KERALA

The Kerala Assembly passed the University Laws (Amendment) Bill to replace the Governor as the Chancellor of universities in the state and appoint eminent academicians in the top post, while the opposition UDF boycotted the House for not accepting its suggestions regarding the bill.

The bill was passed after hours long discussions during which the Congress-led UDF said it was not opposed to the removal of the Governor as Chancellor, but he should be selected from amongst retired Supreme Court judges and former Kerala chief justices.

Kerala, NaduandTelanganaemerged among the best three performers in terms of overall performance according to theNITI AayogsHealth index, whileUttar Pradeshtopped the table on incremental performance despite being at the bottom.

For the fourth consecutive round, Kerala emerged as the best overall performer. Among smaller states, Mizoram emerged as the best performer in overall performance as well as incremental outcome. Among Union territories (UTs), Delhi and Jammu & Kashmir ranked at the bottom in terms of overall performance but emerged as leading performer in terms of incremental performance.

A vast majority of the states and UTs have recorded a shift in their overall performance rankings from Base Year to reference year. Among the 19 larger states, four improved their rankings while five deteriorated and 10 retained their base year ranks.
Three out of the eight smaller states improved their rankings, four deteriorated while one retained its base year rank. Four UTs improved their ranks while three deteriorated. Assam made the maximum improvement, moving from 15 to 12 while Andaman & Nicobar went down the maximum, from 4 to 7.

Aster DM Healthcare, one of the largest integrated healthcare providers in India, becomes the first major hospital from India to sign the action declaration on Climate Policy Engagement at the recently concluded CO summit inEgypt.

Called theCorporate Knights Action Declaration, it is an attempt to bring together global companies to work with policymakers to achieve the common goal of building sustainable organizations. World’s 50 large corporations have come together to join the action declaration in accordance with the Paris agreement and will work closely with policymakers to build a climate-sensitive organization.

The cabinet has decided to give a financial assistance of Rs 3,000 each to 1, 59, 481 fishermen families considering that they have been left without an income for 26 days in October-November this year due to heavy rains. The cabinet has decided to release Rs 47.84 crore from the chief ministers distress relief fund for offering the financial assistance.

and culture ministerSaji Cheriansaid that families who are most backward among the category have been chosen for the assistance. He said that the beneficiaries have been chosen on the basis of specific criteria.

The report is said to have pointed out that the project is expected to have huge cost overruns than the currently estimated figure of Rs 63,000 crore and will not be financially viable. It has also been said that as the Silverline project is going to use standard gauge, it cannot be integrated into the existing rail of the country.

Silverline is an ambitious project that aims to cover a distance of 530km from Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram in less than four hours. The project is facing criticism from a section of activists and the public over the huge costs involved amid fears of causing environmental damage. The project will require 3418 acres, including both RAILWAY and private land. Of the estimated project cost of Rs 63,941 crore, Rs 11,535 crore has been estimated for overall compensation.

WithVegetable and Fruit Promotion Council Keralams (VFPCKs) trials of sendingnendranto Europe and theMiddle Eastproving successful, experts say that it opens immense opportunities for farmers inKeralain tapping the export market forGI-tagged foodproducts from the state.

People from other states and countries usually prefer Robusta variety of banana, but it is Malayalis who prefer nendran the most, so where there is a considerable number of Malayalis, Kerala could find an easy market worth tapping, she added.
However, farmers and exporters have to adhere to the food quality parameters of the overseas market, which needs a new set of protocols to be followed by farmers. Trichy-based National Research Centre for Banana (NRCB) had developed protocols for the same

The state governments flagship project that started in 2016 to provide water to industries atKanjikode Kinfra Parkis held up as theNational Highway Authority of India(NHAI) rejected sanctions to use its service road at Kanjikode to lay 1,600mpipelinein its final lap.

The project aimed at drawing 10MLD water fromMalampuzhareservoir and should have been commissioned in February this year.Kerala Water Authority(KWA) laid a 16km pipeline for the Rs 32-crore project till Kanjikode. But to reach the industrial park it has to pass through the service road of NH-544 from Kinar stop to Government High School Junction and towards Walayar. The difficult portion, the NHAI road, has been crossed at Kanjikode High School Junction through the trenchless method.

Kerala becomes the first state in India to launch uniform gold price based on the . The decision to introduce uniform price on 916 purity 22 carat gold has been taken at a meeting between officials of Malabar Gold and Diamonds, one of the largest gold and diamond retail chains in the country and key members of All Kerala Gold and Silver Merchants Association which sets the board rate for gold.

The gold rate should be uniform across the country based on bank rate. However, in most states, gold is priced Rs.150-300 per gram extra over the bank rate. In Kerala, gold used to be sold at different prices on a particular day. Uniform gold price based on bank rate offers an opportunity to the consumers to purchase gold at a reasonable and transparent price.

According to Mr.Ahammed, there should be a system to determine the price of gold based on the bank rate on a specific day in the country. Bank rate on gold, GST and other taxes including import duty are the same across India. For example, on November 4, 2022, the bank spot rate of 916 (22 carat) gold was Rs. 1,640 per ounce, the bank premium was Rs. 3.50, the import duty was Rs. 6,67,467 per kg and the bank cost per gram of gold was Rs. 5,008. Adding all these, the bank rate of November 4, 2022 amounts to Rs. 4610 per gram of 916 gold. Thanks to the price standardization, jewellers in Kerala now charge the same price as the bank rate for gold.

TheKerala governmenthas included those who are going abroad for studies and EMPLOYMENT purpose, in the prioritised group under the 18-45 years age category for the Covid-19 vaccination.

An immediate decision has been taken in this regard as many foreign countries have madevaccination compulsoryfor those arriving there for study and job purposes,HealthMinister Veena George said.

Besides them, 10 othercategorieswere also included in the prioritised group and an order was issued for the same, she said. Field staff of various government departments including food and civil supplies, postal, social , Women and Child Development, Fisheries and teachers assigned for the valuation ofSSLC, Higher Secondary and Vocational Higher Secondary examinations were among those newly added to the prioritised group.

As many as 32 categories of people belonging to the age group were earlier included in the priority category after considering them as frontline fighters against Covid-19.

A Skill development hub will be set up atCochin University of Science and Technology(Cusat) with the support of educational institutions and commercial establishments, said industries ministerP Rajeeve.

The minister was addressing at the inaugural function of a placement drive held at Government ITI, Kalamassery, as part of Sky, a skill development programme being held in Kalamassery constituency under the Leadership of the minister. Youngsters in the constituency who have registered in Kerala Development and Innovation Strategy Council took part in the drive