NATIONAL SEPTEMBER 2016
- India decided to review Indus treaty
India has decided to review Indus water treaty with Pakistan. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high level meeting on the Indus Water Treaty on 26th September. It was decided that India will fully use its share of the waters of 3 rivers that Pakistan controls. No meeting of the permanent water commission will happen till the shadow of Pak sponsored terror looms over India. An inter-ministerial group has been formed over the issue to add urgency to India's efforts in this direction.
India sent a tough to message to Pakistan to stop aiding and abetting terror. Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a meeting to review the Indo-Pak Indus Water treaty on 26th September said Blood and water can't flow at the same time.
It was also decided that India will exploit to the maximum the capacity of three Pakistan-controlled rivers - Indus, Chenab, and Jhelum - as per the Indus Water Treaty. India also made it clear the Indus Water Commissioners will only meet in an atmosphere free of terror.
It was also decided to review the construction on Tulbul navigation project, which was suspended in 2007. India also decided to expedite construction of three dams on the Chenab River.
The review was undertaken as India weighs options to give a befitting response to Pakistan in the wake of the Uri attack that left 18 soldiers dead.
There have been consistent calls in India that the government should scrap the water distribution pact to mount pressure on Pakistan in the aftermath of the URI terror attack. - Govt to set up inter ministerial task force to review Indus Water Treaty
The Government will soon set up an inter-ministerial task force to exploit the full potential of the rivers Indus, Chenab, and Jhelum as per the Indus Water Treaty.
This was decided on 27th September at a high level meeting presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take stock of the treaty in the wake of sustained cross border attacks including Uri terror strike.
Prime Minister said blood and water cannot flow together. It was decided to expedite construction on Pakal Dul , Sawalkot and Bursar Dams on Chenab river. The country will also review construction on Tulbul navigation project in Kashmir valley on which work was unilaterally suspended by India in 1987.
India wants to exercise its rights under Indus Water Treaty to its fullest extent. These rivers were allocated to Pakistan under the treaty. Under this arrangement, India can use 20 per cent of the water of these rivers for irrigation, transport and power generation which is currently not being done.
Attended by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, the Water Resources Secretary and senior PMO officials, the meeting also noted that the meeting of Indus Water Commission can only take place in atmosphere free of terror. The Commission has held 112 meetings so far and the last meeting was held nearly six month back.
Under the treaty, which was signed by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistan President Ayub Khan in 1960, water of six rivers - Beas, Ravi, Sutlej, Indus, Chenab and Jhelum - were to be shared between the two countries. The treaty, brokered by the World Bank, is often considered to be one-sided and there has been growing clamour for relook. - Mysuru declared open defecation free city
Heritage city Mysuru is once again setting another record for itself in the Swachh Bharat Mission campaigns.
After being crowned the cleanest city, Mysuru is now declared as first Indian city with a population of over one million to be declared open defecation free.
Mysuru City Corporation authorities will receive the award from Prime Minister during a Swachh Bharat Saptah programme in New Delhi. The city was declared the cleanest cities under the Swachh Bharat mission two years ago and it retained the position for second successive year too.
The status of India's first open defecation free city was granted after a survey of 73 cities by the Quality Council of India.
The city has ever since the Swachh Bharat mission was rolled out, the construction of toilets in every households in 23 slums of 64 wards were taken up on priority basis and task was carried out at war footing. The city hopes to keep this movement alive and involve people to maintain the cleanliness. - Union Cabinet decides to ratify Paris Agreement on Climate Change
Government on 28th September approved the ratification of Paris Agreement on Climate Change, paving the way for bringing it into force. The ratification will be formalised on Gandhi Jayanti.
The nod by the Union Cabinet comes days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the move which is expected to give momentum to implementation of measures at international level to control global warming. As per the provisions of the Paris Agreement, the treaty will come into force when 55 countries contributing to 55 per cent of total global emission ratify the agreement.
According to Javadekar said that although 61 countries have ratified the agreement till now, India's move to ratify it will bring the total emissions to 51.89 per cent. - ISRO signs MoU with Telangana govt to provide digital classes
Indian Space Research Organization -ISRO has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Telangana state government on 28th September to provide digital classes across the state through its state channel 'Mana TV'. As per the MoU, the ISRO’s Development & Educational Communication Unit - DECU will work with the state government to disseminate educational content using satellite technology.
DECU Director Virender Kumar said the fruits of space technology are reaching common man through the efforts being made by the state Government. He said people especially in remote areas can be imparted education and skills through space technology.
He said working together with the state government; the unreached can be reached as the digital classes will provide a platform for lakhs of students and job aspirants to get quality education. - India carries out surgical strikes in LOC
Indian Army conducted surgical strikes on early hours of 29th September. The attack was on terror launch pads across the Line of Control. According to the Director General of Military Operations Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh, the motive of the operation was to hit out at the terrorists who were planning to infiltrate into the Indian Territory. Lt General Singh informed that significant casualty was caused to terrorists during the operation.
The DGMO said, it is a matter of serious concern that there has been many infiltration bids by terrorists at LoC and it was reflected in the terror attacks in Poonch and Uri on 11th and 18th of September, 2016.
He said, nothing was done despite India's persistent request to Pakistan not to allow territory under its control to be used for terror activities. He said Pakistan gave a commitment to India in 2004 that it will not allow its soil to be used for anti India terror activities.
He informed that almost 20 infiltration attempts have been successfully foiled by Indian Army this year. He said India has also offered consular access to apprehended terrorists from Pakistan and finger prints and DNA samples of the terrorists killed in Uri and Poonch attacks can also be made available to the neighbouring country.
