A MoU was signed between All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) and Delhi Police today for extending the Ayurveda Preventive and Promotive health services in the residential colonies of Delhi Police. These services are to be provided through a mobile unit named ‘Dhanwantari Rath’ and Police Wellness Centres and are to be catered by AIIA, supported by Ministry of AYUSH.

A Signed MOU was exchanged between Commissioner of Delhi Police Shri S N Shrivastava and Shri Pramod Kumar Pathak, Additional Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH. The Dhanvantri Rath was flagged off in the presence of Prof. Tanuja Nesari, Director, AIIA.

AYURAKSHA a joint venture of AIIA, an autonomous Institute under Ministry of AYUSH and Delhi Police aims for maintaining the health of frontline COVID warriors like Delhi police personal through Ayurveda immunity boosting measures. In continuation of the project, Ayurveda Preventive and Promotive health care are now planned to be extended to the families of Delhi Police personnel.

Ministry of Agriculture has prepared a comprehensive action plan towards promotion of agri trade; the twofold approach focuses on boosting Agri Export with emphasis on value addition and action plan for Import Substitution

Export Promotion Forums for specific agri products constituted under APEDA at the behest of Ministry of Agriculture Posted On: 18 AUG 2020 12:50PM by PIB Delhi

Self-reliant agriculture is critical for the goal of an Atmanirbhar Bharat. For this, agricultural export is extremely important as besides earning precious foreign exchange for the country, the exports help farmers/producers/exporters to take advantage of wider international market and increase their income. Exports have also resulted in increased production in agriculture sector by increasing area coverage and productivity.

As per WTO’s Trade Statistics, share of India’s agricultural exports and imports in the world agriculture trade in 2017 was 2.27% and 1.90%, respectively. Even during the difficult time of pandemic lockdown, India took care to not to disturb the world food supply chain and continued to export. The exports of Agri commodities during March 2020 to June 2020 were Rs. 25552.7 Crore against an export of Rs. 20734.8 Crore during the same period in 2019, showing a sharp increase of 23.24%.

The agricultural exports as a percentage of India’s agricultural GDP has increased from 9.4 % in 2017-18 to 9.9 % in 2018-19. While the agricultural imports as a percentage of India’s agricultural GDP has declined from 5.7 % to 4.9 % indicating exportable surplus and decreased dependence on import of agricultural products in India.

Giant strides have been made in agri export since independence. In 1950-51, India’s agri export was about Rs. 149 crores which has risen to the level of Rs. 2.53 lakh crores in 2019-20. There has been substantial increase in export of almost all the agricultural items in the last 15 years, but despite being one of the top producers of agricultural products, India does not figure among top exporters of agricultural produce.

For example, India holds second rank in the world wheat production but ranks 34th in export. Similarly, despite being world No. 3 in production of vegetables, the export ranking of India is only 14th. Same is the case for fruits, where India is the second largest producer in the world but export ranking is 23rd. To reach the ranks of top exporting nation in Agriculture, commensurate with the production, there is a clear and categorical need to take proactive interventions.

In view thereof, DAC&FW has prepared a comprehensive action plan/strategy towards promotion of agri trade. A detailed exploration of data and issues of pre-production, production, and post-harvest has been undertaken to evolve an end to end approach for developing a holistic strategy.

An analysis of product groups and then specific commodities has been done with regard to present status of production & exports, strengths, challenges and thereafter interventions have been identified after consultations with stakeholders. The twofold approach addresses boosting Agri Export with emphasis on value addition and focussed action plan for Import Substitution. The interventions so identified have been converted into a timed action plan.

To mention a few, the Export strategy focuses on export promotion of fast evolving niche markets of Wellness food/ Health conscious food/nutraceuticals; Development of “Brand India” in campaign mode to help penetration into new foreign markets and of new products which automatically translates into higher value realisation;

Gulf countries have been identified as focus destination to increase the market share which is a strong market for India though presently India caters to only 10-12% share of their total imports. A product market matrix has been made containing list of products of strength which could be expanded in new geographies and list of known markets which can be introduced with newer products.

