Evening Post

New Delhi

Indian skipper Virat Kohli received the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award in India, on Thursday. The award was bestowed upon him by President Pranab Mukherjee. Kohli has had a phenomenal year in cricket where he’s scored with the bat and to top it all off, led the side to unprecedented success. He led the Indian team to the No. 1 Test ranking after taking over the reins from Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli was among the eight sportspersons who were picked for the prestigious Padma Shri alongside hockey captain PR Sreejesh, Rio Olympics heroes wrestler Sakshi Malik, gymnast Dipa Karmakar, Paralympian Mariyappan Thangavelu and Deepa Malik, discus thrower Vikas Gowda and blind cricket team captain Shekhar Naik.

The eight sportspersons are among the 89 Padma Awardees announced by the government on the eve of the Republic Day.

New Delhi

Looks like Sunil Grover preferred moving on, keeping the mid-air scuffle with Kapil Sharma behind.

He is all set to bring his comedy clinic, in his Dr Mashoor Gulati avatar, to entertain the national capital on the Fool's Day at Talkatora Stadium.

Add on to this is Kiku Sharda, who will also be joining Sunil on stage, along with a cast of other well known personalities.

The actor recently shared a poster on his Facebook page, which sees Sunil as Dr Mashoor and Kiku as the nurse.

He captioned it, "Delhi see you on the 1st April. Yo!"

Rajat Taneja, Director Live Events and Entertainment, who is the organizer of the Delhi Show, added, "We have received an overwhelming response. The tickets are almost sold out and Delhiites are eagerly waiting to catch Sunil Grover live in action."

Washington 

The White House has granted the U.S. military broader authority to carry out strikes in Somalia against al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab militants, the Pentagon said Thursday, the latest sign President Donald Trump is increasing U.S. military engagement in the region.

Last Friday, the head of U.S. forces in Africa said that greater ability to fight the militants would lead to more flexibility and quicker targeting.

Al-Shabab has been able to carry out deadly bombings despite losing most of its territory to African Union peacekeepers supporting the Somali government. The group's insurgency aims to drive out the peacekeepers, topple Somalia's Western-backed government and impose its strict version of Islam on the Horn of Africa state.

The United States has a small presence in Somalia and is allowed to carry out strikes in defense of partnered forces.

Two U.S. defense officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said parts of Somalia had been declared an "area of active hostilities" for at least 180 days by the White House on Wednesday night. The capital of Mogadishu was not included.

This broader authority would allow the United States to carry out offensive strikes against al-Shabab militants even if the militants were not attacking partnered forces, the officials said. They said rules to avoid civilian casualties would not be loosened.

In a statement, the Pentagon said Trump had approved a request for "additional precision fires in support of African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and Somali security forces."

"The additional support provided by this authority will help deny al-Shabab safe havens from which it could attack U.S. citizens or U.S. interests in the region," Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said in the statement.

The decision mirrors one the White House made in January when it declared parts of three provinces in Yemen an "area of active hostilities," allowing the military greater flexibility to target al-Qaida militants there.

In recent months, the United States has carried out more than 40 strikes against al-Qaida militants in Yemen, which lies just across the Gulf of Aden from Somalia.

As many as 12 civilians, some of them women and children, were killed along with a U.S. commando in a January raid in southern Yemen. The United States has said that raid gathered valuable intelligence.

Madhya Pradesh

The Loan Agreement for New Development Bank (NDB) financing of US$ 350 Million for Development and Upgradation of Major District Roads Project in Madhya Pradesh was signed between Government of India and the New Development Bank (NDB) here. This is the First Loan Agreement for NDB assisted project in India. 

The Loan Agreement was signed by Mr. Raj Kumar, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) on behalf of the Government of India and Mr. Xian Zhu, Vice President & Chief Operating Officer on behalf of the New Development Bank. The Project Agreement was signed by Mr. Pramod Agrawal, Principal Secretary, Public Works Department and Mr. Manish Rastogi, Managing Director, Madhya Pradesh Road Development Corporation (MPRDC), on behalf of Government of Madhya Pradesh. 

The objective of the Project is upgradation of major district roads in the state of Madhya Pradesh to improve connectivity of the interior areas of the state with the national and state highway networks. The Project would include upgradation, rehabilitation or reconstruction of approx. 1,500 (One thousand Five Hundred Only) km of district roads to intermediate lane, all-weather standards, with road safety features and improved road asset maintenance & management. The project outcome is to improve transport connectivity to the interior regions and resultant boost to economic activity in the rural hinterland. 

The project implementation is 5 years. Government of Madhya Pradesh and the MPRDC are the implementing agencies. 

New Delhi

India Post has released a commemorative postage stamp on cub scouts on 30th March 2017.

