05.11.21

Tripura set to score big with bamboo-made cricket batsTripura has emerged as the front-runner in manufacturing cricket bats made of bamboo, which, some experts believe, is a more sustainable option than the traditional willows. With the new alternative having caught the fancy of the cricketing world, the northeastern state, which grows the grass in abundance, is planning to cash in on the opportunity with bamboo bats manufactured indigenously, by means of a unique glue-board technology.

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A research institute in Agartala, which is a part of the Centre-affiliated Bamboo and Cane Development Institute (BCDI), has recently made bamboo bats, taking a cue from a study conducted by scientists at

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the University of Cambridge, and presented samples to H G Cricket Company in Meerut and Virender Sehwag Cricket Academy in Delhi. Arun Sharma, the director of the Agartala-based North East Centre for Technology Application and Research (NECTAR), along with a team of BCDI officials, also met Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb to showcase the product the institute has manufactured.

Eviction drive to clear forest land of encroachment in Assam’s Lumding forestThe Assam government launched a two-day eviction drive to remove illegal settlers from Lumding reserve forest in Hojai district in compliance with a Gauhati High Court order, officials said. This comes a month and a half after an anti-encroachment exercise in the Gorukhuti area of Darrang district in which two people were killed and over 20 injured. The eviction drive was peaceful on Monday as most of the people had left the place in the last few days following counselling by the district administration about the high court order to make the forest encroachment-free, Hojai Deputy Commissioner Anupam Choudhury said. Tight security measures were in place with the deployment of seven additional companies, including four CRPF and three Assam Police battalions, to prevent any untoward incident during the exercise.

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The forest, a major habitat for elephants, is spread over 22,403 hectares of land out of which 500 hectares are under encroachment at present, an official said. In the first phase, the drive was conducted in Kamarpani and Betnala areas of the forest, Choudhury said. The District Administration has engaged elephants of the forest department and requisitioned excavators to clear the land. The

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illegal settlers belong to a mixed Population of the minority and tribal communities. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told reporters in Guwahati that most of the illegal settlers have land in different places and they mostly encroach for Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture or business purposes.

Odisha CM raises demand for second AIIMS at Sundargarh

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UnderliningSundargarhs contribution towards the Energy Security of the country in terms of coal production, chief ministerNaveen Patnaik raised the demand for establishment of Aiims in the district as Union coal and mines minister Pralhad Joshi met him atNaveen Niwas.
As NTPC has constructed an integrated campus of a 500-bedded hospital and 100-seatedmedical collegeat Sundargarh, the has been demanding to establish a second AIIMS by adding required Infrastructure to the existing facility.

The chief minister said Odisha produced 153.85

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million tonnes of coal contributing to about 25 percent of countrys production in the year 2020-21.

Gold loan waiver to cost Tamil Nadu govt 6,000 crore

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TheTamil Nadugovernment issued an order giving effect to waiver of loans taken from on gold up to five sovereigns or less.

The move will cost the exchequer about 6,000 crore. The department of co-operation, food and Consumer

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protection issued the GO stating that CMM K Stalinhad, on September 13, announced that the gold loans taken from cooperative banks till March 31, 2021, will be waived off based on certain criteria to benefit the needy.

The DMK had promised to waive off the loans in its election manifesto earlier this year. The government also issued guidelines to identify eligible and ineligible beneficiaries to avail of the waiver.

Among others, if a ration card holder and members have one or more gold loans (gross weight up to 40g) in one or more cooperative banks, they will be eligible for the waiver.

Land conversion: Kerala govt earns Rs 447 crore

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In the last one year, the government earned Rs 447 crore throughland conversionin the state, revenue ministerK Rajansaid in the assembly.

As per the details of the settlement of land, there were 30 lakhs acre ofpaddy landin the state. In 1970, the extent was 20 lakh acre and when the area of paddy land was assessed 14 years ago, the

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extent had reduced to 5 lakh acre.

The minister said that to address environmental issues and the reduction in area of farming land, the government had to introduce the act against conversion of paddy land and wetland in 2008. As per provisions of the act, while the conversion of wetland has been completely banned, paddy land can be filled only for construction of houses and for public purposes. Families that have no land other than paddy land are allowed to fill paddy land up to 10 cents in panchayat areas and up to five cents in areas to construct houses, subject to conditions.

Karnataka: Panel to scrutinise govt tenders above Rs 50 crore

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To bring transparency and avoid irregularities in the tendering of government works, theKarnatakagovernment has decided to subject tenders costing Rs 50 crore and above to scrutiny by an independent committee headed by a retired judge of the .
The state cabinet took a decision in this regard at its meeting here on Monday. Besides the retired high court judge, the committee will have two members with expertise in finances and technical field. All tenders costing Rs 50 crore and above will go before the committee and they should be cleared in 15 days, said state law and parliamentary affairs minister JCMadhuswamy.

