An inaugural Trial-Run of Indian Railways (IR) freight train on the newly built Rewari-Madar section of Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC), covering a distance of about 306 kms (Total 663 track Km) was conducted today (i.e. 27.12.2019). The trial run was flagged off from New Kishangarh Station by Station Sr. Executive Sh. Ravindra Sharma in the presence of Sh. Anurag Sachan, Managing Director, Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation India Limited (DFCCIL).

The Rewari-Madar section is in Haryana State (for approximately 79 Km in Mahendragarh & Rewari districts) and Rajasthan State (for approximately 227 Km in Jaipur, Ajmer, Sikar, Nagaur & Alwar districts). This section contains 16 major bridges and viaduct (1 viaduct & 15 major bridges), 270 minor bridges, 4 Rail Fly Overs, 19 Road Over Bridges (11 completed and 8 under construction) & 178 Road Under Bridges eliminating 148 Level crossings. There are 9 newly built DFC stations in this section, six crossing stations (i.e. New Dabla, New Bhagega, New Sri Madhopur, New Pachar Malikpur, New Sakun and New Kishangarh) and three junction stations (i.e. New Rewari, New Ateli and New Phulera).

DFCCIL will run freight trains at the maximum speed of 100 Kmph hour as against the current maximum speed of 75 kmph on Indian Railway tracks whereas the average speed of freight trains will also be increased from existing speed of 26 kmph on Indian Railways lines to 70 kmph on Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFC).

Cost

Total cost of works on this section is Rs. 3918 Crore, excluding land.

Industrial Areas likely to benefit

The opening of this stretch will benefit various industries in Rewari – Manesar, Narnaul, Phulera & Kishangarh areas of Rajasthan & Haryana. In addition to this, the container depot of CONCOR at Kathwas will also come on DFC map and get advantage in terms of faster throughput.

Highpoints

• Heavy haul train operation with 32.5 Ton axle load has been envisaged for the first time in India (currently practiced only in USA, Canada, Brazil, Australia, China, Russia South-Africa and Sweden-Norway)
• Double stack containers
• Double line electric (2 X 25 KV) track to undertake higher haulage at higher speeds
• Automated New Track Construction (NTC) machine with record single day track laying of more than 3 km.
• More Powerful Locomotives 7000 kW (9000 HP) CO-CO 6 axles
• High rise Over Head Equipment (OHE) of 7.4 meter height (existing IR OHE 5.5 m) for double stack container movement on flat wagons
• Train Protection and Warning System (TPWS) for safe and efficient operation
• Elimination of road crossing
• Connecting Multi Modal Logistic Hubs and Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor
• Water Conservation through Rainwater harvesting in all the stations and RUBs (road under bridge)
• Reduced Energy Consumption using latest technology
• Recycling and Re-use – Construction materials and Waste management
• Green Initiatives – developed as “Low Carbon & Energy Efficient Green Transportation” with reduce GHG emissions w.r.t. freight transportation by existing rail and road system
• Exclusive operation for freight trains.

After having successfully run Track Recording Car of RDSO on 20th and 22nd October 2019 and Oscillation trials of BOXNS Wagons at 110 Kmph, trial runs are being conducted on the DFCCIL tracks. These wagons have a Tare weight i.e. own weight of 19.85 ton and a carrying capacity of 80.15 ton. These wagons have 14% more weight carrying capacity than the wagons being currently used on Indian Railways. The DFCCIL infrastructure is well placed to utilise the carrying capacity of these wagons. Currently, Indian Railways freight trains can carry 61 -71 ton weight per wagon at an approximate speed of 60 kmph. The newer, advanced wagons can carry weights upto 81 ton per wagon at an approximate speed of 100 kmph. The newer wagons are safer and modern too.

Trial runs of BLCS-A and BLCS-B wagon prototype have also ensued. These wagons have enhanced axle load of 25 ton and been designed for DFCCIL by RDSO’s wagon department. The design will maximize capacity utilization and uniform distributed and point loading. These wagons on a long-haul double stack container train on the WDFC can carry 4 times in terms of container units compared to the current traffic on Indian Railways.

The BPCL LPG Bottling plant at Balangir, Odisha was dedicated to the nation today by Prof Ganeshi Lal, Governor, Odisha in the presence of Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel. Shri. Arun Kumar Sahoo, Minister for Agriculture & Farmers Empowerment, Govt. Of Odisha, Smt.Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo, Member of Parliament, Balangir &Shri Narasingha Mishra, Member of Legislative Assembly, Balangir and dignitaries from the state and officials of BPCL were also present.

Initially, the BPCL LPG plant was to be dedicated to the nation by Shri. M. Venkiah Naidu, Hon’ble Vice President of India. He had come  upto Raipur but could not make it to Balangir due to bad weather conditions today. In his audio messagewhich was played, the Hon’ble Vice President complimented Bharat Petrolum for completing the state-of-the-art LPG plant at Balangir within record 19 months, three months ahead of schedule. With the commissioning of the LPG Plant at Balangir, he said, people of the region would be supplied with hassle-free cylinders from now.

