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Over 15,000 schools participated in the ongoing Fit India School Week

New Delhi (NVI): Over 15,000 schools from across the country have so far participated in the ongoing Fit India School Week.

The Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju today informed the Lok Sabha that the Fit India School Weeks are being organised to create awareness about fitness among the school going children.

The School Week events in the schools across the country began in November last and will continue throughout December, the Minster said.

“So far 15,000 schools have participated in Fit India school week,” Rijiju, informed the lower house of the Parliament.

  According to the Youth Affairs and Sports Minister, the Government of India has also launched the Fit India School Certificate and a ranking system.

Rijiju informed that the Ministry is working with stakeholders to organise Fit India Cyclothon, Walkathon and Fit India Traditional Games at various places in the next few months.

Besides, the Government has also drawn a list of possible activities for different related ministries for encouraging and spreading Fit India Movement. Efforts are on for early completion of the consultation process, the Minister said.

J&K apple forms 83.50 percent of national produce

Jammu (NVI): Apple produce from Jammu and Kashmir contributes a huge 83.50 percent to the national produce while the contribution of Walnut and Almond is 92.69 percent and 93.63 percent, respectively.

This information was provided at a meeting chaired by Lt Governor G C Murmu here today to review the functioning of Agriculture, Horticulture and other allied sectors, an official spokesman said.

The meeting was informed that a total of 25 Controlled Atmosphere (CA) stores with storage capacity of 1,17,284 MTs have come up in private sector and 447 nurseries have been established, including 138 in public sector.

It was further informed that 17 fruit and vegetable markets, comprising 3 terminal, 2 satellite and 2 ‘apni mandis’, are functional in J&K.

The meeting was told that the agriculture sector has a total gross cultivated area of 12.28 lac hectares with 11.93 lac farm operating families.

The meeting was briefed about the crop wise area, production and productivity under agriculture.

The meeting also reviewed the progress made under Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) and Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP) for restoration of damaged area and development of Horticulture in J&K.

The Lt. Governor observed that horticulture and other allied sectors have immense potential to generate huge employment avenues and directed for mobilizing available resources in this regard.

He stressed on the need for taking reformative measures for the development and expansion of these sectors.

Stressing on promoting sustainable agriculture, the Lt. Governor asked the officers to put in extra efforts for making agriculture a sustainable and remunerative economic activity for farmers. He also laid emphasis on improving productivity and production of horticulture and agriculture crops to make the sectors more vibrant.

Murmu directed the officers to work out a plan to prepare 4 crore root stock for 10,000 Ha of land for developing high density apple orchards and set a timeline of 3 years for the same.

He underscored the importance of increasing productivity in the Horticulture sector, which has the potential to yield three times the income currently being generated.

To make the fruit mandis more vibrant, the Lt. Governor directed the officers to explore the possibility of converting the fruit mandis into entities under Sec.8 of the Companies Act.

He also directed the officers to establish new fruit-processing units which will increase the returns to growers and enhance employment.

Murmu asked the officers to come up with a proper plan for sprinkle and drip irrigation for the areas with no or limited irrigation sources. He also directed them to complete all the ongoing projects within the stipulated time.

Indo-US ‘2+2’ Dialogue on Dec 18

New Delhi (NVI): India and the US will hold their Second ‘2+2’ Ministerial Dialogue on December 18 to take stock of the growing bilateral relations and provide strategic guidance for their further development.

At the Dialogue to be held in Washington, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will lead the Indian delegation.

“They will meet their U. S. counterparts for a comprehensive review of cross-cutting foreign policy and defence and security issues in our relations. In addition, both sides will exchange views on salient regional and global issues,” External Affairs Ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar said here today.

He noted that the India-U.S. 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue was initiated in September last year to provide a positive, forward-looking vision for the India-U.S. strategic partnership and to promote synergy in the bilateral diplomatic and security efforts.

“Since the inaugural edition of this Dialogue in September 2018, relations between India and the U.S. have further expanded. The 2+2 Dialogue will take stock of these growing relations and provide strategic guidance for their further development,” he added.

India slams Pak PM for comments on Citizenship Bill

New Delhi (NVI): India today slammed Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for his “unwarranted and gratuitous comments” on the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) and said he should ensure protection of the rights of that country’s minorities and co-religionists rather than casting aspersions on others.

Khan had tweeted two days back, alleging that the legislation “violates all norms of int (international) human rights law & bilateral agreements with Pak.”

