Nagaland govt to hold special Assembly session against AFSPAIn the aftermath of the killing of 14 civilians by security forces in Mon district, the Nagaland government decided to hold a special session of the Assembly to discuss and pass a resolution for repealing the AFSPA.

The special session is tentatively scheduled for December 20 and the Governor of Assam and Nagaland Jagdish Mukhi will formally summon it, Minister for Planning & Coordination, Land Revenue and Parliamentary Affairs, Neiba Kronu told. The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, gives the Army powers of arrest and detention in ‘disturbed areas’. He said that the decision was taken during a meeting of the Core Committee on Naga Political Issue of the held here during the day.

Odisha moves up in natl food safety index

With different food safety measures, Odisha has kept up its upward movement in the national food safety index from the 26th position in 2018-19 to 13th in 2019-20 and further to the 4th position in 2020-21.

This was known at a State-level food safety advisory committee meeting held on Wednesday wherein Additional Chief Secretary Raj Kumar Sharma outlined the issues for discussion.

Mahapatra directed the department to orient and train the street food vendors on preparation of safe food. He directed that the food vendors must be made aware about the dangerous effect of adulterated food on human Health.

He also directed to strengthen enforcement activities against the adulterated food. Adulterated food sale is a criminal activity like selling adulterated medicine and it must be dealt mercilessly, he stated.

Tamil Nadu to have highest number of medical colleges

With 17 new medical colleges government, private and deemed universities Naduwill add 2,350 MBBS seats to the seat matrix during the admission in 2021.
With this, the state will have 69 medical colleges offering 10,375 MBBS seats the highest in the country, according to the National Medical Council website.

In 2021, nearly 12% of government medical seats in India are from the state. This also means the state will offer the highest number of seats under the 15% all India quota.

The state has a policy to have at least one government medical College in every district, Health minister Ma Subramanian said.

Kochis development will be top priority: Finance minister

Finance minister K N Balagopal has said that the will give top priority for enhancing Infrastructure facilities, including road and water transport, inKochi. Speaking at a meeting held to discuss the projects to be implemented for the citys development on Thursday, Balagopal said the government will consider all the needs of the city like construction of RAILWAY overbridges (RoBs), canal rejuvenation and road development favourably.

The government will try to avoid deductions from the plan fund allocation to the city. The government has been making deductions from the plan fund allocation to the city so as to compensate the amount it spent for purchasing land for the corporation at Brahmapuram. The government had to shell out more than Rs 100 crore for providing additional compensation to the landowners.

Waste management methods in Karnataka lauded by NITI Aayog

Bengaluru andMysuruhave been recognised for the use of effective methods in the disposal and management of solid waste, according to the study, ‘Waste-Wise Cities’ conducted by, and theCentre for Science and Environment, New Delhi. While Bengaluru has shown the way in the EMPLOYMENT of Internet and communications technology (ICT) for effective management of solid waste, Mysuru’s pioneering methods in the handling of biodegradable solid waste has been highlighted in the report.

The 244-page report is the compilation of a thorough review of the tools and methods utilised for management of waste across 28 cities in 15 states of the country. Bengaluru has been identified as one of the five cities where work is currently under way to improve the efficiency in processing of waste.

Among other ICT tools, Bengaluru civic agencies employ the radio frequency identification (RFID)-based attendance system, geo-tagging of collection routes and a mobile-based application to identify areas vulnerable to indiscriminate dumping of garbage.

The ‘zero-Waste ManagementPlants set up in each of the zones inMysuru City Corporation(MCC) had proved to be the ‘game changer’, the report pointed out. These plants receive segregated bio-degradable waste from five wards, on Average.

Telangana: Survey to curb monkey menace, identify hotspots

In a first-of-its-kind initiative inTelangana, the agricultural department has initiated a monkey menacesurvey in villages across the state toidentify hotspotsof monkey movements and the number of monkeys.

The survey is being conducted because the monkey problem has been identified as the main hindrance to crop conversion from paddy to groundnut.

