LONDON (Reuters) - The euro fell on Monday to its lowest level in nearly two weeks against the Swiss franc, considered a safe haven after attempts to break the deadlock between Greece and its creditors failed over the weekend.
The talks, which took place on Sunday, one hour did not last, indicating significant differences between the two sides.
The euro slipped to 1.0422 Swiss francs, its lowest level since the third of June, then improved to 1.0465 thus stable compared with the previous close. The single currency fell 0.3 percent to $ 1.1230 to stray more from a peak last week of $ 1.1387.
And the euro helped the dollar index losses to rise 0.2 percent to 95.167 and away from its lowest level in nearly a month 94.322 hit last week. The US currency rose 0.2 percent to 123.58 yen.
CITATION FROM REUTERS EDITION :http://goo.gl/k6FPNN
MUMBAI, June 11 (Reuters) - India has scrapped customs import duties for drugs and test kits used to treat AIDS in an effort to cut prices across the country, as it struggles to cope with an ongoing shortage in its national program to fight the disease.
More than a third of India's 2.1 million HIV/AIDS patients depend on getting their daily antiretrovirals for free from state-run distribution centres, but many of them have been facing shortages or stock outs for months.
The notice put out by the Central Board of Excise and Customs this week intends to make it cheaper to import raw materials that are used to make antiretrovirals under the national program, BB Rewari of the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) told Reuters.
Currently, U.S. firm Mylan Inc and India's Aurobindo Pharma supply AIDS drugs to the government program.
The exemption applies to certain first-line and second-line antiretroviral drugs used to treat adults and children, as well as to certain diagnostic kits and equipment that are used by NACO, Rewari said.
He added the drugs under exemption make up roughly 95 percent of the antiretrovirals used by India's AIDS patients under the national program.
The exemption, which will remain in effect until March 2016, is the national AIDS control department's latest effort to deal with a chronic shortage of HIV/AIDS drugs at home, even though Indian companies are some of the world's major suppliers of AIDS drugs. Local firm Cipla Ltd made headlines in 2001 by making antiretrovirals for Africa for under $1 a day.
The AIDS control program has been in disarray for months after the government changed the way over $1.3 billion in federal funds were distributed, according to data and letters seen by Reuters.
Construction of clinics in rural areas has been delayed and many health workers have quit.
Government officials have previously told Reuters of a lack of participation by local drugmakers in the tenders floated by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) to procure drugs.
Industry insiders, meanwhile, cite delayed tender approvals, supply bottlenecks and late payments, as well as poor coordination between the central and state governments.
AIDS drugs sold on the open market are expensive, so in an effort to make those more affordable, the government is likely to add more AIDS drugs under price control by including them in the national list of essential medicines, people involved in the process told Reuters in April.
LONDON, June 8 (Reuters) - Kuwait expects to table a bill to harmonise corporate tax rates between local and foreign firms in around two years' time, offering incentives to key sectors like telecoms and IT, the country's finance minister said on Monday. Kuwait said in April it was studying proposals to introduce the same levy for domestic firms, which generally pay little or no tax on income, and foreign companies, whose commercial activities are taxed with a rate of 55 percent in the highest bracket.
"We are looking at many, many scenarios ... but we are definitely looking at matching them," Finance Minister Anas al-Saleh told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in London.
"We need to draft legislation ... in 24 months we should have a law that can go to parliament."
Saleh expected the rate for international firms to fall and the levy on local companies to rise, though he declined to indicate a level. He added the government was also looking at introducing tax breaks for companies operating in key sectors like IT, telecommunications and petrochemicals.
"There will also (be) incentives, incentives to encourage corporates to focus on certain sectors that are needed for our economy," he said.
Introducing a new corporate tax will be politically sensitive in Kuwait, which has seen pressure on its state finances because of the plunge in oil prices. Officials say they want to diversify revenue sources beyond oil.
Saleh reiterated there were no plans to introduce income tax for individuals. citation : taken from zawya - https://goo.gl/4jAxyZ
Dubai: While convenient, keeping your mobile
phone at arm’s length when one is sleeping has proven to affect quality of
sleep, and even health.
Research
conducted by several universities and doctors has shown that radiation emitted
from mobile phones, especially 3G and 4G-enabled smart phones, delays and
disrupts sleep.
