AADHAAR DATABASE NOT BREACHED, SAYS UIDAI
The UIDAI told the Delhi
High Court on Thursday there was no security breach of its database, or central
identity data repository (CIDR), and sought the dismissal of a petition seeking
damages for Aadhaar data leaks. The Unique Identification Authority of India
(UIDAI), in an affidavit filed before a bench of Justices Ravindra Bhat and
Prateek Jalan, submitted that its existing security controls and protocols are
robust and capable of countering any such attempts or malicious designs of data
breach or hacking. Security of Aadhaar is of critical importance and is given
paramount significance by the respondent. Respondent No. 1 (UIDAI) constantly
strengthens and reviews its infrastructure and ecosystems in line with the best
international security practices and technological standards and has
multi-layered security and privacy considerations built into the core strategy
of Aadhaar with three basic doctrines - minimal information, optimal ignorance
and federated database, which give a higher level of security to the data, it
added. The affidavit was filed in response to a petition alleging there had
been several breaches of the Aadhaar system since January 18, leading to the
leak of personal information of individuals and contending that UIDAI and the
Centre were liable to compensate the people whose data was compromised.
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GOVERNMENT MULLING INTEROPERABILITY FOR PUBLIC WI-FI NETWORK:
ARUNA SUNDARARAJAN
The government is
considering a proposal to enable interoperability for public Wi-Fi network,
which will translate into a seamless connectivity experience for users, a top
Department of Telecom official said Friday. Aruna Sundararajan said 3.7 lakh
Wi-Fi hotspots have been deployed by the industry - against the stated
commitment of rolling out one million Wi-Fi hotspots by December 2019 - and
added that once security nod is obtained on interoperability, it would lead to
seamless experience for users and generate new revenue sources for small
enterpreneurs. Working in tandem with TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of
India) and with service providers, we are hoping to deploy an interoperable
public Wi-Fi network Sundararajan said. Telecom service providers have
committed to a target of rolling out one million Wi-Fi hotspots by end of 2019,
and so far we are at about 3.7 lakh Wi-Fi hotspots, which have been deployed,
but they have not yet become interoperable. Once we get the security clearance
for this, we expect to have a full interoperable Wi-Fi ecosystem, which will be
pioneering, she said. The proposed model of interoperability will be a
gamechanger, she added. Today if you go to an airport you have to log in each
time and in some cases you have to pay unless it is bundled with your service
provider. This (interoperability) will mean that you can access it anywhere,
any Wi-Fi provided by any service provider and you need to pay once, log in
once and use anywhere. That will be something completely new, she said. Also
though the Public data offices or PDO model, it will provide source of revenue
to small enterpreneurs.
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'5% RESERVATION FOR GUJJARS IN RAJASTHAN WOULD REQUIRE A
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT'
The Rajasthan Assembly
might have passed a bill granting five per cent reservation to Gujjars in
educational institutions and government jobs but the community's leaders are highly
sceptical of this clearing judicial scrutiny as it has been shot down on two
previous occasions in 2009 and 2015 when a similar quota was granted. The
reason? The Rajasthan High Court held on both occasions that the five per cent
quota exceeded the 50 per cent limit laid down by the Supreme Court Thereafter,
a bill to grant 1 per cent reservation was also shot down in 2010 on the ground
that the matter was taken up without conducting a proper survey. Experts say
the five per cent quota would require a constitutional amendment to raise the
limit. The community currently enjoys a 1 per cent reservation in educational
institutions and government jobs after a fourth bill was introduced on this in
2017. Demanding that this be raised to 5 per cent, the Gujjar Aarakshan
Sangharsh Samiti had resumed its agitation on February 8, blocking rail tracks
and roads in many areas of the state and bringing transportation to a grinding
halt.
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SCHEDULED CANCELLATIONS OF 30 FLIGHTS DAILY TO CONTINUE TILL
MARCH 31, SAYS INDIGO
Budget carrier IndiGo on
Friday said scheduled cancellations of 30 flights every day would continue till
March 31 and denied that 130 flights were being cancelled on Friday. The
carrier also said that out of the listed 130 flights, it was operating 120 flights,
as scheduled, with more than 20,000 travelling passengers. In a statement,
IndiGo said it was maintaining its position regarding scheduled cancellations
of 30 flights per day until March 31, 2019. However, it said these
cancellations do not include NOTAMs (Notice to Airmen) which are issued by
various airports due to operational reasons. Generally, NOTAMs are issued to
airline operations to inform them about airspace restrictions.
