26.11.21

NE Tea Association bats for exports via Bangladesh waterwaysThe North Eastern Tea Association (NETA) underscored the shortage of coal and urea for the tea industry, and urged the government to allow use of the Bangladesh waterways for exports to support planters. Addressing the 20th Biennial General Meeting of NETA here, its Chairman Sunil Jallan said the present scenario of the industry is quite gloomy.

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The government can extend its helping hand only when the members come forward with doable solutions, Jallan said. He said the major issues faced by the during 2021 were shortages of coal and urea, besides challenges like Climate-change”>Climate Change, low land and labour productivity, demand-supply imbalance, low per capita tea consumption, frequent power cuts and natural gas supply to only 50 per cent factories out of about 800 units.

The annual requirement of urea for the tea plantations of Assam, including big and small growers, across the Brahmaputra and Barak valleys is 1,13,200 metric tonnes.

Assam Cabinet decides to restructure school education policy in line with NEP

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The Assam Cabinet decided to restructure the state Education policy, making school education a 15-year affair comprising four categories – foundation, preparatory, elementary and senior secondary – in accordance with the NEP, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said. The foundation category will have five years till class two while the next three years will be preparatory. The elementary category will comprise classes six, seven and eight, and the classes between nine and 12 will be called senior secondary.

In the National Education Policy (NEP) announced by the Centre last year, there will be a 5+3+3+4 structure comprising 12 years of school and three years of pre-school, replacing the old 10+2 structure. The change in the structure will be notified on April one, 2022 while the new syllabus will be introduced from April one, 2023, Sarma told reporters after the cabinet meeting held at Bongaigaon.

Two major social groups not given a level playing field to thrive in business sector are STs and SCs. The attempts made by the Central and State Governments for inclusion of the communities in the business sector through different schemes for last half decade have not produced any satisfactory result.

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The major reasons of such impact are lack of information with the targeted groups, the non-serious and unaccountable Attitude of the people in charge of its implementation, and above all, lack of political will of the elected representatives of these communities who usually hold posts in various committees and are supposed to monitor these schemes.

The institutional mechanism and policies available are not being periodically reviewed and monitored at appropriate level; rather they are mechanically implemented by people without any understanding and commitment.

The post 90s’ economic phase of Indian economy witnessed a trend of privatisation, market economy and encouragement to self-EMPLOYMENT and entrepreneurial activities followed by reduction in Government and public sector employment. In order to encourage STs and SCs in the changing economic process with Financial Inclusion, the Government has set up financial institutions exclusively to encourage SC and ST entrepreneurs for self-employment and the RBI has made a separate credit policy for these leftout social groups to encourage their entry into business sector. An independent review shows a huge gap between the policy and the ground reality.

The two major financial institutions such as the National Scheduled Caste Finance Development Corporation and National Scheduled Tribe Finance Development Corporation are sadly playing a very insignificant role in this regard.

Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board : ‘Ecommute’ extended to schools

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TheTamil Nadu Pollution Control Boardhad announced ‘Green Certification’ for schools in the city, where the school children ride to school by bicycles or by walk.

Ninety per cent of the students from the participating schools should commute by their bicycles to their schools. Secondly, no person motor vehicle to drop these high school students within 100 metres from the school Gate. These are the two main criteria for participating in the programme.

The board will examine the details submitted by the school and will conduct verification and surprise checks in the schools to find out whether the schools met the required criteria.

Five-point framework ready for sustainable development: P Rajeeve

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To ensure resilient andsustainable development, state has devised a new five-point framework, said industries ministerP Rajeevewhile inaugurating the 10th edition of TiEconKerala 2021 on Thursday. The three-day conference attended by industrial leaders, policymakers, startups, entrepreneurs is organized by Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE)KeralaChapter.

The new five-point framework are responsible industries and , reducing regulatory compliance burden, robust industrial Infrastructure, renewed Logistics ecosystem and resilient thrust sector focus

Karnataka students among 10,000 NEET toppers double in 2 years

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The number of students fromKarnatakaamong those securing the top 10,000 ranks in NEET-UG has more than doubled this year from pre-Covid times 436 state students made it to the 1-10,000 bracket as compared to 351 in 2020 and 198 in 2019.

