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26th, August, 2022

 

Topic: ‘Mera Shehar-Mera Maan’ campaign

 

Importance: Punjab PCS Prelims and Mains

 

What is the news?

  • Local Government Minister Punjab Dr. Inderbir Singh Nijjar today launched the ‘Mera Shehar-Mera Maan’ campaign.

Aim:

  • ‘Mera Shehar-Mera Maan’ campaign aims to make our cities clean and green where cleanliness is a way of life. The main objective of this campaign is to create awareness about various aspects of sanitation as well as to provide a better standard of living to the residents.
(Source: Punjab Government)

 

 

 

Topic: Assocham’s ‘Vision Punjab 2022’

 

Importance: Punjab PCS Prelims and Mains

 

What is the news?

  • Assocham’s ‘Vision Punjab 2022’which is being organized on August 26, 2022 with the support of Invest Punjab, the investment promotion agency and single window clearance office of Punjab.

Why important?

  • The event is first-of-its-kind, entire industry led platform, focusing on opportunities for investments and partnerships for a New Punjab.

 

What does this even include?

  • The event includes thought-provoking panel discussions, with esteemed government and industry speakers followed by a cultural performance by Nooran Sisters and networking dinner.
  • ASSOCHAM, one of India’s oldest apex industry chamber with over 4.5 Lac members spread across geographies, had prepared and submitted a vision document to the Government of Punjab, urging the government to focus on the growth of new avenues of business and job creation.
  • The vision document was well received by industry stakeholders and on basis of that, the unique platform of Vision Punjab was conceptualized, under the worthy leadership of Mr. A S Mittal, Chair, ASSOCHAM North Region Development Council & Vice Chairman, International Tractors Ltd (Sonalika), who also holds an additional charge of Vice Chairman for Punjab State Economy and Public Policy Commission, Government of Punjab.

 

A thought-provoking Panel discussion at #AssochamVisionPunjab on “Punjab: The Emerging Investment Hub of India” covering following aspects:

• ESDM – The Sunrise Sector of Punjab
• Punjab Startups & MSMEs: The Backbone to New Rising Punjab
• Innovating Agriculture Sector of Punjab for Future
• Strengthening the future of mobility through Electric Vehicles
Many industry stalwarts took part in this discussion.

 

About Assocham:

1) The Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) is the country’s oldest apex chamber. It brings in actionable insights to strengthen the Indian ecosystem, leveraging its network of more than 4,50,000 members, of which MSMEs represent a large segment. With a strong presence in the states, and key cities globally, ASSOCHAM also has more than 400 associations, federations and regional chambers in its fold.

2) Aligned with the vision of creating a New India, ASSOCHAM works as a conduit between the industry and the Government. The Chamber is an agile and forward-looking institution, leading various initiatives to enhance the global competitiveness of the Indian industry, while strengthening the domestic ecosystem.

3) With more than 100 national and regional sector councils, ASSOCHAM is an impactful representative of the Indian industry. These Councils are led by well-known industry leaders, academicians, economists and independent professionals. The Chamber focuses on aligning critical needs and interests of the industry with the growth aspirations of the nation.

4) ASSOCHAM is driving four strategic priorities – Sustainability, Empowerment, Entrepreneurship and Digitisation. The Chamber believes that affirmative action in these areas would help drive an inclusive and sustainable socio-economic growth for the country.

(Source: Punjab Government)

 

 

 

Topic: New Food Grains Labor Policy, revises Transportation Policy of Punjab

 

Importance: Punjab PCS Prelims and Mains

 

What is the news?

  • The Punjab Council of Ministers, led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, on Friday, gave a go-ahead to the new Punjab Food Grains Labor Policy-2022 and the revised Punjab Food Grains Transportation Policy-2022 to ensure wider competitive participation with increased transparency and at the same time reducing frivolous litigation.

A spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said that:

  • The revised transportation policy is now in sync with the Custom Milling Policy for the procurement and milling of paddy, approved by the Cabinet a few days back.

