ODISHA

Odisha govt spends only 26% of DMF fund for mining-hit areas

Even as the district mineral foundations (DMF) in the state have flushed with funds worth Rs 8,729 crore by October, the spending remains only at 26 per cent.

Rs 2,281.74 crore has been spent for various development projects from the DMF fund.
Low spending of DMF fund remained a cause of concern for the state government as the issue gets prominence in the agenda of the all-secretary meeting headed by the chief secretary every month. Instruction has been issued to expedite the spending with proper planning.

Official sources in the planning and convergence department said projects of nearly Rs 8,000 crore has been approved.

The amended Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act-2015 has made provision of the DMF for any districts affected by mining-related activities. The fund has been created with contribution from the mining lease holders and it is being utilised for the socio-economic development of the people affected by mining.

The lessees contribute 10 per cent of royalty towards DMF in respect of mining leases granted after January 12, 2015 (blocks received through auction) while the contribution is 30 per cent of the royalty for leases granted before the date.

Drinking water supply, education, healthcare, sanitation, skill development, housing, connectivity, livelihood programmes and environment preservation are some of the priority areas where the government spends the DMF money.

From the DMF fund, the state government has pumped Rs 378 crore for physical infrastructure, Rs 194 crore for irrigation projects and Rs 57 crore for energy and watershed projects and Rs 18.32 crore for afforestation activities.

Though all the 30 districts have DMFs, majority of the funds are being spent in eight mineral-rich districts like Angul, Jajpur, Jharsuguda, Keonjhar, Sundargarh, Koraput, Mayurbhanj and Rayagada districts.

INTERNATIONAL

QS World University Rankings for Asia has been released

The National University of Singapore is ranked Asia’s best for the second consecutive year. It is followed by Nanyang Technological University, which has risen from 3rd to 2nd; and the University of Hong Kong.

96 Indian institutions rank among 550 for the continent.

India does not yet have a university among the top 30.

The best performing institution from India is IIT Bombay, which drops one place to 34th position. It is followed by IIT Delhi at 43rd place and IIT Madras at 50th.

Global Diplomacy Index 2019

The 2019 Global Diplomacy Index was released by Sydney-based Lowy Institute. The index gives the latest statistics and marking about how the world’s diplomatic networks are expanding and, in certain cases, shrinking.

The index ranked 61 countries across the world.

China now has more diplomatic posts across the world than United States in 2019. China has overtaken United States with 276 embassies and consulates worldwide, which is 3 more than US (both countries have an equal number of embassies but China has 3 more consulates).

India was ranked 12th among the 61 countries. As of 2019, India has 123 embassies and high commissions and 54 consulates globally.

NATIONAL

· Govt launches Credit-linked Subsidy Services Awas Portal

ð Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri launched Credit-linked Subsidy Services Awas Portal in New Delhi. It provides a transparent and robust real-time web-based monitoring system for credit-linked Subsidy Services, CLSS beneficiaries. To track his application status in real-time. The CLAP will be entirely instrumental in addressing the grievances of beneficiaries in a much comprehensive and organized manner.

ð The initiative would also benefit other stakeholders to work in synergy to release subsidy to beneficiaries on time.

ð The main objective is to provide a transparent real-time web-based monitoring system for the beneficiaries of the Credit-linked Subsidy Services (CLSS).

· Centre introduces bill to merge Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli in Lok Sabha

The bill seeks to merge the two union territories into one that is yet to be taken up for consideration and passage in the Lower House, was introduced by the minister of state for home affairs G. Kishen Reddy.The move comes three months after Jammu and Kashmir was divided into two UTs Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. The merger of the two UTs, located along the western coast near Gujarat, will be done for better administration and check duplications of various work. Dadra and Nagar Haveli just one district while Daman and Diu. The merged is likely to be named as Dadra, Nagar Haveli, Daman, and Diu, and its headquarters could be Daman and Diu.

· UIDAI launched the new version of mAadhaar application

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has launched the new version of themAadhaar application, both for Android and iOS devices. The application aims to make the mAadhaar application more secure.

To avail the new version, the users should delete the previous version and install the new version immediately.

Third-party applications are not supported by the UIDAI.

RIL becomes first Indian company to hit Rs 10 lakh crore market cap

It became the first India Company to reach the coveted milestone.
RIL was also the first company to reach Rs 8 lakh crore mark in August last year. It was also the first company to hit the $100 billion mark in market-cap in 2007, a feat it repeated last July.

Incidents of bribery in India reduced by 10% since last year: Survey

Incidents of bribery in the country have reduced by 10 per cent since last year, according to a survey carried out in 20 states.

The ‘India Corruption Survey 2019’, which received 1, 90,000 responses from people in 248 districts, also stated that 51 per cent Indians paid bribe in the last 12 months.

Transparency International India (TII) and LocalCircles conducted the survey.

India’s ranking in the Corruption Perception Index 2018, released by TII, has improved three places compared to last year and now, the country’s standing is 78 among 180 nations.

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