18.06.21

DoNER ministry to identify ten underdeveloped Northeast districts

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The Union DoNER ministry will identify 10 underdeveloped districts in the Northeast within a week with the aim of improving the living conditions in these districts by ensuring smooth delivery of goods and Services.

These districts, lagging behind in most Governance and development parameters, will be over and above the 14 aspirational districts shortlisted earlier, based on 49 key socio-economic indicators.

The aspirational district development programme is aimed at helping the overall improvement in the index in the districts having very poor socio-economic parameters.

There are 117 aspirational districts in the country identified by NITI Aayog, which also monitors the development in these districts.

The DoNER minister has also directed officials to prepare a comprehensive Database of developmental projects in each of the eight northeastern states in the past seven years and showcase the marked improvement in all the sectors in comparison to the previous 63 years.

Assam’s popn policy discriminatory: IUML

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TheIndian Union Muslim League(IUML) has condemned theAssamgovernment’s proposed Population policy and labeled it not only “discriminatory” but also “anti-secular and unconstitutional”.

It also slammed Assam chief minister Himanta BiswaSarmafor advocating a two-child norm for availing benefits under specific schemes and omitting certain communities from it.

Assam currently has a two-child norm, along with requirements of minimum educational qualifications and functional sanitary toilets, for contesting in gaon panchayat polls as per an amendment in 2018 to the Assam Panchayat Act, 1994.

Odisha government launches e-learning methods for students

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After launchingYouTubeclasses for students of Class IX and X, the launchede-Pathsalaand e-Mulyankan facilities keeping in mind disruption of classes during the ongoing pandemic. These online platforms will benefit students, teachers and district Education officers (DEOs).

The e-Pathsala is an online Learning platform that has repositories of e-contents in the form of documents, audios and Videos. The e-contents will support different areas of online learning like self-learning, online classes, assignments, assessments and evaluation of the learners progress. The e-Mulyankan platform is designed to act as a digital bank of practice tests and model question so that the students can practice for examinations. The teachers can conduct tests, mock examinations and final examinations through the e-Mulyankan platform.

The department has also started identifying dropouts and migrant children through door-to-door surveys. Mainstreaming the children is also a priority for the department.

TNAU ranked third among state agricultural universities

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Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) has been ranked first among agricultural universities in the southern States and third among the State agricultural universities in the country.

The ranking was done by Education World India magazine which conducts a survey on educational institutions every year and ranks them.

The ranks are based on faculty competence, faculty welfare & development, research and innovation, curriculum and pedagogy (digital readiness), Industry interface, placements, Infrastructure, internationalism, Leadership/Governance and range and diversity of study programmes.

Vodafone Idea becomes first telco to bring connectivity to Parapatta in Kozhikode

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Telecom operatorVi(Vodafone Idea) has announced that it has become the first telecom company to provide service in Parapatta Village,Kozhikode,Kerala.

The company, in a press statement, said that around 150 students staying in Parapatta, Kodenchery Gram Panchayat didnt have access to mobile data connectivity causing a hindrance to online classes.

As Keralas largest and fastest 4G telecom service provider serving over 1.6 crore customers across the length and breadth of the state, Vi is committed to provide the finest voice and data Services to enable our customers to get more, do more and stay ahead in life. It is a matter of pride for Vi to be an enabler in the academic pursuit of these young students from Parapetta.

Tulu Language Speakers Demand Official Language Status

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A large number of people and organisations have launched an online Twitter campaign demanding that Tulu be designated as an in Karnataka and Kerala. Many languages have been designated as “official” by the Indian government. They are enshrined in the constitution’s Eighth Schedule.

Tulu is a Dravidian language that is mostly spoken in the Karnataka districts of Udupi and Dakshin Kannada, as well as Kasaragod in Kerala.

According to the most recent census data, approximately 18 lakh people in India speak the language.

Scholars contend that Tulu is one of India’s earliest Dravidian languages, with historical records dating back 2000 years.

According to Robert Caldwell, Tulu is a highly developed language of the South-Indian language family.

The demand is primarily for the language to be designated as an official language and to be included in the constitution’s 8th schedule.

The Tulu language has a rich literary tradition that includes both folk and oral literature. In some places, the well-known theatre art Yakshagana is also performed in Tulu. Many films and plays are produced in Tulu. Tulu has been added to the Karnataka school curriculum as a third language to be studied.

