“It’s been 11 years of infrastructure revolution with outstanding infrastructure being added that has enhanced India’s growth trajectory,” Modi said on X.

From railways to highways, ports to airports, India’s rapidly expanding infrastructure network is boosting “Ease of Living” and enhancing prosperity, he said.

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Media reports allude to the fact that the figures reported are official figures reported by banks to Swiss National Bank (SNB) and do not indicate the quantum of much debated alleged black money held by Indians in Switzerland. Further, these statistics do not include the money that Indians, NRIs or others might have in Swiss banks in the names of third–country entities.

However, the customer deposits have actually fallen from the end of 2019. The funds held through fiduciaries has also more than halved from end of 2019. The biggest increase is in “Other amounts due from customers”. These are in form of bonds, securities and various other financial instruments.

It is pertinent to point out that India and Switzerland are signatories to the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters (MAAC) and both countries have also signed the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) pursuant to which, the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) is activated between the two countries for sharing of financial account information annually for calendar year 2018 onwards.

Exchanges of Financial Account information in respect of residents of each country have taken place between both countries in 2019 as well as 2020. In view of the existing legal arrangement for exchange of information of financial accounts (which has a significant deterrent effect on tax evasion through undisclosed assets abroad), there does not appear to be any significant possibility of the increase of deposits in the Swiss banks which is out of undeclared incomes of Indian residents.

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2,08,921 Daily New Cases were registered in the last 24 hours.

Cumulatively, the Active Caseload has also now reduced to 24,95,591. Active Cases have decreased since its last peak on 10^th May 2021.

A net decline of 91,191is witnessed in the last 24 hours. It now comprises 9.19% of the country’s total Positive Cases.

India’s Daily Recoveries continue to outnumber the Daily New Cases for the 13th consecutive day. 2,95,955 recoveries were registered in the last 24 hours. 87,034 more recoveries during the last 24 hours as compared to the daily new cases.

India’s cumulative recoveries have reached 2,43,50,816 today with the 2,95,955 patients who have recovered in the last 24 hours.. The National Recovery Rate has grown further to touch 89.66%.

On another front, the highest ever single day tests 22,17,320 were conducted in the last 24 hours in the country and cumulatively 33,48,11,496 tests have been done so far.

The Weekly Positivity Rate is currently at 11.45% while the Daily Positivity rate has reduced and now stands at 9.42% today. It has remained less than 10% for 2 consecutive days now.

India has achieved a new milestone in its vaccination drive as the cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has exceeded 20 Cr today under the Phase-3 of the Nationwide Vaccination Drive.

A total of 20,06,62,456 vaccine doses have been administered through 28,70,378 sessions, as per the provisional report till 7 am today. These include 97,96,058 HCWs who have taken the 1^st dose and 67,29,213 HCWs who have taken the 2^nddose, 1,51,71,950 FLWs (1^stdose), 83,84,001 FLWs (2^nddose), 1,29,57,009 beneficiaries under 18-44 age group (1^stdose), 6,20,88,772 (1^stdose) and 1,00,30,729 (2^nd dose) beneficiaries aged 45 to 60 years. 5,71,35,804 1^stdose beneficiaries and 1,83,68,920 2^nd dose beneficiaries of more than 60 years old.

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• To make India’s public health surveillance system more responsive and predictive to enhance preparedness for action at all levels.
• Citizen-friendly public health surveillance system will ensure individual privacy and confidentiality, enabled with a client feedback mechanism.
• Improved data-sharing mechanism between Centre and states for better disease detection, prevention, and control.
• India aims to provide regional and global leadership in managing events that constitute a public health emergency of international concern.

The white paper was released by NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Dr Rajiv Kumar; Member (Health) DrVinod K Paul; CEO Amitabh Kant; and Additional Secretary DrRakesh Sarwal.

‘Vision 2035: Public Health Surveillance in India’is a continuation of the work on health systems strengthening. It contributes by suggesting mainstreaming of surveillance by making individual electronic health records the basis for surveillance. Public health surveillance (PHS) is an important function that cuts across primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of care. Surveillance is ‘Information for Action’.

