After the successful run of semi-high speed and fully air-conditioned Lucknow-Delhi Tejas Express, the second premium Tejas train is ready to run between Ahmedabad and Mumbai. The inaugural run of this second Tejas Train was flagged off today by Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Vijay Rupani from Ahmedabad. Shri V.K. Tripathi, AGM Western Railway, Shri Mahendra Pratap Mall, CMD IRCTC, senior railway officers, staff and people in large numbers were present on this occasion. The commercial run of the train, to be operated by IRCTC like the first Tejas train, will start with effect from 19^th January, 2020 from Ahmedabad.

The booking for this train has commenced and passengers can book their tickets exclusively on IRCTC website and its mobile app “Irctc Rail Connect”. There will be no booking at railway reservation counters. However, passengers can get their tickets booked through IRCTC authorized agents. The train will also be available for booking through IRCTC’s online travel portal partners.

This will be yet another step of the Ministry of Railways in its endeavour to improve the overall traveling experience of rail passengers by providing state of the art amenities to them on trains. The train shall be equipped with all modern on board facilities for ensuring a high level of comfort to the passengers.

To start with, this fully air-conditioned train shall have two Executive Class Chair Cars having 56 seats each and Eight Chair Cars having capacity of 78 seats each. The total carrying capacity of the train will be 736 passengers.  The train will start its journey ex Ahmedabad in the morning at 06:40 hours and will reach Mumbai Central at 13.10 hours having scheduled commercial halts at Nadiad, Vadodara, Bharuch, Surat, Vapi and Borivali. For the return journey, the train will leave Mumbai Central at 15:40 hours and will reach Ahmedabad at 21:55 hours having scheduled enroute halts at Borivali, Vapi, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara and Nadiad. Train will run on all days of the week except Thursday.

Train fare will be dynamic in nature keeping in consideration the prevailing bus, taxi, rail and airfares. Train will have different series of fares for lean, busy and festive seasons. Further, train fares will be on point to point basis. There will be no tatkal quota or premium tatkal quota in the train. There will be only General Quota and Foreign Tourist Quota. Foreign Tourist Quota of 6 seats in EC and 12 seats in CC will be available for Foreign Tourists.

All passengers travelling on IRCTC train will be provided with Rail Travel Insurance of up to Rs. 25 Lakhs, free of cost by IRCTC. This complimentary travel insurance also includes an exclusive coverage of Rs. 1 lakh against household theft / robbery during the travel period of the passengers. Besides, this special feature, in a first of its own, IRCTC will also pay a compensation of Rs. 100/- in case the train during its run,  is delayed by more than one hour and Rs. 250/- in case of delay of more than two hours to every passenger as compensation. In case of cancellation of train, automatic full refund of full fare on confirmed and /or waitlisted e-tickets will be made.

Complimentary On board infotainment services will be available to the passengers. High quality food and beverages will be provided to the passengers on board in the train and included in the ticket fare. Service in the train will be done through trolleys similar to airlines. Each coach will be provided with RO water filter in addition to the packaged drinking water bottle for each passenger.

Detailed information about the facilities at stations and in the train, rules for ticket booking, procedures, refunds and cancellations etc is available to users on IRCTC website.

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Union Minister for Minority Affairs Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi today said at Lucknow  that our constitutional federal system of governance is the guarantee of “Unity in Diversity”.

While speaking on the topic of “Enhancing Focus of Legislators on Legislative Business” at the 7^th Conference of CPA India Region at Vidhan Bhawan, Lucknow today, Shri Naqvi said that while on one hand in our Constitution; the Article 105 ensures powers and privileges of the Parliament and Assemblies, on the other hand the Article 51A talks about the Fundamental Duties of the Indian Citizens.

The Article 105 says- Powers, privileges, etc of the Houses of Parliament and of the members and committees thereof

(1) Subject to the provisions of this constitution and the rules and standing orders regulating the procedure of Parliament, there shall be freedom of speech in Parliament

(2) No member of Parliament shall be liable to any proceedings in any court in respect of anything said or any vote given by him in Parliament or any committee thereof, and no person shall be so liable in respect of the publication by or under the authority of either House of Parliament of any report, paper, votes or proceedings

(3) In other respects, the powers, privileges and immunities of each House of Parliament, and of the members and the committees of each House, shall be such as may from time to time be defined by Parliament by law, and, until so defined shall be those of that House and of its members and committees immediately before the coming into force of Section 15 of the Constitution (Forty fourth Amendment) Act 1978

(4) The provisions of clauses ( 1 ), ( 2 ) and ( 3 ) shall apply in relation to persons who by virtue of this constitution have the right to speak in, and otherwise to take part in the proceedings of, a House of Parliament or any committee thereof as they apply in relation to members of Parliament. Almost there is the same situation in the Assemblies also.

