India plans media campaign on girl child

A cute, chubby animated character called Chamki will reach out to people across the country, spreading the message to let a girl child live in and outside the womb and get her education so that she could chase her dreams.

Chamki, a mascot conceived to create awareness on the subject of girl child, is part of a series of promotionals Women and Child Development Minister Renuka Chowdhury launched on Wednesday.

Another innovative campaign of her Ministry is against domestic violence, telling people to break their silence and come out in the open to stop a man from harassing or torturing his wife, reports IANS.

Chowdhury said Chamki will also talk about female foeticide. "There is a skewed sex ratio in the country as girls are being killed even before being born. Female foeticide is found more among urban educated people as compared to rural," she said.

The Minister said the media campaign would be on national and regional television channels, on radio, in cinema halls, print advertisements and field publicity throughout the country.

In the first phase of the year-long campaign, the thrust would be on the issue of girl child and then it would shift to nutrition. In November 2008, empowerment of women would be the focus, Chowdhury said.

"We need to change the mindset and it cannot happen in a week. We plan to continue a sustained campaign by distributing leaflets, posters and showing these in railways so the masses get to see the message," she said.

Chowdhury said religious leaders like Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Mata Amritanandamayi Devi will also promote the women and child related issues.

Court summons former Haryana CM in teacher's scam

A city court on Wednesday issued fresh summons to former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala after taking cognizance of a charge sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against him in a teachers' recruitment scam of 2003.

The charge sheet also names his son and former parliamentarian Ajay Chautala, two Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officers and 56 others who were granted bail by the court, reports IANS.

According to CBI, the accused persons used forged documents to appoint 3,206 junior basic trained teachers after taking hefty amounts from them, which could collectively run into millions of rupees.

CBI Special Judge RK Yadav issued summons for September 5 for the former Chief Minister, who failed to appear before it on Wednesday.

However, it allowed the plea of Ajay Chautala, who has gone abroad, and another accused Daya Saini seeking exemption from personal appearance in the case.

The court, however, issued bailable warrant against another accused who did not appear despite being served with the court's summons.

Sanjiv Kumar, a self-proclaimed whistle-blower who was then the Director of Primary Education Department, and Chautala's former officer on special duty Vidya Dhar are the two IAS officers named in the charge sheet, which was filed on June 6.

The CBI alleged that the appointments were made on the basis of a second set of final interview list prepared at the behest of Om Prakash Chautala, leader of the Indian National Lok Dal, his son Ajay Chautala, Vidya Dhar, political advisor Sher Singh Badsami and Sanjiv Kumar, who had played an active role in the process.

The case was registered on the basis of the Supreme Court's order of November 2003. Originally, a preliminary inquiry was registered by the investigating agency, which was later converted into a regular case in May 2004.

The CBI subsequently also registered a case of acquiring assets disproportionate to known sources of income against Chautala and conducted searches at a number of places in Delhi and Haryana.

New UNFPA initiative to boost midwifery

New York: The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) have launched a new initiative to tackle the severe lack of midwives in developing countries.

The new UNFPA-ICM midwifery programme will increase the number of births attended by professional midwifery providers and develop the foundations for a sustainable midwifery workforce in selected developing countries.

It will focus on training midwives and strengthening midwifery education, developing practice standards and developing and strengthening national midwifery associations.

Every year half a million women die in pregnancy or childbirth and 10-15 million women suffer serious or long-lasting illnesses or injuries. In addition, three million newborns die during the first week of life and another three million are stillborn.

Many of these deaths and disabilities could be prevented if all births were attended by midwives, the UNFPA said in a statement.

"By investing in midwives and universal access to reproductive health, millions of lives can be saved and we can reach Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5, to improve maternal health," UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid said.

There is a need for an additional 3.34 lakh midwives, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

It is estimated that skilled attendance at delivery, backed up by emergency obstetric care, could reduce the number of women dying in pregnancy and childbirth by about 75 per cent.

"We need some strong advocates who can call on governments to invest in much needed midwives," ICM President Bridget Lynch said. "But we also need to work with governments to ensure the scaling up and quality of midwifery services. They need to take ownership," Lynch said.

The US $9-million initiative will start in 11 of the hardest-hit countries with the highest levels of maternal deaths and disability and the lowest rates of births attended by skilled workers—Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cote d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Ghana, Madagascar, Sudan, Uganda and Zambia.

It will then expand to include 30 countries and—if funding permits—even more.

The three-year project is funded by the Netherlands and Sweden and will be implemented by ICM and UNFPA offices in the selected countries.

No Stumbling Blocks Accepted

"If one of these little children believes in me, and another
person causes that child to sin, then it will be very bad for
that person. It would be better for that person to have a
millstone tied around his neck and be drowned in the sea."

-- Mark 9:42 (ERV)

KEY THOUGHT:
So often in our passion to preserve the purity of the faith, we begin
to exclude others. While purity in our faith is important, Jesus
reminds us of the other side of the equation: woe to us if we exclude
someone who Jesus sees as belonging or do anything to cause another to
lose faith. New Christians, weak believers, and children are all
precious to God. He doesn't want a single one to lose faith because of
the hard-headedness, hard-heartedness, or arrogance of another
believer.


TODAY'S PRAYER:
God, please help me be more careful in what I say and how I act. I
don't want to discourage a single believer from following you. Help my
life and my actions be an encouragement rather than a discouragement to
your people. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Madhya Pradesh teachers' pay system to go online

In an effort to smoothen the disbursement of salary of all the teachers and staff working in the Madhya Pradesh Education Department, the state government has decided to disburse their salaries online.

"With this the principals of higher secondary schools who had been doing salary related work in the capacity of disbursal officers would be relieved and be able to pay more attention towards the works related to academics in their respective schools," Madhya Pradesh Rajya Shiksha Kendra Commissioner Manoj Jhalani said.

A total of 3,125 principals of higher secondary schools had been doing salary-related work manually for 10 to 12 days a month, reports IANS quoting Jhalani.

Now with the salary system being computerised, grievances about delays and difficulties in the disbursement of salary would also come to an end, he said.

Jhalani also pointed out that under the new arrangement, pay bills would be prepared online, eliminating the tedious exercise of preparing employees' pay bills afresh every month.

Besides, the staff including teachers, principals and clerks would be able to surf details about their salary, pay slip and annual emoluments whenever they wish to.

Another benefit of the online facility, the Commissioner said, would be that the department would also have access to school-wise data of posts, budget and expenditure.

This online information would be available all the time at district, division and state levels.

Jhalani said that computerisation of teachers' service book would be taken up in the next phase and the seniority list of the department too would be made available on the web site.

K'taka invokes Goonda Act against church attackers

Bangalore: The Government of Karnataka on Monday decided to treat those attacking places of worship as 'goondas' (thugs) and prosecute them under a tough law popularly known as 'Goonda Act'.

The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting called to consider steps to end the continuing attacks on Christian places of worship in the state that began in coastal Karnataka September 14 and spread to Bangalore on Saturday night, reports IANS.

"All those attacking places of worship will be arrested and prosecuted under the Goonda Act," Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa said.

The 1987 act provides for preventive detention for three months, extendable by three months at a time and imposes stringent conditions for bail.

The act is officially called 'The Karnataka Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers, Drug Offenders, Gamblers, Goondas, Immoral Traffic Offenders and Slum Grabbers Act'.

The cabinet also decided to provide round-the-clock security at places of worship, Yeddyurappa said.

The Chief Minister is under intense pressure from the central government, besides Christian community leaders and opposition parties, to check the attacks.

The central government, in a rare development, sent two advisories in two days to the state government expressing concern over the attacks and suggesting that all efforts be made to end them.

The Chief Minister announced that the police have been directed to keep a close watch on the activities of HT Sangliana, a former Bangalore city Police Commissioner and expelled BJP Lok Sabha MP from Bangalore, as well as VM Samuel, head of New Life Fellowship Trust.

The Trust is accused by Hindu groups like Bajrang Dal of involvement in converting Hindus and distributing literature insulting Hindu gods. Samuel has denied the charges.

"The two have been issuing inflammatory statements and indulging in conversion activity," Yeddyurappa said.

He said five people have been arrested in Kodagu district on Sunday on charges of persuading Hindus to embrace Christianity. A church in the area was damaged in stone throwing Saturday night.

Himachal plans online system for public grievances

Shimla: The Government of Himachal Pradesh is planning to evolve an online system of public grievances monitoring, which would connect the office of the Chief Minister to the common man at grass root level.

Announcing this at the review meeting of the Department of Redressal of Public Grievances here on Monday, the Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said that the new system would help to speed up the grievances redressal process besides ensuring transparency in the functioning of the government.

Under the proposed system, any person could register his complaint through cyber cafe, personal computer or even in the Deputy Commissioner Office, the Chief Minister said.

The grievances would be monitored at the levels of secretaries, head of the departments and even the Chief Minister himself, who could issue directions to the concerned officers immediately keeping in view the seriousness of the matter.

All the ministers and Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) would also have access to the grievance monitoring system, the Chief Minister said, adding that the complainant would be provided latest information regarding the status of the complaint.

"With the adoption of this new system, complete transparency would be ensured from the highest office to grass root level besides accountability of the officers towards the public," Dhumal said.

