Press in India -2016 Report

 On the occasion of   Government of India calender release, Mr. Venkaiah Naidu, Ministers of Information and Broadcasting said that they are committed to bring about transformational changes in the country with the mantra of ‘Reform, Perform & Transform’. The vision has been depicted in the Government of India Calendar 2017 with the theme “Mera Desh Badal Raha Hai, Aage Badh Raha Hai”. He mentioned this while delivering his address at the release of the Government of India Calendar 2017.The Minister of Information and Broad casting  gave a broad analysis of the general trend of the Indian Print Media based on the Annual Report by RNI. He said that the Indian print industry continued its growth story at a steady rate of 5.13% over the previous year. A total of 5,423 new publications had been registered during the year 2015-16 with the total number of Registered Publications as on 31st March, 2016 standing at 1, 10,851. Giving the Circulation-wise details, Shri Naidu said that Hindi publications continued to lead with 31,44,55,106 copies per publishing day followed by English with 6,54,13,443 copies and Urdu with 5,17,75,006 copies per publishing day.

The highlights of the Press in India Report is given below:

1	The Total Number of Registered Publications i)       Newspaper category (Daily, Tri/Bi-weekly periodicities) ii)    Periodicals category (other periodicities)	1,10,851 16,136 94,715
2	The number of new publications registered during 2015-16	5,423
3	Number of publications ceased during 2015-16	15
4	Number of publications  deregistered during 2015-16	22
5	Percentage of growth of total registered publications over the previous year	5.13 %
6	The largest number of publications registered in any Indian language  (Hindi)	44,557
7	The second largest number of publications registered in any language other than Hindi (English)	14,083
8	The State with the largest number of registered publications (Uttar Pradesh)	16,984
9	The State with the second largest number of registered publications (Maharashtra)	15,260
10	The number of  publications that submitted Annual Statements (This figure includes 1,341 Misc. publications)	27,445
11	The total claimed circulation of publications during 2015-16 i)       Hindi Publications ii)    English Publications iii)  Urdu Publications iv)  Marathi v)     Gujarati vi)  Telugu vii)  Odiya viii) Malayalam ix)  Tamil x)     Kannada xi)  Punjabi xii)                        Assamese xiii)                     Kashmiri	61,02,38,581 31,44,55,106 6,54,13,443 5,17,75,006 3,67,88,737 2,88,28,334 2,76,45,134 2,03,12,592 1,55,57,673 93,39,722 64,85,082 59,31,641 13,90,759 1,37,450
12	The largest number of publications that submitted Annual Statements in any Indian language (Hindi).	14,316
13	The second largest number of publications that submitted Annual Statements in any language (English).	2,174
14	The largest circulated Daily: “Ananda Bazar Patrika”, Bengali, Kolkata.	11,50,038
15	The Second largest circulated Daily: “Hindustan Times” English, Delhi.	9,92,239
16	The largest circulated Hindi Daily: “Punjab Kesari”, Jalandhar	7,36,399
17	The largest circulated Multi-edition Daily: “Dainik Bhaskar”, Hindi. (45 editions)	46,14,939
18	The second largest circulated Multi-edition Daily: “The Times of India”, English. (33 editions)	44,21,374
19	The largest circulated Periodical: “The Sunday Times of India”, English/Weekly edition, Delhi.	8,02,466
20	The largest circulated Periodical in Malayalam: “Vanitha”, Malayalam/Fortnightly edition, Kottayam.	6,94,291
21	Total Title Applications Received Titles Approved	20,999 12,817
22	Titles Deblocked during 2015-16 (As they did not apply for registration within 2 years)	7,754

Sports major Achievements during 2016

 Rio Paralympics – 2016: India won its highest ever medal tally of 4 medals (2 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze all in athletics). The athletes are Shri Devendra Jhajharia and Shri Mariappan, Gold medalists, Ms Deepa Malik, Silver medalist and Shri Varun Singh Bhati, Bronze medalist. Cash award distribution function was held for medal winners of Rio Olympics/Paralympics. Prime Minister met medal winners in Paralympics 2016 on 22.9.2016.

