Support France Today, for a better Tomorrow for your kids

 

It is a fact that no religion preaches violence, but at the same time it is also a fact that most of the killings in the world have been done in the name of religion. History is full of pogrom, genocides, mass holocaust—you may name it anything but no one will deny that these murders were done in the name of religion.

For a Better Tomorrow for our kids, it is time to support France Government in fighting against Islamic-terrorists. The schools which are preaching hatred against other religion must be checked and closed.

Problem is not Religion but its preachers:

The main danger is not from the poor terrorists who are killing innocent people, but the religious teachers “who are training and brainwashing young minds”. The religious leaders interpret religion as per their convenience, and it happens in all religion.

I remember Jesus Christs’ dying statement when he said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." But clergy misinterpreted it and started collecting

money called the 'Peter's Pence' from the people and issued pardon certificates called 'Indulgences'. Indulgences were letters which were remitted punishments of the sinners who bought them, both in this life and after their death. 

So the main danger is the interpreter of religion they may be ‘father’ in Christianity, pundits in Hindus, or Mullahs or Moulvis in ISLAM.

Thankfully religious leaders in Christianity and Hinduism have apparently understood their mistakes. Or maybe educated class in Christianity & Hinduism hardly listen to them.

But unfortunately, Innocent & poor Muslims follow their religious leaders without questioning and Mullahs take its advantage. Muslims where education is limited to very few and people give more preference to religion over scientific mindset.

India has seen the misuse of religion since independence. It was from both sides, by Maulvis as well as Pundits. However, not many Hindus listen to their Pundits and dare to question and confront them with logics and scientific approach.

This is not the case with most of the Muslims. Though there is a class in Muslims against fundamentalists, they do not dare to go against them. Influential Muslims send their children to the best of the best schools some times abroad to give them quality education. Not the same in case of the poor class, who mostly depend on education in Madrasas.

Madarasa education is not bad if it is taught in a scientific way and a student is given an overall view of all religions. No problem if they are taught that Islam is a good religion. The problem starts when they are taught against other beliefs or told that other beliefs are bad. Terrorism will vanish automatically if a Muslim child is taught to respect all beliefs. No problem if they are all are preached all religions are good, and all religions have some bad practices, which must be eradicated.

In this day and age, when we should all find solutions to new problems, we are still fighting over which belief is the best and wasting our time and resources in demolishing a religious place or make a palatial religious place.

France is the beginning in Europe, it will open a new war field in the western world. India has faced it (that time very few countries supported us or felt our pain) and learnt to live with it.

Democratic values must be respected and religious leaders, particularly among Muslims, must find, accept and correct the faultlines if they really want to project Islam as a religion of peace, otherwise, we may see another DARK AGE. Remember Today we are not living in the 14^th century

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Notwithstanding COVID-19 pandemic Paddy procurement In India increases by 24.58% over last year

Notwithstanding COVID-19 pandemic Paddy procurement In India increases by 24.58% over last year

In the ongoing Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2020-21, Government continues to procure Kharif 2020-21 crops at its MSP from farmers as per its existing MSP Schemes, as was done in previous seasons.
Paddy procurement for Kharif 2020-21 is progressing at a good pace in the procuring States & UTs of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh, J&K and Kerala with purchase of over 126.08 LMTs of paddy up to 22.10.2020 against the last year corresponding purchase of 101.20 LMT showing an increase of  24.58 %overlastyear.Outofthetotalpurchaseof 126.08  LMT,  Punjab alone has contributed 81.81 LMT which is 64.89 % of total procurement. About 10.85 Lac farmers have already been benefited from the ongoing KMS procurement Operations with MSP value of Rs.23804.45croreatMSPrateof Rs18880 per MT.
Further, based on the proposal from the States, approval was accorded for procurement of 45.10 LMT of Pulse and Oilseeds of Kharif Marketing Season 2020 for the States of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, Gujarat, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh under Price Support Scheme (PSS). Further, the sanction for procurement of 1.23 LMT of Copra (the perennial crop) for the States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala was also given. For other States/UTs, approval will also be accorded on receipt of proposals for procurement of Pulses, Oilseeds and Copra under PSS so that procurement of FAQ grade of these crops can be made at notified MSP for the year 2020-21 directly from the registered farmers, if the market rate goes below MSP during the notified harvesting period in the respective States/UTs by the Central Nodal Agencies through State nominated procuring agencies.
Up to 22.10.2020, the Government through its Nodal Agencies has procured 894.04 MT of Moong and Urad having MSP value of Rs.6.42 Crores benefitting 870 farmers in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Haryana. Similarly, 5089 MT of copra (the perennial crop) having MSP value of Rs. 52.40 crore has been procured benefitting 3961 farmers in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. In respect of Copra and Urad, rates are ruling above MSP in most of the major producing States. The respective State/UTs Governments are making necessary arrangements for the commencement of procurement from the date as decided by the respective States based on the arrivals in respect of Kharif Pulses and oilseeds.
 
