Headlines at a Glance – 9th July 2020
Maldives, Sri Lanka eliminate measles & rubella ahead of 2023 target
Maldives and Sri Lanka have become the first two countries in the South-East Asia region to eliminate both measles and rubella ahead of the 2023 target. The announcement was made by WHO South-East Asia’s Regional Director, Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh after the fifth meeting of the regional verification commission for measles and rubella elimination, held virtually. Dr. Singh said protecting all children against these killer and debilitating diseases is an important step in endeavor to achieve healthier population and health for all. The Regional Director commended Member countries’ efforts to deliver life-saving vaccines to children even while battling the COVID pandemic. A country is verified as having eliminated measles and rubella when there is no evidence of endemic transmission for over three years by a well-performing surveillance system. Maldives reported its last endemic case of measles in 2009 and of rubella in October 2015, while Sri Lanka reported last endemic case of measles in May 2016 and of rubella in March 2017.
SOURCE: The Hindu
Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik Launches Bhubaneswar Land Use Intelligence System
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday launched BLUIS – Bhubaneswar Land Use Intelligence System, the flagship development of General Administration and Public grievances departments Under BLUIS, a web and mobile-based solution has been developed to monitor changes in all government lands in Bhubaneswar by leveraging high-resolution satellite imagery, thus making Odisha the first state in the country to tap space technology and artificial intelligence for safeguarding government lands, according to an official release. BLUIS is a geo-tagged repository of all the government lands in Bhubaneswar, created through high-resolution satellite imagery to detect all changes taking place on government lands. The mobile app also enables crowd sourcing cases of unauthorized land use and can also be used by citizens to report any unauthorized development taking place over geo-tagged government lands.
SOURCE: The Indian Express
Mission Sagar: India extends a helping hand to IOR countries
On Tuesday, on its first stop, INS Kesari offloaded 580 tonnes of essential food items sent by India to the Maldives, under “Mission Sagar”. The food material was handed over in the presence of High Commissioner of India to Maldives, Sunjay Sudhir and from the Maldives side there were the Foreign Minister, Abdulla Shahid and the Defence Minister, Ms Mariya Ahmed Didi. According to the Indian Navy, the INS Kesari was deployed in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Security and Growth for All in the Region ‘SAGAR’ and its Neighborhood First policy. The `Mission Sagar’ is being coordinated by the Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Defence and other agencies and comes close on the heels of Operation Samudra Setu which has been launched to repatriate stranded Indian from several countries across the globe.
SOURCE: Financial Express
Cabinet Approves Developing of ARHCs for Urban Migrants/Poor under PMAY-U
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved development of Affordable Rental Housing Complexes for urban migrants and the poor, as a sub-scheme under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. Under the proposal, vacant government housing complexes will be converted into ARHCs under a concession agreement for 25 years. After the completion of the term, the complexes will once again become urban local bodies, to enter the next cycle. The scheme will initially cover three lakh beneficiaries, and will cost Rs 600 crore. The government will also offer special incentives like use permission, 50% additional Floor Area Ratio or Floor Space Index, concessional loans at priority sector lending rates and tax reliefs, to companies to develop ARHCs on their own vacant land for 25 years.
SOURCE: Livemint
Indian Navy Completes ‘Operation Samudra Setu’ by bringing 3,992 Indian Citizens back to Homeland
The Indian Navy on Wednesday said it has completed Operation Samudra Setu, which began on May 5, by bringing nearly 4,000 Indians back home from three countries amid the coronavirus pandemic. While five repatriation trips were done by ships to Male in Maldives, two were done to Bandar Abbas in Iran and one was done to Colombo in Sri Lanka under this operation. The greatest challenge for the Indian Navy was to avoid any incident of outbreak of the infection on board the ships during the evacuation operation, it noted. Rigorous measures were planned and medical and safety protocols unique to the operating environment of ships were implemented, it mentioned. Ships used for the operation were especially provisioned and the Sick Bay or the clinic on board was especially equipped with COVID-19 related equipment and facilities, the statement said. This operation was undertaken by the Indian Navy in close coordination with the Ministry of External Affairs, Home Affairs, Health and various other agencies of the government of India and state governments.
SOURCE: The New Indian Express
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