Achievement Tracking - Modi 2.0 Govt - No Discussions

Picklu · Post by **Picklu** » 27 Sep 2014 22:14

Though it is not directly related, I think it is actually an achievement of NaMo govt that a chief minister could not do any politicking at the central level to avoid jail term. It had become a norm otherwise to use CBI to heckle state govts and then ask them to go slow for political favours at the centre. Hopefully this will start a long over due clean up of Indian polity even at the state level. Amma, Didi, Bahenji and Aunty .... full women power behind bar.

member_23061 · Post by **member_23061** » 29 Sep 2014 18:54

Defense/Foreign Policy

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/new ... aign=cppst

member_23061 · Post by **member_23061** » 29 Sep 2014 18:57

Economy : Cause/Effect

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/new ... 800347.cms

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 29 Sep 2014 19:06

small request: if it is cited legally, and the link mentioned and covers all legal requirements, please post complete articles with links as these might go into archives or deleted in the future.

vivek.rao · Post by **vivek.rao** » 05 Oct 2014 04:55

US investors bet on PM Modi, pledge to invest $41 billion in India in 3 years

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 07 Oct 2014 15:21

portable PF number for all employees soon.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 07 Oct 2014 15:21

IBN

India wields the axe on Her Majesty's 'laughable' laws
Reuters
Oct 07, 2014 at 03:25pm IST

New Delhi: If you happen to unearth treasure worth even as little as 10 rupees (16 U.S. cents) in India, don't even think of pocketing it - that's because under a law introduced by the former British colonial rulers, it still belongs to "Her Majesty".
Now, however, the Treasure Trove Act of 1878 and nearly 300 other outdated laws are set to be repealed in the largest-ever cull of rules that make India one of the most puzzling places in the world to do business.
New Prime Minister Narendra Modi is hoping that less regulation and faster decision-making will lift India from its ranking of 134 out of 189 countries on the World Bank's ease of doing business table into the top 50 and attract investors.
India wields the axe on Her Majesty's 'laughable' laws
The Treasure Trove Act of 1878 and nearly 300 other outdated laws are set to be repealed in a cull of rules.

"Some of the laws on our books are laughable. Others have no place in a modern and democratic India," said Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad who is leading the legislative clean-up.
Previous administrations have failed to remove obscure laws dating back to the 19th century, either because of objections by government departments or simply a lack of will. But Modi's officers have identified 287 obsolete laws for scrapping in a November session of parliament.
On the chopping block along with the Treasure Trove Act is an 1838 law that says property in an area of the former imperial capital of Calcutta can only be sold to the East India Company, which laid the foundations of the British Empire but ceased to exist more than 150 years ago.
An 1855 measure removing a certain tribe from the purview of local laws because it was an "uncivilized race" will also go.
Even after all these have been abolished, there will still be hundreds of clauses within other laws and thousands of regulations that are real obstacles to business. The government has started identifying these anomalies too, Prasad said.
SPITTOONS OUT, SCRAWNY INSPECTORS BACK IN
Flying kites or balloons without police permission is illegal across India as they are classified as an "aircraft" under a 1934 act, and a World War II decree outlaws the dropping of pamphlets from the air in the state of Gujarat.
Under the Motor Vehicles Act, the state of Andhra Pradesh enacted a law that a motor inspector must have a clean set of teeth and anyone with a "pigeon chest, knock knees, flat foot, hammer toes and fractured limbs" will be disqualified.
"There are instances where the entire statute is dysfunctional," said prominent economist Bibek Debroy, who advised Modi during his election campaign and has written a book on the absurdities of Indian law.
He said that obscure laws can sometimes be abused.
A swanky New Delhi hotel was threatened with a lawsuit for refusing to give water to a person who invoked an 1867 act under which a rest house must offer passers-by free drinks of water.
Factory owners have suffered at the hands of government inspectors who insist on rules requiring spittoons to be kept in the premises as well as earthen pots for drinking water. Even if factories install modern fire extinguishers, they must still have red-painted buckets with water and sand to put out a blaze.
Some have a found a way around absurd regulations.
A Post Office Act of 1898 stipulates that only the government has the right of "conveying by post, from one place to another" most letters, so courier companies get around this by calling the letters they send "documents".

