External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar will participate in the 9th Ministerial Conference of Heart of Asia – Istanbul Process on Afghanistan in Dushanbe, Tajikistan today. Dr Jaishankar reached Dushanbe yesterday on a three day visit.
 
He called on President of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani before the commencement of Heart of Asia Conference. Dr Jaishankar began his Heart of Asia engagements with a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif. He also met Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on the sidelines of the Conference.
 
After arriving in Dushanbe yesterday, Dr Jaishankar visited the Dushanbe-Chortut Highway Project site. He lauded the Good work being done by Border Roads Organisation BRO under Indian grant assistance. The 8-lane highway will decongest Dushanbe.
The Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process was founded on 2nd November, 2011 in Istanbul, Turkey. It provides a platform for sincere and result-oriented regional cooperation by placing Afghanistan at its center, in recognition of the fact that a secure and stable Afghanistan is vital to the prosperity of the Heart of Asia region. This platform was established to address the shared challenges and interests of Afghanistan and its neighbors and regional partners. It comprises 15 participating countries, 17 supporting countries, and 12 supporting regional and international organizations. India co-hosted the 6th Heart of Asia Ministerial Conference in Amritsar, Punjab in December 2016.
 
The platform’s constructive role is also consistent with India’s vision of achieving lasting stability and prosperity for Afghanistan, anchored in a regional environment that is united, stable, secure, pluralistic, democratic, and economically prosperous. As the lead country for Trade, Commerce and Investment Confidence Building Measure under Heart of Asia – Istanbul Process, India has made concerted efforts for strengthening regional connectivity for the greater economic integration of Afghanistan with the region. The visit will further enhance India’s outreach to Central Asian countries with a special focus on Afghanistan.

Jal Jeevan Mission has achieved a new milestone of providing over 4 Crore rural households with tap water supply. The mission was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 15th August, 2019, with the aim to provide tap water supply to every rural home by 2024.

Now, 7.24 Crore, more than 1/3rd of rural households are getting potable water through taps. Goa has become the first State in the country to provide 100 per cent tap water supply followed by Telangana and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The untiring efforts of States and UTs have helped Jal Jeevan Mission provide assured tap water supply to every family living in 56 districts and over 86 thousand villages. 

States and UTs are now competing with each other and focusing on the target to ensure that every household in the country gets safe drinking water, so that no one is left out.

A report on the origins of COVID-19 set to be released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) today finds animal to human transmission the most likely cause of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to CNN, the report will find that it is most likely that a bat, somewhere in China or in Southeast Asia, getting the virus into animals and then that getting into the market in Wuhan.
 
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a news conference in Geneva that all hypotheses into the origins of the novel coronavirus are on the table and warrant complete and further study ahead of a long-awaited report that will be released today. Tedros said the WHO received the full mission report over the weekend on the origins of the SARS-Cov-2 virus from the team that visited Wuhan earlier this year and this report was sent to member states under embargo.
 
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Beijing should be transparent about the COVID-19 outbreak and there is a need for accountability.

More than six crore eleven lakh doses of Covid19 vaccine have been administered in the country till now. The Health and Family Welfare Ministry has informed today that over five lakh eighty two thousand doses have been administered to the beneficiaries in the last 24 hours despite yesterday being a holiday due to Holi festival.

Meanwhile, the country’s COVID-19 recovery rate stands at 94.18 per cent. The Health Ministry said, more than thirty seven thousand patients recovered within 24 hours and with this one crore thirteen lakh patients have already recovered from the infection.

However, the active caseload is continuously rising in the country due to sudden spike in the cases reported from various States. At present, there are more than five lakh forty thousand active cases in the country which comprises 4.47 per cent of the total positive cases.

Amid the rising new cases, more than fifty six thousand new cases have been reported in the country in the last 24 hours taking the cumulative positive cases to over one crore twenty lakh. Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Tamil Nadu have reported a surge in daily new cases. Five States, Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Chattisgarh together account for nearly eighty per cent of the total active cases in the country. Health Ministry said two hundred seventy one deaths were reported in the last 24 hours taking the toll to over one lakh sixty two thousand across the country.

Senior BJP leader and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address three public meetings in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry today.

Mr Modi will address a public meeting at Palakkad in Kerala in the forenoon. He will address a public meeting at Dharapuram in Tamil Nadu in the afternoon. Prime Minister is also scheduled to address a Public meeting in Puducherry.

Senior BJP leader and Home Minister Amit Shah will hold three roadshows at Nandigram, Debra and Panskura Paschim in West Bengal today. Mr Shah will address a public meeting at Diamond Harbour.
BJP President J P Nadda will address three public meetings in Assam today.

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will be in Assam today. Party General Secretary Priyanka Vadra will address corner meetings in different districts of Kerala.

Campaigning for second phase of Assembly Elections in West Bengal and Assam will end today evening.

In West Bengal, campaigning for the second phase of assembly elections will end today. 171 candidates including 19 female candidates are in the fray for 30 seats spread over 4 districts. 9 seats each in East and West Medinipur, 8 seats in Bankura and 4 seats in South 24 Pargana will go to polls on 1st of April. Candidates in this phase range from seasoned politicians to actors, from former ministers to former cricketer and former IPS officers as well.

Leaders and candidates of all political parties are busy in last minute campaigning today.

BJP star campaigner Home minister Amit Shah is scheduled to hold three road shows including in Nandigram and Debra. Bollywood actor and party leader Mithun Chakraborty is expected to participate in four road shows including the last one at Nandigram in favour of Shubhendu Adhikari.

Trinamool Congress Supremo and Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee will continue her road shows in the constituency.

Sanyukta Morcha supported CPIM candidate Minakshi Mukherjee is also expected to continue her door to door campaign.

At the same time, electioneering for the later phases is going on. Leaders of BJP, Trinamool Congress and Sanyukta Morcha will be criss-crossing the districts to woo the voters.

In Assam, campaigning for the second phase of assembly elections will end today. A total of 345 candidates are in the contest in this phase including 26 women. Polling in this phase will be held on 1st of April. Several star campaigners will address election rallies today to woo the voters.

Meanwhile, this election has witnessed participation of several journalists in the race to the state assembly. AIR correspondent reports that after covering election campaigns as a journalist, some of the senior scribes grabbed headlines this time as a candidate.  Senior journalist Adip Phukan who worked in various capacities earlier is trying his political luck at East Guwahati seat for Assam Jatiya Parishad. Against him, Raijor Dal who is in alliance with Assam Jatiya Parishad has given ticket to former news presenter Diwas Phukan.

Another former senior scribe Manjit Mahanta is vying for the prestigious Dispur seat. He is a member of the Anchalik Gana March, a partner of the Mahajoth or grand alliance but submitted his nomination for Congress. A former IIS officer, the state BJP President Ranjeet Kumar Dass , who is contesting from Patacharkuchi seat in this election,  worked as a journalist. The Congress fielded former journalist Kishor Bhattacharya from Kamalpur seat.