06.12.22

Assam’s first satellite town to come up in Jagiroad

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The deserted campus of the locked Nagaon paper mill of the Hindustan Paper Corporation (HPC) inJagiroadon the eastern fringe of Guwahati may soon become the centre of the state’s first satellite , to be designed by experts from Singapore.

The Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) has appointed Singapore-based M/S Surbana Jurong Infrastructures Private Limited as the consultancy firm for drawing the masterplan and developing the satellite township, barely 55 km from the city. Sources in the housing and urban affairs department told TOI that the bigger plan is to develop around 10 sq km area in Jagiroad, including the defunct paper mill area. The State Government in March had formally taken over the assets of HPC Limited’s sick paper mill unit at Jagiroad in Morigaon district.

State Govt, FICCI ink pact to organise events

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For the promotion of , the State Government on Tuesday signed an MoU with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) to organise a series of events on millet.

FICCI will partner with the Department of A and FE for the organization of events on the eve of International Year of Millets (IYoM) 2023.

Notably, the UN General Assembly has declared the year 2023 as the International Year of Millets (IYOM) to promote millets globally. In this regard, the Odisha Millets Mission has planned to organise a series of activities to commemorate this opportunity and spread the importance and benefits of millets globally.

The Department will provide and facilitate necessary and incidental support to the industry body in terms of approvals, clearances, advisory and Resources for various activities and events, including review and monitoring of activities regularly.

Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin urged to consult farmers ahead of agriculture budget

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Delta farmers have requested chief minister M K Stalin and the Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture minister to hold a consultative meeting with farmers associations before presenting the agriculture budget in the assembly so as to ensure that the government addresses the long-standing demands of farmers.

The farmers also wanted the chief minister to instruct district collectors to first organize such meetings at the district level, especially in delta districts, before calling the state-level meeting.

With officials busy preparing the budget components for 2023-24, this was the right time to invite farmers representatives to discuss various issues related to the progress of the farming community before preparing the budget, he added.

Cabinet decides to register space park as a society

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The cabinet has decided to register Kerala Space Park as a Society by the name K-Space, under the Travancore Cochin Literary Scientific Charitable Societies Registration Act, 1955.

The government also decided to hand over 18.56 acres from the land owned by the Technopark in the capital for the space park society. The cabinet has also decided to grant Rs 2 crore as seed capital for the society.

The draft agreement and the rules of the proposed society have been cleared by the government. The cabinet also decided to create 10 posts on contract basis in the new society. Those employees who are in excess in the IT parks, Kerala Startup Mission and Kerala State IT Ltd will be given priority for appointment in the society on contract basis.

Wipro buys Kerala-based food brand Nirapara

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Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting, a part of Wipro Enterprises, on Monday announced the acquisition of Nirapara, a Kerala-based packaged rice powder and spice mixes brand.

The move comes a few months after Wipro announced its plans to foray into the packaged foods business. Nirapara was launched in 1976 and is owned by KKR Group of Companies. It is best known for its blended spices and ready-to-cook rice powder products. It has an annualised revenue of Rs 100 crore.

About 63% of its revenue comes from Kerala, while the bulk of the rest comes from GCC countries that have a strong diaspora Population from Kerala, said Wipro Consumer Care CEO Vineet Agrawal. Nirapara is our 13th acquisition and gives us a clear foothold in the spices and ready-to-cook segment, he added.

The final deal price will be determined after 12 months and will be based partially on the performance of Niraparas products during that period. Wipro Consumer Care is best known for its soap brand Santoor and Yardley talcum powder and recorded a revenue of Rs 8,630 crore in the last financial year.

Telangana clocks 50 lakh free dialysis sessions: Health minister T Harish Rao

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The state has touched a milestone of conducting 50 lakh free dialysis sessions in government hospitals.

Highlighting the nephrology Services being provided at the NIMS, the minister said, “Majority of the kidney transplants happen in NIMS. The has spent 2 crore recently to upgrade the trauma block with state-of-the-art facilities like intra-operative ultra Sound, intra-operative neuro-monitoring and ultrasonic aspirate medical equipment.”

Quality equipment is enabling the best quality Health care services to the patients coming to government hospitals in Telangana, Rao said adding that the government will set up more Infrastructure at the hospital and see that all posts, including that of professor be filled at the earliest.

CM stresses on infra in housing colonies

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Chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy directed the housing department officials to ensure that basic like drinking water, Drainage System and electricity is provided without fail in all layouts by the time the construction of houses is completed.

He also instructed the officials to form alternative layouts where construction of houses was held up due to court cases and other disputes. He told them to review the works and resolve all issues concerning the housing programme. He also told them to resume works at all colonies at the earliest.

Earlier, officials informed the CM that the construction of houses has been expedited and government has so far incurred an expenditure of 6,435crore on construction of houses in the current fiscal, excluding APTIDCOs expenditure.

CM looks at making Purple Fest annual event

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Chief minister Pramod Sawant offered to make the Purple Fest an annual event if other states do not show interest in hosting it. The festival is Indias first inclusive event celebrating persons with disabilities (PwDs).

Sawant said the reservation quota in Goa is the highest in the nation, which has been increased from 3% to 4%. Goa government has the highest paying pension of Rs 3,500 for 80% of the retired disabled while the rest get Rs 2,000.

He added that efforts are under way to make more buildings accessible and UDID certificates for the PwDs are being fast tracked. He also went on to list the several initiatives taken up by the central government for the benefit of the disability community.

Panaji is the most accessible city in the country with disability accessibility-friendly , said minister for social welfare Subhash Phaldesai. In preparation for the Purple Fest, ramps were installed in some buildings in the city and at Miramar beach.

Plan prepared to control pollution in 11 drains that discharge effluent in Yamuna: Haryana minister

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The Haryana government has prepared an action plan to control pollution in all 11 major drains that discharge treated or untreated effluent into the Yamuna river, the state assembly has been informed.

”Due to the control of pollution in these drains, the polluted water will not fall into the Yamuna river, from which the Agra and Gurugram canals emerge,” Transport Minister Mool Chand Sharma said. He said this in response to a regarding polluted water in Agra and Gurugram canals.

The minister said it is being regularly reviewed at the level of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and the chief secretary. He said the action plan involves construction, upgradation of the existing sewage treatment Plants, common effluent treatment plants, laying of sewage and interception of sewage from unapproved areas, regular monitoring of water polluting industries by Haryana State Pollution Control Board and taking strict legal actions against such industries.

He further said due to the implementation of this action plan, the water quality of Agra canal has improved in the last few years. Sharma informed that the Gurugram and Agra canals originate from Yamuna river at Okhla barrage in the Delhi region. Agra Canal reaches the border of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh near Karman village. The Gurugram Canal is the major source of Irrigation water in Mewat and a large Population is adversely affected due to pollution caused by Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

Punjab registers 24.5% increase in revenue from GST during first 8 months of 2022-23

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Punjab Finance, Planning, Excise and Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Thursday said that the states Taxation Department has improved its performance month-on-month as compared to the previous year during the first eight months of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann led State Government.

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection has increased by 24.5 percent during the months of April to November as compared to the same period of 2021-22, he said.

Cheema said that the total revenue from GST during the first eight months of the fiscal year 2021-22 was Rs 9,612.6 crore, whereas in the current fiscal of 2022-23, total GST collection from April to November was Rs 11,967.76 crore recording an increase of Rs 2,355.6 crore.

Taxation Department has achieved these results by emphasizing on the use of technology rather than harassing honest taxpayers through general inspections, said Cheema.