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Year End Review 2019 : Ministry of Railways 2

YEAR END REVIEW: MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI 19

India commences world’s largest ever vaccination programme to control FMD & Brucellosis in

2019; Aims to provide unique Pashu Aadhar to 535 million animals 29

Year End Review-2019: Ministry of Panchayati Raj 31

Year End Review: Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change 35

Year End Review 2019- Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions 44

Year End Review- 2019: Ministry of Labour and Employment 51

Year End Review: Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) 60

Transport Ministry notifies Divyang Friendly Features in Buses 66

Year End Review – 2019 Ministry of Defence 67

The ABCDEF of implementation 91

A weak test: The Hindu Editorial on Swachh ranking of cities 93

A faulty service delivery system could thwart any rural stimulus 95

Delivering TB vaccine intravenously vastly improves efficacy: study 97

Year End Review: Ministry of Science and Technology 100

Year End Review 2019: Ministry of Earth Sciences 112

Ministry of Tourism : Year End Review 2019 115

Ministry of Culture: Year End Review 2019 124

The double burden of malnutrition: need for urgent policy action 139

Year End Review 2019- Department of Higher Education 142

Year End Review 2019 - Ministry of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare 153

Vice President calls upon Civil Society and Business houses to support government in eliminating

malnutrition 157

1023 Fast Track Special Courts will be set up for Speedy disposal of Rape and POCSO Act

Cases 162

Human rights are not solely an ‘internal matter’ 164

A health emergency: On risk of international spread of poliovirus 167

India’s under-5 girls face high mortality 169

WHO calls for vigilance on Wuhan virus 171

WHO endorses indigenous molecular diagnostic tool for tuberculosis diagnosis 173

A government that chooses its critics 175

Chalk and cheese in private vs. government schools 178

A new virus emerges in China 181

Year End Review 2019 – Ministry of Power 184

TB diagnostic test developed in India has high accuracy, says WHO 195

Leaders across the globe failing to invest enough in health, says WHO 198

Tuberculosis control programme renamed, to focus on elimination 200

The Mind Matters: How Tamil Nadu is coping with high prevalence of mental illnesses 202

What is the source of the new SARS-like disease reported in China? 207

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Source : www.pib.nic.in Date : 2020-01-01

YEAR END REVIEW 2019 : MINISTRY OF RAILWAYSRelevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Government policies & interventions for development in various

Sectors and issues arising out of their design & implementation incl. Housing

Ministry of Railways

Year End Review 2019 : Ministry of Railways

Posted On: 31 DEC 2019 5:42PM by PIB Delhi

Major Initiatives & Achievements in the Year 2019

Best ever safety record - Zero passenger fatalities during theyear; Punctuality performance for Mail/Express trains increased

to 75.67% 

Union Cabinet approves transformational organisationalrestructuring of the Indian Railways - A landmark reform

initiative

Budget 2019 lays roadmap for Railways to become growthengine of the country with proposed investment of Rs 50 lakh

crore till 2030

Big Thrust for Infrastructure Development - Speed of trains onDelhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah routes to be raised to 160 kmph;Signaling system to be modernized;  Steady progress towards a

Green Electrified Railways; Station Redevelopment on PPPMode 

Indian Railways to manufacture 44 rakes of Vande Bharat trains,Tenders floated; Record production of coaches and locomotives;

194 trains upgraded to Utkrisht standard in 2019-20 

Artificial Intelligence based PNR confirmation predictorintegrated with IRCTC website; First ever train run by IRCTC andnot by Railways - Tejas Express starts operation between Delhiand Lucknow. Second Tejas train between Mumbai-Ahmedabad

announced 

Stations with High Speed free Wi-Fi cross 5500; Real Time Train

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Information System in collaboration with ISRO fast tracked;Complaint Management portal and application ‘RailMadad’ rolled

out

Stations provided with CCTV based Surveillance System cross500; First Railway Commando Battalion ‘CORAS’ to tackle the

menace of terrorism and naxalism in Railways launched 

Indian Railways rationalizes menus to further improve variety,hygiene and quality of food for its passengers; Web-based live

streaming facility through CCTV extended to 40 kitchens units ofIRCTC 

No single use plastic material in Railways from 150th GandhiJayanti on 2nd Oct 2019; Total numbers of bio-toilets increase to

2,34,248 in 65,627 coaches 

Dedicated Freight Corridor to be fully commissioned in phasesby the year 2021; Rewari - Madar section of Western DFC

and Bhadan – Khurja section of Eastern DFC completed andtrial commercial runs started 

E-office Project implemented over 58 establishments of IndianRailways replacing manual files by creating 72000+ DigitalFiles; Procurement process of Indian Railways end-to-end

digitised 

Successfully completed one of the world’s largest recruitmentexercises; Ayushman Bharat introduced in 91 hospitals of Indian

Railways

 

Higher Investment in Railways

Highest ever CAPEX: Rs. 1,60,176 crore in 2019-20 Budget Estimates. 20.1%higher over 2018-19Utilization upto end of November 2019 (April-November 2019) isRs.1,02,008.61 crore, which is 63.7%. The utilization of funds during thecorresponding period in 2018-19 was 61.3%.

●

With a proposed investment of Rs 50 lakh crore until 2030, Budget 2019 laid theroadmap for Railways to become the growth engine of the country.

●

Infrastructure Thrust

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Faster construction

Construction of Total New Line, Doubling & Gauge increased from 1014 Track KM last yearto 1165 Tkm this year (+15%) (period: April-Nov)

●

Elimination of manned level crossings increased by 199%●

904 MLCs have been eliminated up to November 2019 compared to 296 during the sameperiod last year; increased mechanization leading to 27% higher deep screening of track &turnouts (9,059 km this year vis a vis 7,159 km last year); production and use of longer rails(260 meter) (~ 75% of total) reducing weld joints; drastic reduction in rail/weld failures by23%.

●

Higher Bridge rehabilitation (+82%): 861 bridges rehabilitated in Apr-Nov 2019 compared to472 last year same period Construction of Foot Over Bridges (FOB) increased by 44%

●

170 FOBs constructed between Apr-Nov 2019 as compared to 118 during Apr-Nov 2018.Higher Rail Renewal (+27%) - 3,560 Track km (Tkm) between Apr-Nov 2019 against 2,812Tkm during Apr-Nov 2018                                                                               

●

Commissioning of Complete Projects

320 km long Gauge Conversion Project from Jaipur-Ringas-Sikar-Churu in Sept2019          Doubling project (7 Km length but very important to decongest New DelhiStation) between New Delhi to Tilak Bridge (5th & 6th line)113 Km long New Line Portconnectivity project in Andhra Pradesh connecting main land with Krishnapatnam port     55.47 Km long Doubling work in UP from Meerut-Muzaffarnagar42.5 Km long New LineCoal Project from Kharsia-KorichhaparNew Line stretching to 67 km from Rajgir-Hisua-Tilaiya including Islampur-Natesar in Oct 2019Doubling of Line stretching to 42 km fromHajipur-Ramdayalu Nagar in Oct 201919 Km long coal project named Bakhtiarpur-Barhcompleted and commissioned for coal movement to Barh NTPC Thermal Power Plant.45Km long length doubling project from Lumding to Hojai112 Km long New line NationalProject construction in Tripura named  Agartala–Sabroom

●

 

Connecting India - Lines approved

3rd line between Allahabad- Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay Junction (UP)New Line betweenSahjanwa-Dohrighat (UP)Doubling of Line from New Bongaigaon-Agthori (Assam)New Linebetween Vaibhavwadi-Kolhapur (Maharashtra)

●

 

Approval for raising of speed to 160 kmph by 2022-23 on Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi Howrahroutes : Benefits :-

60% increase in average speed of passenger trainsJourneys by Rajdhani train to becomefully overnight

●

 

Modern Train Control System

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Indian Railways to modernize its Signaling system by implementing Modern Train Controlsystem with Long Term Evolution (LTE) based Mobile Train Radio Communication (MTRC)System.

This is one of the most ambitious modernization projects of Indian Railways, whichenvisages upgradation of signaling system for improving safety, Line Capacity and to runtrains at higher speed. It is to be implemented after approval of NITI Aayog, Extended Boardfor Railways (EBR) and sanction of CCEA.

●

As a prelude to taking up the above modernization work of signaling system on pan-Indiabasis, 4 works of total 640 Route KM at a total cost of Rs. 1810 Crores have beensanctioned as pilot projects for extensive trials. The four sections are Renigunta (RU) –Yerraguntla (YA) section on South Central Railway, Vizianagaram (VZM) –Palasa (PSA)section on East Coast Railway, Jhansi (JHS) – Bina (BINA) Section on North CentralRailway and Nagpur (NGP) – Badnera (BD) Section on Central Railway. These are some ofthe busiest routes on Indian Railway network with heavy traffic.

●

Towards a Green Electrified Railways

Railway Electrification increased from 1440 Route KM to 2041 RKM this year (+42%)(period: April-Nov)From April 2018 to 5th November 2019, 436 trains converted from End ofGeneration (EoG) to Head on Generation (HoG) to reduce diesel consumption; takingcumulative number to over 500 trains.

●

Total 39 Workshops, 7 Production Units, 5 Diesel Sheds and one Stores Depot are now‘GreenCo’ certified. Of these, 7 received the certification in 2019-20.

●

With 4 more Railway Stations getting Green Certification in 2019-20, 13 Railway Stationshave achieved Green Certification till now. 18 more Railway Buildings, Offices, Campusesand other establishments are also Green certified, including 2 Supervisor Training Centres(STCs) and 3 Railway Schools. Railway Hospital Ajmer is the first railway hospital toachieve Green rating.

●

85 Railway Stations have been given ISO:14001 certification in current year forimplementation of Environment Management System.

●

Renewable Energy:●

Indian Railways has planned to source about 1000 Mega Watt (MW) Solar Power andabout 200 MW of wind power progressively by 2021-22 across Zonal Railways &Production Units. Details are as follows:-

Solar Energy:i.

Roof Top Power Plants:v.

500 Mega Watt (MW) solar plants on the roof top of Railway buildings through developers’PPA mode with 25 years agreements, which will be used to meet non-traction loads atRailway Stations, etc.

●

Out of this, 96.84 MW of solar plants have already been installed. These plants will reduceCO2 emission & reduce carbon footprints.

●

16 stations have been declared Green Railway stations across IR, which are meetingenergy needs completely either through solar or wind power. These stations are Roha, Pen,Apta in CR, Niamatpur halt, Kanhaipur halt, Teka Bigha halt, Mai halt, Garsanda halt,Niyazipur halt, Dhamaraghat in ECR, Shri Mata Vaisno Devi, Shimla in NR, Unhel,Khanderi, Bajud, Ambli Road, Sadanapura & Sachin in WR – are 100% Green Powered

●

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stations.Work in progress for about 111 MW Solar plants.●

Tenders for 93 MW Solar plants have recently been awarded by Railway EnergyManagement Company Limited (REMCL), a company under the Ministry of Railways.

●

Tenders for 45 MW rooftop solar capacity floated by REMCL.●

Balance 154 MW is under different stages of planning.●

 

Land based Power Plants:v.

About 500 MW Land based solar plants to meet Traction & Non-Traction requirements.●

Out of this about 3 MW has already been installed at MCF, Raebareili.●

Bhilai (50 MW) on 300 acre vacant Railway land – Work awarded by REMCL & is underprogress. Targeted for commissioning by March 2021.

●

In addition to the above land based solar projects, IR has also taken up two pilot projects forfeeding solar power directly to 25 kV AC traction system.

●

Diwana Solar Plant Project (2 MWp) through REMCL: PPA signed on 14.06.19.●

Work started & targeted for completion by March 2020.

Bina Solar Project (1.7 MWp) through BHEL: Work started & under execution & targeted forcompletion by February 2020.

●

Tenders for Two Hybrid plants (solar + wind) of 140 MW (35 MW solar + 105 MW wind) and109 MW (27 MW solar + 82 MW wind) capacity has also been floated by REMCL.

●

Wind Energy:ii.Out of 200 MW target of IR, 103.4 MW wind plant has already been installed.

Wind Mill Plant of 21 MW (for non-Traction) capacity in Tamil Nadu, 26 MW (for traction)capacity in Rajasthan, 6 MW (for non-traction) & 50.4 MW (for traction) capacity inMaharashtra has been installed.

●

Further, tenders for 187 MW capacity floated by REMCL as part of Hybrid renewable energyplants.

●

Initiatives for Station Redevelopment

For three (03) stations (Anand Vihar, Bijwasan, and Chandigarh), contracts have beenawarded by Indian Railway Station Development Corporation (IRSDC) on 30.10.2019.

●

For Five (05) stations, MoU signed with●

RLDA & NHAI in April, 2019 for Redevelopment of Ajni (Nagpur) as Multi-Modal TransportHub.  Broad scheme has been finalized and Bids are under invitation.

●

RLDA & Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA) in Oct, 2018 forRedevelopment of Dehradun station. MDDA has engaged architectural consultant forpreparation of plan. 

●

ECoR & State Govt. of Odisha on 19.09.2019 for redevelopment of Bhubaneswar station.●

RLDA & DDA on 19.12.2019, for redevelopment of Anand Vihar and Bijwasan station.●

IRSDC has taken up integrated facility management for five stations, viz, Pune,●

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Secunderabad, Chandigarh, Anand Vihar and Bangalore city since March/April 2019.For redevelopment of Gwalior, Nagpur, Sabarmati and Amritsar Railway Stations throughPublic-Private Partnership, in-principle approval was granted by PPPAC- Public PrivatePartnership Appraisal Committee on 20.12.2019. The tender process for this has set inmotion. The objective of the project is to give world class facilities at these railway stationsto passengers just like at airports. Important features for all the stations are -  segregatedarrival/departure routes of passenger movement, 100% Divyang friendly, obstruction freeentry and exit to the station, ample sitting spaces, provision of lifts and escalators to assistpassenger movements. The development shall be on Transit Oriented Development (TOD)principles, aiming to decongest the cities.

●

Make in India

Indian Railways to manufacture 44 rakes of Vande Bharat Trains. Its Production UnitIntegral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai set the process in motion by publishing tender on22nd December 2019 for supply of electrical equipment and other items for 44 train sets of16 coaches each. The procurement shall be done in accordance with extant "Make in India"policy of DPIIT, Government of India.

●

Diesel Locomotive Works, Varanasi has exported 07 diesel locomotives to SrilankanRailways

●

Indian Railways to provide Broad Gauge and Meter Gauge Diesel Locomotives toBangladesh Railways for a period of 2 years to help them in improving train operations

●

Taking ahead Make-in-India initiative, some of the track maintenance machines such asUtility Vehicles (UTVs), Rail Bound Maintenance Vehicles (RBHVs), Track LayingEquipment (TLE), Rail Threader (RT) and Rail-cum-Road Vehicle (RCRVs) have been fullyindigenized.

●

Most of the track maintenance machines supplied during the last five years weremanufactured in India by world’s leading manufacturers under Make-in-India.

●

One more manufacturing plant by a world’s leading manufacturer of track machines hasbeen commissioned at Karjan in Gujarat in the month of Nov.2019. First machinemanufactured in this plant is likely to be rolled out by Feb.2020. 

●

Focus on Passenger Services

Punctuality

The punctuality performance of Indian Railways for Mail/Express trains has increased to75.67% (April-Nov) as compared to 68.19% in the same period of last year reflecting animprovement of 7.5%.

●

New coaches and trains

First Tejas Train between Delhi-Lucknow started operating - first ever train withoperations managed by IRCTC and not Indian Railways

●

Booking for 2nd Tejas Train operated by IRCTC between Mumbai and Ahmedabadstarted.

●

2nd Vande Bharat Express inducted in regular service from New Delhi to Katra●

194 trains have been upgraded to Utkrisht standard in 2019-20●

78 New Train services overall introduced between Apr-Nov 2019.●

120 pairs of ICF trains converted to faster and safer LHB utilizing 156 LHB rakes.●

104 passenger trains have been converted into faster and safer MEMU utilizing 60●

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MEMU rakes of 8-Car each.Augmentation of on-board carrying capacity in train: 656 additional coaches havebeen augmented in the period from April to November 2019.

●

Sleeper coaches attached in Humsafar trains for ensuring convenience andaffordability of Humsafar trains.

●

Running of special trains: 28,500 trips of special trains run during festivals andholidays in the period from April to November 2019.

●

Increased Rolling Stock Production

495 Electric Locomotives produced in April-Nov 2019 compared to 309 in Apr - Nov2018 (+60%)

●

3,837 LHB coaches produced in April-Nov 2019 compared to 2,739 in Apr-Nov 2018(+40%)

●

Integral Coach Factory (ICF) of Indian Railways produced its 3000th coach of the year2019-20 in less than 9 months. Number of working days to achieve this reduced from289 days in 2018-19 to 215 days in the current year, a reduction of 25.6%.

●

Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) turned out 300th locomotive of the FY 2019-20on 21st December 2019, in less than 9 months (in 216 working days). The workingdays for production of 300th loco has reduced from 292 days in the year 2017-18 to249 days in 2018-19 and further to 216 days in the current FY 2019-20. Therefore, areduction of 28% since 2017-18 in number of working days to achieve the figure.

●

CLW created a world record by producing record total 446 locomotives in the calendaryear 2019.

●

 

Passenger Charges

The Terminal Tax on Railways Passenger Act, 1956 repealed. Terminal tax used to belevied on passengers carried by Railways from or to certain places of pilgrims orwhere fairs, melas or exhibitions were held.

●

Passenger Earnings: The total originating passenger earnings on Indian Railways forthe period April 2019 to November 2019 is 35249.13 crore which is 4.20% higher thanthe 33829.58 crore earned during the corresponding period of last year.

●

 

Measures to make Ticket Reservation Easier

Proliferation of Ticket selling Facility to common Passengers:●

With a view to encourage passengers to purchase unreserved tickets through AutomaticTicket Vending Machines (ATVMs), the policy of facilitator liberalized. The spouse/adultchildren of retired railway employees have also been allowed to become facilitator. Thesefacilitators issue unreserved tickets through ATVMs to the intending passengers throughsmart card issued to them.Zonal Railways have been empowered to increase the facilitatorbased ATVMs as per field requirement.

i.

Easy and economical access of information to Passengers: Charges for verification ofjourney details rationalized for easy accessibility of information regarding self travel to railpassengers.

●

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SMS Alerts to passengers: In order to enhance passenger convenience, SMS alerts arebeing sent to  those passengers who furnish their mobile number at the time of booking oftickets in case of following scenarios:-

●

At the time of booking and cancellation of reserved tickets through counters●

SMS alerts as and when the status of waitlisted ticket changes to RAC/Confirmed or fromRAC to Confirmed

●

At the time of charting conveying the final status of ticket to Confirmed, RAC and Waitlistedticket holders

●

SMS alerts in case of upgradation of ticket●

SMS in case of short termination & diversion of trains.●

HHT on trains:●

Hand Held Terminals (HHT) have been provided to ticket checking staff of Rajdhani andShatabdi trains. Instructions issued to provide HHTs to TTEs manning all premier categoryof trains viz. Tejas, Gatiman, Duronto, Mahamana, Humsafar and Vande Bharat Expresstrains.

i.

 

HHT enables downloading of the reservation chart on the device and mark turned up/non-turned up status of passengers. Vacant accommodation, if any, after preparation of secondreservation chart gets transferred to the next remote location for booking. 

ii.

 

Rationalisation of Flexi Fare:  Flexi Fare earlier introduced in premium trains like Rajdhani,Shatabdi and Duronto has been further rationalized and made people-friendly based on thefeedback viz., reduction of maximum cap in all flexi fare applicable classes, offering gradeddiscounts in all flexi-fare trains and discontinuation of flexi fare in certain trains with lowoccupancy. The Flexi Fare scheme has given an additional earning of Rs 532.53 crore inthe current year. Flexi fare has been removed from Humsafar train fare. 

●

Artificial Intelligence based PNR confirmation predictor has been integrated with IndianRailway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) website which predicts the probability ofwaitlisted ticket getting confirmed at the time of booking and eliminates last minuteuncertainties faced by the rail passengers,.

●

Refund of fare due to misconnection of Train: - If a Passenger misses connecting trainowing to late running of the train by which he had been travelling, the fare for travelledportion shall be retained and the balance amount of ticket shall be refunded as the fare foruntraveled portion.

●

Scope of booking online reserved ticket by foreign tourists enhanced:  Earlier foreigntourists could book reserved accommodation upto 365 days in advance in1AC, 2AC, 3AC &EC class only, now this advanced booking facility has been extended for booking tickets inAC Chair Car, Sleeper and 2S class also. 

●

 

Hygienic & Quality Food

Web-based live streaming facility through CCTV of Kitchen units of IRCTC extended●

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to 40 kitchens units from 18 kitchen units (May, 2019).Introduced Food packets with QR Codes linked to live kitchen feed from previous 2 to28 in present.

●

The number of POS machines installed on trains for billing and digital payments hasincreased from 2,742 (May, 2019) to 5122 on 417 trains and 703 rakes

●

In addition, 6002 other digital modes of payment including POS machines madeoperational in 2018 Static Units (Food Plaza, Fast Food Units, Refreshment Rooms,Catering Stalls etc.)

●

E-catering has increased from an average meal of 11,858 for FY 2018-19 to 21,026meals for FY 2019-20 (upto 30 Nov 2019)

●

8223 Metallic Boards containing message for availability of menu and ‘Right to Bill’ forthe passengers, have been fixed in 185 pairs of trains.

●

Number of Rail Neer plants have been enhanced from 9 to 12 (May, 2019)  with anincrease in the average production from 6.62 Lakh litres to 9 Lakh litres of Rail Neerper day.

●

Taking note of the need to further improve variety, hygiene and quality of food for itspassengers, Indian Railways rationalized the menus and revised the tariff for cateringservices on trains and railway stations.

●

The tariff on Rajdhani/ Shatabdi/ Duronto trains has been revised after 6 years while thetariff of standard meals for Mail/ Express trains after 7 years since the last revision in 2012.The rate of Janta Meal has been kept unchanged at Rs.20.

●

There shall be three categories of standard meals viz., Standard Vegetarian Meal,Standard Non-Vegetarian Meal (with 2 Eggs curry) and Standard Non-Vegetarian Meal(with Chicken Curry) against the previous two. Now more regional food varietyincluding three types of Biryani will also be available for the passengers.

●

As part of the ‘Eat Right India’ movement launched in 2018 by the Food Safety andStandards Authority of India (FSSAI), Mumbai Central Railway Station became the country’sfirst “Eat Right Station” as certified by FSSAI. The Railway station was conferred with “EatRight Station” certification with 04 Stars rating by FSSAI on 29th November 2019. CSMTMumbai was conferred with “Eat Right Station” certification with 5-star rating  in December2019.

●

 

Enhancing Vendor Base

49,466 new vendors/contractors and 535 bidders (for e-Auction) registered on IR E-Procurement website since 01.01.2019. Total numbers of registered vendors andbidders on IREPS as on date are 1,57,109 and 4077 respectively.

●

Vendor meets organised on a pan-India basis at 24 prominent locations across thecountry during May 2019.  During these meets, a total of 4008 vendors participated,out of which 1845 vendors were new to Railways.  High value items required byRailways were displayed along with important information such as detailedspecification, annual requirements, vendor approving agency etc.  Also, Technicalsessions as well as interactive Q&A sessions were held to disseminate importantinformation to vendors and address their queries.

●

Vendors were also made aware of the crucial policy initiatives taken by the●

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government in the field of ‘Ease of Doing Business’.Swachh Bharat, Swachh Railways

38,331 Bio-toilets installed in 11,703 coaches from Apr-Nov 2019. This takes thecumulative numbers of bio-toilets to 2,34,248 fitted in 65,627 coaches. Now, thepercentage coverage of coaches with bio-toilet has reached at 98%.

●

No single use plastic material in railway system from 150th Gandhi Jayanti on 2nd Oct2019

●

Ministry of Railways has been adjudged as the best Central Ministry forimplementation of ‘Swachhta Action Plan’ (for 2018-19), and was awarded by Hon’blePresident of India on 06th Sept 2019.

●

Integrated mechanised cleaning is now provided at 950 stations.●

Independent third party Survey of passenger perception on the cleanliness standardswas carried out at 720 major Stations.

●

The number of trains including Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duronto and other important longdistance Mail/Express trains with facility of On Board Housekeeping Service (OBHS)for cleaning of coach toilets, doorways, aisles and passenger compartments during therun of the trains has increased to 1090 pair of trains.

●

OBHS service is supported by SMS based on demand “Coach-Mitra” service to coverover 1050 pairs of trains.

●

Railways continued setting up of more mechanized laundries for improving quality ofwashing of linen provided to AC coach passengers. 61 mechanised laundries were setup till 2018-19 and 5 more added in 2019-20. Orders for 14 more mechanizedlaundries with total capacity 109 tonnes per day (TPD) have been placed. It is plannedto cover 100% linen washing requirement by mechanised laundries by next financialyear.

●

As an initiative to reduce, recycle and dispose plastic waste generated in stations inan eco friendly manner, comprehensive policy guidelines have been brought out forinstallation of Plastic Bottle Crushing Machines (PBCMs) by Zonal Railways. Atpresent, around 315 PBCMs have been installed at 229 stations including severaldistrict headquarter railway stations over Indian Railways.

●

 

Safety First

Best ever safety record

Zero passenger fatalities during April-December 2019●

New Measures to Enhance Security

Number of stations with the installation of CCTV based Surveillance System increased tomore than 500.

●

One seat/ berth earmarked for Railway Protection Force staff to travel in the trains forattending to any safety related requirements on board.

●

Indian Railway Institute of Disaster Management at Bangalore has been opened for trainingof officers and staff.

●

Commandos for Railway Security - Launch of the first Railway Commando Battalion●

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‘CORAS’ on 14.08.2019 to tackle the menace of terrorism and naxalism in Railways.The recruitment in Railway Protection Force (RPF) against vacancy of 1121 Sub-Inspectors& 8619 Constable notified in 2018 has been finalized and training has been started.

●

The recruitment of 798 Constable (Ancillary) and 246 Constable (Band) in RPF is in finalstage.

●

Empowerment of RPF to make seizure under Narcotics, Drugs and PsychotropicSubstances (NDPS) Act 

Government of India through its notification dated 11.04.2019 empowered RPF to makeseizure and arrest under NDPS Act.

●

Subsequently RPF has made a large number of such recoveries amounting to the totalamount of Rs. 6,74,56,340/- with the arrest of 211 persons up to Oct. 2019.

●

 

Commitment to Humanity

Lives of 151 passengers were saved during the current year 2019 upto Nov. (106male & 45 female.) in an emergency situations such as from railway tracks during trainmovement and during natural disasters such as floods.

●

9150 cases of left behind luggage valued at Rs.1,59,93,186/- (approximately) wereretrieved and handed over to their owners during the year 2019 (up to Nov.).

●

During the year 2019 (up to Nov.) RPF rescued 255 children (Boys 214 + Girls 41)from human traffickers with arrest of 64 persons.

●

Besides this a total of 10681 children (Run away, Drug addict, Destitute, Kidnapped,Left behind, Missing etc.) were rescued during the year 2019.

●

RPF Security Helpline no. 182 (Toll free) is operational 24 X 7 for security relatedgrievances of passengers in distress and in need of help. 32222 calls received on ithave been redressed up to Nov. 2019.

●

To facilitate safe and comfortable journey of women passengers, besides regulardrives, special drive was also launched to restrict entrance of male passengers incoaches reserved for ladies. The detailed figure of offenders prosecuted is as under –

●

 

DriveNo. of casesregistered

No. of personsarrested

Amount of finerealized in Rs.

04.12.19(Special drive)

5938 7151 685890

2019 (up toNov.)

97737 92131 18152974

 

Drives to deter unauthorized entry into compartments reserved for persons with disabilitieswere conducted regularly. On the “International Day of Persons with Disabilities” a specialdrive was conducted and offenders were prosecuted. The details are as under  -

●

 

Drive No. of cases No. of persons Amount of fine

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registered arrested realized in Rs.

03.12.19(Specialdrive)

4788 5674 533195

2019 (up toNov.)

65482 74471 15342435

 

A drive named “Operation Thirst” was conducted in which 1430 persons were apprehendedfor sale of sub-standard packaged drinking water over the railways with recovery of 69041unauthorized water bottles.

●

Sustained drive against touts involved in procuring & selling of e-tickets using fake IRCTCIDs was conducted. Annual comparative figure:-

●

Year No. of cases registered No. of persons arrested

2017 1859 2060

2018 2843 3192

2019 (up to Nov.) 3861 4377

 

 

Putting Freight in Fast Lane

The Dedicated Freight Corridor is targeted to be fully commissioned in phases by the year2021. Bhadan – Khurja section (194 km) of Eastern DFC completed in all respect and trialcommercial runs have started from 2.10.2019.Rewari- Madar section (305 Km) of WesternDFC has also been completed in all respect and trial commercial runs have started from27.12.2019.

●

Induction of new Wagons: Total induction of new wagons during April-Oct., 2019 is 9153wagons v/s 6114 wagons inducted during April-Oct., 2018

●

In 2019-20, freight charges rationalized with (i) removal of 15% Busy Season Surcharge onall commodities (except POL and Iron Ore), (ii) removing 5% supplementary charge on twopoint rake combinations and Mini rake, (iii) mini rakes are allowed upto 1000 km intra-zonaltraffic.

●

Round trip charging for container traffic has been introduced for a distance of less than 50Km on each way. Under this scheme, Haulage Charge for 0-100 Km slab will be charged fortotal to and from movement, instead of charging for 0-50 Km slab each way.  This is around35% cheaper per TEU/round trip.

●

90 commodities de-notified from the list of notified and brought under Freight All Kind (FAK)rates i.e., lower rates are now applicable when transported in container.

●

Electronic Transmission of Railway Receipts (eT-RR) facility has been implemented pan-India in 2019. Under this, customer has the option to receive, transfer and surrender theRailway Receipt (RR) electronically. It enhances the ease of doing business multifold forRailway freight customers. As a precursor to enable this, Indian Railway has implementedelectronic registration of demand for wagons (e-RD).

●

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In place of entering into a tripartite agreement with each zonal railways, single agreement e-payment facility with base terminal Railway has been allowed to Automobile Freight TrainOperators (AFTOs) from 20th May 2019.

●

Exemption from mandatory weighment was allowed in case of import containerized traffic tothree operators (CONCOR, GRFL, DLI) on the basis of transmission of SMTP details fromCustom server to Freight Operations Information System (FOIS) of IR via Electronic DataInterchange. In May 2019, five more operators namely Adani, ICT&IPL, HTPL, IILPL andPMLPPL have been permitted exemption from weighment in case of import containerizedtraffic.

●

Further, Nepal bound containerized import traffic has also been exempted from mandatoryweighment from September 2019 on the basis of Custom document submitted byCONCOR. This step is expected to further lower operational time and improve fluidity.

●

Integration of Electronic In-motion Weighbridge Locations: In pursuance to Railway Board’sinstructions dated 14.01.2019 to all Zonal Railways regarding proliferation of In-motionWeighbridge with FOIS,  till November 2019, a total of 218 locations have been configuredfor integration with FOIS and data have been captured of weighment and total 43 locationsare online.

●

Methodology for levying of Terminal Access Charge @one time for double operation ofcontainer handling at railway terminals has been extended till further advice.

●

IR has changed its business processes and procedures which earlier maintained containeritself as the commodity. Now, the commodities being carried in it are recognized and dueGST exemption on service of transport of goods by rail in containers by IR is being given.

●

For freight stability to customers, long term tariff contracts entered with 31 key customers till15.12.2019. It is customer friendly as inbuilt in the system as per the agreement with thecustomer. 

●

5 new routes upgraded and notified with enhanced loadability of CC+8 in 2017-18.  13routes in 2018-19 and 21 routes in 2019-20 till 15.12.2019.

●

Charging of traffic through Bogibeel, Digha and Monghyr Rail-cum-Road Bridges werenotified.

●

Permissible Carrying Capacity of various newly inducted wagons was notified likeBOBRNHSM1, BAFRDR, BFNS, BFNSM, BFNS 22.9. Permissible Carrying Capacity ofBCNHL and BRN wagons was modified.

●

Notifications were issued for extending help of transportation of water, relief material etc. toareas affected by drought in Rajasthan/ Maharashtra, flood in Kerala/ Assam/ Karnataka/Maharashtra, cyclone in Odisha/ Tamil Nadu/ West Bengal/ Andhra Pradesh etc.

●

E-Payment Facility:  A total of 1231 Freight Customers are now availing e-payment facilitysince November 2019.

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Digital India

Number of Stations with the High Speed free Wi-Fi increased to more than 5,500.●

Real Time Train Information System (RTIS) in collaboration with ISRO for automatic chartpreparation and passenger train information, fast tracked: 2700 electric locomotives havebeen provided with RTIS and 3800 diesel locomotives provided with RAMLOT; Automaticcontrol charting being done for 6500 locomotives; balance 6000 electric locomotives to beprovided with RTIS equipment in a year’s time. Tender for balance in process. 

●

Industry 4.0 in Modern Coach Factory, Raebareli for higher productivity.●

Two modern techniques (i.e. Use of Drone mounted camera and 3D scanning of riverbed)introduced in Railways during the year for inspection of bridges. 

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For predictive maintenance, an automated system for detecting defective wheel, bearingand catching the same before it fails, IR is in the process of installation of 25 OMRS way-side inspection systems at 20 locations spread over entire network. Defect report generationand alert communications takes place in real time for taking corrective action, accordingly.As on date, 6 OMRS systems have been installed and total installations will be completed inthe year 2020 itself.

●

Computerization of Train Signal Register (TSR): TSR equipment have been supplied on 650stations. All stations have been commissioned and made live at 508 stations by November2019. All locations are expected to be made live by March 2020.

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A separate land management system viz. Indian Railways Land Management System(IRLAMS) being developed for the management of land related data such as land records,lease license records documented at one place.

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End-to-end digitalization of procurement process of Indian Railways has beenaccomplished.  All the processes from generation of demand, processing of demands,publication of tenders, technical evaluation of bids, tender finalization, preparation and issueof letter of acceptance / contracts / modifications, inspection of material by RITES/Consignee, acceptance and accountal of supplies, online receipt and processing of vendors'bills, issue of material to consignees etc. are digital.

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e-Reverse auction made as the default mode of tendering for tenders for procurement ofgoods valuing more than Rs. 5 cr. The process of e-RA has now been further improved tohave better competition.

●

An e-application IR-WCMS launched as a pilot project in 17 divisions of IR to handle workscontracts on e-platform. This e-application shall be extended soon to all divisions of IR.

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All activities/stages of sale of scrap from Lot formation, Catalogue publication, e-auction,collection of Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) and Balance Sale Value (BSV) to issue of SaleRelease Order (SRO) etc. digitized.

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72000+ Digital Files created in mere 6 months’ time over 58 establishments of IndianRailways replacing manual file. The NIC e-office implemented by RailTel is helping IndianRailways to save tons of paper every day. In the phase I of the project 50000+ users havebeen created.

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Other digital initiatives: Electronic Drawing Approval System (E-DAS); Unique MedicalIdentity Card (UMID) for health care; Human Resource Management System (HRMS).

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In order to cater to ticketing needs of passengers at Halt stations, a scheme launchedwhere computerized unreserved tickets are being made available at Halt stations throughUnreserved Ticketing System (UTS) terminals replacing earlier manual printed card ticketssystem. This is being done through the nearest nodal station. In addition, trials of Portable-UTS have been approved over Southern Railway for issue of tickets at halt stations.  Trialsof enhanced ETM using android mobile phone and Bluetooth printer in connected modehave been approved over Northern Railway.

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RailMadad: The Complaint Management system was rechristened as ‘RailMadad’ and wasdecided to remain as a Railways-only Portal for redressal of customers’ grievances. It wasconceptualised in April 2019 as an integrated complaints platform (Web, SMS, App, ManualDak, Social Media & IVRS Helpline 139). The RailMadad application was rolled out on15.07.2019 (Beta application) and on 21.10.2019 (Final Version). RailMadad applicationwas designed and developed as per industry standards to make it more user friendly.

●

To increase non-fare revenue, it has been decided to allow advertisements on IR websiteindianrail.gov.in for a period of one year on a trial basis, as a pilot project.

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IRCTC will do the marketing and all the liaisoning with advertisers.●

The net revenue sharing between IRCTC and MOR shall be 50:50.●

Instructions have been issued on 03.09.2019 and advertisements have started w.e.f.19.09.2019.

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It has also been decided to allow advertisements on NTES website, IREPS website andUTS-on-mobile App on similar terms and conditions.

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Instructions have been issued on 17.10.2019.●

Instructions have been issued to IRCTC on 24.10.2019 to integrate Chatbot solution on IRwebsite indianrail.gov.in on a trial basis for 6 months.  Net revenue accrued from thisinitiative shall also be shared between IRCTC and MoR in 50:50 ratio.

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To make public aware of the on-going activities of Railways, upgraded Rail DrishtiDashboard (www.raildrishti.in) has been launched encompassing all the digitisation effortsin Indian Railways and promoting transparency and accountability. It brings information fromvarious sources on a single platform and gives access to key statistics and parameters toevery citizen of the country.   

●

 

 

Financial Initiatives

Payment through Letter of Credit in Domestic Supply/Works contracts:

The scheme of payment through Letter of Credit in Domestic Supplies/Works contractshas been implemented on all Indian Railways in coordination with CRIS and SBI. Alltenders invited by Zonal Railways and Production Units both for supplies/works havingan estimated value of Rs 10 lakhs and above, have an option for payment from Railwaysthrough a Letter of Credit arrangement.

 

Centralised Integrated Payment System (CIPS):

Implementation of SBI’s CIPS is a system improvement to ensure online paymentswithout manual intervention. This initiative was one of the action points of 100 DaysAction Plan of Finance Department. Indian Railways has implemented CentralizedIntegrated Payment System (CIPS) with effect from 12.09.2019 after entering into MOUwith SBI. CIPS facilitates digital signing of payment files and it is automatic & secureserver to server transfer from Integrated Payroll & Accounting System (IPAS) server toSBI server.

 

Implementation of GST:

CGST Act, 2017 and IGST Act, 2017 was passed by the Parliament and assented by thePresident of India on 12th April, 2017. Given the strict guidelines, following milestoneshave been completed in a time-bound manner:-

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Income Tax PAN for Ministry of Railways has been obtained across the Railways;a.Modification made in the software for PRS, UTS, FOIS, to levy GST;b.Timely instructions are issued to all the GMs levy of GSTs on Parcel, Sundry CommercialReceipts, Engineering Receipts;

c.

CRIS developed GST Manual Utility for capturing Offline transactions;d.Modification effected in Accounting Software to account for Input Tax Credit;e.To ensure that all pre-GST Contracts are aligned with the transitional guidelines into theGST Regime;

f.

To ensure that the new Contracts entered into post 1.7.2017 is aligned with the GSTRules;

g.

To study the impact of the GST Rules in respect of transactions with SPVs;h.In all around 140 policy circulars were issued to all the Units;i.Re-engineering of processes are done from time to time. For example, remodelling of IRFCfunded contract has been done recently that will result in reduction of leasing cost to IndianRailways;

j.

Organisational Restructuring of Indian Railways

The Union Cabinet chaired by Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi on 24.12.2019approved a transformational organisational restructuring of the Indian Railways. This historicreform will go a long way in achieving Government’s vision of making Indian Railways thegrowth engine of India's vikas yatra.

The reforms include:

Unification of the existing eight Group A services of the Railways into a Central Servicecalled Indian Railway Management Service (IRMS)

i.

Re-organisation of Railway Board on functional lines headed by Chairman Railway Board(CRB) who will be the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) with 4 Members and someIndependent Members

ii.

The existing service of Indian Railway Medical Service (IRMS) to be consequentlyrenamed as Indian Railway Health Service (IRHS).

iii.

Unification of services had been recommended by various committees for reforming Railways.Unification of services will promote smooth working of Railways, expedite decision making,create a coherent vision for the organisation and promote rational decision making. Themodalities and unification of the services will be worked out in consultation with DoPT and theapproval of Alternate Mechanism appointed by Cabinet in order to ensure fairness andtransparency.

 

Employment

Indian Railways successfully completed one of the world’s largest recruitment exercises

An unprecedented 47.45 Lakhs candidates applied for over 64,000 posts of Assistant LocoPilots & TechniciansAbout 1.17 Crores candidates appeared for over 63,000 posts in Level I(erstwhile Group D) posts including over 2400 vacancies reserved for Disabledcandidates (Divyangjan) with around 600 for each of the 4 Disability categories of LD, VI,

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HI and MD, andAbout 24.75 lakhs candidates appeared for over 13,500 posts for JuniorEngineer (JE).

 

Indian Railways provided another chance to eligible Multiple Disability (MD) ‘Divyangjan’Level-1 candidates to rectify disability option for Railway jobs.

Ayushman Bharat in Railway Hospitals

Introduction of Pradhan Mantri- Jan Arogya Yojna (PM-JAY) in Railways

Ayushman Bharat has been introduced in 91 hospitals of Indian Railways.Treatment ofAyushman Bharat beneficiaries has already started at empanelled Railway hospitals.

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SG/MKV/AP

(Release ID: 1598076) Visitor Counter : 351

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Source : www.pib.nic.in Date : 2020-01-01

YEAR END REVIEW: MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTIRelevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Government policies & interventions for development in various

Sectors and issues arising out of their design & implementation incl. Housing

Ministry of Jal Shakti

YEAR END REVIEW: MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI

India’s first HAM project in sewerage sector, the 14 MLDSTP at Sarai, Haridwar completed before time

River Cleaning to be taken up in a Mission Mode

India’s Largest Rural Sanitation Survey Launched

Posted On: 31 DEC 2019 5:37PM by PIB Delhi

PM dedicates a Swachh Bharat to Bapu and the people of India:1.The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, dedicated a Swachh Bharat India to the people ofIndia and the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi on 2nd October, 2019, in front of  20,000Swachhagrahis and Sarpanches assembled from all over the country at a massive publicevent at the Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, The Prime Minister said that byalleviating 60% of the world’s share of people defecating in the open, India has significantlycontributed to the global achievement of SDG 6.

 A Clean and Open Defecation Free (ODF) India on 2nd October 2019 was the most befittingtribute possible to give to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary. He saluted thework done by lakhs of Swachhagrahis in response to the Mission's clarion call for makingSwachhata a Jan Andolan, a people’s movement and physically bowed to the gathering toexpress his gratitude.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launches Swachhata Hi Seva (SHS) 2019:2.The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi launched Swachhata Hi Seva (SHS) 2019, amassive countrywide awareness and mobilization campaign at Mathura on 11th September2019, with special focus on ‘plastic waste awareness and management’. The launch of SHSwas organized jointly by the Central Departments of Animal Husbandry and Dairying andDrinking Water and Sanitation and the Government of Uttar Pradesh.

 First meeting of National Ganga Council:                                            3. 

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi chaired the first meeting of the National Ganga Council inKanpur, Uttar Pradesh on 14th December.

The Council has been given overall responsibility for superintendence of pollution preventionand rejuvenation of River Ganga Basin, including Ganga and its tributaries. The first meetingof the Council was aimed at reinforcing the importance of a ‘Ganga-centric’ approach in all

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departments of the concerned states as well as relevant Central Ministries.

Prime Minister, reviewed the progress of work done on various aspects of cleaning riverGanga with a focus on ‘swachhta’, ‘aviralta’ and ‘nirmalta’.

4. Swachh Bharat Awards:

At the Swachh Mahotsav event in New Delhi on 6th September, the President ShriRamnath Kovind complimented the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) for inspiring historicbehaviour change in the country and putting forth a model for the world to replicate. Healso gave away a set of Swachh Bharat awards. More than 1300 swachhata championsincluding school children, NCC cadets, volunteers from NSS and NYKS,swachhagrahies, sarpanches, representatives from States and UTs, central governmentministries and media persons participated in the grand event.

 6th India Water Week – 2019:                     5.The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, inaugurated the 6th India Water Week-2019,on September 24, 2019 in New Delhi. The theme of the India Water Week-2019 is ‘WaterCooperation – Coping with 21st Century Challenges’

 Jal Shakti Abhiyan:6.Jal Shakti Abhiyan, which is a collaborative effort of the Central and State Governments toaccelerate progress on water conservation activities in the most water stressed blocks anddistricts of India. Under this campaign, the entire Government of India machinery of over 1000senior Central Government officers have joined the States to promote focused interventionsfor water collection and conservation, including restoration and renovation of traditional waterbodies.

  Patna river front dedicated  to people:7.In another important step towards Nirmal Ganga, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 17th

February laid the foundation stone for sewerage infrastructure at four towns in Bihar includingKarmalichak (Patna), Barh, Sultanganj and Nauguchia. PM also dedicated to people thePatna River Front that includes 16 ghats, 1 crematorium, 4.9 km promenade, community-cum-cultural centre, audio-visual theatre and eco centre build at a cost of Rs. 243.27 crore.

The sewerage infrastructure projects for which foundation stone was laid include seweragenetwork of 96.54 km and 1 sewage pumping station (SPS) in Karmalichak (Patna), 11 MLDsewage treatment plant (STP), 3 SPS and interception & diversion of 3 drains in Barh, 10MLD STP, 4 SPS and interception & diversion of 5 drains in Sultanganj and 9 MLD STP, 6SPS and interception & diversion of 9 drains in Nauguchia. These sewerage projects costingRs. 452.24 crore will prevent flow of 6.7 crore litre of sewage per day into River Ganga.

Villages across India discuss PM’s letter on Water Conservation:8.To promote water conservation across the country ahead of the monsoon season, the PrimeMinister, Shri Narendra Modi, wrote letters to all Sarpanches, urging them to undertakeRainwater Harvesting and Water Conservation activities in rural India. Gram Sabhas wereconvened across the country on 22nd June and the Prime Minister’s letter was read outpublicly to all the residents of the village. The sitting of Gram Sabha was followed byshramdaan for water conservation, as outlined in the Prime Minister’s letter. Activitiesincluded building and cleaning small ponds for storing rainwater, tree plantation drives,Constructing/installing storage tanks for rainwater harvesting, and afforestation.

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To mark the occasion, the Union Minister for Jal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat,kicked off the water conservation Shramdaan in Jodhpur in Rajasthan, and also held a JanSamvad with villagers and Swachh Bharat Summer Interns, who are youth volunteering forSwachhata work. He also inaugurated a rainwater harvesting unit at Narwa village, and didshramdaan for retrofitting of toilets and construction of Compost pits in the district.

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi felicitated the Safai Karmacharis working inKumbh:

9.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, on 25th February honoured and paid respect to thesafai karamcharis working in the Kumbh Mela, by washing the feet of five of them. Thegesture was a part of the ”Swachh Kumbh, Swachh Aabhaar” programme, where the PrimeMinister addressed a gathering of 10,000 safai karamcharis, swachhagrahis, police personneland naviks of the Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj yesterday. The gathering was organized by theMinistry of Drinking Water and Sanitation in association with the Government of UttarPradesh (GoUP).

India’s first HAM project in sewerage sector, the 14 MLD STP at Sarai, Haridwarcompleted before time:   

10.

14MLD Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) at Sarai in Haridwar was inaugurated on December 5,2019. The Sarai 14 MLD Sewage Treatment Plant is the first STP to be completed under theHybrid Annuity (HAM) Based Public Private Partnership Model, involving a cost of Rs. 41.40crores, and the Plant has been completed before its scheduled timeline.

The vision of the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) is long term and hence thecapability being created would fully take care of the requirements up to 2035.Municipalsewage, being the main source of pollution in the Ganga, is being tackled through 150Sewerage projects at a cost of more than Rs. 23,000 crores (more than 3 billion USD), inaddition to various interventions for checking industrial and other sources of pollution in theGanga

River Cleaning to be taken up in  Mission Mode:11.            The cleaning of river Ganga and its tributaries would be taken up in a mission mode.He said this while participating in a Cleanathon event of “Namami Gange” at the Kalindi KunjGhat near Okhla Barrage in New Delhi. Shri Shekhawat said that Government could only be acatalyst, but to realise the dream and vision of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi - “AviralDhara”, “Nirmal Dhara” and “Swachh Kinara”, the Cleanathon project should truly become amass movement. He said that the Government is working on the project by adopting theBasin Approach, which is more sustainable.

 Swachh Mahotsava 2019:             12.The Minister of Jal Shakti Shekhawat  launched  Swachh Mahotsav 2019 - a campaign tocelebrate the successes of the Swachh Bharat Mission and honour the stakeholder who wereinstrumental in making it happen. Kickstarting the Mahotsav, winners of Swachh SundarShauchalaya were recognized by the Minister. The Mahotsav was organized by theDepartment of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Jal Shakti and culminated on 2ndOctober 2019, the 150th birth year anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

 

Jal Shakti Minister Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat inspected Namami Gange STPprojects at Dinapur and Ramana: 

13.

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Union Minister for Jal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat reviewed the ongoing NamamiGange projects in Varanasi during his visit to the city on 18th June. He inspected the 140Million Litres Day (MLD) Dinapur Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) from inlet upto outfall pointinto Varuna. He was accompanied by Director General, National Mission for Clean Ganga(NMCG), Shri Rajiv Ranjan Mishra.

Sh. Shekhawat instructed the officials of Dinapur STP to conduct periodic chemical checks toensure that the sewage does not have any industrial or other toxic discharge. Under theNamami Gange program, 2 STPs at Dinapur and Goitha (120 MLD) have been recentlycompleted at Varanasi, of which, the Dinapur STP was inaugurated late last year by PrimeMinister Shri Narendra Modi in November 2018.

Furthermore, the 50 MLD STP being constructed in Ramana will bolster the existing sewagetreatment capacity of the city and take it to 412 MLD which is adequate to meet the sewagetreatment demand till 2035 and stop untreated sewage from entering the Ganga in Varanasi.

Shri Shekhawat also inspected all the 84 iconic Ghats of Varanasi by boat with a particularfocus on the 26 Ghats, where the projects of repair/ renovation have been taken up under theNamami Gange Program. He also reviewed the project for regular cleaning of the 84 Ghatsas well as the river surface cleaning project, both of which have been put in place under theNamami Gange Program to ensure cleanliness in and around the river.

Apart from inspecting the Ghats, he also observed the Ghat pumping stations and tapping ofdrains. Out of 23 drains, 20 drains have already been tapped. The remaining 3, including Assiare being tapped through Ramana STP project, which is to be completed during this year.

 

Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat inspected ongoing Projects in Rishikesh andHaridwar: 

14.

Union Jal Shakti Minister Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat reviewed the ongoing NamamiGange projects in Rishikesh and Haridwar on 13th June. Shri Shekhawat was shown theworking of the Sarai Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) on the miniature model of the SaraiSTP and then inspected the plant in detail, where the officials took him through theoperations of the plant. He also inspected the control room of the STP.

Shri Shekhawat also inspected the under construction Jagjeetpur STP which is slated forcompletion later this year. Under the Namami Gange programme, NMCG has approved 4projects, 2 projects related to laying of Interception and Diversion (I&D) works and 2projects for creating 82 (68+14) Million Litre Per Day (MLD) STP capacity.

 

 Meeting with all States for water conservation, rural drinking water supply andSwachh Bharat Mission (Grameen):

15.

 

The Union Minister for Jal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, held a review meetingwith all State Ministers and State Principal Secretaries for Water Resources, Drinking Waterand Sanitation and PHED in New Delhi on 11th June. The focus of the meeting was to review

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the steps taken and action plans made by various States for the drinking water and sanitationsectors in the country, especially their preparedness to conserve rainwater over theforthcoming monsoon months. 24 State Water and Sanitation Ministers joined the meeting torepresent the sectors in their respective States.

Capacity Strengthening Initiative for 2.5 lakh Panchayats launched:16.The Union Minister of Jal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, on 27th July launched thecapacity strengthening initiative of the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS),Ministry of Jal Shakti, in Ranchi, Jharkhand. This initiative would create a poorl of 2800 filedtrainers in its trainings, who will reach out to around 2.5lkah gram Panchayats across thecountry.

The initiative seeks to ensure the sustainability of open defecation free (ODF) villages createdunder the Swachh Bharat Mission in the long term and enable field trainers and members ofPRIs (Panchayat Raj Institutions) to create capacity to manage solid and liquid wastes as wellas improve access to safe and adequate drinking water supply.

Addressing more than 6000 Mukhiyas, Jal Sahiyas, Swachhagrahis and others present onthe occasion, Jal Shakti Minister Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat emphasized the need forpeople’s participation highlighting that it is now time to turn the “jal ka andolan” into “jan kaandolan” to avert the impending water crisis.

Jal Shakti Abhiyan for Water Conservation Launched:17.Union Jal Shakti Minister, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, on 1st July announced thecommencement of the Jal Shakti Abhiyan - a campaign for water conservation and watersecurity. The campaign would run through citizen participation during the monsoon season,from 1st July, 2019 to 15th September, 2019. An additional Phase 2 would be run from 1stOctober, 2019 to 30th November, 2019 for States receiving the North East retreatingmonsoons. The focus of the campaign will be on water stressed districts and blocks.

 Meeting of State Ministers for Jal Jeevan Mission :         18. 

Union Minister for Jal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat chaired a Conference of StateMinisters on Jal Jeevan Mission in New Delhi on 26th August. State Ministers in-charge ofDrinking Water from 17 States; and Principal Secretaries/Secretaries attended theconference.The objective of the Conference was to discuss the implementation of the newly announcedJal Jeevan Mission,to provide individual household water tap connection to everyruralhousehold in the country by 2024.

 

India’s Largest Rural Sanitation Survey Launched:19.Jal Shakti Minister Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat launched the Swachh SurvekshanGrameen 2019 (SSG 2019) in the capital on 14th August. The survey covered 17,450 villagesin 698 districts across India and include 87,250 public places namely schools, anganwadicenters, public health centres, haat/bazaars/religious places, making it India’s largest ruralsanitation survey. Around 2,50,000 citizens were interviewed for their feedback as part of thesurvey. Citizens will also be mobilised to provide feedback on sanitation relation relatedissues online using an application developed for the purpose.

National Launch of 10 Year Rural Sanitation Strategy (2019-2029):    20.

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The Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS), Ministry of Jal Shakti, GoIlaunched the 10 Year Rural Sanitation Strategy (2019-2029), which focus on sustaining thesanitation behavior change that has been achieved under the Swachh Bharat MissionGrameen (SBM-G), ensuring that no one is left behind, and increasing access to solid andliquid waste management.

