Punjab assembly passes resolution to regulate expensive medicines

Punjab government will soon take up with the Central Government the matter regarding fleecing of the common man by fixing the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) of medicines at exorbitant prices. The state Vidhan Sabha on Thursday unanimously passed a non-official resolution urging the to take up the matter with the Centre.

The members, led by the state Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Balbir Singh, deliberated over the non-official resolution moved by Aam Aadmi Party MLA from Chamkaur Sahib Dr Charanjit Singh.

Dr Balbir Singh, taking on the resolution, said that the issue was already in his mind. Even, I had recently brought this matter into the notice of the Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya during his Patiala visit a few days back. The cancer drugs have already been regulated by the government, but non-scheduled drugs and e-pharmacy are yet to be regulated, he added.

CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu alerts people on grim financial position of Himachal Pradesh

Chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu while presenting the Rs 53,413 crore budget estimates for 2023-24 in the assembly on Friday also reminded the people about the grim financial position of Himachal Pradesh.
He said that the states budgetary Resources have been adversely affected due to discontinuation of GST compensation after June last year and this will adversely affect the financial position of the state in coming years. He said that Grant (RDG) from the Central government will reduce from Rs 9,377 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 3,257 crore in 2025-26. Notwithstanding these challenges, the pace of development of the state will not be allowed to be adversely affected, he added.

Underlining the need to define targets to ensure uninterrupted delivery of quality public Services like electricity, water and roads in a specific time frame instead of merely opening new institutions, he said he appreciate the fact that good government with Governance“>Good Governance is an imperative for welfare of people of the State.

Amid fears that the burden of cess on water being used to generate hydro power inHimachal Pradeshwould finally be passed onto thecommonpeople, the state government on Sunday said that it has imposed water cess only on hydro-power projects of the state and it will not put any financial burden on the common people.

The implementation of water cess was aimed to increase the states revenue and strengthen its economy, so that sufficient funds would be available for welfare schemes.

Subsidy worth Rs 23K cr given to power consumers: Sharma

Uttar Pradesh Energy Minister AK Sharma said the had provided subsidies worth Rs 23,000 crore during the current fiscal 2022-23 to different categories of power consumers.

He said an additional subsidy of Rs 1,000 crore was made available to the consumers through the supplementary budget of 2022-23.

UP Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) is working on war footing for installing 40 lakh smart meters across the state. So far 11.78 lakh smart meters have been installed in 12 cities. With the completion of this project, there will be no need for taking manual meter readings from the premises of the power consumers, the minister said here on Monday.

He said the results of effective measures taken by the power corporation to bring down the line losses were now visible. He said in 2016-17, line losses were 21.47 per cent which had come down to 17.62 per cent in January 2023. He said the aggregate transmission and distribution losses had reduced to 26.83 per cent from 28.81 per cent.

The minister said in special camps for resolving the problems faced by the power consumers, a total of 1.73 lakh complaints were received of which 1.46 lakh had been resolved. Moreover, the minister said, 71,000 complaints were resolved through the online SAMBHAV portal set up by the UPPCL.

Under the Namami Gange project, the state government, which has succeeded in reducing the pollution level of river Ganga in Sahebganj and Rajmahal of Jharkhand to the minimum level, has now started work towards making the flow of Damodar River uninterrupted and pollution free. Under the National Mission for Clean Ganga of the Government of India, the initiative has been taken to clean the Damodar River flowing in Jharkhand. For this, the water of all the drains and other water bodies of Dhanbad, Ramgarh and Phusro municipal bodies will be allowed to flow into the Damodar River only after purifying them from STPs. Plans for construction of sewerage treatment plants have been approved in all these municipal bodies, said Amit Kumar, director of the State Urban Development Agency, while speaking at a tenderers meet jointly organized by the Jharkhand Government’s Urban Development and Housing Department and the Central Government’s National Clean Ganga Mission.

He said that along with the construction of STPs in these three cities, there are many schemes for drinking water and septage in all the municipal bodies of the state, which you can join. He said that the government will not let the shortage of funds bring these schemes on the ground. We are also taking the help of the and Asian Development Bank.

Best site chosen for AIIMS at Darbhanga

Chief minister Nitish Kumar said in the legislative council that land for the states second Aiims was selected at Shobhan in Darbhanga keeping in mind the advantage of connectivity.
He said the upcoming Health facility would usher in development in the region. The CM informed the House that he has instructed the officials concerned to complete the project expeditiously.

Chhattisgarh Hockey will host the first Hockey India West Zone Junior Boys/Girls National Hockey Championship in Rajnandgaon from March 19 to 26, Chhattisgarh Hockey President Firoz Ansari said on Sunday.

Teams from seven states — Rajasthan, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Daman and Diu (Nagar Haveli) — will participate, he said.

More than 300 male and female players, referees, coaches and managers as well as selectors will take part.

MP bags award for excellent work in irrigation sector

The Central Irrigation and Energy Bureau has selected the state of Madhya Pradesh as excellent state for the work done in the irrigation sector. Nomination was filed on the basis of successful implementation of Mohanpura and Kundalia project of Madhya Pradesh for Bureau CBIP Award. Madhya Pradesh has earned first position in the efficient use of Resources“>Water Resources.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan took continuous decisions for the expansion of irrigation area and approved and implemented many irrigation schemes. With the vision and special efforts of Chief Minister Chouhan, the irrigated area of the state has increased from 8 lakh hectare to 45 lakh hectare in the last 15 years.

Due to the strong will power of Chief Minister Chouhan, water has been supplied to the fields through the pressure pipe system in Madhya Pradesh using new technology in the last 3 years. Madhya Pradesh has been recognized as the first state to have irrigated more than double the area with the same water as compared to the canal system by irrigating through pipe system.

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Gujarat will be a role model for country in natural farming: Governor

Governor AcharyaDevvratsaid thatGujaratwill soon emerge as the role model for the country in natural farming and farmers should adopt natural farming as a peoples movement.

The governor said that natural farming has been adopted in almost every village of Gujarat. He added that there is a need for more and more farmers to adopt natural farming as the use of chemical Fertilizers has been making the less productive every year.

Industries in Rajasthan told to use polyurethane to curb noise pollution, given 1 year

RajasthanState Pollution Control Board (RSPCB) has directed industries to use polyurethane (PU), which has been recognised as a widely used compound for noise and vibration control due to its Sound reducing properties.

With the rapidly growing Industrial Sector in the state and usage of increasing heavy machinery, there is added thrust on noise level, which has to be controlled in a scientific manner.

According to RSPCB, increasing ambient noise levels in public places from various sources is often due to industrial activity, construction activity, Generator sets, loud speakers, public address systems, music systems, vehicular horns and other mechanical devices which have deleterious effects on human Health.

The noise producing and generating sources in case of the industries is covered in the purview of the State Board.