Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Limited Inaugurated
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation, Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Limited, a petrochemical complex, at Lepetkata, near Dibrugarh on February 4, 2016. He also dedicated to the nation, the wax plant of Numaligarh Refineries Limited.
- The two projects are important for two reasons i.e., for the value addition they would achieve for natural raw materials; and for the employment opportunities they would create for the youth of Assam. This would ensure employment generation, I and avoid massive cost overruns.
- It is the first ever petro-chemical plant located in the entire North-Eastern region of Indian. It has been built at cost of Rs 10000 crore and shall be producing raw material for manufacturing plastic.
Government Set-up Two Committees to Ensure Consistency in Tax
- The Ministry of Finance has set-up two committees to bring about consistency in taxation policy on February 3, 2016, One is under Finance Minister and other under Revenue Secretary. The two committees would start functioning from April 1,2016.
- On the basis of recommendation of the Tax Administration Reform Commission (TARC) on taxation reform these two committees namely Tax Policy Research Unit (TPRU) and Tax Policy Council (TPC) have been constituted.
- The TPRU will carry out studies on various topics of fiscal and tax policies. It will assist the TPC in taking appropriate policy decisions and shall prepare j tax proposal and analysis of legislative intent.
MGNREGA Completed 10 Years
- Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) completed ten years of its implementation on February 2, 2016. On this day, the Centre is holding ‘MGNREGA Sammelan’ in New Delhi to mark 10 years of the scheme.
- Since the beginning, the expenditure on the programme has amounted to over Rs 3 three lakh crore. Out of this, 71% has been spent on wage payments to workers. Over 1980 crorc person-days have been generated in the programme.
- The percentage of Scheduled Caste Scheduled Tribe workers has been at about 20% 17% respectively. Besides, 57% of all workers arc women, which is well above the statutory requirement of 33%. More than 65% of the works taken up under MGNREGA are linked to agriculture and allied activities.
- The Flagship rural job guarantee scheme was announced by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in February, 2006.
Centre Issued Guidelines on Zika Virus
- The Union Ministry of Health issued guidelines on February 2, 2016 about Zika virus asking citizens to not travel to affected countries, setting-up quarantine facilities at airports and constituting Rapid Response Teams in case of an outbreak.
- As per the Ministry, non-essential travel to affected countries should be cancelled, especially by women who are planning to get pregnant, in the wake of the viral disease spreading to 22 countries.
- Furthermore, the government has set-up Rapid Response Teams (RRT) comprising an epidemiologist, a microbiologist and a medical specialist. Meanwhile, the National Centre for’ Disease Control (NCDC), Delhi would be the nodal agency for investigation of outbreak in any part of the country.
State Scene
13th World Spice Congress Held in Ahmedabad
- 13th World Spice Congress held in Ahmedabad from February 27 to 29, 2016. The theme of the biennial event is Target 2020 : Clean, Safe and Sustainable Supply Chain. The three-day event seeks to hammer out a credible and actionable road map to further push the growth of spices . industry and address its challenges across the globe.
- The event is jointly organised by the Spices Board, the Cochin Hill Produce Merchants’ Association, and India Pepper and Spice Trade Association, It is supported by Indian Spices & Foodstuff Exporters’ Association and All India Spices Importers & Distributors Association.
- Spices constitute the only Indian exports where the country controls almost half of world trade. Out of the total production of spices in India.
