New Delhi : The Delhi Assembly on Tuesday passed the Rs 53,000 crore “green” Budget for 2018-19, with the maximum share for education and health in allocations and a focus on fighting pollution, including commissioning of 1,000 electric buses and subsidies for switching to non-polluting fuel.
Of the total budgetary allocations, up from Rs 48,000 crore in 2017-18, as much as Rs 13,997 crore (26 per cent of the Budget) has been allocated to the education sector and Rs 6,729 (12.7 per cent) to the health sector.
The government also gave Rs 6,903 crore to the local bodies, which is 13 per cent of the total Budget and is 9.88 per cent higher over the 2017-18 allocations.
The 26 anti-pollution programmes, spanning four departments — Environment, Transport, Power, and Public Works — include a real-time, round-the-year study in partnership with the University of Washington to understand sources of pollution.
Others include replacing all street lights on PWD roads with energy efficient LED lights, an extensive tree plantation drive, and new city forests in Jaunapur, Ayanagar, Dera Mandi and Bela Farm among others.
The programmes also have a slew of incentives for switching to non-polluting fuel, including 50 per cent concession in registration charges for private cars with factory-fitted CNG kits.
Restaurants will be given a subsidy of Rs 5,000 per ‘tandoor’ or earthen oven to replace coal-based ones with electricity or gas-based variants.
A subsidy of up to Rs 1 lakh will be given to industries in approved industrial areas, to switch to piped natural gas from existing polluting fuels.
Establishments would get a subsidy of up to Rs 30,000 to switch from diesel generator sets to electricity generator sets.
The government will also launch an incentivised pilot agriculture-cum-solar farm scheme, under which solar panels will be installed on raised structures on agricultural farms without affecting the normal farming activities.
Another pilot project aims to install solar panels over 16 km length of cycle tracks.
The Rs 13,997 crore allocated for the education sector was up from Rs 3,525 crore in the previous budget and Finance Minister Sisodia said that education has been getting about 25 per cent of the total Budget for the third consecutive year.
A sum of Rs 175 crore was allotted for installing 1.2 lakh closed-circuit televisions in all government schools, which would enable parents to view online their children’s activities in the classroom.
The Rs 6,729 crore for health, up from Rs 2,627 crore in the previous budget, has Rs 403 crore allocated for Mohalla Clinics and Polyclinics and Rs 15 crore for setting up mobile van clinics.
Others important allocations include Rs 100 crore for free Wi-Fi, a project launched on a pilot basis in 2016 but which failed to take off.
Also, Rs 1,500 crore has been allocated for infrastructure development of unauthorised colonies across the city and Rs 10 crore has been earmarked for starting self-defence classes for girl students of government schools.
Imam of the Shia Ismaili community, the Aga Khan and Maharashtra Governor C.V. Rao at Raj Bhavan
Mumbai : The Imam of the Shia Ismaili community, the Aga Khan, on Thursday said his Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) will work for the agriculture sector and rural support in Maharashtra and consider setting up a children’s cancer hospital here.
Lauding the efforts of the state government for tribal development, the visiting spiritual leader said he will consider extending support to finish incomplete irrigation projects in Maharashtra and create livelihood opportunities for tribals in remote areas.
The Aga Khan said the AKDN is already involved with MIT and Harvard for a programme on Architecture and Design, and expressed keenness to work closely with the University of Mumbai.
He offered the AKDN’s assistance to the university in designing and developing degree or diploma programmes in heritage conservation.
The Aga Khan, currently on a visit to India to commemorate the ongoing Diamond Jubilee of his Imamat, was speaking after meeting Maharashtra Governor C.V. Rao at Raj Bhavan here this afternoon.
He added that the AKDN is currently engaged in developmental works in six Indian states including Maharashtra mainly in the fields of education, healthcare, rural development and agriculture.
Welcoming the Aga Khan and congratulating him on the 60th year of his Imamat, Governor Rao praised his services to humanity and said that “the world needs a person like the Aga Khan to convey the message of Islam”.
He pointed out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed the government’s intention to double farmers’ incomes by 2022 and appreciated the Aga Khan’s offer of cooperation for the state’s agriculture sector.
Rao sought the AKDN’s assistance in creating an Aga Khan Academy of Archery to offer quality training in this sport to sportspersons hailing from the rural and tribal areas of the state.
Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis called on the Aga Khan and discussed efforts on employment generation for youth — through forest tourism, village developments and water conservation.
“I am happy to know that the AKDN and the Aga Khan Health Services is considering to set up a cancer hospital for children in Mumbai,” Fadnavis said.
The 82-year-old Prince Shah Karim Al Husseini, revered by his community worldwide as ‘Aga Khan IV’, assumed the title in July 1957, and the AKDN operates in at least 35 of the world’s poorest countries.
