Commercial surrogacy was legalised in India in 2002. India has around 3,000 surrogacy clinics. This increased medical tourism to India. According to a 2012 report by Confederation of Indian Industries the income by surrogacy is $2 billion per year. But since there are no strict regulations regarding surrogacy in India which gave rise to a lot of problems. Some of them being exploitation of surrogate mothers, abandonment of surrogate child and Embryo rackets.

Thus, the Law Commission of India highlighted need for a law to regulate surrogacy and in its 208th report it proposed to stop commercial surrogacy completely. This is because due to lack of legal framework and interference of middlemen some of the surrogate mothers did not have any knowledge of the contract or agreement of surrogacy or were paid less than what was promised.

So after the recommendation of Law Commission of India notification was put out by the Government of India in 2015 where surrogacy was banned for foreigners. In 2016 the surrogacy regulation bill was passed in Lok Sabha. But the bill lapsed in 2019 when the parliament disolved. After this the Surrogacy Regulation Bill 2019 was brought by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. This bill was brought in April 2019 in the Lok Sabha and was passed in August 2019. The bell is still pending in the Rajya Sabha because it was sent to a committee for further discussions.

This bill states that Surrogacy Boards will be created in both Central and state levels. Commercial surrogacy is not allowed, it allows only ethical altruistic surrogacy. Only Indian couples with minimum 5 years of marriage are eligible to go for surrogacy. For this they need a certificate which will be a proof of them be medically infertile. They will also have to give undertaking in which they will have to state that they will not abandon the child out of surrogacy in any condition. Sec selection will be illegal. As for the surrogate mother she should be a close relative of the couple. She should be between the age of 25 to 35 having a child of a own and should also not have been a surrogate mother before. She will also get an insurance coverage which will be valid till some time after delivery. The Surrogacy clinics have to be compulsorily registered.

Happy Independence Day to all of us as today, it has been 74 years since we have achieved freedom. From then onwards we have come a long way. We were able to get this freedom as the fight was fought by male and female freedom fighters. They fought with our tormentors by fighting and bearing their responsibilities without even a furrow on their face. Today, women have gone a way ahead in society and achieved many impossible achievements. From being soldier to scientist, from being chef to aeronaut, from being teacher to politician, they are ruling and grabbing success in all the areas of this country and making the countrymen proud day by day with their hard work and achievements.

But still there are many facets of society where women are considered as the weakling, of inferior stature who don’t have the right to speak or achieve whatever they want. When we talk about giving more freedom to women or getting equal pay then some men will come out and say Why more freedom? They have been given reservations, maternity holidays and what not. So, why more freedom?

I would like to ask them a question: when you come from the office or workplace, you become so tired that you just want to relax but when your wife, mother or sister comes from the office, you want her to work in the kitchen. When you are just working in the office, she is managing the whole house, her office, her periods and if she is a mother then child as well. But you will say that it is just a meagre work which is of no value. But when she is unwell and you have to work then that work becomes a herculean task and you feel yourself as some superhuman who is managing all things alone and you will brag about it in front of everybody that how humanae you are that you share responsibilities with your other half.

It’s not that I am generalizing that all men are the same but, in my lifetime, I have seen only some men whom I can count on my fingertips who actually share responsibilities. This is just a glimpse in life of a woman from the working sector. Now I will talk about girls and women who are residing in villages. The story is entirely different there. The girl goes to school with lots of dreams but gets married as soon as she finishes school or she has just entered college. When that girl becomes a wife, she bears responsibility for the whole house along with its inhabitants. But at least there was a hope that they were able to go to school or college.

But the arrival of this pandemic COVID-19 and lockdown has made their situation become more pathetic. During the lockdown period, they were locked in the house with their tormentors and they abused women in whatever they wanted. There was an article in ‘The Hindu’ that ‘For the first time in 10 years, domestic violence complaint calls by women surged, such a pattern has not been for 10 years.’ The situation grew out of hand because when locked with their perpetrators they can’t go out and ask for help. So many of the women opted to still take a bold step by calling on helpline numbers, by hiding in their rooms, fearing that someone might hear them and they will become subject to abuse again.

