IIT Kanpur, IIM Lucknow to promote tech startups

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Jan 31, 2021

The startup wings of the country’s top two academic institutions viz. Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur and Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Lucknow have joined hands to support technology startup and innovation ecosystem in the country.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between IIT Kanpur Research and Technology Park (Technopark@iitk) and IIM Lucknow Enterprise Incubation Centre (IIML-EIC).

According to the IIT Kanpur, India is witnessing an unprecedented boom in the country’s innovation startup ecosystem and in the current scenario the motto of self-reliance and ‘Make in India’ and startup holds more prominence than ever before.

“This association between the two world-class premier institutes will not only foster close linkages between academia and industry, but would also open new avenues for resource sharing,” IIT Kanpur director Prof Abhay Karandikar, who is also the chairman, Board of Technopark@iitk, said.

He claimed the collaboration will boost the entrepreneurial ecosystem and empower the future innovators of the country. The unique association is expected to serve as a benchmark for other IITs and IIMs to follow suit.

“As an emerging economy, we need to fill in the institutional voids that have long existed to create something on the lines of the Silicon Valley, and incubation and innovation is the only way out. At IIM Lucknow, we are deep into AI (artificial intelligence) and have many technology startups incubated with us. This MoU (with IIT Kanpur) will facilitate a collaborative exchange of ideas and knowledge between our startups,” Prof Anadi Pande, Faculty-In-Charge, IIML-EIC noted.

Axis Institute: Nurturing fashion leaders of tomorrow

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Jan 27, 2021

It goes without saying that fashion is one of the best paying industries today and a career in fashion is a much sought after among the top creative minds.

While Indian fashion designers and entrepreneurs are making their mark nationally and internationally, Kanpur-based Axis Institute of Fashion Technology (AIFT) is nurturing the next generation of fashion leaders.

Founded in 2010, AIFT is counted among the premier institutions of fashion technology in Northern India.

According to AIFT director Prof R K Sharma, AIFT offered courses including BFAD & BFA at UG level, affiliated to Dr A P J Abdul Kalam Technical University (AKTU); and Diploma Programs in Fashion Design & Garment Technology and Textile Design, affiliated to Board Of Technical Education, Uttar Pradesh.

“Our students have been awarded gold, silver and bronze medals by the AKTU in last three years for academic excellence,” he noted.

At 15th convocation, AIFT’s Vinita Juneja and Vartika Mishra were awarded gold and bronze medals respectively, while at 17th convocation Shivam Kumar and Priyanshi Barawal were awarded gold and silver medals respectively by the varsity.

Similarly, at 18th convocation this year, two students Alka Singh and Pragya Gangwar were awarded silver and bronze medals respectively.

“A logical, sequential, hands-on experience enables our students to conceptualise fabulous designs, make patterns, drape and construct trendy garments. Our exceptional training is the reason why our passouts are ready to be employed by the fashion houses, famous designer labels, luxury brands, apparel retail brands and ready-to-wear fashion industries,” he noted.

The field trips to exhibitions, museums and factories also enrich the students, while live projects with industry and fashion houses under specialised guidance of experts add values to the students’ skill and confidence.

“We nurture the next generation of fashion designers, accessories designers, stylists, buyers, photographers, fashion bloggers and also fashion industrialists. We give them the skills they need and provide them with unique insights into this ever-changing industry,” Sharma added.

Yogi’s last Budget before UP polls likely to hit Rs 5.5 trillion

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Jan 27, 2021

The last Annual Budget of the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh is likely to hit the mark of Rs 5.5 trillion, when it is presented in the state legislature next month.

Since the UP assembly polls would be held in the early months of 2022 calendar, the model code of conduct would already be in force during the time the incumbent state government normally tables its annual budgetary proposals.

The estimated size of the UP Annual Budget 2021-22 at Rs 5.5 trillion would be nearly 7.5 per cent higher than the previous Annual Budget 2020-21 at Rs 5.12 trillion tabled by the Yogi government in the legislature on February 7, 2020.

In the backdrop of the ongoing farm stir, the Adityanath government is expected to provide generous allocations to the agricultural and allied sectors in run up to the state elections to keep the rural electorate in good humour.

Besides, the pandemic is expected to cast its shadow on the budget in the form of higher budgetary allocations towards social welfare and incentive schemes, such as pension and scholarship schemes, to boost the socioeconomic firmament of the state in the next financial year.