Since the launch of the SBM-G in 2014, over 10 crore toilets have been built in rural areas;over 5.9 lakh villages, 699 districts, and 35 States/UTs have declared themselves OpenDefecation Free (ODF). This strategy has been prepared by DDWS, in consultation with StateGovernments and other stakeholders, and it lays down a framework to guide localgovernments, policy makers, implementers and other relevant stakeholders in their planningfor ODF Plus, where everyone uses a toilet, and every village has access to solid and liquidwaste management.

National Water Mission Awards- 2019:                                               21.Union Minister for Jal Shakti Shri Gajendra Singh Sekhawat said that water conservationalong with water-harvesting and judicious and multiple use of water are key to tackle thewater challenge in India. Speaking after giving away the National Water Mission Awards-2019in New Delhi on 25th September, the Minister lamented the fact that only 4 percent of CSRobligation is spent on water, while it is around 11 percent for the water-intensive industriesand called for a rethink on the issue. Shri Shekhawat also urged the policy planners to takeinto account the multiple use of water in Agriculture and Industries for the judicious use ofscarce resource.

 Ganga Aamantran – a unique initiative to connect with Ganga’s StakeholdersLaunched: 

22.

The ‘Ganga Aamantran Abhiyan’ is a pioneering and historic exploratory open-water raftingand kayaking expedition on the Ganga River to be held between 10th October 2019 to 11November 2019. Starting at Devprayag and culminating at Ganga Sagar, the expedition willcover the entire streatch of over 2500 kms of the Ganga River.

This is the first ever effort by National Mission for Clean Ganga to raft across the entirestretch of the river and also the longest ever social campaign undertaken through anadventure sporting activity to spread the message of River Rejuvenation and WaterConservation on a massive scale. The expedition will draw attention to the ecologicalchallenges being faced by Ganga.

The expedition would encompass the five Ganga basin states including Uttarakhand, UttarPradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal with stops at Rishikesh, Haridwar, Kanpur,Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, Sonepur and Kolkata.

CGWB signs MoU with Australia’s MARVI:23.The Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) signed an Memorandum of Understanding withMARVI (Managing Aquifer Recharge and Sustaining Groundwater Use through Village-levelIntervention) Partners of Australia in New Delhi on 22nd November. Union Minister of JalShakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, MoS Jal Shakti and Social Justice & Empowerment,Shri Rattan Lal Kataria, Secretary, Department of Water Resources, River Development &Ganga Rejuvenation, Shri UP Singh, Education Minister of Australia, Mr. Dan Tehan andAustralian High Commissioner to India, Ms. Iven Mackay were present.

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Shri Nitin Gadkari laid Foundation Stones for Namami Gange Projects in Agra andMathura:

24.

Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, RoadTransport & Highways and Shipping Shri Nitin Gadkari laid the foundation stones of sixNamami Gange projects in Agra and Mathura on 23 Jan 2019. The four projects in Mathurahave a sanctioned cost of Rs 511.74 crore. These include two sewerage projects.

NMCG Officials and Partners come together to contribute to Clean Ganga Fund: 25.The officials and partners of National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) came together onone platform on 15th January, to make personal donations to the Clean Ganga Fund on avoluntary basis. Officials from various executing agencies, stakeholders and aartners withTeam NMCG including State Bank of India, Union Bank of India, Engineers India Ltd.,WAPCOS, HDFC etc contributed to the Clean Ganga Fund at an event held at the NMCGheadquarters.

MoU for construction of Renukaji multipurpose dam:        26.

Shri Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and GangaRejuvenation, Shipping and Road Transport & Highways on 11th January signed aMemorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh - Shri YogiAdityanath, Rajasthan –Sh. Ashok Gehlot, Uttarakhand -Shri Trivendra Singh Rawat,Haryana- Shri Manohar Lal, Delhi - Shri Arvind Kejriwal, and Himachal Pradesh - Shri JaiRam Thakur in New Delhi for the construction of Renukaji Multi-Purpose Dam project in theUpper Yamuna Basin.

Under the Renukaji Multi-Purpose Dam project, three storage projects are proposed to beconstructed on the river Yamuna and two of its tributaries - Tons and Giri in the hilly regionsof Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh of Upper Yamuna Basin. These include  Lakhwarproject on river Yamuna in Uttarakhand , Kishau on river Tons in Uttarakhand and  HimachalPradesh and  Renukaji on river Giri in Himachal Pradesh.

Shri Gadkari also presided over the ceremony of signing of concession agreement forNamami Gange projects in Prayagraj under Hybrid Annuity Mode and One-City-One-Operatorconcept. The agreement was signed amongst Shri Akhil Kumar from National Mission forClean Ganga, Shri Anil Kumar Srivastava from U.P. Jal Nigam and Shri Dilip Pormal fromPrayagraj Water Pvt. Ltd.

Shri Nitin Gadkari inaugurated and laid foundation stone for projects worth Rs5,894 crore at Chandi Ghat in Haridwar:

27.

The Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, RiverDevelopment & Ganga Rejuvenation Shri Nitin Gadkari inaugurated and laid foundation stonefor projects worth Rs 5,894 crore at Chandi Ghat in Haridwar on 21st February.

The projects included six newly constructed sewage treatment plants (STPs) along with 18pumping stations across the state of Uttarakhand under National Mission for Clean Ganga.The venue for the inauguration was Chandi Ghat. This ghat in Uttarakhand is part of 36others which have been completed. The STPs and Ghats are part of 48 projects in the field ofsewerage management, Ghats and Crematoria works, River front development works,Afforestation, Bio-remediation, Rural sanitation and River surface cleaning works at the costof Rs. 1354.33 Cr. which are at different stages of implementation.

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 Foundation stone  laid for many sewerage infrastructure projects in Bihar:28.Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, RoadTransport and Highways & Shipping Shri Nitin Gadkari laid the foundation stone of sewerageprojects worth Rs 2785.23 Cr in Chhapra, Bihar in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister ofBihar Shri Sushil Kumar Modi on 29th February.

The projects will prevent the flow of 32 Crore Litres of Sewage per day into the Ganga riverfrom 13 towns of Bihar including Patna, Chhapra, Sonepur, Danapur, Maner, Phulwarishari,Bakhtiyarpur, Fatuha, Mokama, Begusarai, Khagaria, Munger and Bhagalpur.

Jal Shakti Abhiyan becomes a jan andolan :29.The Cabinet Secretary, Shri Pradeep Kumar Sinha, on 26th August reviewed the work doneso far under the Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA),and in particular the second field visit of the 1100central government officers to the 256 most water stressed districts of India. He lauded theefforts and commitment of the officers in helping make the Jal Shakti Abhiyan a people’smovement for water conservation.

National Planning Workshop on ODF Plus and Water Conservation held in Delhi:30.With over 5.6 lakh villages, 622 districts, and 30 States/UTs declared Open Defecation Free(ODF) in rural India underthe Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen), Department of DrinkingWater and Sanitation (DDWS), Ministry of Jal Shakti organized a two-day National PlanningWorkshop on ODF Plus and Water Conservation from July 12-13, 2019 in New Delhi.Secretaries-in-Charge of Sanitation, Mission Directors and other key state level officials from29 states/UTs attended the workshop.

The Minister of State then launched the Solid Liquid Waste Management (SLWM)Dashboard, ODF-Plus Advisory and the ODF-Plus & Swachh Gram Darpan MobileApplication to foster healthy competition between States and districts undertaking ODF-plusactivities.

Cabinet approves “FMBAP” for Flood Management Works in entire country andRiver Management Activities and works related to Border Areas during 2017-18 to2019-20:

31.

 

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 7th March approved the"Flood Management and Border Areas Programme (FMBAP)" for Flood Management Worksin entire country and River Management Activities and works related to Border Areas for theperiod 2017-18 to 2019-20 with a total outlay of Rs.3342.00 crores.

Benefits:

The FMBAP Scheme will be implemented throughout the country for effective floodmanagement, erosion control and anti-sea erosion. The proposal will benefit towns, villages,industrial establishments, communication links, agricultural fields, infrastructure etc. fromfloods and erosion in the country. The catchment area treatment works will help in reductionof sediment load into rivers.

Funding pattern:

The funding pattern for FM Component for works in general category States will continue tobe 50% (Centre) : 50% (State) and for projects of North Eastern States, Sikkim, J&K,

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Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the funding pattern will continue to be 70% (Centre) :30% (State).

 

Projects worth Rs. 1387.71 Cr in Yamuna towns approved under Namami Gange:  32.In its 20th Executive Committee meeting held on 15th February, 2019, sewerage infrastructureand other projects worth Rs.1387.71 Cr focusing on towns along river Yamuna have beenapproved. The projects involve construction and renovation of sewage treatment plants,online monitoring systems of sewage treatment plants and other infrastructure projects.

 

NMCG partners with Solidaridad Multi-Stakeholder Platform for sustainable growthof Kanpur-Unnao leather Cluster:   

33.

 

NMCG has partnered with Solidaridad to launch the Multi-Stakeholder Platform forsustainable growth of the Kanpur-Unnao Leather Cluster. Solidaridad convened a Multi-Stakeholder Platform, a unique public-private partnership in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.

  Tanneries in Kanpur area have been a priority for Ganga rejuvenation and a comprehensiveproject of common effluent treatment plant has been taken up under Namami Gange for theJajmau Tannery cluster alongside arrangement for conveyance, chrome recovery and pilotZLD Plant. Attention is also on improving processes within the tanneries to make them moregreen and sustainable. Solidaridad is one such agency to help in this. This programme iscurrently working with around 100 tanneries in the Kanpur-Unnao Leather Cluster and willsoon be expanding to the other important leather geography of India and adjoining countries.

Over 3.5 lakh Water Conservation Measures taken up in a single month asnationwide Jal Shakti Abhiyan hits the ground:

34.

In a countrywide effort to enhance water security, especially in water stressed districts, theCentre initiated Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) has delivered over 3.5 lakh water conservationmeasures in 256 districts. Out of these, 1.54 lakh are of water conservation and rain waterharvesting measures, 20000 relate to the rejuvenation of traditional water bodies, over 65000are reuse and recharge structures and 1.23 lakh are watershed development projects. Anestimated 2.64 crore people have already participated in the Abhiyan making it a JanAndolan. About 4.25 crore saplings were planted as a part of the efforts. The outcome of thefirst phase of the Jal Shakti Abhiyan was announced at a review by Cabinet Secretary in NewDelhi on 2nd August.

Shri Parameswaran Iyer, Secretary, DDWS, shared that the JSA has led to an increase ingroundwater level, surface water storage capacity, soil moisture in farm lands and increasedplant cover. The JSA is a collaborative effort of various Ministries of the Centre and StateGovernments, and is primarily a Jal Sanchay campaign, which has gained phenomenalmomentum in this past one month.

The campaign is successfully running with the involvement of about 1300 officers of thecentral government joined by state and district officials who are required to take up 3 fieldvisits.

Paint Your Toilet:35.

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In an effort to promote ownership and sustained usage of toilets and also provide a facelift tothe crores of toilets built under the Swachh Bharat Mission, the Ministry of Drinking Water andSanitation launched a month-long campaign, “Swachh Sundar Shauchalaya” thatcommenced on 1st January. The campaign comprised a unique Contest, under which,households were being mobilised to paint and decorate their toilets. It was spearheaded byGram Panchayats and coordinated by district administrations.

National Workshop on Solid and Liquid Waste Management (SLWM) on 30th and31st January 2019:

36.

The Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen (SBMG) of Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation,held a National Workshop on Solid and Liquid Waste Management (SLWM) on 30th and 31stJanuary 2019 in New Delhi. The workshop was attended by District Collectors, CEOs, CDOs,Executive Engineers and other officers, from across the country. The workshop emphasizedthe importance of Fecal Sludge Management (FSM) for rural census towns and large densevillages and Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resource–dhan (GOBAR-DHAN) in rural areas. Italso covered Plastic Waste Management, Grey Water Management and featured casestudies from across the country.

“Darwaza Band -Part 2” campaign launched:37.The Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen on 6th February launched the 'Darwaza Band -Part 2'campaign which focuses on sustaining the open defecation free status of villages across thecountry. The campaign, produced by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, waslaunched in Mumbai in the presence of iconic actor Shri Amitabh Bachchan. The 'DarwazaBand- Part 2' campaign has been supported by the World Bank and is being rolled outcountrywide immediately after the launch.

Independent Verification of Swachh Bharat Grameen confirms over 96% usage oftoilets:

38.

The National Annual Rural Sanitation Survey (NARSS) 2018-19, conducted by anIndependent Verification Agency (IVA) under the World Bank support project to the SwachhBharat Mission Grameen (SBM-G), has found that 96.5% of the households in rural India whohave access to a toilet use it. The NARSS also re-confirmed the Open Defecation Free (ODF)status of 90.7% of villages which were previously declared and verified as ODF by variousdistricts/States. The survey was conducted between November 2018 and February 2019 andcovered 92040 households in 6136 villages across States and UTs of India.

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Source : www.pib.nic.in Date : 2020-01-01

INDIA COMMENCES WORLD’S LARGEST EVERVACCINATION PROGRAMME TO CONTROL FMD &BRUCELLOSIS IN 2019; AIMS TO PROVIDE UNIQUEPASHU AADHAR TO 535 MILLION ANIMALS

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Health & Sanitation and related issues

Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying

India commences world’s largest ever vaccinationprogramme to control FMD & Brucellosis in 2019; Aims toprovide unique Pashu Aadhar to 535 million animals

More than 11 Lakh Artificial Inseminations done underNationwide Artificial Insemination Programme for breedimprovement in 2019

Posted On: 31 DEC 2019 4:53PM by PIB DelhiYearEnd

Review-2019

 

 

 

National Animal Disease Control Programme for FMD and Brucellosis1.The Government has launched a new scheme National Animal Disease Control Programmefor FMD and Brucellosiswith a financial outlay of Rs. 13,343.00 crore for five years (2019-20 to2023-24) by vaccinating 100% cattle, buffalo, sheep, goat and pig population for FMD and 100%bovine female calves of 4-8 months of age for brucellosis to prevent loss of Rs. 50,000 crore tothe Government exchequer and also to increase the economic output of farmers. The missionmode approach for eradication of these diseases is the biggest step any country of the worldhas ever taken either for human or animal vaccination programme to control any disease. Thisprogramme combined with providing unique PashuAadhar to 535 million animals (Cattle, buffalo,sheep, goat, and pig).

NATIONWIDE ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION PROGRAMME (NAIP)2.Nationwide Artificial Insemination Programme for 20,000 bovine per district for 600 districts inthe country was recently launched by the Government in September, 2019 which is one of thelargest such programmes with 100% central assistance for undertaking breed improvement. Infuture, this will be expanded across all the breedable bovine population of 600 districts so thatIndia achieves 70% AI coverage.Under NAIP, more than 11 lakhs AI has been done as on

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31.12.2019.

 

QUALITY MILK PROGRAMME3.DAHD launched Quality Milk Programme on 24.07.2019 with the objectives to achieveGlobal(Codex)standards for domestic consumption of milk and ensuring traceability & increasingshare of milk and milk products in world exports.

In the first phase of the programme during 2019-20, approval has been granted forstrengthening of 231 dairy plants under “National Programme for Dairy Development”scheme to equip them to detect adulterants in milk (Urea, maltodextrin, ammoniumsulphate, detergent, sugar, neutralisers etc.). FTIR technology based Milk Analyser (foraccurate detection and estimation of milk composition and adulterants) to 139 dairy plantsof 30,000 litre capacities and above and 92 Dairy Plants below 30,000 litres capacity withElectronic Milk Analyser with adulteration testing equipment. In addition one each of StateCentral laboratory for 18 States has been approved. The total cost of the project wasRs.271.64 crore. Out of this, an amount of Rs.128.56 crore has been released to States asfirst instalment during 2019-20. Once implemented in June 2020, all the cooperative dairyplants of the country will be able to supply Quality Milk tested on all microbiological,chemical and physical parameters to their consumers.

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Source : www.pib.nic.in Date : 2020-01-01

YEAR END REVIEW-2019: MINISTRY OF PANCHAYATIRAJ

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Government policies & interventions for development in variousSectors and issues arising out of their design & implementation incl. Housing

Ministry of Panchayati Raj

Year End Review-2019: Ministry of Panchayati Raj

Rs. 406.22 crore released under Rashtriya Gram SwarajAbhiyan to States/UTs and implementing agencies till date

Over 1.1 lakh Gram Panchayats on-board in PRIASoft-PFMS

Over 230 panchayats were conferred the NationalPanchayat Awards 2019 including e-PanchayatPuraskar to6 States

Core Common Applications called Panchayat EnterpriseSuite (PES) Applications has been developed; SpatialPlanning Application ‘Gram Manchitra’ launched

Posted On: 31 DEC 2019 4:24PM by PIB Delhi

The Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR) is responsible for the work of advocacy, monitoring andimplementation of Constitution 73rd Amendment. The role of the MoPR involves strengtheningthe administrative infrastructure, basic services etc. by leveraging technology and capacitybuilding of the functionaries of Rural Local Body (RLB). Ministry’s roadmap to realise the aboveobjective is through three pillars:

· Provision of basic services through the Finance Commission Funding,

· Capacity building of RLBs through Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA) and

· Convergent & holistic planning through inclusive & participatory process through GramPanchayat Development Plan (GPDP) and advocacy work

 

Fourteenth Finance Commission (FFC) Grants

During the current Financial Year 2019-20, FFC Grant of Rs.48,497.57 crore (includingrelease for previous years) has been released to 26 States for Gram Panchayats (GPs) as on18.12.2019. The year-wise allocations and release of Finance Commission Grants for the Award

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period 2015-16 to 2019-20 (as on 16.12.2019) is as under:

(Rs. in crore)

Sl.No.

YearBasic Grant Performance Grant

Allocation Release Allocation Release

1. 2015-16 21624.46 21510.46 -- --

2. 2016-17 29942.87 29718.76 3927.65 3499.45

3. 2017-18 34596.26 33575.12 4444.71 1943.55

4. 2018-19 40021.63 37897.41 5047.53 --

5. 2019-20 54077.80 43736.08 6609.33 --

  Total 180263.02 166437.83 20029.22 5443.00

 

Ministry monitors the effective utilization of FFC Grants by the GPs through Public FinancialManagement System (PFMS). Around 5.5 Lakhs assets created by using FFC grants in GPshave been geo-tagged as on today to give thrust on digital monitoring system.

Around 1,10,102 numbers of Gram Panchayats are on-board in PRIASoft-PFMS and 68,014GPs are already doing digital payments through PRIASoft -PFMS. 2,00,850 numbers of GPs areon-board in PRIASoft double entry cash-based accounting application meant for Panchayats. 

Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA)

The restructured Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA)  hasbeen operationalized w.e.f. 2018-19 with the primary aim of strengthening of Panchayati RajInstitutions (PRIs) for achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with main thrust onconvergence with Mission Antyodaya and emphasis on strengthening PRIs in 117 Aspirationaldistricts.

During 2018-19, Ministry had approved the Annual Action Plans (AAPs) of 32 States/UTs andRs. 598.25 crore was released to States/UTs and implementing agencies upto 31st March,2019.  During current year, Ministry has approved the Annual Action Plans (AAPs) of 33States/UTs and released Rs.406.22 crore to States/UTs and implementing agencies till18.12.2019. Some of the major activities approved during 2019-20 to States/UTs are:

38.22 lakh participants for GPDP training and 36.94 lakh participants for Other than GPDPtraining.

i.

Construction of 3108 Gram Panchayat Bhawans and repair of 2384 Gram PanchayatBhawans

ii.

Co-location of Common Service Centres (CSCs) in 3404 Gram Panchayatsiii.Construction of 04 State Panchayat Resource Centres (SPRCs) and 09 District PanchayatResource Centres (DPRCs)

iv.

Procurement of 10292 computers in Gram Panchayatsv.47 Panchayat Learning Centres (PLCs)vi.PESA Areas: 19512 Gram Sabha Mobilisers, 85 District Coordinators, 411 BlockCoordinators and14382 Gram Sabha Orientation

vii.

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People’s Plan Campaign (PPC)- Sabki Yojana Sabka Vikas

Inspired by the visible and quite satisfactory performance of the Gram Panchayats, GramSabhas and other stakeholders involved in the PPC during 2nd October, 2018 to 31st December,2018 and to provide sustainability to the GPDP formulation process into a participative andtransparent exercise, the process of GPDP preparation for the financial year 2020-21 againstarted in a Campaign mode from 2nd October, 2019 as PPC-2019. The status of PPC as onDecember 16, 2019 is as under:

210432 numbers (78.2%) of Gram Sabhas heldi.221378 numbers (82.3%) of Gram Sabhas Scheduledii.103607 numbers (38.5%) of facilitators feedback received.iii.97315 numbers (36.2%) of GPDP Approved as per facilitator's feedback.iv.42113 numbers of (15.6%) GPDP uploaded on PlanPlusv.5805 numbers of GPDPs in pipelinevi.

Incentivization of Panchayats:

The Ministry has been incentivizing the Panchayats/ States/ Union Territories (UTs) under thescheme of Incentivization of Panchayats, one of the central components of the restructuredscheme of RGSA, in recognition of their good work for improving delivery of services &publicgoods and to encourage a spirit of competition.

Awards, including financial incentives ranging from Rs.5 lakh to Rs.50 Lakh, are given annuallyto best performing Panchayats/States/UTs under various categories namely, (i) Deen DayalUpadhyay Panchayat Sashaktikaran Puraskar (DDUPSP) for Gram/ Block/ District Panchayats;(ii) Nanaji Deshmukh Rashtriya Gaurav Gram Sabha Puraskar (NDRGGSP) for GramPanchayats; (iii) Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) Award for Gram Panchayats; (iv)Child-friendly Gram Panchayat Award (CFGPA) for Gram Panchayats and e-PanchayatPuraskar for States/UTs. During 2019 the following National Panchayat Awards were conferred:

DDUPSP to 195 Panchayats (District/Block/Gram) in 24 States.i.NDRGGSP to 20 GPs in 20 States.ii.GPDP Award to 3 GPs across the country.iii.CFGPA to 22 GPs/Village Council in 22 States/UT.iv.e-PanchayatPuraskar to 6 States.v.

Mission Mode Project on e-Panchayat:

Under the e-Panchayat MMP, a suite of Core Common Applications has been developedcollectively called Panchayat Enterprise Suite (PES) Applications. Following are some of the keyactivities undertaken under the e-Panchayat MMP during the year:

Unified portal focusing on Work Based Accounting: Unified Portal is a new initiativeof the Ministry, which will provide the GPs with a single interface to prepare andimplement their GPDP. Unified portal would reduce the number of data entries thatGram Panchayat user performs. It will bring in a more user-friendly interface withease of navigation that would make it hassle-free for the GPs to track, monitor andmodify their Action Plan.

i.

On-boarding of schemes on PRIASoft-PFMS integration for real time payments byii.

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GPs: The Ministry, in the current year, has put in place a robust mechanismcapturing the entire gamut of activity right from the stage of planning to monitor thevarious stages of work, recording the expenditure incurred for the works toproviding a complete detail of the asset created. Around one lakh GPs haveonboarded this interface.Gram Manchitra: Gram Manchitra is a Spatial Planning Application launched byHon’ble Minister of Panchayati Raj on October 23, 2019 on the occasion of NationalPanchayat Awards, 2019, for facilitating and supporting GP users to performplanning at Gram Panchayat level with the use of geo-spatial technology. It providesa single/ unified Geo Spatial platform to better visualize the various developmentalworks to be taken up across the 29 sectors and provide a decision support systemfor GPDP.

iii.

 

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Source : www.pib.nic.in Date : 2020-01-01

YEAR END REVIEW: MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT,FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Government policies & interventions for development in variousSectors and issues arising out of their design & implementation incl. Housing

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change

Year End Review: Ministry of Environment, Forest andClimate Change

India to increase share of non-fossil fuels to 175 GW by2022 and further take it to 450 GW

India Hosts key UN summit on desertification, To Restore26 Million Hectares of Degraded Land by 2030

Tiger count in India rises to 2967

Total Forest and Tree Cover rises to 24.56 percent

Posted On: 31 DEC 2019 1:02PM by PIB Delhi

India’s leadership and commitment on environmental issues under the guidance of PrimeMinister Shri Narendra Modi has led to landmark achievements. With significant developmentssuch as India for the first time ranking among the top ten countries in the Climate ChangePerformance Index (CCPI) goes further to prove that all efforts and activities being currentlyundertaken by the country under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change(MoEF&CC) are setting a tone of vast improvements.

Some of the major highlights of the Ministry in the year 2019 are outlined below:-

Environment:

· Air pollution is one of the biggest global environmental challenges of today. A time boundnational level strategy for pan India implementation to tackle the increasing air pollution problemacross the country in a comprehensive manner in the form of National Clean Air Programme(NCAP) was launched on 10th January, 2019.

· Third Indo-German Environment Forum with the theme "Cleaner Air, Greener Economy:" heldin New Delhi in February. The one-day event through panel discussions and parallel sessionsfocused on challenges, solutions and necessary framework conditions of air pollution control,waste management and circular economy as well as implementation of NDCs and SDGs basedon Paris Agreement and Agenda 2030 of UN respectively.

· In a significant first, India piloted resolutions on two important global environment issues

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relating to Single-use Plastics and Sustainable Nitrogen management at the fourth session ofUnited Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) which was held in Nairobi from 11th to 15thMarch 2019.UNEA adopted both the resolutions with consensus.

· India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) Launched in March this year. India is one of the first countriesin the world to develop a comprehensive Cooling Action plan which has a long term vision toaddress the cooling requirement across sectors and lists out actions which can help reduce thecooling demand. Cooling requirement is cross sectoral and an essential part for economicgrowth and is required across different sectors of the economy such as residential andcommercial buildings, cold-chain, refrigeration, transport and industries.

· In order to strengthen the implementation of environmentally sound management of hazardouswaste in the country, the Ministry amended the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management &Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016 vide notification G.S.R. G.S.R. XX (E), dated 01 March2019. The amendment has been done keeping into consideration the “Ease of Doing Business”and boosting “Make in India” initiative by simplifying the procedures under the Rules, while at thesame time upholding the principles of sustainable development and ensuring minimal impact onthe environment.

· On World environment Day, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, ShriPrakash Javadekar launched a people’s campaign #SelfiewithSapling urging all to join and planta sapling and post the selfie with the sapling on social media. Shri Javadekar stressed that ‘JanBhagidari’ is integral towards tackling the environmental issues and environment protection hasto be a people’s movement.

India HostsCOP14, WillRestore 26MillionHectares ofDegradedLand by2030India hostedt h e 1 4 t hConference ofP a r t i e s(COP14) tot h e U NConvention toC o m b a tDesertification( U N C C D )f r o m 2 - 1 3S e p t e m b e r2 0 1 9 a tG r e a t e rNoida. Duringt h eConference,t h e P r i m eM i n i s t e ra n n o u n c e d

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“India wouldr a i s e i t sambi t ion o fthe total areathat would berestored fromi t s l a n ddegradat ionstatus, fromt w e n t y - o n em i l l i o nhectares tot w e n t y - s i xm i l l i o nh e c t a r e sbetween nowand 2030”.

The country has leapfrogged from Bharat Standard IV to Bharat Standard VI for vehicleemission norms and from 1st April 2020, vehicles will be BS VI compliant. There is also a strongpush for use of e-vehicles by introducing multiple policy interventions and incentives.

Forest & Wildlife:

· A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in February between MoEF&CC andUniversity of British Columbia (UBC), Canada for next 10 years in New Delhi. Both theinstitutions shall explore opportunities for future collaborations in the field of forestry sciencethrough their respective organizations namely Indian Council of Forestry Research andEducation, Wildlife Institute of India, Forest Survey of India, Indira Gandhi National ForestAcademy and Directorate of Forest Education, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India and University ofBritish Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.

· A dedicated“Asiatic Lion Conservation Project” with a budgetary contribution of Rs 97.85 Crfrom Central Government was launched in February . The Asiatic Lion endemic to Gir landscapeof Gujarat, is one of the 21 critically endangered species identified by the Ministry for taking uprecovery programmes.

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· ‘Not all animals migrate by choice’ campaign launched to raise awareness on illegal wildlifetrade.

 

Tigerscount inIndia riseto 2967, in2018O n t h eoccasion ofInternationalTiger Day,P r i m eM i n i s t e rS h r iN a r e n d r aM o d ireleased theresu l t s o fthe four thcycle of AllIndia TigerEstimation -2 0 1 8 i nNew Delhio n J u l y29th, 2019.The countof tigers inI nd ia hasr i s e n t o2 9 6 7 , i n2 0 1 8 ,according tothis census. 

TotalForestand TreeCoverrises to24.56percentof thetotalgeographical areaof theCountry.

Towards, thee n d o f

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2019,Un ionMinister forEnvironment,Fores t andC l i m a t eChange, ShriP r a k a s hJ a v a d e k a r  released theb i e n n i a l“India Stateo f F o r e s tR e p o r t( ISFR) ” , i nNew De lh i .Announcingthe resu l t st h e U n i o nMinister saidthat India isamong fewcountries int h e w o r l dwhere forestc o v e r i sconsistentlyincreasing. Inthe presentassessment,t h e t o t a lf o r e s t a n dtree cover ofthe country is80.73 millionhectare whichi s 2 4 . 5 6percent of thegeographicalarea of thecountry. Ascompared tot h eassessmentof 2017, thereis an increaseof 5,188 sq.k m i n t h eto ta l fo res ta n d t r e ecover of the

 

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· In a major boost towards promoting afforestation and achieving green objectives of the country,the Ministry handed over Rs.47,436 crores of Compensatory Afforestation Fund anagement andPlanning Authority, CAMPA funds to various states in August. Important activities on which thefund will be utilised will be for the Compensatory Afforestation, Catchment Area Treatment,Wildlife Management, Assisted Natural Regeneration, Forest Fire Prevention and ControlOperations, Soil and Moisture Conservation Works in the forest, Improvement of Wildlife Habitat,Management of Biological Diversity and Biological Resources, Research in Forestry andMonitoring of CAMPA works etc.

· With efforts towards protecting and conserving Snow Leopards, the First National Protocol onSnow Leopard Population Assessment in India was launched on the occasion of InternationalSnow Leopard Day in October.

· Draft amendment to the Indian Forests Act withdrawn to remove any misgivings, therebyenriching the livelihood of tribals and forest dwellers.

Climate Change:

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· A publication released in February on climate actions in India titled “India – SpearheadingClimate Solutions”. This publication “India – Spearheading Climate Solutions” mentions the keyactions India has taken under various sectors towards combating and adapting to climatechange.

· India CEO Forum on Climate Change was organized, as the pioneering initiative of thegovernment, inviting industry representatives, exchanged views on climate change issues anddiscussed opportunities to collaborate in regard to fulfilling India’s national as well asinternational climate change commitments.

India to increase share of non-fossil fuels to 175 GW by 2022 and further take it to 450GWWorld leaders gathered in New York in September for the United Nations Secretary General(UNSG) Climate Action Summit. Bringing attention towards India’s efforts in always following aclimate sensitive sustainable development pathway by mainstreaming climate change concernsin development policies, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi announced thatIndia is going toincrease the share of non-fossil fuels to 175 GW by 2022, and will further take it to 450 GW.The Global Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure was also launched.

New leadership group announced in September at Climate Action Summit to drive industrytransition to low-carbon economy.

 

India at COP 25, Calls upon more countries to join the International Solar Alliance (ISA)

The 25th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 25) to the United Nations FrameworkConvention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was held under the Presidency of Chile in Madrid,Spain on 02nd – 15th December 2019.Some of the Key issues discussed at COP25 werePre-2020 implementation and ambition gaps, Article 6 under the Paris Agreement, EnhancedTransparency Framework (Monitoring, Reporting and Verification), Warsaw InternationalMechanism (WIM) for Loss and Damage associated with Climate Change Impacts,Adaptation related matters where in India has been stressing on parity between mitigation andadaptation and Technology development and transfer.At COP25, India also called upon morecountries to join the International Solar Alliance (ISA) to reduce dependence on fossil fuels to

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meet the growing energy requirement, even as it acknowledged the phenomenal progress madeby the Alliance and the growing solar energy capabilities the world over.

 

Other Key initiatives / activities undertaken by the Ministry

· In order to boost the investment in wind power projects and help in providing wind power atcheaper rate,  a conscious decision to relax the condition of charging the lease rent of Rs.30,000/- per MW for wind power projects was made in August.

· Brazil, South Africa, India and China, BASIC countries held its 28th Ministerial meeting onClimate Change from 14th to 16th August in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where in India participated.

· Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa,BRICS Nations come together for UrbanEnvironmental Management in Sao Paulo, Brazil in August, where it was agreed upon to worktogether to resolve the multifaceted environmental issues faced by BRICS cities.

· India hosted the Second Lead Author Meeting of the Intergovernmental Panel on ClimateChange (IPCC) Working Group III Sixth Assessment Report at New Delhi, beginning 30thSeptember to 4th October 2019.

· The proposal was approved for setting-up of a New Regional Centre of the GB Pant Institute ofHimalayan Environment & Development at Ladakh.

· In a first, a four-day long Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, MoEF&CC &Centre for Media Studies (CMS) VATAVARAN-2019 Short Film Competition and Festival onEnvironment was held. Range of discussions, seminars, workshops, interactions were organizedto churn innovative ideas, paving a path for new talents and creative minds in the stream of filmmaking with a sense of responsibility towards the Environment.

· A Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Republic of Indiarepresented by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the Government ofSwitzerland represented by the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs on Technical Cooperationin the field of Climate Change and Environment was signed on 13.09.2019.  The MoU willremain in effect for a five-year period, and may be renewed for similar periods, as agreed uponby the Parties.  The MoU identifies several areas of cooperation including capacity building onClimate Change and sustainable water management; sustainable forest management;sustainable development of mountainous regions; environmentally sustainable and resilienturban development; air, land and water pollution; clean and renewable energy and climatechange risk management. 

· To strive to make our beaches clean and create awareness amongst citizens about theimportance of coastal ecosystems, the Ministry undertook a mass cleanliness-cum-awarenessdrive in 50 identified beaches under the “Swachh – Nirmal Tat Abhiyaan”, from 11th -17thNovember, 2019. The identified beaches were in 10 coastal States/Union Territories (UTs)namely Gujarat, Daman & Diu, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry,Andhra Pradesh, and Odisha. The beaches were identified after the consultation with theStates/UTs.

· Promoting the use of environmentally friendly products, the Ministry in November gaveEnvironment Clearance to Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) to set up new 2G Ethanol plantat Panipat. It is also pertinent to highlight that it was declared that no separate environmental

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clearance was required to produce additional ethanol from B-heavy molasses as it does notcontribute to the pollution load, giving further benefits to farmers and the sugar industry.

· In another first, Annual Meet of the State Nodal Agencies implementing the National GreenCorps ‘Ecoclub’ programme of MoEF&CC, organized by the Ministry’s Environment EducationDivision, in collaboration with the GEER Foundation, Gujarat was held from 20th to 21st

December 2019 in Kevadia, Gujarat.

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Source : www.pib.nic.in Date : 2020-01-01

YEAR END REVIEW 2019- MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL,PUBLIC GRIEVANCES AND PENSIONS

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Government policies & interventions for development in variousSectors and issues arising out of their design & implementation incl. Housing

Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions

Year End Review 2019- Ministry of Personnel, PublicGrievances and Pensions

Posted On: 30 DEC 2019 5:09PM by PIB Delhi

Following are the initiatives of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances andPensions during the year 2019:

 

‘Good Governance Index’ launched on ‘Good Governance Day’

MoS (PP) Dr Jitendra Singh launched the ‘Good Governance Index’ at an eventorganized by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, on theoccasion of Good Governance Day i.e. 25th December, 2019. The Good GovernanceIndex is a uniform tool across States to assess the Status of Governance and impactof various interventions taken up by the State Government and UTs. The objectivesof GGI are to provide quantifiable data to compare the state of governance in allstates and UTs, enable states and UTs to formulate and implement suitablestrategies for improving governance and shift to result oriented approaches andadministration. Various principles have been kept in mind while selecting theindicators, i.e. it should be easy to understand & calculate, citizen-centric & resultdriven, leading to improved results and applicable to all states and UTs, amongothers. Various consultation meetings were held with the stakeholders, includingconsultations with sector experts, ministries, states & UTs. The GGI takes intoconsideration ten sectors: 1). Agriculture and Allied Sectors, 2). Commerce &Industries, 3). Human Resource Development, 4). Public Health, 5). PublicInfrastructure & Utilities, 6). Economic Governance, 7). Social Welfare &Development, 8). Judicial & Public Security, 9). Environment and 10). Citizen-CentricGovernance.

On the occasion, the Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare has also broughtout a Handbook for Retiring Central Government Employee, including All IndiaService Officers, to make them, as well as their families, aware of their entitlementsand various procedural formalities with respect to their retirement benefits.

The Minister also launched the 15th edition of Central Secretariat Manual ofOffice Procedure (CSMOP).

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Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG)’sinitiatives for UTs of J&K and Ladakh:

 

A two-day Regional Conference (November 15-16, 2019) on ‘Replication of GoodGovernance Practices in UTs of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, was organised inJammu. The Conference was inaugurated by the Union Minister Dr JitendraSingh, in the presence of the Lt. Gov. of J&K, Shri G.C. Murmu, Secretary DoPT& DARPG, Dr C. Chandramouli, and J&K Chief Secretary, Shri BVRSubrahmanyam. The valedictory session was chaired by Shri K. K. SharmaAdvisor to the LT. Governor of J&K. After intensive deliberations, ‘SushasanSankalp: Jammu Ghoshana’ resolution was adopted. The Conference resolvedthat Government of India and the participating State Governments and the UnionTerritories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh shall collaborate to Develop theUnion Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh as models of administrativeexcellence using digital technologies in implementation of welfare Union Territoryprograms. The Regional Conference was attended by Delegates from 19 Statesand 4 Union Territories. In addition, 450 officials from Government of Jammu andKashmir participated in the Regional Conference.

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https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1591817

A 2-day regional conference in Jammu under the theme ‘Ek Barat Shresht Bharat’with focus on ‘Jal Shakti and Disaster Management’ was organized on 30th Nov-1st December 2019. The Regional Conference brought together officials from thesister State of Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir intechnical sessions on Jal Shakti and Disaster Management Practices. Thetechnical sessions included Rejuvenation of Rivers – Cauvery and Jhelum,Reducing Water Consumption in Agriculture, Urban Flooding, Experience Sharingby District Collectors and Line Departments and also talks by specialists in WaterManagement practices. The Regional Conference was inaugurated by theMinister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Dr. JitendraSingh in the presence of Lt. Governor of J&K Shri G. C. Murmu on November 30,2019. The conference was attended by 350 delegates from Jammu and Kashmir.

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Three delegations from DARPG visited Srinagar in September – October 2019 tofirm up the collaboration, the first delegation led by Shri V. Srinivas, AdditionalSecretary, DARPG had visited J&K on 4-5th September, 2019. This was followedby 2 delegations led by Joint Secretary DARPG Shri V. Shashank Shekhar. TheAdditional Secretary DARPG held discussions with the Chief Secretary of Jammuand Kashmir and Principal Secretaries/ Secretaries of the line Departments inoutlining the collaboration roadmap.

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22nd National Conference on e-Governance and adoption of ‘ShillongDeclaration’

DARPG, in association with Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY),Government of India and the State Government of Meghalaya organized the 22nd

National Conference on e-Governance (NCeG) 2019 on 8-9thAugust, 2019 atShillong, Meghalaya. The theme of this Conference was “Digital India: Success toExcellence”. At the valedictory session, the historic ‘Shillong Declaration’ outliningthe roadmap on e-Governance of the Nation was adopted after intensivedeliberations during the sessions held over two days.

DARPG in association with the Administrative Reforms Commission of theGovernment of Kerala organized the National Seminar on e-Governance atThiruvananthapuram on August 27-28, 2019. The theme of the National Seminar wasdigital empowerment of the citizens.

‘Nagpur Resolution- A Holistic approach for empowering citizens’

The ‘Nagpur Resolution- A Holistic approach for empowering citizens’ was adoptedduring the Valedictory session of the two-day Regional Conference on ‘ImprovingPublic Service Delivery – Role of Governments’, in Nagpur on 22nd December, 2019.The Conference resolved that Government of India, the Government of Maharashtra,the Maharashtra State Commission for Right to Public Services and the participatingState Governments shall collaborate to empower the citizens by policy interventionsfor better service delivery through timely updation of citizens charters, implementationof enactments and benchmarking standards for continuous improvement, amongothers.

 

Chairperson and members of Lokpal administered oath of office:

The Chairperson, Lokpal, Sh. Justice P. C. Ghose and its eight members wereadministered the Oath of Office. The logo, motto and website of the Lokpal were alsolaunched during the year.

 

Four Information Commissioners administered the oath of office of theInformation Commissioner

Four Information Commissioners namely Shri Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha, Smt.Vanaja N Sarna, Shri Neeraj Kumar Gupta and Shri Suresh Chandra wereadministered the oath of office of the Information Commissioner, Central InformationCommission(CIC) by the Chief Information Commissioner, Shri Sudhir Bhargava, on1st January, 2019. With their induction, the total number of Information

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Commissioners in the Central Information Commission including Chief InformationCommissioner has gone upto 7.

Passing of RTI Amendment Bill, 2019

After being passed in Lok Sabha, the RTI Amendment Bill, 2019 was passed by theRajya Sabha on 25th July, 2019. The Lok Sabha had passed the Right to Information(Amendment) Bill, 2019 on 22nd July. In this amendment, it is proposed to amend theRight to Information Act, 2005 so as to provide that the term of office of, and thesalaries, allowances and other terms and conditions of service of, the ChiefInformation Commissioner and Information Commissioners and the State ChiefInformation Commissioner and the State Information Commissioners, shall be suchas may be prescribed by the Central Government.

CPGRAMS reforms and National workshop on CPGRAMS

The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG)organised the National Workshop on Centralised Public Grievance Redress andMonitoring System (CPGRAMS) Reforms on 5th November 2019. The CPGRAMSreforms for Departments of Financial Services and Telecommunications (DoT) andthe ‘Online Hackathon on Data-Driven Innovation for Citizen Grievance Redressal’was launched during the event. The CPGRAMS reforms for Department of Postswere launched on 25th September 2019 as part of the 100 days’ agenda of DARPG.The new version of CPGRAMS 7.0 will lead to reduction in grievance disposal timeand improved quality of grievance redressal.

National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG)’s training programmes:

The National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG), India’s leading civil servicestraining institution, has entered into an MoU with the Maldives Civil ServicesCommission for capacity building of 1000 Maldives civil servants over the next 5years. The agreement was signed during the visit of the Prime Minister of India toMale on 8th June 2019.

 The 2-week long Special Training program was conducted by the National Centre forGood Governance (NCGG) at Mussoorie and Delhi in pursuance of the Memorandumof Understanding (MoU) between India-Bangladesh and India-Maldives which weresigned for training 1800 civil servants of Bangladesh and 1000 civil servants ofMaldives over a period of 5 years. In all, 33 officials from Maldives and 31 officialsfrom Bangladesh participated in the Training Program.

The Valedictory Session held on 27th September in New Delhi was addressed by DrJitendra Singh Minister of State for Personnel Public Grievances and Pensions. Theprogram was conducted under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperationprogram (ITEC) from 16th September at Mussoorie and Delhi. Under the MoU, 10training programmes will be conducted from September 2019 to December 2020. Thefirst 3 training programs under the MoU would be held in 2019 (a) September 16-28,2019 and November 18-30, 2019 for 60 officers of the middle management level (b)

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December 2-14, 2019 for 30 officers of top management at the Permanent Secretarylevel.

Capacity building program for the Permanent Secretaries and SecretaryGenerals of the Republic of Maldives held

The Capacity Building Program was conducted by the National Centre for GoodGovernance from December 6 to December 13, 2019. The program was attended by15 Permanent Secretaries and Secretary Generals of the Republic of Maldives. Thisis the first capacity building program for Top Management Officials of the Republic ofMaldives conducted by the National Centre for Good Governance in India. UnderMemorandum of Understanding between India and the Republic of Maldives, 1000civil servants of Maldives are to be trained at the National Centre for GoodGovernance. Till date, 3 capacity building programs for 100 Officials have beensuccessfully conducted.

MoU signed between UPSC and the Civil Service Council of Mongolia

On 3rd July, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between theUnion Public Service Commission (UPSC) and the Civil Service Council of Mongoliain New Delhi, to take forward the cooperation between the Commissions of the twocountries. The Chairman, Union Public Service Commission, Shri Arvind Saxena andChairman, Civil Service Council of Mongolia, Mr. B. Baatarzorig signed the MoU inthe presence of officers from Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Department ofPersonnel & Training (DoPT).

14th Annual convention of the Central Information Commission held on 12th

October

The Union Minister of Home Affairs Shri Amit Shah presided over the 14th Annualconvention of the Central Information Commission as Chief Guest on 12th October,2019. Shri Shah praised RTI as a great step to remove injustice and corruption fromthe system and increase the efficiency of governance. He said that RTI removesarbitrariness from governance and acts as a major grievance redressal tool. He saidthat the use of high technology methods like video conference and digitization of RTIfiles makes the lives of litigants easier.

CBI organises first National Conference on Cybercrime Investigation andForensics

The first National Conference on Cybercrime Investigation and Forensics wasorganized by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on 4th -5th September, 2019.Around 50 Officers including DGPs, ADGPs, IGPs, DIGPs and SPs dealing withcybercrime in State & UT Police, Central Agencies, the Ministry of Home Affairs,Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, other Ministries, experts fromLaw Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) and academia participated in the Conference.

National e-Governance Awards, 2019 presented:

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MoS Dr. Jitendra Singh, presented the National e-Governance Awards, 2019 at afunction organised by Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances(DARPG), Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, in New Delhi on27th February. With a view to recognize and promote Excellence in implementation ofe-Governance initiatives, the Government of India presents National Awards on e-Governance every year. The 14 Awards were given in 6 categories to recognizeachievements in the area of e-Governance, with Gold and Silver Awards in eachcategory. A Special Jury Award was also presented in Category-I for IRCTC RailConnect Mobile App.

P o s t i n g o f A s s i s t a n t S e c r e t a r i e s i n C e n t r a l G o v e r n m e n tMinistries/Departments:

On 2nd July, the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi interacted with about 160 youngIAS officers of the 2017 batch, who were appointed as Assistant Secretaries in theGovernment of India. The Valedictory session was held on 1st October, 2019. ThePrime Minister encouraged the officers to be receptive towards new ideas, newconcepts and perspectives. Interacting with officers, Prime Minister said thatmaintaining service orientation is paramount for a civil servant as it will bring outneutrality.

Integrated Grievance Cell & Call Center for pensioners:

An Integrated Grievance Cell & Call Center was inaugurated on 20th June, 2019 forpensioners with the objective of providing easy access to pensioners in registeringtheir grievances and getting speedy resolution. This centre is also working as teamwhich coordinates with different Ministries/Departments to resolve the problems of theelderly pensioners.

All India Pension Adalat

All India Pension Adalat was organized on 23.08.2019 by DoPPW by roping invarious Ministries and Departments all over the country. The MoS (PP) interactedwith the nodal officers and the pensioners present at these Pension Adalats at remotelocations from Delhi through live video conferencing. More than 50 centers wereconnected through live video conferencing with the event being organized in Delhi. Around 4,000 Pensioners’ cases were resolved in a single day.

Rule 54(3) of Family Pension Rules, 1964 amended

Rule 54(3) of Family Pension Rules, 1964 amended vide extra-ordinary gazettenotification dated 20.09.2019 with an objective to provide enhanced family pension tothe dependant of deceased government employee who dies before completing 7years of service. Earlier, for Families of Government servant dying in harness forreasons other than attributable to government duty, the admissible Family Pensionwas 30% of last pay drawn, if the official had not put in at least 7 years of service. Forthe Families of those Government servants who had put in at least 7 years or more ofservice, the admissible Family Pension was at an enhanced rate of 50% of the last

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pay drawn. This distinction of the No. of years of service was removed with effectfrom 1st October 2019 and now enhanced Family Pension would also be admissibleto the Families of all Government servant in the unfortunate event of their death evenbefore their completing 7 years of service.

To provide ease of living for aged pensioners orders were issued on 18.7.2019to allow them for submission of Life Certificate from October, 1st instead ofNovember, 1st which will be valid till 30th November of subsequent year.

1.

As part of this Department’s special emphasis to Jammu, a presentation onBhavishya was given to J&K administration for adopting Good Governancepractices after restructure in of the status. This was followed up with a workshopon Bhavishya at Jammu which was conducted for the personnel of theborder Secretary Force Jammu on 25th September, 2019.

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Source : www.pib.nic.in Date : 2020-01-01

YEAR END REVIEW- 2019: MINISTRY OF LABOUR ANDEMPLOYMENT

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Government policies & interventions for development in variousSectors and issues arising out of their design & implementation incl. Housing

Ministry of Labour & Employment

Year End Review- 2019: Ministry of Labour andEmployment

More than 39 Lakhs Beneficiaries Enrolled In PM-SYM andmore than 20,000 in NPS- Traders

1,52,778 establishments covering 1,21,65,587 EmployeesBenefitted under PMRPY

Posted On: 30 DEC 2019 3:14PM by PIB Delhi

Ministry of Labour and Employment has taken a number of initiatives for bringing transparencyand accountability through reforms and enforcement of Labour Laws, with the objective ofstrengthening the safety, security, health, social security for every worker and bringing ease ofcompliance for running an establishment to catalyze creation of employment opportunities. These initiatives include governance reforms through use of e-governance measures andlegislative reforms by simplifying, amalgamating and rationalizing the existing labour laws into 4labour codes.  Two mega pension schemes were launched during the year for old age protectionand social security of unorganized workers.

LEGISLATIVE  INITIATIVES: LABOUR LAW  REFORMS

Labour Codes: As per the recommendations of the 2nd National Commission on Labour,Ministry has taken steps for codification of existing Central labour laws into 4 Codes   bysimplifying, amalgamating and rationalizing the relevant provisions of the Central Labourlaws. At present, the Ministry has been working on to simplify, amalgamate & rationalizethe provisions of the existing Central labour laws into 4 Labour Codes. 

(I) Labour Code on Wages: The Code on Wages, 2019 subsumes 4 existing Laws, viz. theMinimum Wages Act, 1948; the Payment of Wages Act, 1936; the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965;and the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976. It has been passed by both Houses of the Parliamentand assented to by the President on 08.08.2019.

(II) Labour Code on Industrial Relations: The draft Labour Code on Industrial Relationssubsumes the existing Laws viz. The Trade Union Act, 1926; The Industrial Employment(Standing Orders) Act, 1946; The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. The Code has been introducedin the Lok Sabha on 28.11.2019.

(III) Labour Code on Social Security & Welfare: The draft Code on Social Security subsumes 09 Labour Acts like: The Employees’ Compensation Act, 1923, The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961,

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The Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972, The Unorganized Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008 etc.

The Code has been introduced in Lok Sabha on December 11, 2019.

(IV) Labour Code on Occupational Safety, Health & Working Conditions: The OccupationalSafety, Health & Working Conditions Code, 2019 subsumes the 13 Labour Acts like: TheFactories Act, 1948, The Plantation Labour Act, 1951, The Mines Act, 1952, The Building andOther Constructions Workers’ (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996etc.

The Occupational Safety Health & Working Conditions Code, 2019 was introduced in the LokSabha on 23.07.2019. Presently, the Code has been referred to the Parliamentary StandingCommittee on Labour for examination.

GOVERNANCE  REFORMS THROUGH TECHNOLOGY 

Shram Suvidha Portal:

The Ministry of Labour & Employment has developed a unified Web Portal ‘Shram SuvidhaPortal’, to bring transparency and accountability in enforcement of labour laws and easecomplexity of compliance.

Allotment of unique Labour Identification Number (LIN) to Units after registration tofacilitate online inspection & compliance was started on the Portal with its launch on16.10.2014 itself. Unique Labour Identification Number (LIN) has been allotted to27,81,065 units as on 08.11.2019.

Transparent Labour Inspection Scheme in Central Sphere was started on the Portal withits launch on 16.10.2014 itself. Since the launch of the Labour Inspection Scheme,5,24,189 inspection reports across the four Central Labour Enforcement Agencies  havebeen uploaded on Shram Suvidha Portal.

ONLINE RETURN – Unified Online  Annual Returns have been made mandatory in respectof eight (8) Central Labour Acts,  namely,  the Payment of Wages Act, 1936, the MinimumWages Act, 1948, the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965, theIndustrial Disputes Act, 1947.the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970,the Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service)Act, 1979, and the Building and Other Construction Workers(Regulation of Employmentand Condition of Service) (BOCW) Act, 1996. These Returns which were halfyearly/annually earlier, now need to be filed by all employers annually only and are to befiled online. 1,08,711 online returns have been filed on the Shram Suvidha Portal as on08.11.2019 Since launch of the Online Annual Return.

31,047 online returns have been filed on the Shram Suvidha Portal till November 08, 2019 underMines Act, 1952 (Coal Mines Regulations, Metallurgical Mines Regulations and Oil MinesRegulations).

Unified monthly Electronic Challan-cum-Return (ECR) for EPFO and ESIC has been madeoperational.

COMMON REGISTRATION: Common Registration form for EPFO and ESIC has beenmade operational. 1,27,544 units have been registered with EPFO & 1,07,681 units havebeen registered with ESIC as on November 08, 2019.

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Common Registration under three Central Acts namely the Building and Other ConstructionWorkers (Regulation of Employment and Condition of Service) Act, 1996, the Inter-State MigrantWorkmen (Regulation of Employment and conditions of Service) Act, 1979 and the ContractLabour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 is being provided online on Shram Suvidha Portal.6052 registrations have been issued using this facility as on 08.11.2019.

Licenses under two Central Acts, namely, the,  Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation ofEmployment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979 and the Contract Labour (Regulation andAbolition) Act, 1970 have been made online. 20,316 licenses have been issued using this facilityas on 08.11.2019.

State Integration

Integration of States with Shram Suvidha Portal is under way. As on date, Haryana, Gujarat,Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Delhi arebeing integrated with the Portal. Data is being shared and LIN is being allotted to theestablishments covered by the state labour enforcement agencies.

