JANUARY 26, 2016

INDIAREPUBLIC DAY

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3REPUBLIC DAYINDIA

India is celebrating its 67th Republic Day on

26 January, 2016. It was on this historic day

66 years ago that the Constitution of a newly

independent India, which was adopted by the

Constituent Assembly on 26 November, 1949, came

into force. The Constitution enshrines the same

ideals and aspirations that guided India’s peaceful

freedom movement in which millions of Indians

participated under the most inspirational leader-

ship of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi.

The people of India resolved to constitute

India into a Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic

Republic and to secure to all its citizens: Justice -

social, economic and political; Liberty of thought,

expression, belief, faith and worship; and Equal-

ity of status and of opportunity; and to promote

among them all Fraternity, assuring the dignity

of the individual and the unity and integrity of

the Nation.

My family and colleagues join me in convey-

ing our warmest greetings and best wishes to all

fellow Indians in the State of Qatar on India’s 6th

Republic Day. As a special gesture, Government of

India has planned the visit of a ship of the Indian

Coast Guard, lCGS SANKALP to Doha from 24- 28

January, 2016 to participate in the celebrations

of our Republic Day in Qatar. We are grateful for

the support and cooperation of the Government

of Qatar in arranging this visit on this highly sig-

nificant and special occasion.

India, a country of over 1.2 billion people, the

world’s largest democracy and the third largest

economy on purchasing power parity terms, is

on a cusp of history. The Government led by Shri

Narendra Modi, Hon’ble Prime Minister of India has

launched major new initiatives and taken several

measures to re-energize the Indian economy and

make India a preferred destination and partner

for business and tourism. Prime Minister’s vision-

ary initiatives such as the launch of ‘Make in India’

campaign on 25 September, 2014, inviting busi-

nessmen from other countries to collaborate with

Indian enterprises, and ‘Swachh Bharat’ (Clean

India) campaign on the 145th birth anniversary

of Mahatma Gandhi on 2 October, 2014; ‘Digital

India’ and ‘Smart Cities’ missions; and Startup

India initiative to encourage and incentivize entre-

preneurship, launched on 16 January, 2016, are

inspiring Indians and India’s global diaspora, and

enhancing the attractiveness of India for business-

men, investors and tourists from around the world.

On this joyous celebration of our Republic

Day in Qatar, let us also celebrate the deep-rooted

friendly ties between India and Qatar, and renew

our sincere thanks to His Highness Sheikh Tamim

bin Hamad AI Thani, the Emir of Qatar; His High-

ness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa AI Thani, the Father

Emir; His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad

AI Thani, the Deputy Emir; His Excellency Sheikh

Abdullah Bin Nasser bin Khalifa AI Thani, Prime Min-

ister and Minister of Interior; and the Government

and people of Qatar for nurturing the time-tested

friendship and multi-faceted partnership between

our two great countries, and for their hospitality

to the large: diverse, accomplished and highly

regarded Indian community in Qatar. The State

Visit of His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad AI

Thani, the Emir of Qatar to India on 24-25 March,

2015 at the invitation of Hon’ble President Shri

Pranab Mukherjee, has imparted fresh momen-

tum to our bilateral ties.

The visit was highly significant in many ways.

This was HH the Emir’s first visit to India, a country

with whom Qatar’s relations are steeped in history.

This was also the first visit of the Head of State of

an Arab country after India’s current Government

led by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi

assumed office in May, 2014.

The most important dimension of any official

visit between two nations is the personal chem-

istry between the leaders. HH the Emir and the

Indian leadership struck an instant and excellent

rapport, reflecting the strong ties, nurtured by

cultural affinities, people to people contacts and

trade and commerce between the two countries

through centuries. At all the meetings and events,

there was a pervasive atmosphere of friendship,

trust and shared keenness to work together for

greater progress and prosperity of the people of

both countries.

During the visit of HH the Emir, the two sides

discussed ways and means to build a forward-

looking partnership by further broadening and

deepening the bilateral engagement and by better

leveraging the existing complementarities between

the two countries in key areas of mutual interest

including inter alia, energy, power, petrochemi-

cals, investments, infrastructure, development:

project exports, education, culture, health, human

resource, media and information technology. Six

Agreements/MOUs were signed during the visit.

As recently as on 2 November, 2015, HH the

Emir and Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra

Modi reviewed bilateral cooperation during their

phone conversation. HH the Emir renewed his invi-

tation to Prime Minister Modi who conveyed his

thanks and reiterated his keenness to visit Qatar

on mutually convenient dates.

There have also been other high level contacts

between the two countries during this period.

External Affairs Minister Smt. Sushma Swaraj and

Dr. Khalid bin Mohammad AI Attiyah, Minister of

Foreign Affairs of Qatar co-chaired the India-GCC

Ministerial meeting on the sidelines of the 70th

UNGA in New York on 30 September 2015. Law

and Justice Minister Shri D.V. Sadananda Gowda

met with his Qatari counterpart during his visit to

Doha as tile leader of the Indian delegation to the

13th United Nations Congress on Crime Preven-

tion and Criminal Justice in April, 2015. Minister of

State (Independent Charge) for Petroleum & Nat-

ural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan had a fruitful

visit to Doha on 8-10 November 2015, leading a

high level delegation to the 6th Asian Ministerial

Energy Roundtable. Qatar’s Minister of Transport

and Commander of Qatar Emiri Air Force visited

Aero India Exhibition at Bengaluru in February,

2015. Earlier that month, India’s National Secu-

rity Advisor visited Doha.

The Government and people of India greatly

admire the strides being made by Qatar in educa-

tion and research; infrastructure; business, finance

and investments; sports; travel and tourism; and

other areas, and are keen to expand collaborations

to the mutual benefit of both sides. Besides official

interactions, people-to-people contacts and ini-

tiatives by private sector are energising dialogue

and cooperation in various sectors.

With its huge and growing energy needs,

India greatly values Qatar’s vital partnership in

the energy sector. Qatar is the largest supplier

of LNG to India. There is a large and expanding

market for Qatar’s LNG, oil and petrochemical sec-

tors in India.

Indian companies are pursuing collabo-

rations in infrastructure, communications and

information technology, energy and other areas

in Qatar, to the mutual benefit of both sides. The

extensive infrastructural development in Qatar

as it prepares to host the prestigious FIFA World

Cup in 2022, and the world class competences

and competitiveness of India’s corporate sec-

tor, offer attractive opportunities to both sides.

The huge potential for significantly increasing

Qatar’s investment in India, especially in view of

the new initiatives of Prime Minister Shri Naren-

dra Modi’s Government also presents a win-win

situation for both countries.

