Pib

Pib

1. PM visits IRRI, Mahaveer Philippine Foundation

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today visited the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), at Los Banos, in Philippines. IRRI is a premier research organisation dedicated to reducing poverty and hunger through rice science; improving the health and welfare of rice farmers and consumers; and protecting the rice growing environment for future generations.

The Prime Minister also visited the Mahaveer Phillipine Foundation in Manila. This is a long-running humanitarian cooperation programme, between India and the Philippines, and was set up by an Indian origin Mayor of Manila Dr. Ramon Bagatsing. The Foundation, in association with Mahaveer Viklang Sahayta Samiti, has been instrumental in the fitment of Jaipur Foot to needy amputees. The Prime Minister interacted with people who have benefited from the Jaipur Foot.

2. Northeast to get India's first ever 'Air Dispensary': Dr Jitendra Singh

Northeast is all set to get India’s first-ever "Air Dispensary" based in a helicopter and the Union Ministry of Development of Northeast (DONER) has already contributed Rs. 25 crore as part of the initial funding for this initiative.

To begin with, helicopter will be based at two locations, namely Imphal in Manipur and Meghalaya in Shillong. Both of these cities have premier postgraduate medical institutes from where specialist doctors, along with the necessary equipment and paramedical staff, would be able to move into the helicopter and hold a dispensary/OPD in different locations across the eight States of North Eastern Region. On its way back, he said, the same helicopter can also transport a sick patient, requiring admission, to a city hospital.

3. Union Home Minister reviews measures to check cyber crimes in financial sector

Union Home Minister reviewed the measures contemplated such as:

• Big data analysis by involving IIT Delhi for identification of perpetrators of phone frauds in order to prevent duplication across e-wallets.
• Providing of additional information in SMS/email alerts to customers from banks or e-wallet companies, as part of customer alert mechanism to include names of beneficiaries of any financial transaction wherever necessary for better traceability and crosschecking on the part of the victim.
• Publishing online statistics depicting the specific incidents, frauds against e-wallet companies and banks along with details including investigation to enable customers to make an informed choice before subscribing to e-wallet services.
• Legal aspects involved in making this Metadata Archival possible by way of sharing of data among different government/ private agencies etc.
• Reduction of insurance cost; and mandatory KYC for all the entities issuing Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs); disabling of default international transactions facility for credit/debit cards etc.

4. The largest ever survey, National Achievement Survey (NAS) conducted successfully

The National Achievement Survey (NAS) is the largest ever national assessment survey in the country and is amongst the largest in the world, was conducted throughout the country today. Union HRD Minister Shri Prakash Javadekar said that the NAS is a transparent and credible exercise done under third party verification. It was conducted for the Classes 3, 5 and 8 in government and government aided schools. The survey tools used multiple test booklets with 45 questions in Classes III and V related to language, mathematics and 60 questions in Class VIII in Mathematics, Language, Sciences and Social Sciences. The competency based test questions developed reflected the Learning Outcomes developed by the NCERT which were recently incorporated in the Right to Education Act (RTE) by the Government of India. Along with the test items, questionnaires pertaining to students, teachers and schools were also used.

The learning levels of more than 25 lakhs students from 1,10,000 across 700 districts in all 36 States/UTs were assessed. More than 1.75 lakhs trained Field Investigators from outside the government education system were engaged to conduct the learning assessment in the country. To ensure the fairness of the survey, a monitoring team was constituted which consisted of observers from inter-ministerial departments drawn from the State Governments, National and State Observers from Education Departments and multi-lateral organizations. This monitoring team observed the implementation of the survey in all the districts, on the Day of Assessment.

5. Inland Waterways Authority of India pushes for early completion of Jal Marg Vikas Project on Ganga

The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has awarded a contract to a reputed consultant for technical support services for the Multi-Modal Terminal at Haldia and new Navigation Lock at Farakka. These projects are part of the Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) on National Waterway -I (River Ganga), being implemented with technical and financial assistance of the World Bank at an estimated cost of Rs. 5369 Crore. The objective of this is to ensure adherence to timelines and budgeted costs of the project and full compliance with the other stated guidelines.

The Jal Marg Vikas Project seeks to facilitate plying of vessels with capacity of 1500-2000 tons in the Haldia-Varanasi stretch of the River Ganga. The major works being taken up under JMVP are development of fairway, Multi-Modal Terminals, strengthening of river navigation system, conservancy works, modern River Information System (RIS), Digital Global Positioning System (DGPS), night navigation facilities, modern methods of channel marking etc.

6. 18.1% growth in Foreign Tourist Arrivals in October, 2017 over October, 2016. 67.3% growth in Foreign Tourist Arrivals on E-tourist Visa in October, 2017 over October, 2016