27.11.21

Haryana has reported considerable improvement in sex ratio reflecting the effective implementation of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January 2015.

by

A 57-point rise in the sex-ratio at birth in last five years (females per 1,000 males) has been recorded in Haryana, as per the National Family Health Survey-5 (2020-2021).

The sex ratio witnessed an increase from 876 (NFHS-4 2015-16) to 926 in NFHS-5 while the sex ratio at birth recorded an increase from 836 to 893 (2020-21). The Chief Minister Manohar Lal has congratulated the officers involved in this campaign and said that the Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao campaign will continue and the State will soon reach the 950 mark in gender ratio at birth (girl child).

The regular monitoring of the campaign, under the Leadership of Chief Minister combined with the conscientious and diligent efforts of the Deputy Commissioners has been rewarding. Such a significant improvement in changing the mindset towards girl-child in a Society is rarely seen, he said.

Elaborating, he further said that the gender ratio at birth (girl child) of Haryana was 871 in December, 2014 as per the Civil Registration System (CRS) which has now improved to 922 in December, 2020.

Notably, Haryana, which had the worst sex ratio among states in the 2011 census, was chosen by Prime Minister to launch the nationwide ambitious Beti Bachao Beti Padhao in 2015. The state had the lowest child sex ratio of 834 compared to the national Average of 919 (according to Census Of India 2011).

Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Sunday announced to set up an exclusive research centre on three epics of Ramayana, Mahabharat, and Srimad Bhagvad Gita.

by

This state of the art research centre will showcase the message of these three , said the Chief Minister while addressing the gathering after laying the foundation stone of state of art Bhagwan Parshuram Taposthal.

Channi said that since ages, these epics have been source of life and inspiration for the entire humanity and this research centre will act as a Catalyst for disseminating the message of these epics amongst the masses in the simplest form. The State Government is trying to rope in respected Shankaracharya for this ambitious project, he added.

To ensure proper care of the stray cattle in the State, the Brahmin Welfare Board will be entrusted with this task, and the funds will be provided to the Board for proper upkeep of the stray cattle, said Channi adding that it is the need of hour to solve this one of the major social problems.

Draft electric vehicle policy to push for charging infrastructure in Himachal Pradesh

by

TheHimachal Pradeshcabinet on Tuesday approved the draft electric vehicle policy to promote sustainable transport system. The said the policy aims to makeHimachala global hub for electric mobility development and manufacturing and to create public and private charging Infrastructure for electric vehicles. It is also going to provide subsidy and incentives to theelectric vehiclesmanufacturing industries.

The council of ministers, chaired by chief minister Jai Ram Thakur, also gave its nod to introduce the Sardar Patel University, Mandi, (Establishment and Regulation) bill, 2021 in the state legislative assembly.

In order to double the farmers income by enhancing production and productivity of traditional crops and to improve nutritional security and income of growers, thecabinetdecided to implement Swaran Jayanti Paramparagat Beej Suraksha Avam Samvardhan Yojna in the State.

It gave its nod to provide relaxation for the year 2020-21 to toll units given that traffic was hit from June 2020 to September 2020.

The report of the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5) conducted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has shows that the girl child sex ratio has improved in Uttarakhand. The survey conducted to analyze the reforms and status of health services provided by the government.The Mission Director, National Health Mission (NHM) Uttarakhand, Sonika, said that there is a marked improvement in the child sex ratio as compared to previous years. As per the reports, 984 girls were born out of every 1000 boys in Uttarakhand.

by

In the report of NFHS-4 released in the year 2015-16, this ratio was 888 girls to 1000 boys. Sonika said that this is an important social improvement and is necessary for all round development of girl child.She added that the Health Services in Uttarakhand have also improved. The Percentage of institutional delivery in Uttarakhand has also increased by 21 percent as compared to previous year. The percentage of the institutional deliveries is now at 83.20.

The Mission Director stated that this increase is due to the improvement and development of the medical facilities provided in the hospitals.

Deployment of female doctors and better delivery facilities are also the reasons for this raise in the percentage, she claimed. The NHM Director, Dr Saroj Nethani stated that the improvement in the statistics of NHFS-5 is the result of an effective action plan. She added that there is also an improvement in the vaccination drive. The vaccination percentage has increased from 57.60 percent to 80.80 percent.

This increase of 40.28 per cent undoubtedly shows the improvement and qualitative change in the vaccination drive. This improvement in statistics of the girl child ratio and other health services are indeed a moment to be proud of for the people of Uttarakhand.

Muzaffarnagar most polluted city in UP, 2nd with worst AQI in country

by

Muzaffarnagars air quality index reading stood at 423 on Friday evening, making it the most polluted city in UP and the 2nd most polluted city in the country.
As per theCentral Pollution Control Boards daily AQI bulletin that assessed the air quality of 153 cities all over India, Muzaffarnagar is the only city in the state to have recorded severe levels of Air Pollution.

Blaming it on drop in temperature and wind speed, Muzaffarnagarpollution departmentclaimed that due to change in weather, the air quality deteriorated. Officials said local administration is taking several measures to loosen the smog by sprinkling water on roads and trees, and ensuring a complete ban on the construction activity and factories that emanate smoke.”

According to list of the districts published on the board’s website on Friday at 4pm, the most polluted city was Siwan inBiharwith an AQI value of 426, followed byFaridabadand Muzaffarnagar (423) and Delhi (406). The board categorises air quality as ‘poor’ if the AQI value is between 200 and 299; ‘very poor’ if it is between 300-400; and ‘severe’ if the reading crosses 400.

Also, the AQI value reflects the extent of the presence of PM 2.5 pollutants suspended in the air.

