In a significant enhancement to the D-Remit process, the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has now allowed National Pension System (NPS) subscribers to deposit their contributions through the convenience of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) QR code. This advancement aims to simplify the contribution process, making it more accessible and efficient for NPS participants.

The National Pension System (NPS) has long been a reliable savings avenue for those looking to secure their financial futures. Under the NPS, subscribers make voluntary contributions to their NPS Tier I and II accounts. However, the process of directly depositing these contributions, known as D-Remit or Direct Remittance, has just become more user-friendly.

The introduction of QR code – UPI for D-Remit is a positive & revolutionary step towards making NPS contributions more accessible, efficient, and flexible. This initiative by PFRDA empowers NPS subscribers to take control of their retirement savings and benefit from the advantages of systematic investment planning.

D-Remit Virtual Account with UPI QR code

Under this new mechanism, subscribers will utilise the UPI QR Code to transfer their contributions. It is important to note that the D-Remit virtual account is distinct from the Permanent Retirement Account Number (PRAN). Furthermore, the virtual account numbers differ for Tier I and Tier II NPS accounts and so do the QR codes.

Key Benefits of D-Remit QR code

The D-Remit process offers several advantages for NPS subscribers:

• Same-Day Investment: Contributions received by the Trustee Bank (TB) before 9:30 AM will be invested on the same day, optimizing returns.
• Periodical Auto Debit: Subscribers can set up periodical auto-debit payments, such as monthly, quarterly, or half-yearly, providing a convenient way to build their retirement corpus.
• One-Time or Regular Contribution: The flexibility to choose between one-time or regular contributions based on individual preferences and financial goals.
• Optimised Investment: The D-Remit process leverages standing instructions and rupee cost averaging for long-term retirement wealth creation.

Set up SIP in NPS through D-Remit:

For NPS account holders with a PRAN, the D-Remit process opens up the possibility of starting a systematic investment plan (SIP). This can be done online (D-Remit), allowing subscribers to set up standing instructions for SIP payments to their NPS accounts.

SIPs in NPS offer subscribers the convenience of making regular contributions, helping them build a disciplined and convenient approach to retirement savings without the need to time the market. Similar to mutual funds, SIPs enable NPS participants to benefit from rupee cost averaging. Adjusting existing investments becomes a straightforward process, with the potential for higher returns.

How to Use D-Remit QR Code:

To utilise D-Remit, subscribers must possess a virtual D-Remit ID with the trustee bank. This virtual account can only be used for remitting NPS contributions. Setting up an SIP through net banking involves adding the virtual account as a beneficiary to the subscriber’s net banking account and providing a standing instruction for the SIP amount. With a fund receipt cut-off time of 9:30 AM, subscribers receive the same-day Net Asset Value (NAV) in their NPS accounts. Contributions received after this time or on non-working days will reflect the NAV of the next working day.

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 ‘Police’ and ‘Public Order’ are State subjects as per the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India. The States/UTs are primarily responsible for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of crimes including cyber crime through their Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs). The Central Government supplements the initiatives of the States/UTs  through  advisories  and  financial  assistance  under  various  schemes for capacity building of their LEAs. To strengthen the mechanism to deal with cyber crimes in a comprehensive and coordinated manner, the Central Government has taken steps which, inter-alia, include the following:

