Pib

Pib

1. Shri Gadkari interacts with participants of 44th Know India Programme

KIP is an initiative of the Government of India aimed at engaging and making students and young professionals of Indian diaspora in the age group of 18 to 30 feel a sense of connect with their motherland, motivating and inspiring them by transformational changes taking place in India and giving them an exposure to various aspects of contemporary India’s forms of art, heritage and culture. This is the 44th edition of the programme. KIP is organized by the Ministry of External Affairs in partnership with one or two states. Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are the Partner States this time.

40 member group that includes 20 women, is in India for a 25 day Know India Programmes (KIP) from 29th November to 23rd December. The group includes participants of Indian origin from Fiji, Guyana, Malaysia, Israel, Mauritius, Myanmar, South Africa, Surinam and Trinidad & Tobago.

2. Government withdraws stock holding and turnover limits on dealers of sugar with immediate effect

During the current Sugar Season 2017-18, crushing operations in all major sugar producing States has commenced smoothly. The total sugar production is estimated to be around 249 lakh MT by the end of the season against estimated consumption requirement of about 250 lakh MT. However with the carry over stock, the total availability of sugar is sufficient to meet the estimated domestic requirement. As such, there will be smooth availability of sugar and the sugar prices in the domestic market are expected to remain stable at reasonable levels.

3. Indian Railways to Provide 100% LED Lighting on All Its Stations by the End of Current Financial Year

Ministry of Railways is actively working to provide 100% LED lighting for its most of the Non-traction Energy needs like Railway Staff Colonies, Railway Stations, Railway Platforms etc. Under this 100% LED initiative, Ministry of Railways has decided to make all railway stations 100% LED lit by the end of current financial year i.e. by 31st March, 2018. It is a huge initiative to provide energy efficient lighting which will eventually greatly help in conservation of environment as well.

Till date (i.e. till November 2017) about 3500 Railway stations have already been provided with 100% LED lights & all balance stations & Railway buildings will be completed in the current fiscal year. So far about 20 Lakh LED lights at stations have been replaced across various Zonal Railways under this programme. To take ahead provision of LED lights at all stations, ESCO mode in this area is also being pursued. A policy directive in this reference has been formulated and issued by Ministry of Railways. 100% LED lighting will hence improve the energy scene on Indian Railways and will reduce consumption by about 10% of total energy being utilized for its Non-traction uses, thus leading to savings of about 240 million units of electricity which will save about ₹180 Cr. annually to Railways.

4. Initiatives Taken To Reduce Debt Burden Of Farmers

To reduce the debt burden of farmers, the Government has taken the following major initiatives:

• With a view to ensuring availability of agriculture credit at a reduced interest rate of 7% p.a. to farmers, the Government of India in the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers’ Welfare (DAC&FW) implements an interest subvention scheme for short term crop loans up to Rs. 3.00 lakh. Under the said scheme, additional subvention of 3% is given to those farmers who repay their short term crop loan in time, thereby reducing the effective rate of interest to 4% p.a. for such farmers.

• Reserve Bank of India has issued directions for Relief Measures to be provided by respective lending institutions in areas affected by natural calamities which, inter alia, include, restructuring/rescheduling of existing crop loans and term loans, extending fresh loans, relaxed security and margin norms, moratorium, etc. These directions have been so designed that the moment calamity is declared by the concerned District Authorities they are automatically set in motion without any intervention, thus saving precious time. The benchmark for initiating relief measures by banks has also been reduced to 33% crop loss in line with the National Disaster Management Framework.

• Pradhan MantriFasalBimaYojana (PMFBY) provides a comprehensive insurance cover against failure of insured crops due to non-preventable natural risks, thus providing financial support to farmers suffering crop loss/ damage arising out of unforeseen events; stabilizing the income of farmers to ensure their continuance in farming; and encouraging them to adopt innovative and modern agricultural practices. For development of agriculture and welfare of farmers of the country, the Government in DAC&FW, is implementing various Central Sector/ Centrally Sponsored Schemes, which include:

(i) Rashtriya KrishiVikasYojana (RKVY)

(ii) National Food Security Mission (NFSM)

(iii) National Agriculture Market (e-NAM)

(iv) National Mission For Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA)