Apna bharath

Bharat in U PAYears
India did make significant progress in several
spheres:
o agriculture,
o irrigation,
o atomic energy,
o space,
o information and communication technologies
and
o science education.

Bharat in UPAYears: 2004 to 2014
India’s growth consisted of openness and it withstood
external turbulence. India was not buffeted by EastAsian
crisis of 1997. Its economic performance showed further
improvement recently
. Starting in 2005, the GNP of India
grew at over 9.5 % per annum for three years. Our
growth rate slowed down after the global financial crisis
in 2008 but India was even then among the three or four
fast growing nations in the world.

Former PM Manmohan Singh was a respected & loved
leader (His party lost election in 2014 after he
New York: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh topped
Newsweek Magazine's list of 10 world leaders who
have won respect and is described as "the leader
other leaders love" though India figures at 78th
place in the list of 100 best countries.
retired.)
77-year-old Singh, who was into his seventh year in office, had played
a "key role in India's emergence as one of the rising powers of the
21st century."
In an article titled "The Leader Other Leaders Love", the magazine
said the economist-turned-politician Singh, engineered the transition
"from stagnant socialism to a spectacular takeoff in the global
economy."

India took a number of promotional measures to
stimulate the economy. India seeks rapid economic
growth that will create wealth for our people and
also generate surpluses to fund our ambitious
social development programs, particularly in the
areas of health, education and environment
protection. We seek growth that creates
employment and development that is socially
regionally balanced and inclusive.
and

PLA
YER IN TWENTIETH CENTURY
OVERALL DEVELOPMENT
India did make significant progress in several spheres:
agriculture, irrigation, atomic energy
, space, information and
communication technologies and science education.
T
o ensure ecological security, provide safe drinking water,
better health, employment, peace and equity
, India has to
utilized science and technology effectively
. There is a need
for a strategy for the future, using the combined strength of
science and socio-economic sectors. Rahul did not impress.

Player in this Global Century
That India will be
significant player
competitive it will
a
in this Global Century is assured, but how
be on a sustained basis over the course of
the century should be realized. It is hard to become a
significant competitor in any sphere of human activity
. One
has first to get recognized as a major player in an arena.Also,
it is important to maintain and sustain a competitive position
even though it can be just as hard as, if not more difficult than,
developing one.

Y
ou can compete globally on
three dimensions: efficiency
, local responsiveness, or
innovation. Let us see a leader who showed an example. JRD
T
ata did so much to lay the foundations of business enterprise
during the 20th century
. India became a economic
superpower in the 21st century
. With emphasis in India on
buying swadeshi, T
ata’s NELCO subsidiary led a
transformation in which India went from importing nearly all
the approximately 2 million radios sold in the country annually
,
to manufacture nearly all of them itself.

During the same decade,
the T
ata Engineering and Locomotive Company
, or TELCO,
created its own foundry and forging shop to construct truck
parts that had previously been imported, dramatically also of
increasing production and sales not only of trucks but thus
tractors, excavators, shovels, cranes, and back hoes,
spurring the growth of entire sectors of the Indian domestic
economy
. In 1944, JRD T
ata and the other Indian business
leaders had formulated the Bombay Plan to chart the course
of India’s economic development. ‘Air India’ was also a T
ata
enterprise _ now in trouble under government management..

A leader who showed an example
In the 1960s, with India’s
role in international politics and the world economy
increasing, JRD T
ata looked abroad for opportunities and
formed T
ata InternationalAG and T
ata Exports to cultivate
international markets for T
ata products and services. JRD
also recognized the power of computers and information
technology and opened T
ata Consultancy Services, or TCS,
In 1968. T
ata’s TELCO opened an Engineering and
Development Research Unit that, five years after its
establishment in 1966, evolved into T
ata Motors.

The emergence of a
new class of entrepreneurs— like Reliance, Infosys
and Wipro, that took advantage of the liberalization of
the Indian economy to challenge established Indian
companies from within—at the same time that these
established companies were facing the competitive
threat from multinational companies entering from
abroad, created a dynamic competitive ecology that
was enormously healthy for the Indian economy
.

Modi Era
Previously, Modi served as the Chief Minister of Gujarat
from 2001 to 2014. He has also held key organizational
responsibilities in the Bharatiya Janata Party, including that
of the General Secretary (Organization).
PM Modi has on multiple occasions reiterated the
government’s motto of ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas’
(development for all), and said it was Centre’s responsibility
to ensure justice for all.

Modi stood accused of
to stop communal riots
Minister of that state.
On February 27, 2002,
failing
in Gujarat in 2002, when he was Chief
a deadly train fire in the city of Godhra
killed 58 Hindu pilgrims. In the weeks that followed, Hindu
mobs targeted and killed an estimated 2,000 people, mostly
Muslims, and left over 100,000 homeless. Women were raped;
infants and children were killed. Even prominent Muslims like
former Congress Party Member of Parliament (“MP”) Ehsan
Jafri were not spared.

