meet that was organised by India in consultation with the Bureau and Secretariat and it took place from 17 October to 19 October 2012.

Mobilisation of financial resources was the theme for the COP 11 summit. The next round of the conference is scheduled to take place in Korea after 2 years. Finding out the commendable solution by discussions over the issues of the Earth’s bio-diversity is the main agenda of the conference.  The conference was attended by more than 5000 delegates from 180 countries. Enrollment of about 14,400 participants in the convention made it the largest biodiversity gathering of its time.

Demands of Developing and Developed Countries:
•    African countries like Namibia demanded developed nations to stand by their promise fund allocation for saving the bio-diversity, made in the 2010 protocol
•    The developed nations stood by their demand of creating a baseline of the investments made by now and how much more was needed

Discussions on Identified Targets of Nagoya Protocol:
•    Discussion over the 20 identified targets at 2010 Nagoya Protocol was also done to find out the problems that it faced for implementation.

India’s Stand:
India also demanded steps to be taken for ecosystem restoration and establishment of a relationship between biodiversity and climate change, identification of ecologically and biologically significant areas in marine ecosystems.

India to Chair the Conference for Next Two Years as its President: India will be Chairing the Conference as its President for next two years. The Union Environment and Forests Minister Jayanthi Natarajan took over the charge of COP-11 as its President for next two years.
•    The Union Environment and Forests Minister Jayanthi Natarajan, who took over the charge of COP-11 as its President for next two years emphasised on the issue of resource mobilization that remained an unfinished agenda of COP-10 at Nagoya in Japan
•    Manmohan Singh the Prime Minister of India announced a grant of $50 million for strengthening the institutional mechanism of biodiversity conservation in India and other developing countries by the name of Hyderabad Pledge
•    The Prime Minister also launched the high level segment of the 11th conference of parties during the UN Convention on Biodiversity meeting at Hyderabad. This conference was the first conference after the launch of Decade of Biodiversity by United Nations in 2011.

The high level meet took place during the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity (UNBD) that was declared by the United Nations General Assembly following its resolution 65/161. This plan was designed to find out the solutions for the objectives like Strategic Plan for Biodiversity and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets. Across the UNBD, a trial to encourage government and representatives of different countries to develop, implement and communicate the results established by their national strategies designed for fine implementation of the strategic plan over biodiversity.

Plan and Programmes Launched during COP11 Conference:
•    BirdLife International on 16 October 2012 launched an e-Atlas of Marine-Important Bird Areas during COP11. The e-Atlas would act as an inventory and carry data of around 3000 important bird areas from across the world and can play a major role in conserving the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) target for protection of 10 percent coastal and marine Areas by 2020
•    The NTCA (National Tiger Conservation Authority) also declared its plan to create a national database for tigers, the flagship species of India proving a unique identification code and number to each one of these big cats in India. This was declared by the member secretary of NTCA, Rajesh Gopal during an event organized with a theme Have We Turned the Corner in Tiger Conservation

Conclusion
Amid the discussions and concerns, the COP 11 conference failed to reach to a concrete decision of making resource mobilisation and fund arrangements done. Indian Prime Minister allocated a fund of $50 million for strengthening the mechanism for preserving the biodiversity in India and other Developing nations. Although several steps and things were critically discussed and concerns were raised to achieve better results and face the upcoming challenges.

Successful CoP - Leading the Way Forward

Following are the highlights of the CoP-11 Conference on Biodiversity concluded in Hyderabad on 19 October, 2012:

• Largest ever such conference organised in India. 170 countries participated. The number of pre registered delegates around 15000. Minister/Vice Minister level participation around 80. More than 400 side events – many organised by the World Bank, UNDP, GEF, other countries and International and national NGOs.

• The elements of successful CoP were flawless logistics, strategic thinking in the development of Agenda’s content, participation of a large number of stakeholders and persuasive yet effective negotiations.

• One of the most important outcomes of the CoP is the commitment of the Parties to double the international financial flows for Bio Diversity by 2015. This will translate into additional financial flows to the developing countries to the tune of about US $ 30 billion equivalent to about Rs. 1,50,000 crore over the next 8 years. This is a major achievement especially in the context of .

