KERALA

The statefinance ministerinformed the assembly that the total debt ofKeralastood at Rs 3,32,291 crore; the liability doubled during the 2015-16 period. However, despite the pandemic situation here, the Growth rate was 88.66% in 2020-21 compared to that of 2015-16.
In the absence of finance ministerKN Balagopal, ministerK Radhakrishnangave replies to queries. He said that despite all financial constraints, the did not compromise on development projects and welfare schemes.

The Centre had provided a loan of Rs 1,471 crore during the 2019-20 period and had increased the borrowing limit in the subsequent two financial years. The negative growth during the pandemic was the key reason for the present financial crisis. Earlier, the Centre had cut down the borrowing limit of the state and only during the pandemic a relaxation was given.

During the pandemic, the borrowing limit was increased to 5% from 3% of GSDP. The minister said the unscientific implementation of GST has severely affected the tax revenue of states and the state has been exerting pressure on the Centre to continue the disbursement of GST compensation to all states.

For the first time, the Zika Virus Disease (ZVD) was detected in Kerala.

About Zika Virus:

The Zika virus is a flavivirus transmitted by mosquitos that was discovered in monkeys in Uganda in 1947.
Zika virus was later discovered in humans in Uganda & the United Republic of Tanzania in 1952.
ZVD is caused by a virus that is primarily transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes (AM), specifically Aedes aegypti.
This is the mosquito that spreads dengue, Yellow fever & chikungunya.
Transmission:During pregnancy, from mother to fetus, through sexual contact, transfusion of blood and blood products, and organ transplantation.

With the new academic year set to begin on Thursday,Vimukthi Missionunder the excise department will resume its activities in schools to fight drug abuse among students.Ernakulamexcise division has already started preliminary works for this in the district.

Though the usual awareness activities will be held, Vimukthi Mission aims at more interventional and enforcement-level activities in schools this year.
The plan is to ensure that drugs do not reach schools or their surroundings, prevent drug sales near schools and use of children as carriers and make teachers and students cautious about drug abuse and sales.

It is learnt that the planned activities include a screening of students to identify drug abuse among them and do the needful. For this, teachers’ help will be sought and they will be trained by psychological counsellors of Vimukthi and Health departments.

The draft amendment to the Kerala Healthcare Service Persons and Healthcare Service Institutions (Prevention of Viole-nce and Damage to Property) Act, 2012 has proposed increasing the quantum of punishment for attack on healthcare workers and institutions to seven years’ imprisonment and fine up to Rs 1 lakh.

The amendment, prepared by a committee comprising additional chief secretary (Home), principal secretary (Health) and principal secretary (law) in consultation with the chief secretary, has been circulated to the chief minister, health and law ministers for vetting.

The has made theuser feeforHaritha Karma Sena(HKS) mandatory, coming into effect from April 1. As per the order, if anyone defaults on the user fee payments, then it will be collected as arrears along with theirproperty tax.

As per the order, households and establishments are obliged to pay the user fee set by the local bodies to the relevant agencies for waste collection, including plastics. The local body can fix the monthly user fee. However, the order has not given any assurance on any kind of relaxations for the BPL category. But the local body has been given the authority to decide on exempting anyone from the user fee.

Among the south-Indian states, Kerala is leading in thevaccination drivewith at least 10% of its Population receiving a dose of the vaccine. While in Nadu 4% of the population received the Vaccines, inAndhra Pradeshit is 5%, and Karnataka it is at 6%. However, Health experts said that it was not enough and the state needs to fasten the vaccination drive before the second wave hits Kerala.

In other words, Kerala has vaccinated 1,04,203 people per million population. Karnataka has so far vaccinated 63,645 people per million population and Andhra Pradesh 53,985 people per million population.

Tamil Nadu and Telangana have not been able to achieve even half of what Kerala has achieved. Tamil Nadu vaccinated 39,825 people per million population and Telangana 35,313 people per million population.

Any or cooperative or buyer using bioresources for commercial purposes will have to get a NOC from theKeralastate Biodiversity board (KSBB). The State Government has decided to strictly enforce the Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) Provisions of the Biodiversity Act under which they will have to pay for using a bioresource for commercial purposes.

According to officials, the National biodiversity board has asked the states to implement the ABS and several states are already earning huge revenue from this. Under Section 7 of the Biological Diversity Act 2002 and Section 16 of Kerala Biological Diversity Rule, 2008, any Indian citizen or body corporate or association or registered organization in India should seek approval of KSBB for access to the collection of biological Resources from Kerala for commercial utilization or bio-survey and bio-utilization for commercial utilization.

Though Kerala may not be among the states where large solar Plants are installed, it has been among the top states investing in solar rooftop panels. According to a report, Maharashtra had the most rooftop solar installations in Q3 2022, followed by Kerala and Gujarat in the third quarter of the year.

Kerala was the quarters leading state for installations under the (CAPEX ) model where consumers have to bear the capital expenses incurred in installing rooftop systems upfront. India added 320 megawatts (MW) of rooftop solar in the third quarter which is almost an 18% drop compared to 389 MW installed during the same period the previous year, according to the Mercom India Rooftop Solar Market Report Q3 2022.

Meanwhile, Agency for New and RENEWABLE ENERGY Research and Technology (Anert) has recently invited bids from empanelled agencies for the rate contract to develop 15MW of rooftop solar projects in Thiruvananthapuram. The scope includes supplying, installing, and commissioning multiple solar power systems in the range of 30kW to 100 kW atop public buildings within Thiruvananthapuram under the Solar city project.

Almost 46% of rooftop solar was installed in the Industrial Sector nationally, followed by residential, commercial, and government sectors, with 32%, 21%, and 1%, respectively.

TAMILNAD

New Education policy, job-ready graduates and filling the Learning gap: 2023 is Tamil Nadus future

From 2023-24, children enrolled in pre-primary schools in Tamil Nadu will just play.And, as they go to higher classes, they will get to play the sport of their choice.

All-round development seems to be at the core of the state education policy Tamil Nadu is working on. Sports will be part of everyday life in schools for every child, said Aruna Rathnam, a member of the state education policy panel.

But the state needs to have more clarity.It is yet to decide on whether to have a 5+3+3+4 school education system or continue with the 10+2 system.Also unclear is TNs stand on the Union Government proposal for four-year BA, BSc degrees with multiple entry and exit.

It is also undecided about the academic bank of credits (ABC) proposed in the national education policy (NEP) and revamping of state universities.

Better management practices and congenial Environment play an important role in ensuring better fertility among crossbred cattle in the state, according to a study by researchers ofKeralaVeterinary and Animal Sciences University (KVASU).

The study is based on data collected from 1,180 crossbred cattle sired by 208 Frieswal bulls, spread over a period of 16 years from 2003 to 2019. The cattle have been maintained at different farms of the university. A team of genetic scientists from the Centre For Advanced Studies in Animal Genetics andBreeding,KVASU-Thrissur, found that there is no co-relation between high milk yielding cows and fertility.

The findings were published in Elsevier Science Direct-Estimation of co-Variance components and genetic parameters of fertility and production traits in crossbred cattle of Kerala withJamuna Valsalanas the lead author.