Shri Jishnu Barua IAS, (AM:1988) to be Joint Secretary in Department of Personnel & Training for five years. Previously, the charge was with Ms. Deepti Umashankar IAS,(HY:1993) who has been laterally shifted to Cabinet Secretariat wef 11.07.2014
S Suresh Kumar tenure extended in Home Ministry
Shri S Suresh Kumar IAS, (WB:1988) central deputation tenure extended for 01 month in Home Ministry
Nilkanth S Avhad to be Director in ONGC
Shri Nilkanth S Avhad, IAS (PB:1999) to be Director in ONGC under the Central Staffing Scheme till 15.08.2015
Sustainable Tourism for India
The Union Minister for Tourism Shri Shripad Naik here today launched the Comprehensive Sustainable Tourism Criteria for India (STCI) for Accommodation, Tour Operators and Beaches, Backwaters, Lakes & Rivers Sectors. Speaking on the occasion the Minister said, his Ministry is committed to develop tourism in India based on the principles of sustainability, minimizing the carbon footprints. Government has ensured that strategies for development of tourism are not in conflict with the environment and have minimal negative impact. Shri Naik urged all the stakeholders in the Tourism industry not to over-exploit natural and other resources for short-term gains.
He said, when we talk about sustainability we should not only talk about conservation of resources but also our culture and heritage. The authors of the STCI have adopted a comprehensive approach. The principles of the Sustainability as has been elaborated earlier include conservation of water, energy, culture, heritage, revival of ancient architecture, involvement of communities, protection of wildlife and non- exploitation of women, children and weaker sections.
Shri Naik said, the exercise of implementation of Sustainable Tourism Criteria must be all inclusive. The criteria must be implemented for success by all of us together – the hoteliers, the tour operators, the tourists, the opinion makers, the media, the community leaders and members. The Ministry would like sustainability criteria to be implemented on voluntary basis based on the principles of providing incentives.
The Finance Minister as part of the common vision of our Government in his Budget Speech has made special allocation of Rs. 900 crore for development of five new tourism circuits, development of pilgrimage centers, archeological sites and heritage cities. He said, the issue of sustainability assumes greater significance in context of India as we support one fifth of the population of the world with only 2.3 percent land mass available.
Shri Naik urged all the stakeholders in the Tourism Industry to be eco-sensitive and adopt the Sustainable Tourism Criteria for India and do business for long-term benefits with the objectives of creating employment, generating national income, preserving our cultural & natural heritage, enhancing the status of women and underprivileged and facilitating growth of a more just and fair social order.
Later, Shri Naik also inaugurated the Sensitization Workshop for the stakeholders on STCI wherein panel discussions were held. Both the initiatives are part of activities/programmes that have been taken up by the Ministry of Tourism for completion within the 100 days of the incumbent Government. Deputy Director for Sustainable Development of Tourism, UNWTO Ms. Sofia Gutierrez, President of the Development Alternative, Mr. George C. Varughese, leaders of Tourism Industry and experts in the field participated in the two events.
Ministry of Tourism constituted a Steering Committee with representatives from all the 14 sectors of the tourism and hospitality industry of India to formulate the Sustainable Tourism Criteria. The Committee has since finalized the Comprehensive STCI. These are the guiding principles and minimum requirements that any tourism business for State Governments should aspire to reach in order to protect and sustain India’s natural and cultural resources, while ensuring development of tourism in India are not in conflict with the environment and have minimal negative effect. Sustainability is imperative for all tourism stakeholders and must translate from words to actions.
Discussions on for alternative to Planning Commission
Consultative meetings were held today relating to the proposed new design and structure for the Planning Commission. These were part of consultations after the PM, in his Independence Day speech, from the ramparts of Red Fort, on the 15th of this month, had said “….We will replace Planning Commission with a new institution having a new design and structure… a new faith towards forging a new direction to lead the country based on creative thinking, Public Private Partnership, optimum utilization of resources, utilization of youth power to the nation, to promote the aspiration of State Governments seeking development, to empower the State Governments and to empower the federal structure.”
Subsequently, the Prime Minister had invited ideas from people on what shape the new institution to replace the Planning Commission can take. A special open forum was created on the website mygov.nic.in for inviting suggestions on the new institution.
“We envision the proposed Institution as one that caters to the aspirations of 21st century India & strengthens participation of the States…. Let the ideas flow,” Shri Narendra Modi said as the above Open Forum was created on mygov.nic.in, on last Tuesday.
Various experts were invited for the consultations held at the Planning Commission today. Among those who participated in today’s meetings were Shri Yashwant Sinha, Dr. Bimal Jalan, Dr. Saumitra Chaudhury, Dr. Vijay Kelkar, Shri M.J. Akbar, Dr. Y.K. Alagh, Dr. Nitin Desai, Dr. Shankar N. Acharya, Shri T.N. Ninan, Dr. Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Dr. Shekar Shah, Dr. Pronab Sen, Dr. T.C.A. Srinivasa Raghavan, Dr. Rajat Kathuria, Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Dr. Surjit Bhalla and Shri Sumit Bose.
