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PM launches COVID vaccine drive, says India to vaccinate 3 cr now, 30 cr in phase 2

Vaccine drive

New Delhi (NVI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi today launched the world’s biggest COVID-19 vaccination programme in India and said that the country will administer the vaccine to 3 crore people in first phase and hopes to take the numbers to 30 crore in the second phase.

Addressing the nation ahead of the launch, PM Modi said a vaccination drive at such a massive scale was never conducted in history.

“There are over 100 countries with less than 3 crore population and India is administering vaccination to 3 crore people in the first phase only. In the second phase, we will increase this number to 30 crores,” he added.

During the launch, the Prime Minister congratulated the citizens and said “Everyone was asking as to when the vaccine will be available. It is available now. I congratulate all the countrymen on this occasion.”

PM Modi also lauded the efforts of the scientific community who were involved in the vaccine research.

“Normally, it takes many years to make a vaccine but in such a short span of time, not one, but two ‘Made in India’ vaccines are ready. Meanwhile, the work on other vaccines is progressing at a fast pace,” he said.

The Prime Minister further said that, “Start of vaccination does not mean people should stop following the COVID-19 protocols of wearing masks and maintaining social distancing. We must take another vow – Dawai bhi, Kadaai bhi.”

PM Modi also got emotional while talking about the hardships faced by healthcare and frontline workers during the COVID pandemic.

“This disease kept people away from their families. The mothers cried for their children & had to stay away. People could not meet their elderly admitted at hospitals. We could not bid adieu to those with proper rituals who died due to corona,” he said.

The Prime Minister after his speech took to Twitter and wrote, “India begins the world’s #LargestVaccineDrive. This is a day of pride, a celebration of the prowess of our scientists and hardwork of our medical fraternity, nursing staff, police personnel and sanitation workers. May everyone be healthy and free from illness.”

Apart from this, Union Minister Harsh Vardhan also joins doctors and potential vaccine beneficiaries at AIIMS with Delhi participates in the launch of the world’s largest vaccine drive kicked off today.

A total of 3,006 vaccination centers across all states and union territories was virtually connected during the launch. About 100 beneficiaries will get the shots at each site on the first day, the Union Health Ministry said.

In the first phase, the government and private-sector health care workers, including Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) workers, will receive the vaccine, it added.

-RJV

Dense fog lowers visibility over Delhi, parts of north India: IMD

IMD
File photo

New Delhi (NVI): A thick blanket of dense fog engulfed Delhi and large parts of north India, which reduced the visibility to zero meters this morning, according to the IMD.

Taking to Twitter, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said that, “Zero visibility shown over Delhi, Lucknow & Amritsar winds due to variable & calm lower level winds.”

This is the third time during this winter season that the visibility has dropped to zero meters in the national capital and neighbouring areas.

“Similar fog conditions are likely in the morning of January 17 as well. Visibility is likely to improve from 18th when a fresh spell of relatively stronger easterlies is likely over the plains of north India,” IMD tweeted.

The Met department also said that, the thick fog in the national capital region led to zero visibility in Delhi’s Sarai Kale Khan, while the visibility dips to very poor at various centres including Singhu Border, Palam Vihar, Okhla Phase 2, Dhaula Kuan and Dwarka.

Meanwhile, the dense fog also led to a delay in at least 4 flights to and from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, while one flight has been cancelled due to the fog and low visibility.

The Met department further said that, Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 6.6 degrees Celsius, a notch below normal today morning. “The Lodhi Road weather station recorded a minimum temperature of 5.8 degrees Celsius,” IMD said.

Apart from this, there was no improvement in the city’s air quality today which remained in the ‘severe’ category, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) said.

The city’s air quality index (AQI) was 436 at around 9 am. The 24-hour average AQI was 460 on Friday, 429 on Thursday, 354 on Wednesday, 293 on Tuesday, it added.

-RJV

India’s Covid tally over 10.54 mn, deaths at 1.52 lakh

COVID tally
File photo

New Delhi (NVI): The coronavirus cases in India saw the single-day rise of 15,158 fresh cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total number to 10,542,841, Union Health Ministry confirmed.

The death toll due to the virus rose to 1,52,093, with 175 new fatalities being reported during the same period.

Currently, a total of 10,179,715 million patients have been cured an recovered across the country, while the active cases dropped to 2.11 lakh mark and stands at 2,11,033.

In worst-affected Maharashtra, the COVID-19 cases increased to 19,84,768 followed by Karnataka with 9,30,668 and Andhra Pradesh with 8,85,710 positive cases.

