PUNJAB

Bill to regularise building violations gets final push

The Punjab Council of Ministers on Friday approved the Punjab One-Time Voluntary Disclosure and Settlement of Violations of the Buildings Bill-2019. The Bill comes up for enactment in the budget session of the state Assembly next week.

The Bill approved by the state Cabinet on January 2 applies to all buildings constructed in violation of the building bylaws within municipal areas. The cut-off date is June 30, 2018. The Bill will provide one-time opportunity to the violators, who have made non-compoundable violations in the buildings. They will be regularised without compromising on public safety/security and convenience. Violators need to comply with the fire safety and structural safety norms, in particular.

The government was considering a rate of Rs 200 per sq ft in all the towns. The proposed rate in the Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana municipal corporation areas was Rs 300 per sq ft.

The violations that will be regularised included changes in the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of buildings and the parking space. No concessions will be allowed on issues concerning fire safety and areas meant for special schemes.

INTERNATIONAL

· Siamese fighting fish was named Thailands national aquatic animal

Tiny, testy and eye-catching with a colorful fin plumage,the Siamese fighting fish was named Thailand’s national aquatic animal. Known in the West as a betta fish, the underwater brawler is popular in home aquariums for its iridescent body and many-hued tail.
The government said in a statement that the cabinet approved a proposal for the “fighting fish to be the national fish”, citing its historical and cultural significance. Thailand’s official national animal is the elephant.

NATIONAL

· India ropes in space technology to track border management

India areas are island development, border security, communication and navigation, GIS and operations planning system, and border infrastructure development.
The recommendation was given a green signal as Union Minister Rajnath Singh approved use of space technology at the borders.
The task force headed by Joint Secretary (Border Management) and having members from Border Security Force (BSF), Department of Space and Border Management division of the Home Ministry consulted all stakeholders including BGFs, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) and the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

PM Modi lays foundation for Sela Tunnel

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the strategically important Sela Tunnel Project in Arunachal Pradesh.

The project, costing Rs 687 crore, is being constructed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO)

It would be completed in the next three years.

Once the 12.04-km tunnel is complete it will give a fillip to the overall development of the area as it will provide all-weather connectivity to Tawang and other areas.

· RBI resuced the policy repo rate by 6.25 percent

TheReserve Bank of India (RBI) reduced the policy repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.25% in a bid to revive economic growth as it projected retail inflation to remain below its target of 4% for the next 12 months.
The rate reduction was the first since August 2017. The RBI also simultaneously changed the stance of the policy to ‘neutral’ from ‘calibrated tightening’, which indicates that the central bank remains ready to move in either direction based on incoming data.

· Narendra Modi to launch DD Arunaprabha

Prime Minister Narendra Modiis scheduled to launch DD Arunaprabha in Arunachal Pradesh at Itanagar on 9th February. DD Arunaprabha is India’s public service broadcaster Doordarshan’s exclusive channel based in Arunachal Pradesh. This will be Doordarshan’s 24th channel.

These projects are part of the government’s focus for the development of the North-east region through its “Act East Policy”.

The government is focusing on modernising and upgrading existing facilities in studios that are essential to sustain the ongoing activities and also for high definition television [HDTV] transmitters at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.

For All India Radio, the scheme provides for FM expansion at 206 places, and the digitalisation of studios at 127 places is envisaged.

The FM expansion programme will allow an 13% additional population of the country to listen to All India Radio programmes.

· Free treatment to all under 30 by 2022

By 2022, all people up to the age of 30 years will not only get free health check-ups but also free medical treatment, said Union health minister JP Nadda.

To attain that goal, he said the government was transforming primary and community health centres into health wellness centres and more than 20,000 such centres had been made so far.

Under the Prime Minister’s National Dialysis Programme, 1.5 lakh people had taken the facility of free dialysis while under Ayushman scheme, more than 11 lakh people had been benefited in just four months.

· 12,000 MW solar power project by PSUs cleared

The cabinet approved a proposal for setting up 12,000 MW grid-connected solar photo-voltaic (PV) power projects by government entities with viability gap funding (VGF) of Rs 8,580 crore.

The capacity will be set up under Central PSU Scheme Phase-ll over the next four years through 2022-23 at an estimated investment of Rs 48,000 crore. The scheme envisages use of cells and modules manufactured domestically.

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