16.02.23

The State Government has decided to set up eight new Urban Primary Health Centres (UPHCs) under the National Urban Health Mission (NUHM).

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A notification issued by the Health Department said the UPHCs would be set up at Jajpur and Vyasanagar in Jajpur district, Rairangpur in Mayurbhanj, Malkangiri town, Soro in Baleswar, Rajagangpur in Sundargarh, Talcher in Angul and Cuttack city.

The Government has also decided to transform 147 health facilities into high-case load facilities in the first phase under the 5T initiative Ama Hospital by October this year. The district Collectors would implement the scheme with the assistance of the District Level Committee (DLCs).

The districts liked to the Odisha Mineral Bearing Area Development Corporation (OMBADC) and the District Mineral Foundation (DMF) can utilise the funds from the two sources for execution of the Ama Hospital scheme.

The funds for implementation of the scheme would be provided out of the State Budget, which would be placed with the district Collectors of non-DMF districts.

India moving on fast pace to develop rail connectivity in northeast

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India is very keen to develop the of its north-eastern region and it is going that extra mile to fulfil it. To enhance the rail connectivity and Infrastructure Development in the North-eastern region of India, as many as 59 RAILWAY stations would be developed with world class facilities, Indias Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stated recently. Vaishnaw informed that 15 stations each in all divisions of Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) are to be developed under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme.

In the Union Budget 2023-24 presented by Union Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Parliament last week allotted 2.4k lakh crore for the Development Of Railway infrastructure in the country. Indian Railways (IR) is on a mission to connect the northeast with the rest of the country, and keeping this as a priority Bairabi-Sairang Rail Line Project (51.38 km) is about to get completed.

Rooftop solar can help MSMEs

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With barriers in place to generate and consume solar power, installing rooftop Solar System and opting for group captive power purchase system are the viable for Micro, Small and Medium enterprises (MSME) sector, provided certain charges currently levied are moderated, said senior advocateRahul Balaji, who specialises in energy related disputes.

He was addressing a gathering comprising representatives of MSMEs at a workshop on Solar Energy for MSMEs inTamil Nadu, organised by the Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Auroville Consulting along with World Resource Institute (WRI). With exorbitant open access charges and cross subsidy surcharges levied by Tangedco, it is hard for MSME to see benefits in setting up solar Plants for captive consumption, he said.

Farming of nutritious millets gets Goa boost

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Even as the stature rises in the realm of superfoods, Goasagriculture departmentis all set to reclaim the states forgotten millets finger tail (nachni) and foxtail (vari). While cultivation of these millets was around 100 hectares three decades ago, its now just around 20 hectares.

While the millet was never widely grown in Goa, the tiny grain gradually lost ground to paddy, as the support price and comparatively bigger yields madefarmerschoose the latter.

In 2022, a survey by the Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture department found just around 250 farmers grow the two types of millets. This cultivation takes place in the hilly areas of five talukas Canancona, Pernem, Quepem, Sanguem andValpoi. Paddy, on the other hand, is grown across 33,677 hectares across Goa.

Most farmers have a small area 500-1,000 sqm under millet cultivation in Goa. While the agriculture department wants to enhance this area, farmers will be encouraged to take up millet cultivation in smaller portions, said the agriculture director.

A scheme is being drafted to improve the quality of produce by having better quality of millet seeds at a subsidised rate. He said that trials have also been done.

Karnataka gets 1st elephant care centre in Kolar

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Karnataka’s first-everElephant Care Centrehas come up at Kajikallahalli vilage, near Kolar and 55km from Bengaluru, reports Ranganath K.

Set up by the forest department in association with Bengaluru-based NGO Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre, the Kolar centre will look after destitute, aged, diseased and injured elephants at its campus spread over 20 acres. The facility, located off Bengaluru-Chennai NH, currently houses four female elephants.

The injured and diseased elephants will be not only treated but also provided with environs that will enable them to recover and get back to their active selves again,V Yedukondalu, deputy conservator of forests, Kolar district, said.
According to him, many elephants attached to religious places are prone to Health issues as they are made to stand for long hours and fed plenty of bananas and other food stuff offered by devotees.

Telangana a role model in welfare for disabled: CM K Chandrasekhar Rao

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Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said the was making every effort to help disabled people.He said .

He said Telangana has set set an example for the entire country in the welfare of the disabled.

The CM said the government is providing 3,016 monthly pension to every disabled person in every family.When AP was a combined state, they were getting only 500 pension, he recalled.

Startup to train pilots to operate drones in Andhra Pradesh

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A new era is dawning in the field of drones in AP with the increase in use of drones in agricultural, non-agricultural and industrial sectors. To cater to this demand, a startup has taken up the initiative to train and produce expert drone operators.

Drogo Drones, a startup company, has started a training center for pilots operating drones at Tadepalli in Guntur district ofAndhra Pradesh. Managing director of Drogo Drones,Yashwant Bontu, said that representatives of the office of the Director General ofCivil Aviation(DGCA) visited the company’s office and conducted inspections and issued a no-objection letter.

Goa Industrial Development Corporation to create digital land bank afresh, focus on dues

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In yet another attempt to bring in transparency and provide online Services to entrepreneurs and industrial units, Goa Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) has decided to create a digital land bank of all industrial estates by October.

The GIDC board and gave its approval for an aerial survey of all industrial estates, which will help monitor encroachments and allow entrepreneurs to identify vacant plots.

GIDC chairman Alexio ReginaldoLourencoalso announced that the board has accepted the need for a one-time settlement scheme for defaulting industries which have not paid lease rent and other charges for several years.

In 2020, the Centres Department for Promotion of and Internal Trade launched the countrys first digital industrial land bank and Goa was among the first seven states to map industrial land as part of the national GIS-enabled land bank system.

Soon, hair transplants at dental clinics in Maharashtra

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Oral and maxillofacial surgeons, a super speciality in dentistry, will now be allowed to perform aesthetic surgeries and hair transplant procedures.
The Dental Council of India (DCI), a statutory body of dentists, issued guidelines for this practice recently.

The move would bring about a major change in the hair transplant . Along with dental treatment, hair transplant facility will soon be available in government or private dental clinics.

Maharashtra State Dental Councilmembers said it is likely to take some time to introduce this new department in government dental hospitals.

Ground water conservation a priority for Haryana government: Dushyant

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Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala on Saturday said that water conservation is the need of the hour and the government has fixed a budget of Rs. 1,100 crores for it this year.

He said that a significant number of borewells in the city of Faridabad had stopped functioning as a result of the decline in groundwater levels. Due to this, a large number of people are not getting portable drinking water. He said that when this matter came to notice, it was asked to find an expert agency for recommendations.

After extensive research, it came to Light that some people in Maharashtra are working on reviving the stalled borewells. Thereafter, these people were contacted and the entire work was taken up by Awaaz Foundation and Rotary Club. Now, this project is being started in Faridabad city and initially, 100 borewells will be revived under it. He said that in this project, a borewell will cost Rs. 50,000. Rotary Club and Awaaz Foundation will jointly contribute to it.