Achievement Tracking - Modi 2.0 Govt - No Discussions

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 26 Nov 2014 09:31

sorry JEM, can you provide me a link to that thread? my brain is getting old.

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 26 Nov 2014 10:00

Looked for it boss, can't find it myself... Maybe someone can help. I can't remember what the name was even... but it was there.

Pratyush · Post by **Pratyush** » 26 Nov 2014 10:22

Link to the 1st page of the Nation on the march thread

http://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/viewto ... f=2&t=3774

JEM, delete post once the purpose is served.

deejay · Post by **deejay** » 26 Nov 2014 11:39

SagarAg wrote:[
12. Circulation of 500 and 1000 denomination Indian currency in Nepal

.... I wish this improves. But because of so much FICN entering Nepal and through Nepal, India, it is almost impossible to convince a Nepali to accept INR Rs. 500 or a Rs 1000 note. All other denominations are freely used all through Nepal. Rs. 500 & Rs. 1000 are only useful in border towns of Nepal, that too not every where.

member_28025 · Post by **member_28025** » 26 Nov 2014 13:39

#Modi Govt done away with British-era legacy of IPS officers using juniors for errands & menial jobs.

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 26 Nov 2014 20:36

Thanks Pratyush... Let it stay there. People can see and add there if they wish.

SagarAg · Post by **SagarAg** » 07 Dec 2014 22:19

X-post

member_23061 · Post by **member_23061** » 12 Dec 2014 05:00

Thread revival : Legal Achievement - Removal of Section 309 - Decriminalization of Suicide attempts

http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.co ... idget_Stry

M Joshi · Post by **M Joshi** » 19 Dec 2014 11:52

e-SamikSha: A new digital monitor for bureaucracy to rein in slackers
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/new ... 567785.cms

NEW DELHI: Modi Sarkar has launched a frontal attack on Indian bureaucracy's greatest power — the power not to do anything. And it has done this via a brand new digital platform — called e-SamikSha — that allows sarkar's top bosses a real-time clear view of intra and inter-departmental file movements and gives them the power to intervene when a babu is taking it too easy.

Developed by the cabinet secretariat with technical support from the National Informatics Centre (NIC), e-SamikSha — the second 'S' in uppercase is how it's officially written — has been operational for just over a month and has changed babus' working style. So, if, say, a joint secretary is sitting on a file on a big infrastructure project that's a PMO priority, this system will allow the prime minister to intervene digitally and ask the officer concerned to explain the delay or expedite decision-making.

And worse — the PM's interventions appear in bright red on the officer's screen. The cabinet secretary's interventions also appear in red. Warnings from other bosses such as department secretaries or state government chief secretaries appear in other colours.

ETspoke to senior officials in various departments as well as NIC personnel for this story. All of them spoke on the condition they not be identified, saying they were officially unauthorised to speak on the matter.

Before the warnings come the alerts. In e-SamikSha, the moment a job is assigned to a department, text messages and email alerts go to all officers responsible for delivery and their top bosses. A unique identity number is also automatically generated for each task. This number allows easy digital tracking of a project's progress.

From then on, every electronic file movement can be monitored at the click of a mouse by the sarkar's big guns and the system allows a boss to retrieve the file's journey at any point of time. Therefore, e-SamikSha is both a project monitoring system as well as an audit trail of the bureaucracy's efficiency.

Over 400 initiatives, projects and action points are already being digitally monitored through e-SamikSha.

Every task is assigned four status descriptors - Not Started, Under Implementation, Implemented and No Further Action Required.

The PM navigates through e-SamikSha via a digital dashboard that has customised drop-down windows - each allowing him to see progress in different areas such infrastructure, administrative reforms, pending court cases and special campaigns like Swachh Bharat and Ganga Rejuvenation.

