Pib

Pib

1. PM's interaction with global oil and gas CEOs and experts

Various participants appreciated the progress and reforms made in India in the last three years. Participants appreciated the pace and drive with which Prime Minister Modi has brought about reform in the energy sector. Subjects such as the need for a unified energy policy, contract frameworks and arrangements, requirement of seismic data sets, encouragement for biofuels, improving gas supply, setting up of a gas hub, and regulatory issues came up for discussion. Many participants strongly recommended the inclusion of gas and electricity in the GST framework.

The Prime Minister said that the status of the energy sector in India is highly uneven. He welcomed the suggestion made for a comprehensive energy policy. He stressed on the need to develop energy infrastructure and access to energy in Eastern India. He flagged the potential of biomass energy and also invited participation and joint ventures in coal gasification. He welcomed all possibilities for innovation and research in the oil and gas sector.

2. The theme of this year’s conference will be ‘Yoga for Wellness’

Interest and enthusiasm for Yoga has increased tremendously all over the world during the last three years with the UN declaration of International Day of Yoga and its global celebrations. The International Conference has been organized with the technical and logistic support of Central Council for Research in Yoga & Naturopathy and Moraji Desai National Institute of Yoga and it is an attempt to project the potential of Yoga in the management of certain health problems and for promotion of wellness and for sharing of scientific experiences.

This will be the third International Conference on Yoga organized by the Ministry of AYUSH. The last two International conferences on the themes of ‘Yoga for Holistic Health’ and ‘Yoga for Body and Beyond’ were organized in 2015 and 2016 respectively.

3. Annual Dilli Seminar - ‘India and South East Asia Maritime Trade, Expedition and Civilisation Linkages’

INA conducts the annual Dilli seminar on elements and issues of maritime history and heritage of the nation to help the young officers and cadets keep an eye on future developments in the maritime domain with a strong foundation of the past. This year’s theme is aimed to explore and elucidate the impact of historic maritime trade that existed between India and Southeast Asian countries on their society, religion, spirituality, art, architecture, language, literature, administration and other areas of civilization. The papers presented in the seminar would deliberate and analyse the impact of the historical maritime connections on the present, to extrapolate the future.

The Dilli series of seminar has always been an intellectually stimulating experience for all participants especially the young cadets and the 2017 edition promises to be equally informative, especially considering the growing significance of Southeast Asian countries in the present socio-economic, geographical and political situation.

4. India remains one of the fastest growing Energy Markets: Shri Pradhan

Addressing the forum, Shri Pradhan said India will remain one of the fastest growing energy markets in the World in the coming two decades. Both on account of increasing access and better life styles, there will be growth in per capita energy consumption. India will be an influential buyer in the global energy market.Given India’s dependence on imports (80% oil and 50% gas) – India has to constantly track the global trends and learn from experts, he added.

The minister said, important aspect is the understanding of geo-politics – particularly what is happening in Syria and ISIS, what is happening in Kurdistan referendum, Saudi block’s sanction situation against Qatar, political situation in Venezuela. All these are situations that would have impact on oil prices and hence on our consumers, on our fiscal deficit and on our economy, Shri Pradhan said.
Shri Pradhan said,world is at the cross-roads of a major transition. This is with respect to the move towards Electric Vehicle (EV). There is a sense of credence about this – the only debate is probably the timing, and how things would shape up,both in terms of renewable technologies such as solar and also in terms of enabling storage.

The minister further said the Indian Govt has taken several policy measures to completely overhaul the licensing regime in upstream segment with our HELP policy. Govt has also come out with NDR to make sure all the interested investors get full access to available geological information to take informed investment decisions.