Junior Digest

Bhubaneswar (Odisha), June 30,2021: Odisha Government on Tuesday sought modification in provisions of Draft Indian Ports Bill-2021 to address the concerns of Coastal States.
In this regard, Odisha, Commerce and Transportation Minister Padmanabha Behera wrote to Union Minister, Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Mansukh Mandaviya.
The letter by Behera read, “My State is in the process of constituting the Odisha State Maritime Board. The Bill for it is now with the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, now awaiting the assent of the President of India, after being passed by the Odisha Legislative Assembly in February 2021. There is no provision in the Indian Ports Bill, 2021′ to include a State Maritime Board which is constituted at a later date by a State enactment. A provision is required to be made for the same.”
As per the letter, the inclusion of matters relating to safety and security of ports, prevention and containment of pollution of ports, compliances with the country’s obligation under the maritime treaties and international instruments to which our country is a party in the draft Bill are most welcome in our national interest.
At present, Behera in the letter stated that the authority to make regulations for non-major ports for most subjects is the State Maritime Boards/ State Governments of coastal States. The Union Government through the Maritime States Development Council (MSDC) seeks to appropriate this authority of the State through the proposed Bill. “We object to this proposed appropriation of State authority by the Union Government. The proposed provision instead of making India a strong maritime nation, through its centralization of authority, will stunt the growth of port-led development in the nation. Also, this proposal is against the very spirit of cooperative federalism and empowerment of States”, read the letter.
“The MSDC has been in existence as a notified advisory body since 1997, focusing on integrated planning and development of ports & inland waterways. The draft Bill proposes to give it a statutory status. While we welcome this step, MSDC should only comprise of Ministers of coastal States and Union Minister for PSW similar to that of GST council. The concerned officials of the Union Government and coastal State Governments may be made invitees to MSDC. The draft Bill mandates centralization of many routine functions to MSDC like conducting enquiry, deciding tariff structure etc. which will be very limiting and less efficient. MSDC’s role should continue to be recommendatory and advisory as before”, read the letter.
Behera in the letter to Union Minister Mansukh L. Mandaviya requested that important Bills are not hastened and proper deliberations are done with stakeholding States to bring in more effectiveness to this important legislation, which can make India a true powerhouse amongst the maritime nations of the world.
In view of the above, Odisha Minister requested Union Minister Mandaviya’s personal intervention in the matter so that the draft Bill is modified to address the concern of the coastal States.

Palghar (Maharashtra) [India], June 29 (ANI): With the aim to empower and provide more opportunities, an NGO in Vasai of Maharashtra’s Palghar district opened a school that provides free education to transgender people.
The school was started after the transgender community in Vaisai expressed that they had very little access to education and very few were willing to teach them.
The founder and chairperson of the NGO, Rekha Tripathi, said she strongly believed that everyone should have equal access to education, regardless of their gender.
About 25 adults and a few children have been admitted to the school so far.
“A few years back, a transgender person explained to me that several people from this community were facing problems in getting jobs as they did not have access to even basic education. Social stigma paired with poor economic conditions have contributed to this issue,” Tripathi told ANI on Monday.
She added, “Irrespective of their gender, everyone should be given equal access to education and opportunities. About 25 adults and a few children have taken admission to the school so far.”

New York [US], June 29,2021: A UN report published on Monday highlighted that migrants smuggled across borders are often subjected to extreme violence, torture, rape and kidnapping, whether in transit or in captivity, but authorities take little action to address these offences.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime’s (UNODC) report focuses on transit routes in West and North Africa, the Mediterranean Sea, and Central America. It also examines the differing types of violence inflicted on men and women, and presents factors and motivations behind abuse committed during smuggling operations, UN News reported.
“Our research showed that violence is used by the smugglers or other perpetrators as a form of punishment, intimidation or coercion, and often inflicted with no apparent reason,” said Morgane Nicot, who coordinated the development of the report.

“We found that male migrants are primarily subjected to forced labour and physical violence while women are more exposed to sexual violence, leading to unwanted pregnancies and abortions. All genders can suffer from inhuman and degrading treatment.”
Migrant smuggling is a profitable criminal activity, UNODC said, with desperate people paying to cross borders to escape natural disaster, conflict or persecution, or to seek employment, education or the chance to reunite with family members.
“This is why we decided to conduct such necessary research,” Nicot said. “Our study also analyses how law enforcement officials respond to cases of aggravated smuggling and highlights how challenging it is to prosecute such crimes.”
The report found violence is widespread on certain smuggling routes, but there is little evidence that such crimes lead to investigations or legal proceedings, especially in the transit countries where the offences are committed.
“The violence that migrants experience during a smuggling venture is not always recorded or there is insufficient evidence to influence the severity of the sentences pronounced by national courts against smugglers,” Nicot explained.

