NATIONAL JANUARY 2014

NATIONAL JANUARY 2014

• The Union Minister for Civil Aviation, Ajit Singh on 27 January, decided to remove restrictions on flights of Airbus A-380 to India. Now, flights of A-380 to India will be allowed to airports which are equipped to handle them. At present only 4 airports, i.e. Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore have the required infrastructure for operations of A-380. The decision has been taken after due consultations with the DGCA, Air India and Airports Authority of India. The operations of A-380 aircraft would be subject to overall traffic entitlements within the bilateral Air Service Agreements (ASAs) with different countries. It has also been decided that wherever the entitlements are not expressed in terms of seats per week, the same should be rationalized and converted into seats per week before allowing A-380 operations to India from these countries. If any Air Service Agreement (ASA) specifically prohibits operation of A-380 to India, the same will also be required to be amended before A380 operations from that country are allowed. The operation of A 380s will help airports to generate more revenue, give more comfortable and luxurious travel to passengers, liberalize the Civil Aviation milieu in India and boost the image of Indian civil aviation in the international market. As per available information, Singapore Airline, Emirates and Lufthansa are interested in operating A-380 aircrafts in India on various international routes. 
  
• Acceding to Rahul Gandhi’s demand to raise the annual cap on subsidized LPG cylinders, the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs on 30 January, raised the quota from nine to 12.It also decided to put on hold the Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG consumer (DBTL) under which consumers receive subsidy in cash. Every household will get one cylinder each in February and March in addition to the quota of nine. From April, they will be entitled to 12 cylinders, one a month at subsidized rates. At the All India Congress Committee session on January 17, Mr. Gandhi had appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to increase the quota to 12 cylinders. Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister M. Veerappa Moily said the rise in quota would result in an extra outgo of Rs.5,000 crore annually toward subsidy. Terming the increase in LPG cylinder quota “misdirected subsidies”, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan said the move would end up benefiting people who could afford to pay market rates. 
  
• The Healthy ministry on 27 January says that the health indicators across the country have shown significant improvements. The life expectancy has increased by 5 years in the past decade. What used to be 62.3 years for male and 63.9 years for female in 2001-2005 is now 67.3 years for male and 69.6 years for female in 2011-2015. There has been reduction in new HIV cases by as much as 57%. Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) has come down to 42 in 2012 from 58 per 1000 live births in the year 2005. Maternal Mortality Ratio has declined from 301 per 100,000 live births in 2001-03 to 212 in 2007-09. The pace of decline has shown an increasing trend from 4.1% annual rate of decline during 2001-03 to 5.5% in 2004-06 and further to 5.8% in 2007-09.
  
• Total Fertility Rate has come down to 2.4 in 2011 from 2.9 in 2005. Adding a new feather in the cap is declaration of India as Polio Free Nation. On the 13th January, 2014, India made history by completing three years without a single case of wild polio. This feat was unimaginable till 2009, when India accounted for more than half of the global polio burden. The appreciable developments in the healthcare sector are attributable to the strengthening of the health infrastructure in the country, and a focused approach by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The Government has increased budget outlay by 335% to Rs 3 lakh crore in 12th Plan for healthcare to achieve universal and inclusive healthcare for all citizens. Moreover, under the National Health Mission (NHM) there are two subcomponents namely National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) which aim to provide accessible, affordable and quality health care to the rural as well as urban population. 
  
• The National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) as a sub-mission of National Health Mission (NHM) was approved by the Cabinet on 1st May, 2013. It envisages to meet health care needs of the urban population with the focus on urban poor. In the 12th Plan an allocation of Rs. 15,143 crores has been made for National Urban Health Mission. The Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (JSSK), launched in June 2011, entitles all new-borns and children under one year of age besides pregnant women to absolutely free and no expense services including free diagnostics, drugs, consumables, food and blood, if required, besides free transport from home to institution, between facilities in case of a referral and drop back home. Nearly 1 crore 23 lakh pregnant women and more than 12 lakh children have benefitted in 2012-13. Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) was launched in February, 2013. It entitles children in the age group of zero to eighteen years across the country to receive free health screening services and free treatment including surgeries, where required. An estimated 27 crore children are to be covered across the country eventually, with screening for 30 common health conditions for early detection of: Defects, Diseases, Deficiencies and Developmental disorders. The Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK), launched recently, aims to bring in several new dimensions like- mental health, nutrition, substance misuse, gender based violence and non-communicable diseases. The programme introduces community based interventions through peer educators. The strategic approach to RMNCH+A (Reproductive, Maternal, New born, Child Health + Adolescent) in which `A` denotes adolescents. The National Programme for the Health Care of Elderly (NPHCE) addresses health related problems of elderly people. The basic aim of the NPHCE programme is to provide separate, specialized and comprehensive health care to the senior citizens at various levels of state health care delivery system including outreach services. Government of India initiated an integrated National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancers, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS). 
  
