Bharat-Rakshak.com : India's first defence portal

          A PowerPoint presentation was made at the Press Conference of Minister of State of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Prakash Javadekar.  The Press Conference was held at National Media Centre here today.  

          Following is the text of the Presentation:

TOWARDS MORE GREEN

Ø      Unlocking Rs. 38,000 crore through CAMPA bill for more afforestation.

Ø      14^th Finance Commission has given 7.5% weightage for forest cover and has provided for nearly Rs. 55,000 crore for afforestation.

Ø      National Forest Policy being revised to ensure more greening, improving forest quality with participation of tribals and forest dwellers.

Ø      Forest fires reduced by 15%

Ø      Forest stocking (volume) in our forests have stabilized in the backdrop of negative trend earlier.

Ø      Effective National Afforestation Programme on 75,000 ha of degraded land.

Ø      More than 20,000 ha added to the forest area for reforestation while approving projects.

Ø      New guidelines are being prepared to make 1, 00, 000 Joint Forest Management Committees more effective.

Ø      New plan on anvil for improving fodder and water in Protected Areas.

Ø      New scheme for Green Credit on anvil.

Ø      PPP for afforestation on degraded forest land.

Ø      14 States have submitted their Perspective plans for Green India Mission out of which 6 have already been approved.

BETTER WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT

Ø      Wildlife growth robust

v     Tiger      2, 226 (70% of the world’s tiger population).

v     Lions           523   (24% growth)

v     Rhino      2, 889 (2401 in kaziranga)

v     Elephants 30, 000 +

Ø      3 new tiger reserves, one in Bor, Maharashtra and Rajaji and Pilibhit in, Uttarakhand.

Ø      4 Tiger Protection Force and 1 Rhino Protection Force sanctioned.

Ø      30 poachers killed in encounter in a continuous drive against poaching.

Ø       Burnt confiscated wildlife articles. State inventory ordered.

Ø      4 villages and 651 families relocated from 4 protected areas.

Ø      Collaboration of NTCA & WCCB towards an online tiger/ wildlife crime tracking/ reporting system in Tiger Reserves.

Ø      NBWL reconstituted and decided on 225 proposals laying stringent environmental conditions.

Ø      222 Eco-Sensitive Zones approved for providing effective buffer zone for wildlife areas after scientific evaluation and public consultation.

BETTER ANIMAL WELFARE

Ø      Animals in Circuses banned.

Ø      Grants for Gaushalas and Shelters for stray animals including Dogs

Ø      Manza banned.

Ø      Streamlining National Institute of Animal Welfare.

Ø      New Diploma and Degree courses in Animal Welfare to be launched.

PRESERVING BIO-DIVERSITY

Ø      NAGOYA Protocol ratified.

Ø      Access benefit guidelines issued.

Ø      National Mission on Himalayan Studies established.

v     This will remove data deficit on glaciers, landslides, sustainable methods of building roads and tunnels, weather and other related issues.

EFFECTIVE POLLUTION CONTROL

Ø      Mandated 24x7 monitoring of pollution for 3206 highly polluting industries. They have to fix such devices on effluent discharge points and on chimneys.

Ø      Many industries have installed these devices. Others have furnished bank guarantees.

Ø      Comprehensive Air Quality Index launched in 11 cities. Everyday bulletin at 5 PM on 8 parameters; PM-10, PM-2.5, SOX, NOX, O3, LEAD (PB), CO, NH3.

Ø      PSUssupporting AQI expansion in 66 cities.

Ø      3-months action plan prepared in 3 meetings of concerned state governments and other agencies for NCR Airshed.

Ø      Environmental norms for Cement industry made more stringent and notified.

Ø      Environmental norms for Sand, stone-crushing, brick-kiln, fertilizers, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, paper and pulp, paint, distilleries and other sectors are being reviewed.

Ø      Non-complying 124 industries closed.

Ø      New standards for Sewage Treatment Plant issued.

Ø      Sugar, Textile, Tanneries and distilleries mandated Zero Liquid Discharge.

Ø      Black Liquor Discharge successfully prohibited.

Ø      SOPs prepared for inspections.

Ø      Harmonisedsystem proposed for Red, Orange and Green categories based on pollution potential of Air, Water and Hazardous Waste.

FOR SWACHH BHARAT

Ø      Following New Rules notified for Public Consultation

v     New Hazardous Waste Rules

v     New Solid Waste Rules, including Construction Waste Rules

v     New E-Waste Rules

v     New Plastic Waste Rules

v     New Bio-Medical Waste Rules

Ø      This will ensure scientific waste management at all levels and are open for consultations till 31^st July on our website – www.moef.nic.in

CLEAN WATER AND RIVERS

Ø      Top priority given for cleaning water by stopping industrial pollution in rivers/water bodies.

Ø      New norms for STPs notified.

Ø      Bio-remediation taken up for drains joining Ganga.

Ø      Mini-lab for major Ghats to monitor bathing water quality at important Ghats along Ganga.

Ø      8 Water Quality Monitoring Stations are active and 113 more planned.

Ø      Special drive to address water pollution issues in every state.

ENFORCEMENT BEGINS

Ø      64 polluting and non-complying industries on the banks of Ganga and 61 industries throughout the country were closed. 

Ø      Units are allowed to be reopened only after complying with the pollution norms.

Ø      11 units in U.P and 7 units in Delhi are closed for producing plastic carry bags below 40 microns.

Ø      Technology-based monitoring system being expanded for forest appraisal, wildlife management and pollution control.  Drones, electronic surveillance, camera traps, 24x7 pollution monitoring devices, geo-mapping being increasingly used.   

Ø      Variouscommittees went into the urgent issues

v     Landfill in Mumbai

v     Lake pollution in Bengaluru

v     River pollution in Pune

v     Industrial pollution in Khargon.

v     Illegal Slaughter houses in U.P and Telangana.