1. Global economic downturn

2. Contentious stands regarding the robust baseline and the reporting mechanism

3. Absence of any such target in the recommendation sent to the CoP by WGRI

4. With no proposal from Working Group on Review of Implementation (WGRI) the Parties would not have come with the required clearance from the respective Finance Ministries.

India rectified the situation by her initiatives

1. Suggested a two track solution envisaging a preliminary target and a road map.

2. Co sponsored informal dialogue to promote better Understanding among the parties of the issues involved.

3. Co sponsored India UK High Level Panel to assess the requirement of funds.

4. Worked closely with the Bureau to introduce a specific element of preliminary target, so that the parties come prepared with mandates from their Finance Ministries.

5. During the CoP India led the efforts of the Parties to find a satisfactory outcome

• Way Forward India will like to play its leadership role during India’s Presidency by supporting and hosting capacity building in the developing countries to help them prepare project proposals to avail the additional funding now envisaged.

• India will now be working closely with all the member countries to make a success of the Hyderabad Road Map. India will also share its experience with other countries to help them establish a robust baseline, so that the target for resources fixed now is further refined by CoP 12. India has already set apart a sum of Rs. 50 crores towards South South cooperation.

• India has launched the initiative of Hyderabad Pledge which is now available on the web site of CBD. All the countries are requested to pledge money for the cause of bio diversity. MEF will now write to all the Ministers the world over requesting them to pledge additional resources for Biodiversity.

• India has already ratified Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit sharing. India during its Presidency will work tirelessly for the ratification of the Protocol by 50 countries so that it comes into force during the Presidency of India. Towards this end, India will offer to host the meeting of the Inter Governmental Committee of Nagoya Protocol. India will also host capacity building workshops of developing Countries to help them take legislative / administrative measures. India has already offered to meet part of the cost of the meeting of the Working Group on Art. 8j on Traditional Knowledge.

• After the resounding success of the Science Express Biodiversity Special. The Government will take special efforts to increase the reach of this Express to even more remote corners of the country to increase the awareness about Biodiversity.

• Many delegates who visited the Biodiversity express in Hyderabad wanted something similar done in their country. India will explore ways of replicating this wonderful success of Biodiversity Express in other countries by providing them appropriate support.

• In Hyderabad, a commemorative Pylon and a Biodiversity Garden have been established. The Prime Minister of India had planted the first tree on behalf of India, representatives of the participating countries have also planted trees. It has been decided to establish a Biodiversity Museum on this site. This will be a token of gratitude to the people of Hyderabad whose hospitality had won the heart of every international delegate. Hyderabad is the first host city of CBD CoP to establish commemorative Pylon, garden and museum.

• During its Presidency India will take special steps to strengthen the State Biodiversity Boards and to prepare Peoples Biodiversity Registers at the village level. A sum of about Rs.250 crores has been approved for this purpose.

• India will substantially increase its allocation for Biodiversity by working closely with other Ministries for mainstreaming of Biodiversity.

• India has instituted together with UNDP Biodiversity Governance Awards. The first such awards were given during the CoP 11. It is now proposed to institute Rajiv Gandhi International Award for Harnessing Biodiversity for Livelihood.

