India invites Swedish firms to invest in Defence Corridors

The Central Government will procure 75 per cent of the COVID vaccines produced by the vaccine manufacturers. Procured vaccines would be provided free of cost to States and Union Territories. These doses would be administered to all citizens free of cost in Government Vaccination Centres across the country. In the revised guidelines, it is stated that vaccine doses will be allocated to States and Union Territories based on criteria such as population, disease burden and the progress of vaccination. It has been said that wastage of vaccines will affect the allocation negatively. It is advised that information about the availability of vaccines at district and vaccination centres must be made available in the public domain to ensure convenience of citizens.In the revised guidelines, domestic vaccine manufacturers have been given the option to provide vaccines directly to private hospitals. This would be restricted to 25 per cent of their monthly production. States and Union Territories would aggregate the demand of private hospitals ensuring equitable distribution between large and small private hospitals. Based on this aggregated demand, the Government of India will facilitate supply of vaccines to the private hospitals. This step would enable the smaller and remote private hospitals to obtain timely supply of vaccines. The price of vaccine doses for private hospitals would be declared by the vaccine manufacturer. The private hospitals can charge up to a maximum of  Rs 150 per dose as service charges. State Governments will monitor the charged price.

-Government has given a fresh order for vaccines to achieve Universalization of Vaccination. Forty four crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines will be available till December this year. Out of this, 25 crore doses of Covishield and 19 crore of Covaxin to be procured. The Union Government has been supporting the efforts of States and UTs for an effective Vaccination drive under the Whole of Government approach since 16th January this year. Based on the various representations received by the Union Government, the vaccination for all adults above 18 years of age was opened with the onset of Liberalized Phase III of India’s vaccination strategy on May 1st. With the aim to further universalize the countrywide vaccination drive, all citizens above 18 years of age can receive the COVID-19 vaccine doses free of cost at Government health facilities.

-Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has said several procedural reforms undertaken by the Government, have transformed the defence industry to meet domestic as well as global demand. Addressing a webinar on India-Sweden Defence Industry cooperation, Singh said the motto of Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan is Make in India and Make for the World. He said, the campaign envisages the defence sector to play a major role in India’s economic growth and focuses on manufacturing cost-effective quality products for India and for the world.On the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020, the minister said it encourages domestic manufacturing and has provided a strong foundation for India to emerge as the defence manufacturing hub. He highlighted that policy decisions such as FDI liberalisation and improved ease of doing businesses are attracting top defence companies of the world and have Joint Ventures establishments in India. He invited Swedish firms to invest in Defence Corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, saying that they can benefit from the unique incentives being offered by the state governments and the availability of a highly-skilled workforce in India. Stressing that there is a huge potential for more India-Sweden partnerships, he highlighted the strong capabilities of Indian defence industry in various fields and their willingness to collaborate with Swedish companies for co-development and co-production in areas of mutual interest.

-Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K.Stalin has appealed to the Chief Ministers of various states on the issue of providing a moratorium on repayment of loans to MSMEs by the Union Government. In a letter addressed to the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Delhi, Jharkhand, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana, West Bengal, he underlined the need for a uniform support to MSMEs. He appealed to the Chief Ministers to write to the Union Finance Minister and also to the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India to offer moratorium on repayment of loans for atleast the first two quarters of 2021-22 to all small borrowers with outstanding loan upto Rs. 5 crore in view of the lockdowns induced by the second wave of COVID-19.Stalin reiterated that the absence of such relief measures would force many businesses which are the mainstay of the Country's economy and employment generation to close and would lead to widespread economic distress.

-In the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, a massive fire broke out in a building near Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine in Katra town of Reasi district 0n Tuesday afternoon. Police, fire tenders and emergency services along with members of the Shrine Board were rushed to the spot and doused the fire.However the cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. No casualties have been reported so far.