Polity and Governance

Rs. 65,250 cr. mopped up via new black money window

Of the total money decleared, 45 per cent would accrue to the government as tax and penalty,
says Arun Jaitley.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday announced that the Central Board of Direct
Taxes (CBDT) had received total disclosures of Rs. 65,250 crore under the Income
Disclosure Scheme, 2016 in the form of cash and other assets.
The Minister added that since some disclosures that were received manually were yet to be
tabulated and verified, the figure could be revised upward. The four-month window under the
scheme for declaring undisclosed income or black money that had escaped assessment closed
at Friday midnight. Mr. Jaitley refused to draw comparisons of the current Income
Declaration Scheme (IDS), 2016 with the Voluntary Disclosure Scheme of 1997, in which the
then government, he said, had mopped up Rs. 9,760 crore in taxes at an average of about Rs.
7 lakh per declarant. Unlike the IDS, Mr. Jaitley said, the earlier scheme had not penalised the
declarents and allowed them to value the assets declared at the market prices of 1987 rather
than current rates.
Mr. Jaitley told a media conference that the disclosures received were significant, given the
average disclosure is of about Rs 1 crore. In all, 64,275 declarations were filed online and
via the prescribed forms. With the final stock taking of declarations being filed in physical
printed forms all over the country till late night on the last day, this number is likely to be
further revised upwards, an official release said.
Assets with tax penalty
The scheme had provided a one-time opportunity to black money holders who had not paid
full taxes in the past to come clean by declaring their domestic undisclosed income and assets
by paying tax plus penalty at the rate of 45 per cent. No target for disclosures or collections
from the scheme had been set for the CBDT, Mr Jaitley said. The government stands to mop
up 45 per cent of this, or about Rs 29,000 crore, in taxes and penalties.
The CBDT removed the difficulties that had been expressed by those wanting to avail of the
scheme, especially with respect to making the tax payment within a short span by agreeing to
accept it in three instalments, the last being in September 2017. The declarents have been
assured of absolute confidentiality.
The income tax and penalties collected under the scheme will be used for public welfare, Mr.
Jaitley said. If we become a totally tax-compliant country we will have more resources for
public welfare.
Mr. Jaitley shared the progress of the steps, he said, the BJP-led NDA Government had taken
in the last two years for increasing tax compliance and reducing tax avoidance in the country.
In the 175 cases of black money allegedly stashed overseas in HSBC bank accounts, the
CBDT has already filed 164 prosecutions following assessments of sums that add up to Rs
8,000 crore. The probe is being monitored by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), set up
under the directions of the Supreme Court.
Following the leads from the investigations undertaken by the International Consortium of
Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), the CBDT has detected Rs.5,000 crore of undisclosed
deposits in foreign accounts made and filed 55 prosecution cases in those cases. Similarly,
investigation in the Panama cases has led to 250 references being made to other countries
asking for details about tax evaders, bank accounts etc. A quantum jump in the searches and
survey has resulted in the seizure of Rs.1986 crore as well as undisclosed income of
Rs.56,378 crore in the last two and half years, the Finance Minister said.
By more intensive monitoring of the database of non-filers of tax returns, the CBDT realised
Rs.16,000 crore in additional tax collection. Cases of prosecution and compounding in the
last two and half years rose to 3,626, the release said.
Bihar govt. may implement new prohibition Act today
Even after the Patna High Court on Friday set aside the prohibition law in Bihar made
effective from April 5, the State government appeared set to implement the new stringent
Bihar Excise and Prohibition Act, 2016, from Sunday.
The government may also file a special leave petition in the Supreme Court soon to challenge
the High Courts order. The Patna High Court order has come in relation with the previous
Act of prohibition made effective from April 5 in the State but the new Bihar Excise and
Prohibition Act, 2016, will be implemented from October 2, said additional Advocate
General Lalit Kishore.
Earlier, both the Houses of Bihar legislature passed the new prohibition law and it was also
formally ratified by Governor Ram Nath Kovind.
On Sunday, the Chief Minister is likely to chair a Cabinet meeting, which is usually held on
Tuesdays, to take a final decision regarding the notification and implementation of the Act.
Cosmetic changes?
However, the legal experts told The Hindu that the amended law is based on the main text of
the previous prohibition Act.
It is only some changes have been made here and there to make the new Act more effective
otherwise the main copy of the prohibition is the previous one which was struck down by
the Patna High Court on Friday, said Patna High Court lawyer Mukesh Kumar.
Meanwhile, sources told The Hindu that over 13,000 people arrested under the previous law
have started approaching lawyers to move for bail.

