Day: March 3, 2021

J&K tops medals tally at Khelo India Winter National Games in Gulmarg

Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir topped the medals tally in the second edition of Khelo India Winter National Games. J&K won 11 gold, 18 silver and 5 bronze medals. The five-day mega sports event which began on 26th of February, concluded in the famous ski resort of Gulmarg in the north Kashmir’s Baramulla district yesterday.
 
The event was e-inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In his address, Mr Modi had said that the second edition of Khelo India winter games is a major step towards making Jammu and Kashmir a hub of the winter games. In the event, more than 1,000 athletes from 27 states and union territories took part. The event was organised by the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in collaboration with the J&K Sports Council and the Winter Games Association of Jammu and Kashmir. 

US imposes fresh sanctions against Russia over Navalny issue

The United States has slapped sanctions on Russian individuals and entities over the near-fatal poisoning of prominent opposition figure Alexei Navalny with a nerve agent. Speaking to reporters, the senior White House officials said the sanctions were being imposed in coordination with the European Union, and urged the release of Navalny from prison.

The white house said these sanctions mark the first of several steps by the Biden administration to respond to a number of destabilizing actions. The sanctions are the first against Russia by the Biden administration. Meanwhile, Russia has condemned moves to impose sanctions. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said those who continue to depend on these measures should probably give it some thought. Vladimir Chizov, Russia’s envoy to the EU, said Moscow would respond to the latest round of EU sanctions imposed.

Swiss open badminton: Many Indians to play their opening round singles matches today

In Swiss Open Badminton Championship, many Indian players will play their singles opening matches today including P.V. Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, H.S. Prannoy, P. Kashyap and Sai Praneeth.In men’s singles, Kidambi Srikanth won his first round match beating fellow Indian Sameer Verma 18-21, 21-18, 21-11 today.In Women’s singles, P.V. Sindhu will take on Neslihan Yigit of Turkey, Saina will be clashing with Phittayaporn Chaiwan of Thailand.

Ajay Jayaram will meet Thailand’s Sitthikom Thammasin and P. Kashyap will square off against Spain’s Pablo Abian. Olympic hopeful Praneeth, who was forced to withdraw from the last event in Thailand after testing positive for COVID-19, will clashes with Israel’s Misha Zilberman.

Young Lakshya Sen, who missed the Thailand events due to an injury, will be rearing to go when he opens against Victor Svendsen of Denmark. H.S. Prannoy takes on Mark Caljouw of Netherlands, while Sourabh Verma will open against Switzerland’s Christian Kirchmayr.

In the men’s Doubles, the duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will play against the Scottish pair of Chistropher and Mathew Grimley. Ashwini Ponappa and N. Sikki Reddy will play their women’s doubles match against German pair of Annabella Jaiger and Stine Kuspert. 

Indian Air Force to participate for the first time in Exercise Desert Flag beginning in UAE today

Indian Air Force (IAF) will participate for the first time in Exercise Desert Flag which is beginning in Al-Dhafra airbase in UAE from today. Exercise Desert Flag is an annual multi-national large force employment warfare exercise hosted by the United Arab Emirates Air Force. The Indian Air Force is participating in the Exercise along with air forces of United Arab Emirates, United States of America, France, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Bahrain. The exercise will conclude on 27th of this month.

The Indian Air Force is participating with six Sukhoi Su-30 MKI, two C-17 and one IL-78 tanker aircraft. C-17 Globemaster will provide support for induction or de-induction of the IAF contingent. Su-30 MKI aircraft will undertake long range ferry, routing direct from India to the exercise area with aerial refueling support from IL-78 tanker aircraft. The aim of the exercise is to provide operational exposure to the participating forces while training them to undertake simulated air combat operations in a controlled environment.

The participating forces will get an opportunity to enhance their operational capabilities along with mutual exchange of best practices. The large-scale exercise involving diverse fighter aircraft from across the globe will provide the participating forces, including IAF, a unique opportunity to exchange knowledge, experience, enhance operational capabilities and interoperability. Exercising and interaction with the participating nations in a dynamic and realistic warfare environment will also contribute to strengthen international relations.

Over the last decade, IAF has regularly hosted and participated in multi-national operational exercises, wherein collaborative engagements are undertaken amongst the best air forces of the world.

