Indian Economy-News & Updates

[MKC]

 

[RISING SUN]

Real estate investment in 6 top cities doubles to $2.87 billion
Real estate investment in India's six major cities doubled to $2.87 billion in the year ended June 2017 as Mumbai attracted maximum capital and was ranked 81st globally, according to Cushman & Wakefield report.

"India received a total real estate investment of $2.87 billion in the six cities - Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune, Delhi-NCR, Chennai and Hyderabad - which was an increase of 100 per cent," the property consultant said.

These six cities were able to attract capital because of strong economic drivers, acceleration in reforms, high yields and rapidly modernising business base.

"Mumbai recorded real estate investments of $1,749 million, placing it on 81st position in global survey ranking cities by their success at attracting capital," C&W said.

Mumbai was ranked 149th out of about 400 metros globally in the last year ranking.

Out of the total real estate investment received by six cities, the report said the largest share of over 55 per cent came in from North America.

Funds from Europe contributed about 14 per cent, while domestic and regional sources saw a decline in share of capital invested in India.

"Current economic drivers are biased towards developed markets, but Indian cities are performing ahead of expectations and are clearly offering superior medium to long term growth potential in real estate," said Anshul Jain, Country Head & Managing Director, India Cushman & Wakefield.

Jain said that although established markets of Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi NCR have seen the larger share of capital investments, cities such as Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune are also key destinations being manufacturing hub for automobiles, engineering goods, white goods, pharmaceutical products, etc.

The country's current economic position and political stability have been instrumental in creating better investment environment, the consultant said, adding that the positive changes in the legislative environment has ensured that the invested capital is safeguarded.

According to the report, Mumbai was placed number one by growth amongst the gateways cities with a 194 per cent rise from the previous year. Only Pune outshines Mumbai in terms of investment growth at 285 per cent.

The report 'Winning in Growth Cities' that surveys over 400 global locations, also places Bengaluru at 161 position with total real estate investment volume of $461 million.

"The global property investment market saw volumes rise 4 per cent year-on-year to $1.5 trillion in a one year period ending June 2017. The rise compared to the previous 12 months reflects improving sentiment in 2017," C&W said.

New York ($51 billion) remained the top city in the survey followed by Los Angeles ($39 billion) and San Francisco ($32 billion).

In Asia, Hong Kong (global rank 8) received the highest volume of investment at $18.4 billion.
https://m.timesofindia.com/business...bles-to-2-87-billion/articleshow/61339389.cms

What’s behind India’s 1-year 30-step jump in business ease list
India's fastest single-year jump in the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business ranking has been a meticulously planned exercise. It began with the World Bank agreeing with the government that the survey (that underlies the ranking) should be conducted in two cities (Mumbai and Delhi) unlike the pre-2016 methodology of ranking reflecting the perception of business in Mumbai alone. But that was only the start.

A bigger battle awaited the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP), which has been driving the process of easing business regulation in India. Three years ago, when PM Narendra Modi made a pitch for India to move into the league of Top 50 countries in the World Bank's ranking in three years, Amitabh Kant, who was then DIPP secretary, got down to work out a checklist. He found that changes were possible within the legal framework on most issues.

His successor Ramesh Abhishek took the process forward, often working with municipal bodies and utilities in Mumbai and Delhi. It took a while for him and Kant to get the Mumbai and Delhi power distributors to move to an online system for applying for connection and collecting payments.

When it did happen, India's rank on the parameter of 'Getting Electricity' shot up from 170 in 2015 to 26 in 2017. Delhi Jal Board was persuaded to lower the fee, something that the World Bank has not acknowledged as yet.

Getting various approvals from local bodies were not easy too, but an online system of deemed approvals if an agency doesn't respond in the stipulated time has eased the process. The National Monuments Authority was prodded into colour coding of areas where its approval was needed. This made it easier to get clearances that had to come within a specified period.

At the Centre, several departments — from commerce to customs and corporate affairs —were nudged into reworking processes to reduce the number of forms that are required and significantly cut down the time needed for clearance. For instance, an entrepreneur can now select a name and register a firm within a few hours — something that took up to three weeks earlier. Approvals now come with PAN and TAN.

Initially, switching to an online system didn't always work. "We found that some departments were still insisting on printouts. We discontinued that," says Abhishek.

In many cases, the online tools did not work due to lack of sufficient bandwidth or inadequate hardware. Most of these issues have been resolved. Wiser from 2016 experience when India's rank barely moved (131 to 130), and under instructions from PM, ministries were asked to implement changes well ahead of the deadline. If the deadline for the World Bank team's assessment was December, the process needed to be completed earlier so that companies being surveyed by the Bank had the time to assess the change and build that into their feedback.


"Agencies like MCD now have WhatsApp groups to address user concerns. The mindset is changing and that is a very important achievement," Abhishek said.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/whats-behind-indias-1-year-30-step-jump-in-business-ease-list/articleshow/61378108.cms?from=mdr

Impact of GST on India’s ranking will be seen next year: Junaid Ahmad
The World Bank Group on Tuesday released its latest Doing Business report that assessed reforms implemented in 190 countries from June 2, 2016 to June 1, 2017. India was ranked 100th among 190 countries, up from 130th last year. In an interview to The Hindu, Junaid Ahmad, the Country Director for the World Bank in India, explained the reasons for the huge jump in India’s ranking as well as the likely impact of demonetisation exercise and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime on India’s near-term prospects. Significantly, Mr. Ahmad suggested the need for institutionalising a Central nodal body on ‘ease of doing business’ reforms initiatives to help India break into the top 50 soon. (Excerpts from the interview)

How do you explain this huge jump, particularly to the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) at a time when the general perception is that the demonetisation exercise and hasty implementation of the GST regime have made it difficult for them to do business? Isn’t there an apparent contradiction when you say it has become easier to do business here?

I don’t think there is a contradiction. Reforms take a little while to be picked up. What you are seeing today is not just the shift of the last 12 months, but of the last three years. So the perseverance in policy shift is being picked up now. Also, it takes time to hit the ground. Policies get changed, but behaviour don’t change immediately. You are now beginning to see SMEs and larger enterprises recognise the changes that have been introduced and they are reacting to it.

Besides, the government has introduced a user-feedback system this year in particular, and using the feedback system they have been able to adapt and adjust wherever they saw certain bottlenecks. All these have slowly begun to get reflected in the indicators that we use to measure ease of doing business. That would be the real point. Our set of indicators don’t capture everything. Demonetisation and other factors are not captured in our set of indicators. We are very precise because we do a comparison across 190 countries. In those areas, it is very clear that India has made a huge advancement.

Do you think the GST, at least in the short-term, could be a factor leading to a fall in India’s ranking?

I don’t think we can predict (India’s rank in the) next year or the year after that. It all depends on how the government continues to persevere in its implementation. Certainly on the GST, the government is going full force in implementation. So, the impact of that implementation is what we will see in terms of next year. But remember, it is not only what government of India does, it is what governments of other countries do that matter. If the governments of other countries shift even faster, then India’s rank will fall. But if India continues with the pace that it is doing, it will continue to grow. So, at this moment, it is very hard to predict what will happen. But my sense is that there is momentum behind the (Indian) government. The (Indian) government has already started taking action on some of the other indicators that they feel that they can make a difference -- for example the courts, or land registration or practice of the insolvency courts. So let us wait for another year.

What are the key reforms that India should carry out to break into the top 50, something that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi is keen on?

