Goa Accorded Heritage Spirit Status to Country Liquor Feni
- After bagging a Geographical Indication, Goa government has classified Feni, country liquor as to heritage spirit of the State on March 16, 2016. Fen- brew made from coconut or cashew, is synonymous with the Goan identity.
- It finds its uses in various cultural traditions, cuisias well as it is famed for its medicinal use. This being the case, Feni Should not have been categorized as country liquor as it is presently defined under the Goa Excise Duty Act, 1964.
- In this regard, government of Goa also has proposed to bring an amendment to the Act to change the status, The Goa Cashew Feni Distillers and Bottlers Association has hailed the move.
Punjab Notified Swine Flu under Epidemic Disease Act
- The Health and Family Welfare Department, government of Punjab notified swine flu (H1N1) under the Epidemic Disease Act on March 16, 2016. The treatment of swine flu is provided free of cost to all the patients as recommended by the government.
- All hospitals (government as well as private) Will have to inform the Department of Health about a case of ILI (Influenza like Illness) having chronic diseases, so that such cases are treated at the earliest and proper guidelines of the government is followed.
- The Health and Family Welfare department has constituted a State Advisory Committee under the chairmanship of Dr. D. Behera,*Prof. and Head, Department of Pulmonary Medicine, PGIMER, Chandigarh which observed that patients of swine flu who were having other chronic diseases had high mortality rate as compared to patients not having chronic diseases.
Haryana Installed Early Earthquake Warning System
- Haryana successfully installed the first ever Early Earthquake Warning and Security System (onsite) in the country as a pilot project at New Secretariat in Chandigarh on March 15, 2016. The sirens at the terrace of the secretariat building is installed free of cost by M/s Sircom GmbH, Germany for the project.
- This six horn siren at the terrace of the building is capable of giving alarm for six km radius of the city. It can be used as public announcement system too. Delhi government has also recommended for this device to its Disaster Management Authority to initiate further.
- On the direction of Haryana government, this device was successfully tested on March 10, 2016 at CSIR-Structural Engineering and Research Centre, Chennai. Early Earthquake and Warning System (Onsite) is a joint venture of Terra Techcom Private Limited and Secty Electronics GmbH, Germany which was launched early in 2016 at New Delhi.
Three Railway Projects Inaugurated in Bihar
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated three major railway projects in Bihar on March 12, 2016 at an estimated cost of Rs 7000 crore. He dedicated a rail-cum-road bridge at Patna over Ganga which is 4.56 km long.
- He inaugurated another rail-cum-road bridge at Munger and laid the foundation of additional bridge at Mokama over the river Ganga adjacent to existing Rajendra Pul, which is double line railway bridge.
- These bridges will go a long way in giving connectivity to North and South Bihar and it will also help in development of North Bihar. These bridges will be of great help for the movement and transportation in Bihar and ultimately prove to be a boon for the State.