Oct 2011 National

The Union government of India prepared a blueprint to provide jobs to three-lakh youths in 60 naxal-affected districts in India. The government will start a programme for placement-linked jobs for unemployed youth in these districts by the end of 2016. They will be trained and provided jobs. The government also decided to start major developmental initiatives in these districts in a bid to tackle the Naxal menace. These initiatives include Indira Awas Yojana housing for people whose homes were destroyed and construction of concrete roads. The Rural Development Ministry also planned a Public Private Partnership initiative for value addition in non-timber forest produce in six districts of Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh as a pilot project.

The Indian Railways on 19 October 2011 launched a real-time train information system (RTIS) for 12 important trains through which passengers can access the accurate train running information. Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi launched the facility at the Economic Editors' Conference. The Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO), Lucknow and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur to overcome the limitations of the existing Train Running Information System, jointly developed the GPS-based train tracking system. Passengers will be provided with the information about the location of the train, its running position — on time or late, next stop, nearest approaching/crossed station and the speed.

Union Ministry of Rural Development cleared the proposal to construct one playground in each village, falling under the 60 Integrated Action Plan (IAP) districts under the Mahatma Gandhi NREGS works. The playground would be used for games like football, volleyball, hockey and kabbadi. The Ministry of Rural Development decided to revive sports for the tribal boys and girls in the 60 left-wing extremist-affected districts where the Integrated Action Plan (IAP) has been implemented. The idea was not just to spread the scope of sports and games to cover all the tribals but also to wean them away from being tapped by the Naxalite outfits in these districts.

The Union Government of India finalised a developmental action plan called Saranda Action plan for Naxal Affected districts in Naxal affected districts particularly in eastern India. The Saranda Action Plan was prepared by Rural Development Ministry. It will be implemented firstly in Jharkhand's Naxal-hit Saranda district. According to the plan, immediate priority is to distribute solar lanterns and bicycles, construction of prefab houses for BPL families under the Indira Awas Yojana and bridges with the help of Army and special water supply - hand pump schemes.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has become the world's first Metro mode of transport to be certified by the United Nation (UN) for earning carbon credits by cutting down on pollution and emission of green house gases as part of its fight against climate change.

Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi Saturday flagged off the country's first double-decker superfast train from Howrah in West Bengal to Dhanbad in Jharkhand."It has much more comfort level than other trains. It is India's first double-decker train," said a senior Eastern Railway official.

In a big achievement for the first time, a 35-year-old woman joined the combat unit of the Indian Army outperforming her male counterparts in the physical tests. Sapper Shanti Tigga joined the 969 Railway Engineer Regiment of the Territorial Army. She is the first woman jawan in the Indian Army, where women are only allowed to join as officers in non- combat units.

The Supreme Court of India directed the States and Union territories to appoint child welfare officers in every police station for monitoring and extending better treatment to juveniles by the police. The apex court, which is monitoring the implementation of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, also directed that state and national legal services authorities issue appropriate guidelines for training and orientation of police officers, who could be designated as child welfare officers. A bench of justices R V Raveendran and A K Patnaik said that the training and orientation should be done over a period of six months to one year in every state and Union territory.

The Election Commission of India raised the cap of minimum votes a political party must secure in election to get the status of a State party or maintain it further. The new minimum limit is 8 per cent of total valid votes polled in State Assembly or Lok Sabha polls. Earlier, the limit was 6 per cent. In addition, the party must have returned at least two members to the Legislative Assembly in case of Assembly polls or at least one member in Parliament from the State in case of Lok Sabha elections.

The Union Cabinet of India on 13 October 2011 approved the proposal of Information and Broadcasting Ministry to publicize the Digitalisation of Analogue Cable Systems Ordinance. The objective of the ordinance is the complete digitalisation of cable television in the four metros by 31 March 2012. By the end of 2014, all parts of India are expected to have phased out analogue cable TV. India has started the process of a global transition towards digitalisation. USA completed the process in 2009; China has set the deadline of 2015 to phase out analogue transmission. The approval of the ordinance means that all customers must have a set top box whether they want to receive free-to-air or pay channels. They could watch high quality channels of their choice and will get access to internet and telephone through the same digital cable. Broadcasters will generate more revenue directly from subscribers, and it could reduce their dependence on TRPs and advertisers.