Pune: Mission Ramnadi Restoration

The Khatpewadi Lake near Pune will get artificial plant beds to provide safe habitat for birds and amphibians. In a first-of-its-kind experiment in nature conservation, the initiative will be taken under Mission Ramnadi Restoration, a programme initiated by city NGOs.

The lake would have floating structures made from PVC pipes to form a bed hosting plants, native grass and sedges. The aim is to provide microhabitat for resident and migratory birds. “At present, there is less biodiversity observed in the lake and surrounding areas. The priority is to increase biodiversity. Interventions to increase the green cover by identifying the species of trees that historically existed and restoring them would be done,” said Ketaki Ghate, from OIKOS, an organization that works for ecological restoration.

Ghate said other work like cleaning the ecological body, reshaping the banks, creating islands and introduction of aquatic flora would be done.

Another environmentalist, Sachin Punekar, said that apart from such steps, another way could be to introduce floating habitats for the wetland. “Nature will take its own time to restore, but we can boost the process by introducing free-floating river beds or rafts,” he added.

The pond is already a habitat for resident birds like cormorants, darter, large egret, woolly neck stork and other migratory birds like a sandpiper, red water lapwing, Riverton, Brahmi duck and common teal.

Meanwhile, the work on the restoration of Ramnadi would start with 12,000 students from different colleges and 100 volunteers working on nine stretches of the 18 km long river.

Virendra Chitrav, coordinator of Kirloskar Vasundhara Mission Ramnadi Restoration, said, “Each stretch has different requirements for restoration starting from lake rejuvenation to water conservation, bio-remedies and solving waste management issues.”

Chitrav added that works would be conducted in coordination with Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) for protection of banks, terrace gardens, creating green corridors, awareness programmes and measuring the health of the water.

“Volunteers will undergo orientation sessions to understand the ecosystem of the river, its specific requirements and areas of intervention before work actually begins,” said Shaileja Deshpande, director of Jeevitnadi.

“The task of restoring the Ramnadi has been taken up by the locals and NGOs from the city. The work would require interventions at different levels,” said Ganesh Sonune, ward officer of Warje-Karve Nagar ward. “It would be made sure that all the entities and stakeholder work in tandem for the work. Coordination with the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), gram panchayat and Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) would be conducted to ensure that efforts lead to success.”

Unemployment rate @ 6.1%

India’s unemployment rate rose to 6.1 per cent in the 2017/18 fiscal year. It was the highest level in at least 45 years.

The data was released a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi was sworn-in for his second term. Indian voters gave him a big mandate in the general election that ended this month despite concerns over jobs and weak farm prices.

The unemployment number comes as another set of data released showed that the economy grew at 5.8 per cent in the January-March period, its slowest pace in 17 quarters, and falling behind China’s pace for the first time in nearly two years. The government declined to provide comparable numbers for the jobless rate.

“It’s a new design, new metric,” chief statistician Pravin Srivastava told reporters. He did not elaborate. “It would be unfair to compare it with the past.”

The Business Standard newspaper, which first reported the figure in January, had said that it was based on an assessment carried out by the National Sample Survey Office between July 2017 and June 2018.

The unemployment rate was the highest since 1972/73, the newspaper reported without giving a figure for that fiscal year.

The statistics ministry also said that female labour participation rate in urban areas for the quarter ending December 2018 was 19.5 per cent, compared with 73.6 per cent for males. 

April 2019: Core Sector Growth Slips to 2.6%

Core sector growth slipped to 2.6% in April from 4.9% in the month before, marking a slow start in the first month of the new financial year.

The index of eight core sector industries measures output of infrastructure sectors — coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity.

These eight core industries have 41% weight in the index of industrial production, suggesting softness in industrial production. Industrial production had contracted 0.1% in March. IIP numbers for April will be released on June 12. Coal output rose 2.8%, electricity generation rose 5.8%. Refinery products output was up 4.3%.

Economy in a tight spot

India’s economy grew slower than expected to a 20-quarter low in the January-March period, dragging overall growth to a five-year low in FY19, presenting the first big challenge for the second Narendra Modi government that took charge. Following on from this, the central bank is widely expected to cut interest rates further next week to bolster the flagging economy.

The provisional estimates for FY19 released showed that the economy grew 5.8% in the fourth quarter of FY19 against 6.6% in the preceding one and 8.1% in the year earlier.

Overall growth for FY19 slumped to a five-year low of 6.8% compared with 7% projected in the second advance estimates released in February. Full-year growth in value added terms was lower at 6.6%, compared with 6.9% in FY18.

China’s economy, in comparison, grew 6.4% in the quarter ended March but for the full year, India still remained the fastest-growing major economy in the world.

NBFCs have been under liquidity pressure after the shock default by IL&FS in September last year.

The new government’s first budget, to be presented by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 5, is expected to include measures to lift economic growth and revive demand. Sitharaman took charge of the ministry.

Private final consumption expenditure in the year rose 8.1% and capital investment as measured by gross fixed capital formation expanded 10% from 9.3% in the previous fiscal.

India’s per-capita income increased 10% to Rs.10,534 per month in 2018-19 from Rs.9,580 in FY19. The per-capita income is an indicator of the prosperity of a country.

While some experts expect the formation of the new government will provide an impetus to the economy, others felt there could be more pain ahead.

The government’s ability to provide a big spending push could be limited.

Agriculture contracted 0.1% in the fourth quarter against 2.8% growth in the third quarter and 6.5% growth in the corresponding period last year. Manufacturing growth slowed to 3.1% from 6.4% in the trailing quarter.

After the formation of the government, all eyes are on the Reserve Bank of India. It has lowered the key rate twice in succession and is expected to reduce it further. Economists expect more rate cuts amid projections of a weak first quarter of FY20. The next monetary policy announcement is on June 6.

