The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, remembered Mahamana Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya on his birth anniversary today.
The Prime Minister posted on X:
“भारत और भारतीयता को समर्पित महामना पंडित मदन मोहन मालवीय जी को उनकी जन्म-जयंती पर शत-शत नमन। उनका अतुलनीय व्यक्तित्व और कृतित्व देश की हर पीढ़ी को प्रेरित करता रहेगा।”
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi interacted with a delegation of students of Jammu & Kashmir at his residence at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg earlier today. About 250 students hailing from all districts of Jammu & Kashmir participated in the freewheeling and informal interaction.
These students are visiting Jaipur, Ajmer and New Delhi under ‘Watan Ko Jano – Youth Exchange Programme 2023’ of Government of India. In the spirit of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat, the visit is aimed at showcasing the cultural and social diversity of the country to the youth of Jammu and Kashmir.
During the interaction, Prime Minister asked the students about their travel experience and the iconic places they visited. Prime Minister discussed the rich sporting culture in Jammu and Kashmir and enquired the students about their participation in sports like cricket, Football etc. Prime Minister gave the example of Sheetal Devi, the young archer from Jammu and Kashmir, who won three medals at the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou. Prime Minister also appreciated the talent of the youth of Jammu and Kashmir and added that they have potential to excel in any field.
Prime Minister advised the students to work and contribute towards the development of the country and help realise the dream of Viksit Bharat @2047.
Talking about the construction of the world’s highest railway bridge in Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister said that it will improve connectivity in the region.
Prime Minister discussed the success of Chandrayaan-3 and the Aditya-L1 mission, adding that these scientific achievements have made every Indian proud.
Talking about the record number of tourists visiting Jammu and Kashmir this year, Prime Minister said that there is immense opportunity in the tourism sector in Jammu and Kashmir. Prime Minister also talked about the benefits of Yoga and exhorted the students to practise it daily. He also discussed the successful organisation of the G20 summit in Kashmir and the efforts for making the country swachh.
The Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh Shri Vishnu Deo Sai, along with Deputy Chief Ministers Shri Arun Sao and Shri Vijay Sharma met the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today.
The Prime Minister’s Office posted on X:
“CM of Chhattisgarh, Shri @vishnudsai, along with Deputy CMs, Shri @ArunSao3 and Shri @vijayratankwd met PM @narendramodi.”
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has expressed happiness on issuing of 1 crore Ayushman cards during the ongoing Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra.
Praising the feat, PM Modi said that the purpose of VBSY to take the benefits of government Schemes to all the eligible citizens.
The Prime Minister posted on X :
“बहुत ही उत्साहित करने वाली जानकारी! विकसित भारत संकल्प यात्रा का उद्देश्य भी तो यही है कि देशभर के मेरे सभी गरीब भाई-बहनों तक हमारी योजनाओं का लाभ पहुंचे।”
Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting and Youth Affairs & Sports Shri Anurag Singh Thakur has said that Bengaluru will soon be called as Sports Hub of India with right weather conditions and best sports infrastructure. The Minister hailed the enthusiasm for sports and athletics in the . He appreciated the veteran athletes being proactive and initiating their own academies, passing on the knowledge, taking part in training or assessment camps, making valuable contribution to the country’s new dominance in sports.
Sh Thakur emphasized on registering on My Bharat Portal, taking up volunteer activity, utilizing platform to engage with community, posting good initiatives on social media and motivating others to come forward to take advantage of the My Bharat initiative. Minister urged the athletes to post their inspiring stories on Social Media as part of My Bharat to influence youth across the country.
He also outlined the Khelo India programme especially the recently held first Khelo India Para Games where 3000 athletes, coaches and support staff took part. The minister also said that the upcoming Khelo India Youth Games would be held in Tamilnadu with participants from all over the country. Khelo India is a scheme to identify talent , nurture them, support through Target Olympic Podium Scheme as they excel, All these contributing to the concept of developed India – Viksit Bharat.
