Coir Geo textiles gets nod for Rural Road Construction

Coir Geo textiles, a permeable fabric, natural, strong, highly durable, resistant to rots, moulds and moisture, free from any microbial attack, has finally been accepted as a good material for rural road construction.

Coir Geo textiles will be used for construction of rural roads under the PMGSY-III says a communication from the National Rural Infrastructure Development Agency under Union Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. of India.

Speaking about the development, Shri Nitin Gadkari, Minister of MSME and Road Transport & Highways, who has been behind the move to explore alternative usage of coir fibre, has said, "This is a very significant development as we have now been successful in deploying coir geo textile in road construction. The decision will give a big boost to the coir industry especially in these difficult times of COVID-19 pandemic."

As per the PMGSY new technology guidelines for road construction, 15 per cent length in each batch of proposals, is to be constructed using new technologies. Out of this five per cent roads are to be constructed using IRC accredited technology. The IRC has now accredited coir Geo textiles for construction of rural roads.

As per these instructions, five per cent length of the rural roads under PMGSY-III will be constructed using Coir Geo textiles. Accordingly, 164 Kms of road will be constructed using coir geo textiles in Andhra Pradesh, 151 kms in Gujarat, 71 kms in Kerala, 328 kms in Maharashtra, 470 kms in Odisha, 369 kms TN and 121 kms in Telengana. Thus 1674 km road will be constructed using Coir Geo textiles in 07 states for which there will be a requirement of one crore sq. mtrs of coir Geo-textiles, estimated cost of which would come to Rs 70 crore (US$ 9.93 million).

The decision opens up a huge market potential for Coir Geo-textiles in the country and will be a boon to the COVID-19 hit Coir Industry.

Government of India launches scheme for 100 per cent solarisation of Konark sun temple & Konark town

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has taken up the complete solarisation of Konark sun temple and Konark town in Odisha. Speaking about the Scheme, Shri R K Singh, MoS(i/c) for Power and MNRE has said, "Government of India  launched the Scheme with an objective to take forward the Prime Minister’s vision to develop the historical Sun temple town of Konark in Odisha as 'Surya Nagri', to convey a message of synergy between the modern use of solar energy and the ancient Sun Temple and the importance of promoting solar energy", .

The Scheme envisages setting up of 10 MW grid connected solar project and various solar off-grid applications like solar trees, solar drinking water kiosks, off-grid solar power plants with battery storage etc with a 100 per cent Central Financial Assistance (CFA) support of around Rs 25 crore (US$ 3.55 million) from Government of India through Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE). Implementation of this Project will be done by Odisha Renewable Energy Development Agency (OREDA).

The Scheme will meet all the energy requirements of Konark town with solar energy.

Indiabulls Housing raises Rs 1,030 crore via bonds on private placement basis

Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd has raised Rs 1,030 crore (US$ 146.12 million) by issuing bonds on a private placement basis.

According to the company’s regulatory filing, on May 18, 2020, the company allotted 10,300 secured, redeemable, non-convertible debentures of face value Rs 10 lakh (US$ 14,186.4) each, aggregating to Rs 1,030 crore (US$ 146.12 million), on a private placement basis.

The coupon rate on the bonds with three years tenor is 9.10 per cent per annum (payable annually).

Shares of Indiabulls Housing Finance closed 10.87 per cent down at Rs 118.85 (US$ 1.68) on BSE on May 18, 2020.

Ministry of Tourism organises 20th webinar titled 'Uttarakhand Simply Heaven' under

The 20th session of the Dekho Apna Desh webinar series on 16th May 2020 titled “Uttarakhand Simply Heaven” highlighted the potential of tourism in Uttarakhand’s two regions namely Kedar Khand (Garhwal Region) and Manu Khand (Kumaon Region) and touched upon the popular destination like Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath, Kedarnath, Hemkhund Sahib and the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Valley of Flowers.

This webinar session was presented by Dr PushpeshPant, an eminent scholar, Food Historian and an expert in International Relations, Ex-Professor of JNU, Mr Ganesh Saili a renowned author, notable photographer and an authority on the history of Uttarakhand and Mr Shashank Pandey, a certified outbound trainer, MD of Aspen Adventures, Rishikesh. The session was moderated by Ms Rupinder Brar, Additional Director General, Ministry of Tourism and

Uttarakhand’s Adventure Tourism Potential such as river rafting at Rishikesh and Pittoragarh, winter sports and skiing in Auli, Paragliding at Tehri Dam and Kaushani, innumerable options for trekking available such as Chopta and Pindari Glacier and India’s highest bungee jumping facility in Rishikesh were highlighted by the presenters.

