New Delhi (NVI) : In a major achievement, two Brahmos Supersonic Cruise Missiles were launched successfully today from air and land platforms.
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
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.
Sensex jumps over 300 points to hit lifetime high
Mumbai (NVI): Sensex jumped over 300 points to hit its lifetime high of 41,262.88 in the early morning trade led by gains in IT, metal and financial stocks.
The 30-share BSE Sensex after rising 324 points in early session was trading at 292.28 points or 0.71 per cent higher to 41,231.
Similarly, the 50-scrip NSE Nifty inched closer to its record peak of 12,158.80. It was trading 78.15 points or 0.65 per cent higher at 12,132.10.
Tata Steel emerged as the top gainer with 3.24 per cent rise in the Sensex pack, followed by Vedanta, Infosys, Yes Bank, TCS, Maruti and Axis Bank.
On the other hand, Sun Pharma was the top loser, shedding up to 1.09 per cent. ONGC, NTPC, Bajaj Auto and PowerGrid were also trading in the red.
Meanwhile, the Indian rupee appreciated by 4 paise to 70. 96 against the US dollar in early trade.
On Monday, the Sensex gauge ended 70.99 points or 0.17 per cent down at 40,938.72, while the Nifty finished 32.75 points or 0.27 per cent lower at 12,053.95.
Delhi air quality in ‘moderate’ category
New Delhi(NVI): The overall air quality in the national capital today remained in the “moderate” category.
According to System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR),the Air Quality Index (AQI) in the national capital stood at 139 which falls in the “moderate” category.
SAFAR has also forecast a deterioration in air quality in the coming days. The air quality will be in the “very poor” category on Friday.
Meanwhile, Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 9.2 degrees Celsius and a high of 13.0 degrees Celsius, Indian Meteorological Department said in a statement.
The weatherman further predicted a dip in the mercury which is expected to be around 7 degrees Celsius. It has also forecast moderate to dense fog over the next three days .
In Delhi University the PM2.5 was recorded at 135, followed by PUSA, Lodhi Road and Mathura Road of 104, 149 and 180 respectively.
While, the AQI in Chandini Chowk was recorded in the “poor” category with PM2.5 of 242.
The neighbouring Noida recorded a PM2.5 of 189 which also falls in the “moderate” category, SAFAR added.
An AQI between 0-50 is considered “good”, 51-100 “satisfactory”, 101-200 “moderate”, 201-300 “poor”, 301-400 “very poor” and 401-500 “severe”. An AQI above 500 falls in the “severe plus” category.
J&K govt appoints liaison officers for welfare of its students in various states
Jammu (NVI) : The Jammu and Kashmir government today nominated six liaison officers in various states for students studying outside the Union Territory to redress their grievance or to ease out their difficulty or distress.
The step has been taken to ensure safety and welfare of the J&K students pursuing higher education outside Jammu and Kashmir, an official spokesman said.
Students studying outside Jammu and Kashmir have been asked to contact Rimpy Ohri, Additional Secretary R.C. Office New Delhi (9419193343) in Bhopal and Jaipur; Veedushi Kapoor, Deputy Director Information, New Delhi (9888918303) in NCR, Meerut and Dehradun; Dr. Inderjot Singh, Manager JK House (9419019175) in Chandigarh; Sanjay Pandita, Under Secretary in RC officer New Delhi (9419102045) in Aligarh and Pune; Vinay Keasar, I/C Area Marketing Officer J&K (9797581853) in Bengluru; and Ashwani Kumar, I/C Area Marketing Officer J&K HP&M (9469238379/9149827879) in Chennai and Hyderabad to redress any grievance or to ease out their difficulty or distress.
Further Secretary Higher Education Talat Parvez (0191-2542880/9419400065) and Mohammad Yaseen, Director Colleges J&K (9469077609) can also be contacted for help and assistance.
The liaison officers are in constant touch with the local administration/college administration and the state governments to reach out to the students of J&K.
The students have been advised to use the social media cautiously and refrain from any such activity which can disturb peace and harmony.
They are also advised not to pay heed to rumours and contact aforesaid liaison officers for assistance.
Smart borders to cover areas where physical fencing not feasible: minister
New Delhi (NVI): A Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System (CIBMS) project has been implemented on the 61-km riverine border with Bangladesh in Assam’s Dhubri,Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy said today.
Speaking at the ‘Smart Border Management – Contributing to a $5 Trillion Economy’, an event organised jointly by FICCI and India Foundation, he said the smart border management system is crucial for achieving India’s ambitious $5 trillion economy target.
He said the Government of India has, for the first time, initiated CIBMS project to cover areas where physical fencing is not feasible.
The Minister added that the Phase-1, a pilot project in Assam along the Indo-Bangladesh border, has been implemented. “After the evaluation of Phase-1 subsequently Phase-2 and Phase-3 of the CIBMS will be rolled out in Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram and West Bengal,” Reddy said.
During the event, the Minister informed that India plans to deploy this technology to cover all non-visible gaps and vulnerable structures along the Indo-Pakistan and Indo-Bangladesh borders.
CIBMS includes integration of manpower, sensors, networks, intelligence, and command and control solutions to improve situational awareness at different levels of hierarchy.
“The recorded data and information can be shared with all intelligence and security forces to facilitate prompt and informed decisions and a quick response to emerging situations,” added Reddy.
Rural India will drive the steel demand growth in India: Pradhan
New Delhi (NVI): Rural India will drive the steel demand growth in India, Union Minister of Steel Dharmendra Pradhan has said here today.
Addressing ‘Steeling India-2019: Driving metal intensity in key sectors’ event, organised by Confederation of Indian industry (CII), Pradhan said, “Rural India will play a major role in driving steel demand growth.”
The government schemes like the ‘Har Ghar Jal Yojana’and ‘Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana’ will drive the consumption of steel in rural areas, he added.
Talking about the steel usage in the country Union Minister noted that India’s steel per capita consumption is currently much lower than the global average but is set to grow.
Describing India as a rapidly growing market, Pradhan said, “Our people have high aspirations and rising purchasing capacity. This offers an unprecedented opportunity for the domestic industry to expand and grow.”
“India will soon become a net steel exporter. Prudent policy reforms by the government and the entrepreneurial spirit of the industry will drive the growth,” he added.
The minister had also informed that government is working on facilitating greater cost efficiency, logistical efficiency in the steel sector and called upon the domestic steel industry to leverage innovation and new technologies to identify sustainable and cost effective options for steel manufacturing.
