Ø Out of 133 countries rated on indicators of well-being such as health,
water and sanitation, personal safety, access to opportunity, tolerance,
inclusion, personal freedom and choice India has secured the 101th place. This
is lower than India’s rank, of 93, for GDP per capita income. Even Nepal and
Bangladesh rank higher than India on the Social Progress Index (SPI) ratings to
be released globally on Thursday. Norway has bagged the first rank; the U.S. is
at the 16th place. On the parameter ‘Tolerance and inclusion’ India ranks 128th
and is at the 120th place on ‘health and wellness’ that, says economist and
executive director of the SPI, Michael Green, is the toughest parameter for a
country to excel at. As a country becomes richer while tackling sanitation and
water becomes easier, tougher challenges emerge such as air pollution and
obesity, Dr. Green told The
Hindu in an exclusive phone
interview. The U.S. despite its high levels of spending on health and wellness
ranks 68th. Even harder to tackle are freedom and tolerance, he says. “The most
striking findings for India are the worst performance on the tolerance and
inclusion front…It’s a complex problem in a diverse country…another thing I
will be watching for as India grows economically is when obesity as a crisis
will start hitting.” The SPI was launched in 2013 and is based on 52 indicators
of countries’ social and environmental performance. It includes no economic
indicators and measures outcomes. The UN’s Human Development Index and Bhutan’s
Gross National Happiness Index are also alternate measures for well being but
they use GDP or other economic measures. Focusing exclusively on GDP implies
measuring progress in purely monetary terms and failing to consider the wider
picture of the real things that matter to real people.
Ø Though the Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to stay the National
Judicial Appointments Commission Act and referred a batch of petitions
challenging it to a larger Bench, it may still be several months before the
Commission is even active. Though President Pranab Mukherjee gave his assent to
the NJAC along with an enabling Bill providing for the panel on December 31
last year, the framing of rules and procedures under which the Commission will
operate has not yet been finalised. There are also a host of logistical and
procedural issues still to be addressed. For one, the government will have to
appoint two eminent persons to serve on the six-member Commission along with
the Chief Justice of India, the two seniormost judges of the Supreme Court and
the Law Minister.
Ø Eight days after Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh visited an enclave on
the India-Bangladesh border, residents of enclaves have written to Prime
Minister Narendra Modi stating that they are ready to donate land required for
rehabilitation of people once the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) is ratified.
Ø
Election Commissioner Nasim
Zaidi will become the next Chief Election Commissioner. The Law Ministry
has initiated the file for the appointment as the incumbent, H.S. Brahma,
retires on April 19. Highly placed sources in the government said here
on Wednesday that the Law Ministry had cited the convention of appointing the
senior-most Election Commissioner to the post.
Ø India will be able to create only 109.7 million jobs by 2022, according
to the latest studies on sector-wise human resource and skill requirements
commissioned by the newly created Skills Ministry. An earlier official estimate
said that by 2022, India would have to impart skills to 500 million people.
Ø He also launched the MUDRA bank with a corpus of Rs. 20,000 crore and
credit guarantee of Rs. 3,000 crore. The bank will be responsible for
refinancing micro-finance institutions in the business of lending to small
entities. While big industrial houses provide jobs to only 1.25 crore
people, small entrepreneurs have given employment to nearly 12 crore people,
Mr. Modi said. The postal network would be used for increasing access to the
formal financial system. MUDRA will be set up through a statutory
enactment. It will be responsible for developing and refinancing all
micro-finance institutions (MFIs) which are in the business of lending to micro
and small business entities engaged in manufacturing, trading and service
activities. It will also partner with State and regional-level
coordinators to provide finance to last-mile financiers of small and micro
business enterprises. Its proposed role includes laying down policy guidelines
for micro enterprise financing business, registration, accreditation and rating
of MFI entities.
Ø Economic ties are at the top of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s agenda as
he begins a nine-day three-nation tour of France, Germany and Canada. While
in France, the Prime Minister will focus on technology development and tourism
cooperation, in Germany he will pitch the government’s “Make in India” theme,
and in Canada he will focus on investment potential and engage with the Indian
diaspora that numbers more than 1.2 million. In Hannover, the informal
tête-à-tête with Chancellor Merkel will be held in the form of a walk through
the Hannover Messe industrial fair, where India is a partner this year. The two
leaders will inaugurate the India pavilion, and will walk together as they discuss
the potential for German manufacturers to “Make in India.” “We have a very big
presence of India with almost 400 Indian companies displaying their products
and 100-120 CEOs being present. Around 3,000 German business delegates will be
there, and there is clearly a lot of enthusiasm for ‘Make in India’ and
investment possibilities. Mr. Modi will then travel to Berlin for the
official State visit and bilateral talks, and will also go to see the Berlin
Railway Station, which is known as a “model railway station.”
Ø Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will announce regulations for India’s
first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at an event in Gujarat.
The State boasts of an international financial hub — Gujarat International
Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), a dream project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi
in Gandhinagar.
Ø In a major boost to the Indian civil aviation sector, more specifically
for Air India and Jet Airways, the U.S. Federal Aviation Association (FAA) has
upgraded the safety rating of Indian airlines as well as of the civil aviation
regulator by granting a Category 1 rating to India under its International
Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) programme.
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