For strengthening the safety of moving trains, the Indian Railway has designed its own indigenous Automatic Train Protection (ATP) System known as “Kavach”. The Railway is promoting ‘Kavach’ as the world’s most affordable automatic train accident protection technology.
Today, Kavach will be tested when two trains will hurtle towards each other at full speed near Secunderabad, one carrying the Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and the other the Chairman of the Railway Board. However, due to the indigenous ‘KAVACH’ technology, they won’t collide.
The Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system was created in-house to aid the railways in meeting their aim of “zero accidents.” Kavach is a system that automatically brings a train to a stop when it detects another train on the same track within a certain range.
Kavach operates on the concept of providing Movement Authority with continual updates through radio. In the event that Loco Pilot fails to do so, it limits the speed by applying brakes automatically. Signal elements are duplicated in the cab, which certainly helps at greater speeds and in foggy conditions. Kavach is connected to current signal interlocking systems for this purpose. Also, it meets the highest level of safety certification, SIL-4 (Safety Integrity Level).
The project is now being executed as a trial on several sections of the South-Central Railway zone. In the initial phase, Indian Railways plans to install the technology on high-density routes like as Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah. As per sources, it will be deployed on all major routes by 2024. Kavach will also be exported to other nations. In her budget address, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman declared that 2,000 kilometers of the network will be placed under Kavach as part of Atmanirbhar Bharat.
Amid the wave of sanctions from the USA on Russia over the war in Ukraine, Biden had stated that the Russian space industry will be hit.
Dmitry Rogozin, director-general of Roscosmos, has announced on 3rd March 2022 that Russia would be halting the delivery of rocket engines to the US. Rogozin has stated to Russian state media, “In a situation like this we can’t supply the United States with our world’s best rocket engines. Let them fly on something else, their broomsticks, I don’t know what.”
The head of ?? Russia’s Roscosmos space agency Dmitry Rogozin says American ?? astronauts will have to “fly on their broomsticks” after Russia stopped delivering its rocket engines in response to Western sanctions. pic.twitter.com/3n5zFV18Kd
Dmitry Rogozin further said, “Russia will be ending cooperation with the US on experiments on the ISS. The priority of the country’s space program will be adjusted to focus on satellites for defence interests.”
Rogozin stated that Russia has delivered a total of 122 RD-180 engines to the USA since the 1990s. 98 of those engines have been used to power the Atlas launch vehicles. He added that Russia will also stop providing technological assistance for the service and maintenance of the existing rocket engines in the USA.
Germany halts scientific projects in collaboration with Russia, switches off its own blackhole mapping telescope
ROSCOSMOS has informed that Dmitry Rogozin has also written a letter to the administrator of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Anke Kaysser-Pyzalla. In this letter, he has announced that Roscosmos would be terminating all joint scientific projects in the International Space Station.
Tweet by ROSCOSMOS
Dmitry Rogozin has written in his letter, “The termination of cooperation with the Russian Federation in the field of higher education, scientific research and professional training announced by the leadership of the Federal Republic of Germany, of course, causes irreparable damage to the established long-term cooperation ties and significantly slows down activities in the field of outer space exploration for peaceful purposes.”
On February 25, Germany’s Federal Ministry of Higher Education and Research had announced that they are halting all existing, long-standing cooperation in scientific research collaborations with Russia.
It is notable that the DLR has announced on Thursday that it was terminating all collaboration activities with Russian institutions and would not start any new projects or initiatives with them. Later, Germany switched off its own eROSITA telescope, engaging in the mapping of blackholes on board a Russian satellite.
The Alliance of Science Organisations in Germany announced last week that it would immediately freeze cooperation with Russian universities and businesses until further notice, issuing a condemnation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Earlier on Wednesday, Russian space agency ROSCOSMOS chief Dimitry Rogozin had posted a video showing workers at the Baikonur launch pad covering up the flags of the USA, Japan, and the UK on the OneWeb rocket which is scheduled to be launched on Friday. However, the flag of India was left intact.
Amidst the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, BJP leader Jyotiraditya Scindia informed that about 13,000 Indian students have been safely evacuated to the neighbouring countries and only 1000 more Indian nationals are still stuck in war-torn Ukraine.