India to push for funds at climate talks

Will set up a pavilion to showcase Gandhijis low carbon lifestyle
A day before India ratifies the Paris climate agreement, Environment Minister Anil Dave
confirmed at a press briefing that there was no link between India ratifying the deal and its
membership to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and emphasised that India would push for
finance and technology from developed countries at the forthcoming talks in Morocco.
There is no connection between ratification and membership [of the Nuclear Supplier
Group]. Before ratifying the deal we wanted to have wide consultation and that when the deal
was executed, things should be clear from Indias view, he said. That was cleared and now
we have signed it.
PM Narendra Modi announced in Kozhikode on September 25 that India would ratify the
Paris climate deal. The ratification document will be submitted Sunday evening (IST) at the
offices of the UN Secretary-General by Syed Akbaruddin, Indias Permanent Representative
to the UN, o his representative said environment ministry officials.
It is still unclear what led India to dramatically alter its position from mere weeks ago. NITI
Aayog Vice-Chairman, Arvind Panagariya had, at the G20 summit in China last month, said
that India wasnt ready in terms of the domestic actions that were required to ratify or at
least commit to ratify [the Paris deal] within 2016.
After Indias bid to enter the NSG was rebuffed by China at Seoul in June, the Ministry of
External Affairs had said, An early positive decision by the NSG would have allowed us to
move forward on the Paris Agreement.
Technology transfer
Mr. Dave said at the forthcoming climate talks in Morocco in November, India would stress
most on trying to operationalise the $100 billion corpus called the Green Climate Fund
that has been committed by developed countries to aid policy, projects and technology
transfer to buffer against the impact of climate change. Only a fraction of it has been pledged
so far.
India will also set up a pavilion at the climate talks in Morocco to showcase Gandhijis low
carbon lifestyle. India would push, Mr. Dave said in a statement, for developed countries to
make good on their prior commitments on finance and technology. So far we have got only
$ 2 million of the $10 million committed this year, he said. Hardly any money has come
and thats going to be the focus of our negotiations.
The funds will help nations work on fulfilling their Intended Nationally Determined
Contributions (INDC) which aim to reduce carbon emissions through a host of solutions. Mr.
Dave said that India has already completed 12 per cent of all pre-2020 Intended National
Determined Contributions (INDC), or the road map by which it will make good on its
commitments to reduce carbon emissions.
As part of its INDC plans, India had promised to bring down its emissions intensity, or
emissions per unit of the GDP, by at least 33 per cent by the year 2030 as compared to 2005
levels.
India got 3% less rain than normal: IMD
India has ended up with 3 per cent less rain than normal during the monsoon months of June
to September.
This is the first time since 2011 that the department was not able to forecast the overall sign
of the monsoon meaning that it expected heavy rain but ended up with less than normal. In
2014 and 2015, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) could not anticipate the severity
of the droughts but had indicated that monsoon would be below normal.
In 2011, the IMD said India would get below normal (95% of the average) rain, but the
country ended up with 2 per cent more rain than normal.
I am not much worried that we couldnt get the trend right because all [monsoon] models in
the world had expected a La Nina to form during the end of the monsoon, K.J. Ramesh,
Director-General of the IMD, told The Hindu. Moreover there have been no reports of
moisture stress from any region.
Mr. Ramesh added that through the monsoon months, there were indications that East and
Northwest India would see rain deficits, but the delayed La Nina greatly affected the rains in
South India, which has so far seen an 8 per cent deficit.
Deficient rain over South India led to riots and violence in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over
the sharing of Cauvery waters. The IMD is expected to release a formal report on the
monsoons performance on Monday.
Good sowing
The activation phase of La Nina a weather phenomenon that is the converse of the El Nino
and brings good rains to India was supposed to boost rainl in September. However the
near normal rains have so far been well distributed, Mr. Ramesh said, and had contributed
to good kharif sowing.

Siddaramiah not defying SC, says plea

Apex court orders in contravention of National Drinking Water policy 2012,

says review petition

Karnataka on Saturday said its Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was not defying the Supreme
Court and the State had indeed complied with the courts orders of September 5 and 12 and
released water to Tamil Nadu.
Seeking an urgent review of the Supreme Courts orders to set up the Cauvery Management
Board (CMB), Karnataka, in its petition said that through its Chief Minister, it was now
pleading the impossibility to further release water from its reservoirs.

On the order to set up the CMB, Karnataka said the Board was vested with powers and
functions which were unnecessary and intrude into the legislative and executive powers
of the State. This Honble Court may not be correct in directing the constitution of Cauvery
Management Board ... specially when the Cauvery Management Board is vested with the
powers and functions which are not only unnecessary and intrude into Legislative and
Executive power of the State derived from Entry 17 of the State list to the 7th Schedule of the
Constitution, the petition said.

It asked whether the Supreme Court, by disregarding the National Water Policy 2012, is
giving importance to the irrigation requirements of Tamil Nadu than the drinking water
requirement of the Karnataka.

It may not be right to direct Karnataka to release further waters to Tamil Nadu when the
present live storage of water in the four reservoirs of Karnataka is insufficient even to meet
the drinking water requirement of Bangalore city, towns and villages. It would cause
irreparable injury to Karnataka. The water cannot be retrieved even in the case of a good,
normal North-East monsoon, the petition said. It said that from September 5 to September 29,
Karnataka has ensured 17.05 tmc ft at Biligundlu.

Relieve judiciary of avoidable burden: CJI

Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur on Saturday urged the Law Ministry to devise a
mechanism to relieve the judicial system of the avoidable burden arising out of sheer
apathy, indifference or incapacity of the government and its departments to take certain
decisions.

He also asked the government to set up a panel, comprising former judges, to decide whether
or not to fight a case against any citizen when the issue could be resolved outside court.

He was speaking at the launch of a theme song for the National Legal Services Authority
(NALSA) here. The NALSA was constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987,
to provide free legal services to the weaker sections.

The CJI referred to certain unnecessary cases which could be screened before reaching
court and solved at the administrative level itself. We are doing justice, isnt that the
government also supposed to do? Why should we force the citizen to go to court at all. I
would request the Government of India to devise some mechanism to resolve these issues
outside court....You can have a panel of former judges of impeccable honesty. Let them
decide, he said.
Minister of Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad, who addressed the inaugural session of
National Consultation on Challenges in Mediation and Way Forward, proposed the
digitalisation of 622 district NALSA centres to make them more efficient and effective.

Help acid attack victims

He also asked the NALSA to help the victims of acid attacks. I would recommend that
victims of acid attack also be taken on a priority basis by framing a special scheme for them,
he said.

Senior Supreme Court Judge and NALSA executive chairman Justice A.R. Dave said
mediation was the best way to resolve a dispute in the alternate dispute redress system. SC
judges Dipak Misra and Madan B. Lokur spoke.

PM Narendra Modi inaugurates India Sanitation conference in New Delhi

Ahead of the second anniversary of Swachh Bharat Mission on Sunday this week, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi will address chief ministers, ministers, elected representatives of
people, district collectors, municipal commissioners of 500 AMRUT cities and other
stakeholders in New Delhi today.

He will inaugurate the day long INDOSAN (India Sanitation Conference) on Friday meant
for taking stock of the progress made under the Swachh Bharat mission.

After the inaugural session, Urban Development Minister M.Venkaiah Naidu and Drinking
Water and Sanitation Minister Narendra Singh Tomar will co-chair a plenary session on
Behavioral Change -Aspects of Swachh Bharat Mission.

Later, Cabinet Secretary P.K.Sinha will chair a session on Inter-Ministerial

Cooperation. There will be six thematic sessions on various aspects of Swachh Bharat
Mission. Prime Minister Modi, other leaders and participants would a sign a declaration
reiterating the countrys commitment to ensure Open Defecation Free and Clean India.

Eleven individuals and organisations who have made significant contribution for generating
awareness about sanitation and motivating people in this regard would be honoured during
the conference.