Lieutenant General Singh said, he spoke to his Pakistani counterpart to share India's concerns and told him about the surgical strikes. He said, India cannot allow terrorists to operate across the LoC. - Border States of Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat put on high alert
Punjab Government has ordered evacuation of civil population from villages falling within 10 kilometers of the border of state with Pakistan. This has been ordered on instructions given by the Centre after the surgical strikes across the LoC.
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal put the entire government and political machinery in an emergency mode following the developments on the India-Pakistan border.
The Chief Minister directed the DCs to identify suitable locations for setting up camps and ensure that none of the residents being evacuated were put to any inconvenience.
In Rajasthan, high alert has been sounded in border district areas in wake of surgical strikes conducted by Indian Army in Line of Control. Security has been tightened in the border areas.
The state Home Minister convened a high level meeting in Jaipur in wake of the development. Chief Secretary and Director General of Police along with senior officials of home department attended the meeting.
Meanwhile, the tour of a delegation of Pakistani students and teachers from Lahore, which was proposed to come to Ajmer for a cultural exchange program from 3rd to 5th October, has been cancelled.
High alert has been sounded In Gujarat also. Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel has said that high alert has been sounded in entire state, especially in the border districts.
Gujarat shares land and sea boundary with Pakistan. Three districts of the state-- Kutch, Banaskantha and Patan-- share boundary with the neighbouring country.
Dy Chief minister Mr.Patel said that the BSF and Coast Guard are extremely vigilant on land border and the sea coast. The state Home Department has also asked the entire state police to be on alert so that anti-national elements don't take benefit of the situation. - Centre launches Progress Panchayat
Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on 29th September launched Progress Panchayat in Mewat district of Haryana to reach out to the minority communities and publicize the various welfare measures taken by the NDA government for their betterment.
According to Naqvi it is an effort towards development of minorities and not for the vote bank. Later Naqvi, laid the foundation of Mewat Model School to be construed at a cost of about 4 crores rupees at village Chila wali of Nuh block in Mewat district.
He also announced to construct Harmony Centres in every block of the district for education, Skill development, Sports and Social development works.
The special outreach programme comes days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remark about empowering a minority community and not treating it as item of the vote market. - Former AAP convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur announces formation of new political party
Former Aam Aadmi Party convener of Punjab Unit Sucha Singh Chhotepur has announced the formation of a new political party to be known as Aapna Punjab Party. Announcing the new party in Chandigarh today in a press conference he said, the party will contest all 117 seats in the Punjab Assembly elections. - BJP extended support to PPA govt in Arunachal Pradesh
In Arunachal Pradesh, BJP has decided to give support from outside to the PPA government. This emerged after a Joint legislature Meeting between People’s party of Arunachal and BJP in Itanagar.
It was attended by all the PPA and BJP MLAs along with BJP leader and Convenor of North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) Hemanta Biswa Sarma.
PPA would be a part of NEDA and Arunachal Pradesh Government would be a NEDA government. Meanwhile, 26 Parliamentary Secretaries have been inducted into the Pema Khandu government on 18th September. The Oath of Office and Secrecy was administered by Chief Minister Pema Khandu. - 17 soldiers killed, 23 injured in cross-LoC strike on Uri campIn a jarring challenge to the army in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), armed militants attacked a camp near the border town of Uri on 18th September, killing 17 soldiers and wounding another 23. This is the heaviest blow the army has suffered in a single attack since armed insurgency broke out in J&K in 1990.
According to the Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, the army’s Director General of Military Operations (DGMO):
- A group of Pakistani terrorists attacked the camp at 5.30 am and four were killed by 8.30 am
- v The terrorists fired incendiary ammunition, along with automatic fire of small arms that led to army tents [and] temporary shelters catching fire
- v There have been a total of 17 army fatal casualties. Of these, 13-14 casualties have been due to these tents/shelters having caught fire.
- The administrative echelons of two infantry battalions — 10 DOGRA and 6 BIHAR — were in the camp.
- Their combat echelons had deployed in forward posts along the line of control (LoC), leaving the camp lightly guarded.
Even so, the attack raises serious questions of operational culpability. An infantry battalions administrative echelons should also consist of armed and trained soldiers, who should not have been caught napping by a militant fidayeen (suicide) squad.In any case, the army has been on high alert across the Valley, where 72 days of unremitting street protests have followed the killing on July 8 of Hizbul Mujahideen South Kashmir commander Burhan Wani. With almost 80 Kashmiris killed and thousands injured in public violence, the army knows well that Pakistan is looking to exploit the turmoil. - One-third of total maternal deaths in 2015 happened in India: ReportAccording to the Lancet series on maternal health nearly one quarter of babies worldwide are still delivered in the absence of a skilled birth attendant. Further, one-third of the total maternal deaths in 2015 happened in India, where 45,000 mothers died during pregnancy or childbirth while Nigeria shouldered the maximum burden of 58,000 maternal deaths. Each year, about 210 million women become pregnant and about 140 million newborn babies are delivered.
Ahead of the U.N. General Assembly, The Lancet has published a new series of papers on maternal health which reveal that while progress has been made in reducing maternal mortality globally, differences remain at international and national levels. “In all countries, the burden of maternal mortality falls disproportionately on the most vulnerable groups of women.
This reality presents a challenge to the rapid catch-up required to achieve the underlying aim of the Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs] — to leave no one behind,” says series author Professor Wendy Graham, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
According to the academic papers, there are two broad scenarios that describe the landscape of poor maternal health care — the absence of timely access to quality care (defined as ‘too little, too late’) and the over-medicalisation of normal and postnatal care (defined as ‘too much, too soon’). “The problem of over-medicalisation has historically been associated with high-income countries, but it is rapidly becoming more common in low and middle-income countries, increasing health costs and the risk of harm. For instance, 40.5% of all births are now by caesarean section in Latin America and the Caribbean,” stated one paper.
