ASSAM

TheIndian Institute of Technology Guwahati(IIT-G) researchers have developed cost-effective, highly efficient perovskite solar cells (PSCs) to produce electricity from sunlight that can have over 21% power conversion efficiency about 5% more than conventional solar panels.
This cutting-edge technology in emerging perovskite-based semiconducting devices, developed by the team, is considered the most promising due to their low-cost, ease of manufacturing as roll-to-roll devices, high material availability and easy recyclability.

The hybrid perovskite-based solar or photovoltaic devices are easy to manufacture and easily recyclable were developed by achieving significant power conversion efficiencies by utilizing economical solution-based photovoltaic device processing techniques even at mild room temperature and obtaining high ambient, thermal and optical stability that can be easily achievable in northeast-like Environment. The Centre has recently given a push to semiconductor manufacturing in the country, which can be a big boost for this new kind of solar cells.

The cost of each centre will be Rs 25 lakh and the total cost of all the centres will be Rs 500 crore.

To boost the handloom sector, administrative approval was granted to set up the College of Sericulture at Titabar in Jorhat at an expenditure of Rs 22.41 crore

Blackricevarieties brought from Manipur and Odisha toAssamhave infused new hope among tribal farmers in Goalpara district of Assam.

Veteran farmerUpendra Rabhafrom Goalpara, known for popularizing the black rice variety in lower Assam has been roped in by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) to promote the premium varieties of black rice that have the potential to give international market linkage to the farmers of Assam. Ravaged by elephants every year, the black rice varieties have been planted under the -supported Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project (APART), implemented by the state agricultural department. This aims to give relief to the farmers with high returns even from lesser yield.

Branded under the name,Upendra RiceI, the variety has already been supplied to the markets of Odisha, Punjab, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand and West Bengal. Rabha received one kg black rice seed sample from a Rajasthan agricultural fair through theKrishi Vigyan Kendra, Goalpara, several years back but only one seed germinated. He did not lose hope. From one seed, the variety later became the popular Upendra Rice I and it has spread to several districts of Assam, Rabha said. This year, he claimed Upendra Rice II and III, evolved from Upendra Rice I, have been distributed to local farmers.

The seeds were sown on a total area of 17.6 bighas of land comprising Manipuri black rice on 10 bigha, Kalavati on 3.6 bigha and Kalamalifula on 4.0 bigha. The crop is expected to be harvested in the next one week.

The drive to free the forest land of encroachment started today in compliance with the recent order of the Gauhati . It will continue until the entire forest area is recovered.

The All Assam Minorities Students Union (Aamsu), an influential students body representing both religious and linguistic minorities, also formed a human chain demanding immediate rehabilitation.

Assam chief ministerHimanta Biswa Sarmasaid the eviction is aimed at starting community farming as part of its drive against encroachments.

TheAssam government signed an MoU with 37 MFIs to provide financial relief to several lakh poor Women borrowers in the state to help them maintain good credit discipline in Covid times by expending over Rs 7,000 crore to the lenders.

The MoU will remain in force till March 31, 2023. In the last election, BJPs biggest promise was to these women borrowers that after coming to power, the government will waive off their dues to the MFIs.

Till June this year, there were 14 lakh women microfinance borrowers in the state of which about 11 lakh have either made regular repayments or whose payments are overdue, but are not marked asnon-performing assets(NPA). To these categories of borrowers, the government will pay a one-time incentive up to Rs 25,000 to incentivize such credit discipline.

The finance department of the Government of Assam signed an MOU with microfinance institutions for implementation of Assam Micro Finance Incentive and Relief Scheme (AMFIRS), 2021 to provide succour to poor women borrowers who are not able to return the loan amount of microfinance institutions.

A notification issued by the excise department stated that the step has been taken due to the Covid-induced restrictions imposed by the government as well as theSupreme Courtand the Madras permitting non-direct sale to avoid overcrowding.

The online sale of all Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL)/beer/country spirit in retail OFF shops in the Guwahati Municipal Corporation areas has been introduced, a government statement said. There are 306 IMFL OFF shops in Guwahati.

The number of maternal death cases in 2022-23 (May-February) was 448 against 680 in the corresponding period of 2021-22, showing a decline of 232 deaths. The number of child death cases in 2022-23 (May-February) has been reported as 5,805, while the corresponding figure was 6,721 in 2021-22 (May-February), a decline of 916 deaths or 13.6%.

Assam has seen a steep (34% ) decline in maternal deaths compared to last year, while child deaths in the state have gone down by 13%, theAssam National Health Mission(NHM) said.

According to the Registrar General of India’s ‘Special Bulletin on Maternal Mortality’ for the period 2018 to 2020 released last year, Assam recorded 195 deaths per lakh live births, though it was an improvement from the previous figure of 215 in the period 2016 to 2018. Nationally, there has been a significant decline in theMMRfrom 130 in 2014-16 to 97 per lakh live births in 2018-20. In 2005, Assam’s MMR was 480 per one lakh live births.

AssamGovernor Jagdish Mukhi constituted a three-member committee on Empowerment of autonomous colleges in Assam.

The three-member committee will be headed by the ‘s Education adviser Prof Mihir Kanti Chaudhuri as its Chairman, principal secretary higher education B. Kalyan Chakravarthy and principal, Jagannath Barooh College, Jorhat, Dr. Bimal Barah as its members, an official release said.

Moreover, the committee will also assess the Resources (monetary, manpower, material, academic, etc.) required for the purpose.

Further, the committee will also decide on the modus operandi to enable these autonomous colleges to award degrees on their own, besides creating adequate space for them to make progress in research and training as per NEP 2020.