Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that more than one million stranded Indians have now benefited from Vande Bharat Mission.

In a tweet, Mr Puri said, more than 9 lakh Indians have returned to India through various means and more than 1 lakh 16 thousand have flown out to various countries since 6th May of this year. He said, yesterday three thousand 124 Indians have returned from various countries. Mr. Puri expressed hope that Phase 5 of the mission will provide benefit to more citizens.

A record 51 thousand 255 recoveries from Covid-19 have been registered today in the country. This is the highest number of recoveries in a single day since the COVID-19 outbreak in the country. With this, the recovery rate has improved to 65.43 per cent. The case fatality rate of coronavirus has further declined to 2.13 per cent.

The Health and Family Welfare Ministry today said, a total of 11 lakh 45 thousand 629 people have recovered in the country so far. In the last 24 hours, 54 thousand 735 new cases of Covid-19 have been reported, taking the total number of cases to 17 lakh 50 thousand 723. Presently, the total number of active corona cases in the country is five lakh 67 thousand 730. In a single day, 853 deaths have also  been reported taking the nationwide toll to 37 thousand 364.

Meanwhile, the Indian Council of Medical Research said that a total of four lakh 63 thousand 172 tests were conducted by various laboratories within 24 hours. So far, one crore 98 lakh 21 thousand 831 tests have been conducted in the country. At present, one thousand 344 laboratories across India are conducting Covid-19 tests that includes 913 government laboratories and 431 private laboratory chains.

European Union has called for a more united approach from its 27 member countries against an authoritarian China. In an interview to German media, EU’s High Representative for foreign and security policy, Josep Borrell said, China has become more aggressive in its neighbourhood, especially in the South China Sea or on the border with India. He said, Chinese leaders did not hesitate to leave aside international commitments with the imposition of the Hong Kong National Security Law.

Borrell also called for a more coordinated approach among the EU, US and other democratic powers like India. He said, EU and US should be at the heart of this effort, but we should also be working closely with Japan, India, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and others.

Pondering steps to deal with China, Borell said, we can consider measures such as extending visas for Hong Kong citizens, restricting student exchanges with China, banning exports of tear gas.

The World Health Organization has warned that the coronavirus pandemic is likely to be lengthy. The statement comes after an emergency committee of WHO met to evaluate the crisis six months after sounding the international alarm.

The committee also warned of the risk of response fatigue given the socio-economic pressures on countries. The panel gathered for the fourth time over the coronavirus crisis, half a year on from its January 30 declaration of a public health emergency of international concern – the WHO’s highest level of alarm.

The committee highlighted the importance of sustained community, national, regional, and global response efforts.

The committee urged the WHO to provide nuanced and pragmatic guidance on COVID-19 reactions to reduce the risk of response fatigue in the context of socio-economic pressures.

The committee also urged the agency to accelerate research into the remaining critical unknowns of the virus.

In a bid to augment the testing facilities, the Odisha government has allowed private hospitals, nursing homes and laboratories to conduct COVID-19 tests through Rapid Antigen and RT-PCR methods. The government issued a separate set of guidelines for conducting sample tests both under Rapid Antigen and RT-PCR.

The private health establishments have to abide by the ICMR norms.

The sample test results should first be informed to the state authorities before being released to the person whose test was conducted, the notification said.

For Rapid Antigen tests, the private bodies can charge a maximum of 450 rupees, while the price for RT-PCR tests is fixed at 2,200 rupees per test. The nursing homes, hospitals and laboratories should be mandatorily registered under the Odisha Clinical Establishment (control & regulation) Act, 1990.

The manpower to be deployed for the purpose must be trained properly in consultation with the chief district medical and public health officers.

In a bid to augment the testing facilities, the Odisha government has allowed private hospitals, nursing homes and laboratories to conduct COVID-19 tests through Rapid Antigen and RT-PCR methods. The government issued a separate set of guidelines for conducting sample tests both under Rapid Antigen and RT-PCR.

The private health establishments have to abide by the ICMR norms.

The sample test results should first be informed to the state authorities before being released to the person whose test was conducted, the notification said.

For Rapid Antigen tests, the private bodies can charge a maximum of 450 rupees, while the price for RT-PCR tests is fixed at 2,200 rupees per test. The nursing homes, hospitals and laboratories should be mandatorily registered under the Odisha Clinical Establishment (control & regulation) Act, 1990.

