He requested the Centre for providing a one-time special fund for replacement and reconstruction of old infrastructure saying that a proposal in this regard had already been submitted to the Centre by Chief Minister Pema Khandu. Mein disclosed that the state government under Khandu had taken various reforms including administrative, financial and transparency, and added that the government is planning to bring-in more financial reform in connection with movement of files for financial concurrence by fast-tracking the process given that all the check-lists provided by the Department of Planning and Finance are fully furnished.
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Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik attended a meeting on Left Wing Extremism (LWE) in the country, which was chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi. Patnaik requested the Union Government to consider the following proposals:
The LWE-affected districts are not part of the Railways network. The Railway Ministry and Odisha Government are already constructing two-legs from Jeypore to Nabarangpur and Jeypore to Malkangiri through cost sharing.
The missing part between Malkangiri to Bhadrachalam of length 153 KM and Nabarangpur to Junagarh of length 118 km can provide a very viable alternative path to the trunk routes of the railway. This will have a huge impact on economic growth of these areas.
Heritage walks could soon cover Chennais treasures
The Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) is planning to launch regularheritage walksalong four routes in George Town, Mylapore and on Kamarajar Salai. It plans to rope in private individuals who used to conduct such programmes in pre-Covid times and train archaeology, history and tourism students to be part of the initiative.
TTDC plans the heritage walks during weekends to facilitate maximum participation. The details would be uploaded on its official portal. The heritage trail in Mylapore will include a food trail. The walk on Kamarajar Salai will cover heritage structures between Vivekanandar House and the University of Madras Chepauk campus.
Coffee growers in Kerala expect better crop
The coffeegrowersinKeralaare expecting a goodcropthis year. According to the post-blossom estimate of thecoffeeboard, coffee production in Kerala will go up from 69,100 tonne during coffee year 2020-21 to 70,570 tonne in coffee year 2021-22.
Wayanad accounts for almost all of the coffee production in Kerala with 59,320 tonne expected to be produced during tAhe coffee year 2021-22. Travancore area is expected to produce 8,550 tonne and Nelliampathy is expected to grow 2,700 tonne of coffee during the period.
The International Coffee Organization had noted, In August 2021, coffee prices recorded the tenth consecutive month of increase, sparked by concerns of oversupply, due to climate adverse conditions in major producing countries and increasing freight costs coupled with Covid-19 lockdown restrictions disrupting trade flows in Asia. Concerns over the size of the next Brazilian crop, exacerbated by the recent frost, have led to record high volatility of the spot and futures prices, ICOs report added.
In a big relief to lakhs of students in classes 6 to 10 in government and state-aided private schools, the education department has decided to resume the midday meal scheme soon.
Because of the pandemic and fearing the spread of the virus, the department of public instruction (DPI) had suspended the scheme. However, the demand to resume serving the meal has grown louder with all stakeholders including students, parents, midday meal workers, teachers, and experts joining in. Currently, students are given dry rations instead of a cooked meal.
Tiger population in Telanganas reserves on the rise but forest area shrinking
Thetigercorridor fromMaharashtratoTelanganas Kawaltiger reservehas lately become a haven for tigers. The tiger population in the corridor leading toKawaltiger reserve, especially Adilabad, Nirmal and Asifabads Chennur, Sirpur and Kagaznagarforestdivisions, have seen an increase in tiger population in recent years.
However, with multiple impediments such as widening and upgrading of roads, national highways and railway lines that cut through the tiger corridor and encroachments of forest land, experts say that tigers entering Telangana in search of sufficient prey and territory are now constantly under threat due to the boost in developmental activities.
Wildlife conservationists also said that development activities such as recent decisions by the Telangana State Board for Wildlife (SBWL) clearing several proposals for BT roads within the protected areas and areas falling within the tiger reserve can be a huge hindrance for tiger movement.
The agenda copy of the SBWL, however, states that majority of proposals therein are for either widening of the existing roads and new roads within protected areas. Many big cats have been migrating from Tadoba Andhari tiger reserve and Tipeshwar Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra by crossing Pranahitha river. From Asifabad, the last part of the corridor, they migrate to Kawal reserve other forests in Telangana.
Control rooms set up in north-coastal Andhra Pradesh
Energy secretary Srikant Nagulapalli is monitoring the states preparedness for facing thecyclonic storm Gulabthat has hit the north-coastal districts of Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam, and has given instructions to theAPEPDCLto make arrangements in their respective districts.
The energy secretary held a review with CMD of APEPDCL K Santhosha Rao and asked officials of APEDPCL, Visakhapatnam to be on high alert for any kind of eventuality and take up restoration work in cases of damage topower infrastructure. He directed the CMD to ensure foolproof arrangements are in place to restore power supply within a short period to areas affected by the cyclone.
The CMD said all required manpower and material have been kept ready to restore power supply in case of any damage. All engineers and staff working in Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam, and Vizianagram have been told to be on high alert in view of the cyclone, he said.
APEPDCL has set up control rooms in cyclone-prone areas innorth-coastal Andhra Pradesh. The officials said the cyclonic storm may affect 27 mandals in the region.
Tourism policy shifts focus to Goas culture, heritage
Goas hospitality industry though rides on coastal tourism and casinos have hogged the limelight in the last few years, Goa tourism policy 2020 aims to change that perception by promoting eco-tourism, cultural and heritage tourism.
The policy talks about encouraging tourists to visit villages and explore the traditional Goan houses. The yet-to-be-formed Goa tourism board will designate villages conducive for development as tourism villages. The applicable standards for receiving the designation of tourism village will be defined so that villages can compete for the same in a transparent manner.
Moving in that direction, the Goa government recently notified the tourist villages development scheme under which financial support of Rs 50 lakh will be given to villages every year. The scheme aims to promote rural life, art and culture and heritage.
The policy also talks about having ecologically sustainable and environmentally sound practices in the development of nature-based tourism. Developing high-quality facilities in protected areas to increase the number and stay-duration of high-end visitors is also something that finds mention in the policy.
The major aspects of the tourism policy will see the light of day after the tourism board is constituted. The composition of the board was finalised a while ago, but an order appointing the board is awaited.
Maharashtra must set up separate department for flood management: Nandkumar Vadnere
Nandkumar Vadnere, former principal secretary of state irrigation department and head of panel to study floods inKrishna riverbasin, on Sunday said the state government must set up a separate department forflood managementas floods will be a recurring phenomenon inMaharashtra.
Vadnere, while speaking during a webinar organised by the Centre for Climate Change and Sustainable Studies of the Shivaji University Kolhapur, said the year-long management of floods is necessary to ensure that the cities, towns and villages do not get flooded in case of normal rains.
Vadnere also said there is no need to worry about accumulation of silt in dams. Currently, the dams have silt not more than 10%, but in the long run, silt may become a cause of worry. Hence, All activities that cause silt accumulation in the dams should be banned by the government, he said.
To explore the biodiversity, Haryanas first mushroom survey will be conducted on September 30, in Kalesar National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary in Yamunanagar district.
The outcome of the survey will help in formulating an effective management strategy for the conservation of flora, fauna and funga of Kalesar National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary. This will also form the basis for observing the impact of habitat disturbance and climate change on the ecology of the region.
He elaborated that a number of fungi species (mushrooms) are edible and moreover mushrooms are the only vegetarian source of vitamin D. Also, Wild and the International Union for Conservation of Nature Species Survival Commission became first global organization to call for the recognition of fungi as one of three kingdoms of life critical to protecting and restoring Earth fauna, flora and funga which are critical to all life on Earth and to be integrated into conservation strategies. Thus, the need to conduct such a survey was identified.