#Rajasthan Municipal Election 2019 news

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राजस्थान में निकाय चुनाव: पांचवें फेज में कांग्रेस ने लहराया परचम, लेकिन सत्ता की चाबी निर्दलियों के पास, भाजपा तीसरे नंबर पर Hindi News Local Rajasthan Bharatpur Jaipur Jodhpur (Rajasthan) Nigam Election Result 2020 Update | Rajasthan Local Body Nagar Nikay Chunav Parinam Latest News Today; Alwar, Baran Kota Bharatpur…

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Rajasthan’s big battle - Ashok Gehlot versus Sachin Pilot - india news

The friction between Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot, the two most powerful leaders of Congress in Rajasthan, doesn’t seem to end.After steering the party to Assembly victory from a phase when it was down to 21 seats in the 200-member house, Pilot was considered to be the natural claimant for the post of chief minister after December 2018 elections but that didn’t happen. There are many stories about how Gehlot managed to tilt the confidence of the Gandhi family in his favour, none of which could be verified.But from the time Pilot took oath as Gehlot’s deputy to a year later, he has never considered himself as any less important in state’s politics and has caused consternation by his public utterances that put the government in the dock. When Gehlot’s cabinet took oath at Raj Bhavan, in a break from tradition, a chair was kept for Pilot, too, on the dais. Normally, only the Governor and the Chief Minister occupy this space.Both Gehlot and Pilot have made comments against each other without taking each other’s names on several occasions. After the Lok Sabha election in 2019, the CM said Pilot should take responsibility for the rout – the party lost all 25 seats – and more for the loss of his son, Vaibhav Gehlot, in Jodhpur.Pilot didn’t take this lying down. He said if the CM campaigned across the state instead of spending too much time in Jodhpur alone, the results could have been different.On all other occasions, when Gehlot says something to stress that the people of the state and all the party MLAs wanted to see him as the CM, as if to rub it in, Pilot retorts in equal measure.The interesting things is both have said on public forums that there’s no problem between the two of them almost the same number of times that they have targeted each other in veiled manner. Who can forget the photo-op at a Rahul Gandhi rally in Jaipur’s Ramlila Maidan in the campaign for the LS polls when the then party president made the two leaders hug each other?Recently, after more than 100 infants died at a government hospital in Kota, Pilot lost no time in pulling his own government down, saying that the government should have been more humane in handling the crisis, obviously referring the CM’s statement in which he said deaths do happen. Pilot, who visited the hospital a day after health minister Raghu Sharma had been to Kota, got primetime air-time on national TV with his impromptu presser.In an interview to HT following this event, Pilot repeated that he felt that the government could have handled the situation in a more compassionate manner, and said he felt he should share people’s pain when asked why he was the only Congress to visit the families that lost their infants.A few days, Gehlot said there was no tradition of condolence meeting in houses where kids die. “If there isn’t such a tradition, then let’s make it,” Pilot said.That the two leaders don’t get along is widely known in political circles. Even officers in the secretariat say the two don’t get into each other’s path but can’t resist retorting to each other. “The files of panchayat raj and rural development department, which is with Pilot, don’t go to the CMO and the CM has never held review of these departments even though he has reviewed almost all other departments,” said an officer of the principal secretary rank requesting anonymity.Pilot’s lavish government bungalow is also talk of town. The 11, Civil Lines, address looks fortified with tall walls, much like the former CM Vasundhara Raje’s bungalow. People also talk about the money spent on refurbishing this bungalow. Political experts feel the infighting is affecting the government. “Wherever there is uncertainty in an organisation, its working gets affected. The head of the party and the head of the government walking in two different paths often create confusion among the workers about whom to follow. This doesn’t bode well for any party,” says political analyst Narayan Bareth.“People, who voted for the Congress, expect good governance and not infighting between its top leaders. If this doesn’t end soon, the party will pay a price,” Bareth added.The BJP revels in this friction. It says there’s an Opposition within the government. “Two power centers cannot work in interest of the state. The CM is often running to Delhi to save his chair, and that affects governance in the state,” said BJP spokesperson Mukesh Pareek.He said even though there’s no protocol for a deputy CM, Pilot always behaves like the CM. “A deputy CM is nothing more than a cabinet minister,” Pareek pointed out.Major showdownsBefore the municipal elections, the government brought a new rule that even unelected members could stand for the post of Mayor and head of municipalities. Pilot spoke against this on many occasions, saying this will lead to back-door entry into civic bodies. This forced the government to retrace its steps on that clause and remove itAfter the acquittal of accused in the Pehlu Khan case, Pilot said if the special investigation team (SIT) was formed earlier, the acquittal may not have happenedOn infant deaths in Kota, Pilot put his government in a spot when he called for fixing accountability for the deaths, targeting the health minister, who is considered to be a Gehlot manAfter the Lok Sabha loss, Gehlot said Pilot should take responsibility for the defeat of his son Vaibhav from Jodhpur because he as party president had said with six MLAs in the constituency, the party will sail through. Pilot has put his government in the dock over allegations by tourism minister Vishvendra Singh that officers of the department didn’t send files to him for approval. “If a senior minister has pointed out something, the government should act on it with immediate effect,” he said. Singh met Pilot on January 16 Read the full article

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Rajasthan Municipal Election Results 2019 LIVE: Counting of Votes Underway for 49 Civic Urban Local Bodies The counting of votes began amid tight security. The Rajasthan local body elections were held to elect nearly 2,100 ward councillors on Saturday. via Top Politics News- News18.com

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Indian officials are humiliating people who defecate outdoors

CRAMMED into Meena Choudhary’s mud-brick house in Yeoor, on the outskirts of Mumbai, are a television, fridge and washing machine. Yet until recently her family of six relieved themselves in nearby fields. The morning ritual involved arming herself with a jug, stick and torch, negotiating squelching bogs and tall grass, glancing around for onlookers and thumping the ground a few times to scare off snakes. “It was stressful,” says Mrs Choudhary, who managed to persuade her husband to build a toilet at home two years ago.

Stories like Mrs Choudhary’s are music to the ears of Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister. He has pledged to eliminate “open defecation” by 2019. His government says it will spend almost $29bn to that end, providing a subsidy of 12,000 rupees ($187) for every toilet built. It claims the “Clean India Mission” has already led to the construction of 46m latrines, with another 64m to come.

But the scheme is beset by inefficiencies and graft. In December an investigation by the Indian Express revealed that in Dhamtari, a village in the state of Chhattisgarh declared to be “open defecation free”, a third of the households still had no toilet. “Millions of latrines reported built by the government are missing,” write Dean Spears and Diane Coffey in a new book on the subject.

Even when toilets have been built they are often not used. A survey in 2014 by the Research Institute for Compassionate Economics found that among the two-fifths of households with a working latrine, at least one family member preferred to defecate outside. Toilets, often the only concrete structure in the house, are sometimes used to store firewood, grass, chickens, cow-dung cakes and food grains. They can also double as goat-sheds or even shrines.

In neighbouring Bangladesh, the government worked with village councils to educate people about the importance of better sanitation rather than subsidising the construction of toilets, says Nitya Jacob of WaterAid India, an NGO. Having a toilet became a point of pride. Women sat on committees that decided on the location and type of latrines to be built.

In contrast, Indian officials have often tried to humiliate people into using toilets. In Sangola, a town in the state of Maharashtra (of which Mumbai is the capital), people defecating in the open found their photographs flashed on digital displays. A few others were escorted home in loud processions.

Some states have made it compulsory to have a toilet to be eligible to contest an election. Others have produced ads that mock people who do not use loos. One shows a child who throws a stone and laughs at people relieving themselves in public. Another takes a dig at people who own motorcycles and television sets, but don’t use toilets.

The shaming sometimes shades into coercion and violence. In June a man in the state of Rajasthan was beaten to death for stopping municipal employees photographing women defecating in the open. In Madhya Pradesh an old man with an upset stomach was forced to clean up after himself with his own clothing. In Chhattisgarh, a village head denied government benefits to those without toilets. The northern state of Haryana even toyed with the idea of deploying drones to spy on people defecating in the bushes.

Some villages are showing a better way. In February residents of 110 villages in three northern states agreed not to marry off their daughters to households without toilets. In “Toilet: A Love Story”, a Bollywood film released on August 11th, the heroine threatens to walk out of her marriage if the groom does not install a latrine. Mrs Choudhary’s younger daughter is in a similar position after moving in with her in-laws. “It’s a matter of time,” she says, smiling confidently. “I am on it.”

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline "Missing the mark"

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Coronavirus LIVE Updates: India's COVID-19 cases exceed 34.63 lakh after 76,472 more test positive; toll over 62,000

09:48 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in India LATEST Updates 

India's COVID-19 cases over 34 lakh

The COVID-19 count in India crossed 34 lakh on Saturday after 76,472 more cases were reported in the past 24 hours, said the health ministry. With 1,021 more patients succumbing to the contagious disease, the toll reached 62,550. 

The overall figure includes, 7,52,424 active cases, 26,48,999 recoveries and 62,550 deaths. 

09:25 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in Rajasthan LATEST Updates 

Over 77,000 COVID-19 infections in Rajasthan

Rajasthan reported 12 more fatalities due to COVID-19 bringing the toll to 1,017, said the state health department. After 1,355 new infections reported, the overall count climbed to 77,370.

A total of 62,033 COVID-19 patients have recovered and the number of active cases in the state is 14,320. 

09:07 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in India LATEST Updates 

Chidambaram pulls up Centre over economic mismanagement before COVID-19

Taking a swipe at the central government over mismanagement of the economy, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday said: "If the pandemic is an 'Act of God', how do we describe the mismanagement of the economy during 2017-18 2018-19 and 2019-20 before the pandemic struck India? Will the FM as the Messenger of God please answer?"

08:38 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in India LATEST Updates 

All Lok Sabha MPs to get tested for COVID-19 48 hours before start of the session: Speaker 

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has requested all MPs willing to participate in the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament to undergo RT-PCR test.

At a preparatory meeting, chaired by Birla on Friday, it was decided that the RT-PCR test that usually takes 24-48 hours to come up with the results will be conducted.

08:28 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in Delhi LATEST Updates 

Delhi govt to launch aggressive contact tracing of COVID-19 patients

The Delhi government will scale up COVID-19 testing through its network of 300 dispensaries and hospitals, and start aggressive contact tracing of coronavirus patients in the city, said Satyendar Jain on Friday.

The health minister said the AAP government is committed to doubling the COVID-19 test from the present 20,000 per day to 40,000 per day within a week in the National Capital.

08:05 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in Maharashtra LATEST Updates 

Maharashtra reports 14,361 new COVID-19 cases, 331 deaths 

A total of 14,361 new COVID-19 infections were reported in Maharashtra on Friday, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 7,47,995, said the state health department. The figure includes 1,80,718 active cases, 23,775 deaths and 5,43,170 recoveries.

The COVID-19 toll in the state climbed to 23,775 after 331 more people succumbed to the highly contagious disease. 

Coronavirus LATEST Updates: With 1,021 more COVID-19 patients succumbing to the contagious disease, the toll in India reached 62,550 on Saturday.

Speaking about the GST Compensation gap, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday took a swipe at the Centre over mismanagement of economy before COVID-19 pandemic.

"If the pandemic is an 'Act of God', how do we describe the mismanagement of the economy during 2017-18 2018-19 and 2019-20 before the pandemic struck India? Will the FM as the Messenger of God please answer?, asked Chidambaram.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has requested all MPs willing to participate in the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament to undergo RT-PCR test.

At a preparatory meeting, chaired by Birla on Friday, it was decided that the RT-PCR test that usually takes 24-48 hours to come up with the results will be conducted.

A record single-day rise of 77,266 coronavirus cases pushed India's total to over 33 lakh cases, the Union health ministry said on Friday. This spike in new cases is the highest in the world, crossing the number of new infections reported in the United States in the last 24 hours, reports said.