Patna: In a bid to free food, water and air from use of dangerous chemical and toxic, an unique 100 percent organic product SteriPlant “Sanitising Water” has been launched in India by a Thailand based company ActiwaSwiss here on Wednesday.
“We are here to replace chemical pesticides in agriculture to minimize use of chemical in food industry. Our product SteriPlant, Sanitising Water is only of its kind in the World to purify water, food and air” said Mr. Jorg Peter Kalt, CEO of Bangkok based ActiwaSwiss, who has formally launched this Sanitising Water in Patna, first time in India.
“After hit the international market including in USA, Australia, to Europe, Asia, SteriPlant has now come to India. We have launched our product SteriPlant, sanitizing water” said Jorg Kalt.
Jorg Kalt, a Swiss national, who is the brain behind Sanitising Water product, which is a highly effective and safe sanitizer for purification of air, water and food, told Maeeshat that it is electric activated water with a very high oxidation reduction potential and eco-friendly. It is also a natural sanitizer reliably and effectively eliminates harmful micro organism from water, air and food.”
It is hundred percent natural non-toxic and chemical free disinfectants based on positively charged water. Ninety nine percent of all pathogen bacteria, virus and fungi get neutralized by contact. It has no side affect at all for use in agriculture, food industry, drinking water purification, hospitality and personal hygiene”.
According to him, use of SteriPlant Sanitisiing Water in agriculture is very efficient as it can reduce the use of conventional pesticides currently used by farmers. Take for example its use for production of drinking water from river water, lake water, spring water to rain water. Even it decent realized water filtration in isolated villages without electricity and temporary water supply in disaster areas. SteriPlant Sanitising Water easily removes all particles, bacteria and larger viruses from food items, he said.
Air Freshener by ActiwaSwiss is an all purpose, all natural and all powerful odor eliminator that permanently gets rid of odors. It works with strong odors like cigarette smoke, sewer smell, paint fumes, eco-friendly, non toxic, biodegradable.
He claimed that SteriPlant Sanitising Water is hundred percent safe as it has been in use by people in USA, Switzerland, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, and Cambodia.” After India, we will launch SteriPlant Sanitising Water in Brazil by middle of 2018”.
Jorg Kalt said India has a huge market and potential for our product is high and bigger.
ActiwaSwiss’s collaborator in India is a Patna based Angel Water Solution Pvt. Ltd. They are setting up a plant near Pawapuri in Nalanda district to produce SteriPlant Sanitising Water here to market across the country.” It will take nearly ten months to start our factory in Bihar in India. We will bring machines for it from Switzerland. Only machines will cost 200 million dollars. It is a very big project.” Jorg Kalt said.
Angel Water Solution Pvt. Limited’s managing director Mohammad Ariful Hoda said process of land acquisition for the factory is in advance stage and we hope to start construction within two months.” This Sanitising Water is a rare product which is going to be a need in every home in India in future.”
Hoda said “We will also start a research station facility because our target is to closely work with farmers producing potato, vegetables, paddy, wheat and maize”.
Cancer is a terrifying disorder which has touched almost everyone in some way or the other. With incidents of cancer rising across the globe, scientists have been frantically researching to figure out solutions to treat this disease in the most effective and non-invasive manner.
Colorectal cancer encompasses both cancers of the colon and the rectum. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it is the second-most common cancer worldwide after lung cancer. In general, most colorectal cancers begin as a form of polyp. Some of these polyps can become cancerous over a period of years. The usual symptoms of colorectal cancer are diarrhea, constipation, blood in the stool, abdominal pain and bloating, fatigue and unexplained iron deficiency in men.
There are several factors which can increase the risk of an individual for colorectal cancer. Several lifestyle-related factors have been linked to an increased chance of getting colorectal cancer such as obesity, lack of physical activity, certain types of diets, especially those including highly-processed meat, smoking and alcohol intake.
In addition, certain medical conditions such as personal history of inflammatory bowel diseases, family history of colorectal cancer or adenomatous polyps and an inherited syndrome such as Lynch Syndrome can predispose an individual to developing colorectal cancer.
Science and medicine have made rapid advancements in colorectal cancer detection and treatment. Today, colorectal cancers are treatable and most of the patients have been known to lead a very normal life post treatment. At the same time, disease monitoring for such patients is a huge challenge. Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is a routinely used biomarker for the surveillance in colorectal cancer patients. However, it is not a reliable marker.
