MAHARASHTRA

Sugar production inMaharashtrais set to decline by around 6.5 % in 2022-23 compared to previous year owing to excess rainfall in some parts that led to water-logging and a higher diversion to ethanol, officials said.

Maharashtra is the country’s top sugar producer. The state had produced 138 lakh tonne of sugar last year-the highest ever in its history. However, production in 2022-23 is expected to fall to 129 lakh tonne.

The changed estimate may impact the overall sugar production in the country but so far, the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories (NFCSF) says it doesnt foresee a dip.

The states target beneficiaries in the 15-18 years age group and the comorbid category is 60.63 lakh and 29.09 lakh, respectively, according to the projected population listed by the Centre on Tuesday.

Of the total 7.4 crore beneficiaries in the age group of 15-18 years in the country, the states target is second highest after Uttar Pradesh. The state immunisation officials claimed that it would take at least six months to cover this population. TheCovid-19vaccination of this age group would commence from January 3.

According to thehealth departmentsNational Family HealthSurvey-5, about 73.5% of the population is above 18 years and 22.8% under 15. Thus, around 3.7% of the population is in the 15-18 age group.

Recently, Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai said he was considering a visit to Delhi with the proposal to increase the height of the dam from 519m to 524m. He also said that since Maharashtra is also a party to the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal, leaders from Maharashtra have been consulted. Bommai said preliminary discussions on the issue have been held with NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Maharashtra irrigation minister Jayant Patil. He even said that Pawar has suggested a meeting with the Centre to discuss the matter. The tribunal had given a verdict in favour of the Karnataka government to increase Almattis height.

Karnataka also needs to consult with other states Andhra Pradesh and Telangana before it initiates steps to increase the height of the dam as both these states too are party to the tribunal. These states have maintained that the increase in the dam height will obstruct the flow of water and may leave their states dry.

The Maharashtra Bhushan Choice Board of trustees led by Boss Pastor Uddhav Thackeray has collectively chosen unbelievable playback vocalist Asha Bhosle for the lofty honor.

Asha is a very popular playback singer. She is known for her singing in many Hindi films, in spite of the fact that she has a more extensive collection. Bhosle’s vocation began in 1943 and has traversed more than seventy years. Asha has done playback singing for more than 1k films.

She was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the most recorded singer in music history. The Public authority of India regarded her with the Dadasaheb Phalke Grant in 2000 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2008. Bhosle is the sister of playback artist Lata Mangeshkar and has a place with the unmistakable Mangeshkar family.

The Maharashtra governmenthas recently launched a new financial scheme aimed at providing support to farmers in the state. The scheme, known asNamo Shetkari Mahasanman Yojana,was approved at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

An overview of the Namo Shetkari Mahasanman Yojana

Financial Assistance for Farmers:Under the Namo Shetkari Mahasanman Yojana, farmers in Maharashtra will receive an annual payment of Rs 6,000. This financial aid is in addition to the amount of Rs 6,000 that farmers already receive in instalments per year from the Centres Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana. The scheme aims to provide an extra boost to the income of farmers and enhance their financial stability.

Beneficiaries and Approval:More than one crore farmers in Maharashtra are expected to benefit from the state governments Namo Shetkari Mahasanman Yojana. This initiative is part of the governments efforts to support the agricultural community and improve their overall well-being.

Initiative Announced in the Budget:Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also serves as the states finance minister, had initially announced the Namo Shetkari Mahasanman Yojana in the budget for the financial year 2023-24. The schemes inclusion in the budget reflects the governments commitment to addressing the challenges faced by farmers and strengthening the agricultural sector in Maharashtra.

Supporting Farmers Livelihoods:With the launch of the Namo Shetkari Mahasanman Yojana, the Maharashtra government aims to alleviate financial burdens faced by farmers and promote their economic well-being. By providing direct financial assistance, the scheme intends to empower farmers and enable them to overcome challenges and invest in their agricultural activities.

Fish catch inMaharashtrarose for the first time since 2017, increasing by around 38% from 1.23 lakh tonnes in 2021 to 1.7 lakh tonnes in 2022, according to Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) data.