New Delhi , June 29,2021: Noting that the world is witnessing a dangerous and worrying trend of an increase in the number of children being recruited and involved in terrorism-related activities, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Monday said there is need for a more coordinated approach in implementing the child protection and counter-terrorism agendas.
He said there must be greater accountability and sincere efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice by governments from whose territory such entities operate.
Addressing the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) high-level open debate on children and armed conflict on Monday evening through video conferencing, Shringla said COVID-19 pandemic has further negatively impacted children in situations of armed conflict, including by hampering their access to education, health and social services.
“It has made them susceptible to grave violations, particularly through recruitment and abduction. It is, therefore, important that states keep child protection concerns at the core of their pandemic response measures and recovery plans,” he said.
Shringla said the scale and severity of violations perpetrated against children in armed conflict remain on the rise.
He said national governments have the primary responsibility for protecting the rights of the child as mandated by the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
” We are witnessing a dangerous and worrying trend in global terrorism and that is an increase in the number of children that are being recruited and involved in terrorism-related activities. Terror groups take advantage of the fact that children are the most susceptible to manipulation. School closures due to the pandemic have provided an even greater opportunity to these terrorist groups to target children, including through online avenues, for radicalization and indoctrination in violent extremist ideologies.
“We believe that there is a need for a more coordinated approach in implementing the child protection and counter-terrorism agendas. States need to demonstrate greater political will to hold the perpetrators of terrorism and their sponsors to account, and to fulfil the Council’s child protection obligations,” he said.
The Foreign Secretary also called for ending impunity for all actors responsible for inciting and perpetrating grave violations against children.

“There must be greater accountability and sincere efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice by governments from whose territory such entities operate. Close cooperation between the UN and its Member States concerned is critical for developing an effective and sustainable policy for repatriation and reintegration of children affected by armed conflict.”
He expressed concern that the report includes situations that are not of armed conflict.
“Despite the Council’s clear mandate, we note with concern that the Secretary General’s report includes situations that are not situations of armed conflict or threats to the maintenance of international peace and security. We must be cautious as attempts to selectively expand the mandate politicizes the agenda, diverting attention from real threats to international peace and security and to children in armed conflict.”
Shringla said states should adopt an inclusive approach to provide protection to child victims during the rehabilitation and reintegration process in post-conflict situations.
“We encourage Member States to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict and to adopt robust legal frameworks for protection and promotion of child rights. The aim should not be merely protecting children from child-related crimes but also to provide them with holistic development opportunities, including free and compulsory education.”
He said assistance to national governments for capacity building and strengthening legal and operational tools for child protection is vital.
“The monitoring and reporting mechanism of the UN should ensure continuous involvement of and close cooperation with the Member States concerned, including ensuring the veracity and reliability of data collection.”
Referring to India’s experience in UN peacekeeping over the decades, he said there is a need to have sufficient resources and a requisite number of child protection advisers in peacekeeping missions for the effective implementation of child protection programmes.
“The Council may consider incorporating adequate child protection provisions and capacities in all relevant mandates of UN peacekeeping operations.”
Shringla said engagement of the UN, particularly the office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, with parties engaged in armed conflict has resulted in the release of 12,643 children over the last year.
“This positive trend must continue,” he said, adding that India is firmly committed to supporting the UN in its endeavours to protect children in situations of armed conflict.

London [UK], June 29,2021: Amid the global shortage of the COVID-19 vaccines, a study conducted by Oxford University has found out that alternating doses of the AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines generate robust immune responses against the coronavirus.
According to the study, ‘mixed’ schedules of these vaccines induced high concentrations of antibodies against the SARS-CoV2 spike IgG protein when doses were administered four weeks apart.
This study, published on the Lancet pre-print server, means all possible vaccination schedules involving the Oxford-AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines could potentially be used against COVID-19.
“The Com-COV study has evaluated ‘mix and match’ combinations of the Oxford and Pfizer vaccines to see to what extent these vaccines can be used interchangeably, potentially allowing flexibility in the UK and global vaccine roll-out,” said Professor Matthew Snape, Associate Professor in Paediatrics and Vaccinology at the University of Oxford, and Chief Investigator on the trial.
“The results show that when given at a four-week interval both mixed schedules induce an immune response that is above the threshold set by the standard schedule of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.”
Professor Snape said these results are an invaluable guide to the use of mixed dose schedules, but the interval of four weeks studied here is shorter than the eight to 12-week schedule most commonly used for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
Meanwhile, UK Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam said: ‘Today’s data are a vital step forward, showing a mixed schedule gives people protective immunity against COVID-19 after four weeks.”
“Our non-mixed (homologous) vaccination programme has already saved tens of thousands of lives across the UK but we now know mixing doses could provide us with even greater flexibility for a booster programme, while also supporting countries which have further to go with their vaccine rollouts and who may be experiencing supply difficulties.”
The University of Oxford is leading the Com-COV study, run by the National Immunisation Schedule Evaluation Consortium (NISEC).
This UK government funding study aims to evaluate the feasibility of using a different vaccine for the initial ‘prime’ vaccination to the follow-up ‘booster’ vaccination.