He directed all the departments to provide master data on priority so that the mechanism could be developed at the earliest which would benefit the people of the state.

Banks to get Rs 250 bn to meet farm loan waiver

New Delhi: The Government of India will give Rs 25,000 crore to banks to help them make up the loss incurred on account of farm loan waiver, said a senior official on Wednesday.

"Rs 25,000 crore will be released to the lending institutions (against the debt waiver) when Parliament meets to approve the supplementary budget," Finance Secretary Arun Ramanathan said.

Ramanathan, who briefed the media after Finance Minister P Chidambaram reviewed the performance of regional rural banks (RRBs), said that the government was yet to take a decision on the suggestion by the banks that payment be made against interest from March 1.

About Chidambaram's brief to the RRBs, Ramanathan said he emphasised the need for computerisation of RRB branches and providing better training to the employees.

"The Finance Minister was satisfied with the performance of the RRBs," Ramanathan said.

The number of RRBs would come down to 79 from the existing 88 after 12 RRBs were merged and reduced to five, reports IANS quoting Ramanathan.

A Cup of Water

"I tell you the truth. If a person helps you by giving you a
drink of water because you belong to the Christ, then that
person will truly get his reward."

-- Mark 9:41 (ERV)

KEY THOUGHT:
The kindness Jesus expects and rewards in his followers is very simple.
God doesn't forget kindness that is demonstrated with actions that are
simple and real. When we are kind to other believers or they are kind
to us, God sees, remembers, and rewards! Of course Jesus didn't want us
to limit our kindness to other believers and he also wanted his
followers to give unbelievers an opportunity to share their kindness
with them as well. Simple acts of kindness by Jesus' followers may be
simple, but they are also a genuine reflection of their Lord's kindness
and compassion that were shared with all sorts of people.


TODAY'S PRAYER:
Father, thank you for sending Jesus who makes your way of life so
simple and clear. Thank you for remembering acts of kindness. Thank you
for those who have demonstrated that kindness to me and to your Son
through their kindness to me. Please bless them. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Spanco bags Rs 70 Cr Orissa Swan contract

Telecom systems integration and IT services provider Spanco Telesystems and Solutions has bagged a Rs 70 crore contract for the roll out of a state wide area network (Swan) to connect over 300 districts and talukas in the eastern coastal Indian state Orissa.

Under the five-year project based on the build, own, operate and transfer (Boot) model, Spanco in tandem with ITI will provide connectivity to government offices from the state headquarters at Mantralaya down to 30 district collector offices and 284 Taluka and Tehsil offices in the state.

As part of the planned National e-Governance Action Plan (NeGAP), this network would serve as the core backbone of the state for its various e-Governance applications, citizenship initiatives and diverse IT activities too.

The Swan project aims at providing a reliable, integrated and robust telecommunications infrastructure catering to high speed and high capacity delivery of voice, data and video transmissions.

Besides improving the service delivery and response time to the citizens of Orissa, it will enable citizens to make various forms of payments and obtain facilities information as well as business-to-consumer (B-2-C) services from a single location using state-of-the-art technologies.

The implementation and operation of this network will warrant deployment of over 200 people, most of whom will be locally sourced.

Commenting on the selection, Spanco Telesystems and Solutions Chairman Kapil Puri said, "We are honoured to partner with the Orissa government and strongly believe that this initiative will contribute significantly to its progress as a state."

The company was confident that the Orissa Swan will increase efficiencies and response times significantly, drive down communication costs for the state government and provide a major impetus to the state's developmental plans and programmes, he said.

"Spanco will play a significant role in continuously addressing the larger IT and technology infrastructure needs of the state, not only in the e-governance space but also in the power and transport segments," he added.

The company will mitigate losses accruing to the state exchequer due to inefficient manual systems prevalent here and to leverage IT to stem this problem, Puri said.

Commenting on the partnership, Orissa IT Commissioner and Secretary Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra said, "Our government is deeply committed to building a robust IT infrastructure in the state, to introduce diverse e-Governance initiatives and empower the common people of Orissa."

NGN must connect, empower rural India: Scindia

New Delhi: India's Minister of State for Communications and IT Jyotiraditya Scindia has asked telecom service providers to make use of the next generation carriers for providing affordable voice, data and triple play service in rural and remotest part of the country.

Opening a Seminar on "Next Generation Carrier Systems: Trends and Technologies" in New Delhi, Scindia said, next generation network (NGN) should become a catalyst to connect and empower every Indian and to provide affordable services and wider penetration of telecom network.

"In order to reap the benefits of NGN services, attention needs to be paid towards creating an enabling competitive environment and creating conditions of massive adoption of this technology," the Minister said.

In the seminar organised by Pacific Telecom Council India Foundation, the Minister pointed out that the better services to citizens will depend on the strength of the carrier services.

Stating that the country needs upgrade its telecom infrastructure with the latest technology, Scindia said that world class telecommunications infrastructure is the key to the rapid economic and social development.

Next generation carrier systems enable a wide range of services with savings in cost and maintenance effort while providing bandwidth on demand and flexibility in service provisioning.

With ubiquitous connectivity and pervasive accessibility, NGN was expected to bring an extensive range of innovative services, greater control, personalisation and ease of migration between services, he said.

Use of NGNs that converge multiple networks into one by converting voice, video and data into tiny packets over a single high-speed network is also expected to bring down ILD call rates as well as enhance data connectivity.

"NGNs will also help in providing the ICT infrastructure that would deliver the next wave of services and applications to our citizens," the Minister said.

Plan to modernise Maharashtra check posts cleared

Mumbai: Additional revenue to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore per annum was expected in the government exchequer by a new proposal approved by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) to modernise, computerise and integrate 22 inter-state border check posts.

"Among other benefits, the project will help curb leakages of revenue and arrest illegal transport activities," Public Works Department-Public Undertakings Minister Anil Deshmukh said.

The project, estimated to cost Rs 1,200 crore, is being implemented on a build, operate, transfer (BOT) basis by the Transport, Excise and Sales Tax Departments, reports IANS.

The work will start from October this year and will be completed by March 2010.

Presently, the revenue netted from the check posts, bordering six states—Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Goa—stands at around Rs 25,000 crore per annum, Deshmukh said.

MSRDC has appointed SK Integrated Consultants for planning the project, while it will be operated on BOT basis by a consortium of Sadbhav Engg-SREI and SREI-Sahaj, a Ministry official said.

The modernised check posts would also ensure that overloading of vehicles is stopped to increase the life of roads, contribute to safety on highways, and prohibit transport of inflammable and objectionable goods.

The facilities provided at all these check posts would include concrete roads, office and residential premises for the staff manning these check posts, rest rooms, eateries, medical stores, water supply, sewerage disposal, electrification, landscaping and general services for vehicles.

Connected to the central control room in Mumbai, each check post would have CCTVs for security purposes and electronic weigh bridges. Complete data on all vehicles passing through the check posts would also be maintained.

Deshmukh said that he had written to several chief ministers offering technical know-how and expertise to implement similar projects to boost revenue earnings of their respective states.

In Kerala, a third kid in family will invite fine

Thiruvananthapuram: A new population-control bill drafted by the Law Reforms Commission of India's southern state Kerala has proposed several harsh measures to punish large families.

The Commission, headed by Justice VR Krishna Iyer of the Supreme Court, has recommended a fine of Rs 10,000 and the exclusion of free education and health care for families that have a third child, as well as other state aid regarding housing and work.

"No person or institution shall use religion, region, sect, caste, cult or other inducements for production of more children than permitted," Article 7 of the new proposed law said.

Any person or a public organisation or institution associated with or carrying on the work of family planning and birth control can take to court those who violate the law, the draft said.

The Catholic Church in India has spoken out against this proposal, which it says reflects the ideologies of the "Marxist" government currently in power in Kerala.

"The Catholic Church will oppose to the end the state dictatorship of the Marxist government of Kerala," Indian Catholic Bishops' Conference President Cardinal Varkery Vithayathil said.

"In Kerala, there are two different ideologies, the ideology of supremacy of the state, and the other ideology being freedom, respect, and the dignity of the human person," the Cardinal said.

The draft legislation is being proposed at a time when leaders of the Catholic Church in Kerela—the Indian state with the largest Catholic population—have been urging the faithful to be generous in having more children.

The ratio of Christians in Kerela has been declining steadily in recent decades—from 25 per cent to 19 per cent of the state's 35 million people.

Kerala underwent a dramatic demographic transition in the last century. The 1911 census put the region, which then lay divided into two princely states, Travancore and Cochin, and the Malabar district of the Madras presidency, at 7.15 million. The decennial growth rate was 11.76 per cent.

At the time of independence, the region's population was around 12.5 million. The decennial growth rate hovered above 20 per cent. That set alarm bells ringing.

The 1971 census put the population at 21.3 million. The decennial growth was now 26.3 per cent, the highest in the country. Then the tide turned.

The population continued to grow, but the growth rate fell to 19.2 per cent in 1981 and 14.3 per cent in 1991. By 2001, it fell further to 9.4 per cent, the lowest in the country. The national growth rate at that stage was 21.3 per cent.

