[Int.] Nepal to join Silk Road Economic Belt through Tibet

Nepal and China have agreed to revive the old Silk Road that runs from Lhasa to Kathmandu to Patna
China has taken a firm step to extend the Silk Road Economic Belt to South Asia, by working out a blueprint of connecting Nepal with the Eurasian transport corridor.

Last month, Nepal formally signed a four-point document endorsing the Silk Road Economic Belt — a pet project of President Xi Jinping for connecting Asia with Europe along a land corridor, with China as its hub. The agreement was signed during a meeting in Beijing of the Nepal-China Inter-governmental Business and Investment Coordination.

A local media report in Nepal quoted an embassy official in Beijing as saying that Nepal and China “have agreed to revive the old Silk Road that runs from Lhasa to Kathmandu to Patna”.

Analysts point out that Nepal has joined a project that China has marshalled along with Russia as its core partner, to counter the Washington-led “Asia Pivot” doctrine, which has the containment of a rising China at its heart.

Under the new Silk Route blueprint, the Chinese want to open up the transportation channel from the Pacific to the Baltic Sea, from which would radiate rail and road routes, which would also connect with East Asia, West Asia, and South Asia.

China wants to connect with Nepal and South Asia through an extension of the Qinghai-Tibet railway.

The rail line from Lhasa has already been extended to Shigatse, Tibet’s second largest city, 253 km away. The Chinese plan to build two lines from Shigatse. One would lead to Kerung, the nearest Chinese town from Nepal, from where it would be extended to Rasuwagadhi in Nepal. The other line would head to Yadong on the India-Bhutan border.

The website ekantipur.com of Nepal reported that visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged his Nepalese hosts last week to conduct a feasibility study so that the railway could be extended to Kathmandu and beyond.

Observers say that both sides visualise the extension of the line from the Nepalese capital to Lumbini.

India’s sensitivitiesAware of India’s sensitivities regarding the perceived expansion of Chinese influence, Mr. Wang proposed a Beijing-Kathmandu-New Delhi trilateral development partnership as a confidence building step. “Nepal is uniquely located between two large neighbours. We want Nepal to develop good relations with both the countries,” he observed during a media conference.

The Chinese Foreign Minister pointed out that relations between China and India are mutually reinforcing, adding that, “Nepal and India are also reinforcing their relations for mutual benefit and we encourage positive interaction.”

Observers say that the rail connectivity with China will spur the globalisation of the Nepalese economy. Once a rail connection with China is established, Nepalese goods can be transited to the international markets through the Eurasian transportation network.

Source - The Hindu

Nuclear logjam: India, U.S. to work on new proposals

Revised insurance scheme to reduce suppliers’ risk
Indian and U.S. officials are expected to meet in Delhi next week to discuss two proposals made by India to clear the nuclear logjam, with an added push coming from U.S. President Obama’s impending visit on January 24.

The Hindu has learnt that the proposals were put forward during the first contact group meeting on civil nuclear issues held on December 16-17 that had been tasked by President Obama and Prime Minister Modi with finding a way around U.S. objections to India’s supplier liability law.

According to one official present at the meeting, India put up a revised proposal of an “insurance pool” using General Insurance Company (GIC) to alleviate the risk to U.S. suppliers. An earlier proposal had been made during the UPA government’s tenure in March 2014, but had been rejected. Officials say the new offer would include a pool of GIC, New India Assurance, Oriental Insurance, National Insurance and United India, that would generate a risk cover of about $242 million.

A second proposal, that U.S. officials have taken back to discuss with lawyers and representatives of American companies GE-Hitachi and Westinghouse, would entail a “clarification of Section 46” of the law that has been described as “vague” . At present, Section 46 says that nothing in the law will “exempt the operator from any proceeding which might, apart from the act, be instituted against the operator.” This has been read to mean that U.S. suppliers could face tort claims, that is, be sued by victims of an accident where the nuclear parts are deemed faulty. U.S. officials will bring both proposals back to Delhi next week.

India’s proposals to U.S. face resistance

U.S. officials have said they were “hopeful” of some movement in the nuclear deal that has been hanging fire since it was signed in 2008. Although India has allotted project sites for two 1000 mw nuclear reactors each by U.S. companies Westinghouse and GE-Hitachi in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh respectively, no work has started on either.

Indian and U.S. officials are expected to meet in Delhi next week to discuss two proposals made by India to clear the nuclear logjam. India put up a revised proposal of an “insurance pool” to reduce the risk to U.S. suppliers. A second proposal would entail a “clarification of Section 46” of the law on supplier liability that has been described as “vague.”

R.K. Sinha, Chairman of India's Atomic Energy Commission, told Reuters agency last month that India was working fast to address the concerns of suppliers.

“We are working on a solution with the insurance companies.” A similar pool is available to nuclear operators in the U.S., under the ‘Price-Anderson’ act. But India’s liability law includes suppliers as well.