It is also noted that Horticulture is a growing sub-sector. India holds 2nd position in production of fruits and vegetables. It exports 8.23 Lakh MT (LMT) of fruits worth Rs 5,638 crore and 31.92 LMT of vegetables worth Rs 5,679 Crores annually. Grapes occupy the premier position in fresh fruit exports followed by Mango, Pomegranate, Banana, and Oranges.

In fresh vegetable export basket, Onions, Mixed Vegetables, Potatoes, Tomatoes, and Green Chilly are the major items. However, world trade of fruits and vegetables is US$ 208 billion and India’s share is miniscule. There is huge potential to increase export in fruits and vegetables. As such, specific strategy for export promotion has also been evolved for Fresh Fruits & Vegetables with specific emphasis on grapes, mango, pomegranate, onion, potato & Cucumber-Gherkin.

It is also emphasised that the existing Agri clusters are required to be strengthened and more product clusters to be developed to fulfil the gap of bulk quantity and quality of supplies. A time bound action plan has also been prepared for import substitution with particular focus upon Edible Oils, Cashew, fruits and spices thereby making India self –reliant.

At the behest of Department of Agricultural Cooperation & Farmers’ Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture, product specific Export Promotion Forums have been created to lead agri exports to new heights. Export promotion forums (EPFs) for eight agri & allied products viz. Grapes, Mango, Banana, Onion, Rice, Nutri-Cereals, Pomegranate and Floriculture have been constituted under the aegis of Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), Department of Commerce.

Each Export Promotion Forum shall be having exporters of the related commodity as its members along with official members representing concerned Ministries/Departments of the Central and State Governments. Chairman APEDA shall be the chairman of each of these forums. The forums will meet at least once in every two months, to discuss/ make recommendations on issues pertaining to export of the respective commodity and invite experts etc. to the meeting for interaction, as required.

The Forums will constantly monitor and identify/anticipate developments in the external/internal situation pertaining to the production and export of their respective commodity and recommend /intervene for taking the necessary policy/ administrative measures.

They will be in active touch with the producers, exporters and other relevant stakeholders of respective commodities and hear their problems, and facilitate, support and provide solutions to them. They will regularly study the market for respective commodities on a global basis, and identifying opportunities and developments / implications for domestic entities, and disseminate the same expeditiously to domestic producers and exporters.

Amidst the outbreak of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis in the country, the Government of India had announced various economic measures under the AtmaNirbhar Bharat Package (ANBP) in the middle of May 2020 for migrant workers across the country.

Pursuant to this, the Department of Food & Public Distribution had allocated a total quantity of about 8 Lakh MT of foodgrains to all States/UTs which was communicated to all States/ UTs on 15th May 2020 under the “AtmaNirbhar Bharat Scheme (ANBS)” to help mitigate the food-security requirements of migrant/stranded migrants across the country.

This scheme specially provided to cover all such persons who wereneither covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) nor under any other State PDS scheme or were not able to access PDS foodgrains for any reason, during the unprecedented COVID-19 situation.

The number of inter-state migrants was not documented anywhere but as a matter of abundant precaution and taking into account the extensive media coverage, a very liberal estimate of about 8 Crore migrants/stranded migrant persons across the country was made.

The intention was to provide adequately for all eventualities so that the allocation did not fall short of the requirement. It needs to be emphasized thatno data on actual or estimated number of such persons across the country was available with either the Central Government or the State Governments. In fact, the scale of the problem, as got highlighted in the media, was such that it required a compassionate and generous response from the Government so that no one was left out.

Accordingly, the Department of Food & Public Distribution had liberally allocated a quantum of foodgrains to cover maximum migrants/stranded migrants in the country. In order to ensure that there was uniform availability of foodgrains, each state was allocated additionalfoodgrains aggregating to 10% of the nearly 81CroreNFSA population in the country. Thus, Food Department allocated about 4 LMT food-grain per month and a total of 8 LMT for a period of two months i.e. May and June 2020.

This was sufficient to cover about 8 crore migrant/ stranded migrants,if at all that was the number in reality.Further, States/UTs were given complete freedom to identify and distribute this additional ration to anyone who did not possess any ration card or was not able to access foodgrains due to crisis, and were requested to develop suitable mechanisms for the identification of persons and subsequent distribution of free foodgrains to them. Further, this Department of Food & Public Distribution regularly interacted with States/UTs and also proactively clarified to all States/UTs that besides migrants/stranded migrants, the distribution of free food-grains under AtmaNirbhar Bharat Scheme(ANBS) can also be done to all such persons, who do not have NFSA/State ration cardor its details.