In recent years, the blood-based liquid biopsy approach for monitoring colorectal cancer is being recommended. The pathology lab can extract tumor DNA from the blood sample monitoring disease progression based on the genetic mutations that are detected. Liquid biopsies are used to detect circulating tumour cells or circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) to screen (non-invasively) for early-stage cancers, detect residual disease, or monitor response to treatment. Oftentimes, liquid biopsies can help explain why some cancers are resistant to certain therapies and better inform changes in treatment in response to the tumor’s changing mutation profile.
With rising cancer incidence in India, including many colorectal cancers, it is crucial to continue to develop newer ways and methods to detect colorectal cancer early, increasing the success rate of treatment. In various studies conducted in a group of Indian colorectal patients, it has been found that there is significant evidence of the mutations of the KRAS (Kirsten rat sarcoma) virus and APC (adenomatous polyposis coli), a multi-functional tumor suppressor gene, co-existing in these patients. These mutations can be detected using a liquid biopsy approach providing clues towards disease progression.
To address the surveillance of colorectal cancer in treated patients and to study the efficacy of the treatment regimen a liquid biopsy approach is under development and will be available soon to doctors and patients in India. It offers key advantages over traditional solid tissue biopsies as it is a minimally invasive blood test. It also makes the analysis and the monitoring of the disease a lot easier as the need for the tissue biopsy gets eliminated completely.
It is essential to remember that colorectal cancer is treatable and genetic analyses can guide the treatment involving targeted therapy based routes and impact of surgery along with monitoring the disease.
(Dr. Shabnam Bashir is Associate Consultant Oncosurgery & Robotic Colorectal Cancer Surgeon; Dr. Sudhir Borgonha is Chief Medical Officer, Strand Life Sciences. The views expressed are personal. They can be contacted at shabnam.bashir@gmail.com and sudhir@strandls.com)
Smog, the choking threat which has landed the national capital in a pollution emergency, has been the cause of many respiratory problems in children and adults. When your daily commute feels like living on the edge, what are your other outdoor activities supposed to feel like?
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), it is dangerous to breathe when there is too much smog. Smog contains ozone particles, and elevated ozone levels can have a variety of negative effects on your lungs.
While it is advised to stay indoors when the air is toxic outside, a more practical solution would be to establish a habit of cleansing your respiratory organs through Yoga.
If Yoga has been shown to improve the quality of life of lung cancer patients, it could definitely do wonders against other respiratory issues. Here are a few asanas you could try to give you relief from chest congestion, respiratory flues and discomfort in breathing.
* Pranayama: This has proved beneficial for those suffering with bronchitis or lung congestion.
How to do it:
1. While performing pranayama one should make sure that his or her back is straight and should concentrate on the breathing.
2. Sahaj Pranayama, which is also called easy breathing, involves breathing a few times deeply.
3. Inhale through the nostrils for five counts and hold the breath for 10 counts.
4. Exhale through the mouth for 10 counts; this has to be repeated 10-12 times.
* Adho Mukha Svanasana: This posture strengthens the chest muscles and expands the lung region, increasing its capacity.
How to do it:
1. From table top position, tuck your toes, straighten your legs and lift your hips towards the ceiling.
2. Adjust your hands forward a bit, if necessary, and spread your fingers.
3. Keep your spine long, and your head and neck in line with your spine. Hold for one minute.
* Bhujangasana: This asana opens up the heart and lungs and gives them a good stretch.
How to do it:
1. Lie on your stomach; engage your back muscles in lifting your head and upper torso.
2. Align your elbows underneath your shoulders for support.
3. Open your chest and relax your shoulders away from your ears.
4. Look straight ahead and hold for one minute.
* Sukhasana: This heavy breathing seated position relieves yourself from stress, anxiety and exhaustion.
How to do it:
1. Sit erect, with the feet stretched out towards the front.
2. Now cross the legs in such a way that the knees are wide, shins are crossed, and each foot is placed under the knee. Knees must be bent, and legs should be tucked into the torso.
3. Feet must be relaxed, and the outer edges must rest on the floor while the inner edges must arch on the shins. Look down on your legs, must see a triangle formed by shins that are crossed and both the thighs.
4. Back must be balanced in such a way that the tailbone and the pubic bone are at equal distance from the floor.
5. Place the palms stacked up in your lap. Or you can also lay them on the knees palms up or palms down.
6. Elongate the tailbone, and firm up the shoulders. But make sure the lower back is not arched in such a way that it pokes the lower ribs forward.
* Marjari Asana: This involves deep breathing, which in turn expands the lungs and boosts blood circulation.
How to do it:
1. Begin with Adhomukhi Swanasana
2. Lean forward and place your knees down on your mat
3. Inhale, look up and relax
4. Inhale as you drop your knees
5. While navigating back, shift the body weight from the knees to palms and feet.
(Akshar is founder and course director of Bengaluru’s Akshar Yog. The views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at akshar@aksharyoga.com )
