The State of Assam presented their Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) Annual Action Plan today via video conference with details of the plan for the financial year 2021-22 as well as a saturation plan for the whole State to provide tap water connection to every rural household.

Assam has 63.35 lakh rural households, out of which 6.67 lakh (10.75%) are getting tap water supply. The State plans to achieve total saturation by the year 2024. Assam plans to provide 20.63 lakh household tap water connections and saturation of 2 districts in 2021-22. In 2020-2021, the State provided 4.76 lakh tap connections in rural areas. At present, the State has 256 ‘HarGharJal’ villages, and piped water supply is available to 7,897 Schools and 1,582 Anganwadi centres. State has been urged to ensure piped water supply in schools and AWCS at the earliest.

The extensive exercise of finalizing the Annual Action Plan (AAP) of States/ UTs under Jal Jeevan Mission is done by a national committee chaired by the Secretary, Department of Drinking Water & Sanitation, members from different Central Ministries/ Departments and NITI Aayog. Thereafter, funds are released throughout the year based on the progress and expenditure incurred. The detailed planning exercise is undertaken to help the State to achieve the goal of ‘HarGharJal’.

A UN-led global immunization strategy was unveiled yesterday to reach more than 50 million children who have missed lifesaving jabs against measles and other diseases because of COVID-19 disruption.

WHO, along with UNICEF and the vaccine alliance Gavi, said their new global strategy has the potential to save 50 million lives within less than a decade.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, to avoid multiple outbreaks of life-threatening diseases like measles, yellow fever and diphtheria, it must be ensured that routine vaccination services are protected in every country in the world.

A WHO survey showed more than one third of countries were still seeing disruptions to their routine immunisation services. The joint statement said, around 60 mass vaccination campaigns were currently postponed in 50 countries, putting 228 million people, mostly children, at risk of diseases such as measles and polio.

The Ingenuity Mars helicopter of NASA has made yet another successful flight on the red planet. NASA said it flew faster and farther on Sunday, April 25 than in any tests it went through on Earth. The third flight of the helicopter was recorded by the US Space Agency’s Perseverance rover on Mars.

The drone sized chopper rose to a height of 16 feet at 12.33 p.m. local Mars time and flew for 80 seconds covering 164 feet distance at the speed of 2 metres per second before coming back to its take-off spot.

The project’s programme executive for Ingenuity Mars Helicopter said the third flight was what they planned for, and yet it was nothing short of amazing.

The Ingenuity team has been pushing the helicopter’s limits by adding instructions to capture more photos of its own - including from the colour camera, which captured its first images on Flight Two. The helicopter’s black-and-white navigation camera, meanwhile, tracks surface features below, and this flight put the onboard processing of these images to the test.

In the Archery World Cup, Indian women's recurve team including Deepika Kumari, Ankita Bhakat and Komalika Bari won a gold medal in Guatemala yesterday. Indian trio shot 27 to edge out their Mexican rivals by one point and claim their first World Cup team gold after seven years.

This is Deepika's fifth World Cup stage event team gold medal. In another match, the Indian mixed recurve team of Atanu Das and Ankita Bhakat won the bronze medal after a 6-2 victory over USA.

In view of the Curfew  imposed w.e.f. 10 PM today i.e. 19th April 2021 till 5AM on 26 April 2021 by the Govt. for the containment of Covid-19 in NCT Delhi, Metro services on the network during this period will be available as per following details:-

1. Services during morning (8 AM to 10 AM) and evening (5 PM to 7 PM) peak hours across the network will be available with a headway (frequency) of 30 minutes.

2. For rest of the hours of the day, services across the network will be available with a frequency of 60 min only.

Metro services during this period can be availed only by the exempted category of people as per the latest govt. order on production of the valid IDs.

During this period, travel will be allowed only upto 50% seating capacity in the Metro. In addition, no standing passenger shall be allowed during the travel.

Olympics-bound Ravi Dahiya, who won the gold medal at the Asian Wrestling Championships 2021 in Almaty, Uzbekistan, is raring to go for the upcoming games in Tokyo.