Swachh Bharat Mission, launched on October 2, 2014 envisages a Clean India by October 2,
2019 coinciding with the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

India and world relations

Maldives seeks SAARC meet at an early date:

The Maldives has urged SAARC members to create an environment conducive to

holding the 19th summit at an early date.
 The appeal comes after some SAARC countries expressed their inability to attend the
summit scheduled for November 9 and 10 in Islamabad because of terrorism and
threats to regional and international peace.

Maldivian Foreign Ministry said: The Maldives condemns international terrorism,

especially those originating from outside.

The neighbouring Sri Lanka has expressed regret over the recent developments and
said the environment was not conducive to holding the summit.

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), led by the former President Mohamed Naheed,
said it was deeply saddened by the loss of Indian soldiers in the recent terror attack.
It lauded India for its continued restraint and measured response.

It said cross-border terrorism posed a great threat to the region. Pakistan must combat
and delegitimise terror groups in the region.

U.S. flays Pak. for threatening India with nuclear attack:

The United States has conveyed to Pakistan that nuclear threats are not acceptable.
The message was conveyed after Pakistans Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad
Asif said twice in the span of a week that his country could use tactical nuclear
weapons against India.

What U.S is saying:

U.S has conveyed to Pakistan that no nuclear capable country is expected to threaten
anyone with the use of nukes.

U.S has been urging both countries to pull back and de-escalate.

They made it clear that what happened in the Indian Army base in Uri is an act of
cross-border terrorism.

The U.S is concerned about the safety of Pakistani nuclear weapons otherwise also.
The safety of these weapons is always a concern for us. So we are always monitoring
it, regardless of what they said on this particular occasion.

Background:

We haven't kept the devices that we have just as showpieces. But if our safety is
threatened, we will annihilate them [India], Mr. Asif had said.

Pak. not getting support at UN over LoC strikes

 India has said that Pakistan approaching the United Nations on the issue of surgical
strikes by the Indian Army across the LoC has not found any resonance in the world
body and rejected claims that the UN mission monitoring ceasefire has not directly
observed any firing along the LoC.

Indias Permanent Representative to the UN Syed Akbaruddin dismissed remarks

made by Secretary General Ban Ki-moons spokesperson Stephane Dujarric that the
UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) has not directly
observed any firing across the LoC related to the latest incidents, a reference to the
surgical strikes conducted by India on September 29, targeting terror launch pads in
Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Mr. Akbaruddin said that while Pakistan had reached out to the UN Chief and the 15
nation Council on the issues of the surgical strikes and Kashmir, its call for
intervention by the world body has not found any resonance as there was no further
discussion on the matter.

China thwarts India bid to name Masood terrorist

China said on Saturday that its technical hold on Indias move to get JeM chief
Masood Azhar designated a terrorist by the U.N. has been extended for three
months. The Chinese technical hold was to lapse on Monday(4 th oct). Had China not
raised further objection, the resolution designating Azhar as a terrorist would have
passed automatically.

India was still giving final touches to its proposal to put Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM)
chief Masood Azhar on the list of United Nations proscribed terrorists, when China
announced that the technical hold on designating him a terrorist has been extended
by another three months.

Azhar, a resident of Bahawalpur in Pakistan has been accused by security agencies of

orchestrating several terror attacks in India, the latest being the attack on the Uri
Army camp.

Apart from Azhars involvement in the attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001, the
Pathankot airbase strike on January 2, India had also incorporated details about his
role in the September 18 Uri attack, which killed 19 Indian Army soldiers.

Azhar also runs a charitable organisation, Al Rehmat Trust, as a cover for the
activities of his terror outfit, JeM.

Home Ministry had constituted a three-member committee to expedite the procedures

required to place Azhar, former Indian Mujahideen member Shafi Armar, who is now
said to be the media chief of Islamic State and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed
Salahuddin on the United Nations list of proscribed terrorists.
 The internal committee was constituted in August and the Uri attack took place on
September 18.

Way forward:

India should engage with china diplomatically and should highlight the effects of
terrorism in the region.

India would have apprised the 1267 Taliban/Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee that
Azhar has close links to the Taliban and consequently to Al Qaeda.

China blocks Brahmaputra tributary:

China has blocked Yarlung Zangbo tributary of the Brahmaputra as part of a major
hydro-electric (Lalho) project, whose construction began in 2014.

The Brahmaputra in its upper reaches is called Yarlung Zangbo, after it originates
from the Angsi glacier in western Tibet, southeast of Mount Kailash and Mansarovar
Lake.

The multipurpose enterprise, which includes construction of two power stations with a
combined generation capacity of 42 MW, was scheduled for completion in 2019. Its
reservoir is designed to store up to 295 million cubic meters of water and help irrigate
30,000 hectares of farmland.

Chinas 13th five year plan has proposed significant hydropower expansion along
rivers that also originate in the Tibetan plateau. Although the plan does not mention
any river specifically, it is anticipated that the new dams are envisaged along the
Yarlung Zangbo, Lancang (Mekong) and Nu (Salween), all originating in the Tibetan
plateau.

Chinas move coincides with the debate in India on the re-calibration of Indus water
flows into Pakistan following a cross-border raid in Uri that killed 18 Indian troops.

Impact on India

Shigatse, a railhead of the Qinghai-Tibet railway, is a few hours driving distance away
from the junction of Bhutan and Sikkim. It is also the city from where China intends
to extend its railway towards Nepal.

It is as yet unclear whether the dam will have any impact on water flows towards
India and Bangladesh the two riparian states that are drained by the Brahmaputra.
 So far, China has maintained that its dams do not restrict the flow of water towards
India as they are based on run-of-the river principle.

MoU

India and China have set up an Expert Level Mechanism on trans-border rivers. In
2013, they signed a memorandum of understanding on trans-border rivers, under which China
has been supplying data to India on water flows.

Pakistan announces postponement of 19th SAARC Summit in Islamabad

After five nations pulled out of the 19th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
(SAARC) Summit that was scheduled to take place in Islamabad in November, Pakistan on
Friday announced that it was postponing the summit and fresh dates would be released soon.

