GUJARAT

Power, infrastructure get most of government investment in Gujrat

Power and infrastructure sectors in Gujarat have received a major thrust when it comes to investments made by the state government in state public sector undertakings (SPSUs), states Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG)’s report on the public sector undertakings for the year ended March 2019.

Gujarat government’s total investments in its 87 SPSUs stood at Rs 2.49 lakh crore as on March 31, 2019. Of the total SPSUs, 16 are inactive. “The thrust of SPSUs investment was mainly in the power and infrastructure sector as the percentage share of investment in infrastructure sector to total investment was 35.8% (Rs 89,499 crore) in 2018-19 as compared to 32.4% in 2014-15,” said the report, which was tabled in the state assembly on Friday. The share of power sector in total investment was 42.7% (Over Rs 1 lakh crore) in 2018-19, which increased from 42% in 2018-19.

According to CAG, the active SPSUs registered a turnover of Rs 1.48 lakh crore according to their financial statements as on September 30, 2019. There are 10 SPSUs in power sector and their turnover recorded continuous increase over previous year and stood at Rs 1.09 lakh crore. As against this, the investment in 10 power sector SPSUs was Rs 1.06 lakh crore. All the state-run power sector companies earned profit of Rs 1,085 crore.

Out of total 61 active SPSUs, 15 SPSUs incurred losses of Rs 2,569 crore during 2018-19. As against this, the net profit of 44 SPSUs remained at 2,487 crore. The government made investments in 61 SPSUs and the return on investment from these companies ranged from negative 18.9% to 0.7% during the period from 2014-15 to 2018-19.

INTERNATIONAL

India launches first ever cargo ferry with Maldives

The first ever Cargo Ferry Service between India and the Maldives was jointly launched, opening a new chapter in connectivity initiatives in the Indian Ocean Region.

The Cargo Ferry Vessel MCP Linz operated by the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) will connect Tuticorin and Cochin ports in India with Kulhudhuhfushi and Male ports in the Maldives.

The MCP Linz is a combination vessel which can carry 380 TEUs and 3000 MT on bulk cargo, and will have a turnaround time of 10-12 days for its voyages, officials said.

This vessel provides direct cargo connectivity between India and the Maldives on a predictable and affordable basis for the first time, and will lower costs and times for traders in both countries.

PM Narendra Modi awarded Ig Nobel Prize 2020 for medical education

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been awarded the Ig Nobel Prize 2020 for Medical Education.

Modi was awarded the prize for “using the COVID-19 pandemic to teach the world that politicians can have a more immediate effect on life and death than scientists and doctors can”.

Besides Modi, the medical education prize was jointly awarded to Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom, Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico, Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, Donald Trump of the USA, Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, Vladimir Putin of Russia, and Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow of Turkmenistan.

Not to be confused with the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize, the Ig Nobel Prize is a satirical and parody award given out by a magazine Improbable Research every year since 1991.

Modi became the second Indian Prime Minister to be awarded the Ig Nobel Prize. In 1998, then-PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan were awarded the Ig Nobel Peace Prize for “aggressively peaceful explosions of atomic bombs.”

World Rhino Day is observed on 22 September

World Rhino Day is observed on 22 September. The day is observed to celebrate the world’s five rhinoceros species and to reflect on the challenges facing them. The day encourages people to take steps for the conservation of Rhinos.

There are 5 rhino species living in Africa and Asia. Three of the species namely Javan Rhinos, Sumatran rhinos and black rhinos are listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as Critically Endangered. One of the 5 species White rhinos are considered near threatened, and greater one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis) vulnerable to extinction.

NATIONAL

Center Approved Rs.600 Crore Outlay for Street Vendors under PM Svanidhi Scheme

Amid the Corona crisis, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs had launched Prime Minister Street Vendor’s Amta Nirbhar Nidhi Scheme (PM SVANidhi) on June 01, 2020 which aims to facilitate collateral free working capital loans upto Rs 10,000 of 1 year tenure, to about 50 lakh street vendors across the country.

According to recent reports, the approved outlay for PM SVANidhi scheme is Rs.600.00 crores.

It also provides for incentives in the form of interest subsidy @ 7% per annum on regular repayment of loan and cash-back upto Rs. 100 per month on undertaking prescribed digital transactions.

Further, on timely or early repayment, the vendors will be eligible for the next cycle of working capital loan with an enhanced limit.

For the purpose of scheme administration, an end-to-end solution through an IT platform has been developed in collaboration with Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI).

Centre launched National Conservation Strategy for Indian One-Horned Rhino

Environment Ministry launched a National Conservation Strategy for Indian One-Horned Rhino. It was launched by the Union Minister Prakash Javadekar. The conservation initiatives for rhino has also enriched the grassland management as it helps in reducing the negative impacts of climate change.

The Strategy was launched to conserve the greater one-horned rhinoceros.

It aims to work for the conservation of the rhino species under five objectives namely strengthening protection, expanding the distribution range, research, monitoring, and adequate and sustained funding.

India is home to a huge number of Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros in the world. The population of the Rhinos are high in number in Assam, West Bengal and UP. In the beginning of the 20th Century, One-horned rhino was close to extinction with a population of less than 200. Rhino is the only large mammal species in Asia to be down-listed from endangered to vulnerable in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List in 2008.

Government launched YuWaah, a multi-stakeholder platform to make young people career ready

Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports and United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) have signed a Statement of Intent (SoI) with Generation Unlimited (GenU), a global multi-stakeholder platform in India, to establish YuWaah, to make young people career ready. This information was passed by the Union Minister of State (IC) for Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju.

The project aims to:

Support young people by providing entrepreneurship classes, both online and offline, with successful entrepreneurs and experts. The aim is to establish an entrepreneurial mindset among young people.

Boost the skills of the 21st-century young people, digital skills, life skills, through online and offline channels and support them through self-learning, for their productive lives and the future of work.

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