Scouting in India :Scouting started in India in the year 1909, when Captain T.H.Baker established the first Scout Troop in Bangalore and got it registered with imperial Headquarters, London.subsequently, Scout Troops were formed in Kirkee (Pune), Simla, Madras, Jabalpur, Lonavla (Mumbai) and registered with the Imperial Headquarters during 1910 and 1911. These units were open to European and Anglo Indian Children only.

The first Guide Company in India was started in Jabalpur, Central India in 1911. As the Scout Movement was not initially open to the Indian boys, Nationalist leaders of India decided to offer Scouting activities to Indian Boys and Sewa Samiti Scout Association was formed with Headquarters in Allahabad by Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, Pandit Hriday Nath Kunzru and Pandit Sriram Bajpai. Dr.Annie Besant with the help of Shri G.S.Arundale started a seperate Scout Association for Indian Boys in Madras.

Efforts were made for unification of different scout groups existing in India during the visit of Lord Baden Powell to India in 1921 and 1937 but failed. Major reason for the failure in unification was the promise clause which included the word “Duty to King”. Our Patriotic sentiments of our Nationalist leaders did not approve the allegiance to the British Empire and instead it was insisted that allegiance loyalty to the Country should be part of the Scout Promise.

Scouting in Independent India :After the independence of our country efforts were made for unification of the Scout and Guide Associations functioning in India. Serious efforts were made by our National leaders like Pt.Jawahar Lal Nehru, First Prime Minister of India, Mauland Abul Kalam Azad, the First education Minister of India,Shri Mangal Das Pakvasa, Governor of Central Province, and Scout leaders Pandit Hriday Nath Kunzru, Pandit Sri Ram Bajpai, Justice Vivian Bose and others for the merger of the Scout / Guide Associations.

The Final merger took place on 7th November 1950 and the unified Organisation came into existence under the Name “The Bharat Scouts and Guides”. The Girl Guides Association formally joined the Bharat Scouts and Guides a little later on 15th August 1951.

New Delhi

The Grand Finale of Smart India Hackathon-2017 will be hosted on April 1 & 2, 2017 by Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region at Girijananda Chowdhury Institute of Management & Technology (GIMT), Guwahati, along with All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) under Ministry of Human Resource Development. 

The 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’s message for Smart India Hackathon-2017 reads "Digital Solutions along with appropriate technologies have the potential to catalyse development solutions in the North East States".

Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region is a premier partner in this initiative and has identified 11 problems, on which the 31 teams (6 students & 2 mentors per team) shortlisted by the Ministry would build innovative digital solutions at GIMT, Guwahati. The GIMT, Guwahati has been selected as the only nodal centre in the North East, among 26 other nodal centers across the country. The two-day event will witness 10,000+ participants, working non-stop for 36 hours to build products/solutions on the problems identified by different Ministries/ Departments across 26 locations in India. The prizes under different categories include Rs.1,00,000 for the winner, Rs.75,000 for the first runner up and Rs.50,000 for the second runner up and also get a chance to be part of the NASSCOM’s 10,000 Startups programme.

Smart India Hackathon-2017 was launched on November 9, 2016 in New Delhi to harnesses creativity & expertise of students, builds funnel for ‘Startup India, Standup India’ campaign, crowd sources solutions for improving Governance and quality of life and gives opportunity to citizens to provide innovative solutions to India’s daunting problems. Out of the 7531 ideas received for 598 problems identified by 29 Ministries/ Departments, 1266 ideas have been shortlisted for the Grand Finale. Smart India Hackathon-2017 will be the first massive scale hackathon initiative in India.

ARGI PARSAI

Technology and its dissemination to farmers’ fields plays a crucial role in Indian agriculture. Recognising that scientific research will be critical to doubling farmers’ income in the next five years, institutions under the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) are gearing themselves to deliver.

In the horticulture sector that involves vegetables, fruits, flowers, spices, aromatic plants and plantation crops, scientists  are not only working towards developing new varietal seeds that give higher production, are resistant to pests, diseases and climatic changes but are also addressing issues of post-harvest losses and marketing under public-private partnerships.

Official statistics for 2015-16 reveal that India harvested 286.1 million tonnes of horticulture produce from 24.4 million hectares of land. As per the first advance estimates the production for 2016-17 is estimated at 28.7 million tonnes from 24.3 million hectares of land. The total output is expected to be higher by 2 % over the previous year.

Of this, the production of fruits is estimated at 92 million tonnes, which is higher than in 2015-16. The output of vegetables is likely to be around 168.6 million tonnes with tomato, and potato having registered a marginal increase over previous year. 