During implementation of AtmaNirbhar Bharat Scheme (ANBS), the Food & Civil Supplies Departments in all States/UTs made rigorous efforts to identify maximum number of migrants/stranded migrants in their States/UTs such as persons in transit, quarantine centers,labour camps, construction sites, etc. and also took support from their counterpartsin Labour Departments, district administrations, civil society, NGOs, etc. and thus based on the identification/ surveys the States/UTs combined had indicated an estimated figure of about 2.8 Crore migrants/stranded migrants whocould be potentially benefitted from the distribution of free foodgrains under the ANB Scheme and mobilized all resources on a war-footing to distribute the freefoodgrains to all such persons, not only through the Fair Price Shops (FPSs) but also through special distribution centers across major roads & highways, quarantine centers, shelter homes, labour camps, etc. and through use of mobile vans to reach out to maximum number such persons wherever they were.

The AtmaNirbhar Bharat Scheme (ANBS) was announced in the middle of May 2020,and after the identification of such migrants/stranded migrants by States and UTs, a total of about 6.38 LMT foodgrains was lifted by States/UTs based on their own initial estimates which was also liberal and driven by their sense of abundant pre-caution so that no migrant/stranded migrant got left out.While this exercise was going on, many States/UTs later informed that a majority of such migrant persons had already left their States/UTs and had moved back to their home States/UTs, where they may be having access to either NFSA or State PDS foodgrains. Thus, the lifted quantity of 6.38 LMT of foodgrainscould not be completely utilised/distributed. As a result, States/UTshad distributed only about 2.3 LMT foodgrains by end of June,2020. However as per requests received from many States/UTs, the distribution period of the already lifted foodgrains was extended by another two months i.e. up to 31st August 2020, in order to providethe States/UTs adequate opportunity to cover maximum number of migrants/stranded migrants.

As per reports available up to 17th August 2020, out of total 6.38 LMT lifted foodgrains, a total of about ­­­2.49 LMT (39%) foodgrains have been distributed by the States/UTs under the scheme to identified migrants/stranded migrants.With the distributiongoing on until 31st August 2020, it is expected that some more migrant persons may benefit from free foodgrains under ANBS by then. The low utilization clearly confirms that the actual number of migrant workers was actually much less and if they had returned to their home states then they were already covered either under NFSA or State Ration Card scheme.

Further, it is also relevant to mention that besides distribution of free food-grains under ANBS, some of the States like Uttar Pradesh,Bihar, Tripura, Manipur, J&K have also issued new ration cards after March, 2020 to beneficiaries, not covered earlier,adding nearly 45 Lakh, 15 Lakh, 25,000, 10,000, and 35,000 persons respectively to regularly receive subsidised quota foodgrains under the NFSA/PMGKAY.

This means about 60.70 lakh additional persons got covered during this period who were not covered earlier as they were outside the state and on return got new cards made. And this number could easily be added to the 2.51 crore migrants who got coverage under ANBP, raising the number of actual beneficiaries to 3.81 crore on a monthly basis. Besides, many States/UTs have drawn subsidised foodgrains from the Open Market Sales Scheme (OMSS) and have provided the same to various civil societies, NGOs, district administrations to deliver either food-kits/ cooked meals/ etc. to many more migrants who needed food assistance during the time of utmost crisis. States have also used SDRF resources in the initial period to cater to food requirement of migrants/stranded migrants.

NFSA covers nearly 81 Crore persons and Some States/UTs’own scheme including tide over foodgrains coveringadditional20 Crore persons. Thus, after covering more than100 Crore persons under PDS through NFSA and State/UTs’ own scheme, the provision for additional8 Crorepersons was deliberately on the liberal side and the moderate utilization clearly shows thatthe actual number of inter-state migrants was much less than anticipated earlier.This also shows that provision was more than sufficient and did not fall short of requirement of migrants/stranded migrants. The interpretation that 8 Crore migrant actually existed, and should have been served is thus not a correct interpretation of facts.