"Aasaan hai - Shuru to Karein" (It's easy - let's at least start) and "Monitor, Follow Up, Action" are the taglines assigned by the government to e-SamikSha. The software application that runs the system is hosted at NIC's National Data Centre in Delhi. The cabinet secretariat is gung-ho about this digital class monitor for babus. A senior official in the secretariat said, "We have been able to use e-SamikSha to speed up and improve compliance.

Since most activities are online, we have been able to move to a virtually paperless culture that helps save time, travel costs and physical movement of forms and personnel."

The new system's champions stress that it can facilitate fearless decision-making. "Since e-SamikSha is transparent and interactive, it helps dispel fears about taking decisions...the fear of future investigation is less when all your bosses can see all the time what you are doing," the official said. There's a Centrestate module in e-SamikSha as well to cope with coordination issues.

"Several states have already started updating the status of action points that need to be completed at their level," said another official in the secretariat. The human resources ministry has its own twist to e-SamikSha, calling it HRD-SamikSha. HRD's digital monitoring system has a specific module for tracking VIP requests on school and college admissions, among other things.{???}

Every time an action point is added to this system, it generates a unique identity number for the issue and allocates it automatically to the relevant departments that need to act on it. "Every time a meeting is held by these departments on the issue, the decision is updated on the portal and higherlevel officials can step in at any stage to give directions," the official said. Other ministries are also seeking to create their own versions of e-SamikSha for intra-ministry file movement.

Right now, when babus see red, they know the PM is watching them.

member_23061 · Post by **member_23061** » 21 Dec 2014 08:08

Now this may seem to be little strange to be placed as a Namo achievement ; But the Devyani case was a severe embarrassment for the IFS ; especially more so when noted on BRF on how she flagrantly violated Indian law by marrying an American and having her kids being American while being in the service.

Msg sent to the babucracy.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-new ... 98458.aspx

M Joshi · Post by **M Joshi** » 21 Dec 2014 18:35

On 15 Dec 2015:

PM Narendra Modi wants efficient NDMA, not parking lot for politicians: Kiren Rijiju
http://m.economictimes.com/news/politic ... 523389.cms

. NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to have professionals as its members and this central body should not been seen as a "parking lot" for retired politicians, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said here today.

On 21 Dec 2014:

UN official, BARC scientist, Ex-armyman new members of NDMA.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-new ... 98778.aspx

. Modi approved names of Kamal Kishore, a disaster reduction expert at UNDP, Lt Gen (retd) NC Marwah and Dr DN Sharma, director of the health, safety and environment group at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC).

Government sources said the three were selected from a list of 82 names received when the home ministry for the first time invited applications from subject experts.

The government had scaled down the rank of NDMA members a few months back to ensure that influential bureaucrats did not have an incentive to pull strings to get into the body. NDMA members hold the rank of secretary to the central government, not a minister of state any longer.

A senior government official said the idea was conceived by the task force headed by former agriculture secretary PK Mishra – now additional principal secretary to the PM – that was set up by the previous UPA government.

But the Manmohan Singh-led PMO sat on the file that proposed carrying out changes. Instead, Singh appointed former CBI special director K Salim Ali as an NDMA member in February this year.

Ali had to quit the NDMA along with other members when the BJP government came to power in May.

Denis · Post by **Denis** » 31 Dec 2014 17:22

New judicial panel gets President's nod, collegium system ends. Good Riddance!!!

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 31 Dec 2014 20:30

mea culpa Krishnan ji

moved to implementation thread

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 31 Dec 2014 20:32

Achievement tracking - Modi Govt. No discussions

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 01 Jan 2015 08:06

Online facility a hit: 22,000 visas issued in a month (toi)

India had introduced visa on arrival enabled by electronic travel authorization (ETA) on November 27. Since its launch till December 31, the government has processed 22,000 visas indicating a significant boost to tourism. It's at par with the visa on arrival (VoA) issued by India between January-November 2014 which totaled 24,963. This is a 41.9% increase from last year when 17,594 VoAs were issued during the same period in 2013.

Online visa facility is applicable for visitors traveling to India for recreation, short duration medical treatment and casual business visit for a short stay of 30 days.

