1. Manipur, Meghalaya, and Tripura celebrate their 50th Statehood Day
Tags: State News
All three states received their full statehood on 21st January 1972 as per the provisions of the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971.
From November 1956 till January 1972, Manipur and Tripura were Union Territories whereas Meghalaya was an autonomous part of the state of Assam.
The North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971, also created separate High Courts for Meghalaya, Manipur, and Tripura.
Meghalaya | Manipur | Tripura |
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2. Birju Maharaj, the legendary Kathak dancer, dies at 83
Tags: National News
Pandit Birju Maharaj, the torchbearer of Lucknow's Kalka-Bindadin Gharana of Kathak, passed away at the age of 83.
- He was a descendant of the Maharaj family of Kathak dancers, which includes his two uncles, Shambhu Maharaj and Lachhu Maharaj, and his father and guru, Acchan Maharaj, who served as court dancer in Raigarh princely state.
- He also practiced Hindustani classical music and was a vocalist
- In 1964, he received the honorary Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and in 1986 he received Padma Vibhushan, the country’s second-highest civilian honor.
- He has choreographed for several films like Shatranj Ke Khiladi by Satyajit Ray till Gadar: Ek Prem Katha, Devdas, Bajirao Mastani, and many others.
Classical Dance form of India
According to the government of India there are Eight classical dance form in India
Dance Origin /State
Bharatnatyam: Tamil Nadu
Manipuri Dance : Manipur
Kathak: North India, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan Delhi, Madhya Pradesh.
Odissi : Odisha
Kathakali : Kerala
Mohiniattam : Kerala
Kuchipudi: Mainly Andhra Pradesh
Sattriya : Assam
3. Election Commission double the broadcast time for Parties
Tags: National News
Election Commission of India has decided to double the broadcast time allotted to each National Party and recognized State Parties in poll bound states.
- The election commission order states that a base time of 90 minutes will be given to each national party and recognized state party of Goa, Punjab, Manipur, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. The facilities will be available from the regional kendras of All India Radio and Doordarshan.
- The earlier allotted time was 45 minutes.
- The time allotted to the recognized political parties in these states has been increased as due to the corona pandemic the emphasis is on avoiding rallies and maintaining non physical contacts for campaigning
4. Election Commission has reduced the Notice period for Political parties registration
Tags: National News
The Election Commission of India has reduced the notice period for registering new political parties in the five election bound states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa and Punjab from 30 days to 7 days due to the prevailing coronavirus pandemic.
- According to the Election commission a party seeking registration with the election commission has to publish its proposed names in two national newspapers and two local newspapers before applying to the election commission for registration.
- The election commission has clarified that the notice period was also reduced last year when elections were held in Bihar, Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal during the corona pandemic.
Registration of Political parties is governed by the provisions of Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951
- Chief Election Commissioner : Mr. Sushil Chandra
5. Forest Survey report 2021 released by the Government
Tags: National News
Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Bhupender Yadav, today released the ‘India State of Forest Report 2021’ prepared by the Forest Survey of India (FSI).
- Forest Survey of India releases “ Indian State of Report “ after every 2 years and the last report was released in 2019.
- FSI uses satellite data of the Indian Remote sensing satellite of ISRO, Resourcesat-2 to asses the forest cover in India .
Highlights of the report
- The total forest and tree cover of the country is 80.9 million hectare which is 24.62 percent of the geographical area of the country. As compared to the assessment of 2019, there is an increase of 2,261 sq km in the total forest and tree cover of the country. Out of this, the increase in the forest cover has been observed as 1,540 sq km and that in tree cover is 721 sq km.
- Increase in forest cover has been observed in open forest followed by very dense forest. Top three states showing increase in forest cover are Andhra Pradesh (647 sq km) followed by Telangana (632 sq km) and Odisha (537 sq km).
- Area-wise Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover in the country followed by Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra.
- In terms of forest cover as percentage of total geographical area, the top five States are Mizoram (84.53%), Arunachal Pradesh (79.33%), Meghalaya (76.00%), Manipur (74.34%) and Nagaland (73.90%).
- 17 states/UT’s have above 33 percent of the geographical area under forest cover. Out of these states and UT’s, five states/UTs namely Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya have more than 75 percent forest cover while 12 states/UTs namely Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura, Goa, Kerala, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, Assam, Odisha, have forest cover between 33 percent to 75 percent.
- Total mangrove cover in the country is 4,992 sq km. An increase of 17 sq Km in mangrove cover has been observed as compared to the previous assessment of 2019. Top three states showing mangrove cover increase are Odisha (8 sq km) followed by Maharashtra (4 sq km) and Karnataka (3 sq km).
- Total carbon stock in the country's forest is estimated to be 7,204 million tonnes and there is an increase of 79.4 million tonnes in the carbon stock of the country as compared to the last assessment of 2019. The annual increase in the carbon stock is 39.7 million tonnes.
