14.07.21

Boundary row: Mizoram and Assam in war of words

by

Mizoramhas vowed to protect its boundary from alleged aggression from Assam, even as Assam chief minister Himanta BiswaSarmainformed the AssamAssembly that since 2016, there have been more than 40 encroachment incidents from the Mizoram side.

Destruction of individual properties by Assam officials was illegal and we demand that the Assam government should pay adequate compensation to the owner of the land and crops.

Mizoram over 160km border with Assam and the border dispute continued to simmer during district council years, when Mizoram was a Union Territory and also after being a full-fledged state.

The bordering areas of Cachar remain the bone of contention in the ongoing tussle between Assam and Mizoram. As many as 16 incidents were reported in Hailakandi district, one in Karimganj.

Full ‘operational freedom’ given to Assam Police to deal with drug menace: Himanta

by

Assamchief minister Himanta BiswaSarma said that the Police has been given complete “operational freedom” to deal with drug traffickers and dealers, and asked to “act decisively” to uproot the drug menace from the Society.

He said that increased action on snapping the drug supply and consumption chains throughout the Northeast has been underway in the last two years afterUnion HomeMinister AmitShahissued specific directions to DGPs of the states in the region regarding the issue.

At another similar event in Diphu, the chief minister said that the police has been given operational freedom to act firmly and decisively within the law to uproot the illegal trade.

Odisha government approves drinking water projects worth Rs 1,550 crore

by

Drinking water projects worth Rs 1,550 crore for various rural and urban areas in Sundargarh, Keonjhar and Cuttack district approved by the state cabinet as part of its effort to provide piped water supply to all rural households by March 2024.

State minister Pratap Jena said drinking water projects worth Rs 1,175 crore were approved for Sundargarh district, which would benefit around 6.40 lakh people in 10 blocks of the tribal-dominated district. The projects will be funded from Odisha Mineral Bearing Area Development Corporation and district mineral foundation funds.

Another drinking water project worth Rs 275 crore has been sanctioned to provide Safe drinking water to nearly 2.61 lakh people in four blocks of Cuttack district. The project will be funded under the Centres Jal Jeevan Mission.

The cabinet also approved amendment of theOdisha Government Land Settlement Act, 1962 to simplify and settle various types of lands like Khasmahal, Nazul, Gramakantha Parambok and Abadi in favour of persons under occupation.

As per the amendment, any person in occupation of such types of land shall apply within a period specified by the government from time to time failing which he/she shall be evicted from the land and government will take over it.

Organic farming to get boost in Tamil Nadu’s agriculture budget

by

Minister for Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture and farmers welfare,M R K Panneerselvamassured the farmers of giving a thrust to the in the first-ever separate budget for agriculture.

Farmers suggested the development of integrated farming, re-opening of sugar mills to boost sugarcane cultivation, creation of cold storage facilities for vegetables, distribution of agriculture equipment at subsidized rates, establishments of new agriculture colleges, research institutes and the inclusion of agriculture as a subject in school Education.

The association also asked the government to get the expertise of agriculture scientist Subah Palekar from Maharashtra on zero-budget farming.

Cochin University of Science and Technology ahead in research rankings

by

Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat), which has been winning the chancellor’s award for best university, has been cited as the top among the nine major universities in Kerala.

According to the QS world university rankings 2021, Cusat has 111 scientists having more than 500 citations. Of these, 50 have been included in the top list of the university, with all of them having an H index of more than 13 and 39 faculty has an Hindex of more than 15.

Interestingly, a good number of these ratings are by young and middle-level faculty who are largely assistant professors. In terms of the number of scientists in the faculty, Kerala University has 37, Calicut has 33 and MG university has 21. The numbers are comparatively less among the newer universities like Kufos, KVASU and Kalam technical university.

Karnataka: MSMEs grapple with surge in raw material cost, manpower crunch

by

The Covid-induced lockdown imposed for prolonged periods has dealt a massive blow to the fortunes of thousands of Micro, Small and Medium enterprises (MSMEs), with many of them staring into endless pits of despair.

Despite the restrictions being eased gradually and the government permitting the units to resume operations, these enterprises continue to face a host of other problems, ranging from lack of skilled manpower to the inflated price of raw materials. In Dharwad, Dakshina Kannada and Mysuru districts, more than 40,000 MSMEs have been identified whose productivity has suffered.

Although some MSMEs involved in the food and condiments sector registered a spurt in demand for their products, they were unable to exploit the opportunity to their benefit owing to the labour crunch.

Telangana Inc hails logistics policy, expects it to boost industrial growth

by

With the state cabinet giving its nod to the policy, Telangana Inc expects the policy to give a fillip to the overall industrial Growth in the state.

Lauding the policy, the Federation of Telangana Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FTCCI) said it expects that with better logistics Infrastructure the competitiveness of pharmaceuticals, engineering, Biotechnology, electronics manufacturing and E-Commerce can be enhanced. With the creation of Pharma City, Hyderabad will emerge as a logistics hub for life-sciences as well as other related industries. Telangana government is also actively pursuing a large number of theme-based industrial hubs like biotechnology, electronics, aviation, seeds, Food Processing, textiles, furniture and leather. All these parks and hubs require integration with logistics infrastructure,

As per the state logistics policy, Telangana will focus on development of a robust logistics infrastructure by encouraging investors to park funds in the development of multi-modal logistics parks (MMLPs), integrated logistics parks and large-scale storage infrastructure facilities across the state.

As per the policy, the government will be offering incentives for setting up of warehouses of capacity greater than 1 lakh sft and cold storage capacity greater than 20,000 sft.

Andhra Pradesh turns to EVs for govt staff in e-mobility push

by

The Andhra Pradesh energy department is procuring 25,000 electric vehicles (EVs) for government employees.

The Convergence Energy Services Limited, a Union Government entity, signed an agreement on Tuesday with New & Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh to provide 25,000 electric two-wheelers.

The State Government has already created a separate sub-category for electric vehicles and the electricity tariff has been fixed at Rs 6.70 per unit.

State energy minister Balineni Srinivasa Reddy that the energy department is providing affordable and clean power to give a fillip to e-mobility. The procurement of 25,000 electric vehicles will give a further push towards clean energy adoption. This would boost energy and financial Savings, said Reddy.

State asked to demarcate bird habitats in coastal plan

by

Making a case for formulation of a bird habitat management plan for the state, three senior birders from Goa have jointly stated in their written submission on the draft Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) that as several bird habitats havent been identified in the maps, the areas must be identified, protected and managed to ensure the persistence of the bird species and their populations.

Pointing out that only one bird nesting area, Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary at Charao, is marked along the entire coastline of Goa, they said that though this is an important area for birds, as highlighted by its protected status, there are many other parts of Goas coastline that require identification.

It is extremely important that a management plan specific to bird habitats for nesting, foraging, roosting and wintering is drafted and implemented. These areas also have a huge potential for well managed eco-tourism zones, Pronoy Baidya, Farai Patel and Omkar Dharwadkar said in their written submissions.

PMRDA to draft development plan for 23 villages merged with Pune Municipal Corporation

by

The Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) would draft the development plan for 23 villages recently merged with the PMC, a notification issued by the on Wednesday stated.

The government said the PMRDA would work as a special planning authority for the development plan (DP).

The state governments notification stated that the order had been issued under sections 40 (1) and 40(1)(D) of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act. The order stated that the roads in these villages were developed as per land availability and with no planned alignments. The order added that the width of the roads was not as per the requirement and the public amenities had not been developed.