Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises 20-December-2019 18:04 IST Year Ender 2019 Ministry of Heavy Industry



  • Second Phase of the Fame India Scheme Commenced From 1st april 2019 Outlay of Rs. 10,000 crore for 3 years under fame-II 5595 e-Buses to 64 Cities in 26 States under Fame-II


  • The automobile industry is one of the key drivers of the Indian economy. Since the liberalization of the sector in 1991 by way of allowing 100 percent FDI through automatic route, Indian automobile sector has come a long way. Today, there is a presence of almost every global auto manufacturer in the country. All categories of vehicles like two-wheeler, three-wheeler, passenger cars, light commercial vehicles, Trucks, Buses, Tractors and heavy Commercial vehicles are produced in the country. India is the largest manufacturer of 2W and 3W and 4th largest manufacturers of passenger cars in the world. Total turnover of the Indian Automobile Industry during 2018-19 was about 118 Billion USD (Rs 8.2 Lakh Crore), which constitutes 7.1% of the country’s total GDP, 27% of Industrial GDP and 49% of Manufacturing GDP. This industry is one of the largest employers and provides about 37 million direct and indirect jobs. The current annual sale of vehicles of all categories is about 26 million (2018-19) which is slated to increase by more than 3 times to about 84.5 million by 2030.


  • Import of crude oil to the tune of billions of liter per year and associated emission of millions tons of CO2 and other pollutants are some of the main challenge being faced by the country which is directly related to Automobile sector. Presently, India is facing an acute air pollution crisis and 14 of the top 20 most polluted cities in the world are in India.


  • To address these challenges, different stakeholder departments of the Government are devising strategies like tightening of CAFÉ Norms, introduction of BS VI compliant vehicles by leapfrogging from BS IV to BS VI directly, Fuel efficiency norms for heavy duty commercial vehicles, Start rating for the vehicles and so on. Promotion of Electric Mobility, which has Zero Tail pipe emission is an efforts of the government in this direction to reduce oil dependency and also to reduce vehicular pollution from the cities.


  • Embracingelectric mobility on large scale is imperative to tackle the various crisis arising due to pollution and giving the citizens of India a better quality of life.


  • Electric & Hybrid Mobility: Government of India approved the National Mission on Electric Mobility (NMEM) in 2011 and subsequently National Electric Mobility Mission Plan 2020 (NEMMP 2020) was unveiled in 2013 by the Prime Minister.


  • The NEMMP 2020 is a National Mission document providing the vision and the roadmap for the faster adoption of electric vehicles and their manufacturing in the country. This plan has been designed to enhance national fuel security, to provide affordable and environmentally friendly transportation and to enable the Indian automotive industry to achieve global manufacturing leadership. It is one of the most important and ambitious initiatives undertaken by the Government of India that has the potential to bring about a transformational paradigm shift in the automotive and transportation industry in the country. This plan was a culmination of a comprehensive collaborative planning for promotion of hybrid and electric mobility in India through a combination of policies aimed at gradually ensuring a vehicle population of about 6-7 million electric/hybrid vehicles in India by the year 2020 along with a certain level of indigenisation of technology ensuring India’s global leadership in some vehicle segments.


  • As part of the NEMMP 2020, the Government approved the scheme titled ‘Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric (&Hybrid) Vehicles in India’ (FAME India) in March, 2015 for an initial period of 2 years from 01stApril, 2015 with an aim to reduce dependency on fossil fuel and to address issues of vehicular emissions. The Scheme has been extendedfrom time to time till 31st March, 2019 with total outlay to Rs. 895 crore. The 1st Phase of FAME India Scheme was implemented through four focus areas namely (i) Demand Creation, (ii) Technology Platform, (iii) Pilot Project and (iv) Charging Infrastructure.


  • Demand creation is aimed at incentivizing the buyers of xEVsthrough providing demand incentives, leading to an upfront reduced purchase price at the time of purchase of vehicle at dealer level. The component of pilot projects envisaged trial of new technologies, business models etc. with special focus on public transportation. The technology platform under the scheme has been under execution in tandem with theDepartment of Science and Technology (DST) where PPP projects for development of EV (Electric Vehicle) technologies have been approved. Charging Infrastructure component envisages installation of charging station in different cities depending upon the uptake of electric vehicles in the country.


  • Achievements under Phase-1 of FAME India scheme: Although the FAME Scheme was described as pilot scheme at the time of sanction before consideration of main scheme as envisage in NEMMP 2020, this scheme was very successful in creating the major policy discourse on Electric Mobility among all stakeholders including different departments of Government of India and State Governments.


  • Some of the quantitative and qualitative success of this scheme is as given below. In this Phase of the Scheme about 2.8 lakh hybrid and electric vehicles are supported by way of demand incentive amounting to about Rs 359 crore resulting in saving of about 50 million liters of fuel and reduction of about 124 million Kg of CO2.


  • Projects worth about Rs. 158 Crores are sanctioned for the technology development projects like establishment of testing Infrastructure, setting up of ‘Centre of Excellence’ for Advanced Research in electrified transportation, Battery Engineering etc. to various organisations / institutions like Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), IIT Madras, IIT Kanpur, Non Ferrous Material Technology Development Centre (NFTDC) and Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).


  • Under this scheme, DHI has sanctioned 425 electric and hybrid buses to various cities in the country with total cost of about 300 Crores. Out of 425 e-buses, 400 are received and deployed in various cities such as Indore, Lucknow, Guwahati, J&K, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Shimla andMumbai. Remaining 25 no of e-buses at Mumbai are expected to be deployed by end of this month.


  • Under charging infrastructure, Government of India has sanctioned about 500 charging stations / infrastructure in cities like Bangalore, Chandigarh, Jaipur and NCR of Delhi. Department of Heavy Industry also entrusted the task of making three expressways fully E-vehicle friendly by way of establishment of charging infrastructure at regular intervals to its public sector undertakings like BHEL and REIL. These highways are Delhi-Chandigarh, Delhi-Jaipur and Mumbai-Pune Expressways. Out of these recently Delhi – Chandigarh highway is declared as first expressway of the country which is E-vehicle friendly expressway.


  • FAME India Scheme Phase II: Based on the outcome and experience of the FAME India Scheme, the second Phase of FAME Scheme was finalised and notified on 8thMarch 2019 with the approval of Union Cabinet. Second phase of thescheme commenced from 1st April 2019 with an outlay of Rs. 10,000 Crorefor a period of 3 years. This scheme has 3 components. namely – a) Demand Incentives: b) Charging Infrastructures: c) Administrative Expenditure including Publicity, IEC Activities:


  • Salient features of FAME India Scheme Phase II: This phase aims to generate demand by way of supporting 7090 e-Buses, 5 lakh e-3 Wheelers, 55000 e-4 Wheeler Passenger Cars (including Strong Hybrid) and 10 lakh e-2 Wheelers.


  • With greater emphasis on providing affordable &environment friendly public transportation options for the masses, the scheme will be applicable mainly to vehicles used for public transport or those registered for commercial purposes for all segment of vehicles. For e-2W segment, this scheme is also applicable to privately owned registered e-2W also. Depending upon offtake of different category of e-Vehicles, the provision has been made in the scheme for inter as well as intra segment wise fungibility.


  • Scheme is applicable to only those xEVs, which is fitted with advanced chemistry battery. Scheme is applicable to only those vehicles, which is defined as Motor Vehicle as per CMVR and eligible to registered with Road Transport Authority. In this phase, the demand incentive is linked to battery capacity i.e. Rs. 10,000/KWh for all eligible Vehicles except e-Buses (for which the incentive is Rs. 20,000/KWh), subject to capping at certain percentage of cost of eligible Vehicles [i.e. 40% for e-Bus and at 20% for all other categories of eligible Vehicle].


  • Demand incentive is extended to only those vehicles having ex-factory prices less than the threshold value. Further, keeping in view market and technology trends in batteries, a provision has been made for revision of demand incentives from time to time under the scheme. The incentive is applicable to vehicles manufactured in India as per phase manufacturing program issued by the department. Only OEMs which have achieved 40% localization level in case of 4W and Buses and 50% localization in case of 2W and 3W are only eligible to get incentives.


  • Performance under FAME India scheme Phase II: OEMs and Vehicle Models: So far, 13 OEMs have registered their 39 EV Models [2W= 14; 3W=11 & 4W=14] for availing benefit of demand incentives under Phase-II of FAME Scheme. So far about 5500 EVs have been sold to the eligible user of the electric vehicle.


  • Sanction of Electric Buses: In order to promote electric mobility in public transport, Department has invited the proposal from cities and state transport corporations through an Expression of Interest for deployment of Electric Buses under Operation cost model basis. After examining the proposal department has sanctioned of 5595 no of e-buses to 64 cities for intra-city and intercity operations across 26 states/UT under the Scheme. These buses will runabout 4 billion Kilometer distance during their contract periodand are expected to save cumulatively about 1.2 billion litersof fuel over the contract period, which will result into avoidance of 2.6 million tonnes of CO2 emission.


  • Sanction of Charging Infrastructure: To address the issue of range anxiety, department has issued an Expression of Interest (EoI) inviting Proposals from Urban Local Bodies (ULBs)/municipal corporations, PSUs (State/Central) and public/private entities desirous for deployment of EV charging infrastructure in different states/cities for availing incentives under Fame India Scheme Phase II. About 100 proposals are received in response to the EoI for deployment of about 7000 charging stations in above cities. All proposals are under examination and sanction of charging station across the cities will be issued shortly.


  • Other initiatives to promote Electric Mobility: In addition to FAME India scheme Phase II, different wings of Government is working to promote electric mobility in the country. Some of the major action in this regards are as given below.