However, in terms of the total caseload, India is still at the third-highest rank, after the US and Brazil. The US has a total of over 58 lakh cases, while Brazil has a tally of over 37 lakh cases.

These figures were reported on a day the debate over whether or not to hold NEET, JEE exams continued and a sitting Member of the Parliament, Congress leader H Vasanthakumar, died of COVID-19.

Meanwhile, a current India cricketer is among multiple members of the Chennai Super Kings contingent who have tested positive for COVID-19, forcing the IPL franchise to extend its quarantine period in Dubai and causing  upheaval ahead of the event starting on 19 September.

The franchise is yet to issue a formal statement but a league source told PTI that the number of positive cases could be between 10 and 12.

Amid the rising cases, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla announced that every MP attending the Monsoon Session fo the Parliament will be asked to undergo to COVID-19 testing 72 hours before the session in September.

Meanwhile, recoveries in India surged to 25,83,948 on Friday, and the toll climbed to 61,529 with 1,057 new deaths in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The recovery rate stood at 76.28 percent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate further declined to 1.82 percent, the ministry added.

There are 7,42,023 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country, which comprises 21.90 percent of the total caseload, the data showed.

According to the ICMR, a cumulative total of 3,94,77,848 samples have been tested up to 27 August, with 9,01,338 samples being tested on Thursday.

Tamil Nadu Congress MP H Vasanthakumar dies of COVID-19

Congress MP from Tamil Nadu's Kanyakumari, H Vasanthakumar, died of COVID-19 at a hospital on Friday.

The 70-year old first time MP, and working president of Tamil Nadu Congress Committee, who was admitted to the Apollo Hospitals on 10 August after he tested positive for coronavirus. Vasanthakumar is survived by wife, two sons and a daughter, PTI reported.

Apollo Hospitals in a statement later said the MP was treated in a critical care unit for severe COVID-19 pneumonia.

"Despite all active medical measures, his condition deteriorated gradually due to COVID-19 complications and he passed away today," the hospital said.

Vasanthakumar, a two-time MLA (2006-11 and 2016-19) was elected to the Lok Sabha last year.

Meanwhile, former Karnataka minister and JD(S) leader HD Revanna also tested positive for coronavirus on Friday and was admitted to a hospital, PTI reported.

State health minister B Sriramulu said he was praying for Revanna's recovery and added, "HD Revanna has tested positive for coronavirus. I pray that he recovers and gets back to serve people."

Amarinder Singh goes into self-quarantine after  MLAs test COVID-19 positive

Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh quarantined himself after two Congress MLAs who met him during the one-day Assembly session on Friday tested positive for COVID-19.

The MLAs, Nirmal Singh and Kulbir Singh Zira, got tested for the disease after the one-day monsoon session.

"Punjab chief minister @capt_amarinder has decided to go into 7-day self quarantine, as per government protocol and the advise of his doctors, after two MLAs who met him in the Vidhan Sabha tested positive for #COVID19," tweeted Raveen Thukral, the media advisor to the chief minister.

Meanwhile the Chandigarh administration suspended the order of closing weekend markets, The Indian Express reported, quoting the order as saying that "congested markets will continue to open on odd-even formula till 3 September."

MPs to get tested for COVID-19 before Monsoon Session of Parliament

With the Monsoon Session of the Parliament set to begin in September, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said that MPs will be asked to get themselves tested for COVID-19 at least 72 hours before the start of the session.

Besides MPs, Parliament staff and media personnel, among other entrants to the building, will also be required to get tested for the novel coronavirus.

Birla said arrangements have also been made for zero-touch security checks during the session and if required, random tests for COVID-19 can be conducted during the session.

Visitors will not be allowed during the session, which will be held as per the guidelines, including those on social distancing, issued by the health ministry in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Monsoon Session is likely to start from 14 September and conclude on 1 October.

To finalise the arrangements for the upcoming Monsoon Session of the Parliament, Birla on Friday chaired a meeting of officials from the health ministry, ICMR, AIIMS, DRDO, Delhi government, and Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha secretariats.

Second round of serological survey launched in Bhubaneswar

The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Friday launched the second round of serological survey to assess prevalence of COVID-19 among people in the city, as the Odisha capital is witnessing a rise in coronavirus cases this month.

Five teams will collect 1,500 samples from various locations in the city, PTI reported.

"The current exercise will provide an indication of the community exposure level which was found to be very low during the first round of the serological survey," the report quoted an official as saying.

The Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC) is providing technical support to the BMC to carry out the two-day survey in the city.

A serological survey is conducted to assess the prevalence of a disease in a society or population to see if people have developed antibodies against a virus. It shows how many or what percentage of population had contracted a particular disease and have acquired immunity against it.

State-wise deaths

Of the 1,057 fresh deaths, 355 are from Maharashtra, 141 from Karnataka, 109 from Tamil Nadu, 92 from Andhra Pradesh, 68 from Uttar Pradesh, 53 from West Bengal, 37 from Punjab, 24 from Madhya Pradesh, 22 from Delhi, 17 from Gujarat, 14 each from Jammu and Kashmir and Chhattisgarh, 13 from Rajasthan, 12 from Haryana, 11 each from Telangana and Jharkhand.

Ten casualties have been reported from Kerala and Puducherry, nine from Uttarakhand, eight from Bihar, seven from Odisha, six from Goa, four each from Assam and Tripura, two each from Chandigarh and Ladakh, while Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Himachal Pradesh have registered one fatality each.

Of the total 61,529 deaths, Maharashtra has reported the maximum at 23,444 followed by 6,948 in Tamil Nadu, 5,232 in Karnataka, 4,369 in Delhi, 3,633 in Andhra Pradesh, 3,217 in Uttar Pradesh, 3,017 in West Bengal, 2,962 in Gujarat, and 1,306 in Madhya Pradesh.

So far, 1,256 people have died of COVID-19 in Punjab, 1,005 in Rajasthan, 799 in Telangana, 671 in Jammu and Kashmir, 646 in Haryana, 538 in Bihar, 448 in Odisha, 373 in Jharkhand, 278 in Assam, 267 in Kerala, 245 in Chhattisgarh and 228 in Uttarakhand.

Puducherry has registered 190 fatalities, Goa 171, Tripura 89, Chandigarh 43, Andaman and Nicobar Islands 42, Himachal Pradesh 33, Ladakh 27, Manipur 25, Nagaland nine, Meghalaya eight, Arunachal Pradesh five, Sikkim three and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu two.

The health ministry stressed that more than 70 percent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

With inputs from agencies

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Daily Current Affairs 19th March 2020

PANDEMIC COULD MAKE ANOTHER 25 MILLION JOBLESS

International Labour Organization:

It is the only tripartite U.N. agency.It brings together governments, employers and workers of 187 member States, to set labour standards, develop policies and devise programmes promoting decent work for all women and men.

Established in 1919 by the Treaty of Versaillesas an affiliated agency of the League of Nations.

Became the first affiliated specialized agency of the United Nations in 1946.

Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland

Founding Mission: social justice is essential to universal and lasting peace.

Promotes internationally recognized human and labour rights.

Received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1969.

  1. For improving peace among classes

  2.Pursuing decent work and justice for workers

  3.Providing technical assistance to other developing nations.

The organization has played a key role in.

  1.Ensuring labour rights during the Great Depression

  2.Decolonization process

  3.The creation of Solidarność ( trade union) in Poland

  4.The victory over apartheid in South Africa

Today it is providing substantial support in the building of an ethical and productive framework for fair globalization.

Mission and impact of the ILO:

The International Labour Organization (ILO) is devoted to promoting social justice and internationally recognized human and labour rights, pursuing its founding mission that social justice is essential to universal and lasting peace.

Only tripartite U.N. agency, the ILO brings together governments, employers and workers representatives of 187 member States , to set labour standards, develop policies and devise programmes promoting decent work for all women and men.

The ILO’s Decent Work agenda helps advance the economic and working conditions that give all workers, employers and governments a stake in lasting peace, prosperity and progress.

Objectives:

Set and promote standards and fundamental principles and rights at work.

Create greater opportunities for women and men to decent employment and income.

Enhance the coverage and effectiveness of social protection for all.

Strengthen tripartism and social dialogue.

The ILO and the 2030 development agenda:

The 2030 Agenda embraces three dimensions of sustainability – economic, social and environmental.

It has 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that put people and planet at its centre, giving the international community a framework for tackling the many challenges confronting humanity, including those in the world of work.

The importance of decent work in achieving sustainable development is highlighted by Goal 8 which aims to “promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all”.

India & ILO:Ministry: Ministry of Labour and Employment

India is a founder member of the International Labour Organization, which came into existence in 1919.

A unique feature of the ILO is its tripartite character.

The membership of the ILO ensures the growth of tripartite system in the Member countries.

At every level in the Organization, Governments are associated with the two other social partners, namely the workers and employers.

All the three groups are represented on almost all the deliberative organs of the ILO and share responsibility in conducting its work.

The three organs of the ILO are:

International Labour Conferences: – General Assembly of the ILO – Meets every year in the month of June.

Governing Body: – Executive Council of the ILO. Meets three times in a year in the months of March, June and November.

International Labour Office: – A permanent secretariat.

Core Conventions of the ILO:

The eight Core Conventions of the ILO (also called fundamental/human rights conventions) are:

Forced Labour Convention (No. 29)

Abolition of Forced Labour Convention (No.105)

Equal Remuneration Convention (No.100)

Discrimination (Employment Occupation) Convention (No.111)

Minimum Age Convention (No.138)

Worst forms of Child Labour Convention (No.182)

(The above Six have been ratified by India)

Freedom of Association and Protection of Right to Organised Convention (No.87)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention (No.98)

(These two have not been ratified by India)

Why in News?

The International Labour Organization warned that the economic and labour crisis sparked by the coronavirus will have “far-reaching impacts on labour market outcomes”.

“This is no longer a global health crisis, it is also a major labour market and economic crisis that is having a huge impact on people”.

At the high end meanwhile, 24.7 million more will become jobless, on top of the 188 million registered as unemployed in 2019.

NEW BILL HALVES TERMS OF PRESIDENTS ,VPs OF LOCAL BODIES

Panchayati Raj in India:

In India, the Panchayati Rajgenerally refers to the local self-government of villages in rural India as opposed to urban and suburban municipalities, this system was introduced by a constitutional amendment in 1992.

In India, the Panchayati Raj now functions as a system of governance in which gram panchayats are the basic units of local administration.

The system has three levels:

Gram Panchayat (village level),

Mandal Parishad or Block Samitior Panchayat Samiti (block level), and

Zila Parishad(district level).

It was formalized in 1992 by the 73rd amendment to the Indian Constitution.

Currently, the Panchayati Raj system exists in all states except Nagaland, Meghalaya, and Mizoram, and in all Union Territories except Delhi.

History:

Mahatma Gandhi advocated Panchayati Raj as the foundation of India’s political system, as a decentralized form of government in which each village would be responsible for its own affairs.

The Panchayat Raj system was first adopted by the state of Rajasthan in Nagaur district on 2 Oct 1959.

The second state was Andhra Pradesh, while Maharashtra was the ninth state.

In the history of Panchayati Raj, in India, on 24 April 1993, the Constitutional (73rd amendment) Act 1992 came into force to provide constitutional status to the Panchayati Raj institutions.

This amendment was extended to Panchayats in the tribal areas of eight states, namely: Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Rajasthan beginning on 24 December 1996.

Gram panchayatis a village level administrative body, with a Sarpanch as its elected head. The members of the gram panchayat are elected for a period of five years by the members of Gram Sabha.

The National Panchayati Raj Daywas observed on April 24.

The Ministry of Panchayati Raj has been celebrating the National Panchayati Raj Day (NPRD) on 24 April since 2010, as on this day, the 73rd Constitutional Amendment came into force in 1993.

E-Panchayat:

E-panchayat is one of the Mission Mode Projects (MMPs) under National e-Governance Programme (NeGP).

