The Himachal Pradesh Secretariat Armsdale Building Phase-III, which was constructed at a cost of Rs 43.07 crore, was inaugurated on Monday. Inaugurating the new building, chief ministerSukhvinder Singh Sukhusaid that though the state was facing tough economic conditions, it would achieve self reliance in the next four years. He assured that the was taking economically prudent decisions to ensure this.
The CM said that the new building was equipped with modern amenities and parking facilities for 123 four-wheelers and 60 two-wheelers. It includes offices such as Disaster Management cell, command and control centre, tribal development office, rooms for officers and drivers as well as branches of SBI andPunjab National Bank.
26.04.23
Forest department plans to map areas of ‘Keeda Jadi’ to benefit locals
The forest department ofUttarakhandis planning to undertake a significant initiative to provide economic benefits to the high-altitude mountain communities by conducting satellite resource mapping and ground surveys of locations where the rare medicinal herb known as Keeda Jadi is found. Keeda jadi is harvested from April to June and is predominantly found in alpine pastures of the Himalayas.
Recognising that previous efforts in 2018 to regulate the collection, Marketing, and royalty of keeda jadi for the benefit of hill villagers were not very promising , the forest department has now taken the approach of estimating the total production and mapping the locations first.Subodh Uniyal, the forest minister of Uttarakhand, told media, “The villagers of the hills should be the primary beneficiaries since they live in challenging geographical areas under harsh climatic conditions.”
Keeda jadi, also known as the caterpillar fungus, is renowned worldwide for its alleged aphrodisiac properties and commands a high price of Rs 20 lakh per kilogram in the international market. However, there is still ambiguity regarding its production, collection and transportation, which is now being re-addressed after almost five years.
Surveillance increasedin UP with AI
To maintain strict vigil on dreaded criminals and mafias, CCTVs with system have been installed in jails across Uttar Pradesh. Besides, dual view scanner baggage, full human body worn scanner, contactless glasses for meeting rooms and many devices equipped with new technology have been installed in five high security jails of the state.
A proposal in this regard was sent to the government by the Prison Administration and Reforms department, following which Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath released the budget after a high-level meeting.
So far, 145 video conferencing halls have been set up, which include 72 prisons and 73 district courts, to conduct 100 per cent remand of undertrials detained in state prisons through video conferencing.
With this, five dual view scanner baggage, five full human body worn Zscanner, 130 contactless glasses for meeting rooms, five panic alarms systems, 15 night vision binoculars and five lighting protection system ESE units have been set up in five high security jails of the state namely district jail in Lucknow, Azamgarh, Chitrakoot, Gautam Buddha Nagar and Central Jail Bareilly-II respectively.
CCTV surveillance units are being set up in a phased manner to further enhance the security system of prisons. Along with this, at least 30 cameras have been installed in each prison, marking sensitive places in the prisons. At present, more than 3,600 CCTV cameras have been installed in all the jails of the state. Not only this, the work of increasing the number of these cameras, restoration of cameras and arrangement of servers, including storage, in 30 prisons has been completed.
Govt readies to protect environment through 75 actions
In the Light of the decision taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the subject of Mission LiFE (Life Style for Environment) in the COP 26 summit of https://exam.pscnotes.com/Climate-change”>Climate Change in Glasgow in the year 2021 to reduce the adverse effects of climate change, this year the Government of India has decided to spread awareness among the general public by promoting individual and community actions to prevent environmental damage and ill effects of climate change by adopting seven themes of Life — 1. Save Energy 2. Save Water 3. Say no to single plastic 4. Adopt Sustainable Food System 5. Reduce Waste 6. Adopt Healthy LifeStyles 7. Reduce E-Waste through 75 actions in May-June, 2023.
In order to make this programme successful on Thursday, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Dan Bal Chief, Jharkhand, Ranchi, Dr Sanjay Shrivastavas instructed all the forest officials of the State through video conferencing to make this mission life successful. In mission life, every person and community will try to protect the environment and reduce the ill effects of climate change as much as possible by making efficient use of electricity and water and proper execution of Erwaste etc. For this, the department will work to spread awareness among government departments, educational institutions, offices and general public at every level through Nukkad Natak rally, public meeting, a total of 75 such approved actions. For this, efforts have to be made by all Protected Areas, biological parks and other institutions and departments.
Boost for radio connectivity in remote areas as Bihar gets nine FM transmitters
Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated 91FM transmittersacross the country.
The 100Watt capacity transmitters have been installed in 84 districts across 18 states, includingBiharand two Union Territories. The 100Watt capacity transmitters were inaugurated at nine places in the state, which are Banka, Buxar, Shiekhpura, Nawada, Katihar, Begusarai, Jamui, Lakhisarai and Sikandara (in Jamui district).
