60% of CSR spend on education, healthcare and rural development in last seven years: Govt

60 per cent of the totalCSRfunds spent by companies in the last seven financial years were in the areas of Education,healthcareand rural development-related activities. In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, the corporate affairs ministry said that during the period, around 33 per cent of the total CSR amount spent by companies were inMaharashtra,Karnataka,Gujarat,Andhra Pradeshand Nadu.

Under the Companies Act, 2013, a certain class of profitable companies have to earmark at least two per cent of their three-year annual Average net profit towards CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) activities in a particular fiscal year.

Centre gives one year extension to Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal

The Centre has given an extension of one more year to the Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal that has been adjudicating River Water Sharing disputes between Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra since 2010. The extension comes at

a time when the government is preparing to get the pending Inter-State River Water Disputes (Amendment)Bill, 2019 passed in theParliamentduring the monsoon session.

The Bill, passed in theLok Sabhain July 2019, seeks to adjudicate water disputes within the fixed timeframe of maximum four-and-half-years, unlike the current law of 1956 which does not have such a timeline and therefore the existing have been getting extension year after

year.

There are two more existing tribunals that have been getting extension from time to time. The oldest one – Ravi and Beas Water Tribunal – was constituted in April 1986 to adjudicate water sharing disputes between Punjab,HaryanaandRajasthanwhile the last one – Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal – was constituted in March, 2018 to resolve disputes between Odisha and Chhattisgarh.

India to offer more incentives for local chip, display manufacturing

India’s government on Wednesday raised fiscal support for new semiconductor facilities to cover 50% of project costs and said it will remove a ceiling for maximum permitted for display manufacturing as it moves to boost local production.

The announcement comes as Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s government seeks to attract more big-ticket investments under a

$10 billion incentive plan for chip and display production, aiming to make India a key player in the global supply chain.

The government had previously agreed to cover between 30% and 50% of the cost of setting up new display and chip Plants. It said on Wednesday that it will also cover 50% of the Capital Expenditure required to set up semiconductor packaging facilities.

Global Gender Gap Report 2022

The World Economic Forum recently released its Gender Gap Report 2022.

In the report, India was ranked at 135thposition, out of 146 countries.

It has scored 0.629, on a scale of 0 to 1.

This is Indias seventh-highest score in last 16 years.

In this report, India registered the most important and

positive change in its performance on Economic Participation and Opportunity.

However, it performed and ranked lowest on Health and Survivalsubindex.

Political Empowerment witnessed a declining score of -0.010, because negligible share of Women served as head of state in last 50 years.

Nepals Parliament passes first Citizenship Amendment Bill

Nepals Parliament passed the countrys first Amendment Bill, which was under discussion for more than two years as Political Parties failed to forge a consensus on it.

The bill has been under discussion in the House of Representatives since 2020, but it failed to

be endorsed due to differences among the political parties over certain provisions, namely the seven-year waiting period for obtaining naturalised citizenship for foreign Women married to Nepali men.

Aapda Mitra Scheme

Aapda Mitra scheme will soon be launched in 350 districts of India by https://exam.pscnotes.com/national-disaster-management-authority”>National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). Under this scheme, more than one lakh young volunteers from 350 districts will be trained. So far, 5500 Aapda Mitra and 5500 Aapda Sakhi have been trained, who can extend help in case of disaster or natural calamity like flood in remote places. All these volunteers would get life Insurance by the government.

Union Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar launched Amul Honey on September 28, 2021. Amul Honey is a product of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd.

This product was launched under cooperation with the National Bee Board (NBB).

During the event, Tomar emphasized on importance ofNational Beekeeping and Honey Missionin increasing the income of small farmers.

National Beekeeping and Honey Missionis being implemented in India to double the income of farmers or beekeepers through beekeeping.

Budgetary allocation ofRs 500 crores have been made for this mission.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had put forward his desire to bring in a sweet revolution

in the state of Gujarat. Amul Honey was launched to fulfil this.

In India, quality of honey is a major concern. To ensure the quality, 5 large scale

Regional Honey Testing Labs and 100 Mini Honey Testing Labs are being set up across the country.

