12.02.22

Centre ready for talks with northeast rebel groups: Rajnath Singh

by

Union DEFENCE ministerRajnath Singh, while taking note of the insurgency problem gripping the northeast, on Monday said that the Centre is ready to hold talks with rebel groups of the region to resolve the problems.

The rate of violence in the northeast has come down to the lowest, said Singh, who arrived here on a days visit to address BJP poll rallies for theManipurassembly polls.

Prime Minster Narendra Modi, during the formation of the government at the Centre, had vowed to provide good road, rail and air connectivity in all NE states, and things have now become reality, he said.

Assam OKs plan to eliminate all single-use plastic items

by

Following a call from PM Narendra Modi, theAssamcabinet on Thursday approved a Comprehensive Action Plan to eliminate all single-use plastics, from carry bags to earbuds withplasticsticks, in the state from this year.

The cabinet also laid down a plan for development of alternatives and scientific disposal of plastic wastes and departments of revenue and Disaster Management, industries and commerce, Science and Technology, urban Environment“>Development and environment and forest will together prepare a roadmap in this regard, the statement tweeted by CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

The plan seeks to ban plastic carry-bags less than 75 microns in thickness with effect from September and carry-bags less than 120 microns in thickness with effect from December.

To boost environment conservation, the cabinet also approved a policy for compensatory plantation of trees felled on non-forest land for projects.

The cabinet also fixed speed limits for vehicles in view of increased accidents caused by ovespeeding in the state and will bring out a notification for speed limit on different types of roads and vehicles.

Odisha: Mining reforms push up states revenue by 300%

by

The reforms in the mining sector, which earned chief ministerNaveen Patnaikthe Prime Ministers praise in theRajya Sabha, helped the state garner huge revenue even during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The steel andmines departmentofficials saidOdishahas, so far, earned Rs 36,321 crore from mining, which is nearly four times the revenue collected during the same period last year, registering a Growth of more than 300%.

The mining and Metal sector was estimated to yield Rs 11,200 crore during 2019-20, while it was pegged at around Rs 13,800 crore in the 2020-21 financial year.

For the current fiscal (2021-22), the has set a target of collecting Rs 25,000 crore in revenue from the sector. The production of iron Ore this year is almost on a par with that of last year. At 114 million tonne, the iron ore production has gone up by 3MT from last year.

The adoption of online method to track the production and dispatch of mineral Resources is another reform undertaken by the state government in the sector.

IIT-Madras to take basic digital literacy to rural children in Tamil Nadu

by

IIT-Madras Pravartak Technologies Foundationin collaboration with the Asha For Education on Friday launched two rural technology centres to take digital Literacy to remote and rural government school students in Nadu. These centres in Kanakammachathram and Seethanjeri villages in Tiruvallur district will teach basic digital literacy and basics of programming after assessing the students.

Government school students studying in classes IX to XII are set to learn advanced technologies like drones, 3D printing, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence besides animation, webpage design and hardware-based programming, among others.

They will use programming tools such as Scratch from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and “Blockly” from Google to teach programming.

Kerala to get Rs 347.55 crore under SDMF

by

The state will receive Rs 347.55 crore from the Centre under the newly constitutedstate disaster mitigation fund(SDMF) that will be exclusively utilized for preparatory works to ensure mitigation of natural disasters.

The ministry of Home affairs has allocated the funds, to which Rs 115.85 crore will be contributed by the state as its share, taking the total to Rs 463.40 crore to be utilized for the next five years, on the basis of the recommendations of the 15th .
The state is expected to benefit immensely from the new funds as most of the districts have been complaining about shortage of funds for pre-monsoon activities like desilting, ensuring the smooth flow of storm water for averting chances of flooding, etc.

The SDMF will be used for those local level and community-based interventions, which reduce the risks and promote Environment-friendly settlements and livelihood practices. However, the Centre has specifically asked the states that large-scale mitigation interventions such as construction of coastal walls, flood embankments, support for drought resilience, etc. should be pursued through the regular development schemes and not from the mitigation fund.

