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‘Khadi Rumal’ on sale

New Delhi (NVI): A few years back, families of militancy-affected areas of Kashmir shifted to Nagrota near Jamm city to sustain their existence.

In 2016, Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) started a napkin stitching centre in Nagrota for the women impacted by the lack of livelihood opportunities and unemployment, to help them become self-dependent and sustain their families.

It was called ‘Khadi Rumal’ (khadi handkerchief), whose sale was launched here today by Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Nitin Gadkari in the presence of KVIC Chairman VK Saxena.

“This ‘Khadi Rumal’ is not just a piece of cloth, but a symbol of trust that the women in militancy-affected areas residing in Nagrota have on the people of India to enable them and empower them to live a life of dignity and respect,” Saxena said.

The sale of this ‘Khadi Rumal’ will instil confidence and enable the women all over Kashmir to come out and stand for themselves, earn a respectful livelihood and take care of their families, he said, adding “it is time for India to unite and help the cause.”

“We have targeted to sell 5 crore pieces of Khadi Rumal initially,” Saxena said.

“To create 5 crore pieces of Khadi Rumal, around 15 lakh kgs of cotton will be consumed, and it will require 25 lakh man-days of spinning, 12.5 lakh man-days of weaving and around 7.5 lakh man-days required for cutting, stitching and packing of Khadi Rumal, thus creating 44 lakh man-days of livelihood yielding wages amounting to Rs. 88 crores for various artisans,” the KVIC Chairman said.

He said a humble contribution of the citizens of India could be a stepping stone for the beginning of the ‘Journey of Transformation’.

“It is an opportunity where every Indian citizen can be a part of nation-building, a part of empowering the women artisans of Nagrota, and all those women of Kashmir too, who are still in line and looking forward to joining this journey of transformation. This shall be the real tribute to Bapu on his 150th birth anniversary,” Saxena said.

Speaking about it, Gadkari said, “This initiative of KVIC is the true reflection of Bapu’s vision of empowering the weakest of the society, and an appeal to the people to support this unique initiative which is creating jobs for needy.”

ADB to give $250 million loan to EESL

New Delhi (NVI): The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide a loan of $250 million to Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a joint venture of PSUs under the Power Ministry, to expand its energy efficiency activities in India for the benefit of agricultural, residential and institutional consumers.

An agreement to this effect was signed between the government of India and ADB.

In addition, $46 million financing will be provided from the Clean Technology Fund (CTF), to be administered by ADB.

ADB previously approved a $200 million loan to EESL in 2016 for Demand Side Energy Efficiency Sector Project that focused on efficient lighting and appliances, an official release said.

Sameer Kumar Khare, Additional Secretary (Fund Bank and ADB) in the Department of Economic Affairs, who signed the agreement on behalf of Indian government, said the project is expected to contribute to government’s mission to promote energy efficiency and meet its commitments to reduce energy intensity of the economy.

Introduction of energy-efficient technologies in eligible states including smart meters, distributed solar photovoltaic systems and electric vehicles will help reduce electricity network losses and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, he added.

Kenichi Yokoyama, Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission, said this is one of the few ADB projects specially focused on demand-side energy efficiency targeting upstream efficiency opportunities and business models that can be scaled up in India and other ADB developing member countries.

The project’s smart metering component will help address billing and collection inefficiencies.

EESL will also explore business models to generate greater public demand for e-vehicles to support India’s current push for electric vehicles.

Promoting awareness of the benefits of using energy efficient technologies is another feature of the project. Awareness campaigns will engage local organisations in knowledge-sharing and training, with a focus on women electricity consumers. Capacity building for electricity distribution, regulatory agencies, and other government bodies will also be carried out.

Accompanying the loan will be a technical assistance (TA) of $2 million to support EESL in implementing the project, including a gender action plan, mobilising private sector participation in energy efficiency services, identifying new business opportunities, and transferring knowledge about successful models.

The TA will also support the identification and development of new subprojects and pilot test some technologies. The grant comes from the Clean Technology Fund, to be administered by ADB.

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty.

In 2018, it made commitments of new loans and grants amounting to $21.6 billion.

Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members — 49 from the region.

GeM Samvaad launched to connect local sellers with online marketing

New Delhi (NVI): A national outreach Programme, GeM Samvaad, was launched by Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan and Chairman of GeM (Government e-Marketplace) here today with an intention of connecting stakeholders and local sellers.

The programme aims to facilitate on-boarding of local sellers on the marketplace while catering to specific requirements and procurement needs of buyers from Dec 19 to February 17, 2020.

GeM has more than 15 lakh products and around 20,000 services, more than 3 lakh registered sellers and service providers and more than 40,000 Government buyer organizations, an official release said.

In its short journey of three years, GeM has processed more than 28 lakh orders worth Rs. 40,000 crores in Gross Merchandise Value out of which 50% has been transacted by MSMEs, it said.

State Departments and Organizations and Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs) have been using GeM for their buying needs. Sellers from the states are also benefitting through the access to national Public Procurement market using the portal, it added.

Through ‘GeM Samvaad’, the marketplace is looking forward to receiving feedback from users which shall be used for making improvements and advancements in the system.

Government e Marketplace (GeM) is the national public procurement portal offering end to end solutions for all procurement needs of Central and State Government Departments, PSUs, autonomous institutions and local bodies. Since its commencement on 9th August 2016, GeM has transformed public procurement in the country by leveraging technology and making procurement contactless, paperless, and cashless.

Soldier killed in Pakistani action on LoC

Alert issued in Poonch, Rajouri after militant movement detected near LoC
(File/Representational Image)

Jammu (NVI): An Indian soldier was killed in a ceasefire violation by Pakistan on the Line of Control (LoC) in Sunderbani sector of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Indian Army responded effectively, inflicting substantial damages to Pakistan Army, a Defence spokesperson said.

