India has crossed a crucial milestone in the fight against COVID-19. For the first time, a record number of more than 10.5 lakh COVID tests have been conducted in a single day.

With 10,55,027 tests conducted in the last 24 hours, India has further strengthened the national diagnostic capacity of testing more than 10 lakh samples daily.

With this achievement, the cumulative tests have crossed 4.14 crore (4,14,61,636). The Centre, keeping in view the evolving global context of COVID-19, conceptualised and implemented the Continuum of Care strategy of “Test, Track and Treat” in close coordination with the State/UT governments. Pivoted on the strong pillar of aggressive testing, the positive cases are identified early which enables and ensures that their contacts are efficiently tracked in a timely manner. This is followed up with prompt isolation in home or facility setting for the mild and moderate cases, and hospitalisation for the severe and critical patients.

The exponential jump in the testing capacity and cumulative tests has resulted in an upsurge in the Tests Per Million. They stand at 30,044 today.

WHO in its Guidance Note on “Public Health Criteria to Adjust Public Health and Social Measures in the Context of COVID-19” has advised comprehensive surveillance for suspected COVID-19 cases. WHO has advised that a country needs 140 tests/day/ million population. In another row of achievements, all State/UTs have crossed the advised number of tests. Several States have demonstrated better performance by registering Positivity Rate lower than the national average.

Shri B S Yediyurappa, Chief Minister of Karnataka and Shri Suresh C. Angadi, Minister of State of Railways today flagged off first ever RORO service of South Western Railway from Nelamangla (near Bengaluru) to Bale (near Solapur).

Speaking on the occasion, Shri B S Yediyurappa, Chief Minister of Karnataka said, “Our beloved Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji  is emphasizing on Multimodal connectivity. APMC Markets in the region offer tremendous scope for RORO.” He congratulated  Shri Suresh C. Angadi, Minister of  State of Railways for taking lead in the initiative and assured full cooperation from State Government.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Suresh C. Angadi, Minister of State of Railways said, “Multimodal connectivity is dream of Hon’ble Prime Minister. Thousands of trucks plying between Bengaluru and Solapur. With RORO travel time will be just 17 hours. This is trial run that got delayed due to COVID. Kisan Rail started to help farmers-agricultural produce can be transported across the country.”  The RORO service will bring faster development in the region.

He congratulated customer of today’s RORO service for taking initiative. He also congratulated all Railway staff for doing mammoth work.

Roll On Roll Off (RORO)is a concept of carrying road vehicles loaded with various commodities, on open flat railway wagons .Hon’ble PM ,in his recent Independence day speech ,has envisaged multimodal connectivity to take India to next level of development.

RORO services are combination of best features of road and rail transports in the sense that they offer door to door service with minimal handling transported by fat and direct rail link . Road transport has advantage of door to door delivery of goods. However, increasing traffic on roads is leading to congestion and delays to passenger vehicles.  This will cause unsafe travel conditions. Also, delays at interstate check posts due to inspection of various documents, etc. contribute to increased travel time.

On the other hand, Railways provide hassle free and environmentally friendly transport to medium to large quantum of freight.Rail transport is most fuel efficient of all means of transport and is much safer than road.

Advantages of RO-RO :

Roll-on-Roll-off is a multimodal delivery model with following advantages

• Faster movement of goods and essentials, reducing Time taken by trucks to reach destinations due to traffic congestion in between cities
• Reduces congestion on the roads
• Saves precious fuel
• Reduces carbon footprint
• Relief to crew of truck as it avoids long distance driving
• No hassles of check posts/toll gates etc
• Seamless Inter-operability between roadways & railways-Inter-modal transport on existing track
• Ensuring uninterrupted supply of essential commodities
• Free time for loading/ unloading is 3 hours
• Ro-RO will be reckoning force in “vocal for local” –
• Will boost our local MSME units by encouraging piecemeal /decentralized loading through trucks.
• RO-RO will help government initiatives like “operation green” to stabalize prices of  TOP(tomato,potato and Onion)
• Provides link between agriculture producing regions and agro consumption centres
• Ensures farmers get the right market and right price for their produce
• Connects and Balances the commodity deficient and surplus markets

RO-ROtrain services were first introduced in Indian Railways on Konkan Railways in 1999, and are running successfully since then.

In lockdown announced to control the spread of Covid-19 in the country, the RO-RO model came to the rescue for many transporters.

