India Announces World's Largest Health Programme

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Union Budget 2018-19 in the Parliament on Thursday, where he had a challenge to not just realise the 'New India' dream by spurring growth, but also meet expectations of millions of people and different sections of society and businesses of the country.
World's largest government-funded health programme - 'National Health Protection Scheme' was announced. It will cover 10 crore poor and vulnerable families by providing upto Rs 5 lakh per family per year. The government will launch 'Revitalising of Infrastructure and Systems in Education' by 2022 with a total investment of Rs 1 lakh crore in next 4 years.
This budget is significant as it was Modi government's fifth and final full budget. It is also the first one after GST implementation. Clearly, the focus is on low-cost farming. He said besides 'ease of doing business', the government is also focusing on 'ease of living' now. “
Higher Minimum Support Price of all crops shall be increased to at least 1.5 times that of the production cost.Hardwork of farmers resulted in a record production of more than 275 million tonnes of food grain and about 300 million tonnes of horticultural produce,” FM  said.
The Finance Minister expressed hope that economy will grow at 7.2 percent to 7.5 percent in the second half of 2017-18. He exuded confidence that India is on track to grow at 8 percent.
He proposed to raise institutional credit for agriculture to Rs 11 lakh crore for 2018-19. National Livelihood Mission allocated Rs. 5,750 cr in 2018-19.
Bamboo is green gold and restructured National Bamboo Mission will be launched with an allocation of Rs 1,290 crore to promote bamboo sector in a holistic manner, Jaitley said.
Air Pollution in Delhi NCR is a cause for concern, special scheme will be implemented to support Govts of Haryana, Punjab, UP and Delhi NCT to address it and subsidize machinery for management of crop residue, FM said.
By 2022, every block with more than 50% ST population and at least 20,000 tribal people will have 'Ekalavya' school at par with Navodaya Vidyalas.
Government plans to construct 2 crore more toilets under Swachh Bharat Mission, he informed.
Jaitley said the government has successfully implemented series of structural reforms as a result of which India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. He said FDI has gone up and Indian economy is now a 2.5 trillion economy.

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Will Ministers Listen To This?

Honking without any valid reasons and running blaring loud speaker at every possible opportunity are two of the favourite pastime for the politicians in India. The problem is more severe in Maharashtra. In this background, the news came as a fresh air.

In a bid to curb the menace of pollution, Environment Department of Maharashtra has recommended the ministers to cut down honking and avoid use of fire crackers in official programmes. Environment Minister Suresh Shetty informed the Legislative Council in Mumbai.

In Pune, the problem is especially seen during the rush hour. People seem to be in so hurry that every traffic signal is filled with noise of horns. The Department, at least on the paper, is trying to reduce noise and air pollution.

For a change, the debate on which Shetty gave above reply was started by Shiv Sena MLC Deepak Sawant who raised the issue of global warming and its impact on the environment.

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Ganeshotsav Off to Good Start

The festival of Ganesh Chaturthi got off to a well start today. The swine flu seemed to have little impact on the morale of the people in Pune. People were seen thronging temples and Modak, the special type of sweet which is said to be favourite of Lord Ganesh, was in full demand. Even rain graced the city on the occasion.

Roadside vendors made most of the business as the sale of big idols were hit this time around. Ganesh idols in Pune come mainly from Pen in Raigad district. But because of scarcity of water and then H1N1 scare, the number of idols coming to Pune were much lesser. Last fortnight, major Ganesh mandals decided to keep the festivities subdued because of H1N1 Flu scare.

Five main Ganpati mandals (Ganesh Mandals) have special place in the city. First of them all is Kasba Ganpati in Kasba Peth which is city deity. The festival of Kasba Ganpati started with pranpratishtha of Ganesh idol at 11 AM. A procession of the idol was brought out before the main ceremony. The procession was bereft of any kind of musical troupes because all prestigious mandals decided to refrain from musical troupes on account of H1N1 Flu.

In Mumbai also, chief minister Ashok Chavan installed a Ganesh idol at his official residence 'Varsha'. Speaking to mediapersons, he said he prayed to lord for good rains in the state. “I also prayed to god for controlling the inflation, to solve drinking water problem and to make the state wealthier,” he said.

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Wealth From the Waste

Only Remedy to Assuage the Problem of Garbage

Can the city dump its unserviceable lifestyle on the areas adjoining it. This question has been brought to forth by the strong agitation carried out by the residents of Uruli Devachi near Hadapsar. The villager of this small village are protesting against the garbage depot for last many years. The latest agitation is going on for four day in a row and today is the fifth day. But the issue has been overlooked by all and sundry. There have been even instances in the past where the water in the wells of the village has been proved to be contaminated with poisonous matters because of existence of garbage depot.

