04.07.23
Assam govt signs pacts with Centre of DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics
Assam government inked two pacts with the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD), Hyderabad, in presence of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to forge collaboration in the field of forensic sciences, healthcare and diagnostics here on Tuesday. Principal Secretary (Home and political) Niraj Verma on behalf of Assam government and Dr K Thangaraj on behalf of CDFD signed the agreement.
In a bid to make the state crime free, the Assam government has initiated several steps to bolster forensic science and thanked the CDFD for entering into an agreement.
The MoU on healthcare and diagnostic Services will help in joint research programmes where faculty from both the Assam government and CDFD can collaborate on projects based on mutual interests
Odisha records highest human kills in 3 yrs
The April, May, June quarter of 2023, compared to last nine years,has seen a26 % rise in number of human- elephant encounters which resulted in more human kills and injuries than ever before,a rise of 50% above the highest human kills of last year.
According to Wildlife Society of Orissa secretary Dr Biswajit Mohanty, the escalating figures each year also indicate that elephants are straying out of their habitats more often due to huge levels of disturbances caused by quarries and crushers and night movement of trucks and tractors. There is also a lack of adequate forest fodder and amarked shift towards consumption of farm cropsand food grains stored inside villages.
Palm fruits which are their prime source of food during June and July havebecome scarce due to massive felling of palm trees for inter-State trade to Nadu. Dhenkanal, Angul and Deogarh districts have lost thousands of palm trees since the last three years as organised timber traders camp there and decimate the trees.
Dhenkanal has recorded a ten-fold jump in diversion of elephant habitat for black and laterite stone quarries, stone crushers and steel/power Plants between 2011 and 2021. The Wildlife Wing has failed to take any action in view of growing demands to shut down the quarries.
Odisha happens to have a dubious record of more number of human kills among all other States despite an elephant Population of 1,976 compared to Karnatakas 6,049, Assams 5,719, Keralas 3,054 and Tamil Nadus 2,761 as per the last national level census carried out in August, 2017.
Anna univs calibration lab gets NABL accreditation
Anna Universityhas achieved a significant milestone by becoming one of the first technical institutions to receivethe NationalAccreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) recognition for its state-of-the-art medical equipment calibration laboratory.
The Centre for Calibration and Testing of Medical Equipment (CCTME), a part of the DST-supported National Hub for Healthcare Instrumentation Development (NHHID), will now be able to calibrate up to 50 essential medical equipment items, including ventilators, ECG machines, pulse oximeters, patient monitors, infant incubators, and defibrillators. The lab is equipped to conduct calibration across 40 different parameters.
District reports almost 40% of state’s daily dengue cases
Ernakulamhas been reporting almost 40 to 45% ofKerala’s daily dengue cases. Along with dengue cases, fever and chickenpox cases are also increasing.
The situation may worsen due to unresolved garbage issues and flooding, especially in the city area, and there may even be an increase in leptospirosis cases too.
Lack of sunlight and humid weather may bring several monsoon diseases. The spread of monsoon diseases is either through air, water or mosquito bites.
Heavy rains may help reduce dengue cases as larvae may be flushed away from drains. But the downside is that rainwater will collect in other unattended places, which can become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Also, heavy rains may help bacteria spread faster and wider and even people who are not directly involved with Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture or gardening or roadside cleaning might also suffer.
Karnataka govt’s 2 guarantees ‘Anna Bhagya’, ‘Gruha Jyothi’ came into effect
Two additional guarantee schemes promised by the Congress government in Karnataka have been put into effect.
The first scheme involves providing cash to beneficiaries instead of the extra five kg of rice under the ‘Anna Bhagya’. The second scheme, called ‘Gruha Jyothi’, offers 200 units of free electricity to households.
The government has already fulfilled one of its five election promises, named “Shakti,” by introducing free Services for Women in public transport buses.
Chief minister Siddaramaiah said that the payment to beneficiaries under the Anna Bhagya scheme for this month is expected to commence after July 10. On the other hand, the Gruha Jyothi scheme has become effective immediately, and theelectricity billfor this month will be issued at the beginning of August, in accordance with the billing cycle.
The benefit is calculated based on Average consumption for Financial Year 2022-23, plus 10 percent increase, but total amounting to less than 200 units.
The remaining two guarantees which the government is taking steps to implement soon are — Rs 2,000 monthly assistance to the woman head of every family (Gruha Lakshmi); and Rs 3,000 every month for unemployed graduate youth and Rs 1,500 for unemployed diploma holders (Yuva Nidhi).
Aurigene Pharma to invest Rs 330 crore in Hyderabads Genome Valley
Dr Reddys Laboratories arm Aurigene Pharmaceutical Services Ltd (APSL) plans to invest $40 million (330 crore approx.) in setting up a development and manufacturing facility in Hyderabads Genome Valley.