 Aspecial investigation
team (SIT) appointed by the Supreme Court ? to
investigate the role of Modi and others in the
Covid pandemic in 2021, could [hardly] find the evidence
to prosecute the prime minister for not fighting the pandemic .

focus on development
In the aftermath of the riots,
Modi went to work to improve his reputation.
“What he has done is change the narrative and go for
“From 2002 onwards he does not mention the riots any
more. It does not come into his speeches. This focus on
development was backed up by a very powerful publicity
machine.” Prior to Modi’s full mandate, coalitions that were a
combination of family firms, often embodying caste interests or
breakaway regional blocs from the Congress, created winning
mandates for both. A two party system is yet to be developed.

story
Endorsed by TIME
 Narendra Modi
transformed Gujarat into a
developmental success
appreciated the world over. TIME endorses his ten year long
journey of progress becoming “India’s most industrialized and
business friendly territory” it further identifies the drivers of his
success as “good planning-exactly what so much of India lacks,”
and a leader with the ability to get things done. That is a past.

May 27, 2014
New Delhi, India. Y
esterday
, Narendra Modi of the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was sworn in as India’s
fifteenth Prime Minister.
Modi ran on a pro-growth and anti-corruption platform, and
his party won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections.
By electing the BJP by outright majority—282 of 543
seats—voters voiced their discontent at chronic corruption
scandals, high inflation and poor economic growth.

Covid Sab ka Saath!
May 27, 2014-2021
When the double mutant strain of Covid-19 was found in California, American
scientist William A Haseltine wrote in Forbes, “The B.1.617 variant has all the
hallmarks of a very dangerous virus. If indeed it is this variant that is driving the
unprecedented exponential increase in infections in India, the potential for trouble
here in the United States is real and immediate.”
Maharashtra, that carries half of the active caseload burden in India, suspects the mutant is
behind the second wave surge in the state and has sent samples to the union health
ministry to confirm it. Kerala, where the novel coronavirus was first detected in India, has
asked its health department to find out if the variant is behind the disease transmission in
the state.This is denied by Indian scientists saying it may only be small portion.

India on Sunday [4 April,2021] recorded 93,249 new
coronavirus infections, the highest single-day rise so far this
year, which took the total COVID-19 cases to 1,24,85,509.
The death toll climbed to 1,64,623 on Sunday with 513 new
fatalities, the ministry data updated at 8 am showed.
Registering a steady increase for the 25th day in row, the active
cases surged to 6,91,597, accounting for 5.54 per cent of the
total infections.
The recovery rate further dropped to 93.14 per cent, the data
stated.

Acche Din may be here, long wait !
Astubborn inflation rate,
means that ordinary Indians are still being cautious. Investors
might be happy with a huge amount of foreign funds flowing
into India over the last few months, but their glee has not been
infectious. Consumers remain reluctant to part with cash.
The markets don’t always reflect the economy or vice versa.
The latest industrial production numbers suggest the initial
cheer that followed Modi’s victory has washed out of the
system.

This gigantic idea (Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam) is an
exclusively Indian contribution to world peace. The
underlying philosophy of this ancient nation evolved a world-
view based on the motto "Loka samasta sukhina bhavantu"
(Let the entire world be happy) thousands of years ago.
Surprisingly, the same philosophy has now been thought of
by the United Nations in order to avoid global strife and
fostering world peace.
It is not limited to the residents of India or the adherents of
any particular faith or creed. That is the reason why India
receives, accepts and respects people of all faiths and
races.

Story-Rafale-36
French plane-maker DassaultAviation clarified on Thursday [Oct. 11,
2018] that an executive’s reported comment about an “imperative and
mandatory” joint venture with Reliance Defence was in reference to the
offset part of the government-to-government deal between France and
India for 36 Rafale aircraft.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi reiterated his demand for a probe
into the deal.

Explaining the logic of the joint venture to workers’ representatives in
2017, Dassault deputy chief executive officer Loik Segalen said this
was done to ensure the French company got the “Rafale India export”
business.


Hindustan Times pointed out in a report on Thursday it
wasn’t clear if Segalen’s reference was to the offsets — the
only way Dassault could benefit from these was if it
partnered
source —
reference
with a local company to make parts it could then
or the original deal. Dassault clarified that his
was to the offsets, or components it would have
to buy from an Indian manufacturer.
Separately, Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier told AFP
the joint venture with Reliance Group will meet about 10%
of the firm’s offset obligations required by the contract for 36
Rafale jets.

BANKS: Non-performing-assets or Not-paid-
accounts?
2017: Indian banks have reported willful defaults of over
Rs. 111,738 crore involving 9,339 borrowers who have the
capacity to pay up but refuse to repay loans.
State-owned banks have reported willful defaults of Rs
93,357 crore involving 7,564 borrowers as of Sept. 2017,
according
Bureau of
five years
in 2013.
to data available with the Credit Information
India Ltd (CIBIL)_ a 340 % surge in less than
as total willful defaults were just Rs. 25,410 crore

The total loan write off by banks in the last ten years is now
over Rs. 360,000 crore. Banks had written off Rs. 228,253
crore in nine years — from fiscal 2007-08 to 2015-16. ICRA
said that write offs amounted to Rs. 132,659 crore in 2016-17
and the first six months of 2017-18.
Rating firm Crisil has said the stock of gross NPAs in the
banking system is expected to rise to Rs 9.5 lakh crore by
the end of this fiscal. NPAs started rising fast since fiscal
2015, and trebled from Rs. 3.2 lakh crore seen then, after the
RBI pushed banks to recognize NPAs on time rather than
kick the can down the road.

The RBI is yet to disclose the full list of defaulters. In 2017,
the RBI had told the Supreme Court that it was not in favour
of publishing the list of loan defaulters who owe more than
Rs. 500 crore to public sector banks.
The RBI has defined willful default as one where the unit or
borrower has defaulted in meeting payment or repayment
obligations to the lender despite the capacity to honour
these commitments.
It also includes those who have siphoned off or not utilised
funds for the specific purposes for which finance were
availed of.

