ODISHA
Odisha among bottom states in terms of access to bare necessities: Eco Survey
The Economic Survey Report places Odisha along with Jharkhand, West Bengal and Tripura at the bottom in terms of people’s access to bare necessities like housing, water, sanitation, electricity and clean cooking fuel are concerned. The report, which was tabled in Parliament on Friday, ranked states like Kerala, Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat in the top bracket.
A comparative study of Bare Necessities Index (BNI) between 2012 and 2018 shows that though there has been some improvement in urban areas of Odisha regarding access to minimum necessities, the situation remains unchanged in rural areas.
The BNI index in rural areas puts Odisha in the lowest rung along with states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Assam, Manipur and Tripura, the survey report stated. It also placed states like Odisha, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh at the bottom on the drinking water accessibility index.
A comparative study of Bare Necessities Index (BNI) between 2012 and 2018 shows that though there has been some improvement in urban areas of Odisha regarding access to bare necessities, the situation remains unchanged in rural areas.
The BNI index in rural areas puts Odisha in the lowest rung along with states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Assam, Manipur and Tripura, the survey stated. It also placed states like Odisha, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh at the bottom on the drinking water accessibility index.
Sources in the state panchayati raj and drinking water department said less than 15% rural households have access to piped drinking water. Under the Centre’s Jal Jeevan Mission, the state government has targeted to facilitate piped drinking water to all households by 2024. The state plans to spend around Rs 50,000 crore in the next three years for strengthening drinking water supply to rural households.
Odisha is also among the bottom states in rural sanitation. The sanitation index reflects households with access to latrine for exclusive use, piped sewer system and septic tank. Though there has been some improvement in housing index in urban areas between 2012 and 2018, the situation remained far from satisfactory in rural areas, the report stated. The housing index measures not only the structure of house in terms of pucca or kutcha, but also the quality of housing in terms of type of dwelling unit and independent or not.
The report also said micro-environment has improved in 2018 for all states barring Assam in rural and Odisha and Assam in urban areas as compared to 2012.
The micro-environment index measures the percentage of households living in a dwelling unit with access to drainage without problems of flies/mosquitoes and efforts made by government to tackle such problems.
INTERNATIONAL
USA Restores Relations with Palestine
The US Presidential Administration announced that it will resume relations with the Palestinians and provide assistance to Palestine refugees.
This is a reversal of the shutdown of the Donald Trump administration and a key element of its new support for the two-state solution to the decades-long conflict that Israel and Palestine have agreed to.
Palestine is officially recognized as a Palestinian state by the United Nations and other entities.
It is a legally sovereign state in West Asia. Although its administrative center is currently located in Ramallah, the West Bank (on the border with Israel and Jordan) and the Gaza Strip (on the border with Israel and Egypt) have Jerusalem as the designated capital.
Since 1948, the entire territory claimed by the State of Palestine has been occupied by Egypt and Jordan, and then by Israel after the Six-Day War in 1967.
NATIONAL
New Central Bank Digital Currency India
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is studying whether India needs a new central bank digital currency (CBDC) and is exploring ways to implement digital currency operations.
RBI’s statement is based on the popularity of private digital currencies, virtual currencies and encrypted currencies.
These currencies cannot be used in India because regulators and governments have been skeptical of the risks associated with these currencies.
Therefore, the Reserve Bank of India is exploring the possibility of requiring a digital version of fiat currency.
Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) is legal tender and is a central bank liability in digital form. Digital currencies are priced in sovereign currencies.
Integrated Weapons System Design Centre in DRDO
The Vice President of India established an Integrated Weapon System Design Center at the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam missile complex in DRDO, Hyderabad.
It is said that the Integrated Weapon System Design facility will enhance the design and development capabilities of command and control systems for surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems and ballistic missile defense (BMD) systems.
The centre will focus on the overall system design and evaluation methods of advanced missile systems, and will help improve the performance of the missile.
National Mission for Edible Oil Agriculture Ministry
The Ministry of Agriculture has proposed the establishment of a National Mission for Edible Oil to increase domestic supply and reduce dependence on imports. It has been proposed to carry out the mission within the next five years from 2020-21 to 2024-25.
NMEO is composed of the following three Sub-Missions, which aims to increase the production of oilseeds and edible oil from the following three aspects:
Primary sources-it includes Annual Crops, Plantation Crops and Edible TBO
Secondary sources-it includes Rice bran oil and Cotton seed oil.
Consumers are aware of keeping the consumption of edible oil constant at 19.00 kg per person per year.
The purpose of this mission is to increase the output of oilseeds from 30.88 tons to 47.8 million tons. It plans to produce 7.00 to 11 million tons of edible oil from Primary sources by 2024-25. In addition, the edible oil from Secondary sources will increase from 3.50 times to 7 million tons.
Gross enrolment ratio of girls in schools improved from 2014-15 to 2018-19: WCD
The gross enrolment ratio of girls in schools at secondary level has improved from 2014-15 to 2018-19, and there have been promising trends of improvement in sex ratio at birth.
Sharing the achievements of the government’s Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Andolan (BBBP) ahead of National Girl Child Day on Sunday, the ministry said the scheme has resulted in increased awareness and sensitisation of the masses regarding prevalence of gender bias and role of community in eradicating it.
In a statement, it said the gross enrolment ratio of girls in schools at secondary level has improved from 77.45 (2014-15) to 81.32 (2018-19-provisional figures) as per UDISE-data.
Some districts which had very low SRB in 2014-15 have shown huge improvement after implementation of the scheme such as Mau (Uttar Pradesh) from 694 (2014-15) to 951 (2019-20), Karnal (Haryana) from 758 (2014-15) to 898 (2019-20), Mahendergarh (Haryana) from 791 (2014-15) to 919 (2019-20), Rewari (Haryana) from 803 (2014-15) to 924 (2019-20), and Patiala (Punjab) from 847 (2014-15) to 933 (2019-20).
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