UTTAR PRADESH

In a fresh leg-up to the state’s medium, small and micro enterprises (MSMEs), loans to the tune of Rs 20,000 crore were disbursed.

The payout would fund over 3.41 lakh new projects that promise to create 17 lakh jobs in the state.

Lauding the move, announced at an event to mark International MSME day, Chief MinisterYogi Adityanathsaid: “The MSME units in the state are the source of livelihood for crores of people. An additional 7.5 lakh youths would benefit from the PM and CM internship schemes running in the state.”

Uttar Pradesh is the first state in the country to implement theODOPscheme that led to the revival of the state’s MSME sector. It is a matter of pride that ODOP has become a brand within the country. Whenever MSME and ODOP are mentioned in the country today, the name ofUttar Pradeshcomes in the mind of people,” the CM said.

Uttar Pradeshachieved a major milestone by becoming the first state in the country to fully vaccinate over 16 crore individuals.

In nearly 20 days after crossing the landmark of fully vaccinating 15 crore people, the state crossed another significant milestone with 16,02,66,806 individuals receiving both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.

The most populous state has so far administered over 33.92 crore doses. Besides, the state has also achieved the landmark of administering the first dose to 100% of the eligible adult Population while nearly 99% of the population is fully vaccinated.
UP had started administering booster (precaution) doses from January 10 and nearly 35.22 lakh doses have been administered since.

The is providing vaccination to all children between 12 to 17 years of age in a time-bound manner. So far, over 2,60,80,643 doses have been administered to children in the 15-17 age group and over 1,37,51,108 to the children in the 12-14 age group.

The state cabinet on Friday approved free distribution of saplings to government departments, farmers and others who would participate in the ‘Vriksharopan Janaandolan’ 2021, the title given to the state’s annual plantation drive this year when a total of 30 crore trees would be planted inUttar Pradeshin July.

The plantation would be done following the Corona protocol. The date when the trees would be planted is yet to be decided. Sources in the forest department said the letter from the government is awaited. The plantation drive will start in the first week of July which is celebrated asVan Mahotsavin the country.

‘s emphasis is more on the environmentally significant trees and the ones that boost immunity like Peepal, Banyan, Pakar, Sahjan, Mahua, Neem, Aonla, Mango and other desi varieties along with the ones that find mention in the religious and mythological scriptures. This time, at least 30 tree species that find mention in the Valmiki Ramayan will be planted. These are the ones that still are found in the state and can be grown in the given conditions of Soil and Climate.

The state government had distributed free saplings to farmers in 2019 and 2020 as well. Poplar and Eucalyptus were excluded last year also. In the last two years, the state has planted 22 crore and 25 crore trees respectively. Forest department has a separate budget for plantation while other government departments do not have a separate allocation for plantation and that is the reason why the forest department would give free saplings to the departments.
The plantation drive is one of the ways of the government to help farmers’ create an additional Source Of Income. By planting timber-yielding, fruit bearing or fodder-giving varieties farmers can earn an extra income. The demands of the farmers have already been recorded at every gram panchayat level and they will be given the saplings accordingly.

The UP government said that it has rolled out the Prerna Ojas project of the state rural livelihoods mission under which Women self-help groups (SHGs) are enabled to makesolar lampsfor children.

The opportunity will lead to economic and Empowerment“>Social Empowerment of rural women folk through Smart Solar Shops and also help in providing solar power for the benefit of children in remote areas.

Earlier, the had distributed over 28 lakh solar lamps made by 4,000 women to school children in 75 blocks of over 30 districts in the state. The initiative is helping children in a great way in pursuing Education, besides making women self-reliant. The women, according to the state government, have been earning a fair amount of Money ranging from Rs 8,000-Rs 10,000 per month.

With schools closed yet again due to thesecond wave of Covid-19, theUttar Pradesh governmenthas instructed all the basic shiksha adhikaris to provide funds and grains to the beneficiaries.

Themidday meal initiative, which aims at increasing the student enrolment and attendance in schools, will be used to help the poor – as it was done in the previous year. The parents of over 1.5 crore students studying in UP government schools will now be given grains and food allowance for the period the schools remain shut.

This is to bring to your notice that even though the schools have been closed due toCovid-19, thefunds and grains of the midday mealshave to be distributed among the beneficiaries.

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur improved its rankings in the recently-announced QS World University Rankings by Subject 2023. The institute has jumped 37 places to secure the 85th position globally and 5th in India in engineering & technology category.

The institute has been ranked among the top 100 universities in the world for Computer Science & Information Systems (ranked 96, up by 13 places) and Electrical & Electronic Engineering (ranked 87, up by 21 places).

IIT-K has secured notable positions in other fields also including Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering (ranked 121) and mathematics (ranked 122). In the Natural Sciences it got 248 rank globally and 5th in India.

The QS World University Rankings by Subject is a prestigious global ranking system that evaluates universities based on their academic reputation, research impact, and employer reputation in specific subjects. The ranking is widely recognized as a benchmark for excellence in higher Education.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has asked officials to follow the ‘5E’ formula of Education, enforcement, engineering, emergency care and Environment to curb road accidents.

He also termed as “worrying” the fact that while COVID-19 claimed 23,600 lives over three years in UP, road accidents led to the loss of 21,200 lives in just one year 2022.

The will be carrying out a month-long campaign on road safety from January 5 to February 4. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said the responsibility for road safety was not just limited to one department and community effort was needed to prevent accidents.

Other than poor road engineering, over speeding, overloading, not using safety equipment and driving in inebriated state were the major causes of road accidents.

Most cases take place in large cities like Kanpur Nagar, Agra, Prayagraj, Aligarh, Bulandshahr and Mathura.

The chief minister said that efforts should be made to focus on national highways and expressways linked with these cities. He said a task force should be set up to check overloading.

On December 28, 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Kanpur to inaugurate the completed section of the Kanpur Metro Rail Project.

Highlights:

The “Bina-Panki multi-product pipeline project” will also be inaugurated by the Prime Minister. Later, he will speak at IIT-54th Kanpur’s convocation ceremony.

On February 28, 2019, the central government approved the Kanpur Metro Project, which has a budget of more than Rs 11,000 crores and a five-year timeline.

A 650 million loan from the European Bank (EIB) has also been proposed for this project.

The Bina-Panki project, which spans 356 kilometers, has a capacity of 3.45 million metric tonnes per year.

The project stretches from Madhya Pradesh’s Bina refinery to Kanpur’s Panki. It was constructed at a cost of over Rs 1,500 crore. The refinery will aid in the region’s access to petroleum products.