The RBI has allowed credit information bureaus such as like
CIBIL to disclose the identity of willful defaulters and those
borrowers against whom banks have filed suits for recovery
of loans. Regular suit-filed NPA (non-performing assets)
accounts of banks involve loans of Rs 259,991 crore
involving 16,844 borrowers.
SBI leads with Rs. 74,649 crore of 3,684 borrowers. Other
nationalized banks have filed cases against 9,507
borrowers for recovery of Rs. 129,636 crore, according to
CIBIL data as of September 2017

In January, PNB uncovered the alleged
fraud in which several bank officials were
suspected of colluding with jeweller
Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi to
issue fraudulent LoUs for their companies to raise loans
from overseas branches of mostly Indian banks.
The CBI, which has arrested 14 people in the case so far,
for the first time said that bribes were paid to at least one
PNB official by Nirav Modi.
on

Misogyny, women's experiences as workers
In a situation of unemployment, are men annoyed when competing for the same
opportunity with women who are perhaps more competent? However women are multi-
tasking creatures, at work & home.
In the story of Genesis, why woman is a later creation and made from the body material of
Adam, the first man? Did misogyny start with religion itself ?
Has misogyny worked to limit, devalue, and marginalize the work of women?
Have sense of inferiority to woman caused Ravana & Duryodana to bring on war and end?
[Of course, they were already wrong-doers in other aspects of morality.]
Did Shurpanakhi & Draupadi write Ramayana and Mahabharata? Had men to fight
because of women? Insult to a wicked Shurpanakhi (who deserved to be killed) led to
revenge by brother Ravana and insult to Draupadi triggered the vow by gambler Pandavas
to destroy Kauravas. Well! Men have the weaknesses and have to face consequences
too.
Without being a feminist, answer these Qs. Think. Now, there is a ‘Me-too’ party!







Grains Production & Storage:
India’s rice and corn production figures are set to hit
record highs in the current year, while wheat production is
likely to slide. 2017-18 rice production is about 110 million
tonnes. Corn production is likely to reach new high of 27
million tonnes. Wheat production is estimated to fall to 95
million tonnes in 2018-19.
Storage is an important marketing function, which involves
holding and preserving goods from the time they are
produced until they are needed for consumption.

Food Grain Stocking Policy for India
Pending legislation, which will guarantee access by the poor to a
specified quantity of food grains, the National Food Security Bill
stands to have a major impact on the food grain stocking policy in
India. The Bill mentions cash transfers and issuing food coupons to
eligible families. The successful implementation of the Act will clearly
require that much larger stocks be held. Whether these stocks are
held by the government or the private sector depends on new
instruments being created, e.g., negotiable warehouse receipts-, on
new institutions such as public-private partnerships in warehousing
and on changes to the legal structure, especially the Essential
CommoditiesAct and the Agricultural Produce Marketing (Regulation)
Act.

India’s grain production has steadily increased due to
advances in technology, but post-harvest loss is constant
at 10%. Losses during storage, accounts for around 6% of
the total losses as proper storage facilities are not
available. In India, food grains are stored using traditional
structures by small farmers. The surplus grains are stored
with government agencies like: Food Corporation of
(FCI), Central and State warehousing Corporations.
commonly used storage method is Cover and Plinth
storage, which is economical but loss of grains is
inevitable.
India
The
(CAP)

Silos
In these structures, the grains in
bulk are unloaded on the
conveyor belts and, through
mechanical operations, are
carried to the storage structure.
The storage capacity of each of
these silos is around 25,000
tonnes.

FOOD CORPORATION OF INDIA: Since its inception in
1965, having handled various situations of plenty and
scarcity, FCI has successfully met the challenge of
managing the complex task of providing food security for
the nation. A strong food security system which has helped
to sustain the high growth rate and maintain regular supply
of wheat and rice right through the year. The efficiency with
which FCI tackled one of the worst droughts of the century
not only cemented its role as the premier organization in
charge of food security in India, but also brought it
accolades from international organizations.

In highest one-day spike, India records 11,929 fresh coronavirus
cases; tally surges over 3.20 lakh _news 2020
India on Sunday morning [June-14, 2020] recorded its biggest jump in the
coronavirus cases, pushing the country's tally to over 3.20 lakh. In the past
24 hours, India has reported 11,929 fresh coronavirus infections and 311
deaths.
The new number of Covid-19 infections reported in a single day has taken
India's coronavirus count to 320,922, according to the latest data released
by the Union health ministry.
According to the health ministry's latest release, there are 149,348 active
coronavirus cases and 162,379 people have cured / discharged / migrated.
The death toll in India due to the novel coronavirus has climbed to 9,195.

T
op 5 coronavirus-hit cities account for 50% of
India’s Covid-19 cases
India is the fourth top country globally with the highest number
of Covid-19 cases. With 308,993 total cases, India trails
countries like the US, Brazil and Russia [in June].
A massive chunk of India's Covid-19 cases come from
Maharashtra, around 32 percent. Maharashtra has over one
lakh Covid-19 cases, and when clubbed with T
amil Nadu's tally,
the two states account for over 45 percent of Covid-19 cases in
the country. Mumbai, Pune and Thane in Maharashtra, Delhi,
Ahmedabad in Gujarat, Chennai in T
amil Nadu and Jaipur in
Rajasthan.

India’s COVID-19 case tally now above 1.20 crore with 56,211 new cases
reported as per the health ministry’s March 30, 2021 update. India reports
third-highest novel coronavirus cases--after the USA and Brazil,
accounting for 9 percent of the world total. India
and 37,028 new recoveries in the last 24 hours,
reported 271 new deaths
the latest release shows.
More than
according
reported in
6.11 crore vaccinations have been administered across India,
to the March 30 update, with 5,82,919 new vaccinations
a day.
Of the total vaccinations administered till date, 85 percent are recipients of
their first dose while 15 percent have received the second dose. Among
states, Maharashtra has administered the most 5.8 million vaccine doses,
followed by Rajasthan (5.5 million) and Uttar Pradesh (5.3 million).

India now ranks 6th in the world with 5,40,720 active cases, an increase of
18,912 cases in 24 hours as per the March 30 update. Maharashtra now
reports the most (3,37,928 or 62 percent) active cases in the country,
followed by Kerala (24,533) and Punjab (24,143).
Maharashtra reported the most (31,643 or 56 percent) new cases in the
last 24 hours, followed by Punjab (2,868), Karnataka (2,792), Madhya
Pradesh (2,323) and T
amil Nadu (2,279). These five states account for 75
percent of all the new cases reported in India.
Maharashtra reported the most 102 new deaths (over 100 daily deaths for
the 5th day), followed by Punjab (59), Chhattisgarh (20), Karnataka (16)
and T
amil Nadu (14). These five states account for 78 percent of all the
new deaths reported across the country.

IIT Delhi startup's Hope Electric Scooter
The scooter has a light sub-frame that makes it perfect to manoeuvre through
dense traffic routes. The frame also houses a removable battery unit right below the
rider’s seat which can be detached and charged indoors as opposed to several
other electric bike manufacturers that offer the ability to charge it outdoors. The
Hope electric scooter charges 80 percent in around three hours. Buyers will get the
option of picking between 50-kilometre and 75-kilometre range batteries.

FromApril 1, 2021, the cheque books and passbooks of several bank
account holders will be invalid as several banks went through a merger.
These banks are those whose mergers with other banks took effect from
April 1, 2019, and April 1, 2020, and their names include Dena Bank, Vijaya
Bank, Corporation Bank,Andhra Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, United
Bank and Allahabad Bank.After the merger, for obvious reasons cheque
books and passbooks of only one entity can be valid.
Dena and Vijaya Bank were merged with Bank of Baroda with effect from
April 1, 2019. Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India were
merged with Punjab National Bank (PNB). Syndicate Bank merged with
Canara Bank,Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank merged with Union Bank
of India, and Allahabad Bank merged with Indian Bank. If a customer has
an account in any of these 7 banks, then quickly check for a new cheque
book and IFSC code.

Kia EV6: First car to be based on a new platform for battery electric
vehicles: The South Korean car manufacturer, Kia introduces the EV6
crossover SUV, which is based on the company’s new platform for
battery electric vehicles (BEVs).
The EV6 is the first dedicated BEV produced by Kia using the all-new
Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP), and forms the first part of
Kia’s transition to the new era of electrification under the new brand
slogan, ‘Movement that inspires’. The latest development is a part of the
mid-to-long term strategy for BEVs, plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and hybrid
electric (HEV) vehicles, which as per Kia, will make up for 40 percent of
the company’s total sales by 2030.

New Delhi: The Government of India has made the linking of
PAN (Permanent Account Number) with Aadhaar mandatory
and the deadline is just a day away. If you fail to link your
PAN with your Aadhaar by March 31, 2021 (Tuesday) then
your
liable
PAN will become inoperative and you could also be
to pay a fine of Rs 1,000. As per the new section
the Lok
inserted
Sabha,
in the Finance Bill recently presented in
failing to carry out the PAN Aadhaar order by the
given deadline will incur a late fee of up to Rs. 1,000. Those
who already have the PAN linked with the Aadhaar will be
able to check the status both online as well as offline.

Old vehicle scrapping: The Union government on March 30 issued a draft
notification that proposes to offer up to 25 percent concession on motor
vehicle tax for all vehicles purchased along with a certificate of vehicle
scrapping. As per the draft notification issued by the Ministry of Road
Transport and Highways, personal vehicles purchased with a certificate of
vehicle scrapping will be given a concession of 25 percent on motor vehicle
tax, while commercial vehicles will be given a concession of 15 percent.
The tax concession will be for a period of eight years for commercial
vehicles, while for personal vehicles the concession will be for a period
15 years from the date of registration. It has invited suggestions from
various stakeholders on the subject for a period of 30 days.
The rules are likely to come into effect from October 1. A certificate of
of
vehicle scrapping will be issued to vehicles owners when they scrap their
vehicles older than 15 years, the government said.

Currently, BSNL is offering its 3G services only in most parts of the
country and now with the government approving the 4G service, the
internet speed will dramatically increase.
BSNL has also asked to split the tender into two parts- the first part
includes 50,000 sites that are exclusively for the Indian vendors and
the second part contains the rest of 50,000 sites reserved for global
vendors such as Ericsson, Nokia, and more.
Notably, the private telecom companies in India have been providing
their 4G services for the last several years. Recently, the government-
owned telecom company BSNL has also joined this race.
For the tender, Indian companies will also be able to participate in the
sites reserved for foreign vendors if they can complete the trial of their
technology successfully in time.

