World Bank, Modi government sign USD 500-million pact to develop green, safe highway corridors - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

World Bank, Modi government sign USD 500-million pact to develop green, safe highway corridors.

Under the project, 783 km of highways will be developed in various geographies by integrating eco-friendly and safe technology designs like industrial byproducts, local and marginal materials, as well as other bioengineering solutions.

To build safe and green national highway corridors, the World Bank and the Modi Government recently signed an agreement for a USD 500-million project. According to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, the highway corridors will be developed in the states of Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. This big infra project will enhance the capacity of the ministry in mainstreaming safe as well as green technologies, according to a PTI report. Under the Green National Highways Corridors Project, 783 km of highways will be developed in various geographies by integrating eco-friendly and safe technology designs like industrial byproducts, local and marginal materials, as well as other bioengineering solutions. According to the report, this infra project will set new standards in the development of safe motorable roads. Besides the selected stretches in the above-mentioned states will also help improve connectivity and promote economic development. The transport infrastructure’s ultimate objective is to provide seamless connectivity as well as reduce logistics costs. The ministry further stated that many investment programmes have been launched by the Modi government to strengthen and improve logistics performance. Moreover, the Green National Highways Corridors Project will support analytics to map the freight volume as well as movement pattern on the NH network, point out constraints, as well as offer innovative logistics solutions.

According to the ministry, the project will support the government with an in-depth analysis of issues related to gender in the transport sector. Also, the project will help in generating job opportunities for women by training women-led micro-enterprises as well as women collectives to implement green technologies in the corridors of national highways.

In India, the national highways carry nearly 40% of road traffic. However, many sections/stretches of these national highways have weak drainage structures, inadequate capacity and black spots prone to accidents. The infra project will construct new pavements, drainage facilities and bypasses; improve junctions; strengthen and widen existing structures; and introduce road safety features. According to the ministry, it is imperative that the investments in infrastructure are climate-resilient. To this effect, under the project, disaster risk assessment of about 5,000 km of the NH network will be undertaken as well. The loan from the IBRD, worth USD 500-million, has a maturity of 18.5 years including five years’ grace period. (Source: livemint)

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World Bank, Modi government sign USD 500-million pact to develop green, safe highway corridors.

India's rank jumps 14 places in World Bank's ease of doing business ranking - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

India's rank jumps 14 places in World Bank's ease of doing business ranking.

In six years of the Narendra Modi government, India’s ranking improved 79 places from 142nd in 2014 to 63th in 2019, a record for a major economy

India climbed 14 rungs in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business 2020 survey to stand at 63, among 190 countries, making it the one of world’s top 10 most improved countries for the third consecutive time.

The sharp rise in the ranking underscores the reformist credentials of the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government and may help the country lure multinational companies looking for investment destinations apart from China amid its ongoing trade war with the US.
Last year, India jumped 23 places to reach 77th position in the rankings. In six years of the Narendra Modi government, India’s ranking has improved 79 places from 142nd in 2014 to 63th in 2019, a record for a major economy.
The World Bank said India conducted four reforms in the 12-month period to May 1. “Among other improvements, India made the process of obtaining a building permit more efficient. Obtaining all permits and authorizations to build a warehouse now costs 4% of the warehouse value, down from 5.7% the previous year. In addition, authorities enhanced building quality control in Delhi by strengthening professional certification requirements. Importing and exporting also became easier for companies with the creation of a single electronic platform for trade stakeholders, upgrades to port infrastructure and improvements to electronic submission of documents," it added.
The Global Competitiveness Index, 2019, released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) earlier this month showed India’s ranking slipped a sharp 10 notches to 68. India’s score fell in eight of 12 parameters while other countries improved their domestic business environment faster than India. Iran (99) is the only other country of the 141 countries surveyed whose ranking also fell by 10 positions. (Source: Livemint)


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India's rank jumps 14 places in World Bank's ease of doing business ranking.

India's growth rate to fall to 6%, will recover to 7.2% in 2022: World Bank - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

India's growth rate to fall to 6%, will recover to 7.2% in 2022: World Bank.

In 2018-19, it stood at 6.8%, down from 7.2% in the 2017-18 financial year.