Shri Naqvi said that the Article 51A of the Indian Constitution has made it clear the Fundamental Duties of the citizen of the country. It says- It shall be the duty of every citizen of India

(a) to abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the national Flag and the National Anthem;

(b) to cherish and follow the noble ideals which inspired our national struggle for freedom;

(c) to uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India;

(d) to defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so;

(e) to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities; to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women;

(f) to value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture;

(g) to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life, and to have compassion for living creatures;

(h) to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform;

(i) to safeguard public property and to abjure violence;

(j) to strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activity so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavour and achievement;

(k) who is a parent or guardian to provide opportunities for education to his child or, as the case may be, ward between the age of six and fourteen years.

Stating that the way we keep ourselves aware of our Fundamental Rights, he stressed that we should also need to understand our Fundamental Duties. Both the Fundamental Rights and the Fundamental Duties are connected. There is a need for every citizen to take his duties towards the nation seriously. While it is absolutely necessary to defend the Fundamental Rights relating to life, liberty, equality and freedom of expression etc, there is a need that we, as citizens, which also include people’s representatives, take our duties towards the nation seriously. Entitlements come with duties as well.

The Minister also  said that a proper environment for enjoying rights will be created if every citizen performs her duties. The people’s representatives should set an example for the common people in this regard. Our country has emerged not only as the largest democracy but also as a glowing symbol of a vibrant, pluralistic culture with the flourishing parliamentary system, with the Constitution acting as the guarantee of protecting the rights of every society.

Shri Naqvi added that the Rights and Fundamental Duties of citizens are equally important. Rights and Responsibilities are two sides of the same coin and both go together. If we have rights, we also have some responsibilities attached to those rights. Wherever we are living, whether it is at home, society, village, state or country, rights and responsibilities go with us together.

As a good citizen of the country, he exhorted that need to know and learn our rights and duties and make them an essential part of the life for the welfare of society and the country. If life can be changed through individual actions, then why the collective efforts made in the society cannot bring positive effects in the country and the whole society? Therefore, fulfill the Fundamental Duties is necessary for the prosperity and peace of the society and the entire country.

Shri Naqvi said that while choosing an apt form of government for the newly independent India, the Forefathers preferred to choose Parliamentary Democracy, thereby, making the Government of the day accountable to its electorate. The Mantra of this accountability is “Fundal Rights and Fundamental Duties. In this set up, Legislatures have become the instruments of voicing public opinions and concern, raised by the members inside the Chamber on behalf of their constituents and representing their interests in all their diversity. Besides, in order to pass effective laws, the Legislatures need time, energy, information and thought on the part of its members, i.e. the Legislators. It is in this context that focus and capacity building of Legislators on the legislative business become of paramount importance in the success of a parliamentary democracy.

He further said that Legislative Orientation is one of the most important mechanisms through which the Legislators, particularly the first time elected get acquainted with parliamentary procedures and practices and with the working of the Institution including conventions, etiquettes and traditions. In this context, I would like to quote Late Shri Arun Jaitley when he said, “(Politics) influences the life of a nation and, therefore, the stature of the men who man this system, must always measure up to the responsibility that the country vests in them.” Orientation helps the Legislators to be aware of this responsibility vested in them by the people.

Shri Naqvi also stated  that in this context, it is noteworthy to mention that in Lok Sabha, the Parliamentary Research and Training Institute for Democracies (PRIDE) has been successfully conducting Orientation Programmes for the newly elected members of the Parliament. During the Orientation Programmes, eminent parliamentarians, senior parliamentary officials and experts interact with the newly elected members on various aspects of the working of our parliamentary institutions. The discussion sessions are interactive in nature, members can freely exchange views with the Faculty who share their experiences and ideas.