The Covid-19 pandemic has provided us with an opportunity to revisit (re) emerging diseases due to increased interaction between human-animal-environment. Early identification of this interference is essential to break the chain of transmissions and create a resilient surveillance system. This vision document is a step in that direction, it articulates the vision and highlights the building blocks. It envisions a citizen-friendly public health system, which will involve stakeholders at all levels, be it individual, community, health care facilities or laboratories, all while protecting the individual’s privacy and confidentiality.’

The white paper lays out India’s vision 2035 for public health surveillance through the integration of the three-tiered public health system into Ayushman Bharat. It also spells out the need for expanded referral networks and enhanced laboratory capacity. The building blocks for this vision are an interdependent federated system of governance between the Centre and states, a new data-sharing mechanism that involves the use of new analytics, health informatics, and data science including innovative ways of disseminating ‘information for action’.

The paper released today is envisagedto serve as a vision document to propel public health surveillance in Indiaand establish India as a global leader in the area.

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The Agriculture Minister cordially welcomed the representatives of Farmers Organizations of Punjab and emphasized that the Government is fully committed towards the welfare of farmers and agriculture development is always on the top priority for Government of India. During the deliberations, the Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister proposed to constitute an expert committee to put forth the issues of farmers so as to resolve them with mutual consent but the representative of the Farmers Union suggested that all the representatives will attend further round of discussions with the Government to resolve the matter amicably.

During the interaction, it has been suggested by the Government to the representatives of Farmers Union to identify the specific issues related to Farm Reform Acts and share with the Government on 02.12.2020 for consideration. These issues will be discussed during the fourth round of meeting to be held on 03.12.2020.

It was assured that the Government of India is always committed to protect the interest of farmers and is always open for discussions for farmers’ welfare.

meanwhile

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.

Paddy procurement for Kharif 2020-21 is continuing smoothly in the procuring States & UTs of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Chandigarh, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Maharashtra with purchase of over 318.00 LMTs of paddy up to 30.11.2020 against the last year corresponding purchase of 268.15 LMT showing an increase of 18.58 % over last year. Out of the total purchase of 318.00 LMT, Punjab alone has contributed 202.77 LMT which is 63.76 % of total procurement.

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India reported 44,059 new coronavirus cases, taking the tally in the country to 91,39,866. The death toll increased by 511 to 1,33,738.

According to the Union Health Ministry data The number of active COVID-19 cases remained below 5 lakh for the thirteenth consecutive day in the country. There are 4,43,486 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country as on date, which comprises 4.85 percent of the total caseload, the health ministry data stated. The national recovery rate was recorded 93.68 percent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.46 percent.

Uttarakhand Governor Baby Rani Maurya has tested positive for COVID-19. In a tweet last evening, Maurya said, “My corona report has come out positive. I am asymptomatic and have no problems. I have isolated myself under the supervision of doctors. I request everyone who came in contact with me over the last few days to get themselves tested.” A press release from the Raj Bhawan said the Uttarakhand governor had returned here from Agra on Friday after a week-long vacation.

five worst-affected states till now

Maharashtra – 17,80,208 cases
Karnataka – 8,73,046 cases
Andhra Pradesh – 8,62,213 cases
Tamil Nadu – 7,69,995 cases
Kerala – 5,62,695 cases

Meanwhile Union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said a locally-developed Covid-19 vaccine candidate could complete its final trials in a month or two, raising hopes for a rapid roll-out in a country with the world’s second highest number of infections.

The state-run Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and privately-held Bharat Biotech this month started third-stage trials of COVAXIN, in a process that would involve 26,000 volunteers. It is the most advanced Indian experimental vaccine.

“We are in the process of developing our indigenous vaccines, in the process of completing our third-phase trials in the next one or two months,” Harsh Vardhan told a web conference on the pandemic.

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The Modi government  doubled the tax exemption limit on price differential between the circle rate and the agreement value to 20%, a key component of the new Rs 2.65 lakh crore economic stimulus package that also includes easy working capital to loans to 26 sectors hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, and incentives to companies to hire more people.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced 12 measures under the third tranche of the government’s efforts to boost the economy. This includes the Rs 1.46 lakh crore production-linked incentive (PLI) for 10 sectors that was announced on Wednesday.

The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has said that  Aatmnirbhar Bharat package is a continuation of the government’s effort to help all sections of the society.