  • GST on EVs is reduced to 5% from the current rate of 12%. Government has extended an additional income tax deduction of Rs 1.5 Lakh on interest paid on loans to the buyers of Electric Vehicle to buy EVs is provided.


  • Ministry of Power has allowed sale of electricity as ‘service’ for charging of electric vehicles. This would serve as an incentive to attract investments into charging infrastructure. Ministry of Road Transport Highways (MoRTH) issued notification regarding exemption of permit in case of battery operated commercial vehicles. MoRTH has issued a notification for Green Number plate for the use of Electric Vehicles. Ministry of Finance has revised the custom duty on the EV components to promote local manufacturing of these components.


  • Challenges faced in wider adoption of EVs (i) Lack of awareness among people (ii) Range anxiety (iii) High capital cost of EVs as compared to ICE vehicle (iv) Sub-Par performance of EVs as compared to ICE vehicle (v) Recycling of battery


  • Way Forward: Government is working on following initiatives to promote electric mobility. Sanction of about 1000 charging stations in various cities in response to Expression of Interest issued by Department of Heavy Industry Issue of fresh Expression of Interest for inviting proposals fromeligible public entities for installation of charging infrastructure on major identified highways.


  • Monitoring timely deployment of 5595 electric buses sanctioned under the schemes to 64 cities and eight State Transport corporations. Publicity activities to promote public to adopt electric mobility. Issue of fresh EOI for sanction of additional buses to the states/cities for intra city and intercity operations.


  • Department of Public Enterprises Government of India is granted Maharatna status to Power Grid Corporation of India limited and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation limited which will enable the Boards of these CPSEs to exercise greater Financial and operational powers and facilitate expansion of operation in the global market.


  • Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited(BHEL), a Maharatnacompany BHEL took the following initiatives of Commissioning India’s first Lithium-ion based Space Grade Cell manufacturing facility at BHEL Bengaluru, utilizing technology developed by ISRO. It also commissioned manufacturing facilities for gates & dampers to meet emission norms for coal-based power plants.


  • BHEL supplied special Tanks, Rigs, Batteries and Solar Panels for ISRO’S Chandrayaan modules a significant contribution by the company in the space programme of the country. For the first time BHEL received order for 25 nos of 5000 HP electric locos (WAG-7 type) with regenerative braking system from Indian Railways.


  • DPE is monitoring the capital expenditure (CAPEX) by CPSEs & other Government organizations where target is more than Rs. 500 crore. This has resulted in better spending for infrastructure projects by the CPSEs and other Government organizations. The CAPEX achievement of these organizations has increased to Rs. 2,05,368 crore in first six months of 2019-20 as compared to Rs. 1,94,331 crore in first half of previous year (increase of 5.69%). CAPEX review meetings have been conducted on 03.09.2019 and 05.09.2019 in respect of 16 CPSEs.


Ministry of Minority Affairs 20-December-2019 17:30 IST Year Ender 2019 Ministry of Minority Affairs

  • 2019 Marked by Several Initiative for Welfare of Minorities 80 Lakh Students Sanctioned Pre-Matric Scholarships; Over 1.25 Lakh Youths Provided Skill Development Training


  • In the year 2019, Ministry of Minority Affairs, under the dynamic and energetic leadership of Union Minister for Minority Affairs Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, focussed on educational empowerment of Minorities, especially Muslim girls, and job-oriented skill development of youths belonging to Minority communities. “Development with Dignity” has been the goal of Minority Affairs Ministry.


  • Educational Empowerment- More than 80 lakh students from six notified Minority communities- Jain, Parsi, Buddhist, Christian, Sikh and Muslim- have been sanctioned pre-matric, post matric, merit-cum-means and other scholarships in first six months of the Modi Govt-2. These students include 60 per cent girls. Besides, in the year 2019, celebrating 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Ministry of Minority Affairs provided “Begum Hazrat Mahal Girls Scholarships” to 3 lakh economically backward girls belonging to the six notified Minority communities.


  • Under the programme to connect Madrasas with formal education, more than 750 teachers including large number of women teachers, from Madrasas from various states have been trained by the Ministry of Minority Affairs this year so that these teachers can impart mainstream education to Madrasa students across the country.


  • Union Minority Affairs Minister Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi speaking on the subject said, “besides traditional teachings in Madrasa, Urdu, Arabic and other languages, Madrasa teachers are also being provided training for mainstream formal education like Hindi, Maths, English, Science, Computer, regional languages etc. These teachers are being provided training from reputed institutions of the country such as IIT, Aligarh Muslim University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Jamia Hamdard, Anjuman-e-Islam, Amity University and other reputed educational institutes”.


  • About more than 650 school dropout students have also been provided bridge course by the Ministry in 2019 so that these students can continue their higher studies or go for a job. Skill Development/Employment Opportunities- More than 1 lakh 25,000 youths belonging to Minority communities were provided job-oriented skill development training through various schemes such as “Gharib Nawaz Employment Scheme”, “Seekho aur Kamao”, “Nai Manzil”, “Usttad”, “Nai Raushni” in 2019.


  • The Ministry of Minority Affairs has decided to organise 100 “Hunar Haat” in the next five years across the country to provide market and employment and employment opportunities to master artisans, craftsmen and traditional culinary experts. First “Hunar Haat” of the Modi Government-2 was organised in Jaipur from 24th August to 1st September, 2019. More than 200 master artisans and culinary experts including a large number of women artisans from every corner of the country participated in this “Hunar Haat”. Then “Hunar Haat” was organised at North Central Zone Cultural Centre in Prayagraj (UP) from 01st to 10th November, 2019 where more than 300 master artisans and culinary experts including a large number of women artisans from every corner of the country participated. “Hunar Haat”, organised by Ministry of Minority Affairs, from 14th to 27th Nov, 2019 at India International Trade Fair, Pragati Maidan, was inaugurated on 15.11.2019. All the “Hunar Haat”, being organised in 2019 and 2020 will be based on the theme of “Ek Bharat Shresth Bharat”. “Hunar Haat” was also organized at Sabarmati River Front Ahmedabad, Gujarat from 07th to 15th December, 2019. The next “Hunar Haat” is being organised at Mumbai from 20th to 31st December, 2019 and then Lucknow (10th to 20th January, 2020); Hyderabad (11th to 19th January, 2020); Chandigarh (from 20th January to 1st February, 2020) and Indore (08th to 16th February, 2020).


  • In the coming days, “Hunar Haat” will also be organized in New Delhi, Gurugram, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Lucknow, Dehradun, Patna, Indore, Bhopal, Nagpur, Raipur, Hyderabad, Puducherry, Chandigarh, Amritsar, Jammu, Shimla, Goa, Kochi, Guwahati, Ranchi, Bhubneshwar, Ajmer and other places.


  • Thousands of master artisans, craftsmen, including large number of women artisans and people associated with them were provided employment and employment opportunities through “Hunar Haat” in 2019. The Ministry of Minority Affairs has also sanctioned 100 “Hunar Hubs” in different parts of the country in the first six months of the Modi Government-2. Training is being provided to master artisans, craftsmen and traditional culinary experts according to modern needs in these “Hunar Hubs”. More than 2 lakh 65 thousand artisans and craftsmen and people associated with them have been provided employment and employment opportunities through “Hunar Haat” in the last about 2 years.


  • “Pradhanmantri Jan Vikas Karykram” (PMJVK)- Under “Pradhanmantri Jan Vikas Karykram” (PMJVK) of the Ministry of Minority Affairs, 104 Common Service Centres have been approved across the country in the first six months of the Modi Govt-2. These centres will work as a single-window assistance centre for the needy people to provide information regarding Central Government and State Governments schemes as well as to assist them in getting benefits of these welfare schemes.


  • Under PMJVK, several development projects—Toilet facilities- 53, Solar Power Facilities in Schools- 16, Additional Class Rooms- 324, Health Centres- 223, Anganwadi Centres- 52, Residential Schools- 33, Degree Colleges-7, School Buldings-98, Hostel-98, ITI-4, Hunar Hubs-100, Skill Development Centres-10, Medical College-1 and Polytechnics- 3 have been sanctioned/constructed in 2019. Besides, a Yunani College is being constructed in Bareily in UP with an estimated cost of Rs 130 crore. Girls hostel, school buildings etc. are being constructed in Aligarh Muslim University, Mallapuram in Kerala and Murshidabad in West Bengal.


  • Haj- India has become the first country in the entire world which has made the entire Haj 2020 process 100 per cent digital. Online application, E-Visa, Haj mobile app, “E-MASIHA” health facility, “E-luggage pre-tagging” providing all information in India itself regarding accommodation/transportation in Makkah Madinah have been provided to Indian Muslims going for Haj.


  • Union Minister for Minority Affairs Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi signed Bilateral annual Haj 2020 agreement between India and Saudi Arabia with Haj & Umrah Minister of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, His Excellency Dr. Mohammad Saleh bin Taher Benten on 01st December, 2019 in Jeddah.


  • For the first time facilities have been provided for digital pre-tagging of baggages of pilgrims. This will ensure the Indian pilgrims will get information in India itself about building along with the room allotted to the pilgrims and transportation like details of bus to be taken by the pilgrims after reaching to the airport in Saudi Arabia. Even SIM card has been linked to mobile app which will ensure Haj pilgrims immediately getting all the latest information regarding Haj in Makkah-Madina on their mobile phone. This year, a 100-line information centre has been established at Haj House, Mumbai for providing information regarding entire Haj process. While on one hand health card is being provided to Indian Haj pilgrims in the country, on the other hand “E-MASIHA” (E Medical Assistance System for Indian Pilgrims Abroad), an online system to create and maintain the complete health database of Indian pilgrims along with doctors’ prescriptions, medical treatment as well as medicine disbursals, has been developed to deal any emergency in Makkah-Madinah.