THIS IS JUST A BEGINNING

PROCESSES MADE TRANSPARENT

Ø      Online process started for Environmental, Forest, Wildlife and Zoo approvals.  More than 3, 200 projects submitted online.

Ø      Access to previous EIA reports granted.

Ø      Compendium of all OMs/Notifications.

Ø      Standard TORs for all 39 sectors are prepared which will avoid the delay of 1 year.

Ø      Education and industrial complexes are exempted from EC with more stringent environmental standard conditions.

Ø      GIS-based decision making for forest approvals.

DECENTRALISATION

Ø      Approvals for 40 ha and below are delegated to Regional Empowered Committees consisting of the State officials, scientists, experts and MoEF&CC officials.

Ø      Mineral beneficiation sanctioning power of State SIAA increased from 2 million tonnes to 5 million tonnes.

Ø      REC authorized to decide on Category A projects on the state borders and within 5 kms.

Ø      State Environment Impact Assessment Authorities to decide on the projects of

v     Distilleries up to 60 mld per year.

v     Irrigation Projects up to 10, 000 ha.

Ø      Biomass energy projects up to 15 MW.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

Ø      Doors opened for more public participation.

Ø      Urban Forest (Nagari Vanodyan Yojana) launched.

Ø      Social forestry, agro forestry and Joint Forest Management to be made more effective through public participation.

Ø      ‘Fresh air my birthright’ campaign to be launched ín 20 cities.

Ø      Save water and energy campaigns to be encouraged with peoples’ participation.

Ø      School Nursery programmes to be launched soon.

Ø      Environmental syllabus and skilling courses. 

Ø      Workshop of 125 voluntary organizations and civil society groups held.

IMPROVING WORK CULTURE

Ø      Doors of the Ministry opened for common people.

Ø      Motivational workshops held in June 2014.

Ø      3 Chintan Shivirs for officers organized in Bengaluru, Bhopal and Guwahati.

Ø      3-day conclave of States’ Environment and Forest Ministers & Pollution Control Boards and concerned officers held in Delhi in April 2015.

REVAMP OF LAWS

Ø      CAMPA Bill introduced.

Ø      A Bill for higher penalties for violations is circulated for consultation.

Ø      EP Act, 1986, Forest Conservation Act 1980 and Indian Forest Act 1927, Water and Air Acts, as also Wildlife Protection Act will be revised to address the sensibilities of effective environment protection and ensuring development without destruction. 

Ø      Consultation with stakeholders on High Level Empowered Committee under TSR Subramanian is near completion.

CLIMATE CHANGE: A PROACTIVE INDIA

Ø      India played an effective and proactive role at Lima to bring developing world together and arrive at a consensus that Paris agreement will be based on the principles of UNFCCC wherein equity, CBDR and Polluter to Pay principles are bed rocked into it.

Ø      India is taking ambitious pre-2020 actions and is asking developed world to walk the talk.

Ø      India has proposed separate brainstorming sessions to sort out contentious issues such as pre-2020 action, finance, technology, legal nature of agreement and differentiation before Paris.

Ø      Preparation for Indian INDCs is on track.

POLICY BASED DECISIONS

Ø      Decentralisation of power to the States and RECs.

Ø      Defenceprojects within 100 kms of LAC, border roads by Army, ITBP, BSF, SSB and roads in 117 Left-Wing Extremism affected districts given general approval without compromising on the environmental conditions.

Ø      To fast-track linear projects, the permissions to start work are given after Stage-I clearance.

Ø      Irrigation with command area less than 2, 000 ha will not require EC and powers up to   10, 000 ha are delegated to the RECs.

Ø      Upgradationand strengthening of existing roads in forests is allowed for the convenience of tribals and forest dwellers.

MAJOR PROJECTS OF PUBLIC INTEREST APPROVED (Indicative list)

Ø      Project Sea Bird of Indian Navy at Karwar pending since 2011.

Ø      ChhatrapatiShivaji statue at Arabian Sea off Mumbai coast.

Ø      EC has been granted for more than 100 MTPA of coal production.

Ø      DamancherlaPower Project in Nalagonda district, Telangana.

Ø      82 Goa mines sanctioned for reopening after SC’s approval.

Ø      Approval for Sand mines’ auction by Punjab government.

Ø      Immediate transfers of ECs for coal mines auctioned by Coal Ministry.

Ø      TOR for Bengaluru airport expansion. 

Ø      Chennai Port Mega Terminal pending since 2012.

Ø      Four-laning of National Highways approved for Gwalior-Shivpuri, Siluk-Dambuk road to Trans-Arunachal highway in Arunachal, Gondia-Seoni NH-7; Mumbai-Goa road,   NH-50 Nasik-Pune, Ludhiana-Talwandi NH-95, Panchkula-Yamunanagar NH-73.

Ø      Strengthening of Ropar-Doraha road NH-1, Sikar to Bikaner NH-11, Jalandhar-Amritsar and Amritsar-Tarn Taran.

Ø      Six-laning of Jaipur-Ajmer Ring Road.

Ø      Koderma-Tilaiya broad gauge line, Guna-Etawah broad gauge line, Sabroom-Agartala broad gauge line, Haridas-Paradip new broad gauge line in Cuttack, JNPT broad gauge line for DFCCIL.

Ø      Transmission lines in Chandwa-Gaya, Korba-Jabalpur, Ambasa-Gandacherra in Tripura, Bareilly-Kashipur, Mugaliachhap-Bhopal, Sasaram-Daltonganj, Paranbati II to Koldam in Himachal Pradesh, Dharamjaigarh-Jabalpur. 

Ø      Irrigation projects – Gunjwani, KariwaliDhariwali (Maharashtra).