The foundation stone of Balangir LPG Bottling Plant was laid on 21^st May 2018 by Shri. Dharmendra Pradhan, the then Union Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas &Skill Development,  Mr. Thaawar Chand Gehlot, Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, Govt. of India and Mr. K. V. Singh Deo, MLA, Patnagarh.This plant has been completed in a record 19 months period, at a total project cost of     Rs. 103 Crores.

Addressing the gathering, Shri. Dharmendra Pradhan said that there were only 13.20 crore LPG consumers in the countrytill 2014, and now the number has crossed 27 crores and in Odisha it has crossed 80 lakhs. This new plant will benefit 14 districtsin the western part of the state. More than 150 trucks will be engaged in supply of LPG cylinders to different parts of the region, generatingmore than 500 direct and indirect employment. He further said that this plant will bring economic prosperity to the region.He further thanked Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi for his special focus on the development of Balangir which is also an aspirational district.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), a Maharatna PSU under the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas,has set up thisnew LPG Bottling Plant at Village Barkani,District Balangir in Odisha State. BPCL is already having a LPG Bottling Plant at Khurda in the State of Odisha. The Oil Marketing Companies are having LPG Bottling Plants at Balasore, Jharsuguda, Khurda and Jatni. In addition to thisLPG Bottling Plant at Balangir, Oil Marketing Companies have plans to set up new plants at Khurda and Rayagada. Odisha will have a total of 7 LPG Bottling Plants once all the new plants are completed. The bottling capacity of these 7 bottling plants will be 4.06 crores cylinders per annum.

YB/SK

In total, 75 Central Ministries/Departments are actively using the e-Office platform, with Ministry of AYUSH being the recent Ministry to go live on the e-Office platform. Out of them, 57 Ministries/Departments have achieved the desired target of 80% on e-Office platform, with Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries being the latest to have achieved this. This was informed during a review meeting of Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, chaired by MoS (PP) Dr Jitendra Singh here today. The Secretary (DoPT and DARPG) Dr C. Chandramouli and senior officers of the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT), Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DARPG) and Department of Pension and Pensioners Welfare were also present during the meeting. He said that this is a step towards Digital Secretariat.

The Minister also appealed to the State Governments to expedite the implementation of e-Office in their respective States/UTs. He said that the Government has offered State Governments all guidance in implementation of e-Office, the latest being the newly created UTs of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.

During the meeting, various issues were discussed, which included Vision Document of the Ministry, 100-day agenda of the departments, vacancy position in the departments, grievance redressal status, training programmes under National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG), status of e-Office implementation by Central Ministries/Departments, e-HRMS, web portals, dashboards, among others.

Among other activities, it was mentioned that the DARPG has organised Regional Conference on the theme ‘Improving Public Services Delivery – Role of Governments’ in collaboration with the Government of Maharashtra on 21-22 December, 2019 at Nagpur, Maharashtra. The Ministry has also launched the Good Governance Index (GGI) and the 15^th edition of Central Secretariat Manual of Office Procedure (CSMOP) on Good Governance Day i.e 25^th December, 2019. Besides, the workshops and Pension Adalat to be organised in future were also discussed.

During the meeting, various initiatives of the Ministry towards digitisation and e-governance were discussed. These included: e-service books, e-HRMS, e-Civil List, Pensions Portal and RTI Portal, among others.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is regarded as one of the key Ministries that is entrusted with the task of disseminating information about government policies, schemes and programmes through the different mediums of communication.

The Ministry took a series of initiatives in the year 2019 to inform the public in a seamless, transparent and accurate manner of all important activities undertaken by the Government.

Information Sector

· World Book Fair at New Delhi from 5th to 13th January, 2019. Discussion on ‘Children’s Literature and Young Readers Trapped in Electronic Gadgets’ organized by Publications Division at World Book Fair. Publications Division also released ten books during the event – Saral Panchatantra Part I; Children’s Vivekananda; Children’s Mahabharat in English; Shekhawati ki Lok Sanskriti; Hamare Samay me Upanishad; Haar Ki Khushi; Maa Ka Janamdin; Bapu ki Vani; Ved Gatha; and Bal Mahabharat in Hindi.

· India Pavilion at London Book Fair, 12^th to 14^th March. 2019.  The India Pavilion laid special focus on 150^th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and displayed the digital version of the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, apart from various other titles on Culture, History and Folklore of India.

· Reference Annuals ‘Bharat 2019’ and ‘India 2019’ released- the flagship publications brought out by Publications Division.

· Photo Exhibition to commemorate Centenary of Jallianwala Bagh incident in Amritsar by Regional Outreach Bureau organized in April 2019, titled Photo Exhibition on Freedom Struggle.

· Several e-projects of Publications Division launched, including its redesigned dynamic website, mobile app “Digital DPD”, e-version of Rozgaar Samachar and e-book “Satyagrah Geeta”.

· E-version of Rozgar Samachar launched with a view to make aspirants aware of job opportunities in government sector including public sector enterprises.