Whereas women were seeing such worse conditions, the girls in several areas saw totally different and devastating situations. There are many areas in India where parents who are not much well off, to ease up their burden are marrying off small girls who have not even turned 18. Their parents either because they belong to a weak economic class, or as the administrative surveillance was not up to mark because of COVID-19, or as they would not have to shell a lot of money because of people’s limits, they opted for marrying their girl off who has not even crossed the tender age. One of the major roles which has played in early marriage of these girls is also that schools are closed because of lock down and schools used to play a huge role in the lives of these young girls. From sanitation to keeping check on their health, from keeping track of their studies to investigation of their absence, they kept all the data because of which parents also used to adhere to the fact that they can’t marry their daughter or son at an early age or they will become subject to punishment by law. Now as there is no such check they are doing according to their wish.

This is my innermost desire that a day should come when we are builders of this society; when we are not given a place, whereas we know it’s our place; when male members of family don’t help but share responsibility; when we are taken as a weakling but as the strongest creation of Nature, who we actually are.

India, undoubtedly is a land of cultures, diversity and uniqueness. As Swami Vivekananda stated, “It teaches not only tolerance, but also acceptance. Various languages, cultures, practices have flourished throughout the nation with all their multiplicity. It has therefore retained it’s originality, in spite of the advent of modernity. In other words, some of these arts have become successful in coping with the dynsmism of the society by undergoing some changes in it along with retaining it’s original essence. Every such community inherits it’s own way of life and culture. However, all such diversities are blended together by epics like Ramayana, Mahabharata and other Puranic stories. It has become the common hold which brings all the diversities yo lead a harmonious life.

We can take a example of South Canara. It is not an exception to this. Yakshagana, Harikatha, Bhutakola, Kambala and so on represent the uniqueness of our culture. While Kambala and Bhutakola glorify our local ethnicity, Yakshagana and Harikatha through the recitation of mythological stories uphold common life and simultaneously educate the younger generation to lead a humble and meaningful life.

Value education is must to the younger generation, both for peaceful existence and national progress. Hence it would be a good idea to educate them in this direction by exposing them to such arts which not only provide entertainment but also develop a deeper insight and introspection, distinction between good and evil, along with the imparting human values among them. This in turn, reduces cruelty, inefficiency, increases love for truth, justice and universal welfare.

I have seen number of Yakshagana episodes in my childhood. I have always associated myself with the divine and just personalities, both in their joys and sorrows acknowingly. I have shed tears for their downfall and pains and have also rejoiced in their joys and victories. Therefore, we have been brought up in such a way that we are not only cleansed to injustice but also made to respond to another’s agony.

In this way, people through their involvement with these kinds of regional arts, get cleansed from all evils and have been imparted virtues without bothering much about the trivialities of life. While an innocent mind is fascinated by its miraculous nature, the matured mind is fashioned by its historicity. However, as they delve into it more and more, they discover something which makes the world more tangible and intangible. By and large, there is necessary for the exposure of children to the regional arts which not only cultivates passion for literature, but also open their thoughts to the harsh realities of life and show the path towards solving problems.

Mudras are the gestures or poses performed since early times. It helps to stimulate different parts of the body involved with breathing and to affect the flow of prana bindu, boddhicitta, amrita or consciousness in the body.

1. Dharmachakra mudra: Dharmachakra in Sanskrit means the ‘Wheel of Dharma’. This mudra symbolizes one of the most important moments in the life of Buddha, the occasion when he preached to his companions the first sermon after his Enlightenment in the Deer Park at Sarnath. It thus denotes the setting into motion of the Wheel of the teaching of the Dharma. In this mudra the thumb and index finger of both hands touch at their tips to form a circle. This circle represents the Wheel of Dharma. The three remaining fingers of the two hands remain extended symbolizing the middle finger represents the ‘hearers’ of the teachings, the ring finger represents the ‘solitary realizers’, the Little finger represents the Mahayana or ‘Great Vehicle’.

