JHARKHAND
Supplementary Budget worth Rs 2698 Cr tabled in House
On the second day of the on-going budget session of Jharkhand Legislative Assembly, Finance Minister RameshwarOraon tabled the supplementary budget of Rs 2,698 crore. Monday’s budget is the third supplementary budget of the State Government of the current fiscal. The State Government will table the annual budget for financial year 2022-23 on March 3.
Meanwhile, despite strong demands from several quarters, the Jharkhand Government today once again ruled out any possibility of liquor prohibition in the State. On the second day of the on-going budget session of Jharkhand Assembly, Congress MLA from MahagamaDeepika Pandey Singh raised the issue of liquor prohibition in the State.
Raising the issue, Pandey said that due to use of alcohol domestic violence against women and atrocities against women has gone up. She further said that as use of alcohol is socially evil, the state government should introduce liquor prohibition in the State which will check domestic violence and atrocities against women. Replying to the query raised by Congress legislators, Chief Minister Hemant Soren said that at present the matter of prohibition is not under consideration with the State Government.
Soren said that the government is working on to curb domestic violence, but to say that women are being harassed or domestic violence has increased due to alcohol alone, is not appropriate. There are several other factors behind this; the state government to remove the inequality among women is running various schemes focusing on empowerment of women. Soren said that the government is also working to make women self-reliant. Under the PhooloJhano scheme, 25 thousand women have been linked to self-employment. All these women used to sell liquor earlier.
The Chief Minister rejecting the proposal for liquor prohibition assumes importance as from April this year, State will get a new liquor policy, after which the system of retail sale of liquor will change in Jharkhand. As per the new excise policy, a private agency will open liquor shops across the State. It will have its own godown in all the five divisions. The agency will order and sell the liquor. The State Government has recently appointed Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Limited (CSMCL) as a consultant by the Jharkhand government. This company has suggested running the shop by private agency on the lines of Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The company says that without increasing the price of liquor, it will get revenue of Rs 2500 crores instead of Rs 1900 crores being available now. However, the expenditure on infrastructure will have to be borne by the state government. At the same time, the Jharkhand Retail Liquor Vendor Association said that after the implementation of the new product policy, liquor of well-known brands will become expensive.
INTERNATIONAL
China hikes military spending by 7.1%, announces 5.5% GDP target
China announced a 7.1% hike in its defence spending as well as an annual GDP growth target of “around 5.5%” for the coming year.
China’s Premier and second-ranked leader Li Keqiang announced the GDP target at the opening of the week-long session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) or Parliament, which approves policies for the coming year.
A draft budget, which the NPC will approve, said defence spending would be hiked by 7.1% to 1.45 trillion Yuan or around $ 230 billion. The military budget was hiked by 6.8% last year when it crossed the $200 billion mark for the first time. India’s military spending this year was announced as around $70 billion, a 4.4% hike from the previous year, although a greater share of India’s defence spending goes towards imports and pensions.
India, US hold 19th military cooperation meeting to boost defence engagements
The two-day-long 19th military cooperation meeting between India and the US has ended in Agra in Uttar Pradesh, the Defence Ministry stated.
The India-US military cooperation group is a forum established to progress defence cooperation between the countries through regular talks at the strategic and operational levels between Headquarters of Integrated Defence Staff and the US Indo-Pacific Command, the Defence Ministry mentioned.
NATIONAL
New intitatives for plastic waste :‘Sambhav’ and ‘Svavlamban’
- Sambhav’ and ‘Svavlamban’ initiatives were launched by Union Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), BhanuPratap Singh Verma, at the International Summit on Plastics Recycling and Waste Management.
- The ‘Sambhav’ and ‘Svavlamban’ initiatives and the summit will have multiple benefits i.e. formalizing the informal waste sector, job creation in the MSME sector, and reduction in plastic waste.
These initiatives aim to encourage young entrepreneurs, especially from the aspirational districts of India.
NariShaktiVarta
UNICEF YuWaah facilitated the NaariShakti conversation, on ‘STEM and Financial Literacy for Young Women’. STEM refers to “Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics”.
The event was part of the Ministry of Women and Child Development’s ‘Iconic Week’ celebrating International Women’s Day under the ‘AzadiKaAmritMahotsav’.
Union Minister for Women & Child Development, SmritiIrani participated in the event.
YuWaah is a UNICEF-initiated multi-stakeholder global platform. It aims to prepare young people to transition from education and learning to productive work and active citizenship.
NCB to hire experts, firms to help in probe into drug crimes
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) will hire experts and firms dealing with financial data analysis and forensic audit to augment its probe in sophisticated drug crimes that involve use of the dark web, cryptocurrencies and deals concealed through layered transactions.
The NCB has issued a notice for empanelment of consultancy agencies which would be required to help it in “unearthing the chain of transactions for drug money and provide effective guidance in financial investigation matters.”
The experts will also assist NCB sleuths in conducting forensic audits, scrutiny of reports and documents and analysing bank statements, and property transactions to unearth the illegal income of an accused, associates and family members.
Free medical camp marks National Safety Day celebrations
A free health camp was conducted for the workers and supervisory staff involved in the works related to the water conveyor system under the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project at Namapur village in Pegadapallimandal of Jagtial district.
According to a press release, the free health camp was conducted by the executing agency concerned on the occasion of the National Safety Day.
More than 300 persons availed the free services offered by a team of doctors at the medical camp.
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