There are two things that India will need to do in terms of ‘process’. One is continue doing what it is doing, and persevere in the reform process. Don’t assume that what you have done in any one metric is sufficient. Just keep on going. That is the first lesson we have learnt from other countries. The second is coordination across departments and across the federal system. For that a central coordinating responsibility, either with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) or through the Prime Minister’s Office to some other agency, but some entity that truly has the clout to actually coordinate the different departments. The Prime Minister has brought in Secretaries from different departments and given them the responsibility to manage issues that are not necessarily directly under them. It is high time they institutionalise such a Central coordinating body on ease of doing reforms.

Moving on, what are your targets in terms of the World Bank’s operations in India, including lending?

A: Our projects are going quite well. On an average, we are doing $3.5 billion-$4 billion of lending per year across sectors including education, health, infrastructure and water. We are working directly with the states and the Centre. There are no specific lending targets. They are all demand driven. It depends on what the states and the Central government would like, and we will respond to that demand.

When will the World Bank launch the proposed index to rank cities across the world on ‘ease of living’, and will India be included in that exercise?

A: I am expecting the cities ranking to come at the end of 2018, so next fiscal year actually. It is coming, it is round the corner. I think India will be part of it.

http://www.thehindu.com/business/Ec...en-next-year-junaid-ahmad/article19956734.ece

 

[Hindustani78]

The Vice President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu looking at the stall in the Exhibition on 10th Urban Mobility India Conference & Exhibition, 2017 and CODATU XVII Conference, in Hyderabad on November 04, 2017.

 

[RISING SUN]

India to be high middle income economy by 2047: World Bank CEO
Days after it gave India a 30 place jump in its ease of doing business ranking, the World Bank today said the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and reforms push by the government will catapult the country to high middle income economy in 30 years.
It credited India's "extraordinary" achievement of quadrupling of per capita income to reforms taken in last three decades.

Comparing the achievement of securing 100th rank in the latest Doing Business Report to hitting century in cricket parlance, World Bank Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kristalina Georgieva said a jump of that nature is very rare since the beginning of the survey 15 year ago.
"It is particularly rare when we talk about size of India. I understand that in a cricket-loving nation hitting a century is a very important milestone," she said.

Last week, India moved for the first time into the top 100 of World Bank s Ease of Doing Business global rankings due to sustained business reforms over the past several years. Last year the report had ranked India at 130.
Speaking at India's Business Reform even organised by Ministry of Commerce and Industry, she said, high level ownership and championship of reforms is critical for success.

"We have learnt that in reforms what pays off is persistence...what we are recognising in India is that this success today is to be turned into more energy in reforms for the future," she said.

Praising the efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to carry forward reforms, including unification of indirect taxes, the World Bank CEO said the GST reform creates an incredible opportunity for India to grow through unified internal market.

There is visible impact of reforms on foreign investment, she said, adding that foreign direct investment (FDI) has doubled to USD 60 billion from USD 36 billion in 2013-14.

Besides, she said, investment in infrastructure building, investment in its people and strengthening of cooperative and competitive federalism are foundation for more progress in the future.

"We know that there is a very strong condition that extreme poverty would be history in India. The target date that was set 2026, I understand that the Prime Minister intends to shorten to 2022. Given the track record so far, I have no doubt that would be possible.

"And I have no doubt that when India hits another century, the century of independence in 2047, most people in India would be the part of global middle class. India will be a high middle income country," she said.

The World Bank appreciated the fact that 60 million Indians in the recent past came out of destitution.

Noting that doing business is very pragmatic way to demonstrate that progress is being made, she said, the World Bank looks at doing business achievements in the broader context.

"What we have seen is remarkable overall success story of India. Extraordinary achievements in the last three decades, the per capita income has quadrupled. It was done with an eye on lifting out people out of poverty," she said.
https://economictimes.indiatimes.co...ld-bank-ceo/articleshow/61507955.cms?from=mdr

PM Modi says India may announce tax relief for traders next week
India may announce measures next week to help traders and small businesses who say a new nationwide goods and services tax (GST) has increased their tax and administrative burden.
FILE PHOTO - India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seen at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, India, October 30, 2017. REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said if there is consensus at the next GST council meeting due over Nov. 9 to Nov. 10, the government would take the necessary steps to help traders and strengthen the country’s economy.

A panel of ministers last month recommended reducing tax rates for small businesses and traders and raising the minimum revenue threshold for companies that need to pay tax, local media reported.

The launch in July of the long-awaited GST, which transformed India’s 29 states into a single customs union, has left thousands of small and medium-sized firms at the bottom of the supply chain short of working capital.

Modi is facing criticism for the disruption to the economy caused by the roll-out of GST and the shock removal of higher-value bills from circulation last year. As a result of these issues India’s economy is expected to grow at its slowest pace in four years this fiscal year, a Reuters poll found.

Modi’s comments came days after India jumped about 30 places to 100th on the World Bank’s “Ease of Doing Business” rankings, reflecting reforms in accessing credit, power supply and the protection of minority investors.

Modi said he expected India’s ranking to improve next year when the GST and other reforms were considered.

“There are many other reforms that have already happened but need gestation and stabilization time before they are taken into account by the World Bank,” Modi said.

He added that there were other reforms on which India and the World Bank would need to find common ground.

Modi said along with manufacturing, India was also pushing for faster progress in developing infrastructure and was working to improve the investment climate.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-i...lief-for-traders-next-week-idUSKBN1D40D6?il=0

India services activity rises in October on higher demand
India's dominant services industry activity expanded at its fastest pace in four months in October as demand continued to strengthen despite accelerating price pressures, a business survey showed on Friday.

The Nikkei/IHS Markit Services Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 51.7 last month - its highest since June - from 50.7 in September.

In July and August, the index was below the 50-mark that separates growth from contraction.

During those months, confusion over product pricing following the implementation of the new Goods and Services Tax pushed manufacturing and services sectors into contraction.

Aashna Dodhia, an economist at IHS Markit, said recovery from the GST implementation "was sustained in the private sector in October, mainly radiating from service providers as growth in manufacturing was relatively subdued."

A sister survey showed manufacturing activity barely expanded last month.

However, services demand has been recovering since September and the latest survey showed the new business sub-index, a proxy for both domestic and foreign demand, rose to 51.5 in October from 51.1 a month before.

This helped a composite index that takes into account both manufacturing and services activity rise to a four-month high of 51.3 last month from September's 51.1.

Firms raised prices at a sharper rate to end-consumers than their costs rose, signaling a pickup in inflation over coming months.

Retail inflation held steady at an annual pace of 3.28 percent in September, below the Reserve Bank of India's medium-term target of 4 percent.

Economic growth slowed to 5.7 percent in the April-June quarter from a year earlier, its weakest in three years. The economy is expected to expand 6.7 percent this fiscal year, its weakest pace in four years, a recent Reuters poll showed.
http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/bu...ises-in-october-on-higher-demand-2427959.html

 

[RISING SUN]

To check flying coal dust hazard, Railways looking at covering its wagons: Piyush Goyal
Indian Railways, the country’s largest freight mover, has started exploring a design change in its rolling stock to see if coal and other minerals can be carried in covered wagons instead of open ones to prevent coal dust from flying into the environment and also to expand the use of wagons.

“I have asked our teams to explore the option to see what design can be created… if these wagons can have covers. So they are looking into it,” Railway Minister Piyush Goyal told The Indian Express Friday.

An ongoing investigation by The Indian Express has revealed that transport of coal, at the rate of 25 tonnes per minute, by rail and road, has left in its wake environmental damage across Goa. And that much more coal is on the way — an estimated 51 million tonnes every year by 2030.

Speaking at the Idea Exchange programme of The Indian Express, Goyal said: “I take all of these reports… and I read them every morning. I take cognisance of that.”

Being the largest mover of coal in India, Railways has deployed around 72,000 wagons — or around 65 per cent of its freight rolling stock — to move coal across India since it occupies the top spot in terms of volumes and earnings among all kinds of material it transports. It accounts for around 40 per cent of railway earnings.