Jun 29,2021: China’s ruling Communist Party celebrates its 100th anniversary this week.

Falling birth rates and a rapidly ageing population spell trouble for China’s future economic growth.

Income inequality, regional economic divides, and wide gaps in opportunity between rural and urban citizens were issues highlighted by China’s President Xi Jinping in a late January speech as pressing matters the nation must tackle to reach what he called an era of “common prosperity” in the coming years.

China’s leaders steer clear of the phrase “middle-income trap” – a condition where a country fails to reach a higher, more developed status – but that’s where the country could end up if leaders fail to address those fissures.

Xi’s remedies – better income distribution, education, social security, affordable medical care, housing, elderly care, child support, and quality employment; also mentioned in the same speech – are many of the same wants as most working families and youths.

Current structural and political barriers, however, may be too formidable to deliver those policies unless deeper reforms are implemented beyond piecemeal efforts such as lifting restrictions on the number of children families can have or trying to mandate less homework for school-age children.

They will be expensive and will likely need the country’s most wealthy to pay heavier tax rates, either through property taxes or capital gains taxes. But implementing such policies is fraught with peril. Do it too fast and could lead to capital flight, problems in the white-hot property market and financial system disturbances that do more harm than good.
Income inequality, regional economic divides, and wide gaps in opportunity between rural and urban citizens were issues highlighted by China’s President Xi Jinping in a late January speech [File: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg]

And there are other structural barriers. The country’s hukou system ties social benefits to a family’s rural or urban hometown, and the overemphasis on the gaokao – standardised exams – determine whether students can advance to university and achieve higher rates of economic success.

Growing pressures on parents and students over the past decade have increased the necessity to reform these systems as incomes have stagnated and social mobility has ossified.

That shift has given rise to much-discussed social conditions in recent months: tangping – or lying flat – an action of making as little effort as possible to get by, and its partner philosophy of “involution” – a feeling of despair or burnout, particularly among those involved in the 996 working culture, working from 9am to 9pm six days a week.

Sun Liping, a professor of sociology at Tsinghua University, recently wrote on his WeChat account that these conditions are affecting mostly younger middle-class and white-collar workers whose hopes have plateaued. Even after all their efforts to study hard and work hard, they feel they’ve reached a point where there’s no possibility to advance higher and more danger of falling back down.

So there’s little desire for more, or even any children, with housing prices so high in many cities, and with parents who are retiring much earlier than most workers around the world to support. Any extra cost has the potential of knocking them off that plateau.
This is a great change from the years following the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and early 1970s, and China’s reform and opening-up period, when the opportunities for families to change their social status through hard work and education were much greater, primarily since the starting point was so low for nearly everyone.

“Over time, a new elite formed and developed vested interests,” Imogen Page-Jarrett, a research analyst based in Beijing for The Economist Intelligence Unit, told Al Jazeera. “The threshold for people from lower-income backgrounds to move up in society became much higher.”

Liang Jianzhang, chairman and co-founder of the booking site Trip.com, has recently argued that China needs to deeply reform the gaokao system, vastly increase education expenditures and attempt to achieve universal college education for all of its youth to meet the needs of a more complex, innovative economy of the future.
Potential fixes creating more problems

The latest efforts to address some of the pressures facing China’s parents and youth have met with lacklustre response and sometimes satirical backlash.

After the government announced that married couples would be allowed to have up to three children, in an effort to boost birth rates, remarks appeared on social media highlighting that the policy shift did nothing to address the soaring costs of raising kids, or the financial burden of taking care of elderly parents.

Other government policies in the pipeline, like proposals for potentially banning online and offline courses during summer holidays, weekends and other non-school periods in places like Beijing and Shanghai, only set in motion other potential problems.

