Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president D Srinivas today paid rich tributes to former Deputy Chief Minister Koneru Rangarao at the Congress Committee office 'Andhra Ratna Bhavan' here.After unveiling the portrait of Koneru and addressing a condolence meeting organised by the City Congress Committee, he said the death of Koneru on March 15 was a great loss to the party and to the down-trodden people of the state. He fought till his last for the welfare of Backward classes and Dalits and discussed frankly on people problems in the party and cabinet meetings, Mr Srinivas said.Earlier, he visited Kanakadurga temple atop Indrakeeladri hills and offered prayers to goddess Kanaka durga.
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Saturday, March 27, 2010
Modi appears before SIT
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I&B State Minister Distributed "Akashvani Annual Award"
(Photo by PIB No:CNR-30977)
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Friday, March 26, 2010
Muslims hail court order on Andhra quota, want states to follow
Hyderabad/Patna, March 26 : The Supreme Court order restoring four percent quota for backward class Muslims in government jobs and education in Andhra Pradesh has come as a relief for students aspiring for professional courses and has been welcomed by the community, which now wants more to states implement it.Students, who feared they would lose an academic year because the Andhra Pradesh High Court last month quashed the quota, were elated with the Supreme Court's interim order. The court Thursday observed there was nothing wrong in providing a quota for Muslim backward classes. Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, who is spearheading a campaign for the restoration of Muslim quota in the state, termed the court verdict as "remarkable". "This is our first victory and will save the academic year of Muslim students," he said. The court order will enable students from 14 backward Muslim groups in Andhra Pradesh, where the community accounts for 9.2 percent of the 77 million population, to avail of the reservation benefits for the fourth consecutive year. Since a constitution bench of the apex court will take up the hearing in August, admissions to most of the professional courses would be completed by then. "The court order will encourage us to do well and we can continue to avail of the quota benefit," said Mohammed Saifullah, a Class 12 student who hopes to get admission to an MBBS course. In the past three years, about 30,000 Muslim students were admitted to various professional courses and higher education and nearly 3,000 candidates were recruited in government jobs. The apex court judgment has also raised hopes among Muslim students appearing for the Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) examinations, where reservations have not only benefited Muslims in getting lower cadre government jobs under Group II but helped them to occupy higher administrative positions too, like that of deputy collectors. The beneficiaries and community leaders give credit for this to late chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, who provided reservation soon after coming to power in 2004. Fulfilling his election promise, YSR had provided five percent quota to Muslims through a government order in 2004. But the high court quashed it on petitions by some individuals. However, on the court's advice, the government reconstituted the backward classes commission and directed it to conduct a detailed survey of the socio-economic conditions of Muslims. On the commission's recommendations, the government issued an ordinance in 2005 for five percent reservation, and the assembly subsequently passed the legislation. However, it was quashed by the high court on grounds that this would exceed the 50 percent quota limit set by the Supreme Court. The government then issued another order in 2007 providing four percent quota in government jobs and educational institutions for backward classes among Muslims. A seven-judge bench of the high court Feb 8 quashed the Andhra Pradesh Reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes of Muslims Act of 2007, this time saying reservations cannot be extended on religious basis. Muslim leaders in Bihar, where the community accounts for 16 percent of the state's 83 million people, also welcomed the apex court order and called on various state governments to similarly extend the benefits of reservation to the community. Terming it a "historical decision", the influential Patna-based Imarat Shariah's chief Maulana Syed Nizamuddin told IANS this would have a long-term effect on the development of Muslims in India. The government should provide reservation for 15 years to backward members of the Muslim community as well as other categories of Muslims, said Nizamuddin, who is also the general secretary of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board. Dalit Muslim leader Irshadul Haque said that reservation for Muslims, particularly backward members, will help empower them. Maulana Anisur Rahman Qasmi, chairman of the Bihar Haj Committee, said the Muslim community deserves reservation for their empowerment. Gulam Ghaus, a legislator of the opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal, said that Muslims will have to fight for a similar reservation in other states. "Muslims are as backward and poor as Dalits in the country. Reservation is a tool to push them ahead," he said.