• A first of its kind, “Mahatma Gandhi for Children” a web portal was launched by Sam Pitroda, Advisor to the Prime Minister, during a Twitter Conference on 31 January, as a tribute to the Father of our nation, on his 66th death anniversary. The portal - “Search for Gandhi" – targets children from the age of 6 to 15 years and is available in English as well as Hindi. The portal brings Gandhi’s life story to educate and inspire children through audios, videos by creatively integrating facts, games and quizzes. A freedom fighter, a visionary and a leader, Gandhi’s life is filled with lessons that are imperative even in today`s life. Games and quizzes have been designed to drive the visitors to know more about Gandhi and how they could put his message to practice in their own lives. Unlike text books, the portal provides an interactive, innovative and technology driven platform. 
  
• The Cabinet on 30 January, approved the enactment of a new Stand-alone legislation named ‘Waqf Properties (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Bill, 2013’ moved by K. Rahman Khan, Minister of Minority Affairs. The Sachar Committee in its report dated 17.11.2006 recommended to treat Waqf as Public Premises as these properties are for the benefit of public and not for individual and encroachment on these properties to be treated as encroachment on Government Land. In view of this, the Ministry of Minority Affairs moved a proposal to the Cabinet to have a Stand-alone legislation to protect Waqf Properties from encroachments and alienation, in consultation with the Ministry of Law, and the Cabinet has approved the feasibility of such legislation. The new legislation when passed by the Parliament will be highly beneficial for the entire Muslim community as it will provide a perfect mechanism for protection of the Waqf properties from encroachment. 
  
• The Cabinet on 30 January approved the Bangalore Metro Rail Project Phase-2. This project will improve the public transport system in the city of Bangalore and provide the much needed additional public transport infrastructure for the city. The total completion cost of the project is estimated at Rs.26,405.14 crore at the price levels of 2011-12. In the total project cost, the Government of India’s (GoI) share will be Rs.5281 crore and the Government of Karnataka’s (GoK) share will be Rs.8983 crore. The share of GoK includes a Grant of Rs.1689.90 crore. The balance amount of Rs.12,141.14 crore will be raised through Senior Debt.The project will be executed by the existing Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of GoI and GoK having 50:50 equity of each, that is Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. The project is scheduled to be completed in five years from the date of start of work. 
  
• The Union Cabinet on 30 January, gave its approval on the recommendations of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on uniformity of tenure, retirement age, re-appointment, pension, salary and allowances including medical facilities, leave and travelling allowances for chairpersons/members of Tribunals and other quasi-judicial bodies set up for through central legislations. The recommendations of the GoM, as accepted by the Cabinet, will have prospective effect through an overarching legislation. In order to expedite delivery of justice and make available domain expertise in adjudication, the Government has set up various Tribunals under Central Acts, The terms of appointment and conditions of service of chairpersons and members of these Tribunals are different in many cases. The Government, constituted a GOM aimed at providing uniformity across all Central Tribunals. The Supreme Court has also observed the need for such uniformity.
  
• The Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 29 January 2014 inaugurated National Waqf Development Corporation Limited (NAWADCO) that is a new Central Public Sector Enterprise in New Delhi. It will be remain under the Ministry of Minority Affairs. National Waqf Development Corporation (NAWADCO) has been established with an authorized share capital of Rs.500 Crore. An official release said that the Waqf Corporation is an important institution that will work for development of Waqf properties for the community welfare. It will also facilitate and mobilize financial resources for the development of Waqf properties for community development purposes in a joint venture with the state and Union Territory Waqf Boards and the Mutawallis. The corporation has been establishment as a follow-up of the recommendation of Sachar Committee.
  
