Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi met H.E. Mr. Emmanuel Macron, President of the Republic of France, for a working lunch on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit held in Bali today.
The two leaders reviewed ongoing collaboration in diverse areas like defence, civil nuclear, trade and investment. They also welcomed the deepening of cooperation in new areas of economic engagement.
Regional and global issues of mutual interest were also discussed.
A special programme of DST launched for “Accelerated Development of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups”
Department of Science and Technology (DST) had established 10 “Science Technology and Innovation (STI) Hubs” in different parts of the country for holistic development of Scheduled Tribe (ST) Communities; 15 more such Hubs will be established in the next one year
DST also supported a 50 Crore rupees R&D project to develop a permanent cure for Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) using gene editing technologies
To commemorate “Janjatiya Gaurav Divas’ to be observed on 15th November, Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Shri Arjun Munda and Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh today addressed National Conclave on Science & Technology for Empowerment of Tribal Community at IIT, Guwahati today.
Addressing on the occasion, Shri Arjun Munda said that Government of India under leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given special attention to integrated development of tribal people while keeping their identities alive. We are proud that Shri Narendra Modi is heading the largest democracy in the world today and tribal people have a critical role to play in our country. He further added that tribals must be included in the country’s journey of growth towards 2047 when India will achieve hundred years of Independence. It is indeed appreciable that Deptt of Science & Technology has taken steps in this direction by implementing projects involving innovations for development of tribals , Shri Arjun Munda said. This is appropriate since the tribals live close to nature and have intimate knowledge of environment, he said. Shri Arjun Muda explained that the tribals continuously innovate in their surroundings especially with respect to sustainability , but their innovation hardly finds acknowledgement. Under leadership of our Prime Minister, the time has now come for new achievements and deliverables and he hoped that the steps being taken by various departments of the Government will create new opportunities for tribals to grow, he added.
Dr Jitender said that DST had so far established 10 exclusive “Science Technology and Innovation (STI) Hubs” in different parts of the country for holistic development of Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities. 15 more such Hubs will be established in the next one year for inclusive socio-economic development through creation of sustainable livelihoods for the ST population in tune to their growing aspirations.
He said that 4 out of 10 such STI Hubs had been established in the Northeast, in the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Sikkim and Tripura to create sustainable livelihoods for the ST population of North-Eastern States.
On the occasion, a special programme of Department of Science & Technology (DST) was launched for “Accelerated Development of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups” as a part of “Azadi ki Amrit Mahotsav”.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, the theme of the conclave “Science and Technology Empowerment of Tribal Community” echoes the thoughts of Prime Minister’s Jai Vigyan-Jan Anusandhan. Vision. He said, this is the first time in the country, on such a large scale, the contribution of DST for empowerment of tribal communities in different walks of their life and livelihoods is being showcased and thanked the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and other organisations of the department and ASTEC for being a part of this conclave.
Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi, in November 2021 had declared 15 November as Janjatiya Gaurav Divas to remember the contribution of tribal freedom fighters, as part of the year-long celebration of the 75th anniversary of Indian independence. November 15 is the birthday of the great tribal freedom fighter Birsa Munda, who is revered as Bhagwan by tribal communities across the country.
Dwelling on his Ministry’s measures for more focused attention on the integrated socio-economic development of the Tribal Community through various Schemes and Programmes, Dr Jitendra Singh said, about 100 new projects were supported during the last three years in diverse technology areas and these projects are expected to benefit more than 50,000 ST population in various regions of the country.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, DST had also supported a 50 Crore rupees R&D project to develop a permanent cure for Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) with extensive benefits of improving the standard of life of such patients using gene editing technologies. He also added that Heritage Food and Beverage Research Centre for research on Ethnic Foods of Tribals of NE and ST community Centre of Bio resources for Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship has been established at Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology, Guwahati at a cost of Rs. 12 Crore.Listing out other series of measures for upliftment of Tribal communities, Dr Jitendra Singh said, DST has provided 700 fellowships to ST students and scholars to pursue a career in Science through INSPIRE fellowships in the last three years.
