2014-An Year of Events for Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises

Year End Review 2014 M/o of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises                                                                    Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises has taken a number of initiatives during 2014 in its endeavour to create a working atmosphere for the industrial arena: BHEL, SECL, SSL, POWERGRID, SJVN AND REIL SIGNED HISTORIC MOU FOR ESTABLISHING A 4,000 MW ULTRA MEGA SOLAR POWER PROJECT IN RAJASTHAN  A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on 29th January, 2014 between BHEL, SECL, SSL, POWERGRID, SJVN AND REIL for establishing a 4,000 MW Ultra Mega Solar Power Project (UMSPP)  in Jaipur, close to Sambhar Lake near Rajasthan. It was signed in the presence of Shri Praful Patel and Dr. Farookh Abdullah the then Ministers for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises and Ministry  of New and Renewable Energy respectively and other dignitaries. Shri B. Prasada Rao, CMD, BHEL; Shri Rajendra Nimde, MD, SECI; Shri R.K. Tandon, CMD, SSL; Shri R.N. Nayak, CMD, Powergrid; Shri R.P. Singh, CMD, SJVN and Shri A.K. Jain, CMD, REIL, signed the MoU.  The plant will be set up in two phases over a period of 7 years with Phase-I comprising 1,000 MW and the balance 3,000 MW in subsequent phases. The JVC will be incorporated as a public limited company under DHI and will have at its registered office in Delhi/NCR.  Significantly, with the commissioning of this plant and commercial utilisation of the harvested energy therein, this would become the largest single location solar electricity generation project in the world.  PROVIDING GRANT TO HINDUSTAN PAPER CORPORATION FOR MEETINGS ADDITIONAL OPERATIONAL COSTS  The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 28th February, 2014 approved support of approximately Rs. 75 crore per annum on actual basis to Cachar Paper Mill (CPM), a unit of Hindustan Paper Corporation Limited (HPC) located in Panchgram, Hailakandi District, Assam as grant. This shall be to the extent of 90 percent of the transportation cost for meeting operational costs till such time that the gauge conversion of the Lumding-Silchar railway line is completed.  FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO HMT MACHINE TOOLS LIMITED  The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 28th February, 2014 approved financial assistance and other measures for HMT Machine Tools Limited (HMT MTL).    The total financial implication of the proposal in the form of non-plan loan was estimated be Rs. 136.04 crore.  An increase in turnover will bring back business of the company towards a positive growth.   Implementation of 1997 pay scale and increase in the retirement age would motivate the workforce. The company is expected to turnaround with the proposed infusion of funds at its head office in Bangalore and its manufacturing units located at Bangalore (Karnataka), Pinjore (Haryana), Kalamassery (Kerala), Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh) and Ajmer (Rajasthan). VRS PACKAGE FOR THE EMPLOYEES OF HINDUSTAN PHOTO FILMS MFG. COMPANY LIMITED  The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 28th February, 2014 approved the proposal for providing non-plan budgetary support of Rs. 181.54 crore for VRS at 2007 notional pay scales as one time relaxation of DPE Guidelines for all employees of Hindustan Photo Films Mfg. Co. Ltd. (HPF), Udhagamandalam (Tamil Nadu). This is a Central Public Sector Enterprise [CPSE] under the Department of Heavy Industry [DHI], Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises (HI&PE).  Employees of the company are in the 1987 pay scale. With the increased cost of living, it is very difficult for them to survive and meet their immediate financial obligations. With this decision employees will come out of their current financial crises. The enhanced VRS will also help HPF employees in their post retirement rehabilitation.  PROVIDING BUDGETARY SUPPORT FOR PAYMENT OF SALARY/WAGES AND STATUTORY DUES TO THE EMPLOYEES OF HMT LTD., BANGALORE AND STATUTORY DUES TO HMT MACHINE TOOLS LTD., BANGALORE  The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 20th February, 2014 approved budgetary support, in the form of Non-Plan loan of Rs.27.06 crore for payment of salary/wages and statutory dues to the employees of HMT Limited for the period from March, 2013 to September, 2013. The CCEA also approved Rs.50.34 crore to HMT Machine Tools Limited for payment of statutory dues (Provident Fund, Gratuity etc.) for the period from September, 2012 to March, 2013. HMT Limited and HMT Machine Tools Limited, a subsidiary of HMT Limited, are Central Public Sector Enterprises under the administrative control of the Department of Heavy Industry. SETTING UP OF JAGDISHPUR PAPER MILLS LIMITED AT JAGDISHPUR, DISTRICT AMETHI, UTTAR PRADESH  The Union Cabinet 12th February, 2014  gave its approval for setting up of Jagdishpur Paper Mills Limited (JPML), a green field pulp and paper project at Jagdishpur, District Amethi, Uttar Pradesh at a cost of Rs. 3650 crore. The project will be implemented in two phases. Jagsihpur Paper Mill Limited will venture into production of coated/uncoated printing and writing paper. It will reduce the gap between production and import of writing and printing paper as well as act as a check on prices. Apart from direct employment to 900 persons, indirect employment will also be generated which will spur gainful economic activities in the vicinity.  ANANT GEETE ASSUMED CHARGE OF THE MINISTRY OF HEAVY INDUSTRIES & PUBLIC ENTERPRISES Shri Anant Gangaram Geete assumed the charge of Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises here on 28thMay 2014. On his arrival at Udyog Bhawan the Minister was received by Shri Sutanu Behuria, Secretary of the Ministry and other senior officials.  Born on June 02, 1951 in Mumbai Shri Geete is an agriculturist and social worker by profession. Elected to the present Lok Sabha for the sixth consecutive term Shri Geete was Union Minister of State for Finance and Cabinet Minister for Power during 2002- 2004. He has visited Russia, UK, USA, UAE, France and Egypt.  RADHAKRISHNAN ASSUMED CHARGE AS MOS FOR HEAVY INDUSTRIES & PUBLIC ENTERPRISES  Shri P Radhakrishnan assumed the charge of Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises here on 28th May 2014. On his arrival at Udyog Bhawan the Minister was received by Shri Sutanu Behuria, Secretary of the Ministry and other senior officials.  Born on March 01, 1952 in District Kanyakumari (Tamilnadu) Shri Radhakrishnan has done BA, BL and is a lawyer by profession. Shri Radhakrishnan was first elected to 13th Lok Sabha in 1999 and held the portfolios of Union MoS for Youth Affairs & Sports, Urban Development and Poverty Elevation and Road Transport and Highways.  KAPIL DEV TRIPATHI TOOK CHARGE OF SECRETARY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC ENTERPRISES  Shri Kapil Dev Tripathi an IAS officer of 1980 batch of the Assam Meghalaya cadre took charge as the Secretary, Department of Public Enterprises, Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises on 30th September, 2014.  Shri Tripathi held various posts in Central Government as well as State Government. Before taking his present charge he was Secretary, Central Vigilance Commission, Department of Personnel and Training, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.  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, on 15th September, 2014 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 andEngineering Sector".  PAYMENT OF STATUTORY DUES, SALARY AND WAGES IN SICK/LOSS MAKING CPSES UNDER THE DEPARTMENT OF HEAVY INDUSTRY The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, on 10th September, 2014 approved the proposal for providing non-plan budgetary support of Rs. 287.67 crore for liquidation of statutory dues (Provident Fund, Gratuity, Pension, Employees State Insurance and Bonus) and salary and wages from 01-09-2013 to 31-03-2014 for eleven Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) under the Department of Heavy Industry.  These are:       Hindustan Cables Ltd.;  HMT Machine Tools Ltd.;  HMT (Watches) Ltd.; HMT (Chinar Watches) Ltd., Nagaland Pulp and Paper Co. Ltd.; Triveni Structural Ltd.; Tungbhadra Steel Products Ltd.;        Nepa Ltd.; HMT Bearings Ltd.; Hindustan Photo Films Limited, and; Heavy Engineering Corporation Ltd. Payment of outstanding dues of salary and wages would mitigate the hardships of the employees.  