Milestone of India - Banks asked to give financial support to MSMEs.

SERVING THE NEEDY: President Pratibha Patil with Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Dinsha J. Patel (left) and Secretary Dinesh Rai (second from right) presenting the national award for excellence in lending to micro enterprises for 2009-10 to Chairman of State Bank of India O. P. Bhatt in New Delhi on Tuesday.

NEW DELHI: Lauding the crucial role played by medium and small industries in the growth and development of the country, President Pratibha Devisingh Patil on Tuesday asked banks to provide financial support to micro and small enterprises to facilitate fast growth of the sector that gives employment to crores of people in rural and semi-urban areas.

“Availability of adequate credit is paramount to the success of the micro and small enterprises. It must be kept in mind that it is the vulnerable unorganised enterprises which are still perceived as risky by financial institutions, and suffer the greatest constraint in access to credit, because of the very nature of operations, especially of the traditional cottage industries. Timely financial support is absolutely essential for their survival, failing which they face the threat of extinction,” Ms. Patil said after presenting the national awards for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). A total of 171 awards were presented in various categories.

Pointing out that the contribution of MSMEs to the economic growth is recognised worldwide, the President said: “In India, these enterprises account for almost 45 per cent of manufacturing output, 95 per cent of the number of industrial units and 40 per cent of exports. Clearly, they are engines of growth providing employment to almost 6-crore people, making it the largest source of employment after the agriculture sector.”

Ms. Patil called upon the MSMEs, especially of the traditional sector, to employ cost effective technologies, particularly in sectors like the coir industry which employs about 5.5 lakh persons, many of whom are women in the coconut growing states of the country. “It is undeniable that technology and innovations are game changers, being the key determinants of increasing productivity through improvement in skills, better capital equipment and better systems,” she added.

Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Dinsha Patel, said they were implementing recommendations of the MSME task force set up by the Prime Minister that provides road map for the development and promotion of these units.

“We have already around 40 of the total 87 recommendations, while the rest will be done by the end of this year, further boosting the growth of the sector,” Mr. Patel added.

Milestone of India - Milestone in Indian Economy.

NEW DELHI: In line with industry and market expectations, the Indian economy grew by an impressive 8.8 per cent during the first quarter this fiscal, powered by a robust growth in manufacturing coupled with a turnaround in agriculture and allied activities.

With the size of the economy pegged at Rs.17.12 lakh crore in the April-June quarter of 2010-11, the strong GDP (gross domestic product) performance marked the fastest pace of growth in nearly three years, way above the 6 per cent expansion achieved in the like quarter of 2009-10 and the 8.6 per cent growth posted during the January-March quarter of the same fiscal. In fact, the first quarter growth rate is the highest since the last quarter of 2006-07 when the economy expanded by about 9.5 per cent.

According to the official data release here on Tuesday, the manufacturing sector in particular, which was severely hit by the slowdown in the wake of the global financial crisis, posted a healthy growth of 12.4 per cent in the April-June quarter of 2010-11 as compared to 3.8 per cent in the same period last fiscal.

Alongside, agriculture and allied activities also expanded by 2.8 per cent during the quarter from 1.9 per cent in April-June 2009.

Although as yet nowhere near the 4 per cent growth estimated for the farm sector this fiscal, it marks a turnaround and is poised to improve further following adequate monsoon rainfall which is expected to yield a good kharif harvest.

The fact that the GDP figures are in keeping with expectations despite the partial exit of stimulus prompted Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and India Inc. to exude confidence that the economy is back on the high growth. Stating that the economy would grow by 8.5-8.75 per cent at the least during the current fiscal, Mr. Mukherjee said: “The numbers are quite encouraging ... more encouraging point is 12.4 per cent growth which has been registered in the manufacturing sector. I think the highest growth rate in the last 11 quarters... I do hope it will be possible to maintain this level of growth.”

Echoing similar views, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry President Rajan Bharti Mittal said: “Given this trend in GDP growth, we expect to close the year with an overall performance of close to 9 per cent”. A slightly circumspect Assocham President Swati Piramal pegged the current fiscal's growth rate at 8.6-8.8 per cent.

Amplifying on the concern, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia explained that although the manufacturing sector growth rate was likely to be lower during the rest of the fiscal year owing to base effect, the farm sector would post good growth and help in registering an overall GDP expansion of over 8.8 per cent.

Despite the expectation of better farm sector performance, a slowdown in government and household expenditure is likely to have an adverse effect on the economy.

Milestone of India - NABARD sanctions Rs 284.5 crore for rural infrastructure in West Bengal.

KOLKATA: NABARD has sanctioned an amount of Rs. 284.51 crore under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund XVI to West Bengal. The projects sanctioned are for improving rural infrastructure including roads and bridges.

For improving rural connectivity in 18 districts of West Bengal, an amount of Rs.279.89 crore has been sanctioned for 100 rural roads (68 village roads, 24 other district roads and 8 major district roads), according to a release. A total road length of 702.34 km is expected to be created under these projects. Non-recurring employment generation is expected to be 104.91 lakh man days. The projects are likely to benefit 2083 villages.

For the Sundarbans area, an amount of Rs.4.62 crore has been sanctioned for a rural bridge project in South 24 Parganas. The total span of the bridge is 67.20 m. Non-recurring employment generation is expected to be 1.73 lakh man days and the project would benefit a population of 1.30 lakh in 14 villages.