Who does it benefit?

Opening of the visa regime is expected to be a game changer for the tourism industry. India was ranked 76th in the visa restrictions index compiled by global residence and citizenship planning firm Henley and Partners earlier this year.

The government has introduced the facility in 43 countries including United States, Australia, Japan, Israel, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Brazil, UAE, Jordan, Kenya, Fiji, Finland, South Korea, Singapore, Mauritius, Mexico, Norway, Oman and Philippines among others. The facility is available at nine airports including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kochi, Goa, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Thiruvanathapuram.
[...]
Provisional estimates reveal that total tourism-related employment (direct and indirect) has risen from 10.78% in 2010-2011 to 12.36% in 2012-2013. An additional employment of 24.5 million is being targeted by the ministry between 2010 and 2016.

There's work happening also on the supply side of tourism, not just the demand side...

The other major initiative is developing five tourist circuits: Ganga circuit, Krishna circuit, Buddha circuit, North East circuit and Kerala circuit. The tourism ministry plans to spend Rs 500 crore for developing the areas based on specific themes. The ministry also plans to funnel Rs 100 crore for national mission on pilgrimage rejuvenation and spiritual augmentation drive (PRASAD).

PM Narendra Modi has stressed on the importance of tourism in showcasing the country's rich culture and heritage and creation of employment.

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 03 Jan 2015 17:02

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/new ... 735049.cms

Recounting the initiatives taken by the NDA government in past seven months, he {Arun Jaitley} said the Prime Minister Jan Dhan Yojana to bring unbanked population under the banking net has already achieved the target.

Over 10 crore bank accounts have already been under the scheme a month ahead of the schedule.

vipins · Post by **vipins** » 05 Jan 2015 22:34

Rs 1,500-crore research lab in Tamil Nadu gets Centre go-ahead

Eight years after it was initiated, the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO), the country’s largest research facility, has been approved by the Indian government

Coordinated by the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), the INO is a collaborative project with 21 research institutes, universities and the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). “Work on building the INO will start in six months. One-third of the detectors will start operating in 2020 and full-fledged experiments will start in 2022,”

The Centre also approved the construction of a 50-kton magnetised Iron Calorimeter detector (ICAL) to study the properties of neutrinos and to address the issue of neutrino mass hierarchy.

Slated to be functional by 2022, the Neutrino Factory is similar to the Large Hadron Collider set up by the Geneva-based European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN), which is also an international collaboration, recreating the Big Bang that created the universe.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 03 Feb 2015 07:58

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 101817.cms

this is a major achievement!!!!

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 03 Feb 2015 09:13

^ This dhaga has been lying forgotten for a while now.

vish_mulay · Post by **vish_mulay** » 03 Feb 2015 10:43

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/modi ... 16435.html

Environmental clearance has been given to as many as 190 projects entailing an investment of Rs.6.31 lakh crore across sectors like mining and steel during June-December as part of the National Democratic Alliance government's policy to fast-track industrial development and generate jobs.

A senior official said the projects that have been approved belong to both public and private sectors and the clearances are subject to mitigation measures being undertaken by these firms.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/modi ... 16435.html

sunnyP · Post by **sunnyP** » 10 Feb 2015 22:38

Modi government cancels golf memberships for bureaucrats

New Delhi: The BJP government has scrapped membership of Delhi's prestigious golf club for bureaucrats as part of a crackdown on its notoriously work-shy civil servants, a report said Thursday.

The memberships had been awarded to a select group of serving and retired bureaucrats by the previous left-leaning Congress government, the Hindustan Times said.

But Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has now scrapped the perk, cancelling memberships for 27 civil servants teeing off from the club's plush greens and mulling the future of another 30.

The quota scheme organised by the urban development ministry, which oversees the club's land, was ended after it was found to be in "contravention of rules and regulations," without elaborating.

After his landslide election victory last May, PM Modi cracked the whip on civil servants, who were notorious for arriving late, taking long lunches and whiling away afternoons on the golf course.

