📰 Heavy security for ‘Chandanotsavam’ at Simhachalam temple in A.P.
Policemen from neighbouring districts to be deployed
•A 2,000-strong police force would be deployed for the annual ‘Chandanotsavam’ festival of Lord Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple at Simhachalam, scheduled to be held on May 7.
•The district administration and the police department are giving final touches to the arrangements.
•Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP-North) Mr. Prasanna Kumar said that over 2,000 police personnel, including Law and Order, Crime and Traffic, will be deployed at Simhachalam, Adavivaram, Goshala and Hanumanthuwaka to ensure the peaceful conduct of the festival.
•According to a senior police officer from Visakhapatnam, a number of policemen are also being brought on deputation from neighbouring districts.
Traffic arrangements
•Traffic restrictions would be in place from NAD Junction to Simhachalam via Gopalapatnam and Hanumanthawaka routes. Police said that vehicles coming to the temple would be stopped at Goshala and Adavivaram stops, from where special buses would carry the devotees to the temple.
•Special teams of police dealing with crime will be also on the field to check crime during the festival.
No change in polling time
•The Election Commission has rejected a request made in view of Ramzan for advancing the start of polling from 7 a.m. to 5 a.m. in the remaining three phases. The Commission took the decision on a petition by a Delhi-based advocate, Mohammad Nizamuddin Pasha, following a Supreme Court directive on May 2. Listing the reasons, the EC said that under the current poll timing of 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. (11 hours), “our polling team needs to spend at least 15-16 hours of active time in the poll process ensuring that no mistake occurs.” The same applied to the security forces. The Commission said advancing the start of polling “will also advance the arrival of polling agents, many of whom even now come late and are not able to reach by 6 a.m. and which hinders starting the mock poll process”. As the time of sunrise varies State to State, additional administrative and security arrangements would have to be made.
📰 India, U.K. in talks to build a naval supercarrier: report
The talks are under way for the Indian Navy to buy detailed plans for the 65,000-ton British warship to build a so-called “copycat supercarrier” to be named INS Vishal in 2022, according to a British media outlet.
•The United Kingdom is in talks with the Indian government on building a new state-of-the-art aircraft carrier along the lines of Britain’s HMS Queen Elizabethas part of the ongoing ‘Make in India’ negotiations, according to a media report.
•The talks are under way for the Indian Navy to buy detailed plans for the 65,000-ton British warship to build a so-called “copycat supercarrier” to be named INS Vishal in 2022.
•“An Indian delegation has already visited Rosyth dockyard in Scotland whereHMS Queen Elizabeth was assembled and where a second supercarrier, HMS Prince of Wales , is now being built,” the Sunday Mirror reported.
•“If a deal can be agreed, the new warship would be built in India but UK companies could supply many of the parts,” the media outlet claimed.
The third carrier
•The report noted that the new naval carrier would serve alongside India’s 45,000-ton carrier INS Vikramaditya — bought from Russia in 2004 — and the currently under-construction 40,000-ton INS Vikrant , and could give India a larger carrier fleet than Britain.
•“We have regular discussions with India on a range of equipment and capability issues. It would be inappropriate to comment further,” U.K. Defence Minister Stuart Andrew said.
•The design for U.K. aircraft carriers is owned by the British and French aerospace giants BAE and Thales.
•“Discussions have begun with India. The design can be modified to meet Indian Navy and local industry requirements,” a BAE spokesperson said.
📰 Minimising maternal mortality ratio, C-Section in State
30 certified midwives to be posted in 12 government healthcare facilities in one week
•In a week’s time, 30 nurses trained in midwifery would be posted in 12 government healthcare facilities that have recorded high number of deliveries. The move is expected to bring down C-Section deliveries and maternal mortality.
•According to the Sample Registration System’s special bulletin on ‘Maternal Mortality in India 2014-16’, the MMR across India was 130 per 1,00,000 live births. It is 81 per 1,00,000 live births in Telangana, the fifth lowest State. The lowest MMR of 46 was recorded in Kerala, followed by 61 in Maharashtra.
Diploma course
•On the occasion of International Day of the Midwife observed on Sunday (May 5), 30 nurses who completed 18-month Midwifery Nurse Practitioner Diploma Course in April, were presented with certificates by Health Minister Eatala Rajender at a ceremony held here. The course was funded by the Central government through the National Health Mission (NHM), and implemented by the Government of Telangana in collaboration with Fernandez Hospitals and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).
