On Engineer's Day, Google Doodle Celebrates M Visvesvaraya's Birthday
NEW DELHI: An Engineer so popular and devoted to the life of engineering, Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya's birthday is celebrated today as Engineer's Day. Fondly referred to as Sir MV, M Visvesvaraya was a world-renowned civil engineer who was a master of irrigation design. He was also referred to as the father of engineers by many.
Google dedicates its doodle today to celebrate M Visvesvaraya's 158th birthday who is known to have lived by the phrase, "Work is Worship". The doodle today has a color sketch of Sir MV with a sketch of a bridge in the background. The bridge, among M Visvesvaraya's most notable projects, is a representation of the Krishna Raja Sagara Lake and dam. In 1924, Sir MV designed the Krishna Raja Sagara Lake and dam, the largest reservoir in India at the time, and oversaw the construction of the project. The dam is known to have provided drinking water for several cities.
Born in the early 1800s, Sir MV was raised in Karnataka's Muddenahalli village. Many who have studied his work have passed on several stories of Visvesvaraya's dedication. Some say Sir MV would walk for over 60 kilometres in Bengaluru to attend United Mission School and would often resort to street lamps for studying during the night.
M Visvesvaraya earned a License in Civil Engineering from the University of Bombay and began working with the Bomaby city's Public Works Division. He then joined the Indian Irrigation Commission. His expertise in the subject earned him the opportunity to travel to a port city in Yamen where he studied the water supply and drainage of Aden.
M Visvesvaraya was appointed as the Chief Engineer of Mysore State in 1909. He was then given the status of the Diwan in Mysore in 1912 which he held for seven years. He was awarded India's highest honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 1955 for his work in the fields of engineering and education. He was also awarded the British knighthood King also awarded to by George V, giving him the honorific "sir".
Sir MV is knows to have been dedicated to education and cared deeply about engineering. He played an important role in finding the Government Engineering College at Bangalore in 1917. The college was then named after him later on. Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum in the heart of Bengaluru city, among the top tourist destinations, has seen over 4 crore visitors in the past 50 years. The museum was set up in the memory of Sir MV's contribution to engineering and technology. Even M Visvesvaraya's home in Karnataka is considered as a place of worship for the locals in the village.
As part of the doodle, Google also posted a note from the family of Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya and the Visvesvaraya National Memorial Trust who partnered with them on the project. They also shared Sir MV's life and legacy along with a portrait of him.
courtesy : ndtv.com
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Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