· ‘Jaldoot’ a travelling exhibition on Jalshakti Abhiyan arranged by Regional Outreach Bureau, Pune. The exhibition consisted of various information display panels and Audio-Visual components to create awareness about bold initiatives and decisive actions taken by the government.

· Second Volume of ‘Loktantra Ke Swar’ and ‘The Republican Ethic’ released– Compilation of selected speeches of President of India, brought out by Directorate of Publications Division.

Broadcast Sector

· Travelogue program “Rag Rag Mein Ganga” and quiz show “Meri Ganga” on Doordarshan launched. The travelogue series “Rag Rag Mein Ganga” has been made by Doordarshan in collaboration with National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG). The show relays the message of the need of rejuvenating River Ganga while also informing about the efforts of the Government to clean Ganga – presented in a unique and interesting format. The quiz show ‘Meri Ganga’ has also been made by DD in collaboration with NMCG in an attempt to cover school children from all zones of the country and trigger curiosity in them to feel closer to the cause of cleaning Ganga.

· Private FM Radio broadcasters permitted to broadcast All India Radio (AIR) News bulletins, in English/Hindi as per list of bulletins given in News Schedule, subject to certain terms and conditions.

· Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi launched DD Arunprabha, a dedicated 24×7 Doordarshan satellite channel for Arunachal Pradesh on 9^th February, 2019.

· 11 more State DD Channels brought on the Satellite footprint of India through DD Free Dish. It is for the first time that the States of Chhattisgarh, Goa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Uttarakhand have got their own DD Channel on a Satellite Network through DD Free Dish.

· Doordarshan’s Free Dish Set Top Boxes in Jammu and Kashmir distributed, besides launching half an hour Dogri programme and News Bulletin from DD Kashir and the signature tune of the channel, in an effort to reach out to the public in border areas to disseminate the message of Information, Education and Entertainment.

· Ministry aims to establish Community Radio Stations in every district of the Country, as announced at the 7th National Community Radio Sammelan in August 2019, as development of a vibrant culture of Community Radio will help in greater information dissemination at the grassroot level, which will result in further empowerment of people.

· Accessibility Standards for Persons with Disabilities in TV programmes implemented. In a significant beginning from this year’s Independence Day, Private Satellite News TV channels telecast programme on Independence Day Celebrations with sign language interpretation.

· Patriotic song “Watan” produced by Doordarshan to mark the occasion of Independence Day released. The song pays tribute to New India. It highlights several path breaking initiatives of the government including the determination and vision behind the successful launch of “Chandrayaan 2”. The song also pays tribute to the bravery and valour of our armed forces and the martyrs of the country.

Films Sector

· Facilitate in organization of 2nd Jharkhand International Film Festival in Ranchi, Jharkhand from 1st to 3rd February, 2019. The objective of promoting the Festival is to encourage states that have showcased potential of promoting cinema.

· Indian Panorama Film Festival organized by Directorate of Film Festivals at New Delhi. Festivals like this helps viewer’s rise above the barrier of language and understand each other’s culture better while also facilitating people to people contact from different cities.

· India Pavilion at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival acted as a platform to popularize Indian Cinema in overseas market and facilitate new business opportunities.

· India Pavilion at Abu Dhabi International Book Fair 2019, wherein India was designated as the Guest of Honour for the Book Fair, which was held from 24^th – 30^th April, 2019.

· India Pavilion organized at Cannes Film Festival 2019, to showcase Indian cinema across linguistic, cultural and regional diversity, with the aim of forging international partnerships in distribution, production, filming in India, script development, technology, promoting film sales and syndication. India Pavilion was also set at ‘Toronto International Film Festival’ (Sept. 2019).

· 50th International Film Festival of India organized in Goa. Russia was the focus country during the festival. The great doyen of Indian cinema Shri Amitabh Bachchan and the ‘Thalaiva’ of Indian film industry Shri Rajinikanth flagged off the extravaganza and announced the festival open. Shri Rajinikanth was conferred the ‘Icon Of Golden Jubilee Award’ for his outstanding contribution to Indian cinema, a first time award beginning with the 50th edition. One of French cinema’s defining faces actress Ms. Isabelle Anne Madeleine Huppert was conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award. The festival opened with the Italian film ‘Despite the Fog’ directed by Goran Paskaljevic. ‘Particles’ directed by Blaise Harrison and produced by Estelle Fialon won the coveted Golden Peacock Award. Lijo Jose Pellissery conferred Best Director Award for ‘Jallikattu’; Seu Jorge was declared Best Actor (Male) Award and Usha Jadhav got Best Actor (Female) Award.

