By: D.K Choudhary
Andhra Pradesh Presents Around 1.57 Lakh Crore Budget for 2017-18
The Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu presented Rs 1,56,999 crore budget for the financial year 2017-18 in the Legislative Assembly on March 15, 2017.The proposed budget for 2017-18 is about 15.70 percent more than the budget for 2016-17.
♦ The objective of the gender budget is to save women and girls from discrimination and neglect in matters of development, progress, security and human rights.
Important Highlights of the Budget
1.Revenue expenditure: Rs 1.25 lakh crore
2.Capital expenditure: Rs 31,087 crore
3.State’s revenue deficit in 2017-18: Rs 416 crore (0.05 per cent of Gross State Domestic Product)
4.Fiscal deficit: Rs 23,054 crore (3.0 percent of GSDP)
5.Under Vision 2029, the state is targeting a growth rate of 12 percent every year.
Centre Launches New Scheme TIES for Developing Export Linked Infrastructure
i. The Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched a new scheme named Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES) on March 15, 2017 for developing export linked infrastructure and boost the competitiveness of India’s shipments.
ii. Aim: TIES aims to bridge the infrastructure gap in India to ensure smoother movement of export cargo and also ensure quality standards and certification measures to promote outbound shipment.
iii. The scheme will have a total budgetary allocation of Rs 600 crore for three years with an annual outlay of Rs 200 crore.
iv. It will be implemented from April 1, 2017 and span from 2017-18 till 2019-20.
v. An inter-ministerial empowered committee under the chairmanship of commerce secretary Rita Teaotia has been constituted for sanctioning and monitoring of the project.
Annual Krishi Unnati Mela Begins in New Delhi
The three-day annual Krishi Unnati Mela was inaugurated by Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh at the Indian Agriculture Research Institute in Pusa, New Delhi on March 15, 2017.
♦ Aim: To provide information on new farm schemes and technologies and other welfare scheme that will help to double the farmer’s incomes by 2022.
♦ The three day fair (March 15-17) has been organized by the Indian Agricultural Research 
Institute (IARI) jointly with the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. More than thousands of farmers, workers, students, scientists are expected to take part in Agriculture Fair at New Delhi.
♦ As a part of the event, the Minister also gave away Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Rashtriya Krishi Vigyan Protsahan Puraskar 2016 to recognise contribution of Krishi Vigyan Kendras.
Key Events of the Fair
i. Some of the major attraction of the mela this year would be digitization in agriculture, organic farming, agribusiness models, precision farming, skill building and entrepreneurship development among others
ii. The technical sessions on various themes will be held to educate farmers on various agricultural technologies and government schemes for agricultural development.
iii. A women empowerment workshop will be organised to sensitise farm women on latest agricultural technologies and their rights. Farmers and visitors from across the country will attend the fair.
iv. More than 350 stalls has been set up in Krishi Unnati Mela 2017 to provide training to farmers in latest agri-products and use of seeds and irrigation techniques for better production of crops.
About Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Rashtriya Krishi Vigyan Protsahan Puraskar
♦ Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Rashtriya Krishi Vigyan Protsahan Puraskar was launched in 2016 to mark the birth centenary year of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay, pioneer of Antyodaya.
♦ The award carries total sum of Rs. 50 lakhs. Out of this one award of Rs. 25 lakh is given at national level while 11 awards of Rs. 2.25 lakh is given at regional level.
♦ The decision of winners of this award has been taken by the selection committee on the basis of nominations received from all the Krishi Vigyan Kendras across the country.
Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma Presents Rs 1236 crore Deficit Budget
The Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Mukul Sangma, who also holds charge of Finance department, presented Rs 1236 crore deficit budget for the financial year 2017-18 on March 15, 2017 in the state assembly with focus on development expenditure.
♦ In order to synchronise with the budgetary framework of the Union Government, the Meghalaya Chief Minister also announced the merger of the plan and non-plan expenditure and has increased the tax slabs for transportation to raise additional revenue.
Salient Features of the Budget
i. Fiscal deficit is pegged at Rs 1236 crore which is around 3.8 percent of the GSDP.
ii. Total receipts is estimated at Rs 12,510 crore out of which the revenue receipts are estimated at Rs 11,280 crore and capital receipts at Rs 1230 crore.
iii. The total expenditure is estimated at Rs 12873 crore of which the revenue expenditure is estimated to be at Rs 10,648 crore while Rs 2225 crore as capital expenditure.
iv. The advance estimates for Gross State Domestic Product for 2017-18 is Rs 29,566 crore. This is 10.55% more over this year’s current market price of Rs 26,745 crore.
v. The per capita income of the state at current price for the year 2016-17 stands at Rs 88,497 which is 8.26 percent increase over last year’s estimates of Rs 81,498.
Important Allocations
♦ Rural Development: Rs 1731.57 crore
♦ Road and Bridges: Rs 712.8 crore
♦ Education: Rs 909.94 crore
♦ Health and Family Welfare: Rs 420.93 crore
Centre Approves 20 Ganga Cleaning Projects Worth Over Rs 1,900 Crore
i. The Executive Committee (EC) of National Mission for Clean Ganga has given approval for 20 new projects worth nearly Rs 1,900 crore during a meeting held on March 2, 2017.
ii. Out of the 20 projects, 13 are in Uttarakhand, and rest in Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.
iii. All these projects will be fully funded by the Central Government, including even the expenditure on operation and maintenance of these projects.
iv. The project in Uttarakhand includes creating new sewage treatment plants (STPs), upgrading existing STPs and laying of sewage networks in Haridwar at an estimated cost of approximately Rs 415 crore.
v. In the National Capital, a project to construct new state-of-the-art 564 MLD Okhla sewage treatment plant with best effluent standards has also been approved at an estimated cost of Rs 665 crore.
vi. Besides, two projects for laying new sewage pipelines in Pitampura and Kondli to prevent leakages have also been approved at an estimated cost of more than Rs 100 crore in Delhi.
vii. Sewage related works in Karmalichak in Patna and Rajmahal in Jharkhand have also been given green signal for a cost of over Rs 335 crore.
viii. A project under Hybrid-Annuity PPP model worth almost Rs 151 crore has also been approved to address the issue of pollution of Ganga in Varanasi.
International Vision Zero Conference on Occupational, Safety and Health Begins In New Delhi
The International Conference on the Vision Zero and its relevance to Occupational Safety and Health (OSH), began on March 15, 2017 at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.
♦ Aim: To focus on the Occupational Safety and Health issues and challenges in the Manufacturing, Construction and Mining sector and provide a forum for promoting safety and health at work by exchanging knowledge, practices and experience.
♦ The three day conference has been jointly organized by the Directorate General Factory Advice and Labour Institutes (DGFASLI), Government of India, Ministry of Labour and Employment and German Social Accident Insurance (DGUV), Germany in association with International Social Security Association (ISSA).
♦ The conference was inaugurated by the Minister of State (Independent) for Labour and Employment, Shri Bandaru Dattatreya, in the presence of Smt. M. Sathiyavathy, Secretary, Labour and Employment, Government of India.
Key Highlight of the Conference
i. The conference is expected to introduce the fast emerging internationally accepted concept of ‘Vision Zero’ in India to help the government to raise the occupational safety and health standards in the country.
ii. There will be three plenary sessions in the conference dedicated exclusively to the manufacturing, construction and mines sectors.
iii. An exhibition on OSH is also being organized during the conference from 15th to 17th March, 2017 to provide a platform to support technological communication and business trade.
iv. The exhibition segments will show-case personal protective equipment (PPEs), health at work, high-risk prevention, environmental protection at work, etc.
