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When animals celebrate Christmas

New Delhi(NVI): In the festivities of Christmas, why should animals be left behind?
This seemed to be the intent of NGO Wildlife SOS which cooked up something really special for the rescued animals at Agra Bear Rescue Facility and Elephant Conservation and Care Centre.
The NGO staff dressed up in shades of bright red and constructed special, innovative enrichments and structures inspired by the colors of Christmas.
Both the centers were decorated with streaming festoons of stars and ribbons.
Christmas stockings were filled with loads of popcorn, a favourite with our pachyderms and sloth bears, and were hung atop platforms and high trees to lure the animals to explore these structures.
Many Christmas ‘gifts’ were also filled with other treats and placed at strategic points to encourage the elephants and bears to sniff around and try to figure out which box held the treats they enjoyed most.
A snow man was also made from gunny bags and stuffed with dates and treats was kept within the bear enclosures and hung atop swings made from tyres.
CEO and Co-founder of Wildlife SOS Kartick Satyanarayan said, “We celebrate Christmas every year with great enthusiasm, especially for our rescued animals.”
Talking about the latest celebration, he said while some animals hurried away with the treats to devour them individually, the others were seen constructively demolishing the gunny snow man and stockings.
“I can safely say that the staff enjoys building these enrichments as much as the animals enjoy digging into them,” he added.
Director Conservation Projects  for Wildlife SOS Baiju Raj M.V said it took the elephants absolutely no time to figure out the enrichments and get their treats out.
“The bears were much more entertaining to watch as they were engaged in a stiff competition with each other,” he said.
“It was educating to notice how each animal tackled its enrichment in a different manner and employed different tactics to get the treats. All of them thoroughly enjoyed themselves during the whole event.”he added.

Delhi  air remains “very poor”, intense winter chill in north India 

New Delhi(NVI):  The air quality in national capital today remained in the “very poor”category for the fourth consecutive day.
According to System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR),the Air Quality Index (AQI) in the national capital stood at  369 which falls in the “very poor” category.
The worst affected areas are Dhirpur, Delhi University, Chandni Chowk, Pusa, Lodhi Road, Mathura Road, IGI Terminal 3 and the neighbouring Noida.
Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that today Delhi records ‘cold day’ as the minimum temperature will be around 6.0 degree Celsius today which is two degree below normal. The maximum temperature will be around 17.2 degree Celsius.
The weatherman stated that Delhi and its neighbouring cities have been facing a prolonged winter chill this December.
“Not just Delhi, but neighbouring Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon, and Faridabad are also facing severe cold conditions,” IMD stated.
‘Cold day’ conditions are declared when the day’s maximum temperature is below normal by more than 4.4°C.  A ‘severe cold day’ is when mercury remains more than 6.4°C below normal through the day.

Cabinet approves MoU with Saudi Arabia for cooperation in renewable energy

New Delhi (NVI): The Union Cabinet today approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Saudi Arabia for cooperation in the field of renewable energy, which was signed on October 29 in Riyadh.

The MoU aims at setting up a framework for cooperation between the two sides in the field of renewable energy, including upgrading of the level of technologies and their applications in the field of renewable energy.

The pact also aims at contributing to the field of renewable energy to raise its efficiency in the national energy combination in Saudi Arabia.

Developing the renewable energy projects in Solar, Wind, Biogas, Geothermal and other fields of renewable energy will also be a part of the MoU.

It will also involve dvelopment and localization of value chain in the field of renewable energy.D

Developing and boosting uses of solar energy small applications for buildings, homes and others is also included in the MOU.

Cabinet approves signing of MoU with Brazil on Bioenergy Cooperation

New Delhi(NVI): The Union Cabinet today gave its approval for signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Brazil on Bioenergy Cooperation.
The MoU provides a framework to cooperate and promote investment in biofuel, bioelectricity and biogas supply-chains, including feedstock, industrial conversion, distribution and end use sectors.
India and Brazil are major consumers of energy in the world and Brazil is one of the most important trading partners of India in the entire LAC (Latin America and Caribbean) region.
Brazil is currently the world’s second largest producer and consumer of biofuels and biofuels and bioelectricity accounted for 18% of Brazil’s energy mix.
 India also has a strong focus in the area of bio-fuels and has set a target to achieve 20% blending of ethanol in petrol and 5% blending of biodiesel in diesel by 2030 with the announcement of new policy on Biofuels in 2018.
During the meeting between Prime Minister  Narendra Modi and President of Brazil in India in 2016, the two sides had agreed to cooperate on research and development of renewable energies, as well as in the field of second-generation biofuels.

Cabinet approves implementation of Atal Bhujal Yojana

New Delhi (NVI): The Union Cabinet today  approved implementation of the Atal Bhujal Yojana which aims to
improve ground water management through community participation in identified priority areas.
The Atal Bhujal Yojana (ATAL JAL) is a central sector scheme with a total outlay of Rs.6000 crore to be implemented over a period of 5 years (2020-21 to 2024-25).
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The scheme aims to improve ground water management through community participation in identified priority areas in seven states of Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
 Implementation of the scheme is expected to benefit nearly 8350 gram panchayats in 78 districts in these states.
ATAL JAL will promote panchayat led ground water management and behavioural change with primary focus on demand side management
Out of the total outlay of Rs. 6000 crore, 50% shall be in the form of World Bank loan, and be repaid by the central government. The remaining 50% shall be through central assistance from regular budgetary support.
 The entire World Bank’s loan component and central assistance shall be passed on to the states as grants.

