Food Processing Industries Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal had held video conferences with the promoters of the ongoing Agro-processing clusters under the scheme for creation of infrastructure for agro-processing clusters. As many as 36 projects spread across in the states of Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh were reviewed.
 
During the meeting, the promoters shared their experience gained and problems faced in the implementation of the projects.
 
Ms Badal said that her Ministry has devised a new mechanism to substitute the need for physical site inspection required in these projects. Monthly Virtual inspections are being carried out by leveraging the information technology tools. The monitoring and evaluation of the progress of a project are carried out by a team by adopting a virtual inspection model.
 
The Ministry has been holding Inter-Ministerial meetings for approval and review of projects through online mode and other virtual means. Along with this, it has been addressing various issues and concerns raised by the industry associations, various stakeholders, and promoters of the projects with the proactive approach with its dedicated task force.

The Tourism Ministry has said that the closure of Jallianwala Bagh memorial for visitors will continue till 31st July. The Country commemorated the centenary of Jallianwala Bagh Massacre from 13th April, 2019 to 13th April 2020. Presently, the memorial is being renovated, upgraded and the Sound and Light show is being set up at the memorial site. 

The renovation work at the memorial site was to be completed by March this year for opening for public to pay their homage on the fateful date of 13th April. The work was in full swing at the memorial site. Since a large number of tourists visit the memorial daily, it was decided to close the entry of visitors to the memorial from 15th February to 12th April so that the on-going works can be completed within target date. The Ministry said, due to COVID-19 crisis, the renovation work has been affected.

In the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Senior police and Army officers yesterday said that the last one-and-a-half years have been the most peaceful times in Jammu and Kashmir. They added that with every successful anti-militancy operation, security forces are moving on the path of peace.

Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh said that the last full year and about five-and-a-half months of this year have been the most peaceful months in terms of handling law and order in general and  the law and order situations around the anti-militancy operation sites in particular.

He was speaking at a joint press conference of senior officers of Army, Jammu and Kashmir Police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Srinagar yesterday. He said that the mission of the security forces is to stabilise peace in Jammu and Kashmir and they were continuously working towards attaining that. Mr Dilbag Singh further said that during the last about five-and-a-half months, over 100  terrorists have been neutralised, out of them over 50  were from the Hizbul Mujahideen, around 20 of them from the Lashkar-e-Taiba, 20 from the Jaish-e-Mohammed and the rest from smaller outfits like Al-Badr, Ansar Gazwatul Hind.

He added that about half-a-dozen successful operations have been conducted in Jammu region as well in which around a dozen terrorists have been neutralised. He said that Pir Panjal range is very well under control and Doda-Kishtwar is almost militancy-free with one terrorist remaining in Doda district and three in Kishtwar.

The DGP said the security forces have been successful only because people of the union territory were cooperating. He said that he would also like to compliment our youth if they are not joining terror ranks despite huge provocations by Pakistan and the agencies involved in the terror business.

He said the terrorist recruitment in the Valley has come down drastically. It has come down because of joint efforts of the civil society, parents, police officers on ground who maintain a very close liaison with people whose wards are likely to drift away. He said that they take many pre-emptive actions which are not brought to the fore deliberately just to ensure security of the youth concerned.

General Officer Commanding (GoC) of the Srinagar-based Chinar Corps, Lt Gen B S Raju while speaking on the situation said that with every operation, the security forces are moving on the path of peace. He said  there is a palpable difference that at the end of every operation, the next operation is taking place in much cleaner circumstances.

He added that he would also compliment people of Kashmir because they are believing in peace and it is this belief which is leading to the successful operations. He said he was sure that at the end of the next few months, they will be able to take this peace process forward and ensure that the normalcy is brought into the environment.

Lt Gen Raju said so far this year, the security forces have neutralised 102 terrorists and because of the professional manner in which these operations have been conducted, they have had just one or two civilian casualties. He said this means that the security forces have exercised extraordinary restraint and that is because they want to retain that connect with the people. He said of the 49 new terrorist recruits this year, 27 have been neutralised. But to stop this whole process, a large number of steps are being taken.

