14.01.22

UK, Haryana sign FoE for cooperation

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The British Deputy High Commission, Chandigarh and the Foreign Cooperation Department, Haryana have signed a Framework of Engagement(FoE) to enhance the bilateral cooperation between the UK and Haryana.

The FoE was signed at the residence of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and was signed by Caroline Rowett, British Deputy High Commissioner, Chandigarh and Yogender Chaudhary, Principal Secretary, Foreign Cooperation Department, Haryana.

The FoE covers broad areas of work that will help build the collaboration between the UK and Haryana. On the occasion, Rowett said They are pleased to put into action the ideas discussed by the Chief Minister in March 2021.

Nation’s nutrition security hinges on Punjab

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Unarguably, a critical need for crop diversification is to address the depleting groundwater.

Two-crop is obliterating Biodiversity, but most remain ignorant of it as an existential crisis. There is also a direct correlation between areas of the two-crop monoculture and farmer suicides. The man-days of work created by the paddy-wheat cycle are possibly 130 days a year or less. Spending days without work in a state of unemployed worklessness leads to depression that is rampant in such communities. Creating diversity of rural occupation is just as important as creating off-farm jobs to improve rural livelihoods. Reduction in paddy cultivation is also essential to solve the vexed issue of crop burning.

People wallow in satisfaction as India habitually celebrates its self-sufficiency in food amidst continued massive Malnutrition. The misperception crops up only because the majority of the people cannot afford nutritious meals and demand remains subdued. Consumption patterns change as economies grow, with people able to afford and demand more nutritious and diverse foods. Even as demand of diversified food increases, Climate-change”>Climate Change will adversely impact food production targets, leading to erratic production on a regular basis. Across India, the groundwater table is depleting to a point where even access to drinking water has become a problem in tens of thousands of villages. In Light of these challenges, Punjab, uniquely endowed with Resources“>Natural Resources, is the key to helping attain Indias Nutrition security.

HP CM inaugurates 9th women ntl ice hockey championshi

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Himachal Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Sunday inaugurated the 9th Women National Ice Hockey Championship-2022 at Ice Skating Rink, Kaza in Lahaul Spiti district and said that ice hockey is one of the most popular winter Sports of the world.

Thakur further said that the has recently given approval to the Swaran Jayanti Sports Policy 2021 to give boost to sports activities in Himachal. Under this policy, three percent reservation would be provided to sportspersons in government jobs and the diet Money received by the players would be doubled.

Under the new sports policy, a prize money of Rs 3 crore would be given for winning a gold medal in the Olympics, Winter Olympics or Paralympics. Silver medalist will get Rs 2 crore and the bronze medalist will get Rs. 1 crore Along with this, Rs 15 lakh would be given for participating in the above games and Olympic, Asian, Commonwealth medal winners would be given pension and Arjuna Award, Dhyan Chand Award and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award holders would get monthly salary, he added.

The Chief Minister also said that the State Government has announced the High-Altitude Sports Center in Kaza with an estimated cost of Rs 16 crore. Skate Boots have been provided by the Department of Youth Services and Sports for training the players at a cost of Rs 27 lakhs and Ice rinks have been developed by the administration on a small scale in Lidang, Sagnam, Losar, Tabo, Hikmi, he said.

2 from Ukhand win silver at IndiaSkills 2021 National Competition

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Participants from Uttarakhand received two silver medals in the IndiaSkills National Competition 2021.In total,185 candidates were declared winners in the competition and Rajesh Aggarwal, secretary, Ministry of Skill development and (MSDE)felicitated themat the Talkatora Stadium, New Delhi.From Uttarakhand, Prashant Saini andAbhinav Verma won silver medals in Cyber Security and 3D Digital Game Art.

The closed-door competition, organised by National Skill Development Corporation under the guidance of MSDE, witnessed participation in 54 skills such as concrete construction work, beauty therapy, car painting, Health and social care, visual merchandising, graphic design technology, wall and floor tiling, welding, among others.

IndiaSkills Competition, which raises the profile and recognition of the youth, brought together over 500 participants from 26 states/ union territories. The skill competitions were held at multiple locations, including Pragati Maidan and offsite locations in the National Capital Region, from January 7 to 9 under Covid-19 guidelines mandated by the authorities.

Jkhand gets 200MW solar power from Guj

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Jharkhandhas started receiving solar power from Gujarat through the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) as part of the Renewable (Energy) Purchase Obligation (RPO).
The 200MW solar power received from PGCIL will ensure an uninterrupted power supply in areas under the Jharkhand Urja SancharanNigam LImited(JUSNL).