The idea, in theory, is to release pressure on kids and give them a real break from school so they do not end up burned out by the time they reach adulthood.

“I think one of the interesting things about a lot of these changes at the moment is that every force has an equal and opposite reaction,” said Julian Fisher, co-founder of consultancy Venture Education in Beijing. “When you’re pushing on learning centres, you’re pushing on a multibillion-dollar industry, and that impacts human resources and society in the sense that people are hired [for these tutoring jobs].”
Fisher noted that this could also leave many families in the lurch, particularly when both parents work and may not have access to childcare other than education centres. “What are they going to do with their kids during the summer?” he asked, questioning what would happen if the government bans online and offline courses.

“Layoffs of tutors and teachers are likely if the new rules prohibit training on weekends and in summer and winter holidays as training institutions could see a significant drop in revenue, so they may lay off staff and teachers to cut costs,” Flora Zhu, director of corporate research at Fitch Ratings in Beijing, told Al Jazeera.

“In fact, online training institutions, which rely heavily on marketing to attract students, have already [been laying off staff] following the government’s stricter regulations on [allowable advertising for] training institutions.”

As China’s leadership becomes more nationalistic, increased restrictions on foreign involvement, ownership and teaching materials aimed at preschool to secondary school students in the past few months have also had an impact.

“Due to the political importance that Chinese leaders place on education, however, there are risks that these regulations foreshadow further restrictions on foreign participation in China’s education sector,” Alexander Chipman Koty, an analyst for consultancy Dezan Shira & Associates, told Al Jazeera.

Some of this is the opposite of reforms needed in the education sector, and what parents actually desire for children in terms of greater opportunity, which has led many of them to tap into online and offline courses outside of regular class time.

According to Page-Jarrett, China needs more private sector and foreign involvement that would push schools to improve and innovate and provide schooling for the more complex economy of the future, not less.

“Rote learning still features heavily in the education system and that for a time kind of worked when China needed a generation of engineers,” Page-Jarrett said. “Now what China needs is a workforce that can innovate. The education system needs to develop students’ crucial thinking skills.”
No lying flat when you’re already below …

The need for education expenditures and reforms is even more apparent for rural students and parents in China, who are fast falling behind their urban peers who have more opportunities and benefits just because of their urban residency status.

“The gap in the quality of education in rural areas became larger, not necessarily because education became worse in rural areas, but because it became better and more competitive in urban areas,” Page-Jarrett said. “For a low-income family it’s extremely difficult to get into a top-tier university and they might only be able to get into second- or third-tier one.”

For Scott Rozelle, a development economist and a co-director of the Rural Education Action Program at Stanford University, the whole “lying flat” issue is fully an urban problem.

“When you have a rural hukou, nobody ‘lies flat’,” he told Al Jazeera. “It is the exact opposite problem. There is no money for weekend or night classes. No one can afford to take anything for granted. Life and living is day to day. There are no opportunities with such poor schooling and healthcare.”

China has big plans for rural areas with a rural revitalisation programme, but so far this has mainly focused on rural infrastructure and agriculture improvements, and not tackled schools or rural social mobility.

While there has been some relaxation of hukou policies that allow for greater movement between rural and urban areas in some parts of the country, most of these efforts are tied to “talent acquisition” programmes – urban areas that want to attract the best and brightest, leaving the least educated on the outside looking in.

What is at stake in the failure to address these systemic challenges could become China’s Achilles heel. Social immobility and income inequality will increase social frictions, economic stagnation, and an eventual settling into the middle-income trap that China’s leaders would like to avoid, but usually fail to mention in words.

New Delhi, June 30,2021: The Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro food processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan completed one year on Tuesday, said the Ministry of Food Processing Industries.
“The centrally sponsored Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro food processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme, launched under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, to enhance the competitiveness of existing individual micro-enterprises in the unorganized segment of the food processing industry and promote formalization of the sector, marks the completion of its one year”, read the release by the Ministry.
Launched on June 29, 2020, the PMFME Scheme is currently being implemented in 35 States and Union Territories. The online portal for the application of the PMFME Scheme was made live on January 25, 2021. More than 9000 individual beneficiaries have registered on the portal, out of which more than 3500 applications have been successfully submitted under the scheme.
Under the One District One Product (ODOP) component of the PMFME Scheme, the Ministry of Food Processing Industries approved ODOP for 707 districts for 35 States and UTs, including 137 unique products as per the recommendations received by States/UTs.
The GIS ODOP digital map of India has been launched to provide details of ODOP products of all the States and UTs. The digital map also has indicators for Tribal, SC, ST, and aspirational districts. It will enable stakeholders to make concerted efforts for its value chain development.
Under the PMFME Scheme, the Ministry signed three joint letters with the Ministry of Rural Development, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
The Ministry of Food Processing Industries has signed six Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED), the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED), National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation (NSFDC), and Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETI).

