MAHARASHTRA

TheMaharashtraGeneral Administration Department (GAD) has directed all government establishments to make suo motu disclosure as mandated in the Right To Information (RTI) Act after the https://exam.pscnotes.com/state-information-commission”>State Information Commission (SIC) expressed concerns over the lack of desired voluntary disclosure by public authorities.

The GAD issued a Communication to this effect on February 16. The GAD also reminded public authorities about updating the official websites at least twice a year, preferably by January 1 and July 1.

As per the suo motu disclosures under Section 4 of the Act, every public authority is duty-bound to place a large amount of information in the public domain on a proactive basis to make the functioning of the public authorities transparent and also to reduce the need for filing individual RTI applications

TheAurangabad (AMC0 has decided to set up nearly 200 charging stations for electric vehicles in the city by this year-end, a senior official said here inMaharashtra.

The charging stations will come up at fuel pumps, malls, bus stands, RAILWAY stations, business complexes and other locations.

This will encourage people to go for electric vehicles and help in reducing pollution. The fund granted under the 15 Finance Commission for Aurangabad city will also be used to buy electric cars for official use, another official said.
Notably, the Marathwada Auto Cluster recently launched theAurangabad Mission Green Mobilityinitiative with the people’s participation, under which 250 electric four-wheelers are set to be purchased by March this year.

TheMaharashtragovernments notification of January 14 to reduce the of land to be acquired for building state and national highways by 20% is set to meet with opposition. As per current norms, the government pays four times the existing market rate.

After the Centre made the land acquisition law, it allowed states to modify the existing laws by the way of a notification. The state governments move will severely reduce the compensation received by land owners, mostly farmers.

Micro small & medium enterprises (MSME) are the backbone of Indian economy, contributing about 30% of GDP, 45% of exports, one third of manufacturing output and provide EMPLOYMENT to more than 11 crores, directly or indirectly.

Though MSMEs are regulated by MSMED Act, 2006, which comes under Ministry of MSMEs, every state has its own Industrial Policy to give some extra benefits, incentives and sops.

Maharashtra is Indias third-largest state, accounting for almost 9.4% of the countrys total land area.With three international , about 3,03,000 kilometres of road and 6,165 kilometres of rail system, the state has decent connection to all the main markets.

The state has a 720km coastline and 55 Ports that support around 22% of Indias total freight transportation. Mumbai is Indias financial hub. Vidarbha has immense mineral Resources and tourism potential that needs abundant booster steps to explore the possibilities.

Also, agro processing industries in MSMEs like rice mills, dal mills etc should be provided special incentives because they being exempted from GST items dont have the benefit of GST reimbursement under Ips.

Time and again suggestions have been made to incentivize Industry related Services which will promote Growth of service-oriented IT companies, testing & design laboratory, research laboratory etc.

With government promoting solar power, it is imperative to announce some incentives for installing solar power in factories for captive use, which will encourage clean energy use.Also, promote cluster development schemes on top priority.

In November 2021, around 2,000 pet and stray dogs in Amravati city were affected by canine parvovirus. Veterinarians also cautioned pet owners against a severe outbreak.

It is a highly contagious viral disease, which can be life-threatening for dogs.

This virus affects the intestinal tract of canines.

Puppies are more susceptible to this virus.

Symptoms associated with the virus include- vomiting, bloody diarrhoea, dehydration, drastic weight loss, and lethargy.

Parvovirus has reported a 90 per cent mortality rate.

In Amravati, around 2000 pet and stray dogs were affected by Parvovirus in November 2021. It accounted for 50 per cent dog Population in city.

According to Amravati-based WASA Conservation organisation, government-run clinic is getting reports that 20 dogs affected by this virus daily.

Experts are of the view that, increasing cases of Parvovirus in pets is due to Covid-19 pandemic. Pandemic has compelled many pet owners to miss timely vaccination of their dogs.

Maharashtra and RMI have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for technical assistance in EV policy.

Highlights:

The Maharashtra government has signed an MoU with the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), a non-profit organisation based in the United States, to provide technical help for the state’s electric vehicle (EV) policy.

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed at the United Nations Conference on https://exam.pscnotes.com/Climate-change”>Climate Change in Glasgow, United Kingdom (COP26).

By 2025, Maharashtra’s EV strategy targets for a 10% share of all electric vehicle registrations in India.

As per report, 86.64 per cent of people were found to have Covid-19 antibodies in the Greater Mumbai area.

This mean that, they have been exposed to the coronavirus at least once.

Following the sero survey, theBrihanmumbai , has warned people that estimated sero-prevalence levels do not indicate high protection levels.

Scientists still continue to emphasise on the use of face masks and hand sanitisers at public places.

There is no significant difference between slum and non-slum populations with the prevalence of 87.02 per cent to 86.22 per cent respectively.

Report finds a slight difference between men and Women. Sero-prevalence among men was at 85.07 per cent while among women was at 88.29 per cent