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 07 Oct 2014 16:07

online attendance tracking dashboard for govt employees down to employee level details

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/new ... 588559.cms

morem · Post by **morem** » 07 Oct 2014 16:25

Deleted

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 07 Oct 2014 18:38

x-posting from policy thread

kmkraoind wrote:This link needs to be bookmarked. Its a perfect barometer to gauze laziness of our Babus. To be frank, I am floored with graphic presentation of this website. Really Sathakoti Pranaamas for Modi.

http://attendance.gov.in/

modi got even the right IT staff here! done.

btw, no discussions here please: yes, it is right to throw open to pubic about public servants' details. they are public. period.

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 08 Oct 2014 03:16

Self explanatory.

vivek.rao · Post by **vivek.rao** » 09 Oct 2014 04:49

BJP’s ‘make railways better’ portal a big hit

Material for uniforms for Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel and other employees can be purchased from the National Textile Corporation. This would help break the government/suppliers nexus and also help revive the finances of the NTC mills.

Fixing a hot forged metal clamp over the joints on rail tracks can substantially help reduce noise. Why doesn’t the Railways do away with the system of free passes, which are mostly being misused?

These, among others, are suggestions that have been uploaded on an online circle called ‘Make Railways Better’ — an initiative of a portal called ‘Local Circles’.

Local Circles — which has a partnership with the Bharatiya Janata Party Information Cell — today has a membership of 1,76,000 citizens across six online communities for the exchange of views and for developing constructive inputs on “how to improve governance and transform India”.

As a result of the collective effort, the portal has already published white papers on several themes including women and child safety, fighting corruption and increasing transparency and curbing price rise and inflation.

“The online circle on the Railways was launched only one-and-a-half months ago, but the response has been phenomenal. We already have enough material to bring about four-five theme-based white paper on the subject,” Local Circles founder Rajendra Pratap Gupta told HT.

kmkraoind · Post by **kmkraoind** » 09 Oct 2014 12:14

Meet the man who built the awesome online attendance system for India’s government officials

Then, in late June, after Narendra Modi took over the government, Sharma and his department made a presentation to the prime minister. The Jharkhand prototype synced well with the new government’s Digital India programme. A decision was made to introduce biometric attendance to all central government offices in New Delhi by October 2014. “We started working around 20 July after receiving the formal communication from the PMO (prime minister’s office),” Sharma said.
.........
In all, it costs around Rs3 crore ($490,000). “It’s still in the trial stage,” said Sharma, “And we are still getting feedback on it.

saumitra_j · Post by **saumitra_j** » 13 Oct 2014 07:00

Making a wave: 20-fold increase in Maoist surrender since May-end

The number of Maoists giving up arms has shot up since the Narendra Modi government took over earlier this year, mainly in the Maoist backyard of Bastar in the BJP-ruled Chhattisgarh, which has reported a 20-fold increase in surrenders since the end of May.

According to a report with the Ministry of Home Affairs, which was accessed by ET, 395 Maoists have surrendered across the country till September 30 this year, almost double the 206 who laid down arms in the corresponding period last year.

The highest number of surrenders was in the worst-affected districts of Sukma (50) and Kondagaon (67), which fall in the Bastar range, as per the state police report to the home ministry. The report shows 73 Maoists surrendered in Bastar last month.

Read it all onlee

Kakkaji · Post by **Kakkaji** » 17 Oct 2014 06:01

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announces Labour Reforms

Stressing that labour reforms hold the key to the success of the ‘Make in India’ campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday unveiled a new roadmap, including measures to end ‘Inspector Raj’ with a system that is expected to sharply curb the element of discretion with labour inspectors and a single window compliance process for companies on labour-related issues.

Yagnasri · Post by **Yagnasri** » 17 Oct 2014 08:56

Clarity in Defense Policy and army civilian relation. NM is meeting top army commanders today.

K Mehta · Post by **K Mehta** » 18 Oct 2014 10:32

Modi asked forces to reduce delay in acquisition of indigenous equipment.