 Cotton procurement operations under MSP are going on smoothly in the States of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Till 22.10.2020, a quantity of 305097 cotton bales valuing Rs.86155.83 lakh has been procured benefitting 59453 farmers.
 
 

Newspapers are completely safe and are not a source of novel coronavirus transmission: Indian Health Minister

 

Indian Health Minister claimed that there is no scientific evidence that proves that COVID-19 transmission can happen via newspapers.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan in a virtual public interaction told people not to afraid of taking newspapers. He said there is no scientific evidence to show can Corona can transmit via newspapers. He said reading newspaper is completely safe even during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the shortage of medical oxygen, he said there is no shortage in Medical Oxygen; Current oxygen production capacity of India is around 6400 MT/Day; the Government is ready to scale up the production capacity in order to meet any further increase in demand arising due to the Pandemic.

The Empowered Group constituted by MHA is monitoring the requirement of medical oxygen across India and The Ministry of Health is also monitoring the availability and supply of Medical Oxygen at the field level through regular VC with State Nodal officers for oxygen as well as with Principal Secretaries or Mission directors, the minister said.

1,02,400 Medical Oxygen Cylinders have been delivered to States and UTs; The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority has fixed the price of Liquid Medical Oxygen and Guidelines on ‘Rational use of Oxygen for management of COVID-19’ have also been issued.

On the availability of COVID-19 Vaccine, Harsh Vardhan remarked that although there are no intranasal COVID-19 vaccines under trial in India at the moment, Serum India and Bharat Biotech are expected to pursue clinical trials of such vaccines in India in the coming months on receipt of regulatory approval.

The Phase III Clinical Trial is generally with thousands of participants, sometimes even close to 30,000 to 40,000 participants. It is possible that from a specific city or hospital, a couple of hundred participants are selected at a given time, but in general, the overall Phase III participant pool is much larger.

Sharing details on the Special Drive for ADVERSE Drug Reaction (ADR) reporting and monitoring of drugs used in COVID-19, Dr Harsh Vardhan clarified that this special drive is not because of an adverse reaction reported with an existing drug, but is part of a proactive COVID-19 preparedness programme.

The Union Minister for Science & Technology, and Earth Science explained that the Integrated Flood Warning Systems developed for Mumbai and Chennai are city-specific prediction systems to cater the needs of coastal cities which will be extended to Kolkata. For states like Assam and Bihar, that have river-based floods, Central Water Commission generates flood warning based on the rainfall forecast provided by IMD.

Sharing an update on the demonstration plant developed by CSIR-IIP and GAIL in Dehradun that he inaugurated in 2019, the Minister apprised the audience that at full capacity utilization, it can produce about 800 litres of BS-VI quality diesel per day from 1000 kg waste plastics.

The Minister said that in the last six years, the Department of Science and Technology through its various schemes especially targeting women scientists, has contributed to improving gender ratio and the improvement is evident today especially at the lower level in scientific establishments. Not only has the percentage of women contributing to science education at the school level increased significantly but also the percentage of women in government laboratories has also increased.

