Micro Irrigation Fund with a corpus of Rs. 5000 crore created with NABARD was operationalised in 2019-20. The objective of the Fund is to facilitate the States in availing an interest subvented loan for expanding coverage of Micro Irrigation by taking up special and innovative projects and also for incentivising micro irrigation beyond the provisions available under PMKSY-Per Drop More Crop to encourage farmers to install micro irrigation systems.

Loans of about Rs. 3600 crores sanctioned for 70 ethanol projects in last two years

185 more sugar mills/ distilleries granted in principle approval for availing loan amount of Rs. 12,500 crore for capacity addition of about 468 crore litres per annum Posted On: 20 NOV 2020 2:35PM by PIB Delhi

In the normal sugar season, about 320 LMT of sugar is produced against domestic consumption of 260 LMT. This 60 LMT of surplus sugar which remains unsold, blocks funds of sugar mills to the tune of about Rs. 19,000 crore every year thereby affecting liquidity positions of sugar mills resulting in accumulation of cane price arrears of farmers.

To deal with surplus stocks of sugar, sugar-mills are being encouraged by the Government to export sugar, for which Government has been extending financial assistance. However, India being a developing country can export sugar by extending financial assistance for marketing and transport only up to year 2023 as per WTO arrangements. So, as a long term solution to deal with surplus sugar, to improve sustainability of sugar industry and to ensure timely payment of cane dues to farmers, Government has been encouraging diversion of excess sugarcane & sugar to ethanol for supplying to Oil Marketing Companies for blending with petrol which not only would reduce import dependency on crude oil, promote ethanol as a fuel which is indigenous & non polluting, but will also enhance income of sugarcane farmers.

Earlier, the Government had fixed a target of 10% blending of fuel grade ethanol with petrol by 2022 and 20% blending by 2030 but now Government is preparing a plan to prepone achievement of 20% blending target. However, as the existing ethanol distillation capacity in the country is not sufficient to produce ethanol to achieve blending targets, Government is encouraging sugar mills, distilleries and entrepreneurs to set up new distilleries and to expand their existing distillation capacities and is also extending financial assistance by way of interest subvention for 5 years at 6% maximum rate of interest against the loans availed by sugar mills/ distilleries from banks for setting up their projects.

In past 2 years, loans of about Rs. 3600 crores have been sanctioned for 70 such ethanol projects (molasses based distilleries) which involve capacity enhancement of 195 crore litres; out of these 70 projects, 31 projects have been completed adding a capacity of 102 crore litres so far. With the efforts made by Government, the existing installed capacity of molasses based distilleries has reached to 426 cr ltrs. Under the ethanol interest subvention scheme for molasses based distilleries, Government in September, 2020 has opened a window for 30 days to invite more applications from sugar mills/ distilleries, which were examined by DFPD; about 185 applicants (85 sugar mills and 100 molasses based stand alone distilleries) are being granted in principle approval for availing loan amount of Rs. 12,500 crore for capacity addition of about 468 crore litres per annum. It is likely that these projects would be completed in another 3-4 years, thus help in achieving the desired blending target.

However, as the blending targets cannot be achieved only by diverting sugarcane / sugar to ethanol therefore, Government is also encouraging distilleries to produce ethanol from other feed stocks like grains, etc for which the present distillation capacity is not sufficient. Therefore, concerted efforts are being made by Govt. to enhance ethanol distillation capacity in the country by 720 crore litre for producing ethanol from 1st Generation (1G) feed stocks like sugarcane, molasses, grains, sugar beet, sweet sorghum etc. With use of other feedstocks, ethanol can be produced in non-sugarcane states also and this will help in distributed ethanol production in the country.

In view of surplus of availability of rice in the country, Government is making efforts for production of ethanol from surplus rice with FCI to supply to Oil Marketing Companies to mix with petrol in Ethanol Supply Year 2020-21 (December-November). Efforts are also being made to produce ethanol from maize in states which have sufficient production of maize.

In the current Ethanol Supply Year 2019-20 only 168 crore litres of ethanol is likely to be supplied to OMCs for blending with petrol thereby achieving 4.8% blending levels. However, in the ensuing Ethanol Supply Year 2020-21, efforts are being made to supply 325 crore ltrs of ethanol to OMCs thereby achieving 8.5% blending; and in the ethanol supply year 2021-22 ending in November, 2022 efforts are being made to achieve 10% blending target which is quite possible in view of the concerted efforts made by the Government.

For Year 2020-21, bids of 322 crore litres (289 crore from molasses and 34 crore litre from grains) have already been received in first tender floated by OMCs and in subsequent tenders more quantity from molasses and grain based distilleries will come, thus Government will be able to achieve 325 crore litre and 8.5% blending target.

Launch of Ananda- Atmanirbhar Agents New Business Digital App Posted On: 20 NOV 2020 8:20PM by PIB Mumbai Goa: 20 November 2020

Mr. C. VIKAS RAO, ZONAL MANAGER, LIC of India, Western Zone, informed that it is a historic moment today for the Life Insurance Industry, as LIC of India has launched a digital application - ANANDA in the hands of Honourable Chairman Mr. M R Kumar, which will prove to be a game changer.

In view of today’s difficult and challenging times, LIC has come up with a unique and timely initiative to facilitate the process of proposal completion which is totally paperless and completely digital. The process of new business completion has been re-engineered by converting physical formats into digital ones.

ANANDA will enable an agent to complete a policy even without physically meeting the customer. Mr. C. VIKAS RAO, ZM informed that One prerequisite would be that the mobile number of the customer should be mapped with his Aadhar.

