Steps taken by Road Transport & Highways Ministry on Road Safety

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August 9, 2016

Ministry of Road Transport & Highways have drafted a Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill, 2016 covering the entire gamut of issues related to motor vehicles and road safety including higher compensation for the road accident victims. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has taken a number of steps to prevent road accidents as per details mentioned under:

i. The Government has approved a National Road Safety Policy. This Policy outlines various policy measures such as promoting awareness, encouraging safer road infrastructure including application of intelligent transport, enforcement of safety laws trauma care etc.

ii. The Government has constituted the National Road Safety Council as the apex body to take policy decisions in matters of road safety.

iii. The Ministry has requested all States/UTs for setting up of State Road Safety Council and District Road Safety Committees, and to hold their meetings regularly.

iv. The Ministry has formulated a multi-pronged strategy to address the issue of road safety based on 4 ‘E’s viz. Education, Engineering (both of roads and vehicles), Enforcement and Emergency Care. Based on this, a draft action plan has been shared with the states.

v. Road safety has been made an integral part of road design at planning stage.

vi. Road Safety Audit of selected stretches of National Highways has been taken up.

vii. High priority has been accorded to identification and rectification of black spots (accident prone spots) on national highways. Around 700 such black spots have been identified for improvement.

viii. The threshold for four Laning of national highway has been reduced from 15,000 Passenger Car Units (PCUs) to 10,000 PCUs. About 52,000 Km of stretches of State Highways has been identified for conversion to national highways.

ix. Setting up of model driving training institutes in States and refresher training to drivers of Heavy Motor Vehicle in the unorganized sector.

x. Advocacy/Publicity campaign on road safety through the electronic and print media. xi. Tightening of safety standards for vehicles like Seat Belts, Power-steering, anti-lock braking system etc.

xii. Providing cranes and ambulances to various State Governments under the National Highway Accident Relief Service Scheme for development on National Highways. National Highways Authority of India also provides ambulances at a distance of 50 Km. on each of its completed stretches of National Highways under its Operation & Maintenance contracts.

xiii. Launch of pilot projects for providing cashless treatment of road accident victims on Gurgaon – Jaipur, Vadodara – Mumbai stretch of National Highways No. 8 and Ranchi – Rargaon – Mahulia stretch of National Highway No. 33.

2nd Handloom Day to be observed on August 7, 2016

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Saurabh

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August 9, 2016

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The second National Handloom Day will be celebrated all over the country, on August 7, 2016. The main function will be held in Varanasi in which Sant Kabir Awards and National Handloom Awards will be presented. The Union Textiles Minister Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani would be the Chief Guest on the occasion. Minister of State for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (I/C), Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy would be the Guest of Honour. Minister of State, Textiles, Shri Ajay Tamta and the Textiles Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Shri Mahboob Ali would also grace the occasion.

Besides the main event in Varanasi, there will be many other programmes. The National Handloom Day will also be celebrated at state level in all the states. In addition, the Day will also be celebrated in more than 200 handloom clusters. Doordarshan will also broadcast a special one hour long programme on that day in the evening.

7^th August was notified by the Government of India as National Handloom Day vide Gazette Notification dated 29^th July, 2015 with the objective to generate awareness about the importance of handloom industry and its contribution to the socioeconomic development of the country in general and to promote handlooms, increase income of weavers and enhance their pride in particular. The date August 7 has been chosen due to its special significance in India’s freedom struggle; it was on this day in 1905 that the Swadeshi Movement was formally launched, at a massive meeting in the Calcutta Town hall. The movement involved revival of domestic products and production processes. The Government of India has declared August 7 as National Handloom Day every year, in memory of this.

The first National Handloom Day was celebrated last year and Hon’ble Prime Minister was the Chief Guest in the main event held in Chennai on 7th August, 2015.

IndianBureaucracy.com wishes the very best.

