Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

<ul><li>K Subramanian's <keyword id="7828895" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="india-economic-survey-2019">India economic survey 2019</keyword> has a dedicated chapter on use of data by government.</li><li>The survey recommends that all data that is spread out across departments and private institutions be linked with Aadhaar at the centre.</li><li>'Efficient use' of data available with the government is the objective, the survey said.</li><li>Use of Aadhaar as a mother database to track a citizen's activities has been a contentious issue for the last few years.</li></ul> The latest economic survey recommendation on Aadhaar, India's unique biometric identity for citizens, may reignite the fierce debate around the programme. K Subramanian's India economic survey 2019 has recommended that all data that is spread out across departments and private institutions be linked with Aadhaar at the centre. "The prospect of empowering the government with such comprehensive, exhaustive information about every citizen may sound alarming at first. However, this is far from the truth. First, large quantities of data already exist in government records, and the objective is only to use this data in a more efficient way, the survey said. Use of Aadhaar as a mother database to track a citizen's activities has been a contentious issue in India for the last few years. As it stands today, while Aadhaar has become an inevitable proof demanded by providers of all kinds of services even though it is not mandatory as per a Supreme Court ruling. "When one adds an Aadhaar number to an existing database such as a database of bank accounts, it is only one more column that is added to the table. The linking is so to speak “one-way”. Banks can now use the tokenized Aadhaar Number (i.e., a proxy 64-digit number that is based on, but not equal to the individual’s 12-digit Aadhaar Number) to combine duplicate records and weed out benaami accounts. But, this does not mean that the UIDAI or government can now read the bank account information or other data related to the individual," the survey noted. Making a case to link all citizen's data, the survey cited the examples from the United Kingdom and the United States. "At last count, more than 600 apps were being powered specifically using the Transport For London open data feeds, used by 42% of Londoners," Subramanian's survey said and it added that it led to savings of £70m-£95m per year in time, reduced uncertainty and lower information costs. The question of consent The proposal envisioned here does not gather any new information; rather, it seeks to make available all data within the government for citizens, government, private and public institutions to utilize the data subject to user consent and appropriate privacy and fairness related constraints. 4.35 Second, people can always opt out of divulging data to the government, where possible. For example, one can choose not to participate in a survey or use government-run payments services. There are exceptions, of course, the survey said without elaborating on what they are. The concerns While the ideological debate on whether the government should have access to a citizen's private life through the digital infrastructure has enough takers on both sides, one thing that continues to be a concern to one and all is the how secure is the Aadhaar database itself. Time and again, the government has been pushed into the defensive by stories of data leaks which the government has had to deny but the biometric identity programme has never quite earned the citizen's trust fully. It is another matter that institutions, both private and public, have made the use of Aadhaar mandatory even to access basic services but the demand has been met more with annoyance than with pleasure. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/latest-aadhaar-data-leak-via-indane-gas-may-be-the-biggest-so-far-according-to-elliot-alderson/articleshow/68058787.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Latest Aadhaar leak may have hit 6.7 million Indians, alleges Elliot Alderson</a>

India's latest economic survey makes a case to use Aadhaar to create a master database for every citizen

