India has administered over 30 crore 79 lakh Covid vaccine doses to the beneficiaries so far. The Health and Family Welfare Ministry has said, over 60 lakh 73 thousand vaccine doses were administered to the beneficiaries within 24 hours.
 
Covid Vaccine is a crucial pillar in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. Vaccine provides immunity from this disease. The vaccination drive has picked up pace with the availability of more vaccines and improvement in the vaccine supply chain. With the active support of States and Union Territories, the Central Government is continuously engaged in expanding the scope of nationwide Covid vaccination drive.

President Ram Nath Kovind will reach Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh today on his 5 day visit to the state. During the tour, he will visit his birthplace Paraunkh in Kanpur Dehat district and later he will go to state capital Lucknow.

Mr Kovind will take part in various programs scheduled at his birthplace. The visit is special in the terms that after a long time any president of India will take the train route to reach to his destination. AIR correspondent reports that this is the first time that the President Ramnath Kovind will visit his birthplace Paraunkh in Kanpur dehat district after taking over his present assignment. A grand welcome is scheduled at Paraunkh on this occasion It is also the first visit of President in India through train.

President Ram Nath Kovind will embark on a journey to Kanpur on a special Presidential train today from Safdarjung railway station in Delhi this afternoon. The stations on route have been decorated to welcome the president on his first train journey. 

The train will make two stop-overs, at Jhinjhak and Rura of Kanpur Dehat, where the President will interact with his old acquaintances from his school days and from early days of his social service. The two stop-overs are close to the President’s birthplace, village Paraunkh of Kanpur Dehat, where two functions to felicitate him are scheduled on Sunday. On June 28, the President will board the train at Kanpur Central railway station to reach Lucknow for his two-day visit to the state capital. On June 29, he will return to New Delhi on a special flight.

Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank will virtually interact with students today to discuss their concerns and queries related to evaluation of CBSE board exams.

In a tweet, the Minister said, students can share their doubts or suggestions through Twitter or Facebook by this afternoon.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the delimitation has to happen at a quick pace so that polls can happen in Jammu and Kashmir and it gets an elected government that gives strength to its development trajectory.
 
Chairing a high-level meeting in New Delhi with leaders of various political parties of J&K, Mr Modi stressed that government’s priority is to strengthen grassroots democracy in the union territory. He told leaders that it is the people, especially the youth who have to provide political leadership to J&K, and ensure their aspirations are duly fulfilled.
 
Mr Modi also expressed satisfaction at the progress of development projects in the union territory. Prime Minister urged all leaders to work together for the progress of the area and to realize the aspirations of youth.
 
Mr Modi appreciated the cordial atmosphere of talks and the frank exchange of views. He described yesterday’s meeting with political leaders as an important step in the ongoing efforts towards a developed and progressive J&K, where all-round growth is furthered.
 
During the meeting, Union Home Minister Amit Shah emphasized that the delimitation exercise and peaceful elections are important milestones in restoring statehood as promised in Parliament. He also said the Jammu and Kashmir has come a long way with major boost to development along with transparency.
 
Around 90 percent saturation has been achieved in individual beneficiary Central Government schemes in the union territory. Several major road projects, two new AIIMS, seven new Medical Colleges are being set up. New industrial policy has been notified with 28,400 crore rupees package to accelerate industrial growth in J&K with creation of 4.5 lakh jobs.
 
The meeting had detailed discussion on strengthening democracy in Jammu and Kashmir. In the backdrop of establishment of three tier Panchayati Raj System with the election and constitution of Block and District Development Councils, there were detailed deliberations on how to give further fillip to the democratic process in the area.
 
Leaders of various Political parties shared their views on the way forward in this regard. They also expressed their commitment to the constitution and strengthening democracy.
 
National Conference leaders Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah, PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, BJP leaders Ravinder Raina and Nirmal Singh, People’s Conference leader Sajjad Lone and others attended the meeting.
 
Jammu and Kashmir LG Manoj Sinha, NSA Ajit Doval, Minister of State in PMO, Dr Jitendra Singh and senior officials were also present in the meeting.
 
Talking to reporters after the meeting, Jammu and Kashmir BJP President Ravindra Raina said, the Prime Minister has assured all the leaders that the government is committed for the development and better future of Jammu and Kashmir.
 
Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said, his party demanded restoration of statehood and assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
 
Former Chief Minister and National Conference Chief Farooq Abdullah also demanded restoration of full statehood of Jammu and Kashmir.
 
Muzaffar Hussain Baig of PDP informed that the Prime Minister said the exercise of delimitation has to finish first, and after that the issue of statehood and other issues can be taken up.
 
People’s Conference leader Sajjad Lone said, the meeting was held in a very cordial manner. 

India’s Official Olympic Theme Song was launched ahead of the Summer Games in July-August. Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju was present on the occasion. Playback Singer Mohit Chauhan has composed and sung the song titled ‘Lakshya Tera Samne Hai’.
 
The event was organised by Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and attended by its President Narinder Batra among others. The Games will open on 23rd of next month and over 100 Indian athletes have qualified for the event so far.

The UK high court has rejected diamantaire Nirav Modi’s appeal against his extradition to India, leaving him with five days to mount a further appeal. In February, the Westminster Magistrates’ Court had cleared Nirav Modi’s extradition, finding him guilty of fraud and money laundering in the Punjab National Bank scam and dismissing his claims that he would not get a fair trial in India. UK home secretary Priti Patel subsequently approved the extradition in April.
 
Nirav Modi had approached the UK high court to ascertain if there were any grounds for an appeal against Patel’s decision or the Westminster Magistrates’ Court order. This appeal has now been rejected by a high court judge. Under the legal guidelines, Nirav Modi as an appellant has five business days to apply for such an oral consideration, giving him time until next week. Meanwhile, Nirav Modi remains behind bars at Wandsworth Prison in south-west London since his arrest over two years ago on 19 March 2019.

India has administered64.89 lakh vaccine dosesto the eligible beneficiaries in the last 24 hours. With this over 30.16 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far under Nationwide Vaccination Drive. The Union Health Ministry in a statement said that the country has reported 54 thousand 69 new cases in the last 24 hours.
 
The active caseload in the country has further declined and reached the level of 6 lakh 27 thousand and 57. Over 68,885 patients also recovered during the last 24 hours taking the total recoveries to more than 2 crore 90 lakh 63 thousand. The Ministry further added that daily recoveries continue to outnumber the Daily New Cases for the 42nd consecutive day.
 
