Posted On: 02 JUN 2020 9:51AM by PIB Delhi

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has greeted the people of Telangana, on Statehood Day. The Prime Minister also extended his wishes to the people of Andhra Pradesh.

Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare has released the 2nd Advance Estimates of 2019-20 of Area and Production of various Horticulture Crops. These are based on the information received from States and other source agencies.

Highlights of 2019-20 (2nd Advance Estimates) Total Horticulture production in 2019-20 (2nd Advance Estimates) is estimated to be 3.13% higher than 2018-19.

Increase in Vegetables, Fruits, Aromatics and Medicinal Plants and Flowers, while decrease in Plantation Crops and Spices, over previous year, is observed.

The Fruits production is estimated to be 99.07 Million Tonne compared to 97.97 Million Tonne production in 2018-19. It is mainly due to increase in production of Banana, Apple, Citrus and Watermelon.

The production of Vegetables in 2019-20 is estimated to be 191.77 Million Tonne, compared to 183.17 Million Tonne in 2018-19. Increase is mainly due to increased production of Onion, Tomato, Okra, Peas, Potato, etc.

Onion production is estimated to be 26.74 Million Tonne, as compared to 22.82 Million Tonne in 2018-19. Tomato production is estimated to be 20.57 Million Tonne (increase of 8.2%) as compared to 19.01 Million Tonnes in 2018-19.

Through ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’, Government of India is making all efforts to provide every rural household in the country a Functional Household Tap Connection for water in adequate quantity of prescribed quality on regular and long-term basis. Following the true spirit of cooperative federalism, State Governments are steering this flagship programme to realise the objectives of the Mission so as to bring cheers in the lives of rural people by providing potable water at their doorstep and ensure ‘ease of living’. It is envisaged that through this life changing Mission, each household will get potable water supply of 55 lpcd of prescribed quality on regular and long-term basis.

The estimated outlay of the mission is Rs 3.60 Lakh Crore with Central and State share of Rs. 2.08 Lakh Crore and Rs.1.52 Lakh Crore respectively.

Odisha state presented their Annual Action Plan before the National Committee headed by Secretary, Drinking Water & Sanitation, Ministry of Jal Shakti for consideration and approval for 2020-21. Govt of India approved Rs 812 Crores for implementation of the Mission in the State for the financial year. This allocation is a significant jump from last year’s allocation of Rs 297 Crore. Out of 81 lakh rural households in the State, Govt of Odisha plans to provide 16.21 lakh household connections in 2020-21. The State is planning 100% household tap connections by the year 2024. Priority is being given for 100% coverage of villages under water scare areas, quality-affected areas, Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna villages, villages in aspirational districts and SC/ ST dominated habitations.

Laying emphasis on capitalising on ‘low-hanging fruits’ i.e. in the villages/ habitations where piped water supply schemes already exist, State is making all out efforts to immediately provide household tap connections to remaining households belonging to weaker and marginalised sections on priority.

A roadmap is prepared for the effective implementation of Village Action Plan (VAP) with the active participation of the rural community. Strengthening of existing drinking water sources for long-term sustainability of drinking water supply systems through convergence of various programmes like MGNREGS, SBM (G), 15th FC Grants to PRIs, District Mineral Development Fund, CAMPA, Local Area Development Fund, etc. at village level is planned for judicious use of all available resources. The State has been allocated Rs. 2,258 Crore under 15th Finance Commission Grants to PRIs during 2020-21; 50% of this amount has to be mandatorily spent on water and sanitation.

To implement the mission, institutional arrangements at various levels have been made and State's PHE Department is to play a critical role. To instil sense of ownership among the village community, Mission strives to involve the community in planning, managing, implementing, operation and maintaining the water supply schemes meant for them for long-term sustainability. State Government will start engaging the Self Help Groups and voluntary organisations for community mobilization.

Jal Jeevan Mission encourages participation of local community in surveillance of water quality. For this, action plan carried out to incorporate the timely procurement of kits, supply of kits to the community, identification of at least five women in every village, training women for use of Field Test Kits and reporting and collating the reports with laboratory-based findings of the water sources. State also proposed taking NABL accreditation for 18 of its water testing labs. At present, it has one state-level lab and 32 district level labs.

