UTTARAKHAND
Govt focuses on decentralised development, job generation
In the address of the Governor, which is considered as the document of Government’s vision and achievements, the Uttarakhand Government has claimed that its priority is to facilitate decentralised development and make Uttarakhand a developed state with participation of all.
In her address, the governor Baby Rani Maurya said that the state government has amended polices in eight areas and established ten new promotional polices.
The work on 457 memoranda of understanding (MoUs) worth Rs 21270.97 crore has reached grounding level. A total of 2,641 industrial units have been established with an investment of Rs 3,524 crore in the state and these units have given employment to 57,314 people.
In her address, the governor claimed that the state has reached to 9th place from 23 spot in the recently released ranking of ease of doing business and the state is on first position among the hill states. The government has also earmarked a place in Bharadisain for construction of a mini secretariat.
The governor said that 817 proposals have been received under the single window scheme through Common Application Forms (CAF) and an investment of Rs 2,924 crore has been made in the state. The governor said that a cluster based approach is adopted for setting up small and micro industrial units in mountainous areas.
A process to set up 83 growth centres in the state and a provision of Rs 1133.25 lakh has been released for these centres. The governor said that under Invest India scheme, 66 start-ups have been approved. In the year 2006, 178 tigers were there in the forests of the state which have now increased to 482.
Similarly, the number of elephants has increased to 1836. The governor said that the state government has prepared a report on the ecological services provided by the forests and valued the economical value of their services. A total 381 kilometres of roads were constructed in the current financial year which also saw re-construction of 697 kilometres of roads.
INTERNATIONAL
Moody’s Investors Service slashes India’s growth forecast to 5.4 per cent for 2020
Moody’s Investors Service slashed India’s growth forecast to 5.4 per cent for 2020 from 6.6 percent predicted earlier.
In its on Global Macro Outlook, Moody’s said India’s economy has decelerated rapidly over the last two years and expects economic recovery to begin in the current quarter.
The growth projections are based on calendar year and as per its estimates.
Global GDP growth forecast has been revised down, and Moody’s now expect G-20 economies to collectively grow 2.4 per cent in 2020.
NATIONAL
NABARD infuses Rs 1.46 lakh crore in rural banking system during current fiscal
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has infused 1.46 lakh crore rupees in the rural banking system during the current fiscal.
In a statement, NABARD has said that 66,397 crore rupees have been given in short-term credit and 6,704 crore rupees in long-term credit to rural cooperative banks.
Regional rural banks have availed 14,141 crore rupees in short-term credit and 8,417 crore rupees in long-term credit.
While short-term refinance is essentially production credit, long-term refinance is aimed at supporting sectors like dairy, poultry, fishery, farm mechanisation, irrigation, and non-farm sectors, among others.
Government launches ‘Humsafar’ mobile app for doorstep diesel delivery
Housing societies, hotels, and hospitals in the national capital region will soon be able to get diesel delivered at their doorsteps, with the launch of mobile application ‘Humsafar’ by Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar.
The app will be used for the fuel delivery services to housing societies, hotels, hospitals, malls, construction sites, industries, banquets and other bulk buyers of diesel in various national capital region cities, including Gurugram, Ghaziabad, Noida, Faridabad, Hapur, Kundli, Manesar, and Bahadurgarh.
The main idea of introducing this service is to help entities such as housing societies, industries and malls avoid the hassle of transporting large amounts of fuel from the fuel station to the desired destination.
The major benefits of diesel delivery service are good quality and quantity of fuel delivered, live tracking of the delivery vehicle, automated billing, delivery within 8 hours and no spillage and wastage of fuel.
Humsafar has 12 bowser tankers in varying capacity from 4 kilo litres to 6 kilo litres and an experienced team of 35 people, excluding bowser crews.
Cabinet approves 2019 Companies Second Amendment Bill
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the Companies (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019 on 4 March 2020. The Bill will amend the Companies Act, 2013.
Bill Provisions:
The Bill will make 72 changes in the Companies Act.
The Bill will remove criminality under the Act in case of defaults which can be determined objectively and which, otherwise, lack the element of fraud or do not involve larger public interest.
The Bill will lead to further de-clogging of the criminal justice system in the country.
It would also further ease of living for law-abiding corporates.
Previously, the Companies Act was amended by the Companies (Amendment) Act, 2015. The Bill removed certain difficulties faced in the implementation of various provisions of the Act.
APEDA signed MoUs with various organizations to implement Agri Export Policy
Agricultural and Processed Food Export Development Authority (APEDA) signed MoUs with specialized institutions namely the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD), Indian Chamber of Food and Agriculture (ICFA), SGT University, Pearl Academy, and Quality Council of India (QCI) Delhi, on 4 March 2020. The MoU aims to utilize its expertise to work together to boost the activities in the interest of agriculture and allied sectors to bring better value to the stakeholders.
As per the agreement, IITD will cooperate in the areas of technology development for export promotion by APEDA. It will also develop early detection techniques for detecting spoilage of agri-produce to boost Agri exports. It will also identify the cause and suggest low-cost mitigation technology and develop Internet of things (IoT) based technologies in areas like early warning systems, efficient and precision farming related to international food exports.
With the Quality Council of India (QCI), APEDA aims to develop training material on various QCI Certification Schemes such as Product Certification, Inspection, INDGAP certification, IND-HACCP Certification, etc.
APEDA will develop suitable export worthy varieties of potatoes, groundnut, high TSS onion varieties, Moringa plantation for successful cultivation in Haryana, through a pilot project at SGT University agricultural fields.
Cabinet approved MoU between India and Cote dlvoire for cooperation in the field of health
The Union Cabinet approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of India and the Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene of Cote d’Ivoire. The MoU was aimed to enhance cooperation in the field of health.
The MoU will regulate drugs and pharmaceutical products.
It covers various areas of cooperation, including the exchange & training of medical doctors, officials, other health professionals, and experts in the field of advanced medical technology, nuclear medicine, renal transplantation, cardiac surgery, nephrology, hemodialysis, and medical research.
As per the MoU, the countries will work together to Procure generic and essential drugs and assistance in sourcing of drug supplies
The MoU provides provision for collaboration and research in the field of HIV/AIDS, development and improvement of the techniques and strategies for epidemiological surveillance, exchange of best practices in the field of primary health care and sharing of know-how on the management of hospitals and community healthcare centers.
Cabinet approves amendment on the FDI policy on civil aviation
The Union Cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved to amend the existing Foreign direct investment (FDI) Policy to permit Foreign Investment(s) in M/s Air India Ltd. The amendment will allow foreign investment up to 100% by those Non-resident Indians (NRIs), who are Indian Nationals, in the case of M/s Air India Ltd.
The amendments to the FDI Policy will enable foreign investment by NRIs into Air India up to 100% under the automatic route.
The present FDI Policy permits 100% FDI in scheduled Air Transport Service and Domestic Scheduled Passenger Airline, that is, Automatic up to 49% and Government route beyond 49%.