10.02.22

Conrad 1st Meghalaya CM to visit remote Garo village

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Chief minister Conrad K Sangma was the first executive head ofMeghalayaon its 50th year of statehood to have visited a remote village,Rengsinparain theWest Garo Hillsdistrict, where he inaugurated a cold storage unit of the Integrated Village Cooperative Society under Tikrikilla block.

The cold storage constructed at a cost of Rs 5 lakh under funding from MEGH-LAMP and SELCO foundation runs completely on solar power and has a capacity of 5 MT.
The Collective Marketing Centre (CMC) is another initiative taken by the Rengsingpara IVCS Ltd., which is being installed at a cost of around Rs 8 lakh and both the cold storage and collective marketing centre is facilitated by MBMA (MeghaLAMP), West Garo Hills.

The government has rolled out the FOCUS programme in the state and by March this year, Rs 17.28 crore will be disbursed to about 1,650 producers groups and by the end of financial year 2022-23, another Rs 130 crore will be disbursed to about 16,800 producers groups.

Assam: Guwahati airport awarded for best customer service in Covid times

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The Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International (LGBI) Airport inAssam‘s Guwahati, the biggest airport in the northeast, has won The Voice of the Customer award from the Council International(ACI).

The airport was awarded for demonstrating relentless efforts in gathering passenger feedback on customer needs in 2021 and providing the best-in-class travel experience.
“This initiative recognizes airports that continued to prioritize their customers and remained committed to ensuring that their voice was heard during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic in 2021,” said Luis Felipe de Oliveira, director general of ACI World in a letter toRajeev Kumar Jain, CEO Airports,Adani.

The maintenance of the LGBI Airport is being done by Adani Airport Holding Limited (AAHL) since last year.

India food security gets pat from WFP

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Indias system is an example before the world, said BishowParajuli, United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) representative and country director to India, here on Wednesday.

Delivering the 18th foundation day lecture at KIIT deemed to be university, Parajuli said, India has made tremendous progress in the field of food security during the last 50 years. It has become a food surplus country from a food-dependent country. Along with food production, conducive policy, Science and Technology, efficient supply chain, market and access are among the factors that have contributed to the progress.

He said the production of food is not equal to the availability of food. Sadly, global hunger is rising. Up to 811 million people do not have enough to eat, while 270 million suffer from acute hunger despite plenty of food production, he remarked.

Tamil Nadu urges Cauvery panel to ensure water release by Karnataka

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Naduhas urged theCauveryWater Management Authority (CWMA) to ensure thatKarnatakareleases Cauvery water to TN as per schedule this year.

At the 15th meeting of CWMA held via video conference on Friday, Tamil Nadu Resources“>Water Resources department additional chief secretary Sandeep Saxena also put forward TN’s position, vehemently opposing Karnataka’s Mekedatu dam project. A discussion on the project was deferred due to objections from TN.

Besides Saxena and Subramanian, member of the cell, Pattabiraman and water resources department deputy secretary N Pari participated on behalf of the state.
TN had to take up the issue of delay in water release at a meeting held in September last year.

KIIFB gives approval for Parvathy Puthanar widening

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Transport ministerAntony Rajusaid here on Wednesday that KIIFB has approved a project to the tune of Rs 87.18 crore as part of widening ofParvathy Puthanar.

About 19.1 acres land will be acquired from Panathura, Edayar, Moonattumukku, Poonthura, Muttathara,Vallakadavu, Chackai, Karikkakom andVenpalavattomfor widening the canal. The canal is being widened to 25 metres.

The will acquire 20 acres of private land to rehabilitate 803 families who will be evicted from the banks of Parvathy Puthanar as part of canal widening project.

Keralawaterways and Infrastructure limited (KWIL) chief engineer had requested for taking steps to acquire the land measuring 20.06 acres of land owned by private parties for rehabilitation purposes.

Industrialization of NK key to create jobs: CM

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Chief minister Basavaraj Bommai said, We are introducing the scheme Beyond Bengaluru, for shifting some industries to the NorthKarnataka(NK) region, which will help to create jobs for local youths.

He said the Union Government has formulated an ethanol policy, by keeping in mind the overall perspective of environmental protection, economic activity, and farmers welfare. Karnataka is on its path to getting the maximum benefit from it. Ethanol units have been set up in some sugar factories. A provision has been made for the production of ethanol from maize and paddy. Farmers can get a good price for their produce, when it is processed and value added to it.

Telangana begins e-affiliation for tech institutions

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Thegovernment has introduced an online affiliation process for the academic year 2022-23 for all technical institutions. A new portal has been launched by thedepartment of technical Education.

The university online affiliation portal has the provision for colleges to upload data and documents and seek affiliation, approvals by the respective universities, heads of the departments and government.

For the ensuing academic year, thetechnical education departmenthas instructed all university registrars to ensure that colleges seeking affiliations register on the new portal.

Andhra Pradesh at second place in digital payments

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Andhra Pradeshoccupies the second place in the country in terms of per capita digital payment transactions. As per the official data available till January 31, per capita transactions in Andhra Pradesh stands at 17.6, trailing only Chandigarh (38.4). The all India Average is some 3.85. In fact, Andhra Pradesh has been leading the states in the digital payment arena for the last several years in a row.

The digital payment landscape in India has undergone a transformation in the last several years, particularly after demonetisation. From 3,134 crore transactions in 2018-19, the volume of digital payment transactions has more than doubled to 6,754 crore this fiscal (as of February 6).

A cursory look into the volumes of new-age digital payment modes reveals that these have registered a substantial Growth. These modes include Bharat interface for -unified payments interface (BHIM-UPI), immediate payment service (IMPS), prepaid payment instruments, etc.

At the same time, existing payment modes such as debit cards, credit cards, national electronic funds transfer(NEFT), and real-time gross settlement (RTGS) have also grown at a fast pace.

According to data of theUnion ministry of electronics and information technology, BHIM-UPI has emerged as the preferred payment mode. It has achieved a record 461.71 crore digital payment transactions with a value of 8.31 lakh crore in January 2022. It has more than doubled in just a year from 229 crore transactions in February 2021 to 461 crore in January 2022.

Anmod Ghat route closure affecting exports, GCCI tells Gadkari

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Closureof the Goa-Belagavi road via theAnmod Ghathas hamperedexportsand brought containerised exports through Mormugao Port to a standstill, Goa Chamber of Commerce and (GCCI) told Union minister of road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari.

AGCCIdelegation metGadkariand requested him to open up thisrouteas early as feasible.
GCCI suggested that instead of building a six-lane highway through the Anmod ghat and the protected forest, the Ramnagar-Anmod portion of the highway should be repaired and widened with four lanes. This will increase container volumes and make the movement of containers viable for shipping companies, it said.

It adversely impacts the retail trade by significantly increasing logistic costs. Around 90% of perishable items such as vegetables, fruits, milk, groceries and other food items are brought from Belagavi and surrounding areas to Goa on a daily basis by this road.

Plans to authorise bike taxi service in Maharashtra

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The state transport department is mulling over regularising the biketaxiservice inMaharashtrawith riders, but the action would continue against those ferrying passengers on two-wheelers in the city till then.

The service is risky for those availing it, considering the vehicular density and the way two-wheelers ply on roads.

Thebiketaxi service was expected to be allowed in certain towns, based on their vehicular density. A study will be done to ascertain the cities in which the service can be started. There is an intent to allow the service in certain places in the state.