In order to further improve the situation, the DST is increasingly boosting its interventions for the participation of women in S&T at multiple levels through various new schemes.

ends

India on a steady trajectory of sustained fall in Active Cases

 India continues to report a trend of steadily declining active cases. The active cases are less than 8 lakh for the second consecutive day and stand at 7,83,311. The active cases now comprise 10.45% of the total positive cases of the country.

Following the national trend, 22 States/UTs have less than 20,000 active cases.

13 States/UTs have more than 20,000 but less than 50,000 active cases, while 3 States/UTs have more than 50,000 active cases.

The declining trend of the active cases is complemented by the unbroken rising number of recovered cases. The total recovered cases stand at 65,97,209. The gap between Recovered cases and Active cases has crossed 58 lakh (58,13,898).  The national Recovery Rate has further improved to 88.03%.

72,614 COVID patients have recovered and discharged in the last 24 hours whereas the new confirmed cases stand at  61,871.

79% of the new recovered cases are observed to be concentrated in 10 States/UTs.

Maharashtra has contributed the maximum with more than 14,000 single day recovery.

61,871 new confirmed cases were recorded in the last 24 hours.

79% of the new cases are from 10 States and UTs.

Maharashtra continues to be the State reporting a very high number of new cases with more than 10,000 cases followed by Kerala with more than 9,000 cases.

1033case fatalities have been reported in the past 24 hours.

Of these, ten States/UTs account for nearly 86%.  More than 44% of new fatalities reported are from Maharashtra (463 deaths).

Rohtang Tunnel: How a Prime Minister (Atal Bihari Vajpayee) fulfilled dream of his tribal friend Tashi Dawa

A friendship that bridged world's highest all-weather tunnel to connect Leh, Ladakh & Lahaul to rest of the world

The seeds of 9.2 km-long highest tunnel in the world that connects Manali to Lahaul valley was sown five years before India’s Independence (1942) in Baroda Gujarat, where a tribal Buddhist Tashi Dawa, and BJP stalwart Atal Bihari Vajpayee spent time together in an RSS training camp. The tribal man Tashi Dawa and Vajpayee became good friends. During their stay together in Baroda, Tashi Dawa used to tell the hardship faced by Lahaul valley people for want of all year connectivity. It was he who told Atal about Rohtang Pass the only road to connect the valley with the rest of the world.

He also told a proposal of 1860 by a Moravian Missionary to construct a tunnel beneath Rohtang pass, which was considered impossible by all. However, Tashi was convinced that such a tunnel can be constructed.  It was after 56 years (1998), when Tashi met Vajpayee at PM residence and told him to fulfil the long-pending dream of Lahaul people to connect with the rest of the world.

Tashi, also known as Arjun Ram Gopal, a resident of Thalang in Lahaul-Spiti, is a little known name in Himachal politics. He remained a foot soldier of RSS till his death. He also reminded of their friendship during 1942 and the problem they discussed those days. Interestingly, Vajpayee could not recognize his face but recognized his voice and said: “The voice belongs to his old friend Tashi Dawa”.

Dawa pressed for the tunnel demand to connect Manali to Lahaul Valley and make it an all-weather road. The road is also strategically important and is considered a lifeline between forwarding areas of Leh Ladakh and the upper region of Himachal with the rest of the world.

He again reminded the PM about the Moravian Mission, which had proposed the tunnel in 1860 during the British era. Though five years after independence, (1953) the idea of the tunnel was rejected by Jawahar Lal Government, Tashi was convinced that a tunnel can be made. In 1983 then PM Indira Gandhi also tried to work on the tunnel project, unfortunately, she was assassinated before she could make any final announcement.

He reportedly made a detailed presentation to Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Considering the strategic importance of the tunnel, he gave his consent and instructed his officials to look into the feasibility of the Tunnel. It took two years for the officials to prepare a detailed report and informed the PM that the tunnel is possible.

The tunnel, which was a dream for people of Upper Himachal and Ladakh was finally announced by Atal Bihari Vajpayee in June 2000 during his visit to Lahul Spiti valley. It took another 10 years to start construction with a target to make it operational by 2017.

But look at the irony, the two friends who dreamt of a tunnel to connect Lahaul valley with rest of the world could not see it happening in their lifetime. Tashi died in December 2007 in a hospital in Kullu and Atal passed away in August 2018.