· 66^th National Film Awards. The Vice President of India, Shri M Venkaiah Naidu conferred National Film Awards for the year 2018in various categories at its 66^th edition, held at New Delhi. Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting (I&B), Shri Prakash Javadekar; Secretary, Ministry of I&B, Shri Ravi Mittal were amongst other dignitaries present on the occasion. Some of the prominent winners in various categories for this year National Film Awards includes Gujarati film Hellaroin Best Feature Film category. BadhaaiHo bagged the award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment, Hindi movie Padmanwas awarded Best Film on Social Issues, Aditya Dhar won Best Director Award for Uri: The Surgical Strike, AyushmanKhurana and Vicky Kaushal jointly won Best Actor Award for their performances in Andhadhun and Uri: The Surgical Strike, whileKeerthy Suresh bagged Best Actress trophy for her performance in Telugu movie Mahanati. Marathi movie Naal got the Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director while another Marathi movie Paani won the award for Best Film on Environment Conservation/ Preservation. NargisDutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration was given to Kannada film OndallaEradallaand Uttarakhand was awarded the Most Film Friendly State.

In addition, it is pertinent to mention that the First Annual Conference of Media Units working under I&B Ministry was organized at New Delhi. During the Conference, performance of the Media Units was reviewed. The focus of the Conference was on ensuring synergy between the Media Units in their day to day functioning. Discussions on using modern technological tools for communication was also done during the course of Conference.

Union Human Resource Development Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ inaugurated the the ‘Social Media Outreach & Communication: National Workshop on Management and Best Practices’ organised by Ministry of HRD for various educational institutions and organisations in New Delhi today.Nearly 200 Social Media Champions from various Centrally funded educational institutions participated in the workshop. Principle DG,  Press Information Bureau, Shri Kuldeep Singh Dhatwalia, Joint Secretary, Department of Higher Education Smt Neeta Prasad; Joint Secretary, Department of School Education, Shri R.C Meena; Additional Director General, Press Information Bureau, Smt Nanu Bhasin and other senior officials of the Ministry of HRD were present on this occasion.

Speaking on the occasion Shri Pokhriyal said that sharing of knowledge and information is very important  in today’s world. It is the duty of every institution to promote their good work through various media platforms. He said that social media is a good tool for this purpose and social media champions have a very important role to play in building and maintaining the image of their organisations by highlighting their achievements which have relevance not only for the country but the whole world. The scale and quality of research, innovations and new studies taking place in IITs, IISERs, IISc etc cannot be seen anywhere else in the world, the HRD minister explained.

Shri Pokhriyal further said that social media champions will help to ensure improvement in the perception of the institution locally, nationally and globally. In QS rankings and other international rankings perception about the institute carries marks and Indian institutions are losing out on that front. The social media champions play a major role in improving perception, he explained.

He further said that purpose of the workshop is to bring the social media communication and outreach of various institutions under one umbrella and to open a channel for day to day communication and dialogue. Social media has become a powerful tool to connect, interact and collaborate. Use it as a tool for enhancing performance by improving delivery of services and convert the image of the organization into a brand, he added.

He said that we are here to take social media champions to next level and I believe this workshop will do that. He added that the information and tips you get to know here by experts, participants have to  use them and prove that they all are real social media champions. He also promised to felicitate and reward best social media champions at national level.

During the first session of workshop Chief Executive Officer, MyGov, Shri Abhishek Singh guided the participants regarding strategies of social media platforms for Government Communication. Principal DG, PIB explained the support which can be extended to social media champions by PIB in highlighting their achievements. Addl. DG, PIB, Ms Nanu Bhasin in her introductory speech gave an overview of the programme and the broad purpose of bringing together the social media managers of various educational organisations of HRD ministry. Social media expert Smt. Gayatri Deshpande briefed participants about best practices of social media.

In the second session ADG, Social Media, PIB, Shri B. Narayanan guided the participants about the Challenges of social media. Advisor to HRM Dr. Rajesh Naithani in his session briefed participants about Initiatives and Campaigns of Ministry of HRD. All the participants received a participation certificate at the end of the workshop.

Shri Hardeep S Puri, Minister of State(I/C) for Housing & Urban Affairs has informed that out of a validated demand of 1.12 Cr houses in urban areas, 1 Cr houses have already been sanctioned. Further, a total of 57 Lakh houses are in various stages of construction of which, nearly 30 Lakh houses have been completed. Compared to the earlier JnNURM scheme, PMAY (U) has achieved 10 times more in a span of 4.5 years, whereas the earlier scheme had taken 10 years to achieve a significantly less number.  Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban), [PMAY (U)], is one of the largest affordable housing programmes in the world.

Shri DurgaShanker Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs has informed that the Mission has covered a range of social groups which comprises of around 5.8 Lakh senior citizens, 2 Lakh construction workers, 1.5 Lakh domestic workers, 1.5 Lakh artisans, 0.63 Lakh differently-abled (Divyang), 770 transgender and 500 leprosy patients as of now. Empowerment of women is an inbuilt design of the scheme where the ownership of the house is in the name of female head of household or in the joint name.

The implementation of PMAY (U), has induced a remarkable investment in housing sector especially in the affordable housing segment. The houses sanctioned so far under the Mission involve an investment of about Rs. 5.70 Lakh Cr with Central Assistance of Rs. 1.6 Lakh Cr. The Central Government is contributing Rs.1.00 Lakh to Rs.2.67 Lakh for each house under different verticals of the scheme. As on date, nearly Rs. 60,000 Cr of Central Assistance hasalready been released. Presently, works of aboutRs. 3 Lakh Cr is ongoing and by the time Mission accomplishes its target of 1.12 Cr houses, the entire activity will trigger an investment of more than Rs. 7 Lakh Cr.

