January 18, 2016

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Monday, 18 January, 2016 Notes from the city of the not allowed A film too far It is a wise culture that can disguise its revolutions as homage to the past. Or even as innocuous routine. The Indian subcontinent seems to be an expert in both. It is well-known that the Sankaracharya, a real game-changer in philosophy, presented his most influential perceptions as mere commentaries on the earliest texts in the culture. This was perceived as the epitome of humility, a virtue particularly valued by traditionalists. Today there can be little doubt that the strategy of humility was born of radiant cunning. Much later, in familiar times, the former prime minister, P.V. Narasimha Rao, chose to cloak the liberalization of India's economy by depicting reform as the last stage of Nehruvianism. And now Arun Jaitley, who heads the information and broadcasting ministry, has decided to follow in the illustrious footsteps of such masters from the past. The Central Board of Film Certification's decision to allow frontal nudity is actually as revolutionary in the land of ready scissors and quick bans as the dismantling of India's licence permit raj. Yet Mr Jaitley has brought about the change unheralded. Perhaps the intriguing case of The Danish Girl - the CBFC passed the film's depictions of nudity, transsexuality and kissing without cuts - is a bit like a trial balloon loosed to gauge the temperature of a cultural environment threatened constantly by vigilante thugs on the one hand and intrusive, paternalistic laws on the other. Since male nudity in the film is unquestionably fundamental to the story of sex-change and its psychology, it offers a neat opportunity to fly the balloon innocuously. Mr Jaitley's strategy may establish the rationale for the rating system for films, while ending the absurd reign of arbitrary censorship - the CBFC decides what is good and what is bad for adult citizens - or it may cause an embarrassing or unmanageable fallout. In that case, there is always the option of representing it as a one-off case, the one that just got away. It is unlikely that the minister would risk the fate that befell M.F. Husain, who was hounded out of his homeland by vigilantes for his depiction of Hindu deities. On the positive side, though, Mr Jaitley could recall the 'One Country, Two Systems' principle formulated by Deng Xiaoping in China. A political union can allow its territories with distinct cultural legacies to enjoy a certain autonomy. Why cannot, then, there be one rule for Hollywood and one for Bollywood? But even at its most positive, change takes place in droplets in India. Cultural shifts, changes in attitude, a discrimination in taste, and the confidence these require, spread slowly. Besides, the ladies of the Bombay film industry would be in no hurry for the full monty, for reasons more delicate and selfish than just antagonizing the conservative milieu. Opportunistic Indian Politicians Put Tradition Above Law Elections, which are the lifeblood of democracy, reveal their negative side when politicians abandon ethical convictions for the sake of playing to the gallery. Pandering to the various predilections of the electorate ranging from the distribution of cash, clothes or liquor to appealing to their religious/ sectarian instincts has been an unfortunate feature of Indian elections. Tactics of this nature have sometimes proved successful as has been demonstrated by the BJP’s use of the divisive Ram temple issue to move from the fringe of national politics to centre-stage. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s claim in the early stages of the temple agitation was that the judiciary had no right to interfere in matters of faith. The party’s chief minister in Uttar Pradesh at the time, Kalyan Singh, courted arrest with a proud smile for having defied the Supreme Court’s orders on protecting the Babri masjid, which was pulled down by a saffron mob in 1992 to make way for the proposed temple. A similar show of defiance can be seen in Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s call to the Centre to promulgate an ordinance to negate the Supreme Court’s ban on the jallikattu programme which involves taming bulls. In response to the petitions of animal rights activists, a judicial ban on the practice has been in force for four years. But next year’s assembly elections in Tamil Nadu have awakened the state’s politicians to the need to protect the ‘ancient tradition’ of jallikattu, which marks the Pongal festival in Tamil Nadu. By themselves, the politicians would not have imposed the ban since animal rights are not high on their list of priorities. Moreover, if such a supposedly effeminate concept conflicts with the gory, feudal customs preferred by the unwashed masses, there can be no doubt as to whose side the politicians will take. For SCRIPSI Jayalalitha, the outpouring of respect after a lapse of four years for a tradition which has elements of cruelty and sadism has apparently been necessitated by the recent devastating floods in Chennai caused by incessant rain, which exposed the failures of the administration and the degradation of natural water bodies by the builders’ lobby. Although her principal opponent in the state, the DMK is not in the best of health under 92-year-old M Karunanidhi, she cannot be too sure of the success of her own, oneperson AIADMK. In any event, since she cannot afford to take any chances in these uncertain days of volatile voters - the DMK, after all, has a 28 percent vote share - she has evidently decided that a show of respect for tradition will serve her well. While Jayalalitha’s compulsions are understandable, what is odd is why the BJP, which virtually has no presence in Tamil Nadu, should have taken up the cudgels for the chief minister. Is it cozying up to Jayalalitha for a tie-up in the state or is it for the sake of the AIADMK’s cooperation in parliament for the passage of the reform bills? The BJP is apparently so upset by her umbrage that it wants the chairman and vice-chairman of the Animal Welfare Board to resign for having approached the Supreme Court about the government’s pro- Jallikattu notification. So much for the ruling party’s respect for institutional autonomy! Perhaps we will now see a couple of saffron apparatchiki appointed to these posts who are not too sensitive about the modern fad about the ‘rights’ of dumb creatures. Not surprisingly, Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who was born in Madurai in Tamil Nadu although she currently represents Andhra Pradesh in the Rajya Sabha, has said that the Centre had no objections to the state promulgating an ordinance. How to live in a world with which you disagree? How to live with people when you neither share their suffering nor their joys? When you know that you don't belong among them?... our century refuses to acknowledge anyone's right to disagree with the world... All that remains of such a place is the memory, the ideal of a cloister, the dream of a cloister. - MILAN KUNDERA The 'this will do' culture I am going to describe three situations that, as far I know, could only happen in today's Calcutta. At the risk of sounding classist, elitist and a whole host of other non- hoi polloi labels, I'm putting these down as indicators of a deeprooted malaise that spreads far beyond the context of the scenes that follow. Scene One: A friend and I decide to have a coffee at one of the small new cafes that have opened up around Hindustan Park. We know everyone claims to have 'espresso' on their menu and that many of these joints even have proper espresso machines, but it's still a minor risk, tasting an unknown espresso at an unknown café. Regardless, we sit and order. The young waitress takes our order: two double espressos with a small jug of hot milk on the side, to my companion's mind and mine a no-brainer of an order that you can get anywhere in any Indian metro. The young woman comes back and tells us, ' oita hobey na', 'it's not possible'. Why not? We are 'not allowed' to give milk with an espresso. It takes us a couple of minutes to understand that 'not allowed' means 'not free', so we say just bring us a small amount of milk and charge us extra. The coffee comes with two jugs of milk. The coffee is decent and genuine, not great, but perfectly drinkable, and the milk is also fine. The bill, when it comes, tells a story: each coffee is Rs 80, but we've been charged for two tiny jugs of milk at Rs15 each. Scene Two: This time I'm at a big branch of one of the older, well-known coffee-café-chains, not far from the new place mentioned above. I'm with a different friend and I tell him the story of the expensive, 'not-allowed' milk. Both of us are old veterans of Bangali/Kolkataiya perversity and we laugh at my little story. ' Eikhaaney ora totally cool, there will no such problem!' Here they're totally cool, he informs me while waving grandly at the waiter. I order the same, a double espresso with a bit of warm milk on the side. The waiter doesn't blink. He goes off and, in due course, returns with our order. All seems right with the world until I notice that the coffee is in a small espresso cup that is full to the brim. I call the waiter back and request him to pour the coffee into a larger cup so that I can add the milk to it. He goes off and comes back with another waiter who might even have been the manager of the branch. 'Syaar, otaa hobey na, oi boro cup- ta.' Sir, we can't do that, the big cup you asked for. By now my coffee is getting cold and my friend's brain and mine are getting hot. 'Keno hobey na? Hobey na keno?' Why not? Why can't you do it?' 