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President’s Secretaria

The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, graced and addressed the
66th convocation of the Maharaja Sayajirao University in Baroda today
(January 22, 2018).
President said that Maharaja Sayajirao Gaikwad had envisaged this
University to promote quality higher education in the region.
He had supported and encouraged talented people from underprivileged
sections of society, including Dr B.R. Ambedkar.
At the time there were very few people with such an expansive vision.
Later in the day, the President graced the 150th anniversary of Akshar
Deri at Gondal.
Speaking on the occasion, the President noted that the Swaminarayan
Sanstha is engaged in providing assistance to spread education among
weaker sections.
Similarly, it is providing health services for the welfare of people.
He praised the humanitarian work of the Swaminarayan Sanstha.

Vice President’s Secretariat

Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has asked the medical researchers to come up
with path breaking advances in the prevention and treatment of cancer.
Vice President said that researchers must explore ancient Indian medical
systems like Ayurveda for alternative solutions.
We should see if there are some indigenous cost-effective solutions that
may be useful to make cancer treatment more affordable, he added.
Cancer is a major public health concern in India and has become one of
the 10 leading causes of deaths
The Vice President asked doctors and students in the medical profession
to create awareness on the need to observe personal hygiene and
maintain sanitation.
The Vice President has appealed government, media and doctors to
promote measures that prevent cancer. He also said that there is further
need to educate people about available treatment options.
The Vice President said that Yoga training should be imparted to students
as part of ensuring healthy lifestyles.
Yoga is a holistic approach to healthy living and there is evidence that it
enhances the well being and quality of life, he added.

Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare

Union Minister of State for Agriculture & FW, Shri Gajendra Singh
Sekhawat led an Indian delegation comprising of Dr OP Chaudhury, Joint
Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries and HK
Suanthang, Director, DACFW, to participate in the Agriculture Ministers’
Conference held on 20.01.2018 in Berlin, Germany during the 10th
Global Forum for Food and Agriculture.
Attended: 69 agricultural ministers and heads of 6 international
organisations including FAO, WTO and World Organisation for Animal
Health (OIE).
Theme: “Shaping the Future of Livestock – Sustainably, Responsibly,
Efficiently”
Union Minister of State highlighted India’s impressive performance in the
dairy, meat and poultry sector and the initiatives taken by India in the
field of diseases control and animal welfare.
Shri Sekhawat also stressed the actions taken by India to mitigate the
effect of climate change, both in the animal and crop sector and called
upon the developed countries to abide by the principles of equity but
common and differentiated responsibilities towards tackling climate
change.
Shri Sekhawat accompanied by the delegation also utilised their visit to
Berlin for meeting Agriculture Ministers from 3 other countries –
Germany, Argentina and Uzbekistan.

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change

Dr. Harsh Vardhan has emphasised the need to break the mindset of
“working in silos” and to work collectively towards developing synergy
for technological solutions and for optimal utilization.
He said that all sorts of problems can be solved through science, but the
approach towards it needs to be changed in favour of collaborative
efforts and developing synergies.
Recollecting the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, talking of
“Scientific Social Responsibility”, Dr. Harsh Vardhan averred that there
is an urgent need to put science to use for the benefit of people

Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation

India will be hosting the International Dam Safety Conference – 2018
at Thiruvananthapuram on January 23-24.
Central Water Commission is organizing the event in association with
Kerala Water Resources Department (KWRD), Kerala State Electricity
Board, National Institute of Technology Calicut and College of
Engineering, Trivandrum.
Launched in the year 2012 with a financial outlay of D2100 Crores, this
World Bank aided project aims at the rehabilitation of old dams in the
country that may be experiencing distress and are in need of attention
for ensuring their structural safety and operational efficiency.
As part of this exercise, Dam Safety Rehabilitation and Improvement
Project (DRIP) as been engaged in bringing greater awareness on dam
safety issues and finding novel solutions to address them by pooling the
best technologies, knowledge and experience available around the
world.
The upcoming conference at Trivandrum will see the participation of 550
delegates from over 20 countries.
A software programme – Dam Health and Rehabilitation Monitoring
Application (DHARMA)- will also be launched during the conference.
DHARMA is a web tool to digitize all dam related data effectively

Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment

A National Conference of the State channelizing Agencies, Public Sector
Banks and Regional Rural Banks of National Handicapped Finance and
Development Corporation (NHFDC) held on 19th January 2018.
Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot and Shri Krishan Pal Gurjar addressed the
participating agencies and advised for better coordination with NHFDC
and Channelising agencies for the smooth and better implementation of
NHFDC Schemes for the benefit of larger number of Persons with
Disabilities (Divyangjan).
Ministry of Finance
National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) has made its First
investment today.
NIIF has partnered with DP World to create an investment platform for
ports, terminals, transportation and logistics businesses in India.
The platform will invest in opportunities in the ports sector, and beyond
sea ports into areas such as river ports and transportation, freight
corridors, port-led special economic zones, inland container terminals,
and logistics infrastructure including cold storage.
The first close of the NIIF Master Fund took place on October, 16, 2017
with contributions from a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority
(ADIA) and four Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs), viz., HDFC Group,
ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Life and Axis Bank.
An India-UK Green Growth Equity Fund (GGEF) is also being set-up under
the fund of funds vertical of NIIF, and shall have anchor commitments of
GBP 120 million each from Government of India (through NIIF) and
Government of UK.
Shri Subhash Chandra Garg, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs
(DEA), Ministry of Finance said, “NIIF, set-up to function as a major
platform in India for attracting foreign investments, has made good
progress. We are pleased to learn of NIIF’s first investment to create
an investment platform in the ports and logistics sector
Following its First Close in October 2017 on the fund-raising side, and
now with its first investment, NIIF is making visible progress.’’
The NIIF is being operationalized by establishing three Alternative
Investment Funds (AIFs) under the SEBI Regulations.
The proposed corpus of NIIF is Rs. 40,000 Crores (around USD 6 Billion).
GOI’s contribution to the AIFs under the NIIF scheme shall be 49% of the
total commitment.
NIIF has mandate to solicit equity participation from strategic anchor
partners, like overseas sovereign/quasi-sovereign/multilateral/bilateral
investors.

Ministry of Defence

INSV Tarini entered Port Stanley (Falkland islands) today during it’s maiden
voyage to circumnavigate the globe.
This is the first-ever Indian circumnavigation of the globe by an all-women
crew.
The vessel is skippered by Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi, and the crew
comprises Lieutenant Commanders Pratibha Jamwal, P Swathi, and
Lieutenants S Vijaya Devi, B Aishwarya and Payal Gupta.
Smt Nirmala Sitharaman, Hon’ble Raksha Mantri had flagged-off INSV Tarini
from Goa on 10 September 17. The vessel has covered approximately 15000
Nautical miles from Goa, crossing the Equator on 25 September 17, Cape
Leeuwin on 09 November 17 and Cape Horn on 18 January 18.