213 HIV-positive women give birth to healthy babies
Raipur: At least 213 HIV-infected women have given birth to healthy babies in the government-run hospitals of Chhattisgarh in 2016-17, a state health official has said. “The health department is committed to secure the child from infection in the womb of a HIV-positive mother,” Chhattisgarh’s health services director R Prasanna told PTI. The multi-medicine treatment process has yielded better results, with 213 HIV-infected women having given birth to healthy babies, he said. In 2016-17, the HIV examination were conducted on as many as 3,93,475 pregnant women and of them, 232 tested positive. Around 219 HIV positive pregnant women were provided treatment under the multi-medicine process at government hospitals, he said. After their deliveries, the babies of 213 women were detected uninfected and healthy, Prasanna said. However, the infection was found in the remaining six children who are being given medicines through the anti- retroviral therapy (ART) centres, he said. ART is the combination of several antiretroviral medicines used to slow the rate at which HIV makes copies of itself (multiplies) in the body. Prasanna said the state has 26,000 HIV positive people and of them, 10,289 were being provided medicines through five ART and 12 link ART centres. (PTI)
‘Conduct sound mapping in Connaught Place’
New Delhi: Do slogan-shouting and loudspeakers used by protestors disturb you? Acting on the complaint of a resident of Connaught Place, the National Green Tribunal has directed the Delhi government and the Central Pollution Control Board to map the sound levels in the area, particularly when demonstrations are carried out by protestors near the historic Jantar Mantar. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar asked the city government to examine the sound levels in the area and take steps like fixation of barriers for curbing the noise pollution. ‘The said mapping shall be done when demonstrations are going on and when the demonstration are not being held in that area. They shall also identify alternative sites to the present one for holding of demonstrations to prevent noise pollution and traffic congestion, resulting in air pollution,’ the bench said. (PTI)
Chennai Metro’s underground stretch inaugurated
Chennai: Metro rail service between Thirumangalam to Nehru Park in the Tamil Nadu capital was inaugurated on Sunday by Union Minister for Urban Development M. Venkaiah Naidu. The over 7-km sub-terrainean stretch will have seven stations. The first stretch between Alandur and Koyambedu was completed in June 2015 and the second between Chennai Airport and Little Mount in September 2016. Both these stretches are overground. The new Metro route is expected to serve more than 20,000 commuters daily, with the fares set to be capped at Rs 70. Chennai Metro Rail Project Director Rajeev Narayan Dwivedi said that all stages of the project are scheduled to be completed in 2018. (IANS)
Maa to watch on mid-day meal for school kids
Lucknow: It’s a Mother’s Day gift for lakhs of children and their moms in Uttar Pradesh. Maa will now keep an eye on mid-day meals served to students in state-run primary schools to ensure that they get nutritious food prepared in hygienic conditions. “In view of a number of complaints related to quality of mid-day meal being served in primary schools, there will be ‘maa’ in every school. It will be a committee of six mothers, from all sections of society, whose students are studying in that school,” UP Basic Education Minister Anupma Jaiswal told. From cleanliness in kitchen, to quality of food being served to children, they will keep an eye on minute details, he said. The state government is expecting a change in atmosphere of primary schools this session with directives being issued for punctuality of teachers and introduction of new uniforms and school bags, she said here. “To ensure presence of teachers in schools, it has also been decided to put up their phone numbers with photographs in schools. It will help parents to contact them in case they are absent,” the minister said. The state government is also considering a proposal to declare “no school bag day” on Saturdays in state-run schools. Students will be allowed to come to school without their school bags on Saturdays so that they can enjoy themselves in creative activities, she said. It will establish a good rapport between students and teachers and help in their personality development. (PTI)
Over 900 moved from J&K border villages to safer areas
Jammu: Over 900 people from border villages in the Naushera sector have migrated to safer places with the assistance of district administration in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir. ‘More than 900 people have been evacuated to safer places from Naushera. Three camps have been established for border migrants. No firing has been reported in Naushera sector on Sunday,” an official said. “However, today morning shelling from across the LoC (Line of Control) took place in Manjakote and Keri sectors of Rajouri district. No loss of life was reported there so far,” the official added. During the last five days, three civilians were killed and nine others injured in Pakistani shelling on the LoC in the Naushera sector. (IANS)
Bratya Basu unsure about censorship impact in internet era
Kolkata: Actor and Bengal minister Bratya Basu on Sunday said that he was not sure if censorship of films could be effective in the era of internet. “I am not sure how much effect censorship currently has in our country in the wake of the explosion of Internet,” Basu told PTI at the screening of short film The Sixth Element, which deals with the intimate relation between a widow and a foreigner. While, praising the film’s director Arjun Dutta, Basu said, “He did a commendable job by taking up such a subject which had seldom been handled properly in Bengali films.” The Sixth Element has won the best director jury award at Delhi International Short Film Festival and the best cinematographer jury award at Mumbai Shorts International Film Festival. (PTI)