Tag: Calls

Oppn calls out PT Usha over her remarks on protesting wrestlers

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New Delhi: Several opposition leaders hit out at Indian Olympic Association president PT Usha on Friday for criticising a protest by wrestlers in Delhi, alleging she has become a “political mouthpiece”.
The wrestlers have launched a second round of protest against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, accusing him of sexual harassment and intimidation.
Usha, a Rajya Sabha member, has condemned the protest, saying the grapplers lacked discipline in hitting the street in support of their demand. She also said their action has tarnished the image of India.

Responding to Usha, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said ignoring their pleas tarnishes the country’s image, not their protest.
“Dear @PTUshaOfficial, it is does not become you to disparage the justified protests of your fellow sportspersons in the face of repeated & wanton sexual harassment. Their standing up for their rights does not ‘tarnish the image of the nation’. Ignoring their concerns – instead of hearing them out, investigating them & taking just action – does,” he said.
CPI MP Binoy Viswam blamed the sprinter’s “newly found” political friends for her stand on the issue.
“Usha, with utmost respect and affection, I have to say, your comments on the suffering wrestlers should have been avoided. The country and the sport lovers wish to see you as a spirited sports person. Alas! Your newly found friends want to make you their political mouthpiece,” Viswam said.
TMC MP Mahua Moitra also attributed the former sportswoman’s stand to her Rajya Sabha seat.

“Wrestlers protesting on streets tarnishing India’s image says @PTUshaOfficial. So ruling party MP chairing WFI for years accused of molestation & abuse of power against who @DelhiPolice refuses to lodge FIR in spite of SC order makes India smell of roses, does it?” tweeted Moitra.
Congress MP Jebi Mather said a person like P T Usha who is held in high esteem by every Indian, especially sports enthusiasts, stooping to the level of demeaning the wrestlers, is quite unwarranted and unexpected of her.
“By degrading the wrestlers, P T Usha has failed in the exercise of her duties as the President of Indian Olympic Association,” she said.
“Instead of standing by the side of her fellow sportspersons who are fighting for justice in the context of repeated instances of sexual harassment, Usha is playing petty politics. She owes an apology to the wrestlers. While the matter is sub-judice, it is quite suspicious that she has taken a stand against the wrestlers,” Mather said.
“The fact that Usha, who expressed solidarity with the wrestlers while they first raised the complaint in January, has now changed her stance raises questions regarding her intention,” she said.
Top wrestlers are protesting at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, demanding that the government make public the findings of the oversight panel that investigated sexual harassment allegations against the WFI chief.
Rajya Sabha member Mather said that being the president of the Indian Olympic Association, Usha should make efforts to ensure unity and equality among the sportspersons, not to create division.
She should make earnest efforts in resolving the issue at the earliest, the Congress MP added.
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#Oppn #calls #Usha #remarks #protesting #wrestlers
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 28, 2023
Trump lawyers: Notes for calls with foreign leaders are among classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago

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POLITICO obtained a copy of the letter sent to House Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Turner (R-Ohio). Tim Parlatore, one of the letter’s signatories, told POLITICO that it was also sent to House Intel Democrats and to Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee. The letter was first reported by CNN.
“Please know that despite the differences in the cases, we do not believe that any of these three matters should be handled by DOJ as a criminal case,” Trump’s lawyers wrote. “Rather, the stakeholders to these matters should set aside political differences and work together to remediate this issue and help to enhance our national security in the process.”
The letter said two of Trump’s lawyers, Parlatore and Jim Trusty, reviewed 15 boxes of documents that were taken to Mar-a-Lago after Trump left the White House and then later sent to the National Archives.
“Following its review of the materials, NARA inserted placeholder pages where it had removed documents with classification markings,” reads the letter, signed by Parlatore, Trusty, John Rowley and Lindsey Halligan. “That allowed Messrs. Parlatore and Trusty to discern what the documents were, as well as what other materials in the boxes were in the proximity of the marked documents when the White House staff packed them. The vast majority of the placeholder inserts refer to briefings for phone calls with foreign leaders that were located near the schedule for those calls.”
The appearance of documents marked classified at Mar-a-Lago, the lawyers continue, was “the result of haphazard records keeping and packing by White House staff and GSA.”
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#Trump #lawyers #Notes #calls #foreign #leaders #among #classified #documents #MaraLago
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

