Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana (VPBY)

Government of India in the Union Budget 2014-2015, announced the revival of Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana (VPBY). The Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley said in his Budget Speech, "NDA Government during its last term in office had introduced the Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana (VPBY) as a pension scheme for senior citizens. Under the scheme, a total number of 3.16 lakh annuitants are being benefited and corpus amounts to Rs.6, 095 Crore. I propose to revive the scheme for a limited period from 15^th August 2014 to 14^th August 2015 for the benefit of citizens aged 60 years and above".

The Union Finance Minister said that Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana (VPBY) will benefit the vulnerable section of society with limited resources as it will provide monthly pension ranging from Rs 500/ to Rs 5,000/ per month to senior citizens of the country. The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley said that VPBY is like reverse of a normal insurance policy as in case of VPBY, the beneficiary gets an income at the overall rate of 9.38 % per annum on their deposits as they are being paid on monthly basis.

This initiative reflects the commitment of the Government to the welfare and well-being of the senior citizens of the country, which is especially important in the light of the increasing longevity in India, which has gone up substantially. The subscription to the scheme is likely to create a corpus of more than Rs. 10,000 crore, and would thus also be a significant source of resource mobilization for the development of the country.

Under this revived Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana (VPBY), the senior citizens would get pension on fixed basis either on yearly or monthly basis which will provide social security to senior citizens.

LIC of India has been given the sole privilege to operate this scheme.

2.         Benefits:

a.         Pension Payment:

During the lifetime of a Pensioner, pension in the form of immediate annuity as per mode chosen by the Pensioner shall be payable.

b.         Death Benefit:

On death of the Pensioner, the Purchase Price shall be refunde

Some key features of the scheme are:

·         Available to citizens aged 60 years and above. 

·         Pension would be on immediate annuity basis in monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or annual mode, varying, respectively, between Rs. 500 to 5000 (monthly), Rs. 1500 to 15,000 (quarterly), Rs. 3000 to Rs. 30,000 (half-yearly) and from Rs. 6,000 to Rs. 60,000 (annually), depending on the amount subscribed and the option exercised. 

·         The payout implies an assured return of 9% on monthly payment basis, which amounts to an annualized return of 9.38%. 

·         Loan (up to 75% of subscribed amount) can be availed after 3 years from the Date of Commencement. 

·         On death, the full purchase price will be refunded to nominee. 

·         Exit/surrender would be allowed after 15 years or earlier in special circumstances like critical / terminal illness of self or spouse. 

·         Payment will be through ECS or NEFT.

