ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Minority Affairs
Union Minority Affairs Ministry organizes “Mera Watan, Mera Chaman” “Mushaira” in New Delhi today as a part of “Amrit Mahotsav” of 75 years of India’s Independence.
“Mushaira” and “Kavi Sammelan” are a part of rich and glorious cultural legacy of our country which further strengthen the fabric of “Unity in Diversity” and India’s culture of civility and etiquette: Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi
Union Minority Affairs Ministry today organised “Mera Watan, Mera Chaman” “Mushaira” in New Delhi as a part of “Amrit Mahotsav” of 75 years of India’s Independence where renowned poets of the country mesmerised the audience through their poetry and couplets.
These renowned poets presented their poetry and couplets on the “celebrations of 75 years of India’s Independence” while remembering the sacrifices made by the great freedom fighters. They also made the people aware of “horrors and pains of the Partition” through their poetry in the Mushaira.
The Union Minority Affairs Ministry is organising "Mera Watan, Mera Chaman" “Mushairas” and “Kavi Sammelan” across the country till 2023, where renowned as well as emerging poets are giving effective messages full of glorious memories related to India’s Independence movement.
Renowned poets such as Shri Wasim Barelvi, Mohtarma Shabeena Adeeb, Shri Manzar Bhopali, Dr. V. P. Singh, Mohtarma Saba Balrampuri, Shri Haseeb Soz, Dr. Aizaz Popular Meeruthi, Sardar Surendra Singh Shajar, Shri Sikandar Hayat Gadbad, Shri Khursheed Haider, Shri Aqeel Nomani and Dr. Abbas Raza Nayyar Jalalpuri enthralled the audience.
Inaugurating the “Mushaira”, Minister for Minority Affairs Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said that “Mushaira” and “Kavi Sammelan” are a part of rich and glorious cultural legacy of our country which further strengthen the fabric of “Unity in Diversity” and India’s culture of civility and etiquette. Programmes such as “Mushaira” spread the message of peace and social harmony. Such events also reiterate and revitalize our nationalistic commitment to “New and Self-reliant India”.
Shri Naqvi said that such programmes also make the younger generation aware of India’s magnificent legacy of art and culture.
Rajya Sabha MPs Shri Sudhanshu Trivedi and Syed Zafar Islam, Delhi High Court Justice Shri Siddharth Mridul, CPI leader Shri Atul Kumar Anjan and a large number of other prominent people from all walks of life were present during the “Mushaira”. Renowned personalities from the field of politics, legal, social, entertainment, business, education fields and others also graced the occasion with their esteem presence and encouraged the poets.
PIB Headquarters
PIB’S BULLETIN ON COVID-19
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- 184.31 cr vaccine doses have been administered so far under Nationwide Vaccination Drive
- India's Active caseload currently stands at 13,672
- Active cases stand at 0.03%
- Recovery Rate currently at 98.76%
- 1,918 recoveries in the last 24 hours increases Total Recoveries to
- 4,24,90,922
- 1,335 new cases recorded in the last 24 hours
- Daily positivity rate 
- Weekly Positivity Rate 
- 78.97 cr Total Tests conducted so far; 6,06,036 tests conducted in the last 24 hours
#Unite2FightCorona #IndiaFightsCorona
PRESS INFORMATION BUREAU
MINISTRY OF INFORMATION & BROADCASTING
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
COVID-19 UPDATE
135.25 cr vaccine doses have been administered so far under Nationwide Vaccination Drive
India's Active caseload currently stands at 87,245
Active cases account for less than 1% of total cases, currently at 0.25%; Lowest since March 2020
Recovery Rate currently at 98.38%; Highest since March 2020
7,948 recoveries in the last 24 hours increases Total Recoveries to 3,41,54,879
7,974 new cases in the last 24 hours
Daily positivity rate  less than 2% for last 73 days
Weekly Positivity Rate  less than 1% for last 32 days
66.02 cr Total Tests conducted so far
Ministry of Agriculture &
Farmers Welfare
Cabinet apprised of the MoUbetween India and Denmark for cooperation in the fields of Animal Husbandry and Dairying
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has been apprised of the Memorandum of Understanding  signed between India and Denmark for cooperation in the fields of Animal Husbandry and Dairying. The MoU was signed on 16.4.2018.
The MoU aims to develop bilateral cooperation in the field of Animal Husbandly and Dairying for the purpose of broadening the existing knowledge base on dairy development and institutional strengthening.
A Joint Working Group  consisting of representatives of each party shall be created to formulate joint programmes, facilitate cooperation and consultation and subsequent evaluation.
Danish partnership is expected to facilitate exchange ofknowledge & expertise in the areas of animal breeding, animal health and dairying, fodder management etc. aiming at enhancing production and productivity of Indian livestock including livestock trade matter of mutual interest.
