India has taken a major decision to fully open the coal and mining sectors for competition, capital, participation and technology : PM
Coal sector reforms will make eastern and central India, our tribal belt in, pillars of development: PM Self-reliance is not possible without a strong mining and mineral sector: PM Posted On: 18 JUN 2020 2:19PM by PIB Delhi
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi launched the auction process of 41 coal blocks for commercial mining through video conference from here today. It was part of the series of announcements made by the Government of India, under the AatmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyan. The Coal Ministry in association with FICCI launched the process for auction of these coal mines. A two stage electronic auction process is being adopted for allocation of the coal mines.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Narendra Modi said that India will overcome the COVID -19 Pandemic and the nation will turn this crisis into an opportunity. He said that this crisis has taught India the lesson of becoming AatmaNirbhar, i.e. Self-Reliant. He said an AatmaNirbhar Bharat means reducing dependency on imports, and saving foreign currency on imports. It entails that India develop resources domestically so that the country does not have to rely on imports. It also means becoming the biggest exporters of the commodities that we now import.
To achieve this, the PM said that each sector, each product, each service, should be kept in mind and worked holistically, to make India self-reliant in the particular area. He said a major step taken today will make India self reliant in the Energy sector. He said that this event marks not only the implementation of reforms concerning one Coal Mining Sector but also marks the beginning of lakhs of employment opportunities for the youth. He said that today we are not only launching the auction of commercial coal mining today but also freeing the coal sector from decades of lockdown.
He stressed the irony that India, with the world’s fourth largest coal reserve and being the second largest producer, is also the second largest coal importer. He said the situation has lasted for decades now and the coal sector was kept entangled in the mesh of Captive and Non Captive mines. He added that the sector was excluded from competition and transparency was a big problem. Owing to this, he said, the coal sector lacked investment and its efficiency was also questionable.
The Prime Minister said that in 2014, coal linkage was introduced to provide impetus to the coal sector. He said that India has taken a major decision to fully open the coal and mining sector for increased competition, capital, participation and technology. He added that care has been taken to ensure that the new players in the private mining sector do not face the problem of finance. He stressed that self-reliance is not possible without a strong mining and mineral sector as the two are important pillars of our economy.
The Prime Minister said that after these reforms, coal production and the entire coal sector will become self-reliant. Now the market has been opened for coal, so, any sector can buy coal as per their requirements. PM said, these reforms will not only benefit the coal sector but other sectors such as Steel, Aluminium, Fertilizers and Cement as well. It will also help in increasing the power generation.
PM said that reforms in the minerals sector have got strength from coal mining reforms since minerals like iron, bauxite and other minerals are located very close to the coal reserves. He said that the beginning of auction today for commercial coal mining is a win-win situation for all stakeholders Industries. State governments will get more revenue and a huge population of the country will get employment. There will be a positive impact on every sector.
While implementing coal reforms, PM said that it has been ensured that India’s commitment to protect the environment doesn’t get weakened. He added, “Latest technology can be introduced to make gas from coal and the environment will be protected with steps like coal gasification. Coal gas will be used in transport and cooking while Urea and steel will promote manufacturing industries.” The Prime Minister said that the Government has set a target to gasify around 100-million-ton coal by the year 2030 and four projects have been identified for this purpose and around 20 thousand crore rupees will be invested.
The Prime Minister said that these coal sector reforms will make eastern and central India, our tribal belt in, pillars of development. He added that These areas have a big number of Aspirational Districts and have not been able to reach the desired level of progress and prosperity. He said that 16 aspirational districts in the country have a huge stock of coal but people of these areas have not got adequate benefit of this. People from these places have to migrate to far-flung cities for employment.
The Prime Minister said that the steps taken towards commercial mining will be very helpful to eastern and central India by providing the local population with employment near their homes. He said that the Government has taken a decision to spend 50 thousand crore rupees on creating infrastructure for coal extraction and transportation, which will also create employment opportunities.
The Prime Minister said that reforms and investment in the coal sector will play a big role in easing the lives of tribals. Extra revenue generated through coal production will be used for public welfare schemes in the region. He said that states will also continue to get help from the District Mineral Fund, from which a major chunk would be utilized in development of essential facilities in the surrounding areas.
Procurement of Minor Forest Produce items has been initiated in 17 States with total procurement worth Rs. 835 Cr through Central Government and State funds and almost Rs 1200 crore through private trade (through sales at Mandis/ haat bazaars) since April 2020. This takes the total procurement for the year to Rs 2000 crore and provides a direct benefit transfer to tribal people in lieu of their Minor forest produces.