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 18 Oct 2014 11:02

Singha wrote:portable PF number for all employees soon.

This is already rolled out. Infact I just finished getting this setup. And when I finished it got an SMS signed off by Modi, congratulating me for this. I was just wondering what was so great in this scheme that the PM should send as congratulatory note

.
EPFO Member's portal

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 18 Oct 2014 22:30

Environment

Center launches Air Quality Index

The ministry of environment, forests and climate change (MoEFCC) launched the national air quality index (AQI) on Friday. AQI, a method of informing people about the air quality in their cities, has six categories-good, satisfactory, moderately polluted, poor, very poor and severe depending on concentrations of eight main air pollutants.

Yagnasri · Post by **Yagnasri** » 20 Oct 2014 04:06

Diesel price deregulation. Major, major action.

Rahul Mehta · Post by **Rahul Mehta** » 20 Oct 2014 06:22

http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report-go ... it-2027321

Government finally bites the bullet, raises natural gas price to US $5.61/unit

Saturday, 18 October 2014

Government on Saturday approved raising natural gas price to US $5.61 per mmBtu from November 1 but Reliance Industries will continue to get current US $4.2 rate till it makes up for shortfall in output from KG-D6 block. The Cabinet modified the Rangarajan formula approved by previous UPA government to bring down the increase in rates from US $8.4 to US $5.61, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said. The new formula will be effective November 1 and rates will be revised every six months with the next revision being on April 1.

For RIL's flagging D1&D3 gas fields in KG-D6 block where output should have been 80 mmscmd but is languishing at less than 8 mmscmd, the Cabinet decided the current rates will continue to apply. Consumers will, however, pay the revised increased price but RIL will get only USD 4.2 with the difference being deposited in an escrow account. RIL will get the higher rates if it is legally able to prove that it did not deliberately cut production and output fall was a result of geological reasons as it claims.

Higher gas prices would increase the expense of running power stations and fertilizer plants, raising infrastructure and food costs and accelerating the rate of inflation. Every dollar increase in gas price will lead to a Rs 1,370 per tonne rise in urea production cost and a 45 paise per unit increase in electricity tariff (for just the 7% of the nation's power generation capacity based on gas). Also, there would be a minimum Rs 2.81 per kg increase in CNG price and a Rs 1.89 per standard cubic metre hike in piped cooking gas. Gas price increase had been deferred on three occasions previously.

The previous UPA government had in June last year approved a price formula suggested by a panel headed by C Rangarajan and re-confirmed it in December 2013 with certain conditions for Reliance Industries' eastern offshore KG-D6 block. The formula was to be implemented from April 1, 2014, when the tenure of US $4.205 per million British thermal unit price fixed for KG-D6 gas was to expire, but before a rate could be notified, general elections were announced and Election Commission asked the then government to defer it till completion of polls.

On June 25, the new BJP-led government deferred it for a further three months to September-end saying the issue required "comprehensive consultations."The revision was again deferred by 45 days on September 24 as the government seemed wary of taking an unpopular decision just before assembly election in crucial states of Maharashtra and Haryana. The formula, which was notified on January 10, will more than double the current US $4.2 per million British thermal units. The new gas price was to be applicable to both state-owned ONGC produced fuel as well as private sector RIL's gas. The delay in gas prices had most affected Reliance Industries and state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC).

RIL and its partners BP plc of UK and Canada's Niko Resources on July 6 slapped an arbitration notice on the government seeking implementation of a gas price revision which was due to them on April 1. For ONGC, the nation's largest gas producer, the postponement of price increase was seen as a dampener to its stock valuation particularly when the government had plans to sell a 5% stake in the company to help narrow budget deficit. India's offshore oil and gas industry is "at risk" in the absence of higher gas prices, BP CEO Robert Dudley had said on June 17. RIL has been selling gas from KG-D6 at the same price since it started production in April 2009. The government increased ONGC and Oil India Ltd's selling price to match RIL's in May 2010

member_28025 · Post by **member_28025** » 21 Oct 2014 15:49

Narendra Modi government takes RTI to another level: All replies to be put online

Taking the UPA government's showpiece initiative, The Right to Information (RTI) Act, to another level, the Narendra Modi government has now decided that from next month, all replies given under RTI by all ministries will be posted online so that any member of public can access them.

