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Slowdown a temporary phase: Shah

Shimla (NVI): Union Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah today said that the slowdown is a temporary phenomenon and expressed hope that India will soon come out of it.
Addressing the 1st Ground Breaking Ceremony of Himachal Pradesh Global Investors’ meet here, Shah said that by 2024, India would become 5 trillion dollar economy and be placed among the top three global economies.
He said that in 2014, in the list of world economy, India stood at 11th with the size of the economy being 2 trillion dollars and after five years, India has moved to 7th position and reached 3 trillion dollar mark.
“Focus on Renewable Energy (RE) by the union government has ensured that India is the largest emerging market for the RE sector today,” he said.
“The results of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “reform, perform and transform” approach was clearly visible in global indices, all of which showed improvement in India’s rank over the five years between 2014-2019,” he said.

Army has itself diluted application of AFSPA: Gen Rawat

New Delhi (NVI): Asserting that the Indian armed forces have utmost respect for human rights, Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat today said his force has diluted in its own way the application of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and the Supreme Court guidelines are strictly followed by every soldier in the anti-insurgency areas.

He said “Insaniyat” (Humanity) and “Sharafat” (Decency) are the driving ethos of the Indian armed forces but their task becomes challenging and difficult when they have to counter terrorism and insurgency by winning the hearts of the people and alienating the insurgents without any collateral damage.

Addressing the interns and senior officers of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on the topic “Preserving Human Rights in times of War and Prisoners of War” here, Gen Rawat said the Indian armed forces not only ensure protection of human rights of own people but also of adversaries and deal with the prisoners of war as per the Geneva Convention.

‘They are extremely secular. The challenge is the changing warfare tactics with the advent of technology,” he said.

 

“Unlike the attack by any armed forces, the terror attacks remain unaccountable in international law,” he said.

 

“Hence, the counter terrorism and anti insurgency operations have to be dealt in a manner of winning the hearts of the people by identifying and alienating the insurgents among them without collateral damage, which becomes very challenging and difficult,” he added.

 

Referring to the AFSPA, which has often come under criticism, Gen Rawat said the law gives almost the same powers to the Army, which are exercised by the Police and CRPF in connection with search and inquiry operations.

“However, over the years the Army itself has diluted its application in its own way under the ten commandments issued by the Chief of Army Staff, which are to be strictly adhered by every soldier, and particularly those deployed for operations in anti-insurgency areas,” he added.

“The Supreme Court guidelines on this are also being strictly followed by soldiers, who are all given special training before their deployment in counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations,” he added.

Gen Rawat said the Army Headquarters created a human rights cell in 1993, which now is being upgraded to the level of a Directorate to be headed by an Additional Director General.

 

“This will also have police personnel to address the complaints of human rights violations against the armed forces and facilitate related enquiries,” he said.

 

“A new initiative has been taken in October this year by recruiting women Jawans in Military Police Force,” the Army Chief said.

“The Army takes along with it several police personnel in search operations, but keeping in view the concerns of women during such operations, the Army has now decided to deploy its lady Jawans of its Military Police Force also,” he said.

“Keeping in view the provisions of human rights law and importance of the protection of human rights, now a Court of Inquiry is being held after every anti- insurgency operation and all records are maintained related to such operations,” he added.

MiG-27 fighter flies into history

Jaipur (NVI) : Russia-made MiG-27 fighter plane, which has the backbone of the Indian Air Force and played a key role in the 1999 Kargil war with Pakistan, flew into history today.

The swing-wing fleet of the upgraded version of the aircraft, which has been part of the IAF for the last four decades, had its last flying day today.

To mark the occasion of the fighter plane’s retirement, a five-aircraft ‘Arrowhead’ formation flanked by Sukhoi 30 was flown.

The IAF’s No. 29 Squadron — ‘SCORPIOS’ — had the proud privilege of flying the aircraft into the sunset.

The event was befittingly graced by IAFs ‘Akash Ganga’ parachutists who painted the sky with their magnificent colourful parachutes flying the national flag and the Indian Air Force ensign.

The Air Warriors Drill Team thrilled the audience with their synchronized drill movements.