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7% HIKE IN SUGAR MSP TO PUT PRESSURE ON PRIVATE MILLS TO CLEAR
ARREARS
While the hike of Rs 2 a
kg in the minimum selling price (MSP) of sugar to Rs 31 a kg is unlikely to
have any medium-term impact on the domestic sugar sector, bogged down by a
global glut and rising inventories, the central government’s deft move would
nonetheless exert pressure on the private sugar mills to clear farmers’
arrears. Now Rs 31 a kg ex-mill becomes a benchmark for wholesale market price.
In the crucial election year, with the Lok Sabha polls merely a few weeks away,
the extra elbow room provided to mills in the form of the seven per cent hike
in MSP pitches the Narendra Modi government in a much comfortable position,
while supplementing its self acclaimed pro-farm agenda, which also manifested in
the liberal agricultural sector doles in the Union Budget 2019-20. Although,
the MSP hike improves the realisation of the beleaguered mills in the backdrop
of outstanding for the current 2018-19 crushing season rising to almost Rs
22,000 crore, yet it remains below the average cost of production, which the
private millers peg at almost Rs 34/kg. However, coupled with sugar and
realisation from sugarcane byproducts, such as bagasse, ethanol, cogeneration
etc, which account for nearly 15% of total realisation by an average sugar
complex/unit, the current level should be sufficient to settle arrears. Gaurav
Dixit said the mills would get some extra liquidity (estimated Rs.6000 cr) and
there would be some sentimental impact to expedite the payment of arrears, but
the medium-term outlook on the sugar sector remained negative since sugar
production would be quite high resulting in further stockpile. Currently, UP,
which is India’s top sugar producer, accounts for nearly Rs 10,000 crore of
total outstanding Maharashtra, second biggest sugar producing state after UP
has also seen huge arrears payable to farmers and mills were unwilling to pay. However,
after sugar commissioner of the state started issuing recovery notices, mills
have come forward for payment and in last two weeks, huge amount is said to
have been paid. The issue is of lesser demand and mills are not able to sell
sugar enough to meet their monthly sale quota released by the government. The
government has mandated industry to export 5 million tons of sugar in the sugar
season Oct-18 to Sept-19. However, so far 0.67 million tons has been exported
till 6 February, according to data 0.43 million tons of sugar dispatched from
mills but in various stages of exports. Total exports considering this comes to
1.1 million tons.
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GOVERNMENT LIBERALIZES THE E-VISA REGIME MAKING IT MORE
TOURIST FRIENDLY
The e-Tourist Visa which
was introduced in September 2014 with 46 countries has now been made applicable
for 166 countries Recently, government has made series of amendments in e-visa
regime, liberalizing it further and making it more tourist friendly. The
Ministry of Tourism has been working very closely with Ministry of Home Affairs
for easing of the Visa Regime in the country over a period of time. Important
modifications made are highlighted as under:-
·
Duration of stay in India
of e-Tourist and e-Business Visas is maximum upto 1 Year with multiple entry
subject to the stay stipulations.
·
Also, the existing
restriction of allowing foreigner for a maximum of three times has also been
removed
Changes in e-Tourist Visa
·
On e-Tourist Visa
continuous stay during each visit shall not exceed 90 days in case of nationals
of all countries who are eligible for grant of e-visa except nationals of USA,
UK, Canada and Japan.
·
In case of nationals of
USA, UK, Canada and Japan continuous stay during each visit shall not exceed
180 days.
·
In all cases no
registration will be required.
Changes in e-Business Visa
·
Continuous stay during
each visit shall not exceed 180 days in case of nationals of all countries who
are eligible for grant of e-visa
·
No registration will be
required if the stay is for a period of less than 180 days.
Other changes
·
e-Visa is valid for entry
through 2 (two) more designated Airports (Bhubaneswar and Port Blair) raising
the total number of such airports to 28.
·
Attending Destination
wedding under normal e-Tourist visa or Tourist visa- No separate category of
Destination Wedding Visa
·
Foreign nationals who fall
sick during their stay in India can now avail medical treatment without
converting their visa into Medical Visa. This would take care of sudden medical
emergencies.
·
Visa-on-Arrival facility
extended to the nationals of Republic of Korea.
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ANTI-GRAFT LAW AMENDMENTS: CENTRE TO FILE ITS RESPONSE ON
FEBRUARY 18
The Centre on Friday told
the Supreme Court that it would file on Monday (February 18) its response to a
PIL challenging the amendments to the Prevention of Corruption Act mandating
prior permission of the government for prosecuting a government servant for
alleged graft. Allowing the Centre time till February 18 to file its response,
the bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna gave the petitioner
Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), an NGO, a week's time thereafter
to file its rejoinder. The CPIL had also challenged the deletion of a provision
under which misuse and abuse of official position for giving pecuniary or other
advantage to anyone was considered misconduct.
