WCD extends PM CARES for Children Scheme till February end

Women and Child Development Ministry have extended the PM Cares for Children Scheme till the end of this month. Earlier the scheme was valid till 31st December 2021. All States and Union Territories have now been asked to identify and register the eligible children on the portal. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced comprehensive support for children who have lost both their parents due to COVID 19 pandemic last year. The objective of the scheme is to ensure comprehensive care and protection of children who have lost their parents during COVID pandemic. The PM CARES for children scheme provides support to children for ensuring education, health, monthly stipend from the age of 18 years, and lump sum amount of 10 lakh rupees on attaining 23 years of age. Any Citizen can inform the administration regarding a child eligible for support under this scheme through the portal.

-Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Ministry under its SANKALP programme has brought an initiative to fund a stipend for one thousand apprentices across Central Ministries for one year. The initiative has been developed so that the youth of the country benefit by learning hands-on skills by way of domain-specific apprenticeship opportunities. After one year of engagement, the Ministries are expected to continue these positions utilizing their own funds.  National Skill Development Corporation has been entrusted with the overall responsibility of coordination for the project.

-Bombay High Court has directed Maharashtra government to submit a report on current status of CCTVs installations at Police stations. The directive came after a division bench of High Court raised eyebrows on the functioning of the state government in relation to CCTV installations despite the orders of the Supreme Court as well as the high court. The state government had yesterday informed the court that there are 1,089 police stations in the state and so far 6,092 cameras had been installed in 547 of them. Of these 5,639 cameras were functional and 453 word non functional. Refusing to pass any order regarding functionality of the cctv cameras the High Court  said that it appears that state is intentionally not installing cameras in police stations and whenever CCTV footage is sought by the court it is not produced and lame excuses are given.

-Budget session of Mizoram Legislative Assembly has begun Tuesday with the policy address by Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati. Discussion on the motion of thanks on the Governor's address will be held in the first phase of sittings. In two phases of sittings, the session will continue till 10th of next month. Chief Minister Zoramthanga, who is also holding the Finance portfolio, will present the budget for 2022-23 on February24. While delivering his address, Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati stressed upon the need to strive for inclusive growth of the State, with benefits reaching all sections of society, especially the poor and marginalized. Governor further said that his government has emphasized employment generation and entrepreneurship development. Governor mentioned that the union budget has allocated Rs. 500 crore for Construction of Aizawl By-Pass and Rs.100 crore for the Construction of Bamboo Link Roads at different locations in the State. The Governor has also highlighted the achievements of his government in implementing various central programs in the current fiscal.  

-Karnataka Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr. K.Sudhakar  informed that HDFC bank has set up an oxygen plant at the K.C.General Hospital in Bengaluru under its “Parivartan  Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative”. In a tweet, the Minister applauded the kind gesture of HDFC said, these generous contributions have been instrumental in bringing quantitative and qualitative change in the critical care infrastructure amid COVID-19 pandemic.

-The Election Commission of India (ECI) revised the overall voting percentage in the Punjab Assembly poll to 71.95 per cent. Giving this information Punjab Chief Electoral Officer Dr S Karuna Raju said that scrutiny reports of all the 23 districts have been received, out of total 117 constituencies of the state, Gidderbaha remained at the top with highest polling percentage of 84.93 percent,followed by Talwandi Sabo which recorded 83.70 percent polling, while Amritsar West with 55.40 percent and  Ludhiana South with 59.04 percent witnessed lowest voting percentage. Dr Raju said that all the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) have been moved to the respective Strong Rooms. All the 117 Strong Rooms at 66 locations were sealed and as per the ECI guidelines, three-tier security measures have been taken with deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), Armed Police and Punjab Police. He said that security forces have been keeping strict vigil round the clock at Strong Rooms.