<ul><li>The Economic Survey 2018-19 highlights how technology has helped the Indian government plug leaks in the country's '<keyword id="7286241" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="food-for-work">food for work</keyword>' programme -- the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).</li><li>It attributes the programs success to the JAM trinity of Jan Dhan, <keyword id="144117" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="AADHAAR">Aadhaar</keyword>, and mobile payments.</li><li>The National Electronic Fund Management System (NeFMS) also also helped the government keep a more accurate account of which workers are on the payroll and if they're actually showing up for work.</li></ul>The origins of ‘food for work’ programs trace back to Kautilya’s Arthashastra — a Indian documents on statecraft, economic policy and military strategy. John Keynes, who popularised the theory, was still a century behind Nawab Asaf-ud-Daula who already had a ‘food for work’ program working in Lucknow when famine struck in 1784. In today’s day and age, India’s Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is using technology to streamline the national ‘food for work’ scheme to bring financial and economic inclusion. The JAM trinity — Jan Dhan, Aadhaar, and mobile payments — has eased the validation of beneficiaries and the process for releasing funds, according to Economic Survey 2018-19. Wages directly to the people Since it’s induction in 2005, the programme was riddled with issues. But, applying Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) and Aadhaar-linked Payments (ALP), the Indian government has been striving to reduce delays in the payment of wages, curb corruption and political interference, and plug up any leakages in the system. As a workforce programme, MGNREGA’s mandate is to alleviate distress and ensure payments happen in a timely manner. Before DBT, wages were transferred into panchayat bank accounts and most of the workers had to collect their wages from the gram panchayat office. And, in order for DBT to work — the workers needed bank accounts. That’s when the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) was implemented to bring about universal access to banking facilities. The Economic Survey 2018-19 highlights that before the implementation of ALP and DBT, there used to be an average lag of 90 days before wage payments for recieved. After their implementation, that lag has been cut down one-third from 35% to less than 10%. Culling out the ‘ghosts’ in the system Bringing in <keyword id="7829443" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="aadhaar-linked-payments">Aadhaar linked payments</keyword> ensured that the government would not be funding any ‘ghost’ beneficiaries. The National Electronic Fund Management System (NeFMS), implemented in 2016 and currently functional in 24 states, bolsters that effort by providing a real time database of wages being credited into bank or post office accounts by the central government. NREGAsoft, a local language workflow based e-governance system, looks at registration and muster rolls, a form of attendance register signed by workers to check false reporting of numbers. The service isn’t available to the public but does make it easier for the government to keep track of who is employed under the scheme and whether they are actually showing up for work. The government’s also held accountable of its actions with the use of mobile apps like Gram Samvaad Mobile App and JanMnRega were rural workers have direct access to information and can give their own feedback on how the system is working. The supply demand gap Since the government now access to data, the Economic Survey 2018-19 asserts that it will be able to implement MGNREGA more effectively by pushing government officials to provide more jobs in distressed areas. This should help bridge the demand supply gap between jobs available and the enlisted worker by using data provide jobs where there is more demand for them and vice versa. The survey also highlights how the vulnerable sections of the society — women, scheduled class, and scheduled tribes — have increased their participation in the program during times of distress. Going forward, the government wants to expand the number of jobs available to workers under the scheme, upskill the workers it has enlisted, expand the use of JAM, and use digital infrastructure to expand MGNERA beyond wages to also offer micro-insurance, micro-pensions and micro-credit to the underserved sections of society.

Technology plugged the leaks in India’s ₹60,000 crore rural employment guarantee scheme

<ul><li>The Economic Survey 2018-19 is making a case to use Aadhaar as a ‘master database’ for every citizen. </li><li>The Economic Survey 2018-19 also highlights how technology has helped plug leaks and corruption in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). </li><li>NASA successfully tests the launch abort system for its upcoming manned Moon mission, Artemis. </li><li><keyword id="127964" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Dinesh-Agarwal">Dinesh Agarwal</keyword>, the CEO and founder of Indiamart, is celebrating the 25% jump in the company’s valuation since its gone public. </li><li><keyword id="3820" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mukesh-Ambani">Mukesh Ambani</keyword>’s <keyword id="6354504" type="DEFINITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="reliance-jio">Reliance Jio</keyword> is collaborating with Facebook to launch a ‘digital literacy’ campaign in India claiming to be largest campaign of its kind in the country. </li></ul>This is Tech Insider’s daily dose of <keyword id="35609" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="tech-news">tech news</keyword> — everything that’s happening in tech that you need to know about today from Business Insider and its partner publications:

Today’s top tech news: Aadhar could be a ‘master database’ of Indian citizens, NASA has a fail safe in place in case Artemis goes wrong and Indiamart’s CEO is celebrating the company's 25% jump in value

Today’s top tech news: Aadhar could be a ‘master database’ of Indian citizens, NASA has a fail safe in place in case Artemis goes wrong and Indiamart’s CEO is celebrating the company's IPO

