19.06.21

Assam govt announces free power supply to oxygen plants

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The Assam government announced free power supply to encourage setting up of new Oxygen Plants as well as revival of the closed ones to avert any shortage of the live-saving gas amid the coronavirus pandemic.

sources said the decisions will not only help enhance the production capacity to fight the challenge posed by Covid-19 but will also help Assam in its efforts to become the oxygen hub of the Northeast.

The demand for medical oxygen has gone up with the increase in Covid-19 cases in Assam and the Northeast.

Assam has been supplying 12-16MT of medical oxygen daily to Meghalaya.

Sarma has requested Sangma to ensure smooth transportation of goods and passenger vehicles from the Brahmaputra Valley to Barak Valley through Meghalaya, which has over 5,000 active cases with several areas under lockdown.

Assam to raise 10 NSG-type police commando battalions

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Assamwill raise specialpolice commando battalionson the lines of the National Security Guards (NSG) to guard the state’s land at inter-state borders, where frequent attempts of encroachment by miscreants from neighbouring states have been continuing for long. The commandos will also be deployed at other critical hotspots.

We want to raise 10 specialcommando battalionsand deploy them in critical areas like the Assam-Nagaland border where there are often law and order situations, at various sensitive areas in Tinsukia district, the Bodoland Territorial Region and hills districts where we need to have presence of our Police force,” chief ministerHimanta Biswa Sarmasaid after chairing the first conference with SPs of all districts at Kaziranga.

Bhubaneswar 4th among top 10 liveable capital cities in India

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The state capital has emerged as the fourth ranked city among the top 10liveable capital citiesin India in the Ease of Living Index Report 2020, released by the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) on Saturday. According to the report, Bengaluru is the most liveable capital city in India followed by Chennai and Shimla.

While Bhubaneswar scored 59.85 points in Ease of Living Index, Bengaluru, Chennai and Shimla got 66.7, 62.61 and 60.90, respectively. Mumbai fetched 58.23 points with Delhi getting 57.56.
Four parameters – Quality Of Life, economic ability, sustainability and perception of citizens – were used to determine the score on the Ease of Living Index. While theOdishacapital scored the highest – 94.8 points – in citizen perception survey, it did not do so well in ability parameter, managing just 11.57 ranking points out of 100.

Over 1,000 tonnes of O2 dispatched from Sterlite to Tamil Nadu districts

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The quantity ofliquid oxygendespatched from the two Oxygen Plants of sealed copper smelter plantSterlitecrossed 1,000 tonnes on Monday. In a statement, the company said the milestone was reached when a truck with 16.5 metric tonnes of oxygen left to the Tuticorin and Tirunelveli medical college hospitals.

It has been sent to 23 districts in Nadu Tuticorin, Tirunelveli, Madurai, Namakkal, Kanyakumari, Thanjavur, Krishnagiri, Dindigul, Theni, Karur, Thiruvarur, Sivagangai, Tiruchirappalli, Pudukottai, Nagapattinam, Salem, Ramanathapuram, Tenkasi, Virudhunagar, Ranipet, Kumbakonam, Mayiladuthurai and Dharmapuri. It is in addition to 712 cylinders with 4,984 cubic meters of gaseous oxygen supplied to five districts.

The plant with a capacity of 1,050 metric tonnes a day was reopened in the first week of May to produce oxygen under the direction of the apex court.

KSEB aces ease of doing biz survey in state

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KSEBhas bagged the first place in thesurveyconducted byKerala State Industrial Development Corporation(KSIDC) to identify the state-government institutions that have adoptedease of doing businessnorms.

KSEB has won 85 out of 100 marks in the survey. The survey has found out that KSEB was able to ensure hassle-free service to lakhs of consumers with consistency. The performance of the board was assessed through direct interaction with 3,000 select consumers of the state electricity board.

