UP paddy procurement touches 2 million tonnes mark

Paddy procurement in the rice bowl of Uttar Pradesh has touched the 2 million tonnes (MT) mark.

In current kharif marketing season, the Yogi Adityanath government is targetting 5 MT in direct paddy procurement. Last season, about 70 percent or 3.5 MT of paddy could only be procured of the targetted 5 MT.

Thus far, total operational 3,375 procurement centres of the state procurement agencies and FCI had procured 2.15 MT of paddy and the state farmers paid nearly Rs 3,335 crore. The prevailing paddy minimum support price (MSP) stands at Rs 1,550 per quintal (100 kg).

UP food and civil supplies chief marketing officer (CMO) A K Singh said the brisk pace of paddy procurement had ensured the high level of purchase in the state, which currently stands at about four times vis-à-vis the corresponding period last year. This season, the paddy output is estimated at 21.812 MT in UP.

The state is not only one of the largest paddy producers in India, but a mammoth consumer of rice under the public distribution system (PDS). It needs about 4 MT of custom milled rice for PDS annually. If paddy procurement targets are fully achieved this year, UP farmers would pocket Rs 7,750 crore from direct sale of the crop to the government agencies.

Paddy, wheat and sugarcane are the three principal agricultural cash crops in UP.

EOM

Finland wants to tango with UP

Finland has evinced interest in partnering the Uttar Pradesh government in various sectors, including the smart city project, power, renewable energy, smart grid solutions etc.

Taking this agenda forward, Finland minister for environment, energy and housing Kimmo Tiilikainen today called upon UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath here this evening and held wide ranging discussions, while offering Finnish expertise in hordes of sectors.

Earlier in the day, industry chamber FICCI and Embassy of Finland had jointly organised an industry interaction in Lucknow. It witnessed the participation of 21 Finnish companies offering innovative and sustainable solution in the energy, smart grid, smart cities sectors, apart from some funding agencies.

The session also saw the participation of 30 Indian companies, who later partook in B2B sessions with their Finnish counterparts.

“We are here to offer our technological expertise in a wide range of sectors, including smart cities, smart grid, renewable energy, power etc. I am also looking forward to hearing the chief minister about his vision of development and to see where Finnish companies could contribute,” Tiilikainen said on the sidelines.

UP industry minister Satish Mahana and power minister Srikant Sharma represented the state government at the summit.

Tiilikainen said Finland was desirous of expanding the scope of partnership with UP in different sectors. Finnish technology could be used for energy conservation projects, while it could be employed in better traffic management, he added.

Mahana observed UP had transformed over the last six months even as he exhorted FICCI to serve as a bridge between Finland and India. He claimed now investors were showing interest in setting up their industries in the state.

Sharma said the state government had undertaken various new projects, including providing electricity connection to every household. He noted the partnership between Finland and UP would help the state develop in different sectors.

Over the past few months, the representatives of various governments, including Israel, Japan, France, Belgium and now Finland, have met Yogi and offered their expertise in the on-going state projects.

EOM

Lucknow Metro facing ‘overhead’ Chinese threat

Lucknow Metro, the country’s latest metro rail plying passenger coaches and signalling system supplied by French major Alstom, is faced with a peculiar threat of Chinese origin these days.

The Metro, which rolled out its commercial services last week over 8.5 km long elevated section, is today vulnerable to its electrical systems tripping after coming in contact with Chinese ‘manjha’ (kite string), which among other harmful chemicals contains metallic substances.

The electric supply to Lucknow Metro has tripped multiple times due to Chinese manjha getting entangled with its overhead supply cables. After a recent such incident, LMRC has filed a police complaint in this regard.

After the last Metro service every night, LMRC engineers undertake an arduous task of checking overhead cables and extricating such manjha for the smooth run of the metro the following day.

While, Chinese manjha stands banned in Lucknow, it nonetheless continues to sell illegally in the kite markets.

Earlier, LMRC had also appealed to the Lucknow residents to desist from flying kite near the metro elevated route as it engenders the safety of metro passengers, while also posing threat to the smooth running of the metro services.

