Shimla, July 11 (IANS) The Himachal Pradesh government has allocated Rs 201 crore for the construction of a state-of-the-art milk processing plant in Kangra in collaboration with the National Dairy Development Board, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said on Wednesday.

He said the plant in Kangra’s Dhagwar will have an initial capacity of 1.50 lakh litres per day (LLPD) which could be further expanded up to three LLPD. “This fully automatic plant aims to produce a variety of dairy products such as curd, lassi, butter, ghee, paneer, flavoured milk, khoya and mozzarella cheese,” he said in a statement.

According to the statement, the project is expected to enhance the economic prosperity of farmers in Kangra, Hamirpur, Chamba and Una districts.

The CM added the project would benefit the dairy farming community and contribute to the state’s economy. “As the project unfolds, it is poised to bring prosperity to the dairy farming community and ensure that farmers get good value for their hard work,” he said.

CM Sukhu said the initiative aligns with the government’s commitment to farmer welfare. “Once the milk processing plant begins operations, the government also plans to start production of milk powder, ice cream and various types of cheese at this plant,” he added.

–IANS

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Imphal, July 11 (IANS) Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh on Wednesday said whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits the state or not should not be made an issue as the state government is in close touch with him round the clock.

Talking to the media on the sidelines of the extended executive meeting of the state BJP, he said that the visit of the Prime Minister to Manipur is not an issue and depends on the situation and was critical of some quarters who are making it an issue.

Biren Singh, who holds the home portfolio, said: “We are keeping in touch with the PM round-the-clock and working under his guidance. All security-related, relief, and other works are being planned and performed as per the Prime Minister’s advice and approval.”

The Chief Minister also disclosed that reconciliation efforts between the Meitai and Kuki-Zo communities are going on to evolve a solution to the ethnic crisis.

Manipur Chief Minister’s statement came two days after Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi’s day-long visit to the ethnic violence-ravaged state. Gandhi urged the Prime Minister to come to Manipur and talk to the people who have suffered from the ethnic strife since May last year.

–IANS

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Guwahati, July 11 (IANS) With a reduction in the intensity of rain during the past few days, the overall flood situation in Assam is slowly improving, even as five more people died in five districts on Wednesday and 14.38 lakh people remain affected in 27 of the state’s 35 districts, Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) officials said.

However, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Wednesday forecast heavy rainfall over parts of central, northeast, and east India during the next few days.

According to the ASDMA officials, the number of affected people has come down from over 24.20 lakh in 30 districts as on July 5.

One drowning death each was reported from Dhubri, Dibrugarh, South Salmara, Dhemaji, and Cachar districts, taking the toll to 84.

The ASDMA officials said that the flood water also inundated over 39,898 hectares of crop area in 2,580 villages in 27 districts while over 11.28 lakh domestic animals have also been badly affected.

Out of the 27 flood-affected districts, Dhubri, Cachar, Barpeta, Darrang, Goalpara, Golaghat, Sivasagar, Majuli, and South Salmara are the worst hit.

The Brahmaputra is flowing above the danger level at Neamatighat, Tezpur, Guwahati, and Dhubri, while Burhidihing, Disang, and Kushiyara rivers are also flowing above the danger level in many places.

ASDMA officials also said that over 45,620 people are sheltered in the 365 relief camps opened by the district administrations, while 156 more relief distribution centres are functioning in different districts. Several National and State Disaster Response Forces teams, Fire and Emergency Service personnel, police forces, the AAPDA Mitra Volunteers of ASDMA and volunteers from various NGOs, have also been deployed for the rescue and relief operations.

According to officials, the second wave of floods caused major damage to agricultural land and standing crops, fisheries, and infrastructure including roads, bridges and culverts. They said that road communication has been affected due to floods and surging waters washed away bridges and damaged roads and embankments.

District administrations are providing food and other essential materials to the affected people.

Like previous years, wild animals in the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR) were largely affected by the flood as a large area of the park has been submerged and park authorities continued their efforts to rescue the animals and to prevent poaching. KNPTR Director Sonali Ghosh said that so far, 135 wild animals have been rescued while 163 animals, including deer, rhino, and hog deer, have drowned in flood waters.

–IANS

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Panaji, July 11 (IANS) BJP MLA Michael Lobo has said that he will raise the issue of diversion of flights to Bengaluru due to ‘low visibility’ at Manohar International Airport at Mopa in North Goa.

Stating that he himself had to face the problem while travelling from Mumbai to Goa, former Minister Lobo said that these incidents are marring the tourism sector.

MIA is operated by GMR Airport Infrastructure Limited.

“Manohar International Airport is facing issues of low visibility during late night. There are major problems with fog early in the morning and also dew. As this airport is situated in the hilly area, during rainy season clouds settle above the runway and hence pilot finds difficulties to landing the flight,” Lobo said

“They should introduce new technology to combat this issue. I was on a flight from Mumbai to Mopa-Goa. It took me two and half hours to reach here, as the flight could not land though the pilot made four attempts. Then they announced that it would be diverted to Bengaluru,” he said.

“Many flights are facing similar problems and are taken to Bengaluru. Tourists are facing problems, who come to spend time in Goa, they are taken to Bengaluru because of these issues,” Lobo said, adding tourists’ complaints to him about this issue.

“I will raise this issue in the assembly session and Chief Minister Pramod Sawant will have to intervene in it. He should speak to the GMR group to find out a solution for this problem,” he said.

“No visibility issue is faced by many International airports, but they don’t divert flights. Because they have the technology, GMR needs to opt for such,” he said.

He also pointed out that there should be a system in place wherein instead of diverting flights to Bengaluru, they can be landed at Dabolim airport in South Goa.

Speaking to IANS, GMR officials said that an Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower at an airport is a facility that coordinates and manages the safe takeoff, landing, and ground movement of aircraft.

“In India, all ATC towers, except those controlled by the defence forces, are handled by the AAI. They decide on a diversion of flights when the issue of low visibility is faced,” he said.

–IANS

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Hyderabad, July 11 (IANS) Telangana State Cyber Security Bureau has arrested YouTuber Praneeth Hanumantu in Bangalore for vulgar and obscene comments on a father-daughter relationship.

Shikha Goel, Director of Telangana Cyber Security Bureau, said the accused was being produced before the local magistrate in Bangalore for a transit warrant.

The official said efforts were on to apprehend the remaining accused.

Praneeth, 29, a native of Andhra Pradesh and resident of Hyderabad, is the main accused in the FIR registered by Telangana Cyber Security Bureau on July 7 under sections 67B of the Information Technology Act, 294 of the Indian Penal Code, 79 of BNS and 13 (c)of the POCSO Act.

He has been accused since the day the matter came to light. This case involves a group of individuals engaged in vulgar and obscene conversations about a father-daughter relationship on a YouTube podcast, said the director.

The FIR was registered after Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka promised action when actor Sai Dharam Tej reported child abuse online.

Sai Dharam Tej took to ‘X’ to express outrage and tagged the chief ministers and deputy chief ministers of both the Telugu states to demand necessary action to curb horrific acts like this in future.

“This is beyond gruesome, disgusting and scary. Monsters like these go unnoticed on the very much utilised social platform doing child abuse in the disguise of so-called Fun & Dank. Child Safety is the need of the hour,” he wrote while sharing a video of a Telugu YouTuber making inappropriate comments on a video that features a father and his daughter.

–IANS

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