Ministry of Agriculture &
Farmers Welfare
Performance of Agricultural Schemes
As per the erstwihile Planning Commission’s estimates based on the survey conducted by the National Sample Survey Office  in 2011-12, 25.7% of rural population is living below the poverty line  including farm and non-farm rural population. However, separate estimate on the number of farmers living below the poverty line is not available.
Keeping in view the challenges before the farming community, Government of India regularly monitors and evaluates Schemes from time to time through independent agencies/institutes and revamps them based on the feedback.
The outcome of performance evaluation of some schemes are as follows and many of them have been revamped based on such studies:
Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana- Remunerative Approaches for Agriculture and Allied Sector Rejuvenation : The concurrent evaluation of implementation of the RKVY was done during 2016-17 by Institute of Economic Growth  Delhi. Based partially on the recommendations, the scheme was revamped as RKVY-RAFTAAR which is currently in operation for 2017-18 to 2019-20 with major focus on pre & post-harvest infrastructure, besides promoting agri-entrepreneurship and innovations.
National Mission on Micro Irrigation: An Impact evaluation study was conducted in 2014 by Global Agri System and conclusions reached were that due the operation of the scheme  Irrigation cost reduced by 20% to 50% with average of 32.3%.  Electricity consumption reduced by about 31%.  Average productivity of fruits and vegetables increased by about 42.3 % and 52.8%.  Overall income enhancement of farmers was in the range of 20% to 68% with an average of 48.5%.
Soil Health Card Scheme: Two impact evaluation studies have been conducted for Soil Health Card Scheme. The first study was by the National Productivity Council  in February 2016 and the 2nd study was conducted by MANAGE, Hyderabad in 2017. Constant improvement is carried out in scheme design and implementation based on such studies.
This information was given in a written reply by the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar in Rajya Sabha today.
Ministry of Finance
Application of behavioural economics can play key role in success of public policies and programmes: Economic Survey
Economic Survey recommends setting up of a Behavioural Economics Unit in Niti Aayog, proposes ‘Behavioural Economics Audit’ of every programme
The Economic Survey 2018-19 was tabled in Parliament today by the Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Smt Nirmala Sitharaman. It has given a unique prescription to improve efficacy of public policy and programmes. It discusses in detail how application of ‘behavioural economics’ can prove to be a valuable instrument of change in a country like India where social and religious norms play a dominant role in influencing behaviour. This is based on the premise that decisions made by real people deviate from the impractical robots theorized in classical economics. “Drawing on the psychology of human behaviour, behavioural economics provides insights to ‘nudge’ people towards desirable behavior”, says the Economic Survey.
Quoting the success of popular Government Schemes in recent times like Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao  and Swatchh Bharat Mission , the Economic Survey says that these schemes have successfully applied behavioural insights to enhance policy impact. For example, ‘#SelfieWithDaughter’ on social media became a worldwide hit and the celebration of the girl child quickly became the norm to which more and more people wanted to conform. Similarly, use of socially and culturally identifiable names for various recent schemes like Namami Gange, Ujjawala, Poshan Abhiyan among others have helped to build the affinity of the people for the scheme.
The community based approach to sanitation in SBM with the help of Swachhagrahis whose similarity with Satyagrahis, helped to reinforce the message. The gender empowerment component of SBM helped to become a complement the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao scheme. According to the Economic Survey, the key principles of behavioural economics are ‘emphasizing the beneficial social norm’, ‘changing the default option’ and ‘repeated reinforcements’.
The Economic Survey opines that while several Indian programmes have applied the principles of behavioural economics, there is still ample scope for leveraging these insights to enhance the efficacy of programmes in India. Accordingly, the Economic Survey recommends setting up of a behavioural economic unit in the NITI Aayog. It also strongly recommends that every programme must go through a ‘behavioural economics audit’ before its implementation.
Ministry of Road Transport & Highways
2921 km roads constructed under Bharatmala Pariyojana; 322 projects of 12,413 km awarded
A total of 322 projects in a length of 12,413 Km have been awarded under Bharatmala Pariyojana till August, 2020. Further, 2921 Km has been constructed under the Project till the same date.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has taken up detailed review of NHs network and has given overall investment approval for Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase I Scheme for development of about 34,800 km  at an estimated outlay of Rs 5,35,000 Crore.
Bharatmala Pariyojana is an umbrella program for the highways sector that focuses on optimizing efficiency of freight and passenger movement across the country by bridging critical infrastructure gaps through effective interventions like development of Economic Corridors, Inter Corridors and Feeder Routes, National Corridor Efficiency Improvement, Border and International connectivity roads, Coastal and Port connectivity roads and Green-field expressways.