Dr
Saeed Taghizadeh, specialist neurologist at Prime Hospital, pointed out that
electromagnetic radiation emitted by mobile phones also interferes with the
body’s ability to heal.
He referred to research
led by by Professor Bengt Arnetz, a Swedish professor at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, which found that using a handset right before bed
prolongs the amount of time it takes for people to reach a deep state of sleep.
“Anything
that disrupts the quality of our sleep impacts our attentiveness and
irritability in the short and long term.”
While productive sleep
helps our bodies recover form the stresses of the day, the affects of being
exposed to cell phone radiation through out the night is more likely to be
evident in children and adolescents.
Dr
Taghizadeh explained that sleeping beside a phone is especially bad for
children and teenagers who typically need more sleep than adults.
“It can
cause mood and personality changes such as [attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder] ADHD-like symptoms and depression.”
Dr
Fatima Nazir, general practitioner at Gardens Speciality Clinic, told Gulf News
that experts are concerned about the effects of the radiation, as some research
suggests that sleeping with your mobile by your bedside can cause dizziness and
headaches, and can even trigger insomnia and other sleeping disorders.
“At the
very least it makes us hyper vigilant so our sleep is more likely to be
disturbed and we don’t get enough of the restorative sleep we need,” said Dr
Nazir.
What
happens when you sleep?
The
hormone cortisol that signals us to wake up, and the hormone melatonin, which
makes us sleepy are controlled by the light-sensitive cells in the brain.
“Light
stimulates cells in the retina, the area at the back of the eye that transmits
messages to the brain, and the light-sensitive cells inform the body what time
it is,” explained Dr Fatima. When sleeping beside a mobile phone or tablet, the
blue light emitted from the device has a stimulating effect. The cells in the
retina are most sensitive to blue light because of a pigment called melanopsin,
which is why reading on a phone or a tablet before bed is more likely to keep a
person awake than reading a book using a bedside light.
“For
this reason, experts advise a ban on screen time two to three hours before
bed,” said Dr Fatima.
With
smart phones replacing most traditional devices such as alarm clocks and flash
lights, sleeping with your phone in the next room can be a big inconvenience.
However,
it can be the solution for a good night’s sleep.
UAE Ministry of Health issues warning over wrong dosage instruction on Panadol Baby & Infant suspension packaging
Dubai: The Ministry of Health is warning the public that Panadol Children & Infant suspension product labels on the medicine box do not indicate the proper dosage levels.
Improper
dosage levels could lead to children being given too much of the medicine, the
ministry warned on Thursday in a public statement.
The
Ministry of Health sent out the warning to inform all medical entities, heads
of medical centers, managers of public and private hospitals, doctors,
pharmacists and assistant pharmacists.
The ministry drew
attention to all target audiences that changes will be made to the information
printed on the medicine boxes of the manufacturing company Glaxosmithkine.
According
to a statement released by the ministry, "dose specification found on the
medicine box is wrong and this results in giving the child or the infact a dose
that does not suit their age due to an excessive dose of Paracetamol entering
the body which could lead to liver poisoning."
Dr. Amin Hussain Al Ameri,
Assistant Undersecretary for Medical Practice and License Department in the
Ministry of Health, signed the statement.
He
could not be reached for comment by press time on Thursday.
Additionally,
the Ministry of Health advises doctors to disregard the doses listed on the
Panadol Infant and Children medicine boxes.
They are
told to determine the necessary dose an infant should receive based on their
age and weight until further notice from the Drug Management and Regulation
section in the ministry.
The ministry has also provided
a form for patients to fill out in case of any side effects provided by the ADR
which can be found online on the website (www.cpd-pharma.ae).
India must define its priorities. If we look at present unexpected bump and lower IIP number, one thing has become very clear this year India's growth is going for rough ride. The growth, development and middle class everything is just gone and vanished to give sleepless night.
If India want to grow and long term sustainable growth can only come from where it is needed most. In my opinion Rural and Agriculture is the core. Governments attitude of neglecting this sector for last one decade is sole reason for today debacle.
Government must give enough weight-age to the rural and agriculture development where 72% population resides.( This is steadily going in down in last one decade)
Water shade management and conservation must be given priority so that the farmers in the areas of rain-fed farming may have better income and opportunities to go for multiple farming.