Over one crore 56 lakh people vaccinated so far; Centre allows more private hospitals to administer COVID-19 vaccine

The COVID-19 recovery rate in the country has touched 97.06 per cent. The Health Ministry said, over 13 thousand people were discharged in the last 24 hours. Till now, over one crore 8 lakh 12 thousand people have recovered from the COVID-19 infection. In the last 24 hours, around 15 thousand new cases were reported. With this, the total number of cases have reached over one crore 11 lakh. The Ministry said, 98 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours. So far, over one crore 56 lakh beneficiaries have been vaccinated.
 
The Union Government has removed time constraints for COVID vaccination at hospitals and has allowed the facility for 24×7 vaccination facility. Confirming the decision today, Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that Hospitals don’t have to necessarily stick to a fixed schedule to vaccinate people against COVID-19 and can extend or advance the vaccination schedule any day. He added that this will help speed up the vaccination drive as more and more people become eligible for the life-saving jabs.
 
Dr. Harsh Vardhan stated that since all hospitals including private and government are involved in the inoculation drive and are linked with the CoWIN system, the flexible schedule allowed by the government will be applicable to both. He asserted that the flexible timing will also avoid crowding at the vaccination sites. The Health Minister added that States and Union Territories in consultation with private hospitals should open vaccination slots for 15 days to a month and announce this as part of their vaccine timetable.
 
The Centre has also decided to allow all the private hospitals empanelled to Ayushman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (AB-PM JAY) Central Government Health Scheme and similar State Health Insurance Schemes can function as COVID Vaccination Centres.
 
In a press release, the government has said, the decision was taken to utilise 100 per cent capacities of all private hospitals. The government also permitted those private hospitals not empanelled with the three schemes as a COVID Vaccination Centres. It said, the private hospital will be worked as COVID Vaccination Centres, if they have adequate number of vaccinators, adequate space for observation of the vaccinated, adequate cold chain arrangement and adequate arrangement for management of AEFI.
 
Ensuring the adequate allocation of vaccines to all hospitals, the governemnt said the Centre has adequate stock and will provide the required vaccine doses to the States and UTs. It added that States and UTs should not store, reserve, conserve or create a buffer stock of the COVID vaccines at the State and district levels. The government also asked the all Private Vaccination Centres to have in place effective crowd management protocols along with facilities for seating, water and proper signage.

PM urges People should do everything possible to ensure protection of country’s forests, safe habitats for animals

On World Wildlife Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has saluted all those working towards wildlife protection. He said, be it lions, tigers and leopards, India is seeing a steady rise in the population of various animals.

Mr Modi added that people should do everything possible to ensure protection of the country’s forests and safe habitats for animals.

New National Education Policy focuses on providing self-confidence to youth through education & skill, to build Aatmanirbhar Bharat: PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said that the Union Budget has broadened government’s efforts to link education with employability and entrepreneurial capability. He said, the second biggest focus after health in this year’s budget is on education, skill, research and innovation.
 
Addressing a webinar on implementation of Budget in education sector, Mr. Modi said to build Atmanirbhar Bharat, the youth of the country needs self-confidence which is directly connected to their education, knowledge and skill. He said, the new National Education Policy has been developed with this key thought. He also said, in the new National Education Policy, the use of the Indian languages has been encouraged and it is the responsibility of the experts of every language, how the best content of the world should be made available in Indian languages.
 
The Prime Minister said, it is an injustice to the nation to keep knowledge and research in limits. With this mindset, the government is opening up several sectors like agriculture, space, atomic energy and DRDO for youth. He added that India has tested the Hydrogen Vehicle and now the country has to make itself industry-ready to utilize hydrogen as a fuel for transport. He also said, future fuel and green energy are very important so as to make the country self-reliant in the energy sector. Thus, the Hydrogen Mission announced in the budget is a massive project.

Poor cyber security – Chinese cyber attacks on Indian vaccine development company servers

The claims of cyber intelligence agencies related to Chinese cyber attacks in India are very important in view of the country’s cyber security. One of these claims is related to US cyber intelligence company Future Recorded, which in its latest report has feared that China’s cyber attack may be responsible for the failure of the power grid in Mumbai last year. 

