MHA extends COVID Guidelines till Mach 31

Government will start administering COVID-19 vaccine to people above 60 years of age from 1st of next month. Those above 45 years of age with comorbidities will also be vaccinated in this phase.The preparation is underway for this phase of covid Vaccination. The vaccine will be administered free of cost at ten thousand government hospitals to these groups while the cost of the vaccine at 20 thousand private vaccination centres will be borne by them.

-Ministry of Home Affairs has extended the existing COVID Guidelines for Surveillance, Containment and Caution till 31st of March this year.The Ministry said, while there has been a substantial decline in the active and new COVID-19 cases, there is need to maintain surveillance, containment and caution so as to fully overcome the pandemic.The States and Union Territories have been advised to speed up the vaccination of the target population to break the chain of transmission.They have also been asked that Containment Zones continue to be demarcated carefully, prescribed containment measures strictly followed within these zones and COVID-appropriate behaviour promoted and strictly enforced.The Standard Operating Procedures prescribed in respect of various permitted activities will be followed scrupulously. The Minister has directed them to strictly enforce the focussed approach on surveillance, containment and strict observance of the guidelines and SOPs.

-Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan on Friday laid the foundation stone of Mon Medical College covering 30 acres of land at District Hospital Mon, Nagaland.Speaking at the programme, Dr.  Harsh Vardhan said Prime Minister Modi has always been committed to the people of Northeast region since the day he entered the Parliament.He said PM Modi has a vision to ensure that a place like Mon situated in the extreme corner of the country should  not be  deprived of the various facilities and services.On the occasion, the Union Minister also hailed the doctors, health workers and frontline workers for rendering scrvices during the COVID-19 pandemic  taking lot of risks.He said because of the contributions of the Covid warriors, the  Nation achieved  highest recovery rate and lowest fatality rate in the  world. Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio said  this is the beginning of our journey in fulfilling our dream. Extending his wishes to citizens of Mon and to the state, Rio said  we will partner in realizing our dream for the welfare of the people.
 -Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman toda on Friday highlighted that the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) will play a critical role in revitalizing economy post pandemic. She said NIP is not only just central government budgetary expenditure on Infrastructure but also includes infra spending by states and private sector.Chairing a virtual meeting with CEO, NITI Aayog and Secretaries of 22 Infrastructure Ministries and Departments, she discussed post-budget action points for infrastructure roadmap ahead including NIP implementation.It was discussed  when countries across the globe have been dealing with the challenges posed by Covid-19 pandemic, the NIP has shown substantial progress.The NIP was launched with 6,835 projects; the project pipeline has now been expanded to nearly 7,600 projects. Around 216 projects worth  Rs. 74,067 crore under central government infrastructure ministries have been completed till third quarter of the current Financial Year.Around 678 projects worth Rs. 6 lakh crore have progressed from the lower stage to the upper stage of project formulation and implementation.

-External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar discussed with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi the situation along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh and also issues related to India-China relations. They had a phone conversation yesterday which lasted 75 minutes.Dr Jaishankar referred to the meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister in September last year in Moscow where Indian side had expressed its concern on provocative behavior and unilateral attempts of the Chinese side to alter status quo. He noted that the bilateral relations have been impacted severely over last year. The Minister said that Boundary Question may take time to resolve but disturbance of peace and tranquility including by violence, will inevitably have a damaging impact on the relationship.He said that during their meeting in Moscow last year, both Ministers had agreed that the situation in the border areas was not in the interest of either side and decided that the border troops of both sides should continue their dialogue, quickly disengage and ease tensions. The Minister noted that the two sides had maintained continuous communication since then through both the diplomatic and military channels. This had led to progress as both sides had successfully disengaged in the Pangong Tso Lake area earlier this month.