NATIONAL NOVEMBER 2016
- 120 killed in UP train derailment Pukhrayan area in Kanpur Dehat district
At least 120 people were killed and more than 200 injured on 20th November when 14 coaches of the Indore-Patna Express derailed near Pukhrayan area in Kanpur Dehat district, Uttar Pradesh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 2 lakh for the relatives of those killed and Rs 50,000 for those seriously injured in the mishap from the national relief fund.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has ordered a probe into the train tragedy and announced ex-gratia for the families of the victims. The minister announced Rs 3.5 lakh ex-gratia for the families of those killed and Rs 50,000 for those grievously injured. - International Film Festival of India begins in Goa
The 47th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2016 began at Panaji in Goa on 20th November. Information and Broadcasting Minister Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the festival. Veteran filmmaker Ramesh Sippy was the Chief Guest. Venkaia naidu in his speech referred about 1946 movie ‘Vijayalakshmi’ produced and directed by late Shri B.R.Pantulu which was based on the first demonetization in our country.
S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Award winning and acclaimed singer was conferred the Centenary Award for Indian Film Personality of the Year 2016 for his contribution to Indian Cinema.
He holds the record in the Guinness Book for singing and recording more than 40,000 songs and has won the National Award six times. - India's longest Agra-Lucknow Expressway opens in Uttar Pradesh.
India’s longest express way was inaugurated by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akilesh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh. It is Agra-Lucknow expressway. The six-lane 302-km long expressway not only connects the city of Taj Mahal with state capital Lucknow, but also presents a quantum jump for the capabilites of the Indian Air force.
Four Sukhoi jets from Bareilly and four Mirage 2000s from Gwalior performed simulated landings on the Expressway at Unnao, around 50 km from Lucknow.
The Expressway is equipped with a 3 km long air strip for landing and take-off of IAF fighter jets. This is the second such facility on an expressway after the Delhi-Agra Expressway, where fighter jets have landed in the past.
The 302 km expressway has almost halved the distance between Agra and Lucknow, and now through the Taj Expressway one can travel from Delhi to Lucknow in 5 to 6 hours. Built in 23 months the expressway starts from Agra passing through Firozabad, Mainpuri, Etawah, Auraiya, Kannauj, Hardoi, Unnao, Kanpur to reach Lucknow.
Mainpuri and Kannauj along the expressway will be developed into major markets. The expressway will also benefit farmers and other benefits proposed include smart city, film city, and logistics park. The highway will be equipped with an Advanced Traffic Management System, and it will be easier for vehicles to move through Mist and fog.
The Agra-Lucknow expressway will greatly benefit the common man, but before that the safety audit needs to be completed. But one political message that came from the soft launch was the impression that the feud between the members of Mulayam Singh Yadav's family was ending. - Prasar Bharati and VBU ink MoU.
A Memorandum of understanding between Viswa Bharati University in Shantiniketan and Prasar Bharati was signed on 21st November to promote and preserve art and culture. Both the organisations will use each other's expertise for the purpose. This will also enable both the organisations preserve invaluable collections and recordings in their custody. - Unburdening children from the weight of school bags.
The Central Government has taken various steps to reduce curriculum load and the weight of school bags. The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has not recommended any textbook for early childhood education.
It has recommended only two books (Language and Mathematics) for classes I & II and three books for classes III to V (Language, Environmental Studies and Mathematics). The number and size of NCERT’s textbooks used by the primary and secondary school students are appropriate to their age.
The Government has also launched a platform for showcasing and dissemination of all digital and digitizable resources for its stakeholders in collaboration with the NCERT.
Accordingly, the NCERT has made available all their textbooks and other teaching-learning material for free access through its website www.ncert.nic.in, e-pathshala.nic.in and mobile devices.
