releases-19-20-jan

19 jan

Digital payment promotion gets a boost
More than 3.81 lakh consumers and 21,000 merchants win prizes worth Rs.60.90 crore at Digi-Dhan Melas

The Government’s efforts to give a boost to the digital payment systems and the cashless economy, post-demonetization have generated enthusiastic response from the people. People from different age groups, occupations and different walks of life have taken part in a big way in the Lucky Grahak Yojana and Digi-dhan Vyapar Yojana giving a fillip to digital transactions.

More than 3.81 lakh consumers and 21,000 merchants have been declared the winners of prize money worth Rs.60.90 crore at 24 Digi-Dhan Melas across the country. Giving the details, the Union Minister Law & Justice, Electronics and Information Technology Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the Common Service Centres under the Deptt. of Electronics and Information Technology have trained 1.94 crore citizens and 5.93 lakh merchants so far for carrying out transactions through digital payment systems.

The prize money worth Rs. 60.90 crore to over 3.81 lakh winners of NITI Aayogs’s lucky draw schemes ‘Lucky Grahak Yojana, LGY’ for consumers and ‘Digi-Dhan Vyapar Yojana, DVY’ for merchants has been declared at 24 Digi-Dhan Melas across the country – daily as well as weekly. The lucky winners include 24 year old Ashutosh Mishra, a mobile shop owner in Rampur, Odisha, 24 year old Jadhav Amit Anil from Ghatkopar, Mumbai, 27 year old Mangesh Anantrao Jadhav from Nasik, 42 year old Suman Sapra from Ulsoor, Bengaluru, Tripta Devi, a 54 year old housekeeper from Andhra Pradesh, among others. The list includes winners from different walks of life including the small farmers, Anganwadi workers, housewives, labourers, etc.

Data analytics provided by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has highlighted a positive response among the people to adopt digital payments. Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka have emerged as the top 5 states with maximum number of winners. Active participation has been seen among men and women while most of the winners were in the age group of 21-30 years.

The two schemes were launched on December 25, 2016 and shall remain open till April 14, 2017. The schemes are aimed at incentivizing the consumers and the merchants to promote digital payments. 15,000 daily winners vie for total prize money of Rs. 1.5 crore at the rate of Rs.1000 per person. Besides, over 14,000 winners qualify for weekly draws with the total prize money of over Rs. 8.3 crore per week.

Customers and merchants using RuPay Card, BHIM, UPI (Bharat Interface for Money/Unified Payment Interface) USSD based *99# service and Aadhaar enabled Payment Service (AePS) are eligible for participating in the daily and weekly lucky draws.

These lucky draws are being held at Digi-Dhan Melas across the country. Over 100 Digi-Dhan Melas will be held across the country to inculcate digital payment among the people. Till date, 24 Digi-Dhan Melas have been held across the country since 25^th December, 2016. These include New Delhi, Gurugram, Ludhiana, Panaji, Dehradun, Lucknow, Ranchi, Raipur, Mumbai, Meerut, Haldwani, Amritsar, Pune, Patna, Vijayawada, Chandigarh, Guwahati, Kochi, Bilaspur, Bokaro, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Bengaluru, Jammu and Hyderabad. The exercise has covered so far 12 states and 3 Union territories. By 1^st February, the exercise will have covered the cities from 21 States and 4 UTs. The upcoming Digi-Dhan Melas are scheduled to be held as per the following schedule:-

Table – List of cities for Lucky Grahak Scheme draws till February 1, 2017.

1.	19^th January, 2017	Madhya Pradesh	Bhopal
2.	20^th January, 2017	Arunachal Pradesh	Itanagar
3.	21^st January, 2017	Odisha	Bhubaneshwar
4.	22^nd January, 2017	Maharashtra	Thane
5.	23^rd January, 2017	Chhattisgarh	Bhilai
6.	24^th January, 2017	Madhya Pradesh	Indore
7.	25^th January, 2017	Karnataka	Mangalore
8.	26^th January, 2017	Rajasthan	Jaipur
9.	27^th January, 2017	Andaman & Nicobar Island	Port Blair
10.	28^th January, 2017	Tamil Nadu	Chennai
11.	29^th January, 2017	Gujarat	Ahmedabad
12.	30^th January, 2017	Madhya Pradesh	Gwalior
13.	31^st January, 2017	Haryana	Faridabad
14.	1^st Feb, 2017	Rajasthan	Alwar

Background:

Lucky Grahak Yojana and Digi-Dhan Vyapar Yojana awards were launched in New Delhi on December 25, 2016 by Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Arun Jaitley and Union Minister of Electronics & Information Technology and Law & Justice, Ravi Shankar Prasad to incentivize digital payments. The lucky draws have been planned at over 100 Digidhan Melas spread across the country in 100 different cities till April 14, 2017. The highlights of the Schemes are as follows-

· All transactions done by consumers and merchants from November 9, 2016 till April 14, 2017 will be eligible for winning prize under the scheme.

· All such transactions irrespective of the fact whether it has won daily / weekly prize, will be eligible for Mega Draw to be conducted on April 14, 2017.

· Three Mega prizes for consumers worth Rs. 1 crore, Rs 50 lakh and Rs 25 lakh.

· For merchants too, there would be three mega prizes worth Rs. 50 lakh, Rs. 25 lakh and Rs. 12 lakh.

· The draw of winners are presented at different centres on each day by the senior officials of NPCI in the presence of senior minister from GoI, representatives of NITI Aayog and general public.

· Schemes have total outlay of Rs. 340 crore of which - Rs. 300 crores would be spent on consumers and merchants while the remaining Rs. 40 crore on awareness and publicity.

· Total winners under the scheme are expected to be over 18.75 lakh.

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National Conference Of Central And State/UT Ministers And Secretaries of Tourism, Culture, Youth Affairs And Sports will be held in Kutch, Gujarat From 20th January, 2017

A three-day National Conference of Central and State/UT Ministers and Secretaries of Tourism, Culture, Youth Affairs and Sports will be held in Kutch, Gujarat from tomorrow. Hon’ble Prime Minister will deliver the inaugural address through video conferencing and also interact with the participants at the end of the conference on the outcomes achieved.

This will be for the first time that State Ministers of Tourism, Culture, Youth Affairs and Sports will be meeting together and that too at a place like Kutch.

The Conference aims at achieving the necessary convergence among tourism, culture, youth affairs and sports and synergy between the Central Government and the States/UTs. It will also attempt to draw up an action plan for utilization of sports facilities for promoting Tourism, Culture and Youth welfare.

The Conference will also discuss sectoral issues which have emerged out of the deliberations of the Groups of Secretaries. Such sectoral issues relating to sports include integration of sports with education, bringing sports to the Concurrent List of the Constitution, strategy for the next three Olympics, setting up of sports science departments in identified universities, grass-root development of sports and improving the standard of school competitions and university games.

Convergence of Cultural aspects with sporting events will create tourist hubs to the mutual benefit of sports and tourism. The Department of Sports organises various mega sports events like the recently concluded South Asian Games in 2016, the forthcoming FIFA U-17 Football World Cup, the Himalayan Region Sports Festival and the National Games to be held in Goa which can be showcased along with the culture of the country as well as the place where the event is being held. Similarly, water sports, aero sports, adventure sports, etc., can be organised with a firm calender every year in convergence and coordination with Culture and Tourism Ministries.

The Union Minister for Youth Affairs & Sports, Shri Vijay Goel will address the Conference on all three days. He has expressed the hope that the convergence achieved through the Conference will give an impetus to development of all the concerned sectors. He pointed out that this would be the second time in three months that the Sports Ministers of States / UTs would be meeting. The last meeting of the State/UT Ministers for Youth Affairs & Sports was held in New Delhi on 15^TH November, 2016. Shri Goel said that such frequent interactions are necessary to achieve the necessary cooperation and coordination between the Centre and the States for promotion and development of sports in the country.

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NCPCR takes suo motu cognisance of Etah school bus accident, issues notice to Chief Secretary, Uttar Pradesh and District Magistrate Etah

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has taken suo motu cognisance of the death of 25 school children due to head on collision between the school bus with a speeding truck today at Etah, Uttar Pradesh. The Commission Member, Shri Yashwant Jain in a letter addressed to the District Magistrate (DM), Etah District of Uttar Pradesh asked the DM to take stringent action against Aliganj JS Public School, Etah for opening the school despite the district administration’s order to keep the school closed till 20^th January, 2017. In his letter, Shri Jain asked the DM to provide urgent medical assistance to the injured children, counsel the parents of the children to cope with the trauma caused due to the accident, and provide compensation to the victim’s families as per law and notify all schools in the district for compliance of transportation norms for carrying school children.

Besides, the Member has also asked the district administration take stringent action against the owner of the bus and the truck after conducting due enquiry.

Shri Jain has also directed the district administration to send a progress report as well as action taken report within seven working days from the issuance of the notice. The commission took suo motu cognisance of the incident under Sections 13 and 14 of the CPCR Act after several TV news channels aired the news of the death of 25 school children in the accident.

While expressing condolence due to the accidental death of so many children, the Commission also wrote a separate letter to the Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh today recommending him to take stringent action against the school for defying the order of the district administration. Shri Jain has asked the Chief Secretary to ensure implementation of the direction of the Supreme Court/ Guidelines on safe transportation of the school children by all the school in the state to avoid any such incident in future.

The Commission has asked the Chief Secretary to share the compliance report within 30 days of the receipt of its letter.

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Negotiation Committee Constituted on Mahanadi and its Tributaries

Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation has constituted a negotiations committee to assess availability and utilisation of waters of Mahanadi and its tributaries. The committee will also examine existing water sharing agreements on river Mahanadi and will consider claims of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Jharkhand regarding availability and utilisation of waters of these rivers.

The committee has been set up with reference to complaint of State of Odisha under section 3 of the ISRWD Act, 1956 regarding utilisation of waters of Mahandi Basin. The committee will be chaired by Member (WP&P), Central Water Commission and will have 11 other members comprising representatives from the States of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Jharkhand, Union Ministries of Agriculture, Environment Forest and Climate Change, Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, India Meteorological Department and Central Water Commission. The committee has been asked to submit its report within three months.

Samir/jk

Union Minister of Statistics & Programme Implementation Sh. D.V. Sadananda Gowda says that Statistics plays important role in Good governance

Union Minister of Statistics & Programme Implementation Shri D.V. Sadananda Gowda says that availability of good data during the implementation process ensures the effective control on delivery of various public services and thus results in good governance. He was inaugurating the 24th COCSSO (Conference of Central and State Statistical Organizations) organized by Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation in collaboration with Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Government of Maharashtra in Nagpur today. The Minister said that with an objective of “Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas”, the Central Government is formulating suitable indicators to achieve various goals in the Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDGs) of UN in consultation with State Governments and various other agencies.

Stressing upon the importance of Statistics Sh. Gowda said the importance of statistics has been growing rapidly with the greater integration and inter-dependence of world economies, which is also evident from burgeoning data. Local level statistics have immense significance for understanding the socio-economic reality and thereby appropriate policy formulation.

The Statistics on infrastructure, health, educational facilities and socio-economic conditions of the society are essential to cater to the needs of planning and policy formulation at Sub-State levels. In such a scenario, interaction between the Central and State Governments in a federal set up as ours becomes very important, he added.

The Conference of Central and State Statistical Organizations (COCSSO) provides an excellent platform for such interaction & coordination in the field of Statistical activities in different States/UTs and Central Ministries/ Departments.

Informing about initiatives of Ministry Statistics & Programme Implementation, Sh. Gowda stated that in recent past , his Ministry has taken a number of new initiatives to switch over from traditional way of data collection & storage to digital & smart way. Online data collection of Consumer Price Index, Index of Industrial Production is also being done in efficient manner.

The theme of this year’s Conference is “Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare”. Shri S. S. Mungantiwar, Minister for Finance & Planning, Forest, Goverment of Maharashtra, Shri C. K. Bawankule, Minister for Energy, New & Renewable Energy, State Excise, Government of Maharashtra and Guardian Minister of Nagpur, Dr. Radha Binod Barman, Chairman, National Statistical Commission (NSC) and Dr. T. C. A. Anant, Secretary (S&PI) and Central Statistical Institute(CSI), Sh. G.C. Manna, Director General, CSO, were also present on this occasion.

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Global Crude oil price of Indian Basket was US$ 54.09 per bbl on 18.01.2017

The international crude oil price of Indian Basket as computed/published today by Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas was US$ 54.09 per barrel (bbl) on 18.01.2017. This was lower than the price of US$ 54.26 per bbl on previous publishing day of 17.01.2017.

In rupee terms, the price of Indian Basket decreased to Rs. 3674.91 per bbl on 18.01.2017 as compared to Rs. 3692.35 per bbl on 17.01.2017. Rupee closed stronger at Rs. 67.94 per US$ on 18.01.2017 as compared to Rs. 68.05 per US$ on 17.01.2017. The table below gives details in this regard:

Particulars	Unit	Price on January 18, 2017 (Previous trading day i.e. 17.01.2017)	Pricing Fortnight for 16.01.2017 (Dec 29, 2016 to Jun 11, 2016)
Crude Oil (Indian Basket)	($/bbl)	54.09 (54.26)	54.24
Crude Oil (Indian Basket)	(Rs/bbl	3674.91 (3692.35)	3691.57
Exchange Rate	(Rs/$)	67.94 (68.05)	68.06

RG/RK/SA/Daily Crude Oil Price

Production Performance of Oil & Natural Gas Sector for December, 2016

Crude Oil

1. Crude oil production during December 2016 was 3055.07 TMT which is 3.15% and 0.80% lower than target and production achieved in December 2015 respectively. Cumulative crude oil production during April-December, 2016 was 27045.34 TMT which is 1.92% and 3.23% lower than target and production during corresponding period of last year respectively. Unit-wise and state-wise crude oil production is given at Annexure-I. Unit-wise crude oil production for the month of December, 2016 and cumulatively for the period April-December, 2016 vis-à-vis same period of last year has been shown in Table-1 and month-wise in Figure-1.

Table-1: Crude Oil Production (in TMT)

Oil Company	Target	December (Month)				April-December (Cumulative)
	2016-17 (Apr-Mar)	2016-17		2015-16	% over last year	2016-17		2015-16	% over last year
	2016-17 (Apr-Mar)	Target	Prod.*	Prod.	% over last year	Target	Prod.*	Prod.	% over last year
ONGC	22766.00	1931.11	1904.60	1895.70	100.47	16872.80	16629.09	16879.30	98.52
OIL	3480.00	312.41	280.59	270.12	103.87	2513.21	2430.46	2450.61	99.18
PSC Fields	10839.32	911.03	869.89	913.85	95.19	8189.45	7985.79	8617.95	92.66
Total	37085.32	3154.55	3055.07	3079.67	99.20	27575.46	27045.34	27947.86	96.77

*: Provisional

Figure-1: Monthly Crude Oil Production

Unit-wise production details with reasons for shortfall have been given in following sub-sections:

1.1 Crude oil production by ONGC during December, 2016 was 1904.60 TMT which is 1.37% lower than the monthly target but 0.47% higher when compared with December 2015. Cumulative crude oil production by ONGC during April-December, 2016 was 16629.09 TMT which is 1.44% lower than target for the period and 1.48% lower than production during corresponding period of last year. Shortfall in production was mainly due to less than planned production from marginal fields of Mumbai High and natural decline in matured fields of western offshore.

1.2 Crude oil production by OIL during December, 2016 was 280.59 TMT which is 10.18% lower than monthly target but 3.87% higher than production in December 2015. Cumulative crude oil production by OIL during April-December, 2016 was 2430.46 TMT which is 3.29% lower than target for the period and 0.82% lower than production during corresponding period of last year. Shortfall in production was mainly due to less than planned contribution from high producing areas like Greater Hapjan, Greater Chandmari fields & Naharkatiya fields on account of rise in water cut and less than envisaged contribution from newly drilled wells.

1.3 Crude oil production by Pvt/JVs during December 2016 was 869.89 TMT which is 4.52% lower than the monthly target and 4.81% lower than December, 2015. Cumulative crude oil production by Pvt/JVs during April-December, 2016 was 7985.79 TMT which is 2.49% lower than target for the period and 7.34% lower than the production during corresponding period of last year. Reasons for shortfall in production are as under:

Ø RJ-ON-90/1: Plant tripped on 16.12.16, stopping production from Mangala & Aishwarya. Increase in water cut in Mangala wells, poor reservoir performance of Bhagyam

Ø Natural Decline in Ravva & CB-OS/2

Ø Closure of 1 well in MA field in KG-DWN-98/3

Natural Gas

2 Natural gas production during December 2016 was 2736.80 MMSCM which is 9.68% lower than the target for the month and 0.01% lower than the production in December 2015. Cumulative natural gas production during April-December, 2016 was 23885.34 MMSCM which is 5.04% lower than target for the period and 3.29% lower than the production during corresponding period of last year. Unit-wise and state-wise natural gas production is given at Annexure-II. Unit-wise natural gas production for the month of December, 2016 and cumulatively for the period April-December, 2016 vis-à-vis same period of last year has been shown in Table-2 and month-wise in Figure-2.

Table-2: Natural Gas Production (MMSCM)

Oil Company	Target	December (Month)				April-December (Cumulative)
	2016-17 (Apr-Mar)	2016-17		2015-16	% over last year	2016-17		2015-16	% over last year
	2016-17 (Apr-Mar)	Target	Prod.*	Prod.	% over last year	Target	Prod.*	Prod.	% over last year
ONGC	22743.43	2040.57	1926.75	1818.99	105.92	16724.08	16420.24	16272.14	100.91
OIL	2950.03	246.84	246.50	266.10	92.63	2260.52	2211.56	2120.06	104.32
PSC Fields	8425.44	742.87	563.56	651.89	86.45	6167.70	5253.54	6304.94	83.32
Total	34118.90	3030.28	2736.80	2736.98	99.99	25152.31	23885.34	24697.14	96.71

*: Provisional

Figure-2: Monthly Natural Gas Production

2.1 Natural gas production by ONGC during December, 2016 was 1926.75 MMSCM which is 5.58% lower than the monthly target but 5.92% higher when compared with December 2015. Cumulative natural gas production by ONGC during April-December, 2016 was 16420.24 MMSCM which is 1.82% lower than the cumulative target but 0.91% higher than the production during the corresponding period of last year. Shortfall in production was mainly due to decline in reservoir pressure in Bassein field and less production from Daman & C-26 Cluster due to evacuation constraint as export lines to TCPP platform is not yet completed.

2.2 Natural gas production by OIL during December, 2016 was 246.50 MMSCM which is 0.14% lower than the monthly target and 7.37% lower than December 2015. Cumulative natural gas production by OIL during April-December, 2016 was 2211.56 MMSCM which is 2.17% lower than the cumulative target but 4.32% higher than the production during the corresponding period of last year. Shortfall in production was mainly due to decline production potential in a few high producing gas wells due to unexpected subsurface problems like water and sand ingress.

2.3 Natural gas production by Pvt/JVs during December 2016 was 563.56 MMSCM which is 24.14% lower than the monthly target and 13.55% less when compared with December, 2015. Cumulative natural gas production by Pvt/JVs during April-December, 2016 was 5253.54 MMSCM which is 14.82% lower than the cumulative target and 16.68% lower than the production during the corresponding period of last year. Reasons for shortfall in production are as under:

Ø Underperformance of wells in KG- OSN-2001/3.

Ø Underperformance of Sohagpur West CBM block extended dewatering hampering production in Raniganj East CBM block.

Ø Closure of 2 wells in D1D3 field in KG-DWN-98/3.

Ø RJ-ON-90/1: Plant tripped on 16.12.16, stopping production from Mangala & Aishwarya. Increase in water cut in Mangala wells, poor reservoir performance of Bhagyam.

Ø RJ-ON/6: Increase in Water cut in few wells.

Refinery Production (in terms of Crude oil processed)

3 Refinery production during December, 2016 was 21441.47 TMT which is 3.21% higher than the target for the month and 6.43% higher than the production during corresponding period of last year. Cumulative production during April-December, 2016 was 183886.03 TMT which is 2.16% higher than the target for the period and 7.82% higher than the production during corresponding period of last year. Unit-wise production is given at Annexure-III. Company-wise production for the month of December, 2016 and cumulatively for the period April-December, 2016 vis-à-vis same period of last year has been shown in Table-3 and month-wise in Figure-3.

Table 3: Refinery Production (TMT)

Oil Company	Target	December (Month)				April-December (Cumulative)
	2016-17 (Apr-Mar)	2016-17		2015-16	% over last year	2016-17		2015-16	% over last year
	2016-17 (Apr-Mar)	Target	Prod.*	Prod.	% over last year	Target	Prod.*	Prod.	% over last year
PSUs	135565.03	11662.78	12098.44	10848.04	111.53	101443.29	102756.76	91957.50	111.74
IOCL	65100.00	5570.12	5682.22	4917.90	115.54	48452.12	48103.96	41673.52	115.43
BPCL	25250.15	1918.14	2307.73	2085.02	110.68	18608.79	19338.98	17931.32	107.85
HPCL	16800.29	1493.00	1620.20	1564.69	103.55	12735.45	13195.83	12534.06	105.28
CPCL	10250.00	934.81	747.45	520.89	143.49	8291.60	8166.69	6811.46	119.90
NRL	2670.00	267.67	257.01	229.21	112.13	2027.50	1960.56	1847.18	106.14
MRPL	15450.00	1475.00	1476.64	1523.24	96.94	11295.00	11927.50	11114.26	107.32
ONGC	44.59	4.05	7.19	7.08	101.55	32.83	63.23	45.70	138.36
JVs	15000.00	1321.02	1570.99	1436.55	109.36	11486.44	12696.91	12919.50	98.28
BORL	6000.00	525.00	623.73	501.65	124.34	4425.00	4677.93	4660.25	100.38
HMEL	9000.00	796.02	947.25	934.91	101.32	7061.44	8018.99	8259.25	97.09
Private	89852.65	7790.78	7772.04	7861.27	98.87	67064.48	68432.36	65666.43	104.21
RIL	69561.01	6080.79	5994.99	6080.79	98.59	51788.53	52641.83	51788.53	101.65
EOL	20291.64	1709.99	1777.05	1780.48	99.81	15275.94	15790.54	13877.90	113.78
TOTAL	240417.68	20774.58	21441.47	20145.86	106.43	179994.20	183886.03	170543.44	107.82

*: Provisional

Figure 3: Monthly Refinery Production

3.1 PSU Refineries’ production during December, 2016 was 12098.44 TMT which is 3.74% higher than the target for the month and 11.53% higher than the production achieved in the corresponding month of last year. Cumulative production by PSU refineries during April-December, 2016 was 102756.76 TMT which is 1.29% higher than the target for the period and 11.74% higher than the production during corresponding period of last year. Reasons for shortfall of refinery production in some PSU refineries are as under:

v IOCL, Paradip: Throughput lower due to coke upliftment issue.

v IOCL, Haldia: Throughput is lower due to VGO stock build-up

v IOCL, Guwahati/Digboi: Lower availability of Assam crude.

v CPCL, Manali: Throughput of Manali Refinery lower than target due to 'Vardha' cyclone which hit the refinery on 12^th Dec'16 and lead to water crises as all water sources were temporally shutdown.

v CPCL, CBR: Lower throughput in CBR due to product evacuation constraints.

v NRL, Numaligarh: Unplanned shutdown of DCU.

3.2 Production in JV refineries during December, 2016 was 1570.99 TMT which is 18.92% higher than the target for the month and 9.36% higher than the production achieved in the corresponding month of last year. Cumulative production by JVs refineries during April-December, 2016 was 12696.91 TMT which is 10.54% higher than the target for the period but 1.72% lower than the production during corresponding period of last year.

