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
The Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a $300 million loan to support the government’s flagship program, the National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) that is aimed at improving the health status of the country’s urban population.

The loan – Supporting National Urban Health Mission – will reinforce ongoing government efforts under the NUHM to develop health systems in urban areas that can deliver quality health services and that reach the urban poor and vulnerable. It will focus on strengthening primary health care and also promote better coordination between health and urban sectors and opportunities for public-private partnerships.
 “The use of ADB’s results-based lending modality will strengthen NUHM systems and overall results orientation, while allowing states the flexibility they need to pursue targets that they need locally,” said M. Teresa Kho, Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission, who signed the agreement on behalf of ADB.

Shri N. B. Dhal, Joint Secretary (NUHM) at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, signed the project document on behalf of his ministry. The signatories to the loan also signed the accompanying capacity building technical assistance of $2 million, financed by the Japan Fund for Poverty
Reduction.
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Significant capacity building and mechanisms for learning and innovation are also in-built to enhance NUHM systems, management capacity, and implementation processes .

India is urbanizing rapidly, bringing a massive growth of urban poor. Disparities in health status between the poor and non-poor in urban areas are large, due to the adverse living conditions of the urban poor and their limited access to good basic health services. There are few preventive and primary health services in urban areas, while millions of people are faced with poverty every year due to high costs related to health care.

National Council of Science Museums (NCSM), an autonomous Organization under the
Ministry of Culture, is engaged in establishment of Science Centres/Science Cities throughout the country . The Science Cities projects are taken up by NCSM in a phased manner depending upon the availability of resources, project-handling capacity of NCSM and the existing level of Science centre activities in a particular State and also the support/initiative of the state/UT Govt. desirous of having Science Cities.
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
NCSM has developed a Science City in Kolkata. Regional Science Centre, Lucknow, a constituent unit of NCSM, has been upgraded to the status of a Regional Science City. However, no
Science City in the state of Tamil Nadu has been developed by NCSM so far.

During the 12th plan period, NCSM has taken up the project of Science City at Guwahati,
Assam. Science Parks are integral part of all Science Cities.

For encouraging PPP (Public Private Partnership) on Railways, a Policy on Participative models for rail connectivity and capacity augmentation was issued in December 2012.
Model
Concession Agreements for Non-Government line model, Joint Venture, Build Operate and Transfer
(BOT) and Customer funded models have been issued. Till now under different PPP models, 9 projects have been implemented, 13 projects have been approved for implementation, besides 6 projects which have been given ‘in principle’ approval.

The Concession Agreements provide for Conciliation, Arbitration and Adjudication for resolving disputes between Government and partners.

Projects under PPP model are undertaken on the basis of operational requirement, financial viability, bankability and interest of stakeholders . Such projects are not undertaken based on socio-economic development of a particular region.
Background:

The rural agricultural and non-Agriculture consumers (domestic and non-domestic load) of the country are generally serviced through the local distribution network. Many rural areas of the country face insufficient electricity supply, consequently the distribution utilities are forced to resort to load shedding, thus affecting the power supply to both Agriculture and non-Agriculture consumers.

The demand of power in rural areas is increasing day by day due to changing consumer base, improving living standards for which augmentation of rural infrastructure needs to be regularly undertaken

The investment in the distribution network is low due to bad financial health of the distribution companies. Therefore in order to augment the reliability and quality of supply distribution network needs to be strengthened.

To improve the commercial viability of power distribution, there is need for metering of all categories of the consumers
Keeping in view the above problems, Ministry of Power, Government of India has launched Deen
Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana for rural areas having following objectives:

To provide electrification to all villages
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
Feeder separation to ensure sufficient power to farmers and regular supply to other consumers
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Improvement of Sub-transmission and distribution network to improve the quality and reliability of the supply

Metering to reduce the losses
· Scheme has an outlay of Rs 76000 crore for implementation of the projects under which
Government of India shall provide Grant of Rs 63000 crore. A total of Rs 14680 crore worth projects have already been approved out of which projects amounting to Rs 5827 crore have been approved for Bihar state.
Benefits from the scheme

All villages and households shall be electrified

Increase in agriculture yield

Business of Small and household enterprises shall grow resulting into new avenues for employment

Improvement in Health, Education, Banking (ATM) services

Improvement in accessibility to radio, telephone, television, internet and mobile etc

Betterment in social security due to availability of electricity

Accessibility of electricity to schools, panchayats, hospitals and police stations etc
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Rural areas shall get increased opportunities for comprehensive development
Under this scheme, an Agriculture intensive state like Bihar shall benefit from works of feeder separation.
Thousands of kilometres of new lines shall be laid and hundreds of new substations have been planned.
The implementation of this scheme shall ensure the improvement in agricultural productivity and electrification of all the households.
The Central Government has taken a number of steps for providing remunerative prices to farmers including backward and tribal areas for their crops which are as follows:-

Keeping in view the procurement potential areas, procurement centres for MSP operations are opened by Government agencies, both FCI and State Government, after mutual consultations.

Farmers are made aware of the MSP operations by way of advertisements like displaying banners, pamphlets, announcement for MSP and specification in print and electronic media.

Payment for the wheat and paddy procured from farmers is either made directly to the farmers or through arthias/co-operative societies as per prevailing system of the State. Payment to farmers are also made through A/c payee cheque/electronic mode.

Even in respect of paddy purchased by millers, GOI has already advised State Government to ensure payment to farmers by millers/Pvt traders through A/c payee cheque so that trail of payment can be made while issuing MSP certificate to millers for delivery of levy rice to State
Government /FCI.
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
State Governments are encouraged to undertake decentralized procurement, so as to enhance the procurement of food grains.

MSP has been enhanced from time to time to encourage delivery of food grains into central pool purchase.
Safety of women in the country is of utmost priority to the Government. The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development is implementing following schemes for protection of women:-
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Swadhar and Short Stay Homes to provide relief and rehabilitation to destitute women and women in distress.

Ujjawala Homes for rehabilitation of victims of trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation.
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Working Women Hostels for ensuring safe accommodation for working women away from their place of residence.

