The Union Cabinet has approved World Bank supported Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States -STARS project. The Project seeks to support States in developing, implementing, evaluating and improving interventions with direct linkages to improved education outcomes. Briefing media after the Cabinet meeting, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said that the total project cost is 5 thousand 718 crore rupees with the financial support of World Bank amounting to 500 million US dollar.  

Mr Javadekar said, STARS project would be implemented as a new Centrally Sponsored Scheme under Department of School Education and Literacy. He said, it will cover six States, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Odisha. The Minister said, this is an important milestone and the beginning of the New Education Policy.

WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus hailed India's COVID 19 tracking App Aarogya Setu for its role in helping the authorities to identify cluster areas and expand testing in a targeted way. Mr. Ghebreyesus said  the pandemic can be overcome quickly if countries use the right tools.  

 World Health Organization has warned against the idea that herd immunity might be a realistic strategy to stop the COVID-19 pandemic. WHO chief said that such proposals are scientifically and ethically problematic. He said, health officials typically aim to achieve herd immunity by vaccination. WHO chief added that herd immunity is achieved by protecting people from a virus, not by exposing them to it.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced major schemes to boost demands in the country by nearly 73 thousand crore rupees.

Addressing a media briefing in the National Capital today, the minister laid out the details of the fiscally prudent proposals to stimulate demand in the economy. Ms. Sitharaman informed that the new proposals aim at giving a thrust of around 36 thousand crore rupees to the consumer demands by the Leave Travel Concession LTC Voucher and Festival advance scheme.

Additionally she said, 37 thousand crore rupees will be infused in the capital expenditure by the Centre and the State Governments.

Briefing about the schemes, the Minister informed that in lieu of the LTC for the 2018-21 block term, payments will be made to the government employees for their 10 day Leave encashment and eligible travel fare.

A total of 322 projects in a length of 12,413 Km have been awarded under Bharatmala Pariyojana till August, 2020.

Further, 2921 Km has been constructed under the Project till the same date.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has taken up detailed review of NHs network and has given overall investment approval for Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase I Scheme for development of about 34,800 km (including 10,000 Km residual NHDP stretches) at an estimated outlay of Rs 5,35,000 Crore.

Bharatmala Pariyojana is an umbrella program for the highways sector that focuses on optimizing efficiency of freight and passenger movement across the country by bridging critical infrastructure gaps through effective interventions like development of Economic Corridors, Inter Corridors and Feeder Routes, National Corridor Efficiency Improvement, Border and International connectivity roads, Coastal and Port connectivity roads and Green-field expressways.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi released commemorative coin of Rs. 100 denomination to celebrate the Birth Centenary of Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia today through video conference.

He also paid tributes to Rajmata on her birth anniversary.

The Prime Minister said he is fortunate to have got the opportunity to release a special commemorative coin of 100 rupees in honour of Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia Ji.

Referring to Vijayaraje ji's book, the Prime Minister said in the book, he was introduced as a youth leader of Gujarat and today after so many years, he is serving as the Pradhan sevak of the country.

Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister said Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia was one of those who led India in the right direction. She was a decisive leader and a skilled administrator.

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.