Mutual understanding between the families of underage girls and adult men while solemnising their marriages, which according to law is child marriage, as to avoid legal action has come to light in several cases across the state.
With 87 more arrests, the total arrest on charges of either marrying underage girls or solemnising child marriages or encouraging such marriages has gone up to 2,528 on the fifth day of the crackdown.
23.02.23
Child protection mechanism successful in State
Some way or the other, the Government has been successful in enhancing the child protection mechanism in the State, due to which repeated child offender cases have decreased, said Twin City Police Commissioner Saumendra Kumar Priyadarshi at a State-level consultation organised by theHumara Bachpan Trust (HBT) in partnership with the Railway Children India (RCI) here on Saturday
However, there is a surge in girl children migration cases post Covid-19, one of the major reasons being eloping due to social media Influence, Priyadarshi said. He emphasised on identifying hot spots of migration and conducting sensitisation on responsible use of social media. He also recommended conducting public sensitisation programmes focusing on child marriage and child labour issues.
Acknowledging some of the gaps in child protection mechanisms, Labour Commissioner Dr N Thirumala Naik said, Along with enhancing Government mechanisms, we also need social change for better protection of children.
Notably, there has been an increasing trend observed in the number of children found at risk after the onset of pandemic. The issue of concern here is the rise in this figure is mostly among girls. More number of girl children are being contacted by the HBT and Railway Children India at the Bhubaneswar Railway Station from Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Baleswar, Kendrapada, Sundargarh, Cuttack and Khordha district. The reasons for children running away from home are the poor family background, post pandemic livelihood loss, family disturbance, peer pressure and social media influence among others.
Trichy MSMEs plan business diversification
A two-day vendor development programme cum industrial exhibition organised by the Union micro small and medium enterprises (MSME) development and facilitation office and the state MSME department was inaugurated.
Participating in the platform to connect with the central public sector undertakings (CPSU), entrepreneurs inquired about the procedures to produce components for defence and railway coach manufacturers.
Officials from Combat Vehicles Research & Development Establishment (CVRDE) in Avadi, Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai and Golden Rock Workshop, Trichy put up stalls to display the components that can be produced by MSMEs.
CM Ashok Gehlot eyes Kerala social security model in Rajasthan to stay in power
Chief ministerAshok Gehlotis likely to adopt the Kerala model of social security while presenting the budget on February 10. Gehlot, while replying to the Governor’s address in the assembly last week, said the CPM retained power in Kerala due to good Covid management and social security schemes and inRajasthantoo, the government would be repeated for its excellent Covid management.
In Kerala, the Left government had launched a ration kit scheme for all families during Covid that continued till the assembly elections and was a major hit, especially among women. The kit supplied through PDS shops every month contained daily consumption items like wheat flour, rice, oil, pulses, and spices which have come as a major relief to people. It is claimed that the scheme played a major role in the Left Democratic Front (LDF) retaining power, beating the trend of changing government in every five years.
With smartphones to all 1.37 crore women registered under the Chiranjeevi scheme on the way, the ration kit could be a game changer to woo women voters.
Kalyana Karnataka hopes for textile, IT parks and highway
TheKalyana Karnatakaregion is hoping for funds for its much-awaited projects likeMega Textile Park, Bidar-Ballari NH, IT-BT Park inKalaburagi, Tur Dal Park, and for tourism development.
Activists and organisations wish that their memoranda will be considered in the budget.
Umakant Nigudgi, the former president of the Kalyana Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, pressed for a separate budget for the KK region as per article 371 J, which insists on a 20% budget for the region.
There is a need for a separate industry policy for the KK region on the lines of the Marathawada region industry policy in Maharashtra. The socio-economic status of the KK region is the worst in the nation. The government, which often chants the mantra of Beyond Bengaluru, is restricted to Hubballi-Dharwad.
