PM expresses grief over loss of lives due to a landslide in Rajamalai, Idukki; announces ex-gratia for the victims

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&ldquo . Prime Idukki. Minister Narendra Pained Rajamalai administration affected&rdquo announced assistance bereaved ex-gratia expressed families. ground injured landslide landslide.   providing quickly. recover thoughts working

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1. PM addresses nation and announces extension of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana
Tuesday June 30 2020 : PM addresses nation and announces extension of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today addressed the nation and announced the extension of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana till the end of November.   Helping hand to the poor Prime Minister emphasized that provision of food to those in need during lockdown has been the foremost priority of the country. As soon as lockdown was announced, the government brought about PM Garib KalyanYojana, under which a package of Rs 1.75 lakh crore for the poor was announced. He noted that in the last three months, Rs 31,000 crore has been transferred in the Jan Dhan accounts of almost 20 crore poor families, Rs 18,000 crore has been transferred to the bank accounts of more than 9 crore farmers and Rs 50,000 crore is being spent on PM Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan, which has been started to provide employment opportunities.   Extension of PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana till November Prime Minister observed that the enormityof the decision to provide free ration for three months to more than 80 crore people ie providing 5 kg free rice/wheat to each member of the family, along with providing 1 kg pulses to each family, per month, has made the entire world take notice. The number of people who were provided free ration is several times the population of many large countries, he said. Prime Minister noted that with the commencement of the rainy season, most of the work takes place in the agriculture sector. Also,several festivals take place one after the other, including Guru Purnima, Rakshabandhan, Shri Krishna Janmashtami, Ganesh Chaturthi, Onam, Dussehra, Deepawali, Chhath Puja, among others. He announced that keeping in mind that requirements as well as expenditure increase during this time, the government has decided to extend PM GaribKalyan Anna Yojana tillDeepawali and Chhath Puja, ie the scheme will continue to remain applicable from July till the end of November. During this five-month period, more than 80 crore peoplewill be provided 5 kg free wheat/rice per month. Along with providing 5kg free rice/wheat to each member of a family, 1 kg free whole chana will also be provided to each family per month. The government will spend more than Rs 90,000 crore towards the extension of the scheme, the Prime Minister said, adding that if the amount spent towards it in the previous three months is added together, a total of almost Rs 1.5 lakh crore would be spent towards the scheme. He credited and thanked the hard-working farmers and honest tax payers for making it possible for the government to procure and distribute free foodgrains. Prime Minister underlined that the country is moving towards the institution of ‘one nation, one ration card’, which will be of immense benefit to the poor who travel to other states in search of work.   Staying safe during Unlock 2 Prime Minister noted that the shift of the fight against coronavirus to Unlock 2 coincides w

2. Announces the National Digital Health Mission
Saturday August 15 2020 : The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and India’s simultaneous graded and pro-active approach that made the country “Atmanirbhar” found a place in the Prime Minister’s address to the Nation on the 74th Independence Day, as he highlighted the accomplishments of the Central government in the field of health. Expressing his condolences for families who lost their loved ones to the disease, he said that India’s Corona warriors need to be applauded as they have exemplified the mantra “Seva Parmo Dharma.” The Prime Minister reassured the nation that “we will win against corona. ‘Strong will’ will lead to victory”. He highlighted the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ spirit of the country that has resulted in achieving self-reliance amid COVID-19. He said that the country is now producing PPE kits, N95 masks, ventilators etc., which were not being manufactured domestically. The increase in production capacity of such world class items also echoed in his call “vocal for local”. Speaking from the ramparts of the Red Fort today, the Prime Minister highlighted the country’s steady escalation of its COVID testing capacity “From merely one lab we have today more than 1400 labs across the country. We were earlier conducting just 300 tests on a day; today we are conducting more than 7 lakh tests in a day. We have achieved this in a very less amount of time”, he stated. In his Independence Day address to the nation, the Prime Minister mentioned about India’s strategy for development of the Corona Vaccine. He stated that sscientists are working on this mission with strong determination. Presently, three vaccines are in different stages of testing. As soon as the scientists give a nod, mass production shall commence. A blueprint for the production and distribution of the vaccine is also ready, he added. Expanding on the country’s push for increased capacity in Medical Education and Health Infrastructure, Prime Minister stated that the new AIIMS and medical colleges will strengthen the medical infrastructure in the country. We have added more than 45,000 seats in MBBS and MD courses, he added. The Prime Minister also appreciated the role played by the Ayushman Bharat health & Wellness Centres (HWCs) in provisioning of non-COVID healthcare services during the ongoing pandemic. Of the envisaged 1.5 lakh HWCs, one third are already active, he said. He also expressed confidence that Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) will improve the effectiveness of services in the health sector. Announcing the National Digital Health Mission, Prime Minister said that a Unique Health ID will be provided to every citizen which will have details of the diseases, diagnosis, report, medication etc., in a common database through a single ID. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1646049

3. Shri Gadkari Lays Foundation Stone for 13 Highway Projects and Inaugurates a Road Safety Project in Manipur; Announces Slew of Development Measures for NE States
Monday August 17 2020 : Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and MSMEs Shri Nitin Gadkari laid the foundation stones for 13 highway projects and inaugurated a Road safety project in the North-Eastern State of Manipur through video conference today. Chief Minister Shri N Biren Singh presided over the virtual function, attended by MoS (I/c) for DONER and PMO Dr Jitendra Singh, MoS RTH Gen (Retd) V K Singh, Ministers of the Manipur State, several MPs, MLAs and senior officers from the Centre and the State. These projects involve a Road length of 316 kilometers, with construction value of about Rs 3000 crore. Paving the way for development of Manipur, these roads will enhance better connectivity, convenience and economic growth in this NE State. Speaking on the occasion, Shri Gadkari said, keeping with Prime Minister's desire to develop infrastructure in the NE, we have undertaken several projects in the region. He assured many new Road projects in Manipur in near future. The Minister announced that the DPR for an elevated road in Imphal is being prepared and within 2-3 months work on this project will begin. Shri Gadkari asked the CM to expedite land acquisition and utility shifting work in the State urgently, so that road projects could be hastened up. On issue Central Road Fund(CRF) also, he assured release of additional funds of about Rs 250 crore as soon as the utilization certificate is received from the State. The Minister informed that dredging has been completed in Brahmputra and Barak rivers, and it is now possible to Transport people and consignments through waterways. He suggested linking of Imphal with this river route, which is barely 50-60 kms, for getting added benefits for the State economy. He also called for adopting alternate fuel for public transport in the NE region, it being cheaper as well  as environment friendly. Shri Gadkari highlighted the role of MSME sector in improving the employment and economic scenario in Manipur. Informing about the recent expansion in the definition of MSME units, he exhorted the CM to utilise the opportunity and explore export potential of handicrafts, handloom, and honey, bamboo products etc which can provide employment to large number of people. Chief Minister Shri Biren Singh said, Manipur being a hill-locked State with heavy rains requires top quality Road network to withstand the vagaries of nature. He welcomed the decision of MoRTH in favour of a 25 km elevated Road in Imphal. He, however, pointed out the need for four-laning of Imphal-Loktak highway, which has heavy traffic, due to it being a famous tourist attraction. MoS (I/c) for DONER and PMO Dr Jitendra Singh said, today's event gives three important messages. That the North East continues to be the priority of the govt, that infrastructure works have continued in this region despite all odds, and that it is in keeping with the PMs call from Lal Kila for development of Rs 100 lakh crore infrastructure in the country. MoS RTH Gen (Retd) V K Singh said, under the Act East Policy, the government has devoted special attention to the north eastern States. He

4. Atal Innovation Mission announces partnership with AICTE to adopt Atal Tinkering Labs and empower, mentor school student innovators across the country through AICTE Institution Innovation councils (IICs)
Thursday April 15 2021 : On the occasion of Dr. BR Ambedkar Jayanti, Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Ministry of Education’s Innovation Cell announced their strategic collaboration to empower Atal Tinkering Lab school students for world class future ready innovation skills across the country. The partnership offers to begin with to connect around 7200+ Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) established in schools with 2500+ Institution’s Innovation Councils (IICs) functioning in higher educational institutions spread across all the states and UTs. ATLs in schools are equipped with facilities and provide tinkering opportunities to school students to ideate and work on innovative projects and improve their innovation abilities. Whereas IICs in HEIs take the institution’s innovation capability and facility to engage students and faculties in innovation and entrepreneurship activities and provide opportunity to ideate, innovate and become entrepreneurs. Both ATL and IIC models have proved as efficient and effective institutional mechanisms to unleash the creative potential of youth and engage in entrepreneurial manifestations. To make these models stronger and impactful, adoption of ATLs by IICs and continuous mentoring support to ATLs is an integrated ecosystem build up step from AICTE, MIC and AIM, NITI Aayog. Moreover, this move is also aligned with the NEP 2020 objective of bridging gap between schools and higher educational institutions. The adoption process will see actions of online mentoring, lecture sessions, group projects, visits of key stakeholders etc. from both sides. Speaking during the virtual event, Mission Director Atal Innovation Mission, R Ramanan said “AICTE and AIM have developed a strategic partnership over the last couple of years. The adoption of ATLs and their students by AICTE IICs in proximity to the ATLs will greatly enhance the spurring of relevant knowledge and innovative thinking in the ATL school students leveraging the various innovation related training and innovation workshop initiatives from IICs” Chairman of All India Council for Technical Education, Dr. Anil Sahasrabudhe while speaking on the occasion stressed upon training students as well as inculcating Indian Knowledge Systems and values associated with it. “I am really happy about this collaboration through which we not only just mentor innovative students but also embed the Indian knowledge sharing value systems among them. I believe giving back to society is much more crucial value to be imbibed in itself. Therefore, while we aim to embed IoT, Robotics, machine learning, deep learning, 3D, blockchain, augmented reality, virtual reality etc and train students, we must also focus on how it also endorses along with value systems,” he asserted. In his address, Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) at Ministry of Education, Govt. of IndiaDr. Abhay Jere said “If we really wish to emerge as a truly innovative nation then we have to ensure that we have a huge pipeline of

5. Bata India announces Q1 results; Sales remained subdued owing to the second wave of Covid-19
Wednesday August 11 2021 : Bata India announces Q1 results; Sales remained subdued owing to the second wave of Covid-19 Mumbai, 11th August, 2021: Footwear major Bata India Limited today announced results for the quarter ended 30th June, 2021. Sales across retail outlets remained largely subdued, owing to the second wave of Covid-19 infections and ensuing lockdowns. However, sales through ecommerce platforms continued to remain robust and witnessed an uptick despite the restrictions. Revenue from operations for the quarter stood at INR 2670 million and net loss after tax amounted to INR 713 million. Bata India continued to strengthen its retail presence in tier 3-5 cities by opening 7 new franchise stores during the first quarter despite the lockdown, taking the overall tally to 234 franchise stores. The brand also scaled up its website, www.bata.in, and continued to reach out to its customers through hyperlocal channels - Bata Chatshop and Bata Store on Wheels, thereby making remote shopping experience more convenient. Supporting the country in combatting the pandemic, Bata India has been at the forefront to conduct vaccination drives across its regional offices and factories for its employees and their families. Till now, Bata has successfully vaccinated 99% of its staff with the first dose, and expects to complete full vaccination in the current quarter. The company also set up a Covid Task Force cross every region to extend support to its employees and their families in case of an emergency. Gunjan Shah, CEO – Bata India Limited, stated: ‘The first quarter had some challenges for businesses across the country, including ours. However, this time around, we were better prepared as we had a more agile contingency plan in place which helped us navigate adroitly through the changing business landscape amidst infection surge. While our retail outlets were largely shut, we were able to serve our customers through alternate channels such as our website www.bata.in, online market places, Bata ChatShop, and Bata Store on Wheels. These channels have enabled us in minimising the overall impact of the second wave. We also continued with our retail expansion drive and opened 7 new franchise stores in tier III-V cities during the first quarter. Since the ease in lockdown, footfalls in our retail outlets have started growing, signalling strong signs of recovery.” Keeping pace with current consumer trends, Bata India curated and prompted relevant collections for its customers like Work from Home, Fitness at Home and Monsoon Collection. The Company continued to also optimize its retail network and look for cost-savings across operations, manufacturing and drive efficiencies in its value chain.   Key Highlights: ·         Bata continued with its retail expansion drive in tier3-5 cities through franchis

6. Government announces 23rd January to be celebrated as PARAKRAM DIWAS every year
Tuesday January 19 2021 : Government of India has decided to celebrate the 125th Birth Anniversary year of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in a befitting manner at national and international level, beginning from 23rd January 2021. A High Level Committee, headed by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has been constituted for deciding the programs, and to supervise and guide the commemoration. In order to honour and remember Netaji’s indomitable spirit and selfless service to the nation, Government of India has decided to celebrate his birthday on the 23rd day of January every year as “PARAKRAM DIWAS” to inspire people of the country, especially the youth, to act with fortitude in the face of adversity as Netaji did, and to infuse in them a spirit of patriotic fervour. Gazette Notification for declaring 23rd January as “ParakramDiwas” has been published.

