Junior Digest

New Delhi, July 11: Taking the ‘Special Strategic Partnership’ to new height, India and South Korea on Tuesday agreed to explore the tripartite partnership for development in third countries including “capacity building programmes” in countries like war-ravaged Afghanistan.
Senior officials in the Ministry of External Affairs said the South Korean President is also keen on a bigger role in the Korean Peninsula, including on nonproliferation issues, and for ‘peace and stability’ in the region.
In a Vision Statement issued at the end of delegation-level talks led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Korean President Moon Jae-in, both sides said: “We resolved to work together to add new substance and impetus to bilateral cooperation in all areas of engagement so as to contribute to regional and global peace and prosperity”.
“In this context, we agreed to explore tripartite partnership for development in third countries, beginning with capacity building programmes in Afghanistan.”
“Underlining the pivotal importance of promoting peace and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in our regions for the larger benefit of all humanity, we welcomed the recent positive developments facilitated by Korea including the historic inter-Korean summits, as well as the U.S.- DPRK (North Korea) summit. We hope that these developments will contribute to complete denuclearization as well as lasting peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula,” the vision statement said.
“We pledged to work together to prevent proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and delivery systems, particularly to terrorists and non-state actors,” it said.

New Delhi, June 6: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday said that Raj Bhavans are not parallel power centres and advised the Governors to play the role of mentors in the development process.
‘You are wise counsel, a mentor, a friend, philosopher and guide,” he said delineating the road ahead for Governors while addressing the valedictory session of the 49th Conference of Governors 2018 in Rashtrapati Bhawan here.
He advised the Governors to become catalysts of development and set examples of simplicity and promote handlooms and locally-made goods.
‘The new development trajectory has a new momentum, new sense of purpose and a new direction. The strong political will is clearly getting translated into a number of programmes and the administrative skills of our vast, competent bureaucracy are being used to deliver results,’ he added.

In what appeared to be a gentle hint to the occupants of the Raj Bhavan, the Vice President also advised them not to air personal views, hold press conferences and post tweets on sensitive and political issues.
The Vice President said what was remarkable, however, was that the country was breaking new ground and development was now becoming ‘more and more people-centred and people-driven. In fact, development has become a societal mission,’ he pointed out.
By maintaining a close rapport with the state government, they could exert a positive influence on the policies and programmes and guide the government. “We have an opportunity to change the course of development by focusing on inclusive and sustainable development. We should not lose this opportunity”.
He advised them to follow the spirit of the advice given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to‘Reform, Perform and Transform’.
Mr Naidu asked the Governors to highlight the sacrifices made by local freedom fighters to inspire the youth.
He also wanted them to encourage people to get involved in social movements by leading and guiding.
The Vice President wanted the Governors to impress upon the State Governments to promote local languages and make them compulsory up to 10th standard. He also asked them to emphasise on ending colonial practices and mindset and highlight Indian history, tradition, civilisation and values. He wanted the Governors to encourage yoga for physical and mental well-being.
While India made rapid progress in different sectors over the past seven decades, however, the past four years had witnessed the country demonstrating a new development trajectory, he noted, an official release here said.

Jammu, Dec 21 :  Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti today said the state government aims to promote the concept of cluster villages in the state for extending maximum facilities to the Gujjar community without disturbing their culture and lifestyle.

The government is taking steps to improve the standard of living of the members of this community. This year, funds allocated for tribal affairs have been enhanced to Rs 120 crore from last year’s Rs 45 crore, she said while chairing the 35th meeting of J-K State Advisory Board for Development of Gujjars and Bakerwals.

The Chief Minister said her government will identify Gujjar villages and provide basic facilities to these like good schools, including smart classes, healthcare facilities, clean drinking water, playgrounds, shops and adequate rearing and medical facilities for livestock.

These cluster villages would also be made tourist attractions, Mufti said, adding all development works will be done without disturbing the culture and lifestyle of the community by utilising manpower available locally.

She said her government will identify some villages as ‘milk villages’ where facilities of collection, testing and market distribution of milk and other products from it would done scientifically and professionally to save the milk producers from the exploitation of middlemen.

The Chief Minister directed all Deputy Commissioners that nomads carrying livestock from one area to another should not be harassed and also told them to take into confidence members of advisory board while deciding projects regarding community welfare in those districts.

The idea behind constructing Mughal Road and other roads was to connect the Gujjars with other communities and put them on the track of development, the Chief Minister said.

