24.02.22

Government launches scheme to give infra boost to MSMEs

by

The Haryana Government today launched the Programme to Accelerate Development for MSME Advancement (PADMA) programme.

“Based on the principles of ‘local yet global’, the PADMA aims to create self-sustainable and thriving industrial at the cluster level for each block of Haryana,” said Manohar Lal Khattar while launching the scheme at a function held here today.

He said the PADMA programme was a multi-department programme, which would not only promote local products but also give EMPLOYMENT opportunities to the youth, especially the targeted Antyodaya Anna Yojana beneficiaries. “The MSME sector plays a significant role in economic landscape of Haryana, contributing over 22 per cent to the Gross State Value Added (GSVA),” said Khattar.

The Chief Minister also said under the PADMA scheme, one product in each block of 22 districts, covering all 140 blocks in the state had been identified based on the locally available Resources, existing micro enterprise ecosystem, demographic profile, key opportunities, sunrise sectors and Growth potential.

At 65.32%, Punjab sees decline in voters’ turnout

by

Punjab saw a sizeable decline in voters turnout when the State recorded 65.32 per cent polling on Sunday in comparison to a voters turnout of 78 per cent in the 2017 Assembly polls. Sundays voting will seal the fate of as many as 1,304 candidates, including 93 Women, in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

Even though the polling continued even after 6 pm, and the of India released the figure of 65.32 per cent by 9:30 pm, the Office of Punjab Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) did not come out with the updated official data.

The States CEO Dr S Karuna Raju claimed that the polls remained peaceful with not a single case of disruption of poll and inducement of voters that was brought to the Commissions notice during the day.

However, several complaints were made and allegations were levelled by some party leaders and candidates over malfunctioning of EVMs, while reports of firing, clashes between two groups, skirmishes, arguments, attack on candidates, were also reported from different places.

HP 2nd state in country to form panel for gen category

by

TheHimachal Pradeshgovernment on Wednesday notified the constitution of a commission for general category, or what it has namedSamanya Varg Aayog.

The notification also incudes the commissions term of office, objectives, powers and functions.
A massive protest outside the Himachal Pradesh assembly complex at Tapovan in Dharamshala during the winter session on December 10 last year had forced the to announce the formation of Samanya Varg Aayog. Now, right ahead of assembly Elections, the state government has issued a notification to pacify general category voters.

The Samanya Varg Aayog will have one chairperson and two members, who shall be nominated by the state government. An officer who is or has not been below the rank of joint secretary of the state government will be nominated as the member secretary. The term of aayog will be one year and can be extended further. Its headquarters will be at Shimla.

The aayog shall have the power to call for necessary information from any government department, government or semi-government bodies, Public Sector Undertakings and autonomous bodies and to travel in the entire state, whenever it is required for the purpose of this aayog and in the interest of the targeted general classes.
The state government will provide the commission with officers and employees as may be necessary for it for efficient performance preferably from surplus pool/ on secondment basis/outsource basis.

Jharkhand: Bokaro steel achieves 100% utilisation of its solid waste

by

BSL achieved 100% utilisation of its solid wastes such as slag, scrap and other by products in the ongoing financial year. The Psu management claimed BSL was the only one among all subsidiaries of SAIL to achieve the feat.

The feat came to Light at the BSL’s workshop titled “Environmental Management in Industries: With Special Reference to Circular economy“, which was held recently. The two-day workshop was jointly organised by the BSL’s Department of Environment and Human Resources in association with the Association of Recycling and Environment Industries (REIAI).

The BSL officials also said that apart from this, BSL has achieved 30.95% reduction in particulate matter emissions and 19.85% reduction in specific waste discharge during the last three financial years. BSL has taken various initiatives for environment and resource conservation including installation of Rain Water Harvesting system, implementation of zero liquid discharge at various shops including CRM-3 and 100% utilisation of waste material.

Bihar first state to provide Rs 4 lakh each to next kin of Covid victims, says CM Nitish Kumar

by

CMNitish Kumar saidBiharis the first state in India which began providing financial assistance of Rs 4 lakh each to the next kin of the persons who died due toCovid-19.
Addressing a public meeting as part of his Samaj Sudhar Abhiyan (campaign for social reforms) at Srikrishna memorial stadium in Jamui, Nitish also said that he took several steps during the Covid-19 period to provide necessary assistance to migrant people and bring back them to their native places in Bihar.

