BUSINESSES NEED TO PAY UP TO RS 20 FOR USING AADHAAR SERVICES
Business organisations
using Aadhaar services will now have to pay Rs 20 for each customer
verification and 50 paise for authentication of each transaction carried out by
the entities, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) said
Thursday. Aadhaar authentication services shall be charged at the rate of Rs 20
(including taxes) for each e-KYC transaction and Rs 0.50 (including taxes) for
each Yes and No authentication transaction from requesting entities, a
notification by the UIDAI said. The gazette notification, the Aadhaar (Pricing
of Aadhaar Authentication Services) Regulations 2019, however, exempts
government entities and the Department of Posts from authentication transaction
charges. The entities have been incurring a cost of Rs 150-200 per KYC sans
Aadhaar. They have been demanding to use Aadhaar-based authentication and KYC
services on account of these being convenient to them and their customers and
also the fact that they will save huge amount which they currently incur in
doing KYC through traditional means such as paper, physical verification, etc,
an official source told. The UIDAI source said with a nominal cost for each
eKYC transaction entities would still be saving on Know Your Customer (KYC)
cost while serving people with ease. According to the notification, the entities
shall be required to deposit the authentication transaction charges within 15
days of issuance of the concerned invoice based on the usage. The delay in
payment beyond 15 days shall attract interest compounded at 1.5 per cent per
month and discontinuation of authentication and e-KYC services. Sources said
that if an existing requesting entity (except those exempt), continues to use
Aadhaar authentication services beyond the date of publication of these
Regulations, it shall be deemed to have agreed to the specified authentication
charges. The source said that now as per the amendments made through the
Aadhaar Ordinance, several entities may now become eligible to use Aadhaar
authentication subject to their meeting security and other conditions as per
the Aadhaar Act and related regulations. Therefore, it is just, fair and
reasonable that such entities should contribute to meet expenses nominally
which are incurred by UIDAI in providing these services, the source said. The
notification says that the scheduled commercial banks engaged in providing
Aadhaar enrolment and update facilities in accordance with its gazette
notification issued in July 2017 shall be exempt from authentication
transaction charges. However, such banks, which fall short of the Aadhaar
enrolment and update targets, as communicated from time to time, will be
charged in proportion to the shortfall in achieving the target. UIDAI sources
said that the above charges shall be in addition to the licence fees and
financial disincentives, as applicable. The details of the transaction error
codes and its charges shall be issued separately. The official said that in
case a requesting entity does not wish to pay authentication transaction
charges, it shall discontinue the use of Aadhaar authentication services and
intimate its decision to the UIDAI immediately and surrender its access to the
authentication facilities However, the transaction charges as applicable till
the date of de-activation of access to authentication services shall have to be
paid, the source said.
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JAN DHAN ACCOUNTS: TOTAL DEPOSITS SET TO CROSS RS 1 LAKH CRORE
Narendra Modi’s ambitious
financial inclusion programme will be worth Rs one lakh crore very soon Pradhan
Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, which was launched in August 2015 by Modi has gained
traction since August 2018 when the government announced a slew of measures to
make the scheme more attractive. The total deposits in Jan Dhan Accounts may
cross the figure of Rs one lakh crore in a matter of months, says Shiv Pratap
Shukla. I won’t be surprised if it crosses the milestone by March-end, Shukla
told. The in-built accidental insurance cover offered to RuPay debit card
holders was also increased from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh besides continuing with
the existing life cover of Rs 30,000 subject to fulfillment of eligibility
criteria. Total deposits in Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan accounts have gone up from
Rs 88,566 crore to Rs 92,678 crore in little over a month. As per the latest
official data, these accounts have registered an increase of over Rs 4,000
crore between January 23 to February 27.
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DRIVING LICENCES, VEHICLE REGISTRATION CERTIFICATES TO COME IN
CARD FORMAT ONLY
Going paperless driving
licences and vehicle registration certificates will now be issued as plastic
cards in a standard format across the country. The option of providing a paper
or booklet-based driving licence or registration certificate has been done away
with, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said on Thursday. Under the
new norms notified by the ministry, states would have an option to issue the
two documents in the form of cards which would be either made of PVC (Polyvinyl
Chloride) or of Poly Carbonate. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has
prescribed a common standard format and design of the Driving Licence and the
Certificate of Registration for the entire country. The option of providing a
paper or booklet based driving licence or the registration certificate has been
done away with, the ministry said in a release. The specifications for the
cards are high standard and would enable durable and quality cards, it added.
According to the ministry, state governments have been given the option to
decide on the type of material that can be used for making the cards. Further,
states can prescribe whether it should be a chip-based smart card or a card
with contact-less features such as QR code. A QR code has been prescribed on the
cards. This would enable easy linking and access and validation of the
information on the cards with the SARATHI or VAHAN database, the release said.
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GOVT REFORMS CREATING NEW LIVELIHOODS; 8 SECTORS TO ADD OVER
10 CR JOBS BY 2025: CII
The recent reforms ushered
in by the government are creating new livelihoods across existing and emerging
sectors, with eight segments of the economy alone expected to create over 10
crore jobs by 2025, CII said on Thursday. With skill levels rising and
substantial growth in startups and new businesses, the quality of jobs is being
also enhanced, including through higher incomes, Rakesh Bharti Mittal said. According
to Mittal, the measures to promote ease of doing business, cut in tax rates for
smaller enterprises to 25 per cent, and reduction in interest rates are
creating the right atmosphere for new businesses to flourish, particularly
SMEs. This is an effective stimulant for job creation, he said. The Confederation
of Indian Industry (CII) expects eight sectors -- retail, construction,
transport and logistics, tourism and hospitality, handlooms and handicrafts,
textiles and apparels, food processing, and automotive -- to generate over 10
crore jobs by 2025 Mittal observed that as per the latest data relating to
Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), around 7.2 million new
subscribers were added to social security schemes between September 2017 and
December 2018. India’s unemployment rate hit a 45-year high of 6.1 per cent in
2017, a media report had said earlier based on an official survey, which the
government has said was yet to be approved. The CII estimates construction
sector to add about 2.87 crore employment opportunities between 2015 and 2025,
followed by retail and transport and logistics. Number of startups can go up to
1,50,000 over the next two years from 60,000 currently.
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BETTER PENSION FOR RBI EMPLOYEES A REALITY NOW
The government has given
its go-ahead to Reserve Bank of India's long standing demand for pension
updation for its 21000-odd employees. The government has also offered one more
chance to Contributory Provident Fund (CPF) optees to switch to pension. This
will help about 2600 CPF retainers. A government note approving the same said
that pensioners would get notional rise of 10% plus dearness allowance with
each of the three wage revisions in 2002, 2007 and 2012. This will result in an
overall rise in basic pension by a factor of 3.63 for pensioners who retired
prior to November 2002.