The heritage city of Lucknow is famous for kite flying, especially in old residential areas and the sprouting of high rises has quite not dampened the spirits of its aficionados.

Kite flying reaches crescendo during the annual kite flying and competition carnival on ‘jamghat’, which falls on the following day of Diwali festival, the skyline becomes colourful with kites of varied shapes and sizes flying across.

On September 5, union home minister Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Aditynath had jointly flagged off the maiden commercial run of Lucknow Metro, which is touted among the fastest completing metro projects in India. Its priority section of 8.5 km reached the commercial operations stage within three years of the start of ground work.

EOM

Chinese to set up footwear park in UP

An autonomous Chinese municipality, Wenzhou is keen to setting up a leather and footwear components park in Uttar Pradesh.

Located near East China Sea, Wenzhou is a port and industrial city in China's Zhejiang province and is reckoned for its industrial clusters and parks.

Wenzhou wants to establish a footwear components park in UP, although the exact location is still not final, Council for Leather Exports (CLE) regional chairman Javed Iqbal said adding the park could come up in Lucknow, Unnao or Hardoi.

Wenzhou officials have invited the UP chief secretary to participate in the ‘China-India (Wenzhou) Dialogue on Leather Industry Capacity Cooperation’ to explore business ties. Besides, two footwear and leather industrialists, including Iqbal, have been invited at the conference, scheduled on June 19 in Wenzhou.

In backdrop of squeeze on supply of raw hide in UP due to closure of unregistered slaughter houses, the proposed park could help the leather goods manufacturers in Kanpur and other districts, Iqbal said.

Wenzhou is among China's most progressive municipalities, which are seeking global business ties two-way investments. India is Wenzhou's 5th largest export market for textiles, apparels, leather goods etc.

Earlier on April 24, Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) had also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Wenzhou for furthering Sino-Indian economic, cultural ties, tourism and educational ties.

Gorakhpur zone tops action by ‘Anti Romeo Squad’

Gorakhpur zone, which also comprises the home district of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, accounts for the maximum 64 percent of police cases filed by the ‘Anti Romeo Squad’ in the state.

The Yogi government had constituted the squad under UP Police to spearhead the state-wide drive against eve teasing in public places, such as parks and educational institutions.

So far, the squad had lodged 538 First Information Report (FIR) in the state, of which Gorakhpur zone alone accounts for 341 cases or almost 64 percent. At the same, the zone comprised 816 of the total 1,264 accused booked by the squad between March 22 and May 28, 2017 by cops.

Gorakhpur zone comprises 3 police ranges viz. Devipatan, Basti and Gorakhpur; and 11 districts, including Bahraich, Balrampur, Gonda, Sravasti, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Siddarth Nagar, Deoria, Gorakhpur, Maharajganj and Kushi Nagar.

Meerut zone topped among the 8 zones in UP for the total number of checks and swoop downs conducted by the squad during the period with 18 percent.

According to the consolidated figures, the Anti Romeo Squad had so far issued warning to nearly 3,39,000 persons under the state-wide drive after checking over 20,000 places and spots, including parks, schools, stands, railway stations, shopping malls and other public places.

FIIs invested Rs 50,000 crore in India this year

Foreign institutional investors (FII) have been bullish on India and have collectively invested nearly Rs 50,000 crore during the first five months (Jan-May) in the current 2017 calendar year.

This has been attributed to improved business sentiments and equity markets hitting record highs over the past few weeks.

Besides, the domestic retail investors have been investing Rs 4,000 crore a month in mutual funds instruments.

“The equity sentiments have been positive in India and retail investors have been bullish in their investment decisions, especially systematic investment plan (SIPs),” Principal PNB Asset Management Company chief investment officer Rajat Jain said here.

The tier II and III towns are showing promise and emerging as good equity and investment hubs.

The domestic funds industry had clocked cumulative growth of nearly 50 percent over the last two years and total asset under management (AUM) of mutual fund industry had touched the level of Rs 18,00,000 crore.