Retail fuel prices were slashed on March 30 for the first time in five
days following a decline in international fuel prices. The price of petrol
was cut by 22 paise and that of diesel by 22 paise in New Delhi. Prices
were earlier slashed on March 25 after remaining unchanged for 24
days.After the latest cut, the petrol price in the national capital stood
at Rs 90.56 per litre. The price of diesel was at Rs 80.87 per litre,
according to the Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL). While the price of petrol
in Mumbai was Rs 96.98 per litre, the diesel price in the financial
hub was Rs 87.96 per litre. The fuel price cuts this month are the first in
2021 and largely due to the drop in international oil prices to their
lowest since early February as the second wave of COVID-19
infections clouded prospects for a speedy recovery in consumption.

From salary structure to LPG cylinder price: Major changes from April 1 that will
affect your daily life: LPG cylinder price change
In March 2021, LPG price in New Delhi was increased from Rs 769 per cylinder
to Rs 819 per LPG cylinder price and it is expected that LPG cylinder price would
further increase in April due to rise in crude oil prices.

A new Reserve Bank of India (RBI) rule will come into place from April 1. Due to
this, you may have problems making bill payments from your account - mobile,
utility, and other bills as well as subscription charges for OTT platforms. The new
rule, which requires additional authentication for recurring transactions using
credit cards, debit cards, UPI, or other prepaid payment instruments (PPIs). The
ruling is set to be applied to banks and financial institutions offering credit cards,
debit cards, and other prepaid payment instruments. It will be applied on mobile
payment wallets and platforms enabling UPI-based payments. Banks/ payment
platforms offering recurring transactions will have to send a notification to
customers 24 hours before the first transaction is debited. Mode of notification
(SMS, email) will be chosen by the consumer at the time of registering the e-
mandate for recurring payments. That notification will essentially need the
customer's consent upon which the issuer will be able to proceed with the
payment.

India will get three more Rafale fighter jets on Wednesday, which will join
the Golden Arrows Squadron in Ambala. These fighter jets will fly directly
from France and will be provided mid-air refuelling by the UAE. These
planes are expected to land in Gujarat at 7pm. The fresh induction will
take the squadron's strength to 14.
The next batch of nine Rafale fighter jets will be coming in April. Out of
these, five will be inducted at Hashimara airbase in West Bengal.
Emmanuel Lenain,Ambassador of France to India said on Tuesday that
five extra Rafale jets will be ferried to India by the end of April. The
ambassador said, "It's a matter of great pride that we've been able to
deliver on schedule and even ahead of schedule in spite of the Covid-19
pandemic."Ambassador Lenain was speaking in Kochi.

Healthcare workers (HCWs) and other frontline workers
(FLWs), who were eligible for the coronavirus vaccine in the
first phase of inoculation, can no longer register for COVID-19
vaccination, the Union Health Ministry on Saturday [3 April,
2021]. The move has been taken in order to ensure that more
categories
priority. All
states/UT
s
of citizens, like those above the age of 45, now get
efforts have been made in close collaboration with
to saturate vaccination for HCWs and FLWs. The
timeline
with the
multiple
for completing vaccination of all HCWs and FLWs
first dose of COVID-19 vaccine has been extended
times. Ineligible beneficiaries of the prior categories
have been adding their names for vaccination.

The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January
16 with HCWs getting inoculated and the vaccination of
FLWs started from February 2. The next phase of COVID-19
vaccination commenced from March 1 for those over 60
years of age and for people aged 45 and above with
specified comorbid conditions.
Registrations of persons aged 45 years and above will
continue to be permitted on CoWIN portal, he added. Every
person above 45 years of age is eligible to get their COVID-
19 vaccine doses from April 1.

The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with
HCWs getting inoculated and the vaccination of FLWs started from
February 2. The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from
March 1 for those over 60 years of age and for people aged 45 and above
with specified comorbid conditions.

Naxals in the forests of Chhattisgarh's Bijapur and Sukma
districts_counter
Raipur | Jagran News Desk:At least 22 soldiers -- personnel from
Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Special T
ask Force (STF) and
the District Reserve Guard (DRG) -- lost their lives while several others
are injured after the deadly counter with Naxals in the forests of
Chhattisgarh's Bijapur and Sukma districts, said Bijapur SP Kamalochan
Kashyap. A fierce gunbattle had broken out between the security forces
and the Naxals in jungles along the border between Bijapur and Sukma
districts on Saturday. The officials said that nine Naxals -- including a
woman Maoist -- were killed in the three-hour-long encounter. Separate
joint teams of security forces, over 2,000 in number, had launched a
major anti-Naxal operation from Bijapur and Sukma districts in the South
Bastar forests, considered as the Maoist stronghold.

The Union Road Transport and Highways ministry, as part of
its plan to set-up
March
75 vehicle fitness centres across the
new
country by 2023, is considering rolling out
vehicle scrappage policy to phase out old polluting vehicles
in a phased manner. Under the new policy, the road ministry
along with state governments has set up
seven cities. According to sources in the
fitness centres in
road ministry, the
first of the seven Vehicle Inspection and Certification
Centres have been
Haryana, Lucknow
set up at Jhuljhuli in Delhi, Rohtak in
in Uttar Pradesh, Surat in Gujarat,
Cuttack in Odisha, Nashik in Maharashtra, and Bengaluru in
Karnataka.

