Union Government plans to electrify all railway tracks in next three years:
The union government set a target of union next three years to electrify the tracks of Indian Railways completely. Union Ministry of Finance announced this after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her second budget on 1 February. Indian Railways aim to achieve the full electrification of its tracks in the next three years. Indian railways about 18 billion units of electricity and 3,069.30 tonne kilolitres of diesel for its traction need.
Rail Traffic Consumption
The 100 percent electrification and the rail traffic projected to grow Indian Railways will be consuming around 28-30 billion units of electricity for its traction requirement. Indian Railways will become the world`s first net-zero carbon emitter by 2030. Carbon dioxide emission from the Indian Railways was around 6.84 million tons in 2014. The global concerns over climate change, Indian Railways is also working to reduce the carbon emission. Indian railways took several steps to expedite electrification of railway lines in the country and they include, the award of Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) contracts better project monitoring mechanism, delegating more power to field units for the award of contracts/sanction of estimates and close monitoring at the highest level.
India and China Trade Deficit:
India’s trade in China decreased from USD 89.71 billion in 2017-18 to USD 87.07 billion in 2018-19. India’s imports from China declined from USD 76.38 billion in 2017-18 to USD 70.32 billion in 2018-19, and our exports grew from USD 13.33 billion in 2017-18 to USD 16.75 billion in 2018-19. India’s trade deficit with China reduced from USD 63.05 billion to USD 53.57 billion. The Government of India consistently making efforts achieving a more balanced trade with China in all our official engagements with the Chinese Government, requesting them to lower trade barriers for Indian exports to China.
The various protocols signed to facilitate the export of Indian rice, rapeseed meal, tobacco and fishmeal/fish oil, and chili meal from India to China. National Medical Products Administration China jointly conducted a workshop, and Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation India to train Indian Pharma exporters on the updated regulatory practices of China, on 21st June 2019, at Shanghai, China. The Government of India taken various measures to extend support to exporters by facilitating Buyers Seller meets between potential Chinese importers and Indian exporters to increase exports. Indian exporters are encouraged to participate in major trade fairs in China to showcase Indian products.
PM Narendra Modi in Assam to celebrate Bodo pact:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Kokrajhar in Assam to participate in an event to celebrate the signing of the Bodo agreement. This will be the prime minister’s first visit to the Northeast since protests erupted against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act last December.
Bodo agreement
The Bodo agreement signed on January 27 by the Central government with four factions of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), All Bodo Students Union, and a civil society group for bringing lasting peace in Bodo-dominated areas in Assam. A cultural program of ethnic groups of Assam organized to showcase the diversity of the state. Over 1,615 cadres of different factions of the NDFB surrendered their arms and joined the mainstream within two days of the signing of the agreement.
USD Five billion defence export target to be achieved by 2024:
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh expressed confidence that the country will achieve the target of five billion dollar worth of defense exports by 2024. The MoUs signed by us will strengthen the defense industrial base and will prove beneficial for the country. Around 200 agreements have been concluded in this Defexpo and described it as historic. The Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPIEDA), 23 MoUs were signed, and Rs 50,000 crore investment. This Defexpo, initially a target of signing 100 MoUs and business agreements was fixed, but till now, over 200 MoUs have been approved, which is the beginning of a new chapter in this sector.
Defence manufacturing firms from across the world are participating in the five-day mega event inaugurated.
Uttar Pradesh should emerge as Defence Manufacturing Hub:
Over 200 partnerships involving Signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs), Transfer of Technology (ToTs) Product launches concluded on the third day of DefExpo 2020. The agreement aimed at forging and renewing partnerships for innovative collaboration and transformation of the Defence manufacturing in the country inked by representatives of various DPSUs. The signing of MoUs to achieve Prime Minister’s $5 billion defence exports target in the next five years. The liberalized licensing regime brought out by the government would surely attract significant investments by both Indian and global companies. Shri Rajnath Singh thanked all the stakeholders who signed MoUs and expressed hope that Uttar Pradesh would emerge as a Defence Manufacturing hub.
