Junior Digest

New Delhi, April 28,2023: Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated 91 FM transmitters in 84 districts across 18 states and 2 union territories on Friday.
Prime Minister said, “When it comes to radio and FM, my relationship with it is that of a passionate listener as well as that of a host.”
“Today the expansion of All India Radio’s (AIR) FM service is a big and important step towards becoming All India FM. This launch of 91 FM transmitters of All India FM is like a gift for 2 crore people in 85 districts of the country,” PM Modi said.
Speaking on occasion, Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur said, “This is a historic move. This will be very helpful in transmitting information related to entertainment, sports, and farming to the local people. Mann Ki Baat increased the popularity of radio.”
According to a statement released by the Prime Minister’s office, the 91 new 100 Watt FM transmitters have been installed in 84 districts across 18 States and 2 Union Territories.
A special focus of this expansion has been on enhancing coverage in Aspirational Districts and in border areas, the statement read.
“The States and UTs covered include Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Ladakh and Andaman and Nicobar Islands,” PMO stated.
The PMO further said, “With this expansion of AIR’s FM service, an additional 2 crore people, who did not have access to the medium, will now be covered. It will result in an expansion of coverage in about 35,000 sq km area.” Prime Minister has firmly believed in radio’s important role in reaching out to the masses.
To harness the unique strength of the medium to reach out to the widest possible audience, Prime Minister started the Mann ki Baat programme, which is now nearing its landmark 100th episode, the statement added.

New Delhi, Mar 4,2023: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that Infrastructure development is the driving force of the country’s economy, and pointed out that India will achieve the target of becoming a developed nation by 2047 by following this very path.

He said that this year’s budget will give new growth energy to the infrastructure sector to achieve the target”.

” Infrastructure development has always been an important pillar in the process of a country’s development” The Prime Minister said while addressing post-Budget Webinar on “Infrastructure and Investment – Improving Logistics Efficiency with PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan” here.

The Prime Minister said under the National Infrastructure Pipeline, the government is aiming to invest 110 lakh crore rupees in the coming years.

He added that this is the time for new responsibilities, new possibilities and bold decisions for each stakeholder.

Over construction of Roads, he said that, ” today’s average annual construction of National Highways has been almost 2 times as compared to before 2014″.

He added that unfortunately, after independence, modern infrastructure was not given much-required emphasis.

Talking about the “Gati Shakti National Master Plan” he said it is going to rejuvenate India’s Infrastructure and Multimodal Logistics and it is a great tool to integrate economic, infrastructure planning and development in the country”.

He said this year’s Budget, 100, critical projects have been prioritized and 75,000 crore rupees have been allocated.

Modi added that “only 600 route km of railway track was electrified per year before 2014 which is now reaching 4000 km per year”.

He further added that the number of airports and seaport capacity has doubled as well.

Elaborating on the role of the states, the Prime Minister informed about the one-year extension of interest-free loans up to 50 years loans and Budgetary expenditure for this has been increased to the tune of 30 per cent.

The Prime Minister emphasized that the robustness of India’s physical infrastructure is equally important for the strengthening of the country’s social infrastructure.

A strong social infrastructure will lead to more talented and skilled youth who will come forward to serve the nation” he said.

April 23,2022: With an aim of taking start-ups and Innovators in the defence ecosystem to a notch higher, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launched Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) Prime and sixth Defence India Start-up Challenge (DISC 6) during DefConnect 2.0 in New Delhi today.

The iDEX-Prime is aimed at supporting projects, requiring support beyond Rs 1.5 crore up to Rs 10 crore in the ever-growing defence start-ups.

Addressing the event, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said,” DefConnect 2.0 is a symbol of increasing technological prowess of the country and a celebration of the continuous growth of the Indian defense start-up ecosystem.”

It is indicative to the success of the iDEX initiative which has helped in the development of many new and indigenous technologies, he added.

Notably, DefConnect will provide a unique opportunity for defence innovators associated with iDEX-DIO to showcase their capabilities, products and state-of-the-art-technologies to the target audience of the industry leaders.

This leads to an opportunity to generate investments and future operations for the associated start-ups. Further, the platform will provide iDEX start-ups display their innovative technologies being developed indigenously.

What DISC will bring to table?
The Defence Minister also launched Defence India Start-up Challenge (DISC 6) with 38 Problem Statements.

