Dr. A B P Pandey IAS (MH 1984) presently posted as Director General and Mission Director, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer, UIDAI .
IndianBureaucracy.com wishes Dr. Pandey the very best.
Vijay Goel visits Mh Shahid residence in Gurgaon to condole the sad demise
Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports (I/C) Shri Vijay Goel visited the place of residence of family members of former Hockey captain and Olympian Mohammad Shahid at Gurgaon to condole the sad demise of legendary star who died at a private hospital due to illness. Shri Goel conveyed deep sorrow and sympathies to the bereaved family members of Mohammad Shahid on behalf of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and on his own behalf.
Shri Goel said that in his death the Country has lost a legendary player. He said the life and career of Mohammad Shahid will always inspire young generation of players to perform at their best and bring laurels to the country in International events such as Olympics.
Mohammad Shahid was a legendry hockey player of his time and played at forward position. He played Olympic 1980 (Russia), won gold medal and was member of hockey team of 1984 (Los Angeles) and 1988 (Seoul). He was the captain of the team in 1986 Asian Games and won Bronze medal and in 1986 World Cup and was member of the team which won Silver in 1982 Asian Games
Inter-Regional Transmission Corridors for Supply of Power from Surplus States to Deficit States
PiyushGoyal Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines, today in a written reply informed in the Lok Sabha that the inter-state transmission lines are planned and implemented as a part of the evacuation system from inter-state generation stations and also as system strengthening projects. These lines are mainly used for delivery of power from these generating stations to their beneficiaries in various states. The inter-state transmission lines i.e. the transmission lines within a region and also the inter regional lines are also used for transfer of power from surplus states/regions to deficit states/regions, subject to availability of margins in these lines.
Further, the Minister said that a number of inter-regional links have been planned which interconnect the five regional grids i.e. Northern, Western, Southern, Eastern and North Eastern regions. Presently, the total transmission capacity of such inter-regional links is 59,550 MW (June 2016) which is expected to increase to 68,050 MW by the end of 12th Plan i.e. March 2017.
Shri Goyal noted that Gujarat and other surplus States are entitled to seek Long Term, Medium Term and Short Term Open Access (STOA) for export of power to any part of the country. The nodal agency for the grant of Long Term Access (LTA) / Medium Term Open Access (MTOA) is Central Transmission Utility (CTU) and for STOA is the Regional Load Dispatch Center (RLDC). In Case, Gujarat or such surplus States intend to sell surplus power outside the state on long term basis they should seek long term transmission access well in advance as creation of any new transmission infrastructure takes a period of three to four years.
As per the scheme for operationalization of Power System Development Fund (PSDF), PSDF may be utilized for creating necessary transmission systems of strategic importance based on operational feedback by Load Dispatch Centers for relieving congestion in Inter-State Transmission Systems (ISTS) and intra-state system which are incidental to the ISTS are eligible for funding from PSDF. As per information available in Central Electricity Authority (CEA), no such scheme has been submitted by any entity till date, the Minister added.
Indian Railways & Railway Ministers express deep condolences over the sad demise of Md. Shahid
Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, Minister of State for Railways and Minister of State (Independent charge) for Communications Shri Manoj Sinha, Minister of State for Railways Shri Rajen Gohain and the entire Indian Railway fraternity has expressed deep condolences over the sad demise of the noted Hockey player Md. Shahid who was Railway officer working as Senior Sports Officer, Diesel Locomotive Works (DLW), Varanasi- a Production Unit of Indian Railways.
Following is the text of the statement of Ministry of Railways paying homage to the departed soul:
“The sad untimely demise of Md. Shahid is a big shock for the entire Railway Sports fraternity, Indian Hockey and the Nation.
Always full of energy, Md. Shahid had been an asset to the organization as well as to the nation. He had represented the country in a number of international hockey tournaments including Asian Games and Olympics. He had been inspiration to all Indian hockey players. His contribution to Indian Hockey was a big phenomenon.
Md. Shahid was not only an outstanding sportsperson but also an excellent sports administrator. He rendered services to Indian Railways and lastly he was serving as Senior Sports Officer in Diesel Locomotive Works (DLW), Varanasi- a Production Unit of Indian Railways.
