18.11.21

Haryana has once again made its mark in area of cleanliness by winning a State award in the Swachh Survekshan-2021 survey wherein two cities of Haryana have bagged the award of ‘Garbage-Free City’ and one city has won the ‘Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge’.

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All these Awards will be given to Haryana in the upcoming Swachh Amrit Mahotsav to be held in New Delhi on November 20. 12 of the State have been certified as ‘ODF Plus-Plus’ and 43 other Urban Local Bodies with ‘ODF Plus’.

In the Swachh Survekshan-2020 also, Haryana had performed excellently in terms of cleanliness.

During the Swachh Survekshan-2020 last year, 6 cities were certified as 5-star, 65 cities were rated 3-star and 70 cities were rated 1-star, while the Municipal Corporation, Karnal got 3-star rating and Municipal Corporation, Rohtak got 1-star rating. Also, 13 cities which include Gurugram, Karnal, Rohtak, Ambala, Ganaur, Panchkula, Yamunanagar, Panipat, Gharaunda, Rewari, Sampla, Hisar and Radaur had been declared as ‘ODF Plus-Plus’ and 16 cities were declared as ‘ODF Plus’.

Punjab cabinet sub-committee to work out details of local quota in jobs

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AfterPunjabchief minister Charanjit Singh Channis announcement to soon introduce a law to provide reservation to locals in government and private jobs, Punjabcabinet constituted a cabinetsub-committeeof five cabinet ministers to finalise details of the proposal.

In a move aimed at increasing enrolment, reducing dropout rate and attracting students to the government schools, the Punjab cabinet. led by chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Tuesday decided to provide free uniforms to nearly 2.66 lakh boys of general category studying in the government schools from classes I to VIII. The Punjab government will spend around Rs 15.98 crore in the current financial year.

Himachal Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur launched Rs 1010.60 crore phase-II of the HP Crop Diversification Promotion Project (HPCDP) supported by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for the state.

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The Chief Minister while presiding over the launching ceremony at Dharamshala, said that the is committed for the development of rural areas as more than 90 percent of the total Population lives in these areas and about 70 percent of the population is dependent on the Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture sector for livelihood.

Despite limited financial Resources and slowdown due to the Corona pandemic, the present State Government has launched various new schemes to promote Irrigation, agriculture, Horticulture, Forestry and allied sectors besides ensuring all-round and equitable development of Himachal, he said.

The phase-I of the project being implemented in five districts of Mandi, Kangra, Hamirpur, Bilaspur and Una on pilot basis since 2011 has virtually transformed the economy of the farmers in these districts. The main objective of this project is to disseminate a successful model of crop diversification and increase the vegetable area in the project area from 2500 hectares to 7000 hectares by 2031, he said.

The Chief Minister further said that in order to fulfil the vision and commitment towards rapid development of the state, the government is mobilizing resources from all possible sources including the Central Government, external funding agencies like JICA, World Bank and Asian Development Bank etc. The State Government considers JICA to be the most important source of financial support and partner in development of Himachal, he added.

Uttarakhand to come up with its own Himalayan brand of spices and vegetables

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While inaugurating the three-day International Spices and Vegetable fest in Rishikesh.

Notably, Uttarakhand is among the frontrunners in producing spices, with 6.62 metric tonnes of spices being produced across one hectare of land. Overall, the state produces 96,282 metric tonnes of spices across 14,536 hectares, according to the Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture departments 2019-2020 data. The hill state is among the leading producers of seven spices — turmeric, garlic, chilly, coriander, fenugreek, ginger and black cardamom.

The fest is being attended by stakeholders from several countries — like Russia, Australia, America,Singaporeand others. While some will attend the event virtually, others have come to Rishikesh for the fest.

Hectic political activities have picked up in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the assembly elections next year. From issues of public interest to populist announcements, the process of highlighting issues has begun in right earnest. However, even as opposition parties make their own claims, various initiatives rolled out by the UP government in promoting Micro, Small and Medium scale industries (MSMEs) is overshadowing all other issues.

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In the last 4.5 years of the BJP regime, more than 76.73 lakh people were provided with loans worth Rs 2,42,028 crore for doing business in the MSME sector and about two crore people got EMPLOYMENT in the sector. The MSME sector of the state is making a new record in the country. In fact, 14 per cent of the MSME units of India are housed in Uttar Pradesh and due to the of the State Government, Investment in this sector has increased continuously.

As per UP government figures, MSME was the most important sector after Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture in terms of providing employment in the state. In terms of number of MSMEs, the share of UP in the country was 14.2 per cent. Through the MSME sector, the state has been exporting more than Rs 1.14 lakh crore for three consecutive years.