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SUPREME COURT ORDER MEDIATION IN AYODHYA TITLE DISPUTE CASE,
FORMS THREE-MEMBER PANEL
The Supreme Court on
Friday ordered Ayodhya's Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute case for
mediation. A three-member panel for mediation has been set up which will be
headed by former Supreme Court judge FM Kalifullah, other mediators include,
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Shriram Panchu. The mediation will happen in Faziabad.
We do not find any legal impediment in referring the matter to mediation, the
apex court observed. Mediation process will be kept confidential The
proceedings will be held in camera and no media coverage will be allowed. The
mediation will conclude within 8 weeks and first status report will be filed in
4 weeks.
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PM-KISAN SCHEME – MORE THAN 2 CRORE SMALL/MARGINAL FARMERS
HAVE BENEFITED SO FAR
With a view to augment the
income of farmers by providing income support to all Small and Marginal
landholder farmers’ families across the country and to enable them to take care
of expenses related to agriculture and allied activities as well as domestic
needs. Around 12.5 crore farmers across the country will be benefitted from
this Scheme. Under the scheme, the responsibility of identification of the
eligible beneficiaries rests with the State Government.
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RBI ALLOWS WHITE LABEL ATM OPERATORS TO SOURCE CASH, GENERATE
INCOME FROM ADS
In a bid to enhance the
viability of white-label ATMs (WLAs), the Reserve Bank of India has allowed
white-label ATM operators (WLAOs) to buy wholesale cash from the RBI and
currency chests, source cash from any scheduled bank, and display
advertisements pertaining to non-financial products/services within the WLA
premises, among others. Further, the RBI said banks can issue co-branded ATM
cards in partnership with the authorised WLAOs, and may extend the benefit of
‘on-us’ transactions (where the customer or cardholder and ATM are of the same
bank) to their WLAs as well. Following this liberalisation, the permission to
WLAOs to source cash from retail outlets, accorded in December 2016, has been
withdrawn. The operators can display advertisements pertaining to non-financial
products/services anywhere within the WLA premises, including the WLA screen,
except the main signboard. They have to ensure that the advertisements running
on the screen disappear once the customer commences a transaction. The central
bank said all guidelines, safeguards, standards, and control measures
applicable to banks relating to currency handling and cyber-security framework
for ATMs, shall also be applicable to WLA operators.
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INDIA IS NEXT GROWTH ENGINE OF WORLD: SURESH PRABHU
India is next growth
engine of world and the private equity industry is going to play an important
and significant role in the development of its economy, Suresh Prabhu said. Prabhu
said that in the coming days, he would personally reach out to large equity
players around the world to urge them to look at India more closely and ride
the Indian growth story. Prabhu also said that he has advised the DPIIT
Secretary to prepare a new matrix where there can be a pleasure of doing
business and not only the ease of doing business. He also said that a separate
committee has been set up within the Commerce and Industry Ministry to make
investments in India easier. Prabhu said that start-ups are going to drive
future growth and the Government was committed to support their growth.
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DGCA MONITORING JET AIRWAYS' SAFETY STANDARDS: SURESH PRABHU
Suresh Prabhu on Thursday
said that the aviation regulator is monitoring and ensuring that safety
standards are maintained in flights of Jet Airways. The Directorate General for
Civil Aviation (DGCA) is monitoring the situation closely. Currently, owing to
its tight financial position, the airline has been forced to ground over 20
aircraft due to non-payments of dues. Minister told that the lenders led by the
State Bank of India (SBI) are trying to address the financial issue. At
present, lenders are negotiating with key stakeholders of Jet Airways to take
forward the proposal to convert a part of the company's loans into shares and
to iron out any differences over the plan.
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JET AIRWAYS HAS 70 AIRCRAFT OPERATIONAL, COULD GROUND MORE
PLANES
Jet Airways has 70 of its
119 aircraft operational said on Thursday a senior official of India's aviation
regulator DGCA. The airline has been told to ensure that passengers do not
suffer because of flight cancellations, said the official of Directorate
General of Civil Aviation. The official described the situation as dynamic,
indicating more Jet aircraft could be grounded.
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JANAUSHADHI SCHEME LED TO RS 1,000 CR SAVINGS FOR COMMON
PEOPLE: PM
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi Thursday said the Janaushadhi scheme, under which the government provides
quality medicines at affordable rates, has led to savings worth Rs 1,000 crore
for common people. The generic medicines provided by the Janaushadhi stores are
almost 50 to 90 per cent cheaper, the prime minister said. He said that 5,000
Janaushadhi stores have been opened in the last five years. We have reduced the
prices of 850 medicines of common use. Besides, prices of other things required
in the heart and knee surgery, which are delicate and costly, have been
slashed, Modi said.
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PREPARATIONS FOR ELECTION ALMOST OVER, EC TO ANNOUNCE DATES FOR
POLLING SOON
The Election Commission of
India will soon announce its schedule for the high-voltage Lok Sabha elections,
which is likely to be spread over 7-8 phases in April-May, sources said on
Thursday. Sources said the poll panel is in final stages of completing its
logistical preparations to hold elections for the 17th Lok Sabha and a detailed
polling schedule could be announced as early this weekend or next week. The
term of the present Lok Sabha ends on June 3. The announcement of dates for the
elections, in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi will make his bid to return to
power amid hectic parleys by several political parties to put a united fight
against the ruling BJP, would be followed by a meeting of election observers
next week for the first and second phase of polling. A senior Election
Commission functionary said the poll panel is now prepared to announce the
dates any day and it could happen over the weekend or at most by Tuesday. The
required electronic voting machines and paper trail machines are in place to be
deployed in nearly 10 lakh poling stations across 543 Lok Sabha constituencies.
This is a high probability of the elections being spread across 7-8 phases this
time.
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INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS GIVE THUMBS UP TO MAHARASHTRA'S NEW
INDUSTRIAL POLICY; MSMES TO BENEFIT
Under the new industrial
policy, Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) eligible new units in north
Maharashtra, Vidabrha, Marathwada, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg in Konkan
will get power tariff subsidy of Rs 1 per unit consumed. This is the biggest
relief for industrial units in state. Atul Pandey stated Relief is that the
power tariff subsidy will be maintained for another 5 years which will give
competitive edge to industries as due to high power cost, industries in the
region suffered a lot. In addition, Pandey welcomed revival of stressed assets
feature of the policy. Besides this, he added that on PAN India basis we have
so many other export promotion agencies like APEDA for agriculture, CAMEX for
chemicals, similarly for Maharashtra the state level export promotion council
will be set up to attract global investments in state.