About Revised transportation policy:

  • The revised transportation policy mandates the installation of vehicle tracking systems in every vehicle used for transportation of food grains procured by the government.
  • The Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs has already initiated the process of empanelling companies, which provide vehicle tracking systems and making the existing ‘Anaaj Khareed Portal’ compatible with these systems.

 

 

About the New Food Grains Labor Policy:

  • It aims at ensuring wider participation of labor associations by abolishing the prevailing labor and cartage policy.

 

Existing Labor and Cartage Policy:

The spokesperson said the existing Labour and Cartage Policy, which was in force for several decades, was perceived by many to favour the participation of contractors since it involved providing labour and transportation services by the same person.

New policy:

But the new policy has completely delinked labour and transportation services, thereby providing increased opportunities to labour associations to directly participate in the tender process, which will increase their incomes by removing the contractor’s margin, the spokesperson said.

 

Purpose of changes:

  • An important step in this regard was taken by completely eliminating the submission of manual documents during the tender process, as many tenders were often rejected on account of minor discrepancies in their submission.
  • To encourage new entrepreneurs, the policy has, for the first time, allowed participation in tenders without any requirement of past experience. The requirement of submitting physical details of registration certificates of trucks and Aadhaar numbers of labour, which often resulted in the rejection of bids due to minor discrepancies and subsequently caused frivolous litigations, has also been done away with.
  • The spokesperson said the policy has limited the size of the tendered cluster to 50,000 metric tonnes (MT). This in turn is expected to reduce the requirement of vehicles and labor in a cluster, thereby increasing competition. Earlier there was no yardstick for determining the size of a cluster, which varied from as low as 5000 MT to more than 2 Lakh MT This is expected to reduce the requirement of vehicles and labour in a cluster, thereby increasing competition.
(News Source: thestatesman)

 

 

 

Topic: Alternative Justice Mechanism

 

Importance: Punjab PCS Prelims and Mains

 

What is the news?

  • Ms. Sakshi Sawhney, IAS, Deputy Commissioner, Patiala reflected on the fundamental requisites to effectuate alternative justice mechanism during the inaugural session of the 2-day International Colloquium on Criminal Justice In Numbers at Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Punjab.

Ms. Sakshi Sawhney shared:

  • Participating in the phenomenal deliberations conducted by the Centre for Criminology, Criminal Justice & Victimology (CCV), RGNUL in association with India Justice Reports, Ms. Sawhney observed, “Data related to crime enables governance to respond better.” As a policymaker, she expressed her concern regarding systemic deficiencies that obstructed deliverance of justice.
  • Ms. Sakshi Sawhney shared her experience about procurement of data while working on crime against women and children. She said that dearth of data, lack of competence to analyze data and minimal coordination among various units involved in the dispensation of justice complicated issues and stalled the wheels of progress.
  • “Though data sets things into motion, it should not be taken at face. Reliable data required for the deliverance of justice should be validated. It should be logically correct, ” she observed. Eulogizing the efforts of Government of Punjab, Ms Sawhney remarked that the government had hired qualified persons in different wings to analyze data.

Earlier, Prof. G.S. Bajpai, Vice-Chancellor, RGNUL scrutinized data utilisation system in the present times. He observed:

  • In order to address inadequacies in the justice system, scientific temper must be developed.” “Criminal Justice system institutions are one of the least measured systems in the country.
  • Prof. G.S. Bajpai said, “In the name of data only crime rate is available. The survey on various parameters and gathering of data related to profiles of the victims, evidence, the offender and the offense can greatly address inadequacies prevailing in the justice system.”
  • While dwelling on planning, management, execution and implementation of data, Prof Bajpai spoke about the need to improve data literacy. “Proactiveness to generate relevant data and competence to manage it for delivering justice to the marginalised sections could spearhead a change in the criminal justice system.
(News Source: punjabnewsexpress)