Odisha state reels under two extreme conditions of water scarcity and also excess of it. There is one part which is water-stressed for most of the year, while the other part is marooned in monsoon. With the mercury soaring above 40 degrees Celsius, and during the prevailing Covid–19 pandemic, it is important that people don’t crowd public stand posts/ drinking water sources to fetch drinking water. Therefore, State was advised for taking up water supply works in villages to provide household tap connections, which will help in practicing social distancing, and will additionally help local people in getting employment and boost rural economy.

In the present context, when lot of migrants are returning to the State, it has become very important to provide livelihood to them. These personnel could be utilized in water supply related works especially plumbing, fitting, water conservation works, etc. in every village to ensure sufficient ground water availability leading to water security, water availability for agriculture and most importantly will help in provision of drinking water to every rural household as per the objective of Jal Jeevan Mission.

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed a disinfection unit named Ultra Swachh to disinfect a wide range of materials, including Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs), electronics items, fabrics, etc.

Institute of Nuclear Medicine & Allied Sciences (INMAS), the Delhi based laboratory of DRDO has developed this product with industry partner M/s Gel Craft Healthcare Private Ltd, Ghaziabad.

The system uses an advanced oxidative process comprising of multiple barrier disruption approach using Ozonated Space Technology for disinfection.

The system is double layered with specialised Ozone sealant technology assuring trapping of ozone for the necessary disinfection cycle. It also has catalytic converter to ensure environment friendly exhaust i.e. only oxygen and water.

The system is in compliance with International Standards of Industrial, Occupational, Personal and Environmental Safety. The Ultra Swachh comes in two variants namely Ozonated Space and Trinetra Technology. Trinetra technology is the combination of Ozonated space and radical dispenser. Treatment is optimised with automation for quick disinfection cycle.

The system operates on 15 Ampere, 220 Volts, 50 Hertz power supply. The system has been provided with various safety features such as emergency shutdown, door interlocks, dual door, delay cycle, and leak monitors, etc to ensure safe operations for longer duration. Dimensions of the Industrial Cabinet are 7’x4’x3.25’ to disinfect large quantity at a time. Cabinets of different sizes will be available for the industry.

Affordable Medicines worth about Rs 144 crore sold in March-May 2020 through Janaushadhi Kendras Posted On: 01 JUN 2020 3:24PM by PIB Delhi

Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushdhi Kendra's -PMBJKs has achieved an impressive sales of Rs 100.40 Crore in first two months of 2020-21 as compared to Rs 44.60 Crore in same period of 2019-20.

Kendra's have sold approx. Rs 144 Crore worth of affordable & quality medicines in the month of March, April & May 2020 which saved around Rs 800 Crore of citizens during the period when COVID-19 pandemic has affected the country.

"In this tough times of COVID-19 pandemic, we are committed to ensure full availability of medicines to all", said Shri DV Sadananda Gowda, Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers while expressing satisfaction over important role played by BPPI while implementing PM Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojna (PMBJP) through the network of Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendras (PMBJKs).

In the wake of COVID 19 crisis, employees of BPPI, Kendra owners, Distributors and other stakeholders came forward and joined hands for fight against the pandemic. BPPI is standing with its stakeholders and consumers in these challenging times as Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendra (PMBJK) are functional and maintaining regular operations as part of their commitment.

BPPI has stated that it is committed to ensure uninterrupted availability of essential medicines at the PMBJK. Kendra's has clocked its highest monthly sales turnover of Rs. 52 Crore despite the lock down and testing times in the month of April 2020 & Rs. 42 Crore achieved in March 2020.

BPPI is maintaining adequate stock of the medicines which are currently under demand viz. Face Masks, Hand Sanitizers, Hydroxychloroquine, Paracetamol and Azithromycin. BPPI has sold about 10 lakh face masks, 50 lakh tablets of Hydroxychloroquine in the month of March & April 2020. Envisioning current market demand, BPPI has also placed purchase orders for procurement of these medicines to have enough stock for the next six months. BPPI has also supplied medicines to Ministry of External Affairs for supplying to friendly countries.

Following the lockdown measures in place, over 6300 PMBJKs are functioning across the nation, covering 726 districts of the country. Supporting the governments initiative of practicing social distancing, pharmacists of the PMBJK, now popularly known as “Swasthya Ke Sipahi” are undertaking delivery of medicines to patients and elderly people at their doorstep. Further, BPPI is creating awareness about means to fight against the pandemic vide its social media posts at various platforms. Mobile application ‘Janaushadhi Sugam’ becomes very popular and more than 4 lakh downloads took place. In these ways, BPPI is playing active role in the fight against the outbreak of COVID-19.