In a press release, the office of Pakistan foreign ministry said, A new set of dates for holding
of the 19th Saarc Summit at Islamabad will be announced soon, through the Chair of Saarc
(Nepal).Pakistan deplores Indias decision to impede the Saarc process by not attending the
19th Saarc Summit at Islamabad on 9-10 November 2016.

The announcement comes days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to skip the
summit and amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan. However, Pakistan
remained defiant until recently, saying it would go ahead in organising the summit. MEA
Spokesperson had earlier stated that even if one member country pulls out of the summit, it
must be postponed.

Commenting on the development, Nepal, the chair of SAARC, confirmed that it would have
been impossible to hold the summit without all the members being present. Noting that the
indefinite postponement of the summit is not good for everyone, Nepal appealed to other
member countries to hold the summit only when there is guaranteed participation.

SAARC members countries Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka too conveyed to
Nepal that they too will not be able to attend the summit. All four countries, in different ways,
blamed Pakistan for the rise in cross-border terror attacks, saying the current regional
environment is not conducive to the successful holding of the summit.

India has upped the ante in recent days to internationally isolate Pakistan post the Uri terror
attack, which claimed that lives of 20 army jawans. External AffairsSushma Swaraj, speaking
at the United Nations General Assembly last week, called upon the international community
to isolate those who scuttle the global strategy in the fight against terrorism.
Economy
MS bug-detection service for all
Microsoft is planning to commercialise a unique and indigenous bug-detecting technology
and make it available to customers and partners.

According to a zdnet.com report, the service codenamed "Project Springfield" was developed
internally by Microsoft Research to find and remove bugs in Microsoft products.
"The company is providing a link where interested customers and partners can sign up and, if
approved, get access to a preview of the new service," the repeort added. ..

"This (service) is about finding really deep bugs that are hard to find with conventional
testing," Vikram Dendi, chief product officer with Microsoft Research NexT, was quoted as
saying.

Microsoft Research's NExT group is looking to commercialise Springfield in the form of an

Azure-hosted Cloud service.

Centre rethinks plan to widen EPF coverage

Industry had opposed the move as it may hurt small factories financially
The centre is reconsidering a plan to widen the social security net for workers by bringing
more factories under the provident fund coverage.
The Cabinet Secretariat has pointed out a few contradictions in the Labour Ministrys
proposal to amend the Employees Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act of
1952, senior labour ministry officials said.
The Labour Ministry had proposed to bring down the threshold limit for coverage of firms
under the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) to factories with at least 10 workers. At present,
the EPF Act is applicable to factories with minimum 20 workers.
Senior labour ministry officials said the proposal to decrease the threshold limit was found to
be contradictory with another proposal in the Act to give an option to workers to switch to the
National Pension System (NPS), managed by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development
Authority.
It was observed that on one hand, there is a proposal to bring larger number of people under
the EPF fold and on other hand, there is another proposal to give workers an option to opt out
of EPFO and move to NPS. This is contradictory and needs a re-think, the official said, on
conditions of anonymity.
Further deliberations
We will go for further internal deliberations before sending the final proposal for Union
Cabinets nod, the official added.
In his Union Budget 2015-16 speech, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had proposed allowing
EPF subscribers to opt for NPS and to make EPF contributions optional for workers below a
certain income threshold.
In June this year, Centre proposed making EPF optional for textile workers earning less than
Rs 15,000 a month as a part of a special package for the garments sector.
The governments proposal to bring factories with at least 10 workers under the EPF fold can
bring 50 lakh additional workers under the social security coverage, All India Trade Union
Congress Secretary D.L. Sachdev said.
Central trade unions had unanimously supported the government in its endeavour to provide
EPF coverage to factories with at least 10 workers while opposing any move to make EPF
optional. However, this comes as a major setback as around 50 lakh workers could have come
under EPF coverage with this move, Mr. Sachdev said.
8.7 crore workers
At present, 8.7 crore workers are subscribed to EPFO out of which around 3.77 crore workers
made active contributions to their PF account till 2015-16.The proposal to cover factories
with at least 10 workers under the EPF Act was one of the recommendations of the 44th
Indian Labour Conference Session held in 2012.
No takers for 700 megahertz, auction bids top Rs.53,000 cr
The government received bids worth more than Rs.53,000 crore on the first day of the biggest
ever auction of the countrys telecom spectrum, according to sources. A total of 2,300 MHz of
spectrum worth Rs.5.6 lakh crore has been put up for sale.
On Saturday, five rounds of bidding were completed. No bids were received for the much-
touted 700 MHz band, which is being put up for auction for the first time.
While 700 MHz is considered most suitable for offering high speed broadband services,
industry players have been complaining about its high pan-India reserve price of about
Rs.11,500 crore per MHz.
Hence, analysts were expecting a muted response for this band.
Maximum interest was seen in the 2,100 MHz, 2,300 MHz and the 2,500 MHz bands.
Limited bidding was also witnessed in the 1,800 Mhz Band.
Seven firms
Seven firms Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular, Reliance Communications, Aircel, Reliance
Jio Infocom, and Tata Teleservices are in the fray to acquire spectrum in seven bands
700, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1,800 MHz, 2,100 MHz, 2300 MHz and 2500 MHz.
The auction will resume on Monday morning and each round will last for an hour.
According to research agency CRISIL, the telecom firms are expected to fork out about Rs.1
trillion (Rs.1 lakh crore) to buy spectrum at the auctions.
The government had raked in Rs 1.1 lakh crore from the last spectrum auction held in March
2015. It had sold spectrum across 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1,800 MHz and 2,100 MHz bands
The auction is on expected lines - there was no bidding on 700 MHz and 1,800 MHz saw
interest in the circles where there is some shortage.
We should see some intensity over the next day or so and closure of the auction within the
next week.
Reliance Jio
The auctions are happening close on the heels of the commercial launch of Reliance Jio,
which has stirred a storm in the India telecom sector with its very competitive prices.
As incumbents fight to retain customers, the focus is on good quality services amid frequent
call drops and slow data speeds.The spectrum won via the auctions, which is an Internet-
based online process, will be allotted for a time frame of 20 years. The centre had fixed a
reserve price of Rs.2,873 crore for spectrum in 1,800 MHz band, Rs.3,341 crore for 900
MHz, Rs.5,819 crore for 800 MHz, Rs.3,746 crore for 2,100 MHz, Rs.11,485 crore for 700
MHz.