Cabinet clears proposal for creation of CDS post

New Delhi (NVI): The Union Cabinet today gave a go-ahead for creation of the post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) in the rank of a four-star General with salary and perquisites equivalent to a Service Chief.
The CDS will head the Department of Military Affairs (DMA), to be created within the Ministry of Defence and function as its secretary, according to the decision taken at the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The CDS will be the permanent Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee.
He will also act as the principal military adviser to Defense Minister on all tri-Services matters.
The three chiefs will continue to advise Defense Minister on matters exclusively concerning their respective services.
CDS will not exercise any military command, including over the three Service Chiefs, so as to be able to provide impartial advice to the political leadership.

Cabinet approves release of funds for projects of Swadesh Darshan Scheme 

New Delhi (NVI): The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, today gave its approval to release funds to the tune of Rs. 627.40 crore for the 10 projects sanctioned during 2018-19 and additional Rs. 1854.67 crore for sanctioning of new projects during 2019-20 in Swadesh Darshan Scheme.
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Under Swadesh Darshan Scheme, Ministry of Tourism is developing critical tourism infrastructure in the country in a sustainable and inclusive manner to make India, a world class tourist destination.
The provision of this critical infrastructure will catalyse the private sector investment in revenue generating projects which in turn would lead to positive enhancement of overall experience to the tourist resulting into increased footfalls in the areas, growth of revenue and employment.
Pursuant to the Budget Announcements of 2014-15 the Ministry of Tourism launched the Swadesh Darshan Scheme (Central Sector Scheme) in January, 2015.

Rohtang Pass tunnel  to be renamed after Vajpayee

New Delhi (NVI): The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, today decided to honour the contribution of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee by naming the strategic tunnel under Rohtang Pass after him tomorrow, which happens to be the birthday of the late leader.
The historic decision to construct a strategic tunnel below the Rohtang Pass was taken on June 03, 2000 when Vajpayee was the Prime Minister.
The foundation stone for the access road to the south portal of the tunnel was laid on May 26, 2002.
The 8.8-kilometre long tunnel is the world’s longest tunnel above an altitude of 3,000 metres. It will reduce the distance between Manali and Leh by 46 kilometres and save crores of rupees in transport costs. It is a 10.5-metre wide single tube bi-lane tunnel with a fire proof emergency egress tunnel built into the main tunnel itself.
The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) worked relentlessly to overcome major geological, terrain and weather challenges that included the most difficult stretch of the 587-metre Seri Nalah Fault Zone. The breakthrough from both ends was achieved on October 15, 2017.
The tunnel is now nearing completion and is a step in the direction of providing all weather connectivity to remote border areas of Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh which otherwise remained cut off from the rest of the country for about six months during winters.

Performance standards being set for govt officers: Rajnath 

New Delhi (NVI): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today said performance standards are being set for officers and mechanisms developed for greater prudence in financial management under the government’s vision of ‘minimum government and maximum governance’.
Addressing the Integrated Financial Advisors (IFA) Workshop here, Singh said the functioning of the government is being made effective and efficient under ‘minimum government maximum governance’ .
Performance standards are being established for government officials and mechanisms of prudence and accountability are being adopted in financial management, he said.
“Integrated Finance is the backbone of any ministry, desired objectives can only be achieved when a ministry and department is able to manage within its budgetary resources without compromising on operational needs,” the Defence Minister said.
He commended the Finance Division in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA) for meeting the needs of the three Services and other allied organisations, like Ordnance Factories, Indian Coast Guard, Border Roads Organisation and DRDO with harmony and synergy and displaying the willingness and readiness to meet new challenges.
Singh highlighted that in the last three years, MoD has been able to fully utilise its allocations, ending the trend of non-utilisation of funds due to substantial delegation of financial powers.
“Financial powers have been delegated for capital and revenue procurement so that Armed Forces are able to make their own procurement of up to Rs 300-500 crore,” he said.
“Emergency powers have also been given to the Armed Forces in view of their emergent operational needs. This has led to enhanced operational efficiency,” he added.
Singh stressed that workshops like these not only play an important role in the evaluation of the government’s policies and practices but also create a path for future policies.
“Such events instill confidence in how responsible and committed we are to our financial matters. These responsibilities and commitments help us to make our administration accountable and the country financially independent,” he added.

GeM Samvaad covers 4 states

New Delhi (NVI) : National outreach programme ‘GeM Samvaad’ has successfully covered four states of Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh since its launch on December 19.
The outreach programme began will be on till February 17, 2020 and will cover all the states and UTs.
The programme  was launched to reach out to stakeholders across the country and also local sellers in order to facilitate on-boarding of local sellers on the marketplace while catering to specific requirements and procurement needs of buyers.
GeM senior officers including CEO are steering the programs. They are also interacting with Buyers and Sellers attending the events, an official statement said.
 Arrangements for the outreach programmes including logistics are made by the respective State Governments. The target is to reach out to all stakeholders and learn from their experiences on their usage of GeM portal.
Through this outreach programme, GeM expects to make the actual users aware about the new features and functionalities of the portal and collect feedback, which is the first step towards GeM’s ‘Voice of Customer’ initiative.
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.
 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.
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.
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.
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