NITI

National institute for transforming India (NITI) Aayog was initiated with 
cabinate resolution is Bharathiya approach to development which is transformed from government resoluted Planning commission to enhance cooperative governance between centre and state to ensure sustainable growth of economy.
SIMILAR ITIES BETWEEN PLANNING COMMISSION AND NITI Aayog:

A..COMPOSITION:
1. Government bodies are chaired by Prime minister.
2.The governing councils have chief ministers and lieutenant governors of Union territories.
3.The deputy chairman were appointed by Prime minister.

B..OBJECTIVES:
i. Develop mechanisms for village level plans and aggregate these plans progressively at national level.
ii. Recommends national agenda with assessment and factors which retard economic development.
iii. To make appropriate recommendations for facilitating its duties .

MAJOR DIFFERENCES :
a) Regional council of Aayog consists of PM,CM ,incontrast to Planning commission to resolve certain issues.
b) NITI has part time members where as Planning commission has full time members and experts from outside government.
c) participative development agenda stressing on empowerment and equality is the guiding principle behind NITI Aayog and ensures every individual enjoy and aspire to lead a better life.
d) The Aayog will serve as a think-tank for the government and will provide suggestions for the economy, including the private sector. 
e) The Aayog will also offer a platform for resolution of inter-sectoral and inter-departmental issues to accelerate the implementation of the country's development agenda where as planning commission resoluted
to specialized sectoral area.
Above all ,Since 6 decades Planning commission was supreme body in Assessing and formulating plans resulted in balanced development of nation in diverse aspects.The composition of Planning commission has experts and full time experienced people even from
outside government will make organization more transparent and
accountable.So.better to reorgansise existed one rather than creating new one .

एक मिनट का मौन / एमानुएल ओर्तीज

(हिंदी अनुवाद- असद जैदी)