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RAJASTHAN INDUSTRIES HAIL NABARD’S LOAN SCHEME FOR MSMES;
EXPECT TIMELY AND SYSTEMATIC DISTRIBUTION
After the unveiling of
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) state focus paper
for the year 2019-20, Ashok Gehlot said various sectors including Micro, Small
and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) would benefit from the institutional loan
scheme. As per the state focus paper, loans worth Rs 36,032 crore would be
disbursed for MSMEs under the scheme, he said. Suresh Agarwal said there is a
major problem of finance in the MSME sector of Rajasthan. If this scheme runs
properly and systematically then there is a chance for MSMEs to flourish in the
state more powerfully. Agarwal said, One difficulty that the industry face here
is in getting loans, MSMEs are promised but no money reaches them. If this
problem is solved by the loan scheme of NABARD, then it will also help in
creating more employment in the state and will directly help in reducing
unemployment in Rajasthan. Suresh Chand said the bank has estimated to disburse
institutional loans of Rs 1.94 lakh crore in the coming financial year 2019-20.
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INDIA INCREASES FOCUS ON ENERGY SECTOR WITH SLEW OF MEASURES
The government has cleared
investment of around Rs 31,560 crores in four power projects of total 3,760 MW
generation capacity and approved two policies to boost hydropower as well as
revive stressed assets in the sector, R K Singh said Thursday. However, Singh
admitted that two recommendations of a high-level committee (HLC) regarding
payment security mechanism for private power producers and gas-based stressed
assets were not approved by the Union Cabinet on Thursday, saying a lot of
ground is to be covered for implementing those suggestions. The HLC had
suggested that bills of discoms towards generators can be discounted by the
financial institution. He said that a lot of ground is to be covered for
implementing payment security mechanism for private power producers and
reviving gas-based stranded projects as talks are going on with RBI as well as
oil ministry on both the issues. Talking about the hydro policy, he informed
that the government approved a slew of measures under the hydro policy
including providing renewable energy status for large hydel projects and new
funding provisions. In the Bidding Process under NCLT, the NHPC has emerged as
highest bidder with a bid Amount of Rs 907 crore. Accordingly, the investment
proposal for an estimated cost of Rs 5748.04 crore, being implemented by the
NHPC has been approved by the CCEA on Thursday.
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TRIBAL AFFAIRS HOLDS MEETING WITH OFFICERS OF STATE
GOVERNMENTS
Ministry of Tribal Affairs
organized a meeting with the officers of the State Governments dealing with the
issues relating to the Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers
(Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006. The purpose of the meeting was to
discuss the provisions of the Act and to carry out effectively the directions of
the Hon’ble Supreme Court given by it during the hearing of the case on
28.02.2019. While the exact directions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court were not
available during the meeting as the written order has not been received, it was
conveyed that States should formulate a time-bound Action Plan to take up
suo-motto review of all rejection cases involving claims of individual rights
and these are brought before the District Level Committee (DLC) which is the
final appellate authority under the Act. It was also conveyed that proper
procedure as per the Act and rules thereunder for examination of the claim
applications at all levels. All States should carry out an accurate assessment
of the finally rejected cases at the District Level Committee after taking into
account the possibility of duplicate applications requiring de-duplication.
Cases rejected on wrongful grounds as detected by SDLC/DLC should be excluded
from the list of rejected cases. There is need to doubly ensure that no
eligible person is rejected. In each case, the decision taken should be also
conveyed to the claimant in writing. Further, it was conveyed that information
should be separately compiled for STs and OTFDs. State Governments should
complete the review processes and file their affidavits before the Hon’ble
Supreme Court by 10.07.2019.
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CONVERSION, SUBSTITUTION & MUTATION MADE ONLINE – HARDEEP
S PURI LAUNCHES E-DHARTI APP
Hardeep S Puri, has
launched e-Dharti app which is a new online system where all the three main
modules i.e. Conversion, Substitution and Mutation have been made online. The payment
system in L&DO has also been completely digitized. Work is also going on
other three small modules namely Sale Permission, Mortgage Permission and Gift
Permission and will be completed soon. The public can now submit their
applications online by visiting L&DO website and are not required to visit
this office for submission of them and for follow up of their applications.
Land & Development Office (L&DO) deals with public applications which
are mainly related to Conversion of property from leasehold to freehold,
Substitution of names of legal heirs and Mutation in the name of purchaser,
etc. These three applications cover almost 95% of total applications received. The
office also deals with applications related to Sale Permission, Mortgage
Permission and Gift Permission. Lots of initiatives have been taken by this
office to make the system more transparent, accountable, efficient and effective
so that general public, particularly old aged, poor, ailing and deprived
persons as well as women and widows, are benefitted. e-Dharti Geo Portal,
another important application on which L&DO has started working, is GIS
based mapping of all its approx. 65000 properties. Through this application
each and every Government property under L&DO, whether it is allotted or
still lying vacant, is proposed to be mapped on a portal called e-Dharti Geo
Portal. The Lessee can also be issued a Property Card from this office about
his property if he asks for it. Though more than 35,000 properties have been
outlined on the GIS based map all across Delhi, the actual validation is being
done by checking each and every mapped property with its location and details.
As on date, more than 2,500 properties have been mapped and verified.
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MODI’S RS 6,000 PM-KISAN GIFT TO SMALL FARMERS MAY CUT POVERTY
BY 20%
The Rs 6,000 income
support per year per household promised by Narendra Modi government for small
farmers under PM-KISAN scheme may have been mocked Rahul Gandhi as petty, but
it has the potential to reduce poverty in many states by as much as up to 20%
Kirit Parikh wrote that adding this amount to the monthly consumption
expenditure will elevate several households above the poverty line in various
states. Further, even those households which still remain below the poverty
line would see a reduction in the gap, he wrote. Kirit Parikh has estimated a
modified monthly per capita consumption expenditure (MPCE) by adding the amount
to the inflation-adjusted MPCE data from national sample survey (NSS) of
2011-12. Taking the example of Bihar, Parikh wrote: Before the transfer, 40 per
cent of people’s expenditure in Bihar was below the poverty line. After the
transfer, only 30 per cent of people in the state remained below the poverty
line. Repeating the process for other states and union territories shows a 10
per cent reduction in poverty. The fall would be greater if the UPA
government’s food security scheme benefits were also taken into consideration,
he added.
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UP TO GET A RS 1 LAKH CR BOUNTY FROM PRIME MINISTER ON FRIDAY
Narendra Modi will lay the
foundation stone of his ‘dream project’ the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor in
Varanasi, on Friday during a day-long visit to Uttar Pradesh. The PM will be in
Ghaziabad, Kanpur and Varanasi on Friday, unveiling a host of projects in UP
worth over Rs 1 lakh crore, besides holding public rallies. This is expected to
be Modi’s last tour before the model code of conduct for the 2019 elections
kicks in. The PM had inaugurated a slew of projects in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka
on Wednesday. The Uttar Pradesh government is projecting the proposed Kashi
Vishwanath Corridor from the temple to the Ganga bank as one which Mahatma
Gandhi had first envisioned in 1916, but has taken 100 years since for Modi to
deliver it on the ground.
