Press Note of Union Ministry of Women & Child Development

Ministry of Women and Child is addressing the needs of over 70% of the Indian people. The Ministry’s functioning is largely guided by the following two objectives: •To empower women to live with confidence, dignity and economic & educational abilities •To nurture children to develop to their full potential, make them safe and healthy in protective environments In the last few months, Ministry has taken up new areas of activities, new processes and new ways of doing things. This is intended to produce more outcomes and results that impact positively on our mandated   community which is women and children.  This period has allowed us to review the past with a view to making future programmes and activities impactful and significant.             Over the last two months our Ministry has worked closely with the Ministries of HRD and H&FW to design and prepare for implementation of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) initiative.   The adverse and declining child sex ratio (CSR) across the States is a major cause of concern as it has fallen from 927 in 2001 to 918 in 2011.  The BBBP seeks to arrest the trend and over time to reverse it.  A 100 critical low CSR districts in all States and UTs have been identified for focused and convergent action by these Ministries.  The Ministry of WCD is the nodal Ministry for this initiative and will carry out training to stakeholders, community mobilization and sensitization.  It will also embark upon a range of advocacy measures and activities, not limited to the 100 low CSR districts but all across the country.  All forms of media and social media platforms would be used for this.  The key to the success of the initiatives would lie with the communities, States, Panchayats and the local self-Government.  On our part we would wish to appeal to the members of the press to take up the cause, to enable the dignity, opportunity and equality with rights of the women to be realized.  At the same time our partner Ministries would also be carrying out actions as per their part of interventions.  The Health Ministry would focus on the implementation of the PC&PNDT Act and to curb the misuse of technology to the detriment of girl children and women.  In a much wider role, the Health Ministry would promote, along with our Ministry, the early registration of pregnancy in the first trimester itself.   Working together on these, the Anganwadis and the health Centres would monitor the CSR, nutrition and health status.  The existing commitments to having all girls in the schools, to discourage and eliminate child marriage would continue.   An important part of the programme is give reward and recognition – all schools, institution workers and volunteers will all be part of this mass campaign.   The Department of School Education would intensify efforts to ensure universalization of enrolment of girls, decrease the dropout rates, establish girl friendly schools and to strictly implement the Right to Education (RTE) Act.  A comprehensive legislation has been drafted that provides measures for children in need of care and protection and children in conflict with law. For the first time, offences have been clearly defined and classified in the Bill as petty, serious and heinous. Special provisions have been made to tackle child offenders committing heinous offences in the age group of 16-18 years. The Juvenile Justice Board has been given the option to transfer cases of heinous offences by such children to a Children’s Court, which is a Court of Session after conducting a preliminary inquiry. The Bill also proposes to place such children in a place of safety both during and after the trial till they attain the age of 21 years. After completing the age of 21 years, if the term of the child is still remaining then the Children’s Court shall conduct an assessment of the performance of the child and if the Court feels that the child may become a contributory member of the society then the Court can release the child under probation. In case the child has not undergone any reformative change then the child is to be shifted to a jail meant for adults.         It is expected that enactment of this Bill will act as a deterrent for child offenders committing heinous offences such as rape and murder and will also protect the rights of victim to justice. Several measures have been proposed for all children in conflict with law such as education, health and nutrition, vocational training, de-addiction measures, if required, counseling, behaviour modification therapy, etc.          Several new offences committed against children which are so far not adequately covered under any other law, have also been included in the Bill. These include: sale and procurement of children for any purpose including illegal adoption, corporal punishment, use of child by militant groups, offences against disabled children and, kidnapping and abduction of children.         Several rehabilitation and social reintegration measures have been provided for institutionalization and non-institutionalization of children. Under the institutional care, children are to be provided with various services including education, health, nutrition, de-addiction, treatment of diseases, vocational training, skill development, life skill education, counseling, etc. to help them assume a constructive role in the society. The variety of non-institutional options provided in the Bill include: foster care including group foster care, open shelters and sponsorship for children in need of care and protection. Child Line (1098) is an emergency outreach service for children in need of care and protection.  Currently the service is available in 282 locations and is likely to be expanded to 343 locations by the end of Financial Year 2014-15.  Approximately 38 lakh calls were received in 2013-14.  