It aimed at making Panchayats more efficient, transparent and symbols of modernity.

Panchayats Extension to the Scheduled Areas (PESA):

The Parliament passed Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 to extend the provisions of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment to the Schedule V Areas of the country.

The Fifth Schedule covers Tribal areas (scheduled areas) in 9 states of India namely Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Orissa and Rajasthan.

Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Yojana:

The Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Yojanais a Centrally Sponsored Scheme being implemented with the objective of assisting efforts of the State Governments for training and capacity building of elected representatives of PRIs.

The scheme focuses primarily on providing financial assistance to the States/UTs for Training & Capacity Building of elected representatives (ERs) and PRIs.

Why in News?

In an attempt to bring about major changes in the functioning of the rural local bodies in Karnataka, the government tabled a new Bill to reduce the term of the offices of presidents and vice-presidents of gram panchayats, taluk panchayats, and zilla panchayats from five years to 30 months.

The Karnataka Gram Swaraj and Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2020, tabled in the Assembly by Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister K.S. Eshwarappa said no-confidence motion could not be moved against the presidents and vice-presidents of all three-tiers of local bodies before 15 months from the date of election.

The Bill has rationalised property tax collection that GPs can do with respect to industries and vacant lands.

It has proposed no tax on vacant land in airport or industrial area or industrial areas where plantations are grown.

It proposes to levy 0.10% tax on the capital value of the property on runway area of an airport.

NOD FOR 83 LCA TEJAS MK-1A

About the Aircraft:

The Light Combat Aircraft LCA-Tejas was designed by the Aircraft Development Agency (ADA).

The ADA operates under DRDO (Defence Research Development Organization).

It was manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

These aircrafts are expected to be the backbone of Indian Air Force.

It is to be noted that India lost the 1962 war with China due to lack of sufficient fighter jets.

HAL Tejas is an Indian single-engine, delta wing, multirole light fighter .

It came from the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme, which began in the 1980s to replace India’s ageing MiG-21

In 2003, the LCA was officially named “Tejas“.

The Tejas is designed to carry a veritable plethora of air-to-air, air-to- surface, precision guided and standoff weaponry.

Why in News?

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh accorded approval for the procurement of 83 indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mk-1A from the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) by “finalising the contractual and other issues”.

The proposal will now be placed for consideration of the Cabinet Committee on Security [CCS].

The 83 jets are in addition to the 40 LCA already ordered by the IAF in two batches of 20 each in the Initial Operational Clearance and the Final Operational Clearance (FOC) configurations.

THE IMPORTANCE OF ‘CONTACT TRACING’

What is contact tracing?

Contract tracing is the process of identifying, assessing, and managing people who have been exposed to a disease to prevent transmission.

As per ICMR guidelines, which are also directions that have sound public health sense behind them, people who may have been exposed to the virus are to be followed for 28 days from the date of the probable last exposure/arrival from affected countries.

Any person who has had contact with the index patient under investigation/treatment for suspected, probable or confirmed case of SARS-COV-2, should be monitored for the appearance of symptoms.

Who is a contact?

Anyone who provided care for the suspect or confirmed case, including a health care worker (including those involved in cleaning, waste management, laboratory technicians, doctors) or family member, or anyone who had close physical contact; anyone who stayed at the same place (lived with, or visited) while the index patient was symptomatic.

If symptoms appear within the first 28 days following the contact, the individual should be considered a ‘probable’ case and reported through the Integrated Diseases Surveillance Programme network to the National Centre for Disease Control.

Tracing contacts:

As soon as the single event (confirmed SARS-CoV-2) is detected, contact tracing must be aggressively implemented, and preferably to be completed within 48 hours.

The contact tracing shall preferably be done by visiting the local residence of the contact(s) by a member of the health services team. In certain circumstances or for follow-up, phone calls may be made too, as per the rules.

On meeting the ‘contact person’, the visiting health worker should explain the purpose of contact tracing and collect data in a prescribed format. It is important to identify the social networks of the first patient and travel history during the 28 days after the onset of illness.

The patient, his or her family members, colleagues, school or college mates are sources of information about the contacts, as are others with knowledge of the patient’s recent travel and activities.

Contacts should be traced and monitored for at least 28 days after the last exposure to the case patient for evidence of COVID-19 symptoms to emerge. Case-wise line listing of all exposed contacts will be maintained, with the following information: demographic information, date of last exposure or date of contact with the case patient, and date of onset of fever or other symptoms, if any.

Symptomatic contacts:

Persons who have fever and cough and a history of contact with a confirmed case within the last 28 days should be referwred for isolation for strict infection control.

Samples must be collected and sent to the designated laboratory for testing, and appropriate wmedical management must begin.

If contacts show symptoms, they may be isolated at a health care facility or at home until the results come in. Once confirmed as positive for SARS-CoV-2, they must be shifted to a proper health facility.

[bharatmeraki]

via India – Meraki – A Digital News Publisher

[dailymagazinblog]

The counting of votes has begun for 49 urban civic bodies in Rajasthan.The polling was held on Saturday to elect more than 2,000 ward councillors in 49 municipal bodies. The results will be announced later in the day. from IndiaTV India: Google News Feed https://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india/rajasthan-local-body-election-results-2019-news-live-counting-of-votes-updates-564853

[marwahstudios]

Sarvashreshtha Mantri Awards at Vigyan Bhawan by Fame India

New Delhi: Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey and Chief Scout For India Dr. Sandeep Marwah conferred the ‘Sarvashreshtha Mantri 2019’ to 21 ministers chosen from across 29 states here in a ceremony organized at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. The third edition of the award ceremony was organized on November 9 to felicitate the best ministers chosen in various categories through a survey conducted by Fame India Magazine and Asia Post.

“The awards aim to recognize and honour the outstanding performing ministers from various states. Twenty-one categories have been finalized so far. The list includes ministers from all governments across party and political lines,” said Dr. Sandeep Marwah also Chancellor of AAFT University.

“In our eight-year journey of positive journalism, Fame India has experienced that even a few encouraging words expressed to our worthy people of society working towards positive change, adds a pair of new wings to their performance,” said US Sonthalia, Editorial Director, Fame India.

At the ‘Sarvashreshtha Mantri 2019’ awards ceremony Kirit Premjibhai Solanki, Member of Parliament (LS), Rana Yashwant, Founder-Editor, The Front were also present at the stage. Here is the list of ministers awarded at the ceremony:

Sudhir Mungantiwar, Fmr. Cabinet Minister of Finance & Planning and Forests, Govt of Maharashtra, Nand Kishore Yadav, Minister Road Construction Department, Govt of Bihar, Madan Kaushik, Minister urban development, housing, census, election and reorganisation departments, Govt of Uttarakhand, CP Singh, Minister Urban Development, Parliamentary Affairs and Housing Development, Govt of Jharkhand, Jitu Patwari, Minister of Higher Education, Sports and Youth Affairs, Govt of Madya Pradesh, Tamradhwaj Sahu, Minister of Home, PWD, Tourism and Jail, Govt of Chhattisgarh, Bedu Singh Pant, Minister for Tourism & Civil Aviation and Commerce & Industries, Govt of Sikkim, Pratap Jena, Minister for Panchayati Raj & Drinking Water, Law, Housing & Urban Development, Govt of Odisha, Mahendra Singh, Minister of Ministry of Jal Shakti, Uttar Pradesh, Vipul Goel, Minister for Industries and environment, Haryana and Chowna Mein, Deputy Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh,

The other ministers awarded were Pradeep Singh Jadeja, Home Minister, Govt of Gujarat, Himanta Biswa Sarma, Minister for Finance, Health & Family Welfare, PWD, Transformation & Development, Govt of Assam, Firhad Hakim, Minister in Charge – Urban Development & Municipal Affairs Govt of West Bengal, Manish Sisodia, Deputy Chief Minister, Govt of NCT Delhi, Dr Thomas Issac, Minister of Finance, Govt of Kerala, Manpreet Badal, Minister for Finance & Planning, Govt of Punjab, Vishwajeet Rane, Minister for Health, Industries, Trade & Commerce, Women & Child Development, Skill Development, Govt of Goa Raghu Sharma, Minister of Medical and Health, Medical Education, Ayurveda and DIPR, Govt of Rajasthan, Dr C Vijaybhaskar, Minister of Health, Govt of Tamilnadu and Keshav Prasad Maurya, Deputy Chief Minister, Govt of Uttar Pradesh.

[magnificentlandanchor]

The Rajasthan cabinet approved two amendments bills - Rajasthan Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2019, and the Rajasthan Municipalities (Amendment) Bill, 2019 - to end the minimum educational qualification condition for contesting the local body elections in the state. from Education News: Latest Job Notifications, Admit Cards, Exam Paper Analysis,Results - Times of India http://bit.ly/2TXds87

[brajeshupadhyay]