इससे पहले कि मैं यह कविता पढ़ना शुरू करूँ
मेरी गुज़ारिश है कि हम सब एक मिनट का मौन रखें
ग्यारह सितम्बर को वर्ल्ड ट्रेड सेंटर और पेंटागन में मरे लोगों की याद में
और फिर एक मिनट का मौन उन सब के लिए जिन्हें प्रतिशोध में
सताया गया, क़ैद किया गया
जो लापता हो गए जिन्हें यातनाएं दी गईं
जिनके साथ बलात्कार हुए एक मिनट का मौन
अफ़गानिस्तान के मज़लूमों और अमरीकी मज़लूमों के लिए
और अगर आप इज़ाजत दें तो
एक पूरे दिन का मौन
हज़ारों फिलस्तीनियों के लिए जिन्हें उनके वतन पर दशकों से काबिज़
इस्त्राइली फ़ौजों ने अमरीकी सरपरस्ती में मार डाला
छह महीने का मौन उन पन्द्रह लाख इराकियों के लिए, उन इराकी बच्चों के लिए,
जिन्हें मार डाला ग्यारह साल लम्बी घेराबन्दी, भूख और अमरीकी बमबारी ने
इससे पहले कि मैं यह कविता शुरू करूँ
दो महीने का मौन दक्षिण अफ़्रीका के अश्वेतों के लिए जिन्हें नस्लवादी शासन ने
अपने ही मुल्क में अजनबी बना दिया। नौ महीने का मौन
हिरोशिमा और नागासाकी के मृतकों के लिए, जहाँ मौत बरसी
चमड़ी, ज़मीन, फ़ौलाद और कंक्रीट की हर पर्त को उधेड़ती हुई,
जहाँ बचे रह गए लोग इस तरह चलते फिरते रहे जैसे कि जिंदा हों।
एक साल का मौन विएतनाम के लाखों मुर्दों के लिए --
कि विएतनाम किसी जंग का नहीं, एक मुल्क का नाम है --
एक साल का मौन कम्बोडिया और लाओस के मृतकों के लिए जो
एक गुप्त युद्ध का शिकार थे -- और ज़रा धीरे बोलिए,
हम नहीं चाहते कि उन्हें यह पता चले कि वे मर चुके हैं। दो महीने का मौन
कोलम्बिया के दीर्घकालीन मृतकों के लिए जिनके नाम
उनकी लाशों की तरह जमा होते रहे
फिर गुम हो गए और ज़बान से उतर गए।
इससे पहले कि मैं यह कविता शुरू करूँ।
एक घंटे का मौन एल सल्वादोर के लिए
एक दोपहर भर का मौन निकारागुआ के लिए
दो दिन का मौन ग्वातेमालावासिओं के लिए
जिन्हें अपनी ज़िन्दगी में चैन की एक घड़ी नसीब नहीं हुई।
४५ सेकिंड का मौन आकतिआल, चिआपास में मरे ४५ लोगों के लिए,
और पच्चीस साल का मौन उन करोड़ों गुलाम अफ्रीकियों के लिए
जिनकी क़ब्रें समुन्दर में हैं इतनी गहरी कि जितनी ऊंची कोई गगनचुम्बी इमारत भी न होगी।
उनकी पहचान के लिए कोई डीएनए टेस्ट नहीं होगा, दंत चिकित्सा के रिकॉर्ड नहीं खोले जाएंगे।
उन अश्वेतों के लिए जिनकी लाशें गूलर के पेड़ों से झूलती थीं
दक्षिण, उत्तर, पूर्व और पश्चिम
एक सदी का मौन
यहीं इसी अमरीका महाद्वीप के करोड़ों मूल बाशिन्दों के लिए
जिनकी ज़मीनें और ज़िन्दगियाँ उनसे छीन ली गईं
पिक्चर पोस्ट्कार्ड से मनोरम खित्तों में --
जैसे पाइन रिज वूंडेड नी, सैंड क्रीक, फ़ालन टिम्बर्स, या ट्रेल ऑफ टियर्स।
अब ये नाम हमारी चेतना के फ्रिजों पर चिपकी चुम्बकीय काव्य-पंक्तियाँ भर हैं।
तो आप को चाहिए खामोशी का एक लम्हा ?
जबकि हम बेआवाज़ हैं
हमारे मुँहों से खींच ली गई हैं ज़बानें
हमारी आखें सी दी गई हैं
खामोशी का एक लम्हा
जबकि सारे कवि दफनाए जा चुके हैं
मिट्टी हो चुके हैं सारे ढोल।
इससे पहले कि मैं यह कविता शुरू करूँ
आप चाहते हैं एक लम्हे का मौन
आपको ग़म है कि यह दुनिया अब शायद पहले जैसी नहीं रही रह जाएगी
इधर हम सब चाहते हैं कि यह पहले जैसी हर्गिज़ न रहे।
कम से कम वैसी जैसी यह अब तक चली आई है।