Known as BOXN wagons, these open-to-sky boxes on wheels are used for coal-carriage for operational efficiency as they can be loaded and unloaded faster, owing to being coverless. They are typically overturned for unloading faster. Loading too is easier in BOXN in mines, as well as in ports where imported coals are loaded from silos.

To prevent coal dust from flying into the environment, water is sprinkled on the coal at the loading point, and in many cases — like in Goa — the wagons are covered with tarpaulin. But as The Indian Express investigation has revealed, this solution is far from foolproof.

Now, the Railway Board has started exploring the option if these wagons have to be fitted with a hard-top cover without compromising the operations efficiency of freight movement.

“We have suggested that the new design should not decrease the coal-carrying capacity of each wagon because that hurts our revenue. And from an operational point of view, it should enable tippling,” Railway Board Member Traffic Mohammad Jamshed told The Indian Express. “Tippling” is the technical term used for mechanised overturning of wagons for unloading and loading by special wagon tipplers.

There is more benefit in covered wagons than protecting the environment. Covered wagons will make them more multipurpose, to carry anything from cement to salt — commodities which are difficult to move in open-to-elements wagons. “We have to given cement companies a 30 per cent discount if we carry cement in BOXN wagons because there is the fear or rain etc,” he said.
http://indianexpress.com/article/in...-at-covering-its-wagons-piyush-goyal-4921708/

Railway ministry plans to speed up 600 trains, but 250 have slowed down
While officials in the Railway ministry have gone to town about the speeding up of 600 trains from November 1, they have been tightlipped over the slowing down of more than 250 trains whose running time has increased from five minutes to 110 minutes.Trains from all zones have been slowed down, effective from November 1, but no intimation has been given to passengers. Data mining by TOI shows that for instance, the Rameswaram-Faizabad Express will now take 50 minutes more to cover its 2,900 km distance.

The Chennai-Thanjavur Uzhavan Express has slowed down by 25 minutes, while the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT)-Gorakhpur is down by 1 hour and 15 minutes. The journey time of the Kolkata-Patna Express (13131) has increased by 1 hour and 20 minutes from November 1.

After the `slow down', the average speed of trains like the Guwahati-Naharlagun Shatabdi Express and Secunderabad-Yeshwantpur Garib Rath has come down below 55 kmph, which is the benchmark for superfast trains. Indian Railways collects a `superfast surcharge' on the tickets for these trains and it remains to be seen if this will be withdrawn.

Within the Southern Railway limits, sources said the running time of 20 trains has been increased 13 of them by five minutes and the rest by 1025 minutes.
Railway officials say that the speeding up of many trains has happened at the cost of slowing down other trains, which is basically an optimising exercise. "In some areas, we have given extra mainte nance blocks because of which the trains have been slowed down. In North Frontier Railway , trains have been delayed due to the elephant corridor.There are some works going on in the Koraput-Jagdalpur section and a speed restriction has been imposed," the official said.

In some cases, trains have been slowed down so that passengers can have a `convenient' arrival time.
Giriraj Bissa, founder of erail.in which provides railway related data, questioned the transparency of Indian Railways. "Most trains have been speeded up by decreasing the slack time by only 5-10 minutes. But this has been publicised. However, the slowing down has not been circulated on social media or through press statements," he said.

A Southern Railway official said the slowing down of these trains was unavoidable in order to maintain the superfast character of some trains.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com...250-have-slowed-down/articleshow/61501430.cms

New trains 2018: UDAY Express ‘luxurious’ double-decker train coming on these routes; check timings and details
UDAY Express: Rail passengers from Coimbatore to Bengaluru, Bandra to Jamnagar and Visakhapatnam to Vijaywada have reason to cheer! Soon, Piyush Goyal-led Indian Railways will introduce the all new double-decker UDAY Express on these routes. UDAY Express or the Utkrisht Double-Decker Air-conditioned Yatri Express was announced in Railway Budget 2016 and is specially aimed at business travellers. Informed sources in Indian Railways have told FE Online that the first rake of the UDAY Express should be ready to ply before March 2018. “We are looking to prepare a prototype coach by the end of this year and the final rake within this financial year,” a railway official told FE Online.

According to the new Indian Railways timetable that became effective from November 1 this year, as many as three UDAY Express trains will be introduced in the coming year. The 22666 Coimbatore-Bengaluru UDAY Express will depart at 5:40 AM from Coimbatore to reach Bengaluru at 12:40 PM, taking a total time of 7 hours. On the other hand the 22665 Bengaluru-Coimbatore UDAY Express will depart at 2:15 PM from Bengaluru to reach Coimbatore at 9:00 PM, taking a total time of 6 hours and 45 minutes. The details of the other two UDAY Express trains between Bandra and Jamnagar and Visakhapatnam and Vijaywada are given in the chart below:

UDAY Express: Routes and schedule

UDAY Trains 2018: Timings and routes as per Indian Railways timetable
Instead of manufacturing new double-decker coaches, the existing ones are being refurbished to introduce new features for the comfort and entertainment of passengers. From automatic food and coffee/tea vending machines to LCD screens with blue-tooth connectivity, the new UDAY Express trains will boast of multiple features. “The screens will hang from the coach ceiling and if the passenger desires he/she can listen in using bluetooth/wi-fi ear phones that Railways will provide. The screens will be fitted in a way that all passengers can enjoy the onboard entertainment,” another railway official had told FE Online earlier. The double-decker trains already boast of modular toilets and eventually, Railways plans to modify the design in order to introduce bio-toilets.
http://www.financialexpress.com/ind...-bengalure-coimbatore-schedule-routes/918157/

Aadhaar-verified passengers can now book 12 railway tickets a month online
Indian Railways has increased the monthly cap on tickets booked on the ICRTC portal from six to 12 for Aadhaar-verified passengers, officials said. The move, which came into effect on October 26, is believed to be an innovative way for the railways to encourage passengers to link their Aadhar numbers to their online booking accounts on IRCTC.

IRCTC officials said passengers can continue to book up to six tickets a month without validating their Aadhaar cards. If the number goes beyond six, the Aadhaar number of the user and one of the passengers should be updated in the IRCTC portal, an official explained. Users on the IRCTC portal have to click on Aadhaar KYC under the ‘my profile’ category and update their Aadhaar number. A one-time password (OTP) will be sent to the mobile number linked to Aadhaar and should be entered for verification.

In addition, the Aadhaar number of any one of the accompanying passengers should also be updated under the ‘master list’. This will be validated through an OTP. Users can store the names of verified passengers accompanying them on the ‘master list’. This should be done before starting the process for booking more than six tickets a month, officials said.

The move is expected to eliminate malpractices in ticket bookings as touts and travel agents cannot create fake user IDs anymore. In the IRCTC portal, six passengers can be reserved on a single ticket under general quota while Tatkal bookings allow four passengers per ticket. The railways had announced in December last year that registration of Aadhaar with IRCTC was mandatory to avail concessions from April 1, 2017, but dropped the idea after opposition from various forums.
http://indianexpress.com/article/in...n-now-book-12-railway-tickets-a-month-online/

Indian Railways will have an all-LHB fleet in 4-5 years; highest level of safety: Piyush Goyal
The Indian Railways would stop inducting the relatively unsafe Integral Coach Factory (ICF)-type coaches, which consist of two-thirds of its 60,000-strong fleet at present, by the middle of 2018 while the production of safer Linke-Hoffman-Busch (LHB) coaches would be multiplied, railway minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday. “Rae Bareli (modern coach factory) has already sent me a proposal to produce 5,000 LHB coaches per year, up from 1,000 at present,” the minister said, stressing on the importance of ensuring safety of passengers. While the plan is to at least double the LHB coaches capacity from an annual 4,000 at present, given that about 20,000 LHB coaches are in use, it would take about five years to replace all ICF coaches with LHB. “In four to five years, ICF will be history,” Goyal asserted. Railways has three passenger coach manufacturing plants — Rae Bareli, ICF-Chennai and Rail Coach Factory at Kapurthala. Speaking at the Indian Express Group’s Idea Exchange programme, Goyal said the transporter’s coach factories were augmenting LHB capacities at a pace much faster than planned earlier.

