The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act completed ten years of implementation on 2nd February 2016. Of the workers, percentage of Scheduled Caste workers has consistently been about 20% and Scheduled Tribe workers has been about 17%. Sustainable assets have been created linked to conservation of natural resources and overall development of Gram Panchayats. An electronic fund management system …
USTADD
To make skills and crafts practiced by minority communities more profitable, another ambitious initiative of Government, “USTTAD (Upgrading the Skills and Training in Traditional Arts/ Crafts for Development)” was formally launched on 14th May, 2015. The scheme aims at capacity building and updating traditional skills of master craftsmen and artisans. The scheme will also set standards for traditional skills. The …
Nai Manzil
Launched on 8th August, 2015, this scheme will benefit minority youths who do not have a formal school leaving certificate, i.e., those in the category of school-dropouts or educated in community education institutions like Madarsas, with a view to enabling them to seek better employment in the organized sector and thus to equip them for better lives. The World Bank …
Marshall Islands to sue India, Pak. over nukes
In 2014, the Marshall Islands, a Pacific Ocean territory with 55,000 people, accused nine countries of “not fulfilling their obligations with respect to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament”. By not stopping the nuclear arms race, the countries continued to breach their obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) — even …
Giving cities the smart edge
Rapid and poorly regulated urbanisation has overwhelmed urban governments, rendering them incapable of providing even basic services such as clean water, sewerage, pedestrian-friendly roads, public transport, uninterrupted power, street lighting, parks and recreational spaces. So weak and uncoordinated is governance that commercial entities have wilfully violated building regulations and put up unauthorised structures — with severe impact on congestion, air …
IISc’s invention powers up nanoelectronics industry
An invention by scientists at IISc is all set to make inroads into the billion-dollar nanoelectronics industry. This is disruptive because the technology can drastically reduce the cost of the existing state-of-the-art e-beam lithography and optical lithography. This invention is a new way to etch thin lines on a substrate using electrodes, termed electrolithography. This will come in very useful …
Deepening the French connection
In recent years, India has entered into more than three dozen “strategic partnerships”, but France remains the original one. President Jacques Chirac visit in 1998 saw the establishment of the “strategic partnership” which was tested months later in May when India conducted a series of nuclear weapon tests. France was the first major power to open a dialogue with India. …
Push for IMF reform
Finally, the International Monetary Fund has made country quota reforms agreed by the G20 in 2010 a reality. The chief objector to the changes, the U.S. Congress, dropped its intransigence in December and allowed the multilateral lender to adopt a country quota distribution that better reflects the power balance of emerging markets in the global economy. With this structural shift, …
Centre focuses on ailing healthcare
Concerned about spiralling prices of medicines to treat diseases such as cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular conditions, Centre’s Department of Pharmaceuticals plans to offer 439 life-saving medicines, including cancer and cardiovascular drugs, as well as 250 medical devices like stents and implants at 40-50% discounted prices. The drugs and devices will be made available through the Jan Aushadhi stores opened across …
Centre makes it mandatory for power firms to buy from solid waste plants
Central government has made it mandatory for all power distribution companies to buy electricity from power plants fuelled by solid waste. This entitlement comes from the recent amendment of the Electricity Regulatory Act (2013). As State governments will have to build plants that can produce energy from solid waste, the ministry offered to cover “20 per cent” of the cost …