Both sides have been taking active steps to fur-

ther expand economic and commercial partnership,

with several positive developments. Petronet of

India and RasGas of Qatar signed a Sale Purchase

Agreement (SPA) for additional annual supply of

one million metric tonnes of LNG by RasGas in New

Delhi on 31 December, 2015. The composition of

India- Qatar Business Forum has been finalized. A

multi-sectoral delegation from the Confederation

of Indian Industry (CII) led by CII’s President-des-

ignate visited Doha on 20-21 October, 2015. Qatar

Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Embassy

of India are organising an event to promote the

participation of Qatari businessmen and investors

at the ‘Make in India’ Week in Mumbai from 13-18

February, 2016. We are also looking forward to

high level participation from Qatar at the Indian

Investment Summit in New Delhi on 4-5 February,

2016. The largest ever (65) number of Indian com-

panies participated in ‘Project Qatar’ Exhibition in

May, 2015. Doha Bank’s full fledged branch in Mum-

bai was inaugurated in April, 2015. Qatar Airways

started its flight to Nagpur on 1 December 2015;

Nagpur is the 13th destination in India for regular

Qatar Airways flights from Doha. This is an illustra-

tive and not an exhaustive list.

Both sides took further steps to strengthen

defence cooperation. As a follow up of the 4th

Joint Defence Cooperation Committee (JDCC) held

in New Delhi in January, 2015, a team from Joaan

bin Jassim Command and Staff College visited India

in April, 2015. Two warships of Indian Navy’s West-

ern Fleet, INS Delhi and INS Trishul, paid a goodwill

visit to Doha from 14-17 September 2015. The vis-

iting officials had fruitful discussions with senior

defence officials of Qatar. A high level delegation

led by the Commander of the Qatar Emiri Naval

Force will be participating in the International Fleet

Review scheduled to be held at Vishakhapatnam

from 4- 8 February, 2016.

As we celebrate our 67th Republic Day, I warmly

congratulate the Indian community in Qatar for all

that they do for the development and progress

of their host country, and for further strength-

ening the bonds of friendship and cooperation

between India and Qatar.

Sanjiv Arora

Ambassador of India to the State of Qatar

CHAIRMANSheikh Thani bin Abdullah Al Thani

CEOAbdul Latif Al Mahmoud

ACTING EDITOR-IN-CHIEFDr Khalid Al-Shafi

Sanjiv AroraAmbassador of India to the State of Qatar

ACTING MANAGING EDITORHussain Ahmad

ADVERTISING MANAGERAli Wahba

SUPPLEMENT EDITORMohammed Salim Mohammed

DESIGNAbraham Augusthy

PRODUCTIONViswanath Sarma

SUPPLEMENT COORDINATORRenu Malhotra

ADVERTISING CONTRIBUTORSMuhammad Shammas

Moinuddin Pasha

Reji Thattil

Rocela Molina

Savio Fernandes

SP Singh

IMAGE PROCESSINGMuhammad Sahir

TYPESETTINGDeepak John

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WITH an income tax holiday for three years and exemption from capital gains levies on venture capital investments, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the “Start-Up India Action Plan” in New

Delhi recently with an enabling eco-system to promote and nurse entrepreneurship.

A host of incentives unveiled by him for start-ups also included self-certification and a three-year exemption from inspections, an online portal and mobile app, an 80 percent cut in the patent application fee and a single-point hub for hand-holding.

At an event at Vigyan Bhavan conference complex to launch the “Start-Up India Action Plan”, the Prime Minister also announced a Rs10,000-crore fund for new enter-prises, equal opportunity in government procurement, a Rs500-crore credit guarantee scheme and easier exit norms. The list of incentives also included 35 new incu-bators under the public-private partnership mode, 31 new innovation centres at national institutes, seven new research parks, five bio-clusters and a mission with sector-specific incubators, labs, pre-incubation training and seed money.

“We want to ensure that we interfere as little as possible with the start-ups. For that, we have introduced self-certi-fication. No inspection for three years,” the Prime Minister told the event to repeated applause from Who’s Who of India’s start-up and Silicon Valley ecosystems.

He also said his government intended to club all related legislation involving start-ups and took a dig at the oppo-sition in this regard. “You all know, where it is stuck. You must must use the internet and tell them so that important matters can be cleared in parliament.”

The Prime Minister also said the difference that people

will find today with governance in India was that on a Sat-urday, when it is an official day off, with no question of any activity after 6pm, such a grand event as today’s was taking place. The Prime Minister said he wanted the youth today to transform themselves from job seekers to job givers. “I see that energy in this hall. It reflects the enthusiasm that lies in the hearts of our youth across the country,” he said, adding he wanted start-ups to also look beyond IT.

During the day-long event, several interactive sessions were held with stakeholders, ministers and mandarins on topics ranging from innovation and funding to promoting women entrepreneurs and mentoring.

“Today, it’s been a fascinating experience,” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in his address, referring to the day-long interactions. “Not only does it mark a change in the social profile of India, but a change in the mindsets of

Modi unveils Start-Up India Action PlanHIGHLIGHTS

Following are major policy highlights of Start-ups Action Plan Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled in New Delhi while launching the

ambitious ‘Start-up India’ campaign to boost digital entrepreneurship at the grass-root level:• Income Tax exemption for first three years• Tax exemption on capital gains• No inspection of start-ups for three years on labour and environment law compliance post-self certification.• Compliance regime based on self-certification • Single point of contact for Start-up India hub as friend, mentor and guide • Corpus of Rs.10,000 crore through Fund of Funds, Initial corpus: Rs2,500 crore • Faster exit through a new insolvency and bankruptcy laws to wind up a start-up in three months (90 days) • Mobile app will be launched on April 1 to register start-ups in a day • Portal for clearances, approvals and registrations • Atal Innovation Mission for impetus to innovation and encourage talent, sector-specific incubators, 500 tinkering labs, pre-incubation training and seed fund for high-growth • Norms to be relaxed for public procurements. No requirement of turnover or experience, but no relaxation of quality • Faster patent registration and protection for IPRs • Fast-track mechanism for start-up patent applications • Panel of legal facilitators for start-ups to file IPRs on patents, designs, trade marks • 80 percent rebate on filing of patent applications • Public-private partnership (PPP) model for 35 new incubators, 31 innovation centres at national institutes, seven research parks and five bio-clusters • Innovation core programmes for 10 lakh students in five lakh schools across the country. • National and international start-up festivals to provide visibility • Annual incubator grand challenge to create world class incubators • Credit guarantee fund for start-ups.

A host of incentives unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi

for start-ups also included self-certification and a three-year

exemption from inspections, an online portal and mobile app,

an 80 percent cut in the patent application fee and a single-point hub for

hand-holding.

Indians,” Jaitley added.He also said the government will ensure that it will only

be a facilitator for start-ups. “Our only subsequent relation with start-ups will be when they pay their taxes in the year-end and continue to grow.”

Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sithara-man also spoke on similar lines and said discussions were evocative on what start-ups can do for India, if alone the government can understand them. “Start-ups have spoken loud and clear, and we have heard the message.”

Those who spoke at the final session included SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son, GreyOrange’s Samay Kohli, LimeRoad’s Suchi Mukherjee, InMobi’s Naveen Tewari, Ocimum’s Anuradha Acharya, Practo’s Shashank N D, WeWork’s Adam Neu-mann, PaperBoat’s Neeraj Kakkar and Oyo’s Ritesh Agarwal.

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There has been a 21% growth in delivery of citizen

services. More than 1.2 crore passport services deliv-

ered to citizens in India and abroad. An increase of

21% compared to 2014 and 41% compared to 2013.