For people of Lahaul Spiti, the tunnel is a dream fulfilled by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for his tribal friend Tashi, who wanted round the year connectivity for people of Upper Himachal.

Importance of Atal Tunnel:

Before the tunnel, the distance between Keylong and Manali was 112 Kms which was reduced by 46 Km. And the time taken has come down by almost five hours. Passing through Rohtang pass is very time consuming, and it reduces the efficiency of a vehicle because of low oxygen level. And it was operational only from April to October. For rest part of the year, it was closed due to heavy snow.

According to an estimate, nearly 1500 trucks and 3000 cars would pass through the tunnel every day. It is estimated that the tunnel would save nearly 2 crore litre diesel/petrol in a year. One can make out the huge money, pollution and foreign exchange saving because 2 crore litre less fuel is consumed in a year.

Besides, the driving times would be saved by about 19500 every day. In other words, yearly 71 lakh hours would be saved of motorists because of the tunnel.

Facts About Atal Tunnel

Atal tunnel is the longest highway tunnel in the World built at above 10,000 feet. The 9.02 Km long tunnel connects Manali to Lahaul-Spiti valley throughout the year. Earlier the valley was cut off for about 6 months each year owing to heavy snowfall.

 

The Tunnel is built with ultra-modern specifications in the Pir Panjal range of Himalayas at an altitude of 3000 Mtrs (10,000 Feet) from the Mean Sea Level (MSL).

The South Portal (SP) of Atal Tunnel is located at a distance of 25 Km from Manali at an altitude of 3060 Mtrs, while the North Portal (NP) of the tunnel is located near village Teling, Sissu, in Lahaul Valley at an altitude of 3071 Mtrs.

It is horse shoe shaped, single tube double lane tunnel with a roadway of 8 Mtrs. It has an overhead clearance of 5.525 Mtrs.

It is 10.5-metre wide and has a 3.6 x 2.25 Mtrs fireproof emergency egress tunnel built into the main tunnel itself.

Atal Tunnel has been designed for traffic the density of 3000 cars per day and 1500 trucks per day with a max speed of 80 km/hr.

It has the state of the art electromechanical system including semi transverse ventilation system, SCADA controlled firefighting, illumination and monitoring system.  

Ends.

India government asked IITs to teach business to tribals

 

The Indian government has arranged training programmes for Tribal through India’s premier Institute including IIT Kanpur to upgrade the skill of tribal entrepreneurs to help them build their enterprise by commercializing their products.

Though skill development and training for tribals is nothing new, it is for the first time that reputed institute like IIT will train tribals on various aspects of business and entrepreneurship development.

The program titled “Tech for Tribals” is aimed at the holistic development of tribals with a focus on entrepreneurship development, soft skills, IT, and business development through SHGs operating through Van Dhan Kendras (VDVKs). It aims to transform 5 crores, Tribal Entrepreneurs, by capacity building and imparting entrepreneurship skills to tribal forest produce gatherers
Under this initiative, TRIFED (The Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India) has tied up with reputed national institutions mainly IIT, Kanpur; Art of Living, Bangalore; TISS, Mumbai; KISS, Bhubaneswar; Vivekananda Kendra, Tamil Nadu and SRIJAN, Rajasthan, for conducting Vandhan-ESDP Training Programs in the tribal States. ‘Tech for Tribals is a unique’ program to make tribals of India “Aatmanirbhar”, focusing to bridge the gap between tribal entrepreneurs and urban markets, said a senior officer of the Tribal Ministry.
The beneficiaries will undergo a 30 days program over six weeks comprising 120 sessions. The training will focus on various facets of micro-enterprise creation, management and functioning. The training module developed by IIT, Kanpur will be disseminated among beneficiaries in a phased manner through various modes like online lectures and training, online activities and gradually move to face to face interactions in classrooms, practical, onsite visits and exposure visits, The Tribal Ministry said.
The training will comprise of exposure through onsite demos on best practices in manufacturing, Total Quality, Hygiene, and standards to be followed in the market. The relevant branding and implementation of best in class packaging solutions are expected to add value to the indigenous Minor Forest Produces and subsequently propagating entrepreneurship among the tribals. The expected outcome shall be successful, aspiring and confident tribal entrepreneurs ready to compete with the best products in the market with feasible business plans.
Ends.