The kind of calls received at 1098 include medical help, emotional support and guidance, protection from abuse, shelter, missing children, restoration of children in verdict with law.  Currently Childline services are operated by a single centralized call center at Mumbai, catering to North and Western zones.  Expansion of Childline services are being planned by establishing three other centralized call centers at Chennai, Kolkata and Gurgaon. In the area of adoption the Ministry has taken significant steps in the last few months.  In 2013 the number of adoptions was 1100.  This year in the June to August period 1650 adoptions have been carried.  Further process for improvements and simplification of procedures are being carried out.  New guidelines have been prepared by the Ministry on the basis of the extensive consultations with the stakeholders.  These guidelines are now in the public domain and available for comments and suggestions.  In the next few weeks, and taking into account the inputs received, the Ministry proposes to finalize the new guidelines.  This will make adoption easier, simpler and speedier.  An important change is that the entire process will be carried out online prior to placing the case finally before the court of law.              Financial assistance to the Children Homes under the Integrated Children Protection Scheme (ICPS) has been increased recently.  For example, annual assistance to child care institutions have been increased from Rs. 25 lakh per annum to Rs. 50 lakh per annum and per child maintenance grant has been increased from Rs.750  per month to Rs. 2000 per month.  The Ministry has initiated steps to integrate rapidly expanding Childline facility with the basic structure of Track-child.  Through this effort, citizen initiated information on both missing and found children will be received by Childline and transmitted to the network of police stations and to the child care institutions in all parts of the country.  The mechanism based on a telephone call to the childline is being tested and will be operational shortly.  In addition, a mobile application of Track-child has been developed by the NIC and will also be brought into this integrated system.             For the first time in the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) the approval and release of funds has been linked to the detailed Annual Action Plans prepared by all States in a participatory exercise involving the States.  This has laid the basis for our expectation that from next year the State plan in all States will be based on district level plans in which the line departments – Health, Drinking Water and Sanitation.   Panchayati Raj institutions will also be involved besides, of course, the involvement of Ministry’s own institutions.              As an integral part of our commitment to the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, toilets will be constructed by the States in over a lakh Anganwadis.  This is one part of our drive to a cleaner India.  At the same time the Anganwadis will become the hub for good sanitational hygiene practices to be inculcated, for volunteer action to be carried by the Anganwadi community and by the larger community in which Anganwadi is covered.   As a first step from 22ndSeptember to 21st October each Anganwadis has been requested to involve all related stakeholders in improving their surroundings by increased cleanliness to clean not only their Anganwadi, but their neighborhood, in partnership with all members of the community.   This will not be a one-of drive.  We expect the Anganwadis to establish norms of cleanliness and specific action to be carried out around the year.             Taking forward the commitment made by the Finance Minister in his budget speech earlier this year, the contours and content of a new invigorated National Nutrition Mission are being formulated.    The process of the consultation has begun.  On the 22nd and 23rd September at Delhi, stakeholders, academics, experts representatives of States and other stakeholders will meet to take forward the initial ideas and to prepare a rapid road map to finalize the mission in the next few months.             Under the ongoing scheme Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women (STEP) the Ministry is examining the feasibility of introducing more employment oriented programmes for women such as IT, NITES, Gems and jewelry,  transport and tourism, apparel and garment making, etc.  New awards have been instituted to recognise exceptional and selfless work done by women, at district and State levels (throughout the country). These awards will be decided at State/ UT level. The State award (Rajya Mahila Samman) to one woman in each State and UT consists of a cash prize Rs. 40,000 and a scroll / citation. The District award (Zila Mahila Samman) to one woman in each district consists of a cash prize Rs. 20,000 and a scroll / citation. The above awards will be presented on International Women`s Day.             Earlier this year, in June, 2014 the High Level Committee on the Status of Women presented its report of family laws relating to women.  The Ministry will take this report forward through a two stage process.  The first involves consultations at different locations in the country with experts, activists, academicians and other stakeholders on the changes to be brought about, using the report as a base.  The first such consultation was held on 16thSeptember, 2014 at Bhubaneswar.  The entire process will be completed by end of November.  It will provide valuable advice and inputs to the Ministry on the kinds of changes in laws related to women that need to be changed.  To revamp the activities of RMK, a committee of senior bankers, social workers and experts has been constituted.  The committee has held a series of meetings.  The Committee is in the process of preparing a road map for RMK so that it can reduce its non-performing assets and reach out more and more needy women without lose of time.

