Nine rounds of military talks held with the Chinese, will continue: Jaishankar
Amaravati(AP): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday said senior military commanders of India and China have held nine rounds of talks on the process of disengagement of troops in eastern Ladakh and the parleyswill continue in future also.
Addressing reporters in Vijayawada, he said so far there was no "visible expression" of the talks on ground.
"The disengagement talks, because it is a very complicated issue, because it depends on troops, you have to know the geography (like) which position and what is happening, this is being done by the military commanders," he said.
The minister was replying to a query on whether there would be any ministerial level talks between both the countries on skirmishes between troops of the Asian giants.
China and India are locked in a military standoff in eastern Ladakh since May 5 last.
The two countries have held several rounds of military and diplomatic talks to resolve the face-off, but no significant headway has been made so far.
"So, military commanders have held nine rounds of meetings so far.
We believe some progress has been made, but it is not, in a kind of situation where there is a visible expression of that on the ground," he said.
Referring to the parleys he and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held with their respective chinese counterparts last year in Moscow, Jaishanakar said it was agreed that there should be disengagement in some points.
"Right now the military commanders are talking and they will continue to talk," he said.
On the recent union budget, he said there has been a significant additional outlay for the Defence, both in the financial year as well as capital expenditure.
The minister said there is an 18 per cent increase in the capital expenditure which, according to him, is the highest during the past 15 years.
During the COVID-19 induced lockdown last year, Jaishankar noted that as many as four million Indians stranded abroad were brought back by operating 17,000 flights.
The workers who came back from gulf countries during the COVID-19 pandemic have now started returning, which is a good sign, he added.
Explaining the salient features of the budget, he said it indicates the way between the "COVID-19 recovery and Economic recovery".
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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.