Md. Shahid was awarded with Arjuna Award and Padma Shri for his immense contribution to Indian hockey. He is considered one of India’s best hockey players to have played the game with class and was known for his dribbling skills. He was a member of the Indian team that won the gold medal at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. Indian Railway is stunned with untimely demise of great sportsperson of the Nation”.
Opening of Bank branches in Rural Areas
To promote financial inclusion and to extend the banking network in unbanked areas, general permission has been granted by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to domestic Scheduled Commercial Banks including Public Sector Banks (excluding Regional Rural Banks) to open branches at any place in the country, without seeking prior approval of RBI in each case, subject to at least 25 percent of the total number of branches opened during a financial year being opened in unbanked rural (Tier 5 and Tier 6) centres (population upto 9999).
RBI has also specified that the total number of branches opened in Tier 1 centres (population 100000 and above) during the financial year cannot exceed the total number of branches opened in Tier 2 to Tier 6 centres (population upto 99999) and all centres in the North Eastern States and Sikkim.
As on 31.03.2016, Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) have 132700 bank branches across the country and out of which 86425 branches (65.12 %) are in rural and semi urban areas.
Opening of bank branches is a commercial decision of the banks taken in accordance with the branch opening policy of RBI and requests for opening a branch by public at a specific place are considered by the banks on merits depending on their viability and requirement of banking facilities in the area.
Nationalised Banks mergers
The guiding principle for the consolidation process of banking in India was suggested by Narasimham Committee. According to which any initiative with respect to merger of public sector banks has to come from the Boards of the banks concerned, the extant legal framework, keeping in view the synergies and benefits of merger and their commercial judgment. Government’s / Reserve Bank of India’s role in the merger of banks would be that of a facilitator.
The Cabinet in its meeting on dated 15th June 2016 has approved the proposal of acquisition of assets and liabilities of subsidiary banks i.e. State Banks of Bikaner & Jaipur, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Travancore and Bhartiya Mahila Bank (BMB).
The benefits for attempting the merger of 5 subsidiary banks and BMB with SBI include rationalization of resources, reduction of costs, better profitability, lower cost of funds leading to better rate of interests for public at large, improved productivity and customer services. Merger will also ensure that due to size and scale of economy, SBI will be able to better handle ensuing competition from new Banks.
Decline in amount of black money in foreign banks
While there is no official estimation regarding black money of Indians stacked in Swiss banks, recent media reports have quoted Zurich based Swiss National Bank as saying that money held by Indians in Swiss banks has fallen by nearly one-third. These reports also say that the funds, described by Swiss National Bank as ‘liabilities’ of Swiss banks or ‘amounts due to’ their clients, are the official figures disclosed by the Swiss authorities and do not indicate to the quantum of alleged black money held by Indians in Switzerland.
The Government has taken several steps to effectively deal with the issue of black money, particularly black money stashed away abroad. Such measures include policy-level initiatives, more effective enforcement action on the ground, putting in place robust legislative and administrative frameworks, systems and processes with due focus on capacity building and integration of information and its mining through increasing use of information technology. Recent major initiatives in this regard include – (i) Constitution of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Black Money under Chairmanship and Vice-Chairmanship of two former Judges of Hon’ble Supreme Court, (ii) Enactment of a comprehensive law – ‘The Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015’ which has come into force w.e.f. 01.07.2015 to specifically and more effectively deal with the issue of black money stashed away abroad, (iii) Constitution of Multi-Agency Group (MAG) consisting of officers of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) for investigation of recent revelations in Panama paper leaks, (iv) Proactively engaging with foreign governments with a view to facilitate and enhance the exchange of information under Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAAs)/Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs)/Multilateral Conventions, (v) According high priority to the cases involving black money stashed away abroad for investigation and other follow-up actions including prosecutions in appropriate cases,
(vi) While focusing upon non-intrusive measures, due emphasis on enforcement measures in high impact cases with a view to prosecute the offenders at the earliest for credible deterrence against tax evasion/black money, (vii) Proactively furthering global efforts to combat tax evasion/black money, inter alia, by joining the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement in respect of Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) and having information sharing arrangement with USA under its Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), (viii) Renegotiation of DTAAs with other countries to bring the Article on Exchange of Information to International Standards and expanding India’s treaty network by signing new DTAAs and TIEAs with many jurisdictions to facilitate the exchange of information and to bring transparency, (ix) Enabling attachment and confiscation of property equivalent in value held within the country where the property/proceeds of crime is taken or held outside the country by amending the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002 through the Finance Act, 2015.
