09.11.21

Odisha govt may enact Goonda Act to check organised crime

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If the has its way, HISTORY-sheeters and dreaded gangsters would be dealt with an iron hand under a special law. The government has proposed to enact Odisha Goonda and Anti-social Activities (Prevention) Act to check organisedcrime syndicates.

Adraft billhas been sent to the law department for vetting, sources in the Home department said. The development coincided with the opposition BJP and Congress persistently targeting the government over a worsening law and order situation in the state.

The draft bill proposes a minimum imprisonment of seven years for Goondas convicted under the special law. District magistrates may get power to attach properties of the accused. Officers, who are found in nexus with the gangsters, will also face stringent action under the proposed law.

Tamil Nadu govt urged to set up senior citizens welfare board

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TheTamil NaduSenior Citizens Welfare Movement a movement for elderly care, protection, research and advocacy has urged the to constitute a senior citizenswelfare board.

The movement submitted a petition to minister for social welfare and Women Empowerment P Geetha Jeevan. Founder and chief volunteer of the movement P Sankar said they put forward eight demands to the minister, considering the rising Population ofsenior citizensin the state.

Among the key demands are establishing day care centres across the state at least at the district-level and increasing the monthly old age pension to Rs 2,000 and ensuring that it reached them at their doorstep without facing hardships and dependence on others in receiving it.

The movement also sought constituting a committee by the government to come out with standards for old age homes, establishing old age homes not only in cities but also in the rural areas, motivating philanthropists and non-government organisations engaged in elderly care by recognising them at the state-level with Awards and cash rewards.

Digital University Kerala Act comes into effect

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Setting a major milestone in the path towards digital transformation of Kerala economy, the Kerala University of Digital Sciences, Innovation and Technology Act, 2021 has come into effect. Governor Arif Mohammad Khan has signed the Bill which was unanimously passed by the Kerala Legislative Assembly last month, a varsity statement said here.

The Act intended to establish and incorporate a non-affiliating research and TEACHING university in Kerala to facilitate and promote studies, research, incubation and knowledge extension work in Digital Technologies and its application domains.

The transformation of Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management-Kerala (IIITM-K) to the Digital University Kerala has been accomplished with the introduction of the Act, it said.

The Governor’s address in January 22, 2018, has first announced the government’s plan to upgrade IIITM-K as a prominent centre for research and Education in the field of latest technologies.

This was also announced in the budget speech in February 2018. Following this, Kerala University of Digital Sciences, Innovation and Technology ordinance was published in January, 2020.

Karnataka: Better infrastructure is key to economic growth

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Karnatakahas Resources and in plenty, but the state needs to focus on creating more Infrastructure, especially in Bengaluru, to fast track industrial and Economic Development, say Industry leaders.

Karnataka also needs to narrow the economic gap between its northern and southern parts. Pai suggests picking up 20-30 small towns in the north which can become centres for industries, with good road connections with the rest of the state. There should be a Suvarna Karnataka eightlane corridor connecting Bidar in the north to Bengaluru in the south, while also connecting the Ports of Karwar and Mangaluru.

University of Hyderabad among top 22% Asian universities

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The University of Hyderabad (UoH) remains among the top institutions in QS Asia Rankings 2022 released recently. Of the 687 higher Education institutions ranked, UoH is at 156 and is within the top 22% in Asia. It is 12th among all Indian institutions.
Similarly, the Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad (IIT-H) is ranked 224. It is ranked 15th among all Indian institutions. ICFAI, Hyderabad, and Kakatiya University, Warangal, are ranked 651+.

QS World University Rankings is a publication of University Rankings, published annually by the British company Quacquarelli Symonds (QS).

The institutions are ranked on parameters such as academic reputation, employer reputation, faculty-student ratio, staff with PhD, citations per paper, papers per faculty, international research Network, international faculty, international students, inbound and outbound exchange students.