Lately horticulture sector has grown by over 7 per cent and has the potential for providing nutritional security as well as profitability to farmers particularly the small and marginal ones. The percentage share of horticulture in Indian agriculture is around 33 per cent. Being second-largest producer of fruits and vegetables, India exported in 2014-15 fruits and vegetables worth Rs. 7474.14 crores.

 Vegetables can contribute largely towards food and nutritional security of the people, particularly the poor.  They are a rich source of vitamins, minerals and plant fibres which provide food and nutritional security. These also generate high income and employment, particularly for small farmers. There has been a revolution in the production of vegetables in the country in the last three and a half decades.  

The demand for vegetables and fruits is said to be growing due to urbanization and rise in income levels and therefore, there is focussed attention on research in this sector. Much of the research in horticulture is being done under the ICAR’s All-India Coordinated Research Products (AICRP) headquartered at IHRI (Indian Institute for Horticulture Research) which has the mandate for identification and release of varieties and hybrids through multi-location testing with National Active Germplasm Sites under different agro-climatic zones.

While IIHR is the nodal centre for research and transfer on fruits, vegetables and pesticide residues, it coordinates research with regional stations at Hirehalli in Karnataka, Bhubaneshwar in Odisha and various Krishi Vigyan Kendras. The centres are involved in farmers’ on-farm and off- farm training and capacity building. Besides, it has collaborative linkages with the Department of Science and Technology, Department of Biotechnology, NABARD and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and international universities and organisations. Gaps identified in ongoing research are addressed through externally aided collaborative projects in a time-bound manner.

Among the latest premier technologies developed by agriculture scientists and taken to farmers’ fields are of triple disease resistant tomato (Arka Rakshak),  onion (Arka Kalyan and Arka Niketan), chilli (Arka Saphal and Arka Lohit), okra (Arka Anamika) and brinjal (Arka Anand and Arka Keshav) and stringless French Bean variety (Arka Suvidha) which are grown in over 31 lakh hectares in various parts of the country. The salt-resistant Dogridge rootstock (on which grape creeper is grafted) identified for development of various varieties of grape including the sweet, dark, thin-skinned, seedless variety is much in demand. In addition organic farming packages have been developed for vegetables.

 To prevent the mango orchard from being hit by fruit flies, researchers have developed eco-friendly pheromone trap which has become very popular with farmers as the trap catches the pest and prevents attack on the fruit.

In ornamental crops tuberose hybrid variety (Arka Prajawal) has a share of 38 per cent of the total sown area in the country. It has been adopted by farmers not only on Tamil Nadu but also in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Other notable varieties in ornamental crops are cut-rose varieties of Arka Parimala, Crossandra variety of Arka Ambara and Carnations (Arka Flame). The rose varieties are comparable to imported varieties and new strategies are being developed to beat competition within the country. Notable is Arka Swadesh under polyhouse conditions.

In the area of mushroom cultivation that fetches good price for farmers, Pink Oyster Mushroom variety has become popular. Other varieties too have been picked up for commercialisation with sellers are coming up with technological advancements in packaging.

With 60 per cent of farming under rain-fed conditions, the agriculture sector is gradually but firmly moving towards the idea of producing more from less water in keeping with the Prime Minister Modi’s slogan “More crop per drop”. Agriculture scientists at Central Horticulture Experiment Station in Bhubaneswar have oriented their research towards upgrading technologies for standardisation of drip and micro irrigation in vegetables, water management and in situ conservation using plastic mulch and drip-cum-mulch in vegetables crops in farmers fields. Some of the technologies had been adopted by the state government under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna that gave flexibility to states for use of funds.

Farmers who visit various vegetable and crop development centres of the ICAR can not only get knowledge, technology, seeds and saplings for fruit, vegetable, mushroom cultivation, organic farming, bio-intensive management of pests and diseases but also information on commercially viable post-harvest technologies, protocols for export of fruits, machinery for farm, mushroom spawn production, seed-cum-fertilizer drills at all the centres in Bangalore, Bhubaneswar, Haryana, Assam and Sikkim.

Several of these technologies have been transferred to farmers’ fields or which ICAR institutions have won awards. Technologies and research varieties are also put on display-cum-sale at Krishi Melas organised frequently in various parts of the countries to facilitate farmers. At these melas scientists are available for dissemination of first-hand knowledge to farmers and addressing their concerns. Such inter-faces are held in the all-important animal husbandry, dairy sector and fisheries as well which have been identified as crucial areas of growth which will bring income to farmers.

With growing awareness, various ICAR centres have now opened up cells to extend services for formulation of business plans for farmers and entrepreneurs who also want to market farm produce gainfully in national and international markets.

