GUJARAT
Ahmedabad among 16 districts that use up more water: Study
With a few good years of rainfall and a significant rise in water distributed through the canals, Gujarat’s water security scenario is better off now than it was a decade ago.
However, even today, 16 of the 33 districts including Ahmedabad are ‘water deficient’ in terms of their demand and supply.
A study titled ‘Building Informed and Scalable Water Security Solutions for Gujarat,’ carried out by Development Support Centre (DSC) and other NGOs, assessed the groundwater, surface water, crop pattern and water quality among other parameters based on both primary and secondary data to estimate the demand-supply gap and the way forward.
INTERNATIONAL
Australia’s Deakin University to set up campus in GIFT city
The first foreign university to establish a campus in India will be Deakin University of Australia. The autonomous campus will be built in Gujarat International Financial Tec-City (GIFT) City.
The announcement by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman last year that she would allow top-tier foreign universities and institutions to establish campuses in GIFT City to provide courses in financial management, FinTech, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics “free from domestic regulations” has led to the current development.
NATIONAL
21 Greenfield Airports are to be set up in the country, 11 are operationalized
Government of India has formulated a Greenfield Airports Policy, 2008 which provides detailed guidelines, procedures and steps related to construction of Greenfield airports across the country, including in Bihar. Under the GFA Policy, the project proponent- an airport developer or the respective State Government willing to establish a Greenfield airport is required to send a proposal to the Ministry of Civil Aviation in the prescribed format for 2-stage approval process i.e., ‘Site Clearance’ followed by ‘In-Principle’ approval.
Government of India has also granted the first stage clearance i.e. site clearance for construction of three Greenfield airports namely Alwar in Rajasthan, Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh and Mandi in Himachal Pradesh.
The responsibility of implementation of airport projects including funding of the projects rests with the concerned airport developer including the respective State Government (in case the State Government is the project proponent).
‘LIFE’ – ‘Lifestyle for Environment’, key to combating climate change
Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey informed that the Government has started Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE) movement with a view to sensitize all stakeholders, including the public at large, about the need for mindful utilization instead of mindless consumption of resources. A comprehensive and non-exhaustive list of 75 individual environment-friendly actions (LiFE actions) across 7 categories has been identified for nudging individuals, communities and institutions as a part of this movement.
The update to NDC submitted to UNFCCC in August 2022 includes India’s commitment to reduce Emissions Intensity of its GDP by 45 percent by 2030, from 2005 level; achieve about 50 percent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030.
38.58 crore loans extended since inception of Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY)
As per data uploaded by Member Lending Institutions (MLIs) on Mudra portal, more than 38.58 crore loans have been extended since inception of the Scheme in April 2015. Out of this, over 26.35 crore loans have been extended to Women Entrepreneurs (68%) and 19.84 crore loans to SC/ST/OBC category of borrowers (51%). This was stated by the Union Minister of State for Finance Dr Bhagwat Kisanrao Karad in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha.
The Minister further stated that the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE) had conducted a large sample survey at the national level to assess employment generation under PMMY. As per the survey results, PMMY helped in generating 1.12 crore net additional employment in the country during a period of approximately 3 years (i.e. from 2015 to 2018).
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