By: D.K Chaudhary
1. Asia’s Largest Tulip Garden in Srinagar Opens for Visitors
i. Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden was opened for visitors in Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir. It is recognized as Asia’s largest tulip garden.
ii. This year, 12.5 lakh tulip bulbs of 48 varieties were sown in the garden by the floriculture department. Apart from the tulips, 40,000 hyacinth bulbs have also been planted.
- Jammu & Kashmir CM- Mehbooba Mufti Sayeed, Governor- N. N. Vohra.
2. AAI Signs MoU With Assam Government
i. The Airport Authority of India (AAI) signed an MoU with Assam government under its Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) initiative for the sustainable development of human settlements at villages in Kamrup district.
ii. AAI would provide financial assistance under its CSR initiative of 4.58 crore Rupees for the Kamrup district as per the estimates prepared by the UNDP to improve the resilience of communities around Guwahati Airport.
- Assam CM- Sarbanand Sonowal, Governor- Jagdish Mukhi.
- The Chairman of Airports Authority of India is Guruprasad Mohapatra.
3. Government Guarantee for IRFC Bonds
i. The Ministry of Finance has approved a proposal to provide government guarantee of Rs5,000 crore in the current financial year for Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) bonds to be subscribed by Life Insurance Corporation (LIC).
ii. The guarantee fee for the amount has also been waived by the Ministry. The decision will ease the flow of borrowed funds for Ministry of Railways to undertake projects.
4. Surat Becomes 1st District to Have 100% Solar Powered Health Centres
i. Gujarat’s Surat district has become the first district in the country to have 100 percent solar powered Primary Health Centers (PHC).
ii. There are a total of 52 PHCs in the district and all of them are now powered by the solar system. This initiative will not only bring down the electricity bill by 40 percent but also help fight global warming.
ii. There are a total of 52 PHCs in the district and all of them are now powered by the solar system. This initiative will not only bring down the electricity bill by 40 percent but also help fight global warming.
- Gujarat CM- Vijay Rupani, Governor- Om Prakash Kohli.
5. 3,21,567 Affordable Houses Sanctioned For Urban Poor Under PMAY
i. Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs has approved the construction of 3,21,567 more affordable houses for the benefit of urban poor under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) with an investment of Rs18,203 crore with central assistance of Rs4,752 crore.
ii. The approval was given in the 32nd meeting of the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee (CSMC) held in New Delhi.
iii. Haryana gets maximum (70,671) Houses while Goa got the least (60). With the participation of Goa in the 32nd CSMC, all 35 States/UTs, having urban statutory towns and cities are now covered under the PMAY(U) Mission.
- The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana- Housing For All (Urban) will be implemented during 2015-2022 and will provide central assistance to Urban Local Bodies (ULBs)
