Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas 10-December, 2015 10:08 IST

Global Crude oil price of Indian Basket was US$ 36.75 per bbl on 09.12.2015

The international crude oil price of Indian Basket as computed/published today by

Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural

Gas was US$ 36.75 per barrel (bbl) on 09.12.2015. This was lower than the price of US$

37.34 per bbl on previous publishing day of 08.12.2015.

In rupee terms, the price of Indian Basket decreased to Rs 2453.22 per bbl on

09.12.2015 as compared to Rs 2493.98 per bbl on 08.12.2015. Rupee closed stronger

at Rs 66.75 per US$ on 09.12.2015 as against Rs 66.80 per US$ on 08.12.2015. The table

below gives details in this regard:

Particulars Unit Price on December 09,

2015 (Previous trading day i.e.

08.12.2015)

Pricing Fortnight for 01.12.2015

(Nov 11 to Nov 26, 2015)

Crude Oil

(Indian Basket)

($/bbl) 36.75 (37.34) 41.17

(Rs/bbl 2453.22 (2493.98) 2725.87

Exchange Rate (Rs/$) 66.75 (66.80) 66.21

YKB/Rk/Daily Crude Oil Price- 10.12.2015

Release Id :132906

Prime Minister's Office 10-December, 2015 11:40 IST

PM pays tribute to C Rajagopalachari on his birth anniversary

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has paid tribute to Shri C. Rajagopalachari on his birth

anniversary.

“Shri C Rajagopalachari's contribution to India is legendary. I bow to this freedom fighter

and profound thinker on his birth anniversary,” the Prime Minister said.

***

AKT/NT

Release Id :132911

Prime Minister's Office 10-December, 2015 11:40 IST

PM pays tribute to C Rajagopalachari on his birth anniversary

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has paid tribute to Shri C. Rajagopalachari on his birth

anniversary.

“Shri C Rajagopalachari's contribution to India is legendary. I bow to this freedom fighter

and profound thinker on his birth anniversary,” the Prime Minister said.

***

AKT/NT

Release Id :132911

Ministry of Tourism 10-December, 2015 12:43 IST

MoU Signed between ICIS and NBCC for Construction of ICIS at Tirupati and

Noida

The construction of Indian Culinary Institutes (ICIs) at Tirupati and Noida is all set to begin,

with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Indian Culinary

Institute (ICI) Society and the National Buildings Construction Corporation Ltd. (NBCC)

yesterday at the Ministry of Tourism, New Delhi. The MoU was signed by Dr. Preeti

Srivastava, Joint Secretary & Ex-officio Director, ICI on behalf of ICI Society and Sh.

Rajendra Chaudhari, Director (Commercial) on behalf of NBCC Ltd. Secretary, M/o Tourism

Shri Vinod Zutshi and Joint Secretary, M/o Tourism Shri Suman Billa also graced the

occasion.

Indian Culinary Institute (ICI) at Tirupati with its Northern Regional Chapter at Noida are

being set up by the Ministry of Tourism. Foundation Stones for both the Institutes have

already been laid. The Govt. of Andhra Pradesh has transferred land measuring 14.21 acres at

Tirupati in favour of ICI Society for construction of ICI Tirupati.

The main objective of setting up of ICI is to institutionalise a mechanism to support efforts

intended to preserve, document, promote and disseminate the Indian Cuisine, meet the

sectoral requirement of specialists specific to Indian Cuisine, as also of teachers, and promote

Cuisine as a Niche Tourism product. The ICIs are proposed as Institutes of Excellence that

will offer structured regular programmes of study specific to culinary arts leading to graduate

and post graduate level degrees, promote research and innovation, organize demand driven

certificate and diploma courses, document and create data base specific to Indian cuisine and

commission studies and survey on cuisine.

The need for ICI is felt as the formal education specific to Indian cuisine, a culinary art, with

pan-India sweep is conspicuous by its absence. There is no regular credible institutional

source at apex level for supply of cuisine specialists to the sector. Also, at present there is no

institutional mechanism to document and disseminate information related to cuisine.

In India at present, there is dearth of ideal training ground to groom chefs of international

standards. To fill this void, the ICIs would provide the appropriate training ground at par with

the culinary schools functioning in different parts of the developed world. The edifice to be

created would be exclusive and one of its kind at selecting and training the best talent through

intensive programmes of one to three years duration. This effort will facilitate building a

super-speciality food production work-force to assure positions of Chefs and beyond in the

hospitality industry.

