Star News Agency
New Delhi. A group of Parliamentarians has recommended that state governments should urge and motivate the government doctors to prescribe generic non branded medicines to bring down the cost of health care for the vast rural mass. This is contained in a report of the workshop with Members of Parliament on the Jan Aushadhi programme held in New Delhi presented to the Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Shri Srikant Kumar Jena here today. The outgoing Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals, Shri Ashok Kumar was present. The workshop has also recommended that HIV –AIDS medicines should be dispensed through the Jan Aushadhi outlets. Among other steps it has also suggested a publicity campaign to build confidence among the people that the unbranded generic medicines are as good as the branded ones and bulk procurement of branded medicines from the manufacturers directly at concessional rates on the pattern of Tamil Nadu government. Consumer expert Bijon Mishra of the “Jago Grahak Foundation” which is working in collaboration with the Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India presented the report.
Receiving the report, Shri Srikant Kumar Jena appealed to NGOs and the civil society to participate in the scheme to ensure that medicines are affordable and accessible to the vast majority of our population. He said, each district of the country should have at least one Jan Aushadhi store. He also emphasized that medical devices of regular use should also be made affordable. The Minister wanted this to be achieved though a movement through the participation of NGOs and the civil society.
Shri Ashok Kumar said the scheme has been conceived as a self sustaining business model without depending on government subsidy or assistance. He said, that new technology should be used for building awareness and focus on prevention through counseling.
Star News Agency
New Delhi. A protocol amending the existing Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement was signed here today between Republic of India and Swiss Federal Council. The Signing ceremony was held at the Ministry of Finance, North Block, New Delhi. The protocol was signed for the Republic of India by Shri Pranab Mukherjee, Finance Minister while the Swiss Federal Council Foreign Minister, Ms. Micheline Calmy-Rey signed for the other side. Shri Ashok Chawla, Finance Secretary, Shri Sunil Mitra, Revenue Secretary, Dr. Kaushik Basu, Chief Economic Advisor from Indian side and Ambassador Philippe Welti, Ambassador George Marlin amonth others were present from Swiss side.
Star News Agency
New Delhi. The President, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil gave away Sports and Adventure Awards at a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhawan today. The function was attended by several Union Ministers including the Defence Minister Shri A.K. Antony, the Minister for Youth Affairs & Sports Dr. M.S. Gill, the Minister of Tribal Affairs, Shri Kanti Lal Bhuria, the Minister of New & Renewable Energy Resources, Dr Farukh Abdullah and Shri Parkashbapu Patil, Minister of State for Youth Affairs & Sports, and several eminent sports persons.
Ms. Saina Nehwal, who was to receive the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award this year for her sterling performance in Badminton, could not attend the ceremony because of her sports engagements.
Shri Satish Pillai (Athletics), Shri Kuldeep Singh (Wrestling) and Ms. Anita Chanu (Weightlifting) were conferred Dhyan Chand Awards for the year 2010, for their contribution to sports by their performance and efforts to promote the sports. The award carries a statuettes, citations and cash prize of Rs 5 lakh each.
The President also gave away Dronacharya Awards for the this year to Shri A.K. Kutty (Athletics), Shri Subhash B. Aggarwal (Billiards & Snooker), Shri L. Ibomcha Singh (Boxing), Shri Ajay Kumar Bansal (Hockey) and Captain Chandrup (Wrestling) in recognition of their meritorious achievements in the field of coaching. The award carries a statuettes, citations and enhanced cash prize of Rs 5 lakh each.
Shri Joseph Abraham (Athletics), Ms. Krishna Poonia (Athletics), Shri Dinesh Kumar (Boxing), Shri Parimrajan Negi (Chess), Ms. Jhulan Goswami (Cricket Women), Shri Deepak Kumar Mandal (Football), Shri Sandeep Singh (Hockey (Men), Shri Dinesh Kumar (Kabaddi), Shri Sanjeev Rajput (Shooting), Shri Rehan Jehangir Poncha (Swimming), Shri Kapil Dev K.J. (Volleyball), Shri Rajeev Tomar (Wrestling), Shri Rajesh Chaudhary (Yachting) and Shri Jagseer Singh (Paralympic Athletics) were conferred Arjuna Awards for the year 2010, in recognition of their outstanding achievements in the respective field of sports. Ms. Jasjeet Kaur Handa (Hockey Women) also an Arjun Awardee, could not attend the ceremony as she is currently abroad participating in an international tournament. The Award carries a statuettes, citations and enhanced cash prize of Rs 5 lakh each.