One Stop Centre to provide integrated support and assistance to women affected by violence.
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Scheme for Universalisation of Women Helpline intended to provide 24 hours immediate and emergency response to women affected by violence.
The scheme of Universalisation of Women Helpline is exclusively designed to support women affected by violence, both in private and public spaces, including in the family, community, workplace etc. The
Women Helpline (Helpline) will provide 24 hour emergency response to all women affected by violence both in public and private sphere. This scheme is being implemented since 1st April 2015. All the
States/UTs have been requested to submit the proposals in order to release funds.
The Govt. of India has constituted ‘All India Council of Sports’.
The council will be an advisory body for the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
While the advice rendered by the council will be duly considered by the government, it will not be binding and obligatory on the government. The council may organize national, international conferences, seminars, symposia etc, for promotion of sports and games in the country.
The Council will be headed by a President in the rank of Minister of State and will include four
Members of Parliament, Sports personalities, coaches, sports experts, sports administrators, DG
SAI, DG NADA, Vice Chancellor of LNIPE, officials from Sports Ministry, representatives from
National Sports Federations, Indian Olympic Association, corporate bodies and NGOs.
Appointments of the President and members of the Council other than ex-officio members shall be made by the Government.The Council will meet from time to time, at least once in a quarter, and deliberate on matters relating to the promotion and development of sports and games in the country. The Council will have the aims and objectives as indicated below:

 popularizing sports amongst the youth as a way of life; increasing outreach of sports to rural and tribal areas, areas affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE),
North East and Jammu & Kashmir;
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 implementation of policies for promotion of sports and games in the country;
 matters relating to promotion of inclusiveness in sports with special focus on women, differentlyabled, tribals etc;
 preventing drug abuse in sports, fraud of age and sexual harassment of women in sports;
 bringing professionalism, transparency and good governance in functioning of National Sports
Federations;
 ways and means to raise resources for the promotion of sports and games in the country;
 promotion of sports sciences and sports medicine;
 augmenting sports infrastructure and ensuring its proper utilization;
 matters relating to participation and performance of sportspersons and teams in international sporting
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 events; issues arising out of match fixing and other malpractices in competitive sports; and ways and means to promote indigenous games in the country
 early identification of sports talent and nurturing of the identified talent;
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Integration of sports in educational curriculum in schools, colleges and universities;
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Welfare measures for sportspersons;
 issues and matters specifically referred to the Council by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports.

The pioneering sculpture of Manipur’s Poubi Lai, a mythical reptile has been put up in
National Museum (NM) for temporary exhibition.
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The major wooden artwork is only 12 years old but has earned a special place in the history of beliefs related to the ‘horned python’ that is integral to the age-old tradition of hilly
Kangleipak region’s Meitei—an ethnic group who speak a Sino-Tibetan language.
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The Government has been placing an emphasis on promoting the cultural heritage of the North
East. With this exhibition, both IGRMS and National Museum have taken a step forward to support this cultural awareness in Delhi.

Conceived and chiseled by (late) wood-carver Karam Dineshwar Singh, who was one of the successors of the royal family-associated Karigar craftspeople, the 21-foot-long artwork found expression in 2002 from a dream he had of Poubi Lai one night.
Completed in six months, the sculpture had its inaugural exhibition the same year at Manipur State Museum in the state capital of Imphal.
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Art historians note that this sculpture was first of its kind that drew attention of a large audience to console themselves with the live presentations of Poubi Lai about which they have ever heard only in stories. The work has travelled to France for an exhibition.

According to a Meitei belief, godly king Nongda Lairen Pakhangba lived as a human being at night—and could also transform himself into a divine snake called Paphal. Details of such spiritual prowess are available in ‘Paphal Lambuba’—an illustrated manuscript that contains 364 diagrammatic representations of Pakhangba. These assumptions are attributed as Umang Lai, the controlling deity.
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 Till date, ‘Paphal’ finds place as the divine form of the ruling deity, occupying a significant slot in the socio-religious and political structure of Meitei society.
Finance Minister said that the Government has laid down a long term four year plan for Bank capitalization .
He added that It is a long overdue step, Government in the past has talked about it,But this time government is actually implementing it.This will gave a boost for investment and growth in India.
He was speaking in connection with the supplementary demand for grants of 2015-16 being laid in the
Parliament today, in which Rs 12000 crore has been provided for bank capitalization. Government also proposes to make available Rs.70,000 crores out of budgetary allocations for four years.
The Public Sector Banks (PSBs) play an important role in the economy of India. Of late, because of variety of legacy issues including the delay caused in various approvals as well as land acquisition etc., and also because of low global and domestic demand, many large projects are strained. Public Sector
Banks which have got predominant share of infrastructure financing have been affected by this phenomenon. It has resulted in lower profitability of Public Sector Banks, mainly due to provisioning for the restructured projects as well as for gross NPAs.
As of now, the PSBs are adequately capitalized and meeting all the Basel III and RBI norms.
However, the Government of India wants to adequately capitalize all the banks to keep a safe buffer over and above the minimum norms of Basel III.
We have, therefore, estimated how much capital will be required this year and in the next three years till FY 2019. If we exclude the internal profit generation which is going to be available to PSBs (based on the estimate of average profit of the last three years), the capital requirement of extra capital for the next four years up to FY 2019 is likely to be about
Rs.1,80,000 crore. This estimate is based on credit growth rate of 12% for the current year and 12 to 15% for the next three years depending on the size of the bank and their growth ability. We are also presuming that the emphasis on Public Sector Bank’s financing will reduce over the years by development of vibrant corporate debt market and by greater participation of Private Sector Banks.
Out of the total requirement, the Government of India proposes to make available Rs.70,000 crores out of budgetary allocations for four years as per the figures given below:

Year 2015 -16- Rs. 25,000 cr
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Year 2016-17- Rs. 25,000 cr
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Year 2017-18- Rs. 10,000 cr
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Year 2018-19- Rs.10,000 cr
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Total- Rs. 70,000 crore
It is estimated that PSB’s market valuations will improve significantly due to
 far-reaching governance reforms;
 tight NPA management and risk controls;
 significant operating improvements; and
 capital allocation from the government.
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Improved valuations coupled with value unlocking from non-core assets as well as improvements in capital productivity, will enable PSBs to raise the remaining Rs. 110,000 crore from the market.
However, the government is committed to making extra budgetary provisions in FY 18 and FY 19, to ensure that PSBs remain adequately capitalized to support economic growth.
In the Supplementary Demand an amount of Rs.12,000 crore has been provided, in addition to Rs.7940 crores already provided in the budget of FY 2015-16. The remaining Rs.5,000 crore would be provided in the second Supplementary later this year.
The Rs.25,000 crore capital this year will be allocated through three tranches to meet three different objectives:
Tranche 1: About 40% of this amount will be given to those banks which require support, and every single PSB will be brought to the level of at least 7.5% by Financial Year 2016.
Tranche 2: 40% capital will be allocated to the top six big banks viz. SBI, BOB, BOI, PNB, Canara
Bank, and IDBI Bank in order to strengthen them to play a vital role in the economy.
Tranche 3: The remaining portion of 20% will be allocated to the banks based on their performance during the three quarters in the current year judged on the basis of certain performance. This will incentivize them to improve their performance in the current year.
Ministry of Tribal Affairs has revised the Central Sector Scheme known as “Development of Particularly
Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)”, w.e.f. 1st April, 2015, under which the Ministry will provide
100% financial assistance through State Governments for activities including housing, land distribution and land development, agricultural development, animal husbandry, construction of link roads, installation of non-conventional sources of energy or other innovative activity, for the comprehensive socio-economic development of PVTGs, based on Conservation-cum-Development
(CCD) Plan prepared by the concerned State Governments on the basis of assessment of their requirements . Under the Scheme, priority is accorded for their protection and improvement in terms of the social indicators like livelihood, health, nutrition and education, so as to decrease their vulnerability.
At present there are 75 tribal groups identified and categorized as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal
Groups (PVTGs), (earlier known as Primitive Tribal Groups) located in the States/UT of AP,
Bihar, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, MP, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Manipur,
Odisha, Rajasthan, TN, Tripura, UP, Uttarakhand, West-Bengal and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
The National Design Policy was approved by the Government in 2007. The details of the Policy, inter alia, include:

Promotion of Indian design through a well-defined and managed regulatory, promotional and institutional framework ;
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 Setting up of specialized Design Centres or “Innovation Hubs” for sectors such as automobile and transportation, jewellery, leather, soft goods, digital products, toys & games which will provide common facilities and enabling tools like rapid product development, high performance visualization, etc. along with enterprise incubation as well as financial support through mechanisms like venture funding, loans and market development assistance for start-up design-led ventures and young designers’ design firms/houses;
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Formulation of a scheme for setting up Design Centres / Innovation Hubs in select locations/Industrial clusters/ backward states, particularly in the North East;

Laying special focus on up-gradation of existing design institutes and faculty resources to international standards, particularly the National Institute of Design (NID) and its new campuses/ centres with a view to spreading quality education in designs to all regions of India, four more National Institutes of Design on the pattern of NID will be set up in different regions of the country during the 11th Five Year Plan.
 Initiation of action to seek “Deemed University” or “University” under section 3(f) of the
University Grants Commission Act, status for the NIDs , so that they can award degrees of B.
Des. and M. Des. instead of just Diplomas as at present;
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Encouraging the establishment of departments of design in all the Indian Institutes of
Technology (IITs) and all the National Institutes of Technology (NITs) as well as in prestigious private sector Colleges of Engineering and Architecture;
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Preparation of a mechanism for recognizing and awarding industry achievers in creating a brand image for Indian designs though the award of a India Design Mark on designs which satisfy key design criteria like originality, innovation, aesthetic appeal, user-centricity, ergonomic features, safety and Eco-friendliness;

Facilitating the establishment of a Chartered Society for Designers (on the lines of the
Institutions of Engineers, the Institution of Architects, the Medical Council, the Bar
Council, etc.) , to govern the registration of Design Professionals and the various matters relating to standards setting in the profession;
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Setting up an India Design Council (IDC) with eminent personalities drawn from different walks of life.
In order to draw up a Detailed Action Plan in pursuance of the National Design policy a Committee was constituted with representatives of various Ministries and Departments with Director, NID, Ahmedabad as Member Secretary on 6th March 2007. The final recommendations of the Committee are as under:

Constitution of the Design Council of India.

Form a Chartered Society of Designers.

Form a Working Group for new Institutes of Design and strengthening of Design
Education in Existing Institutions.