At the same time, the government could soften its revenue targets to accommodate the industrial and services sectors, which are still facing the pandemic challenges in the form of slowdown in demand due to adverse impact on livelihood, businesses etc.

In UP Annual Budget 2020-21 tabled last year, the Adityanath government had tamed fiscal deficit at 2.97 per cent, managing it below mandated 3% of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act. The public debt was projected at a manageable 28.8 per cent of the GSDP.

UP traders demand implementation of ecommerce policy

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Jan 25, 2021

Ahead of the tabling of the Union Budget 2021-22 in Parliament on February 1, the traders in Uttar Pradesh have demanded the implementation of an ecommerce policy to provide succour to the traditional retail space.

UP Adarsh Vyapar Mandal state president Sanjay Gupta claimed the lockdown had hit the traders hard and the Centre was well aware of the ground situation.

“The traders have high hopes from the union finance minister in the Budget,” he said adding the ecommerce had adversely impacted the country’s retail sector.

He demanded a special relief package for traders, who were still facing the economic challenges emanating from lockdown. The relief could manifest in the form of relaxation to traders in all forms of government levies for two years.

Besides, small and medium traders should get collateral free loans up to Rs 2 crore, while the Budget could also announce a special scheme in this regard, Gupta noted.

He further suggested the partnership and sole proprietorship firms should be clubbed under the 25 per cent income tax bracket instead of the current 30 per cent slab just like companies.

“The foreign direct investment (FDI) in the retail sector should be gradually brought down,” the traders’ leader added.

UP logs GMV of Rs 7,000 crore on GeM portal

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Jan 22, 2021

The Uttar Pradesh government has logged more than Rs 7,000 crore in gross merchandise value (GMV) on GeM (Government e-Marketplace) platform in the last four years.

Of total public procurement of Rs 7,177 crore on GeM so far, the different UP governments had procured goods and services worth Rs 2,500 crore in the current 2020-21 financial year alone.

GeM is an end-to-end e-market, where common user goods and services can be procured by various government organisations, including ministries, departments, public sector undertakings (PSU), autonomous bodies etc.

The Centre had also feted the UP government with the Best Buyer Award in 2018 and Super Buyer Award in 2019. UP and Maharashtra are among the top GeM procuring states in India.

According to a UP government spokesperson, the state departments had made purchases of Rs 602 crore in 2017-18, which increased to Rs 1,674 crore and Rs 2,401 crore in 2018-19 and 2019-20 financial years respectively.

“The state government is pursuing a policy of zero tolerance for corruption. The government is committed to ending corruption completely and its efforts are also being appreciated at the national level,” UP additional chief secretary, MSME, Navneet Sehgal said here today. The MSME department is the nodal agency for such purchases.

After the formation of the Yogi Adityanath government in March 2017, a government order had mandated the purchases by the UP departments and their subordinate institutions through GeM. “The process reflected transparency as well as eliminating the human interface in the purchases naturally diminishing the chances of corruption,” he noted.

Meanwhile, MSME chamber Indian Industries Association (IIA) said the GeM portal was beneficial to both the government and the entrepreneurs.

“Bringing transparency in government departmental procurement and ending corruption is also exemplary for other states. The aim of the government was that the MSMEs get the right rates without any corruption and the right people participate,” IIA president Pankaj Gupta said.

Till December 2020, 71,814 sellers were registered with the GeM portal, of which 26,029 were MSMEs.

Singapore firm to invest Rs 1,100 crore in Noida data campus

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Jan 20, 2021

Singapore based ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC) India has proposed to invest Rs 1,100 crore in a greenfield data centre project in Uttar Pradesh at Noida.

Formerly known as Tata Communications Data Centres Private Limited, STT Global Data Centres India is a majority owned subsidiary of ST Telemedia Global Data Centres of Singapore.

The proposed data centre campus is aimed at providing services to big cloud players, hyperscalers (an operator of a data center that offers scalable cloud computing services) and enterprises.

Currently, STT DCG operates 16 data centres across eight cities in India with an IT load capacity of 110 megawatt (MW), whereas the parent holding company operates a portfolio of 112 data centres globally.

In a meeting with UP additional chief secretary, industrial development, Alok Kumar, STT GDC representative informed that in the first phase the company would develop the campus with critical IT capacity of 18 mw with estimated investment of Rs 600 crore.