क्योंकि यह कविता 9/11 के बारे में नहीं है
यह 9/10 के बारे में है
यह 9/9 के बारे में है
9/8 और 9/7 के बारे में है
यह कविता 1492 के बारे में है।[1]
यह कविता उन चीज़ों के बारे में है जो ऐसी कविता का कारण बनती हैं।
और अगर यह कविता 9/11 के बारे में है, तो फिर :
यह सितम्बर 9, 1971 के चीले देश के बारे में है,
यह सितम्बर 12, 1977 दक्षिण अफ़्रीका और स्टीवेन बीको के बारे में है,
यह 13 सितम्बर 1971 और एटिका जेल, न्यू यॉर्क में बंद हमारे भाइयों के बारे में है।
यह कविता सोमालिया, सितम्बर 14, 1992 के बारे में है।
यह कविता हर उस तारीख के बारे में है जो धुल-पुँछ रही है कर मिट जाया करती है।
यह कविता उन 110 कहानियों के बारे में है जो कभी कही नहीं गईं, 110 कहानियाँ
इतिहास की पाठ्यपुस्तकों में जिनका कोई ज़िक्र नहीं पाया जाता,
जिनके लिए सीएनएन, बीबीसी, न्यू यॉर्क टाइम्स और न्यूज़वीक में कोई गुंजाइश नहीं निकलती।
यह कविता इसी कार्यक्रम में रुकावट डालने के लिए है।
आपको फिर भी अपने मृतकों की याद में एक लम्हे का मौन चाहिए ?
हम आपको दे सकते हैं जीवन भर का खालीपन :
बिना निशान की क़ब्रें
हमेशा के लिए खो चुकी भाषाएँ
जड़ों से उखड़े हुए दरख्त, जड़ों से उखड़े हुए इतिहास
अनाम बच्चों के चेहरों से झांकती मुर्दा टकटकी
इस कविता को शुरू करने से पहले हम हमेशा के लिए ख़ामोश हो सकते हैं
या इतना कि हम धूल से ढँक जाएँ
फिर भी आप चाहेंगे कि
हमारी ओर से कुछ और मौन।
अगर आपको चाहिए एक लम्हा मौन
तो रोक दो तेल के पम्प
बन्द कर दो इंजन और टेलिविज़न
डुबा दो समुद्री सैर वाले जहाज़
फोड़ दो अपने स्टॉक मार्केट
बुझा दो ये तमाम रंगीन बत्तियां
डिलीट कर दो सरे इंस्टेंट मैसेज
उतार दो पटरियों से अपनी रेलें और लाइट रेल ट्रांजिट।
अगर आपको चाहिए एक लम्हा मौन, तो टैको बैल[2] की खिड़की पर ईंट मारो,
और वहां के मज़दूरोंका खोया हुआ वेतन वापस दो। ध्वस्त कर दो तमाम शराब की दुकानें,
सारे के सारे टाउन हाउस, व्हाइट हाउस, जेल हाउस, पेंटहाउस और प्लेबॉय।
अगर आपको चाहिए एक लम्हा मौन
तो रहो मौन ''सुपर बॉल'' इतवार के दिन[3]
फ़ोर्थ ऑफ़ जुलाई के रोज़[4]
डेटन की विराट 13-घंटे वाली सेल के दिन[5]
या अगली दफ़े जब कमरे में हमारे हसीं लोग जमा हों
और आपका गोरा अपराधबोध आपको सताने लगे।
अगर आपको चाहिए एक लम्हा मौन
तो अभी है वह लम्हा
इस कविता के शुरू होने से पहले।
( 11 सितम्बर, 2002 )
फ़ुटनोट :
[1] 1492 के साल कोलम्बस अमरीकी महाद्वीप पर उतरा था।
[2] टैको बैल : अमरीका की एक बड़ी फास्ट फ़ूड चेन है।
[3] ''सुपर बॉल'' सन्डे : अमरीकी फुटबॉल की राष्ट्रीय चैम्पियनशिप के फाइनल का दिन।
इस दिन अमरीका में गैर-सरकारी तौर पर राष्ट्रीय छुट्टी हो जाती है।
[4] फ़ोर्थ ऑफ़ जुलाई : अमरीका का ''स्वतंत्रता दिवस'' और राष्ट्रीय छुट्टी का दिन। 4 जुलाई 1776 को अमरीका में ,''डिक्लरेशन ऑफ इंडिपेंडेंस'' पारित किया गया था।
[5] डेटन : मिनिओपोलिस नामक अमरीकी शहर का मशहूर डिपार्टमेंटल स्टोर।
एमानुएल ओर्तीज़: मेक्सिको-पुएर्तो रीको मूल के युवा अमरीकी कवि हैं। वह एक कवि-संगठनकर्ता हैं और आदि-अमरीकी बाशिन्दों, विभिन्न प्रवासी समुदायों और अल्पसंख्यक अधिकारों के लिए सक्रिय कई प्रगतिशील संगठनों से जुड़े हैं।