In a tweet Shri Narendra Modi said ” Today’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat Package continues our efforts to help all sections of society. These initiatives will help in creating jobs, alleviate stressed sectors, ensure liquidity, boost manufacturing, energise real-estate sector & support farmers.

Finance minister said  that including the Rs 2,65,080 crore package announced Thursday, the quantum of total stimulus announced by India is Rs 29,87,641 crore, including the monetary measures taken by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) – or around 15% of the gross domestic product (GDP). Minus the RBI’s monetary measures, the size of the stimulus is 9% of the GDP, she added.

The finance minister also pointed to recent indicators on the economy’s revival, including the composite Purchase Managers Index that came in at 58.9 in October, and credit carting firm Moody’s assessment that the Indian economy would shrink by 8.9% in calendar year 2020, better than its previous estimate of a 9.6% decline. To be sure, the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Nowcast report projected that the Indian economy could have contract 8.6% in the next three months ended September.

Among the announcements on Thursday, the one on employment generation involves the government paying out both the employee and employer contributions of employees hired on or after October 1, 2020, for a period of two years under certain conditions (the monthly salary should be less than Rs 15,000 and the company should have up to 1,000 employees). For companies with more than 1,000 employees, the government will pay out the employee contribution only. The scheme, Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana, is aimed at incentivising job creation.

Speaking about the income-tax (I-T) relief to home buyers and developers, Sitharaman said: “There are quite a lot of [unsold] inventories we are told in the real estate sector… at the moment what is prevailing is the differential between the circle rate and the agreement value… you get relief. Now, what we have decided is to increase the differential between from 10% to 20% for the period from the date of this announcement to 30 June 2021 for only primary sale… and the necessary amendment in the I-T Act will be done in the due course.”

The finance minister said the decision on the price differential for homes will help to clear unsold inventories.

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This achievement is matched by the downward spiral fall of the total active cases, which are maintained below the 7 lakh mark for the third successive day.

Presently the active cases comprise merely 8.50% of the total positive cases of the country standing at 6,68,154. 

The total recovered cases also continue to rise. They are 70,78,123 so far. With increasing number of recoveries, this gap is continuously widening. The gap between Recovered cases and Active cases has crossed 64 lakh (64,09,969).

Less than 1000 deaths have been continuously reported since the last one week. The deaths are below the 1100 mark since 2^nd October.

75% of the new recovered cases are observed to be concentrated in 10 States/UTs viz. Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh.

Maharashtra leads the tally with more than 10,000 single day recoveries.

50,129 new confirmed cases were recorded in last 24 hours.

79% of the new cases are from 10 States and UTs. Kerala continues to be the State reporting a very high number of new cases with more than 8,000 cases followed by Maharashtra with more than 6,000 cases.

578 case fatalities have been reported in the past 24 hours. Of these, nearly 80% are concentrated in ten States/UTs.

Maharashtra has contributed the maximum to the new fatalities with 137 deaths.

India’s testing lab network has inked another achievement today. The total number of labs has crossed 2000. Starting from one lab in Pune, the number of labs stands at 2003 which includes 1126 Government laboratories and 877 Private laboratories.

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RKA aims reaching 11 crore families to ignite 33 crore Diyas made of cow-dung during this year’s Deepawali festival. The feedback received so far is very encouraging and approximately 3 lakh Diyas will be ignited in the holy city of Ayodhya alone, 1 lakh Diyas will be lit in holy city of Varanasi. Apart from generating business opportunities to thousands of cow-based entrepreneurs / farmers/ women entrepreneurs, the use of cow-dung products will lead to cleaner and healthier environment. It will help in making Gaushalas ‘Atma Nirbhar’ too. By providing an environment friendly alternative to Chinese made Diyas, the campaign will boost up Make in India vision and mission of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and also promote ‘Swadeshi’ movement while reducing environmental damage.

RKA has been interacting with various stakeholders through a series of webinars to focus and promote use of cow-dung in manufacture of items that can be used in this year’s Deepawali. RKA has enhanced its presence through their representatives in every district across all States for the campaign to motivate and facilitate production of Kamdhenu Deepawali related items in Gaushalas all over the country along with nationwide marketing plan. Various segments of stakeholders like farmers, manufacturers, entrepreneurs, Gaushalas and other concerned are being involved at large to make the campaign of Kamdhenu Deepawali a grand success.