The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu today called for providing special care and support to the elderly in the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic. Highlighting the higher degree of risk faced by the older people in health emergencies like this, he also advised the youngsters and other family members to take extra precautions related to COVID-19 if there are elderly members at home.

In a facebook posts today on the ‘issues pertaining to the elderly population in India’, the Vice President said that seldom, one finds a separate geriatric department in District Hospitals to look after the old age health issues.

In view of the frequent health related problems faced by the elderly, he emphasised the need to reorient our health system to address the specific needs of the geriatric population, including insurance coverage.

The Vice President also called for providing the elderly an easy and barrier- free access to public places. Our cities and the facilities within them should be accessible to the elderly, he said.  

Mentioning various schemes for the welfare of senior citizens, Shri Naidu said that despite these government policies and programs, we still see the senior citizens facing lot of hassles in accessing various services.

Many a time, the elderly are made to stand for a long time in banks, public offices and in buses and trains, he rued and said “this attitude goes against the grain of our 5000 years old civilisation that prides itself in icons such as Lord Rama and Shravan Kumar”.

In this regard, he expressed the need to focus on creating awareness and sensitizing the government officials and the public at large on issues pertaining to the elderly. He also called for a robust grievance redress mechanism to resolve issues faced by them. 

Calling the senior citizens as the repository of knowledge and wisdom, the Vice President stressed that they deserve to be treated with respect, affection, care and dignity during the twilight years of their lives.

“It is the sacred duty of everyone, including the youngsters to take care of the elders”, he said.

Referring to a recent report on the status of ‘Elderly Population in India’ brought out by the Indian Association of Parliamentarians on Population and Development, Shri Naidu highlighted the fact that there are over 10 crore people in 60+ age group and their numbers are increasing at a faster pace than the population in general.

The report suggests that by 2050, elderly population will make 20 per cent of India’s population. It also says that a large proportion of elderly in India are living alone or are dependent on their children… and there is a certain degree of abuse faced by many of them.

Report also brings out the fact that issues related to the elderly get less attention in general as only a few questions were raised by the Parliamentarians on the issues of aging.

Shri Naidu expressed satisfaction over the increase in life expectancy due to modern medicine, but t the same time he also cautioned about the various problems faced by the elderly like lack of financial and emotional support.

Expressing anguish over the instances of neglect, abandonment and abuse of the elderly, he said that the way a society treats its senior citizens is a reflection of its culture and ethos.

Referring to the puranic tale of Lord Ganesh who circled around his parents equating them with the whole world, the Vice President said that respect for parents and elderly is an important lesson today’s generation can learn from Lord Ganesh.

Highlighting the reverence given to parents in Indian culture and society, he said when we do Charan Sparsh or touch the feet of the elders, we are acknowledging and respecting their affection, knowledge and experience.

He quoted an ancient saying- ‘by serving the elderly with devotion, one is blessed with long life, fame and strength’ and asked the youth to take inspiration from such ennobling thoughts.

Drawing attention to the phenomenon of elders’ home for senior citizens Shri Naidu said this not only highlights the changes in the society but is also a sad reflection of declining family values.

Is our society losing its moral compass, he asked and emphasised the need to reaffirm our faith in our age-old joint family system.

Bringing to fore the inherent social security in a joint family, the Vice President said the children of the family develop strong emotional bond with their grandparents. There is a kind of symbiosis that holds joint families together in comfort and security, he added.

“When we talk of peace and cohesiveness in society, we must understand that family is the fundamental unit to promote inter-generational bonding through respect and amity”, he said.

Maintaining that it is the collective attitude of the society as a whole that matters the most, the Vice President underlined the need to impart right values to the children and youth to ensure that the elders lead a comfortable, happy and satisfying life in their twilight years.

With more patients recovering and being discharged from hospitals and home isolation (in case of mild and moderate cases), India’s COVID-19 total recoveries have crossed 27 lakh today. Recovery of 27,13,933 patients has been made possible because of effective implementation of the Centre conceived and led policy of TESTING aggressively, TRACKING comprehensively  through timely surveillance of close contacts,& TREATING effectively through a widening medical care infrastructure across the country.

With the recovery of 64,935 cases in the last 24 hours, India’s Recovery Rate amongst the COVID-19 patients has improved to 76.61% and is demonstrating a continuous progress. The number of patients recovering is on a steady rise over the past several months.

The number of recoveries in India today exceeds the active cases by 3.55 times.