• The Union Cabinet on 20th January gave its approval for setting up of a Rail Tariff Authority, as an advisory body, through a Government Resolution, pending amendment of the Railway Act, 1989. The setting up of such an authority will institutionalize a regulatory mechanism at arms length for pricing of passenger and freight services. The Rail Tariff Authority shall comprise a Chairperson and four Members at the apex level and will be vested with the function to develop an integrated, transparent and dynamic pricing mechanism for the passenger and freight segments of the Indian Railway`s business. It will also advise the Central Government on fixation of tariff, based on cost of operations and factors impinging it, to help generate requisite surpluses for healthy growth in the future. 
  
• The Union Cabinet on 20 January, gave its approval for inclusion of Jains as a minority under Section 2 (c ) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992 and the Attorney General through the Ministry of Law and Justice has opined that this would be neither be illegal nor unconstitutional. The Cabinet approved the inclusion of Jains in the list of notified minority communities under Section 2(c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992 pending the outcome of court cases in addition to the five communities already notified as minorities under Section 2(c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992. Under Section 2(c) of National Commission for Minorities (NCM) Act, 1992, five religious communities; Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis are declared as minority communities through a Government Notification issued in October 1993. Thereafter, the Ministry of Minority Affairs has been receiving regular representations and RTI applications for inclusion of Jains as a minority community under this Section. 
  
• Chilika lagoon has been named 'Destination Flyways' by United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) after its inclusion in a list of eight such sites worldwide. It is the only site in Asia to be thus recognized by UNWTO. Official sources said on 19 January that the lagoon was so named because it is a sustainable and resilient destination for migratory water birds, said official sources."UNWTO is the United Nations agency responsible for the promotion of universally accessible tourism. Over the years, Chilika has proved to be the ideal destination for migratory birds, which is the reason why it is also a globally-acclaimed tourist destination ," said chief executive of Chilika Development Authority (CDA) Ajit Kumar Pattnaik. The name was recommended by Secretariat of the Convention of Biological Diversity (SCBD), the Convention of Migratory Species (CMS), the Ramsar Convention Secretariat, the World Heritage and Man and the Biosphere Programmes of (WHC and MAB), the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Wetlands International and Birdlife International.The number of winged visitors to Chilika Lake fell this season with 1.58 lakh fewer migratory birds sighted than the previous season. Ornithologists said the number of birds had perhaps dwindled due to the effect of cyclone Phailin. The annual bird count conducted in the 1,100sqkm lake a week ago put the count at around 7.19 lakh birds belonging to 58 species. Around 8.77 lakh birds of 180 species had visited the lake last winter and 8.83 lakh birds of 167 species had visited the blue lagoon in 2012, the sources said. 
  
• Union Minister for Shipping G K Vasan on 20 January inaugurated the Karaikal campus of the Indian Maritime University (IMU) in the Union Territory of Pondicherry. In order to fulfill the aspirations of the youth in maritime training, education and career building, the Union government has decided to open campuses of the IMU in all the maritime states of the country. The government has already opened campuses of the University at Kandla and Cochin. A feasibility study conducted by the Ministry of Shipping concluded that new campus at Karaikal would benefit the rural youth to pursue a career in the maritime field. Speaking at the occasion, the Minister told that the efforts of the government as set out in the Maritime agenda 2020 has made the country a major supplier of the most efficient and cost effective manpower. As set out in the Maritime Agenda 2020, India aspires to substantially increase its seafarers to 9% of the world share. Earlier in September, 2013, a Maritime Training Institute of Shipping Corporation of India was inaugurated in Thoothukkudi to cater to the needs of southern districts of Tamil Nadu. As there are many fishermen in Karaikal, the Minister expressed the hope that this campus would help the fishermen and the youth to take up maritime profession in the days to come. The ministry plans to open campuses of IMU in the states of Karnataka, Goa and Odisha as well.
  
• Dinsha Patel, Minister of Mines, dedicated the Advanced Light Helicopter “Garuda Vasudha” of Geological Survey of India equipped with Heliborne Geophysical Survey System (HGSS) to the nation in New Delhi on 22 January through video-conferencing. The helicopter was launched from the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Complex, Bangalore. The Minister also laid the foundation stone of a Centre of Excellence Laboratory building of GSI at its Bangalore complex at a cost of Rs. 42 crore. The Garuda Vasudha a ‘Dhruv’ category helicopter has been indigenously built by HAL and the HGSS comprising four aero geophysical sensors, namely Time Domain Electromagnetic, Magnetic, Spectrometric and Gravimetric along with Data Acquisition Systems, have been procured from Pico Envirotec Inc., Canada. The installation and integration of the sensor system has been carried out at HAL. The total cost of the HGSS is about Rs. 63 crores. Dinsha Patel, Minister of Mines, expressed his pleasure in dedicating Garuda Vasudhawhich would be used for extensive surveys by the GSI for locating hidden mineral wealth. The Minister further added that the state-of-the-art HGSS will bolster the probing prowess of aero geophysical surveys for locating concealed and deep seated mineral deposits of the country. 
  