Apart from the three Services ( Army, navy & Air Force) and some Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) which have participated in earlier editions, DISC 6 saw the participation of newly-formed seven defence companies, Indian Coast Guard and organisations under Ministry of Home Affairs for the first time.

Aimed at finding solutions in new-age era, the Problem Statements relate to Artificial Intelligence (AI), Advanced Imaging, Sensor Systems, Big Data Analytics and Autonomous Unmanned Systems and Secured Communication among others.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh appreciated the fact that iDEX has, so far, introduced more than 100 iDEX Winners to the market, thus providing direct & indirect employment to thousands of skilled and semi-skilled people.

The Government, Armed Forces, private sector, individual innovators, start-ups, MSMEs and academia can together create a strong bond and move forward to achieve the shared aim of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat, he added.

Platforms like the iDEX enable the defence forces to find disruptive solutions to complex challenges through its flagship programmes like Defence India Startup Challenges (DISC) and Open Challenges (OC) which shall be the key components for the future of military technology.

Till date, iDEX has launched five rounds of DISC and three rounds of OC, receiving more than 2,000 applications from individual innovators and start-ups.

Furthermore, iDEX has been able to fund projects in numerous technological areas through its Grant-in-Aid framework, Support for Prototype and Research Kickstart (SPARK), which entail provisioning of grant up to Rs 1.50 crore to budding entrepreneurs.

iDEX: A game-changer in the Indian Defence eco-system
Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) is a game-changer in the Defence eco-system, which works with the objective of fostering innovation and incorporating cutting-edge and disruptive technologies in the Indian Armed Forces in a quick time frame.

Instituted under the over-arching mission of the Ministry of Defence (MoD), the iDEX scheme has been achieving self-reliance and indigenisation in the defence ecosystem. Further, the initiative is catalysing the vibrant energy of our startup ecosystem and steering trans-disciplinary innovations/projects.

With the ethos of co-creation and co-innovation, an enterprising network of experts from the Services, DPSUs, Industry, Academia, iDEX officials, and the startups/MSMEs are involved in the process of fostering modern defence technologies. All this is aimed at providing at least 50 world-class solutions to the Indian Armed Forces and the defence industry in the near future.

The iDEX scheme, since its inception in 2018, has now gathered momentum, and it is expected that around 25-40 items after the successful prototyping by the iDEX startups/MSMEs, will be ready for procurement by the end of 2022.

Kochi (Kerala) , April 25,2023: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off India’s first Water Metro that connects 10 islands around Kochi through battery-operated electric hybrid boats for seamless connectivity with the city.
Water Metro is a unique urban mass transit system with the same experience and ease of travel as that of the conventional metro system. It is very useful in cities like Kochi.
Kochi’s water metro project is a unique project which will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister. This is a game-changing transport system because Kochi is surrounded by many islands and out of them 10 islands are very important and thickly populated. Those who depend on main lands will be getting a sustainable, regular, and luxurious transport system at a very affordable price.
According to the officials, the Modi government has made a conscious choice to avoid a one-size fits all approach in providing infrastructure and connectivity. A prime example of this approach is seen in the expansion of metro connectivity in the country.
Prime Minister Modi, who is on a visit to Kerala, will lay the foundation stone and inaugurate various projects worth more than Rs 3200 crore.
Apart from Kochi Water Metro, rail electrification of the Dindigul-Palani-Palakkad section will also be dedicated by PM Modi.
During the event, PM Modi will also lay the foundation of various rail projects including the redevelopment of Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, and Varkala Sivagiri railway stations; comprehensive development of Thiruvananthapuram area including Nemon and Kochuveli and increasing of sectional speed of Thiruvananthapuram-Shoranur section.
He will flag off Kerala’s first Vande Bharat Express between Thiruvananthapuram and Kasargod at Thiruvananthapuram Central Station on Tuesday.
According to Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the train will cover 11 districts namely Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Pathanamthitta, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasargod.
PM Modi will also lay the foundation stone of the Digital Science Park in Thiruvananthapuram.
According to Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Digital Science Park is envisaged as a key research facility to develop digital products and services by industry and business units in collaboration with academia.
As a third generation Science Park, the Digital Science Park will house common facilities to support the development of products in the area of Industry 4.0 Technologies like AI, data analytics, cyber security, smart materials etc, said the PMO statement.
The state-of-the-art basic infrastructure will support high-end applied research by industries and the co-development of products in association with the Universities. The initial investment for Phase-1 of the project is around Rs 200 crore while the total project outlay has been estimated at around Rs 1,515 crore.