FATCA

Fatca is an american anti tax evasion act. It makes it mandatory for foreign financial institutions to provide information about clients who could be subject to American tax laws, and failure will do so will result in a 30% withholding tax in all payments from the US.

This required registering with the US's Internal Revenue Service through a web based platform. Since Indian companies too have substantial dealing with the US, despite the absence of an Intergovernmental agreement, they have been asked to comply.

Earlier, tax information was shared on "request", which was both slow and easy for tax evasion.

Problems with FATCA:
1. The extra territoriality of FATCA has been subject to criticism.
2. It imposes additional costs it imposes on companies which require segregating of american and non american accounts, along with other compliance standards like payment details etc.

Advantage of FATCA:
It may bring in a new global standard and increased emphasis on tax evasion.
This is already been done as FATCA may be subsumed in another scheme by OECD which is supported by India. Such global standards may lower costs for tax compliance for companies.

Thus, countering tax evasion is a global concern but mutually agreed set of standards are required which do not place additional burden of institutions.

An Account og Niyamgiri / Ashish Kothari

Till last week, I’d never visited Niyamgiri, scene of the iconic fight between the Dongria Kondh tribal group and Vedanta, a powerful multinational corporation bent on mining in the area. So why have I titled this ‘revisiting Niyamgiri’? Partly because I’ve read so much about it, heard so much from colleagues, that I feel like I’ve been there before. In a struggle that the global media likened to David versus Goliath, the corporation was sent packing — this is the stuff of legends. But legends can be simplistic, so the second reason for the title is that when I did actually go to Niyamgiri last week, it was with the purpose of going beyond the narrative of the anti-mining struggle; of revisiting the legend itself.

The Dongria Kondh in southwestern Odisha is one of India’s so-called “particularly vulnerable tribal groups.” They retain world views and practices that go back millennia, and embody forms of knowledge and relationships with nature that have been lost to many of the so-called “civilised” peoples. They typify everything that the Indian state and urban educated folks would call “backward”: absence of literacy, simple levels of technology, shifting cultivation, animism, lack of schools and hospitals,kaccha paths to their villages, no electricity, and so on. And yet, defying all the stereotypes that go with this characterisation, they — at least for the time being — have triumphed over a private corporation with all the “civilised” powers at its command. (We heard that Vedanta continues to hope for a reversal of the decision to disallow it from mining in the area, especially now that an even more corporate-friendly government than the Congress is in Delhi.) The Dongria Kondh are, however, alert, and absolutely sure they will not allow any incursion by the company.

I went to Niyamgiri with some colleagues to understand the views of the Dongria Kondh on development and well-being. They had rejected mining, but were they rejecting the notion of development itself? Were they saying they were happy as they were? Did they reject everything coming from “outside,” or did they want some of it — government schemes for instance? Were there differing views within the community?

Walking to a number of Dongria Kondh villages and talking to some of the movement leaders, we got a sense of the powerful spiritual and rational basis for the rejection of mining. The rules laid down by Niyam Raja, the spiritual source of the territory, included the protection of forests and rivers, common custodianship of resources rather than individual property, and sharing of labour and its fruits. In such a situation, major incursions like mining and big roads and factories were simply taboo. Leaders like Laddo Sikaka and Dadhi Pusika were also clear that they did not want Niyamgiri to go the way towns like Muniguda and Bhubaneshwar did, where the water cannot be drunk and the air cannot be breathed without falling sick, where houses have to be locked when people go out, and where women face harassment on a daily basis. Building roads through the territory, they knew, would only bring exploitative forces in. And having realised that getting individual plots under the Forest Rights Act could encourage individualisation and more deforestation, the community has demanded that the entire territory be recognised as a habitat right under the Act, with a single title in the name of Niyam Raja.

Kinds of incursions

Unfortunately, however, such incursions have already been made, some rather insidious. Under its well-intentioned but blatantly inappropriate “welfare” schemes, the state had sought to bring the benefits of “civilisation” to the tribe. Schools hardly functioned in the few villages that had them, so Adivasi children were brought to ashramshalas or boarding schools where the education is in Odia (the Dongria Kondh speak Kui language). Adivasi culture is sought to be replaced by the dominant mainstream one. A well-known educational institution in Bhubaneshwar, which counts many political and scientific celebrities amongst its backers, has brought thousands of Adivasi children from across Odisha to give them education; that it has significant funding from corporations that want to establish mines and industries in Adivasi areas has led activists to wonder whether it is education or brainwashing that is taking place.

Closely following on the heels of the state has been the market. Till recently, the Dongria Kondh economy was almost completely non-monetised. There is now an increasing “need” for money as whatever little the Adivasis have to buy has become more expensive. Items that they bring to sell are often sold at well-below market rates. Typical of Adivasis in India, the encounter with the market is almost always to their disadvantage.