The report also cited that scrapping of government and government-owned
vehicles which are more than 15 years old will start fromApril 1, 2022.And it
is estimated that each scrappage centre will cost around Rs 18 crore, if the
land is leased. While the cost may spike up to Rs 33 crore, if the land is
purchased. Under the new vehicle scrappage policy, private, commercial and
government vehicles would be required to undergo mandatory fitness tests.
It is aimed at reducing pollution and providing a spurt to the automobile
sector. The road ministry in 2018 had proposed to make vehicle scrapping
mandatory last year onwards. However, they had to put the proposal on hold
after the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) made few suggestions such as –
make the scheme voluntary, consult with states, among others.

India has approximately 7 lakh trucks, buses and taxis that
were manufactured before December 31, 2000. There are
over 5 million light motor vehicles (LMVs) which are older than
20 years, and around 3.4 million LMVs which are older than
15 years and are plying across the country without a valid
fitness certificate.

A cyclone in India's western states has complicated efforts to slow down the
COVID-19 spread as cases surpass 25 million. India recorded its deadliest day of
the pandemic with 4,329 deaths.
The grim milestone comes as the parts of the country were hit with the strongest
cyclone on record.
Experts are worried the evacuation of thousands as a result of the storm will cause
a rise in cases.
A powerful cyclone that hit India is hampering efforts to slow down COVID-19
infections as the country surpassed 25 million cases. Cyclone T
auktae was the
strongest storm on record to hit the west coast of the country and has forced tens
of thousands of residents in western states like Gujarat and Maharashtra to
evacuate.
"You have to evacuate [people] in a certain way because you do not want COVID
infections on your hands post-cyclone," India's disaster relief chief, Satya
Pradhan, told local media.

India's Covid-19 peak likely? between May 11-15 with 33-35 lakh active cases:
Experts
NEW DELHI: The rapid spread of Covid-19 cases during the second wave might
have knocked recent predictions off the mark, but scientists working on a
mathematical model to work out the course of the pandemic say there is a
possibility of a peak between May 11-15 with 33-35 lakh total ‘active’ infections.
This means the number of ‘active’ cases in India will keep increasing
roughly for another three weeks before a decline. If the current model shows
the trend correctly, the mid-May peak would be three time higher than the first
peak of over 10 lakh ‘active’ cases witnessed on September 17 last year. The
exercise is, however, important to prepare the policymakers for a proper
response mechanism in terms of medical supplies and facilities. “Prediction gives
you a fair estimate of what all you need (such as arrangement of hospital beds,
ICUs, medical grade oxygen etc.) to do in the next one month or so. Though
there is a risk of going wrong, we cannot stop doing it as such modeling is very
important for preparing ourselves for the crisis,” said Agrawal.

The pandemic appeared to be overwhelming large urban centres such as Delhi,
where hospitals ran out of beds and life-saving oxygen and people died in parking
lots, gasping for breath. Bodies piled up in morgues and crematoriums and anger
grew on social media over the suffering and perceived lack of government support.
The situation has since eased in Delhi and Mumbai as cases have fallen but the virus
has penetrated deep into India's vast hinterland where public health facilities are
weaker.
"The people of India — or at least the vast majority — have... come to the conclusion
that they have to rely only on themselves, and their families and friends, to protect
their lives," said P Chidambaram, the Congress leader.
"In the battle against Covid-19, the state, especially the central government, has
withered away," Chidambaram said.
Narendra Modi's government has said it is doing its best to tackle the "coronavirus
storm", calling it a once-in-a-century crisis.
A survey among urban Indians by polling agency YouGov this month showed public
confidence in the government's handling of the crisis has plummeted since February
when the second wave began.
Only 59% of respondents at the end of April believed the government was handling
the crisis 'very' or 'somewhat' well, down from 89% a year earlier during the first
wave, it showed.

The government on Monday opened up vaccination against the
coronavirus for everyone above the age of 18 years from May 1. The
decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra
Modi during the day. All adults will be able to take the shots as part of
the “liberalised and accelerated phase 3 strategy of COVID-19
vaccination”, the Centre said in a statement.
The number of
over 3.14 lakh
pushing India’s
coronavirus cases in India hit a record daily high with
new infections being reported in a span of 24 hours
total tally of COVID-19 cases to 1,59,30,965, according
to the ministry data updated in the morning.
Cumulatively, 13,23,30,644 vaccine doses have been administered
through 19,28,118 sessions,according to the provisional report till 7 am,
the ministry said

India has been the epicenter of the pandemic for the past several weeks,
recording record numbers of infection and at one point tallied over 400,000 cases
in a day, a grim milestone. The country suffered its deadliest day of the pandemic
on Tuesday with 4,329 deaths recorded over the past 24 hours. Only the United
States has recorded a daily death toll higher, when 5,444 COVID-19 deaths were
recorded on February 12.
Hospitals are running out of oxygen and patients have been dying at record rates.
Experts told Reuters the death toll could
than what is being reported.
The outbreak has been attributed to
o more infectious coronavirus variants,
o relaxed social distancing efforts, and
o a slow vaccine rollout.
be as much as five to 10 times higher
"It will get worse before it gets better," Ashish Jha, a physician and Dean of Brown
University's School of Public Health, said of India's outbreak on Twitter.