<ul><li>The <keyword id="7829013" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Economic-Survey-2018-19">Economic Survey 2018-19</keyword> has called for a national floor minimum wage. </li><li>Indian states would be allowed to fix the wages which cannot be lower than the floor wage. </li><li>The government also wants to leverage technology to monitor the implementation of the national minimum wage. </li></ul>As the Economic Survey 2018-19 was tabled in the Rajya Sabha, the Indian government is looking to establish a national floor minimum wage. The idea behind the move is to bring in uniformity in the minimum wages in India. The government would then allow states to find allow states to fix the wages which cannot be lower than the floor wage. Furthermore, the decision of fixing the minimum wage would be based upon primarily two factors – the skill category, that is whether the person is unskilled, semi-skilled, skilled or highly skilled, and the geographical region. In India, currently there are 1,915 minimum wages, with the liberty given to each state to fix their own wages. The government believes that the establishment of minimum wage which will also lead to reduction in labour migration in the country as it will push industries in India to move to interior areas. A day before the Economic Survey was tabled the Cabinet had also approved the Code Wages Bill which allows the Centre to fix minimum wages for the entire country. The<a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/national-minimum-wage-will-hurt-jobs-states-must-fix-earnings-cii-119062300514_1.html"> Confederation of Indian Industry</a> had said that the establishment of a national minimum wage could possibly hurt job creation and that the states should be in charge of fixing the minimum wages. The technological push The digitally savvy Modi government wants to ensure that the minimum wages are paid to Indian workers and for that, it wants to leverage the use of technology. The Economic Survey 2018-19 stated, “Use of a variety of online, mobile phone and networking technologies have the potential to facilitate the collection and analysis of labour statistics, assist with the dissemination of information about labour laws and policies, reduce costs and improve transparency.” The government also wants to build a national level dashboard that will regulate the minimum wages and will also issue ‘red alerts’ if any state fails to follow the mandate. The Survey also talks about a toll-free number which can be used to address grievances. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/budget/india-economic-survey-2019-recommends-subsidy-to-save-water/articleshow/70070808.cms">Give money to farmers who save water, India’s chief economic advisor tells government</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/indias-latest-economic-survey-makes-a-case-to-use-aadhaar-create-a-master-database-of-every-citizen/articleshow/70069756.cms">India's latest economic survey makes a case to use Aadhaar to create a master database for every citizen</a>

India has nearly 2,000 different minimum wages and the latest Economic Survey has called for ‘uniformity’— an idea corporates won’t like

Keeping its stakes high, <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword> government has forecasted an ambitious 8.5% growth of the economy for fiscal year 2015-16. The Modi government tabled <keyword id="2745211" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Economic-Survey-2014-15">Economic Survey 2014-15</keyword> in the Parliament on Friday and expects the growth rate of the current fiscal year to be at over 7%. 
	 
	Reaffirming its focus on growth of the Indian economy, which has been on a decline in the past few years, the Modi Government has come up with a medium-term strategy. BI India lists down some key highlights of the Economic Survey 2014-15: 
	 
	1. The government will implement the ‘golden rule’ of eliminating revenue deficit. 
	 2. The medium-term fiscal deficit target is 3% of the <keyword id="35050" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="gdp">GDP</keyword>. 
	 
	3. Tighten control over expenditures- expenditure control and expenditure switching. 
	 
	4. Borrowing over the cycle to strictly be for capital formation. 
	 
	5. To improve quality of public expenditure by slashing subsidies towards investments. 
	 
	6. Government estimated the Current Account Deficit (CAD) at 1.3% of the GDP in FY15. 
	 
	Current Scenario 
	 
	1. Indian economy on recovery path. 
	 
	2. Current Account Deficit(CAD) has come down to an estimated 1% in 2014-15 from the earlier level of 6.7% of the GDP. 
	 
	3. Decline in inflation by over 6% points since late 2013. 
	 
	4. Foreign portfolio flows have stabilized the rupee. 
	 
	5. Real GDP has been growing at 7.2% after nearly 12 quarter phase of decline. 
	 
	6. Direct fiscal cost of all subsidies is estimated to be nearly 4.2% of 2011-12 GDP that is about Rs 378,000 crore. 
	 
	7. Stalled projects stands at nearly 7% of the GDP, which primarily are of the private sector. 
	 
	8. Most of the stalled projects belong to crucial sectors such as manufacturing and infrastructure. 
	 
	9. Interestingly, stock market valuations of the companies have been good despite stalled projects. 
	 
	10. Food subsidy bill surges by 20% and is at 10.47 lakh crore. 
	 
	11. Government estimated the food grain production for FY 15 257.07 to exceed by 8.5million tones, at 257.07 million tones. 
	 
