• 09 Oct 2021

Price Monitoring and Resource Unit

Why in News

• Recently, the State Health Department informed that, on the lines of National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority, the formation of Price Monitoring and Resource Unit in Bihar has been approved by the cabinet.

Key Points

• It will be constituted under the Directorate of Drugs Control to check black marketing of drugs and arbitrary price recovery in the state.
• This unit to be formed at the state level will work under the Health Department on the lines of National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA).
• Price control of medicines for cancer, diabetes, blood pressure, heart disease and kidney related diseases will be the main responsibility of this unit.
• Along with ensuring quality and easy availability of medicines, it will also be its duty to generate awareness among consumers.
• Bihar will be the 16^th state in the country to establish such a unit. Earlier, states like Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Odisha, Gujarat, Rajasthan have also formed such units.

New National Highway Approved from Sriganganagar to Raisinghnagar

Why in News

• Recently, the Central Government has approved a National Highway from Sri Ganganagar to Raisinghnagar. 102 km long NH-911 from Sadhuwali near Sri Ganganagar to Bhompura in Raisinghnagar has been approved under the ambitious Bharatmala project (to develop national highways in the country).

Key Points

• According to the National Highway officials, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) will be its executive agency.
• According to officials, the construction of the highway will be completed in two years. This national highway will be 10 meters wide. On this, trucks and other heavy goods vehicles will be able to run at a speed of more than 100 km per hour. On this highway, only the existing road will be widened up to 70 km, the remaining 32 km of new road will be built.
• It should be noted that there was no national highway in this border area. The National Highway from Sriganganagar to Rajiyasar in the district only connects the big cities. NH-911 will improve road connectivity in the border area. The movement of heavy goods vehicles will increase as well as there will be a possibility of new industries to flourish in the towns of the border area.

Job Oriented Course for MP Police Children

Why in News

• Recently a MoU was signed between ITI Bhopal Police and ITM University Gwalior for providing job oriented courses to the children of Madhya Pradesh Police family.

Key Points

• Special Director General of Police (Training) Aruna Mohan Rao and University Vice-Chancellor S.S. Bhaker signed this MoU.
• Additional Superintendent of Police, ITI Bhopal, Suman Gurjar said that these new training courses would be helpful in providing employment opportunities to the children of the police family in addition to the traditional courses.
• Six months of job oriented training like fashion designing, communication skills, digital photography, basic programming language, digital communication and journalism and mass communication has been started for the children of police families in collaboration with ITM University. The allotted space for all these will be 30-30.
• Hostel, library, playground, gym, hospital/OPD, mess and scholarship facilities are available in this ITI campus, as per government rules.

World Mental Health Day

Why in News

• World Mental Health Day was celebrated on October 8, 2021 by the Directorate General of Health Services, Haryana with the theme 'Mental Health in Unequal World'.

Key Points

• A state level CME was organized by the State Mental Health Cell under the chairmanship of Dr. Vandana Gupta, DHS Haryana in the presence of Dr. Parveen Garg, former Director, Haryana Health Services Department.
• It was attended by Program Officers, Psychiatrists and Psychologists from all 22 Districts of Haryana. To focus on the topic of ‘Mental Health Care for All’, CME involved faculty from the Tricity.
• The purpose of World Mental Health Day is to spread awareness and talk about the importance of mental illness.
• Pradeep Kumar, Consultant Ayush Panchkula organized a mini workshop on stress management and good mental health and Dr. Swapnjeet Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, PGIMER Chandigarh gave a detailed presentation on gender inequality and mental health.
• All 75 participants of 22 districts of Haryana were presented attendance certificates for the CME program organized by State Mental Health Cell, Haryana.

Appointment of Four New Judges in Jharkhand High Court

Why in News

• On October 8, 2021, Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court Dr. Ravi Ranjan administered the oath of office and secrecy to four new judges.

Key Points

• These newly appointed judges are- Ambuj Nath, Gautam Kumar Choudhary, Navneet Kumar and Sanjay Prasad.
• It is known that the names of 5 judges were recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium to the Central Government for appointment to the Jharkhand High Court, but only four names were approved by the Central Government.
• The total sanctioned posts of judges in the Jharkhand High Court are 25, but even after these new appointments, the total number of judges posted is only 19 at present.
• It is noteworthy that before the formation of Jharkhand state, the first circuit bench of Patna High Court was established in Ranchi on 6th March, 1972, which got the status of a permanent bench in 1976, but in present form Jharkhand High Court came into existence on 15th November, 2000 when the state of Bihar was reorganized and a new state of Jharkhand emerged.

IGAU's Innovations to be Used in Rural Industrial Park

Why in News

• On October 8, 2021, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said that the innovations of Indira Gandhi Agricultural University (IGAU) would be used in rural industrial parks being set up in villages to develop technology for processing agricultural products.

