28.05.21

Weather conditions in northeast set to turn favourable for monsoon onset

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Weather conditions are set to turn favourable in the northeast for the monsoon to set in. The three-month pre-monsoon season did not experience much rainfall this year.

In the northeast, the normal date of the arrival of the rainy season is June 5. After the rains hit the Kerala coast, within a couple of days, the rains may arrive in the northeast. We are keeping a close watch on the movement of the clouds, said a senior official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

In the run-up to the monsoon, the region usually experiences thunderstorms, but this year there was less of this activity. Except Meghalaya, which received normal rainfall since March 1, six other northeast states recorded deficit rainfall. With a maximum shortfall of 67% and 60%, rainfall has been largely deficit in Mizoram and Tripura respectively. Meghalaya, despite receiving 8% less rainfall than normal, was categorized in the normal range as the deficit was not that low. In Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, there was 41% and 27% deficit rainfall, whereas in Manipur, the shortfall was 37%. Nagaland had 44% deficit rainfall.

Whistling village pins hope on Unesco tag

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Each person in the village ofKongthong, 65 km fromShillonginMeghalaya, has two names one in words, the other as a whistled tune. For centuries, the village has nurtured the whistling code, Jingrwai Iawbei. Now, down to the last 700, thecommunityis pinning its hopes on a long-promisedUnescoheritage tag and a school to help preserve thisoral tradition.

Meghalaya has long been trying to get the whistling nomenclature system on the Unescos list of .

Prime Minster Narendra Modi announces 500 crore aid for Odisha

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Prime MinsterNarendra Modi announced Rs 500 crore cyclone relief forOdishaand appreciated the states disaster preparedness resulting in minimal loss of life.Modialso announced Rs 500 crore forWest Bengaland Jharkhand.

While Rs 500 crore would be immediately given to Odisha, another Rs 500 crore announced for West Bengal and Jharkhand will be released on the basis of damage report submitted by the two states.

The Prime Minister also announced Rs 2 lakh ex gratia for the next of kin of the dead and Rs 50,000 for the injured due to Cyclone Yaas. Modi was told that Odisha suffered maximum damage due to Yaas though the actual estimate would take around a week.

Nissan donates Rs 6.5 crore for Covid relief work in Tamil Nadu

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Nissan Indiahas contributed Rs 6.5 crore towardsCovidrelief in Nadu. The company has contributed Rs 2.2 crore to theTamil NaduState Disaster Relief Fund, Rs 25 lakh to the Tamil Nadu CM Relief Fund and over Rs 4.3 crore to purchase Covid-19 relief equipment, masks, PPE Kits and others.

Over the last few months,NissanIndia has distributed N-95 masks, PPE kits, Oxygen concentrators, portableECGmachines, X-ray machines, pulse oximeters and nasal oxygen machines in Delhi NCR and Chennai.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced the formation of a secretary-level committee to develop guidelines and recommendations for the implementation of the Smart Kitchen Scheme in the state in order to meet LDF commitments.Highlights:

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The Smart Kitchen Scheme will be launched on July 10, 2021.
As part of the scheme, Women of state will be given a loan to renovate their kitchens.
Loans with low-interest rates will be made available in instalment plans.
The scheme aims to reduce the workload of women’s domestic labour.

Karnataka pvt school association complains of data breach

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The Association of Managements of Primary and Secondary Schools of Karnataka has alleged there has been a data breach on the U-DISE (Unified District Information System for Education) website and information pertaining to schools has been leaked.

According to the association, cluster resource persons across the state shared their ID and password with the schools and allowed them to update the institutions information on the Database. This task was usually done by CRPs.

KAMS said the breached data is being used by schools to poach students.

Digital survey of agricultural lands in Telangana

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The government will launch a pilot of digital survey of agricultural lands in the State from June 11.

It will be conducted in three villages of Gajwel Assembly constituency represented by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and twenty four other villages in as many districts.

This was decided at an official meeting presided by Mr. Rao to discuss digitising agricultural lands and fixing coordinates with the aim to ensure permanent security of holdings for land owners. The survey will also eliminate land disputes.

Mr. Rao asked the surveying agencies to focus in the pilot project on villages where there were no disputes and then go on to villages where there was a combination of forest and government lands.

Free power to farmers in Andhra Pradesh for next 30 years

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The has decided to continue to provide freepowerforagriculturefor the next 30 years. The power utilities ofAndhra Pradeshare currently supplyingfreepower to more than 18 lakh agricultural Services.

The state government is developing necessary power Infrastructure to continue the scheme for the next 30 years. As part of this, the government will exclusively set up a 10,000 MW solar power plant for making the free power scheme a permanent one.

The state government already spent about Rs 1,700 crore on upgrading Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture feeders to supply 9-hour free power in two spells during day. The subsidy given by the government to the agricultural sector in the 2018-19 financial year was Rs 6,030 crore against Rs 8,559 crore in 2020-21, representing a Rs 2,529 crore or 40 per cent additional subsidy.

The state government is giving highest priority to the agriculture sector. All thefarmersin the state are happy with the effective implementation of the power scheme. The state is witnessing a significant change in the agriculture sector for the last two years. This would help boost economy and improve livelihoods of farmers.

The nearly 6,000 agricultural feeders consume around 15,700 million units of energy per annum, equivalent to the 24% of the total energy demand (66,000 MU per annum) of the state.

Goa CM Pramod Sawant eyes 100% electrification, launches solar power prog for remote villages

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Chief ministerPramod Sawant inaugurated a solar power-basedelectrification programmefor rural households in the state. With an eye on 100% electrification, this project will provide power through to areas where grid connectivity isnt feasible.

The project is pursuant to an agreement signed by the Goa energy development agency (GEDA) with Convergence energy Services limited (CESL). Theproject Sawantannounced would be CESLs first off-grid engagement, and will install and maintain photovoltaic (PV) systems for five years under the governments remote village electrification programme. It will be executed through gram panchayats.

Maharashtra to set up panel for data on OBC quota & population

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The has decided to set up a Backward Classes Commission to collectempirical dataon other backward classes (OBC) Population andreservation.

The state government has decided to set up an independent backward class commission to collect empirical data on the OBCs.

The Supreme Court rejected thestate governmentsreview petition concerningpolitical reservationto the OBCs in local body Elections. It has ruled that reservation in favour of the OBC in local bodies should not exceed the 50% cap determined by it.