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Beautifying indore - one wall at a time
The Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) is gearing up for Swachh Survekshan 2021 by redecorating the city’s walls and roads, apart from maintaining supreme cleaning standards. The walls are being painted with local, festive, and cultural artwork. The emphasis on city beautification comes from the desire to meet parameters of Swachh Survekshan, which focusses on visual aspects of cleanliness too. Pratibha Pal, IMC Commissioner, said citizens of Indore had been actively helping the IMC maintain the city’s cleanliness over the years, owing to which, Indore has been continuously winning the award for the cleanest city of India since 2017.
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70% of COVID cases from Kerala, Maharashtra
Dr Harsh Vardhan, Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, said on, January 28 that 70 per cent of COVID-19 positive cases are from the states of Kerala and Maharashtra. He added that 153 cases of the new UK variant of coronavirus have also been detected in the country till now. 147 districts in the country have not seen even a single case of COVID-19 in the last seven days. The total number of COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra stands at 20,13,353, while in Kerala the number is 8,99,932. Other states which add to the number of COVID-19 cases are Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
Delhi schools to get sanitary napkin incinerators
The Government of Delhi has directed principals and heads of Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) schools to procure and install sanitary napkin incinerators in 3,204 toilet blocks of 553 schools of the Directorate of Education (DoE) and MCD. The Education Ministry’s Project Approval Board has awarded work to install sanitary napkin incinerators with smoke control units in girls’ toilet blocks. This will facilitate hygienic and ecofriendly disposal of sanitary napkins. DoE, addressing a letter to the schools in Delhi, stated that the principals would pay the cost of these power plugs from Vidyalaya Kalyan Samiti funds or grant in aids.
Amazon witnessed major surge in deforestation in 2020: Analysis
BRASILIA: A recent analysis by Amazon Conservation Organisation (ACO) on deforestation showed that roughly 21,000 square kilometres (8,108 square miles) of old-growth forest, about the size of New Jersey, was cut or burned down in the year 2020. The research also established that there had been a surge in the destruction by 21 per cent in the region that is home to the world’s largest rainforest and spans nine countries. Matt Finer, Head-Amazon Monitoring Project, ACO, informed that Bolivia accounted for the biggest increase in destruction than 2019 as enormous fires tore through its Chiquitano dry forests. He cited the reason to be Bolivians using slash and burn tactic to clear land for cattle or soy, and the possibility of fires getting out of control and escaping into the forest in dry conditions.
According to the analysis, Brazil accounted for deforestation in 61 per cent of the hotspots in Amazon, although, Finer said, forest destruction in 2020 was similar to that in 2019 in Brazil. He commented, “I think 2019 is regarded as a really bad year for the Brazilian Amazon. 2020 got less press and attention, but it was just as bad, if not worse.” Reports of a study conducted by the Amazon Geo-Referenced Socio-Environmental Information Network released in December 2020 also established that deforestation in the Amazon destroyed an area bigger than Spain from 2000 to 2018, thus wiping out eight per cent of the world’s largest rainforest.
India has the highest diaspora population in the world: UN
NEW DELHI: A report titled ‘International Migration 2020 Highlights’ published by the United Nations Organisation (UNO) states that India has the highest diaspora globally, with almost 18 million people living outside their homeland. The report was released on January 15 by Population division of UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA). It mentioned that other countries with the highest diaspora include Mexico (11 million) and Syria (8 million).
The report mentioned that the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the United States of America (USA) and Saudi Arabia contain the highest number of migrants from India. Other countries which host Indian diaspora include Australia, Canada, Kuwait, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar and the United Kingdom (UK). It added that between 2000 and 2020, the population migrating to other countries grew for almost all the countries and areas of the world. The US holds the top position in countries with highest international migrants (51 million) in 2020, equal to 18 per cent of the world’s total number.
