Digitally capturing the attendance of workers employed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGREGS) has been made universal by the Centre from January 1, 2023. 

 

* The Minister of Rural Development launched the National Mobile Monitoring Software (NMMS) App in 2021. From January 1, 2023, had started a pilot project to capture attendance via a mobile application, the National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS). 


Source : The Hindu

Fulfilling the vision of the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi of an ‘Insurgency free and prosperous North East’ and under the guidance of Union Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah, the Government of India and the Government of Manipur entered into a Cessation of Operation Agreement in New Delhi (27th Dec 2022), with the Zeliangrong United Front (ZUF) that had been active for more than a decade. This will be a significant boost to the peace process in Manipur.

* This agreement was signed by senior officers of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and the Govt. of Manipur and the representatives of ZUF in the presence of the Chief Minister of Manipur, Shri N. Biren Singh.

 

* Representatives of the armed Group agreed to abjure violence and join the peaceful democratic process as established by law of the land.

* The agreement provides for rehabilitation and re-settlement of the armed cadres.  A Joint Monitoring Group will be constituted to oversee enforcement of the agreed ground rules..

Source : PIB

The Government of India and Asian Development Bank (ADB) 27th Dec 2022 signed a $125 million loan to develop climate-resilient sewage collection and treatment, and drainage and water supply systems in three cities in the state of Tamil Nadu.

 

The signatories to the tranche 3 loan for Tamil Nadu Urban Flagship Investment Program were Rajat Kumar Mishra, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance who signed for the Government of India, and Hoe Yun Jeong, Officer-in-Charge of ADB’s India Resident Mission who signed for ADB.

 

The financing is the third and the last tranche of the $500 million multi-tranche financing facility (MFF) for the Program approved by ADB in 2018 to build priority water supply, sewerage, and drainage infrastructure in strategic industrial corridors across 10 cities in the state.

The tranche 3 loan covers Coimbatore, Madurai, and Thoothukudi.

 

After signing the loan agreement, Mr Mishra said that the ADB financing will help ensure universal access to basic water and sanitation services and improve resilience against floods in the project target areas which are also the industrial hubs of Tamil Nadu.

 

“Through this project, ADB continues to support developing and improving urban services in the state by deploying new approaches such as build and operate modality, automatic meters for bulk water users, and real-time monitoring through supervisory control and data acquisition systems,” said Mr. Jeong. “ADB’s urban investments are aligned to support strategic industrial corridor development in Tamil Nadu.”

 

The financing will support the development of two sewage treatment plants in Coimbatore with 529 kilometers (km) of sewage collection pipelines, install 14 pump and lift stations and build 14 km of sewage pumping mains. In Thoothukudi, climate-resilient stormwater drainage system will be developed.

 

In Madurai, the project will support the commissioning of 813 km of new water supply distribution pipelines that will connect 163,958 households to 115 newly established district metered area with smart water features to reduce nonrevenue water. In Coimbatore and Madurai, two all-female self-help groups will be trained on the benefits of household connection to sewage collection system, water conservation, sanitation, and health and hygiene..

Source : PIB

The 'Dhanu Yatra' festival, considered to be the world’s largest open-air theatre, began on Tuesday(27th Dec 2022) in the Western Odisha town of Bargarh.

 

* President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered greetings to the people of the eastern state with the commencement of the 11-day festival.

 

* The ‘Dhanu Yatra’, which marks the victory of good over evil, came into existence in Bargarh in 1947-48 as part of the celebration of the country’s Independence and is held annually.

 

* "The vibrant Dhanu Yatra is associated with the culture of Odisha. As this Yatra begins, my greetings to everyone. May this Yatra further the spirit of harmony and happiness in our society," PM Modi said on the microblogging site.

 

* The plays in the festival start with the dethroning of Emperor Ugrasen of Mathura by angry Kansa over the marriage of his sister Devaki with Vasudev.

 

* "The festival will conclude with the death of demon king Kansa and restoration of the throne to Ugrasen," said a member of the Dhanu Yatra Mahotsav Committee..

Source : Outlook India

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati and Bombay in collaboration with European universities are working towards building a low-cost technology to check the quality of potable and other water in India.

 

The LOTUS Indo-European project, an initiative of the Department of Science and Technology and the European Commission, is aimed at providing solutions for issues related to the quality of water supplied across Indian households and elsewhere.

 

A core element of the LOTUS project is a novel water quality sensor that builds on previous work done at Ecole Polytechnique, Paris, France.

 

The sensor was further developed during the project by researchers at Université Gustave Eiffel in collaboration with IIT Guwahati and the SME EGM, Sophia Antipolis, France.

 

According to S Senthilmurugan, Chairperson, Technology Incubation Centre, IIT Guwahati, LOTUS water quality sensor requirements were established after collecting information from Indian water utility owners, operators, end users, and research and development experts and therefore LOTUS sensor is expected to satisfy Indian water industries.

 

“Successful commercialisation of the LOTUS water quality sensor will provide a low-cost water quality monitoring and safe drinking water supply solution to the Indian citizens which is in line with the vision of the Jal Jeevan Mission of the government of India and its Make-in-India initiative.

