By: D.K Choudhary
Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah launches ‘Pratibimba” to project achievements
i. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah launched a comprehensive web-based platform Pratibimba to showcasing the government’s performance and achievements to the citizens on March 7, 2017.
ii. This dash board will serve as a tool to improve efficiency in governance and allow citizens to track government’s progress.It is available both in English and Kannada.
iii. After Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka has such dash board which will help to report, track and measure departmental performance on programmes, projects and promises made.
Karnataka:
♦ Rivers : Krisna and tributeries and Cauvery and tributeries.
♦ Mountains: Western Ghats, Chitradurga Hills, Biligiri Rangan Hills, Nandi Hills, Badami Hills, Gokak Hills
Mobile World Congress to be held in India on September 27
i. India to host its first mobile congress with a special focus on reaching out to the South East Asian markets at Pragati Maidan on 27th September 2017. This was announced by Rajan S Mathews, COAI Director General
ii. The the three-day event will be organised by GSM Association
iii. All Indian mobile operators, Facebook, Huawei, Ericsson, Cisco etc are likely to participate in the mobile congress.
Mobile World Congress :
♦ The GSMA Mobile World Congress is a combination of the world’s largest exhibition for the mobile industry and a conference featuring prominent executives representing mobile operators, device manufacturers, technology providers, vendors and content owners from across the world.
♦ The 2017 event was held in Barcelona between 27 February to 2 March 2017 and Mobile World Congress Shanghai between 28th June 2017 to 1st July 2017.
PM Modi Inaugurates Petrochemicals Complex at Dahej & Extradosed Bridge Across River Narmada at Bharuch in Gujarat
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on a two day visit to his native state Gujarat from March 7-8, 2017.
Baruch Bridge
♦ During his visit to Gujarat, PM Modi dedicated a 4-lane 1.4-kilometre ‘Extradosed’ Cable-Stayed Bridge over the river Narmada in Bharuch. It is considered as the longest bridge of India.
Features of the Baruch Bridge
i. The bridge has been built by Larsen and Turbo at a cost of Rs. 379
crore in the time span of two years.
ii. It is 1344 metres long and 22.8 metres wide. The bridge consists of total 216 cables that are about 25 to 40 meter long.
iii. The Bharuch Bridge has 17.4-metre wide 4-lane road and the footpath on the bridge is 3 metres long. The lighting in the bridge has more than 400 LED lights spread over 1.344 km long.
iv. The Bharuch Bridge is expected to reduce the heavy traffic from Ahmedabad-Mumbai section of National Highway-8 (NH8) which is considered to be the busiest national highways in the country.
OPAL Project
♦ PM Modi also dedicated ONGC Petro Additions Ltd (OPAL) Petrochemicals Complex at Dahej (Bharuch, Gujarat) to the nation.
Features of OPAL Plant
i. OPAL is a Joint Venture Company promoted by ONGC, GAIL and GSPC for an integrated petrochemical complex in Special Economic Zone (SEZ) under Petroleum, Chemical and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR) at Dahej, Gujarat.
ii. The petrochemical plant has been set up an investment of Rs 30,000 crore and will produce 14 lakh metric tonnes of polymers such as linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), high density polyethylene (HDPE), polypropylene (PP) and 5 lakh metric tonnes of chemicals such as benzene, butadiene, and pyrolysis gasoline.
iii. Besides, Modi also inaugurated a national convention of women sarpanch on the occasion of International Women’s Day in Gandhinagar. He also laid the foundation stone for a bus port in Baruch.