7. AYUSH Ministry announces the names of the winners of My Life – My Yoga Video Blogging Contest
Wednesday July 15 2020 : The names of the winners of video blogging contest ‘My Life, My Yoga’ have been announced today. This global contest on digital platform is a joint effort by the Ministry of AYUSH and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and was launched on 31st May 2020 by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, on occasion of 6th   International Day of Yoga.    The contest was held in six categories- Professional, Adult (above 18 years) and Youth (under 18) with Male and Female contestants considered separately. A Total of 35141 entries were received from India and nearly 2000 entries were received from other countries. The entries of other countries are being evaluated by the respective Indian Missions.   The first winners in professional category are Ashwath Hegde (male) and Rajni Gehlot (female).  Rajpal Singh Arya and Shailee Prasad are first in adult (above 18 years) category and Pranay Sharma and Navyaa.S.H are first in youth (under 18 years) category.   The entries received from India were screened by 200 yoga experts and 160 videos were shortlisted. Further, a 15-member jury across these categories evaluated the shortlisted entries. Winners were decided by scores allotted independently by Jury members and averaged. Those with highest average score were declared winners.    The contest was open to participants from across the world. To enter into the contest, the participants were required to upload a 3 minutes video of 3 Yogic practices (kriya, asana, pranayama, bandha or mudra), including a short video message/ description on how the said Yogic practices influenced their life. The videos were uploaded on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram with the contest hashtag #MyLifeMyYoga. The contest closed on the International Day of Yoga, i.e. on21st June 2020 at 23.50 hrs.

8. Shri Paswan directs FCI to expedite both distribution and procurement, expresses satisfaction with stocks replenishment
Thursday May 28 2020 : Shri Paswan directs FCI to expedite both distribution and procurement, expresses satisfaction with stocks replenishment Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Shri Ram Vilas Paswan today chaired the review meeting with the Food Corporation of India’s Zonal Executive Directors and Regional General Managers on the distribution and procurement of food grains, through video conference.   In his address, Shri Paswan lauded the role of FCI during the lockdown and said food grain movement has been at an all-time high. He said FCI workforce have emerged as Food Warriors at the time of global pandemic crisis and they turned this challenge into an opportunity. FCI has undertaken record loading, unloading and transportation of food grains during the lockdown period. On the other hand, procurement also continued without disruptions and the wheat procurement by government agencies this year surpassed the last year’s figures. The Minister also took stock of the distribution of food grains in the states and UTs during the review meeting.   Atma Nirbhar Bharat Package   While reviewing the allocation of food grains under Atma Nirbhar Bharat Package for Migrants/Stranded Migrants, Shri Paswan said that the Government of India has made allocation of 8.00 LMT food grains (2.44 LMT wheat and 5.56 LMT Rice) to 37 State/UTs for the months of May and June 2020.  According to FCI, against this allocation, up to 27.05.2020, 2.06 LMT food grains have been lifted by the States/UTs. Andaman & Nicobar, Andhra Pradesh and Lakshadweep have lifted the entire allocation foe two months. The Minister directed the FCI to coordinate with the State/UT Governments and expedite the lifting of food grains.   Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana   Under this scheme, Government has made allocation of 120.04 LMT food grain (15.65 LMT wheat and 104.4 LMT Rice) to 37 State/UTs for the months of April, May and June 2020. While reviewing this scheme Shri Paswan asked the concerned officials to coordinate with State/UTs Government to expedite the lifting, so that the food grains reach the beneficiary in time. FCI informed, against the PMGKAY allocation, up to 27.05.2020,  95.80 LMT food grain (15.6 LMT wheat and 83.38 LMT Rice) have been lifted by the States/UTs.   Sale of food grain to Charitable / NGO under OMSS(D) without e-auction   As per the instructions of Government of India, up to 25.05.2020, FCI informed that it has approved sale of 1179 MT wheat to 186 organisations and 8496 MT rice to 890 organizations against which 886 MT wheat & 7778 MT rice have been lifted by these organizations.   Amphan Cyclone in West Benga

9. Hinduja Global Solutions Announces Q4 and FULL-YEAR RESULTS FOR FY2021
Friday June 18 2021 : HGS ANNOUNCES Q4 and FULL-YEAR RESULTS FOR FY2021 Mumbai, India, June 18, 2021: Hinduja Global Solutions (HGS) (listed in BSE & NSE) today announced its audited Fourth Quarter and Full-Year Results for FY2021. Speaking on the results, Partha DeSarkar, Executive Director and Global CEO of HGS said: “The onset of the pandemic last year led to several challenges for HGS. I am very pleased with how TeamHGS overcame this phase by turning these challenges into opportunities.  It’s been a fantastic performance on many parameters. On like-to-like basis, HGS registered double-digit growth in revenue, EBIDTA and PAT for FY2021. Our PAT has been the highest-ever for both Q4 and full-year of FY2021.  Our strategy in FY2021 was simple – shift our people to primarily Work@Home model, create a strong momentum in client wins (new and existing), add big wins in core verticals like Healthcare and Public Sector and sell more digital services. This has helped us achieve significant growth in the business and improve profitability. Additionally, adoption of cloud telephony has helped us scale our business rapidly, without having to spend on capex for brick and mortar expansion. The successful transition to Work@Home has also given us the highest employee satisfaction scores and customer satisfaction scores ever.  Looking ahead, we expect to build on this momentum and are investing in aggressive growth in FY2022.” Financial Highlights for Q4 FY2021  ·         Q4 FY2021 revenues stood at Rs. 15,636 million. Revenue growth of 18.6% YoY as reported ·         Revenue growth of 21.6% YoY on like-to-like basis (excluding India Domestic CRM business revenues that was sold in January 2020) ·         EBITDA for Q4 FY2021 was Rs. 2,342 million, a growth of 24.5% YoY as reported; EBITDA growth of 31.7% YoY on like-to-like basis, (excluding India Domestic CRM business that was sold in January 2020) ·         EBITDA margins stood at 15% in Q4 FY2021 ·         Net profit for Q4 FY2021 was Rs. 1,303 million, a growth of 190.6% YoY; Net margins stood at 8.3% ·         Capital expenditure for the quarter was Rs. 414 million ·         Final Dividend of Rs. 22 per share, including special dividend of Rs. 15 per share Financial Highlights for Full-Year FY2021 ·         Net Sales increased to Rs. 55,889 million, a growth of 6.8% YoY as reported ·         Revenue growth was 14.6% on like-to-like basis, (excluding pass-through

10. PM announces special economic package; comprehensive package of Rs 20 lakh crore
Tuesday May 12 2020 : PM gives a clarion call for Atmanirbhar Bharat PM announces special economic package; comprehensive package of Rs 20 lakh crore Total package equivalent to 10% of India’s GDP PM gives a call for self-reliant India; lays down five pillars of Atmanirbhar Bharat Bold reforms across sectors will drive the country's push towards self-reliance: PM It is time to become vocal for our local products and make them global: PM Posted On: 12 MAY 2020 8:45PM by PIB Delhi Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi addressed the nation today. Recalling those who have died battling the pandemic, Prime Minister said that the crisis that has emerged due to COVID-19 is unprecedented, but in this battle, we not only need to protect ourselves but also have to keep moving forward.  Self-reliant India Talking about the pre and post COVID worlds, Prime Minister observed that in order to fulfill the dream of making the 21st century India’s, the way forward is through ensuring that the country becomes self-reliant. Talking about turning a crisis into an opportunity, he gave the example of PPE kits N-95 masks, whose production in India has gone up from almost being negligible to 2 lakh each, on a daily basis. Prime Minister remarked that the definition of self-reliance has undergone a change in the globalized world and clarified that when the country talks about self-reliance, it is different from being self-centered. He said that India’s culture considers the world as one family, and progress in India is part of, and also contributes to, progress in the whole world.  He noted that the world trusts that India has a lot to contribute towards the development of the entire humanity. Five pillars of a self-reliant India Recalling the devastation in Kutch after the earthquake, Prime Minister said that through determination and resolve, the area was back on its feet. A similar determination is needed to make the country self-reliant. He said that a self-reliant India will stand on five pillars viz. Economy, which brings in quantum jump and not incremental change; Infrastructure, which should become the identity of India; System, based on 21st century technology driven arrangements; Vibrant Demography, which is our source of energy for a self-reliant India; and Demand, whereby the strength of our demand and supply chain should be utilized to full capacity. He underlined the importance of strengthening all stakeholders in the supply chain to increase, as well as fulfill, the demand. Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan Prime Minister announced a special economic package and gave a clarion call for Atmanirbhar Bharat. He noted that this package, taken together with earlier announcements by the government during COVID crisis and decisions taken by RBI, is to the tune of Rs 20 lakh crore, which is equiv

11. Finance Minister announces measures to strengthen Agriculture Infrastructure Logistics, Capacity Building, Governance and Administrative Reforms for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Processing Sectors
Friday May 15 2020 : Finance Minister announces measures to strengthen Agriculture Infrastructure Logistics, Capacity Building, Governance and Administrative Reforms for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Processing Sectors • Rs 1 lakh croreAgri Infrastructure Fund for farm-gate infrastructure for farmers • Rs 10,000 crore scheme for formalisation of Micro Food Enterprises (MFE) • Rs 20,000 crore for Fishermen through Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) • National Animal Disease Control Programme • Setting up of Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund - Rs. 15,000 crore • Promotion of Herbal Cultivation : outlay of Rs 4,000 crore • Beekeeping initiatives –Rs 500 crore • From ‘TOP’ to TOTAL – Rs 500 crore • Measuresfor Governance and Administrative Reforms for Agriculture Sector o Amendments to Essential Commodities Act to enable better price realisation for farmers o Agriculture Marketing Reforms to provide marketing choices to farmers o Agr Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi announced a Special economic and comprehensive package of Rs 20 lakh crore - equivalent to 10% of India’s GDP on 12th May 2020. He gave a clarion call for आत्मनिर्भर भारत अभियान or Self-Reliant India Movement. He also outlined five pillars of Atmanirbhar Bharat – Economy, Infrastructure, System, Vibrant Demography and Demand. Union Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman today in her press conference announced the 3rd Tranche of measures to strengthen Infrastructure Logistics, Capacity Building, Governance and Administrative Reforms for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Processing Sectors. Giving details, Smt. Sitharaman said that out of these 11 measures, 8 measures are for improving agricultural infrastructure and 3 measures are for administrative and governance reforms, including removing restrictions on sale and stock limits of farm produce. In her opening remarks, the Union Finance Minister said that two significant Agriculture-related measures were also announced yesterday to support farmers, Rs 30,000 crore as Additional Emergency Working Capital facility through NABARD to enable RRBs and Cooperative Banks extending farm loans for Rabi post-harvest and Kharif expenses. And second was a mission-mode drive to enable Rs 2 lakh crore credit boost to the farm sector by covering 2.5 crore PM-KISAN beneficiaries under Kisan Credit Card Scheme by December 2020. Outlining what the Government has done over the last 2 months, the Finance Minister said that during lockdown period Minimum Support Price (MSP) purchases of amount more than Rs 74,300 crore, PM KISAN fund Transfer of Rs 18,700 crore and PM Fasal Bima Yojana claim payment of Rs 6,400 crore have been made. Further, during Lo

