5-kg rice packets to be supplied through PDS
: Union Minister of State for Food and Consumer Affairs K.V. Thomas said here on Saturday that the Centre would soon launch the pilot project of distributing 5-kg packets of rice to consumers in Kerala through the Public Distribution System as part of supplying quality rice and checking irregularities. This would replace the existing practice of transporting grains in 50-kg bags.
Presiding over a function to inaugurate a Food Corporation of India (FCI) godown, Mr. Thomas said the system was being implemented as per the Food Security Act.
Packaging process
The packing process of the 5-kg packets would begin in Punjab and Andhra Pradesh, he said.
The Union Minister said sugar would also come under the Food Security Act. This would benefit 82 crore people in the country, he said. He said the commission given to ration dealers would be increased.
There were allegations that ration dealers were involved in irregularities due to unattractive returns, he said.
The Centre would also support the State government in setting up small godowns near ration shops, he said. The godowns with storage capacity of 100 to 500 tonnes can be set up through the panchayats and Kudumbasree units, said Mr. Thomas.
The implementation of the Act would help the State save about Rs 600 crore annually, he said.
Video conferencing
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy delivered the inaugural message through video conferencing.
He said the venture was part of the Centre’s commitment to increase storage facilities of the FCI in the State.
Mr. Chandy said the UPA government was giving support to the State and the State government would set up godowns for grains with the support of NABARD.
Mr. Thomas inaugurated the godown
having a capacity of 5,000 tonnes on behalf of the Chief Minister.
Food and Civil Supplies Minister Anoop Jacob; P.T. Thomas, MP; and FCI chairman C. Vishwanath; spoke at the function.
Roadmap to tribal wellbeing
Recognising that health indicators are generally poor in the country’s tribal areas, the government has decided to develop a national framework and roadmap to improve the appropriateness, access, and quality of health services among the tribal population.
The national framework will be drafted by an expert committee constituted by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to better address healthcare challenges of the Scheduled Tribes population, particularly those living in the tribal districts and tribal development blocks.
As per the 2001 Census, the tribal population was 8.43 crore or eight per cent of the total population, with over 90 per cent living in rural areas with poor social indicators. North-eastern States have the highest tribal population followed by Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
Infant mortality, maternal mortality and neo-natal death figures are unacceptably high among the STs because of lack of healthcare infrastructure, low literacy rates and sometimes traditional practices.
In addition to reviewing the special schemes and programmes and interventions taken by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, identify gaps and deficiencies in their implementation, the expert committee will suggest strategic interventions for improved implementation.
This decision was taken in the wake of a general observation that the health indicators were generally poor in tribal areas and that there was a need to review the health programmes and approach to improve delivery and performance of health programmes in these areas.
The expert committee will prepare strategic guidelines for States to draw up Programme Implementation Plans, including model District Health Action Plans for tribal health based on tribal health issues and diseases burden, and review the available health data with a view to maintaining a regular database specific to tribal health.
The committee, chaired by Abhay Bhang (SEARCH), will have 12 members in addition to representatives from the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Secretaries of Department of Tribal Welfare from Chhattisgarh and Odisha and Commissioner Tribal Welfare of Andhra Pradesh as special invitees.
Asked to submit its report within six months, the expert group will also review the information on health infrastructure and availability of human resources and make recommendations on interventions to be made to create, or strengthen the existing infrastructure for health in tribal blocks.
The experts will examine and suggest interventions to address the specific needs of the tribal population, especially the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups, and suggest specific interventions necessary in collaboration with other Ministries to improve the social determinants of health in tribal areas, in addition to suggesting ways to improved supervision and monitoring systems.
The government sets up an expert committee to develop a national framework to improve the quality of healthcare available to tribals
NGO wins Google Global Impact Award
Bangalore-based NGO Janaagraha has been awarded the Google Global Impact Award. In a release, Janaagraha said the award was given “in recognition of its path-breaking hyper-local social change network, www.ichangemycity.com, which connects citizens with the local government and communities in their neighbourhood.”
The NGO’s www.ichangemycity.com has received more than 6,000 complaints from citizens and 4,000 of them have been resolved, the release said. The awards, which were announced at a function in New Delhi on Thursday, are given to entrepreneurial teams who ‘think on a global scale and have a healthy disregard for the impossible.’ ‘Scaling impact through technology’ was the tagline of Google's Global Impact Challenge.
