MIL Asia Pacific Publishing Engine

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

Secretary for Education Choi Yuk-lin yesterday discussed global trends in education with representatives from other nations and regions at the International Summit on the Teaching Profession 2025 in Reykjavík, Iceland.

Ms Choi was joined in attending the summit, themed “Quality Education: The Key to Prosperity & Well-being”, by a delegation of Hong Kong principals and educationalists.

In her address at a session on kindergarten education, she outlined that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Government’s Kindergarten Education Scheme, introduced in the 2017-18 school year, provides quality and affordable kindergarten education that meets the diverse needs of students.

She highlighted that at present, about 90% of the half-day programmes offered by kindergartens under the scheme are free of charge, while fees for whole-day programmes are maintained at a low level.

She added that the scheme enhances kindergarten education through upgrading teachers’ professional qualifications and supporting their continuous professional development, improving the teacher-student ratio, and more.

During the summit, Ms Choi also met South Australia’s Minister for Education, Training & Skills Blair Boyer, to explore ways of promoting educational exchanges and co-operation between Hong Kong and Australia.

Ms Choi briefed Mr Boyer on the various government measures to achieve a highly internationalised higher education sector in Hong Kong, and discussed issues of mutual concern with him.

The summit was co-organised by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development, Education International, Iceland’s Ministry of Education & Children, and the Icelandic Teachers’ Union.

Education ministers, teaching leaders and educationalists from around the world gathered at the event to discuss promoting quality early childhood education, inclusive and supportive learning environments, and a child-centred education system.

On Monday, Ms Choi attended a seminar at the summit exploring the frontiers of artificial intelligence in education.

She met Permanent Secretary in Iceland’s Ministry of Education & Children Erna Kristín Blondal to discuss educational collaboration between Hong Kong and Iceland and the latest developments in vocational and professional education and training.

She also visited a local primary school and paid a courtesy call on Chinese Ambassador to Iceland He Rulong.

Ms Choi will today depart from Iceland on a scheduled visit to Delhi, India.

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

Members of the public are invited to witness a special flight demonstration over Victoria Harbour on Sunday afternoon to commemorate a century of aviation history in Hong Kong.

This year marks the centenary of the establishment of Kai Tak Airport, and the demonstration will coincide with the Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament, which is being held at Kai Tak Sports Park for the first time.

The Government will support event organisers in staging the demonstration.

The Civil Aviation Department will establish a temporary restricted flying zone (RFZ) over Victoria Harbour. This means that activities such as the flying of unmanned aircraft systems, kites, and captive balloons, and the release of multiple small balloons, will be restricted. 

The department will announce details of the temporary RFZ on the “eSUA” electronic portal for small unmanned aircraft and by Notice To Airmen.

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Algernon Yau will depart this afternoon for Beijing, where he will call on the China National Intellectual Property Administration, the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He will also visit an enterprise and meet representatives of the wine industry.

Mr Yau will return to Hong Kong on Saturday afternoon. During his absence, Under Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Bernard Chan will be Acting Secretary.

Source: Government of India

Posted On: 26 MAR 2025 4:15PM by PIB Delhi

The Government of India is implementing various schemes/initiatives aimed at promoting the textile sector pan India. The major schemes/initiatives include PM Mega Integrated Textile Regions and Apparel (PM MITRA) Parks Scheme which seeks to create a modern, integrated large scale, world class industrial ecosystem, which will help in attracting investments and boosting employment; Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme focusing on Man Made Fibre & Apparel, and Technical Textiles to boost large scale manufacturing and enhancing competitiveness; National Technical Textiles Mission focusing on Research Innovation & Development, Promotion and Market Development, Skilling and Export Promotion; SAMARTH – Scheme for Capacity Building in Textile Sector with the objective providing demand driven, placement oriented, skilling program; ATUFS to incentivize technology upgradation and modernization through capital investment subsidy for eligible investment in benchmarked textile machinery; Silk Samagra-2 for comprehensive development of sericulture value chain; Integrated Wool Development Programme (IWDP) to support small, medium and large scale wool-producing units; National Handloom Development Program and National Handicraft Development Program for end to end support for handloom and handicraft sectors etc.

