Shri Kapil Sibal Launches Teacher Education Website and Journal “Voices of Teachers and Teacher Educators”

Shri Kapil Sibal, the Union Minister for Human Resource Development launched a Web Journal – “Voices of Teachers and Teacher Educators”,  here today.  Also present were Secretary School Education and Literacy, Smt. Anshu Vaish and other senior officers.  

The Department of School Education and Literacy (MHRD) has initiated a new project for revamping Teacher education. The Teacher Education Bureau of the MHRD, had two meetings at Calcutta and New Delhi, covering all the states to create awareness about the revised TE project, where the states came up with the idea that they should have a Teacher Education Journal for highlighting the activities as well as innovations going on in the field of Teacher Education and other developments such as the new scheme for Teacher Education. The professionals present there from TISS; Jamia Millia Islamia; Vidya Bhawan Society and Homi Bhaba Centre for Science Education, took up the responsibility, for the same, to bring out four quarterly issues.

The first web based issue has been brought out.  It contains articles on Institutes of Advanced Studies in Education (IASEs), Colleges of Teacher Education (CTEs) and District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs); State Curriculum Reforms; Professional Development of Teachers in the States; Issues around DIETs; Teacher Training Management system in UP as well as the revised Government of India Scheme for revamping Teacher Education.

The Journal “Voices of Teachers and Teacher Educators” is an in house professional effort of the teacher educators. The inaugural web based issue was edited by Prof Janaki Rajan from Jamia Millia Islamia and Dr Hriday Kant Dewan from the Vidya Bhawan Society. The next issue will be edited by the professionals from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences. Thereafter it will be brought out on a quarterly basis by the experts from Jamia Millia Islamia; TISS; Vidya Bhawan Society and Azim Premji Foundation. 

The Teacher Education Bureau has prepared a comprehensive website: www.teindia.nic.in for creating greater awareness on the issue of teacher education and to facilitate the effective implementation of the scheme.

The site provides detailed guidelines about the scheme; all reports on teacher education; review of the teacher education projects as well as research reports on the same.

It has all the Acts and Regulations on Teacher Education. In addition there is detailed information on National Curriculum Framework 2005 as well as the National Curriculum Framework 2009 and Model Curriculum for D.El. Ed; B. Ed; M.Ed studies, to guide the states in implementing the scheme.

There is detailed information on the revised teacher Education Scheme and what the states are expected to do to effectively implement the same.

Growth of Hotel Accommodation in the Country

The Government has taken various measures to augment growth of hotel accommodation in the country.

Hotel and Tourism related industry has been declared as high priority industry and Foreign Direct Investment upto 100%, under the automatic route is permitted in ‘Hotels & Tourism Sector’, subject to applicable laws/regulations, security and other conditionalties.

To encourage the growth of hotels, on the request of Ministry of Tourism, a five Year Tax Holiday was announced in the Budget of 2008-09 for two, three & four star hotels that are established in specified districts which have UNESCO declared ‘World Heritage Sites’ except the revenue districts of Mumbai and Delhi. The hotel should be constructed and start functioning during the period April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2013.

The Government has also announced the extension of Investment Linked Tax incentive under Section 35 AD of the Income Tax Act to new hotels of 2-Star Category and above anywhere in India.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has also issued revised Guidelines on Classification of exposures as Commercial Real Estate (CRE) Exposures. Thus, RBI has classified exposures to hotels outside the CRE Exposure.

Rs 7.95 Crore Sanctioned to 45 Sportspersons from NSDF

For imparting customized training to elite athletes, who are medal prospects in the forthcoming London Olympics 2012 and other major international sports events, the Sports Ministry has sanctioned financial assistance worth Rs. 7.95 crore plus air fare, etc, from National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) to the 45 sportspersons and 12 Coaches & supporting staff under Operation Excellence 2012. Out of this, Rs 3.89 crore has already been released to the sportspersons. The assistance sanctioned is towards extensive training abroad, engagement of personal coaches both foreign and Indian, competitions exposures abroad, scientific back-up in terms of sports psychologists, physiotherapists, masseurs etc. 