PM Modi's approval rating falls as India struggles to contain second Covid-19
wave: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's approval ratings have fallen to a new low, a
survey showed,
the coronavirus
week [May 15],
as the country struggles to contain a devastating second wave of
pandemic. India's Covid-19 caseload surged past 25 million this
exposing a lack of preparation and eroding Modi's support base,
according to US data intelligence company Morning Consult's tracker of a
dozen global leaders. Narendra Modi's overall ratings this week stand at 63%,
his lowest since the US firm began tracking his popularity in August 2019. The big
decline happened in April when his net
came as the pandemic is
overwhelming large
urban centres such as Delhi, where
hospitals ran out of beds and
life-saving oxygen and people
died in parking lots, gasping for breath.
approval dropped 22 points. That sharp fall

"The Centre has failed on all fronts, be it
•
•
•
•
•
business,
agriculture,
education,
GDP
, inflation,
international relations.
The seven-year rule of Prime Minister Narendra
Modi`s government has been fatal for the country.
It has also left people to fend for themselves during
the Covid-19 pandemic."

Modi govt’s 7 years full of agony, devastation for 140 crore Indians: says Congress
The Narendra Modi dispensation is harmful for the country as
has failed on every front and betrayed people’s trust, the
it

30th
Congress charged on May , Sunday, on the seventh
anniversary of the government.
“The truth is Modi government’s seven years are a story of
immeasurable pain, insurmountable devastation and
unfathomable agony and anguish for a nation of 140 crore
people,” it said.

Levelled a seven-point charge sheet of “blunders”, and said
the Modi dispensation abdicated its responsibilities.
that


The list included (1) a declining economy, (2) rising unemployment and (3)
inflation, and (4) Covid-19 mismanagement. Congress general secretary
Randeep Surjewala said the last seven years have been a story of
unprecedented devastation, abdication of responsibility and abandonment of
people by a government that was showered with all the love and affection.
“The Modi government is responsible for runaway inflation where (5) petrol is
crossing Rs. 100 for first time in 70 years and (6) mustard oil is crossing Rs 200
per litre.” He said the time has come to ask why “a pseudo-nationalist
government utterly (7) failed to defend our borders and to push back the Chinese
from our territory”.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren urged Modi to “weather the storm”
together with states.
The NCP urged people to come forward and be vocal on social media to
highlight the Modi government’s failures.

The latest C-Voter ‘Mood of the Nation’ survey confirms the Prime
Minister’s unassailable power. On the second anniversary of his second
mandate, while presiding over mass deaths due to the Covid pandemic
and the omnishambles that is India’s vaccination policy, Modi has only
received a polite rap on his knuckles. Dropping a few percentage points
from the previous survey, Modi today still commands a whopping 60 per
cent of approval ratings.
Modi’s personality prevailing even over the party system has led to the
destruction of any viable opposition today. The astonishing fact remains
that the politics of over 136 crore people is swayed by one man and
name. Elections too — assembly or national – over the past seven
years appear now as periodic plebiscites on Modi.

Modi has suborned the party to himself. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh (RSS), the foot-soldiers of the Hindutva family, initially gained from
this.As the oldest institution in the Sangh Parivar, the formidable volunteer
army of the RSS finally entered mainstream Indian politics with an
emissary appointed in Modi’s cabinet. Seven years later, it is unclear who
runs whom at this point. Safe to say, Modi remains the best bet even for
the RSS, a body otherwise known to shun and despise personality cults.
Recent assembly election results only confirm a phenomenon whereby
the BJP is likely to face regional challenges, like it has in Bengal and
Punjab, even as Modi remains in pole position.
Indian democracy is not a contest between Modi and a yet-to-be-
discovered face of opposition. It is a contest against Hindutva that has
found its image in Modi. As the main and original national party, the
Congress desperately needs a powerful new idea to counter Hindutva.

The dilemma is not whether Rahul Gandhi is a dynast or prince, a reluctant leader or
a fitfully absent figure. But rather, apart from the past, what does the Congress stand
for? Two ideas and two national parties are what is needed if Indian democracy is to
survive Modi’s Hindutva.
The Congress will need to radicalise its own origins and therefore the party. The party
predated and has outlasted every major personality that became its face. The lack of
ideological clarity in the face of dwindling power has exacerbated factional conflict
within the Congress. As the main and original national party, the Congress
desperately needs a powerful new idea to counter Hindutva. Jawaharlal Nehru had
anointed India as more than a place and as a vision that conveyed India’s strength
and freedom arising from its plurality.
Modi’s New India is about participative democracy and responsive, proactive
citizenry, one that can be enlisted in a Kennedy-style call to use toilets, build temples
and statues, pay taxes, and queue up to get rid of dirty cash. For Modi, ‘New India is
the era of Responsive people and responsive government’.

India has seen a rapid rise in its coronavirus disease
(Covid-19) caseload in the past week, as established by
the data released by the Union health ministry. The surge in
cases is ben attributed to the Omicron variant, which has
nearly three dozen mutations and spreads faster than the
Delta variant.
In the week ending January 9, India recorded 6,38,872
cases of Covid-19. This is a sharp increase – of more than
six times - from 1,02,330 cases recorded between
December 27 and January 2.

The first day of the week that began after that (January 3),
the cases went up to 33,750 and on January 9, the number
had crossed 1.50 lakh-mark (1,59,632 to be exact). This was
the second day in a row that India recorded more than one
lakh cases of Covid-19. The related fatalities have also gone
up, though at a much slower pace, indicating that Omicron
infection is spreading fast but is not as dangerous as the
second wave. In the week ending January 2, India recorded
495 fresh deaths due to Covid-19, which went up to 761 in
January 3-9 period.