An agreement has been signed with the Union Bank of India as the Nodal Bank of the scheme and MoUs with 11 banks as official lending partners for the PMFME Scheme.
Under the Capacity Building component of the PMFME Scheme, the National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM) and the Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology (IIFPT) have been performing a key role in providing training and research support to selected enterprises/groups/clusters in partnership with the State Level Technical Institutions. The training of 371 Master Trainers has been conducted under the Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP) & various food domains.
NIFTEM & IIFPT have prepared training modules on 137 ODOPs which include 175 Presentations, 157 Videos, 166 DPRs, and 177 Course Content/Handbooks. Training of 469 District Level Trainers has been conducted in 18 States/UTs and in progress in other States. 491 District Resource Persons have been appointed across 302 districts.
Under the scheme, 54 Common Incubation Centres have been approved in the 17 States and UTs like Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, J&K, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Sikkim, Andaman & Nicobar, Andhra Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Odisha, and Uttarakhand. The Ministry of Food Processing Industries in collaboration with the IIFPT has developed an online portal for submission of Common Incubation Centre proposals and an online common incubation centre map for the facilitation of details of incubation centres across the country.
The component under PMFME for providing seed capital to SHGs is being implemented with the support of the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) and its network of State Rural Livelihood Mission (SRLMs) operating at the state level. The PMFME Scheme envisages financial support of Rs. 40,000 for working capital and purchase of small tools for each member of SHGs engaged in food processing activities. To date, NRLM has recommended 43,086 SHG members to State Nodal Agencies (SNA) for an amount of Rs 123.54 crore SNA has approved the seed capital of 8040 members and disbursed the amount of Rs 25.25 crore to SRLM.
Under the scheme, MoUs have been signed with NAFED and TRIFED to take up the marketing and branding support for 10 products each. NAFED has selected products like Pineapple, Millet based products, Coriander, Makhana, Honey, Ragi, Bakery, Isabgol, Turmeric, and Cherry for branding and marketing support. TRIFED has selected products like Honey, Tamarind, Spices, Amla, Pulses/Grains/Millets, Custard Apple, Wild Mushroom, Cashew, Black Rice, and Wild Apple under the scheme.
All the 35 participating States and UTs have constituted/ identified their respective State Nodal Agencies, State Level Approval Committees, District Level Committees, and State Level Technical Institutions. Moreover, a call centre has been established at NIFTEM to address queries and guide the stakeholders of the Scheme.
The Ministry of Food Processing Industries in collaboration with States/UTs and Agricultural Universities is conducting nationwide promotion and publicity of the PMFME Scheme to sensitize the stakeholders via radio, print media, offline workshops, webinars, regional language brochures/booklets, outdoor publicity, and over digital media via website, apps and social media platforms. The PMFME Scheme monthly e-newsletter is being sent to more than 5 lakh stakeholders. The PMFME Podcast series has been launched to interact with Agri-business incubators, industry experts, and startups.
To commemorate 75 years of India’s Independence, under the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav initiative, the Ministry of Food Processing Industries is conducting 75 Unique One District One Product (ODOP) webinars/offline workshops across the country in collaboration with States/UTs, NIFTEM, and IIFPT. A weekly series of success stories titled “Kahaani Sukshma Udyamon Ki” has been launched to bring 75 stories of existing micro food processing enterprises.

Jun 29,2021:China’s CoronaVac vaccine is safe and effective to use in children as young as three, new research has shown.

In a study of 550 young people, two doses of the vaccine were found to generate a strong antibody response among children and adolescents aged 3-17 years.

More than 96 per cent of children who received two doses of the vaccine – manufactured by Sinovac – developed antibodies against Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.

Most adverse reactions were mild or moderate, with pain at the injection site the most commonly reported symptom, the researchers said.

The findings, published in The Lancet, further underpin the safety profile of the Covid jabs, and follow recent calls from scientists to widely vaccinate children and adolescents.

A number of leading experts told The Independent that the move to inoculate 12 to 17-year-olds would help to better control and reduce transmission rates, protect adolescents from severe infection and long Covid, and could also lessen the need to roll out booster jabs.