“Forests and Gujjars have been living together as per the law of the nature and everything would be done to give them their dues. An institutional mechanism would be evolved to determine and quantify the modalities in this regard, Mufti said.

She also directed the departments concerned to ensure that the works being done for the welfare of the community are not delayed for want of funds.

New Delhi, June 12: Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday asserted that there are no plans to privatise Railways and said that government has made passenger safety  the important priority of the Railways.
“Let me make it very clear that there are no plans to privatise railways,” Mr Goyal told mediapersons while highlighting the achievements of the Railway Ministry in the last four years.
He added that there were no proposals of privatising the Railways and in future also it will not be privatised.
Mr Goyal also launched two mobile apps, ‘Rail Madad’ (Mobile Application for Desired Assistance During Travel), which is for the passengers to register their complaints while travelling, and ‘Menu on Rails’ is for the passengers to order food while travelling.
The railway Minister interacted regional media in 12 cities – Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Chennai, Guwahati, Imphal, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Pune, Patna, Raipur, and Ranchi, via video conferencing simultaneously.
Mr Goyal also said that the bullet train project was on track and the concerns over the project will be resolved soon.
Stressing that safety is paramount, the Railway Minister said that the massive work undertaken for maintenance of tracks was causing train delays.
“Safety of passengers is paramount for us. There are trains delays in some parts. It is because of the maintenance of the track, which was due for decades. Passengers knows that the Railways is getting future ready”, said Mr Goyal
Criticising the previous UPA government, the Minister said that even after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced Rail Safety Fund in 2003-04, it did not considered for 10 years.
“That is why we got unsafe Railway as asset. While the trains in the last two decades doubled, the maintenance of the track was delayed”, he said.
He said that 59 percent increase in the average pace of commissioning new lines from 4.1 km (2009-14) to 6.53 Kms per day (2014-18). He also informed that with the Dedicated Freight Corridors, Railways is moving towards the target of decongesting and drastically improving passenger and freight services.
The Minister said that accidents reduced to 62 percent from 118 in 2013-14 to 73 in 2017-18.
Addressing the issue of unsafe crossings on a war footing, the Minister said that 5,479 Unmanned Level Crossings have been eliminated in the last four years. 1.1 lakh safety posts are also being filled-up through recruitment amongst other measures to improve safety.
The Minister said Railways is improving passenger services including a complete makeover of stations by installing modern facilities including escalators, lifts, free wifi, while instilling local art and culture in the design.

New Delhi, June 27: Skill India will support ‘Skill for Life, Save a Life’ initiative of the Health and Family Welfare Ministry and train 14 lakh candidates by 2025.
Reiterating the strength and success of government’s One India Team and showcasing seamless convergence and cross organisational collaboration, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), jointly with the Ministries of Health and Human Resource Development (HRD), signed an MoU with the Indira Gandhi Open University (IGNOU), to make youth more employable in the healthcare sector and find opportunities of employment, with ease.
The Health Ministry had identified various critical thematic areas for training and standardised course curriculum for 10 short term courses pertaining to health sector, which were formally released under the ‘Skill for Life, Save a Life’ initiative, jointly with the MSDE.
The combined objective under this MoU is to scale up the health programmes, create trained personnel in
healthcare sector, specially in the preventive and tertiary care segment; and set up a dedicated cell for developing, implementing and certifying the skill-based programmes at IGNOU.
‘Skill development in India is moving with great speed and scale and this has only been possible with the support of our partner ministries. This is yet another milestone collaboration that we are witnessing today.
‘It is a matter of great pride for us to enable this level of convergence and coordination, which will be able to translate partnerships into meaningful public good and opportunities for all,’ said MSDE Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday.
The vision of Prime Minister of Ayushman Bharat will only be possible through the creation of a large qualified, skilled and competent healthcare workforce, he added.
‘These courses are mostly in preventive and tertiary care sector and need a lot of practical training, along with individual compassion. Our courses under Skill India will ensure that our programmes have a defined curriculum, which will yield maximum quality benefit to candidates training in them. All the courses under this initiative will be aligned to the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF),’ he stated.
Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar said these were very specialised courses, which need special focus on quality training of the professionals.
‘With the increase in the average number of years a person is expected to live and increasing lifestyle diseases, our country needs more of such professionals, who can take care of the aged and the needy. This is not only an opportunity for the youth to explore opportunities of employment, but is a great service to the mankind,’ he said.
Addressing the gathering after the MoU signing ceremony, Health and Family Welfare Minister JP Nadda said, ‘Skill development will form the future roadmap for our nation’s growth and well-being.
‘We have begun our pilot with 10 courses and we are certain that we will very soon align with the remaining job roles as well to the National Skill Qualification Framework under Skill India. We have a heavy focus on wellness, along with healthcare,’ he added.
A robust monitoring and assessment framework will be established under the MoU, to ensure that the Health Ministry standards are followed stringently and financial assistance is provided to IGNOU for establishing the structure and initiating the programmes.
These courses, available at a nominal fee of Rs 5,000 only, include the General Duty Assistant, Geriatric Care Assistant, Phlebotomist, Home Health Aide, Diabetes Educator, Dietetic Aide and Sanitary Health Inspector.