The Minister was speaking after inaugurating the newly constructed two Hostel Buildings of 330 Bedded & 300 Bedded and 400m Synthetic Athletics Track at the Sports Authority of India Regional Centre in Bengaluru today.
The 330 Bedded hostel with a project cost of Rs. 28.72 Crores is a Ground+5 facility with 110 rooms with attached toilet. Hostel rooms are designed for the athletes with all amenities for athletics, sports and recreation with suitable ambience. The hostel for women has been funded by National Sports Development Fund to which Coal India Limited contributed Rs 25 Crore. The state of the art facility augments the residential capacity for female athletes.
The 300 bed hostel for Men has been completed at a cost of Rs 26.77 crore under Khelo India Scheme. The hostel, situated on an approximate one acre site, stands tall at Ground + 4 floors, boasting modern amenities to cater to the diverse needs of its occupants.
Synthetic Athletic track with a project cost of Rs. 13.86 Crores, funded under Khelo India consists of 400m, 8 lane and additional two lanes straight with grass infield. The Synthetic track is with Full PUR and with IAAF certification for Class-1, Category-5. Apart from the 8 full lane and 2 lanes synthetic tracks, the project includes 500m Clay track & 100m sand track for high performance training. The track has unique features like timing gates technology with both Hardware & Software integrated beneath the surface of the Athletic track. It has 250 Lux High masts lighting with perimeter fencing for the Athletics training facility.
Inauguration of the three facilities marks a crucial moment for the SAI Centre with residential capacity going upto 1245 and new smart synthetic athletic track added to SAI Bengaluru.
Eminent Sports persons o Ms Ashwing Nachappa, Sh S D Eshan and others graced the inaugural session.
As part of the My Bharat dialogue , Shri Thakur addressed a gathering of 1100 which included youth associated with NYKS, officers of SAI, Eminent sportspersons, medalists from Asian Games – Sh Manpreet Singh, Sh Avinash Sable, Ms Parul, Ms Priyanka Goswami, Ms Ancy Sojan and others.
Later, the Minister felicitated Eminent Sports persons
and the Medalists of Asian, Para Asian Games. Minister reiterated the triumph of India in the Asian Games at China, with 107 medals in Asian Games and 111in Para Games. He appreciated the special success of Athletics in Asian Games. He also appreciated SAI Bengaluru for contributing to India’s success at Asian Games with 14 out of 29 medals in Athletics, Gold in Kabaddi Men, Gold in Hockey Men, Bronze in Hockey Women, Bronze in Women’s Doubles Table Tennis and significant contribution in Para Athletics.
SAI Regional Centre Bengaluru
The Minister stayed in the accommodation at SAI Bengaluru and took a tour of facilities and ongoing training of National Coaching Camp (NCC), National Centre of Excellence (NCOE). Shri Thakur also interacted with the Athletes of NCC, NCOE, Coaches, Sports Scientists and Supporting Staff. The Minister also visited dining arena and dined with the athletes.
The Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shri Mohan Yadav, along with Deputy Chief Ministers Shri Rajendra Shukla and Shri Jagdish Devda met the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today.
The Prime Minister’s Office posted on X:
“CM of Madhya Pradesh, @DrMohanYadav51 Ji, along with Deputy CMs @rshuklabjp Ji and @JagdishDevdaBJP Ji met PM @narendramodi.”
Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of various development projects worth Rs. 368 crore in Chandigarh today. On this occasion, many dignitaries including the Governor of Punjab and Administrator of Chandigarh Shri Banwarilal Purohit and the Union Home Secretary were present.
On this occasion, Shri Amit Shah said that today 9 projects worth Rs. 368 crore inaugurated and the foundation stone of 3 projects worth Rs. 32 crore laid. He said that Chandigarh is a complete city built with modern imagination. Shri Shah said that due to the efforts of the Central Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, many cities are moving forward and Chandigarh will have to prove itself in this competition and will have to work a lot to maintain the first position.
Union Home Minister said that today at a cost of about 400 crores, many projects have been initiated which are related to cleanliness, education, security, residential facilities and higher education. He said that some vehicles have also been flagged off for the safety of Chandigarh and 744 youth are also being given appointment letters as Assistant Sub Inspector and Constable today. He said that the Chandigarh Police has successfully revived the concept of beat at ground level in a very good manner. He added that today the police of many states of the country have accepted this system by largely following the pattern adopted by the Chandigarh Police. Shri Shah said there were talks of involving the youth through a hackathon to tackle different types of challenges, especially pertaining to technology, faced by the police. Today teams which attained first, second and third position are rewarded. Through this, youths across the country will be inspired to use their knowledge to solve the problems of the country. Home Minister said that the Cyber Operation and Security Centre (CENCOPS) have also been inaugurated today. On next day of passing of the three new criminal laws by the Parliament, the Union Home Minister reviewed implementation of the laws today at Cyber Operation and Security Centre (CENCOPS) at Chandigarh.
Shri Amit Shah said that only yesterday, under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the Parliament of the country has converted into law three landmark bills that will bring changes in the criminal justice system of the country. He said that the justice system of the entire country should function in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution of India. He said that our laws should prepare itself to accept the latest technologies, for this necessary infrastructure should be created with all the facilities from connectivity to hardware, so that the scheduled languages could communicate and connect with each other. Home Minister added that the basics of creating such a complete leakproof judicial system through which the police station, DGP office, court, jail, FSL, prosecutor’s office and secretariat should be connected to each other have been laid in these laws. He said that after the full implementation of these laws, disposal of any criminal case across the country will not take more than 3 years. Shri Shah said that for this a lot of consultation was done with all the stakeholders and then it was sent to the standing committee of the Ministry of Home Affairs. After considering all the suggested amendments, a complete law was drafted and presented in the Parliament.
Union Home Minister said that the opposition took the unfortunate decision of boycotting the discussion on these three bills by making excuses. He said that when three laws, that would bring radical changes in the criminal justice system, were being debated in the country’s Parliament, the opposition members were doing the condemnable act of mimicking His Excellency the Vice President. He said that many governments have come and gone in this country but the dignity of constitutional posts has always been maintained. Shri Shah said that those who preach to us today have themselves deeply attacked the bright tradition of democracy in India in upholding the dignity of constitutional posts and the people of this country are watching these things. He said that the opposition does not realize that constitutional posts are a means of implementing the Constitution in the country and that is why they are considered above institutions and politics. Home Minister said that we have never harmed the honor of a person holding a constitutional post and have never allowed this to happen. He said that the people of the country should keep in mind that when the process of converting these three bills into law was going on, the opposition was insulting the dignitaries holding constitutional posts to violate the dignity of the Constitution.
Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that by December 2024, the work of infrastructure, software, training of human resources and complete computerization of courts will be done for implementation of these three laws in all the Union Territories. He said that the Modi government has already started this work through CCTNS and ICJS. Shri Shah said that a detailed time-bound program will be made to prepare Chandigarh for full implementation of these laws. He said that there will be a time bound program will be prepared to implement the definition of terrorism and organized crime, formation of Directorate of Prosecution, giving stability to forensics and filling loopholes in ICJS and CCTNS. He said that meeting in all Union Territories will be held before January 31, 2024 to fully prepare them by December 22, 2024 to implement these laws.
Shri Shah said that even before implementing these laws, the Modi government has already completed the work of connecting 99.93 percent police stations, i.e., 16,733 police stations, of the country online and they are functioning with a single software. Home Minister added that 22 thousand courts of the country have become e-courts, data of 2 crore prisoners of the country are online through e-prisons, data of more than 1 crore prosecutions are online through e-prosecution and 17 lakh forensic details are also online through e-forensics. Shri Shah said that along with this, more than 90 lakh fingerprint data, Integrated Monitoring of Terrorism (iMOT), data of arrested narco offenders, data of National Database of Human Trafficking Offenders are available online. Besides, by linking the Crime Multiagency Center with it, the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal and biometric data of prisoners have also been prepared. After this, the task is to decide the language of communication between them, bring communication software and analyze it using artificial intelligence to crack down on terrorism and crime in the country.
