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11 March 2016

Ganga Gram Yojana

Status of Development of National Waterways -3

Kottapuram- Kollam stretch of West Coast canal (168 km) along with Champakara canal (14 km) and Udyogmandal canal (23 km) (totalling 205 km) were declared as National Waterway-3 (NW-3) on February 1, 1993. The present status of development of NW-3 is given below:

(i) Navigable Channel

Navigable channel of minimum 38 meters bottom width in wider sections and 32 meters bottom width in narrow sections with minimum 2 meters depth has been developed and maintained in entire NW-3 except a small portion of 3.25 km where width is 12 meters.

(ii)Aids for 24 hours Navigation

The entire NW-3 in Kerala has been provided with navigation aids to facilitate 24 hours navigation.

(iii) Cargo handling terminals

Cargo terminals have been set up at eight locations with safe berthing arrangement for inland vessels, storage go-downs, cargo handling equipment. These locations areKottapuram, Aluva Maradu(Kochi), Vaikkom, Cherthala (Thanneermukkom) Thrikkunnapuzha, Kayamkulam (Ayiramthengu) and Kollam. Construction is nearing completion at the ninth terminal at Alappuzha. In addition, for decongesting the Kochi city by providing an alternate transport route to International Container Transhipment Terminal (ICTT), a pair of Ro-Ro terminals at Willingdon Island and Bolghatty have been provided.

As per the study conducted for extension of West Coast Canal (National Waterway-3) by M/s NATPAC, the viable stretch between Kottapuram to Kozhikode has been included for declaration as an extension of National Waterway-3 in the National Waterways Bill, 2015. The Bill has already been passed by the Lok Sabha in the Winter Session, 2015 and is expected to be taken up for consideration by Rajya Sabha during the Budget Session, 2016.

Ganga Gram Yojana

Under the “Namami Gange” Programme, the government plans to develop the villages located along the main stem of river Ganga which have historic, cultural, and religious and/or tourist importance. Works related to Ganga Grams will encompass comprehensive rural sanitation, development of water bodies and river ghats, construction/ modernization of crematoria etc. The main objectives of developing Ganga Gram (Model Village) is:-

• Make the village open defecation free

• Abate direct discharge of untreated liquid wastewater from such villages into river Ganga

• Facilitate adequate infrastructure for crematoria

• Develop proper solid waste disposal facilities in order to avoid any pollution to river Ganga

• Promote better sanitation practices in the villages through IEC activities.

Based on the recommendations of the concerned local authorities, 206 villages having historic, cultural, tourist and/or religious importance have been selected in the first phase. This includes all 78 villages in Sahebganj district, Jharkhand and 128 villages from Uttarakhand, UP, West Bengal and Bihar (Uttarakhand-4, West Bengal-58, Uttar Pradesh-53, and Bihar-13).

Government of Jharkhand, in association with UNDP, has prepared a comprehensive plan for 78 villages in Sahebganj district, which is under active consideration of NMCG. Preliminary base line survey has been completed in 38 other villages and a comprehensive sanitation plan is under preparation. After the initial development of “Ganga Gram”, this model would be replicated in other villages located along the main stream of river Ganga.

As per the approved cabinet note of Namami Gange, a provision of Rs.1750 Crores has been kept for rural sanitation scheme contemplated for improving sanitation and civic amenities in identified villages on the banks of River Ganga and to develop them as ‘Ganga Grams”.

North East Centre for Technology Application and Research (Nectar) Implementing Several Projects Sucessfully

The North East Centre for Technology Application and Research (NECTAR) set up in 2012 as an autonomous society under Department of Science and Technology to assist the North-Eastern region of the country is ensuring applications of appropriate technologies for development in the areas of biodiversity, watershed management, telemedicine, horticulture, infrastructure planning and development, planning and monitoring, tele-schooling using cutting edge MESHNET solutions, employment generation, etc. through utilization of local products/resources and resulting in associated skill development.

This was stated by Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan in a written reply in Lok Sabha yesterday.

With financial assistance from the Government of India and also from the State Governments, the Centre has developed and showcased many appropriate technologies for the region and proved their efficacy in real life. The Government of Meghalaya has also allotted 5 acres of land for setting up the office of NECTAR in the New Shillong area. The Cabinet approved the merger of National Mission on Bamboo Applications (NMBA) and the Mission for Geo Spatial Applications (MGA) along with their assets and liabilities into the Centre. The talent pools available with these missions helped kick start the activities of NECTAR.

Targets set by NECTAR consist of projects in the following areas:

· Projects that secure safety and security of people;

· Projects that contribute to Urban Management and Urban Civic Services (CCTV based surveillance systems/traffic management technology), Radio networks, 3-D terrain models, etc.;

· Projects that enable critical, reliable communication at high bandwidth and employing high speeds

· Tele-medicine and E-education meshnets.

· Projects that enable mapping of scarce and critical natural resources like water, forests, public utilities, etc. using 3-D GIS platform at a very high resolution;

· Wide-ranging training and technology projects in areas of bamboo applications across the entire value chain from bamboo growth, primary processing to modern applications and products;

· Income and livelihood programmes in agriculture, horticulture and agri-processing;

· Training and skills development programmes in rural and backward regions.

NECTAR has, in the last three years, developed and implemented a large number of such technology projects. The achievements, in brief, are as follows:

Steps Taken to Improve Standard of Primary and Secondary Schools

Department of School Education and Literacy has two centrally sponsored schemes viz. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) to assist States in universalization of elementary education and the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) for universal access to secondary education.

The Central Government through SSA, supports States/UTs on early grade reading, writing & comprehension, and early Mathematics programmes through a sub-programme namely ‘Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat’ (PBBB) in classes I and II. Further the Government has launched Rashtriya Aavishkar Abhiyan (RAA) programme on 09.07.2015, inter alia, as a sub-component of SSA and RMSA, to motivate and engage children of the age group from 6-18 years in Science, Mathematics and Technology through observation, experimentation, inference drawing, model building, etc. both through inside and outside classroom activities.

Additionally, under SSA, the State Governments and UT Administrations are supported on several interventions to improve teaching standards, including regular in-service teachers’ training, induction training for newly recruited teachers, training of all untrained teachers to acquire professional qualifications through Open Distance Learning (ODL) mode, recruitment of additional teachers for improving pupil-teacher ratios, academic support for teachers through block and cluster resource centres, continuous and comprehensive evaluation system to equip the teacher to measure pupil performance and provide remedial action wherever required, and teacher and school grants for development of appropriate teaching-learning materials, etc.

The Central Government has launched the ‘Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya National Mission on Teachers and Teaching’ in December, 2014 with a vision to comprehensively address all issues related to teachers, teaching, teacher preparation, professional development, curriculum design, research in pedagogy and developing effective pedagogy.

The NCERT has developed Performance Indicators for Elementary Education (PINDICS) to track teacher performance and attendance in Government schools. PINDICS have been shared with State Governments/UTs to assess teacher’s performance.

In the recent Meeting of Education Ministers on Teachers’ Education held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi on 8.2.2016 several steps for improvement of the quality of education were discussed. These include; internship for Teacher Education Programmes in Government Schools; development of an accreditation framework for Teacher Education Institutions and volunteerism involving retired teachers.

In order to provide quality education to students at the secondary level, various interventions are funded under the RMSA. These include provisions for: (i) additional teachers to improve Pupil Teacher Ratio, (ii) induction and in-service training for Principals, Teachers, Master Trainers and Key Resource Persons, (iii) Maths and Science kits, (iv) Lab equipments, (v) Special teaching for learning enhancement, (vi) ICT facilities in schools, (vii) introduction of vocational education component at the secondary level.

Further, for improving the quality of school education, the School Standards & Evaluation framework, known as ‘Shaala Siddhi’ has been developed by National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA), to enable schools to evaluate their performance in a more focused and strategic manner and to facilitate them to make professional judgments for improvement.

Under SSA programme, approval was given to projects worth Rs. 37516.71 crore & Rs. 48693.52 crore during 2014-15 & 2015-16 respectively for improving the quality. Further, amounts of Rs. 456.00 crore & Rs. 525.00 crore have been approved for Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat during the same period.

This information was given by the Union Human Resource Development Minister, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani today in a written reply to a Rajya Sabha question.

Restructuring of Curriculum in Higher Education

India is one of the youngest nations in the world with more than 62% of its population in the working age group (15-59 years), and more than 54% of its total population below 25 years of age. A skill gap study conducted by National Skill Development Corporation over 2010-2014, indicates that there is an additional net incremental requirement of 109.73 million skilled manpower by 2022 in twenty-four key sectors.

As per the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2014-15(Provisional), the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in Higher Education is 23.6% which in absolute figures is 33.3 million. The GER target is 25.2% at the end of Twelfth Five Year Plan in 2017 and 30% by 2020. As per AISHE 2014-2015 (P), the data of enrolled students for various streams are as follows: Ph. D- 112456, M. Phil- 32371, PG- 3578587, UG- 24257984, PG Diploma- 160244, Diploma- 559541, Certificate- 91810 and Integrated programmes – 131736. Further, enrollment in stand-alone institutions indicates: Polytechnics- 1391775, PGDM- 30500, Nursing- 146704, Teacher Training- 246795 and within Institutions under Ministries- 17752.

During the 12^th Plan period, though the thrust is on consolidation of higher education, several new Central Universities, Indian Institutes of Management, Indian Institutes of Technology, National Institutes of Technology, Polytechnics and other Institutions of Higher learning have been established. A new scheme ‘Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA)’ has been launched which aims to assist States to open new institutions, consolidate old ones and take appropriate steps to achieve the aims of equity, access and excellence.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) is providing General Development Assistance (GDA) to Universities and Colleges declared fit to receive grants under section 12B of the UGC Act, 1956. This assistance is provided to these institutions for their overall development covering aspects like enhancing access, ensuring equity, etc.

Since ‘Education’ is a Concurrent subject, State Governments are also taking various initiatives to increase access to higher education in the States. Besides, Private Universities/Institutions are also catering to the educational aspirations of the youth.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has initiated several steps to include innovation and improvement in course- curricula, introduction of paradigm shift in learning and teaching pedagogy, examination and education system. With a view to allow the flexibility in education system, so that students depending upon their interests and aims can choose interdisciplinary, intra-disciplinary and skill-based courses, choice based credit system (CBCS), is adopted. The choice based credit system not only offers opportunities and avenues to learn core subjects but also explore additional avenues of learning beyond the core subjects for holistic development. The UGC has prepared mainline and specialised model syllabi for undergraduate programmes and made it available to the universities to facilitate the implementation of CBCS.

All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has constituted various Academic Boards for Engineering/ Management/ Pharmacy/ Architecture programmes consisting of eminent educationists for restructuring the curriculum for all AICTE approved institutions, as per the need of industry/academia. Based on the recommendations of these Academic Boards, AICTE has designed “Model Curriculum” for PG/UG and Diploma programmes in Engineering/Technology, Pharmacy, Architecture, Management and Hotel Management & Catering Technology, which is available at AICTE web-portal link http://www.aicte-india.org/modelsyllabus.php.

The Government is in the process of framing a New Education Policy (NEP) for meeting the changing dynamics of the population’s requirement with regard to quality education, innovation and research, aiming to make India a knowledge superpower by equipping its students with the necessary skills and knowledge and to eliminate the shortage of manpower in science, technology, academics and industry, for which it has carried out nearly a year-long consultations, which included online, grassroots and national level thematic deliberations on 33 identified themes.

Three themes under Higher Education are relevant to policy initiative for restructuring of the curriculum. The theme “Integrating skill development in higher education” on integrating skills within the higher education; theme “Linking higher education to society” regarding re-establishing and strengthening of higher education’s close linkages with the society and the theme “New Knowledge” relating to higher education institutions identifying the new domains of knowledge in the global scenario.

The Government of India has constituted a Committee for Evolution of the New Education Policy whichconsists of Shri T.S.R. Subramanian, Former Cabinet Secretary as the Chairman and Smt. Shailaja Chandra, former Chief Secretary, NCT of Delhi, Shri Sevaram Sharma, former Home Secretary, NCT of Delhi, Shri Sudhir Mankad, former Chief Secretary, Gujarat & Prof. J.S. Rajput, former Director, NCERT as members. The Committee is expected to examine the outcome documents, recommendations and suggestions received and formulate a draft National Education Policy as well as a Framework for Action (FFA).

This information was given by the Union Human Resource Development Minister, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani today in a written reply to a Rajya Sabha question.

Rajya Sabha clears Real Estate Bill seeking to make consumer the king

Bill to foster a happy alliance between consumers and developers, says Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu

Notoriety in real estate sector needs to be ended to encourage investment flows, says the Minister

If telecom sector with a few operators has a regulator, real estate sector with over 76,000 companies needs one-Shri Naidu

Original Bill of 2013 undergoes substantial changes for the better

Rajya Sabha today approved the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill,2016 that seeks to protect the interests of the large number of aspiring house buyers while at the same time enhancing the credibility of construction industry by promoting transparency, accountability and efficiency in execution of projects. The Bill seeks to put in place an effective regulatory mechanism for orderly growth of the sector which is the second largest employer after agriculture.

Moving the Bill pending in Rajya Sabha since 2013 for further consideration and passing, Minister of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu stated that over the years the sector has acquired a degree of notoriety which needs to be addressed to enable enhanced flow of investments, for which the Government has announced several incentives in the Budget for 2016-17 and earlier.

Shri Naidu further said that consumer has become the king in telecom sectorfurther to introduction of a regulator. While there are only a few operators in telecom sector, a total of 76,044 companies are involved in real estate sector including 17,431 in Delhi, 17,010 in West Bengal, 11,160 in Maharashtra, 7,136 in Uttar Pradesh, 3,054 in Rajasthan, 3,004 in Tamil Nadu, 2,261 in Karnataka, 2,211 in Telangana, 2,121 in Haryana, 1,956 in Madhya Pradesh, 1,270 in Kerala, 1,202 in Punjab and 1,006 in Odisha.

Stating that real estate sector contributes about 9% GDP, the Minister informed the House that between 2011 and 2015, new projects in the range of 2,349 to 4,488 were launched every year amounting to a total of 17,526 projects with investment value of Rs.13.70 lakh cr in 27 cities including 15 state capitals. According to industry information, about 10 lakh buyers invest every year to own a house of their own.

Shri Naidu asserted that with so many operators in the sector and such huge investments at stake, regulating the real estate sector has become necessary in the interest of consumers and developers. He said: “Consumer shall be the king as in telecom sector and the developer obviously the queen. And there shall be a happy marriage between the two for both to live happily ever after and the Bill seeks to forge such a happy alliance for the benefit of real estate sector.”

The Minister said that several rounds of consultations were held with consumer and developer bodies, state governments and other stakeholders before and after introduction of the Bill in Rajya Sabha in 2013 and as a result, the Bill has undergone substantial changes benefitting the sector as a whole. Shri Naidu outlined the improvements made in the Bill of 2016 as follows:

1.The Government has gone beyond the recommendation of the Select Committee and now requiring developers to deposit 70% of the collections form buyers in a separate accounts towards the cost of construction including that of land as against a minimum of 50% suggested by the Select Committee;

2. Norms for registration of projects has been brought down to plot area of 500 sq.mts or 8 apartments as against 4,000 sq.mt proposed in the draft Bill in 2013 and 1,000 sq.mts or 12 apartments suggested by the Standing Committee;

3. Commercial real estate also brought under the ambit of the Bill and projects under construction are also required to be registered with the Regulatory Authority. About 17,000 projects are reported to be at various stages of development;

4.Capret area has been clearly defined which forms the basis for purchase of houses, eliminating any scope for any malpractices in transactions

5.Ending the earlier asymmetry which was in favour of developers, both consumers and developers will now have to pay same interest rate for any delays on their part;

6.Liability of developers for structural defects have been increased from 2 to 5 years and they can’t change plans without the consent of two thirds of allottees;

7.The Bill provides for arranging Insurance of Land title, currently not available in the market which benefits both the consumers and developers if land titles are later found to be defective;

8.Specific and reduced time frames have been prescribed for disposal of complaints by the Appellate Tribunals and Regulatory Authorities; and

9.A provision is now made for imprisonment of up to 3 years for developers and up to one year in case of real estate agents and consumers for any violation of Tribunals and Regulatory Authorities.

The Bill requires project promoters to register their projects with the Regulatory Authorities disclosing project information including details of promoter, project including schedule of implementation, lay out plan, land status, status of approvals, agreements along with details of real estate agents, contractors, architects, structural engineers etc. Shri Naidu said that this enables transparent, accountable and timely execution of projects.

The Minister further said that the Real Estate Bill,2016 enables the people meet their genuine aspirations of owning a house including those of urban poor by giving a fillip to affordable housing initiative under which the Government intends to enable construction of 2 crore by the year 2022 under Prime Minister’s Awas Yojana (Urban).

Chronology of events leading to the passage of Real Estate Bill by Rajya Sabha:

-Ministry of Law & Justice suggested a Central Law for regulation of real estate sector in July, 2011;

-Union Cabinet approved the Real Estate Bill, 2013 on June 4,2013;

-Bill was introduced in Rajya Sabha on August 14, 2013;

-Bill was referred to the Department Related Standing Committee on September 23,2013;

-Report of the Standing Committee was tabled in Rajya Sabha on February 13 and in Lok Sabha on February 17,2014;

-Attorney General upheld validity of central legislation for real estate sector on February 9,2015;

-Union Cabinet approved Official Amendments based on the recommendations of the Standing Committee on April 7,2015;

-Bill of 2013 and Official Amendments referred to the Select Committee of Rajya Sabha on May 6, 2015;

-Select Committee tables its report along with the Bill of 2015 on July 30,2015;

-Real Estate Bill, 2015 was approved by the Union Cabinet on December 9, 2015;

-Bill,2015 was listed for consideration and passing in Rajya Sabha on 22^nd and 23^rd December, 2015 but could not be taken up; and

-The Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Bill, 2016 passed by Rajya Sabha on March 10,2016.

AAR

Satellites of other Countries Launched by ISRO

During the last three years starting from January 2013 until December 2015, a total of 28 International customer satellites belonging to 9 countries were launched viz. Austria (2), Canada (5), Denmark (1), France (1), Germany (1), Indonesia (1), Singapore (7), UK (6), USA (4). These satellites were launched onboard India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) under the commercial arrangement entered into between Antrix Corporation Limited (Antrix), the commercial arm of ISRO and the international customer.

Antrix has earned revenue of 80.6 Million Euros through launching of these 28 international customer satellites. The Cryogenic Rocket Development Programme is funded by the Government.

FOREIGN SATELLITES LAUNCHED DURING LAST THREE YEARS
S. N.	Satellite Name	Country	Date of Launch
1.	SAPPHIRE	Canada	25-02-2013
2.	NEOSSAT	Canada	25-02-2013
3.	NLS-8.1	Austria	25-02-2013
4.	NLS-8.2	Austria	25-02-2013
5.	NLS-8.3	Denmark	25-02-2013
6.	STRAND-1	United Kingdom	25-02-2013
7.	SPOT-7	France	30-06-2014
8.	AISAT	Germany	30-06-2014
9.	NLS 7.1	Canada	30-06-2014
10.	NLS 7.2	Canada	30-06-2014
11.	VELOX-1	Singapore	30-06-2014
12.	DMC-3/1	United Kingdom	10-07-2015
13.	DMC-3/2
14.	DMC-3/3
15.	Carbonite-1
16.	De-orbitsail
17.	LAPAN-A2	Indonesia	28-09-2015
18.	NLS-14	Canada	28-09-2015
19.	LEMUR-1	USA	28-09-2015
20.	LEMUR-2
21.	LEMUR-3
22.	LEMUR-4
23.	TeLEOS-1	Singapore	16-12-2015
24.	VELOX-C1
25.	KentRidge-1
26.	VELOX-II
27.	Athenoxat-1
28.	Galassia

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

PSLV-C32 successfully launches India's Sixth Navigation Satellite IRNSS-1F

In its thirty fourth flight, ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C32, successfully launched the 1,425 kg IRNSS-1F, the sixth satellite in the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) this afternoon from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota. This is the thirty third consecutively successful mission of PSLV and the twelfth in its 'XL' configuration.

After PSLV-C32 lift-off at 1601 hrs (4:01 pm) IST from the Second Launch Pad with the ignition of the first stage, the subsequent important flight events, namely, strap-on ignitions and separations, first stage separation, second stage ignition, heat-shield separation, second stage separation, third stage ignition and separation, fourth stage ignition and satellite injection, took place as planned. After a flight of 19 minutes 34 seconds, IRNSS-1F Satellite was injected to an elliptical orbit of 284 km X 20,719 km inclined at an angle of 17.866 degree to the equator (very close to the intended orbit) and successfully separated from the PSLV fourth stage. After separation, the solar panels of IRNSS-1F were deployed automatically. ISRO's Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan, Karnataka took over the control of the satellite.

In the coming days, four orbit manoeuvres will be conducted from MCF to position the satellite in the Geostationary Orbit at 32.5 deg East longitude.

IRNSS-1F is the sixth of the seven satellites constituting the space segment of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System. IRNSS-1A, 1B, 1C, ID and IE, the first five satellites of the constellation, were successfully launched by PSLV on July 02, 2013, April 04, 2014, October 16, 2014, March 28, 2015 and January 20, 2016 respectively. All the five satellites are functioning satisfactorily from their designated orbital positions.

IRNSS is an independent regional navigation satellite system designed to provide position information in the Indian region and 1,500 km around the Indian mainland. IRNSS would provide two types of services, namely, Standard Positioning Services (SPS) - provided to all users – and Restricted Services (RS), provided to authorised users.

A number of ground stations responsible for the generation and transmission of navigation parameters, satellite ranging and monitoring, etc., have been established in eighteen locations across the country.

IRNSS-1G, the remaining satellite of this constellation, is scheduled to be launched by PSLV in April 2016, thereby completing the IRNSS constellation.