The CoronaVac vaccine has already been approved for emergency use in China among 3-year-olds. Israel, France and the US have meanwhile started using the Pfizer vaccine for children aged over 12, but, in the UK, health officials are awaiting further data on the safety profile of the jab and rates of post-Covid syndromes in adolescents.

Children and adolescents with Covid-19 usually have mild or asymptomatic infections compared with adults; however, a small number may still be at risk of severe illness,” said Qiang Gao, of Sinovac Life Sciences.

“They can also transmit the virus to others, making it vital to test the safety and effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines in younger age groups.
Most watched

“Our finding that CoronaVac was well tolerated and induced strong immune responses is very encouraging, and suggests that further studies in other regions, involving larger, multi-ethnic populations, could provide valuable data to inform immunisation strategies involving children and adolescents.”

The 550 trial participants were recruited into the study between 31 October and 30 December 2020. Children were given varying vaccine doses of different strength to test immune response and side effects.

Based on their results, the authors recommend two 3 microgram doses of the vaccine for children and adolescents aged 3-17 years.

The authors acknowledge some limitations to their study. T-cell responses – which are responsible for seeking out and killing infected cells – were not assessed.

Professor Bin Cao, of the China-Japan Friendship Hospital, said children must be vaccinated in all populations to ensure that herd immunity can be reached against the new and emerging Covid variants.

Balasore, Jun 29,2021: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Monday successfully flight-tested a New Generation Nuclear-Capable Ballistic Missile Agni Prime from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island off Odisha coast.

DRDO sources said the new nuclear-capable Agni Prime missile, a new generation advanced variant of the Agni class of missiles and fully made up of composite material, was successfully test-fired at 1055 hours.

The missile followed textbook trajectory, meeting all mission objectives with a high level of accuracy.

Agni P is a new generation advanced variant of the Agni class of missiles. It is a canisterised missile with a range capability between 1,000 and 2,000 km can carry a payload of around 1,000 kg or a nuclear warhead.

The two-stage and solid-fuelled missile will be guided by inertial navigation systems based on advanced ring-laser gyroscopes.

Both stages have composite rocket motors and guidance systems are equipped with electromechanical actuators.

The missile could be fired from both road and rail-mobile launchers. It weighs less than that of the previous variant due to the integration of new technologies.

New Delhi , June 25,2021: Over 30.54 crore vaccine doses have been provided by the Centre to States/Union Territories (UTs) so far, informed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday.
A total of 1,50,28,186 balance and unutilised COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with the states and union territories to be administered, it added.
According to the ministry, 30,54,32,450 vaccine doses have been provided by Centre to States/UTs so far, through the Government of India (free of cost channel) and through direct state procurement category.

As part of the nationwide vaccination drive, the Centre has been supporting the States and UTs by providing them COVID Vaccines free of cost.
“Of this, the total consumption, including wastages is 29,04,04,264 doses (as per data available at 8 am today).
Furthermore, more than 47,00,000 vaccine doses are in the pipeline and will be received by the States/UTs within the next three days.
In the new phase of the universalisation of the COVID19 vaccination drive, the Union Government will procure and supply (free of cost) 75 per cent of the vaccines being produced by the vaccine manufacturers in the country to States and UTs.
The Union Health Ministry has informed that the cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered under the nationwide vaccination drive has reached 30,79,48,744.

New Delhi, Jun 29,2021: The government on Monday announced a fiscal package of Rs 6,28,993 crore to provide a relief to people and businesses and support economic recovery amid COVID-19 pandemic.

Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at a press conference announced a set of 8 measures pertaining to growth, exports and employees.

They include a Rs 50,000 crore coverage for the health sector, aimed at upgrading the medical infrastructure.

‘We are announcing about eight economic relief measures, of which four are absolutely new and one is specific to health infrastructure,’ she said.

She announced Rs 1.1 lakh crore loan guarantee scheme for COVID-19 affected sectors of this Rs 50,000 crore coverage for the health sector, aimed at upscaling medical infrastructure targeting underserved areas and Rs 60,000 crore for other sectors.

Ms Sitharaman announced an additional 1.5 lakh crore for Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme.

She further announced a new Credit Guarantee Scheme to facilitate loans to 25 lakh persons through Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs).

‘Under Credit Guarantee Scheme, which is a new scheme, 25 lakh people to be benefitted. Loan to be given to the smallest borrowers by Microfinance Institutions,” the minister said.

The interest rate under the new scheme will be two per cent below the RBI prescribed rate, with a loan duration of three years. “New loans, stressed borrowers except NPAs will be covered,” she underlined.

