A Dedicated Science & Technology TV Channel

Veteran film maker  Shyam Benegal stress the need to have a 24 hour dedicated Science & Television channel to promote scientific temper in society.During  press conference on the upcoming National Science Film Festival at the Nehru Science Centre in Mumbai Benegal said “ a dedicated TV channel will go a long way in helping spread of scientific temper and rational thinking among the citizens”.Through this  channel  there is possibility to highlight issues on science, technology, environment, health and hygiene among other things. 
The Government of India is organising 6th Natioal Science Film Festival in Mumbai from February 9 to 13,2016. 45 films to be screened during the festival. Most of the films touch upon the local issues of environment, livelihoods, health and local innovation. 


Professional workshops on science film making will also be organized during NSFF 2016 in which renowned science film makers will share their experience with the participants. Film enthusiasts can participate in the workshop by filling up an online application form at www.vigyanprasar.gov.in. 

Republic Day Contests on social media Platforms

9 winners across India sponsored by Ministry of I&B invited for Republic Day parade 

Ministry of I&B has announced winners of contests organized on its social media platforms as a part of Republic Day celebrations 2016.The contests were held on Ministry of I&B's platforms of Facebook (www.facebook.com/inbministry), Twitter (@MIB_India) and a specially designed webpage (http://www.graffiti.inbministry.in) where Graffiti were invited from participants on various flagship programmes of the Government. The competition was open for a fortnight from, 1st January to 14th January, 2016. The 9 winners, selected by a jury constituted by the Ministry of I&B, are being invited to attend the Republic Day Parade, 2016 at New Delhi. The travel and accommodation arrangements of all these winners are being sponsored by Ministry of I&B.

While for Graffiti wall, the themes were Start Up India, Stand Up India; Digital Empowerment; Entrepreneurs of Young India ; Skilled India, Powerful India; Make In India; Financial Security to All and Housing For All. The response on graffiti was over-whelming with 419 entries across all themes. The First prize in the Graffiti contest was awarded to Shri Narendra Kumar Singh for his work captioned Housing For All". Shri Narendra Kumar Singh has beautifully captured the idea of “Housing for All” by using a metaphor of Weaver Birds’ nest. It shows independent and affordable housing for everybody across various income categories", the jury described. The second prize was awarded to Shri Narendra Borlepwar’s artwork Skill India which depicts "the fusion of Education and vocational training leading to recognisable improvement in the economic graph". The third prize was awarded to Shri Vimal Kumar’s artwork Make In Indiashowing "ladders which visually double up as scaffolds on construction sites best captures the idea of 'making'."

 For the Twitter contest, netizens’ responses were invited on Twitter on three hashtags; #VisionofTeamIndia, #MyIdeaofIndia and #RDayNotJustaHoliday. A total of 888 tweets were received by @MIB_India, the twitter handle of Ministry of I&B. The winners of the Tweet contests across three theme segments taken collectively are as follows in order of first, second and third places:

Bhaiya ji Joshi @Igjganesh –“#MyIdeaofIndia For evry Mouth there is Meal for evry girl there is life For evry head there is roof For evry foot there is road. The user has summed up in very simple terms that everybody in the India should have the basic needs satisfied.

N. Vinayak @vinumon2016 “#VisionofTeamIndia centre and states working together in the great act of nation building in spirit of ‘all for one and one for all”. The user has drawn our attention to cooperative federalism.

Neer Joy @neerjanni2000 - #RDayNotJustaHoliday It is a moment2get inspiration 4rm freedom fighters & to taking up new initiatives4making India No1 country. The user has invoked the sacrifices and sufferings of freedom fighters for whom India became independent and a constitution was framed.

Regarding the Poster making contest on Facebook, participants were invited to send posters on three themes; Give It Up – LPG Subsidy, Per Drop More Crop and Save the Girl Child. 432 posters were received by Ministry of I&B. The jury awarded first prize to Shri A. Parag Chitnis for his artwork captioned “Save the Girl Child” where "the artist has highlighted a graphical representation of a female gene which is led to the noose, whereas a male foetus seldom faces this ordeal." The second best poster was designed by Shri Sudhir Komawar for his artwork captioned “Per Drop More Crop” which "brilliantly captures super imposed image of the leaves of crops inside huge drop of water reminding that how a universe of microscopic can subsist in a drop of water." The third place was awarded to Shri Anunay Arko for his painting captioned “INDIA where we worship goddess and a child is being killed, for being a GIRL." It captures "a brilliant truism that women are the substratum of mankind."