Rajnish Dev Burman appointed PS to MoS in Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports
Rajnish Dev Burman IRS (1999) appointed as PS to Minister of State, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal (I/C) for Skill Development,Entrepreneurship and Youth Affairs & Sports .This would be at a level of Director in the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports.
Mukesh Mangal appointed Director in Home Affairs
Mukesh Mangal (ITS;1992) who was recommended by DoT, has been appointed Director in Home Affairs under the Central Staffing Scheme for a period of five years wef date of taking charge or further notice.
1st Indigenously Built Stealth Anti-Submarine Warfare Ship- INS Kamorta Commissioned
Breaking new grounds in the making of warships in the country, India today commissioned the first indigenously built stealth Anti-Submarine Warfare Corvette, INS Kamorta, at an impressive ceremony at Visakhapatnam naval dockyard. The Defence Minister Shri Arun Jaitley who commissioned the warship, described the development as ‘the coming of age of our ship building industry’.
The commissioning of INS Kamorta has added a new dimension to the ASW capability of the Indian Navy and in particular, the Eastern Fleet. The multifarious missions that can be undertaken by the ship truly reflect the enhanced multi-dimensional capability of the Indian Navy.
Admiral RK Dhowan, Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Satish Soni, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command, Rear Admiral AK Verma (Retd), CMD, Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) and various other dignitaries were present during the commissioning ceremony.
INS Kamorta is first of the four ASW Stealth Corvettes designed by the Navy’s in-house organisation, the Directorate of Naval Design (DND), under Project 28, with an indigenous component of about 90%. Measuring 110 meters in length, 14 meters in breadth and displacing 3500 tons, the ship can achieve speed of 25 Knots. The ship is fitted with Anti-submarine Rockets and Torpedoes, Medium and Close-in Weapon Systems and indigenous surveillance radar Revathi. The ship is also capable of carrying an integral ASW helicopter.
Shri Jaitley said in the last three months, both the Prime Minister and he had been associated with many an accretions made into the Indian Navy namely, INS Vikramaditya, INS Kolkata and INS Kamorta. But this one was special because of the high indigenous content. He said, at the moment, 42 warships are under construction in various shipyards of the country which is a welcome sign of the health of the ship building industry. He expressed confidence that the measures taken by the government will infuse healthy competitive spirit between the public and private shipyards.
Kamorta also boasts of other “firsts” such as a foldable Hangar Door and a Rail-less Helo Traversing System, which will give helicopter operations from the corvette a significant edge over other warships.
Enhanced stealth features have been achieved by ‘X’ form of Hull, full beam superstructure, inclined ship sides and use of Infrared Signature Suppression system for cooling the Engine and Generator exhausts. The Ship has a ‘Combination of Diesel and Diesel’ propulsion system with 2 Diesel Engines along with one gear box on each shaft. The common raft mounted Gear Box and Diesel Engines give the vessel very low radiated underwater noise. This is well complemented with an efficient propeller which has high cavitation inception speed. The design also incorporates active shaft grounding system and multi zone Impressed Current Cathodic Protection for suppression of Extremely Low Frequency Electromagnetic signature. The very low under water acoustic signature makes it a ‘silent killer on the prowl’.
INS Kamorta has a multitude of systems such as Total Atmospheric Control, Integrated Platform Management, Integrated Bridge, Battle Damage Control and Personnel Locator System. This provides a contemporary and process oriented System of Systems for optimal functioning of the warship.
With her state of the art weapons and sensors, INS Kamorta is well equipped to fight in Nuclear, Biological and Chemical warfare conditions. The ship, in essence, showcases the nation’s warship design capability and industrial prowess
The ship has a complement of about 15 officers and 180 sailors. The accommodation and living spaces have been designed with special emphasis on ergonomics and habitability. The ship is commanded by Commander Manoj Jha, a Gunnery Specialist.
Digital India – NaMo government’s proposal for tomorrows India
The cabinet meeting held on August 20, 2014 chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval for ‘Digital India’- A programme envisaged by Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) aiming to transform India into a digital empowered society and knowledge economy.
This programme will be implemented in phases beginning this year till 2018 and would ensure that Government services are available to citizens electronically. It would also bring in public accountability through mandated delivery of government’s services electronically; a Unique ID and e-Pramaan based on authentic and standard inter operable and integrated government applications and databases.
The programme aims to provide infrastructure to the citizens which includes high speed internet across all Gram Panchayats, cradle to grave digital identity to every citizen, mobile and digital banking to citizens for individual participation, access to a common service center in proximity to locality, shareable private space on public cloud storage and finally establishing a safe and secure cyber space in the country.
Services and governance through Digital India would enable a single window access by integration of services across departments and jurisdiction and real time government services to be made available online and on mobile. Citizen entitlements would also be made available on the cloud. Government services, under the programme, will be digitally transformed for the ease of doing business. Financial transactions will be made electronic and cashless below a certain threshold and Geographical Information Systems will be enabled for systems and development.