• The Union Government on 24 January, decided to take up development of the stretch of 37 Kms of the National Waterway-four (NW-4) between Sholinganallur to Kalpakkam in South Buckingham Canal. Launching the project the Minister of Shipping G.K. Vasan said that the main components of the project include dredging and excavation to develop navigational channel, construction of three terminals and navigational locks, replacement of one existing bridge at Kelambakkam, and installation of navigational aids. Over Rs.123crores has been sanctioned by the central government for the purpose and the project is expected to be completed in two years. The minister said that other stretches of the National Waterway-4, which covers the states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, would also be taken up for development subsequently. NW-4 covers a total length of 1078 Km consisting of Kakinada-Pondicherry canal systems integrated with Godavari and Krishna Rivers. 
  
• The Expert Committee constituted by Information and Broadcasting Ministry to review the institutional framework of Prasar Bharti has submitted its report on 25 January 2014. The committee was headed by the Advisor to the Prime Minister on Public Information Infrastructure, Sam Pitroda. The committee was set up on 29 January 2013.Committee has recommended to amend the Act of 1990 to give effective freedom to the Prasar Bharti with administrative and financial powers.
  Some of the recommendations are-
  1. To develop a funding mechanism for Prasar Bharati to address the need for autonomy with financial accountability.
  2. The organization should have the power to frame rules and regulations for its employees without requiring government approval.
  3. There should be an reorganization of the Prasar Bharati board to make it a professionally managed body effective in guiding the organization.
  4. Complete transfer of ownership and management of assets and human resource to Prasar Bharati to make the organisation administratively and financially autonomous of government.
  5. Setting up of a regulatory body to ensure public accountability of the organization with respect to all content broadcast on its television and radio network. It should be a sub-committee of the Prasar Bharati board.
  6. Prasar Bharati should create a world-class broadcasting service benchmarked with the best in the world.
     
• The Women and Child Development Minister, Krishna Tirath launched the Multi Sectoral Nutrition Programme (MSNP) and National Resource Platform (NRP) on the occasion of National Girl Child Day, in New Delhi on 24 January. The National Girl Child Day is celebrated on 24th January to commemorate the day when late Smt. Indira Gandhi was sworn in as the first woman Prime Minister of the country. This year’s theme of Girl Child Day is ‘Safety and Development of girl child’. Speaking at the occasion Smt. Krishna Tirath said that the Multi -Sectoral Nutrition Programme (MSNP) aims to bring inter-sectoral convergence and coherence in policy, planning and action with core focus on both direct interventions and indirect interventions for maternal and child under nutrition, thus providing a continuum of care and follow a life cycle approach. The programme will be implemented as a special intervention in 200 high burden districts spread over 19 States, beginning with 100 districts in the current financial year. The Minister also launched the Nutrition Resource Platform (NRP) that aims to collect, collate and make available resources and materials on nutrition and child development to various stakeholders. It will also be an interactive knowledge resource base which facilitates real time interaction, exchange of ideas and discussions. NRP is functional at National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD) and is a virtual repository with the support of Food and Nutrition Board and NIC. 
  
• Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 13th January, laid the foundation stone for a 2,800 megawatt nuclear power plant near Gorakhpur village in the Fatehabad district of Haryana. The Haryana Anu Vidyut Pariyojna project will have four units, each of 700-MW capacity, and is to come up at a cost Rs 23,502 crore. Among those present on the occasion were Haryana Governor, Jagannath Pahadia, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Union Minister Kumari Selja and Sirsa MP, Ashok Tanwar. A total of 1,503 acres of land has been acquired for the plant, of which the lion's share of 1,313 acres belongs to Gorakhpur village. 
  