3.3 Production in private refineries during December, 2016 was 7772.04 TMT which is 0.24% lower than the target for the month and 1.13% lower than the production achieved in the corresponding month of last year. Cumulative production by private refineries during April-December, 2016 was 68432.36 TMT which is 2.04% higher than the target for the period and 4.21% higher than the production during corresponding period of last year.

3.4 Refinery-wise details of the capacity utilization and production of petroleum products during the month of December, 2016 and cumulatively for the period April-December, 2016 vis-à-vis April-December, 2015 are given at Annexures-IV and V respectively.

Shri Alok Kumar Verma Appointed as New CBI Director

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Shri Alok Kumar Verma as the new CBI Director. His appointment will be for a period of two years from the date of assumption of charge of his office.

Shri Alok Kumar Verma, currently Delhi Police commissioner, is a 1979 batch Indian Police Service officer of the Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre.

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Consultative Committee on Minority Affairs Discusses Functioning of National Minorities Development & Finance Corporation

The Consultative Committee meeting of the Ministry of Minority Affairs was held here today. The topic for discussion was Functioning of National Minorities Development & Finance Corporation (NMDFC). The Meeting was chaired by Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Minister for Minority Affairs (IC) and Parliamentary Affairs.

A presentation was made before the Consultative Committee on the functioning of National Minorities Development & Finance Corporation. The Committee reviewed the progress made in the implementation of NMDFC schemes.

Maulan Asrarul Haque Mohammad (Permanent Special invitee) (from Lok Sabha) made some suggestions including enhancement of fund for micro finance, so that more women could be benefitted and organizing awareness camps at district level. Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi thanked the member for his valuable suggestions and assured him that all possible efforts will be made for their implementation.

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Shri Kalraj Mishra Inaugurates Workshop on MSME Cooperation amongst Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Member Countries

India to sign MoU for MSME Cooperation With IORA Member Countries Tomorrow

Union Minister of MSME, Shri Kalraj Mishra today inaugurated Workshop on MSME Cooperation amongst Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Member countries. Speaking on the occasion, he said that this workshop will strengthen economic relationship amongst the member countries in the field of trade and investment facilitation especially in MSME sector. He also stated that India has Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) with 18 countries for cooperation in MSME sector. The National Small Industries Corporation of India, Public Sector Enterprise under the Ministry of MSME has 34 MoUs with its counterpart organizations of foreign countries for cooperation in MSME sector.

Shri Kalraj Mishra Union Minister for MSME inaugurating the Workshop on MSME Cooperation amongst IORA member countries

Shri Mishra also stated that this Workshop on SME cooperation will facilitate exchange of ideas, concerns and experiences of IORA member states and would help evolve a common MoU to address the emerging challenges in the region in MSME sector. He emphasized that the resilience in IORA over the last 20 years has been its innate strength. IORA’s evolution and growth have consistently seen an upward trajectory. He said that this strength must be reinforced by ensuring independence of strategy and priority. The onus of strengthening the regionalism in a composite manner must rest first on the shoulders of IORA members themselves.

Representatives of IORA member countries

Minister of State for MSME Shri Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary has emphasized that the IORA region has emerged as a strong one with the highest growth prospects in the world. He also stated that India and IORA together represent a huge market in which suppliers can build scale and efficiency and investors can allocate capital most productively.

IORA Secretary General, Shri Bhagirath spoke about the IORA secretariat’s efforts in enhancing cooperation between the IORA member countries in terms of industrial and cultural cooperation. He also spoke about how the MSMEs in the IORA member countries help in alleviating poverty by creating more job opportunities.

Shri Kalraj Mishra Union Minister for MSME addressing the representatives of IORA member countries

Secretary MSME, Shri KK Jalan said that with the combined population of over 2 billion, IORA and India represent a vast market for goods and services and it is highly attractive due to large segment of high consuming middle class of about 600 million persons in India. He also expressed that this workshop will inspire the member countries to further cooperation and seek opportunities to support the progress towards mutual goals.

Background:

Workshop on MSME Cooperation amongst IORA member countries was organized in pursuance of the commitment made by India in the Economic Business Conference - II (EBC- II) held in Dubai in April, 2016. The Ministry of MSME, Government of India in consultation with the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India and IORA Secretariat organized this Workshop, wherein 23 representatives from 13 member countries, viz., Mozambique, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Comoros, Kenya, Seychelles, Malaysia, Mauritius, Singapore, Australia, UAE and Yemen participated.

The areas of cooperation will be chalked out and the Memorandum of Understanding for Cooperation in these sectors will be signed tomorrow. The workshop was also attended by senior officials from the Ministry of MSME and IORA Secretariat.

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Government Approves Six (6) Proposals of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

Based on the recommendations of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) in its 242^nd Meeting held on 29^th December 2016, the Government has approved six FDI proposals as per details enclosed.

The following six (06) proposals have been approved:

S. No	Item No	Name of the applicant	Gist of the proposal	Sector	FDI (Rs. crore)
1	1	M/s Sanofi-Synthelabo (India) Pvt. Ltd.(SSIPL)	Approval has been sought for: (i) SSIPL to acquire the consumer health care (CHC) business of M/s Boehringer Ingelheim India Private Limited (BI) as a going concern on a slump sale basis; and (ii) The non-compete covenants that have been agreed by Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH (BII) as part of the global transaction with Sanofi France.	Pharma	Nil
2	2	M/s Boehringer Ingelheim India Pvt. Ltd. (BI India)	Approval has been sought for: (i) Acquisition of the animal health business of Sanofi in India which includes, inter alia, certain assets of SSIPL and (ii) The non-compete covenants set out in the Global AH Agreement to be implemented in India.	Pharma	156.5
3	4	M/s A. Menarini India Private Limited	Approval has been sought for: (i) Issue of shares to existing foreign investor M/s A. Menarini Asia Pacific Pte Limited, Singapore against receipt/capital infusion of Rs. 80 crore in the Investee Company. (ii) Transfer of one share from Resident Indian Mr. Anandh Balasundaram to M/s A. Menarini Asia Pacific Holdings Pte Limited and (iii) Transfer of 0.076% shares from M/s A. Menarini Australia Pty Limited to A. Menarini Asia Pacific Pte Limited	Pharma	80.00
4	10	M/s Recipharm Participation B.V. Netherlands	Approval has been sought for: a) 100 % foreign direct investment in a proposed Recipharm Group Indian Investing Company (to be incorporated) and b)100 % investment in an existing pharmaceutical manufacturing company Dagny Pharma Private Limited through the aforesaid Recipharm Group Indian Investing Company	Investing Company/ Pharma	950.00
5	12	Star Den Media Services Private Limited	Approval has been sought for: (a) discontinuing its current business of providing support services to broadcasters in relation to TV channel distribution business, and thus (B) continue to act only as investing company.	Investing Company	Nil
6	15	M/s Idea Cellular Infrastructure Services Limited	M/s Idea Cellular Infrastructure Services Limited (ICISL) is a wholly owned subsidiary of IDEA, which has become a foreign owned company with more that 50% foreign investment. Accordingly, ICISL is also deemed to have foreign investment in excess of 50% as a mirror image of its parent company. The proposal is to take on record the increase of foreign investment in ICISL beyond 50% and allow foreign investment in ICISL up to 67.5%.	Telecom	Nil

The following eight (06) proposals have been deferred:

S. No.	Item No	Name of the applicant	Gist of the proposal	Sector
1	6	M/s Gland Pharma Limited	M/s Gland Pharma Limited, a brownfield pharmaceutical Indian company, is seeking approval for its initial acquisition of up to 86.08% by M/s Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Company Limited, a public listed company incorporated in China through its subsidiaries outside India namely M/s Fosun Pharma Industrial Pte. Ltd. , M/s Fosun Industrial Co Limited, Ample Up Limited, M/s Lustrous Star Limited and M/s Regal Gesture Limited and subsequently, Fosun also has the contractual right to acquire 100% shares of Gland Pharma from the other shareholders of the Company in one or more tranches.	Pharma
2	11	M/s Flag Telecom Singapore Pte Limited	M/s Flag Telecom Singapore Pte Limited, Singapore an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Communications (RCOM), India has sought approval to acquire 100% shares of M/s Reliance Global Cloud Xchange Limited which has been recently incorporated in June 2016 by Indian residents.	Telecom
3	13	M/s Crest Premedia Solutions Pvt. Ltd	M/s Crest Premedia Solutions Pvt. Ltd. (CPSPL) has sought approval for issuance of equity shares to the non-resident shareholders of M/s Springer SBM Holding Ltd., a Mauritius Company under a Scheme of Amalgamation. SBM Holding will amalgamate into CPSPL, which is part of the Springer Group of companies.	IT and ITES
4	14	M/s Scientific Publishing Services Pvt Ltd	Approval has been sought by M/s Scientific Publishing Services Private Limited (SPSPL) for issuance of equity shares to the non-resident shareholders of M/s Springer SBM Services Limited, a Mauritius Company under a Scheme of Amalgamation of SBM Services with SPSPL, pursuant to approval of the High Court.	IT and ITES
5	16	M/s You Broadband India Limited	M/s You Broadband India Limited has sought post facto approval for acquisition of 9,79,875 equity shares of its downstream company M/s Digital Outsourcing Private Limited (DOPL) in lieu of issue of 20,58,759 equity shares to its resident shareholders by way of swap of shares.	Telecom
6	17	Netmagic Solutions Pvt. Ltd	Approval has been sought by Netmagic Solutions Private Limited for the increase in the shareholding of NTT Communications Corporation, Japan in the company from 81.63% to 100%.	Telecom

The following three (03) proposals have been rejected:

S. No.	Item No	Name of the applicant	Gist of the proposal	Sector
1	3	M/s Tandberg Technology India Pvt. Ltd	Post facto approval for pre-incorporation expenses of Rs. 80, 16,720/- by its parent company and foreign investor M/s Tandberg Telecom AS, Norway (foreign investor). The company has allotted shares against Rs. 77,34,819/- of pre-incorporation expenses to M/s Tandberg Telecom AS, Norway and Rs 2, 81, 874/- was directly paid to ALMT Legal and it was not accounted in the books of account of the company in the respective Financial year statement. These payments were made in December 2007.	IT and ITES
2	5	M/s AMP Solar India Private Limited	Approval has been sought by M/s AMP Solar India Private Limited, a foreign owned company, for setting up an investing company in India and further investment by the Indian investing company into other Indian investing companies, which, in turn would undertake investment in project SPVs, to be established from time to time.	Investing company
3	9	M/s Bashundhara Paper Mills India Private Limited	Approval has been sought to allow the foreign investor M/s Bashundhara Paper Mills Limited, Bangladesh against the initial subscription of 99.99% shares in the MoA and proposes to undertake Cash and Carry Whole sale Trading/Wholesale Trading of paper napkins, tissue rolls, hygiene products and other related products.	Wholesale Trading

The following two (02) proposals do not lie before FIPB:

S. No.	Item No	Name of the applicant	Gist of the proposal	Sector
1	7	Standard Chartered (I) Modeling & Analytics Centre Pvt. Ltd	Approval has been sought for sale of 26% shares, currently held by Standard Chartered Investments and Loans (India) Limited to Standard Chartered Bank, UK, thereby making it a WoS of the Standard chartered bank, UK	Research and Analytics
2	8	M/s Menon Bearings Limited	Approval has been sought by M/s Menon Bearings Limited to enter into the activities of defence production. Currently, the company is involved in automobile related manufacturing.	Defence

*****

Exchange Rate of Foreign Currency Relating to Imported and Export Goods Notified

In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962), and in supersession of the notification of the Central Board of Excise and Customs(CBEC) No.1/2017-CUSTOMS (N.T.), dated 05^th January, 2017, except as respects things done or omitted to be done before such supersession, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) hereby determines that the rate of exchange of conversion of each of the foreign currencies specified in Column (2) of each of Schedule I and Schedule II annexed hereto, into Indian currency or vice versa, shall, with effect from 20^th January, 2017, be the rate mentioned against it in the corresponding entry in Column (3) thereof, for the purpose of the said section, relating to imported and export goods.