09:48 (IST) Coronavirus Outbreak in India LATEST Updates  India's COVID-19 cases over 34 lakh The COVID-19 count in India crossed 34 lakh on Saturday after 76,472 more cases were reported in the past 24 hours, said the health ministry. With 1,021 more patients succumbing to the contagious disease, the toll reached 62,550.  The overall figure includes, 7,52,424 active cases, 26,48,999 recoveries and 62,550 deaths.  09:25 (IST) Coronavirus Outbreak in Rajasthan LATEST Updates  Over 77,000 COVID-19 infections in Rajasthan Rajasthan reported 12 more fatalities due to COVID-19 bringing the toll to 1,017, said the state health department. After 1,355 new infections reported, the overall count climbed to 77,370. A total of 62,033 COVID-19 patients have recovered and the number of active cases in the state is 14,320.  09:07 (IST) Coronavirus Outbreak in India LATEST Updates  Chidambaram pulls up Centre over economic mismanagement before COVID-19 Taking a swipe at the central government over mismanagement of the economy, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday said: "If the pandemic is an 'Act of God', how do we describe the mismanagement of the economy during 2017-18 2018-19 and 2019-20 before the pandemic struck India? Will the FM as the Messenger of God please answer?" 08:38 (IST) Coronavirus Outbreak in India LATEST Updates  All Lok Sabha MPs to get tested for COVID-19 48 hours before start of the session: Speaker  Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has requested all MPs willing to participate in the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament to undergo RT-PCR test. At a preparatory meeting, chaired by Birla on Friday, it was decided that the RT-PCR test that usually takes 24-48 hours to come up with the results will be conducted. 08:28 (IST) Coronavirus Outbreak in Delhi LATEST Updates  Delhi govt to launch aggressive contact tracing of COVID-19 patients The Delhi government will scale up COVID-19 testing through its network of 300 dispensaries and hospitals, and start aggressive contact tracing of coronavirus patients in the city, said Satyendar Jain on Friday. The health minister said the AAP government is committed to doubling the COVID-19 test from the present 20,000 per day to 40,000 per day within a week in the National Capital. 08:05 (IST) Coronavirus Outbreak in Maharashtra LATEST Updates  Maharashtra reports 14,361 new COVID-19 cases, 331 deaths  A total of 14,361 new COVID-19 infections were reported in Maharashtra on Friday, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 7,47,995, said the state health department. The figure includes 1,80,718 active cases, 23,775 deaths and 5,43,170 recoveries. The COVID-19 toll in the state climbed to 23,775 after 331 more people succumbed to the highly contagious disease.  Coronavirus LATEST Updates: With 1,021 more COVID-19 patients succumbing to the contagious disease, the toll in India reached 62,550 on Saturday. Speaking about the GST Compensation gap, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday took a swipe at the Centre over mismanagement of economy before COVID-19 pandemic. "If the pandemic is an 'Act of God', how do we describe the mismanagement of the economy during 2017-18 2018-19 and 2019-20 before the pandemic struck India? Will the FM as the Messenger of God please answer?, asked Chidambaram. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has requested all MPs willing to participate in the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament to undergo RT-PCR test. At a preparatory meeting, chaired by Birla on Friday, it was decided that the RT-PCR test that usually takes 24-48 hours to come up with the results will be conducted. A record single-day rise of 77,266 coronavirus cases pushed India's total to over 33 lakh cases, the Union health ministry said on Friday. This spike in new cases is the highest in the world, crossing the number of new infections reported in the United States in the last 24 hours, reports said. However, in terms of the total caseload, India is still at the third-highest rank, after the US and Brazil. The US has a total of over 58 lakh cases, while Brazil has a tally of over 37 lakh cases. These figures were reported on a day the debate over whether or not to hold NEET, JEE exams continued and a sitting Member of the Parliament, Congress leader H Vasanthakumar, died of COVID-19. Meanwhile, a current India cricketer is among multiple members of the Chennai Super Kings contingent who have tested positive for COVID-19, forcing the IPL franchise to extend its quarantine period in Dubai and causing  upheaval ahead of the event starting on 19 September. The franchise is yet to issue a formal statement but a league source told PTI that the number of positive cases could be between 10 and 12. Amid the rising cases, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla announced that every MP attending the Monsoon Session fo the Parliament will be asked to undergo to COVID-19 testing 72 hours before the session in September. Meanwhile, recoveries in India surged to 25,83,948 on Friday, and the toll climbed to 61,529 with 1,057 new deaths in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed. The recovery rate stood at 76.28 percent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate further declined to 1.82 percent, the ministry added. There are 7,42,023 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country, which comprises 21.90 percent of the total caseload, the data showed. According to the ICMR, a cumulative total of 3,94,77,848 samples have been tested up to 27 August, with 9,01,338 samples being tested on Thursday. Tamil Nadu Congress MP H Vasanthakumar dies of COVID-19 Congress MP from Tamil Nadu's Kanyakumari, H Vasanthakumar, died of COVID-19 at a hospital on Friday. The 70-year old first time MP, and working president of Tamil Nadu Congress Committee, who was admitted to the Apollo Hospitals on 10 August after he tested positive for coronavirus. Vasanthakumar is survived by wife, two sons and a daughter, PTI reported. Apollo Hospitals in a statement later said the MP was treated in a critical care unit for severe COVID-19 pneumonia. "Despite all active medical measures, his condition deteriorated gradually due to COVID-19 complications and he passed away today," the hospital said. Vasanthakumar, a two-time MLA (2006-11 and 2016-19) was elected to the Lok Sabha last year. Meanwhile, former Karnataka minister and JD(S) leader HD Revanna also tested positive for coronavirus on Friday and was admitted to a hospital, PTI reported. State health minister B Sriramulu said he was praying for Revanna's recovery and added, "HD Revanna has tested positive for coronavirus. I pray that he recovers and gets back to serve people." Amarinder Singh goes into self-quarantine after  MLAs test COVID-19 positive Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh quarantined himself after two Congress MLAs who met him during the one-day Assembly session on Friday tested positive for COVID-19. The MLAs, Nirmal Singh and Kulbir Singh Zira, got tested for the disease after the one-day monsoon session. "Punjab chief minister @capt_amarinder has decided to go into 7-day self quarantine, as per government protocol and the advise of his doctors, after two MLAs who met him in the Vidhan Sabha tested positive for #COVID19," tweeted Raveen Thukral, the media advisor to the chief minister. Meanwhile the Chandigarh administration suspended the order of closing weekend markets, The Indian Express reported, quoting the order as saying that "congested markets will continue to open on odd-even formula till 3 September." MPs to get tested for COVID-19 before Monsoon Session of Parliament With the Monsoon Session of the Parliament set to begin in September, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said that MPs will be asked to get themselves tested for COVID-19 at least 72 hours before the start of the session. Besides MPs, Parliament staff and media personnel, among other entrants to the building, will also be required to get tested for the novel coronavirus. Birla said arrangements have also been made for zero-touch security checks during the session and if required, random tests for COVID-19 can be conducted during the session. Visitors will not be allowed during the session, which will be held as per the guidelines, including those on social distancing, issued by the health ministry in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Monsoon Session is likely to start from 14 September and conclude on 1 October. To finalise the arrangements for the upcoming Monsoon Session of the Parliament, Birla on Friday chaired a meeting of officials from the health ministry, ICMR, AIIMS, DRDO, Delhi government, and Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha secretariats. Second round of serological survey launched in Bhubaneswar The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Friday launched the second round of serological survey to assess prevalence of COVID-19 among people in the city, as the Odisha capital is witnessing a rise in coronavirus cases this month. Five teams will collect 1,500 samples from various locations in the city, PTI reported. "The current exercise will provide an indication of the community exposure level which was found to be very low during the first round of the serological survey," the report quoted an official as saying. The Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC) is providing technical support to the BMC to carry out the two-day survey in the city. A serological survey is conducted to assess the prevalence of a disease in a society or population to see if people have developed antibodies against a virus. It shows how many or what percentage of population had contracted a particular disease and have acquired immunity against it. State-wise deaths Of the 1,057 fresh deaths, 355 are from Maharashtra, 141 from Karnataka, 109 from Tamil Nadu, 92 from Andhra Pradesh, 68 from Uttar Pradesh, 53 from West Bengal, 37 from Punjab, 24 from Madhya Pradesh, 22 from Delhi, 17 from Gujarat, 14 each from Jammu and Kashmir and Chhattisgarh, 13 from Rajasthan, 12 from Haryana, 11 each from Telangana and Jharkhand. Ten casualties have been reported from Kerala and Puducherry, nine from Uttarakhand, eight from Bihar, seven from Odisha, six from Goa, four each from Assam and Tripura, two each from Chandigarh and Ladakh, while Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Himachal Pradesh have registered one fatality each. Of the total 61,529 deaths, Maharashtra has reported the maximum at 23,444 followed by 6,948 in Tamil Nadu, 5,232 in Karnataka, 4,369 in Delhi, 3,633 in Andhra Pradesh, 3,217 in Uttar Pradesh, 3,017 in West Bengal, 2,962 in Gujarat, and 1,306 in Madhya Pradesh. So far, 1,256 people have died of COVID-19 in Punjab, 1,005 in Rajasthan, 799 in Telangana, 671 in Jammu and Kashmir, 646 in Haryana, 538 in Bihar, 448 in Odisha, 373 in Jharkhand, 278 in Assam, 267 in Kerala, 245 in Chhattisgarh and 228 in Uttarakhand. Puducherry has registered 190 fatalities, Goa 171, Tripura 89, Chandigarh 43, Andaman and Nicobar Islands 42, Himachal Pradesh 33, Ladakh 27, Manipur 25, Nagaland nine, Meghalaya eight, Arunachal Pradesh five, Sikkim three and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu two. The health ministry stressed that more than 70 percent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities. With inputs from agencies

http://sansaartimes.blogspot.com/2020/08/coronavirus-live-updates-indias-covid_29.html

[iasshikshalove]

Current Affairs dated 26/7/2019

Daily Current Affairs Dated On 26-July-2019 GS-2 Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP Why in news? Under Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP), a total of 5440 dedicated retail outlets selling affordable generic medicines are functional in the country as on 15.07.2019. About PMBJP:  ‘Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana’ is a campaign launched by the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Govt. Of India, to provide quality medicines at affordable prices to the masses through special kendra’s known as Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Jan Aushadhi Kendra.  Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Jan Aushadhi Kendra (PMBJK) have been set up to provide generic drugs, which are available at lesser prices but are equivalent in quality and efficacy as expensive branded drugs.  Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India (BPPI) is the implementing agency of PMBJP. BPPI (Bureau of Pharma Public Sector Undertakings of India) has been established under the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Govt. of India, with the support of all the CPSUs. SALIENT FEATURES OF THE SCHEME:  Ensure access to quality medicines. Daily Current Affairs Dated On 26-July-2019  Extend coverage of quality generic medicines so as to reduce the out of pocket expenditure on medicines and thereby redefine the unit cost of treatment per person.  Create awareness about generic medicines through education and publicity so that quality is not synonymous with only high price.  A public programme involving Government, PSUs, Private Sector, NGO, Societies, Co-operative Bodies and other Institutions.  Create demand for generic medicines by improving access to better healthcare through low treatment cost and easy availability wherever needed in all therapeutic categories.  What is a generic medicine?  There is no definition of generic or branded medicines under the Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Rules, 1945 made thereunder. However, generic medicines are generally those which contain same amount of same active ingredient(s) in same dosage form and are intended to be administered by the same route of administration as that of branded medicine.  The price of an unbranded generic version of a medicine is generally lower than the price of a corresponding branded medicine because in case of generic version, the pharmaceutical company does not have to spend money on promotion of its brand Migration in India A report Census 2011 data on migration released last week show Maharashtra had more migrants from Madhya Pradesh than from Bihar, and Gujarat had almost double the number of migrants from Rajasthan than from Bihar. Daily Current Affairs Dated On 26-July-2019 Details  Data from Delhi show only 2,321 persons declared Bangladesh as their last place of residence. Over 1.17 lakh said Pakistan — not surprising given the history of Partition.  The data come at a time when migration is a major phenomenon across the world, and “illegal Bangladeshis” is a hot-button political issue in India.  The data are also very late — it’s almost time for Census 2021 — and do not reflect the current situation.  Over 45.58 crore Indians were found to be “migrants” for various reasons during the enumeration exercises of Census 2011. The previous Census (2001) had recorded the number of migrants at 31.45 crore — more than 30% lower than the 2011 figure. Who is migrant?  According to the website of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India, “When a person is enumerated in Census at a different place than his/her place of birth, she/he is considered a ‘migrant’.”  Migration data began to be collected with the Census of 1872, but was not very detailed until 1961. Changes introduced in 1961 continued until 2001; in the Census of 2011, a more detailed format for collecting information on migrants was adopted. What data from Census 2011 show on migrations  Marriage and employment are the major reasons for migration, Census data show. The bulk of the migration takes place within individual states — out of the total number of persons registered as “migrants” in the 2011 Census, only 11.91% (5.43 crore) had moved to one state from another, while nearly 39.57 crore had moved within their states. Daily Current Affairs Dated On 26-July-2019 Women representation in Parliament why in news? The Global Gender Gap report for 2018 said that the widest gender disparity is in the field of political empowerment. To cite the Inter-Parliamentary Union 2018 report, women legislators account for barely 24% of all MPs across the world. However, the experience of the top-ranked countries in the IPU list does give an indication of how women’s presence in political spaces took an upward turn in those nations. What is global scenario?  Rwanda, a landlocked nation with a population of 11.2 million, tops the list, with 61.3% seats in the Lower House and 38.5% in the Upper House occupied by women.  Since 2003, the country has implemented a legislated quota of 30% in all elected positions, which has enabled a steady inflow of women parliamentarians after successive elections  . Its Constitution has also set a quota of 30% in all elected offices.  However, some believe that the higher representation of women in the country cannot be attributed solely to quotas — women were thrust into the political limelight due to the huge vacuum that emerged in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide, which resulted in a large chunk of the country’s male population getting killed.  Cuba, the largest Caribbean island nation with a population of about 11.1 million, holds the second rank, with 53.2 % seats of its 605-member single House being occupied by women representatives.  Sweden, the fifth-rank holder in the IPU, has a professedly feminist government and has maintained a women’s parliamentary representation of at least 40% since 90s. The 349-member single House, Swedish Parliament, now has 161 women with 46.1% representation.  Sweden does not have any constitutional clause or electoral law earmarking representation for women in elected bodies.  The issue of compulsory gender quota didn’t find favour in Sweden as it was believed that such a quota will create reverse discrimination and violate the principles of equal opportunities.  Almost all political parties there have adopted measures to ensure a fair representation for women at all levels. In 1993, the Social Democratic Party adopted the ‘zipper system’, described as “a gender quota system whereby women and men are placed alternately on all party lists.” This further boosted women’s seat share. Daily Current Affairs Dated On 26-July-2019 Nepal’s example  Closer home, Nepal occupies the 36th position in the IPU and its 275-member Lower House has 90 women, about 32.7% of the total strength.  The Nepal Constitution stole a march over many others in the South Asia by earmarking 33% seats for women in all state institutions, including the legislature. India's status  India, at 149 among the 192 countries in the IPU list, had barely 11.8% women’s representation in the 16th Lok Sabha, which improved to 14.5% in the current Lower House. At least seven out of the 29 States have not sent a single woman MP.  The 108th Constitutional Amendment Bill stipulating 33% quota for women in the Parliament and in State Assemblies remains in political cold storage.  The system of voluntary party quotas, which has worked well in many countries, is not likely to cut much ice in India’s deeply embedded patriarchal society.  As has happened in the case of panchayats and municipalities, only a legally mandated quota could perhaps ensure a large-scale entry of Indian women into the higher echelons of political power. GS-3 Global warning Why in news? While average global temperatures are currently around 1°C hotter than pre-industrial times, there have been a number of periods of cooling and warming over the centuries. This had led sceptics of manmade global warming to suggest that human activity is not the main driver of climate change. Daily Current Affairs Dated On 26-July-2019 Details of study  Researchers used data compiled from nearly 700 temperature indicators — tree rings, sediment cores, coral reefs and modern thermometer readings — to provide a comprehensive timeline of the planet’s recent climate history.  The findings are clear: at no point in modern human history did temperatures rise so quickly and so consistently as in the late 20th century — the period where the world’s post-war, fossil fuelpowered economy reached unprecedented heights of production and consumption.  The study found that pre-industrial temperature fluctuations were largely driven by volcanic activity.  But it also concluded that humans had never witnessed such rapid global warming as in the latter part of the 20th century.  Commenting on the studies, Mark Maslin, Professor of Climatology at University College London, said their results “should finally stop climate change deniers claiming that the recent observed coherent global warming is part of a natural climate cycle”. While average global temperatures are currently around 1°C hotter than pre-industrial times, there have been a number of periods of cooling and warming over the centuries. This had led sceptics of manmade global warming to suggest that human activity is not the main driver of climate change. Tiger census Why in news?  The survey — divided into four phases — began last winter.  India accounts for most of the 3,500-odd tigers that are scattered among Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russian Federation, Thailand, and Vietnam. The goal  As part of an agreement in 2010 among these countries, there is a goal to double the global tiger count by 2022. Daily Current Affairs Dated On 26-July-2019 Concerns  However, there have been doubts on tiger numbers by independent researchers. “...the claims of a 58% tiger population rise in India over the past 8 years [from 2006-2014] based on estimates from the three National Tiger Estimate surveys lack reliable scientific support,” a research paper of the Centre for Wildlife Studies, Bengaluru; Bengaluru, claims.  They say that a flawed methodology is being by the WII which exaggerates tiger numbers.

