Strategies for Boosting Biotech Industry, Stem Cell Research, Genome Engineering, Computational Biology and Drug Discovery were Outlined at a Strategy meet on Biotechnology

The Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India is completing 30 years and will be celebrating its 30^thFoundation Day in February 2016. It was felt appropriate at this point to assess and analyze in consultation with all Stake-holders the 4P’s- Progress, Promises, Problems and Plans for Future. In this connection a Strategy Meet was organized by Department of Biotechnology (DBT) on 31^st August, 2015 at NCR Biotech Science Cluster, Faridabad. The Minister Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr. Harsh Vardhan presided over the meeting. The meeting was attended by the Directors and Senior Faculty of DBT aided Autonomous Institute’s, Senior Experts across the Country and Senior Members of the Civil Society. Secretary and all Officers of DBT were present.

In his Opening Address, Secretary, DBT gave an overview and detailed assessment of the impact over the years and highlighted how DBT has contributed significantly through its efforts towards:

• Supporting Key Missions
• Spear heading cutting edge research
• Building Institutional and Human Resource Capacity
• Forging Industry Academic partnership
• Leveraging international strength through collaborations and
• Guiding policy thinking and analysis
•  

The Minister Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr. Harsh Vardhan in his Inaugural Address highlighted the importance of Biotechnology Sector to contribute to the society. He said that it would be important to develop a new sense of urgency and work towards preparing an Action Plan and address key strategies for the future to deliver perceptible and measurable impact to the benefit of society.

The Minister also stated that the Biotechnology Sector which has an important role and cuts across all other sectors, takes forward its strategy in partnership with other S&T Ministry / Departments and State Governments.

He appreciated the good work that DBT is doing in taking forward Biotechnology Research in the country and stressed the necessity to fix 3 to 4 focus areas with achievable targets in the next 2 to 3 years.  The Hon’ble Minister added that malnutrition could be one of the key focus areas elaborating that whereas there has been much research on nutrition, the research needed to be translated to yield benefits for people.

In response to questions from management and social sector experts on perceptible and measurable strategies of DBT over the next couple of years, Secretary DBT underlined the following:

Biotech will see at least a 20 % increase in new companies, 20% more biotech incubators, 20% more social-sector partnerships, and 20% more Med-tech devices each year over the next three years

Results from stem-cell research will see impact on Sickle-cell anemia and Thalassemia treatments in three years

Work on maternal health, pre-term birth and stunted growth will result in significant improvement in nutrition and anemia treatment - programs for women within 2-3 years

India will establish a substantial presence in genome engineering and computational biology in coming three (3) years.

Mapping of the biodiversity of our islands and the coral reefs will be completed next year from which drug discovery centres will have access to novel compounds in two years

Major international collaborations will be established this year and the next following high-level exchanges with Japan (Stem-cells), France (Marine Biology) Canada (Stem cells), Netherlands (Vaccines), UK (Agri-plant), Netherlands (vaccines), US (Energy, Vaccines)

The Hon’ble Minister Science & Technology highlighted that while the overall strategy of the DBT was clear, each institution and each unit of DBT should have measurable targets over the next couple of years.

The DBT aided Autonomous Institutions have contributed significantly to the specific domain areas of expertise and concerted efforts has been made to take basic research through translation to product development.

From the analysis it was noted that a number of technologies, products and patents have been generated and DBT has worked towards promoting Industry Innovation Research.

Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), which is a Public Sector of DBT focusses on promoting the innovation ecosystem and today a large number Startups and young Innovators have benefited from the support provided. A number of products and technologies have been delivered.

In the presentations made by the Directors of DBT Autonomous Institutions and other experts a broad overview of various thematic areas was presented highlighting specifically where we stand vis-à-vis the global scenario, the challenges faced and future action plan.

At the end of the meeting after detailed deliberations, a clear road map for the future was prepared. The targeted mission is to “Accelerate the pace of growth of Biotechnology Sector to achieve a target of $110 billion by 2025”.