Mechanism to check quacks of AYUSH Medicine

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Saurabh

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August 9, 2016

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Health is a State subject. Accordingly, the details of fake AYUSH practitioners or action taken against them is not maintained by the Ministry of AYUSH, as such action against fake AYUSH Practitioners is the responsibility of the State/UT Governments. As per the provisions of Indian Medicine Central Council (IMCC) Act, 1970 and Homoeopathy Central Council (HCC) Act, 1973, only the details of the registered practitioners of Indian Systems of Medicine and Homoeopathy are maintained by the two statutory bodies under the Ministry, that is, Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM) and Central Council of Homoeopathy (CCH) respectively.

Regulation on AYUSH system of Good Clinical Practice Guidelines

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Saurabh

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August 9, 2016

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The Government published “Good Clinical Practice Guidelines for Clinical Trials in Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani Medicine (GCP-ASU)” in the year 2013. These guidelines encompass the design, conduct, termination, audit, analysis, reporting and documentation of the systematic studies involving human subjects for determining the safety and efficacy of Ayurvedic, Siddha and Unani (ASU) drugs. This document aims to ensure that the studies are scientifically and ethically sound and the clinical properties of the ASU medicines under investigation are properly documented. The guidelines seek to establish two cardinal principles of protection of the rights of human subjects and generation of authentic clinical trial data of ASU medicines.

The GCP guidelines for ASU drugs at present are a guiding tool to the researchers and do not bear any legal binding, yet the stakeholders are advised to adhere to the principles prescribed in these guidelines while conducting clinical trials on ASU medicines. The guidelines are displayed for free download on the website of the Ministry of AYUSH.

Rule 158-B of the Drugs & Cosmetics Rules, 1945 prescribes the regulatory requirements including submission of proof of safety and effectiveness for licensing of ASU drugs. Enforcement of these provisions is under the purview of the State Licensing Authorities appointed by the State Governments. Directive is issued to all State Licensing Authorities, Research Councils, National Institutes, Health Universities and ASU drugs manufacturers’ Associations to ensure registration of the clinical trials of AYUSH in the Clinical Trials Registry of India (CTRI). Presently, the Government has no proposal to amend or modify GCP guidelines for ASU medicines.

Green signal to JV for 1st Auto-Shredding Plant in India

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Saurabh

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August 9, 2016

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Chaudhary Birender Singh-indianbureaucracy

For setting up a Joint Venture Company for the first Auto Shredding Plant in India, a Joint Venture agreement was signed today between MSTC Limited and Mahindra INTERTRADE Ltd in the presence of the Minister of Steel Shri Chaudhary Birender Singh and the Secretary Steel, Government of India, Smt. Aruna Sharma. Speaking on the occasion Shri Chaudhary Birender Singh said this is a unique initiative and will give boost to the “Make in India” programme by providing a source of specialized steel. He said that PPP mode is the way forward for bringing in latest technology into the recycling of high-grade (auto-grade) steel and providing high-grade raw material to the steel plants in the North India as well. He said there is need for zoning of collection centers in the country and more such plants can be set up in the country in future.

The shredding Plant will be first of its own kind in India and set up in association with Mahindra Inter Trade Limited in PPP mode. It will reduce the dependence on present annual import of shredded scrap of 5-6 million tone in our country and consequently reduce the foreign exchange out go. It will also help in domestic sourcing of raw material for secondary steel sector.

As the plant will use end of life vehicle (ELV) aged more than 10 years and white Goods, recycling of the same will also conserve the natural resources such as Iron Ore, Coal, Limestone, etc. which are used in making Steel. The plant will have the capacity of one lakh TPA. In addition, it will alleviate the adverse impact of pollution for a sustainable development.

The Joint Secretary of Ministry of Steel Shri Sunil Barthwal, Member of Group Executive Board of Mahindra & Mahindra, Shri Zhooben Bhiwandiwala, Managing Director of Mahindra Inter Trade, Shri Sumit Issar and Chairman and Managing Director of MSTC Limited, Shri B. B. Singh and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.

Shredding Plant – to start Scientific Recycling in the country:

MSTC has embarked upon setting up of the first mechanized Shredding plant in India to bring a whole new method of processing of scrap from the End of Life Vehicles (ELV) aged above 10 years and other white goods like air-conditioners, refrigerators, which after usage for a long period become unserviceable for further operation

Scrappage Policy for end of life vehicles is under active consideration by the Government of India which will ensure steady availability of raw materials for the plant.