After a broad-based deceleration in the initial quarters of this fiscal year, India's growth rate is projected to fall to 6 per cent, the World Bank said on Sunday.
In 2018-19, the growth rate of the country stood at 6.9 per cent.
However, the bank in its latest edition of the South Asia Economic Focus said the country was expected to gradually recover to 6.9 per cent in 2021 and 7.2 per cent in 2022 as it assumed that the monetary stance would remain accommodative, given benign price dynamics.

The report, which has been released ahead of the annual meeting of the World Bank with the International Monetary Fund, noted India's economic growth decelerated for the second consecutive year.
In 2018-19, it stood at 6.8 per cent, down from 7.2 per cent in the 2017-18 financial year.
While industrial output growth increased to 6.9 per cent due to a pick-up in manufacturing and construction activities, the growth in agriculture and the services sector moderated to 2.9 and 7.5 per cent, respectively.
In the first quarter of 2019-20, the economy experienced a significant and broad-based growth deceleration with a sharp decline in private consumption on the demand side and the weakening of growth in both industry and services on the supply side, the report said.
Reflecting on the below-trend economic momentum and persistently low food prices, the headline inflation averaged 3.4 per cent in 2018-19 and remained well below the RBI's mid-range target of 4 per cent in the first half of 2019-2020. This allowed the RBI to ease monetary policy via a cumulative 135 basis point cut in the repo rate since January 2019 and shift the policy stance from neutral to accommodative, it said.
The World Bank report also noted that the current account deficit had widened to 2.1 per cent of the GDP in 2018-19 from 1.8 per cent a year before, mostly reflecting a deteriorating trade balance.
On the financing side, significant capital outflows in the first half of the current year were followed by a sharp reversal from October 2018 onwards and a build-up of international reserves to $411.9 billion at the end of the fiscal year.
Likewise, while the rupee initially lost ground against the $(12.1 per cent depreciation between March and October 2018), it appreciated by about seven per cent up to March 2019, the report said.
"The general government deficit is estimated to have widened by 0.2 percentage points to 5.9 per cent of the GDP in 2018-19. This is despite the central government improving its balance by 0.2 percentage points over the previous year. The general government debt remained stable and sustainable - being largely domestic and long term-at around 67 per cent of GDP, the report said.
According to the World Bank, poverty has continued to decline, albeit possibly at a slower pace than earlier. Between 2011-12 and 2015-16, the poverty rate declined from 21.6 to 13.4 per cent (USD 1.90 PPP/day).
The report, however, said disruptions brought about by the introduction of the GST and demonetisation, combined with the stress in the rural economy and a high youth unemployment rate in urban areas may have heightened the risks for the poorest households.
The significant slowdown in the first quarter of the fiscal year and high frequency indicators, thereafter, suggested that the output growth would not exceed 6 per cent for the full fiscal year, the bank said.
The report said the consumption was likely to remain depressed due to slow growth in rural income, domestic demand (as reflected in a sharp drop in sales of automobiles) and credit from non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).
However, the investment would benefit from the recent cut in effective corporate tax rate for domestic companies in the medium term, but also will continue to reflect financial sector weaknesses, the report said.
"Growth is expected to gradually recover to 6.9 per cent in 2020-21 and 7.2 per cent in 2021-22 as the cycle bottoms-out, rural demand benefits from effects of income support schemes, investment responds to tax incentives and credit growth resumes. However, exports growth is expected to remain modest, as trade wars and slow global growth depresses external demand," the report said.
The main policy challenge for India is to address the sources of softening private consumption and the structural factors behind weak investment, the bank said.
"This will require restoring the health of the financial sector through reforms of public sector banks' governance and a gradual strengthening of the regulatory framework for NBFCs, while ensuring that solvent NBFCs retain access to adequate liquidity.
"It will also require efforts to contain fiscal slippages, as higher-than-expected public borrowings could put upward pressure on interest rates and potentially crowd-out the private sector, it said.
According to the bank, the main sources of risk included external shocks that result in tighter global financing conditions, and new NBFC defaults triggering a fresh round of financial sector stress.
To mitigate these risks, the authorities would need to ensure that there was adequate liquidity in the financial system while strengthening the regulatory framework for the NBFCs, the bank added. (Source: The Business standard)


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India's growth rate to fall to 6%, will recover to 7.2% in 2022: World Bank.

