As told to Parliament (December 14, 2021): 9,750 birds dead in Kerala district since Nov 21

The Union government is aware of the recent outbreaks of bird flu in the country, Parshottam Rupala, Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairy said in Lok Sabha.

As many as 9,750 birds have died since 21 November, 2021, in Thakazy, Kerala’s Allapuzha district, according to the animal husbandry department, Kerala.  

Charging points for electric vehicles

At least 520 charging stations were sanctioned under Phase I of the FAME India Scheme, Krishan Pal Gurjar, minister of state for heavy industries, told the Lok Sabha on December 14, 2021.

The Union Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) has launched Phase II of the FAME India Scheme, which provides for Rs 1,000 crores for installation of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles, Gurjar added.

Locusts attack

Locust attacks were reported in India during 2019-20 and 2020-21, when locusts migrated to India after 26 years, Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, told the Lok Sabha.

Locust incursion was reported in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Punjab in 2019-20; in 2020-21, it was reported in 19 states. These were: Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, Tomar added.

Poverty line

The poverty line at the all-India levels has been estimated as Rs 816 for rural areas and Rs 1,000 for urban areas for the year 2011-12. The number of persons living below the poverty line in 2011-12 were estimated at 270 million (21.9 per cent), Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, minister of state in the rural development ministry, told the Lok Sabha.

RAJYA SABHA

Deaths due to tuberculosis

The deaths due to tuberculosis (TB) reported among notified patients under the programme has remained static at around 4 per cent for the country and around 3 per cent for Rajasthan in the last three years, Bharati Pravin Pawar, minister of state in the health ministry, told the Rajya Sabha.

The total number of TB patients notified in 2020 (January-December) was 1.8 million. In 2021, despite a larger second wave of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the programme has been able to notify 1.7 million TB cases (till October, 2021), which is 18 per cent higher compared to 2020, Pawar added.

Policy to manage expired vaccines

The country had 2,410 COVID-19 vaccine doses with an expiry date of December 2021, as on December 9, 2021, Pawar told the Rajya Sabha.

Data on the expiry of COVID-19 vaccines at private hospitals is not maintained. Centrally, however, the Government of India closely monitors COVID-19 vaccine stocks in states / Union territories so as to ensure their optimal utilisation.

COVID-19 vaccine stock, which has not been utilised in private hospitals and is nearing expiry, is usually taken up for redistribution by respective state governments for its timely utilisation. States/UTs have also been advised to review program coverage and vaccine wastage on a daily basis and redistribute vaccine stock if required, Pawar said.

Capacity of coal-fuelled power plants

Power plants were not able to maintain sufficient stock as coal-based power generation in April-November, 2021 increased by about 16 per cent compared to the same period last year due to the revival of economic activities.

There were interruptions in domestic coal supplies due to heavy rains, which continued until the first week of October 2021, as well as a rise in imported coal prices in the international market, which resulted in less coal import by thermal power plants, RK Singh, Union Minister of Power and New and Renewable Energy, told the Rajya Sabha.

The production and logistic arrangements were also affected during the second wave of COVID-19 as manpower was affected, Singh added.

Shortage of doctors

As many as 1,301,319 allopathic doctors were registered with the state medical councils and the National Medical Commission (NMC), as of November 2021.

The doctor-population ratio is 1:834 in the country, assuming 80 per cent availability of registered allopathic doctors and 0.5 million AYUSH doctors.

There are 0.2 million registered dentists, 3.3 milion registered nursing personnel and 1.3 million allied and healthcare professionals in the country, Pawar said.  

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