This was disclosed at a media briefing webinar organised by TRIFED in New Delhi today.The webinar titled “MSP for MFP takes roots in Tribal India” was chaired by MrPravir Krishna, Managing Director, TRIFED.
The Van DhanYojana (Start-ups scheme), an initiative of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, has proved to be successful within a year of its implementation, with the establishment of 1205 Tribal Enterprises and providing employment opportunities to 3.6 lakh tribal gatherers and 18000 Self-help groups in 22 States. This successful implementation has also acted as a catalyst in helping the Minimum Support Price for Minimum Forest Produce Scheme take roots across the country.
“This mobile testing facility will be deployed through the DBT testing hubs to remote regions of the country for Covid testing”: Dr Harsh Vardhan
This I-Lab has been created in a record time of 8 days by the Andhra Pradesh Med-tech team with the support of DBT
The unit has biosafety facility and is capable of performing RT-PCR as well as ELISA tests Posted On: 18 JUN 2020 7:39PM by PIB Delhi
The Minister for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Health & Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan inaugurated and flagged off India’s first I-Lab (Infectious disease diagnostic lab) for Covid testing in rural and inaccessible areas of India, here today. Secretary, Department of Biotechnology Dr. Renu Swarup and other officials were present on the occasion. Dr. Jitendar Sharma, CEO, Andhra Med Tech Zone CEO, and senior officials from NITI Ayog, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, MeiTY, other ministries, ICMR, DST, CSIR etc joined the function through web online.
Expressing his happiness to launch the I-Lab, infectious disease diagnostic laboratory- a mobile testing facility, Dr. Harsh Vardhan dedicated this facility to provide Covid testing access to rural India. This mobile testing facility will be deployed through the DBT testing hubs to remote regions of the country for Covid testing. He congratulated and appreciated the efforts of the DBT in tackling the Covid pandemic, and added that DBT coordinated in scaling-up testing for Covid by reorienting premiere laboratories as Covid testing centers in a hub and spoke model. There are now over 20 hubs in the country with 100 testing laboratories and these have tested more than 2,60,000 samples.
Dr. Harsh Vardhan said, “This has been possible through the DBT-AMTZ COVID Command Consortia (COVID Medtech Manufacturing Development] Consortia)” to cope-up with the current situation in the country and move progressively towards a stage of self-sufficiency. The I-lab will be deployed through these hubs into remote and interior places”. The Minister appreciated the “Andhra med-tech zone team for building this unique, innovative facility for the country at the period of lock-down through tireless, dedicated and committed efforts”.
He informed that AMTZ through the support of DBT has also established manufacturing facility for indigenous manufacturing of kits and reagents for various testing kits which were initially imported thereby helping us realise the vision of Pradhan mantriji on- Make-in India, Make for India”. He pointed out that today there are 953 testing laboratories in all corners of the country and elaborated on “Various steps taken by the ministry and departments towards achieving research components indigenization and their in-house manufacturing.” Dr. Harsh Vardhan emphasised that “In the near future with all these collective and cooperative efforts, India will achieve self-sufficiency in healthcare technologies leading towards Atma Nirbhar Bharat.”
Dr. Renu Swarup said on the occasion that through the concerted efforts Indian scientists, the country has achieved a capacity of producing nearly 5 lakh testing kits per day, exceeding the target of having one lakh test kits by May 31, 2020. She pointed out that this I-Lab has been created in a record time of 8 days by the Andhra Pradesh Med-tech Zone team with the support of DBT under the National Biopharma Mission being implemented by the Public Sector BIRAC. She highlighted that the unit has biosafety facility and is capable of performing RT-PCR as well as ELISA tests.
DBT-AMTZ COMManD The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science & Technology along with Andhra Pradesh Med-tech Zone (AMTZ) has initiated the DBT-AMTZ COMManD [COVID Medtech Manufacturing Development] Consortia to address the shortage of critical healthcare technologies in India and move progressively towards a stage of self-sufficiency.
Under this Consortia, India’s first I- lab (infectious disease diagnostic lab) has been built at AMTZ in record time of 8 days from the date of receipt of Automotive Chassis, from Bharat Benz. This is a mobile diagnostic unit with biosafety facility. The I- lab is a BSL-2 facility with on-site ELISA, RT-PCR, Bio chemistry analysers. It can run 50 RT-PCR reactions and about 200 ELISA in a day.Double set of Machines can help increase the capacity to about 500 per day in 8 hours shift
It can be deployed in remote areas and can be lifted from Automotive Chassis and can be put on goods train for sending to any location in the country.The BSL -2 Lab is as per NABL specifications and is being attached to DBT’s certified Testing centres.