2. Varada mudra: This mudra symbolizes charity, compassion and boon-granting. It is the mudra of the accomplishment of the wish to devote oneself to human salvation. It is nearly always made with the left hand, and can be made
with the arm hanging naturally at the side of the body, the palm of the open hand facing forward, and the fingers extended. The five extended fingers in this mudra symbolize the following five perfections: Generosity, Morality, Patience, Effort,and Meditative concentration.

3. Dhyan Mudra: It is also known as Samadhi or Yoga Mudra. It is performed with the help of two hands, which are placed on the lap and place the right hand on the left hand with stretched fingers (thumbs facing upwards and other fingers of both the hand resting on each other.)

4. Abhaya Mudra: It is a gesture of fearlessness or blessing that represents the protection, peace, benevolence, and dispelling of fear. It is performed with the help of right hand by raising to shoulder height with bent arm, and the face of palm will be facing outward with fingers upright whereas the left hand hanging down while standing. This gesture is characteristic of Buddha Shakyamuni and Dhyani Buddha Amoghasiddhi.

5. Bhumisparasa: Earth Touching Mudra,is the most famous mudra. In this mudra the right hand is poised with the fingertips downward and “touching the earth”, with the palm facing inward. The left hand is in the meditation (dhyana) mudra. When the Buddha became enlightened, he touched the earth with this mudra during his meditation. The earth was touched and witnessed the awakening.

Behind the United States India is the second largest populated with English as its primary language and it has one of the fastest growing demographics of personal computer and Internet usage.Data is basically an information that is presented in raw and inorganised pieces which is stored by a computer in the form of text documents, files, software programs, etc.This information is collected for its analysis or reference. With social, economic, legal, corporate and governmental activities the flow of data is expanding in great speed.India is experiencing a major paradigm shift to using a multitude of technologies due to tremendous technological growth  And therefore in today’s economy, need for protection of such online data is of paramount importance which must be protected.Data protection is a process of protecting and safeguarding such vital information from either misappropriation, misuse, corruption or loss or from unauthorized access which can be concerned with an individual, enterprise or even a government.Along with such fields mentioned above protection of data must also be applied to personal data.Personal data generally refers to the information or data which relate to a person who can be identified from that information or data whether it is collected by any Government or any private organization or an agency.Such privacy laws, policies and procedures aim to minimise intrusion into one’s privacy caused by the collection, storage and dissemination of personal data. The significance of data protection is increasing with the amount of data created and processed.The general population is still primarily unaware of consequences related to identification theft.Subsequently, Data Protection Strategies are also assuring and ensuring us that the lost data can be recovered and restored, if any misfortune or misappropriation happens with the impugned data.

NEED FOR DATA PROTECTION LAW IN INDIA:

1.As we all know that right to privacy is now our fundamental right so for our protection we should have data protection law.

2.By bringing these laws we all will be aware  and can check on all unauthorised leaks, hacking, cyber crimes, and frauds. 

A very good example is case of Aadhar card leaks by Gujarat based websites who were found disclosing their adhere numbers as well as in Jharkhand where 1.6 million people’s aadhar card details were leaked.

3.It will help us in our growth and improvement of business process and will secure our digital payments.

4.It will also help us to restrict use of data by data colonising companies such as Facebook, Whatsapp 

Example: In case of Cambridge Analytical Scandal ,they allegedly involved collection of personally identifiable information of up to 87 million Facebook users attempt to influence voter opinion.

STEPS TO PROTECT DATA:

Data Collection:

The first step for data protection is to start with data collection itself.There must be strict data collection policy by the top authority.Data should be collected by the agencies authorised by the government.All the information collected should be of lawful purpose only.

Data Security and Storage:

All data captured should be kept upto date and accurate.It should applied appropriate technical and organizational measures.