Thank You

***

HK

Changes in the provisions of the Act will facilitate farmers to get better compensation and rehabilitation and resettlement benefits in lieu of land compulsorily acquired by the appropriate Government.

The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation & Resettlement Act, 2013 came into effect from 01.01.2014. However, it has been reported that many difficulties are being faced in the implementation of the Act. In addition, procedural difficulties in the acquisition of lands required for important national projects required to be mitigated. In order to remove them, certain amendments were made in the Act while further strengthening the provisions to protect the interests of the 'affected families'. In view of the urgency, these were brought about by an Ordinance on 3112.2014. Subsequently, on 10.03.2015 the Lok Sabha passed the Amendment Bill to replace the Ordinance. The Amendment Bill passed by the Lok Sabha includes some further changes to the Ordinance. The important changes brought about by the amendment are as follows:

i. Compensation in accordance with the First Schedule and rehabilitation and resettlement specified in the Second and Third Schedules of the Act are extended to the thirteen Acts mentioned in the Fourth Schedule of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation & Resettlement Act, 2013, namely, - (1) The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, (2) The Atomic Energy Act, 1962, (3) The Damodar Valley Corporation Act, 1948, (3) The Indian Tramways Act, 1886, (4) The Land Acquisition (Mines)Act, 1885, (6) The Metro Railways (Construction of Works)Act, 1978, (7) The National Highways Act, 1956; ( 8) The Petroleum and Minerals Pipelines (Acquisition of Right of User in Land) Act, 1962; (9). The Requisitioning and Acquisition of Immovable Property Act, 1952; (10) The Resettlement of Displaced Persons (Land Acquisition) Act, 1948; (11) The Coal Bearing Areas Acquisition and Development Act, 1957 (12) The Electricity Act, 2003; (13) The Railways Act, 1989.

ii. In order to expedite the process of land acquisition for strategic and development activities such as national security or defence of India including preparation for defence and defence production; rural infrastructure including electrification; affordable housing and housing for poor; industrial corridors set up by the appropriate government and its undertakings (in which case the land shall be acquired upto 1 km on both sides of the designated railway line or roads for such industrial corridors); infrastructure projects including projects under public private partnership where the ownership of the land continues to vest with the Government, appropriate governments are empowered to take steps for exemption from "Social Impact Assessment" and "Special Provisions for Safeguarding Food Security". In addition acquisition for such projects are exempted from the "Consent" provisions of the Act as well. However, the appropriate governments are required to ensure that the extent of land for the proposed acquisition, is the bare minimum land required for the project. The appropriate government is also required to undertake a survey of wastelands including arid land and maintain a record detailing the same.

(iii) Prior to the amendment, the provisions of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation & Resettlement (RFCTLARR) Act 2013, extended to a 'private company'. However, as per the Companies Act, 2013, a 'Private company’ means a company having a minimum paid-up share capital of one lakh rupees or such higher paid-up share capital, thereby restricting the provisions of the Act to such companies only and excluding other form of companies like proprietorships, partnerships, corporations, nonprofit organizations, etc. Therefore, in place of the term 'private company', the term 'private entity' has been substituted thereby including all non¬governmental entities.

(iv) Further, as The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation & Resettlement Act, 2013 was drafted prior to the passage of the Companies Act, 2013, the Act referred to the Companies Act, 1956 for the definition of 'Company'; which is substituted by the Companies Act, 2013.

(v) In cases where land acquisition process under Land Acquisition Act, 1894 had been initiated and the Award was passed, but either possession of land was not taken or compensation was not paid, there is provision of lapsing of such proceedings after five years of passing of Award. The period during which the proceedings for acquisition of land was held up on account of any stay or injunction issued by any court is excluded for the purpose of calculation of five years period. Similarly the period where possession has been taken but compensation is lying deposited in a court or in any designated account is also to be excluded in the calculation of the five years.

(vi) Section 46 of the Act was amended to clarify that provisions relating to rehabilitation and resettlement in case of land purchased through private negotiations is applicable in cases when land is purchased by persons other than the Government, Government Company and Trust or Society aided or controlled by the Government.

(vii) To facilitate the process of hearing of objections by land losers, the authority, constituted for this purpose, shall hear such objections within the district where the land has been acquired.

(viii) When an offence under this Act is committed by any person who is employed in the Central or State Government at the time of commission of such an alleged offence, the court will take cognizance of offences under this Act provided the procedure laid down in section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 is followed.

(ix) The period provided in Section 101 for return of unutilized land has been modified to five years or the period specified for the completion of the project.

(x) The provision of "Removal of Difficulties" was made applicable to the entire Act rather than 'Part’ as the word 'part' was used in the Act inadvertently. Further, the time period to remove the difficulties was extended from two years at present to five years.

Background:

The Department of Land Resources (DoLR) is administering the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act (hereinafter referred to as Act), 2013. This Act came into force on 01.01.2014 by repealing the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. It was observed that some provisions of the Act were making the implementation of the Act difficult and this made it necessary to bring changes in the Act, while safeguarding the interest of farmers and affected families in cases of land acquisition.

Accordingly, a Conference of State Revenue Ministers was organized in Delhi in June, 2014. Suggestions received from the State Governments, Union Territories, Ministries/Departments and other stake holders were considered. Further, consultation with Secretaries and officers of concerned ministries administering the Acts mentioned in the Fourth Schedule of the Act were held in October, 2014. Based on these discussions and deliberations, some amendments were proposed in the Act. Accordingly, the Cabinet in its meeting held on 29.12.2014 approved the proposal of the Department of Land Resources to amend the RFCTLARR Act, 2013 and to promulgate the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014. The Cabinet also approved the proposal of the Department to introduce a replacement bill in the Parliament to replace the Ordinance. Accordingly, RFCTLARR (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014 was promulgated on 3112.2014. The Budget Session of the Parliament that is 4th Session of the 16th Lok Sabha and 234th Session of Rajya Sabha commenced on 23.02.2015.

