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New ‘Fire & Fury Corps’ commander asks troops to keep ‘Nation First’

Lt Gen Harinder Singh
Lt Gen Harinder Singh takes over command of Fire & Fury Corps

​Srinagar: Lt Gen Harinder Singh assumed command of ‘Fire & Fury Corps’ from Lt Gen YK Joshi on October 10 and asked the troops to be always prepared to deal with any threat to national security.

​Lt Gen Harinder Singh has had a distinguished career in the Indian Army, including a number of important command and staff appointments. Commissioned into the Maratha Light Infantry, Lt Gen Harinder Singh has served extensively along the Western and Northern borders.

His command tenures include command of a Rashtriya Rifles Battalion in North Kashmir, an Infantry Brigade Group in United Nations Peace Keeping Mission in Congo and an Infantry Division in North Kashmir. Lt Gen Harinder Singh has also served in several important staff and instructional appointments including tenures in the Directorate General of Military Operations (DGMO) and the Directorate General of Operational Logistics & Strategic Movement (DGOL&SM) at the Integrated HQ of MoD (Army). Prior to assuming command of ‘Fire & Fury Corps’, he was tenating the appointment of Director General Military Intelligence at the Integrated HQ of MoD (Army).

​In his farewell message, Lt Gen YK Joshi conveyed his gratitude and deep appreciation to all ranks of the ‘Fire & Fury Corps’, for their professionalism and steadfast dedication in the service of the nation, even in the most hostile terrain, weather and altitude challenges faced by any Army in the world.

​On taking over, Lt Gen Harinder Singh exhorted all ranks of ‘Fire & Fury Corps’ to continue to discharge their duties with the same commitment and zeal, and always be prepared to deal with any threat to national security. He urged them to continue to keep ‘Nation First’ in all their endeavours.

Northern Army commander hails troops’ efforts to reach out to people in Valley

Lt Gen Ranbir Singh
Lt Gen Ranbir Singh takes stock of the security situation in Kashmir Valley

Srinagar: Norther Army commander has hailed sincere efforts of the troops to reach out to the local population in Kashmir Valley through Sadhbhavna initiatives, especially in far flung areas.

The Sadbhavana initiatives of Army include education, special coaching programmes, health, sports and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief situations.

Lt Gen Ranbir SinghThe General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Northern Command (GOC-in-C) Lt Gen Ranbir Singh visited the Valley on October 10 to review the security situation. He was accompanied by the Chinar Corps Commander Lt Gen KJS Dhillon. The duo visited formations in the frontier districts along the Line of Control and also hinterland.

The GOC-in-C was briefed by the commanders on ground about the current situation as also the recent counter infiltration and counter terrorist operations.

The GOC-in-C extolled the troops for their relentless efforts in thwarting the adversary’s designs and maintaining constant vigil in the harshest of terrain and weather conditions. The Army Commander reinforced the need to be fully prepared for the emerging security challenges and lauded the exemplary synergy amongst all security forces.

 

38th India Carpet Expo to open in Varanasi from Oct 11

India carpet expo
CEPC to organise 38th India Carpet Expo in Varanasi at Sampurnan and Sanskrit University Ground

New Delhi: The Carpet Export Promotion Council (CEPC) is all set to organise 38th India Carpet Expo, one of the largest handmade carpet fairs of Asia, at Sampurnan and Sanskrit University Ground in Varanasi from October 11 to 14, to promote the cultural heritage and weaving skills of Indian hand-made carpets and other floor coverings for the overseas carpet buyers.

Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, Ravi Capoor will inaugurate India Carpet Expo, a platform for international carpet buyers, buying houses, buying agents, architects and Indian carpet manufacturers and exporters to meet and establish business relationships. It is held twice a year in Varanasi and Delhi.

India’s unique capability in adapting any type of design, colour, quality and size as per the specifications of the carpet buyers has made it a household name in the international market. Industry uses diverse raw-materials from various parts of India like wool, silk, man-made fibre, jute, cotton and various blends of different yarns. The carpet industry has immense potential for growth both in production and exports. The industry is environment-friendly and does not use scarce and perishable energy resources.