In addition to the above, the role of the Government is to ensure conducive policy environment, facilitating in creating enabling conditions for the industry and private entrepreneurs to set up units through its various policy initiatives and schemes. Due to these interventions a number of handloom, powerloom, readymade garments, synthetic yarn and hosiery manufacturing units have been setup across the country including Mohanlalganj.  

This information was provided by THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR TEXTILES SHRI PABITRA

MARGHERITA in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

****

DHANYA SANAL K

DIRECTOR

(Lok Sabha US Q3937)

(Release ID: 2115260) Visitor Counter : 62

Source: Government of India

Ministry of Textiles

PARLIAMENT QUESTION: QUANTITY OF TEXTILE EXPORTS

Posted On: 26 MAR 2025 4:23PM by PIB Delhi

(Release ID: 2115276)

Source: Government of India

Posted On: 26 MAR 2025 4:23PM by PIB Delhi

Ministry of Textiles is implementing various schemes/initiatives to promote textile industries including handloom sector throughout the country including Jalpaiguri. The major schemes/initiatives include PM Mega Integrated Textile Regions and Apparel (PM MITRA) Parks Scheme which seeks to create a modern, integrated, world class textile infrastructure; SAMARTH – Scheme for Capacity Building in Textile Sector with the objective providing demand driven, placement oriented, skilling program; Silk Samagra-2 for comprehensive development of sericulture value chain; National Handloom Development Programme and Raw Material Supply Scheme for end-to-end support to traditional handloom weavers.

Under Scheme for Integrated Textile Park (SITP), two textile parks at Howrah viz. EIGMEF Apparel Park Ltd. and West Bengal Hosiery Textile Park have been sanctioned in West Bengal. Under National Handloom Development Programme, one Mega Handloom cluster at Murshidabad and 19 Small handloom clusters including 2 Small handloom clusters in North Bengal have been taken up in West Bengal.

This information was provided by THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR TEXTILES SHRI PABITRA

MARGHERITA in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

***

DHANYA SANAL K

(Lok Sabha US Q3988)

(Release ID: 2115277) Visitor Counter : 14

Source: Government of India

Posted On: 26 MAR 2025 4:23PM by PIB Delhi

The details of Indian Textiles & Apparel including handicrafts export during the last ten years including the current year are as follows:

Value in USD Million

Commodity	FY 2014-2015	FY 2015-2016	FY 2016-2017	FY 2017-2018	FY 2018-2019	FY 2019-2020	FY 2020-2021	FY 2021-2022	FY 2022-2023	FY 2023-2024	APR-DEC 2024
Total T&A including Handicrafts	38,183	37,340	37,398	37,546	38,397	35,177	31,585	44,435	36,686	35,874	27,430

Source: DGCIS provisional data

The Indian textiles industry is one of the largest in the world with a large raw material base and manufacturing strength across the value chain from fibre to fabric to garments. India has the advantage of having a strong raw material base of natural fibre including cotton, silk, wool, jute as well as manmade fibre. India is into export of entire value chain of textiles to various countries.  India is facing tariff disadvantage in some of the markets such as EU, UK etc. as compared to neighbouring competing nations like Bangladesh. Bangladesh is one of the top apparel exporter countries. For their manufacturing need, Bangladesh imports a large portion of Yarn, Fabric & Fibre from the world including India. In this manner, the two countries are different.