6. The Election Commission of India has announced the schedule for the assembly election in Goa, Punjab, Manipur, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.
Tags: National News
Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra said for the 690 Legislative Assembly seats of the five states all elections will be completed in seven phases.
- For 403 seats of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly whose term is ending in May, election will be completed in seven phases i.e. first phase on February 10th, second phase on February 14th, third phase on February 20th, forth phase on February 23rd, fifth phase on February 27th, sixth phase on March 3rd and seventh phase on March 7th respectively.
- For 117 seats of the Punjab Legislative Assembly whose term is ending in March, election will be completed in single phase on February 14.
- For 70 seats of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly whose term is ending in March, election will be completed in single phase on February 14.
- For 60 seats of the Manipur Legislative Assembly whose term is ending in March, election will be completed in two phases on February 27 and March 3 respectively.
- For 40 seats of the Goa Legislative Assembly whose term is ending in March, election will be completed in single phase on February 14.
- The results of all five states will be announced on March 10.
- Basic preparations will be taken to ensure Covid-19 safe election, hassle-free voter experience and maximum voters participation
- A total of 18.34 crore electors including service voters will take part in this election. Out of this, 8.55 crore are women electors.
- EVMs and VVPATs will be utilized in all the polling stations. Election Commission has already made arrangements to ensure an adequate number of EVMs and VVPATs for the smooth conduct of elections. In case of Senior citizens above 80 years of age, persons with disabilities and Covid-19 patients vote by postal ballot can be cast.
- No yatra, procession, road show, cycle bike, padyatras or vehicle rally or physical rally by political parties will be allowed up to 15 January. The situation will be reviewed and fresh instructions to be issued later.
No victory processions will be allowed after declaration of the results.
7. PM Modi’s visit to Manipur and Tripura, to launch several development projects worth over 4,800 crore rupees
Tags: National News
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Manipur and Tripura on 4th January 2022.
Highlights of PM’s visit to Manipur:
- The PM inaugurated 13 projects worth around 1,850 crore rupees and laid foundation stone of 9 projects around 2,950 crore rupees.
- These projects are related to diverse sectors such as:
- Road Infrastructure
- Drinking Water Supply
- Health
- Urban Development
- Housing
- Information Technology
- Skill Development, among others
- The inaugural and foundation laying program was held at Hatta Kangjeibung in Imphal where he also addressed a public gathering.
Highlights of PM’s visit to Agartala (Tripura):
- The PM inaugurated the New Integrated Terminal Building of Maharaja Bir Bikram (MBB) Airport built at a cost of about 450 crore rupees, and
- Launched Key Initiatives:-
- Mukhyamantri Tripura Gram Samriddhi Yojana- which aims to achieve the benchmark standards for service delivery in core development sectors at the village level.
- Project Mission 100 of Vidyajyoti Schools- which aims to improve the quality of education in the state by converting 100 existing High/Higher secondary schools to Vidyajyoti Schools with state of art facilities and quality education. The project will cover about 1.2 Lakh students from Nursery to class XII and will cost around 500 crore rupees in the next three years.
The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone for various projects which include Manipur Institute of Performing Arts at Gurgaon, 72 projects to be taken up under the PM Jan Vikas Karyakram, 13 projects related to diverse sectors, five National Highway Projects with a cumulative length of more than one hundred ten kilometers, a Cancer Hospital along with a Covid Hospital.
8. Good Governance Index
Tags:
What is Good Governance
- Governance is defined as the use of power and authority by those in government to provide goods and services to the people to uphold the common good and fulfill the aspirations and needs of the common man. People expect their government to proceed with its tasks in a way that maximum results follow with minimum cost or investment.
- Governance becomes good when the decisions and actions of the government are based on peoples’ consent, legitimacy, and accountability. It is a concept that is inclusive and positive in nature.
What are the features of Good Governance
As per World Bank reports of 1989 and 1992, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Commission on Global Governance (1995), and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 1997, the attributes of good governance refers to
- people’s participation in governance,
- accountability of the decision-makers,
- women’s participation in decision making,
- meeting the needs of disadvantaged groups,
- guarantee of human rights,
- keeping the needs of the future generation in mind while decision making and whether the people own their structures of governance or not.
What is Good Governance Index
- To emphasize the government’s commitment towards good governance ,the Government of India declared 25 December as the Good Governance Day. It is the birth date of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. It was started in 2014 .
- To encourage and assess the performance of the State government in Good governance and to promote citizen centric development in the country, the Government of India launched the Good governance Index.
- The objective of GGI is to create a tool that can be used uniformly across the States to assess the impact of various schemes and programs of the Central and State Governments including UTs on the people.