The Minister underlined that as we all know, the Legislators are primarily required to engage in lawmaking and therefore, they must be able to identify a policy issue, potential legislative options to address that issue, consult relevant stakeholders relating to the issue and select a preferred option after deliberating over available options. This assessment and deliberation can occur only when the Legislators are briefed adequately on the legislations proposed to be passed. In this direction, the Briefing Sessions on Legislative Business of the Legislature are of very high importance to enhance focus of legislators on legislative business. Here, I would like to share with the Hon’ble Presiding Officers about our experience on Briefing Sessions on important Legislative Business, which we have recently initiated in the Lok Sabha. Aimed at improving awareness of our members on the legislative issues before the House, these Sessions acquainted Members with impact analysis of the proposed legislative options. And I am happy to place on record that I have received positive feedback from the members on this initiative of ours.

Shri Naqvi said that apart from law-making, ensuring the accountability of Executive is also one of the core-functions of the Legislature. The Parliament of India does so by constituting Department Related Standing Committees, which examine implementation of various policies by the Government, among others. To perform these legislative functions, it is imperative that Legislators have access to sector-specific research support. Services of the Research Service of the Legislature must be explored to complement the information received from the Executive. Presence of informed legislators in Committees also ensures that good policy legislations get to the floor of legislature for passage, which leads to passage of socially and politically relevant laws suited for meeting the needs of this ever-evolving society.

Shri Naqvi informed  that in the USA, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) works exclusively for the United States Congress, providing policy and legal analysis to committees and Members of both the House and Senate, regardless of party affiliation.

Shri Naqvi said that Legislatures in India have played a significant role in the transformation of the nation by enacting various socially relevant legislations in its tryst with destiny for the last seven decades. However, various challenges, on account of political, social, economic and technological advancements, stand in the success of parliamentary democracy in India which can only be tackled if the legislators are focused and equipped with latest information on subjects of legislative importance. Ability to retain and use this information in legislative business will only lead towards effective functioning of our parliamentary institutions.

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In line with the suggestions of Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Shri Nitin Gadkari on December 17, 2019 while launching sale of ‘Khadi Rumal’ being stitched by militancy affected women of Jammu and Kashmir (at Nagrota near Jammu), Chairman KVIC, Shri VK Saxena has approved the enhancement of wages from Rs. 2 to Rs. 3 per piece w.e.f. 1^st Jan 2020.

Quite noticeably, each women artisan at Nagrota used to earn around Rs. 170 – Rs. 200 stitching 85-90 Khadi Rumals on an average working 4 hours per day. Now with revised wages, each woman will earn around Rs. 250 – Rs. 300 per day, thus increasing their income by around 50%. Since the launch on 17^th December 2019, approximately 30,000 Khadi Rumals have been sold by Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC). Nagrota a centre has been established by KVIC to provide employment to local women.

Highlighting this as a major step towards nation building, Chairman KVIC, Shri VK Saxena said, “Since the inception of this training center, the intention of KVIC has been to promote ‘Khadi Rumal’ and contribute meaningfully to the families of militancy affected areas of J&K. Currently the stitching center has a production capacity of 10,000 ‘Khadi Rumals’ per day stitched by 130 women artisans.”

Speaking about the initiative, Shri VK Saxena said, “‘Khadi Rumal’ is a symbol of trust that the women in militancy affected areas residing in Nagrota, have on the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Modi, who is working towards ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas’. Currently we have been able to employ 130 women and as the sale of Khadi Rumal increases, we plan to reach out and empower 4000 women of this area.”

White Khadi Rumal, made of pure cotton, is being sold across various Khadi outlets in India. To increase the outreach and availability of these Rumals PayTM has agreed to sell 2 Crore pieces of ‘Khadi Rumals’ with the help of its online platforms.

Outlining the impact potential of this initiative, Saxena said, “We have targeted to sell 5 Crore pieces of Khadi Rumal by 2020. To create 5 Crore pieces of Khadi Rumal, around 15 Lakh Kg’s of cotton will be consumed and it will require 25 lakh man-days of spinning, 12.5 lakh man-days of weaving and around 7.5 lakh man-days for cutting, stitching and packaging of Rumals. Thus creating 44 lakh man-days of livelihood, yielding wages amounting to Rs. 88 Crores for various artisans”, Saxena said.

“A humble contribution of the citizens of India could be a stepping stone for the beginning of the ‘Journey of Transformation’. Branded handkerchiefs in the market costs somewhere around Rs. 100-200 per piece, whereas fine quality Khadi Rumal cost just Rs. 50. I call upon every Indian to try a piece of Khadi Rumal and experience the unparalleled feeling of patriotism it instills”, Saxena further said.