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SPECIAL EMPHASIS HAS BEEN GIVEN ON THE ROLE & CONTRIBUTION
OF WOMEN IN DOUBLING THE INCOME OF FARMERS BY 2022
Radha Mohan Singh has
congratulated women on the occasion of International Women's Day. He has said
that the efforts of the government will certainly prove to be effective in
strengthening the participation of women and their empowerment in agriculture.
He said that in order to bring women in the agriculture mainstream the
government has allocated more than 30% funds for women under various major
schemes / programs and development related activities. Also, women based
activities have been started to reach the benefits of different
beneficiary-oriented programs / schemes and missions to women. The Minister
said that the participation of women in the decision-making bodies at the
state, district and block level under the ATMA scheme have ensured their
involvement in the planning process. Along with this, changes in reporting
performas have been made to maintain the statistics of benefits reaching women.
A book showing the norm of fixed aid for women farmers is also being published.
A National Gender Resource Centre in Agriculture has developed a women
sensitization module to bring about change in the mindset and behaviour of male
program operators. In the team of committed extension personnel under the
revised ATMA scheme in 2014, the position of a women coordinator in every state
was also created. The Minister informed that in order to support the food
security groups of the women farmers' at the domestic and household level, financial
assistance of 2 groups / per block and Rs 10,000 per group / per year is being
given under the amended ATMA scheme 2014-15. As a result of these efforts,
during 2017-18, 31.47 lakh women have been benefitted by training from the NCUI
in the field of cooperatives. Similarly, 6.07 lakh and 7000 women have
benefited through KVKs and skill training respectively. A total of 8.62 lakh
women have benefitted in 2017-18.
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REPORT ON HYBRID SIMULATION FOR EASING CONGESTION OF BIG
CITIES PRESENTED TO UNION MINISTER SHRI NITIN GADKARI
Nitin Gadkari received a
report on Hybrid Simulation for Traffic Mapping and Modelling for easing
traffic congestion in big cities The objective of the study was to prepare
Hybrid Model and utilize it for preparing and testing short term and long terms
strategies/interventions to remove traffic congestion in Delhi. The scope of
the model can be extended to the entire Delhi NCR region and similar models can
be built for other major metropolitan cities of India. This model is also
useful in understanding the impact assessments of various upcoming
infrastructure projects like, roads, flyovers, underpasses and other rapid
transit projects. The study, aimed at creating one of the most dynamic traffic
models of the world with extremely high traffic density and more than 900
intersections, was awarded through Indian Academy of Highway Engineers - a
subsidiary of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. The University of New
South Wales, Sydney Australia through its Transport and Innovation Hub
(Research Centre for Integrated Transport Innovation) played an advisory role
in completion of the project.
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IN BOOST TO WHEAT FARMERS, MADHYA PRADESH UNVEILS RS
160/QUINTAL BONUS MSP
The Madhya Pradesh
government on Wednesday announced Rs 160/quintal bonus for wheat growers over
and above the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 1,840/quintal. This comes close
on the heels of a likelyhood of the Election Commission announcing the Lok
Sabha poll schedule in the next few days. The bonus is approved by the state
cabinet as an incentive for wheat growers for increasing production and to
offset the increase in cost of production, a notification of state agriculture
department said. The bonus payment will be made directly into the bank accounts
of farmers after they sell their produce in mandis and official purchase
centres. The new effective rate of Rs 2,000/quintal will be the highest in the
country for wheat as no other state has announced bonus. The Food Corporation
of India is targeting to buy 75 lakh tonne of wheat this year from Madhya
Pradesh for the central pool stocks, compared to 73 lakh tonne bought last
year. The arrival of new wheat crop will start in a few days from now, while
the marketing season will begin from April 1. The FCI may start procurement
early in MP and Gujarat, officials stated.
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INFLATION LIKELY PICKED UP IN FEB, BUT WELL BELOW RBI TARGET
Indian inflation likely
accelerated in February but remained well below the central bank's target,
economists in a Reuters poll said, as only modest rises in food and fuel prices
failed to drive a bigger lift from January's 19-month low. The poll of 37
economists, conducted March 5-7, showed consumer price inflation, due to be
released at 1200 GMT on March 12, is expected to have picked up to 2.43 per
cent last month from January's 2.05 per cent. An overwhelming majority of
economists polled predicted inflation would average below 3 per cent, with
forecasts ranging from 2.15 per cent to 3.20 per cent. If inflation comes in as
expected, it would be below the Reserve Bank of India's medium-term target of 4
per cent for the seventh month in a row and closer to the lower end of its 2-6
per cent buffer range for a fourth month. Headline CPI inflation will have
remained low in February even if, as we suspect, it rose a touch due to higher
food inflation, noted Shilan Shah. Another low inflation reading would support
the RBI's surprisingly dovish turn early last month, when it cut interest rates
and shifted its policy stance to neutral from calibrated tightening. But core
inflation is expected to remain elevated with a separate Reuters polls showing
oil prices rising and a potential trade conflict with the US weakening the
Indian rupee, which would both be inflationary. Inflation is going to creep
upward as we already see fuel prices pumping up following a lead from global
oil prices which are going higher, said Prakash Sakpal, Asia economist at ING.
Plus, we have a weaker rupee - although INR has consolidated a bit since
February - it is not totally out of the woods yet.
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AIRPORT TAKEOVER: KERALA HIGH COURT ISSUES NOTICES TO CENTRE,
AAI
The Kerala High Court
issued notices to the Centre and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) on
Thursday on a writ petition filed by the Kerala government challenging the move
by the AAI to grant the right of operation, management and development of the
Thiruvananthapuram International Airport to Adani Enterprises Ltd. The state
government contended that the AAI is bound to accept the proposal of the State
government, submitted through the Kerala State Industrial Development
Corporation Ltd (KSIDC), for concession for operation, development and
management of the airport on a par with the amount offered by the Adani
Enterprises. It added that the government-owned KSIDC was entitled to
preferential consideration over Adani Enterprises in public interest. The
petition, filed by KR Jyothilal, Principal Secretary, Transport, pointed out
that the Centre had refused to adhere to its assurance given in 2003 that taking
into account the contribution made by the state for acquisition of additional
land for the airport, the State government would be consulted when a decision
to privatise the management of the airport was taken. The Centre had declined
the request of the State to transfer the operation of the airport to the
government, which could form a special purpose vehicle and tie up with a
partner proven in the management of the airport. The SPV should have the right
of first refusal without any range parameters, the petition said. The AAI was
duty-bound to have a negotiation with the state government since the Chief
Minister had offered to enhance the rate per passenger on a par with what had
been quoted by the Adani Enterprises. Besides, the state government and the KSIDC
had more expertise in managing and operating airports than the Adani
Enterprises, which does not have any previous experience. So, the government
and KSIDC should have been given the preference, the State government
contended.