- Another significant contribution of the GGI would be contributing in tracking the progress of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the state level. The identified sectors and indicators are directly linked to some of the critical SDG indicators from an overall governance point of view.
- It is released on Good Governance Day (25th December)
Who publishes the Good Governance Index
- The Index is published by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) under the Union Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.
- The framework for assessing the quality of governance is prepared by the Centre for Good Governance, Hyderabad in collaboration with AC Nielsen
When was it first published
It was first published in 2019 and and it is released after every two years. The latest edition is released on 25th December 2021.
What is included in the Good Governance Index
The GGI 2020-21 encompassed 10 Governance Sectors and 58 Governance Indicators
- Agriculture and Allied Sector
- Commerce & Industries
- Human Resource Development
- Public Health
- Public Infrastructure & Utilities
- Economic Governance
- Social Welfare & Development
- Judicial & Public Security
- Environment,
- Citizen-Centric Governance.
Change as compared to the 2019 Index
The 2019 index included 10 governance sectors and 50 governance indicators . In the 2021 index the governance sectors are 10 but the governance indicators have been increased to 58.
Highlights of the 2021 Index
The GGI 2020-21 categorizes States and UTs into four categories
- Group A - It includes Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Haryana, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh
- Group B - It includes Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, and West Bengal
- North-East and Hill States - It includes Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Uttarakhand, Tripura, Sikkim, Jammu & Kashmir, Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, and Arunachal Pradesh
- Union Territories - It includes Delhi, Puducherry, Daman & Diu, Chandigarh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Dadra &Nagar Haveli, and Lakshadweep
Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa top the composite rank score covering 10 sectors.
Ranking of the States group wise
- Group A:
- Gujarat has topped the composite ranking (12.3% increase over the GGI 2019 indicators), followed by Maharashtra and Goa.
- Group B:
- Madhya Pradesh tops the list followed by Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
- North-East and Hill States:
- Himachal Pradesh topped the list followed by Mizoram and Uttarakhand.
- Union Territories:
- Delhi topped the list.
UP has secured top position in Commerce & Industry sector
The GGI 2021 says that 20 States have improved their composite GGI scores over the GGI 2019 index scores. This indicates that overall governance in the states of India is moving in a positive direction.
Written by Shankha Shubhra Dutta
9. NITI Aayog releases North Eastern Region District SDG Index and Dashboard 2021-22
Tags: National News
- It is released by the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MDONER) in collaboration with NITI Aayog
- The United Nations Development Programme(UNDP) has provided technical support for this index.
- The index measures the performance of the District of the eight NE States ( Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, and Sikkim)
- The Index will be prepared and published annually.
- The top 5 districts of the SDG NER Index are
Rank 1 - East Sikkim, Sikkim with a score of 75.87,
Rank 2 - Gomati, Tripura & North Tripura, Tripura with a score of 75.73,
Rank 4 - West Tripura, Tripura with a score of 75.67
Rank 5 - Serchhip, Mizoram with a score of 74.87
The Index offers insights into the social, economic, and environmental status of the region and the districts in their march towards achieving the Social Development Goals(SDG) 2030.
10. Local Brand from North East - “Namdapha Goodness”
Tags: National News
- Launched by - North Eastern Region Community Resource Management Society (NERCRMS), Meghalaya in collaboration with Changlang Community Resource Management Society (CCRMS), Arunachal Pradesh
- NERCRMS is a registered society under the aegis of North Eastern Council (NEC) and Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER), Govt. of India
- It is named after iconic Namdapha National Park located in the Changlang district, Arunachal Pradesh.
- Aim - To boost the sale of locally produced goods of the Community Based Organization (CBO) members and to generate sustainable employment opportunities among the village communities and unemployed youths through the manufacturing, marketing and distribution related activities
Detailed-
Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER)
- Established in 2001
- It is the nodal Department of the Central Government to deal with matters related to the socio-economic development of the eight States of Northeast India: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim
- Minister of Development of North Eastern Region is G. Kishan Reddy
North Eastern Council (NEC)
- It is a statutory advisory body constituted under the North Eastern Council Act 1971.
- The eight States of Northeast India viz. Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim, are members of the council.
- Chief Ministers and Governors of each state represents them.
- The headquarters of the council is situated in Shillong , Meghalaya.
- Nodal Ministry - Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DONER)
- It acts as the regional socio economic planning body since 2002.
Namdapha National Park
- It lies at the international border between India and Myanmar within Changlang District in the state of Arunachal Pradesh.
- It is the only Park in the World to have the four species of big cat namely the Tiger (Panthera Tigris), Leopard (Panthera Pardus), Snow Leopard (Panthera Uncia) and Clouded Leopard (Neofelis Nebulosa).
- Hoolock Gibbons, the only ‘ape’ species found in India is found in this National Park.