Start Up India

Facility for exemption from Labour Inspections under six (6) Central Labour Acts is beingprovided to the Start-ups which submit self certified declarations through Shram Suvidha Portal.

State/UT Governments have been advised to regulate the inspections for the Start-Ups,wherever applicable and extend the self-certification compliance regime from 3 years to 5 years.27 States/UTs have taken action on the advisory dated 12.01.2016 /06.04.2017 issued by thisMinistry for self-certification and to regulate inspection under the four (4)  labour laws viz. theBuilding & Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service)Act, 1996, the Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions ofService) Act, 1979,the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 and the Contract Labour (Regulation andAbolition) Act, 1970 for the start-ups wherever applicable.

Social Security Schemes

Government of India has launched two pension schemes for old age protection and socialsecurity of Unorganised Workers in 2019.

Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan (PM-SYM), a voluntary and contributory pensionscheme, was launched in February, 2019 for the benefit of unorganized workers. It iscentral sector scheme open to unorganised workers, whose monthly income isRs.15000/- or below and who has an Aadhar number as well as savings bank / jan-dhanaccount. The minimum age for joining the scheme is 18 years and the maximum is 40years. Under the scheme, minimum assured monthly pension of Rs.3000/- will beprovided to the beneficiaries from the age of 60 years onwards. Enrolment to the Schemeis done through the Common Service Centres, with its network of 3.50 lakh Centresacross the country. In addition eligible persons can also self-enroll through visiting theportal www.maandhan.in. Under the scheme, the subscriber is required to pay theprescribed monthly contribution amount and the Central Government provides equalcontribution. Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is the Pension Fund Manager andshall be responsible for pension pay-out. Total number of 39,00,525 beneficiaries underPM-SYM have been enrolled as on 10.12.2019.

National Pension Scheme for Traders, Shopkeepers and Self-Employed Persons has

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been launched on 12.09.2019. It is a voluntary and contributory pension scheme.Enrolment to the Scheme is done through the Common Service Centres, with its networkof 3.50 lakh Centres across the country. In addition eligible persons can also self-enrollthrough visiting the portal www.maandhan.in. The traders in the age group of 18-40 yearswith an annual turnover, not exceeding Rs.1.5 crore and who are not a member ofEPFO/ESIC/NPS/PM-SYM or an income tax payer, can join the scheme. Under thescheme, 50% monthly contribution is payable by the beneficiary and equal matchingcontribution is paid by the Central Government. Subscribers, after attaining the age of 60years, are eligible for a monthly minimum assured pension of Rs.3,000/-. Total number of20,000 beneficiaries under NPS-Traders have been enrolled as on 10.122019.

Pension Week was also celebrated in all the States/UTs w.e.f. 30th November to 06th

December, 2019 in coordination with Common Service Centres, to increase theenrolments under both the Schemes, i.e. PM-SYM and NPS-Traders. A Central levelfunction was inaugurated on 30.11.2019 by Minister for Labour and Employmentlaunching the Pension Week/Pension Saptah. All the State Governments/UTGovernments were requested for popularizing and bringing more awareness about thescheme. The progress of the Scheme is being reviewed regularly in the Ministry fortaking initiatives under Mission Mode.

Major Steps Taken In EPFO

Three new apps to improve service delivery of subscribers were launched by Shri SantoshKumar Gangwar, Minister of State (I/C) for Labour and Employment on EPFO Foundation Day.The details of three important digital initiatives of EPFO are as under:

 

1. Online Facility for UAN generation by worker: Now any workers can obtain UniversalAccount Number (UAN) directly on EPFO website which enrolls them for PF, Pension andLife Insurance benefits and a worker need not depend on his employer alone for UAN.This is in the direction of ease of living and ensuring universal social security.

2. EPS Pensioner’s PPO in DigiLocker website/Application (APP) EPFO integrates withDigiLocker of NeGD to create depository of electronic PPOs which is accessible toindividual pensioners. This is a move towards paperless system and ease of living forpensioners.

3. e-Inspections: Digital interface of EPFO with employers: The E-Inspection Form wouldbe available in user login of employers not filing ECR which enables employer to informeither closure of business or unpaid dues with proposal for payment. It will nudgeemployers for compliant behavior and prevent undue harassment of non-willfuldefaulters and eliminate inspector raj.

Central Board of Trustees, EPF recommends crediting of 8.65% rate of interest onAccumulations in the EPF Member’s Account for the year 2018-19:

In 224th meeting of the Central Board of Trustees, EPF under the chairmanship of UnionMinister of State for Labour and Employment (I/C) Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar, the CentralBoard recommended crediting of 8.65 % rate of interest on the EPF accumulations in the EPFmember’s account for the year 2018-19.

New Initiatives taken in Central Board of Trustees (CBT) meeting held on 21 August 2019:

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1. Amendment in Employees’ pension Scheme 1995:

In a major decision, the Central Board of Trustees (CBT) EPF in a meeting held at Hyderabadon 21 August 2019, approved the proposal to recommend for amendment in Employees'Pension Scheme (EPS) 1995 for restoration of commuted value of pension to the Pensionersafter 15 years of drawing commutation which will benefit approx. 6.3 lakhs pensioners. This wasa long pending demand of the pensioner

2. Launch of Revamped EPFIGMS 2.0 Version:

The Chairman CBT also launched the revamped EPFIGMS 2.0 version which will benefit morethan 5 crores subscribers and lakhs of employers by speedy and smooth resolution ofgrievances.

Selection of ETF Manufacturers: The Board approved the decision to choose theExchange Traded Fund (ETF) manufacturers through public bidding by 30/10/2019,extension of the term of the present ETF manufacturers (SBI MF and UTI MF) till then andalso to authorized the Finance Investment & Audit Committee (FIAC) to conduct theexercise of choosing ETF manufacturers.

Allocation of investment in Nifty 50 and Sensex: The Board approved the proposal thatthe fund allocation between Nifty 50 and Sensex ETFs be divided evenly, i.e. in the ratioof 50% to 50%.

Appointment of a Consultant in addition to M/s. CRISIL Ltd: The Board approved thenomination of members from employer’s and employee side in a Committee constitutedto select and appoint a separate Agency/Consultant in addition to M/s. CRISIL limited,inter-alia to review the working of the Portfolio Managers (PMs), assist the investmentCommittee in redemption of ETFs, etc.

Appointment of Portfolio Managers for managing funds of Central Board, EPF: TheCentral Board approved Request for Proposal (RFP) document for appointment ofPortfolio Managers and recommendation of the FIAC on appointment of PortfolioManagers.

Exercise of early redemption options available in DHFL Bonds: The Board approved forearly redemption option in DHFL bonds recommended by FIAC.

Major Steps Taken In ESIC

Rate reduction in ESI Contribution- The ESI Corporation has reduced rates of ESIContribution being paid by employees and employers covered under ESI Scheme from6.5 % (Employees’ share 1.75% & Employers’ share 4.75%) to 4% (Employees’ share0.75% & Employers’ share 3.25%) with effect from 01.07.2019. This reduction ofcontribution rates, will ensures financial relief to employers and employees. However,the healthcare benefits under the ESI scheme will remain the same. The decision willbenefit 36 million workers and 1.28 million employers.

Health Passbook for ESI Beneficiaries - ESIC has introduced a Health Passbook for ESIBeneficiaries in Phased manner. This Health Passbook serves as a user-friendlymechanism for beneficiary identification, recording of clinical finding and consultationadvice by the Insurance Medical Practitioner(s). Salient feature of Health Passbook is asunder: -

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Separate Passbook with Unique Health ID, QR code and photograph of Insured Personsand his/her family members.

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Serves for beneficiaries identification & recording of clinical findings and consultation adviceby ESI Doctors/IMPs.

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Passbook would be issued by the ESIC Branch Offices in a phased manner.●

Insured Persons of ESIC from newly implemented area to get treatment under AyushmanBharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY): ESIC has decided to providecashless medical care services  to entitled Insured Persons and Beneficiaries underAyushman Bharat package rates in newly implemented area of 102 designated Districtsthrough PMJAY empanelled hospitals up to a maximum limit of Rs.5.00 lakh, beyondwhich individual case will be   channelled to ESIC for seeking approval for furtherexpenditure on ESI beneficiaries. Similarly, PMJAY beneficiaries may get in-housemedical treatment services as per Ayushman Bharat approved packages fromunderutilized ESI Hospitals.

ESIC – Chinta Se Mukti app launched -    The Corporation has also launched the ESIC“Chinta Se Mukti” app available on the UMANG platform to facilitate stakeholders to viewcontribution details, eligibility for benefits, claim status, etc. in their Mobile Handset.

Extending medical benefits to Non-IPs – The Corporation has extended its medicalservices to Non-Insured Persons (General Public) in its under-utilized hospitals. Now,Non-IPs can avail medical services from underutilized ESIC Hospital, at Alwar(Rajasthan), Bihta (Bihar), Gulbarga (Karnataka), Bareilly Varanasi, Sarojani Nagar(Lucknow) & Jajmau (Kanpur) on a nominal charge of Rs.10/- for OPD Consultation and at25% of CGHS package rates for IPD. 

Unified Website - In order to maintain the corporate identity of ESIC and to have arepository of common information, and also to have uniformity in design and content, aUnified Website www.esic.nic.in has been launched. All the Regional Offices/Sub-Regional Offices, ESIC Hospitals and ESIC Medical Institutions & Hospitals have beenmade part of this single unified website.

ESIC- contributing excellence in sports - ESIC had recruited 135 meritorious sportspersons including Shri Pramod Bhagat, ace para-shuttler from all across India during theyear 2016.  Shri Pramod Bhagat, an ESIC employee at Regional Office, Bhubaneswar hasreceived prestigious Arjuna Award for the current year on 29th Aug., 2019. Shri PramodBhagat has many tournaments to his credit including five international titles in sixtournaments he participated. He won a gold medal in the men’s singles SL3 category atthe BWF Para-Badminton World Championships in Basel. Bhagat said he is now focusingto clinch a gold medal in the Olympics.

Strengthening of Medical Infrastructure– In order to provide in-house quality medicalservices in the major ESIC Hospitals, of late, ESIC has procured state-of-the-art medicalequipments viz. MRI, CT Scan etc. for ICU, Secondary & Super Speciality care.

National Career Service Project-(NCS) - The Ministry is implementing the National CareerService (NCS) Project as a Mission Mode Project for transformation of the NationalEmployment Service to provide a variety of employment related services like careercounselling, vocational guidance, information on skill development courses,apprenticeship, internships etc. The services under NCS are available online and can beaccessed directly, through Career Centres, Common Service Centres, post offices, mobiledevices, cyber cafes etc. The various stakeholders on the NCS platform include job-

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seekers, industries, employers, employment exchanges (career centres), trainingproviders, educational institutions and placement organizations.

The progress of NCS Portal is given below:

NATIONAL CAREER SERVICE

Sl. No. Parameters Number as on 31st October, 2019

1.Active Jobseekers

Registered1.01 crore

2.Active Employers

Registered25184

3. Total Vacancies Mobilized 58.50 lakh

 

With the increased focus of Government on Career Counselling, the Ministry proposes to createa network of Career Counsellors where the Career Centres will become the hub of CareerCounselling in their area. Under the process, 5645 Active Career Counsellors from variousStates/UTs have got registered at NCS Portal.

The NCS Project also envisaged setting up of Model Career Centres (MCCs) to be establishedin collaboration with States and other institutions to deliver employment services. Approval for146 MCCs has been accorded (including 07 MCCs on non-funding basis). These model centrescan be replicated by the States from their own resources. The Government now, keeping in viewof the importance of the employment as a thrust area in Government Schemes, and to provideemployment related services to maximum job seekers and other stakeholders has decided toestablish 100 more Model Career Centres (MCCs) thereby extending the geographical coverageof the scheme increasing number of Government funded MCCs to 200 during 14th Financecommission (2017-2020). Proposals were received from different States. On therecommendations of the Appraisal Committee, Government has approved 171 (including 07 onnon-funding basis) Model Career Centres. Further 37 more model career centers have beenrecommend by the Inter Ministerial Appraisal Committee in the meeting held on November 20,2019.

National Career Service Centres for Differently Abled (NCSC-DAs): 21 National CareerService Centres for Differently Abled (NCSC-DAs) are functioning in the country under theadministrative control of Directorate General of Employment, M/O Labour & Employment.These Centres evaluate residual capacities of Persons with Disabilities, provideVocational Training, and extend Vocational Rehabilitation assistances etc. to Personswith Disabilities (PWDs). The Services of NCSC-DAs are open to Persons with Disabilitiesirrespective of the gender and education in the category of Locomotor, Visual & Hearingimpaired, Mild Mental Retardation and Leprosy Cured.

6644 Candidates have been rehabilitated upto October 31, 2019 by NCSC-Das.

National Career Service Centre Centres (NCSCs) for SC/STs; Directorate General ofEmployment is implementing the scheme for “Welfare of SC/ST job seekers throughCoaching, Vocational Guidance and Training and Introduction of new courses in existingNational Career Service Centre Centres (NCSCs) for SC/STs and Establishment of newNCSCs in the States not covered so far” Under the scheme, National Career Service

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Centre Centres (NCSCs)  for SC/STs has been set up by Govt. of India, Ministry ofLabour& Employment, DGE to enhance the employability of SC/ST job seekers throughcoaching/training.  So far 25 National Career Service Centre Centres for SCs/STs havebeen set up.

67761 candidates have been provided guidance and counselling services, 5621 studentswere trained in typing and shorthand and 1050 candidates were trained in computer skillsby NCSC-SC/STs upto October 31, 2019.

Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana (PMRPY) –Under the scheme, Government ofIndia is paying Employer’s full contribution i.e. 12% towards EPF and EPS both (asadmissible from time to time) for a period of three years to the new employees throughEPFO.

This scheme has a dual benefit, where, on the one hand, the employer is incentivised forincreasing the employment base of workers in the establishment, and on the other hand, a largenumber of workers will find jobs in such establishments. A direct benefit is that these workers willhave access to social security benefits of the organized sector. All the beneficiaries under thisscheme are Aadhaar Seeded.

152778 Establishments covering 12165587 Beneficiaries have benefitted tillNovember 25, 2019 under Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana (PMRPY).

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BRIEF OF WORKERS EDUCATION SCHEME 

 

The  Dattopant Thengadi  National   Board  for  Workers  Education  & Development (renamingof CBWE),  an  autonomous  body  under  the  Ministry  of  Labour  &  Employment, Government  of  India  conducts   the  Workers  Education   Programmes  of  varied  nature  and  duration   in  the  country   through  its  50  Regional   and  7 Sub-Regional  Directorates spread  Kashmir  to  Kannyakumari  and  Leh and laddakh    for  all   categories without  making any  distinction   on  the   basis  of  male  and  female   in   Organised,  Unorganised  and  Rural Sectors.  The  DTNBWED   training  programmes  aim  at  creating  desired  awareness  among the  workers in  general   and   unorganized/  rural  workers in  particular  about   their  rights and  entitlements  under  various  welfare  schemes  of  the  Central /State government  etc.

The Board has organized 1625 training programme organized sector workers, 1120programme conducted for unorganized and 150 for rural workers.

 

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RCJ/SKP/IA

(Release ID: 1597964) Visitor Counter : 789

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Source : www.pib.nic.in Date : 2020-01-01

YEAR END REVIEW: MINISTRY OF DEVELOPMENT OFNORTH EASTERN REGION (DONER)

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Government policies & interventions for development in variousSectors and issues arising out of their design & implementation incl. Housing

Ministry of Development of North-East Region

Year End Review: Ministry of Development of North EasternRegion (DoNER)

Posted On: 30 DEC 2019 1:04PM by PIB Delhi

Major Achievements of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) duringthe calendar year 2019 are as follows:

 1. NLCPR/NESIDS/Special Packages/SIDF/HADP

In December 2017, Government of India approved North East Special InfrastructureDevelopment Scheme (NESIDS) to meet the gaps in social & physical infrastructure in NER.

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Total 211 projects costing Rs. 3124.72 crore have been implemented under the scheme ofNESIDS/NLCPR/Special packages/SIDF/HADP by the Ministry in North Eastern Region.

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In-principle approval has been accorded for First Bamboo Industrial park to be set up inNorth East Region. It will be established at Manderdisa in Dima Hasao District of Assam inan area of 75 hectares at a cost of Rs 50 crore. This project is targeted to be completed byMarch 2021.

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Nine (09) meetings of IMC/NESIDS Committee held during the current calendar year forconsideration of projects proposals received from NE States under NLCPR/NESIDS/SpecialPackages/SIDF.

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2. North Eastern Council:

The 68th Plenary of the North Eastern Council was held on the 8th & 9th September,2019 at Assam Administrative Staff College, Guwahati Assam.  During the course ofthe Plenary, many important decisions were taken on board in consultation with 8states of the North East.  In the Plenary, the Home Minister and Chairman, NECsuggested allocating thirty percent of the NEC’s allocation for new projects under theexisting “Schemes of North Eastern Council” for focused development of deprivedareas; deprived/neglected sections of society and emerging priority sectors andrelated issues.

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Destination North East, the event promoting and popularizing the North EasternRegion, culture, heritage and business opportunities was organised at Varanasibetween 23-26 November 2019.  The four-day event showcased the 8 sister states ofNortheast India. There was representation from all the states and also from CentralGovernment agencies.  The event was inaugurated by the Minister of State (IC),Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region in the presence of senior officers ofMDoNER and NEC.

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The MOS (I/C), M/DoNER visited Mizoram to propagate Eco-tourism with wildlifesanctuary/parks, good scenic beauty, waterfalls, forests, culture, heritage, handicraft

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and business in the region. The visit also focused on significant aspect of the localcommunity’s active participation towards increasing tourist-community culturalinterfaces.The Prime Minister on 6th March, 2019 at Gulbarga, Karnataka inaugurated the Girls’Hostel for the students of the North Eastern Region at Bangalore University.

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Construction of a hostel for the North East Students at Jawaharlal Nehru University,New Delhi: The cost of the project is Rs. 28.675 crore, out of which the NEC releaseda total of Rs. 11.01 crore. The project has commenced on ground and the presentprogress is approximately 10%.  The project is likely to be completed by December,2020.

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Purchasing of land for “Construction of Hostel for the students of North East States”at Rohini, Delhi: A sum of Rs 2.50 crore for purchasing of land measuring 1990 Sqmfor construction of a hostel for the NE students at Rohini, New Delhi was sanctioned.The land possession certificate from the DDA, Delhi has been received.

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Establishment of the NEC Convention Centre at Dwarka: The Government, throughNEC, proposes to set up the NEC Convention Centre at Sector 13, Dwarka, New Delhi.The Centre would have an auditorium of 1000 seating capacity with banquet hall,exhibition space, museum, library, food court, office space, car parking space andprovisions for eight guest rooms and three staff quarters. The DDA has allotted landmeasuring 5341.75 Sqm.

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Inauguration of Administrative Building of CBTC at Bernihaat, Assam was made by theMinister of State (IC), Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region.

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North East Road Sector Development Scheme (NERSDS): Under NERSDS, NECundertakes up gradation of important and strategic inter-state roads which were notproperly maintained by either of the two States. During 2019-20, 10 new projects foran amount 882 crore have been sanctioned till now and projects worth Rs. 118 croreare under process for sanction.

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The Scheme of Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources NLCPR (Central) has beentransferred to NEC for implementation during April, 2018. During the period 2019-20,an amount of Rs. 217.41 crore has been released under the said scheme forprojection of MajuliIsland, Agartala-Akhaura rail line project etc.

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Allocation and Expenditure: Against Budget Estimates of Rs. 1476.00 crore in FY2019-20, the actual expenditure of Rs. 867.32 crore has been made as on 13.12.2019achieving 58.75% of BE. 

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Project completion:  During 2019-20, total 78 projects and Non-projects with anapproved cost of Rs. 964.25 crore have been completed.

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Release of Rs. 1 crore each to the 14 Aspirational Districts: During the 67th Plenary, itwas decided to provide Rs. 1 crore to each Aspirational Districts located in the NERto enable them to make substantial progress on the various indicators. The NEC hadreleased a total of Rs. 14 crore to the 14 Aspirational Districts of the NE states.

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Foundation stone was laid for the office Building of MDoNER CPSU NERMAC by MOS(I/C), MDoNER at Guwahati.

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3.  NORTH EASTERN STATE ROAD INVESTMENT PROGRAMME (NESRIP) (Renamed asNE Road Sector Development Scheme – EAP)

12 projects of upgradation of National Highways in 7 states of North East having total length●

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of 432.2 km with an estimated cost of Rs 2144.56 crores is under progress with theassistance of Asian Development Bank (ADB) and during this year all the projects havemade a very good progress.During the Calendar Year 2019, MDoNER had supported 21 externally aided projects in theState of Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura in various Sectors[Environment, Water, Health, Tourism, Education, Power, Rural, Road, Medical,Agricultural.] with a total project cost of Rs. 20,000 crores from various MultilateralDevelopment Banks (MDB).

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4.  North Eastern Region Community Resource Management Project (NERCORMP)

North Eastern Region Community Resource Management Project (NERCORMP) is a livelihoodproject funded by Government of India. The third phase of the Project implementation started inJune, 2014 for a period of 6 years i.e. upto 31st March, 2020. The current phase i.e. Phase-III ofthe project covered Tirap (Undivided) and Changlang districts of Arunachal Pradesh;Churachandpur and Chandel districts of Manipur. The project current status as recorded below-

Particulars Target Achievement

State to be covered 2 2

Districts to be covered 4 4

Village to be covered 1,177 1212

Household to be covered 58,850 58789

Natural Resource Management Group (NaRM-Gs) 1,570 1383

Self Help Group (SHG) 3,920 3494

NaRM-G Cluster Association 60 123

SHG Federation 175 134

 

During the FY 2019-20 [Till October, 2019] Funds to the tune of Rs. 96 crores had beendisbursed/utilized for the Scheme

           

5.         North East Rural Livelihood Project (NERLP)

NERLP, a World Bank aided project launched in 2012, was implemented by Ministry ofDevelopment of North Eastern Region (MDoNER), to improve rural livelihoods. The projectcovered 1,645 villages under 58 development blocks across 11 districts of 4 states of Mizoram,Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. The Project has concluded on 30.09.2019 and is running on anextended time upto 31.12.2019 for completion of closure related activities, mainly audit of thescheme.

The major achievements of the project are as under:

10462 boys and girls were trained in various job skills.i.(ii)       2,92,889 households were covered through formation of 28,154 Self Help Groups (SHGs)

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and 1,212 Village Federations, as well as formation of 1599 Community Development Groups(CDG).

(iii)      97% of the members of SHGs formed by the project have Savings Bank Accounts with acumulative savings to the tune of Rs.60.51 crores.

(iv)      Project has released a Community Investment Fund (CIF) of Rs.319.15 crores to 28,154SHGs.

(v)       A total number of 5,535 SHGs have availed bank linkage with a total sanctioned bankloan amount of Rs.58.19 crores. The average loan amount per SHG from Bank is Rs.1.02 Lakh.

 

(b): State-wise details of people skilled are as under:

STATE NUMBER OF PEOPLE TRAINED

Mizoram 1601

Nagaland 1438

Sikkim 3491

Tripura 3932

Total Trained 10462

 

6. NORTH EASTERN HANDICRAFTS AND HANDLOOMS DEVELOPMENT CORPORATIONLTD (NEHHDC)

NEHHDC developed 30 innovative Handicrafts and Handlooms products in its CraftPromotional Centre (CPC) and at clusters in the North Eastern Region.

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NEHHDC launched one Online Shopping portal in June 2019 for marketing of North EastHandloom and Handlooms Products.

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NEHHDC opened one Showroom at the Ekta Mall, Kevadia near the Statue of Unity, Gujratand has showcased a wide range of Handicraft and Handloom products of North EasternRegion.

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NEHHDC introduced 35 Vendors for supplying Handicraft and Handlooms Products.●

NEHHDC conducted many training programmes for waivers/artisans in NER last year.●

 

7. North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Ltd (NERAMAC) –The majoractivities of NERAMAC from 01/01/2019 to 15/12/2019 are given as under.

Procurement and supply of products of the NE region like Ginger, Large cardamom,pineapple, pera, kiwi etc.

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·  Agri-input supply business to the Govt. of Assam. (Black Gram, Green Gram, Vermicompost,Tissue Culture Orchid, Black Pepper rooted cutting, tissue culture banan seeding etc.)

· Retail sale of purchased /packaged products like Turmeric power, Pineapple  Squash, KiwiSquash , kiwi jam, Black Pepper Power, Large cardamom, Black rice etc

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·  NERAMAC organised/ participated   in many events /exhibitions/seminars all over the countryfor branding North east agri-horticulture products.

· Application for GI tagging for the following 10 exotic produces of NER has been filed (ChakHao, Black Cherry, Dekang, Sweet Cucumber, Long Cavendish Banana, Dalle Chilli, Outanga,Letuka, Jackfruit, Sohiong).

Registered 75 nos of FPOs/FPCs under MOVCDNER and 16 Entrepreneurs of NERcomplying FSSAI with NERAMAC for catering market linkages.

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 Conducted training/workshop/seminars/Post GI Activities etc for the farmers andentrepreneurs updating them on latest trends/techniques of marketing so that they candevelop and market competitive products/produces. Approx 600 farmers have beenbenefitted out of the training/workshop/seminars.

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Promoted organically grown produces/products under umbrella brand ‘ONE’ Organic NorthEast.

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8. NORTH EASTERN DEVELOPMENT FINANCE CORPORATION LTD(NEDFi).

During the period January 1, 2019 to December 16, 2019, the Corporation extended totalsanctions & disbursements of Rs.315.72 crore and Rs.281.55 crore respectively. Varioussectors financed were microfinance, healthcare, tourism & hospitality, handlooms &handicrafts, food processing etc. Till December 16, 2019, cumulative sanction &disbursement were Rs.5285 crore and Rs.4047 crore respectively.

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The Ministry of Development of the North Eastern Region (M-DoNER) jointly with NorthEastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd (NEDFi) & Small Industries DevelopmentBank of India (SIDBI),has set up the North East Venture Fund (NEVF), a dedicated VentureFund for the North East Region

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NEDFi conducted 3 nos. of training programmes for 71 nos. representatives from variousNGOs/ MFIs.

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Corporation conducted a total no. of 16 Business meets with participation of over 1000 nos.Participants from all eight States of NER for dissemination of information on its schemesand programmes.

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The Corporation facilitating disbursement of subsidies under the Transport SubsidyScheme, Central Capital Investment Subsidy Scheme, Central Interest Subsidy Scheme,Freight Subsidy Scheme & Central Comprehensive Insurance Subsidy Scheme to industrialunits of all the eight NER States. The details of disbursement under various schemes duringthe year are given below:

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CENTRAL SUBSIDIES:-  (Rs. in Cr.)

Disbursement from 01.01.2019 to 16.12.2019  

Scheme Amount

Transport Subsidy 529.34

Central Capital Investment Subsidy 499.67

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Central Interest Subsidy 18.12

Central Comprehensive Insurance Subsidy 18.45

Freight Subsidy 90.63

Total 1156.21

 

NEDFi under its CSR initiative facilitated Capacity Building through exposure visit andtraining to 691 nos. beneficiaries by conducting 25 nos. of programmes.

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RCJ/NK

(Release ID: 1597944) Visitor Counter : 582

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Source : www.pib.nic.in Date : 2020-01-01

TRANSPORT MINISTRY NOTIFIES DIVYANG FRIENDLYFEATURES IN BUSES

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Rights & Welfare of Persons with Disability including Mentally IllPeople - Schemes & their Performance, Mechanisms, Laws Institutions and Bodies

Ministry of Road Transport & Highways

Transport Ministry notifies Divyang Friendly Features inBuses

Posted On: 30 DEC 2019 11:31AM by PIB Delhi

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has notified GSR 959 (E) dated 27th December, 2019for amendments to the Central Motor Vehicles Rules for providing divyang friendly features inbuses. The amendment provides for priority seats, signs, securing of crutches/canes/walkers,hand rail/stanchions, controls at priority seats and wheel chair entry/housing/lockingarrangement for wheel chair for the divyangjan. Such facilities for differently abled passengers orpassengers with reduced mobility will be checked and ensured at the time of Fitness Inspectionfor Buses.

The amendment shall come into force on 1st March, 2020.

The draft rules to amend the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 were published videnotification number G.S.R 523(E), dated the 24th day of July, 2019, inviting objections andsuggestions from all persons likely to be affected thereby. The notification has been issued afterduly considering the objections and suggestions received from public in respect of the said draftrules.

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RCJ/MS

(Release ID: 1597934) Visitor Counter : 437

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Source : www.pib.nic.in Date : 2020-01-01

YEAR END REVIEW – 2019 MINISTRY OF DEFENCERelevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Government policies & interventions for development in various

Sectors and issues arising out of their design & implementation incl. Housing

Ministry of Defence

Year End Review – 2019 Ministry of Defence

Posted On: 27 DEC 2019 6:14PM by PIB Delhi

2019 was a year full of remarkable events for Ministry of Defence.In a landmark decision withtremendous reform in higher defence management in the country, the Government hasapproved to create the post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) in the rank of a four-star Generalwith salary and perquisites equivalent to a Service Chief. The CDS will also head theDepartment of Military Affairs (DMA), to be created within the Ministry of Defence and functionas its Secretary. This follows the announcement made by the Prime Minister on August 15,2019, in his address to the nation, inter alia, “India should not have a fragmented approach. Ourentire military power will have to work in unison and move forward…All the three (Services)should move simultaneously at the same pace. There should be good coordination and it shouldbe relevant to the hope and aspirations of our people. It should be in line with the changing warand security environment with the world…after formation of this post (CDS), all the three forceswill get effective leadership at the top level.”The decision will lead to improved coordinationbetween the Armed Forces and make them more effective. The other major decisions andevents related to Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces are as follows:

Prime Minister dedicated to the nation the National War Memorial in a solemnceremonial function on February 25 near India Gate. The memorial has been erectedin the memory of those soldiers who have sacrificed their lives in the service of thenation after India became Independent in 1947.

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In an intelligence led operation in the early hours of February 26, India struck thebiggest training camp of Jaish e Mohammad (JeM) in Balakot, Pakistan. In thisoperation, a very large number of JeM terrorists, trainers, senior commanders andgroups of jihadis who were being trained for fidayeen action were eliminated. Thisfacility at Balakot was headed by Maulana Yousuf Azhar, the brother-in-law of MasoodAzhar, Chief of JeM. This was in response to February 14, 2019 suicide terror attack,conducted by a Pakistan based terrorist organization Jaish-e-Mohammad that led tothe martyrdom of 40 brave jawans of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

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It was a red-letter day in the history of Indian Air Force when Raksha Mantri ShriRajnath Singh participated in the Rafale fighter aircraft handing over ceremony atMerignac in France in October. The Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft will makeIndia stronger and give a boost to its air dominance to ensure peace and security inthe region. Raksha Mantri also flew a sortie in the fighter aircraft.

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Shri Rajnath Singh became the first Raksha Mantri to fly the Light Combat Aircraft(LCA) ‘Tejas’ at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Airport in Bengaluru, onSeptember 2019.

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Raksha Mantri handed over Medium Range Surface-to-Air-Missileto Indian Air Forceat the Bharat Dynamics Limited premises in Hyderabad on August 3 on the occasionof Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Defence PSU.

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Shri Rajnath Singh, on June 18, announced the restoration of the ‘ration in kind’ forthe officers of the threeArmed Forces posted in peace areas.

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Raksha Mantri gave in principle approval to four-times enhancement of monetaryassistance to Next of Kin of all categories of Battle Casualty from Rs two lakh to Rseight lakh. Extension of retention of government accommodation by Battle Casualtiesfor a period of one year instead of three months was also approved.

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Ushering in vast improvement in the connectivity of roads and bridges in border areas,Raksha Mantri inaugurated one kilometre long Ujh bridge in Kathua district, 617.40Metre long Basantar bridge in Samba district of Jammu & Kashmir on July 20.

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Shri Rajnath Singh inaugurated strategically important Col ChewangRinchen bridgeconnecting Durbuk and Daulat Beg Oldie in Eastern Ladakh on October 21.

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Raksha Mantri, on November 15, inaugurated strategically important Sisseri RiverBridge, which connects Lower Dibang Valley with East Siang in Arunachal Pradesh.

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Government decided to honour the contribution of former Prime Minister Atal BihariVajpayee by naming the Strategic Tunnel under Rohtang Pass after him on December25, 2019, which happens to be his birthday. The historic decision to construct astrategic tunnel below the Rohtang Pass was taken on June 03, 2000 when late AtalBihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister. The Border Roads Organisation (BRO)worked relentlessly to overcome major geological, terrain and weather challenges thatincluded the most difficult stretch of the 587-metre Seri Nalah Fault Zone.

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Shri Rajnath Singh spent a ‘Day-at-Sea’ onboard INS Vikramaditya on September 9off the Goa coast. During his stay on the biggest ship of Indian Navy, Raksha Mantriwitnessed a wide range of naval operations, including weapon firing by the fighteraircraft and night flying operations by helicopter from the deck of the Aircraft Carrier.

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On 20 February, the then Raksha Mantri Smt Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurated the12th biennial edition of International Aerospace and Defence Exhibition at Bengaluruwhich witnessed participation of more than 600 Indian Companies and 200 foreigncompanies. A total of 61 aircraft participated in the event.

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Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh flagged off special plogging awareness drive rally inDelhi Cantt on December 7, as part of Swachhta Pakhwada to create awarenessagainst single use plastic in the country. He himself took part in the event by pickingwaste material from the area.More than 3,000 people, including schoolchildrenparticipated in the plogging and collected sizeable single use plastic waste.

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BILATERAL DEFENCE COOPERATION

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh visited various countries, including United States, France,Russia, Ukraine, Japan and South Korea in a bid to strengthen bilateral and multilateral defencecooperation. Various issues, including counter-terrorism operations, Indo-Pacific and SouthChina Sea were discussed during these visits. 

Shri Rajnath Singh and Dr S Jaishankar took part in the India-US 2+2 dialoguebetween the Defence & External Affairs Ministers of India and their US counterparts inWashington on December 18. Both sides committed to further deepen military-to-

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military cooperation, including between the Indian Navy and the US Navy Fleets underUS Indo-Pacific Command, Central Command, and Africa Command and intend toexpand similar cooperation between their respective Armies and Air Forces.India-Japan 2+2 dialogue was held in New Delhi on November 30. Shri Rajnath Singhand Dr S Jaishankar participated in the meeting with their Japanese counterparts.They affirmed that the dialogue will further enhance the strategic depth of bilateralsecurity and defence cooperation.

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Raksha Mantri, during his visit to Japan, held the annual Defence Ministerial Meetingwith his Japanese counterpart on September 2 in Tokyo. Both ministers discussedways to further strengthen the existing bilateral co-operative arrangements and adoptnew initiatives towards achieving peace and security in the region.

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Shri Rajnath Singh visited Thailand’s capital Bangkok to attend the 6th ASEANDefence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) on November 17. He also held variousbilateral meetings with the leaders of US, Thailand, Japan, Australia & New Zealandand discussed ways to further improving the ties.

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During his visit to Republic of Korea, Shri Rajnath Singh held talks with Minister ofNational Defence of Republic of Korea in Seoul on September 6. He also addressedCEOs of Korean and Indian Defence Industries. India and Republic of Koreaformulated a roadmap to take bilateral Defence Industry co-operation forward to thenext level.

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Raksha Mantri and his Singaporean counterpart co-chaired the 4th Singapore-IndiaDefence Ministers' Dialogue in Singapore on November 20. Both Ministers expressedsatisfaction at the deepening defence ties between India & Singapore and reaffirmedtheir commitment to support further initiatives that would promote stability to theregion. The inaugural edition of the Singapore-India-Thailand Maritime Exercise(SITMEX) in the Andaman Sea was conducted in September.

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Shri Rajnath Singh participated in the 18th meeting of Council of Heads ofGovernment of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation at Tashkent in Uzbekistan onNovember 2. He held talks with the Uzbek Defence Minister and signed three MoUs toenhance cooperation in Military Medicine & Military Education. He also attended the‘Curtain Raiser’ of first-ever India-Uzbekistan Joint Exercise ‘Dustlik 2019’.

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Shri Rajnath Singh co-chaired the 19thIndia-Russia Inter-Governmental Commissionon Military and Military Technical Cooperation in Moscow along with his Russiancounterpart.

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Continuing with his high-level engagements in Mozambique, Raksha Mantri on July 30held discussions with Minister of Interior, Mr Jaime Basilio Monteiro in Maputo.Raksha Mantri gifted 44 SUVs to the Minister of Interior.

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Mozambique’s Defence Minister visited India and held a meeting with Shri RajnathSingh on November 29. Both sidesreiterated their commitment to strengthen bilateraldefence cooperation.

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Maldives Defence Minister paid an official visit to India in January. The Minister held ameeting with the then Raksha Mantri Smt Nirmala Sitharaman, with both sidesreiterating India’s commitment to contribute towards capacity building and trainingrequirements of the Maldives National Defence Forces.

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In February, Smt Nirmala Sitharaman visited Germany and met her counterpart. Thetwo Ministers comprehensively reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral defencecooperation as an important facet of India-Germany Strategic Partnership.

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Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services (CDS) of the Republic of Union of Myanmar●

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Senior General Min Aung Hlaing (MAH) visited India in July-August and held extensivetalks with Raksha Rajya Mantri Shri Shripad Yesso Naik. The talks were aimed atenhancing defence co-operation, review joint exercises and training provided toMyanmar Defence Services, strengthen maritime security by joint surveillance andcapacity building, medical co-operation, pollution response and for developing newinfrastructure. On conclusion of the talks, India and Myanmar signed a Memorandumof Understanding on defence co-operation.Raksha Mantri held talks with Chief of General Staff, Vietnam People's Army andDeputy Minister of National Defence Senior Lieutenant General Phan Van Giang anddiscussed ways to further bolster defence ties between the two countries in New Delhion November 25. He also called on Chief of the Army Staff General Bipin Rawat.

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indian army

 

Assisted in maintenance of tranquility in Jammu and Kashmir after provisions of Article370 of the Constitution were made inoperative. 

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Reforms in the Army initiated including restructuring of Army HQ to result in betterefficiency, more satisfaction and larger availability of young officers in the field.

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Successful summer user trials of third Generation Anti-Tank Guided Missile NAG atPokhran Field Firing Ranges. The trials of DRDO developed Missile were conductedbetween July 7-18, 2019. NAG missile has been developed to engage highly fortifiedenemy tanks in all weather conditions with day and night capabilities and with aminimum range of 500 metres and maximum range of four kilometres.

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Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh approved a proposal for admission of girl children inSainik schools w.e.f. academic session 2021-22 in a phased manner.

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The 14thedition of bilateral annual military exercise SURYA KIRAN-XIV betweenIndian and Nepal Army was held in December at Nepal Army Battle School (NABS),Salijhandi, Rupendehi district of Nepal. The 13th edition of the joint military exercisewas held at Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand in June last year.

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Ceremonial Border Personnel Meetings (BPMs) were organised at Natu La, Bum Laand Kibithu on October 01 to celebrate the Chinese National Day. The BPMmechanism has evolved into an important interface where local issues get discussedand are resolved thereby fostering confidence amongst the Border Guarding Troops.This ensures prevalence of peace & tranquility along the LAC.

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An Indian Army sponsored Capacity Building Tour comprising of 22 students and threeteachers of Kishtwar District of Jammu and Kashmir returned to Batote after a ten-days tour which included visit to New Delhi and Indian Military Academy, Dehradun.Over the period of ten days in September, the budding youth of Kishtwar District wereexposed to a unique experience which entailed visit to premier military institution suchas Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, icons of historical legacy such as theRashtrapati Bhawan, India Gate, & National War Memorial.

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The Indian Army in step with government policies on environmental protectionlaunched an ecological initiative with employing E Cars for use of its officials in New

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Delhi in partnership with Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL), a joint Venture ofCentral PSUs under Ministry of Power.The Indian Army assisted the Maharashtra and Karnataka state authorities in carryingout relief and rescue operations in flood hit areas. In August, a total of 16 Columnsand 12 Engineer Task Forces comprising of almost 1000 Army personnel have beenemployed in Belgaum, Bagalkot and Raichur dist of Karnataka and Raigad, Kohlapurand Sangli district of Maharashtra to carryout flood relief operations.

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A 12 member Indian Army patrol along with a police representative recoveredwreckage of a World War II vintage US Air Force aircraft in Roing district of ArunachalPradesh on March 30. Based on the information received from local trekkers of LowerDibang district through the police, a special patrol of Army was sent to locate thewreckage in a remote location, 30 kms from Roing.

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Inaugural edition of the Africa-India Field Training Exercise-2019 (AFINDEX-19) wasculminated on March 27, 2019 at Foreign Training Node, Aundh Military Station, Pune.The Indian contingent was represented by Maratha Light Infantry (Jangi Paltan). Thevalidation exercise showcased various tactical drills which included protection ofcivilians, establishment of standing combat deployment, convoy protection, patrollingaspects and neutralisation of improvised explosive devices which were practiced aspart of 10-day joint exercise. Participating African countries include, Benin, Botswana,Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal,South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

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Fourteen-day military exercise Mitra Shakti VI between Indian and Sri Lankan Armywas held between March 26 to April 08 , 2019 at Diyatalawa Parade Ground inDiyatalawa, Badulla District, Sri Lanka. This was the sixth edition of the joint exercisebetween the two nations. The Indian Army contingent comprises of a company groupfrom Bihar Regiment and a similar strength from the First Gemunu Watch Battalion ofSri Lankan Army.

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Shri Rajnath Singh gave away Raksha Mantri’s Awards for Excellence 2019 in DelhiCantonment on December 26. The Defence Estates awards was introduced in 2013 torecognise the achievements in the field of health, education, cleanliness as well asnew innovative and digitisation in Public Services and Land Management.

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Indian navy

Commissioning and Decommissioning

The sixth ship of the 08 x IN LCU (Mark IV) project, IN LCU L56 was commissioned atVishakhapatnam on July 29. The seventh ship of the project, LCU L57, was deliveredin December 19 and is likely to be commissioned in the near future.

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The second submarine of Scorpene Class (Project 75), INS Khanderi, and the AircraftCarrier Dock, was commissioned by Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh at NavalDockyard, Mumbai on September 28.

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Naval Air Station Shibpur was commissioned as INS Kohassa on January 24.●

Towards establishment of aviation assets to ensure Coastal Security, INAS 313 wascommissioned at Meenambakkam on July 22 and INAS 314 was commissioned atPorbandaron November 29.

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The first two aircraft of the 12 new Dornier Contract were formally inducted into theIndian Navy at HAL, Kanpur on January 28. Equipped and fitted with latest sensors,these aircraft will boost the surveillance effort towards security of maritime areas of thenation.

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Indian Naval ships Ranjit, Kozhikode, LCU L-38 and LCU L-39 were de-commissionedin 2019, with all ships having served the Nation for more than 30 years.

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Launching/Construction of Ships/Submarines

 

Yard 12706 (Imphal), the third ship of Project 15B (Visakhapatnam class) waslaunched on April 20at M/s MDL, Mumbai.

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The first of Class of P17A Frigates, ‘Nilgiri’ was launched at MDL, Mumbai onSeptember 28.

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The fourth submarine of Project 75 was launched on May 06 at MDL, Mumbai. Thesubmarine was named INS Vela in accordance with the Naval traditions.

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Keel laying ceremony of Yard 12707, fourth ship of Project 15B (Visakhapatnam class)was held on November 07 at M/s Shoft Shipyard Pvt Ltd. (SSPL), Bharuch.

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Keel laying ceremony of Yard 12652 (Second ship of Project 17A at M/s MDL) washeld on May 07 at M/s MDL, Mumbai.

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Keel laying ceremony of Yard 3025, first of the Survey Vessel Large was heldNovember 08 at M/s GRSE, Kolkata.

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Production of Yard 3023 (Second ship of P-17A at GRSE) commenced with steelcutting on August 20at M/s GRSE, Kolkata.

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Overseas Deployments (OSD)

 

Indian Naval ship Tarkashparticipated in the Western Fleet OSD 01/19 from June 15to October 15. During the OSD, the ship undertook port calls at 13 countries. The shipparticipated in Russian Navy Day celebrations, KONKAN-19 with UK and participatedin the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between India and Nigeria.

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IN ships Kolkata and Shaktiparticipated in the Eastern Fleet OSD 01/19 from April 03to May 31. During the OSD, the ships visited Cam Rahn Bay (Vietnam), Qingdao(China), Busan (South Korea) and Singapore. The ships participated in IN-VPNBilateral Exercise at Cam Rahn Bay (Vietnam), PLA (N) IFR at Qingdao (China),ADMM Plus Exercise off Busan (South Korea) and Singapore, International MaritimeDefence Exhibition (IMDEX), Maritime Information Sharing Exercise (MARISX) andSIMBEX 19 at Singapore.

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IN ships Sahyadri and Kiltanparticipated in the Eastern Fleet OSD 02/19 from August24 to November 21 to Bangkok (Thailand), Sihanoukville (Cambodia), Kota Kinabalu(Malaysia), Sasebo and Yokosuka (Japan), Manila (Philippines) and Jakarta(Indonesia). During the OSD, the ships participated in Ex Samudra Lakshamana withMalaysia and Malabar -19 with USN and JMSDF.

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The Indian Navy, Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) and US Navy(USN) Trilateral exercise Malabar-19 was conducted off Yokosuka, Japan fromSeptember 26 to October 04. IN ships Sahyadri, Kiltan and Maritime Patrol Aircraft P8Iparticipated in the exercise. The JMSDF was represented by ships Kaga, Samidare,Chokai, Oumi and P1 Maritime Patrol Aircraft while the USN was represented by USSMc Campbell, Pecos and nuclear submarine Okholama City.

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IN Ship Kolkata and Shakti participated in International Fleet Reviewwhich wasconducted off Qingdao (China)harbour on April 23 to commemorate 70th anniversaryof PLA (N).

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Naval Operations/ Activities

 

Indian Navy has been undertaking Mission Based Deployments in the Areas ofInterest in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) with an aim to safeguard nationalmaritime interests and maintain continuous/near continuous presence in areas ofsignificant maritime importance in the IOR.These deployments were also inconsonance with the Prime Minister's vision of 'Security and Growth for All in theRegion (SAGAR)'. The IN ships and aircraft are being regularly deployed in theGulf of Oman/ Persian Gulf, Gulf of Aden/ Red Sea, South and Central IndianOcean Region (IOR), off Sunda Strait, Andaman Sea/ approaches to MalaccaStrait and Northern Bay of Bengal. These deployments have facilitatedenhanced Maritime Domain Awareness, swift HADR assistance to IOR littorals,security to the Indian and international maritime community and operationalengagements with friendly navies through capability development and capacitybuilding programmes. These deployments have also enabled the IN to be the'first responder' in various HADR/ SAR operations across the IOR.

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In wake of attack on Tankers off Fujairah and in Gulf of Oman in May and June19 respectively, the IN executed OP 'Sankalp' to ensure security & safety ofIndian Flagged Merchant Vessels (IFMVs) transiting through the Gulf region.

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IN's largest biennial war game, Theatre Level Operational Readiness Exercise(TROPEX-19) was conducted from January 07– March 10 in the IOR. Theprimary aim of the exercise was to hone the war fighting skills of the Navy whilstexercising in a large theatre of operations.

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Coastal Security and Anti-Piracy Operations

 

The maiden large scale, pan India Coastal Defence Exercise, SEA VIGIL-19, wasconducted along the entire coastline and Exclusive Economic Zone of India on January 22-23. The exercise was conducted with the aim of simultaneously activating all agenciesinvolved in the coastal security construct, and to identify gaps and mitigating measures.Besides Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard and all other stakeholders involved in the nation'sCoastal Security framework participated in the exercise.

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IN ships and aircraft are deployed to maintain continuous surface and aerial coastalsurveillance off the West coast of India including L&M Islands. Similar sorties are alsoundertaken on the East coast and the A&N Islands to further augment coastal surveillancemeasures.

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As part of its wider role of providing security to shipping in the Indian Ocean Region, theIndian Navy continues to deploy one ship for anti-piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden. A total of75 IN warships have been deployed till November 19. The IN also undertakes PassageExercises with friendly foreign countries deployed in the Gulf of Aden. IN’s presence in thisregion is being maintained to ensure safety and security of Indian trade.

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indian air force

Acquisition

 

Air Defence challenges have grown manifold in therecent years especially with all pervasive threat fromdrones even during peace time. This challenge iscompounded by employment of stand-off weapons,projectiles and munitions including cruise missilesby the adversaries. Also, over the years, there hasbeen a substantial increase in the number of vitalassets along with increase in air threat from bothhostile states and malign non-state actors.

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Contract for five Squadrons of Long Range Surface-to-Air Missile System i.e. S-400 missilesystem has been signed with the Russian Government. The equipment of the first Sqn islikely to be inducted in mid 2020.

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IAF is procuring 18 Squadrons of Medium Range Surface-to-Air Missile System which hasbeen jointly developed by DRDO and IAI. Induction of the Medium Range Surface to AirMissile System will be from early 2020 onwards.

b.

Contract has been signed in September 2019 for seven additional indigenous AkashSquadrons and associated specialist infrastructure. Induction would commence from early2021onwards.

c.

Rafale Aircraft: To enhance the combat capability of IAF and improve its fightersquadron strength is in progress. Rafale is an omni-role fighter aircraft which willprovide long range capability to engage targets in depth and will provide a strongweapons and systems capability edge over our adversaries. The delivery of theaircraft has commenced and the training of IAF personnel is in progress.  

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Additional Su-30 MKI Aircraft: IAF had contracted for 272 Su-30 MKI aircraft undervarious contracts. Presently deliveries are continuing under block IV contract and arelikely to conclude by March 2020. The Su-30 MKI currently is the largest and amongstthe most potent fighter fleet in operation with the IAF.

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Apache Helicopter: Apache is a Tandem Seating, day/night, all weather capableplatform. It is highly agile, survivable against battle damage and is easilymaintainable even in field conditions. The helicopter is capable of prolongedoperations in tropical and desert regions. Being a Multi-role network centric platformcapable for deployment in Air Combat, AD, CI Ops, UAV neutralization, CSAR, Urban

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Warfare, the aircraft meets all requirements of the IAF as well as the Strike Corpsrequirements of the Army. Fitted with a state of the art Fire Control Radar (FCR), theAH-64 has the capability to detect, locate, designate, track and engage targets indaylight, night, and in reduced visibility conditions.17 helicopters have already beendelivered.Chinook Heavy Lift Helicopter (HLH): The delivery of 15 x Chinook helicopters hasstarted from March 2019 and will be completed by March 2020. Induction of thehelicopters has commenced in March 2019. Ten helicopters have been received sofar.

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ASTRA:ASTRA BVR missile being designed and developed by DRDO has beenevaluated for its performance and missile firing with foreign seeker was successful.IAF plans to procure these missiles for fighter aircraft.

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Integration of BrahMos Air to Surface Missile on Su-30MKI Aircraft:Successfulintegration of the BrahMos missile on the Su-30 MKI has been completed. It wouldenhance the strategic significance and combat potential of the aircraft.  

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Induction of Flight Inspection System Aircraft (Dornier-228):IAF has inducted Do-228Dornier aircraft with on board Flight Inspection System (FIS) to undertake the Cat-IIcalibration of Navigational aids available at Modernised Airfield Infrastructure (MAFI)of IAF bases. The induction of FIS aircraft would facilitate the in-house calibrations ofMAFI assets and Navaids.

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Upgrades

 

Mirage-2000: The Final Operational Clearance (FOC) D&D has been completed inMarch 2018 and Series production is underway.

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MiG-29: The upgraded aircraft have been allotted to a frontline Squadron, andare being used for operations. The upgraded aircraft are equipped with state ofthe art avionics, an array of smart air to air and air to ground weapons and arecapable of in-flight refuelling which significantly increases its combat potential.

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Jaguar DARIN-III: The upgrade of DARIN-I Jaguar aircraft to DARIN-III standardby HAL included integration of new mission computers, cockpit displays (SMDs,Engine and Flight Instrumentation System), Fire Control Radar, Hybridnavigation system and Autopilot with advanced modes. With the integration ofthese systems through new mission software, the cockpit has been transformedinto a fully functional glass cockpit. With the integration of the radar as primarysensor, the operational capability of the Jaguar aircraft in detecting air, surfaceand sea targets has been enhanced manifolds. With the avionics of DARIN-IIIaircraft the capability has improved significantly. Flight trials for FOC have beencompleted in November 2019. DARIN-III platform has matured into a potentstrike platform with state-of-the-art integration of the sensors on-board.Thedelivery of upgraded aircraft will commence from December 2019.

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Make Projects

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Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C): AEW&C is an indigenous systemsuccessfully developed by DRDO.  The second AEW&C aircraft has been handedover by CABS to IAF on 11 Sep 19.

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Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS): The IACCS is fully indigenousproject which will integrate all sensors to give composite Air Situation Picture andaids in quick decision making. 

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International Exercise

 

Ex Garuda: Four Su-30MKI participated in Ex Garuda at Mont-de-Marsan, Francefrom 01 to 14 Jul 19.

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Ex Eastern Bridge: Five Mig-29 participated in Ex Eastern Bridge V in Omanfrom 15 to 26 Oct 19. This is the first time that the MiG-29 ac participated in aninternational exercise abroad. The exercise was conducted professionally andperformance of MiG -29 was appreciated.

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JMT: The bilateral phase of Joint Military Training with Singapore Air Force isplanned from 14 to 29 Nov 19 at Air Force Station Kalaikunda.  Su-30MKIparticipated in this exercise.

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HADR

 

Aerial Fire Fighting  Operation: Air effort was provided by Mi-17 V5 helicoptersfor fire-fighting operations at Theni (Tamil Nadu),Katra, Pathankot, Kasuali,Malviya Nagar, Bandipur (Karnataka) and Merchant Vessel off the coast inSunderban area. A total of 93 sorties /52:20 HRS  / 154 KL of water utilised.

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Flood Relief Ops: 2019 (Op Varsha):The IAF had deployed heptrs for FloodRelief Ops in a number of states (Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamilnadu,Kerala, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Bihar. Various class ofheptrs were utilised towards the task. A total of 219 sorties /172:10 hrs wereflown air lifting 1061 pax and 84.4t of load.

