Rainfed Area Development Programme funding allocated to states under RKVY supporting small and marginal farmers.
RADP has been allocated Rs. 250 crore across ten States in 2011-12 as a sub-scheme of RKVY, with no enhancement of the allocation; RADP targets small and marginal farmers with a complete package of activities to maximise farm returns and enhance livelihood security under the State Plan Scheme framework.

Food Processing Industries contribution to GDP highlighted; employment figures and major government schemes outlined in parliamentary reply.
The Food Processing Industries contributed an average annual amount of Rs.55788 crore to GDP during 2004-05 to 2009-10; unorganized sector employment was 6.3 million in 2005-06 and registered industries employed about 1.5 million in 2007-08. The Ministry promotes the sector through major schemes: Infrastructure Development; Technology Up gradation/Establishment/Modernization; Quality Assurance, Codex Standards, Research & Development and Promotional Activities; and Up gradation of Street Food Quality with Strengthening of Institutions.

Power to establish NIFT campuses confirmed; Board may open new campuses and approvals issued for handloom institutes.
Approvals and institutional expansions were announced: additional Indian Institutes of Handloom Technology are to be established under government authorisation, and two new National Institute of Fashion Technology campuses were opened in 2010. The creation of NIFT campuses is effected under the statutory Board Establishment Power, enabling the Institute's Board to establish new campuses as the legal mechanism for expansion.

Foreign direct investment allowed in port sector; security clearance required for bidders before consideration.
Full foreign direct investment is permitted in the port sector to facilitate private and multinational participation in capacity expansion, equipment modernization, technology transfer and infusion of private capital. Participation in Major Ports is subject to mandatory security clearance for all bidders, and only bidders cleared from the security perspective are considered for port projects.

Interest rate recommendation process for provident fund depends on estimated interest income and liability assessments.
Rate-setting for the Employees' Provident Fund interest is an annual administrative process in which the governing board assesses estimated interest income against estimated liability on interest payments and, after updating annual accounts, recommends a rate to the government based on that comparative assessment.

Control of chemotherapeutic residues in aquaculture urged preventive GAqP training, recordkeeping, inspections and feed verification.
USFDA found India's chemotherapeutic residue control focused on laboratory testing without a dedicated safety training and inspection programme for hatcheries, feed and farms, and recommended training on Good Aquaculture Practices, recordkeeping for inputs, inspections and monitoring of hatcheries and farms, and registration and verification testing of feed manufacturers. MPEDA implemented regional training-of-trainers programmes to promote adoption of these preventive measures and improve oversight.

Infrastructure support for spice exports enables establishment of a spice park to boost processing and market competitiveness.
The Government approved establishment of a Spice Park at Kota under the Assistance to States for Infrastructure Development of Exports (ASIDE) Scheme, with central financial support, allotment of 12.14 hectares of freehold land in Nimana village, and appointment of a consultant to develop infrastructure and processing facilities for seed spices, particularly coriander and cumin, to enhance export competitiveness and capture premium world-market prices.

Multilateral trading system discussions to consider accessions and adopt decisions on intellectual property and electronic commerce.
Eighth WTO Ministerial Conference convenes plenary and parallel working sessions to discuss the multilateral trading system, trade and development, and the Doha Development Agenda; it will consider the accession of three applicants and adopt decisions on intellectual property, electronic commerce, small economies, least developed country accession and a services waiver, concluding with a two-part Chair's statement comprising consensus elements for political guidance and a factual summary of ministerial points.

Industry consultation called to address industrial slowdown, initiating government-industry dialogue on manufacturing decline and policy response.
Government-Industry consultation convened to address an observed industrial slowdown, focusing on the decline in manufacturing output; the Union Minister for Commerce, Industry and Textiles has expressed concern and announced a formal meeting with industry stakeholders after his return from international engagement to examine causes and potential policy measures.

Opening of postal market by reducing exclusive privilege, permitting couriers under reserve-area pricing and registration requirements.
The draft Bill phases liberalisation of postal services by reducing the Central Government's exclusive privilege, permitting couriers to carry reserved letters and express items subject to reserve-area pricing, and introducing a sunset clause with parliamentary review. It defines Universal Service Obligation as the Central Government's duty to provide nationwide basic postal services with specified service parameters and six-day delivery. The Bill standardises definitions for postal, courier and express services, mandates registration of courier operators, requires licences for reserved-area, USO and letter services with quality and confidentiality conditions, and creates Registering and Appellate Authorities along with powers to establish overseas mail offices.

