Gist of The PIB ⇒ OUTCOME OF BRICS SUMMIT-2014 Major outcomes of the 6th BRICS Summit include signing of an Agreement setting up a New Development Bank and signing of a Treaty setting up the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA), which will work as a multilateral currency swap amongst BRICS Central Banks. MoS (IC) for Commerce and Industry signed these documents on behalf of India. An MoU on technical cooperation amongst Export Credit Guarantee Agencies of BRICS countries aimed at improving environment for increasing trade opportunities among BRICS countries and an Inter-Bank Cooperation Agreement on Innovation to support financing of innovation projects of mutual interest were also signed at the Summit. The Fortaleza Declaration issued at the conclusion of the Summit captures the discussions and consensus among the BRICS countries on a wide range of issues covering reform of global governance – both political and economic, trade, finance, regional political issues as well as global issues including WTO, terrorism, transnational organized crime, climate change, post-2015 development agenda, etc. At the Summit India expressed support for an open, inclusive, efficient and rule-based global trading regime under the WTO that would address the aspirations of the developing countries and the special needs of the poor countries particularly in the area of food security. The Fortaleza Declaration has endorsed that the work programme to be established after the 9th WTO Ministerial Meeting held in Bali must prioritise issues where legally binding outcomes could not be achieved including in public stockholding for food security purposes. A reference has also been made to the implementation of the Agreement on Trade Facilitation in the work programme. This clearly shows the balance and equity that been sought by BRICS Leaders in the implementation of the Bali Trade deal which in itself is a positive gain for developing countries. Relevant portion of Paragraph 21 of the Fortaleza Declaration which captures this position is reproduced below: “…..we reaffirm our commitment to establish by the end of this year a post-Bali work program for concluding the Doha Round, based on the progress already made and in keeping with the mandate established in the Doha Development Agenda. We affirm that this wor k program should prioritize the issues where legally binding outcomes could not be achieved at MC9, including Public Stock-Holding for Food Security Purposes.” ⇒ MONITORING OF CENTRAL PROJECTS Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Statistics & Programme Implementation Shri Rao Inderjit Singh has said that Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation monitors the on-going Central Sector Infrastructure Projects costing Rs. 150 crore and above on time and cost overruns, after the projects are approved by the competent authority. As on 1st May 2014, 727 on-going Central Sector Projects were on the monitor of this Ministry. 282 projects were delayed as against their original dates of commissioning. He said, as reported by the project implementing agencies, the main reasons for delay in implementation are law and order problems, delay in land acquisition, rehabilitation and resettlement problems, fund constraints, delay in forest and environment clearances, right of way/right of use issues, delay in supply of material, contractual issues, etc. The Minister said, major steps undertaken to ensure timely completion of Central Sector Infrastructure Projects include rigorous project appraisal; On-line Computerized Monitoring System (OCMS) for regular integrated monitoring; setting up of Standing Committees in the Ministries for fixation of responsibility for time and cost overruns; regular review of infrastructure projects by the concerned administrative Ministries; and setting up of Central Sector Projects Coordination Committees (CSPCCs) in the States under the Chief Secretaries for removal of bottlenecks and for facilitating the speedy implementation of major projects. ⇒ DEVELOPMENT AND REJUVENATION OF GANGA During 12th Plan, outlay for Rs. 2200 crore has been provisioned for National Ganga River BasinAuthority (NGRBA), which has been entrusted with the work of controlling pollution in the river Ganga.Further, Government is giving special emphasis on rejuvenation of River Ganga. Consultation with different stakeholders viz., Ministries such as Ministry of Environment & Forests; Water Resources, Ganga Rejuvenation and River Development; Urban Development; Tourism; Shipping; Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation; Rural Development, etc., as well as academics, technical experts and NGOs associated with cleaning of Ganga, is in progress. Crystallisation of action plan, including framing of its salient features, time line and likely expenditure would be known only after the finalisation of the action plan for cleaning of River Ganga. This would include issues of ecological flow in River Ganga as also curbing of pollution. Ministry of Environment & Forests have informed that the State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) are required to implement the effluent discharge standards by the industries. Action is to be taken against the defaulting industries by the SPCBs under powers delegated to them by the Central Government under relevant provisions of Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. Further, efforts made by the Government for management of Industrial Pollution affecting Rivers includes notifying industry specifi c effluent standards. The Ministry of Environment & Forests has identified 764 Grossly Polluting Industries (GPIs) discharging 501 million litres per day (mld) of wastewater into Ganga and its major tributaries. 