"An immediate action is requested so that the facility to upload the reply to RTI application and first appeal on the website of the respective ministry or department may be started w.e.f. 31st October, 2014," the DoPT has said.

It has been specified that some caution be exercised in the matter if the information being given under RTI relates to privacy of an individual. "It may be noted that RTI applications and appeals received and their responses relating to personal information of an individual may not be disclosed, if they do not serve any public interest," the DoPT has said

girish.r · Post by **girish.r** » 21 Oct 2014 16:16

Nepal, India sign historic Power Trade Agreement

Kathmandu: India and Nepal inked a historic Power Trade Agreement (PTA), allowing exchange of electricity and opening up new vistas of cooperation in the hydropower sector.

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/nepal-india- ... 678-3.html

member_28025 · Post by **member_28025** » 21 Oct 2014 16:26

NSEL merged with FTIL

http://www.mca.gov.in/Ministry/pdf/Pres ... 102014.pdf

The Central Government has decided on the merger of National Spot Exchange Limited with its holding company Financial Technologies (India) Ltd., in public interest under Section 396 of the Companies Act, 1956. A draft order in this
behalf has been issued. All due procedures in this regard shall be followed. The members of the two companies, its creditors may provide us suggestions/objections within a period of 60days.

Rahul Mehta · Post by **Rahul Mehta** » 26 Oct 2014 15:51

This will increase our coal output.

======

http://www.hindustantimes.com/business- ... 78205.aspx

Foreign companies may eventually be allowed commercial coal mining in India and dig deep into reservoirs estimated to contain the world’s fifth largest deposits of the fossil fuel.

The Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Ordinance 2014 -- which the President signed on Tuesday -- states that foreign companies with units or joint ventures “may carry on coal mining operations in India in any form either for own consumption, sale or any other purpose…selected through auction by competitive bidding…”, virtually lifting controls in the controversy-marred sector. Currently only steel, power and cement companies are allowed to own mines for their own use.

The Ordinance, which the Union Cabinet ratified on Monday, could also allow commercial use of mines, a move that would enable private companies to get into trading coal. It will also likely open up the doors for entry of companies like BHP Billiton, US firm Peabody and Rio Tinto.

India’s estimated coal reserves now stand at 301 billion tonnes, the fifth highest in the world, but companies still have to import as large number of mines remain unused. More than half of India’s power is produced from coal. State-owned Coal India Limited (CIL) accounts for nearly 80% of the country’s coal output, but falls short of meeting India’s rising energy demands

Rahul Mehta · Post by **Rahul Mehta** » 26 Oct 2014 16:58

Not achievement yet, but a direction is in place

====

http://articles.economictimes.indiatime ... endra-modi

Modi government readies to rope in private expertise from industry & academia for IAS

25-oct-2014

NEW DELHI: Narendra Modi pledged to break up the established order during his election campaign — among his targets were corruption, black money, crony capitalism and the freeze on development. While he's been busy ticking items on his to-do list, one more can be added to this — the lock that the Indian Administrative Service has on key appointments. The Modi government is preparing a policy note on throwing its doors open to private expertise from industry and academia.

By March 15 next year, the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT), which comes under the direct charge of the prime minister, will draw up a framework on the process for getting candidates from "industry, academia and society" to compete for senior administrative posts. This could mean corporate executives as well as leading economists and academics joining the government.

Former cabinet secretary TSR Subramanian, himself a retired IAS officer, welcomed the move. "The government needs experts in the field of information technology and environment for certain posts — people who know water issues, air pollution and forests," he said. "It is a multi-disciplinary government, which needs people from all disciplines — not just the civil service. We need administrators as well as managers," said Subramanian.

And what does he think of the resistance that is bound to come from the IAS lobby? "The country is larger than the IAS cadre," he added. Only a prime minister with a clear political mandate, such as the one Modi has, can attempt to make headway on this, given the IAS lobby's influence. Key regulatory posts, such as the one for the telecom industry, have been filled by a succession of former IAS officers.

