Government to develop Mizoram on fast track: Jitendra Singh

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh has said that the Government will develop Mizoram on a fast-track. After an hour-long exclusive meeting with Chief Minister Mizoram, Shri Lalthanhawla at his residence in Aizawl today, Dr Jitendra Singh said, though being one of the smallest and the youngest States of the country, Mizoram has the potential to emerge as a model State of India.

During the meeting the two leaders discussed developmental issues as well as the political situation in the State. The Chief Minister explained to the DoNER Minister as to how after 20 years long period of insurgency, Mizoram had limped back to normalcy following the historic accord in 1986. In response, Dr Jitendra Singh assured Shri Lalthanhawla that the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and his government are committed to carry forward the process of growth with peace in this peripheral State and every possible help will be rendered to achieve this objective.

Later, before concluding his two-day visit to Mizoram, Dr Jitendra Singh held a meeting with the State administration, which was followed by a get-together hosted for him by State Cabinet Ministers.

At the meeting with the administration, which was attended among others by the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police (DGP), Dr Jitendra Singh said that besides working out the feasibility of a direct air-flight from Delhi to Aizawl, he has also offered a middle-route formula for resolving the issue pertaining to the security management of the Aizawl Airport which had become a matter of debate between the State Police and the Airports Authority of India (AAI). In this regard, he suggested to the State DGP to try to work out a working arrangement between the State Police and the AAI.

Dr Jitendra Singh also announced that as a part of the new initiative of holding Camp Secretariat of DoNER Ministry by monthly rotation in each of the eight States of Northeast, the next Camp Secretariat in the month of May will be held in Mizoram for which communication is being sent to all the concerned in the administration as well as the MLAs and MPs from the State. This will be an opportunity for the administration as well as the representatives of civil society to directly interact with the officials of DoNER Ministry who will be available in the State, he added.

With the literacy rate of nearly 92%, Dr Jitendra Singh said, Mizoram deserves to have a more participatory role intellectually and academically and therefore, in the new Brahmaputra Study Centre in Gauhati University announced by the DoNER Ministry, Mizoram will be accommodated for a suitable slot in exclusive research and higher learning.

Global crude oil price of Indian Basket was US$ 60.23 per bbl on 16.04.2015

The international crude oil price of Indian Basket as computed/published today by Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas was US$ 60.23 per barrel (bbl) on 16.04.2015. This was higher than the price of US$ 58.36 per bbl on previous publishing day of 15.04.2015.

In rupee terms, the price of Indian Basket increased to Rs 3756.55 per bbl on 16.04.2015 as compared to Rs 3641.66 per bbl on 15.04.2015. Rupee closed stronger at Rs 62.37 per US$ on 16.04.2015 as against Rs 62.40 per US$ on 15.04.2015. The table below gives details in this regard:

Particulars	Unit	Price on April 16, 2015(Previous trading day i.e. 15.04.2015)	Pricing Fortnight for 16.04.2015 (March 28 to April 10, 2015)
Crude Oil (Indian Basket)	($/bbl)	60.23              (58.36)	54.92
	(Rs/bbl	3756.55          (3641.66)	3425.91
Exchange Rate	(Rs/$)	62.37              (62.40)	62.38

Dr. Nasim zaidi takes over as new CEC

Dr. Nasim Zaidi has assumed charge as 20th Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) succeeding Sh. H.S. Bramha here today. Sh. H.S. Brahma laid off his office yesterday after completing his tenure.

Prior to this Dr. Nasim Zaidi has served as Election Commissioner since 7.8.2012. Before joining the Election Commission, Dr. Zaidi had served the nation as a long time civil servant of the Indian Administration Service (1976- Batch).

Speaking to media persons after taking over charge, Dr Zaidi said that ECI will formulate a strategic plan for 10-15 years based on principles of independence, transparency, professionalism, inclusiveness and measurable outputs. The plan will be based on all round institutional strengthening, voter education and an efficient election operation. Dr Zaidi further stated that he would like ECI to be more vibrant, transparent & accountable organisation, which is open to receiving new ideas and best practices. Commission will like to formulate its guiding Principles based on good governance..

The full text of Dr Zaidi Statement on assumption of charge is as follows ::-

“I feel privileged and honoured that I have been given this responsibility to lead one of the finest institutions that the Indian Constitution has provided a glorious institution that reinforces Indian democracy.

I am also conscious of the onerous task in hand. As continuity is the hallmark in the working of the Commission, I look forward to building upon the excellent work done by my distinguished predecessors and meet the expectation of the people and all stake- holders.

We have laid a simple vision: Free and fair elections based on error free and authenticated electoral roll with higher level of participation if voters with inclusiveness.

As you know, we have continuously set high bench marks for ourselves. We would strive to deliver Elections which are spotlessly free, fair, peaceful transparent and highly participative each time. I would like to see the voter happy in his or her interface with the electoral system.

ECI will focus on voter-centric activities form enrolment to enabling them with e-services. ECI will formulate a strategic plan for 10-15 years based on principles of independence, transparency, professionalism, inclusiveness and measurable outputs. The plan will be based on all round institutional strengthening, voter education and an efficient election operation.