Cape Canaveral, Florida,

SpaceX launched its first recycled rocket Thursday, the biggest leap yet in its bid to drive down costs and speed up flights.

The Falcon 9 blasted off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center, hoisting a broadcasting satellite into the early evening clear sky on the historic rocket reflight. It was the first time SpaceX founder Elon Musk tried to fly a booster that soared before on an orbital mission.

This particular first stage landed on an ocean platform almost exactly a year ago after a space station launch for NASA. SpaceX refurbished and tested the 15-foot booster, still sporting its nine original engines. It aimed for another vertical landing at sea once it was finished boosting the satellite for the SES company of Luxembourg.

Longtime customer SES got a discount for agreeing to use a salvaged rocket, but wouldn't say how much. It's not just about the savings, said chief technology officer Martin Halliwell.

Halliwell called it "a big step for everybody - something that's never, ever been done before.''

SpaceX granted SES insight into the entire process of getting the booster ready to fly again, Halliwell said, providing confidence everything would go well. SES, in fact, is considering more launches later this year on reused Falcon boosters.

"Someone has to go first,'' Halliwell said at a news conference earlier in the week.

Boosters typically are discarded following liftoff, sinking into the Atlantic. SpaceX began flying back the Falcon's first-stage, kerosene-fueled boosters in 2015; it's since landed eight, three at Cape Canaveral and five on ocean platforms. The company is working on a plan to recycle even more Falcon parts, like the satellite enclosure. For now, the second stage used to get the satellite into the proper, high orbit is abandoned.

Blue Origin, an aerospace company started by another tech billionaire, Jeff Bezos, already has reflown a rocket. One of his New Shepard rockets, in fact, has soared five times from Texas. These flights, however, were suborbital; in other words, nothing went into orbit.

NASA also has shared the quest for rocket reusability. During the space shuttle program, the twin booster rockets dropped away two minutes into flight and parachuted into the Atlantic for recovery. The booster segments were mixed and matched for each flight.

As for this SpaceX reused booster, Halliwell said engineers went through it with a fine-toothed comb following its liftoff in April 2016. He wasn't so sure, though, about the cleaning job.

"It's a bit sooty,'' he said with a smile.

SES has a long history with SpaceX. A SES satellite was on board for SpaceX's first commercial launch in 2013.

SpaceX - which aims to launch up to six reused boosters this year - is familiar with uncharted territory.

Besides becoming the first commercial cargo hauler to the International Space Station, SpaceX is building a capsule to launch NASA astronauts as soon as next year. It's also working to fly two paying customers to the moon next year, and is developing the Red Dragon, a robotic spacecraft intended to launch to Mars in 2020 and land. Musk's ultimate goal is to establish a human settlement on Mars.

Key to all of this, according to Musk, is the rapid, repeating turnaround of rockets.

USA

The US Senate voted overwhelmingly to advance the approval of Montenegro as the newest member of NATO, in what supporters of the alliance’s expansion argue would send a stern message to Russia.

The procedural step, which advanced on a 97-2 vote, sets up a final approval in the chamber in the coming days.

President Donald Trump’s administration has encouraged lawmakers to back the small Balkan nation’s bid.

“It is strongly in the interests of the United States that Montenegro’s membership in NATO be ratified,” Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told Senate leaders in a March 7 letter.

To date, 25 of NATO’s 28 members have ratified Montenegro’s accession, a country of 620,000 people seen as a geostrategic ally.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization holds its summit on May 25 in Brussels, where Trump will use the opportunity to reaffirm Washington’s strong commitment to the alliance, according to the White House.

The Kremlin is opposed to Montenegro’s accession, calling it a “provocation” that would reinforce the pro-Western military alliance’s presence in the Balkans.

The US vote comes days after a Montenegrin special prosecutor accused “Russian state bodies” of involvement in an alleged coup plot during Montenegro’s election last October. Moscow branded the accusation “absurd.”

Russia also stands accused of interfering in the US presidential election last year, when US intelligence agencies say it leaked hacked emails that damaged Democrat Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

Senator John McCain, among the move’s strongest backers, framed Montenegro’s accession as nothing less than a “test” of resolve against Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“He attempted a coup” to overthrow the freely-elected Montenegro government,” McCain told the Senate Monday.

“That coup failed. But I can assure that if we turn down Montenegro, it will not remain the democracy that it is today.” Senator Marco Rubio weighed in saying the Senate is “sending a clear message to Vladimir Putin that we will not accept the establishment of Russia’s sphere of influence over

countries that desire to ally themselves with the free and democratic community of nations.”

As with all international treaties, a two-thirds majority is required for final Senate approval. Success is highly likely. Republicans Rand Paul and Mike Lee voted against the measure.

