Implementation of Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY) in CSM Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today approved the proposal for implementation of Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY) in whole Chhatrapati Sahuji Maharaj (CSM) Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh comprising five tehsils and also includes this as an additional district to already approved list of 52 districts.

The expenditure for three tehsils of CSM Nagar (Musafirkhana, Amethi and Gauriganj) is already included in the proposal approved by the CCEA. Addition of two remaining tehsils of Tiloi and Salon to cover full CSM Nagar which would require additional funding of Rs. 11 crore for 32000 more beneficiaries. This will be met within the approved allocation of Rs. 520 under BE 2012-13.

Background:

The Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY), a centrally sponsored conditional maternity benefit schemes was approved by Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs in its meeting on 20.10.2010. The scheme is operational in 52 districts of all States/ UTs across the country, on pilot basis, to improve the health and nutrition status of pregnant and lactating women and their young infants. The scheme also includes Sultanpur and Mahoba districts of Uttar Pradesh.

On 01.07.2010 a new district, namely, Chhatrapati Sahuji Maharaj (CSM) Nagar was carved out by the Government of UP by merging three tehsils from erstwhile Sultanpur district (Musafirkhana, Amethi and Gauriganj) and two tehsils of Raibareli district (Salon and Tiloi). In the changed situation, new Sultanpur district comprises of three tehsils i.e., Sadar, Kadipur and Lambhua. The remaining three tehsils (Musafirkhana, Amethi and Gauriganj) of erstwhile Sultanpur district now form part of CSM Nagar. As the CCEA approved the proposal of the Ministry for erstwhile Sultanpur district having six tehsils. In the changed scenario, implementation of IGMSY is limited to Sultanpur district comprising only three tehsils. The remaining three tehsils, namely Musafirkhana, Amethi and Gauriganj of erstwhile Sultanpur is left out of the purview of IGMSY. The Government of UP has requested inclusion of the remaining two tehsils of Chhatrapati Sahuji Maharaj Nagar, namely Salon and Tiloi, transferred from Rae Bareily district under IGMSY in addition to the three tehsils transferred from erstwhile Sultanpur so that the entire CSM Nagar district is covered under the Scheme.

Record number of Indian Americans in race for US Congress

A record number of Indian Americans -- at least 12 -- are in the fray for the November 2012 polls vying for a place in the House of Representative, reflecting the serious effort of this fastest growing ethnic community in the US to politically empower itself.

Cutting across party lines, these Indian-American candidates are spread all over the country with two each from California and Michigan.
Congressman Hansen Clare, who is half Indian, is seeking re-election from Michigan, while another candidate Tulsi Gabbard, a Hindu, is receiving massive support from Indian- Americans.
The motivation and inspiration for these Indian-American candidates numbering at least a dozen comes from the phenomenal success of two rising stars of the Republican party, Nikki Haley (Governor of South Carolina) and Bobby Jindal (Governor of Louisiana).
However, majority of the Indian-American candidates are running for the Congress on a Democratic Party ticket.
Indian-Americans have been traditional supporter of the Democratic party, an indication of which comes from a recent survey according to which as many as 85 per cent of the Indian Americans favour re-election of President Barack Obama.
Among the Indian-American candidates seeking election for the US House of Representatives on a Democratic Party ticket are Upendra Chivukula from New Jersey, Raja Krishnamoorthi from Illinois, K P George from Texas, Ami Bera from California, Manan Trivedi from Pennsylvania, Syed Taj from Michigan and Vipin Verma from Florida.
Darshan Rauniyar from Washington, though from Nepal, is considered Indian-American by many.
Hansen Clarke and Tulsi Gabbard are also from the Democratic Party.
Young and dynamic Ranjit "Ricky" Gill from California and Ron Bhalla from Tenesse are the two Indian-American candidates in the fray from the Republican Party.
The 2012 election cycle has beaten the record of 2010 Congressional elections when for the first time eight Indian- Americans were in the fray, of which only Clarke tasted electoral victory.
Though the elections are still six months away, if news reports are any indication chances are that Clarke could have more Indian American colleagues in US House of Representatives.
Besides Clarke, only two other Indian-Americans have been elected to the Congress so far -- Bobby Jindal and Dalip Singh Saund.

