1,100 PPE manufacturing companies set up till July-Smriti Irani

Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Zubin Irani on Saturday said that there was not a single Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Kit manufacturing company in India when there was an outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. However, due to conviction and relentless efforts by the Centre and other stakeholders, 1,100 PPE manufacturing companies were set up till the month of July in the same year. She said, with this, India became the second-largest exporter of PPE kits in the world. Ms. Irani was in conversation with  Kumaar Bagrodia, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of NeuroLeap where she discussed about various aspects of Learning and Disruption at the Chief Learning Officers Summit held at the Bombay Stock Exchange. She also spoke of her experiences regarding learning, disruption and leadership. Ms. Irani also gave away Chief Learning Officers Awards India to ACG World, AGS Health, Ashok Leyland, DBS Bank India and IndiGo among others for various aspects including Blended Learning, Learning initiatives, Induction training and Virtual training.

-Telangana Governor Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan on Saturday called for the concerted efforts by all the stakeholders to ensure better health care for the marginalised sections. Addressing the 3rd Conclave on Ayushman Bharat and Digital Health Mission, organised by the Integrated Health and Wellbeing Council (IHWC) virtually, the Governor said, it is important to ensure the accessibility of quality health care services to all the sections of the people. She stated that the Ayushman Bharat Yojana has proved to be a game changer in bringing the quality and institutional health care closer to the needy in the country. The Governor further stated that by improving the health care facilities for the poor and needy, the scheme has drastically reduced the medical-related impoverishment among the economically underprivileged sections.

-Farmers have started leaving from their protesting site of Ghazipur border in Delhi after suspending their protest against the three farm laws and other related issues. The farmers have been agitating at Delhi borders for about a year.  The Parliament had repealed these farm laws on the first day of the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the nation on the 19th of last month had announced that the new farm laws enacted in 2020 would be repealed in the winter session of Parliament.  Modi had appealed to all protesting farmers to go home. The Prime Minister had also said a committee would be constituted to look into all aspects of agriculture.

-In Ladakh, Department of Tourism, Kargil organised an event on the occasion of International Mountain Day today on the theme 'Sustainable Mountain Tourism' at Tangole.On the occasion, Executive Councillor for Tourism Engineer Phunsuk Tashi presided over the function and Executive Councillor for Works Syed Abass Rizvi was present as the guest of honour. While Councillor Parkachik Haji Ghulam Mohammad, other stakeholders including hotel owners, sportsmen, pony walas and cultural groups from Tangole were present. Speaking on the occasion, EC Phunsuk Tashi said that the Nun Kun Glacier in the lap of which the event was organised, was world-famous for trekking three decades ago. But, due to some unfortunate events the tourism spot remained out of focus. He emphasised on the need to review the glory of Nun Kun Glacier on tourism sites. He further said that tourism in Ladakh is limited to only few areas, resulting in overpopulation in the area. He suggested that there should be efforts to divert the tourists to other areas especially towards village to boost up rural economy.  Tashi said that the aim of today's event is to promote tourism in the region while educating and spreading awareness to public, tourists, and tourism stakeholders towards sustainable tourism. He further emphasised on educating the youth and tourists towards do's and don'ts to ensure sustainable tourism in the region. EC Tashi said, the population in mountains are directly dependent on snowfall and balanced ecosystem. A disturbance in the ecosystem would directly affect the lives of people in the mountain that would probably lead to their migration due to lack of water.

-The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, BMC has said that the financial capital has not recorded a single death due to COVID-19 in the city on Saturday. It is for the second time since the outbreak of global pandemic in March 2020 that the financial capital has not recorded any fatality due to Novel Corona virus. Earlier on 17th of October, the city had registered zero death due to COVID-19. The civic body recorded a marginally higher count of patients infected with Novel Corona virus than those who recovered from the disease today. The fresh cases registered in the city are 256 as against 221 recoveries from the Mumbai hospitals. The recovery rate of the city is 97 per cent and the overall growth rate of COVID cases since 4th to 10th of December is 0.03 per cent.