The country has registered further improvement in the Recovery Rate which has now increased to 96.61 percent. Weekly Positivity Rate remains below 5 percent, and is currently at 3.04 percent. Daily positivity rate is at 2.91 percent, which is less than 5 percent for 17 consecutive days. The Ministry said, testing capacity has been substantially ramped up and 39.78 crore tests for Covid-19 have been conducted in total. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair a meeting of all political parties from Jammu and Kashmir in the National Capital today. 14 leaders from various political parties have been invited for the meeting. Gupkar Alliance has accepted the invitation from the Prime Minister. Congress has confirmed that its leader Ghulam Nabi Azad will attend the meet.
 
National Conference Patron Farooq Abdullah said that they expect they will be able to make clear their position to the Prime Minister and Home Minister Amit Shah. Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti, who is in Delhi, has said that she hopes for a clear resolution to their concerns saying that every issue can be solved through dialogue. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that tradition and technology will boost the initiative of Aatmanirbhar Bharat. He said, toys and games combine tradition and technology. Prime Minister Narendra Modi today interacted with participants of Toycathon-2021. Toycathon 2021 was jointly launched by the Ministry of Education, Women and Child Development Ministry, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Ministry, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Textile Ministry, Information and Broadcasting Ministry and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) on 5th January this year.
 
It was launched to conceptualize innovative toys based on the Indian value system which will inculcate positive behavior and good value among the children. During the event, Mr. Modi shared his valuable ideas and suggestions for designing and conceptualizing the innovative games and urged the participants to create more innovative games. Highlighting the importance of Yoga, the Prime Minister has said that the practice of Yoga has increased and these innovative toys and games will promote Yoga.
 
Around one lakh 20 thousand participants had registered and submitted more than 17 thousand ideas for the Toycathon2021. Out of them one thousand 567 ideas have been shortlisted for the three days online Toycathon Grand Finale. Railways Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Education Sanjay Dhotre were present on the occasion. Higher Education Secretary Amit Khare and other senior officials also attended the event. 

External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar yesterday said it is crucial for international community to press for permanent and comprehensive ceasefire in Afghanistan to ensure immediate reduction in violence and protection of civilians.
 
Speaking at the UNSC Debate on UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, Dr Jaishankar said intra Afghan talks have not resulted in a reduction of violence in Afghanistan.
 
Dr Jaishankar reiterated India’s support for an inclusive, Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled peace process.
 
He said for enduring peace in Afghanistan, terrorist safe havens and sanctuaries must be dismantled immediately and their supply chains disrupted. He added that those providing material and financial support to terrorist entities must be held accountable.
 
The Minister said India is committed to steadfastly supporting Afghanistan during its transition. He said the development partnership, including over 550 community development projects covering 34 provinces, is aimed at making Afghanistan a self-sustaining nation. 

The People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) yesterday announced that a team headed by Dr. Farooq Abdullah and comprising PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti and Amalgam’s spokesperson Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami will attend the All Party Meeting called by Prime Minister Nadrendra Modi in New Delhi tomorrow. 
 
Dr. Abdullah, who heads the amalgam, met the media in Sri Nagar after the meeting of the PAGD leaders at his residence. He said that they have received invitation from Prime Minister and they are going to attend the meeting.
 
Dr. Farooq, Chief of National Conference NC and Member of Parliament from Srinagar, said they are confident that they will put their stand before Prime Minister and Home Minister.
 
The PAGD is an alliance of six parties in Jammu and Kashmir, including the NC and the PDP, formed in the aftermath of the GoIs August 2019 decision to nullify Article 370 and split J&K into two union territories. The group’s public stand is for the restoration of the special status of the ‘state’ of J&K.

Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has said more than 20 countries have shown interest in the COWIN platform for help in vaccination campaign.

In a tweet, the Minister said India will share the success story of COWIN on 30th June with the world at a global conference.  He said this is an answer to those people who raised doubts about the country’s vaccination programme.

India has administered 54 lakh 24 thousand vaccine doses during the last 24 hours. Over 29 crore 46 lakh vaccine doses have been administered so far under Nationwide Vaccination Drive.
 
The Health Ministry said, India reported 50 thousand 848 new cases in the last 24 hours.The active caseload has declined to six lakh 43 thousand 194 which is the lowest in 82 days.
 
Over 68 thousand 817 patients recovered during the last 24 hours taking total recoveries to more than two crore 89 lakh 94 thousand. Daily recoveries continue to outnumber the daily new cases for the 41st consecutive day. The Recovery Rate has increased to 96.56 per cent.
 
Weekly Positivity Rate remains below five per cent, which is currently at 3.12 per cent. Daily positivity rate is at 2.67 percent, less than five per cent for 16 consecutive days.
 
COVID testing capacity has been substantially ramped up and 39.59 crore tests have been conducted so far. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized that reforms with conviction and incentives have improved the ease of living especially for poor and middle class, ease of doing business and fostered centre-state bhagidari.
 
The Prime Minister also lauded the States and said they were able to raise an extra Rs 1.06 lakh crores in 2020-21 amid financial crunch across the world.
 
In a blog post in LinkedIn, yesterday, Mr Modi said states were able to raise an extra 1.06 lakh crore rupees in 2020-21. He said this significant increase in availability of resources was made possible by an approach of Centre-State bhagidari.
 
It may be recalled that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier forecast the country’s Economy will grow rapidly and it will result in overall and equitable prosperity among the people of the country.
 
In May 2020, as part of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat package, Government announced that states would be allowed to enhance borrowing for 2020-21. Mr Modi said an extra 2 percent of GSDP was allowed, of which one percent was made conditional on the implementation of certain economic reforms.
 
He said this was a nudge, incentivising the states to adopt progressive policies to avail additional funds. He added that the results of this exercise are not only encouraging but also run contrary to the notion that there are limited takers for sound economic policies.  
 
The Prime Minister said the four reforms to which additional borrowings were linked had two characteristics. Firstly, each of the reforms was linked to improving the Ease of Living to the public and particularly the poor, the vulnerable, and the middle class. Secondly, they also promoted fiscal sustainability.

India received 64 billion dollars in Foreign Direct Investment in 2020, the fifth largest recipient of inflows in the world, according to a UN report. The report said, in India, Foreign Direct Investment increased 27 percent, to 64 billion dollars in 2020, from 51 billion dollars in 2019, pushed up by acquisitions in the information and communication technology industry.