The set government up two such has committees decided to to speed up the process of scrutiny. Currently, each department has a panel of its own to scrutinise the tenders. But allegations of overestimation of budget, tweaks in qualification of bidders and taking up works deemed not necessary have put a question mark on the functioning of these committees. The new system will address

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all these issues, said Madhuswamy.

The cabinet cleared a sandmining policy, which seeks to empowergramand taluk panchayats to dispose of sand mined in their jurisdiction.

Under the policy, gram and taluk panchayats can sell sand extracted from streams and lakes at Rs 300 a tonne. Similarly,Mysuru Mines and Mineralsand Hatti Gold Mines have been empowered to extract sand from riverbeds and sell it in south and north Karnataka regions, respectively. The sand extracted from rivers will be priced at Rs 700 a tonne. The initiative will help GPs financially as 25% of the royalty will go to them.

Telangana facing revenue deficit of Rs 8,000 crore

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At a time when states are facing pressure to lower value added tax (VAT) on diesel and petrol sales, the Controller and Auditor Generals (CAG) report forTelanganareveals that the government was already facing a of Rs 8,000 crore according to calculations till September.

In sharp contrast to budget predictions of a total revenue surplus of Rs 6,743 for the entire fiscal year, CAG now predicts a revenue deficit of up to 119%.

The budget estimates (2021-22 financial year) states that the states own Revenue Receipts will be Rs 1.76 lakh crore this fiscal year,

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with Telanganas own Resources being Rs 1.23 lakh crore.
Until September, it was projected that the state would earn Rs 53,000 crore in revenue, but it only received Rs 43,000 crore from its own sources, which is only 30% of the anticipated income.The state has raised loans of Rs 25,573 crore in the first six months of the fiscal year.

According to CAG estimates, the state has also earned Rs 12,000 crore through VAT sales.
The numbers also reveal that the states own tax collection is on course, but the Centres grant, the state portion of central taxes, and non-tax revenue forecast have all taken a hit.

From the collection of VAT, the state enjoyed a significant income source in the form of Rs 13,000 crore and Rs 8,000 crore from excise duty. Stamps and registration revenue was the next largest source of revenue,

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accounting for Rs 4,000 crore so far.

The State Government has estimated that it will get Rs 30,000 crore as non-tax revenue in this financial year, but has only earned Rs 4,000 crore until now.

Andhra Pradesh govt giving top priority to technical and skill-based education: Governor

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Andhra PradeshGovernor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan said the is taking necessary steps for EMPLOYMENT generation and is giving top priority to technical and skill-based Education.

Addressing the fifth convocation of Krishna University here virtually from the Raj Bhavan, the governor said the new National Education Policy

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has brought in a major reform in the Education sector, from elementary level to higher education.

He also said the Andhra Pradesh government is taking necessary steps towards creating employment and is giving top priority to technical and skill-based education.

Govt gave yachting assn undue benefit, Goa lost Rs 4 crore: CAG

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The river departments (RND) failure to act against the illegal use of 251 sqm of land at Dona Paula has given the GoaYachtingAssociation (GYA) undue benefit while the government incurred a loss of Rs 4 crore since 2011-12, found an internal audit.

Authorities have assessed the rental value of the 251sqm of land and have concluded that the RND has done little to stem the loss to thestateexchequer either through a rental agreement

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or eviction.
The government may initiate recovery of rent as well as execution of the rent agreement or evacuation process, an official said.

Pearl Colvalcar, another trainee with the GYA won the silver medal in the Laser Radial Class at the Senior National Sailing Championship and the GYA is now trying to prepare sailors for the Asian Games 2022 and Paris Olympics 2024.

Maharashtras tuberculosis, Covid-19 coinfection rate 0.5%: Report

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Despite screening every newly diagnosed tuberculosis (TB) patient for Covid, the TB-Covid coinfection rate has remained under than 1% inMaharashtra.

Going by the state Health departments latest report, 709 of 1.36 lakh patients with underlying TB subjected to compulsory Covid screening between January and September this year tested positive for coronavirus, pegging the states TB-Covid coinfection rate at 0.5%.

The coinfection rate is very low compared to Covid infection rate among the general Population, which at a minimum is up to 3%.
Experts have, however, stressed on extensive studies to gauge TB patients exact vulnerability by expanding the Covid diagnosis.
Currently, TB patients are screened compulsorily for Covid, but only once. Despite TB being a chronic disease, the status of Covid infection is not captured periodically unless the patient exhibits worsening symptoms, experts have underlined.

A HISTORY of active as well as latent TB can also increase the risk of contracting the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Nearly 2 lakh people are diagnosed

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with TB every year in India. In the state, nearly 20,000 are diagnosed per month. In 2018, an estimated 1 crore people contracted TB worldwide.
Maharashtra started screening TB patients for Covid-19 the after Union Government-issued bi-directional screening of Covid-19 and TB started in September 2020.