While the cost of the renewed LHB capacity addition programme was not immediately available, replacing the entire IFC-type coaches could entail a capital expenditure of Rs 1.5 lakh crore, analysts said. The national transporter’s FY18 capex plan from budgetary resources and otherwise is `1.31 lakh crore, but this is to fund its entire capacity expansion in the year including laying new tracks, doubling, gauge conversion, electrification, foot over-bridges, station upgradation, etc. “Though the LHB technology is 30-year old, it is the best that we have,” Goyal said.

As reported by FE earlier, apart from ramping up its coach manufacturing capacity at various factories, railways will be roping in companies such as state-run BEML and private firm Titagarh Wagons who are into rail manufacturing to accelerate the production of LHB coaches. Sources said no ICF coaches will be manufactured now. These couplers enhance the safety features, prevent toppling and coaches pile-ups during derailments. Railways will also start prematurely retiring some of the older ICF coaches depending on their physical condition and will be used for other purposes such as parcel vans, as additional coaches for track machines, car carriers and staff resting vans.

As an interim measure, the carrier is also picking up ICF coaches with a life of at least 15 years for retrofitting with safe couplers. These couplers have enhanced safety features, preventing toppling and coaches piling up during derailments, which increase casualties.

While the derailment of Utkal Express on August 19, having ICF-type coaches, claimed at least 20 lives, the Kaifiyat Express mishap that happened later did not result in any loss of life, one reason being the train had only LHB coaches.

When asked whether the safety of the existing rail network ought not to be higher priority than bullet trains, Goyal said there was no shortage of funds for safety. “Funds available for safety are sufficient.. safety will not be compromised,” he said.

Japan’s Shinkansen technology was being brought to India (in the Rs 1.1 lakh crore Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project) 53 years after it was out to use in the island country and by the time our facility would become operational, it would be 58 years (since Japan used it), the minister said, countering the view that India’s adoption of bullet trains was premature.

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Goyal also said the Cabinet might take up the issue of commercial coal mining by the private sector “soon”. Allowing commercial coal mining without any restrictions on end use would help the government to reach its target of producing 1.5 billion million tonne (mt) of coal domestically by 2022—one billion mt by CIL, and 500 mt by the private sector. When put into action, the policy would open the doors to global mining giants such as Glencore, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto. Representatives from power companies such as Jindal Steel & Power, Adani Enterprises, JSW Energy, Lanco Infratech and GMR had participated in a meeting with the coal ministry earlier this year to discuss the technicalities of the much-anticipated auction of coal mines.
http://www.financialexpress.com/ind...-highest-level-of-safety-piyush-goyal/919081/

Indian Railways claws back freight share from roads, waterways
The challenges of demonetisation notwithstanding, Indian Railways has notched up a seven-year high in freight loading between April and October, carrying an extra 30 million tonnes (mt) during the first seven months of the current fiscal.

The increase has come courtesy the concessions being extended to industries from last year with a strategy to attract freight. The Railways has won back a chunk of this business from roads, and to some extent from waterways.

The measures undertaken included doing away with port congestion surcharges, dual iron ore charges and providing empty flow direction concessions.

It also permitted goods such as coal and iron ore to be moved through all rail routes instead of the rail-cum-sea route, which it had to resort to in the past due to lack of capacity. Additionally, the Railways has allowed long-term agreements, which its customers seem to prefer. These policies were brought in last year after detailed discussions with stakeholders across sectors, who had promised to return to rail if their concerns were addressed.

The growth was also sharpened due to a low base effect. “Major tariff rationalisation initiatives have yielded expected results in terms of retaining and regaining freight traffic by Railways. The highest loading for month on month has resulted in 30 mt of incremental loading against negative growth last year during this period,” Mohammed Jamshed, Member Traffic, Railway Board told BusinessLine.

“...we are at 653.21 mt, up to October 2017. We are also above the target(for this period),” added an official.

The additional loading was driven by coal, raw materials to steel plants, cement, steel, iron ore, foodgrains, petroleum products and a set of new commodity groups. Only fertilisers saw a drop, but with a surge in demand, the Railways expects to see growth there, too, in the coming months.

Foodgrains, which had taken a hit in previous years, has grown 1.2 per cent despite the North-East being cut off for nearly 15 days due to floods. Petroleum products also — after tepid growth in previous years — has seen a 1.8 per cent growth. Other goods – the new group of 70-odd commodities where railways had introduced a large number of concessions — has seen robust growth of over nine per cent.

The container segment, after suffering two successive years of slow growth, has clocked a growth of 13.3 per cent in the period. During FY17, when the Railways carried 1109 mt of cargo, the transporter had incrementally loaded goods of five million tonnes compared to the previous year.

The result of the concessions had begun reflecting in the last quarter of the previous financial year. “During January-March 2017, we saw good growth,” said a government official.

The railways is hoping to achieve its yearly target this year after many years of misses. But that would still need the transporter to carry another 25 mt of goods in the remaining five months.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com...share-from-roads-waterways/article9942720.ece

 

[shi12jun]

 

[RISING SUN]

All hail the rail: India's joint bullet train project with Japan picks up pace to meet Modi's tough new deadline
Work on the joint bullet train project with Japan seems to have pushed top babus of Indian Railways work into 'high speed' to meet the project's looming deadline.

With railway minister Piyush Goyal trying hard to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi's advanced deadline of August 2022 instead of December 2023, chairman of railway board Ashwani Lohani has taken on the responsibility of key monitoring and chairing the periodic review meetings himself, which had until recently been done by another railway board official.

This review meeting assumes great significance with the personal involvement of vice chairman of Niti Aayog, special advisor to Japanese PM Shinzo Abe, different ministries of government of India and heads of Maharashtra and Gujarat monitoring the pace of work.

+3
Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India

Elevating the significance of such gatherings, Lohani chaired the review meeting on Thursday, which was attended by Japanese ambassador, representatives of the Japan Government and principal secretary-rank officials of both Maharashtra and Gujarat, among other top railway officials.

A railway board official, requesting anonymity, said: 'The message is clear and the level of people attending the meeting hints at not taking the review meeting as routine… A definite progress report every week must be tabled by the team of officers working on the bullet train project.'

+3
The bullet train speed is likely to be around 320 km per hour

The 508-km Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail project would cost around `1.10 lakh crore, of which Japan is giving a soft loan of around `88,000 crore at an interest rate of 0.1 per cent, to be repaid in 50 years with a 15-year grace period.

The project itself involves 12 stations between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, namely Mumbai, Thane, Virar, Boisar, Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad and Sabarmati.

The train speed is likely to be around 320 km per hour. Lohani told Mail Today: 'Our track record with key projects has not been without cost-overruns and delayed deadlines.

+3
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (2nd R) and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe (R) shake hands in front of a shinkansen train during their inspection at a bullet train manufacturing plant in Kobe, Hyogo prefecture on November 12, 2016

'The Japanese are very meticulous about doing things. We know the challenge in the magnitude of the complex project and an advanced deadline, but we will not allow any slippage in workmanship. It will be a dynamic mechanism to meet the Japanese timetable.'

Lohani added: 'Goyal has given a free hand to all of us and offered his personal intervention at any stage when required, to cut any official delay.'