Year-on-Year houses sanctioned under PMAY(U)

(ISSR+AHP+BLC+CLSS)

Houses Completed under PMAY(U)

The scheme promotes a synergetic partnership of the people and the Governments. In consonance of the Mission Guidelines, States/ UTs are also contributing a substantial amount of Rs 1-2 Lakh on an average which can go upto Rs 6 Lakh per house. Beneficiaries are also contributing their share in the range ofRs. 2 Lakh to Rs. 5 Lakhper house.

In order to supplement the additional requirement of providing the Central Assistance, over and above the budgetary support, Government has made a provision for raising Extra Budgetary Resources (EBR) to the tune of Rs. 60,000 Cr of which, Rs. 38,000 Cr have already been raised and disbursed. Government has also created an Affordable Housing Fund (AHF) in the National Housing Bank (NHB) with an initial corpus of Rs. 10,000 Cr using priority sector lending shortfallof banks/financial institutions for micro financing of the HFCs

The Credit Linked Subsidy for the Middle Income Group (MIG) was introduced for the first time in the housing sector with effect from 1 January 2017. The MIG beneficiaries with annual income upto Rs. 18 Lakh are eligible for claiming interest subsidy on their housing loans. For the MIG, the Government has increased the area of house up to 200 sq. m. This in turn has a significant impact on banking sector and in enhancing the investment in the housing sector. Government has developed a web based real time monitoring system called “CLSS Awas Portal (CLAP)” to ensure people’s participation and transparency leading to efficient delivery and minimising grievances.

In addition to this, the construction activity under the scheme has had a huge impact on the other sectors of the economy with a multiplier effect in employment generation.  Approximately around 1.20 Cr employment has been generated through forward and backward linkages with about 250 auxiliary industries like, steel, brick kilns, cement, paint, hardware, sanitary etc.

Due to investment being made in the scheme, around 568Lakh metric tonne of cement would be required for sanctioned houses; out of which 178 Lakh Metric Tonof cement has already been consumed through completed houses. Around 130Lakh tonne of steel is required for the sanctioned houses; around 40LakhMetric Tonof steel has already been consumed in the completed houses. It also has an impact on livelihood, transport sector, skill development, horticulture, landscape development sector etc.

Government has identified many alternative and innovative technologies through a Global Housing Technology Challenge- India. This will usher a paradigm shift in the construction technology in India and will propel in a host of economic activities. 6 Light House Projects are being executed in six states across the country which will act as live laboratories demonstrating innovative, proven construction technologies for speedier and cost-effective construction of houses which are sustainable green, eco-friendly and disaster resilient.

The Ministry has launched angikaar- a campaign for change management.  The campaign address and enables beneficiaries to adapt to life transformation that comes with shifting to a newly constructed house.  The campaign has also converged with other government schemes like Ayushman Bharat and Ujjawala so that beneficiaries can avail the benefits of these schemes. Currently more than 12 Lakh households have been covered through this campaign which is ongoing and will conclude on January 26^th 2020.

Union Minister of Home Affairs Shri Amit Shah today said that Global slowdown is a temporary phenomenon and expressed hope that India will soon come out of it. Addressing the 1^st Ground Breaking Ceremony of Himachal Pradesh Global Investors’ Meet at Shimla, he said that Modi Government is working tirelessly for this. Shri Shah said that by 2024, India would become 5 trillion dollar economy and be placed among the top three global economies. He said, in 2014, in the list of world economy, we stood at 11th with the size of economy at 2 trillion dollar and after five years, India has moved from 11 number to 7 and have reached 3 trillion dollar mark.

Shri Shah added that the focus on Renewable Energy (RE) by the Union Government has ensured that India is the largest emerging market for the RE sector today. He said that the results of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s “Reform, Perform and Transform” approach was clearly visible in global indices, all of which showed improvement in India’s rank over the five years between 2014-2019.

Shri Shah emphasized upon the special focus on developing infrastructure in the hilly state by the Union Government and said that 69 roads of the state were classified as National Highways and are being developed by the Union Government. He also pointed out the development of an international airport in Mandi and the construction of three major four-lane highways in a geographically challenging area like Himachal Pradesh. He hailed Atal Tunnel as one of the landmark projects of the state that was completed in one of the shortest times.

Shri Shah highlighted steps taken by the state government to ensure an investor friendly atmosphere like creation of a land bank and the establishment of a single window clearance system for projects. He added that such decisions are the tangible results of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s philosophy of Minimum Government, Maximum Governance percolating down at every level. Shri Shah also noted the synergy of such steps at the state level with steps taken at the level of Union Government – such as the slashing of corporate tax rate  and in creating a business-friendly environment, and hailed the state as a role model for the same.

