IFS Vivek Kumar is PS to Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Indian Forest Service (IFS) Officer, Vivek Kumar was appointed as the Personal Secretary (PS) to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Joint Secretary level. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved the proposal for the appointment of Vivek Kumar as PS to Modi.
Vivek Kumar is an IFS officer of the 2004 batch, who joined the Prime Minister`s Office as a Deputy Secretary in 2014.
He completed his B.Tech in chemical engineering from IIT Bombay and has served in diplomatic positions in Russia and Australia.
Dome of Newly Built Meghalaya Assembly Collapses
A portion of the Rs. 177.7 crore newly built Meghalaya Legislative Assembly building collapsed.
According to a PWD Executive Engineer overseeing the construction, a 70 tonne dome of the building collapsed, which could have been due to a design fault. The weight of the steel dome was perhaps too much for the columns and the beams to bear. This resulted in the entire structure coming down.
PM Modi Participates in Quad Summit in Tokyo
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Japan on a two-day visit to attend a summit of the Quad leaders which was aimed at further bolstering cooperation among the member nations of the influential grouping and discussing developments in the Indo-Pacific region. Besides Mr. Modi, the Quad summit in Tokyo on May 24 was attended by U.S. President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Australian Prime Minister-elect Anthony Albanese.
The Quad or Quadrilateral Security Dialogue comprises India, the U.S., Japan and Australia.
GeM signs MoU with SEWA to boost Women-led Enterprises
Government eMarketplace (GeM) and Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the advocacy, outreach, mobilisation and capacity-building of last-mile women-led micro and small enterprises and women entrepreneurs.
According to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, GeM will train SEWA members to assist and enable women-led micro and small enterprises, women entrepreneurs and SHGs among others, with GeM processes related to seller registration and on-boarding on the platform, upload/ update of product/ service catalogues, acceptance of orders, participation in bids floated by Govt buyers etc.
As per P. K. Singh, CEO, GeM, Inclusion is a core value at GeM, and this partnership would leverage the wide network of women entrepreneurs through SEWA to ensure the inclusion and participation of last-mile women entrepreneurs and women SHGs on GeM.
Presently, 1.31 lakh women MSE entrepreneurs are registered on the GeM portal and they have fulfilled approximately 5.7 lakh orders worth Rs. 10,752 crore in gross merchandise value.
May 22, 2022
500,000 People in Assam to Get Houses Under PMAY-G
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Union Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Giriraj Singh presented sanction letters to 12 beneficiaries as a part of providing houses to five lakh people. Sarma said that the process of giving five lakh houses to the beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana- Gramin (PMAY-G) started from Jorhat and it will be replicated throughout the state.
He said that since 2014, the Centre has sanctioned 19 lakh houses for Assam with a financial outlay of Rs 27,000 crore.
The chief minister said that of the 12,000 beneficiaries in Jorhat district, 4,000 belong to tea garden communities.
Sidhu Surrenders Before Patiala Court after SC Jails Him in Road Rage Case
Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu surrendered in a court in Patiala a day after he was sentenced to one-year rigorous imprisonment by the Supreme Court in a 1988 road-rage case. Accompanied by some party leaders including Navtej Singh Cheema, he reached the district court, which is closed to the former Congress president house, in the afternoon.
The Supreme Court sentenced Sidhu to one-year rigorous imprisonment in the road-rage case, saying any undue sympathy in imposing an inadequate sentence would do more harm to the justice system and undermine the public confidence in the efficacy of law. A 65-year-old man had died in the road rage incident.
A report commissioned by the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) to the Prime Minister suggested that the government roll out a universal basic income (UBI) scheme to reduce stark income gaps. The report also said to launch a guaranteed employment programme for the urban unemployed.
The report titled The State of Inequality in India, prepared by the Gurgaon-based Institute for Competitiveness was released by EAC chairman Bibek Debroy.
Citing the results of the three rounds of Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), the council noted that in the three years to 2019-20, the top one per cent of the population held six to seven per cent of the total incomes earned. The report called for raising minimum income and ensuring better distribution of earnings in the labour market.
Platinum Jubilee Celebrations of the Central Leather Research Institute, Chennai Held
Minister of State for Science and Technology Dr. Jitendra Singh said, the leather industry in India will aim at net-zero carbon footprint to meet the environmental norms. He was speaking at the Platinum Jubilee Celebrations of the Central Leather Research Institute, a research centre under the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in Chennai. He said, the new vision for the leather sector for the next twenty-five years would be on sustainability, total recyclability, income parity for workers and brand building.
Central Leather Research Institute or CLRI is the world's largest leather research institute in terms of research papers and patents. The institute located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu was founded on 24 April 1948 as a constituent laboratory under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research.
Amritsar-Jamnagar Greenfield Corridor to be Completed by September 2023: Nitin Gadkari
Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that the Amritsar-Jamnagar Greenfield Corridor is being constructed in a full capacity. This corridor is one of the most important Greenfield Corridors being developed by the National Highways Authority of India. The complete corridor is targeted to be completed by September 2023.
Bikaner to Jodhpur section of 277 kilometres is targeted to be completed and opened to public by the end of 2022.
The flagship Amritsar - Bhatinda - Jamnagar Corridor is being developed at a total capital cost of 26 thousand crore rupees and will connect the economic towns of Amritsar, Bhatinda, Sangaria, Bikaner, Sanchore, Samakhiyali and Jamnagar across Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat.
