Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has invited suggestions and comments from public and all the stakeholders on a draft notification proposing to amend CMVR 1989 through GSR 491(E) dated 5th August 2020 to-

(i) separate the emission norms for Agricultural machinery (agricultural tractors, power tillers and combined harvesters) and Construction Equipment Vehicles and

(ii) Change the nomenclature of emission norms from Bharat Stage (CEV/TREM)–IV and Bharat Stage (CEV/TREM) –V to a. TREM Stage-IV and TREM Stage-V for Agricultural Tractors and other Equipments,

b. CEV Stage – IV and CEV Stage-V for the Construction Equipment Vehicles. This has been done to avoid any confusion, between the emission norms of other Motor vehicles which has BS as norms.

iii. Further, considering the request of the Ministry of Agriculture, Tractor Manufacturers and agriculture associations to provide some more time in implementing the next stage of emission norms for tractors (TREM Stage-IV) applicable w.e.f 01st Oct 2020 the same has been proposed to be deferred to 01st Oct 2021. Also for thr CEVs the applicability of next phase of emission norms are proposed to be applicable wef 1st Apr 2021 providing a deferment of six months.

The far-flung tribal village of Chullyu in Arunachal Pradesh will soon be bustling with spinning and weaving activities with Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) set to open the first of its kind Training cum Production Center of Silk in the state. Conceived just six months ago, the center will be launched in the first week of September. The KVIC has refurbished and converted a dilapidated school building into the training cum production center. The school building has been provided to KVIC by the education department of Arunachal Pradesh Government.

Machinery like handlooms, Charkha, Silk reeling machines and warping drums have already arrived and installation of machines are in full swing. The first batch of 25 local artisans of Chullyu village has been selected to begin the training with.

The project was conceived in February this year during the visit of KVIC Chairman Shri Vinai Kumar Saxena to this tribal village Chullyu. Identifying a great potential of silk production and other activities of village industries in the village, Saxena immediately sanctioned setting up of training cum production center for the Eri Silk, which is traditionally worn by local tribals. The work, however, progressed at a slow pace due to Covid-19 lockdown.

Recently KVIC also distributed 250 honey bee boxes in Chullyu village which has rich flora for production of high-altitude honey. Located on the main highway just 30 km before the most popular tourist spot Ziro, Chullyu is a scenic village known for its eco-friendly ways of living. It is easily approachable by tourists which is an advantage for the local artisans.

“The training cum production center is the first of its kind facility in Arunachal Pradesh and a big boost to weaving activities in the entire region. Training of artisans and supporting the production of Eri Silk, which is indigenous to the North Eastern states, will create local employment and sustainable development in the region which is aligned with the Prime Minister’s vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat,” Saxena said. “KVIC will also create an exclusive page on its online portal to market their products,” he added.

The development assumes significance as the tribal population in Arunachal Pradesh, men and women alike, traditionally wear Eri Silk and Khadi Cotton clothes which carries a deep significance to their egalitarian tribal society. However, the people of the state have to buy Silk from outside markets including those in Assam.

KVIC has also planned design intervention by engaging professional design institutes like NIFT Shillong, NID Jorhat and even local designers in Arunachal to develop new designs to suit the modern taste of tribal youths.

KVIC also aims to connect the center with the tourists visiting Ziro tourist spot and thus providing an assured market to the local artisans for their products. The production center will be equipped to cater to the market demand. For the initial period, KVIC will also provide raw material and expenditure on training and wages and the cost of developing the prototypes of new designs.

“Many unprecedented steps have been taken to double the income of farmers and for the development of the agriculture sector. I am confident that due to the untiring efforts of PM Narendra Modi, Indian agriculture will become world class in the times to come ”

"Agriculture Infrastructure Fund" will accelerate the creation of many infrastructure projects such as cold storage, collection centers, processing units so that our hardworking farmers can get the true value for their produce

"Agriculture Infrastructure Fund" will generate new employment opportunities and also strengthen the rural economy.

Union Home Minister expressed his gratitude to PM Modi for launching the ₹1,00,000 Cr ‘Agriculture Infrastructure Fund’ and transferring ₹17,000 Cr in the accounts of 8.5 Cr farmers under ‘PM-Kisan’ for the development of agriculture sector & rural areas

Posted On: 09 AUG 2020 3:32PM by PIB Delhi Union Home Minister expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for launching the ₹1,00,000 Cr ‘Agriculture Infrastructure Fund’ approved by the cabinet and for transferring ₹17,000 Cr to the accounts of 8.5 Cr farmers under ‘PM-Kisan’ for the development of agriculture sector & rural areas.

1.5 lakh tele-consultations completed through ‘eSanjeevani’ and ‘eSanjeevaniOPD’ Posted On: 09 AUG 2020 5:38PM by PIB Delhi

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, today presided over a review meeting with States/UTs on the “eSanjeevani” and “eSanjeevaniOPD” platforms as1.5 lakh tele-consultations were completed on the tele-medicine service platforms of the Health Ministry. Sh. Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare was also present. Dr.C.Vijaya Baskar, Health Minister of Tamil Nadu joined virtually.