The details of NSDF assistance sanctioned and released under OPEX LONDON 2012 as on 18.01.2012 are as follows:

S. No.	Name of the sportsperson/ discipline	Purpose	Amount sanctioned			Amount released
1	4 Men Gymnasts & 2 Coaches (Shri Ashish Kumar, Shri Rakesh Patra, Shri Iqrar Hasan, Shri Alok Ranajan + Mr. Vladimir Chertkov, Shri Pravin Sharma)	80 days training at South Essex Gymnastics Club (UK)  during June-Aug 2011 for men gymnasts	Rs 56.83 lacs (plus air fare to be paid on getting bills)			Rs 56.83 lacs
2	5 Women Gymnasts & 2 Coaches (Ms Dipa Karmarkar, Ms B. Aruna, Ms Rucha Divekar, Ms Roma Jogalekar, Ms Meenakshi + J Shri P Chakraborty, Ms Kalpana Debnath)	70 days training at Dynamo Club of Gymnastics, Moscow (Russia) during June-Aug 2011 for women gymnasts	Rs 33.08 lacs (plus air fare to be paid on getting bills)			Rs 33.08 lacs
3.1	Indian Boxing Team (Men – 7 players & 4 others)	Participation in 21st President’s Cup Boxing Tournament in Jakarta (Indonesia) by Men Boxing Team from July 2-9, 2011	Air passage cost (Rs 6.02 lacs actual)			Rs 6.02 lacs
3.2	Indian Boxing Team (Men – 4 players & 2 others)	Participation in 16th International Boxing Tournament in Almaty, Kazakhstan (May 9 – 14, 2011)	Air passage cost + visa + medical insurance (Rs 3.17 lacs actual)			Rs 3.17 lacs
3.3	Indian Boxing Team (Women – 6 players & 2 others)	Participation in Arafura, Darwin, Australia (May 7 – 14, 2011)	Air passage, boarding/ lodging etc. (Rs 14.20 lacs actual)			Rs 14.20 lacs
4	Shri Ronjan Sodhi, Shooter	217 days training under Mr. Serafino Carlini during July 11 to July 12	Rs 97.37 lacs (approx) plus 10 times air fare			Rs 33.96 lacs
5	Shri Manavjit Singh Sandhu, Shooter	217 days training under Mr. Serafino Carlini during July 11 to July 12			Rs 91.95 lacs (approx) plus 10 times air fare			Rs 33.44 lacs
6	Shri Mansher Singh, Shooter	110 days training under Mr. Serafino Carlini during September 2011 to July 2012		Rs 46.96 lacs (approx.)			Rs 11.07 lacs
7	Shri Abhinav Bindra, Shooter	60 days training under Dr. Uwe Riesterer at ISC, Germany during September 2011 to February 2012		Rs 53.34 lacs (approx.) plus six air fare			Rs 13.17 lacs
8	Ms Krishna Poonia Athlete (Discus Throw)	Training at Mac Wilkins Productions, Concordia University Throw Center (USA) from 11.07.11 to 31.10.11		Rs 24.20 lacs (approx) plus air fare			Rs 25.58 lacs
9	Shri Om Prakash Karhana, Athlete (Shot Put)	Training at DOBO SE Szombathely (Hungary) from 06.06.11 to 26.07.12		Rs 48.10 lacs (approx) plus air fare			Rs 29.98 lacs
10	Shri Vikas Gowda Athlete (Discus Throw)	Training at John Godina’s World Throw Center (USA) from 06.06.11 to 31.12.11		Rs 31.00 lacs (approx) plus air fare			Rs 32.65 lacs
11	Ms Mayookha Johny, Athlete	Training under Dr. Jorg Ramlow from November 2011 to July 2012 in Berlin (Germany)		Rs 18.31 lacs (approx.) plus one time air travel			Rs 14.03 lacs
12	4 Women Athletes (Ms Preeja Sreedharan, Ms Kavita Raut, Ms Sudha Singh, Ms O.P. Jaisha)	Training under Mr. Claudio Berardelli from November 2011 to July 2012 in Kenya/ Italy		Rs 19.59 lacs (approx.) plus one time air travel			Rs 19.26 lacs
13	Shri Somdev Devvarman, Tennis player	For hiring Mr. Scott McCain as full time Coach from April 2011 to July 2012		Rs 39.60 lacs (approx.)			Rs 8.31 lacs
14	Ms Sania Mirza, Tennis Player	For hiring Mr. Roger Anderson as full time Coach from 15.06.11 to 31.07.12		Rs 35.64 lacs			Rs 10.94 lacs
15	Shri Mahesh Bhupathi, Tennis Player	For hiring Mr. Scott Davidoff as full time Coach from 06.06.11 to 31.07.12		Rs 36.43 lacs			Rs 18.66 lacs
16	Shri Rohan Bopanna, Tennis Player	For hiring Mr. Shayamal Vallabhjee as full time Coach from 01.07.11 to 31.07.12		Rs 34.32 lacs			Rs 17.37 lacs
17	Shri Yuki Bhambri, Tennis Player	For hiring personal coach, travel grant etc. from June 2011 to July 2012		Rs 35.00 lacs (approx.)			Rs 4.25 lacs
18	Shri Leander Paes, Tennis Player	For hiring personal coach, travel grant etc. from June 2011 to July 2012		Rs 35.00 lacs (approx.)			Amount is being released.
19	Shri Sanam Singh, Tennis Player	For hiring personal coach, travel grant etc. from June 2011 to July 2012		Rs 35.00 lacs (approx.)			Rs 3.39 Lacs
Total amount sanctioned so far			Rs 795.11 lacs plus air fare etc.			Rs 389.36 lacs