704 industries have been inspected Under NGRBA programme by the NGRBA Cell, CPCB till May, 2014. Directions have been issued to 165 industries, of which 48 are the closure directions under Section -5 of E(P) Act,1986. Government is also promoting setting up of Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs), Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) and En vironmental Surveillance of industries by C PCB, Stat e Polluti on Con trol Boards and Pollution Control Committees. ⇒ NEW PROGRAM OF FINANCIAL INCLUSION The Union Finance Minster Shri Arun Jaitley said that the Government is going to launch a new program of Financial Inclusion in Mission Mode which will provide households with facilities of savings, credit, remittances, insurance and pension among others. He said that this is a marked shift from earlier effort where only opening of account was the focus of the financial inclusion drive. The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley further said that this time the Government is targeting the individual households rather than the village. He said that there are 7.5 crore households in the country who do not have bank account so far. The Finance Minister said that the Government is targ eting that every village should get a banking facility within a reasonable distance and that every household should have at least one bank account within the time frame of one year. This is a big challenge and there are several difficulties like lack of connectivity and infrastructure facilities etc, the Minister added. The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley said that in our country where we have very low levels offinanci al literacy, it is essenti al that people understand the importance of availing financial services which will enable them to participate in the growth story. Therefore, financial literacy will receive a special emphasis in this new programme of financial inclusion, the Minister added. The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley said that technology has made rapid strides in recent times and, therefore, the Government must use technology, especially mobile based services in a big way to achieve the desired results. The Government has integrated provisions of access to banking facilities, account opening, financial literacy, credit availment, micro insurance and pension, the Minister added. The Financial Inclusion Mission has two phases starting from 15thAugust this year. The first phase will get over by 14thAugust, 2015 and the second Phase by 14thAugust, 2018. Most of the activities will be done in Phase – I and insurance and pension would be covered in Phase – II. The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley said that the primary method of branchless banking has been that of the Business Correspondents. It is therefore important to ensure that the Business Correspondents have a viable business model and for this purpose Government has decided to encourage transfer of subsidies directly to bank accounts of the beneficiaries. ⇒ GSLV PROJECT The GSLV project has successfully launched GSLV-D5 fligh t wi th indig enou s Cr yog enic engine and stage on 5th January 2014 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota and is currently pr eparing for the next flig ht GSLV namely, GSLV-D6. The GSLV-F02, GSLV-D3 and GSLV-F06 f lig hts could not accomplish the mission object ives. Subsequentl y, failure analy sis committees were formed to (a) carry out in-depth analysis of the flight performance and identify causes for the failure, and (b) recommend corrective measures and future course of action on the GSLV Vehicle. The failure analy sis committees have submitted their recommendations. Based on the suggestions made by the failure analysis committees, ISRO has implemented the modifications and improvement s in GSLV, which include independent inspection and quality checks for all critical components and sub-assemblies, change of bearing housing material, revision of tolerances and seal clearances of Fuel Booster Turbo Pump of Cr yogenic Engine, redesign of the Cr yogenic Stage Lower Shroud, revision of connector mounting scheme and wire tunnel configuration. ⇒ HINDI AS OFFICIAL LANGUAGE IN UN The Government has been actively taking necessary measures for the introduction of Hindi as one of the Official Languages of the UN. A High level Committee under the Chairmanship of the External Affairs Minister was constituted on 26 February, 2003 followed by a sub-Committee under the Chairmanship of the Minister of State for External Affairs in August, 2003 to look into the matter and take necessary measures. Keeping in view this obje ctive, the 8th World Hindi Conference was organized in New York on 13 July 2007 and its inaugural session was held at