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Candidates desirous of seeking admission to Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI), Kolkata and Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune both leading educational institutions in the art and craft of film making and television production, need to go through a multistage selection process from this year.

The First Stage in this selection process is an All India Level written examination called as the Joint Entrance Test (JET 2020). JET 2020 is a pre-requisite for admission to any of the programmes of SRFTI and FTII JET 2020 is a written test of three hours’ duration consisting of objective type and subjective questions and will be conducted in 26 centres across the country. Based on the JET 2020 score of the candidates, SRFTI and FTII will send call letters to the candidates for the Second Stage of the selection process which will be an orientation followed by the third stage of personal interview and thereafter, on successful accomplishment of all the requisites, students will get admission in full time regular programmes for the academic year 2020.

This year, SRFTI is conducting JET 2020 examination, which will be on Saturday, 15th February (afternoon) and Sunday, 16thFebruary, 2020 in two sessions (forenoon/afternoon). In this regard, various Admission Seminars are also being held across the country to disseminate the information about the ensuing Joint Entrance Test (JET) 2020. Desirous candidate can attend the seminar at the suitable date and venue.

 

For other details of courses and examination check the following links:-

 

JET website:       https://applyadmission.net/jet2020

FTII website:      http://ftii.ac.in/

SRFTI website:  http://srfti.ac.in/

 

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The Regional Outreach Bureau, Jammu and Kashmir region has organised a two day Zonal Conference of Media units of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India at Jammu. The Conference aims to strengthen synergy between the Media Units in order to ensure last mile delivery, while simultaneously brainstorm the use of new technology in communication.

 

Speaking on the first day of the conference Joint Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Shri Vikram Sahay impressed upon the Indian Information Service officers of different media units to work in coordination and effectively promote programmes and policies of the Government of India on ground.

Urging the officers to take into account the key indicators and peculiarities of the state while formulating and implementing communication strategies, Shri Sahay said that the need of the hour is to disseminate information in regional languages and also enhanced interaction with various stakeholders including the state governments on a regular basis to bridge the gap.

 

The two day conference is also attended by Director General, Bureau of Outreach and Communication, Shri Satyendra Prakash, Spokesperson Ministry of Home Affairs Smt. Vasudha Gupta and also by other senior officers of the zone. During the first day of the conference, various sessions were held ranging from zero budget publicity and people centric publicity to the performances and activities planned in the North Zone.

The participating states in the conference are UT of J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Delhi.

 

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Ministry of HRD and Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs are partnering together  for Online Youth Parliament Programme to commemorate 70 years of Constitution. In this regard a meeting was held in the Ministry of HRD  between Secretary, MHRD Shri Amit Khare; Secretary, M/o Parliamentary Affairs Shri Rajendra S Shukla and CBSE Chairperson, Ms Anita Karwal in New Delhi today. They discussed the modalities to increase the outreach of Youth Parliament Programme run by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs by making it online through the web-portal of National Youth Parliament Scheme. Other senior officers from both the ministries were also present in the meeting.

In the meeting, Secretary, MPA explained that the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs has been implementing off-line Youth Parliament programme since 1966 in Schools under the Directorate of Education, Government of NCT of Delhi and NDMC, Kendriya Vidyalayas, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas and Universities/ Colleges. Around 18000 students of 300 educational institutions participate through off-line Youth Parliament programme every year. This programme is organized in competition format which is limiting the participation of the institutions and thus not fulfilling the core purpose of the scheme in the desired manner. For overcoming this limitation, which is impeding the expansion of the scheme, this Ministry has developed a Web-Portal of National Youth Parliament Scheme to increase the coverage of the programme manifold to hitherto untouched sections and corners of the country.

National level celebrations focussed on Constitution and Fundamental Duties are being held all over the country to commemorate the Constitution Day and as a part of the celebrations, President has launched the web-portal of National Youth Parliament Scheme on the occasion to commemorate the 70 th Anniversary of adoption of the Constitution of India ‘SamvidhanDiwas’ on 26 th November 2019 in Central Hall, Parliament House, New Delhi.

All recognised schools, colleges and universities can access the portal at http://www.nyps.mpa.gov.in to take part in the Youth Parliament programme of the Ministry. The last date for the registration on the portal has been extended to 28th February, 2020. The salient features of the web-portal are:-

• All recognised educational institutions of the country are eligible to participate in this programme.