• 18.66% rise in applications received in India

• 6.33 crore Indians held valid Passport on December

31, 2015 (up from 5.70 crore in 2014 and 5.19 crore in 2013)

• 1.14+ crore new passport holders added during

the years 2014-15

IN NUMBERS

• 1-7: Appointment availability days across India

• 87% Tatkal Passports issued within 3 days

• 5% Tatkal category applications (Down from 8% in 2013)

• 68% Normal Passports issued within 30 days including

PV (up from 46% in 2014)

• 34 Days Average Police Verification time (Down from

49 days in 2013)

• 61% PVRs completed within 21 days (Up from 47% in

2014 & 37% in 2013)

• 71/29: First time / Reissue applicants

• 68/32: Male/Female applicants

• 18% Students applicants

• 30 Years Average age of Passport applicant

• 1 Day: Youngest applicant

• 115 Years: Oldest applicant

• 50,000+ citizens serviced per day within India

• 17: Language Call Centre

• 20,000+ Calls per day

• 2+ crore hits per day on Passport Seva Portal • 1+ lakh

SMSs sent per day

• 13.7+ lakh Mobile app. downloads till December, 31 2015

• 15,000+ Mobile app. hits per day

EXTENDING REACH TO CITIZENS

• Total number of Passport Seva Kendras : 85 (Up from 77)

• PSKs commenced operations in Agartala, Aizawl, Imphal,

Kalaburagi, Shillong, Darbhanga, Gangtok & Karimnagar

• PSKs in Dimapur and Itanagar to commence operations

in January 2016

• 397 Passport Melas on holidays. 2.5+ lakh applications proc-

essed during extended hours

• 124 Passport Seva Camps held at remote locations process-

ing 51,000 applications

• Passport Seva Mitra: 4-8 weeks Internship scheme

launched for Graduate Students to enable them to expe-

rience the benefit of e-Governance.

• 1.2 lakh applications submitted online at Common Serv-

ice Centres (CSCs)

GEOGRAPHICALLY (Figures in Lakh)

• Uttar Pradesh creates history. Emerges as the No.1 state

for the first time in terms of Passport Services (13.37)

• For the first time 4 states become Passport millionaire

states; Uttar Pradesh(13.37), Maharashtra(11.87), Ker-

ala(11.44), Tamil Nadu(10.08)

• 5 States with more than 5 lakh Passport Services; Gujarat

(7.47), Punjab (7.15), Karnataka (6.37), West Bengal (5.86),

Telangana (5.38)

• Telangana, Meghalaya, Assam, UP, Manipur and Tripura

saw a maximum growth (35%-63%) in Passport appli-

cation. National growth rate – 18.66%

• 6 RPOs with more than 5 lakh Passport Services; Luc-

know (9.48), Hyderabad (7.60), Bangalore (6.33), Kolkata

(6.13), Ahmedabad (5.66), Delhi (5.06)

• Missions/Posts in the UAE (2.5+) and Saudi Arabia ( 1.5+)

issued maximum number of Passports abroad

POLICE VERIFICATION

• 87.02+ lakh Police Verification Reports (PVR) submit-

ted. An increase of 22.5% over 2014 • 32.23% reduction

in Police Verification Pendency

• All India average Police Verification time reduced to 34

days (Down from 49 days in 2013)

• 61% Police Verification Reports completed within desired

timeframe of 21 days (Up from 47% in 2014 & 37% in 2013)

• 95% Police Districts follow Online model of verification.

• 156 Districts moved online in 2015. 683 of 731 Police Dis-

tricts are now online integrated with Passport Seva System.

MAXIMUM GOVERNANCE

• Acceptance of Birth Certificate in respect of abandoned/

orphaned children liberalised for providing passport services

• Liberalisation of the requirement of NOC by Govt. offi-

cials for passport applications

• Acceptance of registered rent agreement as proof of address

• Acceptance of self-attested documents

• Acceptance of Photo passbooks issued by Scheduled

Private Sector Indian Banks and Regional Rural Banks

• Online Integration with UIDAI for e-authentication of

Aadhaar

Passport Seva: A year of smart citizen service delivery

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Events organised by the Indian Embassy in Qatar

KATHAK (August 4-7):

A Kathak dance group led by Prachee Shah visited Doha from August 4-7, 2015. The other members of the delegation included Ganesh Hiralal (harmonium player & padhant),

Sraboni Chaudhuri (singer), Farooque Abdul Lateef Khan (sarangi player) and Umesh Hasal (tabla player).

Embassy of India organised two performances during this short visit as part of celebration of 69thIndependence Day of India. The first performance was held at Drama

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Group, accompanied by a team of senior executives, visited Doha on August 30, 2015. Ambani’s visit underlined Reliance Group’s keen interest to play a larger role in the growing economic partnership between India and Qatar. After meeting Ambassador Sanjiv Arora, the Reliance Group Chairman called on H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Inte-rior; H E Ali Shareef Al Emadi, Minister of Finance; H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Thani, CEO of Qatar Investment Authority (QIA); H E Sheikh Abdul-lah bin Saoud Al Thani, Governor of Qatar Central Bank; and H E Saad Sherida Al Kaabi, President & CEO, Qatar Petroleum (QP).

Ambani also met with a number of top Qatari busi-nessmen and investors at an interaction hosted by Dr R Seetharaman, Group CEO, Doha Bank, and his team at which Akbar Al Baker, Group CEO, Qatar Airways, was the guest of honour. The Ambassador participated in Ambani’s meetings with Qatari dignitaries as well as his interaction with businessmen. At his meetings, Ambani highlighted the operations of Reliance Group in diverse sectors and discussed possible areas of interest for expanding business cooperation with Qatar to the mutual benefit of both sides.

The Prime Minister and Minister of Interior and other dignitaries, and Qatari businessmen deeply appreciated the distinctive strengths and achievements of various companies of the Reliance Group. They emphasised that there was vast potential to further expand business collab-orations between India and Qatar in mutually identified sectors, and welcomed Reliance Group’s keenness to contribute more significantly to this process. Ambani conveyed his sincere thanks for the warm welcome and

the cordial and productive discussions at his meetings. Reliance Group, including Reliance Communications,

Reliance Capital, Reliance Infrastructure, and Reliance Power, is among India›s top five business houses and has

the world’s largest shareholder/investor base of over 13 mil-lion. Reliance Group has assets in excess of $43bn; annual revenues of the order of $9bn; Net Worth of over $16bn; and over 1,00,000 employees.

VISIT OF ANIL DHIRUBHAI AMBANI, CHAIRMAN, RELIANCE GROUP (AUGUST 30)

Theatre in Katara — Cultural Foundation Village, a highly prestigious and well-known institution for promotion of art and culture of different nationalities.

Minister of Justice H E Dr Hassan Lahdan Al Mohannadi was the chief guest at the first performance at Katara. The event was also attended by Ambassador Ibrahim Yousif Abdullah Fakhroo, Director, Department of Protocol, Min-istry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti, General Manager of Katara, other Qatari dignitar-ies, ambassadors and diplomats from other countries. At the end of the performance, the Minister of Justice, Katara General Manager and the Ambassador felicitated Prachee Shah and other artistes for the exhilarating performance.

