04.02.22

Locations identified for saffron cultivation in Arunachal, Meghalaya: Centre

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The North East Centre for Technology Application and Reach (NECTAR) under the ‘Saffron Bowla’ project has identified a few locations in Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya for saffron cultivation, the Lok Sabha was informed. In Arunachal Pradesh, there is a good Growth of organic saffron with flowers. In Meghalaya, sample plantations were grown at Cherrapunji, Mawsmai and Lalingtop sites.

The total cost of the whole project is Rs 17.68 lakh for Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya. Out of which, a tentative amount of Rs 6.00 lakh has been earmarked for Barapani (Meghalaya) site. The following sites have been identified in Meghalaya under the Saffron Bowl project: Barapani, Cherrapunji, Mawsmai, Shillong, and Lalingtop.

NECTAR is an autonomous Society, set up under the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, with its headquarters at Shillong, Meghalaya. With this, the government is looking at harnessing and leveraging Niche frontier technologies available with central scientific departments and institutions.

Auction amount of record-breaking tea donated to Assam CM’s Relief FundThe amount of Rs 99,999 fetched by a kilogram of specialty tea last year in Assam, which is the highest auction price fetched by any tea in the country, was donated by the sellers to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund on Friday. The managing director of Manohari Tea Estate, Rajan Lohia, handed over a cheque of that value to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma here. Lohia said the Manohari Tea Estate has been donating all amounts collected by its tea sold at any record-breaking auction price over the years to the government’s welfare funds.

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Manohari Gold’, produced by Manohari Tea Estate, had sold for Rs 99,999 at Guwahati Tea Auction Centre (GTAC) on December 14 last year. This is the highest auction price fetched in tea selling and buying in the country so far, with Sourabh Tea Traders procuring the kilogram of the tea that was put for auction. Manohari Gold Tea had previously sold for Rs 50,000 per kg at the GTAC auction in July 2019, which was the highest auction value at that time. Gold Tea from the same estate was auctioned for Rs 39,001 per kg on July 24, 2018, at the GTAC, which was a record price then.

47% growth in Jan SGST collection

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Odisharecorded around 47% Growth in collection of stateGST(SGST) in January as total collection during the month is estimated at Rs 1143 crore compared to the Rs 777 crore collected in 2021. The growth rate is highest amongst all major states, said an official source.
Figures released by the GST commissioners office on Thursday said total SGST collection till January of the current financial year is estimated at Rs 10,239 crore compared to Rs 6,556 crore in the 2020-21 financial year. Similarly, the total SGST collection till January of the 2019-20 financial year was pegged at Rs 7,131 crore.

According to the figure, the gross GST collection comprising SGST, central GST (CGST), integrated GST (IGST) and cess during the month of January is Rs 3,995 crore compared to Rs 3,137 crore collected in January, last year, thereby registering a growth of 27.35%.
Growth of GST during the current financial year is a result of better management and regular return scrutiny by circles combined with enforcement activities, which have resulted in better compliance by taxpayers, said a senior GST official.

TN Anti-NEET Bill

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The Nadu Anti NEET bill was passed by the state assembly in September 2021. The bill seeks to discard the requirement of NEET for medical courses in the state. The central government had made the National Eligibility cum Entrance test mandatory for all the students in the country. The bill was passed opposing this requirement.

The Tamil Nadu Governor recently returned the bill to the assembly speaker saying the bill is against the interest of the students. According to the governor the bill will affect the interests of the students from rural areas. He has also cited The Supreme Court judgement in favour of his argument. According to the SC judgement in the Christian Medical College case, cancellation of NEET in Tamil Nadu will lead to economic exploitation of poor students.

The Tamil Nadu Government wants to do away with NEET admissions. Instead it wants to provide medical and dental admissions based on the marks obtained in Class 12 examination. The admissions are provided through normalisation. Earlier, medical admissions in the state happened in this way and TN government wants to continue this.

