New Delhi: Replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale said at present there is no report of manual scavenging in the country, adding that a total of 377 people have died while cleaning sewers and septic tanks in states and Union Territories during the last five years.

Construction of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will be completed by October 2025: Gadkari

The construction of India's longest greenfield expressway, the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, will be completed by October 2025. In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said the ministry has started the construction of the 1,386-km-long Delhi-Mumbai Expressway. Gadkari said the physical progress of the work is 82 per cent complete and construction of 1,136 km length has been completed.

117 people died due to floods in Assam this year: Nityanand Rai

So far this year, 117 people have died due to floods in Assam. In the last five years, 880 people have lost their lives in the state due to floods. Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai, while answering a written question in the Rajya Sabha, said that according to the information given by the Assam government, a total of 880 people have lost their lives as a result of devastating floods in Assam from 2019 to 27 July 2024. At the same time, 65 people died in 2023, 278 in 2022, 73 in 2021, 190 in 2020 and 157 in 2019.

10,145 posts are vacant in BSF: Nityanand

Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai told the Rajya Sabha that a total of 10,145 posts are vacant in the Border Security Force (BSF) as on July 1 this year. Of these, 387 are for gazetted officers in Group A, 1,816 posts are for subordinate officers in Group B, and 7,942 posts are for other ranks in Group C. The minister responded in a written reply when asked about the details of the current vacancies in the Border Security Force in the country.

There is a shortage of fodder in the country: Lallan Singh

Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairy Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lallan Singh said on Wednesday that there is a fodder shortage in the country. He said ICAR-Indian Grassland and Forage Research Institute (IGFRI) Jhansi has estimated that there is a shortage of 11.24-32 per cent and 23 per cent of green and dry fodder, respectively, in the country. In response to another question, the Union Minister said that milk production in the country has increased from 18.77 crore tonnes in 2018-19 to 23.06 crore tonnes in 2022-23.

1.94 lakh complaints of child pornography and rape received: Government

Union Minister Annapurna Devi on Wednesday said that about 1.94 lakh complaints related to child pornography and rape have been registered on the government's National Cyber ​​Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) till 30 April 2024. In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, the Women and Child Development Minister said that since its inception, NCRP has got more than 16.18 crore users.

11.32 lakh tonnes of pulses were imported in April-May

To meet the domestic demand, 11.32 lakh tonnes of pulses were imported during the April-May period of the current financial year. In the last financial year, i.e., 2023-24, the government imported 47.39 lakh tonnes of pulses.

Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Nimuben Jayantibhai Bambhania told the Lok Sabha that 11.32 lakh of pulses have been imported in the current financial year. The import of pulses stood at 24.66 lakh tonnes in 2020-21, 27 lakh tonnes in 2021-22 and 24.96 lakh tonnes in 2022-23.