Quotas do not hurt efficiency, says study
It measured impact of reservation on productivity in Railways
A first-of-its-kind study of the impact of reservations in public sector jobs on productivity and efficiency has shown that the affirmative action did not reduce productivity in any sector, but had, in fact, raised it in some areas.
In the pioneering study, Ashwini Deshpande, Professor at the Delhi School of Economics, and Thomas Weisskopf, Professor of Economics at the University of Michigan, measured the impact of reservation for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) on productivity and efficiency in the Indian Railways between 1980 and 2002. The study was published in the World Development journal.
The Indian Railways is the world’s largest employer where affirmative action applies, Ms. Deshpande said. It employs between 1.3 and 1.4 million people at four levels of employment — Group A to Group D, with Group A employees being the senior-most. There is 15 per cent reservation for the SCs and 7.5 per cent reservation for the STs at all levels, with additional reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs). The study looked at SC and ST employees in Group A and B only, since people from marginalised backgrounds would have been unlikely to reach high levels of employment without reservation.
Since an individual’s impact on productivity is impossible to estimate, Ms. Deshpande and Mr. Weisskopf compared zones and periods of time with higher numbers of SC and ST employees with those with lower numbers, keeping other variables constant. They found no negative impact on productivity and efficiency in any area, and some positive effects in some areas of work.
Telangana gets tax incentives
The Centre on Wednesday decided to offer tax incentives to Telangana too, along with Andhra Pradesh to promote industrialisation and economic growth.
Telangana Government along with AP had sought special development package for the backward areas in the new State last year. The Centre while responding to the plea of AP, however, announced tax incentives for Telangana.
In tune with section 94 (1) of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014 which ensures that Centre has to provide appropriate fiscal measures, including tax incentives, it was decided to give 15 per cent additional depreciation on new plant and machinery in the first year of installation for the manufacturing industries set up in the backward region as notified.
Investment allowance
An additional investment allowance of 15 per cent would be given to industries set up in the backward region for investments, as notified, for investments made in new plant and machinery in any of the five years for which additional concession would be notified. Even if the investment is made in the fifth year, the investment allowance would be available.
The additional depreciation allowance and investment allowance would be provided without insisting on an investment of above Rs. 25 crore, a release from Minister of Finance, Government of India said.
Several other proposals including that of Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) are under examination, it added.
India to share data on nuclear material
India has agreed to share data on nuclear material and equipment to make the U.S. waive its “tracking requirements” on that material. According to sources, this concession was the reason for the “breakthrough” in agreement on the administrative arrangements for the Indo-U.S. civilian nuclear deal.
Officials say pact was the same as was extended to other nations
According to sources, India’s concession on the issue was the reason for the “breakthrough” in agreement on the administrative arrangements for the Indo-U.S. civilian nuclear deal during President Barack Obama’s visit. The data collected would be shared during annual consultations between a U.S.-Indian group to be specially set up to implement the administrative arrangements that will guide the nuclear deal.
Indian officials maintained that the data sharing agreement was the same as had been extended to other countries. At a press conference shortly after the Obama-Modi summit in Delhi, a senior official of the MEA on Disarmament and International Security Affairs Amandeep Singh Gill told reporters: “We have an administrative arrangement with Canada and that has been the template for finalising our administrative arrangement with the U.S.” The text of the Canadian agreement, that was finalised in April 2013, hasn’t yet been made public, but is understood to only allow for IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) safeguards while sharing data based on aggregates from the U.N. agency.
However, in an interview to Headlines Today last week, U.S. Ambassador Richard Verma said, “Under our law there are requirements to track materials. For the first time we got a commitment from the Indian government to come up with data, and to come up with consultations regularly that would meet our requirements.” If, as he says, this is a new and unique departure from India’s previous stand of only providing data to inspectors of the U.N. agency IAEA, it could raise several questions for the NDA government.
The source also denied that President Obama had issued any “executive waiver” to bypass the requirement to monitor the use of nuclear material in India. The American requirement, under the Hyde Act of 2006 stipulates that the U.S. President must certify to U.S. Congress that India (for whom the law was specially drafted) is in compliance with U.S. “tracking and flagging” requirements on fissile material and nuclear equipment at reactors supplied by the U.S., even if it is from third parties.