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DGCA SAFETY AUDIT TO CHECK JET AIRWAYS FOR SALARY DELAY
Aviation regulator, the
Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), will, in the next few days, conduct
a safety audit of Jet Airways on several criteria that will likely include
delays in meeting payroll. India’s second-largest carrier by market share is
running two-and-a-quarter months behind salary obligations to most employees. A
top official at the DGCA confirmed Jet’s audit. While audits happen for all
airlines, they are more frequent for those with issues, the official added. Jet
said the audit has nothing to do with salaries. The DGCA is planning a main
base inspection, which is carried forward from the previous year. This is a
scheduled audit and not a special one as suggested by you, a spokesman said,
adding: Your assumption of linking it to salary is incorrect.
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MULUND BUILDER IN RERA NET FOR DEFAULT
In an instance of the
efficacy of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority, MahaRERA has issued a
recovery warrant against Nirmal Developers for Rs 5.17 crore for failing to
refund 14 home buyers of the Nirmal Olympia project in Mulund (west). The
regulatory body was forced to act as the developer faltered despite agreeing on
refunds as per consent terms. A large number of home buyers walked out of the
project owing to delays, and complained to RERA under the aegis of Nirmal
Developers Olympia Aggrieved Buyers Association last year. After hearings, the
buyers’ association and the developer settled their dispute by filing consent
terms in July 2018. As per the consent terms, the developer agreed to refund
buyers in four installments. Subsequently, MahaRERA even imposed a daily
penalty of Rs 1 lakh for defaulting on refunding installments of some buyers.
Thereafter, 14 home buyers, who formed a separate group, moved an execution
application for execution of the consent terms. Eventually, on Februrary 13,
MahaRERA member Vijay Satbir Singh issued a recovery warrant. We were left with
no option but to issue warrants for recovery of arrears under the Maharashtra
Land Revenue Code, Singh said. The procedure comes under section 40 (1) of the
Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016. Vinayak Adep, a home buyer,
who had booked a flat in the A wing of the project, said, I paid a partial
amount of Rs 19.2 lakh for a flat, which was said to cost Rs 1.05 crore. The
developer had agreed to give possession by December 2017 and even with delivery
dates extended, he promised to give possession by June 2018. The project never
started on time. It got delayed. We were given an indication that the project
was not taking off. Therefore, we asked for a refund of the amount we paid,
with interest, as per the terms the developer had agreed upon initially. But
the developer was not ready to do so.
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NBCC SUBMITS BID TO ACQUIRE DEBT-RIDDEN JAYPEE INFRATECH
State-owned NBCC on Friday
said it has submitted a bid to acquire debt-ridden Jaypee Infratech. Lenders to
Jaypee Infratech (JIL) had extended the deadline till February 15 for the
shortlisted bidders — NBCC, Kotak Investment Advisors, Sudhir Valia-promoted
Suraksha ARC and Cube Highways & Infrastructure — to submit their bids It
is hereby informed that as a part of resolution process under the provisions of
the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, resolution plan in respect of JIL has
been submitted by the NBCC (India) to the interim resolution professional on
February 15, 2019, NBCC said in a regulatory filing. The committee of creditors
(CoC) is now expected to meet on Monday (February 18) to take up the bids.
Lenders to JIL have already approved the proposed evaluation matrix of the bids
and the process for request for resolution plan through electronic voting. The
National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) had on August 9, 2017, admitted IDBI
Bank’s plea for initiation of the corporate insolvency resolution process
(CIRP) against JIL for defaulting on a Rs 526-crore loan. However, a resolution
eluded the firm within the stipulated timeframe as lenders were not happy with
too low bids. On a writ petition filed by homebuyers, the Supreme Court on
August 9, 2018, directed JIL’s resolution professional Anuj Jain to follow
provisions of the insolvency code afresh in all aspects. Noting that
liquidation of Jaypee would serve no purpose for homebuyers, financial
institutions or the promoters, the apex court, exercising power under Article
142 of the Constitution, extended the insolvency process of Jaypee for another
180 days.
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BANKS, NIIF AND ETIHAD TO RESTART JET ENGINE WITH RS 3,400
CRORE INFUSION
A consortium of banks,
along with the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) and Etihad,
will invest about Rs 3,400 crore in Jet Airways, leading to a much-reduced
holding for founder Naresh Goyal, a change in management control and lenders
with the biggest stake. Following the infusion, which will be in phases, the
consortium of banks, led by State Bank of India, will own 32% of the airline
and Abu Dhabi-owned Etihad and the NIIF will hold about 24.9% and 19.5%,
respectively, said a person with knowledge of the matter. Goyal’s stake will
drop to 20% from 51%, stripping him of board membership and management control,
the person said. He will, however, retain his status as promoter. Both NIIF and
Etihad funds will be converted into equity at a rate of Rs 150 per share, said
the person. A waiver from the Securities and Exchange Board of India for a
subsequent public offer won’t be required because Etihad’s stake won’t increase
beyond 25% even after the equity infusion. The banks will get their stake in
the company at Rs 1 per share.