A rapid rise in its coronavirus disease (Covid-19)
caseload in the New Year:
India is at number 2 after the United States on WHO’s
dashboard of countries affected the most by Covid-19.
However, in terms of the number of new cases reported in
the last week, India is at number 4.
The US reported the highest number of cases in the past
week (4,027,033), followed by France (1,419,654) and the
UK (1,267,948).

Omicron tally reaches 4,033: India records over 1,79,000 fresh
COVID-19 cases and 146 deaths in the last 24 hours.
The Omicron tally in India also climbed to 4,033 cases.
Around 30,836 people have been recovered so far in the last 24
hours.
India registered a massive surge in the daily tally of COVID-19 cases,
seeing a jump to 1,79,000 new cases, 12.5% higher than the previous
day. Around 146 people succumbed to COVID-19 in the last one day,
revealed the Union Health Ministry on Monday [10-1-2022].
Currently, the active caseload of the country stands at 7,23,619 cases,
which is 1,33,008 more than yesterday.

Around 46,569 people have been recovered so far in the last 24 hours.
The recovery rate also stands at 96.62%, according to the data by the
Union Health Ministry.
The Omicron tally in India also climbed to 4,033 cases reported in 23
states with Maharashtra remaining to be the worst-hit state with 1,126
Omicron cases, followed by Delhi with 529 cases.
Meanwhile, the daily positivity rate currently stands at 13.29%, and
weekly positivity rate climbed to 7.92% as the country is witnessing a
sudden surge in COVID-19 cases.
India has inoculated 29,60,975 COVID-19 vaccination doses in the last
24 hours, taking the tally to more than 151 crore COVID-19 doses so
far.

The Indian government has been financially cautious
during the past two Covid-19 years, avoiding the spending
and debt pile-ups of others. It has preferred to attract the
excess capital sloshing around the world by pushing
significant changes in the green energy and digital space,
and further opening the door to foreign investors.
It can claim a fair degree of success. Investment flows
have been strong, foreign exchange reserves are
overflowing, and, partly as a consequence, the formal
sector and the start-up space are looking healthy.

Assuming Omicron is a viral goodbye, this coming year will be where
the rubber hits the road. The slosh is over. With inflation surging
globally, the world’s central banks will now pull the plug on money
printing.
The most important fount, the United States (US) Federal Reserve, will
do so by March.
As this financial ebb tide courses through the year, many emerging
economies will flounder. India will suffer, but Prime Minister (PM)
Narendra Modi’s continual reforms during the pandemic should mean
India will handle the taper tantrum better than most.

India is emerging as a global innovation hub and building up the
world’s third-largest startup ecosystem, said the Department for
Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) here on Sunday.
The DPIIT has recognized more than 61,000 startups as on date and
represents 55 industries, spread across 633 districts, said a senior
officer of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. It has created over 6
lakh jobs since 2016.
While 45 per cent of the startups are from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, 45
per cent of them are represented by women entrepreneurs. Startups
have the potential to accelerate India’s integration into global value
chains and create global impact, the Ministry said.

During the third wave, till January 6, the rate of doubling of cases
came down to 454 days and during this period there has been an
increase of 18 times in daily corona infection cases, but the situation
is still under control as the influx of patients in the hospital is less.
For curbing the effect of the virus in the country, several states and
UTs have already imposed weekend lockdown and night curfews in
the state. Night curfew has been imposed in Madhya Pradesh,
Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Maharashtra, and Gujarat.
Meanwhile, other restrictions have been imposed on schools, public
offices, public places, and others. Vaccination has been made
almost mandatory in most of the states, however, many states have
also witnessed 100 percent vaccination till now.

According to reports, people coming in contact with the
omicron virus usually experience excruciating body pain,
especially lower back pain.
Lower back pain is one of the symptoms that distinguish
omicron infected with other variants.
As per the data collected from UK, US and South Africa,
lower back pain is the early sign of omicron. From lower
back pain, it shifts to muscular pain throughout the body.

Reliance Jio has added a new prepaid plan that offers 2.5GB
of internet data and unlimited voice calling for 365 days (1
year). The prepaid plan available on the Jio website and
MyJio App cost Rs 2,999 and also includes benefits such as
100 SMS per day. Users can get the usual access to JioTV,
JioCinema, JioSecurity, and JioCloud. The new plan sits
between Rs 3,119 and Rs 2,879 prepaid plans that offer
similar benefits, though the former bundles annual Disney
Plus Hotstar Mobile subscription worth Rs 499 at no extra
cost.

Rescuing Every Distressed Indian Overseas (REDIO), an organisation
that was launched last year to work with Indian missions overseas and
volunteers in countries with large populations of non-resident Indians
(NRIs), people of Indian origin (PIOs) and overseas citizens of India
(OCIs), has now launched a chapter in the US.
Former Indian diplomat and member of the National Human Rights
Commission, Dr Dnyaneshwar Mulay, launched the US chapter of
REDIO, along with New York-based social activist Prem Bhandari on
Sunday, on the occasion of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, the annual event
celebrated by the ministry of external affairs for Indians overseas, held
virtually this year. Mulay is the founder of the organisation and its chief
patron in the US while Bhandari will serve as chairman.

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