GK

·         चीन और अमेरिका के बीच सुरक्षा एवं आर्थिक वार्ता के लिए अमेरिकी विदेश मंत्री हिलेरी क्लिंटन ने चीनी राष्ट्रपति से मुलाकात की. चीनी राष्ट्रपति का नाम क्या है?

(क)हू जिंताओ (ख) बेन जियाबाओ (ग) झेन झियामिंग 

·         यूरोप की अंतरिक्ष एजेंसी इएसए किस ग्रह पर मिशन भेजने की तैयारी में है?

(क) बृहस्पति (ख) मंगल (ग) शुक्र

·         फिलीपींस की राजधानी मनीला में एशियाई विकास बैंक (एडीबी) के संचालक मंडल का अध्यक्ष किसे चुना गया है ?
(क)यशवंत सिन्हा (ख) प्रणब मुखर्जी (ग) पी चिदंबरम 

·         ‘हे ग्रुप’ के अध्ययन के मुताबिक, एशिया की दस शीर्ष कंपनियों में टाटा को किस पायदान पर रखा गया गया है?

(क) पहले (ख) पांचवें (ग) दसवें

·         3. विश्‍व की दो बड़ी वित्तीय संस्थाओं विश्‍व बैंक और अंतरराष्ट्रीय मुद्राकोषकी स्थापना एक साल हुई थी? इन दोनों की स्थापना किस वर्ष हुई थी ?

(क) 1943 (ख) 1945 (ग) 1944

·         भारतीय रिर्जव बैंक ने वार्षिक मौद्रिक नीति की घोषणा करते हुए विभित्र दरों में कटौती की. आरबीआइ के गवर्नर का नाम क्या है?

े(क)मोंटेक सिंह अहलुवालिया (ख) डी सुब्बाराव (ग) सी रंगराजन

·         हाल ही में, यूनिसेफ द्वारा जारी रिपोर्ट के मुताबिक, दुनियाभर में होने वाले बाल विवाह में कितने फीसदी भारत में होते हैं?

(क)40 फीसदी (ख) 30 फीसदी (ग) 50 फीसदी

·         श्‍विक रेटिंग एजेसी स्टैंडर्ड एंड पुअर्स (एसएंडपी) ने भारत की रेटिंग घटाने के बाद किस देशकी रेटिंग ए से कम करके बीबीबी प्लस कर दिया ?

(क)फ्रांस (ख) जापान (ग) स्पेन 

1. विश्‍व के नये बने देश दक्षिणी सूडान ने विश्‍व बैंक और अंतरराष्ट्रीय मुद्राकोष की हाल में सदस्यता ली. इन अंतरराष्ट्रीय संगठनों की सदस्यता लेने वाला वह कौन-सा देश बना?

(क)189वां (ख) 188वां (ग) 187वां

2. भारतीय मूल के किस उद्यमी और शिक्षाविद् को संयुक्त राष्ट्र की शैक्षिक एवं सांस्कृतिक एजेंसी यूनेस्को का सद्भावना दूत नियुक्त किया गया है?

(क)सनी वर्के (ख) विनोद मंगलम (ग) निमित परेरा

3. विश्‍व स्वास्थ्य संगठन द्वारा जारी रिपोर्ट में वर्ष 2010 में खसरे से होने वाली मौतों में से सर्वाधिक मौतें किस देश में हुईं?

(क)दक्षिण अफ्रीका (ख) पाकिस्तान (ग) भारत

4. साल 2012-13 के लिए उद्योगों से संबंधित संगठन उद्योग चैंबर सीआइआइ का अध्यक्ष किसे चुना गया है?

(क)एस गोपाल कृष्णन (ख) सुनील मित्तल (ग) आदि गोदरेज

5. अंतरराष्ट्रीय श्रम संगठन (आइएलओ) की रिपोर्ट के मुताबिक, पिछले पांच वर्ष में भारत में रोजगार में कितने फीसदी की बढ.ोतरी हुई है?

(क) 1 (ख) 2 (ग) 0.1

6. अमेरिकी विदेश मंत्री इस महीने अमेरिका-चीन रणनीतिक और आर्थिक वार्ता के लिए बीजिंग आ रही हैं. इस दौरान वह भारत भी आयेंगी. अमेरिकी विदेश मंत्री का नाम क्या है?

(क) रॉबर्ट गेट्स (ख) हिलेरी क्लिंटन (ग) लियोनल पनेटा

7. अंतरराष्ट्रीय क्रिकेट परिषद् ने चैपियंस ट्रॉफी 2013 के बाद करवाने का फैसला किया है. 2013 में कहां आयोजित किया जायेगा?

(क) इंग्लैंड (ख) भारत(ग) ऑस्ट्रेलिया

सही उत्तर 1.(ख) 2.(क) 3.(ग) 4.(ग) 5.(ग) 6.(ख). 7.(क)

1. हाल ही में किस कांग्रेसी नेता को उत्तराखंड का राज्यपाल नियुक्त किया गया.

(क)अजीज कुरैशी (ख) राशिद अल्वी (ग) एम के नारायणन

2. भारत एक ऐसी मिसाइल बना रहा है, जो दुश्मन के राडार सिस्टम को तबाह कर हमला करने की क्षमता को बढ.l देगी. इसे सुखोई फाइटर प्लेन में लगाया जायेगा. इस मिसाइल का नाम क्या है?

(क)एंटी रेडिएशन मिसाइल (एआरएम) (ख) अग्नि-5 (ग) पृथ्वी 

3. राष्ट्रपति प्रतिभा पाटील सेशेल्स और दक्षिण अफ्रीका की यात्रा पर गयी हैं. सेशेल्स 116 द्बीपों का समूह है, जिसमें 15 पर लोग रहते हैं. यहां की आबादी 90 हजार से कुछ अधिक है. सेशेल्स के राष्ट्रपति का नाम क्या है?

(क)जेम्स एलिक्स मिशेल (ख) बॉत्रस घाली (ग) हेनरी क्लिंटन 

4. इन दिनों क्रिकेटर सचिन तेंदुलकर का राज्यसभा में मनोनयन चर्चा में है. लेकिन 1978 में किस क्रिकेटर ने राज्यसभा सांसद मनोनीत करने के प्रस्ताव को ठुकरा दिया था? 