Spirit of Delhi

The Lalit Kala Akademi is celebrating its 60th anniversary celebrations. The year-long celebration was inaugurated by Minister of Culture Shripad Naik on 5 August 2014. The Lalit Kala Akademi, National Academy of Art, New Delhi was set up by the Government of India as an autonomous body on 5 August, 1954. It was established with a strong focus on artistic excellence and to bring the cultural identity of the nation to a luminous focus. It emerged as the principal establishment of culture that focuses on Visual Arts and its many splendoured forms. The ‘Spirit of Delhi’ is an event part of the 60th anniversary celebrations that celebrates the city not only as the political hub but also the cultural capital of the country. The exhibition and calligraphy workshop will be inaugurated on 15 September 2014 by Shri Satish C. Mehta, Director General ICCR. The exhibition consists of paintings from the Lalit Kala Akademi`s collection, photographs by the renowned photographer Padmashree Raghu Rai, poetry paintings by Abhay K and Tarshito, rare photographs from archives of Ambedkar University, Archaeological Survey of India, Delhi Archives, Delhi Institute of Heritage Research and Management and National Museum. The exhibition will be on view till 27 September 2014. A seven day long calligraphy workshop will explore different scripts like Gurumukhi, Urdu, Devnagri, Persian and will run until 21 September 2014 at the Lalit Kala Akademi, a book counter on Delhi will also be a part of the show.`Delhi is `Dehali`, i.e. `threshold`, `gateway`, glorious etymological truth of thecapital of India, deeply embedded in its samsaric imperial heart and trivial bureaucratic self-images and centrist complacency, likely to be quite drowned in the flood of five-star freebooting now overtaking it. But in its occult and occasional unfallenness, what is Delhi, a threshold, a gateway, to? Let us supplicate its ancient King and Queen, Yudhishtira and Draupadi for an answer. The Delhi (all right, Indraprashtha) that they had fought for and won...was certainly a gateway to samrajya, imperial power. But Delhi...is also a threshold to the Himalaya...the samrajya of eternal wisdom...Dehali ki jai! `- Ramachandra Gandhi . To the uninitiated, the metropolis of Delhi seems like a patchwork quilt, characterised by heterogeneous fragments of communities, mohallas and nagars. The contemporary city is shaped as much by the unabashed pursuit of power, as it has been paralleled by an explosion in size and scale. Today, though Delhi is a city “on the make”, there remains something more to it that if seen closely, may be connected to a time when Dilli was a city with a different ethos. What therefore makes the Spirit of Delhi remarkable is its ability to learn to endure, and show how amidst its diverse colonies and corners, lives and livelihoods remain the sources of creative energy. The historical photographs and images at this exhibition help us to see how the city of Delhi, marked by multiple life-worlds, has been many things to many people. As such we can see how images are involved in both constructing and representing ‘reality’. The images demonstrate their value in evoking narratives, as historical documents, as well as, for a continuing study of the passage of time. Many of the visual images here function as documents recording and recalling original events, or they may become art objects in their own right. Even then, images of the past tend to make more sense when contextualised by those of the present. The images created from within the city create an imaginative narrative space. A process of temporality ensues, where the past is constantly made present in order to gain access to a deeper sense of events and spaces. The coming together of poem and image, their drawing apart and resumption of mutual approach, the things they invoke together and separately: we savour all these moments of aesthetic experience in a painting in which Abhay K and Tarshito collaborate to evoke the spectral yet palpable histories of Delhi, as well as its vibrant, insistent, kaleidoscopic and paradoxical present. This exhibition draws attention to the multiplicity of everyday life that has always existed in the city – moving as it does from the colonial eye to the ‘commoners’ gaze. Despite the priority of the colonial political class to provide an urban form to their imperial vision, rather than create a city around the historic identity of Delhi, the images in this collection give an indication of the ‘everyday’ city of the times. Community life, and its social, cultural, economic and political extensions, forms the subject of some of these images, and in the process simultaneously represent a singular version of time and space, while challenging that very representatio