The Bill was taken up for consideration and passed by the Lok Sabha on 10.03.2015 incorporating the official amendments to the Bill. The Minister of Rural Development has also given notice for Motion for Consideration and Passing of the Bill Passed in Lok Sabha to the Secretary General Rajya Sabha on 13.03.2015. However, the Bill could not be taken up for consideration in the Rajya Sabha as the Rajya Sabha was adjourned on 20.03.2015.

***

NW/SH/HS

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Defence
08-June-2015 17:21 IST

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Defence
29-May-2015 17:15 IST

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Defence
05-June-2015 19:01 IST

The Central Statistics Office (CSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, has released the provisional estimates of national income for the financial year 2014-15 and  quarterly estimates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the fourth quarter (January-March) of 2014-15, both at constant (2011-12) and current prices.

2.         The CSO has also released the corresponding annual and quarterly estimates of expenditure components of the GDP in current and constant (2011-12) prices, namely the private final consumption expenditure, government final consumption expenditure, gross fixed capital formation, change in stocks, valuables, and net exports.

3.         GDP growth rates for 2014-15 and Q1,Q2,Q3 and Q4 of 2014-15 at constant (2011-12) and current prices are given below:

Estimates including growth rates for Q1, Q2 and Q3 released earlier have been revised according to the revision policy of this Ministry.

I.        PROVISIONAL ESTIMATES OF NATIONAL INCOME, 2014-15

4.      The advance estimates of national income for the year 2014-15 were released on 9^th February, 2015. These estimates have now been revised incorporating latest estimates of agricultural production, index of industrial production and performance of key sectors like, railways, transport other than railways, communication, banking, insurance and government expenditure. Early results on the performance of corporate sector for April-Dec 2014 which were used in the advance estimates have been revised on the basis of latest available information. The information on corporate performance as available from company finance studies of RBI supplemented with the information available from advance filings with Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange.

5.               The salient features of these estimates are detailed below:

(a)   Estimates at constant (2011-12) prices

Gross Domestic Product

6.       Real GDP or GDP at constant (2011-12) prices in the year 2014-15 is now estimated at `106.44lakhcrore (as against `106.57lakhcrore estimated earlier on 9^th February, 2015), showing a growth rate of 7.3percent(as against 7.4 percent estimated earlier) over the New Series/First RevisedEstimates of GDP for the year 2013-14of `99.21lakh crore, released on 30^th January 2015. 

Gross Value Added (GVA)at Basic Prices

7.      Real GVA, i.e, GVA at basic constant prices (2011-12)in the year 2014-15 is now estimated at `98.27 lakh crore (as against `98.58 lakh crore estimated earlier on 9^th February, 2015), showing a growth rate of 7.2 percent(as against 7.5 percent estimated earlier) over the New Series/First Revised Estimates of GDP for the year 2013-14 of`91.70 lakh crore, released on 30^th January 2015.

8.    The sectors which registered growth rate of over 7.0 percent are ‘trade, hotels, transport,communication and services related to broadcasting’,  'financial, real estate and professional services', ‘electricity, gas, water supply& other utility services, 'public administration, defence and other services’ and‘manufacturing’.  The growth in the ‘agriculture, forestry and fishing’, ‘mining and quarrying’ and ‘construction’ is estimated to be 0.2 per cent, 2.4 per cent and4.8 per cent respectively.

Agriculture

9.         In the agriculture sector, the third advance estimates of crop production released by the Ministry of Agriculture showed downward revision as compared to their second advance estimates in food grain production (251.12 million Tonnes from 257.07million Tonnes)for the year 2014-15 registering a decline of 2.3 percent as compared to second advance estimates and decline of 5.4 percent as compared to the final estimates of 2013-14. According to the second advance estimate of horticulture crops, fruits and vegetables registered growth of 2.1 percent. Due to this revision in the production, ‘agriculture, forestry and fishing’ sector in 2014-15 has shown a growth rate of 0.2 percent, as against the growth rate of 1.1percent in the Advance estimates.

Industry

10.       In the case of ‘mining and quarrying’, the Index of Industrial Production of mining registered growth of 1.4percent during 2014-15as against estimated growth rate of 1.3percentused for compiling  Advance Estimates.Production of coal and crude oil registered growth rates of 8.2percent and (-)0.9percent in whole year of 2014-15 as compared to growth rates of 9.1 percent and (-) 0.9 percentduring April to December, 2014.The growth of ‘mining &quarrying’ is now estimated at 2.4 percent, as against the Advance Estimate growth of 2.3 percent.

11.       Similarly, the IIP of manufacturing registered a growth rate of 2.3percent during the whole year of 2014-15, as against the estimated growth rate of 1.6percentfor compiling Advance Estimates. Due to this change, the growth of ‘manufacturing’ sector is now estimated at 7.1percent, as against the Advance Estimate growth of 6.8percent. In addition, the corporate performance of the manufacturing sector has also been taken into account.

12.       The key indicators of construction sector, namely, cement and consumption of finished steel registered growth of 5.6percent and 3.1 percent, respectively in 2014-15as against 7.9percent and 1.5percent, respectively during April-December 2014. Consequently, the growth of the sector is revised to 4.8 percent as against 4.5 percent in the Advance Estimates.