Besdies adventure activities, the session also presented options for experiencing the best of nature by paying a visit to the oldest national park of the country- Jim Corbett National Park, Rajaji Tiger Reserve and UNESCO site of Nanda Devi National Park-exploring the rich diversity of flora and fauna of Himalayan Region.

Uttarakhand’s immense opportunities for developing and exploring rural tourism offerings, the best options for homestays wherein one can experience and feel the real hospitality of the people serving the best of local cuisine also was highlighted by the presenters.

Ms Rupinder Brar, Additional Director General concluded the session stating Uttarakhand ‘Dev Bhoomi’, the Land of Gods is a mesmerizing destination for tourists of all tastes. It is a multi-faceted destination, i.e. from being a sacred and religious site to be an adventure land with rich biodiversity in its purest form.

The Dekho Apna Desh Webinar Series sessions are conducted with active support of National e-Governance Division (NeGD) of Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) for those who had missed these webinars, the sessions are now available on the https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbzIbBmMvtvH7d6Zo_ZEHDA/featured and also on all social media handles of Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.

The next episode of the webinar scheduled Tuesday 19th May 2020 at 11.00 am, is titled ‘Photowalking Bhopal’ and participants can join the webinar be registering at https://digitalindia-gov.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_wLHXyRTGTrK3Vb-ljK8sxQ

Dr Harsh Vardhan participates in the 73rd World Health Assembly through VC

Dr Harsh Vardhan, Minister of Health & Family Welfare, participated in the 73rd World Health Assembly (WHA) through Video Conference and highlighted the timely, graded and pro-active measures taken by India towards COVID-19 management.

Union Finance Minister announces several initiatives to boost Education Sector

Union Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister Ms Nirmala Sitharaman has announced several initiatives to boost education sector on 17th May in New Delhi. The Minister said that investing in the human capital is equivalent to an investment in productivity and prosperity of the nation. The present pandemic situation has presented new challenges and several opportunities for our education system.

The Minister highlighted that the education sector has taken this opportunity to plan several interventions, particularly in the area of adopting innovative curriculum and pedagogies, concentrating energies on the gap areas, being more inclusive and integrating technology at every stage, to usher in a new era of focussed investment in the human capital.

Finance Minister further said that the government is committed to ensuring learning for all, with equity, so as to cover all students at all levels of education and in all geographical locations, even in the remotest parts of the country.

Union Human Resource Development Minister ‘Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank’ expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for giving priority to education sector. He also thanked Union Finance Minister for the initiatives and hoped that they will transform the education system and bring out holistic development of students of the country.

Shri Pokhriyal said that the “One nation, one digital platform” and “one class one channel” will ensure that quality education material will reach the students present in farthest areas of the country. He said that the initiatives will boost the access and equity in education and improve the gross enrolment ratio in the times to come. He also said that due consideration is being given to the Divyang children also and the measures will usher in a new paradigm in the creation of New India.

Union Finance Minister announced the immediate set of initiatives in this direction includes:

1. A comprehensive initiative called PM e-VIDYA will be launched which unifies all efforts related to digital/online/on-air education. This will enable multi-mode access to education, and includes: DIKSHA (one nation-one digital platform) which will now become the nation’s digital infrastructure for providing quality e-content in school education for all the states/UTs; TV (one class-one channel) where one dedicated channel per grade for each of the classes 1 to 12 will provide access to quality educational material: SWAYAM online courses in MOOCS format for school and higher education; IITPAL for IITJEE/NEET preparation; Air through Community radio and CBSE Shiksha Vani podcast;  and study material for the differently abled developed on Digitally Accessible Information System (DAISY) and in sign language on NIOS website/ YouTube. This will benefit nearly 25 crore school going children across the country.

 

2. In this time of global pandemic, it is vital that we provide psychosocial support to students, teachers and families for mental health and emotional wellbeing. The Manodarpan initiative is being launched to provide such support through a website, a toll-free helpline, national directory of counsellors, interactive chat platform, etc. This initiative will benefit all school going children in the country, along with their parents, teachers and the community of stakeholders in school education.

 

3. Government is expanding e-learning in higher education – by liberalizing open, distance and online education regulatory framework. Top 100 universities will start online courses. Also, online component in conventional Universities and ODL programmes will also be raised from present 20 per cent to 40 per cent. This will provide enhanced learning opportunities to nearly 7 crore students across different colleges and Universities.

