‘New Delhi Declaration’:-
For the first time, under the impetus of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the French Space Agency (CNES), space agencies of more than 60 countries agreed to engage their satellites, to coordinate their methods and their data to monitor human-induced greenhouse gas emissions.
The COP21 climate conference held in Paris last December acted as a wake-up call in this context. Without satellites, the reality of global warming would not have been recognised and the subsequent historic agreement at the United Nations headquarters in New York on April 22, 2016 would not have been signed.
Out of the 50 essential climate variables being monitored today, 26 – including rising sea level, sea ice extent and greenhouse gas concentrations in all layers of the atmosphere – can be measured only from space.
The key to effectively implementing the Paris Agreement lies in the ability to verify that nations are fulfilling their commitments to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Only satellites can do that.
Invited to New Delhi by ISRO and CNES on April 3, 2016, the world’s space agencies decided to establish “an independent, international system” to centralise data from their Earth-observing satellites through the ‘New Delhi Declaration’ that officially came into effect on May 16, 2016.
The goal now will be to inter-calibrate these satellite data so that they can be combined and compared over time. In other words, it is to make the transition to closely coordinated and easily accessible ‘big space data’.
Earth observation satellites provide a vital means of obtaining measurements of the climate system from a global perspective. ISRO is committed for the continuity of earth observation data, through the thematic series of satellites, with improvements en-route, to meet contemporary as well as future needs.
ISRO is also engaging with CNES, JAXA and NASA for realising joint missions for global climate observation with advanced instruments.
With this consensus among space agencies from more than 60 nations, including the world’s leading space powers, the international space community and scientists now have the tools they need to put their talent, intelligence and optimism to work for the good of humankind and our planet.
India becomes co-chair of Working Group on Maritime Situational Awareness under Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia
The 19th Plenary Session of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS) took place in Mahe, Seychelles during 31 May – 3 June 2016. India was chosen to co-chair the important Working Group on Improving Maritime Situational Awareness (MSA) in the Region through consensus. The session was chaired by Mr. Joel Morgan, the Foreign Minister of the Seychelles and more than 60 countries and organisations participated in the four-day meeting.
Seychelles is the current chairman of the CGPCS for the biennium 2016-17. An Indian delegation led by the Additional Secretary, Ministry of Shipping and comprising of officers of the Indian Navy, Ministry of External Affairs and Directorate General of Shipping represented India in this important meeting that discussed the actions taken and their results in combating piracy in the Indian Ocean across the coast of Somalia.
Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS)
It may be recalled that the CGPCS was set up as a group of interested and affected nations, industry associations and multilateral agencies to take pro-active steps for checking piracy in the Indian Ocean region through a UN Security Council resolution.
In its 7 year of working the Contact Group has been able to effectively deal with the issues relating to piracy off the coast of Somalia. The CGPCS has been spearheading its efforts through four Working Groups (WGs) focused on Capacity Building on legal, judicial framework and processes, and poverty alleviation in Somalia, Improving Maritime Situational Awareness in Indian Ocean Region and coordinating efforts for Disrupting Piracy Networks.
The Indian Navy and Coast Guard have played a very important role by enhanced patrolling in the high seas and providing armed naval escorts to ships moving in the area. Other countries and organisations such as EU, US-led Combined Maritime Forces, NATO, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea have also significantly contributed to increased alertness and patrolling in the region due to which the piracy problem has been largely contained.
To protect Indian ships and Indian citizens employed in sea-faring duties, Indian Navy commenced anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden from 23 October 2008. In addition to escorting Indian-flagged ships, ships of other countries have also been escorted by the Indian Navy.
Merchant ships are currently being escorted along the entire length (490 nm long and 20 nm wide) of the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC) which is heavily patrolled by Indian Navy vessels. According to information received more than 25 IN ships are deployed for patrolling, escorting ships and in anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden. To maintain high degree of alertness in the region, around 19 coastal security operations and exercises have been undertaken over the past year.
During the height of piracy all the ships calling on and leaving Indian ports passing through the High Risk Area (HRA), which was drawn at the Indian Ocean area west of 78 degrees E longitude and therefore which affected almost 22000 ships calling on and leaving from Indian ports, to pay an additional premium to insurance companies most of whom were based outside India.
It is estimated that this premium, called Additional War Risk Premium (AWRP) amounted to around Rupees 8500 crores during the years 2010 to 2015. This premium amount was added in the overall freight charges and therefore the Indian consumer had to bear the burden of this extra premium amount.
