Digital India Programme Launched to Bridge the Divide Between HAVES and HAVE-NOTS

Centre has proposed to launch a pan India Programme called “Digital India” to further bridge the divide between digital “haves” and “have-nots”. This would ensure Broad band connectivity at village level, improved access to services through IT enabled platforms, greater transparency in Government processes and increased indigenous production of IT hardware and software for exports and improved domestic availability. Presenting his Maiden Budget in Parliament here today, the Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley said that special focus would be given on supporting software product startups. The Finance Minister said that the Government has also proposed to set-up A National Rural Internet and Technology Mission for services in villages and schools, training in IT skills and E-Kranti for government service delivery and governance scheme with an initial corpus of Rs. 500 crore.

Agriculture Gets Pride of Place for The First Time in Union Budget: Agriculture Minister

Shri Radha Mohan Singh Specially Lauds Commitment Shown for Technology-Driven Second Green Revolution, Soil Health Card, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana

Agriculture Minister Shri Radha Mohan Singh has thanked the Prime Minister and Finance Minister for giving a very high priority to agriculture in the union budget.  He has said that the budget puts into action the Prime Minister’s commitment and vision to make villages and farmers strong through schemes for agricultural growth, irrigation and connectivity. Till now, agriculture used to be on the sidelines in union budgets but this is the first time that agriculture has been given pride of place in the budget, the Minister said. Shri Singh specially mentioned the commitment shown in the budget to usher in technology-driven second green revolution with focus on higher productivity and protein revolution. Another major area in focus would be promoting organic farming in the north-eastern region of the country where there is immense potential for this. The provision of soil health card to all farmers is a  path-breaking initiative and it will help farmers reap better harvests with lesser investment on inputs, ShriSingh said. PROPOSALS IN BRIEF In short, the proposals in the budget that directly relate to  farming and farmers are: ·        A scheme will be launched to provide a soil health card to every farmer. ·        100  new mobile soil testing laboratories will be set up across the country. ·        Rs. 100 crore have been provided to harness the vast potential of organic farming in the north-eastern region of the country. ·        Agriculture Universities will be established in Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan. ·        Horticulture Universities will be set up in Telangana and Haryana. ·        Institutes of excellence will be set up in Assam and Jharkhand. ·        An Agri-tech Infrastructure Fund is being established. ·        A National Adaptation Fund is being established to meet the threat of climate change on agriculture. ·        Budget commits 4% growth in agriculture. It seeks to usher in a technology-driven second green revolution with focus on higher productivity and ‘protein revolution’ as areas of major focus. ·        5 lakh farming groups of landless farmers (Bhoomiheen Kisan) will be formed through NABARD to get them institutional finance. ·        Price Stabilisation Fund is being set up to mitigate uncertainties and hardship due to volatility in prices of farm produce. ·        Centre will work closely with states to re-orient APMC acts to help develop farmers’ markets and other marketing reforms. ·        Funds have been made available in the budget for development of indigenous cattle breed and starting blue revolution in inland fisheries. ·        Flow  of credit to agriculture sector is to be increased; credit target raised to Rs. 8 lakh crore this year. ·        Farmers making timely payment of crop loans will continue getting loan at 4% rate of interest. ·        More funds are made available to NABARD to help creation of rural infrastructure through Rural Infrastructure Development Fund. ·        Rs 5000 crore are being provided to create warehousing infrastructure. ·        Another Rs. 5000 crore have been provided for creating Long Term Rural Credit Fund; it will long-term investment into agriculture. ·        Cooperatives are being provided Rs 50,000 crore through refinance; it will help more credit flow to farmers through cooperatives. ·        2000 producer organizations will be set up across the country in the next two years under  Producers Development and Upliftment Corpus (PRODUCE). ·        Kisan TV, a television channel dedicated to farmers and agriculture, will be launched. ·        Excise duty on food processing and packaging machinery has been reduced. ·        Service tax on loading, unloading  etc of cotton has been removed. ·        A Rs. 1000 crore scheme, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, is to be launched to improve access to irrigation.

highlights of budget

see the document
http://pib.nic.in/archieve/others/2014/jul/gbEngHighlight.pdf

SCHEMES in budget 2014-15

Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana 

“Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana” for feeder separation will be launched to augment power supply to the rural areas and for strengthening sub-transmission and distribution systems. Its long term aim is to provide 24×7 uninterrupted power supply to all homes. A sum of Rs. 500 crores has been set aside for this scheme.

Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission 

Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission will be launched to deliver integrated project based infrastructure in the rural areas. The scheme will also include development of economic activities and skill development. The preferred mode of delivery would be through PPPs while using various scheme funds. It is based on the example of Gujarat that has demonstrated successfully the Rurban development model of urbanization of the rural areas, through which people living in the rural areas can get efficient civic infrastructure and associate services.