Telangana complains to KRMB on AP Rayalaseema lift irrigation scheme

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Alleging that AP government was going ahead with construction ofRayalaseema LiftIrrigation Scheme (RLIS) onKrishnaagainstNational Green Tribunal(NGT) orders.

TheTelanganagovernment asked the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) to prevent the AP proceeding with the construction and also send a fact-finding committee to see the ground situation.

The government said the neighbouring state was even violating the NGT order not to go ahead with the construction without getting environmental clearance.

33% area under Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority to be urbanised by 2041

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The has recently brought 13 more mandals in Visakhapatnam district and Merakamudidam Mandal in Vizianagaram into VMRDA limits, increasing the extent to 7,328 square kilometres. However, the master plan is yet to be prepared for the recently merged mandals, spanning about 2,455 square kilometres.

The existing land use in the core urban areas will undergo urban regeneration and transformation, whereas the peripheral areas of Growth are delineated based on demand and future projections for the horizon year 2041. The total developed area as of 2019 in the VMRDA is 963 sq. km, which is around 15% of the total area of the VMR.

The master plan envisages locating the majority of large industries south of dolphin hills in the existing industrial zone. The cleaner and resource-based white industries can be distributed in other parts of the region. As a whole, 177 square kilometres industrial areas are proposed to be developed in the plan. In principle, white industries are proposed in Vizianagaram.

As per the master plan, mixed use is more advantageous as the area can be developed for multiple compatible purposes with economic importance. The master plan envisages approximately 77 sq. km of mixed-use development, which is approximately 1.2% area of the VMR and approximately 4% of the developed areas in VMR.

Goa, which has 0.1% of Indias area, has 37% of its listed birds

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During the last winter season, whenbirdersset out on their annualbirding expeditionacross Goa, they were delighted to have spotted four new species in the state. This has taken the number of listedbirdsfound in Goa to 481, which is almost 37% of the tally of birds listed across India, though it is the smallest state in terms of geographical area.

Malabar starling, chestnut winged cuckoo, great bittern and white browed fantail are the newest bird presence recorded in the state.

Goas recorded bird species roughly constitute 5% of the total 10,000-odd bird species listed globally.
Compare the geographically tiny states 481 to the 525 bird species listed in the vast state of Karnataka. This has helped make Goa a popular destination with birdwatchers from India and abroad.
Peru has the largest number of birds listed for any country in the world with its count standing at 2,000, while the recorded bird species in India are between 1,200 and 1,300, of which Goa has nearly 481.

‘Low-cost sensor networks could be the answer to dense air quality monitoring in the future’

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An MPCB-IITKanpur-Bloomberg study has revealed that new low cost pollution or air quality sensors are showing an efficacy of 85% over earlier monitors. MPCB and other experts recommend it could be a good option to make the Mumbai region’s monitoring Network more dense and sensitive to pollution by monitoring additional hotspots. The move, they say, may help the administration take immediate corrective actions to keep air clean.

Twenty low-cost sensors developed by indigenous start-ups have shown an accuracy of nearly 85-90% vis–vis regulatory grade monitors during a seven-month pilot project conducted by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) in PARTNERSHIP with Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K) and Bloomberg Philanthropies.

These were among a fleet of 40 low-cost sensors developed by four different start-ups and deployed for the study. The findings reveal that sensors from three start-ups saw a Percentage error (measured with respect to true value measured by CAAQMS) of less than 25% for uncalibrated values. After calibration the error was reduced to less than 15% for three types of sensors and 20% for the fourth type.

The study was conducted between November 2020 and May 2021 when 40 low-cost monitoring sensors were installed alongside MPCBs 15 existing continuous (real-time) ambient air quality monitoring stations (CAAQMS) – Colaba, Worli, Sion, Bandra, Vile Parle, Kurla, International Airport, Powai, Kandivali, Mulund, Borivali, Vasai, Mahape, Nerul, Kalyan.


The study was conducted between November 2020 and May 2021 when 40 low-cost monitoring sensors were installed alongside MPCBs 15 existing continuous (real-time) ambient air quality monitoring stations (CAAQMS) – Colaba, Worli, Sion, Bandra, Vile Parle, Kurla, International Airport, Powai, Kandivali, Mulund, Borivali, Vasai, Mahape, Nerul, Kalyan.

The findings of the study have thrown open the possibility of expanding not only Mumbai region but the countrys monitoring network at a fraction of the cost. While regulatory grade monitors could cost upward of Rs 20 lakhs, the start-up built small sensors cost around Rs 60,000.