STATEMENTS :

• “We can think in terms of having three capitals — legislative, executive and judicial.
• Visakhapatnam, which has infrastructure, can be considered for the executive capital without much investment,
• While Amaravati can be retained as the legislative capital and
• Kurnool can be considered for the judiciary capital. A reputed consultancy firm will give its report and a decision will be taken after discussing the details and logistics.

The RSA has three capitals — Pretoria, the administrative Capital, Cape Town, a legislative capital, and Blomemfontein, the judicial capital.

KEYFACTS :

• Obstetricians say the advisory runs contrary to WHO recommendations and the best of proven international advisories and this can undo all their efforts to reduce PPH and prevent mothers bleeding to death.

• The Indian Medical Association (IMA) leadership demands that the Centre leave clinical decision-making to doctors and that the advisory be withdrawn as it sends out contradictory messages to nurses and birthing assistants.
• The third stage is the time between the delivery of the baby and the expulsion of the placenta and its duration could be approximately six to 30 minutes.
• The volume of blood loss during this time depends on how long it takes the placenta to separate from the uterine wall and how effectively the uterine muscle contracts in the immediate post-partum period. This can be quite tricky.
• So in 2012, the WHO reaffirmed AMTSL, with the use of uterotonics (drugs to contract uterus and reduce bleeding) as the best critical measure.
• The concern is about the delayed administration of oxytocin.
• Uterine atony (failure of uterus to contract), followed by massive haemorrhage, occurs in the third and fourth stage.
• Immediate administration of oxytocin as soon as foetus is delivered contracts the uterus and helps the expulsion of placenta without blood loss.
• The WHO-recommended protocol of delaying cord clamping after birth is enough to allow the foetus more blood from placenta. The Ministry says its advisory is meant to make childbirth a “natural and positive experience” for women.

Creating symbiosis: External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar with his U.S. counterpart Mike Pompeo.

• Enhanced defence cooperation, furthering their Indo-Pacific strategy, and discussions on global challenges, including U.S. policy in Iran and Afghanistan, are likely to feature at the top of the agenda as External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh sit down for the second “2+2” combined ministerial meeting with their U.S. counterparts.
• On the defence front, the two sides are expected to sign the Industrial Security Annex (ISA) and review steps being taken to operationalise the foundational agreement Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA), which was signed during the previous 2+2 talks. However, discussions on the last foundational agreement, Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-spatial Cooperation (BECA) have not concluded yet.
• The ISA is crucial for U.S. companies bidding for big ticket Indian deals to partner with the Indian private industry, especially the multi-billion dollar deal for 114 fighter jets. As part of efforts for co-development and co-production of military hardware, a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Defence Technology Trade Initiative (DTTI) is also expected to be signed that “will act as a guide to coordinate projects.”
• These include the 24 Lockheed Martin MH-60R Multi-Role helicopters worth $2.4bn and 13 BAE Systems- built 127 mm MK-45 Naval gun systems, among others.
• However, the threat of U.S. sanctions under CAATSA over S-400 air defence purchases from Russia remains a sticking point.

CRPF personnel deployed for poll duty in Madurai.

• A Rajya Sabha committee has objected to the overuse of the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) for rigorous internal security and election-related duties to the extent that even the reserved battalions are deployed not giving them enough time for rest and recuperation.
• To boost the morale of the CAPFs, the committee insisted on limiting deputation of officers from the IPS and the armed forces to CAPFs at 25% and the CAPFs cadres should be given an opportunity to become the Director General of respective forces.
• The committee insisted on paying paramilitary service pay to the CAPF on par with the defence forces personnel.

Referring to suicides in the CAPFs, the committee urged the Ministry to put in place an institutional mechanism with representatives of the MHA, the Bureau of Police Research and Development, heads of various forces and experts in public health, mental health, psychology and psychiatry to address the issue.

KEYFACTS :

• It would also aim at significantly improving quality of services for mobile and Internet.
• State plans to lay incremental 30 lakh route km of optical fibre cable, while also increasing tower density from 0.42 to 1 tower per thousand of population by 2024.
• The mission envisages stakeholder investment of $100 billion (₹7 lakh crore) including ₹70,000 crore from Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) in the coming years and “address policy and regulatory changes required to accelerate the expansion and creation of digital infrastructure and services.”