Indian officials of the “nuclear contact group” who had met three times in Delhi, Vienna and London to hammer out an agreement before President Obama’s visit are now working on producing a “memorandum” for their American counterparts, that will put the Indian government’s explanation on the liability law as well as other parts of the negotiation on paper. Once the U.S. clears the memorandum, the administrative arrangements between the two governments will be signed. The government has not yet released details of the administrative arrangements agreed to with the U.S., nor of the “insurance pool” and memorandum on liability that secured the arrangements. According to sources, India has committed in negotiations that U.S. suppliers will not be liable for civil or ‘tort’ damages under Section 46 of the Liability Act, and their limited liability will be covered by the Indian insurance pool of Rs. 1,500 crore ($242 million).
“No right to recourse”
“In effect, we have no right to recourse after these talks. Ultimately the liability is on the Indian side and lies with the Indian taxpayer now,” a former Foreign Secretary told The Hindu . “It seems as if the government is not being honest and clear about what we have agreed to.”
However, with Parliament scheduled to reopen later this month for the budget session, more clarity on the negotiations will also be demanded there.
France keen on details of India-U.S. nuclear deal
France welcomes the civil nuclear agreement between India and the U.S. as it offers a way forward to nuclear cooperation without changing the nuclear liability law, French Embassy sources said on Wednesday.
Reiterating the stated French position that “France would work within the framework of Indian law,” sources informed that Paris is awaiting details of the agreement reached between New Delhi and Washington, which it would study in detail to assess if it fits their own requirements.
India and France finalised a civil nuclear deal in 2010, under which the French are to set up a total of six reactors of 1,650 MW each at Jaitapur in Maharashtra.
Adding that the India-France civil nuclear deal “is a project of great significance for both the countries,” embassy sources highlighted that large parts of the nuclear reactors would be made in India.
Technical teams from both sides are working out the details.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and Minister of Ecology Segolene Royal are in India to attend the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS) from Thursday and the bilateral component is largely focussed on negotiations towards the global climate summit in Paris in December as well as projects in renewable energy and urban development.
Global nations are under pressure to clinch a deal at the Paris summit to cut down carbon emissions and limit the global temperature rise to two degrees.
France has pledged $1.3 billion for renewable energy projects in India and is set to double that amount, embassy sources added.
Indian firms need to do more to avoid climate change risks
Lack of preparation leaves supply chains in Brazil, China, India and the U.S. more vulnerable to climate change risks than those in Europe and Japan, according to a new report by CDP, an international NGO formerly called Carbon Disclosure Project.
Suppliers in India and Canada are not doing enough to manage climate change risks. Indian companies, in particular, demonstrate a low propensity to reporting on emissions, according to the report ‘Supply chain sustainability revealed: a country comparison 2014-15.’
The report, which says it is the most comprehensive overview of the climate risks and opportunities for supply chains globally with focus on 11 countries, finds that Chinese and Indian suppliers deliver the greatest financial returns on investment to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and demonstrate the strongest appetite for collaboration across the value chain.
While a steadily growing number of Indian suppliers are responding to the CDP supply chain questionnaire, in percentage terms at least, disclosure and performance have been declining over the last two years. Despite the existence of dedicated ministerial departments for energy efficiency and renewable energy, a lack of policy direction from New Delhi is partly to blame, the report points out.
Where there is regulatory certainty around measurement and reporting, such as in Japan or France, high percentages of suppliers also disclose, even when they are not explicitly captured by regulation. Where the signals from government are weak or non-existent, such as in Brazil, China, India and the U.S., reporting levels are disappointing, the report finds.
Multinationals could better engage with their Indian suppliers on emission reduction efforts, and Indian suppliers are increasingly active in proposing emission reduction initiatives to their value chain partners. But the report points out that the percentage of suppliers implementing emission reduction initiatives has fallen to 41 per cent in 2014 from 65 per cent in 2012. However, there has been an encouraging increase in the number of suppliers making investments in low-carbon energy — up to 29 per cent of respondents who implemented emission reduction initiatives from 26 per cent last year.