The 15th finance commission had recommended Rs 32,031 crore (20% of state disaster risk management fund) for SDMF for the period from 2021-22 to 2025-26. Except for the north eastern and Himalayan states, the Centre will contribute 75%, while the remaining 25% is to be contributed by states.

Will ensure implementation of 8% rule for Kalyana Ktaka citizens: Sriramulu

by

Disappointed with the failure of a few government departments not adhering to the rule stipulating 8% reservation in jobs for residents of districts comprisingKalyana Karnataka, transport minister and chairman of the 371(J) implementation cabinet sub-committee BSriramulu said, The will take action to enforce this rule strictly.

The minister, who chaired a meeting of the cabinet sub-committee inKalaburagi, said that he had directed the officials to gather all information about vacant jobs in the government in Kalyana Karnataka, and ascertain if people of the region had been denied promotion. Candidates from the region had the eligibility to apply for posts both in Kalyana Karnataka, and elsewhere, but the state governments order dated June 6th, 2020 created some confusion in this matter. The minister concerned has informed me that he will talk to the officials concerned, and take a decision. Once this issue is resolved, candidates can apply for jobs both within the region, and across the state, Sriramulu said.

Eye on revenue, Telangana govt to regularise encroached land

by

In a fresh move to shore up the state exchequer, thegovernment has decided to take up another round of regularisation of illegal structures built on encroached government land. Whileencroachmentsbelow 125 square yards of land will be regularised free of cost under the GO 58, the encroachments above 125 sq yards would be regularised by collecting penal amount based on basic value of the land.

The Telangana government had first provided this opportunity of regularisation in 2014 afterTRScame to power. Committees have been constituted at district, secretary and government level to scrutinise the applications and clear them. There was a criticism on the GO earlier that even affluent people who had encroached upon the government land even in areas such as Jubilee Hills, Madhapur and other upmarket locations got theirencroached landregularised paying a fee.

Central jails overcrowded in Andhra Pradesh, number of undertrials up 5%

by

The number of undertrials in various prisons inAndhra Pradeshincreased by five per cent in 2020.

The overall occupancy rate in all the jails (central jails, sub-jails, district jails, Women jail, open jails, altogether 106 jails) in the state is 84.2 per cent in 2020. A total of 7,375, including 428 female inmates and two transgenders, were in various prisons in the state against its capacity of 8,760 inmates.

Andhra Pradesh has four central prisons located in Vizag, Rajahmundry, Nellore, andKadapa. The available capacity in the four jails is 3,764 (3,634 male prisons and 130 female prisoners) and it is crowded with 4,178 prisoners (including 4,091 male and 86 female prisoners.)
The number of undertrials (inmates) in the state increased to 5,001 in 2020 from 4,769 in 2019. As per the Percentage wise, the undertrials jumped from 62.9 per cent in 2019 to 67.8 per cent in 2020.

The number of convicts (inmates) in the state declined to 2,360 (32 per cent) in 2020 from 2,788 (36.8 per cent) in 2019 as per data byNCRBand analysed byIndia Report.

Panel to record traditional conservation practices

by

The state has formed a 45-member committee to frame itsGoa state strategy and actionplan, on the lines of the national Biodiversity conservation plan.

Following the first meeting, members have suggested that the plan should dedicate a separate chapter to the saline khazan field Ecosystems of Goa.

The committee also plans to document the community conservation practices in use traditionally, like the preservation of forest patches as sacred groves.

Goa had earlier already framed an action plan, but it was mainly meticulous documentation of the states biodiversity, whereas the new plan is to provide a framework for conservation.
It is expected to serve as a handbook for citizens to understand how they can participate in the conservation process.
Consultations will also be carried out with each panchayat, Municipality, biodiversity management committee in each area, besides seeking inputs from the public.

Maharashtra budget session to be held in Mumbai from March 3

by

The upcoming budget session of theMaharashtralegislature will be held from March 3 to March 25 in Mumbai. The state budget for the financial year 2022-23 will be tabled on March 11.

The dates were finalised in a meeting of theconsisting of representatives of all parties on Tuesday. Since the pandemic began in 2020, this may be the first full-term of the legislature session. AnRT-PCRnegative report as well as double vaccination status are mandatory for everyone attending the session.