 

“Even during COVID times, the LOTUS team from IIT Guwahati was able to continue the groundwater sample collection and sensor development work with minimal delay,” he said.

 

For the commercial production of the sensor for the Indian market, IIT Guwahati is collaborating with Linxens India Private Limited and Hydroscope Technology Private Limited, a start-up firm.

 

The process of technology licensing between both companies and the LOTUS team (IIT Guwahati and Université Gustave Eiffel) is in progress.

 

“The LOTUS sensor developed at IIT Guwahati is being designed to address sensing needs and quality control aspects across different use case scenarios encompassing safe drinking water, agricultural water and wastewater.

 

“The overall framework including the LOTUS sensor, and the quality monitoring and control algorithms developed at IIT Bombay, would be developed and deployed on platforms to provide improved solutions to address major water quality control issues across the country,” said Ravindra Gudi, Dean (Alumni and Corporate Relations), IIT Bombay..

Source : The Print

The no-objection certificates were issued by the home ministry on Tuesday(27th Dec 2022) for changing the name of ‘Mundera Bazaar’ municipal council in Gorakhpur district to ‘Chauri Chaura’ and that of ‘Telia Afghan’ village in Deoria district to ‘Telia Shukla’.

 

The Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) has given its consent to change the names of two places in Uttar Pradesh following recommendations from the state government, said an official aware of the matter.

 

During the inauguration of yearlong Chauri Chaura centenary celebrations on February 4, 2021, chief minister Yogi Adityanath had given approval to the proposal of the local people’s representatives and residents to change the name of ‘Mundera Bazaar’ municipal council to ‘Chauri Chaura’ municipal council. Later, the state government sent the proposal for the change of the name to the central government.

 

Chauri Chaura was in the limelight during the non- cooperation movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi in 1922.

On February 4, 1922 three villagers were killed in the fight between locals and police there. Later, the villagers set the police station afire in which 22 policemen were killed.

The British government had lodged a case against 228 people and among them 19 were given capital punishment while 14 were sentenced to life imprisonment..

Source : Hindustan Times

The birth anniversary of former Prime Minister of the country Atal Bihari Vajpayee, many personalities who played an important role in various fields were honored on December 24, 2022, at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi during 9th Atal Samman Samaroh.

 

* Prabhu Chandra Mishra was honoured with the prestigious "Atal Samman Award" during the 9th Atal Samman Samaroh, organised in New Delhi.

 

* He was awarded for his excellence in field of science & research.

 

* He has worked in the area of StemCell & Regenerative Medicine in infertility especially when In vitro fertilization (IVF) failed.

 

* Under his work, diseases like premature ovarian failure, and Asherman syndrome have shown satisfactory results with body’s own cells..

Source : The Print

The Ministry of Railways, as part of its station redevelopment drive, has formulated a new scheme to modernise over 1,000 small stations over the coming years.

Under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, stations will be equipped with facilities inspired by the mega-upgradation of marquee stations such as New Delhi and Ahmedabad, albeit at a lower cost.

 

Key features of these proposed stations include provisions for roof top plazas, longer platforms, ballastless tracks, and 5G connectivity. The scheme will subsume all previous redevelopment projects where work is yet to begin.

 

Amrit Bharat Station Scheme aims : At preparation of Master Plans of the Railway stations and implementation of the Master Plan in phases to enhance the facilities including and beyond the Minimum Essential Amenities and aiming for creation of Roof Plazas and city centres at the station in the long run,” the Railway Board said in the policy document.

 

* However, plans and consequent budgets will only be approved on the basis of factors such as footfall and inputs from stakeholders. Zonal railways have been given the responsibility of selecting stations, which will then be approved by a committee of senior railway officials.

 

* The model envisages low-cost redevelopment of stations which can be executed timely. Sources said the separate scheme, focused on small stations, was taken to ensure that modernisation of small stations does not lose steam as the ministry focuses on mega-projects to upgrade New Delhi, Mumbai (CST), and Ahmedabad stations, which will take much longer..

Source : Business Standard

The govt of India has Tuesday(27th Dec 2022) designated the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) as the nodal ministry to oversee the online gaming industry in India.

The ministry will soon release rules for online gaming intermediaries and start public consultation on these rules.

In May 2022, the govt set up a seven-member inter-ministerial task force, chaired by Rajeev Chandrasekhar, MoS, IT.

Aim : To work on online gaming regulations and identify a nodal ministry..

Source : Deccan Herald

Shri Hardeep S. Puri, Union Minister of Housing & Urban Affairs and Petroleum & Natural Gas, releasing Draft Guidelines and Ranking Framework for ‘City Finance Rankings 2022’

 

‘City Finance Rankings 2022’ aims to evaluate, recognize and reward ULBs on the basis of their strength across three financial parameters viz. resource mobilization, expenditure performance and fiscal governance systems.”, said Shri Hardeep S. Puri, Union Minister of Housing & Urban Affairs and Petroleum & Natural Gas. 

 

He was speaking at an event of Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, where two key initiatives of Ministry- ‘City Finance Rankings, 2022’ and ‘City Beauty Competition’- were launched. Shri Manoj Joshi, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and other senior officials from Ministry attended the event..

Source : PIB