Shri Narayan Rane, Minister, MSME in presence of Shri Manoj Kumar Chairman, Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) inaugurated 72 Units assisted under PMEGP and Disbursement of Margin Money Subsidy to 720 PMEGP Beneficiaries on 17th September 2022 at KVIC Office, Mumbai on Prime Minister’s birthday.
In his inaugural speech Shri Rane said “in order to bulid Aatmanirbhar Bharat, make in India is the motto of our Organisation”. He appreciated that KVIC is dedicatedly engaged in this mission of Prime Minister to create job opportunity and increase the production. Giving thrust on good quality, he emphasized on increasing export. He also urged to follow the mantra of punctuality, sincerity and discipline for self-reliant and Aatmanirbhar Bharat. On this occasion Prime Minister had online live Conversation with the new Entrepreneurs from Sindhadurg, Maharashtra, Himachal, Jammu and Karnataka.
The Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) is a flagship scheme of the Ministry of MSME, which was launched during the year 2008 – 09 (September 2008) by merging the erstwhile Rural Employment Generation Programme (REGP) implemented by KVIC and Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Yojana (PMRY) implemented by District Industries Centers.
This is a credit linked subsidy scheme for generation of employment opportunities through establishment of micro enterprises in rural as well as urban areas of the Country. KVIC is the nodal Agency at the national level to implement the scheme designated by Ministry of MSME, Government of India – with the active participation of banks, State Khadi & Village Industries Boards, District Industries Centers (DICs) and Coir Board for coir related activities in both rural as well as urban areas of the country. Maximum cost of the project eligible for subsidy under the scheme in the manufacturing sector is Rs. 50.00 lakh, and Rs. 20.00 lakh in the service sector.
Under this Scheme KVIC has sanctioned 25105 projects and generated employment for 200840 people and released 802.19 crore MM (margin money) upto 2022-2023 as on 15.09.2022 and expected performance of 720 projects, 5760 employment and 27.43 crore of MM.
KVIC Chairman ascribed this quantum jump in employment creation to the Prime Minister’s push for local manufacturing to achieve self-reliance. “This big thrust to local manufacturing and self-employment by involving a large number of youths, women and migrants prompted to take up self-employment activities under PMEGP could me made possible by constant push to KVIC Schemes and Programmes by Prime Minister on various platforms.
Further, a slew of policy decisions taken by the Ministry of MSME and KVIC to expedite the execution of projects under PMEGP helped KVIC achieve its best ever performance,” he said.
KVIC, in recent years, has taken a number of initiatives for effective implementation of PMEGP. In 2016, KVIC introduced an online portal for PMEGP. Before 2016, filing of applications was done manually and on an average only 70,000 applications were received annually. But, with the online portal in place, an average of nearly 4 lakh applications are received every year. The online system has brought in greater transparency. PMEGP portal enables the applicants to track their applications without any human intervention.
In another major step, KVIC has also begun geo-tagging of all PMEGP units so as to verify the actual physical status of the units and their performance at any point of time. So far, more than one lakh PMEGP units have been geo-tagged. This also enables any person to locate the PMEGP units using a mobile app.
Further, the Ministry of MSME, based on the inputs provided by KVIC, removed the role of the District Level Task Force Committee in approving the PMEGP projects and authorized state directors of KVIC for approval of projects and directly send it to the financing banks.
KVIC also reduced the timeframe for scrutinizing and forwarding the applications to the banks by its state directors from 90 days to just 26 days. Further, monthly coordination meetings with the banks were started at different levels which, too, has resulted in timely disbursement of loans to the beneficiaries.
Celebrating the Birthday of Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi, KVIC conducted a cleanliness drive at Juhu beach today in Mumbai, under the Swachh Bharat Mission, a cleanliness campaign.
Shri Narayan Rane participated in this drive along with the Chairman of KVIC Manoj Kumar. A large Number of local officials including senior officers, employees of the Commission people participated.
Commenting on the Swachh Sagar Surakshit Sagar Shri Rane said our ministry is working around the year and participating in the cleanliness drive it is not only for a day. It should not be a formality, but a habit and be a practice on regular basis.
The Digital Economy Ministers Meeting (DEMM) was held in Nusa Dua, Bali, Thursday (September 1, 2022). It was the culmination of the Digital Economy Working Group (DEWG) meetings, as one of working group of the G20 that focuses on issues related to the digital economy and highlights the role of digital transformation on economic and social growth.