Destination North East 2017 Festival Held in Chandigarh
i. The three day long ‘Destination North East-2017’ festival was inaugurated in Chandigarh on March 6, 2017 by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Dr. Jitendra Singh.
ii. This was the first time that the event was organized outside Delhi. Chandigarh was selected to host the festival to expose the people of Chandigarh and other parts of North India to know about North East and investment opportunities in the region.
iii. The ‘Destination North East-2017’ was organized by Ministry of DoNER to showcase North East as a potential destination for investment and highlight the rich traditions and customs of the region.
iv. The main focus of the event was the ‘3 H Mission’ that is Horticulture, Handicraft and Handlooms with the objective to use appropriate technologies in all sectors of development for North Eastern Region
v. Among the main highlights of Destination North East, 2017, round table discussions, sessions and B2B meeting was organized.
vi. Some of the important topic of discussions included Exploring Tourism Potential on North East India, Appropriate technologies for North East India, Agriculture & Food processing, Organic farming, Bamboo development in North East India, Medicinal & Aromatic plants of North East India, Roadmap for Technology interventions in North East India and Handloom, Apparel and Handicrafts of North East India.
International Yoga Fest Began in New Delhi on March 8, 2017
The International Yoga Festival was inaugurated on March 8, 2017 by the Union Information and Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu in New Delhi.
♦ The two-day long event has been organized by the Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga in association with the Indian Yoga Associations.
Key Highlights of the Festival
i. More than 3,500 participants including eminent yoga gurus, yoga masters, scholars, policy makers and representatives from 15-18 countries are participating in the mega event.
ii. It will include parallel yoga workshop, lectures, Satsang, cultural programmes and yoga demos.
iii. Besides, exhibition will be held consisting of more than 50 stalls to showcase books, DVDs, yoga appliances and other yoga related products.
iv. A half-day seminar will also be conducted on Life Sketch and contributions of two Yoga gurus namely Swami Ved Bharati and T.K.V. Desikachar for the promotion and development of Yoga.
Delhi Government Presents Rs. 48,000 crore Budget for 2017-18
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government of Delhi presented Rs 48,000 crore tax-free budget for 2017-18 on March 8, 2017 with main focus on improving education, transport, health and water distribution.
♦ Presenting the budget, Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Manish Sisodia informed that the government has also done away with the Plan and non-Plan expenditure.
Highlights of the Budget
i. 2017-18 budget is Rs. 1,400 crore more than 2016-17 budget which was Rs. 46,600 crore
ii. Delhi’s contribution to the country’s GDP has increased from 3.94 per cent in 2011-12 to 4.08 per cent in 2016-17.
iii. Major share of the budget allocation has been made to the education sector.
iv. The number of beds in Government hospitals will be increased from 10,000 to 25,000 targets in upcoming financial year.
v. VAT on Aviation Turbine Fuel will be brought down from 25 per cent to 1 per cent for flights to remote areas such as North Eastern states to compliment Centre’s regional connectivity scheme.
vi. Propose to set up 150 mohalla clinics by 2017 and 150 polyclinics by the end of 2018
vii. Increase in old age pension by Rs. 1,000 per month
viii. Increased the minimum wages of the unskilled workers from Rs 9,724 to Rs 13,350 per month.
ix. Increased the minimum wages by 37 per cent
x. Number of pollution monitoring centres to be increased from 6 to 26
Important Allocations
i. Education: Rs 11,300 crore (24 percent of total budget)
ii. Health Sector: Rs 5,736 crore
iii. Water sector: Rs 2,107.9 crore
iv. Yamuna Cleaning and sanitation: Rs. 2,108 crore
v. Urban Development: Rs 3,100 crore
vi. Power Sector: Rs 2,194 crore with focus on solar energy and waste-to-energy plants.
vii. Delhi Metro: Rs 1,156 crore for phase four. Government also proposes to buy 582 new coaches for Delhi Metro.
viii. Developing bus terminals and depots: Rs 100 crore
ix. Civic bodies: Rs 7,571 crore (15 percent of the total allocation)
x. Housing and slums: Rs 3,113 crore
xi. Tourism and culture: Rs 119 crore
xii. Computers in Delhi government schools & Tablets for teachers: Rs 182 crore
xiii. Environment department: Rs 57 crore
xiv. Delhi Commission for Women (DCW): Rs 120 crore.
xv. Forests’ and environment welfare: Rs.106 crore