April 27, 2023
JK’s Tele MANAS Mental Health Helpline Receives Over 10,000 Calls

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SRINAGAR: In a significant achievement towards providing quality mental healthcare for all, the UT level Tele-Mental Health Assistance and Networking Across States (Tele-MANAS) cell, established at the Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (IMHANS) in Srinagar, has received more than 10,000 calls since its launch in Jammu and Kashmir on November 4, 2022.
The first-of-its-kind mental health helpline is a three-tier system that has mental health counsellors, clinical psychologists, and psychiatrists available for patients’ calls. Doctors at IMHANS informed that since its launch, they have received 10,000 calls related to stress, drug addiction, suicidal tendencies, and anxiety.
Secretary of Health and Medical Education (H&ME), Bhupendra Kumar, elaborated on the significance of the Tele-MANAS cell in the UT, saying that telemedicine is a broader concept and teleconsultation is part of it. “People can call on the toll-free number and seek advice on mental health issues. Since its launch, the number of calls has increased, and the quality of calls has also. People who took the first consultation are calling for follow-ups also with psychologists and psychiatrists,” he said.
The Secretary added that Tele-MANAS would also be linked to the e-Sehaj portal where doctors can prescribe medicine. “We want people to use this facility, and Tele-MANAS is the way forward. It is more important for remote and far-off places where there is a shortage of doctors and specialists,” he added.
Mission Director, NHM J&K, Ayushi Sudan, said there is a lot of stigma attached to mental health issues and, with Tele-MANAS, people are coming forward with these issues. “The individual calls reach one or two hours, and it is available 24/7. A lot of mental health issues occur during nighttime. We have been able to cover a lot of people. It is accessible and free. We want to expand it in the future at the district level as well,” she said.
Ayushi Sudan said the NHM J&K is also planning to expand mental health coverage across the districts to cover mental health issues, but the approach may be different from Tele-MANAS. “We will be having district mental health plans. Tele-MANAS is beginning in our initiative. We are also planning to integrate the suicide helpline,” she said.
As an extension to the service delivery framework of the existing Tele-MANAS helpline, they have developed the Tele-MANAS Chatbot, the first of its kind in the entire country. It will enable users to chat directly about their basic mental health problems for a solution, and subsequently, patients can be referred to the Tele-MANAS cell.
Dr. Qazi Haroon, State Program Manager Mental Health J&K, said Tele-MANAS is being linked to the District Mental health program across all the districts of JK UT. A comprehensive communication strategy/IEC formulated has actually helped us to reach so extensively to common people in such a short period.

Pertinently, J&K stands at rank 2 in the whole country as far as daily calls received by Tele-MANAS Cells are concerned.(GNS)

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#JKs #Tele #MANAS #Mental #Health #Helpline #Receives #Calls
( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

April 26, 2023
Tele-MANAS helpline receives more than 10,000 calls since its launch in J&K