Modi said he was shocked by what he saw in the corridors of power after moving to Delhi.

Ministry officials could not be contacted for comment, while the club said it had no comment to make.

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/150129/n ... ureaucrats

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 10 Feb 2015 23:12

X-Post to bring up the facts...

Muppalla wrote:
Prasan wrote:i hope bjp doesnt wait much and release much awaited religion wise census data immediately but without much fanfare.
Whenever any bjp govt comes they develop cold feet towards hindutva agenda. This time they must give Hindutva a try
Modi's government did all the stuff very stealthily this time around. The inflation is down and off course they did not do anything as oil crashed. They recovered revenues using tax on petrol but still they passed a bit to consumers.

They did not openly pass anti conversion laws etc but they did stop the NGOs and missionaries via restrictions on FCRA and also visa rejections to EJ types. They did do 10 killed for each Indian killed with respect to Pak. Made the government employees to work even on X-mas day and made everyone to sweep streets. GPS type monitoring of chai-biskoot times is implemented.

Development and good governance never give poll results. Because there a huge sections who enjoy jugaaad style life. For example "no need of Gazzetted officer signature" will kill a tonne of jugaaads. All these create resentment. The Government employees will never like BJP or Modi.

The important point is not to give-in to these crappies. Inspite of reverses just sustain so that other Indians who are not part of this jugaad get opportunities in about next three years and along with that some political maneuvering will bring them back to power.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 10 Feb 2015 23:36

X-Post as its lost in the din in the political drama thread...

gakakkad wrote:few points:

There have been many changes since Modi took over. But not communicated effectively .

1) India is the fastest growing major economy now. Growth has picked up..And the stock exchange is an indicator of that. The number of billionairres have doubled.
2) Food inflation is the lowest in a decade.. And it lowered before the crude oil prices came down .Thanks to strick enforcement of Anti-Hoarding laws and proper management of distribution system .
3) Construction has kick started.
4) All the reforms passed through ordinance route.
5) Roadmap for GST..
6) niti aayog..

obviously Modi cannot do "let there be roads , and there were roads, let there be bullet trains and there were bullet trains.." what visible changes were to be expected ?

>> Economy has picked up and seems to be back on track but RBI has not reduced the interest rates and petrol prices are still high even though crude oil prices are coming down.

RBI will reduce interest rates soon..they should have done so earlier... It was a wise move to increase excise duties on petrol/diesel ... Crude prices won't say low forever... OPEC now expects crude back to triple digit ..in fact it may end up at 200 ...this does not come from some analyst but directly from secretary general of OPEC..

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2 ... arrel.aspx

The Secretary-General said that, "if you don't invest in oil and gas, you will see more than $200" when it comes to future oil prices.

production is already down and US is heavily invested in shale ..shale is not feasible till crude become 70 atleast... and signs of this are showing.. brent crude rose by 8% last friday... the single biggest gain since 2012...100 rigs have stopped drilling..it is a matter of time before the oil prices rise...

A few random thoughts..

BJP has apparently held on to there vote share... (34% ) even though it translated poorly into seats..

BJP has done a poor job of communicating about reforms..the massive improvements in the economy are sadly never in mainstream news...

Even though love jihad, ghar waapsi etc were media creations to try and burn BJP , they were still poorly handled by them...

Ghar waapsi should never have reached the national news,,

Burning of church should have been better handled....sometimes lip service is necessary..especially when it is close to elections...All modi has to do is condemn the attacks and say that the perpetrators would be brought to justice...

on the whole people won't elect a capitalist gov't till they have certain amount of education..

BJP needs to be careful from here ownwards..