A land parcel of three acres has been identified by the investor in Noida to set up the campus, which would be scalable to 36 mw IT load in second phase with an additional investment of Rs 500 crore, excluding land cost.

The completion of the two phases would entail total investment of around Rs 1,100 crore with approximately 80 direct job and 1,000 indirect and induced employment avenues.

“The proposed campus is suitably located within easy access of the industrial hub and the national capital with seamless international connectivity,” Kumar noted adding there was already significant presence of industry and IT majors in and around NOIDA, which would aid in quickly evolving the region as a major data centre hub in North India.

The new policy would target Rs 20,000 crore worth of private investment and creation of 150,000 job opportunities in the next five years.

A data center is a facility that centralises the shared IT activities and equipment of an organisation for the purpose of storing, processing and disseminating information and applications.

UP preparing for next round of Covid vaccination on Jan 22

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Jan 18, 2021

Even as Uttar Pradesh topped the chart with maximum Covid vaccinations on Day One of the mega nationwide drive on Saturday (Jan 16), the state government is now preparing for the next phase of inoculation on January 22.

“We are preparing for the next phase of vaccination next Friday i.e. on January 22 and have the requisite vaccines available with us,” UP additional chief secretary, medical and health, Amit Mohan Prasad told the media here yesterday.

The list of people to be vaccinated is being prepared with the help of the Covid portal, which automatically sends SMS to beneficiaries mentioning the date and place of the vaccination.

On Saturday, 22,643 health workers, including doctors, were given the Covid jab at the 317 vaccination centres in UP. Women topped the gender tally in UP with 11,753 vaccinations or nearly 52 per cent followed by men with 10,890 vaccinations or 48 per cent.

With total inoculation of 22,643 health workers, UP topped the list with Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Bihar figuring next in the national tally. Earlier, more than a million Covaxin and Covishield had already arrived in the state for the vaccination campaign.

Although, the UP government had earlier estimated to vaccinate 31,700 health workers on Day One, the final tally of 22,643 was tad lower than 72 per cent of the target. In due course, the vaccination drive would be held twice every week and the beneficiaries would be informed accordingly.

UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath had also visited a vaccination centre at Balrampur Hospital, Lucknow for taking the first hand stock of the drive. Thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his dynamic leadership during the pandemic crisis, he also complemented Indian scientists for developing the Covid vaccines.

However, he cautioned against the naysayers and those allegedly spreading canards regarding the vaccination. “We have to remember that when the country was fighting a decisive battle against Covid, the vested interests were still indulging in their misinformation campaign.”

The CM claimed the two indigenous Covid vaccines were the cheapest in the world yet among the most successful ones. “These vaccines have set an important benchmark for us, and will take forward the ‘Made in India’ theme propagated by the Prime Minister,” he said and advised people to practice Covid protocols and patiently wait for their turns for the vaccination.

In the past weeks, the state had conducted three dry runs of the vaccination across UP to ensure the actual rollout was without any glitches.

UP to fortify cyber police stations to curb digital crimes

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Jan 16, 2021

The Uttar Pradesh government will fortify the cyber police stations to curb new age digital and financial frauds by equipping cops with modern surveillance and investigation gadgets.

The UP Police department has been directed to upgrade the cyber labs, database management, forensic tools, data analysis software, data extraction software etc in the different cyber police stations.

According to UP additional chief secretary, home, Awanish Kumar Awasthi, about 243 cases had been registered in the 18 cyber police stations, of which the maximum cases pertained to Gautam Buddha Nagar (Noida), Lucknow, Moradabad and Varanasi regions.

Meanwhile, the police department has been allocated Rs 32 crore for the purchase of state-of-art gadgets and software solutions to modernise the cyber police stations. During the Covid-19 pandemic, nearly 900 accused were arrested under charges of cyber crimes during August-December 2020.

So far, more than 1,200 cops had been trained for posting in these cyber police stations and the process is still on. While cyber police stations were first set up in Lucknow and Noida, they were later also launched in each of the 16 other police ranges, taking the overall tally to 18 in UP.

Besides, the UP Police has constituted cyber cells at select police stations in the 75 districts to deal with petty cyber crimes and misuse of social media.

UP to promote startups in defence, aerospace sector

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Jan 15, 2021

The Uttar Pradesh government will promote startups in the state defence and aerospace manufacturing sector for boosting industrialisation and job creation.

The Yogi Adityanath government has cleared the proposal of providing sops to the startups and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) in the growing sector, which were hitherto applicable to only big units.