Home Minister Launches Resident Identity (Smart) Cards for People of A&N Islands

The Union Home Minister Shri P. Chidambaram, launched the first batch of Resident Identity Cards under the coastal National Population Register (NPR) project at Porthrapur village in South Andaman district of Andaman & Nicobar Islands today in the presence of Lt. Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lt. General Bhupender Singh. Smt. Bhulaxmi, a resident of Porthrapur, was the first recipient of the Resident Identity Card. The RIC, is a smart card having 64 KB micro processor chip. The National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, has finalized the visual layout of the card. It incorporates several physical security features like Guilloché patterns, hot stamped hologram and micro text etc.

Chief Secretary of Andaman & Nicobar Islands Shri Shakti Sinha, Registrar General & Census Commissioner India, Dr. C. Chandramouli, Deputy Director General (NPR), Shri S.K.Chakarabarti, Director of Census Operations ,Shri V. Abraham, Chairman & Managing Director of ECIL, Shri Y.S.Mayya and a host of other dignitaries from the Central Government and UT Administration were present on the occasion.

In Andaman & Nicobar Islands, 365 villages and the town of Port Blair have been covered under the coastal NPR project. A total of 3,88,398 persons have been covered. Of this, 2,82,885 persons above the age of 18 years would be issued identity cards.

The Government of India had decided to create a National Population Register (NPR) in the country. As a first step, the coastal NPR project was taken up in coastal areas of 9 maritime states (Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal) and 4 UTs (Andaman & Nicobar, Puducherry, Lakshadweep and Daman & Diu) as one of the measures for strengthening the security of the coastline of the country. The demographic data collection of 1.2 crore persons and the biometrics of 75 lakh persons in the 3331 coastal villages under the coastal NPR project have been completed. At present, production of identity (smart) cards is underway. Till date, 5 lakh cards have already been produced.

