TAMILNADU

Women‘s political participation in grassroot Governance is abysmal in the city, as only 148 of the 2,000 nominated ward sabha members are women. That is, just 7.4% of the city’s ward sabha members are women.
This despite the fact that Greater Chennai Corporation has 101 women councillors among the 200.

The record number of women councillors, of course, is due to the state law providing 50% reservation for women.

Each councillor nominates 10 ward sabha members, making it a 2,000-member body.

Nadu PWDand highways minister E VVelu said thehighways departmentwould take up construction of flyovers across the state, especially in heavily congested towns as directed by chief minister M K Stalin.

The minister was reviewing the department projects at Kancheepuram district collectorate with the officials of Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur and Chengalpet districts.

The highways department has no jurisdiction over panchayat union roads and panchayat roads. Following the chief ministers direction, the highways department will strengthen10,000-km-long panchayat unionroads identified by the district collectors. The work will be taken in a phased manner in the next five years underNABARDscheme.

Nadugovernments Environment, Climate-change”>Climate Change and forests department has added 285vehiclesto its fleet. They include 200 electric two-wheelers, 50 SUVs and 35 specially designed rescue and rehabilitation vehicles. These vehicles were flagged off by chief ministerM K Stalinfrom the secretariat.

The specially designed 35 vehicles were procured at a cost of Rs 5 crore. These vehicles can be used to undertake rescue and rehabilitation activities in wildlife areas. They will be deployed in 35 districts. These vehicles have been modified to carry frontline staff to conflict areas and also locations offorestfires. They can carry trap cages for leopards / tigers and other small animals, trapping nets and firefighting equipment and others. The vehicles are equipped with search lights to enable animal rescue during night time too. They are fitted with GPS and public address systems.

A new study published in international journal, Environmental Science andPollutionResearch, has revealed that there has been a 0.54 degree celsius increase in Average temperature in the past 39 years. The study also pointed out thatKeralawitnesses an increase of 0.013 degree celsius in daily average temperature.

The study was conducted jointly by the department of atmospheric sciences at the University of Sao Paulo, the Federal University of Technology, and Federal University of Alagoas in Brazil, and the Kerala Disaster Management Authority. The study was done analyzing temperature patterns between 1980 and 2019 from 50 locations spread across the state.

The highest increase in average temperature was reported in Kannur and Kasaragod districts, while Palakkad and Thrissur experienced the lowest increase. The study was conducted after dividing the state into northern, central, and southern regions.

As per a study conducted by Venkiteswari M and others ofTamil NaduAgricultural University, while the annual minimum temperature in the state increased by 0.011 degree celsius in 36 years, the annual maximum temperature increased by 0.002 degree celsius during the same period (1981-2017). In Karnataka, the annual maximum temperature rose by 0.013 degree celsius in 37 years, while the annual mean temperature increased by 0.010 degree celsius per day per year, according to a study conducted by S Sridhara of the University of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences in Shivamogga using temperature data from 1971-2007.

The study has warned that the temperature in the state would increase by 1.35 degree celsius in the next 100 years with some areas expected to experience a rise of as much as 2 degrees during the same period. As per the data collected from the upper catchment area of Kakki River in Pathanamthitta, the temperature in the area could increase by 2.09 degrees celsius in 100 years, while Thekkady in Idukki is likely to see the temperature rise by 2.03 degrees celsius during the same period.

The DMKs former Rajya Sabha member and designated senior advocate, RShanmugasundaramis the new advocate-general ofTamil Nadu. The veteran prosecutor had served asstate public prosecutorfrom 1996 to 2001.

This is the first of a series of appointment of law officers to be made in Nadu in coming weeks, to represent the newly elected DMK government before the High Court, other courts and Tribunals.

Nadu government notified the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Act, 2022, which was given assent by Tamil Nadu governor R N Ravi on April 7.

Chief ministerM K Stalinon Monday told the assembly that the governor had given assent to theBill. “It will be gazetted today itself,” the CM said. Even as the assent was dated April 7, the Raj Bhavan informed the State Government only on April 10 (Monday), the day when the legislature passed a resolution moved by the chief minister, urging PresidentDroupadi Murmuand the Union Government to prescribe a specific time limit for the governor to give assent to bills passed by the assembly.

The state government enacted the legislation as several people died by suicide over the loss of Money in online games. The Madras High Court had earlier struck down the Tamil Nadu Gaming and Police Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021, which banned wagering or betting in cyberspace, as it ultra vires the Constitution.

Nadus food grain production for 2020-21 is not likely to exceed the target of 125 lakh tonnes. Officials of the Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture Department attribute the possible under-performance to the adverse impact of Cyclones Nivar and Burevi, which struck the State in November and December last year, and the unseasonal rain in February this year.

According to data compiled after the second estimate, the overall figure is 108.26 lakh tonnes. The third estimate figures, which are likely to come out by September, will include the production achieved through crops that have been planted after the Samba season and are expected to be harvested in the coming months.

For 2019-20, the figure went up from 101.02 lakh tonnes (after the second estimate) to 115.02 lakh tonnes (after the third). If a similar pattern occurs, the tally may touch around 120 lakh tonnes.

But for the natural calamities, the production would have exceeded the target because, in terms of area under paddy, the State had exceeded the target by about 3.75 lakh hectares, the officials said. Compared with the targeted 16.515 lakh hectares, the coverage was 20.256 lakh hectares.

This was nearly 1.3 lakh hectares more than what was recorded during 2019-20. As for the total food grains, including Millets and pulses, 38.33 lakh hectares were covered as against the target of 37.75 lakh hectares. Again, this was around 1.66 lakh hectares higher than the 2019-20 figure.

Prime MinisterNarendra Modi said the Union Government would provide Rs 3,000 crore to Naduin the next five years under the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission to address critical gaps in health infrastructure and health research, especially at the district level.

Modi said the government of India had brought many reforms in the Health sector. He said, The once-in-a-lifetime Covid-19 pandemic has reaffirmed the importance of the health sector. The future will belong to societies which invest in healthcare.