29.10.21

Punjab CM’s nod to terminate Power Purchase Agreement with GVK Goindwal Sahib

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unjab chief ministerCharanjit Singh Channion Saturday approved the PSPCLs proposal to terminate GVK Goindwal Sahib (2×270 MW)Power Purchase Agreement. Subsequently, thePunjab State Power Corporation Limited(Pspcl) has issued termination notice to the company.

Meanwhile, a preliminary default notice has been served by PSPCL to GVK on Saturday for cancellation of PPA due to high power cost and falling lowest in the merit order, procurement of energy from GVK that had been restricted only within the range of 25% to 30% during most of the times of a year resulting in higher tariff of about Rs 7.52 per unit for last year.
Channi said that this step had been taken to safeguard the interest of consumers of the state by way of reducing the burden of costly power.

COP26: Climate change must be addressed on cooperative global level, says Dalai Lama

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Ahead of the crucial Climate conference in Glasgow, the Dalai Lama said issues of must be addressed on a cooperative global level for everyones benefit.

In his message to the UN conference on climate change known as the Conference of Parties (COP26), the Tibetan spiritual leader said realistic action founded on scientific understanding was needed to tackle climate change.

The COP26 summit starting on Sunday will bring parties together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Uttarakhand infant mortality third-worst among Himalayan states

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Uttarakhandhas the third-highest infantmortality rate(IMR) of 27 deaths per 1,000 live births among the 10 Himalayan states of the country after Arunachal Pradesh (29) and Meghalaya (33), shows National Health Missions sample registration system (SRS) report. This is despite Uttarakhand recording an improvement in its IMR in 2019 as compared to 2018 when the hill state registered 31infantdeaths for every 1,000 live births.
However, the states IMR was found better than the national Average of 30 in the recently-released SRS report. According to the data, the national average for IMR is 34 in rural areas and 20 in urban areas. In Uttarakhand, the rural and urban belts have IMRs of 28 and 26 respectively.

Experts believe that while the improvement in IMR is significant for the state, they pointed out that several areas in the hills still lack basic health .

Honouring peoples demand, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, on Thursday, declared the holy Soron Sukar area in Kasganj district as a place of pilgrimage.

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The Chief Minister’s Office gave this information by tweeting about the fulfillment of this decade-old demand of Sanatan dharma followers. With the protection of this ancient and holy shrine as a pilgrimage, it will be easier to renovate many small temples coming under it, the tweet said.

A top government official said that along with this, Chakratirtha, Yogatirtha, Suryatirtha, Somtirtha and Sakotkatirtha would also be benefited. Besides development, new sources of EMPLOYMENT will also be available to the locals by their being declared a pilgrimage site of Soron Sukar area.

Soron Sukar area is located in Braj Kshetra in Kasganj and the importance of the area has been mentioned in various . It is believed that in the Soron Sukar region, Shri Barah is the place of Nirvana of Lord Vishnu, and the third incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The Kund (Haripadi Ganga) in Soron Sukar area is the same place from where Lord Shri Barah ascended to heaven and since then the ashes are immersed in this pool after death.

Soron Sukar region is also considered as a pilgrimage centre for salvation. With the efforts of the Yogi government, there has been a lot of development in the last four and a half years especially in religious tourism, spiritual and mythological activities in and around Soron.

The state government will provide free text-books to government school students from class 1 to class 12, from the next academic session (year 2022-23) session. The Department of School Education and Literacy has prepared a proposal which will be implemented after the State Cabinet nod. A senior education department official said, The Department of School Education and Literacy has prepared a proposal for provision of free textbooks to government school students upto class 12. The system will be implemented after getting approval from the Cabinet.

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At present, the provides free text-books to all the students (boys and girls) studying in government schools from class I to VIII under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan. In this, 60 per cent of the amount is borne by the centre, while the rest 40 per cent of the expenditure is borne by the State. The State government from its budget also provides free text-books to all the girl students of class 9 to 12 studying in government schools.

The State government has decided to provide free text-books to the students of class 9th and 10th in the current financial year. After getting approval from the cabinet, students of class XI and XII will also be able to get free text-books from the year 2022-23 session.

The state government will bear 100 per cent of the additional expenditure on this.

Enforce model code of conduct strictly in Bihar: Election Commission

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The has clarified that the Model Code Of Conduct would be applicable to all electioneering activities even if they are organised outside the assembly constituency but within the limits of the district concerned.

The commission, in a fresh directive issued, asked the district election officers to enforce all the instructions related to the model code of conduct, Covid and expenditure of the candidates in case electioneering activities are organised outside the constituency but within the district.
The directive assumed significance in the wake of byelection to be held in Tarapur and Kusheshwar Asthan assembly seats on October 30. The district election officers concerned have been asked to implement the ECs guidelines under their respective jurisdictions strictly.

