27.05.23

Tripura-made bamboo carpets roll out on new Parliament building floor

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Tripura-madebamboo matshave been used for construction of thenew Parliament building, scheduled to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

TripuraCMManik Saha, holding the portfolio of forest department, reached New Delhi to take part in the opening ceremony.
According to officials here, a private enterprise working in the bamboo sector and manufacturing of value-added products, supplied the bamboo-made carpet mats for construction of the Parliament floor.

The artists from Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, have installed bamboo carpets with decorations. And the work of stone carving has been done in Rajasthan, the officials added. Besides, bamboo materials from Tripura, significant others construction materials from different states of the country have been used in the construction of the new Parliament building.

Assamneeds to move from making static master plans to strategic master plans for cities considering the rivers or water bodies as focal points in the planning process, director ofthe NationalInstitute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) HiteshVaidyasaid.

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Speaking at a training programme for urban planners on making river-sensitive master plans, Vaidya said non-strategic master plans have turned the five rivulets in Guwahati into sewage channels. Therefore, there is a need for action-oriented and strategic master plans for the cities so that the rivers can be covered.

It must be mentioned that Guwahati has five important rivulets and all of them are dying due to rapid encroachments and indiscriminate waste disposal. As many as 54 out of the 104 in the state have master plans but all are in the draft stage. Vaidya said, The plans implemented to date remained ineffective for some reasons. The demography as well as Geography have changed over the decades. Encroachment and lack of scientifically separate sewage channels have been stumbling blocks.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched Odisha for Artificial Intelligence and Artificial Intelligence for Youth initiative on Monday.

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The has roped in international technology company Intel for the initiative. In the first phase, the initiative will be implemented in Bhubaneswar, Puri and Cuttack.

The CM said Artificial Intelligence (AI) holds an incredible potential to reshape our world and drive progress. The initiative would augment digital Literacy of the masses.

He advised all Government departments to take advantage of these programme and train officials for enabling them to be at the forefront of the AI revolution.

Electronics & IT Minister Tusharkanti Behera said the AI initiative would put Odisha in the top league among the States in India.

Rs 717 crore spent on infra projects in Madurai city in 2 years: Min

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A total of 717.10 crore has been spent by the on Infrastructure development ofMaduraicorporation in the last two years, said municipal administration minister K NNehru, after inaugurating Obula Padithurai bridge and various other projects in Madurai.

Apart from the 23crore bridge, the minister also inaugurated a park on the Vaigai riverbank and a few ramps constructed in the river

embankments under the Vaigai river front development at a total cost of 84 crore.

He also inaugurated the newly built golden anniversary entrance arch of Madurai corporation and laid the foundation stone for three combined water supply schemes ofTamil NaduWater Supply and Drainage (TWAD) board that will benefit a total of 11 town panchayats.
A total of 1536.31 crore has been allocated in three schemes for laying water pipelines from Vaigai dam to Alanganallur, Vadipatti, Chellampatti, Thirumangalam, Thiruparankundram and Kallikudi. A total of 240.45 crore has been set part for laying water pipeline from Vaigai dam to T Kallupatti and Sedapatti and 127.18 crore for Melur and Kottampatti.

Kerala tops women driving aspirants’ list, shows national data

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More young Women fromKeralaaspire to learn driving when compared to their counterparts in other states in the country.

Data from 2022 shows that 40% of the nearly 11 lakh people who received learner’s licence (LL) in Kerala were women.

Goa came a distant second with 33% of the total persons receiving LL being women.Uttar Pradeshand Bihar fared poorly with 5% and 3% respectively.

LL is valid only for a period of six months and one must pass a written test on road rules, regulations, signals, signs, road manners, defensive driving and other factors to get a driving license.

Experts in the field of women studies said the main reason for the increasing number of women taking driving licences in Kerala is Education and financial independence.

PM Poshan scheme: Health survey of class I kids this year

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TheKarnatakadepartment of school Education has decided to carry out a Health assessment survey of children joining government schools this academic year, to guage the benefits of the Pradhan Mantri Poshan ShaktiNirman(PM Poshan) scheme, formerly known as the Midday Meal scheme.

This is to get an idea of how the supplementary Nutrition programme where milk, eggs, groundnut chikki and bananas are included in the midday meals provided to children has benefitted them. As part of this, all government schools have been instructed to check the weight and height of the beneficiaries from this academic year, during a recent video conference meeting held with all DDPIs in attendance.

The started serving eggs, groundnut chikki, and bananas with midday meals for children from classes 1 to 8 in government schools last academic year. The children have been receiving milk under the KsheeraBhagyaScheme for the past decade.

Telangana in ‘caution’ zone in IMD’s first excess heat index

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has been placed under zone of ‘caution’ in the first-ever excess heat factor (EHF) index released recently by theIndia Meteorological Department(IMD) in Delhi.EHFis an experimental exercise to estimate the heat Stress over parts of country during summer on the lines of Australia and the US.

Unlike simple prediction of high temperature, EHF provides an estimate of excess heat stress based on high temperature of the previous 30 days and extreme heat in the last three days over a region. If a region in the index is highlighted in red, it means that the maximum temperature recorded is higher than 45 degree Celsius and there is more stress.

IMD’s first EHF showed that major parts of Telangana, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra,Uttar Pradesh,Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Gujarat,Himachal Pradeshand Uttarakhand are experiencing an increase in excess heat factor. Some parts of Andhra Pradesh are in the red danger zone with a maximum temperature of more than 45 degree Celsius and the EHF data can serve as a warning to citizens to be on the lookout for any Health effects, officials said.

The EHF index is used in Australia, the US and a few other countries.

AP bets on renewable energy to meet goals

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Anticipating a further increase in the electricity demand, the state energy department has focused on transformation of the sector.

The annual energy consumption in the state has increased by over 31% in the last six years from 50,077 million units in 2017-18 to 65,830 MU in 2022-23. The power utilities met the all-time high per-day energy demand of 251 MU on May 18.

As part of meeting the future energy demand, the has taken measures to enhance power generation installation capacity in the state. The government has laid special emphasis on increasing the RENEWABLE ENERGY generation capacity that would help the state ramp up its power generation capacity.

Goa Taxi App faring poorly due to high rates: Mauvin

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Transport minister Mauvin Godinhosaid that theGoa Taxi app, which was launched with much fanfare, has evoked a poor response due to the high rates.

The Goa Taxi app, unfortunately, has comparatively high rates, and people are not willing to join it.

However, despite the difference in pricing, Godinho said that the rates cannot be lowered. When there is an audit objection to why rates were lowered despite government regulations, we cannot be found flouting norms, he said.

SMEs seek dedicated govt dept

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A separate department to address all issues pertaining to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) has been demanded by the SME Chamber of India andMaharashtraIndustry Development Association.

The representation cited harassment and extortion threats the SMEs face from local goons, harassment by Mathadi kamgaars and other unregistered labour unions, transporters, recruitment agencies run by politicians, and interference from politicians and party workers, who disturb business activities and manufacturing operations.

A separate department could help set up a mechanism to promote exports and revival of sick units, and enable sale of shut units.