National Institute of Mental Health Rehabilitation at Bhopal
- The Union Cabinet has approved the establishment of National Institute of Mental Health Rehabilitation (NIMHR) at Bhopal
- It will be registered as a Society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
- It will come under the aegis of the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities.
- The estimated cumulative cost of the project is Rs. 179.54 crore in first three years.
- The main objectives of the NIMHR are to provide rehabilitation services to the persons with mental illness, capacity development in the area of mental health rehabilitation, policy framing and advanced research in mental health rehabilitation.
- NIMHR will be the first of its kind in the country in the area of mental health rehabilitation.
- It will serve as an institution of excellence to develop capacity building in the area of mental health rehabilitation and also help the Government to develop models for effective rehabilitation of persons with mental illness.
New mechanism for resolution of commercial disputes of CPSEs
- The Union Cabinet has approved the strengthening of the mechanism for resolution of commercial disputes of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs).
- It will solve the commercial disputes of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) inter se and also between CPSEs and other Government Departments/Organizations.
- The decision will put in place an institutionalized mechanism within the Government for speedy resolution of commercial disputes of CPSEs without the matter being referred to the Courts of law.
- A new two-tier mechanism will be put in place of the existing Permanent Machinery of Arbitration (PMA).
- The commercial disputes excludes disputes concerning the Railways, Income Tax, and Custom & Excise Departments.
- At the First level (tier), such commercial disputes will be referred to a Committee comprising of Secretaries of the administrative Ministries/Departments to which the disputing CPSEs/Parties belong.
- At the Second level (tier), in case the dispute remains unresolved, even after consideration by the above Committee, the same will be referred to the Cabinet Secretary, whose decision will be final and binding on all concerned.
- For the prompt disposal of disputes, a time schedule of 3 months at the first level has been prescribed.
National Policy on Biofuels – 2018
- The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved National Policy on Biofuels – 2018.
Salient Features:
- The Policy categorises biofuels as “Basic Biofuels” and “Advanced Biofuels” to enable extension of appropriate financial and fiscal incentives under each category.
- “Basic Biofuels” include First Generation (1G) bioethanol & biodiesel.
- “Advanced Biofuels” include Second Generation (2G) ethanol, Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) to drop-in fuels, Third Generation (3G) biofuels, bio-CNG etc.
- The Policy expands the scope of raw material for ethanol production by allowing use of Starch containing materials like Corn, Cassava, Damaged food grains like wheat, broken rice, Rotten Potatoes, unfit for human consumption for ethanol production.
- The Policy allows use of surplus food grains for production of ethanol for blending with petrol with the approval of National Biofuel Coordination Committee.
- With a thrust on Advanced Biofuels, the Policy indicates a viability gap funding scheme for 2G ethanol Bio refineries of Rs.5000 crore in 6 years.
- The Policy encourages setting up of supply chain mechanisms for biodiesel production from non-edible oilseeds, Used Cooking Oil, short gestation crops.
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