TAMILNADU

The widening of two-lane into four-lane bypasses at eight different locations on the Salem-Ulundurpet National Highway would be completed by 2023-24, said Union road transport and highways ministerNitin Gadkari.

He said the concessionaire already provided necessary road safety and traffic calming measures like road signs, blinkers, bollards, road markings at divergent/ convergent locations, high mast lightings at major junctions and streetlights at built-up areas as per the concession agreement. He promised that additional requirements would be reviewed through a safety consultant and work would be taken up separately.

In a letter to Gadkari in September,Anbumanipointed out that only 97.37 km of the 136km-stretch of Salem-Ulundurpet NH was four-lane while the rest 38.99km was two-lane. He said speeding commuters fail to negotiate the sudden change in the number of lanes in the highway resulting in frequent fatal accidents. He said 1,036 people were killed in accidents on the highway in the last 11 years, between 2011 and 2022.

Child Rights and You (CRY) has welcomed the state child policy released by theTamil Nadugovernment.

Calling TN one of the few states in the country to have an individual child policy, a press note from CRY said the policy recognises the fact that children should not be subjected to any discrimination, based on their place of birth, sex, religion, caste, class, language, disability, and social and economic status.

CRY made recommendations to the policy, such as inclusion of early Education for three to five-year-old children; a renewed perspective on education considering the geographical Variance; data on teenage pregnancy and child marriage; and convergence of Health, social welfare, social DEFENCE, AD, BC and tribal welfare, SDAT andICDSdepartments – among a few.

The greenfield airport being planned atParanduris the need of the hour (‘kaalathin kattayam’) to take Nadu‘s economy to the next level and the government will address all the concerns raised by the locals, Industry minister Thangam Thennarasu said.

Around 300-400 acres were required to expand the existing airport, but acquiring land was not possible at the location. Hence, a second airport. “The Airports Authority of India (AAI) evaluated 11 sites, shortlisted four. Parandur site was finally chosen to develop the new airport, without disturbing the ecosystem. There are challenges here too in retaining the water bodies and we will address all the concerns of the local community,” the minister said.

The Nadu government has established the first-ever Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to handle environmental conservation missions in the state.

Highlight:

“Tamil Nadu Green Climate Company” is the name given to the special purpose entity.
Tamil Nadu Climate Change, Tamil Nadu Wetlands, and Tamil Nadu Green Movement are three essential natural conservation missions that the company will professionally manage.
This was formed after Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged that India would be carbon-neutral by 2070.

Mission SPV

SPV’s mission is to plan, implement, and monitor a variety of climate change adaptation and mitigation programs across the state.
Wetland mapping and restoration are two of the most important aspects of the project.
Increasing woodland and tree cover to 33%.
SPV will also build strong policy support for climate change across all government sectors.
It will develop methods for reducing greenhouse gas emissions as well as benchmarking industries in the transition to green manufacturing.
SPV will also encourage environmentally friendly technologies in order to ensure a long-term future.

SPV members and finances

SPV will have a Rs 5 crore authorized capital.
Chairperson and MD are State Environment Secretary
Top officials from the finance, municipal administration, energy, Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture, and Forestry departments are among the members.
The State Finance Minister announced three missions while presenting the amended budget for 2021-2022.
This mission was established with the goal of identifying and mapping 100 wetlands in five years.
At a cost of Rs 150 crore, it will also aid in the restoration of natural balance with a focus on livelihood.

The Green NaduMission, aimed at increasing the state’s green cover from 23.7% to 33% in 10 years, was launched by chief minister M K Stalin at Arignar Anna Zoological park in Vandalur.

About 500 saplings of ten indigenous species were planted and later another 1000 will be planted at Vandalur zoo’s parking area.

State forest minister, K Ramachandran stated that planting more trees is an important way to quickly control the natural hazards caused by Climate-change”>Climate Change, so Tamil Nadu is planning to cover 12,000 sq km in the next 10 years through the Green Movement. And only indigenous species will be used.

The consortium aims at developing an end-to-end atmanirbhar ecosystem for next-generation space technologies including rapid launch capability, satellite design and assembly, sensors, future generation Communication like 6G, security of satellites, ground stations, data processing, assimilation for communication and geo spatial application sectors.

The chief minister said the board was formed by former chief minister M Karunanidhi during his first stint in Fort St George in 1970. He built thousands of tenements for the poor which was appreciated by former Union minister Jagjivan Ram, affectionately called Babuji.Babujialso expressed his wish to see such a scheme being followed by all states. To that extent, the slum clearance board has been effectively extending its service, Stalin said.

The renaming of the board was being done with to uplift the livelihood of the people living in huts and raise their standard of living, not just removing the huts, the chief minister said.

The slum clearance board, a pioneer in providing housing to urban poor, has programmed 9.53 lakh tenements and individuals under Housing for All scheme for the urban slum/poor families before 2030. The board implements various housing schemes, including in-situ tenement schemes, integrated townships, construction of houses by the beneficiaries and reconstruction of dilapidated tenements.