The new research, which also incorporates information from the United Nations’ World Risk Report, is based on data collected from 3,396 companies on behalf of 66 multinational purchasers that work with CDP. They account for $1.3 trillion in procurement spend and include organisations such as Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., and Unilever.
While suppliers in France, the U.K., Spain and Germany are identified as the most sustainable and they have taken extensive measures despite comparatively low levels of exposure to climate risk, suppliers in China, Italy and the U.S. are found to be vulnerable, the report says.
For many companies and industry sectors, the vast majority of their water use and water-related risks and impacts are located in their supply chain, rather than their direct operations. For example, only 6 per cent of Nike’s water footprint comes from its owned-and operated-facilities, while 73 per cent is used in the production of its raw materials, especially cotton.
They demonstrate a low propensity to reporting on emissions, says a study
RBI move on remittances reflects strength of rupee
The RBI scheme under which foreign exchange remittances of individuals have become easier is called the Liberalised Remittance Scheme, started in 2004 to simplify overseas investment avenues available to Indians.
In 2013-14, outward remittances under this scheme amounted to close to $1,100 million. Over $660 million have been remitted in the seven months till October 2014 of the financial year 2014-15.
Apart from investments in equities and debt, this channel is used toward gifts, maintenance of close relatives and education.
Analyst reports on Tuesday pointed to the RBI move being one of the measures to curtail the strength of the rupee. Nilanjan Banik, Associate Professor, Mahindra Ecole Centrale, said it reflected RBI’s confidence, given healthy foreign exchange reserves (over $320 billion).
He said, “The move by RBI to relax the limit should not be a worrisome factor. Individuals invest a very small amount in relation to the corporates.”
Stiff sentence soon for milk adulteration
With the Supreme Court favouring stringent punishment, even life imprisonment, for milk adulteration, the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry on Wednesday said an expert panel was working on changes to the food safety law.
An affidavit filed by the Ministry in the apex court said it would come up with amendments to the penal provisions in the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, in 45 days.
A Bench of Justices M.Y. Eqbal and Shiv Kirti Singh had lashed out at the inadequacies in the 2006 law, pointing out school students and common households were victims of the rampant practice of milk adulteration.
It had said that the six-month jail term in the Act was grossly inadequate, and it was “high time” the government acted in public interest.
The Supreme Court, in its December 2014 order, had repeatedly asked why the government was not making the “necessary amendments” to the penal provisions in the food safety law.
It said “punishment must be deterrent.”
Rajan for raising tax exemption limit on financial investments
Sec 80C now allows investments up to Rs.1.50 lakh
Days ahead of the Budget, Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan, on Wednesday, pitched for increasing the tax exemption limit on financial investments by individuals from Rs.1.50 lakh a year.
Acknowledging that there was a Rs.50,000 increase in the limit in the last budget to Rs.1.50 lakh a year, he said benefits of this instrument had been lost over time as the limit was anchored at Rs.1 lakh for a long time.
“Remember the government increased the limit for tax benefit in savings by Rs.50,000 in the last budget. The question is — is there room for more primarily because the real tax benefit has fallen over time because the limit was at Rs.1 lakh for a long time. Maybe what we have to do is increase that,” Dr. Rajan said on a call with analysts. Investments of up to Rs.1.50 lakh in public provident fund, provident fund, new pension scheme, insurance policies and equity-linked saving schemes are deducted from the taxable income under Section 80 C. This helps in financial savings. It can be noted that the national savings rate has dipped to the 30 per cent level from a high of over 36.9 per cent in 2007-08. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who increased the limit to Rs.1.50 lakh in his last budget, will be presenting the first full fiscal budget on February 28.
He also said the RBI would like to see quality fiscal consolidation with a shift to capital spending rather than on mistargeted subsidies.
“A movement of spending from mis-targeted or poorly targeted subsidies towards more capital investment would be a good move,” he said, clarifying that the RBI was not against subsidies and there were sections which needed to be given the benefits.
He said such a shift in spending would also help in inflation management as the supply side constraints would be removed with capital spending by the government.