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has directed schools affiliated to it to ensure that students do not carry school bags till class II and also to restrict the number of books to be prescribed in classes I-VIII. In its latest circular dated 12th September, 2016, it has advised schools to take all possible measures to keep the weight of school bag under control. - BJP, Trinamool Win Key By-Elections
By-elections were held for four parliament and 10 assembly seats in six states - Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Tripura, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and one union territory, Puducherry. Ruling parties have done well in each state without exception. The BJP scored impressively in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, which brings the party major relief amid concern about how the ban on 500 and 1,000-rupee notes is being judged.
In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP retained the Lok Sabha and assembly seats. However, margin for the Lok Sabha seat was down from nearly 2.5 lakhs to 60,000 despite a 5 per cent increase in voter turnout.
In Assam, which is also governed by the BJP, the party retained the parliament seat vacated by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and gained an assembly seat. - Supreme Court refuses to stay on all proceedings at HCs over demonetization
Supreme Court on 23rd November refused to give immediate stay on all proceedings at various high courts concerning demonetization. The apex court tells Centre that at different places people have raised different concerns.
The SC also issued notice to petitioners who have challenged demonetization move before different high courts. The matter has been posted for further hearing on 2nd of December.
The Centre has informed the Supreme Court that the situation has been brought under control and the queues have become shorter. Government also said the situation is being monitored on an hourly basis. - Parliamentary standing committee raps Centre for slow progress in PDS digitization
A standing committee of Parliament on food has criticised the Central and state governments for the slow progress of digitization of ration cards and computerisation of the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), both of which are prerequisites for the successful roll-out of the National Food Security Act (NFSA).
The committee has doubted the Centre's claim that much progress has been made in the digitization of ration cards, their seeding with Aadhaar and subsequent linking with bank accounts. It has asserted that in some states, seeding has been very low and needs to be expedited.
However, instead of automation, the centre has focused on setting up Point of Sale Devices (PoS) at PDS counters. So far, PoS machines have been set up in over 100,000 of the 550,000 ration shops in the country.
The Committee also found that though some states have put in place a grievance redressal mechanism, quite a few toll-free numbers are dysfunctional and, in several other cases, aren't attended by an executive.
The Committee urges the Department of Food and Public Distribution to impress upon the remaining states and UTs to set up toll-free numbers and make them operational in the states where they have already been set up. - Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu launches water distribution monitoring portal
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu formally launched the ‘Smart Water Distribution Monitoring’ web interface through which people can check the status of drinking water in the water tanks nearby Vijayawada.
The Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system helps in reduction of water wastage as well as ensure seamless supply to the households. The monitoring portal is a part of ourvmc.org from where it can be accessed. - FSSAI sets new rules to check health supplement mislabeling
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has announced new standards for manufacturers of health supplements to check mislabeling.
Health supplements cannot be sold as 'medicines' any more as it has operationalised with immediate effect. New standards proposed for eight categories of products, including health supplements and nutraceuticals.
FSSAI will start granting licences and approve products manufactured based on the new standards. However, these regulations will be enforced from January 2018. Every package of health supplement should carry the word 'health supplement' as well as an advisory warning 'not for medicinal use' prominently written. - World Trade Centre opens in Kochi
The Bengaluru-based Brigade Group, which holds World Trade Centre licences in south Indian cities, has opened new WTC facility in Kochi.
The company which received the license to set up WTC in Bengaluru, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Chennai and Hyderabad will set up a combined 7 million sq ft space to enable an international environment to global IT/ITeS firms.
WTC, a licensed member of the World Trade Centres Association (WTCA), New York, will showcase the strengths of each region and state in different economic sectors such as industry, tourism, agriculture, fisheries, biotechnology, healthcare and others. - IFFI nominates 8 movies for ICFT UNESCO Gandhi Medal
The International Film Festival of India has nominated eight movies for 2016 International Council for Film, Television and Audio-visual Communication UNESCO Gandhi Medal.
According to the Festival Director Senthil Rajan, Allama is the only Indian film competing for the prestigious award. Allama, a historical Kannada film directed by national award winning filmmaker T UNESCO Gandhi Medal, and is based on the life of the 12th century mystique saint Allama Prabhu.