Participation of Athletes ensuring and making all arrangements for participation of the largest ever contingent of India in Olympics / Paralympics 2016 in Rio. India won 2 medals in Olympics (1 silver and 1 Bronze in Badminton and wrestling respectively).

  12^th South Asian Games were successfully conducted at Guwahati and Shillong in February 2016 India’s regional supremacy went unchallenged with a record-breaking haul of 308 medals. India’s final tally stood at 188 gold, 99 silver and 30 bronze medals. It was a massive jump in medal count for the Indians, who had won 175, including 90 gold, in the previous edition of the Games in 2010.

·   Committees for selection of sports awardees were constituted, sports awards finalized and given away by President of India in Rashtrapati Bhawan      on 29th August, 2016.  Prime Minister also met the awardees on 28th             August, 2016.

·     BRICS U-17 Football tournament: First ever U-17 Football tournament among teams of five BRICS countries was organized and successfully held at Goa in October 2016.  All the five BRICS countries participated in the same.

·   Run for Rio on 31st July, 2016 was organized to create awareness among masses about Rio Olympics and to convey wishes of the country-men to Olympians and Paralympians participating in Rio for 2016.  The same was flagged off by Prime Minister.

· Consultation with Elite sports persons:  First ever Round Table conference was held with Khel Ratna Awardees, Dronacharya Awardees and other eminent sports personalities/athletes in Vigyan Bhawan on 3rd October, 2016 on the performance of India in Olympics / Paralympics 2016 and action plan for future.

·                     Indian U-18 Men Hockey Team won gold in 4^th at Dhaka Asia cup beating Bangladesh in the final at Dhaka.

·                     “Chintan Workshop”a brain storming session was held with former Olympians, Sports Science Experts, Sr. Beaurocrats of Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports on 10.11.2016 at Major Dhyanchand National Stadium.

·                     National Sports Day was celebrated on 29.08.2016 at Major Dhyanchand National Stadium.

·                     All India Meeting of grassroots level officers of SAI at different SAI Training Centres spread across India was held on 17^th October, 2016 to know about the issues relating to the Centres.

·   Khelo Football:  Subroto Mukerjee Sports Education Society (SMSES) has already organized a pilot programme “#Khelo Football”, for development and popularization of football. Through this programme, talents from the remote areas has been scouted and one team each in the Junior Girls and Boys has been formed and given Wild Card Entry in the 57th edition of Subroto Cup Football Tournament 2016. Both teams have undergone training under the supervision of coaches from Delhi Dynamos FC. Also, Football Utsavas and Raahgiri days were conducted to associate general public and educate them with the awareness of sports oriented lifestyle. Rs. 80 lac was sanctioned by the Ministry for the Khelo Football programme.

·   Village level sports competitions in Jammu & Kashmir: Rs. 5 Crores have been released to J&K under Khelo India Scheme for organising village level sports competitions in sports disciplines which are popular in the valley so that young children can be engaged in productive activities.

·   Addressing the 64th meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE), Minister of State (I/C) emphasized the need to make Sports a Compulsory Subject in Schools and give marks for it, and also that every educational institution should have access to a playfield and basic sports facilities. Such institutions which do not have these facilities should tie up with neighboring institutions.  Further, it was also suggested that, physical education teachers should be engaged by every school. Standard guidelines should be framed and issued for admission under sports quota, relaxation to sportspersons from attendance and appearance in examinations.

·                     MoU between India and New Zealand on cooperation in the field of Youth and Sports: A MoU was signed between the two countries on 28^th October, 2016 at New Delhi. The MoU envisages cooperation between the two countries in the field of Youth Affairs & Sports and will encourage and promote an exchange of programs, experiences, skills, techniques, information and knowledge.

·  MOS (I/C) YA&S chaired a meeting of 46 major Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) and Public Sector Banks (PSBs) on 24.11.16: The meeting was for seeking their cooperation in sports. It emerged that there should be synergy of efforts between organizations for sports development.

