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Gen Rawat assumes charge as first CDS

New Delhi (NVI): General Bipin Rawat today assumed charge as India’s first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), a post created for better synergy between the Army, the Indian Air Force and the Navy.

Gen Rawat was appointed to the post yesterday, a day ahead of his retirement as the Army Chief. He will head the newly-established Department of Military Affairs in the Ministry of Defence.

The CDS will function as a single-point advisor to the government on matters related to the military.

The CDS will be the “first among equals” with respect to the three service chiefs, all four-star officers themselves who will retain the operational command of their respective forces.

The post of CDS, recommendation regarding which was under consideration for two decades, was created recently.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi finally promised to create the post when he addressed the nation on this year’s Independence Day, his first in the second term.

The government on December 24 took the decision to establish the post, saying it would be occupied by a four-star officer from the Army, the Navy or the Air Force.

Subsequently, the rules of the three Services were amended to allow a CDS to serve until the age of 65.

Till now, a Service chief retires after either completing three years in office or attaining the age of 62, whichever is earlier.

According to a government order, Gen Rawat will be the CDS from today “until further orders and extension in service”.

He was commissioned into the Indian Army in December 1978.

Gen Rawat was succeeded as the Army Chief by Lieutenant General Manoj Mukund Naravane.

Over 1.15 core FASTags has been issued till date 

New Delhi (NVI): FASTag rollout has gathered massive momentum since it was made mandatory on national highways across India from December 15 this year, the government said.
Over 1.15 Crore FASTags have already been issued, with more than 1 lakh being issued every day, an official statement said.
FASTag provides smooth journey to commuters through toll plazas on National Highways. It has proved to be instrumental as a fast and convenient tool on the highways that upholds the true essence of digital India.
With the concerted efforts of field officers and diligent monitoring at HQ level to resolve all the teething issues, NHAI is setting new milestones every day in FASTag transaction at toll plazas on National Highways.
With the transaction number crossing 30 lakh, the daily transactional worth of Electronic Toll Collection has crossed Rs 52 crore.
Easy to adapt FASTag has already made a positive impression in the mind of the smart NH commuters helping to reduce bottlenecks on toll plazas and ensure seamless movement of traffic.
In order to simplify the recharge of FASTag, the Government of India has recently included BHIM UPI app amongst many other modes of recharge.
It has resolved the issue of recharge of FASTag through any of the UPI registered banks.
Implementation of FASTag is one step in the direction of providing safe, smooth and seamless journey to commuters on National Highways.

Bit improvement in Delhi temperature

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Indian Railways all set to launch Tejas Express on Ahmedabad-Mumbai Route

New Delhi (NVI): After the successful run of Lucknow-Delhi Tejas Express, the second premium Tejas train is all set  to run between Ahmedabad and Mumbai.
This will be yet another step of the Ministry of Railways in its endeavour to improve the overall traveling experience to rail passengers by providing state of the art facilities.
The inaugural run of this second Tejas Train will be flagged off from Ahmedabad on January 17, 2020.The commercial run of the train will start with effect from January 19, 2020 from Ahmedabad.
The train to be operated by IRCTC which also operates the first Tejas Train, shall be equipped with all modern facilities on board for ensuring a high level of comfort to the passengers.
To start with, this fully air-conditioned train shall  have two Executive Class Chair Cars having 56 seats each and Eight Chair Cars having capacity of 78 seats each. The total carrying capacity of the train will be 736 passengers.
This Tejas Train will have scheduled commercial halts at Nadiad, Vadodara, Bharuch, Surat, Vapi and Borivali.
The train will run on all days of the week except Thursday.
The booking for this train has commenced and passengers can book their tickets exclusively on IRCTC website www.irctc.co.inand its mobile app “IRCTC Rail Connect”.
There will be no booking at railway reservation counters.  The train will also be available for booking through IRCTC’s online travel portal partners.

Jammu industrialists seek revamp of industrial policy

Jammu (NVI): Industrialists of Jammu today sought revamping of the Industrial Policy and a number of concessions as they met Lt Governor G C Murmu here.

A delegation of Federation of Industries, Jammu, submitted a memorandum of demands, which also related to purchases through GeM portal by Government departments, special incentive packages for Small Scale Industries, freight subsidy for the purchase of raw material and industrial consumables.

It also demanded sale of finished goods, reimbursement of SGST, CGST and IGST on self credit mode, conversion of lease hold status into free-hold rights and a host of other issues important for the promotion of local Micro and Small Scale industry.

The Lt. Governor assured them that their genuine demands would be addressed, an official statement said.

A joint delegation of Jammu Fruit Association and Jammu & Kashmir Chemists and Druggists Association also met the LG separately and apprised him of their concerns.

The demands of Chemists and Druggists Association related to renewal of Trade licence and Pharma Certificates while the Jammu Fruit Association Narwal raised the issues pertaining to renewal of lease deeds and their conversion into free hold rights

The Lt Governor assured them that their genuine issues would be addressed, the statement said..

PFS gets Rs.500 crore loan for infrastructure projects

New Delhi (NVI): PTC India Financial services (PFS)  has received sanction of fresh long term loan of Rs 500 crore for onward lending to infrastructure projects and other operational requirements.

The loan has been sanctioned from Bank of India for a period of ten years at an interest rate of 8.50% per annum.

PTC Financial Services Limited (PFS) is a systemically important non-deposit taking NBFC classified as“Infrastructure Finance Company (IFC)” by RBI.

“We will use this loan to further expand our lending portfolio in Infrastruture projects and other operational requirements,” CEO and Managing Director of PFS Dr Pawan Singh said.

“Our portfolio quality has been improving with the passage of each quarter and in the last one year period we have resolved stressed assets considerably,” he said, adding, “We will continue to focus on quality assets and put our efforts to become a sustainable financing company.”

