NORTH-EASTERN STATES

With the enforcement of the https://exam.pscnotes.com/model-code-of-conduct”>Model Code Of Conduct (MCC) in poll-bound Manipur and to ensure a free, fair and peaceful election, a 24×7 excise control room and helpline have been set up at the office of state nodal officer.

Though Manipur is a dry state, Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and country liquor are sold in a clandestine manner at different places. This is evident in the haul of a large quantity of liquor by the security agencies over the years across the state. Various local clubs,Meira Paibis(Women activists) and anti-drug bodies also recover and destroy the same.

Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said the Central government is working to explore the full potential of inland waterways as it is an important means of Communication for the development of the interior parts. He also underlined the role of waterways in ensuring greater economic vibrancy in the North Eastern region. After reviewing the progress of waterways projects for Barak Valley of Assam on Saturday, the Union Minister of , Shipping and Waterways said, “Northeast India is rich and its richness must reach the world in order to make people aware of our rich heritage and Resources. Inland Waterways comes as a wonderful avenue for us – the people of Northeast – to take our produce out into the global trade map in an efficient and economical way.”

The Union minister reviewed various projects under implementation around the North East region by the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI). He reviewed the progress made on the renovation of existing shore facilities at Badarpur terminal and renovation of existing shore facilities at Karimganj terminal. Sonowal directed the officials to take all necessary measures, including dredging, in order to ensure smooth passage of cargo vessels on National Waterways 2 (Brahmaputra) and NW 16 (Barak).

TheNagalandgovernment has conceptualised a plan to provide hand-holding to the farmers and entrepreneurs of the state to come forward to produce more and sell their products under the brand name ‘Naturally Nagaland’.

Inaugurating an outlet of ‘Naturally Nagaland’ inKohima, Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture production commissioner Y Kikheto Sema emphasised on the importance of agri and allied products for promotion of farmers and entrepreneurs.

Sema said the products of ‘Naturally Nagaland’ are all organic and naturally grown in the state. He added that all SHGs, farmers and entrepreneurs may have their own name, which can be promoted and sold under ‘Naturally Nagaland’.

Tripurachief ministerManik Sahaalong with Education ministerRatan Lal Nathon Tuesday inaugurated the first English medium general degree college of the state in the city with 100 intake capacity.
The five basic subjects of the arts stream, including compulsory Bengali and English, are being taught this academic session that began last month. Renovating an old Teachers Training College, the Tripura government has built the general degree college at the cost of over Rs 1 crore as committed in the budget this year.

In the first step, the exact syllabus of CBSE has been introduced, followed by recruiting a large number of trained teachers and training up to over 40,000 existing teachers of government schools and also improving the student-teacher ratio going by the national Average.

ThePerformance Grading Indexfor 2021-22 prepared by the Centre that ranks states on the status of the school Education has flagged the countrys three bottom states (Akanshi-3 grade) Arunachal Pradesh,MeghalayaandMizoramto put more effort to reach the top slot.

The index is aimed to propel states and UTs towards undertaking multi-pronged interventions to bring about the much-desired optimal education outcomes that is based upon five categories Learning outcomes and quality, access, and facilities, Equity and Governance processes.

The highest achievable grade is called Daksh, which is for a scoring of more than 90% of the grade range and the lowest grade Akanshi-3 is for scores up to 10% grade range. None of the states and UTs has attained the top five grades Daksh (91%-100%), Utkarsh (81%-90%), Atti-Uttam (71%-80%), Uttam (61%-70%) and Prachesta-1 (51%-60%).

In 2021-22, only two states and UTs, Punjab and Chandigarh, are at the top, both attaining Grade Prachesta -2 (41%-50%).

Six states/UTs are in grade Prachesta-3 (31%-40%), 13 states/UTs in grade Akanshi -1 (21% to 30%), 12 in grade Akanshi – 2 (11% to 20%) and three (all from NE) are in grade Akanshi 3 (Up to 10%). The remaining four NE statesAssam, Manipur, Nagaland and Tripura are just one notch above the bottom in Akanshi 2 grade.
The report published on Friday stated that the maximum and minimum scores obtained by the states and UTs in 2021-22 are 659.01 and 420.64 respectively and deviation is 238.37 or 23.8% of the maximum points.

In order to supply jackfruit, pineapple and lemon among other vegetables and fruits to the other parts of the country, therailway ministryhas decided to runKisan Railfrom Agartala to Howrah and Delhi from June 11.

With the Covid-19 pandemic having badly hit the prospects of the farmers for second year in a row, the ministry acceptedTripura’s proposal to support the tillers who have produced fruits and vegetables in commercial scale and is hopeful of exporting them abroad besides catering to the needs of the metro cities in the country.

As a result the cultivation area for lemon and pineapple had been increased from over 2,000 hectare to 2,300 hectare, leading to enhanced production of 2,500 MT of both the fruits. However, the pandemic had an adverse effect on the farmers last year as it hit them during the time of harvest.
While the did manage to send a few consignments abroad, the rest of the fruits were procured by theurban development departmentfor free distribution of vitamin-C products among urban dwellers under the Immunity Booster Project.

NEIGRIHMS(North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences) director Dr Nalin Mehta calledMeghalayathe “cancer capital of India” during a consultative meeting with the religious leaders of Meghalaya and state health authorities, organised by the department of surgical oncology of the institute.

He said Meghalaya is among the states with the highest incidence of cancer (131 per lakh Population) in the country and hence it is important to raise awareness through every available option.

Meghalaya has one of the highest cancer rates in the country and the state also grapples with a significant prevalence of tobacco use, with 47% of adults (Global Adult Tobacco Survey, 2016-17) and 34% of 13-15 year olds (Global Youth Tobacco Survey, 2019) consuming tobacco in various forms. Esophageal cancer is the most prevalent form of cancer amongst the state’s populace, with a staggering 71.2 per lakh people affected. This surpasses the national Average by more than 10 fold and poses a considerable concern for Meghalaya,” an official record highlighted.

Researchers of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Bhopal, have discovered a new endangeredspeciesof plant belonging to the African Violets family inMizoramand its adjacent areas inMyanmar.

The newly-described species Didymocarpus vickifunkiae (Gesneriaceae) is currently known to grow in three locations in the frontier state Mizoram. It is an epiphyte, Plants that grow on trees, and produce Light pink flowers during monsoon. The species is named in honour of Dr Vicki Ann Funk, a renowned botanist, who worked at the Smithsonian Institute, USA.

Along with other discoveries, this recent find shows that the rich of the northeastern states remains unexplored and there are many species of plants waiting to be discovered. Researches have always been allured by the complex geology and climatic conditions ofnortheast India, which is Home to a diverse range of Flora and Fauna. However, much of it remains poorly documented, even as theIISER Bhopalteam was studying the evolution and biogeography of Didymocarpus plants.