09-10.07.23

Sporting graph of India has shot up to top level: Khandu

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Arunachal Pradesh chief ministerPema Khandu credited the thrust put by theNarendra Modigovernment in the last 7-8 years for the emergence of India as a sporting powerhouse in the world arena. Declaring open the 5th Junior BoysNational Boxing Championshipbeing held at Don Bosco College here, Khandu said there is immense potential for youths of the country.

With the backing of proper result-centric policies by the Centre, the sporting graph of India has shot up to the top level. Arunachal Pradesh too is benefiting from these policies, he said.

Welcoming all participants, technical officers and officials of the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) to the state, the chief minister expressed hope that they will take back fond memories and become goodwill ambassadors of the frontier state.


Will weed out ghost schools, teachers: Assam education minister Ranoj Pegu

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Assameducation minister RanojPeguhas vowed to weed out ghost teachers along with ghost schools. The minister was referring to those teachers who have not yet uploaded their profile on the education portal, Shiksha Setu.

The announcement came after the annual grants for the government-run schools were released on Sunday. However, funds were not pumped into those institutions from which the teachers did not comply with the government instructions of updating their profile on Siksha Setu, which gives comprehensive details about all the schools.

The Assam State Primary Teachers Association (ASPTA) has been at loggerheads with the education minister and the state government, decrying the failure to officially create the posts of headmasters. In protest, the teachers have not uploaded the required data on the portal. However, Pegu warned that salaries of such teachers may be stopped in the next two months, if they dont toe the line.

Assam reported a drop in school enrolment by 4.5 lakh in the last one year (from 2021-22 to 2022-23). This raised concern in the education department, which suspected manipulation of students’ data by the school authorities earlier for getting more monetary benefits in the name of ‘ghost students’.

Higher edu dept to set up pension cell

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Thehigher education departmenthas decided to set up a dedicatedpension cellfor its retired employees.

During a review meeting chaired by thehigher educationministerAtanu Sabyasachi Nayak, he directed the officers to maintain integrity and transparency during pension disbursement in adherence with the 5T governance.

A dedicated pension cell should start functioning immediately and the employees must receive their pension on the very day of retirement. All the pending pension cases must be cleared up within a specific timeline, said a government statement quoting the minister.

After the dedicated pension cell starts functioning, retired employees will get a single window facility to air their grievances and solve their problems instead of approaching several officers of the department, said an official. The minister also said efforts are on to fill up vacancies of teaching and non-teaching staff in colleges.

Tamil Nadu has right to prevent Mekedatu dam construction: Minister Duraimurugan

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State water resources minister Duraimurugan on Sunday said thatTamil Naduhas the right to prevent construction ofMekedatu damby theKarnataka governmentacrossCauveryriver.

Speaking to reporters in Vellore, Duraimurugan said that Karnatakas statements that they will construct Mekedatu dam is pure politics. It is their (Karnatakas) wish to construct Mekedatu dam and it is our right to prevent its construction. Karnataka saying that they will construct the dam is purely political, the minister said.

According to the Supreme Court judgment, there is a region called no mans land from lower Kabini to Biligundu, where the catchment areas fetch 80tmc water naturally. Tamil Nadu too gets its share of water from the no mans land. Building a dam there is not easy as they have to get the permission from Central water commission, pollution control board and forest department. he said.

KIIFB to fund major city beautification projects

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KeralaInfrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) is all set to fund some major beautification projects for Kochi based on a proposal prepared by the town and country planning department.

The proposal, on the lines of Singara model in Chennai, includes multiple projects for infrastructure development and also aims at improving the basic amenities, which may boost the tourism sector.

The beautification of Kochi city will involve improving pedestrian amenities, easing traffic movement through improving road infrastructure, developing parks, playgrounds, beautifying streets and areas with paintings, renovating old markets, conserving heritage buildings and cleaning up clogged waterbodies.

The town planning official said since the project involves funds to the tune of several crores of rupees, the government will have to formulate a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for implementing the project.

Govt will set up coop society in every GP for bank activities: Min

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Cooperation minister KN Rajanna on Sunday said that theSiddaramaiahgovernment has decided to set up a cooperative society in every gram panchayat to facilitate cooperative-related banking activities across the state.

He was speaking after unveiling the plaque at the centenary celebrations of the Graduates Cooperative Bank. He said the intention behind formation of these societies is to bring people of all communities, irrespective of their economic and social background, under the cooperative banking sector to avail facilities provided by the bank.
Shareholders of these societies can enjoy all facilities like interest free, subsidised loan up to Rs 5 lakh and crop loan. The government will also distribute seeds, chemicals and fertilizers and promote other community activities under these societies.

He suggested the Graduates Cooperative Bank to utilise Rs 18 crore welfare fund it has reserved to utilise for the welfare of the shareholders health and education.

Social welfare and Mysuru district minister HC Mahadevappa asked cooperative bodies, institutions to come up with inclusive initiatives to involve all communities to enjoy government facilities. He said thatKarnatakais the cradle of cooperative movement in the country.

Energy consumption lost brick by brick: IIT study

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A new study by researchers from severalIndian Institutes of Technology(IITs), including Hyderabad, and other organisations has revealed energy consumption discrepancies in the Indian brick industry. They have analysed energy conservation in brick production.Telanganaproduces 3% andAndhra Pradesh4% of Indias bricks. The study, Reconciliation of Energy Use Disparities in Brick Production in India, has been published in Nature.

Highlighting the significance of energy conservation in achieving carbon neutrality in the building sector, the study shows that current energy consumption estimates in the brick industry were vastly underestimated, comparable to that of steel and cement industries. Researchers, including Azharuddin Hashmi and Asif Qureshi from IIT-H, had modelled Indian brick production and regional energy consumption by combining a nationwide questionnaire survey and remote sensing data on kiln enumeration.

States in the west and east are responsible for 10% and 8% production (of bricks). The contributions from the north and North-East are meagre. This implies that the operational practices in the Indo-Gangetic plain and the peninsula have the largest influence on national energy consumption, the researchers revealed.

State stands at 17th position in PGI index

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Andhra Pradeshended at the 17th place among all the states and Union Territories in the performance grading index 2.0 (PGI 2.0) 2021-22, the results of which were released by the Union government on July 7. The assessment was done based on the performance of the school education system of the state.

The PGI covers 73 indicators, focused more on qualitative assessment besides including digital initiatives and teacher education. The states/UT that were ahead of AP in the PGI 2.0 were Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep,Maharashtra, Puducherry,Punjab,Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal.
While the grades have been divided into 10 different categories based on the scores, no state/UT could achieve the top four grades. Chandigarh and Punjab are the only states/UTs that have made it to the fifth grade Prachesta-2 (641 700 score).

Six states/UTs entered into the top sixth category by scoring more than 581 points. Andhra Pradesh shared its place along with 13 other states/UTs in the Akanshi-1 (521 – 580), the seventh grade.

The PGI 2.0 structure comprises 1000 points, broadly consisting of six domains namely learning outcomes and quality, access, infrastructure and facilities, equity, governance processes, and teacher education and training. When it comes to the individual category scores, Andhra Pradesh scored more than 85% in the equity domain. The state also fared fairly well in access and teacher education and training domains.

A total of seven states and UTs, Kerala, Punjab, Chandigarh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Andhra Pradesh, made it to the level II (score 901-950) in the earlier edition of PGI the 2020-21 PGI index.

Goa slides sharply in Centre’s school education performance index

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In the Union education ministry’s annual performance grading index (PGI) to evaluate the quality ofschool educationoffered in states and UTs, Goa has slid from the 750-800 points bracket to the 521-580 bracket (out of a total 1,000 points) in the latest assessment for 2021-22 released.

Daksh’ is the highest level to be attained in the PGI, reserved for those who score between 941 to 1000 points, but no states have made it to the first five categories of the index.
Chandigarh and Punjab have the highest score in the range of 641-700, making it to the ‘Prachesta-2’ level, which is the fifth-best category.

Goa scored best on teacher training, edu
Goa found itself in the eighth category in the index of Akankshi1, in which category 12 other states have also been placed.
Goa was placed in the sixth category last year, but the order of levels to be attained has been altered this year due to some changes.

Goa scored 555.8 points out of a 1,000, with the state scoring the lowest on the parameter of learning outcome and quality. For this parameter, the data was drawn from the national achievement survey, 2021, conducted by NCERT. Goa scored a mere 61.4 out of 240 on this parameter. In the survey, the states students performance was found wanting in mathematics and science.Goa scored the best on the parameter of teacher training and education, with 74.4 points out of 100. The state also did well in access and equity parameters, with a score of 66.3 out of 80 and 220.7 out of 260, respectively.

The objective of the recently-introduced PGI is to get states and UTs to undertake interventions to achieve better education outcomes in terms of improving quality. The index is also to motivate states and UTs to adopt the best practices followed by the top performing regions.
The new parameter of teacher education and training was added for the first time this year.

Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Haryana, and Sikkim were some of the other states which were in the same category as Goa.

Will boost Namami Goda, ring road & IT park projects

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MinisterChhagan Bhujbalsaid that he will give a boost to the pending plans like the IT Park, Logistic Park, Namami Goda, and outer ring road project.

The newly inducted cabinet minister and MLA from Yeola state assembly constituency, Bhujbal said that his priority will be the development of the city as well as the district. He also said that he would undertake new irrigation projects for the district.

The state industries minister,UdaySamant, had last year announced the plan to open up an IT park on 100 acres of land in Nashik. He had instructed theMaharashtraIndustrial Development Corporation (MIDC) to identify land for the park. However, the projectis yet to see the light of day. Similarly, a logistics park was also announced by the centre, but no progress has been made so far.