The Government is implementing various schemes/initiatives to promote Indian textiles. The major schemes/initiatives include PM Mega Integrated Textile Regions and Apparel (PM MITRA) Parks Scheme to create a modern, integrated, world class textile infrastructure; Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme focusing on MMF Fabric, MMF Apparel and Technical Textiles to boost large scale manufacturing and enhancing competitiveness; National Technical Textiles Mission focusing on Research Innovation & Development, Promotion and Market Development; SAMARTH – Scheme for Capacity Building in Textile Sector with the objective providing demand driven, placement oriented, skilling program; Silk Samagra-2 for comprehensive development of sericulture value chain; National Handloom Development Program for end to end support for handloom sector. Ministry of Textiles is also implementing National Handicrafts Development Programme and Comprehensive Handicrafts Cluster Development Scheme for promotion of handicrafts. Government has been engaging constantly with the stakeholders across the textile value chain to resolve various issues.

With a view to increasing investments, generating employment opportunities and boosting exports in the textile sector, the Ministry is implementing Scheme for Integrated Textile Park (SITP) to provide support for setting up textile parks with world-class, state-of-the-art infrastructure in textile hubs across the country. The scheme was in implementation upto 31.03.2021; however, the Scheme has now been subsumed under the umbrella Scheme of Textile Cluster Development Scheme (TCDS) for completing ongoing projects only. Under SITP, 4 projects have been sanctioned in Andhra Pradesh namely Brandix India Apparel City Pvt Ltd, Vishakhapattanam, Hindupur Vyapar Apparel Park Ltd Ananthpuram, Tarkeshwara Textile Park, Nellore and Guntur Textile Park, Guntur. 

In addition, the Government has approved setting up of 7 (Seven) PM Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel (PM MITRA) Parks in Greenfield/Brownfield sites with world class infrastructure including plug and play facility.   

This information was provided by THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR TEXTILES SHRI PABITRA MARGHERITA in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

*******

DHANYA SANAL K

DIRECTOR

(Lok Sabha US Q3969)

(Release ID: 2115279) Visitor Counter : 15

Source: Government of India

Char Dham and Hemkund Sahib Yatra 2025: Aadhaar-Based eKYC introduced for faster and secure registration

Over 7.5 lakh pilgrims register for Char Dham Hemkund Sahib Yatra 2025 using Aadhaar authentication

Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB) rolls out Aadhaar-Based registration for Char Dham Yatra, ensuring better crowd management

Posted On: 26 MAR 2025 4:22PM by PIB Delhi

In a bid to streamline the registration process, the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB) has introduced Aadhar Authentication and eKYC to register for the Char Dham and Hemkund Sahib Yatra, one of the most significant pilgrimages in India.

It is aimed at reducing registration time and enhancing the overall experience for pilgrims. With Aadhaar-based online registration, authorities can monitor pilgrim movements, prepare better to avoid overcrowding at temples, and improve weather related information flow especially in high-altitude regions.

Balancing tradition with technology

The registration for the CharDham and Hemkund Sahib Yatra 2025 started on March 20, and over 750,000 pilgrims have already availed Aadhaar based online registration facility as of this morning.

UIDAI has been hand holding innovative initiatives of states to improve ease of living for people. The registration portal (https://registrationandtouristcare.uk.gov.in) and the “Tourist Care Uttarakhand” mobile app are using this facility.

The move is expected to help curb duplicity of registration allowing more pilgrims the opportunity of carrying out the Yatra. Aadhaar-based digital verification is expected to make the registration process faster, and reduce paperwork. The offline registration at designated centers continues to be in practice too.

Aadhaar-linked registration can also help in better planning and management of accommodations, transport, food, and medical aid based on the actual number of registered pilgrims, leading to curbing wastage and shortages of resources. It can also be helpful in addressing emergency situation better as it can further improve coordination between pilgrims and authorities.

****

Dharmendra Tewari/ Navin Sreejith

(Release ID: 2115275) Visitor Counter : 47

Source: Government of India

Posted On: 26 MAR 2025 4:21PM by PIB Delhi

As per 4^th All India Handloom Census 2019-20 report, there are 12,83,881 handloom workers in Assam. The handloom workers enumerated in the 4^th All India Handloom Census have been provided either pehchan card or enabled downloading e-pehchan card. An online portal was launched on 28^th January 2025, for new registration (left out from the 4^th All India Handloom Census and new weavers and allied workers), editing the details of the existing weavers and downloading of e-pehchan cards. Hence, addition/deletion, updation etc. is dynamic and continuous.

