Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Shri. Prahlad Singh Patel visited the National Gallery of Modern Art today i.e. the 30thof September 2021 to review the 3rdround of E-auction of prestigious and memorable gifts presented to the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.
Speaking on the occasion Shri Patel said that Shri Narendra Modi is the first Prime Minister of the country, who has decided to auction all the gifts he receives for a noble cause of conserving the lifeline of the country-the river Ganges through “NamamiGange”.
The Minister said that the e-auction provides an opportunity to the general public not only to possess the invaluable memorabilia gifted to the Hon’ble Prime Minister but also for contributing to the cause of preserving the Holy River Ganga. He thanked the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for thisinnovative and noble initiative.
The e-auction is being held from 17th September to 7th October 2021 through the web portal www.pmmementos.gov.in. In this round of e-auctions, around 1348 mementos will be e-auctioned. The mementos include the equipments gifted to the Prime Minister by winners of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic games and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
The items with thehighest value in the e-auction are the Javelin used by gold medalist Shri. SumitAntil in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic games and the Javelin used by Shri Neeraj Chopra in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games with the base price at one crore each. The lowest priced item is a small sized decorative elephant for Rs. 200.
Commanded Special Forces Battalion in counter-terrorism operation in Kashmir Valley
Company Commander in counter-insurgency operation in Nagaland & Siachen Glacier
Served as General Staff Officer (Operations) in Sector Headquarters Rashtriya Rifles
Lieutenant General Gurbirpal Singh took over as the 34th Director General of National Cadet Corps (NCC) on September 27, 2021. Lt Gen Singh was commissioned into The PARACHUTE REGIMENT in 1987. An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla, Indian Military Academy, Dehradun as well as NCC, he attended the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington, the Higher Command Course in Mhow and the National Defence College Course in New Delhi.
Lt Gen Singh has been a Company Commander in counter-insurgency environment in Nagaland and the Siachen Glacier. He has commanded a Special Forces Battalion in the intense counter-terrorism environment of the Valley Sector in Kashmir and also in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. He has commanded a Mountain Brigade & an Infantry Division on the Line of Control.
The General Officer has tenanted the appointments of General Staff Officer (Operations) in Sector Headquarters Rashtriya Rifles. He has had two tenures each in Military Operation Directorate and Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff. Besides, he has been an Instructor at the Commando School and Indian Military Training Team.
Shri RK Singh, Union Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy convened a series of regional level meetings with Energy / Power Ministers / Advisors of States / UTs through video conference in four different sessions on 21.9.2021 and today to discuss the new Reforms Linked Distribution Sector Scheme.
Shri Singh underlined to the ministers that the increasing demand for electricity has necessitated the strengthening and modernization of the Distribution infrastructure. He informed them that the scheme has been designed as a bottom-up scheme and the DISCOMs/States are empowered to prepare their own DPRs based on their need assessments prioritizing the loss reduction works. Modernization works such as System augmentation, Renovation and modernization of Substations etc. can also be carried out by the DISCOMs under this scheme, he pointed out.
The states’ Power Ministers appreciated the efforts being made by Central Government for strengthening the Power Sector. They informed the Minister that they were preparing their plans according to the time line. The Hon’ble Union Minister advised that the plan should address the weakness as in the system, and the plan should take into account the increasing demands. He stated that the plan should take into account what the demand will be in 10 years down the line, and prepare the system to meet that. He also stated that the system needed to be modernized. The Union Minister of Power also stated that he and his officer will also meet the States and sit with the State Energy Ministers and the officers to hold them draw up their plan.
Shri Singh underlined that funding under the scheme will be released based on progress in operational and financial improvements in DISCOMs. He elaborated that that loss reduction by DISCOMs is not a difficult task and in order to reduce losses, they need to focus on (i) Improving Billing Efficiency (ii) Enhancing Collection Efficiency (iii) Ensuring timely payment for electricity consumption by Government Departments and (iv) Fixing tariffs reflective of Actual Cost of supply and the State Government making timely payment of Subsidy if they want to give electricity at lower rates.
