18/07/2014 …. A subordinate Officer of the Indian Coast Guard, Uttam Adhikari Mahavir Singh has been commended by the International Maritime Organisation for display of exceptional bravery at sea while assisting in the firefighting operations on board merchant vessel Mol comfort, thus avoiding a pollution incident.

 Mahavir Singh also upheld the finest traditions of Coast Guard by evacuating an injured crew member from Shipping Corporation of India, Tug Urja which was towing M/V Mol Comfort, further, without any regard to his personal wellbeing the Coast Guard officer rescued two fellow crew members who were thrown into the sea by violent waves from the inflatable boat of ICGS Samudra Prahri which was engaged in the firefighting operation. This is the first ever bravery commendation received by any Indian mariner from United Nations subsidiary, IMO.

Last year on 17 June, merchant vessel Mol comfort, whilst enroute from Singapore to Jeddah, was experiencing flooding onboard due to a crack in her hull. Subsequently the ship broke in two parts and both parts were reported to be adrift. ICG took over the operation in deep Arabian Sea at about 900 kms away from Indian coast. Several Coast Guard ships and aircraft were deployed for rescue mission, firefighting and environment protection.

Since inception the Indian Coast Guard has saved 6402 lives and conducted 3687 ship and air sorties for Search and Rescue Operations.

18/07/2014 …. The Ministry of HRD today has expressed deep concern about the safety and security of children within school in view of media reports of molestation of a child inside a Bangalore school.

In this context the Secretary (School Education), Government of India spoke to the Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka regarding the incidence and the action taken by the Karnataka Government.

 Karnataka has also been requested to send a detailed report as to how the school failed to honour the requirements of safety and security of children within school- one of the critical responsibilities of school management, especially in light of provisions of RTE Act and the Guidelines of Ministry of HRD which lay down the role of school management in this regard. These are in addition to the provisions of the POSCO Act and various Supreme Court guidelines on this matter.

 The Ministry awaits the details of the urgent action taken by the Karnataka Government in this matter.

 18/07/2014 …. The Konkan Railway Corporation in coordination with Central Railway, has decided to run one additional trip of train No. 01041/01042 Mumbai CST to Karmali and back,  on its route to clear extra rush of passengers during Ganpati Festival.

 Train No. 01041 CSTM-Karmali special train will now have an additional trip on 13.09.2014 and Train No. 01042 Karmali-CSTM special train will have an additional trip on 14.09.2014.   Passengers travelling on this route can avail the benefits of the same.

18/07/2014 … All people living with HIV/AIDS in the country can access free Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART) through 432 Anti-Retroviral Therapy Centres, and 870 Link Anti- Retroviral Therapy Centres. As of May 2014, a total of 777,485 patients are receiving free first line anti-retroviral therapy and 9333 patients are receiving free second line anti-retroviral therapy in the country.

State/UTs- wise details of HIV/AIDS patients receiving first line Anti-Retroviral treatment in the Country is given below:

State/UTs-wise breakup of second line patients are given below

The free Anti-Retroviral Treatment in the country was introduced in the year 2004. The country has scaled up the ART programme in a phased manner and at present is providing treatment through a number of 1302 facilities. It is planned to scale up the services to 600 ART Centres and 1500 Link ART Centres by 2016-2017. NACP IV aims to provide universal access to free ART to all those who require it.

The government has already announced to provide free third line antiretroviral therapy and this would become functional as soon as the procurement of drugs and logistics for the same are ready.  For viral load testing programme has adopted a targeted viral load approach. Free viral load testing is done for patients showing immunological failure. The viral load testing facilities are done through 9 identified labs across the country. Efforts are being made to upscale this further.

The estimated numbers of patients who require third line treatment are very few in the country.  At present the cost for the same is planned to be managed from the current allocation for the antiretroviral programme.

The Health Minister stated this in a written reply in the Lok Sabha here today.

18/07/2014 … Weather information and related agro-advisories are provided to farmers by Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) through Kisan Mobile Advisory messages, Radio & TV programmes and newspapers. KVKs have also prepared contingent plans emphasizing on crop that requires less water, short duration varieties and planning for protective irrigation and enhanced water use efficiency. About 40882 quintals of seeds of various crops have also been made available to KVKs to meet any contingent requirement of farmers.

In the wake of weak monsoon during Kharif-2014, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has been constantly monitoring the weather forecasts and updating weather information to farmers to facilitate sowing of Kharif crops.

In addition, under National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA), ICAR has been providing demonstration on climate resilient practices like water harvesting, direct seeded rice, alternate wetting and drying, green maturing etc. on farmers’ fields to help farmers cope up with seasonal climatic variability in crop production.

This information was given today by Dr. Sanjeev Kumar Balyan, Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Processing Industries in a written reply to Rajya Sabha questions.