PM Reviews Rs 65,000 Crore Projects at 49th PRAGATI Meet

What’s the News?

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the 49th PRAGATI meeting and reviewed eight critical infrastructure projects with a cumulative investment of over ₹65,000 crore.
• The projects span 15 States and Union Territories, covering sectors such as railways, mines, water resources, power, and industrial corridors.
• He urged timely execution, adherence to quality norms, and institutionalised review mechanisms at State and UT levels.

PRAGATI & Project Review

• PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation) is an ICT-enabled multi-modal platform to bring the Centre and States/UTs onto one table to resolve implementation bottlenecks.
• In this meeting:
  • Eight “critical” projects were reviewed — distributed across sectors (mines, rail, water, power) and geographies.
  • Emphasis was on clear timelines, interagency coordination, proactive resolution of bottlenecks, and results orientation at all levels.
  • The PM warned of “double cost” when projects are delayed — cost escalation + delayed benefits to citizens.
  • He urged states/UTs to adopt their own institutional frameworks for regular review of flagship projects.

Additional Info

• PRAGATI Platform:
  • Full Form: Pro-Active Governance And Timely Implementation.
  • Launch: Launched on March 25, 2015, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
  • Nature: An innovative, unique integrating, and interactive ICT-enabled multi-modal platform.
  • Objective: It serves three main purposes:
    • Grievance Redressal of the common man.
    • Programme Implementation monitoring.
    • Project Monitoring of Central Government and State-flagged projects.
  • Technology Integration: It bundles three key technologies:
    • Digital data management
    • Video-conferencing
    • Geo-spatial technology (using tools like BHUVAN).
  • Structure: It is a three-tier system: PMO, Union Government Secretaries, and State Chief Secretaries.
  • PRAGATI Day: The Prime Minister holds a monthly program on the fourth Wednesday of every month, known as 'PRAGATI Day', to interact with Secretaries and Chief Secretaries.
• Related Initiatives:
  • PM Gati Shakti - National Master Plan for Multi-modal Connectivity:
    • Launched in 2021.
    • A digital platform to bring 16 Ministries, including Railways and Roadways, together for integrated planning and coordinated implementation of infrastructure connectivity projects.
    • It incorporates a geo-spatial system for over 1200 layers of spatial data to inform planning and reduce project delays.

Sources

• ddnews
• lokmattimes
• newindianexpress

Cabinet Clears ₹95,000 Crore-Scale Proposals Across Key Sectors

What’s the News?

• The Union Cabinet approved six proposals amounting to approximately ₹95,000 crore.
• A significant component is a ₹69,725 crore package for the shipbuilding & maritime sector.
• Other approved items include:
  • Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB) of 78 days for ~10.91 lakh railway employees (~₹1,865 crore)
  • CSIR capacity building / HRD scheme with outlay of ~₹2,277 crore
  • Expansion of medical education capacity (Phase-III of Centrally Sponsored Scheme) adding PG seats + 5,023 MBBS seats
  • Doubling of Bakhtiyarpur–Rajgir–Tilaiya railway line (~104 km) at a cost of ~₹2,192 crore
  • Four-lane greenfield NH-139W section (Sahebganj–Areraj–Bettiah, ~79 km) worth ~₹3,822 crore

Maritime, Rail, Health & Science Reforms

• Maritime / Shipbuilding Package
  • Four-pillar strategy covering capacity augmentation, financing, policy / taxation / legal reforms, and skill / technical support
  • Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Scheme extended till March 2036; corpus ~₹24,736 crore
  • Shipbreaking Credit Note (~₹4,000+ crore allocation) to promote circularity and resource recovery
  • A National Shipbuilding Mission will oversee coordination and implementation
• Rail & Infrastructure
  • Approval to double the Bakhtiyarpur–Rajgir–Tilaiya section to boost regional connectivity & ease congestion
  • Greenfield NH section under Hybrid Annuity Mode to improve north Bihar connectivity toward Indo-Nepal border areas
• Science & R&D / HRD in Science
  • The CSIR scheme will support national labs, universities, Institutes of National Importance, Institutes of Eminence across STEMM disciplines
• Medical Education Expansion
  • Under the scheme, ~5,000 new PG seats + 5,023 MBBS seats will be created to strengthen doctor availability
• PLB for Railway Employees
  • 10.91 lakh eligible employees to receive 78 days’ bonus. Acts as performance incentive ahead of festive season

Additional Info

• Major Port Authorities Act, 2021:
  • This Act provides for the regulation, operation, and planning of Major Ports in India and bestows greater autonomy upon Port Boards. The Vadhvan Port will be established as a Major Port under this framework.
  • The Act aims to reorient the governance model in central ports to the landlord port model in line with successful global practices.
• Viability Gap Funding (VGF):
  • VGF is a one-time grant provided by the central government to support infrastructure projects that are economically justified but fall short of financial viability.
  • It is a crucial instrument to attract private sector participation in public-private partnership (PPP) projects. The scheme is administered by the Ministry of Finance.
• National Offshore Wind Energy Policy, 2015:
  • This policy was formulated to develop the offshore wind energy sector in India.
  • It aims to harness the vast wind energy potential located within the country's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The VGF scheme is a significant step towards achieving the policy's objectives.
• Minimum Support Price (MSP):
  • MSP is a form of market intervention by the Government of India to insure agricultural producers against any sharp fall in farm prices.
  • It is announced at the beginning of the sowing season for certain crops on the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).
  • The government's decision is based on the principle of fixing MSP at a level of at least 1.5 times the all-India weighted average cost of production.