Therefore, the Ministry of Shipping took up the issue of redrawal of the High Risk Area Line back to 65 Degrees E (from 78 deg E) in the International Maritime Organization and CGPCS in 2015 and as a result the HRA was redrawn at 65 deg E. Thereby the ships coming to or leaving Indian ports do not have to pay AWRP now.
Thus India’s taking over as co-chair of Working Group on Maritime Situational Awareness is in recognition of its pro-active role in combating the problem of piracy off the Somalian Coast and in the Indian Ocean Region.
PM inaugurates Afghan-India Friendship Dam wapcos executes landmark infrastructure project
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi jointly inaugurated the Afghan-India Friendship Dam (Salma Dam) with President of Afghanistan Dr. Ashraf Ghani at Chist-e-Sharif in Herat province in Western Afghanistan today.
Afghan-India Friendship Dam is a Multipurpose project planned for generating 42 MW of power, irrigating 75000 hectares of land, water supply and other benefits to the people of Afghanistan.
Salma Dam is a landmark infrastructure project undertaken by Government of India on river Hari Rud , in Herat province of Afghanistan. The project was executed and implemented by WAPCOS Ltd., a Government of India Undertaking under Mministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.
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Petrol in India is cheaper than in countries like Hong Kong, Germany and the UK but costlier than in China, Brazil, Japan, the US, Russia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, a Bank of Baroda Economics Research report showed.
Rising fuel prices in India have led to considerable debate on which government, state or central, should be lowering their taxes to keep prices under control.
The rise in fuel prices is mainly due to the global price of crude oil (raw material for making petrol and diesel) going up. Further, a stronger dollar has added to the cost of crude oil.
Amongst comparable countries (per capita wise), prices in India are higher than those in Vietnam, Kenya, Ukraine, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Venezuela. Countries that are major oil producers have much lower prices.
In the report, the Philippines has a comparable petrol price but has a per capita income higher than India by over 50 per cent.
Countries which have a lower per capita income like Kenya, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Venezuela have much lower prices of petrol and hence are impacted less than India.
“Therefore there is still a strong case for the government to consider lowering the taxes on fuel to protect the interest of the people,” the report argued.
India is the world’s third-biggest oil consuming and importing nation. It imports 85 per cent of its oil needs and so prices retail fuel at import parity rates.
With the global surge in energy prices, the cost of producing petrol, diesel and other petroleum products also went up for oil companies in India.
They raised petrol and diesel prices by Rs 10 a litre in just over a fortnight beginning March 22 but hit a pause button soon after as the move faced criticism and the opposition parties asked the government to cut taxes instead.
India imports most of its oil from a group of countries called the ‘OPEC +’ (i.e, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Russia, etc), which produces 40% of the world’s crude oil.
As they have the power to dictate fuel supply and prices, their decision of limiting the global supply reduces supply in India, thus raising prices
The government charges about 167% tax (excise) on petrol and 129% on diesel as compared to US (20%), UK (62%), Italy and Germany (65%).
The abominable excise duty is 2/3rd of the cost, and the base price, dealer commission and freight form the rest.
Here is an approximate break-up (in Rs):
a)Base Price | 39 |
b)Freight | 0.34 |
c) Price Charged to Dealers = (a+b) | 39.34 |
d) Excise Duty | 40.17 |
e) Dealer Commission | 4.68 |
f) VAT | 25.35 |
g) Retail Selling Price | 109.54 |
Looked closely, much of the cost of petrol and diesel is due to higher tax rate by govt, specifically excise duty.
So the question is why government is not reducing the prices ?
India, being a developing country, it does require gigantic amount of funding for its infrastructure projects as well as welfare schemes.
However, we as a society is yet to be tax-compliant. Many people evade the direct tax and that’s the reason why govt’s hands are tied. Govt. needs the money to fund various programs and at the same time it is not generating enough revenue from direct taxes.
That’s the reason why, govt is bumping up its revenue through higher indirect taxes such as GST or excise duty as in the case of petrol and diesel.
Direct taxes are progressive as it taxes according to an individuals’ income however indirect tax such as excise duty or GST are regressive in the sense that the poorest of the poor and richest of the rich have to pay the same amount.
Does not matter, if you are an auto-driver or owner of a Mercedes, end of the day both pay the same price for petrol/diesel-that’s why it is regressive in nature.
But unlike direct tax where tax evasion is rampant, indirect tax can not be evaded due to their very nature and as long as huge no of Indians keep evading direct taxes, indirect tax such as excise duty will be difficult for the govt to reduce, because it may reduce the revenue and hamper may programs of the govt.