Nov 30,2022:Mumbai’s Dharavi is set for a makeover as Adani Group has won the bid for the redevelopment of one of the largest slum clusters in Asia. Financial bids for the global tender floated on October 1 for the Dharavi redevelopment project were opened.
Three companies– Adani Realty, DLF and Naman Group– had submitted bids for the redevelopment of Dharavi and rehabilitation of slum dwellers. Several attempts were made in the last 15 years for the redevelopment of Dharavi but the project will take off now.

The Maharashtra government hopes to finish the project in the next 17 years and complete rehabilitation in the next seven years. Overall, more than 10 million square feet is expected to come up as part of the Dharavi redevelopment project.

Besides Indian firms, companies from the UAE and South Korea had also shown interest in the project during the pre-bid meeting on October 11.

The state government has made at least four attempts by floating bids for the Dharavi redevelopment in the last 15 years. However, the bids never materialised.

Dharavi is located in Central Mumbai in close proximity to the commercial hub, Bandra Kurla Complex, and south Mumbai. Spread across 300 acres, Dharavi is one of the most densely populated slums in the world. The area is hub for several small-scale, unorganised industries that manufacture medicines, leather, footwear, and clothes.

June 3,2022:In a tweet on Friday morning, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath wrote, “Under the guidance of respected PM Narendra Modi ji, ‘New India of New Uttar Pradesh’ has become the best destination in the country for investment. The enthusiasm of investors towards Ground Breaking Ceremony 3.0 is direct proof of this. This ceremony is going to give flight to the aspirations of ‘New Uttar Pradesh’.”

At around 11 AM, Prime Minister will reach Indira Gandhi Pratishthan, Lucknow where he will attend the Ground Breaking Ceremony @3.0 of the UP Investors Summit, the Prime Minister’s office informed.

At around 1:45 PM, Prime Minister will reach Paraunkh village, Kanpur, where he will accompany President Ram Nath Kovind to visit Pathri Mata Mandir.

Thereafter, at around 2 PM, they will visit Dr BR Ambedkar Bhawan, which will be followed by a visit to Milan Kendra at 2:15 PM.

The Kendra is the ancestral house of the President that was donated for public use and converted into a community centre (Milan Kendra). Subsequently, they will attend a public function at Paraunkh village at 2:30 PM.

During the Ground Breaking Ceremony, Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone of 1,406 projects worth more than Rs 80,000 crores.

The projects encompass diverse sectors like Agriculture and Allied, IT and Electronics, MSME, Manufacturing, Renewable Energy, Pharma, Tourism, Defence and Aerospace, Handloom and Textiles etc.

The ceremony will be attended by top industry leaders of the country.

The UP Investors Summit 2018 was held on February 21st -22nd, 2018, with the first Ground Breaking Ceremony being held on July 29, 2018, and the second Ground Breaking Ceremony on July 28, 2019.

During the first Ground Breaking Ceremony, the foundation of 81 projects worth more than Rs 61,500 crore was laid, while in the second Ground Breaking Ceremony, the foundation of 290 projects with investments of more than Rs 67,000 crore was laid.

BEIJING,Aug 08,2022: China search engine giant Baidu Inc said on Monday it has obtained permits to operate fully driverless robotaxi services on open roads from two Chinese cities, the first of their kind in the country.

The permits, awarded by the southwestern municipality of Chongqing and the central city of Wuhan, allow commercial robotaxis to offer rides to the public without human safety drivers in the car. They come into effect on Monday.
Baidu said they marked a “turning point” in China’s policy-making towards autonomous driving.

“These permits have deep significance for the industry,” Wei Dong, chief safety operation officer of Baidu’s Intelligent Driving Group, told Reuters in an interview. “If we think of the exploration of space, this moment is equal to landing on the moon.”

At first, Baidu will deploy a batch of five fee-charging robotaxis in each city, where they will be allowed to operate in designated areas from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Wuhan and 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Chongqing, the company said in a statement.

Oct01,2022:Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched 5G internet services at the India Mobile Congress held in New Delhi’s Pragati Maidan. The technology is expected to provide high speed internet and a lower latency in transfer of data.