  • Haj Group Organisers (HGOs) have also been connected with 100 per cent digital system which has ensured transparency in their functioning and it has also ensured better facilities to Indian Haj pilgrims. For the first time, a portal of HGOs—http://haj.nic.in/pto/ (Portal for Haj Group Organisers) has been developed which contains all the details of HGOs, their packages etc.


  • A record number of 2 lakh Indian Muslims including 48 percent women Haj pilgrims performed Haj in 2019 in first six months of the Modi Govt-2, that too without any subsidy. A record number of 2340 Muslim women also performed Haj this year without “Mehram” (male companion). Union Minority Affairs Minister Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi chaired a meeting to review Haj 2019 and preparation for Haj 2020. Two lakh Indian Muslims will go for Haj 2020 from 22 embarkation points across the country. One new embarkation point will be opened for next Haj- Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh).


  • Waqf- In a major achievement, 100 per cent digitisation of Waqf properties across the country has been completed. There are about 6 lakh registered Waqf properties across the country. A programme on war footing has been launched for 100 per cent Geo tagging and digitalisation of Waqf properties across the country to ensure these properties can be utilised for welfare of the society.


  • Geo tagging of a total of about 1 lakh 40 thousand Waqf properties has been completed. GIS/GPS mapping of the Waqf properties has been initiated with the help of IIT Roorki and Aligarh Muslim University. The Central Waqf Council has provided video conferencing facilities to 20 state Waqf boards and it would be provided in the remaining state Waqf boards by the end of this year.


  • On 8th November, 2019, Union Minister for Minority Affairs Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi chaired conference of “Mutawalis” of Southern States at Kochi, Kerala. “Mutawali” Conference was attended by more than 200 Mutawalis from southern states. In the conference, Shri Naqvi said that Mutawalis are “Custodian” of the waqf properties and it’s their responsibility to ensure safety and better utilisation of waqf properties.


  • On 17th January, 2019, report of a five-member committee, constituted to review waqf properties lease rule, headed by Justice (Retd) Zakiullah Khan, was presented to Union Minister for Minority Affairs Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi in New Delhi.


  • A total of 8 Mutawalis were awarded under “Qaumi Waqf Board Taraqqiati Scheme” for better management of Waqf properties in their respective state Waqf boards. In a national conference of Central Waqf Council (CWC), organised at NDMC Convention Centre in New Delhi on 29th July, 2019. This was for the first time that Mutawalis had been encouraged and awarded for better utilisation of Waqf properties especially for socio-economic-educational empowerment of needy.


Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 19-December-2019 12:35 IST Year End Review -2019 of Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship

  • Several initiativestaken by Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, with emphasis on Convergence, Increased Scale, Meeting Aspiration and Improved Quality


  • The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship is responsible for co-ordination of all skill development efforts across the country, removal of disconnect between demand and supply of skilled manpower, building the vocational and technical training framework, skill up-gradation, building of new skills, and innovative thinking not only for existing jobs but also jobs that are to be created. The Ministry aims to Skill on a large Scale with Speed and high Standards in order to achieve its vision of a 'Skilled India'.


  • The Vision Statement of the Ministry has been “To create an ecosystem of empowerment by skilling on a large scale at speed with high standards and to promote a culture of innovation based entrepreneurship which can generate wealth and employment so as to ensure Sustainable Livelihoods for all citizens in the Country.”


  • The Ministry has strived towards this vision, by putting special emphasis in 2019 on Convergence, Increased Scale, Meeting Aspiration and Improved Quality. This has led to enhanced skilling opportunities and trained workforce in the country, and also inculcation and support to the entrepreneurial spirit among the people. The initiatives of the Ministry are as follows:


  • Convergence National Skill Development Mission (NSDM): Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) formed in 2014 to give a fillip and focus to the skill development and entrepreneurship efforts in the country. Because of the efforts under NSDM, more than One Crore youth are being imparted skills training annually under various programs of the Central Government.


  • Skill India Portal: A strong IT Platform, namely Skill India portal launched to converge the skilling data of various Central Ministries, State Governments, Private Training Providers and Corporates on a single platform. This will now enable data driven decision making by the policymakers and help remove information asymmetry in the skilling ecosystem. This will also be single touch point for the citizens of India to access skilling opportunities and seeking related services.


  • Increased Scale Industrial Training Centres (ITIs): Expanded and modernized the existing Long-Term Training eco-system in India. The total number of Industrial Training Centres (ITIs) increased by 12% from 11964 in 2014 to 14939 in 2018-19. The trainee enrolment has increased by 37% from 16.90 Lakh to 23.08 Lakh during the period.


  • Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY): Launched the Flagship Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (1.0 & 2.0) in 2015 to provide free skill training avenues to youths of India. Under the program about 87 Lakhs youth have been trained till date. Under the placement linked program under PMKVY 2016-19, more than 54% have been linked to employment.


  • Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra (PMKK): Out of the 812 allocated PMKKs, 681 centres had been established and target to train over 18 Lakh candidates under PMKVY scheme was allotted out of which training has been imparted to 9,89,936 candidates, 8,85,822 Assessed, 7,40,146 certified and 4,35,022 candidates have been placed successfully. 501 centres had been inaugurated by Hon’ble Members of Parliament for the respective parliamentary constituency and/or other representatives for their respective constituency.


  • Recognition of Prior Learning: There is the deepening of the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL). RPL program, under PMKVY 2016-19, was launched to recognize the prior skills acquired by Individuals. Till date, more than 26 lakh people have been oriented under the RPL program of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY). Under the Best in Class Employer category of RPL, more than 11 lakh employees have been oriented into formal skilling with the assistance of companies.


  • RPL in Supreme Court: Under Recognition of Prior Learning Program (RPL) Training in Supreme Court, TATA Strive and Maruti Suzuki have completed training one batch of cooks and drivers respectively of Supreme Court. Training was spread over two days in which safety aspects, personal grooming, soft skills and few technical aspects were covered.


  • MoU with India Post Payments Bank: BFSI (Banking, Financial Services & Insurance) Sector Skill Council under MSDE has entered into a MoU with India Post Payments Bank to certify 1,70,000 Grameen Dak Sewaks under RPL Best in Class Employers. As on date, a total of 9,046 candidates have been certified under the same.


  • Centre Accreditation: Significant creation of Short-term standardized skilling capacity through Centre Accreditation and Affiliation portal – SMART. 11,977 Centres have been accredited and affiliated till date which has an annual Training capacity of about 50 Lakh/Annum.


  • Skill Development in Jammu & Kashmir: A meeting held between officials of MSDE, Govt. of J&K, and State Skill Development Mission (JKSSDM) to discuss ways to ensure 100% coverage of all the eligible beneficiaries from J&K and the steps to be undertaken thereby for this. Officials from various Organisations including NSDC, DJSS and various Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) were also present in the meeting. To promote long term skilling, NSTI Jammu has been made operational. Trainers are being trained to impart NSQF LEVEL-6 training.


  • Skill Development in Leh: For better outreach of the skill training to all parts of the country, a NSTI extension centre was opened in Leh. Ministry is taking all possible steps to create a precision trained workforce in the nation.


  • SANKALP: A regional workshop on SANKALP was held in Kohima, Nagaland on 3rd–4th September, 2019. Six States namely Nagaland, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim participated in the workshop. Workshops with District Officials and trainers were also held alongside the regional workshop. Apart from it, a workshop was also held in Delhi and Maharashtra under SANKALP. Further, a delegation visit to Seoul, Korea was undertaken which was organized by the World Bank and video conferences were held with States/ UTs for reviewing the status of State Incentive Grant (SIG) baseline and submission of State proposal under SANKALP.


  • STRIVE: The main focus of the scheme is to improve the performance of ITIs. Under phase one, 314 ITIs have been selected & 198 Performance Based Grant Agreements have been signed. The scheme also works towards increasing Capacities of State Governments to Support ITIs and Apprenticeship training. Till date, 31 States have signed MoU i.e. Performance Based Funding Agreement (PBFA). To improve Teaching and Learning techniques, NSQF Trainings are being imparted to training officers, Principals and Instructors across the 36 States and UTs for NSQF.


  • International Collaboration: Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship met officials from counterparts working in skill development across countries like Singapore, UAE, Japan, Canada, Australia to further build capacity for skilled workforce in the country, jointly work on transnational standards and bridging demand for skilled workforce in these countries by collaborating with them and supplying them with trained professionals.


  • PM-YUVA Yojana (Pradhan Mantri Yuva Udyamita Vikas Abhiyan) is implementing a pilot project in 300 institutes (200 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs)/National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs), 50 Polytechnics, 25 PMKKs/ PMKVY and 25 Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS)), across 12 States and Union Territories (Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Telangana, Kerala, West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Meghalaya, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra).


  • The project aims to promote entrepreneurship as an alternative career choice and enable sustained long-term mentoring support through the journey to potential and early stage entrepreneurs, by imparting entrepreneurship education and mentoring support to trainees/ beneficiaries from skilling ecosystem. The pilot project is expected to reach out to around 70,000 youth through entrepreneurship awareness and education sessions. The project is likely to create 600 new and 1000 scale-up enterprises by March, 2020. The approved budget for the pilot project is Rs 12 crores.


  • Collaboration with Reliance Jio: To strengthen the industry connect, DGT and MSDE have collaborated with Reliance Jio to set up training labs at 6 NSTIs for their home connect division. A job mela was organised at 6 locations. i.e. NSTI Chennai, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad & Kolkata along with Govt, ITI Pusa New Delhi. 4OO candidates have been selected for this training.