(क)संजय मांजरेकर (ख) कपिल देव (ग) विजय मर्चेंट 

5. अप्रैल महीना खत्म होते ही जम्मू-कश्मीर की राजधानी जम्मू से श्रीनगर हो जायेगी. इसे दरबार मूव के नाम से जाना जाता है. छह माह में राजधानी बदलने की शुरुआत महाराजा गुलाब सिंह ने 1872 में की थी. मई से अक्तूबर तक राजधानी श्रीनगर और नवंबर से अप्रैल तक जम्मू होता है. राजधानी बदलने में कितने दिन का समय लगता है.

(क) तीन सप्ताह (ख) एक सप्ताह (ग) दो सप्ताह

6. इंडियन ओपन बैडमिंटन टूर्नामेंट का पुरुष सिंगल्स खिताब दक्षिण कोरिया के किस खिलाड़ी के नाम रहा. 

(क)वान हो शान (ख) जुई (ग) तांतोवी
सही उत्तर 1.(क) 2.(क) 3.(क) 4.(ग) 5.(ख) 6.(क)

1. दक्षिण चीन सागर में हुंगयान द्वीप का नाम बदलने को लेकर किन दो देशों के बीच विवाद काफी बढ. गया है?

(क)जापान-चीन (ख) चीन-फिलीपींस (ग) चीन-भारत

2. सीरिया में जारी विरोध के बीच राष्ट्रपति ने 250 संसदीय सीटों के लिए मतदान करवाया. सीरिया के राष्ट्रपति का नाम क्या है ?

(क)बसर अल बसद (ख) होस्नी मुबारक (ग) अब्दुर रहीम अल कीब

3. पाकिस्तान सरकार के साथ काम करने में असर्मथता जताते हुए राजदूत कैमरून मुंटर ने इस्तीफा देने का फैसला किया है. वह पाकिस्तान में किस देशके राजदूत हैं?

(क)अमेरिका (ख) इंगलैंड (ग) ऑस्ट्रेलिया

4. वर्ष 1999 में यूरोपीय संघ के गठन के बाद इस समय बेरोजगारी दर सबसे ज्यादा 10.9 फीसदी है. यूरोपीय संघ में फिलहाल कितने सदस्य देश हैं?

(क)15 (ख) 16 (ग) 17

5. वैज्ञानिकों के मुताबिक, हल्दी में पाये जाने वाले तत्व करक्यूमिन से किस तरह के कैंसर का इलाज किया जा सकता है?

(क) आंत का कैंसर (ख) ब्लड कैंसर (ग) त्वचा

6. सुप्रीम कोर्ट ने केंद्र सरकार की हज यात्रियों को दी जाने वाली सब्सिडी नीति को खारिज करते हुए इसे कितने वर्षों में खत्म करने का फैसला दिया?

(क) 5 वर्ष (ख) 8 वर्ष (ग) 10 वर्ष

7. भारतीय टेनिस खिलाड़ी सानिया मिर्जा वर्ल्ड टेनिस रैंकिंग में फिलहाल कितने पायदान पर हैं?

(क) 170 (ख) 190 (ग) 180

सही उत्तर 1.(ख) 2.(क) 3.(क) 4.(ग) 5.(क) 6.(ग). 7.(ग)

1. भीषण एटमी हादसा झेल चुके किस देश ने परमाणु बिजली का उत्पादन नहीं करने का फैसला किया है?

(क)जापान (ख) फ्रांस (ग) रूस

2. फिलीपींस की राजधानी मनीला में एशियाई विकास बैंक (एडीबी) के संचालक मंडल का अध्यक्ष किसे चुना गया है ?

(क)यशवंत सिन्हा (ख) प्रणब मुखर्जी (ग) पी चिदंबरम

3. दमित्रि मेदवेदेव के बाद रूस में व्लादिमीर पुतिन ने 7 मई को राष्ट्रपति पद का कार्यभार संभाल लिया. वह अब तक कितनी बार रूस का राष्ट्रपति बन चुके हैं?

(क)दो (ख) तीन (ग) चार

4. भारतीय रक्षा संगठन ने मिसाइल रक्षा कवच विकसित करने की बात कही है. इसे किस संगठन ने विकसित किया है?

(क)डीआरडीओ (ख) इसरो (ग) बार्क

5. नेपाल में ऐतिहासिक कदम के तहत सभी दलों ने प्रधानमंत्री बाबूराम भट्टराई की अगुवाई में मिल कर सरकार का गठन किया है. सभी दलों की इस सरकार को क्या नाम दिया गया है?

(क) राष्ट्रीय जनतांत्रिक सरकार (ख) राष्ट्रीय लोकतांत्रिक सरकार (ग) राष्ट्रीय एकता सरकार

6. ‘हे ग्रुप’ के अध्ययन के मुताबिक, एशिया की दस शीर्ष कंपनियों में टाटा को किस पायदान पर रखा गया गया है?

(क) पहले (ख) पांचवें (ग) दसवें

7. भारतीय महिला स्क्वैश टीम ने हांगकांग को हरा कर पहली बार एशियन खिताब जीत कर इतिहास बनाया. यह प्रतियोगिता कहां आयोजित की गयी?

(क) कुवैत (ख) नयी दिल्ली (ग) बीजिंग

सही उत्तर 1.(क) 2.(ख) 3.(ख) 4.(क) 5.(ग) 6.(ख). 7.(क)

1. ईरान के संसदीय चुनाव में अधिकांश सीटों पर विरोधियों की जीत को राष्ट्रपति के लिए बड़ा झटका माना जा रहा है. वहां के राष्ट्रपति का नाम क्या है?

(क)महमूद अहमदीनेजाद (ख) अयातुल्ला खमैनी (ग) महमूद असद

2. अमेरिका में राष्ट्रपति चुनावों में मौजूदा राष्ट्रपति बराक ओबामा के खिलाफ रिपब्लिकन पार्टी उम्मीदवार कौन होंगे?

(क)जॉन मैक्केन (ख) निक्की हेली (ग) मिट रोमनी

3. चीन और अमेरिका के बीच सुरक्षा एवं आर्थिक वार्ता के लिए अमेरिकी विदेश मंत्री हिलेरी क्लिंटन ने चीनी राष्ट्रपति से मुलाकात की. चीनी राष्ट्रपति का नाम क्या है?

(क)हू जिंताओ (ख) बेन जियाबाओ (ग) झेन झियामिंग

4. एक शोध के मुताबिक शरीर में मौजूद जैव घड़ी किस बीमारी की वजह बनती है?

(क)मोटापा-मधुमेह (ख) मोटापा-कैंसर (ग) मधुमेह-कैंसर

5. विश्‍व मजदूर संगठन (आइएलओ) की रिपोर्ट के मुताबिक, इस साल के अंत तक बेरोजगारों की संख्या में और बढ.ोतरी होगी. आइएलओ के अनुसार इस साल के अंत तक कितने लोग बेरोजगार होंगे?