During my tenure as Chief Election Commissioner, I would like ECI to be more vibrant, transparent & accountable organisation, which is open to receiving new ideas and best practices. Commission will like to formulate its guiding Principles based on good governance.”

[Source:PIB]

Evacuation Operations from YEMEN - ‘OPERATION RAAHAT’

In yet another difficult and challenging operation, Indian Naval Ship Tarkash evacuated 464 personnel of different nationalities from the war torn city of Aden, Yemen on 10 April 2015. Body of Late Shri Manjeet Singh, who succumbed to injuries sustained during bombing in Aden city was embarked onboard INS Tarkash for passage to Djibouti. He was a resident of Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh. 46 Indians nationals and 422 persons hailing from 14 countries were evacuated in this trip from the port city of Aden and disembarked at Djibouti on 11 April 15. The personnel evacuated were observed to be in a state of shock and were greatly relieved to be onboard an Indian Naval Ship safely.

Amongst the evacuees there were four pregnant women, one patient each suffering from cancer and renal failure and two malnourished children were provided succor and medical aid by INS Tarkash. It was learnt from the evacuees that the city Aden continues to remain under siege by the Houthis and the situation there was grim with continuous shelling and firing taking place. Despite the difficult conditions, embarkation continued to be undertaken by INS Tarkash. Gun/ shots, shelling and firing in port area and on the jetty were reported by crew of INS Tarkash.

Earlier on 09 Apr 15, INS Sumitra had safely evacuated 349 personnel including some foreign nationals from the Port Al Hodeidah. Sumitra was received in Djibouti harbour by Indian Ambassador to Ethopia and Bangladeshi Ambassador to Kuwait. All evacuees were safely disembarked at Djibouti for further passage to India by Indian Air Force Aircraft and civil flights on 10 April 15.

Till now Indian Naval Ships Mumbai, Tarkash and Sumitra deployed in Gulf of Aden have evacuated 2671 persons including 964 foreign nationals from 30 countries. Evacuation operations as part of Op Rahat continues to be progressed by the Indian Navy Ship deployed off the coast of Yemen.

National Judicial Appointments Commission Act Notified

The Government today notified the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, 2014 and the Constitution (Ninety-ninth Amendment) Act, 2014 for bringing in a change in the existing system for appointment of Judges in Supreme Court and High Courts.

Two Bills titled 'The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty First Amendment) Bill, 2014' and 'The National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2014' were passed unanimously by the Lok Sabha on 13.08.2014 and Rajya Sabha on 14.08.2014 respectively. Subsequently these Bills were ratified by the required number of State legislatures before getting the President’s assent. The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty First Amendment) Bill, 2014 enacted as the Constitution (Ninety Ninth Amendment) Act and the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, 2014 were published in Gazette of India on 31st December 2014.

Both the Acts were to come into force on such date as the Central Government would notify them in the Official Gazette.

Accordingly, in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of section 1 of the Constitution (Ninety-ninth Amendment) Act, 2014, the Central Government appoints the 13th day of April, 2015, as the date on which the said Act shall come into force.

Further, in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of section 1 of the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, 2014 (40 of 2014), the Central Government appoints the 13th day of April, 2015, as the date on which the provisions of the said Act shall come into force.

The Constitution (Ninety Ninth Amendment) Act, 2014 provides for the composition and the functions of the proposed NJAC.

The Acts provide for a transparent and broad-based process of selection of Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts by the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC). The NJAC would be chaired by the Chief Justice of India as in the earlier collegium system. The NJAC membership would include two senior most Judges of the Supreme Court, the Union Minister of Law and Justice, two eminent persons to be nominated by a committee of the Prime Minister of India, the Chief Justice of India, and the Leader of the Opposition in the House of the People, or if there is no Leader of the Opposition, then the Leader of the single largest Opposition Party in the House of the People. With a view to ensuring that the composition of the National Judicial Appointments Commission is inclusive, the Act provides that one of the eminent persons shall be nominated from amongst persons belonging to the Scheduled Caste, the Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, Minorities or Women. The NJAC will frame its own regulations.

Progress of North East Rural Livelihood Project

North East Rural Livelihood Project, a central sector externally aided multi-state project was launched in March 2012. The main objective of the project is to improve rural livelihoods, especially that of women, unemployed youth and the most disadvantaged in the four participating North East States. The total project cost has been estimated at US$ 144.4 million with World Bank assistance of US$130 million and Government of India’s contribution of US$14.4 million (at 10%). The financial project has been made for five years with the mandate to implement in two districts each of Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim and five districts in Tripura. About 3 lakh households will directly benefit from the project across 11 districts, 62 blocks and 1645 villages.

The main thrusts of the project are to build community based organizations such as Self Help Groups (SHGs), SHG village Federations, Community Development Groups (CDGs), Producer Organizations etc. and strengthen the existing ones; to nurture and build capacity of the Community-Based Organization Leaders for enabling them to participate in decision making and development process; to provide financial support for promotion of livelihood activities; to facilitate technical support, expert services and knowledge transfer through partnership; to provide vocational trainings and skill trainings for self-business and job placement; to promote a few livelihood clusters; to provide necessary linkages for institutional finance; and to develop value chains on certain potential products.