'Sir, it's not allowed. We have CCTV cameras. If we are caught doing we are 77 percenters, that is, satisfied with almost doing a job, with more or less finishing something, tending to give up as we approach the end of a task. From a Calcutta point-of-view, Gopinath (who has lived in this city) must have been speaking of the south or of Bombay perhaps, or even Delhi; in Calcutta, we have successfully created what one might call a 'Forty- Four Percent Culture'. We don't even bother to get half the job done before reaching for the eita cholbe flag, for the ' this will do' banner. There is no explanation, otherwise, for this man, an intelligent person who is clearly quite proud of his café's ambience and menu, to take his eye off the ball on such a simple thing as serving properly warmed food. In the coffee places, something else is at play, connected to the 44-percent-ness, but additionally about ignorance and fear. Here, the fault lies not with this young serving staff but with the oppressive idiots who employ them. The owners, or employers, or managers of the cafes clearly want to cash in on the aspirational aspects of a modern café, of Italian-style coffee which can be madly over-priced, but they're unwilling to let their employees (who are all clearly from a less privileged class) in on the culture from where these cafes derive, a culture which is about relaxation, about absence of tension, about 'adjusting' so that everyone can have a peaceful or laughter-filled time. In this, again, I would point my finger at what certain zones of Bengal and Calcutta have become: exploitative and arrogant 'masters' controlling their employees through various levers of fear; the employees, in turn, lacking the security, the confidence and the selfrespect to make even micro-decisions on their own. For the kind of things that one experienced in the small café and the coffee-chain would hardly happen in Bombay or Delhi, where the waiter or the waitress would simply solve the problem to the best of their ability, not least in order to ensure a good tip and a return visit from a customer who might remember them positively. This may feel like I'm enlarging small events to a station beyond their significance, but it's not: in Bombay or Delhi, the waiter would be confident that if the employee was an oppressive idiot, there were a number of similar jobs available with other employees who were better, who didn't, for example, threaten to fire people because they changed the size of the cup at a customer's own request. Here, in this city striped with dirty white and the deepest blues, a person is reminded of the chasms and gaps and all that is verboten even as he takes a sip of tepid coffee from the not-allowed sized cup. Govt To Announce Friendly Tax Regime For Startups In Budget The government will also launch Stand Up India scheme under which, bank branches will lend to entrepreneurs of SC/STs and women. Government in the Budget next month will announce a friendly tax regime that will encourage setting up of startups in the country, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Saturday. “We have already worked upon an entrepreneur-friendly taxation regime. There are some steps, which can be taken up by notifications, which would be taken forthwith. Others require legislative provisions, which can only come as part of the Finance Bill when Budget is presented in order to create a friendly taxation regime for startups,” he said at the Start Up India conference here. Recognising the need to encourage startups, a fund was suggested in the Budget last year, he said. He assured the startups that both the banking system and the government will make the resources available to them. Besides Start Up, the Finance Minister said the government will launch Stand Up India scheme under which, bank branches will lend to entrepreneurs belonging to SC/STs and women. “On Independence Day, Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) announced the Stand Up India scheme. The Stand Up India would be separately launched. It is a programme, which envisages women entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs belonging to the SC, STs (to get funding from banks). These were the segments which were not throwing up entrepreneurs. “Each bank branch, public sector or private sector, would actually adopt one in the SC/ST category and one in the women category. So they will adopt two such entrepreneurs and fund them to set up establishments,” he said. By funding trading or manufacturing establishment of this segment, almost 3,00,000 new entrepreneurs over the next two years will be created, he said. To promote startups, the Finance Minister said the government is easing the process of doing business. “Another very significant difference of what makes it a landmark event is a final break or the ultimate break that you have with the conventional licence Raj of India,” he said. “We did well to break off from it in 1991 but it was only partial. It was partial because who would be funded there was an invisible role of state, con- that, we'll lose our jobs.' 'What?? All of you???' 'No, sir, only the waiter who pours it from the small cup to the big cup. If the camera catches him, he'll be fired. You see, it's not allowed to pour any espresso into a big cup.' My friend and I shake our heads, we scratch them, we almost bang them together in the frustration-marinaded knowledge that all our lives we have tried to escape this city but, with both our advanced years, perhaps we never will, not spiritually or psychically, at any rate. Finally, a solution is arrived at. 'Okay,' I say, 'please just bring us a large cup. Bring it to this table.' 