CHHATTISGARH

Panning the focus from construction-oriented and infrastructure development to rural development, agriculture and uplift of farmers, the one-and-half month old Bhupesh Baghel government in Chhattisgarh presented its maiden budget with a size of Rs 90,910 crore in the Vidhan Sabha.

Presenting a Rs 10,881 crore deficit budget with a special emphasis on village economy Baghel spared the common man by not proposing any fresh taxes, but made allocations to fulfil poll promises of waiving off short-term loans of farmers and reducing the electricity bill of domestic consumers by half.

With the spirit of ‘Bahujan Hitay, Bahujan Sukhay’ budget focuses on prosperity of farmers, poor and villages, high quality in education, betterment of health facilities, welfare of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, utilization of youth energy as a productive resource, development of rural and urban infrastructure and efficient administration.

Provisions have been made in the budget for conservation and development of “Narwa, Garuwa, Ghuruwa and Baari– rivulets, livestock, domestic dump and farming—hoping to generate rural employment, protect cattle wealth by building a shelter and a common feeding centre where the cows could be able to graze through the day.

The “Gaurwa” scheme would help address the alarming problem of stray cattle by building shelter and common feeding ground while Ghuruwa—compost pit—near these shelters would be to produce organic manure that could be used for farming.

Chief minister announced to launch “Suraji Gaon Yojana” to strengthen rural economy by compiling basic information of each village to prepare the next road map for development. As per the budget, training module for the manufacturing, operation and maintenance of Biogas Plant and Compost units will be prepared and 10 youths from each village will be trained. Approximately 2 lakh youth will get employment after this training.

The state’s revenue during 2019-20 will be at 91,542 crore while the expenditure during this period is projected around Rs 90,910 crore. However, capital expenditure during next fiscal is set to decline by 16.2% as compared to the last fiscal.

INTERNATIONAL

· India jumps 8 place to 36th on international IP index 2019

US Chambers of Commercereleased the annual International IP Index of top 50 economies in the world, in the index, India climbed 8 positions up to the 36th rank and USA, as the lead.
2018, India’s rank was 44th of 50 countries, the increase in the rank is dedicated to the various reforms made to the better alignment of India’s IP environment and one of the reforms, was the agreement with Japan to initiate a Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH).

· UNESCO organised Second Edition of the India Heritage Walk in partnership with Sahapedia

Sahapedia in partnership with UNESCO organized the second edition of India Heritage Walk Festival (IHWF) 2019.
It is also supported by the National Mineral Development Corporation.
The first edition of the festival, went on to receive the PATA Gold Awards 2018 in Heritage and Culture.
This festival offers the opportunity to discover the hidden gems linked to history.
Heritage Walks of 2019 edition.
In the list of heritage walks, Delhi has a new attraction.
The heritage walk plans to introduce Sanjhi- a paper-cutting art by a stencil of Vrindavan and the lanes of Bandra in Mumbai.

NATIONAL

As per Oil Ministery, India become the second largest importer of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) after China due to rising demands of cleaner alternatives to the traditional cooking fuels like firewood and cow dung.
India surpassed Japan as the imports of LPG grew 12.5% over the last 5 years to 12 million metric tons.
The demand of LPG is expected to rise 34% from 2014 to 2025.

Robert Bosch Center for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence(RBC-DSAI), a Centre for research on data science and artificial intelligence, has been established at the Indian Institute of Technology- Madras.
RBC-DSAI will receive an estimated investment of 20 crore over a period of five years. India is one of the four locations of the Bosch Center for AI. The Centre’s mission was to create societal impact through multidisciplinary interactions with government, academic, research, and industrial collaborators by working on core challenges in data science and artificial intelligence.

Indian Coast Guard(ICG)and Airport Authority of India (AAI)signed a MoU with an objective to coordinate the aeronautical and maritime Search And Rescue(SAR) operations in congruence with the International Aeronautical Maritime Search And Rescue(IAMSAR) standards.
The MoU enhances Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC),Kolkata and Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), Port Blair and AAI’s mutual interactions, interoperability and validating procedures on the occasion of SAR operations.

The Go Green initiative, Lieutenant General Surinder Singh, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command inaugurated a2 MW solar power plant at Chandimandir.
This is the largest Solar power project within Western Command of the Indian Army, set up at Chandimandir.
Considered as one of the largest, the solar power plant in Panchkula (Haryana) was established with an investment of Rs 10 crore.

Vidharbha lift Ranji Trophy for second time in a row
Vidarbha lifted their second successive Ranji Trophy title with a comfortable 78-run win over Saurashtra.

Vidarbha is only the sixth team in the tournament’s long history to have defended the title.

The Ranji Trophy is a domestic first-class cricket championship played in India between teams representing regional and state cricket associations.

The team that has gained maximum number of Ranji titles is Mumbai (41 titles).