the UN Headquarters, which was attended by the UN Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki-moon (9 World Hindi Conferences have been held till date all over the world). In additi on, a World Hindi Secretariat has been set up in Mauritius since 11 Febr uary 2008 to promote Hindi as an international language. On several occasions, Indian leaders have delivered statements at the UN in Hindi. Necessary arr angements were made for simultaneous interpretation of these statements in English by the Permanent Mission of India in New York. The Government of India’s sustained efforts have also ensured that the United Nations offers its programmes on the UN Radio Website in Hindi also. The question of addition of any language including Hindi in the list of official languages of the United Nations has procedural, financial and legal aspects. As a first step, a formal resolution needs to be adopted by a majority of the 193 member states of the UN General Assembly. No resolution has been introduced in this regard as yet. The total cost provisioned by UN on provi ding services in all the curr ent UN official languages (6 Languages) is approximately US$ 492 million for the current biennium 20142015. Given that this cost is for six official languages for two years, the cost for provision of services in one UN language is approximately US$ 41 million per annum. This cost is for provision of overall services including documentation, translation, interpretation, verbatim reporting, printing etc. in all the four UN Offices viz. New York, Geneva , Vienna and Nairobi. In case of including Hindi as an official language, there would be additional cost for providing infrastructure/equipment and space for additional interpreters. Expenditure incurred towards introduction of a new official language is borne by Member States based on the scale of assessment. ⇒ BILATERAL ISSUES WITH CHINA China disputes the international boundary between India and China. In the Eastern Sector, China claims approximately 90,000 square kilome ters of Indian terri tor y in the State of Arunachal Pradesh. Indian territor y under the occupation of China in Jammu & Kashmir is approximately 38,000 sq. kms. In addition, under the so-called China-Pakistan “Boundary Agreement” signed between China and Pakistan on 2 March 1963, Pakistan illegally ceded 5,180 sq. kms. of Indian territor y in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir to China. The fact that Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir are integral and inalienable parts of India has been clearly conveyed to the Chinese side on several occasions, including at the highest level. Government has seen reports with regard to China constructing a rail link through Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK). Government has conveyed its concerns to China about their activities in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, and asked them to cease such activities. China regards Kashmir as a bilateral matter to be settled between India and Pakistan. Th e Chinese For eig n Minister Wang Yi visited India on June 8-9, 2014 as the Special Envoy of the President of China. The External Affairs Minister Smt. Sushma Swaraj held extensive discussions with him. The discussions were comprehensive and substantive and various issues of significance were raised and discussed in a frank and candid manner. At the invitation of the Vice President of China, the Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari, paid an official visit to China from June 26 to 30, 2014. The Vice President held bilateral discussions at Beijing on June 30, 2014 with his counterpart, Vice President Li Yuanchao of China and called on President Xi Jinping. He attended event s to mark the 60th anniversary of ‘Panchsheel’ at Beijing on June 28-29, 2014. MoU on Cooperation on Industrial Parks in India, MoU concerning communication and cooperation of training in the area of Capacity Building of Public Officials and the Implementation Plan for Provision of Hydrological Information of the Yarlung Zangbu/ Brahmaputra River in Flood Season by China to India were signed during the visit. The Encyclopaedia of India- China Cultural Contacts was also released in the presence of two Vice Presidents. There are regular meetings between India and China at various levels, including at the highest level. During these meetings entire gamut of bilateral, regional and global issues are discussed. Both sides are committed to resolving bilateral issues through dialogue and peaceful negotiations and in a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable manner. INTER-LINKING OF RIVERS Out of 46 proposals of intra-state links received by National Water Development Agency (NWDA) from nine States, the Burhi GandakNoon-Baya-Ganga Link of Bihar, Kosi-Mechi Link of Bihar, Ponnair-Palar Link of Tamil Nadu, Wainganga-Nalganga Link of Maharashtra and Barakar-Damodar-Subernarekha Link of Jharkhand have been taken up for the preparation of DPR by NWDA on the request made by the concerned States. The DPRs of two intra-state links i.e. Burhi Gandak- Noon-BayaGanga Link Project and Kosi-Mechi Link Project have been completed and sent to Government of Bihar in December, 2013 and March, 2014 respectively. Based on