Prachi Kaur ([email protected]) Cabinet approves Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) Phase-II The Union Cabinet approved the Phase II of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) [SBM (G)]. [37] The programme will focus on Open Defecation Free (ODF) Plus, which includes ODF sustainability and solid and liquid waste management. It will be implemented by states as per the operational guidelines issued to them by the central government.
Phase-II will be implemented from 2020-21 to 2024-25 with an outlay of Rs 1,40,881 crore. Of this, Rs 52,497 crore will be allocated from the budget of the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation. The remaining amount will be generated from funds under MGNREGS and other revenue generation models for solid and liquid waste management.
Under the program, incentive of Rs 12,000 for construction of individual household toilet to eligible households will continue. Financial assistance to gram panchayats for construction of community managed sanitary complex at village level will be increased from two lakh rupees to three lakh rupees, per complex.
The solid and liquid waste management component of ODF Plus will be monitored on the basis of output-outcome indicators for four key areas, which are: (i) plastic waste management, (ii) bio-degradable solid waste management (including animal waste management), (iii) greywater management, and (iv) fecal sludge management.
Anya Bharat Ram ([email protected]) Cabinet approves creation of National Technical Textiles Mission The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, approved the National Technical Textiles Mission. [38] Technical textiles are textiles manufactured for technical performance and functional properties rather than aesthetic characteristics. They have applications in areas such as railway tracks and bullet proof jackets.
The Mission will be implemented over a period of four years, from 2020-21 to 2023-24 with a total outlay of Rs 1480 crore. Key components of the Mission include:
Research: The Mission will promote research into the development of: (i) fibres such as, carbon fibre and nylon fibre, and (ii) textiles such as, geo-textiles and biodegradable textiles. This component will have an outlay of Rs 1,000 crore.
Promotion and market development: Indian technical textiles consist of approximately 6% (USD 16 billion) of the USD 250 billion global technical textiles market. The Mission aims to increase the domestic market size to USD 40-50 billion by 2024 through market development and investment promotion.
Export: The current annual value of exports of technical textiles is approximately Rs 14,000 crore. The Mission aims to increase the annual value of exports to Rs 20,000 crore by 2021-22, and ensure a 10% average growth in exports per year up to 2023-24. Further, an Export Promotion Council for technical textiles will be set up for effective coordination and promotion activities relating to exports.
Education: The Mission also aims to promote technical education in higher engineering in areas related to technical textiles and its application.
Science and Technology Anurag Vaishnav ([email protected]) Cabinet approves constitution of an empowered technology group Union Cabinet has approved constitution of a 12-person empowered technology group. [39] The group will be chaired by the Principal Scientific Advisor to the government of India.
The group will be responsible for: (i) advising government on research on emerging technologies, (ii) mapping technology and technology products, (iii) developing roadmap for indigenisation for selected technologies, (iv) advising government on its technology supplier and procurement strategy, and (v) encouraging government departments to develop in-house expertise in emerging technologies such as data science and artificial intelligence.
Anurag Vaishnav ([email protected]) SC rules in favour of permanent commission to women in the Army The Supreme Court has ruled in favour of granting permanent commission to all women officers in the Army in its non-combat services. [40]
The services in the Army are broadly classified into: (i) combat arms, (ii) combat support arms, and (iii) services. Currently, women officers are eligible to work in all non-combat services through a Short Services Commission (SSC, for a tenure of 14 years). In February 2019, the Ministry of Defence granted Permanent Commission to SSC women officers in ten services of the Army, such as Signals, Engineers and Army Aviation.
The Court observed that a woman officer who has worked for 14 years does not get pension or retirement benefits. Further, it found that submissions made by the government discriminate against women, as they are based on stereotypes and socially ascribed gender roles.
The Court directed that at the stage of opting for the grant of permanent commission, women SSC officers shall be entitled to same choices at the same terms as their male counterparts. Further, SSC women officers who are granted permanent commission will be entitled to all consequential benefits including promotion and financial benefits. The Court granted the government three months' time to implement the order. Note that the judgement does not apply to combat services of the Army.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs launched two assessment frameworks: the Ease of Living Index 2019, and the Municipal Performance Index 2019. [41] These indices will assess the quality of life of citizens in 100 Smart Cities and 14 other million plus cities.