Clearly, the family planning programme, which the country took up in 1952, has been a roaring success in the state. However, to understand the miracle fully, one has to go back to the social reform movements that swept the region in the early part of the last century.

The reformers held out education as the key to progress. As literacy and education spread, the agrarian society started cracking. So did the extended family system, which had prospered in the feudal era.

As the revolution of rising expectations swirled up the emergent middle class, families voluntarily limited their size in order to improve their circumstances.

Gradually, the small family, happy family message percolated down to the masses as well. The poor, too, started restricting family size with a view to giving children better education and ensuring that they could lead better lives than they themselves did.

The sharp fall in the infant mortality rate, brought about by improvement in public health standards, helped the process. The inducements that the government offered to encourage the people to take to family planning helped, too.

Significantly, there was no use of force. There was no compulsory sterilisation programme of the kind that some northern states witnessed during the Emergency (1975-77).

The Church's well-known opposition to contraception did not discourage members of the large Christian minority from practising family planning, although they were slow in taking to it. Muslims were even slower.

The differential growth rate of the various religious groups has resulted in changes in the composition of the population. In 1991, Hindus were 57.4 per cent of the population. In 2001, they were 56.2 per cent.

There was a slight fall in the Christian population also during this period-from 19.3 per cent to 19 per cent. However, the Muslim population rose from 23.3 per cent to 24.7 per cent.

When these figures became available, some Hindu outfits raised a scare about the minorities wiping out the majority's small numerical advantage. The campaign, motivated by political and communal considerations, did not evoke much sympathy.

After all, the people who went in for small families had done so on their own, and not under compulsion.

Those with an understanding of demographic realities have pointed out that the growth rate among Muslims, too, is coming down, and there is little chance of their overtaking the Hindu majority.

In 1991, the total fertility rate (which indicates children born per woman) among Muslims was 2.97. In 2001, it was only 2.28.

There is a correlation between demographic changes and socio-economic conditions. A commission that inquired into the representation of the backward classes in the state services found that more than 7,000 posts reserved for Muslims were lying vacant.

In the matter of higher education, Muslims lag behind the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

According to the findings of a survey conducted by the Kerala Sasthra Sahitya Parishad, a reputed NGO, only 8.1 per cent of Muslims are pursuing higher education, as against 10.3 per cent among the Dalits and 11.8 per cent among the tribals.

The Catholic Church in India has spoken out against this proposal, which it says reflects the ideologies of the "Marxist" government currently in power in Kerala.

Cardinal Varkery Vithayathil, president of the Indian Catholic bishops' conference, said that the Catholic Church will oppose to the end the state dictatorship of the Marxist government of Kerala.

"In Kerala, there are two different ideologies, the ideology of supremacy of the state, and the other ideology being freedom, respect, and the dignity of the human person," the Cardinal said.

The draft legislation is being proposed at a time when leaders of the Catholic Church in Kerela—the Indian state with the largest Catholic population—have been urging the faithful to be generous in having more children.

The ratio of Christians in Kerela has been declining steadily in recent decades—from 25 per cent to 19 per cent of the state's 35 million people.

Manipur groups protest anti-terror law

Rights groups in India's northeastern state Manipur have renewed their pledge to launch a movement for repealing a controversial anti-terror law enacted 50 years ago that gives sweeping powers to the security forces deployed in the region.

The demand for scrapping the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) currently enforced in four of the seven northeastern states of Assam, Manipur, Tripura and Nagaland comes 50 years after the law came into force August 18, 1958 to quell insurgency in the region.

The 1958 act provides unlimited powers to the security forces to shoot on sight and arrest anybody without a warrant, reports IANS.

Human Rights Watch, a leading international rights group in a report from New York, 'Getting Away With Murder: 50 years of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act', describes how the AFSPA has become a tool of state abuse, oppression and discrimination.

"The law grants the military wide powers to arrest without warrant, shoot-to-kill and destroy property in so-called disturbed areas. It also protects military personnel responsible for serious crimes from prosecution, creating a pervasive culture of impunity," the report said.

Local rights leaders also describe the act as draconian and want it repealed. "The AFSPA was enacted by parliament with a view to quelling the Naga insurgency in 1958. But after that there were so many insurgencies in the northeast and despite the act in force in all the insurgency-hit states, yet militancy is thriving. In other words, the AFSPA had miserably failed," a rights leader Babloo Loitongbam said here.

Manipur was in turmoil in 2004 after a 35-year-old woman was allegedly raped and killed by security forces while in custody. Authorities said the woman, an alleged militant, was shot dead while she tried to flee from custody.

The custodial death triggered a wave of violence and protests, one agitator died after setting himself on fire and a group of women drew international attention to the cause by demonstrating naked outside a military camp.

"I am not going to withdraw my fast until this black act is repealed in its totality from Manipur," Irom Sharmila, a young Manipuri woman rights activist staging a fast for the last 10 years, said. Sharmila is in a hospital here.

"If timely action is not taken to repeal the act, the northeast would be in turmoil," P Singh, a rights activist from Manipur, warned.

New Delhi maintains the anti-terror law was required in Manipur where more than 19-odd rebel armies operate with demands from secession to greater autonomy and the right to self-determination.

More than 10,000 people have lost their lives to insurgency in Manipur during the past two decades

"The person that is not against us is with us."

Not Against Us!

-- Mark 9:40 (ERV)

KEY THOUGHT:
Christianity faces enough opposition in the world without its own
proponents fighting and devouring each other because they fancy each
other as enemies. Jesus' words here are powerfully universal and clear
-- notice the use of the words "the person (or "anyone" in other
translations) is general. If people don't oppose us, they aren't the
enemy! In fact, Jesus says even more than that: they are working to
benefit the cause of Jesus and his followers.


TODAY'S PRAYER:
Father, I pray that those of us who seek to honor you will quit
treating each other as enemies. In Jesus' name. Amen.

PM panel seeks for separate manufacturing policy

New Delhi: A top panel set up by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has sought a separate policy for the manufacturing sector, currently growing sluggishly.

The panel, which submitted the report on Saturday, has justified the need for a manufacturing policy, saying it will accelerate industrial growth.

"The policy will ensure focussed attention by the government to various aspects to achieve the goals of manufacturing and employment generation," said a senior official in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

India's manufacturing sector logged 7.5 per cent growth in July this year as compared to 8.8 per cent in the corresponding month last year, reports IANS quoting the report.

The panel headed by National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council (NMCC) Chairman V Krishnamurthy has set a manufacturing growth target of 12 to 14 per cent for the economy in the short to medium term adding the growth should be nine to 10 per cent in the long term.

"The growth of the manufacturing sector has been stagnating at an average of around seven to 7.5 per cent for the past 20 years," the panel has said in the report.

The manufacturing sector contributed only 5.6 per cent to the country's gross domestic product (GDP) growth in April-June of the current fiscal as against 10.9 per cent in the last corresponding period.

"In order to achieve an average economic growth rate of nine to 10 per cent in the medium to long term, the manufacturing sector needs to grow at about 12 to 14 per cent," the panel has recommended, according to an official press communiqué from the PMO.

The panel has also recommended creating a continuing mechanism suitably empowered to monitor the developments in the manufacturing sector on a regular basis.

Overact lands RTI activist in trouble

Agra: Asking too many questions under the Right to Information (RTI) Act could land you into trouble. This was learnt the hard way by an activist here, who was told by the police that he was interfering in government work as he persisted with queries in the case of a woman kept in a protection home for seven years without being charged.

RTI activist Naresh Paras of Amnesty International was hauled up by an official at the Etmauddaula police station for asking too many questions and "harassing the superintendent of the Women's Protection Home by persistently pressing for information". This, according to the police, constitutes interference in government work.

About six months ago, IANS highlighted the plight of Munni, 22, who had been detained in the protection home for apparently no reason. She had neither been charged with any crime nor declared insane.

For over seven years she stayed in the home. Under pressure from human rights activists, she was sent to Kanpur two months ago.

Paras had wanted some specific information about her case. The questions were not answered and Munni's file was tossed from one department to another department.

On Saturday, Paras was summoned by the officer in charge of the Etmauddaula police station after a complaint was filed by the Protection Home Superintendent Geeta Rakesh.

She denied lodging any written complaint, but admitted to having orally complained to the police official.

Rakesh said that she had never refused to give information, but the RTI activist was never satisfied.

"Some of the questions he asked were irrelevant, like who is responsible for Munni's 'Barbadi' (depredation)? How can I name any official?" Rakesh said.

Paras on Tuesday submitted memorandums to police and administrative officials asking for protection as he perceived a threat to his life.

UP mid-day meal to get regional taste

The Government of Uttar Pradesh will now give a regional taste to the lunch provided to students under the Mid-Day Meal (MDM) scheme sponsored by the central government.

For this, the state would be divided into four regions—east, west, central and Bundelkhand—and the students there will be provided with delicacies of their respective region, they added.

"As per the new menu of MDM, Bati Chokha, Rajma, Kheer and other delicacies will be offered to the students taking regional taste into account," a senior official associated with MDM said.

"Initially, we have to introduce this as a pilot project," Lucknow's Basic Shiksha Adhikari Rakesh Kumar said.