Principal PNB is a joint venture between US-based Principal Group and public sector Punjab National Bank, which is a minority share holder in the joint venture company. At present, it has AUM of nearly Rs 6,000 crore with about 4,00,000 customers pan India.

India scores diplomatic victory against Pakistan

In a major diplomatic and judicial victory for India at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), an 11-judge ICJ Bench today put on abeyance the execution order of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav until further notice.

Jadhav, an Indian national, had been sentenced to death by a Pakistan military court, after a brief and surreptitious trial, wherein he was not allowed consular access nor to meet his family. Pakistan claimed Jadhav was an Indian spy and tasked with causing subversive activities.

 In its verdict, the ICJ Bench held prima facie the Vienna Convention applied to the Kulbhushan Jadhav case. The case has become a major sticking point between the two nuclear powers of India and Pakistan.

“The decision to stay Jadhav’s execution pending ICS hearing is unanimous,” ICJ President Ronny Abraham observed. The Bench observed the 150-day clemency given by Pakistan, which ends in August suggests execution could occur imminently thereafter.

 The court pronounced its verdict on India’s plea to restrain Jadhav’s execution by Pakistan. On Monday, India had moved ICJ seeking immediate intervention by the Court to expunge the death verdict.

India has always maintained Jadhav was a former Indian Navy officer and now a businessman with trade interests in Iran and other countries. According to the Indian position, Jadhav was kidnapped by the Taliban from Iran and then handed over to Pakistan authorities.

UP to be ‘open defecation free’ by Oct 2018

 The Yogi Adityanath government is aiming to achieve open defecation free (ODF) status for Uttar Pradesh by October 2018.

To achieve this target, the government would construct about 15.5 million toilets across 75 districts in the state. The government would on-board 1,50,000 masons, who would be imparted two months’ technical training in this regard.

Under Swachh Bharat Mission, UP is working towards making all its 59,000 gram panchayats ODF by October 2018, which would correspond to the incumbent Yogi regime completing one-and-half years in office.

While, 30 districts are being targetted to be ODF by December 2017, the remaining districts would come on board by October 2018, UP additional chief secretary (panchayati raj) Chanchal Kumar Tiwari said.

One of the flagship projects of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, Swachh Bharat Mission is estimated to cost nearly Rs 62,000 crore, of which the private sector has been envisaged to contribute nearly 70 percent or a little over Rs 42,500 crore. Of the public sector expenditure, the Centre is mandated to provide about Rs 14,600 crore, while the state/union territories (UT) would contribute about Rs 4,900 crore.

The Mission, which was launched by Modi on October 2, 2014, is being implemented in all the 4,041 statutory towns and cities across India. It aims at eliminating open defecation and manual scavenging, besides promoting modern and scientific municipal solid waste management.

Yogi targets Rs 41,610 crore in fresh crop loan advances

In the backdrop of the Yogi Adityanath cabinet announcing crop loan waiver of over Rs 36,000 crore, the Uttar Pradesh cabinet has now set a target of disbursing Rs 41,610 crore as fresh crop loans to farmers in the 2017 kharif season.

The government would also disburse 4.7 million Kisan Credit Cards to help farmers avail loans for input procurement. UP is targetting to double farmers’ income over the next five years.

On April 4, the Yogi cabinet had announced crop loan wavier of Rs 30,729 crore. An additional Rs 5,630 crore was announced to be written off in non-performing assets (NPA) accumulated by banks in the agricultural sector. Thus, the total relief amounted to Rs 36,359 crore, benefitting 8.6 million farmers in the state.

There are about 23 million farmers in UP, of which about 92.5 per cent, or roughly 21.5 million belong to the small and marginal segments.

Meanwhile, the state government has set a target of 9.16 million hectares of acreage in the current 2017 kharif cropping season. Likewise, it is targetting about 5 per cent increase in the kharif production from 18.51 million tonnes in 2016 to 19.46 million tonnes this year.