To conduct Design Awareness Programmes
The Design Clinic Scheme project being implemented by NID across the country is intended to improve the manufacturing competency of the MSMEs through design intervention to their products and services and to provide them design edge in the global market and hence supports the MAKE IN INDIA programme of the Government of India.
The objectives of the Panchayat Yuva Krida Aur Khel Abhiyan (PYKKA) scheme , which has since been revised and renamed as Rajiv Gandhi Khel Abhiyan (RGKA) Scheme w.e.f. 01.04.2014, were as under:
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• To provide universal access to sports in rural areas and promote a sports culture among both boys and girls;
• To harness available and potential sporting talent among rural youth through a well designed competition structure from the block level;
• To put in place an effective mechanism to identify and nurture sporting talent in rural areas;
• To make focused efforts to give adequate training and exposure under existing schemes of the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports (MoYAS) and Sports Authority of India (SAI), to promising sportspersons coming out of this process;
• To promote both indigenous and modern games; and
• To create seamless integration between the competition structure right from the panchayat level through to the national level in order to facilitate exponential growth in the number of high performing sportspersons.
During operation of the PYKKA Scheme from 2008-09 to 2013-14, 57,839 playfields have been developed in village/block panchayats. A total of 20,21,340 sportspersons (9,55,931 men and 10,65,409 women) participated. 67,931 panchayats (65,943 village panchayats and 1,988 block panchayats) have been covered under the PYKKA Scheme. 27,280 Kridashrees (sports volunteers) have been trained under the scheme.
Sophisticated instruments, indigenously designed and developed by CSIR-National Aerospace
Laboratories (CSIR-NAL), Bengaluru called as - DRISHTI, have now been made fully operational at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi.
They are used for reporting the runway visual range, which is a critical parameter for safe landing and take-off of aircraft in poor visibility conditions
(<25 to >2000 meters). Drishti Transmissometers have been installed at this airport recently, as a part of the first phase installation of 20 such systems in 10 airports across the country .
The CAT III B IGI Airport, New Delhi, is now the first Airport in the country to have 10 indigenous systems operating in all its three runways.
Earlier, a milestone was achieved in the field of aviation safety, when CSIR-NAL and India
Meteorological Department (IMD) signed a partnership agreement to jointly execute a mega project for installation of nearly 70 Drishti systems, at various Airports of the country.
The Drishti field site system is completely designed and fabricated at CSIR-NAL. IMD has established the dual mode “Landline” and “Wi-Fi” communication along with multiple displays at
Air Traffic Control Room and Approach Radar Room . The development of ‘Drishti Integrated
Visibility Software’ by CSIR-NAL, wherein the data from all the Drishti systems of all the runways of
IGI Airport can be viewed on a single screen at ATC has eased out computer and instruments congestion at ATC and would aid the MET officer to easily report visibility data to pilots.
The Drishti system is very cost-effective and is a mandatory system required at all airports as per
International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and World Meteorological Organisation
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(WMO). The complete system is engineered in such a way to enable easy installation and maintenance.
Another advantage of this indigenous system is that CSIR-NAL can do the health monitoring of the system through web enabling from Bengaluru itself. This drastically reduces the cost of maintenance, which is exorbitant in case of imported systems.
An important milestone was achieved when the final blasting was done to open the India’s longest road tunnel between Chenani to Nashri on the Jammu – Srinagar National Highway.
The project involves construction of approximately 9.2 Kms long main tunnel along with parallel escape tunnel interconnected by 29 Cross Passages at 300 metres interval. The escape tunnel will exclusively be used for pedestrians
The tunnel will provide safe and all-weather route that will result in a significant time saving to the commuters travelling along the National Highway between Jammu and Srinagar. The tunnel will also reduce distance between Jammu and Srinagar by 30 Kms.
The tunnel will ensure preservation of pristine forests in the ecological sensitive Patnitop area.
The project has already provided employment to about 2000 youth of J&K. This constitutes 94% of the total workforce that has been employed for the construction of this project from J&K. Shri Gadkari while applauding the role of the people involved in this ambitious project especially the employees of NHAI and IL&FS Transportation Networks Limited, said that this milestone would not have been possible without their tiresome efforts and immense dedication.
This state-of-the-art tunnel project will also have parking spots after a specific distance to tow away or shift vehicles in case of a breakdown. The four-lane project would go a long way in creating an all-weather road to the Kashmir valley.
In its thirtieth flight, conducted from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, ISRO's Polar
Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C28 successfully launched three identical DMC3 commercial Earth
Observation Satellites, along with two smaller satellites from United Kingdom, into a polar Sun
Synchronous Orbit which was very close to the intended orbit of 647 km height.
The five satellites together weighed about 1440 kg at lift-off.
These five satellites were launched as part of the agreement entered into between DMC
International Imaging (DMCii), a wholly owned subsidiary of Surrey Satellite Technology Limited
(SSTL), UK and Antrix Corporation Limited, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO), a government of India Company under the Department of Space (DOS). This was the twenty ninth consecutively successful flight of PSLV.
PSLV was launched in its heaviest ‘XL’ version with six strap-on motors of the first stage. This flight was unique since for the first time, the ‘XL’ version of PSLV was used to launch foreign payloads exclusively
. Till now, the lighter ‘core alone’ version of PSLV has been used to launch foreign
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Through 29 successful flights during 1994-2015 period, PSLV has launched a total of 77 satellites with a total mass of 32.04 tons, of which 4.64 tons (about 14%) comprises 45 satellites for customers from abroad.
The vehicle has repeatedly proved its reliability and versatility by successfully launching satellites into a variety of orbits including polar Sun Synchronous, Geosynchronous Transfer and Low
Earth orbits thereby emerging as the workhorse launch vehicle of India.
The 320 ton PSLV-C28 lifted off from the First Launch Pad (FLP) at SDSC SHAR at 2158 hrs (9:58 pm)
IST with the ignition of its first stage. The important flight events included the ignition and separation of strap-ons, separation of the first stage, ignition of the second stage, separation of the payload fairing at about 118 km altitude after the vehicle had cleared the dense atmosphere, second stage separation, third stage ignition and third stage separation, fourth stage ignition and fourth stage cut-off.
Once in proper orbit, the three DMC3 satellites were successfully deployed about 18 minutes after lift-off in quick succession. Following this, the 7 kg Nanosatellite De-OrbitSail and the 91 kg Microsatellite
CBNT-1 were also successfully deployed.
This successful commercial launch of PSLV further underscores the country’s capability in launch vehicle technologies.
Nagpur based National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) of Council of
Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the Centre for Development of Advanced
Computing (C-DAC) of Department of Electronics and Information Technology of the Government of India have jointly developed an ‘Electronic Nose’ for environmental monitoring that can help sniff out a variety of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and odorants at a pulp and paper mill industry with a prime objective to protect the health of thousands of workers working in this industry. This portable device measures odour concentration and odour intensity.
This has been the first attempt in India to develop such a product using odour sensors that make use of intelligent software to identify odorous molecules. It is also possible to train the software by feeding information based on observation of experts.
The pulp and paper industry emits a variety of gases, namely, hydrogen sulphide, methyl mercaptan, dimethyl sulphide, and dimethyl disulphide all of which beyond a certain concentrations may adversely affect the environment and human health, This newly developed Electronic Nose helps in continuous monitoring of these gases, overcoming all limitations of the available analytical instruments that are not only expensive and time-consuming . The Electronic Nose can easily be operated at a pulp and paper mill industry and is currently functioning successfully at The Mysore Paper Mills
Limited, Bhadravathi, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu Paper Mill . Besides, it also establishes a correlation between sensory and analytical measurements for the sulphurous odorants generated from pulp and paper industries, tanneries and distilleries.
The Electronic Nose uses an array of sensors that function on the principle similar to that of human olfaction. The sensor array generates a pattern based on the type of aroma. The patterns obtained are trained to help interpret and distinguish amongst various odors and odorants as well as to
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The researchers are currently working on the application of Electronic Nose to monitor gas emissions from any source, be it an industry or leakage of petroleum pipes going through fields or farms.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by the Prime Minister Shri
Narendra Modi, has given its approval to a Central Sector Scheme for Promotion of National
Agricultural Market through Agri-Tech Infrastructure Fund (ATIF).
The Department of Agriculture
& Cooperation (DAC) will set it up through the Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) by creation of a common electronic platform deployable in selected regulated markets across the country.
An amount of Rs. 200 crore has been earmarked for the scheme from 2015-16 to 2017-18.
This includes provision for supplying software free of cost by DAC to the States and Union Territories (UTs) and for cost of related hardware/infrastructure to be subsidized by the Government of India up to Rs. 30 lakh per Mandi (other than for private mandis).
The target is to cover 585 selected regulated markets across the country:

2015-16: 250 mandis

2016-17: 200 mandis

2017-18:135 mandis
585 regulated markets across the country will be integrated with the common e-platform to provide farmers and traders with access to opportunities for purchase/ sale of agri-commodities at optimal prices in a transparent manner across the country. Besides, private markets will also be allowed access to the e-platform thereby enhancing its outreach.
The Scheme is applicable on All-India basis. There is no State wise allocation under the Scheme.
However, desirous States would be required to meet the pre-requisites in terms of carrying out necessary agri-marketing reforms.
SFAC will be the lead agency for the development of the National e-Market by the Ministry of
Agriculture, and they will select a service provider through open bidding. An appropriate common e-market platform will be set up that would be deployable in the selected 585 regulated wholesale markets in States/UTs desirous of joining the e-platform.
The SFAC will implement the national eplatform in three phases during 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18. DAC will meet expenses on software and its customisation for the States and provide it free of cost to the States and UTs. DAC will also give grant as one time fixed cost subject to the ceiling of Rs.30 lakh per Mandi for related equipment / infrastructure in the 585 regulated mandis, for installation of the e-market platform. Big private mandis will also be allowed access to the e-platform for purposes of price discovery. However they will not be supported with any funds for equipment / infrastructure.
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For integration with the e-platform the States/UTs will need to undertake prior reforms in respect of
 a single license to be valid across the State,
 single point levy of market fee and
 provision for electronic auction as a mode for price discovery.
Only those States/UTs that have completed these three pre-requisites will be eligible for assistance under the scheme.
The e-marketing platform should promote reform of the agricultural marketing sector and apart from promoting free flow of agri commodities across the country and should result in greater farmer satisfaction as prospects for marketing of his produce would be significantly enhanced. He will have improved access to market related information and better price discovery through a more efficient, transparent and competitive marketing platform, which gives him access to a greater number of buyers within the State and from outside, through transparent auction processes. It would also increase his access to markets through warehouse based sales and thus obviate the need to transport his produce to the mandi.
Background:
Following successive Budget announcements of 2014 and 2015 on setting up an "Agri-Tech
Infrastructure Fund" and on National Market respectively, DAC formulated the scheme for Promotion of
National Agriculture Market through Agri-Tech Infrastructure Fund (ATIF).
Integration of agri-markets across the country through the e-platform is seen as an important measure for overcoming challenges posed by the present agri-marketing system namely - fragmentation of State into multiple market areas each administered by separate APMC, multiple levy of mandi fees, requirement for multiple license for trading in different APMCs, licensing barriers leading to conditions of monopoly, poor quality of infrastructure and low use of technology, information asymmetry, opaque process for price discovery, high level of market charges, movement controls, etc.
The need to unify markets both at State and National level is, therefore, clearly the requirement of time, in order to provide better price to farmers, improve supply chain, reduce wastages and create a unified national market through provision of the common e-platform.
The Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India has released data on disabled population by type of disability, type of households and sex – 2011.
The data gives the number of households having disabled persons by type of households including normal, institutional and houseless households. The disabled persons living in different type of households are further cross-classified into eight different disabilities i.e. seeing, hearing, speech, movement, mental retardation, mental illness, any other and multiple disability for India/States/UTs.
The data released shows 207.8 lakh households having disabled persons in the country constituting
8.3 percent of the total households . Out of the total households having disabled persons, about 99 percent households are normal households, 0.4 percent are institutional and 0.2 percent are houseless households.
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Total households having disabled persons show an increase of 20.5 lakhs, from 187.3 lakhs in 2001 to 207.8 lakhs in 2011 (6.2 lakhs in rural and 14.3 lakhs in urban). Normal households increased by
2,02,4495, institutional households by 8,370 and houseless households by 13,560 during the decade 2001-
11.
Disabled persons in normal households increased by 48,19,382, institutional households by 65,895 and houseless households by 22,948 during the said decade.
The IPDS is one of the flagship programmes of the Ministry of Power and will be at the core attempt to ensure 24x7 power for all.
The Scheme, announced in the Union Budget 2014-15 , aims at strengthening of sub-transmission network, Metering, IT application, Customer Care Services, provisioning of solar panels and the completion of the ongoing works of Restructured Accelerated
Power Development and completion of the Reforms Programme (RAPDRP).
Government of India will provide budgetary support of Rs. 45,800 crore over the entire implementation period of IPDS.
Out of the total amount Rs 1,067 crore has been sanctioned for Uttar
Pradesh including Rs 572 crore for Varanasi. The Project envisages converting area overhead lines into underground cabling in the areas around the temples and ghats in the Varanasi city. The Scheme includes upgradation of the electrical assets at Sub – centers, lines and distribution transformers, capacity enhancement and renewal of the old sub – stations and installation of roof-top solar panel in government buildings. IPDS will help in reduction in AT&C losses; establishment of IT enabled energy accounting / auditing system, improvement in billed energy based on metered consumption and improvement in collection efficiency.
India has a strong and longstanding relationship with Seychelles of which defence cooperation is a very significant component. The defence cooperation between the two nations includes cooperation in the field of Training, Hydrography and Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA).
India has also provided a Fast Attack Craft and Dornier aircraft to Seychelles as part of its capability development programme.
INS Teg, a stealth frigate of the Indian Navy is currently on a two-month long deployment in the
South Indian Ocean with an aim to provide surveillance support in the region.
This is in keeping with India's national objective of ensuring a secure and stable regional environment to allow unhindered economic and social development, not just in India, but also in the entire Indian Ocean Region. The
Indian Navy, while shouldering its security responsibilities, is committed to these objectives and has been contributing in capacity building and capability enhancement of friendly foreign countries, as and when requested by them.
INS Teg is a state-of-the-art guided missile frigate of the Indian Navy and is based at Mumbai.
With a displacement of 4000 tons and speed of 30 knots, she is armed with the latest weapons and is
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We will open the world of knowledge for you…! capable of accomplishing a wide variety of missions. At the helm of the ship is the Commanding Officer,
Captain AY Sardesai who is assisted by a team of professional and highly motivated men of the Indian
Navy.
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today gave its approval for setting up of six new Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) in the country.
These new IIMs will be located at Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Bodh Gaya (Bihar),
Sirmaur (Himachal Pradesh), Nagpur (Maharashtra), Sambalpur (Odisha) and Amritsar (Punjab).
These IIMs will begin functioning from assigned temporary campuses and shift to their permanent sites after construction of their campuses. It is intended that these six new IIMs will commence their first academic session from 2015-16. Each Institute will start with an intake of 140 students in the Post
Graduate Programme (PGP) courses. It is expected that the annual intake will increase to reach a level of
560 students each year by the end of seven years.
The PGP in Management would be the flagship programme of these institutions. Admission to the PGP will be through the open and competitive Common Admission Test (CAT) being conducted by the IIMs.
The Institutes would train young graduates to undertake management responsibilities and carry out research and consultancy in the field of management and allied areas. Their programmes will provide the country, potential leaders in diverse fields of endeavour and enterprise.
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Operational Guidelines prescribe objective, equitable criteria for selection of Smart,
AMRUT Cities and allocation of of funds to States

Action Plans for resource mobilization and Urban Reforms, Citizen participation made mandatory
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Delay in fund transfer to Urban Local Bodies, diversion by States to be penalized