[brajeshupadhyay]

Coronavirus Outbreak LIVE Updates: CRPF jawans posted at Ranchi's Hindpiri to enforce lockdown; over a million cases in US with nearly 59,000 fatalities

08:14 (IST)

Coronavirus in Uttarakhand Latest Update

Two staffers of AIIMS Rishikesh test positive for COVID-19

Two more people have tested positive of coronavirus in All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) hospital, said Harish Thapliyal, AIIMS spokesperson on Tuesday.

"Of the two new COVID-19 cases, one is a nurse in General Surgery Ward and the other is an attendant of a patient admitted in Urology department," said Thapliyal.

08:00 (IST)

Coronavirus in Haryana Latest Update

Travel of govt employees, common people from nearby states, districts to Faridabad prohibited

Travel of government employees and common people from neighbouring states and districts to Faridabad is now prohibited under the new guidelines issued by the government. "Doctors, paramedical staff, police & bank employees to be permitted on producing their identity cards, only till 12 pm on Wednesday", Yash Pal, Deputy Commissioner, Faridabad told ANI. 

He also said that vehicles engaged in the movement of essential goods and banking services are exempted and the order to remain in effect till 3 May 2020.

Vehicles engaged in the movement of essential goods & banking services to be exempted. Order to remain in effect till 3rd May 2020: Yash Pal, Deputy Commissioner, Faridabad #Haryana #COVID19 https://t.co/tlIdGtgKpQ

— ANI (@ANI) April 29, 2020

07:56 (IST)

Coronavirus in Delhi Latest Update

Delhi hospital refutes charge alleged by patient on being 'kept next to bodies' 

A video has surfaced on social media in which a coronavirus patient has alleged that he was kept on a bed "next to dead bodies" at a hospital in Delhi, a charge refuted by authorities at the facility.

The video circulating on WhatsApp and other networking platforms show a man, wearing a mask, who apparently shot the video inside the ward of LNJP Hospital where he is admitted.

In the video, he alleges that he was kept on a bed in a ward that had "dead bodies next to his bed" and that he was not getting good on time.

LNJP authorities refuted the allegations, saying, this patient "required psychotherapy and counselling that was arranged for him. He is currently being attended to by specialists in the field". There was no problem of food or water in that particular ward or any other ward of the hospital, a senior official of the hospital said.

07:51 (IST)

Coronavirus in US Latest Update

Nearly 70 dead in 'horrific' outbreak at veterans' home

Nearly 70 residents sickened with the coronavirus have died at a Massachusetts home for aging veterans, as state and federal officials try to figure out what went wrong in the deadliest outbreak at a long-term care facility in the US.

While the death toll at the state-run Holyoke Soldiers' Home continues to climb, federal officials are investigating whether residents were denied proper medical care and the state's top prosecutor is deciding whether to bring legal action.

"It's horrific," said Edward Lapointe, whose father-in-law lives at the home and had a mild case of the virus. "These guys never had a chance."

Sixty-eight veteran residents who tested positive for the virus have died, officials said Tuesday, and it's not known whether another person who died had COVID-19. Another 82 residents and 81 employees have tested positive.

07:44 (IST)

Coronavirus in US Latest Update

COVID-19 cases in US cross 1 million with nearly 59,000 fatalities

  The number of people infected by the coronavirus in the United States crossed one million and the fatalities jumped to nearly 59,000, but several states initiated the process to reopen their economies amidst signs of decline in both new cases and deaths.

"We continue to pray for the victims as well as for those Americans who are grieving their lost ones and their loved ones. There's never been anything like this. We suffer from one heart but we will prevail. We are coming back, and we're coming back strong," US President Donald Trump said at the White House during his remarks on the Paycheck Protection Program.

The US on Tuesday became the first country in the world to have more than one million cases of coronavirus. It accounts for nearly one-third of the 3.1 million cases globally. With nearly 59,000 deaths, the US also accounts for one-fourth of the over 213,000 global fatalities.

07:41 (IST)

Coronavirus in UK Latest Update

British Airways set to cut up to 12,000 jobs

British Airways is set to slash up to 12,000 jobs as part of a restructuring plan as the carrier grapples with the fallout of the novel coronavirus pandemic, its parent company IAG said Tuesday.

The firm said it was still deliberating its options but that it was "likely that they will affect most of British Airways' employees and may result in the redundancy of up to 12,000".

Passenger demand will take "several years" to return to 2019 levels, it added.

07:36 (IST)

Coronavirus in Rajasthan Latest Update

Rajasthan HC extends deadline for conducting elections to three municipal corporations

The Rajasthan High Court on Tuesday extended the deadline for conducting elections to Jaipur, Kota and Jodhpur municipal corporations till 31 August. A plea was moved before the court by the state election commission seeking an extension of the deadline for elections to the three corporations.

The commission argued that it was not possible to hold the polls amid the ongoing lockdown imposed to combat the coronavirus threat.

The bench of Chief Justice Inderjeet Mahanty and Justice S K Sharma, which heard the plea, extended the deadline for conducting the elections to three corporations till 31 August.

On 18 March, the court had told the commission to conduct the elections to the corporations within six weeks.

07:27 (IST)

Coronavirus in Jharkhand Latest Update

CRPF jawans posted at Ranchi's Hindpiri to enforce lockdown

CRPF jawans are being posted in three shifts at Ranchi's Covid-19 hotspot Hindpiri locality to ensure that people strictly follow lockdown rules, an official said on Tuesday. Residents of Hindpiri are not allowed to enter or leave the area, Ranchi Deputy Commissioner Rai Mahimapat Ray said.

The administration would provide ambulance in case of any emergency medical requirement, he said.

Ray held a meeting with the CRPF and district officials on Tuesday, a day after the Jharkhand government decided to deploy personnel from the central para-military force amid rising coronavirus cases, mostly in that locality.

Ranchi Senior Superintendent of Police Anish Gupta said action would be taken if any person flouts the lockdown guidelines.

07:26 (IST)

Coronavirus in Delhi Latest Update

Delhi's reports 3,314 cases with 201 recoveries that is highest in a day

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Delhi rose to 3,314 on Tuesday, even as 201 coronavirus patients recovered from the disease, the highest so far in a day with no fatalities, authorities said. No death was reported for the third consecutive day in the National Capital.

Among the 3,314 cases includes a Delhi Police constable attached to the crime branch. The constable had visited the Tablighi Jamaat religious congregation in Nizamuddin, which had last month become the epicentre of the COVID-19 spread.

Fifteen members of the crime branch team, who came in touch with the constable, have been advised home quarantine. So far, 1,078 COVID-19 patients have recovered and there are 2,182 active cases in Delhi. The number of containment zones in the city reached 100.

07:21 (IST)

Coronavirus in Uttar Pradesh Latest Update

Bank employee tests positive in Ghaziabad

 An employee of a nationalised bank and a doctor have tested positive for coronavirus, an official said here on Tuesday. Chief Medical Officer Dr NK Gupta said both have been shifted to a Sahibabad hospital.

The bank employee himself gave his blood sample for testing as he was feeling unwell. The bank has been sanitised as closed. Its 15 employees have been quarantined. Their family members will also be quarantined.

The official said so far 60 people have tested positive for the virus, of which 31 have recovered. At present, 29 are under treatment, he said.

07:18 (IST)

Coronavirus in India Latest Update

Cases in India inch towards 30,000 as toll rises to 937

The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in India inched towards 30,000, with 1,594 new infections reported on Tuesday. The total deaths due to COVID-19 rose to 937 on Tuesday, with 50 new patients succumbing to the virus in 24 hours. Additionally, more than 7,000 have recovered.

Coronavirus Outbreak LATEST Updates: CRPF jawans are being posted in three shifts at Ranchi's COVID-19 hotspot Hindpiri locality to ensure that people strictly follow lockdown rules, an official said on Tuesday. Residents of Hindpiri are not allowed to enter or leave the area, Ranchi Deputy Commissioner Rai Mahimapat Ray said.

The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in India inched towards 30,000, with 1,594 new infections reported on Tuesday. The total deaths due to COVID-19 rose to 937 on Tuesday, with 50 new patients succumbing to the virus in 24 hours. Additionally, more than 7,000 have recovered.

On Tuesday, Maharashtra and Gujarat, among others states, reported more fatalities, but the Union health ministry said that there wasn't enough evidence to use plasma therapy as a treatment for coronavirus.

Addressing the daily press conference, Health Ministry joint secretary Lav Aggarwal also cautioned that there could be "life-threatening complications" if guidelines were not followed in administering the plasma therapy, in which blood plasma is transfused from a recovered COVID-19 patient to a critically-ill person.

The therapy, which is currently in trial stage, works on a principle that immunity can be transferred from a healthy person to a sick patient using antibodies in convalescent plasma.

Aggarwal said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has launched a national-level study to check efficacy of the plasma therapy, but till this study is completed and a robust scientific proof is available, this therapy should be used only for research or trial purpose.

Recovery rate on the rise, says health ministry

While according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare website, COVID-19 cases had risen to 29,974, latest figures announced by various states and union territories indicated that the figure had climbed to 30,255 cases, PTI reported. The PTI tally also reported that the toll stood at 947 while the MOHFW has reported 937 deaths.

