India’s first home built submarine handed over to Indian Navy

For the first time in 22 years, India's first ingenuously built INS Kalavari submarine has been handed over to the Indian Navy.

INS Kalavari, a diesel electric attack submarine, is a Scorpene-class submarine and is the first of the six submarines being built in India under Project-75 by Mazagon Docks Limited with a technology transfer from France's DCNS (Direction des Constructions Navales Services).

Kalavari, which is named after the tiger shark, is a stealth submarine and is difficult to be detected by the enemy. It weighs 1,550 tonnes and is equipped with six 533-millimeter torpedo tubes for launching anti-ship torpedoes, anti-ship missiles, and sea mines according to The Diplomat.

INS Kalavari's induction will be a landmark milestone in India's bid to build its underwater warfare capabilities with an eye on China and Pakistan.

The second Scorpene submarine INS Khanderi was launched in January 2017 after the ghost of a data leak which threatened to derail the project in August 2016.

FTSE SBI Bond Index: India’s first bond index series launched by SBI

State Bank of India (SBI) on 22nd sept launched India’s first bond index series for overseas investors at the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

The FTSE SBI Bond Index Series, launched by India’s largest commercial bank along with global index and data provider FTSE Russell, is positioned as a first-of-its-kind transparent benchmark for investors in international markets to analyse India’s government bond market.

The City of London is delighted to welcome the FTSE Russell State Bank of Indian Bond Index Series and considers it an excellent example of London’s commitment to the Indian financial markets and offering tools and products for international investors seeking exposure in India.

With the aim of improving the education and health sectors,

NITI Aayog’s SATH Program launched in Assam.NITI Aayog has recently launched 'Sustainable Action for Transforming Human Capital' (SATH), an initiative through which it will partner with three states and turn them into role models for other states by helping them improve their education and health sectors. The selection of the states will be through a three-stage process.

Aim of the initiative:

• The vision of the program is to transform the health and education sectors of the Indian states

• SATH aims to identify and build three future role model states for health and education

Selection of the states:  

• NITI Aayog has defined a three-stage process for state selection:

1.    Expression of interest

2.    Presentations by the states

3.    Assessment of commitment to health sector reforms

• NITI Aayog has invited all the states and union territories to participate in the programme. Sixteen states expressed interest, of which fourteen made their presentations. Out of these states, five have been shortlisted

• Three states will be selected on the basis of further evaluations and objective assessment of criteria affecting the potential for impact and likelihood of success

• Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh presented their proposals to a committee headed by a member of NITI Aayog and comprising the CEO as well as a representatives from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

• Several health metrics such as MMR, IMR, the incidence of malaria and others have been considered for determining potential impact. The density of doctors and nurses, compliance to IPHS norms are some of the metrics used to determine the likelihood of success

About NITI Aayog:

The National Institute of transforming India is also known as NITI Aayog. It is the premier think tank of the Government of India. It provides directional and policy inputs. It was formed on January 1, in the year 2015 and replaced the Planning Commission. The ex-Prime Minster serves as the ex-officio Chairperson of NITI Ayog.

PM Modi launches “Deendayal Hastkala Sankul” trade facilitation center for handicrafts-handlooms

Aiming at facilitating market for the artisans and weavers involved in handicrafts that operate through micro and tiny enterprises, Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently launched Deendayal Hastkala Sankul – a trade facilitation centre for handicrafts in the Varanasi region.

The initiative will help the artisans and weavers showcase their skills to the world, and give them access to a larger consumer base.

The Union Textiles Minister Smriti Zubin Irani, present during the launch event said that the 300 crore intuitive under the Ministry will prove to be an important step towards the sector.

The Deendayal Hastkala Sankul aims to develop and promote handlooms, handicrafts and silk products of Varanasi and to provide necessary help to weavers, artisans and entrepreneurs of Varanasi in strengthening their marketing activities in domestic as well as international markets and in carrying forward the rich tradition of handlooms at Varanasi.

