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Fact check: Claim about hike in interest rate of Kisan Credit Card loans is fake

Fact check

New Delhi (NVI): A media report has claimed that Kisan Credit Card loans will now be available at 12 per cent interest rate instead of seven per cent.

The Fact Check Unit of the Press Information Bureau (PIB) has investigated the viral news and found it to be fake and said that Central Government has not made any such announcement

Debunking the fake news, PIB took to Twitter and wrote in Hindi, “It is being claimed that now Kisan Credit Card loans will be available at 12% interest rate instead of 7%.

#PIBFactCheck: This claim is fake. The Central Government has not made any such announcement regarding increasing the interest rate of KCC loan.”

The Press Information Bureau launched this fact-checking unit in December 2019, to identify misinformation related to government’s policies and schemes that are circulating on various social media platforms.

-CHK

Bharat Biotech seeks emergency use approval for its Covid vaccine in Philippines

Covaxin
Representational/file image

New Delhi (NVI): In another major boost for India’s vaccine diplomacy, Indian vaccine manufacturer Bharat Biotech today applied for emergency use authorisation (EUA) for its COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin in the Philippines.

The Embassy of India in the Philippines took to Twitter on the development and said, “Major step for Vaccine Maitri and Atmanirbhar Bharat as we seek to elevate bilateral ties to new heights. @bharatbiotech applies for EUA for India-developed COVAXIN in the Philippines.

Indian ambassador in Philippines, Shambhu Kumaran, also said that it is a moment of pride for Indian Research and Development. “A moment of pride for #Indian R&D! The first international regulatory filing for COVAXIN. Delighted it is in #Philippines, a vital Indo-Pacific partner. Process ahead will be challenging but today we celebrate those who made this key milestone possible!” he tweeted.

Other companies seeking EUA approval in Philippines are British firm AstraZeneca, Russian company Gamaleya Research Institute and Chinese drug maker Sinovac Biotech, as per reports.

So far, the Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine has been approved for emergency use in the Philippines.

Earlier in January, the Covaxin produced by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), was given approval for emergency use in India. The other domestically manufactured vaccine give approval in India is Covishield developed by Serum Institute of India (SII).

-RJV/ARK

Parl standing committee on defence visits Karwar Naval base in Karnataka

New Delhi (NVI): A sixteen-member Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence (SCOD) today visited Karwar Naval Base in Karnataka to evaluate the Indian Navy’s security preparedness in the Arabian Sea.

The standing committee led by BJP MP Jual Oram is on a two-day tour to Goa and Karwar. The members of the committee also had a tour of INS Vikramaditya today to review operational preparedness of the Navy.

Former defence minister Sharad Pawar, Kunwar Danish Ali (MP from Amroha), Lok Sabha member Nitish Deb, Deepak Adhikari,  Brijendra Singh (BJP MP from Bharatpur), Sanjay Raut, Ashok Bajpai and Lt Gen DP Vats (Retd) were seen on the deck of INS Vikramaditya.

The visit of the parliamentary committee was part of its on-the-spot study on the ‘State of operational preparedness in the Arabian Sea including Coastal Security’.

he SCOD also visited Goa Naval area yesterday. The delegation was received by Flag Officer Commanding, Goa Naval Area. A briefing on the preparedness of Indian Navy in the Arabian Sea was given by the Western Naval Command.

-ARK

Five dead in fire at Serum Institute of India in Pune

Serum Institute of India

New Delhi (NVI): At least 5 workers have died in a major fire that broke out at an under-construction building at Serum Institute of India (SII) in Manjri area of Pune this afternoon.

Reportedly, 10 fire tenders were engaged to bring the flames under control which has now been doused.

Furthermore, three of the four people stuck inside the building have been rescued and fire department personnel were in the process of rescuing the fourth person, as per the media reports.

CEO of Serum Institute, Adar Poonawalla took to twitter in this regard and wrote, “We have just received some distressing updates; upon further investigation we have learnt that there has unfortunately been some loss of life at the incident. We are deeply saddened and offer our deepest condolences to the family members of the departed.”