It was agreed to focus on:

1. Building a skilled workforce and leadership.
2. Encouraging basic and discovery research and connecting this to our society.
3. Nurturing innovation, translation and entrepreneurship to transform our society.
4. Ensuring a transparent and globally best regulatory environment.
5. Building and fostering partnerships both at National and International level.
6.  
7. It was also agreed that for effective implementation of these strategic decisions it is important that we create a matrix of the measurements of process as well as outcome.
8.  
9. Key Missions are also being formulated to address major National Challenges on Healthcare, Energy, Food Security and Human Resource.

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Developmental Projects in five LWE affected States reviewed

A meeting was held today in the Ministry of Home Affairs under the Chairmanship of Shri Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary, Minister of State for Home Affairs to review Left Wing Extremism (LWE) in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand and Bihar. 

During the meeting, apart from operational issues certain developmental issues such as roads, mobile towers and infrastructure in Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) centres were reviewed. 

Shri Chaudhary asked the Directors General of CAPFs to adhere to the time-lines for appropriate utilization of budget available with them. The issues of coordination between the State Police and CAPFs were also discussed and better and enhanced cooperation on the ground was emphasized. 

The meeting was attended by Shri Rajiv Mehrishi, Union Home Secretary, DGs of CAPFs, DGs of State Police and Principal Secretaries (Home) from the concerned States and Senior Officers of the MHA. 

Crop Insurance Period for Non-Loanee Farmers Extended to September 15

The Government has extended period of for non-loanee farmers form July 31, 2015 to September 15, 2015 under National Agricultural Insurance Scheme. This will benefit farmers of the states which had low rainfall or late rain and delayed planting. In the case of loanee farmers the period is up to September 30, 2015. 

Announcing the decision here today Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Shri Radha Mohan Singh said that the decision has been taken in the interest of farmers where delayed /low rainfall has been reported. 

The Minister has urged the State Governments to well publicize the decision of extention of the period for non-loanne so that they can take advantage. 

Major expansion of role of private sector in oil and gas

Policy for Marginal Fields of ONGC and OIL
Major expansion of role of private sector in oil and gas

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today gave its approval to the Marginal Fields Policy (MFP), for development of hydrocarbon discoveries made by national oil companies; Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGC) and Oil India Ltd. (OIL). These discoveries could not be monetized for many years due to various reasons such as isolated locations, small size of reserves, high development costs, technological constraints, fiscal regime etc. 

Under the new policy, 69 oil fields which have been held by ONGC and OIL for many years, but have not been exploited, will be opened for competitive bidding. Under this policy, exploration companies will be able to submit bids for exploiting these oil fields. These oil fields have not been developed earlier as they were considered as marginal fields, and hence were of lower priority. With appropriate changes in policy, it is expected that these fields can be brought into production. In keeping with the principle of `Minimum Government Maximum Governance’, significant changes have been made in the design of the proposed contracts. The earlier contracts were based on the concept of profit sharing. Under the profit sharing methodology, it became necessary for the Government to scrutinize cost details of private participants and this led to many delays and disputes. Under the new regime, the Government will not be concerned with the cost incurred and will receive a share of the gross revenue from the sale of oil, gas etc. The second change is that the licence granted to the successful bidder will cover all hydrocarbons found in the field. Earlier, the licence was restricted to one item only (e.g. oil) and separate licence was required if any other hydrocarbon, for example, gas was discovered and exploited. The new policy for these marginal fields also allows the successful bidder to sell at the prevailing market price of gas, rather than at administered price. 

This decision is expected to stimulate investment as well as higher domestic oil and gas production. 

West Central Railway Zone Becomes the First Zone on Indian Railways to Eliminate all Unmanned Level Crossings from its System

The West-Central Railway (Headquarter: Jabalpur) Zone has become the first Railway Zone on Indian Railways to eliminate all unmanned level crossings from its system by 31st August, 2015. Out of total 118 unmanned level crossings falling on West-Central Railways as on 1st April, 2014, 80 were eliminated in the financial year 2014-15 and the target of 66 and the remaining 38 have been achieved in current financial year by 31st August, 2015. This could only be achieved by constructing 33 Limited Height Sub Ways (LHs) and manning of 30 level crossings. It is a big safety initiative. 