While speaking to CNN-News 18, Scindia was asked about the supposed ‘late’ evacuation by the Centre. “Why couldn’t it have been done earlier? Why did you wait till the situation became so bad for the incoming students?” quizzed ‘journalist’ Pallavi Ghosh.
He remarked, “Any government or Opposition party cannot preempt when the war is going to break out. And the day the war broke out, from that day onwards, we have been working 24/7 to ensure that all our children could get out. There were 19760 odd children in Ukraine. Prior to the war breaking out, through the advisories, about 4800 children had left.”
Jyotiraditya Scindia informed, “So, we had roughly about 14000 students left after the war broke out. We have roughly about 1000 or so odd students left in Ukraine. We have moved out close to 13000 students over the last 6 days, safely from Ukraine to all our neighbouring countries and being moved to India.”
On being asked about using the allegations of using Operation Ganga as a Public Relations (PR) exercise, the BJP leader responded, “My heart and soul is with every child. When I landed at 10:30 in the night, I was at the airport till 2 am, trying to reassure every child, understand their pain points. (I was not focused) on the elections, Opposition or criticism.”
“I have been given a task and that is the only thing that I am concentrating on. There are people, who even in times of emergency wants to sit and criticise. That is something that I cannot help. If there is an ostrich in the sand approach of just criticising, then, this is not my mentality,” he concluded.
Earlier on Thursday (March 3), Jyotiraditya Scindia had informed that 18 flights were scheduled for the day to evacuate Indian nationals from neighbouring countries of Ukraine. The destinations included Bucharest and Suceava in Romania, Kosice in Slovakia, Budapest in Hungary and Rzeszow in Poland.
An update on#OperationGanga– No.of flights scheduled for the day:
— Jyotiraditya M. Scindia (@JM_Scindia) March 3, 2022
On February 15 this year, the Indian embassy in Ukraine had issued the first advisory, urging Indian nationals to immediately evacuate the country in the run-up to the full-fledged war. According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, a total of 18000 Indians had been moved out of Ukraine since February 15, 2022.
A total of 18,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since our first advisory was released. 30 flights under Operation Ganga have brought back 6,400 Indians from Ukraine so far. In the next 24 hours, 18 flights have been scheduled: MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi pic.twitter.com/I2LC8jhBWS
“30 flights under Operation Ganga have brought back 6,400 Indians from Ukraine so far,” he informed on Thursday (March 3). It must be mentioned that by Tuesday (March 1), the Indian government had evacuated over 9000 Indian nationals.
The Central Government on Wednesday (March 2) confirmed that 60% of the Indian nationals stranded in Ukraine have crossed the borders and are safe amid the ongoing war in Ukraine. The government added that it was undertaking all possible efforts to evacuate the remaining 40% as well.
“We will continue to make utmost efforts to ensure the return our citizens stranded in Ukraine,” ANI had tweeted, citing government sources.
Over 9000 Indian nationals brought out of Ukraine while a considerable number are now in safer areas We will continue to make utmost efforts to ensure the return our citizens stranded in Ukraine: Sources
The Indian government has started an evacuation operation named ‘Operation Ganga’ for the stranded Indian students. Several special flights have been running from Poland, Romania, and Hungary to bring the students home.
It must be mentioned that the Ukrainian airspace was closed for civilian aircraft from Thursday (February 24) morning onwards. As such, the Indian embassy in Ukraine had to coordinate with the embassies of neighbouring countries in Poland, Romania and Hungary for the creation of safe evacuation channels.
Under ‘Operation Ganga’, Indians were first taken in batches from Ukraine to bordering countries (currently Hungary and Romania) via buses/commute arranged by the embassy. They were then airlifted to Delhi or Mumbai through chartered Air India flights.
The Indian government had sent its 4 Union Ministers, namely, Hardeep Singh Puri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiren Rijiju and General (Retd) VK Singh to Hungary, Romania and Moldova, Slovakia, and Poland respectively, to coordinate the Operation Ganga
Mercenaries deployed by the western countries in Ukraine will not be treated as prisoner-of-war (POW) and will be subject to criminal liability, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Thursday, reports Russian News Agency TASS.
