TAMILNADU

The Nadu government has begun to line up India’s primary Dugong Conservation Reserve within the Palk Bay region.

Highlights

Dugongs are species protected under the Wildlife Protection Act’s, 1972 Schedule 1.

The Chief Wildlife Warden and Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Shekhar Kumar Niraj, submitted an idea note for the Dugong Conservation Reserve. Tamil Nadu’s Environment accepted Forests and Climate-change”>Climate Change Department.

He was told to file a draught notification to the Union Ministry of Environment for approval.

The reserve size will cover around 500 sq km and can be established in Palk Bay’s north from Adiramapattinam to Amapattinam.

For the next 5 years, Rs 5 crore would be the initial cost for the reserve’s establishment.

There are plans to create enhanced seagrass beds and a world conservation center under the global climate change Mission.

Dugong

The dugong is a sirenian species found along the Indian coast.

Dugongs are associated with manatees and have an identical plump appearance, but they need a tail that appears sort of a dolphin’s fluke.

Unlike manatees, which sleep in freshwater, dugongs are purely marine mammals.

Dugongs also are referred to as Sea Cows.

They graze, on seagrass, in shallow coastal waters of the Indian and western Pacific Oceans.

Days after the government announced a mega incentive package to bring in semiconductor investments into the country,Anil AgarwalsVedanta grouphas said that it will invest up to Rs 60,000 crore to set up a sophisticated chip and glass manufacturing ecosystem in India over the next three years.

It is also finalising technology and partnerships and joint ventures with top fabrication makers across the world. This is Agarwals second attempt at bringing in semiconductor investments into India. The fresh charge will be led through AvanStrate, a Japanese glass substrate manufacturer that Vedanta had acquired in December 2017 from the Carlyle Group.

India does not have a chip manufacturing ecosystem, despite being a significant consumption market for semiconductor-led industries, and depends solely on costly imports. The funding from our groups side will be through equity and debt, apart from potential partnerships, Hebbar said, adding around 80% of production will be used for domestic market, while rest will be for exports

Minister for adi dravidar and tribal welfareN Kayalvizhi Selvarajinaugurated a two-day national seminar on of Tribal Communities: Issues and Challenges at the Research Centre for Tribal Culture in Ooty.

Of the 36 tribal communities inTamil Nadu, Toda, Kota, Kurumba, Irula, Paniya and Kattunayakan are on verge of degeneration, the minister said. The government is taking all possible efforts to enhance the livelihood of tribal communities.
Tribal communities comprise only 1.1% of the total Population of the state. Their Literacy rate stands at 54.5%, while the states literacy rate is 81%. Thanks to the governments special focus on 320 government tribal residential schools and eight Ekalaiva model schools last year, 4,000 more tribal students joined government tribal schools this academic year, compared to last year, she said.
The government allocated 45.79 crore to develop infrastructures in government tribal schools and sanctioned 50.5 crore towards scholarships that benefitted 35,953 tribal students in the last academic year,Kayalvizhisaid.

Earlier, Kayalvizhi inaugurated the information centre and photo exhibition organised at a cost of 21 lakh at the Tribal Research Centre in Muthorai Palada near Ooty.

In Chennai, the Confederation of Indian (CII) will host the 20th edition of ‘Connect 2021.’

Highlights:

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) will hold its flagship event, Connect 2021, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, from November 26 to 27.

Connect is an international information and Communication technology conference and expo (ICT).

“Building a Sustainable Deep T’ech’N’ology Ecosystem” is the theme of the conference.

The goal of ‘Connect 2021’ is to increase the state’s GDP to $1 billion by 2030.

Leading manufacturer of specialty agriscience materials, US based Profile Products LLC, has acquired Nivetha Exporters, an international producer of high qualitycococoir products in Nadu. Nivetha Exporters with two factories at Pollachi in Coimbatore district recorded a turnover of 100 crore during the last financial year (2021-22).

However, the size of the deal was not disclosed.RiverBridge Investment Advisors Pvt Ltdacted as the exclusive financial advisor for Nivetha.

Coco peat produced from coconut husk is used for soilless cultivation. The acquisition of Nivetha, which is renamed as CoirSci, augments Profile Products raw material selection that now includes peat, coir and HydraFiber, engineered fiber solution and controlled release fertilizer products.

Unveiling the states Export Promotion strategy on Wednesday this week, chief minister M K Stalin had set out a target for the state to achieve $100 billion in exports by 2030. This requires the states exports to jump four-fold in just over eight years from the present $26 billion and hence the need to identify champion sectors for special focus as part of the strategy.

Nadu boasts of a diversified export basket in various sectors including automobile and components, machinery and instruments, electronic hardware, Software, readymade garments and accessories, yarns, fabrics and leather products. Manufactured goods account for a significant share of the states economic Growth and exports and hence it has traditionally focused on exportoriented manufacturing to foster high-value production.

According to the export policy, the value of merchandise from Tamil Nadu stood at Rs 11.55 lakh crore ($168.5 billion) between 2015-16 and 2020-21. In FY2020-21, Tamil Nadu accounted for 9% of the national exports.