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Supreme Court order on Muslim quota a relief for students
Hyderabad, March 26: The Supreme Court order restoring four percent quota for backward Muslims in government jobs and education in Andhra Pradesh has come as a big relief for students aspiring for admission into professional courses in the next academic year.The students, who were afraid of losing a year due to last month's Andhra Pradesh High Court order quashing the quota, were elated with the interim order of the Supreme Court, which Thursday observed that there was nothing wrong in providing a quota for Muslim backward classes. Students from 14 backward groups in the Muslim community hope to avail of the reservation benefit for the fourth consecutive year. Since a constitutional bench of the apex court will take up the hearing in August, admissions to most of the professional courses would be completed by then. "The court order will encourage us to do well and we can continue to avail of the quota benefit," said Mohammed Saifullah, a Class 12 student who hopes to get admission in a MBBS course. Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, who is spearheading a campaign for the restoration of Muslim reservation, termed the court verdict as and #65533;remarkable'. "This is our first victory and will save the academic year of Muslim students," he said. In the past three years, about 30,000 Muslim students were admitted into various professional courses and higher education and nearly 3,000 candidates were recruited in government jobs. Muslim leaders view the quota as a boon to ameliorate the socio-economic conditions of the community. The Supreme Court judgement has also raised hopes among Muslim students appearing for the Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) examinations. The reservations have not only benefited Muslims in getting lower cadre government jobs under Group II but helped them to occupy higher positions like that of deputy collectors. As many as seven Muslims, including two girls, got Group I postings in 2008. The beneficiaries and community leaders give credit for this to late chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, who provided reservation soon after coming to power in 2004. "Not a single day passes when Muslims do not feel the absence of Rajasekhara Reddy," MIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi told the assembly this week while speaking on welfare schemes launched by YSR, who died in a helicopter crash in September last year. Fulfilling his election promise, YSR had provided five percent quota to Muslims through a government order in 2004. But the high court quashed the same on petitions by some individuals. However, on the court's advice, the government reconstituted the backward classes commission and directed it to conduct a detailed survey of the socio-economic conditions of Muslims. On the recommendations of the commission, the government issued an ordinance in 2005. Subsequently, the assembly passed legislation for five percent reservation. However, the high court set aside the legislation on grounds that this would exceed the 50 percent quota limit set by the Supreme Court. So the government issued an order in 2007 providing four percent quota in government jobs and educational institutions for backward classes among Muslims. A seven-judge bench of the high court Feb 8 quashed the Andhra Pradesh Reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes of Muslims Act of 2007 saying reservations cannot be extended on religious basis. According to the 2001 census, Muslims constitute 9.2 percent of the 77 million population of Andhra Pradesh.
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New emigration law to safeguard interests of Indians abroad
The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) is drafting a new emigration legislation to safeguard the interests of Indians settled abroad, union Minister of State for Planning and Parliamentary Affairs V.Narayanasamy Thursday said.Promising to pursue a pro-active policy to transform the emigration system and empower emigrants through systematic interventions of the MOIA, he said the government is doing its best to protect the Indian emigrants from unscrupulous elements.Addressing a gathering here after presenting visa papers to 200 immigrants to Canada at an ceremony of World Wide Immigration Consultancy Services (WWICS) here, Narayanasamy stressed the need for seeking legal route for emigration.Noting that international migration was an important dimension impacting economic relations between the developed and developing countries, he hoped that the 200 new immigrants will bring laurels to the country by their hard work.WWICS provides global resettlement solutions for emigration to countries like Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand, Australia under the skilled worker, business and study visa categories.WWICS chairman B.S. Sandhu revealed that the Canadian government is reconsidering its priority occupation list (POL) of 38 occupations and a new list will come into effect from May 1 this year. He advised the aspirants to file their papers before May 1, if their occupation is already listed in the POL.He said that since its formation in 1993, WWICS has settled nearly 400,000 people abroad.