Amidst the ongoing clashes between NATO-backed Ukrainian and Russian troops, the Russian Defense Ministry has said that the mercenaries the West is sending to Ukraine will not enjoy the right of combatants under international humanitarian law.
“I wish to make an official statement that none of the mercenaries the West is sending to Ukraine to fight for the nationalist regime in Kiev can be considered as combatants in accordance with international humanitarian law or enjoy the status of prisoners of war,” Konashenkov said.
Igor Konashenkov stated that mercenaries in Ukraine are carrying out sabotage activities with the weapons supplied by the West. Konashenkov said that foreign mercenaries were attacking the Russian military and supporting aircraft. Konashenkov also said the US intelligence has launched a mass campaign to recruit more mercenaries.
The Russian Defense Ministry accused Great Britain, Denmark, Latvia, Poland, and Croatia of legally authorising their citizens to participate in the ongoing Ukraine war. France plans to send ethnic Ukrainians serving in its foreign legion to Ukraine as well, Konashenkov added.
“According to Zelenskyy, about 16,000 foreign mercenaries are expected to arrive in Ukraine in addition to those already available to compensate for the crushing military failures of the Ukrainian security forces. A visa-free regime is officially introduced for them,” the spokesperson said.
Konashenkov also revealed that nearly 200 troops arrived in Ukraine from Croatia to join one of the Nazi battalions.
He also warned that all foreign mercenaries detained in Ukraine would be brought to justice on criminal charges.
“At best, they can expect to be prosecuted as criminals. We are urging all foreign citizens who may have plans to go and fight for Kiev’s nationalist regime to think a dozen times before getting on the way,” Konashenkov said.
Konashenkov also alleged that the Ukrainian secret services are putting out propaganda videos filmed by local civilians.
As Russia’s economy gets hammered by sanctions imposed upon by many countries including the US, China has emerged as the key player after it has decided to revert back to its own currency in pursuing trade with Russia.
Amid Moscow’s deepening international isolation, Analyst Tom Fowdy on Thursday opined that the US might have to face long-standing consequences of strategic changes in trade pacts between China and Russia. “Both China and India are reverting to their own currencies in pursuing trade with Russia. The combined population total of these countries is 2.7 billion people. Do the US and its allies realize the long term strategic consequences of this?”
Both China and India are reverting to their own currencies in pursuing trade with Russia. The combined population total of these countries is 2.7 billion people. Do the US and its allies realize the long term strategic consequences of this?
According to the reports, China has opposed to the sanctions imposed upon Russia by the United States, European Union and has said that it will continue to carry out normal trade cooperation with Moscow. “China and Russia will continue to carry out normal trade cooperation in the spirit of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit”, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin at a regular press briefing in Beijing.
He added that economic sanctions are not a solution to the problems, instead, they create new ones. He also demanded that US should not harm the legitimate rights and interests of China and other parties when handling the Ukraine issue and its relations with Russia.
This is specifically after the US moved to disallow certain Russian banks from SWIFT, the payment system used for international financial transactions amid the ongoing war in Ukraine. Western governments are trying to shut off Russia’s economy from the global financial system, pushing international companies to halt sales, cut ties and dump tens of billions of dollars worth of investments.
It is pertinent to note that China and Russia had decided to reduce their dependence on the US dollar before the year 2020 itself. As of 2020, only 46% of the trade between the two countries was recorded in the US dollar as compared to 90% in 2015 and before.
China and Russia have close bilateral ties in trade. According to the reports, trade between Russia and China has recorded a rise of 35.9% last year recording the total trade at $146.9 billion. The two have aimed to boost the total bilateral trade to $250 billion by 2024, as unveiled on the sidelines of the Winter Olympics.
The Congress party allies are now using the Russia-Ukraine war to fan the North-South divide in India and the epicentre of this unfortunate politics seems to be Tamil Nadu.
It was reported yesterday, on the 3rd of March 2022, that the Tamil Nadu government was set to send 4 legislators to Hungary, Romania, Poland and Slovakia for evacuation of stranded students from the State. Reportedly, there were 4 IAS officers also deputed for the task, the assist the legislators in their task.
