Reliance Jio will now charge 6 paise per minute as IUC charge

Jio has announced that it will charge customers for levying the IUC(Interconnect Usage Charge) charge on all outgoing calls to other networks for the time being from 10th of October 2019. Justifying the new charges, Jio said it has paid nearly Rs 13,500 crore as IUC charges to the rivals such as Bharti Airte and Vodafone Idea. in the last three years. The company said it has decided to charge customers to recover the IUC losses. Jio, however, said these charges are not applicable on calls made by Jio users to other Jio phones and to landline phones and calls made using WhatsApp, FaceTime and other such platforms. Incoming calls from all networks will continue to be free.

Telecom regulator TRAI in 2017 had slashed the interconnect usage charge (IUC) to 6 paise per minute from 14 paise and had said this regime will end by January 2020. But it has now floated a consultation paper to review whether the regime timeline needs to be extended.


Jio has come up with a few IUC plans that customers can purchase in order to make calls to other networks.Jio will provide additional data entitlement of equivalent value based on IUC top-up voucher consumption. This will ensure no increase in tariff for customers.

New Jio IUC plans

Jio is offering four new IUC plans with extra data benefits. Here are all the plans listed with the benefits:

--Rs 10 plan will offer 124 minutes of IUC minutes to non-Jio numbers and 1GB data.

--Rs 20 plan will offer 249 minutes of IUC minutes to non-Jio numbers and 2GB data.

--Rs 50 plan will offer 656 minutes of IUC minutes to non-Jio numbers and 5GB data.

--Rs 100 plan will offer 1,362 minutes of IUC minutes to non-Jio numbers and 10GB data.

Emergency helpline "112" number launched in India

A single emergency helpline number "112" was launched in 16 states and Union Territories. The emergency services were earlier launched in Himachal Pradesh and Nagaland. 112 would provide immediate assistance to services like police (100), fire (101), health (108), women safety (1090) and child protection. The emergency number will gradually be extended to other states as well. The single number for emergency services is similar to ''911'' in the United States.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh, while launching the emergency number, said, the central government is committed to the safety of citizens, particularly women, for whom laws were changed to ensure the guilty is punished in a time-bound manner.

"The helpline number ''112'' will be activated across the country by next year and anyone in distress can reach the helpline by pressing a single key of phones which will be pre-programmed," Rajnath Singh said.

States where single emergency number 112 has been launched:
The 16 states and Union Territories are Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Puducherry, Lakshadweep, Andaman, Dadar and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Jammu and Kashmir.

Panic call feature on 112 emergency helpline:
There is another unique feature of this helpline. On smart phones, you can press power button three times quickly to activate panic call to Emergency Response Centre (ERC). On normal phones, long press ''5 or ''9'' to activate panic call.

Emergency complaints online:
The emergency services can also be accessed online by logging on to Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) website. On the ERSS website, you can either send an emergency email or send SOS alert to Emergency Report Centre (ERC).

People can also log onto the ERSS website for the respective state and send an emergency email or SOS alert to state ERC. They can use ''112'' India mobile app, which is available free on Google Play Store and Apple Store.

"112 India" mobile app's "SHOUT" feature alerts registered volunteers close to the victim for immediate assistance.

"112 India" emergency helpline mobile app:

A "112 India" mobile app by the Ministry of Home Affairs was also be launched on Google Playstore and Apple store. For women and children, "112 India" mobile app provides a special ''SHOUT'' feature which alerts registered volunteers close to the victim for immediate assistance.

Launch of Investigation Tracking System for Sexual Offences (ITSSO)

Apart from launching the Emergency Response Support System, the home minister also kicked off, the Investigation Tracking System for Sexual Offences and the safe city implementation monitoring portal for law enforcement agencies in the country.

The system is an online module available to law enforcement agencies at all levels - national, state, district and police station - and allows the state to undertake real-time monitoring and management for completion of investigation in rape cases in two months.

It leverages the existing Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) data base, which covers nearly 15,000 police stations in the country.

The Investigation Tracking System for Sexual Offences (ITSSO) would greatly strengthen the ability of states for analytics and prognosis for timely investigation and prosecution in rape cases.

The home minister said safe city implementation monitoring portal will instill a sense of security in women in metro cities.

"The government has identified eight cities for implementation of safe city projects in first phase at a cost of Rs. 2,919 crore. The cities are Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow and Mumbai. The projects are funded under Nirbhaya Fund scheme," he said.

FOR MORE DETAIL VISIT: https://ners.in

Fish Adulteration in India

Major raids have been carried out in Kerala and Nagaland, with nearly 15,600 kilograms and Rs 10 lakh worth of formalin-laced fish being seized from the two states respectively. Formalin is the chemical used to preserve bodies and prevent its decay in mortuaries. The widespread use of the deadly chemical nowadays in the preservation of fish, fruit, and other food items is posing a great threat to public health.

Now, What is Formalin?
Formalin is a colourless but a strong-odour chemical, which is a mixture of formaldehyde, methanol and water. which is classified as a carcinogenic to humans. It contains 37 to 40 percent formaldehyde, and is used mostly in mortuaries and labs.
It is commonly used in industry for manufacture of plastic, paper or wood, to cleaning floor/ships, in the production of fertilizer and cosmetics, to preventing corrosion for oil wells, among others.
Formalin has also been used to preserve fresh foods to prevent spoilage and extend shelf life, even though its consumption is harmful to human beings..

Some of the short-term effects of formalin, according to the US National Cancer Institute, are burning sensations in the eyes, nose, and throat, coughing, and nausea, among others. These symptoms are caused when the formaldehyde present in the air exceeds 0.1 ppm.

Continuous ingestion of formalin can lead to cancer, as it releases toxins into the body.

Where is formalin used?

The chemical and known human carcinogen can be found in many unexpected places, like wood products such as cabinets and flooring, hair straightening or curling treatments, fertilisers, cigarette smoke, and some plastic and paper products, according to a report by Fox News.

How can it be detected?

Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT), under the Ministry of Agriculture, has developed a rapid detection kit that can be used conveniently by individual buyers to determine formalin and ammonia contents in fish. There are separate kits for formalin and ammonia contamination detection, and they comprise strips of paper and a small bottle of chemical solution that works as a reagent, reported The Hindu.

To detect contamination, one has to rub the strip over the fish and later apply a drop of the solution on the strip. The result will be known in two minutes. The kit comes with a colour code indicating the level of contamination.

Courtesy Yahoo News dated 27/6/18