Opening Ceremony : Exercise Yudh Abhyas 2014

The combined Indo-US Military Training, Exercise YUDH ABHYAS 2014 commenced at Chaubattia, Uttarakhand with an opening ceremony on 17 Sep 14. The US Contingent was represented by Company and Brigade Headquarters from an Infantry Division of US Army while Indian side was represented by an equivalent strength from a Mountain Brigade of GARUD DIVISION. Maj Gen Ashwani Kumar of Headquarters Central Command welcomed the US soldiers and urged both contingents to achieve optimum cohesion and interoperability to achieve military objectives of the exercise. He stressed upon importance of free exchange of ideas and concepts between the troops and the necessity to learn from each others’ experiences. The focus of the ongoing exercise is to carryout Counter Insurgency and Counter Terrorist Operations in mountainous terrain under United Nations (UN) Charter. The two week long event will see the contingents hone their tactical and technical skills in countering insurgency and terrorism in UN Peace Keeping scenario involving a Brigade Headquarters, an Infantry Company and a detachment of Special Forces. State of the art equipment for surveillance and tracking, specialist weapons for close quarter battle with terrorists, explosives and IED detectors, as well as the latest communication equipment are being fielded by both sides. Both sides will train, plan and execute a series of well developed combined tactical drills for neutralization of likely threats that may be encountered in UN peace keeping operations.

Cairn makes three more oil discoveries in Rajasthan

The Barmer basin in Rajasthan continued its prolific run with Cairn India striking gold with three new oil discoveries in the region.

With these three new discoveries, Cairn took the total number of discoveries made by it in the RJ-ON-90/1 block of the Barmer basin to 36.

“This is a significant discovery, in view of its proximity to the Mangala oil field and fast track appraisal is planned to facilitate rapid commercialization of this discovery,” the company said in a statement.

The block is operated by Cairn India—a subsidiary of Anil Agarwal’s London-based Vedanta Resources— with state-run ONGC holding a 30 percent stake in it.

With the three new discoveries, Cairn India would hope to its production target of 300,000 barrels per day by the end of 2016-17 from the existing 185,000 barrels per day.

The company, which saw its stock gain by about 3 percent with the news of the discovery, also announced an interim cash dividend of Rs. 5 per equity share of Rs.10 face value.

The Barmer or Rajasthan Basin, part of the Thar desert, forms the eastern flank of the Indus geo-syncline and comprises the sedimentary tract to the west and northwest of Aravalis up to the Indo-Pakistan border.

The Cambrian age basin extends over an area of 1,26,000 Sq. km and the Barmer part of it is believed to contain about 3.6 billion barrels of oil, of which 1 billion barrels are potentially recoverable.