(क) 2 करोड़ 14 लाख (ख) 2 करोड़ 12 लाख (ग) 2 करोड़ 10 लाख

6. यूरोप की अंतरिक्ष एजेंसी इएसए किस ग्रह पर मिशन भेजने की तैयारी में है?

(क) बृहस्पति (ख) मंगल (ग) शुक्र

7. स्टार समूह ने भारत में समाचार से हटने और एबीपी समूह के साथ ब्रांड समाप्त करने का फैसला किया. स्टार समूह के प्रमुख कौन हैं?

(क) जेम्स मडरेक (ख) रूपर्ट मडरेक (ग) रोजर मडरेक

सही उत्तर 1.(क) 2.(ग) 3.(क) 4.(क) 5.(ख) 6.(क). 7.(ख)

1. आंग सान सू की को अपने देशमें लोकतंत्र की मुहिम चलाने के लिए जाना जाता है. अब वह 24 वर्षों के बाद विदेश यात्रा पर जा रही हैं. वह किस देश की नेता हैं?

 (क)म्यांमार (ख) भूटान (ग) नेपाल

2. इंटरनेशनल यूथ फाउंडेशन की अपॉचरुनिटी फॉर एक्शन रिपोर्ट के मुताबिक, 15 वर्ष से अधिक आयु वाले कितने भारतीय अशिक्षित हैं?

(क)25 करोड़ (ख) 27 करोड़ (ग) 30 करोड़

3. विश्‍व की दो बड़ी वित्तीय संस्थाओं विश्‍व बैंक और अंतरराष्ट्रीय मुद्राकोषकी स्थापना एक साल हुई थी? इन दोनों की स्थापना किस वर्ष हुई थी ?

(क) 1943 (ख) 1945 (ग) 1944

4. सेना के उपयोग में आने वाले किन ट्रकों की खरीद मामले में जांच एजेंसी सीबीआइ उस कंपनी के मालिक रवि ऋषि से पूछताछ कर रही है?

(क)टाटा (ख) अशोक ले-लैंड (ग) टाट्रा

5. अमेरिका में होने वाले राष्ट्रपति चुनाव में मौजूदा राष्ट्रपति बराक ओबामा की लोकप्रियता विपक्षी उम्मीदवार मिट रोमनी से कम हो गयी है. रोमनी किस पार्टी के नेता हैं?

(क)डेमोक्रेटिक पार्टी (ख) रिपब्लिकन पार्टी (ग)अमेरिकन पार्टी

6. भारतीय रिर्जव बैंक ने वार्षिक मौद्रिक नीति की घोषणा करते हुए विभित्र दरों में कटौती की. आरबीआइ के गवर्नर का नाम क्या है?

े(क)मोंटेक सिंह अहलुवालिया (ख) डी सुब्बाराव (ग) सी रंगराजन

1.(क) 2.(ख) 3.(ग) 4.(ग) 5.(ख) 6.(ख)

दुनिया का सबसे सस्ता टेबलेट आकाश बनाने वाली कंपनी ने अब उसी कीमत पर यूबी-स्लेट नाम से नया टेबलेट बाजार में उतारा है. इसे बनाने वाली कंपनी का नाम क्या है?

(क)डाटाविंड (ख) एप्पल (ग) सोनी

वैश्‍विक रेटिंग एजेसी स्टैंडर्ड एंड पुअर्स (एसएंडपी) ने भारत की रेटिंग घटाने के बाद किस देशकी रेटिंग ए से कम करके बीबीबी प्लस कर दिया ?

(क)फ्रांस (ख) जापान (ग) स्पेन

सभी मौसमों में काम करने वाले राडार इमेजिंग सेटेलाइट (रीसेट-1) का सफल परीक्षण भारतीय अंतरिक्ष अनुसंधान संगठन (इसरो) ने श्रीहरिकोटा से किया. श्रीहरिकोटा किस राज्य में है?

(क)राजस्थान (ख) आंध्रप्रदेश (ग) तमिलनाडु

26 अप्रैल को तीन दिनों के भारतीय दौरे पर आये अंतरराष्ट्रीय संगठन संयुक्त राष्ट्र के महासचिव का नाम क्या है?

(क)बान की मून (ख) कोफी अत्रान (ग) बॉत्रस घाली

यूरोपीय अंतरिक्ष एजेंसी ने ब्रिटिश कंपनी एस्ट्रियम यूके से सौर मंडल के किस सदस्य की गतिविधियों का पता लगाने के लिए करार किया है?

(क) मंगल ग्रह (ख) बृहस्पति (ग) सूर्य

हाल ही में, यूनिसेफ द्वारा जारी रिपोर्ट के मुताबिक, दुनियाभर में होने वाले बाल विवाह में कितने फीसदी भारत में होते हैं ?

(क)40 फीसदी (ख) 30 फीसदी (ग) 50 फीसदी

विश्‍व ओलंपिक क्वालीफाइंग प्रतियोगिता के फाइनल में पहुंचने के साथही भारत के सुशील कुमार ने लंदन ओलिंपिक के लिए जगह पक्की कर ली. उनका संबंध किस खेल से है?

(क)टेनिस (ख) बैडमिंटन (ग) कुश्ती

सही उत्तर 1.(क) 2.(ग) 3.(ख) 4.(क) 5.(ग) 6.(क). 7.(ग)

 Know some more important national days.

 National voter’s day --- January 25
To encourage more young voters to take part in political process
Government of India has declared this day as national voter’s day.
National science day --- February 28
Sir.C.V.Raman discovered Raman’s effect on this day. So India
celebrates this day as national science day.

National mathematics day --- December 22
Government of India has decided to celebrate Ramanujam’s birth day as
national mathematics day and 2012 as national mathematics year

National youth day – January 12
It is Swamy Vivekananda’s birth day

National Teacher’s day –September 5
It is the birth day of Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, former president
of India

National engineer’s day – September 15
It is the birth day of Sri. Visveswariah, an eminent Indian engineer
and states man. He served as chief engineer during construction of
Krishna raja sagar dam.

National Technology day – May 11
On May 11 and May 13, 1998, India conducted five nuclear tests at the
Pokhran test range in Rajasthan, India. First of the five tests were
carried out on May 11, 1998 when three nuclear devices were detonated.
So this day is celebrated as National Technology day.

National Martyr’s day – January 30
It is celebrated on the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

National Maritime day – April 5
On this day first Indian ship SS loyalty journeyed to United Kingdom
when sea routes were controlled by British.