Data Process:

Processing of data must be fair and lawful.Data shall be processed only when the consent of user is involved or if user or any one of its party is in contract.Data should be processed only for given purposes like if its for judicial proceedings, legitimate use for national interest or vital interest of subject.

Data Access:

The data access must follow NEED TO KNOW basis.There must be proper control that information should not go beyond the Indian territory.If it does then proper measures should be taken to ensure that information is protected outside India.

Indian Laws For Data protection:

In our constitution we does not patently have a law for data protection. However courts have implied this data protection law into existing fundamental rights that is under article 21 however its interpretation was fond insufficient to provide adequate protection for our data.

In the year 2000, our legislatures made efforts to embrace privacy issues relating to computer system under Information Technology Act(IT), 2000 which deals with the issues relating to payment of compensation (Civil) and punishment (Criminal) in case of wrongful disclosure and misuse of personal data and violation of contractual terms in respect of personal data.

UNDER IT ACT 2000 

SECTION 43:

This section provides protection against unsanctioned access of the computer  system and unsanctioned downloading, extraction and copying of data by imposing heavy penalty upto 1 crore.In which clause “c” imposes penalty unsanctioned  usage of computer viruses and clause “g” imposes penalty for for assisting these unsanctioned access.

SECTION 65:

This section is for someone who intentionally destroys or causes another to do as such shall also be charged with a penalty of imprisonment or fine up to 2 lakh rupees.

SECTION 66:

This section is for protection against hacking person hacking our data or giving us knowledge about our data to be hacked in future by giving information residing in a computer resource shall be penalised by imprisonment of three years or fine up to two lakh rupees or both on the hacker.

SECTION 70:

This section  provides protection against our protected system like computer system or network however in breach of this section will be liable for punishment of imprisonment which may extend to ten years and shall also be liable to fine.

SECTION 72:

This section provides protection against contravention of confidentiality and privacy of the data which means if any person tries to disclose any facts or proofs which are kept secured shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to two years or with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees or both.

In the year 2006, the Rajya Sabha our legislature has also introduced a bill known as ‘The Personal Data Protection Bill’ on December 8th 2006 so as to provide protection to the personal information of the person which didn’t showed any further respond.

PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION BILL (PDPB) ,2019:

After so many data protection bills this new bill came up with great dim of light.This bill was introduced by the Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad, on December 11, 2019.This bill was most importantly made for the protection of personal data of individuals and side by side establishment of a Data Protection authority for the same.Before coming upto this bill in July  2017 the Government of India formed a committee of experts to study the issues related to data protection in the country.All the experts worked on this issue almost for a year and found that most of the population in our country gives personal details to these service providers which give them their free services and these details are usually stored on servers outside India’s boundaries, which worried the Government of India and in July 2018 they submitted a draft of this bill and requested feedback from the public, Ministers, stakeholders, and other industry experts.However on December 11,2019 they submitted a revised draft of the bill in the lower house of the parliament that is in Lok Sabha and also has been sent to joint parliamentary committee (JPC) for further thinking before taken up for passing.

There was widespread hope of passing this bill by 2019 which has now been postponed to become a law or act in 2020.

About the bill:

This bill was the first attempt to domestically govern mechanisms for personal data protection and also to set up Data Protection Authority in our country.

This bill also permits personal data processing without the consent like government providing benefits to the individual, for legal proceedings, and in medical emergencies.

This bill regulates three kinds of data :

1. Personal data (personal details like name, number, etc)
2. Sensitive Personal data (healthcare details shared with doctors,banking details)
3. Critical Personal data (not yet defined)

The most important advantage of this bill is that personal information can’t be collected, processed, and shared without their consent and only necessary data can be collected and used.The Bill also permits customers to move their data from one provider to another and allows users to know the number of companies with whom the data is shared.

Private organisations are also forced to limit their customers details.