The manpower to be deployed for the purpose must be trained properly in consultation with the chief district medical and public health officers.

The death toll in Punjab’s spurious liquor tragedy has risen to 86. Tarn Taran alone accounted for 63 deaths, followed by 12 in Amritsar and 11 in Gurdaspur’s Batala. Chief Minister Amarinder Singh suspended seven excise officials and six policemen. Among the suspended officials are two deputy superintendents of police and four station house officers. State government also announced a compensation of 2 lakh rupees for each of the families of the deceased.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has begun investigations into the Majha tragedy. ED has started collecting information about the financial transactions by those named or booked in the case. The recoveries and assets of the key accused need to be thoroughly probed. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that New Education Policy (NEP) will transform job seekers into job creators. Addressing Smart India Hackathon 2020, he said the NEP is not just a policy but a compilation of aspirations of all the Indians.

The Prime Minister gave a mantra to students and said, never stop three things in life – learning, questioning and solving. The Prime Minister said that the time has come for increased focus on learning, research and innovation in the field of education. He said, the 21st century is the era of knowledge and this is exactly what New Education Policy does.

The Prime Minister said we are focussing on the quality of education in the country. Elaborating on the Centre’s attempts to transform the content and method of imparting education in the country, Mr Modi said, the New Education Policy emphasizes on inter-disciplinary study, which will ensure that the focus is on what the student wants to learn instead of being compelled to learn.

Mr Modi also said that India is shifting from the burden of school bags to the boon of learning. He said, Languages of India will develop more due to the changes brought about in the education policy. This will not only increase India’s knowledge but will also increase the unity among its people, the Prime Minister told the students participating in the Smart India Hackathon 2020. This year, around 10,000 students are participating in the hackathon.

The grand finale of Smart India Hackathon 2020 (Software) is being held from August 1 to 3. He also interacted with students and enquired about their projects ranging from women’s hygiene products to crime detection technologies to water harvesting. This year, over 4.5 lakh entries were received for the competition.

Jaisalmer nicknamed “The Golden city”, is a city in the Indian state of Rajasthan, located 575 kilometres (357 mi) west of the state capital Jaipur. The town stands on a ridge of yellowish sandstone and is crowned by the pad Jaisalmer Fort. This fort contains a royal palace and several ornate Jain temples. Many of the houses and temples of both the fort and of the town below are built of finely sculptured sandstone. The town lies in the heart of the Thar Desert (the Great Indian Desert) and has a population, including the residents of the fort, of about 78,000. It is the administrative headquarters of Jaisalmer District. Jaisalmer was once the capital of Jaisalmer State.
Jaisalmer is named after Rawal Jaisal, a Bhati ruler who founded the city in 1156 AD. Jaisalmer means the Hill Fort of Jaisal. Jaisalmer is sometimes called the “Golden City of India” because the yellow sandstone used throughout the architecture of both the fort and the town below, imbues both with a certain golden-yellow light.

Loaction:
It is the largest district of Rajasthan and 3rd largest Town by territorial region in the country, hugged on the west & south-west by the Pakistani border. The length of the international border attached to Jaisalmer District is 464 km (288 mi). It is located 790 kilometres away from the national capital Delhi.
Places to visit
Jaisalmer fort:
Built in 1156 by the Bhati Rajput ruler Jaisal, Jaisalmer Fort, situated on Meru Hill and named as Trikoot Garh has been the scene of many battles. Its massive sandstone walls are a tawny lion colour during the day, turning to a magical honey-gold as the sun sets. The famous Indian film director Satyajit Ray wrote a detective novel and later turned it into a film − Sonar Kella (The Golden Fortress) which was based on this fort. About a quarter of city’s population still live inside the fort. The main attractions inside the fort are: Raj Mahal (Royal palace), Jain temples and the Laxminath temple.

Gadsisar Lake:
Excavated in 1367 by Rawal Gadsi Singh, it is a scenic rainwater lake surrounded by the small temples and shrines of Amar Sagar. Earlier, this lake was used to be the main water source of Jaisalmer. Due to an
increased water demand for agriculture, the lake is increasingly threatened to dry out.

Festival:
Desert Festival of Jaisalmer is the most awaited and famous cultural and colourful event of Rajasthan. Camel races, Turban-tying and Mr. Desert competitions are organised. It is held in the month of February every year. The festival showcases Rajasthani folk songs and dance and it is very attractive to foreign tourists. Gair and Fire dancers which are the major attraction of the Jaisalmer desert festival celebrations. This is the best time to visit Jaisalmer to witness performing arts like Kalbelia dances and folk songs and music.

