Pib

Pib

1. Two Day Regional Conference on Good Governance concludes in Guwahati

Earlier in the Technical sessions on Good Governance Index for Ranking of States, Shri Shabeer Sheikh, Director, Centre for Good Governance (CGG), Hyderabad pointed out that there are five major Indicators to rank any State on performance level. States have been categorized into three categories: UTs, Hill areas which comprises North East, J&K, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, and the third category comprising rest of the States. He said the Ranking of States is with an objective to improve Governance for citizens. Ranking will lead to competitive federalism, he added. On issues of Good Governance in North-Eastern States, one of the speakers pointed out that Internet connectivity is a hurdle in prompt service delivery to the public. Coverage in Assam is only 1.9% compared to an all-India average penetration of 3%.

On issues of Good Governance with special reference to Assam Government Website, Smt Suchitra Pyarelal, Sr. Technical Director, NIC, Assam said websites are now Citizen Centric catering to all age groups and continuously updated by all Government Departments. On “Ease of Doing Business in Assam”, Dr KK Dwivedi, Commissioner & Secretary, D/o Personnel, Administrative Reforms & Training, Govt. of Assam said entrepreneurs can now apply online and get auto-registration certificate, with no need of human interface. The system is now transparent. It has erased red tapism and checked corruption, he added.

2. President of India Addresses the Valedictory Function of 32nd Indian Engineering Congress

The President said that engineers are agents of change. Historically it is engineers who have used the logic of science to achieve practical solutions – whether building dams or bridges, whether designing locomotives or computers. From the earliest metal tools to the integrated circuit, from the 18th century Industrial Revolution to the 21st century Fourth Industrial Revolution – it is engineering that has spoken the language of the future. Today, in exploring the possibilities of Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things or in realising our aspirations for Make in India, once more it is to our engineers that we turn.

The President noted that these opportunities are all the more important because human civilisation is at an inflection point. The evolution of technology is changing how we live, work and think. It is also challenging the practice of engineering. For example, civil engineers are specialists in materials. They use this knowledge for construction. Yet, this same knowledge of composites and materials will increasingly be deployed for both micro needs – such as creating medical implants for the human body – as well as macro needs – for instance, constructing facilities and maybe even colonies in outer space.

The President said that developments across different fields are creating avenues for cross-fertilisation. Disciplines such as food technology, biotechnology, environmental engineering and transportation engineering are expanding the horizons of engineers. And engineers will inevitably intersect with disciplines as far apart as law, geography and political science. Engineers can play a much larger role in solving key challenges facing our country - in food, healthcare and the environment, in providing low-cost and easy-to-build housing, and in enhancing urban infrastructure with minimum disruption.

3. States rank 50000 Gram Panchayats under Mission Antyodaya

50,000 Gram Panchayats have been selected in about 5,000 clusters to drive economic activities along with development of physical infrastructure and human development on a priority. Public institutions like Krishi Vigyan Kendras, MSME Clusters, other Skill Development Institutions will all be involved in developing the fullest potential of these clusters for enhancing productive employment and economic activities. The potential of these clusters, inter alia, could be in organic agriculture, horticulture, manufacturing, services, tourism, etc. Even the private sector, especially young CEOs, Start Ups and Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives are being invited to join the movement for making Panchayats Poverty free through enhanced livelihood diversification and market linkages. The Panchayats have been selected by the State Governments purposively on the basis of social capital. These Panchayats have strong women Self Help Groups or have strong Panchayat leadership. 300 Rurban Clusters and over 750 Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana Panchayats etc. have also been covered on priority.

Through convergence of all Government programmes across Ministries and Departments, an effort is being made to diversify livelihood and to eradicate poverty of households. The Socio Economic Census provides a baseline for households and the ranking of Gram Panchayats carried out on a scale of 100 from 1st to 15th October, 2017 provides a baseline on physical infrastructure, human development and economic activities. The progress over the years would be monitored both at the level of Households and Gram Panchayats to see the change, that would be brought through interventions over the next 1000 days. Approximately 20% of the Gram Panchayats of the country have been covered initially. Over 8,600 Gram Panchayats/ clusters fall in the 115 backward districts identified for focused action. The Department of Rural Development will support States in transforming these Clusters/Gram Panchayats within a defined time frame.