“I am not going to respond to every unwarranted and gratuitous comments made by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on our internal affairs,” Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar said at a media briefing here today.

“Such comments (by Khan) cannot absolve Pakistan of the blatant persecution of the religious minorities which flows, including from the discrimination imbibed in its Constitution, the draconian blasphemy laws; the apathy of the State institutions in protecting the girls belonging to minority community from rape, abduction, forced conversion and marriages; vandalism and destruction of religious places of worship,” Kumar added.

The spokesman went on to add that, “Instead of casting aspersions on others, Pakistan needs to look inwards and ensure protection and promotion of the rights of its minorities and co-religionists rather than compulsively comment on others in the breach of internationally recognized norms.”

Bangla Foreign Minister cancels India visit

New Delhi (NVI): Bangladesh Foreign Minister A.K. Abdul Momen has cancelled his visit to India scheduled to begin  tomorrow, citing “some sudden pressing national events at home”.

The cancellation of the visit came against the backdrop of a major row over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill but the Indian government insisted that “any speculation that this development is connected with legislation adopted by Parliament yesterday” is “unwarranted”.

The bill,  which has been passed by both Houses of Parliament, provides for granting Indian citizenship to Hindus and members of some other minority communities of Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The impending new law has triggered widespread protests in Assam and some other parts of North East.

Momen was scheduled to address the 6th Indian Ocean Dialogue besides attending some other programmes in New Delhi during this visit.

“The Foreign Minister (of Bangladesh) said he had to cancel the trip due to some sudden pressing national events at home,” Bangladesh High Commission here said in a statement today.

“He (Momen) said he has to participate in two important national events — the observance of Martyred Intellectuals Day on December 14  and the Victory Day on December 16. The events coincide with his planned visit to India,” the statement said.

Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar, while commenting on the matter, said, “The Bangladesh side have already informed us of the postponement of the visit” of the Foreign Minister Momen which was earlier scheduled from December 12-14, 2019.

“The Bangladesh side have conveyed that the Minister has changed his programme on account of domestic issues pertaining to the commemoration of the ‘Victory Day’ in Bangladesh on December 16,” Kumar said, adding, “Any speculation that this development is connected with legislation adopted by Parliament yesterday regarding the Citizenship Amendment Bill is unwarranted.”

Kumar, while making his point, also referred to the comments made by Home Minister Amit Shah in Parliament.

“Sir, the current government in Bangladesh is also taking care of religious minorities. It is making arrangements also for religious minorities, but there has been a long period in the past in between, during which people came to India (from Bangladesh) on account of religious persecution.  This Bill is only to give citizenship to those people who came at that time,” Shah had said.

SC rejects Ayodhya review petitions

SC quashes plea seeking waiver of exam fees for CBSE Class 10, 12 students
File Photo of Supreme Court

New Delhi (NVI): The Supreme Court today rejected all 18 petitions seeking a review of its landmark verdict on the Ayodhya land dispute case.

A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde took these review pleas for consideration and rejected them after finding ‘no merits’.

The Bench also declined permission to those who were not parties to the Ayodhya land dispute case from filing review petitions

On November 9 this year, the Supreme Court had pronounced the Ayodhya verdict. In its judgement the Court gave the disputed land for the construction of Ram Temple and ordered that five acres land be allotted to the Sunni Waqf Board elsewhere in Ayodhya for the construction of the mosque.

Major schemes launched to achieve SDG 2030 target: Irani

smriti irani
Union Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Zubin Irani

New Delhi (NVI): Union Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Zubin Irani today informed the Rajya Sabha that the ministry has undertaken several efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) targets by 2030.

The Union Minister said that the ministry through policy implementation and schematic interventions is working towards achieving the national development agenda of the Government of India as enshrined in the SDG goals.

Irani informed the Parliament that the Ministry of Women and Child Development has launched several major schemes like the Anganwadi Services Scheme, Poshan Abhiyaan (National Nutrition Mission), Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), Scheme For Adolescent Girls, National Creche Scheme, Child Protection Services Scheme, Mahila Shakti Kendra, SwadharGreh scheme, Ujjawala, Working Women Hostel, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP), One Stop Centre (OSC), Women Helpline etc.

The Women and Child Development Ministry, Irani in her written reply said, is striving to achieve the SDG 2030 targets by the implementation of different development schemes in collaboration with the state governments and union territories.

