28.03.23

DoNER min lauds Assam Rifless role in growth of NE

by

DoNER ministerG Kishan Reddy said in the past nine years, over Rs 5 lakh crore have been spent for the development of the northeastern region, asserting that Prime MinisterModihas envisioned to establish northeast as the growth engine of India during Amrit Kaal.

He said Assam Rifles has a major contribution in achieving this new paradigm for the northeast and said, This era of peace has enabled us to realise the real potential of northeast and we can now confidently showcase our strengths in different sectors to the world community during the various G20 summits being held across northeastern. Reddy added that the G20 conferences will help position the Ashtalakshmi states (northeastern states) as growth centres of India.


The floods inAssamlast year were the worst in the past decade as over 88 lakh population was affected and 181 people lost their lives. All the 35 existing districts (before the state government remerged four districts with their original districts in December last year) reeled under the ravaging floods.

by

In view of the impact of the floods in the state last year that left a tale huge loss in crops, property, animal and livestock as well as human lives, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority has geared up its preparation with other departments to deal with the deluge as the pre-monsoon period has already begun in the state.
According to the ASDMA data, a total of 838 people died in the floods in the state during 2013-2022, of whom 181 died last year, which is the highest human death toll in floods in a year. A total of 160 human deaths were reported in 2017 while 122 in the Covid pandemic-hit 2020 and 102 in 2019.

Now focus on investments, jobs: Finance minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan

by

Finance ministerPalanivel Thiaga Rajanon Tuesday said having achieved fiscal consolidation to a large extent in the first two years in power, theDMKgovernment is now focused on attracting new investments and generating employment.

The first signs of good governance are in the numbers. During the previous AIADMK regimes, the numbers initially projected kept going downhill. They also indulged in hidden borrowings to a great extent. The present DMK government has made the right estimates and guaranteed it stayed within that, without the need for hidden borrowings,” the minister said.

The state assembly also passed the final ‘supplementary estimates’ of 26,352 crore for 2022-23. This included 19,776 in revenue account, 3,642 crore in capital account and 2,934 crore in loan account.

Crops on nearly 41,000ha lost to natural calamities in Kerala

by

Kerala, which depends on other states for agriculture products, has been losing crops on huge tracts of land natural calamities every year, shows data procured under the RTI Act.

Crops on around 40,960 hectares (ha) of agricultural land were lost to calamities in the state in just three-and-half years from June 2019 to December 2022, as per data from the agriculture department. Crops on 18,899.79ha were destroyed due to heavy rain. Crops on around 186ha were lost due to drought during the same period.Landslidesalso washed away crops on 183ha.

Alappuzhaand Kottayam districts were the worst affected by the extreme weather events. Alappuzha reported crop loss of 5,939ha in just from April 2021 till December 2022 and it was 2,957ha in Kottayam. Kasaragod reported the lowest crop loss of 119ha in the same period.

The crop loss affected 3,15,013 farmers in the state with banana cultivators being the worst affected. Banana crops of around 1,12,643 farmers were destroyed in three-and-half years due to the calamities. They are followed by paddy and coconut farmers.

Karnataka draft education plan for kids aged 3-8 out; focus on ‘learning via play’

by

Departments of school education and literacy, and women and child development have released the draft ofKarnatakaState Curriculum Framework for Foundational Stage, in keeping with National Education Policy (NEP) for pupils in the age group of three to eight years.

The national curriculum framework for this age group was released in October 2022. Karnataka is the first state to prepare the state framework, which will be finalised and adopted for use from the 2023-24 academic year.

The framework proposes changes in the curriculum of existing practices of ‘Chili pili’ in anganwadis and ‘Nali Kali’ for students in grades 1-3.

Similar reports on the curriculum of five other age groups will also be framed as part of a revamp of the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) in the state. Reports for the other age groups will also be released soon.

Implement Telangana development model in Maharashtra, K Chandrasekhar Rao dares Devendra Fadnavis

by

Telangana chief ministerand Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday dared deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to implement his states model of farmer-centric development in Maharashtra.
Rao, popularly known as KCR, was addressing a rally at Loha in Nanded district, in a bid to expand his partys footprint in Maharashtra ahead of the local self-governing body, assembly and Lok Sabha elections.

The BRS supremo demanded Rs10,000 per acre for investment, 24-hour free electricity and water supply, and the setting up of procurement centres for farmers, as done in Telangana. KCR said he would not come to Maharashtra if Fadnavis takes these measures.

CAG pulls up AP govt over fiscal management

by

The Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) has raised strong objection to the financial management in the state and found fault with the state government for allowing lapse of funds of Rs 6,356 crore given by the Centre.

“As against the government of India guidelines to transfer ‘pass-through’ grants given for implementation of various centrally sponsored schemes to single nodal account pertaining to those schemes, the state government has lapsed unutilised funds of Rs 6,356 crore to the consolidated fund of the state as reduction of expenditure,” said the CAG.

During 2021-22, the state government lapsed the funds by not spending 26,380 crore to state’s consolidated fund which reduced revenue deficit and fiscal deficit from the previous year. It also lapsed the finance commission recommended health sector grants to the tune of 488.15 crore given by the Centre.

The CAG report said the action of the state government in lapsing the funds were in violation of the government of India’s guidelines and also led to revenue deficit while creating an interest burden of 11.33 crore.

Goa cabinet nod to amend telecom infra policy to roll out 5G services

by

The state cabinet on Tuesday granted approval to amend theGoa Telecom Infrastructure Policyfor rolling out 5G mobile services in the state.
This decision is likely to provide relief to consumers who face mobile connectivity issues. Theministry of communications(department of telecommunications), government of India, has notified TheIndian Telegraph Right of Way Rules, 2016 for the establishment of an underground/overground telegraph line.
Subsequently, the Union government amended the Indian Telegraph Right of Way Rules, 2016 in the years 2017, 2021 and 2022, intending to incorporate the provisions related to nominal one-time compensation and uniform procedure for establishment of overground telegraph line in the Indian Telegraph Right of Way Rules, 2016.

It is to inform that, under the Scheme for Special Assistance to State for Capital Investment for 2022-23, Part-V (optical fibre cable), an amount of Rs 3,000 crore is earmarked for this part of the scheme. This amount will be available to states for capital projects on OFC network.

Issue policy on transgender reservations: HC to Maharashtra government

by

Bombay high court on Monday directed the Maharashtra government to come back by June 7 with a policy on reservations for transpersons in employment and education.
Earlier this month, state advocate general Birendra Saraf submitted the state was taking steps to issue a government resolution (GR) in a week to provide for a third window for transgender persons in all public employment and education enrolment, in addition to those for male and female candidates.

The HC was hearing a 2022 petition byVinayak Kashidfor the state’s compliance to a 2014 Supreme Court oder directing all states to issue pro-transgender policies. Kashid’s lawyer Kranti L C said Karnataka provides 1% reservation in all categories, and sought such a policy in Maharashtra.

11 Haryana dists among 37 pollution hotspots, NGT seeks action plan

by

As many as 11 districts of Haryana, including Gurugram and Faridabad, have been identified as air quality sensitive districts for being air pollution hotspots around the year.

The two districts, along with Palwal, Panipat, Sonepat, Bhiwani, Hisar, Jhajjar, Rohtak, Sirsa and Nuh, feature in the list of 37 districts in the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) compiled by the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

The districts, including nine from Delhi and 13 from Uttar Pradesh, include Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddha Nagar (Noida). The list was compiled based on the report of an expert committee that the NGT had appointed in 2021. The panel identified the districts through satellite observations on the basis of high PM2.5 concentration.