New Delhi: The Union cabinet on Wednesday approved a proposal for the complete electrification of Indian Railways in the next four years, reducing dependance on imported fossil fuel and saving revenue for the national carrier.

The move will cost the government ₹12,134 crore, rail minister Piyush Goyal said after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).

The Scheme is aimed at ensuring remunerative prices to the farmers for their produce as announced in the Union Budget for 2018.Briefing media in New Delhi, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said, the step is a major boost to the pro-farmers initiative of the Government.

Radha Mohan Singh said, the new Umbrella Scheme includes the mechanism of ensuring remunerative prices to the farmers and is comprised of Price Support Scheme, Price Deficiency Payment Scheme and Pilot of Private Procurement and Stockist Scheme.

This is a step aims at protecting the farmers’ income which is expected to go a long way towards the welfare of farmers. The Cabinet also decided that participation of private sector in procurement operation needs to be piloted so that on the basis of learnings the ambit of private participation in procurement operations may be increased.

The government has already increased the MSP of kharif crops by following the principle of 1.5 times the cost of production. It is expected that the increase in MSP will be translated to farmer’s income by way of robust procurement mechanism in coordination with the State Governments.

Union Ministry of Personnel and Public Grievances is organizing a two-day regional conference on 'Good Governance with Focus on Aspirational Districts' at Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh today.

There will be 5 Technical sessions in the 2-day conference. 13 presentations will be made in 4 sessions of day one. Department of Administrative Reforms and Madhya Pradesh government are jointly organizing the conference where delegates from 12 States and two Union Territories will participate.

The conference is an effort to create a common platform to share experiences in the formulation and implementation of best practices in citizen-centric governance and improved public service delivery through e-Governance, transparent, accountable and citizen-friendly effective administration. The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances has organized 28 such Regional Conferences till date.

Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday launched a web portal 'Rail Sahyog', a platform for the corporates and PSUs (Public Sector Undertakings) to contribute to the creation of amenities at Railway stations through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds.

The companies desirous of contributing can register their requests on the portal which will be processed by Railway officials. Based on the principle of first come first serve, the requests will be shortlisted and selected ones will be intimated to deposit the funds with Railways agencies like RITES, RAILTEL and so on. The nominated agency will get the work executed thereafter.

New Delhi: The Election Commission Tuesday withdrew the ‘none of the above’ (NOTA) option from ballot papers of the Rajya Sabha and the Legislative Council polls following a Supreme Court directive.

On 21 August, the apex court had said that NOTA will not be applicable as a ballot option in the Rajya Sabha polls. NOTA could continue to be an option in direct elections such as the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud has set aside the Election Commission’s notification allowing the NOTA option in the ballot papers for the Rajya Sabha polls. It had questioned the poll panel’s notification and said that NOTA was meant to be exercised by individual voters in direct polls.

In an order issued to all state chief electoral officers, the Election Commission said in view of the verdict, “The NOTA option will no longer be applicable in the Rajya Sabha election and the Legislative Council election.”

From now onwards, the column for NOTA will not be printed in the ballot papers for these elections, it said.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Monday asked all scheduled commercial banks with over 10 branches to appoint an internal ombudsman (IO). The central bank has, however, excluded regional rural banks (RRBs) from appointing ombudsman.

“The IO should examine customer complaints which are in the nature of deficiency in service on the part of the bank that are partly or wholly rejected by the bank. As the banks shall internally escalate all complaints, which are not fully redressed to their respective IOs before conveying the final decision to the complainant, the customers of banks need not approach the IO directly,” the RBI said. The implementation of IO Scheme, 2018 will be monitored by the bank’s internal audit mechanism apart from regulatory oversight by RBI.

The scheme was introduced to strengthen the internal grievance of banks and to ensure that the complaints of the customers are redressed at the level of the bank itself by an authority placed at the highest level of bank’s grievance redressal mechanism so as to minimise the need for the customers to approach other fora for redressal, the RBI said.

Bihar and Nepal are now connected by bus. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday flagged off the first bus service between Bihar and Nepal.

The service will link Bodh Gaya and Patna in Bihar to Kathmandu and Janakpur in Nepal. "The bus service will strengthen the relations between India and Nepal," Nitish Kumar said.

A crucial legislation for ensuring equal rights to persons affected by HIV and AIDS in getting treatment, admission in educational institutions and jobs has come into force. The Ministry of Health has announced implementation of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) Act through a gazette notification issued on Monday.

The Act, which received Presidential assent on April 20 last year, prohibits discrimination against such persons in accessing healthcare, getting jobs, renting accommodation, and in admission to public and private educational institutions.

The moves comes after the Delhi High Court asked the Centre why it has not yet notified the law to prevent discrimination against HIV and AIDS patients despite the statute receiving Presidential assent in April last year.

Hearing a PIL that sought immediate notification of the legislation, a bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice C Hari Shankar had asked the health ministry, “You make a law and are not notifying it. Why?”. The matter was listed for hearing on November 26.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, today announced a landmark increase in remuneration for ASHA and Anganwadi workers.

The announcement which will be effective from next month was made during a video bridge interaction with lakhs of ASHA, Anganwadi and ANM workers today.

The Prime Minister announced the doubling of routine incentives given by the government to ASHA workers. In addition, all ASHA workers and their helpers would be provided free insurance cover under Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana and Prime Minister Suraksha Bima Yojana. Prime Minister also announced a significant increase in the honorarium given to Anganwadi workers.

Those receiving 3000 rupees so far, would now receive 4500 rupees. Those receiving 2200, would now get 3500 rupees.

The honorarium for Anganwadi helpers has also been increased from 1500 to 2250 rupees. Mr Modi also announced that Anganwadi workers and helpers using techniques such as Common Application Software would get additional incentives.

The incentives ranging from 250 to 500 rupees, would be based on performance. The Prime Minister interacted with ASHA, Anganwadi and ANM workers from across the country.

He appreciated their efforts to work together, to use innovative means and technology, to improve the delivery of health and nutrition services and achieve the goal of the POSHAN Abhiyan - reduction of malnutrition in the country.

The country’s oldest research reactor ‘Apsara’, which was shut down permanently in 2009 for revamp, has been recommissioned with a higher capacity.

It was recommissioned after upgradation on September 10, BARC said in a statement Tuesday.

The reactor came into existence in August 1956 and was utilised for various experiments including neutron activation analysis, radiation damage studies, forensic research, neutron radiography, and shielding experiments.

“Nearly 62 years after Apsara came into existence, a swimming pool type research reactor ‘Apsara-upgraded’ of higher capacity was commissioned. The reactor made indigenously uses plate type dispersion fuel elements made of low enriched uranium,” BARC said.

The upgraded reactor will increase indigenous production of radio-isotopes for medical application, it added.

“By virtue of higher neutron flux, this reactor will increase production of radio-isotopes for medical application