World Bank AID for Rehabilitation of DAMS - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

World Bank AID for Rehabilitation of DAMS.

Central Water Commission (CWC) maintains National Register of Large Dams (NRLD) as per information provided by State Govts/ Dam owners. As per NRLD, 209 dams are 100 years or more old.

Union Government constituted National Committee on Dam Safety (NCDS) headed by Chairman, CWC and representatives from State Governments and PSUs. The objectives/mandates of NCDS are:
i) To oversee dam safety activities in various States and suggest improvements to bring these in line with the latest state-of-art consistently with Indian conditions.
ii) To act as a forum of exchange of views on techniques adopted for remedial measures to relieve distress.
iii) To monitor the follow-up action on the report on dam safety procedures.
iv) To recommend any other measures connected with dam safety.
The NCDS has been reconstituted from time to time and was last reconstituted on 15.10.2015.
Prime responsibility of preparation of Disaster Management Plan (DMP)/ Emergency Action Plan (EAP) rests with dam owners which are State Governments, central and state PSUs, municipalities and private companies etc. NCDS in its meetings has requested the State Governments/ Dam owners to prepare the DMPs/ EAPs of each large dam as per guidelines available on CWC website. As per information provided by State Governments, 398 DMPs/ EAPs have been prepared by the dam owners.
Government of India has started implementation of Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP) with financial assistance from World Bank to rehabilitate 198 dam projects in 7 States viz. Kerala (28 dam Projects), Madhya Pradesh (25 dam Projects), Odisha (26 dam Projects), Karnataka (22 dam Projects), Uttarakhand (Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited) (5 dam Projects), Jharkhand (Damodar Valley Corporation) (3 dam Projects) and Tamil Nadu (89 dam Projects). The original budget outlay was Rs.2100 Crore and was a six year Scheme with scheduled closure in June 2018. The Project has been extended for two more years with revised closure in June 2020. Also, the Government of India has approved Revised Cost of the Project for Rs. 3466 Crore in October 2018.
Guidelines for “Developing Emergency Action Plans (EAPs) for Dams” has been prepared and published during February 2016. The Guidelines were circulated to State Dam Safety Organisations (SDSO) and are available on DRIP website. (Source: pib)


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World Bank AID for Rehabilitation of DAMS.

World Bank to invest USD 200 bn in 2021-25 to fight climate change - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

World Bank to invest USD 200 bn in 2021-25 to fight climate change.

World Bank looks to fight pollution and help the countries worst affected by climate change.

The World Bank on Monday unveiled USD 200 billion in climate action investment for 2021-25, adding this amounts to a doubling of its current five-year funding.
The World Bank said the move, coinciding with a UN climate summit meeting of some 200 nations in Poland, represented a “significantly ramped up ambition” to tackle climate change, “sending an important signal to the wider global community to do the same.”
Developed countries are committed to lifting combined annual public and private spending to USD 100 billion in developing countries by 2020 to fight the impact of climate change — up from 48.5 billion in 2016 and 56.7 billion last year, according to latest OECD data.
Southern hemisphere countries fighting the impact of warming temperatures are nonetheless pushing northern counterparts for firmer commitments.
In a statement, the World Bank said the breakdown of the USD 200 billion would comprise “approximately USD 100 billion in direct finance from the World Bank.”
Around one third of the remaining funding will come from two World Bank Group agencies with the rest private capital “mobilised by the World Bank Group”.
“If we don’t reduce emissions and build adaptation now, we’ll have 100 million more people living in poverty by 2030,” John Roome, World Bank senior director for climate change, warned. “And we also know that the less we address this issue proactively just in three regions — Africa, South Asia and Latin America — we’ll have 133 million climate migrants,” Roome told AFP.
The bank’s financing package amounts to “about 40 billion a year, but the direct (finance) is 27 billion per year on average”, Roome said. He added that in the 2018 fiscal year, running from July 2017 to June this year, the World Bank had committed USD 20.5 billion to climate action, compared with an annual average of USD 13.5 billion for the 2014-2018 period.
Roome said the money now being earmarked amounted to “about 35 per cent” of the World Bank Group’s total financing.
Striking a balance
Much of the climate action financing is being set aside for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, notably through development of renewable energy strategies. However, the World Bank stated that “a key priority is boosting support for climate adaptation,” given the millions of people already battling the consequences of extreme weather.
“By ramping up direct adaptation finance to reach around USD 50 billion over (fiscal) 21-25, the World Bank will, for the first time, give this equal emphasis alongside investments that reduce emissions,” the bank stated.
Given the urgency to act in the face of sea level rise, flooding and drought “we must fight the causes, but also adapt to the consequences that are often most dramatic for the world’s poorest people”, said World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva.
By stepping up financial aid to developing countries worst affected, Georgieva said the bank was committed to adapting infrastructure while investing in “climate smart agriculture, sustainable water management and responsive social safety nets” as well as early response networks.
“Even if we can keep global warming down to 2 degrees Celsius we know you’re going to need a significant amount of adaptation in places like Chad, Mozambique or Bangladesh,” said Roome.
The countries whose representatives are meeting at the UN climate summit which opened on Sunday in the Polish city of Katowice are seeking to make good on commitments made in the 2015 Paris climate accord. That agreement saw countries commit to limiting global temperature rises to well below two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), and to the safer cap of 1.5C if at all possible.