Guidelines ensure timely execution projects to avoid JNNURM pitfalls
Based on the learnings of implementation of Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission
(JNNURM) that ended up in sub-optimal physical and financial performance , the Central Government has radically overhauled the Operational Guidelines for implementation of Smart Cities Mission,
Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Housing for All Mission in Urban Areas.
The Guidelines released by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi at the launch of the three new urban missions here today allow the States and Union Territories full liberty and flexibility in formulation, approval and execution of projects under the three missions. The two urban ministries have sought to ensure timely sanction and execution and certainty of resources for various projects and participation of citizens in identifying development needs under the new urban schemes. Central
Government has virtually withdrawn from the earlier practice of appraising and sanctioning individual projects, there by ending the scope for subjectivity and discretion.
The major new provisions incorporated in the Guidelines and common to all the three urban missions include:
1. Objective criteria for selection of cities and allocation of funds:
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Potential Smart Cities and AMRUT cities are to be based on an objective and equitable criteria giving equal weightage to urban population and number of statutory cities in each State/UT. Housing Mission to be implemented in all the 4,041 statutory cities/towns.
For smart city development, each selected city will be provided central assistance of Rs.100 cr per year.
Under AMRUT, allocation of funds will be as per urban population and number of cities/towns in each
State/UT. Under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana in urban areas, it will be based on the number of urban poor and slum dwellers.
2. States/UTs to appraise and approve individual projects unlike in the past when urban ministries used to do so.
3. To avoid delays and non-completion of projects on account of lack of resources, States/UTs will now be required to firmly indicate resource tie ups under state level action plans.
4. To enhance urban governance, clear Action Plans for timely implementation of identified reforms need to be indicated.
5. Consultations with urban citizens made mandatory to ensure need based and bottom up planning of projects.
6. State level Action Plans to clearly indicate convergence with other central and state government schemes as appropriate for resource maximization.
7. PPP model shall be the main resource of resource mobilization.
8. Involvement of Members of Parliament and State Assemblies in formulation and monitoring of projects provided for.
Mission-wise Guidelines seeking better execution of projects are as below:
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No projects without availability of land and all necessary clearences shall be included in the Mission by States/UTs.
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States shall transfer funds to urban local bodies within 7 days of transfer by central government and no diversion of funds to be made failing which penal interest would be charged besides taking other adverse action by the centre.
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Action Plans should provide for O&M costs for assets created for at least five years based on user charges.
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Instead of penalizing States/ULBs for non-implementation of reforms by linking fund release with progress on reforms resulting in delays, the Guidelines now provide for incentivizing reforms by earmarking 10% of annual allocation to be allocated to good performers at the end of each year.
 For water supply, sewerage, septage, storm water drains and urban transport, centre’s share to be in the range of 1/3 of project cost to 50%. States to mobilize the balance with its own share being not less than 20%.
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A set of 11 Reforms to be implemented in four years including :Promoting e-governance, Improving collection of various taxes, fee and user charges, Augmenting double entry accounting, Constitution and professionalization of municipal cadre, Preparation of GIS based Master Plans, Devolution of funds and functionaries to urban local bodies, Review of Building By-laws, Setting up financial intermediaries for pooling and disbursement of resources, Credit Rating of urban local bodies, Energy and Water Audit and Achieving Swachh Bharat Milestones.
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Central assistance to be used only for infrastructure projects which have larger public benfit
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Minimum area norm for Retrofitting is 500 acres; for Redevelopment-50 acres; for Green Field projects-250 acres. This will be 50% for North-Eastern and Himalayan states.
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
Bench marks to be achieved include : 10% of energy needs to be met from renewable sources, 80% of building construction to be green and 35% of housing in green field projects to be for economically weaker sections.
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Special Purpose Vehicles to be set up for implementation of smart city plans with 50:50 equity of
States and Urban Local Bodies
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An Inter-departmental Task Force to be set up to coordinate all aspects of smart city development
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Ownership of houses to be in the name of woman or jointly with husband
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Houses of 30 sq.mt carpet area to be built for EWS category. In case of non-availability States can relax with the consent of beneficiaries. States also can enhance the area while meeting the additional expenditure.
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Central grant of Rs.one lakh on an average per house to be provided by the Central Government can be used by States for any slum redevelopment project in the state to make them viable.
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Interest support @ 6.50% to be paid soon after sanction of loan to the beneficiary so as to bring down
EMI .
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Beneficiaries can submit Self-certificate/Affidavit as proof of income.
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Under Affordable Housing in Partnership with Private and Public Sector, 35% of houses shall be for economically weaker sections and the minimum project size shall be above 250 houses.