Centre to flag H1-B visa curbs

India is likely to raise its concerns in an upcoming meeting with the U.S., over a proposed
legislation seeking to impose greater costs on firms that temporarily hire highly skilled
foreign workers.
The development comes in the backdrop of the U.S. Presidential election campaign where
claims of local unemployment due to immigration and outsourcing have become a topic of
debate.
During the forthcoming U.S.-India Trade Policy Forum (TPF) meet, New Delhi is expected to
take up the Indian IT industrys concerns about the proposed Protect and Grow American
Jobs Act that was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in July.
The proposed legislation is also called the Issa Bill as the bipartisan legislation was
introduced by U.S. Congressman Darrell Issa, aiming to stop the outsourcing of American
jobs by companies abusing the H1-B visa program.
The House Judiciary Committee is to vote on the Bill that is being opposed by the Indian IT
sector (the main users of H1-B visas), the apex IT industry body Nasscom and the US-India
Business Council (an advocacy body for boosting US-India business ties).
India had in March said it had initiated a World Trade Organisation dispute proceeding
against the U.S. for increasing fees on H1-B and L-1 non-immigrant visas.
The Issa Bill is a bigger issue than the (H1-B and L-1) visa fee hike, USIBC President
Mukesh Aghi said in an interview. If it becomes a law, it will kill the Indian IT industry. We
are campaigning with (U.S.) Congressmen and Senators to convince them not to support the
Bill. However, it is election season and logic does not prevail.
The current H1-B norms under the (U.S.) Immigration and Nationality Act require H1-B
dependent companies (those with over 50 full-time equivalent employees of which 15 per
cent or more are on H1-B visas) to submit certain documents.
Troublesome paperwork
However, firms are currently granted exemptions to ease their documentation-related
troubles. They need not go through the troublesome paperwork if the potential H1-B
employee has an equivalent of a Masters degree or higher and he or she is paid at least
$60,000 annually.
The Issa Bill aims to do away with the Masters degree exemption (as they are easily
obtained by foreign workers) and hike the minimum annual salary threshold from $60,000 to
$100,000 with an inflation adjustment. The new Bill seeks to make it much harder for firms
to bring in workers at a salary that could undercut American jobs.
Sources said the Indian government and the IT industry had taken up the issue with U.S.
government officials and businesses at a meeting of the bilateral working group on IT &
communication technology. However, they were told that while the U.S. government
understands the concerns, nothing can be done to prevent the US legislators from bringing up
such Bills.
Industry sources said they fear further tightening of the Issa Bill as some American politicians
recently claimed that it had left loopholes that the H1-B users can take advantage of.
Referring to the recent debate on the Bill which allowed the $100,000 minimum annual wage
threshold mentioned in it included 'cash bonuses', some U.S. legislators said this provision
could be misused as often, bonuses are conditional on some goals being achieved. This could
mean that the H1-B user firms might get away with actual lower annual wages.
Also, some legislators have demanded a higher minimum threshold since average annual IT
salaries in urban areas exceed $100,000 and could therefore lead to locals with higher salaries
being replaced by foreign workers.

Illegal business trumps Indo-Pak. legitimate trade

Smugglers of goods between India and Pakistan are operating through a third country such as
Afghanistan and often misuse transit routes set up on the border for exchange, a study
conducted by an industry body showed.

Smuggling of good between India and Pakistan estimated at $5 billion is almost double of
the official two-way commerce and it is mostly goods exported from India to Pakistan, D.S.
Rawat, secretary general of industry body Assocham, said. It is difficult to stop this trade
because the goods are first exported to third countries like Dubai or Afghanistan before
reaching its destination in Pakistan.
Official trade between India and Pakistan grew less than four times from 700 million in 2005-
2006 to $2.67 billion in 10 years despite the Most Favoured Nation status being granted to
Pakistan in 1996.

Informal trade

At the same time informal trade grew over five times from $965 million in 2005-2006 to over
$5 billion in 2015-16.

The smugglers carry out informal trade between Pakistan and India through the borders and
also misuse of personal baggage scheme like the Green Channel facilities at international
airports or railway stations. Informal trade is also taking place through Afghanistan whereby
goods are exported officially from India to Afghanistan and later on brought into Pakistan
through Peshawar, according to Assocham.

Third country

Trading through a third country, generally done through Dubai, is not illegal. The third
country trade also happens through agents in Singapore.

Through this route, Indian exports include capital goods, textile machinery, dyes and
chemicals among others, according to the Assocham study.

The trade between Pakistan and India via Dubai has the advantage (for the traders) that
consignments are not scrutinized as much as those coming directly from either country.

The Assocham study is based on documents and reports from more than 50 think tanks and
research organisations, including ICRIER, annual reports of the Indian Ministry of Home
Affairs, Lahore Journal of Economics, and Institute of South Asian Studies-National
University of Singapore among others.

Smugglers in both the countries have developed efficient mechanisms for information flow,
risk sharing and risk mitigation.

Contributory factors

The three important contributory factors towards thriving informal trade are quick realization
of payments, zero documentation and little procedural hassles leading to lower transaction
costs, according to Assocham.

There are more exports from India than imports through the smuggling route. Besides
Afghanistan, other channels of informal trade include India-Dubai-Pakistan, Wagah by rail or
road and Srinagar -Muzaffarabad.
OPEC agrees on modest oil production curbs

OPEC agreed on modest oil output cuts in the first such deal since 2008, with the group's
leader Saudi Arabia softening its stance on arch-rival Iran amid mounting pressure from low
oil prices.

OPEC made an exceptional decision today ... After two and a half years, OPEC reached
consensus to manage the market, said Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh, who had
repeatedly clashed with Saudi Arabia during previous meetings.

He and other ministers said the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries would
reduce output to a range of 32.5-33.0 million barrels per day. OPEC estimates its current
output at 33.24 million bpd.

We have decided to decrease the production around 700,000 bpd, Mr. Zanganeh said.

The move would effectively re-establish OPEC production ceilings abandoned a year ago.

However, how much each country will produce is to be decided at the next formal OPEC
meeting in November, when an invitation to join cuts could also be extended to non-OPEC
countries such as Russia.

Many traders said they were impressed OPEC had managed to reach a compromise but others
said they wanted to see the details.