The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), under the Ministry of Science & Technology, promotes and accelerates the development of biotechnology in India, including growth and application of biotechnology in the areas of agriculture, healthcare, animal sciences, environment and industry. AMTZ is Asia's first medical equipment manufacturing ecosystem, uniquely dedicated for Medtech and supported by various Ministries.
INFECTIOUS DISEASE DIAGNOSTIC LABORATORY (I-LAB) To promote last mile access of testing to rural India, DBT under the Covid-Command strategy has supported building of mobile testing labs through AMTZ. The unique feature of these mobile testing labs is their utility in diagnosing other infectious diseases beyond the Covid period
Money allotted under 25 works to be frontloaded for asset creation in 125 days; to be undertaken in 116 districts in 6 states where more than 25000 migrant workers have returned : Smt Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance Minister
Central Government together with concerned State Governments has done skill mapping of the migrant workers for maximum employment generation Posted On: 18 JUN 2020 5:55PM by PIB Delhi
A Curtain Raiser Press Conference was held today on the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan to be launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 20th June 2020. Addressing the Press Conference, Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman said that workers from all over the country, both men and women, after COVID lockdown have returned to their villages in large numbers. Government of India together with the State Governments have mapped the districts where these migrant workers have largely returned and it is seen that approximately 116 districts spread over 6 states namely Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Odisha have received substantial numbers of returnees, which includes 27 Aspirational Districts.
Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman said that the Government of India together with the concerned State Governments has carried out mapping of skill sets of these migrant workers and majority of them have been found to be skilled in some kind of work. Based on this and to mitigate their difficulties during next 4 months, Government of India has decided to launch a massive rural public works scheme ‘Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan’ to empower and provide livelihood opportunities to the returnee migrant workers and rural citizens.
Giving further details, the Finance Minister said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will launch this Abhiyaan on 20th June, 2020 from Village – Telihar, Block- Beldaur of Khagaria District of Bihar. This campaign of 125 days, which will work in mission mode, will involve intensified and focused implementation of 25 different types of works to provide employment to the migrant workers on one hand and create infrastructure in the rural regions of the country on the other hand, with a resource envelope of Rs. 50,000 crore.
The Abhiyaan will be a coordinated effort between 12 different Ministries/Departments, namely, Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Road Transport & Highways, Mines, Drinking Water & Sanitation, Environment, Railways, Petroleum & Natural Gas, New & Renewable Energy, Border Roads, Telecom and Agriculture. Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman said that 25 works of Government of India will be brought together for the identified districts to provide employment for everyone who needs it and the money allotted to all these works will be pooled together and frontloaded for completion of asset creation within 125 days.
Focused campaign of 125 days across 116 districts in 6 states to work in mission mode to help migrant workers
Campaign will create durable infrastructure along with boosting employment opportunities
Public works worth Rs 50,000 crore to be carried out under Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan Posted On: 18 JUN 2020 9:24AM by PIB Delhi
Government of India has decided to launch a massive rural public works scheme ‘Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan’to empower and provide livelihood opportunities to the returnee migrant workers and rural citizens. PM Modi will launch this Abhiyaan on 20th June, 2020 at 11 am through Video-Conference in presence of the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar.
The Abhiyaan will be launched from Village – Telihar, Block- Beldaur of Khagaria District of Bihar. Further, the Chief Ministers of other five States and Union Ministers of concerned Ministries will also participate in the virtual launch. The villages across 116 districts in the six States will join this programme through the Common Service Centres and Krishi Vigyan Kendras, maintaining the norms of social distancing in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This campaign of 125 days, which will work in mission mode, will involve intensified and focused implementation of 25 different types of works to provide employment to the migrant workers on one hand and create infrastructure in the rural regions of the country on the other hand, with a resource envelope of Rs. 50,000 crore.
A total of 116 Districts with more than 25,000 returnee migrant workers across six States, namely Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Odisha have been chosen for the campaign which includes 27 Aspirational Districts. These districts are estimated to cover about 2/3 of such migrant workers.
The Abhiyaan will be a coordinated effort between 12 different Ministries/Departments, namely, Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Road Transport & Highways, Mines, Drinking Water & Sanitation, Environment, Railways, Petroleum & Natural Gas, New & Renewable Energy, Border Roads, Telecom and Agriculture.
The Context: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has recommended the use of Standard Q COVID-19 Ag antigen detection test in containment zones and healthcare settings in combination with the RT-PCR test.
The is to be used in specified settings, and kits from only one manufacturer have got approval– the South Korean company S D Biosensor.
What are antigens? Antigens are foreign substances that induce an immune response in the body. What is the rapid antigen detection test for Covid-19?
