ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
Delhi witnesses maximum number of days with ‘Good’ to ‘Moderate’ AQI during the first quarter of current year
‘Good’ to ‘Moderate’ Air Quality Days in Delhi increase from 13 in 2021 to 27 in 2022 and 35 days in 2023
Delhi experiences least number of days with ‘Poor’ to ‘Severe’ AQI during the first quarter of 2023
‘Poor’ to ‘Severe’ Air Quality Days decline significantly during the respective years from 77 in 2021 to 63 in 2022 and 55 in 2023
As per Air Quality Index  of Central Pollution Control Board , Delhi has witnessed the maximum number of days with ‘Good’ to ‘Moderate’ AQI in first quarter of 2023 , as compared to the corresponding period of last 06 years since 2017 .
A comparative tabulation for ‘Good’ to ‘Moderate’ AQI witnessed for the first quarter period of the 07 years  is depicted in the chart below:
The number of ‘Good’ to ‘Moderate’ Air Quality Days for the first quarter  in 2017 were 17; in 2018 were 24; in 2019 were 32; in 2020 were 38; in 2021 were 13; in 2022 were 27; and in 2023 are 35.
During the first quarter of current year , Delhi has also experienced the least number of days with ‘Poor’ to ‘Severe’ AQI, as compared to the corresponding period of last 06 years . The number of ‘Poor’ to ‘Severe’ Air Days for the first quarter in 2017 were 73; in 2018 were 66; in 2019 were 58; in 2020 were 52; in 2021 were 77; in 2022 were 63; and in 2023 are 55. The number of ‘Poor to Severe Air Days’ in Delhi is generally showing a declining trend and have come down by 24.65% i.e. from 73 in 2017 to 55 in 2023.
Persistent coordinated field-level efforts by various stakeholders and implementing agencies and targeted initiatives in the short/ medium/ long term are expected to see a gradual but marked improvement in air quality.
Ministry of Earth Sciences
40th Indian scientific expedition to Antarctica launched
The chartered ice-class vessel MV Vasiliy Golovnin will make this journey and will reach Antarctica in 30 days
After leaving behind a team of 40 members, it would return to India in April 2021. On return, it will also bring back the winter team of the preceding trip.
India today launched the 40thscientific expedition to Antarctica. This Indian expedition marks four decades of country’s scientific endeavour to the southern white continent. The 40th expedition journey will be flagged off from Goa on January 5, 2021, with 43 members onboard. The chartered ice-class vessel MV Vasiliy Golovnin will make this journey and will reach Antarctica in 30 days. After leaving behind a team of 40 members, it would return to India in April 2021. On return, it will also bring back the winter team of the preceding trip.
The Indian Antarctic expeditions began in 1981. The first trip comprised of a team of 21 scientists and support staff led by Dr SZ Qasim. After a humble beginning, the Indian Antarctic programme has now credited to have built three permanent research base stations in Antarctica—named Dakshin Gangotri, Maitri, and Bharati. As of today, India has two operational research stations in Antarctica named Maitri and Bharati. The National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research , Goa, manages the entire Indian Antarctic program.
The preceding 39th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica was launched in November 2019. It mounted 27 scientific projects, focusing on climate process and its linkages with climate change, crustal evolution, environmental processes and conservation, the ecosystem of terrestrial and near shore regions, observational research, and polar technology. Two additional collaborative projects with the National Institute of Polar Research, Japan were also undertaken. After completing its mission mandate, it returned to India in May of 2020. It also replenished the annual supplies of food, fuel, provisions, snowmobiles, and spares for operations and maintenance of life support systems at Maitri and Bharati. It cruised a team of 48 members to Antarctica for winter operations.
The scientific and logistic activities of the 40thIndian Antarctic expedition are limited due to the existing challenges associated with COVID-19 pandemic. The focus is to support the ongoing scientific projects on climate change, geology, ocean observations, electric and magnetic flux measurements, environmental monitoring; resupplying of food, fuel, provisions and spare; and accomplishing the return of the winter crew. India is committed to maintaining the continent of Antarctica free of COVID-19. The expedition will duly follow all protocols for the deployment of men and material as per Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs. Extra precautions of sanitizing the cargo, mandatory fourteen days of quarantine , and RT-PCR testing before boarding the ice-class vessel is also being conducted.
Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs
Creation of new urban spaces needs to be green and resilient; Delhi's development being given a green and sustainable direction - Hardeep S Puri
Van Mohatsav celebrated by DDA BY plantation of around 20,000 trees across Delhi
DDA to plant 10 Lakh Trees throughout Delhi this year
Sh. Hardeep S Puri, MoS, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs said that creation of new Urban spaces needs to be green and resilient and stated that development process in Delhi is now being given a green and sustainable direction by the Ministry. Sh. Puri Inaugurated the ‘Van Mahotsav’ celebrated by the Delhi Development Authority  by plantation of around 20,000 trees across Delhi today. Lt. Governor of Delhi, Sh. Anil Baijal and Sh. Parvesh Sahib Singh, Member of Parliament were also present on the occasion along with senior officers of MoHUA and DDA. Sh. Puri reiterated the decision to redevelop the seven GPRA colonies without cutting of trees and assured full commitment and support of the centre for timely completion development projects in Delhi , including Delhi Metro phase 4.
Acknowledging DDA’s significant role in building, restoring, maintaining and preserving the natural heritage of the city, Sh Puri said that with 783 parks & 6 biodiversity parks covering an extent of 11,000 acres approximately of land under their jurisdiction, DDA is a major owner of green area in Delhi and has been actively promoting the development of Regional parks, City Park, District Parks, Community Parks & Neighbourhood Parks as per norms of Master-Plan.
He also appreciated DDA’s initiative of taking up large scale plantation. This year, DDA has proposed to plant 10 lakh trees throughout Delhi in DDA Parks, Biodiversity Parks, Yamuna Flood Plain, vacant spaces, along roadside and on land proposed for Compensatory Afforestation. Local/indigenous species like Neem, Jamun, Arjun, Peepal, Gulmohar, Amaltash, Kadamb, Sheesham etc. are proposed to be planted. So far DDA has planted 1.70 lakh trees and likely to achieve the target by 30th September, 2018.
Sh. Puri participated in the tree plantation drive in Dwarka where around 10,000 trees were planted today. Dwarka is a sub-city planned, developed by DDA having an area around 5648 hectares with recreational land use of 19.94%. In Dwarka there are 94 parks. So far 50,000 trees of various indigenous tree/shrub species have been planted in Dwarka and around two lakh additional trees will be planted this year.
Ministry of Finance
Auction for Sale  of ‘3.96% GS 2022’, ‘5.15% GS 2025’, ‘5.85% GS 2030’ and ‘6.80% GS 2060’
The Government of India  has announced the Sale  of  ‘3.96% Government Security, 2022’ for a notified amount of Rs 2,000 crore  through price based auction,  ‘5.15% Government Security, 2025’ for a notified amount of Rs 11,000 crore  through price based auction,  ‘5.85% Government Security, 2030’ for a notified amount of Rs 8,000 crore  through price based auction, and  ‘6.80% Government Security, 2060’ for a notified amount of Rs 6,000 crore  through price based auction. GoI will have the option to retain additional subscription up to Rs 2,000 crore against each of the above securities. The auctions will be conducted by the Reserve Bank of India, Mumbai Office, Fort, Mumbai on January 22, 2021  using multiple price method.
Up to 5% of the notified amount of the sale of the Securities will be allotted to eligible individuals and Institutions as per the Scheme for Non-Competitive Bidding Facility in the Auction of Government Securities.
Both competitive and non-competitive bids for the auction should be submitted in electronic format on the Reserve Bank of India Core Banking Solution  system on January 22, 2021. The non-competitive bids should be submitted between 10.30 a.m. and 11.00 a.m. and the competitive bids should be submitted between 10.30 a.m. and 11.30 a.m.
The result of the auctions will be announced on January 22, 2021  and payment by successful bidders will be on January 25, 2021 .
