All that was discussed in the Houses through the day
Lok Sabha
Bihar’s composite score (52 out of 100) on the Sustainable Development Goals is the lowest among all states, according to NITI Aayog’s SDG India Index Report 2020-21.
The index has been constructed using 115 indicators across 16 SDGs, Rao Inderjit Singh, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation said in the Lok Sabha.
Singh said a high proportion (33.74 per cent) of the population in Bihar lives below the poverty line, and as high as 52.5 per cent suffers from multidimensional poverty. Only 12.3 per cent of households have any usual member covered by a health insurance.
As many as 42 per cent of children under five years are stunted, which is the highest in the country. It has the lowest literacy (64.7 per cent) in the age group of 15 years and above.
The state has the highest Pupil Teacher Ratio at secondary level (class 9-10) at 58; the India average is at 21. It has the lowest gross value added (constant prices) in agriculture per worker (in lakhs / worker) at 0.29.
Carbon emissions in mining operation
Coal India Ltd and its subsidiaries have taken up a series of measures to offset carbon emission in mining operations, said Pralhad Joshi, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Coal And Mines.
CIL & its subsidiaries have planned to carry out plantation over about 6,800 hectares in the next five years, which will offset carbon dioxide about 2.72 lakh tonnes per year. They have also planned to install 3,000 megawatt of solar energy in next five years, which will also offset CO2, Joshi said.
CIL has planned for other energy efficient measures in next five years, which will include replacing conventional light by LED lights, installing energy efficient air conditioners, super fan, efficient water heaters, energy efficient motors for pumps, auto-timers in street lights, Joshi said.
Rajya Sabha
Expansion of CNG network
Establishment of CNG Stations is part of the development of City Gas Distribution (CGD) network and the same is carried out by the entities authorised by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB).
PNGRB is the authority to grant authorisation to the entities for developing of CGD network in Geographical Areas (GAs) as per PNGRB Act, 2006. PNGRB identifies GAs for authorising the development of CGD network in synchronisation with the development of natural gas pipeline connectivity and natural gas availability, Rameswar Teli, Minister of State in the Ministry Of Petroleum and Natural Gas said.
As many as 232 GAs covering 407 districts spread over 27 States / Union territories, including Uttar Pradesh, have been authorised for the development of CGD networks, Teli added.
Decrease in income for informal sector workers
According to Teli, there has been a positive growth in average daily wage rates between March 2020 and May 2021.
Labour Bureau compiles and maintains average daily wage rate data on monthly basis in respect of general agricultural and non-agricultural labourers (men and women) on the basis of the data collected by the Field Operation Division of National Statistical Office from a fixed set of 600 sample villages across 20 states.
Target to develop smart cities
Smart cities have tendered out 6,017 projects worth Rs 1,80,873 crore as of July 9, according to Kaushal Kishore, minister of housing and urban affairs. Out of this, work orders have been issued in 5,375 projects worth Rs 149,251 crore. Some 2,781 projects worth Rs 48,150 crore have been completed.
There has been more than 260 per cent growth in projects tendered and more than 380 per cent growth in projects grounded / completed in the last three years, Kishore said.
The Government of India has released Rs 23,925.83 crore as the central share to the states / Union territories out of which Rs 20,410.14 crore (85 per cent) has been utilised by smart cities.
The smart cities are expected to complete their projects within five years from their date of selection, Kishore added.
Loss of life, property due to cyclone Tauktae and Cyclone Yaas
Cyclonic storm Tauktae affected Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu; and Cyclone Yaas affected Odisha, West Bengal and Jharkhand.
According to the data presented in Rajya Sabha, 190,983 hectares cropped area affected due to cyclone Tauktae and 176,638.93 hectares pf cropped area was affected due to cyclone Yaas.
In the aftermath of Cyclone Tauktae and Yaas, the central government released additional financial assistance of Rs 1,000 crore to Gujarat; Rs 500 crore to Odisha; Rs 300 crore to West Bengal and Rs 200 crore to Jharkhand in advance.
The central government released the first installment of central share of the state disaster response fund for 2021-22 amounting to Rs 8,873.60 crore on April 29 in advance to all states, including the cyclone-affected ones, Nityanand Rai, Minister of state in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs said.
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