National law day – November 26
On November 26 1949, the constitution of India was adopted by
constituent Assembly.
National girl child day—January 24

National Education day – November 11
It is the birth anniversary of Moulana Abul Kalam Azad, the great
freedom fighter and eminent educationist.

National postal day – October 10
 This is the extension of world postal day. World postal day is
celebrated on October 9. It was on this day (OCT 9) universal postal
union was founded.

National tourism day – January 25

National integration day – November 19
This day is celebrated in memory of late prime minister Mrs.Indra
Gandhi who fell to the bullets on this day.

National pollution prevention day – December 2
The National pollution prevention day is observed on dec 2   as the
anniversary of Bhopal gas tragedy.

Q1) The dispute over control of the Falkland island in feb 2012 is between which of the two countries ?
a) Canada and Britain
b) Britain and Japan
c) Argentina and Britain
d) Canada and Argentina

Q2) GJ667 is-
a) A star
b) triple star system
c) a planet
d) ocean name

Q3) Over 35000 people sang the national anthem ‘Jana Gana Mana’, created a world record recently in which of the following cities ?
a) Mumbai
b) Delhi
c) Pune
d) Aurangabad

Q4) “Stationary World 2012” between February 17 – 19 organised at which of the following cities?
a) Delhi
b) Mumbai
c) Chennai
d) Pune

Q5) Chemical name of Baking soda is-
a) Na2Co3
b) NaHCo3
c) Ca(OH)2
d) All of the above

Q6) Which of the following is a nationalised bank ?
a) South Indian Bank
b) HDFC Bank
c) Canara Bank
d) Federal Bank

Q7) Who will be the new bowling coach of team India ?
a) Joe Daves
b) Michal Clark
c) James Bill
d) Mark Taylor

Q8) Who is the Chairperson of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights ?
a) V S Sampath
b) Shanta Sinha
c) S. C. Sinha
d) D. P. Agrawal

Q9) Supreme Court gave verdict after the filing of a complaint of corruption , The court had fixed an outer time limit of ……….months for deciding the issue .
a) Three
b) Four
c) Six
d) Eight

Q10) India hosted multi-nation naval exercise and conclave in the strategic Andaman and Nicobar Islands, with warships and delegations from 14 countries of the Asia-Pacific region , what is the name of that exercise ?
a) Sauhard
b) Mael Jol
c) Milan
d) Meelap

Answers-

1-    c 2 – b 3- d 4 – b 5 – b 6- c 7- a  8 – b 9 – b 10 – c

GK questions compiled from different question papers and news papers
are given here. Answers are at the end.

1.      Many of us use USB drive. What does USB stand for?
2.      Which is the only sovereign state with general international
recognition that is not a UN member?
3. Where was the Olympic torch, for the London games, lit ceremonially
using the sun’s rays?


4.      Recently Parliament of India celebrated 60 th anniversaries. Why?
5.  You may know about ISO standards. What does the ISO stand for?

5.      What is the main difference between ISO 9001 and ISO 14001?

6.      What does PNR stand for in PNR number used in Railway booking?
7.      Name the Prime minister of India who nationalized 14 Indian banks?
8.      What is the age limit to contest as (i) MLA (ii) MP (iii)
Presidential candidate
9.      What is the name of the browser developed by Yahoo?

    10. How many times Viswanathan Anand  has won world championship
in chess?

    11. Who won the Aslansha cup 2012 in hockey?
     12. What is the place India got in Aslansha cup hockey
tournament?

    13. Name the newly elected French President.
     14. Which is the world’s most used browser?
.





ANSWERS



1.      Universal serial bus

2.       Vatican City

3.      Ancient Olympia in Greece

4.      On May 13, 1952, the first day of the first session of the first
Parliament of India was held.. Both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha
met at quarter to eleven in the morning



5.      ISO is derived from “isos” meaning equal.

6.      PNR   -- Passenger Name Record

7.      Smt. Indra Gandhi

8.      For MLA ---- Not less than 25
     For MP ----- Not less than 25
      For Presidential candidate --- Not less than 35

9.      Axis

10.     5 times

11.     New Zealand

12.     3 rd place

13.     Francois Hollande

14.     Chrome

PM sets investment target of Rs. 2 lakh crore.

Jolted into action following the country's GDP (gross domestic product) growth plunging to a nine-year low at 5.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2011-12, the Centre on Wednesday decided to set in motion a host of measures to kick-start key infrastructure development projects. This will entail an investment of at least Rs. 2 lakh crore during the current fiscal, thereby providing a catalyst to put the economy back on a higher growth trajectory of nine per cent. At a meeting held here by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to finalise “ambitious” infrastructure sector targets for 2012-13, investment allocations were nearly doubled for a number of key segments such as ports, roads and airports.

The quantum jump in investment in these sectors, with significant private sector participation through PPP (public-private partnership) mode, is expected to provide a massive boost to overall manufacturing activity in allied sectors in a scenario when, after achieving a remarkably high growth rate over the past eight years, the Indian economy is “now running into more turbulent weather.” Participating in the brainstorming session were Ministers and Secretaries of key infrastructure Ministries of Power, Roads, Shipping, Civil Aviation and Coal, in which Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia made a presentation on how these targets were finalised and the explained the high level of ambition they represent. Significantly, Railway Minister Mukul Roy, did not attend the meeting even as investments were earmarked for a number of rail projects.

Explaining the rationale for increased investment in the core sector, Dr. Singh said that development of infrastructure would always be an integral part of any strategy for fast economic development. “In the short term, development of infrastructure will boost investment rates across the economy. In the long run, it will remove the supply constraints that affect industry and trade,” he said pointing out that the government alone would not be able to meet the vast investment needs of over $1 trillion in the next five years and, therefore, “it is important that we involve the private sector in our efforts, through Public Private Partnerships.” In particular, the ambitious projects and investment targets pertain to ports, roads and airports. In the ports segment, the target for this fiscal comprising 42 projects valued at Rs. 14,500 crore is three times what was achieved last fiscal.

Of these, two projects are for brand new major ports on the east coast — Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal — with a total investment of Rs. 20,500 crore. “The total capacity which will be awarded this year will be 360 MTPA with an investment of Rs. 35,000 crore,” an official statement said. In roads, the total length to be awarded in 2012-13 will be 9,500 km, marking an increase of 18.7 per cent over last year and an increase in investment by 73.6 per cent. Of these, a total of 4,360 km of roads will be awarded for maintenance under the OMT (Operate, Maintain, Transfer) system for the first time.