Indian Govt offers Rs 73,000 crore boost up consumer spending in wake of Covid-19, cash payment against LTC, special festival advance scheme, and 50 year interest free loan to state governments

In an effort to fight the slowdown due to COVID-19 pandemic, the Indian Government announced various schemes to the tune of  Rs 73,000 crore to stimulate consumer spending in the economy.

The scheme announced by the government includes cash payment in lieu of one tax-free Leave Travel Concession during 2018-21 in form of vouchers to purchase consumer goods; a Special Festival Advance Scheme for non-gazetted employees, as well as for gazetted employees. 

Besides Union Government is also issuing a special interest-free 50-year loan to the cash-starved States up to Rs. 12,000 crore  for Capital Expenditure

Government has taken this step in wake of the reports that saving of government employees has improved and it might further hurt the already liquidity-starved Indian economy. Even the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman admitted that “Indications are that savings of government and organised sector employees have increased and we want to incentivise such people to boost demand for the benefit of the less fortunate”.

She said the stimulus measures announced today would have an impact on those people who have been affected by COVID-19 and are desperately looking for demand to keep their business going.

She stressed on the idea that today’s solution should not cause tomorrow’s problem. Smt. Sitharaman said that the Government does not want to burden the common citizen with future inflation and also not put the Government debt on an unsustainable path.

The proposals presented today by the Finance Minister are designed to stimulate spending in a fiscally prudent manner as some of the proposals are for advancing or front-loading of expenditure with offsetting changes later while others are directly linked to increase in GDP. The present announcement by Smt. Sitharaman highlights the active intervention by the Government of India to combat economic slowdown created by COVID-19. The details are as follows: -

1. CONSUMER SPENDING

 

1. Leave Travel Concession (LTC) Cash Voucher Scheme

 

While announcing the scheme, the Finance Minister said, “The biggest incentive for employees to avail the LTC Cash Voucher Scheme is that in a four-year block ending in 2021, the LTC not availed will lapse, instead, this will encourage employees to avail of this facility to buy goods which can help their families.”

Central Government employees get LTC in a block of 4 years in which air or rail fare, as per pay scale/entitlement, is reimbursed and in addition, Leave encashment of 10 days (pay + DA) is paid. But due to COVID-19, employees are not in a position to avail of LTC in the current block of 2018-21.

 

Therefore, the Government has decided to give cash payment in lieu of one LTC during 2018-21, in which:

 

• Full payment on Leave encashment and
• Payment of fare in 3 flat-rate slabs depending on class of entitlement
• Fare payment will be tax free

 

An employee, opting for this scheme, will be required to buy goods / services worth 3 times the fare and 1 time the leave encashment before 31st March 2021.

The scheme also requires that money must be spent on goods attracting GST of 12% or more from a GST registered vendor through digital mode. The employee is required to produce GST invoice to avail the benefit.

If Central Government employees opt for it, cost will be around Rs. 5,675 crore. Employees of Public Sector Banks (PSBs) and Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) will also be allowed this facility and the estimated cost for them will be Rs. 1,900 crore. The tax concession will be allowed for State Government/Private Sector too, for employees who currently are entitled to LTC, subject to following the guidelines of the Central Government scheme. The demand infusion in the economy by Central Government and Central PSE/PSB employees is estimated to be Rs. 19,000 crore approx. The demand infusion by State Government employees will be Rs. 9,000 crore. It is expected that it will generate additional consumer demand of Rs. 28,000 crore.

 

2. Special Festival Advance Scheme

 

A Special Festival Advance Scheme for non-gazetted employees, as well as for gazetted employees too, is being revived as a one-time measure to stimulate demand. All Central Government employees can now get an interest-free advance of Rs. 10,000, to be spent by 31st March, 2021 on the choice of festival of the employee. The interest-free advance is recoverable from the employee in maximum 10 instalments.