May 20, 2022
Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal Resigns, Cites Personal Reasons
Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal resigned citing "personal reasons" and submitted the resignation to President Ram Nath Kovind. Baijal, a 1969-batch IAS officer, was appointed as the 21st Lieutenant Governor of Delhi in December 2016 after the sudden resignation of Najeeb Jung.
His over five-year tenure was marked by frequent run-ins with the AAP dispensation over administrative jurisdiction and governance-related issues, including one in which Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his ministers staged a dharna at the LG office in 2018. In Delhi, three subjects --- land, services and law and order, directly come under the purview of the Lieutenant Governor. The matter regarding control over the services department is still in the Supreme Court.
Baijal was the Union home secretary in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. He has also served as additional secretary in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, and Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation. He was also the Chairman and MD of Indian Airlines and CEO of Prasar Bharati.
Kerala to Launch India's First State-owned OTT Platform
In a first in the country, Kerala will launch a state-owned over-the-top (OTT) platform, CSpace, on November 1, offering film lovers an array of movies, short films and documentaries of their choice. The launch of CSpace, which boasts of several unique features, will coincide with the state's formation day on November 1.
Noting that this was a first-of-its-kind initiative in India, Minister for cultural affairs Saji Cheriyan said the launch of the state-owned OTT will mark a new beginning and will considerably help in the growth of Malayalam cinema.
OTT platform will also showcase films with artistic value irrespective of their performance at the box office, along with internationally-recognised and award-winning films, best films screened at the annual International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), short films and documentaries.
May 19, 2022
Ashwini Vaishnaw Inaugurates NIELIT Centre in Leh
Union Cabinet Minister of Electronics & Information Technology, Communications and Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw inaugurated the National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT) Centre Leh, Extension Centre Kargil and IT Enabled Incubation Centre for Handicraft and Handloom Sector.
Union Minister, Sh. Ashwini Vaishnaw, while inaugurating the NIELIT Centre in Leh, Kargil and Incubation Centre at Leh, reiterated the commitment of the Hon'ble Prime Minister for the development of UT of Ladakh. He informed that after the abrogation of Article 370 and the formation of the new UT, the path of development in this area has opened manifolds. Any proposal related to IT Education, Training, and Incubation for the development of UT of Ladakh will be approved immediately by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. He also complimented NIELIT for starting the Leh and Kargil Centres and setting up of IT Enabled Incubation Centre in record time which needs to be scaled up at a faster pace.
Piyush Goyal Chairs the 4th Meeting of National Start-up Advisory Council (NSAC)
The Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal chaired the 4th meeting of National Start-up Advisory Council (NSAC) in New Delhi. Minister urged NSAC to focus on tier-2 and tier-3 cities for VC funding, capacity building and awareness generation on government schemes that promote startups. The Council deliberated on protecting ownership of startups with original promoters, incorporating in India, listing in India and developing innovation hubs.
Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) had constituted the National Start-up Advisory Council to advise the Government on measures needed to build a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation and start-ups in the country to drive sustainable economic growth and generate large scale employment opportunities.
PM Modi Addresses Silver Jubilee Celebrations of TRAI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a programme marking the silver jubilee celebrations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) via video conferencing. He also released a postal stamp to commemorate the occasion. The Prime Minister cited the telecom sector as a great example of how self-reliance and healthy competition create a multiplier effect in society and the economy. Coming out of the despair, frustration, corruption and policy paralysis of the 2G era, the country has moved rapidly from 3G to 4G and now 5G and 6G.
India is connecting every village in the country with optical fibre. He said that before 2014, less than 100 village panchayats in India were there with optical fibre connectivity. Today, we have broadband connectivity reach to about 1.75 lakh gram panchayats.
Government Announces Formation of Cotton Council of India
The Union Government announced the formation of the Cotton Council of India under the Chairmanship of renowned veteran cotton man Suresh Bhai Kotak. The Council will have representation from Textiles, Agriculture, Commerce, and Finance Ministries along with Cotton Corporation of India and Cotton Research Institute. Mr. Goyal also appealed to the spinning and trading community to ensure a hassle-free supply of cotton and yarn first to the domestic industry.
The government is committed to protecting the interests of cotton farmers, spinners, and weavers, the Minister assured to actively consider the demand of the spinning sector for exemption from import duty on those import contracts in which bills of loading are issued up to September 30, 2022, to overcome the current cotton shortage and logistic issues.
The council will discuss, deliberate, and prepare a robust action plan for bringing out a tangible improvement in this field. The announcement came during a meeting with stakeholders from the cotton value chain, held under the Chairmanship of Union Textiles Minister Piyush Goyal.
Punjab CM Launches 'Lok Milni' for Redressal of Public Grievances
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann heard grievances of people and issued directions for their redressal in a first-of-its-kind public interaction programme, 'Lok Milni', which was launched in May 2022. This interactive programme is aimed at providing a single-window platform to the people for redressal of their complaints. People from different parts of the state came with several complaints regarding encroachment of panchayat land, land dispute, pending of Shagun Scheme among others.
The people who had submitted their complaints and grievances with the AAP-led government in the last two months were called at the programme. As many as 61 complainants listed their grievances before the Chief Minister during this 'Lok Milni'. He directed the top officers of the various departments present on the occasion to ensure resolution of these complaints in a time-bound manner.
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