Shri Shah also focused on the steps taken by the Union Government to encourage MSMEs, such as the provision of loans up to one crore rupees within 59 minutes, and the system of self-certification. He also remarked on the relaxation provided on Angel Tax for start-ups, and said that such a move would serve to provide a platform to Indian youth and help them become globally competitive.

The Home Minister addressed the function at the groundbreaking ceremony of 250 projects totaling 13,000 crore rupees. Present on the occasion were the Governor of Himachal Pradesh Shri Bandaru Dattatreya, Chief Minister Shri Jai Ram Thakur and Union Minister of State for Finance Shri Anurag Thakur, among other dignitaries

“In a significant move, it has been decided that there shall be convergence of activities of the Ministries of Health & Family Welfare, and Youth Affairs and Sports for giving thrust to the national ‘Fit India’ movement, that was launched by Hon. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji earlier this year to encourage people to remain healthy and fit by including physical activities and sports in their daily lives”. This was stated by Dr Harsh Vardhan after he met Shri Kiren Rijiju, MoS (I/c) Youth Affairs and Sports yesterday, for charting the convergent actions of the two Ministries for greater visibility and synergy towards popularising fitness in the country in various age groups.

He added that the Ministry shall be engaging with all institutions of the Health Ministry along with other medical institutions and organisations such as IMA to create nationwide consciousness about fitness and wellness. The Ministry shall also actively engage with the state governments, the state Health Ministers and principals of various medical colleges. Additionally, this shall be taken forward with the frontline health functionaries that implement the NationalHealth Mission (NHM) in close association with the communities.

The thrust for popularising Fit India movement shall now see convergence of activities of both the Ministries, as the goal of this national movement is to encourage people towards positive, preventive and promotive health and wellness, Dr Harsh Vardhan stated. This becomes all the more significant as world over the burden of non-communicable disease is growing due to our changing patter of lifestyle. “Fitness forms an integral part of wellness, and with this in view we have already included various activities such as yoga, meditation, daily physical activities, jumba etc., in the Ayushman Bharat Health & Wellness centres (HWCs) across the country”, Dr Harsh Vardhan said. In some states such as Gujarat, Shirodhara is also practised in some HWCs.“Even simple actions such as walking, cycling, stretching during our office and work hours, along with gyming and jogging help in keeping us fit and healthy”, he added.

Encouraging people to adopt healthy lifestyle with healthy eating habits has been one of the primary focus of the Health Ministry, he said. “We have launched the ‘Eat Right India’ initiative of FSSAI which has seen various promotional activities being rolled out, including the ongoing Eat Right Mela at Jawaharlal Nehra Stadium”, Dr Harsh Vardhan stated. FSSAI is also creating awareness about transfats in processed foods.

Ms. Preeti Sudan, Secretary, Health & Family Welfare, Shri Radheyshyam Julaniya, Sports Secretary, Shri Pawan Agarwal, CEO (FSSAI) and senior officers of the Health Ministry were also present during the meeting.

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) announced a new milestone achieved by the Aadhaar project – crossing of the 125 crore mark. This means that over 1.25 billion residents of India have the 12-digit unique identity.

The achievement comes along with the rapidly increasing use of Aadhaar as the primary identity document by the Aadhaar holders. This is evident from the fact that Aadhaar-based authentication services have been used close to 37,000 crore times since inception. At present UIDAI receives about 3 crore authentication requests every day.

Also, residents are more inclined on keeping their details in Aadhaar updated. UIDAI recorded close to 331 crore successful Aadhaar updates (biometric and demographic) till date. At present UIDAI receives about 3-4 lakh Aadhaar updates request every day.

The Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr.Jitendra Singh chaired a review meeting of the activities of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), here today. The Secretary (DoNER), Dr InderJit Singh and senior officers of Ministry of DoNER and North Eastern Council (NEC) were present during the meeting.

During the meeting, Dr Jitendra said that the North Eastern Council (NEC), Ministry of DoNER, in collaboration with Government of Jammu and Kashmir will organise a workshop cum exhibition on ‘Bamboo – A wonder grass: Opportunity for Sustainable Development in Jobs’ in Jammu in January next year. The workshop is being organised through Cane and Bamboo Technology Centre (CBTC), Assam and Department of Social-Forestry, Government of Jammu and Kashmir. The workshop will focus on NE experience with bamboo in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Minister said that the development of North Eastern region has been on the priority of the Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. He said that the experience of North Eastern states will help the artisans of UT of Jammu and Kashmir. This will help them in their economic development and job opportunities, he added. He said that this will also assist in commercial exploitation of bamboo grown in this region. A Bamboo Industrial Park has already been approved to be set up in the Dima Hasao district of Assam, he said.

Besides above, it was informed that nearly 65 percent Ministry of DoNER budget has been spent for the current financial year. The possibility of providing digital/virtual class rooms in districts of North eastern states was also discussed during the meeting. Dr Jitendra Singh said that it is an initiative towards digitisation of North east Region. During the meeting, the status of JNU hostel, Dwarka and Rohini projects was also discussed.

