19.11.21

In a bid to develop the sector in the northeast, Union minister of ports, shipping & waterways and AYUSHSarbananda Sonowalannounced a slew of major initiatives on Saturday for promotion ofAYUSH in Arunachal Pradesh.

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Participating in a programme at the North Eastern Institute of Ayurveda and Folk Medicine Research (NEIAFMR) at Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh, Sonowal announced an investment of Rs 53.72 crore to develop new infrastructure within the NEIAFMR campus. A new ayurveda college with a student capacity of 30, as well as a 60-bedded ayurveda hospital will be set up inside the campus at Pasighat, leading to direct employment of 86 posts, in addition to the existing capacity, he said.

The Union minister added that an academic block, two hostels for boys and girls, sports complex etc were also being planned for the future.

Smartphones at home but not for studies in rural Assam: Survey

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Smartphone availability at home for schoolchildren has doubled to 71% during the Covid pandemic in Assam and for the two northeastern states of Manipur and Nagaland it went up to 92% this year. But their access to smartphones for purposes of study remains a concern. For more than half of the schoolchildren, smartphones are available sometimes or not accessible at all.

This was revealed in the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2021, covering 581 districts across 25 states and three Union Territories in the country.

In the five northeastern states, where the survey was conducted, the smartphones were available at homes of 36.1% of the surveyed children of Assam in 2018. The corresponding figure in Manipur went up to 92.9% in 2021 from 53.4% in 2018. In Nagaland also smartphones were available with 92.9% children at home in 2021, though the same was 50% in 2018. For Meghalaya, the corresponding figures were 41.3% (2018) and 77.9% (2021) respectively.

In Assam, 51.4% of the surveyed children got access to smartphones for purposes of study sometimes, whereas for 22.9% it was not accessible despite being available at home. In Manipur, 39.9% got access only sometimes and for 24.5% it was not accessible. The corresponding figures for Meghalaya were 34.2% and 30.7% respectively.

Interestingly, in Nagaland, 41% got access to smartphones sometimes, though only for a mere 3.8% it was inaccessible. InArunachal Pradesh, 84.6% of the enrolled schoolchildren had smartphones at home in 2021. But 50.7% of them had access for study purposes sometimes, while it was not accessible for 19.9%. In Arunachal, which has a poor mobile network coverage in the vast hilly and mountainous terrain, only 57.3% children had smartphones at home in 2018.

Research manager of the study for Assam, Trishna Lekharu, told TOI that the demand for smartphones increased during Covid across India. Although the number of houses with smartphones increased, the level of their availability for children’s studies was low. The good news is that the availability of smartphones can help the government in delivering smart education through the digital media, she said.

ASER 2021 was a household rural survey conducted via phone. At an all India level, 67.6% children were found to have a smartphone at home.

Balasore awarded best marine district of India

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Balasorewas awarded as the bestmarine districtin the country. For the first time, a district from Odisha got this award.

Union minister for fisheries, animal husbandry and dairyingParshottam Rupalagave away this award at theWorld Fisheries Daycelebration.

Andhra Pradesh was awarded the best marine state, while Best Inland State Award was given to Telangana. Balaghat inMadhya Pradeshreceived the Best Inland district award and best hilly and Northeastern state and district awards were taken away by Tripura and Bongaigaon, Assam respectively.

Paradip is among the five major ports in India being developed as major fishing harbours. Odisha had received best marine state last year. Even Kalahandi district had received the best inland district award last year.

FinTech Governing Council Set Up By TN

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In order to become a worldwide fintech powerhouse, the Tamil Nadu government established a FinTech Governing Council.

Highlights:

Under the chairmanship of Industries Minister Thangam Thennarasu, the FinTech Governing Council was formed.

Vice Chairman of the Governing Council will be Chief Secretary V Irai Anbu.
Pooja Kulkarni, the Managing Director and CEO of Guidance Tamil Nadu, will chair the Governing Councils.

The announcement of the formation of this council coincided with the introduction of the fintech policy at the Investment Conclave.

On November 23, 2021, a business conference will be held in Coimbatore. MK Stalin, the Chief Minister, will preside over the event.

A New Tree Species Named After A Tribe: Cryptocarya Muthuvariana

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A group of scientists has discovered a new plant species in the Idamalakkudy colony in Idukki, which is home to the Muthuvar tribal population.

Highlights:

The plant was discovered by a team of scientists from the University of Kerala and the Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute (TBGRI).

Cryptocaria Muthuvariana, a new species of the plant named after the Muthuvar tribal group, has been discovered.

The Muthuvar Traibal community is vital to the forest’s preservation.

For the first time in the state’s history, a plant species has been named after a local tribe.

The Cryptocarya Muthuvariana tree belongs to the Cryptocarya genus. The tree reaches a height of 10 to 15 metres. It has leaves that aren’t very wide.

Muthuvans were Madurai dynasty’s faithful subjects. When the dynasty was overthrown, the remaining royal members fled to Travancore, Kerala.

While travelling, they took idols of Madurai Meenakshi, the royal family’s goddess. In Tamil Nadu, the word’muthuvar’ is used to refer to the same community.

Muthuvans are one of the country’s oldest tribes. This group is self-sufficient and averse to interacting with outsiders.

