JHARKHAND

Jharkhand Government Has Banned Consumption Of Any Form Of Tobacco Products

According to a recent order, the government of Jharkhand prohibits all state government employees from consuming any form of tobacco products. The state government has forced all state government employees to submit an affidavit stating that they will quit smoking.

Tobacco products include any cigarettes, bidi, kanini, gutka, pan masala, zarda or subari, as well as tobacco leaves of any name, electronic cigarettes, electronic cigarettes and Tobacco products-smoking and smokeless.

The judgement was made at a meeting of the State Chapter of the National Tobacco Control Program, to implement the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act of 2003 (COTPA).

The decision will be implemented on April 1, 2021. In the case of violation of the order, the penalty clause is unclear. The government is also taking steps to change behaviours through the use of Panchayat-level institutions.

In every gram sabha meeting, Zila Parishads, Panchayat Samitis and Gram Panchayats are required to organise tobacco control discussions. The police have ordered increased security at checkpoints to prevent access to prohibited tobacco products.

Taking into account the increased chance of Covid-19 infection, Jharkhand previously banned the sale and consumption of tobacco in public places, including online sales, in April 2020.

India ratified the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) in 2004.

The 2003 Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA):

It replaced the “Cigarette Law” of 1975 (mainly limited to statutory warnings-displaying “smoking is harmful to health” on cigarette packages and advertisements, which excludes non-cigarettes). The 2003 bill also includes cigars, bidis, cigars, pipe tobacco, hookahs, chewing tobacco, pan curry and gutka.

National Tobacco Control Program (NTCP), 2008:

Purpose: To control tobacco consumption and minimise tobacco consumption-related deaths.
– Implementation: NTCP is implemented through a three-tier structure, namely (i) the National Tobacco Control Group (NTCC) at the central level (ii) the State-level National Tobacco Control Group (STCC) and (iii) the Regional Tobacco Control Group (DTCC) in District level.

Revision rules for cigarettes and other tobacco products (packaging and labelling) in 2020: These provide a new set of specific health warnings and are printed with enhanced images on all tobacco products.

INTERNATIONAL

‘Swadhinata Sarak’ between Bangladesh and India will be opened on March 26 Next year

The ‘SwadhinataSarak’ between Bangladesh and India will be opened on 26 March next year.

The road remains functional on the Indian side while it will be connected through Mujibnagar, Meherpur district in Bangladesh.

The Chilahati-Haldirbari rail link which was active till 1965 will also be inaugurated during the summit meeting between the two Prime Ministers on December 17.

Bangladesh has invited Modi to visit Bangladesh on March 26 in person to jointly celebrate the Independence Day of Bangladesh, and the Indian government accepted the invitation in principle.

NATIONAL

Bharti Infratel gets RoC nod for change of name to Indus Towers

Bharti Infratel has received approval from the Registrar of Companies for changing its name to Indus Towers, following the recent merger of the two companies to create a mega tower entity.

The company has initiated due process for final approval from stock exchanges for updating the name change.

The merger of Bharti Infratel and Indus Towers to create a mega tower company was completed last month.

The debt-ridden Vodafone Idea had received about Rs 3,760 crore cash for its 11.15 per cent holding in Indus Towers.

E-Courts Project – Funded By Department Of Justice

E-Courts Project is a Pan-India Project, supervised and funded by Department of Justice, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India for the District Courts across the country.

The e-Courts project is conceived based on the “National Policy and Action Plan for the Implementation of Information and Communication Technology(ICT) in Indian Judiciary-2005” submitted by the e-Committee of the Supreme Court of India. It aims to change the Indian Judiciary by ICT enablement of Courts.

The goal of the e-court project is to provide designated services to litigants, lawyers and the judiciary by universal computerization of district and subordinate courts in the country by leveraging Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for improved justice delivery.

Provide efficiently and time-limited citizen-centred service delivery in accordance with the regulations of e-Court Project Litigant.

New Policy on School Bag 2020 By The Ministry Of Education

According to the new “Schoolbag Policy”, the weight of a schoolbag shall not exceed 10% of the weight of students in grades I to X, and no homework should be done until class II.

The new policy also recommends regular monitoring of the weight of bags in schools.

They should be lightweight, with two padded and adjustable straps, can fit just two shoulders, and no wheel brackets are allowed.

The policy even recommends that publishers print the weight of each textbook on it.

These recommendations are based on various surveys and studies conducted by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

National Water Development Agency Meeting Presided By Mos For Jal Shakti

The MoS for Jal Shakti presided over the annual shareholders meeting of the National Water Development Agency (NWDA).

National Water Development Agency (NWDA):

NWDA was Established in 1982, as an autonomous society that conducts water balance and other studies based on science and reality to make the best use of water resources in the peninsula river system for preparation of feasibility reports.

This will be managed by the Central Water Commission and the then Ministry of Irrigation(now Ministry of Jal Shakti, Department of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation (DoWR, RD& GR)).

In 1990, the agency also carried out similar activities for the Himalayan component of the National Vision Program.

Since 2006, NWDA has also begun the task of exploring the feasibility of river connections in the state. It belongs to the Ministry of Jal Shakti.

Lidar Survey Technique Adopted By National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited

The National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited will be adopting Light Detection, and Ranging Survey (LiDAR) technique using Laser enabled equipment mounted on a helicopter for conducting a ground survey for the preparation of the detailed project report for the proposed Delhi-Varanasi HSR corridor.

This is for the first time that the aerial LiDAR survey technique is being adopted for any railway project in India.

Geologists and surveyors usually use LiDAR technology to make high-resolution maps, lasers are used to survey locations, and sensors are used to measure their reflectivity.

LiDAR is a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of pulsed lasers to measure the distance to the earth (variable distance).

Lidar uses ultraviolet, visible or near-infrared light to image objects. It can target a variety of materials, including non-metallic objects, rocks, rain, chemical compounds, aerosols, clouds and even single molecules

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