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.
06.01.22
Some positive development over AFSPA in 2022 : Assam CMAssam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma Saturday said “some positive development” regarding Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, which is in vogue in the state, is expected during the year.The Army, he said, has virtually withdrawn from Assam, except for six-seven districts and when AFSPA comes up for renewal later this year, the state government will take a “pragmatic decision”. As far as AFSPA is concerned, Assam will see some rationalisation in 2022.
The AFSPA has often been termed as “draconian” by of the north east because of the special powers it grants to the Indian Armed Forces to maintain public order in “disturbed areas” and its withdrawal has been demanded by civil Society groups and rights activists. It was imposed in Assam in November 1990 and has been extended every six months since then after a review by the State Government.
The demand for repeal of AFSPA from the north east came to the fore in December last year after 13 civilians were gunned down by the Army in a botched anti-insurgency operation in Nagaland and another person was killed in subsequent violence. The demand was made to the Centre even by the chief ministers of Nagaland and Meghalaya.
Chilika Water Bird Status Survey
A bird census was recently done in Chilika Lake by the Odisha Wildlife Organization.
Highlights:
Chilika Development Authority and Bombay Natural HISTORY Society have joined the organization.
Chilika is the world’s largest brackish lake. Birds migrate to the lake for the winter.
A total of 106 people were involved in the survey. Bird experts from both non-governmental and government groups were present.
To conduct the census, the lake was split into 21 sections. Inside Chilika Lake is the Nalabana Bird Sanctuary.
In the Nalabana sanctuary, 3,58,889 birds were sighted. In comparison to the previous census, the number of birds in the reserve has reduced by 65,000.
The low count was caused by the high water level in the lake and its environs. Waterbirds love to congregate in muddy areas.
Tamil Nadu govt to form panel to probe irregularities in Chennai Smart City plan
Naduchief minister MK Stalin said a committee will be formed to look into theirregularitiesin the Smart City projects in Chennai.
Responding to opposition leaders in the state assembly, the CM said T Nagar was severely inundated during recent rain because of the poor implementation of the Smart City projects.
Officials sources said the report suggested that the Greater Chennai Corporation go forward with flood mitigation projects in 561 localities in the city.
The report said the storm water drains should be widened and deepened. All the encroachments along the waterbodies should be removed and Rain Water Harvesting should be enforced in all households.
Over 50% preterm babies need neonatal ICU admission: Study
More than a half of thepreterm babies those born alive before 37 weeks ofpregnancy requireneonatal intensive care unit(NICU) admission. In contrast, only 7% of term babies neededNICUadmission. In preterm babies, there were also concerns aboutGrowth retardationandabnormalities, shows a study fromKerala.
Kerala has shown a downward trend of neonatal mortality in 6 per 1,000 live births, infant mortality in 7 per 1,000 live births and maternal mortality rates in 43 per 1,00,000 live births. The decline of infant mortality rates has shifted the focus now to perinatal mortality rates which is a good indicator of the quality of care for both mother and child.
This resulted in not only lower birth weight Average birth weight of 2kg in preterm babies compared to 3.1kg among term babies but fetal outcomes were also poor with 2% deaths compared to none in the control group. About 5% of preterm babies had intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR), 7% had a cardiac abnormality, 3% had renal abnormalities and 3% had respiratory distress.
Next Khelo India to be held in Karnataka: Sports Minister Narayana Gowda
The nextKhelo India, a programme introduced to revive the Sports culture in India at the grass-roots level by building a strong framework for all sports played, will be held in Karnataka, saidNarayana Gowda, Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs.
Inaugurating the 81stAll India Inter-University AthleticsChampionship at Swaraj Maidan,Moodbidri, he said the government is committed towards promoting sports in Karnataka. “In all the departments, 2% of jobs will be reserved for sportspersons and will get 50% of reservation in the departments related to sports, he said.
He said as many as 75 sports students are being groomed in the state to take part in the next Olympics.
The procession took place as part of 81st All India Inter-University Athletics drew a huge crowd and over 150 troupes representing diverse cultures of India participated in the event.
Telangana mulls first Buddhist university in south at Nagarjunasagar, eyes foreign students
To attract students, including international pupils from Far East and Southeast Asia, thegovernment is planning to establish a Buddhist University atNagarjunasagar, about 165 km from Hyderabad, in Nalgonda. This will be the first university in south India and unique in terms of courses being proposed.
The State Government has already developed Bhuddavanam in a sprawling 274 acre at Nagarjunasagar and part of the land, about 40 to 60 acre, would be allocated for the university. Nagarjunasagar has been chosen for setting up the university as first Buddhist philosopher and monk, Acharya Nagarjuna, lived at Nagarjunasagar and preached Mahayana.
He said as many as 68 subjects (themes) Buddhist culture, architecture, literature and other subjects such as medicine, paintings, Philosophy, hospitality, martial arts, engineering, administration, management and technology at the time of Buddha will be taught. A Malaysian group has come forward to develop the university as the owner of the group is a follower of Acharya Nagarjuna. The firm is also setting up a Food Processing Industry at Siddipet.
Patent filings in Andhra Pradesh record 50% growth
As per the Intellectual property India annual report (2019-20) released a few days ago,Andhra Pradeshfiled 484 patents in 2019-20 compared to 321 in 2018-19. The state has maintained its 11th position in the country.
Punjab recorded 117% Growth during this time by filing 1,435 patents. The top three states in terms of patent applications in 2019-20 were Maharashtra (4,741), Nadu (3,546) andKarnataka(2,230).
Other states and Union territories that showed a noteworthy jump were Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and north-eastern states.
Of the 56,267 applications, Indians filed 20,843 patents, while the foreign applications contributed to the lions share of this figure at 35,424. Domestic filing was about 37% of the total applications filed as compared to 33.6% during the last year.
Will see up to 30,000 private sector jobs in next 5 years: Goa CM Pramod Sawant
CM PramodSawant said that apart from the 10,000 governmentjobson the anvil, at least 25,000-30,000 private sector jobs will be created once the new international airport at Mopa and the electronic manufacturing cluster at Tuem get ready over five years.
Sawant said that over the past five years, along with the white and green revolutions, great achievements have been made in the state to increase fish wealth.
Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture minister Chandrakant Kavlekar emphasised on streamlining schemes while providing funds to farmers for agricultural development. He said that the government is making efforts to double the income of farmers.
Mumbai first in Maharashtra to give 1 crore 1st jabs; teen vax in colleges
The city became the first district inMaharashtrato administer one crore first doses of Covid-19 vaccine since the launch of the drive last January. Mumbai has administered a total of 1.8 crore vaccine doses so far, covering 108% with a single dose and 88% with both.
While the city has been ahead of most others by leaps and bounds in adult vaccination, it has been lagging in comparison to most big districts in the immunisation of teenagers. On Wednesday, the civic body tried a new approach by starting a camp atRuparel Collegein Matunga. A target has been set to vaccinate 2,800 college students between January 5 and January 15. On the first day, 170 students took the shot. It is likely to be started at Dadars Kirti College next.
While the Centre has set a target of 6.1 lakh to be vaccinated in the 15-17 bracket, the BMC has projected around 9.2 lakh beneficiaries from this age group based on the estimated Population of 2021.