28.12.21

Haryana moving from e-governance to good governance: CM

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Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Saturday said that the while using Information Technology is constantly working towards envisaging Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of transforming India through e-Governance thereby making the lives of the people of the State better by bringing various Good Governance reforms.

He said that in Good Governance reforms brought in by the State Government, such a systematic system has been developed under which people do not have to make frequent visits to headquarters in Chandigarh or the district offices to get their work done. They can take advantage of all the government schemes at the nearest Community Service Centre (CSC) in their village or online while sitting at their homes only.

Khattar said that the Parivar Pehchan Patra would be a strong document in moving towards the direction of good governance in the state, due to which it would be easy to fetch the benefits of the welfare Services automatically. With this robust system now under the Old Age Samman Allowance, the pension of the beneficiary will start automatically. Now elderly people need not to apply anywhere as the pension automatically starts when one attains the age of 60. In the villages of the state, the work of generating the property cards under the Swamitva Yojana has been started by abolishing the old system of Lal Dora. Under this scheme, so far 13 lakh 47 thousand 609 people have Swamitva cards in the state.

He said that Antyodaya Parivar Utthan Yojana has been started to bring the poorest of the poor into the mainstream. By strengthening the online system, the government started giving direct benefits to the beneficiaries under the DBT scheme. The government has created an online transfer policy and started giving jobs on the basis of merit to ensure complete transparency. These services were brought under the purview of the Right To Service Act to make the benefits of government services reach the public in a time bound manner. Now the accountability of the department and the officer has been fixed for not giving the benefit of the service on time. The Government started the Dial-112 scheme, due to which people are getting Police help in just 15 minutes. Now, for the convenience of hearing and speaking people with disabilities, sign language experts will sit in dial-112 through video call and the police will help them after listening to their problems.

Punjab improves to 8th position in state health index released by Niti Aayog

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Punjabhas been adjudged as best state in the region in terms of overall Health performance in the fourth edition of the state health index for the year 2019-20 released by the government think-tank.

Punjab has improved its overall ranking to eighth position with the composite index score of 58.08 from the ninth position in the Base Year 2018-19(56.34 index score).

Punjab has been placed among the states achieving positive incremental performance. Whereas the neighbouring states ofHaryanaand Himachal Pradesh have shown negative incremental performance, as per the health index.

Haryana continues to retain the 11th position with 49.26 index score whereas the hill state of Himachal Pradesh declined to the seventh position (63.17 index score) from its earlier sixth position (63.23 index score) in the base year 2018-19.

State sets sights on hydrogen as fuel

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Exploring the possibility of generating and using green hydrogen as fuel and promoting power storage projects like pump storage and battery energy storage system are the key features in the draft of the New Power Policy of the state. The policy, which is likely to be revealed soon, will replace the Policy that was notified way back in 2006.

Green hydrogen is at an early stage of entering the Energy sector in India. Its good that the State Government is keen on exploring the possibilities of using hydrogen as fuel in power sector and energy storage projects. All stakeholders in power sector will be happy with this initiative, said a power sector expert. The draft of the New Power Policy was distributed among various stakeholders on November 6, and they were asked to revert with suggestions by November 30.

Hydrogen is emerging as an important Source Of Energy since it has zero carbon footprints. Given the abundant availability of water, the state is in an advantageous position as far as the generation of green hydrogen is concerned, said the expert.

Also, theres a lot of thrust on promoting and enhancing solar power. The state has set a target of generating 1995 MW energy through solar projects by 2030. The other key objectives put forth in the draft include harnessing and commissioning 10,000 MW of hydro energy by 2030 and have an operation capacity of 20,948 MW, expediting development of hydro-electric projects, promoting and establishing a power trading entity in the state, to protect the rights of local inhabitants for Irrigation and drinking water, etc.

Rs 360.95 crore central grant released to expedite JJM in Ukhand

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To expedite the implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission in Uttarakhand, the Government of India has released a second tranche of Rs 360.95 crore to the State. So far, Rs. 721.90 crore has been released in two tranches to the State in 2020-21. For speedy implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission, Central fund of Rs 1,443.80 crore has been allocated to Uttarakhand in 2021-22, which is four times the allocation made during 2020-21.

The Union Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is according top priority to make provision of tap water supply in every rural household across the country, for which since August 2019, Jal Jeevan Mission is under implementation in PARTNERSHIP with States.

Uttarakhand plans to become Har Ghar Jal State by December, 2022. The centre is providing full assistance to the State for making provision of clean tap water supply in every rural Home of Uttarakhand by the end of year 2022, two years ahead of the national goal of Har Ghar Jal. Expediting the process of approval of big multi-village drinking water supply schemes, in last two months, schemes worth Rs. 714 crore for 58.5 thousand homes in 846 villages spread across 11 districts of Uttarakhand benefitting more than 3 lakh people have been approved by the State-level scheme sanctioning committee (SLSSC). This will immensely reduce the drudgery faced by Women and children who spent many hours every day fetching water from distant water sources.

Kanpur Metro Rail

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On December 28, 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Kanpur to inaugurate the completed section of the Kanpur Metro Rail Project.

Highlights:

The “Bina-Panki multi-product pipeline project” will also be inaugurated by the Prime Minister. Later, he will speak at IIT-54th Kanpur’s convocation ceremony.

On February 28, 2019, the central government approved the Kanpur Metro Project, which has a budget of more than Rs 11,000 crores and a five-year timeline.

A 650 million loan from the European Bank (EIB) has also been proposed for this project.

The Bina-Panki project, which spans 356 kilometers, has a capacity of 3.45 million metric tonnes per year.

