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Big News

The Lok Sabha passes controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill; Gujarat allowing small renewable plants to sell to discoms; Manipur to be brought under Inner Line Permit regime; Karnataka gives preference to Kannadigas in private sector jobs; Tamil Nadu announces local body elections; Uttar Pradesh issues draft solar and wind power regulations; Punjab partners with the World Economic Forum to increase electric mobility; and more.

Center – State relations

The Lok Sabha passed the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill that grants citizenship to non-Muslims from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who entered India on or before December 31, 2014. The proposed amendments, which were met by protests across the northeast, will now go to the Rajya Sabha. Source: Hindustan Times

The civil aviation ministry said bids have been sought for six underserved and 24 unserved airports and airstrips in the North East region under the latest round of regional air connectivity scheme. Source: Live Mint In detail: Press Release

Andhra Pradesh

Nothing critical to report this week.

Bihar

Nothing critical to report this week.

New Delhi

The air quality of the national capital reached and remained at the “very poor” level for multiple days with some areas dipping into the “severe” category on the air quality index. Source: NDTV

Gujarat

Gujarat has initiated a service-centric strategy to deploy the center’s ambitious BharatNet initiative, under which it has already laid as much as 11,180 miles of optical fibre-based network in 10 months. Source: Economic Times In detail: Gujarat Fibre Grid Network Ltd

The state government’s Policy for Development of Small-scale Distributed Solar Projects 2019 now allows any individual or company to set up solar plants in capacities ranging from 0.5 megawatts (MW) to 4 MW for sale of electricity to power distribution companies (discoms). Source: PV-Magazine In detail: Policy details

Under the energy efficiency technology scheme, the United Industrial Development Organisation has announced 80 percent grants in 10 clusters, for the automation of various sectors identified under the program. The unit owners will have to bear remaining 20 percent cost. Source: Times of India

Haryana

Nothing critical to report this week.

Karnataka

The state government issued a notification revising the Karnataka Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Rules 1961. This notification directs private companies to give job priority to Kannadigas, residents of Karnataka who have lived in the state for over 15 years and can read, speak, and write Kannada “reasonably well”. Source: Times of India

Madhya Pradesh

Nothing critical to report this week.

Maharashtra

Nothing critical to report this week.

Rajasthan

Nothing critical to report this week.

Tamil Nadu

The Tamil Nadu State Election Commission announced elections to rural local bodies in 27 districts of the state in two phases on December 27 and 30. Source: The Hindu

Telangana

Nothing critical to report this week.

Uttar Pradesh

The Uttar Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission has approved a pilot project for peer-to-peer transactions of power from rooftop solar systems using blockchain-based technology. Under this pilot project, government buildings or consumers will carry out peer-to-peer transactions for the trading of rooftop solar power. Source: Mercom

The Uttar Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission has issued draft regulations for forecasting, scheduling, and deviation settlement of solar and wind projects in the state. The commission has invited comments from stakeholders by December 18, 2019. Source: Mercom In detail: Draft regulations

The Yogi Adityanath government has brought out a new policy by which any person, organization or an elected representative can “adopt” a government primary school in Uttar Pradesh to improve its infrastructure and facilities for giving children a “clean, fulfilling and developed atmosphere”. Source: Economic Times

West Bengal

Nothing critical to report this week.

Best of the Rest

Goa

After successfully covering the most parts of Goa with digital meters, the state electricity department is now going to introduce smart power meters for the major power consumers in the state. Source: The Navhind Times

Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh assembly speaker Dr. Rajeev Bindal said the winter session of the legislative assembly is all set to get underway from December 9 to 14 in Dharamshala. Source: News18

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said that despite the global slowdown, the state’s tax revenue collection has increased by 17.2 percent. Source: Times of India

Jharkhand

An estimated 63.4 percent polling was recorded in the second phase of assembly elections in Jharkhand. Source: All India Radio

Jammu and Kashmir

The Finance Department issued an order for than 350,000 employees of Jammu and Kashmir government to receive $14,027 of personal accidental insurance coverage. Source: Financial Express

Manipur

Union Home Minister Amit Shah declared that Manipur would be brought under the Inner Line Permit (ILP). The provisions of the proposed amendments to the Citizenship Act, 1955 will not apply to areas with ILP, including Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Tripura. Source: News 18

Meghalaya

The Meghalaya cabinet approved the Meghalaya Goods and Services Tax Ordinance, 2019, to make amendments in accordance with those made to the Central Goods and Services Tax Act of 2017. Source: Out look India

Odisha

Odisha government has reduced the financial assistance given to farmers under the Kalia scheme from $140 to $56 annually, officials said. Source: India Today

Punjab

Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh announced a new micro, small, and medium enterprise marketing cell and $14 million start-up fund. Source: Indian Express

The Punjab government has partnered with the World Economic Forum to design a public-private pilot project on shared, clean, and electric mobility. The state is currently formulating its own electric vehicle policy to support the adoption of e-vehicles. Source: Economic Times

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