Finally, there are the incursions of the police and other security forces. The area is supposed to have Naxalite activity, which has given the state a reason to periodically send in patrols. Both Adivasi leaders and their supporters have been interrogated, framed with charges, including terrorism, searched, and made to feel unwelcome in their own home.

The Dongria Kondh are aware of these issues, but there is some ambiguity on how to deal with them. The increasing use of rather incongruous looking metal roofs on their houses (the walls were still mud), is symptomatic of a level of confusion. They complained that such roofs make their houses very hot in summer. Why, then, did they change from the traditional thatch roofs? “Because the government was giving us the metal roofs.” This was the same response given for why white rice was being eaten when they had their own nutritious local millets and other grains. Our question on whether the increasing entry of money as a medium of exchange could be problematic was left unanswered. Several Dongria Kondh families continue to send their children to mainstream schools in the desperate hope that their children will have a brighter future. Many of them do say, however, that they would prefer schools in their own villages, with Dongria Kondh teachers using Kui language, and with incorporation of forest-field-based learning.

The complete narrative

A positive development from the anti-mining stir is the creation of the Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti, which unites all the Dongria Kondh settlements. The Samiti is taking up other issues too, such as a movement against illegal liquor brewing. This is a ready platform to take up other thorny issues the tribe face.

There is no way that with a limited set of interactions, we could do justice to the complex questions we had set out to ask. But we got sufficient glimpses to convince us that Niyamgiri, both as a place and as a narrative, needs to be revisited. Enabling the Dongria Kondh to decide their own future, based on their understanding of their past and present, requires deep empathy and understanding from anyone outside of them who genuinely cares. The David versus Goliath narrative is powerful, and will sustain and inspire, but it is not complete. The market and the state have inextricably entered their lives. It will need a caring partnership between the Dongria Kondh, civil society organisations and the government to figure out how to navigate the very difficult terrain they face ahead of them, and for them to continue inspiring and teaching the rest of the world how to live lives finely tuned to nature.

(Ashish Kothari is with Kalpavriksh, Pune.)

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/revisiting-the-legend-of-niyamgiri/article6746783.ece

Indus Valley Civilization provided inputs to the present day urbanization

To what extent has the urban planning and culture of the Indus Valley Civilization provided inputs to the present day urbanization? Discuss. 


Indus valley civilization is known as the urban civilization because of the town planning and architecture. Cities in Indus vallley has the proper drainage system just below the roads similarly we are using nowadays. The house planning was also has impact even today. They have pucca-bricks houses with planning and having rectangular rooms with bathroom in each house. The warehouse and great baths found in sites are beautifully designed are examples of social rituals and storage system. Even nowadays we use warehouses and have common places to take bath and rituals.

Civilization was well developed and they were using copper, clay pottery and different ornaments; domesticated animals like sheep, pig, goat and dogs.

In Dholavira there is water reserve foundfor the water supply.

Indus valley civilization provided inputs for urban civilization as we are planning our houses having planing for drainage systems and making pucca houses with security. Such things are inputs from Indus civilization.


---Another Answer----

Indus valley is the source of innumerable elements that enrich the modern day civilisation.

Systematic town planning
__________________________
The scientific construction of building using baked brick in indus valley is an ingredient to modern day urbanization planning.

Drainage system
________________
The sewage water system of this civilisation is mind-blowing. The drains connected with bathroom is an aspect of modern day sewage system.

Sanity and cleanliness
_______________________
The style of bathroom of harappan civilisation with standing bath system is similar to modern day urbanization sanitary system.

Sanity and cleanliness
_______________________
The large brick slabs that covered the sewers of indus valley drainage gives inputs to modern day urbanization.

Commerce
___________
The trade of lapis lazuli; cotton and other export and import commodities with mesopotemia; sumeriyan is origin of modern day commerce.

Clustered buildings
___________________
The workers building of harappa resembles to coolie lines of modern day tea estates in structure.

Importance of water and sanctity
________________________
The strong belief of sanctity of water by harappans resembles to the belief of south indians who keep water tank in temples is a cultural input to modern day civilisation as south indian temples are centre of urbanized process.

Fashion
________
The pigtail hair and other jewelleries of indus valley women resembles to modern day fashion of women.