Of the kharif crop, the paddy crop is estimated to clock 5.6 per cent higher production in 2017 to 15.13 million tonnes from 14,39 million tonnes in 2016, although paddy acreage is not likely to rise, thus indicating better yield.

What makes ‘Bhabhiji ghar par hain’ click!

Every night, an ordinary Indian household, especially in the Hindi belt of the North, the entire family sits close and tune in to the laugh riot of ‘Bhabhiji ghar par hain’ being dished out on the idiot box.

The popular sitcom has completed three years on TV and continues its strong run, although a female lead was replaced last year owing to differences with the producer. Even her departure was soon forgotten and the viewers lapped up the new female lead in the serial, which shows its strong brand equity.

Not only women and children, but the sitcom has been mesmerising even the male audiences with its rather simple story narrations and plots.

But, what really clicks with its aficionados and kept its popularity soaring high? Its main actors have become popular with the general audience cutting across socioeconomic barriers and their screen names are more in currency than their real ones.

I thin, the main reason for its popularity lies in the clean entertainment and comedy relief that the people get at the day’s end, while the sitcom also narrates stories of everyday life. Even the lingo is colloquial which ignites a known and homely feeling with the serial. Its next door characters and settings are other bonuses.

The peeping toms of Vibhuti Narain and Tiwari ji in search of a glimpse of their neighbourhood bhabhis keep the viewers in split. The antics of the two bhabhis has endeared them to the scores of women and of course men, the young and old alike in equal measure.

Then there are the sidekicks of Happu Singh, a bribe taking yet harmless and potbellied cop, who is seen chewing pan and mouthing hilarious one liners. The local ruffians of Tika and Malkhan along with a near lunatic Saxena ji, dishy Gulfan Kali, lecherous Prem et al complete the picture, leaving the audiences asking for more.

Yogi wants 100 day' report card from ministers

Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh is working on a 100 day agenda to metamorphose the work culture in the state bureaucracy to improve governance and thus faster socioeconomic development.

Now, the government has directed its ministers to issue a ‘White Paper’ pertaining to their departments at the end of 100 days of the new dispensation.

Yogi has asked all district magistrates and police chiefs to listen to the people’s grievances on a daily based during 900-1100 hours. The government has reiterated its zero tolerance policy towards law and order and corruption issues.

The government has also appointed individual ministers as in charge of different districts for better policy implantation, taking feedback and redress of grievance.

In recent weeks, Yogi has effected transfer of senior bureaucrats and police officials to post his choice of officials on key posts of district magistrates, commissioners, police chiefs etc. Recently, it posted UP’s senior most serving Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Sulkhan Singh as the new Director General of Police (DGP) of the state, which is home to the world’s largest single command police force.

Yogi mirroring Modi’s themes in UP

The month old Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh is not only transforming the work culture among policymakers and bureaucrats, but also embracing the flagships themes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

These themes viz. cashless economy, cleanliness, modern technology, social media tools etc. have been espoused by Modi, who is also their biggest icon in the country.

Taking cue from Modi, Yogi has asked UP information department to create a robust social media system for propagating state government policies and schemes.

The department has been asked to popularise schemes through Facebook, Twitter etc. He said the information was tasked with contributing towards making UP as the most progressive state through speedier dissemination of information.

Yogi has also espoused the objectives of cashless economy and cleanliness drives. He

directed the information department to prepare a work plan to apprise people of the life of BJP ideologue Deendayal Upadhyay in his birth centenary year.

However, while social media would be used liberally by departments, the government and police officials had earlier been advised to use social media with caution, especially while expressing personal opinion over controversial and sensitive issues.

Even the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ministers and leaders had been advised to exercise restraint lest they embarrass the party and government.

Bollywood superstar Vinod Khanna dead

Bollywood superstar Vinod Khanna today died at a Mumbai hospital at the age of 70 after battling cancer.

Khanna had worked in about 100 films playing a variety of roles ranging from the main protagonist, villain, character etc. He was born on October 6, 1946.

Besides, he also made a mark as a politician and represented Punjab's Gurdaspur parliamentary constituency four times as a BJP member.