Desert:
The Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert, is a large arid region in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent that covers an area of 200,000 km² and forms a natural boundary between India and Pakistan. It is the world’s 17th largest desert, and the world’s 9th largest subtropical desert.

Introduction

The agenda of inclusivity and sustainability has become the focus of policy framework both at national and international level. The approach of development through “including” the general mass is directed towards a broad based growth, shared growth, and pro-poor growth.

World Bank defines the IG as follows:
“Inclusive Growth refers both to the pace and pattern of growth, which are interlinked and must be addressed together.”
Thus, in broad sense, IG means the inclusion of all sections of society in the process of economic development and sharing of its benefit. Therefore, IG is not only an outcome or end but a process or a mean in itself.

Dimensions of IG

These are the pillars of the building block of IG, or in simple terms, these are the ideals on which IG is based. Without these ideals, the IG remains superfluous in its merit.
• Economic Growth
India is among the fastest-growing major economies in the world. However, currently Indian economy is facing slowdown due to both cyclic and structural challenges.
However, the target of becoming a $ 5 trillion economy by 2024-25 can allow India to reduce inequality, increase social expenditure and provide employment to all.

• Equality:
Equality of opportunity in terms of access to markets, resources, and unbiased regulatory environment are the ends to mean of equality. In-equalities exist in various manners which are social inequalities, rural-urban divide, regional disparities, digital divide etc. To realize the IG in its ultimate form, equality is the most fundamental criteria. IG and equality impact each other. Without equality, IG can’t be achieved and lack of IG may lead to in-equality in real or perceived forms. Thus, IG and equality are mutually reinforcing. In contemporary economic environment, gender equality has become a basic element of IG. Gender inequality is a pervasive problem in Indian social set-up which has adverse effect on women. Although Indian economy has progressed, the equality has retrograded at all levels whether social or economic. An OECD report has identified that inequality in India has been continuously rising which has posed policy challenges in promotion of inclusiveness.

• Technological Advancement
The world is moving towards an era of Industrial Revolution 4.0. These technological advancements have capabilities to both decrease or increase the inequality depending on the way these are being used.
Technology can help to combat other challenges too,
• Agriculture- Modern technology can help in making an agro-value chain from farmer to consumer more efficient and competitive.
• Manufacturing– Technology can resolve the problems of finance, procuring raw materials, land, and linkages with the user market. GST was made possible only with the help of sound technology.
• Education– Innovative digital technologies can create new forms of adaptive and peer learning, increasing access to trainers and mentors, providing useful data in real-time.
• Health– Technologies could transform the delivery of public health services – extend care through remote health services.
• Social Development
It means the empowerment of all marginalised sections of the population like SC/ST/OBC/Minorities, women and transgenders.
Empowerment can be done by improving institutions of the social structure i.e. hospitals especially primary care in the rural areas, schools, universities, etc.
Investment in social structures will not only boost growth (by fiscal stimulus) but will also create a healthy and capable generation to handle future work

• Sustainability
In long term, it has been identified that, there has been a gross mismatch between the outcomes of the Indian Economic Planning for IG with respect to environment. Although, Indian economy has witnessed a rapid growth, there has been a decline in the environment and standard of living of the poor. In the issues related to IG as discussed ahead, it has been elaborated that Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization (LPG) has put a sheer pressure on the environment and created a rural-urban divide. Sustainability and IG can’t be achieved in isolation and they supplement each other.

• Good Governance:
In simple words, governance means the regulatory, monitoring or controlling process which facilitates the devilry of the government services. Good governance results in effectiveness and efficiency, it upholds justice in the rule of law, and accountability and it encourages popular participation, consensus, and equality. Tenth plan defines governance in following way”.

As per OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), inclusive growth is economic growth that is distributed fairly across society and creates opportunities for all.

Defining inclusive growth, rapid pace of economic growth is necessary for substantial poverty reduction and for the growth to be sustainable in the long run, it must be broad based across sectors and inclusive of large part of a country’s labour force.
Promoting inclusive growth requires policymakers to address both growth and income distribution, so it requires an understanding of the relationships between growth, poverty and inequality. Economic growth is a prerequisite for poverty reduction when income distribution is held constant. The acknowledgment that inequality affects the impact of growth on poverty reduction has led to a broad agreement that it is necessary to look beyond a ‘growth-first’ agenda in order to successfully deliver inclusive growth.

