Meghalaya to host National Table Tennis Championship

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Thursday said emphasis is being laid on promoting sunflower area and production in the country. He said sunflower will be promoted on the lines of oilseeds and Oil Palm Mission. The Minister was speaking during a meeting with State Governments and concerned experts on promoting sunflower production. A detailed action plan will be prepared after studying the suggestions of the states and experts. He announced that a sub-committee consisting of all the major state governments and stakeholders and the Agriculture Commissioner and other concerned officials would work out the roadmap. Tomar urged the states to increase the production of sunflower. He also assured the support to the state governments for seeds, and micro-irrigation assistance to industries.

-Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday in the Parliament complex in New Delhi and gave a memorandum highlighting a series of demands. A release from the state government says he asked the Centre to desist Karnataka from constructing the proposed Mekedatu dam across the interstate river Cauvery saying it will deny the lower riparian state the rightful share of water. He has insisted to secure the traditional fishing rights of the Indian fishermen from the state near Katchatheevu. He has also demanded to give exemption for the state from the NEET in undergraduate medical admission. Stalin also met several Union Ministers including  Amit Shah,  Rajnath Singh and  Nitin Gadkari. 

-Milk will be dearer in Punjab with effect from Friday. Punjab Co-operation Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Thursday announced the rise in milk procurement/purchase price by 20 rupees per kg milk fat with effect from April 1. Divulging the details, he said that the recent increase in diesel/petrol prices as well as the sharp price rise in raw ingredients used in production of cattle feed for milch animals, has reduced the profits of milk producers. Milkfed has decided to increase its milk procurement rate in order to help the farmers to increase their profit.

-The Chairperson of Mumbai Port Authority Rajiv Jalota, said that the Mumbai International Cruise Terminal, is expected to be commissioned by July 2024. He further said that the terminal will have a capacity of handling 200 ships and 1 million passengers per annum. Out of the total project cost of Rs. 495 crore, Rs. 303 crores will be incurred by Mumbai Port Authority and the remaining by private operators. He was speaking on the occasion of completion of 7 years of Sagarmala - Government of India’s flagship programme for port-led development of the nation. He said Mumbai Port Authority is laying special focus on cruise tourism, passenger transportation and ship repair. A Cruise Conference is being planned to showcase India as a cruise destination, with an aim to establish ports like Mumbai, Goa, Kochi and ports on the east coast as cruise hubs of the nation.

-Meghalaya is all set to host the 83rd National Table Tennis Championship 2022 scheduled to begin from April 18th till 25th, 2022 at SAI Indoor Training Centre, NEHU in Shillong. Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma while interacting with media informed that the tournament is one of the biggest sports events that the State has hosted till date among others. This is the second time the biggest table tennis event is being hosted in the Northeast. He further informed that the State is expecting close to 650 participants out of which 450 will be players and rest will be coaches and support staff. He added that the State is also expecting different officer bearers from different States including the Deputy Chief Minister of Haryana who is the president of the Haryana Table Tennis Association and is also responsible for this event taking place here. This tournament is held keeping in mind the 50 year’s statehood celebration of the State, he added and said the cost of hosting this tournament is expected to be 1.5 crore rupees and a total of 10 players from the State is expected to participate in the event.