Kashmiri farmers’ group on tour to know best practices in farming

Jammu (NVI): A group of 15 farmers from far-off Kupwara district of Kashmir, bordering the Line of Control (LoC), will undergo training at some renowned national agricultural institutes in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi to know about the latest practices in farming.

The group, which started the tour today, will attend training-cum-exposure programme at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana; National Diary Institute, Karnal, National Agro Industries Corporation, Murthal and ICAR, New Delhi.

The main aim of the programme is to acquaint farmers with latest practices in farming and exposure to modern agricultural machinery and implements as well as techniques and initiatives of these institutes in order to increase the farmer’s income, an official statement said.

The exposure tour is expected to enable the farmers to achieve significant success in production, productivity and adoption of best practices in the field.

Kashmiri girls laud Army for promoting quality education

Udhampur (NVI): After their ‘Capacity Building Tour’ of Delhi and Agra, a group of girls from areas around Srinagar in Kashmir today visited the Northern Army Headquarter and lauded the Indian Army’s efforts to promote quality education, which is a key component of Sustainable Development Goals.

The group of 30 girls, accompanied by three lady teachers, were on a tour to professional and educational institutions in Delhi and heritage sites in Agra.

While returning home, they visited Northern Army Headquarter based here and interacted with Lt Gen Y K Joshi, Chief of Staff of the Northern Command Headquarter.

During the interaction with Lt Gen Joshi, the students and teachers lauded the Indian Army for the efforts being made to promote quality education which is a key component of Sustainable Development Goals, an Army spokesman said.

They shared their experiences of the tour with the Chief of Staff and expressed satisfaction on the meaningful impact this tour had on their quest for excellence in academics and shaping their future.

During their stay at Delhi, they got an opportunity to meet and interact with Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and were hosted by Army Wives’ Welfare Association (AWWA) president Madhulika Rawat, who gave them an insight into the role and contribution of women in the progress of a society.

The wide exposure to places and personalities acquainted the young students with the high standards of education, rich cultural heritage and career opportunities available in the country.

Gen Rawat is the first Chief of Defence Staff

General Bipin Rawat. (File photo)

New Delhi (NVI): A day before his retirement, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat was today named India’s first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), who will head the newly-established Department of Military Affairs in the Ministry of Defence.

The CDS will focus on better synergy between the Indian Army, Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy and function as a single-point advisor to the government on matters related to the military.

The CDS will be the “first among equals” with respect to the three service chiefs, all four-star officers themselves who will retain the operational command of their respective forces.

The post of CDS, recommendation regarding which was under consideration for two decades, was created recently.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi finally promised to create the post when he addressed the nation on this year’s Independence Day, his first in the second term.

The government on December 24 took the decision to establish the post, saying it would be occupied by a four-star officer from the Army, the Navy or the Air Force.

Subsequently, the rules of the three Services were amended to allow a CDS to serve until the age of 65.

Till now, a Service chief retires after either completing three years in office or attaining the age of 62, whichever is earlier.

Gen Rawat was to retire tomorrow as the Army Chief after serving for three years in the post. He will be succeeded as the Army Chief by Lieutenant General Manoj Mukund Naravane, currently the Vice Chief of Army Staff.

Indian economy is expected to rebound in 2020: CII

New Delhi (NVI): India’s economy is expected to rebound in 2020 on the back of measures taken by the government and the RBI, coupled with easing of global trade tensions, business chamber Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has said.

CII President Vikram Kirloskar said the results of the government measures are fast percolating through and becoming increasingly evident on the ground.

 

“Nascent signs of recovery are noted in the form of improved PMIs of manufacturing and services, jump in passenger air traffic, sharp moderation in the decline in sales of passenger carsamong others,” he said.

 

“Though we may continue to see a subdued GDP print in the third quarter as well, but the quarters thereafter are likely to see a rebound,” he added.

 

CII feels that with the sharp moderation in growth, the time has come to adopt an expansionary fiscal policy.

 

CII President-designate Uday Kotak said, “just like our medium-term inflation target range, we can have a Flexible Fiscal Policy target which will set a central target for the fiscal deficit with a range of around 0.5% to 0.75%.”

 

“The additional availability of funds may be spent on key infrastructure projects which can be implemented quickly. This is likely to have a significant multiplier effect on the economy,” he added.

 

According to the CII, the initial difficulties associated with the measures of GST and the IBC are getting gradually ironed out and the industry is hopeful that this will result in the accrual of substantial benefits for the economy.

“The year 2019 will be remembered as one where the systemic clean-up of the financial sector picked up pace, which might have resulted in short-term pain for the economy,” it said.

 

“However, this tidying up will have extensive positive ramifications for the economy in the short to medium term,” CII added.

 

Meanwhile, Kiloskar said all these factors will have a significant bearing on growth in the next fiscal.

“Add to this, the easing of global trade tensions along with lagged impact of monetary easing coupled with improved transmission, and we are in for a gradual recovery getting firmly entrenched by the next fiscal,” he added.

 

CII has actively partnered with the government by providing constructive recommendations from the industry to kick-start growth in the year gone by.

 

“We will continue to engage with the relevant stakeholders in order to make sure that our economic growth moves to a higher trajectory,” CII said in a statement.

 

A critical issue that industry has highlighted in the past year is that of pending payments from government departments and CPSEs.

 

All outstanding payments need to be released at the earliest to vendors in the private sector. This would boost liquidity in the hands of the private sector which would reduce the need to borrow for meeting working capital requirements.

 

CII has also suggested the creation of an e-portal where invoices can be uploaded, and delayed payments can be tracked.

 

In addition, arbitration awards and cases under tax litigation need to be settled quickly and government receivables should not be treated as NPAs.

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