SCHEDULE-I

Sl.No.	Foreign Currency	Rate of exchange of one unit of foreign currency equivalent to Indian rupees
(1)	(2)	(3)
		(a)		(b)
		(For Imported Goods)	(For Export Goods)
1.	Australian Dollar	52.35	50.40
2.	Bahrain Dinar	187.35	174.90
3.	Canadian Dollar	52.25	50.70
4.	Danish Kroner	9.95	9.60
5.	EURO	73.75	71.45
6.	Hong Kong Dollar	8.90	8.70
7.	Kuwait Dinar	230.85	216.20
8.	New Zealand Dollar	49.55	47.85
9.	Norwegian Kroner	8.20	7.90
10.	Pound Sterling	85.15	82.40
11.	Singapore Dollar	48.55	47.05
12.	South African Rand	5.20	4.85
13.	Saudi Arabian Riyal	18.80	17.60
14.	Swedish Kroner	7.75	7.50
15.	Swiss Franc	68.90	66.55
16.	UAE Dirham	19.20	18.00
17.	US Dollar	69.10	67.40
18.	Chinese Yuan	10.10	9.80
19.	Qatari Riyal	19.20	18.15

SCHEDULE-II

Sl.No.	Foreign Currency	Rate of exchange of 100 units of foreign currency equivalent to Indian rupees
(1)	(2)	(3)
		(a)		(b)
		(For Imported Goods)	(For Export Goods)
1.	Japanese Yen	60.55	58.60
2.	Kenya Shilling	67.90	63.55

*****

The Central Government releases Special Central Assistance to various States to expedite their completion of area specific ongoing approved Schemes in order to fulfill the development agenda in Backward Region

The Union Government has been assisting the State Governments and providing “Special Assistance” with a view to expediting their completion of area specific Schemes. This assistance is provided in view of the Government of India’s commitment to fulfilling the development agenda in backward region notwithstanding the fact that the State Plan Schemes including BRGF (State Component) are subsumed in larger devolution of Union Taxes and Duties to the States in terms of Recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission (FFC) and are delinked from the Union support with effect from 2015-16.

In this regard, following the recent release of Rs.200 crore to the State of Bihar, the Central Government has decided to provide further “Special Assistance” of Rs.1129.40 crore to the State during 2016-2017 for completion of the approved ongoing projects under Special Plan for Bihar. These releases are in continuation to the release of Rs.1,887.53 crore which was made by the Central Government during the year 2015-16. Including the present release of Rs.1129.40 crore, the Central Government has so far released Rs.6934.61 crore to the State of Bihar. The Central assistance would facilitate completion of ongoing projects such as strengthening of sub-transmission system (including capacity augmentation) in North and South Bihar, renovation and modernization of Barauni and Muzaffarpur Thermal Power Stations, construction of transmission system at Kishanganj with associated transmission lines, The release of fund would accelerate the completion of much needed power generation and transmission system of Bihar which in turn would lead to higher availability of electricity for the people of the State.

The Central Government in order to honour its spill-over committed liability had recently released Special Assistance of Rs.367.93 crore to Odisha during 2016-17. This is the Final Instalment for funding of projects under Special Plan for the KBK districts (districts of Koraput, Bolangir and Kalahandi reorganized into eight districts). The plan had an approved amount of Rs. 1,250 crore for the 12th Plan period. The Special Plan for the KBK districts has been in operation since 2002-03. The area spreads over 47,646 sq. km. comprising mainly rural population (89.95%) with a large proportion of STs (38.41%) and SCs (16.25%) as per 2001 Census. The Schemes taken up under this are largely for Promotion of Education among ST/SC Girls and Boys including development of playgrounds/sports activities in hostels and schools, Improvement of Inter-District roads/other major roads/Rural roads; Strengthening of Electric Supply Systems and Lift Irrigation/Deep Bore-wells/Check Dams.

Further, keeping in mind the special needs of the State of Jammu & Kashmir, the Central Government had released Rs.1194.37 crore during 2015-16, for completely damages /severely damaged/partially damaged houses. Subsequently, during 2016-17, the Central Government has made a further release of Rs.2207.30 crore to the State of Jammu & Kashmir. This includes Rs.1093.34 for permanent restoration of damaged structure, Rs.313.96 crore for counterpart funding for Asian Development Bank-II loan under EAP projects of J&K Urban Sector Development Investment Programme (JKUSDIP) in order to complete the ongoing projects and Rs.800 crore for interest subvention on assistance for the restoration of livelihood for traders/self employed/business establishments etc. Cumulatively, the Central Government has so far released Rs.3401.67 crore to the State as Special Assistance.

Similarly, the Central Government has used the Special Assistance to support the newly formed States Of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. A further release of Rs.1,976.50 crore to the State Of Andhra Pradesh was made during the Current Financial Year 2016-17. The amount included Rs.1176.50 for bridging the Resource Gap arising-out of the bifurcation of the erstwhile State, Rs.350 crore for the development of 7 Backward Districts of Anantpur, Chittoor, Cuddapah, Kurnool, Srikakulam, Vizianagram, and Vishakhapatnam and Rs.450 crore as assistance to the capital city, Amaravati. These additional resources from the Central Government would enable the State to devise and implement schemes best suited for mitigation of backwardness and alleviation of poverty. In addition, grant of Rs.100 crore was released for Polavaram Irrigation Project. Further, release of Rs.1981.54 crore was made to the state through NABARD on 27.12.2016 as Central assistance for Polavaram Irrigation Project by the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation MoWR, RD & GR.

Further, in keeping with its commitments to support the development of backward areas of Telangana, the Central Government had provided a further “Special Assistance” of Rs.450 crore to the state. The Backward Districts which are being supported with this development fund are Adilabad, Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Warangal, Medak, Mahbubnagar, Rangareddy, Nalgoda and Khammam where the work of creating road network has been taken-up.

The State of Tamil Nadu has also been a beneficiary of this Special Assistance. An amount of Rs. 200 crore was released to the state to resolve the issues affecting processing industry in Tirupur (Tamil Nadu), for adoption of Zero Liquid Discharge by 18 Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs). This provision will help the industries to minimize pollution and it will be a step towards clean environment.

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State visit of Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi to India as the Chief Guest for the Republic Day 2017 (24-26 January, 2017)

His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of United Arab Emirates is visiting India as the Chief Guest for the 2017-Republic Day celebrations from 24-26 January 2017. He will be accompanied by a high-level delegation, including Ministers, senior officials and captains of industry.

During the visit, the visiting dignitary would call on Rashtrapatiji Shri Pranab Mukherjee and Vice President Shri Mohammad Hamid Ansari and would hold discussions with Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on bilateral, regional and global issues of common interest.

This is the second visit of the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi to India since February 2016. Following the landmark visit of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to UAE in August 2015, the two countries have agreed to elevate the mutually beneficial relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

India and UAE enjoy warm, close and multi-faceted relations underpinned by cultural, religious and economic linkages. The two countries have been amongst each other’s top trading partners with a well-balanced bilateral trade of about US$ 50 billion in 2015-16. UAE is among the top investors in India in terms of foreign direct investments. It contributes significantly to India's energy security and is the fifth largest supplier of crude oil to India in 2015-16.

About 2.6 million strong and vibrant Indian community forms the largest expatriate group in UAE. Their positive and well-appreciated contribution in the development of their host country has been an important anchor of our excellent bilateral engagement.

YSK

NIC to lead the way for Digital India: Ravi Shankar Prasad

The Minister announced annual awards for the best Innovators at NIC

National Informatics Centre (NIC) kicked off the National Meet on Grassroot Informatics – VIVID: Weaving a Digital India, at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi today.

The three-day event was inaugurated by Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Hon’ble Union Minister of Electronics & Information Technology and Law & Justice, GoI in the presence of Shri P. P. Chaudhary, Hon’ble MoS for Electronics & Information Technology and Law & Justice, GoI, Ms Aruna Sundararajan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Dr. Ajay Kumar, Additional Secretary, Department of Electronics & Information Technology, Ms. Neeta Verma, Director General, NIC and Ms. Rama Nagpal, Deputy Director General, NIC.

Speaking at the occasion, Chief Guest Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “NIC is the technological bridge of India and is best placed to lead the way for a Digital India that the honorable Prime Minister envisaged. I would urge the District Information Officers (DIOs) to be innovative and proactive. NIC must adopt a transformative approach to make a difference at the grassroots level. I appeal NIC to connect with the Common Service Centres (CSCs), who have successfully provided training on digital payment systems to over 1.96 crore of rural citizens and 6.15 lakhs of merchants.”

Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad announced the Government’s plan to set up a Government Security Operation Centre and a Data Centre for Cloud in Bhopal.

Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad also announced that the Government is going to enhance the infrastructure of district NIC offices to international standards. As a pilot project, 150 District NIC offices would be upgraded during the period 2017-18, while rest will follow soon. He further instructed the ministry to develop a training module for the NIC officials to keep pace with the ever evolving technologies. He also announced the introduction of annual awards for the DIOs of the NIC for taking up exemplary innovative approach in their respective districts. The top three best innovators will get a reward of Rs. 2,00,000, Rs. 1,00,000 and Rs 50,000 respectively.

Lauding the efforts of NIC, Guest of Hounor Shri P. P. Chaudhary said, “The threshold of the year 2017 will always be remembered for heralding in several transformative changes to benefit the economy as well to the citizens, amongst them the Digital India initiative has been the most significant one. I must congratulate NIC and DIOs for playing a pivotal role in preparing the country for a successful Digital transformation of our ecosystem.

NIC today also introduced two new portals - District Collector’s Dashboard and NIC Service Desk, which were launched by Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad and Shri P. P. Chaudhary respectively.

The National Meet on Grassroot Informatics is aimed at showcasing the various initiatives of NIC in creating and enhancing the Digital Infrastructure in the country. Some of these are - setting up of ICT infrastructure, developing state of the art products to enable the government and empower the citizens, its initiatives at state and district level along the lines of Digital India initiatives along with the various awareness campaigns on Digital Payment Systems encompassing DBT, PFMS, Cashless Payment, Aadhaar etc.

The individual sessions during these three days would throw lights on NIC’s journey so far, the best practices it follows, the Digital India programme, Digital India initiatives from NIC State Units, success stories from the districts, Financial Inclusion, its technology awareness programmes and ICT Infrastructure being provided by NIC.

(L-R: ) Dr. Ajay Kumar, Addl. Secretary, DeitY, Ms. Aruna Sundararajan, Secretary, MeitY, Sh. Ravi Shankar Prasad, Hon’ble Minister of Electronics & Information Technology and Law & Justice, Sh. P. P. Chaudhary, Hon’ble MoS, Electronics & Information Technology and Law & Justice and Ms Neeta Verma, Director General, NIC at the NIC National Meet on Grassroot Informatics – VIVID: Weaving a Digital India, at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi today.

***

COAS Felicitates National Bravery Awardees

General Bipin Rawat, COAS, felicitated the awardees of National Bravery Award for year 2016 at South Block today. The awardees included 25 children (11 girls and 14 boys including 4 posthumous awardees) from states across the country. The awardees were involved in a wide range of acts of bravery spanning from rescue acts, uncovering international sex racket, actions against anti social elements, amongst others.

Interacting with the children, the Army Chief exhorted them to continue doing well in life, work hard and be a role model for others. Many of the children expressed their desire to join Army.

The National Bravery Award Scheme was initiated by the Indian Council of Child Welfare (ICCW) to give due recognition to the children who distinguish themselves by performing outstanding deeds of bravery and meritorious service and to inspire other children to emulate their example. The Awardees are invited to Delhi and receive their awards from the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India on the eve of Republic Day. The children will also take part in the Republic Day Parade.

Since the inception of the scheme in 1957, the Indian Council for Child Welfare has given awards to 945 brave children ( 669 boys and 276 Girls). It was in 1957 that two children, a boy and a girl, were first awarded for their presence of mind and courage. Since then ICCW decided to confer national awards on children every year. Applications for the awards are received from various sources such as central, State Government Departments, Panchayats, Zila Panchayats, Police Departments, School authorities as well as State and Union Territory Councils for Child Welfare.