Paul warned Washington against spreading itself too thinly when its military is involved in Iraq, Syria, Libya and Yemen, and said Montenegro in NATO will antagonize Russia while doing “nothing” to advance US national security.

AFP

New Delhi

The government rejected proposals to confer Padma awards to a clutch of prominent personalities, including cricketer MS Dhoni, controversial spiritual leader Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and tabla maestro Zakir Hussain.

Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar and veteran BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, who were awarded the country’s second-highest civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan, were not on the initial list of nomination.

Officials said the two were awarded under the “public affairs” category, which falls under the government’s discretion, but didn’t mention who nominated them.

New Delhi

The Supreme Court on Monday made it clear that Aadhaar cards cannot be made mandatory by the government and its agencies for extending benefits of social welfare schemes.

A bench comprising Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justices D Y Chandrachud and S K Kaul, however, said government and its agencies cannot be stopped from seeking Aadhaar cards for non-welfare schemes like opening of bank accounts.

The bench also said that a seven-judge bench needed to be constituted for authoritatively deciding a batch of petitions challenging the Aadhaar scheme on grounds including that it infringes on the Right to Privacy of citizens.

It, however, expressed inability in setting up of the seven-judge bench saying it would be decided at a later stage.

Senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for one of the petitioners, alleged that the Central government is not following the various orders passed by the apex court that the usage of Aadhaar would be voluntary and not mandatory.

The apex court on August 11, 2015 had said that Aadhaar card will not be mandatory for availing benefits of government’s welfare schemes and barred the authorities from sharing personal biometric data collected for enrolment under the scheme.

However, on October 15, 2015 it had lifted its earlier restriction and permitted the voluntary use of Aadhaar cards in welfare schemes that also included MGNREGA, all pension schemes and the provident fund besides ambitious flagship programmes like ‘Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna’ of the NDA government.

A five-judge bench headed by the then Chief Justice H L Dattu had also put a caveat in its interim order for the Centre and said, “We also make it clear that Aadhaar card scheme is purely voluntary and not mandatory till the matter is finally decided by this court, this way or the other way.”

The bench, while including the four other schemes along with LPG and PDS where Aadhaar may be used, had said, “The Union of India to follow all other orders passed by this court since September 23, 2013.” The bench had also said that a larger bench was required to be set up for final disposal of the petitions that also include the question as to whether the right to privacy is fundamental right.

Govt recently made it mandatory for citizens to produce their Aadhaar number for benefits under nearly three dozen central schemes including free mid-day meals for schoolchildren.

Aadhaar was also made compulsory for scholarships and other schemes for backward castes and the disabled. Aadhaar cards are mandatory for subsidized cooking gas and foodgrains.

Aadhaar cards will also be needed for filing tax returns – a move that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley says will check tax evasion.

Lucknow

Even as Uttar Pradesh, including Lucknow, started going meatless from Monday because of a traders strike against the new regime’s crackdown, the BJP’s just-elected government rushed in to clear its stand on slaughter houses in the state. At stake are over 20 lakh jobs, direct and indirect, and revenue of around Rs 15,000 crore.

“We are acting only against illegal abattoirs. Licenced slaughter houses are requested to stick to the norms,” Health Minister Siddhartha Nath Singh told reporters in Lucknow.

“Licenced slaughter houses need not to fear,” the minister said, adding, “No orders have been issued to take any action against any shop selling chicken, fish or eggs.”

But ever since the government cracked the whip, there were over-enthusiastic party cadres and officials shutting down shops at random. On Monday, the minister reminded cops and officials that they should not overstep their jurisdiction.

The government said on Monday that a propaganda is being circulated through various social media platforms (especially by those who do not agree to our ideology). “Please do not fall prey to the propaganda,” Singh said.

On whether the state government is open to holding talks with meat-sellers, the minister said, “So far, no delegation of meat- sellers has approached us They are most welcome to meet us and convey their point of view. We would meet them with an open mind, but will not allow illegal things,” he said.

New Delhi

M Venkaiah Naidu, Minister for Information & Broadcasting has said that collaboration in the field of Films, Broadcasting and Information Dissemination would strengthen the ties between India and Vietnam. Cooperation in the field of institutional capacity building in social media, student exchange programs between premier institutes of both the countries in the field of journalism and films would bring the two countries close. He mentioned this while meeting the Vietnamese delegation led by Minister of Information and Communications, Government of Vietnam Mr. Truong Minh Tuan.

During the discussions, Naidu said that Ministry of Information & Broadcasting would extend all possible support to promote exchange programs between public broadcasters of the two countries, content creation, screening and distribution of films.