'Yes,' says my friend, 'I want to pour my tea into two large cups.' Both the waiters nod happily and vigorously - this they can do, this way they can get out of jail free. A large cup is duly brought. The uniformed t-shirts look away while I pour the now completely tepid coffee into the large cup and add the lukewarm milk. The waiters look relieved: customer is not throwing a tantrum and neither is the CCTV camera. Scene Three: The cutest little café-snack bar, again in south Kol. With a courtyard, even, that's open to the sky. A menu that looks both unpretentious and good. A friend and I order motorshutir kochuri and alur dom for lunch. The food comes, the kochuri element is hot, the alur dom is completely cold, something that would be sacrilegious and unheard of in a street-side stall or pice-hotel-type place. After a little discussion, the waiter goes off and nukes our alur dom in the microwave; by the time he's back, the kachoris are cold. The waiter is a nice guy, polite, friendly, no bad attitude, but completely unmoved by the fact that he's delivered faulty fooding-goods to the only customers in an almost empty eatery. Let's start with the last one first. C.Y. Gopinath wrote a piece in a newspaper a few years ago where he talked about how thoroughly people in Thailand, China and Taiwan did their jobs, including the most tedious and menial ones. Describing how he saw some workers clean a space, Gopinath remarked that in these cultures people were '100 percenters', meaning they didn't give up or stop till a place was absolutely spotless, or some other job was fully and unquestionably accomplished. In India, Gopinath pointed out sadly, trol over land permissions, foreign investment proposal and of course unless the political nods came to venture into newer areas which involved a lot of capital, a lot of energy going into it and an entrepreneur or investors was normally reluctant,” he said. Emphasising that the government has limited potential to create jobs, Jaitley said, the private sector has its own challenges.“The private sector own expansion itself is throwing up a challenge because they have over-stressed themselves and their stress in turn gets reflected on our banking system, something which the RBI and the government working in tandem, and over the next few months are going to add to the bankers ability to improve and be able to lend with a greater amounts,” he said. Under these circumstances, the government had to explore new areas and it is among those newer areas that it conceived of the MUDRA scheme. Pradhan Mantri Micro Units Development Refinance Agency (MUDRA) Yojana that the government conceived of, is intended to target 25 per cent of the bottom part of India’s population. “So people get loans from refinance agencies, public and private sector banks and other agencies. Earlier, they were being exploited by lenders at very high rates and now they get at bank rate and I must say the programme has been reasonably successful. In the last 4-5 months, almost 1.73 crore entrepreneurs have been enabled with loans,” he said. He expressed hope that the figure would be significantly higher by the end of this financial year. “We are going to roll over that programme year after year and smaller entrepreneurs are being created by that process,” he added. On the economy, Arun Jaitley observed that India has its own challenges despite being the fastest growing large economy in the world. “Unquestionably, the world economy has slowed down. Now we can take a limited satisfaction that even in a crisis like situation in the world, we are growing much faster. The world recognises us as probably the fastest growing among the major economies, but then we are not without our own challenges,” he said. “We are fully conscious of the adverse situation in which we are. We are struggling to keep respectable growth rate (despite) certain advantages like we have a booming services sector, we have a manufacturing sector slowly growing, we have increased our public spending, we have opened our doors wide enough and foreign investment is coming in a big way, at least in the urban areas we can see an increasing demand,” he said. These are the engines that are keeping this growth rate alive, he said. Talking about headwinds to economic growth, the finance minister said, slow agriculture production due to weak monsoon and subdued private investment are a few challenges. “If you look at the direction in which the conventional global economy is moving today, we almost are moving from a crisis situation literally by the day. Nobody really can envisage looking down the tunnel as to what the situation of the world economy, one year or two year from now is going to be. Nobody can seriously predict as to what the emerging challenges down the few months are going to be,” he said. “Earlier crisis like situation came once a decade, today it may emerge twice in a day. You may have the impact of Chinese economy and their currency on one part of the world and you may have the oil prices striking you at the other part of the world and you will have a global impact simultaneously of these challenges,” he added. THE NATIONAL DAWN Printed, Published & Owned by Vikramrao Sanas and Printed at Bhaskar Printing Press, B-129 A.B. Central Road, No-12 Udhana, Surat (Gujarat) & Published at - S-30 Kanaknidhi Complex, Opp. Gandihi Smruti Bhavan, Nanpura, Surat-395001 (Guj) Editor- Vikram Sanas is Responsible for the News Published in PRB. ACT