Extra virgin Olive Oil the best option for frying fish
Summary:Researchers have studied the changes that take place in fish lipids and in the oil during frying processes, and have concluded that using extra virgin olive oil is the best choice.
Researchers at the UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country have studied the changes that take place in fish lipids and in the oil during frying processes
The frying techniques, the nature of the oil used and the fish species have been shown to exert a great influence on the changes that take place during the process. UPV/EHU researchers have shown that the choice of cooking oil is hugely important owing to its impact on the lipid profile in the fish and on the possible generation of toxic compounds in the oil during frying, which can influence food safety and human health.
The journal Food Research International has published the article ‘The influence of frying technique, cooking oil and fish species on the changes occurring in fish lipids and oil during shallow-frying, studied by H-1 NMR’, which deals with the work carried out by Bárbara Nivea-Echevarría, Encarnación Gouache, María José Manzanos and María Dolores Guillén. To conduct this research, fillets of European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) and gilt head sea bream (Sparus aurata) were shallow-fried in a frying plan and in a microwave oven using extra virgin olive oil and refined sunflower oil. The changes that took place in the lipid composition of the fish and of the frying oil were studied by means of Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging (H-1 NMR).
Migration of lipid components between the fish and the frying oil
During the shallow-frying of the fish under domestic conditions, not only do the fish lipids migrate to the frying oil, the components of the oil are also transferred to the fillet of fish. As a result, the composition of the oil used for frying is modified: firstly, it is enriched by the acyl groups (‘fatty acids’) that are present in a higher concentration in the fish fat than in the original oil, and secondly, and simultaneously, it is depleted in the acyl groups present in a higher concentration in the original oil than in the fish fat. So after having been used for frying, the extra virgin olive oil was richer in omega-3, omega-1 acyl groups, linoleic and saturated fats (from the fish) and poorer in oleic, which is the main acyl group in olive oil. Likewise, after having been used for frying, the sunflower oil was richer in all the acyl group types (coming from the fish) except linoleic, which is the majority acyl group in sunflower oil. Furthermore, after frying, both types of oil were enriched by small amounts of cholesterol (from the fish).
As regards the fat in the fish fillets, its composition also changed during the frying process, and became enriched by the acyl groups present in a higher concentration in the frying oil than in the fillet (in other words, oleic if extra virgin olive oil was used, or linoleic if sunflower oil was used) and in plant sterols. Simultaneously, during the frying process the lipids in the fish fillets were depleted in the acyl groups and minority components present in a greater concentration in the raw fillet than in the original oils, such as, for example, the omega-3 docosahexaenoic (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic (EPA) polyunsaturated groups.
Thermal oxidation reaction
Besides the migration of lipids during frying, because these oils are subjected to high temperatures (170 ºC) in the presence of oxygen, certain small-scale thermal oxidation may take place in them. In the extra virgin olive oil used for frying fish, this thermal oxidation reaction did not occur as it is more degradation-resistant than sunflower oil. Yet in the sunflower oil used for frying fish in the frying pan, secondary oxidation compounds (aldehydes) were formed; some of them are regarded as potentially toxic depending on the concentration in which they are found. It should be pointed out that these compounds did not form in the sunflower oil used to fry the fish in the microwave oven. Therefore, in view of the results obtained and bearing in mind the generation of these compounds that are potentially harmful for health, the healthiest option for frying is to use extra virgin olive and fry in the microwave.