Nawada district also witnessed the inauguration of a 100W FM transmitter on the premises of Doordarshan kendra, adjacent to Nawada block headquarters.
Cgarh gets first prize in safe abortion services
Chhattisgarh received the first prize for innovation in safe abortion Services.
The award was presented at the National Consultation on Comprehensive Abortion Care (CAC) organized by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in New Delhi.
The state’s Nodal Officer for Maternal Health, Dr. Shailendra Agarwal, and Advisor Abhilasha Sharma Ratre received the award.
The state has prepared an e-Kalyani application to monitor the availability of safe abortion services in private hospitals and compliance of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act, 2021 (MTP Act).
States youths will be trained as LiFE volunteers
To make youths aware about the Environment and to ensure their active participation in the environment sector, 2100 youths will be trained as life volunteers in the state. LiFE volunteers will be selected from each district of the state. The applicant should be a native of Madhya Pradesh and the maximum age as on June 1, 2023 should be 29 years with the minimum educational qualification of graduation. The last date to apply is 25 May 2023. After the training, certificates will be given to the volunteers.
As per the guidelines issued by regarding Mission LiFE, 7 subjects have been selected. These include saving energy and use of RENEWABLE ENERGY, saving and conserving water, discouraging the use of single-use plastic, reducing household waste, adopting a healthy lifestyle, promoting sustainable and lasting food practices, and proper execution of E-Waste.
The purpose of the training is to select district, divisional and state level LiFE volunteers and motivate them to work for the Society as agents of change. Training will lead to Personality development of youth and development of Leadership capacity to work on environmental protection and Climate-change”>Climate Change. Individuals and organisations will also get recognition in the direction of environmental protection in the state.
Gujarat’s car sales growth zooms past national average
Be it festive sentiment or ease of supply constraints, the Growth in sale of cars inGujarathas certainly outperformed the national Average. While passenger vehicle sales in the country posted a marginal de-growth of 1.35% in April with 2.82 lakh units being retailed during the month, in Gujarat PV sales posted a 7% growth at 28,597 units retailed, according to data compiled by Federation of Automobile Dealers’ Association (FADA).
Gujarat showed an overall growth of 4% in April, against the same month last year. This is significant since many other states have shown a marginal de-growth
Beneficiary enrolment under PM unorganised workers scheme dips
The enrolment of beneficiaries under thePradhan Mantri ShramYogi Maan-Dhan (PM-SYM) Yojana inRajasthanhas gone down drastically over the last three years. From 2.16 lakh beneficiaries enrolled in 2019-20, it decreased to 1,832 beneficiaries in 2021-20, a ministry of labour and EMPLOYMENT data revealed. In 2020-21, only 3,303 beneficiaries were enrolled under the scheme in Rajasthan.
The data further revealed that 61,907 beneficiaries were enrolled in 2018-19 under the scheme. Minister of state for labour and employment,Rameswar Telisaid while replying to an unstarred question inLok Sabhaon April 3.
The minister was replying to a question on the total number of skilled and semi-skilled labourers working in different industrial units in the country.
The government has introduced a pension scheme for unorganised workers, namely Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan (PM-SYM), to ensure old age protection for unorganised workers, the reply mentioned.
At $15 billion, Indias trade deficit shrinks to 20-month low in April
Indias narrowed to a 20-month low of $15. 2 billion in April as goods imports and exports shrank in the wake of lower commodity prices amid weak demand in Europe and the US.
Latest data released by the commerce department pegged goods exports at $34. 7 billion, which was 12. 6% lower than a year ago and the steepest fall since August 2020 when it crashed 12. 7%. It was also the third straight monthly decline.
Similarly, imports contracted 14. 1% to $49. 9 billion the sharpest fall since the 33% decline last October and marked the first time since August 2021 when the monthly value of shipments coming into the country was under $50 billion, according to data available with the government and theRBI.
The government is drawing comfort from the Services export numbers, which have so far bucked the trend. During April, services exports were estimated to have increased 26% to $30. 4 billion, while imports were pegged at $16. 5 billion, a 17% increase.
Besides, the commerce ministry revised the trade numbers for the last financial year. Export of goods and services in 2022-23 is estimated to have increased 14. 7% to $775. 9 billion, around $6 billion higher than the earlier estimate. Imports were around $894. 2 billion, 17. 7% higher, resulting in a trade deficit of $118. 3 billion.
The numbers also showed that goods exports increased 6. 7% to cross the $450-billion mark for the first time, while imports were estimated to have gone up 16. 5% to $714 billion during the last fiscal year.