The World Investment Report 2021 by the UN Conference on Trade and Development released today, said global Foreign Direct Investment flows have been severely hit by the pandemic and they plunged 35 percent in 2020, to 1 trillion dollars from 1.5 trillion dollars the previous year. 

Union Government has proposed several amendments in the e-commerce rules to bring transparency and curb the prevalent unfair trade practices in the online marketing platforms. The government is sharing a draft of the proposed amendments to the Consumer Protection (E-commerce) Rules, 2020, to protect the interests of consumers and encourage free and fair competition in the market.
 
According to the proposed rules, the e-commerce platforms will need to appoint a Chief Compliance Officer, a Nodal Officer, a Resident Grievance Officer and other officials to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Act and Rules.
 
It has been proposed to put in place a framework for registration of every e-commerce entity with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade for allotment of registration number. This registration number will be displayed prominently on the website as well as the invoice of every order.
 
The government has also proposed prohibiting mis-selling, in which entities sell goods or services by misrepresenting information. To ensure that consumers are aware about the expiry date of the products they are buying on the e-commerce platform, all sellers will have to mention ‘best before or use before date’ to enable consumers to make an informed purchase decision. 
 
The government has clarified that conventional e-commerce flash sales are not banned, but specific flash sales or back to back sales which limit customer choice, increase prices and prevent a level playing field are not allowed.
 
The Centre has sought views and suggestions on these amendments till 6th of July.

All modern aircraft are equipped with a Canopy Severance System (CSS), which is an escape path clearance system for the pilot in case of emergencies occurring on the aircraft. State-of-the-art CSS has been developed ab-initio at Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE), Pune in association with High Energy Material Research Laboratory (HEMRL), Pune, for the indigenously developed LCA Tejas and Trainer Aircraft, HJT-36 Aircraft and HTT-40 Aircraft. It provides safe passage by pre-weakening/severing the canopy to facilitate the smooth escape of the pilot in the shortest possible time.

A Transfer of Technology (ToT) Certificate Award Ceremony was held yesterday evening at ARDE in the gracious presence of  Distinguished Scientist and Director General of Armament and Combat Engineering P.K. Mehta of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Director, ARDE Dr V. Venkateswara Rao and Director, HEMRL KPS Murthy handed over the certificate to Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) S. Pramanik and General Manager (GM) R Chandra of M/s GOCL Corporation Ltd., effecting Transfer of Technology (ToT) for the Production of CSS for the indigenously developed aircraft.

CSS has two independent sub-systems. The first one is the In-flight Egress System (IES) for in-flight emergencies, which is integrated with the seat ejection operation and the second one is the Ground Egress System (GES) for on-ground emergencies, which is independent of seat ejection. CSS works on the principle of controlled propagation of detonation using explosive mechanical energy. It consists of critical mechanical and explosive components qualified to military-grade requirements and demonstrating high reliability.

CSS for LCA Tejas were tested successfully in seat ejection trials at M/s Martin Baker Co., London, UK and for trainer aircraft at M/s. Zvezda, Moscow, Russia. The CSS design has been cleared by Certifying Agency RCMA (AA), Pune and CEMILAC, Bangalore has issued Type Approval. ARDE and HEMRL are now capable of developing CSS for any Military Aircraft as required by Indian Air Force.

India’s active COVID caseload has declined to seven lakh two thousand 887. Health Ministry said, India reported 53 thousand 256 new cases during the last 24 hours, which is lowest in 88 days. Over 78 thousand patients recovered during last 24 hours taking the total recoveries across the country to more than two crore 88 lakh 44 thousand so far.  

Daily recoveries continue to outnumber the daily new cases for the 39th consecutive day. The recovery rate has increased to 96.36 per cent.

The world observed the 7th International Day of Yoga today. The main theme for this year is – Yoga for Wellness, which is aligned to the current pre-occupations. 

International Yoga Day is being observed in about 190 countries across the globe. AIR Correspondent reports that the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) proclaimed 21st June as the International Day of Yoga (IDY) in their resolution adopted on 11th December 2014. Since 2015, the IDY has evolved into a mass movement for health, around the world. The observance of Yoga Day is timely as health is foremost in the thoughts of one and all today, following the COVID-19 pandemic.

President Ram Nath Kovind has greeted the people on the occasion of International Day of Yoga. In his message, the President said the vision of  India’s ancient seers of bringing mind-body together to achieve holistic health and happiness has benefited millions over millennia. He termed Yoga as one of India’s great gifts to the world saying it can be especially helpful during Covid-19.

The President also did Yoga in the lawns of Rashtrapati Bhawan on the occasion.

The Prime Minister on the occasion of IYD said, India has taken another important step today in this direction along with the United Nations. Mr. Modi launched ‘WHO M-Yoga’ App. This app will provide many videos of Yoga training and practice based on common Yoga protocol in many languages. Terming this as a great example of fusion of modern technology and ancient science, the Prime Minister expressed the hope that M-Yoga app will help in spreading Yoga world over and will contribute to the efforts of ‘One World, One Health’.

In Jammu and Kashmir, Police have busted a Narco Terror Module in Uri area of Baramulla district and arrested 10 people with a huge quantity of heroin and arms and ammunition. Baramulla SSP Rayees Mohammad Bhat said that the recoveries include four pistols, ten grenades, 21 Lakh rupees in cash, 9 Kgs heroin worth 45 crore rupees and four vehicles. 

The country has successfully administered over 27 crore 62 lakh vaccine doses so far. Health Ministry informed that more than 33 lakh 72 thousand vaccine doses were given in the country yesterday, on the 155th day of the largest vaccination drive. Out of this, nearly 29 lakh beneficiaries were given 1st dose, whereas over 4 lakh 71 thousand beneficiaries received their 2nd dose.

Health Ministry confirmed that so far over 5 crore 50 lakh doses of the vaccine have been given to people in the age group of 18 to 44 years. Nearly 20 lakh 50 thousand beneficiaries in this age group received their first jabs yesterday whereas over 78 thousand others were given their second dose.

The Ministry said, more than 10 lakh beneficiaries in the age group of 18-44 years have already received their first dose of COVID vaccine in Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra,  Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal.

So far over 22 crore 52 lakh people in the country have received their first dose of the COVID vaccine whereas around 5 crore 9 lakh have been fully vaccinated with both doses.

Health Ministry said, vaccination is an integral pillar of the comprehensive strategy of the Government for containment and management of the pandemic, along with Test, Track, Treat and COVID Appropriate Behaviour. The Liberalised and Accelerated Phase-3 Strategy of Covid-19 Vaccination has come into force from 1st of last month.

