KERALA
World Bank sanctions $125 million loan to Kerala
As part of the state’s Resilient Kerala Program, the World Bank (WB) has sanctioned 125 million USD to the state to support the state’s preparedness against natural disasters, climate change impacts, disease outbreaks and pandemics.
The Resilient Kerala Program will focus on two key areas. First, it will incorporate disaster risk planning in the master plans of urban and local self-governments to ease financial constraints on the state government when faced with unexpected shocks. Second, it will help make the health, water resources management, agriculture and road sectors more resilient to calamities.
The program is part of a programmatic series of the bank-financed operations in the state.
The first Resilient Kerala Development Policy Operation (DPO) approved in June 2019 had undertaken several initiatives. It had helped the state draft a river basin conservation and management act, which will conserve and regulate water resources and ensure their sustainable management, allocation and utilization. It had also introduced climate-resilient agriculture, risk-informed land use and disaster management planning. The program laid the foundations for a five-year state partnership framework.
The support to key sectors under the program include sustainable fiscal and debt management through establishing a debt management unit in the finance department to support the state’s efforts to scale down its debt-to-GSDP ratio to a sustainable trajectory, providing timely and adequate assistance to vulnerable households, disaster and climate-resilient urban development, create resilient public health systems, ensure an integrated and sustainable water resources management, ensure sustainable and resilient food systems and create a climate-resilient road infrastructure.
INTERNATIONAL
First Medal in Tokyo Games
Mirabai Chanu from Imphal won the silver medal and became the first Indian to win an Olympic medal at the Tokyo Games 2020 in the Women’s 49kg category.
Zhihui Hou of China won the gold medal in the women’s 49-kg weightlifting at the Tokyo Olympics, lifting 210 kg, while Windy Cantika Aisah of Indonesia won the bronze medal. Chanu managed to lift 202 kg in the women’s 49kg category to become the second Indian weightlifter after Karnam Malleswari to win an Olympic medal. Mirabai Chanu registered a new Olympic record with a successful lift of 115kg in clean and jerk.
Historic Urban Landscape project of UNESCO
In Madhya Pradesh, Orchha and Gwalior cities have been selected by UNESCO under its Historic Urban Landscape Project.
Highlights:
The project was started in 2011. The historic Urban Landscape project of UNESCO for the cities of Orchha and Gwalior was launched by the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh through video conferencing.Six cities of South Asia, including Varanasi and Ajmer, are already involved in this landscape project. Gwalior and Orchha have been selected as the 7th and 8th cities of South Asia.
NATIONAL
Honey Mission Programme Launched by KVIC
:During 2017-18, the Khadi & Village Industries Commission (KVIC) of the Ministry of MSME launched the Honey Mission programme.
It is being implemented in rural India to promote beekeeping activities and provide self-sustaining employment opportunities for farmers, Adivasis, and unemployed youth.
Beneficiaries receive Bee Boxes, tool kits, live bee colonies, and training as part of the program.
Additionally, traditional beekeepers are provided with long-term employment through the Ministry of MSME’s Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI), which organises them into clusters and provides them with new machinery and training.
The scheme has approved 29 honey clusters, which will benefit 13,388 beekeepers, and the Indian government has provided financial assistance of Rs.68.65 crore.
It is also proposed that in the financial year 2021-22, eight Self-Help Groups be formed to benefit 80 beekeepers in the Bundelkhand Region.
Govt. Portal for Children Orphaned by COVID
For children orphaned by COVID-19, the government has established a portal that is accessible to all states and union territories. Any citizen can use the portal to notify the administration about a child who is eligible for assistance under this scheme.
The central government has announced the “PM-CARES for Children” scheme for all children orphaned by Covid-19.
Features of the Scheme:
♦ A corpus of Rs. 10 lakh
♦ Children’s Education (under the age of ten)
♦ Children’s Education (11-18 years)
♦ Higher education
♦ Medical Insurance
Schemes for the Welfare of the Minorities
The government is implementing various schems to promote the welfare and promotion of all sectors of society, including ethnic minorities, especially the economically weaker and oppressed sectors throughout the country.
This information was provided in the Lok Sabha by the Union Minister for Minority Affairs.
These schemess/programs implemented by the Minority Affairs Ministry are:
Pre-Matric Scholarship, Post-Matric Scholarship, Merit based Scholarship Scheme
♦ Maulana Azad National Fellowship Scheme
♦ Naya Savera – Allied and Free Coaching scheme
♦ Padho Pardesh Scheme
♦ Nai Udaan
♦ Nai Roshni
♦ Seekho Aur Kamao
♦ Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram (PMJVK)
♦ Jiyo Parsi
♦ Upgrading traditional arts/craftsmanship skills and training
♦ Nai Manzil
♦ Hamari Dharohar
♦ Maulana Azad Education Foundation (MAEF)
♦ National Minorities Development & Finance Corporation equity