This application has evoked tremendous response from all intermediaries of the Corporation. We are sanguine that this initiative will turn out to be a catalyst and will work as a huge booster in the business performance of the Corporation in coming days.

Dr Harsh Vardhan congratulates States/UTs on this achievement The contribution of HWCs in COVID response and management is unique: Dr Harsh Vardhan

6.43 cr people screened for hypertension, 5.23 cr for diabetes and 6.14 cr for cancers Posted On: 20 NOV 2020 9:19AM by PIB Delhi

India has crossed a landmark milestone on the journey of universal healthcare. More than 50,000 (50,025) Ayushman Bharat - Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWCs) are now operational across the country. Aiming at providing Comprehensive Primary Health Care (CPHC) services to the communities closer to their homes, 1.5 lakh AB-HWCs are to be established by December 2022. With more than 50,000 having been established, 1/3 of the target has been met. This has led to improved access to affordable primary healthcare services for more than 25 crore people.

Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare congratulated the States/UTs for their efforts in operationalising the HWCs despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. “This has been possible due to the joint efforts of the Center and the States/UTs in planning, monitoring at all levels, standardization of processes, the flexibility for adaptation provided to the States/UTs, and building on the health systems created thus far”, he stated. The HFM specially thanked the frontline health workers, the Medical Officers, the Community Health Officers and ASHAs for their dedication to the cause of providing Comprehensive Primary Health Care services and for supporting millions of people with necessary services in these difficult times. “They are the backbone of the healthcare delivery system. Their contribution during the COVID period has been exemplary”, he said. HWCs have helped in interventions such as risk communication, contact tracing, community surveillance and early identification of cases, and seamless provisioning of non-COVID essential health services for ensuring protection of vulnerable groups, such as the newborn, elderly and those with co-morbidities.

#COVID19 screening at a HWC in Assam Ayushman Bharat was launched in 2018 with its twin pillars of Health & Wellness Centers (HWCs) and Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) with bidirectional linkages between the two for providing the full range of services across the continuum of care. The first AB-HWC was launched by Hon. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on the 14th of April 2018 at Jhangla in Bijapur District of Chhattisgarh.

The Health & Wellness Centers provide CPHC services to people and sustain the efforts for provision of reproductive, maternal, neonatal, child, adolescent and nutrition (RMNCHA+N) services and control of communicable diseases. They also focus on disease prevention, especially for chronic and non-communicable diseases, wellness through community engagement and creating awareness about health lifestyles, appropriate nutrition and physical activities such as Yoga. The HWC team consists of a trained Community Health Officer, one or two Health Workers and 5-8 ASHAs. This team has well defined tasks which intend to deliver public health functions and primary health care by bringing health-care services closer to the community.

The 50,025 operational AB-HWCs are now spread across 678 districts, and include 27,890 Sub Health Centres, 18,536 Primary Health Centres and 3,599 Urban Primary Health Centres. Together, these AB-HWC have witnessed over 28.10 crore footfalls of which over 53% percent are women who sought care at these centres. More than 6.43 crore people have been screened for hypertension, 5.23 crore for diabetes and 6.14 crore people for cancers. About 1.0 crore people are being provided free drugs for treatment of hypertension and about 60 lakhs for diabetes.

Community Health Officer screening for hypertension at a HWC in Tripura Focus on wellness is one of the novel interventions under the ABHWC Programme. Over 30 lakhs wellness sessions have been conducted at these centres including activities such as Yoga, Zumba, Community Walks, Shirodhara, Meditation etc.

#Yoga session at Phubasahi Khordha HWC, Odisha HWCs also provide a strong backbone for the implementation of the eSanjeevani platform of Health Ministry which includes the eSanjeevani Patient-to-Doctor OPD and eSanjeevani-HWC which provides Doctor-to-Doctor teleconsultation service. 23,103 HWCs have started providing teleconsultation services to citizens. More than 7.5 lakh teleconsultations have already been conducted through these platforms. The eSanjeevani-HWC was rolled out in November 2019. It is to be implemented in all the 1.5 lakh Health and Wellness Centres in a 'Hub and Spoke' model, by December 2022. States need to set up dedicated 'Hubs' in Medical Colleges and District hospitals to provide tele-consultation services to 'Spokes', i.e. Health & Wellness Centres (HWC).

Merchant vessels/ships can use IRNSS to obtain position information similar to GPS Posted On: 20 NOV 2020 7:24PM by PIB Mumbai Mumbai, 20 November 2020

The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) has been accepted as a component of the World Wide Radio Navigation System (WWRNS) for operation in the Indian Ocean Region by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). This will enable merchant vessels to use IRNSS for obtaining position information similar to GPS and GLONASS to assist in the navigation of ships in ocean waters within the area covered by 50°N latitude, 55°E longitude, 5°S latitude and 110°E longitude (approximately up to 1500 km from Indian boundary).

The Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) of IMO during its recent meeting (102nd session) held from 4 to 11 November 2020 has approved the recognition of the IRNSS as a component of the World-Wide Radio Navigation System. This is a significant achievement of Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW), Directorate General of Shipping (DGS) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) towards “Atmanirbhar Bharat”.

Directorate General of Shipping (DGS) under Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has initiated matter with the International Maritime Organization. Details of the tests carried out on merchant ships with regard to the accuracy of the system have been included in the report prepared by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) which was submitted to IMO for consideration.

After detailed analysis, the sub-committee on Navigation, Communications and Search and Rescue [NCSR] of IMO (during the 7th session held in January 2020) recommended to the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) of IMO for accepting the IRNSS as a component of the World-Wide Radio Navigation System.

IRNSS is an independent regional navigation satellite system developed by India. It is designed to provide accurate position information service to assist in the navigation of ships in Indian Ocean waters.