Scheme on Enhancement of Competitiveness in the Indian capital goods sector

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, today approved the "Scheme for Enhancement of Competitiveness of the Capital Goods Sector" to boost the Indian economy. This scheme, on its implementation, would attempt to make the Indian capital goods sector globally competitive. The sub sectors of Capital Goods covered under the scheme are mainly for Machine Tools, Textile Machinery, Construction and Mining Machinery, and Process Plant Machinery. The proposed scheme addresses the issue of technological depth creation in the capital goods sector, besides creating common industrial facility centres. The Scheme on Enhancement of Competitiveness in the Indian Capital Goods Sector will be implemented in the 12th Plan period and spill over to the 13th Plan period with an estimated outlay of Rs. 930.96 crore. The Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) from the government for the scheme would be Rs. 581.22 crore and the balance Rs. 349.74 crore would be contributed by the stakeholder industries. The scheme has five components to achieve the desired result in pilot mode - (i) Creation of "Advanced Centres of Excellence" for R & D and Technology Development with National Centres of Excellence in Education and Technology such as the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur and the Central Manufacturing Technology Institute (CMTI), Bangalore. (ii) Establishment of "Integrated Industrial Infrastructure Facilities" popularly known as Machine Tool Parks with a basic objective of making the machine tool sector more competitive by providing an ecosystem for production. Establishment of Machine Tool Parks will cut down logistic cost substantially and would be a step forward in making the sector cost effective, having enhanced export capability and favourable for attracting more investment. The park would be established by a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) formed by local industries, industry associations, financial institutions, Central / State Governments, R & D Institutions, etc. (iii) Common Engineering Facility Centre" for Textile Machinery is to be set up with active participation of the local industry and the industry association, which in turn would improve facilitation to the users along with visibility. The Common Engineering Facility that can be provided within such set ups are common foundry, common heat treatment, testing laboratories, design center, common prototyping, general and specific machinery, etc. The facility would enable textile machinery and other capital goods manufacturers to develop capital goods to meet the large requirements and improve capacity utilization, thereby reducing the variable cost of operation. This would also be established by a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) formed by local industries, industry associations, financial institutions, Central/State Governments, R&D Institutions, etc. (iv) Testing and Certification Centre" for earth moving machineries in view of the fact that it is soon going to be made a mandatory requirement and at present there is no test facility to test earthmoving machinery like that in the automobile industry. By setting up of the test centre, the import of second hand and outdated machinery could be restricted through mandatory testing and certification, In addition, the centre would facilitate evaluating the performance, statutory and regulatory requirements of construction and mining machinery and equipment. The setting up of Test and Certification Centre for Earthmoving Machinery will be done by the SPV specifically created by the Department of Heavy Industry with the approval of the Cabinet. After approval of the Scheme, a separate proposal for information of SPV for implementation of this particular scheme component will be sent to the Cabinet for approval. (v) The creation of a "Technology Acquisition Fund" under the Technology `Acquisition Fund Programme (TAFP) in order to help the Capital Goods Industry to acquire and assimilate specific technologies, for achieving global standards and competitiveness within a short period of time. The TAFP will provide financial assistance to Indian capital goods industry to facilitate acquisition of strategic and relevant technologies, and also development of technologies through contract route, in-house route or through joint route of contract and in-house. The Fund can extend partial support to industry to enhance their technology level, for achieving superior product quality / functionality, production capacity, safety and sustainability performance. This programme would bridge the technology gaps identified in the 12th Plan Working Group Report on "Capital Goods and Engineering Sector". Background: The Capital Goods value added contributes a fairly constant proportion of 9-12 percent of the total manufacturing value added. This establishes that manufacturing is the key end-user sector of Capital Goods and drives the performance of the latter. Another key determinant of the demand for Capital Goods is the gross investment undertaken in the economy. The apparent consumption of Capital Goods constitutes a constant share of 17-21 percent of the total Gross Domestic investment in the country. The investments in the Capital Goods sector have declined with the decline in the relative profitability of the Capital Goods sector with respect to other sectors. The capital goods sector determines global competitiveness of the manufacturing sector by being a vehicle of technology.

Launching of National AYUSH Mission

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today gave its approval for launching of the National AYUSH Mission (NAM) with its core and flexible components. The proposed Mission will address the gaps in health services through supporting the efforts of State/UT Governments for providing AYUSH health services/education in the country, particularly in vulnerable and far-flung areas. Under NAM special focus will be given for specific needs of such areas and for allocation of higher resources in their Annual Plans. The Mission will help in: i. the improvement of AYUSH education through enhancement in the number of upgraded educational institutions; ii. better access to AYUSH services through increase in number of AYUSH hospitals and dispensaries, availability of drugs and manpower; iii. providing sustained availability of quality raw material for AYUSH systems of medicine; and iv. improving availability of quality Ayurvedic, Siddha, Unani and Homeopathy (ASU&H) drugs through increase in number of pharmacies, drug laboratories and improved enforcement mechanism of ASU&H drugs. Background:  India possess an unmatched heritage represented by its ancient systems of medicine like ASU&H which are a treasure house of knowledge for preventive and promotive healthcare. The positive features of the Indian systems of medicine namely their diversity and flexibility; accessibility; affordability, a broad acceptance by a large section of the general public; comparatively lesser cost and growing economic value, have great potential to make them providers of healthcare that the large sections of our people need.