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Casualty Evacuation: During FY 2019-20, 103 sorties 85:00hrs airlifting 85 paxtill 25 Oct 19,including (Team of 12 trekkers (British Nationals) were trapped atNanda Devi pass following an avalanche. One month of effort 45 Hrs / 47 sorties,4 trekkers + 07 mortal remains retrieved).

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Women Empowerment in IAF

 

NCC Special Entry: NCC special entry has been extended to women Air WingCadets with ‘C’ Certificate for the first time ever. This would enable them todirectly go for SSB, without any screening test to become a Short ServiceCommissioned Officer in the flying branch of IAF.

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Induction in the Fighter Stream: Women pilots have been performing admirablywell in the transport and helicopter streams of IAF. As a natural progression,IAF has inducted women pilots in the fighter stream as well. Accordingly, thefirst batch of three women trainees were inducted in fighter stream. Currently,six are posted to fighter squadrons and two are undergoing postcommissioning training on Hawk-132 ac. One more woman trainee has beenallotted fighter stream was commissioned in Dec 19.      

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Diplomatic Assignment: Diplomatic posts on Indian mission abroad aretraditionally manned by male officers. WgCdr Anjali Singh is the first womanofficer who has been nominated by IAF as Dy Air Attaché in Embassy of Russia.

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Flight Commander: WgCdrShalizaDhami was commissioned into the helicopterstream of the IAF in Dec 2003. She was granted PC in Dec 18.  She became thefirst woman helicopter QFI in the IAF in Nov 13. She has over 2000h of flying toher credit. She has been recently posted as the first woman Flight Commanderof a Combat unit of the IAF (131 FAC Flt, Hindonwef 26 Aug 19).

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indian coast guard

Raksha Mantri commissioned Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) ‘Varaha’ in Chennai onSeptember 25, 2019 to further strengthen coastal security.

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Third Vessel in the series of 05 Offshore Patrol Vessels for Indian Coast Guard,‘Sajag’ was ceremoniously launched on November 14, 2019 at Goa Shipyard Limitedby Mrs Vijaya Shripad Naik, wife of Raksha Rajya Mantri, Shri Shripad Yesso Naik.Entirely designed in-house by GSL, these OPVs will form a formidable part of ICGfleet and will be used for protection of Exclusive Economic Zone of India.

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Ship Acquisition

 

During the year RFP for the following ship acquisition proposals     have been issued:-●

 

Sl Name of ProjectProject Cost(   in Cr)

Date of issueRFP

Remarks

(a)Acquisition of 02 PollutionControl Vessels (PCVs)

673.00 27 Feb 19 -

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(b)Acquisition of 12 AirCushion Vehicles (ACVs)

355.80 26 Jun 1906 for ICG & 06for IA

(c)Acquisition of 08 FastPatrol Vessels (FPVs)

803.68 26 Jun 19 -

 

In order to promote indigenous design and development of defence equipment, allRFPs have been issued under ‘Buy (Indian-IDDM)’ category.

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Induction of Ships. 11 Surface platforms (02 Off-Shore Patrol Vessels (OPVs), 03Fast Patrol Vessels (FPVs), 06 Interceptor Boats (IBs) have been inducted in thecalendar year 2019.

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Capacity Building of Foreign Maritime Agencies:

 

Gifting of Interceptor Boats (IB) to Mozambique Navy.  Director General KNatarajan, PTM, TM visited Maputo from 28-30 Jul 19 as part of high level Indiandelegation led by Hon’ble RM for handing over two interceptor boats toMozambique Navy. A four member ICG Team has been deputed to Maputo,Mozambique for assisting and training the Mozambique Navy in the operationand maintenance of these boats. Prior to deputation of team, 14 MozambiqueNavy personnel were trained for        12 days from 05-16 Nov 18 at Chennai in IBoperations.

●

Gifting of Interceptor Boat to Maldives.GoI gifted one ICG Interceptor Boat (C-447) to Maldives in Nov 19. Training of MNDF crew was also conducted atChennai from 01-13 Oct 19 in IB operation.

●

Spares for Sri Lanka Coast Guard Ship Suraksha. On the request of Sri LankaCoast Guard, ICG has gifted essential spares for keeping the ship operational.

●

 

Surveillance

 

In addition to undertaking maritime surveillance in Maritime Zone of India, ICG shipsand aircraft are also deployed for undertaking maritime surveillance of littoral states. In2019, ICG undertook five extended Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) deployments inthe Maldivian EEZ.

●

A National Level Coastal Defence Exercise (CDE) ‘Sea Vigil-19’ for all coastal statesand UTs was conducted from January 22-23 by ICG. The aim was to validate theefficacy of the nation’s Coastal Defence Organisation against threats arising from thesea.

●

 

Aid to Civil Authority

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In August, consequent to issuance of warning of heavy to very heavy rainfall in thecoastal states, ICG Districts and Stations were placed on high alert for assisting CivilAdministration. A total of 53 CGDRTs were mobilised in the states of Maharashtra,Karnataka and Kerala with lifesaving/rescue gears and were deployed on rotation. Atotal of 4418 persons were evacuated by ICG teams to safer locations.

●

Consequent to the issuance of warnings by India Meteorological Department (IMD),ICG took pre-emptive measures during Cyclone ‘Fani’ in Bay of Bengal, SevereCyclonic Storm ‘Vayu’ in Arabian Sea, Cyclonic Storm 'Kyarr', Cyclonic Storm 'Maha'and Cyclonic Storm 'Bulbul'.

●

 

Coastal Security

 

The Indian Coast Guard, in consultation with all stakeholders, has instituted state-wiseStandard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for coordination among various agencies oncoastal security issues. These SOPs are aimed at enhancing the efficiency of theCoastal Security Mechanism. The Mechanism as well as SOPs are validated throughbiannual exercises in each Coastal State, wherein all stakeholders participate. A totalof 16 Coastal Security exercises have been conducted in 2019 till date.

●

Based on intelligence inputs, Coastal Security Operation are also being conducted/participated by the Coast Guard. A total of 45 Coastal Security Operations have beenconducted by the Indian Coast Guard in 2019 till date.

●

Overseas Deployment of ICG Ships to Foreign Ports.   

Indian Coast Guard Ships are being deployed overseas from time to time to interact withforeign Coast Guard and other Maritime Agencies in the region. A total of 06 ICG shipsvisited 15 foreign countries from Jan 19 to till date.

●

DEFENCE RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATION (DRDO)

IAF CONDUCTS FIVE TRIALS OF AIR-TO-AIR MISSILE ASTRA: DRDO flight-tested Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM) Astra form Su-30 MKIplatform off the coast of Chandipur, Odisha. The trials were held from 16-19September 2019. Indian Air Force (IAF) conducted the trials against Jet Bansheetarget aircraft simulating all possible threat scenarios. The five trials conductedduring this period, tested missiles in different configurations. Three missileswere launched in combat configuration with warhead and neutralizedmanoeuvring targets to establish the end-game capability of the missile. Thetrial campaign also included a direct hit of the target by the telemetered missileat maximum range.

●

LCA (NAVY) MAKES ARRESTED LANDING: The first ever arrested landing ofLight Combat Aircraft (Navy) at the Shore Based Test Facility (SBTF) INS Hansa,Goa, took place on 13 September 2019. The test will pave the way for theindigenous platform to undertake aircraft carrier landing demonstration onboard the Indian Naval Aircraft Carrier, Vikramaditya. Text book arrested landing

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heralds the arrival of true indigenous capability.LOW WEIGHT, FIRE & FORGET MAN PORTABLE ANTITANK GUIDED MISSILETESTED: DRDO flight tested indigenously developed low weight, fire and forgetMan Portable Antitank Guided Missile (MPATGM) on 11 September 2019 in theranges of Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh. The missile was launched from a manportable tripod launcher on the target mimicking a functional tank. This was thethird series of successful testing of MPATGM. The missile is incorporated withstate-of-the-art Infrared Imaging Seeker along with advanced avionics. The testpaves the way for the Army to have 3rd generation indigenous MPATGM. Themissile was earlier tested successfully on 13 March 2019.

●

DRDO HANDS OVER SECOND INDIGENOUS AEW&C SYSTEM TO INDIAN AIRFORCE: DRDO handed over the second of three indigenously designedAirborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) system, Netra, to the Indian AirForce (IAF) on 11 September 2019 to augment the service’s network centriccapabilities. The system was delivered to Bhatinda Air Force Station in Punjab.The system comprises an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar,secondary surveillance radar, electronic and communication countermeasures,beyond line-of-sight data links, satellite communication systems, advancedidentification friend-or-foe system, provides 240° coverage, and surveillancerange more than 250 km.

●

QUICK REACTION MISSILE TEST-FIRED: DRDO flight-tested its state-of-the-artQuick Reaction Surface-to-Air Missile (QRSAM) against live aerial live aerialtargets from Integrated Test Range, Chandipur on 4 August 2019. Two missiles,developed by DRDO, were tested against two live targets, meeting completemission objectives of engaging the targets. QRSAM, with many advancedtechnologies, engaged the targets at different ranges and altitudes. The systemhas been tested in final configuration with radar mounted on a vehicle andmissile on the launcher. It comprises indigenous Phased Array Radar, Inertialnavigation System, Data Link & RF Seeker, and is being developed for IndianArmy with search and track on move capability with very short reaction time.The missile was earlier tested on 26 February 2019.

●

INDIAN NEUTRALISES LIVE SATELLITE IN LOW EARTH ORBIT: The countryjoins a select group of nations with such capability. DRDO conducted an Anti-Satellite (ASAT) missile test ‘Mission Shakti’ from Dr APJ Abdul kalam island inOdisha on 27 March 2019. A DRDO developed Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD)Interceptor Missile engaged a Live Indian satellite orbiting in Low Earth Orbit(LEO) in a ‘Hit to Kill’ mode. The interceptor missile was a three-stage missilewith two solid rocket boosters. Tracking data from range sensors confirmed thatthe mission met all its objectives. The test demonstrated India’s capability todefend its assets in outer space and vindicated the strength and robust natureof DRDO’s programmes.

●

FINAL OPERATIONAL CLEARNCE OF LCA TEJAS MK I FOR INDIAN AIRFORCE: In a landmark occasion, Light Combat aircraft Tejas Mk I for Indian AirForce was informally awarded Final Operational Clearance (FOC) on 20 February2019. Secretary Department of Defence R&D and Chairman DRDO Dr GSatheesh Reddy handed FOC Certificate and Release to Service Document(RSD) to the Chief of Air Staff Air chief Marshal BS Dhanoa in the presence ofDefence Secretary Shri Sanjay Mitra and chairman and Managing Director of

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Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Shri R Madhavan. IOC standard Tejas arealready serving in the 45th Squadron of IAF since July 2016.DRDO’S IGNITER COMPLEX AT HEMRL, PUNE: Raksha Rajya Mantri ShriShripad Naik inaugurated the Defence Research & Development Organisation(DRDO) Igniter Complex at High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL)in Pune on 05 NOV 2019. HEMRL has created a state-of-the-art facility fordesign, processing and evaluation of ignition systems. The facility consists ofprocess, assembly & storage buildings and a design centre. Remotelycontrolled sophisticated equipments such as Sieve Shaker, Planetary Mixer,Granulating Machine, Pelleting Machine etc are installed in the processbuildings. Design, modeling and simulation laboratory; assembly and testingcentre are also part of Igniter Complex.

●

SUCCESSFUL LAUNCH OF TWO BRAHMOS MISSILES FROMLAND AND AIRPLATFORMS: DRDO, Indian Air Force and BrahMos jointly successfullyconducted two BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles tests today, one each fromland and air platforms. The first missile launch was from a land based mobilelauncher, where most of the components were indigenous, including the missileairframe, fuel management system and DRDO designed seeker. The secondlaunch of the missile was carried out by Indian Air force (IAF) from SU-30MKIplatform against a sea target. The test conducted in user configuration,revalidated the ship attack capability of the advanced air-launched cruisemissile.

●

SUCCESSFUL FLIGHT TEST OF TWO PINAKA MISSILES IN SALVO MODE: Aspart of the series of flight trials of Pinaka missile system, two test firings wereconducted by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on 17DEC 2019. The first trial was conducted on December 19, 2019, wherein onemissile was fired at 75 kilometre range.

●

QUICK REACTION SURFACE TO AIR MISSILE SUCCESSFULLY FLIGHT-TESTEDOFF ODISHA COAST: Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile (QRSAM) systemdeveloped by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) wassuccessfully flight-tested from Integrated Test Range, Chandipur off the Odishacoast on 23 DEC 2019. The missile was flight-tested with full configuration indeployment mode intercepting the target mid air, meeting the missionobjectives. The entire event was monitored by Ground Telemetry Systems,Range Radar Systems, Electro Optical Tracking System etc.

●

 

DEFENCE PRODUCTION

 

To boost Defence manufacturing under ‘Make in India’, Raksha Mantri Shri RajnathSingh chaired a Roundtable Conference with CEOs of Indian & Foreign Defencecompanies including MSMEs and start-ups on August 9, 2019 in New Delhi.

●

To further encourage the ‘Make in India’ initiative in Defence and Aerospace sector,Shri Rajnath Singh accorded approval to allow Private Sector industry to compete withOrdnance Factories and DPSUs for the prestigious Raksha Mantri’s Awards forExcellence on July 16, 2019.

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Raksha Mantri launched a Dashboard of Department Defence Production (DDP),Ministry of Defence. The dashboard is available for the general public athttps://ddpdashboard.gov.in. The DDP Dashboard contains progress on key initiativesof the Department which include Defence Exports, Defence Offsets, DefenceProduction, Intellectual Property Rights filed (Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti), Make inIndia in Defence Projects, Startups working in Defence, Investments in DefenceCorridors and Artificial Intelligence Projects in Defence.

●

Shri Rajnath Singh has approved setting up of a Committee under the Chairmanshipof Director General (Acquisition) to review the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP)2016 and Defence Procurement Manual (DPM) 2009. The Committee will revise andalign the procedures with the aim of ensuring seamless flow from asset acquisition tolife cycle support.

●

It is very important to have ‘Ideation, Innovation and Incubation’ to achieve the goal ofindigenisation and self-reliance in cutting edge-technologies. This was the underlinetheme of ‘Def Connect 2019’ organised in New Delhi on October 5, 2019. It wasorganised to showcase the accomplishments of the Innovations for DefenceExcellence (iDEX) initiative and construct a strong outreach towards the potentialfuture entrepreneurs of the defence sector. Third phase of Defence India StartupChallenge (DISC) thrown open to prospective startups in the event under which threechallenges from the Army, Navy and Air Force.

●

 

DEFEXPO 2020

 

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh chaired the first meeting of the Apex Committee forDefExpo 2020 in New Delhi on September 9, 2019 in the presence of Chief Minister ofUttar Pradesh Shri Yogi Adityanath. The huge exhibition that will showcase India’sdefence manufacturing capabilities as well as world’s top defence manufacturingcompanies would be held for the first time in Lucknow from 05 – 08 February, 2020.Raksha Mantri launched its website, www.defexpo.gov.in, which provides onlineservices to exhibitors, besides hosting informative content about the product profile ofDPSUs and Ordnance Factories.

●

Raksha Mantri chaired Ambassadors’ Round Table on DefExpo 2020 in New Delhi onNovember 4, 2019 in major outreach to defence manufacturing industries of the world.Heads of Missions and Defence Attaches of over 80 countries participated in theconference.

●

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh launched the mobile app of the forthcomingDefExpo 2020 on December 27. The app is available on Apple App Store and AndroidPlay Store. The main features of the app are ‘inform, engage and feedback’. Itprovides detailed information about the day-to-day programme-wise schedule of theevent; participating exhibitors; Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs), guestspeakers of seminars/webinars planned during the event; publications i.e., electronicbrochures and e-books; maps and directions of the venues and city weather.

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DEPARTMENT OF EX-SERVICEMEN WELFARE (DESW)

On the occasion of Armed Forces Flag Day (AFFD), Kendriya Sainik Board (KSB) onbehalf of DESW took a unique initiative and organised the first ever Corporate SocialResponsibility (CSR) conclave on December 02 to create awareness about the Ex-Servicemen (ESM) and how the corporate India can play an important part in theirresettlement and rehabilitation. The conclave was chaired by Raksha Mantri RajnathSingh. He apprised the audience in great detail about the challenges faced by theESM and their dependents and appealed to corporate world to come forward andsupport the cause of their welfare with help of three attached offices of DESW.

●

Apart from the Defence Services Estimates (DSE) Budget, AFFD Fund is the majorsource of funding for welfare and rehabilitation of war widows, ESM and theirdependents. A sum of Rs 9.97 crore has been collected during FY 2019-20 (as onDecember 09, 2019). The fund is administered by KSB Sectt under the aegis of itsManagement Committee headed by Raksha Mantri and Executive Committee headedby Secretary, DESW.

●

As per the Action Plan on Single Use Plasticprepared by the department, instructionshave been issued to all our attached offices and field establishments to minimise theuse of single use plastic.

●

As per the action plan, the department and its attached offices undertook a nationwidecampaign on Jal Shakti Abhiyan on August 17. Posters and other informationalmaterial on the theme were prepared and shared widely with al l f ieldOffices/Establishments.

●

A one-day workshop on Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) and Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA)was organised on December 06 in New Delhi to create awareness, review theprogress and lay down the future roadmap on JSA and SBA.

●

A large number of Ex-Servicemen participated in the ‘Run for Unity’ event at MajorDhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi on October 31to observe the birthanniversary of Sardar Vallabh bhai Patel as National Unity Day (Rashtriya EktaDiwas).

●

RESETTLEMENT

An Entrepreneurship-cum-Resettlement Seminar was conducted by DRZ (North) at ‘RichenAuditorium’ Leh on June 22. A DGR stall was set up for the veterans and the event wasconducted in the form of interactive lectures.

●

An Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) for the KSB Helpline (011-26717987) waslaunched on September 06 which can attend to 20 calls simultaneously both in Hindi andEnglish.This will reduce the waiting time for the grievance redressal of the ESM and enableESM to access information regarding the status of their applications.

●

A total of 65,483 ESMs have been given employment through various self-employmentschemes managed by Directorate General Resettlement (DGR) such as Security AgencyScheme, ESM Coal Transport and Tipper Attachment Scheme, Management of CNG,Company Owned Company Operated (COCO) Scheme of BPCL/IOCL/HPCL, Allotment ofOil Product Agencies, Mother Dairy Milk Booths/ Safal Booths, ESM placement by DGR andRajya Sainik Boards etc.

●

There has been increase in employment generated through ESM Job Fairs for employmentin private sector. Based on an MoU signed between DGR and the Confederation of IndianIndustry (CII), ESM Job Fairs have been organised. These Job Fairs are conducted at a

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suitable venue where the suitably identified ESM are provided to the corporate employersbased on the openings offered matched with the skills of the ESM.  Details of Job Fairsconducted during 2019 are as under:-

 

Location Date

ParticipationJob vacs(approx)

CorporateEmployers

ESM

Kolkata 27 Feb 2019 17 1924 3180Goa 15 Mar 2019 23 402 368Ahmadabad 23 Aug 2019 31 1526 559Chandigarh 11 Oct 2019 31 1090 2570Pune 16 Oct 2019 29 856 2779Chennai 22 Nov 2019 42 1438 2430Kolkata 29 Nov 2019 41 1815 1192

Total 214 9051 13078                      

Approval of the Government for recognition of the following Four Ex-servicemenAssociations has been accorded vide DESW order dated September 16, 2019.     

●

         (a)     Disabled War Veterans (India)

         (b)     Indian Ex-Services League (IESL)

         (c)     Air Force Association

         (d)     National Ex-Servicemen Co-ordination Committee

HEALTH CARE

On January 8, DESWissued sanction for setting up of two additional Regional Centres ofEx-servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) at Yol, Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) andBhubaneswar(Odisha).

●

On January 30, sanction was issued for supply of medicines to ECHS beneficiaries byamendment to the provision regarding Authorised Local Chemist (ALC).

●

DESW issued an order for grant of ECHS facilities to the Assam Rifles pensioners and theirdependents residing in India & Nepal.

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Approval has been issued to CCSorders for grant of ECHS facilities to World War-IIVeterans, Emergency Commissioned Officers, Short Service Commissioned Officersandpre-mature retirees.

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Instructions have been issued to all Command Headquarters and Regional Centres foraccording priority to ECHS members and dependents above 75 years age in ECHS OPD ofMilitary Hospitals. 

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ECHS beneficiaries have been allowed to obtain domiciliary medical equipments for whichECHS ceiling rates are available on the recommendations of Government HospitalSpecialists in addition to the Specialist of the Military Hospital.  

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24x7 helpline has been operationalisedto guide and assist ECHS beneficiaries on theirgeneral queries.

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A detailed Standard Operating Procedure for taking action against private hospitalsempanelled with ECHS has been notified in order to strengthen vigilance against hospitals

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indulging in malpractices in a transparent and faster manner.It has been decided to introduce facility for the AYUSH system of treatment in ECHSPolyclinics of Delhi/NCR on a pilot basis.

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Directorate General Defence Estates (dgde)

A Common Mobile Application for all Cantonment Boards, namely 'CB e-Services' has beenlaunched and same is available on Google Play Store, for providing online services toCantonment residents on a single platform.

●

Under the Swachh Bharat Mission launched by the Government, all Cantonment Boardshave taken earnest steps for creating clean and green Cantonment areas. All 62Cantonments have already been certified by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs as OpenDefecation Free areas and the ODF status is also being sustained in all Cantonments.

●

As recommended by the Expert Committee and after consultation with all the stakeholders,necessary instructions were issued to all Cantonment Boards to allow/permit construction ofa w.c./toilet in existing buildings in absence of any such provision within that tenement to anauthorized resident, subject to condition that proper sewerage connection to the saidbuilding already exists in the Cantonment.

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As recommended by the Expert and after consultation with all the stakeholders, necessaryinstructions were issued on December 10 to all Cantonment Boards regarding definition ofrepair works to authorize buildings for which notice for sanction under Section 235 of theCantonment Act, 2006 may not be required.

●

Definition of repair works include internal partition wall, parapet wall or a cornice or chajja,repairing of staircase, damaged roof, boundary wall, reflooring of the surface of an existingfloor, plastering and patch work, replacing of fallen bricks or stones, false ceiling,whitewashing, repairing existing plumbing, sanitary and other utility services.

●

With this decision, the situation in Cantonments would improve thereby benefitting severalhouseholds residing in the Cantonments.

●

 

Land Management:

 

Ø 264 No. of leases have been renewed/extended in the current year 2019.

Ø 15,155 files have been digitised during the year.

Ø 2,65,095 acres of Defence   Land  (both inside and outside Cantonments) havebeen surveyed.

Ø Government sanction has been issued by MoD in 21 cases for transfer of DefenceLand for infrastructure / public utilities projects.

 

 

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BORDER ROADS ORGANISATION

 

BRO has constructed approximately 60,000 Km of roads, Maj Pmt Bridge of 51,000 Mtrlength, 19 Airfield and 02 tunnels in difficult and remote area of the country. As a part of itscontribution of strengthening bonds of friendship with neighboring countries, BRO has alsodeveloped road infrastructure in some friendly countries in the neighborhood.

●

Foundation Stones by PM.●

(i)       Akhnoor - Poonch Rd.  The Akhnoor - Poonch Road is planned to be upgraded toNational Highway Double lane (NHDL) specs with paved shoulders. The proposedupgradation also includes four tunnels and bypasses that will ensure AW connectivity.Foundation stone of this roadwas laid by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 03Feb 19.

(ii)      Se La Tunnel.  Construction of Se La tunnel on road Balipara – Charduar –Tawang has been undertaken to provide all weather connectivity to Tawang by bypassingSe La pass which has an altitude of 13960 ft. The foundation stone was laid by PM on 09Feb 2019.

Achievement of works targets: Achievement of BRO during the period from Jan 2019to Nov 2019 is as under:-

●

         

Items A/U Achievement upto 20 Nov 2019Formation Works Km Eqvt Cl 9 1123.46Surfacing Works Km Eqvt Cl 9 2099.58Resurfacing Works Km Cl-9 2339.38Permanent Works Cr 1601.15

Tunnel Cr 282.12Maj Bridge Mtr 2557.64

 

Inauguration of Major Bridges.●

                  

(a)      Diffo Bridge (span 426.6m long Pre-stressed Concrete Box Girder type)over Diffo River on road Roing - Koronu – Paya under Project Udayak in the stateof Arunachal Pradesh by Hon’ble Raksha Mantri Smt Nirmala Sitaraman on 18 Jan2019.

(b)      Kalai Bridge (span 265 m PC Box Grider Bridge) over Suran River onJammu - Rajouri - Poonch Road (NH-144A) under Project Sampark in Jammu &Kashmir Region by Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, AVSM, YSM, SM, GOC in-C NorthernCommand on 17 Jan 2019.

(c)      E-inauguration of Bein Bridge (span 331.20 Mtr PSC Box Girder Bridge     

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Cl 70 R)on Road Parol - Korepannu –Rajpura under Project Sampark in Jammu &Kashmir Region by Dr Jitendra Singh, Hon’ble Minister of State for Ministry ofDevelopment of North Eastern Region, Minister of State for Prime Minister’s Office,Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Department of Atomic Energy andDepartment of Space on 08 Mar 2019 from Delhi through video link.

                   (d)      Dhok Bridge (span 120.80 mtr Multi Cell Box Bridge of loadclass 70 R) over Dhok Nallah on road Akhnoor-Palanwalla under Project Samparkin Jammu & Kashmir Region by Shri Jugal Kishore, Member of Parliament on 08Mar 2019.

                   (e)      Averi Patti Bridge (span 135.00 mtr Major pmt Bridge of loadclass 70 R) on approach road to Averi Patti Army Camp on NH 05 (Kingal –Rampur Road) under Project Deepak in the state of Himachal Pradesh by Lt GenSurinder Singh, PVSM, AVSM*, VSM, GoC, Western Command on 04 Apr 2019.

(f)       Jad Ganga-II Bridge (span 45 Mtr PSC Box Girder Bridge Cl 70 R)on RoadNaga- Sonam under Project Shivalik in the state of Uttarakhand by Lt Gen HarishThukral, PVSM, SM, GOC UB Area on 06 Jun 2019.

(g)      Malot Bridge (span 45 Mtr PSC Box Girder Bridge Cl 70 R) on road Simli –Gwaldam under Project Shivalik in the state of Uttarakhand by Shri TrivendraSingh          Rawat, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Uttarakhand on 14 Jun 2019.

(h)     Ujh Bridge (span 1000 m, Cl 70)on Parol - Korepannu - Rajpura road under          Project Sampark in Jammu & Kashmir Region by Shri Rajnath Singh,Hon’ble Raksha Mantri on 20 Jul 2019 in the presence of Dr. Jitendra Singh,Hon'ble MoS, PMO and COAS.

(j)       Basantar Bridge (span 617.40 m, Cl 70) on Rajpura - Madwal - Pangadur -Phulpur road under Project Sampark in Jammu & Kashmir Region by Shri Rajnath      Singh, Hon’ble Raksha Mantri on 20 Jul 2019 in the presence of Dr.JitendraSingh, MoS, PMO and COAS.

(k)      Zanskar Bridge (span 70 Mtr, Cl 70) on Nimmu-Padam-Darcha road under          Project Vijayak in Ladakh Region by Lt Gen Harpal Singh, AVSM, VSM,Director       General Border Roads on 29 Aug 2019.

(l)       Col ChewangRinchen, MVC*, SM Bridge (span 430 Mtr (10 Spans of 43 MtrTriple Double Reinforced Extra Wide Bailey Bridge over Micro Pile foundation), Cl70) on D-S-DBO road under Project Himank in Ladakh Region by Shri RajnathSingh, Hon’ble Raksha Mantri on 21 Oct 19.

(m)     Nurla  Bridge (span 85 Mtr, Cl 70) on Zojila-Kargil-Leh road (NH 1) underProject Vijayak in Ladakh        Region by Shri JamyangTsering Namgyal MPLadakh       on 04 Nov 19.

(n)     Sisseri Bridge (span 200 metre / Cl–70 R) on road Ranaghat– Mebo–Dambuk – Bomjir (NH-13) under Project Brahmank in the state of ArunachalPradesh by Shri Rajnath Singh, Raksha Mantri on 15 Nov 2019.

Completion of Bridges.     The following bridges have been completed:-●

 

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S/No Name of Br Road Span State(a) Sidhar Jauljibi - Munsiari 40 m, Cl-70 Uttarakhand(b) Sirali Jauljibi - Munsiari 45 m, Cl-70 Úttarakhand(c) Bhowlikhalta Jauljibi - Munsiari 45 m, Cl-70 Uttarakhand(d) Charigad Jauljibi - Munsiari 85 m, Cl-70 Uttarakhand(e) Dongatoli Pithoragarh - Tawaghat 30 m, Cl-70 Uttarakhand

(f) Tawangchu Balipara - Charduar 50 m, Cl- 70ArunachalPradesh

(g) SukhaO r a n g - K a l k t a n g -Shergaon - Rupa - Tenga

45 m, Cl- 70ArunachalPradesh

(h) Daraj Rajouri - Kandi - Bhudhal 72 m, Cl-70Jammu &Kashmir

(j) Puneja Basoli - Bani – Bhaderwah 50 m, CL-70Jammu &Kashmir

(k) Jadganga-I Nelong –Naga 40 Mtr/ CL-70 R, Uttarakhand(l) Punar Joshimath –Malari 35 Mtr/CL-70 R Uttarakhand

(m) Karcha-II Bhaironghati- Nelong 50 Mtr/CL-70 R Uttarakhand(n) Kulanagad Pithoragarh-Tawaghat 45 Mtr/CL-70 R Uttarakhand(o) Dobat-I Pithoragarh-Tawaghat 40 Mtr/CL-70 R Uttarakhand(p) Khandpair Jauljibi-Munsiari 45 Mtr/CL-70 R Uttarakhand

(q) Uletopko Zozila-Kargil-Leh 35 Mtr/CL-70 RJammu &Kashmir

 

· Completion of Roads.   The under mentioned roads have been completed:-

          (a)      Joshimath- Malari                                                - 62.67 Km

          (b)      Naga – Sonam                                             - 11.20 Km 

          (c)      Musapani-Ghastoli                                               - 7.40 Km

          (d)      Tri Jn-Bheem Base-Dokala                         - 19.72 Km

          (e)      Nacho -Tama Chung Chung                       - 53.55 Km

(f)       Girthidobla - Sumna                                   - 7.05 Km

(g)      Sasoma - Saserla                                        - 52.39 Km

          (h)     Koyul-Photile-Chusumule-Zursar                        - 80.30 Km

          (j)       Damchu-Haa Link of NHDL specification             - 12.80 Km 

 

· Opening of Passes. Imp passes were opened for traffic after timely Snow clearance asunder:-

         

S/No Name of Rd Pass Date of opened for Traffic

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(a) Razdhan Pass 06 May 2019

(b) Zojila Pass 28 Apr 2019

(c) Rohtang Pass 19 May 2019

(d) Baralachla Pass un 20191.

 

Indo-China Border Roads (ICBRs).BRO has been entrusted with 61 Indo - ChinaBorder Roads (ICBRs) having length of 3346 Km. Till date 75% road length has beenblack topped and 98 % has been connected. As on date 36 roads of length 2501 Kmhave been completed.

●

Underwater Tunnel Across Brahmaputra:  The Approval-in-Principle has beenaccorded by MoD. The proposal includes 02 road tubes and 01 rail Tube. BRO hasfloated a Global RFP for DPR on 15 Oct 2019 with extended date of opening oftechnical bid on 22 Jan 2020.

●

Nimmu-Padam-Darcha (N-P-D) Road And Tunnels.Nimmu-Padam -Darcha (N-P-D)road is 297 Km long which takes off at Km 400 of Srinagar-Kargil-Leh road, 34 Kmshort of Leh in J&K state and terminates at Darcha at Km 145 of Manali-Leh road inHimachal Pradesh. Initially in 2002 this road was conceived to be developed to Cl-9(Single lane) specification under PM package for J&K. However, due to variousreasons including operational, during the year 2007, it was decided to develop thisroad to National Highway Double Lane specification. Out of 297.00 Km connectivityachieved for 257.55 Km.

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national cadet corps (NCC)

Penetration into Remote/LWE Areas: NCC has been constantly making efforts toenhance its presence in remote/LWE areas and costal/border areas. Approx. 35% ofnewly raised units i.e. 18 units with 54,000 cadets of ongoing 2.0 lakh cadetexpansion, are in such areas.

●

 

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan: From August 08 – October 27, this year over 10.5 lakhcadets took part voluntarily in various cleanliness drives.

●

Swachhta Abhayan: Since Jan 2017, NCC Cadets have been associated withSwachhta based activities, to include Eight Fortnight Swachhta based Pakhwada. Amega Swachhta Pakhwada was conducted from September 11 till October 27, withmajor focus on Plastic Waste Management, as part of Swachhta Hi Sewa (SHS) Planof the PM in which over 9 lakh cadets participated. As part of Mega SwachhtaPakhwada, to spread awareness Pan India Relay Cycle Rallies encompassing bothInter & Intra State started on August 08 from all four corners of the country andcovered almost all the States/UTs.

a.

Mega Pollution Pakhwada: An Anti-Pollution Pakhwada was conducted byapprox.fivelakh cadets of NCC, pan India, from 01-31 July. Rallies and Awareness

b.

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Campaigns on all types of Pollution i.e. Air, Water, Land & Noise were covered in thesame.MoD Swachhta Pakhwada: Over 7.5 lakh cadets participated in Swachhta Pakhwadafortnight from 01-15 December. On 07 December, approx. 4.5 lakh cadetsparticipated in Plog Runs Pan India based on Plastic Removal theme.

c.

World Water Day (March 22): Approx. 78,000 NCC Cadets Pan India participated inWater conservation rallies/ programmes.

●

Anti-Drug Abuse & Illicit Trafficking Day (June 26): As part of our Social Service andCommunity Development Action Plan, approx. 95,000 NCC cadets participated invarious rallies and awareness programmes Pan India.

●

Tree Plantation: Approx. 4.2 lakh saplings have been planted by NCC Cadets this yearincluding a Special Drive to celebrate Independence Day.

●

Blood Donation: Approximately one lakh units of blood was donated through linkedcivil voluntary programmes and a special Drive on the occasion of NCC Day onNovember 19.

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International Yoga Day:  In keeping up with our set tradition last year, this year alsoon June 21, over 7.38 lakh cadets participated in the event in around 6, 400 differentvenues.

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Disaster Relief: NCC cadets were actively involved in assisting the civiladministration in relief operations during the Bihar, Kerala, and Maharashtra floodsand the damage due to cyclone in Odisha.

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****

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Source : www.indianexpress.com Date : 2020-01-02

THE ABCDEF OF IMPLEMENTATIONRelevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Government policies & interventions for development in various

Sectors and issues arising out of their design & implementation incl. Housing

The proverb “the proof of the pudding is in the eating” perfectly summarises this government’sdelivery first approach to governance — the policy of implementation. Governments have alwaysfocused on designing the right policies and development schemes. However, over the years,many such well-designed schemes failed to make a significant dent on the lack of access tobasic services that a large proportion of our population faced. While the focus on design andpolicy architecture may have been well meaning, there may not have been a strong enoughfocus on ensuring that these policies translate to effective implementation on the ground.

A prime minister in the 1980s had famously said that of every rupee spent by the government,only 15 paise reached the intended beneficiaries. This statement symbolised the skew inemphasis on “policy” in favour of “implementation”.

OPINION | On the reform track: Indian Railways needs restructuring and modernisation,efforts since 2014 are bearing fruit

This government has attempted to change things. There has been a relentless emphasis ontaking all schemes to fruition on the ground, with the final delivery being the only metric ofsuccess. In the past five years, rural India has seen a massive transformation in access to basicservices like electricity, cooking fuel, toilets, houses and bank accounts. These transformationshave been at unprecedented scale and speed. The Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), in particular,has achieved what no one gave it a chance of achieving when it was audaciously announced bythe prime minister during his first Independence Day address from the Red Fort. The journeyhas thrown up six important guiding principles which can be applied to any large transformationscheme — the ABCEDF of implementation.

A — Align: Different people at different positions may have competing priorities. A goalcongruence has to be achieved across the administrative ecosystem. After the PM announcedthe SBM, the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation had to ensure that the samemessage percolated down to the chief ministers, 700 district collectors and 2,50,000sarpanches. This was achieved through a continuous engagement with the states. Team SBM-Grameen visited each state multiple times and also engaged directly with district collectorsthrough learning workshops, informal gatherings and WhatsApp groups, ensuring that sanitationremained on top of everyone’s agenda. The three layers of the PM-CM-DM model working incohesion is the first and most important step towards policy translating into real delivery.

B — Believe: Often when faced with a seemingly unsurmountable goal, teams that don’tgenuinely believe that the goal can be achieved find themselves not motivated enough, andhence not trying hard enough and not achieving results — a self-fulfilling prophecy. The nextimportant step was building a team of people who believed that the goal is achievable. Youngerpeople with fresh perspective and lesser administrative baggage believe more easily and focuson finding creative solutions. The SBM brought in a unique blend of young professionals andexperienced but driven bureaucrats, at the centre and in the states, and each person quicklybecame a believer.

C — Communicate: At its core, the SBM is a behaviour change programme. Communication atall levels, above and below the line, mass and inter-personal, was fundamental to the SBM. Anarmy of trained grassroots volunteers called Swachagrahis were created, who went from door to

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door to communicate the message of swachhata. And then the SBM attempted to makesanitation glamorous by engaging extensively with the media, leveraging popular culture, andassociating Bollywood stars, sportspersons and other influencers to promote the message ofsanitation. And lastly, the Mission kept the buzz alive throughout its life-cycle through regular,large-scale events with the PM at important milestones, helping sanitation stay on top of publicrecall. A recent study by Dalberg estimated that each rural Indian was reached by SBMmessaging about 3,000 times over the past five years. Such was the effectiveness of SBM’scommunication. Of course, we had a big advantage — the PM was our Communicator-in-Chief!

OPINION | Strategic Science & Technology ties between countries the only way toaddress climate change

D — Democratise: As the prime minister has said on many occasions, the SBM became a JanAndolan. It nudged people to realise that sanitation is not an individual good, but a communitygood, as its full benefits accrue only when it is universal. Over the years, everyone became astakeholder and sanitation became everyone’s business. People constructed their own toiletsand motivated others, communities planned activities and monitored progress, villages declaredthemselves open defecation free (ODF). Even corporates, NGOs, civil society organisations andother government ministries and departments played a role in mainstreaming sanitation.

E — Evaluate: The SBM was operating at a massive scale in a largely decentralised manner.As progress started surpassing expectations, many people questioned the veracity of officialadministrative progress figures. And hence, it became even more important to encourage third-party monitoring of progress and evaluate outputs, outcomes and impacts to reinforce thecredibility and keep the implementers motivated. At the same time, pockets of excellenceemerged which deserved to be studied and shared with others to replicate. Organisations suchas the World Bank, UNICEF, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and WHO conducted variousassessments of sanitation coverage and usage, successes and areas of improvement, as wellas the health, economic and social impacts of the SBM. India became the global laboratory forsanitation. Lessons from these studies were incorporated into the programme in real-time.

F — Follow-through: The PM said on October 2 while commemorating the ODF declaration byall states that this is but a milestone and not the finish line. There is a strong focus on notdeclaring “mission accomplished”, and continuing to work towards sustaining the ODF behaviourand ensuring that no one is left behind. We recently released a forward-looking 10-yearsanitation strategy, articulating the goal of moving from ODF to ODF Plus. This post-deliveryfollow through is a critical to ensure that the change becomes the norm and that things don’treset to what they used to be in the past. Only then will the delivery be truly complete.

Learning from these guiding principles, the government is continuing in its quest to deliver basicservices to the people of India. In his first Independence Day speech of his second term, theprime minister announced an even more ambitious goal — of providing piped water supply to allhouseholds by 2024. And aligning with this goal, the Jal Jeevan Mission is being designed todeliver, based on the ABCDEF of implementation.

The writer is secretary, Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of JalShakti.Views are personal

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Source : www.thehindu.com Date : 2020-01-03

A WEAK TEST: THE HINDU EDITORIAL ON SWACHHRANKING OF CITIES

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Health & Sanitation and related issues

The NDA government’s Swachh Survekshan, the ranking system for clean cities, was rolled outfour years ago as the answer to a problem that municipal law failed to solve. Sanitation andpublic health are responsibilities of State governments, and it is no secret that they havespectacularly failed at managing growing volumes of municipal and hazardous waste. Theproblem has only been compounded by the absence of plans that take a holistic view ofhousing, sanitation, water supply, waste management and transport. Ahead of the launch ofSwachh Survekshan 2020, the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs is once againtrying to stir up competition among cities, by pre-ranking them for their performance during 2019and assigning points to be added this year. As an idea, unleashing the competitive spirit amongStates may seem appealing, but in reality, the problems confronting urban India require large-scale infrastructure creation, full adherence to legal requirements on waste management, andtransparent technical audits. Many cities remain clueless on handling their waste, one shockingexample being the rising mountain of garbage at the Ghazipur landfill in Delhi. Ironically,Bhopal, which figures among the top five cleanest cities under the just-released list, continues tolive with the effects of the gas disaster of 1984. Ranks and prizes clearly cannot solve thenational waste management crisis.

Looking ahead to the next edition of the Survekshan, the Urban Affairs Ministry has identifiedambitious targets: “100% processing and safe disposal of waste, complete faecal sludge andseptage management, and wastewater treatment and reuse.” These are major tasks. TheMinistry has also sanctioned funds under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and UrbanTransformation (AMRUT) to help States set up facilities necessary to manage waste. Statesshould ask for extended funding under such schemes to create the infrastructure for a future-focused clean-up and, simultaneously, institute measures to reduce waste. The emphasisworldwide is on creating a circular economy centred at the principle of material recovery from allkinds of waste, reuse, recycling and reduced pressure on natural resources. A sound ranking ofcities and towns would naturally give the highest weightage to this dimension of sustainablemanagement, replacing symbolism with an environmentally sound approach. Such rigour inpolicy formulation can make the Centre’s goal of eliminating single-use plastic by 2022 seemmore realistic, and industry would find a compelling reason to switch to alternatives. RetoolingSwachh Survekshan 2020 to go beyond perception management and adopt sustainability isessential to make it a genuine contest.

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Source : www.livemint.com Date : 2020-01-03

A FAULTY SERVICE DELIVERY SYSTEM COULDTHWART ANY RURAL STIMULUS

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Government policies & interventions for development in variousSectors and issues arising out of their design & implementation incl. Housing

Most of our major schemes aimed at improving lives in rural India suffer from governmentapathy

The regular flow of data confirms our worst fears about the economy. With the index of industrialproduction (IIP) declining successively in September and August, there are serious concernsabout jobs and incomes in the manufacturing sector. Construction has failed to recover too.Even service sector growth is a slowdown story once government expenditure is taken out.Private investment shows no sign of recovery and consumption continues to show a loss ofpace. With exports also continuing their decline and signs emerging of rising inflation driven byfood inflation, the task of reviving the economy is tougher than imagined.

There is also a consensus that the rural economy needs a stimulus if demand has to improve inthe economy. At the same time, government has continued to make bold claims of increasingtransfers to the rural economy in the last five years. However, most of these claims are based ondubious administrative data from departments responsible for managing various schemes.Some of these claims could have been checked had the government allowed the release ofIndia’s full consumption expenditure survey of 2017-18. Leaked estimates suggest thatconsumption expenditure declined by almost 10% in rural areas, where most of the schemeswere implemented. The puzzle then is why consumption declined if government transfers wentup in the period this government has been in power.

Reports of the National Statistics Office (NSO) suggest that the problem may lie in a brokendelivery system and exaggerated claims of transfers by the government. Not only weregovernment claims found to be at variance with actual survey data, these also suggest seriousproblems of service delivery of government schemes. A recent report by the Comptroller andAuditor General (CAG) has not only flagged a decline in consumption of LPG cylinder refillsunder the Ujjwala scheme, but also highlighted cases of the delivery of cylinders to minors andunidentified beneficiaries. It also flagged other odd numbers recorded. For example, 1.4 millionbeneficiary families consumed anywhere between 3 and 41 cylinders each in a month, which isdifficult to believe, given that most of them are poor.

Similar discrepancies have been noted on claims of toilet construction between data from NSOsurveys and administrative data. As against the claim of several states being classified as“open-defecation free", the surveys show the proportion of our population with toilets and accessto these at much lower levels than the figures claimed by the government. It is difficult to believethat people in rural areas will under-reporttoilets at home, given that these are clearly identifiablestructures.

The largest scheme, of transferring cash to farmers as part of the Pradhan Mantri KisanSamman Nidhi Yojana, has also run into trouble, with only 76.2 million people having receivedthe money until 30 November 2019. Of these, only 31.2 million farmers have received all threeinstalments, as against a target of 140 million farmers. With less than one-fourth of farmershaving received the full amount, the scheme has failed to provide the relief intended.

Among other major schemes, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) is

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already suffering from delayed wage payments and non-availability of work. With NREGS wagesalmost half the market rate, the scheme has lost its ability to play the role of demand multiplier.Similar is the case of the Public Distribution System (PDS) with the government sitting on largestocks of foodgrains, instead of releasing these staples through the system. It has alreadyaffected the procurement of grains by the Food Corporation of India, which is struggling withhuge stocks and debt due to non-payment of the government subsidy.

There is now an urgent need to revive the rural economy. Public-expenditure-led interventionscould have provided the necessary stimulus to raise demand in the rural economy.Unfortunately, the situation on the ground suggests that most schemes are suffering from lack offinancial and administrative support. However, even with financial and administrative support,these will be able to impact rural incomes only if the country’s broken service delivery regime isrepaired and made efficient.

If the government is serious about reviving the economy, fixing that delivery mechanism shouldbe as big a priority as the need for increased spending through a rural stimulus package.

*Himanshu is associate professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University and visiting fellow at theCentre de Sciences Humaines, New Delhi.

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Source : www.thehindu.com Date : 2020-01-03

DELIVERING TB VACCINE INTRAVENOUSLY VASTLYIMPROVES EFFICACY: STUDY

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Health & Sanitation and related issues

The tuberculosis vaccine, known as BCG(Bacille Calmette-Guérin) is a live, weakened form ofvaccine that protects infants from deadly forms of TB but the protection wears off and thevaccine does not protect adults from the most common form of TB — pulmonary TB —especially in people living in endemic countries.

But a study carried out in rhesus macaques, which are even more susceptible to TB thanpeople, shows that a higher dose of the vaccine administered intravenously confers very highlevel of protection to monkeys when exposed to TB-causing bacteria six months aftervaccination.

The researchers found that by merely changing the route of vaccine administration from skin(intradermal) to directly injecting it into blood flowing in the vein(intravenous) conferred greaterprotection to monkeys. Nine of the 10 animals that received the vaccine were highly protectedwhen exposed to the bacteria six months after vaccination. And six of the 10 monkeys did notshow any detectable signs of infection.

The research was carried out by a team of researchers led by scientists from the University ofPittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, U.S. and the National Institute of Allergy andInfectious Diseases (NIAID), U.S. and the results were published in the journal Nature.

“When we compared the lungs of animals given the vaccine intravenously versus the standardroute, we saw a 100,000-fold reduction in bacterial burden. Nine out of 10 animals showed noinflammation in their lungs,” Prof. JoAnne Flynn from the University of Pittsburgh School ofMedicine, Pittsburgh and one of the senior authors of the paper says in a University release.“The reason the intravenous route is so effective is because the vaccine travels quickly throughthe bloodstream to the lungs, the lymph nodes and the spleen, and it primes the T cells before itgets killed,” Prof. Flynn says.

The safety and efficacy of the vaccine when administrated intravenously is yet to be tested onhumans. But when such trials on humans is undertaken, the most likely candidates will bechildren about 10 years old, as they have more mature immune systems, Dr. Robert A. Sederfrom NIAID and corresponding author of the paper told The New York Times.

The researchers next plan to test whether lower doses of intravenous BCG vaccine could offerthe same level of protection without the side effects, which mostly consist of temporaryinflammation in the lungs.

The study provides a “paradigm shift towards developing vaccines focused on preventing TBinfection to prevent latency, active disease and transmission” in adolescents or adults, whichcould have the greatest effect on reducing tuberculosis transmission. However, more skill wouldbe needed to administer intravenous vaccine. It also carries a higher risk of infection, the releasesays.

According to The New York Times, the reason why the intravenous route was tested is becauseDr. Seder had used the same strategy in the case of the experimental malaria vaccine, whichshowed better priming of the immune system.

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For the trial the researchers administered the vaccine at standard and higher dosage andthrough five different routes:

While animals that received the vaccine through the skin or by aerosol showed “partialprotection”, nine of the 10 monkeys that received the vaccine directly into the blood werecompletely protected. The researchers studied granuloma formation in the lungs after TBinfection to understand active disease. By four weeks, granulomas were seen in monkeys in allgroups, including those that received the vaccine intravenously. However, animals in theintravenous group had fewer granulomas compared with the normal dose intradermal group,and six of the 10 animals did not show any granuloma throughout the infection.

When the researchers sacrificed the animals at the end of the study, no detectable TB bacteriain any organ were found in six of the 10 monkeys that received the vaccine intravenously; threeother monkeys from the same group had fewer colonies of TB bacteria within just onegranuloma.

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Source : www.pib.nic.in Date : 2020-01-03

YEAR END REVIEW: MINISTRY OF SCIENCE ANDTECHNOLOGY

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Government policies & interventions for development in variousSectors and issues arising out of their design & implementation incl. Housing

Ministry of Science & Technology

Year End Review: Ministry of Science and Technology

India launches “Green Crackers” in its bid to curb airpollution; First Indigenous Fuel Cell System launched

DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill -2019 passed in Lok Sabha

India adopted redefined global units of measurement ofkilogram, Kelvin, mole and ampere from 20th May 2019 i.e.the World Metrology Day

Posted On: 01 JAN 2020 2:40PM by PIB Delhi

Indian Science Congress (ISC), 2019 held at Jalandhar

Indian Science Congress (ISC) 2019 was inaugurated by Prime Minister ShriNarendra Modi on 3rd January. The 106th Session of Indian Science Congress, 2019was held from January 3-7, 2019 at Lovely Professional University, Jalandhar, andPunjab.

During the Congress, significant lectures from three Nobel Laureates; 20 PlenarySessions & several sectional symposia with top authorities from DRDO, ISRO, DST,ICAR, CSIR, ICMR, AICTE, NAAC, UGC, ISCA, the USA, UK Universities, wereattended by nearly 30,000 participants. More than fifteen thousand delegatesparticipated at this scientific meet.

“The DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill - 2019” passed inLok Sabha:

In a landmark decision, the Lok Sabha passed “The DNA Technology (Use andApplication) Regulation Bill - 2019” on 8th January, 2019. The Bill has beenformulated recognizing the need for regulation of the use and application ofDeoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) technology, for establishing identity of missing persons,victims, offenders, under trials and unknown deceased persons.

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MoU signed for Inter-Ministerial Cooperation for Promotion and Facilitation ofAgricultural Biotechnology Research and Education:

The DBT and ICAR entered into Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 15th

January, 2019 for much-needed emphasis on multi-disciplinary R&D activities andnurturing innovations in Agricultural Biotechnology Research and Education.

Highlighting the importance of the MoU, Secretary DBT, Mrs. Renu Swarup said thatfive to ten focused programmes both short, medium and long term will be developedand implemented. Major facilities and technology platforms created by both theagencies will be accessible to the National systems and a joint working group will beconstituted to take the partnership forward.

Chief Executive of UK Research and Innovation addresses Prime Minister’sScience, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC):

On 16th January, the Chief Executive of UK Research and Innovation, ProfessorMark Walport, during his two-day visit to Delhi, at the invitation of Principal ScientificAdviser to the Government of India, Professor K. Vijay Raghavan met and addressedthe Prime Minister’s Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC).

Chaired by Professor K. Vijay Raghavan, the PM-STIAC is an overarching body thatassesses specific science and technology domains in India, and formulatesinterventions and roadmaps. It advises the India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi onall matters of science, technology and innovation.

One Health India Conference, 2019 held:

Two-day long One Health India Conference, 2019 was inaugurated on 18th Februaryin New Delhi. The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science andTechnology in partnership with the Departments of Agriculture Research andEducation (DARE) and Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries (DAHDF), Ministry ofAgriculture & Farmers’ Welfare; the Departments of Health Research (DHR) andHealth & Family Welfare (DHFW), Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, hosted the“One Health India Conference”. The conference aimed to launch India's new OneHealth Initiative - an inter-sectoral approach to tackling the most urgent health threatsin India as well as in low and middle income countries across South and South EastAsia and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Department of Biotechnology celebrates its 33rd Foundation Day:

The Department of Biotechnology in the Ministry of Science and Technology,Government of India, celebrated its 33rd Foundation Day in New Delhi on 26th

February with the theme as "Celebrating Biotechnology: Building Indian as anInnovation Nation". On the occasion, Union Minister for Science & Technology, Dr.Harsh Vardhan gave away the Biotechnology Research Innovation and TechnologyExcellence (BRITE) awards.

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The Minister announced key missions at the foundation day ceremony including AtalJaiAnusandhan Biotech Mission - Undertaking Nationally Relevant TechnologyInnovation (UNaTI), which is expected to transform Health, Agriculture and Energysectors during the next 5 years. This mission included GARBH-ini - A Mission topromote Maternal and Child Health and develop prediction tools for pre-term berth,IndCEPI - A Mission to develop affordable vaccines for endemic diseases,Development of Biofortified and Protein Rich wheat - contributing to POSHANAbhiyan, Mission on Anti Microbial Resistance for Affordable Diagnostics andTherapeutics and Clean Energy Mission - Innovative Technology interventions forSwachh Bharat.

Cabinet approves MoU between India and UK on Cancer Research Initiative:

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 7th March, 2019,has approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and U.K. onCancer Research Initiative. The MoU was signed on 14th November 2018.

Photo Exhibition titled "Celebrating Indian Women in Science: An IncredibleJourney" organised:

The Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology, Government ofIndia in Partnership with India International Centre, New Delhi, organized a PhotoExhibition on 7th March, 2019, titled "Celebrating Indian Women in Science: AnIncredible Journey". The aim of the exhibition was to remember, acknowledge andshowcase the stories of great Indian women scientists on International women’s day,who have contributed to the development of science through their outstanding work.