Sanjay · Post by **Sanjay** » 10 Feb 2015 23:38

Ramana, can you add anything on developments in education and healthcare ? (Delete this post as needed)

arshyam · Post by **arshyam** » 11 Feb 2015 02:38

^^ Sanjay sir, here's one initiative (Ramana sir, hope you don't mind my jumping in

)

Joint Declaration of Intent between India and United States of America for cooperation in the field of higher education for implementation of Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN) programme - PIB India Press release

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today gave its approval for signing a Joint Declaration between the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) of India and the National Science Foundation (NSF) of the United States of America, to initiate a new program entitled Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN) in Higher Education. GIAN aims at tapping the talent pool of scientists and entrepreneurs to engage with the institutes of higher education in India to augment the country's existing academic resources, accelerate the pace of quality reforms, and further strengthen India's scientific and technological capabilities.

The proposed India-US Cooperation will be beneficial for adoption of newer methods of pedagogy; infuse creativity and innovation driven learning and professional rigour at a relatively lower cost; boosting research in cutting edge technologies and to build stronger academic networks between both countries. The US faculty would undertake teaching at Indian Universities, networked research initiatives in topics of mutual interest and development of international entrepreneurship programmes by making the curriculum more industry oriented for better employability.

The proposal envisages the creation of a channel for US academics in science, technology, engineering and mathematics to spend part of their time teaching in academic and research institutions across India. To start with, the programme would facilitate inviting up to 1000 faculty every year from amongst the best institutions in the US, who will be deputed to identified institutions in India.

According to this NitiCentral article:

Couple of days ago, the HRD minister tweeted that Fields Medalist and Princeton professor Dr. Manjul Bhargava has agreed to be a part of this program and teach in India.

arshyam · Post by **arshyam** » 12 Feb 2015 00:10

sivab wrote:Didn't see this news posted...

GoI made this important decision on Delhi election counting day and it got lost.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 188576.cms

Government frees non-PDS kerosene from regulatory control

NEW DELHI: With a view to ease the availability of market-priced kerosene, the government has freed sale of non-PDS kerosene from regulatory control.

The government has amended the Kerosene (Restriction on Use and Fixation of Ceiling Price) Order, 1993, to free all activities of storage, transportation and sale of white kerosene (market-priced kerosene or non-PDS kerosene) from regulatory control, an official statement said here.

Subsidised kerosene sold through public distribution system (PDS) is blue in colour while the market priced fuel is colourless.

"It is expected that this will reduce demand for diverted PDS kerosene by improving availability of non-PDS kerosene in the open market and will thus meet the demand of kerosene for various legitimate end uses for the industry and for individual consumption by those who can afford it at market price," the statement said.

While PDS kerosene is priced at Rs 15.14 per litre, the non-subsidised or market-priced fuel comes for Rs 27.68 a litre.

"In this regard, the Kerosene (Restriction on Use and Fixation of Ceiling Price) Amendment Order, 2015 has been published in the Gazette of India vide GSR.41 (E) dated January 19, 2015," it added.

sivab · Post by **sivab** » 12 Feb 2015 00:38

arshyamji, one more important article that got lost in Delhi election din

http://m.timesofindia.com/india/Govt-to ... 180794.cms

Govt to net Rs 10,000 crore from Swiss bank accounts by March-end: SIT

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money expects the income tax department to recover Rs 10,000 crore by March 31 as tax and penalty for tax evasion from 300-odd Indians who held illegal accounts in Swiss banks.

"Under the supervision of the SIT, the I-T department has already recovered around Rs 3,500 crore from some of the account holders. As these are old accounts, the assessment proceedings have to be complete by March 31 and we expect the I-T department to net another Rs 6,500 crore by that time," SIT vice-chairman Justice Arijit Pasayat told TOI.

He agreed that what was unearthed till now, from the data given by the French government, was only a miniscule portion of the number of foreign accounts held by Indians abroad for the purpose of parking illegal money.

"That is why we have gone public seeking information from all sources about Indians holding accounts abroad to stash black money. Half of the 628 Swiss bank accounts, information about which was given to India by France, was held either by Non-Resident Indians or were legitimate accounts. Rs 10,000 crore is expected to be recovered from the rest on completion of assessment proceedings," Justice Pasayat said.