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U.S. TO DISCUSS TRADE, E-COM RULES WITH INDIA
U.S. Ambassador Kenneth I.
Juster will lead a delegation of officials to hold talks with Suresh Prabhu on
Thursday to resolve several sore trade points including the concerns of American
CEOs regarding doing business in India and bilateral trade imbalance. The
status of the review of India’s eligibility for the Generalised System of
Preferences (GSP) is also likely to come up in the light of recent developments
where the U.S. has again threatened to withdraw the export exemptions for
India. Other issues that had particularly incensed American businesses are
India’s new data localisation rules that force foreign companies to store
Indians’ data within the country, and rules amending FDI rules in e-commerce
that had hurt American giants like Amazon and Walmart. These are likely to be
high on the agenda of Thursday’s Indo-U.S. CEO Forum. Trade tensions between
the two countries rose last March when U.S. President Donald Trump notified the
imposition of higher import tariffs on steel and aluminium, which affected
several countries, including India. In retaliation, India announced
counter-tariffs on 29 American goods, worth about $235 million, but has delayed
implementing them in the hope of resolving the matter. Approximately two-thirds
of U.S. imports under GSP are raw materials, components, or machinery and
equipment used by U.S. companies to manufacture goods in the U.S. for domestic
consumption or for export. These benefits are real. The USTR received
applications to review India’s GSP eligibility from the National Milk Producers
Federation and the US Dairy Export Council, and the another from the Advanced
Medical Technology Association.
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WHEAT SOWN IN 298.47 LAKH HA SO FAR; CLOSE TO LAST YEAR'S
LEVEL
Wheat planting has been
done in 298.47 lakh hectare so far in the ongoing rabi (winter) season, which
is close to the year-ago period, according to the agriculture ministry.
However, sowing of rice, pulses, coarse cereals and oilseeds remained slightly
lower than the year-ago period, the ministry said in a statement. Sowing of
wheat, the main rabi crop, begins from October and harvesting from March-April.
According to the latest data, wheat sown area reached 298.47 lakh hectare so
far in the rabi season 2018-19 as against 299.84 lakh hectare a year ago. Farmers
have planted wheat in 99.13 lakh hectare in Uttar Pradesh, 59.11 lakh hectare
in Madhya Pradesh, 35.02 lakh hectare in Punjab, 25.16 lakh hectare in Haryana
and 22.56 lakh hectare in Bihar so far. In the case of pulses, about 156.30
lakh hectare was covered till February 14 of this season, lower than 166.11
lakh hectare a year ago. Gram, urad, lentil and moong are main rabi pulses. Oilseeds
acreage was at 80.40 lakh hectare so far this season, close to 80.98 lakh
hectare in the year-ago season. Coarse cereals were covered in 48.69 lakh
hectare as against 57.02 lakh hectare, while rice was sown in 33.96 lakh
hectare when compared with 39.64 lakh hectare in the year-ago period. Total
area sown to all rabi crops was lagging behind at 617.83 lakh hectare so far
this season when compared with 643.60 lakh hectare in the corresponding period
last year.
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JIO TOPS 4G DOWNLOAD SPEED CHART IN JANUARY, IDEA FASTEST IN
UPLOAD SPEED: TRAI
Reliance Jio continued to top
the average 4G download speed chart beating its nearest rival Airtel with
almost double data speed, according to a report by the Telecom Regulatory Authority
of India (Trai) for January. Jio's 4G network registered an average download
speed of 18.8 megabits per second (Mbps), while Airtel network clocked a speed
of 9.5 Mbps. According to the Trai report, Vodafone registered an average speed
of 6.7 Mbps, while Idea had average speed of 5.5 Mbps on 4G network. Reliance
Jio was the fastest 4G operator in 2018 with the highest average download speed
for the last 13 months. Idea, however, continued to top the chart in terms of
average 4G upload speed. In January, Idea 4G network registered an average
upload speed of 5.8 Mbps, followed by Vodafone with upload speed of 5.4 Mbps.
Jio followed Vodafone with an upload speed of 4.4 Mbps and Airtel with 3.8
Mbps. The average speed is computed by Trai based on the data it collects
across India with the help of its MySpeed application on a real-time basis.