Establishment of Nyaya Panchayats

Ministry of Panchayati Raj had prepared a Draft Nyaya Panchayat (NP) Bill to provide for the establishment of Nyaya Panchayats at the level of each Village Panchayat or a cluster of Village Panchayats in consultation with Ministry of Law & Justice. The objective of the proposed Nyaya Panchayat Bill is to provide a sound institutionalized, alternative forum at the grassroots level with community involvement for dispute resolution through mediation, conciliation and compromise. After taking into consideration the comments received from the concerned Central Ministries/ Departments, the Draft Nyaya Panchayat Bill was sent to Ministry of Law & Justice. The Bill could not be finalized due to various objections raised by Ministry of Law and Justice which included, inter alia, the issues of its Constitutional validity and overlapping provisions of Gram Nyalaya Act 2008 already enacted by that Ministry. The Ministry of Law & Justice provided a copy of the revised Draft NP Bill 2010 in November 2010 for views/comments of the Ministry. Our detailed comments have been forwarded to Ministry of Law & Justice on 22nd June 2011.

Indian Community Welfare Fund

The Government of India provides budgetary support for the setting up of the fund in Indian Missions with allocations ranging from Rs.5-15 lakh So far as the corpus of such fund is concerned. The Ministry’s contribution is initially for a period of 3 years or till the period the fund becomes self sustaining whichever is earlier. The amount is released annually and is limited to meet the deficit in the financial resources of the Missions, with due regard to the utilization of the amount released during previous years. Funds raised by the Indian Missions by levying a service charge on Consular Services and voluntary contributions by the Indian community.

Hindi as Official Language of UN

The Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs E. Ahamed informed the Rajya Sabha on May 10 that the Government has been actively taking necessary measures for the introduction of Hindi as one of the Official Languages of the UN. A high level Committee under the Chairmanship of the External Affairs Minister was constituted on 26 February, 2003 followed by a sub-Committee under the chairmanship of the Minister of State for External Affairs in August, 2003 to look into this matter and take necessary measures. Keeping in view this objective, the 8th World Hindi Conference was organized in New York on 13 July 2007 and its inaugural session was held at the UN Headquarters, which was attended by the UN Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki-moon. In addition, a World Hindi Secretariat has been set up in Mauritius since 11 February 2008 to promote Hindi as an international language. On several occasions, Indian leaders have delivered statements at the UN in Hindi. Necessary arrangements were made for simultaneous interpretation of these statements in English by the Permanent Mission of India in New York. The Government of India`s sustained efforts have also ensured that the United Nations offers its programmes on the UN Radio Website in Hindi also.

The introduction of Hindi as one of the official languages of the United Nations has several financial and procedural implications which require to be met before a formal proposal can be tabled at the UN. India, as the proposing country, would need to provide sufficient financial resources to the UN to cover the additional expenditure on interpretation, translation, printing and duplication of documents and related infrastructural costs. Procedurally, the UN General Assembly (the legislative body of the UN) would also need to adopt a resolution supported by a majority of the 193 UN Member States. Apart from the additional cost to India, the addition of another official language at the UN entails a significant increase in the budget of the UN (personnel, equipment, and other recurring costs). Member States have been generally reluctant to support proposals entailing any additional financial burden.

Naval Commanders Conference - 2012

The Naval Commander’s Conference was conducted at New Delhi from 08-10 May 12. The Hon’ble Raksha Mantri inaugurated the conference and complimented the Indian Navy on its all round performance.

The Naval Commander’s discussed several important issues during the conference, including Operational Readiness, Coastal Security, Infrastructure Development, Information & Cyber Security as also Foreign Cooperation initiatives.