Monday, 18 January, 2016 Jaitley promises a friendly tax regime New Delhi 17 January 2016 Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said here on Saturday that the government would introduce a friendly tax regime, especially for start-ups, by announcing new rules either through executive orders or by including them in the Union Budget. The Minister was addressing an audience of potential entrepreneurs at the opening session of the launch of the Start-Up India mission. Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia indicated that the government could reduce the gap in the tax treatment of capital gains between listed and unlisted companies. While a three-year investment in an unlisted company attracted a long-term capital gain tax of 20 per cent, holdings of equity shares in listed firms for one year were exempt from such a levy, Mr. Adhia said. “Now this gap is too wide … I can assure you of this gap being bridged at the time of the budget …The point is, if somebody is making hot investment in equity market, if he keeps it for one year, after one year, there is zero capital gain … As compared to that, people who have been taking the risk of putting long-term equity investment in unlisted security, like in case of a start-up, they have to pay 20 per cent even after three years.” He hinted at further tax incentives aimed at encouraging the start-up ecosystem, such as rationalised service tax rules, in the budget. “Start-up India will be the final break with the licence raj ... Freedom will be given to the sector from the State,” Mr. Jaitley said. The Minister said he was not familiar with most of the participants at the conference, and it was the first time that those other than the “usual suspects” were attending such a meeting. Since May 2014, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was elected to office, the traffic of industry visiting North Block, where the Finance Ministry office functions, had ended. He said the government aimed to ensure that the role of the State became that of a facilitator. At a panel discussion at the launch, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das said the Start-up India mission would be a game changer for India by channelling investments and facilitating job creation. He said starting a company in India was akin to entering the mythical “Chakravyuh” as “it is easier to get in than to get out”. The Finance Ministry was in discussions with the Reserve Bank for online filing of returns under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, Mr. Das said. “You will see very quick action on that which will facilitate online filing of returns.” Mr. Jaitley said the government and the Reserve Bank would shore up the lending capacity of banks over the next few months. “The Reserve Bank and the government, acting in tandem, are going to add to bankers’ ability to lend with vigour and in greater amounts,” he said. He said credit growth was critical to boosting India’s sluggish economic growth, but had remained subdued, with banks struggling with crippling bad debts and insufficient capital. For that, the government and the RBI were planning to take measures to add to banks’ lending capacity. On the global economy, Mr. Jaitley said it had unquestionably slowed down and “We can take limited satisfaction that even in a crisis-like situation in the world, we are growing much faster”. FPIs withdraw Rs. 3,500 cr. from equities in a fortnight New Delhi as ‘hot money’ because of its 17 January 2016 unpredictability, although In the last 15 days, overseas investors have pulled among the most important they continue to remain out close to Rs. 3,500 crore drivers of Indian stock markets. Market experts attrib- from the Indian equity markets on concerns of renewed uted the outflow from the worries over the health of stock markets to several negative factors such as concerns Chinese economy and sharp fall in crude oil prices. over China’s growth, crude However, these investors falling below $31 to 12-year continue to remain bullish on lows and weak IIP data. the Indian debt market and invested a net amount of Rs. nese economy and the on- The outlook for the Chi- 3,239 crore during the period. going collapse in oil prices According to data available with depositories, Forout money from the stock have triggered FPIs to pulleign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) market. A contraction in industrial production in No- infused a gross amount of Rs. they pulled out Rs. 39,852 Rs. 3,483 crore (about $520 36,368 crore into equity markets in January 1-15, while resulting in a net outflow of the FPIs is often referred to vestors’ crore during the same period, million). Capital poured in by vember also dampened in- sentiments. AI pilots to be penalised for reporting late New Delhi 17 January 2016 Come February, Air India passengers may face lesser delays as the Union government has approved a plan to penalise the national carrier's pilots for reporting late for flights, along with incentives for those who fly more. According to the new pay structure, in order to claim their salaries, the Air India pilots will have to fly minimum 40 hours. At present, irrespective of a minimum threshold, pilots get a fixed allowance for up to 70 hours of flying. “Now, a pilot will have to fly a minimum of 40 hours