It can be termed as a great success for West-Central Railway. West-Central Railway has been taking all possible initiatives to improve its working by adopting all available modern technologies and has started special drive to improve its performance at all fronts including safety, cleanliness, punctuality etc. 

biennial Election to the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) from Union Territory of Puducherry

  The term of office of Thiru P. Kannan in the Council of States representing the Union Territory of Puducherry is due to expire on 6^th October, 2015.

  The Commission has decided to hold Biennial Election to the Council of States from Puducherry to fill up the above said vacancy so arising in accordance with the following schedule:-

Sl.No.	Particular of events	Date
1	Issue of Notification	10th September, 2015 (Thursday)
2	Last date of making nominations	18th September, 2015 (Friday)
3	Scrutiny of nominations	19th September, 2015 (Saturday)
4	Last date for withdrawal of candidatures	21st September, 2015 (Monday)
5	Date of poll	28th September, 2015 (Monday)
6	Hours of poll	9.00 A.M. to 4.00 P.M
7	Counting of Votes	28th September, 2015 (Monday) at 5.00 PM
8	Date before which election shall be completed	3rd October, 2015 (Saturday)

Railway Minister Shri Suresh Prabhu Launches Three IT Initiatives Developed by CRIS

The Minister of Railways, Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu today launched the following IT initiatives developed by Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) (the IT arm of Ministry of Railways using remote control by organising Video-Conferencing between, Rail Bhawan and New Delhi Station. 

1. Paperless Unreserved Ticketing through Mobile Phone between New Delhi – Palwal Section (NR) 

2. Currency Coin cum Card operated Automatic Ticket Vending Machines at New Delhi Railway Station 

3. Mobile Application for Freight Operations (PARICHAALAN) 

Chairman, Railway Board, Shri A.K. Mital, Shri Kundan Sinha, Member Traffic, Railway Board, Shri Jamshed, Additional Member (IT), Mrs. Vandana Nanda, Managing Director, CRIS, Board Members and senior officials of Railway Board and CRIS were among those present on the occasion in the Rail Bhawan. At New Delhi Station end, Minister of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan and Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) Ms. Meenakshi Lekhi, New Delhi constituency. 

Speaking on the occasion, the Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhu said that he is happy to launch various new initiatives, especially IT related initiatives, which are directed towards improving passenger and customer services on Indian Railways. The IT applications which have been inaugurated today are an indication that Indian Railways is constantly moving towards e-Governance. As you are aware, in the recent past we have launched a number of such IT initiatives which were also part of my Budget announcements. Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of Digital India is also our guiding force in Indian Railways. The Minister said the IT initiatives being undertaken by Indian Railways are in line with the Digital India Programme. He said that the spirit of this programme is to work as broad umbrella for various initiatives undertaken to improve quality of life and create facilities for common people. 

Shri Suresh Prabhu said that in April & June we had launched Paperless Unreserved Ticketing System for Chennai and Mumbai suburban sections. Today this has been launched for New Delhi-Palwal section of Northern Railway. This system shall now be proliferated to other important suburban sections of Eastern Railway, South Eastern Railway and South Central Railway shortly. 

He said that Introduction of Coin-cum-Currency operated Ticketing Vending Machine is another step forward in ensuring that passengers get their tickets quickly under ‘Operation five minutes’ announced in Railway Budget. These ticket vending machines shall be installed at all the major stations in the country. 450 machines are being procured and installed by CRIS and shall be available at major stations during the next 3 months. 

The Railway Minister said that the Freight Monitoring App named ‘Parichaalan’ is another development towards improving operating efficiency through improved Management Information System. This App shall greatly help the senior decision makers of Operating Department to plan freight operations on real time basis. After the initial experiment, this App shall be provided to other operating officers in the field. 

Shri Suresh Prabhu said that very soon Monthly Season Ticket (MST) can also be purchased through mobile by the passengers in Mumbai and Chennai suburban Railway network. The Railway Minister also said that even the platform ticket will soon be made available through the mobile phone. 

The Minister further stated that in last few months we have also launched many other initiatives including Complaint Management System with mobile application to facilitate obtaining suggestions and complaints from passengers. Many improvements have been brought about in e-ticketing segment especially automatic refund during cancellation of trains, development of Hindi e-ticketing portal and integration of customer services on single portal. SMS Alert System to inform passengers about arrival and departure of trains, all India helpline and Mobile App for woman security have also been launched recently in Mumbai & Kolkata. 

Shri Suresh Prabhu said that it is also a matter of pride for us that all these applications are being developed by our own IT organization CRIS in consultation with nodal Directorates of Railway Board. This domain expertise and in-house specialization is unparalleled and these innovations are widely acclaimed to be the best in market. 

The Railway Minister also announced that a Memorandum of Understanding will be signed shortly between Railways Department of CRIS and ISRO for using Geospatial Technology and satellite technology for various operations of Railways. 

BRIEFS ABOUT VARIOUS IT INITIATIVES:

CASH/SMART CARD OPERATED TICKET VENDING MACHINE (CCOTVM) 

Cash/Smart Card operated Ticket Vending machine (CCoTVM) is an unmanned self-operated kiosk which can be used by passengers themselves to buy unreserved tickets through Currency/Coins as well as smart cards. These kiosks have easy graphical interface for ticket transaction so that the user can operate these machines. The kiosk accepts currency/coin of all denominations of Rs 5 and above. The machine does not accept soiled/cut/ glued/taped/colored notes and accepts currency notes of Gandhi series. CCoTVMs will reduce queue length at existing ticket counters by providing an alternate unmanned ticketing solution and mode of payment. CCoTVMs have the following functionalities:- 

1) Issue of non-concessional second class journey tickets for non-suburban section and second/first class journey/return tickets for suburban section. 

2) Issue of Platform Tickets 

3) Renewal of non-concessional season tickets. 

4) Recharge of smart cards in denominations of Rs. 20/-, Rs. 50/-, Rs. 100/- and Rs. 500/-.

CCoTVM consists of: 

1) Thin Client 

2) Thermal Printer 

3) Touch screen 

4) RFID reader 

5) Cash Validator with 15 notes escrow 

6) Coin Validator with 10 coins escrow 

7) The cash box has the capacity to hold 25,000 notes and 3,000 coins. 

The basic difference between Automatic Ticket Vending Machine installed upto now and newly introduced CCoTVM is that ATVM can issue tickets through smart cards while CCoTVM can issue tickets using Cash (notes & coins) and smart cards. It can also be used for recharging these smart cards. 

Security of CCoTVM: 

The machine has two access doors, both at the front side of the machine and is equipped with mechanical & electronic locks. One door is used for maintenance activity by the service engineer. The second door is for accessing the cash box and is integrated with an alarm system. The alarm will go off whenever the door is opened by any unauthorized person. The machine has a cash box with electro mechanical lock at the bottom. Whenever the authorized supervisor wants to open the cash box to takeout shift cash, he/she will gain access to the machine by using a supervisory smart card. On keeping this smart card on the reader slot and pressing the Indian Railway logo on top right side of the screen, the supervisor's menu will appear on the screen. After entering the password, machine will print the Daily Trains Cash -cum-Summary Book (DTC) for accountal of the collected cash. 

PAPERLESS UNRESERVED TICKETING MOBILE APPLICATION 

To move forward in line with Digital India, Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) has developed a paperless Unreserved Ticketing feature in Mobile Application “utsonmobile” both for Android and Windows platforms. This will eliminate the need for printing of Unreserved Tickets on ATVMs at the stations. User can download ‘App’ from Google Play Store or Window Store. 