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BHARATMALA TO HIKE NHAI'S TOTAL MARKET BORROWINGS TO RS 2 TRN
BY 2022: ICRA
The Bharatmala Pariyojana
progamme is set to raise the dependence of National Highways Authority of India
(NHAI) on market borrowings. Overall market borrowings for the Bharatmala
Project are estimated at Rs 2.09 trillion till 2021-22. The total capital base
comprising cess fund, toll collections and TOT (toll-operate-transfer) proceeds
are pegged at Rs 3.77 trillion. At around Rs 60,000 crore per annum, the annual
debt requirement is in line with that raised in the recent past. A major part
of this is likely to be sourced from LIC and the EPFO, Icra Research noted in
its annual sectoral outlook report on the road sector. Awarding projects after
receiving all approvals is likely to reduce delays in execution and reduced
idling of resources, thereby resulting in improved operating margins. Further, TOT
awards are expected to crowd out the asset sale activity of private developers
resulting in lower stake sale transactions. The study by ICRA Research expects
toll collections to log high single digit growth in FY2019. The trend is
encouraging with the medium and heavy commercial vehicle (M&HCV) cargo
segment witnessing robust growth of 38 per cent during April-November period of
FY2019. Further, the average increase in WPI (toll rates are linked to WPI) in
FY2019 is expected to be around four per cent, higher than FY2018 by 1.2 per
cent. The combination of high M&HCV sales and increased WPI would result in
toll collections witnessing double-digit growth in FY2020.
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MODEL BUILDING BYELAWS 2016 & URBAN REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
PLANS FORMULATION
The Ministry of Housing
and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has made amendments to the Model Building Byelaws
(MBBL) 2016 and Urban Regional Development Plans Formulation and Implementation
(URDPFI) Guidelines 2014 making provisions for establishing Electric Vehicle
Charging Infrastructure in order to facilitate availability of Electric Vehicle
Charging Infrastructure. Ministry of Power has issued guidelines and standards
for charging infrastructure for electric vehicles, which have also been
considered while making these amendments. The Guidelines will act as a guiding
document to the State Governments and Union Territories to incorporate the
norms and standards of Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure in their
respective Building Bye Laws. The guidelines on Electric Vehicle Charging
Infrastructure have been circulated to all the State Governments and UT
Administrations with the request to amend their Building Byelaws and Master
Plan Regulations. Cities and towns in the country are facing the problems of
environmental pollution thereby severely impacting the health of the urban
residents. India is committed to Sustainable Development Goal 13: Climate
Change of United Nations to take urgent action to combat climate change. Government
has initiated several steps to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. One of such
steps is to encourage Electric Vehicles (EVs), which are environment friendly.
Government has desired that 25% of the total vehicles on roads should be EVs by
2030.
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GEM AND GS1 INDIA SIGN MOU TO EMPOWER BUYERS TO MAKE INFORMED
CHOICE
GS1 India, a standards
organization set up by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Government e-Marketplace (GeM). This
will enable GeM’s buyers and vendors toaccess rich, accurate and standardized
information on attributes of thousands of products across categories,
empowering them to make more informed decisions. GeM will access product data
from GS1 India’s DataKart, the National repository of information on attributes
of millions of retail products in the country. The categories get populated
directly by manufacturers and brand owners. Every data will undergo validity
checks based on globally accepted GS1 standards prior to being published for
access by buyers.
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PORTAL LAUNCHED FOR REAL-TIME INFO ON AVAILABLE DEPTH ON
NATIONAL WATERWAYS
The Inland Waterways
Authority of India (IWAI) Friday launched a new portal -- LADIS -- that would ensure
real-time information on available depth on stretches of national waterways.
Moving a step ahead towards ensuring optimum use of national waterways, the
Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) launched a new portal LADIS (Least
Available Depth Information System), the shipping ministry said in a statement
Friday. An assured depth of waterway is required for seamless movement of
vessels. If real-time information is made available regarding LADs in stretches
of various NWs, it will help transporters by guiding them on the suitability of
time of movement, the statement said.
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TELANGANA CABINET EXPANSION ON FEB 19
The time has been set for
the long-awaited Telangana Cabinet expansion. K.Chandrasekhar Rao has decided
to expand the State Cabinet on February 19. Mr. Rao, who met the Governor
E.S.L. Narasimshan at Raj Bhavan on Friday afternoon, conveyed his decision to
expand the Cabinet on February 19. According to Lunar calendar, the day happens
to be Magha Shuddha Pournami, an auspicious day. The swearing-in ceremony will
take place at 11.30 a.m that day and the Chief Minister instructed the officers
concerned to make arrangements for the swearing-in ceremony of new Ministers,
according to a release from the Chief Minister’s Office.
