Thursday, September 10, 2026
Home Blog Page 1103

Health Min unveils super-specialty block

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan

New Delhi (NVI): Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan along with Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath, inaugurated the Super Speciality Block (SSB) at Motilal Nehru Medical College, Prayagraj today.

During the virtual launch, the 220-bedded facility has been dedicated as a COVID-19 Hospital (DCH) to the nation.

Harsh Vardhan also inaugurated first high throughput COBAS 6800 machine in Uttar Pradesh, installed by Indian Council Medical Research (ICMR) to pursue its regionally balanced COVID-19 testing strategy.

“The Super Speciality Block is built with an investment of Rs 150 crores under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY),” the Ministry of Health said in a statement.

It has departments of Neurology, Neurosurgery, Nephrology, Urology, Plastic surgery, Endocrinology, Surgical Oncology, Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, it added.

There will be seven operation theaters, 233 super specialty beds, 52 ICU beds, 13 dialysis beds in the SSB. However, this facility will have a training capacity of 24 PG students.

Launching the COBAS 6800 high throughput machine, Vardhan stated, “The COBAS 6800, a fully automated, high end machine for performing real time PCR testing for COVID-19 will provide quality, high-volume testing with a high throughput of around 1200 samples in 24 hours.”

“COBAS 6800 can also detect other pathogens like Viral Hepatitis B & C, HIV, MTb (both Rifampicin and Isoniazide resistance), Papilloma, Cytomegalovirus, Chlamydia, Neiserreia etc. It can be operated remotely with limited human intervention,” he added.

During the launch, Yogi Adityanath also thanked the union government for its proactive role in strengthening the health infrastructure in Uttar Pradesh through PMSSY.

Suresh Kumar Khanna, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Medical Education, Government of Uttar Pradesh hosted the event. Jai Pratap Singh, Minister of Medical and Health, Family Welfare, Mother and Child Welfare, Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Member of Lok Sabha from Prayagraj were present at the event.

-RJV

Two bike-borne Lashkar terrorists behind Pampore attack: IGP Kashmir

Security forces launch search op in South Kashmir's Pulwama
(File/Representational Image)

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir, Vijay Kumar, today said that the attack on CPRF men at Kandizal near Pampore in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district was carried out by two-bike borne Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists who have been identified and efforts are on to track them down.

Earlier in the day, two CRPF men died and three others sustained injuries in the Pampore attack.

“Two terrorists from Lashkar-e-Toiba came on a motor bike and fired indiscriminately at the CRPF’s Road Opening Party (RoP) at Kandizal near Pampore in Pulwama district. Two CRPF men died in the incident and three others sustained injuries who are now stable,” IGP Kashmir told reporters at the site of incident.

He said that the attackers have been identified as Saifullah, a Pakistani terrorist and another one is a local. “Hunt is on to track them down and I am hopeful they will be neutralized soon,” the IGP said.

He said that terrorists find it easy to target security forces on the highway.

“Highway is a busy place where hundreds of civilian vehicles pass every day. If we retaliate and fire indiscriminately too, there will be civilian causality,” the IGP said, adding that “the attackers managed to flee from the spot.”

Speaking about another exchange of fire between terrorists and security forces at Parinad area of Awantipore in Pulwama district, he said, “There was an initial exchange of fire but then no contact was established thereafter.”

-CHK

Indian forces combat-ready, no situation where China can get better of us: IAF Chief

New Delhi (NVI): Amid the LAC stand-off between India and China, the Indian Air Force Chief RKS Bhadauria today sent a stern warning to Beijing, saying that there is no situation where the “China can get better of India” as Indian forces are very well prepared to take on any Chinese threat in the disputed region.

He has said that there is no question of a scenario where China gets better of India in case of a conflict, adding that India is fully prepared to take on the Chinese threat in Eastern Ladakh.

About the preparations, he said that the forces have been deployed at all relevant operational locations that are required, not only in Ladakh.

“Be assured that we have deployed strongly and firmly in place to handle any contingency,” The IAF chief said while addressing media at Air Force Auditorium, Subroto Park, New Delhi, today on the occasion of 88th anniversary of the Indian Air Force.

To another query, he said that India is prepared to take on the Chinese threat in Eastern Ladakh as well. “There is no question of not taking over, not taking over the threat there. We are very much positioned and there is no question that in any conflict scenario there, China can get the better of us,” the Air Force chief said.

The Air Chief Marshal, three days ahead of the Air Force Day parade on October 8, further added, “Integration of Rafales brings in a platform which is way ahead and would give us an edge and capability to strike first and deep.”

India has operationalised fighter jets Rafale, helicopters Chinooks and Apache and integrated them as per IAF’s concept of operations in record time, he added.

“Next three years, we will see our Rafale and Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)-Mk1 squadrons in full strength,” Bhaduria stated.