The ICFT UNESCO Gandhi Award will be given to a film that best reflects Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals of peace, tolerance and non-violence. The Award will be announced at the closing ceremony of IFFI on 28th November. - Government of India launched e-Pashu haat portal to facilitate farmers
On the occasion of birth anniversary of the father of India's White Revolution Varghese Kurien and National Milk Day, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Radha Mohan Singh on 26th November launched the e-Pashu haat portal which will enable the farmers to purchase any breed bovine animals. The e-Pashu haat portal will not only enable the farmers to buy bovine animals but cattle frozen semen and embryo may also be purchased through it.
Information relating to Certification of the animal, its picture, breeding, volume of milk given by the cow etc will be available in this portal. Animal fodder varieties, its volume and price information will also be available at this portal. Farmers can now purchase advanced breed of bovine animals at a reasonable price as per as their requirements. - India to preside next edition of COP in Geneva in 2018
India will preside the eighth edition of the Conference of Parties (COP) to WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) which will be held in Switzerland's Geneva in 2018.
Health Secretary CK Mishra has been chosen as the President of the COP Bureau, for the next two years, after a unanimous decision by the COP7 Plenary session on 12th November. The World Health Organisations Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) is the world's biggest convention to frame the anti-tobacco policies.
COP Bureau is the main administrative body of WHO FCTC that decides on strategies on how to implement the decisions taken in the COP session, which happens every two years. It also monitors implementation by the party countries.
These officers, each representing a WHO region, constitute the Bureau of the Conference of the Parties. According to Rule 21 of the Rules of Procedure of the COP, they shall commence their term of office at the closure of the session and shall serve until the closure of the following regular session of the Conference of the Parties, including for any intervening extraordinary session.
The Seventh Session of COP7 to WHO FCTC was hosted by India for the first time and culminated on 12th November. About 1,500 delegates participated in the conference from around 180 countries along with other observers in official relations with the WHO FCTC Secretariat in Geneva. - Hyderabad High Court notice to 20 YSRC MLAs over defection to TDP
Hyderabad High Court on 14th November issued notices to 20 MLAs from YSR Congress, who crossed over to ruling Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh, seeking their response on maintainability of the writ petitions that were filed seeking their disqualification.
The petitioner's counsel earlier filed writ petitions before the High Court submitting that the disqualification petitions pertaining to their defection are pending before the Speaker of Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly.
The writs questioned inaction of the Speaker in not disposing of the disqualification petitions and sought directions to the Speaker to initiate proceedings against those MLAs.
However, Andhra Pradesh Additional Advocate General D Srinivas objected to the petitions saying that the writ petitions are not maintainable after which the court issued notices to the 20 MLAs with regard to maintainability of the writ petitions. - PM flags off Ghazipur-Kolkata Express train
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for two projects in East UP that will help in the development of Poorvanchal region. He also flagged off an express train that will enhance connectivity of the region
Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of Railway Bridge at Tarighat and for doubling of Ghazipur - Ballia Rail line. He also flagged off the Kolkata-Ghazipur Shabd Bhedi Express.
The new rail-road bridge is expected to change the socio-economic condition of the region. The 51 kilometer long rail-road bridge will connect Ghazipur to Gorakhpur, Kolkata and other commercial cities of the country.
The estimated cost of the project is 1,766 crore rupees. PM Narendra Modi felicitated Gram Pradhans for achieving 100% coverage in Postal Saving and Insurance schemes. He also distributed pass books to beneficiaries of Sukanya Samirdhi Yojana. Besides, this the Prime Minister also dedicated to the nation a cold storage set up by the Container Corporation of India Ltd. - Cabinet nod for setting up special committee for inter-linking of rivers
The Cabinet on 15th November gave its nod for constituting a “Special Committee for Inter-Linking of Rivers” in compliance with the Supreme Court judgment. It accepted the status-cum-progress on the same.
Approval of the Union Cabinet will help in monitoring of the precious Inter-linking of River Projects to be carried out under National Perspective Plan 1980 of Government of India.