The strong Japanese consultant contingent present in India is preparing a master implementation programme to finish the project in a timely manner with Indian Railways.

'The consultancy part is ready and the engineering and basic infrastructure report will be ready by January 2018, and it will be followed by signalling and electrical reports by April,' said a railway board official.

'Already a decision has been reached to make the entire stretch an elevated one, except for tunneling and bridges to avoid land acquisition issues.'

As part of the plan, the route will have 468 km of elevated tracks, 27 km in tunnels and the remaining 13 km on flat ground.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahom...-s-bullet-train-project-Japan-picks-pace.html

PM Narendra Modi's bullet train project train puts Railways babus in high-speed work mode
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/...ys-piyush-goyal-ashwani-lohani/1/1082554.html

 

[RISING SUN]

Will Srinagar International Airport ever live up to its name?
It is the twelfth year since the Srinagar Airport was granted international status, yet it does not operate international flights because the Government of India (GoI) has not given it permission.
Only during the 40 days in a year when Muslims go for the Hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, international flights operate from Srinagar airport; the rest of the year it is confined to domesticity.
Director of Srinagar International Airport, Sharad Kumar, told Kashmir Reader that the airport has the required facilities for operating international flights. He said these facilities were installed by the GoI in February 1998 and were first used to handle international Hajj flights from Srinagar in January 2002.
In March 2005, the airport was formally granted international status by the Indian government. The GoI funding of Rs 130 crore expanded the terminal and increased the parking stands from four to nine, able to serve both domestic and international flights. In 2009, for the first time in the history of Srinagar airport, Air India started weekly flights to Dubai, but these were terminated in the beginning of 2010.
“Since then, no international flights, expect during the Hajj period, took off from here,” Kumar said.
The airport director said he had written to the concerned department in Jammu and Kashmir Government and to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for starting international flights. “The minister in the state government has shown a positive attitude and has said he will take up the matter with the GoI. What has been the outcome, I am not aware,” Kumar said. “Lately I have proposed starting flights to Dubai, Malaysia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan from Srinagar, as a starter. I have sent the proposal to both the state and central government. I am waiting for their nod.”
Before Jammu and Kashmir became a contested territory between India and Pakistan, the airport was used only by the British Air Force. During the Indo-Pakistan War of 1947, the airport received Indian military troops. Although the airport was small and lacked landing aids, the airdrop was still carried out successfully on October 27. In 1979, the Airports Authority of India established a civil enclave at the airport.
At present, five airlines – Jet Airways, Spice, Indigo, Air India and GoAir – carry domestic passengers. The airport now has the required infrastructure for operating night flights, including required runway length, runway lights and adequate staff at the aerodrome.

The Srinagar airport occupies a small corner of the massive IAF air base and is under their control. The airport land has actually been leased out to the AAI by the Indian Air Force and houses the terminal building where passengers check-in and depart. The AAI also controls the apron area (where an aircraft is parked). The airspace and runway control is with the IAF.
http://kashmirreader.com/2017/11/05/will-srinagar-international-airport-ever-live-up-to-its-name/

Finnair weighs Indian flyers, carry-on baggage at Helsinki airport
The next time you fly Finnair out of Helsinki, the airline may request you to stand on a weighing scale with your carry-on (hand) baggage.

The European carrier, which has six and two flights a week to Delhi and Goa respectively, as its current India operations, has started collecting data at Helsinki airport "on passenger and carry-on luggage weights to update data that is used for aircraft load calculations". Aircraft weight is among the key factors used to correctly determine the amount of fuelling required for different flights.

Finnair's India GM Desmond Chacko told TOI the weighing is "purely voluntary and anonymous", and only the customer service agent sees the weighing result. Citing the same reason, he couldn't confirm whether India-bound passengers were also being weighed.

"Our intention is to gather enough data from our own network and own customers to verify that we have quality data in use for our calculations. This is why we have now, during Tuesday and Wednesday, asked around 180 customers to volunteer to be weighed with their carry-on luggage at Helsinki Airport, and it was great to see that so many people wanted to be a part of this study," Chacko said.

The airline expects to weigh about 2,000 flyers till next spring to get statistically accurate data from its network. It will be done on flights to different routes and also from different seasons because in winter people have heavy coats, while in summer they wear lighter clothing.

Finnair's purpose for the weight study is to determine whether it has accurate data on passenger standard weights used for determining aircraft performance and loading calculations.
https://m.timesofindia.com/india/fi...-baggage-at-helsinki/articleshow/61513680.cms

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/641219/aadhaar-based-attendance-rly-staffers.html
New Delhi, Press Trust of India, Nov 5 2017, 19:27 IST

Cracking the whip on latecomers, the railway ministry has said it will install Aadhaar-based biometric attendance system across its zones and divisions by January 31 next year.

The railway board issued a letter in this regard to all zones on November 3.

According to the order, the biometric attendance system would be first implemented in the offices of all divisions, zones, Metro Rail Kolkata, railways workshop, factories and production units by November 30.

"The plan is to put a check on the officials arriving late or not coming to work at all," a senior rail official told PTI.

"Once the Aadhaar-based biometric attendance system is installed across the railway zones and divisions by January 31, 2018, this problem can be addressed," the official added.

In the second phase, it will be implemented in all the offices of the Railways, including public undertakings, attached and subordinate offices by January 31, 2018.

Currently, the system is already in place in the railway board and a few zonal headquarters.

The letter from the board also states the biometric system should be integrated and implemented in such a way that it can be monitored by the divisional railway manager's office.

It has also instructed that CCTV cameras be provided with the biometric machine.

 

[RISING SUN]

Westinghouse recovery boosts India nuclear power programme
New Delhi’s plans to allow some of the world’s biggest nuclear power companies to build reactors in India have been boosted by the news that Westinghouse, one of those companies, is planning to exit bankruptcy within months. But with renewable power dropping in price and India now provided with a surfeit of electricity generation, some analysts are doubting the wisdom of spending millions of dollars on large and expensive foreign-built plants. Krish Rajan, vice-president for Westinghouse in India, said last month that the company expected to exit Chapter 11 proceedings early next year, adding that it still intended to build six reactors in India. Essential stories related to this article The Big Read Reality dawns on India’s solar ambitions India Politics & Policy Modi looks to spark India electricity drive Special Report Renewable Energy Renewable energy industry races to keep pace with New Delhi’s ambitious targets That news has been welcomed by some in the Indian government, which is one of few around the world still looking to expand its nuclear power capacity following the 2011 Fukushima disaster. Ravi Grover, a nuclear scientist and adviser to the department of atomic energy, says: “Electricity generation in India will continue to grow at about 6 per cent. India can provide for this on the basis of coal-fired power plants or low carbon sources, and it is desirable that low-carbon sources are given preference. “If nuclear power from foreign sources does not materialise, it would imply generation from coal-fired sources would have to be higher.” Others, however, argue that India should focus instead on its growing renewables revolution, which has seen the cost of solar power drop below that of coal. “Renewables are quicker, cheaper and more convenient to build,” says Amit Bhandari, a fellow at the Gateway House think-tank. “We already have constant power being delivered by our coal plants. We should be focusing what capital there is on renewable generation.” India has one of the world’s oldest nuclear power programmes, having built Asia’s first research reactor in 1954. But the amount of electricity generated by nuclear plants remains tiny compared with other forms of generation. The country has 22 reactors providing up 2.1 per cent of the country’s overall capacity, compared with 17.7 per cent from renewable sources and 58.7 per cent from coal. The Indian nuclear power industry has long been hampered by a lack of uranium, with restrictions on imports imposed after India’s first nuclear weapons test in 1974. But a deal with the US in 2010 paved the way for New Delhi to begin talks with the US-based companies Westinghouse and GE Hitachi, as well as Areva of France. In recent years those talks have ground to a halt, in part because of India’s insistence that nuclear power plant developers should be liable for any future accidents — something no other country demands. Narendra Modi’s government has tried to limit the impact of that law by setting up an insurance fund for potential victims of a nuclear accident, but industry executives still insist it should be scrapped. Another reason for the lack of progress has been the dire financial health of both Westinghouse, a subsidiary of Toshiba, and Areva, which remains deep in debt even after being recapitalised by the French state. Nuclear power companies worldwide have struggled since Fukushima, which saw several of the world’s biggest economies cancel their atomic energy programmes. The comments last month by Westinghouse’s Mr Rajan have provided hope to some in New Delhi that talks might soon resume. But some experts believe they are going nowhere. “There are no active negotiations with foreign vendors,” says Brahma Chellaney, a professor at the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi. “Years after India signed the nuclear deal with the US, not a single western-designed power plant is under construction, and even if you started now it would not be built for another 10 years.” Westinghouse would not comment further, nor would GE Hitachi or Areva. A government spokesman did not reply to a request for comment. Mr Chellaney argues that India should instead concentrate on rolling out its domestically designed plants, which are smaller and cheaper than those built by international companies. According to Mr Bhandari’s calculations, a domestic plant can be built for about $3 per megawatt, while a Westinghouse one is likely to cost between $6 and $7 per megawatt. “Indian nuclear plants are of a reliable design, and are more efficient in terms of cost,” says Mr Chellaney. “What’s more, because they are built by a state-owned operator, the government can stop worrying about who would pay the cost in the event of a nuclear accident — they would.”
https://www.ft.com/content/d5ca519a-bf9d-11e7-b8a3-38a6e068f464