Soil Health Card Scheme for Every Farmer 

The deteriorating soil health has been a cause of concern and leads to sub optimal utilization of farming resources.  The Government will initiate a scheme to provide to every farmer a soil health card in a mission mode. A sum of Rs 100 core for this purpose has been kept aside by the government.

An additional Rs 56 crores have been allocated to set up 100 mobile soil testing laboratories across the county. There have also been growing concerns about the imbalance in the utilization of different types of fertilizers resulting in deterioration of the soil.

Swatchh Bharat Abhiyan 

The Government intends to cover every household by total sanitation by the year 2019, the 150th year of the Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi .

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana 

The Government has proposed to initiate the scheme “Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana”. It is proposed to meet the need to provide assured irrigation to mitigate risk to the farmer since bulk of the farm lands are rainfed and depend on monsoon. This scheme would facilitate access to irrigation. A sum of Rs.1,000 crores is being set aside for this scheme.

A Dedicated TV Channel ‘Kisan TV’ to be Launched for Farmers

 Kisan TV, dedicated to the interests of the agriculture and allied sector will be launched in the current financial year. This will disseminate real time information to the farmers regarding new farming techniques, water conservation, organic and farming etc.

Multi Skill Programme – Skill India

The Government has announced the launch of a national Multi-Skill programme called Skill India. This programme would skill the youth with an emphasis on employability and entrepreneur skills. It will also provide training and support for traditional professions like welders, carpenters, cobblers, masons, blacksmiths and weavers etc. Convergence of various schemes to attain this objective is also proposed.

Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) Re-Introduced 

Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) is being re-introduced to encourage people, who may have banked and unbanked savings to invest in this instrument.

Kisan Vikas Patra is a saving scheme that doubles the money invested in eight years and seven months. The Directorate of Small Savings Government of India, sells these saving bonds through all Post Offices in the country so that the scheme can be accessed by citizens from all over the country. A KVP can be encashed after two and a half years from the date of issue at the value it has been bought and the interest accrued for the period.

 Integrated Ganga Conservation Mission ‘Namami Gange’

The Government has proposed to set up an Integrated Ganga Conservation Mission called (Namami Gange). Aan amount of Rs. 2037 crore has been set aside for the Mission in the current Budget. The Mission is being launched because a substantial amount of money has been spent in the conservation and improvement of the river Ganga but the efforts have not yielded desired results because of the lack of concerted effort by all the stakeholders. To harness the enthusiasm of the NRI Community to contribute towards the conservation of the river Ganga, an NRI Fund for Ganga will be set up which will finance special projects.

Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Yojana Launched 

Government has introduced a new scheme called Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, which will help in generating awareness and improving the efficiency of delivery of welfare services meant for women with an initial corpus of Rs 100 crore. The  government would focus on campaigns to sensitize people of this country towards the concerns of the girl child and women. The process of sensitization must begin early and therefore the school curriculum must have a separate chapter on gender mainstreaming.

Digital India Programme 

Centre has proposed to launch a pan India Programme called “Digital India” to further bridge the divide between digital “haves” and “have-nots”. This would ensure Broad band connectivity at village level, improved access to services through IT enabled platforms, greater transparency in Government processes and increased indigenous production of IT hardware and software for exports and improved domestic availability. Special focus would be given on supporting software product startups.

The  Government has also proposed to set-up A National Rural Internet and Technology Mission for services in villages and schools, training in IT skills and E-Kranti for government service delivery and governance scheme with an initial corpus of Rs. 500 crore. A programme for promoting “Good Governance” will also be launched and a sum of Rs.100 crore will be set aside for this.

Housing for All by 2022 

Government has proposed to set up a Mission on Low Cost Affordable Housing to be anchored in the National Housing Bank. A  sum of Rs 4,000 crore has been earmarked for National Housing Bank with a view to increase the flow of cheaper credit for affordable housing to the urban poor/EWS/LIG segment. The Government has already outlined some other incentives such as easier flow of FDI in this sector and is willing to examine other positive suggestions. The government has included slum development in the list of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities to encourage the private sector to contribute more towards this activity.