The Election Commission, headed by reform-oriented CEC S.Y. Quraishi, is unhappy the government has not considered the changes it has been pushing for so many years, including declaring “paid news” a poll offence. Mr. Quraishi, known for his voter-friendly reforms, is demitting office on June 10. On February 3 last year, the EC suggested that publication and abetment of “paid news” for furthering the election prospects of any candidate or prejudicially affecting the chances of other contestants be made an offence under the Representation of the People Act, 1951, entailing imprisonment up to two years.

The then Law and Justice Minister, M. Veerappa Moily, made a promise that a Bill in this regard would be tabled in Parliament. “But nothing happened and we are waiting still,” said an exasperated EC official. In fact, the then Law Minister had visited Nirvachan Sadan at least thrice to hold discussions with officials on electoral reforms, but nothing came of it. The amendment to the RP Act, as proposed by the EC, would serve as a deterrent at least to some extent as there were no legislation at present to pull up “corrupt journalists” or punish “corruption by media in the form of publishing news against money,” the official said. This was all the more important as the EC had a few months ago disposed of the first complaint of encouragement of ‘paid news' made against the then Rashtriya Parivartan Dal MLA (from Bisauli), Umlesh Yadav, disqualifying her for three years for not including the actual expenditure on newspaper publicity in her poll expenses account. Even in this case, the media which encouraged ‘paid news' and benefited from the candidate was not punished, the official said. Official sources pointed out that right now the EC did not have powers or jurisdiction to haul up newspapers and other media organisations for benefiting from ‘paid news' though complaints had been pending before it against the former Chief Ministers Ashok Chavan (Maharashtra) and Madhu Koda (Jharkhand).

In the Umlesh Yadav case, the Press Council of India's opinion formed the basis for the EC to arrive at the conclusion that the candidate indeed gave advertisements and did not account for the same in her expenses. The PCI said: “The format of impugned material was such that it would appear as a news report to the layman and the word ADVT printed at the lowest end rather appeared to accompany a small boxed appeal by the candidate. There was beyond doubt a possibility of confusing the voters when the elections were just a day away and all campaigning had stopped. The act was not only unethical by journalistic standards but also in violation of the election laws.”

The interest in the monsoon can sometimes be obsessive and is a measure of the extent to which these rains rule the tempo of life in this country. The twists and turns that a rainy season inevitably takes are carefully scrutinised for portends of its outcome. This year, amidst a gloomy economic outlook, with a rupee that has sharply depreciated and prices heading the other way, such concerns are all the greater. Using a statistical model, the India Meteorological Department had predicted in mid-May that the monsoon would set in over Kerala on June 1 with an error bar of four days. So, when the monsoon appeared to be lagging, questions inevitably came to be asked. To the relief of all, the meteorological agency was able to declare on June 5 that the monsoon had at last arrived. The rain-bearing clouds will go on to cover the whole country in the coming weeks, ending the reign of oppressive summer temperatures. The monsoon generally reaches Kerala around June 1. Data for the years from 1901 to 2000 show the onset occurring as early as May 11 (in 1918) and as late as June 18 (in 1972). However, in about half those years the monsoon got in between May 28 and June 5. More importantly, the date of onset says little about how the monsoon will fare. Despite its early arrival, the 1918 monsoon ended in a severe drought. The monsoon of 1983, on the other hand, which sauntered in on June 13, went on to provide the country with ample rain.

Now that the monsoon has come, its progression northwards to cover the rest of the country could well occur in spurts, sometimes moving forward swiftly and at other times dawdling infuriatingly. In every monsoon, rains are not evenly spread either spatially or in time. Some places receive too much rain and get flooded while other parts of the country get too little. Active phases can be interspersed with periods when the rains weaken. Breaks in the monsoon, when large swathes of the country receive little or no rain for prolonged periods, are always worrying. What happens in the Pacific Ocean could have a considerable impact on how this year's monsoon fares. The below average temperatures that prevailed in the equatorial waters of that ocean, known as a La Niña and which is generally beneficial for the Indian monsoon, has dissipated. There is concern that an El Niño, with a warming of the equatorial Pacific that often leads to less rainfall over India, could emerge to take its place. In a recent speech, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee observed that a normal monsoon would help propel an economic recovery for the country. One hopes that this is the sort of monsoon we have this time.

The latest supplement to the five-year Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) (2009-14) announced by the Commerce Minister on Tuesday certainly does not lack ambition. Exports which rose 21 per cent to cross $300 billion at the end of last year are budgeted to touch $500 billion by April 2014, admittedly an extremely tough task during a period of macroeconomic stress in India and abroad. The medium-term goal is for India's share in global exports to double by 2020. These two objectives are predicated on an export performance scaling new heights consistently and well into the medium term. Reiterating the objectives of the FTP, the supplement focusses on spurring investment and job creation and hastening diversification of markets as well as products. The government would appear to have made considerable progress in realising the last objective: amid persistent slowdown in India's principal export markets, Europe and the U.S., Indian exporters — with help from the government — managed to tap newer markets in Latin America, Africa and the CIS countries with a variety of conventional and non-conventional merchandise exports. Until recently, India's exports appeared to buck the trend of declining world trade in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. However, recent performance has been modest, inevitably reflecting the sharp economic slowdown in India. Manufacturing, which has strong connections to exports and job creation, actually contracted during the fourth quarter of last year, dragging GDP growth down to a 32 quarter low of 5.3 per cent.

Of the seven key measures announced, two stand-out. The extension of the duty-free export promotion and credit guarantee (EPCG) scheme and the expanded interest subvention plan are noteworthy also because these two measures have large fiscal implications and have been included despite obvious budgetary constraints. The interest subvention had cost the exchequer Rs.996 crore in 2011-12. It is expected to go up by another Rs.200 crore, now that its coverage is being expanded. While generally welcoming the measures, exporters have pointed out that the FTP does not specifically address the high transaction costs and inadequate physical infrastructure that have been holding back India's international trade. Clearly, solutions to those require a coordinated approach by the government and the private sector and cannot be left to the Commerce Ministry alone. One point of justifiable criticism: the FTP supplement is overwhelmingly focussed on exports while remaining relatively silent on imports. With very few restrictions in place, a trend of declining non-oil imports, especially of capital goods and raw materials, is a sure sign of economic slowdown.