Reserve Bank of India governors were former IAS officers for many years until economist Raghuram Rajan was appointed last year amid stiff opposition from some in the top echelons of the civil service. A fresh Results Framework Document (RFD) released by DoPT on October 21 for 2014-15 incorporated the new target that it said was part of the BJP election manifesto.

ET was the first to report on June 29 that ministries were preparing fresh RFDs for 2014-15 to align these with the party's poll pledges. The move could possibly break IAS' hegemony over the posts of joint secretary and additional secretary or even more senior designations, levels at which important decisions are taken. The number of lateral entries into the government has nearly dried up in the past two decades, the previous notable ones being Manmohan Singh, Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Vijay Kelkar. The personnel department's new RFD points out that the Second Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) in 2008 as well as the Sixth Pay Commission in 2006, both during the previous government's tenure, had recommended widening the pool of candidates for selection to senior positions by allowing people outside the government system to compete for them. The Second ARC proposed lateral entries by opening the senior management cadre of additional secretary to aspirants from the private sector who could bring new skills to the government.

"Additional secretary is a leadership position from which one can aspire to reach the rank of secretary," the Second ARC had said. The government may consider the creation of a Senior Executive Service (SES), as recommended by the Second ARC, which described it as a common theme in the countries that have embarked upon reform of the bureaucracy in the past three decades. Such SES cadres are in place in Australia, Belgium, New Zealand, the UK, Netherlands and the US. The idea is to pick a small group of people for SES from which high-level government appointments can be made.

This group is open to applicants from outside the civil service as well as to serving officials and is carefully chosen on the basis of open advertisements and well-publicised talent searches. Such people are employed on contract and at higher salary levels than would be the normal course. Career progression in SES is determined by performance, the Second ARC report said. A top DoPT official told ET that the idea was to "look beyond the civil service for candidates from the private sector with domain competency and experience" and cited the work done by former Infosys chief Nandan Nilekani in setting up the Unique Identification Authority of India and making Aadhaar a reality.

The Second ARC report had pointed to the pitfalls of sticking to the status quo. "The assurance of a secure career path has been held to be the career-based system's biggest lacuna. The weakness in practice is seen to have been compounded by a heavy reliance on seniority, an inadequate annual reporting system and frequent transfers. It has discouraged initiative by reducing competition in the higher echelons of government," the ARC report said, stressing the introduction of an element of competition in top-level appointments.

The Sixth Central Pay Commission had also said that certain posts in the Senior Administrative Grade and Higher Administrative Grade requiring technical or specialised expertise and not covered by the civil service cadres should be opened to suitable officers within the government as well as outsiders on contract. "Shift from career-based to post-based selection in the higher echelons of government in order to get the best domainbased expertise," the Sixth Pay Commission had suggested.

Rahul Mehta · Post by **Rahul Mehta** » 29 Oct 2014 21:43

This will improve construction in India

http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/10/2 ... J120141029

India relaxes rules for foreign investment in construction

(Reuters) - India on Wednesday relaxed rules for foreign direct investment in construction development, aiming to make it easier for overseas capital to invest in building in Asia's third-largest economy.

The reductions of minimum requirements for built areas and capital may help Prime Minister Narendra Modi deliver on his promise to create 100 "smart cities" in India by 2020. Previously, the government allowed 100 percent foreign direct investment in real estate development but with strict riders, including a lock-in period of three years during which the investment cannot be repatriated.

Under the new rules, the minimum built area for projects in which foreign investment is allowed will be reduced to 20,000 square metres from 50,000, the government said in a statement late on Wednesday. The minimum capital investment by foreign companies has been cut to $5 million from $10 million.

The investor will be allowed to expatriate the investment on completion of the project or three years after the final investment is made, the statement said. India received $1.2 billion of foreign direct investment in the fiscal year ended March 31 compared with $1.3 billion the previous year. Between April and August this year it has received foreign investment worth $446 million. The new rules will encourage development of smaller projects, especially in urban areas, where the availability of land is limited, said Akash Gupt, executive director at PWC. The risk of delay in smaller projects will be reduced, said Gupt.

