Rajasthan restores old pension scheme for employees

BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah was on Manipur on Wednesday. Addressing a political rally in Churachandpur, Amit Shah called upon the underground groups to come out and join the national mainstream. He also appealed to them to involve themselves in the development activities of the state and in nation-building. He further said that the BJP-led Government in Manipur has ushered in a new era of peace and development by freeing the state from bandh and blockade. Calling upon the Kuki youth to come out and join the national mainstream, senior BJP leader Amit Shah said that the BJP will facilitate them in joining the mainstream under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said that more than 9500 cadres of different underground groups gave up arms and joined the national mainstream in the region during NDA regime.

-DRDO’s Defence Institute of High Altitude Research, DIHAR has celebrated Science Week, in Leh on Wednesday. Under the ambit of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, a visit programme for 60 students and 25 army personnel was organized at DIHAR Campus. Week-long events to promote scientific temperament and achievements, Vigyan Sarvatra Pujyate  Science Festival is being celebrated till February 28th commemorating discovery of Raman Effect by Sir CV Raman for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1930. DIHAR Scientists Dr Dorjey Angchok and Sh Tsewang Tamchos gave lectures on the development of Agriculture in Ladakh through modern scientific technologies. Similarly, Rajendra Kashyap and Ankur Prasar of Defence Geoinformatics Research Establishment, DGRE- DRDO, spoke about science and prevention of hazardous effects of snow avalanches. In a PowerPoint presentation, glimpses of the traditional agricultural practices of Ladakh and various scientific-technological interventions by DIHAR like Greenhouse, microgreen, passive storage and normobaric hatchery in Ladakh region were given.

-In Rajasthan, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot presented the budget for the financial year 2022-23 in the assembly on Wednesday. Presenting a separate agriculture budget for the first time Chief Minister announced several schemes for agriculture, animal husbandry, and irrigation.  The Chief Minister has announced to restore the old pension scheme for the employees appointed after January 1, 2004. Mr. Gehlot said that two thousand new Mahatma Gandhi English Medium Schools would be opened and the annual medical insurance cover under Mukhyamantri Chiranjeevi Swasthya Bima Yojana would be increased from Rupees 5 lakh to Rs.10 lakh.  It has been proposed to provide smartphones to women heads of one crore 33 lakh families with internet connectivity for three years under Mukhyamantri Digital Seva Yojana and government jobs to one lakh youths in the Budget. The ruling party has welcomed the budget, while the opposition has criticized, saying that the government has no concrete strategy to make the announcements on the ground. 

-The latest edition of the Indian Navy’s multilateral exercise MILAN 2022 is scheduled to commence from  February 25 in Visakhapatnam. MILAN 22 is being conducted over a duration of 9 days in two phases with the harbour phase scheduled from 25th to 28th February and Sea Phase from 1st to 4th March. Indian Navy said, India is celebrating the 75th year of its independence in 2022 and MILAN 22 provides an opportunity to commensurate this milestone with our friends and partners. The theme of the MILAN 2022 exercise is Camaraderie - Cohesion - Collaboration which aims to project India as a responsible maritime power to the world at large. The aim of the exercise is to hone operational skills, imbibe best practices and procedures, and enable doctrinal learning in the maritime domain, through professional interaction between friendly navies.

-The Second Bangladesh Film Festival was inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Tripura Biplab Kumar Deb in Agartala on Wednesday. Inaugurating the festival, Chief Minister Biplab  Kumar Deb said that with the opening of new channels of communication including waterways and railways, Tripura is becoming the commercial corridor of North East and also providing huge potential for film-making. He said Tripura and Bangladesh share many similarities in cultures and such programmes are a big step towards increasing harmony in the region through cultural exchange between the two countries. Speaking during the inaugural function, Information and Broadcasting Minister of Bangladesh Dr Hasan Mahmud said that India and Bangladesh have many things in common and cultural exchange programmes can bring the two countries closer. He recalled the support of the people of Tripura in sheltering about one crore people during the liberation war of Bangladesh. He expressed deep gratitude to the people of Tripura and the government of India for their support during the liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971. After the inaugural function, a documentary on the life of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ‘Sheikh Hasina- a Daughter’s Tale’ was screened.