1. The Ministry of Home Affairs has set up the ‘Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre’ (I4C) to deal with all types of cyber crime in the country, in a coordinated and comprehensive manner.
2. Seven Joint Cyber Coordination Teams (JCCTs) have been constituted for Mewat, Jamtara, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Vishakhapatnam and Guwahati under I4C covering the whole country based upon cyber crime hotspots/ areas having multi jurisdictional issues by on boarding States/UTs to enhance the coordination framework among the LEAs of the States/UTs. Seven workshops were organized for JCCTs at Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Vishakhapatnam, Lucknow, Ranchi and Chandigarh in 2023.
3. The state of the art ‘National Cyber Forensic Laboratory (Investigation)’ has been established, as a part of the I4C, at New Delhi to provide early stage cyber forensic assistance to Investigating Officers (IOs) of State/UT Police. So far, National Cyber Forensics Laboratory (Investigation) have provided its services to State LEAs in around 8,840 cyber forensics like mobile forensics, memory forensics, CDR Analysis, etc. to help them in investigation of cases pertaining to cyber crimes.
4. The ‘National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal’ (https://cybercrime.gov.in) has been launched, as a part of the I4C, to enable public to report incidents pertaining to all types of cyber crimes, with special focus on cyber crimes against women and children. Cyber crime incidents reported on this portal, their conversion into FIRs and subsequent action thereon are handled by the State/UT LEAs concerned as per the provisions of the law.
5. The ‘Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System’, under I4C, has been launched for immediate reporting of financial frauds and to stop siphoning off funds by the fraudsters. So far, an amount of more than Rs. 1000 Crore have been saved in more than 4 lakh incidents. A toll-free Helpline number ‘1930’ has been operationalized to get assistance in lodging online cyber incidents.
6. The Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) platform, namely ‘CyTrain’ portal has been developed under I4C, for capacity building of police officers/judicial officers through online course on critical aspects of cyber crime investigation, forensics, prosecution etc. along with certification. More than 72,800 Police Officers from States/UTs are registered and more than 50,000 Certificates issued through the portal.
7. Till date more than 2.45 lakhs SIM cards and 42,000 IMEIs as reported by Police authorities have been blocked by Government of India.
8. I4C has imparted cyber hygiene training to 5,600 officials of various Ministries/ Departments of Government of India.
9. The Ministry of Home Affairs has provided financial assistance to the tune of Rs. 122.24 crores under the ‘Cyber Crime Prevention against Women and Children (CCPWC)’ Scheme, to the States/UTs for their capacity building such as setting up of cyber forensic-cum-training laboratories, hiring of junior cyber consultants and training of LEAs’ personnel, public prosecutors and judicial officers. So far, cyber forensic-cum-training laboratories have been commissioned in 33 States/UTs. So far, more than 24,600 LEA personnel, judicial officers and prosecutors have been provided training on cyber crime awareness, investigation, forensics etc.
10. National Cyber Forensic Laboratory (Evidence) has been set up at Hyderabad. Establishment of this laboratory provides the necessary forensic support in cases of evidence related to cyber crime, preserving the evidence and its analysis in line with the provisions of IT Act and Evidence Act; and reduced turnaround time.
11. I4C has imparted cyber hygiene training to more than 17,000 NCC cadets.
12. To spread awareness on cyber crime, the Central Government has taken steps which, inter-alia, include; dissemination of messages through SMS, I4C social media account i.e. X (formerly Twitter) (@Cyberdost), Facebook(CyberDostI4C), Instagram(cyberdostI4C), Telegram(cyberdosti4c), Radio campaign, engaged MyGov for publicity in multiple mediums, organizing Cyber Safety and Security Awareness weeks in association with States/UTs, publishing of Handbook for Adolescents/Students, etc. The States/UTs have also been requested to carry out publicity to create mass awareness.
13. The Centre for Financial Literacy pilot project on financial literacy was initiated by the Reserve Bank in 2017 with an objective to adopt community led innovative and participatory approaches to financial literacy engaging various NGOs across the country. Under the Centre for Financial Literacy project, each Centre for Financial Literacy usually covers three blocks while giving focus on the population in the age group of 18-60 years. A total of 1633 Centre for Financial Literacy covering 4,861 blocks have been set up across the country as on September 30, 2023. Awareness about digital banking in one of the areas covered under the Centre for Financial Literacy project.

 The indicators for malnutrition like underweight, stunting and wasting have shown a steady improvement in the National Health Family Survey (NHFS) conducted by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. As per the recent report of NFHS-5 (2019-21), the nutrition indicators for children under 5 years have improved as compared with NFHS-4 (2015-16). Stunting has reduced from 38.4% to 35.5%, while Wasting has reduced from 21.0% to 19.3% and Underweight prevalence has reduced from 35.8% to 32.1%.

As per the data of Poshan Tracker for the month of November 2023, around 7.44 crore children under 6 years were measured, out of whom 37.51% were found to be stunted, 17.43% were found to be underweight and 6% children under 5 years were found to be wasted. The levels of underweight and wasting are much less than that projected by NFHS 5.

The Government has accorded high priority to the issue of malnutrition and is implementing several schemes/programmes of different Ministries/Departments through States/UTs to address various aspects related to nutrition. In the 15^th FC, components of nutritional support for children below the age of 6 years, pregnant women and lactating mother, Adolescent Girls (14 – 18 years); Early Childhood Care and Education [3-6 years]; Anganwadi infrastructure including modern, upgraded Saksham Anganwadi, POSHAN Abhiyan and Scheme for Adolescent Girls have been reorganised under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 (Mission Poshan 2.0). Mission Poshan 2.0 focuses on Maternal Nutrition, Infant and Young Child Feeding Norms, Treatment of MAM/SAM and Wellness through Ayush practices to reduce wasting and under-weight prevalence besides stunting and anemia.