It is a test on swabbed nasal samples that detects antigens that are found on or within the SARS-CoV-2 virus. It is a point-of-care test, performed outside the conventional laboratory setting, and is used to quickly obtain a diagnostic result.
How is rapid antigen detection test different from RT-PCR test? Like RT-PCR, the rapid antigen detection test too seeks to detect the virus rather than the antibodies produced by the body.
The most significant difference between the two is time. RT-PCR test takes a minimum of 2-5 hours including the time taken for sample transportation. In a rapid antigen detection test, the maximum duration for interpreting a positive or negative test is 30 minutes.
What are the limitations of an antigen test’s results? These tests are very specific for the virus, but are not as sensitive as molecular PCR tests. This means that positive results from antigen tests are highly accurate, but there is a higher chance of false negatives, so negative results do not rule out infection.
Negative results from an antigen test may need to be confirmed with a PCR test prior to making treatment decisions or to prevent the possible spread of the virus due to a false negative.
Once the sample is collected in the extraction buffer, it is stable only for one hour. Therefore, the antigen test needs to be conducted at the site of sample collection in the healthcare setting.
The Context: The United States has now twice indicated that it would like to secure priority access to doses of COVID-19 vaccine. Other countries, including India and Russia, have taken similar stances. This prioritisation of domestic markets has become known as vaccine nationalism.
How it works? Vaccine nationalism occurs when a country manages to secure doses of vaccine for its own citizens or residents before they are made available in other countries. This is done through pre-purchase agreements between a government and a vaccine manufacturer.
How was it used in the past? Vaccine nationalism is not new. During the early stages of the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic, some of the wealthiest countries entered into pre-purchase agreements with several pharmaceutical companies working on H1N1 vaccines.
At that time, it was estimated that, in the best-case scenario, the maximum number of vaccine doses that could be produced globally was two billion. The US alone negotiated and obtained the right to buy 600,000 doses. All the countries that negotiated pre-purchase orders were developed economies.
Why its not good? What are the associated concerns? Vaccine nationalism is harmful for equitable access to vaccines. It further disadvantages countries with fewer resources and bargaining power. It deprives populations in the Global South from timely access to vital public health goods. Taken to its extreme, it allocates vaccines to moderately at-risk populations in wealthy countries over populations at higher risk in developing economies.
What needs to be done? International institutions — including the WHO — should coordinate negotiations ahead of the next pandemic to produce a framework for equitable access to vaccines during public health crises. Equity entails both, affordability of vaccines and access opportunities for populations across the world, irrespective of geography and geopolitics.
Context: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has proposed stringent norms for housing finance companies.
Proposed norms include: At least 50% of net assets should be in the nature of ‘qualifying assets’ for HFCs, of which at least 75% should be towards individual housing loans. Such HFCs which do not fulfil the criteria will be treated as NBFC – Investment and Credit Companies (NBFC-ICCs) and will be required to approach the RBI for conversion of their Certificate of Registration from HFC to NBFC-ICC. The NBFC-ICCs which want to continue as HFCs would have to follow a roadmap to make 75% of their assets individual housing loans.
The target has been set at 60% by March 31, 2022, 70% by March 31, 2023, and 75% by March 31, 2024. It has also proposed a minimum net-owned fund (NOF) of ₹20 crore as compared to ₹10 crore now. Existing HFCs would have to reach ₹15 crore within a year and ₹20 crore within two years.
What are qualifying assets? The RBI defined ‘qualifying assets’ as loans to individuals or a group of individuals, including co-operative societies, for construction/purchase of new dwelling units, loans to individuals for renovation of existing dwelling units, lending to builders for construction of residential dwelling units.
Regulatory oversight: A housing finance company is considered a non-banking financial company (NBFC) under the RBI’s regulations. A company is treated as an NBFC if its financial assets are more than 50% of its total assets and income from financial assets is more than 50% of the gross income.
Context: NASA recently finalised the contract for the initial crew module of the agency’s Gateway lunar orbiting outpost. The contract, which is worth $187 million has been awarded to Orbital Science Corporation of Dulles, Virginia, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Northrop Grumman Space.
What is the contract for? NASA has issued this contract to design the habitation and logistics (HALO) support for the Gateway, which is a part of NASA’s Artemis program that aims to send the first woman and the next man to the Moon by 2024.
The HALO refers to the pressurised living quarters where astronauts will spend their time while visiting the Gateway. These quarters will be about the size of a small apartment and will provide augmented life support in tandem with NASA’s Orion spacecraft.
