23.05.23

Northeast, a hub of abundant hydro power

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The northeastern part of India is a hub of . It has almost 40 per cent of the country’s total hydro potential. Additionally, the region also has abundant resource of coal, oil and gas for thermal power generation. With continual improvement of Infrastructure and Communication facilities, the North East Region stands to become the Power House of India by utilising its power potential, especially in the hydel sector, according to North Eastern Electric Power Corporation.

The region is blessed with huge hydro potential of about 58,356 MW (>25 MW), out of which 2027 MW (about 3.47 per cent) has so far been harnessed as on 30th November 2021. Additional 2120 MW of hydro power are under construction. The balance of about 92.9 per cent is yet to be exploited. Contribution of NEEPCO in the hydro installed capacity of NER is 1,525 MW, that is, about 75.23 per cent. Arunachal Pradesh government has decided to transfer 14 major hydropower projects from private power developers to Central Public Undertakings (CPUs), including NHPC, NEEPCO, SJVN and THDC hydropower development in the state and the signing of a memorandum of agreement (MoA) is due in May, reported The Meghalayan.

Assam: Govt introduces e-textbooks for classes pre-primary to 12

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With an aim to make Education easily available, Assam Government on Wednesday launched e-textbooks for classes pre-primary to 12. Assams education minister Ranoj Pegu inaugurated the online system for downloading textbooks in PDF files to make it easily accessible for the students. The digital textbooks have been published in 19 languages and 8 mediums, which is available in downloadable format in the portals of SCERT, SEBA and AHSEC.

Mo Bus Service to Be Available In All Panchayats Of Odisha

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The Mo Bus service will be available in all panchayats of Odisha, said Transport Secretary Usha Padhee today.

The Mo Bus buses will ply between blocks and panchayats under the Laxmi scheme.

In the first phase, the service will be available in six districts Koraput, Nabarangpur, Rayagada, Malkangiri, Kalahandi and Gajapati. It will be expanded to other regions later.

As per the decision, the Mo Bus service will be extended to Sambalpur-Jharsuguda-Brajarajnagar-Belpahar cluster and Berhampur-Gopalpur-Chhatrapur-Hinjilicut-Digapahandi cluster.

Mo Bus service, which was introduced in the Capital Region on November in 2018 under the SPV Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT), has covered the districts Khurda, Cuttack and Puri with a ridership of 2.3 lakh per day with a fleet of 390 buses.

After Karnataka’s Nandini, Tamil Nadu’s Aavin locks horns with Amul

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Soon after theAmul vs Nandini milk controversyinKarnataka, the Gujarat-based cooperative Society is facing a pushback inTamil Naduover its move to procure milk from the state.

In a letter to Union Home minister Amit Shah, chief minister M K Stalin said Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union (Amul) should not be allowed to procure milk from Nadu. Amul faced similar opposition to its move to sell fresh milk in Karnataka.

Stalin said Amul, which has been selling its products through retail outlets in Tamil Nadu, is now planning to install chilling centres and a processing plant in Krishnagiri district by utilising its multi-state cooperative licence. It is also planning to procure milk from Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Vellore, Ranipet, Tirupattur, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts, he said.

Government data shows Aavin procures around 35 lakh litres of milk per day from about 4.5 lakh pouring members and Dairy farmers. This is only 14% of the total milk produced in Tamil Nadu (2.4 crore litres) every day.

Kerala govt to screen Anganwadi employees for anaemia

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The Kerala government has decided to screen all of its Anganwadi employees for anaemia as part of its ‘Vilarchayil Ninnu Valarchayilekku’ (from anaemia to Growth) or ‘ViVa’ campaign to deal with the disease.

State Health Minister Veena George said the campaign would commence in the Women and Child Development (WCD) Department.

Hence, the Anganwadi employees, who come under the WCD department, will be screened for anaemia and treatment will be provided to those who need it, the minister said in a release.

