20.11.21

Swachh Survekshan: Assam’s Tezpur named cleanest city in the northeast

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Tezpur in northernAssamhas been ranked as the cleanest city in thenortheastin the Population category of 50,000 to 1 lakh in the Swachh Survekshan ratings announced on Saturday.

In the 1 to 10 lakh population category, under which major cities and capitals of NE comes, Dibrugarh is the cleanest in the region ranking 311 followed by Guwahati (312), Nagaon (334), Silchar (346). Out of the 372 cities ranked in this category, Shillong’s ranking is 371. Aizawl is at 359 andImphalis 365. Agartala has been ranked 356, whereas Dimapur is ranked 322. State capital Guwahati has inched up to 312 from 403 scored last year.

Among the states with less than 100 in the northeast, Nagaland is the cleanest, ranking 6th. Interestingly, another tribal-inhabited state Jharkhand topped the list in the same category in India. However, Meghalaya is ranked at 14. Mizoram and Manipur are in the top 10 occupying 9th and 7th positions respectively.

Nine towns from Assam——Tezpur, Golaghat, Bongaigaon,Kokrajhar,Tinsukia, Hailakandi, Haflong, Jorhat and Lakhipur (Cachar) have been able to secure ranks in the Swachh Survekshan League 2021 in different categories.

Golaghat in upper Assam has been adjudged the cleanest city in the northeast in the 25,000 to 50,000 population group. On the other hand, lower Assam’s Bongaigaon is the best city in innovation and practices in the 50,000 to 1 lakh population group.

Swachh Survekshan League was introduced with the objective of sustaining the on-ground performance of cities along with continuous monitoring of service level performance when it comes to cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that five colleges in the state will soon be upgraded to universities in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. He said that key decisions regarding the timely implementation of the NEP in the state will be taken at the next weekly Cabinet meeting.

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The chief minister said that in the next state Cabinet meeting, scheduled for November 25, the structure for the educational institutions under the NEP will be approved, determining which institutions will be for fundamental, primary or senior secondary levels.

He maintained that the NEP has been adapted to the times by incorporating the new scientific thinking of the 21st century and is also synchronised with the basic tenets of India’s civilisation, which is based on the foundation of knowledge and wisdom.

The chief minister hoped that the conclave would result in finalising a roadmap for implementation of NEP in the North East region to convert the policy into action and set timelines to realise the dream of a new India.

Study reveals over 30% school toilets in Odisha are unusable

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A study conducted by three voluntary organisations revealed that 30.77% schools inOdishado not have usable toilets.

With schools reopening, the organizations have urged the to prioritise building and maintenance of school toilets.

Lack of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in a school is linked to interest of students to attend classes. But many schools in rural areas do not have proper washrooms or drinking water facilities.

The study was conducted jointly by Atmashakti Trust and its allies – Odisha Shramajeebee Mancha and Mahila Shramajeebee Mancha, Odisha. The survey was conducted across 10,043 government-run schools in 82 blocks of 18 districts.

The study revealed that 3,438 schools (34.34%) do not have drinking water facilities. “Safe drinking water in schools not only keeps school-going children free of dehydration and sickness, but also helps in bringing down absenteeism,” it stated.

Tamil Nadu govt policy for kids to prevent abuse, violence

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In the wake of recent suicide by a girl student in Coimbatore, theTamil Nadugovernment on Saturday released a Nadu State Policy for Children 2021 to ensure prevention and protection of children from all forms of violence, abuse and exploitation.

The policy says every child shall have access to quality healthcare and Education and will be able to freely express his or her views on any issue concerning him/ her. The policy, which was released by chief minister M K Stalin, says, The government of Tamil Nadu resolves to build a safe and secure Environment and child friendly spaces as foundation for realisation of the rights of all children in the state.”

Forming internal complaints committee in all schools under POSH Act (The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act, 2013) and conducting awareness campaigns against all forms of violence against children and its negative impact on children, laws/ institutions to be accessed or approached for redressal, implementing highest standards of safety and security within all child care institutions, building a preventive, responsive children protection system, promoting effective enforcement of legislation are some of the measures suggested in the policy.

Wildlife crimes rise by 100% in a year in Kerala

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Wildlife-relatedcrimeshave increased dramatically in the state and there has been a100%rise in the number of cases registered in 2020 compared to the previous year.

According to data obtained under the Right To Information (RTI) Act, the state registered 303 cases in 2020 as against 151 in 2019 and 61 in 2018. As many as 156 cases were recorded in the state in 2021 till August 26 this year.

Most cases pertained to poaching of endangered animals and reptiles, hunting for meat and illegal trading and possession of horns, tusks, nails, and teeth. Removing tusks or nails and collecting meat from animals that died naturally is also an offence. More than 80% of the total cases registered each year are in connection with poaching of wild animals other than wild boars that cause extensive damage to standing crops.

Besides wild boars, sambar deer, spotted deer, porcupines, monitor lizards, pythons, civets and turtles are among those that fall prey to poaching. Occasionally, elephants, leopard, tigers and wild gaurs are also hunted down, say the data.

