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Adani Transmission signs definitive agreements with Kalpataru for acquisition of Alipurduar Transmission

Posted on July 6, 2020 by City Today News (City today.media)

· Adani Transmission Limited (ATL) to acquire Alipurduar Transmission Ltd owned by Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd.

· Acquisition is expected to be completed in few months subject to all necessary regulatory approvals and other consents

· Alipurduar Transmission Ltd. operates transmission lines aggregating to around 650 ckt kms in West Bengal and Bihar

· With this acquisition, the cumulative network of ATL will reach more than 15,400 ckt kms

· Out of this more than 12,200 ckt kms (including this asset) is operational and more than 3,200 ckt kms is under various stages of execution

Ahmedabad, July 06^th, 2020: Adani Transmission Ltd (ATL), India’s largest private sector power transmission company, has signed definitive agreements with Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd. (KPTL) for acquiring Alipurduar Transmission Ltd. in a manner consistent with Transmission Service Agreement and applicable consents. The Enterprise value for the project is ascribed as INR 1,286 crore. The acquisition is expected to be completed in few months, subject to all necessary regulatory approvals and other consents.

The acquisition is in sync with ATL’s strategy to enhance the value for its stakeholders, through organic as well as inorganic opportunities. With this acquisition, the cumulative network of ATL will reach more than 15,400 ckt kms, out of which more than 12,200 ckt kms (including this asset) is operational and more than 3,200 ckt kms is under various stages of execution. With this scale of operations, ATL will enjoy substantial benefits in terms of cost optimization, shared resources and will fortify its position of being the largest private sector transmission company in the country.

Mr. Anil Sardana, MD & CEO, Adani Transmission Ltd said, “The acquisition of Alipurduar Transmission Ltd. will bolster the pan-India presence of ATL consolidating its position as the largest private sector transmission company in India. This asset will take ATL closer to its target of setting up 20,000 ckt km of transmission lines by 2022.”

Brief overview of the Asset:

Alipurduar Transmission Ltd. operates transmission lines aggregating to around 650 ckt kms in West Bengal and Bihar. The project was awarded through competitive bidding process on a build, own, operate, maintain basis. Element 1 of the project consisting of the transmission line from Alipurduar to Siliguri was commissioned on 20 Jan 2020 and Element 2 of the project consisting of the transmission line from Kishanganj to Darbhanga was commissioned on 6 Mar 2019.

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Karnataka to bring law for mandatory home isolation of people aged above 60

Posted on July 5, 2020 by City Today News (City today.media)

*Strict legal action against private hospitals who refuse treatment for Covid patients : Dr.K Sudhakar*

Bengaluru -July 5 : Criminal cases will be registered against private hospitals that refuse treatment to covid patients, Minister Sudhakar said in a press conference here on Sunday at Vidhana Soudha.

Dr.Sudhakar who spoke to media after returning from his surprise visit to Jayanagar General Hospital and Rajiv Gandhi Chest Hospial responded to the questions regarding private hospitals refusing to treat covid patients. No hospital should refuse to admit patients and if any hospital is found denying treatment criminal cases will be registered against them, Minister said.

Government has come up with 6 different systems for treatment of covid patients. Covid care centres, Government medical colleges, private medical college, government hospitals, corporate hospitals and home isolation with proper facilities & according to government guidelines, the Minister added.

Dr. Sudhakar gave the statistics of 4 metropolitan cities in the country which including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai & Bengaluru. Bengaluru’s and the mortality rate is the lowest at 1.46%. The aim is to increase testing by optimal utilisation of capacity especially in private labs. Once we increase testing, it is natural that the positive cases will also increase. So citizens need not panic due to this but should take all precautionary measures. He adviced to get tested in the nearest fever clinics as soon as any symptoms like cough, fever etc are found. Guidelines regarding the home isolation will be released soon, he said.

Highlights of the Press brief

400 ambulances to be deployed in Bengaluru, 2 each for every ward.
ILI and SARI symptoms patients to consult the nearest fever clinics immediately.
Government recommended patients at private hospitals will be provided with insurance under Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust.
If private hospitals refuse to admit the patients, call 1912 helpine to get assistance.
If admitted in Private hospital voluntarily the treatment cost will be borne by patients as per the rates fixed by government.
Government has done 6.5 lakh covid swab testing free of cost.
The cost of testing at private labs has been capped at Rs.2,200 as per test.
Private hospitals had to allot 2,734 beds but only 116 beds have been provided. This is a bottleneck and will be addressed soon by Revenue Minister R Ashoka and CM’s political secretary Vishvanath who have been given in-charge of this.
Will prioritize doing more swab testing in the coming days.
Mortality rate in Bangalore is 1.55% and the government is trying to reduce it even more.
PPE kits purchased is of international standardd approved by FDA an EMA.
Diet chart has been prepared for patients and are getting excellent food.

