TGCSU urges power minister to reduce load shedding hours

The Tura Government College Students’ Union (TGCSU) on Friday requested the Power Minister Abu Taher Mondal to reduce the hours of load shedding in view of students preparing and writing their semester examinations.

In a statement, TGCSU president Anand Ch Momin said that the union feels that it is not advisable to have long hours of load shedding as it is going to have a bad impact on the studies of the students.

“Having more than 10-15 hours of load shedding is unbearable, especially during summer not only for students but the person of any age. We would like to make an appeal to the power minister to make amends to the load shedding hours and reduce the hours considering also the fact that students are preparing and writing their exams as well,” he said. 

7th NEGC-2023 concludes at USTM

The three-day-long 7th North East Graduate Congress (NEGC)-2023 has successfully concluded today at the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM) with the participation of more than 10,000 college students from various colleges of the eight northeastern states of India.

Among the various competitions, the Best Performing College award went to Sibsagar College, while Kampur College won the Best Magazine prize. The Best Debater award went to Saphira Magdaline Lyngdoh from St Anthony’s College, Shillong, and the winner of the Cultural Procession was Mayong Ancholik College.

A total of 46 competitions in various sports, cultural, literary and start-up categories, as well as sessions on competitive examinations, personality development and a job fair took place in this mega youth event. Attractive awards worth Rs 50 lakh, including two-wheelers, laptops, tablets, mobile phones and cash prizes were awarded to the winners of different competitions.

Addressing a large gathering of students and teachers, Mahbubul Hoque, Chancellor of USTM, said, “We have been organising NEGC to benefit the region’s youths by helping them set their vision so that they can shoulder responsibilities and contribute to nation-building.” NEGC is the most acclaimed flagship programme of USTM that aims to inculcate the spirit of competitiveness, regional integrity, social harmony and brotherhood among the youth, he added.

To provide the best employment opportunities to the educated youths of the region, a mega job fair was also organized for the NEGC participants. More than 500 Graduates from various institutions participated in the Job Fair. Companies such as Bajaj Allianz, Reliance Jio, Kotak Life Insurance, CavinKare, Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail, MGT Motors Pvt. Ltd were a part of the Job Fair to recruit the youths. Around 150 students have been shortlisted for different positions from technical to non-technical profiles.

A spectacular view of the rich cultural mosaic of the North East was showcased by thousands of the youth from different colleges of the eight states of the region at the playground of USTM. The inaugural ceremony of NEGC-2023 was witnessed by a galaxy of prominent personalities ranging from youth icons, academia, politicians, cultural and sports icons, motivational speakers, principals of various colleges, faculty members and many students.

In this 7th edition of NEGC, various co-curricular activities were organised. The cultural competitions include cultural showcasing, skit, group song, group dance, on-the-spot painting, mehendi, cartooning, photography and rongoli. The sports competitions are volleyball, kabaddi, chess, arm wrestling, powerlifting, badminton, basketball, and horse riding. The literary competitions include debate, quiz and start-up.

One-day camp on Annual Survey of Industries

Staff Reporter

Shillong, April 6: A one-day camp on Annual Survey of Industries (ASI)-2021-22 was held at Maithan Alloys Ltd. today for sensitisation and to enable self-compilation of ASI return through the ASI web portal by the industrial units covered under ASI 201-22.

The camp was jointly organized by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), Field Operations Division (FOD), Regional Office, Shillong, Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation(MoSPI), Govt of India and Byrnihat Industries Association.

About 30 industrial units around the Brynihat Industries area participated in the camp. NSSO, FOD is responsible for conducting large-scale surveys in diverse fields across the regions. The Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) is one of the principal sources of Industrial Statistics in India. It provides statistical information to assess and evaluate, objectively and realistically the changes in growth composition and structure of the organised manufacturing sector comprising activities related to manufacturing processes, repair services, gas and water supply and cold storage etc.

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This survey also provides one of the important inputs for calculating the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country. The survey is being conducted annually under the statutory provisions of Collection of Statistics (COS) Act, 2008 (as amended in 2017) and the rules framed there under in 2011.

While addressing the camp, N. Mohondas Singh, Joint Director & Regional Head, NSSO (FOD), RO Shillong stressed the importance of ASI data in the calculation of GDP of the country and appealed all the units for self-compilation and timely submission of the returns. He informed that the defaulting units could be prosecuted as per rules framed under Statistics Act 2008. He further stated that the camp was organised to enable self-compilation and ensure timely submission of returns of the units.

Representing the association, P. K. Mishra, Director, Maithan Alloys Limited thanked the NSSO (FOD) for organising such an important camp and appealed to all the units for timely submission of returns to avoid any legal action against the defaulting units and cooperation may be given to officials visiting the units.

The meeting was also attended by senior officers of NSSO (FOD), RO Shillong.