Centre will kick-start the free distribution of 75 per cent of total COVID vaccines cleared by the Central Drug lab to all the States & Union Territories from tomorrow. This includes vaccines for beneficiaries of all age group including those between 18 to 44 years. The move is aimed at strengthening and further ramping up the Covid-19 vaccination drive in the country.

The procurement of vaccines by the Centre, which is currently 50 per cent of the total doses cleared by the Central drug lab will be enhanced to 75 per cent. The vaccines will then be given to all the States and Union Territories for administration to people of all age groups. The announcement regarding this was made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 7th of this month in his address to the Nation.

After commencement of this policy, the States and UTs will not have to pay any amount for the procurement of vaccines as Centre will bear all the expenses for the same. An early estimate suggests that the new policy will cost the Centre over 15 thousand crore rupees more than its previously allocated 35 thousand crore rupees for the Vaccination programme in the current financial year.

The Centre will also pay the GST of 5 per cent on the vaccines procured, making vaccination at Government facilities completely free for all eligible beneficiaries.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the lead event of the 7th International Yoga Day tomorrow. In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the lead event of the International Day of Yoga (IDY) 2021 will be a televised programme and is scheduled to start at 6.30 AM on all Doordarshan channels.

The event will also include an address by Minister of State for Ayush Kiren Rijiju and a live Yoga demonstration by the Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga.

Lakhs of Yoga lovers have already committed themselves to be a part of this activity, doing Yoga from the safety of their own homes. Those who require guidance for performing Common Yoga Protocol are invited to follow the live demonstration from the lead event which will be televised on all Doordarshan channels.

The Yoga demonstration will follow the Prime Minister’s address, which is scheduled from 7:00 to 7:45 AM. The live Yoga demonstration will be further followed by messages from 15 spiritual leaders and Yoga Gurus including, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravishankar, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, Dr. H. R. Nagendra,  Kamlesh Patel, Dr. Veerendra Heggde, Dr.Hamsaji Jayadeva, O. P. Tiwari, Swami Chidanand Saraswati, Dr. Chinmay Pandey, Muni Shri Sagar  Maharaj, Swami Bharat Bhushan, Dr. Vishwas Mandalik, Sister B.K. Shivani, S. Sridharan and Ms. Antoinette Rozi.

The Ministry of Ayush has highlighted the important role of Yoga in one’s overall wellbeing, through various activities organised in the run up to the International Day of Yoga (IDY). The main theme of IDY 2021 is “Yoga for Wellness”, which is aligned to the current pre-occupations. Numerous digital initiatives taken by the Ministry together with nearly 1000 other stake-holding institutions made the practice of Yoga accessible to the public, despite the restrictions imposed by the pandemic.

The Missions of India abroad are coordinating various activities in the run up to the 21st June in their respective countries, and as per reports, Yoga Day will be observed in about 190 countries globally.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a meeting of all political parties from Jammu & Kashmir on the 24th of this month in New Delhi. Centre has invited 14 political leaders of Jammu and Kashmir, including four former chief ministers.

The political leaders received the invite for the meeting over the phone. Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla reached out to the J&K leaders to invite them to the meeting at PM’s residence to discuss the future course of action for the Union territory.

This is the first such exercise since the Centre’s decision of revoking Article 370 — a provision that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir — and its bifurcation into Union territories in August 2019.

The leaders invited to the meeting include four former chief ministers — Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar Abdullah of the National Conference, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti. Four former deputy chief ministers — Congress leader Tara Chand, People’s Conference leader Muzaffar Hussain Baig, and BJP leaders Nirmal Singh and Kavinder Gupta are among others who have been invited to the meet.

CPI(M) leader Mohammed Yusuf Tarigami, Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP) chief Altaf Bukhari, Sajjad Lone of the People’s Conference, JK Congress head G A Mir, BJP’s Ravinder Raina, and Panthers Party leader Bhim Singh, too have received an invite for the meeting.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other central leaders are also likely to be present at the meeting. The meeting is said to be a part of the Centre’s initiatives to strengthen political processes in the union territory.

Earlier on Friday, Home Minister Amit Shah, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and top security officials met in the national capital to discuss various issues regarding Jammu and Kashmir with Lt Governor Manoj Sinha.

The Union Health Ministry has said that the India continues to register a decline in daily active cases of Covid -19 and further improvement in recovery from infection. Addressing media in New Delhi yesterday, Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said that continuous decline in daily cases is being noticed since India reported a peak with nearly four lakh 14 thousand cases on the 7th of May. He said, now almost 85 per cent decline in such cases has been seen since the highest reported peak in daily new cases. He said,

On recovery rate from the infection, Mr Agarwal said that the country is also witnessing a consistent increase in recovery rate. He said, on the 3rd of May , the overall recovery rate was 81.8 per cent and now it has reached the mark of 96 per cent.

Member Health, NITI Aayog, Dr V K Paul said that the study conducted on the healthcare workers about vaccination suggests that chances of hospitalization reduce by 75 to 80 per cent after vaccination when an individual gets infected from coronavirus. He said, the study clearly shows that the vaccination provides protection from the serious infection.

The Union Health Ministry has said that the India continues to register a decline in daily active cases of Covid -19 and further improvement in recovery from infection. Addressing media in New Delhi yesterday, Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said that continuous decline in daily cases is being noticed since India reported a peak with nearly four lakh 14 thousand cases on the 7th of May. He said, now almost 85 per cent decline in such cases has been seen since the highest reported peak in daily new cases. He said,

On recovery rate from the infection, Mr Agarwal said that the country is also witnessing a consistent increase in recovery rate. He said, on the 3rd of May , the overall recovery rate was 81.8 per cent and now it has reached the mark of 96 per cent.

Member Health, NITI Aayog, Dr V K Paul said that the study conducted on the healthcare workers about vaccination suggests that chances of hospitalization reduce by 75 to 80 per cent after vaccination when an individual gets infected from coronavirus. He said, the study clearly shows that the vaccination provides protection from the serious infection.

Indian sprint legend flying Sikh Milkha Singh passed away last night after a month-long battle with COVID-19. He was 91. The Padma Shri awardee is survived by his golfer son Jeev Milkha Singh and three daughters. His wife Nirmal Kaur lost her life recently to the Corona virus infection.

Honorary Captain Milkha Singh was an Indian track and field sprinter who was introduced to the sport while serving in the Indian Army. He was the only athlete to win gold in 400 meters race at the Asian Games as well the Commonwealth Games. He also won gold medals in the 1958 and 1962 Asian Games.

