Breathing A New Life Into The Indian Healthcare System

On the occasion of World Health Day on April 7, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that his Government is leaving no stone unturned in providing quality healthcare that is accessible and affordable. Making an effort in this direction, the Health Ministry under the administrative acumen of the Health Secretary, CK Mishra, is working on a war footing to galvanise the sluggish healthcare system of India to deliver affordable health and well-being to the last man in the row. However, the real challenge in the path for Universal Health Coverage lies in effective implementation which calls for cementing consensus between State Governments and the Centre. In a candid conversation with Bureaucracy Today, Union Health Secretary Mishra speaks about the increasing coordination between the Centre and the States in the recent times and also sheds light on other issues like making generic medicines available to people and the regulation of the private healthcare sector which are of top priority for his Ministry.

Central Bank Drags BoM In Court

As all nationalized banks are working under the control of the Reserve Bank of India they are expected to follow the rules and regulations codified by the same regulatory authority. But if some unforeseen incident happens and if there is no co-ordination or co-operation between the banks, they are susceptible to legal confrontation. This has happened in the case of a stolen cheque which was deposited in one bank and was cashed by the person who stole it by producing it in another bank.

Can Domestic Manufacturers Capture a Larger Pie of Indian Solar Market?

Solar installations in India reached 4 GW in 2016, and are expected to surpass 9 GW in 2017, an incredible pace of growth considering our country installed just 883 MW in 2014. With exponential growth in the sector, the Government wants to ramp up domestic manufacturing to decrease the volume of solar module imports which, along with installations, has also increased dramatically. The challenge, like in most markets, has been that of cost competition from Chinese manufacturers. India lost its case at the World Trade organization (WTO) last year which ruled that its Domestic Content requirements (DCR) discriminated against US manufacturers. With this backdrop, Indian policy makers are now looking at various options to support domestic manufacturers without violating global trade agreements.

Accelerating Sustainable Development Towards 2030

Taken together, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – contained in UN Resolution 70/1 involving the 194 member States and civil society in its deliberation – seek an encouraging level of development of humanity’s social and environmental existence. They establish a framework through the year 2030 that can assist the nations and communities of the world in plotting what could amount to transformative, prosperous, and sustainable achievements. How can this potential development unfold and be long-lasting? What approaches should we catalyse so that sustainable projects result in and generate the human development benefits the world’s local publics want and need?

The Reshaping Of Urban India

India is moving away from villages and is set to soon become more urban. To meet this demographic transition, experts say that we need to build 22 new Bengalurus besides recasting the landscape of the present 4,041 cities for a better living. The past is not encouraging. But can we make the future perfect?

Chugging Towards Transforming The Indian Railways Landscape

To realise Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of the Railways being a backbone and lifeline for India, the Railways under the pragmatic leadership of Minister Suresh Prabhu has embarked on an ambitious mission to redevelop over 400 railway stations which will have amenities on a par with those at modern airports. Bureaucracy Today brings to its readers and the stakeholders an indepth report of the project which will bring a qualitative difference in the lives of Indian citizens.

Budget 2016: Good For Rural India But Heavy On Salary Earners

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on February 29 unveiled a largely pro-poor Budget for 2016-17 increasing social spending and farm credit in a bid to revive the rural economy without overspending. His proposals courted both bouquets and brickbats. While the Minister shunned populism by balancing the key priorities of investment, growth and jobs, he left the salary earners high and dry by making no changes in the personal or corporate income-tax slabs. 

JNU Fiasco: Leave The Kids Alone

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, has made a great contribution to the cause of learning in India. But sadly the students of this premier university are now being discussed for their intellectual daring which extended no further than a pledge to dismember their own motherland and a clever application of their assiduously acquired knowledge of “subaltern studies and dialectical materialism” to fox and hoodwink the plain, blunt policeman.

Empowering Indian Muslims The way forward

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for empowering Indian Muslims is indeed welcome. He said this while addressing party cadres at Kozhikode, Kerala, recently. The underlying objective behind this call appears to be to rally all shades of public opinion in the country to enable the Muslims to come out of their isolation to enjoy the fruits of all-round development like other Indian communities and not be left behind. It is also a clarion call to the Indian Muslims to step out and play their due role as equal partners in the progress and development of their country.

Nariman Point

In Indian Financial Architecture.