This is the reason why the SIT had recommended making tax evasion a prosecutable offence, which means tax evaders could face jail term if it is proved that they deliberately evaded payment of taxes.

"We cannot have a simple offence like cheating a prosecutable offence under Section 420 of Indian Penal Code, but allow tax evaders to go scot free if they agree to pay up after being caught," Justice Pasayat said.

The SIT, in its report to the Supreme Court, had expressed serious concern about false invoicing in the export-import business and said it was the major route for generating black money in the country.

Commencement of strict scrutiny of invoices and comparing them with other export-import documents has led a few businessmen to come out voluntarily and pay up Rs 500 crore as penalty.

"Under the supervision of SIT, the customs and excise department has initiated proceedings for recovery of Rs 15,000 crore in tax evasion just from mis-invoicing. These adjudication proceedings will be completed within a fixed time frame and we can expect the money to come within a year," Justice Pasayat said.

The SIT had also recommended that the government set up a dedicated unit along the lines of Trade Transparency Unit set up by the US to examine mismatch between India's export-import data with import-export data of other countries.

Implementation of such a measure would ensure that the government has a fair idea of the quantum of black money that is being siphoned off outside the country through false invoicing of imports and exports through trade-based money laundering, it had said.

The SIT vice-chairman said under its guidance, the Enforcement Directorate has attached property worth Rs 4,000 crore from persons who generated ill-gotten money through bogus chit funds and offences under Prevention of Corruption Act in West Bengal, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.

"Practically, we expect government agencies to net around Rs 30,000 crore within a year," he said.

member_25682 · Post by **member_25682** » 13 Feb 2015 05:35

Please trust - me no promoting site for commercial benefit - i am tracking this - http://www.namoyatra.in --- will be happy to create account to allow you to post. I believe this site will come handy in 2019. Worked in Pune India 272 group - and wanted the group engaged going forward and this idea came into existence.. and so far its going good.

Kashi · Post by **Kashi** » 13 Feb 2015 06:18

Khatri wrote:Please trust - me no promoting site for commercial benefit - i am tracking this - http://www.namoyatra.in --- will be happy to create account to allow you to post. I believe this site will come handy in 2019. Worked in Pune India 272 group - and wanted the group engaged going forward and this idea came into existence.. and so far its going good.

The link is fine, although they could do with High-re images of the individual entries.

For instance, look at this one

http://namoyatra.in/2015/01/18/army-inn ... amo-magic/

I understand that maybe difficult due to the source material itself being unavailable in high-res format, but still worth looking at.

vipins · Post by **vipins** » 15 Feb 2015 23:35

NaMo on Twitter wrote:This makes PAHAL Yojana among the largest cash transfer schemes in the world. Congrats to beneficiaries & officials. http://petroleum.nic.in/dbt/index.php

NaMo on Twitter wrote:Gives me great joy to know that over 10 crore citizens have been registered as a part of the PAHAL Yojana. A momentous accomplishment.

Vayutuvan · Post by **Vayutuvan** » 16 Feb 2015 01:04

Khatri wrote:i am tracking this - http://www.namoyatra.in --- will be happy to create account to allow you to post.

It looks good. But a small suggestion.

Why "Yes we can" on the top? POTUS himself started with that and look where his popularity ratings are today.
May be "sab ka saath sab ka vikas" or "swachch bharat - literally as well as in the abstract too" A hindi equivalent of that would be better, of course.

Kamal_raj · Post by **Kamal_raj** » 16 Feb 2015 02:30

Modi had said "yes we can" way before Obsama!

