The Assam cabinet, led by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, has approved the Assam Healing (Prevention of Evil) Practices Bill, 2024, to address the issue of magical healing practices in the name of treatment.

Crackdown on ‘magical healing’ fraud

Announcing the decisions made during the cabinet meeting at Lok Sewa Bhawan in Guwahati, Assam Tourism Minister Jayanta Malla Baruah emphasized that the proposed bill aims to provide relief to victims of fraudulent magical treatments. In case of any individual found guilty of engaging in illegal practices under the guise of treatment or magic healing, the bill prescribes imprisonment and fines.

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Saturday inaugurated the MeghFarm Processing Hub and Tikrikilla PRIME Hub at Khamari, Tikrikilla, West Garo Hills.

Speaking on the occasion, the Meghalaya Chief Minister said that wastage of agricultural produce has resulted in huge losses to farmers across the Garo Hills region.

"The MeghFarm Processing Hub with a capacity of 80 to 100 tons will ensure that the agricultural produce is preserved to the highest standards, extending its shelf life and enhancing its market value," he said and informed the project has been established at the cost of Rs 14.5 crore.

The Odisha government on Saturday hiked pension amount by Rs 500 for beneficiaries under the state government’s social security scheme, Madhu Babu Pension Yojana.

The minimum monthly pension amount under the Madhu Babu Pension Yojana will be Rs 1,000 instead of Rs 500.

The beneficiaries will avail of the enhanced amount from February onwards. The pension holders who used to get Rs 500 would now avail Rs 1,000. The ones who were getting Rs 700 and Rs 900 would avail pension of Rs 1,200 and Rs 1,400 respectively.

Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare S.P. Singh Baghel launched the first phase of the bi-annual nationwide Mass Drug Administration (MDA) campaign for lymphatic filariasis elimination.

The campaign aims to check disease transmission by providing free preventive medications to residents in areas affected by the disease. The campaign will cover 92 districts across 11 states and will run for the next two weeks. Chhattisgarh Health Minister Shyam Bihari Jaiswal was also present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, S P Singh Baghel reiterated India's commitment to ending Lymphatic Filariasis by 2027, three years before the global target.

In a landmark move set to strengthen Odisha's position in the electric vehicle (EV) sector, JSW Group signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Odisha government for the establishment of an Integrated Electric Vehicles (EV) and EV Battery Manufacturing Project in Cuttack and Paradeep.

According to an official release from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO), "While at Cuttack, there will be EV Vehicle and Component Manufacturing plants; in Paradeep, it will set up copper Smelter and Lithium Refinery. This historic moment marks JSW Group's strategic entry into Odisha, amidst competitive offers from other states."

Secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), S Krishnan, inaugurated the 'groundbreaking' SWASTHA project and the state-of-the-art ISO 5 and 6 clean room facilities at the Centre for Nanotechnology, IIT Guwahati, on Friday.

Smart Wearable Advanced NanoSensing Technologies in Healthcare ASICs (SWASTHA) aims to revolutionise healthcare through advanced nanoelectronic theranostic devices. The project aims to deliver high-quality products and prototypes in micro/nanoelectronics and nanomaterials, with a focus on healthcare and energy applications. It emphasises innovation, scientific collaboration, and technological progress, IIT Guwahati said in a press release.

The Unified Payment Interface (UPI) services are set to be launched in Sri Lanka and Mauritius at 1 pm on Monday. Besides this, RuPay card services will be launched in Mauritius, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a press release on Sunday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe and Prime Minister of Mauritius Pravind Jugnauth will witness the “historic launch" on Monday via video conferencing, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in a post on X.

A single online portal on Indian women in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics & Medicine (STEMM) was launched on Sunday which could help in policy-making to address the challenges of gender gap in sciences.

The "Science for Women- A Technology & Innovation (SWATI)" Portal is a complete interactive database and the first-of-its-kind in India which is developed, hosted and maintained by the National Institute of Plant Genome Research (NIPGR), an official statement said here.

Former vice-president M. Venkaiah Naidu and Union Minister for Culture, Tourism and Development of the Northeast Region G. Kishan Reddy will be inaugurating the Sangeet Natak Akademi’s ‘Dakshin Bharat Sanskritik Kendra’ here in Hyderabad on Monday.

The foundation stone for a ‘Bharat Kala Mandapam auditorium’ will also be laid at the Centre for Cultural Resources and Training campus in Madhapur. The official function will be held at the Shilpa Kala Vedika in Hi-Tec City, where a cultural programme celebrating the life and times of legendary musician-singer Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao will be held, informed a press release on Sunday.

Sangeet Natak Akademi, an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Culture and an apex body in the field of performing arts in the country, is into the preservation and promotion of diverse cultural heritage of the country expressed in forms of music, dance and drama.

The Karnataka State-Level Single Window Clearance Committee (SLSWCC) has granted approval to 128 projects cumulatively worth Rs 6,407.82 crores, with the potential to generate employment for 33,771 people across the state.

The proposals were cleared on Friday by the committee headed by Large and Medium Industries and Infrastructure Development Minister M B Patil here, a statement said. Proposals submitted by Bengaluru-based companies, Gokula Education Foundation (Medical), and Rashtreeya Sikshana Samithi Trust, which are to invest Ra 484.33 crores and Rs 415 crores respectively, were among the marquee projects greenlighted by the panel. The minister, who chaired the meeting at the Karnataka Udyog Mitra (KUM) office here, said the 128 projects would ensure equitable investment across the diverse regions of the state. The clearance committee gave nod to 22 projects, the investment value of which is in excess of Rs 50 crores.