Sources

• newsonair
• theindianawaaz

Nagaland University Faculty in World’s Top 2% Scientists List

What’s the News?

• Four professors of Nagaland University have been selected among the World’s Top 2% Scientists, in a list compiled by Stanford University in collaboration with Elsevier.
• Two of them (Prof. Ambrish Singh and Prof. Pranav Kumar Prabhakar) have also been recognised in the Career-Long Top 2% category, which reflects sustained impact over their academic lifetime.
• Honoured faculty and their domains:
  • Prof. Ambrish Singh — Chemistry
  • Prof. Joginder Singh — Botany
  • Prof. Prabhakar Sharma — Agricultural Engineering & Technology
  • Prof. Pranav Kumar Prabhakar — Biotechnology

The Stanford-Elsevier Scientists List

• The list is based on a comprehensive database created by experts at Stanford University, which provides standardized data on the global impact of scientists' research.
• Methodology:
  • The ranking is based on citation metrics derived from the Scopus database, which is maintained by Elsevier.
  • It evaluates scientists worldwide based on indicators such as the h-index, citations, and co-authorship adjusted metrics.
• Scope:
  • The database encompasses approximately 200,000 top scientists across 22 scientific fields and 174 sub-fields.
• Significance:
  • Inclusion in this list is a significant measure of a researcher's influence and sustained impact in their field, reflecting the high quality of their scientific contributions

Sources

• newsonair
• bestcolleges.indiatoday.in
• nagalandpost

Over 2.82 Crore Houses Completed Under PMAY-G

What’s the News?

• Under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin (PMAY-G), more than 2.82 crore rural houses have been completed so far.
• A total of 3.85 crore houses have been sanctioned out of 4.12 crore houses allocated to States and UTs under the scheme.
• The scheme’s cumulative allocation target has been revised upward: from initial targets to 4.95 crore houses under its extension to FY 2028-29.

PMAY-G: Progress, Strategy & Challenges

• Objectives & Strategy
  • Provide pucca houses with basic amenities (kitchen, toilet, etc.) to eligible rural households, especially those without homes or in kutcha houses.
  • Use technology and transparency tools — Awaas+ app, geo-tagging, AI/ML fraud detection, Aadhaar-based DBT, real-time dashboards — to monitor progress and reduce leakages.
  • Leverage convergence with schemes like MGNREGS to provide person-day employment during house construction.
• Scale & Numbers
  • Originally targeted ~2.95 crore houses (FY 2016–24).
  • With extension (FY 2024–29), additional 2 crore houses will be built, making the cumulative target 4.95 crore.
  • So far ~2.82 crore completed, ~3.85 crore sanctioned, out of ~4.12 crore allocated.
  • In the last nine years, ~568 crore person-days of labour have been generated via the scheme’s linkage with rural employment programmes.

Additional Info

• Scheme Background:
  • PMAY-G was launched with effect from 1st April 2016, by restructuring the previous rural housing scheme, the Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY).
  • The primary objective is to provide a pucca house with a minimum size of 25 sq. m., including a dedicated hygienic cooking space, to all houseless households and those living in kutcha and dilapidated houses in rural areas.
• Beneficiary Selection:
  • Beneficiaries are identified and selected from a priority list created using housing deprivation parameters from the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011.
  • This process ensures that assistance is targeted toward the most deprived households. The final list is also validated by the Gram Sabha to maintain transparency.
• Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY):
  • Launched in 1985 as part of the Rural Landless Employment Guarantee Programme (RLEGP), IAY was the predecessor to PMAY-G.
  • PMAY-G was designed to overcome the gaps in IAY and address the housing needs of the rural poor in a more targeted and effective manner.

Sources

• newsonair
• newkerala
• indian.community

WaveX to Open 7 New Incubators for Media-Entertainment & AVGC Sector

What’s the News?

• The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting announced that WaveX, a government-led startup accelerator under the WAVES initiative, will establish seven new incubation centres across India to support startups in media, entertainment, AVGC (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics) and XR (Extended Reality) domains.
• These incubators will be located at campuses of IIMC (Delhi, Jammu, Dhenkanal, Kottayam, Amravati), FTII Pune, and SRFTI Kolkata, in addition to the existing facility at IICT Mumbai.
• Each centre will admit about 15 startups in its inaugural cohort. A monthly fee of ₹8,500 + GST is proposed.
• The infrastructure will include production / post-production labs, game development / editing / testing facilities; support via partner institutes (IICT, FTII, SRFTI) and digital resources.
• Startups under WaveX will also get access to mentoring, policy clinics, investor connect, and international exposure (e.g. VivaTech, GDC).

Additional Info

• AVGC-XR Sector:
  • AVGC stands for Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics.
  • XR (Extended Reality) is an umbrella term that includes Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR).
  • The Government of India constituted an AVGC Promotion Task Force to recommend ways to build domestic capacity and serve global markets. The sector is recognized for its high potential for job creation and its role in the digital economy.
• Software Technology Parks of India (STPI):
  • STPI is an autonomous society established under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
  • Its primary objective is to encourage, promote, and boost the export of software from India.
  • It acts as a nodal agency for implementing various government schemes and providing services to technology startups and exporters.
• Startup India Initiative:
  • The establishment of such incubation centres aligns with the broader goals of the Startup India flagship initiative.
  • Launched by the Government of India, the initiative aims to build a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation and startups, driving sustainable economic growth, and generating large-scale employment opportunities.

Sources

• newsonair
• techobserver.in
• thehansindia