This achievement is of Rajasthan Govt per se. But Central Govt is always involved in such huge deals. So to some extent, it is very much part of NaMo's govt. This is a good step as electricity production will increase. The deal is valued at Rs 5000 crores

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Busi ... 962403.cms

SunEdison to set up 5000MW solar projects in Rajasthan

Oct 28, 2014

CHENNAI: Solar power company SunEdison will set up several solar power projects of 500 megawatt (MW) capacity each, totaling 5,000MW, in Rajasthan and signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Rajasthan government for this on Tuesday.

SunEdison intends to create solar facilities to generate and supply solar energy to various organizations inside and outside Rajasthan. Those who will receive renewable energy from the solar projects include nodal entities of the Central Government of India -- Solar Energy Corporation of India, NTPC VidyutVyaparan Nigam Limited and Power Trading Corporation, a statement from the company has said. Either SunEdison or its affiliates will own the projects. The Rajasthan government will facilitate the identification of government land suitable for the development of solar photovoltaic projects as well as allot land on a long-term lease in accordance with the applicable policies of the state government. Additionally, the state government would create and provide the necessary electricity interconnection infrastructure, the statement said.

In addition to setting up the solar projects, SunEdison will assist in the development of strategies and policies to facilitate the large scale replacement of existing electric and diesel water pumps with solar-powered water pumps via innovative financing and business models. SunEdison currently has about 50MW of solar generation capacity and more than 1000 solar water pump installations in Rajasthan.

Frontline is known for badmouthing NaMo's positive steps. NaMo took a landmark GOOD step in cancelling price cap on medicines 2 days before he had left for USA. This article has more in it.

http://www.frontline.in/the-nation/bitt ... epage=true

Pls ignore the title and also ignore opinions and only pay attention to factual details.

kmkraoind · Post by **kmkraoind** » 31 Oct 2014 09:57

50 nations, including China and US, back Modi's call for International Yoga Day

At least, NaMo made world to recognize that Yoga is originated in Bharath. Next frontier would be to reclaim legacy for martial arts like Karate.

The resolution will be submitted soon to the UN secretariat with the government looking to aggressively push for its adoption before the end of this year. Perhaps India's most significant export to the world, the ancient art of Yoga is fast taking centre-stage in Modi's soft power push.

The list of co-sponsors includes Asian heavyweights China, Japan, Indonesia and South Korea and also South Africa and Nigeria in Africa. Neighbours such as Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka were amongst the earliest to sign on. Latin American giants Brazil and Argentina too have committed support.

With USA and Canada joining recently, the EU members are expected to also join as co-sponsors soon in what, according to official sources, is turning out to be a broad-based coalition of support that has countries as disparate as Iran and Cuba on board.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 06 Nov 2014 04:05

http://jan-sampark.nic.in/jansampark/im ... index.html

M Joshi · Post by **M Joshi** » 13 Nov 2014 11:02

Minister Says India, US Reach Agreement on Food Stockpiling, Way Cleared for WTO Deal

India has reached an agreement with the United States on public stockpiling of food, commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday, paving the way for the implementation of a global trade facilitation deal that has been stalled for months.

"India and the United States have resolved their differences on public stockholding of food," Ms Sitharaman said. "This opens the way for implementation of the WTO trade facilitation deal."

She also tweeted, "WTO General Council will receive India's proposal and US will support us."

At the end of July, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pulled the plug on implementing the Trade Facilitation Agreement struck in Bali last year, linking it to the issue of rural poverty in India.

Pratyush · Post by **Pratyush** » 13 Nov 2014 12:48

Akhilesh Yadav vs Modi: What the PM can do, the CM can do better

Even though till date the UP Cm has not demonstrated any competence in governance. Still it will positive development for the state if they deliver on even 10 % of what they are trying to show off.

A competition between the state and the center in this respect leaves the citizens as the ultimate winners.

member_28025 · Post by **member_28025** » 14 Nov 2014 10:34

Kendriya Vidyalaya board dumps German for Sanskrit in mid-year shift

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 14 Nov 2014 13:08

Minorities from Pakistan, Afghanistan seeking refuge in India can now apply manually
The eligible applicants, mostly Hindus from Pakistan and Afghanistan, can now also submit their applications offline with their passports.