While facility and skilled birth attendant deliveries are increasing in many low-income countries, the authors say that phrases such as ‘skilled birth attendant’ and ‘emergency obstetric care’ can mask poor quality care.
Additionally, many birth facilities lack basic resources such as water, sanitation and electricity. The authors warn that measuring progress via the current indicator of skilled birth attendant coverage is insufficient and fails to reflect the complexity of circumstances.
In high-income countries, rates of maternal mortality are decreasing but there is still wide variation at national and international level. For instance, in the U.S., the maternal mortality ratio is 14 per 1, 00,000 live births compared to 4 per 1, 00,000 in Sweden.
The sub-Saharan African region accounted for an estimated 66% (2, 01,000) of global maternal deaths, followed by southern Asia at 22% (66,000 deaths). - Government panel favours expansion of the AravalisA government panel has approved that all non-cultivable hill land, rocky and sandy areas in the ecologically sensitive Aravalis in the entire National Capital Region (NCR), including Gurgaon and Faridabad districts, will be treated as part of the mountain range, paving the way for its protection.
This will also include all land notified under the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA). At present, these conditions are applicable only to Gurgaon and Alwar districts in the NCR in line with a 1992 notification of environment and forest ministry (MoEF).
In a recent meeting, chaired by Union urban development secretary Rajiv Gauba and attended by representatives of the forest ministry and officials from Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan, it was decided that NCR Planning Board (NCRPB) would formally redefine Aravalis based on the already laid-down parameters of the 1992 notification.
The decisions will now be put before the board for its approval. This will have huge impact on protecting the ecology of entire region.
In the past, real estate players allegedly tried to influence the Haryana government to push for more non-forest activities in the Aravalis in the garb of eco-tourism and the matter was referred the NCRPB. The board had rejected this proposal following protests by green activists. - Nearly 59 per cent of India's land area is vulnerable to moderate or severe earthquakes, according to the latest seismic zone map released on 20th September. It also shows how out of the total 304 million households in the country, about 95 per cent are vulnerable to earthquakes in different degrees.
59% of India vulnerable to moderate to severe quakes
In the next three months, the map will be accessible on your mobile phone to know how quake-prone your home or office is. The map has been prepared by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council (BMTPC).
The earthquake zoning maps provides details down to the block level. The maps will be digitised and the agencies will launch a mobile app so that every citizen can benefit from this. While the access to this information will help planners, it will guide citizens to take preventive steps
The colour-coding easily conveys location in five different zones of earthquake intensity. These maps show the boundaries of hazard zones of various intensities."The real benefit will be that people can locate themselves in their district boundary and find the possible intensity of quakes. After assessing the risk level, they can take appropriate action including retrofitting the buildings or houses to sustain any seismic hazard
The maps will also help the district authorities to determine the location and area most susceptible to intense hazard occurrences. The information can become the basis for formulating preventive action to reducing the impact of the hazard, installation of a warning system and formulating building bye-laws with seismicresistant features. The earthquake zoning maps will also help the state and central authorities to identify the districts most prone to severe disaster situations, and those with multihazard situations, requiring priority action in future planning and formulating integrated mitigation policies. - With under-5 mortality down, India set to achieve its MDGIndia is set to achieve its millennium development goal (MDG) for under-five mortality by next year. In child healthcare, India recorded a fourpoint decline in under-five mortality rate from 49 deaths per 1000 births in 2013 to 45 in 2014. India's MDG goal is 42.
In 2014, India averted 1.26 lakh more deaths among children under-five years of age, according to data which are part of the sample registration survey for 2014, recently released by the Registrar General of India. The survey indicates 8.16% decline in under-five mortality during 2013-14, as against 5.76% during 2012-13. While inequity in coverage of healthcare services has been a major concern in India, the latest data reflects the differential between rural and urban India for under-five mortality has also narrowed to 23 points, as compared to 26 points in 2013. In 2012, India's underfive mortality rate stood at 52.
The development assumes significance as India has the highest burden of child deaths in the world. India alone accounts for 22% of 6.3 million annual under-five deaths globally. Around 52% of under -five deaths happen at the neonatal stage.
According to the World Health Organisation, 36% of all neonatal deaths in India are on account of complications associated with premature births; 23% were due to asphyxia at birth; and another 23% due to a range of newborn infections, including neonatal sepsis. While almost all states showed remarkable improvement in reducing deaths among under-five year-olds, Kerala was the only state where mortality rate increased by one point from 12 in 2013 to 13 in 2014. But still Kerala fared far better as compared to the national average.
States like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Assam and Odisha where the under-five mortality rate was much higher in 2013 have all recorded a decline of over five points during 2014. Other states like West Bengal, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and J&K have also shown progress with a decline of more than four points in under-five mortality rate. - President inaugurates Centenary CelebrationsPresident Pranab Mukherjee on 21st September inaugurated the Centenary Celebrations of Lady Hardinge Medical College and presided over the Centenary Convocation of the institute. The President termed doctors as the most important component of the society, who have a tremendous burden on them to provide healthcare to the needy.
- Cabinet gives Clean Ganga Mission power to fine pollutersThe Union Cabinet has approved changes allowing the National Mission for Clean Ganga to fine those responsible for polluting the river. Earlier this power was vested solely with the Central Pollution Control Board. The Rs. 20,000-crore National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) is among the flagship initiatives of the government and though at least 230 projects have been sanctioned this year there is very little progress on the ground in various States along the river such as Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar and Uttarakhand among others. The bulk of the river cleaning projects involve setting up of sewage treatment plants, installing trash skimmers and beautifying the ghats.