Germany hosts the second-highest population of international migrants with 16 million, followed by Saudi Arabia (13 million), Russia (12 million), and the United Kingdom (9 million). The report states that the COVID-19 pandemic this year has disturbed all forms of human mobility due to the closing of borders and ban on travel. International migrants represent about 3.6 per cent of the total world’s population. The report added that Germany, Spain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the USA gained the largest number of international migrants between 2000 and 2020. On the other hand, around 53 countries showed a decline in the influx of international migrants in this period.
Janaagraha awards Indore Janaagraha awards Indore as best municipality as best municipality
NEW DELHI: The second edition of the Janaagraha City Governance Awards was virtually held on, January 12, and was presided over by Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India. Of the five categories, Odisha won two awards for Best State and Best Civic Agency. Gujarat and Kerala bagged the award for Best State Election Commission and Best State Finance Commission respectively. Indore was declared the Best Municipality from among all the nominations filed for the awards.
Indore won the award for its PublicPrivate Partnership (PPP) – based solid waste management system, introduced under the Smart Cities Mission. Thiruvananthapuram emerged as the first runner-up in this category for its initiative named, ‘My City Beautiful City.’ As part of this initiative, the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation collected broken glasses and useless tyres from across the city to raise awareness regarding waste management and simultaneously implemented measures to make the city clean and beautiful.
Raipur Municipal Corporation secured the second runner up position in the same category for introducing a Geographic Information System-based property tax administration system, a set of computerised tools for collecting, storing, retrieving, transforming, and displaying spatial data. The city administration will use the generated data in property tax assessment and building permissions. The awards were given under five categories - best state, best municipality, best parasternal administration, best state election commission and best state finance commission. It was held in memory of V Ramachandran, an Indian civil servant, management expert and the Chief Secretary of Kerala, a doyen of decentralisation. The awards recognise groundbreaking work in decentralisation in an urban context by institutions across state governments.
Odisha won the Best State and the Best Civic Agency award, while Gujarat won the Best State Election Commission award and Kerala won the Best State Finance Commission award. For its PPP Based Integrated Solid Waste Management system, Indore won the Best Municipality and Maharashtra won runners-up in four of the five award categories.
The winners were chosen by a distinguished jury comprising of Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog; Yamini Aiyer, Centre for Policy Research; Sanjeev Chopra, Director, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration; Ashutosh Varshney, Brown University; Niranjan Rajadhyaksha, Economist, IDFC Institute; and S K Das, Janaagraha’s Governing Board. The jury, chaired by SK Das provided honourable mention to Kollam, Vellore, and Petlad municipal corporations in the ceremony. Vellore and Petlad have been working on decentralised solid waste management, and Kollam was applauded for its zerowaste initiative.
Addressing the event, Puri said that there is a need to invest in building the capacities of municipalities as institutions of local self-government in the next phase of urban development. As part of Aatmanirbhar Bharat, there is a sharp focus on shoring up revenues of municipalities through property tax and user charge reforms.
He added that there is a need for a trained body of professionals in urban governance in city municipal bodies to improve urban management in cities. The central government is working on an urban governance learning programme where there are plans to train over 25,000 fresh graduates and 13,504 under-graduates and then post them to urban local bodies.
Non-governmental organisations should also be engaged in training the graduates so that they are not just employed. Still, there are urban governance professionals, which is the need of the hour to make cities better, Puri said. He also highlighted that there is a lack of graduates to come forward and take up these courses.
Another eminent person present at the event was D Thara, Joint Secretary, MoHUA. While talking about the recent approval of Bengaluru and Hyderabad’s new city bills, she said that the creation of city acts is very healthy, but capacity and equity in India is significant. City acts should have a public transit act, water supply and water reuse policy, solid waste management, health and education policy and resources act.
She also asserted that while governments are thinking of acts and roles of officials and elected representatives in urban local bodies, it is also vital to check whether they can handle the roles assigned.