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CBSE and Facebook partner to launch Digital Safety & Online Well-being and Augmented Reality (AR) Curriculum for Students and Educators

Posted on July 5, 2020 by City Today News (City today.media)

Link to the portal: http://www.cbseacademic.nic.in/fb/training.html

Link to Tweet: https://twitter.com/DrRPNishank/status/1279634756028620800?s=20

This partnership is aimed to prepare students for the future of work and create a safe online environment and learning experience
The curriculum on digital safety, online well-being will be rolled out at the national level in the pilot phase from July to October and will witness a roll-out into state-level education boards in the succeeding phase.
The AR curriculum will be available for 10,000 teachers in the first phase (July – October; 30,000 students in the succeeding phase.

Bengaluru, July 5 2020: The Hon’ble Union Minister for Human Resources Development (HRD) Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal today announced that the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Facebook have partnered to launch Curriculum on Digital Safety & Online Well-being and Augmented Reality(AR) for Students and Educators.

Hon’ble Union Minister of Human Resources Development (HRD) Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal said, “I congratulate CBSE and Facebook on its partnership to introduce certified programs in Augmented Reality for teachers and Digital Safety and online-well being for students. I encourage the teachers and students to apply for the programs commencing on July 6, 2020.”

With the objective of ensuring online well-being of students and preparing them for the future of work, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), and Facebook is are launching a comprehensive curriculum on Digital Safety & Online Well-being and Augmented Reality (AR). The modules are for secondary school students. The curriculum is now available on the CBSE website http://cbseacademic.nic.in/fb/FacebookForEducation.html. This partnership is led by Facebook for Education, a global initiative by Facebook, to build diverse learning communities and bring the world closer together.

As more and more young users get online, it becomes important to educate young adults, and students on making well informed choices online and also help them develop skills they need to safely navigate the internet. The curriculum on Digital Safety and Online Well-being covers aspects such as safety, privacy, mental health and Instagram’s Guide for Building Healthy Digital Habits. The module has been designed to guide students become responsible digital users, identify and report threats and harassment as well as report misinformation. At least 10,000 students will be covered in the training which will be imparted by the Centre for Social Research (CSR).

Instagram’s Guide for Building Healthy Digital Habits has been developed in collaboration with The Jed Foundation (JED) and YLAC (Young Leaders for Active Citizenship). It’s made for teachers, educators and parents, with the goal of ensuring that the time young people spend on Instagram is positive, inspiring, and balanced. It is a guide to better understand the socio-emotional space young people operate in, and support them by engaging in healthy conversations around using Instagram or any other social media platform.

Also, as part of the collaboration, Facebook will support CBSE in its first ever initiative to introduce AR as a curriculum. In the first phase, 10,000 teachers will be trained while 30,000 students will undergo the same in the second phase. The three-week training, to be conducted in batches, will cover fundamentals of AR and ways to utilise Facebook’s software, Spark AR Studio in order to create augmented reality experiences. The objective is to give the learners an opportunity and platform to conceptualize, create and brand their own AR experiences. The hands-on learning experience of AR will help in preparing the students for a career in the digital economy. The teachers who successfully complete the training in the first phase will train 30,000 students in the second phase. SV.CO Digital Learning Platform Private Limited has been onboarded as the implementation partner.

Announcing the curriculum, Manoj Ahuja, Chairperson, CBSE said, “On behalf of CBSE, I am delighted to announce our partnership with Facebook. I am proud to share that CBSE is the only Board that has introduced the modules of Digital Safety and Online Well-being, Instagram Toolkit for Teens and Augmented Reality. Incorporating technology and digital safety into school curriculum will ensure students are not only gaining knowledge to succeed in the digital economy but also learning and collaborating in a safe online environment.”

Ankhi Das, Director, Public Policy, India, South and Central Asia, said, “The current global pandemic is the most severe health and humanitarian crisis that the country has seen, with far-reaching impact on our lives. We recognize the disruption it has caused to traditional pedagogical methods necessitating a shift to virtual modes of learning the most. Through our Facebook for Education program in India, we wish to support the educational agencies in the country in enabling lessons on fostering safe online experiences, addressing online well-being as well as sharing easy toolkit for parents, educators and students to promote resilience and learning in the current environment. Besides, the AR curriculum offers an opportunity for young learners to explore emerging technology for the first time as part of their curriculum. We are excited to partner with CBSE, and hope that this collaboration grows to support more teachers and students in the country”

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CM chairs task force meeting; allocates responsibility to ministers for covid management

Posted on July 4, 2020 by City Today News (City today.media)

CM has instructed strict lockdown in containment zones: Minister Sudhakar

Bengaluru – July 4 2020 : Chief Minister has instructed to identify and strictly seal down areas where there are high number of cases in Bengaluru, Medical Education Minister Dr.K.Sudhakar said.

