27.06.22

Manipur adopts 1961 as base year for Inner Line Permit system

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The state cabinet on Wednesday resolved to adopt 1961 as base year for determining the native status for implementation of inner line permit (ILP) inManipur.

Following a protracted mass agitation and chief minister Nongthombam Biren Singh adopting a hard line, the Centre had extended the ILP system in the state in December 2019. It came into effect in Manipur from January 1, 2020, making it the fourth northeastern state after Nagaland, Mizoram andArunachal Pradeshto come under the ILP regime.

Under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873, ILP was enforced during British rule. It restricts the entry of outsiders in the state without permission. The system was, however, withdrawn from Manipur in 1950. The ILP checks influx of migrants and saves the culture, identity, tradition and demographic structure of the indigenous people of the state. Chaired by Biren at his office complex, the cabinet also approved the publication of the draft GIS Based Master Plan for Greater Imphal for the horizon year 2041 for inviting opinion and objections.

IIT Guwahati uses drones to deliver food, medicines to flood victims

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The Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati (IIT-G), has used drones to reach out to the people trapped in the floodwaters in lowerAssam, with relief. Rainwater rolling down from the Bhutan Hills has caused untold damage to this region this monsoon and left thousands of marooned villagers without food and shelter.

The whole operation is being carried out by the Drones Tech Lab, a start-up atIITGuwahati, and students of the aeromodelling club of the institute with the help of the Kamrup district administration since Friday. They have started the delivery of medicines and relief materials in Kamrup through drones as numerous villages in lower Assam, where IIT-G is located, have been cut off from the rest of the state for over a week now. Hundreds of people are still struggling for emergency needs.

Over the last one week, IIT-G conducted surveys and mapping of flood-affected areas surrounding Balisatra Chariali, near Kendukona village, one of the worst flood-hit locations. IIT-G said their drone technology will help in identifying stranded citizens during floods or other natural disasters such as earthquakes and landslides in a very short time and provide real time information to disaster response authorities.

Odisha government to give monthly pension to transgenders

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The Odisha government has decided to include members of thetransgender communityin a social welfare scheme which provides amonthly pensionto the needy.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has approved a proposal to cover the members of the community underthe Madhu Babu Pension Yojana(MBPY) which aims at providing financial assistance to the destitute elderly, differently-abled persons and widows, he said.

Around 5,000 transgenders will get a monthly pension in between Rs 500 and Rs 900 depending on their age, Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SSEPD) minister Ashok Panda said.

The government’s decision was taken in view of the promises made in the ruling BJD’s manifesto for the 2019 Assemble polls, the minister said.

Panda said that the transgender people will have to apply on the official website of the department to register themselves under the MBPY.

Tamil Nadu Ennum Ezhuthum scheme

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Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, MK Stalin launched the Ennum Ezhuthum Scheme in state, as schools re-opened after summer vacation.

This scheme was launched to bridge the learning gap among students aged under 8, caused as a result of COVID-19 pandemic.

It aims to ensure foundational numeracy and literacy by 2025.

Scheme was launched at an event, organised in Azhinjivakkam panchayat union middle school, Tiruvallur.

Distribution of Workbook

Under the Ennum Ezhuthum Scheme, education department will distribute workbooks to students from Classes 1 to 3, in order to assess and bridge the learning gap.

Training programme for teachers

Before this launch, a special training programme was organised for teachers and handbooks were distributed among them. They were advised to opt for an interactive learning method and encourage students to read books and newspapers in school library.

Kerala: First in Asias Global Start-up Ecosystem Report

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Asias Global Start-up Ecosystem Report was recently released on June 14, 2022, in the light of London Tech Week 2022.

In the report, start-up ecosystem in Kerala has been ranked at first position in Asia.

Kerala has also been ranked at fourth position, in terms of Affordable Talent.

The report recognises creative steps taken by Kerala Start-up Mission (KSUM) to position it as a start-up power house.

This ranking will help Kerala in building a strong network of start-ups that will play a key role in its growth.