Rifleman Sukhwinder Singh (21), who attained martyrdom in the action, belonged to Fatehpur village in Hoshiarpur district of Punjab. He leaves behind his parents.

Violence in East Delhi area

delhi police

New Delhi (NVI): Seelampur area in East Delhi today witnessed violence, with some miscreants pelting stones at police and damaging public transport, ostensibly in protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Police used tear gas and batons to disperse the violent mobs, which were on rampage and injured some cops.

At least two buses, a vehicle of Rapid Action Force (RAF) and some two-wheelers were damaged during the violence, police said.

After hours of violence, the police brought the situation under control and mounted a vigil.

The police was trying to track down those who indulged in violence by using CCTV footage.

Two days back, large scale violence was witnessed in New Friends Colony area in South East Delhi over the CAA.

Brahmos tested using land & air platforms

New Delhi (NVI) : In a major achievement, two Brahmos Supersonic Cruise Missiles were launched successfully today from air and land platforms.

While one launch was carried out in Odisha from a land-based mobile launcher, the second was carried out by the Indian Air Force (IAF) from Su-30MKI fighter plane.

Brahmos missile is a developed jointly by India and Russia under a collaboration programme.

Govt adopting smart technologies to scale up road construction: VK Singh 

New Delhi (NVI): Government is in the process of adopting new and smart technologies which will help in making the 30-km-per-day road construction target more ambitious, Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways Gen (Retd) V K Singh said here today.
Speaking at the ‘Smart Border Management – Contributing to a $5 Trillion Economy’,  he said the government is insisting on getting newer technologies which makes the pace of road construction faster and bring down the cost.
“There are many new solutions coming in the market. In the coming years, we will see the pace of road building going beyond the 30 km per day target and it will go much beyond,” the minister said.
To increase trade and commerce across borders, it is imperative to develop the local market and the community should be a part of this development, he said.
To create the first line of safety and security at the border, he emphasized the need for adopting scouts and village volunteers.
He said most states have introduced scouts and village volunteers and they both are needed at the border. They will not only get employment and earn income but also help in securing the borders, the former Army Chief said.
 “To make smart borders both central and state governments need to ensure synergy to have a holistic approach,” Singh added.

CAA does not affect any citizen of India of any religion: PM

surge in Covid cases

New Delhi (NVI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reassured the countrymen that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) does not affect any citizen of India of any religion.

“I want to unequivocally assure my fellow Indians that CAA does not affect any citizen of India of any religion. No Indian has anything to worry regarding this Act,” he said.

The Prime Minister added that, “this Act (CAA) is only for those who have faced years of persecution outside and have no other place to go, except India.”

His words of reassurance came amid ongoing protests in various parts across the country against the legislation which was passed by Parliament last week.

Reps from Industry, Trade give suggestions to FM for Budget

New Delhi (NVI): With an aim of giving boost to the Indian economy, representatives of Industry, Services and Trade Sectors today submitted several suggestions regarding ease-of-doing-business to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as she held third round of pre-Budget consultations here.

The suggestions related to lowering of compliance burden, reduction of tax litigation, allowing self-certification in low-risk industry and decriminalisation of Tax and Company Laws.

The stakeholders also made suggestions for reduction of cost of equity capital, simplification and rationalisation with regards to duties and labour laws, adoption of international standards of Alternative Dispute Resolution, Export Development funds for helping MSME exporters and ease of investment flow into manufacturing sector, according to an official release.

The main areas of discussion during the aforesaid meeting included regulatory environment impacting private investment, measures for promotion of exports amidst rising protectionist tendencies, Industrial production, logistics, Media & Entertainment services & IT & IT enabled services among others, it said.

The Budget is expected to be presented by Sitharaman on February 1.

India ranks 112th in WEF’s Global Gender Gap Index 2020

New Delhi (NVI): India has been ranked 112th in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index 2020, out of the 153 countries across the world.

India ranked behind its neighbours like China (106th), Sri Lanka (102nd), Nepal (101st), Brazil (92nd), Bangladesh (50th), due to rising disparity in terms of women’s health and participation in the economy.

According to the report, Iceland remained the world’s most gender-neutral country in the world for the 11th time in a row.

While Yemen was ranked the worst at 153rd place. Iraq and Pakistan remained in bottom three of the ladder, the report said in a statement.

The WEF’s Gender Gap Index has been measuring the extent of gender-based gaps among four key dimensions — Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment — and tracking progress towards closing these gaps over time.

  • Meanwhile, the report also showed that economic opportunities for women are extremely limited in India at 35.4 per cent, followed by Pakistan (32.7 per cent), Yemen (27.3 per cent), Syria (24.9 per cent) and Iraq (22.7 per cent).

India also ranked among countries with very low women representation on company boards (13.8 per cent), while it was even worse in China (9.7 per cent).

It has also highlighted abnormally low sex ratios at birth in India which is 91 girls for every 100 boys.

On health and survival, four large countries — Pakistan, India, Vietnam and China — fare badly with millions of women not getting the same access to health as men, the WEF report added.

On a positive note, India has closed two-thirds of its overall gender gap, but the condition of women in large section of India’s society is precarious and the economic gender gap has significantly widened since 2006.

India is the only country among the 153 countries studied where the economic gender gap is larger than the political one.

India ranks high on the political empowerment sub-index, largely because the country was headed by a woman for 20 of the past 50 years. But, female political representation today is low as women make up only 14.4 per cent of Parliament (122nd rank globally) and 23 per cent of the cabinet (69th), the report further added.

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