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 16 Feb 2015 18:12

jamwal · Post by **jamwal** » 16 Feb 2015 19:15

Narendra Modi Cabinet to cut paper trail, go Kindle
http://www.financialexpress.com/article ... dle/43358/

Union Cabinet meetings will soon go paperless. The government is finalising a plan to put all Cabinet notes on Kindle devices, which ministers will use at meetings and return to the Cabinet Secretariat immediately after.
The government’s technology arm, the National Informatics Centre (NIC), has been instructed to implement this within six months.
Apart from cutting down paper use, the Prime Ministers’ Office believes the move will block what it sees as “leakage of information” on critical issues to the media before decisions are taken on them.
Once the system falls into place, minutes of a Cabinet meeting including any dissent note would not leave any paper trail in the future either.
According to a source, ministers and secretaries, who would not carry any paper to a Cabinet meeting, would each receive a Kindle loaded with Cabinet notes and annexures by the Cabinet Secretariat when they arrive. The Secretariat would be handed back the devices after the meeting.

Khatri ji,

Nice initiative, But the site needs a few things:

1) More text, instead of just images. Helps with visibility on search engines.
2) Most images are not readable.
3) More tags and categories.
4) As of now, it looks too much like a Modi mouthpiece. Most AAPiyas and even neutral people are unlikely to take it as a legitimate source.

.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 18 Feb 2015 03:26

Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan: PM Modi govt builds 7.1 lakh toilets in January

One of the top priorities of the Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the Centre is the Swachh Bharat campaign, and if reports are to be believed, the government has taken the task seriously. The government has built with 7.1 lakh toilets in January under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, reports said.

According The Economic Times, "A total of 31.83 lakh toilets have been built between April 2014 and January 2015, which is 25.4% of the target for 2014-15. The programme entails an investment of nearly Rs 2 lakh crore over the next five years to construct 12 crore toilets in India."

However the report says, that the government would in all probabilities miss its target of building 1.2 crore toilets across the country in this fiscal year.

A senior government official told The Economic Times that, "The targets on the website are to push states to do more and more. However, we are confident of achieving the internal target set earlier under the erstwhile Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan, i.e. 50 lakh household toilets for this year and in subsequent years as funds are not a constraint."

Prime Minister Modi has many speeches in the past, emphasising on the need to built toilets. He also spoke of how lack of toilets in village schools led to girl students dropping out.

disha · Post by **disha** » 18 Feb 2015 05:36

^^ A better link with slideshow at the bottom

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/new ... 269612.cms

And this is a photo feature of Swach Bharat Abhiyan in Varanasi

http://www.firstpost.com/india/photos-p ... 94193.html

and a youtube video

disha · Post by **disha** » 18 Feb 2015 05:55

Auction of coal blocks (or rather how much CONgIs were planning to loot)

As the aggressive bidding for the coal blocks continued on fourth day today, the government had to revise its internal projections of revenue to States to Rs 15 lakh crore (50,000 crore annually) from 204 blocks over the next 30 years from around Rs 7 lakh crore estimated a few weeks ago.

http://www.niticentral.com/2015/02/17/c ... 01996.html

Calling the aggressive bidding a grand success, the government has said that this would generate more revenue than the Comptroller and Auditor General of India’s (CAG’s) estimate of Rs 1.86 lakh crore lost by free distribution.

Melwyn · Post by **Melwyn** » 18 Feb 2015 23:01

Sale of 11 coal mines makes states richer by Rs 60,000 crore

States, including Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and West Bengal, are set to get nearly Rs 60,000 crore from 11 coal blocks sold in the ongoing auction, a top official said today.

The total number of blocks sold so far is 12 with Essar Power MP Ltd bagging the Tokisud North mine in Jharkhand on the fifth day of the coal auction today. However, the revenue accruing on account of the 12th block sale could not be immediately obtained.

The government is auctioning the coal blocks after the Supreme Court cancelled allocation of 204 mines in September last year. It has put 19 mines on block in the first tranche.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 19 Feb 2015 00:53

Kanchan Gupta ‏@KanchanGupta Feb 17
First coal block in MP is auctioned at ₹798 cr to Reliance. It was earlier allocated by UPA for ₹50 cr.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ind ... 245108.cms …

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 19 Feb 2015 19:30

The 7 lac crore figure is estimated. But still...