In a surprise move, Ram Subhag Singh, Additional Chief Secretary, and Transport, was on Thursday appointed Chief Secretary, replacing Anil Khachi, who has been appointed the State Election Commissioner.
Khachi still had two years for his retirement.Khachi, a 1986-batch Ias officer had been appointed to the top post on December 31,2019 following the superannuation of Shrikant Baldi.
Ram Subhag, a 1987 batch IAS officer is the seniormost officer after Khachi.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has launched the first-of-its-kind earthquake early warning application, named Uttarakhand Bhookamp Alert.
Highlights:
The app has been developed through IIT Roorkee, in association with Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority (USDMA).
Initially, this app was launched as a pilot venture solely by the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, for the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand. The mission concept was addition extended by the Uttarakhand Government.
The Uttarakhand Bhookamp Alert is Indias first earthquake early warning app for notifying human beings about earthquake alerts.
Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) app can observe the onset of the earthquake and issue warnings concerning an earthquake incidence in the neighbourhood and the expected time of arrival and intensity at the area to forestall any loss of life.
As per governments directives, the distribution was carried out entirely through PoS devices with biometric Aadhaar and dealer authentication in a transparent manner.
The distributed around 76,39,378 MT of free food grains under PMGKAY, while approximately 23,60 lakh MT of free ration was separately distributed by the government, which was in addition to the ration being distributed under PMGKAY. The total distribution amounts to 100 lakh or I crore MT in the state.
In order to help the migrants, poor and under-privileged sections to tide over the hardship of pandemic, the government is providing free 5 kg food grains to over 15 crore beneficiaries of the state. Under the scheme, each beneficiary receives 3 kg wheat and 2 kg rice.
During the last fiscal 2020-21, out of a total allocation of 58, 1 lakh MT food grains under PMGKAY-2020 (April-November 2020), approx 56,21 lakh MT or around 96.87 per cent, has been distributed by the state.
In 2021 (PMGKAY III) so far, out of a total allocation of around 22,77 lakh MT food grains (May -July 2021) approximately 20,18 lakh MT, which is 91.40 per cent, food grains have been distributed by the government.
PMGKAY was first introduced in 2020 for eight months to provide relief to around 15 crore beneficiaries covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) from Covid-induced economic hardships. There are more than 1.30 crore units of beneficiaries under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana and over 13, 41 crore units under Priority Household card holders.
Secretary General, PHDCCI, Saurabh Sanyal, in his welcome address highlighted the challenges faced by MSMEs despite contributing significantly to the economy. Challenges like bottle necks, constraints in technology adoption, high Logistics cost and lack of access to credit have been further compounded for the MSMEs due to the Covid 19 pandemic, pointed out Sanyal. He underlined that non availability of adequate and timely credit is a serious problem which the MSMEs are facing currently. To address these liquidity problems, credit support has been announced by the Government through the Atmanirbhar package. Lastly, he talked about the schemes launched by SIDBI which facilitate funding for production and Services related to supply of Oxygen cylinders, oxygen concentrators, oximeters and essential drugs.
Former CMD, NSIC and Advisor MSMEs PHD Chamber, H P Kumar, shared the difficulties and challenges faced by the MSMEs.
He talked about the Industry perspective of the MSME Sector and briefed about salient features of the Jharkhand Industrial and Investment Policy (JIPP) which is quite favourable for MSMEs Growth and to attract more investment in the state.
He highlighted that while the Governments have taken ample measures to help and provide financial incentives to MSMEs, there is need for their adequate implementation.
Health minister Mangal Pandey said on Monday that all preparations had been made to tackledenguein the state and 1.32 lakh medicated mosquito nets allotted to different districts.
All government health facilities have been put on alert and district hospitals directed to create five-bed wards to treat dengue patients. Besides, nine nodal centres have been set up where the facility of Elisa test, which detects recent or past dengue infections, is available.
It has been more than one and half years since the educational institutions adopted the new TEACHING–Learning method. The closure of HEIs may cause long-lasting impact and could potentially hit an entire generation.