Despite the increase, the state’s catch was half of the 3.8 lakh tonne landings seen in 2017. Raigad led in the state, contributing 28% of all catch, followed by Mumbai city with 26% and Ratnagiri with 23%. While the catch of all the species rose, except for Indian mackerel which fell slightly, the landings of Indian oil sardine saw the biggest jump -going from 44 tonnes in 2021 to 23,000 tonnes in 2022.

Oil sardine’s catch rises 188% in country, shrimp doubles in Maharashtra
The state’s fish catch increased by 38% to 1.7 lakh tonnes in 2022 with the Indian oil sardine seeing the biggest jump, data from the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) shows.

This increase was likely due to population dynamics -more eggs might have hatched around the same time -as well as conducive environmental conditions, said CMFRI’s Ramkumar. CMFRI scientists had forecast the bump in sardine catch, as the fishery tends to fluctuate with the La Nina/El Nino cycles (2022 was a La Nina year).

Maharashtra also saw big increases in penaeid prawns or shrimp, which doubled from almost 9,000 tonnes to about 18,000 tonnes, as well as ribbon fish, whose catch increased from 4,600 to over 10,000 tonnes.

Fish catch in the state fell dramatically in 2018 and 2019 due to bad weather that kept boats ashore on many days-including a surprising amount of cyclonic activity in the Arabian Sea-as well as overfishing.

In fact, 2019 saw the state get its lowest fish catch since 1974-though that number then fell further in the pandemic-affected years of 2020 and 2021.
Maharashtra contributed 5% of the all India catch of 3.5 million tonnes. The bulk of the catch (around 72%) was by mechanised purse seine boats, followed by multi-day trawl nets and mechanised dol nets.

Only Odisha and Gujarat saw a decline in catch last year. West Bengal saw the biggest increase in catch of around 38.4%-just a little higher increase than Maharashtra-while Puducherry saw a 30% increase in catch and Tamil Nadu 28%.

Geographical Identification (GI) for goods and products from particular geographical territories, including Marathwada, will promote cultural entrepreneurship, said advocate Ganesh Hingmire, the two-time winner ofthe nationalIP award instituted by the Centres ministry of commerce.

Different agricultural products, natural goods and manufacturing items among other things can secure the GI tag. Such a tag can assure premium price for these goods and items, fetch international market rates and boost the income of producers, he said.

Paithani saree, kesar mango, sweet lime and Osmanabadi goat are among the entities that have secured GI tags in Marathwada.

TheMaharashtragovernment invested Rs 30 crore on upgrading infrastructure to host theAFC Women’s Asian Cupin Pune from January 20, a senior official said on Tuesday.
“The Maharashtra government has sanctioned around Rs 30 crore to upgrade infrastructure and organize this mega event, OmPrakash Bakoria, Commissioner Directorate of Sports and Youth Services, said.

The tournament will be played at three venues in Maharashtra — Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Pune.

Over 40 lakh college students from 4,000 colleges across the state can train for free skill-based courses to be offered as part of an agreement between the higher and technical education department and IT major Infosys as part of its corporate social responsibility initiative.
The courses will include computer programming, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, finance and several others.

Minister of higher and technical education, Uday Samant, said that under the MoU, the students are set to benefit from 3,900 skill courses from different categories.

The courses will be open to arts, science and commerce colleges from Nagpur and Technical College, Ratnagiri in the first phase.
Samant said this agreement will benefit 1,600 technical colleges and 10 lakh technical students and 3,000 higher education colleges and 30 lakh students in state.

The state cabinet decided to withdraw theMaharashtra Public Universities(third amendment) Bill, 2021, which had been introduced by the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi government and passed by the state assembly.

The bill had curtailed the powers of the governor and empowered the state government to recommend names for the vice-chancellor’s post. It had appointed the higher and technical education minister as pro-chancellor.

The amendment had been passed in the winter session of the state legislature in 2021, but had not received the assent of governor B S Koshyari. “The bill had amended sections 11 and 13 of the PublicUniversities Act. Students and teachers as well as citizens had requested the governor not to sign it.