12. Ministry of Culture announces 7 new circles of Archaeological Survey of India
Wednesday August 26 2020 : The Ministry of Culture has announced 7 new circles of Archaeological Survey of India. This information was shared by theUnion Minister of State for Culture and Tourism (IC), Shri Prahlad Singh Patel in a video message tweeted by him today. Shri Patel said that the Ministry of Culture has taken this step in accordance with the Prime Minister’s call to facilitate and strengthen the process of preservation and registration of archaeological monuments along with registration of artefacts with self declaration.The Minister informed that new circles have been created in Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal and Gujarat. He said that Trichy, Raiganj, Rajkot, Jabalpur, Jhansi & Meerut have been announced as new circles. In Archaeology, the Hampi city in Karnataka is a place of international repute hence Hampi Mini Circle has been converted into a full fledged circle, The Minister added. Earlier there were 29 ASI circles across the country. Shri Patel said that in a large state like Tamil Nadu which has thousands of temples and glorious memories of the Chola kings,Trichy has been made a new circle along with the circle of Chennai.Karnataka is an important state in terms of holiness. Hampi city in Karnataka is a place of international importance from the point of view of archaeological heritage therefore the Hampi Sub-Circle now has been made a new full fledged circle. In West Bengal, Raiganj has been made a new circle along with Kolkata, this will eliminate geographical inconvenience in a big state like Bengal. In Gujarat, Rajkot has been announced a new circle along with Vadodara. Shri Patel said that Jabalpur has been announced a new circle along with Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh. This will include the monuments from Jabalpur, Rewa, Shahdol and Sagar divisions.The Minister also informed that Jhansi in Bundelkhand and Meerutin western Uttar Pradesh havebeen announced two new circles along with Lucknow and Agra in Uttar Pradesh. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1648762

13. Finance Minister announces Government Reforms and Enablers across Seven Sectors under Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan
Monday May 18 2020 : Finance Minister announces Government Reforms and Enablers across Seven Sectors under Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan   KEY HIGHLIGHTS   ü  Rs 40,000 crore  increase in allocation for MGNREGS to provide employment boost ü  Increased investments in Public Health and other health reforms to prepare India for future pandemics ü  Technology Driven Education with Equity post-COVID ü  Further enhancement of Ease of Doing Business through IBC related measures ü  Decriminalisation of Companies Act defaults ü  Ease of Doing Business for Corporates ü  Public Sector Enterprise Policy for a New, Self-reliant India ü  Increase borrowing limits of States from 3% to 5% for 2020-21 only & promoting State level reforms   Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi announced a Special economic and comprehensive package of Rs 20 lakh crore - equivalent to 10% of India’s GDP on 12th May 2020. He gave a clarion call for आत्मनिर्भर भारत अभियान or Self-Reliant India Movement. He also outlined five pillars of Atmanirbhar Bharat – Economy, Infrastructure, System, Vibrant Demography and Demand. In her opening remarks during the 5th Press Conference here today on stimulus package to fight COVID-19 under Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan, the Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman referred to the vision laid out by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in his address to the Nation on 12th May 2020. Quoting the Prime Minister, Smt. Sitharaman said that as a Nation, we stand at a very crucial juncture. COVID-19 Pandemic has brought a message and an opportunity. We need now to build an Aatma Nirbhar Bharat. Smt. Sitharaman said that in order to prove the resolve of Aatma Nirbhar Bharat, land, labour, liquidity and laws have all been emphasised in Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Package. The crisis and the challenge is an opportunity to build a self-reliant India. The Finance Minister said today’s announcement is in continuation in the series of reforms. Soon after lockdown, we came up with Prime Minister Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP). As part of the Rs 1.70 lakh crore PMGKP, the Government announced distribution of free food grains, cash payment to women and poor senior citizens and farmers etc. The swift implementation of the package is being continuously monitored. Around 41 crore poor people received financial assistance of Rs 52,608 crore under the PMGKP. The Finance Minister also said PMGKP used technology to do Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to people. We could do what we did because of the initiatives taken during the last few years, she added.

14. NTPC announces recruitment of an all-Female Engineers batch on Women Equality Day
Thursday August 26 2021 : NTPC announces recruitment of an all-Female Engineers batch on Women Equality Day Mumbai, August 26th 2021: On Women’s Equality Day, NTPC ltd, India’s largest integrated energy company has recruited its first all-Female Engineering Executive Trainees (EETs) batch to reaffirm its stand on diversity and inclusion.  NTPC received an overwhelming response of the recruitment advertisement, which was published in April, 2021. The engineering graduates were selected based on the performance in GATE 2021 in the Electrical, Mechanical, Electronics and Instrumentation disciplines.   Company has envisioned an all-female Operation Control Room at NTPC in the near future, towards a brighter future ahead for females in the organisation.   Out of 50 offers sent by NTPC, 30 Female Executive Trainees (ETs) have already joined the company between 31st July and 6th August 2021.    This special all-female EET batch is currently undergoing a customised induction-cum-training programme at NTPC’s state of the art Regional Learning Institutes (RLIs) located at NTPC Sipat, NTPC Vindhyachal and NTPC Simhadri in the Mechanical, Electrical and Control & Instrumentation (C&I) disciplines.   NTPC is establishing the regular interaction of new recruiters with the senior management and other employees to ensure that the youngsters are assimilated into the spirit & culture of the organization.   NTPC has been working on improving its gender ratio wherever possible. It has always believed in providing equal opportunity to all the sections of society and has consciously promoted diversity through its hiring practices.   As a responsible corporate citizen, NTPC has institutionalized policies like Human Rights and Right to Equal Opportunity. NTPC promotes equality and diversity amongst its employees. To support the women workforce, company adheres to policies like Child Care Leave with Pay, Maternity Leave, Sabbatical leave and NTPC Special Child Care Leave on Adoption of a Child/Delivering Child through Surrogacy. Statutory requirements and policy guidelines are adhered to without any discrimination. NTPC makes no distinction on basis of caste, creed, colour, gender and religion.

15. PM announces the updated edition of Exam Warriors
Monday March 29 2021 : The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi was delighted to announce about the updated edition of Exam Warriors. He said that the new edition of Exam Warriors has been enriched with valuable inputs from students, parents and teachers. He also said that substantive new parts have been added that would especially interest the parents and teachers.  "Let us all help our youngsters as they appear for their examinations!", he added. In a series of tweets, the Prime Minister said, "As the exam season begins, I am delighted to share that the updated edition of #ExamWarriors is now available.  The book has new Mantras and a range of interesting activities. The book reaffirms the need to remain stress free before an exam. How to make exam preparation fun? Is there anything interesting we can do sitting at home while preparing? There is a solution to this...an all new #ExamWarriors module on the NaMo App.  It has many interactive activities for students and parents.  The new edition of #ExamWarriors has been enriched with valuable inputs from students, parents and teachers.  Substantive new parts have been added that would especially interest the parents and teachers.  Let us all help our youngsters as they appear for their examinations!"   As the exam season begins, I am delighted to share that the updated edition of #ExamWarriors is now available. The book has new Mantras and a range of interesting activities. The book reaffirms the need to remain stress free before an exam. https://t.co/4DLeHLVWi6 — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 29, 2021 How to make exam preparation fun? Is there anything interesting we can do sitting at home while preparing? There is a solution to this...an all new #ExamWarriors module on the NaMo App. It has many interactive activities for students and parents. https://t.co/sYCPLXkj25 pic.twitter.com/GSy0aI8b7k — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 29, 2021 The new edition of #ExamWarriors has been enriched with valuable inputs from students, parents and teachers. Substantive new parts have been added that would especially interest the parents and teachers. Let us all help our youngsters as they appear for their examinations! pic.twitter.com/2FmDtNpgGH

16. Government announces various relief measures for taxpayers under GST law in view of severe COVID-19 pandemic
Sunday May 2 2021 : In view of the challenges faced by taxpayers in meeting the statutory and regulatory compliances under Goods & Services Tax (GST) law due to the outbreak of the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, the Government has issued notifications, all dated 1st May, 2021, providing various relief measures for taxpayers. These measures are explained below:   Reduction in rate of interest:   Concessional rates of interest in lieu of the normal rate of interest of 18% per annum for delayed tax payments have been prescribed in the following cases. For registered persons having aggregate turnover above Rs. 5 crore: A lower rate of interest of 9 per cent for the first 15 days from the due date of payment of tax and 18 per cent thereafter, for the tax payable for tax periods March 2021 and April 2021, payable in April 2021 and May 2021 respectively, has been notified. For registered persons having aggregate turnover upto Rs. 5 crore: Nil rate of interest for the first 15 days from the due date of payment of tax, 9 per cent for the next 15 days, and 18 per cent thereafter, for both normal taxpayers and those under QRMP scheme, for the tax payable for the periods March 2021 and April 2021, payable in April 2021 and May 2021 respectively, has been notified. For registered persons who have opted to pay tax under the Composition scheme: NIL rate of interest for first 15 days from the due date of payment of tax and 9 per cent for the next 15 days, and 18 per cent thereafter has been notified for the tax payable for the quarter ending 31st March, 2021, payable in April 2021.   Waiver of late fee   For registered persons having aggregate turnover above Rs. 5 crore: Late fee waived for 15 days in respect of returns in FORM GSTR-3B furnished beyond the due date for tax periods March, 2021 and April, 2021, due in the April 2021 and May 2021 respectively; For registered persons having aggregate turnover upto Rs. 5 crore: Late fee waived for 30 days in respect of the returns in FORM GSTR-3B furnished beyond the due date for tax periods March, 2021 and April, 2021 (for taxpayers filing monthly returns) due in April 2021 and May 2021 respectively / and for period Jan-March, 2021 (for taxpayers filing quarterly returns under QRMP scheme) due in April 2021.   Extension of due date of filing GSTR-1, IFF, GSTR-4 and ITC-04   Due date of filing FORM GSTR-1 and IFF for the month of April (due in May) has been extended by 15 days. . Due date of filing FORM GSTR-4 for FY 2020-21 has been extended from 30th April, 2021 to 31st May, 2021. Due date of furnishing FORM ITC-04 for Jan-March, 2021 quarter has been exten

17. BharatPe to grow its Tech Team by 3X in FY22: Announces host of Referral& Joining perks
Monday July 19 2021 : BharatPe to grow its Tech Team by 3X in FY22: Announces host of Referral& Joining perks ·         Plans to add 100more members to its Tech team ·         Tech team appraisals for Mar 22 preponed by 8 months ·         All new joinees to get BMW Bikes across levels ·         Tech team to work out of Dubai during ICC T20 World Cup     Mumbai,July19, 2021: BharatPe, India’s leading fintech company for merchants, today announced aggressive hiring plans to strengthen its talent pool in the Technology team. The company, that is planning to launch a slew of products in the merchant and consumer lending space, will be tripling the strength of its Technology team and hiring 100 more members.BharatPe announced a first-of-its-kind Referral & Joining Policyfor any start-up in India. First: All new Tech team joinees will have an option to choose between Bike Package or Gadget Package. Bike package has 5 super bikes as options – BMW G310R, Jawa Parek, KTM Duke 390, KTM RC 390 and Royal Enfield Himalayan. The gadget package includes - Apple iPad Pro (with Pencil), Bose Headphone, Harman Kardon Speaker, Samsung Galaxy Watch, WFH desk and chair, and Firefox Typhoon 27.5 D bicycle. Second: BharatPe will host its entire Tech Team inDubai for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup from Oct 17- Nov 14, 2021. The Tech teammembers will get a chance to watch the matches of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup and cheer for their favourite team. Third: Tech team appraisals for the team have been preponed by 8 months and the team has earned 75% increments split between CTC and incremental ESOPs, effective July 1, 2021. Fourth: The Bike Package and Gadget Package is available to anyone referring tech talent to company and has been extended to the whole team as well as alumni of BharatPe. Speaking on the initiative, Ashneer Grover, Co-Founder and CEO, BharatPe said, “BharatPe is a tech-first Fintech. As we build the next generation of banking in India, we want to invite and excite the best Tech talent to work with us on building market leading products at scale. We will, therefore, be taking the lead in Tech talent compensation in India because that’s the only real investment our business needs given the capital efficiency of our model.” For more details, please click here.   About BharatPe BharatPe was co-founded by Ashneer Grover and Shashvat Nakrani in 2018 with the vision to make financial inclusion a reality for Indian merchants. In 2018, BharatPe launched India’s first UPI interoperable QR code, the first zero MDR payment acceptance service. In 2020, post-Covid, BharatPe also launched India’s