The Status-cum-Progress Report of Special Committee for Inter-linking of Rivers will be submitted bi-annually for information of Cabinet.
In a separate decision, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved construction of trunk infrastructure for Phase II of Part I of Shendra Bidkin Industrial Area (SBIA) namely the Bidkin region spread across 31.79 sq km at an estimated project cost of Rs. 6,414.21 crore. - Punjab govt de-notifies land acquired for SYL canal
Punjab government has denotified the land acquired for the construction of Sutlej-Yamuna Link, SYL canal which will be handed over to its legal owners immediately and a notification is being issued in this regard The decision to this effect was taken in the Punjab cabinet meeting held in the chairmanship of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. - Supreme Court rejects Tamil Nadu's plea for review of Jallikattu verdict
The Supreme Court on 16th November dismissed the plea of the Tamil Nadu government seeking review of the 2014 judgement banning use of bulls for Jallikattu events in the state and bullock-cart races in the country. The bench rejected the review petition saying that it was illegal and unconstitutional as the taming of bulls for such an event amounted to "cruelty".
The apex court had on January 21 dismissed similar pleas for re-examination of the 2014 judgement. On January 8, the Centre had issued a notification lifting the ban on jallikattu in Tamil Nadu with certain restrictions, which was challenged in the apex court by Animal Welfare Board of India and others. The apex court had stayed the notification. - Supreme Court asks search engines to delete information on sex determination
Search engines like Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft were on 16th November asked to “delete” advertisements pertaining to prenatal sex determination in India within 36 hours by the Supreme Court. The apex court directed the Centre to appoint a nodal agency to monitor the websites.
The apex court, which fixed the matter for further hearing on February 17 next year, said the “interim arrangement” would continue till the issue pertaining to advertisements relating to pre-natal sex determination was “debated” upon before it. - Chhattisgarh first state to adopt resolution on demonetisation
Chhattisgarh has become the first state to adopt a resolution welcoming the demonetisation of high-value currency notes, the state Assembly adopted a resolution moved by Chief Minister Raman Singh on 16th November welcoming the Centre's decision. Replying to the debate, the Chief Minister said, the decision was taken to flush out black money from the system and to usher in the clean transaction and clean money system. Besides fighting black money, he said, it will also impact various other contentious issues plaguing the system.
Mr. Singh said his government will take effective steps to encourage people in small business to switch over to the e-payment system. He also announced exemption from VAT on the point of sale device to be installed by these businessmen.
The Chief Minister also said, all arrangements had been made in the state to make online payments to farmers for their paddy procured under support price system. - Supreme Court refuses to accept Centre's stand of rejecting Collegium recommendations
Supreme Court on 18th November said that it has not accepted the Centre's stand of rejecting the 43 names recommended by the apex court Collegium for their appointment as judges of the various high courts. A bench comprising Chief Justice T S Thakur and A R Dave on 18th November said the list has been sent back to the government for reconsideration.
Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said that the government will have to study and examine the reasons of the Supreme Court collegium while rejecting its objections to the names recommended by it for appointment of judges to high courts. He said the government will start processing the files once again. The Centre on 16th November told the court that it has cleared 34 names out of the 77 recommended by the collegium. - Government cites figures, hits out at CJI over appointments
Rejecting Chief Justice TS Thakur's accusations that the government was deliberately delaying the appointment of judges to high courts, the Centre hit back on 19th November with statistics, disclosing that it had appointed 120 HC judges in 2016, against an annual average of 80 appointments since 1990
After scanning records available on appointment of judges since 1990, the law ministry said that on an average, 80 judges were appointed to HCs on the recommendation of the judiciary every year. Two judgments of the Supreme Court in the 1990s took away from the executive the power to select judges.
The number of judges appointed was 121 in 2013, the highest in a year since 1990. But the Union government by November 2016 has appointed 120 judges, just one short of the highest number ever appointed in a year in the last 25 years. - Research in agro-biodiversity is crucial: PM
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated 1st International Agro bio diversity congress in New Delhi on 6th November.