Recently, the RKA had launched a nation-wide campaign on various platforms of social media to use eco-friendly material in manufacture of idols of Lord Ganesha for this year’s Ganesha Festival on appeal of the Prime Minister. It generated a considerable interest in various stakeholders like dairy farmers / unemployed youth / women and young entrepreneurs / Gaushalas/ Gopalaks / Self Help Groups etc.

Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog (RKA) has been constituted by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for the conservation, protection and development of cows and their progeny and for giving direction to the cattle development programme.

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Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare said The Centre is also working on plans for building capacities in HR, training, supervision etc on a massive scale and roughly estimates to receive and utilise 400-500 million doses covering approximately 20-25 crore people by July 2021.

Dr Harsh Vardhan  responded to questions posed by his social media interactors on the fourth episode of Sunday Samvaad. The COVID Vaccine seems to have been a dominant theme in the mind of those who chose to submit questions for the episode. He also patiently explained related topics like the use of Plasma Therapy in COVID, the eradication of TB by 2025 in light of the COVID pandemic and the opening up of India’s schools.

On the questions of prioritising the distribution of vaccines, Dr. Harsh Vardhan answered that the Health Ministry is currently preparing a format in which States will submit lists of priority population groups to receive vaccine, especially health workers engaged in the management of COVID19. The list of frontline health workers will include both government as well as private sector doctors, nurses, paramedics, sanitary staff, ASHA workers, surveillance officers and many other occupational categories who are involved in tracing, testing and treatment of patients. This exercise is targeted to be completed by the end of this October and the States are being closely guided to also submit details about cold chain facilities and other related infrastructure which will be required down to the block level. The Centre is also working on plans for building capacities in HR, training, supervision etc on a massive scale and roughly estimates to receive and utilise 400-500 million doses covering approximately 20-25 crore people by July 2021. He further informed that the Government is also keeping an eye on immunity data with regard to COVID-19 disease while finalizing these plans.

He stated that there is a high level committee under the chairmanship of Niti Aayog Member (Health)  Shri VK Paul which is drawing up the entire process. Vaccine procurement is being done centrally and each consignment will be tracked real time until delivery to ensure it reaches those who need it most. He added that these Committees are working on understanding the timelines of availability of various vaccines in the country, obtaining commitments from vaccine manufacturers to make available maximum number of doses for India inventory & supply chain management and also on prioritisation of high-risk groups. This is work in progress which will be completed by the time the vaccines are ready to ensure the swift roll-out of the immunisation program.

Clearing glaring misconceptions that seem to have captured the imagination of rumour mongers in pockets of Punjab, Dr. Harsh Vardhan strongly rebutted allegations that the COVID-19 pandemic was a government conspiracy to enable organ harvesting of healthy individuals. He stated that the Government is not tied to fiscal considerations from financing agencies for implementation of the COVID-19 emergency response in light of the recent loan from the World Bank- Asian Infrastructural Investment Bank and the Asian Development Bank to the tune of Rs 15,000 Crores for managing COVID.

The Minister assured another respondent that there would be no diversion or black-marketing, “Vaccines will be distributed as per pre-decided priority and in a programmed manner. To ensure transparency and accountability, details of the entire process will be shared in the coming months.” He stressed the need to prioritize health care workers and adults or those have underlying health conditions.

Answering similar questions, he said that it is not possible to comment on the superiority of one vaccine over the other although he would ensure “that even if we have multiple vaccines available, they will all be safe and will elicit the requisite immune response against novel coronavirus”. He said that all vaccines that have proven to be safe, immunogenic and efficacious in clinical trials outside India need to undergo bridging studies to prove their safety and immunogenicity in the Indian population as well although these studies can be conducted with much smaller sample size and end quickly.

While tackling a question on the level playing field for various clinical trials, Dr Harsh Vardhan shared that all proposed clinical trials in India are designed using set principles and are stringently reviewed by the Subject Expert Committee set up by the Drug Controller General of India. Recently, the DCGI has also formulated draft guidelines on regulatory requirements for licensure of COVID-19 vaccines in India. On a question regarding Phase 3 Clinical Trial of Russia’s “Sputnik-V” vaccine in India, Dr Harsh Vardhan clarified that the matter is still under consideration, and no decision has been taken as yet on the Phase 3 trials.

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