The Chandigarh Administration has collaborated with Pious Air Purifier Pvt Ltd, a Delhibased private firm, to install the tallest air purifier in the country. Debendra Dalai, Director of Environment, said that the administration would only be responsible for the giant purifier’s electricity and water consumption expenses. Dalai added that the company approached the Chandigarh Administration and authorities agreed to provide them with space at no cost. A suitable place is still to be decided to install the purifier. However, it will be installed at polluted and crowded places in Chandigarh.
Maharashtra approves `976 crore STARS project
The state cabinet on January 20, sanctioned a `976-crore World Bank- funded (WB) project for betterment and enhancement in the quality and governance of school education in Maharashtra. Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States (STARS) is to get central financial help of `586 crore and will last for five years. The Centre had earlier chosen Maharashtra and five other states – Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Odisha, for the project, to which WB had committed `3,700 crore. Approximately 1.6 crore students and more than 2.5 lakh teachers will benefit from the project.
FM announces Mission Poshan 2.0, Jal Jeevan Urban, USBM 2.0 among others
NEW DELHI: In an attempt to strengthen India’s nutritional delivery, Nirmala Sitaramam, Minister of Finance, Government of India, on February 2 announced that the government would combine supplementary nutrition programmes and Poshan Abhiyan to launch Mission Poshan 2.0. Sitaraman said that the principal objective of Mission Poshan 2.0 would be to boost nutritional outcomes in 112 aspirational districts.
The government is also set to introduce Jal Jeevan Mission Urban with an expenditure of `2.87 lakh crore over five years to ensure universal water supply in all 4,378 urban bodies with 2.86 crore household tap connections and liquid waste management in 5,000 AMRUT cities.
In the context of education, Sitaraman said that more than 15,000 schools would be conditionally nourished under the National Educational Policy (NEP) 2020. They will hold-hands and guide other schools to achieve the ideals of the policy. She added that more than 100 new Sainik schools would be established in partnership with non-governmental organisations, including private and state board schools.
Furthermore, the government will initiate legislation this year to launch India’s Higher Education Commission, as previously outlined in the NEP. This will be an umbrella body that will look into standards, endorsement, administration and financing in the higher education space. Sitaraman also said that Urban Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0 would be enacted with a total financial allocation of `1,41,678 crore over five years from 2021. She said it would concentrate on complete faecal sludge management, wastewater treatment, and source segregation etc.
UNDP launches report for effective COVID-19 response
ISTANBUL: International Health Services Inc of Turkey, in collaboration with Istanbul International Centre for Private Sector Development, under the umbrella of the United Nations Development Programme, have released a report on lessons learned and strategies appropriate for locally manufacturing personal protective equipment (PPE) for COVID-19 response.
Haoliang Xu, Assistant Secretary-General of UN and Director of UNDP’s Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, said that even though the world has received phenomenal news of vaccines and its rollout, it is as important as before to manage high demand of quality PPEs following sustainable business practices. He added that the partnership between UNDP and private sector on COVID-19 response focuses on supporting and sustaining resilience and viability in the private sector and building resilient, inclusive, low carbon recovery hand-in-hand. The report shows good practices adopted by Turkey, including the measures to mitigate challenges of coordinating the production and bottlenecks in the PPE value chain, distribution in domestic and international markets. The report has been named a one-stop for manufacturers and contains information on PPE raw materials, necessary equipment, skills, and production cost. The report also draws upon the critical sources included in the World Health Organisation’s recent publication on standard PPE manufacturing and handling requirements in the COVID era.
Govt says Indian vaccines are one of the safest
The Government of India, on January 19 said that India’s vaccines are one of the safest in the world. The central government tried to address vaccine hesitancy among the people amid reports of adverse events following immunisation (AEFI). V K Paul, NITI Aayog member, said that AEFI has been as low as 0.18 per cent and only 0.002 per cent people required hospitalisation post immunisation. Paul said that our data shows that Indian vaccines are safe, and the concerns regarding the adverse effects and health problems seem to be negligible and insignificant.