Digital India aims to provide universal digital literacy to all the citizens. All government digital resources will be made accessible universally. Government certificates and documents will also be made available on the cloud platform for easy access. All of these proposed online services will be made available in Indian languages, as well. Citizen entitlement portability will also be made possible through the programme.
A transformation programme, such as this one, hold a huge scope in creating a great overall impact by bring many services under the same roof which would be restructured and refocused in sync. Its ability to bring so many services together, if successful, would be imperative in preparing India for a knowledge future that would hold technology central to all the changes and attain the larger goal.
Digital India aims to provide the much needed thrust to the nine pillars of growth areas, namely Broadband Highways, Universal Access to Mobile Connectivity, Public Internet Access Programme, e-Governance: Reforming Government through Technology, e-Kranti – Electronic Delivery of Services, Information for All, Electronics Manufacturing, IT for Jobs and Early Harvest Programmes.
In order to ensure the setting up process goes smoothly, the existing e-Governance will be revamped to align with the principles of Digital India. Accessibility across lot of integrated and inter operable systems will be made available to set up the programme. Although proposed by Central Government, State governments will also be given the flexibility to include their state specific projects relevant to their specific socio economic needs. The programme would also ensure there is public private partnership wherever feasible. UID adoption will also be promoted to facilitate the authentication and delivery of government benefits to the citizens.
The source of funding for most of the e-Governance projects at present is through budgetary provisions of respective Ministries/ Departments in the Central or State governments. Requirements of funds for individual project(s) for Digital India will be worked out by respective Nodal Ministries/ Departments.
DeitY would create necessary senior positions within the department and Central ministers and department of state government would have the overall responsibility for implementation of the various mission modes.
Courtesy: NextBigWhat.com
Rajni Razdan appointed as Chairman- Union Public Service Commission
Smt. Rajni Razdan, Member, Union Public Service Commission has been appointed as Chairman, Union Public Service Commission with effect from the afternoon of August 16th, 2014.
PM exhorts IITs to provide innovative solutions to problems faced by the common
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today called upon IITs to provide innovative solutions to problems faced by common people in their day-to-day life.
The Prime Minister was addressing a Conference of Chairmen of Boards of Governors, and Directors of IITs at Rashtrapati Bhawan. “Science is universal. Technology must be local,” the Prime Minister said, calling upon IITs to give projects related to local needs and requirements to their students, so that they can find innovative solutions as they pursue their studies. He said this would lead to a positive change in the quality of life of people, besides instilling a sense of “service” towards the nation, among the bright young minds at IITs. “How can IITs teach our students the science of thinking and the art of living,” the Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister mentioned several examples where India is critically dependent on imports, ranging from defence equipment, to the health sector, to sensitive and security-related items like currency ink and tear gas. “I refuse to believe that India does not have the talent to make these things,” the Prime Minister said, asking IITs to take up such challenges.
Giving two more specific examples, the Prime Minister asked IITs to contribute towards fulfilling the vision of “Housing for All” through technology which would enable rapid construction of economical, eco-friendly and structurally sound houses. He also said IITs could contribute towards user-friendly innovations in the Indian Railways.
The Prime Minister also called upon IITs to adopt nearby engineering colleges, and play a role in mentoring them. He asked IITs to search for innovations that people may have developed in their neighbourhood, and which could serve as inspiration for path-breaking changes.
Describing “IITians” as a “great force,” the Prime Minister said IITs must encourage their alumni to interact with students, so that their experience can be leveraged. He also called for a systematic mapping and grouping of IIT alumni, so that their experience can be used in different sectors.
The Prime Minister praised President Pranab Mukherjee`s initiative for the education sector, and said his guidance will benefit the nation, and future generations in a big way. The Prime Minister said while global rankings are important, we should also set up our own parameters for rankings, which will serve as an in-built mechanism for change and improvement.
DG-Border Guards Bangladesh calls on Rajnath Singh
Shri Rajnath Singh has expressed his satisfaction on India Bangladesh border situation as the two border forces are taking necessary confidence building measures and are carrying out joint patrolling along the border. He mentioned that the two countries enjoy cordial relations and should continue mutual dialogue for strengthening bilateral relations.
A Bangladesh delegation led by Maj. Gen. Aziz Ahmed, Director General Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) called on the Union Home Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh today. The Bangladesh delegation is participating in ‘Border Co-ordination Conference’ between the BGB (Bangladesh) and Border Security Force (BSF) in New Delhi.
Shri Devendra Kumar Pathak, Director General, BSF appraised the Home Minister that the issues of common interest of both countries & forces like violence on the border, trans border crime, smuggling of narcotics & FICN (Faked Indian Currency Notes) are discussed. The two border forces also discussed action against the Indian Insurgent Groups and destruction of their hideouts, joint efforts for prevention of illegal migration and human trafficking of Bangladeshi nationals, effective implementation of coordinated border management plan for preventing trans- border crimes.
