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ASEAN group core of India’s Act East Policy: PM

New Delhi (NVI): While addressing the 17th India-ASEAN virtual summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said that the ASEAN group has been the core of India’s Act East Policy from the beginning.

“There are many similarities between India’s ‘Indo Pacific Oceans Initiative’ and ASEAN’s ‘Outlook on Indo Pacific’,” PM Modi said.

The Prime Minister co-chaired the 17th ASEAN-India Summit with his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc today.

On the occasion, PM Modi said: “It is our main priority to increase the connectivity between India and ASEAN at several levels- Physical, Economic, Social, Digital, Financial, Maritime. In the last few years, we have come closer in all these areas.”

In his opening remarks, PM said the strategic partnership of India and ASEAN is based on a shared historical, geographical and cultural heritage.

The leaders of all ten ASEAN Member States– Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos– participated in the summit which was held virtually in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic.

ASEAN-India summits provide the opportunity for India and ASEAN to engage at the highest level. Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the 16th ASEAN-India Summit in Bangkok in November last year.

The 17th ASEAN-India Summit was the eighth summit attended by Modi.

“ASEAN-India strategic partnership stands on a strong foundation of shared geographical, historical and civilisational ties. India’s Act East Policy, underlining ASEAN centrality, reflects the importance, India attaches to engagement with ASEAN,” MEA said in a statement yesterday.

-ARK

Firecrackers banned in Telangana

Firecrackers banned in Telangana

New Delhi (NVI): Two days before Diwali, the Telangana high court today ordered a complete ban on the sale and purchase of firecrackers for the rest of the year citing the Covid-19 pandemic.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice B Vijaysen Reddy also ordered the state government to immediately impose the ban and close the shops which are selling fireworks throughout the state.

Furthermore, the court asked the government to give wide publicity to content on ill-effects of bursting firecrackers during the pandemic via electronic and print media.

Earlier, the the National Green Tribunal had declared a complete ban on the sale or use of all kinds of firecrackers in the national capital region from midnight of November 9 till November 30.

A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel clarified that the direction will apply to all cities and towns in the country where the average of ambient air quality during November (as per available data of last year) fell under the ‘poor’ and above categories.

Several states and Union Territories in India, including Delhi and Maharashtra, have decided to impose a ban on firecrackers and its sale due to an increase in air pollution and a fear of spike in coronavirus crisis in the country during the winter season.

-CHK

Bollywood actor Asif Basra dies by suicide

Bollywood actor Asif Basra dies by suicide
Asif Basra

New Delhi (NVI): Bollywood actor Asif Basra, who starred in popular web series Paatal Lok, was found dead today in a private complex in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh.

The 53-year-old actor was found hanging in the private complex.

A forensic team has reached the spot and an investigation in the matter is underway, acording to the reports.

The news of Asif’s demise was shock across B-town. Reacting to the news, filmmaker Hansal Mehta expressed his shook and wrote on Twitter, “Asif Basra! Can’t be true… This is just very, very sad.”

Manoj Bajpayee also tweeted, “What? This is too shocking!! Shot with him just before Lockdown!!! Oh My God!!!”

Asif Basra was born in Maharashtra’s Amravati in 1967. He was a well-known face in the entertainment industry. The actor was best known for his critically acclaimed roles in Anurag Kashyap’s Black Friday and Rahul Dholakia’s Parzania.

Basra was also seen in late Sushant Singh Rajput’s film Kai Po Che and Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor starrer Jab We Met and other movies like Hichki and Kaalakaandi.

-RJV

Joe Biden names Ron Klain as White House Chief of Staff

Joe Biden names Ron Klain as White House Chief of Staff

New Delhi (NVI): President-elect Joe Biden has named Ron Klain, a veteran Democratic operative and a decades-long confidant, to be his White House chief of staff, taking the first step towards putting in place his administration’s senior leadership.

Klain is one of Biden’s most trusted campaign advisers and was long seen as the most likely pick for the top job. He previously served as chief of staff to Vice President Al Gore during the Clinton administration and Biden during his tenure as President Barack Obama’s vice president.

“Ron has been invaluable to me over the many years that we have worked together, including as we rescued the American economy from one of the worst downturns in our history in 2009 and later overcame a daunting public health emergency in 2014,” Biden said in a statement.

“His deep, varied experience and capacity to work with people all across the political spectrum is precisely what I need in a White House chief of staff as we confront this moment of crisis and bring our country together again,” he added.

Klain said, “It’s the honor of a lifetime to serve President-elect Biden in this role, and I am humbled by his confidence.”

He also tweeted, “I’ve seen so many kind wishes tonight on this website. Thank you – and I’m sorry I can’t reply to each of you. I’m honored by the President-elect’s confidence and will give my all to lead a talented and diverse team in a Biden-Harris WH.”

Notably, Klain brings unique expertise to this moment defined by the ongoing coronavirus crisis. The Democratic operative was appointed by then-President Obama to lead the response to the Ebola crisis in 2014.