With a view to recognize, the contribution made to sports development by entities other than sportspersons and coaches, the Government has instituted last year , a new award “Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar”, which has four categories, namely, community sports development, promotion of sports academies of excellence, support to elite sportspersons and employment to sportspersons.
The Services Sports Control Board was conferred upon Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar Award for the year 2010, under the category of Community Sports Identification and Nurturing of Budding Young Talent. The Defence Minister, Shri A.K. Antony received this Award.
The Khel Evam Yuva Kalyan Vibhag, Government of Madhya Pradesh also received the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar for Establishment and Management of Sports Academies of Excellence. The Chief Minister of the State Shri Shivraj Singh Chauhan received this award. The Award was also conferred upon the Services Sports Control Board for Employment of sportsperson and sports welfare measures. The same Award was also conferred upon Tata Steel Limited for Financial Support for Sports Excellence. The Award carries a trophy and citation.
As a result of switchover to current year format, two universities have been selected for Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy (MAKA). For the year 2008-09 , Punjabi University, Patiala has been awarded Trophy while Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar has been awarded for the year 2009-10. Both the universities received a cash prize of Rs.10 lakh each and Rolling Trophy along with a small replica of the MAKA Trophy for retention by the Universities. While Punjabi University will keep the trophy for the first six months, Guru Nanak Dev University will keep the trophy for next six months.
The President also conferred Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Awards for the year 2009 to recognize the contribution and performance of the awardees in the field of adventure sports. Ms. Chandraprabha Aitwal was given Life Time Achievement Award. HC Kamlesh Kumar Bounthiyal for Land Adventure, Wg. Com. Jai Kishan for Air Adventure and Shri Sufyan Sheikh for Water Adventure were also awarded. The award carries cash prize of Rs 5 lakh and Bronze Statuette along with a citation.
Star News Agency
New Delhi.The Government has notified Recycled Plastics Manufacture and Usage Rules, 1999 (amended in 2003) to regulate the manufacture and use of plastic carry bags, containers and recycling of plastics wastes. These rules, inter alia, provide that plastic carry bags should have a minimum thickness of 20 microns, carry bags or containers made of recycled plastic shall not be used for packaging of food stuffs, manufacturing of carry bags or container will be undertaken only by units registered with State Pollution Control Boards/ Committees and recycling of plastic waste will be done in accordance with BIS specifications. Several States have prescribed stricter norms with regard to minimum thickness of plastic carry bags, ranging from 30 to 70 microns. Some States have banned the use of plastic carry bags throughout the State or in ecologically sensitive /tourist places.
Indiscriminate littering and improper collection and disposal of plastic carry bags and pouches can pose problems for human health and environment.
Star News Agency
New Delhi. The total expenditure on subsidy/concession for all fertilizers during the year 2001-02 was Rs. 12695.02 crores (Gross) and during 2009-10, the expenditure was Rs. 64,032.29 crores (Gross).
The average productivity of food grains was 1734 kg/ha during the year 2001-02 and this has increased to 1798 kg/ha during the year 2009-10. This was stated by the Minister of State for Chemicals & Fertilizers Shri Srikant Kumar Jena in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today. He said there is no positive correlation between fertilizer subsidy and agricultural productivity.
Fertilizer subsidy is the difference between the normative delivered cost of fertilizers and the notified selling prices of the subsidized fertilizers. The subsidy is provided to fertilizer manufacturers/importers to covers the gap between the normative delivered costs of subsidized fertilizers and the notified selling prices (MRPs) at the farm gate level. Accordingly, subsidy is disbursed to farmers in the form of subsidized fertilizers.
Firdaus Khan
The effect of long dry spell on crops in West Bengal, especially in South Bengal is still persisting mainly in 9 districts (Purulia, Bankura, Mursidabad, Birbhum, Burdwan, Hoogly, West Midnapur, Nadia and Malda) during this week. Most of the districts in Bihar and Jharkhand have also experienced adverse impact of persistent deficient rainfall situation. Due to long dry spell and erratic distribution of rainfall in these States, sowing / transplanting as well as other agricultural operations have been affected adversely. Rice seedlings at many places in these states either became over aged or wilted. The transplanted rice crops, which were established and at tillering stage, also faced severe moisture stress condition. Transplanting of rice could not be undertaken in considerable area due to deficient rainfall in affected districts of south Bengal . In Uttar Pradesh, impact of dry conditions is still prevailing in North eastern Plain Zone (Bahraich, Shrawasti, Gonda, Kushinagar, Siddharthnagar, Maharajganj), which showed adverse effect on 50-60% of standing rice crop and 10-15% of maize crops. Many other districts of Uttar Pradesh (Ambedkar Nagar, Ballia, Banda, Barabanki, Basti, Deoria, Faizabad, Fatehpur, Jaunpur, Kanpur Dehat, Lucknow, Mau, RaiBarelly, Sant Ravidas Nagar, Unnao in East UP and Agra, Aligarh, Baghpat, Meerut, Muzzaffarnagar in West UP) also experienced long dry spell during last few weeks. However, due to occurrence of some rainfall during last week in some districts of these States, condition has improved for sowing of some alternate short duration and less moisture loving crops under contingency plan.