“It will increase energy efficiency, spectrum efficiency and network efficiency,” the prime minister’s office said in a release.
Earlier on Saturday, Modi launched the sixth India Mobile Congress and visited stalls set up by telecom operators to get a first-hand experience of the functioning of 5G networks.

Pune, Feb 25,2023: The Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Textiles and Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Piyush Goyal addressed the Asia Economic Dialogue in Pune on Saturday.

The Minister shared his conviction that India would be the third largest economy in about five years. “My own conviction about the way India is growing is that we will drive our economy probably closer to 35-40 trillion-dollar economy by 2047. The desire of every Indian is to be second to none.”

The Minister exhorted the industry to be proud of their achievements, of the country’s strong macroeconomic fundamentals, about the reforms done in the past few years. “We believe India not only is the fastest growing large economy, we will continue to be so for many decades to come.”

The Minister observed that Asia has its own particular dynamics, where we have economies which are both democracies and those which are non-transparent and non-rule-based. “In the last decade or so, India has been wanting to internationalize and engage with technology and modern way of working. Today, India is clearly recognized as the country of the decade, if not the country of the 21st century. We have already moved from the tenth largest to the fifth largest economy. We today have a young demographic dividend, which is being recognized as our biggest asset.”

The Minister said the Russia-Ukraine conflict has had a severe effect on the developed world more than the developing countries. For food security and energy security and consequential impact on inflation, interest rates and growth, it has had a devastating effect on both developed and developing countries, he added.

The Minister recalled that in 2019, when India was engaged in discussions on joining RCEP group of nations, having studied what was being offered to India as part of the RCEP Agreement, we realized we were in some way an outlier. “To my mind, the then-government’s decision to offer to become a part of RCEP was ill-conceived, since we were entering into an FTA with a non-transparent economy with no rule of law or court of appeal or democracy. The agreement could have been the death-knell of all manufacturing in India.”

The Commerce Minister said over the years, we have hurt India’s interests by making our people getting used to low-cost substandard goods from China. “The trade deficit with China which was under 2 billion dollars around 15 – 16 years ago, increased to around 48 billion dollars by 2014. We allowed products to come from China while they stopped our products from India to go to China through legitimate or illegitimate reasons. Hence, it was music to my ear when Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to not join RCEP on 4th November, 2019, which was celebrated across the country by every section of industry and business, every farmer and every person associated with dairy sector.”

The Minister spoke of the need to sensitize our people to take more pride in Indian products. “India believes in the rule of law, their right to liberty, freedom of expression. Very different economic philosophies coexist in Asia. It will take some time for us to create adequate systems and manufacturing systems, and also sensitize our people and businesses to wean ourselves away from the opium of low-cost low-quality goods coming in from China.”

The Minister said India is now a partner the world can trust. “By converting the COVID-19 crisis into an opportunity, we were able to open the world’s eyes towards India. Our ability to innovate and come out with vaccines and distribute and vaccinate the population at low cost has been a world record. During COVID-19, we did not let down a single international commitment. We are a trading partner the world can trust. We have had the highest ever exports in 2021-22.”

Speaking of Free Trade Agreements, the Minister told industry representatives that we did the fastest ever FTA in the history of the world, the India UAE Agreement having been completed in 88 days. “We also completed a fast FTA with Australia. That is the enthusiasm the world is demonstrating towards working with India. We have negotiations going on with Israel, Canada, EU, UK and GCC. Russia and its partner countries of EAU too want to fast-track negotiations with India.”

The Minister spoke of the need to be 10 indigenized in auto industry. “We must strengthen our domestic manufacturing capabilities; we should be competitive and able to stand on our legs and our consumers must be more caring on the potential we are losing by indiscriminate imports.”

Speaking on payment timelines to MSMEs, the Minister said that big companies who benefit from low borrowing costs should consider paying MSMEs promptly so that the small businesses too become more profitable.

On a question on promoting green businesses, the Minister said that while the developed world is the largest contributor to climate change, they are preaching to us today about what we should be doing despite us being only 2.5% of contributors to carbon emissions. “The government has focused on addressing climate change as a responsible global citizen. We are promoting circular economies so that we recycle our waste. We are among the top five performing nations in addressing climate change goals. We are also promoting products like sustainable textiles. We are also laying a big focus on promoting organic farming, for instance, we are going to make exports of agricultural organic produce from Sikkim grow from Rs. 8 crores currently to Rs. 8000 crores by 2030.”

