Empowering Rural India containing profiles of 50 beneficiaries who have successfu

lly undertaken the basic IT training programme under the E-Inclusion project.
Petrapole and Benapole (Bangladesh side) Land Customs Stations will now be made
operational 7 days a week from 1st January, 2014. This move came in the wake of
Union Minister of Textiles Dr. K.S. Rao writing to Union Finance Minister Shri
P.Chidambaram about the congestion at Bangladesh border. Various exporters had r
aised this issue with the Textiles Minister in a recent meeting. The move will ea
se off the way for trade between the two countries and it will especially benefi
t the textiles sectors of both the countries, said Dr. Rao.
December 25
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which issues Aadhaar iden
tity numbers, has decided to not charge for its authentication services till Mar
ch. The agency initially is the service by which by which UIDAI allows users suc
h as banks and telcos check the basic information of their customers against its
database.
December 26
West Bengals commerce and industries minister Partha Chatterjee has been removed
from his position after his mismanagement of affairs of Haldia Petrochemicals L
td (HPL). Amit Mitra who holds the finance department will be given the addition
al charge of the commerce and industry ministry.
On December 26th the Himachal Pradesh High Court imposed a ban on the junk food
in non-biodegradable plastic packaging .the ban will come into effect from Jan
26th The court also vacated its stay on the notification issued by the departmen
t of Science,Technology and Environment on June 26th 2013 imposing ban on sale,
storage, entry, supply and manufacture of these items in the state.
The Union Cabinet approved the proposal for setting up of National Cancer Insti
tute at a cost of Rs. 2035 crore. NCI will be set up in the Jhajjar campus of Al
l India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) located in Badhsa village, Jhajjar
, Haryana. The project is estimated to be completed in 45 months. The move is co
nsidered a milestone in the field of cancer research in the country where 11 lak
h new cases of cancer are diagnosed every year.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the central sector schem
e "National Scheme of Welfare of Fishermen" during the 12th Plan. The scheme has
been operated by the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, Mi
nistry of Agriculture and is an ongoing scheme.
The objectives of the scheme are:
* To provide basic amenities like drinking water and sanitation in fishers villag
es
* To improve the living standards of fishers and their families,
* To provide social security for active fishers and their dependants, and
* To provide economic Security.
The Union environment ministry has come up with detailed guidelines giving more
powers to states, regarding environmental clearance process, by exempting certa
in category of industries, constructions and mining of minor minerals-including
river sand mining projects in medium size lease area. The earlier B category of
industries has been split into B1 and B2 categories.
The Union Cabinet today approved the proposal of the Department of Agriculture,
Ministry of Agriculture to amalgamate State Farms Corporation of India (SFCI) w
ith National Seeds Corporation (NSC), both wholly owned (100% share) Public Sect
or Undertakings under this Department. The amalgamated entity will serve the int
erest of the farmers and the changing requirements of the Indian agricultural se
ctor in a more effective way.
December 27
Power Grid Corporation of India has received shareholder approval to increase t
he limit of holdings by foreign institutional investors to 30 per cent from 24 p
er cent currently.
* In a filing to the BSE, the company stated that FIIs can acquire and hold, on
their own account and on behalf of each of their Sebi-approved sub-accounts, sha
res of the company up to an aggregate limit of 30 per cent of the paid up capita
l.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has given the TRAINAIR PLU
S accreditation certificate and membership plaque to Airports Authority of India
at its Headquarters in Montreal, Canada.
National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO), which reported a highest ever net s
ales of 7247 crore against a target of 7023 in the financial year 2012-13, has g
ot Excellent MoU score of 1.5 by the Department of Public Enterprises. NALCO, a Na
vratna PSU under the Ministry of Mines, had last achieved the Excellent