The pilot project will be launched next month, reports IANS.

"Depending upon the acceptance of the new scheme amongst the students, we would go ahead. The feedback from the students will also be sent to the central government," he added.

At present Khichri and Tehri (a dish made from rice and vegetable) are provided under MDM, officials said.

In Uttar Pradesh, MDM covers about 1.5 lakh schools, under which lunch is provided to students till class 8, they added.

Andhra CM to release disaster management rules

Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajasekahra Reddy on September 24 will release the book entitled 'National Disaster Management Guidelines for Management of Cyclones'.

It will provide institutional and coordination mechanisms for effective disaster management at the national, state and the district levels in the backdrop of the Disaster Management Act, 2005.

In a meeting reviewing the disaster management preparedness of the state administration, the Chief Minister said that under the mandate of the Act, a multi-tiered institutional system has been created up to the district level to promote a relief-centric approach to a more pro-active, holistic and integrated approach of strengthening disaster preparedness, mitigation and emergency response.

The book compiled by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) highlighted the need for an integrated and well-coordinated strategy to reach relief and rehabilitation initiatives even to the last person affected by cyclones, heavy rains and stormy tides.

Briefing the CM about the book, Disaster Management Commissioner Dinesh Kumar said that the guidelines recommend for early warning systems of cyclones; structural measures for preparedness and mitigation; cyclone shelters, buildings, road links; and communication and power transmission network.

These also recommend management of coastal zones; awareness generation related to cyclone disaster management; disaster risk management issues, analysis, studies of various types; hazard-zonation mapping and data generation; and use of GIS tools, the Commissioner said.

The guidelines were aimed at enhancing national, state and local scale advocacy partnerships and knowledge management for mainstreaming disaster risk reduction and standardising hazard risk management tools, methodologies and practices.

These guidelines call for a participatory approach to strengthen the national vision of moving towards a more pro-active pre-disaster preparedness and mitigation-centric approach.

These contain all the details that are required and will help in preparation of plans by the state.

Don't Stop Him!

Then John said, "Teacher, we saw a man using your name to
force demons out of a person. He is not one of us. So we told
him to stop, because he does not belong to our group." Jesus
said, "Don't stop him. Any person that uses my name to do
powerful things will not soon say bad things about me."

-- Mark 9:38-39 (ERV)

KEY THOUGHT:
Good deeds done in the name of Jesus are a blessing no matter which
group or which person is doing them. Our goal should be for people to
be blessed and Jesus to be praised!


TODAY'S PRAYER:
LORD God, my Abba Father, may your name be praised and lost people be
reached, through the work of others I don't yet know. Help my heart
rejoice in that work and those who do it. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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Don't Stop Him! -- Mark 9:38-39

Are Himalayan foothills haven to drug smugglers?

Shimla: The idyllic, pastoral setting of the Himalayan foothills that draws an increasing number of backpackers is now also becoming a base for a multimillion dollar narcotics trade involving foreign settlers, local peddlers and international drug smugglers.

Police officials say that foreign smugglers, working in collusion with addicts, are virtually ruling the roost in Mandi, Kullu and Chamba districts that have a serious problem of drug cultivation, trafficking and use.

The conviction of two Italians—Anglo Falcone and Nobli Simone—along with two Indians under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act by a Mandi court last Friday is proof that an international drug mafia has gained a foothold in the hill state, senior police officials said here.

Kullu Superintendent of Police Jagat Ram said, "Forty-eight people have been booked under the NDPS Act this year. Last year, 29 people had been booked."

In the past 10 years, 208 foreigners have been arrested in the state and 757 cases registered under the NDPS Act. However, only 74 people have been convicted. Among the arrested foreigners are many Israelis, Italians, French and Japanese.

According to a police officer who did not want to be identified, a large number of foreigners settled in various villages in these districts have been actively involved in smuggling narcotics in connivance with local peddlers.

The foreigners were even providing high-yield variety cannabis seeds imported from Holland and Russia to farmers for planting in various high-altitude areas like Malana, Bhelang, Melandar, Magic and Kutlah in the Kullu valley as well as the Chauhar and Seraj valleys in Mandi district, the officer said.

In Chamba district, the plantation of cannabis is confined to remote areas of Kehar, Tissa and Bharmour.

"We are aware of the problem and it has to be curbed,” Himachal Pradesh Director General of Police GS Gill said.

"We're launching a special month-long drive from September 1 in Kullu, Mandi and Chamba districts. This is the time the poppy crop is ready for harvest," he added.

Gill said special police teams would be deployed to locate cannabis and opium plantations and destroy them before the crop is harvested.

Additional Director General of Police DS Manhas said, "During the drive we're taking the help of 18 sniffer dogs to detect houses in villages where hashish and opium have been stored."

According to estimates of India's Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), more than 6,000 acres in the state is under cannabis cultivation.

Easy availability of cheap drugs in McLeodganj—the abode of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama—and its surrounding areas of Dharamkot, Naddi and Bhagsunag has turned the area into an addicts' haven, say the police.

The demand for the cannabis cultivated in the Kullu valley has increased across the world, with Malana hashish adjudged the best at the Cannabis Cup organised in Amsterdam earlier this year.

A former Kullu Superintendent of Police AP Singh said, “The demand for the cannabis cultivated in the Kullu valley is high in Holland, where smoking hashish is legal."

Malana, a village in the Kullu valley, has long been notorious for cultivation of high-quality cannabis there.

A former NCB Superintendent OP Sharma said, "People involved in this clandestine trade are spreading their wings by luring more villagers into this multi-billion dollar trade. Alternative farming is the only way to control cannabis cultivation."

Indo-Pak cross LoC trade model finalised

New Delhi: Modalities of cross LoC trade between India and Pakistan were finalised today at a meeting of the Joint Working Group on Cross LOC Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) here.

"The agreement was for starting commerce on Srinagar-Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawalkot routes," Pakistan's Additional Secretary (South Asia) in the Foreign Ministry Aijaz Ahmed Chowdhury said.

The trade will begin after it gets clearance from the legislatures of the two nations, he added.

The Indian delegation was led by TCA Raghavan, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs and the Pakistan delegation by Choudhury.

In July, foreign secretaries of the two countries had exchanged lists of commodities with zero tariff regime. Each side had agreed to indicate the items they were willing to receive.

A formal announcement is likely to be made this week after a meeting of Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the UN General Assembly session in New York.

The two countries have already opened a bus service between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad in April 2005.

Kerala district on way to become tobacco free

Thiruvananthapuram: Kottayam in Kerala will be the first region in the country to be declared a tobacco free district, a top official said on Tuesday.

This would be declared in the next few days, before the ban on smoking becomes effective October 2 in all public places, Kerala Health Secretary Vishwas Mehta said.

The district, having a population of 2.8 million people, had also created history in the eighties when it was declared a 100 per cent literate area, reports IANS.

"We have taken help of school children in this campaign and it will take time before the new rules become effective. We just can't enforce this by using the police alone. There has to be a sustained campaign from the society," Mehta said.

He said authorised officials would impose fine on people who violate the law. Mehta had inaugurated a meeting on new tobacco control legislation in the state in the wake of the new rules that the central government has framed on banning smoking in public places.

Making Kottayam district a tobacco free area does not mean that no tobacco products would be sold or none will smoke in the district, Kottayam District Medical Officer Benjamin George said.

"To make this effective, we have been working for the past 18 months and the district administration has by now issued three different sets of orders to all government and private establishments that none should smoke in public," he said.

George said a school helpline has also been set up to enable any student or teacher to call and report against those using tobacco products in public. Action would be taken against the guilty, he added.

RTI Commission slams UP Chief Secretary

Uttar Pradesh's RTI Commission has come down heavily on the northern Indian state's Chief Secretary for not implementing the Right to Information Act in its true spirit even three years after its enactment.

This happened after a petitioner filed a plea before the Uttar Pradesh State Information Commission (UPSIC) complaining that information he had sought from the Chief Secretary's office (CSO) had not been provided to him.

Petitioner Paras Nath Verma had sought to know from the CSO why he was not appointed as an assistant teacher and what action had been taken on various applications he had filed at various levels.

At a hearing on this before the UPSIC in Lucknow on July 18, the CSO had contended that the Chief Secretary was the controlling officer of the state secretariat but his office did not come under the definition of public authority, and was thus not bound to provide information under the RTI Act.

The UPSIC had initially reserved judgement on this. In an order on August 4, the commission's acting Chief Gyanendra Sharma, declared that the CSO was a public authority and directed it to name its Public Information Officer (PIO) and first appellate authority within 15 days of receiving the order.

The CSO was also directed to make public the name, address and telephone numbers of the PIO and the appellate authority.

Sharma also directed the Chief Secretary to trace out a letter that had been sent from his office along with Verma's query to the state's Basic Education Secretary and to inform him when this had reached the officer concerned.

He also asked the Chief Secretary to explain why Verma was not informed about his letter being transferred from one officer to another.

The Chief Secretary was also asked to respond to these two issues within one month.

The commission also termed as laughable the Chief Secretary's contention that his office did not have a website of his own to respond to queries from the public as the UPSIC's Chief also did not have one.