The scheme envisages collection of specific items of information of each individual in the coastal areas and issue of Resident Identity (smart) cards (RIC) to all usual residents, who are of age 18 years and above. In all, 3331 coastal villages have been covered in the first phase of the project in these States/UTs. In Andaman & Nicobar Islands, besides villages, the town of Port Blair has also been covered. The approved cost of the scheme is Rs. 216.31 crore. The data collection for the project was done by house to house enumeration by Government officials who were assisted by data entry operators. The collected data was verified by the Government officials after publishing in the local areas and inviting claims and objections. The data was also subjected to biometric de-duplication.

The production and personalization of the RIC cards have been undertaken through the CPSUs. They have setup state-of-the-art production and personalization facilities at secure premises for the coastal NPR project. The delivery of the RICs would be undertaken by India Post for secure delivery to the usual residents.

Review of Preparation for London Olympic Games-2012- Tennis

Review of Preparation for London Olympic Games-2012- Tennis
Rs. 1.59 Crore Sanctioned to 7 Tennis-Players for Training

                An amount of Rs. 1.59 crore has been sanctioned so far under ‘Operation Excellence for London Olympics 2012’ (OPEX 2012) scheme through National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) for the training of Tennis players till December 2011. This was stated by All India Tennis Association (AITA) Executive Director Col. R.S. Chauhan, in review meeting of the preparation for Olympics, 2012, called by Shri Ajay Maken, Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports. As all the Tennis players in the core group are professionals, they have been provided US $ 6000/- per month as financial assistance under NSDF scheme (06 men +01 women) for meeting expenses for their training and competitions under NSDF scheme. The details of these players are as follows:

S.N.	Name of the Player	Approval Under OPEX	Amount sanctioned till December, 2011	Remark
1.	Leander Paes	USD 6000/- Per Month For 14 Months	42,000 US $	For hiring personal coach  etc.
2.	Mahesh Bhupathi	USD 6000/- Per Month For 14 Months	42,000 US $	For hiring personal coach  etc.
3.	Sania Mirza	USD 6000/- Per Month For 13 & Half Months	39,000 US $	For hiring personal coach  etc.
4.	Somdev Devvarman	USD 6000/- Per Month For 24 Months	87,000 US $	For hiring personal coach  etc.
5.	Rohan Bopanna	USD 6000/- Per Month For 13 Months	36,000 US $	For hiring personal coach  etc.
6.	Yuki Bhambri	USD 6000/- Per Month For 13 Months	36,000 US $	For hiring personal  coach, ravel grant etc
7.	Sanam Singh	USD 6000/- Per Month For 13 Months	36,000 US $	For hiring personal  coach, travel grant etc
	TOTAL		US $ 3,18,000 (Rs. 1.59 crore approximately)

               

          Besides, two more players, namely, Isha Lakhani and Rituja Bhonsle have been sanctioned an amount of US $ 3000/- per month for training grants, hiring of trainer, etc, with effect from January, 2012.

                      In the meeting the Sports Minister also stressed the need to create structure of domestic tournaments, which might, among other things, also, help in improving the international rankings of the     Indian   players. The Minister also assured full support of the Ministry for establishing the such structure of domestic tournaments.

                AITA officials also appraised Sh. Maken about the manner in which the qualification for Olympics in Tennis takes place. The qualification is based on ITF World ranking of a player on a certain date and the date for which rankings will be considered for this year’s events is 14.06.2012. It was also stated by AITA that in order to optimise the likelihood of qualification, all players will be playing the major International matches approved by the ITF to gain maximum ranking points. 

                It was also discussed in the meeting that there is a need to identify the best possible doubles and mixed-doubles combinations to whom tournament-intensive training can be given because the chances to finish on podium are more in Men’s doubles and Mixed doubles events.

                Four Tennis players from India qualified for Beijing Olympic Games, 2008. Sania Mirza participated in both Women’s singles and Women’s doubles; her partner in the latter was Sunitha Rao. Sania Mirza lost in round of 64 in individual events while in doubles she and Sunitha Rao reached the Round of 16. Mahesh Bhupati and Leander Paes were participants in Men’s doubles category and together they went to the Quarter Finals.