Col Rohan Anand, SM

PRO (Army)

Minister of State for Defence visits Republic Day NCC Camp-2017

The Minister of State for Defence Dr. Subhash Bhamre has highly commended the role of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) in propagating the ideals of secularism, national integration, selfless service and generating patriotic values amongst the youth of the nation. He also lauded the efforts of the cadets to make the organisation a cohesive, disciplined and vibrant one synonymous with ‘unity in diversity and the spirit of a secular and united India.’

Speaking on the occasion of NCC Republic Day Camp-2017 at Cariappa Parade Ground, Delhi Cantt, today, the Minister appreciated the NCC in carving a niche for itself as a unique organisation in nation building and grooming future leaders. He said the recent initiatives undertaken by the Director General NCC (DGNCC) in making the NCC an elective subject in schools and colleges, are progressive steps in the right direction. Complimenting the achievements made by the NCC cadets, he specially mentioned the successful scaling of Mt Everest by the Girl Cadets. Dr. Bhamre also noted with pride the efforts of the NCC cadets to spread awareness on the benefits and modalities of cashless transactions in society.

Earlier on arrival, the Minister was received by DGNCC Lt. Gen. Vinod Vashisht and other senior officers. He was given a Guard of Honour by the three wings of the Army, Navy and Air Force contingents, and thereafter was presented a fine band display.

Dr. Bhamre also visited the ‘Hall of Fame’, which has an archival collection of alumni photographs, models and other achievements of the NCC. The versatile NCC cadets then presented a colourful cultural programme comprising group dances and ballet, showcasing the rich cultural heritage of the nation.

The Republic Day Camp is being attended by 2068 cadets including 696 girl cadets specially selected from 17 Directorates covering all the States and Union Territories and foreign cadets from 10 friendly foreign countries under the NCC Youth Exchange Programme.

***

CCI imposes penalty on bidders for cartelisation in tenders of Indian Railways

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed penalties on three firms for bid rigging of tenders floated by Indian Railways for procurement of Brushless DC fans in the year 2013.

A final order has been passed by CCI in a case taken up suo moto under Section 19 of the Competition Act, 2002 (‘the Act’) based on the information received from Central Bureau of Investigation, New Delhi.

CCI has held that the firms had shared the market by way of allocation of tenders of Indian Railways for Brushless DC fans amongst themselves under an agreement/ arrangement and indulged in bid rigging/ collusive bidding in contravention of the provisions of Section 3(3)(c) and 3(3)(d) read with Section 3(1) of the Act. The anti-competitive conduct of the firms has been established based on exchange of rates to be quoted in upcoming tenders amongst the errant firms, numerous calls amongst the key persons of these firms before and during the period of the tenders and admission by one of the firms which confirmed and revealed the existence and modus operandi of the cartel.

Accordingly, a penalty of Rs. 2.09 crores, Rs. 62.37 lakhs and Rs. 20.01 lakhs and was imposed on the firms M/s Western Electric and Trading Company, M/s Pyramid Electronics and M/s R. Kanwar Electricals respectively in terms of proviso to Section 27 (b) of the Act. While imposing penalty, Commission took into consideration all the relevant factors including the duration of the cartel, volume of the tender affected by the cartel and value thereof and decided to impose penalty on M/s Pyramid Electronics and M/s Western Electric and Trading Company calculated at 1.0 time of their profit respectively in the year 2012-13 and on M/s R. Kanwar Electricals at the rate of 3 percent of its turnover for the year 2012-13.

Additionally, considering the totality of facts and circumstances of the case, penalty was also imposed on persons-in charge of the three firms i.e., Shri Sandeep Goyal of M/s Pyramid Electronics, Shri Ashish Jain of M/s R. Kanwar Electricals and Shri Ramesh Parchani of M/s Western Electric and Trading Company at the rate of 10 percent of the average of their income for the last three preceding financial years.

CCI had received an application under Section 46 of the Act read with Regulation 5 of the Competition Commission of India (Lesser Penalty) Regulations, 2009 from M/s Pyramid Electronics. This application was received when the investigation in the matter was in progress and the report from the DG was pending.

Considering the co-operation extended by M/s Pyramid Electronics in conjunction with the value addition provided by it in establishing the existence of cartel and the stage at which it had approached CCI, it was granted 75 percent reduction in the penalty than would otherwise have been imposed, had it not cooperated with the Commission. Accordingly, the penalty imposed on M/s Pyramid Electronics was reduced to Rs. 15.59 lakhs and penalty imposed on Shri Sandeep Goyal was reduced to Rs. 11,648 only.

*****

CCI imposes penalties on cement companies for bid-rigging

The Competition Commission of India (‘CCI’) has imposed penalties on 7 cement companies for bid rigging of a tender floated by the Director, Supplies & Disposals, Haryana, in the year 2012, for procurement of cement to be supplied to Government Departments/ Boards/ Corporations in the State of Haryana.

A final order has been passed by CCI pursuant to a reference filed under Section 19(1)(b) of the Competition Act, 2002 (‘the Act’) by the Director, Supplies & Disposals, Haryana.

CCI has held that the cement companies, through their impugned conduct, have engaged in bid-rigging, in contravention of the provisions of Section 3(3)(d) read with Section 3(1) of the Act, which eliminated and lessened competition and manipulated the bidding process in respect of the impugned tender. The bid-rigging has been established from quoting of unusually higher rates in the impugned tender (than rates quoted in tenders of previous years), determining different basic prices for supply of cement at the same destination through reverse calculation, quoting of quantities in the impugned tender such that the total bid quantity almost equalled the total tendered quantity, quoting of rates for the districts in a manner that all cement companies acquired L1 status at some of the destination(s) etc. The anti-competitive conduct was re-affirmed through SMS exchanged and calls made amongst the officials of the cement companies.

Accordingly, penalty of Rs. 18.44 crore, Rs. 68.30 crore, Rs. 38.02 crore, Rs. 9.26 crore, Rs. 29.84 crore, Rs. 35.32 crore and Rs. 6.55 crore has been imposed upon Shree Cement Limited, UltraTech Cement Limited, Jaiprakash Associates Limited, J.K. Cement Limited, Ambuja Cements Limited, ACC Limited and J.K. Lakshmi Cement Limited. The penalty has been levied @ 0.3% of the average turnover of the cement companies of preceding three years. While imposing penalties, Commission took note of potential delay which would have occurred in the execution of public infrastructure projects due to cancellation of the impugned tender. At the same time, due consideration was given to factors such as peculiarity of the tender process which created uncertainty in procurement, total size of the impugned tender and competition compliance programmes put in place by some companies while determining the quantum of penalty.

The cement companies have been directed to cease and desist from indulging in the acts/ conduct which have been held to be in contravention of the provisions of the Act.

A copy the CCI’s order passed in Ref. Case No. 05 of 2013 has been uploaded on the website of CCI at www.cci.gov.in.

*****

DSM/MS

Shri Ram Vilas Paswan requests all States/UT Governments to complete the pending PDS reforms by end of March 2017

National Conference of State Ministers and Secretaries of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Inaugurated

Shri Ram Vilas Paswan, Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution has said that the shift towards digital payments is as an immense opportunity as the same is in strategic alignment with the work being done by MoCAF&PD to improve the efficiency of procurement, storage and distribution of food-grains. He appreciated the adoption of National Food Security Act in all States/UTs and further requested all States/UT Governments to complete the pending PDS reforms by end of March 2017. It was stated by Shri Ram Vilas Paswan while inaugurating a National Conference of State Food Ministers and Secretaries of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs here today.

Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution also reviewed State-wise progress in implementation of Cashless PDS and End-to-End Computerisation.

Shri C.R. Chaudhary, Hon’ble Minister of State of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution stressed the need for time bound completion of targets under End-to-End Computerization and ensuring 100% digital payments, particularly in the wake of historic step taken by Hon’ble Prime Minister for de-monitization. He lauded the State Government of Andhra Pradesh for leading cashless reforms and becoming first State in the country to have introduced digital payments under PDS in a big way. He stressed on the need for timely completion of Aadhaar Seeding and FPS Automation so as to implement nation-wide portability in food-grains distribution.

In her address, Ms. Preeti Sudan, Secretary, Department of Food & Public Distribution, said that one of the key considerations while integrating cashless modes is to ensure that no additional charges are levied and there are no administrative hassles for beneficiaries for the collection of foodgrains distributed through PDS. Since Aadhaar enabled Payment System (AePS) involves no additional transaction charges and is aligned with the objectives of Plan Scheme on ‘End to End Computerization of TPDS Operations’, she cited AePS to be the preferred mode of implementation for digital PDS transactions.

Shri Deepak Kumar (Joint Secretary, BP & PD) made a detailed presentation on the current status of PDS Computerization and Digital payments across the country. Keeping the pre-requisites for various cashless modes in consideration, he suggested to all the States/UT Governments to target the Metropolitan Cities, Municipal Corporations, Municipalities, District Headquarters and other urban areas on a priority basis. He also requested all States/UTs to coordinate with Lead Banks, CSCs and other local functionaries for organizing wide spread awareness campaigns for PDS beneficiaries.

As on date, the status of Plan Scheme on ‘End-to-end Computerisation of TPDS Operations’ can be summarized as:

Sl.	Particulars	Status
1	Digitization of ration cards/ beneficiaries’ data	Completed in all 36 States & UTs. Digitised details of 23 Cr. Ration Cards are available on transparency portals of all States/UTs
2	Aadhaar Seeding of Ration Cards	72.32% (16.62 Cr.) Ration Cards seeded to enable better targeting of food subsidies
3	Online allocation of foodgrains	Started in 29 States/UTs
4	Automation of Supply-chain	Completed in 20 States/UTs, and is in full-swing in remaining States/UTs
5	Transparency portals	Set up in all 36 States/UTs
6	Grievance redressal facilities	Either or both Toll-free helpline numbers or Online grievance registration facility are available in all 36 States/UTs
7	Automation of Fair Price Shops	More than 1.78 Lakh are automated across the country.
8	Direct Benefit Transfer (Cash)	Implemented in 3 Union Territories

As on date, the status of the Digital / Cashless Payments at FPSs can be summarized as:

Sl.	States/UTs	Total FPSs	Cashless FPSs
1	Andhra Pradesh	29,082	20,931
2	Gujarat	17,212	6,925
3	Madhya Pradesh	22,401	294
4	Rajasthan	25,727	22
5	Telangana	17,159	162
6	Daman & Diu	51	51
	Total	1,11,632	28,385

*****

BCK

(Release ID :157515)

MoS DoNER Dr Jitendra Singh and MoS Agriculture Shri Parshottam Rupala inaugurate International Symposium on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of India

Addressing the inaugural session at the two-day International Symposium on Medicinal and Aromatic plants of India here today, the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said that lifestyle diseases like Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 require holistic management and with more than 65% to 70% of India’s population today being less than 40 years of age, Diabetes and heart attack in young are going to be the main challenges ahead, because these tend to affect the youth potential which is imperative in the task of nation building.

Dr Jitendra Singh referred to the change of disease spectrum of India over the last few decades and said that India today has evolved from an era of communicable diseases into an era of non-communicable diseases like Diabetes Mellitus, heart attack, lipid disorders, hypertension and other metabolic diseases. Even though a number of new remedies and medicinal options are available for the treatment of these diseases, he said, the basic Mantra is still based on lifestyle modifications and natural methods, and for this purpose, the various Indian medicine regimens incorporated in Naturopathy, Yoga and other indigenous therapies find a contributory role, he added.

Under the leadership of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, Dr Jitendra Singh said, in the last two years, not only the holistic medicine and the indigenous therapies have been accorded priority but have also been given a place of respectability. He said that the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi decided to establish the first ever independent Ministry of AYUSH in the Government of India after nearly 70 years of independence. Similarly, it was again Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on whose proposal the United Nations unanimously accepted to observe International Yoga Day on 21st June, he added.