Services

13.       The ‘Trade, hotels, transport, communicationandservices related to broadcasting sectors’ have registered a growth of 10.7 percent in 2014-15 as against 8.4 percent in the advance estimate released in February, 2015.In this sector, the sale of commercial vehicles, cargo handled at major sea ports, cargo handled by the civil aviation and passengers handled by the civil aviation registered growth rates of (-) 2.8per cent, 4.7 percent, 7.0 per cent and 12.2 per cent respectively during April-March of 2014-15 against (-)5.7 percent, 5.0 percent, 8.1 percent, 10.6 percent in the advance estimates. The sales tax collection during 2014-15 registered growth of 9.3 percent. Indicators of Railways sector, namely, Net Tonne Kilometers and Passenger Kilometers have shown growth of 5.2 and 2.7 percent respectively during 2014-15 as against 5.8 and 2.7 percent in the advance estimates. Further, private corporate sector registered significant growth in the tradeand communication sector during 2014-15.

14.       The sector, 'financial, real estate and professional services', has shown a growth rate of 11.5 per cent during 2014-15 as compared to growth rate of13.7  per cent in the advance estimates.The key indicators of banking, namely, aggregate bank deposits and bank credits have shown growth of 10.9percent and 9.2percent, respectively as on 31^stMarch,2015 corresponding to 31^st March,2014, as compared to growth of 11.5percent and 10.5 percent respectively used in advance estimates.

15.       The sector Public administration, defence and other services' has shown a growth rate of 7.2 per cent in the provisional  estimates, as against the growth rate of  9.0 per cent in the advance estimates, mainly due to  fall in total expenditure of Central Government than anticipated. The Central Government revenue expenditure net of interest payments showed anincrease of8.5 per centduring April-Dec 2014-15 which was used for estimation in the advance estimates, whereas during April-2014-March 2015,Central Government revenue expenditure net of interest payments showed an increase of only 5.6 per cent.

Gross National Income

16.      The Gross National Income (GNI) at 2011-12 prices is now estimated at `105.13lakh crore (as compared to `105.28 lakh crore estimated on 9^th February 2015), during 2014-15, as against the previous year’s New Series/First Revised Estimate of `98lakh crore. In terms of growth rates, the gross national income is estimated to have risen by 7.3percent during 2014-15, in comparison to the growth rate of 6.8 percent in 2013-14.

Per Capita Net National Income

17.       The per capita net national income in real terms (at 2011-12 prices) during 2014-15 is estimated to have attained a level of `74104 (as against `74193 estimated on 9^th February, 2015), as compared to the New Series/First Revised Estimates for the year 2013-14 of `69959. The growth rate in per capita income is estimated at5.9 percent during 2014-15 as against 5.4percent during 2013-14.

(b) Estimates at current prices

Gross Domestic Product

18.       GDP at current prices in the year 2014-15 is estimated at `125.41lakhcrore, showing a growth rate of 10.5percent over the New Series/First RevisedEstimates of GDP for the year 2013-14 of `113.45lakhcrore, released on 30^th January 2015.

Gross National Income

19.       The GNI atcurrent prices is now estimated at `123.84 lakh crore during 2014-15, as compared to`112.05lakh crore during 2013-14, showing a rise of 10.5percent.

Per Capita Net National Income

20.       The per capita income at current prices during 2014-15 is estimated to have attained a level of `87748 as compared to the New Series/First RevisedEstimates for the year 2013-14 of `80388 showing a rise of 9.2percent.

21   The wholesale price index (WPI), in respect of the groups, food articles, manufactured products, electricity and all commodities, has risen by 6.1 per cent, 2.4 per cent, 5.7 per cent and 2.0 per cent, respectively during 2014-15 . The WPI of minerals has declined by 10.7 percent during 2014-15. The consumer price index has shown a rise of 6.4 per cent during 2014-15.

II        ANNUAL ESTIMATES OF EXPENDITURES ON GDP, 2014-15

22        Along with the ProvisionalEstimates of GDP by economic activity, the CSO is also releasing the estimates of expenditures of the GDP at current and constant (2011-12) prices. These estimates have been compiled using the data on indicators available from the same sources as those used for compiling GDP estimates by economic activity, detailed data available on merchandise trade in respect of imports and exports, balance of payments, and monthly expenditure of Central Government. As various components of expenditure on gross domestic product, namely, consumption expenditure and capital formation are discussed in the following paragraphs.

Private Final Consumption Expenditure

23.       Private Final Consumption Expenditure (PFCE) at current prices is estimated at `75.34lakhcrore in 2014-15 as against `67.72lakhcrore in 2013-14. At constant (2011-12) prices, the PFCE is estimated at `60.64lakhcrore in 2014-15 as against `57.04lakhcrore in 2013-14. In terms of GDP, the rates of PFCE at current and constant (2011-12) prices during 2014-15 are estimated at 60.1percent and 57.0percent, respectively, as against the corresponding rates of 59.7percent and 57.5percent, respectively in 2013-14.

Government Final Consumption Expenditure

24.       Government Final Consumption Expenditure (GFCE) at current prices is estimated at `14.32 lakh crore in 2014-15 as against `12.77 lakh crore in 2013-14. At constant (2011-12) prices, the GFCE is estimated at `11.58 lakh crore in 2014-15as against `10.86 lakh crore in 2013-14. In terms of GDP, the rates of GFCE at current and constant (2011-12) prices during 2014-15are estimated at 11.4 percent and 10.9 percent, respectively, as against the corresponding rates of 11.3percent and 10.9percent, respectively in 2013-14.

Gross Fixed Capital Formation

25        Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) at current prices is estimated at `36.02 lakh crore in 2014-15 as against ` 33.68 lakh crore in 2013-14. At constant (2011-12) prices, the GFCF is estimated at `31.92 lakh crore in 2014-15 as against `30.50 lakh crore in 2013-14. In terms of GDP, the rates of GFCF at current and constant (2011-12) prices during 2014-15 are estimated at 28.7 percent and 30.0 percent, respectively, as against the corresponding rates of 29.7percent and 30.7 percent, respectively in 2013-14. The rates of Change in Stocks and Valuables at current prices during 2014-15 are estimated at 1.5 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.