The other worst hit states are Tamil Nadu (8,29,573), Kerala (8,36,883), Delhi (6,31,884)  and Uttar Pradesh (5,95,614).

Meanwhile, of the total fatalities, Maharashtra tops the tally with 50,336 deaths, followed by Karnataka with 12,158 fatalities.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) data, more than 18.57 crore samples tested for COVID-19 up to January 15. Of these, 8,03,090 samples were tested yesterday.

Furthermore, India is set to begin a nationwide vaccination drive against COVID-19 today, to be launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi through video conferencing.

-RJV

Coronavirus cases exceed 93.7 million globally; death toll tops 2 mn

Coronavirus cases

New Delhi (NVI): The global count of coronavirus cases has reached more than 93.7 million, with over 2,006,900 deaths reported, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

Over 51.4 million patients have been cured and recovered from the deadly contagion.

In the US, the total number of coronavirus cases have reached more than 23.5 million while the total number of COVID-19 fatalities have surpassed 3,91,900 in the country.

Brazil’s coronavirus cases has surpassed 8.3 million and stands at 8,393,492, while the country accounts for the second highest number of COVID-19 fatalities at 2,08,246.

The health ministry of Mexico reported 21,366 new coronavirus cases and 1,106 more fatalities in past 24 hours, bringing its total to 1,609,735 infections and 139,022 deaths in the country.

The Chinese mainland on Friday recorded 130 new COVID-19 cases – 115 local transmissions and 15 from overseas. The total number of cases in China has reached 88,118 and the death toll stands at 4,635.

Meanwhile, Britain is tightening border controls to block new variants of COVID-19, suspending all travel corridor arrangements, including arrivals from some countries that did not require quarantine, these changes will come into force from Monday.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has also called for a worldwide acceleration in vaccine rollouts and ramp-up in efforts to study the sequencing of the virus, in order to tackle troubling new strains emerging around the world.

-RJV

Rajnath Singh expresses confidence for safe conduct of Aero India-21

Aero India-21

New Delhi (NVI): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has expressed confidence for the conduct of a safe Aero India-21 exhibition, to be held in Bengaluru from February 3-5, during the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic situation.

The Defence Minister today reviewed the preparation for Aero India-21 during the Apex Committee Meeting in Bengaluru today.

According to an official statement, the three-day event is unique as it will be the World’s first hybrid exhibition wherein the business element of the event will be both physical as well as virtual.

During the meeting today, Rajnath Singh emphasised on the safe conduct of the event and making it inclusive for the world A&D industry. He said that the hybrid model of Aero India – 21 should be the template for the world to emulate conduct of business in the new normal till the concerns of the pandemic are addressed.

Aero India-21 is now being held simultaneously as a physical exhibition and a virtual exhibition with stalls being provided in both the physical and virtual realms which will result in greater engagement and the exhibitors will experience a greater outreach catering to those who could not join the event physically.

During the meeting, Rajnath Singh noted that the attendees joining the event virtually could participate in seminars, interact with the exhibitors and representatives, hold B2B meetings and could also view the product details and supporting videos.

As per the official statement by PIB’s Defence Wing, Aero India being one of the major international Aerospace and Defence (A&D) exhibitions, requires active participation, shared responsibility and synchronised efforts at all levels.

“Towards defining the roles and responsibilities, an MoU was signed on the margins of the meeting between Government of India and Government of Karnataka. The theme of the event is “Runway to a Billion Opportunities”, in keeping with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for Atmanirbhar Bharat. In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the event itself will showcase India’s resolve to be first amongst first.

“The indigenous technological and logistic prowess will be at the fore and the event will embolden our Aerospace and Defence industry, Start-ups, MSMEs to forge partnerships with Foreign OEMs who are also keen to attend,” read the statement in this regard.

The Defence Wing further stated that Aero India-21 abides by international norms for conduct of such events and incorporates additional precautions for social distancing, crowd control wherein the total exhibition area count has been reduced to 15000 PAX and Air Display Visual Area to 3000 PAX, safe social behaviour such as compulsory wearing of facemask, non-contact interactions etc, brochures and literature would be predominantly in digital format, contactless experience for registration and booth visits, negative RT-PCR test 72 hrs prior 03 February 2021, entry screening, and restricting entry of people with symptoms to ensure safety for all attendees.

The Defence Minister also Launched the Aero India-21 mobile app today which will be the handy interactive interface for all issues related to the event and promises to provide a hassle free entry to the venue. The app will be available on the Apple App Store/Google Play Store and is a holistic app with features to support exhibitors, attendees, and the media – pre, during and post the event.

