119 terrorists killed in J&K in 2019

The number of local youth joining militancy has shown a declining trend during the current year.
Check out information revealed by ministers in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

119 terrorists killed in J&K in 2019

119 terrorists have been killed so far this year in Jammu and Kashmir by security forces, which also lost 24 personnel.

Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy said 252 terrorists were killed in Jammu and Kashmir in 2018 when 44 security personnel lost their lives.

Till June 26 this year, 119 terrorists were killed in the state, Reddy said.

Twenty-four security personnel lost their lives during the period.

The number of local youth joining militancy has shown a declining trend during the current year.

In 2017 and 2018, the numbers of foreign terrorists neutralised were more than local terrorists, he said.

India has one doctor for every 1,457 citizens

In India, there is one doctor for every 1,457 people as per the country's current population estimate of 1.35 billion, which is lower than the World Health Organisation norm of 1:1000, the government informed Parliament.

A little over 11.57 lakh allopathic doctors are registered with state medical councils and the Medical Council of India as on January 31, and assuming 80 per cent availability, it is estimated that around 9.26 lakh doctors may be actually available for active service, Minister of State for Health Ashwini Choubey said.

Besides, there are 7.88 lakh Ayurveda, Unani and Homeopathy doctors in the country, he added.

'Assuming 80 pc availability, it is estimated that around 6.30 lakh Ayurveda, Unani and Homeopathy doctors may be actually available for service and considered together with allopathic doctors, it gives a doctor population ratio of 1:868,' Choubey said.

As per Indian Nursing Council records, there are around 30.4 lakh nursing personnel registered in the country as on December 31, 2018, Choubey said.

Assuming 60 per cent availability in the case of registered nurses and registered midwives and 80 per cent availability in the case of auxiliary nurse midwives or lady health visitors, it is estimated that around 20 lakh nursing personnel are available for active services, which gives a nurse-population ratio of about 1:675 against WHO norms 3:1000 (population taken as 135 crores), he said.

Further, there are 8,500 nursing institutes in the country from where 3.2 lakh nursing personnel annually pass out.

The minister elaborated on the steps taken by the government to increase the number of doctors, which include increasing undergraduate seats, enhancement of maximum intake capacity at MBBS level from 150 to 250 and relaxation in the norms of setting up of medical college in terms of requirement for land, faculty, staff, bed/bed strength and other infrastructure.

The existing state government and central government medical colleges were upgraded by increasing the MBBS seats and new medical colleges attached with district/referral hospitals were set up preferably in under-served districts of the country, he said.

The government has also increased postgraduate seats.

The ratio of teachers to students has been revised from 1:1 to 1:2 for all MD/MS disciplines and from 1:1 to 1:3 in subjects of anesthesiology, forensic medicine, radiotherapy, medical oncology, surgical oncology and psychiatry in all medical colleges across the country, Choubey said.

Further, teacher-student ratio in public funded government medical colleges for professor has been increased from 1:2 to 1:3 in all clinical subjects, he said.

Railways made Rs 1,500 cr by revising fare rules

The railways has earned an additional revenue of over Rs 1,500 crore since December 2015 by charging full fare for children in the age group of 5 to 12 years, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said.

The full fare was charged if a separate berth was booked for a child.

Goyal said the railways has earned an additional revenue of around Rs 1,569 crore from December 2015 to May 2019.

In December 2015, the rules were revised and commuters were allowed to book separate berths and seats for children between 5 and 12 years of age upon payment of the full fare

IndiGo major employer of foreign pilots in India

Budget carrier IndiGo employs around 50 per cent of the total number of foreign pilots working in India, data presented by Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri showed.

A total of 404 foreign pilots are working in India as of June 10 this year, it stated.

Out of these, IndiGo has employed 199 pilots, it showed.

"There is a shortage of type rated commanders/pilot-in-command due to growth in aviation sector and induction of new type of aircraft in the fleet of Indian airline operators," Puri said.

As per the data presented by the minister, GoAir and Alliance Air stand at the number 2 and the number 3 spots as they employ 65 and 61 foreign pilots respectively.

SpiceJet employs 35 foreign pilots as of June 10 this year, it showed.

"All the scheduled and non-scheduled airlines have been advised to develop their own strength to reduce the dependency on foreign pilots," the minister said.

In May this year, IndiGo maintained its lead position with 49 per cent share of the domestic passenger market, according to Indian aviation regulator DGCA.

SpiceJet's market share increased from 13.1 per cent in April to 14.8 per cent in May, giving it the number two spot.

Production: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com