Government policies, leadership stories and much more
In a bid to bring scientific research in India at par with the global standards, the union government is working on a new playbook for a coordinated high impact research funding. As part of this plan, it is working on developing an ‘Ease of Doing Science Index’ to ensure effective use of both disbursed funds (including flexibility of fund utilisation) and the researchers’ time to weed out sub-standard research.
The Government has announced liberalised guidelines for geo-spatial data. Giving details of the liberalised guidelines at a media briefing in New Delhi on Monday, the Union Minister for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Health & Family Welfare, Dr. Harsh Vardhan today said that by liberalizing the geo-spatial guidelines, the government has taken a historic decision that will lead to a One Lakh Crore Rupees Geo-Spatial economy.
National Food Security Mission (NFSM) was launched in 2007-08 to increase the production of rice, wheat and pulses through area expansion and productivity enhancement; restoring soil fertility and productivity; creating employment opportunities; and enhancing farm level economy. Coarse cereals were included from 2014-15 under NFSM.
On Friday, finance minister Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman said Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi-led NDA government eliminated all ills from the MNREGA rural-employment guarantee scheme and invested the maximum Rs. 90,500 crore (US$ 12.43 billion) ever so far.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeITY) worked comprehensively to prepare the elaborate paperwork to ban popular Chinese mobile applications like TikTok and WeChat last year, Times of India reports.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said refugees from West Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) have been provided domicile certificates in Jammu and Kashmir.
Dr Jitendra said, the move will bring Ease of Living for the family members of the deceased government employees and provide increased financial security to them. This will also, in turn, give them the confidence of being more self- reliant.
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi also announcing Project Dolphin last year on the lines of Project Tiger to focus on both river and sea dolphins, the centre has acquired more importance. The project also got in-principle approval at the first meeting of the National Ganga Council (NGC), headed by the PM.
In an effort to drive innovation and provide better services to passengers, the Indian Railways has made the ticket booking for train easier. The IRCTC has introduced a new facility to book these tickets without any hassle in a matter of seconds. The Indian Railway Tourism and Catering Corporation (IRCTC) has started its payment gateway IRCTC-iPay and it is now active for use by train passengers.
Keeping in view the importance of beekeeping as part of the Integrated Farming System in the country, government approved the allocation for Rs. 500 crore (US$ 68.66 million) for National Beekeeping & Honey Mission (NBHM) for three years (2020-21 to 2022-23). The mission was announced as part of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat scheme. NBHM aims for the overall promotion & development of scientific beekeeping in the country to achieve the goal of ‘Sweet Revolution’ which is being implemented through National Bee Board (NBB).