Around 23 of them were by Uttar Pradesh Government. Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath. This MoU envisages Rs 50,000 crores investment in the defense corridor set up in the state and generate 3 lakh job opportunities. DRDO signed a Technological partnership agreement with the state government, imparting skill training, hand-holding, and guiding all aspects related to technology. A collaboration cell was already set up in the state to facilitate the process. The Technology transfer was made available at no cost to companies to further the defence ecosystem in the country. The patents held by DRDO were given free to Indian companies to develop further technologies that would benefit Indian companies.
During the ceremony, a significant announcement in the form of issuing the Initial Operational Clearance (IOC) certificate of Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) issued to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). LUH is designed and developed as a replacement for Cheetah & Chetak helicopters, which are currently being operated by Indian Armed forces.
LUH:
LUH is a new generation helicopter in the 3-Ton class incorporating the state-of-the-art technology features which will meet the emerging needs in this class of helicopters in the coming decades. OFB launched Sharang the 155mm artillery gun with a 36 km range and handed over a model to Chief of Army Staff Gen M M Naravane. OFB started JVPC Alpha gun with 100 mt range, Light Machine Gun of 800 mt range, and UBGL – Under barrel Grenade launcher.BDL launched Amogha-3, the anti-Tank Guided Missile. BDL launched Varunastra – the anti-submarine torpedo, manufactured under the technological guidance of DRDO. Raksha Rajya Mantri Shri Shripad Naik, Shri Satish Mahana, Minister for Industrial Development, UP government, and Shri Awanish Kumar Awasthi, CEO UPEIDA were also present during the ceremony.
Telangana govt to soon begin testing of Novel CoronaVirus in Hyderabad:
Telangana State Government will begin testing of Novel CoronaVirusi n Hyderabad with the help of testing kits. The authorities at Gandhi Medical Hospital begun test trails of the packages following the approval given by the Central Health Ministry for testing the Virus in Hyderabad. The medical authorities sent a total of 15 samples of suspect cases to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, and the reports of nine have come negative while the remaining are awaited. Most of the suspected cases recently traveled through the affected routes or those who are studying in China, especially in the affected areas and their family members. State Nodal Officer is a sufficient number of kits to test any number of samples. He also informed that quarantine units with total 100-bed capacity had been set up at three hospitals in Hyderabad as part of preparedness, and 20 more bed capacity is created. The state government has set up around the clock call center with the number 040-24651119 for calling and clearing doubts about to-2019.
First Banana Container Train sent to JNPT for Exports:
Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority(APEDA) along with State Government of Andhra Pradesh one of the largest member exporter of banana, dispatched the first shipment of 890 MTs of high-quality bananas loaded in 43 refrigerated containers, from Tadipatri, Anantpur in Andhra Pradesh to Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT) in Mumbai for export to international markets.
Agri Export Policy
The government of India under the Agri Export Policy notified the banana cluster in Anantpur and Kadapa districts of Andhra Pradesh. The exporting company to change the package of practices by providing expertise and technology to help banana growers in Andhra Pradesh for enhancing the quality of banana production. Andhra Pradesh farms to the export port in Mumbai affects the viability of export shipments due to high transport cost and quality losses during the long transit. Around three thousand farmers with an annual production of over 1 lakh MTare being handheld for exports directly. The efforts of APEDA with the support of the State Government and exporters are likely to provide a good opportunity for India to increase its share in world trade of banana.
Central Government Proposes Single Exam For All Government Jobs:
The union government proposes a single exam for all government jobs. In the budget 2020, presented by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the union government intends to introduce major reforms in recruitment to non-gazetted posts in governments and public sector banks. At present, candidates appear for various exams held under the discretion of the recruiting organization or exam agencies like UPSC and SSC.the government proposes to form a National Recruitment Agency which would also be referred to as NRA.
The NRA will be an independent, professional, specialist organization and will conduct an exam, which would be known as the Common Eligibility Test, for selection to government jobs. Another major reform proposed by the government is to implement a computer-based test for selection to government jobs. As of now, most government recruitment test is held in computer-based mode, though not all. The old pattern of exam where candidates mark their responses in OMR sheets will be stopped. Candidates and to make them acquainted with the exam pattern, the government also proposes to establish a test-center in every district, particularly in the aspirational districts.
######