A recent survey by Teamlease has highlighted learning loss among university students. Majority of the system might have become habituated to the new normal and enjoying easier and quick access to information, flexible learning etc. But it has become imperative to take initiative to mitigate the ill effect of digital learning for students residing in remote areas.
According to the survey findings, college students believe they have faced 40-60% of learning loss due to Covid. It also indicated that it would take three years to bridge the gap. Due to digital limitations, continuous online Education has led to learning loss among students, especially in the rural belt, says Keshari Lal Verma, vice-chancellor, Pandit Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur, Chhattisgarh. With the fear of an impending third wave of Covid-19 looming large, academic institutions should think of student-centric feasible ideas that can be implemented to address the learning gap, says Verma.
School, colleges and other institutions will be opened for physical classes in Chhattisgarh from August 2. Verma has asked principals and college teachers to get a feedback from students and take a decision as per students need to mitigate the learning loss.
Madhya Pradeshhas the highest Covid-19 seroprevalence in the country-wide 4th seroprevalence survey conducted by Indian Council of Medical Research (Icmr). Madhya Pradesh was found to have 79% seroprevalence in the survey. Overall, 67.6% Indians above the age of 6 have seroprevalence according to the survey.
Serological surveys reveal how many people have antibodies against the Coronavirus infection i.e. ratio of people already exposed to the virus. The survey was conducted between June and July, 2021.
The data of the survey released last week shows that after Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar, Gujarat with 75.3% seroprevalence, Chhattisgarh with 74.6% , Uttar Pradesh with 71% and Andhra Pradesh with 70.2% have seroprevalence beyond 70%. Madhya Pradesh is followed by Rajasthan, which has a seroprevalence of 76.2% and Bihar 75.9%. Kerala, which is reporting the highest Coronavirus cases now-adays is at the bottom with 44.4% seroprevalence.
Maharashtra may be having the highest number of Covid-19 patients right from the beginning, but seroprevalence among its people is comparatively low at 58%.
China is the biggest importer of Indiansaltwith nearly 50 lakh tonnes being shipped there annually. However, this has reduced to just 15 lakh tonnes in the period from June 2020 to June 2021 compared to 50 lakh tonnes in the comparative period the year ago, according to data shared by Indian Salt Manufacturers Association (ISMA). This period marks the end of the salt season. This is the second consecutive year that exports to China have fallen. Last year, the export was down because of worldwide lockdowns and the US-China trade war.
China is the worlds biggest producer of salt but it imports huge quantities from India in order to re-export it to the US and European countries where it is used for industrial purposes as well as de-icing. They prefer importing from China due to convenience.
The plans to start theRural GamesinRajasthanare ready to be executed.State Sports ministerAshok Chandna announced November to be the time of the year when the games will be held in 11341 gram panchayats and 44795 revenue villages.
The purpose behind holding the games is to develop the sporting culture and bring out talent from rural Rajasthan and the Ashok Gehlot government has already allotted Rs 30 crore for the same in the budget 2021-22.
Events in six games – volleyball, shooting ball, hockey, kho kho, tennis ball cricket and kabaddi, will be organised following theCovid-19protocols of the Central and the .
Moreover, there will be a designated application for the Rural Games where participating villages will have to register themselves and upload information about their teams.
An external evaluation of the National AIDS Control Programme (NACP) was conducted in 2020 on the advice of , which found that the programme has done a commendable job and performed very well.
Highlights:
The NACP was launched in 1992. It is being implemented as a comprehensive programme to prevent and manipulate HIV/AIDS in India.
The NACP I was started in 1992 and was implemented with the goal of slowing down HIV infections so as to decrease morbidity, mortality and the effect of AIDS in the country.
In November 1999, the 2nd National AIDS Control Project (NACP II) was launched to limit the unfold of HIV contamination in India and expand Indias potential to respond to HIV/AIDS on a long-term basis.
The 3rd National AIDS Control Project (NACP III) was launched in July 2007 to Halt and Reverse the Epidemic over its five-year period.