UnPoliticko

The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment felicitated the Rio Paralympic medallists, members of T-20 Asia Cup Indian Blind Cricket Team and Indian Blind Para& Para Judo Team here at a function  in Vigyan Bhawan today. The Department presented Cash Awards of a total of Rs 90 lakhs to the Rio Paralympic medallists and Rs 28.5 lakh to 19 members of the Indian Blind Cricket teamunder Awareness Generation and Publicity (AGP) scheme. The felicitation programme was held in the august presence of the Union Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot who was also the Chief Guest of the programme. Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports (Independent Charge) Shri Vijay Goel presided over the function. Minister of State for Planning (Independent Charge), Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and President of Paralympic Committee of India Shri Rao Inderjit Singh,...

The Secretary DADF, Shri Devendra Chaudhry has reviewed the overall situation of Avian Influenza H5N8 in the country. Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi have not reported any mortality of birds.  On 27.10.2016, only one mortality in wild bird was reported from Sanjay Jheel, Shakti Sthal, New Delhi.  The control and containment operation is over in Rajpura, Distt. Patiala, Punjab. Surveillance is being carried out.  2.  The State Governments have been directed to be vigilant and ensure the surveillance for the disease and to take all bio security/ preventive measures 3.  The State Government of Kerala has initiated control and containment operations from 26-10-2016 at epicenter village Ramankary and Thakazhy, District Alappuzha and  culling process is in operation. 4.  One Scientist from Southern Regional Disease Diagnosis Laboratory (SRDDL), Bangalore has been deputed to Kerala as a Central Observer to oversee and guide on the control and containment ...

Union Home Minister lays the foundation stone of Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay Institute of Archaeology at Greater Noida 

The Cabinet Secretary and the Chairman of the National Committee on Trade Facilitation (NCTF), Mr.P.K.Sinha stressed the need to continuously move towards higher standards of excellence so that the trade eco system becomes more growth oriented. Shri Sinha was delivering the Keynote Address in the First Meeting of NCTF here today. The Meeting was held pursuant to the establishment of the National Committee on Trade Facilitation (NCTF) vide order dated 11thAugust, 2016. NCTF is a mandatory requirement under Article 23.2 of the WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation. Its Secretariat is housed in Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) in the Ministry of Finance in the national capital. Speaking further on the occasion, the Cabinet Secretary Shri Sinha emphasized that since the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) may become a binding Agreement shortly, India had to be in a state of readiness, especially for the Category ‘A’ commitments. He summed-up the significant areas of TFA ...

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has reappointed Shri Sharad Kumar (HY:79) (retired) as Director General, National Investigation Agency for a period of one year w.e.f 1.11.2016 or until further orders, whichever is earlier.

The 9 th  and final batch of 03 declassified files relating to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose were released online on web portal  www.netajipapers.gov.in   today by Shri N.K. Sinha, Secretary, Ministry of Culture.The present and final batch of 03 files pertain to Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) (1953-1990). It may be recalled that first lot of 100 files relating to Netaji, after their preliminary conservation treatment and digitization, were put in the public domain by the Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi on 23 January 2016, on the occasion of the 119 th  birth anniversary of Netaji. The second lot of 50 files, third lot of 25 files, 4 th  lot of 25 files, 5 th  lot of 25 files, 6 th lot of 25 files, 7 th  lot of 25 files and 8 th  lot of 25 files were released subsequently on 29 March, 2016, 29 April, 2016, 27 May, 2016, 29 June, 2016, 29 th  July, 2016, 30 August, 2016 and 30 th  September, 2016 resp...

The State of Himachal Pradesh was today declared Open Defecation Free (ODF), making it the second State in the country (after Sikkim) to achieve the feat. The State government made the declaration today at a public event in Shimla, where the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Shri Virbhadra Singh, felicitated the respective District Administrators and Local Administrators for successfully achieving this significant milestone. The Union Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, and the Union Ministry for Health and Family Welfare, Shri JP Nadda, were also present on the occasion.  With this, Himachal Pradesh has successfully achieved a total rural sanitation coverage of 100% in the State, with all 12 out of 12 districts in the State being both, declared as well as verified, as ODF.  Speaking at the occasion Chief Minister, Shri Virbhadra Singh, said that he was very happy and proud that his State was the firs...

Indian Panorama 2016 announced its final selection of Feature & Non-Feature films to be screened in Goa at 47 th  International Film Festival of India, 2016. 1.  The Jury for Feature Films, headed by well-known actor and Director, Shri Rajendra Singh Babu, has selected 22 films out of 230 eligible entries.  The 13 Members Jury took a month to finalize the selections. The Jury constituted of the following Members: ·        Rama Vij, Producer and Director ·        Arup Manna, Director ·        C. V. Reddy, Producer and Director ·        Girish Mohite, Producer and Director ·        Dr. K. Puttaswamy, Writer ·        N. Krishnakumar, Producer and Director ·        Sabyasachi Mohapatr...

The Government has reconstituted the Inter State Council (ISC) and the Standing Committee of the Inter State Council under Clause 2 of the Inter State Council order,1990. The Prime Minister has approved the following composition of the Inter State Council. Chairman Shri Narendra Modi                            Prime Minister Members (i)       Chief Ministers of all States. (ii)      Chief Ministers of Union Territories having a Legislative Assembly and Administrators of Union Territories not having Legislative Assembly. Six Union Ministers a)      Shri Rajnath Singh                  Minister of Home Affairs b)      Smt.Sushma Swaraj ...

Total investment of Rs.3,073 cr; Central assistance of Rs.1,256 cr  West Bengal gets 47,379 more, Punjab-15,209, Jharkhand-12,814, Kerala-5,968, Manipur-3,090 Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation has approved construction of 84,460 more affordable houses for urban poor under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana(Urban) in five States with a total investment of Rs.3,073 cr for which Central Assistance of Rs.1,256 cr has been approved. To be built under the 'Beneficiary Led Construction' component of PMAY (Urban), West Bengal has been sanctioned 47,379 houses with an investment of Rs.1,918 cr for which Central Assistance of Rs.711 cr has been approved. Punjab got 15,209 houses sanctioned with an investment of Rs.424 cr and Central Assistance of Rs. 217 cr. Jharkhand has been sanctioned 12,814 houses at a total cost of Rs.464 cr with Central Assistance of Rs.192 cr. Kerala got 5,968 houses with an investment of Rs.179 cr for which Central As...

The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has received a commitment for transport of 5.92 million tons (MTs) of cargo volume per annum through the Multimodal Terminal at Haldia by the year 2018. This follows a series of consultations IWAI held at Haldia with various industries, firms, shipping lines, cargo operators, shippers and manufacturers. The main items for which commitments have been received are fly-ash, edible oil, vegetable oil, gypsum, etc. Fly-ash is expected to be the major cargo with a commitment of 3.8 MT followed by vegetable oil (0.63 MT), cement (0.36 MT), among others. IWAI is to construct a Multimodal Terminal at Haldia under  Jal Marg Vikas Project  (JMVP) which is being implemented with the technical and financial support of the World Bank at a cost of Rs. 4200 crore for augmenting navigation on Haldia-Varanasi segment of the National Waterway-1. To construct the terminal, land measuring 61 acres has been taken on lease at Haldia Dock Complex from K...

The Goods and Services Network(GSTN) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) for sharing of foreign exchange realisation and Import Export code data, a move that is expected to strengthen processing of export transactions of taxpayers under GST, increase transparency and reduce human interface.  The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Shri Ajay K Bhalla, Director General of Foreign Trade and Shri Prakash Kumar, CEO, GSTN in New Delhi on 27.10.16. An electronic bank realisation certificate (eBRC) captures transaction level details of foreign exchange realised in India. The eBRC project implemented by DGFT created an integrated platform for receipt, processing and subsequent use of all Bank Realization related information by exporters, banks, central and state government departments. The e-BRC project enabled banks to upload foreign exchange realisation information related to exports on to the DGFT server under a secured pro...

