KERALA

Police have formulated a new programme titled Operation Kaaval for nabbing those behind the smuggling of drugs, illegal sand mining and attacks by gangs in the state.

State police chief Anil Kant issued guidelines for successfully undertaking the new programme. The district police chiefs would form special teams to nab those hiding after committing serious crimes. The state special branch will prepare a list of those indulging in anti-social activities, and they will be put under constant watch. It will be examined if the persons released on bail are violating the bail conditions. If they are doing so, steps will be taken to cancel their bail and remand them back to custody. The special branch has been asked to conduct secret surveillance on such persons.

Those involved in criminal cases and those who are suspects will be under surveillance, and if required, searches will be conducted at their regular hideouts. A Database will also be prepared on district-basis of those having previous HISTORY of involvement in violence and criminal activities. If required, they will be arrested by chargingKeralaAnti-social Activities Prevention Act (KAPA). Those against whom cases have been already registered for various criminal activities will be arrested soon, and police will seize vehicles that have been used for such activities.

For the first time, the government quarries in the state will go for e-auctioning, that will not only ensure transparency but also fetch a handsome revenue for the government through auctions, in addition to the seigniorage fee and royalty on the mined products.

The individual district collectors have been locating the revenue poramboke land available in the particular district suitable for quarrying and will put them on the e-auction site, that will then be auctioned at a base price of Rs 10 lakh per hectare per annum, for a lease period of 12 years.

Till now, the quarries in the government land were given permits (those which are less than one hectare in area) and those which were leased out (more than one hectare) on a first-cum-first-serve basis. Also, the no-objection certificates (NOCs) being issued by the revenue department were then given without any cost. With the e-auctioning in place, the bidding can fetch any amount above Rs 10 lakh every year for a hectare, if the place is in high demand.

With agencies such asPWD,KIIFBandRKIundertaking multipleinfrastructure projectsand the lack of coordination between them delaying the execution of such projects, government has decided to augmentdistrict coordination committeesby christening them as theinter-agency linking body.

As per the GO issued in this regard last week, in addition to district coordination committees chaired by collectors that have been put in charge of all public work projects in the district, two state-level nodal officers were appointed for smoothening the task, putting them in charge of seven districts each.

Mission mode implementation of these projects is vital to reap the envisaged benefits of investments. But, it is seen that the progress of projects is affected due to the delay in making land available, land acquisition, utility shifting, survey, demarcation and lack of sufficient coordination between various authorities.

As part of the states ResilientKeralaProgram, the (WB) has sanctioned 125 million USD to the state to support the states preparedness against natural disasters, Climate-change”>Climate Change impacts, disease outbreaks and pandemics.

The Resilient Kerala Program will focus on two key areas. First, it will incorporate disaster risk planning in the master plans of urban and local self-governments to ease financial constraints on the State Government when faced with unexpected shocks. Second, it will help make the Health, Resources“>Water Resources management, Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture and road sectors more resilient to calamities.
The program is part of a programmatic series of the bank-financed operations in the state.

The first Resilient Kerala Development Policy Operation (DPO) approved in June 2019 had undertaken several initiatives. It had helped the state draft a river basin conservation and management act, which will conserve and regulate water resources and ensure their sustainable management, allocation and utilization. It had also introduced climate-resilient agriculture, risk-informed land use and Disaster Management planning. The program laid the foundations for a five-year state PARTNERSHIP framework.

The support to key sectors under the program include sustainable fiscal and Debt Management through establishing a debt management unit in the finance department to support the states efforts to scale down its debt-to-GSDP ratio to a sustainable trajectory, providing timely and adequate assistance to vulnerable households, disaster and climate-resilient urban development, create resilient public health systems, ensure an integrated and sustainable Water Resources Management, ensure sustainable and resilient food systems and create a climate-resilient road Infrastructure.

The department of Sociology of theKeralaUniversity in a first-of-its-kind initiative has launched a startup for Manithookki Kani tribe members based in Vithura panchayat in the district.

Named KU Life, the startup registered with the Kerala University Business Innovation and Incubation Centre was inaugurated by minister for welfare of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and backward classes KRadhakrishnan.

The tribal members should also be further trained in modern technology in order to make other products like chairs and swings. The plan is to also expand the workshops to other tribal settlements beyond Manithookki.

The Board of Executive Directors from the has accepted a $125 million support for the Resilient Kerala Program to assist the country in preparedness in opposition to herbal disasters, local weather exchange impacts, disease outbreaks, and pandemics. The $125 million mortgage from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) has a remaining maturity of 14 years which include a grace duration of six years.

The heavy monsoons of 2018 have been the worst Kerala had seen in nearly a century, triggering devastating floods and landslides. It impacted more than 5 million people, frequently in the Pamba River Basin.

The Resilient Program will focus on two key areas:1st, It will incorporate disaster threat planning in the grasp plans of city and local self-governments to ease economic constraints on the country government when faced with surprising shocks. 2nd, It will help make the Health, water sources management, Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture, and road sectors more resilient to calamities.

Kick-starting corporations move to set up decentralized projects for waste treatment, some of the councillors in the local body have started decentralized biodegradable waste treatment Plants in their divisions.
LSG ministerM B Rajeshsaid that measures were on to set up decentralized waste treatment plants in the entire city by May.

At Ravipuram division, around 400 families have been given biobins for treating biodegradable waste generated in their households.

Private hospitalshave informed the that they should be allowed to charge 30-50 % more than the existing Karunya Arogya Suraksha Padhati (KASP)ratesforCovidtreatment. However, negotiations are on and the government is yet to agree to it.

For poor walk-in patients admitted in the general ward, we are willing to reduce the rates. However, we should be allowed to charge 30 to 50% more than KASP rates from patients who prefer a private room and can afford treatment, said Farhan Yasin, vice-president,Association of Healthcare Providers India(AHPI),Keralachapter.

Budget proposal for a new urban policy has shed Light on an often-ignored aspect; scientific urban planning. The department of town and country planning had formulated an urban policy and action plan for Kerala in 2002.
It included a set of recommendations which included constitution of an urban regulatory authority to maintain quality of Services at reasonable cost. Thiruvananthapuram andKochiwere considered as spatial priority regions and Kozhikode was tagged as the next priority.

As per the proposal, a scheme will be formulated to upgrade the standards of all six corporations in Kerala. Conservation of heritage areas and surroundings, improvement of pedestrian , equipping public places and recreational areas, improvement of hygiene, etc.. are the components of this project.

Keralahas seen considerable fluctuation in its organic Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture (OA) policy and this has resulted in concurrent high levels of entry into and exit from the agriculture sector, says a study by a group of international researchers with support from Kerala agriculture scientists.

The case study was done with farmer interviews, focus groups and experts, focusing on Thrissur andWayanaddistricts. The researchers developed a typology of organic farmers and formed them into three core groups wealthy hobby farmers, poorer non-certified farmers, and middle class export farmers.

The experience of Organic Wayanad NGO (formerly the largest organic Marketing agency in Kerala) is similar: of the 2,000 new members in Wayanad in 2004, only 350 remained in 2013. Most members left because they did not receive the expected financial benefits, as yield losses were not compensated by organic premiums.