The minister highlighted another important element of the scheme, that it envisages prioritization of 10 Crore Smart meters in all Government Departments and offices, Amrut cities, all UTs, high loss areas, Commercial and Industrial consumers other than Agricultural consumers in TOTEX mode. He said that sufficient funds are available under the scheme, and with planning and sincerity in implementation, an operationally efficient and financially sustainable electricity distribution sector can be developed, to meet the aspirations of citizens of the country.
Shri RK Singh exhorted the ministers to encourage their states to avail benefits of PM-KUSUM scheme for Solarisation of agricultural feeders. With Solarisation of Agriculture feeders, electricity can be made available to farmers during day time free or at very low price from day one. States would save huge amount of subsidy being paid by them towards electricity consumption in agriculture sector. Further, Rooftop solar may also be encouraged to meet the increasing demand in environment friendly manner.
Minister of State for Power Shri Krishan Pal Gurjar, Secretary, Ministry of Power and CMDs of PFC and REC Ltd were also present in the meeting.
The Reforms-based and Results-linked, Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme has been launched with an outlay of Rs.3,03,758 crore and estimated GBS from Central Government of Rs.97,631 crore. Network strengthening & modernization, financial viability and enhanced Consumer service and convenience are the key aspects of this scheme.
Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Housing and Urban Affairs Shri Hardeep Singh Puri today launched the Discovered Small Field (DSF) Bid Round-III. Minister of State in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas Shri Rameswar Teli, Secretary, MoPNG Shri Tarun Kapoor, Additional Secretary, MoPNG Shri Amar Nath, DG, Hydrocarbons Shri SCL Das were present on the occasion. A number of investors from India and abroad participated in the event which was held in a hybrid mode.
Under the bid round, 75 discoveries across 32 Contract areas in 11 basins/locations are being offered. Estimated Hydrocarbon in place of approximately 232 MMTOE of oil and oil equivalent gas are on offer.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Hardeep Singh Puri said that Energy is very centric to India’s trajectory of growth. In his keynote address at the “Investors’ Meet: Opportunities underDSF and HELP”, he said that India has a huge appetite for energy and is expected to be the primary driver of global energy demand in the coming decades, as incomes and per capita energy consumption rises.
Shri Puri said that India is waiting to take-off. India’s per capita consumption, which is one-third of global energy, is poised to grow, as the urbanization increases, economic activities speed up, and demand for energy goes up. The energy sector will acquire dynamics of its own.He said that Oil and gas would continue to play a critical role in meeting our energy requirements.
Shri Puri said that for the investors, this is a win-win situation, as there is no doubt about the demand. The Government is ready to partner with the investors, and take remedial steps to overcome the hurdles. He said that under the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, cross-sectoral national issues are dealt through Whole-of-the-Government approach. The Minister assured full support to the investors, and backing of the system. He said that India has conducive environment for the investors, rule of law and democracy, facilitating the investors to take commercially sound decision.
The Minister said that the Government has created an investor-friendly ecosystem, by continuously ushering policy reforms and projects that have the potential to transform the landscape of the sector. Some of these are: successful roll out of the HELP and OALP, opening up of entire sedimentary basin area to investors, National Seismic Programme.
Shri Rameswar Teli said that since 2014, many new policy initiatives have been taken in the E&P sector, reducing regulatory burden and encouraging investment in the sector. He said that the earlier two rounds of DSF bidding were successful, and a good response is expected in this round as well. Shri Teli said that the Government is fully committed to the holistic development of the North-east, and 3 contract areas in the current round are from the region.
Shri Tarun Kapoor said that there are big opportunities in the Indian upstream sector, and the country is looking for enthusiastic participation from the private sector, and those from abroad. He said that after the DSF Round-III, the tenders for OALP bid Round-VI and CBM will be coming out soon. Shri Kapoor said that it is heartening to note that the production from earlier rounds of DSF has started happening and more will follow in the next year.
The salient features of DSF policy are: Revenue Sharing Model, Single License for Conventional& Unconventional Hydrocarbons, No upfront signature bonus, Reduced Royalty rate in line with HELP, no cess, Full marketing and Pricing freedom for gas produced, Exploration allowed during entire contract period, and 100% participation from foreign companies/ joint ventures. In the earlier two rounds, 54 contracts were awarded to 27 companies including 12 new entrants.
