16.12.22

Will promote horticulture for self-reliance: Minister

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Revenue and Minister Jagat Singh Negi inspected the Tissue Culture lab at Dadhol in Bilaspur district. He said the government would encourage horticulture in Shivalik region of the state to improve the economy of farmers.

He said the State Government would examine the Himachal Pradesh Sub-Tropical Horticulture, Irrigation and Value Addition (HP SHIVA) project, envisaged to improve quality and quantity of horticulture produce in the lower districts. He added that the government would promote scientific ways of horticulture to make people self-reliant.

The Horticulture Minister said one of the objectives of the project was to involve youth and Women in horticulture. The government would provide all possible help, including financial assistance, for the development of new orchards in the region.

MoU to boost weather forecasting network

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TheUttarakhandState Disaster Management Authority (USDMA) and Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to “strengthen and densify theweather forecastingnetwork in the state.”

As per the MoU, the IMD will identify places in the hills where compact radars, automatic weather systems, snow gauges and more rain gauges would be installed for pin-pointed weather forecasts.

UP GIS: Gulf region likely to invest $6 bn

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Prominent companies from the oil-rich Gulf region in West Asia are likely to invest nearly $6 billion (about Rs 50,000 crore) in Uttar Pradesh, according to UP MSME Minister Rakesh Sachan. The is expected to flow in a bouquet of sectors, including energy, retail, real estate, electric mobility, Logistics, tourism, Health, Food Processing, etc.

Some of the top firms and investment agencies to be investing in the state include Lulu Group, Abu Dhabi Global Market, Transnational Computer LLC, Burjeel Hospital, etc. For example, Lulu Group will invest Rs 4,500 crore to set up shopping malls and hypermarkets in different cities, including Noida, Kanpur, and Ayodhya.

The UP government also signed an agreement with the 130-member strong Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Abu Dhabi for facilitating investment. We apprised the Gulf about the marked improvement in the Infrastructure, law and order, and connectivity in UP under the present regime.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is likely to visit a few foreign countries, including the US, as part of the ongoing roadshows for the GIS. At the UP Investors Summit in 2018, the state had garnered investment proposals to the tune of nearly Rs 4.68 trillion. Of these, according to the government, projects worth Rs 3 trillion have already been launched in different sectors and regions in UP.

Will lend Rs 750 crore to JBVNL to improve power crisis: Jharkhand

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The on Tuesday decided to lend Rs 750 crore to theJharkhandBijli Vitran Nigam Limited (JBVNL), state discom, for improving the erratic power situation across the state.

The decision was taken after chief minister Hemant Soren held a review meeting of the current situation of the outages following routine reports of it in the media. Soren also gave nod for Rs 200 crore to JBVNL under annual development plan scheme for Infrastructure upgrade across the district.

To help JBVNL purchase extra power from the central pool, the state government will now provide it Rs 750 crore loan from Power Finance Corporation.

48,366 income tax payers illegally received Rs 39 crore of scheme for farmers in Bihar: CAG

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An unexpectedly large number of (I-T) payers have been found availing the benefits ofPradhan Mantri KisanSamman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) Scheme inBiharwhile it was launched to supplement the financial needs of landholding farmers to ensure proper crop Health and appropriate yields. The startling revelations have been made in the audit report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India tabled on the floor of the State Legislature.

The PM-KISAN scheme with 100 percent central government funding operated through direct benefit transfer (DBT) mode was launched in February 2019. Under the scheme, the Centre provides income support of Rs6,000 per annum to all eligible farmer families in three equal instalments of Rs2,000 every four months. However, the responsibility for identification of beneficiaries and ensuring correctness of their details lies with the state governments.

It added that in at least 10 districts, inadmissible benefits amounting to Rs23.59 crore were paid to 22,301 minor beneficiaries as the applications for benefits under the scheme didnt capture the age of beneficiary on the cutoff date, i.e. February 01, 2019. The districts include Banka, Darbhanga, Jamui, Khagaria, Madhubani, East Champaran, Purnia,Saharsa,Saranand Siwan.

The report further stated that contrary to the scheme guideline, three beneficiaries who were in government jobs/pensioners received 18 instalments. It also said benefits of this scheme were extended to some farmers even after their deaths while many beneficiaries availed the scheme benefits even though they didnt have agricultural or cultivable land.

The CAG report has also wondered over rather slow pace of grievance redressal. According to the report, during the past 31 months since the beginning of the scheme in February 2019, only 9,408 of the grievances (23%) could be resolved.

Chhattisgarh performs better in Eklavya National Sports meet

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The players from Chhattisgarh were ranked fifth in the 3rd Eklavya National Sports Festival held at Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. on Friday.

The state bagged 58 medals that include 26 gold, 12 silver and 20 bronze medals.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Scheduled Castes and Tribes Development Minister Dr. Premsai Singh Tekam hailed outstanding performance of the players.

The national event was participated by students of Eklavya Model Residential Schools from 22 states. Chhattisgarh had sent acontingent of 288 players.