Naidu apprised the Vietnam delegation about the Film Facilitation Office (FFO) setup in the Ministry of I&B to facilitate single window clearance for film makers. The FFO setup shall act as a facilitation point for film producers and assist them in obtaining requisite permissions, disseminate information on shooting locales as well as the details about the various facilities available within the Indian film industry for production/post production thereof.

Vietnam Minister in his remarks gave a brief overview about the Media scenario in their country and expressed hope that there would be cooperation between the National Broadcasters of both the countries to work closely in the field of real time information gathering and dissemination.

The Cultural Exchange Programme (CEP) signed in 2014 between the Ministry of Culture, Government of India and Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Government of Vietnam for the year 2015-17, provided the institutional framework for collaboration in the Films sector. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Vietnam in 2016 was a significant event for both the countries reinforcing the Government of India’s “Act East Policy.” The year 2017, marks 45th anniversary of the diplomatic relation and 10 years of strategic partnerships between the two countries.

Ghanshyam Goel

The department of School Education & Literacy is taking several steps to make school education job-oriented and qualitative. The Department is implementing a component of Vocationalisation of Secondary & Higher Secondary Education under Centrally sponsored scheme of Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) with an aim to prepare educated, employable and competitive youth for various sectors of the economy and global market. It also envisages to fill the gap between educated and employable, reduce the dropout rate at the secondary level and decrease the pressure on academic higher education. The scheme involves introduction of job-oriented vocational subjects in sectors like Retail, Automobile, Agriculture, Telecommunication, Healthcare, Beauty & Wellness, IT-ITes, Electronics, Security, Media & Entertainment, etc. along with the general education subjects from class IX to class XII.

For granting academic equivalence to students of Industrial training Institutes (ITIs) affiliated with National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT), Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), an autonomous organisation of Ministry of Human Resource Development with the Directorate General of Training, Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship on 15th July, 2016. The MoU provides a mechanism for grant of Secondary and Senior Secondary certificate to ITI students/passouts who have pursued two years of ITI course, after class 8th and 10th respectively.

In order to provide quality education to students at the secondary level, various interventions are funded under RMSA. These include provisions for:

(i)                 additional Teachers to improve Pupil Teacher ratio,

(ii)               induction and In-service training for Teachers and Principals including leadership training

(iii)             Maths and Science kits

(iv)             ICT facilities in school,

(v)               Lab equipments

(vi)             Special teaching for learning enhancement.

Under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), the State Governments and UT Administrations are supported on several interventions to improve teaching standards, including regular in-service teachers’ training, induction training for newly recruited teachers, training of untrained teachers to acquire professional qualifications, additional teachers for improving pupil-teacher ratio, academic support for teachers through block and cluster resource centres,  continuous and comprehensive evaluation to equip the teacher to measure pupil performance and provide remedial action wherever required, and teacher and school grants for development of appropriate teaching-learning materials, etc. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 specifies statutory duties and responsibilities of teachers and lays down the minimum qualifications for a person to be eligible for appointment as a teacher in elementary schools. Under SSA, textbooks are provided to all children in Government/Local Body and Government aided schools, including Madarsas desirous of introducing the State curriculum, within an upper ceiling of Rs. 150/-per child at primary level and Rs. 250/- per child at upper primary level. The SSA norms also provide for 2 Sets of uniforms to children from the deprived community viz. all girls, SC, ST and BPL boys, @ Rs. 400 per head. It also supports States/UTs on early grade reading, writing & comprehension, and early Mathematics programmes through a sub-programme namely ‘Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat’ (PBBB) in classes I and II.

Further the Government has launched Rashtriya Aavishkar Abhiyan (RAA) programme on 09.07.2015, inter alia, as a sub-component of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and RMSA to motivate and engage children of the age group of 6-18 years in Science, Mathematics and Technology through observation, experimentation, inference drawing, model building, etc. both through inside and outside classroom activities.

For improving the quality of school education, the School Standards & Evaluation framework, known as ‘Shaala Siddhi’ has been developed by National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA), to enable schools to evaluate their performance in a more focused and strategic manner and to facilitate them to make professional judgments for improvement.

In order to improve quality of education, the National Council of Educational Research & Training (NCERT) conducts periodic national surveys of learning achievement of children in grade III, V, VIII and X. Four rounds of National Achievement Survey (NAS) have been conducted so far for grade V and three rounds for classes III & VIII. These reveal improvement in learning achievement levels of pupils, in identified subjects from first round to fourth round. From the current year onwards, the Government has decided to conduct annual National Achievement Surveys covering all students from class 1-8 in all Government and Government aided schools. The students learning assessment will be according to the Learning Outcomes developed by NCERT for all subjects covering all classes in the elementary cycle.