*****

Sanjay Kumar/Tourism-1/10.12.2015

Release Id :132913

Ministry of Science & Technology 10-December, 2015 12:55 IST

Union Minister for Science & Technology Dr Harsh Vardhan says that a New

Chapter in India’s Relationship with the United Kingdom begins

India-UK Technology Summit Knowledge Expo from 24-26 October 2016, Pragati

Maidan, New Delhi

Union Minister for Science & Technology & Earth Sciences Dr Harsh Vardhan, says

that a new chapter in India’s relationship with the United Kingdom begins. Announcing

holding of the India-UK Technology Summit Knowledge expo from 24th

to 26th

October

2016 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi along with the UK Minister of Universities & Science

Shri Jo Johnson, he said the relationship received a new fillip with the visit of our Prime

Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji to the UK recently.

Both ministers during their bilateral discussions while recalling various collaborative

activities between the two countries, expressed resolve to further cement their ties in the field

of Science & Technology. Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that together both the countries should

now address grand challenges through scientific understanding and technology interventions

on Public Health & Well Being; Energy-Water-Food nexus; Sustainable Infrastructure; as

well as Manufacturing Technologies and Big Data Analytics. These are all priority focus

areas of the present government under our national missions like Make in India, Digital India,

Smart Cities, Clean India and Start-up India, Dr. Harsh Vardhan added.

Shri Jo Johnson said that his country will try to continue its support to the Newton –

Bhabha Programmes with increased funding. He assured that there will be a big participation

by the British at the India-UK Technology Summit Knowledge expo in October next year.

The Prime Ministers of India and UK in a joint statement during the visit of the Prime

Minister Shri Narendra Modi to London last month had announced that UK will be the

partner country for the 2016 Technology Summit in Delhi.

The two Prime Ministers announced that 2016 would be the UK-India year of

Education, Research and Innovation. This will highlight the strengths of the bilateral

relationship, drive further collaboration, including a range of digital technology enabled

education and training initiatives, so that both countries create a new 21st century framework

as partners in education, research and innovation partners, in the global context.

They welcomed the announcement by Innovate UK, the Department of Science and

Technology (DST) and the Global Innovation and Technology Alliance (GITA), of the

opening of a third round of collaborative industrial R&D, making up to $3.5 million available

to support novel commercial solutions in the areas of clean-tech energy, affordable healthcare

and ICT related to clean-tech energy and healthcare.

The 2016 October summit is expected to bring together the best of UK and Indian

companies talking about technology cooperation under one roof. It will showcase the success

of the Science and Technology cooperation between the two nations and will explore

partnerships for future initiatives.

The India-UK Technology Summit & Knowledge expo 2016 will focus on critical

sectors such as Manufacturing, Information & Communication Technology, Affordable

Healthcare, and Clean Technology.

The summit, like the previous editions, will provide a wide-ranging knowledge

partnership platform to industry, institutions and government agencies from India and the UK

for forging knowledge-business partnerships in manufacturing, trade & investments and also

in facilitating a comprehensive convergence of key elements of Knowledge Economy, i.e.,

Science, Technology and Research & Development; Design; Intellectual Property Rights,

Higher Education and Skills; and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.

Five Concurrent India-UK conferences and large India-UK exhibition will provide

stakeholders from both sides for exploring knowledge-business partnerships. The major

beneficiaries of the summit & exposition will be micro small and medium enterprises which

are the backbone of Indian manufacturing and which need access to next generation

technologies to sustain growth into the next decade.

*****

KSP/ss

Release Id :132914

AYUSH 10-December, 2015 13:14 IST

Shri Shripad Yesso Naik to inaugurate AROGYA Fair at Varanasi on 12th

December, 2015

The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for AYUSH, Shri Shripad Yesso Naik will

inaugurate AROGYA, a comprehensive national level fair on Ayurveda, Yoga &

Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy at Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi

on 12th December, 2015.

This AROGYA Fair has attracted importance as it would involve participation of

international delegates. The officials of 16 foreign missions in India would be attending the

inaugural function. In addition, the AYUSH Companies of 5 countries have confirmed their

participation in the AROGYA Fair.

The Ministry of AYUSH has been organizing AROGYA Fair in the major cities in India

since 2005 to promote awareness and showcase development in the various AYUSH

Systems. In view of the huge public response for the Fair, the Ministry is organizing

AROGYA at BHU from 12/12/2015 to 15/12/2015 in association with the state government

of Uttar Pradesh, BHU and Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry

(FICCI).

