Spotlight

New Delhi, 5 March 2007

ANDHRA REVIVES DEVELOPMENT BOARDS

NEW DELHI, March 6 (INFA): The Andhra Pradesh Government has decided to revive the Regional Development Boards for its three regions---Telangana, Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra.

The decision has been taken in a bid to address the concerns of political parties over uneven development of backward areas, especially Telangana which has already stepped up its demand for a separate Statehood.

One of the main reasons for the prolonged Statehood demand is the continuous neglect of the region.

In his address to the assembly, the State’s Governor, Rameshwar Thakur had admitted that “in spite of all the care that the successive Governments have taken to ensure balance between various regions, there still exists a feeling among sections of people that some regions have remained less developed than other regions..”

It was the previous Telugu Desam Government, headed by N.T. Rama Rao that abolished the regional development boards in 1983. In view of the decisions of the present Congress Government on the revival of the development boards, political circles are optimistic that regional development will receive a fillip thus bringing contentment and all-round happiness among the Telugus. Three cheers to the Congress and its Chief Minister.---INFA

THE BILLION TREE CAMPAIGN

NEW DELHI, February 6 (INFA): The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is launching a major worldwide tree planting campaign. Under the Plant for the Planet: The Billion Tree Campaign, people, communities, organizations and governments will be encouraged to enter tree planting pledges on a website with the objective of planting at least one billion trees worldwide during 2007.

In addition to focusing on tree planting and the issue of deforestation, the Campaign will play a broader symbolic purpose, highlighting issues such as climate change, air quality, integrated water resource management, biodiversity conservation etc.

The UNEP will work with civil society organizations, the private sector and governments in al regions of the world to build on the successful model of the Plant for the Planet campaign.

Recognizing that there are many such tree planting schemes round the world, UNEP proposes to federate these efforts in the context of the existing UNEP Plant for the Planet campaign, by launching a major worldwide Plant for the Planet: The Billion Tree Campaign.---INFA

Spotlight

New Delhi, 3 March 2007

EFFORTS TO REDUCE INDUSTRIAL SICKNESS

NEW DELHI, March 4 (INFA): The Board of Industrial Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) of the Union Government had received between May 1987 and September as many as 6,991 references under the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provision) Act (SICA) 1985. The Board recommends on how sick industries could be revived or closed down if revival is not possible.

With these references received, 5,412 were registered under section 15 of SICA; 1,707 were dismissed as non-maintainable under the Act; 760 rehabilitation schemes, including 12 by Appellate Authority of Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (AAIFR)/ Supreme Court, were sanctioned and 1,303 companies were recommended to be wound up.

As many as 485 companies have been declared ‘no longer sick’ and were discharged from the purview of SICA on their net worth turning positive after the implementation of the schemes.

Among the 296 references for PSUs, 213 (91 CPSUs and 122 SPSUs) were registered up to September 30, 2006. Rehabilitation schemes were sanctioned for 28 CPSUs and 26 SPSUs. It was recommended that 29 CPSUs and 40 CPSUs be wound up. 9 CPSUs and 14 CPSUs were declared ‘no longer sick’.

The continued decline in the number of strikes and lockouts indicates an improvement in industrial relations in the country. The number of strikes and lockouts, taken together, was down by .4 per cent in 2005. During the current year, as per the available information till September, 2006 West Bengal experienced the maximum instances of strikes and lockout followed by Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. Industrial disturbances were concentrated mainly in textile, financial intermediaries (excluding insurance and pension fund), engineering and chemical industries.

REVOLT IN TDP

HYDERABAD, March 4 (INFA): Open defiance by senior leaders, dissension among local cadres and lack of popular support is causing concern to the TDP President, N. Chandrababu Naidu. But, as the leader of the Opposition since the Party lost power in May 2004, Naidu has not been able to galvanise his partymen to launch popular agitations on important public issues. The party is frittering away its scarce resources on non-issues which do not concern the public at large.

The TDP leaders, including former ministers, ex-MLAs, former MPs and party functionaries, have virtually taken a long holiday from active politics and this is one reason why the Party cadres have also gone into hibernation. Only when Naidu gives a call for organizing a protest dharna on some issues or other do these leaders and cadres make their guest appearance and again go back to their personal preoccupations.

Some recent happenings indicate the said state of affairs in the TDP. Narsipatnam MLA Ch. Ayyannapatrudu raised a banner of revolt against Naidu over the selection of Party candidates for the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation elections. The Party launched a membership enrolment and renewal drive but realizing that popular support has waned it had to bring down the target drastically.

The TDP’s so-called Statewide agitation against the Congress Government’s alleged anti-poor policies recently turned out to be a flop show.  The TDP is also waging a fruitless agitation demanding the location of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) at Basar.---INFA

Spotlight

New Delhi, 1 March 2007

GLOBAL SUPPORT FOR INDIA’s GROWTH

NEW DELHI, March 2 (INFA): The external economic environment is likely to remain supportive of India’s growth momentum in the coming year.  Global output growth during the year has been projected at 4.9 per cent according to the Economic Survey, 2006-07.

With the ongoing upswing in investment, exports are expected to continue with its observed buoyance in recent years. Simultaneously, rising investment and higher growth will also result in higher imports. But a continuation of the relatively benign crude prices of recent months will have a softening impact on import growth.

The current account of the balance of payments, which had turned into a deficit in 2004-05 and 2005-06, is likely to remain in deficit in 2006-07.

However, going forward, this deficit may come down with rapid growth in invisible (particularly software and business services) receipts, higher exports, and a slowing down of import growth.

From the investment-saving perspective to the current account, the Survey has observed increase in the domestic savings rate, with accelerating growth and declining dependency ratio, also supports such a prognosis.

While downside risks from volatile crude prices and large global imbalances remain, with strong capital flows---particularly of the non-debt variety---financing the current account deficit through surplus on the capital account should not pose difficulties.

In fact, it is quite likely that the ‘problems of plenty’ with large increase in foreign exchange reserves will continue with its associated implications for monetary management.

The Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister has raised certain valid issues in the context of projections of BoP for 2006-07 like the need to reconcile divergence of trade data between DGSI&S and RBI, the need to cut delays and ensure its timely availability, and minimizing the extent of revisions.

Though beyond the final revisions of data (or even after about a year) there has been lesser divergence, the estimation of the various parameters of external sector, so critical for its management, has become arduous.

The movement towards fuller capital account convertibility may also require a sound system of monitoring of the external sector variables and hence a modern real time system of data management is an imperative, lest the ability of the country to diagnose the symptoms of a crisis in time and take corrective action stands compromised.---INFA

Spotlight

New Delhi, 26 February 2007

BOOST TO FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

NEW DELHI, February 27 (INFA): The Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries has prepared a “Vision Document 2015” for giving a boost to the growth of food processing sector.

The Document envisages trebling of the size of the sector by increasing the level of processing of perishables from 6 per cent to 20 per cent, value addition from 20 per cent to 35 per cent and share in the global food trade from 1.5 per cent to 3 per cent.

Under the Vision 2015, the thrust areas identified for strategic intervention are, establishment of mega food parks, modernization of abattoirs, cold chain value addition and preservation infrastructure, upgrading safety and quality of street food and establishment, upgradation of quality control laboratories. The Ministry has identified strategies along with a detailed action plan in this regard to realize the Vision.

A Group of Ministers (GoM) under the chairmanship of Minister for Agriculture, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Sharad Pawar, has been set up to consider an Integrated Strategy for Promotion of Agri-Business: Vision, Strategy and Action Plan for Food Processing Sector. The GoM held several meetings. The provisions of its facilities shall come into force from such date as the Central Government may notify in the official Gazette. 

The main objective of the Bill is to bring about a single statute relating to food and establish Food Safety and Standards Authority with a view to (a) lay down food standards, (b) effectively regulate manufacture, import, storage, distribution and sale of food to ensure consumer safety and promote global trade, (c) pool infrastructure, manpower, testing facilities and (d) rationalize and strengthen existing enforcement mechanism.

It has been decided to set up a National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM) at Kundli, Haryana as an International Centre of excellence which will work synergistically with the industry and similar institutions. The Institute would have 15 theme centres on food technology, management and international trade.

The street food sector in India is currently completely unregulated. This has often been a concern for public health authorities. There have been periodic attempts by local authorities to do away with street food vending. There is a need to regulate street food vending in India and to bring it within the organized sector.

MFPI has therefore decided to take the initiative in this direction along with industry associations, NGOs, municipal bodies and Ministries of Urban Development, Poverty Alleviation, Panchayat Raj Institutions and Tourism with a view to improve the safety of food in the streets.

The effort will be to ensure safety and facilitate value addition, which would lead to increase in income level of food vendors. Six Pilot projects are proposed to be taken up in Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Agra, Mumbai and Guwahati. ---INFA