 

The employees will get pre-loaded RuPay Card of the advance value. The Government will bear Bank charges of the card. Disbursal of advance through RuPay card ensures digital mode of payment, resulting in tax revenue and encouraging honest businesses.

The one-time disbursement of Special Festival Advance Scheme (SFAS) is expected to amount to Rs. 4,000 crore; and if the SFAS given by all State Governments, another tranche of Rs. 8,000 crore is expected to be disbursed.

 

2. CAPITAL EXPENDITURE

1. Special Assistance to the States:

 

While announcing measures related to Capital Expenditure, Smt. Sitharaman said that money spent on infrastructure and asset creation has a multiplier effect on the economy. It not only improves current GDP but also future GDP. The Government wants to give a new thrust to Capital Expenditure of both States and Centre.

Giving a new thrust on Capital Expenditure, Smt. Sitharaman said that money spent on infrastructure and asset creation has a multiplier effect on the economy. It not only improves current GDP but also future GDP. The Government wants to give a new thrust to Capital Expenditure of both States and Centre. Smt. Sitharaman said that the Central Government is issuing a special interest-free 50-year loan to States of Rs. 12,000 crore Capital Expenditure. The Scheme consists of 3 Parts.

Part - 1 of the scheme provides for:

 

• Rs. 200 crore each for 8 North East states (Rs. 1,600 crore)
• Rs. 450 crore each Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh (Rs. 900 crore)

 

Part - 2 of the scheme provides for:

 

• Rs. 7,500 crore for remaining states, as per 15th Finance Commission devolution.

The Finance Minister said that both Part 1 and Part 2 of interest-free loans given to States are to be spent by 31st March, 2021 and 50% will be given initially, the remaining 50% will be given upon utilization of first 50%. Unutilised funds will be reallocated by the Central Government.

Under Part - 3 of Rs. 12,000 crore interest-free loans to states, Rs. 2,000 crore will be given to those states which fulfill at least 3 out of 4 reforms spelled out in Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Package (ANBP) vide Department of Expenditure’s Letter F.No. 40(06)/PF-S/17-18 Vol. V dated 17th May 2020. Rs 2,000 crore is over and above other borrowing ceilings.

Following are the features of this Scheme:

 

• It can be used for new or ongoing capital projects needing funds and / or settling contractors’/ suppliers’ bills on such projects
• CAPEX to be spent by 31st March 2021
• This funding will be over and above all other additional borrowing ceilings given to states
• Bullet repayment after 50 years, no servicing required for 50 years

 

2. Enhanced Budget Provisions:

 

The Finance Minister said that an additional budget of Rs. 25,000 crore, in addition to Rs. 4.13 lakh crore given in Union Budget 2020, is being provided for Capital Expenditure on roads, defence, water supply, urban development and domestically produced capital equipment.

To allow smooth conducting of Government business, allocations will be made in forthcoming Revised Estimate discussions of the Ministry of Finance with concerned ministries.

It may be recalled that a package of Rs 1.70 lakh crore under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP) was announced on 26th March, 2020 and the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Package (ANBP), a Special economic and comprehensive package of Rs 20 lakh crore - equivalent to 10% of India’s GDP – was announced on 12th May, 2020 by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. He gave a clarion call for आत्मनिर्भर भारत अभियान or Self-Reliant India Movement and also outlined five pillars of Aatmanirbhar Bharat – Economy, Infrastructure, System, Vibrant Demography and Demand.

"No religion or God says that you have to celebrate a festival in an ostentatious way” “Fighting against COVID is our foremost Dharma”: Indian Health Minister

Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare advised people to stay away from large congregations and diligently follow the guidelines issued by the government regarding COVID 19. He asked people to celebrate upcoming festivals at home, with their loved ones, instead of going out to fairs and pandals. 

