Punjab Affairs
To give boost to rural infrastructure development in the state, Punjab Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan on Saturday said the state has prioritised projects to the tune of Rs 1,022 crore from the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) under RIDF (Rural Infrastructure Development Fund)-XXVII.
Chairing the high-powered committee meeting to review the progress of various ongoing -funded projects, the Chief Secretary informed that these projects will ensure Infrastructure development in the countryside during the current fiscal.
Sharing the progress of ongoing infrastructure projects in the state, Chief General Manager NABARD, Punjab, Rajiv Siwach, informed that four projects, involving RIDF assistance of Rs 714.15-crore have already been sanctioned by NABARD and another two projects submitted by the state were also in the process of getting sanctioned. Considering the high performance of the state, he said the normative allocation for RIDF-XXVII has been enhanced from Rs 500-crore to Rs 750-crore for the current financial year.
The Chief Secretary asked all administrative departments to ensure maximise availment of funds and undertake the projects in different fields, especially Education, Irrigation, Water supply and sanitation, public works (roads and bridges), Health, construction of godowns, installation of solar water pumping units, Soil and water conservation in the right earnest.
National and International Affairs
Swachh Survekshan Gramin 2021 – SSG
Swachh Survekshan Gramin 2021 has been launched. Swachh Survekshan Gramin 2021 was launched in the second phase of Swachh Bharat Mission.
Highlights:
The Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS) will undertake the Survekshan (survey) nationally to assist the acceleration of ODF Plus interventions and extend momentum for enhancing ODF Sustainability as well as Solid and Liquid Waste Management (SLWM) activities throughout villages.
More than 17000 villages in 698 districts will be included this time.
As part of the survey, schools, anganwadis, public Health centers, haats/bazaars, religious places, etc. will be visited.
Around 1,74,750 households will be interviewed for their comments on SBM issues.
Main Bhi Digital 3.0 – Campaign for Street Vendors
Main Bhi Digital 3.0 was launched A unique Campaign for Training for street vendors and Digital Onboarding.
The campaign has been launched by the Ministry of Housing Affairs in collaboration with the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology throughout 223 cities in the country.
This drive is a part of the PM SVANidhi scheme.
BharatPe, Mswipe, PhonePe, Paytm and Aceware are participating in this event to issue UPI IDs, QR codes and provide digital training.
Digital payment aggregators will work with street vendors to increase the adoption rate and behavior change of digital transactions.
To promote digital transactions, guidance has been issued to the Lending Institutions (LIs) to handover a long lasting QR Code and teach the beneficiaries for conducting digital receipt and price transactions within a week of disbursement.
India Rankings 2021 – Education Ministry
The Minister of Education released the 2021 India ranking established by the National Institutional Ranking Framework.
Highlights:
This is the sixth consecutive version of India Rankings of HEIs in India.
In the first edition in 2016, university categories and rankings in three specific fields were announced, namely engineering, management, and pharmacy rankings.
Over the years, three new categories and five new subject areas have been added, bringing the total to four 4 categories and seven subjects.
Medium Range Surface to Air Missile System
DRDO passed over the air DEFENCE missile (MRSAM) System to the Indian Air Force.
About MRSAM System:
MRSAM (IAF) is an advanced Network-centric combat air defense system developed by DRDO and the Israel Aerospace (IAI) in cooperation with Indian Industry, which includes the private and public sectors, including small, medium and micro enterprises.
The MRSAM system provides point and area air defense for ground assets to resist various threats, including fighter jets, unmanned aerial vehicles, helicopters, guided and unguided munitions, subsonic and supersonic cruise missiles, etc.
It is capable of engaging multiple targets at ranges up to 70 kms in extreme saturation scenarios.
The missile is powered by an indigenously developed rocket motor and control system for reaching excessive manoeuvrability during the terminal phase.
Strategic Clean Energy Partnership – US and India
The Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri and US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm co-chaired a virtual ministerial meeting to launch the reformed US-India Strategic Clean Energy PARTNERSHIP .
Highlights:
SCEP was launched under the US-India Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 partnership announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden at the Climate Leaders Summit in April this year.
The SCEP organizes an inter-governmental engagement throughout 5 pillars of cooperation. They are: (1) Power and Energy Efficiency; (2) ; (3) Responsible Oil and Gas; (4) Sustainable Growth and (5) Emerging Fuels.
First Country to Vaccinate Toddlers Cuba
Cuba grew to be the first country in the world to vaccinate Toddlers from the age of two against COVID-19, the usage of Home-grown jabs now not recognised through the World Health Organisation.
Highlights:
The communist island of 11.2 million human beings aims to inoculate all its youngsters earlier than reopening schools that have been closed for the most part due to the fact that March 2020.
Countries such as China, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela have announced they plan to vaccinate younger children, however Cuba is the first to do so.
The Cuban Vaccines, the first developed in Latin America, have not undergone international, scientific peer review.
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