The Lt Gen said that they make fervent appeals to terrorists to surrender before the operations commences. He said that they have had limited success on this front but they have been very successful to prevent new recruitment as well as to identify those people who are on the cusp of recruitment. He further said that as far as the terrorist leadership is concerned, there is definitely a void taking place on a weekly basis. He added that there are places where the district commanders are  changed because of the intensity of the operations that are being conducted.

The Centre has written to the States to follow the guidelines for effective Home Isolation. The Health Ministry had  issued revised guidelines regarding Home Isolation on the 10th of last month. The Ministry said, as per the guidelines, very mild and pre-symptomatic COVID-19 patients can opt  for home isolation provided the patient has a room to himself or herself with toilet facility and has an adult attendant or caregiver. Also, the patient shall agree to monitor his or her health and regularly inform the health status to the District Surveillance Officer for further follow up by the surveillance teams.

The Ministry said, an important clause of the revised guidelines is that the treating doctor is satisfied with the patient opting for home isolation based on medical assessment and assessment of his or her residential accommodation. In addition, the patient will fill in an undertaking on self-isolation and shall follow home quarantine guidelines. The Ministry said that all such cases of home isolation will also be further monitored by teams of well-oriented doctors on a regular basis, their discharge should follow the required guidelines and shall be reported as per norms.

The Ministry some instances have been noticed wherein home isolation is allowed in a routine manner in certain States, and clauses of the revised guidelines are not being followed in letter and spirit.

It urged the States to ensure strict implementation of the Guidelines on Home Isolation at the field level to effectively curb spread of COVID-19 pandemic.

Government has decided to establish 1000 Khelo India Centers (KIC) at the district level across the country. These centers will either be run by a past champion or have them as coaches. The move is to tap into the expertise of past sporting champions for grassroot-level training of athletes and also to ensure a sustained source of income for them in the sports ecosystem.

The decision, while strengthening grassroot level sports, will also ensure that past champions can contribute in making India a sporting superpower while earning a livelihood from sports. Speaking about this decision, Union Sports Minister  Kiren Rijiju said, as the government strives to make India a sporting superpower, one of the things we have to ensure is that sports becomes a viable career option for youngsters.

He said the Centre wants to ensure that anyone who has played sport at the national level has a life of dignity and financial stability. A shortlisting mechanism has been put in place to identify past champions who are eligible to either establish their own academy or work as a coach in a KIC. To build the country-wide network of Khelo India Centres, existing SAI extension centres will be given the option of converting into a KIC and recruiting a past champion to avail the financial grant under the scheme.

Results of all eight states that went to polls for Rajya Sabha have been declared. Voting was held for 19 seats spread over eight states yesterday. Jyotiraditya Scindia of BJP, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh and former Jharkhand Chief Minister and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) Chief Shibu Soren were among those elected to 19 Rajya Sabha seats.

Of the 19 seats, four each were from Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, three each from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, two from Jharkhand, and one each from Manipur, Mizoram and Meghalaya.

The ruling YSR Congress Party bagged all the four Rajya Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh. Party candidates Pilli Subhash Chandra Bose, Mopidevi Venkata Ramana Rao, Alla Ayodhyarami Reddy and Parimal Natwani were elected to the Upper House.

In Gujarat, out of the four seats, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party bagged three while Congress got one seat. However, Congress party’s second candidate, Bharatsinh Solanki lost the election. Counting of votes was delayed in the state following some technical objections raised by Congress party.

In Rajasthan, the ruling Congress party won two seats while BJP bagged one seat in the polling held for three seats. Congress leaders K C Venugopal and Neeraj Dangi and BJP’s Rajendra Gehlot were elected for Rajya Sabha.  

In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP won two seats, while the Congress has bagged one. Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sumer Singh Solanki from BJP and Digvijaya Singh from Congress have been elected for Rajya Sabha.
In Jharkhand, state BJP President Deepak Prakash and JMM Chief Shibu Soren won two Rajya Sabha seats.

Meghalaya’s lone Rajya Sabha seat was bagged by Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) candidate Dr WR Kharlukhi defeating Congress candidate Kennedy Khyriem.

The only seat in Mizoram was won by K Vanlalvena of the ruling Mizo National Front.

BJP nominee Nabam Rebia was elected unopposed to the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Arunachal Pradesh.
In Manipur, BJP candidate and the State’s titular king Leishemba Sanajaoba, won the lone Rajya Sabha seat from the state. He defeated Congress candidate T. Mangibabu.