Cabinet approves Rs.5000 crore for promotion of Solar Rooftops in the country

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the scaling up of budget from Rs, 600 crore to Rs. 5,000 crore for implementation of Grid Connected Rooftops systems over a period of five years upto 2019-20 under National Solar Mission (NSM). This will support Installation of 4200 MW Solar Rooftop systems in the country in next five years. 

The capital subsidy of 30% will be provided for general category States/UTs and 70% for special category States i.e., North-Eastern States including Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Lakshadweep, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, There will be no subsidy for commercial and industrial establishments In the private sector since they are eligible for other benefits such as accelerated depreciation, custom duty concessions, excise duty exemptions and tax holiday etc, 

This capacity of 4200 MWp will come up through the residential, Government, Social and institutional sector (hospitals, educational institutions etc.). Industrial & commercial sector will be encouraged for installations without subsidy. This will create the market, build the confidence of the consumers and will enable the balance capacity through market mode to achieve the target of 40,000 MWp by 2022. 

The Government has revised the target of National Solar Mission (NSM) from 20,000 MWp to 1,00,000 MWp by 2022. Out of the 40,000 MWp is to come through grid connected solar rooftop systems. This approval will boost the installations in a big way and will act as a catalyst to achieve the goal of 40,000 MWp. 

Background: 

A large potential is available for generating solar power using unutilized space on rooftops in buildings. Solar power generated by each individual household, industrial, Institutional, commercial or any other type of buildings can be used to partly fulfil the requirement of the building occupants and surplus, if any, can be fed into the grid. So Tar, 26 States have notified their regulations to provide Net Metering/Gross metering facilities to support solar rooftops installations. 

Today it is possible to generate solar power from the solar rooftop systems at about Rs.6.50/kWh. This is cheaper than the diesel gen-sets based electricity generation. It is also cheaper than the cost at which most DISCOMs would make power available to the industrial, commercial and high-end domestic consumers. 

With the new initiative, India will emerge as a major country utilizing the roof space for solar rooftop systems on such a. large scale: This 40 GW will result in abatement of about 60 million tonnes of CO2 per year and will help to fulfil the commitment of India towards its contribution in mitigating the effect of Climate Change.

Press in India- 2014-15

The Annual Report “Press in India- 2014-15” was prepared on the basis of analysis of annual statements filed by the registered publications. The registered publications were required to file Annual Statements giving details including circulation figures under the Press & Registration of Books Act 1867. The report provided broad analysis of the general trend of the Indian Press based on the claimed circulation.

The print media registered a growth of 5.80% over the previous year as a total of 5,817 new publications were registered during 2014- 15 and 34 publications ceased their operation. Out of the total 1,05,443 publications registered as on 31^st March, 2015, the largest number of newspapers and periodicals registered in any Indian language was in Hindi with a figure of 42,493 publications followed by English with 13,661 registered publications. Out of 1,05,443 registered publications, 14,984 were dailies and bi-tri weeklies and remaining 90,459 were of other periodicities. State-wise analysis shows that Uttar Pradesh with 16,130 publications was at top position at the end of 2014-15. Maharashtra with 14,394 publications and Delhi with 12,177 publications were at second and third position respectively.

Total claimed circulation of publications stood at 51, 05, 21,445 in 2014-15 as against 45, 05, 86,212 copies per publishing day in 2013-14. The number of Annual statements received in RNI for the year 2014- 15 was 23,394 against 19,755 in 2013-14 registering an increase of 18.42%. As per report, circulation-wise, Hindi Publications continued to lead with 25,77,61,985 copies per publishing day followed by English with 6,26,62,670 copies and Urdu with 4,12,73,949 copies per publishing day.

