By: D.K Chaudhary
1. Karnataka Budget Announced: Important Highlights
i. Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy presented his government’s first budget. He announced a farm loan waiver of Rs34,000 crore.
ii. The Loans of up to Rs2 lakh for each farmer will be waived. Farmers who repaid the loan within time will be credited the repaid loan amount or Rs25000 whichever is less.
ii. The Loans of up to Rs2 lakh for each farmer will be waived. Farmers who repaid the loan within time will be credited the repaid loan amount or Rs25000 whichever is less.
2. Higher Education Financing Agency Capital Base Enhanced To Rs.10,000 crores
i. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved proposal for expanding the scope of Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) by enhancing its capital base to Rs. 10,000 crore and tasking it to mobilise Rs. 1,00,000 crore for Revitalizing Infrastructure and Systems in Education or RISE by 2022.
ii. The modalities for raising money from the market through Government guaranteed bonds and commercial borrowings would be decided in consultation with the Department of Economic Affairs.
ii. The modalities for raising money from the market through Government guaranteed bonds and commercial borrowings would be decided in consultation with the Department of Economic Affairs.
- HEFA was set up on 31st May 2017 by centre as a Non-Banking Financing Company for mobilising resources for building infrastructure in higher educational institutions under Central Govt.
3. Gujarat CM Launches Special Drive Against Malnutrition: POSHAN Abhiyan
i. Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani launched ‘Poshan Abhiyan’–a statewide mission to eradicate malnutrition among children by providing them nutritious food through Anganwadi centres. The CM also launched ‘PURNA’ project to eliminate malnutrition among girls in the age group of 14 to 18.
ii. ‘PURNA’ stands for Prevention of Under Nutrition and Reduction of Nutritional Anaemia among Adolescent Girls. The government has allocated Rs 270 crore to control malnutrition among those girls who he said would become mothers in future.
- Om Prakash Kohli is the present Governor of Gujarat.
4. Lieutenant Governor Does Not Have Independent Powers: Rules SC
i. The Supreme Court held that Lieutenant Governor does not have independent decision-making powers, and is bound to act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers.
ii. The apex court was ruling on a batch of appeals filed by the Delhi government challenging the Delhi High Court’s order holding the LG as the administrative head of the national capital.
iii. The judgement pronounced in the court by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, who was heading a five-judge Constitution bench, also held that the LG cannot act as an “obstructionist”.
ii. The apex court was ruling on a batch of appeals filed by the Delhi government challenging the Delhi High Court’s order holding the LG as the administrative head of the national capital.
iii. The judgement pronounced in the court by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, who was heading a five-judge Constitution bench, also held that the LG cannot act as an “obstructionist”.
- Delhi CM- Arvind Kejriwal, Lieutenant Governor- Anil Baijal.
5. Election Commission of India Launches ‘cVigil’ App
i. Chief Election Commissioner of India Mr Om Prakash Rawat, along with the Election Commissioners Sunil Arora and Ashok Lavasa, launched an Android-based mobile application named ‘cVigil’ for citizens to report any violation of the model code of conduct during elections.
ii. cVIGIL will allow anyone in the election-bound state to report violations of Model Code of Conduct (MCC) that comes into effect from the date of announcement of elections and goes on till a day after the polls.
ii. cVIGIL will allow anyone in the election-bound state to report violations of Model Code of Conduct (MCC) that comes into effect from the date of announcement of elections and goes on till a day after the polls.