The desired outcomes of the project include (a) making the SHGs promoted and supported by the project sustainable, (b) increasing the income level of the members of the SHGs (at least 60% of them) and disadvantaged households by 30% in real term and (c) providing jobs or self employment to the unemployed youths through various skill trainings, entrepreneurship development trainings, vocational trainings and management development trainings.

Initially, the project had focused on institution building and strengthening of existing community institutions. With minimum coverage of 70% of the households of the project villages, institution building has almost saturated in Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim. Good progress has also been made in two districts of Tripura. By end of March 2015, the project has formed 13,685 SHGs, 142 SHG Village Federations and 1351 CDGs. Having the solid platforms of development laid down, the project is now focusing more on creating resilient livelihoods for the community people. With a view to contributing towards the corpus funds and also to provide livelihood support, the project has so far provided Seed Capital to 11049 SHGs and livelihood Funds to 5780 SHGs amounting Rs.22.09 crore and Rs.28.24 crore respectively. Another Rs.6.52 crore has been released for entry point activities and execution of Community Development Plans. The project has also started 4 model livelihood clusters with approximate investment of upto Rs.100 lakh each on piggery, goatary and dairy.

NERLP has also put a target of providing skill trainings to about 20,000 unemployed youths from the project districts. For organizing skill trainings on different trades, the project has entered into MOUs with 16 Voluntary Training Providers who are either government/semi government organizations or NSDC empanelled. As on date, 1045 youths have been trained out of which around 519 got placement in various parts of the country mainly in retail, hospitality, IT and health care sector. Another 393 candidates are getting placement very soon and 216 youths are undergoing training.

Apart from physical achievement, the financial achievement of the project for 2014-15 has been impressive. As against the budget allocation of Rs.90.00 (RE), the project has made a total expenditure of Rs.72.13 crore. This under-expenditure has been mainly due to delayed releases of the RE budget of Rs.60 crore sometime in the first week of March 2015.

MHA renames Tourist Visa on Arrival scheme as e-Tourist Visa from

The Ministry of Home Affairs has decided to change the name of the scheme ‘Tourist Visa on Arrival-Electronic Travel Authorization’ to ‘e-Tourist Visa’ (eTV) from tomorrow (April 15, 2015). The extension of the scheme to more countries and airports will be in a phased manner, in order to avoid any confusion.

Government of India had launched ‘Tourist Visa on Arrival enabled by Electronic Travel Authorization’ (TVoA-ETA) on 27th November, 2014 to 44 countries at nine airports to facilitate short duration international travellers. Since the launch of the scheme, one lakh ten thousand (1,10,000) Visas have been issued by Government under this scheme.

It has been observed that the name of the scheme (TVoA-ETA) is creating confusion among tourists. Tourists presumed as if the Visa is being granted on arrival, however in present system the pre-authorization of Visa to foreigners is being given prior to travel. Ministry of Home Affairs had also received the requests of name change from some Indian embassies.

A committee of officers from Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of External Affairs and Bureau of Immigration (BoI) was formed for formulation of new name for the scheme. A contest was also conducted on mygov.in inviting suggestions on the name of the scheme.

Keeping in view the application process and purpose of the scheme, the committee had suggested e-Tourist Visa (eTV) as the appropriate new name for the scheme.

Task Force on Interlinking of Rivers Costituted

Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation has constituted a ‘Task Force’ on Interlinking of Rivers comprising experts and senior officials to look into the issues relating to Interlinking of Rivers (ILR) in the country.The Task Force would be chaired by Shri. BN Navalawala.

The expert members of the Task Force would be Shri. Sriram Vedire, Adviser in the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Shri. Prodipto Ghosh, Former Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Shri.AD Mohile, Former Chairman, Central Water Commission (CWC), Shri M Gopalakrishnan, Former Member, Central Water Commission and Shri Virag Gupta, Advocate. Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Water Resources, Chairman, Central water Commission, Director General, National Water Development Agency and Joint Secretary (Finance), in the Ministry of Water Resources will be the other members of the Task Force.

The Task Force will take up all issues for expediting the work on interlinking of rivers in the Country. Apart from examining the existing links that are laid out as per the National Perspective Plan under both Himalayan and Peninsular components, the task force would also consider alternative plans in place of infeasible links in the present plan. The Task Force would facilitate interlinking of intra-state and intra-basin Rivers also along with that of inter-state and inter-basin links. The Task Force would recommend the time schedules for completion of feasibility studies and DPR’s of all the links, implementation schedule of all the links and also suggest on various means of funding mechanisms for the Interlinking of Rivers.

The Task Force would also provide guidance on norms of appraisal of individual projects in respect of economic viability, socio-economic, environmental impacts and preparation of resettlement plans. It would also device suitable mechanisms for bringing about speedy consensus amongst the states and also propose suitable organizational structure for implementing the Interlinking of Rivers. The Task Force would also try to forge a consensus amongst the states in order to take forward the speedy implementation of the Interlinking of Rivers Program.