India is the fountain- head and original birth-place of all the aromatic and medicinal plants, said Dr Jitendra Singh and regretted that in the last few decades, most of the research on the Indian medicinal plants was conducted in other countries and not in India. To that extent, he said, the Central Government has tried to vindicate the lapse of the earlier decades.

While emphasizing on indigenous research based on Indian conditions, Dr Jitendra Singh also called for change of mindset, so that those who choose to become practitioners of Indian medicine, should do so by aptitude and interest.

Dr Jitendra Singh said that the North East region of India has huge potential for the organic products which have huge health benefits. This unexplored potential needs to be explored, he added. He also said that Government is giving priority to tap this potential of the North East region as well as placing high priority on the health status of the citizens. This will be helpful in tapping the natural organic resources for the health benefit of the citizens, he added.

MoS Agriculture Shri Parshottam Rupala, while speaking on the occasion said that the Ministry of Agriculture will evolve a more comprehensive plan to promote medicinal plants and herbs and will also try to take the experts on board.

Member of Parliament, Shri Manoj Tiwari, MLA of Delhi Shri O. P. Sharma and Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH, Shri Ajit Sharan were also present on the occasion.

***

Prime Minister’s Telephonic Conversation with US President Barack Obama

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi received a telephone call from US President, Mr Barack Obama yesterday evening.

The two leaders reviewed with satisfaction the significant all round progress and cooperation in ties between India and the US in the past few years.

Prime Minister thanked President Obama for his strong support and contribution to strengthening the strategic partnership between India and the US.

He conveyed his best wishes to President Obama in his future endeavours.

***

PM expresses pain over the loss of lives in road accident in Etah district of UP

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has expressed pain over the loss of lives in road accident in Etah district of UP.

"Anguished by the tragic accident in UP’s Etah district. I share the pain of the bereaved families and condole passing away of young children.

I pray that those injured in the accident in Etah recover at the earliest", the Prime Minister said.
Delegation of Muslim Ulemas, intellectuals and academicians calls on PM

PM says Indian youth has successfully resisted radicalization

A delegation comprising Muslim Ulemas, intellectuals, academicians and other eminent people called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi today. The delegation congratulated the Prime Minister on the steps taken by the Union Government for inclusive growth, socio-economic and educational empowerment of all sections of the society including Minorities.

The delegation was appreciative of the Saudi Government’s decision to increase the number of Haj pilgrims from India, and thanked the Prime Minister for having successfully pursued the same.

The delegation, in one voice, supported wholeheartedly the campaign launched by the Prime Minister against corruption and black money. The delegation agreed that the fight against corruption will benefit the poor people including the Minorities the most.

The delegation congratulated the Prime Minister for his efforts to strengthen relations with the countries across the world and said that today every Indian in every corner of the world is instilled with a sense of pride.

Members of the delegation also praised the Prime Minister for his efforts towards Swachh Bharat.

The Prime Minister said that youth in India has successfully resisted radicalization, which has affected several parts of the world today. He said that the credit for this must go to the long, shared heritage of our people; and added that it is now our collective responsibility to take this heritage forward. The Prime Minister said that the culture, traditions and social fabric of India will never allow the nefarious designs of the terrorists, or their sponsors, to succeed. The Prime Minister stressed on the importance of education and skill development, which is the key to gainful employment, and upliftment from poverty.

Appreciating the Government of Saudi Arabia for its decision to increase the number of Haj pilgrims for India, the Prime Minister asserted that there is a positive image of Indian Muslims abroad.

Members of the delegation included Imam Umer Ahmed Ilyasi (Chief Imam of India, All India Organisation of Imams of Mosques); Lt Gen (Retd) Zameeruddin Shah (Vice-Chancellor Aligarh Muslim University); MY Eqbal (Former Judge, Supreme Court of India); Talat Ahmed (Vice Chancellor, Jamia Millia Islamia), and Shahid Siddiqui (Urdu journalist).

Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs (Independent Charge) & Parliamentary Affairs Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Union Minister of State for External Affairs Shri M.J. Akbar were also present on the occasion.

***

Vice President expresses deep distress over the accident in Etah district of UP

The Vice President of India, Shri M. Hamid Ansari has expressed his deep distress over the accident in Etah district of Uttar Pradesh today.

Following is the text of Vice President’s message:

“I am deeply distressed to learn of the accident in Etah district of Uttar Pradesh earlier today that has led to loss of life and injuries, including to a number of school children.

I convey my heartfelt condolences to the members of the bereaved families and pray to the Almighty to give them strength and fortitude to withstand this immense loss. I also wish speedy recovery to all the injured.”

***

President Inaugurates Centenary Celebrations of Jhalda Satyabhama Vidyapith, Purulia, West Bengal

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the Centenary celebrations of Jhalda Satyabhama Vidyapith today (January 18, 2017) at Jhalda, Purulia, West Bengal.

Speaking on the occasion, the President called upon the students to uphold the values of our civilization through the attainment of education. He appreciated the effort by Jhalda Satyabhama Vidyapith to mark its Centenary by setting up a museum on the freedom struggle on the occasion of its centenary. He paid homage to five young men of this area who, inspired by revolutionary patriot, Satya Kinkar Dutta, laid down their lives in the freedom struggle. The President said these martyrs who made the supreme sacrifice for our independence must be saluted. People should be educated about their sacrifice and also, about the Chuar uprising, a glorious chapter in our struggle for freedom whose epicentre was Jhalda.

The President quoted Swami Vivekananda, and said the aim of education is to become a real man. He urged students to have a common goal of attaining education and to uphold the qualities of tolerance, determination and honesty. He said they would hold thereby the flag of our great civilisation high.

****

3-day Conference of Central and State Ministers and Secretaries of Sports & Youth Affairs, tourism and culture Begins in Kutch, Gujarat

Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs & Sports, Shri Vijay Goel, has stressed the need for promotion of sports for all round development of the society. He was addressing the inaugural session of a 3-day Conference of Central and State Ministers and Secretaries of Sports & Youth Affairs, tourism and culture in Kutch, Gujarat today. He said that promotion of sports and games among youth will improve their fitness level which may reduce our health expenditure. Similarly, sports can lead to promotion of tourism. If youth are involved in sports and games related activities, they will not be inclined towards crimes. Hence, Shri Vijay Goel, stressed upon the need for giving maximum encouragement to sports and games in coming years. He said that various skills need to be developed in the field of sports. For this purpose, he has spoken to the Minister for Skill Development.

Shri Goel said that a “Sports Talent Hunt Portal” will be launched in next fifteen days in which videos and particulars of budding and emerging players could be uploaded so that they could be trained properly.

Shri Goel stated that Khelo India has been launched with the organization of National level competitions, which are still being conducted. Process of selection of players for Olympics and other events has already started so that their training could begin at the earliest. Coordination meetings with schools and such other institutions, which are responsible for holding sports events are being held to ensure the best possible ways for identifying talent.

Shri Goel agreed with State Ministers of States that sports should be included in the Concurrent List for which a Note will soon be submitted to the Cabinet.

Shri Goel said that as there is a shortage of playfields in our country, the State Governments should make special arrangements for developing playfields on the available land. States should also formulate a policy regarding the use of playfields existing in the schools, colleges and institutions in the afternoon.

Shri Goel said that maximum attention will be paid to sports in schools and universities and sports should be made an integral part of the school education. For this purpose, three meetings have been held with the Human Resource Development Minister. He said, ten universities will be short-listed where ‘Centres of Excellence’ for different sports disciplines will be established.

Shri Goel said that more Centres of the youth organization namely, ‘Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan’ will be established and slum areas and villages will be developed. It will be our endeavour that the youth should participate in some cultural, social or sports related activities. Programmes will be developed in collaboration with Tourism and Culture Ministries. ‘National Service Scheme’ will be broad-based and strengthened.

Maximum playfields will be developed and for this purpose, assistance will be provided by the Centre. Coaches will be made available to develop sports. Special training will be imparted to Ex-International and National players to appoint them as Coaches.

***

Corporate push to Namami Gange

In its efforts to give corporate push to Namami Gange, National Mission on Clean Ganga (NMCG), under Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation organised a workshop in New Delhi on Thursday.

Representatives from several public sector enterprises, banks and corporates participated diligently in the workshop on CSR activities for Ganga Rejuvenation. Not only did participants showed keen interest in activities being undertaken under Namami Gange programme, major areas of possible co-operation between NMCG and public and corporate sectors were also extensively deliberated upon in the workshop.

The workshop was attended by representatives from Maharatna, Navratna and other PSUs - ONGC, Coal India limited, BHEL, GAIL India ltd., SAIL, NTPC Ltd., Oil India Ltd., Petronet LNG ltd., etc. Stimulating response was witnessed during interactions with representatives of public and private sector banks like SBI, Punjab National Bank, Bank of India, HDFC, ICICI, Yes Bank, OBC, UCO Bank etc., who eagerly shared their enlightening ideas to further the cause of clean Ganga. Over 20 banks took part in the workshop. Corporate companies like Aditya Birla Group JSW and Tata Sons also got fruitfully involved in the event and presented their views.

Addressing the gathering, Director General, NMCG, Shri UP Singh delineated various on-going sewage treatment, river cleaning, bio-diversity and public participation projects under Namami Gange programme before shedding light on areas of common interests. Shri Singh, while stressing on the importance of co-operation from both public and private sector in achieving success, invited all the participants to share with NMCG their invaluable ideas and suggestions. Throwing some light on Clean Ganga Fund, he explained that it is a trust chaired by Union Finance Minister and was set up in 2014 to harness the enthusiasm of those who would like to contribute to the conservation of river Ganga. Contributions to Clean Ganga Fund are a notified CSR activity.

During the much productive interactive sessions, especially Q&A, various companies apprised about their existing CSR activities. Many expressed their willingness to work with NMCG in this sector and contribute to Namami Gange activities in five Ganga basin States. A representative from Coal India Ltd., said: “As part of our CSR activities, we have devised a mechanism to transform waste generated from flower offerings into fertilizers”. An association on these lines with NMCG could also be thought upon, the official added. Some similar CSR initiatives by GAIL (to make fuel out of plastic waste) and BHEL (construction of bio-toilets) were also talked about during the workshop, which ended with a promise of optimism from all quarters.

Water level of 91 major Reservoirs of the Country goes down by Two per cent

The Water storage available in 91 major reservoirs of the country for the week ending on January 19, 2017 was 82.915 BCM, which is 53% of total storage capacity of these reservoirs. This was 126%of the storage of corresponding period of last year and 99% of storage of average of last ten years.

The total storage capacity of these 91 reservoirs is 157.799 BCM which is about 62% of the total storage capacity of 253.388 BCM which is estimated to have been created in the country. 37 Reservoirs out of these 91 have hydropower benefit with installed capacity of more than 60 MW.

REGION WISE STORAGE STATUS:-

NORTHERN REGION

The northern region includes States of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan. There are 6 reservoirs under CWC monitoring having total live storage capacity of 18.01 BCM. The total live storage available in these reservoirs is 7.28 BCM which is 40% of total live storage capacity of these reservoirs. The storage during corresponding period of last year was 47% and average storage of last ten years during corresponding period was 49% of live storage capacity of these reservoirs. Thus, storage during current year is less than the corresponding period of last year and is also less than the average storage of last ten years during the corresponding period.

EASTERN REGION

The Eastern region includes States of Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal and Tripura. There are 15 reservoirs under CWC monitoring having total live storage capacity of 18.83 BCM. The total live storage available in these reservoirs is 14.00 BCM which is 74% of total live storage capacity of these reservoirs. The storage during corresponding period of last year was 55% and average storage of last ten years during corresponding period was 61% of live storage capacity of these reservoirs. Thus, storage during current year is better than the corresponding period of last year and is also better than the average storage of last ten years during the corresponding period.

WESTERN REGION

The Western region includes States of Gujarat and Maharashtra. There are 27 reservoirs under CWC monitoring having total live storage capacity of 27.07 BCM. The total live storage available in these reservoirs is 17.55 BCM which is 65% of total live storage capacity of these reservoirs. The storage during corresponding period of last year was 37% and average storage of last ten years during corresponding period was 61% of live storage capacity of these reservoirs. Thus, storage during current year is better than the storage of last year and is also better than the average storage of last ten years during the corresponding period.

CENTRAL REGION

The Central region includes States of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. There are 12 reservoirs under CWC monitoring having total live storage capacity of 42.30 BCM. The total live storage available in these reservoirs is 28.50 BCM which is 67% of total live storage capacity of these reservoirs. The storage during corresponding period of last year was 53% and average storage of last ten years during corresponding period was 48% of live storage capacity of these reservoirs. Thus, storage during current year is better than the storage of last year and is also better than the average storage of last ten years during the corresponding period.

SOUTHERN REGION

The Southern region includes States of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, AP&TG (Two combined projects in both states) Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. There are 31 reservoirs under CWC monitoring having total live storage capacity of 51.59 BCM. The total live storage available in these reservoirs is 15.59 BCM which is 30% of total live storage capacity of these reservoirs. The storage during corresponding period of last year was 28% and average storage of last ten years during corresponding period was 51% of live storage capacity of these reservoirs. Thus, storage during current year is better than the corresponding period of last year but is less than the average storage of last ten years during the corresponding period.

States having better storage than last year for corresponding period are Punjab, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, AP&TG (Two combined projects in both states), Telangana and Karnataka. States having lesser storage than last year for corresponding period are Himachal Pradesh, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

National Conference to Promote and Develop Tourism, Culture, Youth Affairs and Sports Begins in Rann of Kutch Today

A Three day National Conference to promote and develop Tourism, Culture, Youth Affaiors and Sports organized by the Ministries of Tourism, Culture, Youth Affairs and Sports in cooperation with the Government of Gujarat begins today at Rann of Kutch in Gujarat today. The theme of the Conference is “Converging Tourism, Culture, Youth Affairs and Sports and Creating Synergy with States and UTs towards building a Resurgent Young India and strengthening Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat”. The Chief Guest Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi delivered the inaugural address through a live video conference. Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State (I/C) for Culture and Tourism, Shri Vijay Goel, Minister of State (I/C) for Youth Affairs and Sports, Shri Vijaybhai R. Rupani, Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Rajendra Trivedi, Minister of State for Sports, Youth and Culture, Govt. Of Gujarat, Shri Ganpatsinh Vasava, Minister for Tribal Development and Tourism, Govt of Gujarat, Ministers, Secretaries, Senior officers from States and many dignities were present. Shri Vijaybhai R. Rupani, Chief Minister of Gujarat launched a “Quiz Competition under Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat” on the occasion. A Film entitled “The Making of Rann Utsav” was also screened.

The major aim of this conference is to devise a strategic plan between the three important sectors i.e. Tourism, Culture, Youth Affairs and Sports through a planned engagement between Centre and States/Union Territories with the prime motto being, “Ek Bharat Shreshta Bharat”. This three day dialogue and discussion will focus on key areas like encouraging and promoting Rural Tourism, Tribal Odyssey, the local fairs and festivals, inter-state sharing of India’s culture, tourism and sports heritage and many other applied areas of opportunities..

At the heart of this conference also lies the aim to promote mutual understanding and cooperation among the state and governments under the “Ek Bharat Shreshta Bharat” under the vision of the Prime Minister so that they can work together hand in hand for better results in the days to come. The deliberations will lead to new ways of uplifting the status of Tourism, Culture, Youth Affairs and Sports in the country so that India can be represented to the world through the eyes of this sector as well.

Tomorrow on the second day, a Plenary session on the subject “Converging Tourism, Culture, Youth Affairs and Sports and Creating Synergy with States and UTs towards building a Resurgent Young India and – Ideas for Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat and Beyond” will be held with the Theme presentations by Secretary, Tourism & Culture, Secretary, Sports, Secretary, Youth Affairs and Secretary, HRD (Higher Education) and the the interventions by Ministers and Secretaries of States and UTs. The Plenary Session will be followed by a “Workshop on Synergy between Tourism, Culture, Youth Affairs and Sports and the participants will be divided in to 8 Working groups comprising of 4 States/UTs who are paired States under Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat. On the third day, there will be Open House for discussions on the Presentations by the Working Groups.

The Workshop envisions to : Create Synergy and promote a deep and structured engagement between three important sectors i.e. Tourism, Culture, Youth Affairs and Sports through a planned engagement between Centre and States/UTs. ; Draw an Action Plan for effective implantation of “Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat” for the year 2017 between the paired States/UTs. ; Share Best Practices and experiences amongst Sectors. ; and Formulate a Road Map for Sectoral Development in Tourism, Culture, Youth Affairs and Sports.

*****

Government to support Tangaliya weavers in purchasing looms: Textiles Minister

Devise a scheme for the benefit of SMEs: Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani to ATIRA

Government of India will facilitate Tangaliya weavers in purchase of looms, by providing them an assistance amounting to 90% of the price of looms. The Union Textiles Minister Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani made this announcement yesterday evening, during her interaction with Tangaliya weavers in Surendranagar district of Gujarat. Upon listening to their concerns, the Minister also announced the formation of a special association of Tangaliya workers, which will work for their interest. Expressing appreciation for the Tangaliya embroidery, Smt. Irani said that the work needs to be marketed through international platforms; she requested the district administration to make proper arrangements for the same. The Minister appealed to fashion designers to use the Tangaliya art work for their fashionable garments. She also spoke of Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, exhorting weavers to avail its benefits.

The Minister also visited Ahmedabad Textile Industry's Research Association (ATIRA), in Ahmedabad. Smt. Irani commended the achievements of the institute and directed the officials to devise a scheme for the benefit of small and medium industries.

Background

Tangaliya is a 700-year-old indigenous weave of Gujarat which employs an exquisite technique of weaving, using raw wool yarn. Read more about Tangaliya work here.

***

Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh lauds the celebration of ‘Swachhta Pakhwada’ in Ministry of Steel and its PSUs (January 1-15, 2017)

‘Swachhta Pakhwada’ was observed in the Ministry of Steel from January 1-15, 2017. During this period, as per action plan the office premises of the Ministry were cleaned and spruced up. Two participatory events, viz. (i) poster competition and (ii) essay competition on the topic of Swachhta have been organized in the Ministry during this period. The Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh reviewed the ‘Swachhta Pakhwada’ activities and praised the Ministry officials and the PSUs management for the Green Environment and Cleanliness activities undertaken during the fortnight and advised them to keep up the momentum ongoing throughout the year.

All the CPSEs in the Ministry of Steel have also undertaken Swachhta Activities in their plants, mines, factories and campuses including residential areas. In addition, they have been specifically requested to undertake work relating to-

(i) Removal/ reduction of slag;

(ii) Removal/ reduction of iron ore fines; and

(iii) Recycling of gaseous waste in power generation.

These activities will constitute their Swachhta Action Plan for the years 2017-18 and 2018-19. The Steel Ministry is planning to study and encourage innovative ways to dispose above-mentioned wastes in productive and environment friendly manner, as per ‘Waste to Wealth’ concept by seeking necessary budgetary allocation for this purpose.

During the ‘Swachhta Pakhwada’, various plants of SAIL, RINL and FSNL have undertaken the work relating to disposal of above mentioned wastes. They have removed/ utilized 323782 tonnes of slag, 402793 tonnes of iron ore fines and recycle gaseous waste to the tune of 127266400 NM³ / hour.

Ministry Of Steel Invites Comments/ Suggestions on the National Steel Policy (NSP), 2017 from All Stakeholders and the Public

The Ministry of Steel invites comments/ suggestions on the National Steel Policy (NSP), 2017 from all stakeholders and the public.

The Ministry of Steel has prepared the draft policy named “The National Steel Policy (NSP), 2017” to ensure that the steel sector follows a sustainable path of development in respect of augmenting capacity to 300 MT by 2030-31 in environment friendly manner, mineral conservation, quality of steel products, use of technology and indigenous R&D efforts, so that the country can, over time, reach the global efficiency benchmarks. The National Steel Policy 2017 (NSP 2017) is an effort to steer the industry to achieve its future potential and strategy to deal with various impediments like high input cost, availability of raw materials, dependency on imports, financial stress etc.

The draft policy has been uploaded on the Ministry of Steel website http://www.steel.nic.in/ for inviting comments/ suggestions from the public, Governments of the States / Union Territories, steel industry, mining industry, industry associations, and other stakeholders and persons and entities concerned. The last date for receipt of the comments/ suggestions is 23 January 2017 (Monday). It may kindly be ensured that the comments are sent on MS-Office Word file in the following format with any submissions / supporting documents, if relevant:-

Sl. No.	Clause No.	Existing statement	Comments / Suggestions for modification

Any other suggestions:

Draft National Steel Policy (NSP), 2017

The comments/ suggestions may be sent by e-mail to the following ID: ids[at]nic.in

with a copy to rkg.gupta[at]nic.in

Alternatively, comments/ suggestions may be sent by post also to the following address:

Shri R. K. Gupta,
Under Secretary (IDD)
Room No. 64-A, Ministry of Steel,
Udyog Bhawan, Maulana Azad Road,
New Delhi- 110011

The envelope may kindly be super-scribed on the top with: “Comments/suggestions on The National Steel Policy (NSP), 2017”.

YSK/Uma

Ministry of Steel Organises First Steel Consumers’ Council Meeting in Mumbai

The First Meeting of the National Steel Consumers’ Council will be held tomorrow under the Chairmanship of the Union Steel Minister Shri Chaudhary Birender Singh in Mumbai. The function of the Steel Consumer Council is to advise Government on matters relating to supply, availability, quality and the market trends of iron and steel.

This meeting would be attended by representatives of various ministries, several industry associations, producers and consumers of iron & steel Industry, house builders and related industries, industry experts and steel makers including SAIL, RINL and TATA Steel etc. This meeting would provide a vibrant platform to discuss the domestic steel industry scenario, the global steel trends, and benefits of using steel and on how to boost the domestic steel consumption. India has become the third largest steel producer in the world; while the domestic steel consumption remains at only 60 Kgs per capita.

There has been continued thrust from the Ministry of Steel to boost domestic steel consumption by exploring the versatile steel uses. Recently the Steel Minister has also urged all concerned ministries to use India-made steel for government projects. The meeting comes at a good time to address all steel related issues.

Procedure for Refund/Cancellation of PRS and UTS tickets Booked through PoS Machine

With a view to facilitate convenient booking of reserved and unreserved tickets by passengers through cashless modes of payment viz. Credit/Debit cards even at the ticket booking counters, it has been decided to install 10,000 POS (Point of Sale) (Swpie) machines at the PRS (Passenger Reservation System) and UTS counters (including Suburban stations). Following procedure is proposed with regard to cancellation of the tickets booked through POS machines.

1. Cancellation cum refund procedure for UTS/PRS tickets booked using SBI POS for payment:

Refund of PRS/UTS tickets shall be done using the offline process as detailed below:

i) The offline process of refund shall be followed in case of tickets booked using SBI POS for payment which means that the refund amount shall be credited to the account of card holder without any need to swipe his card at the time of cancellation at the counter.

ii) The customer can approach to any counter anywhere for cancellation of ticket booked from SBI POS. Needless to mention that PRS ticket can be cancelled only at any PRS/PRS cum UTS counter and UTS ticket shall be cancelled only at any UTS/PRS cum UTS counter.

iii) The print of cancelled PRS ticket would have a message indicating that “Electronic Refund” for the information of the customer. The customer may also be informed verbally or through information board that the refund shall be credited to the account of card holder within 7 days.

2. IRCTC customer care dealing with the refund issues of e-tickets is entrusted with the responsibility to address refund related complaints of tickets issued using POS. IRCTC shall coordinate with SBI, CRIS and concerned Zonal Railways to monitor the processing of refunds on daily basis and to resolve the issues/complaints in expeditious manner.