The number of those who secured more than 700 marks out of 720 in the National Eligibility cum Entrance test (UG) this year was nearly four times more than that of 2020. As many as 11 students from Karnataka scored above 700 in 2021. As per the data shared by National Testing Agency, no student could get over 700 in 2019. In 2020, three students managed to make the cut.

In the top 50,000 ranks, there are 2,291 students from Karnataka, an increase of 279. In the first one lakh students, 5,364 are from Karnataka. The number was only 4,775 in 2020.

No bottoms up for Hyderabad, Telangana districts lead in drinking

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Alcoholconsumption among Hyderabads men and Women seems to be much lower than those living in other parts ofTelangana.

At least thats what the latest National Family Health Survey (NHFS-5) data suggests. Its numbers show that about 43 per cent of men in thedistricts aged 15 to 49 years are liquor enthusiasts while the count in the city is just about 28 per cent. It is closely followed by Adilabad at 28.3 per cent.

The NHFS-5 data debunks another stereotype: That most working women drink in Hyderabad. In fact, according to it, women in the same age group figure at the bottom of the charts with a meagre 0.7 per cent of them consuming alcohol. Another intriguing revelation in the report comes from Khammam. The district that received over 7,000 applications in the recent liquor auction highest in the state has just 31.8 per cent of men who enjoy their alcohol.

Interestingly, its the small and rural district of Jangaon that has maximum men 60.6 per cent hitting the bottle. It is followed by Yadadari Bhongir district (58.4 per cent), Mahbubabad (56.5 per cent), Nagarkurnool (55.5 per cent), Warangal Rural (54.4 per cent) Medak (54 per cent) Jayashankar Bhupalpalli (53.1 per cent), Nalgonda (51.4 per cent) and Siddipet (50.3 per cent).

AP government goes back on legislative council dissolution

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TheAP government backtracked on its earlier decision to dissolve the statelegislative council.
It has now passed a new resolution in the stateassemblystating that it has withdrawn the earlier resolution on abolition of the council.

The decision comes a day after the withdrew its legislation on three capital cities.Andhra Pradeshis one of the few states in India with a bicameral legislature.
Last year, the state government has sought abolition of the legislative council or the upper House of the state assembly, soon after the three capitals Bill was referred to a select committee by the council chairman.

The Assembly adopted the resolution, withdrawing its resolution of January 27, 2020 seeking abolition of the Legislative Council.

NRI Commission to now be under home dept

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The state cabinet on Wednesday gave its approval to bring theNRICommissionunderthehomedepartment. It will help streamline the Commissions working, chief minister Pramod Sawant said.

The NRIcommissionwill now be under the Home department. This has been done after making changes in the business rules. Till now, the NRI commission was a separate head and department. The status of NRI commission will not change. In fact, its working will be streamlined

Maharashtra hits 11 crore jabs; Mumbai first district to fully vaccinate 70% of its population against Covid

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Vaccination against Covid-19 reached two important milestones on Thursday.Maharashtrahit 11 crore vaccinationsthe second highest in the countrywhile Mumbai finished vaccinating 70% of its eligible Population with both the doses. It is the only district in the state and first among major cities to achieve that level of full vaccination.

The state has till now administered 11,00,26,925 doses, fully vaccinating 3.76 crore (41%) people and giving at least one shot to 7.23 crore (79%) of its eligible population. Around 9% of the 120 crore doses given in the country is from Maharashtra. UP, which is leading among states, has administered the highest doses (15.5 crore), accounting for nearly 13% of vaccination in India.

Mumbai, which is at the top of first and second dose coverage in Maharashtra, has administered 1,59,33,076 doses. Till now, 65,40,392 (70.3%) have taken both doses while 93,92,684 (101%) have taken at least one. Although the city accounts for 10% of the states population, it has administered 14% of the total doses given in the state.