Ragi, lemon grass, and cardamom are among the plants they cultivate.

Karnataka sets up task group for fintech growth

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TheKarnatakaDigital Economy Mission (KDEM) in partnership with Indias top financial technology companies has launched afintechtask group under the leadership of RazorPay founder and CEO Harshil Mathur. The task group will work towards creating a projected roadmap for the growth of the industry, identifying the opportunities and challenges faced by the fintech ecosystem, and leveraging the partnering institutions and government to solve for them.B V Naidu, chairman, KDEM said, India has emerged as one of the worlds fastest-growing tech innovation hubs in the world, with fintech leading the charge as the industry has raised close to $10 billion in investment. Indias financial inclusion and digitisation success story has been made possible by the combined efforts of the government as well as tech innovations, fundamentally disrupting the way masses access financial services.

Taking a cue from this, KDEM launched the first Karnataka Fintech Task group, bringing together industry leaders to further pave the way for future innovations, founders, and citizens to participate in Indias fintech success story.Reports by FICCI and BCG (Boston Consulting Group) suggest that the Indian fintech sector will attain a valuation of $150-$160 billion by 2025. Karnataka is home to Indias leading fintech companies like Razorpay,Zerodha, Khatabook, and Cred. These companies are tackling issues ranging from digital payments adoption to offering efficient neo-banking solutions, investment avenues, access to easy credit. Apart from Mathur, the task group comprises Timmanna Gouda of Whatsloan, Miten Sampat of Cred and Nithin Kamath of Zerodha, among others.

Telangana: 10% workers to be brought under e-Shram every month

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The state government has begun the process to bring close to over one crore unorganisedworkersinTelanganaunder the ambit ofe-Shramplatform to make it easy for them to access social security benefits from state and central governments.

Around 4.5 lakh unorganised workers have been registered and given e-Shram cards by the state labour department under the central scheme launched recently. Such workers can use the e-Shram cards to avail benefits such as provident fund, employment injury benefit, housing, educational schemes for children, skill upgradation and even funeral assistance.
These e-Shram cards can be used across the country.

According to the Union ministry of labour and employment, any worker who is a home-based worker, self-employed worker or a wage worker in theunorganised sector including a worker in the organised sector who is not a member of ESIC orEPFOor not a government employee is classified as an unorganised worker.

AP govt engages itself in restoration of electricity in flood-affected districts

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Restoration of the inundated 132kv sub-stations gets the top priority among the goals theAP Transcohas set for itself in bringing normalcy to the flood-hit southern districts of the state.
With state energy minister Balineni Srinivas Reddy and AP Transco chairman and managing director N Srikanth constantly reviewing the situation, a team rushed to the districts to assess the damage as well as to illuminate the flood-ravaged areas.

As water entered the 220kv sub-station in Kadapa, it was decided to shut down the 132kv Vontimitta feeder and 160MVA power transformer, switch off the 220kv Renigunta CK Palli Rajampet DC line due to technical snag. Similarly, the rise of water in Peruru and Thummalagunta water bodies abutting Tirupati forced the authorities to shut down the 132kv sub-station, for which alternate supply is arranged from Alipiri and Renigunta sub-stations. Praveen Kumar said supply to the railways had been accorded top priority from Kavali and Gudur in Nellore district.

Goa gets cleaner, rises to 3rd position

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Goa notched up an impressive performance in the nationwideSwachh Survekshan 2021 cleanliness survey, climbing up the ranks to the third position among 14 states that have less than 100 urban local bodies.

Jharkhand continued to top the list, followed by Haryana. Goa was in the seventh position in the 2020 edition of Swachh Survekshan.

The state capital, Panaji, improved its rank marginally, climbing to 208 of the 304 cities with a population between 25,000 and 50,000. Panaji was placed at 213 in the 2020 edition of the nationwide exercise. Mapusa also made it to 238 among the 304 cities.

The ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA) organised the Swachh Amrit Mahotsav as part of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0, in order to recognise the good work done by states and cities.

In the state awards, Chhattisgarh emerged as the cleanest for the third consecutive year for states with more than 100 municipal bodies, while Jharkhand consolidated its position as the cleanest state by bagging the award for the second time among states with less than 100 urban local bodies.

In the 2019 edition of the cleanliness survey, Panaji took the 337th spot out of 4,203 urban areas, while Goa was ranked 18th among all states.

Main-Sequence Radio Pulse Emitters Discovered By NCRA Astronomers

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The National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA) in Pune has identified eight stars that belong to a rare type of stars known as Main-sequence Radio Pulse emitters, or MRPs.

Highlights:

The ‘Giant Metre-wave Radio Telescope (GMRT)’ in Pune was used to find MRPs.
A group of researchers identified a new type of radio star that is hotter than the Sun. They have extraordinarily powerful magnetic fields and even more powerful stellar winds. As a result, like a lighthouse, these stars generate powerful radio pulses.
Previously, the Giant Metre-wave Radio Telescope had detected three additional identical stars (GMRT). So far, 15 MRPs have been identified.
With GMRT, 11 MRPs were found. In the year 2021, eight MRPs were found.
In the year 2000, the first MRP was identified. Because of GMRT’s exceptional sensitivity, it was identified.