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TELECOM DEPARTMENT RESHUFFLES OFFICERS TO FAST-TRACK
CONNECTIVITY PROGRAMS
The department of telecom
(DoT) has reconstituted the group of officers assigned to operationalise some
of the ambitious mobile connectivity programs such as mega BharatNet-II, Wi-Fi
pilots, Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-II and Northeast, including strategic areas
along Indo-China border in Arunachal Pradesh. In an internal notification dated
March 5, seen by ETT, the department has assigned BharatNet deployment, Wi-Fi
pilot initiatives and other common service centers or CSC-related projects to
joint administrator Ranjan Ghosh. The Narendra Modi government has concluded
BharatNet-I in December 2018, making as many as 1.25 lakh gram panchayats or village
blocks connected with optic fiber-based network, capable to offer high-speed
Internet services for the delivery of citizen-centric public services. However,
the Centre aims to deploy BharatNet-II program by March 31, 2019, which,
appears to be unlikely due to multiple challenges including the lack of
interest among state governments. The department has also named Deepak Chanduka
to head special projects such as providing cellular connectivity in areas
affected with left-wing extremism with 4,072 towers in 96 districts across 10
states, sought by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), and deployment of 2,817
towers across 4,119 villages in the strategic locations along Indo-China border
in Arunachal Pradesh and two districts of Assam.
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RIL RECEIVES SEBI COMMENTS FOR DEN, HATHWAY OPEN OFFERS
Reliance Industries on
Wednesday said it has received final comments from market regulator SEBI for
its proposed open offers to shareholders of Den Networks Limited and Hathway
Cable and Datacom Limited. The company will make the open offers in accordance
with the SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations
2011, RIL said in a BSE filing. Comments on the draft letter of offer have been
received from SEBI for the mandatory open offer to the shareholders of Hathway
Bhawani Cabletel and Datacom Limited, the filing said. In DEN, Reliance is
making a primary investment of Rs 2,045 crore through a preferential issue and
secondary purchase of Rs 245 crore from existing promoters. In Hathway, RIL is
making primary investment of Rs 2,940 crore through a preferential issue.
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UK BAN ON HUAWEI'S 5G TO COST MILLIONS OF POUNDS, SAYS
VODAFONE
Vodafone said any move by
Britain to bar equipment made by China's Huawei from all parts of new 5G
networks would cost it hundreds of millions of pounds and very significantly
slow down the deployment of the new technology. The United States has asked
allies not to use Huawei's technology because it could be a vehicle for Chinese
spy operations, an accusation denied by the company. Vodafone said last month
it had paused the use of Huawei components in its core networks in Europe until
governments had assessed the risks. The group's UK chief technology officer
Scott Petty said on Thursday that Huawei radio equipment was used in nearly a
third of the company's 18,000 UK base stations - a part of the network it
gauged to be very low risk. It would also be part of the foundation for 5G
technology. Vodafone said it would launch 5G in 19 towns and cities across
Britain this year, adding 12 more locations to the seven cities that are
already live or are soon to be live under its UK-wide trial. If we were forced
to remove Huawei from the network, we would need to go to the 32 percent of
base stations that are currently using Huawei for radio and replace all of
those with somebody else's technology and then deploy 5G on top of that, Petty
told reporters. The cost of doing that runs into the hundreds of millions and
would dramatically affect our 5G business case; we would have to slow down the
deployment of 5G very significantly.
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40% SMARTPHONE USERS UPGRADE THEIR DEVICES WITHIN A YEAR:
STUDY
As many as 40% smartphone
users upgrade their devices within a year, a survey on smartphone buyer
preferences conducted by gadget discovery site 91mobiles.com stated on
Thursday. According to the survey, 78% of the respondents are planning to buy a
new smartphone in 2019 and smartphone brands Xiaomi and Samsung happen to be
the most popular brands with 25% and 19% votes respectively. New brand Realme's
share – 5% –is higher than established players like ASUS and Nokia with 4% and
3% share respectively. The survey also revealed that 56% of all respondents
will look for a phone in the Rs 10000 to Rs 20000 segment, when they buy next.
44% of all respondents said they would prefer to buy a phone online, while 40%
would prefer offline, and 16% are unsure. Xiaomi and Realme smartphones are
more popular among younger people, while Samsung, OnePlus, and ASUS are favored
by older folks, the study noted. While OPPO, Xiaomi and Samsung are more
popular among women; OnePlus, ASUS and Nokia are more preferred by men. Men
upgrade their smartphones more frequently than women where approximately 40%
men upgrade within a year as compared to 30% women. Younger people below 35
upgrade their phones more frequently than those above over age, the study said.
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WINDOWS 10 NOW RUNNING ON MORE THAN 800 MN DEVICES: MICROSOFT
Microsoft on Thursday said
that its Windows 10 operating system (OS) is now running on more than 800
million active devices worldwide one step closer to its goal of 1 billion
Windows 10 users. Thank you to all our customers and partners for helping us
achieve 800 million Windows 10 devices and the highest customer satisfaction in
the history of Windows, Yusuf Mehdi, Corporate Vice President of Modern Life
and Devices Group tweeted. It took almost three years and eight months for
Windows 10 to reach the goal of 800 million after it was released in July 2015,
Xinhua news agency reported.
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NUMBER OF MOBILE MALWARE ATTACKS DOUBLES IN 2018
The number of users
attacked by malware out to steal premium access login data to popular adult
websites more than doubled in a year, rising from around 50,000 users in 2017
to 110,000 users in 2018. In all, more than 8,50,000 attacks were detected This
growth was accompanied by more offers of stolen credential for sale on dark web
markets and an increase in the number of malware families launching attacks.
These and other findings are unveiled in Kaspersky Lab's report on threats to
users of adult websites in 2018. While porn is usually considered a good decoy
to attract victims to a malicious website or involve them in a fraud scheme,
the adult content itself wasn't previously considered worth hunting for.
However, the new report shows that porn, namely premium accounts to porn
websites, which include access to exclusive content, are gaining more and more
attention from fraudsters. To steal the credentials to a premium account on an
adult-content website, cybercriminals distribute malware through botnets:
chains of 'bots' or devices infected with malware capable of downloading
additional malware depending on the goals of the botnet master. In the case of
credential stealing threats, these botnets are usually formed by versions of
known Banking Trojans that were repurposed to attack users of adult websites.