The garbage depot was first situated in Kothrud. But owing to the rising complaints from residents nearby, the Pune Municipal Corporation decided it to be shifted to Uruli Devachi. What was a problem essentially of city dwellers was sent to the villagers ho had nopart to play in it. After about a decade, the vicious effects of 1000 to 1200 tonnes of garbage being dumped daily are felt. Besides the pollution, it has also posed health hazards. Just three months ago, a fire started in the depot which lasted for more than a week. Demands were made in past with Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) authorities to rein in PMC.But MPCB has done little except issuing notices to PMC for “unscientifically” dumping the garbage.

Now that the garbage dumping has been stopped in Uruli Devachi, the heaps of garbage are piling up in the city. Complaints about the same have also been sounded. But one must look at the problem not through one side. City dwellers pride themselves and are always demanding for the new conveniences. But once their needs are fulfilled, these conveniences make a huge amount of garbage. And new trash dumps are always needed to put this waste. That's where the areas like Uruli Devachi come in. This area has been used as a dumping ground since 1983.

While Pune has developed multitudinously during last two decades, the adjoining parts of the city are best sites to develop housing and waste disposal as well. Fursungi, Vishrantwadi and such areas are looked upon as the best supporting land for the growing needs of citizens. You have industrial waste? dump it at Fursungi. You have drainage and human waste? Dump it in the rivers. This is the standard approach of civilized and democratic Puneites coming from all over the world. Nobody bothered to aks the villagers whether they want to accommodate the remains of human bodies, ash and decomposed food items, old and defunct parts of the machines that were engaged in building successful businesses, the dust and everything else that was thought not to be fit enough to keep in the city.

So this is the reason why the villagers are up in arms over the garbage issue. It is not about the rural versus urban divide. It is about arrogance versus existence. City's arrogance has reached its threshold and existence of the areas near cities is in question. The remedy? I am tool little and uninformed to suggest a remedy over this much big a problem. But it will be always good if we can find a way to create wealth from waste!

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Autorickshaws on Different Roads

In one of my previous posts, I had mentioned about the hi-tech auto rickshaws. In a further development, the Pune city is set to see the rising numbers of autorickshaws plying on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). India is also getting new rickshaws running on solar power but it is a far fetched thing to expect that it will be a reality soon.

In Pune, some PMPML buses already run on CNG. Now, according to RTO officials, about five to six autos have taken to the alternative fuel. Bhurelal Committee had recommended to run autos on CNG. But Regional Transport Office had not given the permission for changing over to new fuel because the city had not enough supply of CNG. Now, as the CNG outlets have grew in numbers, autorickshaws have got green signal to fit with the CNG kit. About Rs 25 to 30 Thousand are to be spent for CNG kits to be fitted in the autorickshaws.

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the premier research institute of the country, launched "Solekshaw", the solar-electric rickshaw for eco-friendly urban transport on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti

The dual-powered Soleckshaw is the CSIR's solution for the dual problem of decent employment generation for the masses and mitigation of global warming. Currently, transport sector accounts for more than 60 percent increase in Green House Gas (GHG) emission in India. As of now, no powered vehicle or transport system is free from carbon dioxide emission. Soleckshaw, with its zero carbon foot print and the trend of widespread use, is expected to reverse global warming and protect the planet from the perils of the climate change.

CSIR vision, titled, CSIR-800 and aimed at empowering 800 million Indians, gave way to the Soleckshaw. Mark I version of Soleckshaw has been designed, developed and prototyped by the CSIR's national laboratory, the Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CMERI) at Durgapur, in a record time of eight months. The accompanying solar charging station for swapping the batteries has been set up by the Central Electronics Limited (CEL), a Government undertaking. The specifically designed robust low power high torque brushless DC motor has been developed for the first time in India by Crompton Greaves based on the specifications provided by CMERI.

Technical Features · Power source : Solar and human · Drive : Motor - assisted pedal-driven · Electric motor : BLDC hub motor: 240-350 W, 36 V with regenerative capabilities · Transmission : Chain drive with differential and two ratios · Brakes : Three-wheel braking · Seating capacity : Two passengers · Payload : 200 kg · (excluding driver) · Speed limit : 15 kmph

The Advanced Materials & Process Research Institute (AMPRI), another constituent laboratory of CSIR supported for the Technology Demonstration Project (TDP). The Centre for Rural Development (CRD), an NGO working on rickshaw banks in different cities, joined the TDP as a partner for wider deployment of Soleckshaw. Innovative business model is being evolved with NGOs, banks, environment-loving corporates and manufacturing organizations to make the rickshaw available to the drivers at the cost of an ordinary rickshaw.

The advanced versions of Soleckshaw Mark II and Mark III with better aesthetics, ergonomics, speed and recumbent driving position is expected to be ready for launch during the Commonwealth Games in 2010.

(The information on Soleckshaw provided by PIB Features)

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