•Officials from the Health Department said their focus was on respectful maternity. Apart from recognising emergencies before or during delivery, they said the midwives have been trained to treat pregnant women with respect, ensure their privacy during diagnostic tests and delivery, and they would allow pregnant women to choose their birth positions.
•It is claimed that Telangana is the first State to have certified midwives.
•After conducting the tests and interviews, 30 nurses were selected for the course, which began in November 2018, when Vakati Karuna was the Commissioner of Health and Family Welfare Department.
•For one year, classroom-based training was imparted to them in Karimnagar, followed by six-month internship in Sanagreddy. “The midwives are trained in recognise the signs of an emergency and handle it. When it’s an acute emergency, she will deal with it, stabilise the mother, and refer her to a health centre in time thus avoiding maternal mortality,” said Evita Fernandez, the chairperson of Fernandez Hospitals, on the sidelines of the ceremony. Speaking on the occasion, Yogita Rana, the Commissioner of Health and Family Welfare Department, said 60 more nurses would undergo training in future.
•According to World Health Organisation’s ‘Global Strategic Directions for Strengthening Nursing and Midwifery 2016-2020’, “There is demonstrable evidence substantiating the contribution of the nursing and midwifery workforce to health improvements, such as increased patient satisfaction, decrease in patient morbidity and mortality, stabilisation of financial systems through decreased hospital readmissions, length of stay, and other hospital-related conditions, including hospital-acquired infections, which consequently contribute to patient well-being”.
•The WHO’s fact sheet on nursing and midwifery states that for all the countries to reach ‘Sustainable Development Goal 3’ on health and well-being, an additional 9 million nurses and midwives are needed by 2030.
📰 Anti-dumping duty put on saccharine
•The Finance Ministry has, on the recommendations of the Commerce Ministry, imposed an anti-dumping duty of $1,633.17 per tonne on the import of saccharine from Indonesia.
•Saccharine is a compound most commonly used in sugar-substitute sweeteners. Indonesia, until recently, accounted for a large chunk of India’s saccharine imports. In 2017-18, India imported $4.36 million worth of saccharine from Indonesia, which is 43% of the total imports of the sugar-substitute compound.
•However, imports from Indonesia have declined since then. In the April 2018 to February 2019 period, India imported only $1.48 million worth of saccharine from Indonesia, about 20% of its total imports from around the world.
•“The product under consideration has been exported to India from subject country below their normal values and consequently, the domestic industry has suffered material injury,” the Department of Revenue notification said.
📰 A helping hand in the time of natural calamities
GDRF volunteers don a variety of roles, including search and rescue, first aid and evacuation
•The Ganjam District Disaster Response Forum (GDRF), a joint front of 47 NGOs, continues to be a major relief force during natural calamities,like the recent cyclone Fani, in this district of Odisha.
•The GDRF now has reach in all the 22 blocks of Ganjam district. Their volunteers have direct contact with people living in remote and vulnerable areas. They help the administration in evacuation of people to safe places before any cyclone. “We coordinate between the people and the administration to ensure basic amenities at cyclone shelters”, said convenor of GDRF, Mangaraj Panda.
•Since 2015, the GDRF has trained up over 400 volunteers in 27 villages that are prone to cyclones and floods. According one of the trained volunteers, Rabindra Das of Badapalli village of Ganjam block, they know basic skills of search and rescue as well as first aid for immediate attention in case of need.
•These volunteers are also trained to report about losses to the local revenue officials. In most cyclone prone coastal villages, literacy rate is low and inhabitants find it hard to report their losses to administration.
•Members of the GDRF also reach the vulnerable villages near the coast to urge fishermen and their families to leave their dwellings and shift to cyclone shelters. “Volunteers of GDRF look after the well being of the people at cyclone shelters”, said Loknath Mishra, co-convenor of GDRF.
•Members of the GDRF also monitor cyclone preparedness in slums of Berhampur city.
•GDRF had arranged its own dry food stock and was ready to reach out to affected people immediately if any major devastation would have occurred in any part of Ganjam district due to Cyclone Fani.