Notably, data from all districts across the country is uploaded on the CPCB’s website at 4pm every day and on Saturday, the AQI of Muzaffarnagar was recorded at 309, which still is in the ‘poor category but due to mild wind movement, the air quality was a tad better.

Farmers to soon get sexed semen to increase female calf population

by

Milk farmers in Jharkhand will soon be able to choose a pack of semen that would ensure birth of female calf, thereby reducing the burden of rearing male calf or bull which becomes useless for those who are not into farming.

Jharkhand Milk Federation(JMF) under the state animal husbandry department is all set to enter into an agreement with theNational Development Board(NDDB) that has indigenously developed theArtificial Insemination(AI) technology of sexed semen that ensures birth of female calf last year.

NDDB had already worked to provide dairy farmers with sexed semen in states likeBihar,Assamand some states in South India.

The AI facility was available in the state earlier andBharatiya Agro Industries Foundation(BAIF) used to operate centres across all the districts. The BAIF centres, however, provided semen for breed improvement, thus targeting more milk production. For some technical reasons the arrangement with BAIF was discontinued by the State Government almost five years ago.
India is worlds largest milk producer, with 22% of global production. Jharkhand still lags in milk production. Farmers have repeatedly raised the demand for AI centres so that they can obtain quality semen for their cows. JMF officials said that the demand for female calves by farmers encouraged them to approach the NDDB for a solution.

NHAI proposes Gorakhpur-Siliguri expressway

by

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) proposed for the alignment of another expressway, that will run from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh to Siliguri in West Bengal via Bihar.

NHAI will prepare the detailed project report, after the greenfield alignment is approved by Bihar government.

NHAI had submitted the portion of alignment of Gorakhpur-Siliguri expressway, to the road construction department (RCD) in order to discuss and approve in November itself.

Out of total length, 450km stretch of expressway of four/six-lane configuration will pass through Bihar.

This highway is part of Bharatmala project.

Estimated cost on this project will be aroundRs 6000 crore.

The proposed expressway will enter Bihar from Gopalganj and exist from Kishanganj. It will crisscross Siwan, Chapra, Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi, Madhubani, Supaul, Saharsa and Purnia, in that order.

Rajasthan requests Chhattisgarh to fast-track coal projects, environment groups oppose

by

Rajasthanchief ministerAshok Gehlot’s request to hisChhattisgarhcounterpartBhupesh Baghelseeking intervention for expediting necessary clearances for coal blocks has kicked up a row with Environment groups.

The groups are demanding to declare the entire Hasdeo forest region as a protected area to prevent mining operations that have led to human-elephant conflict in the northern part of the state.

The Union Government, in 2015, had allocated three coal blocks in Chhattisgarh to Rajasthan RajyaVidyut UtpadanNigam Limited (RVNUL) but only one of them has been able to commence production.

The other two blocks were stuck in delays. Rajasthan government points out that 15 million tonnes of coal is being produced from Parsa East and Kanta Basan block and making the other two coal blocks operational will double the production. Besides, it is being pointed out that the Parsa coal block has the potential to produce 5 million tonnes per annum of coal. Similarly, Kente Extension can give an additional 9 million tonnes per annum.

Kuno National Park to get 13 cheetahs next year

by

The Kuno in Madhya Pradesh is set to get 13 cheetahs in 2022.

The Kuno National Park was originally developed as the second Home for Asiatic lions in India, apart from Gir National Park. However, that project did not take off.

But now the park is expecting to get 13 African cheetahs, which is being described as the largest intercontinental animal translocation in the world.

Of all, 13 cheetahs have been carefully selected. 10 are from South Africa while 3 are from Namibia.

The project is crucial in India. It would mean the introduction of fastest animal on Earth into the wild, after 69 years of last surviving cheetah was recorded to have been hunted down in 1952 in Chhattisgarh.

There are challenges too in the project, as fence which is being created would prevent the entry of the African Cheetahs.

As per United Nations, Cheetahs have been listed as Vulnerable in the Red List of Threatened Species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). However, recent study revealed the decline in its Population. Hence, demand is there for cheetahs to be listed to Endangered category. In North Africa and Asia, cheetahs are considered as Critically Endangered.

Gujarat: 100 rain-less years resulted in Kutch sand dunes 5,000 years ago

by

A joint study carried out by the Ahmedabad-based Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) andKutchuniversity has revealed interesting insights into the formation of Kutchs sand dunes and beaches.

According to the study, the present day Kutchs shoreline and the sand dune deposition is the result of hundreds of years of rainless years around 5,000 years ago. Due to this severe Climate conditions, the sea levels fell, leading to the formation of dunes along the coastline.
Interestingly, this event also triggered Migration of Harrappan settlement here, scientists said.

The study states that couple with the lowering of sea level, strong gusts of winds continuously blowing during this dry period resulted in the huge mounds of sand. It is estimated that the sea level fell by anything between 04 m -5 m during this period and this has been derived from the current erosion of dune face and optical ages calculated from the samples from Kutch coastline.

The lessening of sea levels first resulted into formation of beaches and subsequently the sand deposition.

The Mehgalyan age, which is also known as Holocene period, was the most severe climate event that lowered the sea level and led to the formation of the dunes on the Kutch coastal line.

According to study, the geochemical data generated from the samples of the coastal dune suggest a semi-arid to semi-humid climate with increasing chemical maturity and weakening monsoon during the time of deposition. The study further said that the sea must be at a lower level to attain a preferable condition for the deposition of dunal Landforms. The lowering of the sea exposed the beach with sandy material. The study claims that these years became the most conducive Environment of coastal dune formation.