HIMACHAL PRADESH

Himachal Pradesh has been awarded the first position among hill states in the implementation of Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS).

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur has congratulated Director General of Police Sanjay Kundu and his team for their effort.

It was announced at a Conference on Good Practices in Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) and Interoperable Criminal System (ICJS). The virtual event was hosted at the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), New Delhi and was attended by senior police officers of all states and union territories.

The Chief Minister said the state police’s stellar performance in the field of CCTNS would boost the confidence of Hp Police in using technology in day to day policing.

This is a national level award for hilly states and Himachal Pradesh has been declared the best performing state amongst the 10 hilly states for a second year in SUCCESSION.

CCTNS is a Central government project for creating a comprehensive and integrated system for effective policing through e-Governance. There are 22 different parameters/criteria viz hardware/Software deployment, network connectivity, data Migration, capacity building etc. to decide this award.

CCTNS was conceptualised in the aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai attack and it aims to integrate all the data and records of crime into a core application software (CAS), spread across 29 states and 7 union territories of the country.

Ranked first among the northern states, the Himachal Pradesh Police have secured the 9th place in the country in Smart Policing Survey- 2021, conducted by the Indian Police Foundation (IPF) on the index of public perceptions and citizen satisfaction. The north India region includes J&K, Ladakh, Punjab, Chandigarh, Har-

yana, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

The state stood 9th among 29 states and Union Territories (UT) with 6.91 points out of 10. The Consolidated Smart Policing Index (CSPI) for each state/UT is based on their aggregate scores in six competence-based indices, three values-based indices and thrust on index of citizens trust in the police.

Himachal was better placed on value-based parameters and ranked 8th in fair, unbiased and lawful policing, with a score of 6.79, 9th in Integrity and Corruption-free service (6.60 points), 8th in public trust (7.17 points) and 10th in accountability (6.71 points).

The quality of policing was the highest in Andhra Pradesh, , Assam, Kerala, Sikkim, Mizoram and Gujarat, with an index value of seven and above. As many as 19 states/UTs, including Himachal, scored an index value between six and seven, while three states scored between five and six.

Himachal ranked 12th in perception score of police sensitivity (6.94) and 8th in strictness and good behaviour (6.98), better than the national Average. Further, the state ranked 10th in accessibility with a score of 7.11 and was placed seventh in responsiveness, with 7.20 points on a scale of 1-10. The state ranked 11th, with 6.85 points, in helpful and friendly policing, but was down at the 14th spot in technology adoption, with a score of 6.75.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today laid the foundation stone of two hydropower projects 48 MW Chanju-III Hydroelectric Project and 30 MW Deothal Chanju Hydroelectric Project in Chamba district. Both projects will generate over 270 million units of electricity annually and Himachal is expected to get an annual revenue of around Rs 110 crore from them.

The Prime Minister also launched the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) phase III for the upgrade of around 3,125 km of roads in the state. The Central Government has sanctioned more than Rs 420 crore under the scheme for the phase-III for the upgrade of 440 km of roads in 15 border and far-flung blocks.

The worlds highest, Tashigang, will be a model polling station in Lahaul and Spiti. The will make adequate arrangements to ensure a 100 per cent voting at the polling station on October 30.

Besides, two other model polling stations will be set up at Rangrik and Jhalma. Situated at 15,226 feet, Tashigang village in the Spiti valley has 47 voters, including 18 Women.

An Irrigation facility will be constructed at Rs 3.99 crore for cultivation of agricultural land at Langcha village in the Spiti region of Lahaul-Spiti. Tribal Development Minister Ram Lal Markanda laid the foundation stone of the irrigation scheme.

The scheme will irrigate 107 hectares in the area and will benefit the farmers of Langcha village.

Markanda said people of Langcha village had been demanded for an irrigation scheme for a long time.

At Kaza, the minister laid the foundation stone of a common housing building to be built at Rs 87.72 lakh and the foundation stone of a helipad to be built under Kungri panchayat at Rs. 54.57 lakh. Markanda also inaugurated a 70-ft bridge connecting Mane Siluk village completed at a cost of Rs 78.47 lakh.

Scientists fromIIT Mandihave developed a computational model for automated disease detection in potato crops using photographs of its leaves. The research led by Srikant Srinivasan, associate professor, School of Computing and Electrical Engineering, IIT Mandi, in collaboration with the Central Potato Research Institute, Shimla, uses (AI) techniques to highlight the diseased portions of the leaf.

The computational tool can detect blight in potato leaf images. The model is built using an AI tool called mask region-based convolutional neural Network architecture and can accurately highlight the diseased portions of the leaf amid a complex background of plant and Soil matter.

In order to develop a robust model, healthy and diseased leaf data were collected from fields across Punjab, UP and Himachal Pradesh. It was important that the model developed should have portability across the nation.

Himachal Pradesh Government will start new age courses including (AI), data science, and mechatronics engineering in its technical institutions from August this year.

The directions to this effect were given by the Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu while presiding over a review meeting of technical institutions on late Saturday evening.

The Chief Minister emphasized the significance of staying at the forefront of technological advancements. The State Government has taken the decisive step of introducing a range of courses across various institutions in the next academic session, he said.

Stressing on the importance of practical training, Sukhu asked for collaboration with leading companies to provide students with real-world exposure. By fostering such partnerships, the Government aims to bridge the gap between academia and Industry, equipping students with the necessary skills and knowledge to excel in their careers, he added.

The remaining hydroelectric power projects likely to be issued a reminder for registration with the Jal Shakti Department for the purpose of working out water cess

The Congress government aims to generate a revenue of about Rs 2,000 crore from water cess

Punjab and Haryana have opposed the cess but Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu is firm on its imposition

Covid-19 has been harsher on men than Women in the state. Of the 1,484 deaths till Saturday, 970 men (65.4 per cent) and 514 women (34.6 per cent) have succumbed to the virus. According to data made available by the Health authorities, the mean age of people, who died of the virus, is 63.4 years.

Besides, 67.3 per cent victims had co-morbidities. Diabetes and hypertension have had the worst effect on patients. Of the total deaths with co-morbid conditions, 499 cases (49.9 per cent) had diabetes mellitus, 459 (45.9 per cent) had hypertension, 111 (11.1 per cent) had chronic kidney disease and 84 (8.4 per cent) had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Most deaths (374) were recorded in Kangra district. Close to 90 per cent victims are those persons who had attained the age of 45 years.

Chief Parliamentary Secretary (CPS) Sanjay Awasthi said the government was focusing on making qualitative improvements in the Education system to enhance the Learning skills of students. He was addressing students during the annual prize distribution function of the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) here.

Awasthi said, To bring about qualitative changes and result-oriented improvements at various levels of the education system, it was important to ensure apt training of teachers. DIET plays a key role in this direction and the government will ensure that such institutes are strengthened with requisite to meet the growing needs of training of teachers.

He said Rs 9,189 crore was being spent on education and technical education in the current fiscal. The government would ensure that the posts of teacher in educational institutes were filled soon.