Home Minister said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, India is committed to running its criminal justice system with Indian thought. He said that India’s criminal justice system is also ready to jump straight from the 19th century into the 21st century. Shri Shah said that after the implementation of these laws, our criminal justice system will become the most modern criminal justice system in the world.
Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah addressed the ‘Sant Sammelan-2023’ organized on the occasion of International Geeta Mahotsav-2023 in Kurukshetra, Haryana today. Many dignitaries including Haryana Chief Minister Shri Manohar Lal were present on this occasion.
On this occasion, Shri Amit Shah said that on this land, more than 5 thousand years ago, Lord Shri Krishna had preached Geeta to Arjun and many Mahatmas like Shri Gyananand Ji are working to restore that knowledge all over the world. He said that the solution to all the problems of an individual, the country and the entire world lies in the teachings of Geeta. Lord Shri Krishna did preach Geeta to Arjuna to motivate him for war and to resolve his doubts, but that war was for the establishment of religion on earth and the welfare of the entire world.
Union Home Minister said that the government in the country has been running under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi since 2014 and it was Modi ji who had expressed his desire to give Geeta Mahotsav an international shape in 2014 itself. Expressing his gratitude to the Chief Minister of Haryana, Shri Manohar Lal, Home Minister said that Shri Manohar Lal became the Chief Minister in 2015 and worked to take the Geeta Mahotsav to the international level in 2016. He said that the message of Geeta should reach every part of the country and the world.
Shri Amit Shah said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has worked to awaken the self of this country since 2014. He said that the government under the leadership of Narendra Modi ji has always said that the great culture of this country should always be taken forward and the laws and policies of the country should have the aroma of the Indian soil. The Home Minister said that to bring the real and concrete form of unity and integrity on the ground level, Article 370 should remain abolished and Kashmir should be united with India forever. He said that if India is to be made truly secular, laws like triple talaq, which is made for a particular religion, should be abolished.
Shri Shah said that the construction of the temple at Shri Ram Janmabhoomi is a symbolic form of beginning of religious and cultural renaissance in the country. He said that the construction of Shri Ram temple has started under the leadership of Modi ji and Ram Lala will also be in Ram Temple on January 22. Along with this, Prime Minister Modi ji have done the works of Kashi Vishwanath Corridor, Mahakal Mahalok, regilding Somnath Temple, arrangement of darshan in a new form in Kedarnath and Badrinath, restoration of Sharda Peeth in Kashmir and installation of Sengol, the symbol of the Sanatan tradition of the South, in the Parliament.
Minister of Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER), Shri G. Kishan Reddy chaired a virtual meeting today with MoS, MDoNER, Shri B.L. Verma and Chief Ministers from the North Eastern states. Secretary, #MDoNER_India, Shri Chanchal Kumar, along with senior Ministry officials and representatives from the eight North Eastern States were present.
The discussion aimed at unlocking the untapped potential for economic advancement and the overall progress of the ‘Ashtalakshmi of New India’.
During the meeting, Shri Reddy reviewed the progress of various projects and schemes under the purview of #MDoNER and the North Eastern Council (NEC) as well as other GoI developmental initiatives
The Union Minister urged the state governments to expedite submission of new Projects and completion of ongoing projects, to collectively enhance investment opportunities, harmonize policies, and improve the ease of living and doing business. This concerted effort is envisioned to tap into the inherent potential of the NER and catalyze the region’s growth.
He assured all support by the Ministry for accelerated development of the region.