Reports suggest that labs of two Indian companies that make power grid and COVID vaccine were under Chinese cyber attack. These cyber attack attempts have not only exposed but also have given a future warning for cyber security,

Cyberma, the cyber intelligence firm of rating agency Goldman Sachs, claims that the servers of two Indian companies, Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech, engaged in the manufacture of the Corona vaccine, had been targeted by Chinese hackers for the past few weeks. Certainly these claims of cyber intelligence agencies are yet to be confirmed, but the threat of cyber attack from China is not new, even if it gives a million explanations. 

According to a New York Times report related to Future Recorded’s claim, in Ladakh when tension between India and China was at its peak, on October 12 last year, the power grid was targeted by a Chinese cyber attack that stalled power supplies in India’s commercial capital for several hours, and in the treatment of Corona patients which was a big obstacle. 

There is no reason to doubt the assurance of the Union Ministry of Power that cyber monitoring mechanism is working in the entire power supply system of the country. Not only this, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), the cyber security agency of India, is also not only fully prepared, but has also given power system operation corporation (POSOCO) handling the power grid in the country about the risk of possible cyber attack ,were also warned in November last year. Since cyber attack can be carried out with malware from thousands of kilometers away, there is a need to be very vigilant. 

Future Recorded’s report only shows the severity of this new threat, according to which how a country can be severely harmed without using weapons or fighting nuclear war, by putting malware in the electric grid or other sensitive infrastructure. The methods will not work, we need to be prepared to deal with cyber threats.

Changes in the National Food Security Act

 The NITI Aayog recently circulated a discussion paper on a proposed revision in the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013. The NFSA provides a legal right to persons belonging to “eligible households” to receive foodgrains at subsidised price– rice at Rs 3/kg, wheat at Rs 2/kg and coarse grain at Rs 1/kg — under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS). These are called central issue prices (CIPs). A revision of CIPs is one of the issues that have been discussed. The other issues are updating of the population coverage under the NFSA, and beneficiary identification criteria.

Under sub-section (1) of Section 3 of the Act, the term “eligible households” comprises two categories — “priority households”, and families covered by the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY). Priority households are entitled to receive 5 kg of foodgrains per person per month, whereas AAY households are entitled to 35 kg per month at the same prices. Under Schedule-I of the Act, these subsidised prices were fixed for “a period of three years from the date of commencement of the Act”. While different states began implementing the Act at different dates, the deemed date of its coming into effect is July 5, 2013, and the three-year period was therefore completed on July 5, 2016.

However, the government has yet not revised the subsidised prices. The government can do so under Schedule-I of the Act, after completion of the three-year period. To revise the prices, the government can amend Schedule-I through a notification, a copy of which has to be laid before each House of Parliament as soon as possible after it is issued. The Act has prescribed the coverage under “eligible households” — 75% of the rural population and up to 50% of the urban population. On the basis of Census 2011 figures and the national rural and urban coverage ratios, 81.35 crore persons are covered under NFSA currently. This overall figure has been divided among the states and Union Territories, based on the NSSO Household Consumer Expenditure Survey 2011-12. In its discussion paper, the NITI Aayog has suggested that the national rural and urban coverage ratio be reduced from the existing 75-50 to 60-40. if this reduction happens, the number of beneficiaries under the NFSA will drop to 71.62 crore (on the basis of the projected population in 2020).

To make these changes in the law, the government will have to amend sub-section (2) of Section 3 of the NFSA. For this, it will require parliamentary approval.

Besides the Food Ministry and the NITI Aayog, discussions on the proposed revisions include the Chief Economic Adviser and top officers of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. According to sources, several meetings have been held under the chairmanship of Prof Ramesh Chand, Member, NITI Aayog, to review the population coverage criterion. If the national coverage ratio is revised downward, the Centre can save up to Rs 47,229 crore (as estimated by the NITI Aayog paper). However, the move may be opposed by some of the states.

On the other hand, if the rural-urban coverage ratio remains at 75-50, then the total number of people covered will increase from the existing 81.35 crore to 89.52 crore —an increase of 8.17 crore. This estimate by the NITI Aayog is based on the projected 2020 population, and, according to the paper, will result in an additional subsidy requirement of Rs 14,800 crore.