Sivasagar Mega Handloom Cluster had been taken up for financial assistance in the State of Assam under erstwhile Comprehensive Handloom Cluster Development Scheme (CHCDS) and amount of Rs. 15.63 crore has been released from 2014-15 to 2021-22. However, Sualkuchi is not covered under CHCDS. Mega Handloom Cluster at Sualkuchi, Assam has been taken up during FY  2024-25(till 21.03.2025) under National Handloom Development Programme (NHDP) and financial assistance of Rs. 4.80 crore has been provided.

Further, financial support of Rs. 64.85 crore has been provided for 83 clusters under NHDP scheme in Assam State from FY 2015-16 to 2024-25(till 21.03.2025).

Number of migrant handloom weavers is not maintained. The nation-wide portability of ration cards through One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) feature has been enabled for all National Food Security Act 2013 (NFSA)/Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) beneficiaries in all 36 States/UTs (including Assam). Under this feature, NFSA/PMGKAY beneficiaries may lift their entitled foodgrain from any Fair Price Shop (FPS) of their choice, anywhere in the country, by using their existing ration card. There is no requirement of separate registration for ONORC under NFSA/PMGKAY. 

This information was provided by THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR TEXTILES SHRI PABITRA

MARGHERITA in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

****

DHANYA SANAL K

DIRECTOR

(Lok Sabha US Q4055)

(Release ID: 2115270) Visitor Counter : 43

Source: Government of India

Posted On: 26 MAR 2025 4:21PM by PIB Delhi

Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) has been implementing its flagship scheme, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), since 2015 to impart skill development training through Short-Term Training (STT) and up-skilling and re-skilling through Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) to youth across the country. Under the PMKVY scheme, since its inception in 2015 till 31.12.2024 a total of 1,60,33,081 candidates have been trained/ oriented.

Placements were tracked under Short Term Training (STT) component of PMKVY in the first three versions of the scheme which is PMKVY 1.0, PMKVY 2.0 and PMKVY 3.0 implemented from FY 2015-16 to FY 2021-22. The reported placement rate in STT certified candidates till PMKVY 3.0 was 43%.

Under PMKVY 4.0, the focus is to empower our trained candidates to choose their varied career path and they are suitably oriented for the same. To enable the opportunities for employments, Skill India Digital Hub (SIDH) platform has been launched to integrate skilling, education, employment, and entrepreneurship ecosystems. PMKVY 4.0 is a Central Sector Scheme. Under PMKVY 4.0, during the last three financial years including current financial year (as on 31.12.2024), Rs. 1244.52 crore has been utilized across States/UTs.

Further, several steps have been taken to ensure the successful implementation and expansion of PMKVY 4.0 across the country. These efforts aim to address skill gaps, improve employability, and support economic growth. A few of them are as under:

1. Focus on New Age Skills like Industry 4.0, Web 3.0, AR/VR, Climate Change, Circular Economy, Green Economy, etc;
2. Greater reliance on On-Job-Training (OJT) for better practical exposure to candidates;
3. Emphasis on Re-skilling, and Up-skilling under Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL);
4. Flexibility in course curriculums by introducing courses in partnership with industry.
5. Cross utilization of available infrastructure with the educational institutions viz. Institutes of National Importance (INIs) / Schools / Colleges / Universities / Central and State Government Institutions, etc; 
6. Training aligned to National Priorities and Policy Announcements focusing on clusters in sectors like Semiconductor, 5G, AI, Green Hydrogen, EV, Solar Mission, Care, Tourism etc.

This information was provided by the Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Shri Jayant Chaudhary in reply to an unstarred question (No: 3000) in Rajya Sabha today.

***

Pawan Singh Faujdar/Divyanshu Kumar

(Release ID: 2115272) Visitor Counter : 46