India to be Partner Country in Hannover Messe Fair During April 2015

India has conveyed its consent to be the `Partner Country` at the prestigious Hannover Fair in Germany to be held from April 12 – 17, 2015. By accepting the invitation of German Chancellor Ms. Angela Merkel for India to be the Partner Country at Hannover Messe 2015, the Government has sent strong signals to the industry about strengthening global trade and inviting investment into India. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is expected to be present at the world renowned engineering and technology fair beginning April 12. The Department of Commerce has mandated Engineering Export Promotion Council India as the lead agency supported by India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF) along with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) as the other agencies for Indian participation in the fair. The Hannover Fair attracts nearly two lakh global leaders in business, technology, industrial scientists and policy makers. About 300 Indian companies including public sector giants would be participating in the five day fair, seeking technology collaborations, business tie-ups and showcasing India’s capabilities in global trade. India had been the Partner Country at the Hannover Messe in 2006. With USD 21 billion bilateral trade, Germany is India’s sixth largest trading partner with engagement in the areas of mechanical engineering, automobiles, chemicals, services, nuclear reactors, construction etc. Garments and textile products, chemical products, leather & leather goods, iron, steel and metal goods, electronic components, electrical components, pharmaceutical products, and auto components are major items of exports from India to Germany. The key German exports to India include electrical generation equipment, auto equipment, complete fabrication plants, bearings, gear equipment, measurement and control equipment, primary chemical products, synthetic material, machine tools, aircrafts and iron and steel sheets, etc. The Government is seeing the participation in the fair as an opportunity to increase its global presence in commodities & services, apart from utilizing the event for attracting investments into India as part of the ‘Make in India’ campaign of the Prime Minister. The Department of Commerce is in the process of getting in touch with all key Departments in the Central Government as also leaders of Indian business establishments, seeking their participation and co-operation in making the event a grand success.

Himalayan glaciers losing ice by thinning

The response of the Himalayan glaciers to climate change is very puzzling in many ways. Despite being subjected to similar climate changes, some of these glaciers appear to be stagnant as their fronts (or mouths) appear to be stationary. However, appearances can be deceptive and these glaciers are in one stage of development where they are losing ice by thinning, as revealed by a study published in the Journal of Glaciology.

The paper is authored by Argha Banerjee, now at IISER, Kolkata, and R. Shankar of the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai.

Three aspects of the puzzle are interesting: First, despite experiencing similar climatic changes, such as warming, many glaciers appear not to be retreating — in other words, they appear to be stagnant.

Second, there is a marked difference between the average behaviour of extensively debris-covered glaciers and sparsely debris-covered glaciers. Third, there is a large variation in the retreat rates of the “fronts” of glaciers, which is the point where the glacier begins.

“Selecting the problem to analyse was perhaps the most challenging aspect of the study,” says Prof. Shankar. Of the several variables connected with ice loss, a careful study by the researchers indicated that debris cover played a significant role. For instance, of the 128 glaciers with sparse debris cover, only 18 per cent are stationary/advancing and 82 per cent are known to be retreating. In the case of the glaciers with extensive debris cover, as much as 48 per cent are stationary/advancing while only 52 per cent are retreating.

This is all the more puzzling as the two types of glaciers are not geographically separated and do experience similar climates.

“They [the extensively debris-covered glaciers] respond differently from the bare glaciers. They tend to thin and then retreat. So their retreat rate alone may not indicate the ice-volume loss,” he adds.

The group’s numerical investigations reveal that the extensively debris-covered glaciers contain two significant time scales.

During the first period, which can last as long as a century, these glaciers maintain a stationary front while the shape changes and ice is lost by thinning. After this period, it starts to retreat.

The study thus helped in reclassifying the glaciers with extensive debris cover as retreating despite the front appearing stationary. As a result, the fraction of shrinking debris-covered glaciers shot up to 73 per cent.

Thus the percentage of glaciers that are retreating was nearly the same immaterial of whether they were extensively debris covered or sparsely covered.

The group has also obtained the warming rate in the Himalayas from the bare glacier retreat data.

“The glaciated regions in the past 40-50 years experienced an average warming rate roughly the same as the global average warming rate, but with a wide variability,” says Prof. Shankar, referring to local differences in warming rate.

Xi to announce new route for Mansarovar

It will be via Sikkim, rather than Uttarakhand.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will announce the opening of a new and more convenient route for pilgrims to Mansarovar and Mount Kailash via Sikkim, rather than Uttarakhand, in Delhi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his interest in the new route to Mr. Xi during their meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Fortaleza, Brazil, in July.

The new route will now traverse through the city of Shigatse to the pilgrimage spot situated at a height of 19,500 feet, part of the Tibetan Autonomous Region.

The route has a better highway owing to the infrastructure development there.

The decision is a significant gesture for the pilgrims. The annual pilgrimage takes place by an arrangement with the External Affairs Ministry. Tour operators take pilgrims through the Nepal route.

The earlier route through Uttarakhand and the Lipu Lekh pass was damaged in the flash floods last year that brought the number of “official” pilgrims to just 51. Beijing’s decision to open the new route will particularly help older pilgrims who will be able to drive up to the pilgrimage destinations instead of walking or using mules. Shigatse is connected to Lhasa by a high-altitude railway line, which was inaugurated in August.

Though India has been demanding the new route for the past few years, it was discussed only during a meeting of the working group on India-China border affairs in Beijing in April.

The gesture has political significance given China’s sensitivities over Tibet, and denotes a new confidence in opening up parts of the region to people from outside.

An official clarified that the new route would not in any way prejudice either country’s current position on the border dispute.

Finance to 5 Lakh Joint Farming Groups of “Bhoomi Heen Kisan” through Nabard in the Current Financial Year

Finance to 5 Lakh Joint Farming Groups of “Bhoomi Heen Kisan” through Nabard in the Current Financial Year 14 Crore Soil Health Cards to be Issued in Three Years Credit Support of Rs. 8 Lakh Crore to Agriculture During 2014-15 Targeted Rabi Conference 2014 Inaugurated

Shri Radha Mohan Singh, Agriculture Minister inaugurated the National Rabi Conference here today. In his inaugural speech Shri Singh proposed to provide finance to 5 lakh joint farming groups of “Bhoomi Heen Kisan” through NABARD in the current financial year. Minister said that, a very large number of landless farmers are unable to provide land title as guarantee, institutional finance is denied to them and they become vulnerable to money lenders’ usurious lending. Minister informed that in order to achieve the targeted growth of agriculture and allied sector at 4%, from the year 2014-15, various schemes of Ministry of Agriculture have been restructured into specific Missions/Programmes. The foodgrains production during 2013-14 as per Fourth Advance Estimates released on 14.8.2014 is estimated at 264.77 million tonnes against 257.13 million tonnes produced during 2012-13. The credit for increased level of foodgrains production goes to the hard work of our farmers. Shri Singh said that cotton, jute and sugarcane are amongst the main cash crops in India and during the year 2014-15 the Government of India has approved implementation of Crop Development Programme under the NFSM (Commercial Crops) by following Cropping System Approach to encourage farmers to improve productivity of these crops. This would be possible through use of proper crop rotation, multiple cropping systems, intercropping, etc. Shri Singh informed that deteriorating soil health has been a cause of concern and leads to sub-optimal utilization of farming resources. Government has, therefore, formulated a Mission to provide every farmer with Soil Health Card. Issue of 3 crore Soil Health Cards in the current year, 5.50 crore Soil Health Cards in year 2015-16 and 5.50 crore Soil Health Cards in year 2016-17 is targeted. Besides, 100 Mobile Soil Testing Laboratories (MSTLs) will also be set up in year 2014-15. Minister further said that there have also been growing concerns about the imbalance in the utilization of different types of fertilizers resulting in deterioration of the soil. Ministry has framed guidelines under Bhartiya Paramparagat Krishi Vikash Pariyojana to promote organic farming and to develop potential markets for organic products. Aim of the project is to maximize the utilization of natural resources through eco-friendly cultivation. Shri Singh also informed that National Agroforestry Policy, 2014 has been approved and it has been decided to take up Plantation of trees on farm bunds in all the developmental programmes of Deptt. of Agriculture & Cooperation, and Government of India to take this Policy forward. He further said that National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) envisages Integrated Farming System (IFS) in which activities like horticulture, livestock, fishery, agroforestry, value addition are to be taken up along with crops/cropping system. Minister said that for Horticulture Development innovative project CHAMAN envisages use of remote sensing to assess production and area of horticulture crops. Further, Under the Indo-Dutch collaborative project, Centres of Excellence have been approved in Jalandhar (Punjab), Baramati (Maharashra) and Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala), wherein dissemination of modern technology for growing fruits and vegetables, awareness generation will be taken up. In order to make available fruits and vegetables at reasonable rates to consumers in Delhi, Kisan Mandi is in the process of being established. In the meanwhile direct sale of fruits and vegetables by Farmer Producer Organisations (FPO) has also been started. Minister also said that Union Finance Minister in his Budget Speech, 2014-15 has rightly proposed to make farming competitive and profitable by stepping up of investment, both public and private, in agro-technology development and creation and modernization of existing agri-business infrastructure. Government has decided to establish two new institutions of excellence in Assam and Jharkhand with an initial grant of Rs.100 crore in the current financial year. In addition, an amount of Rs.100 crore has also been provided for setting up an “Agri-Tech Infrastructure Fund”. Further, it is also proposed to establish Agriculture Universities in Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan and Horticulture Universities in Telangana and Haryana for which an initial grant of Rs.200 crore has been allocated during 2014-15. Shri Singh said that Crop insurance schemes presently under operation suffers from several deficiencies and operational difficulties. Suggestions have been sought from Chief Ministers of all the states/UTs in this regard. Suggestions have already been received from some States. The matter has also been discussed in the recently held meeting with the concerned officials of the States. It is proposed to roll out new crop insurance scheme for ensuring the production, productivity and income risk faced by the farmers. Minister informed that Banks are providing strong credit support to the agriculture sector. A target of Rs.8 lakh crore has been set for agriculture credit during 2014-15. Further, under the Interest Subvention Scheme for short term crop loans, the banks are extending loans to farmers at a concessional rate of 7%. The farmers get a further incentive of 3% for timely repayment. Shri Singh hopes that with concerted efforts, we would be able to achieve the target of additional production of 25 million tonnes of foodgrains envisaged during the 12th Five Year Plan Period. Earlier highlighting the monsoon pattern and interventions by Government, Minister said that ‘this year India faced the challenges posed by delayed and aberrant monsoon with ‘deficient’ rainfall and in the wake of shortfall in sowing of major crops during Kharif Government took a series of interventions through implementation of Diesel Subsidy Scheme; enhancement of ceiling on seed subsidy; implementation of drought mitigating interventions on perennial horticulture crops under Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) with an allocation of Rs.700 crore; implementation of Additional Fodder Development Programme (AFDP) with an allocation of Rs.100 crore as a sub-scheme of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) for ensuring availability of fodder; waiver of duty on import of de-oiled soya extract, groundnut oil cake, sunflower oil cake, canola oil meal, mustard oil cake, rice bran and palm kernel cake to increase availability of feed ingredients. Further, to deal with the situation arising out of weak monsoon/deficient rainfall, Central Research Institute of Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), in collaboration with State Agricultural Universities and State Governments, had prepared crop contingency plans for 565 districts of the country’. Minister expressed hope that Rabi Conference 2014 would provide a platform for discussion, deliberation and sharing of experiences in charting the course of action in the ensuing Rabi Season. Secretaries in the Ministry of Agriculture (Shri Ashish Bahuguna, Shri Anup Thakur, Dr. Ayyappan); other officials of the Ministry and Agriculture Production Commissioners, Principal Secretaries, Secretaries, Commissioners, other officials of Agriculture and allied departments of various States and UT Governments were also present on the occasion.