18. Union HRD Minister announces fresh examination dates of NEET and JEE Mains & Advance
Friday July 3 2020 : Union HRD Minister announces fresh examination dates of NEET and JEE Mains & Advance In his address to the students Shri Pokhriyal said that our priority during this epidemic is to ensure safety and academic welfare of students. We will ensure that while conducting the examination, we strictly follow the guidelines given by the Ministry of Home Affairs and Health Ministry so that students are kept away from the grip of this epidemic. The Minister said that social distancing will also be followed in the examination centers and all other precautionary arrangements will also be made. Shri Pokhriyal advised all the students  to remove all kinds of stress from their minds and pay attention to their studies. The National Testing Agency has prepared a testing App for all the candidates through which students can complete their preparations.  In the end, the Minister wished all the students for their examinations. Click here for further details regarding NEET Examination Click here for further details regarding JEE Examination

19. Wardwizard Innovations and Mobility Ltd announces to widespread its dealership network to 100, aims to sell 10k Electric Vehicles this year in Gujarat
Tuesday June 29 2021 : Wardwizard Innovations and Mobility Ltd announces to widespread its dealership network to 100, aims to sell 10k Electric Vehicles this year in Gujarat  Mumbai, June 28, 2021: To strengthen government’s vision in promoting electric vehicles and controlling carbon footprints in environment, Wardwizard Innovations and Mobility Ltd (BSE Code: 538970), one of the leading manufacturers of electric two-wheeler with the name Joy e-bike has announced its sales expansion strategy in Gujarat. The recently announced Electric Vehicle Policy-2021 by the state government of Gujarat has declared multiple incentives and initiatives for the EV customers and manufacturers both. The strong will-power of the government to bring a revolutionary evolvement in the sector of mobility is certainly going to impact the EV market. Considering the initiative and opportunity Wardwizard sets a target of selling more than 10,000 vehicles in the state including both high and low-speed models.  Further aligning with the government’s vision to protect the environment by preventing air pollution and boosting the sale of electric vehicles in the state, the company has further rolled up its sleeves and is aiming at dealership network expansion. Intending to reach maximum customers, a total of 100 dealerships (60 at present) are in plans to open up by the end of FY 2021-22. The dealerships will spread across in markets of Gujarat. Talking on sale-growth plans, Ms. Sneha Shouche, Chief Financial Officer, Wardwizard Innovations and Mobility Ltd said, “The latest Gujarat Government’s Electric Vehicle policy2021 is an assurance of fast growth of electric mobility in the entire state. We are grateful to the government for emphasizing this industry, as Electric Vehicles are the only solution towards a sustainable development for the nation, and this time it will start from the state of Gujarat. We take it as our responsibility to make available the most appropriate product for our customers that are not only class-leading but also cost-effective. With our recently inaugurated state-of-the-art facility in Vadodara and strong product portfolio, we are committed to the government’s vision of growth.” With more than 10+ models under its portfolio, the company has been providing a greener alternative to traditional fuel-driven two-wheelers since 2015. The company has inaugurated state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Vadodara in January 2021 which has the capacity to manufacture 3-4Lakh units per annum. The company is 6000+ customers strong and has reached 350+ touchpoints in more than 25+ cities.

20. Bata India announces Q2 results, shows signs of recovery
Friday November 13 2020 : Footwear major Bata India Limited today announced results for the quarter ended 30 September 2020. Revenue from operations for the quarter stood at Rs. 3679 million showcasing steady signs of a steady recovery after a dull first quarter. The net loss stood at Rs. 444 million, as against a loss of Rs. 1011 million in the previous quarter ended 30' June 2020. Since the opening up of the economy in June, the Company has continued its multiple measures to ensure customer safety, consumer relevant communication, product availability and drive channel expansion. All these have resulted in a consistent increase in footfalls across its retail outlets, along with growth seen via e-commerce platforms, expansion drive in smaller towns in Tier 3-5 and newly launched channels — Bata ChatShop and Bata Store-on-Wheels. However, the prevailing uncertainties continue to subdue the consumer demand for discretionary spends.   The Company continued to optimize its retail network and look for cost-savings across rentals & operations, manufacturing and drive efficiencies in its value chain. All the cost-focused initiatives that have been put in place across multiple work streams will continue to have long-term visible impact on the results, post-pandemic as well.   Sandeep Kataria, CEO — Bata India Limited, stated: "We moved from revival to revitalization phase of our strategy. In this quarter, as all the stores opened-up gradually, we continued keeping safety of our customers & employees in mind. We focused on scaling up our presence in online marketplaces with an expanded range, scaling our own channel bata.in and our new digital channels such as 'Bata ChatShop', 'Bata Home Delivery' & 'Bata Store-on-Wheels' mobile kiosk to reach out to a wider customer base. On the physical stores, we expanded our reach in smaller towns by opening our 200th . Franchise store, ensuring availability in multi-brand outlets via Distribution channel and also optimizing our network in the cities. Along with channel expansion initiatives, we continued our strong focus on cost-savings measures across our network, controlling discretionary spends and enhancing productivity. These measures have laid the foundation that will help us capture the emerging consumer demand. With the festive season underway, we launched our first major campaign of the year — 'Kick Out 2020'— along with our new collection, 'Ready Again' which is resonating well with consumers. As we inch back to a semblance of normalcy, we are mindful that this is going to be a slow & steady recovery. Therefore, innovation via agile product creation, introducing new emerging digital channels, expansion in Tier3-5 towns, and cost-saving digitalization will continue to be a priority"

21. WHISTLING WOODS INTERNATIONAL ANNOUNCESDATES FOR THE AUGUST ROUND OF ENTRANCE EXAM FOR THE 2021 INTAKE
Wednesday August 11 2021 : WHISTLING WOODS INTERNATIONAL ANNOUNCESDATES FOR THE AUGUST ROUND OF ENTRANCE EXAM FOR THE 2021 INTAKE ~WWI offers Degree, Post-graduate & Diploma programmes in the areas of Film, Communication & Creative by Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development (RGNIYD) &the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) ~   Mumbai, August 9, 2021: Whistling Woods International (WWI), Asia’s premier Film, Communication, and Creative Arts institute, has announced the dates for the August round of entrance examinations for its 2021 intake. WWI is accepting applications from film, media and creative arts aspirants for its full-time degree, post-graduate,and diploma courses for Filmmaking, Acting, Animation & Game Design, Media & Communication, Fashion Design, Music, Visual Communication Design and Event Management. Thelast date to register for the entrance exam is August 15, 2021.Following the registration, entrance exams are scheduled to take place on August 17-19, 2021. The entrance examinations are for the following programmes: BSc/BA in Filmmaking with specialisations (Cinematography, Direction, Editing, Producing, Production Design, Sound Recording& Design and VFX); MA in Filmmaking with specialisations (Cinematography, Direction, Editing, Producing, Production Design, Sound Recording & Design and VFX);BA in Screenwriting; Integrated BSc+ PG Diploma in Animation with specialisations (2D Animation, 3D Animation, Comic Book Design, Game Design and Previsualisation); Integrated BSc + PG Diploma in Game Design; BA in Acting; BA in Fashion Design; MA in Costume De

22. Van Dhan Kendras in Maharashtra: Helping Transform Lives and Livelihoods
Monday May 17 2021 : A group of a few dedicated boys led by an able leader, with enabling support from government organizations, has done wonders in Thane district of Maharashtra. The grassroots tribal organization to which the boys belong has been able to secure orders worth Rs. 1.57 crore for the medicinal plant Giloy. The orders include those from corporate bigwigs like Dabur, Baidyanath and Himalay, among others. Based in Shahapur in Thane, Adivasi Ekatmik Samajik Sanstha is an organization of youth who have been striving to solve problems of the tribal community in the area. Giloy, for which they have received the big orders, is known as Guduchi in Ayurveda, and is used in medicines used to treat fevers such as viral fever and malaria as well as diabetes. It is used in extract form, powder form or cream. Humble Beginning, Given Wings by TRIFED The boys’ journey started when Sunil Pawar, a 27-year-old youth from the Katkari (कातकरी) community, along with his team of 10 -12 friends, started helping out the Katkari tribals at revenue offices in his native place. Katkari is one of the 75 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups, as per the classification by Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Sunil has since proved to be a champion entrepreneur. He now receives giloy from as many as 1,800 people. The support received from TRIFED, under the union Ministry of Tribal Affairs, has been instrumental in enabling him to scale up his venture. Under the assistance from TRIFED, Rs. 5 lakh was given to each of the six Van Dhan Kendras in the region. Moreover, when Sunil needed working capital to execute orders from big companies, TRIFED chipped in with additional support of Rs. 25 lakh. Journey from One Kendra to Six Kendras “We have six Kendras in Shahpur. Processing is going on in full swing in all of them. It is going on with perfect rhythm with all the team working in perfect sync. It is very heartening to see 1,800 tribal people earning their livelihood, that too during the COVID lockdown. We have orders worth almost Rs. 1.5 crore, and there will be even bigger order from Dabur.” Pawar was beaming with pride and all smiles, as he updated PIB about the community’s achievements. “Companies need raw material. And since they buy in bulk, companies get a lower price from us than from elsewhere. However we have also started making powder of it and selling it at a higher price of 500 rupees a kilo. 10 times the cost of its raw form.” Sunil further informed. Giloy for today, Giloy for tomorrow While collecting giloy from the forest, Sunil and his team are also careful about sustaining the forests for future as well. They have 5,000 saplings of giloy ready for plantation. They plan to plant 2 lakh of them in the coming days. Shaba

23. Tribal Affairs Ministry announces inclusion of 23 additional Minor Forest produce items in Minimum Support Price List
Friday May 29 2020 : Tribal Affairs Ministry announces inclusion of 23 additional Minor Forest produce items  in Minimum Support Price List Ministry of Tribal Affairs has announced Inclusion of 23 additional Minor Forest Produce (MFP) items and stipulation of their Minimum Support Price (MSP) under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme titled "Mechanism for Marketing of Minor Forest Produce (MFP) through Minimum Support Price (MSP) and development of value chain of MFP". This  decision enhancing the coverage from 50 to 73 items comes in view of the exceptional and very difficult circumstances currently prevailing in the country on account of the COVID-19 Pandemic, and the potential of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs scheme to offer the much needed support to the tribal MFP gatherers.   This recommendation of additional items on 26 May, 2020 is over and above the previous notification issued on May 1, 2020, in which the MSP revisions for the existing 50 MFPs were announced. The increase across various items of Minor Forest Produce ranged from 16% to 66%. (in some cases such as Giloe, the increase has been up to 190%). The increase is also expected to provide an immediate and much needed momentum to procurement of Minor Tribal Produce across all States.   14 of the newly added items, otherwise agricultural produce, are not commercially grown in the North Eastern part of India but are found to grow in the wild in forests. Hence, the Ministry has favourably considered to include these specific items as MFP items for the North-East.   Further following 9 items available in forest areas across India have also been included in this notification with Minimum Support Price :   Van Tulsi seeds (Ocimumgratissimum) Van Jeera (Vernonia anthelmintica) Tamarind Seed (Tamarindusindica) Bamboo Brooms (Thysanolaena maxima Dry Anola (Phyllnthusemblica) (Dry) KachriBaheda (Terminalia bellerica) KachriHarra (Terminalia chebula) Seed lac (Kerria lacca)   The details of the newly included items along with their MSP are stipulated as under:- Sl. No. Minor Forest Produce (MFP) MSP Final (in Rupees per Kg.) Category F: Forest A; Agriculture P: Processed Applicability as MFP item I Van Tulsi seeds (Ocimumgratissimum) 16 F All India