The Flying Sikh represented India in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome and the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. He was awarded the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian honour, in recognition of his sporting achievements.

President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have expressed grief over the demise of sporting icon Milkha Singh. They also expressed their deepest condolences to his family and countless followers.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar has expressed sadness over the demise of legendary Indian sprinter Milkha Singh. In a tweet, Mr Javadekar said, he will always remain an inspiration for all.

Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju has expressed grief over the death of Milkha Singh. In a tweet, Mr Rijiju said that
India has lost it’s star. He said, Milkha Singh Ji has left us but he will continue to inspire every Indian to shine for India. Mr Rijiju expressed his deepest condolences to his family.

Indian sprint legend flying Sikh Milkha Singh passed away last night after a month-long battle with COVID-19. He was 91. The Padma Shri awardee is survived by his golfer son Jeev Milkha Singh and three daughters. His wife Nirmal Kaur lost her life recently to the Corona virus infection.

Honorary Captain Milkha Singh was an Indian track and field sprinter who was introduced to the sport while serving in the Indian Army. He was the only athlete to win gold in 400 meters race at the Asian Games as well the Commonwealth Games. He also won gold medals in the 1958 and 1962 Asian Games.

The Flying Sikh represented India in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome and the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. He was awarded the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian honour, in recognition of his sporting achievements.

President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have expressed grief over the demise of sporting icon Milkha Singh. They also expressed their deepest condolences to his family and countless followers.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar has expressed sadness over the demise of legendary Indian sprinter Milkha Singh. In a tweet, Mr Javadekar said, he will always remain an inspiration for all.

Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju has expressed grief over the death of Milkha Singh. In a tweet, Mr Rijiju said that
India has lost it’s star. He said, Milkha Singh Ji has left us but he will continue to inspire every Indian to shine for India. Mr Rijiju expressed his deepest condolences to his family.

India and Bhutan have inked a Memorandum of Understanding for developing cooperation between two countries in the area of environment. The MoU was signed virtually by Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar from the Indian side and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chairperson of the National Environment Commission Lyonpo Dr. Tandi Dorji from the Bhutanese side.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Javadekar said, the MoU will open new vistas of bilateral co-operation in the area of climate change and waste management. Describing the relationship between the two countries as symbolic, he said, India wants to engage with Bhutan on environmental related issues including climate change.

The MoU is a platform to further enhance Indian and Bhutanese partnership and support, exchange best practices in areas like prevention of Air Pollution, Waste Management, Chemical Management and Climate Change. It also provides the possibility to have joint projects in areas of mutual interest.

The MoU will also strengthen technological, scientific and management capabilities and expand the areas of cooperation in the field of environment to promote a mutually beneficial partnership between the two countries.

Scientists have shown that the cold desert of Ladakh Himalaya once experienced large floods that rose much above the present-day river level. It implies that in the scenario of global warming, when the higher Himalaya regions are expected to respond dramatically, flood frequency in Ladakh may increase, which may call for serious urban and rural planning.

Large floods that naturally occur in major rivers of India fed by melting snow and glaciers and a continental scale precipitation regime of Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) and Westerlies and East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM) significantly modify the landscape and impact lives and economy of all that encroached into its geomorphic domain.

These floods are of various kinds and origin (Glacial/landslide lake outbursts, cloud bursts, excessively strong monsoon) and have different forcing factors and frequencies and therefore add large uncertainty in flood prediction models. An instrumental record of these floods is of ~100 years is not enough to understand the natural ramp of flood occurrences in the Himalayas, and therefore archive going deep into time is required.

A team of students and scientists lead by the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology at Dehradun, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, travelled through the tough terrains of Zanskar and Indus drained Himalaya and looked minutely into geological signatures of past floods in Ladakh region that date between 15-3 thousand years before present. This study was recently published online in the Geological Society of America Bulletin.

Flood leaves a stack of fine sand and silts at places along its channel where the flood energy drastically reduces, for example, wider segments of river valleys, confluences, behind rock embayments which is called as Slack Water Deposits (SWDs). The SWDs were located at several locations along the Zanskar and Indus rivers, counted vertically for the number of floods, and were dated using technology called Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) and Accelerator Mass Spectrometry of 14C. The flood deposits were also analysed for their source.

This analysis showed that the cold desert once experienced a large flood that rose to more than 30 m above the present-day river level. The active flood plains nearer to river were also utilized by Humans, possibly as camping sites and cooking as indicated by presence of hearths at several locations and levels of flood deposits.

The chronology of the flood deposits pointed towards three phases of increased flooding occurred in Ladakh after the period called Last Glacial Maximum (14–11, 10–8, and 7–4 (1000 years) or ka). These were times when due to warming, the Indian summer monsoon was active in Ladakh as well. The results also suggest that Ladakh floods are chronologically out-of-phase with those occurring in North-Eastern Himalayas and mainland China during the past 15 thousand years. This implies that the modern relationship between the ISM and EASM goes deep into more than 14 thousand years. Further, the rocks of Higher Himalayan Crystalline and Tethyan sequences equally act as hotspots of erosion in the regions during the flood phases.

The preliminary study of hearths suggested that there was an inbound migration of people along the mountain corridors of Ladakh after the Last Glacial Maximum when temperatures were relatively warmer, and hydrology of the region was supporting. According to the WIHG team, a detailed genomic and isotopic-based study of these anthropogenic relics may further help understand the geographical antiquity of migrating humans and the kind of food and vegetation they were living on.

Bangladesh will set up an international institute for vaccine production including for COVID 19.

Announcing it in Parliament on Wednesday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that the government will sign an agreement with South Korea to set up the vaccine institute in Bangladesh. She said that government to government negotiations are going on with the countries which have developed vaccines for COVID 19 for technology transfer.

The capacity of three Banglaesshi firms has been assessed for the production of the COVID 19 vaccines. Prime Minister Hasina told parliament that a vaccine developed by one of the Bangladeshi companies Globe Biotech Ltd is now in the trial stage.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that the government has taken initiative to produce COVID 19 vaccine alongwith collecting vaccines from various sources in the world in view of the Corona pandemic. She said Bangladesh has so far received 1.08 crore doses of the COVID 19 vaccine from foreign sources out of which 1.02 crore doses came from India including the gifted doses of over 3 million doses.

India continues to report Covid cases below 1 lakh per day.