The NMCG has been a registered society since 2012 and its role is largely to fund projects to implementing organisations. It didn’t have legal powers to “tackle various threats” or issue directions to polluters. “The mission was grossly ill-equipped to handle such expectations,” said a press note by the Water Ministry accompanying the Union Cabinet order.
The NMCG, which now has the status of an Authority, will have a two-tier management structure with a governing council to be chaired by a Director General. There will also be State-level committees. - India’s second cultural varsity opens in ImphalThe Manipur University of Culture opened with its first session on 20th September at the premises of the Government Dance and Music College, Palace Compound, Imphal. This is the second such institution — the first University of Culture is in Odisha. The initiatives for such a university began in 2002.” The session began on a temporary campus with 154 students, 19 members of faculty for eight departments.
- Tamil film 'Visaranai' to represent India in oscars"Visaranai" on 22nd September has become India's official entry to the Oscars next year in the best foreign film category.
The movie, which won three honours at this year's National Film Awards, has been produced by actor Dhanush. There was a Bengali film also in the race. The decision was unanimous," filmmaker Ketan Mehta, chairman of the selection committee of Film Federation of India. There were total 29 films in the competition. "Visaranai" is based on the novel "Lock Up" by M Chandrakumar.
Featuring Dinesh Ravi, Anandhi and Aadukalam Murugadoss in the lead roles, the film deals with police brutality, corruption, and loss of innocence in the face of injustice.
"Visaranai" is the ninth Tamil movie to represent India at Oscars. The last Tamil film to be submitted as India's oscar entry was Kamal Haasan's "Hey Ram" (2000).
Other submissions were "Nayakan", "Anjali", "Deiva Magan" and "Jeans" among others. At the 63rd National Awards, "Visaranai" won awards in the categories-- best feature film in Tamil, best supporting actor for Samuthirakani and best editing for Kishore Te.
The film premiered in the Orrizonti (Horizons) section of the 72nd Venice Film Festival, where it won the Amnesty International Italia Award. India has never won an Oscar in the best foreign film category.
The last Indian film that made it to the final five list was Ashutosh Gowarikers "Lagaan". "Mother India" and "Salaam Bombay" are the other two Indian movies to have made it to the top five. - UNICEF report on child online protection in IndiaUNICEF on 23rd September released a report on 'Child Online Protection in India', which maps the existing laws on safeguarding children from online exploitation, flags the lacunae in them and puts forward recommendations to ensure cyber safety.
According to the report, the surge in mobile and Internet use in India has brought 400 million people online. It adds that according to a survey conducted by Internet and Mobile Association of India, school-going children account for seven per cent of Internet users in the country.
As a result of "deep proliferation" of Internet, offline forms of crime and violence against children are finding new platforms in the online world.
India is leading in Internet Communications Technology (ICT). Annual growth of ICT in India is phenomenal.
Cyberbullying, cyberstalking, grooming, webcam sexual abuse, pornography are just some of the several forms of sexual abuse through Internet.
The UNICEF report also talks about how the precise number of child victims of online sexual exploitation in India or across the world is "unknown" even as abusive content is on the rise.
The report concludes with recommending several steps that can be taken to protect the children from online abuse. These include improving the laws and policies, reporting and removing offensive material, probing and prosecuting offenders, data-gathering and spreading digital literacy. - President, PM launch Vice President’s book titled "Citizen and Society"President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 23rd September launched Vice President Mohd Hamid Ansari's book titled "Citizen and Society" at Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi.
Describing Mr Ansari's life as that of a perfect citizen, the President said, the theme of the book is that a citizen cannot be apolitical and has to take part in politics to build the society. - Digital India gets local language boosterA government-run research organisation has developed a language interface that facilitates real-time translation of online content in more than 15 languages.
Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), a research organisation of the Department of Electronics and Information Technology, has developed a localisation framework that translates content from websites, applications and databases into multiple Indian languages
There is a huge government focus on e-governance. Under Digital India, the government has been talking about making digital information databases and services available to citizens... This requires massive inputs in languages, because 90 per cent of people require their local language to be able to consume that information
The Digital India initiative aims to connect 1.2 billion Indians through internet and provide government services online at an estimated investment of Rs 1.13 lakh crore over the next three to five years.
In 2015 Google launched a virtual keyboard for Android that allows typing in 11 Indian languages. In May this year, Google released a feature called “Tap to Translate” that allows instant translation of any text on any Android app. Of the 103 languages that the feature supports globally, 10 are Indian. Google also launched voice search in Hindi and seven other Indian languages.
Microsoft, on its part, supports more than 10 Indian languages in Windows 10 OS, which was unveiled in 2015. Earlier this month, C-DAC collaborated with the Election Commission to launch an application under which the enrolment forms and electoral services were made available in 15 Indian languages. These forms, which were earlier available in one official language, can now be converted into 15 Indian languages in real time.
C-DAC is also implementing the language interfacing abilities for mygov.in and farmer.gov.in. - GOING FOR THE MASS PLAY
- India is expected to have 730 million internet users by 2020, compared with 400 million at present
- More than 7 out of every 10 new users to emerge from rural areas
- Only 10% Indians understand English
- Regional language capabilities to help government deliver digital services to masses
- CDAC has created a framework to convert content on government websites, applications and databases from English to more than 15 Indian languages in real time
- Companies like Google and Microsoft have been working to bring Indian language capabilities in their products and services
- In addition to Google Translate, which completed 10 years in 2016, the company has launched virtual keyboard for Android with 11 Indian languages
- Google’s ‘Tap to Translate’ initiative features 103 languages, of which 10 are Indian
- Govt seeks public views on simultaneous polls of LS & state assemblies
Government has sought public views on desirability of simultaneous elections of Lok Sabha and state assemblies in the country.