According to the Prime Minister:- Research in agro-biodiversity is very important to ensure global food, nutrition and environment security
- Research needs to be done and best practices need to be noted and curated
- Natural resources must be given to the future generations intact as it was given to us by our ancestors
- Due to global warming and pollution, different variety of plants and wild life are facing extinction and the world has to come together to save the species
- This is the time people have to change the way of thinking, and to preserve the agro-biodiversity and its inhabitants.
- Every country needs to learn from other countries. Nature was entwined with the society and its rituals in India by our ancestors and it kept the nature sustained and survived
- Technology is needed in agriculture for fighting malnutrition and hunger, but it should not be the cost of sustainability and compromising the bio-diversity of the country.
- The world community needs to develop a system where all rules related to agro-biodiversity is harmonized
- AADHAR for DBT saved Rs 36,000 cr
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said, introduction of AADHAAR for Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme has resulted in saving of thirty six thousand crore rupees. Addressing valedictory session of Vigilance Awareness Week in New Delhi on 7th November, Mr Modi said that the money saved from pilferage of LPG and Kerosene was diverted to targeted beneficiaries. - Supreme Court asks Centre to devise common minimum programme to deal with pollution
The Supreme Court has asked the Centre to devise a common minimum programme to deal with rising pollution and has given 48 hours to government to respond. Hearing a plea on the rising level of pollution in Delhi and adjoining areas, the Apex Court also asked the Centre to apprise it about the policy, if any, to tackle the issue of rising pollution. The plea was filed by the Environment Pollution Control Authority which has sought a proper monitoring of worsening pollution levels in these areas. - Defence Ministry clears new blacklisting policy
Union Defence Ministry clears new blacklisting policy to do away with blanket bans on companies caught in kickbacks cases; it also approved projects worth 82,000 crore rupees for purchase of fighter aircraft, tanks, rockets and mini drones; bulk of purchases will be made at home.
Contrary to expectation, the Defence Acquisition Council, chaired by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, did not take a decision on the Navy's proposal to purchase 12 US2I amphibious aircraft from Japan, though the issue came up for discussion. However, it is expected that there would be some forward movement on this issue during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's upcoming visit to Tokyo on November 11-12.
The DAC also gave Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) to Indian Air Force's plan to purchase 83 Tejas Mark 1A aircraft at a cost of Rs 50,025 crore
It also accorded AON for the purchase of 15 Light Combat Aircraft being manufactured by HAL for the Army and Air Force for a tentative cost of about Rs 2,911 crore.
AoN was also given for the repeat order of 464 Russian origin T90 tanks which are being manufactured by the Ordnance Factory Board for Rs 13,448 crore, besides for procurement of 598 mini UAVs at a cost of Rs 1,100 crore. However, the most significant take away from the DAC is the clearance of the new blacklisting policy. - Delhi Declaration on Agrobiodiversity Management adopted
The International Agro biodiversity Congress has called upon nations to accord top priority to the agrobiodiversity conservation and their sustainable use towards achieving targets of Sustainable Development Goals relating to poverty alleviation.
The four day Congress which concluded on 9th November in New Delhi has adopted a Delhi Declaration on Agrobiodiversity Management. In the declaration, participating delegates have urged the researchers and policy-makers to strengthen, and promote complementary conservation strategies to conserve and use agrobiodiversity.
The Congress has recommended that the governments and societies put greater emphasis on public awareness and capacity enhancement programs on agrobiodiversity conservation and use.The delegates have suggested developing and implementing an agrobiodiversity index to help monitor conservation and use of agrobiodiversity.
In the declaration, the delegates have also urged public and private sector partnerships to actively invest and incentivize the utilization of agrobiodiversity to address malnutrition and productivity of farms. Besides, the United Nations has been urged to consider declaring soon a Year of Agrobiodiversity to draw worldwide attention and to catalyze urgent action. AIR correspondent reports, it was the 1st International Agrobiodiversity Congress held in New Delhi and was attended by 900 participants from 60 countries. - High Court orders Delhi clean-up within two weeks
Delhi high court and National Green Tribunal (NGT) again brought up the alarming air pollution in the national capital on 9th November.
