Sindhu, Saina sail into second round of Singapore Open
Singapore: Star Indian shuttlers P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal sailed into the second round of the Singapore Open with straight-game wins over their respective rivals in the women's singles event here Wednesday.
Taking the court first, Sindhu, seeded fourth, took just 27 minutes to get the better of Indonesia's Lyanny Alessandra Mainaky 21-9 21-7 in a one-sided match.
The Rio Olympics silver-medallist will next play Mia Blichfeldt of Denmark.
Later, sixth seed Saina too tamed another Indonesian in Yulia Yosephin Susanto 21-16 21-11 to book her place in the next round.
Saina, who won a bronze in the 2012 London Olympics, will next meet the winner of the match between young compatriot Mugdha Agrey and Thailand's Pornpawee Chochuwong.
However, it was curtains for India in the opening round of the men's doubles competition.
The pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy lost to qualifiers Danny Bawa Chrisnanta and Kean Hean Loh of Singapore 13-21 17-21.
The mixed doubles pair of Saurabh Sharma and Anoushka Parikh too exited in the opening round after a 12-21 12-21 defeat at the hands of third-seeded Thai pair of Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai.
However, Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy progressed to the mixed doubles second round event after beating Arjun M R and K Maneesha 21-18-21-7 in an all-Indian contest.
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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.
