22.06.21

Except Meghalaya, cases declining in NE states

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A day after the Centre deputed multi-disciplinary teams to five states, which includes three NE states of Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura and Manipur that are reporting increased number of Covid-19 cases, DoNER minister Jitendra Singh on Saturday said there was progressive decline in the number of cases in the NE states, except Meghalaya.

The DoNER ministry, in a statement, said, The minister expressed satisfaction that all the NE states are catching up with national Average in terms of decline in positivity rate. Meghalaya is the only exception which witnessed a surge due to corona outbreak in a jail in district Ri-Bhoi.

Singh cautioned that decline in the active cases must be followed with greater thrust on vaccination and strict observance of corona protocol. He said he was in constant touch with all the eight chief ministers of NE states and whatever help is sought from the states is being promptly provided by the Centre.

Pygmy Hogs Released in the Manas National Park

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Eight captive-bred pygmy hogs, the worlds smallest and rarest wild pigs, were released in the Manas of Assam. This is the 2nd batch to have been reintroduced into the wild under the Pygmy Hog Conservation Programme (PHCP) in a year.

Pygmy Hog Conservation Programme (PHCP):

The PHCP is a collaboration amongst Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust of UK, Assam Forest Department, Wild Pig Specialist Group of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate-change”>Climate Change.

It is presently being carried out through NGOs – Aaranyak and Ecosystems India. Conservation of pygmy hog was initiated with the aid of cited naturalist Gerald Durrell and his trust in 1971.

The pygmy hog was added again from near-extinction by the PARTNERSHIP effort, and now transferring closer to the establishment of a Population throughout the entire range.

Six hogs have been captured from the Bansbari range of the Manas National Park in 1996 for beginning the breeding programme.

The reintroduction programme started in the year 2008 with the Sonai-Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary, Orang National Park and Bornadi Wildlife Sanctuary, all of them are in Assam.

By 2025, the PHCP plans to launch 60 pygmy hogs in Manas.

New draft ports bill may hurt Odishas maritime dream

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WithOdishaaspiring to be a major maritime state by exploring the potential along its 480 km-long coastline, the apprehends that the Indian PortsBill, 2021, if implemented, will be a major setback to that dream.

The state government has already raised objection to certain provisions in the draft Indian Ports Bill anticipating that the proposed legislation may end states control over non-major ports. If the ports bill gets implemented, the state government said it will centralize all powers with the Maritime States Development Council (MSDC).

At present, the Centre controls operation of major ports while coastal states or their maritime boards have full authority over non-major ports.

Besides, four more non-major ports one on the Subarnarekha river, a riverine port on the Mahanadi in Kendrapada district, one at Jatadhar river mouth and another at Astaranga are in the pipeline. There are eight other potential locations identified for development of ports along states coastline.

Earlier, theBihargovernment had evinced interest to set up a port facility along the states coastline, which has been accepted by the Odisha government. Besides, the government also has plans for Logistics park projects at Dhamara, Gopalpur and Subarnarekha.

While the states commerce and transport minister Padmanabha Behera has written a letter communicating Odishas objection to certain sections of the bill, official sources said the commerce and transport department has sought more time from the shipping ministry to convey its clause-by-clause views on the draft bill.

Tamil Nadu CM urges Karnataka’s Yediyurappa to drop Mekedatu project

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Responding toKarnatakachief ministerB S Yediyurappas letter urging not to oppose the Mekedatu dam project, Naduchief minister M KStalinreiterated that the project was against the interests of Tamil Nadus farmers and requested him not to pursue the project.

The view that Mekedatu dam will not affect the interests of Tamil Nadu cannot be agreed upon as it would hinder the flow of water from catchments areas below Kabini and Krishnarajasagar da, Stalin told Yeddiyurappa.

He said the final order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal later modified by The Supreme Court, clearly identified the three components contributing the annual quantum of water to be delivered to TN. “The proposed Mekedatu dam would impound and divert the first component of uncontrolled flows due to Tamil Nadu, which is from the uncontrolled catchment areas downstream Kabini reservoir and catchment areas below Krishnarajasahar dam and uncontrolled flows from Simsha, Arkavatahy and Suvernavathy sub basins, Stalin said.

Stalin noted that constructing a major reservoir at Mekedatu which is too far away from Bengaluru to meet the drinking water requirements of the metropolis does not Sound valid.

Financial Assistance by World Bank – Kerala

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The Board of Executive Directors from the has accepted a $125 million support for the Resilient Kerala Program to assist the country in preparedness in opposition to herbal disasters, local weather exchange impacts, disease outbreaks, and pandemics. The $125 million mortgage from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) has a remaining maturity of 14 years which include a grace duration of six years.

The heavy monsoons of 2018 have been the worst Kerala had seen in nearly a century, triggering devastating floods and landslides. It impacted more than 5 million people, frequently in the Pamba River Basin.

