21.10.21

Aerial link for three NE cities

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A link aircraft is set to connect three cities in the region giving passengers for onward connectivity with the rest of the country.

Expanding aerial connectivity between Kolkata Guwahati, Guwahati Aizawl, Aizawl Shillong, Shillong Aizawl, Aizawl Guwahati and Guwahati Kolkata routes. The service will be available every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

The frontier state of Mizoram bordering Myanmar, a gateway to the northeast, has been the focus. Scindia said the city has an immense importance in the tourism and economic sector.

Under the UDAN scheme, the Centre has connected cities that had no mention on the aviation map. We have already started 60 Airports and 387 routes, out of which 100 routes are awarded in the northeast alone, and 50 are already operational. In 2014, only six airports were operational in northeast, now we have grown to 15 airports in seven years, Scindia noted. In addition to this, he added that under the KRISHI UDAN Yojna, the Centre has identified 16 airports to enhance the export opportunities of the region.

IIT-Guwahati starts course in data science, artificial intelligence

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The Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IIT-G) has launched a new B.Tech programme in data science and . The first batch of students will be admitted through the ongoing JEE Advanced 2021 counselling.

The vast opportunities that this field offers will fulfil the demands of having sufficiently qualified graduates to serve the nation in the future.

There is a growing demand for highly trained professionals in the fields of DSAI and this newly introduced course will emphasise on extending training in both theoretical as well as practical perspectives.

To attract investments, Odisha government plans textiles sector meet

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In a bid to attract investments to Odisha’s textile sector, the state industries department has planned a meeting with representatives from the on October 25. Senior officials of the Centre and the state will also attend the meet.

The State Government has taken this initiative in order to participate in the Prime Minister’s Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel Parks (PM-MITRA) scheme under which seven textile parks across the country will be built in five years to draw foreign direct Investment in the sector. A sum of Rs 4,445 crore has already been approved for the scheme.

The state would submit a formal proposal, seeking to establish a mega textiles park in the state, after the Centre notifies the scheme, issuing detailed guidelines. “Considering Odisha’s huge potential for Growth of the textiles industry, the state has listed it as a focus sector,” said an industries department official.

The state plans to set up two textile parks with common facilities and Infrastructure to support the entire value chain and draw investment. Under the PM-MITRA scheme, the Centre has assured to provide a capital support of Rs 500 crore or 30 per cent of the project cost (whichever is highest) to develop common infrastructure in the proposed textiles park.

Tamil Nadu inks Rs 1,815 crore BharatNet deal, to cover 12,525 villages

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After two false starts, when the multi-crore BharatNet project had to be scrapped after Corruption allegations, Nadu finally inked a pact marking the take-off of the project touted as info-highway of the future.

On Wednesday, Tamil Nadu FibreNet Corporation Limited (TANFINET) signed the master service agreement for the implementation of the BharatNet Project in Tamil Nadu with System Integrators — M/s L&T (Package C), M/s ITI Ltd (Package D) and Third-Party Agency M/s BECIL — in the presence of T Mano Thangaraj, minister for information technology.

The Rs 1,815-crore project will cover 12,525 village panchayats in Tamil Nadu through optical fibre cable with high-speed bandwidth connectivity. Tamil Nadu FibreNet Corporation Limited (TANFINET), a special purpose vehicle, is implementing the project in Tamil Nadu at a sanctioned cost of Rs 1,815.3 crore. The project aims to provide 1 Gbps bandwidth connectivity to all village panchayats.

Kerala: Education for tribal people

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Over 18,800 adult tribal learners who had their Literacy classes disrupted by Covid, too would resume their classes the same day under the Wayanad Total Tribal Literacy programme.

Literacy classes were suspended in the over 2,000 tribal hamlets in the district following the second lockdown in May.

A special SOP has been prepared for the resumption of literacy classes in tribal colonies with attendance restricted to 10 learners in a class and will be conducted in shifts adhering to Covid-19 protocols in the hamlets.

The pandemic had struck when the literacy mission had identified to cover the remaining 24,472 illiterate tribespeople in the third phase of the tribal literacy programme in the district. But following the first Covid lockdown last year, the plans to conduct classes too had to be shelved. Though classes resumed in February 2021, they had to be called off again on May 6.

