RAI BUSINESS SCHOOL

ASSIGNMENT

Subject: Business Environment

Program: PM SEM: 2
Name:Maninder Singh Hanspall Marks: 25

Email id: maninder.singh671@gmail.com

QUESTIONS

1) WTO, its role and functions and implications for India

2) Explain the Environment Protection Act 1986

3) Evaluate the current five year plan in India.

ANSWERS

Ans-1) The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an organization that

intends

to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially

commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement,

replacing

the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which commenced

in

1948. The organization deals with regulation of trade between participating

countries; it provides a framework for negotiating and formalizing trade

agreements, and a dispute resolution process aimed at enforcing participants'

adherence to WTO agreements which are signed by representatives of

member governments and ratified by their parliaments. Most of the

issues that the WTO focuses on derive from previous trade negotiations,

especially from the Uruguay Round. The organization is currently

endeavoring to persist with a trade negotiation called the Doha Development

agenda(or Doha Round), which was launched in 2001 to enhance equitable

participation of poorer countries which represent a majority of the world's

population. However, the negotiation has been dogged by "disagreement

between exporters of agricultural bulk commodities and countries with large

numbers of subsistence farmers on the precise terms of a 'special safeguard

measure' to protect farmers from surges in imports. At this time, the future

of the Doha Round is uncertain.

ROLES AND FUNCTIONS OF WTO IN INDIA

1)It helps promote peace and prosperity across the globe.

2)Disputes are settled amicably.

3)Rules bring about greater discipline in trade negotiations, thereby

reducing inequalities to a large extent.

4)Free trade reduces the cost of living and increases household income.
 5)Companies have greater access to markets and consumers have wider
range of products to choose from.

6)Good governance accelerates economic growth.

MOREVER
For Transparency in government procurement and Trade Facilitation India

got membership of World Trade Organization. India found the right track to

make her prosperity through more trade, innovation and renovation of new

and pararelled trades and foreign trade in increasing rate. India got involved

in wto taking effective entry first in GAT inorder to enhancement and

increasing rule based system in the governance of international trade is to

ensure more stability and predictibility. Recently Nuclear Agreement has

sucussfully added to its campaign for growth of potential market and strong

economy. Foreign collaboration and allowance of their investment in various

sectors directly along with technology and skilled technics now have been

being cultivated the endeavour of attachment in WTO.

IMPLICATIONS FOR INDIA

The Indian economy has experienced a major transformation during the

decade of the 1990s. Apart from the impact of various unilateral economic

reforms undertaken since 1991, the economy also had to reorient itself to the

changing multilateral trade discipline within the newly written GATT/WTO

framework. The unilateral trade policy measures have encompassed

exchange-rate policy, foreign investment, external borrowing, import

licensing, custom tariffs, and export subsidies. The multilateral aspect of

India's WTO commitments is regarding trade in goods and services, trade-

related investment measures, and intellectual property rights.

After analyzes of the economic effects on India and other major trading

countries/regions of the Uruguay Round (UR) trade liberalization and the

liberalization that might be undertaken in a new WTO negotiating round.

India's welfare gain is expected to be 1.1% ($4.7 billion over its 2005 GDP)

when the UR scenarios get fully implemented. The additional welfare gain is

an estimated 2.7% ($11.4 billion) when the assumed future WTO round of

multilateral trade liberalization is achieved.

It is expected that Resources would be allocated in India to the labor-

intensive sectors such as textiles, clothing, leather and leather products, and

food, beverages, and tobacco. These sectors would also experience growth in

output and exports. Real returns to both labor and capital would increase in

the economy. However as mentioned above in the analysis of each

agreement there is a serious and urgent need to re-look the strategies

followed by individual firms in the changing context of increasing

competition and opened markets. As said time and again there is no reversal
of agreements, so what is required is to make internal policy changes at

macro, meso and micro level to suit the changed external environment.

Ans-2) ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION ACT 1986

In 1980, the Deptt. of Environment was established in India. Later on it

became the Ministry of Environment and Forests in 1985. EPA,1986 came

into force soon after the Bhopal Gas Tragedy.

OBJECTIVE……

Objective is, to provide the protection and improvement of environment. In

EPA, article 48A, specify that the State shall protect and improve the

environment. Also, to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country. Acc.

to sec 51(A) every citizen shall protect the environment. EPA is applicable

to whole India, including J&K.

IMPORTANT TERMINOLOGY….

