Inter-Ministerial Task Force for Agriculture

As Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture sector is primary employer in the NE Region, priority is being accorded for its planned development. Following a joint review of agriculture sector conducted by the Honble Ministers of Development of North Eastern Region and Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, aTask Force was constituted to steer the Growth of Agriculture Sector in NE Region.

The Centres thrust on tourism is bound to be good news for Odisha, given the rich heritage, culture and diversity it offers. On Wednesday, with finance ministerNirmala Sitharamanannouncing the promotion of 50 tourist destinations across the country, the tourism industry is hoping the state would reap rewards.

As government is planning 50 additional , we request Puri to be developed as a major international airport in eastern India, said J K Mohanty, chairman of Hotel and Restaurant Association of Odisha (HRAO). Eastern sector in India has not been promoted as much as the southern, northern and western sectors which have more international airports and domestic connectivity in terms of both flights and railways, he added.

Evolve plans to reduce debts: Anbumani

PMK president and Rajya Sabha MP Anbumani Ramadoss has urged the Nadu government to evolve plans and policies to reduce its debt and to increase its revenue. In a statement on Monday, Anbumani regretted that the Tamil Nadu government has decided to mobilize 51,000 crore loan to meet its expenses in the first three months in 2023.

The Tamil Nadu government must not fall into a debt trap. The government must evolve constructive ways and means to increase its revenue and reduce its debt burden, Anbumani said in the statement. He said the state has availed loans to a tune of Rs 6.53 lakh crore so far and it pays an annual interest of 48,121 crore for the loan. The interest alone amounts to more than one-third of its revenue on taxes, which is 1.42 lakh crore per year.

Organic agriculture policy should support non-certified poor farmers in Kerala: Study

Keralahas seen considerable fluctuation in its organic Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture (OA) policy and this has resulted in concurrent high levels of entry into and exit from the agriculture sector, says a study by a group of international researchers with support from Kerala agriculture scientists.

The case study was done with farmer interviews, focus groups and experts, focusing on Thrissur andWayanaddistricts. The researchers developed a typology of organic farmers and formed them into three core groups wealthy hobby farmers, poorer non-certified farmers, and middle class export farmers.

The study was led byVerena Seufertof University of Hohenheim, Germany, and Navin Ramankutty of University of British Columbia, Canada, et al along with Dr Kunhamu TK, Kerala Agriculture University,Wayanad Social Service Society, Raasta, Organic Wayanad and Fair-Trade Asssociation Kerala among others.

The study recommended that policy support for OA should primarily target non-certified farmers, who are the poorest group and have a strong ideological commitment to OA and are thus likely to persist with it in the long term.

Karnataka govt mulls industry tag for jaggery units to ensure quality

Growing demand for jaggery and jaggery-based products, thanks to rising awareness about healthy lifestyles, and widespread adulteration of the item have prompted the commerce and industries department to contemplate regulating the sector and set standards.

A state-level coordination committee will meet this week to decide on conferring the ” tag on the sector.

Given jaggery has a higher nutritional value than sugar, its consumption will only increase with the rising focus on sustainable lifestyle. While India is the biggest exporter of jaggery, Karnataka being the third biggest sugarcane growing state should have cashed in on the advantages that jaggery production offers. However, lack of the authorities focus has cost Karnataka dear as can be seen by the fall in jaggery production in Mandya. An industry tag will certainly go a long way in not only reviving the sector but also generating jobs. It will bring the units under regulatory control so that quality can be ensured and adulteration checked.

Telangana a role model in welfare for disabled: CM K Chandrasekhar Rao

Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said the was making every effort to help disabled people.

He said Telangana has set set an example for the entire country in the welfare of the disabled.

Greeting the specially abled on the occasion of International Day of Persons with Disabilities, he said the government created department for Welfare Of Disabled as an independent and special wing from the Women and child welfare department.

The CM said the government is providing 3,016 monthly pension to every disabled person in every family.When AP was a combined state, they were getting only 500 pension, he recalled..

When AP was a combined state, they were getting only 500 pension, he recalled.

State earns 1,000 cr from barytes exports

The has earned 1,000 crore from the sale of barytes mineral during the current fiscal. This is the highest ever revenue to be earned in a span of just 10 months of the fiscal. The government had netted around 900 crore during 2021-22 fiscal from sale of barytes.

AP is the only state with vast reserves of barytes mineral in the country, and meets nearly 25% of global demand from its mines in Mangampet area of Annamayya district. We are happy to have achieved tremendous results during the current fiscal.

APMDC, which was set up in 1961, launched exploration of barytes mineral from quarries in Mangampet area in 1974. It continued its exploration operations manually due to the unavailability of machinery for several decades and later adopted advanced technology and modern machinery which helped it dig out more reserves. Mangampet basin is believed to have about 74 million tonnes of barytes mineral, out of whichAPMDChas so far excavated about 40 million tonnes.

Drishti deploys AI-powered machines to assist in life-saving at beaches

Drishti Marine, the state-appointed lifeguard agency, has introduced a self-driving robot Aurus, and Triton, anArtificial Intelligence(AI)-powered monitoring system, to augment its life-saving capabilities at popular beaches.

With Aurus, they will be able to better monitor the states expansive coast and manage crowds during peak hours, Awasthi said.
Aurus is a self-driving robot that has been developed to assist lifesavers by patrolling extensive non-swim zones and alert tourists during high tide, he said.

Both the AI systems will be operated by tech lifesavers stationed at thecentral control room. The team at the control room will decide the areas Aurus and Triton will patrol.

Town planning schemes may get Maharashtra’s nod by April

Five town planning schemes in thePune Metropolitan Regionare in the final stages of approval from the .

PMRDA is all set to allocate Rs50 cr for each scheme, once it is cleared in the upcoming budget meeting, said officials. The five schemes, requiring 751.55 hectares, will come up inWadachiwadi,Autade Handewadi,Manjari Kolwadi, and two atHolkarwadi, aPune Metropolitan Region Development Authority(PMRDA) official said.

The town planning schemes have been planned as revenue models for the proposed 128-km PMRDA ring road. Altogether 26 town planning schemes are expected along the first 32-km stretch of the proposed ring road.