This is the first OPEC deal in eight years! The cartel proved that it still matters even in the
age of shale! This is the end of the production war' and OPEC claims victory, said Phil
Flynn, senior energy analyst at Price Futures Group.

Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Tuesday that Iran, Nigeria and Libya would be
allowed to produce at maximum levels that make sense as part of any output limits.

Infosys unveils Skava Commerce, a modular e-commerce platform

Software major Infosys BSE -0.73 % Ltd on Wednesday unveiled a mobile first and modular
platform to drive e-commerce programmes across retail channels.

The platform has been developed by Skava, a Silicon Valley-based e-commerce start-up that
the IT major acquired in June 2015 for $120 million, to enable businesses leverage cloud-
based micro-services and white label applications to launch new offerings and improve
conversion rates of digital channels.
"The platform can integrate into present technologies, while providing a future-ready
architecture for next-generation shopping experiences leveraging artificial intelligence (AI)
and machine learning, natural language processing and virtual reality (VR)," the IT major
said.

The platform also has a mobile-first responsive web store and native mobile shopping
applications that can be managed by non-technical business users through its Studio, an
intuitive web-based experience management tool.
"The architecture of Skava platform helps simplify and accelerate the deployment of e-
commerce services cost effectively and without large up-front investments," a company
statement said.

With its global consulting and integration capabilities, gained through partnerships with
companies such as Aimia, Darden, and Vodafone, the outsourcing firm will pitch the platform
to its global client base of retailers and CPG (consumer packaged goods) firms who need a
modular approach to maximise the value of digital customer engagement.

Infosys Chief Executive Vishal Sikka observed many businesses face complex, legacy IT
systems that result in fragmented consumer experience across channels and limit retailers'
ability to rapidly prototype, test and launch new digital offerings.

"By taking a platform-centric approach, leveraging Skava Commerce, retail clients can
develop and roll out new offerings on an ongoing basis, enable a consistent brand experience
across channels and deliver unique experiences within," said Sikka on the occasion.
Peter Sheldon, Principal Analyst, Forrester Research, wrote in a recent report that much of
the growth over the next five years will be driven by re-platforming activities as online
retailers look to fortify the scalability of their technology and branded manufacturers increase
focus on direct-to-consumer digital channels.

Skava platform provides a suite of e-commerce micro-services that can be used stand alone or
in conjunction with others, and implemented without downtime. Its modern architecture
scales as traffic increases to provide a consistent experience across all channels.

"Skava has a history of innovation, driving the mobile-first approach to e-commerce ahead of
the rest of the industry. The work we have done with some of the largest retail brands stands
testimony to that," said Skava Chief Executive Arish Ali.

Environment
EU ministers approve ratification of Paris climate Agreement

European Union ministers approved the ratification of the Paris Agreement at a historic
meeting of the Environment Council in Brussels on Friday, a statement from the European
Commission said. This decision brings the Paris Agreement closer to entering into force.

As of now, 61 countries, accounting for almost 48 per cent of global emissions have ratified
the deal. India, which accounts for 4.1 per cent of global emissions, has agreed to ratify the
deal on October 2. The 28 EU member nations together account for close to 12 per cent of
global greenhouse gas emissions. The addition of EU and India, therefore, will take the
cumulative emissions of ratifying parties to over 64 per cent, which is well beyond the 55 per
cent minimum required for the treaty to enter into force.

The Paris treaty had already crossed the first requirement - of 55 countries ratifying the treaty
- to enable its entry into force on September 21 at the UN Secretary-Generals special
ratification ceremony organised at the UN headquarters. During that ceremony, 31 countries
had submitted their ratification instruments to the UN, bringing the total count of ratifying
parties to 60.

In an official statement released on Friday, the European Commission said that once
approved by the European Parliament next week, the EU will be able to deposit its
ratification instrument before national ratification processes are completed in each Member
State. As of now, only five EU nations have ratified the Paris agreement at the national level.
Fridays approval by the EU will be forwarded to the European Parliament for its formal
consent next week. Once Parliament has consented, the Council can formally adopt the
decision.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said in the statement, Todays

decision shows that the European Union delivers on promises made. It demonstrates that the
Member States can find common ground when it is clear that acting together, as part of the
European Union; their impact is bigger than the mere sum of its parts. I am happy to see that
today the Member States decided to make history together and bring closer the entry into
force of the first ever universally binding climate change agreement.

EU Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Caete said, We are
reaching a critical period for decisive climate action. And when the going gets tough, Europe
gets going.

The Paris climate agreement was due for entry into force only in 2020, as the deal pertains to
the post-2020 climate action agenda. However, in accordance with Article 21, paragraph 1 of
the Paris Agreement, the Agreement shall enter into force on the thirtieth day after the date on
which at least 55 Parties to the Convention accounting in total for at least an estimated 55 per
cent of the total global greenhouse gas emissions have deposited their instruments of
ratification, acceptance, approval or accession with the Depositary. Most international treaties
take much longer to enter into force. The Kyoto Protocol, adopted in 1997, entered into force
only eight years later, in 2005. The Paris climate treaty was adopted in December last year.

Responding to Fridays development, French Environment Minister Segolene Royal posted

the message Victory! on her official Twitter account. Ms. Royal was part of the French
governments efforts to adopt the Paris climate agreement in 2015, where 185 countries
adopted the deal.

Europe has seized the moment in response to climate urgency. Has lived up to its
responsibilities & is making history, she tweeted, on their decision to now take the treaty to
the next level.

Tamil Nadu tops list of endemic flowering plants: BSI

Almost one of every four species of flowering plants found in India is endemic to the country,
a recent publication by the Botanical Survey of India (BSI) has revealed. Of these, Tamil
Nadu accounts for the highest number of species with 410, followed by Kerala with 357 and
Maharashtra with 278.

Of the 18,259 flowering plants reported in the country, 4,303 (over 23 per cent) are found
only in India, as per scientific data in a recently released book, Endemic Vascular Plants of
India.

When it comes to the geographical distribution of endemic plants, the Western Ghats tops the
list with about 2,116 species, followed by the Eastern Himalayas with 466 species.

According to scientists, these two regions are among the biodiversity hot spots of the country.