The SDGs are a comprehensive list of 17 Global Goals and 169 associated targets, which integrate economic, social and environmental dimensions of development.

The SDGs were adopted by 193 countries including India at the UN Sustainable Development Summit in September 2015 which came into effect on 1st January 2016 and are to be achieved by end of 2030.

India ranks 9th on Climate Change Performance Index 2020

ccpi
Photo Credit: Germanwatch

Madrid (NVI): India, for the first time, made it to the list of top 10 countries in the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2020. India ranked 9th in this year’s  index that was jointly presented by Germanwatch, NewClimate Institute and Climate Action Network (CAN).

The CCPI 2020, which illustrate the main regional differences in climate protection and performance within the 57 evaluated countries and the EU, was released at the COP 25 climate change conference in the Spanish capital here.

India for the first time ranks among the top ten in this year’s CCPI. These ranking results are given on the basis of country’s aggregated performance in 14 indicators within the four categories are GHG Emissions, Renewable Energy and Energy Use, as well as on Climate Policy, in a globally unique policy section of the index.

According to CCPI 2020 the current levels of per capita emissions and energy use in India are still comparatively low and result in high ratings for the GHG Emissions and Energy Use categories.

While India receives an overall medium rating in the Renewable Energy category, the country’s 2030 renewable energy target is rated very high for its well-below 2°C compatibility.

However, despite an overall high rating for its Climate Policy performance, experts point out that the government has yet to develop a roadmap for the phaseout of fossil fuel subsidies that would consequently reduce the country’s high dependence on coal.

“In short, more stringent laws and amendments should be made to achieve climate change targets,”report said in a statement..

The first three position in the Index were left empty as no country could meet 100 percent of all standards.

The top position was bagged by Sweden which was ranked at the with fourth position while, China was ranked 30th position.

Policy advisor for CCPI at Germanwatch, M Ursula Hagen said that the new Climate Change Performance Index shows signs of a global turnaround in emissions, including declining coal consumption.

“We see opportunities for a halt to rising global emissions – but much will depend on further developments in China and the elections in the USA. Both countries are at cross roads,” she said.

Co-publisher of the CCPI from CAN Dr Stephan Singer said that this science based assessment shows again that in particular the large climate polluters do hardly anything for the transformational shift we need to deep emissions reductions to curtail the run to potentially irreversible climate change.

“If necessary and strongly enhanced climate finance and loss and damage support by the wealthy nations for the poorer countries were to be included also the various higher ranking European countries would be performing much lower in the scores,” he added.

President to host VCs of central univ

New Delhi (NVI): Rashtrapati Bhavan will host a conference of 46 vice chancellors or directors of central universities for higher learning on December 14.

According to a statement issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan the conference is the part of regular interactions of President with such institutions.

President Ram Nath Kovind will interact with the representatives of 152 central universities and institutions of higher learning in his capacity a visitor.

During the conference various sub groups will make presentations on issues such as the promotion of research, promotion of innovation and entrepreneurship among students, building industry – academia linkages, filling up of vacancies including faculty from foreign universities, creating alumni funding and enhancing alumni activities, completion of major infrastructure projects in a time bound manner.

The Union Ministers for Chemicals and Fertilizers, Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Human Resource Development, Commerce and Industry, and Petroleum and Natural Gas as well as the Secretaries of concerned Departments and Chairman AICTE will also attend this Conference.

Sensex up 150 points, Nifty above 11,950

BSE

Mumbai (NVI): Sensex climbed 150 points and Nifty traded higher at 11,957.75 mark during the early trade today.

The 30-share BSE Sensex trading 149.75 points or 0.37 per cent higher at 40,562.32 in morning trade.

The 50-scrip NSE Nifty trading 47.60 points or 0.40 per cent up at 11,957.75.

Yes Bank emerged as the top gainer with 4.32 per cent rise, followed by ICICI Bank Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Vedanta, IndusInd Bank, Hero MotoCorp, SBI and Sun Pharma. in the Sensex pack.

On the other hand, ONGC was among the top loser, shedding up to 1.25 per cent.
Meanwhile, the Indian rupee appreciated by 21 paise to 70.64 against the US dollar in early trade.

On Wednesday,  the Sensex gauge closed 172.69 points or 0.43 per cent higher at 40,412.57. Similarly the Nifty climbed 53.35 points or 0.45 per cent to finish at 11,910.15.

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