"The reasons given by Chief Secretary are not only irrelevant but unnecessary too. The submission that because the UPSIC Chief doesn't have its own website for supporting his argument of not having his own website is laughable," the commission said.

"Does he have to be told that the country's Prime Minister and Cabinet Secretary of the central government also have own websites," the commission added.

"The central government's cabinet secretariat, which is the nodal agency for coordination amongst various ministries, has its own website. Thus, is it not important for the office of the Chief Secretary to have its own website, appoint a PIO and disclose information under various sections of RTI Act?" the commission asked.

Acting commission Chief Sharma said that the sole purpose and intent was to hold someone responsible in the Chief Secretary's office under the RTI Act.

"I have only asked them to appoint a PIO and an appellate authority and make their details public, which should have been a suo motu disclosure under the act. As far as the website is concerned, I have left this decision to the Chief Secretary," Sharma said.

Website on girls' issue to be launched tomorrow

New Delhi: Child Relief and You (CRY), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) will launch a microsite on the eve of the Girl Child Day on September 24.

The microsite will provide an interactive platform to people, which, besides providing information on skewed sex ratio and various campaigns, will allow one to express his or her opinion on the issue, reports IANS.

With videos, opinion polls, articles, volunteer activities, campaign material downloads, e-newsletter and blogs, the site will help one explore the not often talked about reasons which give rise to such practices as female foeticide.

"We believe the girl is a child first and that gender is merely descriptive. Yet statistics show that girls have not fared well so far, and this is not due to their lack of capability, but because people around incapacitate them," Meenakshi Kohli of CRY said.

This platform will help people express their opinion on the whole issue and initiate movements to turn around this negative trend, she added.

GSI to set up seismic observatories in northeast

Agartala: The Geological Survey of India (GSI) has decided to install sophisticated seismic observatory laboratories in different parts of the northeast to facilitate the prediction of high intensity earthquakes in the region.

The seven northeastern states—Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur—considered by seismologists as the sixth major earthquake prone belt in the world, experienced India's worst jolt, measuring 8.7 on the Richter scale, which killed 1,600 people in 1987.

Besides the northeastern states, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and parts of north Bihar lie in seismic Zone-V, vulnerable to earthquakes, reports IANS.

"GSI Director General PM Tejale last week visited the northeast to review the progress of installation of sophisticated seismic observatory machineries in the region," a GSI official said.

Quoting the GSI Chief, the official said, "The observatory lab would provide early detection of landslides as well as earthquakes."

The GSI has also initiated a process to prepare a seismic micro-zonation map for hilly parts of the vulnerable northeastern region.

The Union Ministry of Earth Sciences has plans to set up a research institute to study seismic activity in the northeast. The proposal is awaiting clearance from the Union Finance Ministry.

"Following the proposal of various state governments of the region, the Earth Sciences Ministry initiated the move of setting up an exclusive centre to conduct survey of the seismic activities in the region," the official added.

Not One of Us! -- Mark 9:38

Not One of Us!

Then John said, "Teacher, we saw a man using your name to
force demons out of a person. He is not one of us. So we told
him to stop, because he does not belong to our group."

-- Mark 9:38 (ERV)

KEY THOUGHT:
Isn't it amazing how quickly we can split up into our own little groups
and begin to arrogantly do as a group what Jesus had just challenged
his disciples not to do as individuals when he told them that the
greatest must be a servant to all? (Mark 9:30-37) We all want to
picture ourselves as "insiders" in the Kingdom of God -- those who are
righteously superior and correct. When others appear to be doing God's
good work, we feel threatened rather than delighted. How shallow, how
petty, and how unlike Jesus such arrogance is! God forgive us and
change us from our petty ways.


TODAY'S PRAYER:
Father in heaven, I love you. However, I have to admit that I frustrate
myself with my own selfish and petty loyalties and pride. Even though I
hate that trait in others, I need your help, Father, to hate it in
myself and remove from my own heart. Please help me be more open just
as your Son was while on the earth. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Bamboo houses for Bihar flood victims from Assam

Guwahati: As over 30 lakh flood victims of Bihar struggle to get back a roof over their head, a group of experts from the Guwahati-based Cane and Bamboo Technology Centre (CBTC) has designed an innovative home for them.

A month after the floods, triggered by a course change in the Kosi river, the victims are starting to think of rebuilding their homes, instead of languishing in ill-equipped relief camps.

With support from the North Eastern Council (NEC), CBTC has designed a model bamboo shelter, which is affordable, permanent, eco-friendly and can be constructed in a day.

"Time has come to seriously think about the permanent rehabilitation of the flood survivors of Bihar. Thus we have developed a hut for the victims that is simple, economical and affordable, flood-resilient and climate friendly," CBTC Director Kamesh Salam said.

"The standard building materials like cement, steel, brick and primary timber and standard housing techniques may not be appropriate now in view of the urgency to rehabilitate them and the high cost involved. Thus the solution lies in making best use of bamboo technology," he added.

The experts at CBTC and NEC believe that use of green building materials derived from bamboo technology for construction of houses is best as it is derived from renewal source materials, consumes less energy, is non-polluting, cost effective and environmentally sustainable.

The centre, which has designed the shelter, displayed it at the recently concluded Northeast Business Summit here.

The model house, built in an area of 230 square feet, consists of two rooms, a kitchen and a toilet. Each hut will be a pre-fabricated structure made of treated bamboo.

"Each hut can be erected in a day. The cost of each house comes around Rs 30,000. The house will be permanent, with coating of cement or mud on the splitted bamboo panels," Salam said.

The idea was not only to provide homes for the poor flood victims but also to train them in building the houses on their own in a short span of time and thus provide to them economic opportunities and livelihood security, Member of NEC and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) P P Shrivastava said.

"NEC and CBTC through NDMA have sent the proposal to the Bihar government and are waiting for their response. As soon as we get a green signal from them, we will send a team of experts from CBTC to Bihar to train the flood victims in making the huts," Shrivastava added.

While CBTC and NEC will provide the expertise to build the huts, infrastructure will be provided by the Bihar government and NDMA.

Experts working in the field of bamboo technology feel bamboo has got immense use but unfortunately that has not been explored fully.

Bamboo processing technology has now developed to such an extent that processed bamboo has become an ideal material for housing construction. Processed bamboo can now replace timber, steel, wood and aluminium, because of its high tensile strength and very good weight to strength ratio.

The strength-weight ratio of bamboo also supports its use as a highly resilient material against forces created by high velocity winds and earthquakes.

Above all, bamboo is renewable raw resource from agro-forestry and if properly treated and industrially processed, components made by bamboo can have a reasonable life of 30 to 40 years, Shrivastava said.

CBTC and NEC have also suggested that the Bihar government import bamboo from northeast India, as 28 per cent of the total bamboo area of the country is located in the region.

Bamboo, also known as green gold because of its immense use, has been used in the region for building materials, agricultural implements, furniture, musical instruments, food items, handicrafts, large bamboo-based industries.

"In line with the national mission on Bamboo, through our model bamboo hut, we will be encouraging and guiding the unemployed flood victims of Bihar to take up its construction and start earning once again," Shrivastava said.

According to an official estimate, people from 2,451 villages in 17 districts have been affected by the floods in Bihar. Although the official death toll is 50, locals fear many more bodies will be found once the floodwaters recede.

Scientific panel formed to check mysterious fever

Lucknow: A panel of scientists, including experts from National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, has been formed to contain a mysterious fever that has claimed over 120 lives in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur division in the last three weeks.

"The scientific panel will be headed by MM Gore of NIV. At present, Gore is associated with NIV's field station in Gorakhpur district (of Uttar Pradesh)," an NIV scientist said from Pune.

Gore's field of specialisation is anti-viral immunology, reports IANS quoting the NIV scientist.

Besides NIV experts, scientists and doctors from Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Science, Lucknow, BRD Medical College Gorakhpur and other hospitals are also the members of the panel, sources said.

Director General (Medical and Health) IS Srivastava confirmed that the scientific panel has been constituted to counter the mysterious fever.

The unofficial count of the deaths due to the mysterious disease in six districts of Kanpur division is 160.

The worst hit by the mystery disease is Akbarpur district, where 100 people have died, said a district administration official.

Several villages of the district including Akorhi, Satti, Naseerpur and Chataina are badly affected, he added.

Even as experts fear the disease can spread to adjoining districts of Kanpur division, health officials refused to comment.

The mysterious disease, which is afflicting about 8-10 people daily, is marked by high fever, an official said. Symptoms of the mystery disease are similar to that of malaria and jaundice, he added.

A team of officials from the union health ministry arrived in Kanpur rural district and collected patients' blood samples.

India lags in primary health, lacks specialists

New Delhi: About 50 per cent of sanctioned posts of specialists at various community health centres (CHCs) throughout India are vacant, which shows that the primary health still remains the lowest priority of state governments including union territories, reveals an industry lobby report.

According to the Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industries (Assocham) Paper 'Role of Health Insurance in Medical Care in India', 59.2 per cent of posts of surgeons, 46.4 per cent of obstetricians and gynaecologists, 56.6 per cent of physicians and 51.9 per cent of pediatricians are vacant in the 4,500 CHCs in the country.