In a short span of time since November 2019, tele-consultation by eSanjeevaniand eSanjeevaniOPD have been implemented by 23 States (which covers 75% of the population) and other States are in the process of rolling it out.

In a landmark achievement, the national telemedicine service has completed more than 1,50,000 tele-consultations enabling patient to doctor consultations from the confines of their home, as well as doctor to doctor consultations.

Expressing appreciation for this accomplishment, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said, “Under the guidance of Hon’ble Prime Minister, we have started implementing the vision of Digital India through broadband and mobile phones at the Ayushman Bharat - Health and Wellness Centres. With the cooperation of States and UTs, and a pool of selfless and talented medical practitioners and specialists, we have been able to provide healthcare services through tele-medicine platform such as eSanjeevani. This has substantially augmented our health infrastructure during the COVID pandemic”.

Echoing similar sentiments, Sh. Ashwini K. Choubey remarked that it would be a “gamechanger for people in the rural areas who do not have easy access to medical specialists located in cities”.

This eSanjeevani platform has enabled two types of telemedicine services viz. Doctor-to-Doctor (eSanjeevani) and Patient-to-Doctor (eSanjeevani OPD) Tele-consultations. The former is being implemented under the Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centre (AB-HWCs) programme.

It is planned to implement tele-consultation in all the 1.5 lakh Health and Wellness Centres (as spokes) in a ‘Hub and Spoke’ model, by December 2022. States have identified and set up dedicated ‘Hubs’ in Medical Colleges and District hospitals to provide tele-consultation services to ‘Spokes’, i.e SHCs and PHCs. As on date, 12,000 users comprising Community Health Officers and Doctors have been trained to make use of this national e-platform. Presently, telemedicine is being provided through more than 3,000 HWCs in 10 States.

Owing to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Health Ministry launched the second tele-consultation service enabling patient-to-doctor telemedicine through ‘eSanjeevaniOPD’. Offered at no cost, this e-health service is rapidly gaining popularity as citizens in around 20 States are now consulting doctors without having to go to the hospital physically.

Around 2800 doctors have been trained and on-boarded at eSanjeevaniOPD and every day around 250 doctors and specialists across the country provide eHealth services despite the lockdown has been relaxed in phases. This service is available as an Android mobile application as well. This has made it convenient for the people to avail of the health services without having to travel. It also ensures that the patient gets to see the doctor in around five minutes after logging in.

Import embargo on 101 items beyond given timelines to boost indigenisation of defence production Posted On: 09 AUG 2020 4:59PM by PIB Delhi

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in his address to the Nation on May 12, 2020 had given a clarion call for a self-reliant India based on the five pillars, i.e., Economy, Infrastructure, System, Demography & Demand and announced a special economic package for Self-Reliant India named ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’. Taking cue from that evocation, the Department of Military Affairs (DMA), Ministry of Defence (MoD) has prepared a list of 101 items for which there would be an embargo on the import beyond the timeline indicated against them, as indicated in the attached Annexure.

This is a big step towards self-reliance in defence. It also offers a great opportunity to the Indian defence industry to rise to the occasion to manufacture the items in the negative list by using their own design and development capabilities or adopting the technologies designed and developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to meet the requirements of the Armed Forces in the coming years.

The list is prepared by MoD after several rounds of consultations with all stakeholders, including Army, Air Force, Navy, DRDO, Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs), Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) and private industry to assess current and future capabilities of the Indian industry for manufacturing various ammunition/weapons/platforms/equipment within India.

Almost 260 schemes of such items were contracted by the Tri-Services at an approximate cost of Rs 3.5 lakh crore between April 2015 and August 2020. With latest embargo on import of 101 items, it is estimated that contracts worth almost Rs four lakh crore will be placed upon the domestic industry within the next five to seven years. Of these, items worth almost Rs 1,30,000 crore each are anticipated for the Army and the Air Force while items worth almost Rs 1,40,000 crore are anticipated by the Navy over the same period.

The list of 101 embargoed items comprises of not just simple parts but also some high technology weapon systems like artillery guns, assault rifles, corvettes, sonar systems, transport aircrafts, light combat helicopters (LCHs), radars and many other items to fulfil the needs of our Defence Services. The list also includes, wheeled armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) with indicative import embargo date of December 2021, of which the Army is expected to contract almost 200 at an approximate cost of over Rs 5,000 crore.

Similarly, the Navy is likely to place demands for submarines with indicative import embargo date of December 2021, of which it expects to contract about six at an approximate cost of almost Rs 42,000 crore. For the Air Force, it is decided to enlist the light combat aircraft LCA MK 1A with an indicative embargo date of December 2020. Of these, 123 are anticipated at an approximate cost of over Rs 85,000 crore. Hence, there are highly complex platforms that are included in the list of 101 items, of which details of three examples are given above.