The necessity for the Indian Navy to incorporate quantum enhancement in technology, ranging from nuclear propulsion to advanced weapon platforms and networked systems, was highlighted by the CNS, especially in view of the recent induction of INS Chakra, the impending arrival of INS Vikramaditya and the P8-I Long Range Maritime Surveillance aircraft.

The CNS expressed satisfaction at the modernisation and capability enhancement of the Indian Navy, which was proceeding as per the Maritime Capability Perspective Plan. The CNS highlighted the fact, that 4-5 major warships and submarines were likely to be commissioned every year over the next five years and that Naval Aviation was poised for major growth in the years ahead.

Considering the ongoing expansion programme of the Indian Navy, a new ‘Safety Organisation’ to enhance safe operations of ships, submarines and aircraft was also discussed.

As 2012 is being observed as the ‘Year of the Ex-Serviceman’, several measures for enhancing the welfare of naval veterans and their widows were discussed for implementation. These include ‘Pension Adalats’ across the country, especially in rural areas and strengthening the delivery of the Ex-servicemen’s Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS).

The CNS concluded the conference by complimenting all personnel of the Indian Navy for their professionalism and patriotism, and exhorted them to continue to meet the maritime security challenges being faced by the nation.

Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) drafted Policy on Exploitation of Shale Gas

The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) drafted a safe as well as encouraging policy on exploitation of shale gas that is seen as the new hope for fuelling India’s burgeoning appetite for hydrocarbons. DGF drafted the policy in the wake of the CAG’s strictures against the DGH and the Petroleum Ministry on violations in the KG-D6 contract.

The draft policy does not permit cost recovery and hence profit sharing — the two features that came under criticism by the CAG in its audit report. However it banks on production-linked payment (PLP) as the Centre’s share from the discovery.

The draft stated that the PLP would be a fixed percentage of revenue receipts from the shale gas or shale oil sold from the contract area, net of royalty on a monthly basis. Royalty would be in line with what is prescribed in the Oilfields (Regulation & Development) act. The PLP quoted at the time of the bidding for blocks assumes significance as it would carry the maximum 60 per cent weight for deciding the award of the block. The total investment quoted for completing the promised minimum work programme would get 40 per cent weightage. As a fiscal incentive, the contractor will be exempt from PLP payment for the first five years from the start of commercial production or from the date of entering the development and production phase, whichever is earlier.

The maximum period of PLP exemption would be 10 years from the date of signing of the contract and will not be extended under any circumstance since it is an incentive for faster development.

As per the policy, the explorer will be given the freedom to market shale gas within India on an arm’s length basis, with shale oil marketing following the prevailing norms of the New Exploration Licensing Policy. The other incentive proposed in the draft is customs duty exemption on the import of goods and materials for exploration and exploitation of shale gas or oil.

The blocks are to be awarded through open international competitive bidding with up to 100 per cent equity participation by foreign companies. The operating firm in a consortium would be the one which has minimum 25 per cent equity. The contract would be for 30 years with the first five years kept for exploration, appraisal and evaluation of the prospect and its feasibility.

Deepika Kumari wins first World Cup title

India's Olympic prospect Deepika Kumari won her first World Cup individual recurve gold medal at Antalya, Turkey.

She beat Korea's Lee Sung Jin by six set points to four in the final of the Stage 2 of the championship.

According to information received here, teenager Deepika won the second set (29-27), third (27-26) and the fifth (28-27) while losing the first (27-30) and the fourth (27-29).

Deepika, who has already qualified for London Olympics, is the current junior world champion and a gold medallist at the Delhi Commonwealth Games. She had also won the Cadet World Title in 2009.

Archery Association of India chief and Indian Olympic Association acting president Vijay Kumar Malhotra congratulated Deepika on her win on May 5.

Chelsea lifts FA Cup

Chelsea's remarkable turnaround since Roberto Di Matteo took over as interim coach has taken them to the brink of a cup double after they beat a disappointing Liverpool side 2-1 with goals from Ramires and Didier Drogba on May 5.
 