-ARK/CHK

Govt chalking out a plan to improve zoos in the country, says Javadekar

Prakash Javadekar

New Delhi (NVI): Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar today said that the government is working towards the plan to improve the quality of 160 zoos through Public Private Partnership (PPP) across the country.

Speaking at the celebration of “Wildlife Week 2020”, Javadekar said that plan for upgradation and development of all the zoos in the country is underway and will be taken up during the upcoming budget session.

He further said that state governments, corporations, businesses and people will all be key elements of the plan. It will help give enhanced experience to the visitors especially the students and children and the future generation in order to nurture the connect between wildlife, nature and humans.

On the occasion, Javadekar also launched a report of the CZA-TERI titled “economic valuation of ecosystem services”, National Zoological Park, New Delhi. The report highlights the importance of habitats such as zoos to human wellbeing and the need of replication across India.

“The study first of its kind in India and perhaps the entire World, pegs the total annual economic value of the ecosystem services (biodiversity conservation, employment generation, carbon sequestration, education and research, recreational and cultural) at around 423 crore (2019-20),” the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEFCC) said in a statement.

Whereas, the total value of the one-time cost of services such as carbon storage and land value provided by the zoo is estimated to be around 55,000 crore, it added.

During the virtual interaction, Javadekar also addressed questions of school children from across the country, concerning wildlife protection and human-wildlife interaction. He stated that we must all work together to protect the valuable wildlife of the country.

Moreover, the Union Minister also gave away the CZA-Prani Mitra awards to encourage the zoo officers and staff towards working for captive animal management and welfare, the ministry said.

The awards were given in four categories viz. the Outstanding Director or Curator, Outstanding Veterinarian, Outstanding Biologist or Educationist, Outstanding Biologist or Educationist and Outstanding Animal keeper.

CZA which was established to oversee the functioning of Indian zoos and complement the wildlife conservation strategies through ex-situ measures.

As of today around 160 zoo and rescue centers that enforce global standards in animal housing and welfare are present in the country. Over 567 captive animal species (with 114 species under endangered category) with overall 56,481 individual animals are currently housed in Indian zoos, the ministry noted.

Sanjay Kumar, DG(Forest) &Special Secretary, Ministry of Environment Forest &Climate Change; Soumitra Dasgupta, ADG (Wildlife), SP Yadav, ADG (Project Tiger) and Member Secretary CZA and other senior officers of the Ministry also participated in the event.

-RJV

3 win Nobel Medicine Prize 2020 for Hepatitis C virus discovery

New Delhi (NVI): The Nobel Prize 2020 in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded jointly to Harvey J Alter, Michael Houghton and Charles M Rice for the discovery of Hepatitis C virus.

Hepatitis C virus or HCV causes hepatitis C infection – a disease that causes inflammation and infection of the liver.

This year’s Nobel Prize for Medicine has been awarded to three scientists who have made a decisive contribution to the fight against blood-borne hepatitis, a major global health problem that causes cirrhosis and liver cancer in people around the world, said a press release by the Nobel Committee.

“Harvey J Alter, Michael Houghton and Charles M Rice made seminal discoveries that led to the identification of a novel virus, Hepatitis C virus. Prior to their work, the discovery of the Hepatitis A and B viruses had been critical steps forward, but the majority of blood-borne hepatitis cases remained unexplained. The discovery of Hepatitis C virus revealed the cause of the remaining cases of chronic hepatitis and made possible blood tests and new medicines that have saved millions of lives,” added the release.

The Nobel Prizes for Medicine, Physics, and Chemistry are the pinnacle of scientific achievement, honoring great minds and life-changing discoveries. The winner of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded by the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

For the prize in medicine, a five-member Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute screens nominations and chooses candidates. The winners are awarded with a gold medal and prize money of 10 million Swedish kronor (over USD 1,118,000). The other prestigious prizes include physics, chemists, literature, peace and economics.

-CHK

World Habitat Day 2020: Theme, significance and history

New Delhi (NVI): The United Nations (UN) observe the first Monday of October as World Habitat Day. The day is commemorated every year worldwide to throw light on the condition of our towns and cities, and on the basic right of all to adequate shelter.

This day is a reminder to the world that we all have the capability and the duty towards shaping the future of our cities and towns.

The theme for World Habitat Day 2020 is ‘Housing for all: A better urban future’ as a proper place to live has become important more than ever.

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, a shelter has become a matter of life and death. As by staying inside homes, people can stop the virus from spreading as well as getting contaminated.

World Habitat Day was first celebrated in 1986 with its theme as ‘Shelter is my right’. It was hosted by Nairobi city during that year. The habitat ‘Scroll of Honour’ award was launched by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme in 1989. It is currently the most prestigious human settlements award in the world.

According to the United Nations, around 1.8 billion people were already living in slums and informal settlements, inadequate housing or in homelessness in cities across the world before the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic.

Amid the pandemic, the need of having a home has grown remarkably in order to make a safe environment for living, working and learning. A home should also be assured with basic necessities, infrastructure, hygiene measures and room for social distancing.

