Pib

Pib

1. Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat inaugurates two days olive work shop on “Olive Research and Development in India”

Shri Shekhawat pointed out the role of research and development for combating the challenges faced the farmers in past like Bengal famine etc. Shri Shekhawat praised the performance of agriculture, fisheries, horticulture and other sectors for record production during current year but still there is a scope for further improvement to meet the ultimate demand of the nation. He pointed out that India is importing about 68% of cooking oil and thus there is the challenge for farmers and scientists to decrease the import of cooking oil and make the availability of the cooking oil sufficient to feed the nation.

Olive oil consumption has increased five times from last ten years and there is large probability for enhancing its acceptability due to high value index. Thus it becomes challenge for scientists to produce the quality planting material and work on different research aspects of olive for making it a success story for lost of the states in the nation. India has a vast potential for olive cultivation which need to be tapered by the joint efforts of scientists and farmers.

2. Minister for Commerce and Industry reviews Government’s initiatives on IPR

The Government of India has been working relentlessly to streamline IP processes and modernization of IP offices through steps such as comprehensive e-filing facilities made available for patents and trademarks, auto-allotment of patent applications to ensure uniformity and utilization of the specialized expertise of all examiners and controllers and by auto generation of trademark certificates. Examination of Patent applications has increased over three times in the last six months compared to the same period last year.

The Government has been engaging with people on social media platforms as well. The #LetsTalkIP campaign has gained momentum and this initiative aims to bring about a radical change with respect to awareness on Geographical Indications (GIs) and India’s rich cultural heritage. A logo design and slogan contest for GIs of India has also been launched on the MyGov.in website.

3. Ministries of Power & Textiles join hands under new initiative SAATHI (Sustainable and Accelerated Adoption of efficient Textile technologies to Help small Industries)

Ministries of Power and Textiles have joined hands under a new initiative SAATHI (Sustainable and Accelerated Adoption of efficient Textile technologies to Help small Industries) . Under this initiative, Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a public sector entity under the administrative control of Ministry of Power, would procure energy efficient Powerlooms, motors and Rapier kits in bulk and provide them to the small and medium Powerloom units at no upfront cost.

The SAATHI initiative of the Government will be jointly implemented by EESL and the office of the Textile Commissioner on a pan-India basis. To kick start the implementation, cluster wise demonstration projects and workshops will be organized in key clusters such as Erode, Surat, Ichalkaranji, etc.

The Powerloom sector in India is predominantly an unorganized sector and has a large number of micro and small units which produce 57 percent of the total cloth in the country. There are 24.86 lakhs Powerloom units in this country, most of whom use obsolete technology. With a view to upgrading the technology, the Government of India has been implementing the INSITU upgradation of plain Powerlooms as part of Power Tex India under which plain Powerlooms are attached with process control equipment leading to higher productivity, better quality and more than 50 percent additional value realisation. So far 1.70 lakhs plain Powerlooms have been upgraded under the scheme, with a total Government of India subsidy of Rs. 186 crores.