The application was rolled out as a pilot project between Chennai Egmore & Tambaram suburban Section of Southern Railway on 22.04.2015 and Churchgate-Dahanu Road suburban section of Western Railway on 08.07.2015. The application has now been implemented on complete suburban area of Chennai & Mumbai Western Railway suburban section which covers 125 stations over 295 kms distance. Presently, about 1600 tickets are being booked daily by the passengers through this application. 

The application is now being implemented on the New Delhi-Palwal section of Northern Railway covering 11 stations over 57 kms distance. For paperless ticketing, GPS co-ordinates of railway tracks on the New Delhi-Palwal section, plus 20 meters on either side of the tracks have been earmarked as Geo-Fencing area within which no ticket booking is allowed in order to ensure that passengers have ticket before commencing the journey. 

The application provides necessary on-screen alerts to guide the passenger during the booking process. Payment for the ticket is done through the "Railway Wallet” feature in the "App". After booking the ticket, the passenger will get the ticket confirmation screen which contains limited information of the ticket. The paperless journey ticket will be stored in the local mobile application database in the encrypted form which cannot be tampered with. Ticket booked in paperless mode cannot be cancelled in order to prevent claiming of refund after travel. 

The ticket has distinct colour scheme everyday and it is embedded with Quick Response (QR) code. It cannot be forwarded to another mobile or edited or printed. The old invalid tickets will be removed from the mobile device through a sync feature in the ‘App’. 

For the purpose of ticket checking, the application has various features such as colour scheme, show ticket features, secret code of the day, booking time of the ticket and scrolling of legend “IR UNRESERVED TICKETING”. In case of mobile in disconnected mode, it will be checked through QR Code. 


PARICHAALAN, REAL TIME DECISION MAKING IN FREIGHT OPERATIONS 

Freight operations on Indian Railways are monitored through various reports generated by FOIS. These MIS reports represent various facets of freight operations like rolling stock holding of wagons and locomotives, interchange of freight trains with neighbouring divisions/zones, loading details, current train running and terminal performance. These reports are tabular in design and are mostly static in nature. 

‘Parichaalan’ is a mobile application conceptualized and developed by CRIS to make decision making on freight operations absolutely easy and user friendly. The application is a powerful tool as it not only represents data in a pictorial and graphical manner that is easily comprehensible but also makes the information dynamic and current in nature. Instead of focusing on post-mortems, Parichaalan moves operations management systems to a higher level of real time decision making. 

‘Parichaalan’ overcomes all this by: 

• Providing mapped movement of freight trains- the first time ever on IR. 

• Providing powerful search tools-removing the need to sift through voluminous tabular data. 

• Providing effective Decision Support System-focusing on the right parameters 

• Use of powerful graphical interfaces-for easy comprehension of vital parameters of operations. 

• Providing an effective planning tool-predictive in nature for planning of movement and loading. 

• Providing a paperless tool- environment friendly leading to savings of a 1000 trees per annum. 

• Allowing for mobility of officials- Live updates and decision sharing through the app. 

• Allowing adequate time for officials- less stressful working environment. 

• Allowing for instant information retrieval across multiple pages through hyperlinks. 

• Cost saving in procurement of paper, printing and distribution 

This app has the potential to earn carbon credits for IR and also can become a revenue generating tool by providing similar logistics solutions for IR customers like CIL, NTPC, SAIL, TISCO, FCI, Oil Co’s, Ports, etc. 

Categorization of sports disciplines

 Sports Ministry recognizes ‘Yoga’ as a sports discipline

The categorization of various Sports disciplines was reviewed and the revised categories of sports disciplines and the scale of financial assistance admissible to each category was conveyed to IOC and all recognized National Sports Federations on 23rd March, 2015. It was also conveyed that ‘General’ category of sports disciplines shall be retained. Criteria for inclusion in this category and financial assistance to be provided will be separately issued. 

it has now been decided by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports that sports disciplines included in the multidiscipline mega events like Olympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games etc and which have obtained a ranking upto 8th in individual events and upto 10th in team events in Olympics/Asian Games/CWG or their respective Asian and World Championships shall be placed in ‘General’ category. Financial assistance for this category will be as under:- 

i National Championships are to be funded. 

ii One international event in India in a year, can be funded. 

iii Maximum of one foreign exposure each in Senior & Junior categories can also be funded during a year. 