• The Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Ghulam Nabi Azad on 13th January, announced that not a single case of wild polio has been reported from any part of the country since the past three years. Azad said that 36 months ago the last case was reported on 13th Jan, 2011 when a two year old girl suffered polio paralysis in Howrah district of West Bengal. Until 2009, India accounted for more than half the world’s polio incidence. While 741 cases reported in 2009, 42 in 2010 and just one case in 2011. The Health Minister further stated that it is a matter of great pride for all of us. He said that this monumental milestone was made possible due to unwavering political will at the highest levels, commitment of adequate financial resources, technological innovations like the bivalent vaccine and tireless efforts of millions of workers, including more than 23 lakh vaccinators and volunteers, and more than 1.5 lakh supervisors. The official announcement of a polio free nation will be made on 11 February 2014, he stated. 
  
• Union Government on 17th January, asked all the Gram Panchayats in the country to hold special Gram Sabha meetings on various programmes relating to economic well-being of people on any day in January/ February-2014. It has been emphasized that in these meetings, officials in-charge of programmes relating to Agriculture, Horticulture, Dairy, Fisheries National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Backward Region Grant Found (BRGF), Watershed, Soil conservation, Irrigation, Electrification, Handlooms, Handicraft, Food processing, Small and Micro enterprises etc. should remain present. The District and Block level officials will coordinate the dates of the meeting so that the above mentioned functionaries will be able to participate in all Gram Sabha meetings. The officials in-charge of all the above Departments, Schemes and Programmes should attend these meetings because this will improve the progress in their schemes and also make them transparent thereby resulting in making the programmes more effective. The Gram Panchayats have been asked to report the participation to the Block/ District Administration and in particular any instance of non-cooperation. The purpose of special Gram Sabha meetings is to make Gram Sabhas more active as well as empowering people and making panchayats accountable. 
  
• The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee launched the Pulse Polio Immunization programme 2014 at the Rashtrapti Bhavan, on 18 January, in the presence of the Union Health Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad and MoS (Health), Smt. Santosh Chowdhary. Six small children were administered polio vaccine by the President of India. Azad pointed out that in this round more than 17 crore children will be vaccinated. Also, 23 lakh frontline workers and volunteers will fan out in every nook and corner of the country to reach every child up to five years of age so that we maintain high immunity of our children against the polio virus. Besides setting up 102 polio vaccination posts along international borders, it has been decided that any case of wild polio shall be treated as public health emergency, the Health Minister added. Azad, addressing the gathering, stated that India has not recorded even a single case of wild polio in the last three years, which is a historic achievement. The Health Minister noted that the response to the last polio case in Howrah in West Bengal was razor sharp and is globally cited as the fastest response time. The Ministry stepped up surveillance so as not to miss even a single case of polio, he added. Azad stated that from a position when India had more than 2 lakh children getting crippled by polio each year, we have come to a time in history where not a single child has suffered wild polio for the last three years. This is monumental victory- and has paved the way for India`s formal certification by WHO as a polio free nation, he informed. He thanked various partners such as the State governments, lakhs of supervisor and vaccinators, volunteers, WHO, UNICEF, Rotary International, World Bank, USAID, DFID and many more who have made this achievement possible. 
  
• India and South Korea (i.e. Republic of Korea) in New Delhi on 17th January, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Digital Signatures for facilitating the effective and efficient paperless Bilateral Trade and Commerce. It was signed in the presence of Kapil Sibal, Minister for Communications and Information Technology and Mun-kee Choi, Minister for Science, ICT and Future Planning, Republic of Korea. It was signed between the Controller of Certifying Authorities, Ministry of Communications and IT, Government of India and the Korea Internet & Security Agency, Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, Republic of Korea. Digital Signatures are being widely used in India and South Korea for various domestic applications relating to e-Governance, e-Trade, e-COO (Certificate of Origin), e-Tendering/ e-Procurement, e-IPO (Intellectual Property Office), e-Income Tax etc. However, a Certifying Authority recognized in Republic of Korea is currently not recognized in India and vice-versa. Hence, Digital Signatures created under regulatory regime in Republic of Korea are not recognized as legally valid in India and vice-versa. This causes impediment to the best practices of International Trade and Commerce. This MoU will see cooperation between the two countries which will finally lead to mutual recognition of digitally signed documents. This arrangement will further boost bilateral trade between the two countries and pave way for similar landmark Multilateral/ Bilateral arrangements. 
  
• Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), the apex anti-corruption integrity institution of India is entering into 50 years of its existence. The CVC is celebrating its Golden Jubilee on 11th-12th February, 2014. The Golden Jubilee Celebrations will be inaugurated by Shri Pranab Mukherjee, President of India on 11th February, 2014 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi and presided over by Dr.Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India. A commemorative stamp is being released on the occasion. The Commission is also releasing a Coffee Table Book and a documentary film on CVC during the celebrations. Hon’ble Justice P.Sathasivam, Chief Justice of Supreme Court of India will preside over the valedictory function on 12th February 2014 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. 
  
• The Union Cabinet on 9 January gave its approval for introduction of the National Youth Policy-2014 (NYP-2014), replacing NYP-2003 currently in force. The vision of NYP-2014 is to empower youth to achieve their full potential, and through them enable India to find its rightful place in the community of nations. For achieving this vision, the Policy identifies five well-defined objectives and 11 priority areas and suggests policy interventions in each priority area. The priority areas are education, skill development and employment, entrepreneurship, health and healthy lifestyle, sports, promotion of social values, community engagement, participation in politics and governance, youth engagement, inclusion and social justice. The focused approach on youth development and empowerment involving all stakeholders, as envisaged in NYP-2014, would result in development of an educated and healthy young population, who are not only economically productive, but are also socially responsible citizens contributing to the task of nation-building. It will cover the entire country catering the needs of all youth in the age-group of 15-29 years, which constitutes 27.5 per cent of the population according to Census-2011, that is about 33 crore persons. It will replace NYP-2003, to take care of developments since 2003 and future policy imperatives. The NYP-2014 proposes broad policy interventions for the youth consistent with the 12thPlan priorities and does not propose any specific programme/ scheme, having financial implications. All concerned Ministries/ Department would be requested to bring focus on youth issues within the framework of their plans/ programmes/ schemes etc. 
  
• A newly built railway platform in Gorakhpur (U.P), has entered into the record books as the longest railway platform in the world, according to the Railways. General Manager North Eastern Railways (NER) K K Atal unveiled the certificate given by the Limca Book of Records to Platform No. 1 of the railway station at a press conference in Gorakhpur on 9 January. According to the certificate, the length of the platform is 1,355.40 meter. It was inaugurated on October 6 last year. Till now, the record was held by the railway platform at Kharagpur in West Bengal. The platform is 1,072.5 meter long. 
  
• Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is observing 25th National Road Safety Week from 11th-17th January this year. The “National Road Safety Week” is observed throughout the country, in the month of January every year, to highlight the need to make roads safe and to give all stakeholders an opportunity to take part in concerted efforts for the cause. To mark 25 years of road safety, the Ministry is launching a new Logo on Road Safety, with an aim to encourage every section of society to join hands towards making roads safer. The theme of this year’s Road Safety awareness is “When on road, always say Pehle Aap”, to educate all drivers in this etiquette of “Lukhnavi Tehzib” requiring them to be more generous and considerate towards fellow road users. This attitude of “Pehle Aap” will help prevent many avoidable road accidents and make road journeys less stressful. In its endeavor to make road safety a social movement, the Ministry has planned a Road Safety Walk on 12th January at 10 am at India Gate ,for involving youth, school and college students and all stakeholders including Police, Transport Departments and others to work together to raise awareness about road safety issues, promoting responsible road use, need to help road accident victims in time and to mitigate sufferings to victims and their families that result from crashes and casualties. All States and Union Territories( UT’s) have been asked to organize Walks on 12th January during morning hours. During the last two years, the number of road accidents has shown a decreasing trend. Number of fatalities has also decreased in 2012.However there is no scope for being complacent. The road safety scenario in India needs urgent improvement with over 1.38 lakh lives lost in 4.9 lakh accidents in 2012. 
  