UNDP to set up oxygenproducing plants in Tripura
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has launched a project under which it will be setting up oxygenproducing plants in seven district hospitals of Tripura. Dr Dilip Das, Chairperson, Patient Welfare Society, said that the oxygen-producing plants would also be set up at Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital, which is expected to be operational by March 2021. According to a report, hospitals in Tripura are currently solely dependent on the oxygen cylinders from a private plant. No hospital has modern oxygen-producing units. This comes as UNDP’s biggest project for northeast India, aiming to end the oxygen shortage problem in state hospitals.
SMC partners with ABB to ensure 24*7 water supply
SURAT: To ensure a 24*7 water supply to the residents, the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) has partnered with ABB India to roll out next-generation technology. This follows the two organisations’ previous investment to upgrade the city’s entire water system in 2018 digitally.
Since Surat is an industrial hub, the water demand from textile unit clusters is more than 450 million litres per day. Consequently, the city faces the critical issue of optimum water usage across domestic, commercial and industrial consumption.
A digitally powered system boosted by safe and secure electrical distribution equipment from ABB India will enable the municipal corporation to ensure minimal water wastage through effective monitoring and sustainable distribution. A stable power supply will also provide clean and uninterrupted water to one million residents across a 38 square kilometre area. ABB’s electrification equipment such as air circuit breakers (ACB), moulded case circuit breakers (MCCB), miniature circuit breakers (MCBs), contactors, manual motor starters (MMS), overload relays (OLR), and pilot devices help reduce system downtime by providing steady and reliable power for the water management system to function efficiently.
ABB also aims to boost the existing infrastructure by providing the corporation with facilities like a water distribution station, elevated storage reservoir, rising mainline and distribution network line, along with a remotely installed SCADA system to provide a comprehensive view of all the data assets.
ABB has partnered with the Surat Municipal Corporation since 2014 and supports its vision of supplying a smart water management system across the city through safe and smart electrification systems.
Smokers, vegetarians at lesser risk of COVID-19 infection
NEW DELHI: As stated by a pan-India serosurvey conducted by the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), smokers and vegetarians are at a lower risk of contracting coronavirus. CSIR also found that people with blood group ‘O’ may be at lesser risk of contracting the disease while those with ‘B’ and ‘AB’ are at a higher risk.
CSIR took samples of 10,427 adults working in laboratories or institutions of CSIR along with their family members based on voluntary participation. The study was done to examine the presence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in people. The results said that among 10,427 people surveyed, 1,058 (10.14 per cent) were found to have SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. The study said that smokers are less likely to get infected in the first report from the general population, and despite COVID-19 being a respiratory disease, smoking may be protective. The paper cites two studies from France and quotes similar studies from Italy, New York and China, which reported lower infection rates among smokers. The paper added, “The study found that higher seropositivity was found for those using public transport and with occupational responsibilities such as security, housekeeping personnel, non-smokers, and nonvegetarians.” Shantanu Sengupta, Senior Scientist, IGIB, said that this is the first time that a study has been conducted in India where people have been examined for three months to six months for antibodies, including those with neutralising activity.
India to provide COVID-19 vaccines to 6 countries
NEW DELHI: First supplies of vaccines to fight the COVID-19 virus from India, under grant assistance, have been sent to Bhutan, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and Seychelles from January 20. In a tweet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India is deeply honoured to be a long-reliable partner in meeting the healthcare needs of the global community and that delivery of stock of injections to many countries has begin on January 20, and more will follow in the days to come.
India, one of the world’s largest drug makers, has been approached by an increasing number of countries for procuring the COVID-19 vaccines. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Government of India, said that our country had received several requests from neighbouring and key partner countries to supply India-manufactured vaccines. In respect to Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Mauritius, they are awaiting their confirmation from necessary regulatory clearances.