Communication and Information Minister Johnny G. Plate opened the 2022 G20 Digital Economy Ministers’ Meeting in Nusa Dua, Bali province, on Thursday (September 1, 2022). (ANTARA PHOTO/Hafidz Mubarak A/foc/uyu)
The DEWG itself discussed three priority issues of the digital economy at the G20 Indonesia Presidency, including digital connectivity, digital skills and literacy, and cross-country data flow.
The Minister of Communication and Informatics, Johnny G. Plate, said the DEMM has produced a document called “G20 Digital Economy Minister Meetings 2022; Chair Summary”.
The document summarizes agreements between the ministers for the digital economy on the three priority issues of the DEWG.
“The document shows that for all substantive content, the Indonesian Presidency (G20) has reached consensus from all DEWG members in accordance with DEWG priority issues,” Plate said at a press conference, Thursday afternoon.
It also summarizes all ideas and dynamics that developed during the series of G20 DEWG meetings presented by representatives of G20 member countries over the past six months.
The formulation of concrete steps in the document will be presented as input for President Joko Widodo in leading the G20 Summit which will be held in November.
On the first priority issue regarding connectivity and post-COVID-19 recovery, Plate said the meeting agreed on the need for a people center in an effort to strengthen digital connectivity. The meeting, he said, also agreed on the importance of digital security as the key to business sustainability.
“The meeting also welcomed various initiatives of the G20 Indonesia Presidency, such as the G20 Digital Innovation Network (DIN), G20 Digital Transformation Expo (DTE), and the smart village and island initiative together with ITU,” he said.
On the issue of digital skills and digital literacy which is the second priority issue, the DEMM meeting succeeded in compiling the “G20 toolkit for measuring digital skills and digital literacy”.
The document is useful for standardizing the measurement of literacy indicators and digital skills for more objective public policy making and encouraging international cooperation in overcoming gaps between countries, responding to the challenges of a digital future.
“The presidency has also succeeded in compiling a compilation of reports on policies and recommendations to increase meaningful participation of vulnerable groups in the digital economy, as well as a summary document of practices and policies on digital skills and advanced digital literacy,” he said.
On the issue of free data flow with trust and cross-border data flow, Johnny said the DEWG forum has recognized the efforts of the Indonesian Presidency to initiate discussions on the principles of justice, transparency and legitimacy proposed by Indonesia.
“This is a new principle base in cross-border data governance. We all know that data contains at least two important things. The first is that the data has a high economic value, and the second is that the data is related to geopolitics and geostrategy as well as the sovereignty of each nation and state,” he explained.
The DEMM meeting was attended by digital ministers from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Singapore, Cambodia, South Africa, Japan, India, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. Meanwhile, Australia, Germany and Spain were represented by ministerial representatives.
DEMM was also attended by representatives from international organizations, including the Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Under Secretary General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and The Pacific (UNESCAP).
Written by: Rizka Khaerunnisa, Uyu Liman, Editor: Suharto (c) ANTARA 2022
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will be visiting Schloss Elmau, Germany at the invitation of Chancellor of Germany, H.E. Mr. Olaf Scholz, for the G7 Summit under the German Presidency on 26-27 June 2022. During the Summit, Prime Minister is expected to speak in two sessions that include Environment, Energy, Climate, Food Security, Health, Gender Equality and Democracy. In an effort to strengthen international collaboration on these important issues, other democracies such as Argentina, Indonesia, Senegal and South Africa have also been invited. On the sidelines of the Summit, Prime Minister will hold bilateral meetings with leaders of some of the participating countries.
The invitation to G7 Summit is in keeping with the tradition of strong and close partnership and high-level political contacts between India and Germany. Prime Minister’s last visit to Germany was on 2 May 2022 for the sixth edition of the India-Germany Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC).
After attending the G7 Summit, Prime Minister will be travelling to United Arab Emirates (UAE) on 28 June 2022 to pay his personal condolences on the passing away of H.H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the former UAE President and Abu Dhabi Ruler. PM will also take the opportunity to congratulate H.H. Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on his election as the new President of UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi.
Prime Minister will depart from UAE the same night on June 28.