4 organisations chosen
Four organisations have been chosen for the award, from among the 10 which made it to the finals.
The awardees were chosen by a panel of judges and public votes.
(The Hindu;international)
Iran supreme leader backs nuclear talks with West
The next round of talks with the five U.N. Security Council permanent members and Germany is scheduled for November 7 in Geneva.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, threw his weight on Sunday behind President Hassan Rouhani’s effort to solve a nuclear dispute with the West and lift crippling sanctions.
“The negotiating team has a difficult mission ahead of it and nobody should undermine its work or denigrate it as a concession,” he was quoted as saying by the Iranian news agency ISNA.
Mr. Rouhani’s efforts have come under attack from hardliners who have portrayed his approach as a surrender.
They have also termed a historic September telephone conversation between Mr. Rouhani and U.S. President Barack Obama a “diplomatic sell-out.”
“If these negotiations bear fruit, all the better. If they don’t, that means the country must stand on its own two feet again,” said the Ayatollah, who has the final say on strategic issues including the nuclear talks.
The next round of talks with the five U.N. Security Council permanent members and Germany is scheduled for November 7, 2013 in Geneva.
Proposed UK visa bond scheme to be scrapped
The controversial 3,000-pound “security bond” for some “high-risk” foreign visitors to the U.K., including those from India, is to be scrapped, the Home Office has confirmed.
The scheme, announced by Home Secretary Theresa May in June, was to come into force this month.
A Home Office spokesman confirmed a Sunday Times report that the policy would be scrapped.
Hugo Swire, Britain’s Minister of state for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs told PTI recently that “no decision was taken on the visa bond scheme”.
The decision is thought to have been taken after Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg threatened to block it.
India had also expressed its concern to the U.K. government both at the ministerial and official levels.
The aim of the scheme was to reduce the number of people from some “high-risk” countries -- including India, Pakistan, and Nigeria -- staying in the UK once their short-term visas expired.
Visitors would have paid a 3,000-pound cash bond before arrival in the UK that would have been forfeited if they failed make the return trip.
Hamad International Airport to be opened next year
After a series of missed openings, the much glorified Hamad International Airport will be officially opened early next year.
This was announced by the Qatar Minister of Transport Jassim Seif Al Sulaiti here recently. The high-tech airport, which has already incurred an expenditure of $ 15.5 billion to build, will be able to handle around 50 million passengers a year after it becomes fully operational in 2015. The airport, located a few kilometers from the existing Doha International Airport, was to open on several scheduled dates including April 1, but deferred due to civil defence issues.
On Tuesday, the Qatari administration allowed the international media includingThe Hindu right of entry to the airport. It will be the world’s first airport to accommodate unrestricted operations by all commercial aircraft, including the A380, the largest passenger aircraft ever built.
Officials say that the 2,200-hectare airport site, more than half of which is built on reclaimed land from the Arabian Gulf, combines both architectural flamboyance and technologically advanced systems. The iconic structure promises to offer an unrivalled experience for passengers, airlines and the local aviation community at large operating at the facility.
Forecasted for maximum development from 2015 onwards, the airport project will be implemented in phases. Work began in January 2005 on phase one. Both the runways having a length of 4,850-metre and 4,250-metre and capable of taking a fully loaded Airbus A380 aircraft have been completed.
The airport will incorporate a total of 41 wide body aircraft contact gates, together with over 40,000 square metres of space devoted to retail facilities, passenger lounges, and multi-story short-term and long-term parking.
Other features are a new Emiri Terminal complex for VIP flights with additional hardstands, cargo terminal buildings, aircraft hangars and associated airline and airport ancillary features. The complex has an airport hotel and a 100-room transit hotel within the terminal for the convenience of transfer passengers.
The airport has a six lakh sq. m. three-storey terminal with 22 remote gates and 41 contact gates, six of which will cater specifically for the A380. More than 40,000 sq.m. of retail facilities and passenger lounges have been provided at the airport.
There is an aircraft maintenance centre with a hangar that can accommodate up to 13 aircraft of different types at any one time, including Airbus A380s, A330s, A340s, A320 family of aircraft, Boeing 777s, next generation Boeing 787s and A350s.
Beyond 2015, the terminal building will be expanded to 9,00,000 sq.m. to handle 50 million passengers a year, officials said.