  • MoU with Cisco, Quest Alliance & Accenture: Employability skill Labs at 6 NSTIs have been set up under this partnership with the Directorate General of Training (DGT) of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and Cisco, Quest Alliance & Accenture. Youth across India enrolled in industrial training institutes(ITIs) will be trained in digital literacy, career readiness, employability skills, and advanced technology skills such as data analytics.


  • Meeting Aspirations Kaushalyacharya Awards: To recognize and appreciate the good works done by trainers, Kaushalacharya Awards 2019 ceremony was organized on 5th Sept 2019 to felicitate 53 trainers from different sectors for their exceptional contribution towards creating a future-ready and skilled workforce.


  • National Entrepreneurship Awards 2019: MSDE conferred NEA 2019 to 30 Young Entrepreneurs and 6 Organizations / Individuals, building Entrepreneurship eco-system in the country. The awards were presented to honor outstanding contributions in entrepreneurship development. The award included a trophy, a certificate and prize money up to Rs 10 lakhs. This is in line with promoting entrepreneurship amongst the youth so as to create more job givers than job seekers in the nation.


  • Skill Saathi Counseling Program: MSDE also launched the Skill Saathi program which was aimed to sensitize the youth of the country on various avenues under Skill India Mission and increase the aspiration for skill development. Close to 40 lakh students were counselled under the program.


  • Policy action to offer vocational courses: Under this, the MSDE initiated a drive to create a policy action on offering vocational courses in schools and equal weightage to vocational courses for admission in UG courses. The Draft Credit Framework for vertical and horizontal mobility from vocational to general and vice-versa has been developed. The framework is under finalization in consultation with Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD).


  • 500 skills hubs in government schools: MSDE has also finalized a plan for setting up 500 skill hubs and labs in government schools. Working closely with CBSE to develop “Hubs of Excellence in Skills” for school students, MSDE will introduce high quality, technology-oriented skill programs to schools. Skill India currently engages with 9100+ schools and has integrated skills from 20 sectors. So far 7.5 lakh students have benefited from it. These initiatives are being planned in conjunction with States.


  • Embedded apprenticeship degree program: MSDE and MHRD have together rolled out the SHREYAS program where apprenticeship degree programs in retail, media and logistics are embedded into degree programs such as BA/BSc/BCom (Professional) courses in the higher educational institutions. So far, the program has been included in 25 colleges with 643 students enrolled.


  • Catalyzing demand for formal skills by promoting Apprenticeship through Apprenticeship Pakhwada: MSDE held an Apprenticeship Pakhwada which was celebrated across the nation where industries and State Governments committed close to training of 7 lakh apprentices in this current fiscal year, which if converted will almost double the number of apprentices trained over the last amendment made to the Apprenticeship Act of 1961. MSDE is also promoting Third Party Aggregators (TPAs) who will be key catalysts for promoting apprenticeship training which is one of the most sustainable form of skill development.


  • India Institute of Skills (IIS): In order to bring a certain standard and stature in terms of quality and quantity to skills, MSDE recently announced setting up of the Indian Institute of Skills (IIS) in Mumbai which would be to the stature and repute of IIMs and IITs of the country. This project is in partnership with the Tata Group, with over 4.5 acres of land provided by the Government. The Tata Group will invest around Rs. 300 crores and on completion, IIS will have a capacity of training 5,000 trainees every year.


  • MoU with SBI: MSDE has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with SBI for engagement of 5000 apprentices as banking front office executive and tele-callers in the current financial year 2019-20, as part of an initiative to launch partnerships for promotion of apprenticeship in the financial sector.


  • Skill Vouchers: MSDE is also developing a skill vouchers program for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME), as a provision model to enhance the delivery and quality of the programs. Vouchers are expected to be provided to learners and entrepreneurs towards the training program they see most value in.


  • WorldSkills International Kazan 2019: The 22 winners of IndiaSkills 2018 and their experts had represented the country with their outstanding performance at the WorldSkills International 2019 (WSK), held in Kazan, Russia. India won one gold, one silver, two bronze and 15 Medallions of Excellence at the biggest competition for skills. India ranked 13th among 63 countries that participated at WorldSkills International 2019, marking it to be the best finish for the country in the coveted skill championship. They were felicitated with certificates and cash prizes for their remarkable performance.


  • Improved Quality Reforms to Apprenticeship Act of 1961: The ministry introduced a wide range of reforms to the Apprenticeship Act of 1961, to make it significantly easier for industry to take on much needed apprentices. The comprehensive reforms under Apprenticeship rules 1962 include: Increasing upper limit for engaging apprentices from 10% to 15%; Decreasing the size limit of an establishment with mandatory obligation to engage apprentices from 40 to 30; Payment of stipend for 1st year has been fixed rather than linking it to minimum wages; 10% to 15% hike in stipend for 2nd and 3rd year to apprentice; Duration of apprenticeship training for optional trade can be from 6 months to 36 months.


  • Dual System of Training: The MSDE is also scaling up the ITIs Dual System Training (DST) scheme to at least 1000 ITIs. The DST is a model of training inspired by the German method and provides industry exposure through industry led trainings to students of the various ITIs. In the first 100 days, 40 National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs) have signed partnership agreements and as many as 739 MoUs have been signed. The duration of the practical training portion of the course has also been made flexible and adaptive to the industry schedule. All the 138 plus courses under CTS have been brought under the ambit of DST, as against only 17 courses earlier. ITIs are exclusively permitted to conduct training under DST with deemed affiliation in the 3rd shift.


  • New Age Skills: In a bid to keep up with the times, MSDE has also launched new age courses in 12 NSTIs. These include Internet of Things – Smart Healthcare; Internet of Things – Smart cities; 3D printing; Drone pilots; Solar Technicians and Geo Informatics among many others.


  • Formation of District Skill Committees: In order to get to the grass roots of the country with its various reforms and empower every citizen, the ministry has formed District Skill Committees (DSC) in all Districts as part of its Aspirational Skilling Abhiyaan under the Sankalp program, which is funded by World Bank. The MSDE is handholding these District Skill Committees through the Directorate General of Training (DGT) to further identify skill gap at a local level and then strengthen the ecosystem for local market driven skill development opportunities.


  • Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship (MNGF): MSDE has also constituted the Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship (MNGF) for 75 districts across 6 states. Under these 75 young professionals shall be selected and will be deputed in identified 75 districts for supporting the district officials in district level planning, monitoring of activities related to skilling' management of data/information, coordination among different stakeholders in districts' assistance to District Skill Development Committee.


  • Indian Skill Development Services (ISDS): To ensure that the skilling of the country’s youth gets the importance that it deserves, the government has carved out an altogether new administrative service much like the Indian Revenue Service or the Post and Telegraph Service. The Indian Skill Development Services (ISDS) has been created through a notification by the MSDE. This service has been created for the Training Directorate of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. ISDS will be a Group ‘A’ service where induction will take place through Indian Engineering Service Examination, conducted by UPSC. The fresh batch of the newest central government services, the Indian Skill Development Services commenced their training program at the Administrative Training Institute (ATI), Mysuru on September 9, 2019. The Indian Skill Development Service (ISDS) has 263 All India posts. The cadre comprises of 3 posts at Senior Administrative Grade, 28 posts at Junior Administrative Grade, 120 posts at Senior Time Scale and 112 posts at Junior Time Scale.


  • Community mentors called Business Sakhis: Based on the learnings from various schemes and programmes introduced for women’s entrepreneurship promotion, in 2018, NIESBUD in association with UNDP, NIRDPR and TISS jointly developed a new concept and system that is providing mentorship support services of both psycho-social and business supports through a cadre of community mentors called Business Sakhis (Biz-Sakhis).The curriculum was released on 9th Nov.2019 on the occasion of NEA ceremony. These mentors will provide backward (with financial institutions for example) and forward (with more lucrative business ideas and market) linkages. Moreover, the mentor will provide the aspiring entrepreneur with the much-needed psychological support that a woman will need to face all the obstacles that prevent her from starting or sustaining her own business. They act as community-based business consultants for enterprise development.


  • Train the trainer programme: The curriculum for Five days TOT programmes for the faculty of ITI was developed and the Trainers Training programmes on employability, entrepreneurship and life skills are designed and organized for 4068 trainers of PMKVY at pan-India Level. The institute has organized the Entrepreneurship Development programmes for the most-needy skilled unemployed youth from OBC/SC/ST/Manual Scavengers and women.


  • Launch of an MIS portal for Jan Shikshan Sansthan: An MIS portal was launched for Jan Shikshan Sansthans (JSS). The benefits from the adoption and implementation of the solution have been enhanced monitoring & management capabilities, along with scaling up scheme operation. The ministry now plans create a JSS setup in every district in the country.


  • eSkill India platform: In a technology driven environment, e-learning is pivotal in deepening the reach of skilling opportunities for the Indian youth. NSDC created an e-Skill India, a multilingual e-learning aggregator portal, providing e-skilling opportunities to the Indian youth. eSkill India leverages the skilling opportunities from Indian and global leaders in online learning, by consolidating online courses curated by leading knowledge organizations that share NSDC’s commitment of making India a Skill Capital of the World. eSkill India provides anytime, anywhere skilling —beyond the boundaries of location and time. Today, eSkill India has onboarded organizations such as TCS, BetterU, IBM, SAS, BSE, Apollo Medvarsity, Enguru, Amrita Technologies, iPrimed, Wadhwani Foundation, English Edge, Fair and Lovely, AIFMB, etc. offering high-quality courses in diverse sectors such as Agriculture, Healthcare, Telecom, Employability, Management, Retail, Pharma, Banking and Finance, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, etc. which enable a one stop shop to the skill seekers via a single learning platform. The courses are available in English, Hindi and 9 regional languages. The learners are guided through self-paced interactive videos and quizzes.


Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas 18-December-2019 15:35 IST Year End Review -2019 of Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas

  • Several initiatives taken by Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to address the priorities like Energy Access, Energy Efficiency, Energy Sustainability and Energy Security


  • The Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas is concerned with exploration and production of Oil & Natural Gas, refining, distribution and marketing, import, export and conservation of petroleum products. Oil and Gas being the important import for our economy, many initiatives have been taken by the Ministry for increasing production and exploitation of all domestic petroleum resources to address the priorities like Energy Access, Energy Efficiency, Energy Sustainability and Energy Security.


  • PRADHAN MANTRI UJJWALA YOJANA (PMUY) With the objective to provide clean cooking fuel to poor households, especially in rural areas ensuring universal coverage of LPG as cooking gas in the country, the Government launched Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) in May 2016, with an initial target of 5 crore. It was further revised to providing 8 crore connections to an adult woman of poor households by March, 2020, which has already been achieved on 7th September, 2019 i.e. 7 months ahead of the target. Implementation of this scheme enhanced economic productivity and quality of life of women, by removing drudgery associated with collection of wood. The free time, thus, available with them, can be utilized in multi spheres for improving their life standards.


  • PAHAL The Government, as a measure of Good Governance, has introduced well targeted system of subsidy delivery to LPG consumers through PAHAL. The initiative of the Government was aimed at rationalizing subsidies, based on approach to cut subsidy leakages, but not subsidies themselves.


  • PAHAL Scheme was launched on 15th November 2014, initially in 54 districts. It was subsequently extended to rest of the country from 01.01.2015 for providing the direct benefits transfer of LPG subsidy to the bank account of the LPG consumers. As on 13th December 2019, 25.84 crore LPG consumers have joined the PAHAL Scheme and Rs. 1,22,666.82 crore have directly been transferred to the bank accounts of LPG consumers.


  • PAHAL Scheme has been designed to ensure that the benefit meant for the genuine domestic customer reaches them directly and is not diverted. The scheme has helped in identifying ‘ghost’ connections, multiple connections and inactive connections which in turn has resulted in curbing diversion of subsidized LPG to commercial purposes.


  • REFORMS IN EXPLORATION AND LICENSING POLICY The Government notified ‘Reforms in Exploration and Licensing Policy, for enhancing domestic exploration and production of oil and gas’ on 28th February 2019, with the objective to intensify exploration activities, attract foreign and domestic investment and enhance domestic production. The salient features of Policy Reforms are as under: Shifting of focus from ‘revenue’ to ‘production maximisation’. No Revenue Sharing with Government in Category- II & III sedimentary basins. Boost to exploration activities by assigning greater weightage to exploration work programme.


  • For unexplored areas in Category I basins, 70% weightage to Minimum Work Programme and 30% weightage to Revenue Sharing with a cap of 50% at Highest Revenue Sharing point (HRP); and For Category II and III sedimentary basins, 100% weightage for Minimum Work Programme. Shorter exploration period for early development. Fiscal concessions for early monetization and commercial production. Marketing and Pricing freedom for natural gas.


  • The policy envisages bidding out of 66 small and marginal producing nomination fields operated by National Oil Companies (NOCs) to have collaboration with private E&P players for inducting new and innovative technology, infusing fresh investment and best management practices to enhance production of oil and gas by adopting Enhanced Oil Recovery/Improved Oil Recovery (EOR/IOR) methods. NIO for bidding out 66 fields has been issued by ONGC and OIL in the last week of June 2019.


  • The MoU of ONGC and OIL were restructured with 50% weightage for physical production, Other physical parameters 30%, Financial performance parameters 20%. Redefining the Role of DGH by delegation of additional powers and functions to DGH to strengthen the compliance/regulatory, developmental and coordination role of DGH.


  • Simplified and investor friendly Model Bid documents, including increasing of bidding cycle frequency from twice to thrice in a year. Promoting Ease of Doing Business: Simplified contractual terms with emphasis on cutting down approvals of Government/DGH/Management Committee and expeditious grant of approvals


  • Setting up of Empowered Coordination Committee (ECC) under the chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary for expediting process of approvals. New Dispute Resolution Mechanism for amicable and speedy redressal of contractual dispute. Electronic Single Window mechanism based on IT workflow and processes for processing of approvals. Standard Operating procedures (SoPs) for grant of approvals under PSC have also been finalized.


  • OPEN ACREAGE LICENSING POLICY (OALP) BIDDING ROUNDS During the year 2019, 32 blocks covering approximately 59,000 sq.km area have been awarded under OALP bid Rounds II and III and 7 Blocks with an area of approximately 18500 sq.km have been awarded under OALP Bid Round-IV.


  • PETROLEUM EXPLORATION LICENSES Central Government has already granted Petroleum Exploration Licenses (PELs) for all the offshore blocks and also recommended to all the concerned State Governments to grant PELs for all on-land blocks allocated under Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP) regime. NATIONAL SEISMIC PROGRAMME As on 30.11.2019, surface coverage of 41,902 Line Kilo Meter (LKM), out of 48,143 LKM has been achieved under NSP.


  • NATIONAL DATA REPOSITORY (NDR) The NDR was established by the Government to assimilate, preserve and upkeep the vast amount of data which could be organized and regulated for use in future exploration and development, besides use by R&D and other educational institutions. The operation of NDR was formally launched on 28th June, 2017 in DGH Office, Noida. Total data uploaded in NDR till 30 November, 2019 is 2.30 million line kilometres of 2D Seismic Data, 0.78 million square kilometres of 3D Seismic data and 17588 exploratory wells. The data availability in NDR will help investors to carve out blocks for submission of expression of interest under OALP.


  • MONETIZATION OF NEW EXPLORATION LICENSING POLICY (NELP) DISCOVERIES 42 (cumulative) NELP discoveries were monetized as on 31st October, 2019. REFINERY Out of the 23 refineries operating in the country, 18 are in public sector, 3 are in private sector and 2 as a joint venture, with a total refining capacity of 249.366 MMTPA. Out of the refining capacity of 249.366MMT, 142.066 MMT is in the public sector, 19.10 MMT in joint venture and the balance 88.20 MMT is in the private sector. The country is not only self-sufficient in the refining capacity for its domestic consumption, but also exports a sufficient quantity of petroleum products.


  • AUTO FUEL VISION AND POLICY Introduction of BS-IV & BS-VI fuels in the Country: Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas vide order dated 19.01.2015 has notified for implementation of BS-IV Auto Fuels in the entire country. Accordingly, BS-IV Auto Fuels has been implemented in the entire country w.e.f. 01.04.2017.


  • It has also been decided that the country will leapfrog directly from BS-IV to BS-VI fuel standards and BS-VI standards will be implemented in the entire country w.e.f. 01.04.2020. Considering the serious pollution levels in Delhi, the Government has already commenced supply of BS-VI in National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi w.e.f. 01.04.2018.


  • The Government has also started supply of BS-VI auto fuels in 20 Districts of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh & Haryana adjoining NCT of Delhi. LIBERALIZATION OF NORMS OF PRIVATE SECTOR PARTICIPATION IN THE RETAIL SECTOR The Government has approved the guidelines for granting authorization to market transportation fuels i.e. Motor Sprit (MS) / High Speed Diesel (HSD). Necessary notification in this regard has been published in the Gazette of India on 08.11.2019.


  • DPIIT’S PUBLIC PROCUREMENT (PREFERENCE TO MAKE IN INDIA) ORDER Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has prescribed minimum local content for Petroleum and Natural Gas products under Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order, 2017 on 25th June, 2019. During the current Financial Year, Policy to Provide Purchase Preference (linked with Local Content (PP-LC)) was reviewed by the Steering Committee constituted under the Policy by MoP&NG. As per the recommendation of Steering Committee, Policy has been extended for a further period of one year w.e.f. 1st October, 2019.


  • NATIONAL GAS GRID overnment of India has identified the requirement of development of additional 15000 Km of Gas Pipeline and various pipeline sections to complete the Gas Grid. The status of new pipeline projects being implemented by Govt. PSUs which are part of National Gas Grid are as under:


  • Jagdishpur – Haldia&Bokaro – Dhamra Pipeline Project (JHBDPL): The 2655 km. pipeline project is being executed by GAIL at an investment of Rs.12,940 Cr., which includes 40% capital grant (i.e. Rs.5,176 Cr) from the Government of India and the project is scheduled to be completed progressively by December, 2020. JHBDPL will cater to the energy requirements of five states, namely Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal.


  • Barauni to Guwahati Pipeline: Pipeline from Barauni to Guwahati is being implemented as an integral part of JHBDPL project to connect North East Region (NER) with the National Gas Grid. The approx. length of the pipeline is 729 km, having capacity of 2 to 2.5 MMSCMD with an estimated project cost of Rs. 3308 crores. Completion of the project is scheduled by December 2021.


  • North East Gas Grid: “Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 for North-East India” (Vision Document) released by MoP&NG on 09.2.2016 comprehensively examines the gaps in Natural Gas infrastructure and proposes Natural Gas pipeline grid in North-east region. Thus, a joint venture of five oil and gas CPSEs i.e. GAIL, IOCL, OIL, ONGC and NRL named as “Indradhanush Gas Grid Ltd” (IGGL) has been entrusted for the development of Natural Gas Pipeline Grid in North-East, i.e. North East Gas Grid (NEGG), in all North Eastern States i.e. Assam, Sikkim, Mizoram, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya, in a phased manner at an estimated project cost of Rs. 9265 crore. Further, a CCEA Note seeking Capital Grant required as Viability Gap Funding (VGF) to Indradhanush Gas Grid Limited (IGGL) for setting up the North East Natural Gas Pipeline Grid (NEGG) is under consideration.