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Thursday, March 25, 2010
NTPC pays highest ever interim dividend of Rs.2473.64 crore
(PIB NEWS) March,25, NTPC Limited paid highest ever interim dividend of Rs. 3 per equity share being 30% of the paid-up equity share capital of the Company amounting to Rs.2473.64 crore for the Financial Year 2009-10. Out of this, an amount of Rs.2090.21 crore was paid to Government of India holding 84.5% of NTPC’s paid up equity. An advice confirming credit of Rs. 2090.21 crore into Government’s account was presented by Shri R.S.Sharma, CMD, NTPC to Shri Sushilkumar Shinde, Union Minister of Power on 24.3.10 in New Delhi. Shri H.S Brahma, Secretary (Power) and other senior officials from Ministry of Power and NTPC were present on the occasion. This is the 17th consecutive year that NTPC has declared dividend ,
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Andhra Pradesh Muslim quota gets apex court nod
New Delhi, March 25: The Supreme Court Thursday temporarily allowed job quota for backward Muslims in Andhra Pradesh, but left a final decision on the matter to a constitution bench.With this, the Andhra Pradesh government is likely to go ahead with its proposal of reserving four percent of government jobs for Muslims. A bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justices J.M. Panchal and B.S. Chauhan, has referred the issue to the constitution bench to examine the validity of the decision. The order was given on a Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by the state government against an order of the Andhra Pradesh High Court that had earlier struck down the provision as being unconstitutional. The order from the apex court comes a day after Minorities Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said the central government would help Andhra Pradesh in implementing the quota if the Supreme Court directed it to do so.
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APUWJ condemns 'false' case against ABN-Andhra Jyothi channel
Hyderabad,Mar 25:The Andhra Pradesh Union of Working Journalists (APUWJ) has strongly condemned the 'false' case lodged against the Managing Director of ABN-Andhra Jyothi news channel by Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) activists.In a statement issued yesterday, APUWJ President D.Somasundar and General Secretary Y.Narender Reddy said the case filed by the PRP activists was false and a facade to hide their own criminal and undemocratic attacks on the channel's office.The Journalists' Union also urged PRP President Chiranjeevi to withdraw the case against the channel.The PRP activists had filed a case against the Managing Director and some other channel employees in Banjara Hills police station alleging that they were beaten up when they had gone to the channel's office on Monday.
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IT Minister Presented The "LIMCA BOOK OF RECORDS"
CM-inaugurate legislatures cricket tournament,
Speaker Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly N.Kiran Kumar Reddy inaugurating Cricket Tournament between MLA"S and MLC's (Photo by RSJThomas.Hyderabad) ==============================================
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Telangana supporters heckle Naidu outside jail
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Journalists demands stringent acts on media attacks
Tirupati, Mar 24 : Denouncing the attack on ABN Andhra Jyothi channel office by the PRP activists at Hyderabad. journalists yesterday took out a protest rally in the temple town.As many as 100 journalists including photographers led by the APUWJ leader Mr Dinesh, APUWJF leader Mr Delhibabu,Sakhi bureau Mr Nagesh and Visalandra bureau Mr T Janardhana Reddy, gathered at the Tirupati Press Club from where they took out a huge protest rally to the busy four pillar junction besides raising slogans against the political attacks on the media.Later, speaking to the press, they demanded the government to bring stringent acts on the media attacks.The persons responsible in the attack should be arrested, they added. ======================================================
Telangana supporters heckle Naidu outside jail
Pro-Telangana activists Wednesday heckled Telugu Desam Party president N. Chandrababu Naidu when he visited a jail here to meet TDP leaders arrested for attacking advocates who had disrupted a party meeting.Tension prevailed outside Cherlapally jail on the outskirts of the city as activists of Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) stopped Naidu's convoy as he came to call on TDP corporators and other leaders. Raising slogans of "Jai Telangana", the protesters asked Naidu to make his stand clear on the issue of Telangana. They entered into an argument with TDP activists who came to the rescue of their leader. The two groups clashed as police intervened and arrested pro-Telangana protesters. The former chief minister met two TDP corporators and another party leader in jail. They were arrested early this month for an attack on lawyers. The TDP leaders had attacked advocates March 6 when they had disrupted Naidu's speech at a party programme, demanding that he make his stand clear on the issue. Few advocates were injured in the incident, which triggered massive protests by pro-Telangana lawyerss. They even prevented other lawyers from defending the TDP leaders arrested in the case. Naidu had rejected the demand of the all-party JAC to tender an apology to the advocates, which finally led to JAC convenor M. Kodandaram expelling Telangana leaders of TDP from the apex body fighting for a separate Telangana state. (Way2online)
