ASSAM

Will weed out ghost schools, teachers: Assam education minister Ranoj Pegu

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Assameducation minister RanojPeguhas vowed to weed out ghost teachers along with ghost schools. The minister was referring to those teachers who have not yet uploaded their profile on the Education portal, Shiksha Setu.

The announcement came after the annual grants for the government-run schools were released on Sunday. However, funds were not pumped into those institutions from which the teachers did not comply with the government instructions of updating their profile on Siksha Setu, which gives comprehensive details about all the schools.

The Assam State Primary Teachers Association (ASPTA) has been at loggerheads with the education minister and the , decrying the failure to officially create the posts of headmasters. In protest, the teachers have not uploaded the required data on the portal. However, Pegu warned that salaries of such teachers may be stopped in the next two months, if they dont toe the line.

Assam reported a drop in school enrolment by 4.5 lakh in the last one year (from 2021-22 to 2022-23). This raised concern in the education department, which suspected manipulation of students’ data by the school authorities earlier for getting more monetary benefits in the name of ‘ghost students’.

Assam showed a massive improvement in energy efficiency implementation putting itself as the top performing state in its group, according to the StateEnergy Efficiency Index(SEEI) report for 2021-22. It was released by Union power and new and renewable energy minister RK Singh.

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This is a step towards achieving the long-term goal of transitioning to a net-zero economy by 2030.

The index developed by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) in association with Alliance for an Energy-Efficient Economy (AEEE), assesses the annual progress of states and UTs in energy efficiency implementation using 51 indicators aligned with national priorities. These range across seven sectors – buildings, , Municipality, transport, Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture, distribution companies (DISCOMs), and cross-sectoral initiatives. The maximum score for the SEEI 2021-22 is 100.

Five states -Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan and Telangana are in the ‘front-runner category’ (60 points), while Assam (50.5), Haryana, Maharashtra, and Punjab are in the ‘achiever’ category (50-60 points). Eight states, namely Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh are in the ‘contender’ category and the rest in the bottom ‘aspirant’ category.

In the previous index of 2020, Assam was placed in the ‘contender’ category with a total score of 31 points and was in the ‘aspirant’ category in 2019.
The SEEI tracks progress in managing states’ and India’s energy footprint, driving energy efficiency policies and programmes at the state and local level, he said.

Assam inks MoU with NDDB for dairy devpt in state

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Assam signed an MoU withNational Development Board(NDDB) for holistic dairy development in state through an Rs 2000-crore joint venture company aimed at processing 10 lakh litres of milk daily through six new milk processing units in seven years.
Under the arrangement, 15,000 high milk-yielding Gir cows of Gujarat will be inducted in the state to ensure higher returns to the dairy farmers besides creating huge EMPLOYMENT at various levels of the milk value chain.

The six dairy processing facilities will be set up across Assam where milk from more than 4100 dairy Cooperative Societies shall be processed, packed and marketed. The plan also envisages setup of Infrastructure for cattle feed and silage manufacturing within the state. The State Government will ensure financial aid and support to the planned interventions of this joint venture through the concerned departments with the support of Government of India under various schemes of the government.

This joint venture will also be guided, mentored and managed by NDDB, which will also be bringing in tried and tested technological innovations like sex-sorted semen, ration balancing programme, ethno veterinary medicine, manure management projects etc.

Assam seeks delimitation to protect locals

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Assam has made a strong case for ending the 14-year status quo on redrawing the boundaries of its parliamentary and assembly constituencies to protect the political rights ofindigenous communitiesand counter the possibility of minorities calling the shots in six of the 14 Lok Sabha seats during the2024 polls.

The state has submitted a proposal to the Centre, saying the situation is conducive for a delimitation exercise, said CM.

Black rice production in Assam now

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Black rice is well suited for Assam soils and weather conditions, carrying a huge opportunity for its commercial production. The -funded Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation project (APART), has begun production of new black rice varieties from different states of India. The crop is expected to be harvested within the next week from the project wherein the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) has embarked on this ambitious collaboration with the Government of Assam under the APART, IRRI said in a release.

