India's concern at WTO

New Trade Facilitation Deal signed by WTO

The WTO Ministerial Conference (which is the highest decision making body) met at Bali, Indonesia last year to finalize the trade facilitation agreement. The agreement seeks to make trade hassle free and cost efficient. The main concerns that the agreement tries to bring about in world market: clear penal conditions, low paper work, less delays in clearances, low non-tariff barriers among other things. Also, the Services’ Agreement aims at opening services sector for more open competition.

The agreement aims at improving co-operation among member nations to bring down impediments on customs side.

Other Negotiations:

Earlier, the Doha negotiations are still to take final form. Already the deadline date (2005) has been crossed. These negotiations deals with: issues of intellectual property rights, reducing non-tariff barriers (concern raised by developed countries), capacity building and helping the developing and LDCs countries to integrate with world trade.

India at Bali

The main concern of India at Bali was to ensure that the Agreement of Agriculture (1995) that puts a cap on subsidies on public distribution, does not curtail the PDS and NFSA schemes. Also, India along with G-33 countries is pushing for updating the reference prices for food grains that were set in 1986-88 (in the wake of growing food inflation). The US and the EU have opposed such moves and the Bali Ministerial Conference ended with granting two years’ reprieve (i.e. peace-clause) for the developing countries with issues related to subsidy.

Once the final deal is struck down, such schemes along with Intellectual Property laws (especially in pharma sector) may need a revamp of existing structures to meet the WTO obligations.

From AOA (pdf available on the WTO website):

Article 18 (4):
In the review process Members shall give due consideration to the influence of excessive rates of inflation on the ability of any Member to abide by its domestic support commitments.

The bold part of the sentence is what India is trying to bring about at WTO table and the members are reluctant to give LDCs the opportunity to revise the base prices as it will affect their farmers and their farmer lobby wont like it.

The Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act

• Replaces the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.
• The provisions of this Bill shall not apply to 16 existing legislation that provide for land acquisition. viz: The Atomic Energy Act, 1962, The National Highways Act, 1956, SEZ Act, 2005, Land Acquisition (Mines) Act, 1885, The Railways Act, 1989.
• The provisions of the Bill relating to land acquisition, rehabilitation and resettlement shall be applicable in cases when the appropriate government acquires land, (a) for its own use and control, (b) to transfer it for the use of private companies for public purpose, and (c) on the request of private companies for immediate use for public purpose. 
• If private companies acquire more than 100 acres of land in rural and more than 50 acres of land in urban areas R&R package to be provided.
• Public Purpose: Land acquired for (a) strategic defense purposes & national security, (b) roads, railways, highways, and ports, built by government or public sector enterprises (c) planned development, and (e) residential purposes for the poor and landless. 
• Public purpose includes other government projects which benefit the public as well as provision of public goods and services by private companies or public private partnerships; these require the consent of 80 % of project affected people. Affected families include those whose livelihood may be affected due to the acquisition, and includes landless labourers and artisans.

A maximum of five per cent of irrigated multi-cropped land may be acquired in a district, with certain conditions. 

Every acquisition requires a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) by an independent body followed by a preliminary notification and a final award by the District Collector. 

In the case of urgency, the Bill proposes that the appropriate government shall acquire the land after 30

days from the date of the issue of the notification (without SIA). This clause may be used only for defense, national security, and conditions arising out of a national calamity. 

The compensation for the land acquired shall based on the higher of (a) the minimum land value, specified in the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 for the registration of sale deeds; and (b) the average sale price of the higher priced 50% of all sale deeds registered in the previous 3 years for similar type of land situated in the vicinity. This amount is further doubled in case of rural areas. The value of the assets (trees, plants, buildings etc) attached to the land being acquired will be added to this amount. This total amount will then be multiplied by two to get the final compensation amount; in case of the urgency clause, this multiplication factor will be 2.75.

The Bill proposes the following authorities;

Administrator; Commissioner for Rehabilitation and Resettlement; Rehabilitation and Resettlement Committee (for acquisition of 100 acres or more of land); National Monitoring Committee for Rehabilitation and Resettlement; and Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Authority (which shall adjudicate all

disputes, with appeal to the High Court).

If an acquired land which is transferred to a person for a consideration, is left unutilised for a period of 10 years from the date it was acquired, it shall be returned to the Land Bank or the appropriate government.

The Bill proposes that in cases where the ownership of an acquired land is sold to any person, without any

development made, 20 per cent of the profit made shall be shared among all the persons from whom the land was acquired.

Source: PRSINDIA 

Food Security

The Nation Food Security Act seeks to:

• Provide legal guarantee to 75% rural and 50% urban population to 5Kgs of food grain per month at Rs. 3, Rs. 2 and Re. 1 for rice, wheat and coarse grain respectively.
• Provide for he nutritional needs of pregnant and lactating women (maternity benefit of atleast Rs. 6,000 for six months).
• Make the eldest woman (above the age of 18 years) head of a household for the issue of the ration cards.
• Social audit and vigilance committee to ensure accountability, transparency and quick redressal of grievances. 

PDS is most states is not functioning efficiently. There is 45-55% of leakage of food grains and intended beneficiaries are left out.

NFSA seeks to seal leakages in food delivery system through technological and administrative interventions such as Aadhar cards and setting up new accountability, transparency and grievance redressal system.

For the implementation of the Act, nearly 60 million tonnes of food grains will be required. The infrastrucural weakness of FCI is a concern area.

Also, the rising food prices are bound to bring economic pressure on the government while implementing the Act.

Declining productivity, land and water degradation, rising petroleum prices, climate changes are some of the supply side constraints.

Areas that need to be addressed: raising agricultural investment, R&D, human capital, roads, market, storage, processing, organic farming

Source: Kurukshetra magazine

Decade of Innovation: 2010-20

What is NInC?

The National Innovation Council (NInC) under the Chairmanship of Mr. Sam Pitroda, Adviser to the PM on PIII to discuss, was set up to analyse and help implement strategies for inclusive innovation in India and prepare a Roadmap for Innovation 2010-2020.


Innovation is seen as a way forward in the direction of giving novel solutions to our problems. Innovation can helps in creating scalable, affordable, sustainable products that can then help in poverty alleviation, rural communication, improving public health facilities etc. It is being seen as a way of evolving sustainable and cost effective solutions.

NInC will seek to create a Roadmap for Innovations for the next decade by focusing on five key parameters: Platform; Inclusion; Eco-system; Drivers and Discourse.

Source: NInC website

What is DIF?

The 13th Finance Commission has made grants of Rs. 1 crore to each district (District Innovation Funds) for carrying out Innovation

What is Nation Knowledge Commission?

The NKN is a state-of-the-art multi-gigabit pan-India network for providing a unified high speed network backbone for all knowledge related institutions in the country. The purpose of such a knowledge network goes to the very core of the country's quest for building quality institutions with requisite research facilities and creating a pool of highly trained professionals. The NKN will enable scientists, researchers and students from different backgrounds and diverse geographies to work closely for advancing human development in critical and emerging areas.