Immunization programme, Intensified Mission Indradhanush 4.0 launched

Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday launched the Intensified Mission Indradhanush 4.0 in New Delhi to protect children and pregnant women from severe diseases. It is a special drive to ensure full immunization coverage in the country. Talking to reporters, Dr Mandaviya said, this Mission will give impetus to the vaccination coverage. He said, as of now the immunization coverage among children have increased to over 76 percent. The goal of Mission Indradhanush is to ensure full immunization for children and pregnant women. Mission Indradhanush was launched in December 2014 as a special drive to expand immunization coverage in the country.416 districts across thirty-three states will be covered under the Mission Indradhanush 4.0. This mission will be focussed on those districts where the vaccination coverage is comparatively lower. It will be run in two phases. The first phase will be from February to April in 12 states and the second phase will be from March to May this year. Under the Mission Indradhanush 4.0, 12 vaccines will be administered to the children.

-Power Minister R K Singh on Monday virtually launched Powerthon-2022, a hackathon competition to find technology-driven solutions to solve the complex problems in power distribution and to ensure quality and reliable power supply. In his keynote address, Singh said, this program is much needed in the power sector. He encouraged technologists to come forward not only with solutions to existing problems but also with other problem statements and ideas for reliable power supply. He said that ideas and concepts will be rewarded with licence and the development of prototypes will also be fostered. The competition will bring together qualified mentors with TSPs, innovators, and other participants from across the nation to create teams that hack for the future and develop solutions that contribute to creating a much more vibrant and efficient electricity network.

-In the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha launched J&K Single Window Clearance System  and its integration with the National Single Window system at Raj Bhawan, Jammu. AIR Jammu Correspondent reports that the J&K Single Window Clearance System is a historic move by the UT Government to facilitate investments in J&K. As many as 130 industrial services have been made online on a single-window system & more than 160 services would be integrated this year. The LG reiterated Government’s commitment to strengthen the industrial ecosystem in a manner that the benefits percolate to all sections of society in J&K. Worth mentioning, J&K is the first UT to be integrated with the National Single Window System.

-Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has said if her party comes to power in Goa after the upcoming assembly elections, Rs 500 crore from the government fund would be allocated for employment generation. Addressing a public meeting in Nuvem Assembly constituency of Goa ahead of the state polls scheduled on February 14, Ms Gandhi also said that a staff selection commission would be formed to get rid of scams in government jobs allocation. She also assured 30 per cent reservation for women in the state government jobs. She said that under the Nyay scheme, families from weaker sections will be given 6,000 rupees per month. 

-The ASEAN-India High-Level Virtual Conference on Renewable Energy being organized by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and Ministry of External Affairs began on Monday. Secretary, New, and Renewable Energy welcomed the high-level dignitaries from ASEAN member countries to the inaugural Ministerial session and set the context for the conference. Secretary of State, Ministry of Mines and Energy of Cambodia Tun Lean the current chair of ASEAN, and Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy Bhagwanth Khuba delivered special addresses. They spoke about renewable energy plans and achievements of ASEAN and India and stressed the need for carrying forward India-ASEAN cooperation in the field of renewable energy to facilitate energy transitions to fight climate change. The Ministerial session was addressed by Energy Ministers and their senior representatives from the ASEAN member countries. The dignitaries talked about the renewable energy ambitions, progress made, and priority areas for their countries and reiterated their commitment to taking India-ASEAN cooperation in the sector forward. Director-General, International Solar Alliance briefed the Ministers on the vision and plans of the alliance and potential benefits for ASEAN member countries joining the alliance.

-Minister of Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda introduced the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2022 in the Lok Sabha on Monday. The Amendment Bill seeks to add certain communities to the list of Scheduled Tribes in relation to the state of Tripura. When the Minister sought to move the Bill, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury of the Congress asked to include certain other communities also from the whole region including Kurmis who he said were listed as tribes in 1931. To this,  Munda said, the present amendment bill has been brought before the Parliament only after a scientific study on different communities. He said, the study results were scrutinized by the state government, and in the light of its recommendations, the study findings were further reviewed by the Centre, before drafting the Bill. Later, he introduced the Bill in the Lok Sabha.