Their victory at Wembley Stadium in a match they dominated for the first hour keeps the London side's momentum going for what could be an even greater triumph in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich in two weeks' time.

A season that seemed destined to end in failure under coach Andre Villas-Boas could now finish as the most successful in the club's history if they become European champions.

Andy Carroll's 64th minute strike for Liverpool brought the game to life for the last half-an-hour after Chelsea appeared to be coasting to a seventh FA Cup success and their fourth in six seasons but Di Matteo's side hung on to claim the spoils.

The club's campaign has been transformed under Di Matteo - who never lost at Wembley as a player - with just two defeats in 18 matches although he is still only their caretaker boss.

Tamil writer Ashokamitran declared Recipient of the 6 NTR National Literary Award

Noted Tamil writer Ashokamitran, known for his novel Thanneer and other works was declared the recipient of the 6 NTR National Literary Award on 4 May 2012. The award is scheduled to be presented on 28 May 2012. The writer was born in Secunderabad and was closest to Telugu culture, language and people.

The announcement was made by chairperson of NTR Vignan Trust Nandamuri Lakshmi Parvati who recalled how the award was established and began with Kannada writer S.L. Bhyrappa, A. Somasundaram (Telugu), Sachidanandan (Malayalam), Mahasweta Devi and Gnanpith awardee C. Narayana Reddy.

The jury comprised writer Volga, Professor N. Krupanandam of the University of Hyderabad and litterateur Ketu Vishwanatha Reddy. Ashokamitran's name was finalised unanimously, considering the number of his works that were translated in other languages and their relevance to Telugu.

Vice President Hamid Ansari conferred the 59th National Film Awards

Vice President of India Hamid Ansari conferred the 59th National Film Awards across various categories upon the winners at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on 4 May 2012. Ansari also presented the Dadasaheb Phalke award, highest honour in Indian cinema to Veteran Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee.
The best feature film award was shared by Marathi film Deool and Kannada movie Byari, while the best direction award went to Gurvinder Singh for his Punjabi film Anhe Ghorey Da Daan, which also won the best cinematography title. Hindi film I Am was named the best Hindi film of the year. Chillar Party was adjudged the best children's film, and it also received the honour for best original screenplay writer.
Marathi actor Girish Kulkarni claimed the best actor trophy for his role as a good-hearted simpleton in Deool. Bollywood actress Vidya Balan got the best female actor award for her role in Dirty Picture.The best supporting actor and actress awards were given to Appu Kutty for Tamil film Azhagarsamiyin Kuthirai and Leishangthem Tonthoingambi Devi for Manipuri film Phijigee Mani, respectively.
Anand Bhate, won the best playback singer (male) title for Balgandharva, and Roopa Ganguly, won the same award in the female category for the Bengali film Abosheyshey. Bollywood lyricist Amitabh Bhattacharya received the best lyricist trophy. For the song Agar Zindgi from the movie I Am. Composer Neel Dutt won the best songs award for Bengali rock musical Ranjana Ami Ar Ashbo Na. Mayookh Bhaumik bagged the background score honor for Bengali film Laptop.
RA.One bagged the award for best special effects and the best choreography was given to Bosco-Caeser for Senorita from Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. The best costume designer award was shared by Niharika Khan for The Dirty Picture and Neeta Lulla for Marathi film Balgandharva.  The best child artist was received jointly by Partho Gupte for Stanley Ka Dabba and by the gang of 10 kids for Chillar Party.
Vikram Gaekwad won the best make-up artist for his work in The Dirty Picture as well as in Bal Gandharva.All three awards in the best audiography category were picked by Hindi films. The best location sound recordist title went to Beylon Fonseca for Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. Game was given the honours in the sound designer and re-recordist of the final mixed track categories.
Kumararaja Thiagarajan won the Indira Gandhi Award for best debut film of a director for Aaranyakandam while the award for the best popular film providing wholesome entertainment went to Tamil film Azhagarsamiyin Kuthirai.Acclaimed filmmaker Girish Kasaravalli picked his 12th National Film Award at the event for Kurmavatara, adjudged the best Kannada film.
Traditionally, the national awards are given out by the President. But in the absence of president the vice president presented the awards.