Also, it should be a matter of further satisfaction that this number turned out to be much less at 2.33Crore in May and another 2.37 Crore in June, falling in the range of assessment made by the State/UTs by the end of May,2020 reflecting aindicative figure of 2.80 crore. In addition, 60.70 lakh additional persons were covered after March, 2020 who after returning to states are getting regular ration under NFSA/PMGKAY and therefore, the number of 8 Crore persons should not to be construed as the real target and underperformance of ANBP.

The fact that even after the extension of the distribution time of the already lifted quantity of food-grains by the States/UTsto July and August, 2020, only over 21 lakh beneficiaries could be covered in July by all states and about 6 lakh beneficiaries in August, is an indication that all migrants/stranded migrants have been covered and the ANB scheme has served the purpose for which it was brought out.It should, therefore, be seen as success of this timely intervention rather otherwise.

Registration process begins on 18th August 2020 through MyGov portal Opportunity for 100 Semi-finalists to win total Rs. 1.00 Crore of Award, 25 Finalists to win total Rs. 1.00 Crore of Award

Top 10 teams entering the finale, will get the seed fund of total Rs 2.30 Crore and 12 months of incubation support Indigenously developed microprocessors SHAKTI and VEGA have been rolled out under the aegis of Microprocessor Development Programme of MeitY Posted On: 18 AUG 2020 3:31PM by PIB Delhi

Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister of Law & Justice, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology, launched today “Swadeshi Microprocessor Challenge- Innovate Solutionsfor #Aatmanirbhar Bharat” to provide further impetus to the strong ecosystem of Start-up, innovation and research in the country.

IIT Madras and Center for Development of Advance Computing (CDAC) have developed two microprocessors named SHAKTI (32 bit) and VEGA (64 bit) respectively using Open Source Architecture under the aegis of Microprocessor Development Programme of Ministry of Electronics and IT. “Swadeshi Microprocessor Challenge- Innovate Solutions for #Aatmanirbhar Bharat” seeks to invite innovators, startups and students to use these microprocessors to develop various technology products.

As one of the concrete steps towards realizing the ambition of self-reliance and a momentous stride towards “Atmanirbhar Bharat”, this initiative is aimed at not only meeting India’s future requirements of strategic and industrial sectors but also has the potential to mitigate the issues of security, licensing, technology obsolescence and most crucially cutting dependency on imports.

The design, development & fabrication of these state-of-the-art processor variants at foundry in the country and abroad, is the successful step to leapfrog to ultimate goal of vibrant ecosystem of Electronic System Design & Manufacturing in the country.

The “Swadeshi Microprocessor Challenge” is part of the series of proactive, preemptive and graded measures taken by Ministry of Electronics and IT to spur the technology led innovation ecosystem in the country and staying at the forefront of digital adoption.

Open to students at all levels and startups, the Challenge demands contestants to not only tinker with these Swadeshi Processor IPs & facilitate them with innovating the frugal solutions for societal needs but also make available the entire home-grown ecosystem around Swadeshi Processors to develop the complex designs for catering to both global and domestic requirements in near future.

Ministry of Electronics and IToffers a slew of benefits to the contestants and technology resources that include not only the internship opportunities and regular technical guidance from the best VLSI & Electronics System Design Experts in the country but also the business mentorship & funding support, facilitated by Incubation Centres. Financial support to the tune of Rs. 4.30 Crore at various stages of the Challenge for developing the hardware prototype and incubating a start-up is being offered.

The Challenge spread over 10 months, kick-starts with registration process at https://innovate.mygov.in on 18th August 2020 and culminates in June 2021, with an opportunity for 100 Semi-finalists to win total Rs. 1.00 Crore of Award, 25 Finalists to win total Rs. 1.00 Crore of Award and top 10 teams entering the finale, will get the seed fund of total Rs 2.30 Crore and 12 months incubation support.

Above all, participants will get an opportunity to translate their innovations around Swadeshi Processors, showcase them at a higher viewership platform and facilitate them to scale from ideation to marketplace, thereby standing a chance to contribute to the overall mission of #AtmaNirbharta of Government.