Fat content of the fried fish
The fish species used was also seen to be a factor that considerably influences the fat absorption-desorption process during frying. The fat content of the gilt head sea bream had diminished after frying while that of the European sea bass remained similar or increased with respect to the starting level.
This study shows that the frying technique, the type of oil used and the fish species exert a great influence on the changes that take place during the frying process. Correctly selecting the oil is of paramount importance owing to its impact on the final composition of the fat in the cooked fillet and the possible generation of potentially toxic compounds in the oil during the frying process, which will greatly influence food safety and human health.
More: Science
Sharing of info on Black Money by Foreign Countries
While there is no official estimation regarding black money of Indians stacked in Swiss banks, recent media reports have quoted Zurich based Swiss National Bank as saying that money held by Indians in Swiss banks has fallen by nearly one-third. These reports also say that the funds, described by Swiss National Bank as ‘liabilities’ of Swiss banks or ‘amounts due to’ their clients, are the official figures disclosed by the Swiss authorities and do not indicate to the quantum of alleged black money held by Indians in Switzerland.
Under the provisions of direct taxes laws, the Government has entered into tax treaties with a number of countries/ jurisdictions which obliges them to provide information for tax purposes. These tax treaties are – (i) Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAAs), (ii) Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs), (iii) Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters (Multilateral Convention), (iv) SAARC Multilateral Agreement. India has tax treaties with 139 countries/jurisdictions as on 30.06.2016. The names of such countries/jurisdictions is as follows:
Afghanistan, Albania, Andorra, Anguilla, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bermuda, Bhutan, Botswana, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Bulgaria, Canada, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, China, Chinese Taipei (Taiwan), Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Curacao, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt (United Arab Republic), El Salvador, Estonia, Ethiopia, Faroe Islands, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Green Land, Greece, Guatemala, Guernsey, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jersey, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea (Republic of), Kuwait, Kyrgyz Republic, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Liberia, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau (China), Macedonia, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Marshall Island, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Niue, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Sent Maarten, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tanzania, Tajikistan, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Turks & Caicos, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vietnam & Zambia.
Besides the above, the Common Reporting Standards (CRS), developed in response to the G20 request and approved by the OECD Council, calls on jurisdictions to obtain information from their financial institutions and automatically exchange that information with other jurisdictions on an annual basis. A key element of successful implementation of CRS is putting in place an international framework that allows automatic exchange of CRS information between jurisdictions. This framework is known as CRS Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA). While over 100 jurisdictions have committed to exchanging information under the CRS, 83 jurisdictions have signed the MCAA till June 2016.
Appropriate action against tax evasion including in respect of unaccounted income stashed in foreign countries, is an on-going process. Such action under direct tax laws includes searches, surveys, enquiries, assessment of income, levy of taxes, penalties, etc. and filing of prosecution complaints in criminal courts, wherever applicable.
Recognizing various limitations under the existing legislation [Income-tax Act, 1961, etc.], the Government enacted a new law – ‘The Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015’ – to specifically and effectively tackle the issue of black money stashed away abroad. This has, inter alia, provided for more stringent provisions of penalties and prosecutions in respect of black money stashed away abroad. Further, under this law, for the first time the offence of willful attempt to evade tax, etc. in relation to undisclosed foreign income/assets has been made a Scheduled Offence for the purposes of the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA). This enables attachment and confiscation of the proceeds of crime of willful attempt to evade such tax, etc., eventually leading to recovery of such undisclosed foreign income and assets/black money stashed away abroad. The new law came into force w.e.f. 01.07.2015. Thus, the first assessment year (A.Y.) in respect of the new law is A.Y. 2016-17 which began only on 01.04.2016.
However, before the cases involving black money stashed away abroad were subjected to more stringent provisions of the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015, a one-time three months’ compliance window closing on 30th September 2015 was provided under the new law wherein 648 declarations involving undisclosed foreign assets worth Rs.4164 crore were made. The amount collected by way of tax and penalty in such cases is about Rs.2476 crore.