The second performance of the Kathak group took place in the large auditorium of Birla Public School. The event was organised by the Embassy in cooperation with Indian Cultural Centre (ICC), an apex organization working under the aegis of the Embassy of India, and Birla Public School. The event was attended by a large and broad-based gath-ering of Indian nationals including representatives of apex associations of Indian community and nearly 100 socio-cultural organisations affiliated to ICC. The performances received prominent and extensive coverage in the Arabic, English, local community (mostly in Malayalam) media.

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The two warships of Indian Navy’s Western Fleet — INS Delhi and INS Trishul — paid a goodwill visit to Doha (Qatar) from September 14-17, 2015. Senior officials of the Qatar Armed Forces and Qatar Emiri Navy held deliberations with the officials of the two ships. The visit of the ships underscored the excel-lent relations between the two countries while reaffirming the centuries old relations with all the countries in the Gulf region.

On September 15, 2015 a aeception was hosted jointly by Ambassador Sanjiv Arora and the Commanding Officers (COs) of INS Delhi and INS Trishul, onboard INS Delhi at Doha which was attended by Qatari dignitaries and officials, Heads of Mission and Defence Attaches, representatives of the Indian commu-nity and other invitees.

Deputy Commander of Qatar Emiri Naval Forces Staff Major

VISIT OF TWO WARSHIPS OF INDIAN NAVY’S WESTERN FLEET, INS DELHI AND INS TRISHUL (SEPTEMBER 14-17, 2015)

General Ibrahim Saad Al Kubaisi was the chief guest. Dur-ing the visit, the COs had very useful discussions with H E Major General Abdullah Jumaan Al Hamad, Assistant Minister of State for Defence Affairs, Coordination and Follow Up at General Headquarters of the Qatar Armed

Forces, Brigadier (Navy) Khalid Al Ruwaili, Deputy Com-mander of the Flotilla, QENF and Brigadier (Navy) Tariq Al Obaidly, Director of Education and Courses, QENF. Embassy officials and their families and students from Indian schools visited the ship on September 16.

Indian Cultural Centre (ICC), functioning under the aegis of Embassy, with the support and cooperation of Embassy of India, organised a function to celebrate Gandhi Jayanti on October 2, 2015 in Doha. In his address, Ambassador highlighted the most inspirational life and leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. He also spoke of Swachch Bharat campaign launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister on October 2 last year. A slide show on the life of Gandhiji was displayed during the event, which was followed by singing of Bhajans and patriotic songs by children of local Indian schools as well as performance by cultural organisations. The function was attended by a large and broad-based gathering of Indian nationals.

GANDHI JAYANTI CELEBRATIONS (OCTOBER 2, 2015)

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FATH AL KHAIR CULTURAL VOYAGE (OCTOBER 5)

The second edition of Fath Al Khair (Fath Al Khair 2), a cultural voyage to trace the Pearl trade route that existed between Arab world and India in the past, was flagged off at the beach of Katara in Doha on October 5 on a his-toric 44-day voyage to the Indian port of Mumbai with a 30-member team of sailors.

The flag-off ceremony was attended by H E Dr Mohamed bin Saleh Al Sada, Minister for Energy and Industry of Qatar, Ambassador Sanjiv Arora, Ambassadors along with other dignitaries including Katara General Manager Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti, and a large gathering of public, mostly Qataris.

‘Fath Al Khair 2’ Dhow reached Mumbai on October 24 and was received by Maharashtra Governor Vidyasa-gar Rao alongwith Qatar’s Ambassador to India, Ahmed Ibrahim Al Abdullah; Qatar’s Consul General in Mumbai, Hamad bin Mohamed Al Dosari; and Katara General Man-ager Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti. A number of other dignitaries, officials, and members of Diplomatic Corps were also present. The Maharashtra Governor lauded the strong historical ties between India and Qatar developing significantly at all levels and added that ‘Fath Al Khair 2’ voyage to India was a culmination of strong and friendly

relations between the two countries. Following a week long stay in India, Fath Al Khair 2 Dhow left Mumbai for Oman on October 31. The crew of Fath Al Khair 2 was given

a farewell by Qatar’s CG Al Dosari and members of Qatari Mission in India. The shipmaster, Hasan Essa Al Kaabi, said the ‘voyage to India was very constructive’.

VISIT OF CII DELEGATION (OCTOBER 20-21)

A seven-member CEO delegation from CII led by Dr Naushad Forbes, President-des-ignate, CII, and Director, Forbes Marshall visited Doha on October 20-21 which included CEOs and other senior representatives of companies operating in a wide range of sectors. The Embassy arranged a substantive programme for the CII Mission, including interactive sessions at Qatar Chamber of Commerce & Industry (QCCI) and with Indian Businessmen Professional Network (IBPN), both of which were addressed by Ambassador and Dr Forbes; and meetings with senior officials of Ministry of Economy & Commerce and Abdulaziz bin Nasser Al Khalifa, CEO of Qatar Development Bank (QDB). Ambassador also arranged Dr. Forbes’ meeting with Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani, Chairman of Qatari Businessmen Association (QBA) and Head of Al Faisal Holdings and a prominent member of the royal family and a business tycoon with interests in diverse sector. Sheikh Faisal graciously received Ambassador and Dr. Forbes and conveyed keen interest in investing in India. He invited Indian companies to partner with local companies and utilise the vast business opportunities in Qatar to their mutual benefit. Dr Naushad Forbes also addressed a Ple-nary Session of the World Export Development Forum 2015 on October 20.

INDIAN DELEGATION PARTICIPATES IN WRO (NOVEMBER 6-8)

Ambassador Sanjic Arora, accompanied by a three-member delegation from India, Arvind Manjit Singh, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Culture; Samarendra Kumar, Director (Hqrs), National Council of Science Museums, Kolkata; and Sudhanshu Sharma, Founder Director of India STEM Foundation, attended the opening and closing ceremony of World Robotics Olympiad (WRO) held in Doha from November 6-8, 2015. They met all the stu-dents from India (nearly 70) who participated in this global event. As India will be hosting the next WRO in New Delhi in November 2016, Ambassador and the visiting delegation received the WRO Flag at the closing ceremony on November 8. The Indian students won a number of awards at the World Robotics Olympiad.

Dharmendra Pradhan, the Minister of State (Independ-ent Charge) for Petroleum & Natural Gas (MOPNG), arrived in Doha on November 8, leading a high level delegation to

the 6th Asian Ministerial Energy Roundtable (AMER) on November 9, 2015. As a special gesture, H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, Prime Minister and Min-ister of Interior of Qatar along with H E Dr Mohammed bin Saleh A Sada, Minister of Energy and Industry, jointly met with MOPNG on November 9 before Qatar’s Prime Minis-ter inaugurated the 6th AMER. MOPNG also had a separate meeting with his counterpart. MOPNG’s address at the first Plenary Session of 6th AMER was highly acclaimed. He held meetings with Heads of a number of other delegations. MOPNG also had an interaction with Indian community in Qatar before returning to India on November 10, 2015.