Central Research Councils/ National Institutes in the AYUSH System of medicine along with

the National Medicinal Plant Board (NMPB), Indian Medicines Pharmaceuticals Corporation

Limited (IMPCL) and about 80 private AYUSH Industries will participate in the four day

event and showcase their strength in the realm of research, education and development of

products to promote healthcare through AYUSH Systems. AROGYA Fair provides an all-

encompassing platform to all AYUSH stake holders to come together to project all facts of

AYUSH.

The fair aims to create awareness among the members of the public about the efficiency of

the AYUSH System, their cost effectiveness and the availability of herbs and plants used for

prevention and treatment of common ailments at their door steps through various mass media

channels to achieve the objective of health for all.

*****

NB

Release Id :132915

Ministry of Finance 10-December, 2015 13:15 IST

New facility of pre-filling TDS data while submitting online rectification

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has simplified the process of online

rectification of incorrect TDS details filed in the Income Tax Return. Taxpayers were

required to fill-in complete details of the entire TDS schedule while applying for rectification

on the e-filing portal of the Income-tax Department (www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in).

Errors due to incomplete TDS details in rectification applications were leading to delays in

processing of such applications thereby causing hardship to the taxpayers.

To avoid this inconvenience, a new facility has been provided for pre-filling of TDS

schedule while submitting online rectification request on the e-filing portal to facilitate easy

correction or up-dating of TDS details. This is expected to considerably ease the burden of

compliance on the taxpayers seeking rectification due to TDS mismatch.

********

DSM/MAM/AK

Release Id :132917

Ministry of Finance 10-December, 2015 13:16 IST

Clarification regarding Notices of defective returns issued to FII/FPIs

Notices of defective returns were issued under Section 139(9) of the Income-tax Act

to Foreign Institutional Investors/Foreign Portfolio Investors (FIIs/FPIs) in cases where

Balance Sheet and P&L account were not filled.

In order to overcome this difficulty, it is clarified that such returns will not be treated as

defective in cases where the FIIs/FPIs:

i) is registered with SEBI

ii) has no Permanent Establishment/ Place of Business in India

iii) has provided basic information required under section 139(9)(f) of the

Income-tax Act, if there is business income

All such cases, where the SEBI registration number has been provided by the FIIs/FPIs in

the return for AY 2015-16 are being taken-up for processing at CPC Bengaluru. For previous

assessment years where the above information is not available in the Income Tax Return,

FII/FPI may provide such details in their online response on the e-filing portal of the Income-

tax Department (www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in) to the previously issued notice u/s

139(9) of the Income-tax Act.

*****

DSM/MAM/AK

Release Id :132918

Prime Minister's Office 10-December, 2015 13:16 IST

PM addresses Jagran Forum

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today addressed the Jagran Forum, organized in

New Delhi by Jagran Prakashan Limited.

The Prime Minister used the quote “Eternal Vigilance is the Price of Liberty,” to emphasize

the importance of awareness in democracy. He said a vibrant democracy requires Jan

Bhaagidaari – the participation of the people. The Prime Minister recalled how Mahatma

Gandhi had turned the freedom struggle into a people’s movement. He said this model of

“Jan-Andolan” should be applied to the country’s development process as well.

The Prime Minister said laws made before independence were based on the premise that

people should not be trusted. However, this approach should now change.

In this context, the Prime Minister gave examples of self-certification of documents, the

people’s participation in Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, and the Give-it-up campaign for LPG

subsidy.

The Prime Minister explained how the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, and the “Start Up

India – Stand Up India” initiatives were creating a positive impact.

The Prime Minister also explained the approach of “Minimum Government, Maximum

Governance” and said archaic laws were being weeded out.

***

AKT/HS

Release Id :132919

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare 10-December, 2015 13:27 IST

Shri Nadda invites private sector to contribute in health sector of the country

Sets up Special Task Force

“In spite of several challenges in the health sector in the country, our vision is to provide

universal health coverage i.e. ensure universal access to quality healthcare that they need

without financial hardship for our citizens”. This was stated by Shri J P Nadda, Union

Minister for Health and Family Welfare at the 12th India Health Summit, an annual flagship

event on healthcare, organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), here today.

Speaking on the occasion, the Health Minister stated that today’s event gives us an

opportunity to strengthen partnerships to move towards our common goal of providing

equitable and affordable healthcare of quality to all. The Health Minister announced setting

up of a Special Task Force comprising the of Ministry and the private sector representatives

to further deliberate on the further contours of such partnership. He said, “We have been in

constant dialogue with the industry on health issues for so many years and now the time is

ripe for us to move forward. I assure the Government’s commitment to promote effective

public, public-private and civil society partnerships, building on the experience, expertise and

mutual trust. I also look forward to this Summit throwing up concrete suggestions and action

plans towards collaborating with government to achieve out health goals.”