The United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are
Countries have committed themselves to time-bound targets of prosperity, people, planet, peace, partnership (five P’s) keeping in line with the United Nations 2030 agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. The Paris Agreement, which is part of the SDG framework, requires every country to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by mid-century . In order to achieve results in SDG, policy frameworks adopted by the Governments play a crucial role. The three principle layers to measure government efforts to implement the long-term objectives of the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement:
The SDG index summaries countries’ current performance and trends on the 17 SDGs.India ranks 115 in 2019.
In the context of India’s inclusive growth trajectory, the strategies of Inclusive growth and development came into the attention in the progressing policies of emerging market economies (EMEs) with higher economic growth rates. With an accelerated economic growth rate, Indian policy makers too moved their concentration on Inclusive growth and expansion while formulating the 12th five-year plan.Thus, the plan targeted deprived sections of the Indian population, health, employment, rural urban infrastructure, women and child development and social security measures against the backdrop of the strategy.

Key elements of inclusive growth

Since globalization, significant improvement in India’s economic and social development made the nation to grow strongly in the 21st century. The following factors encouraged India to concentrate more on inclusive growth:
• India is the 7th largest country by area and 2nd by population. It is the 12th largest economy at market exchange rate and 4th largest by PPP. Yet, India is far away from the development of the neighbourhood nation, i.e., China.
• The exclusion in terms of low agriculture
• There are so many studies that estimate that the cost of corruption in India amounts to over 10% of GDP. Corruption is one of the ills that prevent inclusive growth.
• Although child labour has been banned by the law in India and there are stringent provisions to deter this inhuman practice, still, many children in India are unaware of education as their lives are spoiled to labour work.
• Literacy levels have to rise to provide the skilled workforce, required for higher growth.
Achievement of 9% of GDP growth for
• as a whole is one of the boosting factors which gives the importance to the Inclusive growth in India.
• Reducing poverty and other disparities and raising economic growth is the key objectives of the nation through inclusive growth.

Measuring Inclusive Growth

Inclusive Development Index (IDI)
In the Inclusive Development Index (IDI) compiled by the World Economic Forum (WEF), India ranked 62nd out of 74 emerging countries and was among the least inclusive countries in Group of 20 (G-20) countries.
The IDI is based on the idea that most people base their country’s growth not on GDP but by their own standard of living.
It gives a measure of inequality based on three parameters: :
• Growth and development
• Inclusion
• Inter-generational equity and sustainability.
India also did not make it to the top 10 most inclusive emerging and developing economies, where its neighbours Nepal, China and Sri Lanka made a mark.
India performed its best in terms of “intergenerational equity and sustainability”, ranking 44th, for which credit can be attributed to its demographic dividend

Measures Taken by India to Achieve Inclusive Growth

Several schemes are being implemented by the government for inclusive growth which includes the following:
• Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act Scheme (MGNREGA)
• Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP)
• Mudra Bank scheme
• Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY)
• Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana- National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM)
• Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA)
• National Rural Health Mission (NRHM)
• Bharat Nirman
• Swachh Bharat Mission
• Mission Ayushman
• Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana
• Government is working with NGOs and International groupings in policy making eg:
o DISHA Project is being implemented in partnership with UNDP for creating employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for women in India.
• NITI Aayog’s Strategy for New India @75 has the following objectives for the inclusive growth:
o To have a rapid growth, which reaches 9-10% by 2022-23, which is inclusive, clean, sustained and formalized.
o To have an inclusive development in the cities to ensure that urban poor and slum dwellers including recent migrants can avail city services.
o To make schools more inclusive by addressing the barriers related to the physical environment (e.g. accessible toilets), admission procedures as well as curriculum design.
o To make higher education more inclusive for the most vulnerable groups.
o To provide quality ambulatory services for an inclusive package of diagnostic, curative, rehabilitative and palliative care, close to the people.
o To prepare an inclusive policy framework with citizens at the center

Conclusion

• Indian government along with the state gouvernments and local governments should continue to focus on eradicating poverty and achieving sustainable development in order to improve the lives of India’s people.
• Inclusive growth will help in the empowerment of vulnerable and marginalized populations, improve livelihoods, and augment skill-building for women.