According to this bill a very serious and tough penalties will be imposed on any organization sharing customers’ data without their consent will entail a fine of INR 15 crores or 4 percent of its global turnover.Similarly data breach or delays will lead to a fine of INR 5 crores or 2 percent of global turnover.

 Personal Data Protection Bill, gave rise after European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which aims at protection of an individual’s personal data globally and preventing it from misuse and misappropriation.

Example :Recently, Microsoft India launched free online courses to allow the relevant section of public who are concerned with such issues to understand the data compliance and other best practices concerning their privacy and security which help safeguard customer data.

NASSCOM along with Data Security Council of India (DSCI) has been advocating in India.

Conclusion:

Indian legal system still have to provide a proper data security and privacy protection laws to safeguard people in our country as well as to attract international clients. Data security is not only a legal requirement but a factor to compete globally.For our country’s future growth a secured information technology and other strong data protection laws are must.Our country must be aware that not only processed information regarding legal system but also sensitive information of individuals need to be protected.Failure to recognize these issues can negatively impact our country’s reputation.In addition like all other countries such as United States and United Kingdom laws, Canada, Japan, and the European Union are increasingly becoming stricter on data privacy and protection and defining what measurements must be taken to protect data.So to attract International countries aw well we all too should look upon these matters effectively by appointing privacy commissioner, establishing self regulating organisation etc.

Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu has greeted the people on the occasion of Independence Day. He conveyed his greetings and good wishes to the people of the country.

Mr Naidu paid tributes and remembered the brave freedom fighters who made countless sacrifices to build an independent nation. Mr Naidu said, the most meaningful tribute which can be paid to the patriots is to build an India they aspired for. 

He urged every citizen to renew commitment towards building a united, strong, prosperous, inclusive and peaceful nation where a billion plus dream can find expression and fulfillment. The Vice President wished for amity, harmony and prosperity in the country on the eve of the 74th Independence Day.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has said that the government is doing everything to keep the morale of armed forces high and meet the operational requirement. He said, the country’s forces are at the forefront in the defence of the nation. 

Mr Singh said, history is a witness to the fact that India has never attacked anywhere and anytime to capture the land of another country. He said, India believes in winning hearts and not land. He said, but it does not mean that we will allow our self-respect to come down and whatever we do in the realm of national security, we always do it for self-defence and not for attacking others. The Defence Minister said, if any enemy country attacks on India, then it will be given a befitting reply.

Mr Singh said, Indian Air Force was lacking modern combat aircraft for a long time and as soon as the Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government took over, it started procurement of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft from France through agreement. Mr Singh said, five Rafale aircraft have already arrived at Ambala air base two weeks ago and the remaining aircrafts will also arrive soon.

The Defence Minister said, DRDO in collaboration with the Home Ministry, Health  Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Armed Forces and other industry groups built the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Covid Hospital in New Delhi in a record time of 12 days.

He said, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always supported the idea of permanent commission for women and also announced this  during his Independence Day speech in 2018. He said, Defence Ministry has issued formal government approval letter on 23rd July to provide permanent commission to women officers in the Indian Army and thus paving the way for empowering women officers to discharge big roles in the organization.

The Defence Minister also paid tributes to Indian Soldiers who sacrificed their lives in Galwan valley in Ladakh and assured their family members that the whole country is standing with them. On the occasion of Independence Day, Mr Singh also extended his greetings to the armed forces personnel.

A total of 926 Police personnel have been awarded Medals on the occasion of Independence Day. Police Medals for Gallantry have been awarded to 215 police personnel for their conspicuous gallant action. 

President’s Police Medals for Distinguished Service has been awarded to 80 police personnel and Police Medal for Meritorious Service to 631 police personnel. 

Among the majority of the 215 Gallantry Awards, 123 personnel are being awarded for their gallant action in Jammu and Kashmir, 29 personnel for their gallant action in Left Wing extremism affected areas and 8 personnel for their gallant action in North-East Region. 

