03.01.22

NE to have tourist circuit trains: Vaishnaw

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Tourist circuit trains will be introduced in the northeast, covering all prominent locations of the region, RAILWAY Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said. According to a release issued by the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), Vaishnaw, who visited Guwahati on Tuesday, also said that a study to increase rail connectivity in the northeastern states was underway.

He pointed out that five Vistadome Services have already been introduced towards the goal of giving tourism a boost in the region. He added that studies are being conducted to establish strategic railway lines to highlight the beauty of northeast, and start more passenger, intercity and Jan Shatabdi Express-like trains. The release said the minister also underlined that electrification of railway track has been completed up to Guwahati and further work is in progress.

Centre asks Odisha to expedite women safety transport platform

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The Centre has expressed displeasure on the state governments poor progress in implementation of the vehicle location tracking system in public transport vehicles.
The ministry ofroad transportand highways has been providing financial assistance from Nirbhaya fund to states to implement the project for the safety of Women commuters. The has been asked to expedite thewomen safetyproject.

Sources said the proposed projects cost is around Rs 15.40 crore. The Centre and state would share 60% and 40% of the project cost, respectively. Out of the Central share of Rs 9.24 crore, the Centre has released nearly Rs 4.19 crore to the state government.
Under the project, all passenger buses, mini-buses, school buses and cabs/taxis will compulsorily be equipped with the vehicle location tracking (VLT) devices and panic buttons near the seats for the safety of women travellers. Women travellers in distress can press the emergency buttons and expect quick response from the Police.

Centre gives Rs 3,000 crore NDRF fund to 6 states, Tamil Nadu ignored

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Even as the Centre approved on Thursday additional assistance of over 3,000 crore under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to six states that were affected by floods, landslides and last year,Tamil Naduhas been left out despite chief minister M K Stalin sending several memoranda seeking assistance of 6,230 crore towards relief and restoration in the aftermath of the devastating floods in several parts of the state.

An all-party delegation, predominantly comprising MPs from theDMKand its allies, besides the main opposition AIADMK and led by DMK parliamentary party leaderT R Baalucould not meet PresidentRam Nath Kovindor Union Home ministerAmit Shahlast week. The objective of the delegation was to seek directions to governor R N Ravi to forward The Tamil Nadu Admission to Undergraduate Medical Degree Courses Bill, 2021 (popularly known as NEET Bill seeking exemption for Tamil Nadu) to President to grant assent to the Bill. Instead, the delegation submitted the representation to the President’s secretariat, which forwarded it to Amit Shahs office for action. The NEET Bill was passed unanimously in the assembly in September.

Kerala to get 1,140 charging stations for electric autos

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TheKeralastate electricity board (KSEB) in association with the statetransport departmentwould set up pole-mounted charging stations for e-autorickshaws across the state.

As per the plans, each of the assembly segments that fall under the corporation limits would get 15 charging stations and the rest would get five charging stations each. The meeting has also decided to appointment agency for new and research and technology as the nodal agency for disbursing the 25% subsidy announced by the transport department to private entrepreneurs setting up e-charging stations.

Will publish books on important places with correct history: CM

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The will allocate funds in the annual budget for publishing a series of books on important places inKarnataka, said chief minister BasavarajBommai.

The task of publishing HISTORY and culture of Dharwad will be assigned to KVVS which has played a key role in the unification of Kannada-speaking areas into Karnataka and also freedom struggle, the CM said.

Bommai said Dharwad will also be developed as an important industrial hub with the setting up of Chennai-Mumbai Industrial Corridor.

Telangana procures record 65.20 lakh metric tonnes paddy of kharif season

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The Central government has agreed to purchase 46 lakh metric tonnes of rice from which is equal to 68.65 lakh metric tonnes of paddy. The State Government has decided to procure paddy till the last grain brought by the farmers, in addition to 3 lakh-odd metric tonnes paddy procurement that would meet the central government set target of 46 lakh metric tonnes of rice (68.65 lakh metric tonnes paddy).
Civil Supplies MinisterGangula Kamalakar said the state government has procured 65.20 lakh metric tonnes of Vanakalam paddy as on January 3 from 11.90 lakh farmers.