India’s Renewable Capacity Set To Double By 2022
If there’s one success story being written in India, it’s that of renewable energy.

By the government’s own reckoning, despite India’s energy needs likely to double over the next seven years (going by the current rate of economic growth), the nation is likely to meet two-fifths of its electricity needs with renewable sources by 2030.

Power and Renewable Energy Minister R K Singh told reporters recently that the efficiency of solar panels itself had already reached 30 percent, and prices were likely to reduce due to an increase in usage.

The government’s stipulated target is of 175 Gigawatt (GW) of renewable generation by 2022, which includes 100 GW of solar and 60 GW of wind generation, up from the current total renewable energy generation capacity of about 59 GW (with wind already now at about 33 GW).

What’s more, a report this month by the International Energy Agency (IEA) said India’s renewable energy capacity would more than double by 2022, which would be enough to overtake renewable expansion in the European Union for the first time.

India’s present-day renewable energy installed capacity is about 59 GW. “By 2022, India’s renewable capacity will more than double. This growth is enough to overtake renewable expansion in the European Union for the first time,” IEA said in its latest renewables market analysis and forecast.

Related: The Remarkable Recovery Of Big Oil

The IEA added that the solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind together represented 90 percent of India’s capacity growth, as auctions yielded some of the world’s lowest prices for both technologies.

India needs an investment of around U.S. $100 billion to meet the target of 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022.

As of now, China was the undisputed leader of renewable electricity capacity expansion over the forecast period, with over 360 GW of capacity coming online. China, as per the IEA, had already exceeded its 2020 solar PV target three years ahead of time and is set to achieve its onshore wind target in 2019.

China, India and the U.S. will account for two-thirds of global renewable expansion by 2022, according to the IEA report. The total solar PV capacity by then would exceed the combined total power capacities of India and Japan today, it added.

The power consumption of electric vehicles — including cars, two- and three-wheelers, and buses — was expected to double over the next five years. Renewable electricity is estimated to represent almost 30 percent of their consumption by 2022, up from 26 percent today.

This year’s renewable forecast was 12 percent higher than last year, mostly because of solar PV traction in China and India.
https://oilprice.com/Alternative-En...Renewable-Capacity-Set-To-Double-By-2022.html

India's ride hailing firm Ola ties up with Microsoft for connected car platform
Indian ride hailing service Ola has tied up with Microsoft Corp to build a new connected vehicle platform and will also use the U.S tech gaint’s Azure cloud computing service to power its in-car entertainment offering, it said on Tuesday.

The platform will help with a vehicle’s diagnostics, predictive maintenance and navigation, Bengaluru-headquartered Ola said in a statement.

“Both companies will collaborate to take this platform to car manufacturers globally, to integrate with vehicle systems,” it said.

The announcement comes at a time when the U.S. firm’s chief Satya Nadella is in India.
https://www.reuters.com/article/ola...soft-for-connected-car-platform-idUSL3N1ND2XK

ABB to expand traction transformer business in India
Swiss engineering group ABB said today that it will expand its traction transformer business in India to drive competitiveness.

India's expansion is aligned with growth in railways and metro network, the company said in a statement.

ABB has announced a strategic realignment of its global transformer manufacturing, engineering and service footprint to enhance competitiveness in a dynamic market environment marked by increasing competition and consolidation in the rail industry.

The company said its plans here are also aimed at supporting the government's 'Make in India' initiative.

"With our traction transformers made in Vadodara we have provided best in class technology for the modernisation of the Indian transportation sector," said Sanjeev Sharma, Managing Director, ABB India in a statement.

"Our 1000th traction transformer went to the Lucknow metro project while the 800 new electric freight locomotives for India Railways will also be fitted with ABB s reliable and compact traction transformers supporting modernisation and economic development," he added.

ABB's traction transformer factory is located in Maneja, Gujarat and is the company's oldest and biggest manufacturing location in the country.

ABB has been supplying traction transformers to Indian Railways and metro rail since 1999.
https://m.economictimes.com/industr...er-business-in-india/articleshow/61547630.cms

 

[RISING SUN]

India-New Zealand DTAA: Third Protocol notified
India has notified the third Protocol amending the existing double taxation avoidance convention (DTAC) with New Zealand.

This Protocol — which was signed by both countries on October 26, 2016 — provides for a revamped framework of exchange of tax related information in line with international standards. This will help curb tax evasion and tax avoidance between the two countries and will also enable mutual assistance in collection of taxes.

The third Protocol entered into force in India on September 7 this year and has been notified in the official Gazette on November 2, an official release said.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com...aa-third-protocol-notified/article9947379.ece

Gold Imports by India Slump as Inventories Pile Up
Gold imports by India, the world’s biggest consumer after China, dropped 31 percent last month from a year earlier, according to a person familiar with the information.

Inbound shipments fell to 66.8 metric tons in October, from 96.7 tons, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the data aren’t public. The figure would leave imports for the first 10 months at 777.1 tons, still 91 percent higher on the year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Finance Ministry spokesman D.S. Malik didn’t respond to a call to his mobile phone to confirm the October amount.

Shipments had surged this year on purchases ahead of a new national tax regime, and as some buyers looked to benefit from bilateral duty-free trade agreements with nations like South Korea and Indonesia, avoiding the 10 percent levy applied to imports from other countries. The subsequent build-up in inventories, coupled with slow domestic demand, has led to an easing off in overseas purchases.

Last month, India moved to curb trade irregularities involving tax avoidance. The government in August also banned exports of gold products above 22 carats.

On the domestic front, sales have weakened following the imposition of a uniform goods and services tax in July, and after an anti money-laundering act was briefly imposed on the sector in August. The withdrawal of the act in October had spurred expectations of a recovery around the Diwali gifting festival in the middle of the month.