• The registration for participation will be done by the educational institutions through the web-portal.

• E-training modules, videos, photographs and scripts are available on the portal for online self-learning of the participants.

• After successful registration, the educational institutions will be able to conduct youth parliament sittings in their respective institutions.

• Each student taking part in the sitting will get a Digital ‘Certificate of Participation’ and Teachers-in-charge and Head of Institution will get a ‘Certificate of Appreciation’ through the web portal.

The noble ideals and the important role the programme plays in spreading the ideas of democracy in the student community is well realised. Considering the importance of the programme, it is necessary to ensure participation of maximum number of educational institutions in the Youth Parliament Programme through web-portal of National Youth Parliament Scheme. All educational institutions under CBSE and AICTE will be targeted for participation in the programme with an aim of covering lakhs of educational institutions and crores of students every year. M/o HRD will also take up the matter with the various State Governments to ensure maximum participation in the programme.

After discussions, Secretary, D/o Higher Education & School Education & Literacy assured to work in tandem with the M/o Parliamentary Affairs to increase the outreach of the programme as part of celebrations of 70 th anniversary of adoption of constitution and make all efforts to take up the issue with CBSE, UGC, AICTE, KVS, NVS, State Education Secretaries, Central Universities, etc. for participation of maximum educational institutions.

 

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The online nominations process for Sardar Patel National Unity Award, the highest civilian award in the field of contribution to the unity and integrity of India, is on and the last date for nominations is 30^th April, 2020. The nominations are being received online in the Ministry of Home Affairs website https://nationalunityawards.mha.gov.in.

 

Government of India has instituted the award in the name of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The Award seeks to recognize notable and inspiring contributions to promote the cause of national unity and integrity and to reinforce the value of a strong and united India.

 

The decoration of the Award is given below:

 

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SNC/VM

A half day Conference of the State/UT Chief Secretaries and Administrator held in New Delhi, today. The conference was inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Nityanand Rai.

In his inaugural address, Shri Rai laid emphasis on the need of conducting Census 2021 and the role of the States in doing the same. He also said that the data collected in the Census helps us in framing policies for the welfare of the people of the country. The Minister also inaugurated the Official “Mascot” for Census 2021.

The key note address was delivered by Union Home Secretary, Shri Ajay Kumar Bhalla. In his address, Shri Bhalla remarked on the vastness of this exercise and involvement of the state functionaries.

At the outset, Dr. Vivek Joshi, Registrar General & Census Commissioner of India welcomed the Minister, Home Secretary, Chief Secretaries of the State and other State Nodal officers to the conference. He made a brief presentation on the Strategy for Census 2021.

After Dr. Joshi’s presentation before the gathering, presentations on the appointment of the Census functionaries, National Population Register (NPR), Printing and Logistics facilities, use of Mobile application in data collection and Central monitoring portal have been made by the respective in charge officials from the ORGI.

 

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Dr. HarshVardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfarehas been closely monitoring the situation after the reports of 41 confirmed cases of novel Corona virus (nCoV) including one death from Wuhan, China on 5^thJanuary, 2020.  According to WHO, the situation is still evolving and preliminary investigations suggest link to the sea food market. Coronaviruses are large family of viruses, which cause illnesses to people and also circulate in animals including camels, cats and bats. Rarely, animal coronaviruses can also evolve and infect people.

Ms Preeti Sudan, Secretary (HFW), Government of India is regularly reviewing the public health preparedness in the country since the news broke out. As directed by the Health Ministry, meetings of the Joint Monitoring Group (JMG) were convened under the Chairmanship of Director General of Health Services (DGHS) on 8thand 15th January, 2020 with representations from various stakeholders (health and non-health sectors) and WHO.

Secretary, (HFW) stated that “the public health preparedness is being reviewed on day-to-day basis and the core capacities to timely detect and manage importation of the nCoV into the country are being strengthened further”. She mentioned that the situation is being monitored in consultation with WHO and keeping in view the limited human to human transmission the risk at global level is perceived to be low.

However, as a matter of abundant precaution the Ministry of Health has instructed screening of international travellers from China at designated airports namely, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkatathrough thermal scanners. In coordination with Ministry of Civil Aviation, in-flight announcements are also being made. A travel advisory has also been issued to the passengers travelling to and from China on the issue. A copy of the same is also available on the Health Ministry website.