As the countdown for the mega Aeroshow has begun, 576 exhibitors and 35+ Foreign delegations have registered thus far with the event being a complete Sell out, reposing their faith in the Ministry of Defence to further their A&D Business interests.

“Aero India 2021 is symbolic of India’s resolve to further its business interests as also take global initiatives towards furthering peace and security in the region,” said the Defence Wing in a statement.

In today’s review meeting, Rajnath also highlighted a giant step in self-reliance through the order of 83 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) to HAL valued at over Rs 48,000 crores which will prove a boon to Karnataka in general and Bengaluru in particular in terms of generation of more than 50,000 jobs with extensive participation of MSMEs and private sector.

The meeting was attended by Chief Minister of Karnataka BS Yediyurappa and Chief Secretary of Karnataka P Ravi Kumar, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and Secretary of the Department of Defence Production Raj Kumar, AOC in C Southern Command Air Marshal RK Mathur, GoC in C Southern Command Lt Gen CP Mohanty and other senior officials.

-ARK

J&K Govt actively pursuing GI registration of new crafts

GI registration

Jammu (NVI): Following the registration of seven world-famous handicrafts of Jammu & Kashmir under Geographical Indication of Goods (GI) Act, the J&K government is now actively pursuing GI registration of five more crafts for quality assurance so that their marketing in the national and international market receives considerable fillip.

This information was given out in a meeting and video conference chaired by J&K Commissioner/ Secretary for Industries & Commerce, Manoj Kumar Dwivedi, today.

The meeting was attended by Director Handicrafts & Handloom, Kashmir, Mussarat Islam, Director, Handicrafts & Handloom, Jammu, Vikas Gupta and Director IICT, Zubair Ahmad.

The crafts shortlisted for GI registration include Basohli Pashmina and Painting, Tweed fabric, Loi blankets from Kishtwar and Chikri craft from Rajouri district. While Craft Development Institute is the Nodal Agency for GI registration of Loi blankets & Tweed, NABARD shall facilitate GI registration of Basohli Painting & Pashmina and Chikri crafts.

With the objective to restore handicrafts glory of Jammu & Kashmir and ensure substantial remuneration for artisans and weavers, the Commissioner/Secretary informed the meeting that GI registration followed by certification and labelling shall enable quality assurance of these products and the right to use the indication to prevent its misuse by a third party or unauthorized user whose product does not conform to the applicable standards. GI label, he added, shall also be used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or reputation that are due to that origin.

While emphasising upon bringing more and more indigenous crafts within the ambit of GI tagging, Mr. Dwivedi directed all the concerned officers to take necessary steps to expedite completion of requisite formalities so that the crafts exclusive to Jammu and Kashmir are empaneled with GI Registry.

According to an official press release issued by the Industries & Commerce Department; Pashmina & Kani shawls, Carpet, Wood Carving, Sozni & Crewel embroidery and Khatamband have already been GI registered for which the proprietary rights lie with Tahafuz & Meeras Societies. The famous Kashmir Saffron was also recently GI registered which shall go a long way in protecting its counter branding by other countries.

With liberal funding from the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India, a Testing-cum-Certification Centre has already been established for GI labelling and branding of products. For GI certification of carpets, the Government is in the process of upgrading the existing lab in the Indian Institute of Carpet Technology (IICT), Srinagar.

After inspection and testing, GI label is fixed on the product. The label contains requisite product information and also has an alphanumerical code on it for product verification, the press hand-out stated, adding that GI certification shall boost export of famed handicrafts and handloom products from Jammu & Kashmir and also stem the sale of machine-made and fake items in the name of genuine handmade products.

Dwivedi, who also holds the charge of the General Administration Department, stated that the Government has recently advised all the Administrative Departments in J&K UT to propose details of products which require GI registration in order to protect the local goods known for their quality and reputation.

-ARK

India condemns attack in Mali that killed 4 UN peacekeepers

UN peacekeepers

New Delhi (NVI): India today strongly condemned the attack on the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) on January 13 in Timbuktu region in Mali that resulted in the killing of four peacekeepers from Cote d’Ivoire.

“We extend our deepest condolences to the families of the peacekeepers as well as the people and the Government of Cote d’Ivoire and wish for the speedy recovery of all the other injured peacekeepers,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

Four United Nations peacekeepers in Mali were killed and five others wounded in an attack by unidentified armed elements on Wednesday, the UN mission in the country has said.

The peacekeepers’ convoy was struck by an improvised explosive device (IED), and the troops then came under attack by unidentified gunmen in the vast Timbuktu region, UN said in its report.