* * *
| S. No. | Rainfall Accumulated during the period 1st June – 21st August 2010 | | ||||||||
| METEOROLOGICAL SUBDIVISIONS | ACTUAL | | % DEP. | | ||||||
| 1 | | 1283.0 | 1144.2 | 12% | | |||||
| 2. | ARUNACHAL PRADESH | 1032.2 | 1240.5 | -17% | | |||||
| 3. | ASSAM & MEGHALAYA | 1073.0 | 1468.9 | -27% | | |||||
| 4. | NAGALAND, MANIPUR, MIZORAM, TRIPURA | 906.4 | 1030.7 | -12% | | |||||
| 5. | SUB-HIMALAYAN WEST BENGAL & | 1569.4 | 1395.7 | 12% | | |||||
| 6. | GANGETIC | 534.7 | 780.3 | -31% | | |||||
| 7. | ORISSA | 677.7 | 818.5 | -17% | | |||||
| 8. | JHARKHAND | 401.0 | 755.1 | -47% | | |||||
| 9. | | 521.7 | 706.8 | -26% | | |||||
| 10. | | 395.5 | 627.0 | -37% | | |||||
| 11. | | 429.5 | 543.5 | -21% | | |||||
| 12. | UTTARAKHAND | 1005.1 | 893.5 | 12% | | |||||
| 13. | HARYANA. | 327.9 | 338.8 | -3% | | |||||
| 14. | | 335.1 | 357.5 | -6% | | |||||
| 15. | HIMACHAL PRADESH | 629.5 | 576.5 | 9% | | |||||
| 16. | JAMMU & KASHMIR | 515.3 | 384.7 | 34% | | |||||
| 17. | | 331.7 | 194.2 | 71% | | |||||
| 18. | | 461.9 | 459.1 | 1% | | |||||
| 19. | | 543.3 | 638.1 | -15% | | |||||
| 20. | | 647.5 | 788.4 | -18% | | |||||
| 21. | | 688.4 | 675.8 | 2% | | |||||
| 22. | SAURASHTRA & KUTCH | 720.0 | 379.5 | 90% | | |||||
| 23. | KONKAN & GOA | 2596.9 | 2283.0 | 14% | | |||||
| 24. | MADHYA | 571.2 | 505.8 | 13% | | |||||
| 25. | MARATHWADA | 615.4 | 472.3 | 30% | | |||||
| 26. | VIDARBHA | 865.8 | 710.5 | 22% | | |||||
| 27. | CHHATTISGARH | 707.8 | 866.0 | -18% | | |||||
| 28. | COASTAL ANDHRA PRADESH | 523.7 | 361.1 | 45% | | |||||
| 29. | TELANGANA | 659.7 | 532.6 | 24% | | |||||
| 30. | RAYALASEEMA | 329.6 | 215.1 | 53% | | |||||
| 31. | TAMILNADU & PONDICHERRY | 241.9 | 166.3 | 45% | | |||||
| 32. | COASTAL KARNATAKA | 2399.4 | 2692.5 | -11% | | |||||
| 33. | NORTH INTERIOR KARNATAKA | 407.0 | 303.4 | 34% | | |||||
| 34. | SOUTH INTERIOR KARNATAKA | 470.4 | 493.0 | -5% | | |||||
| 35. | KERALA | 1535.3 | 1775.1 | -14% | | |||||
| 36. | | 862.4 | 758.6 | 14% | | |||||
| | | | | | | | | |||
| AREA WEIGHTED RAINFALL | | |||||||||
| | | |||||||||
| COUNTRY AS A WHOLE | 625.2 | 644.2 | -3% | |||||||
| NORTH | 460.1 | 441.9 | 4% | |||||||
| | 722.7 | 720.5 | 0% | |||||||
| | 573.0 | 511.1 | 12% | |||||||
| EAST & NORTH | 802.2 | 1037.0 | -23% | |||||||