It will reduce the dependence on present annual import of scrap of 5-6 million tonnes of Shredded Scrap in the Country, consequently reduce the foreign exchange outgo. In addition, the auto grade steel of vehicles will be recycled into a similar grade of steel as against making lower grade steel by unorganized sector.

As per the ‘Scrappage Policy’ of Government of India, a scheme of incentivizing shredding of Motor vehicles in the form of subsidy/ excise duty relief and additional discounts by vehicles manufacturer will help raw material security for the plant. This may be in line with ‘Cash for Clunkers’ which is in vogue in several countries in Europe and USA.

The main shredding plant will shred the ELV and white goods and separate the ferrous components via magnetic separation. The rest of the output from the main shredding plant is processed through the‘eddy current’ separator for non- ferrous material to yield two mixtures of non- ferrous metals calledZorba (which is predominantly aluminum) and Zurik (which is predominantly Stainless Steel) in addition to the main output as shredded scrap.

A down- stream non- ferrous separator could be used further to separate the Zorba and Zurik to its component metals so as to tap the market of non- ferrous metals like aluminum, copper and others, in India.

The shredded scrap will help secondary steel sector for its raw material requirements resulting in reduced dependence on imports.

The total investment for setting up the shredding plant having a capacity of 1 lakh tones per annum and the collection centers is expected to be about Rs. 120 Cr.

Measures to Minimize Accidents on Railway Tracks in Mumbai

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Saurabh

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August 9, 2016

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Indian Railways is implementing the following measures to minimize the accidents on railway tracks specially in Mumbai:-

• Announcements are being made through PA system and also given wide publicity in mass media by concerned department about the impending dangers and resultant penalties.

• Railway Protection Force/ Railway Protection Special Force staff are deployed at various locations to check trespassing.

• Hooters are blown by RPF at the suspect trespassing points to prevent trespassing.

• “Anmol Jeevan’-a concerted effort by School children, NGOs, RPF and commercial departments- is organized at regular intervals for the awareness of passengers.

• Drives named “Track Suraksha Jeevan Raksha” by RPF and “Naya Jeevan Nayi Aasha” by Commercial department have been launched over suburban section of Mumbai with the help of NGOs, scouts and Lion Club etc.

• Unauthorized entry and exit points are being blocked.

• Necessary signboards/posters regarding “Do not cross railway line” & “Don’t travel on roof top/foot board” are in place on platforms/ station premises, for the awareness of passengers.

• Regular drives are conducted against trespassers under the provisions of the Railways Act, 1989.

IndianBureaucracy.com wishes the very best.

Selfie Danger Zones

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Saurabh

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August 9, 2016

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Provision of Safety to tourists for various activities of tourism including safety-precautionary measures to prevent any un-toward incident including declaring of ‘Selfie Danger Zones’ at tourist sites is the primary responsibility of concerned State Governments/UT Administrations.

However, the State Governments of Karnataka and Maharashtra have informed that they have taken measures to create awareness through signages indicating danger zones including selfie danger zones.

The Ministry of Tourism also takes up the issue of ensuring safety and security of all tourists, domestic and international, with the State Governments and UT Administrations from time to time.

Debashish Ghosh given additional charge as CMD- Uranium Corporation of India

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Saurabh

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August 9, 2016

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The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the proposal of the Department of Atomic Energy for assigning the additional charge of the post of CMD, Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) to Shri Debashish Ghosh, Senior-most functional Director of UCIL for a period of one month from 01.08.2016 to 31.08.2016 or till the regular incumbent takes charge of the post, or until further orders, whichever is the earliest.

IndianBureaucracy.com wishes Shri Ghosh the very best.