While the insurance pool proposal would help Indian nuclear parts suppliers like L&T, Gammon and BHEL, officials said U.S. company representatives present at the contact group meeting in December found the insurance pool proposal “inadequate” as it would accept supplier liability that the U.S. says is in contravention of the International Convention on Supplementary Compensation.

Former nuclear officials, who have vocally protested any “dilution” of the supplier liability law, say the second proposal may run into trouble in India. “There can be no side arrangement with the U.S.,” former Atomic Energy Regulatory Board Chairman A. Gopalakrishnan told The Hindu. “If any clarification on Section 46 is to the U.S.’s satisfaction, it will certainly be violation of India’s act.”

Mr. Gopalakrishnan also questioned why Indian officials were proposing solutions to the logjam at all. “Why all the eagerness to procure American reactors, some of which like GE’s 1000 MW reactor haven’t been used anywhere else? Indian reactors already developed, like the 700 MWe heavy water reactors, could easily be scaled up to similar capacities.”

Source - The Hindu

[Ed] A step in the right direction

Yet another bold initiative was taken on the last day of 2014 when the Union government made public the draft National Health Policy 2015. The policy is a first step in achieving universal health coverage by advocating health as a fundamental right, whose “denial will be justiciable”. While it makes a strong case for moving towards universal access to affordable health-care services, there are innumerable challenges to be overcome before the objectives become a reality. The current government spending on health care is a dismal 1.04 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), one of the lowest in the world; this translates to Rs.957 per capita in absolute terms. The draft policy has addressed this critical issue by championing an increase in government spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP (Rs.3,800 per capita) in the next five years. But even this increase in allocation falls short of the requirement to set right the dysfunctional health-care services in the country. Citing the health-care system’s low absorption capacity and inefficient utilisation of funding as an alibi for not raising the spending to 3 per cent of GDP is nothing but a specious argument. Insufficient funding over the years combined with other faulty practices have led to a dysfunctional health-care system in the country. Undivided focus is an imperative to strengthen all the elements of health-care delivery. The failure of the public health-care system to provide affordable services has been the main reason that has led to increased out-of-pocket expenditure on health care. As a result, nearly 63 million people are driven into poverty every year. The Ebola crisis in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, which underlined the repercussions of a weak public health-care system, should serve as a grim reminder of this.

The national programmes provide universal coverage only with respect to certain interventions such as maternal ailments, that account for less than 10 per cent of all mortalities. Over 75 per cent of the communicable diseases are outside their purview and only a limited number of non-communicable diseases are covered. It is, therefore, crucial for the Union government to undertake proactive measures to upgrade the health-care services of poorly performing States such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. As it stands, health will be recognised as a fundamental right through a National Health Rights Act only when three or more States “request” it. Since health is a State subject, adoption by the respective States will be voluntary. Though a different approach has been taken to improve adoption and implementation by States, the very objective of universal health coverage that hinges on portability will be defeated in the absence of uniform adoption across India.

Draft National Health Policy 2015

Source - The Hindu

[Ed] Birth of a new institution

In line with the Government of India’s approach of less government and a move away from centralised planning, the NITI Aayog with a new structure and focus on policy will replace the 64-year old Planning Commission that was seen as a vestige of the socialist era. The new body, conceived more in the nature of a think-tank that will provide strategic and technical advice, will be helmed by the Prime Minister with a Governing Council of Chief Ministers and Lt. Governors, similar to the National Development Council that set the objectives for the Planning Commission. The NITI Aayog seeks substitute centralised planning with a ‘bottom-up’ approach where the body will support formulation of plans at the village level and aggregate them at higher levels of government. In short, the new body is envisaged to follow the norm of cooperative federalism, giving room to States to tailor schemes to suit their unique needs rather than be dictated to by the Centre. This is meant to be a recognition of the country’s diversity. The needs of a State such as Kerala with its highly developed social indicators may not be the same as that of, say, Jharkhand, which scores relatively low on this count. If indeed the body does function as has been envisaged now — and the jury will be out on that — States will, for the first time, have a say in setting their own development priorities.

One significant change of note is that one of the functions of the body will be to address the needs of national security in economic strategy. Nowhere is this more relevant than in the area of energy security where India, unlike China, has failed to evolve a coherent policy over the years. Similarly, networking with other national and international think-tanks and with experts and practitioners, as has been envisaged, will add heft to the advice that the NITI Aayog will provide. To deflect criticism that this will be a free-market institution that ignores the deprived, the government has taken care to make the point that the body will pay special attention to the sections of society that may not benefit enough from economic progress. How this operates in practice will bear close watching. Interestingly, though it will not be formulating Central plans any more, the NITI Aayog will be vested with the responsibility of monitoring and evaluating the implementation of programmes. Thus, while the advisory and monitoring functions of the erstwhile Planning Commission have been retained in the new body, the executive function of framing Plans and allocating funds for Plan-assisted schemes has been taken away. But who will now be responsible for the critical function of allocating Plan funds? Hopefully, there will be greater clarity on this aspect in the days ahead.