Central Ministries/Agencies also to take up Slum Redevelopment Projects on their lands without charging for land and will be eligible for central grant.
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Under In-situ Slum Redevelopment, Private developers to be chosen through open tendering and it is developers’ responsibility to provide transit accommodation during construction period. Private developers to be given only that much of land required for commercial viability of project.
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today gave its approval for launch of “Housing for All by 2022” aimed for urban areas with following components/options to States/Union
Territories and cities:-
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Slum rehabilitation of Slum Dwellers with participation of private developers using land as a resource;
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Promotion of affordable housing for weaker section through credit linked subsidy;
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Affordable housing in partnership with Public & Private sectors and
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Subsidy for beneficiary-led individual house construction or enhancement.
Central grant of Rs. one lakh per house, on an average, will be available under the slum rehabilitation programme.
A State Government would have flexibility in deploying this slum rehabilitation grant to any slum rehabilitation project taken for development using land as a resource for providing houses to slum dwellers. Under the Credit Linked Interest Subsidy component, interest subsidy of 6.5 percent on housing loans availed upto a tenure of 15 years will be provided to EWS/LIG categories, wherein the subsidy pay-out on NPV basis would be about Rs.2.3 lakh per house for both the categories.
Central assistance at the rate of Rs.1.5 lakh per house for EWS category will be provided under the
Affordable Housing in Partnership and Beneficiary-led individual house construction or enhancement.
State Government or their para statals like Housing Boards can take up project of affordable housing to avail the Central Government grant.
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The scheme will be implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme except the credit linked subsidy component, which will be implemented as a Central Sector Scheme.
The Mission also prescribes certain mandatory reforms for easing up the urban land market for housing, to make adequate urban land available for affordable housing. Houses constructed under the mission would be allotted in the name of the female head of the households or in the joint name of the male head of the household and his wife.
CSIR provided a boost to the India’s National Programme on Micro Air Vehicles (NP-MICAV) jointly coordinated by the Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO) and the
Department of Science & Technology of Government of India,. CSIR has set up a Micro Air
Vehicle Aerodynamics Research Tunnel in the CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) campus --the first of its kind in India to test the fixed-wing, flapping-wing and rotary-wing MAVs in the
500 mm wingspan category.
This state-of-the-art facility would address all the aerodynamic, propulsion and aero-elastic issues related to MAVs . The tunnel has a provision for either closed test section for the study of aerofoil sections/3D wing-body models or open jet test section for the flapping and rotary wing studies.
CSIR-NAL is playing a lead role in this national level programme jointly with many academic institutions. Fixed wing MAVs of Black Kite, Golden Hawk and Pushpak with a 300-450 mm span, 300 g weight, 2 km range and endurance of 30 minutes have been developed. These MAVs have been demonstrated for ITBP, CRPF, Punjab Police, NDRF, IDS, Artillery Training School etc. A high altitude mini UAV named Slybird with1.6 m wing span, 1.3 m length and 2 kg weight with an operational range of 10 km and endurance of 1 hr has also been developed successfully and flight tested at Leh-
Ladak (12000 ft above sea level).
Setting up of a Help Line: Pursuant to Prime Minister's Mann ki Baat Programme, a National tollfree helpline (1 8 0 0 - 1 1 - 0 0 3 1) for Prevention of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse has been set up on 7th
January 2015.
Creation of ‘Venture Capital Fund for Scheduled Caste Entrepreneurs’ Scheme: The objective of this Scheme is to promote entrepreneurship among the Scheduled Castes and to provide concessional finance to them. The scheme would be implemented by the Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI)
Limited to whom Rs. 200.00 Crore has been released.
Credit Enhancement Guarantee Scheme for the Scheduled Castes: The objective of the Scheme is to promote entrepreneurship among the scheduled castes and to facilitate concessional finance to them. The allocated budget of Rs. 200 crore has been released on 26.03.2015 to IFCI Limited.
Swachhta Udyami Yojana: As an integral part of 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' launched by the Prime
Minister on 2nd October, 2014, the NSKFDC has launched a new Scheme ‘Swachhta Udyami Yojana’ on
2nd October, 2014 for financing viable community toilet projects and sanitation related vehicles to collect garbage.
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Commercial Motor Driving Training with Self Defence Skills for Women: For the economic as well as social empowerment of women belonging to the to the category of safai Karamcharis, scavengers and their dependents, the NSKFDC has introduced a course of "Commercial Motor Driving Training with Self
Defence Skills for Women".
Green Business Scheme: Started by NSFDC and NSKFD the aim is to promote protected cultivation to support sustainable livelihoods of Scheduled Castes and Safai Karamcharis. Financial assistance would be provided for those economic activities that could address the challenges of climate change, e.g., Erickshaw, solar pump and other instruments working on solar energy etc.
Sanitary Mart Scheme: Launched in 2014-15, under the Scheme loans are provided upto Rs. 15 Lakhs to Safai Karamcharis for construction of toilets/bio-degradable toilets.
The National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes (NCDNT) was made functional from 9.1.2015 by appointing the Chairman and Member.
PoA Rules were amended in June 2014 for enhancing the relief amount to the victims of atrocities to become between Rs. 75,000/- to Rs. 7,50,000/- depending upon the nature of an offence.
The Cabinet has approved signing of the Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicle
Agreement for the Regulation of Passenger, Personal and Cargo Vehicular Traffic amongst BBIN. The agreement will be signed on 15th June at the BBIN Transport Minister’s meeting in Thimpu, Bhutan.
Signing of the BBIN agreement will promote safe, economical efficient and environmentally sound road transport in the sub-region and will further help each country in creating an institutional mechanism for regional integration. BBIN countries will be benefited by mutual cross border movement of passenger and goods for overall economic development of the region. The people of the four countries will benefit through seamless movement of goods and passenger across borders.
Each Party will bear its own costs arising from implementation of this agreement. A meeting of
Secretaries of Transport of the BBIN countries was organized by the Ministry of Road Transport and
Highway (MoRTH) in February 2015 to discuss and finalize the text of the draft BBIN Motor Vehicles
Agreement, which is similar to the SAARC Motor Vehicle Agreement (MVA) draft with minor changes.
Background:
The Union Cabinet had approved a proposal to sign the SAARC MVA during the SAARC Summit in Kathmandu in November 2014. Unfortunately, it could not be signed due to reservations of
Pakistan.
The SAARC declaration at the Kathmandu Summit in November 2014 also encouraged
Member States to initiate regional and sub-regional measures to enhance connectivity. Accordingly, it was considered appropriate that a sub-regional Motor Vehicle Agreement among Bangladesh, Bhutan,
India and Nepal (BBIN) may be pursued.
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RuPay is India’s own card payment scheme
. Like all other card payment schemes, notably Visa and
MasterCard, it was created to ensure cashless transactions . The scheme was conceived by NPCI, an initiative of the Reserve Bank of India and an umbrella institution for all retail payment systems in the country. RuPay is a play of the words rupee and payment. It was originally called IndiaPay .
Imagine you are paying for your grocery purchases at a supermarket using your card. When your card is swiped, the seller’s bank submits the transaction through a card payment network (the likes of Visa or
RuPay) to the bank that issued your card in the first place. The card payment network forms the middle layer connecting the card issuing bank and the seller’s merchant bank.
When there are other such systems already, why one more in the form of RuPay?
RBI wants to back a domestic card system with a few goals. One, provide affordable electronic transactions for local banks. Two, promote financial inclusion. The idea of a domestic card is to break the dominance of international majors such as Visa and MasterCard.
They are accepted at more than one million points of sale terminals. Over 20,000 online merchants accept
RuPay cards. Internationally, RuPay cards can be used at all Discover & Diner PoS and ATM networks.