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Bharat Stage-IV fuels-Petrol and diesel Launched in Delhi
====================================================== (PIB NEWS) The environment friendly Bharat Stage-IV (Euro-IV) auto fuels namely petrol and diesel were launched in Delhi today. This, together with CNG which mandatory for public transport, makes Delhi having supply of the cleanest auto fuels in the world. To mark the occasion, Shri Murli Deora, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Smt. Sheila Dikshit , Chief Minister of Delhi and Shri Jitin Prasada, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas flagged-off the truck tank –lorries of IOC, HPC and BPC from Bijwasan Oil Terminal in Delhi, were through video-conferencing arranged at the SCOPE Auditorium near CGO Complex in Delhi. Among other dignitaries Petroleum Secretary Shri S Sundareshan, CMD IOC and senior officers of Petroleum Ministry and Oil PSUs and oil industry representatives were also present. Speaking on the occasion Shri Deora informed that arrangements have been made to ensure availability of Petrol and Diesel conforming to Bharat Stage-IV norms from 1st April, 2010 in all the 13 cities specified in the road map, namely, 4 Metro cities, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra, Surat, Ahmedabad, Pune and Sholapur. Shri Deora also said that the launch of new and upgraded fuels will enable the citizens of Delhi and the NCR to use environment friendly transportation fuels of international standards. He recalled that 10 years back Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, in association with Delhi Govt., started an ambitious programme to supply CNG for all Public Transport vehicles along with PNG for domestic use. Delhi was one of the world’s 10 most polluted cities, with vehicles contributing about 65 per cent of the polluting emissions. Shri Deora pointed out that today, Delhi has now transformed itself into a show piece with improved and safe air quality and its entire public transport fleet converted to run on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) at a scale unparalleled anywhere else. “IGL provides CNG to nearly 3,50,000 vehicles, including about 2 lakh private vehicles. This effort by IGL has significantly contributed in reducing pollution in Delhi. The launch of BS-IV fuels will further strengthen the State Government’s efforts for a cleaner and greener city,” he added. He also complimented Public Sector oil marketing companies – Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation – for their sincere and dedicated efforts in actualising the road map for green fuels drawn up as part of the National Auto Fuel Policy, in spite of several constraints. Runaway growth in consumption of Petrol and Diesel in the recent past, and constraints, both economic and physical, in executing fuel quality upgradation projects at the refineries added to the problems of the oil companies. The Minister further informed that while most refineries have completed and commissioned the fuel quality upgradation projects for both BS-IV and BS-III Petrol and Diesel, the remaining ones are in the final stages of completion. Informing about the under recoveries incurred by the Oil Marketing Companies Shri Deora said that as on date, the under-recovery on sale of petrol is Rs.6/litre, on diesel Rs. 4/litre, and LPG is Rs. 267/cylinder and SKO is Rs. 17/litre and would be about Rs.45,000 crore during the year 2009-10. He added that the Government have kept these prices under check to help the ‘Aam Adami’ despite high volatility of the crude oil prices in international market. The greatest challenge for the oil sector is to ensure that the petroleum refining, transport & distribution and marketing infrastructure grows in line with the rising demand in the country and that the quality of products and services improve in line with customer aspirations. Smt Dixit complemented Shri Deora, Shri Jitin Prasada and the oil industry for this important initiative towards improving the ambient air in Delhi. This she said will help Delhi to be amongst the best cities of the world. Delhi CM thanked them on behalf all its citizens as the better air quality is important for better health of the people. This mile stone is also significant in the contex t of the Common Wealth Games to held here later this year, she added Shri Jitin Prasada elaborated various measures being taken by his Ministry for providing quality services like, Toll-free complaint number and SMS booking for LPG. The Plan to roll-out PNG in over 200 cities in near future will help make available LPG cylinders for the rural house-wives, thus help them in making their Kitchens smoke-free. He also informed that the oil companies invested over Rs 30,000 crore to upgrade refineries so that environment friendly fuels in terms of the Auto-Fuel Policy are supplied. Petroleum Secretary also complemented the oil PSUs in upgrading their refineries to produce these higher-grade fuels. He pointed out that the under-recoveries on sale of the products puts a strain on these companies. Besides the under-recoveries estimated for the current fiscal at Rs 45,000 crore, the same would be about Rs 70, 000 crore in next fiscal at current prices. The Euro- IV grade petrol and Diesel would result in additional under-recoveries of Rs 0.41/litre on Petrol and Rs 0.26/ Litre on Diesel. =======================================================
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