The seeds of these varieties were sown on a total area of 17.6 bighas of land, comprising Manipuri black rice in 10 bigha, Kalavati in 3.6 bigha and Kalamalifula in 4.0 bigha as demonstration plots. These demonstrations are aimed to link the farmers with the buyers for higher returns and to make available good quality seed for future use. “With the current demand for black rice due to its high nutritional value and Health benefits, IRRI under APART aims at increasing areas with black rice production in the coming days,” the release said.

International writers’ meet in Guwahati from November 11Some of the prominent authors from Europe and Asia will assemble in Guwahati for a three-day literary meet Byatikram International Writers Meet 2022.

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Some of the prominent names to be present during the meet are Bengt Berg of Sweden, Vadim Terekhin of Russia, Francisco Munoz Soler, Yolanda Castano and Miguel Rodriguez Monteavaro of Spain, Raja Ahmad Aminullah and Nor Hafizah Binti Ahmad Nasarudin of Malaysia, Md Aminur Rahman from Bangladesh, Reshma Ramesh, Sankha Subhra Devbarman and Shyamasree Dasgupta from India.

Followed by a seminar on the theme titled “Connecting Art & Literature – Various Aspects” and cultural programme in which various artists will perform showcasing the rich culture and heritage of Assam.

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarmatold the assembly that the present state government prefers private sector investments to public sector units as it neither subscribes to socialism nor believes inKarl Marx, Lenin and Stalin.

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While replying to a question on states plans on reviving the states dying PSUs, Sarma said his government will instead invest public funds in setting up medical colleges, hospitals and rather than in PSUs. This governments policy is that we do not want to set up any Industry in the public sector because this government does not subscribe to Socialism. Public sector industry was the concept of the socialist movement. We will not set up industries. Instead of investing in the public sector, we will invest in Health, Education, and anganwadi, he said.

Centre OKs Rs 3,000 crore project for 8th bridge over Brahmaputra river

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Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday announced the Centres approval to an over Rs 3,000-crore externally aided project (EAP) for building the eighth bridge over the Brahmaputra river near Guwahati and also performed the bhoomi pujan for another EAP worth Rs 2,200 crore for a 120-MW hydel project in Assams Dima Hasao district. In a day-long visit to the state, Sitharaman also laid the foundation of improvement and upgrading work of a 90-km road from Haflong Tinali to Lower Haflong at an estimated cost of Rs 900 crore to be implemented under ADB-aided Assam Road Network Improvement Project (ARNIP).

In her last engagement, she launched the Assams Right to Public Services portal. Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the portal is a way forward for electronic delivery of ARTPS notified public services to people. Our government is committed to bringing about fast, effective and resilient reforms in Governance in tandem with the rapidly transforming world, he added.

This run-of-the-river project over Kopili river will help increase electricity supplied from clean energy by 469 gigawatt hour (GWh) by 2025 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 360,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually.

TheAssamcabinet rolled out a host of offerings, which include free scooters and bicycles for students, reservations of seats in agriculture university and nursing schools for the states six backward communities, expansion of coverage Orunodoi, the poverty alleviation scheme for women, simplified rules for setting up MSMEs and expansion of food security net.

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The cabinet also approved sending a request to the Indian Olympic Association to allow Assam to hostthe NationalGames in either 2025 or 2027. The free scooters will be for meritorious students, who have excelled in the recently-concluded higher secondary (Class 12) examination under the state board. While the qualifying Percentage for a scooter for girl students is 60% marks, for boy students, the cut-off will be 75%.

On the other hand, the bicycles will be for 3,78,000 girl and boy students studying in Class IX in the states 4,372 government and provincialised schools. The cabinet sanctioned over Rs 167 crore for procurement of the bicycles through Government e Marketplace (GeM) portal.

Singapore formally hands over North East Skill Centre to Assam Skill Development Mission

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The ITE Education Services ofSingaporeformally handed over the reins of North East Skill Centre to theAssamSkill Development Mission (ASDM).

He added that Indias connection with Singapore dates back to the Chola dynasty period when they shared strong commercial, cultural and people-to-people links.
Shanmugaratnam said Assam has tremendous potential for Growth and the upcoming mega projects such as Assam Skill University can be a role model for the rest of India in terms of Vocational Education.