Scientists of the BSI have listed at least 37 species of Black plum Syzyguim (Jamun), 10
varieties of Musa (banana), along with 274 species of orchids, which are found only in the
country. Four different varieties of roses, two herbs and two climbers and 12 species of
jasmines are exclusively found in India.

Spices too

When it comes to spices, the endemic species list is no less interesting. This includes 45
species belonging to the common black pepper family, 19 species of ginger and 13 different
kinds of large cardamom. There are also 40 species of bamboos (Bambusoideae), which are
endemic to India.

Further some of these endemic species are restricted to only certain areas of the country,
like Nepenthes khasiana, an insectivorous plant only found in the Khasi hills of Meghalaya.
A total of 58 generea of flowering plants have been found to be endemic to India.

As far as endemism regarding vascular plants in India is concerned, the publication reveals
that of the 19, 635 vascular plants found in the country, 4,381 are endemic. This includes
4,303 angiosperms or flowering plants, 12 gymnosperms - mostly Cycads, and 66 ferns and
fern allies which come under the group Pteridophytes.

The publication will contribute to better understanding and conservation of the endemic
plants, a part of our natural heritage. A complete information about the endemic plants in the
country will go a long way in their conservation, Paramjit Singh, Director Botanical Survey
of India (BSI) told The Hindu.

Mr Singh said among the Gymnosperms, non-flowering plants, at least six species of Cycas
are found in the country. These plants are known to have existed from the Jurassic era and are
commonly referred as living fossils as they grow very slowly.

Around 53 per cent of all endemic flowering plants are herbs, 20 per cent are shrubs and 15
per cent are trees," said Sudhansu Sekhar Dash, a scientist with the BSI and one of authors of
the publication said.
Among the most widely exploited endemic plants in country is Pterocarpus santalinus,
commonly known as red sandal wood, which is found only in the southern parts of the
Eastern Ghats. This plant is classified as critically endangered under International Union for
Conservation of Nature ( IUCN) category because of its dwindling habitat due to economic
over-exploitation. Some of the wild orchids, which are also endemic, are also exploited
heavily.

Rajasthan becomes first state to adopt LED street lights under all ULBs
Rajasthan becomes the first state to adopt centre's Street Lighting National
Programme (SLNP) in all its urban local bodies (ULB). Almost5 lakh conventional street
lights have been replaced with LED street lights across the state.

The project has been funded by Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a Public Energy
Services Company under the administration of Ministry of Power, Government of India
(GoI), at no cost to the state. In a statement, Managing Director of EESL Saurabh Kumar said
that Udaipur and Ajmer lead the way to energy efficiency. EESL has replaced over 35
thousand conventional street in Udaipur, with an investment of over 25 crore which has
resulted in reduction of peak load by 1.4thousand kWh, making them 51% more energy
efficient. The project has resulted in energy saving of 6.36 million units per annum as well as
monetary savings to the municipality of over Rs 4.4 crore.

In Ajmer, over 33 thousand lamps have been replaced, with an investment of over 14 crore by
EESL. The project here has benefited Ajmer with reduction in peak load of 58% which
translates to over 4.6 million units of energy saved per annum and over 3.7 crore in monetary
savings. Through implementation of this project energy savings achieved so far have been
152 million units, and cost saving to the municipality of Rs. 60 lakh daily. This has also
resulted in reduction of 225 tonnes of CO2 per day, claimed state government employees.
SLNP was launched

on Jan 5, 2015, as part of which 3.5 crore conventional street lights will be replaced with
smart and energy efficient LED street lights by March 2019.
National Mission on Bioeconomy launched in Shillong, Meghalaya
Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development (IBSD), a National Institute of
Department of Biotechnology, Govt of India took a major initiative today to launch a
National Mission on Bioeconomy. This is a unique mission of its kind , which is being
launched for the first time in India ,which can create a large number of new jobs starting from
the village level to the processing and value addition at the urban area, said Prof Dinabandhu
Sahoo, Director of IBSD, who is the main force behind this National Mission.

IBSD has taken this major step to launch this mission on Bioeconomy through sustainable
utilization of renewable biological resources for food, bio-based products and bioenergy
through knowledge based approaches which has the potential to generate new solutions for
the planets most important challenges regarding energy, health, food, water, and climate
change delivering social, environmental and economic benefits.

Shri KS Kropha IAS, Chief Secretary, Govt of Meghalaya, stated that Meghalaya and NE
India being amongst the Worlds top 10 biodiversity hotspots, has great potential to develop a
vibrant bioeconomy for the socio-economic development of the region.

Sahoo said Bioeconomy is a new concept. USA, Canada, European Union and Australia,
have established initiatives on Bioeconomy. However, India does not have a dedicated
strategy/policy on Bioeconomy, even though it is rich in biodiversity. A latest estimate pegs
Indias fast-growing Bioeconomy at US$35 billion in 2015, which can rise even to US$100
billion.

He further stated this National Mission on Bioeconomy envisages the development of a

roadmap for an actionable policy recommendation involving all stakeholders for the
transformation of India through job creation from small scale livelihood enterprises to
commercial scale production for increased economic growth through technological packages
to increase primary production, value addition of the unique bioresources through industrial
biotechnology and provision of bio services, with tailored packages that are relevant to
specific regions across India.

The one day Brainstorming Session was attended by Vice Chancellor of NEHU Shillong,
Director Indian Institute of Management (IIM)-Shillong, Additional Principal Conservator of
Forests (Research & Training), Govt of Meghalaya, Directors of several National Institutes of
Govt of India, stakeholders, industry captains, scientists and academicians.

In order to boost rural economy by utilising bio-resources, a National Mission on

Bioeconomy was today launched here by the Institute of Bio-resources and Sustainable
Development (IBSD) under the Ministry of Science and Technology.

The mission is unique to south-east Asia and India has become one of the few countries to
have tapped bio-resources, which when optimally utilized can create a large number of jobs at
village level, IBSD chief Dinabandhu Sahoo said.
Stating that bioeconomy is a new concept, he said few countries like USA, Canada, European
Union andAustralia have started initiatives in this field.

The mission focuses on sustainable utilization of renewable biological resources for food,
bio-based products and bio-energy through knowledge-based approaches, he said.

It could have the potential to generate new solutions for the planet's major challenges in the
field of energy, health, food, water, climate change and deliver social, environmental and
economic benefits, Sahoo said.