He is survived by wife Kavita Daftari, three sons Rahul, Akshay and Sakshi, and daughter Shraddha. He had earlier divorced his first wife Geetanjali.

His starred in popular films such as Mere Apne, Mera Gaon Mera Desh, Imitihaan, Inkaar, Amar Akbar Anthony, Rajput, Qurbani, Kudrat, Dayavan, Suryaa, Jurm, Dabangg etc.

He had also won the Filmfare and other cine awards for his acting.

Of late, he had receded from the public glare due to ill health and recently his photograph recuperating in the hospital had gone viral in social media. The photograph featured a frail looking Khanna sporting a blue patient dress and flanked by his family members.

His death has been condoled by politicians, costars and other film stars.

Yogi formulating exit policy for industry

Providing a major succour to the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) in Uttar Pradesh, the Adityanath Yogi government is giving shape to a progressive exit policy for industry.

The exit policy for sick and defunct industrial units has long been pending with the state government over successive regimes, yet it could never see the light of day.

MSMEs have all along been demanding an exit policy to allow the promoters of such units start new ventures or dispose of distressed assets.

UP MSME and export promotion principal secretary Rajnish Dubey recently said here the exit policy, which had been pending for the last several years, was now under active consideration.

In its first cabinet meeting on April 5, the Yogi regime had constituted a Group of Ministers (GoM) to draft the New UP Industrial Policy. The GoM is chaired by deputy chief minister (CM) Dinesh Sharma and comprises senior ministers Rajesh Agarwal, Satish Mahana, Gopal Das Nandi and Srikant Sharma as members.

The GoM has been mandated to visit progressive industrial states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh to study their relevant policies and prepare a similar document for UP to spur industrialisation and investment.

The MSME sector is the backbone of the UP industrial base and contributes about 60 percent to its annual industrial output. It directly employs roughly 40 million workforce and generates direct economic activity worth Rs 1,20,000 crore annually.

The state is home to over 5 million MSMEs and the sector is the second largest employment generator after agriculture.

To cut 'inspector raj' with regards to industry, especially relating to the labour department, the Yogi government is studying the Maharashtra state policy, which entails self certification by concerned industrial units.

Besides, the government is mulling setting up of private industrial estates and parks spanning 20-100 acres all over the state to boost industrialisation and startups.

UP MSME and export promotion minister Satyadev Pachauri had also met industrialists affiliated to Indian Industries Association (IIA) for taking their feedback for submission to the GoM. The new policy would contain provisions for the state MSME sector as well.

Another long pending grouse of the MSME sector relating to the single window system is also being addressed in the proposed new industrial policy. The GoM is studying the single window clearance system being followed in Telangana and Gujarat to evolve a similar system for the state to usher in both transparency and speed in the clearance process.

The MSMEs have even demanded that the single window system be implemented through legislation to give it a statutory status.

Yogi to intensify policing in industrial areas to boost investment

To attract investment and boost investors’ confidence in Uttar Pradesh, the Yogi Adityanath government is mulling posting a Superintendent of Police (SP) rank officer in select industrial clusters of the state.

At the same time, the draft UP Industrial Policy is likely to allow private industrial parks and industrial corridors to flank all major expressways and highways. The single window system, which has been in the existence in the state for several years now on papers than practically, would be energised and put in execution mode.

Poor law and order coupled with lacking basic infrastructure of roads, power and a non-functional single window clearance system in UP have long been cited as the main impediments towards rapid industrialisation in the state, which still remains largely agrarian.

In its maiden cabinet meeting on April 5, the Yogi dispensation had among other major decisions had constituted a Group of Ministers (GoM) to draft the New UP Industrial Policy. The GoM is headed by deputy chief minister (CM) and former Lucknow mayor Dinesh Sharma.

The GoM is mandated to visit comparatively progressive industrial states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh to study their relevant policies and prepare a similar document for UP to spur industrialisation and investment. The new policy would further tackle unemployment and arrest the migration of youth to other states for jobs.