The grand finale was marked by scintillating formation aerobatic display by the Surya Kiran Aerobatic Team of Indian Air Force.

The event was witnessed by Air Marshal SK Ghotia, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief South Western Air Command.

Among the dignitaries who graced the occasion include, Air Marshal B Suresh, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Air Command, Air Marshal Amit Tiwari, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Air Command along with numerous serving and retired officers who were part of 29 Squadron or had flown the swing- wing fighter aircraft during their stint with Indian Air Force.

The aircraft became part of the IAF’s glorious past, joining other variants, such as MiG-23 BN & MiG-23 MF and the pure MiG-27 which have already retired.

These aircraft have made immense contribution to the nation, both during peace and war.

The fleet of MiG-27 earned its glory in the historic Kargil conflict when it delivered rockets & bombs with accuracy on enemy positions.

The fleet also took active part in Op-Parakram in 2001-02, when India mobilised its troops along the Pakistan border in the wake of attack on Parliament by Pakistan-backed terrorists on December 13, 2001. There was an eyeball-to-eyeball situation along the entire border for months.

The upgraded version, because of its survivability, have also participated in numerous national and international exercises.

As of now, Number 29 Squadron was the only unit in the Indian Air Force operating MiG-27 Upgrades.

The Number 29 Squadron was raised on March 10, 1958 at Air Force Station Halwara with Ouragan (Toofani) aircraft.

Over the years, the Squadron has been equipped with numerous types of fighter aircraft such as MiG-21 Type 77, MiG-21 Type 96, MiG-27 ML and MiG-27 Upgrade.

The Squadron is now slated to be number plated on Mar 31, 2020, with December 27, 2019 being its last flying day, thereby making the swing-wing fleet a part of IAFs glorious past.

Kashmir to have career counselling desks for students orphaned by militancy

Srinagar (NVI) : Career counselling desks will be set up in the offices of Deputy Commissioners in Kashmir for the students orphaned because of militancy.

The desks will provide financial assistance to such students for pursuing education as per their choice.

Kashmir Divisional Commissioner Baseer Ahmad Khan issued these directions while chairing a meeting to review the cases of militancy-affected orphans receiving financial assistance from National Foundation for Communal Harmony (NFCH) through the district administrations in the Valley.

The meeting was informed that National Foundation for Communal Harmony, an autonomous organization under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, provides financial support to children rendered orphans and destitute by militancy.

It was told that the organization is providing Rs 1250 monthly financial assistance up to 12th standard, Rs 1500 up to Graduation & Post Graduation level and Rs 1750 for Professional Courses level (up to 25 years of age) to the orphans.

The meeting was informed that an amount of Rs 1.89 crore was disbursed to 1211 militancy-affected orphans in 2017-18 and Rs 1.61 crore was disbursed to 938 such students in 2018-19.

The Divisional Commissioner stressed the importance of project “Assist” which is helping orphans of militancy to pursue better careers.

For quick transfer of funds, DCs were asked to open Bank Accounts with Aadhaar Numbers and conduct District Level Screening Committee (DLSC) meeting regularly to speed up the identification of new cases.

Khan directed the District Social Welfare officers to maintain close coordination with their respective Deputy Commissioners for verification, reconciliation and submission of pending cases during the present financial year. He also asked them meet the orphans once in a month for redressal of grievance if any.

The DCs were directed to identify those orphans who have attained 25 years of age and need financial assistance to pursue further studies and were asked to submit a proposal in this regard to NFCH.

The DCs were also asked to submit Utilization Certificates (UCs) of funds to the NFCH office within a week.

To assess the impact of the program, the DCs were directed to provide a database of such orphans who have benefitted from the scheme and are pursuing a successful career.

Secretary NFCH Manoj Pant informed that a national study tour under the project “Know My India” is organised annually and this year 12 students of Baramulla district are participating in the programme.

