13.07.23

Allow 29 medical students to enroll in Assam, Meghalaya

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As the ethnic strife worsens in violence-hitManipur, theRegional Institute of Medical Sciences(RIMS), Imphal, has sent an SOS to the Union Health ministry, urging authorities to facilitate 29 medical students in UG and PG classes inMeghalayaand Assam, saying the situation was not conducive for them to return to class in the roiled state.

These tribal students fled Imphal during the violence and feared returning andRIMS Imphalconveyed to the ministry that alternate arrangement of classes in the institute or in other institutes in the state may not be feasible.

In a letter to joint secretary (NE) of health ministry on Friday, RIMS deputy director (admin) Naorem Indrakumar Singh said the classes of UG and PG students resumed in RIMS Imphal since May 22, but 29 UG and PG students (17 MBBS UG, six BDS UG and six PG students) are now unable to attend classes/duties due to the prevailing unrest.

The deputy director said alternate arrangement of classes in RIMS Imphal or in any institute of the Manipur government may not be feasible and sought the ministry’s intervention in making alternative arrangements outside the state, including seeking permission from the NMC for the affected students to continue their study in NEIGRIHMS in Shillong, six BDS UG students in Regional Dental College in Guwahati and six PG students at Guwahati Medical College and Hospital or another institutes.


Assam set to knock off Punjab, to be 16th largest state in GSDP

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Assamchief minister Himanta BiswaSarma said the state is on course to move pastPunjaband become the 16th largest state in terms of gross state domestic product (GSDP) in the next few years.

This is the first time since its inception in 1927 that FICCI is holding its national executive committee meeting in the state. Expressing his gratitude towards FICCI for choosing Guwahati, Sarma said this would aid in the upward economic Growth trajectory of the state.

Referring to turmoil, strife, instability as things of the past, Sarma said Assam has been witnessing a never-before-seen spell of peace, progress and prosperity on all fronts since 2014.

Rs 20 crore to develop Gupteswar shrine

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Thestate government sanctioned Rs 20 crore fordevelopmentof Gupteswar, the cave shrine of Lord Shiva, around 80 km from here in Boipariguda block. Official sources said the cave shrine will be transformed into a famous religious, historical and tourism spot of the state without disturbing the natural ECOLOGY. According to a government release, the fund was sanctioned following the visit of 5T secretary V K Pandian to the cave shrine on February 3, during which he held discussions with the temple priests, committee members and locals regarding the shrines expansion for betterment of the devotees.

Later, Pandian asked the District Administration to submit a master plan for renovation of the temple and its adjoining areas. According to the master plan prepared by the administration, while the road leading to the temple will be developed, beautification of the entrance Gate of the temple and the banks of the Saberi river flowing adjacent to the temple will be carried out too.

Only 7% of Chennai’s ward sabha members are women

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Women‘s political participation in grassroot Governance is abysmal in the city, as only 148 of the 2,000 nominated ward sabha members are women. That is, just 7.4% of the city’s ward sabha members are women.
This despite the fact that Greater Chennai Corporation has 101 women councillors among the 200.

The record number of women councillors, of course, is due to the state law providing 50% reservation for women.

Each councillor nominates 10 ward sabha members, making it a 2,000-member body.

School education falters, big dip in learning outcome

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The year-on-year district-wise quality analysis of school Education, on a six-point scale, released by theUnion ministry of education has shown that the Learning outcome of students inKeralaschools has tanked substantially in 2021-22. If two districts Kollam

andThiruvananthapuram could score above 200 in the 290-point score in the 2020-21 report, the highest score in 2021-22 is 173 (Ernakulam).
In fact, the report showed that almost all districts in Kerala underperformed in 2021-22 compared to 2020-21.

All 14 dists performed much better in 2018-19 Thrissur, Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam districts topped the chart in 2021-22 as in the previous academic year. Interestingly, all 14 districts performed much better in the 2018-19 period, it said. The PGI-D report is not bad per se, as far as Kerala is concerned.