• SAMARTH 2014 – Celebrating Diversity is a national festival for showcasing the abilities of Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) is being organized by the Department of Disability Affairs under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India during 15 – 16 January, 2014 at Siri Fort Auditorium, New Delhi. This event will be inaugurated by Smt. Sonia Gandhi, Chairperson, United Progressive Alliance. As per Census 2011, there are 2.68 crore persons with disabilities and constitute 2.22 percent of the total population of the country. The persons with disabilities form a very diverse group and include persons with impairments such as visual (18.8%), hearing (18.9%), speech (7.5%), loco- motor (20.3%), mental retardation (5.6%) mental illness (2.7%) and multiple disability (7.9%).The Constitution of India ensures equality, freedom, justice and dignity of all individuals and implicitly mandates an inclusive society for all including persons with disabilities. The Government recognises that persons with disabilities are valuable human resource for the country and seeks to create an environment that provides them equal opportunities, protection of their rights and full participation. The Department of Disability Affairs under the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment’s mandate and rehabilitation and empowerment of PwDs. As rehabilitation is multidisciplinary, the Department has adopted a multi-pronged collaborative approach involving all the appropriate partners: Governments/UTs, Central/State undertakings, local authorities, NGOs etc. India has also signed and ratified the United Nations Convention for protection and promotion of the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities. Among the many commitments towards the said Convention, a major one is building capacity among people with disabilities and raising awareness about disability issues. SAMARTH is an important step in this direction. The objectives of organizing Samarth are to showcase the abilities and potential of PwDs; create awareness about their rights and entitlements; and provide PwDs and those working for them an opportunity for an interface with each other. 
  
• Union Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs and Defence Jitender Singh announced that Rajiv Gandhi National Institute for Youth Development to be Established at Chandigarh. Addressing the Inaugural Function of 18th National Youth Festival at the Punjab Agricultural University Ludhiana on 12 January, he said that the National Institute will cater the needs of the Youth of Northern India. The National Youth Festival organized jointly by Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Government of India and The Punjab Government. Every year 12th January, the birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekanand is observed as the National Youth Day. Over 5000 Youth from all States and UT are participating in the festival. 32 Youth from different part of the Country were awarded with National Youth Award for the year 2012-13 and 2 voluntary organizations were also honored. 
  
• The much talked-about Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2013, got President Pranab Mukherjee’s assent on 1 January. The Bill, which was passed by Parliament in the just-concluded winter session, provides for creation of an anti-graft ombudsman to investigate corruption charges against public functionaries including the Prime Minister, Ministers and Members of Parliament. Among other provisions, the Bill makes it incumbent upon States to make within a year their own law for setting up Lokayuktas on the lines of the Lokpal. 
  
  The Bill was sent to the President on 31 January. It will now be notified in the official gazette for it to become an Act. The Act shall be notified by the Law Ministry. The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha in 2011 and was taken up in the Rajya Sabha but could not be voted upon. It was referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee. Later the Bill was tabled in the Rajya Sabha and referred to the select committee. The amended Bill was again tabled in the Rajya Sabha on December 16 and passed by voice vote. The next day, it was passed by the Lok Sabha without debate.
  
• As a “New Year gift to the female fraternity of the Capital,” the Delhi Multimodal Transport System (DIMTS) has come out with “Telltail”, a security application on android and smart phones. Soon it may be available on other phones. The free application will be launched in the third week of January and can be easily downloaded from Google Play. Telltail, once downloaded on the phones, will help users reach their friends and family by pressing a button in case of an emergency. It will help the user raise a security alert by contacting the police, friends and family simultaneously. The application will also provide visual tracking information of the user. 
  
  The application will have three button options — “Track Me,” “Track By Vehicle” and “Panic Button” — by clicking which the user will reach her primary contacts within seconds. The “Track Me” button will help the primary contact locate the tracking route of the user through the ‘map location’ icon on the screen. In the “Track By Vehicle” option, the user will just have to enter the vehicle number. This will help DIMTS track the vehicle status, and subsequently link the user with the monitored vehicle. And on pressing the “Panic Button” for just three seconds, the user can generate an alert to the backend server of DIMTS. It will send detailed information of the location to the primary as well as other registered contacts through an SMS.
  
• Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has dedicate to the nation the Rs.4, 200-crore LNG (liquefied natural gas) import terminal at Kochi in Kerala on 4 January. Petro net LNG, the largest importer of liquefied natural gas (LNG), had in August commissioned the five million tones a year LNG import and regasification facility at Kochi. At present, Petronet has an import and regasification terminal at Dahej in Gujarat with a capacity of 10 million tonnes per annum and is setting up a 5 million tones per year terminal on the east coast. 
  