A further reduction in rates is expected to lift sagging consumer demand. Passenger vehicle sales grew at their slowest in five years, at 2.7% in FY19.

Modi Sarkar 2.0 Gets Down to Business

The composition of the council of ministers of the National Democratic Alliance government and the allocation of portfolios bears the imprint of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has brought in fresh talent on his terms, rewarded performance, and sought to achieve the right political balance without compromising on key target areas.

The Prime Minister’s Office will be the central driving force and with party president Amit Shah being inducted in the Cabinet, the concentration of power will be firmly with the government, according to people familiar with the ministry formation process. Nirmala Sitharaman was made finance minister in place of Arun Jaitley, who opted to stay out of the government due to health issues.

Just as Modi had prevailed in making Shah, his trusted lieutenant, the Bharatiya Janata Party chief in 2014 despite reservations in some quarters that both the PM and the party chief should not be from the same state, he has now virtually made Shah the next most powerful minister by giving him home ministry.

Rajnath Singh, who made way for Shah to become BJP chief in 2014, was moved to the defence ministry. He, however, will officially retain the number two status in the seniority list.

Shah has had a brilliant run as BJP president, delivering a string of electoral victories and capping it with the stupendous victory in the Lok Sabha elections.

The induction of former foreign secretary S Jaishankar as external affairs minister after Sushma Swaraj bowed out due to health issues conveys that the PM was not bogged down by fear of controversy in making a bold move aimed at shoring up India’s global profile.

Modi has rewarded those he considered ‘performing ministers’, such as Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan, Ravi Shankar Prasad, RK Singh and Hardeep Puri by retaining them in their earlier ministries, and giving additional responsibilities to some. This will help maintain continuity in projects being implemented by these departments.

Gadkari’s work in the roads and highways ministry was appreciated even by the Opposition.

Pradhan has been put at the helm of the steel ministry this time, in addition to petroleum & natural gas. This ministry is to Odisha what railways has been for Bihar — with even Naveen Patnaik handling it during his short stint in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government before he became the state’s chief minister. The Ujjwala scheme run by the petroleum ministry under Pradhan proved to be a big vote-catcher for the BJP in the recent Lok Sabha polls.

Goyal will continue in railways to oversee completion of projects initiated during the previous government. He has also got the important commerce & industry portfolio, where Suresh Prabhu failed to deliver.

The Prime Minister has given chemicals & fertilisers to DV Sadananda Gowda. The ministry was earlier handled by another Karnataka leader, the late Ananth Kumar. The parliamentary affairs ministry has been handed to Pralhad Joshi, another senior leader from Karnataka. Perhaps, the intent is to not just use his parliamentary experience but also reach out to political parties down south — where the BJP is not strong — for support in Parliament.

Though some of the ministers have reportedly been inducted at the insistence of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, they by and large qualify on the basis of their record as well. Since the PMO will exercise strong oversight and all major decisions will bear its stamp, talent deficit in some of the ministers is not likely to be a handicap, sources said.

Modi has also dealt with NDA partners on BJP’s terms.

Pune: Hinjewadi-Shivajinagar Metro update

The Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority is all set to make 90% of the land available for the proposed 23 km Metro line from Hinjewadi to Shivajinagar to Tata Siemens for taking forward the project, to be completed within three years’ time.

According to the PMRDA officials, nearly 33 hectares have to be handed over to the agency ahead of the final agreement between PMRDA and the company gets the nod from the state government.

Of this, the PMRDA has 29 hectares of private, government and central government land in possession. They claimed it could be handed over to the agency to start the project. “There was a demand of 90% land for the agreement to be signed. It should be signed shortly after which the soil testing work would begin,” said a PMRDA official.

The Shivajinagar-Hinjewadi stretch would be the third Metro line of Pune. The MahaMetro is executing the projects.

The stretch would have 23 stations. The chief minister on Monday reviewed the project and directed the officials to speed it up.

Pune: Vetal foothills biodiversity park

A new biodiversity park has come up at the base of Vetal hills in Bhamburda with open-air amphitheatres, interpretation centre as well as themed plants and herbs.

The park will be opened for public on June 3.

Construction work is in the final stages at the park named Vanudyan Bhamburda, which will have jogging tracks and lawns. There will be a children’s play area with wildlife and nature as its theme. Adjacent to it will be an amphitheatre. A traditional tank- with water channels stretching up to the foothills - has also been commissioned at the park.

Shivajinagar MLA, Vijay Kale, who had pushed for the project, said that the 14-acre park will lead to a significant improvement in the lives of the people living in nearby Janwadi settlement.

“Earlier, water from Vetal hills would flow right down to Janwadi slums, especially during the monsoon, and flood the area. Because of this haud (a traditional water tank), and landscaped water channels, the flow will be stopped. The water collected will also be used for plants and maintain the jogging tracks,” Kale told reporters.

A total of 14,000 trees have been planted or are in the process of being planted. The park has been divided into 14 themed areas.

“There are separate areas for plants that produce dyes and lac, another for fruit bearing trees and herbs. A part of it is dedicated to traditional Maharashtrian sweet dinka, which is derived from a number of fruits,” Kale added.

Around Rs.1.70 crore has already been spent on the project, according to forest department officials, and around Rs.1.5 crore is needed for the next phase of the project, which includes an audio-visual theatre and a nursery.

“The warehouses for MAPCO, a state government concern, were housed here. However, after they closed this facility, the land was encroached upon and garbage was dumped on it. The state government transferred the land to the forest department. We came up with a plan to build a biodiversity park last year, and thankfully, within a year we managed to construct most of the facility,” said a forest department official.