Amba Dutt Bhatt, Technical Officer, National Authority,

Chemical Weapons Commission, Cabinet Secretariat, New Delhi participated in the Regional Meeting of Representa-tives from National Authorities of States Parties in Asia to the Chemical Weapons Convention organised by National Committee for the Prohibition of Weapons (NCPW), in col-laboration with Organiation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in Doha from November 8-10, 2015.

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Minister of State for Parliamen-tary Affairs & Minority Affairs, transited through Doha on November 12-13 en route to Luxor, Egypt, to attend an International Conference on “The Vision of Imams and Advocates on Religious Discourse Reform and Tackling Radicalism” on November 14-15.

VISIT OF MOPNG (NOVEMBER 8)

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FATH AL KHAIR 2 RETURNS (NOVEMBER 17)

Ambassador Sanjiv Arora, accompanied by Defence Atta-che, attended the reception ceremony on completion of historic

Dhow voyage ‘Fath Al Khair 2’, at the Katara, (Cultural Village Foundation) beach on November 17. H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Father Emir, graced the occa-sion and welcomed the crew of ‘Fath Al Khair2’. The return of ‘Fath Al Khair2’ coincided with the inauguration of 5th Traditional Dhow Festival at Katara.

Ambassador met with the Captain of the Dhow Hassan Essa Al Kaabi and crew members and conveyed heartiest

congratulations on successful completion of the historic voyage to Mumbai and back via Oman.

Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti, the General Man-ager of Katara and other organisers and crew conveyed sincere thanks and deep appreciation for all the support rendered by the Embassy and authorities in India and the warm welcome accorded to the Dhow voyage ‘Fath Al Khair2’, at India.

On November 20, Ambassador Sanjiv Arora and H E Dr Mohammed bin Saif Al Kuwari, Assistant Undersecretary, Min-istry of Environment, were the chief guest and the guest of oonour, respectively, at the finale event of the Indian Cultural Centre (ICC) – Mangalyaan Tech Fest 2015 held at Birla Pub-lic School, Doha. After the launch of Mangalyaan, India’s Mars Orbiter Mission on September 24, 2014 the Ambassador had suggested to ICC, an apex organisation of nearly 100 socio-cul-tural associations of Indian community in Qatar functioning under the aegis of Embassy of India, Doha to organise a Tech Fest annually with the participation of students of 14 Indian schools in Qatar.

With Embassy’s guidance and support, ICC held several competitions comprising a large number of participants from Indian schools in various age groups. ICC also instituted ICC-Mangalyaan Ambassador’s Rolling Trophy. At the event on November 20, Ambassador and Dr Al Kuwari presented Tech Fest prizes, finale of which was presentation of the Rolling Trophy to DPS-MIS team. There was enthusiastic participa-tion by a large number of students, teachers, parents and other attendees at the function.

MANGALYAAN TECH FEST 2015 (NOVEMBER 20)

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ROAD SHOW ON INDIAN TOURISM (NOVEMBER 18)

On November 18, Ambassador Sanjiv Arora inaugu-rated ‘Incredible India’ — a Road Show on Indian Tourism — organised by India Tourism, Dubai with the support and cooperation of Embassy of India, Doha at Marriott Mar-quis, one of the top hotels of Doha. India Tourism, Dubai had collaborated with Tamarind Global, a leading Indian travel and tourism company, and Regency Travel and Tours, a leading Qatari company, in organising this promotional event on Indian tourism. The event was attended by sev-eral top Qatari businessmen, senior officials of QCCI and other important organisations, a large number of repre-sentatives of travel and tour companies and media persons.

On November 26, to commemorate the ‘Constitution Day’, Ambassador Sanjiv Arora addressed a meeting of all India-based and local officials in the Embassy. The meeting started by observing a minute silence in remembrance of the victims of the dastardly 26/11 terrorist attacks in Mum-bai and other terrorist attacks. After Ambassador’s brief remarks, he led all officials in collectively reading the Pre-amble of the Constitution in Hindi and English.

In the evening, the Constitution Day was commemo-rated at an event held at the Indian Cultural Centre (ICC), which was attended by a large number of Indian nation-als, Embassy officials and media representatives. The event started with a minute silence in remembrance of the vic-tims of the dastardly 26/11 terrorist attacks in Mumbai and other terrorist attacks. In his address, Ambassador under-lined India’s principled and steadfast position against the global scourge of terrorism. He highlighted the historical perspective and the ideals and principles enshrined in the Constitution of India and paid rich tributes to the architect of our Constitution, Bharat Ratna Dr B R Ambedkar. He led all Indian nationals present on the occasion in collectively reading the Preamble of the Constitution. Two documen-tary films on Constitution of India, “Taana Baana - The Warp & Weft of India” and “India - The Spirit of Freedom”

‘CONSTITUTION DAY’ COMMEMORATED (NOVEMBER 26)

sent by Ministry, was screened. As advised by the Embassy, Indian schools in Qatar organised similar activities and programmes to commemorate the Constitution Day and solemnly remembered the victims of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and other attacks.

‘COME, Make in India’! Prime Minister Naren-dra Modi’s aggressive push to revive an ailing manufacturing sector, has found resonance

with India Inc. Single-window clearances, minimal procedures and cutting out of any red-tapism — Modi sees Make in India as a vital impetus for employment & growth.

‘Make in India’ initiative was launched globally in September 2014 as a part of India’s renewed focus on manufacturing. The objec-tive of the Initiative is to promote India as the most preferred global manufacturing destination. Since the launch of this land-mark initiative, the Government of India has taken several reform initiatives to create an enabling environment for providing an impetus to manufacturing, design, innova-tion and startups. India has emerged as the fastest growing economy globally. India’s rate of growth of 7.5% is accelerating and it remains an oasis of growth in the midst of a subdued economic landscape across the world. The Prime Minister has given impetus to growth with several innovative initiatives such as “Make in India”, “Digital India”, “100 Smart Cities” and “Skill India”.

The Make in India initiative aims to make India an integral part of the global supply chain. It is about making Indian companies excel in a globalised workspace. India has vigorously opened up its economy – Defence,

Railways, Construction, Insurance, Pen-sion Funds, Medical Devices have all been rapidly opened up for Foreign Direct Invest-ment. India today is one of the most open economies of the world.

In order to achieve this, the Government of India has taken up a series of measures to radically improve Ease of Doing Busi-ness. Its objective – make the regulatory environment easy and simple for business to flourish. It has effectively used technol-ogy to converge and integrate departments. 14 services are integrated with eBiz por-tal which will function as a single window portal for obtaining clearances from vari-ous government agencies.

Make in India has already created a strong impact in form of improved business envi-ronment and economic growth, as follows:• India is now 1st amongst the world’s most attractive investment destinations• 1st among world’s fastest growing economies• 1st among 100 countries on the growth, innovation, and leadership index• 1st amongst 110 investment destinations polled globally• 7th most valued national brand in the world• India’s rank jumped 12 positions in Ease of Doing Business 2016 list by World Bank• India moved 16 places in the Global Com-petitiveness Index 2015-16

SOME SUCCESS STORIES SO FAR:Ministry of Railways signed formal

agreements with global giants AlstomBSE -0.56 % and GE Transport to set up locomo-tive manufacturing factories in Madhepura and Marhaura in Bihar.