the concurrence of the concerned States, three links namely Ken-Betwa Link, Damanganga - Pinjal link and Par-Tapi-Narmada link have been taken up for the preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR) by the National Water Development Agency (NWDA) out of 30 interstate links identified under National Perspective Plan (NPP). The DPR for Ken-Betwa Link Project and Damanganga - Pinjal link have been completed by NWDA, and submitted to the concerned States. DPR of Par-Tapi-Narmada link is in various stages of completion. Further, the Hon’ble Supreme Court in its order dated 27.02.2012 has inter-alia directed to take up KenBetwa Link Project for implementation at the first instance itself. Approximately 35 million hectare of additional irrigation potential and 34000 mega watts (MW) hydro power generation are the likely benefits envisaged under NPP apart from the incidental benefi ts of f lood moderat ion, naviga tion, drinking wat er supply, fisheri es, salinity and pollution control etc. ⇒ MALABAR-2014 Exercise Malabar is a complex, high-end operational exercise that has grown in scope and complexity over the years. Malabar 2014 is the latest in a continuing series of exercises conducted to enhance multinational maritime relationships and mutual security issues. he exercise will feature both ashore and at-sea training. Whilst ashor e at Port Sasebo, Japan from 24 to 26 Jul, the interactions will include subject matter expert and professional exchanges on Carrier trike Group operations, maritime patrol and reconnaissance operations, anti piracy operations and vsit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS) operations. Three ships of Indian Navy viz. INS Ranvijay (guided missile destroyer), INS Shivalik (stealth frig ate) and INS Shakti (f leet tanker) have already entered Port Sasebo, Japan on 23 Jul 14 for participating in the exercise. The sea phase of the exercise is scheduled from 27 to 30 Jul 14 and will be conduct ed in the Western Pa cifi c Ocean. Exercises planned during this phase include search and rescue exercises, helicopter cross-deck landings, underway replenishments, gunnery and anti-submarine warfare exercises, Visit, Board, Search and Seize operations (VBSS) and Liaison officer exchange and embarkation. Designed to enhance maritime cooperation among the navies of the participating nations, these exercises further hone individual capacity to conduct operations in a multi-national environment. The Indian, Japanese and U.S. navies have a common understanding and knowledge of a shared working environment at sea. This exercise would further help advance the level of understanding among the navies. Two destroyers along with a P3C Or ion and a sea-plane (US-2) are participating from the Japanese Navy. From the US Navy one submarine (SSN), two destroyers, one tanker along with one MR aircraft would be participating. One US Carrier Strike group (CSG) is likely to join for the sea phase of the exercise. Ruling on Maritime boundary between India and Bangladesh The Arbitration Tribunal for Delimitation of Mari time Boundary between India and Bangladesh, established under Annex VII of the UN Convention of Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), rendered its award on July 7, 2014, keeping in mind the competing claims of the two countries. The Award is final and binding on both the Parties. The award puts an end to a long standing issue between India and Bangladesh which has impeded the ability of both countries to fully exploit the resources in that part of the Bay of Bengal. The peaceful settlement of this issue on the basis of international law symbolizes friendship, mutual understanding and goodwill between the two countries. ⇒ EVALUATION OF MPLAD SCHEME Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) has be en in operation since 1993-94. Programme Evaluation Organization of Planning Commission had conducted an evaluation of the Scheme, largely based on data and information gathered for the reference period 1994-95 to 1998-99 from a sample of MPs, State nodal Departments, other development functionaries and local people. Its report was submitted in November 2001, in which findings in respect of choice of districts, nature and status of works, recommendation of works and locally felt needs, allocation of funds and quality of assets, execution of works, monitoring and supervision, maintenance of assets, awareness amongst people and perceived impact, etc. and suggestions were given. The impact of the scheme as felt by the knowledgeable persons and local people indicate that about 65% of the created assets have been rated as good and overwhelming majority of them have opined that the created assets are as per the felt needs and has improved their quality of life. However, their opinion about the implementation and maintenance of assets points out to the inadequate arrangements and a need for large scale involvement strengthening the scheme. of PRIs for Iplementation of the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme(MPLADS) in the field is undertaken by the District Authorities as per the State Government ’s technical, administra tive and financial rules. Monitoring mechanisms, wherein the roles of the Central Government, State Governments, District