In view of the surge in Covid-19 cases, theTripuragovernment decided to discontinue on-campus classes forstudentsof standards I and II indefinitely from Friday while the classes ofIIIand IV will be held on alternative days.
Education minister Ratan LalNathsaid, The department has reviewed the situation and received feedback from the stakeholders, based on which the decision was taken to suspend junior classes as of now. The others will be attendingschool.
Assamese short film Xogun (Vulture), adapted from the much-acclaimed short story bearing the same name by noted writer-journalist Manoj Kumar Goswami and scripted and directed by national award winner Utpal Borpujari, has been selected for the 21st New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF).
Produced by IFT India, the film is among 58 feature films, documentaries and short films in 15 languages from across India to be selected for NYIFF, one of the most prestigious Indian film festivals globally, which will be held during June 4-15 virtually because of the pandemic.
Xogun had earlier won the Best Film award in the short film competition of the 13th Guwahati International Film Festival organised by the Gauhati Cine Club and was screened at the 14th Signs Festival in Thiruvanathapuram, considered among the most prestigious short film and documentary festivals in India.
The has been encouraging farmers to go for crop diversification in areas wheremega lift irrigationis undertaken, with an aim to help them earn more.
It was asked to enhance non-paddy cultivation like vegetables, pulses, ragi, maize, sugarcane, Cotton and groundnut in points of mega lift Irrigation during the ensuing kharif season.
TheTamil Nadugovernment has extended Covid-19reliefto 2.14 lakh newration cardholders.
The government has allocated Rs 42.99 lakh to disburse Rs 2,000 to each of the new cardholders.
The government had already allocated Rs 4,153 crore to disburse Rs 2,000 each to 2.07 crore ration cardholders. The disbursement of cash commenced soon.
A former additional chief secretary [Industries and IT] to Kerala Goernment suggested some views:
To focus on a few areas, which could contribute toindustrial development, the number one area is . We should use road, rail, inland Navigation, coastal shipping and airways, fully. K-Rail will take care of the goods and passenger transportation. Once inland navigation is completed within five years, the slow-moving, large-volume will move to that, decongesting roads. The movement of hazardous materials and bulk carriers could be shifted to coastal shipping.
Secondly, regarding the Ease of Doing Business (EoDB), we have a long way to go. What has been done in the past is, rightly, that we are trying to give approvals faster. But fundamentally, I have a difference of opinion, because I feel that many of these licences are not necessary. We just need to do three things: A) Remove unwanted approvals, licences, NOCs and restrictions after a review of all requirements of licensing and approvals. B) Procedure for giving these could be simplified. C) The process should be automated, bringing human interaction to a minimum. Singapore Government gives time limits for licences in hours, not days four hours is the time needed for starting a new company there.
One drawback I noticed in EoDB is that we are depending on in-house agencies to deliver these. We need the help of a professional external agency to maintain Software and monitoring systems round the clock. So, EoDB should be done in PPP mode with one of the best professional consultants coming on board.
Coming to the rescue of Covid-19 patients in remote areas, theKarnataka State Road Transport Corporationon Wednesday launched two projects — ‘ICU onWheels’ and ‘Oxygen on Wheels’.
These buses comprise oxygen system, patient monitor such as BP, oxygen amount,ECG, temperature, ventilator, emergency medicine system and Generator system.
According to him, more than 12 oxygen supply buses are already being operated by fourKarnatakaState Road Transport Corporations.
These 12 buses are from Chitradurga, Chikkaballapur, Chilakamoor in Kalaburagi, Belagavi and Bengaluru.
Clearing decks forrecruitmentandtransferofstate governmentemployees, theCentrehas approved amendments for the newzonal systeminTelangana. The ministry of Home affairs (MHA) issued a gazette notification on Monday night incorporating two newly-formed districts Mulugu and Narayanpet and including Vikarabad district in the zone instead of Jogulamba.
The MHA said the amendments were made to clauses (l) and (2) of Article 371-D of the Constitution to amend the Telangana Public EMPLOYMENT (Organisation of Local Cadres and Regulation of Direct Recruitment) Order, 2018. President Ram Nath Kovind had earlier given approval for the amendments.
According to the Presidential Order, seven zones and two multi-zones (I & II) were created for government departments except Police department. Seven zones and two multi-zones were created separately for police.
The Telangana government had approved new zonal system by creating seven zones for recruitment and transfer of government employees three years ago. Prior to the bifurcation of the state, there were only two zones.
Chief ministerY S Jagan Mohan Reddyhas asked officials to mergeanganwadicentres in the state withprimary schools. He has also told them to use anganwadi and primary schools TEACHING staff to lay a strong Education foundation for children. The chief minister also released a book on spoken English and CDS designed by the department of Women development and child welfare for anganwadi teachers.
The student-teacher ratio should be maintained and schools should be within a two-kilometre radius for students. The chief minister said all schools and anganwadi centres are being revamped and a situation in which a school has to be closed down should not arise. He also directed officials to construct additional classrooms underNaadu-Neduwherever required.
The Goa government has constituted the Goa State Commission for Protection of Child Rights withPeter Borgesas its chairman.
The other members appointed on the commission are Pradnya Desai, Vaibhavi Gavade, Anita Tilve, Neelam Naik, Balaji Mayekar and Rekha DSilva.
The seven-member commission will have a tenure of three years, an order issued by Deepali Naik, director of the directorate ofwomen and child development, said.
While parents are urging schools to reduce fees in the coming academic year due to continuation of online classes, the state on Wednesday reduced the fees of students enrolled under the Right To Education (RTE) Act by 50 per cent.
Schools, both private and aided, have to reserve 25 per cent seats for students (between ages 6 and 14) based on economic status or caste-based reservations. The fee is reimbursed by the state. The admission is done online. For the academic year 2020-21, the fees forRTE studentshave been fixed at Rs 8,000, said director, primary education, Dattatray Jagtap, in an official statement. In 2019-20, the fees was Rs 17,670.