The Securities will be eligible for “When Issued” trading in accordance with the guidelines on ‘When Issued transactions in Central Government Securities’ issued by the Reserve Bank of India vide circular No. RBI/2018-19/25 dated July 24, 2018 as amended from time to time.
Ministry of Defence
Integrated Solar Power Fencing Project
Post Pathankot incident, the Government has approved an integrated smart power fencing called Integrated Perimeter Security System  for 23 Air Bases. BEL has signed a contract with Indian Air Force for establishing Integrated Perimeter Security Systems for 23 Air Bases across 8 states, Pan India. The pilot site was commissioned in February 2021.
BEL has given sub-contract to many Original Equipment Manufacturers  and System Integrators to do the said project. The details are as follows:
i) Radar: OEM M/s ELTA.
ii) Underground Vibration Detection System/DIDS: OEM M/S Future Fiber Technology vide their SI M/s Athena.
iii) CCTV: OEM M/s FLIR, USA.
iv) ESPF: OEM M/s Gallagher vide their SI M/s Ved Techno for pilot site and OEM M/s Crown Solar for 22 sites.
v) Containerised Data Centre: OEM M/s Rittal vide their SI M/s Presto
vi) Network: OEM Cisco vide their SI Baydatacom.
vii) IT infrastructure: M/s HPE vide their System Integrated  AAE.
BEL follows purchase procedures for procurement of goods and services which ensures transparent and fair tendering process including the check of credentials of OEMs and its partners. BEL has systems and procedures in place to monitor the performance of the OEMs/SIs, to complete the project as per the scope assigned to them vide a PO. The total cost of the project is approximately Rs 1045 Crores.
BEL has qualified the project during TEC at Hindon Airbase in November 2018 with the OEM M/s Gallagher. However, at Pilot site, the ESPF solution of M/s Gallagher failed to provide the following features of IPSS:
- High availability of Control centre Software application of ESPF.
- Differential alarm sound for intrusion event and battery low event.
- Indication of change in resistance owing to vegetation.
- Tampering Alarm Energiser.
All other OEM and SI partners have fulfilled all site specific scope of work by their technical solution.
This information was given by Raksha Rajya Mantri Shri Ajay Bhatt in a written reply to Shri Sanganna Amarappa and others in Lok Sabha today.
Nampi/Savvy
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Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
Union Sports Minister Shri Kiren Rijiju launches the second edition of Fit India School Week , says students are the driving force behind making India fit
Union Sports Minister Shri KirenRijiju today launched the second edition of "Fit India School Week" program in the presence of Fit India Mission Director Ekta Vishnoi, CBSE Chairman
Manoj Ahuja; CISCE Chairman Dr. G. Immanuel; Dr. Abdul Jaleel Marthya - Principal, MP International School, Kasaragod; Ms. Neeraj Singh - HOD PE & Sports, Jaypee Public School, Greater Noida and students PrakritiAdarsh of Jaypee Public School, Greater Noida &Yasir Ameer Ali of MP International School, Kasaragod and was hosted by sports anchor Manish Batavia.
The virtual event was conducted with the aim to encourage kids to inculcate physical activity and sports in their daily routine as school is the first place where habits are formed.
During the launch ceremony, Shri Rijiju spoke about the importance of fitness in school life and said "students are the driving force behind making India fit and I am happy to see that so many schools have registered for Fit India School Week and the numbers are increasing day by day. This helps in achieving our target to make every Indian fit as the energy for it is generated from these schools itself."
The Fit India School week program was launched in November last year and saw participation from over 15,000 schools across the country.
A lucky student, PrakritiAdarsh of Jaypee Public School, was also given the opportunity to ask the sports minister a question during the live session and she chose to ask him about his fitness mantra and how he has manages to look younger than his age.
Shri Rijiju responded with laughter and said "I think I am a 25-30-year-old boy and follow whatever is required to remain fit. You need to always have the will power and passion for it."
Keeping the current pandemic situation in mind, this year's initiative has gone online and the proposed activities would be mostly conducted by schools on virtual mode.
To participate in the program the schools have to register themselves on https://fitindia.gov.in/fit-india-school-week/
They then have to choose any one week in December 2020 to celebrate Fit India School Week and conduct daily activities from the list that has already been shared with them during the registration.