26.       The rates of discrepancies at current and constant (2011-12) prices during 2014-15 are estimated at (-)0.8percent and 0.4 percent, respectively of the GDP, as against the corresponding rate of(-)0.5percentand (-)0.3percentrespectively in 2013-14.

27.       Estimates of gross/net national income and per capita income, along with GVA at basic prices by kind of economic activity and the Expenditures on GDP for the years 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15 at constant (2011-12) and current prices are given in Statements 1 to 4.

III      QUARTERLY ESTIMATES OF GDP FOR Q4 (JANUARY-MARCH), 2014-15

(a) Estimates at constant (2011-12) prices

28.       The four quarters of a financial year are denoted by Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4. GDP at constant (2011-12) prices in Q4 of 2014-15 is estimated at `28.74 lakh crore, as against `26.73 lakh  crore in Q4 of 2013-14, showing a growth rate of 7.5percent.  GVA at basic prices at constant (2011-12) prices in Q4 of 2014-15 is estimated at `25.33lakhcrore, as against `23.87 lakh  crore in Q4 of 2013-14, showing a growth rate of 6.1percent.

29.       Growth rates in various sectors are as follows: ‘agriculture, forestry and fishing’ (-1.4 percent), ‘mining and quarrying’ (2.3 percent), ‘manufacturing’ (8.4 percent), ‘electricity, gas, water supply and other utility services’ (4.2 percent) ‘construction’ (1.4 percent), 'trade, hotels, transport and communication' (14.1 percent), 'financial, real estate and professional services' (10.2 percent), and ‘Public administration, defence and other Services' (0.1percent).

30.       According to the latest estimates available on the IIP, the index of mining, manufacturing and electricity registered growth rates of 0.2 percent, 3.6 percent and 3.7 percent respectively, in Q4 of 2014-15, as compared to the growth rates of 1.8 percent, (-)1.6  percent and 7.6 percent respectively in these sectors in Q4, 2013-14.

31.       The key indicators of railways, namely, the net tonne kilometers and passenger kilometers have shown growth rates of 3.5 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively in Q4 of 2014-15, as against the growth rates 1.2 percent and 0.8 percent, in the corresponding period of previous year.  In the transport and communication sectors, the sale of commercial vehicles and cargo handled at major ports, registered growth rates of 3.5 percent and 4.4 percent respectively in Q4 of 2014-15 as compared to the growth rates of (-)24.1 percent and 1.3 percent respectively in these sectors in Q4, 2013-14. The Trade, hotels and transport sector have registered a growth of 14.1 percent in 2014-15 as against 9.9 percent in Q4 of 2013-14. Further, there was significant growth in the private corporate sector in the last quarter of 2014-15 in the case of trade and communication.  The sector Public administration, defence and other services'  has shown a growth rate of 0.1 per cent in Q4 of 2014-15  as against the growth rate of  2.4 per cent in  2013-14  mainly due to decrease in total expenditure of Central Government . The Central Government revenue expenditure net of interest payments showed a decline of 3.0 per cent during Q4 of 2014-15 as compared to 2013-14.

32. The PFCE and GFCF at constant (2011-12) prices in Q4 of 2014-15 are estimated at`15.95 lakh crore and `8.55 lakh crore, respectively. The rates of PFCE and GFCF as percentage of GDP in Q4 of 2014-15 were 55.5 percent and 29.7 percent, respectively, as against the corresponding rates of 55.3 percent and 30.7 percent, respectively in Q4 of 2013-14.

(b) Estimates at current prices

33.       GDP at current prices in Q4 of 2014-15 is estimated at `33.15lakh crore, as against `30.77 lakh crore in Q4 of 2013-14, showing a growth of 7.7 percent. GVA at current basic prices in Q4 of 2014-15 is estimated at `29.09 lakh crore, as against `27.44 lakh crore in Q4 of 2013-14, showing a growth of 6.0percent.

34.       The PFCE and GFCF at current prices in Q4 of 2014-15 are estimated at `19.80 lakh crore and `9.53lakhcrore, respectively. The rates of PFCE and GFCF at current prices as percentage of GDP in Q4 of 2014-15 are estimated at 59.7percent and 28.7 percent, respectively, as against the corresponding rates of 58.1 percent and 29.8 percent, respectively in Q4 of 2013-14.

35. The wholesale price index (WPI), in respect of the groups, food articles, manufactured products, electricity and all commodities, has risen by 7.4 per cent, 0.4 per cent, 2.1 per cent and (-)1.8 per cent, respectively during Q4 of 2014-15. The WPI of minerals has declined by 29.0 percent duringQ4 of 2014-15. The consumer price index has shown a rise of 5.4 per cent during Q4 of 2014-15.

36.       Estimates of GVA at basic prices by kind of economic activity and the Expenditures on GDP for the four quarters of 2012-13, 2013-14and 2014-15 at constant (2011-12) and current prices, are given in Statements 5 to 8.

37.       The next release of quarterly GDP estimate for the quarter April-June, 2015 (Q1 of 2015-16) will be on 28.08.2015.

NS:New Series Estimates; PE: Provisional Estimates

NS: New Series Estimates; PE: Provisional Estimates

NS: New Series Estimates; PE: Provisional Estimates

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Defence
04-June-2015 17:27 IST

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Defence
28-May-2015 16:52 IST

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Defence
04-June-2015 19:00 IST

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Defence
28-May-2015 16:55 IST

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Defence
04-June-2015 18:15 IST

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Prime Minister's Office
27-May-2015 19:15 IST

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Defence
04-June-2015 17:51 IST

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Defence
27-May-2015 18:58 IST

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Prime Minister's Office
03-June-2015 20:06 IST

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Defence
27-May-2015 18:41 IST

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Defence
03-June-2015 20:36 IST

Squadron Leader (Sqn Ldr) Ajay Ahuja of the Indian Air Force made the supreme sacrifice for the nation on 27 May 1999 during ‘OP Vijay’ while on a combat mission over Kashmir.  The officer’s aircraft was hit by an enemy shoulder fired Surface to Air Missile (SAM) while he was attempting to locate a downed pilot in spite of being aware of the danger to his life owing to the existence of SAMs in the area.

