19-Feb-2020: North East Sustainable Development Goals Conclave 2020 in Assam
NITI Aayog is organising “Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Conclave 2020: Partnerships, Cooperation and Development of North Eastern States” in Guwahati, in association with the North Eastern Council, Government of Assam, Tata Trusts, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS).
The three-day event from 24th to 26th February 2020, will take place in Assam Administrative Staff College, Guwahati and will see representations from the highest offices of all the State Governments of the North East, Central Ministries, academia, civil society and international development organizations. The inaugural session will be presided over by Dr Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog, Dr. Jitendra Singh, Hon’ble Minister of State (IC), Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Chief Ministers of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura, Ms. Renata Lok-Dessallien, UN Resident Coordinator, India and Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog. This inaugural session on the first day would be followed by technical sessions on the 25th and 26th. The valedictory address would be delivered by Ms. Shoko Noda, Resident Representative, UNDP India.
The technical sessions would include sessions pertaining to SDG localisation in the northeast, economic prosperity and sustainable livelihoods, climate adaptive agriculture, health and nutrition, education, skill development and entrepreneurship, connectivity and infrastructure development & inequality and exclusion. Each of the sessions, chaired by a renowned domain specialist, are expected to take stock of progress and discuss and deliberate on the way forward for the region in the aforesaid areas.
NITI Aayog has the mandate of overseeing the adoption and monitoring of SDGs at the national and sub-national level. Progress in the northeast region is crucial in this decade of action for the country to achieve the SDGs by 2030 and this conclave is part of NITI Aayog’s continuous efforts towards fostering partnerships at the sub-national level. In terms of SDG localisation, the states in the region have taken major strides in integrating the Agenda 2030 framework in their developmental planning and vision documents.
17-Feb-2020: Secretary, Agriculture & FW, Shri Sanjay Agarwal inaugurates 4th National Conference on Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana in Udaipur
The two-day long 4th National Conference on Review of Implementation of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) began in Udaipur, Rajasthan today.
Shri Sanjay Agarwal, Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, inaugurated the conference which saw participation of around 140 members representing different states, banks, insurance companies, RBI, NABARD, among others.
While addressing the gathering, Shri Sanjay Agarwal appealed to all the stakeholders to create awareness at the grassroots about the scheme. He said that the current format of the scheme requires active participation of three different sectors -- the State Governments, the Banking sector and the Insurance sector. Therefore, he said, there is a need to ensure effective consultation amongst all the stakeholders for the smooth implementation of the scheme that benefits farmers.
Dr. Abhilaksh Likhi, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, said that the main objectives of this conference are to understand the direction that the scheme is foraying into and individual roles thereof and to cross-learn from other institutions to resolve all the issues.
Dr Ashish Kumar Bhutani, CEO, PMFBY, and Joint Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, presented an overview of PMFBY implementation along with its milestones, achievements, and way forward. He said that there’s a need to make a joint effort by all the stakeholders to formulate communication strategy to build trust among farmers. Insurance companies need to address grievances raised by the farmers on social media within a stipulated timeframe. He said that there is a need to prioritise specific issues of the North-Eastern States about this scheme.
Among others present at the inaugural ceremony of the conference included Shri Malay Kumar Poddar, CMD, Agricultural Insurance Company of India Limited, Dr Om Prakash, Commissioner, Agriculture, Government of Rajasthan and Ms. Priya Kumar, Head Agri Business, HDFC ERGO Ltd.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare had previously organised first three editions of the National Conference in Lucknow, Bangalore, and Guwahati respectively.
16-Feb-2020: All India Conference of Central Administrative Tribunal 2020 held in New Delhi
The annual All India Conference of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) was held in New Delhi, today. The one day conference was attended by Judicial and Administrative Members from all 17 Benches of CAT from across the country, members of the CAT Bar Association and eminent Jurists, who deliberated on key issues related to the functioning of the Tribunal and priorities for 2020.
The Judicial and Administrative Members of CAT deliberated in two technical sessions on issues related to the work of CAT, including structural and institutional issues, the functioning of administrative tribunals in other legal systems and methodology for the functioning of the tribunal. The sessions also deliberated on the identification of measures to improve the quality of adjudication and rate of disposal, service condition of members and infrastructural aspect of the Tribunal’s Benches.
The Conference was presided over by Union Minister for Law and Justice, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad. In his address, Shri Prasad congratulated Justice L. Narsimha Reddy, Chairman CAT, and his team for bringing about a significant improvement in disposal of cases despite shortage of members in the Tribunal. He welcomed the role which the CAT has played in the evolution of service jurisprudence in the country, in the light of its various milestone judgments. He emphasized on the need for an in-house judicial impact assessment by CAT and on the importance of training in service jurisprudence. The Minister also advised that judicial learning is also very important since the law is in the realm of ambiguity. He highlighted the importance of laying down judgments on service jurisprudence with greater clarity, in view of the government’s commitment towards greater transparency in governance. He assured the help of the IT Department and use of artificial intelligence in the functioning of the Tribunal.
Union Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh was the Guest of Honour on the occasion. He emphasized Prime Minister’s commitment towards ‘maximum governance, minimum government’, and the principle of “perform, reform, and transform.” In this direction, significant efforts have been made to bring about improvements in various aspects of service conditions. He reiterated that CAT has been an essential organ of the government towards the achievement of a complaints-free delivery system in the last few years, and that significant changes have been made in the Prevention of Corruption Act and other service matters.
Dr. Singh said that in view of a shortage of members, the process appointing more members is underway to ease the working of the Tribunal. He congratulated the Tribunal on the fact that despite the acute shortage, it has achieved a target of more than 104%. The Minister also mentioned the necessity of CAT Benches at Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. In this regard, he had a discussion with Justice Reddy and it has been resolved that for the time being, Jurisdictional Benches will entertain service cases for Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
Chief Guest for the event, Justice N.V. Ramana, Judge, Supreme Court of India talked about service conditions of members of the Tribunal and also emphasized that the tenure should be of adequate length. He indicated that service matter litigation has significantly increased of late with the result that there are currently about 50,000 cases in CAT. He emhasized that judgment should be precise and concise, bringing about clarity and reasoning.
Special Guest on the occasion, Justice Dhirubhai Naranbhai Patel, Chief Justice, High Court of Delhi emphasised the importance of giving a patient hearing to litigants and counsels. He said judicial orders should take into account facts, concerned laws, and decisions given earlier.
Various suggestions made by the Members in the technical sessions will be taken forward in the coming days by CAT, in coordination with the Department of Personnel and Training (DOPT).