Authorities and Implementing Agencies are laid down, have been prescr ibed in the Guidelines on MPLADS. The Minister said, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation regularly reviews the implementation of the MPLADS through national-level review meetings with State Government/District officers and visits to Stat es/Districts. The Ministry also undertakes third party physical monitoring of the MPLADS works in select ed districts through independent agencies. In addition, the Comptroller and Auditor General (C & AG) of India conduct ed Perform ance Au dit of the MPLADS for the period 2004-05 to 2008-09, and submitted its report in 2010-11. Th e observati ons in the third party physical monitoring reports and in the C & AG’s Performance Audit Repor t rela ting to implementation in the field have been/are communicated to the concerned State Governments/District Authorities for taking appropriate action, including penal /departmental action and recoupment of MPLADS funds with interest in case of irregularities. MyGov: A portal for Citizen Engagement towards governance launched The portal MyGov, a platform that serves as a medium for the people, specially the youth, to connect with the Government actively and facilitates their enga gement towards nation’s development was launched today. Briefing about the initiative, Shri R.S. Sharma, Secretary of the Department of Electronics and IT said that ‘MyGov’ empowers people to contribute towards good governance through various tasks and discussions. MyGov presents an opportunity to the citizens to participate in multiple theme-based discussions and to share their thoughts and ideas with a wide range of people. Citizens can upload documents, case studies, pictures, videos, other work plans etc. on the platform. They can volunteer for various tasks and submit their entries. These tasks would then be reviewed by other members and experts. Once approved, these tasks can be shared by those who completed the task and by other members on MyGov. Every approved task would earn credit points for completed the task. National Informatics Centre (NIC), Department of Electronics and Infor mat ion Technol ogy would mana ge the poratal . Groups and corners are an important part of MyGov. The platfor m ha s be en divide d into various groups namely Clean Ganga, Girl Child Education, Clean India, Skilled India, Digital India, Job Creation. Each group consists of online and on ground tasks that can be taken up the contributors. The objective of each group is to bring about a qualitative change in that sphere through people’s participation. Shri Sharma, the Secre tary Electronics and IT said that the platforms launched today – “Discuss” and “Do” – will take feedback from the community and improve on a continuous basis. He said that his department has plan to have a mobile app for my gov.in, wherein while on the move, the citizens will have the flexibility to take pictures from mobile and upload on the forum, report in- context problems and issues etc. He said that this platform may even be extended to act like public audit platform for government projects. For example, citizens giving feedback on status of completed infrastructure projects, on availability of various social sector programs etc, he added. http://mygov.nic.in ⇒ NATIONAL SKILL DEVELOPMENT AGENCY (NSDA) The National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) was notified on 6 June 2013 and has been functional ever since. The NSDA is an autonomous body, with functions which inter alia include taking all possible steps to meet skilling targets as envisaged in the 12th Five Year Plan and beyond; coordinating and harmonizing the approach to skill development in the country; anchoring and operationalizing the National Skills Qualification Framework to ensure that quality and standards meet sector specific requirements; being the nodal agency for State Skill Development Missions; evaluating existing skill development schemes with a view to assessing their efficacy and suggesting corrective action to make them more effective; creating and maintaining a national database relating to skill development including development of a dynamic labour market information system; and ensuring that the skilling needs of the disadvantaged and the marginalized groups like SCs, STs, OBCs, minorities, women and differently abled persons are taken care of. NSDA is an agency that is mandated to coordinate the skilling effort of the Government of India. It is not mandated to skill a targeted number of people. However, as per details provided by NSDA. ⇒ NATIONAL WATER POLICY The objective of the National Water Policy, 2012 is to assess the existing situation and to propose a framework for a plan of action with a unified national perspective. In order to achieve the obj ective of the Policy, a number of recommendations have been made therein for conservati on, development and improve d management of water resources of the country. The salient features of the National Water Policy, 2012 are annexed. Implementation of these recommendations involves coordinated and continuing efforts on the part of the concerned Ministries / Departments of Central Government and the State Governments. Copies of the National Water Policy, 2012 have been forwarded to all State Governments / Union Terr itor ies and the concerned Ministries / Departments of the Central Government for appropriate action. The salient features of national water policy (2012) are as follows: 1. Emphasis on the need for a national water framework law, comprehensive legislation for optimum development of inter-State rivers and river valleys. 