Krishna meets Chinese Vice Premier to discuss agenda for the next decade

External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna on Wednesday discussed the future of India's relations with China with the Chinese leader widely expected to become the country's next Premier, seeking closer economic ties with Beijing but also engaging with new challenges facing the relationship such as the South China Sea and the changing security situation in the Asia-Pacific. Mr. Krishna said he told Vice Premier Li Keqiang, who he described as a leader who is “going to assume greater responsibilities,” that India attached “the utmost importance and high priority” to its relations with China. “We discussed the bigger picture, and the vision that the Vice Premier has for the India-China relationship and what he believes to be the agenda for the next decade. So I think it was like a peep into the future.”

Mr. Li revealed for the first time that he had visited India when he was a member of the Communist Youth League, in 1985. “India is not the same as it was in 1985, so I am looking forward to his visit at a convenient time,” Mr. Krishna said. The External Affairs Minister, here to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, where India has been an observer since 2005, said he indicated India's desire to be a full-fledged member of the six-member security grouping. “It was indeed very heartening to hear from Vice Premier Li that the modalities of admitting new members is being worked out, the process is on,” he said. “We have moved in a more positive direction of finalising the modalities.” Among the modalities, Indian officials said, was agreeing on a third working language for the grouping, which now deals in Chinese and Russian.

Asked about comments made by a senior Chinese official who ruled out a timetable for granting membership and called on members to “work hard,” Mr. Krishna said, “We are working indeed very hard to comply with the modalities. We have shown our seriousness, otherwise nobody would be coming to attend these meetings since 2005. This is my third meeting as foreign minister of a huge county like India.” Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan, which was appointed an observer to the group on Wednesday, were, however, represented at the summit by their Presidents. Mr. Krishna, however, said that the “lot of strength” that India brought when it joined a grouping “will have to be evaluated.” Mr. Krishna said he courted Chinese investment in the “massive expansion of our infrastructure development,” and addressed Chinese concerns on perceptions that security threats were hindering the entry of Chinese companies. Mr. Krishna said India was “willing to create a level playing field and total transparency in terms of international bidding, evaluation and then ultimately decision-making.” He also stressed that trade had to be more balanced, with the deficit reaching a record $ 27 billion last year. When asked about Chinese concerns on the U.S. “pivot” to Asia – the visit of Defence Secretary Leon Panetta to New Delhi has been closely followed by the Chinese media – Mr. Krishna stressed that India had a stake in the Asia-Pacific. China has expressed concerns over India's cooperation with Vietnam in the disputed South China Sea. “India's position is very clear that these are all international waterways to increase trade among nations, and hence we will have to look at it from that angle,” he said. “We have to strengthen that angle. India is ready to do that with other countries so that trade relations will get a boost through these waterways.”

Shippers to be allowed to file single e-application

The Finance Ministry is set to unveil a new ‘single window' clearance system for exporters. The system will allow electronic filing of shipment details by exporters and will facilitate clearance of shipments for exports by various government departments. Similarly, importers will no longer have to seek the services of ‘consultants' to find out the effective tariff on their import consignments. These are some of the measures which the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) plans to introduce for trade facilitation. The measures were discussed during the two-day annual meeting of Chief Commissioners and Directors General of Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax, which concluded on Tuesday. A highly-placed official source toldBusiness Line, “Under the new system, the exporter will have to file a single application electronically. This will have all the parameters and will be accessed by all the ministries. All of them will give their replies on the same server. As soon as the custom authorities get all the ‘No Objections' online, the shipment will be cleared for export.”

At present, the exporter has to file different applications with various authorities for clearance. For example, if somebody is exporting a food item, he needs to knock on the doors of the Food ministry, followed by Food Processing, Health and some other departments to get ‘No objection' certificates. The single window system will remove all these hassles and cut transaction costs, the source claimed. However, he refused to give any time frame for the implementation of this scheme. Online tariff is another trade facilitation measure in the offing. Under this system, any exporter or importer just needs to fill in specifications and quantity online to get the effective rate of duty and the amount he has to pay. “However, this will be just a guidance and it will not have legal binding,” the source clarified. He explained that if the specifications are not the same at the time of shipment, then it will be difficult to accept the tariff guidance. The disclaimer is being added to avoid potential litigation, he said. He also disclosed that after successful implementation for customs, such a system will be introduced for excise also. According to the estimates of the Task Force on Transaction Cost in Exports, the transaction cost is approximately 7-10 per cent of the export value. This includes structural costs i.e. inland transportation and handling, ports and terminal handling etc. The Task Force made 44 recommendations, out of which 23 have been implemented, which have reduced transaction cost to the extent of Rs 2,100 crore in perpetuity, the source claimed.

Meet to focus on improving productivity to boost global farm output

India, which has a large number of small farming families, has decided to back the Mexican Government's move to focus on small farm holders issue at the G-20 Summit, sources said. The issue of boosting productivity in small family farms is likely to figure at the G20 leaders summit in Mexico later this month. Mexico, which is heading the G-20 Presidency is trying for a consensus on the need for specific initiatives that can help boost productivity with emphasis on small farm holders. Sources indicated that India will oppose any move on diverting foodgrains to produce fuel. “Our first priority is food,” a senior Government official said. The typical small farm holders suffer from yield gap owing to lack of access to technological inputs, investments and markets among others. As these small famers account for a large chunk of land holdings, especially in developing countries, it is important to focus on improving their productivity to boost global agriculture output.

Providing access to technology and funding to these farmers is seen as a big challenge considering their small holdings. In such a scenario, there is need to come up with innovative solutions like adopting a cluster approach among others to make such operations sustainable, sources said. In the run-up to the G-20 leaders meet, the Agriculture Deputy Ministers met recently and discussed the actions taken on containing food price volatility and the role that international trade can play in improving food security and output. The Ministers have called for an action plan to boost global food production through increased co-operation. Such action plan assumes significance as global population is set to exceed 9.3 billion by 2050 and the global agricultural output would have to increase by 50-70 per cent over the same period. In developing countries food production has to grow by about 100 per cent. They also felt the need to align the application and management of public policies to coordinate policy actions to ensure the population's right to food. This apart, food security, transfer of technology to improve output through increased international co-operation and promotion of investments in farm sector through public-private partnerships are other key issues that may find a mention at the summit's final declaration.