India has rolled out a massive coronavirus vaccination drive under which two vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin, are being given to frontline health workers across India. MEA said that it has ensured that domestic manufactures will have enough stocks to meet the domestic requirements while supplying abroad. The MEA added that India has also provided training to several neighbouring countries to enhance and strengthen their clinical capabilities, under the Partnerships for Accelerating Clinical Trials programme.
NEW DELHI: The Government of India had approved two Made-in-India vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech respectively, for the world’s biggest vaccination drive. Few days after starting mass inoculation against COVID-19 in India, Bharat Biotech has released a factsheet about the process involved in vaccination and who should avoid taking the vaccine.
The fact sheet, posted on Bharat Biotech’s website, listed side effects that a person may experience after being administered the vaccine.
The side effects include pain, swelling or itching, fever, malaise, weakness, rashes, nausea and vomiting. Recipients have also been warned of severe allergic reaction that may include difficulty in breathing, swelling of the face and throat, fast heartbeat, rashes all over the body and dizziness. The sheet also advises people not to take the vaccine shot if they have allergies, fever, bleeding disorder, weak immunity, or medication that affects their immune system. According to the fact sheet, pregnant and breastfeeding women should also avoid taking Covaxin. The company established that those who have received another COVID-19 vaccine should also not get Bharat Biotech’s medicine/vaccine.
The vaccine will be administered in two doses and stored at 2-8 degrees Celsius.
Bharat Biotech releases fact sheet for administration of Covaxin
World oceans getting warmer despite reduced carbon emissions: Report
As stated in a study published in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences journal, despite recording reductions in carbon emissions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the oceans of the world are recorded to be warmest in 2020. The study was conducted by 20 scientists from 13 institutes from China, the United States of America (USA) and Italy. Cheng Lijing, Lead author of the study, said that ocean heating is an important indicator for measuring climate change as almost 90 per cent of the global heat ends up in the oceans. Increasing ocean temperature converts in the form of more typhoons, hurricanes and extreme rainfall.
Banna Gupta, Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Jharkhand, on Monday, January 11, said that the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) of Jharkhand are directed to identify residents with co-morbidities that need COVID-19 vaccine. Gupta told the reporters that they have estimated approximately 70 lakh people above and below 50 years of age and living with underlying health issues. These are the people who will be prioritised and required to be given the COVID-19 vaccine. Before the registration starts, all the ULBs are to identify such people through surveys.
Only 10.3% of urban workforce includes women
A recent survey conducted by the Initiative for What Works to Advance Women and Girls in the Economy (IWWAGE) revealed that the participation of women in the urban labour market is at a dismal low of 10.3 per cent. The survey by IWWAGE, a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation grant-holder, reported that around 90 per cent of the women who are 15 years of age or more in urban India are neither employed nor are they actively seeking employment. The report suggested that over half of the salaried women workers across rural and urban geographies were not eligible for paid leaves and any social security benefits.
Mumbai ranked second in the world for congestion
TomTom Traffic, a global location technology specialist, released a report which states that Mumbai is ranked second, while Bengaluru is at the sixth position in the list of most congested cities. Delhi and Pune have been put on eighth and sixteenth position with Moscow recording the world’s highest congestion in 2020. The traffic in these four big Indian cities is going back to the pre-COVID levels, particularly in the past six months after unlock. The Index examined almost 400 cities from 57 countries across the world. Bengaluru was at the top last year but has come down the table this year due to effects of the pandemic.
FM issues voluntary vehicle scrapping policy
NEW DELHI: Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Finance, Government of India, on February 2 issued the muchawaited voluntary vehicle scrapping policy to eliminate old polluting vehicles. Delivering the Budget 2021–22, Sitaraman said that as part of the voluntary vehicle-scrapping policy, personal vehicles would undergo a fitness test after twenty years while commercial vehicles would require it after the completion of 15 years. She added that this would result in fuel-efficient and environment-friendly vehicles while cutting on India’s substantial import bills.
Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport & Highways, said that policy to scrap automobiles owned by government departments and public sector undertakings which are more than 15-year-old is expected to be notified soon and will be conducted from April 1, 2022. On July 26, 2019, the government had petitioned amendments to motor vehicle norms to permit the scrapping of vehicles older than 15 years in an attempt to encourage the adoption of electric vehicles. Gadkari said that once the policy is approved, our nation will become an automobile hub and a decline in automobile prices will also be witnessed. Explaining the results of the policy, Gadkari said that recycled material from old vehicles would help reduce the prices, adding that the automobile industry’s turnover, which is `4.5 lakh crore with exports worth `1.45 lakh crore, will see an upsurge.
NEW DELHI: Approximately 10 per cent children between the age of six and 17 years have either stopped coming or never attended school. Most of them dropped out due to financial strain. This was found by the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi’s (GNCTD) socio-economic survey covering 1.02 crore people. The survey was conducted between November 2018 and November 2019 and finalised in November 2020. Of 22,70,497 children between ages six to 17 who were part of the research, it was found that 2,21,694 were not attending school. Among these, 1,31,584 had reported that they used to attend school but dropped out. The remaining 90,110 said that they have never been to school. Among all age categories, financial limitation has been reported as the reason for not attending school for 29.17 per cent of children; domestic responsibilities for 13.5 per cent; 12.7 per cent said having reached the “desired level of education”; and 35.79 per cent are under the vast category of “others”, including disability, mental illness, lack of interest and no admission.
Kavita Rana, Assistant Project Director, SamagraShikshaAbhiyan, said that they have written to the Planning Department, requesting details on the children found to be out of school to trace them. Under Samagra Shiksha, education department officials trace ‘out-of-school children’ every year and try their best to admit them in Special Training Centres which work to prepare them for mainstream school at an age-appropriate class. However, according to the report, the literacy rate of Delhi is higher than the national average, which stands at 88.54 per cent.
10 per cent children aged between 6 and 17 out of school: GNCTD survey
Biden orders for US to rejoin Paris Climate Agreement
WASHINGTON DC: Hours after Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States of America, he signed an executive order to rejoin the historic Paris Climate Accord, thus displaying his urgency to deal with the climate crisis. The USA had formally withdrawn from the Paris Agreement on Climate Change in November 2020, under the administration of Donald Trump.
The Paris Accord committed 188 countries, including the US, to keep the rising global temperatures below 2 degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and attempt to limit them even more, to a 1.5 degree Celsius rise. Former President of USA Donald Trump had argued that the Paris agreement was disadvantageous for America, whereas it provided benefit to countries like China, Russia, and India. He had said that the deal could be economically detrimental to the US and cost 2.5 million Americans their jobs by 2025. Rejoining the climate deal was a commitment that Biden had made in his election campaign. This was one of the few executive orders that he signed in front of reporters on January 20, soon after arriving at the White House as President. According to an official, the Paris Agreement will enter into force for the USA on February 19, 2021.
John Kerry, Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Change, said that Biden, by rejoining the Paris Climate Accord, has restored America’s credibility and commitment. He added that America would work on setting a floor, not a ceiling for climate leadership.
BHUBANESWAR: Addressing its determined plans for transforming religious and heritage sites into world class tourism and spiritual destinations, the Government of Odisha has decided to begin massive embellishment work at the Sun Temple Konark and its periphery. In 1984, Konark temple was accorded the tag of World Heritage Site. By the ongoing heritage corridor projects, including Sri Jagannath temple at Puri and Lingaraj temple in Bhubaneswar, the state government on Thursday, January 21, released a draft architectural plan for beautifying the world-famous heritage site. The plan was approved by Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister of Odisha. According to the plan, Konark will go through a major redevelopment exercise to furnish the temple and its periphery with world-class infrastructure and amenities.
