The Central Government has exceeded its goal for setting up Ayushman Arogya Mandirs (AAMs), with 173,881 centers now in operation as of July 31. This program, which began in February 2018 under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, originally aimed to establish 150,000 health and wellness centers by December 2022.

Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Anupriya Patel, shared this update in a written report to the Lok Sabha.

These AAMs, which involve upgrading existing Sub-Health Centres (SHCs) and Primary Health Centres (PHCs) in both rural and urban areas, offer a wide range of primary healthcare services. They provide free, community-based care that includes preventive, promotive, curative, palliative, and rehabilitative services.

By the end of July, the AAMs have served a total of 317.34 crore people. They have conducted 84.28 crore screenings for hypertension, 74.18 crore for diabetes, 49.88 crore for oral cancer, 22.87 crore for breast cancer, and 15.13 crore for cervical cancer. Additionally, there have been 3.98 crore wellness sessions, including yoga, and 26.39 crore teleconsultations.

Setu, an API infrastructure provider owned by Pine Labs, has partnered with Axis Bank to launch a UPI-focused payments platform—UPISetu-- for businesses and developers.

The platform supports a wide range of UPI products, from basic QR code payments to other collection modes like UPI Autopay, EMI, and Third-Party Validation or TPV service. It also claims to have advanced functionalities like brand and bank offers, advanced dispute resolution, instant cashbacks, refunds—all provided via APIs.

“As ‘Credit on UPI’ gains momentum and there exists a pressing need to drive payment transaction success rates, UPISetu will be a game-changing launch for the ecosystem. We believe the world will increasingly be UPI-first thanks to the pioneering efforts of NPCI in India and overseas,” said B Amrish Rau, CEO of Pine Labs.

The development falls in line with the growing popularity of UPI as a prominent payment method and the uses cases built on the same.

An Assam-based biodiversity organisation has developed a mobile phone application for all stakeholders toward mitigating human-elephant conflict and coexisting with the large animals in the State and elsewhere in the northeast.

The ‘HaatiApp’, envisaged as an early warning system about the presence of wild elephants in the proximity of human settlements, is scheduled to be launched along with a solar fence manual on August 10.

“The app will contain the ex-gratia application form against damages caused due to depredation by wild elephants,” said Bibhuti P. Lahkar, the head of Elephant Research and Conservation Division of Aarankak, the organisation that developed the HaatiApp with support from the SBI Foundation.

When he was 13 years old, Pandurang Balkawde decided to cycle to a historic monument, Aga Khan Palace Gandhi Smarak, which was located far away, on the outskirts of Pune city at the time. He wanted to see the place where Mahatma Gandhi had been imprisoned and where the samadhi of Kasturba Gandhi was situated. What Balkawde did not know was that there was an entry ticket of 25 paise—money that he did not have.

The guards at the gate would not let them in and Balkawde might have had to return disheartened had it not been for Shobhana Ranade passing by. “She was impressed that I had come by cycle all this way. But the ticket price could not be waived as this was Gandhian philosophy so she told the guards to charge it to her. After I had visited the memorial, she spoke to me about what I had seen and why I should bow before the great Gandhians,” recalls Balkawde, who grew up to be a historian.

The Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Army Welfare Association Society (AWES), in New Delhi today. The signing ceremony took place under the chairpersonship of the Secretary (Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities - DEPwD), Shri Rajesh Aggarwal.

This strategic partnership aims to train school administrators, students, parents and teachers in promoting Indian Sign Language (ISL), with a focus on enhancing sign language skills among the faculty of Army Public Schools. The MoU marks a significant milestone in collaboration and development in the field of Indian Sign Language, aiming to broaden the reach and efficacy of ISL initiatives and contribute to the empowerment and inclusion of the Deaf community.

This collaboration is expected to bring significant benefits to the educational ecosystem, empowering educators and fostering an inclusive environment for students. By enhancing the capabilities of Army Public School faculty in Indian Sign Language, the partnership aims to create a more accessible and supportive learning environment for students who are deaf or hard of hearing.

A new flowering plant species from 'ceropegia' genus has been discovered inside the Vishalgad premises and named 'ceropegia shivrayiana' in a nod to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

A research paper in this regard was published on Tuesday in Phytotaxa, an international journal published in New Zealand. This discovery also highlighted the biodiversity and ecological importance of Vishalgad Fort.

Akshay Jangam, Ratan More, and Dr Nilesh Pawar from the botany department of New College in Kolhapur, Dr Sharad Kamble from Chandwad in Nashik, and Prof Dr.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Monday launched 'Upasthiti (attendance) Portal' to ensure daily attendance of doctors, para-medical staff and others employees under the state health department.

The CM said the government is committed to improving the health facilities of the state and providing accessible and better health facilities to all the people of the state.

Through this portal, cross verification of biometric attendance by health department personnel will be done, an official said.

Soren directed health department officials to take appropriate steps to make the district hospitals of the state operational 24x7.

Surgeon Vice Adm Anupam Kapur today assumed the charge of Director General Hospital Services (Armed Forces) at the office of the Director General Armed Forces Medical Services. The Flag Officer was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 27 June 1987.

Prior to taking over as the DGHS(Armed Forces), the Flag Officer served as the Command Medical Officer of the Western Naval Command. He has also commanded premier Indian Navy hospitals, INHS Asvini and INHS Sanjivani.

An alumnus of the prestigious Armed Forces Medical College, Pune, Surgeon Vice Admiral Kapur has specialized in Obstetrics and Gynecology, further super-Specialized in Gynecological Endoscopy.

In recognition of his distinguished service, Surgeon Vice Adm Kapur has been awarded the Nao Sena Medal. He has also been commended twice by the Chief of the Naval Staff and by the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (West) for his outstanding contributions to the Indian Navy and the Armed Forces Medical Services.

Dr Neeraj Mittal, Secretary, Department of Telecommunications, launched the ITU-WTSA-24 Hackathon “AI Bharat 5G/6G Sandbox” on Wednesday, a part of the forthcoming WTSA-24,. It is designed to propel innovation and harness the power of AI/ML (Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning) in the next generation of communication networks. It was launched in the presence of Head of ITU strategic engagement, ITU Experts and IIT Delhi Experts. This international Hackathon is being organised by ITU in collaboration with Department of Telecommunications (DoT) as one of the side events of World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA-24), which will be held in New Delhi from October 15-24th, 2024.

Delivering the keynote address, Dr Mittal said, DoT is excited to be partnering with ITU to foster innovation and creativity among the next generation of tech leaders. “Together, we have the opportunity to inspire and empower young minds to create solutions that will shape our world”, he said. Dr Mittal pointed out that “This hackathon, in partnership with ITU, is more than just a competition; it’s a platform for young innovators to turn their visions into reality and make a tangible impact on society”.

Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Mr. Bhupender Yadav today said that the Central Government has declared Adichunchanagiri in Karnataka and Choolannuar in Kerala as Peacock Sanctuary. In reply to a question regarding the death of peacocks in Delhi, he informed Lok Sabha that peacocks died due to heat stroke and not by avian influenza. The Minister said, several measures are being taken for the conservation of the national bird and the ministry has also set up breeding and conservation centers for peacocks.