The scheme also aims to reach the smallest of the small borrowers in the hinterland, including in small towns.

To revive one of the most affected tourism sectors, Ms Sitaraman announced financial support to more than 11,000 registered tourist guides or travel and tourism stakeholders.

Under new Loan Guarantee Scheme for COVID Affected Sectors, working capital or personal loans will be provided to people in the tourism sector to discharge liabilities and restart businesses impacted due to COVID-19.

‘Working capital or personal loans will be provided with a 100 per cent guarantee to people in the tourism sector. No processing charges, waiver of prepayment charges,’ she said.

In another announcement, first five lakh tourists will be given visas free of charge. “Benefit will be available only once per tourist. The scheme will be applicable till March 31, 2022, or till 5 lakh visas are issued, whichever is earlier,’ the Union Finance Minister said.

Over employment, Ms Sitaraman announced the extension of Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana from June 30, 2021, to March 31, 2022.

‘Since October 2020, about 21.42 lakh beneficiaries of 79,577 establishments have been benefitted from the scheme,’ the Union Finance Minister said. Providing more support to the health sector, Ms Sitaraman allotted Rs 23,220 crore more for public health.

‘Rs 23,220 crore for public health, with a sharp focus on child and pediatric care. It will include HR augmentation to rope in medical students, nurses; strengthening of infra like ICU beds, ambulances, O2 supply, equipment, medicines,’ she said.

Union Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Thakur, who was also present in the press conference, announced Rs 15,000 crore subsidy on protein-based fertilizer for farmers.

Detailing the other expenditure, Mr Thakur said the financial expenditure on the free distribution of ration to poor people this year will be Rs 93,869 crore while the total money spent on Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana will be Rs 2,27,841 crore.

New Delhi, Jun 29,2021: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday evening met Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and discussed the security situation following an unprecedented drone attack at the Jammu air base on Sunday, the sources in the security set up said here.

During a high level security meeting, discussions were held on futuristic challenges in the defence sector and equipping our forces with modern equipment,” the sources further said, adding that a comprehensive “Drone Policy’ is soon formulated to prevent Jammu air base attack like security challenges in future.

Before going to the meeting the Defence Minister was briefed by the top brass of the Air Force today on Drones and how to formulate a policy on them.

The security forces will be provided with modern equipment to meet the challenge of the weaponised terror drones in days to come, the sources further said.

The meeting was held under the backdrop of Drone attack on Jammu air base on the Sunday morning and also two similar flying objects were sighted in the Kaluchak military area on Monday.

The Defence Minister, who was on the three day tour of Ladakh, also briefed the Prime Minister about the security situation in the Ladakh and Jammu Air force station.

During wee hours on Sunday, the Indian Air Force’s Jammu station was hit by the two drone attacks causing minor injury to IAF personnel.

Sunday’s attack took place shortly before Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Army Chief General MM Naravane’s scheduled visit to Ladakh to review India’s operational readiness in the backdrop of the ongoing stand-off with China.

The National Investigation Agency has taken over the probe to the terror attack which appeared to be the handiwork of Pakistan based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Washington, Jun 30,2021: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and US Treasury Secretary Janet L Yellen spoke on the phone and discussed global minimum tax.

“Secretary of the Treasury Janet L Yellen spoke with Finance Minister of India Nirmala Sitharaman. Secretary Yellen discussed that the United States and India have a shared interest in implementing a robust global minimum tax,” the Department of Treasury said in a statement on Tuesday.

During the telephonic conversation, the Secretary stressed the importance of partnership with India in the G20 and OECD to seize a once-in-a-generation opportunity to remake the international tax system to help the global economy thrive, the statement added.

New Delhi, Jun 25:2021: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said his government wants to conclude the delimitation exercise and hold polls in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir for strengthening democracy and bringing in development.

“Our priority is to strengthen grassroots democracy in J&K. Delimitation has to happen at a quick pace so that polls can happen and J&K gets an elected Government that gives strength to J&K’s development trajectory(sic),” Mr Modi wrote on his official Twitter account.

The assertion from the Prime Minister came after a three-and-a-half-hour long meeting at his official residence in the National Capital with leaders of mainstream J&K political parties, the first ever since reading down Article 370 and bifurcating the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories–J&K and Ladakh– in August 2019.

The Prime Minister was heard telling the leaders that ‘Dilli ki Duuri’ (distance with Delhi) should not become ‘Dil ki Duuri’ (distance of hearts), according to sources.

Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party leader Altaf Bukhari told the media here after the meeting that Mr Modi is willing to conduct the Assembly elections and return the statehood to the erstwhile state but refrained from discussing the special status, as the matter is sub-judice.

“There was no discussion on the Article 370 as the issue is pending before the Supreme Court”, Mr Bukhari said.

The Centre wants to conclude the ongoing delimitation exercise in J&K before holding the elections. However, National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah said the Centre should reverse the roadmap by first restoring the statehood and then holding the delimitation exercise.

“The people want that the statehood of J&K should be restored immediately. It should not be a halfhearted state,” he said.

Senior Congress leader and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said his party has put forward five demands — restoration of statehood, conduct of Assembly elections, release of political prisoners, rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits and reserving the land and jobs for the locals.

Mr Azad said he asked Mr Modi to conduct the polls immediately as the atmosphere is currently peaceful and people have shown their commitment towards democracy by actively participating in the District Development Council polls conducted last year.

People’s Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti, a vocal critic of the Centre’s policies, said that she told the Prime Minister that people of J&K are emotionally hurt, angry and feel humiliated by the ‘illegal, immoral and unconstitutional’ way in which the special status was taken away by the Centre.

Ms Mufti, the former chief minister and once a BJP ally, said she and her party will continue to fight for the restoration of special status, no matter how much time it takes, as the special provision was given to J&K by the Centre itself.

She, however, appreciated the government’s efforts to cool down the Line of Control and International Border through backchannel talks with Pakistan.

Most of the leaders told the media that the meeting was held peacefully in a cordial environment and the Prime Minister all ears to the appeals and grievances.

The meeting was also attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister P K Mishra and Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla.

“We are committed to ensure all round development of J&K. The future of Jammu and Kashmir was discussed and the delimitation exercise and peaceful elections are important milestones in restoring statehood as promised in parliament (sic),” Mr Shah tweeted after the meeting.

On June 19, the Centre sent a formal invitation to 14 leaders of several mainstream parties of Jammu and Kashmir for the meeting in the National Capital with the Prime Minister.

New Delhi, June 29,2021: After the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) handed over the probe of the Jammu Air Force station attack case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and has reregistered an FIR under various sections.
According to a press release, the FIR has been registered under sections 3 and 4 of Explosive Substances Act, 1908, sections 13, 16, 18 and 23 of the UA (P) Act, 1967 and sections 307, 120B of IPC, 1860.
The case relates to an explosion that occurred inside the premises of the Air Force Station, Satwari campus, Jammu on June 27 and a subsequent blast, after about 6 minutes carried out by drones in a well-planned conspiracy that led to the injury to two Air Force personnel and damaged the office buildings.

While NIA has been working with other agencies since immediately after the incident, pursuant to reregistration of the case, requisite actions as per law, for expeditious investigation of the case have been initiated.

Bhubaneswar (Odisha), June 25,2021: The Odisha Government on Thursday said that it will launch Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) under the universal immunisation programme on June 30.
“The introduction of PCV in the routine immunization will benefit nearly 8 lakh young children annually in the State and it will help in reducing the risk of morbidity and mortality due to pneumonia and meningitis among children in the State”, said the additional Chief Secretary PK Mohapatra in a letter to district and municipal authorities.
On December 28, 2020, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had inaugurated India’s first Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) in a bid to prevent about 67,800 child mortality under 5 years of age in India from pneumococcal diseases every year. The vaccine has been developed by the Serum Institute of India (SII) in collaboration with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Jun 25,2021: On the 46th anniversary of the imposition of Emergency, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 25 said those “dark days” can never be forgotten and called for taking a pledge to strengthen India’s democratic spirit and live up to the values enshrined in the Constitution.

“This is how Congress trampled over our democratic ethos. We remember all those greats who resisted the Emergency and protected Indian democracy,” he tweeted, along with a link to an Instagram post about what was banned during the period by the then Congress government.

“The dark days of Emergency can never be forgotten. The period from 1975 to 1977 witnessed a systematic destruction of institutions. Let us pledge to do everything possible to strengthen India’s democratic spirit, and live up to the values enshrined in our Constitution.” he said.
Other senior BJP leaders also hit out at the Congress with Home Minister Amit Shah saying the Congress “murdered” democracy on this day in 1975 for its lust and arrogance of power. “Emergency was imposed to trample on voices that were raised against a family,” he said, calling it a dark chapter in India’s democracy. BJP president J.P. Nadda paid tributes to those who fought against the Emergency.

The Emergency was imposed by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for a period of 21 months between 1975 and 1977, when curbs were imposed on fundamental rights of people.