UN General Assembly Elects 18 Members To Human Rights Council

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by Hemanta Pande

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The UN General Assembly elected 18 members to the 47-member Human Rights Council for the 2025-2027 term.

New York, Oct 10: The UN General Assembly elected 18 members to the 47-member Human Rights Council for the 2025-2027 term.

The 18 countries -- Benin, Bolivia, Colombia, Cyprus, Czechia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Iceland, Kenya, Marshall Islands, Mexico, North Macedonia, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Spain, Switzerland and Thailand -- were elected by a secret ballot on Wednesday, and they will serve three-year terms beginning on January 1, 2025, replacing members whose terms of office are set to expire on December 31, 2024.

All the outgoing members -- Argentina, Benin, Cameroon, Eritrea, Finland, Gambia, Honduras, India, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Montenegro, Paraguay, Qatar, Somalia, United Arab Emirates and the United States -- were eligible for immediate re-election except those members who have served two consecutive terms, including Argentina, Cameroon, Eritrea, India and Somalia, Xinhua news agency reported.

Albania, Algeria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Cuba, Dominican Republic, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Indonesia, Japan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Malawi, Maldives, Morocco, Netherlands, Romania, South Africa, Sudan and Vietnam will continue to be members of the council.

The Geneva-based Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system responsible for promoting and protecting human rights around the world. About a third of its 47 members are replaced every year so that the council members serve staggered three-year terms for the sake of continuity.

Seats of the Human Rights Council are allocated based on regional groups for the sake of geographical representation: 13 each for Africa and the Asia-Pacific; eight for Latin America and the Caribbean; seven for Western Europe and other states; six for Eastern Europe. (IANS)

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Odisha Govt Issues Guidelines For ‘Shahid Madho Singh Haath Kharcha Yojana’

by Hemanta Pande

Bhubaneswar, Oct 10: The Odisha government has issued operational guidelines for the implementation of Shahid Madho Singh Haath Kharcha Yojana which aimed to check the drop-out rate among the students belonging to the Scheduled Tribes studying in Class 9 and 10 in government and aided schools across the state.

The students belonging to the Scheduled Tribe community in Odisha will be provided with one-time financial assistance of Rs 5,000 under this flagship scheme of the BJP government led by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi.

As per the resolution issued by the Odisha SC and ST Development department, a good number of tribal students are getting enrolled at the elementary level in the state.

However, high dropouts are also being noticed among the tribal students after class 8 and class 10 causing less enrollment in Secondary and Higher Secondary levels, respectively.

In order to reduce the dropout rate, and to encourage Scheduled Tribe (ST) students to pursue higher education without any major hindrance, the state government has launched "Shahid Madho Singh Haath Kharcha Yojna".

Under this scheme, ST students passing out from Class 8 and joining in Class 9 and similarly from Class 10 to Class 11, will receive a onetime incentive amount of Rs 5,000, the resolution issued on Wednesday read.

The department also noted that the ST students getting benefits under any other scholarship schemes are also eligible to avail the incentive amount under the Sahid Madho Singh Scheme.

It also asserts that this one-time financial aid will help in increasing the enrollment status in Class 9 and Class 11 in different government and government-aided institutions.

As per the guidelines, "Under the scheme, eligible ST students after completing their Class 8 and Class 10 and soon after taking admission into Class 9 and CIass 12, respectively, will be provided with Rs 5,000 as a one-time incentive amount as Haath Kharcha. The incentive amount will be provided after enrollment in the respective classes, ensuring that student is attending classes regularly after enrollment".

This financial aid will help the tribal students meet expenses for their incidental requirements. (IANS)

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Centre Releases Rs 8068 Crore As Tax Devolution to Odisha; Total Rs 1.78L Crore To States

by Pabitra Mohan Senapaty

New Delhi, Oct 10: In a bid to enable states to boost development and capital spending, the Centre on Thursday said it has released tax devolution of Rs 1,78,173 crore to state governments, as against the normal monthly devolution of Rs 89,086.50 crore. The released tax devolution includes Rs 8,068 crore for Odisha.

It includes one advance instalment, in addition to the regular instalment due in October.

Among the states, Uttar Pradesh (Rs 31,962 crore), Bihar (Rs 17,921 crore), Madhya Pradesh (Rs 13,987 crore), Maharashtra (Rs 11,255 crore), West Bengal (Rs 13,404 crore), Rajasthan (Rs 10,737 crore), Odisha (Rs 8,068 crore), Andhra Pradesh (Rs 7,211 crore) and Telangana (Rs 3,745 crore) were the top receivers.

“This release is in view of the upcoming festive season and to enable states to accelerate capital spending, and also finance their development/welfare related expenditure,” according to a statement by the Union Ministry of Finance.

The central government will transfer Rs 23,48,980 crore to states and union territories in FY 2024-25, an increase of 11.9 per cent over the actuals of 2023-24.

Devolution to states from the Centre's tax revenue is estimated to be Rs 12,47,211 crore in 2024-25, an increase of 10.4 per cent over the actuals of 2023-24.

In FY 2023-24, according to the actuals, devolution to states is estimated to be Rs 1,08,046 crore more than the budget estimate of Rs 10,21,448 crore (an increase of 10.6 per cent).

In June this year, the BJP-led NDA government released an additional instalment of devolution of taxes, cumulatively amounting to Rs 1,39,750 crore. The Centre in February had released Rs 1.42 lakh crore in tax devolution to the states, supplementing the Rs 72,961 crore disbursed earlier in the same month.