Industry Associations, Corporates & PSUs to partner for Youth-Led Nation Building (See 'Corp Brief') Railways approves Rs 135 Crore Rail Flyover Project at Bondamunda (See 'Corp Brief') ASMITA Cycling League, Upcoming Pune Grand Tour and High-Performance Pathways Among Key Discussion Points (See 'Corp Brief') BHASHINI showcases Multilingual AI Innovations at NCeG 2026 (See 'Corp Brief') Freight Loading by Railways crosses 419 Million Tonnes in Q1 (See 'Corp Brief') IBC - Disciplinary proceedings initiated against RP are inseparably connected with underlying CIRP proceedings pending before NCLT & cannot be viewed in isolation from factual matrix giving rise to complaint: HC (See 'Legal Desk') MPEDA concludes Second National Skill Olympiad on Seafood Value Addition (See 'Corp Brief') Transition to E-mobility must focus on Green Growth: Yadav (See 'Corp Brief') NRAA-funded Wild Rice Conservation Project secures Major Milestone in Assam (See 'Corp Brief') Patent - Application for grant of patent rejected without assigning due reasoning; omitted to apply mandatory five-step inventive step laid down vide F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. & Anr. v. Cipla Ltd.; case remanded: HC (See 'Legal Desk') Nagaland Minister discusses roadmap for expanding lavender related Agri-entrepreneurship (See 'Corp Brief') MECON Achieves Miniratna Category-I Status with Net Worth Surpassing Rs 535 Crore (See 'Corp Brief') India achieves Major Milestone with Approval of Country's First Procedure for Helicopter Operations (See 'Corp Brief') CCI approves acquisition of equity of Royal Challengers by a consortium (See 'Corp Brief') Trade Marks - While Section 9(1)(a) bars registration of marks devoid of distinctive character, distinctiveness is to be assessed w.r.t the goods & not in abstract; composite marks must be evaluated as a whole: HC (See 'Legal Desk') CCI approves acquisition of shares in Krazybee Services and Finnovation Tech by Mars Equity Dragon Fund (See 'Corp Brief') CCI approves combination of 7 SPVs by Anantam Highways to Build India Infrastructure Fund (See 'Corp Brief') CCI okays combination of Nippon Life by DWS Group GmbH (See 'Corp Brief') CGST Delhi observes GST Pakhwada 2026 with stakeholder outreach (See 'Corp Brief') Arbitration and Conciliation - Writ court's intervention is unwarranted where arbitral award is reasoned, plausible and not perverse in any manner: HC (See 'Legal Desk') Railways approves Rs 499 Crore Mansi-Saharsa Doubling Project (See 'Corp Brief') Five New Sub-Regional Offices of ESIC to be set up across India (See 'Corp Brief') Govt extends full customs duty exemption on critical petrochemical products (See 'Corp Brief') Contempt of Court - Contempt jurisdiction cannot be invoked based on expansive or alternative interpretation of Court's orders - only clear, explicit & willful disobedience can be penalised: HC (See 'Legal Desk') CEA organizes All-India Electrical Safety awareness programme (See 'Corp Brief') Regional industries must become partners in Viksit Bharat journey: RM (See 'Corp Brief') Union Minister reviews MSME Schemes in Ladakh (See 'Corp Brief') Competition Act - Allegation pertaining to a service dispute between a user & a platform service provider w.r.t. subscription management, cancellation of service & compensation, does not come under ambit of Section 4 of the Act: CCI (See 'Legal Desk') MPEDA to organise Second National Seafood Skill Olympiad during Seafood Expo Bharat 2026 (See 'Corp Brief') India's Space and Biotechnology Sectors present new collaboration opportunities: MoS (See 'Corp Brief') IPR - After pronouncement of final judgment and decree under Order XX CPC, Court becomes functus officio and cannot grant liberty for post-decree impleadment of mirror/redirect/alphanumeric websites: HC (See 'Legal Desk') Office of Principal Scientific Adviser signs MoU with Data Security Council of India (See 'Corp Brief') Telangana strengthens Clean Cities Through Behaviour Change and Citizen Action (See 'Corp Brief') IPR - If essential and dominant feature of earlier mark is fully contained in later mark, and later mark is only pluralized form that conveys same meaning, later mark can be held deceptively similar: HC (See 'Legal Desk') JP Nadda To Release Guidelines For 'Anaemia Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan' Today (See 'Corp Brief') A&C - Restraint on alienation of assets cannot be imposed when such relief was neither specifically sought nor argued in Section 17 application: HC (See 'Legal Desk') Environment Minister inaugurates workshop on tiger reintroduction in Sariska (See 'Corp Brief') JP Nadda to unveil healthcare programme for children up to three years (See 'Corp Brief') A&C - Scope of scrutiny u/s 11 is confined to prima facie examination of existence of arbitration agreement & does not extend to adjudication of disputed questions of fact or law: HC (See 'Legal Desk') Tech Innovation and disruption in Construction Industry (See 'CORP EINSICHT')

India, ADB sign USD 300 mn loan to improve primary healthcare in India

Published: Nov 24, 2021

By TIOLCorplaws News Service

NEW DELHI, NOV 24, 2021: THE Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) yesterday signed a USD 300 million loan to strengthen and improve access to comprehensive primary health care in urban areas of 13 states that will benefit over 256 million urban dwellers including 51 million from slum areas.

Rajat Kumar Mishra, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance, signed for the Government of India the agreement for Strengthening Comprehensive Primary Health Care and pandemic preparedness in Urban Areas Program while Takeo Konishi, Country Director of ADB's India Resident Mission, signed for ADB.

After signing the loan agreement, Mr Mishra said that the programme supports the Government of India's key health initiatives - Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWC) and Pradhan Mantri Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana (PM-ASBY) - which has been renamed as Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM) - by expanding availability and access to quality primary health care services particularly for vulnerable populations in urban areas.

Ayushman Bharat programme, launched in 2018, aims to improve access to comprehensive primary health care as a key strategy to achieve universal health coverage in India. With the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic that put additional pressure on the country's health system, the government launched PM-ASBY later renamed as PM-ABHIM in October 2021 to adopt a long-term approach to system strengthening to prepare for future pandemics and other emergencies.

"Ensuring equitable access to non-COVID-19 primary health care is critical amid challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic to India's health system," said Konishi. "The programme complements the government's efforts to bridge the health care gaps by strengthening institutional capacity, operation, and management of urban health and wellness centers at the central, state, and municipal levels."

The programme will be implemented in urban areas across 13 states: Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and West Bengal. Beside the pandemic response, interventions through the program promote increased utilization of urban HWCs with provision of comprehensive primary health care packages including non-communicable diseases and community outreach services such as awareness raising activities on health care options, particularly for women. Delivery and health information systems for primary health care will be upgraded through digital tools, quality assurance mechanisms, and engagement and partnership with the private sector.

The programme is supported by a USD 2 million technical assistance grant from ADB's Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction to provide support for programme implementation and coordination, capacity building, innovation, knowledge sharing and application of scalable best practices across the healthcare system.

TIOL CORP SEARCH

TIOL GROUP WEBSITES