The Government has taken several steps to effectively tackle the issue of black money, particularly black money stashed away abroad. Such measures include policy-level initiatives, more effective enforcement action on the ground, putting in place robust legislative and administrative frameworks, systems and processes with due focus on capacity building and integration of information and its mining through increasing use of information technology. Recent major initiatives in this regard include – (i) Constitution of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Black Money under Chairmanship and Vice-Chairmanship of two former Judges of Hon’ble Supreme Court, (ii) Enactment of a comprehensive law – ‘The Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015’ which has come into force w.e.f. 01.07.2015 to specifically and more effectively deal with the issue of black money stashed away abroad, (iii) Constitution of Multi-Agency Group (MAG) consisting of officers of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) for investigation of recent revelations in Panama paper leaks, (iv) Proactively engaging with foreign governments with a view to facilitate and enhance the exchange of information under Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAAs)/Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs)/Multilateral Conventions, (v) According high priority to the cases involving black money stashed away abroad for investigation and other follow-up actions including prosecutions in appropriate cases, (vi) While focusing upon non-intrusive measures, due emphasis on enforcement measures in high impact cases with a view to prosecute the offenders at the earliest for credible deterrence against tax evasion/black money, (vii) Proactively furthering global efforts to combat tax evasion/black money, inter alia, by joining the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement in respect of Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) and having information sharing arrangement with USA under its Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), (viii) Renegotiation of DTAAs with other countries to bring the Article on Exchange of Information to International Standards and expanding India’s treaty network by signing new DTAAs and TIEAs with many jurisdictions to facilitate the exchange of information and to bring transparency, (ix) Enabling attachment and confiscation of property equivalent in value held within the country where the property/proceeds of crime is taken or held outside the country by amending the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002 through the Finance Act, 2015, (x) Introduction of the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Bill, 2015 to amend the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988 with a view to, inter alia, enable confiscation of Benami property and provide for prosecution, (xi) Initiation of the information technology based ‘Project Insight’ by the Income Tax Department for strengthening the non-intrusive information driven approach for improving tax compliance and effective utilization of available information.
These measures have equipped the Government better in curbing the menace of black money stashed away abroad. Further, sustained and prompt action taken by the Income Tax Department in various cases involving black money has resulted into assessment of substantial amounts of undisclosed income, levy of concealment penalty and filing of criminal prosecution complaints for various offences in appropriate cases.
As part of enforcement measures, the Income Tax Department (ITD) conducted searches in 990 groups of assessees during last 2 years (F.Ys. 2014-15 and 2015-16), seizing undisclosed assets worth Rs.1,474 Crore. These assessees admitted undisclosed income of Rs.21,354 Crore. During the same period, 9,457 surveys conducted resulted in detection of undisclosed income of Rs.22,475 Crore. Further, there has been significant rise in criminal prosecutions filed by the Income Tax Department in last 2 years and number of cases where prosecution complaints were filed and offences were compounded during F.Ys. 2014-15 and 2015-16 is 3,140 as against 1,690 during F.Ys. 2012-13 and 2013-14.
Navy Assistance for Yet Another Heart Transfer
The Navy yet again pitched in with timely assistance for an organ transplant emphasizing its commitment to social issues by providing a Naval Dornier for the transportation of medical team for heart harvesting and their subsequent return with the harvested heart.
On 18 Jul 16, the District Collector, Ernakulam, forwarded a request to Headquarters, Southern Naval Command (HQSNC) for transportation of a harvested heart from Thiruvananthapuram to Kochi. Accordingly, four doctors of Lisie Hospital and their medical equipment were airlifted by an IN Dornier from INS Garuda to Thiruvananthapuram on 19 Jul 16 at 06:30 am.
The aircraft landed at Thiruvananthapuram Airport at 07:15 am after which the medical team proceeded to Medical College Hospital, Trivandrum. The team of doctors harvested the heart of a brain dead boy and reached Thiruvananthapuram airport at 12:15 pm.
The medical team along with the harvested heart returned to INS Garuda, Kochi at 01:00 pm by the same IN Dornier. The medical team along with the harvested heart returned to Lisie Hospital for the heart transplant, by their ambulance which was positioned at INS Garuda.
The aircraft was flown by the following aircrew of INS Garuda:-
(a) Cdr Sreekrishnan (04510-Z) – Captain of Aircraft.