TheCMalso pointed out that though Bihar is the third largest state of the country in the matter of Population, it stood at 25th position in the case of Covid-19 infection. Bihar performed well in controlling the Covid-19 infection compared to many states, he said.

The CM also reiterated that he would attend only those marriage functions where No Dowry has been exchanged is prominently mentioned on the wedding invitation cards.

The Samaj Sudhar Abhiyan was launched from Motihari on December 22 last year. As per its original schedule, the campaign was to culminate atPatnaon January 15 this year. But it was suspended midway. The on January 5 decided to postpone the campaign in the wake of the rising case of omicron variant of Covid-19.

Data divide over child health in state

by

Referring to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 2019-21,UnicefinChhattisgarhhas said that around 68% children in the state do not get breast milk within an hour of birth and more than 18,000 babies die every year within 28 days of birth due to lack of proper care.
Less than a week ago, the Chhattisgarh government had cited a Union Government report of 2020-21 to say that neonatal and infant mortality rates have dropped by 23% and 18%.

The Unicef state chief said only 32% mothers in Chhattisgarh are able to breastfeed babies 1 hour after birth because in hospital, babies are often kept under separate supervision from the mother immediately after birth, so breastfeeding is not done at the right time. He pointed out that breastfeeding within an hour of birth is extremely important for proper Nutrition and development of babies. In order to spread awareness on the health significance of breast milk for newborn babies, Unicef has initiated awareness campaigns in rural and urban areas of Chhattisgarh, he said.

Quoting NFHSs data for Chhattisgarh, Unicef says that 13% babies in Chhattisgarh weigh less than 2.5kg at birth. As many as 26,000 children die before their first birthday, out of which 250 children were found to be suffering from heart-related problems since birth, Unicef said. The rest die because of diseases and lack of proper care, it added. According to NFHS, only 10% of children in Chhattisgarh are getting enough food, 30% of children below 5 years of age are underweight and 35% children are dwarfed, plus there are 10 lakh children in the state who are underweight, Unicef said, quoting from the NFHS report.

Quoting the NFHS data of 2020-21, Dr Mishra said that the decline in mortality rate has been reported accurately as 23% in neonatal, 18% in infants and 22% in children below five years of age as compared to NFHS-4 of 2015-16. According to data released by the central government, institutional delivery in Chhattisgarh has increased from 70% in 2015-16 to 86% in 2020-21, the government said. There has been a 25% increase in deliveries in government health institutions.

Sambal yojana to continue in Madhya Pradesh: CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan

by

Lauding the Sambal Yojana, chief ministerShivraj Singh Chouhansaid that the scheme,is being run to help the needy, will continue in the state.

He said that in bid to simplify the application process and distribution of benefits under the scheme, the department should make necessary arrangements immediately. Registration of eligible beneficiaries should be done after proper verification.

Chouhan said that “Sambal Yojana” is being implemented for the welfare of the poor. The continuous operation of the schemes portal should be ensured to help unorganised workers.

Gujarat: SIMBA to give distinct identity to each Asiatic lion

by

TheGujaratforest department has developed an (AI)-based photo-identification Software, specially designed to distinguish patterns/marks to identifyAsiaticlions individually. The software is namedSIMBA(Software with Intelligence Marking Based identification of Asiatic lions.)

According to the forest department, computer-assisted photo-identification is a helpful tool for understanding Population demographics and expanding conservation and management efforts. The persistent identification of individuals significantly enhances conservation and management efforts and ecological aspects of the species.

Natural marks are used for non-invasive individual identification in several species, often through photographic comparison. Such identifications recognise unique marks, patterns, shapes of particular body parts or scars.

The software also extracts the uniqueness from the photograph and can cluster similar patterns. The SIMBA is trained with data. So, the identity is estimated by the uniqueness within the whisker spot patterns or other marks on the Asiatic lion’s face or ear.

Rajasthan govt presents Budget 2022-23 with special focus on employment, health, and education

by

RajasthanChief Minister Ashok Gehlot presented theBudgetfor the year 2022-23, with the main focus on sectors likeHealth,Education, , social security and tourism.

Presenting the Budget in the Rajasthan Assembly, Gehlot during the almost three-hour-long speech announced the launch of the Indira Gandhi UrbanEMPLOYMENTGuarantee Scheme with an aim to provide 100 days of employment in urban areas.

The Indira Gandhi Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme is in the lines of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), for which a Rs 800 crore budget has been proposed.

Another major announcement in the budget is to implement the old pension scheme from next year for all employees appointed on or after January 1, 2004.

Gehlot also proposed to increase the health cover under the State Government‘s much ambitious Chiranjeevi Health Insurance Scheme from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh per year per family. He also announced that IPD and OPD Services will be free-of-cost in state-run hospitals.

For electricity consumers, 50 units free electricity for those using 100 units, Rs 3/per unit grant for all domestic consumers up to 150 units and Rs 2/unit grant for consumers of 150 to 300 units and above as per the slab. The state government will spend Rs 4,500 crore.

It is my privilege that I am presenting the first separate Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture budget. It will set a new horizon in the agriculture sector in the state,” Gehlot said.

In the first agriculture budget, Gehlot announced an allocation of Rs 5,000 crore for CM Krishak Saathi Yojna, which was Rs 2,000 crore in the last Budget.

The Budget for the year 2022-23, proposed Rs 2,700 crore for the Rajasthan Irrigation“>Micro Irrigation Mission, under which 5 lakh farmers will be benefitted.

He also announced to make 125 days of employment in MGNREGA instead of 100 days. The state government will bear the expenditure of Rs 700 crore.

Gehlot also announced Rs 500 crore for SC-ST Development Fund and allocated Rs 100 crore for EWS families.

The Chief Minister also proposed to conduct the Rajasthan Eligibility Examination for Teachers (REET) exam in July, 2022. The state government had recently cancelled the examination due to controversies related to the paper leak case.

He said that an anti-cheating cell will be set up in the Special Operations Group (SOG) of Rajasthan Police.

He said that no application fee will be charged from the old candidates for this examination to be held afresh and all the facilities given to the candidates at the time of REET examination will also be made available again.

Along with this, the number of posts in the upcoming REET examination has been increased from 32,000 to 62,000 to give more employment opportunities to the youth.

During the present government’s tenure so far, more than 1 lakh youth have been appointed and recruitment is under process for about 1.25 lakh posts. Gehlot said that “in the five years of the previous government, about 2 lakh recruitments were done, whereas we have reached this number in just three years”.

To ensure the quality of education in the English medium, Gehlot announced the creation of a separate cadre of English medium teachers under all subjects. About 10,000 English medium teachers will be recruited in these schools in the first phase.

In view of the popularity of Mahatma Gandhi English Medium Schools and the demand of parents and students for admission in them, 1,000 more Mahatma Gandhi English Medium Schools will be started in urban and rural areas in the coming year.

Under the CM Digital Service Scheme announced by the chief minister, 1.33 crore Women will get Internet enabled smartphones for 3 years.

He announced to give Industry status to tourism and hospitality, which were affected largely due to COVID-19 pandemic.

RUSA Scheme Continued By GoI

by

The Ministry of Education has approved the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) scheme until 31 March 2026.

Highlights

The Ministry of Education has approved the continuation of the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) scheme till 31 March 2026 with an expenditure of 12,929.16 crores.

The new phase of the scheme would support around 1,600 projects. Out of Rs 12,929.16 crores of expenditure, the center will share Rs 8,120.97 crores, and therefore the state will share Rs 4,808.19 crores.

The new phase of the scheme has been designed to implement a number of the recommendations of the New Education Policy (NEP).

Under the new phase of the scheme, State Governments will support Gender inclusion, Initiatives, Enhance employability through vocationalisation and skill upgradation.

Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan:

Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan was launched in 2013. it’s a Centrally.

Sponsored Scheme to supply government universities and colleges funding.

Its main objective is to enhance the standard of state institutions and ensure reform in affiliation, academic, and examination systems.