India's infrastructure is pathetic, this must improve. Power generation should be priority.( Power generation should not be hold hostage to the governments foreign policy, government should sign gas pipeline agreement with Iran and this will reduce inflation and improve the power availability, the ultimate effect will be in good growth.)
Indian Railway is outdated and should improve and upgrade. It must double its capacity to cater to the needs of growing aspirations of fast growth of India.
Roads and Airports must be priority.
Food industry should take priority.
Mandi act needs to be amendment.
India:
Priorities for Agriculture and Rural Development
Although agriculture contributes
only 21% of India’s GDP, its importance in the country’s economic, social, and
political fabric goes well beyond this indicator. The rural areas are still
home to some 72 percent of the India’s 1.1 billion people, a large number of
whom are poor. Most of the rural poor depend on rain-fed agriculture and
fragile forests for their livelihoods.
The sharp rise in food
grain production during India’s Green Revolution of the 1970s enabled the
country to achieve self-sufficiency in food grains and stave off the threat of
famine. Agricultural intensification in the 1970s to 1980s saw an increased
demand for rural labor that raised rural wages and, together with declining food
prices, reduced rural poverty.
Inequitable allocation of water: Many states lack the
incentives, policy, regulatory, and institutional framework for the
efficient, sustainable, and equitable allocation of water. Deteriorating irrigation infrastructure: Public spending in irrigation
is spread over many uncompleted projects. In addition, existing
infrastructure has rapidly deteriorated as operations and maintenance is
given lower priority.
Rural
poor have little access to credit: While India has a wide network of rural finance institutions,
many of the rural poor remain excluded, due to inefficiencies in the formal
finance institutions, the weak regulatory framework, high transaction
costs, and risks associated with lending to agriculture.
Weak
Natural Resources Management: One quarter of India’s population depends on forests for at least
part of their livelihoods. India's "green revolution" allowed the country to produce enough
food to feed its population - but 40 years on, is this revolution unraveling?
The Green Revolution was a
deliberate, all-out attempt to become self-sufficient in basic food crops.
For 40 years. Under India's
"Green Revolution" in the 1960s and 70s -- seen as one of the world's
most successful agricultural turnarounds -- planting of high-yield varieties of
wheat and rice resulted in a sharp output rise.
Agriculture
There has been a dearth of resource support to the
farmers in the Union budgets which calls for urgent attention of the policy makers
to boost budgetary investment in agriculture in general, and dry land and rain
fed agriculture in particular. In 2006- 07, the share of agriculture in total
budget was meager 1.4 percent. This has further declined to 1.27 percent in the
current Union Budget 2010-11 (BE). A quantum jump of expenditure by the
Ministry (to around 2.5 times, in absolute numbers, between 2004-05 and
2010-11) has been noticed. However, public spending in agriculture as a
proportion of GDP is hardly perceptible. It has increased from 0.17 percent of
GDP in 2004-05 to 0.20 percent of GDP in 2010-11 B.E. The government needs to
direct its efforts towards improved rural infrastructure, agricultural research
support, investments in water management and new technology/institutional
innovations to increase agricultural productivity, and consequently growth of the
economy. Long-term sustainability of India’s farming sector, particularly dry
land agriculture, is only possible through coordinated efforts from different
quarters along with increase in share of budgetary investment in the agriculture
and allied sector and share of Central plan expenditure in agriculture.
Need for public investment
The record of agricultural growth in India in
the second-half of the 2000s was hardly inspiring. Growth rates of agriculture
in 2006-07 and 2007-08 were better on the average, riding on good monsoons and
hardening global prices. However, the growth rates in 2008-09 and 2009-10 were,
respectively, -0.1 per cent and 0.4 per cent. Advance estimates for 2010-11
have raised hopes again, but it is clear that elevating agriculture to a path
of sustained growth requires a major increase in public expenditure. In
particular, public investment, which would create fixed capital formation in
agriculture, has to increase significantly to arrest decisively the trend of
long-term decline. Budget 2011-12 plainly refuses to recognise this task as
urgent.