It has posted a list of five questions in this regard on its website MyGov.com to seek the views of all interested people including common citizens, MPs, MLAs, MLCs, constitutional experts, academics experts, bureaucrats and social media influencers.
The development comes against the backdrop of Prime Minister Narendra Modi floating this idea, which was subsequently articulated by President Pranab Mukherjee - Kerala decentralises disaster management
As a multi-hazard prone State, Kerala is embarking on a project to strengthen the network of emergency operations centres at the State and district-level and bolster its community-based disaster risk reduction initiatives through local bodies.
The State Disaster Management Plan 2016 approved by the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) in the first week of September 2016, seeks to establish a decentralised disaster mitigation and emergency response mechanism. The plan proposes a network of early warning and monitoring systems.
Of the 39 hazards that the State is prone to, 17 are natural and 22 induced by human activities. Floods are the most common of the natural hazards in Kerala. According to the plan, an area of 679.5 sq km in 75 taluks is susceptible to floods, with the vulnerable population estimated to be 77.95 lakh.
As many as 27.99 lakh people in an area of 5,619.7 sq km spread over 50 taluks are susceptible to landslips while 3.13 lakh people in 24 taluks are exposed to the threat posed by coastal hazards.
The State has taken up a project to strengthen the SDMA and District Disaster Management Authorities and efforts are on to strengthen the District Emergency Operations Centres. The SDMA is implementing a proposal to establish a VHF radio network, VSAT connectivity, satellite phones, and HF radio sets to link disaster management agencies. - Protests over Cauvery water sharing in Karnataka turn violent
Protests intensify in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over Cauvery water, buses torched, section 144 imposed at several places in Karnataka, Cauvery supervisory committee meets in New Delhi to decide on distribution of water, to take final decision on September 19th.
The Supreme court has modified its 5th September order on Cauvery water sharing issue. The apex Court has asked Karnataka to release 12000 cusecs water to Tamil Nadu per day till 20 September. In an interim order on September 5, the apex court had asked Karnataka to release 15,000 cusecs of Cauvery water daily for next 10 days to Tamil Nadu.
Karnataka government which had approached Supreme Court has got no relief from the apex court and the protests in the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have got intensified. Karnataka government had approached Supreme Court for revising its earlier order of releasing 15000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu. The apex court modified its order and directed the Karnataka government to release 12,000 cusecs of water instead till 20th September which it also fixed as the next date of hearing.
The court expressed displeasure over the way the issue has been handled by the Karnataka government and observed that law and order problem can’t be held responsible for complying with its order. The bench directed that all those concerned with the case will have to follow its order.
In its plea, the Karnataka government requested to reduce the number of days for release of water from 10 to 6, citing grave water scarcity in the state. - Govt launches toll free number for postal complaints
The government launched toll free number 1924 to register postal complaints, over a month after introducing Twitter Sewa for redressal of telecom and postal grievances
Prime Minister has asked all departments to set up and strengthen public grievances redressal system. Moving on these lines, we started Twitter Sewa on August 2 and now we have issued a toll free number 1924 to address postal complaints," Communications Minister Manoj Sinha said after inaugurating the service.
The service will be operational initially for 12 hours on working days between 0800 hrs to 2000 hrs. Sinha said the complaints will be addressed in 24 hours unless they are related to policy matters.
The complaints received on the toll free number would be registered in Computerised Customer Care (CCC) Centre portal by the operators at the Dak Bhawan and the 11 digits ticket number would be provided to the complainants. If the complaint is already registered, the complainant would be informed about the status as viewed in CCC portal. - Central government starts interactive platform to bring transparency in Padma Awards
In an effort to bring about transparency on the prestigious Padma Awards and to put an end to the alleged lobbying involved in the award process, the Central government has started an interactive dashboard of all the awardees from 1954 to date where any user can explore and analyse the list of 4,400 awardees in a simple format.
The Padma Awards website can now be used by any citizen of the country to recommend an achiever for the prestigious awards, for the government has also opened the online nomination process to general public, provided they furnish their Aadhaar details for authenticity and accountability.
The process will also help identify unsung heroes or achievers, who are often missed out due to lack of adequate publicity. The government has already received over 1,700 nominations and the last date of nomination is September 15.
The Padma Awards have been mired in controversy for the last several years now and have been assumed to be politically influenced.
This is validated by data analysed by Factly earlier this year, which states that around 30 per cent more Padma Shri awards were awarded in election years as compared to other years. Padma Shri is the fourth highest civilian honour.
In 2004, there were 74 Padma Shri awardees while the average for the preceding four years was 57, while in 2009, there were 93 Padma Shri awardees compared to the average of the preceding four years of 66.
The data had also revealed that in the last 16 years, awardees from Delhi and Maharashtra accounted for a third of all Padma Shri awards while seven states together accounted for 63%. Bihar had less than 2% of all the awards.
The maximum awards were won by eminent arts personalities, while journalism has the least number of awardees.
Many also see the central government's effort a means to take on the Congress government, which during its tenure at the Centre is believed to have given away many awards to those politically affiliated to them - Census found over 12,000 kids identified as divorcees
Nearly 12,105 children aged between 10 and 14 years were identified as divorcees in Census 2011, 53.67% or 6,497 of them girls. However, the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India fails to explain the legal basis of categorising underage individuals as 'divorcees' when child marriage itself is unlawful. The data stands testimony to the fact that child marriage remains fairly common
As regards the overall number of minor divorces, that is people whose marriage ended before adulthood, Maharashtra accounts for the highest share of all states (1,984), followed by Uttar Pradesh (1,875), Gujarat (1,638), West Bengal (1,286) and Bihar (801). Rajasthan, considered to be the child marriage capital of the country, only has 366 such minors - SC raps T.N., Karnataka
The Supreme Court on 15th September rapped the governments of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for allowing bandhs and agitations to challenge its order passed in public interest to share Cauvery water between the States. The Bench, including Justice U.U. Lalit, was hearing a petition filed by P. Sivakumar, a resident of Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu, highlighting the huge losses caused by mobs who pillaged and looted in both States. The petition said ordinary people lived in danger in what resembled a war zone after violence broke out following the court’s order on September 12, rejecting Karnataka’s plea to stop the release of 15,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu. - BRICS agreed counter terrorism
National Security Advisers of BRICS countries have agreed to pool their efforts to counter terrorism and violent extremism emanating from Pakistan.
