Resumes the Toy train service in Darjeeling

Riding the Toy Train of Darjeeling Himalayan Railways (DHR) has always remained a coveted experience to the tourists. Only few would let go such an opportunity. And there is a clear reason why so. After all this Toy Train has been accorded the UNESCO World Heritage status, and that's for something special.

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) in West Bengal resumed the toy train service after a gap of nearly five years. A landslide in the Kurseong sub-division of Darjeeling district in 2010 had damaged the railway track and the toy train services between Kurseong and New Jalpaiguri were suspended.

West Bengal Sanitation Project Wins United Nations award

Sanitation is the hygienic means of promoting health through prevention of human contact with the hazards of wastes as well as the treatment and proper disposal of sewage or waste water.

United Nations:  A project in West Bengal's Nadia district for improving heath by providing sanitary toilets and promoting their use has won a first place UN award for innovative public services.

Announcing the award to the Sabar Shouchagar - "Toilets for All" - project, the UN department administering the awards said on Monday that it "is a unique model developed to generate awareness, improve access to sanitary toilets, and bring substantial health improvement through improved sanitation".

The project increased awareness and brought about behavioural changes leading to more use of the constructed toilets, it added.

The award from the Division for Public Administration and Development Management of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) is to be given in Medellin, Colombia, on Thursday at a UN Public Service Forum.

"The awards highlight many innovations that help to provide better services to citizens everywhere in the world and improve people's lives," said Wu Hongbo, Under-Secretary-General of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA).

"It provides an international platform to showcase some of the best examples of effective public governance."                

Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Launch Insurance, Pension Schemes on May 9

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the flagship social security schemes, including Rs. 2 lakh accident cover at a premium of just Re 1 per month, in Kolkata on May 9.

These schemes, to be launched by Mr Modi, are aimed at providing affordable universal access to essential social security protection in a convenient manner linked to auto-debit facility from the bank account of a subscriber, a Finance Ministry statement said.

     

These schemes were announced in the Budget by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on February 28.

The two insurance schemes - Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) - would provide insurance cover in the unfortunate event of death by any cause, death or disability due to an accident, whereas the pension scheme - Atal Pension Yojana (APY) -  would address old age income security needs, it said.

The convenient delivery mechanism of the schemes is expected to address the situation of very low coverage of life or accident insurance and old age income security products in the country.

PMSBY will offer a renewable one year accidental death-cum-disability cover of Rs. 2 lakh for partial permanent disability to all savings bank account holders in the age group of 18-70 years for a premium of Rs. 12 per annum per subscriber, it said.

The scheme would be administered through Public Sector General Insurance Companies or other General Insurance companies willing to offer the product on similar terms on the choice of the bank concerned, it added.

PMJJBY on the other hand will offer a renewable one year life cover of Rs. 2 lakh to all savings bank account holders in the age group of 18-50 years, covering death due to any reason, for a premium of Rs. 330 per annum per subscriber.

The scheme would be offered or administered through LIC or other Life Insurance companies willing to offer the product on similar terms on the choice of the bank concerned.

The pension scheme named Atal Pension Yojana will focus on the unorganised sector and provide subscribers a fixed minimum pension of Rs. 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000 or Rs. 5000 per month starting at the age of 60 years, depending on the contribution option exercised on entering at an age between 18 and 40 years.

Thus, it said, the period of contribution by any subscriber under APY would be 20 years or more.

The fixed minimum pension would be guaranteed by the government.

"While the scheme is open to bank account holders in the prescribed age group, the Central Government would also co-contribute 50 per cent of the total contribution or Rs. 1000 per annum, whichever is lower, for a period of 5 years for those joining the scheme before December 31, 2015 and are not members of any statutory social security scheme and are not income tax payers," it said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launches Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana

Prime Minister: The biggest capital of the poor is their integrity.
Prime Minister: Combination of integrity with MUDRA – capital – will be the key to success for small entrepreneurs.

पूंजी सफलता की कुंजी।
Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today said that supporting the small entrepreneurs of India is the biggest way to help the Indian economy grow and prosper. He was speaking at the launch of the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA (Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency) Yojana in New Delhi. Stressing the contribution of small entrepreneurs in the economy, the Prime Minister expressed confidence that within a year’s time, the major banks would also adopt the MUDRA model.
The Prime Minister said that in our country, one often experiences that things revolve around mere perceptions, while the details often paint a different picture. Giving the example of the perception that large industries create more employment, he said that a look at the details reveals the reality that only 1 crore 25 lakh people find employment in large industries, whereas small enterprises employ 12 crore people in the country.
The Prime Minister said that while there are a number of facilities provided for the large industries in India, there is a need to focus on these 5 crore 75 lakh self-employed people who use funds of Rs 11 lakh crore, with an average per unit debt of merely Rs 17,000 to employ 12 crore Indians. He said that these facts, when brought to light, led to the vision for MUDRA Bank.
The Prime Minister spoke about his time as the Chief Minister of Gujarat, when he focused on the environment-friendly cottage industry of kite making, which employs lakhs of poor Muslims. He said that he brought a research institute from Chennai on board which discovered that small inputs of skill development were needed in the industry. He said that he felt proud that these small efforts helped the kite-making industry grow from Rs. 35 crore to 500 crores in Gujarat.
The Prime Minister also gave examples of other small businesses that, with a little help, have the potential to grow manifold. He said that the biggest asset of the poor is his / her integrity (imaan). By combining their integrity with capital (MUDRA), it would become the key to their success – पूंजी सफलता की कुंजी. Speaking about women’s self help groups in particular, the Prime Minister said that the kind of honesty and integrity showed by these loan takers is seldom seen in any other sector.
The Prime Minister appreciated the efforts made by the banking sector of India in making Jan Dhan Yojana a success. He said that he envisioned that within a year, banks would queue up to give loans to MUDRA applicants. The Prime Minister also congratulated SIDBI on the silver jubilee of its inception, and appreciated the work done by it in supporting India’s small scale industry in these 25 years.
The Prime Minister said that MUDRA scheme is aimed at “funding the unfunded”. He said that the small entrepreneurs of India are used to exploitation at the hands of money lenders so far, but MUDRA will instil a new confidence in them that the country is ready to support them in their efforts that are contributing so heavily to the task of nation building.
The Prime Minister also spoke about the possibilities of value addition in agriculture. He said that, we must aim at creating a whole network of farmers engaged in value addition at the community level. Brand building, advertising, marketing and financial support, when given to such small entrepreneurs will strengthen the foundation of the Indian economy, he said.
The Prime Minister said that this will not entail any big changes in the existing structures, just a little empathy, a little understanding and a little initiative. He urged the banks to study successful models of microfinance, tailored to the local requirements and cultural contexts, which will be enable us to help the poorest of the poor in a big way.
The Prime Minister said that mere launching of new schemes in not progress. Real success lies in real change on the ground, as was seen in the Jan Dhan Yojana and PAHAL, which had delivered concrete results within limited timeframes, he added. He said that the established financial systems will soon move to the MUDRA-model of functioning, i.e. to support entrepreneurs that give employment to a large number of people using least amount of funds.

The Union Minister of Finance, Shri Arun Jaitley, the Union Minister of State for Finance, Shri Jayant Sinha, and the Governor of Reserve Bank of India, Shri Raghuram Rajan, were present on the occasion.