28.01.22

Land-swap deal of Assam & Meghalaya hits satra wall

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For the ruling BJP inAssam, safeguarding the Vaishnavite satras (monasteries) and namghars (prayer halls) was the prime agenda in 2021 assembly polls, where it registered a thumping win.

Many Vaishnav-inhabited areas voted decisively in favour of the saffron coalition in an election, which was a battle of two civilizations for the BJP to resist the one represented by migrant Muslims. Eight months after the poll results, as Assam andMeghalayagovernments finalised a land-swap agreement to settle the decades-long border land disputes, it is the Vaishnavite satras in the fringe villages under West Guwahati constituency that have opposed handing over of Assam lands where their disciples prevented Meghalayas alleged Christian aggression by

firmly upholding the Vashnavite culture propagated by the satra and namghars.

Guwahati may have crossed 3rd Covid wave peak: Experts

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Assam capital Guwahati, the gateway to the northeast, might have crossed the peak of the third wave on January 18 and 19 when the overall daily positivity rate had surged beyond 20% inKamrup(Metro) that alone logged nearly 2,000 cases or one-fourth of the states total cases.

Health experts said the rate of infection has shown a continuous declining trend in the last five days here, indicating that the peak may be over. Even after uniform testing during mid-January, the highest 1,996 and 1,929 cases were detected in Kamrup (Metro) on January 18 and 19 respectively. The last 15 days have been most alarming so far as the third wave in the city is concerned. The positivity rate touched 10.12% on January 10, more than double of the states positivity rate of 4.49% on the same day, which set alarm bells in thestate health department. At an uneven trend, the positivity rate continued to hit worrying figures for the next one week and shot up to 20.62% on January 18, followed by 20.17% on January 19.

Odisha: Coal-based projects to boost state

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Odisha, which has the second largest coal reserves after Jharkhand, has reasons to cheer the Budget announcement by finance ministerNirmala Sitharamanof four pilot projects for coal gasification and conversion of coal into chemicals for the industry, feel industry insiders.

A director ofWestern Coalfields Limitedand vice-president of Utkal Chamber of Commerce and Industry Limited, said Jharkhand, which has the countrys highest coal reserves (27%) followed by Odisha (24%) andChhattisgarh(17%), would have the highest opportunities for coal-based projects. Coal gasification if successfully implemented will immensely help these states, he said.

Madurai plans single window system for poll-related nods

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TheMaduraidistrict administration is planning to set up a single window system to provide permission for election-related issues, including campaigns as the model code of conduct for the local body elections has come into effect, district collector S AneeshSekharhas said.

The collector said that 200 polling booths have been identified as vulnerable and they would be monitored by videographers and micro observers in addition to the CCTV monitoring.

Kerala: CIAL retains its position as third busiest airport

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Amid the rising number of Covid cases inKerala, theCochin International Airport Limited(CIAL) retained its position as the third busiest airport in India in 2021 in international sector. As per the latest statistics released byAirport Authority of India(AAI) on international travel, CIAL secured third position in December too, similar to previous months in the year.

As per the report, CIAL registered 301,338 international passengers during December 2021. WhileDelhi airportcontinued to top the list with 8,42,582 passengers and Mumbai airport retained its second spot with 4,51,212 passengers in the said period. CIAL is followed by Chennai airport which handled 2,46,387 international passengers.

CIALs passenger volume has almost increased by a million in 2021 compared to that of 2020. The airport handled a total of 43,06,661 passengers in 2021 and 18,69,690 among them were international passengers.

Karnataka: 12th century inscriptions discovered in Udupi village

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Two Kannada inscriptions belonging to 12th-century Alupa era were found recently in Udupi district by a research team.

“We’ve confirmed that one inscription belongs to the period of Alupa King Kulasekhara I. The second inscription, discovered in less than a week from the same place, is also from the 12th century. Only a few alphabets were visible on it,” said history and archaeology research student Shruthesh Acharya Moodubelle, who led the team.

The inscriptions were found in Bannadi village coming under Vaddarse panchayat of Brahmavar taluk in Udupi district. The 18-line inscription is found engraved on a granite plaque that is 5ft tall and 2ft wide. It was found on an agricultural land belonging to B Kusha Acharya.

Another inscription was discovered at the Hebbarvolal, about 1km from the place where the first inscription was found, in Bannadi village. This inscription was discovered under the guidance of SA Krishnaiah, director of Oriental Archives Research Centre, Udupi; Raghavendra Shenoy, an English teacher at Indira Gandhi residential school, Siddapura; and Shruthesh.

Telangana industries minister seeks Rs 14,000 crore for key projects

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Ahead of the Union Budget, which is to be presented on February 1,Telangana industries ministerKT Rama Rao has written nearly half a dozen letters to Union finance ministerNirmala Sitharamanseeking budgetary support of over 14,000 crore for key industrial projects set to come up in Telangana.

These include the projects like Hyderabad-Bengaluru, Hyderabad-Vijayawada, Hyderabad-Warangal andHyderabad-Nagpurindustrial corridors as well as theHyderabad Pharma Cityproject that has bagged the National Investment and Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ) status.
KTRhas urged the FM to sanction additional nodes at Mancherial (3,000 acres) under the Hyderabad-Nagpur corridor, Huzurabad as part of the Hyderabad-Vijayawada corridor and Jadcherla-Gadwal-Kothaguda node under the Hyderabad-Bengaluru corridor.

He has sought provision of 5,000 crore for these three nodes in the budget estimates for 2022-23, including 2,000 crore for Mancherial and 1,500 crore each for Huzurabad and Jadcherla-Gadwal-Kothaguda nodes.

Andhra Pradeshs energy demand for next fiscal projected at 66,530 MU

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Discoms in the state have projected a sale of 66,530 million units of electricity for the 2022-23 financial year. TheAndhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commissionconcluded its (virtual) public hearings and state advisory committee meetings on tariffs and aggregate revenue requirements for the next fiscal.

The electricity demand projected for agriculture and other agriculture allied services is 19,819 MU for nearly 19 lakh services.

As much as 38,199 MU (57% of the total energy demand projected for next year) is towards domestic and industrial categories. These two categories add up to 1.52 crore consumers, constituting 80% per cent of the total 1.91 crore electricity consumers in the state.

TheAPERChas strongly felt the need to balance the interest of consumers and discoms. It has stressed on a consumer-centric approach in the power sector, improving financial stability and operational efficiency of the discoms to ensure quality and reliable power supply.

Goa gets new chief secretary

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Principal secretary Puneet Kumar Goel is the new chief secretary of Goa.
He took charge on Tuesday following the retirement of Parimal Rai.
Goel, a 1991 cadre officer has held important portfolios finance included since his posting in Goa two years ago.

He will hold portfolios that were held by Rai such as home, personnel, general administration.
The order appointing Goel as chief secretary was issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs last month.

Govt panel to reassess replenishable groundwater resources in Maharashtra

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In a crucial exercise, the state government will be carrying out the reassessment of replenishable groundwater sources acrossMaharashtra. A special panel has been formed to carry out the task, which is expected to submit its report by February 2023.

While the reassessment will be done in accordance with the directives received from the Centres Ministry of Jalshakti,Water Resources,River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, the National Water Policy, 2012, has also recommended that the groundwater resources of the country should be reassessed periodically.

The aforementioned panel formed has 16 members from different government departments and state agencies and is headed by a secretary-level official from the water supply and sanitation department. Besides reassessing the annual replenishable groundwater resources, the panel will also estimate the status of utilisation of the annual replenishable groundwater resource.