Some activities that have been planned for this year's school week programme are - Aerobics, Painting, Quiz/Debates, Dance, Step-Up Challenge among many others.
Ministry of Tourism
10.2% growth rate in Foreign Exchange Earnings  in Rupee terms in April 2018 over April 2017
Ministry of Tourism estimates monthly Foreign Exchange Earnings  through tourism in India, both in rupee and dollar terms based on the credit data of Travel Head from Balance of Payments of RBI for the previous year.
The highlights of the estimates of FEEs from tourism in India for April 2018 are as below:
Foreign Exchange Earnings  through tourism 
- FEEs during the month of April 2018 were Rs. 15,713 crore as compared to Rs. 14,260 crore in April 2017.
- The growth rate in FEEs in rupee terms in April 2018 over April 2017 was 10.2%.
- FEEs during the period January- April 2018 were Rs. 68,629 crore with a growth of 14.2%, as compared to the FEE of Rs. 60,079 crore in January-April 2017.
Foreign Exchange Earnings  through tourism 
- FEEs in US$ terms during the month of April 2018 were US$ 2.393 billion as compared to FEEs of US$ 2.211 billion during the month of April 2017.
- The growth rate in FEEs in US$ terms in April 2018 over April 2017 was 8.2%.
- FEEs during the period January-April 2018 were US$ 10.621 billion with a growth of 17.4% as compared to the FEE of US$ 9.044 billion in January- April 2017 with a growth of 17.5% over January- April 2016.
Ministry of Defence
Andaman & Nicobar Command Celebrates Republic Day
A ceremonial parade was conducted by Andaman & Nicobar Command to celebrate the 72nd Republic Day on 26 January 2021 at Netaji Stadium, Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands Admiral DK Joshi  was the Chief Guest and Reviewing Officer for the parade. The parade led by Lt Cdr R Manikandan of the Indian Navy comprised of contingents from Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Andaman &Nicobar Police.
Each contingent was represented by of one officer, one Junior Commissioned Officer and fifteen Other Ranks. The parade witnessed the fly past by MI-17 Helicopter from Indian Air Force and Dornier Aircraft from Navy. The pride and josh of each participating contingent from the only Joint Services Command of the nation reflected the level of integration of all arms and evolution of jointsmanship culture in the Andaman Nicobar Command.
All government guidelines and Covid protocols were adhered to during the conduct of event.
Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution
Central Government agency Food Corporation of India supplies 76.72 LMT free food grains to all 36 States/ UTs under PMGKAY for May and June 2021
2,353 food grain rakes have been loaded by Food Corporation of India since May, 2021
593 LMT wheat and 294 LMT rice available under Central Pool
Till 21st June, 2021, Government of India’s agency Food Corporation of India has supplied 76.72 LMT free food grains to all 36 States/ UTs. 22 States/ UTs i.e. Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Puducherry, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura and West Bengal have lifted full allocation for May-June 2021.
14 States/ UTs i.e. Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Assam, Bihar, Daman Diu D&NH, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand have lifted 100% May 2021 allocation and lifting for June 2021 is going on.
FCI has already positioned adequate stocks in all States/ UTs. At present, 593 LMT wheat and 294 LMT rice  are available under Central Pool.
FCI is transporting food grains all across the country to ensure smooth supply to all States/ UT Governments. Since 1stMay 2021, 2353 food grain rakes have been loaded by FCI i.e. average 45 rakes on daily basis.
The Government of India has sensitized all the States/ UT Governments to complete the distribution of free food grains under PMGKAY in time bound manner. Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana is facilitating supply of free food grains to the beneficiaries amidst ongoing COVID pandemic and thus providing food security to the beneficiaries.
