ANDHRA PRADESH

Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has said the state government will spend over Rs 1500 crore on modernisation of Anganwadis under the Nadu-Nedu and provide better amenities under three phases in AP.

Jagan Reddy directed the officials to constantly monitor the supply of milk and eggs to the children to ensure their quality. Formulate SOPs using new technology to ensure a foolproof and hassle-free distribution of food items, he said.

The CM said there should be a constant vigil even on the functioning of supervisors. Strict action should be taken against staff members indulging in malpractices in the distribution of milk and eggs.
Besides filling the existing 63 CDPO posts, the process of promotions should also be expedited.

Chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy launched the distribution of enhanced social security pension of 2,500 per month under ‘YSR Pension Kanuka’ at Prathipadu town in Guntur district on Saturday. The chief minister released 1,570 crore from the exchequer to be paid to the beneficiaries under the pension scheme.

Andhra Pradesh is the only state in the country to come up with such an initiative. On YSR Pension Kanuka alone, the government has spent over 45,000 crore since the scheme’s inception without any cuttings or any corruption besides adding over 18.44 lakh fresh beneficiaries.

It could bePulivendula, or Vijayawada, or any other place. In fact, the word capital does not exist in the Constitution at all. As per the 1937Sribagh Pact, it was agreed to have three capitals for the state ofAndhra Pradesh.

In fact, the word capital does not exist in the Constitution at all. The government has been executing its decision in line with the aspirations of the people of Andhra Pradesh.

According to the energy officials, PMBLDC is one such technology which will improvemotor efficiencyto 90% against the existing efficiency of 75% with induction motor technology. Even the life expectancy of the PMBLDC system is expected to improve to 15 to 20 years due to high grade materials as compared to the lifespan of conventional AC motors of around 10 years.

The APSEEDCO technical team in coordination with Andhra University conducted a webinar and discussed in detail the technicalities of the proposed technology and did a comprehensive analysis of the concept of PMBLDC.

The state agriculture department will conduct Organic Mahotsav-2023 inVisakhapatnamon June 2.

According to the officials, this will be a high-quality platform for exhibition stalls by domestic, national, and international participants such as farmers, NGOs, and government and other private players. Officials are expecting 100 crore worth memoranda of understaning (MoUs) in the organic farming sector during the three-day expo. About 50,000 people may visit the expo.

This expo will be organised by the Rythu Sadhikara Samstha (a government corporation for farmers empowerment) at Gadiraju Palace. This is for the first time thatRySSis organising the mela. The objective is to encourage farmers practicing natural farming and connect them with consumers, within the country and outside.

Tamil NaduTransport MinisterSS Sivasankar announced that motorists need not apply for commercial badges to drive taxis, autos, minivans, and other Light Motor Vehicles (LMVs).

This means that those who have ordinary licences (non-transport or own-use) will soon be eligible to drive these commercial vehicles. The move is aimed at addressing drivers’ shortage and avoiding crowds atRegional Transport Offices(RTOs).

In order to reduce crowds at RTOs further, ministerSivasankartold the assembly on Wednesday that motorists can avail 42 different motor vehicle document-related services online. This includes making changes in driving licences, issue of duplicate licenses, and registration of vehicles. The public can either apply for these contactless services from their homes, net centres or through dealers in case of vehicle registrations.

The state Agriculture Mission vice chairman MVS Nagi Reddy said that the YSR Congress government provided Rs 3,20,812.72 crore to farmers in the past three years and increased crop yields to 80.13 lakh tonnes.

Andhra Pradesh is the leader in fruit (15.6%) and vegetable production (7.8%). AP is on top in cultivation of oil palm, papaya, lemon, coconut, cocoa, tomato and Chilli. AP bagged second position in mango, chickpea, cashew and turmeric. AP is the second top state in implementation of micro-farming. AP is the second largest silk production state. AP is in first place in egg production, second in meat production, fourth in milk production and leader in fish production at 30.80 per cent and leader in shrimp exports at 36.21 per cent, grabbing the first place in India, he said.

Residents of a village in Shahjahanpur locked a large herd of stray cattle inside a primary school after the animals damaged standing wheat crop. They subsequently staged a protest and tried to stop the police from releasing them, demanding shelter for the strays. Ten people were arrested in the incident. They were subsequently released after being given a warning.

The incident occurred in Lehrawar village, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Jalalabad police station, near Shahjahanpur city. The cattle were discovered by school teachers inside classrooms. They subsequently called the police.

Andhra Pradeshreported 6.74% human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positivity rate among the general population when the health department conducted tests on about 7.5 lakh people in 2010-11.

Over 50,000 infections surfaced in these tests. Cut to 2022-23, the state has so far detected about 9,000 HIV infections. This is despite an increase in the number of tests as about 10.5 lakh people have undergone HIV testing this year.

Going by the official data, the positivity rate has been on a consistent downward spiral – from 6.7% in 2010-11 to 3.6% in 2013-14 to 1.95% in 2017-18 to 0.87% in the current year.

Increasing awareness on the disease and its risk factors, testing and education efforts, prevention measures, viral load suppression through treatment (which reduces transmissibility), use of pre-exposure prophylaxis orPrEPmedications in high-risk groups, etc. might have reduced the positivity rates and cases over the years.

Traditionally, AP is one of the few states having a high HIV prevalence. As a per a reply provided by theNational AIDS Control Organisationin 2021 to a right to information (RTI) query, about 3 lakh people of Andhra Pradesh contracted the infection between 2011-2021 by indulging in unprotected sex alone.

The necessity of the PrEP medications in certain groups stems from the fact that the burden of HIV infection is much higher among men having sex with men, transgenders, female sex workers, and people who inject drugs.
As per the official sentinel surveillance data available between 1998 and 2019, HIV prevalence has reduced in all groups except the transgenders.

Increasing migration to towns and cities in the state is turning out to be one of the governments biggest challenges as it is adding to the already high population in urban slums.Andhra Pradeshhas the highest number of urbanslumsin the country after Maharashtra.

According to a recent study report byNiti Aayog, about 16 per cent of the urban population in the state lives in slums, close on the heels of Maharashtras 18 per cent.

Interestingly, AP created the highest number of urban civic bodies in an attempt to draw more funds from the Centre for improvement of infrastructure. However, the creation of new urban civic bodies without proper planning has led to an expansion of urban slums, said experts.

Unplannedurbanisationin the state has already resulted in a number of problems. AP has about 17 municipal corporations, nearly 80 municipalities and 30 nagar panchayats. But full-time planning officers with required qualifications are available only in a few cities. Officials such as town planning supervisors and building inspectors often have little knowledge of the processes of town planning.

The state government had appointed a large number of planning secretaries in ward secretariats across the state two years ago. Although, a good number of engineering graduates have entered the field, they are from the civil engineering stream and not graduates from planning schools.