The Health Ministry has issued necessary directions to all concerned on laboratory diagnosis, surveillance, infection prevention and control (IPC) and risk communication. Integrated Disease Surveillance Program (IDSP) is geared up for community surveillance and contact tracing. The NIV Pune, ICMR Laboratory is coordinating the testing of samples for nCoV in the country.  The hospital preparedness with regard to management and infection prevention control facilities has been also reviewed during high level meetings and advisories, and IPC Guidelines have been shared with the States.  Adequate stocks of logistics including PPE is available. State governments have also been advised on the necessary precaution to be taken up on the issue. Ministry of Health is also in touch with Ministry of External Affairs, and the immigration officers at the said airports have been sensitized.

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An infection with a novel coronavirus has been reported from China. As on 11^th January, 2020, 41 confirmed cases have been reported so far, of which one has died. Only travel related cases have been reported (one each) in Thailand and Japan. The clinical signs and symptoms are mainly fever with a few patients having difficulty in breathing.

The mode of transmission is unclear as of now. However, so far there is little evidence of significant human-to-human transmission.

Although as per World Health Organization’s risk assessment the risk for global spread has been stated as low, as a matter of abundantprecaution, the travelers to China are advised the following:

• Travelers to China should follow simple public health measures at all times as under:
  • Observe good personal hygiene
  • Practice frequent hand washing with soap
  • Follow respiratory etiquettes – cover your mouth when coughing or sneezing
  • Avoid close contact with people who are unwell or showing symptoms of illness, such as cough, runny nose etc.
  • Avoid contact with live animals and consumption of raw/undercooked meats
  • Avoid travel to farms, live animal markets or where animals are slaughtered
  • Wear a mask if you have respiratory symptoms such as cough or runny nose

 

• All travelers to China (in particular Wuhan city) to monitor their health closely.

 

• If you feel sick and have fever and cough:
  • Cover your mouth while coughing or sneezing
  • Don’t plan travels if sick
  • Seek medical attention promptly

 

• If you feel sick on flight, while traveling back to India:
  • Inform the airlines crew about illness
  • Seek mask from the airlines crew
  • Avoid close contact with family members or fellow travelers
  • Follow the directions of airline crew while disembarking

 

• If you feel sick on flight or at the time of disembarkation:
  • Report to airport health authorities/immigration
  • Follow the direction of the airport health officer

 

• If you feel sick with in a span of one month after return from China:
  • Report the illness to the nearest health facility and also inform the treating doctor regarding your travel history

 

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National Informatics Centre (NIC) has set up the Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Blockchain Technology in Bengaluru, Karnataka, aiming to provide Blockchain as a service and allowing all stakeholders to benefit from shared learning, experiences and resources. Inauguration of Centre of Excellence in Blockchain Technology is being held tomorrow by the Union Minister for Law & Justice, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad. The event will be attended by several dignitaries from the Central and State Government.

National Informatics Centre (NIC) as a premier technology advisor and ICT solution provider to Government at all levels, has always taken the first step to introduce the latest technologies and services in government, be it the introduction of ICT in Government, establishment of NICNET or National Knowledge Network (NKN), development of critical e-Governance solutions and a host of other services required by the Government.

Blockchain technology is upcoming & niche technology and adoption of the same in sectors such as health, finance, agriculture and various other sectors would aid the government in implementing various programmes and provide trust and immutability to the assets.

The CoE has developed Blockchain based Proof of Concepts (PoCs) for select government use cases to understand potential benefits provided by this emerging technology. New and previously unforeseen applications of Blockchain in the Government are expected to enhance transparency, traceability and trust in e-governance systems.

The Centre of Excellence will facilitate the Government Departments in building proof of concepts for use of Blockchain technology in different dimensions of governance leading to large scale deployment of some such applications. With National Informatics Centre (NIC) providing a robust and an agile infrastructure, the CoE shall also provide Blockchain as a Service (BaaS) for efficient hosting of Blockchain network.

 

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The Minister for Electronics & IT, Communications and Law & Justice, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad inaugurated the National Showcase and Felicitation Ceremony here today as a part of the National Challenge titled ‘Ideate for India – Creative Solutions using Technology,’ organised by Ministry of Electronics & IT. The top 50 team were selected based on their ideas and working prototype solutions.