24. Indian Railways announces timings of Fifteen pair of special trains (thirty trains)
Monday May 11 2020 : Ministry of Railways (MoR) in consultation with Ministry of Health & Family welfare (MoHFW) and Ministry of Home Affairs(MHA) has decided that train services on Indian Railways shall be partially restored w.e.f. from 12th May 2020 in a graded manner. Fifteen pair of special trains (thirty trains) shall be operated w.e.f. 12-05-2020 as per the details (timings, frequency) given under:   S.No. Train No From Dep.Time To Arr.Time Frequency 1 02301 Howrah 1705 New Delhi 1000 Daily 2 02302 New Delhi 1655 Howrah 0955 Daily 3 02951 Mumbai Central 1730 New Delhi 0905 Daily 4 02952 New Delhi 1655 Mumbai Central 0845 Daily 5 02957 Ahmedabad 1820 New Delhi 0800 Daily

25. PM expresses gratitude to Nurses on International Nurses Day
Tuesday May 12 2020 : The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has expressed gratitude to Nurses on the occasion of International Nurses Day. “International Day of the Nurse is a special day to express gratitude to the phenomenal nurses working round the clock to keep our planet healthy. Presently, they are doing great work towards defeating COVID-19. We are extremely grateful to the nurses and their families. Inspired by Florence Nightingale, our hardworking nursing staff personify abundant compassion. Today, we also reiterate our commitment to keep working for welfare of nurses and devote greater attention to opportunities in this field so that there is no shortage of caregivers”, the Prime Minister said.

26. Prasar Bharati Audience Research releases NewsOnAir Radio Livestream Global Rankings
Friday June 18 2021 : More than 240 Radio Services of All India Radio are live-streamed on NewsOnAir App, PrasarBharati’s official App. These All India Radio Streams on NewsOnAir App have a large number of listeners not just in India, but globally, in more than 85 countries and 8000 cities across the globe. Here’s a glimpse at the top countries, apart from India, where NewsOnAir is most popular; top All India Radio streams on NewsOnAir Appin rest of the world.You can also find the country-wise breakup of the same. These rankings are based on fortnightly data, from June 1 – June 15, 2021.This data doesn’t include India. In a major development in these new rankings, United States has displaced France as the top country in the world, on the basis of popularity of NewsOnAir App in these countries. France stands now at number 2. Japan is the new entrant in the top 10 countries category.   NewsOnAir Universal Top 10 streams  Rank AIR Stream 1 VividhBharati National 2 FM Gold Delhi 3 FM Rainbow Delhi 4 AIR Malayalam 5 AIR Chennai Rainbow 6 AIR Tamil 7 News 24x7 8 AIR Punjabi 9 AIR Kodaikanal 10 Asmita Mumbai Note: Data does not include India   NewsOnAir Top Countries (Rest of world) Rank Country 1 U

27. Prime Minister announces "My Life My Yoga" Video Blogging contest in Man Ki Baat
Sunday May 31 2020 : Prime Minister announces "My Life My Yoga" Video Blogging contest in Man Ki Baat Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India today called upon one and all to participate in the “My Life – My Yoga”(also called “Jeevan Yoga”) Video Blogging Contest, a joint effort by  the Ministry of AYUSH and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), during the course of his monthly Mann Ki Baat address to the nation. The contest focuses on the transformative impact of Yoga on the lives of individuals, and comes as one of the activities related to the observation of the sixth International Day of Yoga (IDY) coming up on 21st June 2020. The contest has gone live on the social media handles of the Ministry of AYUSH today, 31 May 2020. The observation of IDY in the past years has been marked by thousands of harmonious mass demonstrations of Yoga in public places. Due to the contagious nature of COVID-19, no mass gathering would be advisable this year.  Hence, this year the Ministry is encouraging the people to practice Yoga at their homes, with participation from the entire family. Through the My Life – My Yoga video blogging competition, the Ministry of AYUSH and ICCR seek to raise awareness about Yoga and to inspire people to prepare for and become active participants in the observation of IDY 2020. The contest will support participation via the social media platforms of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Video contest will be open to participants from all countries. The contest will run in two legs. First leg consisting of an international video blogging contest, wherein the winners will be picked within a country. This will be followed by global prize winners who will be selected from winners from different countries. Entries can be submitted by participants under three categories covering youth (aged under 18), adults (above 18 years) and yoga professionals, and further, separately for male and female contestants. This makes it a total of six categories in all. For the India contestants, prizes worth Rs. 1 lakh, 50K and 25K for 1st, 2nd and 3rd ranking within each of the categories have been announced within the first leg. Details of the global prizes will be announced shortly on the Yoga Portal of Ministry of AYUSH. This contest is open to all participants across the world. To enter into the contest the participants are required to upload a 3 minutes duration video of 3 Yogic practices (kriya, asana, pranayama, bandha or mudra), including a short video message/ description on how the said Yogic practices influenced their life. The video may be uploaded on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram with the contest hashtag #MyLifeMyYogaINDIA and appropriate category hashtag. Detailed guidelines for participation can be found on the Yoga Portal of Ministry of AYUSH(https://yoga.ayush.gov.in/yoga/). The announcement of the contest by PM has generated tremendous curiosity about and interest in it. The Ministry of AYUSH is confident that this interest would convert into sig

28. Union HRD Minister announces dates of remaining examinations for class X and XII
Monday May 18 2020 : Union HRD Minister announces dates of remaining examinations for class X and XII https://pib.gov.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=205064 Union Human Resource Development Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank'  announced the dates of remaining examinations of CBSE Class X and XII in New Delhi today. The Minister said that the examinations of Class X will be conducted for the students of North East Delhi only, while the exams of class XII will be held for students across the country including North-east Delhi. All examinations will be between 10:30 am to 1:30 pm.   Earlier during a webinar interaction with the students on May 5, Shri Pokhriyal  had said that the remaining exams of CBSE X and XII  will be conducted between July 1-15. On this occasion Shri Pokhriyal  said that the ministry of HRD was fully committed to the fact that while announcing the exam dates, special care will  be taken that the students get plenty of time for exam preparation and now students will be able to concentrate on their preparations. The Minister added that apart from this we have also instructed CBSE to take care of social distancing while conducting examinations so that the health of students and teachers can be ensured. The Minister also extended his best wishes to the students for the examination. Click here for class X exam date sheet Click here for class XII exam date sheet

29. Shri Sadananda Gowda launches Schemes and announces guidelines paving way for setting up of Bulk Drugs Parks & Medical Devices Parks in the country
Monday July 27 2020 : Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers Shri DV Sadananda Gowda launched here today four schemes of  Department of Pharmaceuticals for promotion of domestic manufacturing of bulk drugs and medical devices parks in the country . On this occasion MoS(i/c) for Shipping and MoS for Chemicals & Fertilizers, Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO Niti Ayog, Dr P D Waghela, Secretary, Deptt of Pharmaceuticals were also present. Speaking on the occasion, Shri Gowda said that this in line with the the vision of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, and his clarion call for making India Atma Nirbhar in pharma sector. For this the Government of India has approved four schemes, two each for Bulk Drugs and Medical Devices parks.He exhorted the industry and the States to come forward and participate in these schemes.  He said , India is often referred to as ‘the pharmacy of the world’ and this has been proved true especially in the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic when India continued to export critical life saving medicines to needy countries even during the countrywide lockdown. However, despite these achievements, it is a matter of concern that our country is critically dependent on imports for basic raw materials, viz. Bulk Drugs (Key Starting Materials (KSMs)/ Drug Intermediates (DIs) and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs)) that are used to produce some of the essential medicines. Similarly in medical devices sector, our country is dependent on imports for 86% of its requirements of medical devices.  Shri Mandavia said that this is a very important initiative towards further developing Indian pharmaceutical capacities. Giving details of the Guidelines  Shri  Mandaviya  said that the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes for promoting domestic manufacturing of KSMs, DIs and APIs and medical devices will go a long way including to boost domestic manufacturing of 53 bulk drugs, on which India is critically dependent on imports.   The list of 41 products contained in the scheme guidelines will enable domestic production of 53 bulk drugs. Financial incentives will be given to a maximum of 136 manufacturers selected under the scheme as a fixed percentage of their domestic sales of these 41 products

30. TRIFED, M/o Tribal Affairs Transforming Tribal Lives and Providing wings to the Tribal People
Monday July 27 2020 : It has now been four months since the Pandemic Covid-19 has caused (and continues to cause) havoc in the lives of people, across the country. As people try to pick up their lives and livelihoods, the team of TRIFED warriors is continuing to forge ahead in its endeavour to bring the tribal people towards mainstream development. Adapting “Go Vocal for Local”, a mantra in these troubled times, into “Go Vocal for Local Go Tribal – Mera Van Mera Dhan Mera Udyam”, TRIFED, Ministry of Tribal Affairs has put in place several path-breaking initiatives, in addition to its existing flagship programmes and implementations, that have emerged as a panacea for the distressed tribals in such times. Some of TRIFED’s noteworthy efforts in the recent months that have aided the tribal people in employment and livelihood generation in these difficult times are showcased below. At a time when all aspects of life have moved online, TRIFED has embarked on an all-encompassing digitisation drive to only promote tribal commerce and also map and link its village-based tribal producers and artisans to national and international markets by setting up state of art e- platforms benchmarked to international standards. The strategy is aimed to effectively promote tribal commerce. TRIFED is in the process of digitising all the information related to the forest dwellers associated with the Van Dhan Yojana, village haats and their warehouses. This digitization effort wherein all tribal clusters are identified and mapped using GIS technology will help bring benefits to these people under the “Atmanirbhar Abhiyanclarion” call given by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra  Modi. Due to the suddenness of the pandemic overtaking our lives and the immediate lockdown, stocks by tribal artisans worth Rs 100 crores were lying unsold. In order to ensure that these stocks got sold and all the sales proceeds go to the affected tribal families, TRIFED purchased more than 1 lakh items and launched an aggressive plan to market these unsold goods online (offering substantial discounts) through its Tribes India website and also other retail platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart and GeM.  The team of TRIFED warriors also joined hands with the Art of Living Foundation to distribute free food and ration to more than 5000 tribal artisan families.

31. IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad announces launch of Grand Challenge for strengthening the COVID Vaccine Intelligence Network (CoWIN) system
Wednesday December 23 2020 : Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) along with Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has announced the launching of “CoWIN”, a Grand Challenge for strengthening the COVID Vaccine Intelligence Network (CoWIN) system, a digitalised platform to be used to effectively roll out and scale up the mechanism for COVID Vaccine Distribution System, nationally. Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said “India‘s innovators have played a crucial role in our fight against COVID19. I invite innovators and startups for grand challenge to strengthen CoWIN platform for roll out of COVID19 vaccination program across India.” To be launched on the MSH (MeitY Startup Hub) portal, a collaborative platform developed under the aegis of MeitY towards building meaningful synergies in the Indian tech startup space, the challenge invites participation from talented and innovative startups and emerging technology specialists to augment and scale the CoWIN platform. MoHFW has identified seven (07) focus areas of technology development to holistically address the likely limitations associated with complete and effective vaccine distribution system (VDS) and its seamless administration across India. These challenges try to broadly address the priority areas relating to infrastructure, monitoring and management, dynamic learning and information systems, constraints of human resources-including technical capacities, vaccine logistics management and tracking enlisted beneficiaries for any adverse event following immunization on real time basis. The Challenge kickstarts with registration process at https://meitystartuphub.in on 23rd December 2020 and is open for participants to apply till 15th January 2021. The top 5 applicants will be provided the CoWIN APIs (Application Programming Interface) to prove the efficacy of their solutions for possible integration with the platform. Each shortlisted applicant at this stage stands a chance to win Rs. 2 Lakhs covering their logistical requirements. The solutions once integrated with the platform through open APIs will be assessed for robustness and scalability. Top 2 contestants from the challenge will be rewarded with Rs. 40 Lakh and 20 Lakh respectively post successful migrations of the developed solutions on the cloud on which the CoWIN is hosted, apart from their integration with CoWIN.