National electronics policy to boost domestic manufacturing and prefer India-owned intellectual property for strategic supply security.
Draft National Policy on Electronics proposes facilitation of Semiconductor Wafer Fabs and related ecosystems, establishment of over two hundred Electronic Manufacturing Clusters, fiscal incentives via a Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme, and Preferential Market Access for domestically manufactured or designed electronic products with Indian-held IP to address strategic and security concerns; it also proposes an Electronic Development Fund to promote innovation, R&D and commercialization and a National Electronics Mission with industry participation to implement programmes and promote India as an electronic hardware manufacturing hub.

License cancellation recommendations follow failure to meet rollout obligations; legal review and show-cause processes are being pursued.
Recommendation for license cancellation was made because licensees failed to satisfy rollout obligations, which require registration with technical and monitoring bodies and commissioning of service by installing necessary equipment and offering service to subscribers; show-cause notices for termination have been issued to several licensees, further notices are being prepared, some matters are sub judice, and legal opinion review is being sought for additional licences.

Strategic cooperation for food security establishes bilateral working groups and program spending, with FDI limited to services only.
Memorandum of Understanding on strategic cooperation in agriculture and food security establishes three working groups-strategic cooperation for food security; food processing, farm to market linkages and agricultural extension; and crop and weather and climate forecasting-to implement follow up actions. Programme expenditure has been reported and foreign direct investment from the partner country has been recorded in the agriculture services sector, while FDI in the core agriculture sector is not permitted under existing policy.

Share of agriculture in GDP falls due to structural shifts; government stresses investment schemes to strengthen the sector.
The share of agriculture and allied sectors in GDP has declined significantly from the 1960s to 2010-11 due to structural economic transformation and the growth of non agricultural employment; the Government has launched schemes to increase investment in agriculture to improve its performance in the overall economy.

Authorized share capital increase enables expanded government capital contributions and outreach for minority development finance corporation operations.
NMDFC increased disbursements and met targets under its Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry; the Government raised NMDFC's authorized share capital and provided phased equity contributions during the XIth Five Year Plan, and a consultancy was appointed to recommend restructuring measures to enhance institutional capacity and outreach.

Energy conservation boosts petroleum savings through mandated policy, awareness and training measures, while production timelines vary by discovery and infrastructure.
A government press release reported third party assessed savings from petroleum conservation activities for successive years and identified the agency established in 1978 as the mandated body to promote conservation of petroleum products across major sectors through policy proposals, awareness campaigns, training and behaviour change initiatives, while noting that oil and gas development timelines depend on discovery location, size, infrastructure and field services.

Wholesale Price Index signals sectoral shifts as primary articles eased while fuel & power remained flat, impacting inflation dynamics.
Wholesale Price Index for week ending 26 November 2011: Primary Articles fell 0.5% to 199.3 with Food Articles down 1.0% and Non Food Articles up 0.6%; Fuel & Power remained unchanged at 171.8. Year on year inflation stood at 6.92% for Primary Articles and 15.53% for Fuel & Power. Annexures provide commodity level indices, week over week builds, build up since end March and 52 week averages for major items.

Subsidy support for MSP operations ensures reimbursement of losses and preparedness funding with government working capital guarantee.
Approval to provide continuing subsidy to the Jute Corporation of India to offset losses from MSP operations, including reimbursement of the expenditure to sale price gap and maintenance of fixed overhead reimbursement as annual preparedness expenses payable even in non procurement years; regularisation and release of past subsidy balances; and a one time government guarantee to enable public sector banks to extend working capital loans to the Corporation for MSP procurement.

Foreign direct investment approval permits downstream investment and complete equity transfer in an electricity transmission group company.
Approval was granted for foreign direct investment into M/s. Grid Equipment Limited to permit downstream investment in promoter group companies principally engaged in electricity transmission and distribution, and to allow transfer of the company's entire equity from resident nominee shareholders of M/s. Areva T&D India Limited to M/s. Alstom Grid Finance and other foreign collaborators and their nominees.

Foreign direct investment approval enabling downstream investment and equity transfer to foreign collaborators under corporate restructuring.
Approval was granted for a proposal involving foreign direct investment into an Indian engineering company to finance downstream investment by the promoter group into electricity transmission and distribution activities, and to permit transfer of the entire equity from resident nominee shareholders of the existing foreign parent to a foreign finance affiliate and other foreign collaborators and nominees.