He urged the States to actively participate in the forthcoming “Vibrant Gujarat” event, showcase their economic potential and investment-friendly policies to attract investment to the region. Chief Minsiters assured the States’ participation in the event and thanked Hon’ble Minister for GoI’s support and commitment for developing the region
The ongoing efforts are part of GoI’s unwavering commitment to the region’s development reflected in strategic initiatives and investments aimed at unleashing its true potential and enhancing the socio-economic landscape of the North Eastern Region.
Citizen-centric governance will evolve into an increasing role of citizens in the decision-making process, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said today.
Ever since Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi took over in 2014, transparency, accountability and citizen-centricity became the hallmark of the Governance Model, he said.
“The era of working in silos is long over. Government is making maximum use of technology to ensure hassle-free delivery of services to the citizens. Capacity Building Programmes enable us to be ready for that,” he said.
The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh was addressing the Dr Rajendra Prasad National Convention III (Series of Memorial Lectures) on ‘G20 people centric governance and public policy’, organised by the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) in New Delhi.
Beginning with India’s vaccine success story in January, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the year gone by, with just a week left, witnessed PM Modi’s citizen-centric governance model.
“India’s prestige as a Space power was well-established by the flawless landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the virgin South Polar region of Moon,” he said.
Stating that this year has been quite rewarding as India emerged among the frontline nations in the comity of nations, Dr Jitendra Singh said, a series of opinion polls reaffirmed Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi emerge as the tallest leader in the world.
“With the most majestically planned G20 Summit and the International Year of Millets during the year, it was gratifying that India set the flagship agenda at the international fora,” he said.
Earlier India was not taken seriously, said Dr Jitendra Singh, but now the world has veered around to the agenda set by PM Modi and India at the G20.
“Over 200 meetings of the G20 were held at 65 cities across India during the course of the year. Assuming leadership role on Climate Change, PM Modi stressed on Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment). With the target of Net Zero by the year 2070, as committed by PM Modi, India is well set on course to achieve its staggered emission targets. From issues like Terrorism, Cyber Security to Anti-Corruption, the G20 meetings chaired by India throughout the year have been very successful,” he said.
Dr Jitendra Singh, who is also the Chairman of IIPA, said, India today is among the leading 5 or 6 nations in the world using Quantum Technology.
“Our CPGRAMS public grievances portal, DBT and SVAMITVA programmes are cited the world over as technology driven people centric reforms,” he said, adding, “Today the world is ready to be led by India.”
On the occasion, Dr Jitendra Singh released wall calendar and desk calendar on the Namami Gange programme.
The Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Shri Bhajanlal Sharma, and Deputy Chief Ministers of the state, Diya Kumari and Shri Prem Chand Bairwa, called on the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today.
The Prime Minister’s Office posted on X:
“CM of Rajasthan, Shri Bhajanlal Sharma, along with Deputy CMs, Diya Kumari and Prem Chand Bairwa called on PM Narendra Modi.”
Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare today chaired a high-level meeting to review the COVID-19 situation in India and preparedness of public health system for surveillance, containment and management of COVID-19 in view of the recent spike in cases of COVID-19 in some states. He was joined by Prof. S P Singh Baghel and Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar, Union Ministers of State for Health and Family Welfare. Dr V K Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog was also present.
State Ministers who joined the meeting include Shri Alo Libang, Chief Minister and Minister of Health (Aruachal Pradesh); Shri Brajesh Pathak, Deputy Chief Minister and Health Minister (Uttar Pradesh); Shri Dhan Singh Rawat, Health Minister (Uttarakhand) who was present physically; Shri Dinesh Gundu Rao, Health Minister (Karnataka); Shri Anil Vij, Health Minister (Haryana); Smt. Veena George, Health Minister (Kerala), Shri Vishwajit Pratapsingh Rane, Health Minister (Goa); Shri Keshab Mahanta, Health Minister (Assam), Shri Banna Gupta, Health Minister (Jharkhand); Dr Balbir Singh, Health Minister (Punjab); Shri Saurabh Bharadwaj, Health Minister (Delhi); Dr. (Col.) Dhani Ram Shandil, Health Minister (Himachal Pradesh); Prof. Dr. Tanajirao Sawant, Health Minister (Maharashtra); Shri Damodar Rajanarasimha, Health Minister (Telangana); Dr Sapam Ranjan, Health Minister (Manipur); Shri Niranjan Pujari, Health Minister (Odisha); Shri Rangaswamy, Administrator (Puducherry); among others.