Klain’s experience leading the Obama administration’s response to that public health threat is seen as an asset.

Meanwhile, advisers have said that the president-elect will announce other top White House staff in the coming days.

-CHK

J&K Apni Party chief hails PAGD’s decision to fight DDC polls

J&K Apni Party chief hails PAGD's decision to fight DDC polls
File Photo: JK Apni Party President, Altaf Bukhari

Srinagar (NVI): Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party president Syed Muhammad Atlaf Bukhari today welcomed the decision of People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) to fight the District Development Council (DDC) elections in J&K. 

While addressing a press conference here today, Bukhari said that he is happy with the decision of PAGD and remarked that it was good to see leaders associated with the Gupkar Alliance shunning emotional slogans which have always swayed the youth of J&K towards a “wrong path”.

He said that today’s youth have seen worse situations than ever. “In the past 70 years, whatever was earned was snatched,” he said, adding that J&K Apni Party hasn’t given up the fight for the restoration of Article 370.

“The case is in the Supreme Court. We had five MPs who unfortunately couldn’t save it. Those five people can’t bring back Article 370. Our hope is tied with the SC,” he said.

He further said that they are fighting for it and unless 272 MPs vote for the restoration of Article 370, it can’t be restored.

“Apart from the parliament, our hope is SC and let’s hope for the best,” he said.

Bukhari also said that J&K Apni Party will fight for the protection of land rights. “Industry, we understand but that can’t be at the cost of our youth. This is not the slogan but I assure you that we will fight for the change of land laws,” he said.

“We said that we will get the land laws amended, and we will get it amended through persuasion,” he added.

-ARK

Postal dept launches doorstep Digital Life Certificate service for pensioners

Postal dept launches doorstep Digital Life Certificate service for pensioners

New Delhi (NVI): The Department of Posts successfully launched the doorstep service for submission of Digital Life Certificate (DLC) through postman, to help pensioners furnish life certificates amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions said.

During the current pandemic, it will be a huge relief for pensioners to submit Life certificate while staying at home.

“India Post Payments Bank, IPPB of Department of Posts & Meity have successfully launched the initiative of the Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare: Doorstep Service for submission of Digital Life Certificate through Postman,” the Ministry said in a statement.

Meanwhile, in order to avail doorstep service for submission of DLC through IPPB, pensioners can get detailed information on ippbonline.com. It is a chargeable service and will be available to all Central government pensioners across the country irrespective of the fact their pension accounts are in different bank, the statement said.

The process to avail doorstep service can also be viewed on Youtube (Pension DOPPW) and Facebook of Department of Pension & Pensioners Welfare, it added.

Furthermore, in order to make this facility available across the country, DoPPW roped in the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) and utilise its huge network of Postmen or Gramin Dak Sevaks in providing doorstep facility to pensioners for submission of life certificate digitally.

IPPB has customized its bank software and dovetailed the same with Jeevan Pramaan software of Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) and UIDAI, to provide DLC services at the doorstep of pensioners, the statement further said.

This facility shall be in addition to other facilities such as withdrawal of money from bank account etc. while sitting at home.

IPPB is utilising its national network of more than 1,36,000 access points in Post Offices and more than 1,89,000 Postmen & Gramin Dak Sevaks with smart phones and biometric devices to provide Doorstep Banking Services.

As a result a huge number of pensioners across the country shall be able to avail doorstep service, without visiting to bank branch or standing in a queue outside the bank branches.

The facility to submit life certificate online through Jeevan Pramaan Portal was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November, 2014, with the objective to provide a convenient and transparent facility to pensioners for submission of Life Certificate.

-RJV

Fact check: Govt is not going to re-impose lockdown from Dec 1

Fact check: Govt is not going to re-impose lockdown from Dec 1

New Delhi (NVI): A viral tweet claims that Centre will re-impose lockdown again in the country from December 1 to contain the spread of coronavirus. However, nothing of this sort has been announced by the government.

Refuting such claims on social media, the fact check wing of the Government’s Press Information Bureau said the tweet is morphed and there is no such plan under consideration as of now.

Debunking the fake news, PIB, in a tweet wrote, ”A tweet allegedly posted by a prominent media outlet claims that due to the growing number of #COVID19 cases in the country, the Govt. is going to re-impose a nationwide lockdown from 1st December.

#PIBFactCheck: This tweet is #Morphed. No such decision has been taken by the Govt.”

The Press Information Bureau launched this fact-checking arm in December 2019, to curb misinformation and fake news prevalent on the internet. It claimed that its objective was “to identify misinformation related to government’s policies and schemes that are circulating on various social media platforms”.

-CHK

Serum Institute produces 40 million doses of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine

Pakistan

New Delhi (NVI): Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s largest vaccine producer, today said it has manufactured 40 million doses of AstraZeneca’s potential Covid-19 vaccine, and would soon begin making Novavax’s rival shot, as they both seek regulatory approval.