This extremely courageous act involving immense risk to this life epitomises the tenacity and indomitable spirit of the Indian Fighter Pilot.  Tragically, Ajay paid the price for his bravery.  His aircraft was hit and damaged severely.  Though the Officer ejected safely, he was killed by the enemy in captivity.  The Officer will always be remembered as a courageous and selfless soldier who laid down his life without a second thought for his country and for his brothers in uniform.

Sqn Ldr Ajay Ahuja hailed from Kota in Rajasthan. He was an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and was commissioned in the IAF on 14 June 1985 as a fighter pilot.  Over a span of fourteen years in various squadrons of the IAF, he served as an operational pilot on MiG-21 variants and on the MiG-23 Fighter bomber.  He grew up in service to become top instructor with an experience of over 1000 hours spent in instructing ab-initio pilots. He was extremely popular among his pupils because of his patience and cheerful nature.  A thorough professional, the Officer was the Flight Commander of the Golden Arrows. We salute this brave officer for his gallantry and draw inspiration from his dedication and bravery.  His wife Mrs. Alka  Ahuja and son Ankush survive him.

RCD/MKS

Your Excellency Mr. Alexander V Lukashenko, President of the Republic of Belarus,

Distinguished members of the Belarusian and Indian delegations,

Distinguished Ladies and gentlemen,

I am indeed delighted to be in Minsk on this first State Visit from India to Belarus.

I thank you, Excellency, for your kind words of welcome and the gracious hospitality accorded to me and to my delegation. We have thoroughly enjoyed our visit to your beautiful, green and welcoming land. It is indeed a delight to experience the simplicity, warmth and affection of the people of Belarus.

Excellency,

India and Belarus relations have a history of friendly and mutually enriching interactions. As I had mentioned to you during our talks, India’s national poet Rabindranath Tagore had visited Minsk in 1931. He had very intense and fruitful discussions with leading intellectuals of your country on international and topical issues of the day. India and Belarus are the inheritors of this glorious philosophical and intellectual tradition.

Since your emergence as an independent nation in 1991, India and Belarus have successfully developed our relationship based on friendship and mutual benefit. Our ties today cut across practically all sectors, ranging from trade and economic cooperation, defence, science and technology and cultural and people to people exchanges.

We also share common approaches to international issues. Our cooperation in the United Nations and other multilateral fora, including in the Non-Aligned Movement has been close and fruitful. This should continue. India deeply appreciates Belarus’ unequivocalendorsement of India's rightful claim to permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council. We are also delighted that Belarus fully supported India’s proposal to declare June 21 as International Day of Yoga in the United Nations General Assembly. India has and always will appreciate Belarus’ approach on issues of concern to it within the framework of international organisations.

Mr. President,

We have had the pleasure of receiving you twice in India as the President of Belarus, in 1997 and in 2007. Your successful visits have contributed enormously in elevating our relations to a higher trajectory and in enhancing the quality of our dialogue.

I am confident that our discussions today, and the various events being held in conjunction with my visit, would take India-Belarus relations to even greater heights. Let me reiterate that India remains fully committed to a deeper and more diversified relationship with Belarus.

Excellency,

Even as we look back with satisfaction at the road we have traversed in building relations between our countries, we also recognise the need to re-dedicate ourselves to a further enhancement and deepening of our ties. We both agree that there is enormous untapped potential in our relationship.

We have discussed several useful ideas and initiatives to enhance our cooperation. It is necessary that we implement them in the most effective manner. I would like to reiterate that we may focus our efforts on our economic and commercial cooperation, our defence ties as well as scientific and educational linkages.

With these words, I thank you once again for your gracious hospitality. I also wish to invite you to visit India at a time of your convenience. It would be a pleasure to receive you in New Delhi again.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I invite you to join me in raising a toast:

To the good health of His Excellency Alexander Lukashenko, the President of the Republic of Belarus,

To the continued progress and prosperity of the people of Belarus and

To the strengthening of friendship and co-operation between India and Belarus.

Thank you very much! [Spasiba Bolshoi]

***

AKT/SH/AK

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Defence
26-May-2015 18:26 IST

Nation-Wide Mobile Portability by July

FDI in Telecom Reaches Highest in Four Year

Wi-Fi Hotspots at all Major Tourist Places -Taj to be Inaugurated Shortly

·           Highest ever auction proceeds of Rs. 1,09,874 crore, against the approved reserve price of  Rs 80,277 crores. This could be achieved because of good governance practices, identification of Defence Band and release of Spectrum from Defence Ministry, which has been pending for more than six years.

·           Crossed 100 crore telephone connections in April 2015, the fastest increase in the last 11 months as compared to the previous three years raising national teledensity to 79.85 as against 75.23 in March 2014, 73.32 in March 2013 and 78.6 in March 2012.

·           Rural teledensity grew to 48.90%, an increase of 4.57% in the last 11 months. the highest increase in the last three years (43.18 in March  2014, 41.6 in March 2013 and 39 in March 2012)

·           The number of broadband connections, i.e. connections with a speed of 512 kbps or higher, increased from 65.33 million in May 2014 to 99.20 million in March 2015 with unprecedented growth of 52% in the last 10 months.

·           Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow in the telecom sector touched $ 2853 million in 2014-15 (upto February 2015). It was the highest in the last four years ($1307 million in 2013-14, $304 million in 2012-13, $1997 million in 2011-12 and $1665 million in 2010-11).