Releasing the paper, Assocham President Sajjan Jindal said that 2,525 CHCs should have been added to current operational community health centres that number around 5,000 by end of 2007-08 which did not happen at all, speaks of utter apathy that state governments observed towards them.

The CHCs are supposed to provide specialised medical care in the form of facilities of surgeons, obstetricians and gynaecologists, physicians and paediatricians throughout the country to promote rural health.

Even out of the sanctioned posts, a significant percentage of posts are vacant at other levels. For instance, about 8.8 per cent of the sanctioned posts of female health worker are vacant as compared to about 32 per cent of the male health worker.

At primary health centres (PHCs), about 13.8 per cent of the sanctioned posts of female health assistant and 22.1 per cent of male health assistant are vacant.

At the sub centre level, the extent of existing manpower can be assessed from the fact that about five per cent of the sub centres were without a female health worker, about 37.2 per cent sub centres were without a male health worker and about 4.7 per cent sub centres were without both female health worker as well as male health worker.

This indicates a large shortfall in male health workers, resulting in poor male participation in family welfare and other health programmes, the Assocham paper said.

About 5.6 per cent of the PHCs were without a doctor, about 40 per cent were without a lab technician and about 17 per cent were without a pharmacist.

The chamber has, therefore, recommended that states who manage these centres should attach equal priority to their well being just as they take up issues of creating infrastructure such as roads, ports and aviation.

First S&T Park in Delhi soon

New Delhi: Soon Delhi would become a major destination for advanced research in information technology (IT), science and technology. The Delhi government on Monday gave its nod to set up first science and technology (S&T) park in the capital.

The project proposed by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) will be established by the Delhi government at the Netaji Subhash Institute of Technology (NSIT) campus in Dwarka.

The park will cover over 30 acres with a built up area of over two million sq ft and will be in close proximity to the international airport.

The detailed project report (DPR) for the S&T Pak was prepared by Nasscom with assistance from PricewaterhouseCoopers through a consultative process involving detailed interactions with industry firms involved in R&D activities, academicians and research institutions.

"We see the S&T Park at NSIT as a strategic initiative to position Delhi as a pre-eminent R&D cluster for the knowledge industries which are today looking at undertaking advanced scientific research across various fields," Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said while announcing the approval.

The strong presence of industry, academia and other resources in and around Delhi enables high end R&D and innovation and this initiative is an attempt by us to create that opportunity, she added.

"This initiative is a key milestone to establish Delhi as a global innovation hub and serve as a platform for holistic and sustainable industry and academia partnership, thereby attracting to the national capital and retaining high-quality talent," the Chief Minister said.

The areas identified for research at the park are information and communication technology, biotechnology and life-sciences, automotive technologies, nanotechnology, photonics, environmental sciences and micro engineering among others.

While the S&T Park will predominantly focus on research and development in emerging technologies, it will also include an incubator to promote entrepreneurship in technology innovations and plug-n-play facilities for use for young start-up firms.

Nasscom President Som Mittal said, "The Nasscom BCG Innovation Report 2007 highlighted that the lack of sustainable linkages between the ecosystem constituents, academia, user industry, R&D institutes and IT industry, is a key reason for the weakness of the Indian innovation ecosystem."

Mittal further said that the S&T Park at NSIT can play the role of a catalyst in the development of an innovation cluster in the NCT region and thereby making it an important initiative towards the overall development of the Indian innovation ecosystem.

"Through this initiative we also aim to step up industry and academia interactions for capacity building in emerging technologies at both faculty and student levels," the Nasscom President said.

Area-wise, 60 per cent of the park will be occupied by R&D Centre, 10 per cent each by incubator and business amenities, while Plug-n-Play Facility will occupy the rest of the area.

Act soon to bring transparency in Bihar ULBs

All the 122 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in Bihar will soon have a transparent umbrella through which their assets, liabilities and obligation could be vividly viewed by common men.

The first state in the country to enact the Model Municipal Act ensuring all-round development of municipal areas, Bihar has moved further towards people's empowerment by introducing Bihar Urban Local Bodies Disclosure Bill, 2008.

The Bill already passed by the state Legislature during the monsoon session is awaiting Governor's nod to become an Act.

"As a matter of fact, section 4 of the RTI Act, 2005 has made it obligatory on part of all the Public Authorities, to publish within 120 days from the date enactment of the RTI Act, all relevant details, assets, liabilities, obligations, duties and functions," an official said.

This Bill was in pursuance to this provision, he added.

The Act aims to bring about a transparency in the working of these ULBs. Even after passage of Bihar Municipal Act 2007, the local bodies failed to deliver the goods to the common men.

The state has yet to prepare a statement of its urban policy or strategy. Without such a unified policy document, urban sector works have been fragmentary and have been undertaken by different agencies without close alignment of resources, resulting in grossly inadequate and inefficient urban development.

Despite the breakthrough Bihar Municipal Act introduced by the state in 2007, fully empowering the ULBs to provide all urban services and recover costs, non-municipal agencies like Public Health and Engineering Department (PHED) and Bihar Rajya Jal Parshad (BRJP) retain control of typical municipal functions such as the creation of water supply and sewerage systems.

Besides, the ULBs have very low technical, financial and institutional and management capacity and need extensive strengthening, along with immediate financial reforms, to fulfil their mandate under the Municipal Act.

According to the 2001 census, Bihar had an urban population of only 86.8 lakh, or 10.46 per cent of the total population, versus the national average of 28 per cent.

About 60 per cent of this urban population is in the southern part of the state, with a significant concentration in Patna, and more than 50 per cent is in class I towns (towns with a population of more than one lakh; Bihar had 19 of these in the 2001 census), thus putting concentrated pressure on those towns.

Bihar's new land policy on anvil

Patna: Taking a cue from the Singur and Nandigram incidents in the Left-led state of West Bengal, the Bihar government has drafted a comprehensive land policy to streamline the land and revenue administration in the state.

"The Bihar Land Policy, 2008 is ready awaiting cabinet's nod. After getting the approval of the cabinet; it will come into force. It will have a land owner-friendly look," a government official involved in drafting of the policy said.

The proposed policy has dealt in depth over land acquisition, re-settlement and rehabilitation, ceiling and land management aspects and has abolished many rules and regulations framed in the existing policy made by British.

Lands are acquired under the provisions of Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (Act 1 of 1894), which is a Central Act. As this Act has been enacted by the erstwhile British rulers, many provisions of it are not land-owners friendly and are not congruent with the changing socio-economic and political milieu.

Legal experts have also opined that this law is biased against the land owners and farmers. In fact, this biasness is the crux of all such problems which are being experienced in many areas including Singur and Nandigram, official said.

This proposed policy seeks to provide solution to all such problems by framing Ground Rules for acquisition. Instead of awarding monetary compensation, the land losers would be rehabilitated by re-settling lands in freely surrendered urban and semi-urban areas.

The amounts of compensation and 'solacium' money have already been enhanced in The Bihar Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Re-settlement Policy, 2007.

"This Policy seeks to 'institutionalise' it and make it further investment and rehabilitation friendly," official pointed out.

Besides, section 11 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 has also been amended to give the District Collectors more discretionary powers in matters of awarding compensations. Idea is to give human face to whole gamut of land acquisition and land management process.

The Ground Rules are to be framed for re-settlement and rehabilitation to the affected persons. The policy also seeks to provide livelihood to the land losers and agricultural labours by way of creating jobs in the vicinity of the projects.

The policy seeks to constitute a Grievance Redressal Mechanism so that the grievances are disposed off more quickly and amicably. It also seeks to make Social Impact Assessment of the entire acquisition process and take suitable steps accordingly.

People will continue to enjoy some of the rights like fishing and grazing even after their land is acquired.

This policy also seeks to make some exemptions in land ceiling laws in districts like Kisanganj, which is becoming an attractive destination for tea cultivators.

But surprisingly, it does not say anything about the other districts. The Land Ceiling Act, 1961 has hopelessly failed in this state and there are numerous instances where people are fighting legal battles for the land given to them under this Act in 1970s itself.

The policy seeks to introduce modern technology in land management. It also aims at making a data base of the land records and seeks to update it by way of application of ICT.

Tulip bags Rs 95 Cr MPSWAN project

September: Data telecom service provider Tulip Telecom (Tulip) has been awarded the Madhya Pradesh State Wide Area Network (MPSWAN) project at a cost of Rs 95 crore.

Tulip Telecom has signed an agreement between MP State Electronics Development Corporation (MPSEDC) to establish the network based on the Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (Boot) model.

The company will deploy, manage and operate the entire network for a period of five years as per the agreement.

The network supports data, voice and video, and will enable the state to implement various e-Governance initiatives. With this project, Madhya Pradesh aims to strengthen its position under the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) of the Government of India.

The total Internet Protocol (IP) network based on open standards having scalability and high capacity would meet the present and future requirements of the state government.

On completion of this project, the state government will have an integrated backbone for common citizen services, online monitoring of performance of various promotional schemes, integration of data bases of various government departments and unified communication.

"Tulip is delighted to be a part of the prestigious NeGP and look forward to extend expertise for the successful deployment of the MPSWAN," Tulip Telecom CMD HS Bedi said.