This has been done by amending the UP Defence and Aerospace Manufacturing Employment Promotion Policy 2018 to give a major leg-up to the startups and MSMEs in this arena.

The state cabinet decision is aimed at bringing parity between the industrial units and catalysing the UP Defence Corridor, which is expected to attract investments to the tune of Rs 50,000 crore in the coming years.

Now, the startups and MSMEs will be eligible for land allotment to set up their units for the manufacturing and supply of hardware used in the defence and aerospace industry.

Meanwhile, the Yogi government has already acquired nearly 1,500 hectares for the UP Defence Corridor across the six identified nodes viz. Aligarh, Agra, Jhansi, Chitrakoot, Kanpur and Lucknow for allotment to the public and private sector companies.

Besides, 20 companies had signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government for setting up units in the Aligarh node, of which 12 entities, with projected investment of more than Rs 1,000 crore, had been allotted land.

Earlier, Indian Navy had also signed an MoU with UPEIDA for setting up a ‘Centre of Excellence’ in the UP Defence Corridor to promote research and innovation in the defence sector.

KRIBHCO to invest Rs 325 crore in UP food processing plant

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Jan 12, 2021

Fertiliser major Krishak Bharati Cooperative Limited (KRIBHCO) is planning to invest Rs 325 crore in a food processing plant in Uttar Pradesh.

The proposed facility will span nearly 45 acres in Shahjahanpur district, where KRIBHCO operates a captive fertiliser production unit. While the state government has given in principle approval to the project, the food processing facility is likely to be commissioned in 12 months and provide employment to 2,000 people.

KRIBHCO, which owns 100 acres of land in Shahjahanpur, will set up a greenfield food processing unit for horticultural crops, including mango, tomato, potato etc. It will procure these agricultural produce from local farmers.

Registered under Multi State Cooperative Societies (MSCS) Act, 2002, KRIBHCO is a national level cooperative society engaged in fertiliser production and distribution. It was founded in April 1980 to produce and distribute high-quality agricultural inputs, mainly chemical fertilisers, through cooperatives and institutional agencies.

It operates production facilities at Hazira, Gujarat and Shahjahanpur, UP. It also has an offshore joint venture unit in Oman. In addition, it is also engaged in trading and distribution of bulk fertilisers.

The Yogi Adityanath government is actively promoting the food processing industry in UP to augment the farm income and to minimise wastage in the agro and horticultural segments.

During the lockdown period, the state garnered investment proposals worth nearly Rs 7,000 crore from foreign companies and investors. The proposals emanated from USA, Germany, Canada, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, Japan, Singapore, South Korea etc and pertained to different sectors viz. integrated food processing, intermediate food products, granaries, electronic manufacturing, ethanol, software development, IT infra etc.

UP to promote shipments from distilleries, wineries

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Jan 11, 2021

The Uttar Pradesh government is looking to promote exports from the state distilleries, wineries and breweries for the benefit of industry, traders and farmers.

To boost the production of wine, the state has exempted wine made of locally produced fruits from excise duty for a period of five years, while vintners have been allowed to set up wine taverns for the retail sale.

To encourage exports, the brand and label approval process for exports to other states and countries has been simplified in the new state excise policy approved by the Yogi Adityanath government for the coming 2020-21 financial year.

To cater the upper class segment, premium retail vends, wine tasting facilities and sale of drinking accessories have been permitted at the airports. The FL-2D license for the sale of imported liquor will be discontinued. Instead, registered customs bonds will supply imported liquor directly to wholesalers. The custom bond warehouses will pay a permit fee of Rs 300 per bulk litre on sale of imported liquor to other states.

The new policy will facilitate the ease of doing business by providing the brand registration, label approval, bar and microbrewery licenses renewal facility of up to 3 years instead of annual renewals.

Meanwhile, the state is eyeing excise revenue of Rs 34,500 crore in 2021-22, which is 20 per cent higher compared to the targetted collection of Rs 28,340 crore in the current financial year 2019-20. The UP excise collection accounts for the second highest revenue source for the state government after the commercial tax/goods and services tax (GST) department.

The new excise policy lays emphasis on promoting the ease of doing business matrix, decentralisation of approvals, simplification of processes, implementation of system of point of sale (PoS) machines in retail shops, renewal option for 2021-22 to retail liquor licensees, introduction of high quality grain extra neutral alcohol (ENA) based UP made liquor, promoting wine production etc.

