Nuklu Phom is creating a ” peace corridor”. The main goal of expanding the Yaongyimchen Community Biodiversity Zone. In addition to protecting wildlife and environmental protection, he also expanded his work to Health, Education and microfinance.
He founded the Lemasachenlok Society. It strives to make locals sensitive to Amur Falcons. It has established three Protected Areas to help increase the number of falcons in its habitat. Nuklu Phom is known as the “Amur Falcon of Nagaland”.
Assamese short film Xogun (Vulture), adapted from the much-acclaimed short story bearing the same name by noted writer-journalist Manoj Kumar Goswami and scripted and directed by national award winner Utpal Borpujari, has been selected for the 21stNew YorkIndian Film Festival (NYIFF).
Produced by IFT India, the film is among 58 feature films, documentaries and short films in 15 languages from across India to be selected for NYIFF, one of the most prestigious Indian film festivals globally, which will be held during June 4-15 virtually because of the pandemic.
Xogun had earlier won the Best Film award in the short film competition of the 13th Guwahati International Film Festival organised by the Gauhati Cine Club and was screened at the 14th Signs Festival in Thiruvanathapuram, considered among the most prestigious short film and documentary festivals in India.
Chief ministerNaveenPatnaik announced a three-month door-to-door survey by ASHAs and anganwadi workers from May 24 to trace people suspected of having Covid in the wake of the rising infections in villages. He has also announced the formation of a task force for Oxygen management, the mainstay of medical care in the ongoing pandemic.
The CM said the government will pay extra incentives of Rs 1,000 per month to ASHAs for the three-month drive and Rs 10,000 one-time aid to buy bicycles, cupboards, slippers, umbrellas and torches since they will also have to monitor those recuperating in Home isolation. The move comes amid a government analysis that 57% infections in the state this month were from villages.
Xylophis Deepaki, a tiny snake with iridescent scales that is only 20 cm long, has been added to the list.
It was discovered in a coconut plantation in Kanyakumari for the first time.
It has been sighted in a few locations in the southern part of the Western Ghats and is now considered an endemic species of Nadu.
The species is named after Indian herpetologist Deepak Veerappan, who was instrumental in establishing the Xylophiinae subfamily to accommodate wood snakes.
With thesecond waveof thepandemicprevailing intensely in the state,online classesanddigital learningare likely to be the medium of Education in the upcoming academic year too. To rectify the shortcomings and make digital Learning more student-friendly and effective,Kerala of Technology and Education(KITE) has submitted a proposal to the State Government. The proposal, submitted byKITEchief executive officerK Anwar Sadath, suggests a few additions to the existing First Bell programme based on the experiences gained over the last one year.
KITE proposed to schedule the digital learning system in order to clear the academic gap in students. The plan is to keep a balance between centralized online classes, like the ones in Victers TV, and online lessons delivered by respective teachers at school level. Also, it must be structured in a way that teachers continuous support is provided to students along with the provisions for continuous evaluation.
Suggestions at four levels academic, technological, implementation and monitoring were proposed by KITE to achieve the intended results.
The Chief Minister’s Covid-19 Relief Fund, which was set up by theKarnataka governmentin May-June 2020 soon after the pandemic broke out, attracted Rs 318 crore until November-December last year. In the second wave that has exposed chinks in the state’s medical , the fund has received as little as Rs 2 crore in April-May this year.
Sources said the State Government was expecting private companies, philanthropists and individuals to loosen their purse strings and make generous contribution to ramp up medical infrastructure, with the state witnessing a frightening surge in new infections and deaths in the past month. However, the state’s Covid-19 relief fund is now left with Rs 9 crore – Rs 2 crore raised this year and Rs 7 crore unspent from last year.
Another likely reason is that the Centre has tweaked exemption terms under corporate social responsibility (CSR) spending.
Now, the Centre allows private companies to seek CSR exemption for funds directly spent on Covid relief work or on material assistance they are providing to the public. This, sources said, may have forced a majority of big companies to reduce their financial assistance.
PradeshCongressCommittee president and Nalgonda MP NUttam Kumar Reddy alleged that hundreds of people were dying due to the failure of the TRS-government in extending adequate number of ambulances to take the patients to the hospitals.
Uttam said while other states have taken steps to provide free treatment to Covid-19 patients, Telangana government did not take sufficient steps to control the spread of the virus.
Though chief ministerK Chandrasekhar Raohad announced in the state assembly three months back that Covid-19 treatment would be included in Arogyasri scheme, his promise was not implemented till date, Uttam said.
Industries ministerMekapati Gautham Reddyhas said the government will shortly announce anoxygen policyto encourage manufacturing ofoxygen concentratorsin the state. He said the government will ready its own Plants with a capacity of 300-400 metric tonnes (MT) over the next 45 days.
The minister pointed out that the new policy would help Micro, Small and Medium enterprises (MSME) rapidly launch production and supply operations. The government will grant incentives to manufacturers of Oxygen concentrators, he said, adding that they would also grant additional subsidies to industries producing oxygen.
Thestategovernment issued orders for takingoverCovid admissions in 21privatehospitals from Monday, for a period one month or until further orders. The said that50%of thebedsin privatehospitalswill be reserved for Covid patients.
The state government said that in order to make for sufficient provision of beds for Covid patients, private hospitals had earlier been directed to reserve a certain Percentage of their total bed capacity.
Payment for the treatment of DDSSY beneficiaries will be made by the government to the hospital based on the treatment provided and upon verification of the bills as per the rates fixed by the public Health department for treatment of Covid.
Encouraged by successful production ofoxygenby making slight alteration to theethanolmanufacturing unit inOsmanabad, a total of 20 distilleries from different parts ofMaharashtrahave expressed their interest in setting up Oxygen generation Plants on similar lines.
Impressed by the idea, the Uttar Pradesh government is also implementing the Osmanabad pattern at 15 ethanol plants for increasing the oxygen generation capacity ahead of third wave of Covid-19.
Already orders have even placed for getting the required equipment, including compressors, that are to be imported from Taiwan, Korea and the USA for two plants. There are 195 sugar factories out of which 137 have ethanol plants in the state. In addition to this, there are over a dozen standalone ethanol plants across the state.