“The Bhagwad Gita condones war for the warrior class. So, there is no need to congregate in large numbers to prove your faith or your religion. If we do this, we may be heading for big trouble. Lord Krishna says to concentrate on your goal..my goal and your goal .. OUR goal is to finish this virus and save humanity. This is our religion. The religion of the whole world.”
He said that “Extraordinary circumstances must draw extraordinary responses. No religion or God says that you have to celebrate in an ostentatious way, that you have to visit pandals and temples and mosques to pray”. He exhorted citizens to join the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's clarion call to take a pledge and join the massive country-wide awareness campaign and “Jan Andolan” during the two months (including the winter season) so that the pandemic does not spread further.

Dr Harsh Vardhan shared the possibility of increased novel coronavirus transmission during winters as it is a respiratory virus and the transmission of respiratory viruses is known to increase during the colder weather. “These viruses are known to thrive better in the cold weather and low humidity conditions. In view of these, it would not be wrong to assume that the winter season may see increased rates of transmission of the novel coronavirus in the Indian context too,” he noted.

Adhering to the Covid appropriate behaviours of wearing masks/face covers, especially when in public places, regularly washing of hands and maintaining of respiratory etiquette ill help us to contain the spread of the diseases, he reiterated firmly.
Dr. Harsh Vardhan shared the good news of the rollout of the FELUDA Test in the near future. Based on tests in over 2000 patients during the trials at the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) and on testing in private labs, the test showed 96% sensitivity and 98% specificity. This compares favourably to ICMR’s current acceptation criteria of RT-PCR Kit of at least 95% Sensitivity and at least 99% Specificity, he stated. He added that the Feluda paper strip test for SRS-CoV-2 diagnosis has been developed by CSIR-IGIB and has been approved by the Drug Controller General of India for a commercial launch. The kit has already been validated by the Department of Atomic Energy’s National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore. “While I cannot put an exact date on the availability, we should expect this test within the next few weeks”, he said.
On the issue of how the government plans to roll out the COVID-19 vaccine by prioritizing target groups in the entire population, he clarified that it is anticipated that supplies of COVID-19 vaccines would be available in limited quantities in the beginning. He said “In a huge country like India, it is critical to prioritize vaccine delivery based on various factors such as per risk of exposure, comorbidity among various population groups, the mortality rate among COVID Cases, and several others.” He also added that India is looking at the availability of several different types of vaccines, of which some may be suitable for a particular age group while others may not be.
Reiterating that the most important component of the planning is the cold chain and other logistics which need to be planned appropriately to ensure no glitches occur in vaccine delivery even at the last mile, Dr Harsh Vardhan highlighted the need of the massive advocacy required for building community sensitization activities to understand the reasons for vaccine hesitancy and address them appropriately. Categorically denying the rumours of the Government prioritizing young and working-class for the COVID-19 vaccine for economic reasons, Dr Harsh Vardhan said, “the prioritisation of groups for COVID-19 vaccine shall be based on two key considerations: Occupational hazard and risk of exposure to infection, and the risk of developing severe disease and increased mortality.”
Putting on his doctor hat, he explained to a respondent that the Phase I trials are done primarily to establish the safety of the product; Phase II Trials measure immunogenicity as a primary endpoint and safety as a secondary endpoint; In Phase III clinical trials, both safety and immunogenicity continue to be measured as secondary endpoints; efficacy being the primary endpoint for this phase of a clinical trial.
On the issue of Emergency Use Authorization of COVID vaccines in India, the Minister said that the issue is being deliberated at present. “Adequate safety and efficacy data is required for emergency use authorization vaccine approval for ensuring patient safety. Further course of action will depend on the data generated,” he added.       
He informed that COVID-19 Vaccines currently in trial in India are 2 dose and 3 dose vaccines. Vaccine by Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech require 2 Doses while the Cadila Healthcare vaccine requires 3 Doses. For other vaccines in preclinical stages, the dosing is being tested, he stated.