Indian handmade carpet industry is number one in the international handmade carpet market both in terms of value and volume. India exports 85-90% of its total carpet production.

India is exporting its handmade carpets to more than 70 countries in the world, mainly to the USA, Germany, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, France, Italy and Brazil. Recently, exports have also started in China.

The Carpet Export Promotion Council has 2700 members from all over the country and around 200 members from all over India are participating in this Expo. Approximately 450 reputed overseas carpet buyers are expected to attend the Expo.

There is a huge scope of investment in this sector to set up units to produce carpets and other floor coverings in order to discourage imports and also fulfil domestic requirements.

High-level meeting discusses development roadmap for J&K and Ladakh

Meeting
File Photo: Meeting

New Delhi: A high-level meeting of Central agencies was held in Srinagar on October 10 to discuss the projects taken under State Collaboration Initiative programme of DARPG as part of development roadmap of the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

The meeting was attended by Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Jitendra Singh, Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DARPG) and Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions. The discussions focused on various issues identified by DARPG as part of initiatives for the Union territories including digitisation of files, implementation of e-office in the Secretariat etc.

“It was the second high level delegation meeting held by  DARPG, in which discussions were also held with various officials including Secretary Rural Development & Panchayati Raj regarding training for Self Help Groups (SHGs), Secretary Art & Culture and Department of J&K regarding various projects which can be taken up to increase awareness within and outside J&K about its rich culture and heritage,” an official statement said.

“The team also met Advisor to Governor, Vijay Kumar and discussed various aspects including strengthening disaster relief measures,” the statement added.

DARPG is further following up these matters in coordination with the Government of J&K.

Union Health Minister urges states to up healthcare spending

CCWHF
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan Inaugurated the 13th CCHFW meeting.

New Delhi: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has urged Health Ministers from States/UTs to increase healthcare spending to a minimum 8% of their State budget to meet the goals of healthcare spending of National Health Policy 2017- 2.5% of GDP by 2025. 

Inaugurating the 13th Conference of the Central Council of Health and Family Welfare (CCHFW) on October 10, the minister added: “From the first CCHFW meeting to today, we together have achieved several health milestones, especially India being certified Polio-free. This has been possible because of our collaborative efforts. If all Health Ministers come together for a cause, no task can be impossible.” .

Ashwini Kumar Choubey, MoS (HFW), Dr V K Paul, Member (Health), Niti Aayog, Ms. Preeti Sudan, Secretary (HFW), and Health Ministers from 13 states were among those present on the occasion. .

Harsh Vardhan stated that the purpose of the CCHFW meeting is to build a consensus on the national health priorities that is Universal Health Coverage (UHC) through Ayushman Bharat, eliminating TB and other priority agenda such as strengthen medical infrastructure. This can be achieved by collective increase in healthcare spending by the States/UTs to meet the goals of healthcare spending of National Health Policy 2017- 2.5% of GDP by 2025. “This is the first time that a government is so committed to healthcare and health care is on the top agenda.

This is clearly visible from the passionate address of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the recently concluded UN General Assembly where he stressed upon four pillars of healthcare, which included universal health coverage; mission mode interventions; quality and accessible affordable healthcare services; and also adequate infrastructure. “Health needs to become a social movement in every State & UT and the Eat Right and Fit India movements need to be taken up by States & UTs in a synergized manner, to ensure a healthy & robust India” Vardhan added .

The Minister also urged the Health Minister of Uttar Pradesh, who is also the Finance Minister of the State, to increase the health budget of the State and set an example for the rest to emulate.

Speaking at the occasion, Ms. Preeti Sudan, Secretary (HFW) said that the health Ministry is dedicated to the cause of effective, affordable, quality and accessible healthcare. She added that the CCHFW is integral to achievement of health goals of the country, “Without the political leadership and commitment of the States & UTs, healthcare cannot be effective”, she added.

Dr Vinod K. Paul, Member, NITI Aayog said two priority areas for the public health sector. “First is increasing the health budgets by the Centre and the States/UTs, and second in enhancing the health infrastructure. The NHP 2017 commitment to increasing the health budget cannot be achieved without States contribution”, he stated. He added that there is a need to engage more with the private sector for augmenting the efforts of the public sector to bring in equity to increase the number of beds and hospitals to meet the global standards of health infrastructure.