(b) Lt Cdr Nilesh Tanksalkar (06003-T) – Co-Pilot.
(c) Lt Cdr Tittu M Joseph (05990-N) – Tactical Operator
The operation required coordination at various levels which included approval from higher authorities and role change of aircraft from “military” to “civil aid” which was carried out expeditiously.
Skill India completes one year !!
Marking the first anniversary of the Skill India initiative, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) under the dynamic leadership of Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (Independent Charge) announced the launch of five major initiatives reinforcing his ministry’s commitment to the youth of India. These initiatives are Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana -2, India International Skill Centres, IndiaSkills Online and a Labour Management Information System (LMIS); which were inaugurated by the Hon’ble President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee today at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.
President of India also inaugurated the first edition of IndiaSkills Competition on the occasion of World Youth Skills Day. More than 4820 candidates had registered to compete in 24 skills across 80 regional rounds to win their way to the IndiaSkills Competition 2016. This is a huge opportunity for youth to qualify for a global platform like WorldSkill International Competition which will be held in Abu Dhabi in 2017.
Union Minister of State Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy said, “Skill India Mission is like a start-up of Hon’ble Prime Minister for us, and during this last one year, every day has been enterprising for me. My Ministry is a live example of an early stage venture that I and my 35 Co-founders (All the officers and employees of the Ministry) have cherished, have been excited about, experienced nervousness for, but truly enjoyed it.”
“We are thankful for the enormous support that we have received from the Hon’ble President of India, who helped us in reaching out to 1500 employees at Rashtrapati Bhawan and certify them under the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) component of PMKVY, across 18 job roles and is today a part of our celebrations”, he further added.
Shri Rudy congratulated all on this day and urged everyone to contribute to Skill India efforts and motivate the youth to get skilled and make India a skilled and prosperous society which has respect for all.
Skill India is seeing great traction and is all geared to meet its philosophy of speed, scale and standards ensuring there is opportunity to get skilled for all. In the past 15 days, MSDE has got cabinet approvals on 22,000 crore worth of outlay for programs like Apprenticeship Protsahan Yojana and PMKVY 2, to be implemented over the next few years. There have been additional support through World Bank Projects as well.
The Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), which was launched last year, has secured an approval from the cabinet for its 2.0 version with an outlay of Rs12,000 crore for the next four years to train a total of 1 crore youths over the next 4 years (April 2016 to March 2020).
The event also saw the announcement of 50 India International Skill Centers that are slated to be open by the end of this year. In the initial phase, 15 centres have been launched today by the Hon’ble President of India, across the following eight sectors: Domestic Workers, Healthcare, Retail, Security, Capital Goods, Automotive, Construction and Tourism & Hospitality.
These will be set up through National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and will be implementing the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) and Pravasi Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PKVY) to the youth seeking global mobility for jobs. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) shall provide support for Pre-Departure Orientation Training, which includes language and soft skills training modules. The first 15 will be the following States: Uttar Pradesh (6), Kerala (2) and one each in Jharkhand, Bihar, Andhra Pradhesh/Telangana, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Punjab and Rajasthan.
Pranab Mukherjee also launched a single window platform to aggregate supply and demand trends in the Indian skill development ecosystem, referred to as the National Labour Market Information System (LMIS) – www.lmis.gov.in
LMIS is an integrated set of institutional arrangements, procedures, mechanisms and data systems designed to produce labour market information as per global standards and best practices. The system brings together statistical (quantitative) and non-statistical (qualitative) information concerning labour market actors and their environment and generate key analysis and reports which can be used for various policy interventions by different government stakeholders, as well as by the industry at large.
Another initiative of the Ministry leveraging technology to reach millions of skill seekers, the President announced the launch of India Skills Online (www.indiaskillsonline.com), an online platform for learning skills of choice. With the introduction of Online Skill-learning environment, the whole nation potentially becomes a classroom. The audio-video graphical illustrations format will help internalize the concepts for the skill-seekers, faster and longer. Online, the hard skills are supported by soft skill learning opportunities that help candidates become more confident, presentable, professionals. Skill India resolves to bridge the digital divide by providing basic digital literacy opportunities to all skill-seekers. Thus enabling them to become more aware, and better suited for the work environment of the day.