“I would like to reassure all governments & the public that there would be no loss of #COVISHIELD production due to multiple production buildings that I had kept in reserve to deal with such contingencies at @SerumInstIndia. Thank you very much @PuneCityPolice & Fire Department,” he stated in an earlier tweet.

Serum Institute is manufacturing the Covishield vaccine that has been developed by the Oxford University and AstraZeneca. Covishield is one of the two Covid-19 vaccines that have been granted emergency use approval in India.

However, the production of Covishield was not being carried out at the SII building where the fire broke out today, according to media reports.

Details regarding the cause of the fire are awaited.

-CHK

J&K: Parl Standing Committee meets tourism, business, transport stakeholders

Parliamentary Standing Committee

Neyaz Elahi

Srinagar (NVI): Parliamentary Standing Committee – comprising of 31 members from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha – met several delegation from tourism, business and other sectors in Srinagar today.

The stakeholders sought improvement in transport system and demanded an end to the Srinagar-Jammu Highway uncertainty.

Pertinently, Srinagar-Jammu Highway is the only road link that connects Kashmir with India. This road witnesses frequent closure due to landslides.

Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries president Sheikh Ashik led a delegation to meet the Committee members. This delegation said that due to frequent closure of Srinagar-Jammu Highway, traders and people suffer immensely.

The delegation demanded action against the Agency responsible for maintenance of this highway.

Sheikh Ashik, while talking to NVI, said that they asked the Parliamentary Committee to take the agency to task for not maintaining the Highway in the interest of the people.

“People especially businesses suffer a lot due to frequent closure of this highway. We demanded round the year connectivity,” he said.

Meanwhile, houseboat owners who also met the members lamented that tourists are reluctant to visit Kashmir owing to skyrocketing air fares. They sought better transport system while one more delegation demanded financial package to revive what they call ‘dying’ tourism sector of Kashmir.

“We demanded a direct rail-link between Srinagar-Jammu due to sharp air-fare. This way more and more tourists will visit Kashmir,” said a stakeholder adding that a detailed memorandum was presented to the Standing Committee members.

The visiting committee members said that they will hold meeting with the officials of Ministries of Civil Aviation, Home affairs, Railways, Tourism, Road Transport and Highways and NHAI on safety and connectivity aspects in the respective sectors.

The members of the committee also held a meeting with the officials of the department of culture and tourism and Archaeological Survey of India, along with representatives of the UT Govt of Jammu and Kashmir, with a focus on ‘promotion and preservation of archaeological sites and artefacts in J&K’.

Among the visiting parliamentary delegation, Minister of State in PMO Dr Jitendra Singh and NC chief and sitting MP Dr Farooq were also present.

Parliamentary Standing Committee arrived yesterday for a three-day visit to Kashmir.

The group of 31 Members of Parliament is meeting stakeholders and officials related to sectors such as road, air, rail connectivity and tourism. The visit is also in connection with monitoring various central government schemes in the Valley with an aim to bring improvement in the way these schemes are implemented.

Among the 31 MPs who are in the Valley, 10 members are from Rajya Sabha and rest are from Lok Sabha.

The delegation is being led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Rajya Sabha member TG Venkatesh. The other members from Rajya Sabha include Congress’s K.C. Venugopal, Prasana Acharya from Biju Janata Dal (BJD), BJP’s Sushil Kumar Modi, Trinamool Congress’s (TMC) Derek O’Brien and others.

From Lok Sabha, the MPs visiting the Valley include Congress’s Anto Antony, BJP’s Manoj Tiwari, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Indian National Congress’s (INC) K. Muraleedharan, Janata Dal United’s (JDU) Dinesh Chandra Yadav, among others.

-CHK

Harsh Vardhan urges people to follow truth, ignore misinformation on COVID vaccines

Health Ministry
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan

New Delhi (NVI): Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan today urged people to ignore the misinformation being spread about COVID-19 vaccines and said that these vaccines are completely safe and effective.

Vardhan made the statements as he unveiled IEC posters to address the emerging issue of vaccine hesitancy in some sections of population in the country, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.

