KERALA

Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the satellite survey report is not the final document on the buffer zone issue.

The state government only had good intention of completing the survey fast while deciding to go for satellite survey in the first phase as per the court order, Vijayan added.

Vijayan said that the expert committee report would be able to include details which have been left out in the first report. People in various local bodies will have the opportunity to include details of their properties by approaching the committee, he assured. The chief minister said that local bodies have been provided the opportunity to record such details.

Despite strong objections against theSilverLine projectfrom various corners, the government is completing the formalities for the project at a quick pace.
In the latest development, the government sanctioned Rs 20.5 crore towards establishment and contingency charges for the land acquisition of SilverLine project.

A high-power committee meeting on major infrastructure development projects (MIDP) in the state, that was held on November 17, considered the proposal from K-Rail and approved it, and recommended the finance department to provide additional funds since the existing allocation under the MIDP has been committed already. The state had earmarked Rs 473.03 crore for undertaking various infrastructure projects in the state for the ongoing financial year. The amount for SilverLine project will be in addition to this allocation.

In the absence of proper online education facilities for tribal students in Idukki, thetribal departmentrecommended opening all tribal hostels in the district to ensure proper education for tribal students.

As per the final estimate of over 2,000 tribal students in the district, there is no proper device to continue their online education. On a trial basis, the tribal department agreed to open tribal hostels and provide entry toSSLCand Plus Two students.

As per the estimate, 13,517 students are having no facility for online education. According to sources, after three months of digital education, most students are out of online education.

The cooperative vigilance will be strengthened and the sections 65 and 66 of theCooperation Actwill be amended so that cases of criminal nature can be reported immediately to the police and the vigilance. The laws will also be amended by which the cooperation vigilance will be empowered to suo-motu conduct searches in cooperation societies.

All the societies that have a working capital of more than Rs 250 crore will be clubbed as a unit and an audit team consisting of three members will examine the accounts of such bodies. The transfers of the officials of the department will be on the basis of clear guidelines, all the officials who are working on working arrangement basis will be sent back to the districts soon.

Government school headmasters (HM),anganwadiworkers and accredited social health activists (ASHA) will now have to notify births and deaths in their jurisdiction. Local self-government department (LSGD) has published an extraordinary gazette notification regarding the same. LSGD cited a Supreme Court judgment that had directed all states/UTs on the same.

In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (ii) of sub-section (1) of section 10 of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 (Central Act 18 of 1969) the Government ofKeralahereby specify ASHA, anganwadi workers and headmasters of government schools to notify every birth or death or both at which he or she attended or was present or which occurred in the area under their jurisdiction to the registrar within the time limit prescribed under the Kerala Registration of Births and Deaths Rules, 1999.

In a major initiative to promote electric vehicles, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), a Maharatna company, on Friday announced the launch of 19 EV fast-charging corridors on 15 major highways inKerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Among the 19 corridors, which connect important religious and tourist destinations with major cities, three are in Kerala.

Kerala is the startup powerhouse of India which has immense potential to emerge as a global startup destination, said delegates from across the world attending a tech conclave here on Friday.

On the concluding day of the Huddle Global 2022 startup conclave held at Kovalam in this southern district of the State, delegates from various nations lauded efforts of India to emerge as a startup destination, according to a release issued by Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM).

The delegates highlighted the initiatives of KSUM to make the State the startup powerhouse of India, the release said.

The Centre on Friday expressed concern over high positivity rate inKerala(6.1%) andMizoram(8.2%), even as the overall average daily new cases in the country continue to remain below 7,000 and case positivity below 1% for the last two weeks.

The Centre also cautioned against lowering of guard and said the world is witnessing the fourth surge and and the overall positivity is 6.1% globally.

The government also emphasised on the need for effective containment at the district level and imposition of local restrictions by states wherever required, particularly during the festive season and in the wake of increasing Omicron cases.

The state is the recipient of the largest share of revenue deficit grant as recommended by the 15th finance commission in the period ranging from 2020-21 to 2025-26 among all states, as per a statement submitted by the state finance department in the assembly.

The figures also point towards the need for the state to exercise more financial discipline and increase its non-tax revenue, the eligibility of states to receive this grant and the quantum of grant for the period from 2020-21 to 2025-26 was decided by the 15th finance commission based on the gap between assessment of revenue and expenditure of the state, after considering the assessed devolution during this period.

As per the statement by finance ministerKN Balagopalbefore the assembly, the state has been granted Rs 53,137 crore as revenue deficit grant on the recommendations of the commission, which is the highest when compared to other 16 states which have got the grant.

The state’s main committed expenditure include salaries, pensions and interest payments on loans and the revision of the salaries and pensions on the basis of the recommendations of the 11th pay commission alone has caused an additional burden of Rs 15,000 crore annually to the state. At the same time, to bridge the gap of revenue deficit, state’s revenue generation has to improve correspondingly, that also has not been happening.

Almost seven months after a committee appointed by thegovernmentsubmitted its report on theparticipatory pension scheme(national pension scheme,NPS) implemented for the state government employees, the government has not taken any decision on it, while keeping the report under wraps without revealing the committees recommendations.

After the committee submitted its report to the government on April 30 this year, the report reached additional chief secretary (finance)Rajesh Kumar Singhwho examined and forwarded it to finance minister K N Balagopal on July 20 this year, as is clear from the electronic file records of the government. The file is now resting on the table of the finance minister.

It is reliably learnt that the government is going slow on the report as the committee has recommended that the scheme can be continued, which is against the LDFs pre-election assurance in 2016 that the scheme will be withdrawn if theLDFgovernment comes to power.