03.02.23

Prime Ministers Development Initiative for North East (PM-DevINE)

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As per its mandate, the Ministry of DoNER undertakes matters relating to the planning, execution and monitoring of developmental schemes and projects in NE Region. In Light of the assessment that the NE Region has a significant developmental backlog not only in but also in social development, livelihood and community capacities sectors requiring attention across the 8 NE States,a new scheme, Prime Ministers Development Initiative for North East (PM-DevINE) has been initiated. Announced in Budget 2022-23 as a 100% Central Sector Scheme, it aims at rapid and holistic development of the Region by funding projects of significant impact.

Its objectives are – to fund infrastructure convergently, in the spirit of PM GatiShakti ; support social development projects based on felt needs of the NER States ; enable livelihood activities, particularly for youth and Women ; and fill development gaps in various sectors – through initiatives of significant size and comprehensive reach / sub-activities. PM-DevINE is not a substitute for existing Central or State schemes. While the Central ministries may pose their candidate projects under PM-DevINE, priority will be given to those posed by the States. The projects will be implemented through the North Eastern Council (NEC) or the Ministries / Departments or Agencies.

APDCL seeks hike in power tariff to raise 10,000 crore

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The Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL) has petitioned the Assam Electricity Regulatory Commission (AERC) for a hike of Rs 1.25 per unit and the fixed charge by Rs 15 in power tariff with effect from April 1 for the period 2023-24 to meet its requirement of around Rs 10,000 crore, which would hit hard households that form around 93% of the companys consumer base.

According to the proposals, the tariff (which is a combination of fixed charges and variable charges) will shoot up by a minimum Rs 25.55 for Jeevan Dhara category for every kilowatt consumed per hour.

The company, which did not propose any change in the tariff for three categories of consumers electric vehicles charging stations, electric crematorium and RAILWAY traction last year, has proposed an increase of Rs 15 in fixed charges for the crematoriums and vehicle-charging stations and Rs 35 for the railway traction. It has proposed an increase of Re 1 in variable charges for crematoriums and vehicle-charging stations and Rs 1.5 for railway traction.

Paradip Port Authoritysigns off 2022 with record cargo handling

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Paradip Port Authority (PPA) signed off 2022 by clocking highest ever monthly cargo throughput in the HISTORY of all major in the country. The port recorded all-time high record cargo handling of 12.6 MMT in December, 2022. PPA chairman PL Haranadh congratulated the staff for the magnificent performance. The year 2023 is going to augur well for the port as it is all set to cross the coveted 100 MMT cargo handling mark, in the month of January itself.

The Port is poised to set all-time record cargo handling of more than 125 MMT in the current fiscal. Till December, 2022 PPA has handled 96.81 MMT cargo against 83.6 MMT in the corresponding period of previous fiscal. Various system improvement measures, introduced by the port during 2022 fuelled Growth to the tune of 15.5 per cent over the previous year.

Coastal thermal coal handling showed a remarkable 58.11 per cent growth in comparison to previous fiscal and it also constitutes about 31.56 per cent of total cargo volume handled at the port. Paradip port is emerging as a coastal shipping hub of the country. The port has plans to ship thermal coal to power houses, located in Rajasthan, UP and Haryana.

50% users linked Aadhaar with EB, says minister

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Udhayanidhi Stalin, in his maiden visit to the city after taking oath as minister, will review developmental work related to his ministry and inspect Nehru Stadium. He will also take part in a government event and distribute welfare assistance to more than 20,000 beneficiaries.The minister recalled that the chief minister had disbursed welfare assistance to more than 1.32 lakh beneficiaries in two government events held in the city.

On criticism about the states policy on freebies, Senthil Balaji said some people from certain outfit have even gone to The Supreme Court against the state policies. But when an election comes in other states, leaders from the same outfit promise to implement schemes already available in Nadu. Many Women have benefitted from the state governments decision to allow women to travel free of cost in government buses, he said.

Govt to raise 1.5k-cr amid financial crisis

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The has decided to raise Rs 1,500 crore from the market as Kerala continues to be in a financial crisis.

The government decided to raise the amount and use it for developmental activities in state. However, it is also learnt that the funds are meant for the disbursal of salaries and pensions next month.

The states main committed expenditure include salaries, pensions and interest payments on loans and the revision of salaries and pensions based on the recommendations of the 11thpay commission alone has caused an additional burden of Rs 15,000 crore annually to the exchequer.

Additionally, the state’s share from central taxes was reduced to 1.92% by the 15th Finance Commission, which was earlier 3.875% during the 10th finance commission. Kerala has sustained a loss of at least Rs 20,000 crore through this head, the finance minister had said.