The state playersperformed exceedingly well in athletics with 20 medals including 13 gold, 3 silver, and 4 bronze. In swimming, a total of 16 medals includes 8 gold, 6 silver, and 2 bronze and 10 medals in wrestling which includes 3 gold, 2 silver, and 5 bronze.

Madhya Pradesh is becoming a start-up hub

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Due to the start-up friendly policies of Madhya Pradesh government, the state is becoming a hub of start-ups. Madhya Pradesh is one of the leading states in the country which provides a world-class ecosystem for start-ups. According to the Start-up Blink report, Indore is on the 14th position and Bhopal is at 29th position in the country. More than 2500 start-ups of Madhya Pradesh are registered with the Department for Promotion of and Internal Trade, Government of India. Out of these, more than 1100 start-ups are run by Women entrepreneurs. Apart from this, more than 45 incubators are continuously working in the state to develop early stage start-ups. The incubation center of the Ministry of Textiles and Apparel of the Central Government is in Gwalior.

To give momentum to the start-up movement in the country and to meet the objectives of the Atma-nirbhar Madhya Pradesh Roadmap 2023, the State Government has launched the MP Start-up Policy and Implementation Plan 2022. With this, the spirit of Entrepreneurship and innovation is being promoted among the public along with further improving the existing ecosystem of Madhya Pradesh. The objective of the scheme is to make the state a leader in the ‘Start-up Ranking. For this, MP Start-up Center (Mpsc)’ has been set up, while setting up a single window agency for start-ups and incubators. MPSC provides mentorship to start-ups and helps them get approvals and raise capital. Any start-up can get help directly from them. MPSC aggregates market intelligence from multiple sources to provide valuable information about the ecosystem players. Market intelligence is used to re-evaluate the activities of the government, which will prove useful for the upcoming policies of the state.

The state government is also planning to invest Rs 10 crore in 5 Indian AIFs (Alternative Investment Funds), which will invest manifold in the states start-ups. The state encourages incubators and start-ups through several schemes. Start-ups are given assistance up to Rs 60 lakh. The state also provides additional support to women-led start-ups to empower women. Apart from general incentives, special incentives are being given to product based start-ups.

The approach of the State is in line with the need of the start-ups today. Madhya Pradesh serves as a unique opportunity for domestic and international start-ups with skilled talent pool, sizable domestic consumer market and state-of-the-art Infrastructure.

During the Invest Madhya Pradesh, Global Investors Summit-2023 to be held in Indore on January 11 and 12, 2023, a special session on MP Start-up Ecosystem will be organized, in which detailed information about the governments policies and plans will be given.

Low credit-deposit ratio weighs on GDP growth of many districts

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Banks are lending far less than the deposits they mobilise in districts like Sirohi, Dungarpur,Dholpurand Karauli. Unavailability of credit has been one of the reasons for the backwardness of the regions with their contribution to state GDP remaining at the lowest band compared to other districts.

Bankers said that there are several ways to improve the CD (credit-deposit) ratio of these districts. CD ratio shows the amount of raised by banks as deposit and how much of it has been given as a loan to the customers.

While the Average CD ratio stands at 87% in the state, the same for Sirohi is 48%, the lowest in the state. Dungarpur, Dholpur and Karauli have 54%, 59% and 60% respectively.

India takes another big step towards achieving 500 GW of non-fossil fuel based electricity installed capacity by 2030

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Ministry of Power had constituted a high-level committee under Chairperson, Central Electricity Authority with representatives from Corporation of India, Central Transmission Utility of India Ltd, Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd, National Institute of Solar Energy, and National Institute of Wind Energy for planning the transmission system required for having 500 GW of non-fossil fuel based installed capacity by 2030.

The Committee prepared a detailed Plan titled Transmission System for Integration of over 500 GW RE Capacity by 2030″ in consultation with States and other stakeholders. The Plan is a major step towards achievement of the goal of integrating 500 GW of non-fossil fuel based capacity by 2030 by providing broad plan of required transmission system for having 537 GW of RENEWABLE ENERGY capacity by the year 2030.

The Plan has identified major upcoming non-fossil fuel based generation centres in the country, which include Fatehgarh, Bhadla, Bikaner in Rajasthan, Khavda in Gujarat, Anantapur, Kurnool RE Zones in Andhra Pradesh, offshore wind potentials in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, RE park in Ladakh etc. and based on these potential generation centres, transmission systems have been planned.

Indiahas emerged as one of the world leaders in energy transition with the fastest rate of Growth of renewable energy capacities in the world. India has huge ambitions in energy transition and plans to have 500 GW of non-fossil fuel based electricity installed capacity by 2030, so that cleaner fuel comprises of 50%of the installed capacity mix by 2030.

Rourkela stadium worlds largest

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Amid a row over the status of Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela among the major stadia across the globe, the Odisha government on Friday claimed that it is the world’s largest facility in terms of seating capacity and it was certified by the International Hockey Federation (FIH).The Rourkela facility will host the Men’s World Cup Hockey, organised by the FIH, along with Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.