'The Cities and Biodiversity Outlook' report 2012

The "Cities and Biodiversity Outlook" (CBO) consists of a global assessment of the links between urbanization, biodiversity and ecosystem services. Combining science and policy, scientists from around the world analyze how urbanization and urban growth impacts biodiversity and ecosystems; deliver key messages on the conservation and the sustainable use of natural resources to decision-makers. With the world’s urban area set to triple during 2000 and 2030, growing urbanization will have significant implications on biodiversity if the current trend continues. According to a new assessment made by the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, over 60 per cent of the land projected to become urban by 2030 is yet to be built. The assessment has been drawn by the contributions from more than 123 scientists’ worldwide. This presents a major opportunity to greatly improve global sustainability by promoting low-carbon, resource-efficient urban development that can reduce adverse effects on biodiversity and improve quality of life. The report states that urban expansion is occurring fast in areas close to biodiversity ‘hotspots’ and coastal zones. In rapidly urbanizing regions, such as large and mid-size settlements in sub-Saharan Africa, India and China, resources to implement sustainable urban planning are often lacking. The report made a strong argument for greater attention to be paid by urban planners and managers to the nature-based assets within city boundaries. Sustainable urban development that supports valuable ecosystems presents a major opportunity for improving lives and livelihoods, and accelerating the transition to an inclusive green economy. Cities are also increasingly recognized for their role in supporting plant and animal species and diverse ecosystems. For example, over 50 percent of Belgium’s floral species can be found in Brussels, while 65 percent of Poland’s bird species occur in Warsaw. Urban green spaces perform important ecosystem services, such as filtering dust, absorbing carbon dioxide from the air and improving air quality. Data from the United Kingdom shows that a 10 percent increase in tree canopy cover in cities may result in a 3-4°C decrease in ambient temperature, thus reducing energy used in air conditioning. Urban biodiversity also delivers important health benefits. Studies have shown that proximity to trees can reduce the prevalence of childhood asthma and allergies. Sustainable urban planning, which addresses biodiversity issues along with other priorities such as poverty alleviation, employment, and housing, can bring positive effects for health and the environment. Cities need to learn how to better protect and enhance biodiversity, because rich biodiversity can exist in cities and is extremely critical to people’s health and well-being.

UN State of the World's Cities Report-2012

UN-Habitat has launched the State of World's Cities Report 2012/2013. Titled 'The Prosperity of Cities', the report recommends that those engaged in development work need to explore a more inclusive notion of prosperity and development. According to the report there was an urgent need for a shift in attention around the world in favour of a more robust notion of development. – one that looks beyond the narrow domain of economic growth that has dominated ill-balanced policy agendas over the last decades, and includes other vital dimensions such as quality of life, adequate infrastructures, equity and environmental sustainability. “In this Report, UN-Habitat advocates for a new type of city – the city of the 21st century – that is a good people centred city. CHARACTERISTICS OF CITY OF THE 21ST CENTURY: a) Reduces disaster risks and vulnerabilities for the poor and build resilience to adverse forces of nature. b) Creates harmony between the five dimensions of prosperity and enhances the prospects for a better future. c) Stimulates local job creation, promotes social diversity, maintains a sustainable environment and recognizes the importance of public spaces. d) Comes with a change of pace, profile and urban functions and provides the social, political and economic conditions of prosperity. In order to measure present and future progress of cities towards the prosperity path, UN-Habitat introduces a new tool - the CITY PROSPERITY INDEX- together with a conceptual matrix, the WHEEL OF PROSPERITY, both of which are meant to assist decision makers to design clear policy interventions. THE CITY PROSPERITY INDEX (CPI): a) Includes 5 dimensions of prosperity: productivity, infrastructure, quality of life, equity and environmental sustainability. b) Enables decision-makers to identify opportunities and potential areas along the path of prosperity. THE WHEEL OF PROSPERITY: a) Ensures the prevalence of public over any other kind of interest. b) Controls the direction and pace of city growth towards prosperity. INDIAN SITUATION Mumbai and Delhi figure among 95 world cities identified by the United Nations as those moving towards prosperity, but the two Indian metropolis are just "half-way" to achieving it with the reasons being poor infrastructure and environment conditions among others. The report places Mumbai at the 52nd position and New Delhi at 58th among the world cities, though two Chinese cities - Shanghai and Beijing - figure much above. Two Indian cities come under the Group 4 and they are in the medium level (of prosperity). Prosperity is not just the economic prosperity, but the kind of infrastructure and the quality of life in the city. Both the cities have been penalised for poor environment conditions, especially New Delhi. The report also praises the IT revolution that Bangalore has been able to achieve and calls Hyderabad as the pharmaceutical capital of India. On ICTs criteria in Asian cities Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai feature mobile telephone connection rates of 138 per cent, 112 per cent, 102 per cent and 143 per cent respectively. The report also noted that cities in India are fast expanding at the cost of rural areas and pitched for a policy for use of land in cities.