There are 66,630 Anganwadi workers and helpers and 4,500 other employees in the state and they all will undergo the test to check their hemoglobin levels, it said.

Tamil Nadu gears up to assess anaemia in students

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The statehealth departmentwill send its doctors, nurses and Health staff to schools and colleges to tackle one of the biggest public health problems among teens inTamil Naduanaemia. Among adolescents, nearly half the girls and a quarter of boys suffer from iron deficiency, limiting their development, increasing risks of infections and decreasing physical and mental fitness.

The state will hold more than 25,000 health camps in schools and colleges along with more than 2,127 primary health centres to measure the health status, particularly anaemia, of more than 1.08 crore students.

Data from the fifth edition of the National family health survey (2020 – 2021) showed that 52.9% of adolescent girls and 24.6% among adolescent boys have anaemia. “The aim of this screening is to make Nadu an anaemia-free state. By doing this, we anticipate a gradual decrease in maternal and infant mortality rates in the years to come.

US based StemCures to set up India’s largest stem cell manufacturing lab in Hyderabad

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Hyderabad, which is emerging as the knowledge capital of the worlds life sciences , has grabbed another big-ticket Investment in the sector. US-based StemCures is slated to establish a manufacturing lab in Telangana that will focus on stem cell therapy with the vision to create the largest stem cell manufacturing plant in India. The facility will be set up with the investment potential of around USD 54 million and EMPLOYMENT potential for around 150 people in a couple of phases.

Currently, StemCures is culminating R&D of the stem cell line at Aspire Bionest in University of Hyderabad and is ready to embark on a phase 1 manufacturing lab.

Hyderabad already serves more than 1000 life sciences companies, including the top 10 pharma companies. Four of the top 10 global innovator companies now have a direct presence in Hyderabad through their dedicated centers. These centers drive core R&D, digital and engineering activities, thereby contributing to bringing lifesaving cost-effective therapies and devices to patients world-wide.

Skill development alongside education helps youths get jobs faster

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Skill development courses along with Education would help youths get jobs faster, as AP is experiencing a dearth of educated youths with skills in various fields.

Principal Secretary to the state Skills Development Corporation S. Suresh Kumar stated this while addressing the Udyoga Vijayotsava (job achievers) programme at the government polytechnic. At the event, appointment orders were issued to 277 students selected by various companies.

OBC panel calls Maratha group for talks

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TheMaharashtraOBC Commission has invited the convener of theSakal Maratha Samaj, aMarathacommunity outfit, to discuss the demands put up in a petition filed in 2021.

According to the petition, the Maratha activists from Kolhapur have demanded that the list of OBC should be reviewed based on the current financial and social status of the community and that the Maratha community should be included in the list.

Haryana Chief Secretary Sanjeev Kaushal, while chairing the sixth steering committee meeting of the Haryana State Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) today, approved the Annual Plan of Operation of Rs 239.78 crore.

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A sum of Rs 111.58 crore has been approved for compensatory afforestation (CA), additional compensatory afforestation (ACA) and penal compensatory afforestation (PCA) to be carried out over an area of 1,197.73 hectares during the year 2023-24.

It was highlighted at the meeting that the Shivalik Hill Region in the northern part and the Aravalli hills in the southern part of the state are highly prone to runoff and erosion due to their hilly and undulating topography. During the rainy season, rainwater drains rapidly from these areas, leading to soil erosion and loss of topsoil. Therefore, soil conservation measures, including the construction of earthen Dams, masonry structures, cement concrete structures, check dams, silt detention dams and crate wire structures, were required. A substantial budget of Rs 20 crore has been allocated for this purpose.

Further, Rs 10 crore has been approved for habitat improvement and Infrastructure development in Protected Areas under the wildlife management plan for 2023-24. The state manages two national parks, seven wildlife sanctuaries, two conservation reserves and five community reserves through the Wildlife Wing.