Pib

Pib

1. Cabinet approves MoU between India and Morocco on cooperation in the field of health

The MoU covers the following areas of cooperation:-
i) Non-communicable diseases, including child cardiovascular diseases and cancer;
ii) Drug Regulation and Pharmaceutical quality control;
iii) Communicable Diseases;
iv) Maternal, child and neonatal health;
v) Hospital twinning for exchange of good practices;
vi) Training in administration and management of health services and Hospitals;
vii) Any other area of cooperation as may be mutually decided upon.

The MoU would enhance cooperation in the field of Disaster Management and contribute to the well-being and safety of the people of both the countries in the event of disaster. It will also result in exchange of information in the relevant fields of disaster management which is of mutual interest.

2. Cabinet apprised of MoU between India and Japan for collaborative research in the field of silkworm and silk industries

The MoU was signed on 11.11.2016 between CSB and NIAS for initiating a Collaborative Research for developing prolific bivoltine hybrids of silkworm suitable for the Indian tropical conditions.

It is expected that subsequent to the MoU, the Indian Textiles & Apparel Industry would be able to produce world class silk and silk products. The improvement of quality and productivity would ultimately increase export of silk products.

3. Cabinet approves introduction of the Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill, 2017 in the Parliament
The Amendment will increase the maximum limit of gratuity of employees to 20 lakh, in the private sector and in Public Sector Undertakings/ Autonomous Organizations under Government who are not covered under CCS (Pension) Rules, at par with Central Government employees.

Background:
The Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 applies to establishments employing 10 or more persons. The main purpose for enacting this Act is to provide social security to workmen after retirement, whether retirement is a result of the rules of superannuation, or physical disablement or impairment of vital part of the body.

4. Cabinet approves implementation of the scheme “Dairy Processing & Infrastructure Development Fund”
Consequent to the Union Budget 2017-18 announcement, Dairy Processing & Infrastructure Development Fund will be set up as a corpus of Rs 8004 crore with National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).

The major activities of DIDF:
The project will focus on building an efficient milk procurement system by setting up of chilling infrastructure & installation of electronic milk adulteration testing equipment, creation/modernization/expansion of processing infrastructure and manufacturing faculties for Value Added Products for the Milk Unions/ Milk Producer Companies.

Benefits from DIDF:
With this investment, 95,00,000 farmers in about 50,000 villages would be benefitted. Additional Milk processing capacity of 126 lakh litre per day, milk drying capacity of 210 MT per day, milk chilling capacity of 140 lakh litre per day, installation of 28000 Bulk Milk Coolers (BMCs) along with electronic milk adulteration testing equipment and value added products manufacturing capacity of 59.78 lakh litre per day of milk equivalent shall be created.

5. Cabinet approves survey of Un-appraised Areas of Sedimentary Basins of India

The project will help in increasing the investments in domestic production of oil and gas. The project will be implemented by NOCs, i.e. Oil India Limited (OIL) and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC). OIL will conduct survey in North - Eastern States while remaining area will be covered by ONGC. Survey work will be carried out in 24 States.

Entire project is likely to be completed by 2019-20. Directorate General of Hydrocarbons is monitoring the project and reviewing the progress on monthly basis.

Background:
India has 26 sedimentary basins covering an area of 3.14 Million Sq Km spread over onland, shallow water and deep water. An area of about 1.502 Million Sq. Km i.e. 48% of total sedimentary basin area does not have adequate geo-scientific data.
Data acquisition is important as it helps in giving the initial insight into the basins and helps in planning the future E&P activities. It will be useful in deciding the focus areas of the exploration activities in the country and on the basis of this primary data, E&P companies would take up further exploration activities in the acreages allocated to them.

6. AYUSH Minister inaugurates India’s first advanced Homoeopathy Virology lab in Kolkata
In his inaugural address the Minister appreciated the popularity of Homoeopathy in West Bengal. Shri Naik said that this laboratory has been established to develop new drugs and technologies in Homoeopathy to combat emerging challenges of viral diseases.

The laboratory, established at a cost of Rs. 8 crore is the only one in India for conducting basic and fundamental research in Homoeopathy for viral diseases like influenza, Japanese encephalitis, dengue, chickunguniya and swine flu. New drugs and technologies would also be developed here to combat emerging challenges of viral diseases.

7. Minister of State for Commerce & Industry, Shri C.R. Choudhary Emphasises on Need for States to Play Larger Role in Facilitating Startups
The role of States/UTs in creation of a strong startup ecosystem in the country was focussed upon in the sessions.
Several states showcased key initiatives they had taken to promote startups.
Odisha showcased various tools they have developed to equip startups, including a comprehensive portal, helpline and various learning & development initiatives.
Tamil Nadu presented the extensive network of innovation centers which have been developed on a hub and spoke model across colleges in the state.

Jharkhand showcased their bottom up approach of fostering innovation by reaching out to schools to nurture a culture of innovation through a ‘germinator.’ Other States viz. Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Bihar, Kerala, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh also made presentations showcasing their efforts in supporting Startups.

8. Dr Harsh Vardhan inaugurates Conference on “Sustainable Landscapes & Forest Ecosystems: Theory to Practice”
Inaugurating a two-day conference on “Sustainable landscapes and forest ecosystems: Theory to Practice” here today, the Environment Minister urged the gathering to deliberate and come out with out-of-the-box ideas and solutions on increasing the forest cover much beyond the stipulated 33 per cent.

Reiterating the Government’s commitment to increase the country’s forest cover from 24% to 33% of the geographical area and creating an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tons of CO2 equivalent in forests, as reflected in Nationally Determined Contribution, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that the target is proposed to be achieved through a number of planned afforestation drives and initiatives

Dr. Harsh Vardhan launched the “Wood is Good” campaign on the occasion. Wood is a climate-friendly material, as it is a renewable resource, having zero carbon footprint.

9. India & Ukraine discuss potential partnership in the field of Shipbuilding

Secretary, Shipping Shri Ravikant invited Ukraine to send a group-cum-business delegation to visit Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL). CSL is one of the major civilian shipyards in India and has been amongst the biggest in the country. CSL follows an open process for empanelment of vendor and procurement is generally done through an open tender process. Secretary suggested that interested vendors from Ukraine may contact CSL for participating in such tendering process.

10. Gadkari calls for a new law on desilting of rivers
Shri Gadkari said there is an urgent need to effectively meet the challenges of flood in the country.
The Minister was of the opinion that measure like inter linking of rivers and construction of check dams should also be given priority to mitigate the flood fury. Referring to the outcome of the Multi-Modal Ensemble (MME) and Global Forecast System (GFS) of flood forecasting the Minister said the lead time of advisory forecast is proposed to be increased to five to seven days.

11. 31st Annual general meeting of The National Water Development Agency Society held today
Shri Nitin Gadkari has said that his Ministry will start work on three river interlinking projects within the next three months. These include the Ken-Betwa Linking Project, Damanganga- Pinjal Link Project and the Par-Tapi-Narmada Link projects.