Cabinet approves five years’ extension of Biomedical Research CareerProgramme:

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, on 27th Marchapproved the continuation of the Biomedical Research Career Programme (BRCP),and Wellcome Trust (WT)/DBT India Alliance beyond its initial 10-year term (2008-09to 2018-29) to a new five year phase (2019-20 to 2023-24) with Department ofBiotechnology (DBT) increasing its commitment to two times that of WT. The totalfinancial implication will be Rs. 1092 crore with DBT and WT contributing Rs.728crore and Rs.364 crore respectively.

Government and IIT-Delhi to set up a Centre of Excellence for Waste to WealthTechnologies:

The Principal Scientific Advisor to the Govt of India, Prof K. Vijay Raghavan andDirector, IIT Delhi, Prof V. Ramgopal Rao signed a Memorandum of Understandingon 2nd May, in New Delhi for setting up a Centre of Excellence for Waste to WealthTechnologies for implementation of sustainable, scientific and technological solutionsfor waste management, through validation and deployment of available technologiesfor transformation of waste to wealth.

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MoU for Joint Collaboration on Cancer Research:

The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), M/o Science and Technology and theDepartment of Atomic Energy (DAE), Government of India on 22nd May signed anMoU for supporting joint collaborative research programmes in the area of Cancer.This MOU shall help strengthen the various initiatives specifically for cancer viz.Strategizing and prioritizing cancer research, development of new and affordabletechnologies, jointly design and fund clinical trials, coordinate and collaborate fortranslational research, interventions, training of manpower and infrastructuredevelopment.

Launch of electronic collection facility of Non-Tax Receipts of Survey of IndiaThe electronic collection facility for the costs of maps and other publicationswill now be available at all the sale counters of Survey of India (SoI). This willhelp students, researchers and other customers to buy what they would needusing credit/ debit cards etc.

Cabinet approves signing of Memorandum of Understanding between India andThailand in the field of Astronomy (12th June):

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, was apprisedof a Memorandum of Understanding on the cooperation between India and Thailandin the field of Astronomy / Astrophysics / Atmospheric Science. The MoU will lead tonew scientific results, human resource development through increased scientificinteraction and training, joint use of scientific infrastructure etc. The MoU was signedin November, 2018.

Cabinet approves Intimation of Letter of Intent between India and Costa Rica inthe field of Biotechnology:

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, was apprisedof signing of Lotter of Intent (LOI) between India and Costa Rica in the field ofBiotechnology.

Cabinet approves Inter-Institutional Agreement between India and USA forcooperation in the field of medicine:

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 17th July gave ex-post facto approval to the Inter-Institutional Agreement between India and the USA inthe areas of regenerative medicine and 3D bioprinting, new technologies, exchangeof scientific ideas/information and technologies, and joint use of scientificinfrastructure.

Drones to undertake Large scale Mapping of Village areas in Maharashtra:

Survey of India, the national mapping agency of the country under the Min of Science& Technology has signed an MoU with Department of revenue & Land records, Govtof Maharashtra to undertake the Large scale Mapping of Village Gaothan (Aabadi)

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areas in the State of Maharashtra using drones.

India joins the Global Antimicrobial Resistance Research and DevelopmentHub:

India joined the Global Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Research and Development(R&D) Hub as a new member on 12th September. This expands the globalpartnership working to address challenges and improve coordination andcollaboration in global AMR R&D to 16 countries, the European Commission, twophilanthropic foundations and four international organisations (as observers).

National Centre for Clean Coal Research & Development inaugurated atBengaluru:

Union Minister of Science & Technology, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, inaugurated theNational Centre for Clean Coal Research and Development at Indian Institute ofScience (IISc)-Bengaluru on  16th September. Government of India throughDepartment of Science & Technology, has set up the National Centre for Clean CoalResearch and Development (NCCCR&D) as a national level consortium on cleancoal R&D, led by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc)-Bengaluru.

Government launches ‘UMMID’ initiative to tackle inherited genetic diseases ofnew born babies:

The Union Minister for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Health & FamilyWelfare, Dr. Harsh Vardhan on 23rd September launched UMMID (Unique Methodsof Management and treatment of Inherited Disorders) initiative and inauguratedNIDAN (National Inherited Diseases Administration) Kendras.

25th edition of DST-CII India Netherlands Technology Summit inaugurated atNew Delhi on 15th October:

Inaugurating the 25th edition of DST-CII India Netherlands Technology Summit atNew Delhi by His Majesty King Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands and UnionMinister for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Health & Family Welfare, Dr.Harsh Vardhan, expressed their pleasure at the successful collaboration in Science &Technology between the two countries. ‘NEXUS’ was the central theme of thesummit, discussing how to co-create on pioneering innovative solutions for globalchallenges related to water, food and good health for all.

Cabinet approves proposal for Agreement on Science and TechnologyCooperation between India and the United States of America:

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on  23rd Octoberapproved the proposal for Agreement on Science and Technology Cooperationbetween India and the United States of America. The Agreement would provide anopportunity to promote ‘high quality’ and ‘high impact’ research and innovationpartnerships as well as broadening and expanding relationships between the

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extensive scientific and technological communities.

Guidelines Released for Evaluation of Nanopharmaceuticals in India on 24th

October:

While releasing the guidelines, Dr. Harsh Vardhan informed that these “Guidelines forEvaluation of Nanopharmaceuticals in India” is one of the most important steps fordelineating quality, safety and efficacy assessment of the novel nanoformulations. Hefurther added that these guidelines are intended to provide transparent, consistentand predictable regulatory pathways for nanopharmaceuticals in India. The guidelineswill pave the way for significant benefits through such cutting edge technology andcontribute to the mission on “Affordable Health Care for All”.

India and Netherlands launched the second phase of the LOTUS-HR (LocalTreatment of Urban Sewage streams for Healthy Reuseplant) as a part of jointcollaboration:

During the visit of His Majesty King Willem-Alexander and Her Majesty, QueenMaxima of the Kingdom of the Netherlands a joint launch of the second phase of theLocal Treatment of Urban Sewage streams for Healthy Reuse (LOTUS-HR) programwas done by the Union Minister for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences andHealth & Family Welfare Dr. Harsh Vardhan on  5th October. The launch programmewas held during the visit of Netherlands King & the Queen to the India-Netherlandswater laboratory at the Barapullah drain in Delhi.

5th India International Science Festival held in Kolkata from 5th to 8thNovember, 2019:

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated via video conference, the 5th IndiaInternational Science Festival at Kolkata on 5th November. Addressing on theoccasion, Prime Minister said the theme of the festival “RISEN: Research, Innovationand Science Empowering the Nation” reflects the aspirations of 21st century India. Hesaid science and technology has a major impact on society, and thereforegovernment is providing the Institutional Support for both Invention and Innovation.Advocating for a strong ecosystem supporting Science and Technology, he saidevery effort is being taken to support innovation in the country.

India’s first-ever global Mega-Science exhibition, ‘Vigyan Samagam’,inaugurated at the Science City in Kolkata (4th November):

This multi-venue Science Exhibition, after its successful journey in Mumbai andBengaluru, opened for public in Kolkata from 4th November till December 31, 2019.The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Department of Science and Technology(DST), the funding agencies of these projects and the National Council of ScienceMuseums (NCSM), Ministry of Culture, who are venue partners and having expertisein design and hosting such exhibitions, have joined hands to organize this prestigiousScience Exhibition.

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3-day Global Bio-India Summit, 2019 inaugurated (21st November):

Union Ministers Dr. Harsh Vardhan and Shri Dharmendra Pradhan also inauguratedthe Global Bio-India Exhibition. Global Bio-India is one of the largest biotechnologystakeholders conglomerate being held in India for the first time. Over 3,000 delegatesfrom around 25 countries and over 15 states of India are participating in the megaevent.

5th Meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)

The 5th Meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Member States’Heads of Ministries and Departments of Science and Technology and PermanentWorking Group on S&T Cooperation concluded in Moscow, Russia on 21st

November. Secretary, DSIR & DG, CSIR, Dr. Shekhar C. Mande, led the Indiandelegation. India will be the host of Council of Heads of Government (PrimeMinisters) of SCO Member States in 2020, which will approve the Draft SCORoadmap on cooperation between research institutions of SCO Member States forthe period 2021-2023.

Global Bio-India Awards presented on 22nd November:

Presenting the awards, the Union Minister of Railways and Minister of Commerce &Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal said the Government has simplified the Patents regimefor Start-ups, MSMEs among others to encourage innovation. He assured theDepartment of Industrial will extend all support to new and emerging enterprises inBiotechnology sector.

8th Foundation Day of Global Innovation and Technology Alliance (GITA) (PPPbetween Department of Science & Technology (DST) and Confederation ofIndian Industry (CII)) held on 28th November:

Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare, Science & Technology and EarthSciences, Dr. Harsh Vardhan recognized and felicitated the exceptional performanceof GITA project in contributing towards enhancing the country’s innovationecosystem. The theme of the event was ‘Making India Future Ready’.

 

Prime Minister confers Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar (SSB) prizes for the years2016, 2017 and 2018:

The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi conferred Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar (SSB)prizes for the years 2016, 2017 and 2018 in New Delhi on 28th February. The SSBprize is awarded each year on the basis of conspicuously important and outstandingcontributions to human knowledge and progress, made through work done primarilyin India during the five years, preceding the year of the prize.

Redefined units of measurement of kilogram, Kelvin, mole and ampere

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implented in India by CSIR-NPL:

After decades of ground-breaking laboratory works, the world’s scientific andtechnical community, in a landmark and historic decision taken in the recent opensession of the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) at BIPM on16th November 2018, has unanimously adopted the resolution to redefine four of theseven base units, the kilogram (SI unit of weight), Kelvin (SI unit of temperature),mole (SI unit of amount of substance), and ampere (SI unit of current). The new SI isbeing implemented worldwide from 20th May 2019 i.e. the World Metrology Day byCSIR-NPL in India.

NSG facility inaugurated at CSIR-CCMB:

Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Science and Technology and EarthSciences, Dr Harsh Vardhan inaugurated the Next Generation Sequencing (NSG)facility at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMC) in Hyderabad on 20th

July. The facility includes technology for high genome sequencing and also diagnosticsequencing of clinical samples. The state of art machine, acquired at a cost of Rs. 8crore can sequence 18,000 samples in 8 minutes. The NGS would help prenatalgenetic screening and counselling, thereby generating large scale genomic datacritical for diagnosis and therapy.

First Indigenous Fuel Cell System developed by CSIR launched on CSIRFoundation Day on 26th September 2019:

The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, on 26th September unveiled the firstIndigenous High Temperature Fuel Cell System developed by Council of Scientificand Industrial Research (CSIR) in partnership with Indian industries under India’sflagship program named “New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative(NMITLI)” on the occasion of CSIR Foundation Day in New Delhi. A unique exampleof Public-Private Partnership (PPP) among CSIR’s three Laboratories [CSIR-NCL,Pune; CSIR-NPL, New Delhi & CSIR-CECRI, Karaikudi (Chennai Center)] and twoIndian industries; M/s Thermax Limited, Pune and M/s Reliance Industries Limited,Mumbai exemplified exploiting materials of science developments at CSIRlaboratories into practice by Industry.

President of India presents awards for outstanding contributions in Scienceand Technology on the occasion of CSIR Foundation Day on 26th September:

The President lauded the accomplishments of CSIR and its technologicalinterventions towards the socio-economic development of the nation. The Presidentpresented the CSIR Technology Awards to teams of CSIR and the G.N.Ramachandran Gold Medal to Prof. Amitabha Chattopadhyay of CSIR-CCMB.

Union Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan  launches “Green Crackers” developed byCSIR  in a bid to curb air pollution on 5th October:

Green logo and QR coding system was also launched to track manufacture & sale of

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counterfeit crackers. Union Minister for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences andHealth and Family Welfare, Dr. Harsh Vardhan announced that Council of Scientificand Industrial Research (CSIR) labs have been successful in developing variousenvironment-friendly fireworks such as sound emitting crackers, flowerpots, pencils,chakkar and sparklers.

CSIR conducts Whole Genome Sequencing of over 1,000 Indians forBiomedical Applications:

The CSIR has conducted Whole Genome Sequencing of 1,008 Indians from differentpopulations across the country. Announcing details of the IndiGen Genome project,the Union Minister for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Health & FamilyWelfare, Dr Harsh Vardhan said that the whole genome data will be important forbuilding the knowhow, baseline data and indigenous capacity in the emerging area ofPrecision Medicine.

CSIR signs MoU with KVIC on promotion of honey production Khadi outlets toalso display CSIR products on 5th December:

The Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) has entered into aMemorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Khadi and Village IndustriesCommission (KVIC) to leverage the expertise available in CSIR with the effort ofKVIC for promotion of honey production and also to enable wider outreach of theCSIR technologies and products.

MOU signed between Ministry of AYUSH and Council of Scientific andIndustrial Research on 22nd April 2019

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between the Ministry of AYUSHand CSIR, New Delhi for cooperation in research and education in areas of traditionalsystems of medicine and its integration with modern science.

CSIR signs MoU with Indian Navy on 5th April 2019

The Indian Navy and CSIR signed a MoU to undertake joint research anddevelopment of advanced technologies for the Indian Navy. This will be acollaborative arrangement between labs of CSIR, the Indian Navy and Indianindustry.

 

HPCL & CSIR have developed BND

HPCL and CSIR–NPL released 26 Petroleum BNDs (Bharatiya Nideshak Dravya orIndian Reference Material) coinciding with the occasion of World Metrology Day.These will be of immense use for BS VI fuels and will save foreign exchange throughimport substitution for Certified Reference Materials (CRMs). This will providetraceability for all vital parameters of Petroleum products testing and certification

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comprising of 13 physical properties, 2 Physicochemical properties and 11 Chemicalproperties, including BND for sulfur content measurement at lower concentrationswhich will be of immense use for BS VI fuels.

CSIR and IIT Delhi Signed an MoU on 16th July 2019

CSIR and IIT Delhi, have entered into an agreement with five of the renownedNational Laboratories of CSIR Viz CSIR-Advanced Materials and ProcessesResearch Institute, CSIR-Central Scientific Instruments Organisation, CSIR-CentralElectronics Engineering Research Institute, CSIR-Institute of Minerals & MaterialsTechnology, CSIR-National Physical Laboratory. As a part of MoU, IIT Delhi plans topromote collaborative research, exchange of ideas, development of knowledge,enhancing high quality research throughput. IIT Delhi and CSIR aspire to leveragethe  mutual expertise to contribute to the socio economic needs of the country.

Union Minister of S&T Dr. Harsh Vardhan inaugurated a demonstration plant forconverting plastic waste to diesel

 

 Honourable Union Minister of S&T Dr. Harsh Vardhan inaugurated a demonstrationplant for converting plastic waste to diesel based on technology developed by CSIR-IIP. This plant can convert one tonne of plastic waste into 800 liters of diesel everyday that is of automotive grade and is in collaboration with Gas Authority of IndiaLimited (GAIL) India. 

CSIR-NPL designated as the National Verifciation Agency for Air qualitymonitoring instruments

Union environment ministry has designated CSIR-NPL as the national verificationagency for certifying instruments and equipment for monitoring emissions andambient air quality, which will assist in maintaining standards of instruments and dataof air quality being collected.

CSIR-IICT has signed a global licensing pact with Sun Pharma

CSIR-IICT has signed a global licensing pact with Sun Pharma for patents ondermatology, ophthalmology and oncology. Sun Pharma will pay upfront andmilestone linked payments upto Rs 240 crore and royalties to CSIR-IICT fromcommercialization.

 

Joint Workshops conducted by CSIR and Fraunhofer, Germany

Series of workshops were conducted between CSIR and Fraunhofer Institute,Germany towards Indo - German collaboration in Research and Innovation towardsleapfrogging in Frontier Technologies.

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CSIR and National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NationalInstitutes of Health) USA, signed an MoU

The MoU was to strengthen and develop research cooperation related toenvironmental health sciences with emphasis on understanding the health effectsassociated with exposure to air poluttants and other environmental chemicals. 

Smart Aerospace Composite Manufacturing Facility was inaugurated, by  UnionMinister of S&T and ES

Smart Aerospace Composite Manufacturing Facility was inaugurated, by Hon’bleUnion Minister of S&T and ES which will produce high quality lightweight polymercomposite airframes for the HANSA-NG program of CSIR-NAL and the presentprototyping facility shall produce 3 to 4 aircraft per year.

 Union Minister of S&T and ES inaugurated at CSIR-NCL Venture Center, aMedTech clean room facility

Hon’ble Union Minister of S&T and ES inaugurated at CSIR-NCL Venture Center, aMed Tech clean room facility which is designed for the manufacture of medicaldevices and diagnostic services for undertaking clinical study and testing purposes.This has the potential to boost the innovation ecosystem and startups in the medicaldevices sector.

International training programme on Petroleum Refining Technology andPetrochemicals conducted by CSIR-IIP

A eight weeks international training programme on Petroleum Refining Technologyand Petrochemicals was conducted by CSIR-IIP, Dehradun. About 15 foreignGovernment officials mainly from African countries participated in the programmeunder Indian Technical Economic Cooperation.

 

CSIR-NEERI, Nagpur launched the Indian air quality Interactive Repository orIndAIR

CSIR-NEERI, Nagpur launched the Indian air quality Interactive Repository orIndAIR which has archived approximately 700 scanned materials from pre-internetera (1950-1999), 1215 research articles, 170 reports and case studies, 100 casesand over 2,000 statues, to provide the history of air pollution research and legislationin the county. Such a repository on the subject of air pollution is one of the first in theworld.

 

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CSIR-TKDL (Traditional Knowledge Digital Library) signs Agreement withAsiam Agri History Foundation

An agreement with Asian Agri History Foundation, at Pant Nagar was signed byTKDL for cooperation related to digitization and inclusion of information on traditionalIndian agriculture and allied domains

CSIR has signed MoU with CNRS, France

MoU signed with CNRS, France for Promotion & Support of Scientific &Technological Research in areas of mutual interest including including plant andmarine biotechnology; health research; environment and climate change studies;engineering science and technology; material science and technology; energyscience and technology and water research.

CSIR-IHBT, Palampur and Ladakh Farmers and Producers Co-operativeLimited (LFPCL) have entered into an MoU

The MoU is to grow saffron in Ladakh using tissue culture technology for productionof disease free, healthy and flowering sized saffron corms in the non-traditionalareas of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Leh, North East and hilly regions of TamilLadu.

Zero Waste Potash technology developed by CSIR-CSMCRI

The efforts of CSIR scientists from CSIR-CSMCRI who have developed a technologyfor recovery valuable potash from spent wash and saves foreign exchanges andprevents hazardous spent wash being discarded was appreciated by  Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.

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Source : www.pib.nic.in Date : 2020-01-03

YEAR END REVIEW 2019: MINISTRY OF EARTHSCIENCES

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Government policies & interventions for development in variousSectors and issues arising out of their design & implementation incl. Housing

Ministry of Earth Science

Year End Review 2019: Ministry of Earth Sciences

Alerts for various cyclone storms during the year

Low cost device for ocean states forecast and mappingpotential fishing zones launched

Silver Jubilee celebrations of National Institute of OceanTechnology (NIOT) held in Chennai

Posted On: 01 JAN 2020 2:27PM by PIB Delhi

Alerts for various cyclone storms during the year:

During the year, various alerts and timely warnings were issued regarding Cyclonic storms,Heavy rainfall warning, Sea condition, Storm Surge Warning, Damage Expected, pre-cyclone alerts and expected damage, etc.

The alerts were issued for Cyclonic Storm ‘PABUK’ over Andaman Sea & neighbourhood,Cyclone ‘FANI’ over Southwest Bay & adjoining Southeast of Bengal, Cyclone Alert forOdisha, West Bengal & Srikakulam and Vijayanagaram Districts of Andhra PradeshCoasts, Cyclonic Storm ‘VAYU’ over Northeast & adjoining East central Arabian Sea,Depression over northwest Bay of Bengal off north Odisha – West Bengal coasts,Cyclonic Storm ‘HIKAA’ over northeast and adjoining east central Arabian sea andCyclonic Storm ‘BULBUL’ over northwest and adjoining West-Central Bay of Bengal.Other alerts like Snowfall over hills, hailstorms and Western Disturbance were alsodisseminated by issuing press releases. 

Low cost device for ocean states forecast and mapping potential fishing zones launched:

For seamless and effective dissemination of emergency information and communication ondisaster warnings, Potential Fishing Zones (PFZ) and Ocean States Forecasts (OSF) tofishermen, the Government on 9th October launched the Gagan Enabled Mariner’s Instrumentfor Navigation and Information (GEMINI) device. The Indian National Centre for OceanInformation Services (INCOIS), an autonomous body under the Ministry of Earth Sciences(MoES), joined hands with Airports Authority of India (AAI) to utilize the GAGAN (GPS AidedGeo Augmented Navigation) satellite system to transmit the PFZ, OSF and disaster warnings tofishermen with GAGAN system consisting of three geosynchronous satellites (GSAT-8, GSAT-10 and GSAT-15). GAGAN foot-print covers the entire Indian Ocean round the clock.

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Government launched Special Weather Services for Kumbh Mela at Prayagraj

The government on 14th January launched special weather services for the benefit of peoplevisiting Prayagraj during Kumbh Mela. The Kumbh Mela 2019 was held at Prayagraj duringJanuary-March 2019. A mobile application named "Kumbh Mela Weather Service" wasdeveloped to disseminate the live weather information (temperature, humidity, rainfall andwinds) as observed in all the above four sites. The Mobile App was available for downloadingfrom Google Store.

3-day International Symposium on “Advances in Agro-meteorology for managing climaticrisks of farmers” organised at New Delhi:

Considering the urgent need of sharing the agro-meteorological knowledge among researchers,policy makers, industry and farmers to learn from each other, identify the technologies/practicesand develop a roadmap for risk management, the Association of Agro Meteorologists (AAM)organized a 3-day International Symposium on “Advances in Agro Meteorology forManaging Climatic Risks of Farmers” (INAGMET-2019) at Jawaharlal Nehru University,New Delhi (India) beginning 11th February, 2019. The symposium was jointly organized withIndia Meteorological Department, Indian Centre of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-IndianAgricultural Research Institute and Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Vice President addressed the Silver Jubilee celebrations of NIOT in Chennai; soughtinnovative solutions to conserve water and tackle climate change, pollution:

Inaugurating the silver jubilee celebrations of National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) inChennai on 3rd November, the Vice President Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu said technology wasneeded for protection of coastal areas from negative impacts of climate change and fordevelopment of blue coastal infrastructure for the benefit of society.

The NIOT was established in November 1993 as an autonomous society under the Ministry ofEarth Sciences, Government of India by the then Department of Ocean Development. NIOT hasestablished itself as one of the premier institutes in the world, working on various oceantechnologies.

Visit of UK’s Prince Charles to India Meteorological Department

Prince Charles visited the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on 13th November, 2019. Dr.M. Rajeevan, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences and Dr. Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, DirectorGeneral of Meteorology, IMD welcomed His Royal Highness Prince Charles to IMD. DGM IMDhighlighted the evolution of cyclone warning system aftermath of Odisha Super Cyclone in 1999which led to loss of 10,000  human deaths to the current modernised early warning system ofIMD which has minimised the loss of lives to less than 100 due to very severe cyclonic stormscrossing the coast since 2013. The modernised system has not only helped India, but also the13 countries in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea region to minimize loss of lives to lessthan 100. His Highness appreciated the accurate predictions during cyclone FANI which crossedOdisha coast in May, 2019 and recent cyclone Bulbul which crossed West Bengal-Bangladeshcoast in November, 2019.

MoU between India and the UK on Cooperation in Weather and Climate Sciences:

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on  28th February was apprised ofthe MoU between India and United Kingdom (UK) on Cooperation in Weather and ClimateSciences. The MoU was signed on 28th January 2019, under which, an Implementation

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Agreement on Weather and climate science for service partnership will also be signed betweenIndia and the UK.

MoU on Antarctic cooperation between India and Argentina:

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, on 27th March wasapprised about an MoU signed in February, 2019 between India and Argentina on Antarcticcooperation. The MoU will help scientific cooperation on projects in the fields of Earth sciences,as well as those related to the protection and conservation of the natural environment ofAntarctica and the Southern Oceans.

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Source : www.pib.nic.in Date : 2020-01-04

MINISTRY OF TOURISM : YEAR END REVIEW 2019Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Government policies & interventions for development in various

Sectors and issues arising out of their design & implementation incl. Housing

Ministry of Tourism

Ministry of Tourism : Year End Review 2019

Posted On: 03 JAN 2020 2:38PM by PIB Delhi

Ministry of Tourism is committed to make policies and programmes for thedevelopment and promotion of tourism. This sector has the capacity to boosteconomy, foreign exchange earnings and provide large number of jobs at every levelthat’s why Ministry of Tourism continuously consults and collaborates with otherstakeholders in the sector including various Central Ministries/ agencies, the StateGovernments/ Union Territory Administrations and the representatives of the privatesector. In 2019 Ministry of taken several steps like reducing E–visa fees, reducingGST rates on hotel room booking, opening 120 new peaks for mountaineering etc.Along with this several steps taken under Swadesh Darshan, PRASHAD Scheme andvarious other events of Ek Bharat, Shresth Bharat were some of the importanthighlights for the ministry this year.

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 India’s rank in Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) of WorldEconomic Forum has moved from 65th rank in 2013 to 34thrank in 2019.

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Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) during the period January- November 2019 were96,69,633 as compared to 93,66,478 in January- November 2018 registering agrowth of 3.2%.

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During January- November 2019, a total of 25,51,211 tourist arrived on e-TouristVisa as compared to 20,61,511 during January-November 2018, registering agrowth of 23.8%.

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Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs) FEEs during the period January- November2019 were Rs. 1,88,364 Crore as compared to Rs. 1,75,407 Crore in January-November 2018 registering a growth of 7.4%.

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Development of thematic circuits is being undertaken under the SwadeshDarshan Scheme. A total number of 77 projects for an amount of Rs 6035.70Crore have been sanctioned till date under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme.

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Integrated development of identified pilgrimage destinations is being undertakenunder the ‘National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, HeritageAugmentation Drive’ (PRASHAD) Scheme. A total number of 28 projects havebeen sanctioned till date for an amount of Rs.840.02Crore under this Scheme.

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The “Adopt a Heritage: Apni Dharohar, Apni Pehchaan’’ project is a collaborativeeffort by the Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Culture and Archaeological Survey ofIndia, State/ UTs Government for developing tourist amenities at heritage/touristsites and making them tourist friendly, in a planned and phased manner.Ministryof Tourism has signed 27 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU’s) till dateunderthe Adopt a Heritageproject.

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E-visa:●

e-Visa has 4 sub-categories i.e., e-Tourist visa, e-Business Visa, e-Medical Visaand e-Medical Attendant Visa.

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e-Visa is valid for entry through 28 designated Airports and 5 designated seaports●

At present the e-Visa Scheme is available to nationals of 169 countries.●

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E-visa has now been further liberalized to include the following:●

 

e-Tourist Visa of 5-year duration has been launched in addition to one-year e-Tourist Visa. This e-Tourist Visa for 5 years will be with a stay stipulation ofmaximum of 90 days’ multiple entry and non-extendable.

i.

A one-month e-Tourist Visa with double entry, has been launched.ii.

e-Conference Visa, in line with e-Conference Visa for Government/P.S.U.conferences, would be provided for private conferences organized by privatepersons/companies/ organizations.

iii.

 

The Government has substantially reduced the visa fee on e – visa to increasetourism competitiveness of the country. New visa rates will be as under:

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30 days e-TV (April-June)               -           US $ 10/-i.

30 days e-TV (July -March)                        -           US $ 25/-ii.

01-year e-TV                                               -           US $ 40/-iii.

05 years e-TV                                              -           US $ 80/-iv. 

The Government has opened more than 120 mountain peaks for mountaineeringand trekking. The opening of the peaks would help in promoting adventuretourism in the country.

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The Government has reduced GST on hotel rooms with tariffs of 1,001 to7,500/night to 12%; those above 7,501 to 18% to increase India’scompetitiveness as a tourism destination vis-à-vis other competing markets in theregion.

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    Ministry of Tourism was designated as the nodal Ministry for organizing the“Bharat Parv”. The event was held at the Red Fort, Delhi from 26th to 31st

January 2019, as part of the Republic Day 2019 Celebrations. It was organizedon the theme of Celebrating 150 years of Mahatma. The highlights of the Parvincluded a replica of the ‘Statue of Unity’ created by Sculptor Padmashri Ram V.Sutar, performances by the Armed Forces Bands (static and moving), a Multi-Cuisine Food Court, Crafts Mela, Cultural Performances from different regions ofthe country, a Photo Exhibition by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting andsetting up of Gandhi Gram by Ministry of Culture (NZCC) in which 10 artistscreated paintings on the theme of ' Ideology of Mahatma Gandhi' .  

❍

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Ministry of Tourism organized a Mega Fam Tour as part of the celebration of theInternational Day of Yoga (IDY) on June 21, 2019. Tour Operators, representatives ofTravel Media, Opinion Makers, etc. from 20 countries participated in the Mega Fam Tour.  Aspecial event for Celebration of IDY was organized at Lal Bagh, Bengaluru on June 21,2019 for the participants of the Mega Fam Tour. IDY was widely celebrated by this Ministrythrough its Domestic Indiatourism Offices in the country. An estimated 69 events havingparticipation of more than 26600 persons including tourism stakeholders, GovernmentOfficials, tourists and the local communities were held in different cities around the country.IDY branding was undertaken during all these events and many celebrities were invited tocreate more awareness about the celebration of the IDY. India Tourism, overseas organizedevents in association with the Indian Missions to celebrate IDY.

●

Ministry of Tourism organized State Tourism Ministers Conference on 20th August2019 at Ashok Hotel, New Delhi.  The Conference was attended by more than 18Tourism Ministers and senior officials from the State Governments.  Variousissues pertaining to implementation of projects and developing synergy forgrievance redressal and Safety & security of the tourists were taken up in theConference.

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Ministry of Tourism has launched ‘Incredible India Tourist Facilitators Certification’(IITFC) programme. The certification programme is an Online LearningManagement System which aims at creating skilled manpower to work as touristfacilitators. The programme helps local citizens in harnessing the local experienceand traditional knowledge for assisting tourists and to be a potential bread earnerfor their households.

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Ministry of Tourism has revamped the Incredible India website. It showcases Indiaas a holistic destination, revolving around major experiences, such as, spirituality,heritage, adventure, culture, yoga, wellness and more. Going forward, the websitewill be available in Hindi and leading international languages.  Hindi version of theIncredible India was launched in the Tourism Ministers Conference held on 20th

August 2019 at Ashok Hotel, New Delhi.

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The Minister of Tourism and Culture led a delegation of senior officials of theMinistry of Tourism to Ladakh from 3-6th September 2019 to explore tourismpotential of Ladakh and design appropriate policy interventions for tourism inconsultation with the local authorities in Ladakh.

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The Ministry of Tourism supported India Tourism Mart (ITM) 2019 organized byFederation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality (FAITH) held at NewDelhi from 23rd to 25th September 2019. About 240 international delegates from51 countries participated in this event. The B2B meetings and networkingsessions between the buyer and seller delegates were held on 24th and 25thSeptember 2019. ITM provides a national platform for Government as well asprivate stakeholders with an opportunity to interact with the foreign counterparts.

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The Ministry of Tourism organized the National Tourism Awards 2017-18 functionon 27th September 2019 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. A total number of 76awards under different categories were given during this function. The Hon’bleVice President of India; Secretary-General of United Nations World TourismOrganization (UNWTO) and Minister of State for Tourism & Culture (IC) gaveaway the awards to the winners.

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The World Tourism Day was celebrated on 27th September 2019 at VigyanBhawan, New Delhi. This year the United Nations World Tourism Organization(UNWTO) had designated India as the venue for the celebrations. Its purpose isto foster awareness among the global community of tourism’s social, cultural,political and economic value and the contribution of the tourism sector in reachingthe Sustainable Development Goals. In 2019, in line with UNWTO’s overarchingfocus on skills, education and jobs throughout the year, the topic of the WorldTourism Day was ‘Tourism and Jobs: a better future for all’. Hon’ble VicePresident of India was the chief guest for the inauguration of World Tourism Day.Union Minister of State for Tourism & Culture (IC); Secretary-General of United

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Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Tourism Minister of Paraguayand 82 international delegates were present on the occasion. 

 

The Incredible India "Find the Incredible You" campaign released globally by theMinistry of Tourism during 2018-19 has been declared winner of the PATA(Pacific Asia Travel Association) Gold Award 2019 in the “Marketing - PrimaryGovernment Destination” category. This year’s awards attracted 198 entries from78 organizations and individuals worldwide.

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Ministry of Tourism celebrated Paryatan Parv, 2019 from 2nd to 13th October2019 at National Level. The Delhi leg of the Parv was organized from 2nd to 6th

October 2019 at Rajpath lawns.TheCentral theme of Paryatan Parv - 2019 was150 years of Mahatma Gandhi. The platform was also used to promote the idea of‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’.  On pan India level, various tourism relatedactivities were also organized by the State Governments, Line Ministries, IndiaTourism Offices and Institutes of Hotel Management etc., during Paryatan Parv -2019.

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Ministry of Tourism in association with the State Government of Manipurorganized the “8th International Tourism Mart” (ITM) at Imphal, Manipur from 23rd

to 25th November 2019. The Hon’ble Minister of State (I/C) for Culture & Tourismand the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Manipur jointly inaugurated ITM on 23rd

November 2019 at Imphal, Manipur.

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 ITM was organized in the North Eastern region with the objective of highlightingthe tourism potential of the region in the domestic and international markets. Atotal of 35 foreign delegates from 18 Countries, 79 domestic sellers from the NorthEastern Region and 32 domestic delegates from the Western, Eastern andNorthern Region participated in ITM - 2019.

 

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Source : www.pib.nic.in Date : 2020-01-04

MINISTRY OF CULTURE: YEAR END REVIEW 2019Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Government policies & interventions for development in various

Sectors and issues arising out of their design & implementation incl. Housing

Ministry of Culture

Ministry of Culture: Year End Review 2019

Posted On: 03 JAN 2020 1:01PM by PIB Delhi

The Ministry of Culture is committed to preserve and promote the rich art and culture of India,both tangible and intangible. Ministry and his autonomous bodies have worked whole year forthis. Commemoration of the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, 29 days culturalextravaganza Sanskriti Kumbh at Kumbh Mela, 10th edition of Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav,Commemoration event of 76th anniversary of the formation of Azad Hind Government,Restoration work of architectural genius Markandeshwar temple in Maharashtra and variousother events of Ek Bharat, Shresth Bharat were some of the important highlights for the ministrythis year.

1. Sanskriti Kumbh, a 29 days Cultural extravaganza organised at Kumbh Mela Area,Prayagraj from 10th January, 2019

Sanskriti Kumbh, a 29 days cultural extravaganza was organised at Kumbh Mela Area,Prayagraj from 10th January, 2019. The Ministry of Culture, Government of India organizedSanskriti Kumbh with intent to showcase the rich Cultural Heritage of India in all its rich andvaried dimensions viz. Performing Arts- Folk, Tribal and Classical art forms, Handicrafts,Cuisines, Exhibitions etc. all in one place.

Under the banner of Sanskriti Kumbh, Rashtriya Shilp Mela was also organized in the premisesof NCZCC where Shilp Haats were set up to display handicrafts and live demonstration of theskill by craftsmen. Special arrangements were made for the delegates of “Pravasi BhartiyaDiwas” for participating in the Kumbh Mela at Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh.Around ten thousandparticipants attended the colourful convention.President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the threeday  

 

 

Gandhian Resurgence Summit at Parmarth Niketan camp at Prayagraj Kumbh. About 300Gandhians from different parts of the country and organisations are participating in the Summit.

2. Auction of Mementos received by Prime Minister, organised in two chapters, one in

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January and another in September, 2019

The physical auction of Mementos received by the Prime Minister, organised by National Galleryof Modern Art, New Delhi, under the aegis of Ministry of Culture, culminated on 28th January2019 and the e-auction had taken place from 29th to 31st January 2019 for remaining itemswhich are not sold during the physical auction on the portal www.pmmementos.gov.in.

 

The proceeds from auction are donated for the noble cause of Namami Gange.

Second Chapter Exhibition of Prime Minister’s gifts was organised from 14th September to 3rd

October, 2019 by the Ministry of Culture at National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi.Mementos included 576 Shawls, 964 AngaVastram, 88 Pagris and various jackets portraying thediversified and colourful Culture of our Country. The Major Highlight of the Physical auctionorganized at NGMA was that a specially handcrafted wooden bike, received a successful bid ofRs. 5 lakhs. A similar bid was also received for a unique painting, which depicts Prime MinisterModi on a railway platform – a uniquely artistic interpretation of Narendra Modi’s special bondwith the railways.

 

 

3. New campus of National Museum Institute inaugurated at Noida on 30th January, 2019

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The new Campus of the National Museum Institute was inaugurated at A-19, Sector 62, NOIDA(Institutional Area), on 30th January, 2019.Four new courses i.e.  (i) Archaeology; (ii)Palaeography, Epigraphy and Numismatics; (iii) Structural Conservation and (iv) Cultural &Heritage Management, were proposed to be commence. In addition to these regular courses,short-term courses of five-month duration i.e. Art Appreciation and Bhartiya Kalanidhi (Hindi),which are very popular, were promised to be conducted by the Institute to disseminate theknowledge about the country’s tangible and intangible heritage.

4. Special Postage Stamp on Kumbh Mela was released on 2ndFebruary

Union Minister of State for Railways and Communication Mr Manoj Sinha released a specialpostage stamp of the Indian Postal Department on Kumbh Mela on 2nd February, 2019. Aspecial first day cover was also released on the occasion. Its cost is five rupees.

5. 20th Bharat Rang Mahotsav organised in New Delhi

The 20th edition of Bharat Rang Mahotsav (BRM), the international theatre festival of India, isorganized by National School of Drama. The 20th BRM comes with 111 national andinternational acts in its basket that includes folk and other traditional theatre forms, invitee plays,and productions by the students of the National School of Drama.

6. President of India Presented Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards 2017

The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, presented the Sangeet NatakAkademi Awardsfor the year 2017 at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan on February 06, 2019.

 

 

 

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7. Foundation Stone of Taj View Gardenon the Taj Corridor Area between the Agra Fortand TajMahal laid on 14th February

Foundation Stone of Taj View Garden on the Taj Corridor Area between the Agra Fort andTajMahal in Agra was laid on 14thFeburary, 2019.

The Taj View Garden is being developed on the Mughal period’s Charbagh garden pattern bythe Archaeological Survey of India, Ministry of Culture, Government of India. A permanent photoexhibition was also curated near the newly constructed Visitor’s Facility Centre at the EasternGate of TajMahal.

8. Virtual Experiential Museum established at Man – Mahal near Dashashwamedh Ghat atVaranasi

Virtual Experiential Museum has been established by the National Council of Science Museum(NCSM) working under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. Indian National Trust for Artand Cultural Heritage (INTACH) helped in designing and curation of this Virtual ExperientialMuseum and also in preparing of script for various documentaries to be shown in this VEM.ThePrime Minister, Sri Narendra Modi inaugurated the Virtual Experiential Museum (VEM) in aCentrally Protected Monument under Archeological Survey of India, Man – Mahal, situated onthe bank of the Ganges near holy DashashwamedhGhat at Varanasi.

9. Azaadi Ke Diwane’ Museum at Red Fort Complex in New Delhi, created by ASI PaysHomage to Unsung Heroes of Freedom Struggle of the Nation

The ‘Azaadi ke Diwane’ museum was inaugurated at Red Fort, Delhi on 4th March, 2019.Created by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the museum within the Red Fort complex payshomage to all the unsung heroes of freedom struggle of the nation, who would have otherwisebeen merged away in forgetfulness.

10. National Council of Science Museums of Culture Ministry collaborates with GoogleArts & Culture for largest interactive online exhibition on inventions and discoveries

The National Council of Science Museums (NCSM), an organization under the Ministry ofCulture, Government of India has collaborated with Google Arts & Culture for ‘Once upon a Try’:Epic journeys of invention and discovery - the largest online exhibition about inventions anddiscoveries ever curated, as an attempt to explore humanity’s greatest inventions anddiscoveries in an interactive online exhibition. The online exhibition was launched on 7th March,2019 and contains collections, stories and knowledge from over 110 renowned institutions fromacross 23 countries, highlighting millennia of major breakthroughs and the great minds behindthem.

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11. Release of Dictionary of Martyrs of India’s Freedom Struggle (1857-1947)

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, released the Dictionary of Martyrs of India’s FreedomStruggle, on 7th March, 2019 at an event in Lok Kalyan Marg, New Delhi. This five-volumedictionary contains an account of the martyrs from India’s First War of Independence in 1857, toIndia’s Independence in 1947.The martyrs of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, the non-cooperation movement, the Quit India Movement, and those soldiers of the Azad Hind Fauj, whoattained martyrdom, among many others are included. The project for compilation of “Dictionaryof Martyrs” of India’s Freedom Struggle was commissioned by the Ministry of Culture, to theIndian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) to commemorate the 150th anniversary of uprisingof 1857.

12. New Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Institute of Archaeology at Greater Noida in UPinaugurated by the Prime Minister

The Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Institute of Archaeology at Greater Noida in Uttar Pradeshwas inaugurated by The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi on 9th March, 2019. A statue ofPandit Deendayal Upadhyaya at the campus and Deendayal Museum in the Institute campuswas also inaugurated on the same day. The state-of-the-art institute, built at an estimated cost ofRs. 289 crore is spread over 25 acres. The Institute comprises of an auditorium with seatingcapacity of 1000 people, an open air theatre and an Archaeological Museum. The Institute ofArchaeology (IA) is an academic wing of ASI under the Ministry of Culture.

 

13. Ministry of Culturefacilitates in setting up of FM Radio Transmitter on 103.7 MHZfrequency at Baltal for ‘Amarnath Yatra’ Pogramme

For the first time ever, on a request from Ministry of Culture (MoC), Ministry of I&B set up a FMRadio Transmitter on 103.7 MHZ frequency at Baltal, on the Amarnath route. A studio facilitywas set up at Baltal Base Camp, and “AmarnathYatra” program was generated from Baltal basecamp. Pahalgam transmitter was also tuned to Baltal. All India Radio (AIR) transmitted regularservices on crowd management, weather, health and other alerts; devotional music wasprovided by Ministry of Culture.Ministry of Culture curated and created high quality devotionalcontent for the Yatra, which includes Mantras, Shlokas and Bhajans with contextual meaning onShiva, Parvati and Ganesh. Leading music directors and singers were roped in for this purpose.Archival content was taken from National Cultural Audio-visual Archives, under the IndiraGandhi National Centre for the Arts.

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14. India gets its 38th world UNESCO World heritage site As Pink City Jaipur

India’s nomination of the Jaipur City, Rajasthan got inscribed on 6th July, 2019 on the WorldHeritage List of UNESCO during the 43rd Session of the World Heritage Committee held atBaku, Azerbaijan.  The nomination of Jaipur City has successfully been done by complying withthe various UNESCO guidelines of 2017. With Successful inscription of Jaipur City, India has 38world heritage sites that include 30 Cultural properties, 7 Natural properties and 1 mixed site.

15. Restoration work of architectural genius, Markandeshwar temple in Maharashtrainitiated by Archaeological Survey of India

The restoration work of Markandeshwar temple in Maharashtra by the Archaeological Survey ofIndia has been initiated in the month of July, 2019. Known as the “Khajuraho of Vidarbha”, thetemple of Markandadeo is situated on the bank of River Wainganga in district Gadchiroli ofMaharashtra. A detailed documentation process was initiated to carry out the condition mappingof the temple in order to carry out the conservation process.

16. Historic Safdarjung Tomb in New Delhi illuminated with advanced LED Lights

Safdarjung Tomb is one of those historical monuments which attracts thousands of touristsevery year and is the pride jewel in Delhi’s history.With the illumination the architectural beautyof the 17th century Mughal era monument displayed its historic reflection on Delhi after sunset.To highlight the architectural beauty including arches and minarets of the Safdarjung tomb,atotal of 213 technologically advanced LED lights were  used which consumes less electricity –the consumption of which is approximately 62% less than conventional light fixtures.

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17. Nepali and Santhali languages included in the Scheme for grant of Senior/JuniorFellowships of Culture Ministry

The Ministry of Culture administers a scheme component namely Award of Senior/JuniorFellowships to Outstanding Artistes in the Fields of Culture. The fellowships are awarded forundertaking research oriented projects.Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT),Dwarka is the Nodal institute for handling the Scheme of Sr. /Jr. Fellowship till selection process.“Literary Arts” is one of the Fields under this Scheme where candidates can apply for research in22 languages as their Sub-Field. The remaining 2 languages from the 8th Schedule of the IndianConstitution i.e. Nepali and Santhali were included in the Sub-Field of Field “Literature” in thescheme component ‘Award of Senior/Junior Fellowships to Outstanding Artistes in the Fields ofCulture’.

18. Delhi Public Library launchedMobile Library Busesprocured under C.S.R assistancefrom Airports Authority of India

Mobile Library Buses procured under C.S.R assistance from Airports Authority of India werelaunched under the “Ghar-Ghar Dastak Ghar Ghar Pustak” Scheme of the Delhi Public Library,which aims to provide books to the citizens of Delhi, especially, the residents of slums,resettlement colonies and rural areas.

19.Excavation carried out by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in Maharastra’sPhupgaon, indicated towards Iron Age Settlement

The recent excavation carried out by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) at Maharashtra’sPhupgaon has revealed evidence of an Iron Age settlement in the Vidarbha region. Theexcavation at the site was taken up between December, 2018 and March, 2019.The team of ASItook up an intensive survey in the region between Chandur Bazar to Dariyapur of Purna basin at

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Phupgaon (N 21° 24’ 00.6” E 77° 54’ 11.6”), Amravati district of Maharashtra. The site is situatedin the vast meander of the river Purna, a major tributary of Tapi, which used to be a perennialriver, but at present is completely dried-up due to the dam construction in the upper stream. Thesite is situated about 20 m away from the river bed and its one-third portion has been subjectedto frequent erosion during the heavy water current in the earlier times.

ASI is of the view that the excavation at Phupgaon has provided important insights into Iron Agepeople of Purna river basin. Chronologically, the site could be placed between 7th C BCE and4th C BCE. However, further detailed study of the site with chronometric dating is being taken upto reveal further aspects of Iron Age of Vidarbha.

20. ‘The Diary of Manu Gandhi’ (1943-44) brought out by National Archives of India, on theoccasion of 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi in collaboration with Oxford UniversityPress

‘The Diary of Manu Gandhi’ (1943-44) has been brought out by National Archives of India, onthe occasion of 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi in collaboration with Oxford UniversityPress and launched at a function in the auditorium of Nehru Memorial Museum and Librarytoday in New Delhi. The Diary of Manu Gandhi originally in Gujarati has been edited andtranslated by Dr Tridip Suhrud, a well-known scholar engaged in understanding the GandhianIntellectual tradition. The first volume covers the period 1943-1944.

21. Integrated NOAPS single window clearing system of National Monuments Authorityfor 517 local bodies in six States launched

An integrated NOC online Application Processing System for National Monuments Authority(NMA) for 517 local bodies of six states was launched in the public domain over the URL:http://nmanoc.nic.in/ by the Minister of State for Culture & Tourism (Independent Charge), ShriPrahlad Singh Patel on in New Delhi. Online processing of applications requesting NOC forconstruction related work in prohibited and regulated area of ASI protected monuments has

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been made simpler with this system. Six New States are now a part of this Integrated OnlineApplication Portal with Urban Local Bodies Count.The Portal has integration with the Smart‘Smarac’ Mobile App of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), through which theapplicant traverses his plot and the geo coordinates of his plot along with the images getuploaded into the NIC portal along with the proximity and the approval status.

22. Water Conservation system and Baby care & Feeding Room installed at Taj MahalPremises

A Water Conservation system and Baby care& Feeding Room at the premises of Taj Mahal inAgra, Uttar Pradesh was installed and inaugurated by the Minister of State for Culture & Tourism(Independent Charge) on 29th August, 2019. The Water Conservation System which in its firstturn puts about 10000 litre of polluted water coming out of RO System into the old well located inthe premises of the heritage site.

23. ‘Gallery of Confiscated and Retrieved Antiquities’ at PuranaQilacurated by ASIshowcases confiscated and retrieved antiquities for public

‘Gallery of Confiscated and Retrieved Antiquities’ at Purana Qila curated by ArchaeologicalSurvey of India (ASI)showcases confiscated and retrieved antiquities for public, the Gallery islocated in the arched cells of Purana Qila. The number of antiquities recovered in the last fiveyears has been the highest ever, So far, ASI, has retrieved 44 stolen antiquities from USA,Australia, Singapore, Germany, Canada and England and 119 more antiquities are in theprocess of retrieval. Owing to the efforts of ASI no theft has been reported from any CentrallyProtected Monument or site museum under ASI during last few years.

 

24. First ever architectural LED illumination of Qutab Minar

 

The historic Qutb Minar came alive as it saw the first ever architectural LED illuminationinaugurated by Minister of State for Culture & Tourism (I/C) Shri Prahalad Singh Patel in NewDelhi on 31st August, 2019.

To highlight the architectural beauty including arches and minarets of the Qutb Minar, a total of358 technologically advanced LED lights have been used which will consume 62% lesselectricity than conventional light fixtures. Warm lights will highlight the architectural features onthe monument’s facade. Apart from the minaret, the pathways and smaller structures around the

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Qutb Minar have also been lit. The new illumination comprises lighting that accentuates thesilhouette of the monument with the interplay of light and shade. The duration of illumination willbe from 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM daily with a monthly cost of Rs16,615/- which comes out merely toRs 1,99,388/- for a year.

25. The first ever Mobile Science Exhibition (SCIENCE EXPLORER) of NCSM organised inLeh for entire Ladakh Region

The first ever Mobile Science Exhibition (SCIENCE EXPLORER) for the entire Ladakh Region inLeh was flagged off by the Union Minister of State for Culture and Tourism (Independentcharge), Shri Prahlad Singh Patel on 5th September, 2019.

Mobile Science Exhibition (MSE) programme, originally launched as Mobile Science Museum(MSM) in 1965, with a mission ‘If the people cannot visit the museum, let the museum visit thepeople at their doorsteps’, is the largest and the longest running outreach programme of NCSM.It is very successful in supplementing formal education with non-formal mode of scienceeducation, in creating a scientific awareness in the society and nurturing scientific temper andcreative potential of the young people in the areas where MSE programmes are conducted.

26. Union Culture Minister Shri Prahlad Singh Patel participates in BRICS CultureMinisters’ Meet at Curitiba, Brazil

Union Minister of State for Culture and Tourism (Independent charge) Shri Prahlad Singh Patelparticipated in BRICS Culture Ministers’ meeting held in Curitiba, Brazil.On the occasion, ShriPatel said that India attaches importance to its engagement with BRICS which has emerged asa valuable forum for consultation, coordination and cooperation on contemporary global issuesof mutual interest and has helped to promote mutual understanding. Joint exhibition titledBonding Regions & Imagining Cultural Synergies is being hosted by National Gallery of ModernArts of India under the auspices of the BRICS Alliance of Museums and Art Galleries duringNovember-December, 2019.Shri Patel proposed to add another field of cooperation under theaegis of BRICS Alliance on Literature envisaging BRICS Literary Festival to enhance

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cooperation and exchanges in the field of literature and promoting translation of literary works offamous writers and poets of BRICS member states.

27. 10th edition of ‘Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav' organised in Madhya Pradesh

Under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat Matrix, 10th edition of Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav wasorganised by the Ministry of Culture in Madhya Pradesh. Governor of Madhya Pradesh, ShriLaljiTandon in the presence of Minister of State for Culture and Tourism (I/C), Shri PrahladSingh Patel inaugurated the festival in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, on14th October, 2019. Underthe broad umbrella theme of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat has covered a profusion of art formspractised and performed by artists from all Zonal Cultural Centres of India, from Classical dance,viz. Classical dance, Loknritya, folk music, to visual and culinary arts. Handloom and handicraftsare equally being exhibited in stalls and tents curated at this Mahotsav. The gastronomic cultureof Bihar, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and several other partnering states isbeing showcased in food stalls. After its conclusion in Jabalpur, Mahotsav travelled to Sagar andconcluded at Rewa on 21st October, 2019.

28. CCRT e-portal and YouTube Channel at the event “Digital Bharat Digital Sanskriti”launched

 

CCRT e-portal and YouTube Channel  was launched at“Digital Bharat – Digital Sanskriti”program organised by Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (Ministry of Culture) on 20th

October, 2019 at CCRT Head Quarter located at Dwarka, Delhi. With an aim to take India to anewer digital pinnacle and to promote our culture Union Minister will inaugurate CCRT e-portaland YouTube Channel (with support from Routes 2 Routes).

29.Commemoration event of ‘76th Year of Formation of Azad Hind Government’ 

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mUnion Minister of State for Culture & Tourism (IC), Shri Prahlad Singh Patel took part in thecommemoration event of 76th anniversary of the formation of Azad Hind Government on 21st

October, 2019 at Red Fort, Delhi.

30. Excavation by Archaeological Survey of India in Gottiprolu, Andhra Pradesh indicateit as a Trade Centre of Early Historic Period

The 1st phase of excavation by a team of Archaeological Survey of India’s Excavation Branch –VI, Bangalore at Gottiprolu near Naidupeta in Nellore (now renamed as Sri Potti Sri Ramulu)district, Andhra Pradesh has discovered the remains of a huge settlement surrounded by amassive brick enclosure. Among many other antiquities unearthed are one life size Vishnusculpture and a wide variety of pottery of the early centuries of current era.

Detailed topographical study and drone images have helped in identifying an early historicsettlement surrounded by a fortification and the possibility of a moat encircling it. The fortificationis very much clear on the eastern and southern sides of the mound while its other arm seems tohave been levelled as a result of modern settlements.

31. UNESCO designated Mumbai as a member of UNESCO creative cities network (UCCN)

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in the field of film and Hyderabad in the field of gastronomy

UNESCO has designated Mumbai as a member of UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) inthe field of FILM and Hyderabad in the field of GASTRONOMY.

32. Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial (Amendment) Bill, 2019 passed by the Parliament

Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial (Amendment) Bill, 2019 has been passed by the Parliamentafter it was passed in RajyaSabha. The Bill was earlier passed in LokSabha on 2nd August2019. It seeks to make apolitical the trust that runs Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial byremoving the clause pertaining to the President of INC as a permanent member of the trust. TheBill also amends to include the Leader of Opposition recognised as such in the House of thePeople (LokSabha) or where there is no such Leader of Opposition, then the Leader of thesingle largest Opposition Party in that House as a member of the trust.

33. All records relating to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and Azad Hind Fauj de-classifiedand placed them in the National Archives of India

All records relating to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and Azad Hind Fauj de-classified and wereplaced in the National Archives of India. Accordingly, a total of 304 declassified records/fileshave been transferred to National Archives of India by above mentioned Ministries/Offices forpermanent retention. Out of 304 files, 303 files are already uploaded on the Netaji web portal i.e.www.netajipapers.gov.in .

34. ‘Kalash’ (urn) containing soil of Jalianwala Bagh, the soil of martyr unveiled atNational Museum

‘Kalash’ (urn) containing soil of Jalianwala Bagh, the soil of martyrs primarily was presented tothe Prime Minister, Shri. Narendra Modi and later, unveiled at National Museum in New Delhi.The main idea behind displaying the ‘Kalash’ containing soil of Jalianwala Bagh in NationalMuseum is to inspire the youth of India specially children and pay tribute to the martyrs offreedom struggle. The holy soil was brought by the Culture Minister when he visited thehistorical Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial. The soil from the land of sacrifice has reachedNational Museum after 100 years.

35. Indian Culture Portal showcasing information about the rich tangible and intangiblecultural heritage of India launched by Union Culture Minister

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mThe Indian Culture portal was envisioned by the Ministry of Culture and was developed by ateam from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay while the curation of the data hasbeen done by Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU).Indian culture portal is the firstgovernment authorized portal where knowledge and cultural resources of various organizationsof Ministry of Culture are now available in public domain on a single platform.This project is apart of the Prime Minister’s Digital India initiative to showcase information about the rich tangibleand intangible cultural heritage of India both at home and abroad.

36. President of India chaired the second meeting of the National Committee forCommemoration of 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi

The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind chaired the second meeting of the NationalCommittee for Commemoration of the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, atRashtrapati Bhavan on 19th December, 2019. Participants of the meeting included members ofthe National Committee including the Vice President, Shri Venkaiah Naidu; Prime Minister ShriNarendra Modi; members of the Union Cabinet; Chief Ministers of various states; notedGandhians among others. Prime Minister of Portugal HE Mr. Antonio Costa, the only foreignPrime Minister to be a member of the Committee, also participated in the meeting.

 

The Prime Minister addressed the dignitaries stating that while government commemorations ofcentenaries are held from time to time, the ‘Gandhi@150’ commemorations have become farmore than just an occasion. They have become a program of the Jan Samanya and a matter ofpride for every Indian.

 

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(Release ID: 1598364) Visitor Counter : 595

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Source : www.thehindu.com Date : 2020-01-05

THE DOUBLE BURDEN OF MALNUTRITION: NEED FORURGENT POLICY ACTION

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Poverty & Hunger and related issues

Bitter fact: Challenges of overweight, obesity and even early non-communicable disease are nolonger just faced by adults.   | Photo Credit: A. M. Faruqui

Last year was a remarkable one for nutrition in India. After years of slow and somewhat tentativeaction to acknowledge, understand and act on the challenge of undernutrition, India’s NationalNutrition Mission brought focus and ambition and a range of actions followed. National and Stategovernments were mobilised, district administrators engaged, the private sector mobilised in itsown way, while civil society continued to push for accountability and action.

As researchers committed to evidence-informed policies and programmes, we welcome India’snutrition efforts. We call for even stronger systems to support the use of data and science toinform India’s efforts, to track progress and to learn from both successes and failures.

The mission of using evidence to inform policy in nutrition in India goes back to the days ofIndia’s ‘father of nutrition’, Dr. C. Gopalan, someone whom both of us had the privilege ofknowing and working with closely. He invested in connecting science with the policy world, buthe also served in a world where information systems limited the reach and connect betweenscience and policy. Today, that world has changed, information flows have been dramaticallyreshaped by technology – the science and evidence community must use these new tools, newnetworks and new ways to engage the public and the policy community on critical issues suchas nutrition.

What are some challenges that face India on the nutrition front as we approach the decade ofaction for the SDGs?

First, work led by ICMR and published recently in the Lancet Global Health shows that progressin maternal and child undernutrition varies tremendously by State. It also highlights howmalnutrition contributes the most to child deaths as well as disability in adults. Saving lives ofchildren under five in India will require a steady focus on nutrition.

Second, new data on malnutrition among children from the Comprehensive National NutritionSurvey highlights how challenges of overweight, obesity and even early non-communicabledisease, are no longer adult challenges. About 10% of children under 19 years have pre-diabetes. Coherence is needed in areas of public policy across multiple ministries – incentivisingthe cultivation and consumption of a range of food commodities; using the levers of governmentfinancing to buy better nutrition (not just more calories) in programmes such as the PDS, ICDSand school meals; ensuring optimal healthcare of adolescents, pregnant women and youngchildren; restricting the marketing of unhealthy foods and drinks; and expanding efforts toimprove nutrition literacy.

Third, India’s adults also bear a tremendous double burden of malnutrition. Recent work fromIFPRI and Emory University, has highlighted how economic progress is a double-edged sword –reducing underweight among women while also exacerbating the challenge of overweightamong others. Today, some districts in India have levels of overweight that are as high as 40%.

Fourth, a range of studies published by researchers in India and abroad, demonstrate that social

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determinants related to gender, education, sanitation and poverty are key drivers of stunting andundernutrition. Early-life undernutrition is an important risk factor for later-life adult disease,along with food environments, physical activity and preventive healthcare.

Today, India’s efforts in tackling malnutrition have already come a long way – a range ofprogrammes and policies have been launched against child undernutrition (POSHAN Abhiyaan),anaemia (Anaemia Mukt Bharat) and healthy eating (Eat Right India). However, malnutritiondoes not exist in isolation – individuals, households and communities share multiple forms ofmalnutrition. Therefore, it is imperative that policy efforts also come together under a commonumbrella and an overarching body is needed to ensure convergence.

Given the diversity and complexity of the challenge, we call for an even sharper evidence-basedand data-driven approach to diagnosing the challenge of malnutrition in India’s states, districtsand communities. We call for a nuanced understanding of the risk factors that contribute themost to the multiple burdens. And we call for the use of data on the reach of programmes andinterventions to identify critical gaps and fuel rapid action.

The underlying data that is now available to undertake these assessments, such as theComprehensive National Nutrition Survey, must be made available to the scientific community.Silos in data systems should be broken and community health-workers and anganwadi workersprovided feedback on areas of good performance and where improvement is needed.

On actions, a range of evidence-informed options are available to India as they are to the globalcommunity – the World Health Organization’s updated Essential Nutrition Actions Across theLife Course, is a critical guide that must be adapted to India’s needs.

Addressing the double burden of malnutrition will take an unrelenting focus in coming years –the challenge is complex, the actions needed must come from different sectors, and data andaccountability mechanisms must absolutely inform what happens next. The consequences ofpoor nutrition are too broad, too deep and too costly for society to ignore.

(Soumya Swaminathan is Chief Scientist at the World Health Organization and is based inGeneva, and Purnima Menon is Senior Research Fellow with the International Food PolicyResearch Institute, and is based in New Delhi, India.)

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Source : www.pib.nic.in Date : 2020-01-07

YEAR END REVIEW 2019- DEPARTMENT OF HIGHEREDUCATION

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Government policies & interventions for development in variousSectors and issues arising out of their design & implementation incl. Housing

Ministry of Human Resource Development

Year End Review 2019- Department of Higher Education

Posted On: 06 JAN 2020 12:54PM by PIB Delhi

In pursuance  Prime Minister's vision for ‘Transforming India’, Ministry of Human ResourceDevelopment took a leap forward in transforming education sector with the motto of “, ”(Education for All, Quality Education).

In the year of 2019 Dr K. Kasturirangan Committee submitted the Draft National EducationPolicy to Union HRD Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’. The Government of India hadinitiated the process of formulating a New Education Policy to meet the changing dynamics ofthe requirements of the population with regard to quality education, innovation and research,aiming to make India a knowledge superpower by equipping its students with the necessaryskills and knowledge and to eliminate the shortage of manpower in science, technology,academics and industry. MHRD has launchedPradhan Mantri Innovative Learning Program(DHRUV) to identify and encourage talented children to enrich their skills and knowledge .MHRDalso launched several new schemes in Higher Education Department to boost research &Innovation culture in the country. Department of Higher Education of HRD Ministry has finalizedand released a five-year vision plan named Education Quality Upgradation and InclusionProgramme (EQUIP). SWAYAM 2.0, Deeksharambh andPARAMARSH are some of the othermajor schemes of Department of Higher Education launched in 2019.

 

1. Five-year vision plan 'Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme(EQUIP)' finalised and released by HRD Ministry:

 

In accordance with the decision of the Prime Minister for finalizing a five-year vision plan foreach Ministry, the Department of Higher Education of HRD Ministry has finalized andreleased a five-year vision plan named Education Quality Upgradation and InclusionProgramme (EQUIP). This report has been prepared after a detailed exercise done by theExperts.

●

Sets out to deliver further on principles of Access,Inclusion,Quality,Excellence andenhancing employability in Higher Education.

●

EQUIP is a vision plan aiming at ushering transformation in India’s higher education systemby implementing strategic interventions in the sector over five years (2019-2024).

●

EQUIP has been prepared based on reports of Ten expert groups constituted to deliberateupon important aspects of Higher Education.

●

Currently EQUIP has been submitted for in principal approval of EFC.●

 

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2. Institution of Eminence (IoE):

10 institutions in public sector and 10 institutions in private sector have to be declared asIoE. 

●

Each Public institute (IoE) will be eligible to receive Rs. 1000 crore during next 5 years.●

10 Public Institutions are IISc Bangalore, IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay, IIT Madras, IIT Kharagpur, University of Hyderabad, Banaras Hindu University, University of Delhi, Jadavpur University& Anna University.

●

10 Private institutions are BITS Pilani, MAHE Karnataka, Jio Institute, AmritaVishwavidyapeetham, Tamil Nadu , Vellore Institute of Technology, Tamil Nadu, JamiaHamdard, New Delhi, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, Odisha, O.P. Jindal GlobalUniversity, Haryana, Bharti Institute, Satya Bharti Foundation, Mohali, Shiv NadarUniversity, Uttar Pradesh.

●

3.   Scheme for Transformational and Advanced Research in Sciences (STARS)

Launched in February, 2019. To be implemented, monitored and managed by IISc,Bangalore.

●

For providing extra mural funding to faculty of HE institutions for research projects in basicsciences.

●

Total budget of Rs. 250 crore has been allocated out of which Rs. 50 crores will be releasedin FY 2019-20.

●

More than 1000 proposals received, out of these 141 proposals approved.●

 

4.   Higher Education Financing Agency

HEFA finances for HEIs, KVs, NVs, AIIMS and other educational institutions of the Ministryof Health.

●

To fund projects to the tune of Rs. 100,000 crore by 2022.●

As on 11th December, 2019, projects worth Rs. 37,001.21 crore have been approved.●

A loan amount of Rs. 25,564.52 crore have been sanctioned and Rs. 5,537.06 crore haveactually been disbursed

●

The number of educational institutions that have availed funding through HEFA stands at75.

●

 

5.   Construction of permanent Campuses in IISER Tirupati and Berhampur

Permanent campuses of  IISER, Tirupati & IISER Berhampur will be setup by fundingthrough HEFA with capital cost of Rs. 1137.16 crore & Rs. 1229.32 crores respectively

●

Both institutes has been sanctioned Rs. 525 crore each in first tranche.●

 

6. RashtriyaUchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA)

Rs.5871.82 crore including Rs. 801.82 crore during the FY 2019-20 has been released to●

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State Governments. 

 

7. Impactful Policy Research in Social Science (IMPRESS)

to support the social science research in the higher educational institutions and to enableresearch to guide policy making.

●

A total cost of Rs.414 Crore for implementation up to 31.3.2021. The Indian Council ofSocial Science Research (ICSSR), New Delhi is the project implementing agency.

●

8. Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC)

394 proposals totalling Rs. 251.09 Crores have been approved in the first call for proposals.●

Rs. 80 crores have been released to IIT Kharagpur for FY 2019-20 under SPARC.●

9.National Education Policy

Currently, the Ministry is in the process of finalising the National Education Policy, 2019●

based on the Draft NEP report submitted by the Committee to Draft NEP, and thestakeholder feedback thereon.

●

10.SWAYAM 2.0

Launch of SWAYAM 2.0 with enhanced features and facilities.●

To offer Online Degree Programmes through SWAYAM by Top Ranking Universities.●

 

Key Features of SWAYAM 2.0 –

 

Higher Scalability and Performance●

Enhanced features for faculty and students●

Improved assessment and evaluation●

Internationalisation●

Translation to Indian languages●

Local chapters and mentors●

Offering of On-line Degrees●

SWAYAM 1.0 was Launched on 9th July 2017 by the President of India with the ObjectivesofEqual access to Quality education ,Increase GER in Higher Education from 26 to 30 innext 5 years and Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime learning

In SWAYAM platform

2800+ courses offered●

1.23 Crore students enrolled in the courses●

Examinations conducted across 125 cities across India●

Over 5 lakh students obtained certificates●

 

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11. SWAYAM PRABHA- DTH Educational Channels:

 

Project for telecasting high quality educational programs through 32 DTH channels on 24x7basis to reach out to student/learners of India with wide reach and minimal cost.

●

It aims to support those students who do not have good learning options like lack of teacheror internet etc. It also aims to provide dedicated channels ‘IITPAL’ to assist the students of11 and 12 standards aspiring to join premier educational institutions in the country.

●

SWAYAM Prabha project is managed by Chief Coordinator from IIT Madras.●

All 32 channels are telecasting high quality curriculum mapped educational contents on24x7 basis.

●

Every day, there will be new content for at least (4) hours which would be repeated 5 moretimes in a day.

●

All telecasted videos are available on YouTube as archival. ●

Total telecasted videos are around 60,000.●

On YouTube there are 4,12,403 subscribers and 2,05,70,482 views.●

 

12. Scheme for Higher Education Youth in Apprenticeship and Skills (SHREYAS)

A new  Scheme for Higher Education Youth in Apprenticeship and Skills (SHREYAS) waslaunched for providing industry apprenticeship opportunities to the general graduates exiting inApril 2019 through the National Apprenticeship Promotional Scheme (NAPS). The program aimsto enhance the employability of Indian youth by providing ‘on the job work exposure’ and earningof stipend.

13. Study in India Programme:

An initiative of MHRD●

Total Number of Registrations on Study in India Portal was 69012 from across 190 countriesof the world.

●

Total Number of Admissions till date around 3800.●

1800+ scholarships awarded.●

Education Fairs conducted in Malaysia, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal.●

Approval received to start IND-SAT examination in April 2020.●

14.     Scholarship Schemes

Central Sector Scheme of Scholarship for College and University Students (CSSS) :37293 scholarships disbursed involving an amount of Rs 44.66 crores in F.Y. 2019-20.

●

Special Scholarship Scheme for Jammu and Kashmir :10720 scholarships disbursedinvolving an amount of Rs 165.82crores in F.Y. 2019-20.

●

Central Sector Interest Subsidy Scheme (CSIS) :Total 935497 interest subsidy claimsinvolving an amount of Rs 1584.69 crores in F.Y. 2019-20.

●

15.     ASEAN Fellowship

Launched on 16th September, 2019 by MHRD & MEA. ●

1000 fellowships to the students of ASEAN countries for pursuing integrated Ph.D●

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programmes in IITs.16.     Launch of the Endowment Fund of IIT Delhi

Launched on 31.10.2019.●

Will work towards building a relation of trust and credibility with its alumni through bettercommunication, professionally managed team structure and periodic reporting.

●

The Alumni are coming together to make an initial contributions to the tune of INR 100Crores towards the target of USD 1 billion that will be created over a period of six to sevenyears (2025).

●

18.     Central Universities

 Two new Central University in the State of Andhra Pradesh have been established inAugust, 2019 namely: Central University of Andhra Pradesh and Central Tribal University ofAndhra Pradesh.

●

19.       Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIITs)

IIIT has been opened at Raichur (Karnataka) from July, 2019 in PPP Mode. IIT Hyderabadis the Mentor Institute.

●

Financial allocation for this in year 2019-20 is 03 crores.●

20.     Language Institutes:

The proposals to convert the three Sanskrit Deemed to be Universities namely, RashtriyaSanskrit Sansthan (RSKS), Delhi, Sri Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha(SLBSRSV), New Delhi and Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha (RSV), Tirupati has beenpassed in Lok Sabha and is proposed to be introduced in the Rajya Sabha in theforthcoming budget session of Parliament.

●

Central Institute of Classical Telugu shifted from Mysore to Nellore district in AndhraPradesh.

●

Fund allocation for National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language (NCPUL) & NationalCouncil for Promotion of Sindhi Language (NCPSL) is Rs 84 Crore and 5.65 Crorerespectively in both the years 2018-19 & 2019-20.

●

In the FY 2019-20, For Langauage Institutions a total of Rs 52.84 Crores has been allotted.●

 

21.   National Institutes of Technology & Indian Institutes of Engineering Science andTechnology:

Foundation stone for permanent campus of NIT, Uttarakhand has been laid by the HRM.10% EWS reservation has been implemented.

●

NIT Think Tank Group has been constituted to suggest ways for improving NIRF rankings ofNITs & IIEST.

●

 

22.       Filling up of vacancies in Higher Educational Institutes

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Vacancy position in centrally funded higher education under MHRD is updated on everyfriday.

●

Vacancy position in state funded institutions is maintained by RUSA.●

Since June-19, advertisements have been issued for 12272 faculty vacancies in CFIs and1507 posts filled up.

●

In HEIs under State Govts, 25419 faculty vacancies advertised since June-19 and 6170posts filled up.

●

23. Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) :

For IITs an amount of Rs 5616.77 Crores has been Budgetary allotted in FY 2019-20. ●

After including an amount of Rs 526.25 crore through HEFA, the total allocation mounted toRs 6143.02 crores.

●

24.       UNESCO Activities

Organisation of ‘World Youth Conference on Kindness’ by MGIEP in partnership of MHRDon 23.08.2019 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi

●

Nomination of four Indian cities i.e. Srinagar, Mumbai, Lucknow and Hyderabad for theUNESCO Creative City Network.

●

Coordination of INCCU with Ministry of Culture :-

 

UNESCO Reactive Monitoring Mission : Mrs. Nao Hayashi, UNESCO, Paris and  Dr.Michael Pearson,  ICOMOS, Australia, Members of Reactive  Monitoring  Mission nominated  by  UNESCO  World  Heritage  Centre  visited Mountain Railways of India -World Heritage Sites and give-suggestions for maintaining of World Heritage Status. For thispurpose, the team met the Deputy Secretary-General of INCCU on 12.12.2019.Representatives of Ministry of Culture and ASI were also present in the meeting.

●

Nominations for Reconstitution of Indian National Commission for Cooperation withUNESCO have been called from Ministry of Culture.

●

Nominations for 40th General Conference of UNESCO were called from Ministry of Culture●

Forwarding of communication from UNESCO that in the framework of the forthcomingIntergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, anInformation and exchange session took place on 3 October 2019 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

●

International Center for Documentary Heritage (ICDH) of UNESCO, newly establishedUNESCO Category II Institution in the Republic of Korea specialized in documentaryheritage-related issues including UNESCO Memory of the World (MoW) Programme,organized its first capacity-building workshop for Member States. The workshop was held inDaejeon, Republic of Korea, from 19 to 22 November 2019. 

●

Forwarding a letter received from the Assistant Director-General for Culture, inviting GoI toparticipate in the thirteenth meeting of the High Contracting Parties to the 1954 HagueConvention, scheduled to take place on 2 December 2019, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in RoomXI, at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.

●

Forwarding a letter received from Assistant Director-General for Culture, inviting GoI to●

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participate the seventh meeting of the Parties to the Second Protocol to the 1954 HagueConvention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. Thissession will take place on 3 and 4 December 2019, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Room XI, atUNESCO Headquarters in Paris.In consultation with Ministry of Culture, nominations of four Indian Cities for UNESCOCreative Cities Network sent to UNESCO

●

 

Coordination of INCCU with Ministry of Communication :-

Nominations for 40th General Conference of UNESCO were called from Ministry ofCommunication

●

 

Coordination of INCCU with Ministry of Environment &Forest :-

Forwarding the proposal of Panna Biosphere Reserve (PBR) received from Ministry ofEnvironment, Forest & Climate Change for inclusion in the World Network of BiosphereReserve of UNESCO.

●

 

25.       International Cooperation

 

Launch of DUO- India Fellowship Programme. Exchange of faculty and students would betaken up between India and 14 European countries which come under SPARC.

●

Initiated the process of setting up of a chair in a University in the UK on Guru Nanak Dev Jiin commemoration of 550th Birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji in coordination withUniversity Grants Commission (UGC).

●

Study in India Programme:  Number of Foreign students admitted under Study in IndiaProgramme for the Academic Year 2019-20 is 3164.

●

Bilateral Meetings by Union HRD Minister during UNESCO’s General Conference 13-15.11.2019)

●

Date: 13.11.2019 : Norway, Mexico, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia, UAE

Date: 14.11.2019 :  Singapore, Saudi Arabia

Date: 15.11.2019 : Uganda, Nepal

26.  National Educational Alliance for Technology (NEAT):

Finalized a newly proposed scheme i.e. National Education Alliance of Technologies(NEAT) through PPP Model between MHRD and EdTech companies

●

for offering Adaptive and personalized learning through Artificial Intelligence (AI)●

to the students with specific emphasis on students from economically and socially backwardregions..

●

 

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27.Annual Refresher Programme In Teaching (ARPIT)

Launched in 2018.●

The first round of training was completed in March 2019 with the conduct of examination.●

For ARPIT 2018, 75 NRCs identified, 9 deleted due to non- adherence of timelines; 51000+enrolments, with actual enrolment being 37199 (one learner registering in more than onecourse). Of these, 6411 faculty registered for exam, 3338 qualified and in re-examination469 qualified thereby a total 3807 faculty qualified ARPIT 2018

●

UGC as per their notification recognised ARPIT as equivalent to a refresher course for theircareer advancement.

●

Funding for NRCs is as per the approved budget for development of online MOOCs facultyrefresher courses under National Resource Centres (NRCs) through SWAYAM which is Rs.14.70 lakhs.

●

An additional provision of Rs. 5 Lakh has been provisioned for meeting of Advisory Council /workshop and other contingency expenditure.

●

In order to popularise the ARPIT 2019, this time Ministry used the database of Highereducation faculty in the disciplines notified as NRCs and intimated each of the facultyindividually through SMS and e-mails informing them about ARPIT program offered bydifferent NRCs in distinctive disciplines persuading them to log in and join this onlineprogram and get benefit from it.

●

Total 1,46,214 learners enrolled for 48 ARPIT courses.●

28.  University Grants Commission (UGC) : Implementation of Quality ImprovementProgramme

 

Deeksharambh –●

 

A guide to Student Induction Programme’ has been launched on 18.07.2019. In 8 RegionalWorkshops 1650 candidates participated. Total 319 HEIs have implemented the StudentInduction Programme.

 

Learning outcomes based curriculum framework (LOCF) revision: New curriculum in16 subjects which is based on LOCF has been uploaded on UGC website to facilitateuniversities to revise the curriculum.

●

 

Use of ICT based learning tools for effective teaching learning process: 125 Universities●

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have come on board for accepting credit transfer for MOOCs courses done throughSWAYAM platform. 

Life skills (Jeevan Kaushal) for students : The curriculum launched on 11th

September, 2019●

 

Social and Industry connect for every institution: Every institution shall adopt at least5 villages for exchange of knowledge and for the overall social/economic bettermentof the village communities.

●

 

Induction training for all new teachers, and annual refresher training for all the teachers –role of the NCRs; and mandatory leadership/management training for all educationaladministrators.

●

 

Scheme for Trans-disciplinary Research for India’s Developing Economy (STRIDE):launched on 01.07.2019 for Promoting quality research by faculty and creation of newknowledge.

●

 

PARAMARSH- A scheme to mentor institutions seeking National Assessment andAccreditation Council accreditation Launched on 18th July, 2019.

●

29.     AICTE achievements:

Training for Technical Teachers: “A comprehensive training Policy for TechnicalTeachers” introduced for the first time in the world. Target: 30,000 fresh faculties &30,000 faculties having up to 5 years of teaching experience are to be trained everyyear.

●

Revision of Curriculum: Diploma in Engg. & Tech. (7 Disciplines); B. Arch.●

 

ATAL Academy: 11 Academies launched covering as many states; Conducted 100FDPs in thrust areas.

●

 

Protsahan Mudra Scheme: Android App has been developed and launched.●

 

Mandatory Induction Program: 120 Faculty Development Programs; 15,000+ FacultiesTrained. 

●

 

Examination Reforms: To test the understanding of the concepts and the skill –rather than the subject knowledge. 2250 teachers participated in 17 Workshops heldin 2019.

●

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Mandatory Internship: Over 1 Lakh internships posted on an exclusive portaldeveloped by AICTE.

●

 

Smart India Hackathon 2019: Over 3 lakh students participated at 66 centers.●

 

One Student One Tree: More than 55,000 AICTE Institutions Participated; More than 2Lakhs Students Participated; More than 28 Lakh trees Planted.

●

 

Jal Shakti Abhiyan: More than 34000 Students of AICTE colleges mapped to the localadministration of water- stressed districts.

●

 

30.EK BHARAT SHRESHTHA BHARAT :

Celebrating Diversity to Realise Unity●

4 Lakh Plus people across country participated/ witnessed range of activities●

About 16 states showed enthusiasm & regular activity●

358 Schools, 227 HEIs, 28 states, 7 Uts, 7 Central Ministries participated●

About 1000 activities of Literary, Cultural, Sports, Culinary & Student Exchanges etc. held●

Same pairing of States/ UTs to be continued till June 2020.●

8 Participating Ministries :Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Sports, Department of Youth Affairs , Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Railways,Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, Ministry of Information &Broadcasting,  Ministry of Defence

●

activities  : Student Exchange , Teacher Exchange , Youth Festival , EBSB Day , EBSBClubs , Screening of Films, Translation of Books

●

31.Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan :

SwachhtaPakhwada 2019  for HEIs conducted during 1st-15th September●

Swachhata Hi Seva 2019 observed in HEIs from 11th September to 27th October, 2019●

6900 institutions participated in Swachhta Ranking exercise. Swachhta Awards  given toHEIs on 3rd December, 2019

●

BBA and MBA Courses on Waste Management Launched●

 

  32.  FIT India Movement:

Fitness Pledge taken by HEIs on 29th August, 2019.●

FIT India Plogging Run organised on 2nd October, 2019 in Universities and Colleges.●

 Participants collected plastic garbage while running.●

Other Activities Proposed:

Fitness Hour - Every HEI to provide for a  fitness hour in its daily routine from January 2020.●

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Fitness Clubs – Each Institution to have a fitness club that will lead the activities duringFitness Hour

●

Monthly, theme based Fitness Awareness Campaigns – Every Institution to carry out monthlong campaign on selected themes related to various aspects of fitness

●

Sports Competitions – Every HEI to organize annual sports competitions, which will lead toState level and National level University games.

●

First University Games to be held in Odisha in February 2020●

Star Rating of Universities based on performance on the above Fitness promoting criteria●

 

33. 70th Anniversary of Indian Constitution :

A year long, mass awareness campaign was launched on the Constitution Day - 26th

November 2019 in institutions of Higher Education across the country

●

155075 students and faculty from over 700 universities and colleges viewed the live telecastfrom Central Hall of Parliament and read the Preamble to the Constitution

●

Kartavya Portal launched●

An online, National Essay Competition for students of HE Institutions announced●

The competition to be held in 11 rounds, one every month, focussing on one FundamentalDuty

●

Over 5000 students registered for Ist round to be held on 26th December●

National Law University, Delhi is the national coordinating university, 25 state coordinatinguniversities

●

Competition to be held through NTA, registration through the portal - kartavya.ugc.ac.●

Debates, Mock Parliaments, MOOT Courts●

workshops, guest lectures by eminent jurists, poster making , slogan writing, street plays●

*****

NB/AKJ/AK

 

(Release ID: 1598503) Visitor Counter : 552

Read this release in: Hindi

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Source : www.pib.nic.in Date : 2020-01-08

YEAR END REVIEW 2019 - MINISTRY OFAGRICULTURE, COOPERATION AND FARMERSWELFARE

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Government policies & interventions for development in variousSectors and issues arising out of their design & implementation incl. Housing

Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare

Year End Review 2019 - Ministry of Agriculture,Cooperation and Farmers Welfare

Launch of PM KISAN scheme; 8.12 crore beneficiariesregistered till date

Launch of farmers’ pension scheme PM Kisan Maan DhanYojana; Over 19 lakh beneficiaries registered till date

Government constitutes a High Powered Committee ofChief Ministers for ‘Transformation of Indian Agriculture’

Posted On: 07 JAN 2020 3:46PM by PIB Delhi

The major highlights of the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare duringthe year 2019 are as follows:

Launch of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maan Dhan Yojana (PM-KMY)

 

PM-KMY inaugurated by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 12th September, 2019provides for payment of minimum pension of Rs.3000/- per month to the eligible small andmarginal farmers on attaining the age of 60 years.  It is voluntary and contributory pensionscheme, with entry age of 18 to 40 years. The monthly contribution by farmer ranges betweenRs.55 to 200.  Central Government will contribute an equal amount in the pension scheme.  Tillnow 19, 19, 802 beneficiaries have been registered.

 

Launch of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN)

 

PM-KISAN Scheme inaugurated by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 24th February,

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2019 which provides for transfer of an amount of Rs. 6000/- per year in three equal instalmentseach of Rs. 2000/- directly into the bank account of beneficiary farmer families. The Schemeinitially covered only small and marginal farmer families with land holding upto 2 hectares asbeneficiaries, subject to certain exclusion criteria for higher income status. The Government laterextended the scheme with effect from 1st April 2019 to all farmer families irrespective of landholding size, subject to applicable exclusions. Since the launch of PM Kisan till now about 8.12crore farmer families have been benefitted and more than Rs. 48,937 crore has beenreleased under the scheme. A new facility has been provided on PM-KISAN Web-portal(www.pmkisan.gov.in) through ‘Farmers’ Corner’ Link to facilitate the farmers for selfregistration, edit  his/her name in PM-Kisan data base as per Aadhar Card, access thebeneficiary list and status of payment.  The farmers are being facilitated for self registration anddata correction through Common Service Centers.  

 

Constitution of High Powered Committee of Chief Ministers for ‘Transformation of IndianAgriculture’

 

A High Powered Committee of Chief Ministers for “Transformation of Indian Agriculture” hasbeen constituted and two meetings of the Committee have been held on 18th July, 2019 and16th August 2019 to deliberate and firm up their report.

 

Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for Kharif  2019-20 season and Rabi Crops of 2019-20increased

 

The Union Government has announced an increase in MSP for Kharif 2019-20 season. MSP ofPaddy increased by Rs.65 per quintal, Jowar by Rs.120 per quintal, Bajra by Rs.50 per quintal,Ragi by Rs.253 per quintal and Maize by Rs.60 per quintal.  MSP of Tur, Moong and Uradpulses raised by Rs.125, Rs.75 & Rs.100  per quintal respectively.  MSP of Groundnut up byRs.200 per quintal, Sunflower seed by Rs.262 per quintal, Nigerseed by Rs.63 per quintal,Medium staple cotton by Rs.105 per quintal, Long staple Cotton by Rs.100 per quintal, Soybeen(yellow) by Rs. 311 per quintal and Sesamum by Rs. 236 per quintal.

 

The Government has announced the increase in the Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for RabiCrops of 2019-20 to be marketed in Rabi marketing season (RMS) 2020-21. The MSP of Wheatand Barley increased by Rs. 85 per quintal each, Gram by Rs. 255 per quintal, Lentil  by Rs. 325per quintal, Rapeseed & Mustard by Rs. 225 per quintal and Safflower by Rs. 270 per quintal.

 

e-NAM –One Nation One Market

 

421 new mandis have been approved for integration under the e-NAM. Along with these, FPOs

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have also been on-boarded on e-NAM portal and they have started uploading their produce fortrading from their premise. Further, 23 Warehouses of CWC located in 11 districts of AP havebeen declared as Deemed Market under Agriculture Produce and Livestock Marketing (APLM)Act which will facilitate trading in future through these warehouses on e-NAM portal.

 

Other Initiatives and Achievements:

 

25 Seed-Hub Centres have been sanctioned across the country for increasing availability ofquality seeds of Nutri-Cereals (Millets) and the first instalment of Rs.723.00 lakh has beenreleased.

 

During current year (2019-20), 12.40 lakh Soil Health Card has been distributed to farmersunder Model Village Project.

 

Under Farm Mechanization 1,44,113 machineries have been distributed and 2300 CustomHiring Centres have been established during current year (2019-20). During 2019-20, 32,808machineries have been distributed and 8662 Custom Hiring Centres have been establishedunder Crop Residue Management Programme.

 

Muti lingual Mobile App “CHC-Farm Machinery” was launched, which helps the farmers forgetting rented farm machinery and implements through Custom Hiring Service Centres (CHC) intheir area.  As on date, 41,992 CHCs with 1,33,723 Agricultural machinery for renting out areregistered on this Mobile app.  Total 1,12,505 farmers as users are registered on this MobileApp.

 

During current year (2019-20) 73,658 hectare additional area has been covered underHorticulture Crops and 59 Nurseries have been established.

 

*****

APS/JP/Year End Review 2019

(Release ID: 1598628) Visitor Counter : 503

Read this release in: Urdu

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Source : www.pib.nic.in Date : 2020-01-08

VICE PRESIDENT CALLS UPON CIVIL SOCIETY ANDBUSINESS HOUSES TO SUPPORT GOVERNMENT INELIMINATING MALNUTRITION

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Poverty & Hunger and related issues

Vice President's Secretariat

Vice President calls upon Civil Society and Businesshouses to support government in eliminating malnutrition

Create awareness among youngsters on the need to avoidjunk food and maintain physical fitness: Vice President

Visits the mechanised kitchen facility at Adamya Chetana inBengaluru

Appreciates them for providing nutritious food to around1.5 lakh children daily

Posted On: 07 JAN 2020 3:16PM by PIB Delhi

The Vice President of India, Shri M Venkaiah Naidu today called upon the CivilSociety, NGOs and Business houses to supplement government’s efforts ineliminating malnutrition in the country.

Expressing concerns, the Vice President said that despite considerable progressmade by the nation in various spheres in the past seven decades, malnutritionremains a major challenge. “It is sad state of affairs that that 35.7% of our childrenbelow 5 years of age are underweight and 38.4% are stunted,” he added.

Addressing the gathering after visiting Adamya Chetana in Bengaluru today, the VicePresident pointed out that various studies have shown that nutritional status ofchildren was strongly associated with their academic performance.

“Lack of nutritious food may lead to poor brain development, weak learning, lowimmunity and increased infections,” he added.

Shri Naidu said that malnutrition perpetuates a vicious cycle of poverty and affectsthe economic development. He asserted that immediate steps must be taken to avoidsuch scenarios for the healthy development of the children and the adolescents.

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Referring to the growing incidence of Non Communicable diseases due to sedentarylifestyles and unhealthy dietary habits, the Vice President called for creatingawareness among youngsters on the need to avoid junk food and maintain physicalfitness at all times.

The Vice President appreciated Adamya Chetana founded by late Shri Ananth Kumarand his spouse Smt. Tejaswini Ananth Kumar for providing food to around 1.5 lakhchildren from four of its kitchens located in Benguluru, Hubbali, Kalburgi and Jodhpurin Rajasthan daily.

Shri Naidu lauded the organisation for personifying age-old Indian values of Sharingand Caring. He stated that the POSHAN Abhiyaan or the National Nutrition Missionby the Government was playing a major role in improving nutrition indicators acrossIndia.

Earlier, the Vice President went around the campus and visited different facilitiesengaged in food preparation. He complimented the management, workers andvolunteers for converting the Annapoorna kitchen into a zero garbage and fossil-fuelfree kitchen.

Shri Naidu said that the orgnaisation’s process of fulfilling its energy needs frombiomass and solar energy was worthy of emulation by others.

In this context, Shri Naidu said that starting of Ananth Kumar Pratishthana to developand mentor new leaders through a Leadership Institute in all fields was a welcomestep and said that it would carry forward work on healthcare and green lifestyle, bothareas in which Shri Ananth Kumar ji strongly believed.

On the occasion, Shri Naidu recalled his close association with former Union Minister,late Shri Ananth Kumar and said “I not only lost a dear friend in Shri Ananth Kumar,but our nation lost a true leader. It is imperative that we continue the ideals, valuesand work that he espoused,”  

The Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, Shri C. N. Ashwath Narayan, Shri TejasviSurya, MP, Bengaluru South, Managing Trustee and Chairperson of AdamyaChetana, Dr Tejaswini Ananth Kumar, and others associated with the organisationwere present at the event.

Following is the full text of the speech –

“It is an emotional moment for me to be amidst all of you here at Adamya Chetnatoday.

I am overwhelmed with the memories of my dear friend and former Union Minister,Shri Ananth Kumar Ji.

My association with Ananth Kumar ji dated back to my student days. After that, wewere fellow companions since the beginning of our journey in political life.

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When I reached Delhi in those times, I stayed with Ananth Kumar ji and Tejaswini ji intheir house. I always felt myself a member of their family.

On a personal note, both Ananth and I were foodies. Ananth ji, Jaitley ji and I havespentmany evenings relishing local delicacies.

I have known about Adamya Chetana for years and have been very impressed by thededication and meticulous way that Ananth Kumar ji and Tejaswini ji have worked onthis noble platform to serve people. But I never had an opportunity to actually visit.

Today when I am here, I am truly amazed by the sheer dedication of the staff,management and volunteers who prepare hot cooked meals with deep love foraround 1 lakh 50 thousand children for four of its kitchens located in Benguluru,Hubbali , Kalburgi and Jodhpur in Rajasthan daily.

You are doing commendable work!

Share and care has been the core of Indian philosophy. Ours is the culture thatbelieves in ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ – the whole world as one family and ‘‘SarveJanah Sukhino Bhavantu’- the happiness and wellbeing of all.

Work and principles of Adamya Chetna personify these age old values.

Dear friends,

It is a fact that despite considerable progress made by nation in various fields in pastseven decades, malnutrition remains a major concern. It’s a sad state of affairs that35.7% of our children under 5 years of age are underweight and 38.4% are stunted.

A recent UNICEF report says that malnutrition is behind 69 per cent deaths amongchildren below 5 years in our country. The report also suggests that children underthe age of five years are affected by micronutrient deficiencies and there is adisturbing trend towards unhealthy food and snacking. Child diets are lacking inproteins and micronutrients.

It is a well-known fact that young children need to be fed nutritious food to supporttheir rapidly growing body and brains. Various studies have confirmed that thenutritional status of the children is strongly associated with their academicperformance. Lack of nutritious food may lead to poor brain development, weaklearning, low immunity and increased infections.

A 15 year-long study by the NGO - 'Save the Children' reveals how access tonutrients affects the child's learning capacity. The study found that an eight years oldmalnutritioned child is 19 per cent more likely to face difficulty in reading simplesentences like 'The sun is hot.'

Malnutrition also impacts the children's future capabilities. When today'smalnourished children become part of tomorrow's working population, it impacts their

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earning potential. Thus malnutrition perpetuates the vicious cycle of poverty andaffects the economic development.

The POSHAN Abhiyaan or the National Nutrition Mission by the Government isplaying a major role in improving nutrition indicators across India. Recently only Ilaunched Poshan Anthem at a WCD Ministry event to spread awareness about theissue of malnutrition.

Here the role and work of organisations like Adamya Chetna becomes very importantin supplementing the Government’s efforts.

Our Father of Nation Mahatma Gandhi used to say, “The best way to find yourself isto lose yourself in the service of others.”

I call upon all like-minded individuals to come forward and help the Governmentcreate a malnutrition free India.

It is also admirable that you have turned Annapoorna kitchen here into a zerogarbage and fossil-fuel free kitchen.

I am told that earlier this kitchen was consuming 400 litres of diesel and creating 300Kilograms of waste on a daily basis.

But now Adamya Chetna It became a zero-garbage generating unit with everyleftover resourcefully reused. It is fulfilling its energy needs from biomass and solarenergy. This feat is worth emulating by others.

Also, your concept of the plate bank is a unique innovation. Having 10 thousands setof steel plates, glasses that anybody can borrow free of cost to make their ownfunctions plastic garbage free - It’s truly imaginative and farsighted idea.

Our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji has given a call for plastics free India. It’sduty cast upon all of us to turn it into a people’s movement. It is next step of theSwachh Bharat Mission.

I am sure that this model of Adamya Chetana can serve as an inspiration to many.And I am not surprised by this. I have known Ananth Kumar ji and Tejaswini ji fordecades and they are always committed to setting higher bar.

Last year has been a trying one for all of us. I not only lost a dear friend in ShriAnanth Kumar, but our nation lost a true leader. It is imperative that we continue theideals, values and work that he espoused.

In that direction, I am glad to know that you are starting Ananth Kumar Pratishthanato carry his work forward.

Drawing inspiration from Shri Ananth Kumar ji, this Pratishthana should work ondeveloping and mentoring new leaders through a Leadership Institute in all fields.

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This is a noble initiative and would help in creating a glowing future of our country.

The Pratishthana will also work on health care and green lifestyle – both areas ShriAnanth Kumar ji strongly believed in and supported. His commitment for healthcare isevident from various initiatives under his leadership such as PM Jana AushadhiKendras and making cardiac stents and knee implants more accessible andaffordable to all. His consistent efforts for Banguluru Metro only affirm hiscommitment for people’s welfare and the Green lifestyle.

Shri Ananth Kumar ji conceptualized the enormously successful Green Bengaluru 1:1program promoting planting lakhs of trees in Bengaluru and other towns. All of youknow how he was personally committed to this program every Sunday (last Sundaywas the 210th consecutive Sunday).

Green Bharat program launched recently by Dr. Tejaswini ji where people can adopta tree will take it to the next level across the nation.

These are admirable initiatives. I have always highlighted the importance of natureand culture for a better future.

Adamya Chetana is a noble effort. Its focus on Anna – Akshara – Arogya (Food –Education – Health) can serve as a role model for others to create a healthy,educated, clean and green India.

I hope AK Pratishthana will also carry forward the works that Ananth Kumar stood for.

I wish you all the very best.

Thank you.

Jai Hind!”

****

VRRK/MS/MSY/RK

(Release ID: 1598625) Visitor Counter : 232

Read this release in: Urdu , Hindi

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Source : www.pib.nic.in Date : 2020-01-10

1023 FAST TRACK SPECIAL COURTS WILL BE SET UPFOR SPEEDY DISPOSAL OF RAPE AND POCSO ACTCASES

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Rights & Welfare of Children - Schemes & their Performance,Mechanisms, Laws Institutions and Bodies

Ministry Of Law & Justice

1023 Fast Track Special Courts will be set up for Speedydisposal of Rape and POCSO Act Cases

These are under National Mission for Safety of Women

Posted On: 09 JAN 2020 5:08PM by PIB Delhi

Incidents of rape and gang rape of minor girls below age of twelve years and similar heinouscrimes against women have shaken the conscience of the entire nation. Therefore, the offencesof rape and gang rape of women and children require effective deterrence through fast and timebound completion of trial relating to sexual offences. To bring out more stringent provisions andexpeditious trial and disposal of such cases, Union of India enacted the Criminal Law(Amendment) Act, 2018.

The has taken up work of setting up of Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) as a part of NationalMission for Safety of Women (NMSW). Accordingly, the Central Government has started aScheme for setting up of 1023 FTSCs across the country based on pendency of subject casesobtained from various High Courts (1,66,882 numbers as on 31.03.2018) for time bound trial anddisposal of pending cases related to rape and POCSO Act.  Further, in pursuance to thedirection of Supreme Court of India in Suo Moto Writ Petition (Criminal) No.01/2019 dated25.07.2019, out of 1023 FTSCs, 389 Courts have been proposed to be set up exclusively forPOCSO Act related cases in Districts where pendency of such cases is more than 100. TheScheme was circulated to all concerned State Governments/ Union Territories Administrations inSeptember, 2019. Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister of Law and Justice has written andappealed to all the Chief Ministers of States for opening these courts and for effectiveimplementation of the Scheme which will act as strong deterrence against such crimes.   

 

Out of total 31 States and UTs, so far, 24 have joined this scheme (Andhara Pradesh, Assam,Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala,Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, NCT of Delhi, Nagaland, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan,Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, UT of Chandigarh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh) for settingup of 792 numbers of FTSCs/ including 354 exclusive POCSO courts. Efforts are constantlybeing made to obtain consent/willingness of remaining States/UTs.

 

The Department of Justice in the Government of India is constantly endeavoring to extendrequisite assistance to the High Courts and State Governments in setting up of these Courts for

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prompt trial and disposal of cases to ensure safe and worth living environment especially towomen and children in totality. 216 numbers of POCSO courts have already beenoperationalized in 12 States under the scheme.

 

***

BN/BK

(Release ID: 1598939) Visitor Counter : 448

Read this release in: Urdu , Hindi , Bengali

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Source : www.thehindu.com Date : 2020-01-11

HUMAN RIGHTS ARE NOT SOLELY AN ‘INTERNALMATTER’

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Rights Issues - Human Rights and NHRC

A protest in Srinagar in December 2016.  

The human rights situation in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) following the dilution of Article 370 andthe passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) have brought renewed internationalfocus on India’s human rights practice. Responding to criticism made by the United Nationsagencies and others, the Indian state asserted that both J&K and CAA are entirely internalmatters and there cannot be any interference in such sovereign decisions.

What is remarkable about modern international human rights law is its recognition of individualsas subjects. Classic international law governed the conduct between states and did notrecognise the rights of individuals. Countries made agreements on the premise that a sovereignstate had the exclusive right to take any action it thought fit to deal with its nationals. Such anotion of absolute sovereignty was challenged in 19th century with the emergence ofhumanitarian intervention to protect minorities living in other states. Later, in 1919, the evolutionof labour standards led to the establishment of the International Labour Office (ILO). In 1926, theSlavery Convention adopted by the League of Nations prohibiting slave trade heralded the firsthuman rights treaty based on the principle of dignity of a human being. The UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948 by the United Nations, was the firstcomprehensive international human rights document. The Universal Declaration has acquiredthe force of law as part of the customary law of nations. It has provided the basis for bindinghuman rights treaties and non-binding guidelines/principles that constitute a distinct body of lawknown as international human rights law.

This progress of international law in the last 100 years makes the Indian state’s assertion of itssovereign right unsustainable. The evolution of international human rights law is also about thegradual weakening of the concept of unrestricted sovereignty. The Indian government hasratified several international human rights treaties and submits periodic reports to the respectivetreaty bodies. By doing so, it has acknowledged the principle that the treatment of its citizens isnot entirely an internal matter, and such measures do not enjoy an absolute sovereignty.

The Indian government’s response to concerns about its human rights practice has always beenthat international scrutiny is unwarranted since the country is the largest democracy in the worldwith an independent judiciary, free media, and an active civil society. These claims sound lesscredible after the recent developments in J&K and the passage of the CAA.

Non–discrimination is a fundamental principle of human rights. Discrimination in various formsoccurs in all societies, but what is of concern is institutionalised discrimination. Apartheid waspronounced as a crime against humanity since it institutionalised discrimination based on race.Similarly, for the first time in post–Independence India, a religious group has been excluded fromthe purview of a law dealing with citizenship.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which is the lead agencywithin the UN system on all aspects related to human rights, has expressed its concern statingthat the CAA “is fundamentally discriminatory in nature”. It has also said that “although India’sbroader naturalization laws remain in place, these amendments will have a discriminatory effecton people’s access to nationality.”

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International human rights law includes safeguards against unwarranted foreign intervention andstresses the exhaustion of domestic remedies before an issue is considered by an internationalbody. The Indian state always assured the international community that the judiciary, mainly itsSupreme Court, would provide adequate remedies to victims of human rights violations.However, of late, the faith of the common people in the higher judiciary has been weakened. Inthe face of serious allegations about human rights violations in J&K, the Supreme Court has“ducked, evaded and adjourned”, as put across by advocate Gautam Bhatia.

While responding to criticism against its human rights practices, the Indian government alsorefers to the role of free media and civil society in protecting the human rights of vulnerablegroups. However, in the context of J&K and the ongoing struggle against the CAA, the mediahas not come out any better. As for civil society organisations, the government since 2014 hassystematically targeted them, including by making it difficult for them to receive funds fromforeign donors. Since 2014, the government has cancelled the registration of about 14,000NGOs under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). It has also mainly targeted its owncritics.

Indian and international human rights groups are getting increasingly concerned about theactions of people associated with the ruling party who are engaged in the intimidation of critics,attacks against minorities, and restrictions on the freedoms of artistes. The brazen attack onJNU students on January 5 by armed goons and the total lack of response by the police isemblematic of free reign given to non-state actors in various parts of the country.

The international community is sympathetic to governments that are committed to upholdinghuman rights but lack human and other resources to pursue it. In the case of India, it is not aquestion of resources but an unwillingness to uphold human rights. The government’s action inJ&K, the passage of the CAA, and its response to protests on the CAA demonstrate that thepresent regime is not fully committed to upholding human rights and does not respectinternational human rights standards. Of course, it is possible for the Indian government, due toits diplomatic clout, to avoid robust intervention by the UN Human Rights Council and other UNhuman rights mechanisms. However, it would not be able to avoid scrutiny by the internationalcommunity, which would complement the struggle of the Indian civil society to reclaim the IndianConstitution and advance human rights.

Ravindran Daniel is a human rights lawyer who has served as Director with the UNpeacekeeping missions in East Timor, Libya and Sudan

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Source : www.thehindu.com Date : 2020-01-11

A HEALTH EMERGENCY: ON RISK OF INTERNATIONALSPREAD OF POLIOVIRUS

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Health & Sanitation and related issues

Based on the risk of international spread of poliovirus, the World Health Organization announcedon January 7 that polio will continue to remain a Public Health Emergency of InternationalConcern (PHEIC) for three months. The decision was taken based on the recommendation ofthe emergency committee under the international health regulations that assessed the situationlast month. The committee arrived at the unanimous decision based on the “rising risk” ofinternational spread of wild poliovirus type-1. Polio was declared as PHEIC in 2014 and hascontinued to remain one since then. There were 156 cases of wild polio type-1 cases in 2019compared with 28 in 2018. With 128 cases, Pakistan accounted for the most number of cases,while Afghanistan reported 28 cases. Besides the four-fold increase in cases, there wereinstances of the wild type-1 virus getting exported from Pakistan to Iran and Afghanistan, as alsoon the spread from Afghanistan to Pakistan. In addition to the virus causing polio in children, itwas found in the environment in Pakistan and, to a lesser extent, in Afghanistan. This isparticularly a concern as the number of children not vaccinated in Afghanistan has beenincreasing. In 2018, a total of 8,60,000 children in Afghanistan did not receive polio vaccine dueto security threats. The situation did not improve in 2019 and, as a result, a large cohort ofchildren in the southern region of the country remains unprotected. Therefore, even other partsof the country that have been free of the virus in the past are at risk of outbreaks.

An equally disturbing development is on the outbreak of vaccine-derived poliovirus cases in 16countries; in all, there were 249 vaccine-derived poliovirus cases in 2019. Surprisingly, of them,only 30 were in countries where vaccine-derived poliovirus is endemic. “The rapid emergence ofmultiple circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type-2 strains in several countries isunprecedented and very concerning, and not yet fully understood,” the committee noted. But,not a single case of vaccine-derived poliovirus was reported from Afghanistan, while Pakistanhad just 12 cases. In comparison, the number of cases in Angola was 86 and the DemocraticRepublic of the Congo was 63. While Nigeria reported 18 cases of vaccine-derived poliovirus,not a single case of wild poliovirus type-1 has been reported from the country for over threeyears; the last reported case was in August 2016. A country is said to have eradicated poliowhen no new case of wild poliovirus is reported for three successive years. Nigeria is all set tobe declared as having eradicated polio this year, and in turn, the entire African region willbecome free of wild poliovirus.

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Source : www.thehindu.com Date : 2020-01-13

INDIA’S UNDER-5 GIRLS FACE HIGH MORTALITYRelevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Rights & Welfare of Children - Schemes & their Performance,

Mechanisms, Laws Institutions and Bodies

India is among the few countries in the world where, in 2018, the mortality for girls under 5 yearsof age exceeded that of boys, according to the ‘Levels and Trends in Child Mortality’ report bythe United Nations (UN) inter-agency group for child mortality.

The report states that in 2018, fewer countries showed gender disparities in child mortality, andacross the world, boys are expected to have a higher probability of dying before reaching age 5than girls. But this trend was not reflected in India.

“In some countries, the risk of dying before age 5 for girls is significantly higher than what wouldbe expected based on global patterns. These countries are primarily located in Southern Asiaand Western Asia,” said the report.

According to India’s 2017 Sample Registration System, the States with the highest burden ofneonatal mortality are Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh, with 32, 33 and 30 neonataldeaths per 1,000 live births, respectively. India’s neonatal mortality rate is 23 per 1,000 livebirths.

Further, Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttarakhand showed the largest gender gaps in under-5 mortality.

“The burden of child mortality is determined both by the mortality rate (the proportion of childrenwho die) and by the estimated population of any given State (total number of annual births). Inthis sense, Uttar Pradesh is the State with the highest number of estimated newborn deaths inIndia, both because of the high neonatal mortality rate and because of the large cohort of birthsthat occur every year in the State,” noted information released by UNICEF (United NationsChildren’s Fund).

Half of all under-5 deaths in 2018 occurred in five countries: India, Nigeria, Pakistan, theDemocratic Republic of the Congo and Ethiopia. India and Nigeria alone account for about athird.

The major causes of neonatal mortality are pre-term birth, intrapartum related events, andneonatal infection.

The report adds that despite advancements made over the past two decades, one child oryoung adolescent died every five seconds in 2018.