India has posted nearly 19.5 lakh (19,48,631) recoveries more than the active cases (765302, which are under active medical care). The record high recoveries have ensured that the actual caseload of the country viz. the active cases, continues to decline and currently comprises only 21.60% of the total positive cases. This has aided the fast widening gap between the number of patients recovered and the active cases.

Timely and effective clinical management of the patients in critical care through a slew of holistic measures has been instrumental in keeping the Case Fatality Rate low and on a steady downward trajectory. It has further dipped to 1.79% today.

For all authentic & updated information on COVID-19 related technical issues, guidelines & advisories please regularly visit: https://www.mohfw.gov.in/ and @MoHFW_INDIA.

Technical queries related to COVID-19 may be sent to technicalquery.covid19@gov.in and other queries on ncov2019@gov.in and @CovidIndiaSeva .

In case of any queries on COVID-19, please call at the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare helpline no.: +91-11-23978046 or 1075 (Toll-free). List of helpline numbers of States/UTs on COVID-19 is also available at https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/coronvavirushelplinenumber.pdf

Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari today inaugurated through video link, three important bridges and two road improvement projects in the Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra.  The Minister also laid foundation stones for four other major bridge projects across the rivers Wainganga, Bandiya, Perikota and Perimili.  These projects are considered crucial for improving mobility for socio-economic development of the Gadchiroli district. 

The projects inaugurated today were:

• 855 metre major bridge across Pranahita river on Nizamabad – Jagdalpur Road (NH 63) at a cost of Rs 168 crores,  
• 630 metre high level bridge across the Indravati River near Patagudam on Nizamabad – Jagdalpur Road (NH 63) at a cost of Rs 248 crores. 
• 30 metre high level bridge near Lankachen on Bejurpalli – Aheri Road,
• Improvement of Bejurpalli-Aheri Road (SH 275) between Watra and Moyabinpeta
• Improvement of Garanji – Pustola Road 

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Nitin Gadkari said with the construction of these key bridges, the National Highway connectivity in Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh –Telangana is complete now. “This is a dream which has come true after nearly 25 years, when it was conceived when I was a Minister in Maharashtra”. 

In the latest address of Mann ki Baat, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi talked about his deliberations with the Children University of Gandhinagar, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Micro-Small and Medium Enterprises on how to make new toys available to the children and how India could become a big hub of toy production. He noted that toys not only augment activity, they also give flight to our aspirations. Toys, not only entertain, they also build the mind and foster an intent too, he said.

Prime Minister recalled an anecdote about toys shared by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. He emphasized what Gurudev had said about toys – that the best toy is that which is incomplete, a toy that children together complete  while playing. Gurudev used to say that toys should be such that they bring out the childhood of a child and also his or her creativity, he said.

Prime Minister noted that in the National Education Policy, a lot of attention has been given on the impact of toys on different aspects of children’s lives. He said there are several skilled artisans who possess expertise in making good toys and some parts of the country like Channapatna in Ramnagaram in Karnataka, Kondaplli in Krishna in Andhra Pradesh, Thanjavur in Tami Nadu, Dhubari in Assam, Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh are also developing as Toy clusters. He added that while Global Toy Industry is worth more than 7 lakh crore rupees, India currently has a very little share in it.

Prime Minister praised the work done by Shri C V Raju of Vishakhapatnam, who, by making excellent quality eti-koppakaa toys, has brought back the lost glory of these local toys. He exhorted the entrepreneurs to team up for toys, saying it is the time to get vocal for local toys.

Talking about the trend of computer games, Prime Minister suggested making games based on the ideas and concepts of our history.

In the latest address of Mann ki Baat, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi said that the youth participated enthusiastically in the AatmaNirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge. He noted that nearly two thirds of the entries were made by the youth of tier two and tier three cities. Awards have been given to around two dozen Apps in different categories, he said, asking listeners to familiarise themselves with these Apps and to connect with them.

Prime Minister discussed about several of these apps, including Kutuki Kids Learning app, an interactive app for children; an app for micro blogging platform called  ku KOO ku; Chingari App which is getting popular among the youth; Ask Sarkar app to get right information about any government scheme; Step Set Go, a fitness app etc.

Prime Minister said that today’s small start-ups will transform into big companies tomorrow and become the mark of India in the world, adding that one should not forget that the big companies which exist in the world today, were also, once, start-ups.

India is one of the most vibrant IoT eco-systems in the world, with various supporting enablers making it conducive for companies looking to serve global demand beyond national boundaries. Government of India has introduced different policies and initiativesto leverage the benefits of these disruptive IoTtechnologies in multiple sectors. To harness the initiatives like Atmanirbhar Bharat, Digital India and Make in India, the Jal Jeevan Mission will be creating a smart rural water supply eco-system to measure and monitor the service delivery of the water suplly in rural areas.

