20.07.21

Gadkari inaugurates, lays foundation stone for 16 national highway projects in Manipur

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Union MinisterNitin Gadkari inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for 16 national highway projects inManipurwith an of Rs 4,148 crores covering a total length of 298 km.

According to theMinistry of Road Transportand Highways, the projects will provide all-weather connectivity to Manipur with the rest of the country and the neighbouring countries. These highway projects will boost agricultural, industrial and socio-economic progress of the region, besides facilitating Health care and emergency service to the remotest of the areas and generating EMPLOYMENT and self-employment opportunities.

The minister said that water, power, transport and Communication are the four most important things for the development of Industry, for generating employment and eradicating POVERTY.

Himanta inaugurates centre for disaster management and research in IIT Guwahati

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Chief minister Himanta BiswaSarmahas inaugurated a new Centre for Disaster Management and Research (CDMR) at Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati.

The new facility was inaugurated recently in the presence of Prof. RK Bhandari, former director, Central Building Research Institute (CBRI), Prof. T.G. Sitharam, director, IIT Guwahati, IITG faculty, researchers, and many national and international experts from around the world.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address delivered during 2020 convocation of IIT Guwahati, had requested the institute to establish this Centre for Disaster Management and Risk Reduction that will help the North-Eastern states in effectively managing various natural and industrial disasters.

The new facility was inaugurated during the Seventh edition of the prestigious quadrennial International Conference on Recent Advances in Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering andSoil Dynamics (ICRAGEE) conducted between 12th and 15th July 2021.

Odisha: Body cameras for prison staff, metal detectors in jails soon

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To strengthen the security systems in jails and streamline their management, the has decided to provide body cameras to prison officials and procure latest gadgets, including deep search Metal detectors, to trace hidden mobile phones in the cells of inmates.

A pilot project has been approved by the government for procurement of 20 body worn cameras for staff, 10 each forChoudwarandJharpadajails inCuttack and Bhubaneswar. In the subsequent phases, the body worn cameras will be supplied to other jails. The body worn cameras will keep a watch on the activities of notorious criminals and suspects inside the prisons.

Free schemes pave way for social justice, says Tamil Nadu minister

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The free schemes by theTamil Nadugovernment, which many continue to claim are regressive, are really schemes for social and Economic Development and has put the state above northern states on these two criteria, said minister for financeP T R Palanivel Thiagarajan.

Gold worth Rs 1.99 crore, weighing 4.38kg, was given to the beneficiaries. He said that the basic policy of the Dravidian movement was Equality in Education, wealth and job opportunities for Women.

The Average per capita income of a person in Tamil Nadu is Rs 2.5 lakh, whereas in states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh it does not exceed Rs 75,000, he said. This is the reason why schemes like the Thalikku Thangam are implemented in the state.

World Bank sanctions $125 million loan to Kerala

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As part of the states ResilientKeralaProgram, the (WB) has sanctioned 125 million USD to the state to support the states preparedness against natural disasters, Climate-change”>Climate Change impacts, disease outbreaks and pandemics.

The Resilient Kerala Program will focus on two key areas. First, it will incorporate disaster risk planning in the master plans of urban and local self-governments to ease financial constraints on the State Government when faced with unexpected shocks. Second, it will help make the Health, Resources“>Water Resources management, Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture and road sectors more resilient to calamities.
The program is part of a programmatic series of the bank-financed operations in the state.

The first Resilient Kerala Development Policy Operation (DPO) approved in June 2019 had undertaken several initiatives. It had helped the state draft a river basin conservation and management act, which will conserve and regulate water resources and ensure their sustainable management, allocation and utilization. It had also introduced climate-resilient agriculture, risk-informed land use and Disaster Management planning. The program laid the foundations for a five-year state PARTNERSHIP framework.

The support to key sectors under the program include sustainable fiscal and Debt Management through establishing a debt management unit in the finance department to support the states efforts to scale down its debt-to-GSDP ratio to a sustainable trajectory, providing timely and adequate assistance to vulnerable households, disaster and climate-resilient urban development, create resilient public health systems, ensure an integrated and sustainable Water Resources Management, ensure sustainable and resilient food systems and create a climate-resilient road Infrastructure.

Huge drop in Karnatakas fertility rate over past four decades

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BJP-governedUttar PradeshandAssamare moving towards a two-child policy. Karnataka, the state with the eighth-largest Population (nearly 6.5 crore), is considering a similar population-control measure. Recently, law minister Basavaraj Bommai said the was studying UPs draft law that aims to lower the gross fertility rate to 2.1 by 2026 and 1.9 by 2030.

But some experts argue that Karnataka doesnt need such steps, pointing to the decreasing total fertility rate, which is the number of babies each woman is expected to have during her reproductive years. The rate reached a record low of 1.7 births per woman in 2020 compared to 3.6 in 1981, according to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS).

Experts also say that a two-child policy may lead to issues such as an increase in female foeticide and unsafe abortions. The government has been making efforts to sensitise people, but data indicates that this practice is still rampant. Currently, Karnataka stands eighth among states with the most gender imbalance.

Conserve 14th century mandapam: Experts

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Experts asked the government to conserve Bhogini Mandapam, the 14th century royal dance hall, on Rachakonda hills.

Kings who ruled from Rachakonda patronised Bhoginis, royal courtesans, who were talented in singing and dancing.

Bhoga Mandapam, which survived till date atop a hill in Rachakonda, was constructed by Sarvagna Singa Bhupala, the Padmanayaka king of Rachakonda who ruled almost whole of Telangana during the last decades of 14th century.

Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams hundi collections down by Rs 800 crore in FY 2021

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The Covid-19 first wave has resulted in a decline of Rs 800 crore inhundi collectionsat Lord Venkateswara temple atTirumala.

In February, 2020,Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanamstrust board had approved a budget of Rs.3,310 crore for 2020-21 and pegged collections at Rs.1351 crore.

Due to lockdown, the temple was closed for worship for the first time in last 129 years.
The temple was opened in June 2020 with several curbs in line with Covid-19 guidelines, with impact on overall revenues including ticket collections, sale of prasadams, accommodation rentals and hundi collections.

As the 12-month period ended in March 2020, the Tirumala temple received Rs.545.95 crore in Hundi as against the estimate of Rs.1351 crore. But due to the second wave, the temple’s Hundi collections declined in the first quarter of 2021.

Nabard raises Goas credit limit to Rs 350 crore

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The National Bank for Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture and Rural Development () has agreed to increase the credit limit for Goa to Rs 350 crore, chief ministerPramod Sawantsaid atSakhali. Various projects are being implemented in the state in collaboration withNabard.

Nabard has agreed to complete any kind of project that the government hands over to them. This co-operation from Nabard will help Goa create good Infrastructure, Sawant said.
Sawant was speaking after inaugurating a mobile ATM van at Sakhali, to mark the 40th anniversary of Nabard.

Maharashtra: Bamu joins Mahyco to conduct agricultural research

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DrBabasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University(Bamu) has ventured intoagricultural researchby joining hands with a seed company.

The university has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with theMahyco Private Limitedfor the benefit of the students in presence of university registrar Jayashri Suryawanshi and chief science officer of the company Bharat R Char.

Utilizing technologies such as field-based phenotyping using drones will be one of the focus areas of MoU. The collaboration intends to help the farmers in identification of pest incidence in a pre-symptomatic manner, among other benefits.