Gujarat Chief Minister reviews progress of Nation’s largest aquatic gallery

Country’s largest aquatic gallery which is being set up in Ahmedabad will soon become a reality. Gujarat chief Minister Vijay Rupani today reviewed the progress of the nation’s largest aquatic gallery which is being developed at Ahmedabad science city. Mr Rupani said the aquatic gallery is being constructed with an outlay of Rs. 250 crore which will attract global science enthusiasts.

He said it will develop  curiosity towards  science in children and youth. On the occasion, Mr. Rupani also announced that science centers will be set up in all the districts in the state to satisfy  hunger for science among the children. He also reviewed the progress of the nature park and robotic gallery being  developed at Ahmedabad science city.

Centre allocates Rs. 5,117 crore grant to Madhya Pradesh under Jal Jeevan Mission

Central Government has allocated Rs. 5,117 crore grant to Madhya Pradesh under Jal Jeevan Mission to provide safe and potable piped drinking water to all the rural household in the state.

Jal Shakti Ministry said, keeping in view the commitment of the state to make provision of tap water supply in every rural home by 2023, the first tranche of more than Rs. 1,184 crore have been released.

Madhya Pradesh has one crore 23 lakh rural households, out of which more than 31 per cent have tap water supply at their homes.

The state is planning to provide 22 lakhs more tap water connections by March next year.

Jal Jeevan Mission was announced by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 15th August, 2019, which aims to provide tap water connection to every rural household of the country by 2024.

The total budget for the Mission in 2021-22 is Rs. 50 thousand crore.

UP Govt cancels Class 10th Board exam; reschedules Class 12th Exam

Due to COVID pandemic, Uttar Pradesh Government has cancelled the Class 10th Examination of State Education Board.

Exam of Class 12th has also been rescheduled and it will not take place in the month of July and the exam pattern will also be changed.

AIR correspondent reports, Education Minister Dr Dinesh Sharma made the announcement and said that due to COVID pandemic the exam of Class 10th of UP Board stands cancelled.

The decision will affect around 30 lakh students of state. He said that the Education Department has been asked to prepare the guidelines for the promotion of Class 10th students to Class eleventh.

Dr Sharma said that because of the importance of exams of Class 12th and the future of intermediate students of the UP board, it has been decided that the exam will take place in the second week of July.

The detailed time table of examination will be shared soon and the whole examination will be conducted in a time span of 15 working days.

He said that keeping in mind the present circumstances the duration of  exams of Class 12th will be of one and half hour only and students have to answer only three questions out of 10.

He said, that keeping in mind the COVID protocol and the importance of social distancing the number of centres for examinations have also been increased.

Around 26 lakh students are scheduled to appear in the intermediate exam of UP board.

Madhya Pradesh to start unlock from 1st June

The unlock process in Madhya Pradesh is beginning from June 1st. For this, the state government has issued a guideline. According to the state government, there will be separate unlock guidelines for the districts with more than 5 percent infection and less than 5 percent infection in the state.

Indore, Bhopal, Sagar and Morena districts of the state have more than 5 percent infection, so there are chemists, ration shops, grocery, fruit-vegetable, dairy, flour mill and animal feed in the urban areas of these districts Shops will not open more than 25 percent. These shops will be open only till 6 pm. At the same time, 50 percent shops will be opened in urban areas with less than five percent positivity rate.

A maximum of 10 people will be allowed to be present at the funeral. The wedding program will be able to have a maximum of 20 people from both sides. Social, political, sports, entertainment, cultural, religious events, shopping malls, swimming pools, theatres and picnic spots will be closed all over the state at present.

COVID vaccine trials in children in country going to begin soon: Govt

COVID vaccine is crucial in the fight against the Corona virus disease.

The liberalised and accelerated Phase-3 strategy of COVID-19 vaccination drive has already been started in the country.

Despite the government’s efforts to vaccinate all the beneficiaries in a fastest manner, some misinformation about vaccination is also there in some sections of the society.

One of the misconceptions is that the Centre is not taking steps to vaccinate children.

The Union Government has termed this as false.

AIR correspondent reports, the Union Government has said that no country in the world is administering COVID vaccine doses to children under the age of 12 years.

Also, the World Health Organization has no recommendation to vaccinate children.

However, there have been studies about the safety of vaccines in children which is encouraging.

The Centre has said, trials in children in India are also going to begin soon.

Recently, Bharat Biotech’s COVID vaccine Covaxin has been granted permission to conduct Phase-2 and 3 trials for the age group of two to 18 years.

The Expert Panel of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization had recommended the conduct of trials.

The Government has stressed that the decision to vaccinate children is to be made by the scientists based on the results of the trials.

PM expresses gratitude to Corona warriors; says country will emerge victorious as it did in 1st wave of COVID-19

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed gratitude to Corona warriors who played a major role in the fight against the second wave of COVID. He said delivering medical oxygen to remote parts of the country was indeed a huge task. Addressing the nation in his Mann Ki Baat programme in All India Radio, the Prime Minister said people have witnessed how India’s doctors, nurses and frontline warriors have toiled day and night without bothering about themselves to tackle the second wave.

He said the nation’s resolve has always been stronger than any challenge it may face. Mr Modi said in the midst of this pandemic, India is moving forward with the resolve of ‘service and cooperation’. He urged everyone to follow social distancing, and wear masks and get themselves vaccinated. The Prime Minister said demand for oxygen surged all of a sudden when the second wave came. Many plants manufacturing industrial oxygen are located in the eastern parts of the county.

He said cryogenic tanker drivers, Oxygen Express and Air Force pilots  worked on a war footing to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. Mr Modi spoke to Dinesh Upadhyay from Jaunpur of Uttar Pradesh who recounted his experience driving a tanker for liquid oxygen. The Prime Minister said a tanker driver comes across as a godsent messenger when he reaches a hospital with oxygen.

He lauded the Indian railways for facilitating transport of oxygen. Oxygen Express have transported large quantities of oxygen to all corners of the country, faster than oxygen tankers travelling by road. He said it is a matter of pride that one oxygen express is being fully run by women. He spoke to Shirisha Gajni, a loco pilot of Oxygen Express. Mr Modi also highlighted the important role being played by the Navy , Air Force, Army and institutions like DRDO. He said countrymen are keen to understand how they are facilitating the transport of oxygen. He spoke to Group Captain Patnaik from the Air Force on this issue.