Andhra CM Jagan Mohan Reddy to meet Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik on water issues

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Chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will hold talks with his Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik in Bhubaneswar.

This would be his first-ever meeting with Naveen, and second meeting with other chief ministers in the last two-and-a-half years since he took over as CM in May 2019.

A few months after he took charge, Jagan held his first inter-state meeting with chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao over sharing of Krishna river waters.

The CM is scheduled to discuss issues like Polavaram project (on Godavari river), Neradu barrage (on Vamsadhara river) and Komarada barrage (on Janjhavati river), which have been pending for decades, during his meeting with Naveen in Bhubaneswar.

Mapping of states groundwater on for better mgmt

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TheCentralGround Water Board (CGWB), South Western Region, Bengaluru is in the process ofmappingGoas aquifers to prepare taluka-wisemanagementplans. Once ready, these will give an accurate idea of thestates water availability and quality at the micro-level.

Regional director of CGWB, V Kunhambu told TOI that the data will help Goabetterplan utilisation of itsgroundwaterfor domestic, industrial and commercial use.

Aquifer planning and management reports for five talukas of North Goa are ready and the same work needs to be carried out for seven talukas in South Goa. The report will provide status of water availability, quality, impact of rain water recharge, etc. The information will be useful to farmers, industries and state departments in planning, he said.

Kunhambu said that the central government has brought in revised rules to be able to better manage groundwater Resources in the country. The data, he said, will help in gradually implementing these new groundwater extraction guidelines.

Once all the 12 taluka-wise reports are ready, an advisory will be issued based on the reports to help judiciously utilise Water Resources as per availability in a particular area.

Assessment survey in Maharashtra on November 12 divides educators

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National Achievement Survey (NAS) conducted in Std III, V, VIII and X to assess Learning achievement of children in their respective classes will be held on November 12 across the country.

However, many teachers feel that this year, it will be hard to assess the true result of the children as lower primary schools in the state have yet to open and even the ones that are open, may not have 100% attendance as the schools will reopen after Diwali break on November 11.

Another group of teachers feels that such an examination is important as it will help in understanding the learning outcome of students which in turn will help plan the further action for the children, but they also feel that the must have planned better.

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has developed the Assessment Framework for gauging the competencies attained by the students vis-a-vis learning outcomes. The Survey goes beyond the scorecard and includes the background variables to correlate students performance in different learning outcomes vis-a-vis contextual variables, the official NAS website says.

In view of the high risk and cost involved in traditional farming, the Haryana Government is providing a 50 percent per hectare subsidy to the farmers for planting new orchards so that they can earn more profit by adopting horticulture, said an official spokesman.

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He said that the is providing a subsidy of Rs 11,500 for planting guava orchards, Rs 12,000 for lemon orchards and Rs 15,000 for amla orchards. Under this scheme, a farmer can plant an orchard up to 10 acres of land, he said.

This scheme will prove to be effective in compensating the crop expenditure to farmers by making their Horticulture crops risk-free from natural calamities. Farmers who are willing to adopt and get benefits of this scheme can contact the respective District Horticulture Offices along with their land documents, bank copy and Aadhar card, he added.

Air quality improves slightly in Punjab but still poor for Diwali, data shows

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Punjab saw an overall 18 per cent less pollution though the states air quality continued to be suffocating for second year in a row on Diwali.

Punjab saw the Average AQI reduction of 18.3 per cent from the last year.

The cities of Punjab have observed reduction in the AQI during this years Diwali as compared to last year.

The average AQI of Punjab this year on Diwali was 268 (Poor) as compared to 328 (Very Poor) in 2020.

Last year AQI of the four cities (Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Patiala) remained in Very Poor Category. However, this year AQI of only two cities (Amritsar and Jalandhar) remained in Very Poor Category.

The maximum AQI reduction was observed in Patiala (27.8%) and minimum was observed in Jalandhar (0.3%).