The RBI had, on Tuesday, linked the future course of its policy action to fiscal consolidation. — PTI
A movement of spending from mistargeted subsidies towards more capital investment would be a good move
India at the bottom of GIPC index
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Intellectual Property Center (GIPC), on Wednesday, released its third annual International IP Index, ‘UP: Unlimited Potential’, which found that 20 of the 30 economies examined in the Index improved their scores from last year.
India was ranked second from the bottom in the third edition of GIPC index, while the U.S. was at the top.
The first edition of 2012 mapped and compared national IP environment in 11 economies. The current edition covers 30 economies, representing close to 80 per cent of world’s gross domestic product.
Thailand, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Argentina, Nigeria, Brazil and Ukraine were described as low-tier performers. The index is based on 30 measurable criteria critical to innovation, including, patent, copyright and trademark protections, enforcement, and engagement in international treaties.
Out of the 25 sampled economies, 20 economies showed in a positive direction with 11 economies making substantial progress. India was ranked 11 with a score of 7.23 out of 30 against 6.95 per cent in the last edition.
“Twenty nations improved their score in the 2015 IP index, showing that leaders in both developing and developed economies increasingly recognise the connection between effective intellectual property protection and achieving their greatest economic potential,” said David Hirschmann, president and CEO of GIPC. The report said India’s performance signalled measurable and sustainable progression. While still posing significant challenges to rights holders across the board, India had improved its score and performance.
It also listed out some concerns. According to it, India’s patentability requirements remained outside established international best practices. Also, there is a lack of specific IP rights for the life sciences sector. It finds high levels of physical and online piracy in India.
“India is not a contracting party to any of the international treaties included in the GIPC Index, nor has concluded FTA with substantial IP provisions since acceding to the TRIPS Agreement,” it points out.
Beneficial algal species discovered
Two new bloom-forming algal species were discovered recently off the west coast of India. These two species have excellent carbon capture properties — ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and reduce global warming — and are also promising candidates for use as bio fuels.
Currently, a number of research groups are working on using algae as a potential candidate for carbon sequestration because they grow at very high rates and can absorb atmospheric CO{-2}.
Both of the newly discovered species are endemic and bloom-forming.
As they are endemic, their cultivation is not going to cause any environmental harm; had it been a species of Atlantic or Mediterranean origin, it might overgrow local flora and might wreak havoc on the local habitats — the so-called bio invasion.
Bloom forming indicates spontaneous growth. There is no need for fertilizers/pesticides or any expensive cultivation systems such as photobioreactors for their cultivation. These can grow sporadically at shorelines and can sequester CO{-2}.
The algae species named Ulva paschima Bast , and Cladophora goensis Bast were discovered by Dr. Felix Bast and two research students working with him, Mr. Satej Bhushan and Mr. Aijaz Ahmad John, from the Central University of Punjab, Bhatinda. The findings were reported in the journals PLoS ONEand Indian Journal of Marine Sciences.
The main criteria used for determining these species as newly discovered is a mix of morphological as well as molecular characteristics. Molecular evidence is especially strong; as nearest match is less than 90 per cent sequence identity.
For example, Cladophora goensis Vs. Cladophora glomerata — its nearest match — is 17.7 per cent differences.
“Compare it with human Vs. chimp. Our sequence identity is 98 per cent and 2 per cent difference makes us what we are. These newly discovered algae have profound sequence differences from previously discovered algae. Morphology is not reliable; as algae can change its morphology to suit its environment. Ours is the first molecular study on Indian algae, and first algal species discovery for last 40 years,” notes Dr. Bast in an email to this correspondent.
Pharmaceutical products from algae are under the realms of another project by Dr. Bast.
A number of active substances are isolated from algae including some algae of genera Cladophora andUlva . Probably most famous is Kahalalide-F, which is now being used in clinical trials against prostate and breast cancers.
Kahalalide-F is isolated from Bryopsis — a closely related green algae to Cladophora as well as Ulvaand it is very probable that same or related chemical is present in newly discovered endemic algae.
He intends to work on this. Cladophora goensis and Ulva paschima — recently discovered species — have had no chemical/pharmaceutical studies conducted on them yet.
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