The payment would also motivate them for giving better output and prepare them to achieve the goal of revival/re-structuring of these companies. In addition, clearance of outstanding statutory dues would result in fulfilment of statutory obligations. CAPITAL GOODS SECTOR  A scheme on” Enhancement of Competitiveness in the Indian Capital Goods Sector” was notified on 5.11.2014.  The Scheme aims to make Indian capital goods industry globally competitive by strengthening technology development, providing common manufacturing infrastructure and extending financial assistance for technology acquisition.    The Scheme envisages Government Budgetary Support of Rs. 581.22 crore and Industry contribution of Rs. 349.74 crore.    The proposed Scheme has components consisting of infrastructural interventions as well as financial intervention to boost competitiveness of the domestic capital goods industry as under: Setting up of Five Centers of Excellence (CoE) at Indian Institutes of Technologies/ Central Manufacturing Technology Institute for Technology Development in different sub sectors of Capital Goods. Setting up of one Integrated Industrial Infrastructure Facility (IIIF). Setting up of two common Engineering Facility Centers. Setting up of Test and Certification Centre with full Government Support. Technology Acquisition Fund Programme for acquisition of technology. Detailed Guidelines of the Scheme including funding pattern are available on the website of the Department of Heavy Industry, Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises at http://dhi.nic.in. The scheme is likely to be implemented in five year. PRESIDENT GAVE AWAY SCOPE MERITORIOUS AWARDS TO PUBLIC SECTOR ENTERPRISES  The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee on 5th November, 2014 presented the Standing Conference of Public Enterprises (SCOPE) Meritorious Awards at a function held in Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.  The Winners of the SCOPE Meritorious Awards were SAIL,BPCL, Indian Oil, HAL, BEL, PFC, NSKFDC. The Commendation Certificates were awarded to OIL, WAPCOS, IRCON, REIL and THDC. The President also felicitated EIL, NBCC and CONCOR, the new Navratna CPSEs.  Speaking on the occasion, the President complimented SCOPE for its initiative in instituting the SCOPE Meritorious Awards with the objective of identifying and recognizing outstanding performers in various segments of business activity. He also complimented the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) and Standing Conference of Public Enterprises (SCOPE) for organizing the event which provides recognition to the efforts being made by CPSEs in a variety of areas such as Environmental Excellence & Sustainable Development; Corporate Governance; Corporate Social Responsibility & Responsiveness; Research and Development and Technology Development & Innovation.  SHRI G.M.SIDDHESHWARA TAKES OVER AS NEW MINISTER OF STATE FOR MINISTRY OF HEAVY INDUSTRIES & PUBLIC ENTERPRISES Shri G.M. Siddheshwara 0n 12th November, 2014 took over as new Minister of State for Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.       DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC ENTERPRISES ISSUED GUIDELINES ON CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) & SUSTAINABILITY – 2014 FOR CENTRAL PUBLIC SECTOR ENTERPRISES (CPSES) IN OCTOBER 2014  Department of Public Enterprises issued Guidelines on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) & Sustainability – 2014 for Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) in October 2014.  These Guidelines are issued to supplement the Companies (CSR Policy) Rules 2014 issued by Ministry of Corporate Affairs under the provisions of Companies Act, 2013.  The guidelines are intended to reinforce the complementarity of CSR and Sustainability and to advise the CPSEs not to overlook the larger objective of sustainable development in the conduct of business and in pursuit of CSR agenda. The guidelines are in the nature of initiatives or endeavour which the key stakeholders expect of CPSEs in discharging their CSR.   In the guidelines, the need for taking sustainability initiatives is emphasized in addition to requirement of mandatory compliance with CSR Rules.  (ii)   As per the mandate of DPE, Department of Public Enterprises does not implement schemes/programmes which directly impact the common people. However, the Department is implementing the Counseling, Retraining and Redeployment (CRR) Scheme to provide opportunities of redeployment through counseling and retraining to separated employees of CPSEs rendered surplus as a result of modernization, technology upgradation and manpower restructuring in CPSEs. The department, as a part of this scheme has trained 2136 VRS optees and redeployed 752 persons by the end of November, 2014. OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS MADE IN PAST SEVEN MONTHS Punctuality in attendance in the office – Installation of Aadhar based Biometric Attendance System.  169 employees of DHI are marking attendance on the Biometric System. Ensuring cleanliness on regular basis in the office.  Officer of the level of DS/Director are put on roaster duties for inspecting cleanliness in the premises/Sections/corridors on daily basis. Implementation of e-Office for official work.  All Sections have been covered. e-Leave has been made mandatory.  Re-designing of the Website of DHI to make it GIGW compliant as well as more interactive.  The re-designed version will be launched after security clearances.  Initiation of process for ISO 9001:2008 Certification for AEI, PE-XI and TSW(B) Sections.  The certifying agency has been invited for inspection.             A Scheme on “Enhancement of Competitiveness in the Indian Capital Goods Sector” notified on 5thNovember 2014 with a provision of Rs.930.96 crore out of which Rs.581.22 crore would be provided by GOI through grants-in-aid and remaining would be contributed by consortium of industries.  The scheme envisages creation of five Centres of Excellence, one Integrated Industrial Infrastructure Facility Park for Machine Tool, two Common Engineering Facilities Centres, one Testing and Certification Centre for Construction Equipment and Earthmoving Machinery and a Technology Acquisition programme.              R&D Project initiated for Advance Ultra Super Critical Technology through BHEL, NTPC, IGCAR.  It will increase fuel efficiency of Thermal Power Plants by 46% and achieve a reduction in coal consumption and CO2 emission by 11%.  The estimated cost of the project is Rs.1100 crore.  With this India will emerge as one of the primary developers of this technology. A Scheme for “Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles in India” prepared.  Its important components are – Demand and Supply Incentive, Public Charging Infrastructure, R&D and Pilot Projects.  The scheme envisages potential demand for 6-7 million hybrid/electric vehicles by 2020, anticipated fossil fuel saving of over Rs.60,000 crore, considerable CO2 reduction and additional job creation of 3 lakhs.  Total outlay of scheme is approx. Rs.14000 crore.               BHEL launched totally flexible fuel boilers, first of its kind for super critical power plant.  Flexible boilers can use both domestic and imported coal. Under NATRiP, the following facilities were completed:- ICAT-Manesar -  Pass by Noise, CAD/CAE Lab, Rotary Actuator facility, Universal Pneumatic Actuator and GARC-Chennai – Airbag Lab, CAD/CAE Lab, Universal Pneumatic Actuator, Equipment for   Optics Lab, Cyclic Actuator; NATRAX–Indore  – CAD/CAE Lab, Powertrain Lab; REIL to install one MWp SPV Power Plant at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Railway Station, J&K.  The work on Solar Power Plant started on 28th October 2014.  The Solar Power Plant of one MW will generate 14.6 lakh units in a year which will provide s saving of approx. Rs.1 crore per year to Railways and provide 24 hours power supply at the station.  The Power Plant will help in annual reduction of 1400 tons of CO2 emmission.  This is unique initiative taken by Indian Railways.  HMT Gear for Sonar Systems developed and exported by HMT Kalamassery for the first time in India.  HMT Kalamassery is currently working on the development and manufacture of a Directing Gear for the Indian Naval Ship Brahmaputra which is scheduled for delivery in January 2015. Preparing a road map for identifying PSUs that are not capable of revival for closing them after giving benefit of VSS.  The proposal for 5 CPSEs has been submitted to CCEA.

2014-An Year of Success for Department of Space

Year End Review 2014 Deptt of Space                                                                                                                    Department of space has witnessed a number of successes during 2014 in its endeavour to put India on a ladder of achievements: SUCCESSFUL LAUNCH OF THE GEOSYNCHRONOUS SATELLITE LAUNCH VEHICLE (GSLV-D5)        Successful launch of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D5) with an indigenous cryogenic engine & stage on 5th January 2014 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. The GSLV-D5 injected the GSAT-14 Communications Satellite, weighing 1982 kg, into a precise Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit.  SUCCESSFUL LAUNCH OF INDIAN NAVIGATIONAL SATELLITE IRNSS-1B, THE SECOND SATELLITE IN THE INDIAN REGIONAL NAVIGATION SATELLITE SYSTEM (IRNSS) Successful launch of Indian navigational satellite IRNSS-1B, the second satellite in the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) onboard PSLV-C24 on April 04, 2014 and IRNSS-1C, the third satellite of IRNSS onboard PSLV-C26 on October 16, 2014 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. SAARC SATELLITE      India successfully launched five foreign satellites on board PSLV-C23 on June 30th, 2014 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. These foreign satellites are – (i) SPOT-7 (France), (ii) AISAT (Germany), (iii) NLS 7.1/CAN-X4 (Canada), (iv) NLS 7.2/CAN-X5 (Canada) and (v) VELOX-1 (Singapore). Till that date, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has launched 40 satellites from 19 foreign countries, on commercial basis, under contract between respective foreign customer and Antrix Corporation Limited, the commercial arm of ISRO. The amount generated through the launch of these satellites is € 50.47 million and US $ 17.17 million.  The future projects envisages development of advanced launch vehicle systems, thematic earth observational satellites with improved resolution, high-power, high-throughput communication satellite, microwave multi-spectral remote sensing satellites, weather and climate studies, constellation of satellites for regional navigation, development of critical technologies for human spaceflight and satellites for space science and planetary exploration purposes.  The Prime Minister of India in his address at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota on 30th June 2014 asked the Indian Space community to develop a SAARC satellite that provides a full range of applications and services to all our neighbours. ISRO, through the Government of India, in consultation with the SAARC countries, needs to formulate a proposal for SAARC Satellite development programme to address the space applications and services needs of the SAARC countries.  MARS ORBITER SPACECRAFT SUCCESSFULLY INSERTED INTO MARS ORBIT  India’s Mars Orbiter Spacecraft successfully entered into an orbit around planet Mars today morning (September 24, 2014) by firing its 440 Newton Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) along with eight smaller liquid engines. This Liquid Engines firing operation which began at 07:17:32 Hrs IST lasted for 1388.67 seconds which changed the velocity of the spacecraft by 1099 metre/sec. With this operation, the spacecraft entered into an elliptical orbit around Mars. Honourable Prime Minister of India, Mr Narendra Modi, was present at ISRO’s Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bangalore to witness this important event. Other dignitaries who were present at ISTRAC include His Excellency Governor of Karnataka, Mr Vajubhai R Vala, Hon’ble Minister of Railways, Mr D V Sadananda Gowda, Hon’ble Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Mr Ananth Kumar, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Karnataka, Mr Siddaramaiah, Hon’ble Minister of State (Space), Dr Jitendra Singh, Hon’ble Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Mr G M Siddeswara, Hon’ble Member of Parliament, Mr Prahlad V Joshi, Hon’ble Minister of Transport, Government of Karnataka, Mr Ramalinga Reddy and Hon’ble Member of Legislative Assembly, Government of Karnataka, Mr Muniraju S. Prof U R Rao, former chairman, ISRO and Prof Yash Pal, former director, Space Applications Centre, were also present.  The events related to Mars Orbit Insertion progressed satisfactorily and the spacecraft performance was normal. The Spacecraft is now circling Mars in an orbit whose nearest point to Mars (periapsis) is at 421.7 km and farthest point (apoapsis) at 76,993.6 km. The inclination of orbit with respect to the equatorial plane of Mars is 150 degree, as intended. In this orbit, the spacecraft takes 72 hours 51 minutes 51 seconds to go round the Mars once.  Mars Orbiter Spacecraft was launched on-board India’s workhorse launch vehicle PSLV on November 05, 2013 into a parking orbit around the Earth. On December 01, 2013, following Trans Mars Injection (TMI) manoeuvre, the spacecraft escaped from orbiting the earth and followed a path that would allow it to encounter Mars on September 24, 2014.  With this successful Mars Orbit Insertion operation, ISRO became the fourth space agency to successfully send a spacecraft to Mars orbit. In the coming weeks, the spacecraft will be thoroughly tested in the Mars orbit and the systematic observation of that planet using its five scientific instruments would begin.  PSLV-C26 SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED INDIA'S THIRD NAVIGATION SATELLITE IRNSS-1C  ISRO`s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C26, successfully launched IRNSS-1C, the third satellite in the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), in the early morning hours of October 16, 2014 at 0132 hours IST from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. This was the twenty seventh consecutively successful mission of PSLV. The `XL`configuration of PSLV was used for this mission. Previously, the same configuration of the vehicle was successfully used six times.  Minister of State (Space), Dr Jitendra Singh, witnessed the launch from the Mission Control Centre at SDSC, Sriharikota.  After the lift-off of PSLV-C26 with the ignition of the first stage, the important flight events, namely, stage and strap-on ignitions, heat-shield separation, stage and strap-on separations and satellite injection, took place as planned. After a flight of about 20 minutes 18 seconds, IRNSS-1C Satellite, weighing 1425 kg, was injected to an elliptical orbit of 282.56 km X 20,670 km, which is very close to the intended orbit.  After injection, the solar panels of IRNSS-1C were deployed automatically. ISRO`s Master Control Facility (at Hassan, Karnataka) assumed the control of the satellite. In the coming days, four orbit manoeuvres will be conducted from Master Control Facility to position the satellite in the Geostationary Orbit at 83 deg East longitude.  IRNSS-1C is the third of the seven satellites constituting the space segment of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System. IRNSS-1A and IRNSS-1B, the first two satellites of the constellation, were successfully launched by PSLV on July 02, 2013 and April 04, 2014 respectively. Both IRNSS-1A and 1B are functioning satisfactorily from their designated geosynchronous orbital positions.  IRNSS is an independent regional navigation satellite system designed to provide position information in the Indian region and 1500 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 control, satellite ranging and monitoring, etc., have been established in as many as 15 locations across the country.  In the coming months, the next satellite of this constellation, namely, IRNSS-1D, is scheduled to be launched by PSLV. The entire IRNSS constellation of seven satellites is planned to be completed by 2015.  OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS OF ISRO  The Government took a number of steps to popularise ISRO`s prowess in the field of space launches.  Antrix Corporation Limited (Antrix), the commercial arm of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), from 1999 onwards - till date, had successfully launched 40 satellites of foreign customers from 19 countries, using ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). Further, contracts have been finalized to launch 16 satellites from 6 countries in the coming years.  The ISRO, through its commercial arm Antrix, already launched one satellite for developing countries in Asia namely, Indonesia and contract has been finalized for launching two more satellites of Indonesia. One satellite was also launched for developing countries in Africa namely, Algeria.  The space projects undertaken by Antrix Corporation Limited, the commercial arm of ISRO, included: (i) establishment of ground stations for reception of data from Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites along with processing facilities at 20 locations outside India; (ii) building two contemporary communication satellites for European customers, and one communication satellite for Indian strategic user; (iii) providing tracking support for over 70 spacecraft missions of foreign customers; (iv) provisioning of satellite transponder capacity from Indian communication satellites for telecommunication, TV broadcasting, Direct-To-Home (DTH) services and VSAT applications; (v) launching of 40 foreign satellites on-board ISRO’s PSLV; (vi) establishment of ground terminals for tele-education, tele-medicine, disaster mitigation and Village Resource Centres; and (vii) consultancy services to domestic and foreign clients.  FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMME BY ISRO.  The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had setup an endowed fellowship programme at the Graduate Aerospace Laboratories of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), California, USA. This fellowship programme was established in honour of Dr. Satish Dhawan, who was the former Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation.  The fellowship provides an opportunity every year to one meritorious graduating student from the Aerospace Department of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram to be sponsored by the Department of Space, to pursue Masters in Aerospace Engineering at Caltech. The fellowship programme started in the winter session of the academic year 2013-14 and one student availed this fellowship and already completed his Masters degree at Caltech.  Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) were working together to realize a Dual frequency (L& S band) Synthetic Aperture Radar mission for Earth observation. Both agencies have established a ‘ISRO-NASA Mars Working Group’ to explore the possibilities of enhancing the cooperation in Mars exploration.  FIRST EXPERIMENTAL FLIGHT OF INDIA’S NEXT GENERATION LAUNCH VEHICLE GSLV MK-III SUCCESSFUL  The first experimental flight (GSLV Mk-III X/CARE) of India’s next generation launch vehicle GSLV Mk-III was successfully conducted on December 18, 2014 morning from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota. Also known as LVM3-X/CARE, this suborbital experimental mission was intended to test the vehicle performance during the critical atmospheric phase of its flight and thus carried a passive (non-functional) cryogenic upper stage. The mission began with the launch of GSLV Mk-III at 9:30 am IST from the Second Launch Pad as scheduled and about five and a half minutes later, carried its payload – the 3775 kg Crew Module Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment (CARE) – to the intended height of 126 km. Following this, CARE separated from the upper stage of GSLV Mk-III and re-entered the atmosphere and safely landed over Bay of Bengal with the help of its parachutes about 20 minutes 43 seconds after lift-off.  Two massive S-200 solid strap-on boosters, each carrying 207 tons of solid propellants, ignited at vehicle lift-off and after functioning normally, separated 153.5 seconds later. L110 liquid stage ignited 120 seconds after lift-off, while S200s were still functioning, and carried forward for the next 204.6 seconds. CARE separated from the passive C25 cryogenic upper stage of GSLV Mk-III 330.8 seconds after lift-off and began its guided descent for atmospheric re-entry.  After the successful re-entry phase, CARE module’s parachutes opened, following which it gently landed over Andaman Sea about 1600 km from Sriharikota, there by successfully concluding the GSLV Mk-III X/CARE mission.  With this successful GSLV Mk-III X / CARE mission, the vehicle moved a step closer to its first developmental flight with the functional C25 cryogenic upper stage.

motivation

Making ‘Make in India’ happen

To become a manufacturing nation, India has to quickly move beyond rhetoric to create a clear strategy and favourable policy environment for manufacturing to take off. A close dialogue and partnership between government and the private sector is critical

At this moment, the Prime Minister’s “Make in India” campaign appears to be exactly this — an imaginative marketing campaign. But there is much thought and even more work that is required to convert this to reality.

The theory behind “Make in India” is as simple as it is compelling. India must become a manufacturing powerhouse in order to gainfully employ its demographic dividend; there is no choice here. Fortunately, we have many natural advantages including a big labour pool and a large domestic market. In addition, with China’s competitive advantage in manufacturing eroding, India has the opportunity to take some share of global manufacturing away from China. All we have to do to improve the ease of doing business in India are these —stop tax terrorism, improve infrastructure, reform labour laws, invest in skills development, make it easier to acquire land, implement Goods and Services Tax (GST) and fast track approvals. Voila, we will take our rightful place as the world’s factory alongside China.

Energy factor

This is an attractive thesis that has a lot of merit. A simple step of making it easier to do business will make a huge difference to India’s manufacturing competitiveness. It is one plank of a manufacturing strategy. India ranks 142 on the World Bank Index; China is ranked 90. If we were to improve by just 50 places, it would be a huge perceptual breakthrough. However, this is not a manufacturing strategy in itself. As Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan correctly and controversially pointed out, much has changed in the world since China elbowed itself into becoming the world’s factory two decades ago. The nature of manufacturing is changing. Low-cost automation and robotics are making pure labour cost arbitrage less important. Lead times and a flexibility of supply chains are far more important, leading many companies to move manufacturing back closer to the big markets, the United States and Europe. Energy is the new labour in the sense that the cost of energy will significantly drive where things are made. Here, the U.S. with its huge new shale gas reserves has a big advantage. Developed countries are also realising how crucial local manufacturing is to jobs and to having stable, prosperous societies and so there is an attempt to reverse outsourcing and revive local manufacturing by embracing new technologies and innovations such as 3-D printing and the “Internet of things”.

For an industrial policy

To become a manufacturing powerhouse, India needs a manufacturing strategy, otherwise known as industrial policy. The idea of an industrial policy is out of vogue these days. It is seen as ineffective at best and even retrograde, running contrary to the idea of free trade. This is patent nonsense. Japan, Korea, China, Germany have all prospered by having a clear industrial policy and vigorously implementing it. The U.S., the United Kingdom, France and Italy have seen themselves deindustrialise by not having a clear industrial policy and are trying hard to course-correct this mistake.

There is a successful precedent even in India; our success in IT services was not an accident. It was the result of clear-eyed policies driven by the Department of Electronics, which included reducing import tariffs on hardware and software to zero, setting up software technology parks with tax incentives, and improving connectivity. Policy has always mattered and when it comes to manufacturing competitiveness, India must have a clear industrial policy that spells out priority sectors and how we will build competitive advantage in a way that is consistent with our obligations to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Building on advantages

India’s industrial policy must recognise where we have important competitive advantages. India is quite uncompetitive at low skill manufacturing. On the other hand, it is good at making complex things which require skilled labour and frugal engineering. Despite all its shortcomings, India remains a very competitive manufacturing location for sophisticated things such as construction machinery, cars and automotive components and diesel engines. It is no accident that companies such as JCB, Cummins, Deere, Volvo, Hyundai and Ford are using India as a major export hub.

We must focus on building competitive advantage and global scale in sectors where we have a large domestic market and certain inherent capabilities. Strategy is all about making choices. Here, five priority industries come to mind. Defence, because we are the world’s leading arms importer. Localising what we buy as a condition for all defence deals along with a willingness to allow majority foreign ownership can turbocharge our local defence industry. The second critical industry is electronics hardware. India imports $45 billion of mobile phones, computers and communications hardware; by 2020, this is projected to grow to $300 billion and exceed our oil import bill. This is unsustainable. We have to create policy incentives to create a local electronic hardware manufacturing ecosystem. Since most component suppliers, Original Equipment Manufacturers and Original Design Manufacturers are Chinese, this will necessarily imply incentivising Chinese companies to establish factories in India. The size of our domestic market should make this possible. Concerns about security are misplaced; all our personal computers, cellphones and a lot of switches and routers are already made in China, so we are conceding nothing. The third industry is construction. India will invest a trillion dollars over the coming years in improving infrastructure. We need to create incentives that not only spur investment in manufacturing materials such as cement and steel but also construction equipment, locomotives, power generation equipment and so on. Everything we install should be made in India. The fourth is health care. India’s generic pharmaceutical industry is world class. We must not concede on intellectual property rights that neutralise our advantage. India is also exceedingly good at frugal innovation in medical devices such as low cost X-ray and ECG machines. We have a real shot at being a world leader in innovation and manufacturing in this space. Finally, agro-industries. We are one of the largest agricultural nations. A third of what we grow just rots and spoils. Investing in agro-industries such as food processing and establishing a reliable cold chain would make a huge difference in terms of rural employment and food security. If we had to pick just five industries where we want to bootstrap a strong competitive advantage it would be these. In other industries, whether it be textiles, toys, or automotive, we need to ensure that we do not disadvantage local manufacturing.

Creating ecosystems

Another critical strategic question is this: where do we want to make things? It is difficult to make a country the size of India into a uniformly attractive manufacturing location. Even China started its manufacturing odyssey by creating a few oases in the form of four special economic zones which were remarkably easy places to manufacture in. Where is India going to start its global odyssey? Manufacturing is all about hubs that are ecosystems for innovation, specialised skills and supply chains. Where will India’s hubs be for pharma, for defence, for electronics, for machinery and construction equipment? How do we catalyse these hubs by creating world-class academic institutions and skills training institutes? What incentives will attract the world’s leading companies to establish global innovation and manufacturing centres in these hubs? Pune, Chennai, Bengaluru and Delhi are already emergent hubs but what will enable them to scale up to compete with Shenzen and Tianjin?

To become a manufacturing nation, India has to quickly move beyond rhetoric to create a clear strategy and favourable policy environment for manufacturing to take off. The government has chosen to quietly dismantle the sclerotic National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council (NMCC) but it needs to foster a more vibrant think tank in its place. A close dialogue and partnership between government and the private sector, both domestic and foreign, is critical. Indian companies along with Chinese, Japanese, German, American and Swedish companies are all vital partners and we must create an environment that is open and welcoming. For this, the right leadership of this vital mission is critical. There is a clear and short-lived window of opportunity to become a manufacturing nation. We must not squander it.

achievements and Initiatives of Ministry of Railways

Year-End-Review-2014 The year 2014 has been significant for the Railways in achieving goals and targets with regard to the following: • The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi along with Railway Minister inaugurated the commencement of Expansion Project of Diesel Locomotive Works (DLW), a production unit of Indian Railways at Varanasi on 25th December 2014. Some of the features of the expansion plan are; a new block shop, loco frame shop and loco assembly shop, new plant shop having advanced paint booths, induction of high productivity machines and generation of 250 kw Green Power by roof mounted grid connected solar power plant. The project will herald the ‘Make in India’ campaign in the holy city, Varanasi. • The Railway Minister inaugurated the Musical Fountain, Toy Train and Renovated Exhibits at National Railway Museum in New Delhi on 24th December 2014. National Rail Museum has added this new attractions for the visitors by introducing 1:8 scale toy train, chugging on miniature track of about half a km length. This is first of its kind in India. Other attractions for the visitors will be the musical fountain. To enhance the experience of the visitors, a new pathway has been laid in throughout the museum. Signages and landscaping has been done in sync with the restored exhibits. Railway Ministry is also in process of formulating a ‘Solar Policy’ in this regard. Railway Minister directed for a separate section at the Museum which will exhibit the futuristic vision of Indian Railways. Railway Minister released this book titled “Indian Railways – More Miles...More Smiles” edited by retired Indian railway official Shri J L Singh and published by the Indian Railways. Railway Minister also inaugurated a documentary film “Imprint of Indian Railways over Indian Cinema. The film depicts the 100 years old association of Indian Railways & the Indian cinema. • The Railway Minisrte3r inaugurated the Mobile Ticketing System for Mumbai Suburban tickets at Dadar station in Mumbai on 27.12.2014. Initially this system is launched at Dadar station only. It will be implemented at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Kurla, Thane and Kalyan soon and thereafter at other stations in a phased manner. One can download the free application for Android/Windows to avail this facility. Application for iPhone and Blackberry will be available soon. User has to open the application and sign up by giving name, mobile number and Mumbai city upon which one time password will be sent through SMS. On entering the OTP, the user is registered and R-wallet with zero balance is created. At the journey originating station, one will have to go to a Automatic Ticket Vending Machine (ATVM) and select Print Mobile Ticket option, enter your mobile number and booking ID to get printed ticket. • The Minister of Railways commissioned 30 kW Solar Plant at roof top of Rail Bhawan at New Delhi, on 23rd December 2014. Indian Railways is planning to harness solar energy in a big way which will be a step forward in mitigating the challenges currently being experienced by our environment. Railways to expedite provision of solar plants at other Railway buildings also preferably in public private partner model. • Gwalior-Gonda Sushasan Express (weekly) was flagged off on 25th December 2014. This train will travel through various important destinations which are connected with the life of former Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee. • An education train ‘Gyanodaya Express’ – a tour package for the students of Delhi University to visit North east states, was flagged off from Delhi on 18th November 2014. During his recent visit to North Eastern region, the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has announced Rs. 28000 crore for new rail projects, Rs. 5000 crore to provide 2G mobile coverage for comprehensive telecom development, setting up of six agricultural colleges in the region, among other initiatives. This tour is in line with the philosophy of the Prime Minister to emphasis on developing of North Eastern states. • The Railway Minister flagged off a new Shatabdi Express between New Delhi and Bhatida from New Delhi Railway station on 18th December 2014. It is envisaged that the Railways’ role in bringing enhanced inter-city connectivity and thereby greater mobility through this new Shatabdi services between New Delhi-Bhatinda would mark another turning point to the hinterland of Punjab and to the developing cities in the vicinity. • In a significant move to make Unmanned Level Crossings (UMLCs) safer for road users thereby avoiding accidents thereat, Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu has directed the Railway Board to explore the use of Geo-spatial technologies for this purpose. Under such technologies which combine Global Positioning System(GPS), Geographic Information System(GIS) and Remote Sensing, an alert message will be flashed automatically in the mobile phones of all the road users carrying GPS enabled mobile phones and who are in the vicinity of an Unmanned Level Crossing, about the approaching train. • In order to improve the railway recruitment system, the Railway Minister has directed Railway Board to undertake entire recruitment exercise including recruitment ‘On Line’ and to examine for implementation of this project in a time-bound manner with adequate checks and balances. • The total approximate earnings of Indian Railways on originating basis during 1st April 2014 to 30th November 2014 were Rs. 100622 crore compared to Rs. 89341.26 crore during the same period last year, registering an increase of 12.63 per cent. • Indian Railways carried 713.11 million tonnes of revenue earning freight traffic during 1st April to 30th November 2014. The freight carried shows an increase of 35.53 million tonnes over the freight traffic of 677.58 million tonnes actually carried during the corresponding period last year, registering an increase of 5.24 per cent. • The Railway Minister inaugurated the Wi-Fi Broadband Services at New Delhi Railway Station 8th December 2014. The Wi-Fi project on Indian Railways is being executed by RailTel, a Public Sector Undertaking of the Ministry of Railways. The ‘RailWire’ powered Wi-Fi gives maximum speed of 1 mbps. Wi-Fi facility is available to the users free of cost initially for a period of 30 minutes by registering on the Wi-Fi network through their mobile. • The Railway Ministry organized an ‘Investors’ Meet’ to discuss various issues pertaining to Private Investment in rail sector especially PPP and FDI issues on 5th December 2014. Participants at the ‘Investors Meet’ included representatives from Chambers of Commerce, Railway PSUs, PSUs of Ministry of Heavy Industry, Investment Consultants, Investment Bankers, Infrastructure sector, Construction Sector, Port Sector, Rolling stock manufacturers, Raw material Manufacturers etc. • The Ministry of Railways has decided to constitute a High Level Committee headed by Shri D.K. Mittal, IAS, (Retd) former Secretary to Govt. of India, on 5th December 2014 to identify factors, issues and avenues for improving financial health of Indian Railways. The Committee will study the existing revenue structure and avenues for realizing revenue in Indian Railways and to examine the efficacy and sufficiency of the existing revenue structure and avenue for raising revenues in Indian Railways. • On the direction of the Railway Minister, the Railway Board has issued a set of guidelines to all Zonal Railways for inviting tenders for engaging professional/reputed agencies for the purpose of outsourcing of cleanliness at 50 major railways station of ‘A1’ & ‘A’ categories on Indian Railways. The Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu has been emphasizing on sustained cleanliness activities on Indian Railways. • The Railway Minister issued directions for formulation of Integrated Policy on Cleanliness at the station, platforms and coaches. This policy will ensure better and effective coordination among number of departments involved for providing cleanliness. This Integrated policy on Cleanliness would clearly lay down the parameters and benchmarks for cleanliness. The Policy would clearly lay down structures/procedures for garbage collection, garbage sorting and garbage disposal. • With a view to generate additional revenue, the Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu directed RITES, a public sector undertaking of Ministry of Railway, on 1st December 2014 to quickly study and prepare a Concept Note, indicating ways and means for leveraging of space in coaches, wagons, trains, railway stations etc. for advertisements, publicity and other purposes. It is felt that Indian Railways have a lot of idle space in coaches, wagons, trains, railway stations etc which could be used for this purpose. TITES has since submitted a report. Now, a six-member task force headed by Member Traffic Railway Board has been set upto examine and implement this project. • The Railway Minister directed the Railway Board on 1st December 2014 to put in place Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) regarding quick evacuation of the injured persons from the railway track so that human lives are saved. The Railway Minister also desired for putting place a system-drive frame work to ensure compliance of SOPs by all concerned. • A task force headed by Member Engineering, Railway Board was constituted under the direction of Railway Minister to suggest the framework wherein appropriate power in taking financial and tendering related decision to various fields/functionaries. The task force will also suggest an appropriate technology based systemic framework to provide for internal checks and balance. • Yet another important event in the history of Railways, a new route from Mendipathar in Meghalaya to Guwahati in Assam got connected by rail, with. The Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi flagged off first ever train on this new railway line on 29th November 2014. With this, one more north eastern state, namely Meghalayay gets connected through rail network. • To further boost the development of rail link in North Eastern region, the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi laid the foundation for a new rail route from Bhairabi to Sairang in Mizoram on 29th November 2014. It will take rail connectivity to Aizawl, the capital of Mizoram • Soon after taking over charge of Minister of Railways, the new Railway Minister has expressed his keen concern about expediting the implementation of various railway projects with full efficiency and transparency in the working. The very first decision the Railway Minister took is that, no tendering process will be dealt with at the level of Railway Minister and instead the powers will be delegated to the operating levels so that proper efficiency in decision making is ensured. For this purpose, the Minister appointed a one man Committee under the chairmanship of Mr. E. Sreedharan Ex MD/DMRC and Ex Member Engineering Railway Board to suggest a proper system and procedures to ensure accountability and transparency at the General Managers and other functionaries’ level for taking all commercial decisions including that of tendering. The Committee would also suggest the system and procedure and a manual of instructions to be followed to implement Railway Minister’s decision speedily. • The interim report by the one-man committee headed by Shri Shreedharan for delegating tendering and commercial powers to General Managers was received by the Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu on 27th November 2014. It may be recalled that this committee was set up by Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu almost immediately upon his joining as the Minister of Railways to set up procedures of accountability in all tendering processes. The final report is expected within three months. • At the Indo-French Seminar on Rail Sector, which was held on 24th November 2014, the Indian Railways sought cooperation of France in high speed train operations and also in areas of safety, customer service and station development and multimodal stations. • Indian Railways and Republic of Korea signed a MoU on Technical Cooperation In the Rail Sector on 17th November 2014. The MoU would enable technical assistance and cooperation between the Railways of the two countries on areas such as High Speed Rail, Modernisation of Rolling Stock, Railway Operations, Modernisation of Signalling, Construction & Maintenance technologies and in development of Logistics Parks/Terminals. • In keeping with its objective to resort to more eco-friendly sources of energy and a measure to strengthen mechanisms to cater to energy demands, Northern Railway on 28th October 2014 commenced the project for providing a Solar Power Plant at Shri Mata Vaishno Katra Railway Station. Earlier, while inaugurating the opening of Udhampur-Katra new Railway Line of Udhampur- Srinagar- Baramulla Rail Link Project (USBRL) Project on 4th July 2014, Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his desire for providing a Solar Power Plant at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Railway Station as a green energy initiative to be a part of National Solar Mission. • The Indian Railways successfully implemented Wi-Fi facility in Bangalore City Railway station for providing high speed internet to the passengers on 28th October 2014. “RailWire” - the retail Broadband distribution model of RailTel Corporation of India Ltd, a PSU of the Ministry of Railways, is the powering engine for distributing internet bandwidth through WiFi. The facility at Bangalore has been taken up as a pilot project. • In a move to further enhance safety of road users, Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Road Transport & Highways signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on policy related to constructions of Road Over Bridges and Road Under Bridges on National Highway corridors on 10th November 2014. • As part of the “Swachh Bharat Mission”, announced by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the Indian Railways launched a massive special cleanliness campaign since 2nd October, Gandhi Jayanti Diwas involving ‘Shramdaan’ and awareness activities throughout the country. Entire fraternity of more than 13 lakh Railwaymen/women including officers are being urged regularly to be a part of this campaign, either in the ‘Shramdaan’ relating to cleanliness activity or in spreading awareness on cleanliness. • Railways made special arrangements for clearing of anticipated passenger rush during the ensuing Puja rush period and specifically during the festive of Chhat between 24th to 27th October, 2014. To cater to the rush of passengers during Puja, Diwali and Chhat festivals, Northern Railway planned 2485 train trips as compared to 1938 train trips during the same period of last year. Similarly regular trains were augmented resulting in 6070 additional coach trips as compared to 5263 additional coaches trips in 2013 i.e. 15% increase. • The detailed sectoral policy guidelines for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Railways have been finalised. Earlier, a Committee was constituted by the Ministry of Railways to draft sectoral guidelines and to identify potential areas/projects, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The Committee interacted with industry/Chamber of Commerce/Potential Investors and submitted its report within three weeks. • The Ministry of Railways started trial of e-catering service in trains. Its PSU, Indian Railways Catering &Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), was entrusted with the job of implementation of this service. IRCTC on a trial basis has started e-catering services on a few trains on Delhi – Amritsar section since 25th September 2014. This is a service where a passenger is able to place an order for a meal, to be served at his seat in the train enroute, through a phone call or an SMS. Formal launching of e-catering service will be decided on the success of the above trial. • With a view to promote rail tourism in the country and to provide reasonably priced tourism package to tourists, especially the pilgrims in the country, India Railways finalised six pilgrim special tourist train packages in the first phase, which kick started from 25th October 2014. Railways proposes to run tourist trains in various Pilgrim Circuits like Devi Circuit, Jyotirling Circuit, Jain Circuit, Christian Circuit, Muslim/Sufi Circuit, Sikh Circuit, Buddhist Circuit, Famous Temple Circuit etc. The six packages starting from 25th October 2014, aim at implementing the budget announcement. • Ministry of Railways have constituted a committee on 22.09.2014 with a tenure of one year for “Mobilization of resources for major Railway projects and Re-structuring of Railways, Ministry & Railway Board” under the chairmanship of Dr. Bibek Debroy. • A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and an Action Plan were signed between the Government of India and People’s Republic of China in enhancing Technical Cooperation in Railway Sector, at delegation level talks between the two countries on 18th September 2014. The potential cooperation areas mentioned in the MoU are; i) Training in heavy haul freight transportation, ii) Raising of speed of trains on existing routes, iii) Station redevelopment, iv) High speed rail and v) Setting up of Railway University. • At present, Indian Railways is running premium special trains on 21 popular routes. Further the following additional premium special trains have been planned to run on seven new routes. These are: Mumbai-Chennai, Pune-Karmali, Hyderabad-Mumbai. Hyderabad-Bangalore, Hyderabad-Chennai, Jaipur-Bandra Terminus and Jaipur-Ernakulam. These trains which have been operated under dynamic fare system earned approximately 40 per cent additional revenue as compared to trains operated on normal fares. • In another landmark engineering marvel, Indian Railways completed Udhampur-Katra Broad gauge line in the State of Jammu and Kashmir. Prime Minister dedicated this line to the nation at a programme on 4th July. This line has brought Jammu & Kashmir Valley nearer to the rest of the nation . Four train services up to Katra commenced from July 2014. These are: New Delhi- Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Express, Pathankot-Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra DMU and two DMUs between Jammu Tawi-Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra. • Indian Railways geared up its machinery to provide all possible help to the travelling public in the wake of unprecedented flood in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Railways arranged transport of relief material free of charge by coaching trains to Jammu Tawi and Udhampur from any station of India. The relief material included items like food, Medicines, Clothes, Building materials, Untensils etc. meant for free distribution among the flood effected population of Jammu and Kashmir. Railways made about 4 lakh Rail Neer drinking water bottles available for flood affected people of J&K. • With focus on improving safety, Railway Board held a series of meetings to review recommendations on various technical and technology related aspects of the High Level Safety Review Committee constituted by Ministry of Railways under the chairmanship of Dr. Anil Kakodkar. The exercise aimed at examining the recommendations in regard to their feasibility and implementation. Automatic Block Signalling; Automatic Signalling on 150 Route Km is targeted for commissioning during 2014-15. • Continuing with its emphasis on increasing the speed of passenger trains, successful trial of semi high speed trains with 160 kmph has been conducted between New Delhi-Agra. Now the clearance from Commissioner Railway Safety is awaiting before the commercial operation of this ‘Gatiman’ train is started. The other identified sector for 160 kmph are; Delhi-Agra, Delhi-Chandigarh, Delhi-Kanpur, Nagpur-Bilaspur, Mysore-Bengaluru-Chennai; Mumbai-Goa, Mumbai-Ahmedabad; Chennai- Hyderabad and Nagpur-Secunderabad. These routes are also under various stages of study and examination. • Ministry of Railways took steps for introduction of High Speed Bullet Trains in the country on Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor. It is the part of the Ministry’s ambitious plan to have Diamond Quadrilateral network of High Speed Rail connecting major metros and growth centres of the country. A detailed presentation was also shown to Railway Minister. Interim reports- no. 1 and No. 2 of JICA about Mumbai-Ahemdabad have been received by the railway Board. A provision of Rs. 100 crore has been made in this Budget for high Speed project to RVNL/HSRC (High Speed Rail corridor) for taking further steps. The issue also came up during the recent visit of the Prime Minister to Japan. Japan expressed its readiness to provide financial, technical, operational support to introduce bullet train in India. One new route between New Delhi and Chennai has been identified for introducing bullet train and China has been entrusted with the task of undertaking feasibility study of this line. • In a move to provide more hassle-free services to railway users, Indian Railways launched new IT initiatives/applications developed by its autonomous organisation, Central Railway Information Centre (CRIS). Some of the salient features are; Next Generation e-ticketing (NGeT); NGet system which can book 7200 online tickets instead of 2000 tickets per minute and now to attend 2,00,000 enquiries instead of 50000 per minute, launched. • Freight E-Demand system; In Freight train movement, the need for an on-line system for Registration and Demand for rakes and wagons has been finally met with the launch of the e-Demand module of the Freight Operations Information System (FOIS). With the release of this module, customers can sit in the convenience of their homes or offices and register their freight demands. Freight E-Diversion system; • Indian Railways added another milestone by launching yet another innovative scheme called the ‘SMS Gateway’, which will enable passengers to get SMS alerts on the status of reserved tickets. The ‘SMS Gateway’ project will be used to send SMS alerts to passengers in case of status change in the PRS tickets, as compared to the initial booking status (For example W/L to RAC, RAC to CNF, W/L to CNF). SMS alerts prior to chart preparation will be sent once a day, in case of status change only, beginning from 5 days before the journey date. • . A new scheme called the Yatri Ticket Sewa Kendra (YTSK) Scheme has been launched in August 2014. Under this scheme, agents of Indian Railways can operate ticketing terminals at various locations in the cities and towns for issuing reserved tickets and unreserved tickets. The scheme is aimed at expanding the reach of the ticketing systems of Indian Railways and evokes the principles of PPP and provides for revenue sharing between the private operators and Indian Railways. • A new Rail Neer plant at Ambernath (Mumbai) of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), a Public Sector Undertaking of Ministry of Railways, was inaugurated for commercial production. The production capacity of this plant will be 2 lakh liters per day, raising the total production (of the four plants) to 6.1 lakh litres of Packaged Drinking Water (PDW) daily. Till now, existing three Rail Neer plants used to cater to the Northern, Eastern and Southern parts of our country. • Transportation of coal is an important activity of Indian Railways and is very crucial for the country’s power supply system. Railways along with Power and Coal ministries held special joint meeting to put three critical coal connectivity projects on fast track and formed Multi Disciplinary Project Monitoring Unit for better coordination. The three rail connectivity projects for coal movement are: i) Tori-Shivpur(44kms), Shivpur-Kathautia(53kms) railway line in North Karanpura in Jharkand. ii) Jhasuguda-Barpalli-Sardega railway line (53 kms) in Ib valley, Odisha. iii) Bhupdevpur-Korichapan-Dharamjaigarh(180 kms) in Mand-Raigarh coalfield, Chhattisgarh. • Electrification of 591 route kilometres of railway track has been undertaken which include 150 Rkm between Vellore -Villupuram, 100 Rkm between Pathankot –Jammu Tawai, 81 Kms between Manmad-Puntamba-Shirdi, 88 Kms between Barabanki-Gonda, 88 Kms between Chhapra-Siwan-Thawe and 84 Kms between Kurja-Meerut. • In a move to further improve energy efficiency on Indian Railways, a web based Electrical Energy Management System, RAILSAVER, developed by Centre of Railway Informatics System (CRIS), an autonomous organization under the Ministry of Railways, inaugurated. The portal RAILSAVER will provide a perfect IT based platform for energy consumption data which will pave the way for systematic collection, assimilation, interpretation and analysis of data in evolving future strategies for conceiving, implementing and further intensifying energy conservation efforts on Indian Railways. This portal will further facilitate in saving energy upto 15% by the year 2020 through improved energy efficiency measures as laid down in Railway’s vision document. • Solar Power Panels of total 2.1 MW capacity installed and commissioned at Rail Coach Factory, Rae Bareli. At present, this factory is functioning completely on solar power. Action has been initiated for installing Solar Power project at Katra station to be completed by December 2014. A Solar Plant was also commissioned at the roof of the Rail Bhawan Building on 23rd December 2014. • Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Ministry of Railways of the Republic of India and Czech Railways (Ceske Drahy) of the Czech Republic and Association of Czech Railway Industry (ACRI) of the Czech Republic on Technical Cooperation in the field of railway sector on 19.8. 2014. • Indian Railways also strengthened its monitoring mechanism for improving catering in trains and stations. In a recent move, 13 catering agencies were penalized with Rs. 1 lakh each for their negligence in serving quality food to passengers in the trains. In order to provide value to passengers in the different regions, popular items from the north, south, east, and western parts of the country will be introduced in the Rajdhani, Shatabdi, and Duronto trains. • In order to clear extra rush of passenger during this peak summer season, 8778 trips of special trains were made run. Also 25452 extra coaches were attached on temporary basis. 40 extra coaches are attached on permanent basis. • Railway Ministry is taking steps for further streamlining the transportation of milk through rail. New design milk wagons have been finalized. A total of 60 Rail Milk Tankers are already proposed for procurement over the next 3 years. Out of these an order for 30 new railway milk tankers has already been placed by M/s RITES on behalf of National Dairy Development Board and Amul. • To keep pace with the modern means of internet media, Indian Railways launched its three social media platforms namely Facebook, Twitter and You Tube with the URL @railminindia. Railway Budget was for the first time live streamed on social media platforms. • Railway sportspersons as a part of Indian contingent at recently concluded Commonwealth Games-2014, (CWG) at Glasgow, Scotland, again brought glory to the nation by bagging 9 medals out of total 64 medals won by India. Indian Railways felicitated these sportspersons by announcing cash awards to each of them. • On the occasion of Independence Day, 2014, the Hon’ble President of India has awarded President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service and Police Medal for Meritorious service to 14 RPF/RPSF officers and staff. • Indian Railways has developed special designed Salt wagons. These new wagons have been designed with FRP lining and sliding roof for transportation of salt. The lower tare weight will permit higher loads therefore greater revenues.