The representatives highlighted the need for resolution of outstanding disputes in the West Asia and North Africa region through dialogue, peaceful means and in accordance with international law and the principles of the UN charter.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson said the BRICS representatives in their meeting chaired by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval in New Delhi, agreed to strengthen joint efforts on enhancing cyber security, combating cyber-crimes, and improving cooperation between technical and law enforcement agencies. The representatives agreed to expand BRICS Counter Terrorism cooperation to include measures for denying terrorists access to finance and arms and ammunition.
They underscored the need for a global legal regime to deal with the menace of terrorism. It was also decided to explore regular energy dialogue for long and medium term energy security issues - Arunachal Pradesh CM joined in PPA
In Arunachal Pradesh, 44 Congress MLAs including the Chief Minister Pema Khandu have joined People’s Party of Arunachal, PPA.
The only MLA who has stayed with the Congress is Nabam Tuki, who was replaced as Chief Minister when the Congress, in an effort to control the rebellion in its ranks replaced him with Mr. Khandu in July. In the 60-member Assembly, Congress has 45 members.
According to Pema Khandu, the decision was taken unanimously in presence of all the congress MLAs today, except former Chief Minister Nabam Tuki who was out of station.
Khandu also said being a part of NDA, whose government is in the Centre, would help overcome the pending liabilities which his government has inherited form the previous governments. BJP state unit President Tapir Gao has welcomed the step and termed it as pro-development. - Newborns in Maharashtra to be Aadhaar-linked
The Maharashtra government has decided to give Aadhar number to every newborn child and link the child’s number with that of its parents. As per a new government resolution, Aadhaar enrolment will be undertaken simultaneously with the birth registration at the hospital.
For this purpose, the parent may need to have Aadhaar number herself. Even if the child is not named, the child may have the number and the card under the term ‘second baby of (mother’s name)’. The name of the child could be updated later online on the Aadhar website by the parents.
The State Health Department will soon be certifying its staff as Aadhaar operators. Staff of private hospitals could also be considered for the job. Discharge cards issued by hospitals bearing the mother’s name will be considered as a proof of relationship between the mother and the child for enrollment.
As of now, the biometric details of children below five years of age are not recorded. Aadhar card of small children has their name, age and gender along with their photograph.
Such Aadhaar-linked children will have to re-enroll themselves once they turn five and submit their biometrics of 10 fingers, iris and facial photograph. The biometrics will have to be re-submitted once the children turn 15. - Evolve action plans to curb alcoholism, drugs abuse: Centre to states
Centre has asked the state governments to evolve action plans to curb alcoholism and drugs abuse in a range of settings, especially in schools and colleges.
The action plan will evolve and strengthen appropriate model for prevention of alcoholism, drug and substance abuse, treatment and rehabilitation of drug dependent individuals in schools, families, workplaces, communities, health and social services and prisons.
The Social Justice Ministry said in an advisory to the states to set up an inter-departmental group under the Chief Secretary to ensure coordination between agencies responsible for ensuring reduction in drug supply and demand reduction activities.
The advisory also emphasised on increasing community participation and public cooperation in reduction of demand for dependence-producing substances. - Govt identifies 99 irrigation projects under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana
Government has identified 99 irrigation projects under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana with an aim to enhance water availability for farms. Water Resource Minister Uma Bharati on 6th September said in New Delhi that identified major and medium irrigation projects will be completed by 2019-20.
She said that total funds of 77, 595 crore rupees is required for these projects and dedicated Long Time Irrigation Fund has been created in NABARD with initial corpus of about 20,000 crore rupees. The Minister informed that 60% of project cost will be provided by center and remaining cost will be borne by concerned States. - Centre launches biggest Leprosy Case Detection campaign
Centre has launched the biggest Leprosy Case Detection campaign in the country. The Health Ministry, in a release, said, 32 crore people, across 19 States and Union Territories, will be screened under the campaign. The objective is to detect the disease early so that those affected can be saved from physical deformity.
The Ministry said, the districts, having a prevalence rate of more than one case per 10,000 population in the last three years, have been included in the campaign. Around three lakh teams will visit every house in their allotted area and screen all the family members for leprosy.
To eradicate Leprosy from the country, Health Minister JP Nadda reviewed the National Leprosy Eradication Programme on 5th September. The states and UTs to be covered in this campaign include Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, Nagaland, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Lakshadweep.
The first Leprosy Case Detection Campaign was launched in March this year in 50 districts of 7 states. During the campaign, around 65,000 suspected cases were identified out of which nearly 4,000 were later confirmed. - India will have 7 mega cities by 2030
At present, India is home to five mega cities, with over 10 million population, but by 2030 this number will go up to seven. Delhi will continue to be the second most populous city in the world till 2030, adding a staggering 9.6 million people to its population -- the most in any mega city.
The facts have been revealed in the 2016 World Cities Report issued by the UN's department of economic and social affairs.
