KVIC records highest turnover despite COVID pandemic

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday dedicated 12 roads to the nation, built by Border Roads Organisation in Northern and Eastern border areas. Chief Ministers of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, Union Ministers Kiren Rijiju and Dr Jitendra Singh and Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat were among the dignitaries who attended the event virtually. The Defence Minister e-inaugurated a 20-kilometre long double lane Kimin-Potin road, along with nine other roads in Arunachal Pradesh and one each in the Union Territory of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir. The roads have been constructed under ‘Arunank’, ‘Vartak’, ‘Brahmank’, ‘Udayak’, ‘Himank’ and ‘Sampark’ projects of BRO. Speaking on the occasion, Singh lauded BRO for its contribution in infrastructure development of remote border areas of the country, especially amid the COVID-19 restrictions. He said, the roads inaugurated today hold strategic and socio-economic importance as they will play an important role in strengthening national security as well as promoting development of the North-East region.

-Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Thursday said, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Tuberculosis-Free India will be achieved by 2025. Chairing a High-Level Meet with Corporates to discuss Voluntary Crowd-Funding for treatment of patients suffering from Rare Diseases, Dr Harsh Vardhan said, TB will be eliminated in the same expeditious manner as Polio. Dr. Harsh Vardhan also enumerated the different steps taken by the government in facilitating creation of an environment which promotes research and development of diagnostic and therapeutic interventions for rare diseases within the country. He also mentioned about the National Digital Portal for Crowd-Funding created by Health Ministry that will enable donors from various sections of the society to take care of patients suffering from rare diseases.

-Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin said, the meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday was satisfactory. Speaking to media persons after the meeting, Stalin informed that the Prime Minister assured cooperation and assistance to the state for development. He said, issues like scrapping of NEET and New Education Policy, early commencement of vaccine production of Chengalpattu Complex and revival of Sethusamudram Project were raised during his meeting with Prime Minister.

-Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has recorded its highest-ever turnover in 2020-21 despite COVID-19 pandemic. Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises said that KVIC has registered a gross annual turnover of over 95,700 crore rupees.  The Ministry said that KVIC registered a 7.71 per cent increase as compared to the previous year despite the nationwide lockdown. KVIC Chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena said that during the pandemic people responded enthusiastically to the calls of 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' and 'Vocal for Local'. He said that during this period, KVIC’s main focus was to create sustainable employment for artisans and unemployed youth. He added that faced with economic distress, a large number of youth took up self-employment and manufacturing activities under Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme which increased the production in the village industry sector.

-In Punjab, Chief Secretary Vinni Mahajan has directed the Medical Education Department to make the State Cancer Institute in Amritsar functional within the current fiscal. The Institute is being established at Amritsar in order to provide the best possible healthcare facilities to the cancer patients in the state. Chief Secretary, who reviewed the progress of the cancer institute’s ongoing civil and other allied works on Wednesday, said, this Rs 120-crore project would have  state-of-the-art 150-bed complex that will provide world-class treatment facilities to the cancer patients. She fixed the timelines for the ongoing civil works being done by the PHSC, Ms Mahajan directed that the civil works should be completed by October 2021 and installation of equipment should be completed immediately after that.