The Resilient Program will focus on two key areas:1st, It will incorporate disaster threat planning in the grasp plans of city and local self-governments to ease economic constraints on the country government when faced with surprising shocks. 2nd, It will help make the Health, water sources management, Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture, and road sectors more resilient to calamities.

US-based battery firm to invest Rs 4,000 crore in Karnataka

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S-based C4V, a leading company in the lithium-ion cell manufacturing sector, is willing to invest over Rs 4,000 crore in the state in the electric battery manufacturing sector, Karnataka Medium and Large Industries Minister Jagadish Shettar said.

A lithium-ion battery orLi-ionbattery is a type of rechargeable battery commonly used for portable electronics and electric vehicles.

An agreement with representatives of the world’s leading Li-Ion cell manufacturing company was signed in the city, the Minister said in a statement.

He added that the C4V is a leading company with over a hundred patents and lithium battery cell manufacturing and technology.

The company’s of Rs 4,015 crore in the state will create more than 4,000 jobs, Shettar said.

The company will set up a 5 Gigawatt hours (GWh ) plant in the state and will begin work next year, he explained.

64 acre defence and given to Telangana

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In a move that would be music to theTelanganagovernments ears theCentrehas transferred 64.464 acre of DEFENCE land to the state. This land, which is estimated to be around Rs 327 crore, is located at various places across the state.

According to a report submitted by the controller ofdefence accounts(CDA), Secunderabad to the controller general of defence accounts (CGDA), Delhi this land has been transferred to the state. When STOI approached the CDA office with a copy of this report, the officials said that they have submitted all the details to the Centre, based on which the land transfer has been done.

It may be mentioned here that government has sought about 185 acre defence land to build various Infrastructure projects. The worth of this defence land is around Rs 1,280 crore.

When compared toKarnataka(44 acre), a large chunk of defence land was sought in Telangana. Meanwhile, with regard to encroachment of defence land, Telangana stood third after Jammu & Kashmir (249 acre), andMaharashtra(145 acre), according to CGDA report.

Araku in Visakhapatnam district second in Nota votes in the country in 2019 elections

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Araku parliamentary constituency inVisakhapatnamdistrict stood second in the country in terms of the number of the ‘none of the above’ () votes polled in 2019 general Elections.
According to the ‘General Elections 2019: An Atlas’ recently released by theElection Commission of India, Araku LS constituency polled 47,977 votes under Nota.

This is the second highest Nota votes polled for any Lok Sabha seat in 2019 general elections in the country.

Gopalganj inBiharrecorded the highest number of 51,660 Nota votes followed by Araku. In fact, only YSRCP and TDP candidates could seure more votes than Nota in Araku Lok Sabha constituency, which is spread in tribal areas of four districts, including East Godavari, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam.

At least 25,000 voters pressed the Nota button in each of the five Lok Sabha constituencies of the state in the 2019 elections, including Araku, Anakapalli, Vizianagaram,Tirupatiand Srikakulam.

The number of female electors outnumbered their male counterparts in the 2019 elections in Andhra Pradesh. While the total electorate is 3,94,05,967, there are 1,98,80,957 (50.45%) female voters. There are 3,957 third gender voters in Andhra Pradesh.

Over 90% of Goa aware of sexual rights, freedom: Survey

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oa has an increased awareness ofsexual rightsandfreedomof Women with over 90% of people believing that a woman is within her right to refusesexwith her husband if she is aware that he has intercourse with other women, according to the findings of the National Family HealthSurvey2019-20 (NFHS-5).

Also, 90% of women and 93% of men believe that the woman is justified in refusing to have sex with her husband, if she is tired or not in the mood, the survey has found.

In Goa, the NFHS-5 field survey was conducted in North and South districts from August 30, 2019, to November 26, 2019, through a private entity. For the survey, the information was collected from 1,856 households2,030 women in the 15-49 age group and 313 men aged 15-54.
As per NFHS-5, around 5% of ever-married women in the 18-49 age group reported their husband having physically forced them to have sex against their wishes. Another 3% stated that their husbands had forced them with threats or in any other way to perform sexual acts they did not want to perform.

New Doppler Radars in Maharashtra IMD

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In 2021, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) plans to install seven new doppler radars in Maharashtra, including Mumbai.
The Ministry of Earth Sciences commissioned two of ten indigenously built X-Band Doppler Weather Radars (DWR) in January 2021 to closely monitor weather changes over the Himalaya.

It is a type of radar that uses the Doppler effect to generate velocity data about distant objects.

Doppler effect: A change in frequency is observed by the observer when the source and the signal are in relative motion to each other.

As they get closer, the frequency increases, and vice versa.

The radar is based on the Doppler principle and aims to improve the accuracy of long-range weather forecasting and surveillance using a parabolic antenna and a foam sandwich spherical radome.

The DWR has the capability of measuring rainfall intensity, wind shear, and velocity, as well as locating a storm centre and the direction of a or gust front.