[CA] Daily News: March 10, 2020

GENDER SOCAL NORMS INDEX The first Gender Social Norms Index was recently released by the UN Development Programmme (UNDP). This index measures how social beliefs obstruct gender equality in areas like politics, work, and education, and contains data from 75 countries, covering over 80% of the world’s population. The index found new clues to the invisible barriers women face in achieving equality – potentially forging a path forward to breaking through the so-called “glass ceiling”. SHGs Ministry of Panchayat Raj, announced that the Rural Development Ministry plans to add more than 14 lakhs SHGs (Self Help Groups) to achieve 75 lakh SHGs by the year 2022 to enable more women to get livelihood. Women’s SHGs are the backbone of poverty alleviation programmes and the entire focus of the Ministry is towards women’s freedom. Currently, there are 60.8 lakh SHGs across the country comprising about 6 crores 73 lakh women. The government provides training and funds to SHGs for livelihood mission, by linking them through banks for easy credit flows. ODISHA: FIRST STATE TO HAVE DEPT FOR SHGs Odisha Chief Minister, Mr. Naveen Patnaik announced that Odisha is the first state to own a separate department for Self Help Groups named as “Mission Shakti”. It is created for the development of women & is dedicated to all the women of Odisha. Mission Shakti and Mamata Scheme jointly benefits 70 lakh women. 50% reservation in Panchayati Raj has created a new era for the socio-economic development of women. Earlier in the state budget, it has introduced an independent Nutrition Budget. INJETI SRINIVAS PANEL A 12-member high level panel was set up to prepare an investigation manual for the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) chaired by the Corporate Affairs Secretary Injeti Srinivas.  The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SIFO) is set up under the Corporate Affairs ministry. SIFO investigates white-collar crimes and the headquarters of SFIO is at New Delhi.  RAJYA SABHA MPs FROM TAMIL NADU # Name Party 01 Mr. K. P. Munnusamy AIADMK 02 Mr. M. Thambidurai 03 Mr. G. K. Vasan 04 Mr. P. Selvarasu DMK 05 Mr. N. R. Elango 06 Mr. Tiruchi Siva Tamil Nadu has 18 Rajya Sabha members. 6 persons are due to retire on April 01, 2020. Each Rajya Sabha MPs have a tenure of 6 years. Mr. G. K. Moopannar, Mrs. Jayanthi Natrajan and Mr. Vaiko have the distinction for electing to Rajya Sabha for maximum number of terms (each elected for 4 terms) from Tamil Nadu. AVVAIYAR AWARD 2020 Chief Minister, Mr. Edappadi K. Palaniswami conferred the Avvaiyar Award 2020 on Mrs. R. Kannagi, a social worker from Tiruvanmalai Dt. The award carries Rs. 1 lakh, a gold medal and a citation. WISTEMM PROGRAM “Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (WISTEMM)” program is implemented by the Department of Science and Technology (DST). The aim of WISTEMM is to provide opportunities to Indian Women Scientists, Engineers & Technologists to undertake international collaborative research in premier institutions in U.S.A, to enhance their research capacities and capabilities. 3RD GENDER EQUALITY SUMMIT 2020 UNGCNI (United Nations Global Compact Network India), a country level platform for public & private sector, businesses to align stakeholders’ responsible practices towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),has organized the 3rd edition of its Gender Equality Summit 2020 in New Delhi. The summit, aims to create a strong roadmap towards gender equality at workplaces in India, focuses on driving and bringing in change for equal opportunities in employment and growth for the women skill workforce. MAHATMA GANDHI NATIONAL FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMME Ministry of Skill Development has initiated Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship programme (MGNF) in the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bengaluru in Karnataka. This fellowship is a part of SANKALP (Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion) programme of the ministry to boost skill development at the district level. MGNF is an initiative of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) which is implemented by IIM Bangalore in collaboration with State Skill Development Missions (SSDMs). Under the pilot project, IIMB will train 75 graduates for two years in preparing the District skill plan. Graduates from 75 districts in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Karnataka and Meghalaya are chosen for the training. ADVENTURES OF THE DAREDEVIL DEMOCRAT Odisha Chief Minister, Mr. Naveen Patnaik released the comic book titled “The Adventures of the Daredevil Democrat” on the occasion of the 104th birth anniversary of former Odisha Chief Minister, Mr. Biju Patnaik. The book deals about the life and works of legendary leader and Naveen Patnaik’s father Biju Patnaik. TN STATE PLANNING COMMISSION Former Tamil Nadu Finance Minister, Mr. C. Ponnaiyan has been appointed as the Vice – Chairman of the State Planning Commission. Chief Minister of the State will be the Chairman of the State Planning Commission.