Mud Crab Reovirus (MCRV)

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Andhra Pradesh recently found that Mud Crab Reovirus (MCRV) has been the reason for mass mortality of wild crab (Scylla serrata).

Presence of MCRV in samples collected from Nagayalanka fields was confirmed by Joint research by Centre for Advanced Study in Marine Biology (Annamalai University, Nadu) and M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF).

MSSRF has been noticing mortality in areas like Machilipatnam and Nagayalanka in Krishna district, since 2019.

MCRV has taken a toll on wild crab in every farming method, crab polyculture and crab fattening in which shrimp and wild crab are cultured in exclusive mud crab ponds and in same pond.

Crab fattening technology was introduced in Andhra Pradesh by Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture (CIBA-Chennai), in 2014.

Cabinet nod for revival of mining debt relief scheme

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With an eye on the assembly constituencies in the mining belt, the cabinet on Monday granted approval to the re-introduction of the debt relief scheme for mining-affected borrowers of financial institutions, which will have an additional burden of Rs 11 crore on the state exchequer.

The cabinet note stated that since there was a request from stakeholders for further extension of the scheme, the request was forwarded to the government for a decision, however, in the meantime, the scheme expired on March 31 last year, thanks to which the CM had directed that the scheme be reintroduced for one year.

The borrowers who availed of credit facilities for barges, trucks, tippers, mining machinery/equipment from various financial institutions were unable to meet their repayment commitments, a senior official said. The non-performing assets (NPA) of the financial institutions increased substantially due to mining loans, especially in the co-operative sector.
During the last cabinet meeting, the state granted approval to a new policy for handling of mining dumps outside and inside mining leases through auctioning by the and allowing lessees to handle the dumps to restart mining activities in the state. Around 20 million tonnes of iron Ore are lying in the form of dumps.

The state has decided to auction mining leases. The government had identified eight mining leases to be auctioned, which are in Sattari and Bicholim talukas. Sawant had set a deadline to e-auction mining leases by December 15, but they have not yet been auctioned.

Maharashtra 2nd state to knock on Centre’s doors over Chhattisgarh coal mine delay

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Maharashtra has sought the coal ministrys intervention in getting forest clearance from the Chhattisgarh government coal block allotted to its power stations in the Vidarbha region, becoming the second state to knock on the Centres doors over mining hurdles in a state that has the countrys third-largest coal deposits.

MAHAGENCO (Maharashtra State Power Generation Company) MD Sanjay Khandare last week wrote to coal secretaryAnil Jain, saying the utility had fulfilled the conditions for forest diversion for the Gare Palma-II coal block in October 2021 but the was yet to send its recommendation for Stage-I forest clearance to the Centre.

Khandare requested the ministry to intervene in the matter as an early clearance was important to start production from the block, located in Raipur district of Chhattisgarh, by October 2023 deadline.

CM: Mapping being done in Haryana to develop sports infra

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Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday said the Department of Sports and Youth Affairs has been directed to conduct mapping as per the specialization of sports in each district so that necessary sports could be upgraded accordingly in the state.

Consistent efforts are being made by the State Government to further strengthen sports infrastructure in Haryana, Khattar said while addressing the inaugural ceremony of a Badminton Tournament-2022 at Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex, Panchkula.

On the demand of Vidhan Sabha Speaker Gian Chand Gupta regarding setting up of a Junior Academy of National level, a Shooting Range and an all-weather Swimming Pool in the Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Panchkula, the Chief Minister assured that he would speak to the Union Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Anurag Singh Thakur in this regard.

The Chief Minister said that Haryana is fast emerging as a sports hub. Our sports persons have brought laurels to the state and the country several times by winning medals at various national and international events including Olympics and Paralympics.

He said that it is also the result of robust sports infrastructure in the state that Haryana has got the opportunity of hosting Khelo India Youth Games in February 2022 in which about 12,000 players from all over the country would participate in different sports disciplines.