Serum Institute further said in a statement that it has enrolled 1,600 participants in India for late-stage trials of AstraZeneca’s candidate, and also plans to seek regulatory approval to run late-stage trials for the Novavax vaccine.

The AstraZeneca vaccine, co-developed by Oxford University, is the most advanced in human testing in India, Serum said.

While there are no COVID-19 vaccines approved yet and trials are still under way to prove they are safe and effective, leading drugmakers have been funded to begin production early to expedite deliveries, as the pandemic has killed more than 1.2 million people worldwide.

Earlier this week, Pfizer and its partner BioNTech said their vaccine candidate had proven more than 90% effective based on initial trial results. Pfizer said it was committed to advancing its engagement with India’s government to supply its potential vaccine in the country.

Furthermore, SII has also announced the completion of enrolment of phase 3 clinical trials for COVISHIELD in India.

ICMR has funded the clinical trial site fees while SII has funded other expenses for COVISHIELD. At present, SII and ICMR are conducting Phase 2/3 clinical trial of COVISHIELD at 15 different centres, across the country.

-CHK

Atmanirbhar Bharat 3.0: Govt announces new scheme to incentivise job creation

Sitharaman
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman (file pic)

New Delhi (NVI): Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today announced a new scheme “Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana” to incentivise creation of new employment opportunities during the COVID recovery phase.

A slew of economic measures were announced by the Finance Minister, as part of Atmanirbhar 3.0 stimulus package worth Rs 2,65,080 crore.

Apart from the new scheme to incentivise job creation, the package includes measures for 26 stressed sectors, benefits for home buyers and real estate developers.

During a press conference, Sitharamman said the Covid-19 stimulus provided so far added up to 15 per cent of GDP, of which the government contribution was 9 per cent. She was accompanied by Anurag Thakur, Union Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs.

The FM said the Indian economy was witnessing a strong recovery, while announcing the “Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana”. Under the scheme, EPF-registered organisations would get benefits on recruiting new people who didn’t have EPFO before or those who lost their jobs between March 1 and September 30.

She added that macro-economic indicators are pointing towards recovery. Her address came a day after the Union Cabinet approved Rs 2 lakh crore Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) package to boost demand in the country.

Sitharaman started the press conference by sharing details on energy consumption growth. She said that energy consumption growth trended higher in October at 12% YoY and GST collections for October grossed Rs 1.05 lakh crore, registering a Year over Year (YoY) growth of 10%.

She further added that 28 states have been brought under One Nation One Ration Card scheme. “Around 14 lakh loans have been sanctioned under PM SVANidhi scheme for street vendors,” she said while explaining progress of schemes under the Atmanirbar Bharat package.

Other highlights of Sitharaman’s press conference are:

– An additional outlay of Rs 10,000 crores will be provided for PM Garib Kalyan Rozgar Yojana in the current financial year, to boost rural employment.

– Rs 900 crore provided for Covid Suraksha Mission for research and development of the Indian Covid-19 vaccine to the Department of Biotechnology.

– Rs 3,000 crore will be given to EXIM Bank for promotion of project exports through Lines of Credit under IDEAS Scheme.

– Rs 65,000 crore to be provided for subsidised fertilisers. This will help 140 million farmers.

– For primary residential real estate sales, relief on the difference between circle rate & agreement value up to 20% vs 10% earlier.

– Income tax relief for developers and home buyers.

– Support for Construction & Infrastructure-Performance security on contract to be reduced to 3% instead of 5%. Earnest Money Deposit will not be required for tenders and will be replaced by Bid Security Declaration. Relaxations will be given till 31st December 2021.

-ARK

Delhi’s air quality ‘very poor’ even as pollution levels dip

New Delhi (NVI): The national capital’s air quality index (AQI) was recorded in the “very poor” category this morning, even as pollution levels dipped slightly, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) said.

The slight decrease in pollution levels was observed due to change in the wind direction from north westerly to north-north easterly.

According to the CPCB data, the national capital recorded an air quality index (AQI) of 315 at around 9 am. The AQI in neighbouring cities of Faridabad (306), Ghaziabad (336), Noida (291), Greater Noida (322) and Gurgaon (261), was also recorded in the ‘poor’ and ‘very poor’ categories.

Yesterday, Delhi’s air quality slightly improved to ‘very poor’ category with 24-hour average AQI at 344 after remaining in the ‘severe’ category for the last six days on the loop.

However, the change in the wind direction helped in reducing the contribution of stubble burning to the pollution, though it was still in the ‘very poor’ category.

Officials at the air monitoring stations informed that, the pollution levels in Delhi-NCR is expected to remain such till Diwali. This is because the winds which were blowing from the western direction bringing smoke from Punjab and Haryana is now blowing from the eastern direction, sending the smoke back.

Meanwhile, to tackle air pollution, the CPCB ordered the closure of hot mix plants and stone crushers in Delhi-NCR till November 17 in view of increase in pollution levels in the coming days, when a number of festivals will be celebrated.

-RJV

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