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh launched the mobile app of the forthcoming DefExpo 2020 here today. The app is available on Apple App Store and Android Play Store. The main features of the app are ‘inform, engage and feedback’. It provides detailed information about the day-to-day events; participating exhibitors; Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs), guest speakers of seminars/webinars; publications i.e., electronic brochures and e-books; maps and directions of the venuesand city weather.

The app has been developed by Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence (MoD) with the aim to engage with the visitors as well as exhibitors. Business-to-Business Exhibitor Connect; Exhibitor Chat; Ticket booking; accommodation in Tented City; Push notifications and social media are some of its salient features.Feedback mechanism in the app is another essential feature to further improve operations during the event.

Raksha Mantri also reviewed the preparations of DefExpo 2020. During the review meeting, senior officials informed him that a record number of over 880 exhibiters, including foreign companies, have registered so far, making it the largest ever defence exhibition surpassing the numbers of DefExpo 2018. The exhibition space booked by exhibiters has also gone up by 52 per cent to nearly 41,000 square metres compared to the last edition. Foreign delegations at the level of Defence Minister and Service Chief are confirmed from 18 countries. Dozens of MoUs are also expected to be inked during the Expo.

Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar, Secretary (Defence Production) Shri Subhash Chandra and other senior officials attended the review meeting. The DefExpo 2020is scheduled to be held in Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow between February 05-08,2020. The theme of the expo is ‘India: The Emerging DefenceManufacturing Hub’. Detailed information about DefExpo 2020 is available at www.defexpo.gov.in.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approves acquisition of shares in My Home Industries Private Limited by My Home Constructions Private Limited and its affiliates. The proposed combination envisages acquisition of 50% of shareholding of My Home Industries Private Limited (My Home Industries) by My Home Constructions Private Limited (MHCPL), Jupally Real Estate Developers Private Limited (JREDPL) and Dr Rameswar Rao Jupally.

MHCPL and JREDPL are part of My Home Group based out of Hyderabad, Telangana.  Dr Rameswar Rao Jupally is the promoter of My Home Group, which has interests in construction and real estate development, manufacturing and supply of grey cement, power consultancy, power generation, power trading, transportation and logistics, media and broadcasting, pharmaceutical and education.

My Home Industries is a 50:50 joint venture between CRH India Investments B.V. and the Acquirers. It is engaged in the manufacturing and supply of grey cement under the brand name “Maha Cement” in India. It is present in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Union Territory of Puducherry, Telangana, Kerala, Karnataka, Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. It is also engaged in power generation activities from waste heat and solar power sources for the purposes of captive consumption.

Detailed order of the Commission will follow.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approves acquisition of shares in My Home Industries Private Limited by My Home Constructions Private Limited and its affiliates. The proposed combination envisages acquisition of 50% of shareholding of My Home Industries Private Limited (My Home Industries) by My Home Constructions Private Limited (MHCPL), Jupally Real Estate Developers Private Limited (JREDPL) and Dr Rameswar Rao Jupally.

MHCPL and JREDPL are part of My Home Group based out of Hyderabad, Telangana.  Dr Rameswar Rao Jupally is the promoter of My Home Group, which has interests in construction and real estate development, manufacturing and supply of grey cement, power consultancy, power generation, power trading, transportation and logistics, media and broadcasting, pharmaceutical and education.

My Home Industries is a 50:50 joint venture between CRH India Investments B.V. and the Acquirers. It is engaged in the manufacturing and supply of grey cement under the brand name “Maha Cement” in India. It is present in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Union Territory of Puducherry, Telangana, Kerala, Karnataka, Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. It is also engaged in power generation activities from waste heat and solar power sources for the purposes of captive consumption.

Detailed order of the Commission will follow.

Secretary, Department of Heavy Industry (DHI),Dr. A.R. Sihag inaugurated three Technology Development Projects at IIScBangalore and Central Manufacturing Technology Institute (CMTI) Bengaluru recently. He also inaugurated two Technology Development Projects at PSG College of Technology and Scientific and Industrial Testing and Research Centre(SiTARC), Coimbatore respectively.

IIScBangalorehas developed a technology for metal additive printing machine with DHI support. This is niche technology and the development is being done for the first time in India.

An Industry 4.0 SAMARTH UDYOG Centre is also coming up at IIScBangalore in order to support Indian manufacturing to adopt and assimilate Industry 4.0 technology such as Data Analytics, 3 D Printing, Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, roboties machine to Machine Communication, Smarting of Legacy machine.

A Sensor Technology manufacturing / Fabrication facility is also coming up at CMTI, Bengaluru with the help of the DHI. Sensor Technology will help in making products and machines smart through deployment of function specific sensor specially designed for data extraction. Another Facility for Nano technology is also coming up in CMTI that will provide better alternative route for precision manufacturing in strategic sectors.

PSG CollegeCoimbatorealong with Industry partners developed Welding Robots, special alloy electrodes, power supply with the support of DHI. Indigenous technology has been developed at SiTARC by triad of Academia, Industry and Government for development of Smart Submersible Pumping Solutions for Industrial and Water Supply Applications.