MPSEDC Managing Director Anurag Shrivastava stated, "The SWAN will enable the state government to deliver various e-Governance services to the citizens of MP and will allow transparent and quick decision making within the state."

Welcome the Child -- Mark 9:36-37

Welcome the Child


Then Jesus took a small child. Jesus stood the child before
the followers. Jesus held the child in his arms and said, "If
a person accepts children like these in my name, then that
person is also accepting me. And if a person accepts me, then
that person is also accepting the One (God) that sent me."

-- Mark 9:36-37 (ERV)

KEY THOUGHT:
How we treat those from whom we can receive no status determines our
heart. In Jesus' day, children were not held to be overly important in
the social pecking order. In many ways, that is still true today --
notice how day-care workers and teachers are still among the lowest
paid professional workers in many modern countries. So Jesus reminds
his followers that the way they welcome, treat, and value children
reveals a great deal about their hearts. What does it say about our
own?


TODAY'S PRAYER:
Father, thank you for challenging me to value people whom others
neglect, devalue, and overlook. Help me follow through on my conviction
to love all people, especially those from whom I can receive no
monetary, status, or power benefit. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

$1.2 bn WFP aid for global food crisis

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has announced that it is rolling out an additional US $1.2 billion in food assistance to help tens of millions of people in more than 60 nations hardest hit by the urgent food crisis.

“With soaring food and fuel prices, hunger is on the march and we must act now,” United Nations World Food Programme Executive Director Josette Sheeran said at the International Summit on Food Security in Rome.

Sheeran said that if we do not act quickly, the bottom billion will become the bottom two billion virtually overnight as their purchasing power is cut in half due to a doubling in food and fuel prices.

The Executive Director also said that the agency is helping the world to tackle the crisis by tripling the number of people who receive food in Haiti, doubling those who will receive food in Afghanistan, and delivering more critical food assistance to people in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya.

“We have mobilised our 10,000 employees and every dollar and euro given to us, to reach as many hungry people as we can at this critical time,” Sheeran said.

She noted that the international community has made great progress over the past four decades in reducing the percentage of hungry worldwide, from 37 per cent to 17 per cent in 2002.

“High food and fuel prices now threaten to short-circuit this potential and undue many of these hard earned gains. Only by pulling together in the spirit of global interdependence, can we respond strategically to this challenge,” Sheeran said.

UN WFP also warned that record high food and fuel prices threaten to unwind hard-earned gains and increase human suffering.

Countries most affected by high food prices—Haiti, Liberia, Afghanistan, Kenya, Somalia, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Yemen, Senegal, Burundi, Central African Republic and Sierra Leone—are provided support in the form of food, medication, resources and financial help by the UN agency.

Sheeran said that more action is needed to help individuals, families and communities hold the line against hunger, and to create space for UN partners and others to work on medium and longer term solutions to boost agricultural production.

“Here is our opportunity – and our human dilemma. We simply cannot solve this challenge divided. The situation we face presents an opportunity for the global community to demonstrate concerted leadership as never before”.

Internet-based wildlife racket busted in UP

New Delhi: A gang using the Orkut and other popular networking sites for illegal wildlife trade was busted in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut town, and threatened wildlife, including a rare albino civet, were seized alive.

Two gang members were arrested from the Lalkurti locality of the town and many threatened wildlife, including peacocks, parakeets and a rare albino civet cat were seized alive, officials said on Tuesday.

This may be the first case in the country linked with Internet wildlife trade, reports IANS.

Officials said members of the gang used the Orkut networking site for meeting new customers as well as to close deals with existing clients in the Middle East and Europe.

A team of Uttar Pradesh's special task force and the Forest Department conducted the raid, after Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), a non governmental organisation (NGO), alerted the officials.

"The accused was in the process of settling a deal on the civet cat for Rs 3 lakh with a customer in Dubai, but we surprised him with the raid," a WTI official said.

The civet cat may be the first albino common Indian civet ever recorded—a very rare species, he said.

Mahesh Chandra, wildlife warden of Meerut, said the accused have been sent to jail on Tuesday afternoon after being charged under the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972. The birds would be released after permission from the magistrate.

WTI Vice-chairman Ashok Kumar said, "The crackdown has exposed a huge illegal market for birds on the Internet. But there is more evidence now to further this investigation."

He said that NGOs in India as well as abroad have been urging their governments for implementing strict measures to stop the online wildlife trade.

International NGOs in the past even exposed websites where illegal ivory products had been displayed for sale, Kumar, adding the latest arrest may be the first case involving the Internet wildlife trade in the country.

Drip irrigation boosts farm products in Rajasthan

Chomu (Rajasthan): Farmers in this vegetable-growing oasis amid Rajasthan's semi-desert scrubland are improving yields from their farms, thanks to drip irrigation and financial help from the state government.

Young and old, the farmers keep thronging the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK, agriculture science centre) at sub-divisional headquarters town Chomu, 40 km from state capital Jaipur, to learn new tricks to grow more and better vegetables.

Their interest is vital, for Chomu sub-division grows about 95 per cent of the vegetables grown in Jaipur district, which in turn accounts for about 90 per cent of the vegetables grown in Rajasthan, KVK Scientist NK Gupta said. The farmers of Chomu even export their produce to the Middle East.

Chomu may be an oasis because it sits on an aquifer, but rapid evaporation in the desert heat means water scarcity remains the biggest challenge to the farmers here. Add to that overdrawing from the aquifer, and the farmers are looking at disaster without better water management.

That is exactly what they are being taught at the KVK, where at any time no fewer than 30 farmers—both young and experienced—can be seen upgrading their know-how.

The use of sprinkle and drip irrigation techniques—where water is sprinkled or dripped to the plants' roots instead being wasted by flooding the fields—is the most important part of the education.

The state government gives 70 per cent financial support for putting in place a drip irrigation system—a network of valves, pipes, tubing, and outlets.

Now beverage major Coca-Cola India is chipping in with financial aid. The company has helped 15 farmers install drip or sprinkle irrigation facilities.

"Meticulous use of water, and how to preserve the nature's most precious gift is a thrust area for us," Coca-Cola India Public Affairs and Communications Vice President Deepak Jolly said.

"It is our corporate social responsibility to help farmers to opt for drip irrigation, and ensure optimum utilisation of water," he added.

The KVK has so far trained over 125 young farmers from the surrounding villages how to improve for quality vegetable cultivation.

"We have a year-long training programme for young farmers. We enrol 25 applicants in each batch, and make them undergo a total training programme," Gupta said.

Farmers from around 100 villages are being covered by the KVK, and they grow vegetables in an area of over 1,000 hectares, he said.

Infant deaths: HR notice to AIIMS, health official

New Delhi: Taking note of the deaths of 49 infants during clinical trials, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued a notice to the Indian Health Ministry and the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS).

"This is a show-cause notice and we have sought comments from the Secretary of the Health Ministry and the AIIMS Director on a complaint filed with the NHRC," a Commission official said.

The Commission has sought replies within four weeks.

The notices were served following a petition by Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) Uday Foundation to the NHRC, bringing the matter to its notice and alleging violation of the right to life under Article 21 of the constitution, reports IANS.

"We are seeking the NHRC's intervention because we have no faith in any internal inquiry by the institute," an official of the NGO said.

In reply to a Right to Information (RTI) query, the AIIMS earlier this month admitted 49 babies had died during clinical trials over the past two and a half years.

The AIIMS Paediatrics Department conducted 42 sets of trials on 4,142 babies—2,728 of them below the age of one—since January 1, 2006.

AIIMS authorities said the deaths were not due to medicines used in the clinical trials but because of the diseases that the children were suffering from.

"We want to clarify that none of the deaths was due to the medication or interventions used in clinical trials," Paediatrics Department Head VK Paul had said.

Clinical research is the mandate of the AIIMS clinicians. Novel therapies are examined keeping in mind the utmost safety for all patients, he added.

"The research protocol undergoes intense scrutiny by the internationally recognised Institute Ethics Committee. Written informed consent is taken from parents and guardians," Paul said.

"Most of the 42 clinical trials have reported no deaths. The deaths are mainly due to inherent diseases and not due to medicines used," Paul said.

