21-22.11.21

Northeast Green Summit passes ‘conservation’ baton to Assam govt

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The number of recommendations made by experts from different fields in the three-day 6thNortheast Green Summitheld here will be summed up and handed over to theAssam governmentfor follow-up action, NITSilchardirector Sivaji Bandyopadhyay said.

The summit which ended on Thursday evening adopted several recommendations for harnessing the economic potential of eco services, biodiversity and wildlife conservation in the northeast region and using sustainable technologies in a post-Covid world.

One of the sessions underlined the need for sustainable technological solutions to decompose masks and other accessories being used during the Covid-19 pandemic, while another pointed to the “lack of political will” to save the environment by strictly enforcing laws.

Union minister of state for environment, forest and climate change Ashwini Kumar Choubey, who was the chief guest on the concluding day of the summit, warned against disturbing nature.

Assam: Dharmendra Pradhan opens two key infra projects at IIT-Guwahati

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Union minister for education, skill development and entrepreneurship,Dharmendra Pradhan, inaugurated the state-of-the-artCentre for Nanotechnology(CNT) and the Centre for Indian Knowledge System (CIKS), two major infrastructure projects in IIT-Guwahati.

He also inaugurated two hostels at the institute in the presence of state education ministerRanoj Peguand Guwahati MPQueen Oja.

The CNT aims at meeting future challenges and augment academic partnerships with industry in nanotechnology. The major funding for the centre, which included Rs 37 crore for the building, apart from equipment, was obtained from the ministry of education (MoE) and the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY). “It will host 25 advanced laboratories which will focus on advancements in multi-disciplinary, scientific and translational research,” said a spokesperson ofIIT Guwahati.

Berhampur cleanest city in Odisha for 3rd straight time

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The Silk City emerged as the cleanest city in the state for the third time in a row as theBerhampurMunicipal Corporation (BeMC) ranked top among the towns in Odisha and 56th in the country in theSwachhSarvekshan-2021, the results of which were announced on Saturday.

The BeMC was awarded the Swachh City award for topping in the Best Medium City in Innovation and Best Practices (3-10 lakh population) category for the second consecutive year.

Govt wants to make Tamil Nadu the face of India’s industrial growth, says MK Stalin

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Chief minister MKStalin said the government is aiming to makeTamil Nadunumero uno state in industrial growth in the country.

Addressing the gathering at a government function to inaugurate projects worth Rs 587 crore in Coimbatore on Monday, Stalin said Tamil Nadu should become the industrial face of India. Noting that each district has different industries, he said the government wants to study all these industries, analyse and help them grow.

As part of the efforts, Stalin said a host of MoUs would be signed at an industrial conference scheduled.

Listing out the development projects initiated by the government, he said Rs 1,000 crore has been allotted for Coimbatore airport expansion which has been stuck for ten years. Land acquisition would be done, and the project would commence soon, he said.
Stalin said that the government keeping its promise has issued an order for setting up a Coimbatore Urban Development Authority for overall development of the city.

10,000 acres of Kerala govt land leased out over years

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As much as 10,645.82 acre of government land in the state have been given on lease to various organisations, institutions and individuals by the government. As per the figures, the largest extents of land have been leased inKasaragod(4,007.73 acre) and Idukki (2,859.36 acre).
However, 75% of the revenue from the leased land for the government comes from Thiruvananthapuram where only 262.74 acre has been leased out.

The lease rules are governed by theKeralaland assignment rules and assignment of land within municipal and corporation areas rules, 1995. While the former rule deals with the land in panchayat areas, the latter deals with the land in municipal corporations. There has been an exponential rise in lease rent ever since market prices of land witnessed a steep increase in the last one-and-half decade as the government fixes lease rules as a percentage of the market value of land.

Schools with poor enrolment to merge in Karnataka

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In a bid to draw more children to state-run schools, theKarnatakagovernment is planning to set up a model school in every gram panchayat by merging local schools, where number of new admissions is mostly in single digit currently.

Teaching and non teaching staff in such low-enrolment schools too will be absorbed into the proposed model schools.

The proposal comes in the wake of calls to create a better academic environment in government schools.

Statewide data captured by the department of public instruction (DPI) revealed that as many as 3,179 lower primary schools and 219 higher primary schools run by the department have less than 10 students this academic year.

In total, 10,588 schools run by the DPI have up to just 20 students each. The finding has raised a serious question whether these institutions should be continued or merged with the nearest schools.

Schools in the same panchayats where student strength is abysmally low will be merged into one single institution. Funds will be pooled for the new school to add facilities, and to delegate more teachers.

IIT-Hyderabad steps up to preserve Dhokra crafts; digital repository to trace design evolution

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men and encourage younger generations of the Ojha families to adapt to and safeguard their ancestral craft practices, the Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad (IIT-H) has conducted a workshop. The institute will also be creating a digital repository of the traditional artifacts to trace the design evolution of the Ojha craft.

The workshop focussed on training the younger generations of the Ojha community in the traditional Dhokra crafts under the supervision and training of the master craftsman who was chosen from the Ojha community.

The institute will be creating a digital repository of all the artifacts created in the workshop by using photogrammetry and 3D digital printing which will be useful for the researchers for further studies as well as for the visitors from all over the world to get insights into the cultural heritage of the Raj Gonds and associated communities and their traditional practices.

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.

Poor infra, potholed roads mark industrial estates: Industries body

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The government continues its step motherly treatment towards the statesindustrialsector with infrastructure, particularly roads, being left in a bad state, said Goa State Industries Association (GSIA).

Chief minister Pramod Sawant had directed the PWD to repair all national highways, state highways and major district roads by November 1. However, roads in industrial estates were not repaired.

GIDC is harassing the industries at every possible opportunity to extract money to pay their salaries and other administrative costs. Exorbitant fees are charged to issue construction licences. For extension of construction licence, three times of the fees are charged, which works out to more than erecting a simple industrial shed.

Swachh Survekshan 2021: Mumbai ranks 37 but tops innovation

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Even as Mumbais rank slipped to 37 inSwachh Survekshan 2021from 35 in the nationwide sanitation survey of cities last year, it won an award for the best mega city in innovation and best practices.
In MMR, by comparison, Thane maintained last years 14th rank while Navi Mumbai slipped a rank to fourth from third in 2020. They were ranked among 48-odd cities with a population of more than 10 lakh.

Navi Mumbai, though, has bagged the cleanest big city award in the country by achieving the first rank in thecategory of 10 to 40 lakh population. It has also become the second best performing city in India, for which its civic corporation, NMMC, got a Rs 6 crore reward.

Maharashtraranked second in the category of states with more than 100 urban local bodies while retaining its second rank last year among the best performing states.
Swachh Survekshan2021, under Swachh Bharat Mission, is conducted by the ministry of housing and urban affairs every year.