Tribal cultural carnival begins in Chhattisgarh

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Chhattisgarhis now soaked in a festive fervor as the three-day-long “National Tribal Dance Festival” kicks off in the state capital. Tribal dancers from across the country and seven different nations are showcasing their unique culture and tradition, making it a majortribal cultural carnival.

The colorful fest began at the Science College Ground here on Thursday with the tribal leader and Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren declaring open the second edition of “National Tribal Dance Festival” and “Rajyotsav 2021”. This was followed by a very colorful march past by all participating teams.

In the competition held on harvest-Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture and other traditional disciplines, dancers from Chhattisgarh gave an eye-catching performance on Karma dance, Uttarakhand on Jhinjhi Hanna dance, on Gusadi-Dimsa dance, Jharkhand on Oraon dance, and Gujarat on Siddi Goma dance.

Abdul Jameel Latif Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) (MIT) and Madhya Pradesh government worked in collaboration to operate URJA help desks in 12 districts.

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The work was collaborative efforts of researchers from world-class universities from the Police Research and Policy Unit.

The main objectives of the project were to improve confidence in policing for Women, and to create processes to support police efforts to tackle crimes against women.

In Madhya Pradesh, 12 districts Bhopal, Vidisha, Gwalior, Morena, Rewa, Panna, Jabalpur, Balaghat, Indore, Ratlam, Betul, and Seoni were selected on randomized control trial model and for research work, operation of energy desks started in total 180 police stations of these districts.

To institutionalize the URJA desk, construction of reception desk at an accessible place in the premises of the police station, development of standard operating procedures and fixation of work responsibilities of officers at each level, creation of documents in the day-to-day working of the desk, training at all levels of URJA Desk at District Headquarters.

Pharma products’ approvals in Gujarat rise as firms expand portfolios

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With a strong demand Growth in thehealthcarespace and people focusing more on preventative care after the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, pharma companies are adding more drugs and products to their existing portfolios.
As a result, there has been a substantial jump in productapprovalsgranted to manufacture medicines inGujarat.

For instance: Gujarat Food and Drug Control Administration (FDCA) in September issued 5,494 licences to make different allopathic drugs and products. Except January and April, the number of product permissions provided to pharma firms every month has hovered above the 5,000-mark this year, shows data compiled by the FDCA-Gujarat.

The issuance of fresh product licences started increasing after the pandemic and crossed the monthly mark of 5,000 in 2021. New product licences totalling 5,601, 5,324, 5,488 and 5,421 were issued by the state FDCA in April, May, June, July and August, respectively. The number stood at 5,095 in February and 5,123 in March this year. The product approvals were low at 3,981 and 3,725 in January and April, respectively, reveal the state FDCA data. As many as 48,909 product permissions have been issued by the state FDCA so far this year.

Energy Efficiency Index: Rajasthan front runner at number 2

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Rajasthanhas bagged the second position in theState Energy Efficiency Index(SEEI)-2020 securing 61 points out of 100. AfterKarnatakawhich topped the list with 70 points, Rajasthan is the other state to have been assessed as the front runner. The index categorized 36 states and UTs under front runner, achiever, contender, and aspirant based on their EE-related efforts and achievements.

In SEEI 2019, there was no state in the front runner category. Karnataka and Rajasthan have undertaken various initiatives to upscaleenergyefficiency in the state, beyond notifications of relevant regulations, the report by theministry of powersaid.

Conservation Building Code (ECBC) cell in its Public Works Department (PWD) from the state fund. This cell operates under guidance of the chief architect ofPWD, said the report.Among the other initiatives that contributed to the states high score is that it has taken steps to set up energy saving targets for EE (energy efficiency) in street lighting, water and sewerage, and non-PAT industries. It is one of the few states that reported a measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) mechanism for evaluating demand side management programmes.

The report said that Rajasthan has appointed dedicated agencies to conduct periodic energy audits of street lighting, water and sewerage , and water treatment systems. The Rajasthan SDA organises the Rajasthan Energy Conservation Awards (RECA) every year for five sectors and 50 sub-sectors.

The index developed theBureau of Energy Efficiency(BEE) in collaboration with Alliance for an Energy Efficient economy (AEEE) aims to help drive energy efficiency policies with implementation at the state and local level, highlight best practices, encourage healthy competition among states and track progress in managing energy footprint.

SEEI 2020 assessed states performance in energy efficiency through 68 indicators across six sectors such as buildings, Industry, municipalities, transport, Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture and distribution companies (discoms), and cross sector initiatives.

The indicators assess states performance in policy and regulation, financing mechanisms, institutional capacity, adoption of energy efficiency measures, and energy Savings.