Supratik · Post by **Supratik** » 14 Nov 2014 14:47

Sachin wrote:Minorities from Pakistan, Afghanistan seeking refuge in India can now apply manually
The eligible applicants, mostly Hindus from Pakistan and Afghanistan, can now also submit their applications offline with their passports.

Modi keeps another promise. But why no Bdesh.

Vril · Post by **Vril** » 21 Nov 2014 23:54

posted by someone as comment on NaMo facebook page. read it all and rejoice

Swatch Bharat campaign is joked off most of the time. It however, reminds me of a childhood joke. Many of you must have heard it prior to coming to NDA
Ten years after independence, on Nehru's invitation prince Charles came to India to see the progress India had made. They took the night special train from Delhi to Bombay. On account of jet lag, prince Charles got up early and decided to go in to the corridor and take some fresh early morning Indian air. Within minutes he ran back to Nehru and showed him the squatting along the track. Nehru was indeed embarrassed. An year after was the reciprocal visit of Nehru to UK and they were travelling from London to Edinburgh. For the same reasons Nehru decided to have some fresh British air. Within minutes Nehru was back to prince Charles with a big smile. Prince Charles felt embarrassed but asked for his binoculars. After a careful look he was back to Nehru 'Oh that is the Indian Ambassador'
After sixty years of a dynastic rule, the story still holds true. Why?
Now let me tell you a recent Incidence (no story). I was travelling from Canberra to Sydney by train . At a small station there was a change of the engine driver which took a minute. The relieved driver walked down the platform and came across an empty coke can on the side under a bench. He picked it up and put it in the bin near by and moved on as usual. I thought to myself, would it happen in India. Why not?
On a more serious note, now let me tell you my experience I had at the Indian consulate in Sydney yesterday. I had gone there for the life certificate. I was amazed at seeing the transformation in that office since my last visit:
- The man at the reception asked me even before I could say anything 'sir have you come for the life certificate'. I said 'Yes'. He asked me to give him the documents, take coffee and have a seat - Some guys were already sitting and some kept coming. After some time, the councillor came out (I was told later that he comes out every half hour), called out the names, made them sign the certificate, signed it himself and handed it over. I was off in half an hour when the web site says it will take one day
- As though this was not enough, there was an old Anglo Indian pensioner from Railways - William D Fransis on a wheelchair accompanied by his grand daughter. Frail and unable to speak. The consular saw him and asked for his form first. With the form in hand, he went to him and said 'Sir from next year onwards, please do not come here for this certificate. Just go to your treating GP (Doctor), he will sign this certificate. After that please post it to us along
with a photo copy of your passport. You will get it back in a day and if you desire we will also send it to your paying office
- All pensioners present were amazed at the transformation. As though in unison, they all said 'I am going for Modi's public appearance next week'
Being a bit curious, I stayed on and started asking the receptionist about this noticeable transformation. He told me the following:
We have to send to MEA, a monthly report highlighting the problems faced by visitors to the consulate and what actions have been taken to remove or reduce them? This is the result of thatI asked him to tell me a few other improvements. He started off with an whole list. Let me tell you one of them. They have started a new emergency service. Say after office hours one learns that ones father has passed away. You SMS your visa request on a given number. If the officer on duty considers it to be an emergency request, he will call you back and speak to you and in all probability for such a
case give you a visa the moment you are able to reach him with your passport. I remember my sons tears when he pleaded for a visa to get home after my wife's death. While the Indian embassy tried its best to delay it, his Australian boss in Canberra had to intervene. My eyes are flowing with tears as I remember it while trying to bring this transformation to you. Only one thing has changed since then in the consulate - the PM. The same building the same staff.I left the consulate with my chest high - 56 inches
Guys, this is a National Opportunity for us to redeem and rediscover ourselves. Let us contribute in the effort and not derail it. The least we can do is to have patience. Things are happening
Please do pass on this First Hand Account of Transformation to those who may not be knowing and to the media which will never publish such good deeds of the man. From my side, I sent an immediate e mail to the PMO with a copy to the Consular and the Ambassador

fanne · Post by **fanne** » 22 Nov 2014 00:07

Vril, Thanks for posting it. I read it twice - to feel proud and happy two times!!