Speaking on the occasion, he called on the winner innovators to work towards making innovation a national movement. He said young India must inculcate a spirit of innovation and empowerment among under privileged youth and this movement can fulfill Prime Minister’s dream of creating digital India having exemplary governance and leadership qualities.

Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad said the Prime Minister has given a call for Five Trillion Dollar Indian Economy by 2024. “Our Ministry in interaction with Industry has identified trillion-dollar opportunity in digital space itself and has also carved out the areas where we need to introduce digital emerging technologies such Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Data Analytics, Geo-Spatial, Drone, Blockchain, 3D Printing, etc in a big way. The identified priority sectors are Agriculture, Health, Education, Logistics etc. Future Skills that is training our workforce on emerging technologies is also an important area,” he said.

The government is promoting Start-ups in a significant way. Ministry of Electronics and IT has recently initiated MeitY’s Start-up Hub programme, wherein support to 51 Incubators and 2,000 Technology Start-ups are envisaged.

The main aim of the National Challenge was to give school students across the country an opportunity to translate their ideas to a working solution or prototype. The theme areas included healthcare services, education services, digital services, environment, women safety, traffic, infrastructure, agriculture, social welfare, disability and tourism. The Challenge was designed and launched by the National e-Governance Division, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology in collaboration with Intel India, with support from the Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSE&L), and Ministry of Human Resource Development.

The National Challenge was open to students of classes 6 – 12 all across the country. 1,33,661 students registered for this Challenge from 1,160 schools across India (both Government & Private schools) out of which 360 ideas were picked up. Four regional tech-creation boot camps were organized in North, West, South and East zones wherein students were trained by technology experts and mentors. The demonstrated prototypes included (1) Carbon Controller (device that sucks carbon monoxide from tailpipes of vehicles, (2) A smart automated BOT to maintain health, clean surface and deep water weeds in ponds and lakes, (3) Systems to preserve water, (4) Planting tree seeds using a drone) (5) health-related solutions (Diabetes monitoring App, ECG Monitoring App, Device to translate sign language into spoken words) and (6) Municipal related solutions (Smart Garbage Tank, Mosquito Eliminator, etc).

 

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School children from three Delhi schools and a cultural centre of Udaipur will take part in the cultural programme during the Republic Day Parade to be held at Rajpath on January 26, 2020. Ministry of Defence and Directorate of Education, Government of NCT of Delhi have selected 636 children – 474 girls and 162 boys – from Arvind Gupta DAV Centenary Public School, Model Town, Delhi; Vinay Nagar Bengali Senior Secondary School, Sarojini Nagar, Delhi; Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya, B-Block, Janak Puri, New Delhi and West Zone Cultural Center, Udaipur.

‘Yog – Vishwa Shakti ki Ore’ is the theme of Arvind Gupta DAV Centenary Public School, Model Town, Delhi. ‘The Baul’, a group of mystic minstrels from the historical Bengal region, is the theme of Vinay Nagar Bengali Senior Secondary School, Sarojini Nagar, Delhi. The children from Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya B-Block, Janak Puri, New Delhi will perform on the theme ‘Mharo Rang Rangilo Rajasthan’. West Zone Cultural Centre, Udaipur will present ‘Garba – the folk dance of Gujarat’ during the parade.

During their press preview held here today, the young participants expressed their happiness to be part of Republic Day Parade. They said, they were overwhelmed with a sense of pride as they have got a chance to showcase their talent and ability before the high national and international dignitaries.

 

GeM Samvaad, a two month long national outreach programme was launched on 17^th December 2019 to reach out to stakeholders across the country and also local sellers in order to facilitate on-boarding of local sellers on the marketplace while catering to specific requirements and procurement needs of buyers.

The outreach programme took off from 19^th December 2019 and during the launch week the States of Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh were covered.

GeM Samvaad is being conducted in all States and Union Territories. After the first four states the outreach programme has been held in J & K on 5^th January, Ladakh on 7^th January, Assam and Bihar on 9^th January and in Chandigarh on 8^th January 2020. All the outreach programmes witnessed overwhelming participation of buyers and sellers. GeM senior officers are steering the programmes. They are also interacting with buyers and sellers attending the events. Arrangements for the outreach programmes including logistics are made by the respective State Governments. The target is to reach out to all stakeholders and learn from their experiences on their usage of GeM portal. Through this outreach programme, GeM expects to make the actual users aware about the new features and functionalities of the portal and collect feedback, which is the first step towards GeM’s ‘Voice of Customer’ initiative.

