KARNATAKA

In a step to fulfil a long pending demand of sugarcane growers, the state on Thursday set up a committee of technical experts who will work out a formula to share profits mills make from sugarcane byproducts with farmers.

The decision was taken at a meeting of mill owners and farmers chaired by sugar ministerShankar Patil Munenakopp. The committee headed by the sugar commissioner has been asked to submit its report in five days.

The panel will ascertain revenue generated from byproducts like ethanol and biogas and decide on a share for farmers. It will be paid every year. It will be over and above the fixed by the Centre. The government has taken a proactive step, but the committee must submit its report in five days or else we will resume our agitation, saidKuruburu Shanthakumar, president,Karnataka State Sugarcane Growers Association.

Farmers have been on a day-night strike for the past week, demanding Rs 3,500 per quintal of cane as opposed to theFRPof Rs 3,050 announced by the Centre. The minister said that the government has decided to set up a call centre to address issues of sugarcane growers.

From the year 2021, the Karnataka government has celebrated ‘Onake Obavva Jayanti’ on 11 November.

Highlights:

Kannada and Culture Department proposed that Onake Obavva’s birth anniversary be commemorated.

In the 18th century, Onake Obavva was a woman-soldier who fought against Hyder Ali’s army in Chitradurga.

The events will be funded by the state.

Onake Obavva was a courageous woman who fought Hyder Ali’s men with a pestle on her own.

She fought in the Karnataka kingdom of Chitradurga. Her husband worked as a watchtower guard in the Chitradurga fort.

In Karnataka, she is honored with Abbakka Rani, Kittur Chennamma, and Keladi Chennamma. She was a member of the Holayas (Chalavadi) tribe.

While protecting the fort of Chitradurga, Obavva was killed by warriors of Tipu Sultan’s father (Hyder). She fought with her ‘Onake,’ earning her the nickname ‘Onake Obavva.’

To ensure transparency and adopt a scientific approach to projects under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural EMPLOYMENT Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), the government has been using technology to avoid overlapping and unscientific projects.

While the Centre has decreed that 65% of annual MGNREGA work should be dedicated to water and conservation, theRDPRdepartment has made it mandatory for MGNREGA projects for the fiscal 2023-24 to be approved by a state core team.

This team will plan works based on data and approve those suited to a particular region. BesidesKarnatakas geographic information system and Geo MGNREGA for table-top planning, the NREGA commissionerate is using Composite Landscape Assessment & Restoration Tool, a mobile application developed byFoundation for Ecological Security(FES), a not-for-profit organization, for ground proofing.

Chief ministerBasavaraj Bommai said the government was providing impetus to two key pieces of to encourage the employability in the state and also bring more investments toKarnataka.

Inaugurating theUdhyami Aagu, Udyama Needu (Become an entrepreneur, provide EMPLOYMENT) workshop organised by the industries department in Bengaluru, CM Bommai said the biggest challenge for the state is to ensure that there are more avenues for employment in the state.

The government has already rolled out an engineering R&D policy and is expected to build upon it for a comprehensive R&D policy.

Bommai said the government was striving towards bringing a more investor friendly Environment in the state and that the future entrepreneurs should look at success stories of local business tycoons to draw inspiration.

Highereducation minister Ashwath Narayanannounced this after convening a meeting with officials of the Education department and state higher education council.

As per that, students will have the flexibility to pursue a three-year bachelor or four-year honours degree, among other things.

Sarvatrika Arogya AndolanaKarnataka(SAAK), a state-level Network of several right-based organisations has urged the to take steps to strengthen the existing Karnataka State Medical Supplies Corporation Limited (KSMSCL), located at Bengaluru to ensure that any person who visits the government hospitals should get free medicines.

SAAK has urged the minister to setup up a committee headed by anIASofficer with experience in Health system management and to make the officer in charge of KSMSCL without interference from any political leader. The Ias officer should be held responsible for the lack of adequate medicines at various government hospitals and an enquiry should be done.

As part of the New Education Policy,Karnatakawould introduce new Learning methods in higher education to bridge the gap between theoretical and practical knowledge.

Participating in the regional research symposium on problem-based learning (PBL), Narayan said educational institutions would be encouraged to collaborate with the to impart knowledge and skills to students.

The PBL method introduces students to real-life problems and motivates them to find solutions together. It will also enable them to experience the aesthetic, emotional, moral, creative, analytical and other aspects of the situation in a holistic way.

The department of primary and secondary Education will form an expert committee to draft guidelines on how formal TEACHING can take place in the upcoming academic year starting in June. On-campus classes are unlikely to resume in the initial months of the school calendar as Covid-19 cases are still high.

The panel will comprise eminent educationists, experts from the Indian Institute of Science and Nimhans, members of the state technical advisory committee on Covid-19 and representatives of parents, private schools.

The recently released draftKarnatakaCurriculum Framework for the foundational stage (3-8 years) has called for a detailed individualised Education plan for children with special needs.

According to data with the School Achievement Tracking System for 2021, as many as 96,020 children with various forms of disability are enrolled in Karnataka schools. This includes those with visual impairment (14,047), hearing impairment (10,652), speech and language disability (10,024), locomotor impairment, intellectual disability (18,524), and multiple disabilities (10,054).

The draft framework says since the most optimal time to identify delay or disability in a child is at the foundational level, it is crucial that a child be enrolled in preschool. However, teachers or anganwadi workers are not authorised or equipped to make a diagnosis. Instead, they should play a role in early identification recognising symptoms of delay and disability in a non-judgmental manner and refer the parents to seek medical diagnosis.

The has allotted land for seven projects of pharmaceutical companies that are investing Rs 123 crore atKadechur villagein Yadgir district. These units are expected to create 633 jobs for youths. These proposals are expected to get clearance from the single window clearance committe (SWCC) chaired by large and medium industries minister Jagadish Shettar by the end of April.

he proposedpharma parkhas also evoked interest among pharmaceutical companies of Hyderabad, Mumbai and other cities.