The project stretches from Madhya Pradesh’s Bina refinery to Kanpur’s Panki. It was constructed at a cost of over Rs 1,500 crore. The refinery will aid in the region’s access to petroleum products.

CM Hemant Soren announces new Tourism policy

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The JMM/Congress headed by Chief Minister Hemant Soren on the Governments second anniversary bash gifted a slew of soaps and schemes to people of State. Projects and schemes worth Rs 12,558.50 crore were announced, while at the same time projects and schemes worth Rs 3,195.30 crore were handed to people.

However, more importantly the second anniversary of Sorens Government marks the announcement of key policies, which have been framed keeping in mind the long term development of the State. The announcement of the State Tourism Policy is one such policy which has been announced to explore the untapped tourism potential of the State.

Governor Ramesh Bias and Chief Minister Hemant Soren announced the State Tourism Policy 2021. The State Government with the announcement of new Tourism policy is of firm belief that development of the tourism sector would not only generate immense EMPLOYMENT opportunities directly or indirectly, but also contribute to accelerated Economic Development. Under the Tourism Policy, 2021 focus has been given on development of basic Infrastructure such as better road, rail, air connectivity of tourist areas, improvement of infrastructure such as hotels, restaurants and recreation places for tourists and more importantly safety of tourists reaching these destinations.

As per the Tourism Policy 2021, thrust areas have been given on development of religious tourism such as Deoghar, Basukinath, Rajrappa, Parasnath and other areas. As Jharkhand is bestowed with lush green jungles, waterfalls, terrain, moderate Climate, rich wildlife, Jharkhand Tourism policy also focuses on developing Eco Tourism.

The New policy also focuses on Cultural Tourism with the Government to promote various fairs and festivals, traditional lifestyles and customs, dress and food habits of people of State.

The Tourism policy also mentions in view of large investments required in the tourism sector and the need for maintaining high quality standards in Services, tourism related industries have been included in the priority list of industries for foreign Investment. Export house status has been accorded to hotels, travel agents, tour operators and tourist transport operators. Also, the State Government would extend all possible assistance and support to attract Foreign Direct Investment in building and maintaining the tourism infrastructure and facilities in the State.

13% decline in road accidents in Bihar: Government

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Statetransport minister Sheela Kumari said road safety was a sensitive issue and all the departments should make efforts together to reduce the road accidents.

At a review meeting ofBiharRoad Safety Council here, she said several steps were taken and an action plan was made to avoid road accidents in the state.

State transport department secretary Sanjay Kumar Agrawal said efforts were being made to reduce road accidents in the state. There had been a 13.7% decline in road accidents in 2020 when compared to the 2019 data. Also, there has been a reduction of 7% in fatalities due to road accidents, he said, adding the NHAI should put up signage related to speed limit and other safety aspects on the highways.

State transport commissioner Seema Tripathi highlighted the work done by Bihar Road Safety Council in 2020-2021 and presented the action plan for 2022.

Kharkhara reservoir named after Rajiv Gandhi

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Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Tuesday named the Kharkhara reservoir in Balod district after former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

He made the announcement while addressing a Kisan Sammelan in village Godmarra in Daundilohara block of Balod. He also declared a beautification of Godmarra Ghat.

Baghel was welcomed by farmers and presented a plough. They presented him a traditional farmers turban.

The Chief Minister felicitated farmers for their exemplary work. He honoured holders Dhansuram and Chandra Kumar for selling cow dung of over Rs 1 lakh under Godhan Nyay Yojana and Women of Gayatri Self Help Group for making organic manure.

Baghel also unveiled a life size statue of Rajiv Gandhi at the venue.

Cabinet approves withdrawal of ordinance on panchayat polls

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In the Light of The Supreme Court order staying the poll process on seats reserved for OBCs in the Madhya Pradesh panchayat , the State cabinet here on Sunday decided to withdraw the ordinance brought to annul the process of delimitation and reservation rotation set by the previous government in 2019.

The cabinet’s decision to withdraw the ordinance is likely to pave the way for cancellation of the panchayat poll process in the state. The present BJP government in MP had brought the ordinance last month to annul the process of delimitation and reservation rotation set by the previous Congress-led government in 2019.

On the basis of this ordinance, the panchayat election process was started as per the delimitation and reservation rotation of 2014.

Notably, the Madhya Pradesh Assembly on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution, which stated that no panchayat polls will be held in the state without reservation for the OBCs. CM Chouhan, who is also the Leader of the House, proposed the resolution saying the State Government wants every section of the Society to get Justice.

Gujarats ECLGS borrowings 3rd-highest in India

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Signalling greater financial requirements to meet WORKING CAPITAL needs of Micro, Small and Medium enterprises (MSMEs),Gujarathas had the third highest borrowing under theemergency creditline guarantee scheme(ECLGS).

According to the latest report of the state-level bankers committee (SLBC), Gujarat, Rs 20,862 crore was borrowed under ECLGS the third highest amount in India after Maharashtra and Nadu. Guarantees worth this amount have been issued by the National Credit Guarantee Trust Company Limited (NCGTCL).

Bankers and Industry stakeholders say that Gujarat is not just a manufacturing-heavy state but also is Home to various MSMEs, which faced increased cash needs soon after the pandemic began. When industry was faced with higher freight and raw material costs, their working capital needs shot up further. Gujarat had some 12.18 lakh MSMEs as of July 2021, according to data from the MSME ministry tabled in Parliament.

Gujarat is a manufacturing-heavy state with a high number of MSMEs. The emergency credit extended by way of government guarantees provided to businesses came as a huge booster to industries that were struggling for working capital due to pandemic-induced disruptions.