Among the personnel receiving Gallantry Awards, 55 are from CRPF, 81 are from J & K police, 23 are from Uttar Pradesh, 16 from Delhi Police, 14 from Maharashtra and 12 are from Jharkhand and the remaining from the other States and UTs and Central Armed Police Forces.

President Ram Nath Kovind has approved 84 gallantry awards for defence personnel, including nine Shaurya Chakra. The Kirti Chakra has been posthumously awarded to Abdul Rashid Kalas, Head Constable, Jammu and Kashmir Police. 

Those from the Army who have been awarded the Shaurya Chakra for counter-terrorist operations in Jammu and Kashmir are Lt.Col. Krishan Singh Rawat from the elite Special Forces, Major Anil Urs and Havildar Alok Kumar Dubey. Wing Commander Vishak Nair from the Indian Air Force was also awarded the Shaurya Chakra.

The Shaurya Chakra is awarded for ‘gallantry otherwise than in the face of the enemy’. It is the third highest gallantry award in peacetime.    

The President also approved Sena Medal (gallantry) to 60 Army personnel, Nao Sena Medal (gallantry) to four from the Navy and five Vayu Sena Medal (gallantry) for the Air Force. The Bar to Sena Medal has been approved for five Army personnel. 

The President has also approved 19 Mention-in-Despatches to the Army personnel for their significant contributions in different military operations, which include eight posthumous for ‘Operation Meghdoot’ and ‘Operation Rakshak’.  

Operation ‘Meghdoot’ was launched in 1984 to secure control of the heights predominating the Siachen Glacier. 

‘Operation Rakshak’ is also an ongoing counter-insurgency operation in Jammu and Kashmir.

Prime Minister said India is dealing effectively with both terrorism and expansionism. He said those who challenged India’s sovereignty, be it at LOC or LAC, have been given a befitting reply in their own language. He asserted that India became a challenge to forces of expansionism with its freedom struggle. The Prime Minister said that respect for India’s sovereignty is supreme and the world has seen in Ladakh what country’s brave soldiers can do to uphold this resolution.

The Prime Minister said one-fourth of the world’s population lives in South Asia and several possibilities can be created with cooperation and participation. He said all leaders of the countries of the region have an important responsibility towards the development and progress of this population. 

He said ASEAN countries, which are also India’s maritime neighbors, also hold very special importance. He said that as much as India’s efforts are for peace and harmony, India is committed to its security and strengthening the army. He said India is working towards self-sufficiency in defence production.

Mr Modi in his Independence Day speech, said many big companies of the world are turning to India today. He said, the country must not only go ahead with the mantra of Make in India, but Make for World as well. He said there is a need to give a new direction to the overall infrastructure development of the country to move India towards modernity at a fast pace.

He said the National Infrastructure Pipeline Project will enable this and the country is moving towards spending more than Rs 100 lakh crore on this. He said about 7,000 projects of different sectors have been identified to bring a new revolution in infrastructure.

He emphasised on the need to remove silos saying that the entire country has to move towards multi-modal connectivity infrastructure. He said the Vocal for Local, Re-Skill and Up-Skill campaigns will raise the standard of living of people below the poverty line.

He said many areas of the country have lagged behind in terms of development and by choosing more than 110 such aspirational districts, special efforts are being made there so that people get better education, better health facilities, and better employment opportunities. He said 7 crore poor families were given free gas cylinders, more than 80 crore people were provided free food grains, and about Rs 90,000 crores were directly transferred to bank accounts.

The Prime Minister said education has a great importance in building self-reliant India. Keeping this in mind, Mr Modi said, a new National Education Policy was brought.  He said Digital India too has a great role to play in making the nation self reliant.

Mr Modi said before 2014, only 5 dozen panchayats in the country were connected with optical fiber. In the last five years, 1.5 lakh gram panchayats in the country have been connected with optical fiber. The Prime Minister said in the coming 1,000 days, every village in the country will be connected with optical fiber.

He said there is a need to give a new direction to the overall infrastructure development of the country to move India towards modernity at a fast pace. He said the National Infrastructure Pipeline Project will enable this and the country is moving towards spending more than Rs 100 lakh crore on this. 