M Joshi · Post by **M Joshi** » 24 Nov 2014 09:13

Foreign tourist footfall grows in response to Narendra Modi government's overtures

MUMBAI: It seems that the Narendra Modi-led government's focus on boosting tourism is paying off, with foreign tourist arrivals from May — when the BJP government came to power — to October this year have jumped 12 per cent to 32 lakh compared with the same period last year, points out data provided by the ministry of tourism. Last year in the same period, the growth in foreign tourists was just 6 per cent.

Sumant Kumar, hospitality analyst with Elara Capital, said: "There are two reasons for this growth. First, India's perception as an investment destination has improved vastly. This was not the case with the UPA regime where policy inaction had created apathy among foreign investors. Besides, the government's decision to provide visa-on-arrival also contributed marginally to this growth."

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 25 Nov 2014 05:20

could go here: http://www.gatesfoundation.org/Media-Ce ... on-Toilets

The details of the grant recipients for the “Reinvent the Toilet Challenge: India” are as follows:

Eram Scientific Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Kerela in collaboration with University of South Florida: A field trial grant to test off-grid, self-sustained, modular, electronic toilet for houses and communities with solar energy for Indian weather, integrated with mixed waste processing unit. The project will couple a modern, public toilet with an advanced onsite, biological treatment system. It will be housed in a standalone unit that will be initially field tested in a suburban slum.
Amrita School of Biotechnology, Kerela: A proof of concept grants to use viral agents to target and kill pathogens and odour-producing bacteria in fecal waste and also develop for a way to integrate this into waste treatment systems. This is a proof of concept grant.
Pradin Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore: The project will test the concept of using ultra-sound to reduce water use in a toilet. It will also test the ability to enhance the settling of fecal particles in a storage tank using ultra-sound. This is a proof of concept grant.
Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee in collaboration with Fresh rooms Life Sciences: The project will develop a single household container that will cultivate Black Soldier Fly larvae, using human faeces, which can be processed into valuable products. The project will also demonstrate the market potential for these products. This is a proof of concept grant.
Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai: The project will evaluate the concept of using fine sand-like material and an air blower to create a water-free toilet interface that is free from odour and flies.
BITS PILANI K. K. Birla Goa Campus in collaboration with Ghent University and Sustainable Biosolutions LLP: The project will demonstrate a novel septic tank design that integrates electrochemistry to reduce organic pollutants and improve the quality of effluent discharged. The system will be demonstrated at a single household and society/gated community. This is a proof of concept grant.

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 25 Nov 2014 08:35

SaiK this is not Modi govt achievement

There is a good news India thread. Pls post there. Thread has been languishing for years

SagarAg · Post by **SagarAg** » 26 Nov 2014 05:46

Outcomes of the bilateral component of the visit of Hon’ble PM to Nepal

1. MoU on Motor Vehicle Agreement and flag off of Kathmandu-Delhi bus service ‘Pashupatinath Express’
2. MOU on National Police Academy, Panauti
3. Line of Credit of US$ 1 Billion
4. MoU between Ministry of AYUSH, GoI and Ministry of Health & Population of Goernment of Nepal for Cooperation in Traditional Systems of Medicine
5. MOU on Tourism between the GOI and GON on Cooperation in the field of Tourism
6. MoU on Twinning arrangements between Kathmandu-Varanasi, Janakpur-Ayodhya and Lumbini-Bodh Gaya as sister cities
7. MoU between India and Nepal on Cooperation for Youth Affairs
8. Signing of PDA for the 900 MW Arun-III Hydropower project by SJVN and GoN
9. Emergency and Trauma Centre
10. Supply of one Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Mark III to the Nepal Army
11. Gifting of a sapling from the Bodhi Tree at the Mahabodhi temple in Bodh Gaya
12. Circulation of 500 and 1000 denomination Indian currency in Nepal
13. Gifting of one mobile soil testing van/lab
14. Augmentation of power supply to Nepal by 70 MW, prior to SAARC Summit

Detailed elaboration of each point is in the link above.