to get allowance. Earlier, those flying up to 70 hours would get it. Even pilots who didn’t fly would get their pays,” said a senior AI official. The new pay structure was approved by the Civil Aviation Ministry in January this year and will be effective from February this year, the official added. Also, pilots reporting late for flights will be penalised in the form of deduction from their flying hours. According to the rule, 2.33 hours of flying will be deducted from the pilot’s total monthly flying hours if he or she reports an hour late for the flight, a senior AI official said. There have been instances in the past when AI pilots would report sick before the flight leading to delays, another AI official said. The official added the overtime allowance for the pilots was increased by 25 per cent. The national carrier has sought Rs. 4,277 crore as budgetary support from the government, senior AI officials said. Out of this, Rs.3,300 crore is part of the AI’s turnaround plan and Rs.977 crore is additional demand due to fall in the value of rupee. IOC begins petrol production from Paradip refinery Paradip (Odisha) 17 January 2016 The foundation stone for the refinery was laid by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in May 2002. Indian Oil Corporation’s latest refinery in Paradip, Odisha, the first in over a decade for the nation’s largest fuel major, started production of petrol from the Rs. 34,555-crore facility on Sunday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate the 15 MMTPA Paradip Refinery, which will primarily be producing BS-IV fuels and serving the eastern and south-eastern markets apart from exports, to the nation on February 7. The commissioning of the refinery comes after 14 years, owing to many flip-flops by the Naveen Patanik government on incentives, withdrawal of its foreign partner Kuwait Petroleum and stiff frequent opposition from locals, state politicians and NGOs apart from two killer cyclones. The foundation stone for the refinery was laid by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in May 2002, which again was a full one decade after the project was proposed by the PV Narasimha Rao government in July 1992. “We have completed one of the most critical steps of the refinery today. With our 3.9 MMTPA motor spirits unit going critical, we have only VGO-HDT (vacuum gas oil hydrotreater) to be commissioned that will be done by mid next month. “This refinery complex is the most modern facility in the country India may become No. 1 economy in 25-30 years, says SoftBank CEO and also our first and the largest greenfield facility on the East Coast,” Ramjee Ram, executive director in-charge of the Paradip Refinery project, told reporters during a plant visit ahead of the formal commissioning. This 15- million tonne refinery is also the largest on the country’s Eastern coast, and is equipped with the latest technology, including IOC’s own patented IndMax technology for better and higher LPG output. The Rs. 34,555-crore project, which had incurred a cost overrun of over Rs. 3,500 crore due to delays that it had to face apart from two cyclones, is coming up at a 3,350 acre area adjoining the Paradip Port. The project includes a sprawling, modern residential complex that boasts of a Delhi Public School, a modern stadium complex, among others. The refinery complex spans over 2,100 acres, while the proposed Rs. 35,000-crore petchem will come up on the north bank of the jetty. It also has a 17 metre deep natural draft for its oil jetty that can berth very large ships and has captive multi fuel power plant that can generate over 360 MW electricity. Though the refinery will primarily be processing highsulphur crude oil, cheaper by $ 2-3 a barrel, Ram said the facility can process any type of crude from the Gulf nations, Africa and South America. However, he was quick to add that a final call on the feed will be taken by the central procurement cell, which decides mix of the crude to be sent to different refineries. Remote cardiac monitor wins Google tech contest New Delhi of Cardiac Design. The firm has New Delhi ever, the country needs to resolve issues related to infra- do they have a passion… and Cardiac Design Labs, a suite that comprises of wear- challenging, are they unique, 17 January 2016 built MIRCaM, comprehensive 17 January 2016 India may become the structure and slow mobile is the market itself supposed to startup that has come up with able sensors, doctor's terminal, world’s largest economy in the broadband speeds, he said. be growing? Those are the an innovation to help cardiac patient’s bedside and a mobile next 25-30 years, said SoftBank Asked if he plans to re-scale things I still check,” he said. patients in rural India access app. The company said the Chairman and CEO investments in India given the Asked what he saw in the eyes critical care through a wearable system provides real time Masayoshi Son. “I have a current global economic environment, Mr. Son said: “If I Ritesh Agarwal of OYO, Mr. a live contest hosted by tech alarms on episode detection or of Kunal Bahl of Snapdeal and device, came out triumphant at analysis and generate instant strong feeling that 10-15 years from now, despite shaking situation