Ministry of Steel
SAIL Steel for World’s Tallest Girder Rail Bridge
Steel Authority of India Ltd  has supplied around 60,000 tonnes of steel material for the 111-km-long Jiribam-Tupul-Imphal new broad gauge railway project in Manipur. SAIL has supplied TMT rebars and structural along with HR Plates and Sheets, Plate Mill Plates for this project. SAIL has been supplying the materials produced in its state-of-the-art new mills at Durgapur, IISCO, Rourkela and Bokaro plants.
The project was taken up in 2008 and was declared a National Project.
It involves the construction of 111-km long broad gauge railway line which includes 9 stations at Dolakhal, Kaimai Road, Kambiron, Thingou, Khongsang, Noney Tupul, Haochang Road and Imphal, 148 bridges & 45 tunnels, of which tunnel No. 12 is 11.55-km long, making it India’s longest tunnel.
The project is being developed in two sections. The first section involves the construction of 84 kms of railway line connecting Jiribam to Tupul which is on the verge of completion. The second section of 27 kms connecting Tupul to Imphal is expected to be completed by 2019. Northeast Frontier Railway  is undertaking the construction of the project.
In addition to this, a bridge is being constructed near Noney which will become the tallest girder rail bridge in the world. At 141 metres, the bridge over river Iring will be as high as two Qutub Minar’s stacked on top of each other.
Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution
DIRECT PAYMENT OF Rs 2.37 LAKH CRORE MSP VALUE TO 163 LAKH FARMERS FOR WHEAT AND PADDY PROCUREMENT DURING 2021-22
While presenting the Union Budget 2022-23 in the Parliament today, the Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman said “the procurement of wheat in Rabi 2021-22 and the estimated procurement of paddy in Kharif 2021-22 will cover 1208 lakh metric tonnes of wheat and paddy from 163 lakh farmers, and `2.37 lakh crore direct payment of MSP value to their accounts”.
Ministry of Steel
Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan exhorts industry to become export-centric;Participates in a webinar on “New opportunities for steel in construction and infrastructure”
Minister of Steel and Petroleum and Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan today addressed a webinar on “New opportunities for steel in construction and infrastructure”, organized by Indian Steel Association.
Shri Pradhan speaking on the occasion exhorted the steel industry leaders to focus on making the industry export-centric and fulfill global requirements too. He said, “Aatmanirbhar Bharat and being ‘Vocal for local” is all about creating a robust domestic market and going beyond fulfilling domestic requirement to reach the global markets. PPE manufacturing during Covid-19 time is a case in point in which India went from being a net importer to exporting PPEs to the world. Our inherent capacity in vaccine production is another such example. Our steel sector is perfectly poised to become more vibrant, globally competitive and export-centric.”
Speaking about infrastructure creation, Shri Pradhan said, “Hon’ble Prime Minister has set a target to make India a $5 trillion economy. Infrastructure development will play a key role in this journey. Our Government is focusing on creating a modern infrastructure for the 21st century. Whether it is roads, railways, housing or oil and gas, every sector is seeing infrastructure creation at unprecedented pace. The Rs. 20 lakh crore Aatmanirbhar package gives special stress on infrastructure sector. All these augurs well for the steel sector.”
The minister also said that steel can be a catalyst for well-being of people and making it a material of choice will bring greater strength to the society.
The Minister of State for Steel Shri Faggan Singh Kulaste said that steel usage per capita in the country is about one-third of the global average. He emphasized that there is an urgent need to bridge this gap and take steel usage in the country to the next level. There should be greater awareness on steel usage and a concerted drive to raise steel usage in rural areas which will bring greater strength to society, he added.“Our Government has sanctioned Rs. 6322 crore for production linked incentive scheme  for specialty steel. I hope that Indian Steel Association will work on greater value addition and focus on specialty steel to bring in greater self- reliance in steel sector,” he said.
Senior officers from the Ministry of Steel, subject experts, industry leaders, academicians, researchers, large users and regulators also participated in the webinar. This one is the second edition of webinar organized by the Indian Steel Association.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Shri J P Nadda holds high level review meeting on Vector Borne diseases in Delhi
Assures all support of the Central Government
Subsequent to the high level review of the status of vector borne diseases with 20 endemic States in the country, Shri J P Nadda, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare chaired a meeting to review the preparedness of various agencies to prevent and manage vector borne diseases in the National Capital, here today. Shri Bipin Bihari Singh, Mayor, East Delhi Municipal Corporation , Smt Preeti Sudan, Secretary , Smt Promila Gupta, DGHS, Commissioners of various Municipal Corporations, representatives and senior officers from Delhi Government and Municipal Corporations of Delhi were also present during the meeting.
Emphasising the need for adequate early preparedness for management of vector borne diseases, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Shri J P Nadda advised the agencies to create a separate registry for the cases originating and being treated in Delhi. He said the focus should be on active case finding for source identification and reduction of vectors and transmission.
