Hindi Day tomorrow

President to address award function

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee would be the Chief Guest at a function being held on the occasion of Hindi Day tomorrow (September 14, 2012) at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi. Shri Sushilkumar Shinde, Minister of Home Affairs will preside over the function and Shri Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Home Affairs will also grace the occasion.
At the function, the President will confer Awards in various categories for excellence in different fields pertaining to Hindi, the official language. 
September 14 is celebrated as Hindi Day as Hindi was declared the official language unanimously by the Constituent Assembly on 14th September, 1949. To commemorate this historic occasion, Hindi Diwas is observed every year on 14th September. (PIB)  13-September-2012 18:31 IST  

Electric rickshaws

A new effort for economically backward women 

The Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Dr. Farooq Abdullah at the launch of the programme to provide environment friendly electric rickshaws to economically backward women, in New Delhi on September 06, 2012.  (PIB Photo)  06-September-2012

Occasion of Teachers’ Day

President Confers National Awards on Meritorious Teachers
The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee today conferred National Awards on teachers of outstanding merit at a function in Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi, on the occasion of Teachers’ Day.

Speaking on the occasion, the President stated that the first and foremost task was to improve the quality of education. He said it was necessary to design appropriate learning experiences for students and develop in them a scientific temperament. He emphasized that there was need for strengthening of teaching cadres by well-trained and motivated teachers involved in continuously improving education programmes. Comparing a teacher to a lamp which has the capability of lighting a thousand unlit lamps surrounding it, he expressed confidence that widening circles of light would dispel all the darkness in the motherland.

Also present on the occasion were Shri Kapil Sibal, Union Minister of Human Resource Development and Shri E. Ahamed, Minister of State for External Affairs & Minister for Human Resource Development. (PIB)  05-September-2012 19:07 IST

Introduction of Metro Rail in Major Cities

Metro Rail system in any city in the country is a state subject 

                                                                                                                                             Courtesy Photo

The Government of India does not plan or initiate action for construction of Metro Rail system in any city in the country. Urban Transport is completely intertwined with Urban Development which is a state subject.  As such, the proposals for urban transport projects in cities have to originate from the respective State Governments and Central financial assistance is extended to such proposals on merits in the form of gross budgetary support or in the form of grant under the scheme of Ministry of Finance for financial support to the public private partnerships in Infrastructure.  At present, Central Government has approved metro rail in Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kochi and Jaipur city. In Chennai the sanctioned  Phase –I consists of two metro rail corridors of a total length of 45 km at an estimated completion cost of Rs.14,600 crore.
 24.15% of physical progress and 33.50%  of financial progress has been achieved till July, 2012.
 The following two corridors have been selected for implementation of Chennai Metro Rail project under Phase-I:
Corridor-1      (23.085 km)    from    Washermenpet  to   Chennai   Airport. From Washermanpet to Saidapet (14.3 km) it is under ground and from Chinnamalai to Chennai Airport  (8.785 km) it is elevated.
Corridor-2        (21.961 km) from Chennai Central to St.Thomas Mount. From Chennai Central to Thirumangalam (9.695 km) it is underground and from Koyambedu to St.Thomas Mount (12.266km) it is elevated.
           The entire project is expected to be commissioned by the end of  2015.
The details of the total funds needed from Government of India, the funds allocated this year, sanctioned and spent are Rs. 11566 cr., Rs. 1648 cr.,     Rs. 1166 cr. and Rs. 400 cr. respectively.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Urban Development Shri Saugata Roy in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today. (PIB) 05-September-2012 17:46 IST

Status of Fast Track Courts

The Government has discontinued the scheme of central assistance to States for Fast Track Courts (FTCs) since 1.4.2011. However, several States have continued Fast Track Courts from their own resources. Giving this information in written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Shri Salman Khurshid, Minister of Law & Justice, said that in the judgement given by the Supreme Court on 19.04.2012 in Transfer Case (Civil) No. 22 of 2001- Brij Mohan Lal and Others versus Union of India and Others, the Supreme Court has directed that States shall continue Fast Track Courts Scheme only if this is made a permanent feature. They (States) are at a liberty, however, to decide whether to continue the Scheme or not. Fifteen State Governments have conveyed their decision in regard to continuation or otherwise of the FTCs.(PIB)    04-September-2012 19:08 IST    Status of Fast Track Courts