·    Mission 11 Million Programme: FIFA U-17 World Cup is being looked at as an opportunity to popularize the sport of Football amongst youth. Following the call of Prime Minister, the Department of Sports has taken a series of steps to popularize Football throughout the country. After several rounds of discussion with FIFA, AIFF, KVS, CBSE, Subroto Mukerjee Sports Education Society (SMSES) and other stake-holders a ‘Mission 11 Million programme’ has been formulated to be launched in collaboration with AIFF and FIFA in about 30 cities across the country. The primary objective of the programme is to engage more than 11 million children in activities relating to Football. The programme is likely to be launched soon. The Ministry has sanctioned Rs. 12.55 crore for the programme.

·     Launch of a new scheme ‘Khelo India - National Programme for Development of Sports’:  A new Central Sector Scheme namely ‘Khelo India’ was launched from the financial year 2016-17 onwards. The scheme has three components viz., competitions from district level upwards, talent nurturing and development of sports infrastructure from Tehsil  level onwards and funds have been provided to various states for conducting Sports competitions from district level upwards.                     

·   Conference of the State Ministers and Secretaries for Youth Affairs and Sports was held in Vigyan Bhawan at New Delhi on 15.11.16. It was discussed that state governments will also need to enhance funding for Broad Basing of Sports and Excellence in Sports and provide adequate funds for maintenance of Sports infrastructure already created. It would also be desirable that funding of State and National Sports Federations are tied with measurable outputs and performances.

·    Special Certificate Course in Sports Coaching for J&K Sportspersons Started at National Institute of Sports (NIS), Patiala: The Minister of State (I/C) for Youth Affairs and Sports inaugurated Special Certificate Course in Sports Coaching for Jammu and Kashmir sportspersons at Netaji Subhash National Institute of Sports (NSNIS) Patiala.

·    Rs. 5 Crores have been released to J&K under Khelo India Scheme for organising village level sports competitions in sports disciplines which are popular in the valley so that young children can be engaged in productive activities.

·     National Sports development bill has been sent to Legislative department for approval and is likely to be introduced in Budget session of parliament.             

·      MoS (I/C) MYAS, has also written to Chairman, DDA, to make necessary policy changes in the allotment policy of land by DDA for the schools for restoration of allotment of land of 4 acres to new Senior Secondary Schools, subject to the condition that a minimum of 2 acres, out of the land is developed as playground/play area, and 2 acres of for new Primary Schools in Delhi, whether they are Government or private.

·   Direct Benefit Transfer : Matter has been taken up with all the States with the request to issue requisite instructions to create a DBT portal in the Department of Sports/State Sports Councils of the States/UTs to make payments to the beneficiaries through RTGS/NEFT/PFMS and create a digitization of the beneficiaries database, obtain and seed Aadhar card details of beneficiaries and include the details of payment whether it is in cash or in kind.

·    Matter has been taken up and being pursued with Ministry of HRD  for integration of sports with education.  For realizing full potential of sports, it was suggested that there should be one period every day devoted compulsorily for sports and games upto 12^th class and twice a week in colleges and institutes of higher education, at least upto 2^nd year of their college education.   Further, it was also suggested sporting activities by students are to be  evaluated like academic subjects  and to be promoted to the next class only when they have achieved minimum marks, as specified for other subjects.  

·      India beat Belgium 2-1 to win junior hockey world cup title on 18.12.2016.

Cabinet approves sale of part of surplus and vacant land for meeting the liabilities of Hindustan Anti-biotics Ltd

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the sale of part of surplus and vacant land at Pimpri in Pune, Maharashtra for meeting the liabilities of Hindustan Anti-biotics Ltd. (HAL).

            The proposal entails:

(i)                 Sale of surplus and vacant land of about 87.70 acres of HAL (actual area of land to be sold would depend upon the rates received in bids, as per guidelines of BIFR) to meet the net liabilities of Rs. 821.17 crore after waiver and deferment, through an open competitive bid from Central /State Government Departments, Govt. Agencies, Central/State PSUs, Autonomous Bodies, Urban Development Authorities etc.

(ii)               Waivers of Govt. of India loans and interest amounting to Rs. 307.23 crores (principal amount of Rs. 186.96 crore and interest approximately Rs. 120.27 crore thereon calculated as on 30.9.2017) and deferment of various dues amounting to Rs. 128.68 crores.

