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Telangana State Formation Day

PM extended best wishes to the people of Telangana on the state’s Formation Day.

Formation of Telangana - [June 2, 2014] This Day in History

Telangana was created as India’s 29^th state on 2^nd June 2014. It was the end result of a decade long movement to bring about a new state based more on cultural factors rather than on a linguistic basis.

Background of the Formation of Telangana

There had been several movements to revoke the merger of Telangana and Andhra, major ones occurring in 1969, 1972 and 2009. The movement for a new state of Telangana gained momentum in the 21st century by an initiative of the Telangana Political Joint Action Committee (TJAC) including political leadership representing the Telangana area. On 9 December 2009, the government of India announced the process of formation of the Telangana state. Violent protests led by people in the Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions occurred immediately after the announcement, and the decision was put on hold on 23 December 2009.

The movement continued in Hyderabad and other districts of Telangana. There have been hundreds of claimed suicides, strikes, protests and disturbances to public life demanding separate statehood.

Telangana Formation – Timeline of Events

• The region of Telangana was part of the erstwhile Hyderabad State ruled by the Nizam.
• In 1955, the States Reorganisation Committee (SRC) recommended the retention of Hyderabad as a separate state. This recommendation was, however, not taken.
• The people of Telangana protested that the region was more backward than the coastal regions of Andhra and also alleged that there were injustices in the distribution of budget allocation, employment opportunities and water.
• On 1st November 1956, Telangana was merged with the state of Andhra Pradesh, uniting all Telugu-speaking people.
• The movement for Telangana continued in the region. There were ‘Jai Telangana’ and ‘Jai Andhra’ movements.
• There were violent agitations as well particularly in 1969 and 1972 in which many people were killed in police firing.
• After the 1969 agitation, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi gave the 6-point formula for the fast-paced development of the backward areas and for preferential treatment to local candidates for employment.
• In 1997, the BJP supported the formation of a separate state. In 2001, K Chandrasekhara Rao formed the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) to revive the movement.
• In the various elections held in the state of Andhra Pradesh, the people voted for TRS and gave a public impetus to the movement.
• In 2009, there was a huge boost to the movement when Rao went on a hunger strike for a separate Telangana, reminding people of the hunger strike and ultimately death of Potti Sreeramulu (Born on March 16, 1901) who agitated for the state of Andhra.
• Many young people also committed suicide for the movement.
• In 2010, the Srikrishna Committee was appointed to “bring about a permanent solution” to this issue. The committee stated in its report that efforts must be made to bring about equitable development to the three regions of the state of Andhra Pradesh, and it recommended a united Andhra Pradesh.
• However, owing to pressure, the Union cabinet approved a bill for the bifurcation of the state.
• The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill was passed in 2014. Hyderabad was suggested as a common capital. It will remain so for not more than ten years after which it will be the capital of Telangana alone, and Andhra Pradesh would get a new capital.
• The new state of Telangana was formed on 2nd June 2014.

Cabinet approves MoUs

1. Between India and Maldives on cooperation in the field of sustainable urban development.
   • The MoU was signed in February 2021.
   • The objectives of the MoU are to facilitate and strengthen India-Maldives technical cooperation in the field of sustainable urban development including Urban Planning, Smart Cities Development, Solid waste management, Affordable housing, Urban Green Mobility, Urban Mass Rapid Transport, smart cities development and any other related area.
2. Agreement between all member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
   • The Agreement signed in June 2019 has been signed and ratified by India.
   • The Agreement shall promote equal and mutually beneficial cooperation among associations in the field of Mass Media.
3. Between India and Argentina on cooperation in the field of Mineral Resources.
   • The objectives of the MoU are to strengthen the activities involved like cooperation for encouraging minerals exploration and development, including extraction, mining and beneficiation of lithium; possibilities of forming joint venture in the field of base metals, critical and strategic minerals for mutual benefit; exchange of technical and scientific information and interchange of ideas and knowledge; training and capacity building; and promotion of investment and development in the area of mining activities.
4. Memorandum of Cooperation between India and Japan in the field of sustainable urban development.
   • The objectives of the MoC are to facilitate and strengthen India-Japan technical cooperation in the field of sustainable urban development including Urban Planning, Smart Cities Development, Affordable Housing (including rental housing), Urban Flood Management, Sewerage and Waste Water Management, Intelligent Transport Management System, Transit-Oriented Development, Multimodal Integration, Disaster Resilient development and other areas as mutually identified by both sides.

India Cycles4Change

XraySetu

• It is a new AI-driven platform that can help in early intervention through rapid screening of COVID-19 with the help of Chest X-ray interpretation over WhatsApp for doctors who have access to X-ray machines.
• The solution can work with low-resolution images sent via mobiles.
• It is quick and easy to use and can enable detection in rural areas.

Background:

• As the pandemic rages on in the rural areas, it is critical to drive rapid testing, contact tracing and create dedicated containment zones.
• Even in some cities, these tests take over a week to give results; the situation is even more challenging in rural India.
• Easy alternative tests are necessary as RT-PCR tests also give a ‘false negative’ for some variants.

Who created XraySetu?

• It has been developed by ARTPARK (AI & Robotics Technology Park) in collaboration with Niramai and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.
• ARTPARK is a not-for-profit foundation established by IISc with support from the GOI’s Dept of Science & Technology (DST).
• Niramai is a Bangalore-based healthtech startup.

How XraySetu functions:

• The doctor can visit www.xraysetu.com and click on the ‘Try the Free XraySetu Beta’ button.
• The platform will then redirect the person to another page, wherein he or she can choose to engage with the WhatsApp-based chatbot via web or smartphone application.
• Alternatively, the doctor can also send a WhatsApp message to a mentioned phone number to start the XraySetu service.
• Then they just need to click the picture of the patient’s X-ray and obtain the 2-page automated diagnostics with annotated images in a few minutes.
• While extending the probability of the COVID-19 contraction, the report also highlights a localized heatmap for a quick perusal for the doctor.
• The solution has a sensitivity performance of 98.86% and specificity performance of 74.74%.