Though Kerala continues to be the most literate state in the country, with 96.2% of literacy, the tribal pockets mainly in Wayanad and other tribal strongholds continue to lag behind.

Pressure mounts on govt to finalise tune for Naada Geethe

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The delay by the department of Kannada and culture in finalising the tune to which Kuvempus Naada Geethe (state anthem) is to be set has drawn criticism afresh from writers and litterateurs across the state. The department has been dragging its feet to finalise the official tune for the anthem Jaya Bharata Jananiya (Hail, Daughter of Mother India) for the past 17 years.

The department constituted two panels to decide the tune. While the first committee was reportedly in favour of Mysuru Ananthaswamy composition, the second one was believed to have leaned towards C Ashwaths version. Another committee constituted more recently and headed by senior music artiste HR Leelavathi, meanwhile, has recommended Ananthaswamys composition.

Real estate the major driver of Telanganas gross value added growth since 2014

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Telanganas gross value added (GVA) through service sector grew at a rate of 1.5 to 2 times between 2014-15 and 2020-21 with real estate a major contributor to this Growth. Real estate, dwellings and professional Services were the main drivers of the services sector, accounting for nearly 35 per cent of its GVA in 2020-21 the state GVAs single-largest sub-sector.

The GVA of real estate sector is expected to reach Rs 1.85 lakh crore in 2020-21, up from Rs 96,912 crore in 2014-15. Since then, the value of GVA increased by roughly Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 crore year-on-year. Lockdowns and slowing down of activities had no effect on service sector growth; Hyderabad plays a significant part in this.

The GVA of trade, repair, hotels and restaurants rose by a factor of two between 2014-15 and 2020-21. This, despite the Covid-19 pandemic. The GVA of this sub-sector is also expected to reach Rs 1.36 lakh crore this year.

According to experts, the states robust GVA in any area particularly the services sector represents a healthy trend. The states GST receipts are indicative of the trend but we should also look at the number of dwellings sold, not only income receipts, said A Nakula Reddy, director of Andhra Mahila Sabha College for Women and former professor at Osmania Universitys department of economics.

Between 2015-16 and 2020-21, Gross State Value Added (GSVA) which reflects the supply or production side of the economy grew at an annual Average rate of 11.6 per cent in , compared to national average of 7.8 per cent at current prices. Telanganas overall GSVA increased by 2.9 per cent in 2020-21 (PE), outpacing Indias GVA growth of 5.9 per cent.

State tops in fishery, lags in consumption

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Though Andhra Pradesh is the largest producer of seafood in the country, the state lags behind when it comes to its consumption. Fish is a good source of protein and omega-3 fatty acids which help heart. While the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends per capita fish consumption to be 18 kg, it is just 8.07 kg in Andhra Pradesh.

The state has a 974-km coastline and has rivers, canals, reservoirs, lakes and other waters bodies suitable for fishing and setting up of fish tanks. As per estimates, Andhra Pradesh produces over 42 lakh tonnes of fish per year and exports it to various parts in the country and abroad.

Govt depts told to update websites with relevant info

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Chief information commissioner Vishwas R Satarkar has instructed all departments to update their websites and proactively disseminate information under the Right To Information Act.

Satarkar said the commission will organise various programmes to raise awareness about the act and will try its best to reach out to every citizen.

The commissions revamped website, gsic.goa.gov, was also launched. Apart from information on the act, the website contains information on rules framed by the government, judgements and other details regarding the act.

The had approved grants in aid to the commission in 2009.

The amount provided under the relevant budget head to the commission for 2021-22 stands at Rs 2 crore.

Mumbai: State seeks to redevelop slums on Juhu airport

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The wants to redevelop the slums on Juhu airport. We want to propose to the union aviation minister that in return for giving us 50% of the airport land which is not required for aeronautical operations, we will give the Airports Authority of India (AAI) the other 50% of the land free of slums.

The proposal comes even as the state government in 2018 cancelled the reservation for an affordable housing scheme and restored the reservation for airport in the citys Development Plan 2034.

The government will also soon announce an amnesty scheme to restart 256 stalled schemes.