They intercept their victims' data traffic and redirect them to fake web pages
that mirror the authentic adult site the user is attempting to visit, capturing
the credentials when the user tries to log in to their premium account. Such an
approach is increasingly popular among cybercriminals and usually leads to
victims' personal information being exposed and used by criminals. In addition,
a victim can sometimes find themselves locked out of accounts for which they
could be paying a subscription of USD 150 per year. According to Kaspersky
Lab's researchers, the rising number of users facing such malware is matched by
its intensified productivity. The number of porn-related attacks by these
programs increased almost three-fold: from 3,07,868 attacks in 2017 to 8,50,000
in 2018. Such an increase could be linked to a rise in the number of malware
families distributed by botnets to hunt for porn login credentials.
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PASSENGER VEHICLE SALES DOWN 11% TO 2,72, 284 UNITS IN
FEBRUARY: SIAM
Domestic passenger vehicle
(PV) sales declined 1.11 per cent to 2,72, 284 units in February from 2,75,346
units in the same month the previous year. Domestic car sales were also down
4.33 per cent at 1,71,372 units as compared to 1,79,122 units in February 2018,
according to data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers
(SIAM). Motorcycle sales last month declined by 0.58 per cent to 10,47,486
units as against 10,53,596 units in the same period a year earlier. Vehicle
sales across categories registered a decline of 3.65 per cent to 20,34,768
units from 21,11,804 units in February 2018, it added.
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WHISTLEBLOWER SAYS SUN PHARMA CREATED SITES FOR DOCTORS VIA
SUBSIDIARY
A whistleblower has
alleged that Sun Pharma Ltd used its subsidiary Aditya Medisales Ltd (AML) to
give gifts — including personalised websites and online promotion — to doctors
in violation of pharma industry guidelines Conversations with the
whistleblower, that Sun Pharma ran a programme called DocNet to create
personalised professional websites for over 6,000 doctors. Vendors who designed
the websites, hosted them on the internet and maintained them have invoiced AML
for these services. We categorically deny allegations that Sun Pharma has used
AML to promote doctors on the internet or to pay to social media sites, said a
Sun Pharma spokesperson in an email. It said the SpeakHealth initiative was
launched a few years ago as part of the company’s larger objective to raise
awareness about diseases among patients. Through this platform on Facebook,
YouTube and LinkedIn the company is reaching out to an audience of over 1
million users, Sun said. Having their own websites increased the visibility of
doctors online through search engine results as well as on social media
platforms such as Facebook. Some sites also allowed patients to book
appointments or seek answers to health queries. Sun Pharma also tracked the
traffic that the doctors received online. The names of physicians whose
websites received high traffic were shared by the sales representatives of the
company for promoting certain brands, the whistleblower said. The cost of
creating each website was in the range of Rs 8,000-10,000. The total amount
spent on this exercise was around Rs 60 lakh. These expenses were billed to
AML. The invoice is billed for public cloud and MS & security.
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LS POLLS: BJP TAKES WOMEN ACHIEVERS' SUGGESTIONS FOR MANIFESTO
Ahead of the Lok Sabha
elections, the social media wing of the BJP has reached out to women achievers
from diverse fields, seeking their views and suggestions to be incorporated in
the party's manifesto. The party said the exercise was carried out to ensure a
holistic approach before finalising the manifesto. Priti Gandhi, said the party
sought insights from Padma awardees, sports icons, doctors, lawmakers, theatre
artistes, educationists, environmentalists, agriculturists, women from the
armed forces and war widows. Keeping in mind the importance of this document
(manifesto), we wanted to ensure a holistic view before finalising the
manifesto. For that, we thought of inviting women of substance and women
achievers from various fields to share their insights and suggestions in their
areas of expertise, she said. We reached out to women across the country
through social media and then contacted them personally, Gandhi added. It has
been a very humbling experience to get to know about their struggles. We
believe that these people can give us the right feedback about how things must
function, she said.
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VW TO CHALLENGE NGT FINE OF RS 500 CRORE
The Volkswagen Group
Thursday said it will challenge the order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT),
which slapped a fine of Rs 500 crore on the automaker for damaging the
environment through the use of cheat device in its diesel cars in India. The
Volkswagen Group in India reiterates that all cars from the Group are compliant
with the emission norms defined in India. The Group awaits the copy of the
order of Honourable NGT. The Volkswagen Group will challenge the order of the
Honourable NGT before the Honourable Supreme Court, said a spokesperson at
Volkswagen Group India. The auto maker, however, said that it did not violate
the BS-IV norms and that the test results were based on on road testings for
which there were no prescribed standards. However, the bench contended,
Sustainable development is the main guiding factor. We are unable to accept the
manufacturer's objections to the report.
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ONLY 9% WOMEN AND 11% MEN FEEL SAFE TO USE PUBLIC TRANSPORT,
FINDS SURVEY
Only 9 per cent women and
11 per cent men feel safe to use public transport in the country, of which 3
per cent of both women and men feel that public transport is extremely unsafe,
says a report. Most women cite harassment like verbal abuse, staring, groping,
cat calls, whistling, and molestation among others as the reason for their
opinion. Nearly 35 per cent men and women feel that public transport is safe
except at night, says a report. Nearly 40 per cent cite affordability as the
reason to choose public transport, with 26 per cent stating convenience, while
15 per cent say they have no other option. It notes that 59 per cent of the
surveyed women used public transport.
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1 IN EVERY 3 WOMEN RECEIVES INAPPROPRIATE CALLS, SMS: SURVEY
One in every three women
receives sexual and inappropriate calls or SMS, and Delhi reported the highest
number of such harassment cases in a week, according to a survey by Truecaller.
52 per cent of women who had received harassment calls were sent inappropriate
and sexual content at least once a week, while 47 per cent received unsolicited
videos and pictures with inappropriate and sexual content. Comparatively, in
last year's edition of the survey, 78 per cent women (who received harassment
calls) had received calls with inappropriate and sexual content at least once a
week, and 82 per cent had been sent unsolicited videos and pictures with
inappropriate and sexual content. According to the current survey, 28 per cent
respondents from Delhi reported receiving harassment calls and SMS every week,
making it the highest in India. Interestingly, 53 per cent respondents said
they had received calls from fraudsters seeking to collect sensitive personal
data, and 9 per cent said they received counterfeit calls almost daily.
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WOMEN'S DAY: AIR INDIA TO OPERATE 12 INTERNATIONAL, 40
DOMESTIC FLIGHTS WITH ALL-WOMEN CREW
Delhi-San Francisco (SFO),
will be among the 12 major international flights in which Air India will
operate with an all-women crew on Friday, Women's Day. Seldom has a single
airline scheduled so many flights - operated by its women employees - setting a
benchmark to reiterate the equal role and opportunity women rightly deserve in
any organisation, AI said in a statement. Ashwani Lohani's said: Every
individual and the society must respect women. It is a moment of absolute pride
and honour for Air Indians that our women employees are leaving their mark in
the aviation sector on a global scale. I would like to congratulate our women
crew for operating so many flights on various international and domestic routes
fuelled by their indomitable nari shakti. AI will operate 40 such domestic
flights.
