Assam: CM opens Rs 8 crore Atal Udyan with ampitheatre, gym at Adabari

Chief ministerHimanta Biswa Sarma inauguratedAtal Udyan, a park with an amphitheatre, atAdabariin the city, in memory of formerPrime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The park, set up byGuwahati Metropolitan Development Authority(GMDA) at a cost of over Rs 8 crore and covering an area of 8 bighas of land, has a meditation hall, open air gym, a playground for children, murals with a dais besides an amphitheatre with capacity to hold 250 people.

The has been constantly striving towards developing open spaces to turn Guwahati into a modern city with lots of greenery and recreational avenues and with these parks, Guwahati will have five big parks.

Plan to reduce poverty to 10% in next 5 yrs: Naveen Patnaik

Chief minister and BJD presidentNaveen Patnaik announced his government’s plan to bring down POVERTY in the state to 10% in the next five years. Addressing party workers across the state through video-conference, marking the 25th foundation day of the BJD,NaveentermedOdishaa leading state in terms of reducing poverty.

The Odisha Economic Survey 2020-21 said poverty level in the state had gone down from 57.20% in 2004-05 to 32.6% in 2011-12, a reduction of 24.6%. Official sources said the state plans to come up with more Social Welfare Programmes and development initiatives to uplift the living standard of people, which will help in poverty reduction.
Naveen, on the occasion, presented a comparative picture of Odisha before the BJD assumed power in March 2000 and the present scenario. He said the state has now been progressing with a new identity in all sectors – be it Education, Sports, Health and Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture.

The Odisha Economic Survey 2020-21 said poverty level in the state had gone down from 57.20% in 2004-05 to 32.6% in 2011-12, a reduction of 24.6%. Official sources said the state plans to come up with more social welfare programmes and Infrastructure Development initiatives to uplift the living standard of people, which will help in poverty reduction.

Tamil Nadu schools to soon have students councils

With an aim to include students in the decision-making process, the school Education department has sent an internal Communication to all district chief education officers directing them to set up a students council in all the schools.

The project will take shape with the help of teachers and the members of a few NGOs.

Every school must have a school management committee (SMC) mandated under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009, which should have parents and representatives of the local body as members to enable interaction with teachers and school education department officials to fulfill the requirement of the school and children. The SMC is a 20-member committee with a convener and a joint convener.

Kerala Police to visit labour camps, build rapport

A high-level meeting of district Police chiefs and supervising DIGs and IGs was held here in the wake of the riot-like situation involving migrant labourers atKizhakkambalam.

Police helpline numbers, contact numbers of SHOs and deputy SPs should be shared with labourers to redress their grievances quickly. All SHOs were also asked to nominate a Hindi-speaking policeman for attending to their grievances. The officers were also asked to prepare an action-taken report based on their visits to labour camps and places of work.

Karnataka govt to introduce new employment policy soon: CM Bommai

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday announced his government’s decision to introduce a new EMPLOYMENT policy soon which will lay impetus on job creation and reduce Unemployment in the state.

Speaking after inaugurating the Jobs Fair at the Gogte Engineering College here held under the auspices of the Skills Development Corporation, the chief minister said the jobless youths were being given an honorary employment dole to encourage them to find employment. The government will, henceforth, encourage such institutions which are engaged in generating a higher number of employment opportunities, he said.

The chief minister also said that there is a need to upgrade higher Education and professional courses to global Learning standards and hence the Higher Education and Skills Development Departments are working in unison to this effect.

Power bills set to go up in Telangana from April 2022

Power consumers in the state will have to shell out more towards electricity bills from April 2022 withSouthern Power Distribution Corporation Limited (TSSPDCL) and Telangana Northern Power Distribution Company Limited (TSNPDCL) seeking to increase 50 paise per unit for low tension (LT) domestic consumers and Re 1 per unit for all other categories, including LT commercial and high tension (LT) consumers.

As a result of the proposed hike, the power utilities are set to mop up an additional revenue of Rs 6,831 crore.

The discoms submitted power tariff proposals to theTelangana State Electricity Regulatory Commission. The TSERC will conduct a public hearing to seek opinion from people and organisations before finalising or approving the power tariff hike for the year 2022-23.

Both the discoms said that while the annual aggregate revenue requirement (ARR) for the coming financial year is Rs 53,054 crore, the present revenue earnings, including government support, is Rs 42,126 crore, thus leaving a Revenue Deficit of Rs 10,928 crore. The deficit will be bridged in the form of hike in power charges to the tune of Rs 6,831 crore and another Rs 4,097 crore from internal efficiency and governments support, they said.

Andhra Pradesh spends Rs 8,000 crore on Covid-19 management

TheCovid-19pandemic posted complex and grim challenges to the state besides placing an unprecedented financial burden. But it also presented a unique opportunity for AP to scale up its Health infra and medical care, which will come in handy during future emergencies.

As per the statement made by chief ministerYS Jagan Mohan Reddyduring the recent state-level bankers committee meeting, the state has so far spent about Rs 8,000 crore on multiple interventions for prevention, mitigation and management of the Covid-19.

This expenditure was incurred on establishment of labs, testing, procurement of medicines, ventilators, Oxygen supply, Vaccines, third wave preparation, and other measures.

Andhra Pradeshis the first state to include Covid-19 treatment in the list of illnesses covered under its healthcare scheme (Dr YSR Aarogyasri). In the first wave itself, about one lakh patients availed free treatment underAarogyasrischeme, which cost the exchequer of the state to the tune of Rs 310 crore.

Goan film featuring Mhadeis biodiversity screened in Dhaka

Afilmhighlighting the rich of Goas lifeline, the Mhadei, was screened in Bangladesh on December 17 as part of theInternational Film Festival at Dhaka.

The documentary titled Mhadei: Life in Monsoon, directed by Ashish Shah from Panaji for the Goa forest department, showcases glimpses of the richness of the biodiversity as well as the ecosystem of the Mhadei (known as the Mandovi downstream).

The film was scripted by Nandan Saxena and was part of a documentary series produced by the department over a period of three-four years, covering various aspects of Goas forests, ECOLOGY and wildlife.

The documentary film will also be screened at the lnternational Film Festival of Agra, in Uttar Pradesh. It is among 25 films selected from out of 100 entries submitted.

Public University Act, 2016 (Third Amendment) Bill

The Maharashtra Legislative Council passed the “Maharashtra Public University Act, 2016 (Third Amendment) Bill” on 28 December.

Highlights:

The act is being opposed because it calls for LGBTQIA community members to be included on university boards.

A provision for a “Board of Equal Opportunity” is included in the amended act.

A board of equal opportunity shall be established in each university, according to the act. The board will be in charge of planning, monitoring, guiding, and coordinating a variety of development and welfare programs, regulations, policies.

It also is in charge of schemes aimed at ensuring the welfare, development, and social protection of students, non-TEACHING employees, and teachers from underrepresented groups, minorities, Women, and LGBTQIA people.

These rights will be extended to “persons with disabilities for the purpose of promoting and establishing values of , Equality, dignity, and social Justice.”