“Environment” It includes water, air, and land and the interrelationship

which exists among and between water, air and land and human beings,

other living creatures, plants, microorganism and property. "Environmental

Pollutant" means any solid, liquid or gaseous substance present in such

concentration as may be, or tend to be injurious to environment. “Environmental

pollutant" means any solid, liquid or gaseous substances

present in such concentration as may be or tend to be injurious to

environment and human being. “Hazardous Substance" means any substance

or preparation which, by reasons of its chemical or physico-chemical

properties, is liable to cause harm to human beings or other living creatures.

“Handling” In relation to any substance, it means the manufacturing,

processing, treatment, packaging, storage, transportation, use, collection,

destruction, conversion, offering for sale, etc

“Environmental pollution” means imbalance in environment. The

materials or substances when after mixing in air, water or land alters

theirproperties in such manner, that the very use of all or any of the air water

and land by man and any other living organism becomes lethal and

dangerous for health. “Occupier” It means a person who has control over the

affairs of the factory or the premises, and includes, in relation to any

substance, the person in possession of the substance.

“Hazardous substance” means any substance or preparation which, by

reason of its chemical or physico-chemical properties or handling, is liable

to cause harm to human beings, other living creatures, plant, microorganism,

property or the environment.

POWERS PROVIDED BY THE ACT TO CENTRAL GOVTT.….

To make rules to regulate environmental pollution; To notify standards and

maximum limits of pollutants of air, water, and soil for various areas and

purposes; Prohibition and restriction on the handling of hazardous

substances, and location of industries.

Under Sec (3): may constitute authority or authorities for the purpose of

exercising of performing such of the powers and functions; Under Sec (4):

may appoint a person for inspection; Under Sec (5): may issue directions in

writing to any officers or any authority to comply; Under Sec (6): it

empower the government to make rules to achieve the object of the Act.

Under Sec (7): persons carrying on industry, operation etc. not to allow

emission or discharge of environmental pollutants in excess of the standards;

Under Sec (8): persons handling hazardous substances must comply with

procedural safeguards.

Ans-3) CURRENT FIVE YEAR PLAN

It includes the following objectives:

1. Income & Poverty

o Accelerate GDP growth from 8% to 10% and then maintain at
10% in the 12th Plan in order to double per capita income by
2016-17

o Increase agricultural GDP growth rate to 4% per year to ensure

a broader spread of benefits
 o Create 70 million new work opportunities.

o Reduce educated unemployment to below 5%.

o Raise real wage rate of unskilled workers by 20 percent.

o Reduce the headcount ratio of consumption poverty by 10

percentage points.

2. Education
o Reduce dropout rates of children from elementary school from
52.2% in 2003-04 to 20% by 2011-12

o Develop minimum standards of educational attainment in

elementary school, and by regular testing monitor effectiveness
of education to ensure quality

o Increase literacy rate for persons of age 7 years or above to 85%

o Lower gender gap in literacy to 10 percentage point

o Increase the percentage of each cohort going to higher

education from the present 10% to 15% by the end of the plan

3.Health
 o Reduce infant mortality rate to 28 and maternal mortality ratio
to 1 per 1000 live births

o Reduce Total Fertility Rate to 2.1

o Provide clean drinking water for all by 2009 and ensure that
there are no slip-backs

o Reduce malnutrition among children of age group 0-3 to half its

present level

o Reduce anaemia among women and girls by 50% by the end of

the plan.

3. Women and Children

o Raise the sex ratio for age group 0-6 to 935 by 2011-12 and to
950 by 2016-17

o Ensure that at least 33 percent of the direct and indirect

beneficiaries of all government schemes are women and girl
children

o Ensure that all children enjoy a safe childhood, without any

compulsion to work.
4. Infrastructure
o Ensure electricity connection to all villages and BPL
households by 2009 and round-the-clock power.
 o Ensure all-weather road connection to all habitation with
population 1000 and above (500 in hilly and tribal areas) by
2009, and ensure coverage of all significant habitation by 2015

o Connect every village by telephone by November 2007 and

provide broadband connectivity to all villages by 2012
o Provide homestead sites to all by 2012 and step up the pace of
house construction for rural poor to cover all the poor by 2016-
17.
5. Environment
o Increase forest and tree cover by 5 percentage points.

o Attain WHO standards of air quality in all major cities by 2011-

12.

o Treat all urban waste water by 2011-12 to clean river waters.

o Increase energy efficiency by 20 percentage points by 2016-17.