“Post-GST sales were very minimal, so all that inventory had piled up,” Saurabh Gadgil, chairman of PN Gadgil Jewellers Pvt. Ltd., said by phone from Pune. While October was a good month, “we need to see for a couple of months more as to how things shape up as demand has been average post-Diwali,” he said.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...ndia-are-said-to-slump-as-inventories-pile-up

India a stand-out market: Yum! Global CEO Greg Creed
Yum! Brands chief executive Greg Creed called India a stand-out market, while announcing the US restaurant giant’s third-quarter results.

“India was a standout market for Pizza Hut with its fifth consecutive quarter of same store sales growth,” Creed said during an investor call.

The company owns brands such as Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell. In the past quarter, it posted system sales growth of 8% for KFC and 7% for Pizza Hut, its fifth consecutive quarter of growth in India, signalling a revival in the eating out sector which had been witnessing low single digit same store sales till early last year.
“We had taken some deliberate decisions to reorganise our businesses, associate with like-minded partners and focus on our core product offerings,” KFC managing director Rahul Shinde said.

Two years back, Yum! had consolidated its India business with two franchisees — Devyani International and Sapphire Foods, a consortium led by private equity firm Samara Capital.

“We have signed development agreements with our franchisees in India and I recently met with these franchisees and can feel there is enthusiasm for the brand. They are great examples of franchises to exhibit the three C's — capable, capitalised, committed; committed both to our brand and to our culture,” the global CEO said at the earnings call.

“With the perfect pan pizza team members ready for action and the right partners in place, India is poised to accelerate its growth and we look forward to seeing the continued success in this market,” he added.
Yum! is now locally sourcing corn in India, he said. The global CEO also pointed out that India, along with Brazil, China and Canada, were Taco Bell’s four growth markets. “We continue to be excited about the potential for this brand internationally and changes to the supply chain such as those made in India will make the brand sustainable internationally over that long-term.” Taco Bell, Yum’s third brand in India, is much smaller compared with Pizza Hut and KFC.
https://m.economictimes.com/industr...lobal-ceo-greg-creed/articleshow/61541626.cms

Wall of money chasing India stocks shows investor euphoria alive

As Indian stock markets breach record highs, investor appetite for risk remains unabated.

Investors plowed 160 billion rupees ($2.5 billion) into the funds in October, a 19th straight month of inflows, data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India show. The 964 billion rupees rupees received by equity funds this fiscal year, which started in April, is more than triple from a year earlier.

Retail investors have piled into financial assets with gusto after Prime Minister Narendra Modi moved to ban high-value currency last November, 2 1/2 years after taking office. The clampdown took the sheen off property and gold, and caused deposit rates to drop as the move left banks flushed with liquidity. The wall of local money has made Indian stocks the most expensive in Asia when measured by price to earnings.

“Inflows into equity funds began after the new government took the reins and accelerated after the cash ban as the crackdown turned investors away from gold and land,” Hiren Ved, chief investment officer at Mumbai-based Alchemy Investment Management Ltd.,
said by phone. “Money still keeps running away from deposits to equities.”

Mutual funds have plowed a record $14.7 billion into stocks this year, more than double the inflow from overseas. The S&P BSE Sensex is up 34 percent in dollar terms since Jan. 1, and is vying with South Korea’s benchmark for the top spot among Asia’s major markets.

The shift toward financial assets will gather pace, according to Morgan Stanley.
India’s total financial savings are at 9 percent of the economy, compared with a peak of 15 percent eight years ago, and the government’s push for pension funds to invest in stocks will drive flows higher, the firm said in September.

“One may see a month or two where flows may turn marginally negative or are low, but I don’t see that as a long-term trend,” Alchemy’s Ved said.
https://economictimes.indiatimes.co...horia-alive/articleshow/61544529.cms?from=mdr

India ups fight on tax-treaty abuse
The Paradise Papers data leak shows how individuals and companies, including Indians, have parked money in tax havens, or made investments in other countries via intermediaries set up in such tax-friendly zones. The objective of these entities is to gain from the low or nil tax on certain categories of income which these countries provide.

Countries are taking steps to prevent such abuse by amending domestic tax provisions or by joining hands with global organisations.

In India GAAR, or general anti-avoidance rule provisions, in effect from April 1, empower authorities to deal with improper tax-avoidance arrangements.

As part of G20, India has participated actively in the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) initiative, spearheaded by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), since 2012. BEPS refers to MNCs' tax avoidance strategies that reduce the tax bases for countries.

Under BEPS, India in June signed a multilateral investment (MLI) agreement to prevent tax-treaty abuse. It introduced a three-tier documentation under transfer pricing, covering deals by MNCs with related parties. Exchange of such documentation with other countries will mitigate shifting of profits to low-tax nations.

"Since the Supreme Court decision in 2013, in the case of Azadi Bachao Andolan, which held that benefits of a tax treaty cannot be denied as long as the taxpayer has a certificate of residence, several measures have been put in place to prevent treaty abuse," said Abhishek Goenka, partner and leader, direct tax, PwC India. GAAR places the need for business substance over and above the legal form of a transaction. "Government's clarified that GAAR will override tax treaties, and mere satisfaction of threshold conditions in tax treaties will not mean GAAR cannot be invoked," Goenka added.

India has withdrawn capital gains exemptions by renegotiating treaties with Mauritius, Cyprus and Singapore."Round-tripping of capital (where money flows to a foreign country and returns) is also a key concern. To address this, the concept of place of effective management (POEM) has been widened, such that structures devoid of real substance in the overseas jurisdiction can be brought to tax in India," said Goenka.

Punit Shah, partner, Dhruva Advisors, said countries are making efforts to shed the tag of being perceived as tax havens. "Mauritius has tried to introduce and enhance domestic measures to ensure treaty benefits are granted to entities with adequate substance in terms of infrastructure and other requirements," he said.

"MLI seeks to curb usage of shell or letter box companies to gain undue tax benefits.If the purpose of an arrangement is to avail tax benefits, this will be denied," said Shah.

Last month, final rules were issued for country-bycountry reporting (CBCR), a three-tier documentation requirement under transfer pricing, where MNCs must provide information on economic activity, inter-company pricing and global allocation of income.

However, not all transactions that involve use of entities in low-tax countries are tainted. Girish Vanvari, national tax head, KPMG India, said, "Tax planning via tax treaties is legitimate and legal.There's no issue in having companies or trust overseas. The key is to justify source of funds and remittance of funds. The problem arises when the funds source and company's activities cannot be justified."
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com...reaty-abuse/articleshow/61538669.cms?from=mdr

Mobile-ready India infuses new life into Open Source: Red Hat
Open Source technologies like Linux have helped innumerable tech start-ups to flourish and one company that can take credit for providing entrepreneurs with a solid IT foundation is North Carolina-based Red Hat.

Over two decades ago, Red Hat began with the idea of collaborating with IT leaders, open source advocates, developers and partners to create an Open Source ecosystem that spans Cloud, Middleware, Operating Systems, Storage, Virtualisation and Management. It is now ready to exploit today's most promising opportunity -- the mobile space.

India, with ever-increasing mobile and Internet consumption, offers a unique opportunity for Red Hat that has expanded its operations and increased the headcount in the country by nearly 25 per cent in the last year alone.

Mobility has become a top priority for Indian enterprises as it promises to drive innovation and streamline operational efficiency -- besides delivering customised customer experiences -- and here, Red Hat is keen to drive growth for the government, banking and financial services and insurance (BFSI), telecommunications and manufacturing sectors.

"There is faster adoption of technology and creation of new services in the digital space, be it positioning your bank for a better mobile experience or putting together scalable service delivery platform for a telco. The growing mobile and app-delivery space is now a key growth engine for us," Rajesh Rege, Managing Director at Red Hat India, told IANS in an interview.

Red Hat Mobile Application Platform enables users to develop and deploy mobile apps in an agile and flexible manner. Recently, leading life insurance firm DHFL Pramerica Life Insurance Company Ltd (DPLI) implemented the platform to strengthen its mobile app presence.