Union Government’s flagship programme, Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) being implmeneted in partnership with States aims at providing Functional Household Tap Connection (FHTC) to every rural household of the country by 2024. The programme focuses on service delivery at the household level, i.e.  supply of 55 lpcd of water of prescribed quality on a regular and long-term basis. The mission focuses on ‘service delivery’, rather only on infrastructure creation.

In accordance to 73^rd Amendment to the Constitution, Gram Panchayats at village level are to manage drinking water supply. Thus, Gram Panchayat or its sub-committee, i.e. Village Water & Sanitation Committee/ PaaniSamiti are required to function as a ‘local public utility’ for drining water management, water service delivery, greywater treatment& reuse, and take care of operation and maintenance of in-village water supply infrastructure for assured drinking water supply on regular basis, collect user charges for delivery of water supply services. To facilitate States and Gram Panchayats or its sub-committee, i.e. PaaniSamiti, an automated system for measurement and monitoring of water service delivery is necessary. This necessitates the use of modern technology formeasurement and monitoring of the water service delivery and to capture and transmit service delivery data automatically for ensuring the quality of service.

It’s the endeavour of the Union Government to expand optic fibre network uptoall villages. Accordingly, Hon’ble Prime Minister announced that in next 1,000 days, all villages will be connected by fibre optic network. In almost whole country, telecom connectivity has reached. IoT strategies are increasingly used to monitor the water quantity and quality.Recent technological advancements (such as IoT, Big Data Analytics, AI/ML, Cloud) and declining costs of mobile data, hardware (sensors), and software provide an opportunity to digitise water supply infrastructure in rural India. Digitally enabled water supply infrastructure will help in near real-time monitoring and evidence-based policymaking. Digitisation of water supply infrastructure has the potential to help the Gram Panchayats as ‘local public utility’. More importantly, it will help anticipate and address future challenges.

National Jal Jeevan Mission has constituted aTechnical Expert Committee to prepare a road map for measurement and monitoring of water service delivery system in rural areas.The committee has eminent members from academia, administration, technology and specialistsfrom water supply sector.

National Jal Jeevan Mission andMinistry of Electronics &Information Technology planning to conduct an ICT Grand Challenge. The purpose of the ICT grand challenge is to bring an innovative, modular, and cost-effective solution to develop a ‘Smart Water Supply Measurement and Monitoring System’ to be deployed at the village level. The ICT grand challenge will be inviting proposal from Indian Tech start-ups, MSMEs, Indian Companies, Indian LLPs.

The mission in partnership with State Governments and sector partners has started facilitating sensor-based water supply system on pilot basis in various villages. Gujarat has begun navigating the sensor-based rural water supply systems in 1,000 villages spread across five districts. Other States have also started pilot projects. The data collected fromthe field locations will be transmitted to the State and Central server and can be used to monitor the functionality ( quantity, quality and regularity of water supply) at theState and Central level. This will ensure to minimise service delivery outage and water loss and monitor the quantity and quality on a long-term basis. The additional advantage of this data would be to analyse the demand pattern of the user groups over time and use this information for demand management at the aggregate level, minimise non-revenue water, ensure proper management and effective operation and maintenance of water supply systems in the villages.

In the latest address of Mann ki Baat, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi talked about Sophie and Vida, the dogs of the Indian Army who have been awarded the Chief of Army Staff ‘Commendation Cards’. He said that armed forces and security forces have many such brave dogs who have played a very important role in thwarting numerous bomb blasts and terrorist conspiracies. He gave several other examples helping sniff out ammunition and IED, and also mentioned the Beed Police who recently gave their canine colleague Rocky, who had helped the police in solving over 300 cases, a final farewell with all due respect.

Discussing the Indian breed of dogs, Prime Minister said they cost less to raise and are better adapted to the Indian environment and surroundings and said that our security agencies are also inducting these Indian breed dogs as part of their security squad. Research on the Indian breed dogs is also being done by the Indian Council of Agriculture Research with the aim to make them better and more beneficial, he noted. He exhorted the listeners, who are planning to raise a pet dog, to adopt one of Indian breed.