A robust response by the peacekeepers forced the attackers to flee, and the wounded personnel were evacuated by helicopter, the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) said in a news release on Wednesday.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has also strongly condemned the attack and called on Malian authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice.

In a statement issued by his spokesperson on Wednesday, the UN chief emphasized that “attacks against UN peacekeepers may constitute a war crime.”

He urged the Malian authorities “to spare no efforts in identifying and promptly bringing to justice the perpetrators of this heinous attack.” Guterres also reaffirmed the solidarity of the United Nations with the people and Government of Mali.

The attack against MINUSMA peacekeepers took place the same day as another attack on the UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic (known by its French acronym, MINUSCA), in which a Rwandan peacekeeper was killed, the UN report said.

-ARK

J&K Tourism Dept participates in 3-day India Travel Mart at Lucknow

J&K Tourism Dept

Lucknow (NVI): After the successful conduct of a series of events back home to revive the tourism sector in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic, the J&K Tourism Department has started focusing on promotional activities and road shows outside the Union Territory.

In this regard, the Department of Tourism is participating in the India Tourism Mart which started here today. The three-day B2B tourism event is also being attended by states like Utter Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat besides some renowned travel brands across the country.

The event was inaugurated by Principal Secretary, Tourism & Culture, Uttar Pradesh, Mukesh Kumar Meshram.

Notable representatives of tour and travel industry including National Advisor, Indian Association of Travel & Tourism Experts (IATTE), Subash Verma, Chairman, Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) UP & UK Chapter, Prateek Hira, President Travel Trade Association of Uttar Pradesh (TTAUP), Vivek Pandey and Secretary, Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), Swati Dimri also addressed the inaugural function.

Speakers on the occasion observed that the Covid practices have brought into focus the significance and positive impact of domestic tourism and the need to tap and further promote it.

The inaugural session marked presentation of short films prepared by J&K Tourism Department. The short films on varied tourism potential of J&K including Leisure, Nature, Pilgrimage, heritage, Adventure were deeply appreciated by the audience.

The J&K stall also witnessed a good activity with visitors particularly tour operators and potential tourists evincing keen interest in the tourism infrastructure, logistic details and packages.

Dy Director, Tourism, Kashmir, Ahsanul Haq Chishti and Deputy General Manager, JKTDC, Ashwini Gupta are representing the Department at the ITM.

Earlier also, the Tourism Department had made an outreach to the tourist market of Kolkata, Maharashtra, Gujarat and other states for revival of the sector and in coming days the outreach shall be expanded further.

The aim has been to boost and amplify and the confidence among the tourists, invite them while practicing all COVID-19 protocols and promoting the varied and diverse aspects of J&K’s tourism.

-ARK

India, Japan sign agreement to enhance cooperation in ICT

India, Japan sign agreement

New Delhi (NVI): India and Japan today signed a Memorandum of Cooperation in the field of Information and Communication Technologies which covers issues related to ICT, such as the development of technologies related to 5G and submarine cables.

Takeda Ryota, Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan and Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Communications held a video conference and discussed issues related to Information and Communication Technologies, the Embassy of Japan said in a statement.

The agreement also covers Telecom Security including relevant human resources development and the promotion of dialogues between the two industries.

The MoC is expected to elevate the mutual cooperation in the field of ICT between Japan and India to the next level at a time when ICT is increasingly recognized as key for socio-economic activities in the post COVID-19 era, the Japan embassy said.

“Memorandum of Cooperation in the Field of Information and Communication Technologies between the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan and the Ministry of Communications of Republic of India,” read an official statement.

This is the first comprehensive MoC signed by both the Ministries, it added.

Ambassador Suzuki Satoshi of Japan and Ambassador Sanjay Kumar Verma of India also attended the meeting.

-ARK

Militant hideout busted in J&K’s Kupwara; arms, ammo recovered

arms and ammo

Srinagar (NVI): Security Forces today busted a militant hideout in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district and recovered arms and ammunition from the spot.

Official sources said that the Jammu and Kashmir police, along with the soldiers of 28 Rashtriya Rifles and CRPF personnel from 162 Battalion conducted a search operation in area after receiving inputs about the presence of militants in Kawari, Nawabehak area of Lolab in Kupwara.

During the search operation, a militant hideout was busted. “No militants were present in the hideout, however ammunition and some other stuff in it were seized,” the sources said.

They added that 4 AK-47 magazines, 15 rounds, 2 hand grenades, one binocular, one compass and one wire cutter were recovered from the hideout.

Meanwhile, a case has been registered and the investigation is underway.

-RJV

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