While the Asia-Pacific region is Red Hat's second-largest R&D set-up outside the US (third-largest globally), Pune houses the company's second-largest engineering facility outside of North America (also third-largest globally).

"Red Hat has a strong presence in metros and is investing in people and partners to meet customer interest in Open Source solutions in 20 cities such as Jaipur, Bhubaneswar, Lucknow, Ahmadabad and Coimbatore," Rege told IANS.

The company that registered $723 million in revenue (up 21 per cent year-over-year) in the second quarter of fiscal year 2018 that ended August 31, has helped the Bombay Stock Exchange and the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) rejig their data infrastructure.

"We helped the EPFO consolidate data from some 17-18 data centres into one consolidated environment to host several tens of millions of accounts," Rege noted.

A recent survey by Red Hat with market research firm Forrester Consulting said that Indian IT decision-makers are turning to Open Source to drive digital innovation and support their businesses with new capabilities.

The study surveyed 455 CIOs and senior IT decision-makers from nine countries in the Asia Pacific region. Respondents from India anticipated that use of Open Source will increase in Internet of Things (IoT) by 45 per cent whereas 43 per cent believe that Open Source will
help increase their agile hybrid Cloud infrastructure, application development and DevOps environments.

Not just India, Red Hat has a strong presence in neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Working with Cloud partners such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure, Red Hat is uniquely positioned in the Cloud space through its technology pieces -- be it Public, Private or Hybrid Cloud.

"We have an efficient partner ecosystem that can provide firms the Red Hat environment in their Cloud. When it comes to start-ups, our experience worldwide is that they are eventually starting their journey in Cloud with Open Source solutions," Rege said.

On helping over 51 million Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the country embrace Cloud, Rege said the Red Hat model comes in handy for them.

"We have local Cloud partners who have created several Cloud-enabled apps and services which these SMEs can easily embrace," added the Red Hat India executive.

Red Hat's most popular offering Linux, besides the OpenStack Platform that delivers core Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), is highly secure too.

"Have you heard about any data security lapse regarding Linux? The Open Source community is very strong when it comes to security.
There are at any point of time multiple global users eyeballing the solutions, searching for security issues and potentially coming up with reliable answers," Rege said.

Red Hat is constantly working with the community in India as well as a rich portfolio of technology partners to help architect, build and deploy Open Source solutions for customers.

"Our approach is to build robust solutions in the first place with adequate testing and bug fixes to avoid any vulnerability in the product," Rege said.
https://economictimes.indiatimes.co...rce-red-hat/articleshow/61541745.cms?from=mdr

 

[ashok321]

Adani to set up new Jharkhand power plant to supply to Bangladesh

Modi kills two birds with one stone.
Enriching his crony forcing BD to utilize line of credit extended.
Modi's whole purpose was to enrich both Adanis & Amabnis through this line of credit shik.

 

[Hindustani78]

Ministry of Environment and Forests
09-November, 2017 16:57 IST
Environment Ministry holds meeting to discuss situation arising out of Air Pollution

Seven-member committee headed by Environment Secretary constituted to Monitor solutions

A seven-member committee headed by the Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has been constituted to continuously monitor the short-term and long-term solutions to air pollution. The Committee will meet at regular, short intervals to draw up a plan and ensure enforcement. Other members of the committee include:

Secretary, Science & Technology;

Secretary, Department of Biotechnology;

Additional Secretary, Niti Aayog;

Chief Secretary, Delhi;

Chairman, Central Pollution Control Board and

Representative of Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy.

Several other critical issues were deliberated upon at a meeting held in the Environment Ministry here today, to discuss and review the situation arising out of air pollution in Delhi and National Capital Region. Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Shri C.K Mishra, held a meeting with Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control) Authority (EPCA) to assess the current situation of air quality and work out the future course of action. Chairman, EPCA, Shri Bhure Lal, Member, EPCA, Ms. Sunita Narain and officers of MoEF&CC were among those who attended the meeting.

A decision was taken at the meeting to request respective State Governments to fully implement the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) including control of road and construction dust, garbage burning, control of power plants and industrial emissions, entry of vehicles and several other related factors. It was also decided to ensure that apart from other directions, closure of brick kilns, hot mix plants, stone crushers, intensification of public transport, sprinkling of water and mechanised sweeping of roads, ban on construction, ban on use of pet coke and furnace oil should be fully implemented and respective implementing agencies held accountable. CPCB has been asked to continuously monitor the situation.

As meteorological conditions have been a major factor for the current situation, the issues likely to impact it were also discussed at the meeting. It was also decided to ensure that the directions issued by the MoEF&CC/CPCB/EPCA are implemented by all the concerned agencies and the hotspots are visited regularly to assess the situation.



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[Hindustani78]

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/641841/pilot-less-locomotive-travels-8.html

DH News Service, Kalaburagi, Nov 9 2017, 17:16 IST

The electric engine was detached from the bogies and stationed on Platform no 4. Representation image

A locomotive, which was separated from bogies and stationed at Wadi Junction, 'travelled' without pilot for 8 km towards Yadgir before it was stopped, causing anxiety among the railway officials and people alike.

The Chennai-Mumbai Mail (no 11028) arrived at Wadi Junction at around 3 pm. The electric engine was detached from the bogies and stationed on Platform no 4. However, the engine started moving on the tracks. People, who observed the engine moving, started screaming and alerted the railway officials.

The railway officials immediately swung into action and sent the loco-pilot of the locomotive on a two-wheeler on Konchuru Road to overtake the engine and to stop it. The train was stopped near Diggi Tanda. Railway officials rushed to the spot and conducted inspection. The locomotive was later brought back to Wadi.

 

[RISING SUN]

India's report on tax evasion to be released in OECD meeting
India will release a peer review report on legal steps taken by it to combat offshore tax evasion and enhancing of global cooperation for exchange of information to fight tax crimes at a global conference next week.

Reports from five other countries will also be released alongside India during the 10th meeting of the 'Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes' in Cameroon.

"New efforts to ensure a worldwide level playing field and global implementation of transparency standards will top the agenda during the 10th meeting," Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said in a statement issued here.

The meeting, scheduled between November 15-17, will "have representation" from India, said official sources in the Union finance ministry in New Delhi.


Six second round peer review reports will also be published during the meeting that includes India, Curacao, Denmark, Isle of Man, Italy and Jersey, the statement said.

The meeting will bring together more than 200 delegates for discussions on accelerating international cooperation against tax evasion with a focus on developing countries, particularly those in Africa, it said.

The members will discuss key developments in the areas of exchange of information on request as well as automatic exchange of information.

"They will also discuss the Global Forum's future work plans to strengthen their cooperation and how to maximise the benefits of improved tax transparency," the OECD said.

A peer review is conducted by the member countries of a nation to check the implementation of the OECD stipulated standards of transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes initiated by it to combat offshore tax evasion crimes.

The OECD said the global cooperation to fight tax evasion and avoidance has grown rapidly over the past few years and "tax transparency and exchange of information between tax authorities about financial assets and activities of their taxpayers abroad has proved to be a valuable tool in this fight".

The development comes at a time when India and other countries have come across tax practices detailed in 'Paradise Papers', a trove of leaked offshore investment documents relating to wealthy individual and institutions.

India has set up a multi-agency group of probe agencies to check if the over 700 entities named in the leaks paid due taxes and followed regulatory norms before setting up offshore businesses.

Headquartered in Paris, OECD is the world's largest network for international cooperation in the field of taxation and financial information exchange, bringing together 146 countries and jurisdictions, including the European Union.
https://economictimes.indiatimes.co...ecd-meeting/articleshow/61562793.cms?from=mdr