Motihari,Bihar

Union Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister, Radha Mohan Singh said that Hon’ble Prime Minister  Narender Modi has dreamt of a New India, which will be free of black money and corruption. Promotion of Digidhan and cashless transactions are part of the mission. Singh stated it while inaugurating Digidhan Fair in Motihari, Bihar. The fair continued throughout the day where banks, Common Service Centres (CSC), private digital payment service providers etc. informed the consumers as well as traders about the new technology. 

Radha Mohan Singh said that the Government has taken several initiatives to promote cashless transactions. Keeping cashless transaction and increasing population of educated youth under consideration, the government has launched Bheem App, which is quite popular. So far 1.25 crore people have been linked to the App and a transaction of Rs. 361 crore has been made. 

Singh said that there are more than 100 crore phones and out of them 30-40 crore is smartphones. There are about 50 crore internet users. And if these are utilised properly, credit cards won’t be required. Banks have devised UPI cards under which if the mobile app is downloaded, people can do the transaction through any bank on the basis of their phone numbers. 

Singh further stated that 2.15 crore railway tickets are booed out of which 1.30 crore tickets are booked online. He informed that there is 144 crore bank accounts by and large, out of them 117 are the savings account. A total number of Jhandhan account is 28.02 crore. So far 40 crore bank accounts are linked to Aadhaar Cards. 

Agriculture Minister informed that the total number of Aadhaar cards is 113 crore and there is 20.13 crore POS machines in the country and by the end of this month 10 lakh new machines will be added. Apart from this, there is 5.7 crore e-wallet users and 110.6 crore credit/debit cards. So far 21.9 crore consumers have got Rupay cards and its usage has increased up to 40% in the recent time. 

He further opined that Minister of Agriculture is promoting the cashless system in every sort of transaction linked with the agriculture sector. 

Singh said that to promote cashless transaction, the Ministry of Agriculture is providing all kind of facility. The Minister said that the government of India has waged a war against black money by initiating demonization. In 500 cities awareness programs are being run. Every year Rs. 10 lakh crore transactions take place in the country, only 32% transaction is made online. 

Agriculture Minister informed that in the last two years the government has taken following steps to combat black money: 

a) Special Investigation Team (SIT) was constituted. 

b) A law was made to tackle undeclared foreign assets and deposits. 

c) India revised the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) with Mauritius and Cyprus

d) A treaty was signed with Switzerland to obtain information about the bank accounts of Indians in HSBC bank. 

e) Cashless and digital payments have to be promoted

f) Benami Transaction act will be modified. 

g) Income declaration scheme 2016 

MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA

Facebook Inc will add a feature to its Messenger app Monday to allow users to share their locations, the company said, ramping up competition with tools offered by Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google Maps.

The company has found that one of the most used phrases on Messenger as people talk to friends and family is "How far away are you?" or some variation, Stan Chudnovsky, head of product for Messenger, said in an interview.

"It happens to be what people are saying, what they're interested in the most," he said.

Sharing location information will be optional, he said, but it will also be live, so that once a user shares the information with a friend, the friend will be able to watch the user's movement for up to 60 minutes.

Messenger was once part of the core Facebook smartphone app, but the company broke it out as a separate app in 2014 and has since invested in frequent changes to build a service distinct from the massive social network.

Google Maps said last week that it was adding a similar feature, an attempt to boost engagement on a product of increasing strategic importance to that company.

The close proximity of the announcements tells Facebook "that we're working on the right things," Chudnovsky said.

The Messages app on Apple's iPhone has such a feature, too.

Facebook has been testing its change in Mexico, he said. It was ready as long ago as October, he added, but the company worked on it for five more months to minimize the impact on the battery life of phones.

Barcelona

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu confirmed on Saturday that a new stadium for the Barca B team will be named after Johan Cruyff and a statue of the Dutch great constructed at the club's Camp Nou stadium.

Speaking a day after the first anniversary of Cruyff's death, his son Jordi said the family were "very happy" with the agreement reached with Barcelona.

"It is an honour for me to say the name of the stadium we are building at the training ground will no longer be the Miniestadi, but from now on will be the Johan Cruyff stadium," said Bartomeu.

"The club will also launch the creation of a commemorative statue in honour of Johan Cruyff which will be placed at the future Camp Nou."

Major redevelopment work at the Camp Nou is due to start in 2018.

However, Barca have reserved the naming rights on the stadium for a major sponsorship deal to cover the estimated 420 million euros ($453 million) cost of the project.

As part of the redevelopment, the Miniestadi, where Barcelona B currently play just metres away from the Camp Nou, will make way to a new arena for the Barca basketball team and increased commercial space.

Barca B's new home stadium will be at the club's training ground on the western outskirts of the city.