How
numbers are manipulated
The sharp rise in the supply of indirect finance was facilitated by
a series of definitional changes made under the UPA regime on what constitutes
priority sector credit in agriculture (for details, see R. Ramakumar and
Pallavi Chavan, “Revival of Agricultural Credit in the 2000s: An Explanation”,
Economic and Political Weekly, December 29, 2007). These definitional changes
broadly involved (a) recognising new forms of financing commercial,
export-oriented and capital-intensive agriculture as “agricultural” credit; and
(b) raising the credit limit of many existing forms of indirect financing. For
instance, from 2007 onwards, two-thirds of loans given to corporates,
partnership firms and institutions for agricultural and allied activities in
excess of Rs.1 crore per borrower were considered as indirect finance to
agriculture; the remaining one-third were treated as direct finance to
agriculture.
In 1990,
about 83 per cent of agricultural credit was of a size less than Rs.2 lakh. In
2009, however, only about 44 per cent of agricultural credit was of a size less
than Rs.2 lakh.
An area of darkness
Over
recent weeks, reports of frequent and increasingly longer power cuts from
across the country have added another layer of serious concern to India’s
faltering growth story. What is unusual about these power outages is that they
have been occurring during the months of October and November, when demand is
traditionally low. The immediate causes of the power crunch are well known.
There is a growing and acute shortage of coal, which is the mainstay of power
generation in the country, accounting for over 50 per cent of overall capacity.
Over the past four years, demand for coal, mainly for thermal power generation,
has grown by 7.3 per cent, while domestic output rose by only 5.4 per cent. What
is most worrying is the significant drop in investment in the power sector in
view of uncertainties on fuel availability and uneconomic pricing of power. The
target for additional power generation capacity in the current plan of 62,000
MW (already reduced from the original 78,000 MW) is likely to have a shortfall
of as much as 12,000 MW, according to the Planning Commission.
Indian railways lag 20-25 years behind world on technology front: E
Sreedharan
Thanks to
E Sreedharan , MD, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, India's capital has a world
class metro. A project that was on drawing board for decades and which many
thought would be almost impossible to execute is up and running. He took charge
in 1997 when he was 65 years old, long after he retired from the Railways in
1990. Today at 79, he is finally hanging his boots on December 31 to retire in
his native village in Kerala. He spoke to ET on Delhi Metro, its success and
his life. Excerpts:
You retired from the
Railways, what's your prescription for Railways future? ( Thanks to E Sreedharan , MD)
Indian
Railways has the world's fourth-largest network with 9,000 engineers but it
lags 20-25 years behind the world on the technology front, it needs to be
upgraded dramatically.
The present model of development is not sustainable and will increase crime in urban areas and increase disparity among India's population.
There is no need of targeting 9% growth, India should target 7% inclusive growth which will reduce poverty and increase quality of life.
This is horror story of developing India. In this so called developed world we are killing daughters.
Islam has given them right and stopped the practice 1450 years ago. But still today we are living in world of Jahiliya.
Innovation has created wealth in last century. Knowledge is most imprtant part of creating wealth. Creating knowledge is the only way forward for the GCC to creat diversified economy and sustainable economy. DUBAI: Qatar has been ranked 26th in the Global Innovation Index, securing the highest position in the Middle East ahead of even the world's two largest emerging economies China (29) and India (62). The report, prepared jointly by business school INSEAD and few other institutions, said that Qatar improved its world ranking by nine places vis-a-vis its 2010 position. Last year, the Gulf country was placed 35th on the Global Innovation Index. The Global Innovation Index is computed as an average of the scores across input pillars (describing the enabling environment for innovation) and output pillars (measuring actual achievements in innovation). The UAE, which has the second position in the Middle East, is eight ranks below Qatar at No. 34 in the list. No other Middle East country figured in the top 40 on the Global Innovation Index. As per the findings of The Global Innovation Index 2011 edition, Switzerland topped this year's GII ranking, with Sweden in second place and Singapore third. Joining INSEAD as Knowledge Partners for the report were Alcatel-Lucent, Booz & Company , the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), a specialised agency of the United Nations. The GII includes 16 economies from the Middle East and North Africa. While Qatar and the UAE are in the top 40, the other GCC economies are ranked in the top 60. Bahrain secured 46th rank, Kuwait was 52nd, Saudi Arabia 54th and Oman 57th. Three countries from the region are within the bottom 15. They are Syria (115), Yemen (123) and Algeria (125). The five pillars of GII constitute the Innovation Input Sub-Index: 'institutions', 'human capital and research', 'infrastructure', 'market sophistication' and 'business sophistication'.
Global economic uncertainty make it imperative that GCC countries should develop competitive, diversified economies, concludes a new paper from the Carnegie Middle East Center. In the report explains that the top priority for the Gulf Council Cooperation (GCC) countries should be improving economic governance Special Industrial Parks and Their Role in Diversifying Economy - Bio IT KnowledgeCenter Objective · To diversify local economy · To increase high end employment opportunities for the national · To develop Knowledge based economy for the future · To develop education to locals in association with different universities and biotech companies present in the park. Components · Biotech · IT/ITES · Pharmaceutical · Pharmaceutical Logistic and Warehousing
Corruption, BlackMoney , Lokpal and Affordibility of life ( Inflation)
Everyone is talking about corruption and one of most loved topic of media is black money, and now lokpal bill. There are many debates on all of this and everyone is talking about how to manage it or reduce the corruption. I have not seen much talked and discussed about how these money is created, and why it is created and how to put of the hole. Lokpal bill is one of the most important bill and it will improve the responsibility and bring corrupt cases into to forefront. Like RTI ( right to information act) it will be great achivement. This all will go in long way to become a nation who cares its people. I am not talking of Developed countries who do not care their own people and are arrogat. I am not talking of those who are least concerned about human rights and responsibility of powerful. No, I am talking of nation India, who is responsible and humble towards world and its own people. Where every hand get work and dignity to sleep peacefully everynight with food and not worried for tomorrow's needs. The major issues which India is facing to grow, and to grow responsibily. Without snatching or stealling from his own brothers and sisters.
Sources of Black money - One of the greatest challenge is our taxation system. India needs to deal with it and close the loopholes which creates blackmoney. ( I will write in detail on the issue. Only salaried class is tax payee because it is paid in bank and those who deals in millions of cash never gets tax notice)
India's Mandi Act ( food grain and agriculture commodities act)- This second source of proliferage.
Cash Transaction and banking in India. - All retail and wholesale trading happens as cash transaction. This must stop. This is source of black money, all kind of wholesale and retail transaction must be through bank. This will reduce cash and black money. Still more than half of India do not have banking account, let us make banking affordable to them. Give everyone of them account and reduce cash in system.
Indian Real Estate - Biggest investor or source where black is invested.
India Judiciary - Presently more than 10 years backlog is there in Supreme Court for constitutional bench. What kind of Governace are we talking off. If our highest court can not deal with matter of constitution for 10 years and many more years. The backlog of all other cases are well known. This is not justice system. India needs change in very first dimension of democracy, the justice. If this system can not deliver justice, what are we then talking off? We need a system which is time bound and accountable to deliver justice.
Accountability - If everyone is accountable and responsible for his task, why not judiciary? Let there will be system where Judiciary, including Highest Judiciary be held accounatable and required be prosecuted? Everyone here is human being and can make mistake so is judiciary, let there be a system which will held them accountable?
India Bureucracy - Let there be reform in indian bureucracy, politicians goes and comes back but our bureacracy remains there and needs to be cleaned.
Indian Criminal System - This is one of the area needs revamp. India needs clean, non corrupt IPC. Law and Order should be separate from investigation. Police and associated system is most corrupt and unaccountable system. They can put any one behind the bar for years under different law and after 5 to 10 years judiciary acquits him of wrong doing. What about lost time and injustice to him? Extra judicial killing is one of the most common phenomenon of Indian Police and Military. They are contract killer for Politician ( Gujarat or Business Mans, Delhi and Mumbai Cases). Do really India want such Police Force. We need a force, which people love to go to help. Present system is the system of British Empire and needs facelift.
Inflation is India's Foreign Policy Challenge and not Fiscal Policy Challenge.
Inflation is Indias Development Challenge, and not monetary or Fiscal Management.
Do really India need this kind of development. India is growing and growing very fast but it must understand the cost of development. It can not kill and deprive the people of their livilyhood. It is very important to have development but more important are human values. We do not need development for those few rich people. India is facing Maoist issue is rural and forest areas. The root cause is injustice and exploitation of all kind. Government must understand the emotions of people, before depriving them of their land and homes. It is will incrase crimes and law and order problem.