  "Built at a cost of about Rs 4500 crore, it will put Kochi on the world LNG map and contribute to making Kerala an industry oriented and investor friendly destination. It will also contribute to our efforts to promote clean energy and reduce carbon emissions. It will help in protecting Kerala’s environment, green cover and natural beauty," the prime minister said.Dr Singh said the location of the terminal had been chosen so that it could provide the whole of Southern India with a cleaner and greener form of energy.He also said Kochi is strategically located on the East-West trade route and a centre for transit and trans-shipment services. The shipping industry too will benefit greatly from this terminal as more ships are mandated to use cleaner fuels like LNG, he said. Dr Singh noted that Petronet LNG had already tied up supply of 14.4 lakh tons of LNG per year for the Kochi terminal from the Gorgon project in Australia for a 20-year period. He also noted that the company is also at an advanced stage of discussion with other LNG suppliers for long term contracts. 
  
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 2 January, approved setting up of a unified system at the national level (National Vehicle Security and Tracking System) and State level (City Command and Control Centre) for Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking of the location of emergency buttons in and video recording of incidents in public transport vehicles, in 32 cities of the country with a population of one million or more according to the 2011 census.
  
  The implementation of the project will help in:
  i) Mapping of routes of public vehicles;
  ii) Tracking of vehicles on the route;
  iii) Highlighting of violations through visual and text signals;
  iv) Panic button alert to transport and police through visual, text and voice.
  v) Permit, registration and licence cancellation based criteria for enforcement.
  (vi)Providing safety and security to women / girl child in distress in minimum response time. 
  
  The total estimated cost of the project is Rs.1405 crore. The project will be implemented within a period of two years after allocation of funds to set up a National Level Vehicle Security and Tracking System and City Command & Control Centre with installation of GPS / CCTV / Panic buttons in public road transport. The Justice J.S. Verma Committee constituted in December, 2012 to look into the possible amendments in the criminal laws related to sexual violence against women made various recommendations for public transport vehicles in its report. The Report of Justice (Retired) Ms. Usha Mehra, Commission of Enquiry constituted under the Commission of Enquiry Act, 1952 to look into the incident of gang-rape and assault on a woman on 16.12.2012 in Delhi suggested measures for safety and security of women in the NCT of Delhi and NCR. 
  
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 2 January approved the proposal of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare relating to the centrally sponsored scheme for establishment of new medical colleges attached with existing district/referral hospitals. The approval is for establishment of 58 new medical colleges by up gradation of existing district hospitals in deficient states with intake capacity of 100 MBBS seats in each medical college. This will result in an increase of about 5800 seats. The central assistance share will be of Rs. 8457.40 crore and State/UT share of Rs. 2513.70 crore. The funding pattern will be 90:10 by Central and State Governments respectively for North Eastern States and special category States and in the ratio of 75:25 for other States. The total cost of establishment of the one medical college is approximately about Rs.189 crore. The distance between the district/referral hospital and the medical college shall be within 10 kms and on two pieces of land. 
  
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 2 January, approved the implementation of the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project for Low Income States (RWSSP-LIS) of Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh with World Bank assistance over a period of six years (from 2013-14 to 2019-20).The project is expected to directly benefit a rural population of about 78 lakh persons including 44 lakh Scheduled Castes and more than 8 lakh Scheduled Tribes, with improved piped water supply covering approximately 17,400 habitations in 2,150 Gram Panchayats (GPs) in the 33 districts of the four States: a). Assam- 7 districts with an estimated population coverage of about 14 lakh. b). Bihar-10 districts with an estimated population coverage of about 24 lakh. c). Jharkhand- 6 districts with an estimated population coverage of about 12 lakh. d). Uttar Pradesh- 10 Eastern UP districts with an estimated population coverage of about 28 lakh. 
  
  The project will improve access and usage of piped drinking water supplied into individual homes. Women and children will benefit significantly from project intervention as they currently bear most of the burden of securing daily water supplies. The Project will improve sanitation conditions in the targeted districts by adopting the convergence approach with the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA) and the National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) and saturate the project area in terms of access to water supply, household and institutional toilets and solid and liquid waste management. 
  
  The total Project cost of Rs. 6,000 crore will be financed through Government of India [from the National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) allocation – 33 percent], State Government (fund sharing as per NRDWP guidelines – 16 percent), beneficiary contribution (1 percent) and external financing (World Bank-IDA funds – 50 percent).Government of India will repay the amount of US$ 500 million extended as credit by the World Bank over a period of 25 years with 1.25 percent interest rate.