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Cell instrumental in addressing stress, drug addiction, anxiety related issues
Srinagar, April 26 (GNS): In a significant achievement towards providing quality mental healthcare for all, the UT level Tele Mental Health Assistance and Networking Across States (Tele -MANAS) cell, established at the Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (IMHANS) Srinagar, has received more than 10,000 calls since its inception in Jammu and Kashmir.
The first-of-its-kind mental health helpline, launched on November 4, 2022, is a three-tier system that has mental health counselors, clinical psychologists and psychiatrists available for patients’ calls.
Doctors at IMHANS informed that since its launch, they have received 10,000 calls including related to stress, drug addiction, suicidal tendencies and anxiety.
Secretary, Health and Medical Education (H&ME), Bhupinder Kumar, while elaborating on the significance of Tele –MANAS cell in the UT, said that telemedicine is a broader concept and tele consultation is part of it. “People can call on toll-free number and seek advice on mental health issues. Since its launch, the number of calls have increased and the quality of calls also. People who took first consultation are calling for follow-ups also with psychologists and psychiatrists,” he said.
Secretary added that Tele MANAS would also be linked to e-Sehaj portal where doctor can prescribe the medicine. “We want people to use this facility and tele MANAS is the way forward. It is more important for remote and far-off places where there is a shortage of doctors and specialists,” he added.
Mission Director, NHM J&K, Ayushi Sudan, said there is a lot of stigma attached to mental health issues adding that with Tele-MANAS, people are coming forward with these issues. “The individual calls reach to one or two hours and it is 24/7. A lot of mental health issues occur during night time. We have been able to cover a lot of people. It is accessible and free. We want to expand it in future at the district level as well,” she said.
Ayushi Sudan said the NHM J&K is also planning to expand mental health coverage across the districts to cover mental health issues, however, the approach may be different from Tele- MANAS. “We will be having district mental health plans. Tele MANAS is beginning in our initiative. We are also planning to integrate the suicide helpline,” she said.

As an extension to service delivery framework of the existing Tele MANAS Helpline we have developed Tele MANAS Chat bot, first of its kind in the entire country. It will enable the users to chat directly about their basic mental health problems for solution and subsequently patients can be referred to tele manas cell.
Dr Qazi Haroon, State Program Manager Mental Health J&K, said Tele MANAS is being linked to District Mental health program across all the districts of JK UT. A comprehensive communication strategy/IEC formulated has actually helped us to reach so extensively to common people in such short period of time, he added. He said that in near future more and more people suffering with mental health will find refuge in Tele MANAS.
Pertinently, J&K stands at rank 2 in whole country as far as daily calls received by Tele MANAS Cells are concerned.
The toll-free number of Tele MANAS Cell J&K is 14416/1-800-891-4416 and for Tele MANAS Chat Bot is 9797600601. The cell is open for the general public for providing mental health services and drug de-addiction service 24×7.(GNS)
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#TeleMANAS #helpline #receives #calls #launch
( With inputs from : thegnskashmir.com )

April 26, 2023
Ron DeCeasefire: US presidential hopeful DeSantis calls for truce in Ukraine

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Florida’s Republican governor and wannabe presidential candidate Ron DeSantis said Tuesday he supported the idea of a ceasefire in Ukraine — a move long opposed by Kyiv, which has set reclaiming its lost territory as a precondition for any talks with Russia.
“It’s in everybody’s interest to try to get to a place where we can have a ceasefire,” DeSantis said in an interview with the Japanese, English-language weekly Nikkei Asia.
“You don’t want to end up in like a [Battle of] Verdun situation, where you just have mass casualties, mass expense and end up with a stalemate,” he added, referring to the longest battle of World War I, in which around 700,000 were killed.
The idea is likely to get the cold shoulder from Kyiv, where President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said a ceasefire would only allow Russia to regroup its forces, and make the war last longer.
In his 10-point peace plan presented last November at a G20 summit, Zelenskyy set the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity as a precondition for peace, stressing that point was “not up to negotiations.”
DeSantis’ remarks are the latest in a series of controversial comments made by the Florida governor — who has yet to formally announce his bid for the 2024 presidential election — on the war in Ukraine.
Last month, he sparked fury even within his own Republican Party after calling the conflict a “territorial dispute,” and said becoming “further entangled” in Ukraine was not part of the U.S.’s “vital national interests.”

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#Ron #DeCeasefire #presidential #hopeful #DeSantis #calls #truce #Ukraine
( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )

April 26, 2023
Amazfit GTS 2 (New Version) Smart Watch with Ultra HD AMOLED Display, Built-in Amazon Alexa, Built-in GPS, SpO2 & Stress Monitor, Bluetooth Phone Calls, 3GB Music Storage, 90 Sports Modes (Petal Pink)

Price: [price_with_discount]
(as of [price_update_date] – Details)

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From the manufacturer

Slim and Sleek Design
GTS 2 (New Version) Edge-to-Edge Glass, Slim & Sleek. Exquisitely crafted curved glass shimmers like a piece of crystal jade and the gorgeous and dynamic curves of aluminum alloy body deliver a comfortable and light wearable experience.
All-day Heart Rate Tracking. Real-time Warnings to Protect You
24-hour high-precision heart rate monitoring supports industry-leading automatic detection of heart abnormalities. In-depth tracking of heart health and real-time warnings for potential risks of heart trouble are also provided, reducing the probability of accidents and helping to protect your life.
Blood-oxygen Saturation Measurement
When you engage in sustained mental labor, run a marathon or do intense outdoor exercise, you can test your SpO2 level the moment you start feeling unwell to get a better understanding of your physical condition.

Monitor Your Stress Levels
Check your personal stress level – relaxed, normal, medium or high – anytime you feel pressured throughout the day, so you know when to relax and reduce it.
Sleep Quality Monitoring
The watch supports in-depth sleep monitoring, which can differentiate between the light, deep, and REM (rapid eye movement) sleep stages, monitor the sleep breathing condition, and provide analysis and suggestions for improvement. The watch also recognizes naps over 20 minutes between 11AM-6PM
90+ Sports Modes
Activate one of the sports modes and the watch will produce a corresponding analytical report after you finish, to help you improve your exercise plan. Intelligent recognition of sports modes eliminates the need to manually select the sports mode.

Smart Notifications
The Amazfit GTS 2 (New Version) can proficiently handle your personal agendas, notify you of incoming calls or messages and provide movement reminders when you have been sitting idle for a long time. The watch will also track your events and offers Do Not Disturb, Stopwatch and Weather forecast function, as well as enabling the setting of alarms and timers.
5 ATM Waterproof
The Amazfit GTS 2 (New Version) watch has achieved a water-resistance grade of 5 ATM, so you can enjoy the sea or take a dip in a pool without worry.
6-Day Extended Battery Life
Thinner, lighter and with a large battery life. The new Amazfit GTS 2 (New Version) is equipped with a 246 mAh large battery that can last 6 days with typical usage and is always ready to escort you on your journeys and track your progress. Enjoy almost a full week of activity without worrying about carrying a charger everywhere.
Music storage and playback. Your playlist on your time :- The Amazfit GTS 2 ( New version) supports controlling mobile music playback through the watch and with a massice 3GB of local music storage, you can transfer 300-600 of your favourite songs to the watch through your mobile phone with your Amazfit.;Bluetooth Phone calls :- The Amazfit GTS 2 (New version) has added a microphone and speaker. After connecting to your mobile phone via Bluetooth, you can use the watch to answer phone calls, ensuring that important calls will be no longer be missed when it is inconvenient to hold your mobile phone for example while running or driving.
Amazon Alexa Built-in :- Amazon Alexa voice assistant integrated.Ask alexa to control your home and check the weather and calender etc. The Amazfit GTS 2 ( New version) also has a new offline voice assistant. You can interact with your watch without connecting to the internet, including turning on sports modes or opening heart rate monitoring function.
5 ATM Water resistant. Escorts you even under water :- Thanks to professional waterproofing that offers protection up to a depth of 50 meters, the Amazfit GTS 2( New version) is on par with traditional high-end watches and can be worn worry-free for daily use or when swimming .; Check Out Our Store :- Click on the blue Amazfit link below the Product title, to explore our other models.
Included Components: Amazfit Gts 2 *1, Charger Case *1, User Manual*1; Compatible Devices: Smartphone

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#Amazfit #GTS #Version #Smart #Watch #Ultra #AMOLED #Display #Builtin #Amazon #Alexa #Builtin #GPS #SpO2 #Stress #Monitor #Bluetooth #Phone #Calls #3GB #Music #Storage #Sports #Modes #Petal #Pink

April 26, 2023
EU environmental watchdog criticises calls to stall pesticides cut