Even when the government blames Centre for reduced Revenue Deficit grant, the state is the recipient of the largest share of revenue deficit grant as recommended by the 15th finance commission from 2020-21 to 2025-26.

Karnataka legislative assembly clears bill to integrate all modes of public transport

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The Karnataka legislative assembly passed the long-pending Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority Bill, 2022 that aims to streamline the ill-famed Bengaluru traffic and integrate public transport Services and civic agencies under one roof for effective coordination.

Piloting the bill on CM Basavaraj Bommai’s behalf, law and parliamentary affairs minister JC Madhuswamy said the bill has been drafted to supplement the Centre’s National Urban Transport Policy.

Bommai said the city’s bottlenecks are largely due to the high-density national and state highways that merge into the city.

No merger of Amul & Nandini: Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai

Chief minister Basavaraj Bommai clarified that there was no proposal to merge Amul and Nandini brands and that Union cooperation minister Amit Shah’s statement was being misinterpreted.

There is no merger of brands. Amul will remain as Amul and Nandini will continue as Nandini. There was absolute clarity in his statement that Amul and Nandini can have an exchange of ideas that will help grow both the brands,” said Bommai.

The CM, however, said the only cooperation between the two brands proposed by Shah was an exchange of technical and Marketing models.

Telangana sees sharp drop in maternal mortality rate

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has seen a significant reduction in maternal mortality rate (MMR) in recent years. As per the recently released Sample Registration System (SRS) Special Bulletin 2018-20, the maternal mortality rate (MMR) in the state has dropped to 43 points from 56 points in 2017-19 reducing by 13 points.

Telangana stood at the third position in the country with the lowest number of deaths, after Kerala and Maharashtra. MMR is calculated as the number of maternal deaths per 1,00,000 live births.

The national Average MMR stands at 97, almost double of Telangana. MMR was 92 at the time of the formation of the state and has reduced by 53 points since then. The State Government has ascribed the decrease to measures in child and maternal care taken by the government.

The national average has come down to 97 from 130 in 2014, a decrease of only 33 points. The top three states with the highest maternal mortality are Assam at 195, Madhya Pradesh at 173 and Uttar Pradesh at 167. Between 2017-19 and 2018-20, the MMR steadily increased in the respective states.

CM Jagan releases Rs 395 cr to benefit 3.95 lakh beneficiaries

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Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has said it is a matter of pride for the state that it has sanctioned 24, 06,000 loans out of a total of 39,21,000 loans given out in the entire country and hence took the top place in disbursals.

The chief minister released Rs.395 crore under the Jagananna Thodu scheme as interest-free loans via banks to benefit 3.95 lakh petty traders and artisans, each getting Rs.10,000. He also released Rs.15. 17 crore towards reimbursement of interest to benefit 13.28 lakh beneficiaries, who have repaid the loans promptly in the last six months.

Releasing the amount by the click of a button at his camp office here on Wednesday, Jagan Reddy said the beneficiaries, besides becoming a part and parcel of the self-employed community, are also helping the Society indirectly.It is a matter of pride for the state that it has sanctioned 24, 06,000 loans out of the total 39,21,000 loans given in the entire country, the CM said.

The chief minister explained that out of the total 15,31,347 beneficiaries, 8,74,745 traders and artisans were promptly repaying their previous loans and have become an inseparable part of the scheme by recycling their loans in a disciplined manner.

Between 2018 and 2022, Goa govt spent over Rs 67 crore to purchase vehicles

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The spent over Rs 67 crore of taxpayers Money, purchasing 536 vehicles for various government departments between 2018 and 2022.

A large chunk of the expenditure Rs 29.3 crore (43%) was incurred by the directorate of fire and emergency Services on 22 vehicles, including quick response fire tenders, multipurpose fire tenders, quick response vehicles, motorcycle response units and water tankers. The department also purchased a man turntable ladder truck costing over Rs 6.7 crore.

The Police department purchased the highest number of vehicles i.e. 239, including two- and four-wheelers, incurring the second highest expenditure among all departments of over Rs 13 crore.

Development plan to help 10 lakh from particularly vulnerable tribal groups in Maharashtra

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An estimated 10 lakh tribal community members spread across all 35 districts ofMaharashtrastand to benefit from thePradhan Mantriparticularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs) Development Mission that was announced by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Budget.

The minister announced the launch of the Rs 15,000 crore time-bound programme for the development of specific tribal communities to ensure better Education, Health and livelihood opportunities.

According to the data with the tribal development commisisonerate, Nashik, there are about 10 lakh people belonging to Gond, Kolam and Katkari tribal groups.

The PVTG scheme was formed in 2015. There are several tribal communities with a very low Population, which is declining further. The levels of Literacy and economic progress are also low. Moreover, these communities use very traditional forms of agricultural practices and have very low health indices.