32. AirAsia India announces free rescheduling for bookings until 15th May 2021 with its #FlexIt offer
Monday April 19 2021 : AirAsia India announces free rescheduling for bookings until 15th May 2021 with its #FlexIt offer   Mumbai, 19th April 2021: AirAsia India announces free rescheduling on all flights for bookings till 15th May 2021. To ensure that its customers continue to have the greatest flexibility if their travel plans change with increased uncertainty and travel restrictions, the airline has extended this offer on its new website www.airasia.co.in as well as other major booking channels. Guests can now make unlimited changes for all bookings and changes made till 15th May 2021, irrespective of the travel dates, without incurring any flight change fees.   For more details and to make the most of this offer, guests can visit www.airasia.co.in. Flights can be rescheduled in less than a minute by AirAsia India’s new chatbot on airasia.co.in or even on WhatsApp on +91 63600 12345 . In addition to rescheduling flights and modifying bookings, Tia can also assist guests with travel advisories, FAQs, claim refunds, check flight status or explore service recovery options.   AirAsia India also recently introduced a revamped version of its popular ‘Premium Flex’ fares, which in addition to unlimited changes, also offer a choice of seats, pre-booked hot meals for all flights above 2 hours, and the lowest charges of only ₹500 for cancellations made beyond 72 hours before the scheduled flight departure.   AirAsia India has left no stone unturned in adopting a multi-layered approach to offering safe and seamless travel for guests from booking to check-in and arrival. All aircraft undergo deep cleaning and sanitation, while cabin disinfection takes place before each flight. All AirAsia aircraft are equipped with High Efficiency Particulate Arresters (HEPA) which filter 99.99% of dust particles and airborne contaminants, including viruses and bacteria. Due to a constant 'downwash' of air @1m/sec any risk of cross contamination is minimised and cabin air is refreshed every 3 minutes with fresh air from outside the aircraft, ensuring the highest possible air quality performance levels similar to surgical operating rooms. For more updates on AirAsia India’s latest innovations, promotions, activities and contests, connect via AirAsia India’s social handles on Twitter @AirAsiaIndian, Instagram @AirAsia_Indian and Facebook @AirAsiaIndia.     About AirAsia India Headquartered in Bengaluru, India,  AirAsia India Limited is a venture between Tata Sons Private Limited and AirAsia Investment Limited. AirAsia India commenced operations on 12th June 2014 and flies to 19 destinations across India with 26 Airbus A320 air

33. Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah expresses gratitude to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on the passage of two crucial Bills on agricultural reforms in the Lok Sabha
Friday September 18 2020 : Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah has expressed gratitude to Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi on the passage of two crucial Bills on agricultural reforms in the Lok Sabha. In a series of tweets, Shri Amit Shah said, “India is proud of its hardworking farmers who shoulder the creation of the nation’s wealth and prosperity. In the form of Modi Govt, for the first time there is a Govt at the centre which is working day & night towards the empowerment of farmers and the passage of landmark agriculture reform Bills in the Lok Sabha yesterday is an unprecedented step in this direction”. The Union Home Minister said, “These path-breaking legislations of the Modi Govt will transform Agriculture sector and set farmers free from clutches of middlemen and help them overcome other obstacles These Bills will provide farmers with new avenues to sell their produce, which will increase their incomes”. Shri Amit Shah also said, “These historic and important agricultural reforms of Modi Govt will bring a positive transformation in the lives of farmers and will make them self-reliant. I convey my heartfelt gratitude to Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi and Union Agriculture Minister, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar on the passage of these bills”. The Lok Sabha passed The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 yesterday. The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 seeks to provide for the creation of an ecosystem where the farmers and traders enjoy the freedom of choice relating to sale and purchase of farmers' produce which facilitates remunerative prices through competitive alternative trading channels to promote efficient, transparent and barrier-free inter-State and intra-State trade. The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 seeks to provide for a national framework on farming agreements that protects and empowers farmers to engage with agri-business firms, processors, wholesalers, exporters or large retailers for farm services and sale of future farming produce at a mutually agreed remunerative price framework in a fair and transparent manner and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.  Sources https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1656175

34. MyGov Announces Winners of ‘AatmaNirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge’; Encourages the Spirit of Self-Reliance & Innovation
Friday August 7 2020 : On 7th August, all the Apps shortlisted under AatmaNirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge’were presented to people of India through a Webcast that was broadcasted live and at the end of the Webcast, the results of the App Innovation challenge was announced ( list attached at end of release). Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the ‘AatmaNirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge’, on the 4th of July 2020, when he shared the following on Twitter: Today there is immense enthusiasm among the tech & start-up community to create world class Made in India Apps. To facilitate their ideas and products@GoI_MeitY and@AIMtoInnovate are launching the Aatmanirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge. Prime Minister also exhorted the tech entrepreneurs in a LinkediN post asking them to ‘Lets Code for An Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ The App Challenge was launched on the Innovate platform of MyGov, the citizen engagement platform of Government of India, and received as many as 6,940 entries from tech entrepreneurs and start-ups across the country, by 26th July, the last date for receipt of entries. The first of its kind, App Innovation challenge sought entries for 9 different categories namely Business, eLearning, Entertainment, Games, Health, News, Office and Work from Home, Others and Social. Atal Innovation Mission, Niti Aayog actively collaborated and supported MyGov in conduct of the Challenge along with Meity Startup Hub and National e Governance Division, under Digital India Corporation of Ministry of Electronics and Information technology. The entries received were screened by teams and the top entries in each category were shortlisted for evaluation by an eminent Jury comprising of the best of the technical minds and experts from Industry, Startups, Academia and Government. Over a period of 5 days from July 31st to August 4th, extensive presentations were made by the Jury members who assessed the Apps on the parameters of robustness, scalability, security and ease of use. Interesting and Innovative Apps were received in all categories and the Jury after the presentations identified 24 Apps to be rewarded with prizes. Another 20 Apps were identified for Special Mention which have a great potential in being Apps for the future. Jury also made a mention that there are many other Apps who are at various stages of development and they will also compete with the award winning Apps in the near future. Accordingly, it was suggested to have a policy to have such challenges on a regular basis to constantly update the Leader boards as also to provide institutional support through mentoring and tying up with Incubation centers of Atal Innovation Mission as also other Government institutions to kick-start the App Building Ecosystem in India. India is one of the largest App publishers in the world and the Developer community in Indi

35. Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS) Announces Winners of National Levelfield Marshal Manekshaw Essay Competition (FMMEC) 2020-21
Monday April 26 2021 : The Field Marshal Manekshaw Essay Competition (FMMEC), which was initiated in 2018-19, by Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS) under the patronage of Indian Army celebrates its third successive year (2020-21), with the objective to keep the young minds engaged in the most troubled times that the world is experiencing with the global pandemic – COVID-19.  CLAWS organises its flagship national level essay competition named after India’s grand strategist – Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw to inculcate strategic thinking amongst the youth especially among university students. The competition has two categories Manekshaw Papers (8000-10,000 words) and Issue Brief (3500-5000 words). With 104 registrations this year, following students from six different Colleges/Universities spread across the country, have won in the prestigious FMMEC 2020-21: Winners in Manekshaw Paper Category S No Title Name of Awardee Name of College and University Position 1. Institutionalising Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) in India: An Analysis AMIYA KRISHNA   Himachal Pradesh National Law University, Shimla FIRST 2. Left Wing Extremism in India: A Governance Perspective NAYAKARA VEERESHA University Law College, Bangalore University SECOND   3. Ensuring National Security Through Island Territories: Islands as Unsinkable Aircraft Carriers   DS MURUGAN YADAV Guru Nanak College (Autonomous), Affiliated to Madras University THIRD   Winners in Issue Brief Category S No

36. Syngene announces senior-level appointments
Friday August 6 2021 : Syngene announces senior-level appointments Strengthens leadership in USA     §  Alex Del Priore appointed as Senior Vice President, Manufacturing Services §  Alan Collis appointed as Vice President, Integrated Drug Discovery Services   Mumbai, India, 4 July 2021: Syngene International, an integrated research, development, and manufacturing services company, has appointed two senior leaders, Alex Del Priore and Dr. Alan Collis, with effect from 26th July 2021. Alex Del Priore has been appointed as the Senior Vice President, Manufacturing Services. Alan Collis joins as the Vice President, Integrated Drug Discovery services. They will both be based in the United States of America (USA), which is one of the key markets for the Company.   Alex Del Priore is a member of the Executive Committee and will provide strategic direction for growth of the manufacturing services business leveraging the Company’s discovery and development strengths for effective end-to-end offering.  He is responsible for the growth of API outcomes from Syngene’s new facility in Mangalore and will develop a sustainable client base for the business in collaboration with the commercial and business development teams. Alex will also be responsible for the growth of the large molecule operations and will oversee Syngene’s Biologics operations unit to continue building it as a diversified manufacturing business. He reports to Dr. Mahesh Bhalgat, Chief Operating Officer.   Alan Collis will be joining as the leader of the SynVent team. SynVent is Syngene's platform for integrated discovery and early development, delivering upon strategies built in collaboration with and on behalf of clients to advance novel molecules into clinical trials. He will be responsible for the formulation and implementation of Syngene's overall Integrated Drug Discovery (IDD) scientific strategy and will oversee the end-to-end execution of client programs. He reports to Kenneth Barr, Sr. Vice President, Discovery Services.   Commenting on the appointments, Jonathan Hunt, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Syngene International Ltd., said, "As we continue our rapid growth in the global CRO/CDMO marketplace, these hires align with Syngene's focus on providing end-to-end solutions for discovery, development, and manufacturing across a range of therapeutic areas and modalities. We look forward to having Alex and Alan on board, which will help strengthen our position as a partner in innovation for our clients and to steer Syngene towards new growth milestones."   Alex Del Priore said, "I am delighted to take on my new role at Syngene and contribute towards pushing the boundaries of science in manufacturing and advanced therapies in biologics. As part of an integrated scientific solutions provider for multiple industries, I look forward to

37. Landslide susceptibility mapping of Mussoorie and its surrounding areas in Uttarakhand Himalaya
Monday August 31 2020 : Like most hill townships, Mussoorie, the popular hill station in Uttarakhand, has witnessed several landslides, probably resulting from an increased spate of developmental activities. The increased disaster hazard has led scientists to map the landslide susceptibility of Mussoorie and surrounding areas, showing that 15 percent of the region is highly susceptible to landslides. Scientists from Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG), an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India, carried out the study in Mussoorie township and its surroundings covering 84 square km in the Lesser Himalaya. They found that dominant part of the area falling under very high and high landslide susceptible zone lies in the settlement area --. Bhataghat, George Everest, Kempty fall, Khattapani, Library road, Galogidhar, and Hathipaon and are covered by highly fractured Krol limestone exhibiting slope more than 60 degrees. The Landslide Susceptibility Mapping (LSM) published in the Journal of Earth System Science also showed that about 29% of the area falls in the moderate landslide susceptible zone and 56% in low to very low landslide susceptible zone. The researchers from WIHG carried out the study using bivariate statistical Yule Coefficient (YC) method utilizing Geographic Information System (GIS) and high-resolution satellite imageries. According to their study, various possible causative factors of landslides in the study area include lithology, landuse-landcover (LULC), slope, aspect, curvature, elevation, road-cut drainage, and lineament. The WIHG team obtained Landslide Occurrence Favourability Score (LOFS) for a particular class of the causal factor of landslide and subsequently calculated the weight of each factor of landslide to finally generate Landslide Susceptible Index (LSI) in GIS platform. This has been reclassified into five zones using natural break criteria. The accuracy of this map was verified by using the Success Rate Curve (SRC) and Predication Rate Curve (PRC) exhibiting the Area Under Curve (AUC) for SRC as 0.75 and for PRC as 0.70 indicating a good correlation between different landslide