The latest estimate pegs India's fast-growing bioeconomy at USD 35 billion in 2015, which
can even rise to USD 100 billion, he said.

Meghalaya Chief Secretary K S Kropha said the NE region is among the world's top 10
biodiversity hot spots and people should take advantage of these resources to improve their
economy.

Miscellaneous
New species of Pika discovered
Scientists claim to have discovered a new species of Pika, a mammal belonging to the rabbit
and hare family ( Lagomorpha ), in the Himalayas in Sikkim. After six years of research, a
team of international collaborators, led by scientists from Bengalurus National Centre for
Biological Sciences (NCBS) announced the discovery.

The team published their findings in the JournalMolecular Phylogenetics and Evolution in
September. "Discovering a new mammal in 2016 from a hotspot like the Himalayas proves
that we need to conduct much more research in the region, said NCBS scientist and first
author Nishma Dahal, who hails from Sikkim.

Distinct tissues

The team collected fecal pellets and tissue samples of what they expected to be the Asian
Pika and found them to be quite distinct from all other species.

We needed international collaboration to confirm the tissue samples were different from all
existing species, Ms. Dahal added.

Pikas are members of the rabbit family and live in the mountains or in temperate regions. The
common name "pika" is used for any member of the Ochotonidae family. According to Ms.
Dahal, Pikas do not hibernate unlike other mammalian species inhabiting such cold climates.

"Pikas are a keystone species and ecosystem engineers, and studying their evolution can shed
more light on the Himalayan ecosystem," said Uma Ramakrishnan, whose laboratory at
NCBS led the study. Although the animal looks similar to the Moupin Pika, genetically it is
completely different. "There are specific differences which are not visible in physical
observation and only on closer study. But genetically it is very different, and we are
proposing to elevate the sub-species to a different species," said Ms. Dalal.

Ecological niche

The discovery points to the need for more research on Himalayan ecology and the importance
of international collaboration in validating new research. The research began as a study of the
impact of climate change on the Himalayan biota. Back when NCBS got funding from the
Department of Biotechnology in 2010, research on the American pika was making news. Few
lower elevation populations were reported to have gone extinct and that was corroborated to
increased temperature in those regions, said Ms. Dahal. This led the team to study the Asian
pika .

Researchers from the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia;
Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; Stanford University,
Stanford, USA, collaborated in the research.
A new species of a small mammal in the rabbit family has been discovered in the higher
altitudes of theHimalayas in Sikkim, a study has claimed, saying it is an important part of the
ecosystem.

Identified as 'Ochotona sikimaria' -- the new pika species was discovered by the study based
on genetic data and skull measurements. The study has been published in the journal
'Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'.

These members of the rabbit family look like tailless rats and have been in the news in North
America for their sensitivity to impacts of climate change, like increasing temperature, which
has caused several of the populations in pika series go extinct.

Nishma Dahal, the first author of the paper, started by collecting pika pellets to get its DNA
and identify the species. On comparing the DNA sequences from the pellets with that of all
known pika species in the world, she saw that these were quite different.

To prove that this is indeed a new species, she had to compare the Sikkim pika to its close
relatives. It took two years for collaborations with researchers from the Chinese Academy of
Sciences, Zoological Museum of Moscow and Stanford University to get detailed data on
these possible sister species.

"Pikas are among the most fascinating mammalian species. Unlike other mammalian species
inhabiting such harsh environments, pikas do not hibernate. They prepare for winter by
collecting and storing hay piles for their winter food.

"We must investigate their vulnerability to increasing global temperature. To do so we must

better understand their ecology and population dynamics. Such information is lacking for
Asia pikas," Dahal said.

The new species appears limited to Sikkim. The National Centre for Biological Sciences
(NCBS) team searched for Sikkim pika in other Himalayan regions including Arunachal
Pradesh, Central Nepal (Annapurna and Langtang), Ladakh andSpiti without success.

Surveys in Bhutan, neighbouring regions of eastern Nepal and China are pending and will
require international collaboration.

Apart from genetic data, the study also included morphological and ecological data of this
species. With its sisters as earlier, this pika was thought to be a subspecies of the Moupin
pika.

The new NCBS research reveals that while it looks similar, it is actually very distinct from
the Moupin pika from genetic and ecological perspective. Such discordance between genetics
and morphology has never been reported in pikas.

"Pikas are ecosystem engineers, and we must understand more about them so we can
effectively protect them in the future" said Uma Ramakrishnan, whose laboratory at NCBS
led the study.
A walk with the Mahatma at Rashtrapati Bhavan

The new hi-tech Garages Museum in the Rashtrapati Bhavan here provides visitors with
some great experiences, allowing them to feel the presence of Mahatma Gandhi and as if he
is walking with them by using virtual reality (VR) technology.

The New Rashtrapati Bhavan Museum Complex, which now includes the Garages Museum
and Clock Tower in addition to the Stables Museum, will be open for the public from today.
A 3-D theatre showcases a short film on Mahatma Gandhi, while a dedicated VR area allows
visitors to walk with the Father of the Nation.

Using interesting ideas and digital systems, it brings across the lives and works of the 13
Indian Presidents since 1950, the beauty and environment of the campus and important
visitors to Rashtrapati Bhavan. It is exciting to observe a major part of the modern Indian
history via paintings, sculptures, videos, audios and visual representations and unique
artefacts gifted by foreign delegates and personal belongings of the presidents have very
artistically been put for visitors to observe.

Major events in the history of the country have been given prominence as President Pranab
Mukherjee takes a lot of interest in knowing developments in history, The Presidents Press
Secretary, Venu Rajamony, said.

Presidents curiosity

When he became the President, he was extremely curious to know about it. He had
numerous questions and I feel that its from there that the making of the museum began. We
wish to change the image of Rashtrapati Bhavan as a monument of the British to a
functioning building that has been the premises of the republic of India.We saw the
parliament museum and made a comprehensive conservation master plan as we decided to
have a world class museum, Mr. Rajmony said.

The museum very elegantly depicts the story of the planning and construction of Rashtrapati
Bhavan, the British Viceroys who occupied it till 1947, their reaction to the freedom
movement, transfer of power and the formation of the republic. IANS