60% of rural India lives on less than Rs 35 a day

About 60 per cent of India's rural population lives on less than Rs 35 a day and nearly as many in cities live on Rs 66 a day, reveals a government survey on income and expenditure.

"In terms of average per capita daily expenditure, it comes out to be about Rs 35 in rural and Rs 66 in urban India. About 60 per cent of the population live with these expenditures or less in rural and urban areas," said Director General of National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) J Dash in his preface to the report.

According to the 66th round of National Sample Survey (NSS) carried out between July 2009 and June 2010, all India average monthly per capita consumer expenditure (MPCE) in rural areas was Rs 1,054 and urban areas Rs 1,984.

The survey also pointed out that 10 per cent of the population at the lowest rung in rural areas lives on Rs 15 a day, while in urban areas the figure is only a shade better at Rs 20 day.

"The poorest 10 per cent of India's rural population had an average MPCE of Rs 453. The poorest 10 per cent of the urban population had an average MPCE of Rs 599", it said.

The NSSO survey also revealed that average MPCE in rural areas was lowest in Bihar and Chhattisgarh at around Rs 780 followed by Orissa and Jharkhand at Rs 820.

Among other states, Kerala has the highest rural MPCE at 1,835 followed by Punjab and Haryana at Rs 1,649 and Rs 1,510 respectively.

The the highest urban MCPE was in Maharashtra at Rs 2,437 followed by Kerala at Rs 2,413 and Haryana at Rs 2,321. It was lowest in Bihar at Rs 1,238.

The median level of MCPE was Rs 895 in rural and Rs 1,502 in urban India, indicating consumption level of majority of population.

According to the study, food was estimated to account about 57 per cent of the value of the average rural Indian household consumption during 2009-10 whereas it was 44 per cent in cities.

The study reveals that the average monthly per capita consumption of cereals was 11.3 kg in rural areas and 9.4 kg in cities.

Based on NSSO estimates, the Planning Commission had pegged that poverty line at Rs 28.65 and Rs 22.42 daily consumption in urban and rural areas respectively in 2009-10.

As per the Commission's estimates the number of persons living below poverty line was 35.46 crore in 2009-10, as compared to 40.72 crore in 2004-05.

Vidya Balan appointed Brand Ambassador for promoting Sanitation in India

Noted Bollywood actor Vidya Balan was roped in by the Ministry of Rural Development and the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation as brand ambassador to spread awareness about sanitation and cleanliness in the country. Talking to the media after meeting Balan here, Union Rural Development Minister Shri Jairam Ramesh said she will appear in ad campaigns to propagate construction and use of toilets. The Minister informed that Balan is the first brand ambassador of the Ministry. According to UNICEF-WHO Joint Monitoring Programme Report 2010, nearly 60 per cent of India's 1.1 billion people still practice open defecation and close to 58% of all open defecations in the World is in India. Shri Ramesh said that Vidya’s involvement will make the campaign to end open defecation a national obsession. The key areas of intervention on sanitation that may be focused upon are- propogating construction and use of toilets by all, habits of hand washing, personal hygiene and managing waste.

Talking to reporters, Vidya Balan said that this role will work a lot because they are working on a national movement. She said that it is a matter of great honour for her to become the brand ambassador of sanitation campaign and added that it needs to become a national obsession. She has agreed to give her time for the campaign for two years and will be fully involved in the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan--the restructured version of the Total Sanitation Campaign. It may be recalled that India loses 54 billion US dollars that is about 24,000 crore rupees a year due to poor sanitation and hygiene.

Partial solar eclipse on May 21

The trio of sun, earth and moon will depict an interesting view of partial solar eclipse on May 21, which will be seen in the eastern part of the country.

