First Khelo India Zanskar Winter Sports Festival begins in Ladak

The Union Government has said that more than one crore one lakh houses have been approved under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana PMAY(U) (Urban) till date. The construction of more than 70 lakh houses is in various stages and more than 41 lakh houses have been completed.The Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry said, the construction of 1,68,606 new houses have been approved in the 52nd Meeting of the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee under the scheme. The Ministry said, 14 States and Union Territories participated in this meeting.Secretary in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs Durga Shanker Mishra urged the States and UTs to strategize the expeditious implementation of PMAY(U) projects. 

-An MoU was signed between the Indian Army and Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers today. It was signed on the occasion of 25 Years of Army-Industry Partnership with Confederation of Indian Industry. Collaboration between the Indian Army and industry started in 1995 with the indigenisation of spares and has progressed to major defence platforms and a wide range of weapons and equipment.The MoU has been signed to provide further impetus to indigenisation under the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ and to achieve strategic independence by reducing dependence on foreign origin equipment.

-Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu has called for upskilling the workforce in textile and apparel sectors and adopting state of art technologies to gain competitiveness in exports to capture the global market. He said that though India has a strong base of raw material and skilled workforce, the country is lagging in global fabric exports because of the  use of outdated technology and mostly smaller sized firms. Launching the Virtual Platform of the Apparel Products of the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) n Friday, he said India cannot manufacture quality items and export at competitive prices unless the average size of the apparels firm grows and adopts latest technologies. The Vice President said concerted efforts must be made to deliver the benefits of the scheme to the firms in second and third-tier towns and rural areas. Naidu appreciated the Amended Technology Up-gradation Fund Scheme as an excellent scheme that can give a boost to small scale firms and it will go a long way in promoting Indian apparel exports around the world.

-In Andhra Pradesh, South Central Railway has completed and commissioned 106 kms of Electric traction of the railway line between Vijayawada-Uppaluru-Bhimavaram sections of Vijayawada Division today. The newly commissioned Electrification work of the section includes single line with electric traction from Vijayawada to Uppaluru for a length of 18 kms and double line with electric traction from Uppaluru to Bhimavaram Town for a length of 88 kms. The total length of electric traction in terms of Track Kilometers in the section is 226 kms.The newly commissioned Electrification project is being executed at a cost of Rs. 3,000 Crore. With a vision to provide impetus to the development of the coastal belt of Andhra Pradesh, the doubling and electrification project was taken up in the year 2011-12 for a distance of 221 kms. The work has been executed by Rail Vikas Nigam Limited with modern construction practices and technology adoption. 

-In Ladakh, the Union Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju launched the first ever Khelo India Zanskar Winter Sports Festival at Padum in Zanskar of Kargil district. The festival is being organised by the Ladakh UT Administration to promote Zanskar as winter tourists' destination.The main features of the 13-day festival are Ice Climbing, trekking on frozen Zanskar River, Ice Hockey, snow sculpture and ethnic food festival. Addressing the inaugural function of the Khelo India Zanskar Winter Sport and Youth Festival, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said that the Ministry will provide sports facilities in all regions of Ladakh. He said, the Ministry will promote Ladakh as a centre for Ice Hockey and soon open an centre for archery and polo in two areas in the region.