The Sankul will facilitate the weavers, artisans and exporters in promotion of handlooms and handicrafts in both domestic and international markets.

Government launches Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhayay Vigyan Gram Sankul Pariyojana

The Minister of Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Dr. Harshvardhan today launched “Pt Deen Dayal Upadhayay Vigyan Gram Sankul Pariyojana” which will experiment and endeavour to formulate and implement appropriate S&T Interventions for Sustainable Development through cluster approach in Uttarakhand. 

This project has been inspired by teachings and ideals of Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhayay whose birth centenary is being celebrated this year.

DST has conceived to adopt a few clusters of villages in Uttarakhand and transform them to become self-sustainable in a time bound manner through the tools of Science and Technology (S&T). The key deliverable in this approach is to utilise local resources and locally available skill sets and convert them in a manner using science and technology, that substantial value addition takes place in their local produce and services which can sustain the rural population locally.  Further, the local communities are not compelled to migrate from their native places in search of jobs and livelihoods. Once this concept is validated in the few selected clusters, it can be replicated across large number of village clusters in the country.

Four clusters at Gaindikhata, Bazeera, Bhigun (in Garhwal) and Kausani (in Kumaon) have been selected for the intervention through a series of dialogues held among officials of DST and Uttarakhand State Council of Science and Technology (UCOST); Gramodaya Network, Surabhi Foundation and Uttarakhand Utthan Parishad; and other experts. Intensive interaction with local population and field visits were carried out to identify the challenges and opportunities that exist in the clusters.

Areas of interventions in these selected clusters would be processing and value addition of milk, honey, mushroom, herbal tea, forest produce, horticulture and local crops, medicinal & aromatic plants and traditional craft and handloom of Uttarakhand.  Post-harvest processing of Kiwi, Strawberry, Cherry, Tulsi, Adrak, Badi Elaichi through solar drying technology, extraction of apricot oil using cold press technology. Stringent product and process control interventions for energy and water conservation would also be ensured through this project.

Govt launches 'Pradhan Mantri LPG Panchayat' to boost PMUY

Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan on 23^rd sept. launched the 'Pradhan Mantri LPG Panchayat' from Mota Ishanpur village here today and handed over free LPG connection to a beneficiary of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana. 

Addressing the public, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister said his government has so far provided LPG connection to 8.5 crore households in less than three years as against 14 crore connections provided by the&nbsp Congress government.

પોરબંદર: આજથી ખાદી સપ્તાહની ઉજવણી શરૂ

- માન્ય ખાદી ભંડારમાં ચાલતી હૂંડી નોટનું અનેરૂ મહત્વ હતુ

- 1958ની સાલમાં બહાર પડેલી ખાદીની હૂંડી આજે પણ સચવાયેલી છે.

ગાંધીભૂમિ પોરબંદરમાં 1958ની સાલમાં ચરખા જયંતિ નિમિતે યાદીની હૂંડી બહાર પાડવામાં આવી હતી તે આજે પણ વેપારી પાસે સચવાયેલ છે.

ભારતમાં 1958માં ખાદી ગ્રામ ઉદ્યોગ ભવનમાં ગાંધીજીના નામનું ચલણ ચાલતું હતું અને વસ્તુ મળતી હતી. 1958માં ચરખા જયંતિ નિમિત્તે ખાદી હુંડી બહાર પાડવામાં આવેલી હતી.

તે હુંડી આજે પણ પોરબંદરના વેપારી શૈલેષભાઇ ઠાકર પાસે સચવાયેલી છે. 5 અને 10ની હૂંડી કે જેમાં પાંચની હૂંડી પાંચ ઇંચ લાંબી અને 3 ઇંચ પહોળી તેમજ 10 ની હુંડી 6 ઇંચ લાંબી અને 3 ઇંચ પહોળી હતી.