No Telecom Ombudsman In India, Case In Bombay High Court

Though the Government has plans to make India a fully digital country, it has not so far set up an independent authority to redress individual telecom complaints. The office of the TRAI is flooded with complaints of wrong billing, an indifferent or poor quality telecom service, and the non-provision of contracted services. The consumer is not motivated to take legal recourse due to time and cost constraints.

the ias officer who never 'hears' the odds

this is a story of the indomitable human spirit that has the power to triumph over the worst tragedies imaginable. this is also a story of hopes and aspirations, of grit and determination. this is the story of a son of a poor farm labourer who overcame his total hearing impairment and speech problem to become an ias officer. as three months from now in december, thousands of aspirants across the country will sweat their guts out to write the gruelling civil services mains examination, bureaucracy today brings to them the inspirational and heart warming tale of ias officer mani ram sharma who refused to surrender to his tragic circumstances and has proved the worth of a saying that “when the going gets tough, the tough get going”.

beauty and wellness domain has huge job opportunities

despite holding a huge potential of employment, the indian beauty and wellness sector remains unorganized and fragmented. while inadequate attention paid to the quality of services can be attributed to this sector’s unpopularity until now, a dire need has been felt in recent times to develop skills which would suit it and create a pool of employment opportunities for youth. in a conversation with bureaucracy today, the founder and vice-chairperson of the vlcc group and chairperson of the beauty & wellness sector skill council, vandana luthra, talks about developing skills in this sector, besides improving the quality of service delivery in the beauty and wellness domain by ensuring consistency of standards and promoting the cause of women empowerment through employment opportunities.

'There Is Stress in Telecom Sector but Govt Will Settle It'

Minister of State for Communications Manoj Sinha met telecom industry leaders amidst a raging financial crisis in the sector saddled with Rs 4.5 lakh crores of debt due to the high licence fee, spectrum usage charges, the USO levy and the burden of paying spectrum auction dues in shortest possible time blocking the flow of funds for network expansion. Add intense competition to it unleashed by Reliance Jio with its free voice and data services bloodying the sector further as the incumbents’ net profits and revenue fall. The industry leaders (Airtel, Vodafone and Idea) and other small operators like Telenor, Aircel, RCom and TTSL are now demanding fiscal intervention from the Government through a lower licence fee (5%), SUC (1%) and a USO levy (3%). For a deferred payment for spectrum acquisition, the operators want an increase in the moratorium period to five years from the current two years and instalment payments in 15-20 years instead of in 10 years at present or till the validity of the licence period which the Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) is currently looking into. In an exclusive interview with Bureaucracy Today after the IMG was set up, Sinha says he hopes the telecom sector will stabilise in six months.

Privatization Is The Way Forward For AI

According to recent Government data, nearly 17 per cent of the total routes operated by Air India are lossmaking. What led the national carrier to become a perennially loss-making airline. A Bureaucracy Todayanalysis.

India's Online Education Industry Will Be $1.96 Bn by 2021: Report

The online education industry in India will grow at a healthy rate of 8X to become a USD 1.96-billion industry by 2021, reveals a joint report of Google and KPMG. The study, which captured the growing influence of the Internet on the education industry in India, is based on a comprehensive market research conducted by KPMG, along with primary research combined with insights from Google search. The report finds that the paid user base will grow 6X from 1.6 million users in 2016 to 9.6 million users in 2021.

Treading The 'Slippery Path'

Political parties promise a lot of goodies in their poll manifestos. After coming to power many of these promises remain unfulfilled for which they look for excuses. Farm loan waiver is also a poll gimmick for many parties and promising it even in non-poll times giving in to the pressure of the powerful agrarian lobby is now a trend. Economic experts say it is a promise that should not be made and if made not to be honoured in the best interests of the country. But populism does not pay heed to economic rationalism. The result is divergence from fiscal discipline. Both the path and the outcome are slippery. A Bureaucracy Today analysis.

Making Small Changes, Generating Big Results

Over the years in India, the Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM), has gradually extended its corporate social responsibility efforts towards focusing on overall growth of society by emphasizing road safety, health and hygiene, education, environment and skill development. In an interaction with Bureaucracy Today, TKM India Vice President Naveen Soni talks about major CSR projects undertaken by his company under his leadership, the challenges faced by companies while executing CSR projects in India and his expectations from the Narendra Modi Government in terms of policies relating to CSR in India.

Rich Indians Go EB-5 Visa Route To Realize ' American Dream'

With the Donald Trump regime in the United States making it more stringent to get the H1B and L1 Visas, wealthy Indians are shelling out millions of dollars for the “green card” through the sponsored Immigrant Visa Programme named EB-5.

Will Human Rights Activists Destroy The Rise Of ‘Digital India'?

While earlier Narendra Modi and his party, BJP, opposed the concept of Aadhaar, he took a major policy decision after he came to power at the Centre. It was a total U-turn after PM Modi’s single meeting with Nandan Nilekani, the man who conceptualised the UIDAI.