In Karnataka, where elections were to be held for four seats, all the candidates have been declared elected unopposed. They are Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, and BJP leaders Iranna Kadadi and Ashok Gasti.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch a massive rural public works scheme, Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan, in six states today. The campaign aims to provide livelihood opportunities to the returnee migrant workers and rural citizens. It will be launched virtually from Telihar village in  Khagaria District of Bihar in the presence of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar along with five other Chief Ministers and Union Ministers. The campaign will be operationalized through the Common Service Centres and Krishi Vigyan Kendras in the districts.

The Abhiyaan is being introduced through the coordinated effort of 12 different Ministries and Departments namely Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Road Transport & Highways, Mines, Drinking Water & Sanitation, Environment, Railways, Petroleum & Natural Gas, New & Renewable Energy, Border Roads, Telecom and Agriculture.

Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyan Scheme will cover 116 districts of six states Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan. Maximum 32 districts are from Bihar. About 35lakh migrant workers have returned to Bihar from different parts of the country during the lockdown period.

Migrant labourers of  the state   are enthusiastic over the  launch of  ambitious Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan.

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi underscored that India wants peace and friendship, but upholding sovereignty is foremost. He highlighted that the government has given primacy to development of border area infrastructure to make our borders more secure. He said, patrolling capacity at LAC has also increased and the country is better informed about the developments at LAC and is able to monitor and respond better. He said, the movement of those which used to take place without any disruption earlier is now checked by our soldiers, which at times leads to build up of tension.

Emphasizing on the commitment of the government towards welfare of the nation and its citizens, Mr. Modi said, be it in trade, connectivity or counter-terrorism, the government has always stood up against outside pressure. On the suggestions received from the various leaders, the Prime Minister said, this will help in formulating the future strategy.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that neither is anyone inside our territory nor is any of our posts captured. He said, twenty of our brave soldiers made the supreme sacrifice for the nation in Ladakh but also taught a lesson to those who had dared to look towards our motherland. He added that the nation will forever remember their valour and sacrifice. He said, the Army has been given full freedom to take necessary steps and India has also conveyed its position clearly to China through diplomatic means.

The Prime Minister  held an All Party Meeting via video conferencing yesterday to discuss the situation in the India-China border areas. Presidents of various political parties participated in the meeting.

Mr. Modi underscored that today all of us stand united with the soldiers defending our borders and repose full faith in their courage and bravery. He added that through the All Party Meeting, he wants to assure the families of the martyrs that the entire country stands with them.

He said, the entire country is hurt and angry at the steps taken by China at LAC. He assured the leaders that our armed forces are leaving no stone unturned to protect the country. He emphasized that the country today has such capability that no one can even dare to look towards our land. He said, Indian forces are capable of moving together across sectors.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that the nation will never forget the sacrifice of our martyrs. External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar gave an overview of agreements between India and China on border management and informed about the directions given by the Prime Minister in 2014 to give highest priority to development of infrastructure in border areas.

The leaders of the political parties hailed the bravery displayed by the armed forces in Ladakh. They reposed faith in the leadership of the Prime Minister in this hour of need and expressed commitment to stand united with the government. They also shared their thoughts and ideas on dealing with the situation.

In the meeting, Congress President Sonia Gandhi said, Congress and the entire opposition unitedly stand by our defence forces and are prepared to make any sacrifice to ensure they are battle ready. Mr Sharad Pawar stressed that issues of whether soldiers carried arms or not are decided by international agreements and the parties need to respect sensitivities involved in such matters.

Mr Conrad Sangma said, the Prime Minister has been working on infrastructure in the Northeast and that will continue. Ms Mayawati said, this is not the time for politics and her party firmly stands with the Prime Minister.

Ms Mamata Bannerjee said that her party stands strongly in solidarity with the government. Mr Nitish Kumar said that there should be no difference amongst the leaders and parties should not allow any disunity which can be exploited by other nations.

Mr Chirag Paswan said that the country feels safe under the leadership of the Prime Minister. Mr Uddhav Thackeray lauded the Prime Minister and said that the entire country is one and with the Prime Minister.