New Delhi to promote ‘India Story’, raise economic sensitivities in Bangkok RCEP Ministerial meeting

piyush goyal
File Photo: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal

New Delhi: India is geared for the crucial two-day multilateral Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations in Bangkok from  October 11 where it will not only promote India Story but will also raise its economic concerns and sensitivities. Commerce and Industry Minister on October 10 held several consultations with Indian industry for firming up India’s position and for taking into consideration industry concerns.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal chaired several inter-ministerial meetings at the official level and also with Ministers of the key line Ministries. He will also be holding a series of bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Japan, Singapore, China, Australia and New Zealand during the Bangkok RCEP meeting.

Initially, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was expected to attend the meeting but now Piyush Goyal will attend the meeting, which will be the last before the 3rd Leaders Summit to be held on November 4, 2019 in Bangkok. 

The 28thround of negotiations for RCEP at the expert level had concluded at Da Nang, Vietnam, which was held from September 19 – 27, 2019. In this round of negotiations, meeting of the Trade Negotiating Committee was held in which senior officials participated and discussed market access on Trade in Goods, Trade in Services and Investment as well as on other areas like Rules of Origin, Intellectual Property and Electronic Commerce. Out of 25 chapters, 21 have been concluded. Crucial chapters of Investment, Electronic Commerce, Rules of Origin and Trade Remedies are yet to be settled.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with six partners namely People’s Republic of China (ACFTA), Republic of Korea (AKFTA), Japan (AJCEP), India (AIFTA) and Australia and New Zealand (AANZFTA).

In order to broaden and deepen the engagement among parties and to enhance their participation in economic linkages and to enhance trade and investment related activities as well as to contribute to minimising development gap among the partie,s the 16 Economic Ministers of countries in this region endorsed the Guiding Principles and Objective for Negotiating the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership in August 2012.

The objective of launching RCEP negotiation is to achieve a modern, comprehensive, high quality and mutually beneficial economic partnership agreement among the ASEAN member states and ASEAN’s FTA partners. The RCEP negotiations commenced in early 2013.

NIIF-EESL announce Joint Venture for smart meter roll-out programme

niif

Mumbai/Delhi: National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) and Energy
Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) on 10th October announced a new Joint Venture, IntelliSmart Infrastructure Private Limited (“IntelliSmart”), to implement, finance and operate the smart meter roll-out program of power distribution companies across India.

Smart meters will lay the foundation for smart grids which will be crucial to meet challenges of the evolving energy mix and the Government of India’s target of providing uninterrupted 24×7 power supply to every Indian.

The Government of India plans to install 25 crore smart meters with the replacement of conventional meters, from which billing efficiency can improve from 80 percent to 100 percent, and has the potential to increase DISCOM revenues by INR 1,104 billion.

EESL, has been spearheading the smart meter deployment in India. This partnership of NIIF & EESL will give a fillip to the Smart Meter ambition of the Government of India. 

Announcing the Joint Venture, Saurabh Kumar, Managing Director, EESL stated, “India has embarked upon a mission to reduce AT&C losses; proven world over for enabling universal, transparent and responsible energy consumption, and smart meters can play a central role in enabling such an endeavour. We are proud to have an established and experienced institution like NIIF partner with us in scaling our ongoing efforts to transform the market for this technology, and to accelerate its application across the country. This venture will support the ambitions of ongoing government programmes, such as UDAY and National Smart Grid Mission.

Sujoy Bose, Managing Director & CEO, NIIF added, “IntelliSmart will support the efforts of the Indian power sector as it strives towards delivering dependable 24/7 service to end-consumers.

Smart meters will play a transformational role in bringing efficiencies and generating significant commercial benefits for power distribution companies, while at the same time empowering end-consumers to make informed choices regarding power consumption. We are delighted to partner with EESL, which has a proven track record of driving energy efficiency by operating at a substantial scale through its strong relationship with all stakeholders.”