VP inaugurates Balangir LPG bottling plant through audio message 

New Delhi (NVI): Inclement weather today prevented Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu from travelling to Balangir in Odisha to inaugurate an LPG bottling plant there but he did it via an audio message from Raipur in Chattisgarh.
Naidu was scheduled to travel to Balangir to inaugurate the plant and attend the Platinum Jubilee celebrations of Rajendra College there.
But due to inclement weather in Balangir, the Vice President’s helicopter could not depart from Raipur airport.
He waited for over three hours at Raipur airport but visibility remained poor. Therefore, he conveyed his good wishes through an audio message.
He extended his warm greetings to the people of western Odisha on getting a new LPG bottling plant that would cater to around 20 lakh households by filling 42 lakh cylinders per annum.
He expressed hope that the new bottling plant in Balangir will make women’s lives easier and healthier by ensuring timely supply of LPG in the region.
Naidu also extended good wishes and greetings to the students, faculty members and alumni of Rajendra College, Balangir who are celebrating Platinum Jubilee of the college.
The college was founded by Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo, the king of erstwhile Patna State and later Chief Minister of Odisha, in 1944.
Naidu also appreciated the vision and farsightedness of Deo who could realize the importance of good education for the progress and well being of society so early.
VP conveyed his best wishes to all students for their future endeavors and hoped that they would use their knowledge and skills to serve people and take the nation onto the path of greater glory.

Entrepreneurship development programme started in J&K

Srinagar (NVI): An Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP) has been started here under ‘Himayat’ Self-Employment Scheme for the unemployed youth of Jammu and Kashmir.

During the three-week programme, the Jammu and Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute (JKEDI) will train a batch of 42 candidates with focus on self-development, basic business skills, sector specific technical inputs.

They will be apprised of all the formalities involved in setting up an enterprise.

The aim of the programme is to help the candidates to be self-reliant and enhance their capacity building and facilitate the financial linkages.

The EDP is being conducted under Himayat Self Employment scheme (Ministry of Rural Development- Government of India) and is being implemented by the JKEDI for the educated unemployed youth of J&K in the age group of 18-35 years so as to enable them to earn a livelihood.

The candidates have chosen a varied range of activities including bee-keeping, sheep farming and various service related activities.

The trained candidates shall be provided financial linkage under Term Loan Scheme of National Minorities Development & Finance Corporation.

J&K HC issues directions for restoring world famous Dal Lake

Srinagar (NVI): Hopes have been rekindled about restoration and preservation of Dal Lake, a world famous site in this city of Jammu and Kashmir which has been suffering because of encroachments and unhygienic conditions.

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has directed that the registration/renewal of houseboats/guesthouse/hotels/restaurants shall be subject to a certification by the owners that they have removed all unauthorized and illegal structures which have been constructed by them.

The undertakings will be verified by the Land and Water Development Authority (LAWDA), ruled a two-member High Court bench, headed by Chief Justice Gita Mittal and including Justice Sindhu Sharma.

The court directed that all authorities shall ensure that proper follow up reports with regard to all the action points noted by the Committee of Experts constituted by the J&K High Court to restore and preserve the world-famous Dal Lake, are drawn up as pointed out in several orders placed before the Committee of Experts within six weeks.

The Bench directed the Secretary, Tourism Department, to place the final draft of the guidelines for registration/renewal of registration of houseboats before the Committee of Experts for their examination and recommendations which shall be placed before the Chief Secretary of the UT of J&K for taking a final view in the matter.

The order directs the Department of Tourism to get examined with the Committee of Experts a request received from the Kashmir Houseboat Owners Association enclosing a list of 110 houseboat owners who are willing to surrender the registration certificates of their houseboat units in lieu of rehabilitation.

It says that a scheme be evolved with regard to those persons who have surrendered registrations.

The bench observed that it is heartening to note that the Department of Tourism has completed the GIS tagging/physical mapping of the houseboats, as also of 273 hotels and guest houses in the Dal Lake with the technical assistance provided by the Remote Sensing Organization, Srinagar.

It directed Director, Remote Sensing Organization, to take immediate steps and ensure that the entire data is appropriately uploaded on the official website.

The court observed that the Dal Lake is a focal point of visit by all visitors to Kashmir and lakhs of tourists, both international and domestic, visit and spend a large amount of time in and around this water body.

However, the court noted that there are no public conveniences available around the Dal Lake to facilitate for the convenience of the visiting public and there appears to be inadequate arrangements for garbage disposal as well.