The Government of India announced Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana  to ameliorate the hardship faced by the poor due to economic disruption caused by Corona virus. Under the scheme, free food grains @ 5 kg per person per month is being distributed to beneficiaries covered under NFSA.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Update on COVID-19 Vaccine Availability in States/UTs
More than 112 Crore vaccine doses provided to States/UTs
More than 13 Crore balance and unutilized vaccine doses still available with States/UTs
The Union Government is committed to accelerating the pace and expanding the scope of COVID-19 vaccination throughout the country. The new phase of universalization of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from 21st June 2021. The vaccination drive has been ramped up through availability of more vaccines, advance visibility of vaccine availability to States and UTs for enabling better planning by them, and streamlining the vaccine supply chain.
As part of the nationwide vaccination drive, Government of India has been supporting the States and UTs by providing them COVID Vaccines free of cost. In the new phase of the universalization of the COVID19 vaccination drive, the Union Government will procure and supply  75% of the vaccines being produced by the vaccinemanufacturers in the country to States and UTs.
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VACCINE DOSES
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SUPPLIED
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1,12,93,57,545
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BALANCE AVAILABLE
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13,45,61,536
More than112crore vaccine doses have been provided to States/UTs so far through Govt of India  and through direct state procurement category.
More than13Cr balance and unutilized COVID Vaccine doses are still available with the States/UTs to be administered.
Ministry of Science & Technology
Insight into response of single-particle engine to environmental noise can help construct micro-machines, useful in biomedical engineering
Performance of tiny engines encompassing single colloidal particles vary with modulations in environmental noise, said a study by researchers who evaluated the response of such micro engines to noise fluctuations in the surrounding medium. This insight will be essential for future construction of micro-machines that operate in complex biological environments and are becoming increasingly important in biomedical engineering.
Micro mechanical machines are in the forefront of present-day science and technology, with applications ranging from aerospace to biomedical engineering. Recently scientists have experimentally constructed such machines from single colloidal particles. In these systems, mechanical work and power production is highly dominated by the fluctuations in its environment. Therefore, understanding the role of environment noise statistics on this energy conversion is pivotal to understanding the operation of such micro-machines like naturally occurring molecular motors that carry out transportation inside a living cell.
A team of researchers at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research , an autonomous institute of the Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of India and the Indian Institute of Science  Bangalore, constructed a micrometer-sized Stirling engine  by confining a single colloidal particle with a laser trap.
Testing its functioning in the presence of reservoirs  with thermal noise  and non-thermal noise , they found that the engine is responding to non-thermal noise. This study has been published recently in the journal ‘Nature Communications’.
The JNCASR team carried this out with the help of a new technique of reservoir engineering using laser traps to impart artificial noise to colloidal particles, which allowed a large variety of artificial noise which were not possible to realize earlier. The team also showed that the mode of maximum power production can be obtained at various cycle-speed  without affecting the engine’s efficiency.
Work, power, and efficiency, i.e., the performance of the engine, depends on the rate of broadening of laser and the relaxation rate of particle’s vibration. By changing the environmental noise/fluctuation statistics, this relaxation rate can be changed, and hence the performance of the engine can be modified.
Molecular motors which carry out transportation inside a living cell operate far from equilibrium  in the presence of non-thermal  noise. Therefore, understanding the role of non-thermal noise on non-equilibrium energy conversion will be an insight for the construction of any artificial micro-machine that operates in complex biological environments.
Publication link:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-25230-1
Authors: Niloyendu Roy, Nathan Leroux, A. K. Sood, and Rajesh Ganapathy
For more details, Mr. Niloyendu  and Prof. Rajesh Ganapathy  can be contacted.
Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship
Number of Jan Shikshan Sansthan Training Centres in the country will be doubled to 600 in the next three years – Union Minister Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar
Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Electronics and Information Technology, Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar today said that the number of Jan Shikshan Sansthan training centres in the country will be doubled to 600 in the next three years. He was addressing the beneficiaries of the Jan Shikshan Sansthan Training Centre at Kochi this morning.
The Minister said that a new world order was emerging in the post Covid scenario which offered plenty of opportunities for Indian skilled workers. India had the potential to become the skill capital of the world, he added. Shri Chandrasekhar also noted that more than 2 crore people were given skill training over the past five years of whom nearly 60% had either gained employment or had become entrepreneurs.
The Minister also met Resource persons and former trainees on the occasion and visited an exhibition of products put up by the beneficiaries.
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