TN Govt to send Rajya Sabha MPs @tiruchisiva , @pudugaiabdulla , Lok Sabha MP @DrKalanidhiV and MLA @TRBRajaa to Hungary, Romania, Poland and Slovakia for evacuation of stranded students from the State. Four IAS officers also deputed along with the legislators for assistance.
Besides the supposed PR stunt to send a contingent from Tamil Nadu specifically to help Tamil students, MK Stalin, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu took to Twitter to share a letter that he had written to the External Affairs Minister urging him to help the Tamil students with more alacrity than other students. In his letter, Stalin sought MEA clearances for the team proposed by GoTN to coordinate with the Indian embassies in Romania, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia.
Wrote to Hon'ble @DrSJaishankar requesting him to increase the number of Tamil students to be evacuated from #Ukraine by focussed intervention and sought MEA clearances for the team proposed by GoTN to coordinate with the Indian embassies in Romania, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia. pic.twitter.com/175b3qthcB
In the letter, MK Stalin first thanked the MEA for appointing an exclusive nodal officer for the Tamil students being evacuated at the request of Stalin. Stalin says that he has shared the details of 2,223 students with the MEA and Ukraine for speedy evacuation. He then goes on to say that while he appreciates the efforts, the “number of Tamil Nadu students being brought back needs to increased by focussed intervention at the ground level”. Stalin claims that more than 1,000 Tamil students are awaiting evacuation in Romania, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia.
Essentially, MK Stalin says that he has deputed a contingent of 4 politicians and 4 IAS officers from the state to go to these countries and coordinate the safe return of 1,000 Tamil students with the embassies there, and therefore, he should get clearance for the same.
At first glance, this might look like a cheap PR student by the Tamil Nadu government in alliance with the Congress party, however, one has to wonder if there is more than meets the eye given the statements being made by Rahul Gandhi himself.
In February 2022, Rahul Gandhi – the scion of Gandhi Parivar ignited a massive debate in the country by questioning the very idea of India as a ‘nation’. Speaking in the Parliament on the motion of thanks to President’s Address in Lok Sabha, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi claimed that India was just a “union of states” and not as a nation.
“India is described in the Indian Constitution as a union of states and not a nation. One cannot rule over the people of a state in India. Different languages and cultures cannot be suppressed. It is a partnership, not a kingdom,” claimed Rahul Gandhi, who launched a tirade against the Modi government.
In his speech, Rahul Gandhi insisted that the power arrangement between the states and the centre is of a “negotiation” and insinuated that India did not have a single national identity, instead, the idea of India rose from an agreement or a negotiation between the provincial units. The Gandhi-scion also brought the reference of Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, imagining them to be distinct entities and asserted that the ruling dispensation treated these constitutional units as its kingdom.
It is evident from Rahul Gandhi’s speech that he truly believes that Tamil Nadu is a state distinct in its identity and existence from the rest of India and he believes that the fact that it is a part of India is only a “negotiated” reality.
In this light, the actions of Stalin appear far more sinister than a simple PR stunt.
Firstly, it is evident that MK Stalin has no concern for INDIAN students who are stuck in war-torn nations and are trying to make their way back as the Indian government does everything conceivable to bring them back home. He is more concerned solely about Tamil students because he seems to believe that the regional identity of these students are far more important than their national identity.
The far more sinister aspect of the stunt being pulled by MK Stalin is that he somehow insinuates that the central government is being partial against Tamil students as compared to students from the rest of India. There is no plausible reason why only Tamil students must be expeditiously evacuated when every Indian life is just as precious. Therefore, this stunt appears specifically targeted at giving out the message that there is some sort of partiality being met out on the basis of regional identity.
Essentially, therefore, it would appear that MK Stalin, Congress’ ally, is using the Russia-Ukraine conflict to further fan regional divide.