The contract research, development and manufacturing services organisation (CDMO) is a step-down subsidiary of Dr Reddys Labs.
The proposed facility will focus on Niche areas such as therapeutic proteins, antibodies, and viral vectors, a communique put out byTelanganaindustries minister KT Rama Raos office said after Dr Reddys Labs chairman Satish Reddy and APSL CEO AkhilRavimet him and briefed him about the upcoming project.
The Dr Reddys top brass informed KTR that Aurigene would be collaborating with global biotech innovators to facilitate the development and introduction of innovative medicines into the market and the facility would generate about 200 direct jobs and another 60-70 indirect jobs within three years of the .
The company also expects to significantly scale-up its investments in the future. KTR said Aurigenes investment is aligned perfectly with the Telangana governments vision to enhance complex manufacturing at scale and will not only contribute to the Growth of the biotherapeutics CDMO ecosystem in Hyderabad but will also reinforce the governments vision to promote the states biologics capabilities.
Study finds NREGA workers face difficulty in accessing their wages
A study on National Rural EMPLOYMENT Guarantee Act (NREGA) revealed that workers, especially the tribal ones, in almost all Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) areas in state have been facing hardships in accessing their wages even after the amounts are credited in their bank accounts.
LibTech India conducted a study on NREGA workers’ hardships in accessing payments from preferred disbursement agencies in tribal areas of AP. The study spanned two years in Paderu ITDA, covering 877 workers from 11 randomly selected shanties out of 44.
The study revealed significant difficulties in accessing wages, with workers investing time and , often sacrificing a day’s income in queues at disbursement agencies.
Banks were scarce and Network connectivity was an issue, with officials at CSPs or BCs charging commission. The study’s focus on MGNREGA workers’ payment access suggested similar issues in cash transfer programmes in AP.
According to the study, 85% of workers primarily use customer service points (CSPs) or business correspondents (BCs) as their primary disbursement agency (DA), while 12.5% use bank branches and a small proportion use ATMs. Workers often have to travel long distances to reach the DAs, with 37% travelling more than 10 km. travelling long distances results in direct costs.
Maharashtra cabinet panel nod for Rs 40,000 crore projects
The state’s cabinet sub-committee on industries cleared projects worth Rs 40,000 crore.
The projects, which are to be based in Pune, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Nandurbar, Ahmednagar, Raigad and Navi Mumbai, are expected to generate 1.2 lakh jobs, the claimed.
They include a Rs 12,482-crore project for electronic vehicles and battery production and swapping station Infrastructure. This is the country’s first such project and has been given the status of mega-project.
The Rs 12,482 crore project for electronic vehicles and battery production, among those okayed by the cabinet sub-committee on Wednesday, will be implemented by Gogora India Pvt Ltd, which will be setting up 12,000 battery swapping stations inMaharashtra.
The cabinet panel also gave mega-project status to the India Gems and Jewellery Park to be set up by the Gems and Jewellery Art Promotion Council in Navi Mumbais Mahape area. It is expected to be spread over 21 acres and have 1,354 units. The government expects the project to generate investments worth Rs 20,000 crore.
Besides, the cabinet cleared a Rs 2,700 crore project by Performance Chemiserv in Raigad district and a Rs 2,033 crore Smartchem technology project in the same district. Also, a Rs 500 crore General Polyfilms project in Nandurbar and a Rs 544 crore project by Wipro Pari Robotics in Satara. A Rs 110 crore project by Ganraj Ispat in Ahmednagar also got a nod.
Punjab records 79%, 28% growth in Excise, GST revenue during June 23
The state of Punjab has gained a substantial increase of 79 percent, and 27.87 percent in the Excise and Good and Services Tax (GST) revenue, respectively, during June 2023 as compared to June 2022.
Sharing this, the state Finance, Planning, Excise and Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Monday said that the current State Government has broken its own records by registering a 29.66 percent increase in revenue collection from Excise, GST, VAT, CST and PSDT during the month of June this year, and an aggregate increase of 25 percent during the first quarter of the fiscal year 2023-24 as compared to the same period of FY 2022-23.
The total revenue from Excise during June 2023 was 663.97 crores as against the Excise collection of Rs 370.93 crores during June last year, registering a significant increase of Rs 293.04 crores. The revenue from GST has also reflected an increase of Rs 338. 42 crores with GST collection of 1552.66 crores in June 2023 as against a collection of Rs 1214.24 crores in June 2022, he said.
Expressing happiness over Punjabs continuous stability on the Growth trajectory, Cheema said that the state has not only shown growth during the month of June this year but also registered an increase of Rs 1848.66 crores in revenue from Excise, GST, VAT, CST and PSDT during the first quarter of 2023-24.