ખાદી ભંડારના માન્ય ભંડારમાં આ હૂંડી ચાલતી. પાંચ અને દશની એ જમાનાની હૂંડી અત્યારની તુલનામાં લાખ બરાબર થાય ત્યારે અત્યારના જેવી મોંઘવારી હતી નહીં.

દસ રૂપિયામાં ત્યારે બધું આવી જતું ત્યારે આ પાંચ અને 10 રૂપિયાની ખાદી હૂંડી ખાદી ભંડારમાં ચાલતી.

તેમણે પોતાના દાદા રતિલાલ હરજીવન ઠાકર પાસે આ બધી વાતો સાંભળેલી. વડવાઓએ સાચવેલી યાદગીરી સંભાળ સાથે તેમણે સાચવી છે. દેશના બે તત્વચિંતક મહાનુભાવોના જન્મ દિવસને જોડીને તા. 25 સપ્ટેમ્બરના રોજ પંડિત દીનદયાળ ઉપાધ્યાયના જન્મ દિવસથી શરૂ કરીને તા. 2 જી ઓકટોબરના રોજ પૂ. મહાત્મા ગાંધીજીના જન્મ દિવસને ધ્યાનમાં લઇ અઠવાડિયાને ખાદી સપ્તાહ તરીકે ઉજવવાનું સરકાર દ્વારા નક્કી કરવામાં આવ્યું છે.

પર્યાવરણની રીતે અનુકુળ એવા આ કાપડના વપરાશ દ્વારા દેશના ખાદીવણાટ સાથે જોડાયેલ દેશબંધુઓને રોજગારીની મહતમ તક પ્રાપ્ત થાય તે માટે સહભાગી થઇ શકાય તેવા આશયથી આ ઉજવણી થઇ રહી છે.

Cabinet Approves Introduction Of Dentists (Amendment) Bill, 2017

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval for introduction of the Dentists (Amendment) Bill, 2017 in Parliament

The approval is subject to modifications of drafting or consequential nature, if any, as may be considered necessary by the Legislative Department by amending the Dentists Act, 1948 (16 of 1948).

As per the existing Act, it was required to have the representation of dentists registered as Central Government nominees in the Dental Council of India and the election of four/ two members from there to the State/ Joint State Dental Councils.

However, it has lost relevance. With a view to reducing the redundancy of the provisions of their representation, the Central Government has decided to delete these provisions so that their representation does not remain mandatory any more.

The clauses being amended include those pertaining to certain modifications in the provisions of the Dentists Act, 1948 with regard to:

1. The Membership of the Dental Council of India under clause (f) of section 3, and

2. The Membership of State and Joint State Dental Councils under clause (b) of section 21 and clause (b) of section 23 of the said Act.

બ્રહ્મપુત્રનો અભ્યાસ કરવા માટે 'બોટ લેબ'

ટૂંક સમયમાં, કેટલીક ગંભીર જાણકારી મેળવવા બ્રહ્મપુત્ર નદીની સાથે સફર કરવું શક્ય બનશે.

બાયોટેકનોલોજી ડિપાર્ટમેન્ટ બે ટાયર્ડ નૌકાનું નિર્માણ કરશે જેમાં આશરે બે મોટા કોન્ફરન્સ રૂમ અને યજમાન વૈજ્ઞાનિકો અને સંપૂર્ણ સુવિધાયુક્ત પ્રયોગશાળાને સમાવે એટલુ હશે.

ડિપાર્ટમેન્ટ, નદીના વિવિધ વિસ્તારોમાંથી નમૂનાઓ એકત્ર કરવા, પરીક્ષણો કરવા માટે પરવાનગી આપશે. આ બાયોલોજી બોટ (બી 4) તરીકે ઓળખાય છે, તેને નાની બોટ અને સંશોધન પ્રયોગશાળાઓ સાથે જોડવામાં આવશે.

