HIMACHAL PRADESH

73% cast votes in Himachal Pradesh municipal polls

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic and Bird Flu scare, Himachal Pradesh recorded good voter turnout for elections to 50 urban local bodies (ULBs), excluding municipal corporations.

By the time voting came to an end, 73% polling had been registered. Highest voter turnout of 73.40% was witnessed in Una district while the lowest turnout of 62.40% was recorded in Shimla. Women voters came out in greater numbers than their male counterparts in Hamirpur, Shimla and Solan.

In Bilaspur district, 70.20% polling was recorded in 32 wards; in Chamba, 69.60% polling was recorded in 27 wards; in Hamirpur, 69.80% polling was recorded in 34 wards; in Kangra, 71.30% voting was recorded in 65 wards; in Kullu, 64.40% polling was registered in 32 wards and in Mandi, 48 wards registered 63.50% polling. In Shimla, 49 wards recorded 62.40% polling; in Sirmaur, 67.40% polling was recorded; in Solan it was 71.90%, while in Una district it was 73.40%.

INTERNATIONAL

World Food Price Index by FAO

Food Price Index of the Food & Agriculture Organization – FAO averaged 107.5 points in December 2020, which is an increase of 2.3 points from November 2020. This is the 7th consecutive month of growth.

The food price index was established in 1996 as a public good.

The Price Index is a public good in order to help monitoring the development of the global agricultural market.

The FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) is a measure of the monthly changes in the international price of a basket of food.

It measures changes in a basket of grains, oilseeds, dairy products, meat, and sugar.

The Base period is 2014-16.

NATIONAL

Toycathon 2021 launched to promote manufacturing of indigenous toys

Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ and Union Minister for Textiles and Women & Child Development Smriti Zubin Irani jointly launched the Toycathon 2021.

This Toycathon is aimed to conceptualize innovative toys based on the Indian value system which will inculcate the positive behaviour and good value among the children.

India imports 80 per cent of toys and the government is working towards promoting the indigenous toy industry for making the country self reliant in this sector.

The Toycathon will majorly focus on conceptualizing new and innovative toys using local material which are economical, affordable, safe and environment friendly.

“Udyog Manthan” being organized from Jan 4 to March 2

Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade under the Ministry of Commerce & Industry is organizing Udyog Manthan – a marathon of focused sector-specific webinars for promoting Quality and Productivity in Indian Industry.

It got underway on 04 January and will go on till 2nd of March.

The webinar series comprising 45 sessions will cover various major sectors in manufacturing and services.

Each webinar will be a two-hour session involving discussions led by sectoral and industry experts in a particular sector.

Participants will include representatives from industry, testing and standardization bodies.

Longitudinal Ageing Study of India First Wave – India Report

The Union Health Minister releases the Longitudinal Ageing Study of India (LASI) Wave-1, India Report.

LASI (Longitudinal Ageing Study of India) may be a full–scale national survey of scientific investigation of the health, economic, & social determinants & consequences of population ageing in India.

LASI is developed by the National Programme for Health Care of Elderly (Ministry of Health and Family Welfare) through the International Institute of Population Sciences (IIPS, Mumbai) together with the Harvard School of Public Health, Southern California University, USA.

The first wave of LASI covers a baseline sample of 72,250 individuals aged 45 and over and therefore their spouses from all Indian states and the Confederation (UT), including 31,464 seniors 60 and over, and 6,749 people 75 and over(Except Sikkim).

This is India’s first and largest survey within the world, and it provides a longitudinal database for designing policies and programs for senior citizens during a wide selection of social, health and economic well-being.

This is important because consistent with the 2011 Census, the population over 60 years old accounted for 8.6% of the Indian population.
It grows at a rate of about 3% per annum. By 2050, the elderly population will increase to 319 million, of which about 75% suffer from one or another chronic disease.

Science Technology and Innovation Policy Finalized

The 5th National STIP (Science Technology and Innovation Policy) has been finalized and is out there for public consultation.

The STIP (Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy), 2020 formulation process are getting to be facilitated by the Principal Scientific Adviser to the GoI (Government of India) and thus the Department of Science and Technology (DST)

The policy was formulated, employing a decentralized, bottom-up, and inclusive design process, aimed toward re-setting priorities, sectoral focus, and methods for research and technology development methods to realize greater socio-economic benefits

Due to the COVID-19 and its impact on the economy and life, the planning of STIP 2020 is integrated with Atmanirbhar Bharat.

The STIP 2020 formulation process is getting to be six-months long and has been organised into 4 highly interlinked tracks:

Track 1: It involves public and expert consultation process through the Science Policy Forum.

Track 2: Thematic consultations promoted by experts, incorporating evidence-based recommendations into the policy drafting process. to the present end, 21 thematic groups were formed.

Track 3: Involves extensive intra-state and departmental consultations with various ministries and states.

Track 4: It constitutes the very best level of multi-stakeholder consultation.

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