2. Water, after meeting the pre-emptive needs for safe drinking water and sanitation, achieving food security, suppor ting poor people dependent on agriculture for their livelihood and high priority allocation for minimum eco-system needs, be treated as economic good so as to promote its conservation and efficient use. 3. Ecological needs of the river should be determined recognizing that river flows are characterized by low or no flows, small floods (freshets), larg e floods and flow variability and should accommodate development needs. A portion of river flows should be kept aside to meet ecological needs ensuring that the proportional low and high 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. flow releases correspond in time closely to the natural flow regime. Adaptation strategies in view of climate change for designing and management of water resources structures and review of acceptability criteria has been emphasized. A system to evolve benchmarks for water uses for different purposes, i.e., water footprints, and water auditing be developed to ensure efficient use of water. Project financing has been suggested as a tool to incentivize efficient & economic use of water. Setting up of Water Regulatory Authority has been recommended. Incentivization of recycle and reuse has been recommended. Water Users Associations should be given statutor y powers to collect and retain a portion of water charges, manage the volumetric quantum of water allotted to them and maintain the distribution system in their jurisdiction. Removal of large disparity in stipulations for water supply in urban areas and in rural areas has been recommended. Water resources projects and services should be managed with community participation. Wherever the State Governments or local governing bodies so decide, the private sector can be encouraged to become a service provider in public private partnership model to meet agreed terms of service delivery, including penalties for failure. Adequate grants to the States to update technolog y, design practices, planning and management practices, preparation of annual water balances and accounts for the site and basin, preparation of hydrologic balances for water systems, and benchmarking and performance evaluation etc. ⇒ MEASURES TO ADDRESS POST HARVEST LOSSES Government has taken several measures to address the issue of post harvest losses which include (i) incentivizat ion of post-harvest infrastructures including construction/ renovation of cold storages through credit linked back ended subsidy scheme of Mission on integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), (ii) provision of subsidy for construction of cold storages as part of Integrated Value Chain (IVC) under Agriculture Marketing Infrastructure (AMI) sub-scheme of Integrated Scheme of Agricultural Marketing (ISAM), (iii) Small Farmers’ Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) also sanctions projects for cold storage units under its scheme of Venture Capital Assistance (VCA) and Project Development Facility (PDF) and has sanctioned VCA to 234 units across the country, (iv) Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) is also implementing a scheme of cold chain, value addition and preservation infrastructure to provide integrated cold chain and processing facilities from farm gate to consumers, (v) Ministry of Commerce through APEDA provides assistance to private companies for setting up infrastructure including specialized cold stores, (vi) CIPHET has established tomato pilot plant facility for providing hands on training to farmers/entrepreneurs/youth to take up value addition at rural catchment area as food processing venture and also provides trainees with incubation facility to start their own ventures. CIPHET has also been instrumental in design and development of ventilated train wagons for transportation, safe handling and storage of potatoes and in development of evaporatively cooled chambers which can be established at production catchment for short duration storage of these commodities. And (vii) Government has established the National Centre for Cold Chain Development (NCCD) which provides cold-chain technical guidance, conducts knowledge dissemination activities and addresses industry concerns on development matters. ⇒ THIRD INDIA-AFRICA FORUM SUMMIT India will host the Third India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS-III) in 2014 as per the decision taken at the Second Summit in Addis Ababa in 2011. Hon’ble Prime Minister has approved 4th December 2014 as the date for the Third IndiaAfrica Forum Summit (IAFS-III). Implementation of the decisions taken at IAFS summits in 2008 and 2011 is an ongoing process. Our development cooperation with Africa under the rubric of IAFS entails various projects and programmes. Some of these include short term capacity building training programmes in