Under Mission Poshan 2.0, Supplementary nutrition is provided to beneficiaries 300 days in a year through the network of 13.97 lakh AWC located across the country for bridging the gap in the intake as compared to the recommended dietary intake. Only fortified rice is being supplied to AWCs to meet the requirement of micronutrient and control anemia among women and children. Greater emphasis is being given on the use of millets for preparation of Hot Cooked Meal and Take Home rations (THR-not raw ration) at Anganwadi centres for Children below 6 years of age, Pregnant Women, Lactating Mothers.

The objectives of Poshan 2.0 are as follows:

• To contribute to human capital development of the country
• Address challenges of malnutrition
• Promote nutrition awareness and good eating habits for sustainable health and well-being; and
• Address nutrition related deficiencies through key strategies.

Steps have been taken to improve nutritional quality and testing in accredited labs, strengthen delivery and leverage technology under Poshan Tracker to improve governance. States/UTs have been advised to promote use of AYUSH systems for prevention of malnutrition and related diseases. A programme to support development of Poshan Vatikas at Anganwadi Centres to meet dietary diversity gap leveraging traditional knowledge in nutritional practices has also been taken up.

Government issued Streamlining Guidelines on 13th January, 2021 to ensure greater transparency and accountability and quality in nutrition service delivery under the ‘Poshan Tracker’, a robust ICT enabled platform to improve governance with regard to real time monitoring of provisioning of supplementary nutrition for prompt supervision and management of services.

Under Poshan 2.0, one of the major activities undertaken is Community Mobilization and Awareness Advocacy leading to Jan Andolan to educate the people on nutritional aspects. IEC material in the form of videos, pamphlets, flyers etc., in regional languages have also been developed around critical themes. Social & Behavioural Changes have been inculcated through conducting Community Based Events, Poshan Maah and Poshan Pakhwada in convergence with various Ministries/ Departments and other stakeholders. So far, more than 90 crore sensitisation activities have been reported by States/ UTs under community engagements programmes through 11 Poshan Maahs and Poshan Pakhwadas celebrated in the months of September and March-April respectively. Community Based Events (CBEs) have served as a significant strategy in changing nutrition practices. CBEs help to celebrate critical milestones in the life of pregnant women and children below two years of age and to disseminate critical information on, inter alia, right time to ensure appropriate complementary feeding with diet diversity. Close to 3.70 crore Community Based Events have been held so far.

 The delegation group comprising teachers (Yamuna) of the Kashi Tamil Sangamam II visited Hanuman Ghat and learnd about the history of various ghats of Ganga from the Acharyas.

Later, the delegates visited the ancient temples on the ghats and learned about their history, divinity and grandeur. The group also visited the residence of Shri Subramanya Bharati located at Hanuman Ghat and met the family members. The group visited the Kanchi Math and learnt about its history.

The group learnt about the deep connection between Kashi and Tamil Nadu and visited the areas around the Hanuman Ghat, Kedar Ghat, and Harishchandra Ghat where several Tamil families have been residing for many years, exemplifying the spirit of Kasi Tamil Sangamam.

The second phase of the Kashi Tamil Sangamam will continue till 30th December 2023. Last year, the first phase of Kashi Tamil Sangamam was organized from 16th November to 16th December 2022. Nearly 1400 (7 Groups of 200 persons each) people are expected to be travelling from different parts of Tamil Nadu, representing varied walks of life. The first two groups have already arrived at Varanasi. During their stay in Kashi, as per their tour itinerary, they will also visit Prayagraj and Ayodhya.

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 First Mile Projects facilitate seamless movement of coal from the mine to the despatch point along with computerized loading into railway rakes with minimum manual intervention, obliterate traffic congestion and road accidents, and thus mitigate the adverse impact on environment and health around the coal mining projects.

There is no FMC Project implemented /being implemented in Rajasthan.

The all India target of Production of coal for 2023-24 has been fixed 1012.14 Million Tonnes.

The following steps have been taken by the Government to enhance the production to fulfill the domestic coal demand:

1. Opening of new coal mine projects and expansion of existing projects
2. Regular reviews by Ministry of Coal to expedite the development of coal blocks.
3. Enactment of Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2021 for enabling captive mines owners (other than atomic minerals) to sell up to 50% of their annual mineral (including coal) production in the open market after meeting the requirement of the end use plant linked with the mine in such manner as may be prescribed by the Central Government on payment of such additional amount.
4. Single Window Clearance portal for the coal sector to speed up the operationalization of coal mines.
5. Project Monitoring Unit for hand-holding of coal block allottees for obtaining various approvals / clearances for early operationalization of coal mines.
6. Auction of coal blocks for commercial mining on revenue sharing mechanism was launched on 18.06.2020. Terms and conditions of commercial coal mining are very liberal with no restriction on utilization of coal, allowing new companies to participate in the bidding process, reduced upfront amount, adjustment of upfront amount against monthly payment, liberal efficiency parameters to encourage flexibility to operationalize the coal mines, transparent bidding process, 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) through automatic route and revenue sharing model based on the National Coal Index.
7. Under commercial mining scheme, rebate of 50 % on final offer would be allowed for the quantity of coal produced earlier than scheduled date of production. Also, incentives on coal gasification or liquefaction are granted (rebate of 50 % on final offer) to commence early production.