The ‘Union of States’ speech of Rahul Gandhi was not the first time this playbook was used. In February last year, Rahul Gandhi had claimed that representing a constituency in Kerala has been a refreshing change for a person like him who had represented a constituency in Northern India for the first 15 years of his career. The Congress leader had said that people in Kerala are interested in issues, unlike others. Though it looked like he was praising Keralites, in reality, he was insinuating that the people in the north were not as serious as the people of the south.
It seems like Rahul Gandhi and his allies have now gotten hold of a new playbook of covertly reviving sub-nationalism sentiments to polarise the country on regional lines, if unchecked, which may slowly result in strengthening separatist tendencies in many states.
A fire broke out in a building outside the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine during intense fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces.
On Friday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba claimed that the Russian troops opened fire from all sides upon Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. Kuleba warned that the fallout from a disaster at the Zaporizhzhia plant would be ten times worse than the Chernobyl disaster.
“If it blows up, it will be ten times larger than Chornobyl! Russians must IMMEDIATELY cease the fire, allow firefighters, establish a security zone,” Kuleba tweeted.
Russian army is firing from all sides upon Zaporizhzhia NPP, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. Fire has already broke out. If it blows up, it will be 10 times larger than Chornobyl! Russians must IMMEDIATELY cease the fire, allow firefighters, establish a security zone!
Earlier, the Ukrainian authorities had claimed that the Russian troops were attempting to seize the plant and had entered the town with tanks.
According to the reports, the spokesperson for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has confirmed that background radiation levels had not changed. The authorities also said there was no threat to radiation security.
A purported video of the fire incident at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant has gone viral on social media sites, which show smoke and flames coming from an unidentified building.
BREAKING: Russian troops are firing at Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant, officials say. “Russian army is firing from all sides upon Zaporizhzhia NPP, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe,” Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs tweeted. https://t.co/NbyzjmHjVbpic.twitter.com/IcXOt73PEu
Dmytro Orlov, Mayor of the Energodar, said due to the continuous enemy shelling of buildings and units of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is on fire.
Following the fire incident at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a tweet that it was “aware of reports of shelling” at the power plant and was in contact with Ukrainian authorities about the situation.
Zaporizhzhia provides more than a fifth of the total electricity generated in Ukraine.
Weeks ago, Russian troops took control of the defunct Chernobyl plant, 100 km north of Kyiv. In 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear plant had suffered a meltdown, the world’s worst nuclear disaster, affecting more than half of Europe due to radioactive radiation.
Rahul Gandhi has once again displayed his traits of attempting an attack on the Modi government capitalizing on somebody else. This time he has used a reaction by the daughter of a Congress leader to target the Operation Ganga carried out by the Government of India to bring back the students stranded in war-hit Ukraine. Retweeting her video, Rahul Gandhi has written in his tweet, “Evacuation is a Duty, not a Favour.”
Sumitra Kumari Yadav is a Congress leader from Bijdhari East Sun, Kesaria of Uttarakhand. Her daughter, who was in Ukraine when the Russian invasion began, was recently brought back to India in Operation Ganga. However, after she was brought back to India, the operation Ganga can’t be called evacuation because students are being evacuated from neighbouring countries, not from inside Ukraine. She claimed that as she had to Romania border on her own, govt of India bringing her back from Romania can’t be called evacuation.
Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala had shared a video of her talk with the NDTV saying, “This brave daughter of India has exposed “Fake PR” of Modi Govt! As PM, Home Min & Defense Min were busy in election rallies, this was the harrowing experience of our children in Ukraine. Do listen.”
This brave daughter of India has exposed “Fake PR” of Modi Govt !
As PM, Home Min & Defense Min were busy in election rallies, this was the harrowing experience of our children in #Ukraine .
— Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) March 3, 2022
Responding to Surjewala’s tweet, Sumitra Kumari Yadav has written, “It’s is my daughter Vishakha. Keep it up.” She has also mentioned Rahul Gandhi in her tweet. This is why Rahul Gandhi took it ahead and went on to attack the government using her tweet. Rahul Gandhi has also used a suitably trimmed part of the original video in order to suit his allegations.
— Sumitra Kumari Yadav (@SumitraKumariY2) March 3, 2022
Gaurav Gautam, the National Secretary of the Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha, responded to the allegations saying, “Daughter of Congress leader being used for spreading lies about India’s brilliant efforts of rescuing Indian students. This is really low.. even by the standards of Congress.”