Shri J P Nadda further said that there should be no shortage of diagnostic kits, drugs, testing labs, manpower and funds. Awareness being the key to prevention of many diseases, Shri Nadda stressed on the importance of conducting focussed and intensive IEC campaigns and sustaining them through the monsoon season, especially at the time of onset of monsoon.
During the meeting the Health Minister directed the officers to conduct supervisory visits to various hospitals in Delhi for assessing the situation, preparedness and to provide on the spot technical guidance to the health authorities.
Shri Sanjeeva Kumar , Shri Manoj Jhalani , Shri Vikas Sheel , Lav Aggarwal  and other senior officers of the Union Health Ministry, National Vector-Borne Disease Control Programme , National Centre for Disease Control  were also present in the meeting .
Ministry of Agriculture &
Farmers Welfare
Farmers should get value for their products and Agriculture should be income-centric: Narendra Singh Tomar
Agriculture Minister seeks support of States to take Schemes like PM Kisan, PM Kisan Maan Dhan & Kisan Credit Card to every farmer
State Agriculture Ministers’ Conference held in New Delhi
There are new challenges in agriculture, small farmers need to be helped with technology at the ground level so that input costs can be reduced. The farmer should test his soil regularly and there is a need to speed up the pace of organic farming. Stating this at the State Agriculture Ministers’ Conference in New Delhi today, Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Shri. Narendra Singh Tomar further added that the farmers should be given proper price for their produce, agricultural marketing through e-NAM should be strengthened and agricultural exports should be increased.
Shri. Tomar in his inaugural address welcomed all the dignitaries and mentioned that this was first conference with the States after the announcement of Union Budget 2019. The Minister emphasized on the vision of the Prime Minister for doubling of farmers’ income and urged the States to adopt various measures to reduce the cost of cultivation for better income generation for the farmers. Thanking all the States for their significant contribution for self sufficiency in food grain production, the Minister urged them to shift their attention from production oriented to market oriented agriculture with specific focus on export of agricultural produce. The Minister also asked the States to prioritize their efforts and facilitate farmers for judicious use of fertilizers based on report of Soil Health Card.
The Agriculture Minister requested the States to create awareness among the farmers on water conservation practices through drip & sprinkler irrigation and water harvesting. He further emphasized on the need of States to develop a synergy with Centre for better implementation of farmer welfare schemes & programmes at field level. Shri Tomar also requested States for their suggestions and feedback with regard to policy directions.
Shri. Sanjay Agarwal, Agriculture Secretary welcomed the Hon’ble Ministers and briefed about the objective of organizing this conference at the onset of Kharif season. Expressing his gratitude to the States for the success of PM Kisan, the Secretary said that States have done a commendable job in a short span.
The State Agriculture Ministers from 12 States were present along with senior officials from other States. The morning session of the daylong conference had presentations on PM Kisan Samman Nidhi , PM Kisan Maan Dhan Yojna, Kisan Credit Card , PM Fasal Bima Yojna , e-National Agriculture Market , Organic Farming and Market Reforms. This session was followed by an interactive session with Sate Agriculture Ministers and with Senior Officials from states.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
COVID-19 UPDATE
207.47 cr Total Vaccine doses  have been administered so far under Nationwide Vaccination Drive
17,72,441 doses administered in last 24 hours
India's Active caseload currently stands at 1,23,535
Active cases stand at 0.28%
Recovery Rate currently at 98.53%
18,053 recoveries in the last 24 hours increases Total Recoveries to 4,35,73,094
16,561 new cases recorded in the last 24 hours
Daily positivity rate 
Weekly Positivity Rate 
87.95 cr Total Tests conducted so far; 3,04,189 tests conducted in the last 24 hours
President's Secretariat
President of India Presents International Gandhi Awards for Leprosy
The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, presented the International Gandhi Awards for Leprosy to Dr N.S. Dharmashaktu under the Indian nomination  category and the Leprosy Mission Trust under the institutional category today .
Speaking on the occasion, the President said that in our fight against Leprosy, we have achieved a lot over the years. We have successfully accomplished levels of leprosy elimination defined as less than one case per ten thousand population. Further, the stigma and prejudice against leprosy has reduced considerably, thanks to the constant work of scientists, researchers, organisations and community workers. However, we cannot let our guard down. New cases continue to occur and high-burden pockets of the disease do exist.
The President said that the major challenge in leprosy control activities lies in sustaining the same level of focus and commitment especially in low-resource settings where equity of access is an issue. We need to intensify our efforts towards early detection of leprosy cases, provide equitable access to appropriate treatment and provide integrated leprosy services in the geographically focused areas.
The President said that more than the medical condition, the social stigma attached to the disease persists and this is a cause for concern. We have to become aware and educated on this disease and its different dimensions, and spread that awareness among our communities. We need to empower those who have been discriminated on account of leprosy through advocacy and information dissemination.
Click here to see the President's speech