  • Kochi-Koottanad- Bangalore-Mangalore (Ph-II) Pipeline Project (KKBMPL): The construction work to develop Kochi-Kottanad-Managlore-Bangalore pipeline (KKBMPL) and Ennore-Thiruvallur-Bengluru-Puducherry-Nagapatinam-Madurai-Tuticorin Pipeline (ETBPNMT) in the southern part of the country is in progress. Efforts are underway for development of these pipeline project and provide accessibility of natural gas sources (domestic and imported both) to southern cities by connecting KKMBPL and ETBPNMT projects with the existing gas grid.


  • PROMOTION OF LNG / CNG IN VEHICLES As on October, 2019, about 55.17 lakh households are availing the benefit of domestic gas in the form of PNG for cooking purpose. Oil & Gas companies along with its Joint Venture/ subsidiary CGD companies have firmed up plans to expand the coverage of PNG network to achieve additional 1 Crore PNG households by 2024. The Government has given priority in allocation of domestic gas (the cheapest gas available in country) for supply to households in the form of Piped Natural Gas (PNG)(Domestic) and Transport segment in the form of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)(Transport) across the country. City Gas Distribution (CGD) networks have been declared as a "Public utility" under Industrial Dispute Act (IDA) 1947. At present (October, 2019), 1838 CNG stations are making available CNG to meet the requirement of 34.54 Lakh CNG vehicles in the country.


  • Government is meeting 100% gas requirement of PNG (Domestic) and CNG (Transport) segment of the City Gas Distribution (CGD) networks across the country.


  • CITY GAS DISTRIBUTION (CGD) BIDDING Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) formed under the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board Act, 2006, grants authorization for setting up of City Gas Distribution (CGD) network in the cities / geographical areas of the country through open bidding process. Supply of domestic PNG to households, setting up of CNG stations for vehicles, providing PNG to small industries and commercial establishments can be carried out only by the authorised entity.


  • In 9th and 10th CGD Bidding Rounds, 86 and 50 Geographical Areas (GAs) have been authorized respectively. As per the commitment made by the various entities for the 50 GAs during 10thCGD Bidding Round, 2,02,92,760 domestic PNG (piped natural gas) connections and 3,578 CNG (compressed natural gas) stations for transport sector would be installed during a period of 8 years up to 31st March 2029, in addition to 58,177 inch-km of steel pipeline. After completion of 10th Round of CGD bidding, CGD would be available in 229 GAs comprising 407 districts spread over 27 States and Union Territories, covering approximately 70 percent of India’s population and 53 percent of its geographical area.


  • Ø LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS (LNG) REGASIFICATION At present, the country is having 6 LNG terminals meeting regasification capacity of 39.2 Million Metric Tonne per Annum (MMTPA). These 6 terminals are located at Dahej (17.5 MMTPA), Hazira (5 MMTPA), Dabhol (1.7 MMTPA), Kochi (5 MMTPA), Mundra (5 MMTPA) and Ennore (5 MMTPA). Dabhol terminal capacity utilization will also be enhanced to 5 MMTPA with breakwater in coming years.


  • SWACHH BHARAT ABHIYAN Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas received Swachh Bharat Award under Swachhata Action Plan Category in Swachh Mahotsav 2019, held on 06th September 2019. MoPNG has allocated a budget of Rs 342.50 crore for 2018 -19, but with the help of continuous monitoring through various meetings including apex level review meetings, MoPNG including Oil & Gas CPSEs, has achieved an expenditure figure of around Rs 473 crore, showing an achievement of around 138%.


  • Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoPNG), its attached offices, and Oil & Gas CPSEs, under the administrative control of MoPNG, celebrated Swachhta Pakhwada fortnight from 01st July 2019 to 15th July, 2019, with full zeal and enthusiasm. On 16th September 2019, Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan distributed the Awards to all the winners of the Swachhta Pakhwada 2019, and also to the winners of Inter-refinery Swachhta Ranking 2018-19. As a result of this initiative led by MoPNG, there were more than 60,000 activities undertaken across India and more than 200,000 trees were planted. Various activities were organized as a part of Pakhwada 2019 such as Cleanliness Drives (8450), Awareness Campaigns (5844), Competitions for School Students / Communities (1750) and many more activities. This year, the Swachhta Pakhwada saw an unprecedented public participation of more than 25,00,000 people.


  • A “Jan-Andolan” for Swachhata was launched on the theme of “Say No To Single Use Plastic” by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas from 11th September to 27th October, 2019 to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary. With a collaborative effort, all the CPSEs and other organizations under MoPNG joined hands to make a cleaner and greener India. The valuable contributions made by the Ministry, its attached offices and Oil and Gas CPSEs have gone towards making “Swachhata Hi Seva-2019” Campaign a huge success, and a stepping stone to eradicate Single Use Plastic from every nook and corner of our great nation, thereby making Swachh Bharat a reality.


  • INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION/ IMPORTANT AGREEMENTS/ CONTRACTS The 13th Edition of India’s flagship hydrocarbon Conference, PETROTECH-2019 was organised in February 2019 in New Delhi. This biennial International Conference presents the Indian hydrocarbon sector prevailing global oil and gas dynamics.


  • On 22nd September 2019, Hon’ble PM hosted a roundtable for CEOs of US Energy sector in Houston. During the event, Tellurian and PLL signed an MOU wherein PLL and its affiliates intend to negotiate the purchase of up to 5 MMTPA of LNG from the proposed Driftwood LNG project.


  • India co hosted AMER8 (Asian Ministerial Energy Roundtable 8) in Abu Dhabi in September 2019. India will host AMER9 in Indian in 2021. On 10th September 2019, Hon’ble PM and H.E. PM of Nepal, jointly inaugurated South Asia’s first cross-border petroleum products pipeline from Motihari in India to Amlekhgunj in Nepal through video conference. On 5th October 2019, Hon’ble PM and H.E. Sheikh Hasina, PM of Bangladesh jointly inaugurated the project to Import of Bulk LPG from Bangladesh through video-link.


  • On 8-9 Oct 2019, Minister PNG jointly inauguration the completed infrastructure works funded by Mongolia for the Oil Refinery in Shainshand, Mongolia. The refinery project is funded by India under LOC. The 3rd meeting of ITT (International Think Tank) was held in New Delhi on 13th October 2019 to discuss the challenges and the way forward for the Indian oil and Gas sector for the future.


  • The 3rd Edition of CERAWeek India Energy Forum event held in New Delhi from 14th – 15th October, 2019. During the event, Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas met with CEOs of global oil and gas majors. An MoU signed between Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited (ISPRL) and Saudi Aramco for exploring opportunity to fill two caverns in Padur SPRs.


  • An MoU was signed between MoPNG and Ministry of Energy of Russia on use of Natural Gas in transportation sector on 05th September 2019. A Joint Statement on Cooperation between India and Russia in Hydrocarbon Sector for 2019-2024 was issued in Vladivostok, Russia on 4th September 2019 after Hon’ble PM’s annual bilateral summit with H.E. Russian President. The Joint Statement provides a Roadmap to for India's private and public companies to explore the possibility of collaborating in LNG projects, including in the Arctic.


  • ETHANOL BLENDED PETROL (EBP) PROGRAMME Ethanol Supply Year (ESY) 2018-19, 188.57 crore litre of Ethanol has been procured by OMCs for blending purpose. For ESY 2019-20, the Government has fixed an enhanced remunerative price for ethanol procurement, based on raw material utilized viz. for C heavy Molasses at Rs. 43.75/- per litre, for B heavy Molasses at Rs. 54.27 per litre, for sugarcane juice/ sugar/ sugar syrup at Rs. 59.48/- per litre and for Damaged Food grains at Rs. 47.63/- per litre. Sugar and sugar syrup have been allowed for the first time for ethanol production to support the industry in liquidating their excess stocks. Government has published a long-term ethanol procurement policy so that the industry can take a long-term view on fresh investments in this sector. The amended provisions of Industries (Development & Regulation) Act, giving control on production, movement and storage of ethanol to the Central Government, have now been implemented in 13 States.


  • BIO-DIESEL PROGRAMME order to encourage production of biodiesel from Used Cooking Oil (UCO), Oil Marketing Companies have floated Expression of Interest on 10.08.2019, for supply of biodiesel produced from UCO at 100 locations across the country. This has been extended to 200 locations on 10.10.2019. The ex-factory UCO based biodiesel price has been fixed for three years. The price for the first year has been fixed at Rs 51/litre, for the second year at Rs 52.7/litre and for the third year at Rs 54.5/litre. GST and transportation shall be payable in addition to this price. MoP&NG has issued Gazette Notification dated 30.4.2019 on the subject ‘Guidelines for sale of Bio-diesel for blending with High Speed Diesel for transportation purposes - 2019’.


  • 2ND GENERATION ETHANOL Subsequent to opening up of alternate route i.e. Second Generation (2G) route for ethanol production, Oil Marketing Companies are in the process of setting up 12 2G bio-refineries with an investment of Rs.14,000 crores. Five 2G bio-refinery projects in Bhatinda, Bargarh, Numaligarh, Panipat and Gorakhpur are in advanced stage of construction.


  • In order to encourage setting up of second generation bio-fuels plants, Government has launched a scheme namely i.e. “Pradhan Mantri JI-VAN (Jaiv Indhan- Vatavaran Anukool fasal awashesh Nivaran) Yojana” for providing financial support to integrated bio-ethanol projects, using lignocellulosic biomass and other renewable feedstock. Under this scheme, proposals for assistance have come from IOCL (Panipat plant), BPCL (Bargarh), HPCL (Bhatinda), MRPL (Davangere), and NRL (Numaligarh) apart from IOC R&D for a Demonstration plant at Panipat.