The health ministry figures suggest that an average of about one in 25 have tested positive so far. Among those having tested positive, one in 30 has died on an average, while the ratio of those having recovered is approximately one in four.

Aggarwal added that the recovery rate of COVID-19 patients has as such improved to 23.3 percent of total cases. The number of active COVID-19 cases stands at 22,010, while 7,026 people have recovered, and one patient has migrated, the ministry said.

Harsh Vardhan says India to be able to produce RT-PCR kits from May

Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, while addressing the media on Tuesday said, "No fresh case has been reported in 80 districts for last seven days. In 47 districts, no case has been reported in the last 14 days, while 39 districts have not reported a case for the last 21 days. 17 districts have not reported a case for the last 28 days."

He also said, "For the last 14 days, our doubling rate is 8.7, while for the last 7 days, it is 10.2 days. In the last 3 days, it is 10.9 days roughly."

The minister added that India will be able to produce RT-PCR and antibody test kits by May. "All processes are in advanced stage and production will start after getting approval from ICMR. It will help us in meeting our target of 1 lakh tests per day by 31 May," he added.

In Delhi, 4.11 percent of health workers, including 13 paramedics, 26 nurses, 24 field workers, 33 doctors, are affected by COVID-19, Vardhan added.

"This is worrying and there are currently about 100 hotspots in Delhi. This number should go down," he was quoted as saying by ANI.

"According to experts, we need to increase the periphery of sealed areas in Delhi to fight COVID-19 better," he added while reviewing meeting on the coronavirus situation in Delhi.

Maharashtra cases cross 8,500; Gujarat, Delhi top 3,000 infections

Maharashtra has reported the maximum cases at over 8,500 and at least 369 deaths. Meanwhile, Gujarat has over 3,700 cases, while Delhi also has more than 3,100 confirmed cases.

On Tuesday, Mumbai Police asked personnel who are above 55 years of age and having some pre-existing ailment to go on leave, in a bid to protect them from the coronavirus infection. The move comes after COVID-19 claimed lives of three Mumbai Police personnel in the last three days.

During an analysis, it came to light that the three deceased and the other police personnel currently undergoing treatment for coronavirus disease were above the age of 50, a senior Mumbai Police official said on Tuesday.

"In view of this, we have decided to protect our policemen and officers - who are above 55 years of age and having some pre-existing ailment — and asked them to take leave," he said.

"Because of their age, these police personnel are at a higher risk. Therefore, we are allowing them to take leave during these days," the official said.

Meanwhile, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh each have reported more than 2,000 cases.

A 55-year-old Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel succumbed to the coronavirus infection on Tuesday in Delhi's Safdarjung hospital. This is the first COVID-19 death reported in paramilitary forces that function under the MHA.

In Delhi, Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal directed all district magistrates to implement a "micro-containment zone strategy" in their respective areas to arrest the spread of COVID-19, an official said. Under this plan, small clusters reporting cases of the dreaded virus will be identified and declared containment zones instead of big ones.

At present, the authorities block the entry and exit points of an area where COVID-19 cases emerge and people are not allowed to step out of their houses. Essential items are delivered at the doorstep.

The National Capital also saw the NITI Aayog building getting sealed for 48 hours, after a director-level officer tested positive.

In Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister K Palaniswami said COVID-19 cases are on the rise in the state as people have a casual attitude to norms like social distancing and do not understand the gravity of the contagion.

The state reported 121 more people testing positive on Tuesday, taking the state's tally to 2,058, while a 68-year old man died of coronavirus in Chennai. The new positive cases included two police personnel and a flower vendor in Chennai.

In Assam, where fewer new cases have emerged in the last few days, two people tested positive, taking the total infections to 37. Some of the northeastern states have not reported a single case for quite some time.

In Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath asked officials to increase testing capacity while also seeking preparation of work plans to restart industrial units after the end of the lockdown on 3 May, and for giving employment to migrant labourers.

He also said emphasis should be on social distancing and continued patrolling by the police.

In Surat, Gujarat, hundreds of migrant workers came out on roads and vandalised the office of an under-construction building and some vehicles while demanding that they be sent back to their native places.

West Bengal saw attacks on some policemen trying to enforce lockdown in 'red zone' Howarah district. The state reported 28 new cases, taking its total to 663, while the number of fatalities rose to 22 with two new deaths.

MHA, MoHFW issue guidelines for home isolation

The MHA and health ministry issued guidelines regarding health facilities in the country, and the treatment of non-coronavirus-infected patients requiring facilities like dialysis, etc.

The MHA asked all states and Union Territories to ensure that health facilities, especially in the private sector, remain functional and those needing critical healthcare such as dialysis, blood transfusion and chemotherapy are not denied such services amid the ongoing lockdown.

This followed reports that many hospitals in the private sector were hesitating in providing critical services to their regular patients either on account of fear of contracting COVID-19 or because they are keeping their hospitals or clinics closed.

The Health and Family Welfare Ministry has issued guidelines for home isolation of people who either have very mild COVID-19 symptoms or are in the pre-symptomatic phase. Such patients with requisite self-isolation facility at their residence will now have the option for home isolation.

Clarity on COVID-19 lockdown likely in coming days

In the coming days, some clarity is expected to emerge about the ongoing lockdown in India. A nationwide lockdown has been imposed till 3 May by the Centre to check the spread of the coronavirus, which has claimed more than two lakh lives worldwide and infected over 30 lakh since it first emerged in China last December.

Several countries have implemented lockdown and other containment measures, though some of them including New Zealand, France and Switzerland have begun relaxing those curbs.

The question of when to reopen schools loomed large as European countries and US states drew up plans to restart their battered economies.

Despite alarm among some teachers, parents and mayors, France detailed plans on Tuesday to start opening schools on 11 May, with limits on class size and rules requiring face masks.

Hard-hit Italy intends to keep schools closed until September. And in the US, where President Donald Trump said states should seriously consider resuming classes before the end of the academic year, dozens have said it would be unsafe for students to return until the summer or the fall.

Elsewhere around the world, the virus appeared all but vanquished in New Zealand. Australia opened the beach in Sydney.

Brazil, however, was emerging as a new hot spot for infections. And new doubts were raised over whether Japan will be able to host the already postponed Summer Olympics next year without the development of a vaccine.

With inputs from agencies

via Blogger https://ift.tt/2W8Wu9B

[brajeshupadhyay]