The posters were released in the presence of Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare and Dr V K Paul, Member (Health), Niti Aayog, it added.

During the event, the Minister urged everyone to counter the vested campaigns of untruth and misinformation. “Let us put a STOP to these falsehoods,” he forcefully said.

He also appealed to people to seek the correct information from credible and authentic sources such as the Health Ministry, PIB, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, MyGov website etc.

The minister reiterated that truth is powerful and shall prevail and encouraged everyone to share the IEC posters to multiply the virtuous cycle of truth.

Vardhan also reminded everyone of the achievements of the country, the second most populous country in the world.

“India is one of the few countries to halt the march of COVID-19 and simultaneously develop a vaccine for COVID, thanks to the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji who bestowed his personal attention to get the country rid of the pandemic,” he was quoted as saying in a statement.

Today, the country is seeing a steady decline in the active cases. Around 15,000 daily new cases were reported yesterday, the minister added.

He also explained the role of the vaccination in eradicating diseases and said, “The elimination of Polio and Smallpox was made possible by large scale immunization. Once immunized, not only that person is not capable of catching the disease, he/she is also unable to transmit the disease to others.”

“Vaccination against COVID will similarly create incapable of transmitting the disease and eradicate the disease altogetherin some time,” Vardhan added.

Further, commenting on the safety and efficacy of the vaccines, he said, “All eminent doctors of well-known hospitals have taken the vaccine and praised the exercise for its desired end. It is only a handful of vested political interests who are interested in spreading rumour and encouraging vaccine hesitancy among those vulnerable to such propaganda in the population.”

“The paradox is that countries across the globe are asking us for access to the vaccines while a section of our own is fomenting misinformation and doubt for narrow political ends,” the minister said.

He stated that the prominent doctors along with many other healthcare workers within the government and the private sector have taken the COVID19 vaccine, and have returned to their work without any side effects, the statement added.

-RJV

HAL test fires Smart Anti Airfield Weapon from upgraded Hawk jet

Smart Anti Airfield Weapon

New Delhi (NVI): Defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) today successfully test fired indigenously developed Smart Anti Airfield Weapon (SAAW) from its upgraded Hawk-i aircraft off the coast of Odisha.

The indigenous stand-off weapon developed by Research Centre Imarat (RCI), DRDO is the first smart weapon fired from an Indian Hawk-Mk132, HAL said in a release.

The SAAW is an aircraft launched, advanced, precision strike weapon of 125 Kg category used to attack and destroy enemy airfield assets such as radars, bunkers, taxi tracks, runways within a range of 100 kms. SAAW has been earlier successfully test fired from Jaguar aircraft, as per the official release.

The Hawk-i is HAL’s internally funded program offering the Indian Armed Forces an upgrade and combat capability for the Hawk, transforming it into an Advanced Jet Trainer providing training on sensors and weapons in peacetime into a potent combat platform during conflict.

“HAL has been focusing on the Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign. The Company owned Hawk-i platform is being extensively used for certification of systems and weapons developed indigenously by DRDO and CSIR labs” said R Madhavan, CMD, HAL.

The aircraft flown by HAL test pilots Wg Cdr (Retd) P Awasthi and Wg Cdr (Retd) M Patel executed the weapon release in a text book manner and all mission objectives were met. The telemetry and tracking systems captured all the mission events confirming the success of the trials.

Arup Chatterjee, Director, Engineering and R&D, HAL said HAL is indigenously enhancing the training and combat capability of Hawk-i. HAL is in discussions with Indian Armed Forces for integration of various weapons on Hawk platform, he added.

-ARK

Joint military drill ‘Exercise Kavach’ to be conducted in Andaman Sea next week

Exercise Kavach
Indian Navy ships in Andaman sea (File photo)

New Delhi (NVI): A joint military drill ‘Exercise Kavach’, involving assets of the Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Air Force and Indian Coast Guard, will be conducted in the Andaman Sea next week.