Use of Carpentry;pottery;seal;stone
_______________________
The use of all these three elements in harappan civilisation gives similarity to modern day use of decoration; amulet etc.

Use of citadel
_____________
The citadel of harappan provides ingredients to to the modern day social structure.

Agriculture

___________________

From the site of Kalibangan the evidence of ploughed field is found which is relevant in the modern days too as well system of canals was present in sites of afghanistan which is similar in present scenario also.

किताबें / सफ़दर हाशमी

किताबें

करती हैं बातें
बीते ज़माने की
दुनिया की इंसानों की

आज की, कल की
एक – एक पल की
खुशियों की, ग़मों की
फूलों की, बमों की
जीत की, हार की
प्यार की, मार की !

क्या तुम नहीं सुनोगे
इन किताबों की बातें ?
किताबें कुछ कहना चाहती हैं
तुम्हारे पास रहना चाहती हैं |

किताबों में चिड़ियां चहचहाती हैं
किताबों में खेतियां लहलहाती हैं
किताबों में झरने गुनगुनाते हैं
परियों के किस्से सुनाते हैं |

किताबों में रोकेट का राज है
किताबों में साइंस की आवाज़ है
किताबों का कितना बड़ा संसार है
किताबों में ज्ञान का भंडार है |

क्या तुम इस संसार में
नहीं जाना चाहोगे ?
किताबें कुछ कहना चाहती हैं
तुम्हारे पास रहना चाहती हैं |

-Safdar Hashmi

SIA

What do you understand by Social Impact Assessment? Way was it included in the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013? Critically examine. 


Social Impact Assessment was a methodology to review the positive and negative social impacts of any industrial and infrastructural project.  SIA was incorporated with LARR for following reasons-

1. To assess impact of land acquisition and to know it has a public purpose or not.
2. To prevent the forceful acquisition of land. With SIA norms, its required 70-80% confirmation of locals.
3. To prevent the forceful acquisition of land by state. 
4. Earlier district collector was sole decider of land acquisition, which is making it more burnable to misuse of power.
5. To check and prevent it s economical and environmental effects.
6. Most important, India has a bitter  past of acquisition during British Raj. So, government in 2013 thought of giving deciding power to locals for their land acquisition.

Although it made the acquisition process slow and ultimately slowing industrial development but  it has long time benefit and the SIA carries with it the very spirit of democracy and justice, and for logistical difficulties, must not be done away with.

PMKSY integrating with MGNREGA

Write a note on the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY). Do you think it is better to integrate this scheme with MGNREGA as proposed by the Prime Minister? Justify. 

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY) is a centrally sponsored scheme, launched by the Union Agricultural Ministry with a budget of Rs. 1000 crores, to improve the Agricultural Yield in the country. Under the programme:

1. Each farmer is to be provided with irrigational facilities to minimize his dependence on the monsoons
2. Rivers will be inter-linked to avoid situations of drought and floods
3. Farmers will be issued a Soil Health Card which will help them know the productivity of their land the crops it can grow best
4. Krishi Vigyan Kendras or agriculture science centres would also be strengthened in all the districts of the country so that they could come to the aid of farmers

The Prime Minister has proposed to link this scheme with the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Scheme, under which people are assured 100 days of employment in a year at minimum wages towards creation of community assets. However, in recent years, MNREGA workers have not been able to find productive work and hence although the income of the workers may have increased, the value addition by them has been negligible.

In light of this, linking the PMKSY and the MNREGA would be beneficial for the following reasons:

1. Workers would be employed in productive work, which will bear a very positive externality towards irrigation
2. Employment would automatically be for more than 100 days
3. Since most of the MNREGA workers are farmers or their families, the quality of work will also be high since it will finally be serving their own community
4. Government expenditure in one scheme will become an investment for the other, therefore helping in fiscal consolidation

However, there are also some concerns like:

1. Duplication of benefits: MNREG workers getting employed in the PMKSY will exclude other workers who may not have been able to enroll for MNREGA but equally need employment
2. Coordination, between the Agricultural Ministry and the Ministry of Rural Development may pose problems of slowing down processes and other bureaucratical hurdles

Despite the concerns, the benefits of merging the two schemes are far reaching a hence it is a welcome step.