Karnataka is in a better position today due to rhe efforts and hard work of Ministers, doctors, officials and all staff. The cases have increased in Bengaluru and some other districts in last few days due to various reasons. We all have to work hard and contain the spread of virus, Dr.Sudhakar briefed media about instructions given by Chief Minister in the meeting.

Allocation of responsibility to Ministers

Explaining the decisions of the meeting, Dr.Sudhakar said that CM has instructed to ensure that all necessary arranegements to ensure treatment of covid patients must be carried out efficiently and transparently. Responsibilities related to policy formulation, preparation of guidelines, communication to media, management of war room have been assigned to me. Deputy CM Dr.Ashwatnarayan has been given the responsibility of managing of covid care centres and Revenue Minister R Ashoka and CM’s political secretary Vishvanath have been given the responsibility of managing private hospitals. CM BSY has instructed all of us to work in synergy, Dr.Sudhakar said.

The issue of supply of defective PPE kits in one of the hospitals has come to my notice and I have ordered an enquiry. The private hospital has been warned and strict action will be taken if such incidents repeat. The matter of imposing lockdown in the state again was discussed in the task force meeting. Me and DCM Dr.Ashwatnarayana suggetsed that lockdown is not necessary at this stage. CM will take decision on this matter, Dr.Sudhakar said.

Earlier today Dr.K.Sudhakar inaugurated the Tele-medicine facility which is sponsered by Cisco under its CSR activity to Bangalore Medical College. By using tele-medicine we can provide quality treatment and also maintain patient records digitally, Dr.Sudhakar said.

Home Minister Basavar Bommai, Health Minister B.Sriramulu, Revenue Minister R.Ashoka, CM’s political secretary Vishvanath and senior officials were present in the task force meeting.

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“How early child health immunization is important in India”

Posted on July 4, 2020 by City Today News (City today.media)

By: Dr Nadeera Nilupamali, co-founder and Vice President (Product), ImmunifyMe

India, the largest democracy of the world and highly populated country topping the list in terms of population density recorded nearly 67,385 births in 2020 on New Year’s Day. Country, home to the highest number of unvaccinated children, has embarked upon an intensified journey to increase the vaccination coverage with mission Indradanush 2.0.
Vaccines play a key role in defending most vulnerable: Children and infants. However, one in every five children remains un-immunized in the world. And as a result, over 3 million children die every year due to diseases which can be easily prevented by proper vaccination. Routine childhood vaccines are among the most cost-effective life-saving interventions. Thanks to vaccines, countless cases of disease such as polio, measles, diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), rubella, mumps, tetanus, rotavirus and hepatitis etc have been prevented and saved millions of lives.
According to recent data released by the Indian National Statistical Office (NSO) 97% of the children aged between 0-5 years in the rural setting receive at least one vaccine, but, when it comes to those children being fully immunized, the percentage drops to 58%. Urban setting is not better in any way, 98% of the children receive at least one vaccine but only 60% of the children aged between 0-5 years are fully immunized. Many people working in public health have admitted that even this figure seems to be inflated and the situation could be worse on the ground and a large percentage of children dropping out of immunization programs.
Especially in India in recent times, routine vaccination has been intensified with additional efforts to optimize community coverage. Government has started putting extra efforts with the Mission Indradhanush programme which was launched in December 2014, aiming to ensure 90% of infants would be vaccinated by the year 2020. Furthermore, under Intensified Mission Indradhanush 2.0, which is the second phase of the initiative launched on October 31, 2019, with a plan to cover 271 districts across India where fewer than 70% infants are currently vaccinated.

The success of Government Intervention
Despite the government spending billions of dollars in programs like Mission Indra Dhanush, the country’s immunization rate remains one of the lowest in the world. Immunization amongst children here in India is a big challenge and there many factors to it
Access to vaccines
Religious beliefs
Inter-state, Inter-City Migration
Anti-Vaccine mentality and in some cases
Not being aware about the vaccination process at all
Misplaced priorities in parent front
Parents busy lifestyle and forgetfulness
Proper monitoring of vaccination
Management of vaccine coverage data
Real time monitoring of vaccination and lack of digital interventions

Why does immunisation make financial sense for the country?
Healthcare for young children eventually determines the country’s economic productivity , because vaccine-preventable diseases are known to cause stunting in childhood, which can lead to poor growth, poor adult health, and diminished learning capacity of the children. Prevention always costs less than treatment . For an example if a child ends up with any disability from the illness like paralysis from polio which could have easily prevented by a vaccine, or neurologic problems from encephalitis caused by measles etc will result in huge costs for the treatments and also for providing special school services and other requirement for that particular child.
Morbidity, mortality, and the economic cost of treatment for vaccine preventable diseases are undoubtedly going to add a huge burden to a country’s economy.
If we do a benefit-cost analysis of vaccines there’s no doubt a full range of benefits as measured by gains in economic productivity compared to catastrophic medical expenses which can occur due to our simple ignorance of not vaccinating the children.

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