On the need to include other novel candidates as COVID Vaccine, he said, “Considering the large population size of India, one vaccine or vaccine manufacturer will not be able to fulfil the requirements of vaccinating the whole country. Therefore, we are open to assessing the feasibility of introducing several COVID-19 vaccines in the country as per their availability for the Indian population.” Sharing his views on Public-Private Partnership during the Pandemic, Dr Harsh Vardhan further said that the present situation demands multiple vaccine partners to ensure maximum vaccination coverage to the Indian population and the use of a single vaccine from a certain company should not be seen through a negative lens.
The Minister requested people to not share any content related to health & safety without double-checking its veracity. He added that as we learn more about the novel coronavirus and more vaccine candidates start their Phase II and Phase III Trials, there is bound to be a lot of fake and incorrect news on social media that is perpetrated by people with vested interests. He shared that the COVID-19 Fact Check Unit in the Press Information Bureau (PIB) under Union Ministry of Information & Broadcasting is regularly scanning social media platforms for fake news and requested his followers to report such fake news to PIB‟s fact check unit.
On the matter of cases of reinfection, Dr Harsh Vardhan stated that though there are sporadic reports of reinfection surfacing in various states, careful analysis of ICMR database reveals that many of these cases have actually been misclassified as reinfections. He added that it is very important to differentiate mislabeled reinfection from actual reinfection. “Actual reinfection would mean a fully recovered person getting infected by a freshly introduced virus in his/her body, belonging to the same or different strain. ICMR is commissioning a study to understand the true burden of re-infected cases. Results will be shared in a couple of weeks”, he said.
Expressing personal trauma at the loss of doctors to the pandemic, Dr Harsh Vardhan detailed steps taken to prevent occurrences of COVID-19 infection among healthcare workers. States are thoroughly supported in terms of PPE Kits, N-95 masks and HCQ for the protection and prophylaxis of healthcare workers managing COVID cases. AIIMS, Delhi regularly conducts a series of webinars with the State Level Centers of Excellence where guidelines on Infection, Prevention and Control get further disseminated. Training modules have been made available on the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare website as well as iGoT - Deeksha platform on infection, prevention and control practices. He added that the Ministry of Health has also issued guidelines on rational use of Personal Protection Equipment for healthcare workers working in COVID and non-COVID areas of health facilities and in the field.
The Minister also informed that he keeps talking personally to all State health ministers and other health officials to ensure that our corona warriors are well taken care of.
Responding to calls for medical attention to people in isolation, Dr. Harsh Vardhan noted with satisfaction the sharp increase in acceptance of telemedicine services in India which have not only enabled the government to provide the right care to patients during the Pandemic, but also helped to contain the transmission of the dangerous virus. Discussing this new and encouraging development, he said, “eSanjeevani has over 12,000 practitioners of various State Government Health Departments and their services have been sought so far by people from 510 districts, across 26 states in the country. While the first 1 Lakh consultations on the platform took around 3 months, the last 1 Lakh consultations have come up in well under 3 weeks, which is a great achievement.”
During the Sunday Samvaad conversation, Dr Harsh Vardhan shared that in the first phase the Government of India has released Rs 3000 Crores to States and UTs to battle COVID-19 pandemic. Almost all, except three States/UTs, have utilized the complete grant given to them: Maharashtra has only used 42.5% of the grant followed by Chandigarh at 47.8% and Delhi at 75.4%, he stated.
Answering the criticism surrounding the efficacy of AYUSH formulations in the treatment of COVID-19, Dr Harsh Vardhan explained the concept of Salutogenesis and how these formulations target holistic recovery of patients. Pointing to in-depth study of literature and scientific evidence generated from in silico studies, experimental studies, and clinical studies, he said, “Guduchi, Ashwagandha, Guduchi & Pippali combination and AYUSH 64 have a substantial number of studies which prove their immuno-modulatory, anti-viral, antipyretic and anti-inflammatory properties. These interventions have also shown a good binding affinity with COVID-19 virus in in-silico studies.” He further informed that scientific studies have been initiated with the aforesaid remedies to assess their impact in the prophylaxis, secondary prevention and management of COVID-19 afflicted cases on the recommendations of the Interdisciplinary Task Force set up by the Government.
Recounting the benefits of Chyawanprash, Dr Harsh Vardhan stated that the information available through clinical studies have shown that individuals who consume Chyawanprash regularly for a definite period of time show improvement in overall health status and immunity and while sugar is an essential component, customers can opt for sugar-free versions in the market.