IIM Indore to develop Ayodhya as global tourist hotspot

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Jan 9, 2021

The Indian Institute of Management, Indore (IIM-I) has partnered the Ayodhya Municipal Corporation (AMC) to develop the temple town as a global tourist hub in the backdrop of the construction of a grandiose Lord Ram temple.

Under the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the IIM-I and the AMC, the Institute will collaborate with the Ayodhya civic body to replicate the best municipal best practices followed in Indore, which is among the cleanest and best managed urban centres in India.

Besides, the IIM-I will draft a plan for implementation of information, education and communication (IEC) in Ayodhya according to the central government’s flagship Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) programme.

The Institute will conduct training/capacity building programmes for the AMC pertaining to the project management tools. The MoU will be effective for three years, which could be extended with mutual consent.

“We are preparing an action plan along with the AMC to develop Lord Ram’s place Ayodhya as the world’s most beautiful and cleanest pilgrimage centre. In the initial phase, we will focus on the Swachh Bharat Mission and the IEC,” IIM Indore director Prof Himanshu Rai said. He also heads a five member IIM-I team tasked with taking the agenda forward.

The state has also expanded the jurisdiction of the ADA by bringing several new villages in Ayodhya and the adjoining districts under its purview. The Ayodhya airstrip is being developed to handle wide bodied scheduled flights and thus put the town on the national and international tourism map.

On August 5, 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had performed the groundbreaking ceremony for the Ram temple, thus setting the tone for a speedier pace of infra and tourism projects in Ayodhya. The temple project would span nearly 85,000 sq ft and rank among the biggest Hindu temples in the world. It will have a capacity to accommodate 50,000 devotees at a time.

After coming to power in March 2017, the Yogi Adityanath government had renamed Faizabad district as Ayodhya, while upgrading Ayodhya town as a municipal corporation for improving the civic standards and infusing more government funds.

Another mega project proposed by the state is the world’s tallest 221 metres Lord Ram’s bronze statue in Ayodhya. Besides, the government has mooted a ‘New Ayodhya’ township project spanning 500 acres comprising residential enclaves, parks, luxury hotels, shopping arcades etc.

UP to augment ethanol production from agro waste

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Jan 6, 2021

To provide an additional and lucrative avenue of farm income to the farmers, the Uttar Pradesh government is preparing a roadmap for producing ethanol from agricultural waste.

UP is the country’s top ethanol producer with installed capacity of more than 1.4 billion litres (BL) per annum, mainly established by the 119 government and private sugar mills even as more ethanol facilities are in the pipeline for augmenting the fuel blending programme.

According to sources, the state has tasked UP additional chief secretary, sugarcane and sugar industry, Sanjay Bhoosreddy to prepare a roadmap for producing ethanol from agro waste and residue, such as paddy straw, cotton stalks, wooden hay, rotten potato, rotten wheat and rice etc apart from the sugar byproducts.

He will hold consultations with the senior officials of the food processing, agro marketing and Food Corporation of India (FCI) to draft the blueprint.

Under the central biofuel policy announced by the petroleum and natural gas ministry, a range of agricultural and organic products have been identified as raw material for the production of ethanol and biodiesel.

Meanwhile, between December 2019 and November 2020, the public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) had signed supply contracts worth 1.95 BL with the distilleries/ethanol manufacturers in India. Of this, supply contracts totalling 55 per cent or 1.06 were firmed up with the UP based production facilities, mostly captive distilleries of sugar mills.

Besides, UP is also the leader in ethanol blending programme by achieving about 9.6 per cent blending percentage against the federal target of 10 per cent. The Centre allows blending of ethanol with the petroleum products for paring the oil import bill and conserving environment.

Apart from the OMCs, the ethanol is also required by the pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturers, which provides a readymade market for it.

The Yogi Adityanath government is looking to capitalise on this policy for creating new job opportunities and increasing the rural incomes. Interestingly, this has become even more relevant in the present context of the raging farmers’ stir over new farm laws and seeking rural income guarantee.

Farm stir: UP deputes senior cops in NCR districts

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Jan 5, 2021

Amid the farmers’ protests on the Delhi borders, the Uttar Pradesh government has now deputed senior police officials in the National Capital Region (NCR) districts to maintain law and order.

The cops of the additional director general (ADG), inspector general (IG) and deputy IG (DIG) ranks have been instructed to camp in their respective districts till further orders.