As the various states across the country begin unlocking in a graded manner, a section of people are hopeful of easing in travel restriction by several countries which came into play as India was hit hard by the second wave of Corona.

There is a large population of students who have been lucky to secure admission in various foreign Universities but were unable to join their institutions as the spread of Covid and subsequent closure of the various embassy and Consulate offices almost stopped processing of all type of Visa applications. The sudden and unprecedented situation created a panic among many people who got stuck in India. Various embassies started getting urgent calls but they largely remained unfulfilled due to strict Covid Guidelines and travel restrictions. Now as the situation of the pandemic in India is fast deescalating, various foreign Missions have started indication that things might get well soon.

France has called for students interested in studying in France to apply for Visas. French Ambassador Emannuel Lenin took to Twitter “Looking to study in France? Student visa applications are now open at your nearest VFS centre! Get all the information you need on programmes & scholarships, plus free counselling at your nearest Campus France office:” He tweeted.

The U.S. Embassy and Consulates in India are continuing their important operations. Spokesperson of the US embassy In Delhi said that student visas remains a top priority and the U.S. Mission to India is making every attempt to facilitate student travel in time for the fall semester, including by offering tens of thousands of July and August student visa appointments at posts across India.
Most other routine nonimmigrant visa appointments at U.S. Embassy New Delhi and the consulates in Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Mumbai remain limited. Mission India posts will make every attempt to continue to honour approved emergency visa appointments. Emergency services for U.S. citizens will continue.

For people keen on travelling to the UK, The High Commission has already started Visa application centres for quite some time. A British High Commission spokesperson said: “The UK’s Visa Application Centres in India are open and we continue to process applications for many visa categories, including student and skilled worker visas.” The UK’s new Graduate Route for international students are opening for applications on 1 July 2021. The spokesperson said, “Our universities are global institutions which thrive on the contribution of international students, including those from India.”

Meanwhile, “The UK has also modified visa rules to ensure students can study online until they’re able to travel to the UK for in-person tuition.” He added further

Acknowledging the deep people-to-people links between India and Singapore, A representative from the High Commission responded, “We hope that the situation continues to improve. We will continue to monitor the situation and adjust our border measures accordingly.”
The representative further added Singapore government is working closely with IATA to safely rebuild connectivity. Singapore is one of the first countries to adopt the IATA Travel Pass for the submission of pre-departure PCR test results to airlines and immigration checkpoints from 1 May 2021.

The pandemic has affected all aspects of life globally. With the global fight getting stronger against the pandemic with aggressive vaccination, things are gradually moving back to normalcy.

India has signed an agreement extending a US$ 100 million Line of Credit (LOC) to Sri Lanka for projects in the Solar Energy Sector.

The agreement was signed between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Export-Import Bank of India.

A press statement from the Indian High Commission in Colombo said, ‘India has become the first country to partner with Sri Lanka in fulfilling the vision of the President of Sri Lanka, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, to ensure that 70% of Sri Lanka’s national power requirements are fulfilled by renewable energy sources by 2030,”

The agreement was exchanged in the presence of President Rajapaksa, between the High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, Gopal Baglay and the Secretary to the Treasury, S.R. Attygalle. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the High Commissioner of India also discussed the striking similarity in the national objectives outlined by India and Sri Lanka in connection with solar energy.

President Rajapaksa in his tweet said “Sri Lanka is going green, and we are working extensively to make it happen. Today, we formalized the agreement on the Line of Credit worth US$ 100M b/w Sri Lanka and the Export & Import Bank of India. Steadily, we’re getting closer to the goal of 70% renewable energy by 2030.”

This US$ 100 million LOC will help finance various projects in the solar energy sector in Sri Lanka, such as rooftop solar photo-voltaic systems for households and government buildings. Some of the projects were announced during the Founding Conference of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) held in March 2018 in Delhi.

Thus far 89 countries, including Sri Lanka, have signed the Framework Agreement of the ISA, which intends to bring together countries to promote the large-scale deployment of solar energy and overcome challenges related to technology, finance and capacity.

Bangladesh reported its highest level of single day COVID 19 infection and deaths in over 6 weeks on Wednesday.

According to the latest figures released by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), 60 people died and 3956 new Corona Positive cases were detected in the last 24 hours on Wednesday morning.

The single day death toll on Wednesday is highest since May 4 when 61 people had died due to Corona. Similarly, the new COVID 19 infection on Wednesday marks the highest level since April 22 when 4014 new cases were detected.

The sample positivity rate also continued to rise. It was reported to be 16.62 percent on Wednesday marking a sharp rise from 14.27 percent on Tuesday.

In order to control the further spread of Coronavirus in the country, the government of Bangladesh has extended the ongoing restrictions on movement and public gathering till July 15. Government has imposed COVID 19 related restrictions in the country since April 5 which has been extended with certain modifications in several phases. The current phase of COVID restrictions ended on Tuesday.

According to the notification issued by the Cabinet Division on Tuesday, the government has authorised district administration of high risk districts to decide about restrictions or lockdown. All tourist places, resorts, community centres and recreation centres will remain closed. Social, religious or political gathering will be restricted. Hotels and restaurants will be allowed to serve people upto half of their capacity. Similarly, public transport will also operate by allowing people to board only upto half of their capacity.
However, government and private offices and factories will remain open with observance of health guidelines.

Rajesh Jha/Dhaka/16.6.2021
Rajesh Sir: Bangladesh to set up international vaccine institute- Prime Minister Hasina

Bangladesh will set up an international institute for vaccine production including for COVID 19. Announcing it in Parliament on Wednesday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that the government will sign an agreement with South Korea to set up the vaccine institute in Bangladesh. She said that government to government negotiations are going on with the countries which have developed vaccines for COVID 19 for technology transfer.

The capacity of three Banglaesshi firms has been assessed for the production of the COVID 19 vaccines. Prime Minister Hasina told parliament that a vaccine developed by one of the Bangladeshi companies Globe Biotech Ltd is now in the trial stage.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that the government has taken initiative to produce COVID 19 vaccine alongwith collecting vaccines from various sources in the world in view of the Corona pandemic. She said Bangladesh has so far received 1.08 crore doses of the COVID 19 vaccine from foreign sources out of which 1.02 crore doses came from India including the gifted doses of over 3 million doses.

The Sports Authority of India has recieved requests through NRAI for the vaccination of two skeet shooters Angad Vir Singh Bajwa and Mairaj Ahmed Khan who are shooting in Italy.

The former needs his second dose and the latter requiring his first, since he has recovered from Covid infection just over a month ago.