Pilot study: good response to female prophylactic in TN

http://www.hindu.com/seta/2008/08/28/stories/2008082850071500.htm

Pilot study: good response to female prophylactic in TN

R. PRASAD

The scaled-up project to provide female condoms to sex workers will begin in October

15 lakh pieces will be distributed to the target group in the four States in the scaled-up project
Countrywide coverage will happen depending on the success of the scaled-up project

The pilot project, where female condoms were provided to female sex workers (FSW) to help keep HIV infection at bay and undertaken at 11 sites across five States in the country, has met with a good response. The initiative was started on a pilot scale in March last year. Plans are now to scale it up. The scaled-up project will begin in October.
Tamil Nadu was one of the five States where the pilot project was undertaken. The other States were Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and West Bengal.
Good experience

“The overall experience has been good,” said Ms. K. Sujatha Rao, the Director-General of the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), Delhi. “We will soon scale up the programme.”
The scaled-up programme will be restricted to four States — Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Maharashtra — where the response was better than that in Karnataka.
“If there is a good response [in the four States], then we may scale it up even further [to cover the entire country],” said Ms. Rao. Such a countrywide coverage may happen during the current financial year.
Best response

According to Mr. Manoj Gopalakrishna, the response was the best in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Mr. Gopalakrishna is the Chief Executive Officer of Hindustan Latex Family Planning Promotion Trust, Delhi. The Trust provides NACO the technical support for the condom programme.
“The response was the best in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, in terms of product usage and repeat buying. The second best were West Bengal and Maharashtra,” said Mr. Gopalakrishna.
“About 90 per cent who bought the product have actually used them. And of the 90 per cent, about 65 per cent used them consistently,” Mr. Gopalakrishna said.
If 5 lakh female condoms were distributed to 64,000 sex workers in the five States in the pilot project, the scaled-up programme in the four States, which may start in October, will see 15 lakh condoms being distributed to the target group.
According to Ms. Supriya Sahu, Project Director of the Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society (TANSACS), female condoms will become a part of the strategy in the scaled up programme wherever the project is taken up with sex workers.
The pilot project in Tamil Nadu was taken up in six districts — Chennai, Madurai, Salem, Vellore, Trichy and Kanyakumari. The scaled-up programme will cover all the districts.
“We sold more than 80,000 condoms in six months’ time. About 12,000 FSWs were covered under the programme,” Ms. Sahu said.
A female prophylactic greatly empowers women especially when males refuse to use condoms.
Only choice

And when no medicines are available to cure HIV and no vaccines to prevent infection, the only way to remain uninfected is by not indulging in risky behaviour or by using a prophylactic every time one indulges in such acts.
But for female sex workers, a prophylactic is the only recourse.
“Using a female condom is an ideal choice when men refuse to use condoms,” said Dr. R. Lakshmi Bai, Project Director of TAI-VHS, Chennai.
According to Dr. Bai, the sex workers had to be trained to use it correctly and educated on the need to use them. Motivating them and sending a powerful empowerment message were equally important, especially when the condoms were not provided free of cost.
TAI-VHS had sold 30,000 pieces to NGOs in two districts (Salem and Vellore) over a period of one year. The total number of FSWs covered was 4,200 in the two districts.
Unlike the male condoms, the female prophylactic is not given free of cost. Individuals have to pay Rs.5 a piece. The good response, when the price paid is factored in, makes it all the more encouraging.
The response may be better during the scaled up programme as the cost of the prophylactic will be Rs.3 a piece. “That is because they we will manufacture them in India and not import them from London,” said Mr. Gopalakrishna.
When manufactured in India, the actual cost will be Rs.23 as against Rs.45 when they are imported. And what will be manufactured in India will be the newer second generation ones.

Bihar to take e-policing route

Bihar police will now take the hi-tech route to register first information reports (FIRs). It will implement a new software Cipa (Crime Investigation Police Application) for paperless operations across eastern Indian state's police stations.

Now, the complainants will not have to file written complaints, instead their complaints will be lodged just with a click of mouse.

The new software, developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC), will help the policemen deputed at the police station register cases through email and send the same to their seniors.

"With the introduction of this new technology, policemen can provide you any information at the click of a mouse," state Additional Director General of Police RR Verma said.

With the police stations to go online now, the state government has
planned to impart adequate training to the cops to enable them to lodge
FIRs without any problem.

In the first phase, 4,000 cops right from constable to deputy superintendent of police (DSP) will be provided training on how to open a file and entry data. Thereafter, they will learn how to analyse the data and use the new software.

The Bihar Institute of Public Administration and Rural Development (Bipard) has been assigned the task to train the cops and make them computer literate.

"This is a big challenge for us to train the cops. We have to make them know how to open files and make entry of data but we hope to overcome this problem soon," Bipard e-Governance In-charge Sanjay Pandey said.

He claimed that all the cops would be properly trained within a year.

Pandey said the programme would help in developing professional skill of policemen and encourage them to use more and more technology in carrying out their investigation.

Additional Director General (Law and Order) Anil Sinha said the state government has already provided computers to important police stations of the state.

But, the computers are not regularly used at the police station level as the policemen do not know how to operate them, he said.

Earlier, a trainer was sent to a police station for a period of six months to impart training to the policemen. But, now it has been decided to impart training in group, Sinha added.

Two death certificates for one woman

http://www.hindu.com/2008/09/18/stories/2008091860500600.htm


Two death certificates for one woman

Staff Reporter

TIRUNELVELI: Even before the allegations levelled by a group of councillors against the Executive Officer of Alangulam Town Panchayat Samuel Durairaj and the controversy pertaining to the issue of three different death certificates to a same person are yet to subside, the issuance of two death certificates to same person with different age has triggered disputes here.
After 49-year old A. Bhagavathi of Jothi Nagar in Alangulam died on last June 4, her husband Arulanandam applied to the Alangulam town panchayat for the death certificate, which was issued to him on last June 18. As per the first certificate, the age of the deceased is 45.
“When Mr. Arulanandam applied for the insurance claim along with this death certificate, the company refused to accept the claim saying that the age mentioned in the certificate was wrong since Bhagavathi’s actual age was 49. He submitted fresh application for the death certificate again and got it on last July 25 with adjusted age of 49,” said M. Palani Sankar, ward I councillor of Alangulam Town Panchayat, who has forwarded a complaint with copies of the death certificates to Collector G. Prakash. When one S. Manickavasagam of Jothi Nagar in Alangulam died at Chennai Kaliappa Hospital on June 14, 2007, the hospital administration gave a certificate stating that the end came at the hospital itself owing to cardio – respiratory arrest.
However, two different death certificates issued by Alangulam town panchayat claimed that Mr. Manickavasagam died only at Alangulam on two different dates – i.e. on June 14, 2007 and June 15, 2007 but both the certificates bore same registration number of 73 / 2007 / 01. After the issue of death certificates appeared in the media, Mr. Prakash appointed a committee to probe the issue. “Unfortunately, the three members of the committee are the contemporaries of Mr. Samuel Durairaj and hence, a new committee should investigate”

Biomedical waste carted to CTFs

http://www.hindu.com/2008/09/18/stories/2008091859080300.htm


Biomedical waste carted to CTFs

Ramya Kannan

CHENNAI: On Tuesday, all biomedical wastes generated in 90 per cent of public health care institutions in Tamil Nadu found their way to private common treatment facilities (CTF).
The wastes of all the 15 medical colleges in the State, 270 government hospitals and over 100 30-bed PHCs were picked up from a single collection point at each of these centres by representatives from private CTFs who carted it off for appropriate disposal.
So far, the hospitals were disposing of their own wastes in deep pits within the campus or handing them over to the local civic authority for disposal. “With this, we have fallen in line with the Central Bio Medical Waste Rules. We have conformed to all quality requirements,” said PWC Davidar, project director, Tamil Nadu Health Systems Project (TNHSP). The TNHSP has worked out a system of payment for the entire State with nine private common treatment facilities who won through a competitive bidding process. They will be paid per kg of weight they remove to treat, instead of the existing per-bed rate. The rates vary between Rs. 20 to Rs. 40 per kg, the cost getting higher with remote locations.
The final “handover” has taken place only after a series of preparatory measures were rolled out to ensure that the transition would be smooth, he added. This included training over 41,000 hospital staff all over the State, circulating training manuals and providing colour-coded bins to all hospitals.
Discussions were also held with the Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Programme and hospitals implementing the Revised National Tuberculosis Programme before evolving a standardised method of waste disposal. “We have also clarified the rules and ensured that there is no grey area in implementation,” he added.
The process was clearly outlined for the hospital workers. Biomedical waste would have to be segregated and disposed of in colour-coded bins provided to them. These bins would then be collected from all units in the hospital and moved to a central point from where it would then be removed by the CTF personnel.
J.Mohanasundaram, Dean, Stanley Medical College, said the formal handover was effected in the hospital on Tuesday when representatives from Tamil Nadu Waste Management took over from Chennai Corporation the job of disposing of medical wastes of the hospital.
Mr.Davidar said, “We are waiting to see how this works out for the first year before we roll it out in centres that have low volume of medical wastes. So far, we are not sure if it will work out to be profitable for the government and/or the private agencies.”

Food scheme at PHCs inaugurated

http://www.hindu.com/2008/09/18/stories/2008091860470600.htm


                  Food scheme at PHCs inaugurated

Special Correspondent

For health: U.Mathivanan, Dairy Development Minister serving food at Adiyakkamangalam PHC.

TIRUVARUR: Adiyakkamangalam Primary Health Centre in Tiruvarur district will be upgraded into a 30-bed hospital at a cost of Rs. 51 lakh, said U. Mathivanan, Dairy Development Minister, at Adiyakkamangalam on Tuesday.
He inaugurated the food scheme for pregnant women and those who delivered children or underwent operations at the PHCs at Adiyakkamangalam.
He said that it was only in Tamil Nadu that the PHCs functioned as 24-hour-delivery centres. Pregnant women will be provided food on the day she comes for checkup at the PHCs. Those who delivered children and those who underwent surgery will be provided food for three days.
Collector M. Chandrasekaran, said that there are 39 PHCs in Tiruvarur district, all of which are functioning as delivery centres from Tuesday.