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FLIGHTS GROUNDED AT DUBAI AIRPORT AFTER UNAUTHORIZED DRONE
ACTIVITY: REPORT
Flights at the Dubai
International Airport in United Arab Emirates were being grounded following
reports of unauthorized drone activity Dubai airport, which handled 89.1
million passengers in 2018, is the world's busiest airport for international
travelers. People took to Twitter to complain about the flight delays. Stuck
for ages at Dubai airport runway unable to taxi as unauthorized drones have
entered the airspace here and all takeoffs have been grounded!. Drone threats
to commercial air traffic had hit operations at London's second busiest
airport, Gatwick Airport, in December when drones were sighted on three
consecutive days.
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MORE HIGH-SPEED TRAINS ON THE ANVIL: PIYUSH GOYAL
The railways have begun
work on making 30 more high-speed Train 18 rakes so that high-speed trains
could be introduced in more sectors in different parts of the country, Railway
Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday. A decision will also be taken on making
100 more train rakes in India, he said. Goyal also said that efforts were on
track to get the first Bullet Train in India. Going by the experience, comfort
and speed of travel, the railways have set in motion the tendering process for
making another 30 Train 18 rakes to be made in India, Goyal told. Made in
Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai, Train 18, renamed Vande Bharat
Express, will run five days a week between New Delhi and Varanasi, the Prime
Minister's constituency, a distance of 775 km to be covered in eight hours. The
coaches have 180-degree rotational reclining chairs, mobile charging points,
diffused lighting and reading units. The train also has sensor controlled
bathroom fittings for the differently abled people and toilets with
bio-discharge vacuum systems.
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AMRUT CITIES--MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS OF RAIGARH, AMBIKAPUR,
AND KUMBAKONAM
AMRUT cities and Municipal
Corporationsof Raigarh, Ambikapur and Kumbakonam have bagged the first, second
and third prizes respectively of Swachhata Excellence awards 2019. Nagar Palika
Parishad Jashpur Nagar, Malappuram Municipality, and Nagar Palika Parishad Surajpur
have claimed the prizesin the category of Statutory Towns. For Million Plus
Cities Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has been awarded with first
prize For Aspirational Districts, Chas Municipal Corporation has been awarded
with a consolation prize. Durga Shanker Mishra, said that each and every family
needs to contribute towards making a New India including making Swachchata as a
matter of habit. Once success stories on swachchata come from the common
families, it will attain the shape of a Jan Aandolon. A total of 40 awards were
distributed to the Area Level Federations (ALFs), City Livelihoods Federations
(CLFs) and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs). 28 ALFs received Swachhata Excellence
Awards, out of these 13 ALFs were conferred first prize of Rs. 2 lakh each, 10
ALFs were given second prize of Rs. 1.50 lakh each and 1 ALF was given third
prizes of Rs. 1 lakh. Besides 4 ALFs received consolation awards of Rs. 1 lakh
each. 4 CLFs received national awards, out of which 1 CLF was conferred first
prize of Rs. 2.50 lakh, 1 CLF was given second prize of Rs. 2 lakh, and 2 CLFs
tied in third position, received Rs. 1.50 lakh each.
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FARM DISTRESS WORSENS AS CREDIT GROWTH STAGNATES, AGRI LOAN
NPAS SURGE
The Indian agriculture
sector has been reeling under distress. The disconcerting condition of farmers
has made them resort to practices such as protests or suicides in the recent
past. Against this backdrop, the RBI report on Sectoral Deployment of Bank
Credit sheds light on the probable causes of such a denouement. While the
non-performing assets (NPAs) have surged by over 40 percent in the agricultural
sector, the share of the sector in non-food credit off-take has remained
stagnant and the bank’s exposure has declined, said the RBI report. The share
of agriculture credit in total non-food credit has remained unaltered at around
13 per cent over the years, primarily due to priority sector lending (PSL), the
report said. The total outstanding credit to the farm sector has remained at Rs
10,82,100 crore in November 2018 as against Rs 10,30,200 crore in March 2018,
show RBI data. However, there has been a 40 per cent rise in NPAs of the farm
sector as it reached over Rs 1,00,000 crore in September 2018 compared to
around Rs 70,000 crore in September 2017.
