Current Affairs search results for: "AIZAWL"

1. Puducherry and Aizawl (Mizoram) adjudged best performing State and District in Social Progress Index

Tags: Reports INDEX National

The Prime Minister Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) on 20 December 2022 released the Social Progress Index (SPI) for States and Districts prepared by the Institute for Competitiveness and Social Progress Imperative.

The index assesses states and districts based on 12 components across three critical dimensions of social progress - Basic Human Needs, Foundations of Wellbeing, and Opportunity. The index uses an extensive framework comprising 89 indicators at the state level and 49 at the district level.

• Basic Human Needs assess the performance of states and districts in terms of Nutrition and Basic Medical Care, Water and Sanitation, Personal Safety and Shelter.
• Foundations of Wellbeing evaluates the progress made by the country across the components of Access to Basic Knowledge, Access to Information and Communication, Health and Wellness, and Environmental Quality.
• Opportunity focuses on Personal Rights, Personal Freedom and Choice, Inclusiveness, and Access to Advanced Education.

Based on the SPI scores, states and districts have been ranked under six tiers of social progress. The tiers are Tier 1: Very High Social Progress; Tier 2: High Social Progress; Tier 3: Upper Middle Social Progress; Tier 4: Lower Middle Social Progress; Tier 5: Low Social Progress; and Tier 6: Very Low Social Progress.

Top Ranked States/Union Territories 

State /Union Territories	SPI	Rank
Puducherry	65.99	1
Lakshadweep	65.89	2
Goa	65.53	3
Sikkim	65.10	4
Mizoram	64.19	5

Bottom Ranked State 

Jharkhand was ranked at the bottom, 36th with SPI score of 43.95 and Bihar was ranked at 35th with a score of 44.47. 

Uttar Pradesh with a SPI score of 49.16 was ranked 31st and was put in the Low Social progress category.  

Top performing districts  

Aizawl (Mizoram), Solan (Himachal Pradesh), and Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) are the top 3 best-performing districts.

2. Indian Navy and Royal Enfield organises motorcycling expedition across North east India

Tags: place in news National Defence

The Indian Navy Motor Bike team, ‘The Sea Riders, in partnership with Royal Enfield, the world’s oldest motorcycle brand, embarked on an motorcycle expedition, as part of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav Celebrations’, commemorating the 75th year of independence, across the  seven states of North East India from 25 Nov - 14 Dec 22. Royal Enfield is the owner of the famous brand ‘Bullet’.

The expedition was flagged off by Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar, by Video Conferencing from South Point School at Guwahati. Fifteen Sea Riders rode out on Royal Enfield Meteor 350 cc bikes on their journey to cover a total distance of 3500 kms over a period of 24 days across the seven states of NE India.

The expedition is being conducted over two phases across seven states with each phase covering some of the toughest and most breath-taking terrains in North East India. The riders will traverse along the Indo-Bangladesh border, visiting historical Unakoti sculptures, , the only floating national park in the world Keibul Lamjao National Park (Manipur) and witness the famous Hornbill festival (Nagaland). The expedition will pass through Guwahati (Assam), Shillong (Meghalaya), Aizawl (Mizoram), Imphal (Manipur), and Kohima (Nagaland).

North Eastern States 

States	Capitals
Assam	Dispur
Manipur	Imphal
Mizoram	Aizawl
Meghalaya	Shillong
Sikkim	Gangtok
Arunachal Pradesh	Itanagar
Nagaland	Kohima
Tripura	Agartala

3. 3-day International Tourism Mart begin in Mizoram

Tags: place in news State News

The three-day International Tourism Mart (ITM) began in Mizoram on November 17, 2022.

Important facts

• It is the 10th edition of the International Tourism Mart, jointly organised by the Ministry of Tourism, GOI and the state tourism department.

• State Commerce and Industries minister Dr. R Lalthangliana inaugurated the event.

• The event will focus on "G20 Priorities for Tourism Track", as India will assume the upcoming G20 Presidency for one year starting from 1st December 2022.

• The Mart was inaugurated at R Dengthuama Indoor Stadium in Mualpui, Aizawl in the presence of Minister for Tourism, Culture and Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of State for Tourism Ajay Bhatt and Chief Minister Zoramthanga.

• On the occasion, a mega exhibition and food court pavilion was inaugurated at the Assam Rifles Ground in Aizawl by State Commerce and Industry Minister Dr. R. Lalthangliana.

• The exhibition has hundreds of stalls set up on local food processing, cuisine, handloom and handicrafts and tourism.

• It will have business-to-business sessions and panel discussions between buyers, sellers, government agencies and other stakeholders.

About International Tourism Marts

• International Tourism Marts are organised on rotation basis in the North-Eastern States.

• Mizoram is hosting this Mart for the first time.

• The earlier editions of this mart have been held in Guwahati, Tawang, Shillong, Gangtok, Agartala, Imphal and Kohima.

• The objective of the event is to showcase the tourism potential of the North-Eastern Region in the domestic and international markets.

4. “Aibawk cluster” in Mizoram becomes the first cluster to be completed under the Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission

Tags: place in news Government Schemes

According to the Government of India, Aibawk cluster in the Aizawl district of Mizoram has become the first cluster to be completed under the Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM). 

SPMRM was launched by the Government of India with a vision to provide amenities to rural areas which are perceived to be urban and have the potential to stimulate local economic development. 

300 clusters has been selected under the mission for well-planned and holistic development.

Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM)

The Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM) scheme was launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Kurubhat, in Rajnandgaon district of Chhattisgarh on February 21, 2016.  The mission is of five years duration.

The mission follows a cluster based approach for rural development instead of focusing on a single village unit.

Aim of the Scheme 

The Aim of the Mission are: 

• Bridging the rural-urban divide in the economic, technological and those related to facilities and services. 
• Stimulating local economic development with emphasis on reduction of poverty and unemployment in rural areas. 
• Spreading development in the region. 
•  Attracting investment in rural areas.

What is a Rurban Cluster? 

A ‘Rurban cluster’ is a cluster of geographically contiguous villages with a population of about 25000 to 50000 in plain and coastal areas and with a population of 5000 to 15000 in desert, hilly or tribal areas. 

Under the Mission, presently, out of 300 selected clusters spread across the country, 109 are tribal clusters and 191 non-tribal clusters. 

Nodal ministry for the SPMRM scheme 

The Union Ministry of Rural Development is the nodal ministry for the implementation of the Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission.

Who identify the Rurban Clusters?

The Union Rural Development Ministry proposes a suggestive list of sub districts to the State. The State Governments then select the clusters following a set of indicated principles included in the Framework for Implementation of the scheme.

Funding pattern of the scheme 

Various rural development schemes of the Central and the State government are converged in the clusters. The funding meant for those schemes are spent into the cluster.

The SPMRM also provides an additional funding support of upto 30 percent of the project cost per cluster as Critical Gap Funding (CGF) as Central Share to enable development of such Rurban clusters.

Union Minister for Rural Development: Giriraj Singh 

5. President Murmu inaugurates the permanent Northeast Campus of IIMC in Aizawl

Tags: place in news State News

President Droupadi Murmu inaugurated the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) North East campus located at  Aizawl in Mizoram University in virtual mode on 3 November 2022.

The IIMC North East Campus began functioning in 2011 from a temporary building made available by Mizoram University. The construction work for the campus began in 2015 and was completed in 2019. 

Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC)

The Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) is a premiere Journalism Institute under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. 

It was inaugurated in 1965 to cater the training needs of media professionals in the country and other developing countries. 

It has set up five regional center in India to cater the need of five regions of India 

The Regional centers of IIMC are;

Eastern Regional Center   :  IIMC Dhenkanal near Bhubaneswar, Odisha 

Western Regional Center: Amravati, Maharashtra 

Northern Regional Center: Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir 

Northeastern Regional Center: Aizawl, Mizoram 

Southern Regional Center: Kottayam, Kerala 

Headquarters: New Delhi 

Chairman of IIMC: Apurva Chandra, Secretary, Information and Broadcasting Ministry. 

 State of Mizoram 

It was created as a Union Territory on 21st January 1972 by bifurcating Assam.

It was granted statehood on 20 February 1987.

Chief Minister of Mizoram:  PU Zoramthanga

Governor of Mizoram: Dr Hari Babu Kambhampati 

Capital: Aizawl 

 

6. Legislative Assembly’s can impose a tax on other States’ lotteries

Tags: State News

The Supreme Court of India held that a State legislature has the right to impose tax on lotteries conducted by other States within its jurisdiction

• The apex court observed that ‘lotteries’ is a “species of gambling activity” and ‘betting and gambling’ is part of the State List as per Entry 34 of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution.

• Court clearly mentioned that lotteries, irrespective of whether it is conducted or organised by the Government of India or the Government of State is ‘betting and gambling.

• So, the power to tax is on all activities which are in the nature of ‘betting and gambling,’ including lotteries, as per Entry 62 of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution under State List.

• The judgment came on appeals filed by the Karnataka and Kerala governments against the decisions of their respective High Courts to quash laws enacted by their legislatures to tax lotteries organized and promoted by other States.

Important Note for Exam-

• Kerala High Court is a common High Court established in 1948 and located at Kochi. It is the highest court both for the state of Kerala and also the Union Territory of Lakshadweep.

• Common High Courts can be formed by Parliament as per provisions of 7th Amendment Act, 1956

• List of other common High-Courts-

7. Bangladesh will be connected to North-East by 2024

Tags:

While virtually addressing the delegates at a function organised by the Indian Chambers of Commerce, Union Minister for Home Affairs and Cooperations  Amit Shah said that the government will connect capitals of all the eight States by air, seven of the eight state capitals will be connected through rail, and a network of roads is operational.

He said the northeast states will be linked by road and railway to Bangladesh in a year or two, creating many opportunities in the region.

Key Points:

• The connectivity problem in the North East is being resolved by signing a land border agreement with Bangladesh. The North East will be connected to the ports of Bangladesh in two years and this will open up a huge avenue for setting up industry in the North East and for connectivity to the rest of the world.
• In a year or two, the North East region will be connected with Bangladesh by rail and road and after that, there will be immense possibilities to go East. The trade with Bangladesh will get a boost with the start of the Agartala-­Akhaura railway link. 
• Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) signed with Bangladesh in 2014 ensured proper connectivity in the region.

North East States and Capitals:

States Capital

• Arunachal Pradesh Itanagar
• Assam Dispur
• Manipur Imphal
• Meghalaya Shillong
• Mizoram Aizawl
• Nagaland Kohima
• Tripura Agartala
• Sikkim Gangtok 
• The capitals of all the eight States will be connected by air.
• The capitals of Assam, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh are already connected by rail, work to extend similar connectivity in Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Meghalaya are underway.