Smart meters communicate on a real-time basis with distribution companies enabling remote meter reading and prompt identification of network failures, thereby reducing response time and improving the quality of networks and services. Smart meters also bring benefits to end-consumers by empowering them with consumption data thereby enabling households to lower their energy bills by becoming more energy efficient and contributing to greater security and affordability of the Indian energy market.

Kovind confers ‘President’s Colour to Army Aviation Corps

Presidents Colours to Army Aviation Corps
President Ramnath Kovind presented Presidents Colours to Army Aviation Corps

New Delhi: President Ramnath Kovind conferred the prestigious President’s Colour to the Army Aviation Corps for their contribution to the Nation in Nashik on October 10. The President’s Colours is the highest honour bestowed upon a Regiment of the Armed forces in recognition of their invaluable contribution to the security of the nation during peace and hostilities.

“The Army Aviation Corps has earned 273 honours and awards for conspicuous gallantry and distinguished service. his speaks volumes about the exceptional valour and high spirit of the Corps personnel and is a model for all soldiers and officers of our armed forces,” said President on the occasion.

“They have been excellent ambassadors of our country while operating overseas in countries like Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, while serving at United Nations peacekeeping Missions,” President added.

Dedicating an event to the armed forces of our country, President Kovind, who is also the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces paid homage to the martyrs of the Army Aviation Corps, stating, “Their blood and sacrifice have secured our sovereignty and brought glory to our nation.”

“The Army Aviation Corps has been true force multipliers in some of the most inhospitable terrain and adverse climatic conditions in the world. The Indian Army and the nation is proud of them,” he added. Subsequently, the President visited the School of Artillery, Deolali and interacted with the gunners.

Bazaarvoice eyes India’s technology talent for global presence

Bazaarvoice
Bazaarvoice expands global presence by expanding Software Engineering operations to India

New Delhi: Proliferating the digital and innovation trade globally, Bazaarvoice has announced the expansion of its global Software Engineering operations to India. It is establishing a new presence in Bengaluru that will focus on increasing its innovation capacity beyond the corporate headquarters in Austin, Texa.

Highlighting the importance of strategic product innovation, the new move into India will mark the next chapter of growth and evolution for Bazaarvoice’s business.

By the end of 2020, the company is planning to engage approximately 30% of the company’s engineers based out of Bengaluru.

To lead the expansion into India, the company has appointed Srini Basava, who is serving as Vice President of Research & Development and India site leader for PTC with almost 20 years’ experience in software development to the position of Vice President, Software Engineering and India country head.

Srini Basava said, “Our mission is to enable the very best from our professionals. Bazaarvoice engineering teams build software that enables a billion consumers to make smart buying decisions. We want our engineering teams to be innovative and agile, which means we are focused on building a diverse team, supporting them effectively and making it easier for them to do their jobs.”

 

Fritz Hesse, Chief Technology Officer said, “We want to increase our global brand presence by launching in a strong market that has become known as the Silicon Valley of India. Bengaluru has exceptional talent and a robust ecosystem that is a great match for our complex technology needs and creative & collaborative global culture.  We believe this choice will enable us to scale and grow at a high rate.”

Over the last two years, Bazaarvoice boosted the scale of its engineering department by launching its first international R&D lab in Belfast. It also saw double-digit growth in its revenue and customer base in EMEA and APAC.

NFL gives over Rs 28 cr dividend to Govt.

NFL

New Delhi: National Fertisers Ltd has presented dividend of Rs. 28.22 crore to Government of .India for the year 2018-19 in respect of shares held by it.

Shri Manoj Mishra, Chairman & Managing Director today presented Dividend Cheque of Rs. 28.22 crore to the Hon’ble Union Minister of Chemicals & Fertilizers D.V. Sadananda Gowda in the presence of Secretary (Fertilizers), Shri Chhabilendra Roul. Senior officials of the Deptt. Of  Fertilizers and NFL were also present on the occasion.

It is noteworthy that NFL has presented a cumulative dividend of Rs.1156.97 crore to the Government till date against paid up equity of Rs. 490.58 crore.

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