What is NASA’s Gateway Lunar Orbit outpost? The Gateway is a small spaceship that will orbit the Moon, meant for astronaut missions to the Moon and later, for expeditions to Mars. It will act as a temporary office and living quarters for astronauts, distanced at about 250,000 miles from Earth.
The spaceship will have living quarters, laboratories for science and research and docking ports for visiting spacecraft. Compared to the ISS, the Gateway is much smaller. How long will it take to build the Gateway?
As of now, NASA has targeted the completion of the Gateway for 2026, while work on the spaceship is already underway. By 2022, NASA plans to ready the power and propulsion for the spaceship, which will be launched on a partner-provided commercial rocket.
What is Artemis? Artemis– Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence and Electrodynamics of Moon’s Interaction with the Sun. It is NASA’s next mission to the Moon.
Objective: To measure what happens when the Sun’s radiation hits our rocky moon, where there is no magnetic field to protect it. Artemis was the twin sister of Apollo and goddess of the Moon in Greek mythology.
Observed on June 17th every year. It is a global awareness campaign to highlight the plight of endangered crocodiles and alligators around the world.
India is home to three crocodilian species: The mugger or marsh crocodile (Crocodylus palustris) The estuarine or saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) The gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) Details:
Mugger: The mugger crocodile, also called the Indian crocodile, or marsh crocodile, is found throughout the Indian subcontinent. It is listed as vulnerable by IUCN. The mugger is mainly a freshwater species, and found in lakes, rivers and marshes.
Gharial: The Gharial or fish eating crocodile is native to the Indian subcontinent. It is listed as a Critically Endangered by IUCN. Small released populations are present and increasing in the rivers of the National Chambal Sanctuary, Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary, Son River Sanctuary and the rainforest biome of Mahanadi in Satkosia Gorge Sanctuary, Orissa.
Saltwater Crocodile: It is the largest of all living reptiles. It listed as least concern by IUCN. It is found throughout the east coast of India.
Crocodile conservation programmes in India: The Gharial and Saltwater crocodile conservation programme was first implemented in Odisha in early 1975 and subsequently the Mugger conservation programme was initiated, since Odisha is having distinction for existence of all the three species of Indian crocodilians. The funds and technical support for the project came from UNDP/ FAO through the Government of India.
‘BAULA’ PROJECT AT DANGAMAL: ‘Baula’ is the Oriya term for Saltwater Crocodile. Dangmal is in Bhitarkanika sanctuary.
MUGGER PROJECT AT RAMATIRTHA: The Ramatirtha center, in Odisha, is meant for Mugger crocodiles. GHARIAL PROJECT AT TIKARPADA, Odisha. CAPTIVE BREEDING OF CROCODILES AT NANDANKANAN, Odisha.
Context: Even as India and China are engaged in military-level talks and in controlled engagement, there has been a violent face-off between the army troops of both sides.
Recently, China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the Indian Army clashed and used stones, knives, and machetes to attack each other and this resulted in fatalities on both sides. This incident happened at Galwan Valley in Eastern Ladakh region.
Background: India and China share a border that is more than 3,440km (2,100 miles) long and have overlapping territorial claims. From past one month, Indian and Chinese armies have been locked in a tense stand-off at three points along the Line of Actual Control — the Galwan River Valley, Hot Springs area and the Pangong Lake — since early May.
The strategic importance of Galwan River Valley (GRV): The Galwan river is the highest ridgeline and it allows the Chinese to dominate the Shyok route passes, which is close to the river. It lies along the western sector of the LAC and close to Aksai Chin, a disputed area claimed by India but controlled by China.
Why tensions are suddenly on rise in this area? India is trying to construct a feeder road emanating from Darbuk-Shyok Village – Daulat Beg Oldi road (DS-DBO road).
This road runs along the Shyok River and is the most critical line of communications close to LAC. Hence, Chinese are keen on controlling this area as they fear that the Indian side could end up threatening their position on the Aksai Chin plateau by using the river valley.
Way ahead for India: That China is becoming more belligerent across strategic theatres, challenging the status quo, is supported by multiple examples from the South China Sea.
For the Government of India, this is a moment to guard against complacency, fostered by decades of nimble diplomacy that led to equilibrium, however precarious, on the border issue with China.
China has accorded the pangolin the highest level of protection and removed the scales of the endangered mammal from its list of approved traditional medicines.
According to CITES, it is also the most illegally traded vertebrate within its class (Mammalia).
Of the eight species of pangolin worldwide, two are found in India. They are Chinese pangolin, mostly found in northeast India and Indian pangolin.
Protection Status: Chinese pangolin has been listed as “critically endangered”. Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) has been listed as “endangered”. It is also a Schedule I category protected animal, under the Wildlife Protection Act (1972).