08:14 (IST) Coronavirus in Uttarakhand Latest Update Two staffers of AIIMS Rishikesh test positive for COVID-19 Two more people have tested positive of coronavirus in All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) hospital, said Harish Thapliyal, AIIMS spokesperson on Tuesday. "Of the two new COVID-19 cases, one is a nurse in General Surgery Ward and the other is an attendant of a patient admitted in Urology department," said Thapliyal. 08:00 (IST) Coronavirus in Haryana Latest Update Travel of govt employees, common people from nearby states, districts to Faridabad prohibited Travel of government employees and common people from neighbouring states and districts to Faridabad is now prohibited under the new guidelines issued by the government. "Doctors, paramedical staff, police & bank employees to be permitted on producing their identity cards, only till 12 pm on Wednesday", Yash Pal, Deputy Commissioner, Faridabad told ANI.  He also said that vehicles engaged in the movement of essential goods and banking services are exempted and the order to remain in effect till 3 May 2020. Vehicles engaged in the movement of essential goods & banking services to be exempted. Order to remain in effect till 3rd May 2020: Yash Pal, Deputy Commissioner, Faridabad #Haryana #COVID19 https://t.co/tlIdGtgKpQ — ANI (@ANI) April 29, 2020 07:56 (IST) Coronavirus in Delhi Latest Update Delhi hospital refutes charge alleged by patient on being 'kept next to bodies'  A video has surfaced on social media in which a coronavirus patient has alleged that he was kept on a bed "next to dead bodies" at a hospital in Delhi, a charge refuted by authorities at the facility. The video circulating on WhatsApp and other networking platforms show a man, wearing a mask, who apparently shot the video inside the ward of LNJP Hospital where he is admitted. In the video, he alleges that he was kept on a bed in a ward that had "dead bodies next to his bed" and that he was not getting good on time. LNJP authorities refuted the allegations, saying, this patient "required psychotherapy and counselling that was arranged for him. He is currently being attended to by specialists in the field". There was no problem of food or water in that particular ward or any other ward of the hospital, a senior official of the hospital said. 07:51 (IST) Coronavirus in US Latest Update Nearly 70 dead in 'horrific' outbreak at veterans' home Nearly 70 residents sickened with the coronavirus have died at a Massachusetts home for aging veterans, as state and federal officials try to figure out what went wrong in the deadliest outbreak at a long-term care facility in the US. While the death toll at the state-run Holyoke Soldiers' Home continues to climb, federal officials are investigating whether residents were denied proper medical care and the state's top prosecutor is deciding whether to bring legal action. "It's horrific," said Edward Lapointe, whose father-in-law lives at the home and had a mild case of the virus. "These guys never had a chance." Sixty-eight veteran residents who tested positive for the virus have died, officials said Tuesday, and it's not known whether another person who died had COVID-19. Another 82 residents and 81 employees have tested positive. 07:44 (IST) Coronavirus in US Latest Update COVID-19 cases in US cross 1 million with nearly 59,000 fatalities   The number of people infected by the coronavirus in the United States crossed one million and the fatalities jumped to nearly 59,000, but several states initiated the process to reopen their economies amidst signs of decline in both new cases and deaths. "We continue to pray for the victims as well as for those Americans who are grieving their lost ones and their loved ones. There's never been anything like this. We suffer from one heart but we will prevail. We are coming back, and we're coming back strong," US President Donald Trump said at the White House during his remarks on the Paycheck Protection Program. The US on Tuesday became the first country in the world to have more than one million cases of coronavirus. It accounts for nearly one-third of the 3.1 million cases globally. With nearly 59,000 deaths, the US also accounts for one-fourth of the over 213,000 global fatalities. 07:41 (IST) Coronavirus in UK Latest Update British Airways set to cut up to 12,000 jobs British Airways is set to slash up to 12,000 jobs as part of a restructuring plan as the carrier grapples with the fallout of the novel coronavirus pandemic, its parent company IAG said Tuesday. The firm said it was still deliberating its options but that it was "likely that they will affect most of British Airways' employees and may result in the redundancy of up to 12,000". Passenger demand will take "several years" to return to 2019 levels, it added. 07:36 (IST) Coronavirus in Rajasthan Latest Update Rajasthan HC extends deadline for conducting elections to three municipal corporations The Rajasthan High Court on Tuesday extended the deadline for conducting elections to Jaipur, Kota and Jodhpur municipal corporations till 31 August. A plea was moved before the court by the state election commission seeking an extension of the deadline for elections to the three corporations. The commission argued that it was not possible to hold the polls amid the ongoing lockdown imposed to combat the coronavirus threat. The bench of Chief Justice Inderjeet Mahanty and Justice S K Sharma, which heard the plea, extended the deadline for conducting the elections to three corporations till 31 August. On 18 March, the court had told the commission to conduct the elections to the corporations within six weeks. 07:27 (IST) Coronavirus in Jharkhand Latest Update CRPF jawans posted at Ranchi's Hindpiri to enforce lockdown CRPF jawans are being posted in three shifts at Ranchi's Covid-19 hotspot Hindpiri locality to ensure that people strictly follow lockdown rules, an official said on Tuesday. Residents of Hindpiri are not allowed to enter or leave the area, Ranchi Deputy Commissioner Rai Mahimapat Ray said. The administration would provide ambulance in case of any emergency medical requirement, he said. Ray held a meeting with the CRPF and district officials on Tuesday, a day after the Jharkhand government decided to deploy personnel from the central para-military force amid rising coronavirus cases, mostly in that locality. Ranchi Senior Superintendent of Police Anish Gupta said action would be taken if any person flouts the lockdown guidelines. 07:26 (IST) Coronavirus in Delhi Latest Update Delhi's reports 3,314 cases with 201 recoveries that is highest in a day The total number of COVID-19 cases in Delhi rose to 3,314 on Tuesday, even as 201 coronavirus patients recovered from the disease, the highest so far in a day with no fatalities, authorities said. No death was reported for the third consecutive day in the National Capital. Among the 3,314 cases includes a Delhi Police constable attached to the crime branch. The constable had visited the Tablighi Jamaat religious congregation in Nizamuddin, which had last month become the epicentre of the COVID-19 spread. Fifteen members of the crime branch team, who came in touch with the constable, have been advised home quarantine. So far, 1,078 COVID-19 patients have recovered and there are 2,182 active cases in Delhi. The number of containment zones in the city reached 100. 07:21 (IST) Coronavirus in Uttar Pradesh Latest Update Bank employee tests positive in Ghaziabad  An employee of a nationalised bank and a doctor have tested positive for coronavirus, an official said here on Tuesday. Chief Medical Officer Dr NK Gupta said both have been shifted to a Sahibabad hospital. The bank employee himself gave his blood sample for testing as he was feeling unwell. The bank has been sanitised as closed. Its 15 employees have been quarantined. Their family members will also be quarantined. The official said so far 60 people have tested positive for the virus, of which 31 have recovered. At present, 29 are under treatment, he said. 07:18 (IST) Coronavirus in India Latest Update Cases in India inch towards 30,000 as toll rises to 937 The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in India inched towards 30,000, with 1,594 new infections reported on Tuesday. The total deaths due to COVID-19 rose to 937 on Tuesday, with 50 new patients succumbing to the virus in 24 hours. Additionally, more than 7,000 have recovered. Coronavirus Outbreak LATEST Updates: CRPF jawans are being posted in three shifts at Ranchi's COVID-19 hotspot Hindpiri locality to ensure that people strictly follow lockdown rules, an official said on Tuesday. Residents of Hindpiri are not allowed to enter or leave the area, Ranchi Deputy Commissioner Rai Mahimapat Ray said. The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in India inched towards 30,000, with 1,594 new infections reported on Tuesday. The total deaths due to COVID-19 rose to 937 on Tuesday, with 50 new patients succumbing to the virus in 24 hours. Additionally, more than 7,000 have recovered. On Tuesday, Maharashtra and Gujarat, among others states, reported more fatalities, but the Union health ministry said that there wasn't enough evidence to use plasma therapy as a treatment for coronavirus. Addressing the daily press conference, Health Ministry joint secretary Lav Aggarwal also cautioned that there could be "life-threatening complications" if guidelines were not followed in administering the plasma therapy, in which blood plasma is transfused from a recovered COVID-19 patient to a critically-ill person. The therapy, which is currently in trial stage, works on a principle that immunity can be transferred from a healthy person to a sick patient using antibodies in convalescent plasma. Aggarwal said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has launched a national-level study to check efficacy of the plasma therapy, but till this study is completed and a robust scientific proof is available, this therapy should be used only for research or trial purpose. Recovery rate on the rise, says health ministry While according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare website, COVID-19 cases had risen to 29,974, latest figures announced by various states and union territories indicated that the figure had climbed to 30,255 cases, PTI reported. The PTI tally also reported that the toll stood at 947 while the MOHFW has reported 937 deaths. The health ministry figures suggest that an average of about one in 25 have tested positive so far. Among those having tested positive, one in 30 has died on an average, while the ratio of those having recovered is approximately one in four. Aggarwal added that the recovery rate of COVID-19 patients has as such improved to 23.3 percent of total cases. The number of active COVID-19 cases stands at 22,010, while 7,026 people have recovered, and one patient has migrated, the ministry said. Harsh Vardhan says India to be able to produce RT-PCR kits from May Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, while addressing the media on Tuesday said, "No fresh case has been reported in 80 districts for last seven days. In 47 districts, no case has been reported in the last 14 days, while 39 districts have not reported a case for the last 21 days. 17 districts have not reported a case for the last 28 days." He also said, "For the last 14 days, our doubling rate is 8.7, while for the last 7 days, it is 10.2 days. In the last 3 days, it is 10.9 days roughly." The minister added that India will be able to produce RT-PCR and antibody test kits by May. "All processes are in advanced stage and production will start after getting approval from ICMR. It will help us in meeting our target of 1 lakh tests per day by 31 May," he added. In Delhi, 4.11 percent of health workers, including 13 paramedics, 26 nurses, 24 field workers, 33 doctors, are affected by COVID-19, Vardhan added. "This is worrying and there are currently about 100 hotspots in Delhi. This number should go down," he was quoted as saying by ANI. "According to experts, we need to increase the periphery of sealed areas in Delhi to fight COVID-19 better," he added while reviewing meeting on the coronavirus situation in Delhi. Maharashtra cases cross 8,500; Gujarat, Delhi top 3,000 infections Maharashtra has reported the maximum cases at over 8,500 and at least 369 deaths. Meanwhile, Gujarat has over 3,700 cases, while Delhi also has more than 3,100 confirmed cases. On Tuesday, Mumbai Police asked personnel who are above 55 years of age and having some pre-existing ailment to go on leave, in a bid to protect them from the coronavirus infection. The move comes after COVID-19 claimed lives of three Mumbai Police personnel in the last three days. During an analysis, it came to light that the three deceased and the other police personnel currently undergoing treatment for coronavirus disease were above the age of 50, a senior Mumbai Police official said on Tuesday. "In view of this, we have decided to protect our policemen and officers - who are above 55 years of age and having some pre-existing ailment — and asked them to take leave," he said. "Because of their age, these police personnel are at a higher risk. Therefore, we are allowing them to take leave during these days," the official said. Meanwhile, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh each have reported more than 2,000 cases. A 55-year-old Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel succumbed to the coronavirus infection on Tuesday in Delhi's Safdarjung hospital. This is the first COVID-19 death reported in paramilitary forces that function under the MHA. In Delhi, Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal directed all district magistrates to implement a "micro-containment zone strategy" in their respective areas to arrest the spread of COVID-19, an official said. Under this plan, small clusters reporting cases of the dreaded virus will be identified and declared containment zones instead of big ones. At present, the authorities block the entry and exit points of an area where COVID-19 cases emerge and people are not allowed to step out of their houses. Essential items are delivered at the doorstep. The National Capital also saw the NITI Aayog building getting sealed for 48 hours, after a director-level officer tested positive. In Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister K Palaniswami said COVID-19 cases are on the rise in the state as people have a casual attitude to norms like social distancing and do not understand the gravity of the contagion. The state reported 121 more people testing positive on Tuesday, taking the state's tally to 2,058, while a 68-year old man died of coronavirus in Chennai. The new positive cases included two police personnel and a flower vendor in Chennai. In Assam, where fewer new cases have emerged in the last few days, two people tested positive, taking the total infections to 37. Some of the northeastern states have not reported a single case for quite some time. In Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath asked officials to increase testing capacity while also seeking preparation of work plans to restart industrial units after the end of the lockdown on 3 May, and for giving employment to migrant labourers. He also said emphasis should be on social distancing and continued patrolling by the police. In Surat, Gujarat, hundreds of migrant workers came out on roads and vandalised the office of an under-construction building and some vehicles while demanding that they be sent back to their native places. West Bengal saw attacks on some policemen trying to enforce lockdown in 'red zone' Howarah district. The state reported 28 new cases, taking its total to 663, while the number of fatalities rose to 22 with two new deaths. MHA, MoHFW issue guidelines for home isolation The MHA and health ministry issued guidelines regarding health facilities in the country, and the treatment of non-coronavirus-infected patients requiring facilities like dialysis, etc. The MHA asked all states and Union Territories to ensure that health facilities, especially in the private sector, remain functional and those needing critical healthcare such as dialysis, blood transfusion and chemotherapy are not denied such services amid the ongoing lockdown. This followed reports that many hospitals in the private sector were hesitating in providing critical services to their regular patients either on account of fear of contracting COVID-19 or because they are keeping their hospitals or clinics closed. The Health and Family Welfare Ministry has issued guidelines for home isolation of people who either have very mild COVID-19 symptoms or are in the pre-symptomatic phase. Such patients with requisite self-isolation facility at their residence will now have the option for home isolation. Clarity on COVID-19 lockdown likely in coming days In the coming days, some clarity is expected to emerge about the ongoing lockdown in India. A nationwide lockdown has been imposed till 3 May by the Centre to check the spread of the coronavirus, which has claimed more than two lakh lives worldwide and infected over 30 lakh since it first emerged in China last December. Several countries have implemented lockdown and other containment measures, though some of them including New Zealand, France and Switzerland have begun relaxing those curbs. The question of when to reopen schools loomed large as European countries and US states drew up plans to restart their battered economies. Despite alarm among some teachers, parents and mayors, France detailed plans on Tuesday to start opening schools on 11 May, with limits on class size and rules requiring face masks. Hard-hit Italy intends to keep schools closed until September. And in the US, where President Donald Trump said states should seriously consider resuming classes before the end of the academic year, dozens have said it would be unsafe for students to return until the summer or the fall. Elsewhere around the world, the virus appeared all but vanquished in New Zealand. Australia opened the beach in Sydney. Brazil, however, was emerging as a new hot spot for infections. And new doubts were raised over whether Japan will be able to host the already postponed Summer Olympics next year without the development of a vaccine. With inputs from agencies

http://sansaartimes.blogspot.com/2020/04/coronavirus-outbreak-live-updates-crpf.html

[iasshikshalove]