Shri Nadda highlighted some challenges in the health sector such as like variation in health

facilities between urban and rural areas, variation between public and private health services

and issues of regulation regarding health activities. Concentration of health services in the

southern and western parts of the country don’t match in terms of health delivery system as

well as health infrastructure with the northern and central regions. The North-Eastern and the

Central tribal areas also need attention, he added. The Health Minister said generally the

focus lies on secondary and tertiary but primary healthcare also needs more attention. Paucity

of human resource in health, inadequate infrastructure, poor logistics and supply chain

arrangements to ensure essential drugs and supplies continue to be areas of concern, the

Health Minister added.

Shri Nadda said, “We need stronger partnership to achieve the target under the Sustainable

Development Goals (SDGs) to ensure healthy lives and promote well being for all by 2030.

The country is broadly on track to achieve the three MDGs related to the health Sector.”

Enumerating the recent notable achievements of the Ministry, the Health Minister said that

with “Mission Indradhanush” (which is the world’s largest immunization programme) the full

immunization cover has increased to 65% while the aim is to extend this 90% by 2020. Shri

Nadda stated that the National Health Mission (NHM) and Mission Indradhanush have very

significantely contributed to strengthening health systems in the country. Since inception, a

total of over Rs. 1, 34,000 crores have been released under NHM. The Health Minister

further stated that the India Newborn Action Plan (INAP) aims to will bring down newborn

deaths and still births in single digit by 2030. The recently launched IPV as part of Routine

Immunization Programme will also play a major role in preventing child mortality. The

Health Ministry is planning to launch vaccines like for Adult JE, MR and Rotavirus soon, he

added.

The Health Minister informed that the Government has taken some major policy decision in

its fight against HIV-AIDS. He said that in view of the growing need for treatment services,

the Ministry has decided that the cut-off level for initiation of Anti Retrieval Therapy (ART)

will henceforth be a CD4 count of 500. With this decision an additional 1 lakh persons will

start getting benefit of treatment.

Shri Nadda invited suggestion from the private sector for the draft National Health Policy.

These suggestions will enable it to become holistic and truly meaningful, he said.

Also present on the occasion were, Dr. Naresh Trehan, Chairman, CII Healthcare Council

and Chairman and Managing Director, Medanta-The Medicity, Shri Malvinder Mohan Singh,

Executive Chairman, Fortis Healthcare Limited and Shri Rahul Khosla, Co-Chairman, CII

Healthcare Council and Managing Dirctor, Max India Limited.

*****

MV/BK

Release Id :132920

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare 10-December, 2015 13:42 IST

Health Ministry inks Strategic Partnership with DD, Prasar Bharati for Enhanced

Awareness on Public Health Issues

In a significant move, the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare signed a Strategic

Partnership Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Doordarshan (DD), Prasar Bharati,

here today. The MoU was signed by Shri K B Agarwal, Addl. Secretary in the Ministry of

Health & Family Welfare and Shri C Lalrosanga, Director General, DD, Prasar Bharati in the

presence of Shri B P Sharma, Secretary (HFW) and senior officers of the Health Ministry and

DD.

Highlighting the salient features of the MoU, Secretary (HFW) said that this is for the first

time that such a strategic partnership agreement has been signed between a Ministry and

Doordarshan. With this partnership, Doordarshan has agreed to provide a significantly high

amount of bonus airtime to the Ministry for its IEC activities. This presents a unique

opportunity for the Ministry to create heightened visibility on crucial public health issues

among the masses, especially in the rural and far flung areas where the reach of DD is very

high. The Secretary also stated that IEC activities form a very important component of any

health policy as the behavior change that awareness brings forth, plays a very significant role

in impacting the health outcomes. The enhanced broadcast airtime shall be fruitfully utilized

to create a health seeking environment in the country through focus on issues such as

handwashing, breastfeeding, shunning tobacco/drugs/alcohol etc., and adopting healthy

habits. Preventive and promotive healthcare have been the center of the IEC activities of the

Ministry, he added.

Also present at the MoU signing were Shri N S Kang, AS & DG (NACO); Dr. Rakesh

Kumar, JS (RCH, IEC); Smt. Dharitri Panda, JS and Shri K L Sharma, JS.

****

MV

Release Id :132921