RO-RO service between Kolkata and Varanasi

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Saurabh

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August 9, 2016

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RO-RO Service_indianbureaucracyRO-RO Service_indianbureaucracy — RO-RO Service_indianbureaucracy

Inland Water Transport (IWT) mode, is recognized as a cost effective, fuel efficient, environment friendly and safe mode of transport especially for hazardous goods and over dimensional cargo.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) and M/s Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. for transportation of cars on a pilot basis through inland waterways. Cars are proposed to be transported from Varanasi to Kolkata on National Waterway-1 as a pilot run which is scheduled to commence in August, 2016. The requirement of logistic support for rolling in/ out of cars from the vessels to shore and vice-versa has been done in a trial run at Kolkata.

As per a RITES report of 2014 on “Integrated National Waterways Transportation Grid (INWTG)” the important benefits of IWT mode compared to rail and road transportation are as one litre of fuel moves, 24 tonne-km on road, 95 tonne-km on rail and 215 tonne-km on IWT. Also, the cost of developing waterways is much lower than rail and road.

Women Officers strength in Armed Forces

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Saurabh

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August 9, 2016

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The details of women officers (excluding medical and dental branch) recruited during the last three years and the current year, Services-wise are as under:-9

One women officer in Army has been conferred with Sena Medal (Gallantry) on the occasion of Independence Day 2010. No Women Officer has received gallantry award in Navy and Air Force.

Year	Army	Navy	Air Force
2013	127	50	144
2014	104	57	155
2015	72	35	223
2016	37(Till date)	20(Till 22.7.2016)	85(Till 1.7.2016)

Signing of Bilateral Advance Pricing agreement by CBDT

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Saurabh

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August 9, 2016

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The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) entered into a Bilateral Advance Pricing Agreement (APA) on 2nd August, 2016 with the Indian subsidiary of a Japanese trading company. This is the first Bilateral Advance Pricing agreement with a Japanese company having a “Rollback” provision in it. Overall, it is fourth bilateral APA signed by CBDT. Signing of this bilateral APA is an important step towards ascertaining certainty in transfer pricing matters of multinational company cases and dispute resolution.

The APA Scheme was introduced in the Income-tax Act in 2012 and the “Rollback” provisions were introduced in 2014. The scheme endeavours to provide certainty to taxpayers in the domain of transfer pricing by specifying the methods of pricing and setting the prices of international transactions in advance.

The progress of the APA Scheme strengthens the Government’s mission of fostering a non-adversarial tax regime. The CBDT expects more APAs to be concluded and signed in the near future.

Climate Change Impact on World Tourism

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Saurabh

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August 9, 2016

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The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) has published the report “Connecting Global Climate Action” in 2015. This report outlines the progress the Travel and Tourism sector has made since the initial publication of “Leading the Challenge on Climate Change” and the sectors’ renewed commitments and priorities and serves as a roadmap for further industry collaboration and collective advancement.

Ministry of Tourism has evolved Comprehensive Sustainable Tourism Criteria (STCI) for three major segments of the tourism industry, namely accommodation, tour operators; Beaches, Backwaters, Lakes and River sectors which is applicable for the entire country. Furthermore, guidelines for approval of Hotel Projects at the implementation stage and also for Classification/Re-classification of operational hotels under various categories mandate incorporation of various eco-friendly measures like installation of Sewage Treatment Plant, Rain water Harvesting, Waste Management System, Pollution Control and Introduction of non-Chlorofluorocarbon equipment for refrigeration and air conditioners, energy and water conservation measures.

IndianBureaucracyPRO

Indian Bureaucracy

Steps taken by Road Transport & Highways Ministry on Road Safety

2nd Handloom Day to be observed on August 7, 2016

Mechanism to check quacks of AYUSH Medicine

Regulation on AYUSH system of Good Clinical Practice Guidelines

Green signal to JV for 1st Auto-Shredding Plant in India

Measures to Minimize Accidents on Railway Tracks in Mumbai

Selfie Danger Zones

Debashish Ghosh given additional charge as CMD- Uranium Corporation of India

RO-RO service between Kolkata and Varanasi

Women Officers strength in Armed Forces

Signing of Bilateral Advance Pricing agreement by CBDT

Climate Change Impact on World Tourism

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