By: D.K Choudhary
India’s First Integrated Heliport Inaugurated at Rohini in North Delhi
i. India’s first integrated Heliport was inaugurated by the Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju on February 28, 2017 at Rohini in North Delhi.The Heliport is the first of its kind facility in South Asia for rotor wing aircraft including their landing and takeoff and has been built by state-owned Pawan Hans Ltd.
ii. Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and Pawan Hans CMD B P Sharma among others were present at the ceremony.
iii. The newly developed heliport has been built over an area of 25 acres with a total investment of Rs. 100 crore
iv. The heliport consists of a terminal building having a capacity of 150 passengers, 4 hangars with the parking capacity of 16 helicopters and 9 parking bays.
MEITY to promote digital transactions in place of NITI
i. The Ministry of IT and Electronics (MEITY) has taken the the responsibility NITI Aayog to promote the digital transactions in India.
ii. MEITY is responsible for promotion of e-governance for empowering citizens as well as promoting inclusive and sustainable growth of electronics and IT in the country.
iii. It is also responsible for encouraging the growth of IT-enabled services industries.
iv. Now NITI Aayog will focus on monitoring and suggesting ways to improve various government schemes rather than getting involved with implementation.
Ministry of IT and Electronics (MEITY) :
♦ Headquarters: Sanchar Bhawan, New Delhi.
♦ Cabinet minister: Ravi Shankar Prasad
♦ Minister of state: P. P. Choudhary
Bihar State Government Presents Rs 1.60 lakh crore Budget for 2017-18
i. The Bihar State finance minister Abdul Bari Siddiqui presented the Rs 1.60 lakh crore budget for 2017-18 with no proposals of any fresh tax on February 27, 2017.
ii. A Rs 14,555 crore revenue surplus budget of Rs 1,60,085.69 crore is Rs 15389.42 crore more than 2016-17 budget estimate of Rs 1,44,696.27 crore.
iii. The state’s fiscal deficit has been estimated at Rs 18,112 crore which is 2.87 percent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) estimated at Rs 6.32 lakh crore.
iv .Of an estimated revenue receipt of Rs 1,37,158.41 crore of the state government in 2017-18, state’s own tax revenue is estimated at Rs 32,001.12 crore which is Rs 2,270.85 crore more than Rs 29,730.27 crore in 2016-17.
v. The state plans to borrow Rs 23,862 crore in 2017-18 and expects a share of Rs 65,326.37 crore in central taxes and Rs 36,956 crore in the form of grants-in-aid.
Allocations under Different Sectors
♦ Education Sector (Highest Allocation): Rs 14,217 Crore
♦ Rural Development: Rs 9,725 Crore
♦ Rural Works: Rs 8,516 Crore
♦ Energy: Rs 6,795 Crore
♦ Social Welfare: Rs 5,949 Crore
♦ Road Construction: Rs 5,703 Crore
♦ Health: 3,567 Crore
♦ Urban Development: Rs 2,734 Crore
Orissa Legislative Assembly Presents State Budget 2017-18
The state Finance Minister of Odisha Pradeep Kumar Amat presented the State Budget for 2017-18 fiscal in the session of Orissa Legislative Assembly on February 27, 2017.
♦ Total Budget Outlay: the state presented a total budgetary outlay of Rs. 1,06,911 crore while merging non-plan and plan expenditure.
♦ Merging planned and non-planned expenditures, the new allocations have been made for the schemes and programmes.
Important Allocations
i. Of the total outlay, the largest outlay of Rs. 18,404 crore was allocated for education and skill developments while an outlay of Rs. 14,930 crore for agriculture.
ii. Sectors such as agriculture, health, rural electrification, establishment of five new medical colleges, education and tribal development were the most prioritized in the Budget.
iii. The government has allocated Rs. 5000 crore for the implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations.
iv. Besides, another Rs. 4000 crore has been allocated for the implementation of the scheme to convert kutcha houses to pucca.
v. Allocations have also been made for the completion of the ongoing projects and increase in social sector spending.
vi. The state announced revised pay structure for 4 lakh employees and nearly 3 lakh pensioners for which the State Government will have to depend on market borrowings to meet requirements in all the sectors.
India-Israel Celebrates 25 Years of Diplomatic Relations in New Delhi
i. India and Israel celebrated 25 years of establishment of their diplomatic relations on February 28, 2017.
ii. Marking the occasion, a logo was unveiled jointly by Amar Sinha, Secretary (Economic Relation) and Daniel Carmon, lsraeli Ambassador to India, at the lndira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in New Delhi.
iii. A series of events took place on a variety of subjects to celebrate the silver jubilee of their diplomatic relations. These include exchange of high-level political visits and visits by business delegations.
iv. The two nations established the diplomatic relations in 1992. India and Israel have been cooperating in many areas like defence, agriculture, science and technology, education, 
dairy, innovation among others.
v. Israel is also a major contributor of defence technology to India. India imports Israeli defence equipment, including missiles, drones, radars and other critical military components.
Israel
♦ Capital: Jerusalem
♦ Currency: Israeli new shekel
♦ President: Reuven Rivlin
♦ Prime minister: Benjamin Netanyahu