“Current trends predict that close to 10 million 5- to 14-year-olds, and 52 million children under 5years of age, will die between 2019 and 2030,” said the report.

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Source : www.thehindu.com Date : 2020-01-14

WHO CALLS FOR VIGILANCE ON WUHAN VIRUSRelevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Health & Sanitation and related issues

The WHO also maintained that the outbreak had not spread and that the seafood market inWuhan — a major domestic and international transport hub — is now closed and no cases havebeen reported elsewhere in China or internationally.   | Photo Credit: Reuters

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has cautioned that though there is no evidence currentlyof human-to-human transmission of the Wuhan pneumonia that has killed one person in Chinaand infected 40 others, there is a “need to remain vigilant.”

Speaking to The Hindu, Poonam Khetrapal, regional director, of WHO (South-East Asia) said onMonday, “We have shared technical guidelines on surveillance, testing as well as infectionprevention and control practices for suspected cases.”

She added that the world body is in close contact with national authorities in the region and willextend all possible support to ensure core capacities are geared up for addressing potentialcases that may come to countries.

Senior Health Ministry officials added that they were keeping a “close watch on thedevelopments but so far the outbreak has been reported in a single seafood market in thecentral city of Wuhan and has not, so far, spread beyond there. We have been told that the virusis the same family that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).”

The WHO also maintained that the outbreak had not spread and that the seafood market inWuhan — a major domestic and international transport hub — is now closed and no cases havebeen reported elsewhere in China or internationally.

“WHO stands ready to provide all possible technical support to countries to ensure corecapacities are geared up and have advises against travel or trade restrictions on China basedon the information currently available on this event,” added Dr. Khetrapal.

WHO has noted that the Chinese authorities have made a preliminary determination of a novel(or new) coronavirus, identified in a hospitalised person with pneumonia in Wuhan. Chineseinvestigators conducted gene sequencing of the virus, using an isolate from one positive patientsample.

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses and according to Chinese authorities, the virus inquestion can cause severe illness in some patients but does not transmit readily betweenpeople.

“In the coming weeks, more comprehensive information is required to understand the currentstatus and epidemiology of the outbreak, and the clinical picture. Further investigations are alsorequired to determine the source, modes of transmission, extent of infection andcountermeasures implemented. WHO continues to monitor the situation closely and, togetherwith its partners, is ready to provide technical support to China to investigate and respond to thisoutbreak,” the organisation added.

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Source : www.thehindu.com Date : 2020-01-15

WHO ENDORSES INDIGENOUS MOLECULARDIAGNOSTIC TOOL FOR TUBERCULOSIS DIAGNOSIS

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Health & Sanitation and related issues

Photo: Twitter/@WHO  

The World Health Organisation has endorsed TrueNat, an indigenous molecular diagnostic toolfor tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis. The disease remains a threat to public health and is the topinfectious cause of death globally.

In 2018, an estimated 10 million people developed TB and 1.5 million died of it while at least amillion children become ill with it every year. Also about 5,00,000 new cases of multidrug 2 andrifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (MDR/RR-TB) are estimated to emerge annually but only one inthree cases was reported by countries to have been diagnosed and treated in 2018.

WHO has noted that since the approval of Xpert MTB/RIF in 2010, significant additionalevidence has been generated on its use as initial test for the diagnosis and rifampicin-resistantTB.

“In recent months new data on the use of Xpert and on the latest version TrueNat MTB and MTBPlus system have also become available. WHO commissioned a systematic review of all theavailable data in 2019. The results were assessed during a meeting of an independent WHO-convened Guideline Development Group (GDG) on 3-6 December 2019. Detailedrecommendations will be published as part of updated WHO Consolidated Guidelines on TBdiagnosis in 2020,’’ noted WHO.

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Source : www.thehindu.com Date : 2020-01-15

A GOVERNMENT THAT CHOOSES ITS CRITICSRelevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Role of NGOs, SHGs, Donors & Charities, and Institutional & other

Stakeholders in Development Process

On November 16, 2019, the Central Bureau of Investigation raided Amnesty International’soffices in Bengaluru and Delhi based on allegations that the NGO had violated provisions of theForeign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010, and of the Indian Penal Code. Amnesty has beenvocal about human rights abuses, notably in Jammu and Kashmir and Assam.

The raid is not an isolated incident but part of a pattern of harassment of NGOs in India. In early2019, Greenpeace had to shut two offices in India and reduce its staff. Since 2015, GreenpeaceIndia has been barred from receiving foreign donations. In July 2019, there were raids in theoffices of the Lawyers Collective. In 2019 alone, more than 1,800 NGOs lost their licence toreceive foreign funding.

This is worrying given that international funding is crucial for NGOs to function. The contributionof NGOs to human rights and public awareness is significant in India. The recognition of therights of homosexuals and transgender people, for instance, would have been unimaginablewithout the sustained effort of civil society organisations. Likewise, developments in the publicprovision of health and education are unlikely to come about without pressure by NGOs.

Most NGOs are neither politically powerful nor have great financial capacity. For example, smallenvironmental or tribal rights groups protesting against environmental violations by multinationalcompanies cannot fight back against companies that use their resources — profits fromelsewhere — for public relations, campaigning, and advertisement to resist the protests. Thusthere is a power imbalance in this struggle, exacerbated by financial restraints on organisations.

The FCRA regulates the receipt of funding from sources outside of India to NGOs working inIndia. It prohibits receipt of foreign contribution “for any activities detrimental to the nationalinterest”. The Act specifies that NGOs require the government’s permission to receive fundingfrom abroad. The government can refuse permission if it believes that the donation to the NGOwill adversely affect “public interest” or the “economic interest of the state”. This condition ismanifestly overbroad. There is no clear guidance on what constitutes “public interest”.Consequently, a government could construe any disagreement with, or criticism of, any of itspolicies as being against public interest.

The current government has already done this. For example, in 2014, several groups includingGreenpeace were accused by the Intelligence Bureau of stalling India’s economic development.In the government’s narrow view, public interest is interpreted as being equivalent to itspriorities. That is simply not the case. Thus, an environmental or human rights organisationcriticising the government can be accused of “acting against public interest”.

The restrictions also have serious consequences on both the rights to free speech and freedomof association under Articles 19(1)(a) and 19(1)(c) of the Constitution. The freedom is based onthe idea that individuals can form voluntary groups and pursue various interests. It is a form ofcollective expression and thought. The Supreme Court has held that this right includes the rightto continued sustenance of the association, without unreasonable restraint (Damyanti Narangav. Union of India, 1971).

The foreign funding prohibition also negates the significance of voluntary, non-profit associationsin a democracy. Free speech is valuable not because everyone agrees, but because it enables

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a culture of dissent, deliberation, and debate. The right to free speech is affected in two ways.One, by allowing only some political groups to receive foreign donations and disallowing someothers, the government can ensure a biased political debate. It can reduce critical voices bydeclaring them to be against public interest. Two, this chilling effect on free speech can lead toself-censorship. Speech that is protected by the Constitution can be construed as “against publicinterest”. Thus, the standard regulates speech in a manner that is incompatible with theConstitution. In Shreya Singhal v. Union of India (2015), the Supreme Court was similarly facedwith overbroad classifications in the Information Technology Act. Striking down Section 66A, theCourt held that the Act could be used in a manner that has a chilling effect on free speech. Thishas already happened in the case of the FCRA. NGOs need to tread carefully when theycriticise the regime, knowing that too much criticism could cost their survival.

Democracy requires critics and civil society. This is why invoking the FCRA to curb the work ofNGOs is deeply troubling. In a democracy, criticism should be welcomed, not repressed. Nogovernment should ever be able to choose its own critics.

Thulasi K. Raj is a practising lawyer and was an Indian Equality Law Fellow at Melbourne LawSchool; Bastian Steuwer is a political philosopher at the London School of Economics

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Source : www.thehindu.com Date : 2020-01-15

CHALK AND CHEESE IN PRIVATE VS. GOVERNMENTSCHOOLS

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Education and related issues

One of the big debates in early childhood education is on children’s “school readiness” andwhether early childhood education provides them with the requisite skills to cope with the schoolcurriculum. A vast literature exists on the importance of certain cognitive abilities that aresupposed to be developed during the years children spend in pre-school, so that they are“ready” when they enter school in grade one.

In terms of what children learn in school, one of the big debates is whether children in privateschools perform better than those in government schools. In the Indian context, the consensusseems to be that a large proportion of the differences in the learning levels of children enrolled inprivate and government schools can be attributed to “home factors”. And, while the privateschool effect remains positive, even after taking into account the child’s home environment,learning outcomes in private schools are nowhere near grade competency. But, when do thesedifferences start to manifest themselves? Do children who start grade one in private schoolshave a learning advantage? Let us look at the case of language. According to the grade 1curriculum, children are supposed to be able to identify and read words and simple sentences.According to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2019, 21% children in grade one ofgovernment schools could read words compared to 46.7% in private schools — an advantage of122%. How is this possible? Is this a fair comparison? Are we comparing apples with apples?The answer is clearly no.

First, the age distribution in grade one of government schools is very different from that inprivate schools. The Right to Education and national policy mandates that children enter gradeone at age six. However, 26.1% children in grade one of government schools are four or fiveyears old compared to 15.7% in private schools. At the other end of the spectrum, 30.4%children in grade one of government schools are seven-eight years old compared to 45.4% inprivate schools. Therefore, comparing learning levels in grade one between government andprivate schools becomes problematic. The higher learning levels in grade one, in privateschools, may be partly due to the fact that grade one in those schools has a higher proportion ofolder children.

Second, it is well known that children who go to private schools come from relatively affluentbackgrounds. They also tend to have more educated parents. This affords them certainadvantages which are not available to children who are from less advantaged families and aremore likely to attend government schools. For instance, 30% of government school grade onechildren, in the ASER 2019 sample, had mothers who had never been to school compared toonly 12% of grade one private school children. Further, 27.3% of grade one children in privateschools had private tutors compared to 19.5% in government schools.

Third, early childhood education is supposed to prepare children for school. Children aresupposed to be exposed to activities that build their cognitive abilities and early literacy andnumeracy skills. For instance, the National Early Childhood Care and Education curriculumframework talks about developing skills related to sequential thinking, predicting patterns,observing, reasoning and problem solving in the pre-school stage. These cognitive and earlylanguage skills are highly correlated with the child’s ability to acquire further language skills.Therefore, children who enter grade one better prepared with these skills are likely to performbetter. For instance, among the cognitive tasks administered in ASER 2019 (seriation, pattern

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recognition and puzzle) only 23.8% children of grade one in government schools could do allthree tasks compared to 43.1% in private schools.

Once we take into account all these factors — age distribution in grade one, home factors suchas affluence, mother’s education, home learning environment, and some baseline abilities thatchildren enter grade one with, private schools still have a learning advantage. Where is thiscoming from? Since we are talking about grade one, this difference cannot be attributed to anaccumulated effect of better teaching practices in private schools.

What private pre-schools are doing is to start children on the school-based curriculum in pre-school itself. In other words, the private sector keeps children longer in pre-school and exposesthem to school-like curricula even before they have entered school. For instance, 14% childrenin anganwadis could recognise letters or more compared to 52.9% in private pre-schools; and12.9% children in these private pre-schools were already reading words (something they aresupposed to learn in grade one) compared to 2.9% in anganwadis. It is not surprising, therefore,that children from private pre-schools perform better in school.

Finally, children in anganwadis do worse than private pre-school children on cognitive as well asearly language tasks such as picture description. For instance, while 23.4% of private pre-schoolchildren could do all three cognitive tasks, only about half (12%) of the children in anganwadiscould do them.

India has a huge investment in its early childhood programme, administered through 1.2 millionanganwadis under the Integrated Child Development Services Scheme. The findings of ASER2019 make a clear case for strengthening these early childhood education centres so that theyimplement appropriate “school-readiness” activities. A case can also be made for streamliningthe curriculum at the pre-school stage so that all pre-schools focus on activities that buildcognitive and early literacy and numeracy skills. These will aid further learning.

Wilima Wadhwa is Director, ASER Centre

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Source : www.thehindu.com Date : 2020-01-15

A NEW VIRUS EMERGES IN CHINARelevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Health & Sanitation and related issues

An electron microscope image of a coronavirus, part of a family of viruses that cause ailmentsincluding the common cold and SARS.  

On December 31, 2019, China informed the World Health Organization (WHO) of a cluster ofcases of pneumonia of unknown cause in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. A few patientsin Wuhan had been suffering from respiratory illnesses such as pneumonia since December 8,2019. Besides providing care, Chinese public health officials began carrying out environmentalassessments at the wholesale market and trying to identify the microbe causing the outbreak.

On January 9, 2020, the WHO issued a statement saying Chinese researchers have made“preliminary determination” of the virus as a novel coronavirus in a person with pneumonia. Theresearchers were able to determine the virus by sequencing the genome of the novel virus usingan isolate taken from an infected patient. “Preliminary identification of a novel virus in a shortperiod of time is a notable achievement and demonstrates China’s increased capacity tomanage new outbreaks,” WHO tweeted.

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses with some causing less severe common cold to moresevere diseases such as the Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle Eastrespiratory syndrome (MERS). While SARS coronavirus was transmitted from civet cats tohumans in China in 2002, MERS coronavirus was from dromedary camels to humans in SaudiArabia in 2012.

On January 11, China shared the whole genome sequence data with WHO and submitted themto the Global initiative on sharing all influenza data (GISAID) platform to allow researchersacross the world to access the data. Sharing the data with GISAID will hep other countries toquickly identify the virus in infected people and provide care, and also develop specificdiagnostic kits, drugs and even vaccines. Since Jan 11, five more genome sequences havebeen submitted to GISAID.

Using the genomic test kit, China was able to accurately identify that only 41 of the 59 suspectedcases have been infected with the novel coronavirus. According to the WHO, the clinical signsand symptoms of the patients are mainly fever and fatigue, accompanied by dry cough, with afew having difficulty in breathing, and chest radiographs showing fluid in both lungs.

Of the 41 patients, seven have severe illness, two have already been discharged and oneperson had succumbed to the disease. The remaining patients were reported to be in a “stablecondition”. The last reported case was on January 2. The patient who died on January 9 isapparently a 61-year-old man who had chronic liver disease and was a frequent customer at themarket which is under investigation to identify the animal species that has transmitted the virusto humans. Public health experts are yet to identify the source of the new virus.

According to the WHO, 763 people, including medical staff, who have come in close contact withpatients infected with the novel coronavirus have been identified for close monitoring. So far thevirus doesn’t seem to have the ability to spread from one person to another as the infection hasnot been found in any of the close contacts. Based on preliminary epidemiological investigation,most of the patients have come in close contact with animals or frequently visited a wholesaleseafood market, which has been closed since January 1.

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On January 8, a woman who had travelled from Wuhan to Thailand was hospitalised and mildpneumonia was diagnosed. Subsequent testing confirmed that the woman, a Chinese national,had been infected with the novel coronavirus. But none outside Wuhan in China has been foundto be infected with the virus directly from animals.

At this point in time, the “WHO advises against the application of any travel or trade restrictionson China based on the information currently available”. It does not recommend that travellerstake any specific measures either. However, the WHO provides general tips to reduce the risk ofinfection such as cleaning hands with soap and water, covering nose and mouth while sneezingand coughing, avoiding contact with anyone who has cold or flu-like symptoms, thoroughlycooking meat and eggs, and avoid making unprotected contact with wild or farm animals.

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Source : www.pib.nic.in Date : 2020-01-15

YEAR END REVIEW 2019 – MINISTRY OF POWERRelevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Government policies & interventions for development in various

Sectors and issues arising out of their design & implementation incl. Housing

Ministry of Power

Year End Review 2019 – Ministry of Power

Electrification of Approximately 2.6 Crores HouseholdsAchieved

3,71,985 Kms of LT Lines and 1,77,676 Kms of HT Lines (11KV and 33 KV) Erected

Guidelines Issued to all States/UTs to Convert ExistingMeters into Smart Ones. more than 9 Lakh Smart MetersInstalled.

Posted On: 14 JAN 2020 12:15PM by PIB Delhi

Availability of reliable and affordable energy is key for development of any country. Several steps have been taken to reform and strengthen the power sector as a wholeincluding power generation, transmission & distribution. The details of year-longachievements for Ministry of Power  are as below :

Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (SAUBHAGYA):1.

Launched in Sept., 2017 with the objective to achieve universal household electrification byproviding last mile connectivity and electricity connections to all remaining un-electrifiedhouseholds in rural and urban areas by 31st March, 2019

●

Scheme Outlay: Rs. 16320 Crore including GOI Grant of Rs. 12320 Crore●

GOI Grant released : Rs. 5720 Crore●

As on 31st March, 2019, all States reported electrification of all willing households under‘Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har GharYojana’ (Saubhagya), except few households in LWEaffected Bastar region of Chhattisgarh.

●

Electricity connections to 262.84 Lakh households have been released from 11.10.2017 to31.03.2019.

●

Subsequently, seven States reported 19.09 Lakh un-electrified households which were un-willing earlier but are now willing to get electricity connection. These households are beingelectrified by the concerned States and as on 20.12.2019, electricity connections to 7.42Lakh Households have been released.

●

Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram JyotiYojana (DDUGJY):2.

100% villages across the country stands electrified as on 28thApril, 2018.●

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Total Scheme Outlay is Rs.75893 Crore (DDUGJY: Rs. 43033 crore and RE Component:Rs.32860 Crore)

●

Projects with total cost of Rs. 43486 crore have been sanctioned in 32 States/UTs.●

Besides above, additional amount of Rs.14270 crore has been sanctioned for creation ofadditional infrastructure to support 100% household electrification.

●

GoI Grant released (Including RE Component)●

Since 2014-15                                     -           Rs.45174 Crore

During 2019-20 (Up to 24.12.19)       -           Rs.3857 Crore

Achievements as on 30.11.2019●

 

Rural Electricity Infrastructure (Including additional infrastructure created for householdelectrification under DDUGJY & Saubhagya)

1475 nos. new sub-stations commissioned●

1658 nos. sub-stations augmented●

 4,92,181nos. distribution transformers installed●

 3,71,985Kms of LT lines and 1,77,676Kms of HT lines (11 KV and 33 KV) erected●

1,00,318 Kms feeder separation completed●

Metering.●

Consumers                            : 1.27 Crore  Nos.

DistributionTransformers      : 1,73,559Nos.

Feeders                                 :  11,425 Nos. 

 

Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS):3.

Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) was launched in the year 2014 with anOutlay of Rs. 32,612 crore for improving and augmenting the distribution and sub-transmission systems in Urban areas with a view to improve reliability.

●

Under the scheme, till today, system strengthening of sub-transmission and distributionnetwork has been in 371 circles. 560 additional urban Towns have been IT-enabled, andabout 30,000 kms of HT/LT lines have been installed across 546 circles in the country. 820new substations have been constructed, while more than 50,000 Distribution transformershave been installed. For better work flow management in the Utilities, IPDS has also fundedEnterprise resource planning (ERP) across several Utilities, out of which implementationhas been completed in 6 Utilities.

●

Under the older projects subsumed under IPDS, till now, 1287 towns have been IT enabled,and SCADA systems have been completed in 57 towns. System strengthening works havebeen completed in 1195 towns.

●

Significant progress has been made under the scheme in the current financial year with thephysical progress of IPDS reaching almost 80% in the system strenghening works. Thedetails of the works accomplished under IPDS in new projects in the current financial yearare as follows:

●

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Works Accomplished under IPDS in Current Financial Year

 

Items UnitAchievement *

April 2019 – 26 DEC2019

Substations

New Substation No. 200

Capacity enhancement& AdditionalTransformers

No. 280

Over-head LinesHT (33 & 11KV) CKm 5,143

LT (440 V) CKm 1,464

CablesAerial Bunch / UnderGround

CKm 19,050

Distribution Transformers No. 10,079

MetersSmart/ Prepaid No. 46,806

Consumer-System No. 20,533,72

Solar Panels KWp 12,347

 

Smart Metering:4. 

In the current financial year, Ministry of Power has issued guidelines to all States to convertall existing consumer meters into Smart meters in prepaid mode. Operation of Smart metersin prepaid mode would allow consumers to pay as per their own financial convenience andelectricity consumption requirements.

●

EESL, a JV between CPSUs in the power sector, has been providing Smart meteringservices to various Utilities as per MOUs entered into with them. EESL has also establishedinnovative financing arrangements for the Smart metering projects that would enable themto provide smart metering services to the DISCOMs without requiring any outright CAPEXfunding from the States/Utilities. The recoveries against the funding towards smart meteringinstallations would be taken as a monthly annuity from the Utilities over a period of seven toeight years.

●

Apart from installations in NDMC for about 50,000 consumers, EESL has also startedinstallation of Smart meters in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan. Out of theseStates, the maximum installation is in the State of Uttar Pradesh, where more than 7.78Lakh smart meters have already been deployed across 11 cities.

●

 

More than 9 lakh smart meters have been installed in the state of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana,Bihar, NDMC-Delhi and Andhra Pradesh as detailed below:

●

 

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 Sr. No

Name of State/ DISCOMSmart Meter installations

by EESL 

1 NDMC 56,220

2 Uttar Pradesh 7,78,631

3 Haryana 73,933

4 Andhra Pradesh 780

Total 9,09,564

 

Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY):5.

Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY), a scheme for financial and operation turnaround of Power Distribution Companies (DISCOMs) was launched by the Government forState owned Distribution Utilities on 20-11-2015 at a time when the outstanding debts andlosses of the Distribution utilities had increased to levels that were adversely affecting theviability of the Power and Banking Sectors. The purpose of UDAY was to usher reformsacross the Power and coal Sectors through competitive and cooperative federalism to pavethe way for 24X7 affordable and reliable Power for all.

●

UDAY incorporated a slew of measures, including financial re-engineering measures, aswell as operational improvement measures. Exemptions were given to the States to borrowoutside the FRBM limits in order to enable them to take over 75% of the outstanding debtsof DISCOMs, as existing on 30th November 2015. The scheme had two outcomeparameters: (i) AT&C loss reduction to 15%; and (ii) ACS-ARR gap reduction to zero byMarch 2019. Due to the large scale of problems/ challenges in some States, as well as latejoining, some States were given extension to complete the turn around process by one ortwo years

●

UDAY scheme is now in final stages, with majority of states having completed 3 years at theend of FY19. The performance from FY16 to FY18 (based on the data submitted by stateson the UDAY portal) shows a consistent improvement in AT&C losses, and reduction inannual losses by almost 50% of pre-UDAY times.

●

Significant improvements have been observed in terms of reduction in AT&C loss from20.7% in FY16 to 18.2% in FY19. The lines losses have come down to below the levels of20%, due to an increase in billing and collection of revenues, reduction in theft, andreduction in technical losses. States like Bihar, Haryana, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmirand Manipur have increased the billing efficiency by ~ 8-10%. In many states, like Assam,Goa, Himachal Pradesh, and Meghalaya, collection efficiency has improved by more than5%.

●

Similarly, the gap between ACS and ARR has reduced from 59 paise per unit in FY16 to 27paise per unit in FY19 due to cost side optimization measures including control in powerpurchase costs, and reduction in interest costs, and discipline in revision of tariff filings inmost of the states.

●

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Half yearly trends of performance of UDAY States in FY20 indicate that the AT&C lossesare lesser than those in the same period by 62 basis points, though there is a marginaldeterioration in the revenue gaps. Variation in pattern of electricity consumption due toextent of heat and rainfall accounts for these variations.

●

The Government of India is formulating additional reform frameworks to buttress the effortsunder UDAY to achieve a complete financial and operational turn around of State ownedUtilities.

●

Hydro6.

16% higher generation (120.7 BU) in 2019-20 (April ~ Nov.) from generation (103.9 BU)in 2018-19 (April ~ Nov.)

●

Mangdechhu hydropower project (720 MW) in Bhutan commissioned in August 2019 andinaugurated by  Prime Minister on 17.08.2019

●

CCEA approval of Rs. 1600 crore in July 2019 for pre-investment activities of NHPC’sDibang Multipurpose (2880 MW) project in Arunachal Pradesh, the largest hydropowerproject to be initiated in the country.

●

Revival of Subansiri Lower (2000 MW) project in Arunachal Pradesh, the largest underconstruction hydropower project, which was stalled since December 2011 due to localunrest and NGT case, has been re-started after NGT case was dismissed on 31.07.2019and local issues were resolved

●

Revival of Teesta-VI (500 MW) project in Sikkim, which was stalled since December 2012through NHPC’s take over of the project through NCLT bidding.

●

On the advice of the Central Govt., the state governments of hydro-rich states of Jammu &Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh have provided relaxations to reduce tariff of hydropowerprojects:

●

Jammu & Kashmir has deferred free power, exempted water cess for 10 years and havegiven exemptions from local taxes to  Kiru and Kwar Projects.

●

Himachal Pradesh has also deferred free power, agreed for 50% reimbursement of StateGST and for booking 1.5% LADF to any head other than project cost, BOOT/ BOOM for 70years etc, with an objective to bring down hydro tariff below Rs. 4.5 per unit. On these lines,Govt. of Himachal Pradesh signed agreements with 3 CPSUs viz. NTPC, NHPC and SJVNfor setting up 10 hydropower projects of 2917 MW on Chenab river entailing an investmentof about Rs. 28,000 crore.

●

Guidelines being prepared for operationalising the following measures to promotehydropower sector approved by the Union Cabinet on 07.03.2019 :

●

Declaring Large Hydropower Projects (>25 MW) as Renewable Energy●

Hydropower Purchase Obligation(HPO)●

Tariff rationalisation measures●

Budgetary support for flood moderation component &●

Budgetary support for enabling infrastructure like bridges, roads etc.●

 

The saleability issues facing hydropower would be addressed through HPO, tariff

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rationalisation measures and budgetary support for flood moderation and enablinginfrastructure like roads, bridges etc. Large Hydropower projects (>25 MW) wouldalso become eligible for green funding after being categorised as renewableenergy source.

One Nation-One Grid-One Frequency:7.

Expansion of ISTS transmission lines (220 kV and above) by 14,546 km●

Transformation capacity addition of ISTS network by 74,910 MVA●

Inter-Regional Transfer capacity of addition of 5,700 MW●

MoP has approved implementation of ISTS transmission projects worth about Rs. 15,186Cr under RTM/TBCB mode.

8.

Setting up of Renewable Energy Management Centre (REMC):9.Eight REMCs have been commissioned in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka,Tamilnadu, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat and Southern Regional LoadDespatch Centre and Western Regional Load Centre during 2019. These REMCs wouldhelp in Grid integration of Renewable Energy by taking care of intermittency of REgeneration and, facilitating real time forecasting, scheduling and real time tracking ofRenewable Energy Generation.

Restoration work during Odisha cyclone:10.Provided support by way of manpower, material and other support to the tune of Rs.11.48crore for early restoration of transmission lines/ power system in the state of Odisha, whichwas badly affected by the cyclone ‘Fani’

Important works done in Jammu & Kashmir:11.220 kV Transmission Line/ System from Srinagar to Leh, via Drass and Kargil wascommissioned in February, 2019, but due to collapse of a few towers during theavalanche was not fully functional. This was restored and made fullyoperational.Restoration of Kishenpur-New Wanpoh Transmission lines in J&K, affected bythe recent snow storm in Kashmir, was completed under adverse weather conditions anddifficult terrainMoU signed and Work commenced in two CSR Projects in J&K at anestimated cost of Rs.5.78 crore Improvement/ upgradation of inner link road atWagoora.Upgradation of 10 Army Goodwill Schools in J&K.

12.

Srinagar-Drass-Kargil-Khalsti-Leh transmission system:13.On 3rd  February,2019, Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of lndia dedicated the 220kVSrinagar-Drass-Kargil-Khalsti-Leh transmission system aimed at powering Kargil andLadakh region of Jammu & Kashmir thereby, connecting these regions of lndia to theNational Grid.

MAHARATNA Status:13.Power Grid Corporation of lndia Limited (POWERGRID) has been conferred with thecoveted Maharatna Status by the Government of India on 23.10.201 9.

Power Rail Koyla Availability through Supply Harmony (PRAKASH) Portal:14.PRAKASH portal was launched on 03.10.2019. Benefits of Portal to the Stake-holders: On asingle platform, the following information will be available:

Coal company: Stocks and the coal requirement at power stations●

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Indian Railways: Actual coal available at siding.●

Power stations can plan future schedule by knowing rakes in pipe line and expected time ofreceipt

●

MoP/ MoC/Ministry of Railways/CEA/POSOCO can review the overall availability of thermalpower in different regions and coal available for the same

●

Information available on portal:

Summary Dashboard: Summary of Generation, Coal receipt for power plants, Dispatch byCoal Company and Rake placement by Railways for month and financial year.

●

Geo Status: Summary of power plant and siding details on Map of India.●

Reports: Following report will be available●

Daily Power Plant Status: Report gives Station data related to power generation, coalreceipt, consumption and stock.

●

Plant Exception Report: Report gives Station list having given stock on particular date.●

Periodic Power Plant Status: Report gives station data related to power generation, coalreceipt, consumption and stock for selected period. Coal materialization based on dispatchby Coal Company is available.

●

Coal Dispatch Report: Report gives subsidiary wise coal dispatch for particular period. Italso gives source wise details of dispatch. Dispatch trend is also visible.

●

Transport Sector:15."Charging Infrastructure for Electric Vehicles - Guidelines and Standards" were issued on14.12.2018 which were subsequently revised on 01.10.2019.

Public Charging Stations Installed by NTPC/EESL till December 2019: NTPC : 57EESL : 65●

 

Energy Efficiency in Industry Sector:16.

After the completion of PAT 2 Cycle involving 621 designated consumers from 11 Sectors,BEE has undertaken monitoring and verification process. It is estimated that these 621 largeconsumers would achieve energy saving target of 9.5 million tonnes of oil equivalentannually which is equivalent to reduction of 35 million tonnes CO2 emissions for the country.

●

National conclave on Enhancing Energy Efficiency in MSME’s held on 23-24th

September,2019. Two new numbers of Energy Management Centres established in 2019.Energy Conservation Guidelines for MSME sector was published.

●

Appliances Sector:17.

Energy Consumption standards for Air conditioners have been notified vide S.O. No. 3897(E) dated 30th October, 2019 for further improvement with effect from 1st January, 2021. Aspart of the notification, it will be mandatory for the Air Conditioner manufacturers toincorporate "24-degree default setting" in their AC models from next year.

●

The Energy Consumption standards for LED Lamps have been revised vide S.O.No.3631(E) dated 09.10.2019.

●

Voluntary Star Labelling of Solar Water Heater to be launched on 14th December,2019during National Energy Conservation Awards Day.

●

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Building Sector:18.

ECBC has been notified by 15 States /UT till November, 2019.●

ECO-NIWAS Samhita (Energy Conservation Building Code for Residential Buildings) hasbeen launched in December, 2018 and Star labelling of Homes was launched in February,2019.

●

Star-rating of commercial building is developed for office, BPO, shopping mall andhospitals.33 nos. of commercial buildings were awarded BEE star rating in 2019.

●

An International  Building Energy Conference – ANGAN (Augmenting Nature by GreenAffordable New-habitat) with support from GIZ under IGEN (Indo-German Energy Program)organized on 9-11, September, 2019.

●

“ECO-NIWAS” Portal (www.econiwas.com) for promoting energy efficiency in residentialbuilding sector launched to benefit construction of energy efficient homes.

●

National Energy Conservation Awards and Painting Competition:19.

Bureau of Energy Efficiency has been organizing school, state and national level paintingcompetitions across the country every year. During 2019, over 84 lakhs studentsparticipated in these competitions and awards are to be given to the winners during theoccasion of National Energy Conservation Day i.e. 14th December,2019.

●

On this occasion 33 industrial units from various sectors were given awards for theirexcellent performance in energy efficiency. Altogether 355 units and establishments acrossthe country participated in this year’s National Awards Programme and a total electricalsaving of 10566 Million units and thermal Savings of about 2.40 milliontoe has beenreported. This has resulted in CO2 emission reduction of 10.5 million tonnes.

●

North Eastern states:20.

Over 1 crore LED bulbs, 93,900 LED tube lights and 3.65 lakh energy efficient fansdistributed under UJALA scheme.

●

Over 1 lakh LED street lights installed under SLNP.●

Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA):21.

Over 36.10 crore LED bulbs, 71.61 lakh LED tube lights and 23.10 lakh energy efficient fansdistributed across the country.

●

This has resulted in estimated energy savings of 47 billion kWh per year with avoided peakdemand of 9,590 MW, estimated GHG emission reduction of 38 million t CO2 per year andestimated cost saving of INR 18,935 crore per year in electricity bills of consumers.

●

Street Lighting National Programme (SLNP):22.

Over 1 crore energy efficient LED streetlights have been installedacross the country.●

This has resulted in estimated energy savings of 6.9 billion kWh per year with avoided peakdemand of 1,152 MW, estimated GHG emission reduction of 4.76 million t CO2per year andestimated annual cost saving of INR 2,686 crore in electricity bills of Municipalities.

●

National E-Mobility Programme:23.

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Procurement process of 10,000 e-cars concluded. The price discovered for e-cars is 25 %less than similar cars in market. Till date,1510 e-cars deployed/under deployment forGovernment offices and 470 Captive Chargers (300 AC & 170 DC) commissioned in theseoffices.

Electric Vehicles Charging Infrastructure:24.EESL is also installing Public Charging Stations to promote Electric vehicles. Till date, 65nos. of Public Charging Stations (PCS) have been commissioned in New Delhi MunicipalCouncil (NDMC) area. MoUs signed with multiple stakeholders across the country.

Building Energy Efficiency Programme (BEEP):25.Building energy efficiency project has been completed in 10,310 buildings includingRailway stations and Airports.

Agricultural Demand Side Management (AgDSM):26.Over73,600 energy efficient pumps have been installed in Andhra Pradesh and UttarPradesh.

Decentralized solar power plants:27.Decentralized solar power plant of60 MW cumulative capacity commissioned in the stateof Maharashtra.

Atal JyotiYojana (AJAY) and Solar Study Lamp scheme:28.Over 1.48 lakh Solar LED Street Lights commissioned in rural areas under AJAY and over59.18 lakh Solar Study Lamps distributed to school going students under Solar StudyLamp scheme.

Ensuring Sustainability of Power Sector- Addressing issue of Payment delays byDiscoms:

29.

The Central Government has taken a major step to address the problem of mountingoutstanding dues towards Generating Companies by the Distribution Companies by issuingan Order on 28th June, 2019 regarding Opening and maintaining of adequate Letter ofCredit (LC) as Payment Security Mechanism under Power Purchase Agreements byDistribution Licensees. This mechanism has been made effective w.e.f 1st August, 2019.

●

Under this mechanism the Power will be scheduled for dispatch only after Letter of Credit(LC) for the desired quantum of power with respect to the generating stations has beenopened. It shall be ensured by the concerned Load Despatch Centre that such entity, duringthe period of non-scheduling of power on account of Non opening of LC or advancepayment, has no access to procure power from the Power Exchange(s) and they shall notbe granted Short Term Open Access (STOA).

●

The measure is expected to improve payments to the power generators and improvesustainability in the Power Sector.

●

Measures towards reduction of cost of power to the consumer:30.

In order to reduce the cost of power procured by the Distribution Licensees, a new systemhas been put in place where for Inter State Generating Stations (ISGS), the merit order

●

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dispatch at national level shall be followed. Hence the cheapest generation will be availableat the maximum level. This is a step where for ISGS, the State level merit order has beenshifted to National level merit order. This mechanism has resulted in savings ofapproximately Rs 3 Crores every day and has a potential of saving Rs 1200 Crores in ayear towards power procurement cost of Distribution licensees.An Order was issued by Ministry of Power on 15.11.2019 on “Reduction in cost of powerdue to pre-payment in entire value chain of power sector”. Electricity RegulatoryCommissions are requested to take necessary actions in reduction of cost due to prepayment as in such cases the working capital requirements get reduced. This initiativereduces the cost of power to the consumer.

●

Promotion of Renewable Energy:31.

In Order to promote the capacity addition of Solar and Wind Power Projects, the waiveravailable for use of Inter State Transmission System (ISTS transmission charges andlosses) has been extended for use of Inter State Transmission System (ISTS) fortransmission of electricity by Solar or Wind power projects commissioned till December2022. The waiver shall be applicable for the twenty five years from the commissioning ofsuch projects.

●

Clarification on Orders related to Renewable Purchase Obligation for Captive Power Plants(CPP) has been issued on 1st February 2019.

●

Allowing use of linkage coal for short term power procurement and powerexchanges:

32.

For the first time, linkage coal was allowed to Power Plants for selling power in the DayAhead Market (DAM) through power exchanges or in short term through a transparentbidding process through Discovery of Efficient Energy Price (DEEP) portal. A methodologyin this regard was issued by Ministry of Power on 2nd December 2019.

●

Till now the Coal Linkage was granted to power generating stations only for selling powerthrough long term and medium term power purchase agreements. This move shall de-stressthe Power Generating Stations which have not secured long term or medium term powerpurchase agreements.

●

Revival of Stressed Assets : Pilot Scheme II:33.

In our endeavour for revival of the stressed assets, a Pilot Scheme was introduced by MOPin April 2018 to facilitate procurement of aggregated power of 2500 MW for 3 (three) years(covered under medium term) from the generating companies having coal based PowerPlants which are already commissioned without having a power purchase agreement for thequantum of power the Bidder is willing to bid. Based on the experience gained in the PilotScheme, Pilot Scheme –II for procurement of another 2500 MW for the period of threeyears under medium term was notified on 01.02.2019.

●

***

 

     RCJ/SKP/CKR

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(Release ID: 1599334) Visitor Counter : 531

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Source : www.thehindu.com Date : 2020-01-17

TB DIAGNOSTIC TEST DEVELOPED IN INDIA HAS HIGHACCURACY, SAYS WHO

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Health & Sanitation and related issues

According to WHO, the overall sensitivity of the Truenat MTB assay is 83% and specificity is99%.   | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

In a Rapid Communication published on January 14, the World Health Organization (WHO) hadmentioned that the India-made Truenat MTB, a molecular diagnostic test for pulmonary andextrapulmonary TB and rifampicin-resistant TB, has high accuracy.

Truenat MTB has “high diagnostic accuracy as initial test to diagnose TB and to sequentiallydetect rifampicin resistance”, says the WHO Communication. It will be used as an initial test thusreplacing sputum smear microscopy.

Truenat is developed by the Goa-based Molbio Diagnostics. The company was provided withtechnical assistance and resources by the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) tohelp commercialise Truenat. ICMR had assessed and validated the diagnostic tool.

“Truenat will be cheaper per test than Xpert. The equipment and cartridges cost more in thecase of Xpert,” says Prof. Balaram Bhargava, Director-General of ICMR. “Truenat is robust andmost suited for Indian conditions.”

“With its better sensitivity, Truenat can be used as the initial tool for TB diagnosis,” says Prof.Bhargava.

Besides other studies, a multi-centric, prospective field evaluation study was carried out in India,Ethiopia, Peru, Papua New Guinea involving 744 participants, with final results onbacteriological culture.

While sputum microscopy has only about 50% sensitivity, Truenat has been found to havehigher sensitivity and specificity. According to WHO, the overall sensitivity of the Truenat MTBassay is 83% and specificity is 99%. In the case of Truenat MTBPlus, which uses two targets todiagnose TB bacteria, the sensitivity increases to 89% and the specificity is 98%.

In comparison, Xpert, which is also a molecular diagnostic test and has been widely used acrossthe world, the sensitivity is 85% and specificity is 98%.

In cases where the sample is found to be positive, tests can be done to know if the TB bacteriaare already resistant to rifampicin, a drug used as part of first-line treatment. Truenat MTB-RIFtest for knowing the resistance has 93% sensitivity and 95% specificity.

According to WHO, the accuracy of Truenat and Truenat MTB Plus is comparable with Xpertand Xpert Ultra. Likewise, the accuracy to detect rifampicin resistance using Truenat MTB-RIF iscomparable with Xpert and Xpert Ultra.

Based on data available from around 230 diagnosing units in the primary and community healthcentres in Andhra Pradesh, scientists at the Chennai-based National Institute of Epidemiologyfound Truenat had better ability to diagnose more TB positive cases. “Compared with smearmicroscopy, there was 30% more number of positive cases diagnosed after Truenat was

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implemented in the 230-odd units,” says Dr. Manoj V. Murhekar, Director of NIE.

“Instead of smear microscopy, Truenat can be used as an initial and point-of-care tool fordiagnosing TB,” he says. “Since not much expertise is needed to carry out the test, it can beused in peripheral units such as public and community health centres.”

While Xpert needs reliable electricity supply and air-conditioning, Truenat is battery operatedand portable, hence, it can be used in remote places. Truenat takes about 25 minutes to extractthe DNA and another 35 minutes for diagnosis. Testing for rifampicin resistance takes an hourand is done only if the sample tests positive for TB. In the case of Xpert, it takes two hours tocomplete the diagnosis and test for rifampicin resistance.

Compared with a one ml of sputum sample required in the case of Xpert, only 0.5 ml sample isneeded for Truenat. In the case of TB positive samples, the actual bacterial load in 1 ml ofsputum sample is given, while Xpert provides only a qualitative result.

The main cost advantage while using Truenat will be in the manner the tests are carried out.Only when samples test positive will the test for rifampicin resistance be carried out in the caseof Truenat. This is unlike Xpert where both TB diagnosis and rifampicin resistance test are donein one go. Hence the use of reagents may be reduced and will help make the testing cheaperwhen Truenat is used.

Also, a peripheral-level TB test using Truenat will reduce the delay in diagnosis and whencombined with improved treatment initiation rates will fare better compared with district-levelXpert testing. After all, early diagnosis and treatment initiation will help reduce TB transmissionand incidence.

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Source : www.thehindu.com Date : 2020-01-18

LEADERS ACROSS THE GLOBE FAILING TO INVESTENOUGH IN HEALTH, SAYS WHO

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Health & Sanitation and related issues

“Leaders across the globe, are failing to invest enough resources in core health priorities andsystems and putting lives, livelihoods and economies in jeopardy,” said World HealthOrganisation (WHO) releasing its latest list of urgent global health challenges for this decade.

“Public health is ultimately a political choice. Countries invest heavily in protecting their peoplefrom terrorist attacks, but not against the attack of a virus, which could be far more deadly, andfar more damaging economically and socially. A pandemic could bring economies and nations totheir knees. Which is why health security cannot be a matter for ministries of health alone,”noted WHO.

It added that countries have to realise that health is an investment in the future.

Reacting to this a senior health ministry official noted that the Union Health Ministry is looking at“more funds allocation for the coming year.”

A release issued by the central government noted that that department of health has sought for"untied funds to help in funding gaps in primary health care in the States. It has also asked forperformance based incentives – a Composite Health Index to be utilized to encourage States todemonstrate performance on year on year basis."

“The Health Ministry projected the requirement of funds for a primary care for the purpose ofaddressing shortfall in infrastructure, health care professionals, supporting AB-HWCs, NationalAmbulance Service, and Funds for Medicines and Diagnostics. For a 5-year period, total of5,38,305.38 crores fund has been projected,” noted the release.

Meanwhile, WHO also listed out -- climate change, access to medicines, epidemic, anti-bioticresistance, growth in harmful products etc as important challenges for this decade.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director general in his statement said: "We face sharedthreats and we have a shared responsibility to act. With the deadline for the 2030 SustainableDevelopment Goals quickly approaching, the United Nations General Assembly hasunderscored that the next 10 years must be the “decade of action”.

“This means advocating for national funding to address gaps in health systems and healthinfrastructure, as well as providing support to the most vulnerable countries,” he added.

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Source : www.thehindu.com Date : 2020-01-18

TUBERCULOSIS CONTROL PROGRAMME RENAMED,TO FOCUS ON ELIMINATION

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Health & Sanitation and related issues

On January 1, 2020, India’s TB control programme got a change of name. It is no longer knownas the Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP), and has been rechristened as theNational Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP).

The change in name is in line with the larger goal of eliminating the disease by 2025, five yearsahead of the Sustainable Development Goals target. In March 2018, Prime Minister NarendraModi had announced 2025 as the target year for ending TB.

On December 30, 2019, the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare sent a letter to ChiefSecretaries of all States and Union Territories intimating about the change of name. “TheGovernment of India has committed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal of endingtuberculosis by 2025, five years ahead of the global targets. In view of this ambitious target, achange in name of the programme, representative of the ultimate goal of eliminating TB disease,was thought to be necessary,” the letter says.

“Changing the name will help us in providing adequate advocacy required for achieving thegoal,” Dr. Raghuram Rao, Deputy Director (TB), Ministry of Health & Family Welfare told TheHindu. “TB is not just a disease but a socio-economic problem. So this requires every section ofthe society to be playing its part in fighting to end the disease.”

The change in name is expected to give “huge thrust to the people working for elimination oftuberculosis from the top to bottom and the general population”.

It might be recalled that both in the case of leprosy and polio, the national programmeunderwent a name change to align with the larger goal. In the case of leprosy, the name waschanged from National Leprosy Control Program to National Leprosy Eradication Program in1983. Similarly, for polio, the name of the programme was changed from National Program forControl of Poliomyelitis to Polio Eradication Program in India.

The goal to end TB by 2025 got a much needed boost with the World Health Organizationstating that the indigenously developed molecular test (TrueNat MTB) for diagnosing pulmonaryand extrapulmonary TB and rifampicin-resistant TB has high diagnostic accuracy. Being battery-operated, the diagnostic tool will be used in peripheral TB centres in India. This will help reducethe delay in diagnosis and enable early initiation of treatment to break the transmission cycleand achieve better cure rates.

As a first step, TrueNat MTB will be available at community health centres and would slowly beextended to primary health centres across the country. There are 5,500-6,000 community healthcentres and about 25,000 PHCs. While States will be procuring the diagnostic machine directlyfrom the Goa-based manufacturer, the Central government is in the process of procuring 1,500machines for the high-load TB microscopy centres.

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Source : www.thehindu.com Date : 2020-01-20

THE MIND MATTERS: HOW TAMIL NADU IS COPINGWITH HIGH PREVALENCE OF MENTAL ILLNESSES

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Rights & Welfare of Persons with Disability including Mentally IllPeople - Schemes & their Performance, Mechanisms, Laws Institutions and Bodies

Mental illness changed the lives of these three women. Like hundreds of people in the samesituation, Akila, Bairavi and Jency are still not understood by the vast majority. The reasons: lackof awareness and stigma attached to mental disorders.

The problem partly lies in differentiating mental health from physical health. From there on, ittakes a different path; a path in which availability and access to mental health services,adequate mental health professionals, affordable treatment leading to rehabilitation andintegration into society become issues.

The recently-published ‘The burden of mental disorders across the States of India: the GlobalBurden of Disease Study 1990-2017’ (Lancet Psychiatry, 2019) says mental disorders areamong the leading causes of the non-fatal disease burden in India. Giving the prevalence anddisease burden of each mental disorder for the States, it finds that the proportional contributionof mental disorders to the total disease burden in India has almost doubled since 1990.

The prevalence of mental disorders that predominantly manifest during adulthood – depressiveand anxiety disorders, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder – was generally higher in the moredeveloped southern States than in the less developed northern States, it says.

Tamil Nadu, being one of the States in the high socio-demographic index group, accounted for ahigh prevalence of depressive disorders, anxiety disorders and schizophrenia.

The crude Disability Adjusted Life Years (a summary measure of total health loss) rate ofdepressive disorders was highest in T.N. in this group.

Commenting on the study, R. Thara, vice-chairperson of Schizophrenia Research Foundation,says that there has been no country-wide look at the burden of mental disorders so far.

“The Global Burden of Disease study is not prevalence or an epidemiological study. The datawas collated from experts. Nevertheless, it gives us an overview of the prevalence of mentaldisorders,” she says.

With better literacy rates and mental healthcare services, southern States such as T.N. andKerala have accounted for higher rates of depressive and anxiety disorders and schizophrenia.

“We need to see if this is due to better reporting or a true reflection of prevalence rates. How arewe going to handle this? We need to think about increasing awareness on mental health, earlydiagnosis and treatment, and reduction of stigma,” she adds.

Modernisation and urbanisation are among the likely causes for this high prevalence. VandanaGopikumar, co-founder, The Banyan, feels that urbanisation has resulted in migration, culturaldisaffiliation, identity crisis and certainly overcrowding, all of which may have an impact onmental health. “Nuclearisation of families has many gains, but it has also resulted in decreasedsupport networks,” she adds.

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C. Ramasubramanian, former State Nodal Officer for Mental Health Programme, attributes therise in the numbers of depressive and anxiety disorder to the isolation caused by urbanisation.Even in tier-2 cities such as Madurai, joint families have disintegrated to form nuclear familieswhich make individuals ‘islands’, he says.

Dr. Thara says: “Our research has shown that in rural areas, 80-85% persons do not accessmental health services and remain untreated for 10-12 years. Despite a fairly good DistrictMental Health Programme in the State, the distance to the nearest medical facility is still huge.

When treatments are not accessible, disease burden increases, observes Anna Tharyan, retiredprofessor of psychiatry, Christian Medical College, Vellore. “Psychological treatment is even lessaccessible than medical treatment, especially to low and middle socio-economic populations inrural areas. Non-availability of psychiatric treatment at primary and secondary level governmenthospitals means that the financially deprived cannot access care.”

It is here that primary health care should play a larger role.

“Today, we have technology to address most of the problems of mental health at the primaryand secondary care level but its implementation is ineffective. The emphasis is on startinginvention as early as possible. The primary health care system, which comprises the first contactcare, should identify persons with mental illness and bring them to care,” says K.V. KishoreKumar, director, The Banyan.

Certain areas continue to be less recognised — post-partum depression, substance/alcoholabuse and domestic violence.

The study observed sex differentials in the distribution of mental disorders; higher prevalence ofboth depressive and anxiety disorders in women than in men could be related to genderdiscrimination, violence, sexual abuse, antenatal and postnatal stress and adverse socio-culturalnorms.

Mental health is not without newer challenges, especially involving the young. The rapidity ofsocial changes is a huge factor. Social networking, gadget addiction and having virtual friendsthan real friends, experts add.

Sapna Bangar, psychiatrist and head, Mpower-The Centre, Mumbai, says children are nottaught to take ‘no’ for an answer and are given more privileges; as a result, they, as ageneration, have poor resilience and poor coping strategies.

Are there strong links between mental disorders and suicides? Lakshmi Vijayakumar,psychiatrist and founder of SNEHA, says depression is an important factor associated withsuicide but not the only factor. One-third of persons who die by suicide are addicted to alcohol orare under the influence of alcohol. “Here, we need to look at triad of depression-alcoholism-suicide,” she says.

For a State that leads in a number of health indicators, T.N. has come a long way in establishingmental health services, but more needs to be done, say experts.

P. Poorna Chandrika, director of Institute of Mental Health (IMH), Chennai, says, “Whencompared to other States, Tamil Nadu is way ahead in providing mental health services.”

Under the District Mental Health Programme (DMHP), which was launched in 1997 andexpanded to 32 districts over the years, every district has two psychiatrists, a clinical

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psychologist, psychiatric nurse and social worker, and 10 beds allotted for psychiatric patients indistrict hospitals.

IMH, one of the largest treatment facilities in T.N., is currently home to around 900 patients. Adocument of the Department of Health and Family Welfare shows that IMH catered to anaverage of 341 out-patients per day during 2017-2018 and 352 during 2018-2019. Its in-patientfigures were 861 per day during 2017-2018 and 833 during 2018-2019. But it is the averagelength of stay of each patient that makes IMH different from other institutions – 97 days in 2017-2018 and 102 in 2018-2019.

“The mindset of people should change. Institutions such as IMH are hospitals and not asylums.Integrating persons, who improve with treatment, back in society is crucial, and we are takingsteps towards it by providing training, and creating job opportunities for many of them,” Dr.Chandrika adds.

Implementation of DMHP varies from place to place.

A 10-bedded psychiatric ward at Usilampatti’s Government Hospital is occupied by patients withreported fever cases. “It is common for us to utilise the psychiatric ward because there are onlya few people who ever get admitted. Some visit the doctor at the out-patient wing if there is anecessity but it is not used much,” says a nurse.

Usilampatti Government Hospital is a telling sign of the ground-level execution of the mentalhealth programme in Madurai. Although several institutional arrangements are made for theeffective implementation of the mental health programme here, the work on the ground does notmeasure up.

There are districts that are trend-setters. Take Pudukottai for instance. Its DMHP programmeofficer, R. Karthik Deivanayagam, says a special helpline for people to contact in case ofemergencies was launched, and it receives at least five such calls a day. Among otherinitiatives, Mental Health Clubs at various government schools and colleges, and village mentalhealth committees at the panchayat level are being formed.

He says that interdepartmental dependence is required across all medical domains, not just inmental health.

"If a patient has a cardiac problem, is he/she not referred to the cardiologist? Similarly, apsychiatric referral must also be resorted to," he says. The biomedical approach to medicine,wherein medicines are prescribed for all illnesses, must be discouraged, he adds.

At the school level, the city corporation and M. S. Chellamuthu Trust have begun ‘HappySchooling’ at 24 schools in Madurai city. The programme is aimed at promoting emotional well-being among the students.

Revathi Mohan, a psychologist from Thiruchengode, says that though counsellors are appointedin many schools, they are not utilised well.

Long-term care is one of the many challenges. Ms. Gopikumar, points out, “In keeping with theMental Healthcare Act, Mental Health Policy and Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, it isessential that inclusive living options be provided for such persons when they seek it.”

Dr. Bangar says the immediate need is to improve the healthcare budget as the governmentspends less than one per cent on mental healthcare, when the need is four to five per cent.

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There is a need for more number of mental health professionals.

Social workers dedicated to mental health at the block primary health centres and creating postsof deputy director for mental health at the district-level are important, say officials. A seniorpsychiatrist says a line listing of all cases is essential.

“Attitudes change by contact and experience. Therefore, we need to have more people withmental health issues in the workforce and greater diversity in communities. Challengingprejudice and stigma requires determination, persistence and radical empathy. That alone willensure lasting change and better help-seeking patterns,” Ms. Gopikumar sums up.

*Names have been changed to protect identity

(With inputs from Sanjana Ganesh in Madurai, Kathelene Antony in Tiruchi and VigneshVijayakumar in Salem)

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Source : www.thehindu.com Date : 2020-01-20

WHAT IS THE SOURCE OF THE NEW SARS-LIKEDISEASE REPORTED IN CHINA?

