Cotton production in Telangana has declined for the third consecutive year due to heavy rains. , photo credit: Nagra Gopal
Here are the major news developments from Telangana to watch for today:
1. Expectations of self-help groups on allocation of funds for their interest payment on bank loans in this year’s budget. The government has not released a single rupee on the bank loans taken by the groups for the last three years. As a result, the groups were paying interest on the loans taken by them, although they were considered interest-free loans, with the government meeting the interest component.
2. The state government is re-thinking the municipal master plans for the 68 cities already prepared. The move follows resistance from people in villages surrounding the towns as municipalities considered taking their land for recreational and industrial areas.
3. Attractive salaries offered by private medical colleges for non-clinical courses like anatomy, physiology and biochemistry due to shortage of faculty. Many teachers of these courses are attracted to government colleges because of the higher salaries, resulting in a shortage of faculty in private institutions.
4. Due to heavy rains, this time for the third consecutive year, there has been a huge decline in the production of cotton in the state. Against the average yield of 12 quintals per acre, farmers could get only eight quintals. And the returns for the farmers were bad too.