In the previous post I have written about farmer’s suicide and status of poverty in India. In this post I am talking about how it can be managed and reduced.
Seasonal Rainfall Scenario (1 June to 29 July)
The cumulative seasonal rainfall for the country as a whole during this year’s monsoon has so far been 19% below the Long Period Average (LPA). Progressive cumulative rainfall departure from LPA during monsoon season 2009 for the country as a whole and over the four broad homogeneous regions of India are given below Out of 36 meteorological sub-divisions, the cumulative rainfall during 1 June to 29 July 2009 was excess/normal in 17 and deficient in 18 and scanty over 1 (West Uttar Pradesh) meteorological sub-divisions.
Can we Change Monsoon?
No, we can’t do anything to it. It was like this for all the time, it is becoming more and more unpredictable so because of Global Warming. This reminds of what the former Finance Minister of Pakistan and the author of the UNDP's Human Development Report, the late Mahbub-ul-Haq (who was a personal friend of Dr Manmohan Singh) had once remarked, ''We were wrongly taught that we should take care of GDP and it will automatically take care of poverty. Let us reverse it. We need to take care of poverty and it will automatically take care of GDP". And the World Bank reluctantly acknowledged, though belatedly, ''the gap between some of India's largest and poorest states exhibit slow progress in human development indicators; low growth rates particularly in the agricultural sector. If the present trends continue, the bulk of the poor in these states will be unable to participate in future growth.'' Like Mr. Chidambaram, Mahbub-ul-Haq too refused to accept the stark reality – economic growth will not reduce poverty and deprivation.
India Growth Story India’s economy has come a long way, especially since the start of this century. It is impossible to ignore India’s rise in every field. GDP at market prices has increased from US$ 20 billion in 1950-51 to US$ 912 billion in 2006-07 and is expected to cross a trillion dollars in the current year. In terms of purchasing power parity (PPP), India’s GDP at US$ 4 trillion in 2006-07 accounted for 6.3 per cent of global GDP. Average annual economic growth, which had been constant and tardy at 3.5 per cent during the first thirty years of Independence, increased to 5.7 per cent during the 1990s and, since 2003-04, the average rate has increased further to 8.6 per cent. 2006-07, in particular, was a splendid year with the GDP growing at 9.4 per cent.
This growth has not been jobless growth. During 1999-2000 to 2004-05, India added to its workforce about 12 million people each year. During this period, the rate of growth of employment was 2.9 per cent per year.
Protectionism, self-reliance and village republics are not enough to lift 1.3 billion of the world’s poor out of absolute poverty. There is sufficient empirical evidence to demonstrate that trade can be a powerful catalyst for poverty reduction, that free trade with fairer policies will benefit the world's poor more than aid or charity. The problem is that World Trade Organization negotiations and global trade are far from free and fair, with the balance skewed in favor of powerful trading blocs like the US and EU and against poorer nations
Employment Generation
The latest Economic Census of India 2005 reports that rural India witnessed a higher rate of employment-generation in recent years compared to urban India Rural India has outshone its urban counterpart in generating employment, reports the latest Economic Census of India 2005. In the average annual growth in employment since 1999-2000, with employment growth rates of 3.33%, rural areas have outperformed the urban sector, which registered a rate of 1.68%, according to provisional results of the census. Interestingly, the results also show that 42.12 million enterprises are engaged in various economic activities other than crop production and plantation. If poverty reduction is an explicit over-riding concern, any programmed, project or policy must be evaluated for its effects on this, which means assessment of its impact on poorer populations in terms of: productive employment opportunities
access to and price of basic food requirements
access to basic housing/shelter requirements
access to and price of basic infrastructure services, including power, water, sanitation
access to and price of health services
access to and price of education services
access to and voice in the institutions of governance and administration
Focusing on all these indicators in turn imply that poverty is viewed as a multi-dimensional phenomenon, rather than simply in terms of nutritional deprivation, and the effects of material poverty on social exclusion are also recognized.