(iii)             Sanction of an immediate loan of Rs. 100 crore to meet the wages, salaries and other critical expenses of immediate nature. The loan will be repaid to the Government from sale proceeds of the HAL land.

            The approval will help the Government in optimum utilization of the Company’s assets and to take further decisions in respect of the Company for:

(i)                      Rehabilitation;

(ii)                    Strategic Sale; or

(iii)                  Closure

On implementation of the scheme/proposal, HAL will be lean with no liabilities and clean balance-sheet, so that the implementation of recommendations of the Ministers’ Committee is facilitated.

Sale of HAL land at Pimpri in Pune, Maharashtra will facilitate mitigation of sufferings and critical condition of the employees and if the liabilities are met and the balance sheet is cleaned, the implementation of recommendations of the Ministers’ Committee will be facilitated.

NEET-UG to be conducted in 8 languages from Academic Year 2017-18

Under the directions of the Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Shri J P Nadda, after rigorous and extensive consultations with State Governments about their examination pattern and other related aspects, it has been decided that the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG) from AY 2017-18 will be conducted in following 8 languages:

1.      Hindi

2.      English

3.      Gujarati

4.      Marathi

5.      Bengali

6.      Assamese

7.      Telugu and

8.      Tamil

In addition to this, the candidate qualifying NEET will be eligible for All India quota and other quotas under the State governments/Institutes irrespective of the medium in which exam is taken by the candidate, subject to other eligibility criteria.

This is in continuation with the meeting of Union Health Minister Shri J P Nadda with the Health Ministers and Health Secretaries/representatives of 18 States/UTs in May this year towards implementation of NEET across States. The Joint Secretary – Medical Education Mr. A.K Singhal stated ‘the collaborative efforts of Central Health Ministry with the State health Ministries have lead to this decision so as to bring parity for the students who have taken the State Board exams’.

NEET and its implementation in regional languages is the outcome of Governments commitment of bringing about transparency in medical education and removing malpractices. 

Cabinet approves inclusion/Amendments in the Central List of Other Backward Classes

 notified in respect of States of Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval to notify inclusion/Amendments in the Central List of Other Backward Classes notified in respect of States of Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand.

On the recommendation of the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC), a total of 2479 Entries for inclusion, including its synonyms, sub-castes, etc. in the Central List of Other Backward Classes have been notified in 25 States and 6 Union Territories. The last such notification was issued till September, 2016. Meanwhile more advices for inclusion of castes/communities and corrections in the existing list of OBCs for the State of Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand have been received from NCBC. Accordingly, a total of 28 changes recommended by NCBC in respect of 8 states including Jammu and Kashmir (15 new entries, 09 synonyms/sub-castes and 04 corrections) have been notified.

The changes will enable the persons belonging to these castes/ communities to avail the benefits of reservation in Government services and posts as well as in Central Educational Institutions as per the existing policy. They will also become eligible for benefit under the various welfare schemes, scholarships etc. being administered by the Central Government, which are at present available to the persons belonging to the Other Backward Classes.

Background 

The NCBC was set up in pursuance to the Supreme Court judgement in the Indra Sawhney case as per the NCBC Act 1993. Section 9 ("Functions of the Commission") of the NCBC Act 1993 states as under:

(i) The Commission shall examine requests for inclusion of any class of citizens as a backward class in the lists and hear complaints of over-inclusion or under-inclusion of any backward class in such lists and tender such advice to the Central Government as it deems appropriate.

(ii) The advice of the Commission shall ordinarily be binding upon the Central Governme

Cabinet approves replacement of ‘Major Port Trusts Act, 1963’ with ‘the Major Port Trust Authorities Bill, 2016’

 The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has approved the proposal of Ministry of Shipping to replace the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963 by the Major Port Authorities Bill, 2016.  This will empower the Major Ports to perform with greater efficiency on account of full autonomy in decision making and by modernizing the Institutional structure of Major Ports.

With a view to promote the expansion of port infrastructure and facilitate trade and commerce, the proposed bill aims at decentralizing decision making  and   to infuse  professionalism in governance of ports.  The new Major Ports Authority Bill, 2016 would help to impart faster and transparent decision making benefiting the stakeholders and better project execution capability. The Bill is aimed at reorienting the governance model in central Ports to landlord port model in line with the successful global practice. This will also help in bringing transparency in operations of Major Ports.