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NEED FOR OPTIMUM UTILIZATION OF MINERAL RESOURCES
Haribhai Parthibhai
Chaudhary has stressed the need for optimum utilization of the available
mineral resources in the country. He said that the Union Government has taken
several steps and also devised the new National Mineral Policy with a view to
promote the ease of doing business along with ensuring the participation of
private sector for better mineral exploration. Twenty Mineral Exploration
reports worth Rupees seventy nine thousand five hundred sixty crore were handed
over to the seven state governments. Fast track upgradation of exploration
stages viz. G4 to G3 and G3 to G2 for various mineral commodities like
manganese, vanadium, gold, base metal, PGE have been taken up by GSI as an
additional measure to boost the GDP of India. GSI has identified mineralised
zones for vanadium in Arunachal Pradesh, potash and phosphate rich zone in
Jharkhand and REE in Rajasthan. Through its continual effort, GSI has augmented
mineral resources worth Rs. 79,560 crores in the national exchequer during
2017-18. Projects are being implemented by various agencies with the support of
National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET) fund under the aegis of MoM to
encourage participation of private entrepreneurs, both from India and abroad,
especially for concealed and deep seated deposits. These steps will definitely
help the mining industry to access relevant expertise for exploration that is
expected to augment mineable resources. By March 2019, under National Landslide
Susceptibility Mapping (NLSM) programme, 3.22 lakh km 2 target area shall be
completed. NLSM is aimed to complete the total target of 4.27 lakh km2 by 2020.
During the ensuing year 2019-20, GSI is taking up 897 regular Field Season
Programmes which includes 390 programmes under mineral exploration to pave the
way for downstream exploration activities. This almost doubles the last years’
record of 231 programmes (including 19 marine mineral exploration projects)
showing a quantum jump in the field of mineral exploration activities in GSI. The
897 programmes comprise - 354 mineral explorations, 4 geothermal energy, 19
marine mineral exploration, 8 Regional Mineral Targeting (RMT) and 5 R&D
programmes; 49 programmes on geo-informatics; 172 programmes on fundamental and
multidisciplinary geoscience and 119 programs for training and capacity
building for its own human resource as well as for the States and also for
other organisations/countries. GSI is going to take up 93 programmes at the
request of State Governments and SGPB/CGPB/VAQ recommendations, 6 programmes in
collaboration with national institutes like ONGC, HSHDB, ISI, Kolkata, DTRL
etc. and 3 programmes will be taken up with international collaborators like
British Geological Survey (BGS) and Geoscience Australia (GA). 4 sponsored
training courses will be taken up with ISRO and MEA and there will be 20
sponsored geotechnical projects with various stakeholders like NWDA, CWC, NTPC,
Railways, NALCO etc. The finalization of programmes took into account the priorities
and importance set forth by the Government of India through its various policy
decisions and also on the basis of the recommendations of CGPB Committees’ and
State Geological Programming Board (SGPB) meetings.
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SUSHIL CHANDRA TAKES OVER AS NEW ELECTION COMMISSIONER
Shri Sushil Chandra has
assumed charge as the new Election Commissioner (EC) of India on 15th of
February 2019 and joins the Commission with Chief Election Commissioner Shri
Sunil Arora and Election Commissioner Shri Ashok Lavasa. Born on 15th May 1957
Shri Chandra is a 1980 batch Indian Revenue Service Officer. In the IRS service
Shri Chandra has rendered his service in various States viz; Uttar Pradesh,
Rajasthan, Delhi, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Acquiring his academic proficiency
from Roorkee University and LL.B. from D.A.V. College, Dehradun, Shri Chandra
has worked extensively in the areas of International Taxation and Investigation
at various places. Shri Chandra brings rich experience from his position of
Director of Investigation, Mumbai and Director General (Investigation),
Gujarat. Besides this, he has undergone various training programmes at
Singapore, IIM Bangalore & Wharton. Prior to joining ECI Shri Chandra held
the office of Chairman in Central Board of Direct Taxes, Department of Revenue,
Ministry of Finance, and Government of India and was also Member
(Investigation), C.B.D.T.