Impact Of New Maharashtra Housing Policy On Residential Market In Mumbai

The recently released Maharashtra Government Housing Policy proposes the redevelopment of buildings in 104 layouts of the State-run Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) in Greater Mumbai. A developer will be eligible for an FSI (Floor Space Index) of three for the redevelopment of a plot up to 2,000 square metres and can get an additional FSI of one by paying a premium and sharing the housing stock with the MHADA. The redevelopment of plots beyond 2,000 square metres will get an FSI of 4. How will the new policy impact the Mumbai residential market?

FDI In Retail For 'Local Goods Only' A Flawed Idea

In the Union Budget for 2016-17, the Finance Minister had announced 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail food. This was subject to the retailer selling only food procured from farmers in India and processed locally. However, guidelines in this regard are yet to be notified. Meanwhile, the Government is reportedly considering a proposal to allow 100% FDI in all goods “manufactured domestically”. The policy will be applicable to both offline (brick-and-mortar retailers) and online (e-commerce companies). The idea is flawed.

Helping Women Lean Into The Workplace

Across the globe there is growing awareness of the need to increase gender diversity in the workforce. Corporate India is no exception, and there are some very noteworthy instances of women in leadership roles, but Grant Thornton’s International Business Report in March 2014 actually stated that the proportion of women in senior positions in the Indian workforce got reduced from 19% in 2013 to 14% in 2014. Indian organizations have been rather slow to accept this new situation.

This auction will remove spectrum scarcity for all times to come

The Indian Government has put a huge 2,300 MHz of spectrum on sale for which auction will start on October 1, 2016.

What's in a project name? Everything, say developers

It is natural to wonder why certain realty projects such as “Worli 1973”, “W54”or “Three Sixty West” are so named. Or why some developers come up with esoteric names ranging from those of Greek gods to foreign flora for their projects. In fact, the naming of realty projects is an important exercise carried out by marketing and strategy teams.

The Kashmir Crisis Through The Lens Of RSS

The ongoing events in Jammu and Kashmir present an extremely confusing, disturbing and challenging scenario. More and more youths are taking to the streets in protest against the Government. Hundreds of people are being injured in confrontations between stone-pelters and members of the security forces. Armed attacks on the security forces are growing. Against this backdrop, top RSS leader Indresh Kumar in an exclusive interaction with Bureaucracy Today puts forth his views on the evolving scenario in J&K and suggests ways to deal with the situation in a manner that could restore normalcy, peace and stability in the strife-torn State. The RSS Core Committee Member also takes a dig at the BJP alliance partner, PDP, in J&K saying that it has failed to deliver the goods at a critical time. Mincing no words, he says that the PDP must deal with separatists with iron hand. Warning Pakistan against sponsoring nefarious activities in J&K, the Sangh leader says that the option of another surgical strike is always open for India. Excerpts:

Didn't We Collectively Mess Up India's Growth Story?

India cannot be complacent. Despite many flagship programmes for years and now followed by the Digital India, Skill India and Make in India, debottlenecking laws, creating more ease of doing business, Smart Cities, towns and villages with a vision of having round the clock power, broadband Internet connectivity, launching the infrastructure project AMRUT and the Swachh Bharat Mission to end the open defecation practice nationwide and cleaning up the Ganga, the available statistical data on socioeconomic development in India shows that India cannot blame anymore colonial rulers and their administration, exploitation and divide and rule policy or their educational system for being what we are today. 

When Wearables Meet Data Analysis, Things Get Interesting

Wearables are nearly everywhere. What happens when the data these devices collect is analyzed? What are the benefits? What are the potential problems? 

Helping Students Choose Career

While conducting research on employment in India, a career counselling company, Mindler, has identified that students don’t know more than eight careers; they don’t have a solution to their problems; there is no scalable platform which is affordable in the country; and most importantly, the country lacks an adequate number of career counsellors. The company recognised the need to provide students with a tool to help them in their career options and developed an online tool in areas of their interest. Its initiative has already created a lot of buzz in industry – not only in India but in Global market too. Launched in July 2016, the company has already entered into seven alliances and three strategic partnerships with large companies, and has tied up with 20 marquee schools. In an interaction with Bureaucracy Today, Prateek Bhargava, CEO of Mindler, speaks about how his company is helping students to choose the right career option.

Cement Sector Best To Bet On In 2017

Boosted by India’s overall economic growth, the demand for cement is expected to reach 550-600 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) by 2025. It does not end here. This robust growth rate will further be boosted by the likely introduction of Goods and Services Tax in our country. It will certainly benefit the Indian cement industry.