Based on the past performance in major international events, it has been decided to upgrade the sport of Fencing from ‘Others’ to ‘General’ category. 

It has also been decided to place ‘University Sports’ in the ‘Priority’ category. 

It has further been decided to recognize ‘Yoga’ as a sports discipline and to place it in the ‘Priority’ category.

National Talent Search Scheme Scholarship number increase

Number of scholarships doubled under National Talent Search Scheme

Number of scholarships under National Talent Search Scheme will be doubled to 2000 from existing 1000. This was announced by the Union Minister of Human Resource Development Smt. Smriti Irani while speaking on the occasion of 55th Foundation Day celebration of the NCERT in New Delhi today. 

While expressing concern about quality in school education, the Union Minister asked the Director, NCERT to undertake the National Achievement Survey for Classes III, V, VIII and X, annually. She also desired that a roadmap be prepared and submitted to Ministry of Human Resource Development within a week’s time. 

The Minister dwelt on the initiatives of Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan and reiterated the Government’s intention to set up Model Science Labs in a Government School in every district of the country. 

The Minister appreciated the books developed by NCERT in Hindi, English, Urdu and Sanskrit for the students and suggested that the NCERT could support the states to translate these books in regional languages. On this occasion, Smt. Irani released Tactile Map Book on Braille for Upper Primary students and appreciated the effort of NCERT for this work. 

The Minister stated that the NCERT was holding a panel discussion on “Innovations for Promoting Quality in School Education” later in the day and suggested the panel to offer recommendation specially to help students who are slow learners. She also directed NCERT to make available online all the new research work in teachers education. 

Dr. S.C. Khuntia, Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy appreciated the yeoman service being rendered by NCERT in maintaining high standards of quality education. 

Speaking on the occasion, Director, NCERT mentioned the achievements made by the Council in the field of school education during the last five decades, and also highlighted various recent initiatives of the Ministry of HRD in school education. 

New Train ServicesFlagg off

New Train Services - Rewari-Sikar Passenger (Daily) Train and Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Sikar Express (Bi-weekly)

The Gauge conversion of 122 Km. Loharu-Sikar Railway Line has been completed at a cost of about Rs. 260 crores. Indian Railways has taken yet another step forward in meeting the long pending demands of the people by providing connectivity from Delhi to Sikar by introducing a new train service viz. 14811/14812 Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Sikar Express (Bi-weekly) after completion of gauge conversion of Loharu-Sikar section. Also, an additional passenger train viz. 59727/59728, 59729/59730 Rewari-Sikar Passenger (Daily) is being introduced. Both trains were flagged off by the Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu through remote control by organizing video conferencing between Rail Bhawan, (New Delhi) and Sikar, (Rajasthan). Besides Railway Minister, Chairman Railway Board, Sh. A.K.Mital and Member Engineering, Railway Board, Sh. V.K.Gupta and other Board Members were present at New Delhi end. While Shri Ajay Singh Kilak, Minister of State (Independent Charge) Cooperative deptt., Govt. of Rajasthan, Smt.Santosh Ahlawat, MP, Jhunjunu, Shri Sumedhanand Saraswati ,MP, Sikar were among those present at the Sikar end. 

Speaking on the occasion, Railway Minister shri Suresh Prabhu said that Gauge Conversion of this 122 km. Railway Line was sanctioned in 2008-09. It has been completed at a cost of about Rs. 260 crores. The project which was languishing due to shortage of funds, got a new lease of life with enhanced outlay in 2014-15, resulting in its commissioning for goods trains in June, 2015. He said that with the introduction of direct Train from Sikar to Delhi Sarai Rohilla, the districts of Sikar and Jhunjhunu Districts of Shekhawati region of Rajasthan have come nearer to the National Capital. The new train between Rewari and Sikar will also connect the people of Rewari and Bhiwani Districts of Haryana with those of Sikar and Jhunjhunu Districts of Rajasthan. 