Of late, the board has taken several steps to improve the quality of service by adopting the latest technologies. The service at doorstep programme, 1912 call-centre facility, e-time for scheduling section office visit, self meter-reading facility for consumers, steps taken for easing procedures to apply for power connections were some of the recent consumer-friendly additions of KSEB.

Karnataka: Panels call for decentralisation a shot in arm for educationists

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The report submitted by the panel led byDr Devi Shettyhas recommended that the decision to reopen schools should be decentralised and left to individual schools and local authorities, a view that has come as a shot in the arm for educationists who have been demanding decentralisation.

The report, which was submitted to the government , said all decisions on reopening schools should be taken by authorities at district, taluk and village levels throughSDMC(School Development and Monitoring Committee) as per broader guidelines laid down by the government.

Telangana govt to give 1 crore Bathukamma saris this year

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Despite revenues being severely hit due to the pandemic, the has decided to go ahead with itsBathukamma sari distribution schemethis year too. So far, TRS governments have spent around Rs 1,200 crore on the scheme since its launch in 2017.

Continuing the scheme this year, the state has already placed orders for one croresarisworth around Rs 350 crore with power looms in Sircilla and other districts. However, production of saris has been affected due to the second wave of the pandemic as many workers went back to their villages and states fearing infection. Textiles department officials informed that workers have started coming back as the number of Covid-19 cases are receding.

BEE to prepare action plan to meet commitments in Paris Agreement

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In line with Indias nationally determined contributions (NDC) submitted under the Paris Agreement, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency is gearing up to prepare an action plan for 2021-30 to meet its NDC commitments with the support of states.

The AP State Energy Conservation Mission, the state designated agency of BEE, has come forward to support the efforts ofBEEin its endeavour to have clean by reducing emissions as per the International Conventions like Paris Agreement.

The BEE has urged state governments to aggressively promote energy efficiency and conservation to achieve comprehensive development. As part of this, the BEE held a stakeholders consultation meeting through a webinar to discuss on enhancing energy efficiency in key sectors, including Industry, MSMEs, buildings, electric appliances, transport, etc.

The BEE estimated that its activities related to energy efficiency and conservation would result in a reduction of 557 million tonnes of Co2 per annum by 2030. It also estimated that the energy-saving Investment potential of the country would be around Rs 10.02 lakh crore by 2031 under the moderate scenario, and Rs 13.20 lakh crore under the ambitious scenario.

Andhra Pradeshis the only state in the country to issue an order, giving directions to all government departments to set up energy conservation cells in all government offices within a month.

GIM bags top UN ranking for sustainability concepts

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Goa Institute of Management, Sakhali, got a huge shot in the arm as a United Nations wing recently rated it among the four best in the world for imbibingsustainability conceptsinstudents.

At theUNprinciples for responsible management Education (UN-PRME) global forum held this week virtually from New York,GIMwasrecognisedfor its social impact andsustainabilityachievements. Only four of the 46 business schools from 21 countries that participated in the positive impact ranking (PIR) report achieved the top ranking.

The PIR is a rating conducted by students and for students. This is the second edition of the PIR report, where students worldwide assessed their business schools on how they perceive their positive impact in the world. PIR is the voice of students around the globe, and what is most satisfying for us is that our main stakeholders our students have acknowledged institute commitment towards sustainability, responsibility and impact, said Parulekar.

Maharashtra: Ayurveda, Unani docs awaiting registration renewal from 2 years, claims NIMA

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More than 20,000 doctors practicing India medicine (Ayurveda& Unani) are still deprived of the registration renewal from their statutory body TheMaharashtra Council of Indian Medicine(MCIM) since over 2 years, claimed student forum ofNational Integrated medical Association(NIMA). This registration is must for them to continue their practice.

Interestingly, MCIM has revised registration fees from Rs50 to Rs2000. According to the officials, this revision was pending since 1960s. Doctors have agreed to pay this fees but still not getting the certificates of renewal. Doctors, especially PG students attached to NIMA have demanded that their PG specialization should be mentioned on the renewal certificate.