The Ease of Living Index 2019 will assess ease of living of citizens across three categories: quality of life, economic ability and sustainability. These are further divided into 14 categories across 50 indicators. Under this assessment, a Citizen Perception Survey is also being conducted, which will capture the citizens’ perception about the quality of life in their cities.
Under the Municipal Performance Index 2019, the performance of municipalities will be assessed based on five categories. These are service, finance, planning, technology and governance. These have been further divided into 20 sectors which will be evaluated across 100 indicators.
The data across cities will be collected and collated by nodal officers. According to the Ministry, such assessment will help municipalities in better planning and management, filling the gaps in city administration, and improving the livability of cities for its citizens.
The Ministry of Minority Affairs notified the Waqf Properties Lease (Amendment) Rules, 2020. [42] The 2020 Rules amend the Waqf Properties Lease Rules, 2014. The amendments were notified under the Waqf Act, 1995. The Act regulates the management of waqfs (property donations under Muslim law). Key aspects of the amendments include:
Procedure for long leases: In cases where a waqf property is to be leased for more than a year, bids for the property must be published in a leading national newspaper. The 2014 Rules stated that advertisements are required only for properties with rental income of more that Rs 1,000 per month. This is amended to require advertisements only for properties with rental income of more that Rs 3,000 per month, as on June 3, 2014.
Reserve price: The 2014 Rules stated that reserve price per square foot of a waqf property cannot be less than 5% per year of the market price of the property. This is amended to: (i) not less than 1% per year of the market value for hospitals, education institutions and social sector organisations, and (ii) not less than 2.5% per year of market value for commercial activities.
Security deposits: The 2014 Rules stated that the security deposit will be calculated based on the length of the lease. For instance, for a lease up to one year, the security deposit was three months rent. The amendments reduce the number of months for which rent is payable as a security deposit. For example, for a lease of up to one year, the security deposit will be one month rent.
Period of lease: The Rules allow waqf properties to be leased for specified periods of time. The period of lease is determined based on the purpose for which the property will be used. Under the 2014 Rules, properties could be leased for use as shops for a period of five years. The amendments extend this period to 10 years. Further, the 2014 Rules stated that properties for agricultural purposes could be leased on a yearly basis, or for the life cycle of the crop grown. The amendments allow properties to be leased for agricultural purposes for three years.
The Ministry of Environment, Climate and Forest Change released the Draft Battery Waste Management Rules, 2020. [43] The Draft Rules seek to replace the Batteries (Management and Handling) Rules, 2001, which provide details for handling and management of batteries under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. The 1986 Act regulates the protection and improvement of environment. Key features of the Draft Rules include:
Applicability: These Rules will be applicable to various stakeholders involved in the life of batteries or its components, consumables, and spare parts which make the product operational. These include every manufacturer, producer, collection centre, importer, assembler, dealer, recycler, consumer, and bulk consumers.
Currently, the Batteries (Management and Handling) Rules, 2001, apply to only lead-acid batteries. The Draft Rules will cover all types batteries. It will also apply to all appliances into which a battery is, or may be incorporated. It will not apply to batteries used in certain equipment such as military equipment, space exploration equipment, and emergency and alarm systems.
Responsibilities of manufacturer and dealers: Under the Draft Rules, responsibilities of the manufacturers and battery dealers include: (i) collecting used batteries against the new ones sold and issuing purchase invoices (when they collect used batteries), (ii) setting up collection centres by themselves or jointly at various places for collecting used batteries from dealers and consumers, (iii) ensuring safe transport of the collected batteries to the authorised/registered recyclers and (iv) filing an annual record of their sales and buyback to the state pollution control board by December 31 of every year.
The Ministry of Environment, Climate and Forest Change released a draft regulation on the use of membrane based water purification systems. [44] The draft regulation bans the installation and use of certain membrane based water purification systems, known as reverse osmosis (RO) systems. It seeks to amend the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986 under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, which regulates protection and improvement of environment. Key features of the draft regulation include:
Ban on use of RO systems: The ban is on systems subjected to conventional filtration and disinfection process or are from any source in compliance with acceptable limit for drinking water prescribed by Bureau of Indian Standard.
Responsibilities of commercial units: The draft regulation puts certain responsibilities on commercial units who use RO systems to purify water. These include: (i) storing water that is lost in the purification process in safe and hygienic conditions, (ii) maintaining a record of water consumption, reject generation, reject disposal, discarded element generated, and their disposal, and (iii) submitting this record to the state pollution control board annually.
