Day: October 29, 2012

MNS:- Please find below the text of the Statement of the Union Finance Minister Shri P. Chidambaram on Fiscal Roadmap and Consolidation made here today by him in a Press Conference:
“Shortly after I assumed office, I issued a statement on August 6, 2012 outlining the steps that would need to be taken to meet the challenges that face the Indian economy. At the top of the list was the need for fiscal consolidation. I had referred to the appointment of a Committee chaired by Dr. Vijay Kelkar to assist the Government in formulating a path of fiscal consolidation. The Committee’s report was put on the website a few weeks ago.
The Economic Slowdown
In 2011-12, the slowdown in the world economy, lower growth in India, higher inflation, lower tax receipts and increased expenditure (including subsidies) led to considerable fiscal stress. At the end of the year, the fiscal deficit was at 5.8 per cent of GDP. Government recognised that, if immediate corrective steps were not taken, the economy may go into a cycle of low growth, high inflation and high deficit. That would be unacceptable, given the need to generate jobs and incomes for a large population, most of whom are young. Therefore, on behalf of the Government, I reiterated our commitment to bring the economy back on the high growth trajectory. Towards this end, some difficult but crucial decisions were taken recently. It is a matter of satisfaction that, despite the additional burden on certain sections of the people, by and large, the people have understood the imperative need for such difficult decisions.
The Report of the Kelkar Committee
The Kelkar Committee has cautioned us that a business-as-usual scenario for the current year may lead to the fiscal deficit rising to 6.1 per cent of GDP. This would have grave consequences for the economy is, therefore, totally unacceptable. The Committee has recommended a number of reform measures in taxation, disinvestment and expenditure. On the taxation side, the Committee has strongly advocated a transition to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and a quick review of the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) before its introduction and passing in Parliament. Besides, the Committee has recommended administrative measures to improve tax collection. On disinvestment, the Committee has suggested a number of new models for disinvestment and has also urged Government to disinvest its residual stake in some companies that were privatised earlier. On the expenditure side, the Committee has suggested rationalisation of schemes and strict control and monitoring of expenditure. These recommendations are wholesome and have been accepted by the Government.
The Department of Revenue and the Department of Expenditure have initiated action on the recommendations of the Committee. The Department of Disinvestment has obtained approval of the Cabinet for disinvestment in Hindustan Copper Ltd., NALCO, SAIL, RINL, BHEL, OIL, MMTC and NMDC. Government expects to realise the budgeted receipts under ‘disinvestment’ and ‘non-tax receipts’. Every effort will also be made to realise the revenues budgeted under ‘tax receipts’. Government also expects to be able to contain and economise on expenditure, both on the Plan and the non-Plan side. While funds will be made available for essential expenditure, especially capital expenditure, every effort will be made to avoid parking or idling of funds. As regards subsidies, Government will also increasingly rely on Aadhaar-enabled direct cash transfers of merit subsidies to eliminate duplication or falsification.
The Twin Deficits – CAD and FD
Government is determined to address the twin challenges of current account deficit (CAD) and fiscal deficit (FD). During 2011-12, the CAD increased to USD 78.2 billion or 4.2 per cent of GDP. The Department of Economic Affairs, in consultation with the RBI, has projected a CAD of USD 70.3 billion in 2012-13 or 3.7 per cent of GDP. Any moderation in CAD would be welcome. Government is confident that the CAD will be fully financed by capital inflows, and expects that a substantial part of it will be in the form of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), Foreign Institutional Investments (FII) and External Commercial Borrowings (ECB).

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/p-chidambaram-on-fiscal-roadmap-and-consolidation/

MNS:- Following is the text of the speech made by the President Shri Pranab Mukherjee at a function organized to pay homage to Cartoonist Late Shri P.K.S. Kutty at Rashtrapati Bhavan today:
“I am happy to participate in this special meeting convened to pay homage to Cartoonist Late Shri P.K.S. Kutty.
Shri Kutty arrived in Delhi in 1941 as an understudy to the legendary Shankar. For around 57 years, he commented day after day on the national scene, chronicling the modern history of India through some of its momentous phases. Kutty spent much of his career in Delhi. As a veteran cartoonist with a Central Hall pass, he was a regular presence in Parliament House.
I am told way back in the 1960s, the late Kamaraj ji asked Kutty in a lighter vein who his choice for Prime Minister was. Kutty replied, “Give me a PM who is easy to draw.” Of course Kutty went on to draw every PM with equal ease – from Panditji to Manmohan Singhji.
I have been a recurring target of Kutty’s cartoons in my long years in public life, particularly because he drew for Bengali newspapers like Ananda Bazar Patrika and Aaj Kal. It is the job of a cartoonist to convey important social messages by using humour as a tool. Laughter is a stress buster for the public as well as the politician. The cartoon reminds the public that the ruler is as fallible and human as they are.
The cartoon came to us as part of British legacy. It however found a receptive Indian mind awaiting it. Humour magazines blossomed in many parts of the country modeled on the London Punch. By one estimate as many as 70 Punch-like magazines and newspapers had appeared in at least a dozen Indian towns by the end of 19th Century. We had the Urdu Punch, Awadh Punch and Parsee Punch. I am sure it would be of interest to this gathering that we have discovered in our Rashtrapati Bhavan Library a rare collection of Punch magazines published from 1843 to 1927. We are in the process of restoring these magazines and would be happy to open them out for viewing by cartoonists and scholars of modern history as soon as they are ready.
Till about the late 1980s, a leader was recognised more by her caricature than the photograph. So much so that the older leaders collected and displayed their caricatures in their workplace. They could live with their own funny pictures, and because they found in the popular cartoon a ready connect to the public. I myself had cartoons of me drawn by Laxman on my walls till recently.
A cartoonist like Kutty put across his comment sharply but with refreshing humour and he as well as his guru, Shankar, passed on this culture to succeeding generations of cartoonists.
To be able to lampoon without hurting, caricature without distorting, to say with a few strokes of the brush what lengthy editorials fail to express—this is the art of the cartoonist. Cartoonists hold up the mirror to our public life and help us as a nation to see ourselves. We, as a country, must return to the Nehruvian times; cultivate a temper which welcomes criticism, where comment is free but facts are held sacred.
Indira ji has written in her foreword to a collection of Shankar’s cartoons on Nehru “Cartoons have become an integral part of the intellectual life of a modern society. Some draw without intent to draw blood; some remove masks and hold a mirror to the face of the society. There cannot be a cartoon without a certain amount of irreverence”.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/job-of-a-cartoonist-is-to-convey-important-social-messages-by-using-humour-as-a-tool/