3. Cancellation cum refund procedure for PRS tickets issued from POS of other banks.

There are around 75 POS machines which were operational at different locations of Indian Railways prior to awarding contract for installing 10,000 POS machines to SBI. The refund is processed through online method in this POS machines, wherein, the customer needs to swipe his credit/debit card at the POS machine at the time of cancellation of the ticket and the due refund amount as fed by the booking/reservation clerk is credited to the account of the card holder. However, this process of refund is possible only at locations having POS machines. At non POS locations, the Ticket Deposit Receipt (TDR) is issued to affect the refund. This procedure shall continue till further advice. However, the refund of the ticket issued using SBI POS shall not be processed by swiping the card on non SBI POS. While cancelling the ticket, the system shall prompt the booking clerk about the POS (SBI or other bank) which was used at the time of booking and advise the booking clerk not to swipe the card.

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Ministry of Railways Signs Joint Venture Agreement with the Govt. of Jharkhand

A Joint Venture Agreement was signed today i.e. 20th January, 2017 between Ministry of Railways and Government of Jharkhand for developing railway infrastructure in the State.

● This Joint Venture agreement for development of Railway Infrastructure will

○ Provide active representation to States in the Planning and Implementation of Railway Infrastructure Projects

○ Speed up the Development of Railway Projects on state’s priority

○ Generate more financial resources through participation of State & other stakeholders in the project specific subsidiaries

● Government of Jharkhand has initially identified 3 projects viz., Namkum - Kandra, Giridih - Parasnath-Madhuban, Tori - Chatra Rail Line covering a length of 222 km at a cost of Rs. 2150 Crore for taking up through the proposed JV Company after establishing their viability, bankability and financial closure.

● Governments of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Haryana, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat have already signed JV agreement with Ministry of Railways.

● Government of Jharkhand with 51% equity is the 9th State which had agreed to form a Joint Venture Company with the Ministry of Railways.

● The present railway network density in Jharkhand is 17.64 Km per 100 square Km which is the best in India and way above the national average of 2.01 Km per 100 square Km.

● Signing of these JVs will go a long way in developing infrastructure in the State of Jharkhand.

● The average outlay to Jharkhand in Railway Budget was Rs.1544.3 crore during 2014-15 to 2016-17 which is an increase of 238% over the average outlay of 457.2 crore during 2009-10 to 2013-14.

BACKGROUND:

● Indian Railways has been playing a major role in national integration by connecting the remotest places and bringing people closer to each other. Railways receive a large number of demands for network expansion as a Railway line acts as an engine of growth for the area it serves.

● Railways have a large shelf of ongoing New Line, Gauge Conversion and Doubling projects needing about Rs 3.86 lakh crores to complete. We have been trying to meet the aspirations of public within limited availability of funds.

● To expedite the projects, Railways have been trying to mobilize resources through other than Gross Budgetary Support. Towards this mission, 10 State Governments have till now agreed to share the cost of 41 ongoing projects ranging from 25% to 67% of the project cost. Some States are providing land free of cost in addition to sharing of construction cost.

● In view of the growing demands for Railway Lines in various States and huge requirement of funds to execute them, Hon’ble Minister for Railways has taken an initiative for setting up of Joint Ventures with States for focused project development, resource mobilization, land acquisition, project implementation and monitoring of critical rail projects.

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Global Crude oil price of Indian Basket was US$ 53.18 per bbl on 19.01.2017

The international crude oil price of Indian Basket as computed/published today by Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas was US$ 53.18 per barrel (bbl) on 19.01.2017. This was lower than the price of US$ 54.09 per bbl on previous publishing day of 18.01.2017.

In rupee terms, the price of Indian Basket decreased to Rs. 3625.68 per bbl on 19.01.2017 as compared to Rs. 3674.91 per bbl on 18.01.2017. Rupee closed weaker at Rs. 68.18 per US$ on 19.01.2017 as compared to Rs. 67.94 per US$ on 18.01.2017. The table below gives details in this regard:

Particulars	Unit	Price on January 19, 2017 (Previous trading day i.e. 18.01.2017)	Pricing Fortnight for 16.01.2017 (Dec 29, 2016 to Jun 11, 2016)
Crude Oil (Indian Basket)	($/bbl)	53.18 (54.09)	54.24
Crude Oil (Indian Basket)	(Rs/bbl	3625.68 (3674.91)	3691.57
Exchange Rate	(Rs/$)	68.18 (67.94)	68.06

RG/RK/SA/Daily Crude Oil Price

Chairman, Law Commission of India, Justice Dr. B. S. Chauhan delivers the 15th CVC Lecture on "Fair Investigation & Trail and Disciplinary Proceedings"

Justice Dr. B. S. Chauhan, Chairman, Law Commission of India delivered the 15^th lecture of the Lecture Series initiated by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) on "Fair Investigation & Trail and Disciplinary Proceedings" here today. Justice Chauhan said that the fair investigation is a part of Fundamental Rights under Articles 20 and 21 of the Constitution of India and for this reason the investigation must be fair, transparent and judicious. Cross examination of witnesses is an integral part of the principle of natural justice and evidence recorded behind the back of the delinquent cannot be relied upon, he added.

Speaking on the occasion, the Central Vigilance Commissioner Shri KV Chowdary said the CVC has recently embarked upon an outreach programme that includes going to schools and colleges and other forum to create awareness among the people on how they can contribute in checking corruption.

Chief Vigilance Officers (CVOs) of Government Departments and various PSUs and Senior Officers of the CVC were present on the occasion.

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Mineral Production during November 2016 (Provisional)

The index of mineral production of mining and quarrying sector for the month of November (new Series 2004-05=100) 2016 at 135.9, was 3.9% higher as compared to November 2015. The cumulative growth for the period April- November 2016-17 over the corresponding period of previous year has been (+) 0.3 percent.

The total value of mineral production (excluding atomic & minor minerals) in the country during November 2016 was Rs. 20481 crore. The contribution of Coal was the highest at Rs. 8737 crore (43%). Next in the order of importance were: Petroleum (crude) Rs. 5227 crore, Iron ore Rs. 2140 crore, Natural gas (utilized) Rs. 2134 crore, Lignite Rs.643 crore and Limestone Rs. 541 crore. These six minerals together contributed about 95% of the total value of mineral production in November 2016.

Production level of important minerals in November 2016 were: Coal 604 lakh tonnes, Lignite 37 lakh tonnes, Natural gas (utilized) 2580 million cu. m., Petroleum (crude) 29 lakh tonnes, Bauxite 2023 thousand tonnes, Chromite 237 thousand tonnes, Copper conc. 12 thousand tonnes, Gold 118 kg., Iron ore 163 lakh tonnes, Lead conc. 25 thousand tonnes, Manganese ore 226 thousand tonnes, Zinc conc. 160 thousand tonnes, Apatite & Phosphorite 101 thousand tonnes, Limestone 251 lakh tonnes, Magnesite 22 thousand tonnes and Diamond 2719 carat.

The production of important minerals showing positive growth during November 2016 over November 2015 include ‘Lignite’ (57.4%), ‘Manganese ore’ (38.4%), ‘Diamond’ (28.4%), ‘Iron ore’ (28.3%), ‘Lead conc. (26.0%), ‘Zinc conc.’ (25.4%), ‘Magnesite’ (20.5%), ‘Gold’ (16.8%), ‘Limestone’ (10.0%), ‘Coal’ (7.1%) and ‘Copper conc.’ (0.1%). The production of other important minerals showing negative growth are: ‘Chromite’ [(-) 17.3%], ‘Apatite & Phosphorite’ [(-) 15.8%], ‘Petroleum (crude)’ [(-) 5.5%], ‘Natural gas (utilized)’ [(-) 2.0%] and ‘Bauxite’ [(-) 1.9 %].

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India concludes MoU on MSME Cooperation with Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Member Countries

IORA Special Fund Created to Carry Out Activities Under this MoU

Ministry of MSME, Government of India finalised MoU on MSME Cooperation with Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) member countries. The MoU will take effect for each party upon signature by 5 countries. The MoU finalized would be signed soon at an appropriate forum.

The focus areas of the Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) are:

1. To finalise linkages and alliances amongst MSMEs organizations, associations and various institutions engaged in MSME development in their countries.

2. Exchange best practices, policies and programs for MSME development

3. Exchange greater involvement of MSMEs in the global supply chain, increase their market access.

4. Promote youth and women’s economic empowerment.

5. Encourage synergies with the IORA forum.

IORA Secretariat at Mauritius will be the coordinating agency for the implementation of the MoU. IORA special fund created for the member countries to use it for to carrying out activities envisaged under this MoU.

Representatives of IORA member countries

Background:

Workshop on MSME Cooperation amongst IORA member countries was organized in pursuance of the commitment made by India in the Economic Business Conference - II (EBC- II) held in Dubai in April, 2016. The Ministry of MSME, Government of India in consultation with the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India and IORA Secretariat organized this Workshop, wherein 29 representatives from 14 member countries, viz., Mozambique, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Comoros, Kenya, Seychelles, Malaysia, Mauritius, Singapore, Australia, UAE and Yemen participated.

MoU for MSME Cooperation amongst Indian Ocean Rim Association member countries will provide an appropriate platform to IORA MSMEs to interact with each other, participate in trade fairs, facilitate buyer-seller meetings and visits of delegations, acquire appropriate technology and explore trade and investment opportunities. The MoU will enhance market access, promote access to finance, promote innovation as a key competitive advantage for MSME, build capacity in management and entrepreneurship.

MSMEs constitute more than 90% of all business enterprises in the world and provide nearly 70% of global employment. The overwhelming majority of MSMEs in the developing world are micro-enterprises with fewer than 10 employees. India has more than 48 million MSMEs. These contribute more than 45% of India’s industrial output, 40% of the country’s total exports and create 1.3 million jobs every year.

India has already signed Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) with 18 countries for cooperation in MSME sector. The National Small Industries Corporation of India, Public Sector Enterprise under the Ministry of MSME has 34 MoUs with its counterpart organizations of foreign countries for cooperation in MSME sector.

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Civil Aviation Minister Shri Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati and MoS (Home) Shri Kiren Rijiju inaugurate the Digidhan Mela

The Union Minister of Civil Aviation Shri Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati and Minister of State for Home Affairs Shri Kiren Rijiju inaugurated the Digidhan Mela (Lucky Grahak Yojana & Digi-Dhan Vyapar Yojana Programme) organized at Itanagar today. The mela is being organised with an aim to enable citizens and merchants to familiarize and adopt real time digital transactions.

Shri Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati appealed to all the stakeholders to support in the digitalization of the economy. He also said that through digitalization we can ensure the transparency in the transactions and Union Government is willing to work with state government for the better future of the citizens.

On the occasion, Shri Kiren Rijiju said that the government has organized Digidhan Melas all over India to educate the people about digitalization. He appreciated the Itanagar administration, banks and various Government Departments for organising and showcasing digital initiatives and facilities to the common man. The people should come forward and utilize the benefits of Dighidhan Mela, he added.

To sensitize the citizens on cashless transactions, the Government Departments and Banks put-up their stalls and explained the options available for digital payments at DigiDhan Mela. They also assisted the visitors in downloading and installing various Mobile Apps for digital payments and helping in doing digital transaction. On the occasion, the people also participated in the learning of installing and using various digital payment systems for carrying out digital transactions.

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President of India congratulates Donald Trump on his assumption of office as President of the USA.

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has congratulated Mr.Donald J. Trumpon his assumption of office of the President of the United States of America.

In his message,the President has said, “On behalf of the Government and people of India, it is with great pleasure that I extend to you hearty congratulations on your assumption of office as the 45th President of the United States of America.

It is a matter of satisfaction that relations between India and the U.S., based on our shared values and common interest, have expanded and deepened in all fields of human endeavour. I am confident that our cooperation will be further enhanced and that working together, we will achieve new milestones in the years to come.

We look forward to an early opportunity of welcoming you and Mrs. Melania Trump to India.

Please accept my best wishes for your success and personal well-being and for the continued progress and prosperity of the people of the United States of America”.

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