પ્રથમ પ્રયોગ આ ડિસેમ્બરમાં શરૂ થશે અને એક હોડી ફરીથી ગોઠવવામાં આવશે. જે પાશિઘટ, દુબ્રિગઢ, નીમેટી, તેજપુર અને ગુવાહાટી આસામમાં અને ઇન્ડિયન ઇન્સ્ટિટ્યુટ ઓફ ટેકનોલોજી, ગુવાહાટી દ્વારા સંચાલિત હશે.

"બી 4" માં સ્કૂલ અને કૉલેજ બાળકો માટે શિક્ષણ પ્રયોગશાળા હશે.

'મોબાઇલ લેબ્સ' પણ હશે જે બ્રહ્મપુત્રાની ઉપનદીઓમાં ફરતી બી 4 બોટને ડેટા આપવાનો રહેશે.

RBI to regulate peer-to-peer lending firms

All peer-to-peer lending (P2P) platforms will be regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), according to a government of India notification.

The gazette notification stated that all the P2P loan platforms will be treated as non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and will be brought under the ambit of the banking regulator.

The Reserve Bank of India, on being satisfied that it is necessary to do so, in exercise of the powers conferred on it by... the Reserve Bank of India Act 1934, (2 of 1934) with prior approval from the government, hereby specifies, a non-banking institution that carries on the business of a peer-to-peer lending platform to be a non-banking financial company

What is P2P?

Peer-to-peer lending, sometimes abbreviated P2P lending, is the practice of lending money to individuals or businesses through online services that match lenders with borrowers. Since peer-to-peer lending companies offering these services generally operate online, they can run with lower overhead and provide the service more cheaply than traditional financial institutions. As a result, lenders can earn higher returns compared to savings and investment products offered by banks, while borrowers can borrow money at lower interest rates, even after the P2P lending company has taken a fee for providing the match-making platform and credit checking the borrower. There is the risk of the borrower defaulting on the loans taken out from peer-lending websites.

Also known as crowdlending, many peer-to-peer loans are unsecured personal loans, though some of the largest amounts are lent to businesses. Secured loans are sometimes offered by using luxury assets such as jewelry, watches, vintage cars, fine art, buildings, aircraft and other business assets as collateral. They are made to an individual, company or charity. Other forms of peer-to-peer lending include student loans, commercial and real estate loans, payday loans, as well as secured business loans, leasing, and factoring.

India collaborating with Russia for nuclear power plant in Bangladesh

India said on Wednesday it is collaborating with Russia to build the Rooppur nuclear power plant in Bangladesh, the first initiative under an Indo-Russia deal to undertake atomic energy projects in third countries. This will also be India’s first atomic energy venture abroad.

“We are collaborating with our Russian and Bangladeshi partners on establishing Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant in Bangladesh,” Atomic Energy Commission chairman Sekhar Basu said at the 61st general conference of the global nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

India signed a civil nuclear cooperation deal, along with two more agreements, with Bangladesh in April under which the two sides can supply and manufacture equipment, material for the atomic power plant.

The Rooppur project, which is being built by the Russians near Dhaka, will be Bangladesh’s first atomic energy project.

After commissioning of two units, each with a capacity of 1200 MWs, Bangladesh will be the third South Asian country after India and Pakistan to harness energy from atomic fission.

The Indian government has approved construction of 10 new indigenously built nuclear power projects

Chabahar Port to be operational by 2018-end

Chabahar port, located in the Sistan-Balochistan province in the energy-rich Persian Gulf nation's southern coast, lies outside the Persian Gulf and is easily accessed from India's western coast, bypassing Pakistan.

Union Minister said that the port would be a “win win” situation for India, Iran and Afghanistan as it would serve as a “growth engine” for the entire region.

India joins quantum computing race

Keen to tap into the next big advance in computing technology, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) is planning to fund a project to develop quantum computers.

