09.03.23

Punjab looks to Mizoram House for digitalisation

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ThePunjabgovernment has studied the e-Vidhan system implemented inMizoramfor digitalising the functioning of the state assembly, taking cues about best practices in the north-eastern state.

The National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA) is being introduced for digitalising legislative bodies of states and the Parliament through a single platform on which house proceedings, starred/unstarred questions and answers, committee reports, will be available.

The NeVA project has been launched in Punjab and old debates and other information is being uploaded on the website.

Country’s biggest ‘detention centre, Matia transit camp becomes operational in Assam’s Goalpara

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The countrys biggest “detention centre”, now renamed “transit camp” for a human touch at Matia in lowerAssamsGoalparadistrict, has become operational with the first batch of inmates being shifted to the newly built facility from another transit camp at the Goalpara district jail on Friday. The transit camp was built at a cost of around Rs 64 crore.

Official sources in the prison department said that altogether there are around 219 “declared foreigners” lodged in all the transit camps in Assam, including the standalone transit camp in Matia. Before the Matia centre became operational, all the inmates were being kept in these six jails. The detention centres, which housed people declared foreigners by foreigners , quasi-judicial bodies, were renamed transit camps in 2021.

Orissa HC to give ‘best lawyer’ award to encourage young advocates

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TheOrissa high courthas instituted a ‘lawyer of the year’ award to be presented on Lawyers’ Day every year. Lawyers’ Day is celebrated on April 28 to commemorate the birth anniversary ofMadhusudan Das, aBritish era lawyerpopularly called Madhu Babu orMadhu Barrister.
The award has been introduced with a view to encouraging young lawyers practising in the district courts, including the outlying stations, the said in a notification on January 26, from when the scheme came into force.

The award will be given in the form of a collection of books worth Rs 10,000, along with a certificate and a memento to lawyers not less than 30 years and over 40 years. In an exceptional case, a lawyer below 30 years, but not below 28, may be considered, the notification said.

Tamil society was literate 2,600 years ago: Minister

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Society was educated even before 2,600 years for which the evidence was found in Keeladi archaeological exploration, said state minister for industries, Tamil Official Language, Tamil culture and archaeology Thangam Thennarasu.

Thennarasu said that various Tamil words used in Sangam literature are still used among thecommonpeople. Though the land was divided based on their types in that period, it was the Tamil language that united everyone in the region. Literary works like Thirukural and Tholkapiyam teach Ethics to people, he said.

There is a common perception that literature is ancient or old. Though Tamil literature is very old narrating the past glory, they are guiding lights for the future with their teachings. Madurai city is the cultural capital ofTamil Naduand the city is closely associated with Tamil culture.

Kerala state biodiversity board to digitise peoples biodiversity register soon

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TheKeralastate board (KSBB) is planning a two-pronged strategy to update the peoples biodiversity register (PBR) in all panchayats. ThePBRproject was launched in 2009, and in a few years Kerala has become one of the first states to have completed the PBRs in all local bodies.

KSBB has prepared the PBRs in all the 1,034 local bodies which include six corporations, 87 municipalities, and 941 grama panchayats. Following instructions from the national biodiversity authority (NBA), the state is planning to digitise the entire documentation process.

Already aBIOMIS(biodiversity management information system) has become operational. It is a web-enabled unique repository for biodiversity information systems for the state boards.

Karnataka to get 2 new cybersecurity labs

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The Home department will set up two cybersecurity forensic labs with exclusive focus on cybercrime in Shivamogga and Tumakuru. The Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) is awaiting a final order from the government in this regard.

In the recently presented budget, chief minister Basavaraj Bommai had announced the establishment of labs in these districts to strengthen evidence examination and improve the success rate in cybercrime investigation.

According to recent data shared by the department, on an Average, Rs 1 crore is stolen from individuals daily by cybercriminals.Karnatakalost a whopping Rs 363 crore in 2022, while Rs 722 crore has been siphoned off in total since 2019. The data was presented in the legislative council in response to a question asked by MLC M Nagaraj.

Inflation on decline in Telangana, can be eased further: Experts

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‘s Inflation, both overall and rural, is on the decline since May 2022 when it stood at 9.4%. The state recorded inflation of 8.5% in February this year, but the figure is still high when compared to the same period last year (8%).

Interestingly, the inflation rate had shot up quickly in the following months of in February 2022, reaching its highest level in eight years in May that year.

In February this year, Telangana is followed byAndhra Pradesh, Punjab, and Uttarakhand, all within 7-8% bracket, andMadhya Pradeshat 6.9%. Experts say the current decline is a good sign but there is need to bring down the rates close to 6 %.

However, Telangana’s rural inflation in February 2023 (8.5%) is still considered on the higher side.

According to data from theUnion ministry of statisticsand programme implementation, the national inflation rate fell to 6.4% in February from 7.4% in May 2022, when it was also at its highest.

Andhra Pradesh adds millet soup to midday meal programme

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The has decided to add ‘raagi jaava’ (millet soup) as part of midday meal programme (Jagananna Gorumudda) in the state. A glass of soup will be served thrice a week, in line with chief minister YSJagan MohanReddy’s vision to provide nutritious food to schoolchildren in the state.

About 37.63 lakh students from as many as 44,392 government aided schools will get the soup in the morning session.

The government has revamped the midday meal scheme in the last four years. The menu has been designed by taking inputs from dietitians and nutritional Health experts. The government has also enhanced the budgetary allocation for the scheme by nearly four times.

5 years after getting tag, Goa sets 2024 target to be ODF

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More than three years after Goa was declared an open defecation-free (ODF) state, panchayat minister Mauvin Godinho on Saturday set a new deadline.”Our efforts are on to declare Goa as an ODF state by 2024,” he said.

In September 2019, the government had declared Goa an ODF state without sufficient data, to meet a target set by the Union Government. To meet the Centre’s criteria, the state had to construct community and public toilets in urban and rural areas. In some areas, temporary toilets were erected in order to meet the deadline.

However, even after that declaration, many in Goa did not have access to toilets. Mere months earlier, Union government data showed that just 5.87% of Goa’s villages were declared ODF, the lowest coverage in the entire country.

NEP to soon allow course credit transfer among colleges in same vicinity in Maharashtra

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Autonomous colleges in the same vicinity will soon allow students to choose from a basket of courses and enable transfer of credits among them. For instance, a student from Jai Hind College will be able to choose a course from St Xaviers and earn credits and vice versa.

In a workshop with close to 150 autonomous colleges in the state, Chandrakant Patil, minister of higher and technical Education, even mooted the idea of vertical Growth in case leading colleges want to expand and are falling short of space for the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP).

The state also plans to launch a portal offering massive open online courses (MOOCs) on the lines of Swayam, called MahaSwayam. Autonomous colleges can share their content online for other colleges and can also upload specialised courses and possibly earn revenue through it, suggested the minister, said a principal, who attended the workshop at SNDT Womens University.