He said the state had identified some gaps to be filled in the learning outcome process in lower classes post Covid and overhauled the teacher training programmes this year to address the issue. As a result, the predominant focus in class I and II is on language, in class III mathematics and in class IV English, he added. The report published as an indicator for states to improve their performance in the school has put all districts in Kerala in the Ati Uttam category in 2020-21 whil e two districts Alappuzha and Idukki fell in the Uttam category in 2021- 22.

Highlighting the big drop in school education performance at the district level post Covid, no district from across the country could bag the top two grades Daksh (above 90% score) and Utkarsh (81- 90%) in the 2021-22 index. Punjab topped in the Ati Uttam category (71%-80%) with 18 districts. Districts with a score of 61-70% fall in Uttam category. The PGI score is arrived at by considering the learning outcome, effective classroom interactions, Infrastructure facilities & students entitlements, school safety & child protection, digital learning and Governance process.

Ktaka govt schools short of 17k rooms

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Government schools inKarnatakaare short of 17,258 rooms, the legislative assembly was informed last week. The rooms includes separate chambers for teachers and headmasters and offices as mandated by the Right to Education (RTE) rules.

Replying to an unstarred question seeking details of classroom shortage on July 6, school education and Literacy ministerMadhuBangarappa said there is a requirement of over 17,000 rooms and to make up, under Viveka Yojane, 6,601 classrooms were sanctioned in schools in 2022-23. While the required fund for the project was Rs 943 crore, Rs 469 crore was released last year. This year, Rs 30 crore has been released as the first instalment.

Additionally, he said, Rs 48 crore was released for repairing 1,878 schoolrooms last academic year. In yet another project, under the Samagra Shikshana Karnataka plan, Rs 50 crore has been released for building 274 classrooms and toilets at 39 Karnataka Public Schools. Gram panchayats have been given the freedom to use funds under theMahatma Gandhi National Rural EMPLOYMENT Guarantee Actto build and maintain classrooms.

As per the data, Chitradurga needs 1,664 classrooms the biggest requirement among all educational districts. Vijayanagara needs 1,159 rooms, Davanagere 1,160, Vijayapura 1,144 rooms, Kalaburagi 1,025 and Raichur 1,023. Belagavi (574) and Belagavi Chikkodi (500) are the other educational districts with much shortage. Bengaluru Rural and Bengaluru North need 200 rooms.

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 . 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.

AP clears plan to issue pattas to assigned land

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The state Cabinet decided to confer full rights andpattasto all originalassigned landowners, who have enjoyed the land parcels for 20 years. In case of death oforiginal beneficiaries, their legal heirs would get the full rights. This will benefit 66,111 persons, who are in control of 63,191. 84 acres of assigned lands.

While enhancing the retirement age of professors working in educational institutions like JNTU from 62 to 65 to overcome the scarcity and of endowment department staff from 60 to 62 years, the Cabinet also gave approval for all temple arachakas to continue in the profession as long as they can work without retirement.

The Cabinet, chaired by chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, has ratified the proposals approved by the State Investment Promotion Board.

It also approved the welfare calendar for July and decided to do bhoomi puja on July 24 for the construction of 47,000 houses for the poor in 1366 acres of R-5 zone in the CRDA region with an expenditure of Rs 5000 crore.

Ten technical institutes to set up centres of excellence

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The has approved funding of Rs 53 crore to be distributed among 10 technical and pharmacy institutes, includingCollege of Engineering Pune, Technological Universityto set up a centre of excellence.

AtCoEP Tech University, the centre will work on industrial product design with a Rs 5 crore grant. Institutions in Nagpur, Mumbai, andAurangabadwill also be part of this programme, the higher and technical Education department said.

Centers of Excellencewill be established over the next four years. Funding will be provided for the first four years and the institutes will run the Centre on a self-financed basis, Tidke said.