ELECTRONICS:• Foxconn announces 10-12 facilities

in India• Oppo, ZTE, Phicomm invest in India• One Plus, ASUS announces mobile

manufacturing AUTOMOBILES• Mercedes Benz invest aggressively in India• BMW increases 50% localisation• Volvo, Ford in with R&D facilityDEFENCE• Hyundai to build warships• Sun Group to build Russian helicopters• Reliance and international partners to

build nuclear submarines and stealth warshipsAVIATION• Airbus to increase its exports from

India upto $2bn • Pratt & Whitney evinced interest to

Makae in IndiaThe clarion call “Come Make in India”

has transformed into an effective strategy and has become a huge success in creating a buzz globally. In order to provide greater momentum to the ‘Make in India’ initiative, Government of India is organising a land-mark event called the “Make in India Week” in Mumbai on February 13 – 18, 2016. The week-long event will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister of India.

MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS OF THE “MAKE-IN-INDIA WEEK”WILL INCLUDE:

A. Make in India Centre: This will be the platform for exhibiting innovative products and manufacturing processes developed in India along with a vision to leverage design, innovation and technology in the backdrop of global manufacturing.

B. CNN-Asia Business Forum: Would comprise of a series of seminars, CXO meets and round-tables and networking events on economic challenges, investment opportu-nities etc. The event would feature Global visionaries, and leaders from the fields of finance, industry and design.

C. Urban Planning Seminar on re-imag-ining Mumbai: This session would focus on new impetus for a smarter e-enabled Mumbai collaborating with the best-in-class technology partners.

D. Hackathon: A 24-hour marathon event where coders, engineers, and designers col-laborate intensively for 24 hours to come up with ideas to solve urban design problems.

E. TIME India Awards: Recognising excellence in the world of manufacturing.

The mega event will offer foreign inves-tors and businesses unprecedented access, insights and opportunities to showcase, con-nect and collaborate with young Indian entrepreneurs, industry leaders, acade-micians, and government officials at the central and state levels.

‘Make in India’ initiative a huge success

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IN AN environment where economic growth is modest, India today stands as a bright spot among the global economies. The International Mone-tary Fund (IMF) in its report has projected India’s growth for 2015 at 7.3%, and rising to 7.5%in 2016.

In its report dated November 12, 2015 the IMF said that while emerging economy growth remains fragile and could be derailed in an environment of declining com-modity prices, reduced capital flows, and higher financial market volatility, India’s growth will benefit from recent policy reforms, a consequent pickup in investment, and lower commodity prices. Moody’s ratings revised India’s sovereign rating outlook to “positive” from “stable”.

Foreign direct investment flows during the 2014-2015 reached $44bn. FDI has also for the first time in seven years exceeded the current account deficit. The govern-ment’s continued push towards FDI liberalisation will continue to aid FDI flows. The Financial Times of Lon-don in its ranking of the top destinations for greenfield investment (measured by estimated capital expenditure) in the first half of 2015 shows India at number one, hav-ing attracted roughly $31bn, $3bn more than China and $4bn more than the US.

Administrative reforms, simplification of approval processes, including online project approval and easier envi-ronmental clearance procedures, are expected to improve business sentiment and the ease of doing business in India.

The Project Monitoring Group (PMG) set up under the Cabinet is reviewing a total of 704 projects worth $451bn, which have not received approvals because of hurdles like lack of fuel, green clearances and land acquisition with investments. To date the PMG has cleared a total of 411 projects entailing investments of $253bn. The government has set an ambitious deadline of 2016 for implementing the Goods and Services Tax (GST). A clear cut road map for lowering corporate tax from 30% to 25% over the next 4 years has been laid down.

Other forward looking initiatives by the government include nod for IPOs/FPOs by banks to raise funds, as long as government equity remains 52% or over. Nod for real estate and infrastructure investment trusts, with tax benefits. Cabinet nod for 100 Smart Cities Project. $130bn proposed spending on railways over five years on schemes includ-ing high-speed trains. Successful conclusion of two rounds of coal block auctions, more lined up. Impasse in mining sector ended with the passage of new bill for regulation and development. Successful conclusion of auctions for telecom spectrum for mobile telephony and broadband. Single-window scheme for various clearances to steel, coal and power projects. Clarity in tax treatment on income of foreign fund whose fund managers are located in India, as also on transfer pricing for resident and non-resident tax payers and waiving of retrospective imposition of a mini-mum alternative tax (MAT) affecting foreign funds.

In November 2015 the Cabinet approved a bailout plan for state government-owned electricity distribution companies (Discoms) in a move that could fundamentally change India’s power sector and also reduce the stress on books of banks that have loaned money to these finan-cially unsound utilities.

The rescue plan, called Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojna

(UDAY), which is optional and to be operationalised through signing of a tripartite MoU (between Ministry of Power, the concerned State Government and the Discom) seeks to provide a solution to State Discoms and empower them to break-even in next 2-3 years. November 2015 also saw the government awarding contracts to set up two locomotive plants. The contracts are two of the first and the largest to be awarded to foreign firms since India last year allowed 100% FDI in the railway sector. General Electric Co (GE) will build a diesel locomotive factory and Alstom SA will set up an electric locomotive in the state of Bihar. The plants will be set up at an estimated cost of around Rs2,052 crore and Rs1,294 crore respectively. The two projects involve manufacturing 1,000 diesel locomotives and 800 electric locomotives over the next 10 years and are together worth about Rs40,000 crore. While the Railways will have 26% equity and provide land, the foreign companies will have a stake of the remaining 74% in each of the plants. The plants will be up and running within 3 years and 80% of all parts used in the manufacture of the locomotives will be sourced locally.

Medium-term growth prospects have also improved following recent policy initiatives towards unlocking coal and other mining activity, liberalisation of FDI limits (100% in railways, 49% in insurance, and 49% in defence with the caveat that FDI in defence could go up to 100% with the control vested in the hands of the Indian JV partner and approval be secured from the government) and a renewed thrust on public investment in infrastructure, which would help to improve the investment climate.

To boost the investment environment in the country, the government on November 10, 2015 further eased FDI norms across 15 sectors. Some of the new FDI norms include: Composite FDI cap in the Banking sector has been raised to 74%, minimum investment commitment and floor area stipulation for FDI in construction has been done away with, FDI limit in news and current affairs TV channels and FM radio has been raised to 49% from 26%, FDI limit in

Teleports, Direct-to-Home (DTH), digital cable net-works, Mobile TV has been raised from 74% to 100%; FDI of up to 49% under auto-matic route is now allowed in Regional Air Transport Services; FDI of up to 49% is allowed in the defence sector under the automatic route and if in excess of 49% will be considered by For-eign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB). The cap for approval by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has been increased to Rs5,000 crore from Rs3,000 crore. The Cabinet Committee on Eco-nomic Affairs (CCEA) will only decide on FDI propos-

als not under the automatic route and beyond Rs5,000 crore.