38. The National Rail and Transportation Institute announces admissions for Academic year 2020-21
Friday July 10 2020 : The National Rail and Transportation Institute (NRTI), A deemed to be University established by Ministry of Railways in Vadodara, has announced admissions for Academic year 2020-21. This will be the third year of intake at the Institute, which has seen significant progress over these years towards its vision of being among the top Universities in the country, powering the growth and transformation of Indian transportation sector. NRTI will admit students to its established B.Sc. and BBA programmes in Transportation Technology & Transportation Management respectively, as well as two new B.Tech. programmes, two new MBA programmes and four new MSc programmes. Most of these are unique programmes offered exclusively at NRTI. The new programmes also include an international Masters in Railway Systems Engineering & Integration offered in collaboration with the University of Birmingham, UK where students will spend one year at University of Birmingham. The last date for application is 31 July 2020 for BBA, BSc and post-graduate programmes. Entrance test for these programmes will take place on 23 August 2020 at multiple centres around the country. B Tech admissions will be based on JEE Mains score, last date of application is 14 September 2020. Students can obtain further details at www.nrti.edu.in. Only Online applications are accepted.   NRTI has augmented teaching with quality online courses and summer internships in view of Covid 19: Courses for all programmes and batches were conducted online by the faculty using latest technology and pedagogy and teaching was completed without compromising quality and safety of students Students were also provided free access to a library of 4,000 online courses from leading Universities around the world to supplement classes. These included courses in Data Science, Microeconomic Principle and Understanding Research Methods. Students of NRTI will be awarded digital certificates from the offering university, as well as credits by NRTI. 6 week online industry internships organized for the second year students with leading private as well as public sector organisations in the transportation sector. New Infrastructure is being developed at NAIR campus to cater to the growth: Master Plan for 55-acre campus of NAIR has been prepared and construction work will be initiated shortly The campus will have capacity for 2,000 residential and 5,000 total students, including : A New Academic Block (NAB) with classrooms, laboratories, seminar halls, faculty chambers, admin offices, a 400 capacity auditorium and a model room. A multifunctional building with residential accommodation, a mess with capacity of 550, and amenities such as gymnasiums, activity rooms, launderettes, spread across 3 towers. A new sports block designed around a central courtyard with badminton courts, Squash courts, a billiards & indoor sports room, along with tennis courts

39. Dr. Harsh Vardhan announces the successful completion of first Pan India 1000 Genome sequencing of SARS- CoV-2
Saturday August 1 2020 : Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Minister for Science & Technology, Health & Family Welfare and Earth Sciences announced the successful completion of PAN-India 1000 Genome sequencing of SARS- CoV-2 here today. He took a meeting with Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and reviewed the COVID-19 activities of DBT, Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) and DBT-Autonomous Institutions (AIs). During the meeting, Dr. Harsh Vardhan also launched and dedicated to the nation the largest network of five dedicated COVID-19 Biorepositories established by Department of Biotechnology in record time. These are at Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI) Faridabad, Institute of Life Science (ILS) Bhubaneshwar, Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) New Delhi, National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS) Pune and Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine (InStem) Bangalore. He complemented the efforts of DBT in “the relentless war for mitigation of this Pandemic”. Dr Harsh Vardhan said, “Given the importance of this information for public health response initiatives requiring investigation into the transmission of COVID-19, the sequence data will soon be released in Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) for use by researchers across the Globe”.  “The information in the database will improve our understanding on how the virus is spreading, ultimately helping to interrupt the transmission chains, prevent new cases of infection, and provide impetus to research on intervention measures”, he added. The Minister also pointed out, “The data analysis, which is ongoing, may bring out some interesting conclusions to help in our fight against COVID-19.” Dr. Harsh Vardhan also highlighted that “16 Vaccine Candidates are in different stages of development. The BCG Vaccine is undergoing phase 3 trial, Zydus Cadila DNA Vaccine is in phase I / II trial and 4 Vaccine candidates are in advanced stages of pre-clinical study”.  “5 Good clinical laboratory practice (GCLP) clinical trial sites have been developed and 6 animal models for Vaccine Development Studies are also ready”, he said. The Department of Biotechnology had launched a Pan India 1000 SARS--CoV-2 RNA Genome Sequencing programme in May this year to be done by Autonomous Institutes of DBT, collaborating with national laboratories and clinical organizations. The consortium coordinated by National Institute of Biomedical Genomics (NIBMG-Kalyani), West Bengal and Five other National clusters, ILS-Bhubaneswar, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD)-Hyderabad, InStem- National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS)-IISc-Bangalore, and NCCS-Pune are actively participating in sequencing and analysis. Collaborating National Institutes and clinical organization

40. PM expresses grief over loss of lives due to plane accident in Kozhikode
Friday August 7 2020 : The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi expressed grief over loss of lives due to the plane accident in Kozhikode. In a tweet, the Prime Minister said, "Pained by the plane accident in Kozhikode. My thoughts are with those who lost their loved ones. May the injured recover at the earliest. Spoke to Kerala CM @vijayanpinarayi Ji regarding the situation. Authorities are at the spot, providing all assistance to the affected."  https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/1291775276599263233?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1291775276599263233%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpib.gov.in%2FPressReleasePage.aspx%3FPRID%3D1644276

41. TRIFED Reiterates its commitment towards transformation of tribal lives on the occasion of its Thirty-Third Foundation Day
Friday August 7 2020 : Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) under Ministry of Tribal Affairs reiterated its commitment towards the transformation of tribal lives on the occasion of its thirty-third foundation day on August 6, 2020. Working steadfastly towards its mission of tribal empowerment through enterprise and commerce, more so, during these challenging times, TRIFED has doubled its efforts to aid the tribal people in employment and livelihood generation.   With a pandemic raging across the country, when every aspect of life has gone online, TRIFED has launched its own Virtual office on its Foundation Day, August 6, 2020.  The TRIFED Virtual office network has 81 online workstations and 100 additional converging State and agency workstations that will help the team of TRIFED warriors work with their partners across the country – be they from the nodal agencies or implementation agencies –on Mission-mode towards bringing the tribal people closer to mainstream development. To gauge the level of employee engagement and streamline their efforts, an Employee Engagement and Work Distribution Matrix with Dashboard Links has also been launched. Other digital software which will enable the States and regions to work seamlessly   have also been unveiled. These organizational initiatives are a part of TRIFED’s ambitious all-encompassing digitization drive to promote tribal commerce and map and link its village-based tribal producers and artisans to national and international markets by setting up state of art e- platforms benchmarked to international standards.            Mary Kom, the World Champion, has joined hands with TRIFED as its brand ambassador and is doing her bit for the tribal brethren. Registered under the then Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act 1984, TRIFED came into existence in 1987 as the national nodal agency under the aegis of Ministry of Tribal Affairs, working towards the socio-economic development of the tribal people from all states. TRIFED started its operations in 1988 with its head office in New Delhi and Shri SK Chauhan, IAS as the first Managing Director. Mr. Pravir Krishna, IAS is the current and the 36th Managing Director and he assumed charge on July 25, 2017. As of date, the organization has more than 500 employees spread across the Head Office and 15 regional offices. In its mission to empower these downtrodden tribal people, by promoting the economic welfare of their communities across India (through development of marketing and the sustained upgradation of their skills), TRIFED started the procurement and marketing of tribal art and craft items through its first retail outlet called TRIBES INDIA in New D

42. Finance Minister announces short term and long-term measures for supporting the poor, including migrants, farmers, tiny businesses and street vendors
Friday May 15 2020 : Finance Minister announces short term and long-term measures for supporting the poor, including migrants, farmers, tiny businesses and street vendors • Free food grains supply to Migrants for 2 months. • Technology system to be used enabling Migrants to access PDS(Ration) from any Fair Price Shops in India by March,2021-One Nation one Ration Card • Scheme for Affordable Rental Housing Complexes for Migrant Workers and Urban Poor to be launched • 2% Interest Subvention for 12 months for Shishu MUDRA loanees- Relief of Rs. 1500 crore • Rs 5000 crore Credit facility for Street Vendors. • Rs70,000 crore boost to housing sector and middle income group through extension of Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme for MIG under PMAY(Urban) • Rs 6,000 crore for Creating employment using CAMPA funds • Rs 30,000 crore Additional Emergency Working Capital for farmers through NABARD • Rs 2 lakh crore concessional credit boost to 2.5 crore farmers under Kisan Credit Card S Hon’ble Prime Minister announced a Special economic and comprehensive package of Rs 20 lakh Crore - equivalent to 10% of India’s GDP on 12th May 2020. He gave a clarion call for आत्मनिर्भर भारत अभियान or Self-Reliant India Movement. He also outlined five pillars of Aatmanirbhar Bharat – Economy, Infrastructure, System, Vibrant Demography and Demand. Announcing the 2nd Tranche of measures to ameliorate the hardships faced specifically by migrant labours, street vendors, migrant urban poor, small traders self-employed people, small farmers and housing, Union Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman today in her press conference detailed the short term and long-term measures for supporting the poor, including migrants, farmers, tiny businesses and street vendors. Smt. Sitharaman stated that Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is always concerned about the difficulties faced by poor, including migrant workers and farmers. Farmers and workers are the backbone of this nation. They serve all of us with their sweat and toil. Migrant workers need affordable and convenient rental housing in urban areas in addition to social security. There is also a need to create employment opportunities for the poor, including migrant and unorganised workers. Farmers need timely and adequate credit support. Smt. Sitharaman said that the Government is attentive to the needs to all the segments of economy and society.She also mentioned that small business set ups, especially those run by street vendors, support dignified livelihoods through Shishu MUDRA loans. They also need our patronage by way of business as well as caring attention in the form of social security and enhanced credit. Following short term and long-term measures for supporting the poor, including migrants, farmers, tiny businesses and street vendors were announced today:- Free food grains supply to migrants

43. Finance Minister announces Rs 1.70 Lakh Crore relief package under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana for the poor to help them fight the battle against Corona Virus
Thursday March 26 2020 : Insurance cover of Rs 50 Lakh per health worker fighting COVID-19 to be provided under Insurance Scheme 80 crore poor people will to get 5 kg wheat or rice and 1 kg of preferred pulses for free every month for the next three months 20 crore women Jan Dhan account holders to get Rs 500 per month for next three months Increase in MNREGA wage to Rs 202 a day from Rs 182 to benefit 13.62 crore families An ex-gratia of Rs 1,000 to 3 crore poor senior citizen, poor widows and poor disabled Government to front-load Rs 2,000 paid to farmers in first week of April under existing PM Kisan Yojana to benefit 8.7 crore farmers Central Government has given orders to State Governments to use Building and Construction Workers Welfare Fund to provide relief to Construction Workers   The Union Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister Smt. Niramla Sitharaman today announced Rs 1.70 Lakh Crore relief package under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana for the poor to help them fight the battle against Corona Virus. While addressing the press conference here today, Smt. Sitharaman said “Today’s measures are intended at reaching out to the poorest of the poor, with food and money in hands, so that they do not face difficulties in buying essential supplies and meeting essential needs.” The Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs Shri Anurag Singh Thakur was also present besides Shri Atanu Chakraborty, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs and Shri Debashish Panda, Secretary, Department of Financial Services. Following are the components of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package: — PRADHAN MANTRI GARIB KALYAN PACKAGE I. Insurance scheme for health workers fighting COVID-19 in Government Hospitals and Health Care Centres Safai karamcharis, ward-boys, nurses, ASHA workers, paramedics, technicians, doctors and specialists and other health workers would be covered by a Special insurance Scheme. Any health professional, who while treating Covid-19 patients, meet with some accident, then he/she would be compensated with an amount of Rs 50 lakh under the scheme. All government health centres, wellness centres and hospitals of Centre as well as States would be covered under this scheme  approximately 22 lakh health workers would be provided insurance cover to fight this pandemic.   II.  PM Garib Kalyan Ann (अन्न) Yojana Government of India would not allow anybody, especially any poor family, to suffer on account of non-availability of foodgrains due to disruption in the next three months. 80 crore individuals, i.e, roughly two-thirds of India’s population would be covered under this scheme