In addition to above, coal companies have also taken following steps to increase the domestic coal production:

1. Coal India Limited (CIL) has identified and initiated actions for fulfilling all the resources required like Environment Clearance / Forest Clearance, land acquisition, evacuation infrastructures such as mechanised loading through Coal Handling Plant (CHP) / SILO, Rail Projects etc. for enabling projects to contribute to its target as per 1 BT production plan.
2. Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) has planned to produce 70 MT by 2023-24 from the present level of 67 MT. Regular liaison is being undertaken for grounding of new projects and operation of existing projects. SCCL has initiated action for developing infrastructure for evacuation of coal like CHPs, Crushers, Mobile Crushers, Pre-weigh-bins etc.

This information was given by Union Minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Shri Pralhad Joshi in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

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 Shri Bhupender Yadav, Hon’ble Minister, Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change and Ministry of Labour & Employment launched a G20 report, ‘A Green and Sustainable Growth Agenda for the Global Economy’ today in New Delhi in the presence of Shri Amitabh Kant, Sherpa, G20 India, Shri Suman Bery, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog, Shri B.V.R. Subrahmanyam, CEO, NITI Aayog, Shri Ajay Seth, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs and Shri Kapil Kapoor, Regional Director for Asia, International Development Research Centre. His Excellency Kenneth Félix Haczynski da Nóbrega, Ambassador of Brazil to India participated in the panel discussion after the launch. The event also witnessed the presence of Prof. Ramesh Chand, Member, NITI Aayog, and Dr. V. K. Paul, Member, NITI Aayog who made important interventions related to agriculture and One Health, respectively.

In a significant collaborative effort, NITI Aayog, in partnership with the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the Global Development Network (GDN), published a report, ‘A Green and Sustainable Growth Agenda for the Global Economy’ based on the proceedings of the G20 international conference held in New Delhi on 28-29 July 2023, featuring 40 leading experts from 14 countries across the world.

Addressing the gathering, Bhupender Yadav, Hon’ble Minister, Environment, Forest & Climate Change and Labour & Employment, extended his congratulations to NITI Aayog for putting together the publication and releasing it at a crucial time when Brazil has just taken over the G20 presidency from India. He further stated, “India has put forth the resolve to make climate action a collaborative process based on common but differentiated responsibilities. A swift, just and equitable transition to renewable energy sources must be underpinned by deep emission cuts and scaled-up finance. India has maintained that climate finance and technology are essential for enabling the Global South to achieve the twin objectives of sustainable and green growth. The countries of the Global South have had little to no contribution to the climate crisis. It is therefore imperative for the developed countries to help them combat climate change. The G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration stated that implementing the climate agenda requires several trillion dollars by 2030. At COP28, Hon’ble PM emphasized that the developed world must ensure a steady flow of climate finance that is accessible and affordable.”

Addressing the gathering at the event, Amitabh Kant, India’s G20 Sherpa, stated, “Let me complement NITI Aayog for organizing the international G20 conference in July and now releasing its this publication. Since I actively participated in the July conference, several inputs shared by the experts were incorporated into the New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration. The Declaration highlighted the urgency and importance of accelerating the pace of global growth, for which free trade is critical as it has lifted vast segments of the population above the poverty line. The World Trade Organisation needs to be revitalized for this purpose.”

Commenting on the significance of the launch of the G20 report, Suman Bery, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog, said, “I would say that today was both a closure, but also a fresh start with respect to what this means for NITI Aayog and India. This report is being released to enable the transfer of knowledge that came out of the G20 international conference organized by NITI in July to Brazil so that they can benefit from the ideas in the volume.”

The report launch was followed by a video message from Global Development Network, a brief introduction to the report, and an interactive panel discussion with experts on the issues covered in the volume, moderated by Suman Bery, Hon’ble Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog.

The discussions at the event underscored the theme of a just transition as a critical pathway to mitigating climate change, emphasizing its potential positive economic impact for developed and emerging economies. The event was a testament to the commitment of the participating stakeholders to collectively shaping a more sustainable and equitable world.

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