On a question on FTA with the USA, the Minister said FTA approval in US requires the approval of US Congress and that there is no bipartisan support on this in the US. “Hence the Indo Pacific Economic Framework has been conceptualized as an alternate framework. We are looking at getting closer to the US in terms of resilient supply chains, technology partnerships and opening our economy through indirect measures.

We have constant dialogues with the US. A huge business delegation comprising top US corporations is coming down to India along with US Commerce Secretary during Holi. We are investing huge time and capital in strengthening the India-US partnership.”

On a question of supporting MSMEs, the Minister pointed out that any effort to increase exports will have an impact on MSMEs, given the whole ecosystem around large businesses. “While the government has schemes to kickstart businesses, ultimately, we have to have a balance between the interest of consumers and businesses. We can artificially support a sector only up to a point. MSMEs will always be very critical to the global economy. Hence, various concessions are being given to MSMEs as well as startups and women entrepreneurs.”

The Minister told the industry that the government has undertaken game-changing reforms for the empowerment of people. The aspiration of young population in India for the good things of life will drive the Indian economy and help us become a 47 trillion dollar economy by 2047, he added.

Aug 28,2022:As India is set to welcome the first phase of 5G services, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made another announcement which states that by the end of this decade, the country will be launching a 6G network. Through the mode of video conferencing, PM Modi announced the 6G Network, during his speech at the Smart India Hackathon 2022 Grand finale.

“Youth can provide fresh ideas for promoting drone technology application in the medical and agricultural fields. By the end of this decade, we hope to introduce 6G. The government supports Indian gaming and Entertainment solutions as well. All young people should benefit from the government’s investments, Prime Minister Modi stated”.
The government has promises to roll out the latest 5G technology soon in India which will be accessible and inexpensive too. The rollout is expected to happen by October this year, as per the Union Minister of IT Ashwani Vaishnav, who stated as much during a news briefing earlier in the day.

“The industry has already started hiring for 5G infrastructure, and within two to three years, 5G services will be available everywhere in the nation”. We have asked the market to make 5G prices reasonable. We have the lowest mobile service fee in the entire world. We will receive top-notch 5G services,” according to Vaishnav.
5G will first be rolled out in 13 major cities of the countries on a trial basis. These cities are Delhi, Kolkata, Gurugram, Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, Jamnagar, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Gandhi Nagar and Lucknow.

June 19,2022:Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday asserted that modern development work being undertaken by the Centre is changing the face of Delhi and modernising the national capital.

Speaking after inaugurating the main tunnel and five underpasses of the Pragati Maidan Integrated Transit Corridor project in New Delhi, PM Modi cited a number of initiatives, including Eastern and Western Peripheral Expressways, more than doubling of metro tracks in Delhi-NCR and the Delhi-Meerut highway, among other things, as steps taken by his government to solve the region’s problems.

Delhi has received a beautiful infrastructure gift from the Central Government, the Prime Minister said after inaugurating the project. Mr. Modi noted that the project will help save 55 lakh litres of fuel and cut down pollution.
Mr. Modi said his government looks at increasing urbanisation as an opportunity and has been working to boost ease of living for the people.

The inauguration of the 1.6-km-long tunnel, which will be Delhi’s first, will allow commuters travelling to India Gate and other central Delhi areas from east Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad to ditch traffic snarls at ITO, Mathura Road and Bhairon Marg, and thereby save time, fuel and money.

“Time is money,” Mr. Modi said, adding that if the government announces ₹100 for people, then it makes headlines but if ₹200 is saved, it is not talked about much.

Mr. Modi also lauded the artwork adorning the tunnel and underpasses, and suggested that they should be closed for traffic for a few hours on Sundays so that people can walk and take a look at the art.

PM Modi added that he will also ask MPs to do so.

The Pragati Maidan Integrated Transit Corridor project has been built at a cost of more than ₹920 crore and is entirely funded by the Central government.

It is aimed at providing hassle-free and smooth access to the new world-class exhibition and convention centre being developed at Pragati Maidan to facilitate easy participation of exhibitors and visitors in the programmes being held there.