 

4. There is a need to promote critical thinking, creative and communication skills, along with experiential and joyful learning for the students focussing on learning outcomes. The curriculum must be rooted in the Indian ethos and integrated with global skill requirements. Therefore, it has been decided to prepare a new National Curriculum and Pedagogical Framework for school education, teacher education and early childhood stage to prepare students and future teachers as per global benchmarks.

 

5. A National Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Mission will be launched, for ensuring that every child in the country necessarily attains foundational literacy and numeracy in Grade 3 by 202 For this, teacher capacity building, a robust curricular framework, engaging learning material – both online and offline, learning outcomes and their measurement indices, assessment techniques, tracking of learning progress, etc. will be designed to take it forward in a systematic fashion. This mission will cover the learning needs of nearly 4 crore children in the age group of 3 to 11 years.

India's online video market to touch US$ 4 billion by 2025

The online video market in India is estimated to reach US$ 4 billion by 2025, with subscription services contributing more than US$ 1.5 billion while advertising accounting for US$ 2.5 billion.

The major contribution will be by Google’s YouTube, followed by Disney+ Hotstar.

Disney+ Hotstar is the streaming service owned by Disney India and has potential to acquire 25 per cent of the total online video revenue pie by 2025.

Details of these projections are given under a report titled India Intelligence and Insights: Disney+ Hotstar: The Future of India’s Largest Premium Digital Video Platform brought out by independent research and consultancy services firm Media Partners Asia (MPA).

“In the current COVID situation, audiences are spending more time online and OTT platforms have almost doubled their viewership. This viewership trend is likely to continue at least for a few years. Hence, advertising on the services is likely to surge in the coming years as they increasingly become the choice for content consumption," said Mr Anita Nayyar, head, customer strategy and relationships, ZEE5.

As per the report by FICCI-EY media and entertainment industry report 2020, television advertising in India, on the other hand, is estimated to reach Rs 388 billion (US$ 5.1 billion) by 2022.

“The pay economy for online content will be successful if we work with quality content, and price it in the right manner," said Mr Vishnu Mohta, co-founder of Bengali video streaming platform Hoichoi. “It would happen because the COVID pandemic has catapulted OTT growth by some five years. Things that people would have expected to see in 2025, might happen now."

Mr D Girish, vice-president, strategy at documentary streaming service DocuBay added that the current crisis has expedited the adoption of digital platforms by a large percentage of content consumers.

He added, “SVoD is not dependent on advertising spends by brands that are among the first to be impacted whenever there is a certain corporate or economic downturn; however, greater digital adoption also opens the door for a larger turf for AVoD monetization than in the past."

According to MPA, Disney+ Hotstar could reach 93 million paying subscribers by 2025 at monthly ARPUs (average revenue per user) under US$ 1. Thus, taking subscription revenue to US$ 587 million by 2025 while advertising sales could reach US$ 314 million.

Though, any impact from new services such as gaming or expansion to south east Asia was not considered in report.

The effect of COVID-19 will be seen on the revenue of advertising market with TV bearing the brunt while digital video will also come under pressure. There is no exception by the Disney+ Hotstar’s advertisement packages.

Although, Disney+ enjoyed the benefit of subscription through the first half of 2020 from its launch in April 2020. Regardless the absence of the popular IPL cricket tournament, Disney+ contributed meaningfully to premium tier subscriber growth and remained churn positive through the period, as per MPA analysis.

According to the report, the strengthen of the platform includes sports, local originals, Hollywood entertainment and its super aggregator strategy. In order to increase subscribers, drive viewership and stay ahead of aggressive global and local competition, the company must sustain and accelerate the pace of its investment in product innovation, content creation and acquisition as well as retain its key sports rights. It must also develop new features and services including gaming and the aggregation of more local live and on-demand content.

It was rebranded as Disney+ Hotstar earlier this year, pricing, content mix and tech are main pillars of the Disney+ Hotstar strategy, added the MPA report. Pricing plays the important role as India’s large pay-TV universe only pays US$ 4 per month for a wide range of live TV channels, including sports and entertainment. Annual offers at attractive rates have been the key to creating an online subscription business at scale. Disney has three distinct offerings – Disney+ Hotstar VIP, Disney+ Hotstar Premium and an ad-supported basic tier. The VIP plan is available for Rs 399 (US$ 5.66) a year while the premium subscription comes for Rs 1,499 (US4 21.26).