The GSER was released to bring together global governments, inspirational start-up founders, investors and corporate leaders, to discuss the power of technology for societies. This year, ranking has been decided jointly by policy advisory and research organization Start-up Genome and Global Entrepreneurship Network. The first ever GSER was published in 2020. In 2020, Kerala was ranked at 5thposition in Asia while 20thin World.

Karnataka to grow bamboo on 57,000 ha: Minister

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Karnatakawillgrow bambooon 57,000 hectares in the state in the next two years, saidforest minister Umesh V Katti.

He was speaking after launching a project of planting 10 lakhsaplingsof variousfruit-bearing trees, through the Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project and forest department in Venur region of Kundapur division atErmodi forest area, in Belthangady taluk.

He said that programmes to increase forest cover, and planting saplings of fruit-bearing trees, will help in reducing instances of man-animal conflict.

Under the denotification programme, which was undecided for the past several years, the forest department has handed over 6.6 lakh hectares of deemed forest to the revenue department. Farmers in those taluks may cultivate the land, based on the directions of bagair hukum committees. Meanwhile, 3.3 lakh hectares of land has been handed over to the forest department, and thereby the forest cover has been increased from 42 lakh hectares to 45 lakh hectares in the state.

Telangana with high per capita income sees dipping poverty graph during pandemic

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Telanganagovernment maybe battling with the Centre to lift market borrowing curbs to fight debt, but it has displayed a robust economic trend, as per experts extrapolating on the Ecowrap report released.

Telangana, which consistently maintained a high per capita income (PCI), has shown a dipping poverty graph with income disparity shrinking during the pandemic.

This was established by its lowGinico-efficient – a measure of income inequality (in aggregate and per capita terms) – in the report.
The report has emphatically linked the Gini co-efficient to inequality reduction in states.

PCI and Gini index are interlinked and states with high PCI are better placed to cut down on inequalities than states with lower PCI, saidKrishna ReddyChittedi, assistant professor of economics atHyderabad Central University. As per the Ecowrap report, the other top two states with high PCI are Goa and Sikkim and those with lowest are Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan. The report also says that higher gross state domestic product (GSDP) is linked to a lower Gini ratio like PCI.

Andhra Pradesh: Vizag all set to become a pharma hub, says Industries Minister

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The Andhra Pradesh government is putting in efforts to develop the industrial sector, which endured the slowdown during the coronavirus pandemic, with renewed vigour, IT and Industries Minister Gudivada Amarnath has said.

Mr. Amarnath said that the government was focusing on three industrial corridorsVizag-Chennai corridor, Chennai- Bengaluru and Bengaluruwith assistance from the Centre. About 9,000 acres of land have been identified for setting up of the nodes and around 7,000 acres have already been acquired for two corridors.

The government will acquire the land and provide basic facilities such as roads, power and water, apart from 75% of skilled local human resources.

The Minister said that around 90,000 acres were needed to produce 30,000 MW of green energy.

Mariculture policy will pave way for non-Goan investors’

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The relaxations announced in the Goa mariculture policy will pave the way for non-Goan investors to set up cage fishing in Goa, which will be detrimental to Goan ramponkars and traditional fishermen, said Goa Forward Party (GFP) in a memorandum to the Directorate of Fisheries.

The concern of the ramponkars is that big investors from outside Goa will take over the coastal waters in the name of cage fishing and will stop local fishermen from fishing in the waters. Large scale commercial cage fishing activity will cause a lot of pollution due to chemicals, antibiotics used to protect the fish and the waste generated by the fish. This will keep wild fish away from the waters where traditional fishermen venture to catch fish

Maharashtra: Demand to enact law to honour, protect widows

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Expressing concerns over the treatment meted out to widows, the members campaigning for protection of rights and dignity of widows have demanded that a law be enacted for the purpose.

The state convener of ‘Vidhva Mahila Sanman va Sanrakshan’ campaign, Raju Shirsath along with others have presented a memorandum to district collectorate appealing to take urgent steps for enacting the law.

The members said that the agitation would continue in the peaceful and democratic manner till it gathered a pace and became a momentum or the government enacted the law for the protection of widows.