Read more About NITI Aayog

Source - The Hindu

[PIB] PM's remarks at dedication of ICICI's Digital Village to the Nation

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi today called upon banks to create one lakh "Swachhta Entrepreneurs" within a year, to make the "Swachh Bharat" vision a sustainable reality.
He was speaking in Mumbai on the occasion of the dedication of ICICI's Digital Village to the Nation. The function also marked 60 years of the ICICI group. Shri Narendra Modi complimented the MD and CEO of ICICI Bank, Mrs. Chanda Kochhar for the way she had institutionalized the initiative of Swachh Bharat within her organization. Noting that the experience of the ICICI group over the last sixty years would prove immensely useful to India's economic development in the years ahead, the Prime Minister urged ICICI Bank to prepare a vision of tangible goals which they would achieve by the time they celebrated the 75th anniversary of ICICI group. As an intermediate target, he also asked the Bank to think of what goals they could achieve by 2022, the 75th anniversary of India's independence.

The Prime Minister urged ICICI Bank to adopt a social charter of such tangible goals. He said many times one institution takes the lead and others follow, generating momentum towards a good cause.

The Prime Minister spoke of Akodara Village in Gujarat's Sabarkantha district, chosen by ICICI Bank as a digital village. He said Akodara had a cattle hostel, which had contributed immensely to improving incomes and cleanliness in the village. He said more and more villages across India would adopt this model soon. The Prime Minister said rural development could emerge as a powerhouse of economic development for the country.

Congratulating ICICI Bank and the people of Akodara for creating a cashless economic system. He said banks in India should actually compete for achieving maximum cashless transactions, as this would be the best solution to the problem of black money.

The Prime Minister said people in India had a propensity towards saving, but this was targeted towards gold. The challenge for banks was to assure people that a bank account would ensure easy access to their savings whenever required. He said if banks were able to do so, they could emerge as agents of social transformation.

Earlier, Akodara village of Sabarkantha District in Gujarat was formally dedicated as a digital village by the Prime Minister.

Governor of Maharashtra Shri Vidyasagar Rao, Chief Minister of Maharashtra Shri Devendra Fadnavis, Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley, and MD & CEO of ICICI Bank Mrs. Chanda Kochhar were present on the occasion.

Source - PIB

[Ed] Swachh Bharat, the CSR way

The campaign for a cleaner India can do with the right nudges, both at the individual and corporate levels
The government has sought to use legislation to involve India Inc. in its Clean India project. The latest amendment to Schedule VII of the Companies Act 2013 brings corporate contributions to the Central Government’s Swachh Bharat Kosh within the purview of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities. The clarion call for sanitation has been accompanied by well-known personalities supporting the cause.

Such moves may indeed have some short-term impact. In the long run, however, the government may do better to ‘nudge’ corporates, as also people, to behave as ‘good’ citizens; this is in order to achieve its ultimate goal of a cleaner, more equitable India. Such nudges are the subject matter of Behavioural Economics.

The economist, Milton Friedman enunciated the behavioural underpinnings of CSR. According to him, only people— and not businesses that were artificial corporations — could have responsibilities. Thus, rather than wait for an ambiguous entity such as business to undertake social responsibility, CSR can be reframed as the social responsibility of individuals (corporate executives) in their role as agents of businesses.

How can such corporate executives be nudged into thinking responsibly?

Slumming it out

B-schools could apply the mantra of ‘catch them young’ through well-planned and well-executed experiential programmes. Community-centred experiential learning can help future leaders perceive social responsibility differently.

They would be able to understand urban and rural poverty better, both in terms of their own endowments, as also the contrast provided by such communities to their own lives.

B-school participants mentor bright young slum kids – called ‘Sitaras’– for an entire year in the surroundings of the child. A component of ethnographic studies helps participants understand urban poverty and its dimensions, as also the business opportunities and challenges arising therein.

Further, the mapping of a “Sitara” to her B-school mentor becomes an example of an “Endowment” bestowed upon the latter, a prized possession that they tend to value highly.

Legislations such as the Companies Act 2013 tend to evoke merely risk-averse behaviour on the part of corporates. This results in a ‘Tick-in-the Box’ approach to fulfilling their CSR obligations.

Loss aversion

Now, to individuals. Loss-aversion, the tendency of individuals to strongly prefer avoiding losses to acquiring gains, is an important principle guiding individual decision making.

Similar principles of loss aversion may be used to counter the effects of littering and open defecation. The reason why people, especially the poor, prefer open defecation is precisely because of the loss utility of using unclean toilets and the gain utility of using open fields. In urban areas, the lack of clean toilets, especially in public spaces makes women in particular expose themselves to the risk of unsanitised washrooms.

Constructing toilets, and more importantly, ensuring clean toilets at all times can provide a solution to the sanitation problem.

Nudges similar to the green footprints leading to the city’s garbage and recycling bins in Copenhagen can be tested to reduce littering.

The government may do well to understand the power of such nudges to encourage long-term changes. Else its attempts at a ‘Clean India’ may just be a thorough ‘wash-out’.

The writer is with the SP Jain Institute of Management Research, Mumbai. The views are personal

Source - The Hindu