of China, it will surpass SoftBank had, in 2014, ankling.” SoftBank has invested dia event. The Bengaluru- among the patients. This en- rescale I would only scale up.” Son said: “The eyes were spar- firm Google at the Startup In- abnormally rapid heart rate the U.S. in GDP…25-30 years nounced investments of $10 in Indian e-commerce and technology firms such as Snapdeal, nications and heart monitoring Five innovative startups which based firm combines commuhances patient care and safety. from now, India may surpass billion in India over a 10-year all countries to become period. “In the last one year we Ola Cabs, Housing.com and technology and is designed for were shortlisted through a robust selection process, pitched number one,” Mr. Son, who is have already invested almost OYO Rooms. “In India, today, use in rugged rural conditions Japan’s second-richest person with a net worth of $9.4 billion in 10 years, I have albile broadband infrastructure, from home. The cardiologist will venture capitalists, angel in- $2 billion. So, if I have said $10 the two things lacking are mo- .The patient can be monitored their ideas to an audience of billion, said while speaking at ready done $2 billion in one the connectivity is too slow be able to remotely interact and vestors and government representatives and industry ex- the Start Up India event on year, so that is over pacing and and expensive and the second diagnose the patient using his Saturday. I think we would accelerate,” is electricity. Road and all is cell phone. “Some of the devices that do diagnosis for carcluded Rajan Anandan, manperts. Some of these experts in- Mr. Son said he strongly Mr. Son said. “We are investing into many companies. infrastructure required a lot of diac (problems) are expensive. aging director of Google South there,” Mr. Son said. He said believes that the 21st century belongs to India as its people Whenever I invest I look at the capital and startups cannot We are solving this problem by East Asia and India and are smart, young, speak English and are IT-proficient. How- look at the field that they are mobile Internet is too slow. Anand Madanagopal, founder Nexus Venture Partners. eyes of the entrepreneur and I make that investment. “I think making it affordable,” said Sandeep Singhal co-founder of Government all set to ease rules for startups to mushroom Mumbai 17 January 2016 In India entrepreneurship is no longer being looked down in the guise of a frugal or flexible innovation and the government will take steps to make capital easily available and ease rules to enable startups to flourish, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, said. The government aims to bring a bankruptcy law to improve the ease of doing business in the country, Sitharaman said at the inaugural session of Startup India programme. The Centre will give priority to programmes likes Start Up Mission to generate more employment and engage with entrepreneurs to remove all the burdensome regulations. Bankruptcy Bill The government had introduced the Bankruptcy Bill in Parliament in the recently concluded winter session but could not ensure its passage. A simple and effective corporate insolvency law is important for expediting the winding up of a company, selling its assets and also for revival of sick companies. Easier entry and exit norms are important from the point of view of a startup, too, as there is a likelihood of a good number of them failing. Investors have often criticised the delays involved in the insolvency proceedings in India and the consequent fall in the company's asset value. The number of people looking to start their own ventures have gone up while those seeking government employment have done down, Ms. Sitharaman said. . The government has set up a ‘fund-of-funds’ to help startups and it will not impose any conditions for startups but only act as a facilitator, she said. The government had in August last year set up an India Aspiration Fund as a fund-of-funds to increase the capital availability for startups. Employment Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion Secretary, Amitabh Kant, said employment generation was the government's top-most priority. He said the Start-Up Mission was an important step in this direction. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the Silicon Valley in the U.S. last year, to interact with the entrepreneurs there, had paid off as it had created several links between Indian and American entrepreneurs, he said. Pointing out that one million people enter the labour force in India every month, World Bank Country Director for India, Onno Ruhl, said the challenge was to create jobs for them. The World Bank was keen to work with the government in ensuring the Start-Up Mission was a success. However, it was important to make sure that the country grows through innovation in the area of frugal engineering using less energy, less water and keeping the air clean. Deep Kalra, founder of the online travel company MakeMyTrip, said with changing times, people now have respect for startups and entrepreneurs and the value they create.
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January 18, 2016

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