The report has not relied on the administrative boundaries of cities but has, instead, preferred to use the concept of "urban agglomeration" which is the "the contiguous urban area, or built-up area". For example, in the case of Delhi urban agglomeration, the satellite cities of Ghaziabad, Noida, Faridabad and Gurgaon are included. Such inclusion makes sense as people in these contiguous areas are economically and socially integrated with the main city.
Around the world, about 500 million people live in 31 such mega cities. That's about 6.8% of the world's population or 12% of the world's urban population. The report calculates that by 2030, the number of mega cities will increase to 41 and their population to about 730 million or 8.7% of the world's population.
Other Indian cities figuring in 2016's mega cities list are Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Chennai. By 2030, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad will join them, as their respective populations would cross 10 million.
The UN report shows that only a minority of urban dwellers actually live in mega cities. Nearly 21% of the world's population stays in cities of population between 500,000 to 10 million, while an even bigger share of 26.8% resides in smaller cities and towns with a population of less than 500,000.
By 2030, the world's population will decisively shift to urban living with 60% of the estimated population living in cities, big or small. Currently, about 54% of the world's population is urban.
Most of the urban growth is happening in developing countries in Asia and Africa. By 2030, as many as 33 of the 41 mega cities will be from the third world. Of the 47 cities that grew by over 6% every year between 2000 and 2016, six were in Africa, 40 in Asia (including 20 in China) and just one in North America.
Interestingly, not all cities are growing. Out of the 1,063 cities with a population over 500,000, as many as 55 have shown a decline since 2000. Most of these cities are located in Europe and some in Japan. - Centre approves Rs 450 cr for five states under Swadesh Darshan scheme
Centre has approved 450 crore rupees for Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Sikkim under the Swadesh Darshan scheme. The Tourism Ministry approved the amount for the development of Heritage circuit in Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand, Ramayana Circuit in Uttar Pradesh, North East Circuit in Sikkim and Coastal Circuit of Tamil Nadu.
The Heritage Circuit in Madhya Pradesh covers Gwalior- Orchha-Khajuraho-Chanderi-Bhimbetka-Mandu with total project cost of approximately 100 crore rupees.
The Heritage Circuit in Uttarakhand is on developing Tourism Infrastructure in Jageshwar-Devidhura-Katarmal-Baijnath sites with total project cost of approximately 83 crores.
Coastal circuit in Tamil Nadu envisages development of Chennai-Mamamallapuram-Rameshwaram-Manpadu-Kanyakumari with total project cost of approximately 100 crores.
Ramayana Circuit in Uttar Pradesh envisages development of two destinations, Chitrakoot and Shringverpur. North East circuit in Sikkim with approximate project cost of 95 crores includes development of cultural centre, paragliding centre and craft bazaar for mountaineering and meditation hall. - India free from Yaws, Maternal & Neonatal Tetanus, WHO certifies
India on 7th September received certificates from World Health Organisation, recognizing the elimination of Yaws and Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus (MNT) from the country. Union Health Minister J P Nadda in a tweet informed that India received WHO's certificates for MNTE & Yaws-free India at 69th session of Regional Committee of WHO at, Colombo.
The health minister received the certificate from WHO Director General Margaret Chan and its South East Asian Region Director General Poonam Khetrapal Singh. In May this year, WHO had declared India yaws-free after a team of expert’s verified interruption of disease transmission in the country.
India is the first country under the 2012 WHO neglected tropical diseases (NTD) roadmap to eliminate yaws, a disease known to affect the most underserved population. India had eliminated maternal and neonatal tetanus. Until a few decades ago India reported 1, 50,000 to 2, 00,000 neonatal tetanus cases annually which was reduced to less than one case per 1 000 live births in all 675 districts. - Sikkim tops Swachh Bharat Survey, Bihar at the bottom
A survey conducted by the rural development ministry revealed encouraging results. Among the 75 districts and 70000 families surveyed, Sikkim leads the table followed by Himachal Pradesh, Bihar is last on the list
PM Modi launched the Swachh Bharat Mission on 2 October 2014 with the aim of a cleaner and completely open defecation free country by 2 October 2019 is yielding encouraging Results across the country. A survey conducted by the rural development ministry with the support of the India Quality council between May and June 2016 have revealed encouraging results.
Among the 75 districts and 70000 families that were surveyed, Sikkim leads the table followed by Himachal Pradesh then comes Kerala followed by Haryana in the fourth position. Bihar is last on the list.
As far as districts go, Sindhudurg in Maharashtra tops the list along with a few other districts in the North-east, while Mandi district leads in the special category states.
The survey clearly reveals that efforts put in particularly towards the mission of Swachh bharat have made a huge difference.
While states like Sikkim, Mizoram and Kerala can pat themselves on the back as leaders in the race, states like Odisha and Bihar need to take stock and move forward faster if the goal for a better cleaner India is to be achieved. - Delhi High Court sets aside appointment of 21 MLAs as parliamentary secretaries
In a major jolt to Aam Admi party, Delhi High Court on 8th September set aside Delhi government order appointing 21 AAP MLAs as parliamentary secretaries.
The High Court was hearing a petition, brought by Rashtriya Mukti Morcha, which alleges that the legislators enjoy the status and perks of ministers, including office space and official cars, which amounts to misuse of taxpayers' money. It alleges that these appointments are "unconstitutional, illegal and without jurisdiction" and should be cancelled. - Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan launches Gas4India campaign
Union Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan launched Gas4India campaign, aimed at promoting the use of gas in the country. Public and private sector companies working in the sector have joined hands to promote the natural gas sector
Gas4India is a unified cross-country, multimedia, multi-event campaign to communicate the national, social, economic and ecological benefits of using natural gas as the fuel of choice to every citizen who uses, or will use in the near future, gas in any way- cook, travel, light their homes, and power their business.
