Indian Govt. intends to set up NSG hub in every state: PC

The government today said it intends to set up National Security Guard (NSG) hub or an equivalent commando force in every state in due course to strengthen the national security apparatus. The Home Minister P Chidambaram told the Lok Sabha during Question Hour that the government is trying to have these units soon, though it was a long-term plan in view of the constraints of manpower and training.
Four regional NSG hubs in Hyderabad, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata have already been operationalised . He informed the house that setting up of Regional Centres of NSG at Kolkata and Hyderabad have been approved apart from raising 10 Commando Battalions for Resolute Action (CoBRA) to be raised during the three-year period from 2008-09.The Centre would also provide assistance for raising commandos in states, apart from upgrading existing four training centres for Central Paramilitary Forces at Silchar in Assam , Hazaribagh in Jharkhand, Sapri in Himachal Pradesh and Gawaldham in Uttarkhand.

Health programmes to be geared up in the underserved areas in Orissa

Akhand in Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India

The health services in the underserved areas to be geared up through forgin effective partnership with civil society organisation. The emphasis would be laid on reducing maternal and child mortality along with controlling outbreak of epidemics and promoting family planning services.  The decision cam to lime light in review meeting organised by Regional Resource Centre (Orissa) for Health and Family Welfare Dept, where activities  of existing 20 NGOs (Mother, Field and Service) were reviewed. The meeting was held on 11th December 2009.

The review taken by Special Secretary, H&FW Dept Dr. Dussasan Muduli , Additional Director (PH), Dr. P. Sitaram, Joint Director (FW) Dr. Sarat Mohapatra, Joint Director , SIH&FW  Dr. B. Mishra, Deputy Director, ( Malaria & Filaria) &  RRC Cordinator Mr. Prasant  Acharya along with Officials from NRHM  etc. highlighted the impact made by NGOS in the Grassroot under served areas  in health & sanitation activities within last three years. The programme also brought into table no. of innovations made by civil society organisations that aimed at making the healthcare services affordable, cost effective and easily accessible giving the marginalised a scope to access health service at door step. A sum of Rs 7.00 Cr was released to 18 MNGO and 87 Field NGOS in 22 districts out of which, around 6.06 Cr was spent. A large part of it was spent in RCH-II programme whereby mother and child care, adolescent health family planning are the key programme components.

                It was decided that the MNGOs and FNGOs would be further involved in management of other disease control programme apart from the routine activities RCH services. Addressing the participants in the meeting Special Secretary Mr. Dussan Muduli Said” NGOs play a pivotal role in passing the health messages and programmes to the community in underserved area hence, their involvement should be emphasised in almost all the health programmes run by NRHM and different directorates.”

In the review meeting itself, it was decided that NGOS would be responsible for control and management of all types of diseases besides complementing and supplementing Govt run programmes. Action plan suggesting NGOS/ Civil Society organisation as well as CSR units would be prepared for next three years indicating a broad based involvement of NGOs in the programme.

Obama invokes Mahatma Gandhi as receives Nobel Peace Prize

Invoking his ‘heroes’ Mahatma Gandhi and legendary civil rights leader Martin Luther King, US President Barack Obama received the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize in the capital of Norway Oslo . In his acceptance speech Obama said there is nothing weak -nothing passive – nothing naïve – in the creed and lives of Gandhi and King. The 48-year-old President said he is committed to upholding the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and that he is working with Russian President Medvedev to reduce America and Russia’s nuclear stockpiles. Noting that terrorism has long been a tactic, Obama said modern technology allows a few small men with outsized rage to murder innocents on a horrific scale. He is the third sitting US president to win the award after Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 and Woodrow Wilson in 1919. Former US president Jimmy Carter won the prize in 2002. Tamil Nadu-born Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, one of the three winners of this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry,received the prize at a gala ceremony at Stockholm along with other recipients. The other Nobel laureates in literature, economics, physics and medicine also received their prizes from Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf at a formal event in Stockholm’s Concert Hall. A record five women have been awarded the Nobel this year.

Seven Naxalites killed in Indian state

In Chhattisgarh, Seven Naxalites were killed in an encounter in the Dantewada district that was continuing since last evening. According to the police sources, the encounter took place in the jungle between Aranpur and Jagargunda of the Dantewada district.

Police have also recovered some weapons from the site of the encounter. On the other hand, the naxalites killed a person near Kukram village under the Jagargunda police station area of the Dantewada district last night suspecting him to be a police informer.

World Human Rights Day observed in India: ‘Everybody, all stake-holders should join hands to fight for restoring’

Akhand in Bhubaneswar, India

It is a concern of everybody and all stake-holders should join hands together to fight for restoring the rights of every human being and at the same time everybody should remember that rights means a assertion and it should go together with duties. The civil societies should come in a big way in this regard and they should also build up themselves to take the responsibility in this regard, said Dr. R.N. Bohidar, IAS, Member, Orissa State Human Rights Commission.

He was addressing a gathering at a meeting on the occasion of the World Human Rights Day jointly organized by the Indian Red Cross Society, Orissa State Branch and the Inter Agency Group (IAG) Orissa at the Red Cross Bhavan here on Thursday (10th December 2009). Regarding the Human Rights Commission, Bohidar said that it is only a six-year-old organization and actions are being taken to make it more strong so that its deliver and redressal mechanism will be faster as its fact-finding mechanism.

Poverty, starvation death, distress, migration, loss of livelihood, displacement, lack of social infrastructure, health care system,
education and drinking water, sanitation, landlessness are the major challenges of Human Rights in Orissa in particular and throughout the country in general, said Shri Manas Jena, General Secretary, National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights. Though there are many civil society organizations working on human rights in different fields i.e. women rights, child rights, Dalit rights, these lack convergence and solidarity, he said, adding that a larger alliance between the civil societies organizations and the Government is badly required to ensure the restoration of rights of every human being. He also emphasized on the need of proper mechanism within the concerned civil society organizations, government organizations and in the Human Rights Commissioner for identification, protection, participation and development of Human Rights.

Prof. M. P. Mohanty, Honorary Secretary, Indian Red Cross Society, Orissa State Branch and Chairperson, Inter Agency Group (IAG) Orissa discussed on the activities of the Red Cross and IAG Orissa in different sectors towards restoring human rights.

In the open discussion session, the participants raised the issues like right of restoring one’s right by formation of associations,
police torture on innocent people in the name of Maoists, sluggishness of redressal mechanism of the Human Rights Commission and loss of livelihood of displaced people due to mining activities.

Among others, Dr. Ambika Nanda, UNDP, Sunil Verma, UNICEF, Prof. S. Peppin, XIMB, Shyamal Kishore Das, IAG Orissa, social activists Mahendra Parida, Smt. Tapashi Praharaj, representatives from IAG Orissa member organizations like CARE, World Vision, Caritas, Water Aid, LWSI attended the programme.

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