ASSAM
Assam governor forms committee to empower autonomous colleges
Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi constituted a three-member committee on empowerment of autonomous colleges in Assam.
The three-member committee will be headed by the state government’s education adviser Prof Mihir Kanti Chaudhuri as its Chairman, principal secretary higher education B. Kalyan Chakravarthy and principal, Jagannath Barooh College, Jorhat, Dr. Bimal Barah as its members, an official release said.
Moreover, the committee will also assess the resources (monetary, manpower, material, academic, etc.) required for the purpose.
Further, the committee will also decide on the modus operandi to enable these autonomous colleges to award degrees on their own, besides creating adequate space for them to make progress in research and training as per NEP 2020.
NORTH-EASTERN STATES
Meghalaya nod to amend GST Act
The state cabinet on Friday approved amendment to the Meghalaya Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 by issuance of an ordinance (Meghalaya Goods and Service Tax (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021.
“The central government has brought amendments to the Central GST Act 2017 and in view of this, amendments to the State Act was necessitated in order to effect the corresponding changes made by the central act and to simultaneously implement the changes made,” said chief minister Conrad K Sangma, who holds the finance portfolio.
The cabinet also approved the proposal to frame the Meghalaya Forensic Science Laboratory Service Rules 2021, which entails framing of service rules to govern the conditions of services of its officers. The cabinet also approved the retention of registration mark of old motor vehicles on a new vehicle after the sale or scrapping of the old vehicle.
INTERNATIONAL
India Positioned in 51st Place in Annual Bank Statistics
According to ‘Annual Bank Statistics of 2020’ launched through Swiss National Bank (SNB), the Central Bank of Switzerland. India with Swiss Francs (CHF) 2.55 billion (INR 20,706 Crore) has been positioned at 51st place in the list of overseas clients’ cash in Swiss Banks during 2020.
The United Kingdom (UK) topped the listing with CHF 377 billion, accompanied by means of the US (152 billion). India was once ahead of countries like New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Mauritius, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in phrases of foreign clients’ money in Swiss banks.
Sixth Edition of SDR 2021 Has Been Released
According to the 6th Edition of ‘Sustainable Development Report 2021 (SDR 2021)’ released by Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN).
India with a score of 60.1 has been placed at a hundred and twentieth rank out of a hundred sixty-five countries. Finland topped the Index accompanied by way of Sweden & Denmark.
For the 1st time seeing that 2015, all countries have shown a reversal in progress in accomplishing Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
SDR 2021 has been written by way of a crew of authors led via Professor Jeffrey Sachs, President of the SDSN and has been published by Cambridge University Press.
NATIONAL
NISHTHA The Capacity Building Programme
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs and NCERT collaborated to organise a NISHTHA Capacity Building Programme for teachers and principals of Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS).
120 EMRS teachers and principals completed the 40-day NISHTHA-National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement Program.
The capacity building programme aims to improve the quality of school education through integrated teacher training and to build competencies among teachers and school principals. The teachers came from three different states: Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh.
More EMRS teachers from across the country will participate in the programme.
Biotech-KISAN Programme – DBT
DBT has issued a Special Call under the Biotech KISAN Programme to improve agricultural productivity in the North East region.
It is a farmer-centric scheme for farmers developed by and with farmers under the Ministry of Science and Technology’s Department of Biotechnology.
It is a pan-India programme that promotes entrepreneurship and innovation in farmers while also empowering women farmers.
It identifies and promotes local farm leaders of both male and female. In addition to facilitating knowledge transfer, this type of leadership also helps to develop science-based agriculture.
The goal is to understand the farmers’ water, soil, seed, and market problems and provide simple solutions to them.
The programme connects available science and technology to the farm by first understanding the local farmer’s problems and then providing scientific solutions to those problems.
The Biotech-KISAN hubs are expected to provide the technology needed to generate agriculture and bio-resource-related jobs and better livelihoods for small and marginal farmers by ensuring biotechnological benefits.
Integrated Power Development Scheme – IPDS
As part of the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav,’ a 50 KWP solar roof top was inaugurated in Solan under the IPDS scheme.
About the Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS):
The scheme was established in 2014 with the following goals:
Strengthen transmission and distribution networks in urban areas.
Measure distribution transformers/feeders/consumers in urban areas.
IT support for the distribution sector and strengthening of the distribution network.
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and IT-enabled balance urban towns schemes
The scheme is administered by the Ministry of Power, Government of India, and it focuses on urban power distribution.
Under the scheme, all discoms will be eligible for financial assistance
Under the overall supervision of the Power Ministry, Power Finance Corporation Limited (PFC) has been designated as the Nodal Agency for the scheme’s operationalization and implementation.