In the latest address of Mann ki Baat, the Prime Minister noted that the month of September will be observed as Poshan Maah – Nutrition month. He said that nation and nutrition are very closely interrelated. He recalled the maxim – “Yatha Annam Tatha Mannam,” which means that mental and intellectual development is directly related to the quality of our food intake. He said that nutrition and proper nourishment play a big role in helping children and students to attain their optimum potential and to show their mettle.He stressed that for children to be well nourished, the mother needs to receive proper nourishment. He added that nutrition merely does not only imply eating but getting essential nutrients like salts, vitamins etc.

Prime Minister noted the efforts made in the country during the past few years especially in villages where public participation in nutrition week and nutrition month is converting nutrition awareness into a mass movement. He added that schools have been integrated into this mass movement with efforts being made to ensure competitions for children to increase nutrition awareness.

Prime Minister said that in a class, just like there is a Class Monitor, there should be a Nutrition Monitor. Similarly, just like a Report card, a Nutrition Card should also be introduced. He informed that during the course of the Nutrition Month, a food and nutrition quiz as well as meme competition will be organized on the My Gov portal. He asked the listeners to participate in it.

Prime Minister informed that at the Statue of Unity, a unique kind of nutrition park has also been created where one can witness nutrition related education along with fun and frolic.

Emphasising that India is endowed with a lot of diversity in food and drink, Prime Minister said it is very important that according to the season of a particular region, a well-balanced & nutrient rich, diet plan should be drafted to include  local food grains, fruits and the vegetables cultivated there. He informed that an ‘Agricultural Fund of India’ is being created that will have complete information about the crops that are grown in each district and their related nutritional value. Prime Minister asked the listeners to eat nutritious food and stay healthy during the nutrition month.

The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind in his message on the eve of Onam has said :-

“On the auspicious occasion of Onam, I extend my heartiest congratulations to all my fellow citizens especially to brothers and sisters of Kerala.

The festival of Onam is a symbol of our rich cultural heritage. It is also an expression of our gratitude to Mother Nature at the arrival of new crop.

In the times of Covid-19 pandemic, while celebrating festivals, we must take care of people from the weaker sections of the society and take adequate measures to protect and safeguard our families and society at large.

May this festival strengthen the sense of cooperation and brotherhood in our country and pave the way for prosperity while living in harmony with Mother Nature”.

How toxic is Bengaluru air? It was ranked 63rd among 168 cities for PM 2.5 levels, titled “Airpocalypse”- on air quality. Tumukuru was ranked 67th. Bengaluru is in the grip of rising air pollution. Official ambient air quality monitoring has already shown 57% increae in particulate matter. With growing vehicle numbers and resultant congestion and dieselization, air pollution is a growing concern in the city. The city is losing its inherent advantage of dominant commuting practices – use of bus and walking at the cost of clean air and public health.

Bangalore needs stringent measures including leaffrogging emissions standards to Euro VI, curbing dieselization, scaling up of integrated public transport, car restraints and walking for clean air.

Centre for science and environment (CSE) released to results from its recent analysis of the official ambient air quality monitoring in Bengaluru as well as its own exposure very high level of pollution within the breathing zone of people. This indicates serious public health risk. Elder people and children below 10 years of age whose lung system are weak are succumbing to allergies or bronchitis due to air pollution. Fine dust that settles on the windows and tables at home is contributing to the increase in lung-related diseases. Particles less than 10 micrometer in diameter (PM 10) pose a health hazard because they can be inhaled and accumulate in the respiratory system.

According to the statistic obtained from the Karnataka State Pollution control Board (KSPCB), PM10 and PM 2.5 have exceeded national standards in almost all locations where ambient air quality stations are located. The KSPCB is monitoring ambient air quality in Bengaluru city at 16 locations as per the guidelines if Central Pollution Control Board covering industrial, residential, rural and other areas under National Ambient Air Quality Programme.

As per the data obtained for the year 2016-2017, out of 16 locations, 15 locations have exceeded the national limits of PM10, PM10 content in the city is 98.9 ug/m as against the national standard of 60 ug/m. Central Silk Board of Hours Road and Whitefield industrial area have the highest PM content with almost double the limit. Particulate matter invades human lungs at night and early in the morning. As a result, people with asthma and bronchits get affected during these times.

Apart from the pollution caused by the industries, the rising levels of vehicular pollution I’d also a cause of concern in Bengalore. Currently, 26 lakh vehicles ply on the narrow roads of Bangalore. 21 lakh are two and three wheelers.

There is no denying the fact that Bangalore had made its mark in the world map, thanks to the software boom, however this had come at a high price.