CM of Assam lays foundation stone of Indo-Israeli Centre of Excellence:
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal laid the foundation stone of Indo-Israeli Centre of Excellence for Vegetables Protected Cultivation near Guwahati with Israeli Ambassador Dr Ron Malka on November 2, 2020.
Highlights:
♦ Rs. 10.33-crore project is to bolster the agricultural activities in the state by giving exposure to the latest Israeli technologies.
♦ Centre of Excellence would provide a major boost to agricultural and horticultural production in Assam, that it would be an extra value added to the government`s efforts to double farmers` income.
♦ The close bond of friendship between India and Israel in recent years and said that India and Israel is a perfect match where both countries complement each other.
♦ He said, even in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic, both India and Israel fought together.
###Fortification of Rice & its distribution through PDS:
In order to implement the Centrally Funded Pilot Scheme on Rice Fortification & Distribution through PDS (Public Distribution System), fifteen states have been established. For three years , starting in 2019-2020, the Pilot Scheme has been approved with a total budget outlay of Rs.174.6 Crore. For the implementation of the Pilot Scheme, 15 State Governments have established their respective districts.
Highlights:
♦ In this review meeting of an existing pilot scheme to distribute fortified rice in 15 districts, it was agreed that the government is implementing policies to distribute fortified rice through the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and Mid Day Meal Schemes across India from 2021, with particular emphasis on Aspirational districts, to combat chronic anaemia and undernutrition.
♦ Rice fortification actively increases the content of important micronutrients, i.e. vitamins and minerals (including trace elements) in food servings, thus enhancing the nutritional consistency of the food supply and offering limited health benefits to public health Risk.
♦ Regular milled rice is low in micronutrients & serves primarily as a source of carbohydrate only.
♦ The fortification of rice is a significant possibility to increase nutrition. Fortified rice will contain Vitamin A, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B12, Folic Acid, Iron, and Zinc.
♦ Procedure for fortification: The concentration of just one micronutrient might be increased in a single food (e.g., the iodization of salt), or, there might be a whole range of food–micronutrient combinations.
♦ The Food Safety and Standards (Fortification of Foods) Regulations, 2016 for fortifying staples, namely Wheat Flour and Rice, Milk and Edible Oil and Double Fortified Salt, were operationalized by FSSAI-Food Safety and Standards Authority of India in October 2016 to reduce the high burden of micronutrient malnutrition in India.
♦ In addition to supplementation and dietary diversification, India`s National Nutritional Strategy, 2017, identified food fortification as one of the strategies to overcome deficiencies such as anaemia, vitamin A and iodine.
Fortified Rice Kernels
Fortifying rice is achieved by grinding broken rice into powder and combining the powder with nutrients, then using an extrusion process to form rice-like kernels. Then these fortified kernels are combined in a proportion ranging from 1:50 to 1:200 with standard rice.
Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)
On October 2, 1975, the ICDS was launched. A bundle of six services (Supplementary Nutrition, Immunization, Health Check-up, Pre-school Non-formal Education, Nutrition & Health Education, and Referral Services) is offered by the Integrated Child Development Services Scheme for children aged 0-6 years, pregnant women and lactating mothers.
Mid-day Meal Scheme
In 1995, the scheme was launched. It ensures that a hot cooked meal is given free of charge every working day to every child within the age group of six to fourteen years studying in Classes I to VIII who enrols and attends school. The Department of School Education and Literacy is under the Mid Day Meal Scheme.
Aspirational Districts
The programme was introduced in January 2018 to expeditiously boost, through cooperative and competitive federalism, the socio-economic status of 117 districts. The goal of this programme is to change districts quickly, showing comparatively less success in key social areas.
###Three initiatives of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs:
The minister of State (Independent Charge) for Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs launched three initiatives: the Nurturing Neighborhoods Challenge, the Data Maturity Assessment Framework, and an online training programme for City Data Officers (CDOs) during an event.
Highlights:
The Nurturing Neighborhoods Challenge:
It is a 3-year initiative that will support cities developing, pilot, and scale solutions that enhance the quality of life of young children, their caregivers, and families in the public realm. The challenge is conducted with the support of the Bernard van Leer Foundation, Netherlands, with the technical backing from WRI India. Through the challenge, selected cities will receive technical assistance and capacity- building to reimagine parks and open spaces; improve access to early childhood facilities; adapt public spaces with early childhood-oriented amenities; The challenge will be open to all Smart Cities, other cities with more than five lakh population, and capitals of States and UTs.
The Data Maturity Assessment Framework (DMAF):
DMAF cycle-2 will support cities in creating a `culture of data` under the Data-Smart Cities initiative of the smart cities Mission. This framework`s core objective is to enable cities to assess their data maturity concerning a standardized framework covering aspects of enabling policies, governance structures, data management, capacity building, and stakeholder engagement at the city level. This is expected to play an enabling role in democratizing the data culture for open- innovation, collaboration, co-creation, and academic research. The assessment for this cycle has been expanded to include cities other than Smart Cities.
The CDO Training Programme:
MoHUA has partnered with Tata Trusts to launch a six-week guided e-learning course called `Enabling Data-Driven Decision Making in Urban Local Bodies.` Specially designed for City Data Officers (CDOs) appointed in the 100 Smart Cities, this practice-based digital course will expose CDOs to basic and advanced data collection tools, analysis, and visualization. CDOs will also understand practical data-driven governance principles and show how to create actionable data policy frameworks using a use-case approach to enable practical learning and application.