Jordi Cruyff also announced the family will donate a Barcelona shirt worn by his father and his Ballon d'Or trophy from the 1973/1974 season to a new Cruyff exhibition at the Barcelona museum.

"It is an agreement by which my father will always be present at the club that he loved," said Jordi Cruyff.

Johan Cruyff was one of Barcelona's greatest ever players and coaches, winning 13 trophies in all including the club's first ever European Cup as coach in 1992.

AFP

Beijing, China

A Chinese court has ruled in favor of Apple in design patent disputes between the Cupertino, California company and a domestic phone-maker, overturning a ban on selling iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus phones in China, Xinhua news agency reported.

Last May, a Beijing patent regulator ordered Apple's Chinese subsidiary and a local retailer Zoomflight to stop selling the iPhones after Shenzhen Baili Marketing Services lodged a complaint, claiming that the patent for the design of its mobile phone 100c was being infringed by the iPhone sales.

Apple and Zoomflight took the Beijing Intellectual Property Office's ban to court.

The Beijing Intellectual Property Court on Friday revoked the ban, saying Apple and Zoomflight did not violate Shenzhen Baili's design patent for 100c phones.

The court ruled that the regulator did not follow due procedures in ordering the ban while there was no sufficient proof to claim the designs constituted a violation of intellectual property rights.

Representatives of Beijing Intellectual Property Office and Shenzhen Baili said they would take time to decide whether to appeal the ruling, according to Xinhua.

In a related ruling, the same court denied a request by Apple to demand stripping Shenzhen Baili of its design patent for 100c phones.

Apple first filed the request to the Patent Reexamination Board of State Intellectual Property Office. The board rejected the request, but Apple lodged a lawsuit against the rejection.

The Beijing Intellectual Property Court on Friday ruled to maintain the board's decision. It is unclear if Apple will appeal.

New Delhi

The wildlife conservation worker, like most of their subjects, is an elusive person. To celebrate the outstanding contribution of these simple, hardworking, humble yet extraordinary people, ZEISS group acknowledged these talented individuals in wildlife conservation through their annual ZEISS Wildlife Conservation Awards and this year on March 24th, 2017 at Indian Habitat Centre, New Delhi.

17th ZEISS Wildlife Conservation Awards was back to celebrate the selfless work of these extraordinary people in nature and wildlife conservation. Since 2000, every year Carl Zeiss, as a socially responsible corporate, has been acknowledging the outstanding contribution made by talented individuals in wildlife conservation. There have been 80 awardees till now and this year another six joined the honours list.

The jury that decided the awardees includes Valmik Thapar, Tiger Specialist and Mr. Umender Shah, Business Head, Consumer Optics, Carl Zeiss India.

The Lifetime Wildlife Conservation Award was presented to Bholu A. Khan who has spent his entire life working for the welfare of the Bharatpur Wetlands. He served in the forest department for 38 years and spent all his life caring for the park at Bharatpur. He monitored the park on a daily basis and fought with encroachers, poachers and wild res.

The winners for Wildlife Conservation Award 2017 are:

Bijo Joy - Deputy Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) at Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur who is instrumental towards the nature conservation.

Dr. Rina Dev - She runs a critical care center for birds and exotic species in Mumbai. She is a specialist in Avian Orthopedic Surgeries and Critical Care.

Nikhil Devasar, founder of Delhi bird group, has spearheaded many of the group's conservation efforts awareness and education programs for young people, monitors the status of the birdlife as well as their habitats and also discovers new birding sites while keeping the authorities abreast of the problems in the existing ones.

Kalyan Varma- An award winning Wildlife Photographer, Filmmaker and Conservationist specializing in Environment, Ecology and Conservation in India.

Minaram Gogoi-A daily wage labourer dedicated to the conservation of wildlife and its habitat at Nameri National Park, since 1991.

Congratulating these awardees, Mr. Daniel Sims, Managing Director, Carl Zeiss India said, "It is a privilege for ZEISS to recognize and support these outstanding contributions to the conservation of India's natural species. We hope that as they have inspired the judges, that this award helps them to continue inspiring others to support conservation in India. "

The past awardees include individuals from different spectrum of work and regions of India such that forest officers, forest guards, wildlife biologists, researchers, conservation practitioners, birders, writers, photographers and filmmakers.

Commenting about the award night, Vikram Thapar, said "I am delighted that ZEISS has instituted an annual award for wildlife conservation. This will give an enormous boost to our efforts to save tigers and the rich wildlife of our country. The superb vision that ZEISS Binoculars provide will be a great asset for all those engaged in saving India's rapidly declining wildlife."

The event was a token of gratitude to the real champions of our society who are constantly striving to safeguard our beautiful nature, salute to their passion and commitment.