	12. Outlook for external sector favourable since the global meltdown in 2008 global meltdown. 
	 
	13. Skill development and employment major challenges. 
	 
	14. Banks are not performing well with rising number of NPAs. Balance sheets suffering. 
	 
	Outlook 
	 
	1. Inflation is estimated to remain between 5%-5.5%, thus allowing key policy rate cuts for the RBI. 
	 
	2. GDP growth estimated over 8%. 
	 
	3. GST to ensure medium-term goals are achieved. 
	 
	4. Initiatives such as Jan Dhan Yojna Aadhaar and Mobile expected to eliminate leakages. 
	 
	5. Scope for reviving public investments to meet short-term goals and attract private investments.

Key Highlights of Economic Survey 2014-15

<ul><li>“I think nationalisation of the Aadhaar would have been great now, especially for migrants,” said Banerjee. </li><li>He believes that India could have also tackled the food crisis caused by the <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="coronavirus">Coronavirus</keyword> pandemic by handing out some temporary ration cards to people in need. </li><li>Banerjee said that spending is the easiest way to revive the economy at this point and a direct transfer to people’s account is a good way to ensure this. </li></ul>Nobel Laureate <keyword id="370528" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Abhijit-Banerjee">Abhijit Banerjee</keyword> believes that nationalisation of Aadhar Cards would have been a straight forward solution to provide ration to migrant workers, even if they weren’t within their home states. After all, the aim of the Aadhaar Card system was to cater to India’s social welfare schemes. “I think nationalisation of the Aadhaar would have been great now, especially for migrants. They could have gone to a PDS (Public Distribution System) store in Mumbai and demanded a ration. But right now they cannot do that. There is also, for example, MGNREGA The migrants cannot demand employment in Mumbai, there is no MGNREGA there,” said Banerjee in a conversation with <keyword id="5268" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rahul-Gandhi">Rahul Gandhi</keyword> of <keyword id="190679" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-National-Congress">Indian National Congress</keyword> (INC). <div type="twitter" handle="RahulGandhi" handlename="Rahul Gandhi" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/974851878860312582/O-Zn2b72_normal.jpg" favoritecount="10589" retweetcount="3474" status="A conversation with Nobel Laureate, Abhijit Banerjee on the economic impact of the COVID19 crisis. https://t.co/dUrok8Wm3Q" createdat="1588649427000" id="1257512960307507206"></div> Banerjee was Gandhi’s second guest in his video series, #RahulShowsTheWay, where the Congress leader reviews the Indian economy and its health with various experts. The migrant food-crisis The 40-day nationwide lockdown left more than half of India’s migrant workers with rations that would last less than a day, according to a survey by the <keyword id="9158048" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="stranded-workers-action-network">Stranded Workers Action Network</keyword> (<a href="https://www.thehindu.com/data/data-96-migrant-workers-did-not-get-rations-from-the-government-90-did-not-receive-wages-during-lockdown-survey/article31384413.ece">SWAN</a>). Over 70% said that whatever food they had would be exhausted within the span of two days. The survey also highlighted that over 90% of the migrant workers it surveyed did not receive rations from the government. If not Aadhar Cards, then temporary ration cards could have tackled the food crisis caused by the Coronavirus pandemic in India, according to Banerjee. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="75546837" title="AIIMS chief dampens the government’s celebration of ‘a flatter curve’⁠— warns that next 4-6 weeks are crucial in the fight against COVID-19" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> He insisted that “putting money into people’s hands, as the current US administration is doing,” is the only way to circumvent the strife felt by the migrant workers of India. Banerjee believes that spending is the easiest way to revive the economy at this point — and the direct transfer of funds into people’s account is a good way to ensure this. “Making sure money via cash transfer reaches the poorest people is important, reliable NGOs can be roped in for this,” he said. India’s economic revival Citing the example of the US — which set aside 10% of GDP to tackle COVID-19 crisis — Banerjee pointed out that India also needs a big stimulus package, which hasn’t happened yet. “We have not dedicated a large enough financial package yet,” he said echoing the concerns of former RBI governor <keyword id="6358908" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="raghuram-rajan">Raghuram Rajan</keyword>, who was on the previous episode of Gandhi’s show. According to Rajan, the Indian government needs to pump at least ₹65,000 crore to save the livelihoods of the poor, which were disrupted during the Coronavirus pandemic. Overall, Banerjee thinks India should stay optimistic about its economic revival post-lockdown. According to him, the sooner we exit the lockdown — the better it will be for the economy. However, the spread of the disease has to be taken into consideration. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/raghuram-rajan-believes-india-must-spend-65000-crore-to-help-the-poor-and-the-government-can-afford-it/articleshow/75464348.cms">Rajan also said ₹65,000 crore is not much considering our GDP, which is ₹200 lakh crore and India can easily afford that.</a> <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="75547622" title="Three Indian photojournalists win Pulitzer price for covering Jammu and Kashmir after it lost its special status" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>

Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee says India should have used Aadhaar to give temporary ration to migrants

Too much humdrum over Unique Identification Authority of India (<keyword id="6355252" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="UIDAI">UIDAI</keyword>) has finally resulted in something remarkable. The ambitious project of the UPA government has turned out to be probably the world's largest biometric identification programmes in the world. 
As per a news report by The Economic Times, Data showed that the UIDAI has issued 81.78 crore cards, covering nearly 67% of the population. Uttar Pradesh had the highest number of enrolments with 10.48 crore cards while Maharashtra had 9.19 crore and West Bengal 6.12 crore up to April 20. 
 Available data shows that the <keyword id="44723" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Federal-Bureau-of-Investigation">Federal Bureau of Investigation</keyword> (FBI) biometric database is way behind with 15 crore and with more Indians expected to register for Aadhaar, it could emerge as the largest programme of its kind globally. 
 The government persisted with Aadhaar after the former chairman of <keyword id="2825736" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="UIDAI-Nandan-Nilekani">UIDAI Nandan Nilekani</keyword> detailed the benefits of the Aadhaar card to PM Narendra Modi. 
 
The government is using it extensively in targeting cooking gas subsidies in the petroleum sector. 
 
"It is a very scientific and useful instrument. Although, we have not made it mandatory for the Aadhaar card for claiming subsidies, our experience has been positive," petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan told TOI. 
 
The government is leaning heavily on the JAM Number Trinity " Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar and Mobile " to better targsubsidies. 
 
According to the Economic Survey, Aadhaar card enrolments were increasing at a rate of 2 crore per month. The government had seeded over 10 crore bank accounts with registered Aadhaar numbers by December 2014. 
 
(Image: Reuters)

Aadhaar beats even the FBI’s
data base fair and square, becoming the world’s largest biometric database

Patna, May 19 () Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday asserted that there is a need to expand online education system as institutes of the state are closed for around two months because of the COVID-19 induced lockdown. Kumar directed the officials concerned to show e- content to students through Doordarshan Bihar and take measures to increase the time slot on the channel for providing class-wise education to all students, according to an official release. The education department should also develop e-content for classes I to V on the lines of classes VI to XII and post syllabus of various classes on the website for helping students in their studies, the chief minister said in a meeting. The meeting was held to discuss how the state can benefit from the Centre's Rs 20 lakh crore economic package. Kumar directed the officials concerned to get ration cards of all the eligible families prepared at the earliest and also ensure that they are linked with Aadhaar, as it would help them get the benefits under the 'One nation, one card' scheme. He said the Centre is going to adopt the Bihar model reform measures in the energy sector, he said. The Urban Development and Housing Department should take steps for providing cheaper housing to poor people living in urban areas, Kumar said. He also issued orders to make a survey on the street vendors of the state so that they can be given the benefits of different schemes, he said. AR NN NN

Expand online education during lockdown, Nitish asks officials

'Moderation in India's growth coincides with global situation'New Delhi, Feb 10 () The moderation in India's growthcoincides with a deceleration in growth of global output andthe IMF has projected the country's GDP growth to pick up to5.8 per cent in 2020, Union Minister Anurag Thakur said in LokSabha.Thakur said India's growth trajectory over the period2014-15 to 2018-19 is characterised by macroeconomic stabilitywith real GDP growth averaging 7.4 per cent."The moderation in India's growth coincides with adeceleration in growth of global output, as estimated by theIMF, in recent years," he said replying a question of CongressMP Abdul Khaleque and TMC's Saugata Roy during Question Hour.Thakur, union minister of state for finance, said the IMFhas projected India's GDP growth to pick up to 5.8 per cent in2020.The economic survey 2019-20 has also projected a pick-upin India's growth in the range of 6.0 per cent to 6.5 per centin 2020-21.The RBI's sixth bi-monthly monetary policy statement,2019-20 has also projected GDP growth of 6.0 per cent for2020-21.Thakur said as per the National Statistical Office'sfirst advance estimates of national income, 2019-20, India'sreal GDP is estimated to grow at 5.0 per cent in 2019-20.He said the World Economic Outlook Update (January 2020)published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revisedIndia's GDP growth rate to 4.8 per cent in 2019.This revision in growth may not cause any stress in theNon-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) sector as NBFCs arewell capitalised, he said.The minister said the government has implemented severalmajor structural reforms in recent years to bolster investmentand growth.These include Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) tostrengthen the financial system, Goods and Services Tax (GST)to simplify the indirect taxation regime, Make-in-Indiaprogramme to boost domestic manufacturing capacity,liberalisation of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and JanDhan-Aadhaar-Mobile (JAM) Trinity towards greatertransparency, efficiency and financial inclusion, he said.Thakur also said recently, the corporate tax rate hasbeen cut to 15 per cent for new domestic manufacturingcompanies, which is amongst the lowest in the world.In December 2019, he said, the government has announcedthe Rs 103 lakh crore National Infrastructure Pipeline whichwould significantly boost infrastructure and spur growthimpulses in the economy. ACBDV DV

LS-FINANCE

<ul><li>Industry body <keyword id="6358345" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="cii">CII</keyword> suggests <keyword id="697739" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Direct-cash-transfer">direct cash transfer</keyword> of ₹5,000 into the accounts of all adults with annual income of less than ₹5 lakh per annum.</li><li>It said that for more vulnerable persons above 60, the cash transfers could be raised to ₹10,000.</li><li>With a budget of ₹2 lakh crore, 20 crore people can be compensated with a transfer of ₹10,000 each or 40 crore people with a transfer of ₹5,000 each.</li></ul>Time is ripe to implement India's version of "Helicopter Drop" fiscal support scheme to avert an impending economic disaster due to the outbreak of COVID-19, with industry body CII suggesting direct cash transfer of Rs 5,000 into the accounts of all adults with annual income of less than Rs 5 lakh per annum. It said that for more vulnerable persons above 60, the cash transfers could be raised to Rs 10,000. "This would be a temporary one-time measure to boost consumer demand," the industry chamber said in an action note on COVID-19 and its impact, industry and economy submitted to the Prime Ministers Office (PMO). Though an old concept, Helicopter Drop was widely used in the 2008-09 economic crisis in the US. It entails providing a direct financial support to the public which can kick-start economic activity. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has said that as COVID-19 is expected to weaken growth impulses by acting through the trade and financial channels, expeditious policy redressal measures - both on fiscal and monetary front would be required. It is here that a fiscal stimulus of around 1 per cent of GDP, amounting to Rs 2 lakh crore, would be required to put money in the hands of people through Aadhaar-based Direct Benefit Transfer. With regard to money to support large cash transfer programme, CII has suggested that savings from low oil prices could be channelised for additional spending required to keep the wheels of economy moving and preventing depression to seat in. "With oil prices coming down, there are benefits for the economy. Every $10 dollar decline in the oil price leads to a saving of $15 billion in the oil import bill. This will create fiscal space for the government to make additional spending," the industry body said. With a budget of Rs 2 lakh crore, 20 crore people can be compensated with a transfer of Rs 10,000 each or 40 crore people with a transfer of Rs 5,000 each. Industry estimates and labour force survey data indicates that there are roughly 20 crore casual labourers who are employed. These are the most vulnerable sections and among the first to be hit on account of economics crisis being triggered by COVID-19. "They can certainly be compensated from the government's fiscal resources," CII said. With regard to other fiscal measures, the confederation has suggested that one month's ration could be distributed to those below poverty line and to daily wage earners using food stocks available with FCI. Further, it said tax-related announcements are need for restoring the health of the markets. In this regard it has suggested that long-term capital gains tax of 10 per cent should be abolished and tax on dividends to be taxed at an overall rate of 25 per cent at one point. CII also said that government should also clear and pay their dues to the private sector, whatever the additional cost. For the most distressed sectors such as Civil Aviation, Hotels, SMEs, Real Estate, Commercial infrastructure, CII said that specific relief should be given such as waiving off of taxes. A grace period of 30-60 days can be allowed in utility, statutory and GST payments for affected areas and industries without impacting credit history. "Industry liquidity is stuck due to GST payments on raising of invoices. GST should be made payable on collection of proceeds instead of raising of invoices," the body has suggested. CII has also suggested a series of monetary policy measures that RBI should take to ensure liquidity in the economy. It said that (Repo Rate) and Cash Reserve Ratio should be reduced by 50 basis points. Further, RBI should change definition of NPA recognition from 90 days to 180 days till September 30. The central bank should announce a blanket moratorium on debt repayments for sixty days. This will help the corporates to tide over their immediate cash flow issues. This will reduce the insolvency risk of corporates and not put pressure on non-performing assets of the banking sector. The confederation said that a concrete action plan to fight COVID-19 related disruptions is not possible unless industry also came forward and should shoulder some responsibility. It said that it has appealed to all its membership and beyond to explore possible ways to retain this workforce even as production lines slow down and to ensure payment of wages. "Second and very importantly, companies need to explore if pay cuts can be taken at the senior management level to meet the cost challenges that industry is facing following loss in demand, trade and additional expenses," it said. CII has also appealed to its members to take a proactive step in developing ventilators at low cost and at scale as going forward there may be a need to take urgent health measures to deal with the catastrophe. All major private sector hospitals have identified isolation beds for corona patients. CII has also mapped out in 20 states, the list of private hospitals and the number of isolation beds, which they are willing to provide.