The high court admonished civic authorities in the city for their alleged lack of interest in keeping the streets of Delhi free from dust and rubble, saying the present state of affairs were causing immense dust pollution, in addition to diseases such as chikungunya.
The court asked authorities to file a status report on the amount of rubble removed, and also directed the cleaning of drains and sewers mechanically and putting up bio-degradable and non-degradable dustbins in all public places.
The high court has set the next date of hearing on December 7 and warned officers of various departments they would be held personally liable for non-compliance with its orders. - Supreme Court holds Punjab law terminating SYL agreement unconstitutional
Supreme Court on 10th November held as unconstitutional the 2004 law passed by Punjab to terminate the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal water sharing agreement with Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and Chandigarh.
The judgement made it clear that the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, 2004 is "unconstitutional" and Punjab could not have taken a "unilateral" decision to terminate the water sharing agreement with neighbouring states.
The judgement came on the presidential reference of 2004 on the controversy relating to sharing of water from SYL canal. A five-judge bench headed by Justice A R Dave was unanimous in holding that all the four questions of Presidential reference have to be answered in the negative.
The matter was referred to the apex court for the opinion by then President APJ Abdul Kalam on the constitutional validity of the law passed by then Punjab government-led by Captain Amrinder Singh. The law sought to nullify the court verdicts and unilaterally terminating the almost three-dacade old SYL water sharing agreement.
The present judgement implies that the 2004 Act was not in consonance with the apex court judgement of 2003 which had mandated the construction of the SYL canal that has been stalled. The controversial 1981 water sharing agreement came into being after Haryana was carved out of Punjab in 1966. - Global summit on climate change
Three special sessions, focusing on initiatives taken on afforestation and sustainable transportation in the country, was organised at the Indian pavilion on the third day of the crucial global summit on climate change at Marrakech in Morocco.
During the first session on 'Afforestation and REDD+', experts said that the government has asked the forestry sector to help the country meet its goal of creation of 2.5-3 billion tonnes of additional carbon sinks, as per the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
REDD+ stands for Reducing Emissions by Deforestation and Degradation, an initiative finalized under the UN's Paris Agreement in 2015.
Emphasis was also placed on promoting the exchange of information and present potential collaborations among South Asian countries that share Himalayan and tropical ecologies.
In the second session on ecosystem and climate change, discussions were held on the role of forest in climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Representative of Bihar government provided detailed information on the initiatives on the agro-forestry and strategy to meet the climate change risk during the discussions.
Showcasing India's efforts on sustainable transport solutions, Railways Ministry with its technical partner, Council on Energy, Environment and Water also hosted the third session on "Sustainable Transport Solutions'.
The official statement said that India has focused its low carbon initiatives on the development of railways, waterways, Mass Rapid Transport Systems (MRTS) and other forms of public transport. Initiatives such as the Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs) were highlighted during the discussions. - India pledges USD 10.95 mn for UN development activities
India has pledged about 10.95 million dollar for development activities across several UN bodies for the year 2017, besides processing contribution for the Voluntary Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery and for the Victims of Torture and UN Volunteers.
First Secretary in India's Permanent Mission to the UN Mahesh Kumar said this at a Pledging Conference for Development Activities in Geneva.
India has announced contribution of about 10.95 million dollar development activities for 2017, including 4.5 million dollar for the UN Development Programme , 1.92 million dollar for the World Food Programme, 1.25 million dollar for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Near East and a million dollars towards UN Women. These apart, India also approved contributions for many other UN bodies, he said. - Centre unveils faster-maturing pulses variety
The central government unveiled a new, early maturing variety of arhar (red gram). It apparently gives a yield of 20 quintals, the same as many existing varieties but maturing in 120 days, instead of the usual 170-180 days. Called PUSA Arhar-16, it might even be issued for commercial use in January itself, so that farmers could plant by the next kharif season.