Notably, the state discom Jharkhand Bidyut Viratan Nigam Limited (JBVL) had signed a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) for 25 years with the Corporation of India(SECI) in July 2018 for 700MW of solar power. The solar power is purchased at Rs 2.5 per unit fromSECIs solar Plants in Gujarat.

Currently, the state is experiencing a power crisis in the DVC command area over the past several months over outstanding bills. The solar power receive will, however, be not supplied to the DVC command area.

Family planning campaign to continue in Bihar despite Covid pandemic: Govt

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Health ministerMangal Pandeysaid that the department had been developing a strategy to prioritise family planning even during the Covid-19 pandemic.Mission Parivar Vikaswould run throughout the state till January 29 to educate the people about family planning, he added.
Sources claimed that a couple contact campaign would be held from January 10 to 16, and family planning Services offered from January 17 to 29 as part of the mission.

Mission ParivarVikas Abhiyanwill be conducted in all medical colleges, hospitals, and public health institutions. Interested and eligible couples will also be encouraged to adopt temporary and permanent family planning measures during the campaign.

A state-run agricultural university inMadhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur has developed new varieties of oats, wheat, rice and niger crop, which are suitable for production in other states as well, an official said.

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The Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwavidyalaya (JNKVV) has developed two varieties each of oats and wheat, one type of rice and three varieties of niger, which have been notified by the Centre as being suitable for production, the university’s vice-chancellor Dr P K Bisen said.
The Union Ministry of Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare had issued a gazette notification on January 3 in this regard.

Of the two new varieties of oats, JO 05-304 is suitable for production in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, while JO 10-506 can be produced in Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, eastern region of Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Manipur.

Posco, Adani join hands for $5 billion steel project in Gujarat

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After Tata Motors shifted its factory to Sanand inGujaratin 2008, following violent protests at Singur in West Bengal, another big-ticket project, this time by South Korean steel giantPosco, has come calling to Gujarat, seeking a fresh lease of life for its steel project in India.

For this, the steel-maker has joined hands with billionaire Gautam Adani-ledAdani Groupand on Thursday they announced the signing an agreement to establish an integrated steel mill atMundraand to explore cooperation in other businesses. The pact envisages an estimated investment of $5 billion.

Poscos plans for the steel project in India have been blocked for many years now due to protests by farmers and land acquisition issues in states such as Odisha and Karnataka.

Presently, the South Korean major runs POSCO-Maharashtra, a 1.8-million-ton cold-rolled and galvanized mill regarded as the most advanced automotive steel supplier in India, and four processing centres, at Pune, Delhi, Chennai and Ahmedabad.

Rajasthan forest area increases by 25sqkm in 2 years

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The desert state has recorded a negligible increase of 25sqkm forest area, according toIndia State of Forest Report(ISFR), 2021.

Out of the total geographical area of 3,42,239sqkm, the present forest cover is 16,655sqkm, which is 4.87%. The forest cover in the state two years ago was 16,630sqkm.

According to the report, the states forest cover has seen a marginal increase of 0.15sqkm compared to 2019. While the moderate forest cover area has increased by 27sqkm, the open forest cover area has witnessed a slight reduction of 2sqkm in the last two years.

In the previous report, the open forest was reduced from 12,210sqkm to 12,208sqkm. In 2019, the states forest cover had seen marginal increase of 57.51sqkm compared to 2017, when the moderate forest cover area and open forest cover area declined, though the former has started to show improvement.

According to the report, while very dense forest (VDF) area remained unchanged from 2019 with 78sqkm, themoderately dense forest(MDF) witnessed a small increase from 4,342sqkm in 2019 to 4,369sqkm in 2021.

MSME Technology Centre Inaugurated By PM

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually launched an ‘MSME Technology Centre’ in on the occasion of National Youth Day 2022.

Highlights:

It will be run by the Union Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME).

The Rs 122 crore technological hub was established with an emphasis on the Electronic System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) sector.

The center was officially opened at the 25th National Youth Festival in Puducherry (12th and 13th January 2022).

In Puducherry, he also opened the ‘Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Manimandapam,’ a new auditorium featuring an open-air theatre.

This world-class technology center, which spans ten acres and will train 20,000 students, support 2000 SMEs, and incubate 200 start-ups, will help boost the local economy to new heights.

The Prime Minister’s opening of this MSME Technology Centre will improve Skill development and instill Entrepreneurship among the region’s youth.