Responsibilities of manufacturers: Responsibilities of RO manufacturers and producers include: (i) applying to the state pollution control board for grant of registration, (ii) providing a unique identification mark to each component manufactured for its traceability, (iii) equipping the purifiers with real time online flow to inform consumers of the total dissolved solids levels at the inlet and water outlet, and (iv) setting up authorised collection centres for collection of discarded elements from consumers or dealers.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released recommendations on reforming the guidelines for transfer/merger of telecom licenses. [45] The recommendations are aimed towards the modification in the Guidelines for Mergers and Acquisitions, 2014 issued by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). [46] In September 2019, a consultation paper was released in this regard. [47]
DoT can place certain conditions on merger and transfer under the above guidelines.47 In the past, the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal has granted stay on some of these conditions.47 This has caused delays in mergers and transfers being finalised. The recommendations seek to simplify and fast-track approvals for the mergers and transfers of the telecom licenses. Some of the key recommendations are as follows:
Time period for transfer/merger of licenses: As per existing guidelines, the time period allowed for transfer/merger of various licenses in different service areas is one year. This time period is counted subsequent to the approval of the Tribunal. TRAI recommended that the time spent in pursuing any litigation on account of which the final approval of a merger is delayed, should be excluded while calculating the one-year period.
Calculation of market share: Under the guidelines, certain restrictions are placed on merger or acquisition based on the market share of willing parties. Both subscriber base and Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) of each licensee are taken into account to determine the market share of that licensee. TRAI recommended that: (i) both number of subscribers as well as AGR should be considered for certain types of licenses such as mobile, telephone and internet services, (ii) only AGR should be considered for certain other types of licenses such as National Long Distance (NLD) service and International Long Distance (ILD) service.
AGR is the value of the gross revenue of a service provider after subtracting certain charges and taxes from it, such as roaming charges passed on to other service providers and any service taxes and sales taxes included in the gross revenue.
Consultation paper released on Strategy for National Open Digital Ecosystems The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology released a consultation whitepaper on “Strategy for National Open Digital Ecosystems (NODE)”. [48] It refers to a national strategy for enabling digital governance. The key components of such an ecosystem are: (i) public digital infrastructure comprising digital platforms from the government such as Aadhaar and GST network, (ii) laws to govern the infrastructure with regard to data privacy, security, and domain-specific policies and standards, and (iii) community leveraging this infrastructure to create value for all.
An example of NODE is the eTransport Mission Mode Project under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.48 It comprises of two applications- Vahan and Sarathi which automate the vehicle registration and driver licensing operations respectively. The availability of this digitised data enables this platform to provide services to various entities including citizens, automobile dealers, insurance companies, and police. Further, the platform ensures data integration with other systems such as stolen vehicle data from National Crime Record Bureau and insurance data from Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority. It also provides interoperability with external applications such as payment gateways and DigiLocker.
The paper outlines the following key guiding principles for a NODE: (i) openness and interoperability, (ii) reusability and shareability, (iii) ensuring security and privacy, (iv) defining accountable institutions, and (v) enabling effective grievance redressal. The paper sought comments on the following points, among others:
whether any guiding principle should be added or amended or dropped; challenges in migrating legacy government systems to a NODE;
whether such NODEs should be open source, or open API and open standards are sufficient requirements; whether each NODE can have its own standard or NODEs across sectors should have common governance frameworks;
financing models for these NODEs; potential risks that such systems can leave citizens vulnerable to, such as risks to data privacy, exclusion and having agency over the use of data;
mobilisation of a wider community of co-creators and users; and effective grievance redressal mechanisms.
What is a floor test or trust vote? A floor test is a constitutional mechanism. It is used to determine if the incumbent government enjoys the support of the legislature. How it takes place? This voting process happen in the state’s Legislative Assembly or the Lok Sabha at the central level.
Technically, the chief minister of a state is appointed by the Governor. The appointed chief minister usually belongs to the single largest party or the coalition which has the ‘magic number’. The magic number is the total number of seats required to form a government, or stay in power. It is the half-way mark, plus one. In case of a tie, the Speaker casts the deciding vote.
However, at times, a government’s majority can be questioned. The leader of the party claiming majority has to move a vote of confidence.
