The States have been advised to maintain a ‘strict vigil’ and to take steps to keep a check on the rising cases, especially in view of the new strain of the virus being observed in certain countries which has also been reported in a few States in the India. The Health Secretary has drawn the attention of the States to the low and declining testing rates in the States, stating that any laxity at this crucial junction may squander the results of our collective actions in containing the transmission. They have been advised to analyse the surge at the district and sub-district levels to understand the reasons for this rise and plan adequate measures proactively to curb the same. Aggressively implementation of the ‘Test-Track-Treat” strategy adopted by the country has been strongly advised now more than ever by the Union Health Secretary. The health authorities in the States have also been advised to proactively promote wearing of mask and other COVID appropriate behaviours even while the vaccination drive is about to begin. It is important to ensure that there is no complacency in the collective efforts in containment and management of CIOVID19, the Health Secretary has strongly reiterated.

The States have been assured of all necessary support of the Health Ministry required to manage the pandemic.

The four states comprise 59% of the total active cases in the country.

The total COVID19 cases in Kerala are 7,90,882 which form 7.61% of the total cases. %. The Active Cases are 65,252 (comprising 28.61% of the total national figure).Total number of Recovered Cases is 7,22,421 accounting for Recovery Rate of 91.34, while the total deaths in the State are 3,209 with Case Fatality Rate of  0.41%. The Daily Average cases in Kerala in the last 7 days are 5,023 whereas Daily Average Deaths in the last 7 days are 23. The tests per million (TPM) of Kerala stand at 1,96,432 and Positivity Rate is 11.28%.

The Health Secretary has expressed concern over the dip in the overall tests in the past two weeks in the state combined with increase in the Positivity Rate. The weekly Positivity Rate has been consistently above 11% for the past two weeks, while the case positivity rate for the country is less than 2.5% for the same period.

In view of the above, a high level central team led by Dr S K Singh, Director, National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has been rushed by the Central Government to Kerala. The team will review the public health interventions in management of COVID- 19 by the State Government and support the State health authorities in these measures

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The Centre has issued a fresh set of guidelines which is effective from today. These Covid-19 guidelines will remain in force till December 31. While issuing guidelines for “Surveillance, Containment and Caution” for December, the MHA said the main focus of the directive is to consolidate the substantial gains which are visible in the steady decline in the number of active cases in the country.

After assessing the situation on the ground, the Home Ministry has allowed the states and UTs to impose local restrictions such as night curfew, however, lockdown can’t be enforced without prior consultation with the central government.

guidelines 

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Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat took strict measures in their respective localities to contain the spread of the virus and imposed night curfew. some states also planning to have limited lockdown in specific cities and areas.

The Maharashtra government is considering halting flight and train services from Delhi to Mumbai and other cities in the state due to the recent surge in Covid-19 cases in the national Capital, which is under its third wave of infections, officials said, adding that the final decision is yet to be taken.

The Union Government has rushed four high level teams to Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Manipur. The teams will visit the districts reporting high number of COVID cases and support the State efforts towards strengthening containment, surveillance, testing, infection prevention and control measures, and efficient clinical management of the positive cases. The Centre is also contemplating sending high level multidisciplinary teams to other States/UTs that are reporting a rise in the COVID-19 positive cases.

India has tested total of 12,95,91,786 samples, as on date. More than 10L tests (10,83,397) were conducted in the past 24 hours. The cumulative national Positivity Rate stands at 6.95% today, less than the 7% mark. Higher volumes of testing eventually lead to low Positivity rate.34 States/UTs are performing more than 140 Tests/Day/Million population.20 States/UTs are reporting a cumulative Positivity rate lower than the national average (6.95%).In the last 24 hours, 45,882 persons were found to be infected with COVID. 

India’s present active caseload of 4,43,794 comprises 4.93% of India’s Total Positive Cases, and has been sustained below the 5% mark.Ten States/UTs account for 78.2% of the total active caseload. Maharashtra leads the tally with 18.19% of the share.28 States/UTs have less than 20,000 active cases, as on date.India has registered 44,807 new recoveries in the last 24 hours taking the total recovered cases to 84,28,409. The Recovery Rate has improved to 93.60% today. The gap between Recovered cases and Active cases is steadily increasing and presently stands at 79,84,615.78.02% of the new recovered cases is contributed by ten States/UTs.With 6,860 persons recovering from COVID, Kerala saw the most number of recoveries followed by Delhi with 6,685 daily recoveries. 81.85% of the 584 case fatalities that have been reported in the past 24 hours are from Ten States/UTs.

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The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for creation of National Recruitment Agency (NRA), paving the way for a transformational reform in the recruitment process for central government jobs.

Recruitment Reform – a major boon for the youth

At present, candidates seeking government jobs have to appear for separate examinations conducted by multiple recruiting agencies for various posts, for which similar eligibility conditions have been prescribed. Candidates have to pay fee to multiple recruiting agencies and also have to travel long distances for appearing in various exams. These multiple recruitment examinations are a burden on the candidates, as also on the respective recruitment agencies, involving avoidable/repetitive expenditure, law and order/security related issues and venue related problems. On an average, 2.5 crore to 3 crore candidates appear in each of these examinations. A common eligibility Test would enable these candidates to appear once and apply to any or all of these recruitment agencies for the higher level of examination. This would indeed be a boon to all the candidates.

National Recruitment Agency (NRA)

A multi-agency body called the National Recruitment Agency (NRA) will conduct a Common Eligibility Test (CET) to screen/shortlist candidates for the Group B and C (non-technical) posts. NRA will have representatives of Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Finance/Department of Financial Services, the SSC, RRB & IBPS. It is envisioned that the NRA would be a specialist body bringing the state-of-the-art technology and best practices to the field of Central Government recruitment.

Access to Examination Centres

Examination Centres in every District of the country would greatly enhance access to the candidates located in far-flung areas. Special focus on creating examination infrastructure in the 117 Aspirational Districts would go a long way in affording access to candidates at a place nearer to where they reside. The benefits in terms of cost, effort, safety and much more would be immense. The proposal will not only ease access to rural candidates, it will also motivate the rural candidates residing in the far-flung areas to take the examination and thereby, enhance their representation in Central Government jobs. Taking job opportunities closer to the people is a radical step that would greatly enhance ease of living for the youth.

Major Relief to poor Candidates

Presently, the candidates have to appear in multiple examinations conducted by multiple agencies.  Apart from the examination fees, candidates have to incur additional expenses for travel, boarding, lodging and other such. A single examination would reduce the financial burden on candidates to a large extent.

Women candidates to benefit greatly

Women candidates especially from rural areas face constraints in appearing in multiple examinations as they have to arrange for transportation and places to stay in places that are far away. They sometimes have to find suitable persons to accompany them to these Centres that are located far away. The location of test centres in every District would greatly benefit candidates from rural areas in general and women candidates in particular.

Bonanza for Candidates from Rural Areas

Given the financial and other constraints, the candidates from rural background have to make a choice as to which examination they want to appear in.  Under the NRA, the candidates by appearing in one examination will get an opportunity to compete for many posts.  NRA will conduct the first-level /Tier I Examination which is the stepping stone for many other selections.

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