24-05-23 Daily-Tamilnadu-TNPSC Current Affairs

Announcing the rollout of one of its key poll-time assurances made in 2021, the ruling DMK on Monday said the scheme providing Rs 1000 per month assistance for eligible Women heads of families will be launched in September this year.

Coinciding with Dravidian stalwart and party founder, the late CN Annadurai’s birth anniversary on September 15, the launch of the ‘game-changer’ initiative would come months ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, where the DMK has set its eyes on its led alliance sweeping all the 39 seats in Nadu and the lone Puducherry segment.

State Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan on Monday presented Budget 2023-24 in the Assembly and announced that the monthly assistance scheme would be launched by Chief Minister M K Stalin. Making the announcement in his Budget address, he said said the modalities were being worked out for the scheme’s implementation and Rs 7,000 crore has been set apart in the budget for the plan. It shall be a “game changer in the socio-economic life of women of the State,” he said. Dravidian icon and DMK founder CN Annadurai’s (1909-1969) birth anniversary falls on September 15. He was the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu between 1967 and 1969, leading the first non-Congress government in the state in post-independent India.

The Rs 1,000 assistance for women family heads is one of the electoral assurances made by the DMK ahead of the 2021 Assembly election and it eventually became a very popular promise.

Often targeted by the main opposition AIADMK for ‘not implementing,’ it, the DMK regime had to reiterate many times that the scheme would soon see the Light of the day. DMK President and CM Stalin, during his campaign for the recently held Erode (East) bypoll, had assured of an announcement on the date of launch of the assistance scheme. It would be made known in the Budget presentation, he had then said.

In Tamil, the assistance is officially known as “Magalir Urimai Thogai,” which means “Women’s Right to Assistance.” Women heads of eligible households would get the financial assistance. Tabling the Budget, Rajan said that owing to the unprecedented and difficult reforms undertaken, “we have reduced the annual Revenue Deficit of around Rs 62,000 crore which we inherited on assuming office (May 2021), to around Rs 30,000 crore in the Revised Estimates of the current year.”

This is notwithstanding the several “massive welfare schemes” that are being implemented during the last two years, he said. Fare free travel for women in State-run buses and breakfast scheme for government school students are among the several schemes being implemented. Even as Rajan began his address, the principal opposition AIADMK attempted to raise issues which led to a din for a while. The party MLAs later staged a walkout. Despite accomplishments, the minister said “we are bracing for challenging times ahead,” in view of unprecedented Inflation, the continuing war in Ukraine and volatility in the global economy and Financial Markets.

“We have outperformed by growing faster than the national Average in the previous year and by significantly lowering the Revenue Deficit and Fiscal Deficit when compared to that of the Union Government,” he said adding it was a testimony to Stalin’s Leadership.

The Finance Minister announced setting up of a “state of the art global Sports city” in Chennai and Rs 25 crore for “factory skill schools” and Metro rail projects for Coimbatore and Madurai. Rajan also announced renovation of the Jawaharlal Nehru Outdoor Stadium here at an estimated cost of Rs 25 Crore. Udhayanidhi, son of CM Stalin is the Minister for Youth Welfare and Sports Development.

Rajan said the free breakfast scheme for primary students has led to increase in attendance, between 10-30 per cent in schools. In the upcoming financial year, the government would construct classrooms, laboratories and toilets at a cost of Rs 1,500 crore, he said. The Budget also reflected the DMK regime’s social Justice, Tamil development and cultural ideological focus, as seen in several announcements.

It includes a memorial here for Tamil martyrs Thalamuthu and Natarajan, who sacrificed their lives to protect Tamil in the struggle against “Hindi imposition,” a grant of Rs 5 crore for propagation of ideals of Dr BR Ambedkar by translating his works into Tamil, holding an international conference on Tamil computing and promotion of sea cruises that connect places of significance in Tamil culture.

The government would extend the free bus pass scheme to to 591 more elderly Tamil scholars. “Tamil art, music, architecture, sculpture, crafts and dance reached their pinnacle during the Chola period and their glory spread far and wide. To highlight the contribution of the Cholas who ruled the world, and to preserve artefacts and relics of that age, a grand Chola museum will be set up in Thanjavur,” he announced.

According to railways and telecom ministerAshwini Vaishnaw,the first bullet train in India will begin service in August 2026. The project will stimulate the economy because several of the suppliers to the project have begun receiving export orders. The government intends to start operating the first bullet train in August 2026. The goal is to run the bullet train on a larger section in 2027.

The Indian railways is building the countrys first bullet train from Ahmedabad, Gujarat to Mumbai, Maharashtra over 508-kilometer route. The high-speed train will run at top speed of 350 kms per hour, covering the distance in three hours. The ministry of railways updated the progress of the Bullet Train project and informed that the whole project has progressed by 26.33%.

In its latest report, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said extreme weather conditions caused 573 disasters in India between 1970 and 2021 that claimed 1,38,377 lives. The report said the USA alone incurred US$1.7 trillion, accounting for 39 per cent of economic losses worldwide in the 51 years.

But Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States suffered a disproportionately high cost in relation to the size of their economies. Globally, 11,778 reported disasters led to more than two million deaths and USD 4.3 trillion in economic losses during this period.

According to WMO, economic losses have soared but improved early warnings and coordinated Disaster Management has slashed the human casualty toll over the past half a century. Over 90 percent of reported deaths worldwide occurred in developing countries.

Asia reported 3,612 disasters attributable to weather, Climate and water extremes, with 9,84,263 deaths and USD 1.4 trillion in economic losses. Between 1970 and 2021, Asia accounted for 47 per cent of all reported deaths worldwide, with tropical being the leading cause of reported deaths. Tropical Cyclone Nargis in 2008 led to 1,38,366 deaths, the WMO said.

Bangladesh reported the highest number of human deaths (5,20,758) in Asia due to 281 events, the data showed.

In India, 573 disasters reportedly killed 1,38,377 people between 1970 and 2021. India recorded 2,227 human casualties due to extreme weather events in 2022, according to the Annual Statement on Climate of India, issued by the India Meteorological Department.

In Africa, 1,839 disasters caused 7,33,585 deaths and USD 43 billion in economic losses. Droughts caused 95 per cent of the reported deaths. Tropical cyclone Idai in March 2019 was the costliest event that occurred in Africa (USD 2.1 billion).

The WMO issued the new findings for the quadrennial World Meteorological Congress which opened in Geneva in Switzerland on Monday with a high-level dialogue on accelerating and scaling up action to ensure that early warning Services reach everyone on earth by the end of 2027.

The United Nations Early Warnings for All initiative is one of the top strategic priorities due to be endorsed by the World Meteorological Congress, WMOs top decision-making body.

The frequency of extreme weather events such as floods and heatwaves is projected to rise manifold in India in the future due to Climate Change, according to a report released by researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar, last year.

The study said the risk will increase significantly under the warming climate and variability in the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) — a recurring climate pattern involving changes in the temperature of waters in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.

Climate change has increased the instability in the Atmosphere, leading to an increase in convective activity — thunderstorms, lightning and heavy rain events. Cyclonic storms in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea are also intensifying rapidly and retaining their intensity for a longer duration due to Global Warming, according to meteorologists.