DEC03,2022:Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said India’s “bio-economy” has grown 8 times in the last 8 years unde from $10 billion in 2014 to over $80 billion in 2022. He added number of biotech startups has grown 100 times in the last 8 years from 52 in 2014 to 5300 plus in 2022.
Three Biotech Startups were incorporated every day in 2021 and a total of 1,128 biotech startups were set up in 2021 alone, signaling the rapid growth of the sector in India, said Dr Singh, while addressing an international conference on emerging trends in Biosciences and Chemical Technology in Jammu.
The number of bio tech incubators have increased from 6 in 2014 to 75 in 2022, and biotech products have increased from 10 to over 700 during the period. The investment in India’s biotech industry has increased from Rs 10 Crore in 2014 to Rs 4200 crore in 2022, increasing 400 times and leading to creation of over 2500 skilled jobs over the period.
The minister further added that research & development spending in the sector trebled from $320 million in 2020 to $1.02 billion currently during the Covid era. India will soon enter the league of top-5 countries in Biotech’s global ecosystem, he added.
The conference, organized by Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, School of Biotechnology, Jammu in collaboration with CSIR-IIIM Jammu and The Biotech Research Society of India, from December 3- 5, is being attended by international participants and keynote speakers from USA, Greece, South Korea, Scotland, Singapore, Thailand, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Malaysia and Vietnam.
He added India’s diverse climatic zones, skilled human capital pool, increasing efforts for ease of doing business, demand for bio-products and subsequent growth of the sector provide ample opportunities.

Mumbai, Apr 19,2023: India emerged as the second largest steel producer in the world with per capita steel consumption having gone up from 57 kilos to 78 kilos during last nine years, said Minister of Steel Jyotiraditya Scindia on Wednesday.

Talking at inaugural session of three-day conference organised jointly by his department and industry body FICCI, he said that the Ministry has signed 57 MoUs (memoranda of understanding) with 27 companies for specialty steel under the PLI (production linked incentive) scheme, which is expected to generate investment of about Rs 30,000 crore and create additional capacity of about 25 mt (million tonnes) of specialty steel in next five years.

This will also act as a multiplier to create more than 60,000 jobs for our Amrit Pidi and contribute towards achieving the goal of becoming the third largest economy by 2030-31, he was quoted as saying in a press release here.

Scindia further said, “The Steel Ministry is in the process of aligning up policies with the Gati Shakti Master Plan, which will complement the Rs 100 lakh crore investment plan for infrastructure development over next five years. This will boost the demand of steel in various sectors, thereby enhancing steel usage.”

Talking about various technologies being developed such as hydrogen-based steel making as demonstrated by hybrid plant in Sweden and hisarnar technology by Tata Steel Europe coupled with CCUS that holds huge promise, he said, “The commercialisation of these technologies might take some time.”

Speaking on the occasion, Faggan Singh Kulaste, Minister of State in the Ministry of Steel, said, “For the last eight-nine years, all kinds of meaningful solutions have been received from many such conferences and the Ministry of Steel is providing new heights to the steel industry by implementing such suggestions and solutions. This is the reason that in 2013-14, where steel production capacity was about 100 million tonnes and crude steel production was about 82 million tonnes, in 2022-23 the steel production capacity was 154 million tonnes and crude steel production was 125 million tonnes.”

“This historic growth has been possible due to the business-friendly policy, reforms and transparency in the steel sector of our Government, under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and under the leadership of our Minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia. I have full confidence that we will achieve the targets set in the National Steel Policy by 2030-31,” he added.

New Delhi, January 1,2023: The Centre launched a new integrated food security scheme on Sunday. The scheme will provide free foodgrains to 81.35 crore beneficiaries under NFSA for the year 2023 and aims to ensure effective and uniform implementation of the National Food Security Act (NFSA).
The Cabinet decided to launch a new central sector scheme to fulfil the vision of One Nation-One Price-One Ration under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This is a commitment of the government to the most vulnerable 67 per cent of the population which is 81.35 crore persons covered under NFSA, according to the ministry’s statement.
Under the scheme, the government will provide free foodgrains to all NFSA beneficiaries namely Antyodaya Ann Yojana (AAY) households and Priority Household (PHH) persons for one year through the wide network of 5.33 lakh fair price shops across the country, according to the statement of the ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution. The decision will strengthen the provisions of NFSA, 2013, in terms of accessibility, affordability and availability of foodgrains for the poor.
The new integrated scheme will subsume two current food subsidy schemes of the department of food and public distribution (DFPD) namely food subsidy to Food Corporation of India (FCI) for NFSA, and sops for decentralised procurement states, which deal with procurement, allocation and delivery of free foodgrains under NFSA.
Free foodgrains will concurrently ensure uniform implementation of portability under One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) across the country and will further strengthen this choice-based platform. This means the ration card could be used anywhere in the country. The Centre will bear the food subsidy of more than Rs 2 lakh crore for 2023. The new scheme is aimed at bringing uniformity and clarity on food security under NFSA at beneficiary level, the ministry statement said.
For implementing this scheme, the ministry had said that the secretary of DFPD had taken a meeting with all state food secretaries on December 29, 2022. The issues related to distribution of free foodgrains were discussed including technical resolutions. All states and Union Territories assured to implement the free foodgrain scheme from January 1, 2023, according to the statement.
The government had issued an order to all general managers of FCI to visit three ration shops every day in different areas of their jurisdiction mandatorily from January 1 till 7 and submit a report to the DFPD nodal officer on a daily basis, in the given format for review and taking corrective action.
In view of free foodgrains, an advisory is issued to the states/UTs on the mechanism to provide dealer’s margin for distributing foodgrains to the beneficiaries, the ministry said.

