Pib

Pib

1. Spread awareness about organ donation, President tells doctors, teachers and religious leaders

The President said that an estimated 500,000 people die every year in our country due to unavailability of organs that can be transplanted. Of them, 200,000 suffer from liver diseases and 50,000 from cardiovascular diseases. In addition, approximately 150,000 people await kidney transplantation. The President appealed to doctors, educational institutions, teachers and religious leaders to spread awareness about body and organ donation. He said that due to poverty some people may be compelled to sell their body organs, and this was unacceptable. If we institute a culture of voluntary donation, then the illegal market will gradually come to an end.

2. Cabinet approvesMoU between India and Philippines on agriculture and related fields

This MoU provides for cooperation in the fields of rice production and processing, multi cropping system, dryland farming systems, bio-organic farming, solid and water conservation and management, soil fertility, sericulture, agro forestry, livestock improvement etc.

3. Cabinet approves appointment of Second National Judicial Pay Commission for Subordinate Judiciary in the country

4. National Rural Drinking Water Programme

The NRDWP was started in 2009, with a major emphasis on ensuring sustainability (source) of water availability in terms of potability, adequacy, convenience, affordability and equity. NRDWP is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme with 50.50 fund sharing between the Centre and the States. Over the years, learning from the success achieved and the deficiencies felt during the implementation of NRDWP, certain modifications are needed in existing guidelines and procedure of release of funds to the States for making the programme more outcome-oriented and competitive.

Keeping in view the need to make the NRDWP more result-oriented, incentivize competition amongst States and focused on sustainability, a series of discussions were held with States, various stakeholders / domain experts / international institutions and NITI Aayog, some amendments in the guidelines of the programme have been introduced. These are giving more flexibility to the states in utilization of NRDWP funds by reducing the number of components under the programme. Focus on piped water supply, increase level of service delivery, thrust on coverage of water quality affected habitations (National Water Quality Sub-Mission to tackle Arsenic & Fluoride affected habitations, JE / AES areas), coverage of Open Defecation Free (ODF) declared villages, SAGY GPs, Ganga GPs, Integrated Action Plan (IAP) districts, Border Out Posts (BOP) with piped water supply and Institutional set up for proper O&M of water supply assets etc. have been introduced.

5. National Testing Agency (NTA)

In view of the need to have a specialized body in India like the most advanced countries, the Finance Minister in the Budget speech of 2017-18 had announced setting up of a National Testing Agency (NTA) as an autonomous and self-sustained premier testing organization to conduct all entrance examinations for higher educational institutions.

Establishment of NTA will benefit about 40 lakh students appearing in various entrance examinations. It will relieve CBSE, AICTE and other agencies from responsibility of conducting these entrance examinations, and also bring in high reliability, standardized difficulty level for assessing the aptitude, intelligence and problem solving abilities of the students.

6. Crop Residue Management

Burning of crop residue in the states like Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan also contributes in increasing environmental pollution levels. National Green Tribunal has directed the Delhi government and these four northern states to take strict measures to deal with this serious biennial threat.

In this regard, Agriculture Ministry issued an advisory to the state governments to create awareness among the farmers about the harmful effect of straw burning.

• Facilitate farmers residue management machines and equipment such as Zero Till Seed Drill, Happy Seeder, Straw Baler, Rotavator, Paddy Straw Chopper/ Mulcher, Gyro Rake, Straw Reaper, Shredder, etc., to through Custom Hiring Centres or village level Farm Machinery Banks.

• The State Governments have also been directed that Rs. 4000/ Hectare shall be used from the funds available for demonstration of machines under Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization for demonstration of straw management machinery at farmers’ fields.