The salient features of the Major Ports Authority Bill are as under:

a.       The Bill is more compact in comparison to the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963 as the number of sections has been reduced to 65 from 134 by eliminating overlapping and obsolete Sections.

b.      The new Bill has proposed a simplified composition of the Board of Port Authority which will comprise of 11 members from the present 17 to 19 Members representing various interests. A compact Board with professional independent members will strengthen decision making and strategic planning. Provision has been made for inclusion of representative of the State Government in which the Major Port is situated, Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Defence and Customs, Department of Revenue as Members in the Board apart from a Government Nominee Member and a Member representing the employees of the Major Ports Authority. 

c.       The role of Tariff Authority for Major Ports [TAMP] has been redefined. Port Authority has now been given powers to fix tariff which will act as a reference tariff for purposes of bidding for PPP projects. PPP operators will be free to fix tariff based on market conditions. The Board of the Port Authority has been delegated the power to fix the scale of rates for other port services and assets including land.

d.      An independent Review Board has been proposed to be created to carry out the residual function of the erstwhile TAMP for Major Ports, to look into disputes between ports and PPP concessionaires, to review stressed PPP projects and suggest measures to review stressed PPP  projects and suggest measures to revive such projects and to look into complaints regarding services rendered by the ports/private operators operating within the ports would be constituted. 

e.       The Boards of the Port Authority have been delegated full powers to enter into contracts, planning and development, fixing of tariff except in national interest, security and emergency arising out of inaction and default. In the present MPT Act, 1963 prior approval of the Central Government was required in 22 cases.

f.       Empowers the Board to make its own Master Plan in respect of the area within the port limits and to construct within port limits Pipelines, Telephones, Communication towers, electricity supply or transmission equipment. The Board is empowered to lease land for Port related use for upto 40 years and for any purpose other than the purposes specified in section 22 for upto 20 years beyond which the approval of the Central Government is required.

g.      Provisions of CSR & development of infrastructure by Port Authority have been introduced.

Cabinet approves the Renewal of MoU between the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and College of Banking and Financial Studies (CBFS), Oman

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its ex-post facto approval of the MoUs signed in 2008 and 2011 and the renewal of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and College of Banking and Financial Studies (CBFS), Oman. The MoU will facilitate working together for strengthening the accounting, financial and audit knowledge base within Oman.
ICAI has a strong membership base of over 6000 members in the Middle East region and the MOU aims at providing assistance to CBFS by admitting Omani Nationals to the membership of ICAI. The aim is to work together to develop a mutually beneficial relationship in the best interests of members, students and the institutes. The MoU is also expected to provide an opportunity to the ICAI members to expand their professional horizons and, simultaneously, ICAI is expected to become an entity which aids and strengthens professional capabilities of Omani nationals.
Through such activities, substantial goodwill is expected to be generated for India, Indian citizens and Indian Chartered Accountants in the Sultanate of Oman. It is also expected to lead to enhancement of remittances by Indian nationals to India.
Since Oman does not have a local professional accountancy Institute and it is the ICAI which has been collaborating with CBFS, Oman in matters relating to the profession. The MoU is expected to make a positive impact for the Indian Chartered Accountants currently working in Oman and other markets and for those Indian professionals who intend to move to Oman for pursuing their profession there. As such, enhanced employment opportunities are expected to be created for Indian professionals in the Sultanate of Oman.
Background:The ICAI is a statutory body established by an Act of Parliament of India. The Chartered Accountants Act, 1949, to regulate the profession of Chartered Accountancy in India. CBFS is a Government organization established by a Royal Decree of the Sultanate of Oman in 1983, with the objectives of educating and training bankers and encouraging research in Banking and Financial subjects. It is under the juristic supervision of the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) and is supported by the commercial banks operating in the Sultanate. Over the last three decades, the College has been helping the financial services industry in Oman to meet its human resource development needs by offering academic and training courses that are tailor-made for the emerging needs of Oman