28.06.23

DREAM to make Meghalaya drug free

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In a significant milestone in Meghalayas fight against drug abuse and trafficking,DREAM(Drug Reduction, Elimination & Action Mission) was launched by chief ministerConrad K. Sangmaduring a function organised by theMeghalaya Policeand social welfare department on Monday. The theme of the programme was People First: Stop Stigma & Discrimination, Strengthen Prevention.

The vision of the targeted mission is to build a drug- free Meghalaya that leverages culture and communities through a multifaceted coordinated strategy to eliminate the incidence of substance use in the state.

3 Tele-ICU Hubs launched in Assam

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Assaminaugurated a pioneering facility of TeleICU Hubs in Guwahati,Silcharand Dibrugarh, from where specialist doctors will be able to remotely manage ICUs in districts and remote locations.
Chief ministerHimanta Biswa Sarmaon Monday also launched the 10BedICUs along with five other projects. The 10BedICU wards, created in 23 district government hospitals across Assam, pushed the total number of ICU beds to 365 in the state, officials said.

The three TeleICU Hubs were set up at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Silchar Medical College and Hospital and Assam Medical College and Hospital, Dibrugarh.

The TeleICU Hubs and spoke model, where specialist doctors from medical colleges will provide online consultations for the needy and from remote locations. The system has been built upon by eGovernments Foundations acclaimed CARE platform, which the UN has recognised as a Digital Public Good. Built on a cloud-based, open-source patient management tool, the CARE platform revolutionises healthcare delivery, ensuring enhanced patient care and improved outcomes.

CM re-urges Centre to waive GST on Kendu leaves

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Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik re-urged the Centre to withdraw the 18% GST on Kendu leaves for the larger interest of poor and tribal people associated with Kendu leaves trade in the State.

Imposition of GST (18%) on Kendu leaves is adversely affecting the Kendu leaves trade. This in turn affects the livelihoods of Kendu leaves pluckers, binders and seasonal workers and implementation of social security and welfare schemes for them, Patnaik wrote to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who is Chairperson of the GST Council.

Patnaik said the Kendu (Tendu) leaf, which is a Minor Forest Produce, is the financial backbone of eight lakh Kendu (Tendu) leaf pluckers, binders and seasonal workers of Odisha. The pluckers and workers are mostly tribal and Women belonging to the poorest of the poor of the Society.

The tribal people collect the leaves as part of their rights defined under . In the interest of a large section of people dependent upon Kendu leaves for their livelihood, the CM requested Sitharaman once again to withdraw the imposition of GST on the trade.

37 lakh people in Tamil Nadu living with vitiligo: Health minister Ma Subramanian

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Health minister Ma Subramanian said there are at least 37 lakh people inTamil Naduliving with vitiligo, a skin condition that causes skin to lose its color or pigment. However, despite the high prevalence, stigma against this condition persists in certain areas.

Vitiligo causes the skin to appear lighter compared to the natural skin tone or turn white. The condition occurs when the bodys immune system destroys melanocytes, or skin cells that produce melanin, the chemical that gives skin its color, or pigmentation.

Doctors from theIndian Associationof dermatologists, venereologists, and leperologists say that nearly 1 percent of the Population have the condition.

Kerala fights drug menace among school children

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A new survey conducted by Kerala Police among youths below 21 years of age, who were victims of substance abuse, has revealed another shocking fact that 40 percent of them were children below the age of 18.

To eradicate the drug menace from the premises of the schools, the police had conducted 18,301 raids in small eateries and petty shops near schools in the state and registered 401 cases.

In 2022, the Kerala Police registered 25,240 NDPS cases and arrested 29,514 accused compared to the 5334 cases registered in 2021 and 6704 accused arrested in 2021, reveals a document.

Budget size to increase by Rs 25,000 crore: Karnataka CM

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CM Siddaramaiah revealed that the size of the budget he will present on July 7 will be about Rs 3. 35 lakh crore.

At the inauguration of a three-day training programme for first-time MLAs organised by legislative assembly speaker UT Khader, Siddaramaiah said the budget size will be at least Rs 25,000 crore more than the previous budget presented by his predecessor Basavaraj Bommai. In February, Bommai presented a budget of Rs 3. 09 lakh crore.

Siddaramaiah said, The size of the budget will be increased to make provision for Congress five poll guarantees.

He said the government needs about Rs 60,000 crore annually for the schemes.

He urged newly elected legislators to read and understand the nitty-gritty of the financial statement and actively participate in the discussion on the budget. You all should learn and understand budgets and , he said.

The first budget after Independence was Rs 21. 3 crore. In the 12th century, Kayakayogi Basavanna spoke about budgets. Kayaka and Dasoha are key factors of a budget.

Kayaka means production, Dasoha means sharing. He explainedthat the value of the budget is understanding where production is and to whom it is distributed in Society.

Governor pulls up varsities for poor rankings

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Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan has expressed her unhappiness over universities in the state performing poorly in various rankings.

She advised all the VCs to focus and ensure that colleges and universities have proper like washrooms, classrooms, libraries, and hostel facilities, etc. She also asked them to provide details on measures taken to improve the quality of Education at the universities.

CII sets agenda for sector growth

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Confederation of Indian (CII) AP unit said it will work with a 9-point agenda for the year to boost the Industrial Sector in state. Dr MLakshmiPrasad, chairman ofCIIAP unit, said they will work with a theme Towards a Competitive and Sustainable Andhra Pradesh@100 : Growth, Competitiveness, Sustainability, Globalisation, Building Trust, for this financial year.

Lakshmi Prasadsaid India’s GDP is expected to grow at a rate of 6.5% to 6.7%, with CII envisioning a 7% growth rate. He said CII is trying to encourage young entrepreneurs by hand-holding.

As state prepares for EV goals, GEDA calls for siting study

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Given the inevitability of electrification in the transport sector, the Goa Energy Development Agency (GEDA) has called for the need for a ‘siting study’ – a research of locations identified to set up EV charging stations.
A recent technical session on this subject organised by GEDA saw the participation of senior officials of Kadamba, various municipal corporations, panchayats, town planning department, oil companies, charge point operators, PWD, and technical experts.

With the objective of boosting adoption of electric vehicles to at least 30% by 2025, the has approved the Goa Electric Mobility Promotion Policy (GEMPP) 2021. The policy aims to create 10,000 direct and indirect jobs in the sector by 2025.

Potholed state highway stretches maximum in Pune, Nagpur regions

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State highways in Pune and Nagpur region inMaharashtrahave registered the highest number of complaints regarding potholes, showed data from the Public Works Department (PWD) for May and June.

The complaint redressal portal to highlight potholed stretches of the highway was launched in Maharashtra recently. It is under the testing phase currently. It may be noted that Nagpur division registered 1,403 complaints, while Pune divisions five districts registered 1,163 complaints.

The active portal aimed to help citizens register complaints from potholes to bad stretches and no roads as they travelled along highways. The current two-month data had both citizens and officials taking note of bad roads. The PWD planned to carry out temporary repairs of the potholes with basic filling in themonsoonseason. The whole stretch would be reconstructed in November.