variety of areas such as agriculture, food processing & quality control, cl ean energ y & sustainable development,information & communication technolog y etc.; long-t erm scholarships for higher studies and research; expertise sharing through civil society organizations, corporate sector, media; organization of academic seminars, conferences and strategic dialogues; enhancement of people-to-people contacts through innovative public diplomacy programmes; setting up of capacity building institutions in Africa; provision of concessional lines of credit etc. Our capacity building training programmes and academic fellowships have been immensely popular and our African partners have demanded more slots than were made available during the two Summits. Expertise sharing programmes have been successfully completed. Seminars, conferences and strategic dialogues have witnessed enthusiastic participation. Our people-to-people contact programmes, which are conducted through the External Publicity & Public Diplomacy Division of MEA, have resulted in increased interaction between our students, journalists, parliamentarians etc. Africa accounts for over 60% of the total concessional lines of credit (LOCs) extended by the EXIM Bank of India. From April 2009 till June this year, LOCs over US$ 4.2 billion have been extended to African countries. The progress in setting up of capacity building institutions has been slower than what we would have liked. It is so primarily due to delays in response from the African Union or the countries selected, and lack of adequate funds and manpower to implement the projects offered under IAFS mechanism. As we beg in pr epara tions for IAFS-III, we shall continue implementation of the decisions taken in 2008 and 2011, and expand those programmes, which have already been successfully implemented. ⇒ UNIFORM REGULATORY FRAMEWORK FOR UNIVERSITIES The National Policy on Education 1986, as amended in 1992, has been the guiding document for the policies of the Central Government in the education sector. The Government has been following National Policy on Education 1986, as modified in 1992, which provides for National System of Education implying that up to a given level, all students, irrespective of caste, creed, location or sex, have access to education of a comparable qualit y. The Nation al System of Education envisages a common educational structure. The 10+2+3 structure has now been accepted in most parts of the country. However, in the last twenty years, the education scenario has seen a monumental change with the emergence of several new paradigms like rights based approach to elementary education, the endeavour to extend universalization to secondar y educati on, reshape the high er education scenario and its impact on the innovation environment and providing an impetus to skill development through vocational education in the context of the emergence of new technologies in a rapidly expanding economy placed in a globalised environment. The Government proposes to formulate a New Educat ion Policy aimed at meet ing the challenges posed by lack of quality, research and innovation in our educational institutions. In accordance with the National Policy on Education (NPE), the National System of Education envisages a common educational structure. It is based on the National Curriculum Framework which contains a common core along with other components that are flexible. Further, the Universities have the necessary autonomy, subject to NPE and University Grants Commission (UGC) Regulations, in the matter of framing of syllabi and curriculum as per their Acts, Statutes and Ordinances. ⇒ SECURITY FOR WHISTLE BLOWERS The Government of India had authorized the Central Vigilance Commission as the Designated Agency to receive written complaints for disclosure on any allegation of corruption or misuse of office and recommend appropriate action. The Government has now also authorized the Chief Vigilance Officers of the Ministries/ Departments of the Central Government as the Designated Authority to receive written complaint or disclosure on any allegation of corruption or misuse of office in respect of any employee of that Ministry/ Department or any organization falling under their jurisdiction. If the Designated Authority in the Ministries/ Departments, either on the application of the complainant, or on the basis of the information gathered, is of the opinion that the complainant needs protection, the Designated Authority shall take up the matter with the Central Vigilance Commission, for issuing appropriate directions to the authorities concerned. The Commission, after receipt of such reference from the Designated Authority, takes up the matter with the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Nodal Agency, to undertake the responsibility of providing security cover to the genuine Whistle Blowers. The Home Ministry, in turn, asks individual State Governments to examine the threat and provide security cover, if needed. On the advice of Ministry of Home Affairs, State Governments have appointed Nodal officers in respective states and detail about Nodal officers nominated by various State Governments has been communicated to the Commission for referring the matters to them.
© Copyright 2024