Provides one-third of India's total imports of 78.34 lt

Oman was India's biggest supplier of urea in 2011-12. The country provided around one-third of India's total imports of 78.34 lakh tonnes of the fertiliser during the year. The weighted average cost of India's urea imports in 2011-12 was $481.74 per tonne, which was up 47.1 per cent over the previous year. This translates into total urea imports of $3.77 billion. The supply from Oman remained around 24 lakh tonnes over the last two years. In 2010-11, China was the country's biggest urea supplier, accounting for nearly 38 per cent of total imports, according to a supplementary note tabled in the Lok Sabha. The country's urea imports rose 18.5 per cent during FY12 vis-à-vis the previous fiscal. Most of the imports from Oman were through India's long-term off-take agreement with Oman India Fertiliser Company, a joint venture between Oman Oil Company SAOC, IFFCO and Kribhco. Iran was our second-biggest supplier, followed by China. Iran accounted for 25.5 per cent of urea supply, while China provided another 16.3 per cent. The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) as a whole fulfilled 14.1 per cent of India's requirement of urea. The other countries that supplied urea to the country in 2011-12 were Russia and the former Soviet Union, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Indonesia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Lithuania, Vietnam, Romania the UAE and Malaysia. The CIS and Saudi Arabia have been the only consistent suppliers of urea to India since 2004-05. Oman commenced supplies in 2005-06 and China in the year after. While supply from Oman has gradually ramped up over the years and has been at the same level in the past three years, urea imports from China have been erratic, with an all-time high of 26.35 lakh tonnes in 2007-08. In the past, India has also sourced the fertiliser from Egypt, Latvia, Libya and Turkey.

9. Cabinet likely to take up PFRDA Bill today

For now, the government seems determined to carry out financial sector reforms, at least those on the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) Bill and the insurance Bill. The Cabinet, which had deferred the PFRDA Bill in December 2011, is likely to take it up tomorrow. Officials said the finance ministry had written to the Cabinet Secretariat, asking it to consider the insurance Bill again, this time with a fresh proposal to raise the cap on foreign direct investment (FDI) from 26 per cent to 49 per cent. However, no timeframe for this has been specified so far. Earlier, the Cabinet had deferred even a diluted version of the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, which sought to retain the FDI cap at 26 per cent. The developments are important, as financial sector reforms are considered the next driver of India's economic growth, which slipped to a nine-year low of 6.5 per cent in 2011-12.

The provisions of the draft PFRDA Bill, which seeks to give statutory powers to the interim pension regulator, are the same as those on the version the Cabinet had considered earlier. However, this time, the government may get some comfort from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which had sent a strong signal it would support the Bill in Parliament. Even in December, the BJP had indicated support for the Bill. However, it had insisted the finance ministry and the government respect a parliamentary standing committee's decision to specify an FDI cap in the legislation. In 2011, the Bill had proposed this power for the executive. The PFRDA Bill to be taken up by the Cabinet tomorrow would retain the FDI cap at 26 per cent. This was recommended by the standing committee, headed by former finance minister Yashwant Sinha, and the provision has been accepted by the government. However, there is a catch. The Bill is likely to link the FDI cap in the pension sector with that in the insurance sector. It states an FDI cap of 26 per cent and one in line with the insurance sector should be considered, and the higher of the two should be allowed. This means in the future, if the limit on FDI in the insurance sector is raised, it would also result in a similar rise in the FDI cap in the pension sector. In a recent Cabinet meeting, the insurance Bill, with the current FDI cap of 26 per cent, was deferred. Officials said Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee wanted the Bill to raise the FDI cap to 49 per cent. In December, the Trinamool Congress had opposed the PFRDA Bill. It had asked the government to guarantee minimum returns to those who invested in pension schemes. The finance ministry had said the Bill was likely to give an option to subscribers to invest their subscription in government securities, considered safer than equity markets. However, even government securities might be unable to provide assured minimum returns, as coupon rates on these are linked to prevailing interest rates, officials said. The concern of the Trinamool Congress that people's "hard earned money should not be subject to the vagaries of the market&" is, therefore, only partly addressed. However, the government is deriving comfort from the fact that with the BJP's support, the Parliament would pass the Bill. The PFRDA Bill is one of the three important financial sector reform Bills, the insurance Bill and the banking reforms Bill being the others. The banking Bill, which seeks to raise voting rights of shareholders in private sector banks from 10 per cent to 26 per cent, was approved by the Cabinet, though it is yet to be tabled in Parliament.

10. Land Bill needs a new 'public purpose'

The Parliamentary Committees recommendation to exclude PPP and private projects will sound the death knell for infra projects

Does the government – which is grappling with an already swollen fiscal deficit – have the capacity to pump in $1 trillion in the infrastructure sector at public expense in the next five years? At least that seems to be the suggestion of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development that has recommended the exclusion of all public-private partnership (PPP) and private infrastructure projects from the definition of “public purpose”. This proposed amendment to the Land Acquisition and Resettlement and Rehabilitation (LARR) Bill, 2011, would require private sector participants to acquire large tracts of land for infrastructure development by themselves. This will clearly be impossible. The Committee’s suggestion, if accepted, could sound the death knell for infrastructure projects in our country.

PPP is the primary mode of infrastructure development and the Planning Commission has estimated that the sector requires $1 trillion during 12th Five-Year Plan. Out of this at least 50 per cent has to come from the private sector against 36 per cent in 11th Plan. In the absence of any land acquisition by the government for PPP projects, the 12th Plan infrastructure target is most unlikely to be achieved. We welcome the Committee’s suggestion to make the definition of “public purpose” specific and not give it unlimited scope that is very often misused. But to leave out infrastructure projects developed on a PPP-basis or by the private sector from the scope of “public purpose” and consider only those projects being developed by the state is retrogressive. This will affect overall development, especially in backward areas. In the current situation, discriminating infrastructure projects on the basis of ownership is not a balanced approach since all these projects are built in the larger public interest. Since these projects require large tracts of land, they often get stuck owing to difficulties in acquiring marginal holdings. Hence, the definition of public purpose should include all infrastructure projects, large industrial zones like national manufacturing and investment zones (spread over 5,000 hectares), industrial corridors (like the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor) and industry or manufacturing for the limited purpose of facilitating acquisition of marginal holdings.

Not just acquisition, but even availability of land is going to be a major issue since the Committee has suggested restrictions on acquiring a variety of land areas. Earlier, the Bill had suggested that no irrigated multi-cropped land shall be acquired under the Act except as a last resort and that too only five per cent of the total irrigated multi-crop area in a district. Now, the Committee has gone a step ahead. First, it has suggested to replace “irrigated multi-cropped land” with “any land under agriculture cultivation” to ensure food security. This would effectively render 142 million hectares (or 43 per cent of the total land area of the country) out of the purview of acquisition for industry or infrastructure. Second, the Committee has also suggested that, as far as possible, there should be no alienation of land or any land acquisition in Scheduled Areas covered under Schedules V and VI of the Constitution. This issue needs to be re-examined since most of the fertile land falls in the Indo-Gangetic plains that encompasses areas of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal — the most densely populated regions of the country. Lack of land availability will further slow down the pace of job creation in industrial and manufacturing sectors in these provinces. And areas that are currently backward will remain in the same poor state. Therefore, it should be left to states to evaluate the need for usage of agricultural land for the overall and balanced economic development. The Committee has also recommended that states be allowed to have their own approach and we agree with this. The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) has said industry is willing to provide appropriate price and rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) to land owners and affected parties. In fact, we have demanded that land use changes should be notified much in advance, before the possession, so that land owners can get a better price since they would then be aware of the development that will be carried out on their land. This would help in taking the land price to its actual market value and enable a fair compensation for affected families. This would not only minimise problems arising out of the land acquisition process for industry, but also help in faster execution of projects.