The campaign includes social engagement via Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, LinkedIn, and its official blogsite, as well as hyper local, offline events to directly connect with consumers through discussions, workshops and cultural events. Dharmendra Pradhan launched the website, Twitter handle, Facebook page and Theme song of the campaign. - In Telangana two more lifts commissioned in Kalwakurthy
Telangana Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao on 8th September commissioned two more lifts of the three-stage Mahatma Gandhi Kalwakurthy lift irrigation scheme to round off the 11-year-old project to irrigate 3.6 lakh acres in Mahabubnagar district.
He inaugurated lifts 2 and 3 at Jonnalaboguda. The lift-1 at Elluru became operational in 2012 to irrigate 13,000 acres. Water from this lift was carried to lift-2 at Jonnalaboguda by gravity and thereafter to lift-3. The trial run of lift-2 was completed on August 29.
The project envisaged carrying Srisailam backwater by approach canal to lift-1 surge pool within a pump house and lifting water to a height of 95 mts by five motors of 30 MW capacity. The water is then pumped to Elluru reservoir and then to Srivarisamudram which is the takeoff point for lift-1 by an underground tunnel.
The filter bed works on the banks of Elluru for supply of drinking water as part of Mission Bhagiratha in Kollapur Assembly segment were in progress. Works at Ellluru were launched by former Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy in September 2012 at an estimated cost of Rs. 495.2 crore.
The works on lift-2 at Jonnalaboguda costing Rs. 649 crore were launched by former Irrigation Minister Ponnala Laxmaiah in December 2012.
The branch canal from Jonnalaboguda to Gudipalli runs for 120 km. Of the 3.6 lakh acres targeted under the project, lift-3 alone was designed to irrigate 2.7 lakh acres. But only one lakh acres would get water at present as some more works are still pending. - e-nivaran' launched for taxpayer's grievances
CBDT has launched the ambitious 'e-nivaran' facility for online redressal of taxpayers' grievances related to refunds, ITRs and PAN among others as part of its initiative to reduce instances of harassment of the public when it comes to complaints related to the I-T department
An exclusive 'e-nivaran' (electronic resolution) link has recently been activated on the e-filing portal of the department 'http://income tax india efiling.gov.in' where taxpayers can register their complaints through their personal computer systems and receive a special PIN number on their registered mobile and email, as their unique number to keep track of the issue. - BRICS convention on Tourism begins in Khajuraho
The two-day long BRICS Convention on Tourism was inaugurated on 1st September in Khajuraho Madhya Pradesh. The BRICS nations were represented by the Minister of Tourism, South Africa Mr. D.A. Hanekom and delegations from Russia and China.
The inaugural function was also graced by Tourism Minister and Chairman-Tourism, Government of Madhya Pradesh Shri Surendra Patwa.
Secretary (Tourism), Government of India Shri Vinod Zutshi welcomed all the delegates, senior dignitaries, officials and members of the travel trade. He stressed about the importance of the tourism sector as a major catalyst for economic growth and a source of job creation, thus contributing to the economy. He welcomed the cooperation extended by all the BRIGS nations for mutual growth of tourism between the member countries.
The Minister of Tourism, South Africa expressed his great pleasure for holding the BRICS Convention on Tourism in the historic temple town of Khajuraho and highlighted that India with a long tradition, history, ancient civilization and culture with a large number of World Heritage Sites like Khajuraho is destination to be visited again and again. He also proposed constituting a permanent BRICS Working Stream on Tourism comprising of the stakeholders of the Government and private sector.
Heads of the delegation of China and Russia also emphasized greater cooperation among the member countries for the mutual benefit for the growth of tourism and looked at the convention as a platform to interact with the travel industry partners.
Tourism Minister of Madhya Pradesh expressed his gratitude for holding the event in Madhya Pradesh, which is truly the heart of incredible India. The inaugural session ended with mesmerizing and vibrant cultural dance performance. - Supreme Court asks Sahara Group to give details of financial sources
The Supreme Court has asked the Sahara Group to come clean by disclosing its sources from where it had raised 25,000 crore rupees and paid its investors in cash.
A bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur on 2nd September said that entire explanation of the episode was difficult to believe. It insisted repeatedly that the source of the cash should be revealed.
The bench also said the onus was on the business house to reveal the source of the money, whether it is accounted money or unaccounted money. The bench comprising Justices A R Dave and A K Sikri, will hear the matter on the issue again on 16th September. - TMC gets national party status
The Election Commission, EC, has granted national party status to All India Trinamool Congress (TMC). The party led by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has fulfilled the conditions required to become a national party after getting status of state party in four states.
As per the provisions, to become a national party, a political outfit needs to win at least two per cent of the total seats in the Lok Sabha from at least three different states or get at least six percent votes in four states in addition to four Lok Sabha seats, or recognised as a state party in four states.
The TMC is ruling the West Bengal and have presence in Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura. Presently, BJP, Congress, BSP, NCP, CPI and CPM are recognized as national parties in the country. - Centre approves use of chilli-based PAVA shells as alternative to pellet guns
The Centre has approved the use of chilli-filled grenades as an alternative to pellet guns for crowd controlling ahead of the visit of an all-party delegation to Jammu and Kashmir.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh cleared the file for use of Pelargonic Acid Vanillyl Amide (PAVA) shells also called Nonivamide as an alternative to the pellet guns. PAVA shells, a chilli-based ammunition, is less lethal and immobilises the target temporarily. Pellet guns are, however, unlikely to be banned completely but will be used in rarest of rare cases.
Home Ministry had set up a seven-member Expert Committee for exploring the other possible alternatives to Pellet Guns as Non-lethal Weapons. The Committee submitted its report to the Ministry recommending use of PAVA shells as an alternative.
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