Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday virtually launched the physical distribution of Property Cards under the SVAMITVA Scheme to transform rural India and empower millions of people.

Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas, SVAMITVA is a Central Sector Scheme, which was launched in April this year with an aim to provide the record of rights to village household owners in rural areas and issue Property Cards.

Mr Modi said, the villagers will get the legal rights of their houses through property cards which will help them further to avail loans from banks and other financial facilities.

He said, the initiative will prevent illegal capturing of their properties.

The Prime Minister congratulated the lakhs of people who have got the ownership letters or property cards of their homes saying this will bring historic changes in the villages of the country.

He said, yesterday, the country has taken another major step towards Aatma Nirbhar Bharat.

Mr Modi said, the ownership plan is going to help a lot in making the people living in the village self-reliant.

He said, there are so many youths in the village who want to do something on their own, but they face many problems in getting loans from the bank in the name of their house.

The Prime Minister said, by showing the property card, now it is very easy to get loans from banks.

He said one lakh beneficiaries from Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh have been handed over the legal papers of their houses yesterday.

The Prime Minister promised to give such property cards to every household in the next three - four years in every village of the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the physical distribution of Property Cards under the SVAMITVA Scheme tomorrow through video conferencing to transform rural India and empower millions of people. The SVAMITVA scheme, which was launched in April this year, aims to provide the record of rights to village household owners in rural areas and issue Property Cards. The Scheme is being implemented across the country in a phased manner over a period of four years and will cover around six lakh 62 thousand villages of the country.

The launch will enable around one lakh property holders to download their Property Cards through the SMS link delivered on their mobile phones. This would be followed by physical distribution of the Property Cards by the respective State governments.­­­­ These beneficiaries are from 763 villages across six States including 346 from Uttar Pradesh, 221 from Haryana, 100 from Maharashtra, 44 from Madhya Pradesh, 50 from Uttarakhand and two from Karnataka.

The move will pave the way for using property as a financial asset by villagers for taking loans and other financial benefits. This is the first time ever that such a large-scale exercise involving the most modern means of technology is being carried out to benefit millions of rural property owners. The Prime Minister will also be interacting with some of the beneficiaries during the event.

Goa has become the first Har Ghar Jal State in the country by providing tap water connection to every rural household. The state has provided tap water connection to two lakh 30 thousand rural households. North Goa with one lakh 65 thousand rural households and South Goa with 98 thousand rural households in 191 Gram Panchayats are fully saturated with assured piped water supply through tap connections.

Jal Shakti Ministry said, Goa’s achievement is an example for other States to emulate and ensure every rural home gets tap connection and especially in these times of Covid-19 pandemic. The Ministry said the State is now planning for a sensor-based service delivery monitoring system to monitor the functionality of water supply.

Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan passed away in New Delhi on Thursday evening. He was 74.
 
The Lok Janshakti Party founder and Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution had recently undergone a heart operation at a private hospital.
 
He was elected to Lok Sabha eight times and also held the record of winning his constituency, Hajipur, with the highest margin for several years.
 
A state funeral will also be accorded to him. Home Ministry has announced the national flag will fly at half mast in Delhi and capitals of all states and union territories today as a mark of respect to the departed leader. 
 
On the day of the funeral, the National Flag will be flown at half mast at the place where the funeral will take place.
 
Paswan's body will be brought to his Janpath residence in New Delhi today and then flown to the party's office in Patna in the afternoon.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched a campaign today by way of a Tweet on Jan Andolan for COVID-19 Appropriate Behaviour.

The campaign has been launched in view of the upcoming festivals and winter season as well as the opening up of the economy.

In a tweet, Mr Modi appealed to the people to unite to fight Corona. He urged the people to always remember to wear a mask, wash hands, follow social distancing and practice ‘Do Gaz Ki Doori.’  He said, together, we will succeed and win against COVID-19. The Prime Minister said, India’s COVID-19 fight is people driven and gets great strength from our COVID warriors. He said,  our collective efforts have helped saved many lives. Mr Modi said, we have to continue the momentum and protect our citizens from the virus. 

Indian Air Force is celebrating its 88th Anniversary today. The IAF was founded on 8th of October in 1932. A scintillating air display by various aircraft will be the hallmark of the Air Force Day Parade-cum-Investiture Ceremony at Air Force Station Hindan, Ghaziabad. The air display will commence with flag bearing sky divers of the famous AKASH GANGA Team dropping out of an AN-32 aircraft in their colourful canopies. The flypast would include the vintage aircraft, modern transport aircraft and frontline fighter aircraft. The ceremony will conclude at 1052 hours with a spell binding aerobatic display.
 
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has extended best wishes to the air warriors and their families on the occasion of Air Force Day-2020. In a tweet , Mr Singh said that eighty eight years of dedication, sacrifice and excellence mark the journey of the IAF which is today a lethal and formidable force to reckon with. He said, the nation is proud of its men and women in blue and salutes the prowess of the IAF as it stands ready to face challenges and deter adversaries. He said, the government remains committed to enhancement of IAF's combat capability through modernization and indigenization. Mr Singh expressed confidence that the IAF will always guard the Nation's skies, come what may.

The new SBI chairman will have a tough task ahead as the banking sector is going through a major crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The government on Tuesday appointed SBI’s senior-most Managing Director Dinesh Kumar Khara as the chairman of the the country’s largest lender.

He replaces Rajnish Kumar, who completed his three-year term on Tuesday.

The central government appoints Dinesh Kumar Khara as chairman of State Bank of India (SBI) for a period of three years with effect from the date of his taking over charge of the post on or after October 7, 2020 or until further orders, whichever is earlier, according to a notification issued by the Finance Ministry.

Last month, the Banks Board Bureau (BBB) had recommended Mr. Khara as the next chairman of SBI.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of M A Ganapathy to the post of Director General, BCAS, for a tenure up to his superannuation on February 29, 2024 or until further orders. He is a 1986 batch IPS officer of Uttarakhand cadre.

The post of BCAS chief fell vacant after Rakesh Asthana was appointed as the Director General of Border Security Force in August.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stressed on responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) and protecting the world against weaponisation of AI by non-state actors.
 
The Prime Minister said, Algorithm Transparency is key to establishing trust in how AI is used and it remains our collective responsibility to ensure it. 
 
Mr Modi said this while inaugurating the Summit -RAISE 2020 - ‘Responsible AI for Social Empowerment 2020 through video conference.
 
He said, we want India to become a global hub for Artificial Intelligence and people of the country are already working on this.
 
Mr Modi hoped that more people will do so in the times to come.
 
The Prime Minister said that Raise 2020 is a great effort to encourage discussion on Artificial Intelligence.
 
He said, the teamwork of Artificial Intelligence with humans can do wonders for our planet.
 
He said, India has experienced that technology improves transparency and service delivery and we want India to become a global hub for AI.

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal today virtually inaugurated the Phoolbagan Station of Kolkata's East West Metro corridor, and flagged off the first train from there to Salt Lake Sector-V.
 
Mr Goyal also said the entire stretch of the corridor, connecting Sector-V and Howrah Maidan, is likely to be completed by December 2021.
 
The minister said , by the end of next year, the entire East West Corridor project of 16.55 km is expected to be completed.
 
While inaugurating the extension of the line till Phoolbagan Station through the virtual mode, Mr Goyal said the project, which has suffered delays owing to several issues, has been fast-tracked since 2015 because of the personal intervention and monitoring by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.