Initiatives to revive BSNL and MTNL

·           BSNL revenue grew by 2.1% in 2014-15reversing the trend of negative growth in previous years.

·           BSNL added 47 lakh active subscribers and MTNL added 2.11 lakh subscribers in 2014-15 reversing the trend of negative growth in previous years.

·           BSNL is in the process of setting up 25645 new base transceiver stations (BTSs) in Phase-VII of its expansion plan at a cost of Rs 4,805 crore, its first such investment plan in over five years. 15000 such BTSs installed in the last one year.

·           BSNL replacing network of landline local exchanges by IP (Internet Protocol) enabled Next Generation Network. 432 telephone exchanges and 70 lakh telephone lines are being replaced.

·           MTNL is setting up / upgrading 1080 3G sites in Delhi and Mumbai each and 850 2G sites in Delhi and 616 2G sites in Mumbai.

·           BSNL and MTNL have launched unlimited free local calls from landlines to any landline/mobile during night hours effective from May 1, 2015.

·           BSNL is launching free national roaming.

·           Hundred (100) WiFi hotspots at important tourist locations like Varanasi Ghats, Hussain Sagar Lake-Hyderabad, Bangalore, Cochin, Vijayawada etc. have been established by BSNL.

Other important initiatives

·           Full Mobile Number Portability (FMNP) notified to allow subscribers to retain their mobile number across the country and enable linking the mobile to Aadhar completing the JAM (Jan Dhan-Aadhar-Mobile) trinity of unique identity.

·           Bharat Net (National Optical Fibre Network - NOFN ) is the largest rural connectivity project of its kind in the world, seeking to link each of the 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats of the country, through a Broadband Optical Fibre Network. The work of laying optical fibre network has been speeded up (by 30 times) in the last 10 months. To make the entire project more effective in tune with the Digital India programme, a committee was constituted for further improvement and speedy implementation to serve the larger purpose of Broadband to all. Conference of State IT Ministers was held to discuss the report of committee. Many State governments have agreed in principle to effectively collaborate in implementation of Bharat Net.

·                Post offices modernized with 2590 Post Offices having 14.55 crore accounts migrated to Core Banking Solution and 115 Post Office ATMs commissioned.

·                13264 Post Offices have been migrated to Core Postal Life Insurance.

·                Procurement of biometric solar charged mobile devices with wireless connectivity to 1,30,000 rural Post Offices is presently underway.

·                Sukanya Samridhi Yojana launched on January 22, 2015, has now more than 47 lakh accounts with a total investment of more than Rs 570 crores.

·                Kisan Vikas Patra re-launched on November 18, 2014 has attracted investment of about Rs 2600 crore.     

·                Speed Post revenue grew to Rs 1470 crore in 2014-15 from Rs 1369 crore in the previous year. In CAG report laid in Parliament on May 8, 2015, on the basis of a detailed test check in 8 States, it has been highlighted that the quality of Speed Post service is far better than that of private couriers.

·                Parcel revenue growth which had dipped to-2% in 2013-14, registered a robust growth of 37% in 2014-15.

·                Cash on Delivery collections increased five times to reach Rs 500 crore in 2014-15 as compared to Rs 100 crore in the previous year.        

Electronics Manufacturing:

·                Modified Special Incentive Package (MSIPs): Till May 2015, 63 investment proposals worth Rs. 20,825 crore received. 40 proposals worth Rs. 9,565 crore approved. Till May 2014, only 8 proposals worth Rs. 1152 crore investment were approved.

·                Electronic Manufacturing Clusters (EMCs): Till May 2015, 39 applications received, 21 approved in principle. Two EMCs at Bhopal and Jabalpur given final approval and foundation stone laid. Till May 2014, only 8 applications approved in principle.

·                Electronic Development Fund approved by Cabinet on 10th December, 2014.

New pro-people initiatives:

·               Digital India is a mission mode flagship programme, aimed at bridging the digital divide by providing a digital infrastructure for utility of citizens, digital delivery of services and digital empowerment.

·                Jeevan Pramaan: 2.02 lakh Digital Life Certificates produced.

·                Digital Locker: Beta version launched. 1.24 lakh lockers opened.

·                E-Hospital Registration: Started on May 8, 2015. More than 5421 appointments given.

·                National Scholarship Portal for one stop solutions for scholarships for students.

·                eBasta: Supports publishers to upload content, schools to collate and students to download on tablet, PC and Phone.

Digital Inclusion:

·               Rural BPOs: 48,000 seats across different states for Rural BPOs approved.

·               North East BPOs: 5000 seats for BPOs in North East approved.

·               Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (DISA): scheme expanded to cover 52.50 lakh candidates, when compared to a target of only 10 lakh last year.

New Policy Initiatives:

·         Policy on Open Source Software approved in April, 2015.

·         Policy on Collaborative Application Development sent for notification on 11.05.2015.

·         Email Policyapproved on 18^th February, 2015.

·         e-Sign Framework has been initiated.

·         Policy on use of IT resources approved on 18^th February, 2015.

·         Policy on Internet of Things has been drafted.

Promoting Indian Languages:

·               Updated Indian Languages Toolkit available in all 22 languages now. Earlier it was available only for 10 languages.

·               Internationalised Domain Names: Domain name .bharat launched in 8 languages of Devnagari script and in Gujarati, Bengali and Manipuri.

NNK/MD

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Defence
26-May-2015 17:22 IST

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Defence
02-June-2015 18:03 IST

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
President's Secretariat
25-May-2015 23:43 IST

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Defence
01-June-2015 16:53 IST

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Defence
25-May-2015 18:01 IST

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Defence
31-May-2015 19:08 IST

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Defence
25-May-2015 18:04 IST

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Defence
31-May-2015 09:51 IST

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Defence
23-May-2015 18:29 IST