The location of a home should allow its residents access to green places and open spaces, employment opportunities, health-care facilities, schools, childcare centres and other social facilities.

-CHK

Delhi’s Akshardham temple to reopen for devotees from Oct 13

File photo

New Delhi (NVI): After months of closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Swaminarayan Akshardham Temple in East Delhi, is all set to reopen for the public from October 13.

According to the temple authorities, all the visitors to follow strict COVID-19 guidelines including mandatory wearing of face masks and maintaining social distancing all the time throughout the temple complex.

Thermal screening and hand sanitisation facilities are being put up at entry, which will be compulsory for all and visitors with a higher than normal temperature or symptoms of COVID-19 will not be permitted entry.

A limited number of devotees will be allowed to enter the temple premises from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm. The evening water show at 7:15 pm, the gardens, food court and the books and gift centre will be available to all visitors, as per the Covid-19 norms.

However, the Abhishek puja and all exhibitions will still remain temporarily closed and temple will remain closed on Monday.

Swaminarayan Akshardham temple — one of the most iconic and magnificent structures of the national capital, has been a major tourist attraction, drawing thousands of visitors every day before the nationwide lockdown was announced in India.

Earlier in March, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha had closed all its temples worldwide and put an end to routine activities to protect the health of volunteers and visitors.

-RJV

Kejriwal launches anti-pollution campaign for a clean and green Delhi

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi (NVI): Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today launched a mega anti-air pollution campaign named “Yudh Pradushan Ke Virudh”, saying polluted air can be life-threatening amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“From today, we are starting a campaign against pollution, ‘Yudh Pradushan Ke Virudh’ to reduce pollution levels in the national capital. As part of the campaign, we’ll be using a technology developed by Pusa Agriculture Institute, to curb the menace of stubble burning,” Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said.

Under the campaign separate plans have been prepared for each of the 13 pollution hotspots in the national capital, Kejriwal said during a digital press conference.

He said, “Customised plans of action are being made for each area, according to their respective causes of pollution & the thereby execution those plans to deal with all that pollution.”

Stressing on the harmful effect of pollution during COVID, Kejriwal said, “Polluted air can be life-threatening in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. Both affect lungs,” he said.

Kejriwal said a “war room” is being set up to monitor all anti-pollution measures being taken by his government.

“A ‘Green Delhi App’ is being developed which will be launched before the end of this month. It will be a photo-based complaint lodging application to take action against & redress specific pollution activities which are notified by the citizens of Delhi,” said Kejriwal.

As monsoon season withdrew from Delhi and the minimum temperatures are dropping, the air quality in various parts of the national capital has started deteriorating.

-CHK

DRDO successfully flight-tests Supersonic Missile assisted release of Torpedo

New Delhi (NVI): In another significant step towards establishing Anti-Submarine warfare capabilities, India today successfully flight-tested Supersonic Missile Assisted Release of Torpedo (SMART).

The flight-test was conducted at 11.45 am from Wheeler Island off the coast of Odisha, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

The MoD said that all the mission objectives including missile flight upto the range and altitude, separation of the nose cone, release of Torpedo and deployment of Velocity Reduction Mechanism (VRM) have been met perfectly.

The tracking stations (Radars, Electro Optical Systems) along the coast and the telemetry stations including down range ships monitored all the events.

SMART is a missile assisted release of lightweight Anti-Submarine Torpedo System for Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) operations far beyond Torpedo range. This launch and demonstration is significant in establishing Anti-Submarine warfare capabilities, the Ministry said.

A number of DRDO laboratories including DRDL, RCI Hyderabad, ADRDE Agra, NSTL Visakhapatnam have developed the technologies required for SMART.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated the DRDO Scientists over the significant development. “The @DRDO_India has successfully flight tested the Supersonic Missile assisted release of Torpedo, SMART. This will be a major technology breakthrough for stand-off capability in anti-submarine warfare. I congratulate DRDO and other stakeholders for this significant achievement,” he tweeted.

On the occasion, Secretary DD R&D & Chairman DRDO Dr G Satheesh Reddy, said that SMART is a game changer technology demonstration in the Anti-Submarine Warfare.

-ARK

2 CRPF personnel killed, 3 injured in terror attack in J&K’s Pampore

Kashmir
Representational Image

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): Two CRPF personnel were killed, while three others sustained injuries after terrorists attacked a joint team of Police and CRPF at Kandizal bridge in Pampore in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district today, officials said.

An official said that militants attacked a joint team of security forces near Kandizal bridge of Pampore in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district resulting in injuries to the five CRPF jawans. Two among the injured have succumbed to their injuries, CRPF spokesman Junaid Khan said. The other three injured were admitted to a hospital.

Officials said that traffic has been halted on the highway and a massive search operation has been launched by the Army’s 50 RR and joint teams of security forces to nab the attackers.

-ARK

1...1,1021,1031,104...1,732Page 1,103 of 1,732

MUST READ