Trust on Agriculture
Studies by the Ministry of Agriculture have clearly demonstrated that farm incomes have fallen in the past five years. Rice farmers in West Bengal for instance earn less by 28 per cent in 2002-03 than what they earned in 1996-97. Incomes of sugarcane farmers decreased in Uttar Pradesh by 32 per cent and in Maharashtra by 40 per cent. Farm incomes of north Indian farmers eroded by 10 per cent on an average. The sharp decline in farm incomes is happening at a time when incomes in the urban areas are on an upswing. Add to it the declining consumption of cereals in real terms, the message is crystal clear. For bulk of the population, the capacity to buy food is eroding fast. This is leading to worsening of poverty and thereby leading to acute malnutrition. The Economic Survey, presented a day before the Budget, clearly stated that cereal consumption within a year had fallen drastically, indicating worsening poverty levels. The HDI for India is 0.619, which gives the country a rank of 128th out of 177 countries with data
This year’s HDI, which refers to 2005, highlights the very large gaps in well-being and life chances that continue to divide our increasingly interconnected world. By looking at some of the most fundamental aspects of people’s lives and opportunities it provides a much more complete picture of a country's development than other indicators, such as GDP per capita. Figure illustrates those countries on the same level of HDI as India can have very different levels of income. Of the components of the HDI, only income and gross enrolment are somewhat responsive to short term policy changes. For that reason, it is important to examine changes in the human development index over time
One suicide every 8 hours
Vidarbha remains a grim statistic. One suicide in every eight hours. More than half of those who committed suicide were between 20 and 45, their most productive years. The Maharashtra government says as many as 1920 farmers committed suicide between January 1, 2001 and August 19, 2006. Nearly 2.8 million of the 3.2 million cotton farmers are defaulters, reports Jaideep Hardikar
India's Growth - Luxury for the rich, squalor for the poor
"India is one land, but the rich and poor exist on apparently different planets. Virtually unreported are some awful daily realities: the rate of malnutrition in children under five is a shamefully high 45%. Less than a third of India's homes have a toilet and most women have to wait until the dark of evening to venture out to answer the call of nature. The talk of making poverty history sounds hollow in India, a land which is home to a third of the world's poor and where some 300 million people live on less than $1 a day." Even in macroeconomic terms India is still poor and small. It holds a sixth of the world's population but accounts for just 1.3% of world exports of goods and services, and 0.8% of foreign direct investment flows. Even the investment that is trickling in is becoming more and more capital intensive rather than labour intensive. Hence this whole propaganda that investment creates more jobs is being proven to be utterly false in India. In urban India this whole phenomenon of liberalization is playing havoc with city dwellers. As India's famous novelist and social activist Arundhati Roy put it, "This project of corporate globalization has created a constituency of very rich people who are very thrilled by it. They do not care about the hawkers being cleared from the streets or the slums that are disappearing overnight. India is not coming together but coming apart because liberalization has convulsed the country at an unprecedented unacceptable velocity." Now half of Delhi's 14 million inhabitants live in slums and 18,000 structures outside of slum clusters have been deemed illegal. But if this capitalist aggression is devastating the lives of the workers and the urban poor, it has had a more devastating effect in the villages where 70% of India's population lives. As Roy says, "Where India does not live, it dies." There have been reports of the phenomenon of endemic farmer suicides across India. In some states it worse than in others. The arrival of new pesticides, genetically modified seeds and swanky tractors that soak up increasingly expensive fuel have pushed up the cost of production.
First cousins: The ties between rural and urban India
At 27.8% of the total population, India’s level of urbanisation remains quite low. But that’s still 285 million urban citizens, a number that would constitute the fourth-largest nation in the world. To feed these ever-consuming cities electricity, water and natural resources, the habitats of rural India are becoming more and more depleted, forcing further migration into the cities Thus, as urban studies scholars such as Amitabh Kundu have time and again pointed out, the level of urbanization in India actually remains quite low even though its contribution to the national economy has become extremely high--calculated at 60% in 2001. But unfortunately, a hard-headed study of urban habitats around the world reveals that their goals may just not be achieved. And this could have everything to do with the situation of the 745 million rural Indians that shadow the horizon of all Indian cities. A shadow that may darken over a period of time when one finds that to feed the ever-consuming cities with electricity, water and natural resources, the habitats of rural India gradually become more and more depleted, forcing larger and larger numbers to migrate to cities, thereby further straining resources, especially since all the existing policies are doing little to absorb the needs of the urban poor.
