12th Dec 2017 – Press Information Bureau (Daily PIB PDF-UPSC)

Table of Contents

Vice President’s Secretariat

Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu attended a Christmas celebration event organized by the
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI).
Christmas reminds us all to live up to the ideals and values preached and practiced
by Jesus Christ
Christmas is the festival of love, joy and sharing.
It is a time to renew our commitment
To love and serve our families, communities and society
To be just and transparent in our dealings
To promote social and economic inclusion of all
To promote lasting peace between people of different religions and cultures
To promote sustainable development
The Vice-President said every individual must revere his/her mother, mother
tongue, birth place and motherland.
Shri Venkaiah Naidu said it is the duty of every Indian to preserve and protect our
culture.
Let me once again clarify that religion is personal, while culture is a way of life, he
added.
The Vice-President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu held talks with the visiting
Second Vice President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Mohammad Sarwar
Danish here today.
Vice President said that India has commenced supply of 1,70,000 tonnes of Wheat
grain assistance to Afghanistan via the Chabahar Port in Iran, since the recent
inauguration of the first phase of the strategic port with Indian investment and
funding.
More than 50 flights have been undertaken from Afghanistan to India since the
launch of the Air Freight Corridor in June 2017.
India has provided assistance to Afghanistan to the tune of US$ 2 billion till last year.
In September 2016, our Prime Minister announced an additional assistance of US$1
billion for the people of Afghanistan
All these led to the “New Development Partnership” in September 2017, he added.
Under this Partnership, already 116 ‘High Impact Community Development Projects’
have been identified in 31 of 34 provinces in Afghanistan and several other Medium
to Large New Projects announced.
He said Afghanistan can truly emerge as an important Trade, Investment and
Connectivity junction for the entire Asian and Eurasian Region.
Pointing out that last year was the most violent year since 2001 for Afghanistan with
over 10,000 causalities of whom 25% are civilians, Shri Venkaiah Naidu said we must
work for setting up of an international verification mechanism for action taken in
fighting terrorism and elimination of safe havens and other support, he added.

Ministry for Development of North-East Region

A delegation of eleven indigenous communities form Sikkim met
Dr Jitendra Singh
The delegation presented a memorandum to the Minister for
providing Scheduled Tribes (ST) status to their communities.
They also gave a presentation on the history, geography and other
matters related to the state of Sikkim and their communities in
particular.
The Minister said that Sikkim has been declared ‘Organic State’ by
the Government.
Sikkim is the first state to be declared as ODF state.
GDP and literacy of the state are also very high.

Ministry of Defence

Raksha Rajya Mantri Dr Subhash Bhamre dedicated to the nation two crucial bridges
in Eastern Arunachal Pradesh today.
The minister flew to Rowing in Eastern Arunachal Pradesh where he inaugurated the
two bridges.
Injupani Bridge: 140 metre long bridge on Roing-Koronu-Paya road, which is a part of
Trans Arunachal Highway. The completion of the Injupani Bridge would provide an
uninterrupted access between Roing & Tezu, both important district HQs in Arunachal
Pradesh.
The minister then inaugurated the Deopani/Eze Bridge, which is 300 metre long prestressed
concrete balanced cantilever bridge over the Eze river at Roing in Arunachal
Pradesh.
Dedicated both the bridges to the nation