A quantum computer, still largely a theoretical entity, employs the principles of quantum mechanics to store information in ‘qubits’ instead of the typical ‘bits’ of 1 and 0. Qubits work faster because of the way such circuits are designed, and their promise is that they can do intensive number-crunching tasks much more efficiently than the fastest comparable computers.

The Physics departments at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and the Harish Chandra Research Institute, Allahabad, have only forayed into the theoretical aspects of quantum computing.

Experts from across the country are expected to gather this month in Allahabad for a workshop to develop such a computer. Internationally, Canada’s D-Wave Systems, is a pioneer in developing quantum computers and has sold machines to Lockheed Martin and Google.

એશિયન ઈન્ડોર એથ્લેટ્કિસમાં ચિત્રા અને લક્ષ્મણન ગોલ્ડ જીત્યા

પી.ટી. ઉષા સહિતના ભારતીય એથ્લેટિક્સ ફેડરેશનના રાજકારણને કારણે જેને વર્લ્ડ ચેમ્પિનયનશીપમાં ભાગ લેવાથી વંચિત રાખવામાં આવી હતી તેવી ભારતીય એથ્લીટ પી.યુ. ચિત્રાએ તુર્કમેનિસ્તાનમાં યોજાયેલી પાંચમી એશિયન ઈન્ડોર એથ્લેટ્કિસ અને માર્શલ આર્ટસ ગેમ્સમાં મહિલાઓની ૧,૫૦૦ મીટરની દોડમાં ગોલ્ડ મેડલ જીત્યો હતો.

ચિત્રાની સાથે સાથે એશિયન ચેમ્પિયન બનેલા ભારતના જી. લક્ષ્મણને પણ પુરુષોની ૩,૦૦૦ મીટરની દોડમાં સુવર્ણ સફળતા પ્રાપ્ત કરી હતી. ભુવનેશ્વરમાં જુલાઈમાં યોજાયેલી એશિયન એથ્લેટ્કિસ ચેમ્પિયનશીપમાં બેવડા ગોલ્ડ મેડલ જીતનારા લક્ષ્મણને એશિયન ઈન્ડોર એથ્લેટિક્સમાં પુરુષોની ૩,૦૦૦ મીટરની દોડ ૮ મિનિટ અને ૨.૩૦ સેકન્ડમાં પુરી કરતાં સુવર્ણ ચંદ્રક જીત્યો હતો.

જ્યારે ચિત્રાએ મહિલાઓની ૧,૫૦૦ મીટરની દોડમાં ચાર મિનિટ અને ૨૭.૩૨ સેકન્ડના સમય સાથે ગોલ્ડ મેડલ જીત્યો હતો. અગાઉ એશિયન ચેમ્પિયન બનેલી ચિત્રાને ભારતીય એથ્લેટિક્સ ફેડરેશને વર્લ્ડ ચેમ્પિયનશીપ માટેની ટીમમાં સામેલ કરી નહતી. જે અંગે કેરળ હાઈકોર્ટે આદેશ આપ્યો હોવા છતાં ચિત્રાને લંડન વર્લ્ડ ચેમ્પિયનશીપમા રમવા મળ્યું નહતુ.

ONGC discovers oil in Arabian sea

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) has made a significant oil discovery to the west of its prime Mumbai High fields in the Arabian sea.

The discovery in the well WO-24-3 is estimated to hold an in-place reserve of about 20 million tonnes, he said. Mumbai High, India’s biggest oil field, currently produces 205,000 barrels of oil per day (just over 10 million tonnes per annum) and the new find would add to that production in less than two years time.

Further appraisal

ONGC is carrying out a further appraisal of the discovery and has intimated upstream regulator Directorate General of Hydrocarbons.

This is a mid-sized discovery but a significant one.

The new find, which comes almost 50 years after ONGC began production in Mumbai High, will help the company maintain production levels from the basin for a longer time than currently estimated.