Ministry of Commerce & Industry 16-December-2019 18:30 IST Year End Review -2019 of Ministry of Commerce & Industry

  • India among top 10 improvers in EODB; India ranks 63 rd among 190 countries 21,778 startups recognised under Startup India Initiative India ranked 52nd in Global Innovation Index NIRVIK: New Credit Scheme for Exporters announced; Infusion of Funds in ECGC for Export Support National Traders Welfare Board Established


  • India’s remarkable jump in World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Report 2020 India ranks 63rd among 190 countries improving by 14 ranks from its rank of 77 in 2019. India has improved its rank in 7 out of 10 indicators and has moved closer to international best practices. The 2020 edition of the Report acknowledges India as one of the top 10 improvers, third time in a row, with an improvement of 67 ranks in 3 years. It is also the highest jump by any large country since 2011.


  • Startup India- reaching new heights, making India a global leader in Innovation A total of 25,930 startups are now recognised under the Startup India Initiative, of which 7,033startups have been recognised since 1st June 2019. The Startup India Hub has 3,64,818 registered users of which 44,197 users have been added since 1st June 2019.With the amendment in Section 54GB of Income Tax Act on August 1st, 2019 the condition of minimum holding of 50% of share capital or voting rights in the startup has been relaxed to 25%.


  • India’s remarkable jump on the Global Innovation Index In the past 4 years India’s rank in the GII has improved from the 81st rank in 2015 to the present 52nd rank in GII 2019 report. India became the first developing country to launch the Global Innovation Index (GII) in association with World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and Confederation of India (CII).


  • In order to promote innovation the following measures have been taken: Final Patent (amendment) Rules, 2019 - published on 17th September, 2019 amending The Patents Rules, 2003 has led to significant simplification of rules, especially for startups and MSMEs. The Patent (Second Amendment) Rules, 2019 published to reduce fees for small entity/MSMEs for processing of patent applications under various sections of the Patents Act, 1970 will incentivise MSMEs to file for more parents.


  • In order to promote export the Department of Commerce has undertaken various measures: Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC) has introduced a new Export Credit Insurance Scheme (ECIS) called ‘NIRVIK’ for exporters in which increased insurance cover for export credit has been extended by banks from existing average of 60% to 90% for both Principal and Interest.


  • Accounts with limits below Rs. 80 crore, the premium rates will be moderated to 0.60 per annum and for those exceeding Rs. 80 crore, it will be 0.72 per annum for the same enhanced cover. It is expected that the initiative will cost about Rs 1,700 cr per annum. It will provide comfort to banks, bring down the cost of credit due to capital relief, less provision requirement and liquidity due to quick settlement of claims and will ensure timely and adequate working capital and relief to MSMEs.


  • To enhance ease of doing business, Deemed Export drawback has been allowed on All Industry Rate of drawback schedule. An online portal for filing applications under ‘Transport and Marketing Assistance (TMA)' scheme for Specified Agriculture Products has been launched.


  • Easing Exporters’ claims with ECGC through transparency A database has been prepared by ECGC for all pending claims and online access on status of claims has been provided. This will be a critical tool for providing information access to exporters.


  • The online “Origin Management System” gives single access point for all exporters, for all Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) and for all agencies. India has 15 FTAs/PTAs and 7 lakh ‘Certificates of Origin’ are issued annually. The platform will be made live for FTAs as per the concurrence of the concerned partner countries. This process is electronic, paperless and transparent with real time tracking of FTA utilisation at product level and country level. It will also lead to reduced transaction cost and time.


  • Scheme for Remission of Duties or Taxes on Export Product (RoDTEP) formulated to replace existing Merchandise Exports from India (MEIS) scheme. This will be a WTO compliant scheme for promotion of exports. Textiles and all other sectors which currently enjoy incentives upto 2% over MEIS will transit into RODTEP from 1.1.2020. RoDTEP will span all sectors and the revenue foregone will be about Rs 50,000 crore.


  • Infusion of funds for Export Support A capital of Rs. 389 crore has been infused into Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC) on 21st June 2019. This will provide extra support to exports to emerging and challenging markets like Africa, CIS, Latin America and Asian countries. A Grant-in-aid (corpus) of Rs. 300 crore has been contributed to National Export Insurance Account (NEIA) trust on 21st June 2019, thereby, enhancing its risk taking capacity to support project exports in challenging markets.


  • Boost to Gem and Jewellery exporters by resolution of various issues like removal of the requirement of paying IGST on re-import of goods which were exported earlier for exhibition purpose/consignment basis. Allowing partial discharge of bonds executed by nominated agencies/banks for import of gold to be supplied to jewellery exporters, thereby enabling nominated agencies/banks to release bank guarantee of jewellery exporters who have fulfilled their export obligation has helped in release of blocked working capital.


  • National Logistics Policy, 2019 The National Logistics Policy is being prepared with the aim to bring down total logistics cost from 14% to 9% of country's GDP. The policy aims to boost business competitiveness, drive economic growth and make India a global logistics hub.


  • The Multi-Modal Transportation of Goods Bill, 2019 has been finalised for approval. This aims at facilitating the movement of goods for exports, imports and domestic trade. It will help to fix accountability and liabilities for violation of its provisions.


  • Skilling for Logistics Sector 34 Qualification Packs (QPs) for skill development of manpower engaged in Logistics Sector have been developed and finalised in collaboration with Logistics Skill Council. This is the first time that such qualification packs have been developed.


  • Implementation of Agriculture Export Policy The Agriculture Export Policy has been approved with an outlay of Rs. 206 Crores for 2019-20. In order to establish linkage between FPOs and the exporters a portal has been created by Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA). About 740 Farmers Producer Organisation (FPO) have been registered under Farmers Connect Portal.


  • Schemes for backward regions Budgetary Support under GST Regime to the units located in Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and North Eastern States including Sikkim has been made. Rs. 1,700 crore has been authorised by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) to Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) for disbursement to eligible industrial units. Rs. 1,692 crore already been disbursed by CBIC under the Scheme till 15th November, 2019. During the last 6 months, Rs. 86 crore was disbursed to 420 industrial units under the Special Package to the Himalayan States.


  • Ensuring level playing field for domestic industry and farmers For Antidumping the average number of days taken for initiation of anti-dumping investigations has come down to 32 days in 2019 (up to 1st November) as against 259 days in 2016


  • Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) for the first time ever initiated 2 cases of bilateral safeguards to protect domestic industry from injury. No bilateral safeguard has ever been initiated in the past by DG Safeguards/ Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties. There has been significant drop in the number of days taken to initiate two cases of Global Safeguards. In 2019, the average number of days taken is just 61, as compared the standard 75 days.


  • In order to ensure interests of the Indian industry and farmers in FTAs India successfully laid out its stand in Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) India’s key concerns were not addressed. India took a strong stance to protect the interest of domestic producers. This decision will help vulnerable sectors including farmers and the dairy sector as well as small manufacturers, who would have been threatened by RCEP rules.


  • Indiahas also secured agreement for review of ASEAN FTA (ASEAN-India Free Trade Area-AIFTA) after repeated follow up. This will help in removing rules that affect Indian producers and exporters and will also promote Indian exports and Make in India.


  • Steel Import Monitoring System (SIMS) The SIMS will facilitate the Steel Industry by providing advance information about steel imports to all stakeholders including Government, steel industry and steel importers for effective policy interventions. Importers of specified steel products will register in advance on the web portal of SIMS providing necessary information. The registration will be online and automatic and no human intervention is required. SIMS has been notified with effect from 1st November, 2019.


  • Trade Facilitation Measures The completion of negotiation of India-Mauritius Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) will enable trade promotion between the two countries. Improving Trade with Bangladesh - Besides the four operational Border Haats across India-Bangladesh border in Tripura and Meghalaya, construction of three Border Haats in Meghalaya, out of six already identified locations (two in Tripura and four in Meghalaya) has been completed.


  • Merger of Council of Trade and Development and Board of Trade: providing a common platform for addressing stakeholder concerns This common platform, comprising of representatives from industry, export promotion councils, Government of India and State Governments and representatives from Banking and Finance Sector is playing a critical role in addressing export related concerns, with a focus on addressing these on a priority basis. The first meeting of this common platform took place on the 6th of June, 2019.


  • Special Economic Zone (Amendment) Bill, 2019; first legislation passed by newly formed Government SEZ (Amendment) Bill 2019 became the first legislation of the newly formed Government to be passed by the Parliament. This will enable any entity to set up an unit in SEZs, including Trusts. This will help boost investments and create new export and job opportunities.


  • Investments of USD 1.1 billion has been proposed since the ordinance was promulgated earlier this year. Better facilities for employees: SEZ units allowed to create facilities/amenities like crèche, gymnasium, cafeteria for their exclusive use as a measure towards ease of doing business.


  • Promoting Foreign Direct Investment 100% FDI has been allowed under the automatic route for coal mining activities including associated processing infrastructure. 100% FDI under automatic route has also been allowed in contract manufacturing. Providing more flexibility and ease of operations to Single Brand Retail Trading (SBRT) entities. All procurements made from India shall be counted towards local sourcing, whether goods are sold in India or exported. Online retail trading permitted up to two years prior to opening brick and mortar stores.


  • Boost to Make in India in Government Procurement Progressive amendments have been made to favour local suppliers like procurement upto Rs 50 lakhs has been exclusively reserved for local suppliers (except in certain cases). Only local suppliers eligible to bid for procurement of items, where there is sufficient local capacity and local competition, irrespective of purchase value.