Biodiversity informatics vital for sustainable growth

Biodiversity informatics vital for sustainable growth  Environmental protection and development need to be integrated with informatics- Prakash Javadekar Minister addresses 21st meeting of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility Governing Board

The Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Shri Prakash Javadekar has said the concept of sustainability was an integral part of Indian ethos which ensured balanced approach to issues pertaining to conservation, access and growth. Environmental protection and economic development needed to be integrated with an informatics supported mechanism so as to efficiently manage and use natural resources as a natural capital asset. It was therefore critical to manage natural resources and ecosystems that harboured unique and varied bio diversity. The Minister stated this while delivering the inaugural address at the 21st meeting of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility Governing Board in New Delhi today. The Minister said that India stood committed to developing “biodiversity informatics” as an essential element of India’s economic, environment and social well-being. Adding further, the Minister said that India was in the process of building a comprehensive and decentralized biodiversity information infrastructure to serve the national interests and to provide inter-operability with regional and global initiatives. Elaborating further, Shri Javadekar said that while around 6500 natural history museums throughout the world housed approximately 3 billion specimens of Indian origin, access to these specimens was both time-consuming and expensive. It was therefore important to promote and facilitate an informatics mechanism to provide easy and better access. The momentum in this process had already begun. In the last two decades, many natural history museums in developed nations had digitized specimen collections that they were holding. Several ongoing global and regional biodiversity informatics initiatives for sharing data about these specimens with the countries of origin were gaining impetus. In the given situation, GBIF and its partners needed to mainstream the process of institutionalizing the digital exchange of data. The Minister also mentioned that keeping in mind the contemporary trends it was essential for countries across the world to transform a 500 year old tradition of (slow) information transfer by lines of type on paper into a digital (rapid) interchange among thousands of distributed, heterogeneous, and multilingual databases. This transition needed to take place while dealing with complexities of the information management and tools for dissemination and integration. The Minister further said that India was amongst the few countries in the world that had developed a “National Biodiversity Information Outlook (NBIO)”. The development of NBIO was a strategic decision taken by India to provide a national vision and a long term roadmap to facilitate free and open access to biodiversity data. The Minister also said that the implementation of NBIO would entail the establishment of Indian Biodiversity Information Facility (InBIF) on the lines of GBIF request the global experts to assist us in this endeavor. The Minister also said that as a signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), India was committed to developing a national clearing-house mechanism to facilitate access to biodiversity information both nationally and globally. Highlighting several initiatives to conserve biodiversity and compliance with international obligations, the Minister said that one such step taken by India was to join the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) in 2003, an inter-governmental network that aims to facilitate free and open access to the world’s biodiversity data. The GBIF had been instrumental in developing capacities in various areas and aspects of biodiversity informatics. The Minister complimented the GBIF leadership for accomplishing this in a relatively short period. A number of eminent scientists have come from all over the world to take part in the 21st meeting of Governing Board of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and the associated events, particularly the Science Symposium. These events are being organized during the period of India’s Presidency of CBD Conference of Parties (CoP11), which will be handed over to the Republic of Korea, which is hosting the CBD CoP 12 in October, 2014.

India-China ties from “Inch towards Miles”

India-China ties from “Inch towards Miles”

PM`s conversation with Chinese journalists based in New Delhi Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in a conversation today with Chinese journalists based in New Delhi said, “India and China are bound by history, connected by culture, and inspired by rich traditions. Together they can create a bright future for the entire mankind.” Prime Minister summarized the possibilities of our bilateral ties moving ahead as “Inch (India and China) towards Miles (Millennium of Exceptional Synergy).” He said that every inch we cover can rewrite history of humanity and every mile we cross will go a long way in making this planet a better place. He hoped that together India and China cover several miles. Several miles that take not only the two nations forward but also all of Asia and humankind towards the path of progress and harmony. Referring to the large population base of India and China, Prime Minister said that when India and China gain, almost 35% of the world’s population benefits; when India and China strengthen relations, almost 35% of the world’s people come closer; when economic cooperation between India and China increases, the lives of almost 35% of the world’s population undergoes qualitative changes. In response to a question on how he foresees India and China relations developing, Prime Minister explained that our relations go beyond plain arithmetic. They have a unique chemistry that can make for a defining moment. Elaborating on the nature of the relationship he said, “the arithmetic and chemistry of our relations convince me that together we can script history and create a better tomorrow for all of mankind.”

National Livestock Mission (NLM) to Ensure Quantitative and Qualitative Improvement in Livestock Production

Shri Radha Mohan Singh, Union Minister of Agriculture has said that National Livestock Mission (NLM) launched in FY 2014-15 shall ensure quantitative and qualitative improvement in livestock production systems and capacity building of all stakeholders. The Minister was speaking during the Conference of State Ministers of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries in New Delhi today.The agriculture Minister said that the Sub-Mission under NLM on Fodder and Feed Development will try to address the problems of scarcity of animal feed resources, in order to give a push to the livestock sector making it a economically viable enterprise for India, and also to harness its export potential. The Agriculture Minister said that the biggest impediment to growth of dairy and livestock productivity is the large-scale prevalence of animal diseases like FMD, PPR, Brucellosis, Avian Influenza etc, which adversely affect the productivity. Taking into account the fact that effective control of a number of animal diseases requires national strategy; the existing scheme of livestock health has been strengthened. Foot and Mouth Disease Control Programme (FMD-CP) which was under implementation in 221 districts since August, 2010, was extended to all the remaining districts of Uttar Pradesh and all the districts of Rajasthan during 2013-14 thus covering 313 districts as of now. It has been decided that FMD-CP will be extended to whole of India during 12th Plan subject to availability of funds and vaccine. The Minister also said that increase in milk production has to be achieved by increasing productivity of the milch animals rather than increase in the number of animals. In order to encourage farmers to produce more milk, effective system of milk collection has to be ensured so that the farmer is assured of selling his produce at a profitable price which can be ensured by putting in place an effective procurement systems connecting milk producers. Shri Radha Mohan Singh also said Steps are needed to reduce wastage of milk by expanding the cold chain infrastructure in the rural areas to collect and preserve milk till such time it is collected for sale or taken for processing. Systematic planning has to be done for location of bulk milk coolers so that farmers from neighbouring villages can easily access them. He informed that Rashtriya Gokul Mission has been initiated by the Department with the aims to conserve and develop Indigenous Breeds in a focused and scientific manner. Rashtriya Gokul Mission is a focused project under National Programme for Bovine Breeding and Dairy Development, with an outlay of Rs.500 crore during the 12th Five Year Plan. During 2014-15, Rs.150.00 crore has been allocated for development, preservation and conservation of indigenous breeds. The agriculture Minister informed that Government is also proposing to establish “Rashtriya Kamdhenu Breeding Centre” for development, conservation and preservation of Indigenous Breeds as a Centre of Excellence to develop and conserve Indigenous Breeds (37 Cattle and 13 Buffaloes) in a holistic and scientific manner with the aim of enhancing their productivity and upgrading genetic merit. As concerned with fisheries production, the agriculture Minister said that with a production of 9.58 million tonnes in 2013-14, India has maintained its position as a second largest producer of fish in the world contributing 5.7 percent of the total fish production globally. Keeping this in view, the Government is now focusing on Blue revolution in the sector. Blue revolution means an intensive and sustainable growth in fish production providing for food and nutritional security, employment and improved livelihood. The Conference is being attended by Ministers of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries from different States of India, Secretary, Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries, Secretary, Agriculture & Cooperation, Secretary, DARE & DG, ICAR, Chairman, NDDB and other senior officers from Central and State Governments