Nov 15,2022:The UN has estimated that the world’s population might reach 8 billion people today – November 15, 2022, considering it a milestone in human development. The latest projections by the United Nations suggest that the global population could grow to around 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050, and 10.4 billion in 2100.
The annual World Population Prospect report, released on Monday to coincide with World Population Day, also notes that the global population is growing at its slowest rate since 1950, having fallen to less than one percent in 2020.
While it took the global population 12 years to grow from 7 to 8 billion, it will take approximately 15 years–until 2037– for it to reach 9 billion, a sign that the overall growth rate of the global population is slowing.

In 2022, the two most populous regions were both in Asia: Eastern and South-Eastern Asia with 2.3 billion people and Central and Southern Asia with 2.1 billion. China and India, with more than 1.4 billion each, accounted for most of the population in these two regions.

More than half of the projected increase in global population up to 2050 will be concentrated in just eight countries: Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Tanzania.

According to UN estimates, India is projected to surpass China as the world’s most populous country during 2023.
Speaking about the milestone, Antonio Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General said, “This is an occasion to celebrate our diversity, recognize our common humanity, and marvel at advancements in health that have extended lifespans and dramatically reduced maternal and child mortality rates.”

He further added, “At the same time, it is a reminder of our shared responsibility to care for our planet and a moment to reflect on where we still fall short of our commitments to one another.”

Jan 03,2022: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the Siyom bridge in Arunachal Pradesh. The 100-metre long, steel arch bridge is built over the river Siyom. The bridge on the Along-Yingkiong Road is constructed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) under the project Brahmank. The bridge gives Indian military strategic advantage in deploying troops to the far-flung areas of the Line of Actual control faster. It provides connectivity to nearby villages which helps improving their access to markets and amenities.
Siyom Bridge, a 100-metre-long bridge with a ‘Class 70’ steel arch superstructure constructed along the Along-Yinkiong Road. The bridge also has military significance given it will enable faster movement of the troops as well as heavy machinery including weapons such as howitzers and mechanized vehicles, thus facilitating movement to forward areas of the Upper Siang district, Tuting and Yingkiong regions, along the Line of Actual Control with China.

The minister also kicked off 27 more projects of the BRO, virtually. Along with this, he also released the BRO Vision and New Tech Handbook. Not only this, but he also interacted with the locals of the state.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday inaugurated the Siyom Bridge in Arunachal Pradesh, along with 27 other infrastructure projects completed by the Border Roads Organization.

The projects built at a cost of Rs. 724 crore will hugely augment India’s border infrastructure, mostly along the Chinese border from Ladakh to Arunachal.
Inaugurating the projects, the minister said that India’s forces at the border are ever vigilant and prepared to tackle any adverse development.
Singh inaugurated 21 other bridges, three roads and three additional infrastructure projects in Arunachal Pradesh, J&K, Ladakh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Punjab and Rajasthan virtually from the Siyom bridge site.
His visit to the state comes less than a month after Indian forces thwarted an attempt by Chinese soldiers to set up an observataion post, some distance inside Indian territory close to the LAC near Tawang.
It is due to this very border dispute between India and China that the infrastructural boost is taking place in the region. The dispute has been worsening over the past few years, the latest one being the Tawang clash in December where multiple soldiers suffered serious injuries.

