Pib

Pib

1. Wrong perceptions about Parliament’s functioning not good; It works 24 X 7, asserts Vice- President Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu

Shri Naidu stated that the First Lok Sabha had 677 sitting and passed 319 Bills during 1952-57 while it was 332 sitting and 247 Bills in the case of the 14th Lok Sabha during 2004-09. The 15th Lok Saha had 357 sittings and approved 181 Bills. He said that from these statistics it would not be correct to conclude, that the Parliament is shirking its responsibility.

Shri Naidu explained that a total of 24 Department Related Standing Committees including 8 of the Rajya Sabha are undertaking rigorous scrutiny of the Demands for Grants of all the central ministries, legislative proposals and national level policy initiatives. These Committees have the power to summon senior officers of the Government and others concerned for obtaining evidence and information on related matters. He further said that while both the houses of Parliament met for about 70 days each during 2016, there were 400 meetings of the Department Related Standing Committees. With each meeting lasting over 2 to 3 hours with purposeful discussions and scrutiny, it amounts to another 200 sittings of the Parliament and this goes to prove that the parliament is working 24 X 7.

2. Sh. Ravi Shankar Prasad launches first NIC

He stated that NIC has been doing remarkable job of securing the Government cyberspace for a long time and by setting up this centre they have taken their experience and expertise to the next level.

He emphasised that for responding to the cyber attacks of today, the Government needs an agile and responsive eco-system. NIC-CERT has been setup with the objective of creating a comprehensive framework that integrates world class security components and inbuilt threat intelligence for detection, prevention and incident response. Using the tools the team will correlate events that would help in generating a canvas of the attack surface and identify the vulnerabilities and possible exploits. The gathered intelligence assimilated with the knowledge of the open web would give the CERT the ability prevent and predict attacks.

NIC’s PAN-India connectivity and reach is one of its key strengths and this coupled with its enhanced ability to detect and prevent attacks would collectively upscale the Government’s ability to protect its data.

3. We are committed to advancing the agenda of Universal Health Coverage in the country: J P Nadda

Shri Nadda also informed the participants that to provide comprehensive primary care, the Government has announced transforming 1.5 lakh sub health centres to Health and Wellness centres. “The Ministry is now moving towards provision of comprehensive primary care through the Health and Wellness Centres”, he said. He further stated that in a step towards provision of comprehensive primary care, the Government has initiated universal screening of common NCDs such as diabetes, hypertension and common cancers at the sub-centre and Primary Health Centre. “This will enable the strengthening of preventive and promotive health, improve patient referral and access to secondary care services, Shri Nadda added. The Union Health Minister further stated that the government has been at the forefront to strengthen the tertiary care and as such six new AIIMS are functioning and sixwill come up in due course.

Reiterating the commitment of the Government towards Universal Health Coverage, Shri S.P. Shukla, MoS (Finance) stated that the Government is committed to providing the resources for achieving Universal Health coverage. He further said that the Government has increased the budget of the Health Ministry for 2017-18 by 27.7% “The Government has also through the 14th Finance Commission increased devolution from 32 % to 42% of divisible pool - an increase estimated at Rs. 25 lakh crore over award period to provide States with greater flexibility and autonomy to design, implement and finance schemes, Shri Shukla said.

4. Outcome of seminars and conferences should be visible on the ground says Gadkari

Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Road Transport and Highways and Shipping Shri Nitin Gadkari has said that deliberations and outcome of seminars and conferences should be visible on the ground and benefit the farmers and common man. Inaugurating the 7th International Ground Water Conference on Ground Water vision 2030 in New Delhi today the Minister said that Water, Power, Transport and Communication are the four major sectors which contribute to the national economy. He said “Now-a-days water is the most crucial issue for our country. Proper conservation and storage of water resources can increase agricultural income of the farmers, Industrial production and help in employment generation. Scientists and researchers should think of innovative methods for recycling of water and its further use in irrigation and industries”. Shri Gadkari said that geology of every district and region is different and region-wise micro planning is needed. Scientists should device economically and technologically viable solutions for water storage and conservation, the Minister added.

In her address to the conference Union Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation Sushri Uma Bharti said that rivers are flowing from thousands of years and there was no problem. Only for the last few decades we are facing problems of pollution and scarcity. She said the sense of responsibility has to be cultivated among industrialists, farmers and common man who are using river water. Water management should be taught in schools and universities, the Minister added.