JHARKHAND

Local bodies seek more central funds

Local bodies sought more aid from the Centre for improving basic amenities during a meeting with members of the 15th finance commission on Wednesday with some even submitting memorandums demanding strict adherence to the provisions of the Panchayati Raj Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act.

There are demands for separate special packages for gram panchayats, panchayat samitis and zilla parishads for the overall improvement of basic amenities across the state. The gram panchayat takes up development works in village or panchayat areas, the panchayat samiti is responsible development of areas linking two villages or panchayats and the zilla parishad takes care of areas linking two blocks. Unless funds are separately earmarked for each of these bodies, the real goals cannot be achieved.

Jharkhand has been able to generate revenue surplus continuously since 2011-12 except 2014-15. The commission will try to understand the reasons for the revenue deficit in 2014-15 and also fiscal deficit breaching the 3 per cent limit.

Jharkhand has the second highest poverty rate (37 per cent, next only to Chhattisgarh. Poverty is higher in the state’s southern and eastern districts. As many as 19 of 24 districts, including Ranchi, are recognised as aspirational districts.

INTERNATIONAL

· Santali becomes 1st Indian tribal language to get own Wikipedia edition

The Santhali Wikipedia got approval from the language committee of the Wikimedia Foundation on June 28 and went live on August 2.
It presently has content of about 70,000 words.
Santali is written in Ol Chiki scriptand spoken by 4 million people, according to the 2001 census, in India alone and its speakers live mostly in Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and Assam. It is also spoken in Bangladesh and Nepal.
Several hundred students wrote their Class 10 board examinations under the West BengalBoard of Secondary Education (WBBSE) in the Ol Chiki script for the first time this year.
Wikipedia is available in nearly 300 languagesglobally as of August 2018.

· Global Innovation Index (GII) 2018 launched in India

The event was organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) – one of the founding partners of Global Innovation Index (GII) along with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), in collaboration with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).
GII improved from 60 in 2017 to 57 in 2018.

NATIONAL

“PARIVESH” – an environmental single window hub launched

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, launched PARIVESH (Pro-Active and Responsive facilitation by Interactive, Virtuous and Environmental Single-window Hub) on the occasion of World Biofuel Day.
PARIVESH is a Single-Window Integrated Environmental Management System, developed in pursuance of the spirit of ‘Digital India’ initiated by the Prime Minister and capturing the essence of Minimum Government and Maximum Governance.

· Govt extended eVisa facility for citizens of 165 countries

In order to promote tourism, the Indian government has extended e-visa facility for citizens of 165 countries at 25 airportsand five seaports.
On March 2018, The Ministry of Tourism has launched the ‘Incredible India 2.0‘ campaign, to promote various destinations and tourism products of the country including spiritual, medical and wellness tourism in important and potential source markets overseas.

· Cabinet approved for four more NDRF battalions

The Union Cabinet approved forfour more battalions of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). The estimated cost for the approval is 637 crore. It aimed at reducingthe response time considering the country’s vast geographic area.
Among the four battalions, initially, two battalions will be raised in the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and one each in the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Assam Rifles. Once raised in the marked areas, these battalions will be converted into NDRF battalions.
In future, these battalions have been planned to be placed in J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and the Delhi National Capital Region based on the need.

· Country lost one-third of its coastline from erosion, gained almost as much: Report

Natural causes such as cyclones and waves, as well as human activities like construction have led to nearly one-third of a large part of India’s coastline to be eroded in the last 26 years, but almost an equal area has been added because of new sediment deposits, according to a government report.
The National Centre for Coastal Research surveyed 6,031 kilometres of India’s 7,517-kilometre coastline from 1990 to 2016, and found that 33 per cent of it has witnessed erosion, most of it along the eastern coast facing the Bay of Bengal, with West Bengal recording the highest erosion. At the same time, 29 per cent of the surveyed coastline saw an accretion, or gain in deposits.
The report says that 2,156.43 kilometres of the country’s surveyed coastline faced erosion, while 1,941.24 kilometres saw accretion on shore.
The report found that 63 per cent of West Bengal’s coastline has eroded, losing 99 sq km of land in the last 26 years. The second-highest loss was in Puducherry (57 per cent), followed by Odisha (28 per cent) and Andhra Pradesh (27 per cent).
Kerala is the only state on the western coast that saw erosion of over 40 per cent of its coastline, while Gujarat, Diu and Daman saw an erosion of 26 per cent, Maharashtra 24 per cent, Goa 12 per cent and Karnataka 22 per cent.

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