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World Bank to invest USD 200 bn in 2021-25 to fight climate change.

World Bank 'human capital' rankings: Singapore, S Korea take top spots - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

World Bank 'human capital' rankings: Singapore, S Korea take top spots.

The 'human capital' index was unveiled at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund annual meetings on the Indonesian island of Bali.

In effort to boost education, healthcare investment, World Bank launches 'human capital' rankings.
The World Bank Group unveiled a new system on Thursday to rank countries based on their success in developing human capital, an effort to prod governments to invest more effectively in education and healthcare.
The bank's "Human Capital Index," showed poor African countries fared the worst in the rankings, with Chad and South Sudan taking the two lowest spots, while Singapore topped the list, followed by South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong.
The rankings, based on health, education and survivability measures, assess the future productivity and earnings potential for citizens of 157 of the World Bank's member nations, and ultimately those countries' potential economic growth.
The index was unveiled at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund annual meetings on the Indonesian island of Bali.
It found that on average 56 percent of children born today will forego more than half their potential lifetime earnings because governments were not investing adequately to ensure their people are healthy, educated and ready for an evolving workplace.
World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said he hoped the new index would encourage governments to take steps aimed at moving up the rankings, much as they seek to with the bank's popular "Doing Business" survey, which ranks countries based on ease of doing business, with low-tax, low regulation economies faring better.
Kim acknowledged that the rankings would be controversial, but told reporters that the need for more and better investment in people was "such that we couldn't shy away from making leaders uncomfortable".
"This is about drawing their attention to a crisis that we think is real. This is connected to productivity, this is connected to economic growth," Kim said.
He said there was "unanimous" acceptance among World Bank member countries and the bank's board.
The index measures the mortality rate for children under five, early childhood stunting rates due to malnutrition and other factors, and health outcomes based on the proportion of 15-year-olds who survive until age 60.
It measures a country's educational achievement based on the years of schooling a child can expect to obtain by age 18, combined with a country's relative performance on international student achievement tests.
Countries in Africa with high childhood stunting rates and low access to formal education fared worst, while wealthier nations with strong educational systems fared best.
In Chad, the lowest country ranked on the list, the World Bank said productivity and earnings potential would be only about 29 percent of what their potential would be under ideal conditions there.
In top-ranked Singapore, the earnings potential was 88 percent of potential, while in the United States, ranked 24th between Israel and Macau, productivity and earnings were measured at 76 percent of potential.
Kim said there were 28 countries, from Indonesia to Lesotho to Ukraine, who signed on as "early adopters" of the index to work with the World Bank to devise plans to improve their investment in health and education.
The bank has warned that a wave of automation and artificial intelligence will eliminate many low-skilled jobs in coming years, making it harder for people with low levels of education and poor health to compete for work.
The index showed that a country ranked at 50 percent, such as Morocco and El Salvador, would lose 1.4 percentage points of annual GDP growth compared to its potential under ideal health and education conditions. (Source: The Business Standard)


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World Bank 'human capital' rankings: Singapore, S Korea take top spots.