28 FEBRUARY 2015: Economic Survey tabled, brings surprises

Ø Mobile phone subscribers can look forward to lower charges as the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) proposes a cut of 35 per cent for making calls and 80 per cent for sending messages while roaming.

Ø The Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) has revealed plans to build an orbiting outpost and land cosmonauts on the moon once the International Space Station (ISS) is mothballed next decade. In an official statement , Roscosmos pledged its support for the ISS until 2024 but outlined plans to disconnect its modules soon after, and use them to build a Russian space station in its place. The creation of a national space station would ensure that Russia has a base to fly cosmonauts to until it has developed its more ambitious plans to send crews on orbiting missions around the moon and land them on its surface by 2030. Since Nasa, the U.S. space agency, retired its fleet of space shuttles, Russia has been the only nation able to ferry humans to and from the ISS aboard its Soyuz rockets. The Russians’ commitment to the ISS was welcomed by some experts, including Chris Hadfield, the Canadian astronaut who covered the David Bowie classic, Space Oddity, from the ISS.

Ø Denis Villeneuve is in negotiations to direct the sequel to Blade Runner with Harrison Ford reprising his role as Rick Deckard. The iconic 1982 sci-fi movie, based on the Philip K. Dick novel Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? was directed by Ridley Scott.

Ø China on Friday formally backed a trilateral partnership with India and Sri Lanka to establish a Maritime Silk Road (MSR) and promote the rise of Eurasia.

Ø The Economic Survey said that by adopting what it called the JAM Number Trinity — Jan Dhan Yojana accounts seeded with Aadhaar numbers and operated through mobile numbers — would allow the States to deliver the subsidies to the poor in a targeted and less distorted manner. In its recommendations for farm sector reforms, it said liberalisation of foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail could help fill the massive investment and infrastructure deficit which resulted in supply-chain inefficiencies. The Narendra Modi government’s stand has been to disallow FDI in multi-brand retail.

Ø Russia will push for India’s full membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) during the upcoming meeting it is hosting in July, said Sergey E. Naryshkin, Chairman of the Russian State Duma, here on Friday. India is currently an observer in the multilateral grouping.

Ø The Economic Survey of 2014-15 has suggested three initiatives in the decreasing order of effectiveness and the increasing order of controversy to realise the ‘Make in India’ dream. The non-controversial response lies in improving the business environment by making regulations and taxes less onerous, building infrastructure, reforming labour laws, and enabling connectivity. “All these will reduce the cost of doing business, increase profitability, and, hence, encourage the private sector, both domestic and foreign, to increase investments,” the Survey said. The next response could be in the form of ‘industrial policy’. This could focus on promoting manufacturing by providing subsidies, lowering the cost of capital, and creating special economic zones (SEZs) for manufacturing activity.

Ø The Economic Survey 2014-15 has proposed a 4-D prescription to the Indian banking sector, which is hobbled by policy constraints, which create double financial repression, and, by structural factors, impede competition. The four Ds include: De-regulation (addressing the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) and priority sector lending (PSL)), differentiation (within the public sector banks in relation to recapitalisation, shrinking balance sheets, and ownership), diversification (of source of funding within and outside banking), and disinterring (by improving exit mechanisms). On the liabilities side, high inflation lowered real rates of return on deposits and a sharp reduction in households’ financial savings. On the assets side, statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) and priority sector lending (PSL) requirements had depressed returns to bank assets.

Ø With over 3,100 start-ups, India is ranked as the fourth largest start-up hub in the world, according to the Economic Survey 2014-15. This was mainly driven by ‘hyper-growth’ in the technology start-up and software product landscape.

Ø U.S. and Cuban negotiators on Friday opened a second round of historic talks aimed at overcoming half a century of enmity and restoring full diplomatic ties.