Banks pay higher transaction fee in case of foreign cards such as Visa and MasterCard. Since the transaction processing of RuPay happens domestically, it leads to lower cost for clearing and settlement of transactions. According to NPCI officials, the cost is around one-third of the fee charged by foreign card brands.
For use at ATMs, banks are charged 45 paise per transaction and 90 paise per transaction at pointof-sale in merchant establishments or e-commerce platforms, irrespective of the transaction value.
Other card systems charge more in case of high value transactions.
What is RuPay's market share in India?
According to information in the Finance Ministry’s website, around 14 crore RuPay cards have been issued till date. Out of the 50 crore debit cards and two crore credit cards in circulation, this works out to about 27 per cent. And, this number has been achieved in less than three years. Out of the 14 crore cards issued, 55 per cent are active, according to Finance Ministry data. The recent Jan Dhan Yojna has given
RuPay a big boost as every account-holder is getting the RuPay card. The direct benefits transfer scheme has also helped in making the RuPay cards active.
As per National Mineral Policy 2008, conservation of mineral shall be construed not in the restrictive sense of abstinence from consumption or preservation for use in the distant future but as a positive concept leading to augmentation of reserve base through improvement in mining methods, beneficiation and utilisation of low grade ore and rejects and recovery of associated minerals. The
Government is aiming for an adequate and effective legal and institutional framework mandating zero waste mining as the ultimate goal and a commitment to prevent sub-optimal and unscientific mining.
Mineral Sectoral value addition through latest technique of beneficiation, calibration, blending, sizing, concentration, pelletisation, purification and general customising of product is being encouraged.
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The Government has amended the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) (MMDR)
Act 1957, through the MMDR Amendment Act 2015 with effect from 12.1.2015, for promoting the mining sector.
The amendments in the MMDR Act, 1957 will give impetus to the sector by:
 removing discretion in grant of mineral concessions, as mineral concessions will now be granted through auction by competitive bidding;
 allowing opening of mines which were closed due to pendency of decision on applications for second or subsequent renewal through extension of validity of lease period of the existing leases;
 providing security of tenure of mining lease period with a uniform lease period of 50 years ;
 simplification of procedure, and removal of delay by eliminating requirement of prior approval of
Central Government for grant of mining lease through auction;
 establishment of National Mineral Exploration Trust , a dedicated fund to encourage exploration to augment mineral resources;
 allowing easy transferability of mineral concessions granted through auction, which would facilitate investments into the mining sector;
 establishment of District Mineral Foundation, which will work for the interest and benefit of persons, and areas, affected by mining related operations.
Pradhan Mantri Jivan Jyothi Bima Yojana is another well thought out scheme which offers Life
Insurance coverage of Rs.2 lakhs for any savings bank holders in the age group of 18-50 years on payment of just Rs.330/- per year. This scheme is offered through LIC of India or other Life Insurance companies that are willing to offer life insurance on similar terms.
Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana will provide insurance coverage of Rs.2 lakhs for individuals on payment of just Rs.12/- per annum. This scheme can benefit all the savings bank account holders in the age group of 18-70 years. Public sector general insurance companies or other general insurance companies that are willing to offer insurance coverage to individuals on similar terms would offer and administer this scheme. The scheme is delivered through banks including regional rural banks as well as cooperative banks.
Atal Pension Yojana would provide a fixed minimum pension Rs.1000 to Rs.5000 per month starting from the age of 60. The amount of pension will depend on the monthly contribution by the employee and the age at which the employee subscribes the insurance. In any case the individual will have to subscribe under Atal Pension Yojana for a minimum of 20 years. The most significant part of this yojana is cocontribution by government of Rs.1000/- per annum or 50% of the total contribution whichever is lower, for the first 5 years if one joins the scheme before the end of this year, that is 31st December, 2015.
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The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated a festival of Indian Culture in Russia
‘Namaste India’ in Moscow (May 10, 2015). Russia’s Gerasim Lebedev, who was arguably the first
European Indologist, pioneered the Bengali theatre 220 years ago in Kolkata.
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Shri Shashi Kapoor as awarded with Dadasaheb Phalke Award .
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
Twin hills of Udayagiri and Khandagiri in Odisha, one of the earliest groups of Jain rock-cut architecture in Eastern India. The site is maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India under the
Union Ministry of Culture. The hills are also popularly known as Kumari and Kumara parvatas respectively and are located in the vicinity of Bhubaneswar town.
There are total 33 rock-cut caves on both the hills. These hills were first brought to notice by A. Stirling in 1825 A.D. These hills are honeycombed with excavated rock-cut caves, essentially meant for the dwelling retreats of the
Jain recluses. These hills are under consideration for promotion through e-ticketing under
PRASAD scheme.
National Smart Grid Mission (NSGM) -an institutional mechanism for planning, monitoring and implementation of policies and programs related to Smart Grid activities.
NSGM has three tier structure:
• At the apex level, NSGM has a Governing Council headed by the Minister of Power . Members of the Governing Council are Secretary level officers of concerned Ministries and departments. Role of
Governing Council is to approve all policies and programme for smart grid implementation.
• At the second level, the NSGM has an Empowered Committee headed by Secretary (Power).
Members of the Empowered Committee are Joint Secretary level officers of concerned Ministries and departments. Role of Empowered Committee is to provide policy input to Governing Council and approve, monitor, review specific smart grid projects, guidelines / procedures etc.
• In a supportive role, NSGM has a Technical Committee headed by Chairperson (CEA).
Members of the Technical Committee are Director level officers of concerned Ministries & departments, representatives from industries and academia. Role of Technical Committee is to support the Empowered
Committee on technical aspect, standards development, technology selection guidelines etc.
•
For day-to-day operations, NSGM has a NSGM Project Management Unit (NPMU) headed by the
Director NPMU.
Director NPMU is a Member of the Governing Council and Empowered Committee, and Member Secretary of Technical Committee. NPMU is the implementing agency for operationalizing the Smart Grid activities in the country under the guidance of Governing Council and Empowered
Committee.
• Grant up-to 30% of the project cost is available from NSGM budget. For selected components such as training & capacity building, consumer engagement etc, 100% grant is available.
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The Government has launched
‘Nirmal Ganga Sahbhagita’
a sustainable initiative with Urban Local
Bodies(ULBs) located on the banks of the river Ganga for achieving the objective of Clean Ganga.
The initiative aims at sensitizing the ULBs about the pollution in river Ganga arising primarily due to dumping of solid waste in the river/nallas and to involve them in a long term engagement in stoppage of the solid waste flow from nallas/drains to the river. Apart from this ULBs can perform certain activities for achieving the shared objective of rejuvenating the river Ganga.

Research on NCU (Neem Coated Urea) by Indian Agricultural Research Institute , New Delhi indicated increase in the rice grain yield by 6.3% to 11.9% over normal urea. NCU reduces
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Army version of Akash Missile System is an indigenously developed supersonic short range surface-to-air missile system with the capability to engage a wide variety of aerial threats like aircrafts, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles up to a maximum range of 25 km and upto an altitude of 20 Km. The system is capable of simultaneously engaging multiple targets and is capable of providing comprehensive short range missile cover to the vulnerable assets in the field force of the Army. It employs command to line of sight guidance and relies on sophisticated radars and control systems to guide the missile to its targets. With 96% indigenous content, the state-of the art weapon system is a glowing manifestation of the Hon’ble PM’s ‘Make-in-India’ initiative.
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Highest Civilian Award of Japan, that is conferred on academicians, politicians and military officers- the “Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star”, will be conferred on Professor
C.N.R. Rao for his 'contribution to promoting academic interchange and mutual understanding in science and technology between Japan and India'. Also the recipient of the highest civilian award of
India, Bharat Ratna
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