Bengaluru ranked Fastest Mover mega city; 28th in cleanliness

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Notwithstanding the flak it gets on the cleanliness front, Bengaluru bagged a top Swachh City Award as the Centre announced its SwachhSurvekshan-2021 surveyresults.

The city is ranked first as theFastest MoverMega City, in the 40 lakh plus Population category.
The tech capital secured 28th spot in cleanliness among 48 with more than 1 crore population. In 2020, Bengalurus ranking had slipped to 214, from 194 it held the preceding year. The tighter population-wise category wasnt introduced then.

The award and improvement in overall ranking comes as a shot in the arm for Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike. BBMP chief commissioner Gaurav Gupta, solid Waste Management special commissioner Harish Kumar and joint commissioner Sarfaraz Khan received the award in New Delhi.

Swachh Survekshan 2021: Hyderabad 1st in self-sustaining category

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In a major achievement, Hyderabad bagged the title of the Best Self-Sustaining City in the above 40 lakh Population category. This was announced in Swachh Survekshan2021 Awards list released by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).

Not just the Greater Hyderabad (GHMC), seven other Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) inTelangana, bagged prestigious Swachh Survekshan awards. The awards are a national recognition of cities efforts on different parameters of cleanliness.

The GHMC also bagged a spot as one of the Garbage Free Cities. It was given a three-star rank, under Star Rating Protocol of Garbage Free Cities. A total of 143 cities have been certified as threestar.

Telangana was also ranked second among states under Safaimitra Surkasha. Launched by the MoHUA, this category aims to recognise states that are trying to eradicate human fatalities from hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks.

Andhra Pradesh cities continue winning streak in Swachh 2021 survey

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Major cities ofAndhra Pradesh-Vijayawada,Tirupatiand Visakhapatnam – continued their winning streak in Swachh Survekshan 2021.

Vijayawada emerged as the thirdcleanest cityin the country, while Vizag retained its ninth position from last year’s survey in the category of cities with more than 10 lakh Population.
Tirupati stood third place in the category of cities with a population of one to 10 lakh population. Other major cities that made their mark in the same category were Rajahmundry (41st rank), Kurnool (70), Kakinada (103) and Nellore (107).

In overall rankings (cities with more than one lakh population), Vijayawada occupied third place, Tirupati seventh place and Vizag 18th rank. These cities also got several individual Awards.

A new category, ‘Prerak Dauur Samman’, was introduced as part of the 2021 survey to classify cities on six indicators.

Cities were categorised as ‘platinum’, ‘gold’, ‘silver’, ‘bronze’, and ‘aspiring’, based on their performance on select indicators from the SS-2021 ‘Service Level Progress’. Tirupati was classified a ‘platinum’ city, alongside Indore, Surat, Central Delhi and Thane. Vijayawada and Rajahmundry have been categorised as ‘gold’ as per the survey. Kadapa, Kurnool and Madanapalle have made it to the ‘silver’ list.

Indore retained the top position as the cleanest city for a fifth consecutive year.

Goa falls short of afforestation goals, plants just 53% of target

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Goa has earned the dubious distinction of being among four states that have fallen furthest short of its compensatoryafforestationtarget. The state has only carried out 53.9% of what it set out to achieve, putting it in the league of Arunachal Pradesh (53.8%), Jharkhand (54.2%) and Mizoram (31%).

The targets are set by the national compensatory afforestation fund management and planning authority (Campa), which carried out a review on the subject on October 29. Goas less-than-ideal achievement here puts it far behind the national Average of 88%.

The state has carried out afforestation to the extent of 3,541 hectares so far. In 2020-21, Goa spent Rs 23 crore of Campa funds for compensatory afforestation.

The national authority noted that Goa carried out monitoring and evaluation of its afforestation activities under Campa through an independent body, the centre for Environment Education. The audit found that the survival rate of saplings planted for afforestation was 80% in Goa, which was far better than other states.

To be able to achieve the target of zero balance of compensatory afforestation, states have been asked to start work immediately, including that of setting up of nurseries.

Maharashtra halves excise duty on imported liquor to 150%

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Imported liquoris set to become considerably cheaper inMaharashtrawith the state slashing excise duty on this segment by a steep 50%from 300% to 150%in an attempt to crack down on smuggling and bootlegging.

Thus, the price of a 1000ml imported liquor bottle like of Scotch whiskey, which ranges from Rs 5,800 to Rs 14,000, will drop by 35 to 40%.

This will put an end to illegal entry (of such liquor) into Maharashtra. We will be able to stop non-duty-paid liquor sales in the state and prevent the grey market. We hope to double revenue in this sector from Rs 100 crore to 250 crore in one year. Sales will go up from 1 lakh cases (bottles) annually to 2.5 lakh cases.

During the three financial years from 2016-17 to 2018-19, the excise revenue from imported spirits was around Rs 200 crore, according to officials. However, they said, the revenue dipped to Rs 100 crore during 2019-20 and 2020-21. This did not occur because of Covid but due to the sudden rise in sales tax.