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Health & Sanitation and related issues

The story so far: On December 31, 2019, China informed the World Health Organization(WHO) of a cluster of cases of pneumonia of an unknown cause in Wuhan City in Hubeiprovince. A few patients in Wuhan had been suffering from respiratory illnesses such aspneumonia since early December. Besides providing care, Chinese public health officials begancarrying out environmental assessments at the wholesale market and trying to identify themicrobe causing the outbreak.

On January 9, 2020, WHO issued a statement saying Chinese researchers have made“preliminary determination” of the virus as a novel coronavirus in a person with pneumonia. Theywere able to determine the virus by sequencing the genome using an isolate taken from aninfected patient. WHO tweeted: “Preliminary identification of a novel virus in a short period oftime is a notable achievement and demonstrates China’s increased capacity to manage newoutbreaks.”

Public health experts are yet to identify the source of the new virus.

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses with some causing less severe common cold to moresevere diseases such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle Eastrespiratory syndrome (MERS). While the SARS coronavirus is thought to be an animal virusfrom an as-yet-uncertain animal reservoir, perhaps bats, that spread to other animals (civet cats)and first infected humans in the Guangdong province of southern China in 2002, the MERScoronavirus was passed on from dromedary camels to humans in Saudi Arabia in 2012.

On January 11, China shared the whole genome sequence data with WHO and submitted themto the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) platform to allow researchersacross the world to access the data. Sharing the data with GISAID will help other countries toquickly identify the virus, provide care, and also develop specific diagnostic kits, drugs and evenvaccines. Since January 11, five more genome sequences have been submitted to GISAID.

Using the genomic test kit, China was able to accurately identify that only 41 of the 59 suspectedcases have been infected. On January 17, four more cases were reported by the Wuhan healthdepartment. According to WHO, the clinical signs and symptoms of the patients are mainly feverand fatigue, accompanied by dry cough, with a few experiencing difficulty in breathing. Chestradiographs showed fluid in both lungs.

As of January 17, two people had died.

WHO has said 763 people, including medical staff, who have come in close contact with patientsinfected with the novel coronavirus, have been identified for close monitoring. Based onpreliminary epidemiological investigation, most of the patients had come in close contact withanimals or frequently visited a wholesale seafood market (which authorities in Wuhan said wasthe centre of the outbreak, and closed since January 1).

But in the case of the Japanese man who had travelled to Wuhan and found to be infected withthe new virus, the transmission does not seem to be from animals as the person did not visit theHuanan seafood market.

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According to WHO, the fact that certain cases do not seem linked with the seafood market wouldmean that the possibility of “limited human-to-human transmission cannot be excluded”.

On January 8, a 61-year-old woman who had travelled from Wuhan to Thailand was hospitalisedand mild pneumonia was diagnosed. Thermal surveillance at the one of the airports in Bangkokdetected the febrile illness of the traveller. Subsequent testing confirmed that the woman, aChinese national, was that country’s first imported case of a ‘novel’ coronavirus infection. Shehad not visited the Wuhan seafood market but instead another market where freshly slaughteredanimals are sold. A second case was seen in Thailand on Friday, January 17 in a 74-year-oldChinese woman who travelled from Wuhan. On January 16, Japan reported a case of a man inhis 30s who was infected with the new coronavirus. He has been discharged from hospital.

India has issued a travel advisory asking citizens to follow certain precautionary measures whilevisiting China. “WHO advises against the application of any travel or trade restrictions on Chinabased on the information currently available”. It does not recommend that travellers take anyspecific measures either. However, WHO provides general tips to reduce the risk of infectionsuch as washing hands with soap and water, covering one’s nose and mouth while sneezingand coughing, avoiding contact with anyone who has cold or flu-like symptoms, thoroughlycooking meat and eggs, and avoid making unprotected contact with wild or farm animals.

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Source : www.thehindu.com Date : 2020-01-20

TB DIAGNOSTIC TEST DEVELOPED IN INDIA HAS HIGHACCURACY, SAYS WHO

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Health & Sanitation and related issues

Competitive edge: Truenat has been found to have sensitivity and specificity comparable withthe currently used molecular diagnostic test.  

In a Rapid Communication published on January 14, the World Health Organization (WHO) hadmentioned that the India-made Truenat MTB, a molecular diagnostic test to diagnose pulmonaryand extrapulmonary TB and rifampicin-resistant TB, has high diagnostic accuracy.

Truenat MTB has “high diagnostic accuracy as initial test to diagnose TB and to sequentiallydetect rifampicin resistance”, says the WHO Communication. Truenat MTB will be used as aninitial test to diagnose TB thus replacing sputum smear microscopy.

Truenat is developed by the Goa-based Molbio Diagnostics. The company was provided withtechnical assistance and resources by the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) tohelp commercialise Truenat. Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had assessed andvalidated the diagnostic tool.

“Truenat will be cheaper per test than Xpert. The equipment and cartridges cost more in thecase of Xpert,” says Balaram Bhargava, Director-General of ICMR. “Truenat is robust and mostsuited for Indian conditions.”

“With its better sensitivity, Truenat can be used as the initial tool for TB diagnosis,” says Prof.Bhargava.

Besides others, a multi-centric, prospective field evaluation study was carried out in fourcountries — India, Ethiopia, Peru, Papua-New Guinea — involving 744 participants, with finalresults on bacteriological culture.

While sputum microscopy has only about 50% sensitivity, Truenat has been found to havehigher sensitivity and specificity. According to WHO, the overall sensitivity of the Truenat MTBassay is 83% and specificity is 99%. In the case of Truenat MTBPlus, which uses two targets todiagnose TB bacteria, the sensitivity increases to 89% and the specificity is 98%.

In comparison, Xpert, which is also a molecular diagnostic test and has been widely used acrossthe world, the sensitivity is 85% and specificity is 98%.

In cases where the sample is found to be positive for TB, tests can be done to know if the TBbacteria are already resistant to rifampicin, a drug used as part of first-line TB treatment. TruenatMTB-RIF test for knowing rifampicin resistance has 93% sensitivity and 95% specificity.

According to the WHO, the accuracy to diagnose TB using Truenat and Truenat MTB Plus iscomparable with Xpert and Xpert Ultra. Likewise, the accuracy to detect rifampicin resistanceusing Truenat MTB-RIF is comparable with Xpert and Xpert Ultra.

Based on data available from around 230 TB diagnosing units located in primary health centresand community health centres in Andhra Pradesh, scientists at the Chennai-based NationalInstitute of Epidemiology found Truenat had better ability to diagnose more TB positive cases.

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“Compared with smear microscopy, there was 30% more number of positive cases diagnosedafter Truenat was implemented in the 230-odd units,” says Manoj V. Murhekar, Director of NIE.

“Instead of smear microscopy, Truenat can be used as an initial and point-of-care tool fordiagnosing TB,” says Dr. Murhekar. “Since not much expertise is needed to carry out the test, itcan be used in peripheral units such as public and community health centres.”

While Xpert needs reliable electricity supply and air-conditioning, Truenat is battery operatedand portable and so can be used in remote places. Truenat takes about 25 minutes to extractthe DNA and another 35 minutes for TB diagnosis. Testing for rifampicin resistance takes anhour and is done only if the sample tests positive for TB. In the case of Xpert, it takes two hoursto complete the TB diagnosis and test for rifampicin resistance.

Compared with a one ml of sputum sample required in the case of Xpert, only 0.5 ml sputumsample is needed for Truenat. In the case of TB positive samples, the actual bacterial load in 1ml of sputum sample is given, while Xpert provides only a qualitative result.

The main cost advantage while using Truenat will be in the manner the tests are carried out.Only when samples test positive for TB will the test for rifampicin resistance be carried out in thecase of Truenat. This is unlike Xpert where both TB diagnosis and rifampicin resistance test aredone at one go. Hence the use of reagents may be reduced, and this will help make the testingcheaper when Truenat is used.

Also, a peripheral-level TB test using Truenat will reduce the delay in diagnosis and whencombined with improved treatment initiation rates will fare better compared with district-levelXpert testing. After all, early diagnosis and treatment initiation will help reduce TB transmissionand incidence.

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Source : www.thehindu.com Date : 2020-01-21

CORONAVIRUS: AIRPORTS START SCREENINGRelevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Health & Sanitation and related issues

A statement released by the Union Health Ministry on Monday maintained that variousprecautionary measures have been initiated to prevent the spread of Novel Coronavirus. TheHealth Ministry has written to the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) to facilitate thermal screeningat the international airports of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad andKochi.

Airlines are to follow the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) guidelines for managingand notifying anybody reporting illness on flights originating from China and disembarking inIndia.

According to the World Health Organisation, the risk of the global spread of Novel Coronavirusthat has been reported from China remains low as of now.

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Source : www.thehindu.com Date : 2020-01-21

GUARANTEEING HEALTHCARE, THE BRAZILIAN WAYRelevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Health & Sanitation and related issues

Photo: Getty Images/iStockPhoto  

As Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro visits New Delhi this Republic Day, one interesting field ofcooperation to explore in the strategic partnership is healthcare. Achieving universal healthcoverage is a very complex task, especially for developing countries. Here, the example ofBrazil, the only country where more than 100 million inhabitants have a universal health system,is worth studying. It can also provide lessons for Ayushman Bharat, currently the world’s largestand most ambitious government health programme.

Following the end of military rule, the Brazilian society decided to achieve universal coverage byestablishing a government-funded system. The Unified Health System (SUS), which guaranteedfree health coverage that included pharmaceutical services, was written into the newConstitution in 1988.

In the last 30 years, Brazilians have experienced a drastic increase in health coverage as wellas outcomes: life expectancy has increased from 64 years to almost 76 years, while InfantMortality Rate has declined from 53 to 14 per 1,000 live births. In terms of service provision,polio vaccination has reached 98% of the population. A 2015 report said that 95% of those thatseek care in the SUS are able to receive treatment. Every year, the SUS covers more than twomillion births, 10 million hospital admissions, and nearly one billion ambulatory procedures.

This has been made possible even amidst a scenario of tightening budget allocation. Whileuniversal health systems tend to consume around 8% of the GDP — the NHS, for instance,takes up 7.9% of Britain’s GDP — Brazil spends only 3.8% of its GDP on the SUS, serving apopulation three times larger than that of the U.K. The cost of the universal health system inBrazil averages around $600 per person, while in the U.K., this number reaches $3.428.

A study conducted by the Brazil-based Institute for Health Policy Studies (IEPS) forecasts thatpublic health spending in Brazil will need to increase by nearly 1.6 percentage points of the GDPby 2060 in order to cover the healthcare needs of a fast-ageing society.

Achieving universal coverage in India, a country with a population of 1.3 billion, is a challenge ofepic proportions. Hence, the advances in this field should be seen not in binaries but judged byits steady growth and improvement. For instance, India must record details of improvement interms of access, production and population health on a year-by-year basis. A starting point forthis daunting task is funding. Public health expenditure is still very low in India, at around 1.3%of GDP in the 2017-2018 fiscal year.

The Brazilian experience can also inform the design of the expansion of primary care thatunderlies Ayushman Bharat, that is, the creation of 1,50,000 wellness centre by 2022. TheFamily Health Programme (Programa Saúde da Família), which relies on a community-basedhealthcare network, is the backbone of the rapid expansion of coverage in Brazil. The strategy isbased on an extensive work of community health agents who perform monthly visits to everyfamily enrolled in the programme.

These agents carry out a variety of tasks. They conduct health promotion and preventionactivities, oversee whether family members are complying with any treatment they might bereceiving, and effectively manage the relationship between citizens and the healthcare system.

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The strategy works: a large body of research shows that the programme has drastically reducedIMR and increased adult labour supply. Equally impressive has been its expansion, from 4% ofcoverage in 2000 to up to 64% of the overall population in 2015; it was able to reach even therural areas and the poorest States of the country.

Both Brazil and India are composed of large States with a reasonable degree of administrativeautonomy. This fact implies great challenges and opportunities. The major challenge is that aone-size-fits-all approach for such heterogeneous regional realities is inconceivable: TamilNadu, Sikkim, and Bihar differ in so many ways and this diversity must be met by an intricatecombination of standardised programmes and autonomy to adopt policies according to theircharacteristics. Moreover, regional disparities in terms of resources and institutional capabilitiesmust be addressed. This diversity, nevertheless, can be a powerful source of policy innovationand creativity.

Miguel Lago is an executive director at the Brazil-based Institute for Health Policy Studies,where Arthur Aguillar works as a public sector specialist

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Source : www.indianexpress.com Date : 2020-01-22

A NEW VIRUSRelevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Health & Sanitation and related issues

On January 22, the World Health Organisation will hold an emergency meeting to discuss thesituation arising out of the outbreak of a mystery respiratory illness, which has killed at least fourpeople and infected more than 200 in China. With cases also being reported in Japan, SouthKorea and Thailand, the outbreak has revived memories of the SARS epidemic — caused by acoronavirus — that killed nearly 800 people and infected more than 8,000 others across theworld in 2002-2003. Preliminary analysis of the new virus’s genetic code reveals that it is moreclosely related to SARS than any other coronavirus detected in humans in the past 20 years.And, though experts suggest that the new flu may not be as lethal as SARS, there are enoughreasons for health authorities around the world to be vigilant.

The infection, initially transmitted from animals, was first detected in Wuhan province in mid-December. Some reports have hinted that the virus spread from a seafood market in Wuhan.But the fact that several people who contracted the flu never visited the market has complicatedthe search of the disease’s origins. Chinese researchers now believe that, given the largenumber of cases, the likelihood of human-to-human transmission is large. But the failure toisolate the animals that transmit the virus in the first place could compromise efforts to containthe outbreak.

In 2016, the WHO reported that more than 75 per cent of the new diseases that have affectedhumans over the last decade have been caused by pathogens hosted by animals or fromproducts of animal origin. Population pressure and clearing vegetation, whether for agriculture orurban expansion, is bringing humans, domestic animals and poultry into closer contact withanimals known to be carriers of diseases — rodents, primates and bats. And when humans andanimals share space, they also share microbiology. The genetic make-up of most viruses allowsthem to jump from an animal host to humans. It also allows them to adapt to a foreignenvironment — such as the human immune system — and makes several resistant to drugs.Compounding this public health challenge are the forces of globalisation, especially the speedand volume of global air travel. For example, after originating in China, the SARS virus traversednearly 30 countries in less than a year. That is why health authorities across the world should becareful in case of the new coronavirus. The outbreak in Wuhan has coincided with the ChineseLunar New Year — vacation time in China, when millions of Chinese travel across the world.

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Source : www.thehindu.com Date : 2020-01-22

NOT ENOUGH IS KNOWN ABOUT CHINACORONAVIRUS STRAIN, SAYS WHO OFFICIALRODERICO OFRIN

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Health & Sanitation and related issues

The Wuhan Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market, where a number of people related to themarket fell ill with a virus, remains closed in Wuhan, China on January 21, 2020.   | Photo Credit:AP

As six deaths were reported in China due to the Novel Coronavirus [2019-nCoV], Dr.Roderico Ofrin, Regional Emergency Director, World Health Organisation (WHO) South-EastAsia Region, has said much remains to be understood about the virus.

In an interview to The Hindu, he said an emergency meeting of the WHO will assess thesituation. It will decide whether the situation constitutes a Public Health Emergency ofInternational Concern, and what recommendations should be made, explained Dr. Ofrin.

According to WHO Worldwide, there have been a total of 222 officially reported, confirmedcases of 2019-nCoV — 218 in China, two in Thailand, one in Japan and one in the Republicof Korea — as on January 20.

Stating that not enough is known to draw definitive conclusions about how the virus istransmitted, the clinical features of the disease, its severity, the extent to which it has spread, orits source, Dr. Ofrin said, “Based on previous experiences with respiratory illnesses and inparticular with other Coronavirus outbreaks and our analysis of data shared by China, human tohuman transmission is likely occurring.”

“More cases could be expected in other parts of China and possibly other countries in thecoming days,” he noted.

Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illnesses ranging from the commoncold to more severe diseases such as the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. A NovelCoronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans.

“An animal source seems the most likely primary source of this outbreak, with limited human tohuman transmission occurring between close contacts. WHO’s guidance to countries includesthe possibility of the disease spreading through contact with animals, contaminated food, and/orperson to person,” said Dr. Ofrin.

Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the commoncold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) andSevere Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). A novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strainthat has not been previously identified in humans. Some transmit easily from person to person,while others do not.

Worldwide, there has been a total of 222 officially reported, confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV —218 in China, two in Thailand, one in Japan and one in the Republic of Korea [as of January 20].More cases could be expected in other parts of China, and possibly other countries, in thecoming days.

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Much remains to be understood about this novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). Not enough is knownto draw definitive conclusions about how it is transmitted, clinical features of the disease, itsseverity, the extent to which it has spread or its source.

The WHO Director-General is convening an Emergency Committee on the new coronavirusunder International Health Regulations. The Committee will meet on January 22 to advise him ifthe situation constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, and whatrecommendations should be put in place.

Reports suggest that 2019-nCoV infection can cause mild to severe disease, and be fatal insome. Based on current data, some new cases seem to experience milder disease, which iswithin the milder end of spectrum of symptoms caused by respiratory illnesses.

Based on current information, an animal source seems the most likely primary source of thisoutbreak, with limited human-to-human transmission occurring between close contacts. As thesource of the outbreak remains unclear, WHO’s guidance to countries and individuals includesthe possibility of the disease spreading through of contact with animals, contaminated food,and/or person-to-person.

Based on previous experience with respiratory illnesses and in particular with other coronavirusoutbreaks and our analysis of the data shared by China, human-to-human transmission is likelyoccurring.

On January 20, Chinese authorities confirmed that, in the light of the latest developments, thereis human-to-human transmission among close contacts, though the extent of such transmissionis not able to be determined with available information.

Although an animal source seems the most likely primary source of this outbreak, investigationsare still required to determine the exact source and mode of transmission of the virus.

WHO is proposing specific studies to better understand transmission, risk factors, and source ofthe infection. Some of these studies are being undertaken already.

A team from WHO is concluding a mission with health officials in Wuhan working on theresponse to 2019-nCoV. While in Wuhan, the team has been meeting with health experts andofficials conducting the investigation into the outbreak, the mission is part of ongoinginformation-sharing between the Government of China and WHO.

WHO has been in regular and direct contact with Chinese as well as Japanese, Korean and Thaiauthorities since the reporting of these cases. The three countries have shared information withWHO under the International Health Regulation (IHR).

WHO is constantly analysing data as we receive it, and working closely with global networks ofexperts on a range of topics. As more cases are identified and more analysis undertaken, we willget a clearer picture of disease severity and transmission patterns. We will update and expandour guidance as we learn more.

WHO is working with our networks of researchers and other experts to coordinate global workon surveillance, epidemiology, modelling, diagnostics, clinical care and treatment, and otherways to identify, manage the disease and limit onward transmission.

WHO has been working on strengthening health security through the implementation of theInternational Health Regulations (2005) adopted by 194 countries. The IHR are an international

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legal instrument that aim to help the international community prevent and respond to acutepublic health risks that have the potential to cross borders and threaten people worldwide. IHRrequire countries to report certain disease outbreaks and public health events to WHO. Buildingon WHO’s experience in global disease surveillance, alert and response, the IHR define therights and obligations of countries to report public health events, and establish a number ofprocedures that WHO must follow in its work to uphold global public health security.

WHO has been working with countries to build core capacities to respond to public healthemergencies. And when events such as the current one occur, WHO, based on evidence,shares guidelines with member countries to prevent and minimize impact of these events.

On this novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), WHO has issued interim guidance on testing as well asinfection prevention and control practices for suspected cases, and continues to update thisinformation in consultation with networks of experts across the globe. WHO is working closelywith countries to help them prepare for the rapid detection and response to cases or clusters.

Even before an outbreak strikes, WHO is constantly on alert for the emergence of known andnew severe respiratory diseases and offers technical advice and capacity strengthening asneeded, including laboratory support. We are mandated to keep other countries informed of anythreats and to provide guidance on how to respond. On January 2 the incident managementsystem was activated across the three levels of WHO (country office, regional office andheadquarters) and the Organization is prepared to mount a broader response, if needed.

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Source : www.thehindu.com Date : 2020-01-23

ANOTHER EXTENSION FOR OBC SUB-CATEGORISATION PANEL

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Rights & Welfare of STs, SCs, and OBCs - Schemes & theirPerformance, Mechanisms, Laws Institutions and Bodies

G. Rohini  

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a six-month extension in the tenure of thecommission to examine sub-categorisation of Other Backward Classes (OBC), which wasappointed in 2017 with an initial time frame of 12 weeks.

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said the Cabinet, chaired byPrime Minister Narendra Modi, approved a proposal to extend the commission’s term till July 31.

The Cabinet also approved an addition to the commission’s terms of reference.

The commission will now also “study the various entries in the Central list of OBCs andrecommend correction of any repetitions, ambiguities, inconsistencies and errors of spelling ortranscription”, a statement said.

The commission has been appointed to look into the existing list of OBCs and categorise thecastes that have not benefited from reservation in government jobs and education.

It is also expected to give its recommendations to ensure that these marginalised communitiesget the benefits of various schemes.

The commission is headed by the G. Rohini, former Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court.

“The commission has come to the view that it would require some more time to submit its reportsince the repetitions, ambiguities, inconsistencies and errors of spelling or transcription, etc.,appearing in the existing Central list of OBCs need to be cleared. Hence the commission hassought extension of its term by six months, that is up to July 31, 2020 and also addition in itsexisting terms of reference,” a government statement said.

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Source : www.thehindu.com Date : 2020-01-23

PLAYING WITH LEARNING: ON STATUS OF EARLYCHILDHOOD EDUCATION

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Education and related issues

The Annual Status of Education Report 2019 data on early childhood education in rural areasmakes the case that the pre-school system fails to give children a strong foundation, especiallyin government-run facilities. Going by the findings, the percentage of girls in government schoolsis higher than in private institutions, the cognitive skills of children attending official anganwadiplayschools do not match those attending private schools, and there is a significant percentageof underage children in the first standard of formal school, in violation of the stipulated age of six.It is beyond question that children will be benefitted greatly if they are provided a properlydesigned environment to acquire cognitive skills. These skills are critical to their ability toverbalise, count, calculate and make comparisons. What the ASER data sampled from 26 Indiandistricts seem to indicate is an apparent imbalance in State policies, which is disadvantaging theless affluent as anganwadis and government schools are poorly resourced. Official policies arealso not strict about the age of entry, resulting in four and five year olds accounting for a quarterof government school enrolment, and over 15% in private schools.

Chalk and cheese in private vs. government schools

Substantive questions of pre-primary and early children education raised even by meagresurveys such as ASER call for a deeper look at how governments approach funding ofinstitutions and teacher training for better outcomes. It is as important to let teachers feelinvested in anganwadis as play-and-learn centres aiding children in acquiring cognitive skills, asit is to provide physical infrastructure. Building human resource capabilities would depend onteachers being recruited on the basis of aptitude, their training in credentialed colleges andassurance of tenure of service. It is unsurprising that in the absence of policies with strongcommitment, according to the ASER data, two-thirds of those in the second standard cannotread a text at age seven that they were meant to read a year earlier. The performance onlymarginally improves for those in the third standard. There are similar inadequacies for numeracyskills. It is a paradox that students appear to fare somewhat better in private schools with poorlypaid teachers. Nationally, the problem is of a weak educational foundation with little scope forcreative learning in the three-to-six year age group, and a governmental system disinterested ingiving children motivated, well-trained teachers. There is no dearth of literature on what worksfor creative teaching and learning, including from programmes such as the Sarva ShikshaAbhiyan. Neither is there a lack of financial resources. What remains is for governments to showcommitment to education.

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Source : www.thehindu.com Date : 2020-01-24

INDIA HELPS MALDIVES TACKLE MEASLESOUTBREAK

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Health & Sanitation and related issues

India has stepped in to help the Maldives tackle a recent outbreak of measles, identified at agovernment hospital about three weeks ago. The Indian Embassy in Male on Thursday handedover 30,000 doses of measles and rubella (MR) vaccine to the Maldivian Health Ministry.

The outbreak comes less than three years after the World Health Organisation declared theMaldives measles-free. As many as six persons have so far been affected by the contagiousviral infection. Following the development, health authorities in the Maldives said they haveintensified the vaccination drive, to prevent the infectious disease from spreading further.

Preventive measures

“The first case was identified on January 9. Since then we have stepped up screening andpreventive measures to ensure we contain it,” Minister of State for Health Shah Abdullah Mahirtold The Hindu over telephone. “On rare occasions, there could be an outbreak of a diseaseconsidered to have been eradicated in a country. However, if we contain it swiftly and effectively,we will not lose the eradication status,” he said.

The six cases of measles so far identified are from Hulhumale — the reclaimed island adjoiningcapital Male — and capital Male, according to the Minister, who is heading a task force to handlethe outbreak. The Maldives, he said, is observing 2020 as the year of public health, when anunexpected public health challenge emerged. “With our ongoing vaccination and re-vaccinationdrives, we hope to be able to contain it soon. We are grateful for the support from the Indiangovernment at such a time,” he added.

The vaccine provided by India reached Male within 72 hours after the government made arequest, a statement from the Indian Embassy said, adding that Minister of Health AbdullaAmeen presented a certificate of appreciation to Indian Ambassador Sunjay Sudhir, thanking theGovernment of India for the “gesture of goodwill and solidarity.”

MoU on health

The Indian government’s initiative comes even as the two countries implement theMemorandum of Understanding on Health cooperation — signed during Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s visit to Male in June 2019. Secretary-level delegations met in Male earlyJanuary to draw a roadmap for cooperation, in capacity building and training of doctors andmedical professionals, disease surveillance, training of mental health professionals, setting up ofdigital health capacities in Maldives, officials said.

India is also helping build a 100-bed Cancer Hospital in Hulhumale as part of its $800 millionLine of Credit to the island nation, a popular tourist destination and home to over 4,00,000people.

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Source : www.thehindu.com Date : 2020-01-24

UNPRECEDENTED STEP: ON WUHAN LOCKDOWNRelevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Health & Sanitation and related issues

In a bid to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus that emerged in the city of Wuhan in HubeiProvince in early December last year, China took a drastic and unprecedented step this week toshut down the city, thus preventing its 11 million inhabitants from leaving. All modes oftransport have been suspended to prevent residents from exiting the city. Authorities alsoplanned to suspend public transport services in Huanggang, a city of seven million; shut railstations in Ezhou; and impose travel restrictions in Chibi. These moves come in the wake of anincreasing number of people getting infected and even dying. As on January 23, the number ofinfected people in China stood at 571 and deaths at 17. Wuhan, the hotspot of the diseaseoutbreak, has reported nearly 80% of all cases and all the 17 deaths. Further, the virus hasspread to 24 provinces within the country and outside as well — cases have been reported inThailand and Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, U.S., Hong Kong, Macau, Vietnam, and Singapore.That the virus has already acquired the ability to spread from one person to another has beenconfirmed by the World Health Organization. Apart from people in close contact with affectedindividuals, 16 health-care workers have been infected. The WHO now sees possible evidenceof sustained transmission — the ability of the virus to spread beyond just clusters of patients.

Residents of China’s virus-hit Wuhan call for support

The decision to enforce shutdowns came on a day when WHO’s Emergency Committee wasdeliberating on whether the coronavirus outbreak should be declared a “public health emergencyof international concern”. With a split verdict and not enough information available to make adecision on Wednesday, the emergency committee reconvened on Thursday. The WHODirector-General took note of China’s decision and said that the travel ban is a reflection of thesignificant measures taken by China to minimise the spread of the virus. Even the chair of thecommittee said the travel ban is an “important information and will certainly be useful for thereflection of the members of the committee”. These observations run counter to the stand theWHO has always taken even when it announces public health emergency. While declaring theEbola virus disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as a public healthemergency last year, the WHO had stated unequivocally that it is “essential to avoid the punitiveeconomic consequences of travel and trade restrictions on affected communities”. That said,even if it limits the spread outside these cities, shutdowns cannot prevent human-to-humantransmission within the cities. Shutting down entire cities go beyond the normal practice ofquarantining infected people and might backfire.

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Source : www.thehindu.com Date : 2020-01-24

NOVEL CHINESE CORONAVIRUS MAY HAVE ‘JUMPED’TO HUMANS FROM SNAKES: STUDY

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Health & Sanitation and related issues

Travelers wearing face masks at the Hong Kong International Airport on January 21, 2020. Facemasks sold out and temperature checks at airports and train stations became the new norm asChina strove Tuesday to control the outbreak of a new coronavirus that has reached four othercountries and territories and threatens to spread further during the Lunar New Year travel rush.  | Photo Credit: AP

The novel Chinese coronavirus, which has so far claimed 17 lives and infected over 550 people,likely resided in snakes before being transmitted to humans, according to a new study that mayhelp design better defensive strategies against future outbreaks of the deadly pathogen.

The researchers, including Wei Ji from Peking University Health Science Centre in China, saidpatients who became infected with the coronavirus -- named 2019-nCoV by the World HealthOrganization (WHO) -- were exposed to wildlife animals at a wholesale market, where seafood,poultry, snake, bats, and farm animals were sold.

The study, published in the Journal of Medical Virology, offers insights on the origins of the mostrecent outbreak of pneumonia caused by the virus, which started in the middle of December2019 in the city of Wuhan in China, and has now spread to Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand,and Japan.

Conducting a detailed genetic analysis of the 2019-nCoV, and comparing it with those ofdifferent coronaviruses from various geographic locations and host species, the study found thatthe new virus formed from a combination of CoV found in bats, and another of unknown origin.

“It is critical to determine the animal reservoir of the 2019-nCoV in order to understand themolecular mechanism of its cross-species spread,” the scientists reported in the study.

The new virus, the scientists said, developed a mix, or “recombination”, of a viral protein whichrecognises and binds to host cells.

According to the study, this recognition is key to allowing viruses to enter host cells, and causeinfection and disease.

On further analysis, the researchers found evidence that the 2019-nCoV may have resided insnakes before being transmitted to humans.

“Additionally, our findings suggest that snake is the most probable wildlife animal reservoir forthe 2019-nCoV,” the researchers said.

However, some scientists, not involved in the study, have questioned the conclusions derivedfrom the analysis.

David L Robertson from the University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research in the UK, told PTI,“there’s very likely to be an intermediate non-bat host which would have picked up the virus frombats.

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“So bats are definitely involved it’s just a question of whether this was directly or another animalwas involved,” Robertson added.

The researchers in the new study said recombination within the viral receptor-binding proteinmay have allowed for cross-species transmission from snake to humans.

“New information obtained from our evolutionary analysis is highly significant for effective controlof the outbreak caused by the 2019-nCoV-induced pneumonia,” the researchers said.

The new virus is similar to the one which caused the outbreak of Severe Acute RespiratorySyndrome (SARS) in 2003, infecting 8422 people, and killing more than 900, they said.

However, the current study noted that unlike the SARS-CoV, the 2019-nCoV causes a mild formof viral pneumonia, and has limited capability for person-person spread.

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that causes illnesses ranging from the common coldto acute respiratory syndromes.

Common symptoms of the 2019-nCoV strain include respiratory ailments such as fever, cough,shortness of breath and breathing difficulties, according to the WHO.

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Source : www.thehindu.com Date : 2020-01-25

41 MN PEOPLE IN 13 CITIES LOCKED DOWN AS VIRUSSPREADS IN CHINA

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Health & Sanitation and related issues

Dealing with the outbreak:Staff transporting medical supplies at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospitalon Friday.AFPHECTOR RETAMAL  

Chinese authorities rapidly expanded a mammoth quarantine effort aimed at containing a deadlycontagion on Friday to 13 cities and a staggering 41 million people, as nervous residents werechecked for fevers and the death toll climbed to 26.

While the World Health Organization (WHO) held off on declaring a global emergency despiteconfirmed cases in half a dozen other countries, China expanded its lockdown to cover an areawith a total population greater than Canada’s.

A range of Lunar New Year festivities have been cancelled, while temporary closures of Beijing’sForbidden City, Shanghai's Disneyland and a section of the Great Wall were announced toprevent the disease from spreading further.

The previously unknown virus has caused alarm because of its similarity to SARS (Severe AcuteRespiratory Syndrome), which killed hundreds across mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-03.

The WHO said China faced a national emergency but stopped short of making a declaration thatwould have prompted greater global cooperation.

The outbreak emerged in late December in Wuhan, an industrial and transport hub of 11 millionpeople in China’s centre, spreading to several other countries, including the U.S.

China is in the midst of its Lunar New Year holiday, a typically joyous time of family gatheringsand public festivities.

But on Friday, Wuhan was a ghost town, its streets deserted and stores shuttered.

Worried patients

Hospitals visited by AFP journalists bustled with worried patients being screened by staffwearing full-body protective suits.

At a temperature-check station, a medical staffer in bodysuit, face mask and goggles took athermometer from a middle-aged woman, pausing to examine the reading before quickly turningback to the patient.

One 35-year-old man surnamed Li voiced the fears of many. “I have a fever and cough, so I'mworried that I'm infected,” he said. “I don't know the results yet.”

With hundreds of millions of people on the move across China for the holiday, the governmenthas halted all travel out of Wuhan, shut down its public transport and told residents to stayhome. Deepening the isolation, there were few flights available to the city.

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Besides Wuhan, 12 other smaller cities nearby have battened down the hatches, with most ofthem going public on Friday with various measures ranging from closing public venues andrestricting large gatherings to halting public transportation and asking citizens not to leave theircities.

Several of the cities have populations numbering several million, led by Huanggang, which has7.5 million.

The pathogen — 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) — has caused many outlets inShanghai, Beijing and other cities to sell out their stocks of face masks.

State broadcaster CCTV reported that 40 medical doctors from the military were being broughtin to help with intensive care.

In addition, 405 medical workers were being sent to Wuhan from Shanghai, said state newsagency Xinhua, with the first set of 135 flying in Friday night.

On Friday, staff in full body protective suits were seen checking the temperatures of peopleentering a subway station in Beijing.

Thermal cameras scanned passengers arriving at Beijing's West Railway Station.

‘Work as one’

Chinese authorities said the number of cases leapt overnight to more than 800, with 177 inserious condition. There were another 1,072 suspected cases.

Officials also said that a virus patient died in Heilongjiang province in China’s far northeast, thesecond death outside the Wuhan epicentre.

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Source : www.thehindu.com Date : 2020-01-26

SC AFFIRMS 3% QUOTA FOR DISABLED IN PSUSRelevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Rights & Welfare of Persons with Disability including Mentally Ill

People - Schemes & their Performance, Mechanisms, Laws Institutions and Bodies

Sigh of relief:There are no legal hurdles to reservation on the basis of disability, the campaignersargue.S. R. Raghunathan  

A three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court has granted relief to persons with disabilities acrossthe country by allowing reservation in promotion in all groups for those employed in public sectorjobs.

The Bench led by Justice Rohinton F. Nariman confirmed that 3% reservation should be given todisabled persons both in direct recruitment and in promotions.

The Bench, also comprising Justices Aniruddha Bose and V. Ramasubramanian, was answeringa reference on the question whether the disabled, included under The Persons with Disabilities(Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995”, were eligible forreservation in promotion.

“This judgment will open the doors for thousands of persons with disabilities who have beenstagnating at the lower levels in public sector jobs, as their promotion to higher level posts wasmade difficult due to discriminatory policies,” advocates Rajan Mani and Ritu Kumar of theDisability Law Initiative, who appeared in the case, reacted.

The judgment confirms a 2016 verdict of the top court in Rajeev Kumar Gupta’s case thatgranted reservation in promotion to disabled persons employed in Groups A and B in addition toGroups C and D categories in the public sector.

The 2016 judgment had held that wherever posts were identified to be suitable for persons withdisabilities, 3% reservation must be given. The government had however challenged the 2016judgement, leading to the reference to the larger Bench.

The government had referred to the Indira Sawhney case, which had capped reservation at 50%and prohibited reservation in promotions.

But Justice Nariman countered that the Sawhney judgment only pertained to the BackwardClasses. It has no relevance in the case of persons with disabilities.

The Constitution only prohibits preferential treatment on the basis of caste or religion. Here,reservation is contemplated for disabled persons.

The rule of no reservation in promotions laid down in the Indra Sawhney judgmeny has clearlyand normatively no application in this case.

Similarly, the top court said, “A perusal of Indra Sawhney would reveal that the ceiling of 50%reservation applies only to reservation in favour of Other Backward Classes under Article 16(4)of the Constitution of India whereas the reservation in favour of persons with disabilities ishorizontal, which is under Article 16(1) of the Constitution.”

Justice Nariman pointed to how the 1995 law emphasises that “employment is a key factor in theempowerment and inclusion of people with disabilities”.

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Source : www.thehindu.com Date : 2020-01-28

PARLIAMENTARY PANEL WANTS ENCRYPTIONBROKEN IN FIGHT AGAINST CHILD PORN

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Rights & Welfare of Children - Schemes & their Performance,Mechanisms, Laws Institutions and Bodies

Image for representation purpose only.   | Photo Credit: AP

Law enforcement agencies should be able to break end-to-end encryption to hunt downdistributors of child pornography online, a parliamentary panel has urged as the nation looks toregulate social media.

The panel met officials of companies such as Google , Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp beforepreparing Saturday's report, which will be considered by several ministries in drafting futurepolicies and law.

“It is a challenge to our collective conscience,” the panel said in the 21-page report reviewed byReuters, referring to child pornography online.

It sought the “breaking of end-to-end encryption to trace distributors of child pornography”,saying India should require that the originator or sender of such messages be traced once lawenforcement becomes aware of the sharing of such content.

The call comes as India finalises other rules to force social media giants to deploy automatedtools against unlawful content, fanning industry fears that more regulation could boostcompliance requirements.

Facebook's WhatsApp has already been at odds with the government, which has been pushingit to reveal the originators of messages on its platform, amid reports that rumours spread viaWhatsApp have led to mob lynchings in recent years.

WhatsApp, which counts India as its biggest market with more than 400 million users, says itprovides end-to-end encryption to help protect user privacy, and messages cannot bedeciphered by the company or others.

“If a company offers breaking such encryption for child porn, then it will be asked by allagencies,” an industry source who sought anonymity said of the panel recommendation.

“It's like opening secure borders.”

Between 1998 and 2017, about 3.8 million reports of online child sexual abuse imageryoriginated from India, the world's highest such figure, says the U.S. National Center for Missingand Exploited Children.

The panel also recommended mandating Internet service providers to “proactively” monitor,remove and report such content to the authorities. Online search websites should also blocksearches for child pornography sites, it added.

Adult sections denying entry to underage children should also be incorporated into streamingplatforms such as Netflix and social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook, the paneladded.

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New-age technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, data analytics, Internet ofThings, content streaming, automation, robotics and 5G have been growing in leaps and bounds

While the year gone by witnessed a surge in foldable smartphones, smart home speakers,wearables and PC gaming, 2020 is set to herald tech-lifestyle

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Source : www.livemint.com Date : 2020-01-28

CORONAVIRUS: A LEAKED WEAPON?Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Health & Sanitation and related issues

The new virus, christened 2019-nCoV by WHO, causes a severe respiratory infection that couldpotentially be fatal

A scary news report has suggested that the deadly coronavirus may have originated in a bio-warfare laboratory in China’s Wuhan city, from where it went viral—to the world’s alarm. Thenew virus, christened 2019-nCoV by the World Health Organization (WHO), causes a severerespiratory infection that could potentially be fatal. According to Chinese sources, it broke out ofan unhygienic seafood market in Wuhan that was selling all manner of meats. But a WashingtonTimes report cites an Israeli microbiologist as saying that this strain of the virus is likely linked toa lab associated with China’s biological warfare programme. The Wuhan Institute of Virology isthe country’s only declared site that has the capacity to work with deadly strains of viruses, thereport says.

Chemical and biological weapons are banned globally for the harm they inflict on non-combatants. Yet, some countries are suspected of holding deadly arsenals of germs and virusesthat could wipe out millions if released in densely populated zones. Beijing is unlikely to admithaving any such weapons, but now that suspicion has arisen, it must come clean and issue awhite paper on it.

As of now, the virus is still spreading. As many as 15 cities in China are under partial orcomplete lockdown. Its death toll has reportedly climbed to 80, with over 2,700 confirmed casesacross the country. What makes this virus particularly lethal is that it mutates easily and canspread even in its incubation period, which means the risk of contagion is high even before anysymptoms show up. The world needs to put heads together to contain the threat. For that,Beijing would need to share all it knows about it.

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Source : www.indianexpress.com Date : 2020-01-29

CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK IN CHINA HAS EVOKEDMEMORIES OF SARS EPIDEMIC. GLOBALCOOPERATION NEEDED TO CONTAIN IT

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Health & Sanitation and related issues

In a little more than a week, deaths due to coronavirus have multiplied by more than 20 times.Over a hundred people have succumbed to the mystery virus that originated in China’s Wuhanprovince and it has been confirmed in at least 10 other countries. The Chinese authorities haveacknowledged that the virus has affected 4,500 people. But modeling by researchers at ImperialCollege London suggests that 70,000 to100,000 people could be affected. The WHO, which lastweek desisted from describing the situation as a public health emergency, has asked countriesin Southeast Asia to remain vigilant. The Indian government is reportedly considering steps toprepare for evacuating the country’s nationals from Wuhan.

The outbreak has evoked memories of the SARS epidemic of 2002-2003, which killed nearly800 and affected more than 8,000 people worldwide. It was also ascribed to a coronavirus andmanifested similar symptoms — fever, cough and shortness of breath. Antibiotics do not workagainst such viral pneumonia and there are no vaccines against them. However, there arereassuring differences between the situation in 2002-3 and the one today. For one, China’sresponse to the current outbreak is markedly different from the way it dealt with SARS. Incontrast to its secretive ways 17 years ago, Beijing informed the WHO, shared the virus’s genesequence with the world, imposed travel restrictions and quarantined 50 million people.Moreover, experts suggest that the current coronavirus outbreak is not as virulent as the one in2002-3 — it has a mortality rate of less than 3 per cent as compared to SARS’s death rate ofnearly 10 per cent. But we are still looking at preliminary data, and scientists are likely to knowthe exact magnitude of the problem in the coming weeks.

The coronavirus is a zoonotic virus — one that jumps from humans to animals. The WHOestimates that three out of four new diseases that have infected humans in the past decadehave been transmitted by animals. Bats are known to be the carriers of virus such as Ebola,SARS and even the current coronavirus. How such viruses spills over to humans is still notclear. But we do know that bushmeat markets — in China, Southeast Asia, Africa and otherparts of the world — provide conditions for such pathogens to proliferate. The recent virus isreported to have originated in a wet market in Wuhan. In a globalised world, chances of the fluspreading fast are high. But global cooperation to check such virus has, at best, been episodic.Viruses are a global challenge and it’s time they are seen as such.

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Source : www.thehindu.com Date : 2020-01-29

ALARMING SPREAD: ON NOVEL CORONAVIRUSOUTBREAK

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Health & Sanitation and related issues

India is still novel coronavirus free, even as 18 countries/regions have reported 67 cases, ason January 28, according to WHO. As on Monday, all 20 samples sent to the National Instituteof Virology (NIV), Pune were negative, according to a Health Ministry tweet on Tuesday.Besides the NIV, four other laboratories have been equipped for testing. Thermal screening ofpassengers from China will now be extended from seven to 20 airports; around 33,000passengers have been screened so far. With Nepal reporting one case, another Health Ministrytweet says, “adequate preparedness for screening” is in place in five adjoining States. But itmust be noted that in 2017, the Ministry kept under wraps the detection of three cases of theZika virus in Gujarat. These came to light when WHO was informed in May that year, more thanfive months after the first case was laboratory-confirmed; the excuse was that the governmentwanted to avoid creating “panic”. Such irresponsible behaviour by China had led to the spread ofthe severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) virus that claimed 774 lives globally in the early2000s. India should under no circumstances repeat this with the novel coronavirus as much isnot known about the virus.

In China, despite nearly 20 million people being locked down across Hubei province, the virusappears to be spreading with renewed vigour. Cases reported from mainland China have risensharply — from 1,975 on January 25 to 2,744 on January 26 and 4,515 on January 27. Fatalitiestoo have reflected a similar trend, touching 106 on January 27. The number of exported casesand countries that have such cases have also been increasing. The first case of human-to-human transmission was reported in Vietnam, and now Germany. The virus has long acquiredthe ability to spread among humans; WHO’s emergency committee meeting statement saidChina had reported fourth-generation cases within, and second-generation cases, outsideWuhan. Alarmingly, unlike SARS, more asymptomatic novel coronavirus cases are beingreported. Besides a reported case in China, WHO has reported three other such instancesoutside that country. But China’s recent warning that the novel virus might be spreading evenbefore there are symptoms has the potential to change the infection landscape if true. It is notclear if these were the reasons why, on Monday, WHO silently updated the global riskassessment from “moderate” to “high retroactively” from January 23. If the virus had exhibited allthe attributes necessary to be declared as a “public health emergency of international concern”even during the first emergency committee meeting, the situation has become grim since then.WHO cannot dither any more.

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From the abrogation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, to the landmark Ayodhyaverdict, 2019 proved to be an eventful year.

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Source : www.thehindu.com Date : 2020-01-30

TIME TO PRIORITISE EDUCATION AND HEALTHRelevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Education and related issues

In recent months, the government’s macroeconomic policy has acquired a new salience in thecontext of reversing the current slowdown. The policy currently being pursued is intendedprimarily to incentivise potential investors by facilitating ease-of-doing-business and makinglarge-scale concessions to the corporate sector. In this context, the government is taking creditfor the relatively higher, though by no means spectacular, flow of foreign private capital and theprogress of India in the ease-of-doing-business rankings. Further, tax concessions given to thecorporate sector in the last budget are estimated at more than 1.40 lakh crore.

Besides these, the remaining limitations on foreign investment are being relaxed or removed. Inthe process, the conditions laid down for these investments to serve social objectives and helpin indigenisation are being jettisoned. But in spite of these measures, and amidst the absence ofdemand, there is little evidence of any significant increase in investment by the private sector.

However, economists who are in favour of the above development strategy would like thegovernment to go further and implement other items on their reform agenda, such as labourmarket liberalisation and removal of constraints on acquisition of land for industrial purposes.These economists brush aside the negative impact such reform measures are likely to have onthe incomes, living conditions and the economic security of the workers and the agriculturalclass. Moreover, the policy of freedom of hiring and firing of labour will be counterproductive as itwould squeeze demand further in a situation of huge demand deficit.

Some of the economists in the above category are also advocating acceleration of investment ininfrastructure. No sensible person will oppose additional efforts to build infrastructure whichcontinues to remain awfully deficient in our country. But, while talking about infrastructure, theseeconomists mean only physical infrastructure and that too only large projects in the field oftransport and energy. They hold no brief for investment in human infrastructure, particularly ineducation and health. Besides, we must remember that investment in physical infrastructure isnot as labour-intensive as that in other sectors and that large-scale projects in this field havelong gestation periods.

Abhijit Banerjee, a co-winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, has been one of the feweconomists making a case for transferring income to the poor who are likely to spend theadditional income to buy goods and services, an enhanced production of which offers the bestchance for reversing the current slowdown. In this connection, he has singled out themechanisms of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and directincome transfers. But, even he has not mentioned the potential of investment in social sectorsfor creating demand in the short run by way of opening avenues for large-scale employment,and imparting competitiveness and sustainability to the Indian economy in the medium and longrun.

It is widely recognised that the social sectors in India are grossly underfunded. No mainstreameconomist or policymaker has come out with a suggestion for enhancing expenditures in thesesectors. On the contrary, they have made expenditure in social sectors conditional upon higherrate of growth. Most mainstream economists and policymakers also believe that publicexpenditure in social sectors can only have a long- term impact on growth, and what is nowneeded is macroeconomic policies which can have immediate or very short-term impact. Thisbelief is deeply flawed, as it can be demonstrated that increased public expenditure in socialsectors in the magnitudes required for meeting the constitutionally mandated objectives can

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have short- and medium-term effect of enhancing employment, generating demand andattracting investment.

Let us take the example of the impact of investment in school education on employment and,hence, demand creation. The Right to Education Act (RTE) sets out the objective ofuniversalising elementary education in five years. The National Education Policy, 2020 statesthat the Act “will be reviewed... to ensure that all students... shall have free and compulsoryaccess to high quality and equitable schooling from early childhood education (age threeonwards) through higher education (i.e. until Grade 12)”. We, at the Council for SocialDevelopment, have calculated the magnitude of demand creation by meeting just one conditionfor realising this objective, i.e. employment of teachers. We have arrived at a figure of 5.7 millionteachers by taking as the base the total number of children going to school from the 2011Census; adjusting it appropriately for rate of growth in population since then; dividing thesenumbers by the pupil-teacher ratios fixed for each level of schooling; and deducting from it thenumber of teachers currently employed, obtained from the Unified District Information Systemfor Education data. (As there is no fixed pupil-teacher ratio for children in the 3-6 years agegroup, we have assumed a ratio of 10:1).

The recruitment of 5.7 million additional teachers over a period of, say, five years, can createhuge scale demand. And, this is only one factor essential for universalising quality schooleducation. There is also a large gap between requirement of infrastructure in the schools andthat available and built recently. According to government data, only 12.5% of the schoolscovered by the RTE Act were compliant with RTE norms, most of which are related toinfrastructure. Meeting these norms has the potential of creating employment on a large scale.

 

Similarly, in the health field, there is a vast number of vacant posts for professionals at theselevels. There is a huge deficit of paramedical workers, middle-level health workers, nurses andtrained doctors. This is evident from the long queues of patients in the ill-equipped andinadequate primary health centres and government hospitals.

The fact that health and education are of instrumental value in driving growth, creatingemployment and improving people’s well-being is widely recognised but often forgotten when itcomes to making investment in these sectors. Education has a crucial role to play for anindividual in gaining employment and retaining employability. If we compare 2011 and 2017 datareleased by the Labour Ministry, the gap in educational attainment emerges as the single mostimportant factor separating the gainers from the losers of the higher rate of growth during thisperiod.

Health and education have been widely recognised as public goods. In most developed andseveral developing countries, these services are either provided or are heavily subsidised by thestate. Unfortunately, in India, we find the opposite trend of the state withdrawing from theprovision of these services and consequently their rapid privatisation. In fact, the governmenthas a well-entrenched policy of encouraging privatisation in both health and education. But,privatisation in these sectors has not led to efficiency or improvement of quality. It has onlydestroyed public sector institutions, promoted greater inequality and pushed the poor out.

The gestation period of projects in social sectors is not as long as it is made out to be. After all,in the RTE Act, a gestation period of only five years was envisaged for universalisation ofelementary education. It is therefore time for reprioritising education and health in the scheme ofdevelopment strategy and the allocation of budgetary resources.

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Muchkund Dubey is a former Foreign Secretary and currently President, Council for SocialDevelopment

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Source : www.hindustantimes.com Date : 2020-01-30

THE AMENDMENT TO THE ABORTION LAW ISWELCOME

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Rights & Welfare of Women - Schemes & their Performance,Mechanisms, Laws Institutions and Bodies

Jan 30, 2020-Thursday-°C

Humidity-

Wind-

Metro cities - Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata

Other cities - Noida, Gurgaon, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Bhopal , Chandigarh , Dehradun, Indore,Jaipur, Lucknow, Patna, Ranchi

Powered by

The Cabinet has approved raising the permissible limit for abortion from 20 weeks into apregnancy to 24 weeks, in an amendment to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP)(Amendment) Bill 2020. This is welcome. The earlier MTP Act allowed for abortion only up to 20weeks, provided two doctors concurred. Beyond this, only a possible threat to the mother’s lifeor severe foetal abnormalities could be the basis for extending the period for abortion, but onlywith the court’s permission. Given the delays in the judicial system, the 20-week mark oftenpassed, leaving many, including rape survivors, with unwanted pregnancies. This move givesthe woman great autonomy over her body.

The issue of abortion has been a tricky one in India due to the confusion between legal abortionand the sex selection law. Many doctors refuse to perform legitimate abortions fearing criminalcharges under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994. While thenew amendment is welcome, more needs to be done. One, though a minor under the currentlaw can get an abortion, subject to the consent of her guardian, under the Protection of Childrenfrom Sexual Offences Act, sex with a minor is actionable and the doctor concerned is bound toreport it, despite the confidentiality clause in the MTP Act. This means many teenagers may turnto quacks rather than qualified doctors for fear of the police or their families getting to know ofthe pregnancy. Two, the current provision of allowing contraceptive failure as a basis for seekingan abortion should be extended from married women to all women. It is time to have a widerdiscussion on the subject.

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Source : www.pib.nic.in Date : 2020-01-30

CABINET APPROVES OFFICIAL AMENDMENTS IN THENATIONAL COMMISSION FOR HOMOEOPATHY BILL,2019

Relevant for: Developmental Issues | Topic: Health & Sanitation and related issues

Cabinet

Cabinet approves official amendments in the NationalCommission for Homoeopathy Bill, 2019

Posted On: 29 JAN 2020 2:03PM by PIB Delhi

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval tothe official amendments in the National Commission for Homoeopathy Bill, 2019 for amendingthe Homoeopathy Central Council (HCC) Act, 1973.  Presently, the Bill is pending in RajyaSabha.

The amendments will:

ensure necessary regulatory reforms in the field of Homoeopathy education.●

enable transparency and accountability for protecting the interest of the general public.  TheCommission will promote availability of affordable healthcare services in all parts of thecountry.

●

Background:

          The Homoeopathy Central Council (HCC) Act, 1973 was enacted for constitution of aCentral Council of Homoeopathy for regulation of education and practice of Homoeopathy, formaintenance of Central Register of Homoeopathy and for matters connected therewith.  This Acthas been modelled on the pattern of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956.  The broad functions,constitution, regulation making powers are identical to those of the Medical Council of India. While the Act provides a solid foundation for the growth of medical education and practice inHomoeopathy, but various bottlenecks in the functioning of Council have been experienced,which has resulted in serious detrimental effects on medical education as well as delivery ofquality Homoeopathy healthcare services.

*****

VRRK/SC

(Release ID: 1600922) Visitor Counter : 602

Read this release in: Malayalam , Urdu , Hindi , Marathi , Bengali , Punjabi , Gujarati , Tamil ,Telugu , Kannada

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