If some MLAs remain absent or abstain from voting, the majority is counted on the basis of those present and voting. This effectively reduces the strength of the House and in turn brings down the majority-mark.
The voting process can happen orally, with electronic gadgets or a ballot process.
The Governor can also ask the Chief Minister to prove his or her majority in the House if the stability of the government comes into question.
Composite floor test: While there is another test, Composite floor test, which is necessitated when more than one person stake the claim to form the government and the majority is not clear.
Governor may call a special session to assess who has the majority. The majority is counted based on those present and voting and this can be done through voice vote also.
As many as 11 Indian States have passed a resolution against the NRC and the NPR.
Can States Refuse To Implement NPR And NRC? What Does The Constitution Say? Under Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, the subject of citizenship, naturalisation and aliens (foreigners) finds mention exclusively in the Union List which contains a total of 97 subjects.
So, citizenship and the laws related to it are exclusively in the domain of the central government and the refusal by states to implement NRC or NPR has no legal ground.
What can the states do? The state governments can move the courts to challenge the central government but a refusal to implement is not within their powers. Article 365 of the Constitution makes it mandatory for the state governments to follow and implement the directions of the Central government, failing which the President can hold that the state government cannot carry on.
Why states’ cooperation is necessary? For all practical purposes, a nationwide NRC is impossible without the help of the state governments. It’s a huge exercise which involves use of massive administrative machinery. Central government cannot send its officers without the protection provided by the states’ law and order machinery. Hence, it will be difficult to go ahead without the co-operation of the state governments.
Under the EC Act, powers of the Central Government have already been delegated to the States by way of orders during 1972 to 1978. The States/UTs, therefore may take action against the offenders.
Background: The coronavirus pandemic has triggered panic buying of masks and hand sanitisers at many places around the world, including in India.
The government’s order has come in the wake of reports of a shortage of these commodities and a sudden and sharp spike in their prices, and the alleged hoarding of stocks by manufacturers.
What is Essential Commodities Act? The ECA was enacted way back in 1955. It has since been used by the Government to regulate the production, supply and distribution of a whole host of commodities it declares ‘essential’ in order to make them available to consumers at fair prices.
The list of items under the Act include drugs, fertilisers, pulses and edible oils, and petroleum and petroleum products.
The Centre can include new commodities as and when the need arises, and take them off the list once the situation improves. Under the Act, the government can also fix the maximum retail price (MRP) of any packaged product that it declares an “essential commodity”.
How it works? If the Centre finds that a certain commodity is in short supply and its price is spiking, it can notify stock-holding limits on it for a specified period.
The States act on this notification to specify limits and take steps to ensure that these are adhered to. Anybody trading or dealing in a commodity , be it wholesalers, retailers or even importers are prevented from stockpiling it beyond a certain quantity.
A State can, however, choose not to impose any restrictions. But once it does, traders have to immediately sell into the market any stocks held beyond the mandated quantity.
But, why the recent Economic Survey said that this act is outdated and must go? In September 2019, the Centre invoked the ECA Act’s provisions to impose stock limits on onions after heavy rains wiped out a quarter of the kharif crop and led to a sustained spike in prices.
Although the restrictions on both retail and wholesale traders were meant to prevent hoarding and enhance supply in the market, the Survey showed that there was actually an increase in price volatility and a widening wedge between wholesale and retail prices. This is due to the fact that ECA act fails to differentiate between hoarding and Storage.
Thus in the long term, the Act disincentivises development of storage infrastructure, thereby leading to increased volatility in prices following production/ consumption shocks — the opposite of what it is intended for.
The report finds that the ECA has been enacted in the year 1955, when the economy was ravaged by famine and food shortages. The government should note that today’s scenario is much more different.
Why is it important? The ECA gives consumers protection against irrational spikes in prices of essential commodities. The Government has invoked the Act umpteen times to ensure adequate supplies.
It cracks down on hoarders and black-marketeers of such commodities. State agencies conduct raids to get everyone to toe the line and the errant are punished.
Conclusion: Without the ECA the common man would be at the mercy of opportunistic traders and shopkeepers. It empowers the government to control prices directly too.
The government has already amended the Karnataka Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Rules, 1961, to reserve 100% for group ‘C’ and group ‘D’ jobs for locals in the private sector. The government last year amended the rules to allow this.
