Ahead of Tamil Nadu by-elections, AIADMK Launches 'News J' TV Channel
Chennai : The ruling AIADMK's Tamil TV channel "News J" was launched Wednesday, to take on propaganda against it by rivals in the wake of "JAYA TV", which used to be the channel for the party cadre, siding with ousted leader T T V Dhinakaran.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam launched the mouthpiece of AIADMK here, two months after the logo, wbesite and app for News J were unveiled.
Palaniswami said News J would toe the ideals set out by Dravidian icon C N Annadurai and late Chief Ministers M G Ramachandran, AIADMK founder, and J Jayalalithaa and telecast "true news."
AIADMK was prompted to launch a TV channel of its own to take on propaganda against it by rivals since Jaya TV began backing Jayalalithaa's aide V K Sasikala and her nephew T T V Dhinakaran after her demise.
Also, 'Dr Namadhu MGR,' a Tamil daily launched by Jayalalithaa in 1988, is under the control of the Dhinakaran camp led Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam.
This prompted the AIADMK to start its own Tamil daily "Namadhu Puratchi Thalaivi Amma" in February.
Lashing out at Sasikala and Dhinakaran as "selfish," without naming them, Palaniswami quoted Arujuna's victory from epic Mahabharata and said people's 'shakti' and cadres were on their side since they had the blessings of "Amma (Jayalalithaa)".
Palaniswami lamented that a television channel that was launched due to Jayalalithaa's efforts to propagate the ideals of the party and disseminate government's welfare schemes was now not with them.
He said sections of media gave importance only to coverage of "negative news" which also downplayed welfare initiatives of the government.
"Broadcasting welfare measures of the government need not be construed as pro-government," he said.
Telecast of news about the state's welfare schemes will help poor people understand it and become beneficiaries which owuld in turn imporve their standard of living as well, he said.
Panneerselvam said the letter J in News J television represented "Jayam" which meant victory.
He said the channel will always be a "constructive force, a true voice of democracy that would beat money power...the soul of Amma will guide us to victory."
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
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.