A Roundtable with Ministries/Departments & Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) was held on 14 January 2020 in New Delhi as part of GeM Samvaad. It was chaired by Secretary, Department of Commerce, Government of India and CEO GeM.

 

More than 100 participants including Financial Advisors & nodal officers of Ministries, Departments, and representatives of CPSEs participated in the Roundtable and shared their feedback, challenges and suggestions.

Commerce Secretary highlighted the need for full utilization of the potential of GeM. He stated that Rule 149 of GFR and directives of the Department of Public Enterprises make the procurement of goods and services by Ministries and CPSEs mandatory for goods and services available on GeM and the same should not be violated.

GeM is continuously working to bring all the items on-board and buyers should accelerate this process by providing specifications of categories and asking sellers to onboard GeM. He further emphasized the importance of timely payments to sellers and stated that buyers should ensure payments to sellers on time.

State Departments and Organizations and Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs) have been using GeM for their buying needs. Sellers from the States are also benefitting through the access to national Public Procurement market using the portal. Through GeM Samvaad the marketplace is looking forward to receiving feedback from users which will be used for making improvements and advancements in the system.

GeM has more than 15 lakh products and around 20,000 services, more than 3 lakh registered sellers and service providers and more than 40,000 Government buyer organizations. In its short journey of three years, GeM has processed more than 28 lakh orders worth Rs. 40,000 crores in Gross Merchandise Value out of which 50% has been transacted by MSMEs.

 

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Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) initiated 34 anti-dumping (AD) investigations (both fresh and review), 4 countervailing duty investigations, and 6 safeguard investigations during the period from 01.04.2019 to 31.12.2019. Final Findings in 14 anti-dumping investigations, 4 countervailing duty investigations and Provisional Findings in 5 investigations were issued during this period.

 

Time taken in issue of final findings from the date of initiation, has come down to 234 days in 2019 – 2020 from 478 days in 2014-15.

 

Average time taken to initiate an Anti-Dumping investigation has also come down to 33 days in 2019-20 as compared to 43 days in 2018-19.

DGTR has also started using all available options for providing relief against unfair trade practices like the first ever Safeguard Quantitative Restrictions investigation on imports of Iso-propyl Alcohol initiated under the FTDR Act, 2002 on 04.11.2019; three Bilateral Safeguard Investigations initiated (Refined Bleached Deodrized Palmolien against Malaysia; Phthalic Anhydride and Polybutadiene Rubber against Korea); two global Safeguard investigations initiated under the Custom Tariff Act, 1997 (Phenol and Single Mode Optical Fibre) and nine Countervailing Duty investigations completed and five are underway.

Anti-circumvention provision was introduced in Customs Tariff Act, 1975 for Counter-vailing Duty (CVD) investigations. Rules of circumvention for AD and CVD are being simplified for providing relief to the domestic industry so that increased instances of circumvention in AD/CVD can be addressed. Six cases of anti-circumvention have been completed so far.

DGTR has initiated outreach programmes to sensitize stakeholders about the available trade remedy measures. The outreach programmes were conducted by officers of DGTR in Gurugram on 25.06.2019, Mumbai from 26.09.2019 to 27.09.2019 and Ahmedabad on 13.12.2019.

Training programmes were held during August-September, 2019 to sensitize the officers of Indian Trade Service, Indian Cost Accounts Service and officers from select Administrative Ministries regarding the available trade remedial measures.

Commerce and Industry Minister held a stakeholder meeting on Regulatory Instruments for formulation and implementation of an effective Trade Policy and Development Strategy on 11.09.2019. A help desk and Facilitation Centre were established on 23.09.2019 to facilitate optimal utilization by different stakeholders of available trade remedial measures aimed at curbing unfair trade. A total of 62 different issues have been dealt by the Centre since its setting up in September, 2019.

DGTR has launched an online portal – ARTIS (Application for Remedies in Trade for Indian industry and other Stakeholders) on 30.09.2019 to enhance transparency, efficiency and provide expedited relief to the domestic producers for different trade remedies like anti-dumping duty, safeguard duty and countervailing duty. Applicants can also monitor the current status of their applications through this portal. The portal will be further improvised so that it can in real terms bring about transformative change in the process of filing, tracking and monitoring the Trade Remedy applications.

 

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