The Railway Minister pointed out that sufficient funds have been provided in 2015-16 for the balance portion of this project i.e. Jaipur-Ringas-Churu so as to complete it by March, 2017. 

He said that development of rail infrastructure in Rajasthan is a priority for Indian Railways, as this State is strategically located between ports of Gujarat and Northern India. Towards this, an outlay of about Rs. 2450 crores has been provided in the current financial year for network expansion in Rajasthan, as compared to about Rs. 700 crores provided in 2014-15. It is necessary to develop Railway Connectivity in Rajasthan so that full potential of Rajasthan could be realized. 

Railway Minister stated that western DFC is also coming off quite fast. This corridor is bound to change the landscape of industrially backward region of Rajasthan. Completion of Western DFC corridor in 2019 will open new avenues of development for this State. 

Shri Suresh Prabhu said that Railway Ministry is committed to improve Railway connectivity in all the states. The Railway Minister informed that Indian Railways is already in the process of forming Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) with 17 states for more systematic and focused development of Railway Infrastructure and respective States. Shri Suresh Prabhu said that central Government and State Governments should together work for completing Railway Projects. 

Allocate Rs. 410 Crore to Frequently Drought Affected and over Exploited & Notified Ground Water Blocks

In the recent years, there has been a change in the rainfall pattern in the country.  Number of rainfall events have been reduced which has resulted in longer dry spells.  In many parts of the country, it has become a perennial problem of longer dry spells resulting in drought and drought like situation.  In addition to the issue of scarcity of rain, there are few areas in the country where not only rainfall is limited but also due to over exploitation of ground water beyond rechargeable limit, has resulted in rapid depletion of ground water table.  Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) through dynamic assessment of ground water has identified 1071 blocks/talukas under over exploited category which needs immediate special attention for water conservation and ground water recharge.  CGWB has also notified about 150 blocks/talukas as most vulnerable areas suggesting regulated and cautious use of ground water.  These blocks witness serious scarcity of water and are vulnerable even to sustain drinking water requirement unless addressed for ground water recharge and its regulated use.  It has also been observed that 219 districts in the country have been frequently affected by drought in the recent past.  These areas are witnessing regular agrarian crisis and the farmers are in the state of distressed condition, requiring special attention and support for a durable & sustainable solution.    All these have affected agriculture very adversely on ground and farmers in particular.      

           

Realizing the gravity of situation, under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY), Government of India made an effort for the first time to identify the most vulnerable areas that require immediate attention for water conservation, harvesting and ground water recharge.  The perennially drought affected districts along with the over exploited and notified blocks by CGWB have been considered for special treatment to improve the condition of underground water, to improve soil moisture regime and to create micro water storages for protective irrigation during longer dry spells. Department of Agriculture and Cooperation has allocated a sum of Rs. 410 crores during the current year to minimize the impact of drought and improving the ground water recharge.

State wise allocation :

Sl.	States	Alloction (Rs. in Crore)
1	Andhra Pradesh	16.89
2	Telengana	13.20
3	Bihar	17.22
4	Chattisgarh	0.14
5	Gujarat	5.48
6	Haryana	21.21
7	Himachal Pradesh	8.38
8	Jharkhand	17.32
9	Karnataka	40.96
10	Kerala	8.38
11	Madhya Pradesh	22.65
12	Maharashtra	20.87
13	Orissa	3.74
14	Punjab	46.36
15	Rajasthan	69.00
16	Tamil Nadu	64.42
17	Uttarakhand	6.74
18	Uttar Pradesh	26.06
19	Daman & Diu	0.14
20	Pondicherry	0.84
	Total	410.00

Pravir Kumar assumes charge of Secretary, Inter-State Council Secretariat

Shri Pravir Kumar today took charge of office as the Secretary, Inter-State Council Secretariat. A 1982 batch IAS Officer of UP cadre, Shri Kumar was till recently the Director General of Foreign Trade under the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.