The embargo on imports is planned to be progressively implemented between 2020 to 2024. The aim behind promulgation of the list is to apprise the Indian defence industry about the anticipated requirements of the Armed Forces so that they are better prepared to realise the goal of indigenisation. The MoD has adopted many progressive measures to encourage and facilitate ‘Ease of Doing Business’ by the defence Production entities. All necessary steps would be taken to ensure that timelines for production of equipment as per the Negative Import List are met, which will include a co-ordinated mechanism for hand holding of the industry by the Defence Services.

More such equipment for import embargo would be identified progressively by the DMA in consultation with all stakeholders.

A due note of this will also be made in the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) to ensure that no item in the negative list is processed for import in the future.

In another relevant step, the MoD has bifurcated the capital procurement budget for 2020-21 between domestic and foreign capital procurement routes. A separate budget head has been created with an outlay of nearly Rs 52,000 crore for domestic capital procurement in the current financial year.

Rs. 17000 Crore transferred by PM to nearly 8.5 Crore farmers under PM-KISAN through direct benefit transfer to Aadhaar linked bank accounts

Rs. 1000 Crore sanctioned to over 2280 farmer societies under Agriculture Infrastructure Fund within 30 days of receiving Cabinet approval for the Central Sector Scheme

Farmers are now ready to be entrepreneurs, in line with the vision of doubling farmers’ income: PM Posted On: 09 AUG 2020 12:13PM by PIB Delhi

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today launched a new Central Sector Scheme of financing facility under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund of Rs. 1 Lakh Crore. The scheme will support farmers, PACS, FPOs, Agri-entrepreneurs, etc. in building community farming assets and post-harvest agriculture infrastructure. These assets will enable farmers to get greater value for their produce as they will be able to store and sell at higher prices, reduce wastage, and increase processing and value addition.

Today, only 30 days after Cabinet formally approved the scheme, the first sanction of over Rs. 1000 Crore was made to over 2,280 farmer societies. The event was conducted through video conference and was attended by lakhs of farmers, FPOs, cooperatives, PACS, and citizens joining from across the country.

At the same event, the Prime Minister also released the 6th installment under the PM-KISAN scheme of Rs. 17,000 Crore to nearly 8.5 Crore farmers. The cash benefit was transferred directly to their Aadhaar verified bank accounts with the press of a button. With this transfer, the scheme has provided over 90,000 Crore in the hands of more than 10 Crore farmers since its launch on 01 December 2018.

Interaction with Primary Agriculture Credit Societies Prime Minister interacted virtually with 3 Primary Agriculture Credit Societies from Karnataka, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh who are among the initial beneficiaries of the scheme. Prime Minister had an engaging discussion with the representatives of these societies to understand their current operations and how they plan to utilise the loan. The societies informed the Prime Minister about their plans to build godowns, setup grading and sorting units which will help member farmers secure a higher price for their produce.

Address to the nation Following his interaction with the Primary Agriculture Credit Societies, in his address to the nation, the Prime Minister expressed confidence in how farmers and the agriculture sector will benefit from the scheme. He said the scheme shall provide a financial boost to the farmers and agriculture sector and increase India’s ability to compete on the global stage.

Prime Minister reiterated that India has a huge opportunity to invest in post-harvest management solutions like warehousing, cold chain, and food processing, and build a global presence in areas such as organic and fortified foods. He also mentioned that this scheme provides a good opportunity for start-ups in agriculture to avail the benefits and scale their operations, thereby creating an ecosystem that reaches farmers in every corner of the country.

Prime Minister expressed his satisfaction with the pace of implementation of the PM-KISAN scheme. He also noted that the scale of the program is so large that the funds released today have reached more people than the entire population of several countries taken together. He also congratulated states for playing an important role in the implementation and assisting farmers through the entire process from registration all the way to disbursals.

The Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, was also present on the occasion.

Agriculture Infrastructure Fund The Agriculture Infrastructure Fund is a medium - long term debt financing facility for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets through interest subvention and credit guarantee. The duration of the scheme shall be from FY2020 to FY2029 (10 years). Under the scheme, Rs. 1 Lakh Crore will be provided by banks and financial institutions as loans with interest subvention of 3% per annum and credit guarantee coverage under CGTMSE scheme for loans up to Rs. 2 Crore. The beneficiaries will include farmers, PACS, Marketing Cooperative Societies, FPOs, SHGs, Joint Liability Groups (JLG), Multipurpose Cooperative Societies, Agri-entrepreneurs, Startups, and Central/State agency or Local Body sponsored Public-Private Partnership Projects.

PM-KISAN The PM-KISAN scheme was launched in December 2018 to provide income support by way of a cash benefit to all landholding farmers (subject to certain exclusion criteria) to enable them to fulfill their agricultural requirements and support their families. Under the scheme, the financial benefit of Rs.6000/- per year is provided to eligible beneficiary farmers in three equal installments.

A new dawn for the agriculture sector These steps are the latest in a series of reforms taken by the Government of India under the guidance of the Prime Minister. These measures will collectively herald a new dawn for the agriculture sector in India and show the government’s commitment to championing the cause of ensuring the welfare and sustainability of livelihoods for the farmers of India.