17.12.22

The Centre has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court detailing the stand taken by various states and UTs on the contentious issue after holding consultative meetings with them and other stakeholders.

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It said 24 states and six UTs had furnished their views while comments from governments of Rajasthan, Jharkhand, and Arunachal Pradesh and UTs of Jammu & Kashmir and Lakshadweep were still awaited.

The Punjab Government maintained that in India, different communities are in majority or in minority in different provinces/states depending on their Population. Therefore, it becomes necessary to protect the interests of the respective minority residing in the state in accordance with the Constitutional provisions.

Central University of Himachal Pradesh signs MoU with US institute

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Central University of Himachal Pradesh (CUHP), Dharamsala, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indiana University, Pennsylvania (IUP), USA. The PARTNERSHIP will focus on academic and research collaboration between the two universities.

Professor Bansal added the universities would make efforts to identify and develop courses at undergraduate and post-graduate level wherein credit sharing could be possible. The institutes will also work toward developing and offering dual or twin and joint degree programmes in different disciplines. The faculty as well as students will receive international exposure about their prospective profession.

Universal health coverage conference: Uttarakhand to upgrade wellness centres

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All the Health and wellness centres of the will be well-equipped and staffed. Within three months, all the ANMs, Asha workers and medicos will be appointed at these centres to expedite theuniversal health coverageplans, said state health minister Dhan Singh Rawat said at theUniversal Health Coverage conferencein Dehradun.

A two-day programme on health issues at Varanasi on December 10 and 11, which was primarily visioned by the Centre, was replicated inUttarakhandon Monday. “The move will help the state in giving a boost to the concept of universal health coverage. We want to take health facilities till the last village. The paramedical staff are our key people in taking our health facilities to the doorstep of people,” said the health minister.

Govt signs MoU with Saloni Heart Foundation

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As part of the efforts to develop better healthcare facilities in Uttar Pradesh, the Yogi Adityanath government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the US-based Saloni Heart Foundation in San Francisco to establish a Centre of Excellence in Pediatric Cardiology Unit at Sanjay Gandhi Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences.

The centre, to be set up in collaboration with the Saloni Heart Foundation, will ensure effective treatment of congenital heart defects in children in the state. The centre will also enable treatment of thousands of children every year.

A UP delegation that visited the US recently to raise investments and to invite companies to the Global Investors Summit-2023, signed an MoU with the Saloni Heart Foundation. The foundation will set up a 200-bed pediatric cardiology centre at SGPGIMS at a cost of Rs 480 crore.

In a high-level meeting with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Additional Chief Secretary ( and Industrial Development) Arvind Kumar said that during the US tour of GIS-2023, an Indian-origin couple living in California, Mili and Himanshu Seth, expressed their desire to build a unit for the treatment of congenital heart defects in children. This led to the signing of an agreement between the UP government and Saloni Heart Foundation to set up a pediatric cardiology centre at SGPGIMS at a cost of Rs 480 crore.

States MMR drops, better than national average: Study

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The maternal mortality ratio (MMR) inJharkhandhad dropped to 56 deaths per one lakh live births between 2018 and 2020 and the figure is better than the national Average and big states like Gujarat, a recent survey report released by the office of Registrar General of India has said.

According to the findings of the study (special bulletin on maternal mortality in India), Jharkhands MMR dropped by 15 points from the previous edition of the survey which was conducted between 2016 and 2018.

In the latest study, as many as 71 pregnant Women per one lakh live births died during their pregnancies or childbirth during this period.

The Union governments data also suggested a considerable improvement in Jharkhands MMR over the past decade as another edition of the study conducted between 2014 and 2016 had put the states MMR at 62 alongside Bihar.

As per theWorld Health Organizations goals, India and the rest of the world has to reduce the MMR to a minimum of 70 deaths per one lakh live births. Not only Jharkhand had managed to obtain the WHOs SDG criteria but it also faired better than the national average which stood at 97. Jharkhands MMR is better than Bihar (118), West Bengal (103), Madhya Pradesh (173), Chhattisgarh (137),Odisha(119), the report said.

Farming in Bihar hit by siltation in major canal systems: CAG

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Heavy siltation of major canal systems, including the EasternKosiCanal System (EKCS), the largest major Irrigation project of Bihar, is now proving to be a bane for the state since it has resulted in low water discharge and ultimately affecting the crop production, the (CAG) report on the outcomes of surface irrigation projects inBiharrevealed.
As per the report, a total of 85.41 lakh hectares were to be irrigated during the period of 2015-2021 against which irrigation was provided to 59.87 lakh hectares (70%) only. However, the audit observed that the report of theWater Resources Departmentwas not correct.