New Delhi,Nov 12,2022: Prime Minister Narendra Modi layed the foundation stone of projects worth over Rs 10,500 crores in Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

Besides, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy also present.
The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone of a dedicated Port Road from Convent Junction to Sheela Nagar Junction in Visakhapatnam. It will ease traffic congestion in Visakhapatnam City by segregating local and port-bound goods traffic.
He laid the foundation stone of the Andhra Pradesh section of the six-lane Greenfield Raipur- Visakhapatnam Economic Corridor. It will be built at a cost of more than Rs 3,750 crore.

“The Economic Corridor will provide faster connectivity between Industrial Nodes of Chhattisgarh and Odisha to Visakhapatnam Port and Chennai – Kolkata National Highway. It will also improve connectivity to tribal and backward areas of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.

The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone of a dedicated Port Road from Convent Junction to Sheela Nagar Junction in Visakhapatnam. It will ease traffic congestion in Visakhapatnam City by segregating local and port-bound goods traffic.

He also dedicated to the nation, Narasannapeta to Pathapatnam section of NH-326A built at a cost of more than Rs 200 crore as a part of the Srikakulam-Gajapati corridor.

Prime Minister dedicated to the nation, U-field Onshore Deepwater block project of ONGC in Andhra Pradesh, developed at the cost of more than Rs 2,900 crores.

It is the deepest gas discovery of the project with a gas production potential of about 3 million metric standard cubic metres per day (MMSCMD). He will lay the foundation stone of the Srikakulam Angul Natural Gas Pipeline Project of GAIL with capacity of around 6.65 MMSCMD.

July 25,2022:Saudi Arabia is embarking on an ambitious plan to build the world’s largest structure in the northwest of the kingdom, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) newspaper reported, after viewing hundreds of pages of confidential planning documents that revealed for the first time the lay-out for the plan.

The structure, known as the Mirror Line, will be comprised of two glass reflective buildings measuring up to 488 metres (1,600 feet) high, running parallel for 120 kilometres (75 miles) across coastal, mountain and desert terrain.

The two buildings will be connected via walkways, and a high-speed train will run underneath them. The structure is expected to cost a whopping $1 trillion upon completion, and is projected to house five million people who will be able to travel end-to-end within a 20-minute stretch.

The documents seen are from 2021, and include concept designs such as integrated vertical farming, a marina for yachts, and a sports stadium built up to 305 metres (1,000 feet) above ground.

The structure is the epicentre of Crown Prince and de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman’s zero-carbon smart city project called Neom, which will cost another $500bn to build and is the size of the US state of Massachusetts.
Neom is owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign-wealth fund and is part of a framework called Saudi Vision 2030, a plan that seeks to diversify Saudi Arabia’s economy and reduce its dependence on oil.
While the deadline to build Neom is 2030, the WSJ reported that an initial impact assessment of the Mirror Line produced in January 2021 said the development would have to be constructed in stages, and could take 50 years to complete.

SRINAGAR,Oct 05,2022: On expected lines, home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday announced that the one million Pahari-speaking community of Jammu and Kashmir will, along with its nomadic Gujjar and Bakarwal populations, get reservation benefits in accordance with the recommendations of the Justice Sharma Commission that examined the issue of quota.

While addressing a public rally in the frontier town of Rajouri, Shah reiterated that the development of J&K is a priority for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Earlier injustice was meted out to the Pahari people of J&K, as they did not get any reservation,” Shah said and added, “But the Prime Minister cleared the way for reservation by removing Article 370. The Justice Sharma Commission was formed to consider reservations, which has sent its recommendations to give reservation to the Pahari as well as to the Bakarwal and Gujjar people.”
He said that as soon as the administrative process of these recommendations is over, the Gujjar, Bakarwal and Pahari people are going to get the benefits of reservation.
The Gujjars and some other tribal communities of J&K who were listed as Scheduled Tribes in 1991 are opposing the grant of such a status and other similar benefits to the Paharis with the argument that it will dilute the entire ST status. Over the past few weeks, they have held protests at some places in the Jammu region.

However, the home minister assured that granting reservation benefits to the Pahari community will not reduce the benefits guaranteed to the Gujjars and Bakarwals “even by one percent”.

He said that a few people do not want peace in J&K and are inciting Gujjars and Bakarwals in the name of ST status being given to Paharis but the people have foiled their design. He said that the Prime Minister wants to develop the Pir Panjal region of J&K, the people of which have shed their blood to protect the borders of India.