He said about 7,000 projects of different sectors have been identified to bring a new revolution in infrastructure. He emphasised on the need to remove silos saying that the entire country has to move towards multi-modal connectivity infrastructure. 

The Prime Minister also said that a special campaign with a holistic approach is also being worked out to reduce pollution in 100 selected cities of the country. He said India is fully committed to the preservation and promotion of its biodiversity. 

In the recent past, the tiger population has increased at a rapid pace in the country. Mr Modi said a project for safeguarding Asiatic lions is also going to start in the country soon. He said Project Dolphin is also going to begin for protection of dolphins both in rivers and seas. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said India must become self-reliant and use its vast natural resources to produce for the domestic as well as the global market. 

Addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the occasion of India’s 74th Independence Day, Mr Modi said in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, 130 crore Indians have pledged to build an ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’. He expressed confidence that India will realise this dream.

The Prime Minister said the country received record foreign direct investments during the last fiscal and the FDI growth was recorded at 18 per cent. He said even during the Coronavirus pandemic, big global companies are looking towards India.

Mr Modi reiterated the ‘Vocal for Local’ call and said that India should strive for meeting the needs of the world as well. He wondered how long the country would continue to export raw materials and import finished products. He said India has vast natural resources and the need of the hour is value addition. 

He said, the nation has to move forward with the mantra of Make for the World along with Make-in-India. He further said ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’ does not mean only reducing dependence on imports, but strengthening India’s capacity, creativity and skills. 

Addressing the nation for the seventh time in a row from the Red Fort, he said there are numerous challenges in becoming self-reliant, but there are millions of solutions as well. He said India has always believed that the entire world is one family and while India focuses on economic growth and development, humanity must retain a central role in this process. Citing an example of what India can do, Mr Modi said before the COVID-19 pandemic, the country was not making N-95 masks, PPE and ventilators, but now it is in a position to export such items. 

The Prime Minister said that Atma Nirbhar Krishi and Atma Nirbhar Kisan are priorities of an Atma Nirbhar India. He said, the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund of Rs one lakh crore has been created recently to give modern infrastructure to the farmers of the country. 

Mr Modi said the Jal Jeevan Mission was announced from the Red Fort last year and now, more than one lakh houses are getting water connection every day.

The Prime Minister said, education has a great importance in building self-reliant India. Keeping this in mind, Mr Modi said, a new National Education Policy was brought. 

He said Digital India too has a great role to play in making the nation self reliant. Mr Modi said before 2014, only 5 dozen panchayats in the country were connected with optical fiber. In the last five years, 1.5 lakh gram panchayats in the country have been connected with optical fiber. The Prime Minister said in the coming 1,000 days, every village in the country will be connected with optical fiber. He said Lakshadweep will also be connected to submarine optical fiber cable. 

He said NCC is being expanded in border areas and special training will be provided to about one lakh new NCC cadets.

Mr Modi stressed that women empowerment has a huge role to play in Atma Nirbhar bharat. He informed that of the 40 crore Jan Dhan accounts opened in the country, about 22 crore accounts belong to women. He said that in April, May and June this year, about Rs 30,000 crore have been directly transferred to the accounts of women.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the launch of National Digital Health Mission from today. He said the National Digital Health Mission will bring a new revolution in India’s health sector and all Indians will get health IDs. He said every test, every disease, medicines prescribed by doctors, reports and related information will be contained in this one health ID.

Mr Modi informed that three Corona vaccines are in various stages of trial in India and  large-scale production will begin once scientists give their nod. He said the government’s roadmap to bring a Corona vaccine to all Indians in the shortest possible time is ready.

Mr Modi said the government fulfilled a long standing demand of people by making Ladakh a Union Territory last year.  He said Ladakh is moving forward today to touch new heights of development. He said just as Sikkim has made its mark as an organic State, efforts are being made to make Ladakh a carbon neutral region.