The work will be launched under the 5T initiative of the government. Under the Konark heritage corridor project, the 3.5-kilometre-long Ring Road around the temple will be made six-laned. All roads connecting the temple will be improved for the convenience of the tourists and visitors. Local vendors will also be rehabilitated under the project. Besides this, 30-acre land in front of the Sun Temple will also be kept open for landscaping. A beautiful entry plaza will also be built to welcome visitors into the heritage site; a multi-modal hub will be constructed for parking of automobiles. The project envisions protection of Konark temple and aims to take up its enhancement and that of the adjoining areas to give tourists a memorable and unique experience and develop the economy of Puri district. Improvement of the adjacent areas of the temple will be harmonised with the heritage site.
Odisha undertakes Konark heritage corridor plan
People can’t select between two vaccines
Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India, said that people will not be able to choose between the two vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin. He added that the central government had purchased 110 lakh Covishield doses from Serum Institute of India (SII) at the cost of `200 per dose. 55 lakh Covaxin doses have also been procured from Bharat Biotech (BBIL) at the cost of `295 per dose. BBIL will give 16.5 lakh doses free of cost to the central government from its total batch as a special gesture.
Andhra Pradesh tops the list for implementation of health schemes
Andhra Pradesh has topped the states’ list in implementing various welfare health schemes under the National Health Mission (NHM). The National Health Mission (NHM) survey found that Andhra Pradesh overtook Gujarat and Karnataka in the past one and a half year. Welfare schemes such as YSR Aarogyasri, Jagananna Amma Vodi, Jagananna Vidya Deevena, YSR Rythu Bharosa, etc. are being run successfully by the Government of Andhra Pradesh. The state is on top in tearms of measures taken to prevent noncommunicable diseases under NHM. It surveyed more than five crore people to examine for diseases such as cancer, heart diseases and diabetes.
Union Budget 2021-22 stresses on improving health infra services
NEW DELHI: Nirmala Sitharam, Finance Minister of India, released the Budget for the Financial Year (FY) 2021-22 on Monday, February 1. She announced various changes in the taxation process of the country. Chief among them is the scrapping of income tax for senior citizens, removal of double taxations for non-resident Indians and reduction in time period of tax assessments. The FM also announced that India’s fiscal deficit is set to rise to 9.5 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2020-21 as per revised estimates, in stark comparison to the 3.5 per cent of GDP that was projected in the revised estimates last year. An infusion of `20,000 crore for public sector banks was also announced during the Budget speech.
In health care spending, Sitharaman announced a total expense of around `2 lakh crore on healthcare, with `35,400 crore allocated for COVID-19 vaccine development and inoculation. As a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sitharaman said, the Centre will borrow `80,000 crore in the remaining two months to meet FY 2021 expenditure. The Pradhan Mantri Aatmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana has also been granted an outlay of `64,180 crore over the next six years to strengthen health systems across the country.
Sitharaman also announced a number of development projects across India. As part of the Budget, a 3,500-kilometre (km)-long corridor in Tamil Nadu and a 1,100 km long corridor in Kerala has been planned at an investment cost of `65,000 crore. Over 13,000 km length of roads, at an expense of `3.3 lakh crore, has been granted under the `5.35 lakh crore Bharatmala Project. Additionally, with an intention of bringing down expense of logistics,
the Indian Railways’ National Rail Plan was also announced which will focus on creating a future-ready system of railways in India by 2030. The next lot of airports will also be privatised in tier 2 and 3 towns and cities as well. In a major push for local public transport, the FM also announced `18,000 crore for augmentation of public bus transport services in cities across the country. Sitharaman added that they will work towards raising the share of public transport in urban areas through expansion of metro network and augmentation of city bus services. She also announced the introduction of MetroLite and MetroNeo in Tier 2 cities and peripheral areas of Tier 1 cities. To push the development of the textile sector, Mega Textile Parks will be introduced to create worldclass infrastructure in the textile sector with plug and play facilities, said Sitharaman, while announcing the setting up of seven textile parks over a period of three years from 2021.