Budget fails to enthuse small scale merchants: KVVES

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Kerala vyapari vyavasayi ekopanasamithi (KVVES) representatives have said that small scale merchants have nothing to gain from the union budget.

They said that even while the centre claims that 1.3 crore MSMEs were aided via emergency credit line guarantee scheme and that the guarantee amount has been increased from Rs 50,000 crore to 5 lakh crore, small scale merchants do not have much to gain from it.
Previous experiences point out that the promise of aid through credit guarantee trust for micro and small enterprises seldom reaches the eligible merchants.

Ather Energy to set up 1,000 EV charging stations across Karnataka

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Ather Energy signed an MoU withEscoms(electricity supply companies) to establish fast-charging stations for two-wheelers at 1,000 locations across the state.

The collaboration aims to create a favourable ecosystem for electric vehicles in the state… All government agencies will coordinate with Escoms to share their available spaces for charging stations, said a press release from Ather Energy.

Telangana’s cancer tally rising by 12%; doctors red flag excessive use of tobacco

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could have more than 53,000 newcancercases by 2025, revealed the National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research (NCDIR) estimates, registering an increase by 12.48% within the next three years if massive lifestyle changes are not adopted.
The NCDIR said Telangana reported 47,620 cancer cases in 2020 with breast, lung, head and neck, cervix and stomach cancers emerging as the leading sites of cancer among men and Women.

Other states such as Maharashtra, West Bengal, Karnataka are also likely to experience an increase by 12% in the number of cancer cases, with Madhya Pradesh likely to witness a 17% rise.

As per data, Telangana records 3,800 annual Average cancer cases. By 2025, one in seven women and one in nine men below the age of 74 years are likely to develop cancer, they said.

Incubation centre for Andhra University campus

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Software Technology Parks of India will set up an incubation centre onAndhra Universitycampus with 19.75 crore.

STPI (Hyderabad) director CVDRam Prasadmet AU vice-chancellor Prof PVGD Prasad Reddy on Friday and handed over the official communique.

The incubation centre will come up on about 25,000 square feet space in the varsity. Ram Prasad said the centre will be further extended, but only 19.75 crore will be spent on the first phase.

Maharashtra eyes Rs 1 lakh crore investment in electric vehicle manufacturing in 10-12 years

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The state is eyeing an of Rs 1 lakh crore in the n ext10-12 years in theelectric vehicle(EV) manufacturing sector, the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) CEO P Anbalagan.

Anbalagan said the main investments in this sector would be in the fourcities Nashik, Au rangabad, Pune and Mumbai and to som e extent in Nagpur. He said the MIDC had a llotted 75-acre to a US-based EV manufacturing firm at Talegaon in Pune.

This firm will be investing around Rs 3,000 crore. Anbalagan, who said e-vehicles are the future, said 22% of the entire automobile Manufacturing Sector in India is based in Maharashtra.
Mumbai, Pune, Nashik and Aurangabad are the cities where a bulk of the automobiles are manufactured. Therefore, the State Government is making efforts to promote EV manufacturing in these four cities.

Hry to develop home stays around 2 Ramsar sites: CM

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Haryanachief minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced thatSultanpurandBhindawaslake regions will have Home stays for tourists on the lines ofTikkar Talin the Morni hills of Panchkula district.

Khattar was with Union minister for Environment and https://exam.pscnotes.com/Climate-change”>Climate Change Bhupender Yadav in a state-level function at Gurgaons Sultanpur National Park to mark World Wetlands Day. Union minister of state for forests and environment Ashwini Choubey was present along with Haryana forest and Education minister Kanwar Pal. Counting the virtues of a balance between earth and water, the CM said: “It needs wetlands to attract migratory birds.”

He said when an Oxygen crisis had developed during the pandemic, the State Government had assigned annual pension of Rs 2,500 each to the families or institutes taking care of trees that were older than 75 years. Union minister Bhupender Yadav said the CM had visited the Sultanpur lake on his invitation to support eco-tourism. He said: Sultanpur and Bhindawas are among the countrys 49 Ramsar site lakes.