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The EU’s environmental watchdog has hit back at calls to stall a 50% cut in the use and risks of synthetic pesticides and a 20% cut in fertiliser use by 2030, arguing that the Ukraine crisis provides scant justification for delay.
EU states with the backing of powerful farm unions and centre-right parties have blocked the proposed pesticide reform unless the European Commission completes a second impact study by 28 June to assuage food security fears.
Among campaigners and scientists, anxieties are rife that the bloc’s flagship green farming pledge could be unceremoniously buried.
Dario Piselli, a European Environment Agency (EEA) expert and author of a new analysis published on Wednesday, said there were “compelling” reasons not to hesitate further with the draft law.
“There’s limited justification to use the war as a reason for postponing action,” he told the Guardian. “Food security as an issue is not only to do with immediate food supply – and a lot of the concerns there have subsided a bit compared to the beginning of the war – but with medium-long term security which is influenced by other things [like] climate change and the impact of a loss of biodiversity on food production.”
Since 1990, farmland bird and grassland butterfly populations have plunged by more than 30% in Europe, while almost one in 10 of the continent’s bees face extinction, mainly because of habitat loss caused by intensified agriculture.
In 2020, pesticide thresholds for human safety were breached at more than one in five rivers and lakes across Europe, the EEA paper says and 83% of agricultural soils tested in 2019 were also found to contain pesticide residues.
Almost the same percentage – 84% – of people tested across five European countries in 2021 were found to contain at least two pesticides in their bloodstreams, according to a large human biomonitoring study cited by the paper.

Environmentalists say this is partly down to increased pesticide sales volumes in the EU, which remained stable between 2011 and 2020 at about 350,000 tonnes a year, compared with annual averages closer to 220,000 tonnes between 1992 and 2003.
One EU country, Denmark, has cut sales by using pesticide taxes linked to product toxicity, but the commission does not expect the present modest rises in pesticide prices to affect demand.
By contrast, fertiliser sales in countries such as Germany have fallen by up to 40% after prices doubled between May 2020 and the end of 2022, owing to high gas costs and war-related supply disruptions.
One EU diplomat said this had caused “mixed feelings” in Europe’s capitals about the commission’s green farming reform. “Last year the Germans were desperate to push the proposal forward but how this will end up I don’t know,” the official said.
Another EU diplomat added: “If the pesticides regulation is dead, there is no one to blame but the commission itself. The moment it stepped away from a scientific and evidence-based approach in favour of ideology and dogmatic solutions, it condemned its flagship legal proposal.”
The commission’s targets for EU nations, which take into account actions already taken, would force Italy to cut its pesticide use and risks by 62%, Germany by 55% and France and Spain by 54%, according to a report in Politico.
Hostility to the measures is strong among Europe’s agricultural business class and in several governments, where the EU’s green deal commissioner, Frans Timmermans, is viewed darkly.
“Unless EU citizens suffer from hunger and protest in the streets, he does not care,” the first diplomat said.
In a concession to such sentiments, Brussels last year shelved a proposed ban on pesticide use in ecologically sensitive areas – so long as low-risk pesticides were used instead. But it will not abandon the goal of a less chemically drenched countryside, despite the “complex” impacts of the Ukraine conflict on food security, said Stefan De Keersmaecker, a commission spokesperson.
“We must continue making progress in the discussions so that the proposal can become a reality to protect farmers, pesticide users, citizens, vulnerable populations, and the environment,” he said. “European citizens have a clear desire to reduce the use and risk of pesticides.”
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#environmental #watchdog #criticises #calls #stall #pesticides #cut
( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )

April 26, 2023
Karnataka: PUC topper Tabassum Shaik calls Hijab ban ‘unfair’

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A year after Karnataka was hit by the hijab controversy disallowing several hijab-clad PU Muslim girls to discontinue or look for other options for education, a hijab-clad Muslim student topped this year’s PUC examination in the Arts stream.
Eighteen-year-old Tabassum Shaik and her family are ecstatic about the results that were declared on April 21. Tabassum was one of the many Muslim girls who faced the dilemma and uncertainty of choosing education or her religious belief.
In an interview with The Telegraph, she said she was traumatized when the hijab was banned in December 2021. The decision to attend classes without it put her under extreme guilt.