As a result of the above measures, India has moved up 16 positions to rank 55th on a global index of the world’s most competitive economies compiled by the World Eco-nomic Forum. The jump in India’s position underlines the country’s recent economic recovery, improvement in the competitiveness of the country’s institutions and its macroeco-nomic environment. According to the Baseline Profitability Index of the Foreign Policy Journal, India has recently been ranked No. 1 among 110 countries making it the world’s top-most investment destination. The US International Trade Commission in its report Trade and Investment Policies in India (2014-15) mentioned that the Indian government has made significant changes in addressing barriers to trade and investment. Areas identified in the report where significant policy changes have been made include: FDI; tariffs and customs procedures; local content and locali-zation requirements, particularly concerning ICT goods; and standards and technical regulations.

The World Bank now ranks India at 130 out of 189 coun-tries on the Ease of Doing Business. That is up 12 places from its original ranking last year and 4 places from its rank on a revised list (based on a new methodology). Accord-ing to the WB report, it takes 29 days to start a business in India today, unlike the 127 days it used to take in 2004. The biggest improvement was seen in the area of providing electricity connection to businesses, where India’s rank-ing improved from 99 in 2015 to 70 in 2016. India is ranked 8th in terms of protecting minority investors, 42nd in get-ting credit, but scores poorly in dealing with construction permit with a rank of 183 out of 189 countries. Enforcing contract (rank 178), paying taxes (rank 157), resolving insol-vency (rank 136) are other areas where India ranks poorly. Forward movement on the goods and services tax (GST), setting up of commercial courts, enacting the bankruptcy law, simplifying taxation and corporate law, and easing the entry-exit norms are expected to give a boost to India’s ranking in 2016-17.

Charting a new reform path

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IN A MAJOR relief for Petronet LNG Ltd (PLL), India’s largest natural gas importer, its LNG supplier RasGas of Qatar recently signed a modified long-term agree-ment helping PLL avoid a Rs12,000 crore penalty for the shortfall in gas offtake.

The development comes after multiple rounds of bilateral negotiations, including more than 50 meetings between the two companies, held over months to thrash out the terms of the deal related to pricing and volume of gas trade under a new formula and the sticky issue of penalty.

India has a long-term contract with Qatar to buy 7.5 million tonnes of LNG a year at an indexation to a moving average of crude oil price. Under the renegotiated deal, Qatar will lower the price of gas it sells to India on a long-term contract end-ing 2028 to around $7 per unit from the existing $12 per unit to reflect the slump in global energy rates apart from waiving off the Rs12,000-crore penalty.

Petroleum Min-ister Dharmendra Pradhan hailed the new agreement as a major diplomatic suc-cess in India’s bilateral engagements aimed at energy security. “In addition to the waiv-ing off of the penalty of Rs12,000 crore as per the take-or-pay clause, the deal also means Rs4,000 crore benefit to the down-stream sectors like fertiliser and power by way of reduced gas rates,” Pradhan said speaking on the occasion.

The revised for-mula will link the gas price to a three-month average figure of Brent

crude oil, replacing a five-year average of a basket of crude imported by Japan. The trailing three-month average Brent price is around $44 a barrel while the average of Japan Crude Cocktail for the 5-year period ended September 30 was $94 per barrel. The deal comes with the condition PLL buys an additional 1 million tonne of LNG annually. Pradhan said this additional gas would also be sourced at the same rate of $7 per unit.

RasGas Chief Executive Hamad Mubarak Al Muhannadi called the signing of the Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) a positive development that demonstrates the commitment to growing sales into India. RasGas, a Qatari joint stock com-pany, has been supplying Petronet since 2004.

The ongoing slump in the gas prices had led to users pre-ferring to buy spot LNG (at $6-7 per unit) rather than long-term gas from RasGas of Qatar (at $12 per unit). Petronet LNG had, therefore, bought 32 percent less than contracted quantity from RasGas in the first nine months of 2015. As per the con-tract, Petronet can defer taking deliveries of only 10 percent of the contracted volumes in a year and has to pay for the rest of it even if it does not take any supplies.

Petronet LNG Managing Director Prabhat Kumar refused

to indicate whether the renegotiation has opened the win-dow for future price corrections under the long term deal between India and Qatar. “Thanks to the fixed price, we have taken an advantage of more than $15bn over the past

11 years through this deal. In the past, it did not impact much even if spot prices declined as the overall trend of increasing prices remained. But the current price slump has been historic,” he said.

Petronet and RasGas sign modified pact

RasGas Chief Executive Hamad Mubarak Al Muhannadi called the signing of the Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) a positive development that demonstrates the commitment to growing sales into India. RasGas, a Qatari joint stock company, has been supplying Petronet since 2004.

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By Neeraj Bajpai

AS THE nation braces to scale new heights on the flagship programme of ‘Swachch Bharat Mission’ (SBM) after its year-long drive, general awareness for cleanliness and hygiene is spreading like a “infectious smile.” A plethora of success stories and

increasing commitment to the cleanliness indicate that it is not a paper tiger project.

Profiling the mission and its accomplishments, not only officials but many social institutions and other bodies, involved in the mission, flag piles of data. Statistics, they say, do not matter in such a gigantic task which has picked a natural momentum. Now, more and more people and gov-ernment and non government institutions are on board for the realisation of Swachch Bharat dream. Urban Devel-opment Minister M Venkaiah Naidu says SBM has been one of the major initiatives of the Government but while other initiatives are largely demand driven, it aims at cre-ating demand for sanitary services and infrastructure and involves motivating people and sensitise them towards need for adopting right behavioural attitudes.

He describes SBM as the mother of all new missions launched by the Central Government given its unique nature. A Clean India, Venkaiah Naidu said, is the most profound statement that the county can make to the world which is keenly watching it in the context of various initiatives launched during the last over one year. The UD Minister said that since the launch of the Mission in October last year by the Prime Minister, people across the country and age groups have been inspired by its philosophy and objec-tives and this is its major achievement.

To further reinforce and consolidate behavioural changes, an intensive campaign has been launched last month and will continue till March next year to propel people into action for cleanliness and intensive cleanliness drive will be taken up in 11 thematic areas. The areas to be covered include agricultural and grain markets, religious and tourism places, educational institutions, resident welfare associations, under passes and fly overs, cantonment boards, water bodies and recreation places, hospitals, old cities and Government offices.

A Swachch Baharat conclave is also being planned. Based on reports received till August this year, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Punjab, Chattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana have performed well in respect of construction of individual household toilets. As against the target of construction of 25 lakh household toi-lets in urban areas till March, 2016, construction of 16.45 lakh toilets has been taken up and 4.65 lakh toilets have already been built. Major states including UP, Bihar and Tamil Naidu are still to pick up momentum, said the Min-ister on the first anniversary of the SBM. According to him, toilet construction is still to begin in five UTs of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Daman & Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Delhi and four North-Eastern States of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Tripura besides Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Referring to the enthusiasm on the part of several states, Naidu said that over and above the central assistance of Rs4,000 per construction of each toilet in urban areas, 13 states are providing additional assistance in the range of Rs4,000 to

Rs13,000. Regarding construction of community and pub-lic toilets in urban areas, Government records say as against target of building one lakh toilet seats by March, 2016, con-struction of 94,653 toilet seats has been taken up and 24,233 seats have already been built and the rest in progress.