The exercise will be conducted under the aegis of the Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC), the only Joint Forces Command of the country, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

“The joint forces will execute multi domain, high intensity offensive and defensive manoeuvres in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal,” the MoD said.

It will carry out amphibious landing operations, air landed operation, helicopters-borne insertion of special forces from sea culminating in tactical follow-on operations on land, it added.

The tri-services exercise aims to fine tune joint war-fighting capabilities and SOPs towards enhancing operational synergy.

According to the ministry, the exercise also involves synergised application of maritime surveillance assets, coordinated air and maritime strikes, air defence, submarine and landing operations,

It will cover the joint intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) task that will involve various technical, electronic and human intelligence from three services.

“The ISR exercise will validate the capabilities of intelligence gathering from space, air, land and sea-based assets/ sensors, its analysis and sharing to achieve battlefield transparency for quick decision making at different stages of operations,” the statement said.

Furthermore, the exercise will involve participation and deployment of Army’s amphibious brigade along with supporting forces including special forces of Navy, Armour/ Mechanised components, Naval Ships comprising destroyers, ASW corvettes and landing ships with ship-borne helicopters of Eastern Naval Command and ANC.

It will also include jaguar maritime strike and transport aircrafts from Indian Air Force and assets of Coast Guard, the ministry added.

-RJV/ARK

Modi to visit Bengal, Assam on Jan 23

modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (file photo)

New Delhi (NVI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit West Bengal and Assam on January 23 to attend the 125th birth anniversary celebrations of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and to distribute land certificates to Assam’s people.

In West Bengal, the Prime Minister will address inaugural function of the ‘Parakram Diwas’ celebrations at Victoria Memorial in Kolkata to commemorate the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

“To honour Netaji’s indomitable spirit and selfless service to the nation, government has decided to celebrate his birthday on January 23 every year as ‘Parakram Diwas’ to inspire people of the country, especially the youth, to act with fortitude in the face of adversity as Netaji did, and to infuse in them a spirit of patriotic fervour,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.

On the occasion, a permanent exhibition and a Projection Mapping Show on Netaji will also be inaugurated by the Prime Minister and a commemorative coin and postage stamp will be released, it added.

Apart from this, a cultural programme ‘Amra Nuton Jouboneri Doot’, based on the theme of Netaji, will also be held.

Earlier on January 23 day, Prime Minister will also distribute 1.06 lakh land pattas/allotment certificates in Sivasagar, Assam, the PMO statement read.

Taking into account an urgent need to protect the land rights of indigenous people of the state, the Assam government came out with a comprehensive new land policy with a renewed emphasis on protecting the land rights of the indigenous people.

“The issuance of patta/allotment certificates for indigenous people of Assam has been given highest priority in order to instil a sense of security amongst them,” the PMO said.

Assam had 5.75 lakh landless families in 2016 and present government has distributed 2.28 lakhs land pattas/allotment certificates since May 2016. The ceremony on January 23 marks the next step in this process, the statement added.

-RJV

Peak power demand in country touches record high

Peak power demand

New Delhi (NVI): With a surge in commercial and industrial activities after the lifting of lockdown curbs in recent months, India’s electricity demand hit a new record of 185.82 gigawatts yesterday, crossing the previous high of 182.88GW recorded December 30 last year.

Union Power Minister RK Singh confirmed the new record in energy demand yesterday. “The peak demand for power crossed 1,85,820 Megawatt at 9:35 AM on today. This is the highest ever, a record,” he said in a series of tweets.

Singh said that the demand (and supply) of power in January (upto 19.01.2021) has grown by 8% as compared to the corresponding period last year. “This is the highest rate of growth ever. The surging demand for power is a certain indicator that our economy is getting back on track,” he said.

“The surging demand also shows the success of Subhagya, under which we gave all homes including the poor and the underprivileged access to power. This is a matter of satisfaction for us in the Ministry of Power,” he said in another tweet.

Notably, the rise in power demand hints at a recovery phase and overall boost to economic activity in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic. Also, the rise in demand is good news for power producers, as coal-based power plants were running at only 53% utilisation level in December owing to lower consumption.

-ARK

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