HIMACHAL PRADESH

The government has, for the first time, formulated a cultural policy with the objective of preserving dialects, scripts and folklore of the state and bringing it to the knowledge of the present generation by encouraging Gurukul TEACHING.

The policy proposes to set up a film city to attract units to shoot at picturesque locations

A department of folk dance to be set up in HP University

Efforts to be made to promote the paintings of Kangra, Guler, Chamba, Mandi, Kullu and Arki

The focus will be on the preservation of forts, palaces, temples, historical buildings and Buddhist Gompas

and folk dances like natti, chatti, gidda, fagli and festivals will also be included in the policy

The policy was given the approval by the Cabinet at its meeting last week. It had been decided to set up a high-level committee, headed by the Chief Minister, to ensure its implementation.

The policy proposed to set up of a film city to attract film units to shoot at the picturesque locations. It had also been proposed to set up a department of folk dance in Himachal Pradesh University so that the rich folk dances from every nook and corner from the state could be taught.

Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri said that heavy rainfall and flashfloods in the state had affected 4,680 supply schemes of the Jal Shakti Department, causing an estimated loss of Rs 323.3 crore.

He said in Una district alone, 257 drinking water and Irrigation schemes of the department had suffered damage to the tune of Rs 20 crore. He arrived here in the evening to assess damage caused to public and private properties.

The Deputy Chief Minister said that private property had also suffered damage. He added that ensuring the safety of people was the top priority of the . He directed the District Administration to relocate migrant workers.

InHimachal Pradesh, 4.36 lakh farmers have been covered underKisan Credit Card(KCC) and a target to cover more than five lakh farmers under KCC has been set. This was informed during the meeting of chief secretaryRam SubhagSingh with National Bank for Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture and Rural Development () chairmanG R Chintalain Shimla.

It was informed in the meeting that during the year 2021-22, the ground level credit flow to priority sector was Rs 20260.14 crore whereas the credit flow to agriculture sector was Rs 8855.60 crore under Nabard. In 2021-22, the achievement made by Nabard under annual credit plan remained 77.98 %.

In 2021-22, about Rs 7296.17 crore loans has been disbursed as crop loan in the state and estimated credit potential for 2022-23 was Rs 29,172 crore. The sanctions have increased from Rs 510.59 crore in financial year 2017-18 to Rs 1134.33 crore in financial year 2021-22 for the state. In 2021-22, about Rs 1,134 crore have been sanctioned under rural Infrastructure development fund (RIDF) for various developmental projects including setting up of poly-houses, ropeways and sewerage projects.

The Goods and Service Tax (GST) collection has increased by 7 per cent in June this year, compared to the revenue in the same month last year, a spokesperson for the Excise and Department said here today.

He said that despite several relaxations provided in the filing of GST returns due to the pandemic situation, the GST collection in June 2021 stands at Rs 246 crore, compared to Rs 230 crore in June 2020.

The GST collection was expected to improve further in the coming months following increase in business activities, he said. The department was closely monitoring taxpayers through various enforcement activities.

Amidst a power crisis in the state, Pspcl has received an additional amount of Rs.309 crore from Punjab government during current paddy season to purchase power from the open market to mitigate the immediate surge in power demand due to continued dry spells in the state.

CMD of PSPCL, A Venu Prasad said that on 5th July, PSPCL supplied 3022 lac units of power to various consumers in the state touching a maximum demand of 13,162 MW.

He said that PSPCL has purchased 1080 MW of power from power exchange at the rate of Rs.3.98 per unit, adding that the power purchase has been made due to the failure of the second unit of Talwandi sabo thermal plant at Mansa. He also said that despite the generation loss, PSPCL has managed to meet the power requirement of domestic and agricultural consumers of the state.

Industries Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan has revealed that the state treasury is in a deficit of Rs 1,000 crore.

Monthly honorarium of panchayat chowkidars to be enhanced from Rs 6,200 to Rs 6,700

The honorarium of elected representatives of institutions to be increased

Paperless registration system to be introduced at the EMPLOYMENT exchanges in the state

The minister said the financial Health of the state was bad and the government was finding it tough to handle day-to-day expenses. The Centre has reduced our loan limit by Rs 5,000 crore and imposed cut on foreign-aided projects as well, he said.

Anemia remains a major public Health trouble with high prevalence throughout the country irrespective of gender, age and Geography.

India is one of the nations with anemia as a serious public fitness subject today.

Nearly 50% of the pregnant Women, 59% of teens fewer than 5 years of age, 54% of adolescent ladies and 53% of non-pregnant non-lactating ladies in India are anemic.

The HP Government will formulate a drug de-addiction and rehabilitation policy for the youth addicted to drugs, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has said.

At a meeting where a draft policy was discussed, the CM said the was taking strict action to prevent the youth from falling prey to drug abuse and a state-of-the-art drug de-addiction-cum-rehabilitation centre will be established in the state with the support of the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) to achieve this goal.

Himachal Pradesh chief ministerSukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Monday said an innovative Mukhyamantri VidyarthiProtsahan Yojna will be launched in the current financial year to provide educational loans to underprivileged students at the rate of 1% to help them pursue higher and professional studies.

The has proposed Rs 200 crore under the scheme which aims to provide eligible poor children (families having income of less than Rs 3 lakh per annum) with Education loans through financial institutions or banks at an interest of 1%.

The loans will help the students cover the charges of tuition fees, accommodation, books and other allied expenses associated with their education, he said. The scheme covers a wide range of professional courses, including engineering, medical, management, PhD, courses from ITIs, polytechnic,BPharmacy, Nursing and general nursing and midwifery among others.

Sukhu said 1% interest rate is just to instill a sense of responsibility among the beneficiaries so that they have the motivation to achieve their aim. Reiterating the claim to refurbish the system, he said that in the times to come, the people would witness radical changes in the Education sector and the Mukhyamantri Vidyarthi Protsahan Yojna is one of many other initiatives aimed at improving the education system in the state.

The Executive Council (EC) of Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) approved a budget of Rs 284 crore for 2021-22 with a deficit of Rs 30 crore.

The EC, which held its first regular meeting of 2021 under the chairmanship of Vice-Chancellor Sikander Kumar, also approved 26 posts of professor, associate professor and assistant professor.

It approved the fee structure of new courses, including BLib, MLib and MA in DEFENCE and strategic studies.

The EC gave its nod to split the University Institute of Information Technology (UIIT) into six departments for better functioning.

A proposal to create the departments of archaeology, Population studies, data science and and forensic science was also approved.

The will take up the issue of encroachments on its land in the border areas with Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Haryana with the Union Home Ministry and the North Zonal Council. Revenue Minister Mahender Singh said this during the Question Hour in the Vidhan Sabha yesterday. Asha Kumari had sought the details of the land encroached upon by Jammu and Kashmir in the Salooni area of Chamba and the steps taken to get it back.

Jammu and Kashmir has encroached upon over 16,954 bighas in the Bhandal area of Salooni and has also constructed a 9.5-km road on our land, besides a Police post and sheds, the minister said.

He said that the revenue authorities of both states undertook joint demarcation and inspection on December 10, 2021. The Chamba District Administration put forth its claim over the ownership of the disputed area on the basis of the revenue records