The Minister said Solid Waste Management is the larg-est component of the Mission in urban areas and till August this year, 100% door to door collection of municipal solid waste has been reported in 31,593 of the total 78,003 wards in urban areas of the country and the mission is on course to achieve the target of door to door collection of 50% of solid waste by March,2016. Regarding solid waste, as against the target of processing of 35% of 1,42,580 tonnes of solid waste being generated every day in urban areas, 17.34% is being processed at the moment.

On performance by some urban local bodies, Mr Naidu said that Surat and Morbi in Gujarat have already met the Mission targets of construction of 6,634 and 3,028 indi-vidual toilets already. Ahmedabad and Mahisagar, also in Gujarat are very close to meeting the Mission targets of construction of 22,562 and 3,028 toilets.

In respect of solid waste management, Chandigarh leads the list of good performers with 100% processing followed by Meghalaya (58%), Delhi(52%), Kerala and Manipur(50%), Telangana(48%), Karnataka(34%) and Andaman & Nicobar Islands(30%).Ahmedabad (64 wards), Surat(38), Mahisa-gar(27) and Morbi(14 wards) In Gujarat and Andaman & Nicobar Islands (30 wards) have reported 100% door to door collection of solid waste.

Under Swachch Bharat Mission in urban areas, construc-tion of 1.04 crore household toilets and 5.28 lakh community and public toilet seats besides 100% door to door collection of solid waste and its scientific disposal are envisaged at a total cost of Rs.66,009 cr. The Ministry of Urban Devel-opment has so far released Rs.1.038. 72 cr to 30 States and

Union Territories. UTs of A & N Islands, Chandigarh, Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Lakshdweep besides the ne state of Manipur are still to be released funds.

Amid these developments, eyes are riveted towards cleanliness drives being undertaken even in remotest areas.From Prime Minister to State Chief Ministers, min-isters ,accompanied by volunteers, caught attention as they embarked on symbolic cleaning with brooms It set the tone and many joined the stream unfazed by critics who rub-bish it as a drama.

Many Ministries in the central government embarked upon their own programmes and the Railway Ministry drive on the mission came in sharp focus both for the achieve-ments and lapses as aspirations of passengers swung upscale. The Mission is in the centre of discussions almost every day. Recently , a anguished senior bureaucrat, in a sprawling Government complex, lamented that one of his close rela-tives died recently following an acute intestinal ache. She could not get admission in any major hospital on account of flooded wards of dengue and other viral fevers patients in the Capital, smarting under threat of deadly viral fevers carried by mosquitoes breeding in wastes.

Debates erupt that menace of such diseases, striking with ferocious annual regularity and taking toll of scores of human lives, could be combated effectively by initiatives like cleanliness and hygiene and mass awareness programmes.“ Imagine the quantum of its impact on human lives and strain on the country’s health system, if missions like Swachcht Bharat would have not been launched. One may agree or dis-agree on the success and flops of such missions ,but almost every day –during last one year,Swachch Bharat mission was debated and practiced ,” said a middle-aged class four employee who quoted instances of cleanliness drives in col-onies and people’s involvement.

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Swachch Bharat Mission campaign catching up

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Politics apart, things had moved -“one may agree or not- Swachch Bharat is in circulation and is bound to leap forward by every passing year” the employee asserted. The recently-released national health profile warns of spread of such diseases and stresses need for cleanliness to face bur-geoning challenges to the national medicare set up and strain it causes on economic architecture. During the past four years, 2010-14,as many as 820 people died of dengue alone

and latest data of death and seizures are yet to be compiled.Medical experts say solution to such diseases lies in

clean environment and people, getting aware of clean-liness, appreciate Swachch Bharat campaign. At many places, residential welfare societies (RWAs) were seen going for the cleanliness drives and purchasing fog-ging machines through personal contributions. Senior private sector employee, Mr Sreedharan, hailing from

Kerala,said the drive had picked up momentum in his state and now, municipalities are providing specifically designed tubes for degradable garbage which gets converted into manure in a stipulated period.

Welfare bodies had sprung up during the year to collect non-degradable waste like plastic and pay back money to sell-ers of that “raddi(waste) after recycling. Such practices, Mr Sreedharan pleads, should be replicated in other parts of the country. SBM, a major initiative of Government of India, aims to make the nation litter and open defecation-free by 2019. Its objectives envisage a complex set of action that can be deliv-ered through the fundamental instruments of social change: behavioural change and greater public awareness about the ill-health effects of poor sanitation and solid waste manage-ment (SWM), officials say.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the programme on the Gandhi Jayanti day last year and in the 69th Independence day address from ramparts of the Red Fort proudly announced achievements of the SBM and said toilets made and the situa-tion was being closely monitored.

Modi said that Team India- people from all walks of life whether they are celebrities, diplomats, social workers, educa-tionists, community leaders or spiritual leaders or media – all of them have taken a major responsibility to train the common man without criticising anybody and without pointing towards the lacunas and made the mission a success. He said the mis-sion got maximum support from crores of youth in the age group of five, 10 and 15 and they became the greatest ambassadors of “Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan”. He said these children prevent their parents from littering in their homes and ask them to avoid spreading filth and rubbish here and there. Modi said it was his belief that such a country where children are so much aware, so committed towards cleanliness,is bound to become clean; Abhorrence against filth and dirt is bound to arise there. In 2019, we are about to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi and on that occasion we have to hand over “Swachch Bharat” as a tribute. There can-not be a greater tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary.

“The task has just started, but I have to take it forward, not to stop it, not to get satisfied. When we started work, Team India fig-ured out its responsibilities, we realised that there were 262,000 such schools, where more than 4.25 lakh toilets were required to be built. This figure was so huge that any government could rethink to extend the deadline, but it certainly was the resolve of the Team India that no one sought any extension.” Accord-ing to Modi, till August 15, last year, Team India has now nearly achieved the target of building all the toilets. He said it was not just an issue of building more than 4.25 lakh toilets. This is an issue of creating an atmosphere of self-confidence at a time, when “we were so engulfed with the negativity that it was being told that nothing could happen, there was no hope, it was not possible. But now, the Team India has demonstrated that”.

Latest figures reveal that more than 4.18 lakh toilets were made in 35 states and Union Territories to provide separate facilities for boys and girls in schools and work is under way in other parts. The ‘Swachh Bharat’ campaign has engineered mas-sive public response. Mission was launched with the objective of ensuring cleanliness and open defecation free urban areas in all 4,041 statutory cities by 2019. Estimated cost is Rs66,009 crore out of which the Centre’s share is Rs14, 643 crores.

The national government has allocated Rs14, 623 crore as a central share for the SBM in urban areas. In addition, a minimum additional amount of Rs4 874 crore (as equivalent to 25 percent of GoI funding) will be contributed by the States/ ULBs share.

Neeraj Bajpai is joint Editor with United New of India.

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