“But my parents told me that dropping out would affect our community and push us deeper into backwardness. So, they encouraged me to continue my studies,” Tabassum said who scored 593 out of 600 marks with a perfect score of 100 in Hindi, Psychology, and Sociology.
Tabassum is the second child of Abdul Khaum Shaik, an electronics engineer, and Parveen Shaik, a homemaker. Her elder sibling Abdul Kalam Shaik is doing an MTech in machine planning at a Bangalore design school.
“Many of my classmates stopped attending school and opted for distant education,” Tabassum said. She further stated that to enter her class without the hijab was not easy for her who has been wearing the headscarf since the age of five.
“Once the hijab ban started, I skipped college for two weeks. But my parents saw a bigger picture and how this would influence our local area. This encouraged me to continue my studies,” Tabassum said trying to motivate herself to navigate through her difficult choice.
Tabassum studied for 6-8 hours every day for the exams and prioritized my religious responsibilities equally.

But fear has not ended for Tabassum. Her greatest concern is if the ban would extend to colleges. “I am very concerned about whether I would be permitted to wear the hijab in the future at the university,” she was quoted by The Telegraph.
Tabassum expressed strong views about the hijab ban in Karnataka describing it as ‘undemocratic’ and ‘unsecular’.
“It was extremely unfair and illogical that in a secular country, I had to give up my hijab in order to pursue my education when I should ideally be able to do both,” The Telegraph quoted her.
Karnataka’s hijab controversy
The hijab controversy erupted in December 2020, after six Muslim students of a pre-university college in Udupi were prohibited from wearing the hijab as part of their religious obligation in the college premises. The issue hit the roof after many protested followed by clashes with their Hindu classmates who turned up wearing saffron scarves, leaving the state government to shut down colleges in the district.
Petitions were filed opposing the government’s order to ban hijab in the Karnataka High Court. However, the three-judge bench upheld the government’s decision.
The HC’s decision was challenged in the Supreme Court of India where a two-judge bench gave a split deciison. The appeal is set to be heard by a larger bench, which is yet to be formed.
In January this year, a special data report by The Indian Express, it is revealed that there is almost a 50% drop in the admission of Muslim students in government pre-university colleges (PUCs) in Udupi district.
While there is not much change in Muslim students entering pre-university colleges (Class 11) in the district, there is a massive dip in admission to government PUCs.
In 2022-23 there have been 186 Muslim student enrollments in Udupi’s government PUCs (91 girls and 95 boys), which is almost half compared to 2021-22 number, 388 (178 girls and 210 boys).
In 2022-23, private PUCs saw a hike in Muslim admissions with 927 (487 girls and 440 boys) as compared to 2021-22 number, 662 (328 girls and 334 boys).
“The enrollment of Muslim girls in our PU college has almost doubled for the first time. This is a testament to how the hijab issue has actually impacted them personally and academically,” Indian Express quoted administrator of Saliath Group of Education, Aslam Haikady.
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#Karnataka #PUC #topper #Tabassum #Shaik #calls #Hijab #ban #unfair
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 25, 2023
CS Addresses Industry Grievances; Calls For Regular Interaction Between Industry, Government