Key Points

• The Chief Minister said that the innovations of IGKU would help in the processing of agricultural and minor forest produce products. He said the state government is working towards making villages self-reliant as per Mahatma Gandhi's vision of 'Gram Swaraj'.
• During this, Chief Minister Baghel also inaugurated a Krishi Vigyan Kendra building, an Akti Biodiversity Museum and a Knowledge Center building in the IGAU campus.
• Along with this, he also launched seeds of improved varieties of eight crops including paddy, soybean, maize and raspberry and also inaugurated the technology for separation of protein and glucose from rice developed by the university.
• It is worth mentioning that Chhattisgarh has consistently topped the country for the last two years in terms of collection of minor forest produce. According to the data released by 'The Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED)', Minor forest produce (2,77,958 quintals) worth Rs. 80.12 crore has been procured in the state in the first quarter (month April to June) of the current financial year, which is 88.36% of the total collected minor forest produce for Rs. 93 crore during this period in the country.

'No Alcohol Week'

Why in News

• On the occasion of the 152^nd birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, 'No Alcohol Week' (from October 2 to 8, 2021) was organized by the state’s Social Welfare Department. During this, various programs were organized across the state to make people aware about the ill effects of drug abuse.

Key Points

• It was launched by Social Welfare Minister Anila Bhediya by flagging off the drug de-addiction rath (chariot) in Balod district under the Bharat Mata Vahini Yojana. Along with this, awareness raths were flagged off by the collectors in various districts.
• Seminars and essay writing, rangoli-painting competitions were organized in schools and colleges on the topic of drug eradication, in which students enthusiastically participated.
• Along with this, through seminars and awareness rallies, people were explained that alcohol intoxication harms a person physically and mentally.
• By organizing yoga camps through the Yoga Commission, people were informed about the health problems caused due to alcohol intoxication and it was explained that life can be made balanced and healthy through yoga.
• Under the liquor de-addiction campaign, these chariots will travel from village to village to create public awareness for drug de-addiction. An awareness rally was also taken out by the women of Bharat Mata Vahini Dal on this occasion.

Regional UDAN Program Launched in Uttarakhand

Why in News

• On October 8, 2021, Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, General (Retd) Dr. V.K. Singh launched a regional UDAN program of the Ministry of Civil Aviation in collaboration with FICCI and the State Government of Uttarakhand.

Key Points

• On this occasion the new terminal building of Jolly Grant Airport, Dehradun in Uttarakhand was inaugurated and new flight routes were flagged off.
• The new terminal building, developed with a project cost of Rs 325 crore, is spread over an area of 28,729 sqm and will be able to handle 1,200 passengers during peak hours, which will increase the airport's capacity by eight times.
• Helicopter service for Dehradun- Haldwani- Pantnagar- Pithoragarh- Pantnagar- Haldwani- Dehradun sector and Chinyalisain- Sahastradhara- Chinyalisain sector was also flagged off on the occasion. The helicopter service will be provided by Pawan Hans and Heritage Aviation respectively.
• The inauguration of heli routes in the Uttarakhand region is in line with the objective of the UDAN scheme of the Ministry of Civil Aviation to enhance air connectivity to hilly areas in the country. 13 more helicopters have been identified in Uttarakhand to provide seamless air connectivity within the state.
• On this occasion, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) along with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in collaboration with Government of Uttarakhand and Pawan Hans Limited organized the third edition of Helicopter Summit-2021 to promote the aviation services industry.
• This year's theme is 'India@75: Expediting the Growth of Indian Helicopter Industry and Enhancing Air Connectivity'.

Doon Drone Fair

Why in News

• On October 8, 2021, Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and Minister of State for Civil Aviation General (Retd) Dr. VK. Singh launched the 'Doon Drone Mela 2021' in Dehradun.

Key Points

• Drones and aerosports demonstrations were held during the launch. These included a paragliding demonstration by the Border Security Force, a paramotor demonstration by Harsh Sachan and an agricultural spraying drone demonstration by IOTechworld Aviation and Daksha.
• Apart from this, the event also included an emergency search and response drone demonstration with indigenously 3D-printed drones by Drone Application and Research Centre (DARC) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF).
• This was followed by a brief survey drone demonstration by Aarav Unmanned Systems (AUS) under the proprietary scheme as well as a training drone demonstration by Squadron Leader Varsha Kukreti (Retd).

State's First Digital Anganwadi Center

Why in News

• On October 8, 2021, Uttarakhand's Women Empowerment and Child Development (WECD) Minister Rekha Arya inaugurated the state's first Digital Anganwadi Center at Jhajha, Dehradun.

Key Points

• Speaking on the occasion, Rekha Arya said that this 'Digital Anganwadi Center' has been started under National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and 'Digital India Mission' and more centers across the state will be made digital and smart.
• In the initial phase, the government has set up two digital Anganwadi centers at Jhajra and Vikasnagar in Dehradun.
• According to Arya, the state government has started the Digital Anganwadi Center in Dehradun as a pilot project. The department aims to develop all Anganwadi Centers in all districts into digital centers, especially in rural areas, for which a proposal will be sent to the central government soon.
• She also said that the software for running this digital Anganwadi center has been prepared in such a way that Anganwadi workers can easily use it.
• He said that smart classes would be conducted for the children and proper arrangements have been made to connect with the students virtually. Computer education will also be provided to the students in such centres.
• WECD Secretary H.C. Semwal said that the workers of these centers have been trained by the trainers of Mumbai to run the centers properly. Apart from augmenting the Anganwadi centers digitally, the centers have been decorated in a way that is more child friendly and promotes learning.