Bihar last among 13 states in Swachh Survekshan 21

Bihar continued its poor performance in terms of urban sanitation inSwachh Survekshan 2021, the results of which were announced by the ministry of housing and urban affairs on Saturday. While Bihar was at the bottom of the list of 13 states with more than 100 (ULBs), the neighbouring Jharkhand was awarded for being at the top of 14 states having less than 100 ULBs.

The performance ofPatnaalso continued to remain poor as it was ranked 44

out of 48 cities with Population of above 10 lakh. The overall rank of Patna out of 4,320 cities in the country was 945.

The only saving grace for the state is that Munger and Patna are among the top five cities under the Ganga town category. Munger stood second out of total 97 cities in the country and Patna third in the Ganga town category. Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh topped in this category.

However, Patna has made some improvements in the survey as its rank has gone up from bottom of the 47 cities in Swachh Survekshan, 2020 to 44 out of 48 cities this time. Even in Ganga town category, the state capitals ranking has improved from 32 last year to third this time.

Patna scored 2739.92 of 6,000 marks in the survey, which is 1187 points

higher than the previous years score of 1,552.

Though the total marks under Swachh Survekshan has remained the same, the number of evaluation categories been reduced from four last year to three this time. The cities were evaluated under four categories direct observation, citizen feedback, service level progress and certification last year. Each category had carried 1,500 marks. This year it was changed to three categories citizens voice (1,800 marks), certification (1,800 marks) and service level progress (2,400 marks).

Chhattisgarh inks MoU to manufacture organic paints

Chhattisgarhhas inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to manufacture organic paint colours with the Department of Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Central Khadi and Village Industries Commission andKumarappa National Paper Instituteof Jaipur. Chhattisgarh State Gau Seva Commission has signed an agreement with these institutions for the transfer of technology.

Organic paints will also be made from cow dung purchased underGodhan Nyay Yojanain Chhattisgarh. In the first phase, 75 Gothans of the state have been selected

for setting up natural paint Plants, officials said.

A unit of natural paint manufacturing cum carboxymethyl cellulose manufacturing will be established in Chhattisgarh. The technology of manufacturing natural paint has been developed by Kumarappa National Paper Institute, Jaipur, Khadi and Village Industries Commission,Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium enterprises.

M.P.: New cow welfare measures

Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, has decided to set up a tax plan for cow welfare in the State.

Government has decided that a tax plan will be prepared to mop up funds for cow fodder.

It has planned to impose surcharge on Services provided by local bodies in order to generate Rs 100 crore for meeting the expenses of running cow shelters in Madhya Pradesh.

It also asked that, cow products should be promoted and cow phenyl should be used across Government offices.

The Gau Samvardhan board requires Rs 160 to feed 2.6 lakh cows across 1,300 cow shelters. However, budget provided is Rs 60 crore. Thus, every day expenditure per cow is Rs 20, as against Rs 6 per day.

Gujarat: 20 MoUs worth Rs 24,185.22 crore signed prior Vibrant Summit 2022

Gujaratgovernment has signed around 20 MoUs worth Rs. 24185.22 crore. This will raise around 36,925 new EMPLOYMENT opportunities. The MoUs were signed in the presence of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Minister of State forIndustries, Jagdish Panchal at Gandhingar.

Patel said that Prime MinisterShri Narendra Modihas laid a strong foundation of Gujarats holistic development with this summit and it has made Gujarat a leading destination for global investments. Gujarat government is following footsteps of ShriNarendra Modito ensure more industrial investment through positive business policies and supportive Environment for Growth.

Industries from chemicals, agrochemicals, technical textiles, pharmacy and agricultural machinery sectors have shown interest in the investment. The investment will be done at Dahej, Bharuch, Dholera,

Vadodara, Halol and various other places.

Rajasthan cabinet expansion: Full list of portfolios

Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot allotted portfolios, a day after expanding the council of ministers on Sunday when as many as 15 Congress MLAs took the oath of office. While 11 assumed the post of cabinet ministers, four were sworn in as ministers of state.