Amaravati, Jun 20 : Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take a favourable decision on the establishment of Steel Plant in YSR Kadapa district in the state.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, a copy of which was released to the media here on Wednesday, the Chief Minister said that under Schedule-XIII of AP Re-organisation Act, under the infrastructure head, it has been stated that the SAIL shall examine, within six months from the appointed day, the feasibility of establishing an Integrated Steel Plant in YSR Kadapa District.
Mr Naidu explained to the Prime Minister that the Ministry of Steel sent a communication on June, 17, 2015 regarding the feasibility study of SAIL on setting up of 3 MTPA Integrated Steel Plant in Kadapa.
It is learnt that the task force had so far conducted six meetings. Based on the meetings, a team of four members visited mines and steel plant site areas in Andhra Pradesh along with various officials of state government. The MECON, which is now the consultant for the project visited iron ore mining areas of Anantapur District and proposed land sites of Koparthi and Kambaladinne in Kadapa District.
Further, the land details and Topo Sheets were sent to the Mecon, as required, and accordingly the MECON has submitted the feasibility report to the Union Steel Ministry, on February 14, 2018.

Shillong, Jul 11: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said that a “New India” won’t be created unless there is no “New North East”.
Addressing the concluding 67th Plenary meeting of the North Eastern Council (NEC) here in Meghalaya, Mr Singh said the central and state governments in the Northeast should take advantage of the improving security scenario to develop the region hit by decades of insurgency.
The plenary meeting was attended by Governors and Chief Ministers of the northeastern states, besides Development of North Eastern Region Minister Jitendra Singh and top government officials.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a dream of New India by 2022. The dream of ‘New India’ will be realised with the vision of a ‘New North East’, the Home Minister said.
Stating that ‘New North East’ will emerge with better Road Connectivity and Information Technology, Mr Singh, who is also the NEC Chairman, said, “The North East needs better Road Connectivity and the economic potential of the
region will be realised with better connectivity.”
Stressing on the need to provide internet connectivity, he said, “If we can provide quality broadband services in the region the youth of the North East will find the employment opportunities closer to their home. It would also stop the migration of local youth to distant areas of the country.”
Stating that ITIs and Polytechnic Institutes should play a role in Skill Development, Mr Singh said, “NEC should also consider setting up the Regional Institute for Skill Development to create employment and income generation and help in containing the insurgency problems in the region.
“The North-Eastern states need to create a conducive environment for private investments which should make the investors feel safe and their problems are addressed. It will give a big boost to investments,” he said.

Kolkata, Jun 2 : The West Bengal Government is planning to set up comprehensive geriatric care units in various districts hospitals of the state.
The units would be exclusive centres for the elderly, which would understand their medical backgrounds and offer them customised care.
The project will be carried out in various phases, with pilot projects in some districts to start with.
Currently, there are separate arrangements for elderly citizens in the outpatient departments (OPD) of all the State-run hospitals and medical colleges in Bengal.
The existing infrastructure of elderly care in some of the hospitals across the State will be given a complete overhaul.
Specialised geriatric care centres would be set at the district-level where proficient geriatricians and allied medical professionals will provide comprehensive assessment to address all-round needs of a patient and recommend the best treatment.
According to sources in the Health Department, there are plans to divide the geriatric care centres into four zones – Outpatient Care, In-Patient Care, Emergency Care and Home Healthcare.
They will offer comprehensive physical, cognitive and psycho-social assessments, a personal care plan, rehabilitation, and recommendations on safe use of medicines.