According to officials, , like Himachal Pradesh, is dealing with this issue and the northern state used a sterilisation technique to limit monkey movements. Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture officers around the state were requested to submit the details of monkeys in a five-question format and a special web provision was provided in the departments crop booking system with the name monkey menace survey.

The monkey menace survey is being conducted because the monkey problem has been identified as the main hindrance to crop conversion from paddy to groundnut.

Andhra Pradesh: Now, realtors will have to give 5% land to government in new layouts

The has decided to take 5% of land or its equivalent value from the newly developed layouts. The government’s decision has alarmed the realty sector and property buyers. The realtors fear that the decision would eat into their margins which have already become thin due to Covid-19 and would make their business unviable.

On the other hand, aspiring plot buyers fear that the land prices are likely to go up as realtors would pass on the burden to the consumer.

The state government had issued a GO recently stating that 5% of the land in newly developed layouts should be given to the local body. If the land cannot be given in the same layout, they can give same extent of land within three kilometres area of the layout.

The third option would be to pay Money equivalent to the base price of the land in the respective areas.
The realty sector inAndhra Pradeshhas been struggling with poor demand for the last three years with uncertainty over the capital city. The Covid-19 pandemic that shook economies across the globe rattled the realty sector in the state. The prices hit new lows inVijayawada,Gunturand other major cities with uncertainty over the capital coupled with pandemic induced Stress. The latest decision by the state government would put more stress on the demand side, fear realtors.

1.3L sqm land at Dharbandora for CMM Logistics Park

The Goa Promotion Board (IPB) has moved to notify 1.3 lakh sqm of private property atDharbandoraas an investment area for a Logistics park being planned by the CMM group. The industries department has moved a notification and has given stakeholders a months time to submit objections and suggestions.

In September, IPB had cleared 11 investment projects, including CMM Logistics Pvt Ltds proposal to set up a logistics park in the state.

Maharashtra: Just one textbook for Std I from June in state schools

The stateschool Educationdepartment will introduce a single textbook formula from 2022-23 onwards to reduce the weight ofschool bagscarried by students every day.
This will be introduced in Std I and will be implemented for all primary classes later. The four subjects taught in Std I,English,Marathi,mathsand play and learn, have been integrated into a single textbook per four semesters. Hence, instead of carrying all four subject textbooks, the student needs to carry only the integrated textbook, part 1, 2, 3 or 4, as per the semester.

Gosavi said that from the academic year 2022-23, the integrated bilingual textbook would be rolled out for Std I students in the entire state. This will then be done for Std II and so on. We will also incorporate the changes as per the New Education Policy, whenever it is implemented. We have received excellent feedback from teachers using this textbook. The integrated activities are also loved by the students, he added.

Haryana links school fee hike with consumer price index

In a move to regulate exorbitant fees charged by private schools in Haryana, the Manohar Lal Khattar Government has amended the Haryana School Education Rules, 2003, linking the annual fee hike with the consumer price index.

A penalty of upto `2 lakh and withdrawal of recognition of private schools violating the new fee norms have also been introduced in the State.

According to the Haryana School Education (Amendment) Rules, 2021 notified by the , a recognised (private/unaided) school may increase the fee chargeable for its existing students by itself every year, equivalent to Average Percentage per capita increase of monthly salary of TEACHING staff of previous year, but the fee increase shall not exceed latest available yearly percentage increase in consumer price index plus five per cent. Apart from this, the private schools will not raise the fee during the academic year and indulge in profiteering.

However, the private schools shall be free to determine the fee chargeable for new students seeking fresh admission in any class in a particular academic year.

The Fee and Fund Regulatory Committee at the divisional level under the chairmanship of Divisional Commissioner will conduct inquiry into the cases of violations and such enquiry shall be completed in a period not exceeding more than three months.

Under the new rules, the mandatory criteria of annual fee increase will not be applicable to the primary schools where sum total of mandatory fee components is less than or equal to Rs 12,000 per annum; middle, secondary and senior secondary schools where sum total of mandatory fee components is less than or equal to `15,000 per annum.