For the vaccination of the skeet shooters, National Rifle Association of India intimated SAI on June 10. The Embassy of India in Rome, has taken the issue up with the concerned Italian authorities and are working towards organising vaccine doses for both. The SAI and Embassy are in touch with both athletes to help resolve the issue. The Italian government’s health department has requested for details of athletes with regards to their past Covid history, which have been furnished.

As for the extension of the gun permits and visas of the two shooters and visa of the physical trainer Jitender Arya till July 18, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has already written to the Ministry of External Affairs for assistance. Since Italian authorities have said the visas of those already in Italy cannot be extended as per rules, the Embassy of India in Rome has taken it up with the Italian Olympic Committee to help secure the extension of visas.

Both athletes are likely to travel to Croatia for the World cup from Italy. The Indian Government has also made backup arrangements for their vaccination in Croatia in the event of vaccination not taking place in Italy, so that both athletes get two doses before their travel to Tokyo.

Gold was trading Rs 140 up today at Multi Commodity Exchange for August contracts even as gold prices in the international markets were down. Gold was trading at Rs 48,660 per 10 gram. Silver prices plunged Rs 370 to trade at Rs 71,510 per kilogram for July Contracts when reports last came in.

In the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold was down USD 1,865.70 per ounce. Silver was also down at USD 27.80 per ounce.

In the US equity market, the Nasdaq index and the S&P 500 gained yesterday. In the lack of catalysts the Dow Jones index fell while gains at the S&P 500 remained marginal. Investors also awaited this week’s Federal Reserve meeting for further cues.

On the other hand, the technology-heavy Nasdaq rose for the sixth session in the past seven working days, lifted by gains in shares of Tesla, Apple and Amazon Incs.

Investors are seeking new cues from the central bank this week on its inflation outlook, after recent data indicated the US economy is regaining momentum but not overheating. This has eased investor worries about inflation. While the Fed has reassured that any spike in inflation would be transitory.

The Nasdaq Composite index surged 0.7 per cent, the S&P 500 closed 0.2 per cent up while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell around 0.3 per cent.

Maharashtra Women and Child Development Minister Yashomati Thakur has said that the state government will provide all kinds of assistance to the children who have lost their parents during the Corona period and will provide Rs. 5 lakh assistance to such children.

She further said that a task force is set up under the chairmanship of District Collector Rajesh Narvekar to rehabilitate every orphan. A survey of orphans is underway and care has been taken to ensure that no child is deprived. Efforts are also being made to increase the childcare fund for child development, Thakur said.

Thakur has said that it is necessary to keep in touch with the child victims and provide emotional support therefore. At present, the number of orphans due is 42 in Thane district.

Member (Health) Niti Aayog Dr. Paul has stressed on effective containment of COVID pandemic by following COVID appropriate behaviour and creating micro containment zones across the country.

Briefing the media in New Delhi today, Dr. Paul has said the country is dealing with the highly infectious variant of the Coronavirus this year. He said, strict preventive measures are required to contain transmission of this variant. On the Delta Plus variant, Dr. Paul has said it has not been classified as a variant of concern. He said, this variant nullifies the use of monoclonal antibodies as per the data available in public domain. He said, more scientific study is required to learn about this variant.

Talking about the COVID vaccine Novavax, Dr. Paul has said, this vaccine is very safe and highly effective. He said, the data available in the public domain proves it. He said, efficacy of this vaccine is over 90 per cent and this will be produced in India.

On the vaccination front, Dr. Paul has said that the Central Government with the active support of States and Union Territories are working together for scaling up the vaccination coverage.

Technology has been a huge enabler and rescuer during the pandemic, says Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi S Vempati

Prasar Bharati CEO, Shashi Shekhar Vempati addressed the third ABU-RAI DAYS 2021 discussion on “A new world out of COVID: Can Public Service Media help to create more open, inclusive and tolerant societies?”

Speaking at the virtual event, CEO said that he sees potential in 5G broadcasting as the audience is increasingly moving away from traditional broadcasting to internet broadcasting. He said that one should be able to use the broadcast frequencies to directly reach citizens on their choice of device.

CEO Vempati discussed a number of topics like combating fake news and misinformation, building trust during the pandemic, technology, and more.

RAI is an Italian public service broadcaster. The event was organized in cooperation with the ABU on June 14 and 15, 2021.

Technology – enabler and rescuer

During the address, CEO Vempati spoke on the role of technology during the pandemic, which he said has been a huge enabler and a big rescuer, especially the digital tools and information technology system.

The right IT systems in place and the ability to quickly get the staff enabled on crucial digital tools came together in keeping the operations going and the basic technology played the role of a huge enabler for Prasar Bharati during the pandemic.

CEO Vempati said that going forward, advanced technology like artificial intelligence has a big role to play, especially in India, which has a diversified population. He also said that he sees potential in 5G broadcasting as the audience is increasingly moving away from traditional broadcasting to internet broadcasting. He said that one should be able to use the broadcast frequencies to directly reach citizens’ on their choice of device.

He further added that with the increasing growth of digital platforms, good content is equally important.

Challenges to the public broadcaster during the pandemic

Speaking of the challenges the public broadcaster faced during the pandemic, the Prasar Bharati CEO said that the biggest challenge for them was tackling the flood of fake news and misinformation doing rounds on social media platforms during the pandemic.

“Our whole understanding of the science of the pandemic was itself shifting every few weeks, every few months. Within that environment, you had a flood of misinformation, especially on social media platforms, WhatsApp groups, you know, wrong information going viral,” he said.

Elaborating it further, he said, “So the biggest challenge for the public broadcaster was countering these, putting out the right information at the right time in all the possible languages, in all the different regions so that the citizens were accurately informed.”

The other challenge for the public broadcaster was meeting the high expectations of the citizens. “In India, public service media continues to be considered the most credible and authentic source of information. So often, when we get it wrong, it goes viral,” he said.

“We have to be 100% sure that all the information that we put out is very accurate, because in the minds of the citizens, this is one place where they can get authentic and credible information, and they continue to rely on it,” CEO Vempati added.

Increase in viewership during the pandemic

During the pandemic, when the country was under a lockdown, the public broadcaster was working every day and kept its services on. During this time, the public broadcaster also witnessed an extremely high viewership and Doordarshan broke every record out there in terms of television viewership for a series.

“Television viewership hit an all-time high in India, we had the Epics, Ramayana and Mahabharat aired, (and) families got together during the lockdown. They were all glued to the television sets, watching Doordarshan,” he was quoted as saying.