Daily Current Affairs Dated On 20-Aug-2019

Daily Current Affairs Dated On 20-Aug-2019 GS-2 Legislative council Why in news? The Madhya Pradesh government has indicated that it plans to initiate steps towards creation of a Legislative Council. Not all states have two Houses. Which are the ones that do, and why is a second House needed? Why a second House  Just as Parliament has two Houses, so can the states, if they choose to. Article 71 of the Constitution provides for the option of a state to have a Legislative Council in addition to its Legislative Assembly.  As in Rajya Sabha, members of a Legislative Council are not directly elected by voters.  Opinion in the Constituent Assembly was divided on the idea.  Among the arguments in its favour, a second House can help check hasty actions by the directly elected House, and also enable non-elected individuals to contribute to the legislative process.  The arguments against the idea: a Legislative Council can be used to delay legislation, and to park leaders who have not been able to win an election.  Under Article 169, a Legislative Council can be formed “if the Legislative Assembly of the State passes a resolution to that effect by a majority of the total membership of the Assembly and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of the Assembly present and voting”. Parliament can then pass a law to this effect. States with LCs  Currently, six states have Legislative Councils.  Jammu and Kashmir too had one, until the state was bifurcated into the Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh.  Tamil Nadu’s then DMK government had passed a law to set up a Council but the subsequent AIADMK government withdrew it after coming to power in 2010. Daily Current Affairs Dated On 20-Aug-2019  Andhra Pradesh’s Legislative Council, set up in 1958, was abolished in 1985, then reconstituted in 2007.  The Odisha Assembly recently passed a resolution for a Legislative Council.  Proposals to create Councils in Rajasthan and Assam are pending in Parliament; the PRS Legislative Research website lists the status of both Bill as pending. Members  Under Article 171 of the Constitution, the Legislative Council of a state shall not have more than one-third of the number of MLAs of the state, and not less than 40 members.  In Madhya Pradesh, which has 230 MLAs, the proposed Legislative Council can have at most 76 members.  As with Rajya Sabha MPs, the tenure of a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) is six years, with one-third of members retiring every two years.  One-third of the MLCs are elected by the state’s MLAs, another one-third by a special electorate comprising sitting members of local governments such as municipalities and district boards, 1/12th by an electorate of teachers and another 1/12th by registered graduates. The remaining members are appointed by the Governor for distinguished services in various fields. LC vis-à-vis Rajya Sabha  The legislative power of the Councils is limited.  Unlike Rajya Sabha which has substantial powers to shape non-financial legislation, Legislative Councils lack a constitutional mandate to do so; Assemblies can override suggestions/amendments made to a legislation by the Council.  Again, unlike Rajya Sabha MPs, MLCs cannot vote in elections for the President and Vice President.  The Vice President is the Rajya Sabha Chairperson; an MLC is the Council Chairperson. What next in MP  Having promised a Legislative Council for Madhya Pradesh in its election manifesto, the ruling Congress is working on a resolution that will be presented in the next Assembly session. Daily Current Affairs Dated On 20-Aug-2019 Rajendra Singh, chairman of the Congress manifesto committee in 2018, said the party has discussed the issue and is serious about constituting a second House. GS-3 Bond yield and curve Why in news? Bond yields have featured in news reports both globally and within India in recent months. In India, government bond yields fell sharply in the wake of the Union Budget, although they have come off the lows in the past few weeks. Internationally, US treasury bond yields plummeted last week, but they too have moderated after it became clear that governments almost everywhere have shown the desire to boost economic growth. What are bonds?  A bond is an instrument to borrow money.  It is like an IOU.  A bond could be floated/issued by a country’s government or by a company to raise funds.  Since government bonds (referred to as G-secs in India, Treasury in the US, and Gilts in the UK) come with the sovereign’s guarantee, they are considered one of the safest investments.  As a result, they also give the lowest returns on investment (or yield). Investments in corporate bonds tend to be riskier because the chances of failure (and, therefore, the chances of the company not repaying the loan) are higher. What are bonds yields?  Simply put, the yield of a bond is the effective rate of return that it earns.  But the rate of return is not fixed — it changes with the price of the bond. But to understand that, one must first understand how bonds are structured.  Every bond has a face value and a coupon payment.  There is also the price of the bond, which may or may not be equal to the face value of the bond. Daily Current Affairs Dated On 20-Aug-2019  Suppose the face value of a 10-year G-sec is Rs 100, and its coupon payment is Rs 5. Buyers of this bond will give the government Rs 100 (the face value); in return, the government will pay them Rs 5 (the coupon payment) every year for the next 10 years, and will pay back their Rs 100 at the end of the tenure. In this case, the bond’s yield, or effective rate of interest, is 5%.  The yield is the investor’s reward for parting with Rs 100 today, but for staying without it for 10 years. Why and how do yields go up and down?  Imagine a situation in which there is just one bond, and two buyers (or people willing to lend to the government).  In such a scenario, the selling price of the bond may go from Rs 100 to Rs 105 or Rs 110 because of competitive bidding by the two buyers.  Importantly, even if the bond is sold at Rs 110, the coupon payment of Rs 5 will not change.  Thus, as the price of the bond increases from Rs 100 to Rs 110, the yield falls to 4.5%.  Similarly, if the interest rate in the broader economy is different from the initial coupon payment promised by a bond, market forces quickly ensure that the yield aligns itself with the economy’s interest rate.  In that sense, G-sec yields are in close sync with the prevailing interest rate in an economy.  With reference to the above example, if the prevailing interest rate is 4% and the government announces a bond with a yield of 5% (that is, a face value of Rs 100 and a coupon of Rs 5) then a lot of people will rush to buy such a bond to earn a higher interest rate.  This increased demand will start pushing up bond prices, even as the yields fall. This will carry on until the time the bond price reaches Rs 125 — at that point, a Rs-5 coupon payment would be equivalent to a yield of 4%, the same as in the rest of the economy.  This process of bringing yields in line with the prevailing interest rate in the economy works in the reverse manner when interest rates are higher than the initially promised yields. Daily Current Affairs Dated On 20-Aug-2019 ]What is happening to US govt bond yields at present? What does it signify?  The global economy has been slowing down for the better part of the last two years.  Some of the biggest economies are either growing at a slower rate (such as the US and China) or actually contracting (such as Germany).  As a result, last week, US Treasury bond yields fell sharply as there was confirmation of slowdown in Germany and China.  Reason: investors, both inside the US and outside, figured that if growth prospects are plummeting, it makes little sense to invest in stocks or even riskier assets.  It made more sense rather, to invest in something that was both safe and liquid (that is, something that can be converted in to cash quickly).  US Treasury bonds are the safest bet in this regard. So, many investors lined up to buy US Treasury bonds, which led to their prices going up, and their yields falling sharply. And what is a yield curve, and what does it signify?  A yield curve is a graphical representation of yields for bonds (with an equal credit rating) over different time horizons.  Typically, the term is used for government bonds — which come with the same sovereign guarantee.  So the yield curve for US treasuries shows how yields change when the tenure (or the time for which one lends to the government) changes.  If bond investors expect the US economy to grow normally, then they would expect to be rewarded more (that is, get more yield) when they lend for a longer period. This gives rise to a normal — upward sloping — yield curve (see chart).  The steepness of this yield curve is determined by how fast an economy is expected to grow.  The faster it is expected to grow the more the yield for longer tenures. Daily Current Affairs Dated On 20-Aug-2019  When the economy is expected to grow only marginally, the yield curve is “flat”. What then is yield inversion, and what does it mean?  Yield inversion happens when the yield on a longer tenure bond becomes less than the yield for a shorter tenure bond.  This, too, happened last week when the 10-year Treasury yield fell below the 2-year Treasury yield.  A yield inversion typically portends a recession.  An inverted yield curve shows that investors expect the future growth to fall sharply; in other words, the demand for money would be much lower than what it is today and hence the yields are also lower. How good is yield inversion at predicting a recession?  Although US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross was quoted as saying Monday that “eventually there’ll be a recession but this inversion is not as reliable, in my view, as people think”, yet US data show historically that barring one episode in the mid-1960s, a yield inversion has always been followed by a recession. Sulphur dioxide pollution Why in news? A new report by Greenpeace India shows the country is the largest emitter of sulphur dioxide in the world, with more than 15% of all the anthropogenic sulphur dioxide hotspots detected by the NASA OMI (Ozone Monitoring Instrument) satellite. Almost all of these emissions in India are because of coalburning, the report says. Daily Current Affairs Dated On 20-Aug-2019 Sources  The vast majority of coal-based power plants in India lack flue-gas desulphurisation technology to reduce air pollution.  The Singrauli, Neyveli, Talcher, Jharsuguda, Korba, Kutch, Chennai, Ramagundam, Chandrapur and Koradi thermal power plants or clusters are the major emission hotspots in India, the report says.  In a first step to combat pollution levels, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change introduced, for the first time, sulphur dioxide emission limits for coal-fired power plants in December 2015.  But the deadline for the installation of flue-gas desulphurisation (FGD) in power plants has been extended from 2017 to 2022. Other global sources  The report also includes NASA data on the largest point sources of sulphur dioxide.  The largest sulphur dioxide emission hotspots have been found in Russia, South Africa, Iran, Saudi Arabia, India, Mexico, United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Serbia.  Air pollutant emissions from power plants and other industries continue to increase in India, Saudi Arabia and Iran, the report says.  In Russia, South Africa, Mexico and Turkey, emissions are currently not increasing — however, there is not a lot of progress in tackling them either. Emission trends  Of the world’s major emitters, China and the United States have been able to reduce emissions rapidly.  They have achieved this feat by switching to clean energy sources;  China, in particular, has achieved success by dramatically improving emission standards and enforcement for sulphur dioxide control. Solid fuel burning Context Firewood, animal dung, and agricultural waste are some of the fuels commonly used in households across India as a means of generating energy for cooking, light, and heating, among other things. According to a summary of seven research papers published in Ideas for India on August 19, the burning of such solid fuels, like firewood, impacts the health of household members and accounts for somewhere between 22% to 52% of all ambient air pollution in India. Daily Current Affairs Dated On 20-Aug-2019 The study postulates that, based on this evidence, switching to cleaner fuels such as LPG for household use will have a dramatic impact on pollution levels and health problems due to pollution. Why should solid fuels be avoided?  Firewood, animal dung, and agricultural waste are some of the fuels commonly used in households across India as a means of generating energy for cooking, light, and heating, among other things.  One of the many pollutants produced on the burning of such solid fuels is fine particulate matter.  Fine particulate matter refers to particles or droplets with a diameter of 2.5 micrometres (0.000001 metres) or less, and is also known as PM2.5.  Such particles can travel deep into the respiratory system, and exposure to them can cause several adverse health effects, both short-term and long-term, including respiratory problems and heart disease. What is Household Air Pollution and how dangerous is it?  The emissions of PM2.5 generated by the burning of solid fuels in households is termed Household Air Pollution (HAP).  The study claims that approximately 800,000 premature deaths occur in India every year as a result of exposure to HAP indoors.  Moreover, the HAP produced indoors travels outdoors, and becomes a contributor to ambient air pollution, with around 300,000 more premature deaths per year attributable to exposure to outdoor HAP.  The median estimate for the contribution of HAP is, according to the study, around 30%, far greater than that of industries (2%-10%), power plants (8%-15%), and transportation (8%-11%).  The contribution of HAP to premature mortality is, as per the median across all studies, 58% higher than premature mortality due to coal use, 303% higher than that due to open burning, and 1,056% higher than that due to transportation. Daily Current Affairs Dated On 20-Aug-2019 How many people use solid fuels in India?  In states such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Chattisgarh and Assam, around 72.1% of the population regularly uses solid fuels, and the median annual ambient is 125.3µg/m^3, a level that is rated “unhealthy” as per the Air Quality Index, and can lead to serious health concerns with prolonged exposure. What are the study's recommendations?  The study asserts that immediate action is required to rectify the harm caused by HAP.  It points to initiatives undertaken by the government of India to promote LPG for use in households as opposed to the traditionally used solid fuels, such as the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.  However, the study claims that more effort is required, in particular, increasing the use of electricity as a substitute in these scenarios, and ensuring that the use of LPG is sustained. Tardigrades Why in news? On April 11, the Israeli spacecraft Beresheet attempted to land on the Moon, but crashed on the surface. It was carrying a number of items — including thousands of specimens of a living organism called tardigrade. What are tardigrade?  The tardigrade, also known as water bear, is among the toughest and most resilient creatures on Earth.  The question is: did the thousands of dehydrated tardigrades on Beresheet survive the crash? And if they did, are they now living on the Moon?  The tardigrade can only be seen under a microscope.  Half a millimetre long, it is essentially a water-dweller but also inhabits land and, a 2008 study found, can survive in the cold vacuum of outer space. Daily Current Affairs Dated On 20-Aug-2019  In 2017, another study found that if all other life were to be wiped out by a cataclysmic event — a large asteroid impact, a supernova or a gamma-ray bursts — the tardigrade would be the likeliest to survive.  The tardigrade can endure extreme hot and cold temperature levels. How do they survive?  Although the tardigrades on the spacecraft were dehydrated, the organism is known to “come back to life” on rehydration.  In fact, they themselves expel water from their bodies and set off a mechanism to protect their cells, and can still revive if placed in water later.  However, there is no evidence of liquid water on the Moon, although there is ice.  Without liquid water, it is possible that the tardigrades will remain in their current state, unless future astronauts find them and revive them in water.  The tardigrade derives its name from the fact that it looks like an eight-legged bear, with a mouth that can project out like a tongue.  Its body has four segments supported by four pairs of clawed legs.  A tardigrade typically eats fluids, using its claws and mouth to tear open plant and animal cells, so that it can suck nutrients out of them. It is also known to feast on bacteria and, in some cases, to kill and eat other tardigrades.  Although they are famed for their resilience, they are destructible too. Should a human being swallow a tardigrade with her food, her stomach acid will cause the flesh of the tardigrade to disintegrate. On the Moon, should they find liquid water and revive, the tardigrades might not last very long in the absence of food and air, according to Live Science magazine, which quoted Kazuharu Arakawa, a tardigrade researcher at Keio University in Tokyo.