Commitment to reduce Poverty Is Lacking
The ministry of water resources had demanded Rs 4,500 crore for the completion of major irrigation projects in the coming Budget. The state governments' failure to complete irrigation projects has led to an escalation of their combined cost by close to a whopping one lakh crore rupees. According to the Planning Commission, 383 irrigation projects in 23 states have spilled over from the Ninth Five-Year Plan to the tenth plan.These projects were to irrigate more than 20 million hectares, reducing the farmers' dependence on the monsoon. By the end of the ninth plan, only 35 per cent of the area was covered. The delay in implementation is attributed to several factors. For one, the allocation to the sector in the Union budget has been coming down, point out sources. Another reason is that the number of irrigation projects has been increasing over time, without the earlier ones getting completed.
Agriculture as Thrust Area
Agriculture plays an important role in the rural economy of India. This sector provides gainful employment as well as raw materials for a large number of industries in the country. Of late, amid economic reforms and trade liberalization, considerable changes have been noticed in this sector. The reform process introduced in the early 1990s failed to recognize the crucial importance of this sector due to which it has faced serious difficulties. These difficulties manifested in a variety of forms like loss of livelihood, consequent decrease in purchasing power of the rural masses, and a steady increase in input prices crippling the agricultural producers. Complete failure of land reform programmes in turn resulting in a distorted land holding pattern, the crisis in this sector during the post-liberalisation has aggravated. Looking at the core concerns of this sector, the growth of this sector in terms of increased public investment is of immense necessity at this juncture to revive the fate of the rural economy of India. Looking at the expenditure pattern of the present government towards agriculture and allied activities, the share of agriculture and allied activities from total expenditure and GDP declined drastically to 10.37 percent and 1.64 percent respectively compare to the previous budget (2008-09 RE). The obvious conclusion from this expenditure trend shows how committed is present UPA government at the centre towards reviving the rural economy of India as more than 52 percent of the total population of India depends on agriculture as their means of livelihood. Graph-1: Percentage Distribution of Plan Allocations in Agriculture and Allied Activities Since the Seventh Five Year Plan Source: Compiled from the data given in Economic Survey, 2007-08, GoI
Plan expenditure shows the commitment of the government towards the overall development of that sector over the plan period. Share of plan investment (both Center and States/UTs) in agriculture sector has been declining since 1985. Declined share of investment in agriculture shows that less priority has been accorded to this sector. During the Seventh Five Years Plan, the share of plan investment in agriculture and allied activities out of total plan investment was 5.8 % and this got reduced to 3.7 % in the proposed Eleventh Five Year Plan. The Solution There can’t one single pill which can solve the Problem, we need step by step approach. And first of this step is Reducing dependence on Rain fed Farming and Monsoon
(TBS) built many check dams in Alwar district, in the 503 sq km watershed of the 45-km-long Arvari river some 238 water harvesting structures had been constructed by the mid-1990s by the 70 villages located within its watershed. The work started in 1986 and, lo and behold, the Arvari, till then a drain that flowed during the monsoon did not dry up but slowly became a perennial river. In 1990, it had a flow till October and, by 1995, it had become perennial. tbs now lays claim to revival of five rivers. Hydrogeologist R N Athavale who visited the Arvari watershed has made the following estimates based on his experience to explain the revival of rivers. Earlier, only 15 per cent of the rainfall would go into the soil 5 per cent becoming soil moisture and about 10 per cent going deep into the ground, most of it below the bottom of the wells and the level of the Arvari bed because of the depleted groundwater reserve. Therefore, only 5 per cent of the rainfall would slowly seep into the Arvari and villagers could use just about 1 per cent for drinking and irrigation. Now, with check dams, 35 per cent goes into the soil instead of 15 per cent. As a result, the monsoonal runoff to the Arvari has dropped from the earlier 35 per cent of the rainfall to only 10 per cent. But an estimated 22 per cent of the total rainfall now seeps into the Arvari from the recharged groundwater reserve in the post-monsoonal months to give it a perennial flow. The villagers themselves now use about 3 per cent of the total rainfall that falls in the watershed with which they can take two crops a year.