The report also carried different Chapters viz. ownership of newspapers, analysis of daily newspapers, language wise study of the press and analysis of registered newspapers.

Main highlights of the Indian Press in 2014-15 are as follows:-

1	The total number of registered publications i)        Newspaper category (daily, tri/bi weekly periodicities) ii)      Periodicals category (other periodicities)	:	1,05,443 14,984 90,459
2	The number of new publications registered during   2014-15	:	5,817
3	Number of publications ceased during 2014-15	:	34
4	Percentage of growth of total registered publications over the previous year	:	5.80%
5	The largest number of publications registered in any Indian language  (Hindi)	:	42,493
6	The second largest number of publications registered in any language other than Hindi (English)	:	13,661
7	The State with the largest number of registered publications (Uttar Pradesh)	:	16,130
8	The State with the second largest number of registered publications (Maharashtra)	:	14,394
9	The number of  publications that submitted Annual Statements (this figure includes 607 Misc. publications)	:	23,394
10	The total claimed circulation of publications during   2014-15 i)        Hindi Publications ii)      English Publications iii)    Urdu Publications	:	51,05,21,445           25,77,61,985 6,26,62,670 4,12,73,949
11	The largest number of publications that submitted Annual Statements in any Indian language (Hindi).	:	12,516
12	The second largest number of publications that submitted Annual Statements in any language (English)	:	2,219
13	The largest circulated Daily: “Ananda Bazar Patrika”, Bengali, Kolkata.	:	11,78,779
14	The Second largest circulated Daily: “Hindustan Times” English, Delhi.	:	10,18,367
15	The largest circulated Hindi Daily: “Punjab Kesari”, Jallandar	:	7,42,190
16	The largest circulated multi-edition daily: “The Times of India”, English, (33  editions)	:	46,30,200
17	The second largest circulated multi-edition daily : “DainikBhaskar”,     Hindi, (34  editions)	:	36,94,385
18	The largest circulated Periodical: “The Sunday Times of India”, English/Weekly edition, Delhi.	:	8,85,201
19	The largest circulated Periodical in Hindi: “Sunday Navbharat Times”, Hindi/Weekly edition, Mumbai		7,04,257
20	i)          Total title applications received ii)        Titles approved iii)      Titles deblocked	: : :	20,217 13,492 7,819

CP/GV

Central Government step to strengthen Basic Facilities in Government Schools

Under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) scheme 3.11 lakh school buildings, 18.61 lakh additional classrooms, 2.38 lakh drinking water facilities, 19.48 lakh teachers posts and 10.14 lakh toilets (including toilets approved under Swachh Vidyalaya Initiative) have been sanctioned so far since the inception of the scheme in 2001 across States and UTs till September 30th, 2015. As per Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) 2013-14, the drinking water facilities, ramps, boundary wall, playground, library and electricity facilities are available in 94.14%, 64.94%, 56.98%, 51.89%, 78.29% and 48.86% of schools respectively. 

The Government of India financially supports States and Union Territories (UTs), for creation and improvement of infrastructural facilities in schools across the country under the SSA programme. The requirements of infrastructural facilities in schools are worked out every year by the respective State/Union Territory on incremental basis depending on their need and priority and this is reflected in their Annual Work Plan and Budget (AWP&B). 

As per UDISE, the enrolment figures at elementary level in Government schools during 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 were 12.94 crore, 12.50 crore and 12.20 crore respectively. 

Subsidy for Solar Panels

Ministry of New & Renewable Energy is implementing two National level programmes (i) Grid Connected Rooftop and Small Solar Power Plants Programme and (ii) Off-Grid & Decentralized Solar Applications to promote installation of solar rooftop systems on the roofs of residential and other buildings in the country. This was stated by Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal & New and Renewable Energy (IC) in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today . 

The Minister further said that there is a provision for subsidy of 30% for general category States/UTs, 70% for grid connected solar rooftop and 90% for off-grid solar applications for special category States and Islands of Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep in the country. The large and major industries do require large utilization of power, however, there is no provision of subsidy to the industries by the Government for reducing power requirement to half. Government is, however, encouraging power saving through energy efficiency and conservation measures.,