Amrit Grand Challenge Programme titled CARE was launched by Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh.

This programme will identify 75 Start-Up Innovations in Telemedicine, Digital Health, Block Chain, mHealth with BIG Data, Artificial Intelligence and other technologies.

Launch of Grand Challenge coincides with the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, it has become more imperative for Young Start-ups and entrepreneurs to come out with Innovative Ideas and solutions for healthcare challenges in India.

Under this initiative, 75 Best Chosen Start-ups will be an asset for India to lead it in the next 25 years.

Highlights Of 2021 Indo-Us Health Dialogue

The fourth Indo – U.S. Health Dialogue commenced on 27 September was Hosted by India.

Highlights:

The Indo – U.S. health Dialogue commenced on 27 September in New Delhi

The Dialogue was led by Indian Delegation, Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar and the U.S. delegation, Ms Loyce Pace, Director, Office of Global Affairs at U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

The two-day Dialogue platform deliberates upon multiple ongoing collaborations between both countries in the .

The two-day Dialogue was worked as a platform to consider multiple collaborations in

the health sector between the two countries.

The First MoU was signed for collaboration in the field of Health and Biomedical sciences.

The other MoU was signed for cooperation with the International Centre for Excellence in Research (ICER) and the NIAID (NIH), Indian Council of Medical Research (Icmr).

Union Health Minister Shri Mansukh Mandaviya delivered a remarkable speech on the last day of the 4th Indo-US Health Dialogue.

Scientists have excavated the remains of an ancient eagle near a barren, dried-up lake in Southern Australia.

This majestic bird is believed to be 25 million years old when the land of southern Australia was teemed with lush forests.

For eagle, this part of the land was teemed with helpless prey.

It was found near Australias Lake Pinpa, which is now-deserted.

Discovery includes a whopping 63 well-kept fossils which also comprises the entirety of the eagles skeleton.

Koala-hunting eagle was slightly smaller and leaner than the wedge-tailed eagle. However, its the largest eagle known in Australia, found about 25 million years ago. They are known as wedge-tail, or wedgies in Australia. They had a broad-winged bird of prey, similar to size of bald eagle of America.

While addressing the celebrations, minister noted that, India is moving towards creating a Disaster Management system to ensure than not a single life is lost, no matter how severe a disaster gets.

On the occasion, he released training manual of Aapda Mitra Scheme as well as plan documents of Aapda Mitra & Common Alerting Protocol.

Foundation Day of NDMA was celebrated

under the theme- Stopping Impact of Disaster Incidents in the Himalayan Region.

Circulation of Draft Indian Ports Bill

The Ministry of , Shipping, and Waterways had circulated the draft Indian Ports Bill 2020 in the course of new legislation, seeking input from all stakeholders.

Highlights:

It aims to facilitate the structured Growth and long-term development of ports in order to attract investments in the port sector.

The proposed Bill will include measures to facilitate port conservation, taking into

account the current situation with regard to the large number of non-operational ports.

It will encourage more Investment in the Indian maritime and ports sector by developing improved, comprehensive regulatory frameworks for the development of new ports and the management of existing ports.

Coastal States have RoPax and Water Taxi Services

The , Shipping and Waterways Ministry under the Sagarmala program has carried out Ro-Ro/Ro-Pax projects on multiple routes.

Highlights:

The Shipping Ministry launched Ro-Pax, a roll-on-roll-off cum passenger ferry service.
It is a water transportation service project.
It improves connectivity between centres while also helping to reduce pollution associated with road transportation.
In comparison to road/rail transportation, water transport Services are less expensive and more environmentally friendly. It is a less expensive option for people, as well as a more time-saving option, as it can reduce travel time into half.
It has a significant impact on the logistical needs of the region’s small-scale industries.

National River Conservation Plan – NRCP

It is a government-sponsored scheme administered by the Ministry of Jal Shakti.
It all started in 1985 with the Ganga Action Plan (GAP).

It was expanded in 1995 as the National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) to include the country’s other major rivers.

The aim of the National River Conservation Plan is

to reduce pollution loads in rivers by implementing various pollution abatement projects, thereby improving water quality.

The implementation of this scheme is supervised by the NRCD.