ACB describes KCR's allegations as totally untrue
Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Director General K Aravind Rao today described as ''totally untrue'' the allegations made by TRS president K Chandrasekhara Rao that the ACB has received instructions from the Government to harass the leaders of the Telangana Non-Gazetted Officers Association (TNGO), who are taking active part in the Telangana agitation.''It is to clarify that this is totally untrue. The ACB has not received any instructions from the Government to harass the TNGO leaders. It is also untrue to say that such instructions were given to field officers during the ACB meetings,'' he said in a statement here.Describing the ACB as a totally professional organisation where officers of all regions are working and the field officers are mainly from the native ranges/districts only, Mr Rao said the ACB`s approach to identify corrupt officer was based on certain standard parameters which had been evolved over a period of time and they could not be subjected to any capricious changes either due to the whims and fancies of the officers or due to any other extraneous reasons. The computing procedure for identifying the disproportionate assets was very scientific and it could not be misused, he added. ''It is very unfortunate that a very senior leader chose to make some damaging allegations on the ACB, which undoubtedly are incorrect,'' he added.
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President,Voice president and Prime Minister,of india's Ram Navami Greetings
The President of India, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil in her message on the occasion of Ram Navami has said: - “On the joyous occasion of Ram Navami, I convey my greetings and best wishes to all my people. May this day inspire us to spread Lord Ram’s message of righteous conduct and selfless service and strengthen our resolve to strive for justice and human dignity to build a glorious India.”
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The Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari has greeted the people of our country on the auspicious occasion of Ram Navami. In his message he has said that Lord Rama, through his role as Maryada Purushottama has inspired generations of mankind to uphold the high standards of ethical conduct in life. His life and teachings have the power to provide guidance and spiritual solace in all phases of our lives.
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The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh has greeted the nation on the auspicious occasion of Ram Navami. In a message, the Prime Minster said that the life of Lord Ram inspires us to follow the path of righteousness even in the face of extreme hardships. He said Ram Navami is an occasion to rededicate ourselves to living virtuously. May the festival bring joy and happiness for all, the PM added.
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The Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari has greeted the people of our country on the auspicious occasion of Ram Navami. In his message he has said that Lord Rama, through his role as Maryada Purushottama has inspired generations of mankind to uphold the high standards of ethical conduct in life. His life and teachings have the power to provide guidance and spiritual solace in all phases of our lives.
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The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh has greeted the nation on the auspicious occasion of Ram Navami. In a message, the Prime Minster said that the life of Lord Ram inspires us to follow the path of righteousness even in the face of extreme hardships. He said Ram Navami is an occasion to rededicate ourselves to living virtuously. May the festival bring joy and happiness for all, the PM added.
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Government Condemns Violence during CPI(Maoist) Bandh
(PIB NEWS) The CPI (Maoist) has called a 48 hour ‘bandh’ since yesterday in the States of Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra ( three districts) and Madhya Pradesh ( one district). They have indulged in violent incidents targeting public property and innocent people. In West Bengal, Maoists blasted a railway track near Godapiashal railway station in West Midnapore district. In Orissa, CPI (Maoist) cadres caused two blasts along the Howrah-Mumbai trunk route in Bisra PS area, causing derailment of a goods train and exploded a bomb near a railway level crossing in K. Balang PS area, both in Sundergarh district. In Bihar, Maoists exploded can bombs between Kastha and Paraiya railway stations, district Gaya, causing damage to 2-3 feet of railway track leading to derailment of nine bogies of the Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express in which seven passengers sustained minor injuries in the intervening night of March 22-23. In West Bengal, suspected CPI (Maoist) cadres cut off the overhead electrical wire between Sordiha and Khatkura railway stations in district West Midnapore, causing disruption in railway traffic. It is clear that the CPI( Maoist) are not serious about their pronouncement of stopping violence and having a meaningful dialogue with the Government of India on various issues. Such acts of violence which target innocent people, disturb normal life and damage public property expose true character of CPI (Maoist). Government of India strongly condemns such mindless acts of violence and terrorism and hope that all right thinking people will condemn such violence.
