Bihar Cabinet approves proposal to provide COVID-19 vaccine for free
•The Bihar Cabinet on December 15, 2020 approved a proposal to provide free COVID-19 vaccine to the people in the state. This was one of the poll promises of the ruling Nitish Kumar-led JDU government in the recently concluded Bihar Assembly polls.
•The state cabinet also approved the proposal seeking to create 20 lakh job opportunities in both public and private sectors.
•The state government has also decided to introduce a special scheme for the promotion of entrepreneurship among the women in the state and for the same the state will provide interest-free loan up to 50 percent of their project or a maximum of Rs 5 lakh. This will be in addition to the subsidy of 50 per cent or Rs 5 lakh of the project cost.
•Further, the state has decided to give Rs 25000 to unmarried women after passing Class 12 and Rs 50,000 financial assistance after passing graduation to encourage higher education.
Government approves assistance of Rs 3,500 crore for sugarcane farmers
•The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved assistance of about Rs 3,500 crore for sugarcane farmers (Ganna Kisan) on December 16, 2020.
•The CCEA decided that the government will incur about Rs 3500 crore for this purpose and the assistance will be directly credited into the accounts of the farmers on behalf of the sugar mills against the sugarcane price dues and any subsequent balance would be credited to the mill's account.
•There are at least five crore sugarcane farmers and their dependents in India. In addition, there are about 5 lakh workers employed in the sugar mills and ancillary activities, whose livelihood depends on the sugar industry.
•The current issue is that the farmers sell their sugarcane to the sugar mills, however, they have not been getting their dues from the sugar mill owners as they have surplus sugar stock.
SC likely to set up a committee comprising farmers' unions, Centre to resolve farmers issue
•The Supreme Court on December 16, 2020 informed Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that it intends to set up a committee comprising representatives of farmers unions, the government and other concerned stakeholders to resolve the farmers issue.
•The top court said this while observing that the farmer's issue will soon become a national issue. The SC bench comprised Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian.
•The Bench also issued notice to the Centre and the State governments on a batch of pleas seeking a direction to authorities to immediately remove the protesting farmers at several border points of Delhi against three new farm laws. •The top court has posted the matter for hearing tomorrow.
Union Cabinet approves next round of spectrum auction
•The Union Cabinet has approved the next round of spectrum auction and revised cost estimate of the northeastern region power system improvement project.
•The cabinet approved the auction of spectrum in 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz & 2500 MHz frequency bands, for the validity period of 20 years.
•A total of 2251.25 MHz is being offered with a total valuation of Rs 3,92,332.70 crore at the reserve price. This was informed by the IT and Telecommunications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad during his media briefing.
•The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs also approved the revised cost estimate of the northeastern region power system improvement project for six states to strengthen the intra-state transmission and distribution systems.
Pashupatinath Temple reopens for first time since March lockdown
•The famous and sacred Hindu shrine, Pashupatinath Temple re-opened for devotees on December 16, 2020 while adhering to all COVID-19 protocols. The temple is located in the eastern part of Kathmandu Valley.
•The sacred shrine had been closed since the first phase of lockdown starting in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
•The temple will now remain open daily from 6 am to 12 pm. Atonement worship was also performed on December 15, 2020 seeking forgiveness as it prepared to reopen the gates after a long gap.
•The entry of devotees inside the temple, which had continued on a regular basis since ancient times, was prohibited during the pandemic owing to the risk of transmission.
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