Disney+ Hotstar’s major differentiation has been its vast aggregation of premium local and international entertainment and sports, driving its present-day addressable market to 100 million plus subscribers.

Disney+ comes with content bundled from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic.

General Atlantic to invest Rs 6,598 crore in Jio Platforms

New York-based private equity giant General Atlantic plans to invest Rs 6,598.38 crore (US$ 936.07 million) in Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) in its digital assets subsidiary, Jio Platforms Ltd.

This deal comes just two days ahead of the launch of RIL’s Rs 53,000 crore (US$ 7.52 billion) rights issue and will see General Atlantic pick up a 1.34 per cent stake in Jio Platforms, taking the value of the company at Rs 4.91 trillion (US$ 69.66 billion).

In the last month, with the latest deal, Jio Platforms has raised Rs 67,194.75 crore (US$ 9.53 billion) from marquee tech investors, such as Facebook, Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners and General Atlantic.

The enterprise value of the Jio Platform has reached Rs 5.16 trillion (US$ 73.20 billion) with the deal with General Atlantic.

“I am thrilled to welcome General Atlantic, a marquee global investor, as a valued partner. I have known General Atlantic for several decades and greatly admired it for its belief in India’s huge growth potential," said Mr Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director, RIL. “General Atlantic shares our vision of a digital society for India and strongly believes in the transformative power of digitization in enriching the lives of 1.3 billion Indians. We are excited to leverage General Atlantic’s proven global expertise and strategic insights across 40 years of technology investing for the benefit of Jio."

The idea behind the RIL’s strategy to raise funds through a flurry of stake sales is mainly intended at building confidence among potential investors for its mega rights issue amid a volatile equity market during the COVID-19 crisis.

RIL announced raising of Rs 53,125 crore (US$ 7.54 billion) through a 1:15 rights issue (one new share for every 15 shares held) at an offer price of Rs 1,257 (US$ 17.83) apiece on 30 April 2020 and the issue is set to open on 20 May.

RIL will let its subscribers buy the rights issue shares by only making a part payment now and the rest later because of the uncertainties in the market, giving RIL promoters more time to bring in enough money to fully subscribe to the rights issue. Shareholders, those are willing to subscribe to the rights issue will have to pay 25 per cent on application and the rest in one or more tranches. With 50 per cent shareholding, RIL’s promoter group led by Ambani will need Rs 26,600 crore (US$ 3.77 billion) to subscribe to its portion of the rights issue.

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh approves Rs 400 crore Defence Testing Infrastructure Scheme

In order to give a boost to domestic defence and aerospace manufacturing, Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh has approved the launch of Defence Testing Infrastructure Scheme (DTIS) with an outlay of Rs 400 crore (US$ 56.75 million) for creating state of the art testing infrastructure for this sector. The Scheme would run for the duration of five years and envisages to setup six to eight new test facilities in partnership with private industry. This will facilitate indigenous defence production, consequently, reduce imports of military equipment and help make the country self-reliant.

The projects under the Scheme will be provided with up to 75 per cent government funding in the form of ‘Grant-in-Aid’. The remaining 25 per cent of the project cost will have to be borne by the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) whose constituents will be Indian private entities and State Governments. The SPVs under the Scheme will be registered under Companies Act 2013 and shall also operate and maintain all assets under the Scheme, in a self-sustainable manner by collecting user charges. The equipment/systems tested will be certified as per appropriate accreditation.

While majority of test facilities are expected to come up in the two Defence Industrial Corridors (DICs), the Scheme is not limited to setting up Test Facilities in the DICs only.

National Migrant Information System (NMIS) - a central online repository on Migrant Workers - developed by NDMA to facilitate their seamless movement across States

Government of India has allowed the movement of migrant workers by buses and ‘Shramik’ special trains to enable them to travel to their native places.

In order to capture the information regarding movement of migrants and facilitate the smooth movement of stranded persons across States, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has developed an online Dashboard - National Migrant Information System (NMIS).

The online portal would maintain a central repository on migrant workers and help in speedy inter-State communication/co-ordination to facilitate their smooth movement to native places. It has additional advantages like contact tracing, which may be useful in overall COVID-19 response work.

The key data pertaining to the persons migrating has been standardized for uploading such as name, age, mobile no., originating and destination district, date of travel etc., which States are already collecting.

States will be able to visualize how many people are going out from where and how many are reaching destination States. The mobile numbers of people can be used for contact tracing and movement monitoring during COVID-19.