Department of Heavy Industry in the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises had launched a pilot scheme in November 2014 for enhancement of competitiveness in the Indian capital goods sector. The scheme is focused on making the Indian capital goods sector globally competitive and give a boost to the Indian economy. The scheme addresses the issue of technological depth creation in the capital goods sector besides creating common industrial facility centers.

The scheme consists of five components which are Advanced Centres of Excellence, Integrated Industrial Infrastructure Facilities (IIFC), Common Engineering Facility Centre (CEFC), Testing & Certification Centre (T&CC) and Technology Acquisition Fund Programme (TAFP).

A Screening Committee of DHI has selected 25 projects which include:

• Development of Shuttle less rapiers looms of 450 RPM at CMTI, Bengaluru

· Additive Manufacturing technology for High Performance Metallic Alloys at IISc ,Bengaluru

• Development of Smart Submersible (6 inch) Pumping Solutions for Industrial and Water Supply Applications at SiTARC, Coimbatore
• Development of 5 Cubic Meter Hydraulic Excavator – HEX 400 at HEC, Ranchi

IIT Madras:

• Development of Orbital Motion Abrasive Cutting
• Development of Multi-station Grinding and Polishing Machine
• Development of 5-axis Multi-tasking Machine
• Development of Direct Drive Machine
• Development of Ultra Precision Micromachining Center
• Development of Low Cost Machine Tending Robot
• Automation of Grinding Process Intelligence
• Thermal Compensation System for CNC Lathes
• Development of 5kW feed drives and 25kW spindle drives for machine tool

Advanced Centres of Excellence (CoEs):

Eight Centres of Excellence (CoEs) for Technology Development have been established at IIT Madras, IIT Delhi, IIT Kharagpur, IISc, CMTI, HEC/PSG College of Technology etc. Technologies have been developed with industry partners in sectors like machine tools, textile machinery, earth moving machinery, metallurgical machinery and welding, submersible pumps.

CoEs at IIT Madras, IISc, Bengaluru, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, Sitarc, Coimbatore and HEC Ranchi have already been completed. Shuttle less rapier looms of 450 RPM developed by CMTI are under testing at the facility of the industry partner at Surat. Development of the rest of the Centres of Excellence at IIT Kharagpur and IIT Delhi is at an advanced stage.

The list of 8 CoEs is as under:

1. CoE at CMTI, Bengaluru by TMMA for development of shuttle less rapiers looms of 450 RPM
2. CoE at IIT, Madras for development of 11 advanced technologies for Machine Tools & Production Technology
3. CoE at PSG College of Technology for development of three Welding Technologies
4. COE at Coimbatore by Sitarc on Smart Submersible (6 inch) Pumping Solutions for Industrial and Water Supply Applications
5. CoE at IIT Delhi for Textile Machinery
6. CoE at IIT Kharagpur for Advanced Manufacturing
7. CoE at HEC, Ranchi for manufacturing Hydraulic Excavator by HEC with institutional support of ISM Dhanbad
8. CoE at IISc-Bengaluru with Wipro 3D for design and development of 3 D Printing technologies

A 500-acre world class machine tool park has been established in Tumkuru, Karnataka in partnership with Government of Karnataka. The Park is in the centre of machine tools cluster and will strengthen the output of the machine tools sector. 108 acres of land has already been allotted to 12 companies.

R&D capabilities in Institutions of Eminence are being leveraged to develop cutting edge industrial technologies so that challenges of manufacturing sector emerging from huge imports of high tech products can be dealt with. India also lags behind in manufacturing technologies. These challenges are being addressed through this scheme of DHI that will soon be scaled up and is specifically designed to tackle these challenges.

The manufacturing sector is crucial for the development of the country’s economy as the Capital Goods industry contributes about 12% to the total manufacturing activity in India that is about 2% of the GDP. The Government of India has set a target of USD onetrillion manufacturing economy in the next five years and to achieve this the sector has to grow at double digits.

Alliance Air, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Air India, started daily direct flight operations from Kalaburagi to Bengaluru and onward to Mysuru under the RCS-UDAN scheme, today. The Kalaburagi airport was built by the Airport Authority of India in collaboration with State Government. This airport is operationalised under the RCS-UDAN of Govt. of India to fulfill the long-awaited demand of the people. The development of this airport has paved a way for direct connectivity to the state headquarters and other commercial centers.

Until now, the people had option to travel by train which takes more than 15 hours or travel 13 hours by road to reach Mysuru from Gulbarga. Now, natives can travel at ease by taking a 3-hour flight. The commencement of flight operations on this route will also ensure easy connectivity for the pilgrims.

Alliance Air will deploy its 70 seater opulent aircraft to ensure maximum comfort to the passengers. The Flight schedule is as below

Alliance Air currently connects 59 destinations, with the addition of Kalaburagi there will be 60 stations in Alliance air’s ambit. With the commencement of the Kalaburagi-Bangalore-Mysuru route, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has operationalized a total of 238 routes under RCS-UDAN.

RJ/PS

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