What’s the basis for this move? Competition from outsiders: In the last few years, Bangalore has witnessed a huge population influx from all corners of India naturally upsetting the local and migrant balance and causing social friction primarily owing to economic reasons.
With not enough jobs being created and the poor spread of those that are getting created, the pressure on, and in, relatively better-performing states is growing.
Issues associated with this policy: By arm-twisting the private sector into forcibly hiring Kannadigas irrespective of merit or qualification, the indirect assumption seems to be that Kannadigas are incapable of finding jobs on their own merit or hard work.
Even as the move will benefit the Kannadiga population, the private sector could suffer a setback as it would hinder choosing the best candidates,irrespective of the linguistic background or domicile of the person, to comply with the rule.
Also, once it is enforced, there is no stopping other states from coming up with similar populist policies,even for white-collar jobs where merit is paramount for productivity. This could mean greater informalisation of labour, which in turn means greater insecurity for the same workers whose interests the Karnataka government is purportedly protecting with the move.
The end result of industry loss of confidence and business moving elsewhere would, of course, be a decline in the economic well-being of the Kannadiga blue-collar workers the policy is supposed to protect.
What is the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)? Launched in January 2019, it is the first ever effort in the country to frame a national framework for air quality management with a time-bound reduction target.
The programme will not be notified under the Environment Protection Act or any other Act to create a firm mandate with a strong legal back up for cities and regions to implement NCAP in a time bound manner for effective reduction.
The plan includes 102 non-attainment cities, across 23 states and Union territories, which were identified by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) on the basis of their ambient air quality data between 2011 and 2015.
What are Non-attainment? Non-attainment cities are those which have been consistently showing poorer air quality than the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. These include Delhi, Varanasi, Bhopal, Kolkata, Noida, Muzaffarpur, and Mumbai.
Key features of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP): Target: Achieve a national-level target of 20-30% reduction of PM2.5 and PM10 concentration by between 2017 and 2024. Implementation: Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) will execute this nation-wide programme in consonance with the section 162 (b) of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act.
As part of the programme, the Centre also plans to scale up the air quality monitoring network across India. At least 4,000 monitors are needed across the country, instead of the existing 101 real-time air quality (AQ) monitors, according to an analysis.
The plan proposes a three-tier system, including real-time physical data collection, data archiving, and an action trigger system in all 102 cities, besides extensive plantation plans, research on clean-technologies, landscaping of major arterial roads, and stringent industrial standards.
It also proposes state-level plans of e-mobility in the two-wheeler sector, rapid augmentation of charging infrastructure, stringent implementation of BS-VI norms, boosting public transportation system, and adoption of third-party audits for polluting industries.
Various committees proposed: The national plan has proposed setting up an apex committee under environment minister, a steering committee under-secretary (environment) and a monitoring committee under a joint secretary. There would be project monitoring committees at the state-level with scientists and trained personnel.
Dearness allowance is a cost of living adjustment allowance paid to government employees, public sector employees and pensioners and is calculated as a percentage of basic salary to mitigate the impact of inflation.
It can be basically understood as a component of salary which is some fixed percentage of the basic salary, aimed at hedging the impact of inflation.
Bull and Bear Markets: The terms bull and bear market are used to describe how stock markets are doing in general—that is, whether they are appreciating or depreciating in value.
A bull market is a market that is on the rise and is economically sound, while a bear market is a market that is receding, where most stocks are declining in value.
What are blue chip stocks? Blue chip stocks are shares of very large and well-recognised companies with a long history of sound financial performance.
These stocks are known to have capabilities to endure tough market conditions and give high returns in good market conditions.
Blue chip stocks generally cost high, as they have good reputation and are often market leaders in their respective industries.
India is only the fifth country in the world besides Japan, Thailand, U.S. and China to have successfully isolated the COVID-19 virus strain, helping it take the first step towards expediting the development of drugs, vaccines and rapid diagnostic kits in the country.
What is sepsis, a common cause of death from coronavirus? Sepsis is a life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by the body’s immune system overreacting in response to an infection. This overactive, toxic response can lead to tissue damage, multiple organ failure and death.
Viruses, bacteria, fungi or parasites — sepsis can be triggered by a variety of pathogens.
The causes of sepsis are usually pneumonia, wound infections, urinary tract infections or infections in the abdominal cavity.