Ravi has been a part of the Government of India’s Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) in October 2019 after he had won a gold medal at the Senior World Championships and also in the process earned an Olympics quota in the men’s 57kg freestyle category.

The support provided to Ravi from TOPS in the Olympic cycle includes the following:
● Towards International training and competitions = Rs. 5,07,981/- 
● Out of Pocket Allowance = Rs 9,00,000/- till April 19 2021 
● TOTAL = Rs. 14,07,981/- approx
Current Training Base: SAI Sonepat

Showing his gratitude towards the Sports Authority of India and the TOPS support, Ravi mentions, “Sports Authority of India and TOPS are doing their best to help us. The TOPS has benefitted me a lot. Training has gone a notch higher and they have given us good sparring partners, more international exposures, physiotherapists and I also have a personal foreign coach now. Camps were also set up with utmost safety during the Covid times.”

Union Minister of Education Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ virtually launched “World 1st affordable and long-lasting hygiene product DuroKea Series”, developed by IIT Hyderabad researchers.

Researcher from Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad led Dr. Jyotsnendu Giri, Associate Professor in Biomedical Engineering and founder EaffoCare Innovation Pvt. Ltd incubating at iTIC, IIT Hyderabad has developed innovative DuroKea long-lasting technologies to combat COVID-19 virus spreading. Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT Hyderabad, Shri B. V. R. Mohan Reddy; Prof. Founder Dean ESIC Medical College and Hospital, Hyderabad, M. Srinivas; Director IIT Hyderabad, Prof. B. S. Murty and other officials from IIT Hyderabad were present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion Pokhriyal said that Durokea Product is aligned with the vision of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to attain self reliance. This next generation DuroKea antimicrobial technology starts at Rs. 189, kills 99.99% of germs instantly and leaves behind the long-lasting protective nanoscale coating up to 35 days till next wash, he said.

The Minister informed that the unique property of DuroKea range is to ensure instant killing (within 60 sec) and prolonged protection which is an immense necessity during this current pandemic situation. This revolutionary antimicrobial property of DuroKea products has been tested and certified by Indian Government accredited lab and field-tested at the IIT Hyderabad campus, he added.

Indian Railways has given in-principle approval to transport Liquid Medical Oxygen container trucks on Roll-on roll-off (Ro-Ro) basis. In a first of its kind operation approved by the Railway Ministry, the Indian Railways will soon carry cryogenic tanker trucks loaded with Liquid Medical Oxygen from one part of the country to another.

The decision has been taken by the Railway Ministry in view of request received from Maharashtra government for transportation of liquid oxygen into the state. The Railways have said that through this mechanism a significant amount of transportation cost and crucial time can be saved while delivering Medical Oxygen to Health care facilities, specially in view of surge in COVID cases.

Continuing India’s fine run at the AIBA Youth Men’s and Women’s World Championships, Vikas pulled off a stunning upset win against the reigning European Youth Champion Yasen Radev as five Indian boxers registered remarkable victories on the second day of the tournament in Poland.

Playing in the men’s 52kg category, Vikas started the game cautiously but soon took the charge of the game with an aggressive intent. The Indian made Radev, a gold medallist from recent Adriatic Pearl, work hard with his swift moment and precise punches before he outpunched Bulgarian 5-0 comfortably. Vikas will now square off against Mongolia’s Sukhbat Enkhzorigt in the second round on Day 3.

The reigning Asian Youth Champion Vinka (60kg) and Poonam (57kg) also extended their winning momentum as the duo asserted supremacy over their opponents Tara Bohatjuk of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Hungary’s Beata Varga respectively in their pre-quarterfinals. Referee had to stop the contest after the Indians landed a number of powerful blows against their opponents and they were declared winners with RSC verdict. With entry into the last-8 stage, Vinka and Poonam are now just a bout away from securing India medals.

In Hockey, India registered a comfortable win against reigning Olympic champions Argentina in the second match of FIH Hockey Pro League at Buenos Aires last night. Men in Blue won the game by beating the host by 3-0.
 
In the first match, India beat Argentina 3-2.