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WHO REJIGS MANAGEMENT, DEPUTY D-G SOUMYA SWAMINATHAN WILL NOW
BE CHIEF SCIENTIST
In a major revamp of its
senior management structure, the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday
moved Soumya Swaminathan from the position of deputy director-general. She was
one of the three deputy director-generals supporting the director-general in
overseeing all programmes. She was the first Indian to hold the position at
WHO. Swaminathan will now be chief scientist in a newly created department in
the WHO According to the WHO statement, Swaminathan will be chief scientist
heading the new chief scientist division created to strengthen WHO’s core
scientific work and ensure the quality and consistency of WHO’s norms and
standards.
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JET AIRWAYS PLANES TO BE REDEPLOYED IF NO RESTRUCTURE AGREED
THIS MONTH: LESSOR
FLY Leasing Ltd has
grounded three planes on lease to India's Jet Airways Ltd and will take them
back and redeploy them elsewhere if the airline cannot gain approvals for a
restructuring plan this month, the lessor's CEO said. Jet Airways on Thursday
said another three aircraft had been grounded due to its failure to make
payments, taking the total number to 28, but it has not specified the lessors
involved. The grounding of nearly one-quarter of the airline's fleet has led to
the cancellation of hundreds of flights and complaints from customers on social
media.
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HOW UP COVERED 800,000 FAMILIES LEFT OUT OF AYUSHMAN BHARAT
DUE TO DATA GAP
The Uttar Pradesh
government's recently launched 'Mukhya Mantri Jan Arogya Abhiyan' is providing
free medical cover to over 800,000 households which were not covered under the
Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana due inadvertent gaps in the
Socio-Economic and Caste Census 2011 (SECC-2011) data. The chief minister's
office had received complaints that some families that would have otherwise
been eligible for coverage under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana had
nonetheless been left out of the SECC-2011 data, senior UP health officials
told. And hence the same eligibility criteria used to select households for
Ayushman Bharat had been used to select the households being covered under the
state's scheme. The eligibility criteria used are the deprivation conditions
listed in the SECC. While households in rural areas must belong to one of the
six listed deprivation criteria to be eligible, households in urban areas must
belong to one of the eleven listed occupational categories. Further, some
categories of households in rural areas are automatically included. After
Ayushman Bharat's launch, data from that survey, according to the officials,
showed that around 1 million additional households, which had not been captured
under SECC-2011, could be eligible for free medical cover. Business Standard
could not independently access this survey. Of the total 32.4 million
households in Uttar Pradesh, 11.8 million, or 36.35 per cent, households were
selected for Ayushman Bharat, shows the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana
official website. The scheme has been implemented on the basis of SECC-2011. After
accounting for duplications between the SECC-2011 data and the state's survey,
the final number arrived at was 854,440 families, they said. Starting March 1,
2019, these families are being provided the same coverage as they would have
received under Ayushman Bharat -- a free medical cover of up to Rs 5 lakh per
family per annum to beneficiaries, they added.
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AP CLEARS 7 PROJECTS WORTH ₹2,840 CRORE
N Chandrababu Naidu, on
Thursday cleared seven projects to be set up in the State with an investment of
₹2,840.99 crore. The SIPB meeting was held at Naidu’s
residence in Amaravati. He urged the officials to focus on food processing,
tourism and service sectors. The projects cleared by the SIPB include Walsin
Electronic India Pvt Ltd, which plans to set up an electronics manufacturing
unit in Tirupati with an investment of ₹734.47 crore, providing
employment to around 1,026. The GM Modular Pvt Ltd plans to set up an
electronics manufacturing unit in Tirupati, with an investment of ₹133.65
crore, providing jobs to 2,230. Tecchren Batteries plans to set up an
electronics manufacturing unit in Sri city, Chittoor, with an investment of ₹445.86
crore, providing employment to 200 people.
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WOMEN’S DAY 2019: WCD SIGNS MOU WITH SKILL DEVELOPMENT
MINISTRY TO PROVIDE SKILLS TRAINING TO WOMEN
On the occasion of
International Women’s Day, the Women and Child Development Ministry and the
Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Ministry entered into an agreement to
provide skills training and employment to women The officials of the two
ministries signed the agreement in the presence of WCD Minister Maneka Gandhi
and Skill Development Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Gandhi said the agreement
would help women in becoming self-sufficient. The WCD Ministry through the RMK
shall assist such women to on-board into the Mahila e-haat platform, a digital
platform for selling products produced by women, according to the details of
the agreement.
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THE RISE OF WOMEN IN A MALE WORKPLACE
Gender diversity numbers
may not be statistically balanced yet However, women today are not only seen to
be breaking age-old patriarchal doctrines but also raiding male bastions as
well. A study by TeamLease Services, reveals 12-15% of traditionally
male-dominated jobs are estimated to have been replaced by women. There are an
estimated 40% women in tourism and hospitality sector as bartenders and chef
managers. ITC Hotels said the number of women in the food & beverage
departments increased 41% in three years. When Manisha Bhasin started out as a
summer trainee at ITC Maurya, she had her eyes fixed on the chef’s cabin.
Today, Bhasin dons the chef’s hat at the same hotel. If you are persistent,
have a clear focus and are passionate about your work, you can achieve your
goals, said Bhasin, who is designated senior executive chef at ITC Maurya, New
Delhi. Bhasin credits mentoring by her seniors as a key enabler for the growth
in her career. She doesn’t believe women chefs are paid less than male chefs,
clearly debunking any theory of a gender pay gap. A chef is a chef is a chef. Irrespective
of gender, one works equally hard, she said. Women in India may be shining in
sports and services, but they are also roughing it out on the shop floor in
manufacturing, doing jobs traditionally performed by men. Yogita Raghuvanshi, a
heavy commercial vehicle driver, chose the field to earn a good income. The job
provides me a minimum income of Rs 2,000-3,000 a day. This was an important
aspect for me because I had to raise two children on my own as my husband had
passed away, said Raghuvanshi, who has earned the accolade of being the most
qualified truck driver. I also fulfil my passion of driving and travelling
across states, added Raghuvanshi, while adding that she’s learnt the ropes
through experience. Some of the lines at Mahindra & Mahindra’s (M&M’s)
manufacturing plants are run 100% by women. In automobiles, M&M has
increased the strength of women on the shop floor from 33 in FY14 to 301 till
the first half of FY19. It now plans to double this number by FY21. Before
hiring 33% women engineer graduates, along with hiring women in support
functions, M&M began with preparing a gender-friendly infrastructure.