Emphasis of Budget 2014 in the HRD Sector

The Union Budget 2014 has many aspects which would promote education in the country: Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani The Minister feels that: Ø  The focus of the Budget has been on education and skill development. In particular, the Plan Budget of Higher Education has been considerably increased in 2014-15.  In the School Education and Literacy sector also, the increase has been substantial. Overall, the Budget of the Ministry of HRD (Plan & Non-Plan), of both the Departments of Higher Education and Department of School Education & Literacy taken together, will witness an increase of 12.3 per cent from Rs. 74,621 crores in RE 2013-14 to Rs. 83,771 crores. Ø  The Budget has specially focused on education of girl child which is one of the major priorities of this Government. Ø  The Budget highlights the resolve to provide the residual one lakh girls toilets and drinking water facilities in schools which will benefit 100 lakh girls in the first phase.  This would enable girls to not only enrol in schools but also stay in schools.  When girls get the needed sanitation facilities in schools, they would demand similar facilities at home, leading to a cleaner India. Ø  The Beti Bacho Beti Padhao scheme announced in the budget would not only improve the adverse sex ratio but also ensure that girls are educated. Ø  The Budget has emphasised on gender mainstreaming. The school curriculum will have a separate chapter on gender mainstreaming.  This will sensitise students, teachers and the community at large to be more sensitive to the needs of girl child and women and will promote growth of a more harmonious society.  This will benefit all girls in the country. Ø  Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya’s Teacher Training Programme has been provided Rs.500 crore in the budget. This would enable the Government to better train students who aspire to become teachers in our professional colleges.  This will improve the quality of teachers that we would produce and will ultimately lead to improvement in learning outcomes of the students in our school system.  This will benefit nearly 20,000 teacher trainees studying in Teacher Education Institutions. Ø  The Budget provides for madarsa modernisation.  An additional amount of Rs.100 crore has been provided for this.  The madarsa modernisation would enable 10 lakh Muslim children to get education of national standards which is certified through the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS). This would enable Muslim students to progress to higher education or vocational education depending on their choice. Ø  The Budget provides for Rs.30 crore for School Assessment Programme. The assessment of the quality of schools through various parameters, such as levels of student learning outcomes, quality of teaching by teachers etc., and public display of such school performance would enable parents to make a more informed choice about schools.   This will ultimately benefit all children, parents and stakeholders. Ø  The Budget has announced support to States to set up 15 braille presses.  This would allow publishing of Braille books that would help our visually challenged students. Ø  The Budget provides for Rs.28635 crore for SSA and Rs.4966 crore for RMSA. This would strengthen the elementary and secondary school infrastructure in the country and will improve access and quality of education across the school sector and will benefit nearly 23 crore children in schools.   Ø  The announcement of 5 IITs, 5 IIMs and the National Centre for Himalayan Studies in Uttarakhand in the Budget speech is a welcome step. The new IITs would come up in Jammu, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Goa and Andhra Pradesh. The new IIMs would be established in Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, Maharashtra and Odisha. A provision of Rs. 500 crores has been made for the new IITs and IIMs in the Budget. Ø  Setting up virtual classrooms and Massive Open Online Courses are planned for which a provision of Rs.100 crore has made in the Budget.   A national e-library will also be created which will be a repository for all educational resources. Ø  The Budget proposes the setting up of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash National Centre for Excellence in Humanities to be set up in Madhya Pradesh– a first of its kind initiative

cpf result declared

congrat   to all those who qualified !! see the result

http://www.upsc.gov.in/exams/final-results/cpf/2013/cpf2013_eng.pdf

Import of Shale Gas

The Minister of State (I/C) in the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply today that the Indian oil and gas companies are continuously looking for opportunities abroad for tying up equity oil and gas, including shale gas acreages, and/or importing hydrocarbons, including LNG.

GAIL has taken 20% participating interest in a shale gas asset in the Eagle Ford basin in United States of America (USA). Currently, the gas production from these acreages is being sold in local market. GAIL has contracted 5.8 MMTPA of LNG from the USA and deliveries will commence from the last quarter of 2017.

Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) has acquired 10% interest in integrated (upstream and LNG) Pacific North West LNG project in British Columbia, Canada. The project will produce natural gas from its shale gas acreages. IOCL’s share of 1.20 MMTPA of LNG is slated for supply from 2019 onwards.

The Government has, on 14.10.2013, notified the policy guidelines for exploration and exploitation of shale gas and oil by National Oil Companies (NOCs) in their onland PEL (Petroleum Exploration Lease)/PML (Petroleum Mining Lease) blocks awarded under the nomination regimes.

As per the policy, the NOCs will undertake a mandatory minimum work programme in a fixed time frame for shale gas and oil exploration and exploitation, so that there is optimum accretion and development of shale gas and oil resources.

Under the first phase of assessment of shale gas and oil, exploration and exploitation, at present, 56 PEL/PML blocks (ONGC 50, and OIL – 6) have been identified by NOCs. These blocks are located in the states of Assam (7 Blocks), Arunachal Pradesh (1 Block), Gujarat (28 Blocks), Rajasthan (1 Block), Andhra Pradesh (10 Blocks) and Tamil Nadu (9 Blocks).

ONGC has drilled one well where coring has been completed. In addition, ONGC has collected cores from another 7 wells.