44. PM condoles the loss of lives due to fire at hospital in Ahmedabad
Thursday August 6 2020 : The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, has condoled the loss of lives due to fire at a hospital in Ahmedabad.  In a tweet, the Prime Minister said, "Saddened by the tragic hospital fire in Ahmedabad. Condolences to the bereaved families. May the injured recover soon. Spoke to CM @vijayrupanibjp Ji and Mayor @ibijalpatel Ji regarding the situation. Administration is providing all possible assistance to the affected." https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/1291206650930421760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1291206650930421760%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpib.gov.in%2FPressReleasePage.aspx%3FPRID%3D1643655

45. India Post Payments Bank, LIC Housing Finance announces Strategic Partnership for Offering Home Loan Products
Tuesday September 7 2021 : India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) under Department of Posts, Ministry of Communications and LIC Housing Finance Ltd (LICHFL), the country’s premier housing finance player, today announced a strategic partnership for providing home loan products to over 4.5 crore customers of IPPB. Through its robust and extensive network of 650 branches and more than 136,000 banking access points, IPPB will make LICHFL’s home loan products accessible to its customers pan-India.   As part of the Memorandum of Understanding,credit underwriting, processing, and disbursement for all home loans will be handled by LICHFL with IPPB responsible for sourcing. The alliance with LICHFL is part of IPPB’s strategy to expand its range of products and services, and to cater to the banking and financial needs of diverse customers, especially unbanked and underserved, across the country. Currently, IPPB is distributing various general and life insurance products through partnerships with leading insurance companies, and credit products is a natural extension for the customers at the last mile. IPPB’s on-ground workforce of nearly 200,000 postal employees (Postmen and GraminDakSevaks) equipped with micro-ATMs and biometric devices through its innovative Doorstep Banking Service will play a significant role in offering LICHFL’s housing loans. On the significance of the tie-up with LICHFL, Mr. J. Venkatramu, MD & CEO, India Post Payments Bank said, “Easy access to credit for buying a house is an important prerequisite towards achieving inclusive growth. Since its inception till now and going forward, IPPB is committed towards promoting financial inclusion among low-income and underbanked segments at the last mile by leveraging the unparalleled network of Post Offices, and technology-driven banking solutions. The partnership with LICHFL is a significant tie-up in IPPB's journey to become one of the largest platforms for availing credit products by our customers for meeting various needs, in line with our focus on providing comprehensive customer-centric, convenient and digital solutions to our customers.” Commenting on the partnership with IPPB, Mr. Y. ViswanathaGowd, MD & CEO, LIC Housing Finance said,“The strategic MoU with IPPB will help us to further deepen our market penetration and enable us to increase LICHFL’s home loan product outreach in untapped geographies across the country. With an unmatchable presence of Post Offices, we see this strategic partnership as a significant step that will help our long-term business growth and improve our market share. This is in line with the Company’s objective to increase business contribution from Tier 2 markets and beyond.” LIC Housing Finance Ltd, offers home loan starting from 6.66% for loans up to Rs 50 lakh for salaried individuals. The rate of interest offered is linked to the borrower’s creditworthiness, as refle

46. Gadkari Announces Enforcement of Mandatory FASTag from 1st January, 2021
Thursday December 24 2020 : Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and MSMEs Shri Nitin Gadkari today announced that FASTag is being made mandatory for all vehicles in the country from new year. Addressing a virtual function today, he said, FASTag will be enforced from 1st of January, 2021. Enumerating its benefits, he said, it is useful for the commuters as they will not need to stop at toll plazas for cash payments. It also saves time and fuel.  The FASTags were launched in the year 2016, and four banks together issued nearly a lakh of them. By 2017, their numbers went up to seven lakh. Over 34 lakh FASTags were issued in 2018. Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had issued a notification in November this year making FASTag mandatory by 1st of January 2021 in old vehicles also sold before 1st December, 2017 through amendments in CMVR, 1989. As per Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, since 1st December 2017, the FASTag had been made mandatory for all registration of new four wheeled Vehicles and is being supplied by the Vehicle Manuracturer or their dealers. It had further been mandated that the renewal of fitness certificate will be done only after the fitment of FASTag for the Transport Vehicles. For National Permit Vehicles, the fitment of FASTag was mandated since 1st October 2019. It has also been mandated that a valid FASTag is mandatory while getting a new 3rd Party Insurance through an amendment in FORM 51 (certificate of Insurance), wherein the details of FASTag ID shall be captured. This shall be applicable w.e.f. 1 April 2021. This would be a major step for ensuring that the payment of fees be 100% at Toll Plazas through the Electronic Means only and that the vehicles pass seamlessly through the Fee Plazas. There would be no waiting time at the Plazas and would save fuel. The steps for ensuring the availablity of FASTag at multiple channels are being made through physical locations and also through online mechanism so that the citizens are able to have them affixed at their vehicles within the next two months at their convenience.

47. Scaler announces the second edition of ‘Scaler Career Fair’, – an exclusive virtual recruitment drive for tech professionals
Thursday September 16 2021 : Scaler announces the second edition of ‘Scaler Career Fair’, – an exclusive virtual recruitment drive for tech professionals Over 45 leading tech companies from across the country to participate in a two-day virtual recruitment drive   Mumbai, 15 September 2021: Scaler, a leading upskilling platform for students and working professionals, has announced the second edition of Career Fairs, to be held on 18th and 19th September 2021. Career Fairs is a one of a kind virtual placement drive for Scaler learners to showcase their skills to some of the leading tech companies in the country. Over 45 companies, including the likes of Amazon, Delhivery, Airtel, Freshworks, PayPal, Akamai, etc., will be participating in the drive to hire the best talent in the tech domain from among 1300+ Scalers learners.   The first edition of Career Fair, which was held in May 2021, saw participation from over 20 tech & product companies and 200+ learners. More than 50% of the students who participated in the recruitment drive received job offers with an average CTC of INR 18 lakhs per annum. Top companies that participated in the drive include Amazon, Genpact, Societe Generale, Delhivery, ZS, Zupee, MoneyTap, Swiggy, Lenskart and McKinsey.   Scaler Career Fair helps offer tech companies access to a vast pool of skilled and experienced tech talent from Scaler's graduating batches. The objective of Career Fair is to connect companies with prospective candidates and significantly reduce the time to hire for enterprises. Scaler's talent pool consists of backend developers, full-stack developers, frontend developers, among other skillsets. A majority of them are skilled in Java, C++ and C and have expertise in Python, Node and React.   Commenting on the upcoming edition of Career Fair, Abhimanyu Saxena, Co-founder, Scaler & InterviewBit, said, "Today there is no shortage of tech talent in the country. However, the challenge lies in the scarcity of talent skilled in new-age digital skills, which is the global problem the tech industry faces. At Scaler, our goal is to bridge this gap by upskilling techies with the latest in-demand technology skills and producing high-quality software engineers. As a holistic edtech platform, we have created avenues like Career Fair where learners from our graduating batches can connect with prospective employers and realise their career dreams. Over the last few years, we have built a great working relationship with over 600 leading tech and product companies, and 3000+ of our learners work with these organisations. The Scaler Career Fair is proving to be a preferred platform for our partner companies to quench their thirst for quality tech talent."  

48. IBBI announces results of the National Online Quiz on the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016
Wednesday September 2 2020 : The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI), in collaboration with MyGov.in, conducted a ‘National Online Quiz on Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016’ from 1st July to 31st July, 2020 to promote awareness and understanding of the Code among various stakeholders across the country. The Quiz was open for all Indian citizens above 18 years of age, except for individuals working in IBBI, service providers registered with IBBI, and also their immediate family members. The Quiz received overwhelming response with 1,25,781 (One lakh twenty-five thousand seven hundred and eighty-one) participants. There were participants from every State and every Union Territory. Uttar Pradesh accounted for the highest participation with 15.7% of total participants, followed by Maharashtra with 11.7% and Delhi with 6.9%. In terms of the Guidelines on the Quiz, top 10% of the participants, as per their performance, are entitled to receive ‘Certificates of Merit’. The names of these top 10% of participants are available at https://ibbi.gov.in/uploads/whatsnew/2020-09-01-180818-39l1c-d0d470965bd50a663be643b5d8bb2a1c.pdf. The ‘Certificates of Merit’ are being emailed to these meritorious participants by 10th September, 2020. Among the top 10% participants, Maharashtra returned the highest number, accounting for 15% of them, followed by Delhi with 11.7% and Uttar Pradesh with 11.4%. About 51% of the top 10% participants are in the age group of 18 to 25 and more than 82% of them are in the age group of 18 to 35. 5. The Quiz received interest from a wide range of stakeholders, including students, professionals, and employees. About 29% of the top 10% performers are students or members of chartered accountancy, 9% are students or members of company secretaryship, and 7% are employees of banks and financial institutions. In terms of the Guidelines on the Quiz, the best performer is to be awarded a Gold Medal with a cash prize of Rs.1,00,000 (One lak

49. Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad announces Results of Grand Challenge for Developing Video Conference Solution
Thursday August 20 2020 : Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister for Electronics & IT, Communications and Law & Justice, announced today the results of Grand Challenge for Developing Video Conference Solution. Announcing the winners of the Grand Challenge, he said, “I am delighted that Indian entrepreneurs and innovators have responded to the clarion call for AatmaNirbhar Bharat given by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India and have come up with some world class video conferencing solutions in a short span of four months. We are committed to develop India’s software product and mobile app economy in a big way and efforts like this will go a long way in that direction.” The Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology had announced an Innovation Challenge for Development of a Video Conferencing Solution under the Digital India Initiative on 12th April 2020. The Innovation Challenge was open for participation from Industry, start-ups and individual experts. Overwhelming response was received across the country, with a total of 1983 applications being received, which were evaluated and subsequently supported through a three stage process (Ideation, Prototype and Product Stage). Out of these, 12 applicants with innovative VC solutions were shortlisted to develop / mature the prototype for which support of Rs 10.0 Lakh each was provided. The prototypes so evolved were further evaluated by the eminent Jury comprising of senior officers of the Government, reputed academicians and eminent members from the IT industry to shortlist five applicants for building a ready to market product. The five shortlisted applicants were further provided financial support of Rs. 20 lakh (for three) and Rs. 15 lakh (for two), mentorship, testing and onboarding onto NIC cloud. Jury and Mentors comprising of eminent experts from Industry, Academia and Government provided extensive support to the Challenge on pro bono basis. The five finalist have pitched the solution and Jury which evaluated each of these products in detail and declared the winners. The jury declared Vconsol, a product of Alappuzha (Kerala) based Techgentsia Software Technologies Private Limited as the winner. The winner of the challenge will be provided financial support of Rs. 1 Crore with additional Rs.10 Lakhs towards O&M for next next three years and will be adopted for use by Government through a contract. In addition, the Jury also selected the products developed by three applicants as potential products and decided to offer a developmental contract to be supported by Rs. 25 Lakh each for further maturing their product within a period of three months. These three products will be further analyzed by a technical committee and subsequently Ministry of Electronics and IT will recommend to onboard all selected four products on GeM. Details of these three products are: Sr. No. Name