Cabinet minister with portfolios:

1) Ashok Gehlot – Finance, , Home and Justice, IT & Communication

2) Dr BD Kalla – Education, Arts, Literature, Culture & ASI

3) Shanti Dhariwal – Local self-development, Urban development

and housing, legal consultancy office, parliamentary affairs

4) Parsadilal Meena- Medical and Health, medical health and Services (ESI), excise

5) Lal Chand Kataria – Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture, animal husbandry, Fisheries

6) Pramod Bhaya – Mines and petroleum, gaupalan

7) Uday Lal Anjana – Co-operative

8) Pratap Singh Khachariawas – Food and civil supplies, consumer affairs

9) Saleh Mohammad – Minority affairs, waqf

10) Hemaram Chaudhary – Forest, Environment and Climate-change”>Climate Change

11) Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya – Winter Resources, IGNP, water resource planning department

12) Mahesh Joshi – PHED, groundwater

13) Ramlal Jat – Revenue

14) Ramesh Meena – Panchayati Raj and rural development

15) Vidhvendra Singh – Tourism, civil aviation

16) Mamta Bhupesh Bairwa – Women and child welfare, child Empowerment, planning

17) Bhajan Lal Jatav – PWD

18) Tika Ram Jully – Social justice and empowerment and jail

19) Govind Ram Meghwal – Disaster Management and relief, statistics, policy planning

20) Shakuntala Rawat – Industry, state enterprises

Ministers of state with portfolios:

1) Arjun Singh Bamania – Tribal area development, groundwater

2) Ashok Chandna- Sports and youth affairs, policy planning

3) Bhanwar Singh Bhatti – Power (IC), Water Resources, IGNP

4) Rajendra Singh Yadav – Higher education, Planning (manpower), home and justice

5) Dr Subhash Garg – Technical education, Ayurveda and Indian medicines, minority affairs

6) Sukhram Bishnoi- Labour, revenue

7) Brijendra Ola – Transport and road safety

8) Muralilal Meena – Agriculture Marketing, tourism, civil aviation

9) Rajendra Singh Gudha – Home guard and civil DEFENCE

10) Zahinda Khan – Science and Technology, education

Increasing activities by China in depth areas of eastern sector: Eastern Army Commander

China has increased the intensity of carrying out military drills and deployment in its depth areas opposite the Arunachal Pradesh sector and India has correspondingly readied contingency plans to deal with any security challenges in the region.

The IBGs will comprise a

mix of infantry, artillery, air DEFENCE, tanks and units and the new set up is expected to revamp the Army’s war fighting capabilities, particularly along the borders with China and Pakistan.

Assam bypolls: Nearly 8 lakh voters eligible to decide fate of 31 candidates in 5 assembly seats

A total of 7,96,456 voters are eligible to decide the fate of 31 candidates in the by- to five assembly seats in Assam on October 30.

Of the total electorate, 4,03,374 are males, 3,93,078 females and four are transgender. There are a total of 3,165 service voters, while 8,864 electors are aged above 80 and 4,998 are People with Disability (PwD).

Odisha e-vehicle firm bags Green Energy Award

The Shema e-vehicle & Solar (SES) Pvt Ltd, an Odisha-based electric scooter manufacturing company, has bagged the India Green Energy Award.

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari presented the award to the firm in outstanding green energy initiatives in electric vehicle & battery segment.

The award was conferred at the third edition of India Green Energy Award 2020 by the Indian Federation of Green Energy. The SES, owned by young entrepreneur Yogesh Lath from Sambalpur district, has been manufacturing ultramodern electric two-wheelers at Dhankauda since five years. The company has also set up a mass production assembly line at Manesar (Gurugram).

Tamil Nadu: Ordinance promulgated for creation of 4 corporations

With the to the Urban Local Bodies likely soon, Tamil Nadu governor R N Ravi has promulgated ordinances for the creation of four corporations, Cuddalore, Kancheepuram, Sivakasi and Karur, upgrading the erstwhile municipalities. Ordinances will be issued for Tambaram and Kumbakonam corporations soon. This follows an announcement made by the State Government in the assembly in August.

Tambaram gets four municipalities, including Pallavaram, Pammal, Sembakkam and Anakaputhur, and five town panchayats, Chitlapakkam, Madambakkam, Perungulathur, Peerkankaranai and Tiruneermalai. Daraspuram town panchayat is merged with Kumbakonam corporation.

Kerala: Study had warned against mining in Kootickal hills

A study by the state board conducted in 2013 had strongly recommended the State Government to stop mining and quarrying activities in Koottickal panchayat.

The board had also suggested that the entire Vagamon hill ranges, including the areas under the Koottickal panchayat,

be declared as a protected area, considering its ecological, biodiversity and natural heritage values.

The Kottamala hill ranges which is part of Vagamon, extends from Ramapuram to Thidanad. Even in such an extensive hill range the quarry mafia has bought almost all hill tops for quarrying.