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Use of Aadhaar in Ayushman Bharat – Desirable and not “Must”
- Notification of the Ayushman Bharat – National Health Protection Mission being issued by MoHFW under Section 7 of the Aadhaar Act, merely enables the implementation agencies to ask for the beneficiary Aadhaar Card to authenticate their identity.
- In order to authenticate the identity of beneficiaries accurately, the use of Aadhaar card is preferable, but it is not a “must”. There shall be no denial of benefit for want of Aadhaar number.
- The Union Health Minister Shri J P Nadda confirmed that “we will provide services to all eligible beneficiaries with or without Aadhaar cards.”
- ABNHPM guidelines on beneficiary identification very clearly state that beneficiaries can bring Aadhar or any other valid government id(s) decided by the State if they do not have an Aadhaar.
Dr. Harsh Vardhan Inaugurates 16th Workshop on Greenhouse Gas Inventories in Asia
- Harsh Vardhan has said that for India, action on climate change is a moral and ethical responsibility and India is working as per Common but Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR) principles.
- “We have committed to achieve 175 GW of installed capacity of renewable energy generation by 2022. We are firmly on path to achieve these targets. Other policy initiatives of the government include increasing penetration of LEDs, 5-10% Ethanol blending in petrol, increasing efficiency of coal power plants, and more efficient public transport”, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said.
- He also referred to the decision to leapfrog from Bharat Stage IV (Euro IV) to Bharat Stage VI (Euro VI) standards for vehicular emissions by 2020.
- The Environment Minister outlined Green Good Deeds, Green Good Behaviour, Green Good Practices and Green Social Responsibility being promoted amongst different stakeholders and accepted at various international forums, including BRICS Environment Ministers meeting recently.
- Harsh Vardhan urged the participants to perform one Green Good Deed every day and become its strong messenger and votary in transforming individual Green Good Deeds into a mass movement in all the participating countries.
- Charge d’áffaires ad interim, Embassy of Japan in India, Mr. Hideki Asari said that India has emerged as a leading voice in the field of environment, especially after the announcement to achieve 175 GW renewable energy capacity by 2022, setting up and coordinating International Solar Alliance, hosting of World Environment Day 2018 and a number of similar initiatives.
Background:
- WGIA (Workshop on GHG Inventories in Asia) is an initiative of Government of Japan to improve the quality of Greenhouse Gas Inventories of Asian countries by building capacities through training and exchange of experience. A reliable and robust inventory is the backbone of climate action. Such efforts will contribute towards meeting the requirements towards enhanced reporting and transparency as required under the Convention and its Paris Agreement.
- 15 countries including Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam are WGIA members and around 100 GHG inventory experts from these countries participated along with representatives from UNFCCC, IPCC, FAO and other specialized agencies. India is hosting WGIA for the first time.
6th meeting of BRICS Education Ministers at Cape Town
- Union Minister of State for HRD, Dr Satya Pal Singh attended the 6thmeeting of BRICS Education Ministers at Cape Town, South Africa.
- In the opening remarks, Dr Satya Pal Singh said that Government of India supports the efforts of the BRICS nations to further deepen the collaborations in areas of Research, Innovation, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) with special emphasis on promotion of workplace-based learning for improved student learning outcomes and employability.
- Dr Singh mentioned that the Government of India considers ‘Education’ as a strategic priority, which relies on – Accessibility, Equity, Quality, Affordability and Accountability. He emphasized that we should not only focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) but also Art of life, importance of life and above all happy and satisfied life.
- In this meeting of BRICS, India was allotted the key theme of ‘Digitization in Education’.
- Dr Satya Pal Singh showcased the significant strides which India has made in field of digitization of education to ensure access of education to anyone, anytime and anywhere.
- He said the ‘Digital India’initiative of the Government of India is at the fulcrum of the Digitization of Education.
- He apprised to all present about the India’s initiatives like SWAYAM, SWAYAM PRABHA, National Digital Library, National Academic Depository, E-Yantra, Virtual Labs, Operation Digital Board, E- Pathshala, Diksha, and Geographic information System (GIS).
Concluding Remarks:
- The meeting culminated by signing the Declaration of the 6thmeeting of BRICS Ministers of Education, 2018. In the declaration Member States declared their commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4), which aims to “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote life-long learning opportunities for all” that was set within the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDG 4 – Education 2030 Framework for Action.
- Also to support an initiative by India to develop a proposal on digitisation to improve education and training, as well as policy in this area. This would include a comparative study of digital learning (e-learning) across schools, colleges and universities in BRICS Member States, with a view to, inter alia, learning and applying lessons from good practices.
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