Ease Of Doing Business Reforms:
The "Ease of Doing Business" changes were completed by four other states to receive further borrowing permits.
Highlights:
♦ "The "Ease of Doing Business" reform prescribed by the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, has been carried out by the four states of Assam, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab.
♦ These states are now entitled to mobilize more financial capital and, through Open Market Borrowings, are allowed to collect an additional Rs.5,034 crore.
♦ The total number of states that have implemented the necessary reforms to promote the ease of doing business has reached 12.
♦ The other states are Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.
Samagra Shiksha - Funded School is Renamed as Netaji:
Under the Samagra Shiksha program, which has been renamed Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, the Ministry of Education has agreed on schools and hostels.
Highlights:
♦ Renaming the scheme would help generate awareness of the services in challenging areas of these residential schools and hostels.
♦ These schools would also be inspired to achieve a high-quality education.
♦ An integrated scheme for school education is the Samagra Shiksha Scheme. From pre-school to class XII, the scheme extends.
♦ Ensure the provision of quality education that is inclusive and equal at all levels of school education.
♦ After the inclusion of three schemes, namely Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Teacher Education (TE), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan Abhiyan, the scheme was introduced (RMSA).
♦ Under the scheme, from pre-kindergarten to grade 12, school education is seen as a continuum.
♦ By concentrating on two T`s, namely Teachers and Technology, the scheme stresses improving the standard of school education.
♦ In addition, under the scheme, the Ministry of Education provides financial assistance for the opening and operation of residential schools and hostels in hilly areas in the states and union territories.
♦ It also offers financial assistance to open schools and houses for children who need shelter and treatment in rural, underpopulated areas.
###Beneficiaries of Anganwadi Dropped by 2 crores in 7 years:
According to data submitted by the Parliament`s Ministry of Women and Child Development, the number of beneficiaries under the `Anganwadi` government programme has been reduced by almost 20 million.
Highlights:
♦ Approximately 1,045 billion pregnant women, lactating mothers and children between 6 months and 6 years of age were recruited by the Anganwadi Center during 2014-2015 at approximately 1.4 million grams. By March 2020, the amount had decreased to 85.5 billion.
♦ The number of children also fell to 6.86 million in March 2020, from 8.49 million in 2014-2015.
♦ In March 2020, the number of pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers drops from 19.95 million in 2014-15 to 16.68 million. The reasons for this decline were not stressed by the government.
♦ In India, Anganwadi is a kind of rural childcare center. In 1975, the Indian government founded these centers. These centers were developed to eradicate child hunger and malnutrition under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) program.
♦ In 1975, the Comprehensive Child Development Program was implemented. Even though the Morarji Desai government suspended the plan in 1978, in the Tenth Five-Year Plan it restarted the plan.
♦ The scheme involves a bundle of six facilities that are operated at various centers in Anganwadi. Services provide immunization, additional nutrition, non-formal pre-school education, health inspection, health education, and referral services.
###Petroleum & Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB):
Under the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board Act, 2006, PNGRB was created. The Act provides for a Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board to be formed to protect the interests of consumers and organizations engaged in specific petroleum-related activities.
About Petroleum & Natural Gas Regulatory Board
♦ Under the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board Act, 2006, PNGRB was created.
♦ In order to protect the interests of customers and companies engaged in particular activities relating to petroleum, petroleum products and natural gas and to encourage fair markets and related matters, the Act provides for the establishment of a Regulatory Board on petroleum and natural gas.
♦ The Board`s duties also include controlling the refining, manufacturing, storage, transport, distribution, marketing and selling of petroleum, petroleum products and natural gas (excluding the output of crude oil and natural gas) in order to ensure that the supply of petroleum, petroleum products and natural gas throughout the country is uninterrupted and sufficient.
♦ The Statutory Board shall register the organizations that sell reported petroleum and petroleum products, set up and operate LNG terminals, etc.
Studies on Border Area Development Programme:
Two assessment studies on the Border Area Development Program were carried out in 2020 by the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) and NITI Aayog (BADP).
About the Border Area Development Programme (BADP):
♦ The International Land Boundary has been enforced by the Border Area Development Program (BADP) in 17 states (including Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal).
♦ BADP`s key objective is to address the unique development needs and well-being of people living in remote and inaccessible areas close to the international border and to achieve a saturation strategy by incorporating central/state/BADP/local schemes and a participatory approach to the border areas and the entire basic infrastructure.