Ebola and yellow fever viruses, dengue, swine flu or bird flu viruses can also cause sepsis.
MARCH 14 is Pi Day, a celebration of the beloved constant pi. It is dedicated to pi, whose value up to five decimal places is 3.14159. The idea originated in the United States, where the convention is to write dates in a format that expresses March 14 as 3/14. These three digits match the value of pi up to two decimal places, at 3.14.
Coincidentally, March 14 is also Albert Einstein’s birthday.
By definition, pi is the ratio of the circumference of a circle — any circle — to its diameter. The ratio is always constant.
Pi is also the area of a circle divided by the square of its radius — again a constant ratio for any circle.
In June 2001, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) implemented index-based market-wide circuit breakers.
Circuit breakers are triggered to prevent markets from crashing, which happens when market participants start to panic induced by fears that their stocks are overvalued and decide to sell their stocks.
This index-based market-wide circuit breaker system applies at three stages of the index movement, at 10, 15 and 20 per cent.
Implications: When triggered, these circuit breakers bring about a coordinated trading halt in all equity and equity derivative markets nationwide.
Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), a Centrally Sponsored Scheme is being implemented for holistic growth of the horticulture sector covering fruits, vegetables, root and tuber crops, mushrooms, spices, flowers, aromatic plants, coconut, cashew, cocoa and bamboo.
National Food Security Mission (NFSM) is being implemented in identified districts of 28 States and 2 UTs viz. Ladakh and J&K of the country to increase the production and productivity of rice, wheat, pulses, coarse cereals and nutri- cereals (millets) through area expansion and productivity enhancement.
Under, ParamparagatKrishiVikasYojana (PKVY), assistance of Rs. 50,000 per hectare for 3 years is provided, out of which Rs. 31,000 (62%) is given to the farmers directly through DBT, for inputs (bio-fertilizers, bio-pesticides, vermicompost, botanical extracts, etc.) production/ procurement, post-harvest management etc.
The Indian Pharmaceutical industry is 3rd largest in the world in terms of volume and 14th largest in terms of value. Wings India 2020, the biennial civil aviation and aerospace event was launched recently at Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad. The event is being organised by Ministry of Civil Aviation along with Airports Authority of India and FICCI(Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry).
The government has invoked the Disaster Management Act, 2005, since it provides for an exhaustive administrative set up for disaster preparedness. Accordingly, the Union Home Secretary, who is the chairperson of the National Executive Committee under the Act delegated his powers to the Secretary, Ministry of Health and Welfare.
Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakaram (JSSK)has been launched with the objective to eliminate out of pocket expenses for both pregnant women and sick infants accessing public health institution for treatment.
As per the report titled SRS Based Life Table 2013-17 published by the Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, Government of India, the average life expectancy at birth has increased from 47 during 1970-75 to 69.0 in 2013-17, registering an increase of 19.3 years during this period. The life expectancy at birth for male and female during 2013-17 were 67.8 and 70.4 years respectively.
Yatri Mitra Sewa has been introduced at major railway stations for enabling passengers to book wheel chairs services cum porter services free of cost through NGOs, Charitable Trust, PSUs etc under CSR and responsibility of providing this facility has been entrusted with IRCTC.
At present, Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Corridor is the only sanctioned High Speed Rail Project, which is under execution with technical and financial assistance from Govt. of Japan.
The BhoomiRashi Portal lunched on 01.04.2018 as a major e-Governance initiative of the Ministry of the Road Transport & Highways, has expedited significantly the process of land acquisition for National Highways, making it error-free & more transparent with notifications at every stage being processed on real time basis.
The National Biopharma Mission (NBM), implemented by Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), is an industry-Academia Collaborative Mission for accelerating biopharmaceutical development in the country. Under this Mission the Government has launched Innovate in India (i3) programme to create an enabling ecosystem to promote entrepreneurship and indigenous manufacturing in the sector.
Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship promotes establishment of model and aspirational skill centres known as Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra (PMKK) in every district in the country for imparting skill training in the districts. For establishment of PMKK, Capital Expenditure upto 75% of the project investment as well as operational support is provided through the implementing agency – the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC).
National Creche Scheme (earlier named as Rajiv Gandhi National Creche Scheme) is being implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme to provide day care facilities to children (age group of 6 months to 6 years) of working mothers.