The report states that due to heavy siltation in Kosi river, canal flow capacity of the head reaches of the main canal and branch canal have gradually reduced. The Kosi project is an international project between India and Nepal in accordance with the Indo-Nepal Agreement of 1954, subsequently revised in 1966. The barrage, canal head works and head reaches of the canal fall in Nepal and lower reaches of canal in Indian territory. The project was finally closed in March 1985 after an expenditure of Rs187.16 crore, the report states.

The audit also found that though the post-project yield increased in the areas covered by this project, yet this was not mainly attributable to the surface irrigation.

Schemes aim to bring positive changes: CM

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Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Wednesday said the main objective of the government is to bring positive changes in the lives of all sections.

He was addressing the public at an interaction in village Kathia (Ranka) in the Bemetara assemblyconstituency.

Baghel said the aim of the government is to increase the income of the common man. Schemes are being made by keeping this objective in mind.

All the schemes of the are bringing prosperity in the homes of the poor. Common people are deriving benefits under different Nyay schemes.

He listed out the various schemes implemented by the government.

He pledged that village Panchayat Kusmi will be made a Nagar Panchayat, a community hall will be built, a higher secondary school will come up in village Ranka-Kathia and a Swami Atmanand English medium school will open in Kusmi and Ranka Kathia.

2022 has been an incredibly good year for the farmers

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Under the Leadership of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the took unprecedented decisions in the year 2022 in the interest of the farmers of the state to make Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of a Atma-nirbhar Bharat come true.

These were such decisions, which unexpectedly provided more than double profit to farmers. Farmers’ Money and time were saved, which benefited them and their families. We can say that the year 2022 fulfilled the saying “Na Bhuto Na Bhavishyati” for the farmers. The state government received ‘Krishi Karman Award’ for the 7th consecutive time, along with ‘Best Performing State’ for maximum utilisation of Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture Infrastructure fund, ‘Best Emerging State’ in Millet Mission Scheme and ‘Excellence Award’ in Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana.

An important decision was taken to benefit the farmers of forest villages in the state through the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. Taking an important initiative, the government got the forest villages included in the revenue villages.

Due to this, forest rights lessees started getting the benefits of crop Insurance scheme. In order to enable maximum number of farmers to take advantage of the crop insurance scheme and to insure their various crops, the government has made the criterion of notified crop area as 50 hectares instead of 100 hectares. Lakhs of farmers of the state are being provided annual assistance of Rs. 10 thousand by combining Rs. 4 thousand of Mukhyamantri Kisan Kalyan Yojna with Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi.

Crop diversification scheme was implemented in the interest of farmers to encourage production of profitable crops in place of traditional crops. The government is also committed to take forward natural farming in the state in mission mode. Every farmer is being encouraged for natural farming on some part of his land. The government has decided that natural farming will be done in more than 4 lakh 45 thousand hectare area on the banks of river Narmada. 60 thousand farmers have registered for natural farming in one lakh 86 thousand hectare area. The state government has also decided that to encourage the farmers doing natural farming, a grant of Rs. 900 per month will be given for the rearing of indigenous cows.

Giving priority to the quality control of agricultural inputs in the interest of the farmers, the government also took strict action this year against the sellers of non-standard seeds, fertilisers and pesticides. This year, action was taken to suspend and cancel the licenses of 136 seed sellers, 120 fertiliser sellers and 14 pesticide sellers. FIR action was taken against 39 sellers of seeds, fertilisers and pesticides.

With the special efforts of the state government, the regional office of APEDA was approved and made operational in the state. This office is located at Mandi Board Bhopal (Kisan Bhawan).

Portals for Divyang pensioners to be integrated in state

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The socialand Empowerment department is planning to integrate portals ofDivyangpensioners, National Food Security Act (NFSA), National Informatics Centre (NIC) and Swavlamban portals for better facilitation of BPL (below POVERTY-line”>Poverty Line) benefits to the families of specially-abled pensioners.

The Divyang pensioners will not be issued BPL cards. They will only be given benefits on a par with BPL cardholders (families).

11 states/ UTs have laws on lifts, Centre urges others to follow suit

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Flagging that only 11 states and UTs have Acts and Rules in place for lifts which mandate compliance of standards, the consumer affairs ministry has urged all the state and UT governments to frame laws and notify the rules specifying a robust audit mechanism.

The Bureau of Indian Standards (Bis) has published several Indian standards on lifts covering various aspects for ensuring safe travel in lifts. The letter said, However, it has been noted that only 11 states have Lift Acts/ Rules in place which mandate (or are in the process of mandating) compliance to Indian Standards on lifts.

The states which have the compliance mechanism in place are Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka, Nadu, Haryana, West Bengal, Kerala, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh and Assam.