Making ‘Make in India’ happen / Ravi Venkatesan

At this moment, the Prime Minister’s “Make in India” campaign appears to be exactly this — an imaginative marketing campaign. But there is much thought and even more work that is required to convert this to reality.

The theory behind “Make in India” is as simple as it is compelling. India must become a manufacturing powerhouse in order to gainfully employ its demographic dividend; there is no choice here. Fortunately, we have many natural advantages including a big labour pool and a large domestic market. In addition, with China’s competitive advantage in manufacturing eroding, India has the opportunity to take some share of global manufacturing away from China. All we have to do to improve the ease of doing business in India are these —stop tax terrorism, improve infrastructure, reform labour laws, invest in skills development, make it easier to acquire land, implement Goods and Services Tax (GST) and fast track approvals. Voila, we will take our rightful place as the world’s factory alongside China.

Energy factor

This is an attractive thesis that has a lot of merit. A simple step of making it easier to do business will make a huge difference to India’s manufacturing competitiveness. It is one plank of a manufacturing strategy. India ranks 142 on the World Bank Index; China is ranked 90. If we were to improve by just 50 places, it would be a huge perceptual breakthrough. However, this is not a manufacturing strategy in itself. As Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan correctly and controversially pointed out, much has changed in the world since China elbowed itself into becoming the world’s factory two decades ago. The nature of manufacturing is changing. Low-cost automation and robotics are making pure labour cost arbitrage less important. Lead times and a flexibility of supply chains are far more important, leading many companies to move manufacturing back closer to the big markets, the United States and Europe. Energy is the new labour in the sense that the cost of energy will significantly drive where things are made. Here, the U.S. with its huge new shale gas reserves has a big advantage. Developed countries are also realising how crucial local manufacturing is to jobs and to having stable, prosperous societies and so there is an attempt to reverse outsourcing and revive local manufacturing by embracing new technologies and innovations such as 3-D printing and the “Internet of things”.

For an industrial policy

To become a manufacturing powerhouse, India needs a manufacturing strategy, otherwise known as industrial policy. The idea of an industrial policy is out of vogue these days. It is seen as ineffective at best and even retrograde, running contrary to the idea of free trade. This is patent nonsense. Japan, Korea, China, Germany have all prospered by having a clear industrial policy and vigorously implementing it. The U.S., the United Kingdom, France and Italy have seen themselves deindustrialise by not having a clear industrial policy and are trying hard to course-correct this mistake.

There is a successful precedent even in India; our success in IT services was not an accident. It was the result of clear-eyed policies driven by the Department of Electronics, which included reducing import tariffs on hardware and software to zero, setting up software technology parks with tax incentives, and improving connectivity. Policy has always mattered and when it comes to manufacturing competitiveness, India must have a clear industrial policy that spells out priority sectors and how we will build competitive advantage in a way that is consistent with our obligations to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Building on advantages

India’s industrial policy must recognise where we have important competitive advantages. India is quite uncompetitive at low skill manufacturing. On the other hand, it is good at making complex things which require skilled labour and frugal engineering. Despite all its shortcomings, India remains a very competitive manufacturing location for sophisticated things such as construction machinery, cars and automotive components and diesel engines. It is no accident that companies such as JCB, Cummins, Deere, Volvo, Hyundai and Ford are using India as a major export hub.