The new variety gives an average yield of 20 quintals, which though is same as many existing varieties, but more crucially take lesser time to mature making it suitable for northern plains.
It would give farmers ample time to grow potato, mustard or wheat in the rabi season thereby making this arhar variety suitable for northern plains.
An early release by 2017 January bypassing he mandatory three years multi-field testing parameters would enable the country achieve self-sufficiency in pulses by in the next 3-4 years.
Pulses production in India is lower than the demand of 23-24 million tonne (MT). The output had fallen in the last two years due to the drought which sent the prices through the roof, forcing the government to take several measures to check inflation in pulses.
Arhar prices in some retail markets had touched to Rs 200 per quintal in 2015 due to supply shortage. India usually produces around 2-3 tonnes of arhar annually, which in 2016 is expected to reach an all-time high 4.29 million tonnes due to record rise in area.
The country's pulses output is estimated to increase to 20 MT in 2016-17 crop year (July-June) on account of good monsoon after two drought years. But the production is still lower than domestic demand of 23-24 MT. Pulse production fell to 16.47 MT in 2015-16 crop year from 17.15 MT in the previous year. - Kerala becomes 3rd Open Defecation Free state
Kerala has become the third Open Defecation Free state in the country. The announcement was made by the Drinking Water and Sanitation Secretary Parameswaran Iyer in New Delhi on 1st November. Earlier, Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim had declared themselves Open Defecation Free. Over 1 lakh villages across the country have become ODF. - NRDC inks 5 tech licensing pacts
National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) has signed five technology licensing agreements on a single day.
The technologies licenced include three Ayurvedic technologies to Ayur Force organics, New Delhi. The technologies have been developed by CCRAS — Ayurvedic anti-diabetic drug and one for treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis; CSIR-NEIST a arthritis herbal formulation. Swadesi Ayurved, Hardwar acquired the Ayush-82 technology.
The other licenced technology includes a process for isolation of a major harmful oxidant i.e., parabenzosemiquinone from cigarette smoke.
The know-how was developed by Kolkata University. The R&D was funded by CSIR. The technology is licensed to Lambda Pvt Ltd, Delhi, says H Purushotham, Chairman & Managing Director of the Corporation. He said that the vision of NRDC is to sign at least one technology licensing agreement a day is close to realisation and thereby assist the Start-Up India and Standup India Missions of the Centre in a big way. - Google ties up with ASI for virtual tour of monuments
Google has tied up with Archaelogical Survey of India (ASI) for 360 degree virtual tour of 280-odd monuments across the country.
ASI had given the permission to Google for creating the virtual tour, which would be available in the maps. Some of the major monuments are Taj Mahal, Victoria Memorial and the ruins of Hampi, adding eight were from Kolkata. Google has launched an array of products in India like offline view of maps, live traffic alerts and inclusion of unknown places on the maps by local guides. - PM Modi outlines 10-point agenda for disaster risk reduction
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 3rd November sought greater cohesion in international response to disasters. Inaugurating the Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in New Delhi, Mr Modi outlined a ten-point agenda for renewing efforts towards disaster risk reduction. He said, all development sectors must imbibe the principles of disaster risk management and a network of universities should be developed to work on disaster issues.
The Prime Minister called for greater involvement and leadership of women in disaster risk management. He said, opportunities provided by social media and mobile technologies should also be utilised.
According to Modi- India has now fully functional Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System.
- Countries have to wholeheartedly embrace the spirit of Sendai Framework which calls for an all-of-society approach to disaster risk management.
Aim of the 3-day conference is to find ways for better management of disaster risk. The conference will come out with a declaration consolidating the political commitment of governments towards preventing and reducing risk as well as strengthening resilience by accelerating implementation. - Maharashtra first state to launch cyber police stations in all districts
Maharashtra is converting 42 state-of-the-art cyber crime labs into cyber police stations. The move is part of BJP-led government's strategy to take on cyber criminals. Maharashtra is the first state in the country which will have a cyber police station in each district.