International cooperation during the pandemic

Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati said that international platforms like ABU have been playing a critical role in bringing all together despite not having physical events and meetings, through the online and content sharing platforms.

“We have been able to share a lot of what was happening in India through the (content sharing) platform and that created a lot of awareness. Similarly, through the online sessions, there was a lot of exchange of best practices, lessons learned, so many new things we learned on how public broadcasters across the Asia-Pacific were coping with the pandemic,” he said.

The pandemic was no longer a barrier as it was easy to go beyond the geography of Asia-Pacific and build relationships. “We were able to reach out to public broadcasters in Argentina, in Brazil, do online meetings, and put in place a content exchange program. The day that we had the interaction with our Argentinian counterparts, was the day that Diego Maradona passed away. So, we were able to leverage that relationship very quickly to get live feeds and live content from Argentina on the breaking coverage around that development,” CEO Vempati shared.

Similarly, when Brazil launched its first satellite from India using the Indian space infrastructure, Prasar Bharati covered the live event and gave it to its Brazilian counterpart. “All of these happened online through Zoom meetings, working out the details and setting it up,” he added on how technology, enabled international cooperation during this period.

Innovation is the key

During the pandemic, the public broadcaster faced disruptions with production. However, they engaged in a lot of innovative efforts. “We trapped into our archives and brought a lot of formats of content from our archives,” he said.

During the pandemic, Prasar Bharati got writers and authors to read their books on radios remotely, and also put 10,000 different radio dramas online, on the digital platform for the first time which generated a new audience. “We got Ruskin Bond, a celebrated Indian author to read stories from his books for children,” CEO Vempati said.

“So, new formats of content without a whole lot of in-studio presence, where you could remotely do it that made a difference to bring content during the pandemic. And this process goes on. These innovative efforts will have to continue till we all are safe and we all come out of this pandemic,” he further added.Need to bring Broadcasting to Smartphones through convergence between 5G Broadcasting & Cellular Standards: Prasar Bharati CEO

The Tamil Nadu Government has extended the investment period for establishing liquid medical oxygen plants in the State upto 31st of December 2022. The Government order issued today said that the special package of incentives will be to promote investment in manufacture of oxygen concentrators, oxygen cylinders, medical oxygen and large liquid medical oxygen plants in the State.

Two large companies have expressed their interest to manufacture oxygen. The Government has assured land cost incentive, stamp duty incentives, electricity tax incentives, training subsidy, intellectual property creation incentive and quality certification incentive for oxygen manufacturers.

Delhi is likely to see light to moderate intensity rain today accompanied by gusty winds, as per the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Pre-monsoon showers are expected to continue in Delhi until the arrival of the southwest monsoon around June 15, if meteorological conditions remain favourable, IMD officials said.

Moderate intensity rain is forecast in the city tomorrow with wind speeds of around 40 kmph, followed by light rain till Friday. The monsoon is expected to arrive about two weeks before its onset date on June 27 in Delhi, as per the IMD. Last year, it arrived on June 25. The mercury is expected to fall in the coming days. The maximum is forecast to be 35 degrees Celsius tomorrow and 34 degrees Celsius on Monday.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K.Stalin released water from the Mettur reservoir for irrigation today. 3000 cusecs of water was released today. The amount of water will be increased according to the need for irrigation. AIR correspondent reports that Tamilnadu will need 125 TMC water from today to September 15th for Kuruvai crop cultivation. Usually 99.74 tmc water is released from Mettur reservoir and the remaining 25.26 tmc water will depend on seasonal rains and ground water.

The State needs 205 .60 tmc water to irrigate 12 lakh ten thousand acre for Samba crop cultivation which begins from September 15 to January 28. The Government usually releases 108.50 tmc water from Mettur and the remaining 97.10 tmc water depends on seasonal rains and replenishment of ground water. During the release of water from the dam, the state also produces 250 mg watt power from the dam sources. The State also releases water depending on the down pour of the North East monsoon. It has requested the agriculturists to use the water meticulously and ensure good harvest.

Sikkim government has notified new measures to control COVID-19 with further relaxations. The new guidelines will be effective from 5 a.m. on 14th of June, till when the current complete lockdown will be in place, to 5 a.m. on 21st of June. The current lockdown was implemented from 16th of May due to a surge in cases and was extended in phases.

As per the new guidelines effective during 14th to 21st June, restrictions on inter-state and inter-district movement will continue excluding the movement of army, government officials, commercial goods vehicles and for emergency and essential services. All vehicles including private cars, taxis and two-wheelers will be allowed to ply with odd-even stipulation within districts. Two-wheelers will be allowed to ply without pillion riders.

Government vehicles will be allowed to operate without the odd and even stipulation from 9 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. locally. The odd-even rule will not be applicable to commercial goods vehicles including trucks ferrying essential commodities. Movement of passengers boarding or returning from Pakyong or Bagdogra airports and New Jalpaiguri Railway station in West Bengal will be allowed on the production of journey tickets and negative RT-PCR reports conducted within 72 hours of arrival.

All licensed stand-alone shops and e-commerce and home delivery services can operate till 5 p.m. Commercial establishments can operate with 50 per cent staff. Restaurants, fast food centres, sweet shops and bakeries have been allowed to operate till 8 p.m. with 50 per cent seating capacity. Home delivery of food has been permitted till 8 p.m. All gymnasiums, barber shops, spas, saloons and parlours may also operate till 5 p.m. with 50 per cent capacity. Pharma companies have been allowed to operate with 100 per cent staff while other production units may work with 50 per cent staff. All State Government offices have been allowed to function with 50 per cent staff. Private construction with local labourers, MGNREGA, agricultural and horticultural activities have also been permitted while a night curfew will be in place from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Five Myanmar nationals with arms and ammunition were apprehended last night in a joint operation by Assam Rifles and Mizoram Police from a bordering village in southern Lawngtlai district.

Police sources said that the intruders, suspected to be cadres of armed outfit Arakan Liberation Army (ALA) of Myanmar were nabbed from Kakichhuah village in Lawngtlai district near Indo-Myanmar international border in Indian side.

Security personnel also recovered a 9 m.m. Pistol, a Point 38 Revolver, 55 rounds of bullets and five hand grenades from the possession of the captives.

Additional Superintendent of Police C. Lalruatkima informed that captives were identified and later produced to the District Court with charges lodged in different sections under the Arms Act and Foreigners Act. The court ordered them for jail remand for further interrogation by Police.