On that cautionary note, one may rightly demand further proof that a new chapter for India is in the making. There has been a welcome administrative revamp at the Centre, with new faces in the Finance Ministry empowered to bring fresh ideas to put the economy on a cycle of higher growth, based on a more secure platform. Among the fine-tuning measures to kick-start the economy was the deregulation of diesel and petrol prices, and a raft of much needed reforms in the critical labour sector, to which India Inc had pinned its hopes. “Ease of business is the greatest priority for India’s success. Ease of of business will be a priority under Made in India. Labour’s problems from labour’s point of view too,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Industry bodies have welcomed his pronouncements. The services sector trade body, Assocham, saw its Secretary General D.S Rawat make a positive statement. “The simplification of procedures and introduction of a unified web portal to ensure compliance with labour laws is welcome move which will avoid harassment at the hands of inspectors.” The Confederation of Indian Industry expressed its approval of the changes, saying that they would ease the burden of the Small and Medium Enterprises. The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry gave its support to the government’s Unified Account Number scheme for all Fund contributions, which would allow portability and online tracking of Provident Fund benefits.
Among the most significant moves to extend the outreach of India’s manufacturing capability, the government has taken in hand the promulgation of a policy to invigorate India’s electronics industry, which is vital on two counts: First, it will reduce the country’s outsize import bill and its dependence on foreign suppliers in a sector that is fundamental to India’s security interests; second the sheer size of the industry which makes it a key jobs’ provider. The Minister of Information Technology, Rudi Prasad, has visited the US and Germany in a bid to attract foreign investment in the sector; his ministry proposes to lower the eligibility threshold in the special incentive package currently in operation and extend the benefit to new product categories, such as air conditioners and refrigerators. The enlargement of the scheme is expected to relieve procedural bottlenecks. Thus far, 40 investment applications have been received under the scheme, worth Rs 14,000 crore, of which 16 projects worth Rs 2,200 crore have received official approval. The domestic demand for electronics goods is projected to grow to $ 400 billion by 2020, to which domestic industry will be able to manufacture products worth $ 100 billion. India has to travel to satisfy its needs. But, before long, the journey will have started. The pace will quicken thereafter. That step has now been taken and more are shortly to follow. This heartening development must be welcomed by every corner of the Indian marketplace, the strategic community and the ordinary Indian consumer. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, as the saying goes.
Impetus to science research
In a bid to encourage India’s youthful scientists to remain in the country and pursue a career in science rather than seek greener foreign pastures, the government has decided to increase its student grants by a substantial 50 per cent with immediate effect. Nearly 100,000 science research scholars and associates in different institutions across the country stand to benefit from the offer. While the removal of financial constraints is a huge step forward, other steps must surely follow to make the package truly attractive and fruitful. Among such measures are easing internal and external regulations and procedures within science institutions for processing work and the expeditious acquisition of necessary equipment. Beyond this, are questions of leadership and management. Exemplars who have blazed a trail include hallowed names like Homi Bhabha, Vikram Sarabhai, Satish Dhawan, Abdul Kalam, CNR Rao and the current head of the Indian Space Research Organization, Dr K. Radhakrishanan, and M.S.Swaminathin and others too numerous to mention. That India has come as it has done in fields as diverse as nuclear technology, space satellites, rocketry and agricultural crop yields are because of skill, innovation, vision and dedicated teamwork. These men and women have brought lustre to India’s manifold achievements in scientific endeaour, the last notable being the successful Mars mission. Returning to the subject of financial increments for research, the work in progress has to be also carefully monitored and assessed.
Without correct procedures, the exercise might become a financial spree with good money thrown at projects of doubtful viability. In this context, Prime Minister Modi’s decision to celebrate the forthcoming birth anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru, the country’s first occupant of the august office, whose leap of faith in science at the time of India’s independence, when resources were scarce and opportunities few. His ambitious road in partnership with Homi Bhabha, along with the investments of those early years have borne rich fruit. There were those at home and abroad who belittled these efforts as as white elephants, futile exercises in vanity. Nehru’s visionary role transcended party considerations; the national interest was what mattered, and this Mr Modi, to his great credit, has recognized. More will be said on the on November 14, the date of the Nehru anniversary, and the birth anniversary of Indira Gandhi a few days later. She kept faith with her illustrious father’s policies in this regard, and made own imperishable contribution to India’s victory in the 1971 war, outwitting the genocidal generals in Islamasbad, and theri mentos in Washington and Beijing.
Canada endures the pain of jihadi terror
Two brazen crimes of violence in broad daylight and in full public view occurred in the Canadian capital of Ottawa. A soldier was shot dead at the National War Memorial honouring the country’s fallen in two world wars; five soldiers died when gunmen stormed Parliament, with MPs running for cover in the mayhem and confusion. Civilized communities across the world will mourn with fellow Canadians at their loss, for the barbarians we face are as pitiless as they are murderers in seeking to impose a hideous way of life, with values as hideous and repellent. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his message to his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper expressed India’s solidarity with the government and people of Canada. Canada has a thriving multicultural society in which people of Indian origin play a critical role in government, industry and the professions. Canada and India are wedded to democratic values and the rule of law. In his message to Mr Harper, Mr Modi referred to a similar incident in India, on 13 December 2001, when a posse of jihadi terrorists attempted to enter the Indian parliament in Delh, but failed to do so, thanks to the presence of mind and courage of an Indian woman police guard, who sounded the alarm and took on the intruders at the cost of her own life. There were ritual expressions of sympathy from Western governments but also detectable embarrassment since the attackers were trained and funded from across the border in Pakistan, Pakistan being an ally of the United States and NATO. One key sign of policy disturbance is the persistence with which the parties to the Washington consensus keep doing things without success, hoping that these will come right eventually, hence the Iraqi invasion, followed by the Syrian intrusion and the Libyan bombing campaign. And so it goes ad infinitum. David Cameron, it is reported, has read the riot act to the Emir of Qatar for funding the activities of ISIL, a case of shutting the stables doors after the horse had bolted. The toxins of the Middle East are spilling over in all directions, to Canada, India, the UK and beyond. The march of folly continues regardless.