Daughter of Congress leader being used for spreading lies about India’s brilliant efforts of rescuing Indian students.
Interestingly, in her talk with the NDTV, Vishakha Yadav has claimed that bringing back from countries like Romania or Poland which were not actually hit by the war and are still safe is not something one may call evacuation; instead, evacuation is said to be done when people are lifted from the actual battlefield, which is not the case. She has also said, “We students had to come to the Ukraine borders on our own. The government support started only after that.”
It is notable that the Indian embassy in Ukraine had been issuing timely advisories to the Indian students in Ukraine to leave the country before the war started and then to move towards the cities near the western borders of Ukraine after the war started. Due to the ongoing war, most countries are not able to transport their citizens to the borders, and people stuck in Ukraine are forced to reach the borders on eastern Ukraine on their own.
Addressing the closing session of the DPIIT’s webinar on ‘Make in India for the World’, commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said that he is convinced that the PM Gati Shakti initiative would be a gamechanger that will one day be adopted by the whole world just like UPI was a game-changer in Fintech and now more and more countries across the world are trying to emulate India’s model.
#PMGatiShakti is a gamechanger which will one day be adopted by the whole world.
Govt. on its part is trying to change the rules of the game in the Pharma sector: @PiyushGoyal
— Piyush Goyal Office (@PiyushGoyalOffc) March 3, 2022
Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had unveiled a Rs 100 lakh crore national master plan for multimodal connectivity last year, with the goal of developing infrastructure to lower logistic costs and promote the economy.
“Today other countries are also talking about programmes similar to Aatmanirbhar Bharat. The world today wants to emulate India story,” Piyush Goyal said.
Today other countries are also talking about programmes similar to Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
The world today wants to emulate the India story: @PiyushGoyal
— Piyush Goyal Office (@PiyushGoyalOffc) March 3, 2022
Piyush Goyal said the Prime Minister, in his Inaugural Address to the webinar, renewed emphasis to promote Manufacturing and make India self-sufficient.
The Union Minister’s full speech can be viewed below:
It’s worth noting that Union Minister Piyush Goyal’s remark came in the wake of US President Joe Biden’s recent State of the Union Address, in which he committed to promoting “Made in America” products, echoing India’s economic goal under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
How US President Joe Biden’s commitment to ‘Make in America’ parallels PM Modi’s economic strategy
While the US is attempting to rebuild a new economic strategy, India’s government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been on this path for the previous eight years. India has already begun to promote Ease of Doing Business by lowering compliance costs and limiting government intervention.
For example, the US President, in his address promised that “every American has clean water to drink at home and at school, provide affordable high-speed internet for every American-urban, suburban, rural, and tribal community.”
This echoes India’s Jal Jeevan Mission, which was founded with the goal of ‘Har Ghar Jal,’ has made a significant difference in people’s lives. Despite the pandemic’s limits, about six crore rural families have received tap water hookups.
Moreover, in India, the largest project to improve digital and physical infrastructure gained extraordinary traction during the Corona era itself. Optical fibre connects about 6 lakh villages across the country. A total of USD 1.3 trillion is being invested, with a focus on connection infrastructure. In today’s India, internet connectivity and smartphone prices are among the cheapest in the world. India is also making rapid progress on 5G mobile connectivity, which will offer up a slew of new possibilities. India’s semiconductor initiatives will have a big positive impact on our startup ecosystem.
In his address, Biden emphasised the importance of ‘investing in America’. “Buy American: buy American products to support American jobs.” He even said that “We will buy American to make sure everything from the deck of an aircraft carrier to the steel on highway guardrails is made in America.
He even said that “We will buy American to make sure everything from the deck of an aircraft carrier to the steel on highway guardrails is made in America.
Notably, India has already 8 years ago, begun to implement the Make in India, Make for the World philosophy. India has a plethora of opportunities in this area, including telecommunications, insurance, defence, and aerospace. While pursuing self-reliance, India’s focus is not just on streamlining procedures, but also on encouraging investment and output.