Stress management policies and procedures are then explained and specified for each significant type of a stressors . This is done using a case study of an organisation , where it shows how this firm deals with each kind of different stressor.

Introduction

Stress is a dynamic condition in which an individual confronted with an opportunity, constraint and demand related to what he or she desires and for which the outcome is perceived to be both uncertain and important.

Organizations are mainly concerned with work stress . Nevertheless , organisations provide training to their employees how to manage other personal stresses, since it affects work performance . In addition, organisation always follow up with economical , environmental and political stresses , since they all directly affect organisational work and increase their internal stress.

Types of stress

(i) Challange stressors (beneficial stressors) : Stress associated with workload, pressure to complete tasks , and time urgency. They enhance motivation, energy, alertness, and positive attitude.

(ii) Hindrance stressors (negative stressors) : Stress that keeps you from reaching your goals , and leave a feeling of depression , Anxiety , or pressure , such as red tape , role ambiguity , role conflict, role overloaded, job insecurity etc. and they cause greater harm than challenge sterssors.

sources of stressor:

# Environmental factors:

i) Political uncertainties of political systems

ii) Economic uncertainties of the business cycle : Many organisations are downsizing , so workers are afraid of losing their jobs.

iii) Technological uncertainties of technical innovations, where many technologies are replacing human forces, and other require high technical education in order to use, which forces employees to always keep learning and following up with these technologies.

Organisational factors:

• Long working hours
• Work- life balance
• Retirement plan
• Safety fears
• security Hassles
• Job stability and fear of downsizing
• Stress to produce
• Stress to abide by rules
• Stress to live up to expectations
• Task demand related to the job
• Role demands for functioning in an organisation
• Interpersonal demands created by other employees, stress to interact with other co-workers, supervisors, and to do this without causing hardship to ourselves or other.
• work place diversity

Personal factors:

i》Family and personal relationships

ii》 Economic problems from exceeding earning capacity

iii》Personality problems arising from basic disposition

Consequence of stress

Stress are additive. High level of stress can lead to these following symptoms :

• Physiological : Blood pressure, Headache and Stroke
• Psychological : Dissatisfaction, tension, anxiety, irritability, boredom and procrastination . These effects are greater when roles are unclear in the presence of conflicting demands.
• Behavioral : Changes in job behaviours , increased smoking and drinking , different eating habits, rapid speech, fidgeting and sleep disorders .

Cost of stress on Organisation

a) Lowered productivity

b) Excessive absenteeism

c) Increased insurance costs

d) Increased turnover

An organisation implementation of stress management

The following are demonstrations of several kinds of stressor and solutions that organisation’s management implements for them:

Long working hours:

# Management teaches and trains its employee on the following:

• good time management techniques, and never to delay work for the last minutes etc.
• The organisation applies recognition and rewards programs
• Managers give positive reinforcement : they tell their employees when they do a good job , and compliment on it.
• Change employees’ attitudes and current positive self- talk : how to think of successful situations as a challenge to your creative thinking, Always say, “I am capable of doing it, it’s good for me to enhance my capabilities and learn new tough skills etc.”

Work- life Balance :

• Applying flex-time , especially for females who have children and house responsibilities , where do not have to be restricted to come and leave at a specific time , as long as total sum of working hours still the same.
• Establishing nurseries in the organisation for the day care of employees’ children
• Applying labour law that states to offer paid vacations of minimum 21 days for employees (this varievaries according to each country)

Technology :

• The organisation employs specialized IT professional who is only responsible for assisting all employees on their IT related issues
• Tge organisation provides specialised training courses on any topic required for work advancement

Manager’s inability to find solutions for stress :

• The organisation encourages communication and always asks for feedback , where the HR manager is always accessible to any employee to listen to.
• The organisation always try to follow up all the corporate and business news , in addition to new studies published regarding work stress, how to spot in and solve it.

Security fears:

The organisation has done great efforts in making employees and people feel safe by applying laws for security checks , checking identities of visitors to the firm and not allowing unauthorized people to enter.

Retirement plans:

Applying social security system and pension fund, which is a great insurance and relief for employees in order not to worry about their retirement any more.

Job security and fear of downsizing:

The economic crisis is very complex. Unfortunately, layoffs and downsizing are forced on many organisations , and there is nothing that management can do internally to stop this issue.

# Workplace diversity

# Task demands related to job and Role demands of functioning in an organisation