સોમવાર, 25 સપ્ટેમ્બર, 2017

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 23rd 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.