The partial solar eclipse will begin at 15:39 hours and would end at 19:06 hours, Jiwaji laboratory Ujjain director Rajendra Prakash Gupta said.

At the height of the eclipse, the moon would cover 94.5 per cent of the sun, he said.

This is the first eclipse this year which is visible in India.

The partial solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and earth in such a way that from the earth, a portion of the sun is seen hidden behind the moon.

Mr. Gupta said a partial lunar eclipse would occur on June 4 but it would not be visible in India.

State-of-the-art ground station to come up at Antarctica soon

A state-of-the-art ground station for earth observation satellites which will function in sub-zero temperatures and withstand high wind speeds will be established at Bharati Station, the third research facility being set up by India on the icy continent of Antarctica.

The installation and commissioning of the ground station will be taken up in summer season at Antarctica, starting from December 2012 to March 2013.

The prestigious project for setting up the ground station as also a communication facility has been bagged by the Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) from the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) for a contract value of Rs.50 crore in the face of stiff global competition, according to Y.S. Mayya, Chairman and Managing Director, ECIL.

High-speed satellite raw data would be beamed in real time from Bharati Station to NRSC at Shadnagar, near here, for processing the images once the project starts functioning. 

Communication facility

As part of it, a data reception station and another data communication facility linking Bharati Station and NRSC would be established.

ECIL would install two large antennae of 7.5 diameters each-one for remote sensing and the other for communication. The antennae would be enclosed in a radome to protect them from heavy winds. While one antenna was already fabricated, the second one was expected to be ready shortly.

The antennae would be installed on a platform weighing 50 tonnes and developed with special steel structure.

The entire equipment would be taken to Cape Town, South Africa, by the end of September 2012 and transported from there to Bharati Station with logistic support from National Centre for Antarctica and Ocean Research (NCAOR), Goa.

In 2007, ECIL also established the communication link between Maitri, the second Indian research station in Antarctica and NCAOR. Among others, research on tectonics and geological structures would be undertaken at Bharati Station by Indian scientists.

Employment Exchange Mission Mode Project

The Union Labour & Employment Minister Shri Mallikarjun Kharge has informed that Employment Exchanges Mission Mode Project (EEMMP) is under consideration to interlink all the Employment Exchanges across the country. The Project is yet to be approved by the competent authority. Under the Project, a National Web Portal will be developed which will contain information both on availability of manpower and requirement of the industry and will serve as a virtual job market.

Programme on National Monsoon Mission

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the implementation of the programme of the National Monsoon Mission at the Earth System Science Organisation (ESSO) for a period of five years.
The main objectives of the National Monsoon Mission are:
(i) To build a working partnership between the academic and R&D organisations both national and international and the operational agencies to improve the operational monsoon forecast skill over the country.
(ii) To set up a state of the art dynamic modeling framework for improving the prediction skill of:
        a. Seasonal and extended range prediction system (16 days to one season)
        b. Short to medium range prediction system (up to 15 days).
The Mission has a budget of Rs.400 crore for five years to support the research work related to the mission.
The National Monsoon Mission after its implementation will help to implement a dynamic prediction system for the prediction of monsoon in all time scales, short range to seasonal time scale at appropriate spatial scales with improved prediction skill. The forecasts based on this prediction system will cater to the needs of various sectors like agriculture, water resources management, power generation, disaster management, tourism and transport.

Country's first electronic toll plaza

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will roll out the country's first Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system at Haryana, replacing the current cash payment method. Road Transport and Highways Minister C P Joshi will inaugurate the radio frequency identification (RFID) technology-based toll collection plaza at Chandimandir near Punchkula in Haryana on Delhi-Chandigarh highway on pilot basis, which will be replicated pan-India."The system will not only plug leakages under the present toll collection system but would ensure uninterrupted travel on highways across the country," a Road Transport Ministry official said.

The technology will help users to make payment without stopping at toll plazas and will reduce traffic congestion and commuting time, the official said adding that toll statements can be made available online to the road users and they don't need to stop for collecting receipt.