National
National Conference on Tourist Police Scheme
⇒ Speaker of Lok Sabha, Shri Om Birla addressed the National Conference on Tourist Police Scheme on 19 October 2022 in New Delhi.
Organised by:
Ministry of Tourism in co-ordination with Ministry of Home Affairs and Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) organised this conference.
Objective:
The objective of the National Conference on Tourist Police Scheme was to bring Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Home Affairs, Bureau of Police Research & Development and State Govts/ UT Administration on the same platform; so that they may work together in close coordination with the State/UT Police department and sensitize them about the specific requirements of the foreign & domestic tourists for effective implementation of Uniform Tourist Police Scheme at pan-India level.
» During the conference, the report on ‘Tourist Police Scheme’ prepared by BPR&D was deliberated upon and BPR&D also shared the finding and recommendations of the report.
Details related to Tourist Police scheme (Official Link)
REC & PFC ink MoA with STPL
⇒ REC Limited and Power Finance Corporation Limited (PFC) – CPSEs under the Ministry of Power have signed a Memorandum of Loan Agreement with SJVN Thermal Private Ltd (STPL) for financing 2×660 MW coal based Buxar Thermal Power Plant (BTPP).
- The total estimated Project Cost is ₹12,172.74 Cr with debt requirement of ₹8520.92 Cr. As per the MoA, the debt requirement shall be financed by REC & PFC.
Background:
- SJVN Thermal Private Limited is a 100% wholly owned subsidiary of SJVN Ltd (Mini Ratna CPSE under administrative control of Ministry of Power, Govt. of India).
- STPL is currently executing 2×660 MW coal based Buxar Thermal Power Plant (BTPP) which is a green field project designed on supercritical technology with the objective to improve the reliability of India’s Eastern Electricity region and providing power to the state of Bihar.
'Multi Adventure Camp' at Air Force Station Chandinagar
⇒ A ‘Multi Adventure Camp’ for wards of Air Force personnel for the age group of 12-18 yrs was organised at Air Force Station Chandinagar from 09-18 October 2022.
Conducted by:
The first-of-its-kind camp was organised under the aegis of Air Force Wives Welfare Association (Regional) [AFWWA (R)], HQ Western Air Command and was conducted by Air Force Wives Welfare Association (Local) [AFWWA (L)], Air Force Station Chandinagar.
Participation:
The Multi Adventure Camp was conducted separately in boys and girls category & a total of 30 participants participated in each category.
- The camp for boys started from 09 Oct 22 and concluded on 13 Oct 22; whereas for girls it commenced on 14 Oct 22 and concluded on 18 Oct 22.
Key Points:
- The camp imparted valuable lessons vis-à-vis military way of life and helped prepare children in taking on life challenges in years to come.
- Numerous unique adventure activities were conducted under the supervision of trained instructors.
- The motto of this camp also included motivating young participants to join Indian Air Force after completion of eligible educational qualifications.
National Training Workshop on People’s Plan Campaign–2022
⇒ Ministry of Panchayati Raj organised a two-day National Training Workshop on People’s Plan Campaign–2022 during 19th – 20th October, 2022 in New Delhi.
Participants included officers from different Ministries/ Departments of the Government of India and States/ UTs, elected representatives and functionaries of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), Trainees, Interns from 28 States / UTs.
- The guidelines for revamped People’s Plan Campaign–2022 and Handbook on revamped Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) Portal were also launched during the Workshop.
Technical Session:
Technical Session–I focused on Convergence of Schemes and Programmes with Panchayat Development Plan for preparation of holistic rural development plan whereas Technical Session–II was dedicated to the Evidence based Planning and Monitoring of People’s Plan Campaign–2022.
Background:
- Ministry of Panchayati Raj organises People’s Plan Campaign (PPC) every year (Sabki Yojana Sabka Vikas) from 2nd October to 31st December.
- PPC–2022 was launched on 2nd October, 2022 to prepare District/ Block/ Gram Panchayat Development Plans for the year 2023–2024.
- The Ministry of Panchayati Raj has evolved thematic approach aggregating 17 Sustainable goals into 9 broad themes of Localised Sustainable Development Goals (LSDGs) at grassroots level.
- In this PPC 2022, Panchayats prepared Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) on these 9 themes by adopting Whole-of- Government and Whole-of-Society approach.
Barauni Plant of HURL commences Urea production
⇒ The Barauni Plant of Hindustan Urvarak & Rasayan Limited (HURL) has commenced urea production in October 2022.
Key Points:
- The state-of-the-art gas based Barauni Plant is part of the initiative taken by the Government to revive the closed urea units of Fertilizer Corporation of India Ltd and Hindustan Fertilizers Corporation Ltd in order to achieve self-sufficiency in urea sector.
- Government mandated Hindustan Urvarak & Rasayan Limited (HURL) to revive Barauni unit with an estimated investment of Rs 8,387 crores with urea production capacity of 12.7 LMTPA.
Background:
- HURL, incorporated on 15th June, 2016 is a Joint Venture Company by Coal India Limited, NTPC Limited, Indian Oil Corporation Limited and FCIL/HFCL mandated to revive Gorakhpur, Sindri and Barauni units with an estimated investment of Rs 25,000 crores.
- The start of all the three plants of HURL will add 38.1 LMTPA indigenous urea production in the country and help to realize the vision of Prime Minister to make India ‘Aatmanirbhar’ (self-reliant) in the urea production.
IPPB and RBIH Collaborate for innovations in Financial Product and Services
⇒ India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) and Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH) have collaborated for innovations in Financial Product and Services.
India Post Payments Bank and Reserve Bank Innovation Hub have come together to focus their efforts on enhancing the reach of financial solutions to large sections of society across India and enabling frictionless finance to a billion Indians.
The collaboration between IPPB and RBIH will explore projects which shall have impact on the masses by:
- Leveraging the deep rural reach of IPPB-Department of Posts (DoP) to take Rural Finance to a billion Indians.
- Enabling access to sustainable and secure finance services to every segment of the society, through research and innovation.
» Additionally, IPPB shall be an active participant and partner with RBIH on initiatives of national importance led by RBIH.
About RBIH:
- The Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) set up to promote and facilitate an environment that accelerates innovation across the financial sector.
- The organisation serves as a focal point to position India as a global innovation hub for a network of financial services providers, fintech innovation hubs, policymakers, technologists, academia, and the investor community.
About IPPB:
- India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has been established under the Department of Posts, Ministry of Communication with 100% equity owned by the Government of India.
- IPPB was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on September 1, 2018. The bank has been set up with the vision to build the most accessible, affordable and trusted bank for the common man in India.
- The fundamental mandate of IPPB is to remove barriers for the unbanked and under-banked and reach the last mile leveraging a network comprising 160,000 post offices (145,000 in rural areas) and 400,000 postal employees.