Gen Dalbir Singh, the Chief of the Army Staff, felicitated the Indian Army team which has achieved the Gold standards in Cambrian Patrol, at South Block, New Delhi, today. The team of two officers and nine soldiers of 2 nd  Battalion 8 th  Gorkha Rifle led by Capt Nikhil Nikam had participated in the Exercise conducted in Wales, UK. The COAS complimented the team for the professionalism displayed by each member and awarded the Chief of Army Staff Commendation Card to the team member.   Cambrian Patrol is a grueling exercise which involves negotiating difficult terrain carrying a personal load of 30kgs over 50-60 km in 48 hour. During the exercise they are made to negotiate minefields, carry out river crossings and other such combat drills.  As part of the simulations, the patrol also deals with hostage situation.            Cambrian Patrol Exercise 2016, which was conducted from 13 to 24 Oct 2016, saw partici...

The second edition of this year’s bi-annual Naval Commanders’ Conference concluded today after three days of fruitful deliberations. The Hon’ble Raksha Mantri had addressed the Naval Commanders on the inaugural day (25 Oct 16) and complimented all personnel of the Indian Navy for ensuring maritime security of the country. Taking note of the wide expanse of naval activities spread across the oceans, he appreciated the high tempo of operations sustained in the last six months and efforts put-in for maritime security and coastal security. The Hon’ble Raksha Mantri also reviewed the pace of modernisation of Indian Navy, progress of various acquisition and infrastructure related cases. Chairing the conference, Admiral Sunil Lanba, Chief of the Naval Staff, addressed the Naval Commanders on various important issues pertaining to operational readiness, capability enhancement, infrastructure development and human resource management. Coming in the close aftermath of rec...

A Workshop on “Forest Rights Act, 2006 - its Implementation, benefits to tribal and other traditional forest dwelling communities and its challenges” was held in New Delhi today as part of National Tribal Carnival – 2016. The Workshop was Chaired by Shri Jual Oram, Union Minister of Tribal Affairs and co-chaired by Shri Jaswantsinh Sumanbhai Bhabhor, Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs in the presence of Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs and Ms. Marina Walter, UNDP Deputy Country Director. The panelists for the Workshop were Dr SM Jharwal, Chancellor, Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, Amarkantak, Shri Noyal Thomas, DIG (Forests), Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and Dr. Farhad Mollick, Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Anthropology at Mahatma Gandhi Hindi Vishwavidyalaya, Maharashtra and Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs. The Workshop was attended by approximately 250 delegates including Ministers from the...

Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme was launched by the Government in 2003 which has been extended to the Notified 21 States and 4 Union Territories to promote the use of alternative and environment friendly fuels. EBP Programme also seeks to reduce import dependency for energy requirements. However, since 2006, targeted ethanol blending could not be achieved due to various constraints like State Specific issues, Supplier related issues, Pricing issues of ethanol, etc. From year 2006 till 2013, only about 20 crore litres per year could be blended and during sugar year 2013-14, 38 crore litres of ethanol was made available for EBP. In order to augment the supply of ethanol, the Government, under the leadership of Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has taken many steps including fixing the delivered price of ethanol at Oil Marketing Depots (OMCs), simplifying the procurement procedures and regularly taking up State specific issues with the State Governments. The aforesaid ...

60% of the Digital Audiences in India is within the age group of 13-35 years, indicating huge audience for sports and entertainment. 

The Minister of state (I/C) for Youth Affairs and Sports Shri Vijay Goel has said that digital media broadcasting will play a critical role in bringing about change in sports broadcasting in India. Addressing the Big Picture Summit 2016 here today, he said increasing penetration of internet, mobile devices and cheaper data services especially in rural areas will prove game changer in this direction. He said Broadcasters must focus on how sports are delivered to these audiences. Shri Goel said, data suggests that more than 60% of the Digital Audiences in India is within the age group of 13-35 years. This is the base that Sports needs to capture to build up the overall Business of Sports. He said, there is a need for Brands and Advertisers to come forward and recognize the power of Sports delivered to young India with respect to both, a Return on Investment and Corporate Social Responsibility aspect. The Minister said, the Government is committed to work towards building up a culture o...

