Sushma Swaraj leaves for Vietnam, Cambodia
New Delhi, Aug 26 : External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj left on Sunday on a five-day visit to Vietnam and Cambodia to further boost New Delhi's Act East Policy.
"Adding dynamism to our Act East policy," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted, adding that the trip would help continue "our high-level engagement with South East Asian countries".
In Vietnam, Sushma Swaraj will co-chair the 16th meeting of the Joint Commission along with her counterpart Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh.
She will also call on Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.
On Monday, she will inaugurate the third edition of the Indian Ocean Conference.
In Cambodia, she will have a bilateral meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Prak Sokhonn and call on Prime Minister Hun Sen and President of Senate Say Chhum.
"The visit ... will provide an opportunity to hold in-depth discussions with the political leadership on a wide range of global, regional and bilateral issues and advance our strategic engagement with these countries and Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) region," the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement.
The Asean-India region together represents a combined population of 1.85 billion, which is a quarter of the global population, and a GDP of over $3.8 trillion.
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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.
