15-16.05.21

On May 16, 1975, Sikkim became a part of the Indian Union. Since then, the 16th of May has been designated as Sikkim Statehood Day.Highlights:

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The Indo-Sikkimese Treaty was concluded in 1950. became an Indian protectorate as a result of this. Until 1975, Sikkim was controlled by the Namgyal dynasty.

Sikkim has become the first state in the country to go completely organic. In Sikkim, all farming activities are now conducted without the use of pesticides or synthetic fertilisers.

The World Heritage Kanchenjunga National Park is located in Sikkim.

River Teesta is the major river flowing in the state.

Lhonak, Lachung and Talung are the tributaries of Teesta. Teesta river is a tributary of Brahmaputra.

The residents of Sikkim are of Nepali origin.

The native Sikkimese consist of Bhutias. They migrated from Tibet in the 14th century. The Lepchas lived before the Bhutias.

New app likely soon for doorstep jabs for select group in Assam

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Prisoners, old age Home residents and people with special needs will be given the status of top priority citizens enabling them to get vaccinated at their doorstep.
With the support of chief ministerHimanta Biswa Sarma, thestate Health departmentis mulling over a new app for enlisting these beneficiaries. Apart fromvaccinationat workplaces, the health department is wary of encouraging door-to-door inoculation because if any adverse effect happens after the shot, urgent hospitalisation could be difficult.

Odisha: Puri Jagannath temple to unveil ambitious donation plan in May

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TheShree Jagannath Temple Administration(SJTA) inPurihas decided to float an ambitious donation plan in May to shore up the shrines revenue. The SJTA has set a target to raise the temples corpus fund to Rs 1,000 crore by 2023 Rath Yatra (June or July) from the existing Rs 650 crore.

The development assumes significance as the state assembly recently passed a unanimous resolution to allow devotees to contribute in cash or kind for the ambitious Jagannath heritage corridor project around the temple. Union ministerDharmendra Pradhanearlier urged the Puri king Dibyasingha Deb to lead a donation-seeking drive for Jagannath temple, akin to Nidhi Samarpan Abhiyan, a fund raising initiative for Ram Temple inAyodhya.

In the budget preparatory meeting, the temple administration has planned to make an allocation of Rs 50 lakh for servitors and their families for treatment of critical illnesses. The administration has also decided to launch Sevak welfare fund for servitors from the next financial year.

Tamil Nadu labour department to establish control rooms in 8 districts to help guest workers

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In a bid to ensure that guest workers continue to work inTamil Nadu, the labour department has decided to establish control rooms in eight districts across the state to extend relief measures during the pandemic.

According to a notice released by the , the control rooms will operate in Chennai, Kancheepuram, Thiruvallur, Chengalpet, Salem, Coimbatore,Tirupur, Krishnagiri andTirunelveli.

The department will work in coordination with other departments to extend relief measures to the guest workers.

CFR over 1% in 13 local bodies in Ernakulam: Report

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Some local bodies in Ernakulam have recorded a case fatality rate (CFR) of over one per cent, indicating the severity of thepandemic spread. As per the analysis report of the Health department till Tuesday, the CFR of more than 13 local bodies are above one per cent. It includes Covid deaths declared by the government and non-declared ones.

The highest CFR has been reported from Kadungalloor panchayat (1.56%), which is one of the local bodies that witnessed the highest number of Covid cases during the first wave. This is followed by Tripunithura (1.39%) and Choornikkara (1.31%). It indicates one out of every 100 infected persons in these local bodies has died of the infection.

The report also shows that the test positivity rates (TPR) of Choornikkara and Chellanam touched 61.72% and 60.76% respectively. The infection has spread equally across the state. The CFR of Kerala should be more as we dont miss many cases. But the state has suppressed many Covid deaths. They dont release the data on public domain. They have not declared the actual number of Covid deaths in Ernakulam.

In inoculating younger group, Karnataka tops in South India

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When it comes to vaccinating the 18-44 age group,Karnatakatops South Indian states, jabbing 1.3 lakh persons, while neighbouring states havent reached the 50,000 mark yet.

Data of the Union ministry of Health and family welfare shows that Nadu has administered 41,000 doses, while Kerala and Andhra Pradesh have done it for 7,401 and 4,605 respectively. Telangana has administered barely 500 and Puducherry only 4.

Nevertheless, Karnataka is way behind some North Indian states. While Rajasthan has administered 10.6 lakh doses, Bihar has given 8.9 lakh, Delhi 8.2 lakh, Uttar Pradesh 7.5 lakh, Maharashtra 6.7 lakh, Haryana 5.8 lakh and Gujarat 5.1 lakh. Assam and Odisha have given over 2 lakh doses.

Wearing masks reduces chances of death by 87%: Study

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A study by a group ofresearchersassociated withCenters for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC), the national public Health agency of the United States, has found that chances of deaths have reduced by 87 per cent if people wear medical masks. It also said wearing double masks is a better option to counter the UK variant ofCovid-19.

The study, which was conducted for about six months in the US, said that by wearing a cloth mask, the death rate had reduced by 82 per cent. The medical masks also helped in reducing the cumulative infection by 78 per cent and by 69 per cent if people wore cloth masks.

The study also enlightens the fact that those who are still reluctant to wear masks should do so immediately for their own good. The study made important observations on usage of double maks for protection against the UK and Wuhan variants. With strains still having a high Reproduction number of 1.6 (one infected person can infect 1.6 persons), the study also stressed on usage of double masks instead of a single mask.

Welfare corporations for 3 communities

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The has constituted three separate corporations for the welfare and development of upper caste communitiesKamma,ReddyandKshatriya.

The government said that the decision has been taken to extend institutional finance to the poor among the communities in order to achieve a balance in Society. The government had already created separate corporations for upper caste communities such as Brahmin, Vysya and Kapu.

He further said that the families from these communities laid more emphasis on Education of children for which agricultural lands were sold or mortgaged.

Oxygen plants under PM Cares fund yet to be set up in state

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During the hearing of public interest litigations pertaining to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was pointed out before the of Bombay at Goa that the twooxygenplants sanctioned for Goa under the PM Cares fund havent been setup yet.

Stating that eight of these Plants have already been setup in Madhya Pradesh, advocate Parag Rao, who represented petitioner Nandagopal Kudchadkar, submitted that these plants are essential to ensure uninterrupted and adequate Oxygen supply and also do away with dependence on oxygen supply from external agencies.

He also raised the issue of the Goa government approving Ivermectin as a therapeutic or prophylactic use medication, adding that it is neither approved by WHO, DCGI or international regulatory authorities.

Soon, drones will track mangrove hackers in Navi Mumbai, MMR

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In order to check and monitor encroachments and destruction ofmangroves, the Mangrove Cell of state forest department has decided to buy drone cameras, besides CCTV installations at sensitive mangrove sites in Navi Mumbai, Thane and other parts of MMR.

Destruction of MANGROVES has been rampant across Navi Mumbai and other parts of the state. It is right that the state forest department is taking the help of available technology to monitor activities along these green stretches. It must also work with authorities in Navi Mumbai to end all territory feuds so that the mangroves are saved.