18-19-06-23 Daily-Kerala-KPSC Current Affairs

Authorities are all set to start the work on sewage treatment plant (STP) at Elamkulam and a collection Network of around 40km under the second phase of Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (Amrut) scheme. Government has given administrative sanction of Rs 193 crore for the project.

With this, the government has given administrative sanction for projects worth Rs 345 crore for enhancing water supply and to set up sewage facilities in the city.

Once the 5 million litre per day (mld) sewage treatment plant and its collection network are completed, around 10,000 households in the divisions like Ernakulam South, Ernakulam Central and Ernakulam North will be connected to the facility. The government has given administrative sanction for the sewage project worth Rs 193 crore. The technical sanction for the project is expected soon.

Other major projects are Rs 19 crore project to construct an overhead storage tank at Kaloor and a Rs 14 crore overhead storage tank at Pachalam. Tenders have been invited for works to improve the water supply system at Pachalam, Edapally and Vennala areas. Replacement of old asbestos concrete (AC) pipes with ductile iron (DI) pipes in those areas are the major component of the work.

Twelve Indian states, includingBiharand Uttar Pradesh, have formed the Transgender Welfare Board but the capital still lacks one. In June, designated the ‘Pride Month’ across the world to celebrate sexual minorities, many members of the transgender community are expressing disappointment at the lack of attention given to the trans community in Delhi.

The state welfare boards are meant to provide income assistance, housing, Education, EMPLOYMENT and healthcare to transgender people. In response to a notice issued by the <a href="https://exam.pscnotes.com/national-human-rights-commission”>National Human Rights Commission, the Delhi social welfare department had once claimed to have accorded approval to the constitution of the transgender welfare board in the city and it was being processed for notification. The expectation that the board would be setupsoon hasn’t materialised.

In 2021, the Union social Justice ministry initiated 13 shelters for transgenders known as “Garima Greh”. The homes were set up under the SMILE (Support for Marginalised Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise) scheme in accordance with The Transgender Rights Act. As per the guidelines, each Garima Greh is to be granted Rs 36.5 lakh each year.

Indias Internet economy is expected to grow sixfold to $1 trillion by 2030 from $175 billion in 2022, a report fromGoogle, Temasek and Bain & Company showed.

The report said confluence of three crucial forces — digital-seeking behaviours among internet users in tier-2 locations; the digitization of large, traditional businesses along with a growing startup ecosystem; and the success of Indias homegrown digital public goods or the India Stack — has positioned the internet economy for acceleration.

The contribution of the internet economy to Indias technology sector is set to expand, from the present 48% to 62% in 2030, while its share in Indias GDP will increase from 4-5% to nearly 12-13%.

With Indias 700 million internet users transacting more via real-time digital payments and spending more time on online video-streaming Services and Social Media than global Averages, the internet economy is set to expand beyond its current base.

This Growth will be founded on consumers seeing their household incomes double by 2030 from approximately $2,500 to $5,500 by 2030. Tier-2 consumers indicated a greater openness to experimentation with new brands and products, and to directing their increased spending towards personalization and premiumization, especially for healthtech and edtech, the report said.

Digital technology will be a major contributor to the countrys GDP Growth this decade, saidVAnantha Nageswaran, chief economic adviser, Government of India. He was speaking at the interaction organised by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) in the city.

He said that capital Investment and digital technology will help achieve positive growth as online usage in India is well ahead of the largest digital economy with respect to digital payment. My expectation is that capital investments by businesses, which was absent last decade, will add about 0.3% to 0.5% to growth of GDP and digital economy another 0.3% to 0.5%, he said.

Indias Real GDP growth for the year ending March 2023 was 7.2%, surpassing expectations. The final number will be higher than 7.2% as the underlying momentum in the economy is quite strong, he added.

According to the data, India recorded a staggering 89.5 million digital transactions during the review period. This accounted for a remarkable 46 percent share of the worlds real-time payments in 2022, surpassing the combined digital payments of the next four top countries.

The Growth of digital payments in India has witnessed significant milestones in terms of both value and volume. Experts from the Reserve Bank Of India (RBI) highlighted the countrys strong payment ecosystem and the acceptance of digital modes by Indian citizens as key factors contributing to Indias digital payments success.

Brazil secured the second position in digital payments with 29.2 million transactions, followed by China at third place with 17.6 million transactions. Thailand and South Korea secured the fourth and fifth spots, respectively, with 16.5 million and 8 million transactions.