Project ‘Mausam’ of M/O Culture aims to explore Multi-Faceted Indian Ocean ‘World’

Project ‘Mausam’ of M/O Culture aims to explore Multi-Faceted Indian Ocean ‘World’

Project ‘Mausam’ is the initiative of Ministry of Culture which is to be implemented by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) as the nodal agency with research support of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) and National Museum as associate bodies. This project aims to explore the multi-faceted Indian Ocean ‘world’ – collating archaeological and historical research in order to document the diversity of cultural, commercial and religious interactions in the Indian Ocean – extending from East Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, the Indian Subcontinent and Sri Lanka to the Southeast Asian archipelago.

It also aims to promote research on themes related to the study of Maritime Routes through international scientific seminars and meeting and by adopting a multidisciplinary approach. It aims to encourage the production of specialized works, as well as publications for the general public with an attempt at promoting a broader understanding of the concept of a common heritage and multiple identities.

Project ‘Mausam’ is not aimed to counter China’s Silk Route strategy. Instead it focuses on monsoon patterns, cultural context, maritime trade routes and coastal landscapes and examines key processes and phenomena that link different countries along the Indian Ocean littoral as well as those that connect the coastal centers to their hinterlands.

Project ‘Mausam’ was launched in the 38th Session of World Heritage Committee meeting which was held at Doha, Qatar in June, 2014. Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in collaboration with State Govt. of Kerela organized a National Conference on Project ‘Mausam’ in Kochi in November, 2014. Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) has constituted an Academic Committee and is organizing lecture series. 

Setting up of Centres of National School of Drama

Setting up of Centres of National School of Drama

On the basis of the recommendations made by the Broad Based Committee for opening up of 5 regional centres across the country, NSD Society proposed to establish 5 regional centres one each at Kolkata, Mumbai/Goa, J&K, North-East beside upgrading the existing Regional Resource Centre (RRC), Bengaluru to a full-fledged regional centre. These regional centres were to be established in consultation with the concerned State Governments, who were required to provide accommodation for the purpose. Only the Government of Karnataka has allotted land for the purpose at Bengaluru. NSD has started one year teaching training programme in the Bengaluru Chapter commencing from academic session 2014-15. In addition, under consolidation of Out-reach Programme in the North-East Region, NSD has opened its Centres in Sikkim and Tripura. 

Standards certification for products and services concerning health, safety, and environment to be made mandatory

Standards certification for products and services concerning health, safety, and environment to be made mandatory

New BIS Bill provides compensation to the consumers if the goods and services do not conform to the standards

Self-declaration of conformity of the Standards introduced along with stringent penalty provisions for violation for ease of doing business

Bureau of Indian Standards Bill, 2016 passed by the Parliament yesterday, is a major step forward in ensuring high quality products and services in the country. The provisions in new Bureau of Indian Standards Bill, will promote a culture of quality of products and services through mandatory certification and also through voluntary compliance of Indian standards. The Bill was passed by Rajya Sabha yesterday after getting the nod of Lok Sabha on 3rd December, 2015. Some of the salient features of the bill are:

• The Bill empowers the Government to bring any article, process or service, which it considers necessary from point of view of health, safety, environment, prevention of deceptive practices, security etc, under the mandatory certification regime.  This will help consumers to get quality products and will also help in preventing import of sub-standard products;
• In order to supplement ease of doing business by limiting unnecessary field inspections, the Bill has provisions for self-declaration of conformity of the Indian Standards for certain categories. Simultaneously stringent penalty provisions have been made for violation of compliance to the standards which include imprisonment up to two years or with fine up to ten times of the value of goods produced or sold, or with both.
• As per provisions of the bill, BIS can now order recall of products, not confirming to the standards, in addition to cancellation of the license of the manufacturer.
•  BIS can also order compensation to the consumers in case goods and services do not conform to the standards.
• The Bill empowers the Government to implement mandatory hallmarking of precious metal articles such as Gold and Silver.
•  As the service sector in the country has grown and now become major part of the economy, so to ensure quality of kea services such as health services, education services now services and systems have also been included under the standardization regime in addition to articles and processes.
•  The Bill positions the Bureau of Indian Standards as the National Standards Body.

Identification of States that will Lead NIMZ Project

Identification of States that will Lead NIMZ Project

Eight Investment Regions along the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project have been announced as NIMZs:-

i.                     Ahmedabad-Dholera Investment Region, Gujarat

ii.                  Shendra-Bidkin Industrial Park city near Aurangabad, Maharashtra

iii.                Manesar-Bawal Investment Region, Haryana

iv.                Khushkhera-Bhiwadi-Neemrana Investment Region, Rajasthan

v.                  Pithampur-Dhar-Mhow Investment Region, Madhya Pradesh

vi.                Dadri-Noida-Ghaziabad Investment Region, Uttar Pradesh

vii.              Dighi Port Industrial Area, Maharashtra ; and

viii.            Jodhpur-Pali-Marwar Region in Rajasthan

Fourteen NIMZs outside the DMIC region have also been given in-principle approval (i) Nagpur in Maharashtra (ii) Prakasam in Andhra Pradesh (iii) Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh (iv) Medak in Telangana (v)Hyderabad Pharma NIMZ in Rangareddy and Mahbubnagar Distts., Telangana (vi) Tumkur in Karnataka (vii) Kolar in Karnataka (viii) Bidar in Karnataka (ix) Gulbarga in Karnataka (x) Kalinganagar, Jajpur District in Odisha (xi) Ramanathapuram District of Tamil Nadu (xii) Ponneri Taluk, Thiruvallur District, Tamil Nadu (xiii) Auraiya District in Uttar Pradesh; and (xiv) Jhansi District in Uttar Pradesh.

Out of these NIMZs, the NIMZs at (i) Prakasam in Andhra Pradesh and (ii) Medak in Telangana have been granted final approval.

            The National Investment & Manufacturing Zones (NIMZs) are conceptualized as integrated industrial townships with all important elements necessary to help the growth of manufacturing, e.g. state-of-the-art infrastructure; clean and energy efficient technology; simplified business regulations; and the necessary social and institutional infrastructure.

Central Government Notified the Maximum Sale Price of Bt Cotton Seed

Fix a Uniform Price of Bt Cotton Seed Across the Country for the Benefit of Farmers-Radha Mohan Singh

Central Government Notified the Maximum Sale Price of Bt Cotton Seed

Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Shri Radha Mohan Singh today said that “As there was no uniformity in pricing of Bt cotton seeds across the country, the central government has recently intervened and issued a Cotton Seed Price (Control) Order, 2015, to fix a uniform price of Bt cotton seed across the states in the country for the benefit of farmers,"

The Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister said that both the public and private sectors have a role in the supply of quality seeds, including Bt cotton, to farmers. The licensing of Bt cotton seeds by Mahyco Monsanto to 50 companies is an example of the private sector's role in the production and supply of such seeds. 

 Shri Singh said that "In order to safeguard the interests of the farming community, this department issued the Cotton Seed Price (Control) Order, 2015, under section 3 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, to regulate Bt cotton seed prices. "Some state governments had also passed legislations to ensure supply of Bt cotton seeds to farmers," Shri Singh added.

            Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister also said that  "based on the representations, this department also made a reference to the Competition Commission of India for investigation of dominance of MMBL and abuse of monopoly in Bt cotton technology so as to ensure competition in the market.
             Shri Singh said that as per the order, a nine-member committee was set up to recommend the maximum sale price of Bt cotton seeds after taking into consideration the seed value, licence fees including one-time and recurring royalty (trait value), trade margins and other taxes and government  today declared the maximum sale price of Bt. cotton seed packets9450grams of Bt. Cotton plus 120 grams refugia) for the financial year 2016-17 for the whole of India.

Sl. No.	Components	BG-I version of Bt. Cotton hybrid	BG-II version of Bt. Cotton hybrid
1	Seed Value (in rupees)	635	751
2	Trait value including taxes (in rupees)	0	49
	Maximum sale price (in rupees)	635	800

Opposition sees amendment through in Rajya Sabha, again

Opposition sees amendment through in Rajya Sabha, again

The opposition has successfully moved amendment to the “Motion of Thanks” to the President for his address.

• The opposition’s amendment was against the minimum educational qualification fixed for aspirants in local and panchayat elections in Haryana and Rajasthan polls, which was also a part of the President’s address.
• It should be noted here that such amendment has been moved for the 5^th time in Parliamentary history and 2^nd time in the tenure of this government.

What next?

Now, the motion of thanks on the President’s address will be sent back to the President with a mention of the amendment passed.

Criticisms:

However, the government has argued that the amendment was not right since it referred to an issue which was a state subject

What is “Motion of Thanks” and what it contains?

The President makes an address to a joint sitting of Parliament at the start of the Budget session, which is prepared by the government and lists its achievements. The President’s speech is a statement of the legislative and policy achievements of the government during the preceding year and gives a broad indication of the agenda for the year ahead. The address is followed by a motion of thanks moved in each House by ruling party MPs. During the session, political parties discuss the motion of thanks also suggesting amendments.

Amendments to the “Motion of Thanks”:

Notices of amendments to Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address can be tabled after the President has delivered his Address. Amendments may refer to matters contained in the Address as well as to matters, in the opinion of the member, the Address has failed to mention. Amendments can be moved to the Motion of Thanks in such form as may be considered appropriate by the Speaker.

Limitation:

The only limitations are that members cannot refer to matters which are not the direct responsibility of the Central Government and that the name of the President cannot be brought in during the debatesince the Government and not the President is responsible for the contents of the Address.

Provisions governing them:

President’s Address and Motion of Thanks are governed by Articles 86 (1) and 87 (1) of the Constitution and Rules 16 to 24 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha.

“Promoting Space Technology based tools and Applications in Governance & Development

Good Governance

A one day National Meet on “Promoting Space Technology based tools and Applications in Governance & Development” was organized on September 07, 2015 in New Delhi with the participation of Central Ministries/Departments and State Governments. Secretaries of 58 Ministries/ Departments have presented the action plans jointly prepared with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to enhance functional effectiveness, facilitate planning and decision making.

While addressing during the special session, the Prime Minister emphasized on the need for new initiatives for governance and development, using space technology applications.

Space technology is being used by various Ministries/Departments in planning, monitoring and evaluation of developmental activities in various sectors, which include agriculture, forestry & environment, water resources, urban planning, infrastructure development, asset mapping, mineral prospecting, ocean resources, meteorology, satellite communication, location based services, Tele-education, Tele-medicine and disaster management support.  Some of the important applications being carried out by the Ministries/Departments are given below:

Ministry/ Department	Application
M/o Agriculture & Farmers Welfare	·      Crop Acreage Estimation & Production Forecasting ·      Agricultural Drought Assessment ·      Inventory and Management of Horticulture crops
M/o Environment Forests & Climate Change	·      Biennial Forest Cover Mapping ·      Monitoring Snow & Glaciers  and Snow-Melt Runoff in Himalayan Region ·      Coastal Zone Monitoring
M/o Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation	·      Command Area Development and Assessment of Irrigation Potential ·      Repair, Renovation and Restoration of Water Bodies ·      Reservoir sedimentation assessment
M/o Urban Development	·      National Urban Information System ·      Enabling Master plan preparation for 500 cities / towns
M/o Culture	·      Inventory and site management plans for 4000 heritage enabling ease of business
M/o Drinking Water and Sanitation	·      Ground Water Prospects Zones and Suitable sites for constructing recharge structures
M/o Civil Aviation	·      Dedicated Satellite Communication Network (DSCN), linking several operational airports for exchange of voice and data for various services ·      GAGAN (GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation) for safety of life applications and en-route navigation
D/o Post	·      Geo-tagging of post offices ·      Postman beat maps
M/o Earth Sciences	·      Space derived inputs for operational weather forecast, tropical cyclone tracking & Ocean State Forecast ·      Potential Fishing Zone Advisory
M/o Petroleum & Natural Gas	·      Planning pipeline corridor
M/o Rural Development	·      Wasteland change monitoring ·      Monitoring & Evaluation of Watershed development
M/o Information and Broadcasting	·      Satellite based communication services for broadcasting
M/o Power	·      Environmental impact assessment of Power projects
M/o Panchayati Raj	·      Space Based Information Support for Decentralized Planning at Panchayat level ·      SATCOM centres at every block for training.
M/o Tribal Affairs	·      Potential Pond Identification for developing fish culture in village ponds. ·      Identifying sites for new ponds for harvesting runoff
D/o Health & Family Welfare	·      Telemedicine Centres at pilgrimage sites and remote areas

The steps taken by ISRO to further integrate space technologies with the working of the Government to enable good governance include:

i)           Formation of expert working groups in ISRO to have regular interaction with the departments

ii)         Preparation of joint action plan for short term & long term space technology applications

iii)       Conduct of Proof of Concept or Pilot projects

iv)       Development of customised tools and applications

v)         Institutionalisation of space applications and enabling formation of space technology cells in the Ministries / Departments

vi)       Capacity building of the officials of Ministries / Departments.