WHO to set up mRNA vaccine hub in Hyderabad as part of global plan: KT Rama Rao
In a major validation of Hyderabad’s growing clout as a global vaccine hub, World Health Organisation (WHO) is setting up an mRNA vaccine hub in Hyderabad as part of its plans to set up such hubs in select locations globally, industries minister KT Rama Rao disclosed.
The mRNA vaccine hub is coming up atBiological Eby way of a technology transfer by WHO to create capacities not just for global emergencies such as the Covid-19 pandemic but also to tackle future pandemics as well as develop capacities for ailments such as malaria, HIV, and cancer.
KTR said that as Hyderabad is also home to one of the largest number of US Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) approved manufacturing plants at 214, the state government was trying to get the US drug regulator to set up its offices in the city.
The city accounts for about 40% of India’s pharma output, KTR said at an interaction in the run-up to the 20th edition of Asia’s largest life sciences conclave – BioAsia 2023 -that kicks off on February 24.
OnTelanganagovernment’s target to double the state’s life sciences ecosystem from $50 billion in value (turnover of $13 billion) in 2021 to $100 billion by 2028, he said the plan is to also double the employment generated by the sector to 8 lakh over the next five years.
Budget session of Andhra Pradesh from March 14
Thebudgetsession of the state assembly is scheduled to start from March 14. According to available information, the government has decided to hold the session for 13 working days.
Finance ministerBuggana Rajendranathis likely to table the 2023-24 budget either on March 15 or 16. This time, the budget is likely to go near the 3 lakh crore mark. The government had presented a 2.56 lakh crore budget for 2021-22, and this time the budget is likely to go up to 2.75 lakh crore or 3 lakh crore, keeping in view the 2024 general elections.
Goa govt set to receive nearly Rs 120 crore arrears
Goa will receive around Rs 120 crore from the Centre as GST compensationarrearswhich have been pending since June.
Goa has repeatedly requested the GST Council that small states like Goa should get first preference when it comes to devolution of GST tax and cess revenue as compared to bigger states, whose share runs into thousands of crore but who also have larger tax resources.
Goa’s reliance on GST compensation has been the second highest among states at 59.8% during the years 2018-21.
Natural Farming model should be adopted on large scale by farmers: Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde
In a recent visit to ICAR-Shri Siddhagiri Krishi Vigyan Kendra inKaneri,Kolhapur,MaharashtraChief MinisterEknath Shindetook a keen interest in the natural farming live crop demonstration
During the visit, Shinde praised the work being done under natural farming, which focuses on millets-based farming, multi-cropping of Rabi seasoned crops, exotic vegetables, oilseed crops, and various crops demonstrations. He stressed on the importance of adopting natural farming practices and creating awareness among farmers about the benefits of such methods. He also emphasized the need to develop these models into large areas for further adoption by farmers.
Haryana mulls merging high schools into sr sec schools
Haryanaeducation department is considering a proposal to shut down all government high schools in the state and merge them with the government-run senior secondary schools. After this, Haryana will only have senior secondary, middle and primary schools. As of now, there are 1,032 government high schools in the state.
Sources added that the Haryana government may merge all primary schools into middle schools as its next step, creating a two-tier school system in the state.
If implemented, this would be the second major step taken by the Haryana government to bring changes in the states school education department. In August last year, the BJP-JJP government merged a large number of middle and high schools with less than 20 students and 25 students, respectively, with the nearby available schools.
During the parliamentarybudgetsession, the Union government informed the Rajya Sabha that around 292 government schools in Haryana were either closed or merged in 2022 because of poor numbers of students. The data was shared in response to a question asked byLt Gen D P Vats(Retd), a member of the Rajya Sabha from Haryana. Satpal Sindhu, president, Haryana School Lecturer Association (HSLA), said this would be a good move, especially in the distribution of work among the school lecturers as many of them are currently deployed in high schools teaching lower classes, whereas their job profile is to teach classes IX to XII.