Therefore the LAWDA and the Srinagar Municipal Corporation shall immediately identify appropriate points and take steps for creation of public toilets and Action taken reports be filed before the next date of hearing.

The bench said it also finds that several complaints have been made of unauthorized construction which needs to be continuously scrutinized.

It is, therefore, essential to have all existing structures video-graphed as well as photographed and a record maintained thereof.

 

The bench said the Principal District Judge, Srinagar has already been appointed as a Nodal Officer and is directed to video-graph and photograph all buildings and structures in and around the Dal Lake and also plot the same on a site plan.

Centre to hold workshop with States, UTs on “Shehri Samridhi Utsav 2020”

New Delhi (NVI): In an effort to set out framework for Shehri Samriddhi Utsav (SSU) 2020, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs will be organising a consultative meeting with all states and UTs.

Shehri Samriddhi Utsav is an initiative that aims to extend the outreach of Deendayal Antyodaya Mission – National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) to the most vulnerable.
The meeting, to be held here on December 30, is an effort at co-creating action plan for SSU 2020 with states as an important process to ensure that the deliverables are realistic and inclusive.
The workshop is going to discuss the learnings from the first edition of the SSU 2019 and chalk out the strategy and road map for the coming edition of SSU 2020, which will be organised from March 28 to April 12, 2020.
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The workshop will be attended by the officials from the State Urban Livelihoods Missions, State Skill Development Missions, and other partners besides the officials from Ministry.
The workshop will also take up the issue of skill development of urban beneficiaries in plumbing sector apart from detailed deliberations on the implementation of the Street Vendors’ Act.
It is also planned to distribute Systematic Progressive Analytical Real Time Ranking (SPARK) 2018-19 awards to the winning States for their excellent performances in implementation of DAY-NULM during the FY 2018-19.
Collaboration with e-Commerce portals for on boarding of high-quality products made by Self Help Groups (SHGs) is also one of the items during SSU 2020.
In addition to providing access to wider customer base to locally made products of SHGs, the initiative will also be useful in capacity building of the women entrepreneurs in the skills of branding, digital marketing and financial management.
Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs is promoting Shehri Samridhi Utsav as a platform of making a more significant, out of the ordinary impact in the lives of beneficiaries under DAY-NULM.
 The deliberations in the workshop is expected to bring out the best course of action from the state and other partners to organise the ensuing Shehri Samridhi Utsav to achieve the goals set out.
 The SSU 2019 succeeded in extending the outreach of the Mission to the most vulnerable sections of the urban population, showcasing its initiatives and facilitating access of Self-Help Group (SHG) members to the other government schemes by covering over 15.60 lakh members from urban SHGs.

Govt wants to make BS VI emission norms mandatory for Quadricycles

New Delhi (NVI): The government has proposed an amendment to rules to make BS VI emission norms mandatory for quadricycles from April 1, 2020, an official statement said.
“Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has invited suggestions and comments for the proposed amendment of Rule 115 to mandate BS VI level emission norms for Quadricycle with effect from April 1, 2020,” it said.
The amendment proposes insertion of separate sub-rule 17B after the sub-rule 17A.
Present emission norms for quadricycle are bharat stage IV as per sub rule 17A of rule 115.
The proposed emission norms (Tail pipe emission, OBD) are in line with European norms.
Existing BS IV mass emission limits are in line with Euro 4 mass mission limits for L7e-C category vehicles (equivalent to quadricycle).
Proposed emission limits as BS VI are in line with Euro 5 mass emission limits which will beq applicable from January 1, 2020 in Europe.
Threshold limits for emission pollutants,
conformity of production (CoP) frequency and sampling plan have been proposed.

125 crore Indians have Aadhaar now

New Delhi (NVI): The Aadhaar project has crossed the 125 crore mark, according to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) which is involved in the project to provide the key identity number to the Indian nationals.

This means that over 1.25 billion residents of India have the 12-digit unique identity required for all purposes of identification now.

The milestone comes along with the rapidly increasing use of Aadhaar as the primary identity document. This is evident from the fact that Aadhaar-based authentication services have been used close to 37,000 crore times since inception, an official statement said.

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