Current Affairs Exam

Indian startups are now working on Software solutions to manage space debris, science & technology (S&T) and space minister Jitendra Singh said after hosting a high-level joint meeting of all science ministries and departments. He added that after the unlocking of the space sector for private players, innovative startups are coming up in a big way to explore the untapped potential of this sector.

The minister said more than 50 startups are working in the space sector and about 10 of them have received funding of over Rs 50 crore or more each. He noted that apart from applications based on NavIC (Indias system), startups are also working on software solutions for debris management in space with global ramifications.

The minister informed thatGujaratis the

only state to have a S&T policy but after brainstorming sessions for the last four months, 11 more states, includingSikkim, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, are preparing their S&T policies.

All India Mayors Council unanimously decided to request their states to implement the 74th Constitutional AmendmentBillto strengthen local self-government in their states.

All India Mayors Council, not only demanded implementation of the Amendment Bill but also alleged that some states were not adopting it because they had an apprehension that the Bill would give more rights to mayors.

TheCentrehas released 126.7 crore to various states for modernisation ofPoliceforces, construction of fortifiedpolice stationsand implementation of a host of other schemes.

Under theSecurityRelatedExpenditure(SRE) scheme, an amount of Rs 22.59 crore was released toChhattisgarh, Rs 2.63 crore to Jharkhand and Rs 14.76 crore to Odisha by the Union Home Ministry.

Further, Rs 7.5 crore was released under Special Central Assistance (SCA) scheme to Maharashtra by the home ministry, an official said.

The ministry also released Rs 8.39 crore to Jharkhand and Rs 1.61 crore to as reimbursement of claims under the Special Infrastructure Scheme (SIS) including construction of fortified police stations.

The central government further released Rs 69.215 crore to various states under the centrally-sponsored scheme for modernisation of police forces.

The reimbursement for the SRE is given to the states seriously affected by the militancy or insurgency. Under it, the expenditure incurred by the states on raising of India Reserve Battalions, Logistics provided to the central police forces, the army among others are being reimbursed.

The SCA is provided to the states as an additive to their Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan (SCSP). The main objective of SCA to SCSP is to give a thrust to the development programmes for Scheduled Castes.