We must focus on building competitive advantage and global scale in sectors where we have a large domestic market and certain inherent capabilities. Strategy is all about making choices. Here, five priority industries come to mind. Defence, because we are the world’s leading arms importer. Localising what we buy as a condition for all defence deals along with a willingness to allow majority foreign ownership can turbocharge our local defence industry. The second critical industry is electronics hardware. India imports $45 billion of mobile phones, computers and communications hardware; by 2020, this is projected to grow to $300 billion and exceed our oil import bill. This is unsustainable. We have to create policy incentives to create a local electronic hardware manufacturing ecosystem. Since most component suppliers, Original Equipment Manufacturers and Original Design Manufacturers are Chinese, this will necessarily imply incentivising Chinese companies to establish factories in India. The size of our domestic market should make this possible. Concerns about security are misplaced; all our personal computers, cellphones and a lot of switches and routers are already made in China, so we are conceding nothing. The third industry is construction. India will invest a trillion dollars over the coming years in improving infrastructure. We need to create incentives that not only spur investment in manufacturing materials such as cement and steel but also construction equipment, locomotives, power generation equipment and so on. Everything we install should be made in India. The fourth is health care. India’s generic pharmaceutical industry is world class. We must not concede on intellectual property rights that neutralise our advantage. India is also exceedingly good at frugal innovation in medical devices such as low cost X-ray and ECG machines. We have a real shot at being a world leader in innovation and manufacturing in this space. Finally, agro-industries. We are one of the largest agricultural nations. A third of what we grow just rots and spoils. Investing in agro-industries such as food processing and establishing a reliable cold chain would make a huge difference in terms of rural employment and food security. If we had to pick just five industries where we want to bootstrap a strong competitive advantage it would be these. In other industries, whether it be textiles, toys, or automotive, we need to ensure that we do not disadvantage local manufacturing.

Creating ecosystems

Another critical strategic question is this: where do we want to make things? It is difficult to make a country the size of India into a uniformly attractive manufacturing location. Even China started its manufacturing odyssey by creating a few oases in the form of four special economic zones which were remarkably easy places to manufacture in. Where is India going to start its global odyssey? Manufacturing is all about hubs that are ecosystems for innovation, specialised skills and supply chains. Where will India’s hubs be for pharma, for defence, for electronics, for machinery and construction equipment? How do we catalyse these hubs by creating world-class academic institutions and skills training institutes? What incentives will attract the world’s leading companies to establish global innovation and manufacturing centres in these hubs? Pune, Chennai, Bengaluru and Delhi are already emergent hubs but what will enable them to scale up to compete with Shenzen and Tianjin?

To become a manufacturing nation, India has to quickly move beyond rhetoric to create a clear strategy and favourable policy environment for manufacturing to take off. The government has chosen to quietly dismantle the sclerotic National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council (NMCC) but it needs to foster a more vibrant think tank in its place. A close dialogue and partnership between government and the private sector, both domestic and foreign, is critical. Indian companies along with Chinese, Japanese, German, American and Swedish companies are all vital partners and we must create an environment that is open and welcoming. For this, the right leadership of this vital mission is critical. There is a clear and short-lived window of opportunity to become a manufacturing nation. We must not squander it.

electronics products | Make in India

In order to give push to ‘Make in India’ campaign, recently the government asked all government departments to give preference to domestically manufactured electronics products in their procurement. Is this a right step? Critically examine.


To give the edge to it's ambitious "Make In India " program government recently asked the all departments to give their preference to the domestic manufactured electronic items in their procurement's. But it is essential to analyse the move in the lime light of both it's pros and cons.
Pros-
They biggest advantage of this move that it will help in the development of indigenous market. Such procurement's also enhance the share of manufacturing in the economy, which give the competitive edge to the manufacturing sector. Furthermore giving emphasis to the indigenous manufacturer helps India to fix it's infrastructural bottleneck and it will also generate additional employment opportunity in nation. Here it should to be also noted that the government is investing large share of it's revenue in importation such electronic items and if the same amount will pump in the domestic market it will be admire both social and economical obligations of government.

cons-
The main concern in this regard is the lack of proper infrastructure. Despite of tremendous 6 % growth the manufacturing sector failed to give the competitive edge to the sector. This will hinder the domestic procurement's. Furthermore it has been also observe that the indigenous electronic items is not of so high quality and internationally they did not enjoy the eminent position as Chinese, Japanese or Korean enjoys. In this regard it is worth to mention that the such step to government also revoke their reformist zeal , as now the government is their buyer.Furthermore giving too much emphasis on the domestic market can create a unhealthy working environment for the foreign entities, which is not a good signal for any economy as a whole. Furthermore it also deteriorate the bargaining power and have great probability to create a monopolistic market. 
So while analysing all these arguments it is very clear that although the need of the hour is to promote indigenous market but it does not mean that eventually India should be turn in closed economy. Rather than a proper equilibrium between the indigenous and foreign players can adore the larger public interest.