The web skilling opportunities, come coupled with the convenience of learning and practicing the skill-nuggets with the convenience of a mobile app. Thus increasing the accessibility, availability and personalization options in skilling.
An MoU has been signed between MSDE and Indian Space Research Organisation on a national-wide space-based distance-learning program. This partnership is will cover 2300 ITIs and 31 Advance Training Institutes across the country in the first phase of implementation and will help scale up skill training initiatives at a rapid rate.
MSDE also signed an MoU with National Institute of Open Schooling under the Ministry of Human Resource and Development. This partnership will create vertical and horizontal mobility pathways between the formal and vocational education streams, giving ITI graduates the opportunity to pursue formal education, if they choose to do so.
These celebration on the occasion of World Youth Skills Day 2016 reinforces the commitment of Government of India and Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) to evolve ourselves into a skilled society where there is prosperity and dignity for all.
In order to select the best talent to represent India at IndiaSkills, MSDE and NSDC have completed more than 80 regional competitions in 24 skills/trades including hair stylist, welding, car painting, auto body repair, graphic designing, robotics to name a few.
Close to 4820 candidates registered to participate in the competition this year. Around 40 organisation like Mahindra, Tata, Maruti, Toyota, CII, FICCI, NASSCOM, CREDAI, NID, NIFT, have come together to make IndiaSkills a success (including consortium partners).
The Sector Skill Councils are ensuring standards aligned to National Skill Qualification Framework are being followed in the competition to monitor the quality and standards of the competition which will be important to follow to compete at a world scale.
NPAs IN PSBs
The details of Gross Advances, Gross Non-Performing Assets (GNPA) and Gross NPA ratio of Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) and Public Sector Banks (PSBs) for last three years are as under:
| SCHEDULED COMMERCIAL BANKS (Rs. In crore) | |||
| GROSS ADVANCES | GNPA | GNPA RATIO | |
| FY 2014 | 61,01,775 | 2,51,060 | 4.11% |
| FY 2015 | 66,92,522 | 3,09,408 | 4.62% |
| FY 2016 | 72,86,952 | 5,41,763 | 7.43% |
| PUBLIC SECTOR BANKS (Rs. In crore) | |||
| GROSS ADVANCES | GNPA | GNPA RATIO | |
| FY 2014 | 45,90,458 | 2,16,739 | 4.72% |
| FY 2015 | 49,17,228 | 2,67,065 | 5.43% |
| FY 2016 | 51,16,985 | 4,76,816 | 9.32% |
Main reasons for increase in NPAs of banks are sluggishness in the domestic growth during the recent past, slowdown in recovery in the global economy and continuing uncertainty in the global markets leading to lower exports of various products like textiles, engineering goods, leather, gems, external factors including the ban in mining projects, delay in clearances affecting Power, Iron & Steel sector, volatility in prices of raw material and the shortage in availability of power have impacted the operations in the Textiles, Iron & steel, Infrastructure sectors, delay in collection of receivables causing a strain on various Infrastructure projects, aggressive lending by banks in past.
The government has taken specific measures to address issues in sectors such as Infrastructure (Power, Roads etc.), Steel and Textiles, where incidence of NPAs is high. The government has also approved establishment of six (6) new Debt Recovery Tribunals (DRTs), to speed up the recovery of bad loans of the banking sector, in addition to existing thirty three. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has also undertaken steps which include (i) Formation of Joint Lenders’ Forum (JLF) for revitalising stressed assets in the system, (ii) Flexible Structuring for long term project loans to Infrastructure and Core industries, and (iii) Strategic Debt Restructuring (SDR) scheme. (iv) Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets (S4A).The Government has recently issued advisory to banks to take action against guarantors in event of default by borrower under relevant sections of SARFAESI Act, Indian Contract Act & RDDB&FI Act, since in the event of default; the liability of the guarantor is co-extensive with the borrower.