In all, senior cops have been moved to 17 districts in Western UP, including the NCR, viz. Ghaziabad, Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat, Hapur, Meerut, Moradabad, Shamli, Bulandshahar, Amroha etc.

The officials have been mandated to avert any untoward incident, which could affect the law and order situation, and to preempt any protests and demonstrations.

Meanwhile, the UP government will launch a three-week farm outreach programme ‘Kisan Kalyan Mission’ from January 6. It is part of the larger agenda of doubling the rural income and will cover all the assembly constituencies spanning 350 blocks in the 75 districts of the state.

There are an estimated 23 million farmers’ households in UP, of which more than 21 million or 90 per cent are small and marginal farmers with fragmented land holdings and subsisting on low farm income.

Noida among leading startup hubs in Northern India

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Jan 4, 2021

The National Capital Region (NCR) city of Noida has emerged as the leading startup hub of Uttar Pradesh with 1,219 registered startup ventures.

In the startup chart, Ghaziabad and Lucknow are placed distant second and third in UP with 533 and 500 registered startup ventures as recognised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Government of India.

In September 2020, UP was ranked in the category of ‘Emerging Startup Ecosystem’ in the Startup Ranking 2020 of Indian states released by the DPIIT.

According to the state government, whereas only 200 startups could be established in UP before 2017, a total of 3,406 startups had been set up in three years, which provided direct and indirect employment to 22,000 youth across 75 districts.

UP additional chief secretary, IT and electronics, Alok Kumar said the state was encouraging the youth to set up startup ventures under the UP Startup Policy 2020.

Interestingly, 773 startups were established in UP between December 2019 and December 2020 even during the Covid-19 pandemic period. Some of the startups were also set up in the comparatively backward Bundelkhand and Purvanchal regions of the state.

Besides, the government is facilitating the targetted setting up of 100 new incubators, of which 18 incubators were already functioning. “By providing training and other services through these incubators, new startups will be developed. After this, approximately 10,000 new startups will be established which will provide direct employment to over 50,000 people and indirect employment to over 100,000 people,” he informed.

While the erstwhile startup policy focussed on startups in the fields of Information Technology (IT) and electronics, the new policy is according equal impetus to ventures in varied sectors viz. medicine, health, agriculture, khadi, energy, education, transport, tourism, agriculture, textiles etc.

Recently, the state had approved the proposal of seven new incubators. It included the ‘10,000 Startups’ Warehouse programme of the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) in Noida.

UP to felicitate 100 progressive farmers in each district

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Jan 3, 2021

Amid the ongoing farm stir in the periphery of Delhi over the new central farm laws, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to felicitate 100 progressive farmers in each district.

For this purpose, the state agriculture department will select 100 progressive farmers at the district level as role models for local farmers. They will be feted and given a platform to present their views during the ‘Kisan Kalyan Mission’ programme to be rolled out across 350 blocks from January 6. 

This is aimed at encouraging farmers to take up advanced methods of farming so as to augment rural income. The progressive farmers will relate their success stories to inspire fellow farmers.

Farmers Producing Organisation (FPO) functionaries constituted at the block level will also be invited to these events. Apart from giving certificates, the approved farm machinery bank and seeding equipment will be distributed to the farmers.

There are about 23 million farmers’ households in UP, of which nearly 21 million or 90% are small and marginal farmers. The average size of land holdings in UP is only 0.73 hectares compared to 3.62 hectares in Punjab.

Varanasi to float municipal bonds of Rs 200 crore

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Jan 1, 2021

Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is planning to issue municipal bonds of Rs 200 crore.

In December 2020, Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) had become the first North Indian city to list bonds of Rs 200 crore on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

Now, Varanasi Municipal Corporation (VMC) has constituted a committee under the chair of additional commissioner for taking steps to float the bonds. Recently, 89 new revenue villages were annexed to Varanasi to provide the civic body more resources for development and revenue.

Bond is a debt security to finance capital expenditure, wherein an investor gets repayments on a predetermined rate of interest over a stipulated period. The funds raised by a municipal body could be ideally invested in various infrastructure projects.

Apart from Varanasi, the Yogi Adityanath dispensation is egging other municipal corporations including Ghaziabad and Agra to raise funds through bonds, which not only generate funds but also cultivates a positive image among investors.

Whereas, municipal bodies with AA or AAA rating could issue bonds, the current investment rating of VMC is BBB, which needs to improve to AA for becoming investment grade.