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has issued Letter of Award (LOA) for development of National Highway section in Himachal Pradesh under phase IV B of National Highways Development Projects (NHDP). The details of project are as follows: Sl. No. NH No. Section Length Total Capital Cost (Crore) Contractor’s name 1 21 4-Laning of Nerchowk – Pandoh section 26 Km Rs. 1274 crore M/s KMC Constructions Ltd. The development of the crucial 26 km long Nerchowk – Pandoh including Pandoh bypass section of the NH-21 will improve the connectivity for travelers from Chandigarh to the valleys of Kullu and Manali. This will improve the transport of the horticulture produce like apples etc. to the markets and also provide better connectivity to local commuters. The project will have two bypasses (about 8 km long Mandi Bypass and about 5 km long Pandoh Bypass), three Twin Tube 2-Lane Tunnels, 6 Major Bridges, 11 Minor Bridges and 3 Vehicular Under Passes....

A new revised Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) between India and Korea for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income was signed on 18th May 2015 during the visit of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to Seoul .It has now come into force on 12th September 2016, on completion of procedural requirements by both countries. The earlier Double Taxation Avoidance Convention between India and Korea was signed on 19th July, 1985 and was notified on 26th September 1986. Provisions of the new DTAA will have effect in India in respect of income derived in fiscal years beginning on or after 1st April, 2017. Some of the salient features of new DTAA are: • The existing DTAA provided for residence based taxation of capital gains on shares. In line with India's policy of taxation of capital gains on shares, the revised DTAA provides for source based taxation of capital gains arising from alienation of shares comprising more th...

The Government agencies have procured 34546.69 MT pulses- Moong and Urad as on 25.10.2016 during ongoing Kharif Marketing Season (KMS). FCI, NAFED and SFAC are procuring Kharif pulses from the farmers to ensure MSP for their crops in pulses producing states. So far, FCI has procured 8166.71 MT, NAFED 23510.13 MT and SFAC 2869.85 MT Moong and Urad since the arrival of Kharif crop during ongoing KMS 2016-17. The Government has set up the procurement target of 50,000 MT Kharif pulses during current KMS for its buffer stock.

The Minister of state (I/C) for Youth Affairs and Sports Shri Vijay Goel has said that digital media broadcasting will play a critical role in bringing about change in sports broadcasting in India. Addressing the Big Picture Summit 2016 here today, he said increasing penetration of internet, mobile devices and cheaper data services especially in rural areas will prove game changer in this direction. He said Broadcasters must focus on how sports are delivered to these audiences. Shri Goel said, data suggests that more than 60% of the Digital Audiences in India is within the age group of 13-35 years. This is the base that Sports needs to capture to build up the overall Business of Sports. He said, there is a need for Brands and Advertisers to come forward and recognize the power of Sports delivered to young India with respect to both, a Return on Investment and Corporate Social Responsibility aspect.

Implementation of sagarmala project will increase movement of coal through coastal route from 27 MTPA in FY 2016 to 129 MTPA by 2025 and increase the share of inland waterways and coastal shipping in modal mix to increase from 6% to 12%, according to Indian Government. The programme envisions reduction in the cost of power generation by Rs 0.50 per unit of power. It is estimated that for power plants located 800 to 1,000 km away from coal mines, the cost of coal logistics can contribute up to 35% of the cost of power production. Particularly in the case of the Coastal power plants in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, that currently receive coal from Mahanadi Coalfields by Railways, significant savings can be achieved by taking coal through the rail-sea-rail (RSR) route. It is estimated that coastal movement of coal to these plants can result in annual savings of over INR 10,000 Crore to the power sector. In addition, up to 50 Million tonnes of coal can be moved via co...

Sagarmala, the ambitious programme for 'Port-led development' in the country is all set to change the logistics sector performance by optimizing India's logistics modal mix. The flagship programme by the Ministry of Shipping will help in reducing the logistics cost for both domestic and EXIM cargo with optimized infrastructure investment. An overall cost savings of INR 35,000 to 40,000 Crore per annum by 2025 is estimated from the same. According to a study conducted under the Sagarmala programme, there lies a significant potential for moving raw materials and finished products using coastal shipping and inland waterways which is 60-80% cheaper than road or rail transport. Although the share of coastal shipping and inland waterways in the country's modal mix remains low, an emphasis on coastal shipping to complement road and rail transport can lead to overall logistic cost savings.