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PM inaugurates Conference on Building Infrastrcuture: Challenges and Opportunities
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(PIB NEWS) The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh inaugurated the Conference on Building Infrastructure : Challenges and Opportunities in New Delhi today. Following is the text of the Prime Minister’s address on the occasion: “It gives me great pleasure to inaugurate this conference on the challenges and opportunities of building infrastructure. I addressed the first such conference at this very venue three and a half years ago in the year 2006. A great deal has happened since then, much of it very positive. I am very happy to be here once again to speak on this issue, which is extremely relevant to our economic future. India’s recent economic performance has been commendable on many counts. The economy grew at an average annual rate of about 9% before the global economic meltdown. It slowed down in 2008 because of the global crisis which continued into 2009, when it was compounded by a severe drought the country faced. Despite these adverse circumstances, our economy grew by 6.7% in fiscal year 2008-09, and it has accelerated to 7.2% in the fiscal year which is about to end in a few days time. These rates are well above those seen in the developed worlds, and reflect the underlying strengths of our economy. We expect to achieve 8.5% growth rate in the year 2010-11 and I hope we can achieve a growth rate of 9% in the year 2011-12. I believe that we need to do even better. For eliminating poverty and providing productive employment for our young population in the near future, we must aim at accelerating the pace of economic growth to about 10% per annum. This is the growth target which we should work towards for the Twelfth Five Year Plan. A growth rate of 10% looks ambitious but it is not impossible. It has been achieved by other emerging economies in Asia. However, it is not something that will happen automatically. We would need continual improvements in our policy regime and in our implementation procedures. Later today, I will be reviewing these issues in a meeting of the full Planning Commission to discuss the Mid Term Appraisal of the Eleventh Five Year Plan. For now, I will focus only on infrastructure development and what it requires in the years that lie ahead. Let me begin by clarifying that when I say infrastructure, I do not mean only infrastructure for the modern part of our economy. For truly inclusive growth, we need to meet the infrastructure needs of the whole country. Infrastructure must therefore be defined broadly to include highways and roads of all kinds including rural roads, railways, air and water transport, irrigation, electric power, telecommunications, water supply and sewerage system. The Eleventh Plan had estimated that we would need to invest over Rs.20 lakh crore in infrastructure over the five year period. This was more than double the realised investment during the Tenth Five Year Plan. The Plan also recognised that such a large investment in infrastructure could not be funded from public resources alone. This is because the government would have to necessarily devote a large portion of its own resources to critical livelihood support programmes and to providing access to education and health services which are crucial to ensuring inclusiveness of the growth process. The strategy for infrastructure development therefore involved combination of public investment supplemented by private investments wherever feasible. The mix was expected to vary from sector to sector, and also from region to region.