Zero Hunger Programme will be launch on October 16

Three districts - Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, Koraput in Odisha and Thane in Maharashtra - will initiate India's ambitious 'Zero Hunger' programme through interventions in farm sector on October 16 (World Food Day).

Though many more districts will eventually be covered under this dedicated farm-based programme in sync with India's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end hunger by 2030, these three would act as a model of an integrated approach to deal with hunger and malnutrition by adopting suitable agricultural\horticultural practices.

The programme will ensure suitable methods of measuring the impact of intervention. There will be intensive training programme in order to identify the nutritional maladies in each district and the appropriate agricultural/horticultural and animal husbandry remedies.

The Programme will be initiated by the&nbsp Indian Council of Agricultural Research(ICAR) in association with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation and the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC).;

Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, 2017 Approved by Law Ministry

The law ministry has given its concurrence to a draft bill that will give powers to the government to confiscate property of economic offenders and defaulters who flee India, albeit with a new provision .

Law Ministry proposed a "Saving Clause" to be incorporated in the Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill 2017 before its presentation in the Lok Sabha.

The saving clause provides for certain exception(s) in a statute.

It enables the repealed law to be in force with respect to some existing rights.

PV Sindhu wins Korea Open Super Series title

PV Sindhu won the Korea Open Super Series title with a 22-20, 11-21, 21-18 win over Japan's Nozomi Okuhara. With the win, Sindhu exacted revenge for last month's defeat to the same opponent in the final of the world championship in Glasgow. 

With this victory, Sindhu became first Indian to win Korea Super Series crown. It was overall her third super series title of her career. She had won 2016 China Super Series Premier and India Super Series and Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold this season.

Google Tez UPI-Based Digital Payments App Launched in India

Google Tez has become the latest UPI-based payments app in the country, propelling the Internet search giant into the league of companies eyeing a piece of India's digital payments pie. 

The new Google Tez app can be used to pay for movie tickets, utility bills, and make other transactions online.

Tez means fast in Hindi, which the company said was one of the selling points of its new app. Google's rivals such as Amazon and Facebook are also making efforts to tap the country's digital payments market.

The app weighs just 7MB on Android and works with the vast majority of Android smartphones in the country.

Google Tez is a standalone payments app, available on Android and iOS, and is powered by UPI, a payments protocol built by government-backed organisation NPCI. 

Intelligence wing of Sashastra Seema Bal launched

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has launched full-fledged intelligence wing of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). SSB is paramilitary force that guards India’s borders with Bhutan and Nepal.

The intelligence wing will have 650 men who will gather intelligence on terrorists, illegal immigrants, drugs/fake currency/wildlife smugglers etc on Nepal and Bhutan borders.

SSB’s intelligence wing personnel will be deployed on India-Nepal and India-Bhutan borders where there are no restrictions on movement of people on either side due to visa free regime.

Lauding the role of the SSB, which guards the 1,751 km- long Indo-Nepal and the 699 km-long Indo-Bhutan borders, it is very tough to guard such open borders, which allow visa-free movement of people, than fenced borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh.

In an open border, the securitymen do not know which way a criminal is coming or who is carrying fake currency or fake drugs

Rajni Kant Mishra appointed new SSB chief 

 

Rajni Kant Mishra will be the new chief of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) 

Mishra, a 1984 batch Uttar Pradesh cadre IPS officer, will succeed Archana Ramasundaram, a 1980 batch Tamil Nadu cadre IPS officer, who is set to retire on September 30. 

Mishra, 58, a native of Patna in Bihar, joined the Border Security Force (BSF) as Inspector General in 2012. 

He was appointed as Additional Director General of the BSF in November 2014. He was recently elevated to Special Director General rank in the BSF. 

Mishra, a Master of Science, will hold the post till his superannuation on August 31, 2019, from the date of assumption of charge of the post or until further orders, according to an order from the Department of Personnel and Training.