Any offence related to cyber crime will be registered in these police stations at the district level. Additional cyber police stations will also be set up in some cities. Cyber police stations will also be set up at police commissionerate and Range IG offices.
Cyber crime in Maharashtra has risen by a whopping 142.1 per cent in the last few years adding that the state is facing increased cyber crime cases in tier-II cities and also in rural areas. - Voter has right to know candidate’s qualification: Supreme Court
Every voter has a fundamental right to know the educational qualification of a candidate, who has a duty not to lie about his or her academic past, the Supreme Court has held.
The verdict came on appeals filed by Mairembam Prithviraj alias Prithviraj Singh and Pukhrem Sharatchandra Singh against each other challenging the judgment of the Manipur High Court. The HC had declared as “void” the election of Mr. Prithviraj in the 2012 polls on an NCP ticket against Congress nominee Mr. Sharatchandra from the Moirang Assembly seat in Manipur. It was alleged that Mr. Prithviraj, in his nomination papers, had said he was an MBA, which was found to be incorrect.
Upholding the HC verdict, Justice Rao said the apex court was not “in dispute that the Appellant did not study MBA in Mysore University” and the plea that it was a “clerical error” could not be accepted.
“Since 2008, the Appellant was making the statement that he has an MBA degree. The information provided by him in the affidavit filed in Form 26 would amount to a false declaration. The said false declaration cannot be said to be a defect which is not substantial,” the judgment said. - Govt launches Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan for pregnant women
Union Health Minister J P Nadda on 4th November launched Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan in New Delhi to improve health care facilities for pregnant women.
Under the scheme, pregnant ladies will be given free health check-up and required treatment free of cost on 9th of every month. The scheme will be applicable for pregnant women in all Government hospitals across the country. - India, Venezuela sign deals to increase oil production
India and Venezuela have signed an oil production deals worth about 1.45 billion US dollar to increase oil production. The agreement was signed between India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Venezeulas Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA), and Venezuela’s consortium Delta Finance BVin Caracas, Venezeula on 4th November.
The agreement comes amid a severe economic crisis in Venezuela, and it is seen as a way to boost oil production, pay off debts, obtain funds from other foreign partners, and increase the country’s oil income. The Indo-Venezuelan partnership, created in 2009, is expected to double the San Cristobal field daily oil production from 20,000 to 40,000 barrels of oil. - NSAs of India, Japan hold bilateral consultations
National Security Advisors of India and Japan on 5th November held bilateral consultations in New Delhi.
During their discussions- Indian National Security Advisor – Ajit Doval
- Japan National Security Advisor- Shotaro Yachi
They shared a view that the Special Strategic and Global Partnership between the two countries is a key partnership for promoting peace, prosperity and development in the region and the world.
The discussions of the two NSAs centred on important issues covering bilateral, regional and global dimensions and helped to further underscore the commonalities of views, shared interests and need to promote universal values.
They agreed on the need for the global community to make concerted efforts to meet the pressing regional and global challenges.
The two sides also reviewed the preparations for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's forthcoming visit to Japan. They agreed that the visit of the Prime Minister to Japan is the most significant event in the bilateral relations 2016 and will further underscore the strong bonds of friendship that India and Japan share. - India, China agree to maintain high-level exchanges
India and China have agreed to maintain the pace of high level exchanges including in the political, economic, defence and counter-terrorism fields. External Affairs Ministry in a release issued in New Delhi said, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met with State Councilor of China Yang Jiechi on 4th November. They agreed that the forthcoming high level engagement in counter-terrorism field is yet another manifestation of growing convergence of views of two countries on this pressing challenge facing international community.
This was the third visit of State Councillor Yang to India in the last two months. The discussions, conducted in a friendly, open and cordial environment, covered a wide agenda spanning bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest.
Mr Doval and Mr Yang, who are the Special Representatives on the Boundary Question of India and China respectively agreed to hold the 20th Round of Special Representatives talks on the Boundary Question in India in 2017.
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