  • Bicycle Development Council constituted for the benefit of Bicycle Industry The Indian bicycle industry is the world’s second largest bicycle industry. To develop the Bicycle industry and small part manufacturers towards global standards a Bicycle Development Council has been constituted.


  • National Institute of Design (Amendment) Act, 2019 Amendment to National Institute of Design (NID) Act was moved for consideration and passing in the Rajya Sabha on 6th August, 2019 to confer Institute of National Importance status to the four new NIDs Rajya Sabha has passed the Bill. It will be introduced in the forthcoming session of the Lok Sabha for consideration and passing. The four new NIDs at Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Assam and Haryana to be declared as Institutions of National Importance on the lines of NID, Ahmedabad. NIDs, Madhya Pradesh and NID, Assam have commenced academic session of 2019-20 from 29th July 2019.


  • Establishment of the National Traders' Welfare Board (July 26th, 2019) A long pending demand of traders has been fulfilled with the constitution of the Board to understand the issues and problems faced by traders and employees in their day to day business operations and for their welfare. The Board shall have a number of representatives from Traders' Associations as members.


Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports 20-December-2019 10:38 IST Year End Review -2019 Department of Sports

  • Several initiatives taken by the Department of Sports to Infuse Sporting Culture, Make India a Fit Nation, and Achieve Sporting Excellence


  • To make India a healthy and fit nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Fit India Movement on August 29,2019. Fit India has now become the people’s movement, with active participation of schools, colleges, institutions and people from all walks of life. In a path-breaking move, the Ministry made playfields and sporting infrastructure accessible to all sportspersons without fee. The year also witnessed India’s best ever performance in Archery World Championship, Commonwealth weightlifting and Table Tennis Championships, and South Asian Games.


  • Department of Sports under Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports undertook many initiatives during the year 2019 in order to infuse sporting culture and achieve sporting excellence in the country. Keeping in view the growing demands for advanced infrastructure, equipment and scientific support, Government of India has taken several measures and is providing the necessary assistance to sportspersons by way of training and exposure in international competitions backed up with scientific and equipment support:


  • 1.Fit India Movement: Fit India Movement was launched by the Department of Sports on the occasion of National Sports Day i.e. August 29, 2019, with the objective to make fitness an integral part of daily life of Indians, by encouraging them to enrol and participate in Fitness Events/Activities organized during the Campaign Period commencing from August 29, 2019 and will end on August 29, 2023.


  • Fit India Movement would involve all Indians, irrespective of their gender, age, profession, residence, social/financial status, etc. and whether living in India or abroad and covers all aspects having a bearing on fitness and healthy living viz., physical fitness, mental fitness, healthy life style, healthy eating habits, health and balance diet, preventive health care, sustainable and environment friendly living, etc.


  • 2. Initiatives/activities under Fit India Movement: On the occasion of the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi i.e. October 02, 2019, more than 1500 Fit India Plog Runs were organised across the country under Fit India Movement. Fit India School Week and Fit India Certificate System was launched in coordination with Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of School Education & Literacy.


  • 3.Department of Sports during the meeting of National Sports Federations on October 11, 2019 decided to allow sports events in all sporting facilities owned by the Government free of cost in order to further the Fit India Movement and to make playfields and sporting infrastructure accessible without any fee to sportspersons across the country from November 01, 2019. The sporting facilities will also be accessible free of cost to non-government coaches training athletes.


  • 4. Khelo India Youth Games 2019: The Khelo India Youth Games 2019 were held from 9th to 20th January 2019 at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Mahalunge-Balewadi, Pune, with Maharashtra as the Host State. A total of 403 events were conducted across 18 sporting disciplines, with 379 individual events and 24 Team events. Maharashtra emerged the Overall Champions, followed by Haryana and Delhi. These Games had an overwhelming participation, comprising of more than 5925 athletes from all States/UTs, 1096 support staff, 893 Technical officials, 1021 Volunteers and 1500 officials from Central and State Governments. The KIYG Maharashtra 2019 was telecast live for 8 hours each day for 12 days on Star Sports & DD Sports. A Mass Athlete Awareness Programme against Doping in Sports was carried out by National Anti-Doping Agency during these Games, educating 3201 national level young athletes. Moreover, 476 dope tests of the participating athletes were carried out.


  • 5. National Conference on ‘Prevention of Doping in Sports’: A two-day National Conference on Anti-Doping was organized by Physical Education Foundation of India in association with National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) on 30-31st January, 2019 at New Delhi. Various Speakers including the Union Sports Minister; Minister of State (Health); Shri Ashwani Kumar Choubey; Shri Manoj Tiwari, MP; Smt. Mary Kom, MP; DG, NADA gave valuable insights into the ways and means of preventing doping in sports. The conference was attended by University and College coaches and sports enthusiasts from all over the country


  • 6. Web Ratna under Digital India Awards-2018 to the website of the Ministry:The website of the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports won the Web Ratna (Silver) under Digital India Awards-2018. The awards are given in acknowledgement of exemplary initiatives taken by the Ministry in e-governance using the medium of World Wide Web.


  • 7. Lakshmibai National Institute of Physical Education (LNIPE): A 2-days National Conference on Physical Education & Sports Sciences was conducted by the Department of Physiology at LNIPE, Gwalior on 25th& 26th February, 2019. Prof D.K. Dureha, Vice-Chancellor of LNIPE, was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding contribution in the field of Physical Education & Sports Psychology at International Conference of Sports Psychology & Yogic Sciences, Nagpur on February 16-17, 2019.


  • 8. National Sports Awards 2019: The President of India conferred National Sports Awards 2019 in a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhawan on August 29, 2019. This year, 32 sportspersons and 5 entities were selected for National Sports Awards in different categories. MAULANA ABUL KALAM AZAD (MAKA) TROPHY, 2019 has been conferred on Punjab University, Chandigarh.


  • 9 Annual Calendar for Training and Competitions (ACTC), which decides the training camps as well as the competition schedule for both the junior and senior teams in respect of the various sports disciplines at National Level, has been prepared for the current financial year on an online platform. The approved ACTC Calendar and Budget has been made available in public domain with a link on the website of Sports Authority of India.


  • 10. Rationalization of diet and food supplement charges:A decision has been taken to provide financial assistance towards diet, food supplements to all athletes whether Senior, Junior or Sub-Junior athletes. Earlier Senior, Junior athletes and SAI trainees had different diets which has been done away with to ensure parity amongst all level of trainees.


  • 11. Conference of the State Ministers and Secretaries of Youth Affairs & Sports was organized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports on November 15, 2019 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, with a view to take concerted efforts in well-coordinated manner by both Centre as well as State/UT Governments for promotion and development of sports in the country.


  • 12. Achievements in different Games and Sports at National and International Levels: India jointly topped the medal tally with Hungary in the ISSF World Cup (Rifle/Pistol) held at Zian (China), winning 03 Gold & 01 Silver medals. 28 Gold medals in Asian Youth Chess Championship held in Sri Lanka, 02 Gold medals in Asian Athletics Championship held at Doha (Qatar) and 02 Gold medals Asian Boxing Championship held at Bangkok (Thailand) in April, 2019 are other significant achievements.


  • India won one silver and two bronze medals at the Archery World Championship, held in Hertogenbosch, Netherlands from June 10 to 16, 2019, making it the best-ever medal haul in an Archery World Championship. With this performance, India also obtained a quota for archery in Tokyo Olympics, 2020.


  • India topped the medal tally at the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships, 2019 held in Apia, Samoa from July 9-14, 2019 in both Junior and Senior age groups by winning 35 medals (22 gold, 10 silver and 3 bronze medals), across the three age groups, with 32 different athletes (15 men and 17 women). This is India’s best ever performance in this tournament.


  • India grabbed all the gold medals (seven) in the 21st Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships held in Cuttack (India) in July, 2019. In individual Sports Events, Hima Das won five gold medals within 20 days’ period in various International Athletics Events held in July, 2019. This is her best ever performance in 200m and 400m race.


  • Dutee Chand became the first Indian woman athlete to win a gold medal at the World Universiade in a 100m sprint event held in July, 2019.


  • Badminton World Championships, 2019: P.V. Sindhu won gold medal at the BWF World Championships 2019 held from 19 to 25 August, 2019 at St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland. She became the first-ever Indian badminton player to win a gold medal at this event.


  • India bagged four quota in wrestling for Tokyo Olympic 2020 with strong performance of Indian wrestlers (one silver and 4 bronze medals) in recently concluded World Wrestling Championships 2019 held in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan during September 14-22, 2019.


  • Special Olympics, 2019: Special Olympics, 2019 were held in Abu Dhabi (UAE) during March 14-21, 2019, wherein 284 Indian Athletes participated. Indian players won 368 medals including 85 Gold, 154 Silver and 129 Bronze. India stood at 3rd position in the tournament’s Medal Tally.


  • South Asian Games, 2019: The XIIISouth Asian Games, 2019, were hosted by Nepal and were played in Kathmandu and Pokhara from 1st to 10th December, 2019 among 7 participating nations. India bagged first position, with 312 medals including 174 gold, 93 silver and 45 bronze.


  • 13. India’s Olympic Preparation, Tokyo: The Nation’s sporting preparations continues to be backed by two major Schemes of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS), Govt. of India (GoI), implemented by Sports Authority of India (SAI), namely, Annual Calendar for Training and Competitions (ACTC) which caters to all the preparations including training and competition for Indian teams up to Sep 2020 for both Olympics and Para-Olympics 2020 and Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) which provides assistance to India’s top athletes in their pursuit of an Olympic medal. Under Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) 58 Core Probable have been identified and are being supported for 2020 Olympic Games and a further 18 for 2020 Paralympic Games.