In the 2016-17 fisal, during the SP regime, 6.35 lakh MSMEs were provided loans worth Rs 27,2 02 crores while soon after the BJP came to power, in the 2017-18 fiscal, loans worth Rs 41,193 crore was provided to 7.87 lakh entrepreneurs in the MSMEs sector. Later in the 2018-19 fiscal, 10.24 lakh MSME entrepreneurs were provided loans worth Rs 47,764 crore and in 2019-20, Rs 62,831 crore was disbursed to 17.45 lakh entrepreneurs. In the financial year 2020-21, 34.80 lakh MSME units were provided loans worth Rs 63,038 crore while loans amounting to Rs 16,002 crore were provided to 1.25 lakh new MSME units from April 1 to November 10 this year.

Missionaries’ contribution to J’khand’s education pivotal: CM Hemant Soren

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Chief ministerHemant Soren praised the contribution ofChristian missionariestowards imparting Education among the tribal communities ofJharkhand.

For years, the missionaries have played a pivotal role in providing education to the tribal people of the state. In my opinion, the missionaries contribute as much as 50% to the state’s education system,” Soren said in his address as the chief guest at the 50th anniversary of Ranchi’sGossner College.

Gossner College, which is run by the Gossner Evalgelical Lutheran church, was founded in 1972. It currently has 27 departments. Together with Gossner school, it imparts education to roughly 9,000 students.

Enrolment in govt schools up by 3.6% in Bihar: ASER

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Despite the Covid challenges, enrolment of children in 6-14 age group in the government schools in Bihar has increased by 3.6% in the last one year, according to the 16th edition ofAnnual Status of Education Report.

The number of children enrolled in government schools increased from 76.9% in 2020 to 80.5% in 2021, compared to 2.8% rise in the last three years since 2018. The report also revealed that more children from the rural background took admission in the government schools, compared to private schools, between 2018 and 2021.

The report was based on a survey conducted in the rural areas of 581 districts across 25 states and 3 union territories between September and October this year. It covered 76,706 households, 75,234 children in 5-16 age group besides teachers and staff of 7,300 government schools.

Significantly, the proportion of both boys and girls enrolled in government schools across all grades increased from 2020 to 2021. The Percentage of girls enrolled went up from 80.9% in 2020 to 82.9% in 2021 while the boys enrolment increased from 73.2% in 2020 to 78.2% this year.

As per the report, the availability of smartphones to the enrolled kids also increased from 27.2% in 2018 to 54.4% in 2021. However, only 11.8% kids have access to studies all the time while 34.4% used the device for limited periods for education purpose. A large section of almost 53.8% enrolled kids still have no electronic devices for studies.

Chhattisgarh should be allowed to produce ethanol from paddy: CM Bhupesh Baghel to Centre

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Chief minister Bhupesh Baghel attended the virtual meeting of CMs from all the states of the country.

During this Baghel demanded thatChhattisgarhshould be given permission toproduce ethanol from paddy, requested the Centre to reconsider the decision of not procuring Usna Rice from Chhattisgarh and demanded to return Chhattisgarhs share of coal penalty worth Rs 4140 crore and reduce cess on petrol-diesel.

Chhattisgarh state is known as the ‘rice bowl’, where paddy is produced in abundance. Baghel said that for the last two-three years, the had been seeking the permission to produce bio-ethanol from surplus paddy. The production would benefit the state and the farmers, and it would also save the Foreign Exchange spent by the Centre on import of petroleum products.

MoUs have also been signed with 12 companies for setting up bio-ethanol plant. He also informed that the state has got permission to produce ethanol from sugarcane and maize.

There are about 500 Usna mills in the state with a production capacity of 5 lakh metric tons per month. This decision of Central Government would shut down these mills, leaving the labourers here unemployed.

Baghel also requested conversion of the Revenue Deficit of 15th Finance Commission into a grant. He said that in the financial year 2021-22, 17 states are being provided a grant of Rs One lakh 18 thousand 552 crore.

This grant should be provided on the basis of revenue deficit from the year 2021-22 to 2024-25 to support the Covid-affected economies of the states.

The grant is being given for the losses incurred in the previous years, which does not compensate the loss incurred due to Covid crisis.

Transco to dedicate three grid stations for Metro Rail project in Indore

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The Madhya Pradesh Power Transmission Company Limited (MPPTCL) will dedicate three of its grid stations for theMetro Railproject inIndore. The 220/132KV extra high tension power grids will be located in Depalpur, Jaitpura and Manglia areas.

The new substations for Indore Metro Rail project have been planned at MR 10,Gandhi Nagarand Khajrana. Bulk supply of power to the new substations will be provided through extra high-tension grids of Depalpur, Jaitpura, and Manglia areas respectively.

Rajkot IT park to be a reality

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The city of Rajkot is all set to get its much-awaited Information Technology (IT) Park soon. The Rajkot Information Technology Association (RITA) has moved a proposal to allot six lakh square feet of land for this park on the new ring road. The proposal is expected to get the government nod before the end of the current financial year.

The park will be a big shot in the arm for Rajkots IT sector which has an annual turnover of Rs 4,000 crore and is growing at almost 30%. The had generated tremendous business during the lockdown, insiders informed.

RITA has been demanding for the allotment of IT Park for a long time. But RITA officials were not able to move the proposal due to Covid-induced lockdown.