Biden further added, “Let’s provide investments and tax credits to weatherize your homes and businesses to be energy efficient and you get a tax credit, double America’s clean energy production in solar, wind, and so much more, lower the price of electric vehicles.”
Significantly, India has emerged as a responsible global voice on the issue of climate change, which has presented the entire world with a major challenge.
India is now ranked fourth in the world in terms of installed renewable energy capacity. In the previous seven years, India’s non-fossil fuel energy has grown by more than 25%, accounting for 40% of our total energy mix. Every year, Indian Railways transports more passengers than the entire world’s population. This massive railway system has set a goal of becoming “Net Zero” by 2030. This project alone will result in a 60 million tonne reduction in annual emissions. Similarly, our enormous LED bulb initiative is saving 40 million tonnes of CO2 each year. India has also provided institutional solutions to cooperate with the rest of the globe on an international level.
Biden also said, “If we want to go forward, not backward, we must protect access to health care. Preserve a woman’s right to choose. And let’s continue to advance maternal health care in America.”
Interestingly, under the leadership of PM Modi, there are more than 80,000 health and wellness centres in India, as well as millions of Ayushman Bharat cards, which have greatly aided the impoverished in receiving care.
Through more than 8,000 Jan Aushadhi Kendras, the government has decreased the cost of treatment by supplying affordable medicines. The ‘Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission’ is a significant step in making health care more accessible.
Biden in his speech further announced, “We’re going to have an infrastructure decade. We’ll create good jobs for millions of Americans, modernizing roads, airports, ports, and waterways all across America”.
This again echoed India’s vision as India has also launched the Gati Shakti National Master Plan, which aims to unite all stakeholders in the development process. Work on infrastructure planning, development, and implementation will be done in an integrated way under this National Master Plan.
“Increasing the productive capability of our economy for constructing a better America,” Biden said. He emphasised the importance of fostering a startup culture in order to deliver new-age innovations to the world. In India, more than 60,000 new start-ups have been launched in 56 different sectors since 2016, resulting in the creation of more than six lakh employment.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi gave a Special Address at a webinar hosted by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). Following the opening session, three further sessions were held, covering a paradigm shift in manufacturing in India at 100, (ii) a strategy for realising India’s trillion-dollar export goal, and (iii) examining how MSMEs will operate as the Indian economy’s growth engine. Three top industry experts, i.e. the Session Moderators, presented Action Plans on the outcomes and the way forward during the concluding session. The discussions included senior officials from the federal and state governments.
Residential societies in Surat have put up banners on their gates and compound walls informing about the decision taken by the societies not to rent shops or houses to non-Hindus. In the Varachha area of Surat, such banners were seen on the gates of 10 to 12 societies including the Mira Nagar societies. The banners clearly state that ‘non-Hindus are trapping Hindu sisters and daughters in the area in love jihad and due to this reason our ladies are not safe from non-Hindus in this area’. Therefore it is written in the banner that no shops or houses should be rented to non-Hindus.
The banners also implicitly hint to vacate the shops and houses rented to any non-Hindu. In a meeting of the local residents of the society, it has been decided that those who have recently rented out shops and houses should vacate them immediately or else society will not be held responsible for any damage to their property. It is implied that the properties rented to the non-Hindus must be vacated with immediate effect. The banner reads those non-Hindu anti-social elements deported from other states also commit criminal acts by coming here and also commit atrocities with the local Hindu sisters and daughters by trapping them into love jihad.
According to a report by Divya Bhaskar, Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s city secretary Kamlesh Kayada has said, “for some time now, non-Hindus have been trying to infiltrate the area. Their movement here is also increasing. Because of this, the people of the surrounding society have come together and decided that it is necessary to keep them away so that it does not get worse. So the residents have decided not to rent the house and building and also not to rent the shop to any non-Hindu so that they cannot commit any misdeeds in this area.”
He further said that “non-Hindus are coming here after being deported from other states and the youths of such bad mentality are making the Hindu sisters and daughters victims of their own bad mentality by doing the same here. Due to this, the residents of the society have decided to put up banners and warn them not to rent shops or houses to non-Hindus in this area from now on.”