Since inception of the RIDF, NABARD has sanctioned 32,998 projects with a loan component of Rs.6600.75 crore to West Bengal.

Major projects which received financial support from NABARD for creation of infrastructure in the State include rural connectivity Rs.3463.89 crore (52 per cent), irrigation and flood protection Rs.1490.42 crore (23 per cent), social sector Rs. 325.86 crore (5 per cent) and other sectors Rs. 1320.58 crore (20 per cent).

Milestone of India - Annual feast of St. Mary begins. (Kerala - India.)

MANARCAD (Kottayam district): The annual feast of St. Mary at the St. Mary's Church, Manarcad, near here, will be observed from September 1 to September 8.

The chief guest of the feast this year is Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ambika Soni who will deliver the keynote address on September 5.

Ports and Youth Affairs Minister V. Surendran Pillai, Leader of Opposition Oommen Chandy, Jose K. Mani, MP, and V.N. Vasavan, MLA, will speak on the occasion.

Public reception

During the feast, or eight days of lent (Ettunombu Perunaal), a public reception will be accorded to Metropolitan Mor Selwanos Pathros, Archbishop of Homs and the Special Envoy of the Patriarch of Antioch Moran Mor Ignatius Zakka I Iwas on September 5.

Religious procession

A religious procession ( Raza) will be taken out to the ‘Kurisu Palli' (shrine) on September 6. Thousands of people are expected to take part in this procession.

Another high point of the Feast is the ‘Nada Thurakkal' on September 7.

The image of Mother Mary and Jesus Christ will be kept for public display on this day. This annual display will continue for a week till September 14.

The curtains will come down on this 8-day Feast on September 8.

Milestone of India - Devotion that knows no bounds. (Andhrapradesh - India.)

Hyderabad: Vinayaka Chavithi festival is one occasion where devotees come across Lord Ganesha in different shapes, sizes and forms at various pandals in twin cities.

But if one pays a visit to bank employee P. Shekhar's house in West Marredpally, there is an opportunity to see over 11,000 Ganesh idols in different forms and nearly 14,000 photographs collected from across the globe. What started as a hobby of collecting different Ganesh idols from childhood, eventually turned into a passion for Mr. Shekhar. So much so that after entering the Limca Book of Indian Records in 2010, he is now applying for the Guinness Book of World Records for the highest collection of idols. “My family and I visited Shirdi when I was 12 years old. I purchased the first idol of the Lord by spending half a rupee. Since then, there was no looking back,” says the 49-year-old Shekhar. His collection includes all the 32 forms of the Lord right from Bala Ganapati to Sankatahara Ganapati. While the smallest idol in his collection is just half-an-inch, the heaviest one is a Panchaloha Panchamukhi idol weighing about 50 kgs. He boasts of collecting the idols from 32 countries, including United States, Japan, China, Afghanisthan, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Egypt, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

“I purchase them online or at different exhibitions held across the country. Idols in my collection are made of metal, precious stones, wood, terracotta, paper, shells, aluminium etc. No two idols or photographs are similar to each other,” he says. He even made 25 types of idols on his own using pebbles, paper, aluminium foil, etc and began constructing a temple for the Lord spanning 13 acres near Yadagirigutta and launched a charitable trust to seek donations. For details contact on 92465-05368.

Milestone of India - Best Teacher Award Announced. (Andhrapradesh - India.)

NELLORE: Vikrama Simhapuri University (VSU) Registrar V. Narayana Reddy has been selected for Best Teacher Award-2010. Chief Minister K. Rosaiah will present the award to Mr. Reddy at a function to be held at Ravindra Bharati, Hyderabad, on September 5, on Teacher's Day.

He has a number of national and international-level publications on anthropology and cross-cultural society.

Milestone of India - Milestone in Indo - Pak tiesl. (Indian aid for Pakistan.)

NEW DELHI: India has announced an additional monetary assistance of $20 million to Pakistan to help it tackle the worst-ever floods witnessed in recent past.

Making the announcement in the Lok Sabha, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said the decision followed Pakistan's willingness to accept India's initial offer of $5 million, to be routed through the United Nations. He made a similar announcement in the Rajya Sabha.

He made a similar announcement in the Rajya Sabha too.

“As a more concrete assessment of the damage caused by this natural disaster and the urgent needs of the people of Pakistan emerge, the [Indian] government has decided to increase its assistance … from $5 million, announced earlier, to $25 million,” he said in a suo motu statement.

Of the total money, $20 million would go to the ‘Pakistan Initial Floods Emergency Response Plan' through the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Efforts. The rest would be contributed to the U.N. World Food Programme. Mr. Krishna recalled that India offered $5 million, when he spoke on the telephone to his Pakistan counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi on August 13. On August 19, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told his Pakistan counterpart Yusuf Raza Gilani that India was ready to do more.

Initially, Pakistan was reluctant to accept the aid, but agreed after the U.S. intervened. However, Pakistan asked India last week to route the aid through the U.N.

“We cannot remain unconcerned with this grave humanitarian crisis ... in our immediate neighbourhood,” Mr. Krishna said.

Quoting the latest U.N. figures, he said the floods, described as the worst in that part of the region in the past 80 years, killed 1,600 people and affected 17.2 million. More than 1.2 million houses were damaged or destroyed. “All the four provinces of Pakistan and the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir have suffered the consequences.”