Our experience shows that private participation in infrastructure development is indeed a feasible proposition and can help expand infrastructure much faster than it would have relying only on public resources. The telecom sector is the most compelling example of this proposition. The Eleventh Plan target for tele-density was realised ahead of schedule, in the third year of the Plan itself. The addition of 1 crore subscribers every month with user charges among the lowest in the world, has really taken the communication revolution to the doorstep of the ‘aam aadmi’. We have also seen many successful PPP projects in roads, ports, airports and electric power. We need to do much more in these areas. The Central Government has developed a fairly robust framework for PPPs which balances the legitimate requirements of the investors and the needs of the users and also ensures transparency. Model documents have been developed for several sectors. Projects are awarded on the basis of competitive bidding and standardisation of documents and the bidding processes have contributed greatly to the promotion of transparency. One of the reasons why it is difficult to attract private investment in infrastructure is that all projects may not be able to generate adequate revenue streams. The projects may have high economic rates of returns but may not be financially viable. The Central Government has dealt with this problem by offering a capital subsidy which is competitively determined through the bidding processes. Since the capital subsidy is only a proportion of the total capital cost, government resources effectively leverage a large volume of private resources. This Viability Gap Funding arrangement can be accessed by state governments as well. The scheme has been received well and a large number of PPP projects have been approved under this scheme. I am happy to note that our states are now actively pursuing infrastructure projects, including through PPP arrangements. Some of the states have made notable progress in this area, while others are at earlier stages. The Finance Ministry and the Planning Commission are actively engaged with the state governments to help them in managing the PPP process. You will be hearing directly from my colleagues in charge of the various infrastructure sectors about developments in each sector. I will therefore only touch briefly on these. The power sector is crucial for fuelling the 10% growth we are aiming at. The capacity addition achieved already in the Eleventh Plan period is much higher than the achievement anytime in the past. But we have made less progress in this area than we should have. Power shortages remain a problem in many parts of our country. The distribution segment, which is entirely in the states sector, continues to be fragile. We are trying to tackle the problem of high Transmission & Distribution losses through a restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reform Programme which has just begun to roll out. We must also take steps to operationalise open access as early as possible to enable bulk consumers to buy electricity directly from competing producers so that a vibrant market is created where producers can invest for eliminating shortages and also reduce tariffs through competition. In the roads sector, we are very seriously working towards accelerating the road building programme in all parts of our country, especially the north-eastern states and the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Some changes have been made in the terms of concessions responding to stakeholder feedback, and with these changes we expect strong investor interest in PPP road projects. The Delhi-Mumbai and Ludhiana-Kolkata dedicated rail freight corridors are a transformative initiative of the Indian Railways. While much of the investment in the railways is necessarily in the public sector, PPPs have nevertheless been envisaged in many areas. Metro rail projects are being increasingly pursued in many cities, through various models including PPPs. The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission is designed to bring in a quantum improvement in urban infrastructure. I would urge the states to actively identify and pursue the possibilities of PPP in all segments of urban infrastructure which require both expansion and upgradation. In civil aviation, Delhi and Mumbai airports are currently undergoing a complete transformation while airports at Hyderabad and Bangalore have already been completed and operationalised through PPP. The Airport Authority of India is also upgrading several of its airports including the two metro airports at Kolkata and Chennai. The government has also initiated an ambitious plan for expansion of the port sector, including through PPPs. Issues involving the logistics sector need to be seen in a holistic manner. We have constituted a High Level Committee under the chairmanship of Dr Rakesh Mohan to prepare an integrated plan for the development of the transport sector in our economy. I have already mentioned that our strategy of inclusiveness requires high priority to the social sectors, especially education and health. While these efforts will have to be primarily in the public sector, there may be merit in bringing in public private partnership in these areas as well. We need to work on PPP models in these sectors that are fully consistent with the objective of providing access to the underprivileged sections of our society. Effective private sector participation in infrastructure would require a large mobilisation of resources through our financial institutions. The Finance Ministry has taken several initiatives in this regard. Preliminary exercises suggest that investment in infrastructure will have to expand to $ 1000 billion in the Twelfth Five Year Plan. I urge the Finance Ministry and the Planning Commission to draw up a plan of action for achieving this level of investment. We also need to review the approach that should guide our regulatory institutions in different sectors. An Approach Paper on the subject was published by the Planning Commission after extensive consultations with experts and stakeholders. I have asked the Commission to prepare a draft bill outlining the next stage of regulatory reform. We would welcome the views of all stakeholders in this very important area. Finally, I must emphasise that a successful infrastructure development strategy depends crucially and critically on implementation. Both the Centre and the states have to give top priority to strengthen implementation capabilities. We have set up the Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure to monitor progress in this area. I have asked the Planning Commission to engage in detailed consultations with each of the infrastructure ministries and come up with agreed targets of achievement for each Ministry, in order to identify slippages at early stages and take corrective action as necessary. I would urge the states to adopt similar tight monitoring so that we achieve the best possible outcome in the remaining two years of the present Eleventh Five Year Plan. With these words, I once again wish your deliberations all success.”
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79th Death Anniversary of BHAGWAT SINGH
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