Today, M&M has women as forklift drivers, plant engineers, welders and
painters. M&M chief of manufacturing (automotive division) Vijay Kalra
said, From looking under the hood of the car to repairing them, our women
employees are working on a par with their male counterparts. They have broken
all stereotypes and created their own pathway in fields dominated by men.
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KIRAN MAZUMDAR SHAW AT 11TH SPOT IN ‘RICHEST SELF-MADE WOMEN’
LIST, ONLY INDIAN IN THE LIST
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw at the
11th position is the only Indian in the list of ‘Hurun Richest Self-Made Women
in the World 2019’ China ‘property queen’ Wu Yajun, 55, of Longfor is the
world’s richest self-made woman with wealth of $9.8 billion, up 13% over the
previous year. Property developer Longfor last year achieved sales of $30
billion, up 29%, and has 20,000 employees. American ‘roofing queen’ Diane
Hendricks, 72, is in the second position with $7.5 billion, up 29%. She
co-founded ABC supply with her late husband, and is now the largest wholesale
distributor of roofs and walls in the US. The second position is shared by
‘Beijing real estate queen’ Chen Lihua, 78, also of $7.5 billion. Chen is
best-known for owning a significant chunk of downtown Beijing. Judy Love, 81,
stands fourth with $6.2 billion, up 24%. Judy and her husband Tom had opened
their first gas station in Watonga, Oklahoma, in 1964. Judy is the company’s
executive secretary and chairman of the Fortune Family Foundation. Three of
their four children are currently involved with the company. China topped the
list with 51 female entrepreneurs, followed by the US and the UK.
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RAILWAY BOARD HAS APPROVED A PROJECT UNDER WHICH THE INDIAN
RAILWAYS WILL UTILISE ITS LINEAR LAND
With a view to move
towards use of cleaner sources of energy and cut down its power purchase cost,
the Railway Board has approved a project under which the Indian Railways will
utilise its linear land along the tracks to install solar panels. A railway
source on Thursday said that the transporter will begin with a pilot project.
The railways is looking for solar power tenders for 4 gigawatt which is likely
to open up business opportunities of about Rs 18,000 crore for the domestic
solar industry consisting of equipment makers and plant installers. The source
added the tender conditions will include certain levels of domestic production
which will be in line with the Make in India programme. Another source
indicated that the first pilot will be done in the South Central Railways zone.
The tender is likely to be invited by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI),
the government’s nodal agency for solar bidding. The railways currently
requires 16 billion units of electricity every year, equivalent to supplies
from 12 GW of generation capacity. It spends around Rs 10,000 crore on
electricity every year with the average per unit cost being around Rs 6/unit.
In line with the government’s latest effort to increase electrification of
railway tracks, the upcoming solar plants would be designed to use the
transmission system built for railway traction — prospectively lowering the
tariff of electricity. The first source said that apart from 100%
electrification by 2021-22 for traction with zero use of diesel locomotives,
the railways plans to use solar and renewable energy for all its other
requirements. Railways will be green transporter, the first source said.
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KERALA TO SEEK RS 3,500 CRORE WORLD BANK LOAN TO REBUILD STATE
AFTER FLOODS
The Kerala government has
decided to go ahead with utilising the Rs 3,500-crore loan from World Bank for
the first phase of its post-flood rebuilding plans. A joint study by World Bank
and UN agencies had put together an overall rebuilding plan to the tune of Rs
32,000 crore for the state recovering from the devastating floods of August,
2018. The World Bank loan comes to support the phase one of the post-flood
rebuilding plan, in a 70:30 ratio. This means that the state government will
undertake rebuilding work to the tune of Rs 5,000 crore, for which Rs 3,500
crore assistance is to come from World Bank.
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LABOUR MINISTRY SIGNS MOU WITH SIMTARS, AUSTRALIA FOR
COOPERATION IN OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY
Directorate General of
Mines Safety (DGMS) and Safety in Mines, Testing and Research Station (SIMTARS)
propose to explore opportunities including the feasibility of technical
knowledge sharing in the area of occupational safety, health and welfare of
persons engaged in mining operations and also training of key persons or
members of core group from the Inspectorate, Mining Industry and Academia for
formulating the process of systematic implementation and monitoring of the
concept of risk based safety management system through this Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU). SIMTARS is considered to be a premier training and
research institution under the Government of Queensland, Australia and is
comprised of professionals from various disciplines of occupational safety,
health and environment. SIMTARS is known to have exclusive expertise in Mines
Safety Management Systems. While DGMS gains through knowledge sharing, training
of officials for skill up-gradation and exposure to international best
practices; SIMTARS shall gain through knowledge sharing, experiences gained by
its personnel in India and imparting training to persons engaged in mining
industry.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
FLYERS MAY SOON SHELL OUT MORE FOR AIRPORT SECURITY
The passenger security fee
(PSF) of Rs 130 paid by each flyer to cover cost of security deployment at
airports could see a hike. Domestic and international passenger may be required
to pay Rs 20 and Rs 40 more, respectively, taking their PSF to Rs 150 and Rs
170. The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which provides security
deployment at 61 airports, has huge dues from airports, both from the PPP
(public-private partnership) metro ones and some outstanding from Airports
Authority of India (AAI). The airport operators have maintained PSF of Rs 130
decided years ago which is inadequate to meet CISF deployment expense. The
government then set up a panel to review this demand. The panel is looking at a
hike of Rs 20 for domestic passengers, said M A Ganapathy. The hike for
international passengers could be about Rs 40. Rajesh Ranjan on Thursday during
the force’s annual press meet did not give the amount of dues from airports.
Airport operators are gradually paying. A decision (on PSF hike) is in fairly
advanced stage, he said. Last July, airports owed CISF about Rs 1,000 crore
with nearly 80% of the dues being from Delhi Airport alone. Despite repeated
attempts, CISF did not state the current dues from airports. The force
estimates that growing air travel and opening of new airports and terminals
will mean nearly 20,030 personnel will be required at those places. CISF will
be deployed at three airports in Jammu and Kashmir (Srinagar, Jammu and Leh)
very soon. The aviation ministry has given its approval for this and approval
from home ministry is at an advanced stage. Once that happens, CISF will be at
these three airports, Ranjan said. The paramilitary force is looking at
technological advancements to both improve passenger experience and speed up
processes to increase throughput at infra-starved Indian airports. Stamping of
hand baggage has been stopped at 53 airports, with Kannur with the latest
entrant to this list. We are training 3,000 personnel for profiling. Some
personnel are being trained to do security check of autistic passengers, said
Ranjan.
#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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