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SRINAGAR: Chief Secretary, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta on Tuesday chaired an interactive session with entrepreneurs and investors at the Civil Secretariat here. The meeting was aimed at addressing the issues and concerns faced by the industrial sector in the Union Territory.
During the meeting, several important issues were raised and discussed, including land use and allotment, infrastructure development, power, departmental clearances, legal issues, and other related concerns. Chief Secretary assured the participants of full support from the UT government and issued appropriate directions to resolve several issues.
The session also highlighted the hand-holding measures and incentives being provided to the industries in Jammu and Kashmir.
Dr Mehta assured that the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway would shortly be set open for round the year traffic thereby resolving several logistical issues faced by industries. He assured the industrialists from the Kashmir region that the government would take necessary steps to ensure that trucks carrying perishable items are able to move to their destinations smoothly without undue hindrances.
Chief Secretary called for conducting similar meetings every month to address the grievances of the industries in the UT.
Besides industrialists, the meeting was attended by Principal Secretary, Industries & Commerce, Prashant Goyal; Principal Secretary Power Development, H Rajesh Prasad; Secretary Revenue, Dr Piyush Singhla; Managing Director, JPDCL, Shiv Anant Tayal; MD KPDCL, Ch Mohd Yasin; Managing Director, SIDCO/SICOP and Senior Officers from Jammu and Kashmir provinces, virtually and in person

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#Addresses #Industry #Grievances #Calls #Regular #Interaction #Industry #Government

( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

April 25, 2023
Expert calls for ban on advertisement of unhealthy foods

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New Delhi: Advertisements should be banned for unhealthy food products, as it is increasing consumption of ultra processed foods which is in turn driving a surge in noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) like heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and chronic lung disease, in India, according to an expert.
Speaking to IANS, Dr Arun Gupta, senior paediatrician, Convener of Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest (NAPi) — a national think-tank on nutrition, said that India is sitting on a ticking time bomb for noncommunicable disease.
“There is enough evidence in the world, particularly, in the past five years, which shows the increasing consumption of ultra processed foods products, whether food or drinks, is linked to higher mortality, diabetes, cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer, depression, kidney diseases and more” Dr Gupta.

About 60 per cent of deaths in the country are happening due to NCDs and it has been rising very sharply in the past 20 years.
India is also seeing a 25 per cent increase in obesity rates in the past five years, both in men and women.
So, I think there should be a ban on advertising by defining foods, which are healthy and unhealthy. Only healthy ones should be allowed to marketise, the unhealthy should not,” Dr Gupta said.
He explained that the ultra processed foods and drinks are those which are industrially manufactured. These are laden with chemical additives like flavours and emulsifiers, to increase its shelf life. These “can actually affect your microbiome”.
“Your food packet can be ultra-processed if it has more than 5 ingredients. Always read the label,” he said.

Being industrially formulated, it destroys the food matrix and then adding of these chemicals, causes inflammation in the body, which is the reason behind all these diseases, Dr Gupta said.
In addition, these foods are usually high on sugar, salt and flavours to “make it tasty, highly palatable so that people don’t stop eating them”.
This leads to overeating, which in turn causes obesity – the precursor of all the NCDs, including diabetes, he said.
Recently, a food influencer was threatened by Cadbury after he exposed in a viral post on Instagram that their nutritional drink Bournvita contains added sugar and colours which can be unhealthy.
According to Dr Gupta, people who can afford to eat a good diverse diet, which includes a good amount of vegetables or non vegetarian foods, and fruits, actually need not take additional nutritional drinks.
“It’s a fashion to drink more powders like Bournvita/Complan because of the aggressive marketing of the unhealthy products, where people think that I will be more healthy. But where is the marker of being more healthy? Some also claim that you can become tall and more strong? How does one get taller and stronger with their products?”
“Adding these chemicals, including added sugars, can make milk, which is already a healthy drink, unhealthy”.
He added he won’t even advise “consuming these products in moderation”.
While occasionally eating a mithai made at home or bought may not harm, eating industrially processed food or drinks can have serious health effects, Dr Gupta told IANS.
“About 20 years back nobody knew the harmful effects but now we know. So first thing, avoid any product which is advertised which is harmful to us”.
Besides adult men and women, the NCDs are also rising in children owing to heavy marketing of unhealthy food and drinks.
“Children should be kept away from these advertisements, if not, they should be told that these are harmful products, they’re not good for health, even though the company claims otherwise.
His advice to parents: “Do not buy anything which is advertised as a food product”.
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#Expert #calls #ban #advertisement #unhealthy #foods
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 25, 2023