Underlining the challenge posed by the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in some countries across the world such as China, Brazil, Germany and United States, Union Health Minister noted the importance of being prepared and remaining alert against new and emerging strains of COVID-19, especially in view of the upcoming festive season. Underlying and reiterating that COVID is not over yet, he requested states to monitor emerging evidences of COVID-19 cases, symptoms and case severity to plan appropriate public health response.
Dr Mandaviya stressed the need for collective efforts between the Centre and the States to deal with the emerging situation in the spirit of “Whole of Government” approach. He directed for strengthening the surveillance system for whole genome sequencing of positive case samples to track the variants through Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) network to ensure timely detection of newer variants, circulating in the country. This would facilitate undertaking of appropriate public health measures in a timely manner, he noted. States/UTs have been requested to ramp up testing and refer large number of samples of COVID-19 positive cases and pneumonia-like illness to INSACOG Genome Sequencing Laboratories (IGSLs) on a daily basis, for sequencing, to track new variants, if any.
The Union Health Minister urged all the states to remain alert, increase surveillance and ensure adequate stock of medicines, oxygen cylinders and concentrators, ventilators and vaccines, He asked officials to undertake mock drills every three months at both the Central and State levels to assess functionality of PSA plants, Oxygen concentrators and cylinders, ventilators, etc., and encouraged the sharing of best practices. He also urged states to create awareness on respiratory hygiene and ensure dissemination of factually correct information and counter fake news to manage infodemic and mitigate any panic. The Union Health Minister urged States/UTs to share information on cases, tests, positivity etc., in real time on the COVID portal to enable timely monitoring and prompt public health measures. He assured the states of all support from the Centre.
Through a presentation, Shri Sudhansh Pant, Secretary, Union Health Ministry briefed the Union Health Minister on the global COVID19 situation and the domestic scenario. It was informed that while active COVID cases in India are significantly less compared to the global scenario, in the last two weeks there has been a steep rise in active cases from 115 on 6th Dec 2023 to 614 on date. It was also noted that 92.8% of the cases are home isolated, indicating mild illness. No increase in hospitalization rates have been witnessed due to COVID-19, the cases that are hospitalized are due to other medical conditions – COVID-19 is an incidental finding. A rise in daily positivity rate has been observed in a few states like Kerala, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Karnataka.
On the new JN.1 variant of SARS-CoV-2, it was informed that the variant is currently under intense scientific scrutiny, but not a cause of immediate concern. No clustering of cases has been observed in India due to JN.1 and all the cases were found to be mild and all of them have recovered without any complications.
Dr V K Paul reiterated the need for a whole-of-government approach to tackle with the challenge posed by the surge in COVID cases and the emergence of a new variant. He informed that the scientific community in India is closely investigating the new variant but stressed on the need for states to ramp up testing and strengthen their surveillance systems.
Dr Rajiv Bahl, Secretary, Department of Health Research and DG, ICMR informed that ICMR is currently working on genome sequencing of the new JN.1 variant. He urged states to monitor the COVID-19 scenario and increase RT-PCR tests but noted that there is no cause for panic.
State Health Ministers appreciated the support and guidance received from the Centre. They assured to increase testing and surveillance measures in view of the rising cases in some states.
Smt. L S Changsan, Addl. Secretary, Union Health Ministry; senior officials from the Health Ministry, ICMR, and NCDC were present in the meeting.
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