To develop the newly formed union territory of Leh, a central university will be set up in the area. A gas pipeline project will also be taken up in Jammu and Kashmir as part of the Ujjwala Yojana. The central government has allotted a budget of `30,757 crore for the UT of Jammu and Kashmir whereas Ladakh has been provisioned an amount of `5,958 crore in the Union Budget for 2021-22. Sitharaman said that the central government is committed to the concept of fiscal federalism. She added that in the fourteenth Finance Commission, Jammu and Kashmir was entitled to get devolution as a state but now the funds will be provided by the Centre. The Centre has said that it will soon auction the work of setting up a pipeline transport system for gas pipeline capacity as the country aims to reduce its carbon footprint and deepen its gas market.
Additionally, to protect the rights of daily wage workers, minimum wages will now apply to all categories of workers and women will be permitted to work in all categories of work with sufficient protection. A portal will also be developed to gather data on workers in all fields of work including building construction.
EDINBURGH: Every three years, the Institute of Chartered Foresters partners with academic institutions and chartered institutes to host an international cross-discipline conference on urban greenspace. Trees, People and the Built Environment (TPBE) provides a platform for greater understanding and exploration as researchers from across the globe showcase their work in urban greenspace. This year, TBPE4 was hosted virtually and took place over two days – February 3 and 4.
This year, TBPE4 comprised of a total of 5 main sessions along with various other parallel sessions. The event began with the inaugural keynote address by Prof Brian Mark Evans, Professor of Urbanism and Landscape at the Mackintosh School of Architecture, the Glasgow School of Art and director of the Glasgow Urban Laboratory. While inaugurating the session, Prof Evans talked about how the world is in dire need of help from those with resources to intervene and lead development of its cities in a more inclusive and sustainable way. The first session of the event was titled “Case for Change”. The theme of the session was based on how we, as people, have realised the importance of open public spaces and how we can reclaim them. Speakers of the session like Prof Paul Chatterson, School of Geography, University of Leeds; and Prof Chris Rogers, University of Birmingham, participated in the session. The second session on “Positive and Negatives for Change” explored emerging research and ideas, stressing on the importance of integrating trees and the natural world in our urban decision making. Prof Ian Bateman, Director, Land, Environment, Economics and Policy Institute (LEEP), University of Exeter Business School; and Chris Bouch, Senior Research Fellow, University of Birmingham, were part of the session’s panel. The third session was based on “Governance and Planning” and invited discussion on how governments can plan their policies to handle the new situations brought about by climate change and global warming. Yvonne Lynch, Urban Greening Strategist, Royal Commission for Riyadh City; and Dr Athanasios Paschalis, Lecturer at Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College, London, were part of the session’s panel.
“Collaboration” was the theme of the fourth session and focused on how inter-disciplinary collaboration is extremely necessary to ensure allround development and growth of cities, keeping in mind the importance of trees and urban green spaces. The panel for this session consisted of Kevin Lafferty, National Policy Advisor (Access, Health and Recreation), Scottish Forestry; and Prof Richard Hauer, Professor of Urban Forestry, University of Wisconsin, among others.
The last session of the conference was titled “#YourBigIdea” and focused on delegate participation and collaboration between the speakers and the delegates. This was seen as a perfect end to the event as both speakers and delegates got to discuss with each other in detail what they had heard/spoken and understood during the past two days and come up with their own ideas to solve problems related to urban forestry quickly. Professor Cecil C. Konijnendijk, Director, New Nature Based Solutions Institute, chaired the session. The event was a huge success as it witnessed participation from all across the world with stakeholders and experts joining in to discuss the many problems they face in terms of conserving urban forests and the solutions they think will help. The conference also hosted four pre-conference webinars on different topics like “Understanding Roadside Air Quality and its Impact on Health” and “Child in the City – The Importance of Nature and Play”.
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