The Bill allows the purchase of land for private purpose on a willing buyer, willing seller basis if a private company acquires land less than 100 acres in rural areas and 50 acres in urban areas. However, for acquisition above these levels, R&R provisions given in the Bill would apply. The argument given for the applicability of R&R provisions in private transactions is that there are many families, and not just land owners, whose livelihoods are dependent on the land and they need to be compensated for their loss of livelihood. This argument is fallacious since the root of the problem is lack of records of the affected people and this is the responsibility of the government, not the private sector. If records of the affected people are available, then any market transaction will be able to capture the cost associated with project affected families also. We think the way in which R&R provisions are designed in the Bill would only increase litigation and would hardly result in project completion. The Parliamentary Standing Committee has itself noted in its report that the government hardly gave any time to stakeholders to submit their views and to consider these. We only hope that such a Bill, which will stifle the growth of manufacturing and infrastructure in the country, is not passed by Parliament. If passed, it will be disastrous for employment generation.

11. The stickiness of bad policy    

  

Domestic policy reform is a better way to help exports. It would appear at first glance that the annual supplement to the Foreign Trade Policy of UPA-II does what is necessary to restore robust export growth. Ballooning oil prices and gold imports during 2011-12 combined to cause a current account deficit that had reached a worrying four per cent of gross domestic product; clearly, India’s exports needed a push. However, the agenda unveiled by Commerce Minister Anand Sharma quite comprehensively misses the point. There are several aspects to the approach that the ministry has taken to resolving the slowdown in India’s exports, which grew just 3.2 per cent year-on-year in April. Among them is the extension of the zero per cent import duty on capital goods meant for export production, as long as they are matched by a manifold increase in foreign exchange earnings. In addition, an interest subvention scheme – under which interest to exporters is reduced by two percentage points – has been extended by a year, and the scheme itself has been broadened to include readymade garments and toys. Naturally, exporters are happy, since they are being given tax breaks by the government. But that is not a useful indicator. The question is: given that such sector-specific concessions are notoriously sticky, causing interest groups to organise against their removal, are their benefits sufficient to justify their danger? After all, the rupee has crashed from Rs 43 to Rs 55 in the past year. Is a 28 per cent fall not a sufficient boost to competitiveness? Should the fiscally constrained Centre – pushing hard for tax revenue – assume that this is revenue it can easily forgo, given that the depreciation should produce a boost, anyway? According to estimates reported by this newspaper, it will cost the exchequer Rs 1,850 crore. Naturally, this does not include the indirect costs that accrue from those using the regulations to avoid legitimate excise and import duty. The loopholes allowing this to happen have not been closed; they have, in fact, been widened by allowing “scrips” earned through exports to not just offset customs duty but even excise on internal purchases of capital goods.

One major argument that is being made in favour of these specific exemptions is that exports are “special” because of the current account deficit. Yet the premier lesson of 1991 is that exports boom when domestic production is freed up and deregulated. There are no short cuts to that. Returning to attempts to prioritise foreign-exchange earners is woefully pre-liberalisation thinking. Another often-heard argument is that exports are labour-intensive, and employment must not suffer in this downturn. If that is the concern, then policy is even more incoherent than otherwise. If the labour composition of exports is what matters politically, why is the government subsidising capital intensity by waiving duty on capital goods for export production? Will that not artificially lower employment in the sector? In itself, promoting domestic industry substituting for imports is not a bad thing. However, it cannot be done through schemes that try and divert spending, but by allowing it to become relatively more productive. The best export promotion policy is domestic reform.

12.     Steel isn't green

Better regulation of the sector is needed. The environmental performance of the Indian iron and steel industry is poor, according to the latest indices released by the Green Rating Project of the Centre for Science and Environment. On a scale of 10 (the theoretical best), the global best practitioners score eight, while the Indian leaders score only two. The steel industry, if it chooses to ignore this index, will be an outlier. The paper industry, which is the only one to be rated twice, sharply improved its participation and performance the second time around. The report on the auto industry was followed by the industry changing outsourcing practices, which pushed polluting practices over the factory boundary wall. In the case of the chlor-alkali industry, in the post-report period the use of mercury has been almost phased out. Perhaps the best learner has been the cement industry, which has now almost matched global practices in energy use and greenhouse gas emission. Yet the signs of equivalent seriousness from the iron and steel industry are not promising: as many as eight of the top 21 units of the iron and steel industry covered under the project have not participated in the report exercise. It is fascinating who has done well and who has done poorly. The top three companies have worked against economic costs since, in the absence of having captive mines, their energy costs are higher. Thus, the driver for better environmental performance is economic. This is because better technologies exist, and those that have done well have been paying to use them. But since the regulatory compulsion to improve environmental performance is lacking, the non-performers have been making good profits in an uncaring manner. In the past, the more enlightened leaders of the cement industry have argued that if you do not make achieving environmental benchmarks mandatory, then the good guys will suffer. So what the government has to do is improve policy and regulatory performance. Particularly problematic in that respect is the fact that most state pollution control boards have been lax in their monitoring activity. The environmental clearance system has also to be improved to include road maps for achieving existing global benchmarks by using appropriate available technologies.

The company that has come out on top is Ispat Industries, Raigad. It is followed by Essar Steel, Hazira and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam, popularly known as Vizag Steel. Tata Steel, in spite of its considerable reputation for social consciousness, has been rated fifth. Most of the giant plants of Steel Authority of India Limited did not cooperate with the report; the exception was Rourkela Steel Plant. In spite of that, the report managed to cover companies that account for 68 per cent of the industry’s installed capacity and production at specific plants. The specific aspects looked into are iron and steel making, raw material handling, resource use (water, specific energy and land), pollution and environment management systems. The report has focused on performance, taking care to be technology-agnostic and comparing only like for like. In iron making, Essar Steel leads; in steel making, it is JSW Steel; and in overall performance, it is Vizag Steel