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FINANCE COMMISSION MEETS THE MINISTRY OF POWER
The Fifteenth Finance
Commission had a meeting with the Ministry of Power in New Delhi. The fiscal
positions of States have been impacted by exposure to guarantees provided to
power utilities and other public sector units, including those in the transport
sector. The liabilities on account of guarantees provided to power units are
quite significant in a number of States. By assigning a weight of 90 per cent
to the power sector guarantees and 10 per cent to other guarantees, including
transport sector guarantees, the extended debt of all States, in aggregate was
around 23.3 per cent of GDP in 2011-12. The stakeholders discussed the issue in
detail. In the case of the power sector, the earlier Commissions (13th and
14thFC) had deliberations in the meeting and gathered these issues that some
States had not raised tariffs for eight or nine years despite increasing
deficits, and that the absence of timely tariff increases had adversely
affected the operations of the utilities. Further, it noted that in several
States, where tariff revisions had taken place, financial gaps had been
reduced. Nevertheless, large financial deficits continued to persist since the
true costs were not taken account of. The Union Ministry of Power concurred
with the views of the States that compliance with the directions of Appellate
Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) by State Electricity Regulatory Commissions
(SERCs) would bring about discipline and simplify procedures in the
distribution sector as well as lead to improvements in the revenue and liquidity
position of distribution utilities. It pointed out that the Financial
Restructuring Plan of state-owned distribution companies contained a condition
for mandatory tariff revisions. The Ministry has proposed to the Commission a
scheme for supporting transiting to Electric Mobility in India – for rolling
out EV infrastructure across 70 cities and 20% highways in five year i.e.
2020-25 at a cost of Rs.5000 crores. The Ministry has also proposed VGF of upto
40% amounting to Rs.83500 crores to meet the cost of installation of Flue Gas
Desulphurization to meet the new norms notified by MoEF & CC for power
plants.
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FINANCE COMMISSION TO VISIT TELANGANA
The 15th Finance
Commission will be visiting the state of Telangana from 17th to 20th of
February 2019. The Commission begins its visit with on-site reviews of the
Kaleshwaram Lift -Irrigation project, the Medigadda Barrage and Mission
Bhagirathi the Safe Drinking Water project of Telangana. The Commission on its
final day will have a meeting with Eminent Economists headed by Dr. Y V Reddy.
The Commission will also have a discussion in ISB on the draft report of
Evaluation of State Finances of Telangana. There will also be a presentation to
the Commission on updation of Land Records and Rythu Bandhu.
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ADVISORY ISSUED AGAINST RETINAL DISEASE DRUG
Vitreo Retina Society
India, a body of super specialty doctors in ophthalmology, has issued a
country-wide advisory against the use of Razumab, an injectable drug
manufactured by Ahmedabad based Intas Pharmaceuticals Limited, used for
treating retinal vascular disease. The VRSI alert was issued on February 9,
after 11-odd patients reported adverse reactions like inflammation in eyes. Sources
confirmed the company has issued a directive to over 20 hospitals not to
dispense a particular batch of Razumab injections. Razumab, a biosimilar
version of ranibizumab (Lucentis) marketed by Novartis in India, is sold at a
fraction of the innovator price. It is used for treatment of age related
macular degeneration (AMD), a common eye condition that impairs vision in
people over 60 years. A biosimilar is a biologic product that is almost an
identical copy of an original product manufactured by an innovator, but has a
huge cost advantage of upto 40% for patients. Around 550 injections have been
used so far by 141 centres, of which 11 adverse events have been officially
reported by nine centres. The number of inflammation complaints is 2% of
patients who used that batch, and all have recovered after its discontinuation.
VRSI, a 600-member group comprising 90% of country's vitreo-retina specialists,
issued the alert after patients reported adverse reactions on being injected
with Razumab. The advisory said, Intas has advised not to use Razumab injection
of batch number 18020052. Till October 2018, 52,000 vials of Razumab had been
used.
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SABARIMALA ROW: BREACHING RELIGIOUS PRACTICES TO ‘MAKE
HEADLINES’ DISSERVICE TO COUNTRY, SAYS SMRITI IRANI
Smriti Irani said Friday
that religious practices should be respected and anyone breaching them just to
make headlines would do a great disservice to the country’s diversity. She said
in response to a question from a student on Irani’s recent comments on the
issue where she said that the right to pray did not mean the right to
desecrate. I speak from personal experience. And, I said that publicly when I
made that comment. I am married to a Zoroastrian, i.e., a Parsi, and by law, I
am not allowed (to enter fire temple). And, by law means not by the
Constitution but by laws that govern that particular religious practice, she
said. Irrespective of how empowered I am, I am not allowed to enter a fire
temple, Irani told. Ayyappa Temple in Sabarimala, over objections from certain
quarters. It is incumbent upon you to respect that religious practice because
the Constitution gives us rights to be free, but it also impinges upon us
responsibilities towards fellow citizens she said. Irani said there are many
temples across the country, where men are not allowed. There are many churches,
many mosques where restrictions are given for religious practices to be
undertaken, she said. As individuals, it is our responsibility, given the
diverse nature of communities in our country, to respect those tenets, and
those practices. I have the right to pray, but no right to desecrate. That is
the difference that we need to recognise and respect.
#For Source of Information copy and paste the heading in google.
Thanks & Regards,
CS Meetesh Shiroya
Thanks & Regards,
CS Meetesh Shiroya
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