COVID-19: CII suggests direct cash transfer of ₹5,000 to 40 crore people

In a phenomenal move, Prime Minister <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword> tended to the nation through Doordarshan, India's state television. This is the first run through Modi tended to the nation in this manner since he was elected over two years back. The address will be first in Hindi, trailed by an English telecast. Modi's deliver to the nation comes toward the day's end in which he met the three chiefs of the armed forces - Army Chief Dalbir Singh, <keyword id="42407" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Navy">Navy</keyword> Chief <keyword id="636191" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Sunil-Lanba">Sunil Lanba</keyword> and <keyword id="15141" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Indian-Air-Force">Indian Air Force</keyword> Vice Chief BS Dhanoa - to survey India's security taking after the tension with Pakistan. 
 National Security Advisor <keyword id="115253" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ajit-Doval">Ajit Doval</keyword> was additionally present at the meeting. The Prime Minister then chaired a meeting of his senior ministers. 
 
“Corruption, black money and terrorism can come in the way of a country's robust economic growth. From midnight of November 8, 2016, Rs. 500 and Rs.1000 will cease to be legal tender. "These notes are just papers from tomorrow," said PM Modi. 
 
Further addressing the nation he stated that these notes should be exchanged in banks and head post offices and sub post office within December 30, 2016, by providing a valid identity proof such as Aadhaar, PAN card or voter ID card. 
 
People who possess Rs.500 or Rs. 1000 currency notes after December 30 can exchange it at Reserve Bank of India by providing a declaration. This is till March 31, 2017. 
 
The ATMs will not function till November 9, and in some places till November 10. Also, Rs 10,000 daily cash withdrawal and Rs 20,000 weekly cash withdrawal limit has been set.

You Searched For "economic survey on aadhaar" and got 12 results

India's latest economic survey makes a case to use Aadhaar to create a master database for every citizen

Sriram Iyer

Technology plugged the leaks in India’s ₹60,000 crore rural employment guarantee scheme

Prabhjote Gill

Today’s top tech news: Aadhar could be a ‘master database’ of Indian citizens, NASA has a fail safe in place in case Artemis goes wrong and Indiamart’s CEO is celebrating the company's 25% jump in value

Prabhjote Gill

Today’s top tech news: Aadhar could be a ‘master database’ of Indian citizens, NASA has a fail safe in place in case Artemis goes wrong and Indiamart’s CEO is celebrating the company's IPO

India has nearly 2,000 different minimum wages and the latest Economic Survey has called for ‘uniformity’— an idea corporates won’t like

Sanchita Dash

Key Highlights of Economic Survey 2014-15

BI India Bureau

Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee says India should have used Aadhaar to give temporary ration to migrants

Navdeep Yadav

Aadhaar beats even the FBI’s data base fair and square, becoming the world’s largest biometric database

BI India Bureau

Expand online education during lockdown, Nitish asks officials

PTI

LS-FINANCE

PTI

COVID-19: CII suggests direct cash transfer of ₹5,000 to 40 crore people

IANS

Government scraps all Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes to fight corruption

BI India Bureau

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides