National
Madhya Pradesh notifies PESA Rules
» Madhya Pradesh has notified its PESA Rules on the occasion of Janjatiya Gaurav Divas on 15th November, 2022.
At the State Level Janjatiya Gaurav Divas Sammelan at Shahdol in Madhya Pradesh, Governor of Madhya Pradesh Shri Mangubhai Patel handed over the first copy of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA Act) Manual to the President of India Smt Droupadi Murmu.
Key Points:
- The PESA Act, now under implementation in Madhya Pradesh, will empower the Gram Sabhas to take decision on the rules and regulations with regard to all natural resources in the forest areas.
- The PESA Act will give more constitutional rights to the tribal people to reap the benefits of natural resources from the forest areas where they live.
Other Points:
- With the objective of effective implementation of PESA, Ministry of Panchayati Raj circulated Draft Model PESA Rules in 2009.
- Based on continuous advocacy and persuasion by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj eight States namely; Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana have notified their State PESA Rules under their respective State Panchayati Raj Acts.
- Recently, State of Chhattisgarh has notified their PESA Rules on 8th August, 2022.
- In the States of Jharkhand and Odisha the process of inter-Departmental consultation is still in progress.
- Nine PESA States, except Rajasthan, have incorporated the provisions of PESA 1996 in their respective State Panchayati Raj Acts.
- The tenth State, Rajasthan, has notified “The Rajasthan Panchayat Raj (Modification of Provisions in their Application to the Scheduled Areas) Act 1999”.
- Presently, 10 States viz. Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Telangana, have Fifth Schedule Areas in their respective States.
Background:
- To bring the people residing in Fifth Schedule Areas in the mainstream, the Parliament, in terms of Article 243M(4)(b) of the Constitution, has enacted “the Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996” (PESA) to extend Part IX of the Constitution, relating to Panchayats, to the Fifth Schedule areas, with certain modifications and exceptions.
- States, having Fifth Schedule Areas, have been empowered to make Panchayat Laws for these areas.
- Under “The Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas), Act 1996” (PESA), State Legislatures have been empowered to frame all laws concerning the extension of the provisions of Part IX of the Constitution relating to the Panchayats in Fifth Scheduled Areas, subject to such exceptions and modifications as are provided in section 4 of the Act.
- PESA is an Act to provide for the extension of the provisions of Part IX of the Constitution relating to the Panchayats to the Scheduled Areas. In terms of section 2 of this Act, “Scheduled Areas” means the Scheduled Areas as referred to in clause (1) of article 244 of the Constitution.
- Out of the ten PESA States, eight States namely; Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana have framed and notified their State PESA Rules under their respective State Panchayati Raj Acts.
NTPC’s QC Team wins "GOLD" award at ICQCC-2022
» NTPC’s QC Team from Unchahar ABHYUDAYA has won the “GOLD” award in the 47th International Convention on Quality Control Circle (ICQCC-2022).
- NTPC QC Team presented on “Frequent Choking of Collecting tanks of AHP-IV”.
- The QC team members – Shri Reyaz Ahamad (Facilitator), Shri Mahesh Chandra, Shri Virendra Kumar Yadav and Shri Laxmi Kant worked relentlessly towards providing unique, pragmatic, and quality solutions to the problem at hand.
ICQCC-2022:
The ICQCC-2022 was held from 15th-18th November, 2022 in Jakarta.
Theme:
The theme for ICQCC-2022 was “Built Back Better through Quality Efforts”.
Host:
The ICQCC in 2022 was hosted by Indonesia Quality Management Association (IQMA).
Other Awards for NTPC:
- In March 2022, NTPC had been declared the “Dream Employer of the Year” at the 30th Session of the World HRD Congress.
- NTPC’s efforts to create a future-ready workforce were recognized when NTPC was selected as a 2022 ATD BEST award winner by The Association for Talent Development (ATD), USA.
International
8th Norway-India Joint Working Group Maritime Meeting
⇒ Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) is working diligently to develop the Maritime Sector as a goal of MIV 2030. In this regard 8th Norway-India Joint Working Group Maritime meeting was held on 17th November, 2022 in Mumbai.
Co-Chaired by:
- The meeting was Co-Chaired by Mr. Rajesh Kumar Sinha, Additional Secretary, MoPSW along with other MoPSW senior officials.
- The Norwegian delegation was led by Director General Mr Ottar Ostnes from the Ministry of Trade, Industries and Fisheries.
Discussions:
- During the meeting, fruitful discussions were held on the Norway-India cooperation on green maritime future. Both governments presented their visions and plans for a green maritime sector.
- In 8th JWG Maritime Meeting held on 18 November 2022 discussion was held on use of alternative fuels like green ammonia and hydrogen for futuristic shipping. Norway stated that it is committed to India for zero emission solutions. India Norway is part of Green Voyage 2050 project, both parties agreed on willingness, devotion, partnership and capacity building for achieving common goals.
- India is a signatory to Hongkong Convention for Recycling of Ships. In today’s meeting India requested that EU regulation should not hinder to recycling non-European countries which is compliant as per International Convention. Norway was requested not to prolong Ship recycling to India as lot of investment has been made by Indian recyclers.
- India has pressed upon cooperation in the field of Maritime Training in latest maritime technology eg MASS etc. The Indian side has requested Norway to extend Ship Board training and Ship Board training in the area of Polar Water Navigation.
» The Norwegian delegation also took part in INMARCO, the Green Shipping Conclave, and the Maritime ShEO conference. The Maritime ShEO conference was supported by Norway and focused on maritime diversity and sustainability, including gender equality in the maritime industry.
» Mr. Ottar Ostnes Director General, Department of Maritime Policy and Coastal Development invited Indian delegation to Norway for next proposed 9th JWG meeting.
» The 7th JWG on Maritime was held in Oslo in November, 2019. During the 7th Meeting issues regarding cooperation in Shipbuilding, enhancing skills of seafarers and environment friendly ships were discussed.
5th Governing Council (GC) Meeting of NIIF
⇒ Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Smt Nirmala Sitharaman chaired the 5th meeting of the Governing Council (GC) of National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), in New Delhi, on 17 November 2022.
- The finance minister asked the NIIFL team to build on the work done so far and leverage India’s attractive investment fundamentals to expand its operations. Smt Sitharaman encouraged the team to continue discussions with investors from countries that are keen to invest in India.
Key Points:
- The GC noted that NIIF has developed into an internationally credible and commercially viable investment platform, backed by several highly respected global and domestic investors who have invested alongside the Government of India in NIIF Funds.
- NIIF’s first bilateral fund – an “India Japan Fund” with contribution from GoI has been proposed through an MoU between National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Limited (NIIFL) and Japan Bank for International Development (JBIC). The MoU was signed recently on 9th November, 2022. This key update regarding bilateral engagements of NIIF was endorsed by the GC.
- The GC appreciated that the two infrastructure Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs), where NIIF has majority stakes, have increased their combined loan book from ₹4,200 crore to ₹26,000 crore in 3 years without experiencing any non-performing loans till date.
- The GC also guided NIIF to undertake advisory activities pro-actively to support central and state governments to create a pipeline of investible PPP projects.
» During the meeting an update on the progress made by NIIF over the last few years and key learnings from its investment operations were presented to the Governing Council. The GC was apprised of the current status of the 3 funds that are currently managed by NIIFL – the Master Fund, the Fund of Funds (FoF), and the Strategic Opportunities Fund (SoF). The sectors that these funds focus on, the status of fund raise, and the kind of investments that have been made under them were shared with the GC.
- The GC was informed about the investments and performance of NIIF operating companies in sectors such as ports and logistics, renewable energy, and digital infrastructure besides its foray into sectors such as waste management, water treatment, healthcare, EV manufacturing.