Olympic torch relay cancelled in Japan amid fears of COVID

Ahead of Union Cabinet expansion on Wednesday, 12 members of the Council of Ministers resigned from their post. They include Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank,  D.V. Sadananda Gowda, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Thaawarchand Gehlot, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Prakash Javadekar and Santosh Kumar Gangwar. President Ram Nath Kovind has accepted the resignations. The resignation of Ministers of State Babul Supriyo, Sanjay Dhotre, Rattan Lal Kataria, Pratap Chandra Sarangi and Debasree Chaudhuri have also been accepted. 

-Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has invited the business community in the Indo-Pacific region to actively take part in efforts for bolstering development, trade and growth in the region. He was delivering the keynote address at CII’s Special Plenary with the Trade Ministers in the Indo-Pacific region. He said that India’s track record should give confidence that it will be a natural and most reliable ally in the years to come.Describing Indo-Pacific region as the new economic centre of gravity of the globalised world, Goyal said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in 2015, had articulated his vision for the Indo-Pacific in one word ‘SAGAR’, Security And Growth of All in the Region. He said that it must serve as the guiding principle for all nations in this region, as a secure and stable Indo-Pacific region equals peace and prosperity for all. The Minister said that when the world looks at resilient supply chains, it looks east to Indo-Pacific region. 

-An orientation training programme on Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, India@75 was organised by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj for all 225 beacon Panchayats identified for Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. The programme was chaired by Chandra Shekhar Kumar, Additional Secretary in the Ministry. The programme was attended by Joint Secretaries of the Ministry, representatives of State and UT Departments of Panchayati Raj, National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, State Institutes of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj. In his opening remarks, Dr Chandra Shekhar Kumar emphasised upon a pivotal role to be played by Beacon Panchayats in celebration of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav in rural India in true letter and spirit. He highlighted the significance of celebrating Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav and stated that Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav is a series of events organized by the Government to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Independence. 

-The Union Health Ministry has clarified that all States and Union Territories are being informed much in advance about the doses that will be available during the month of July including the supply to private hospitals. It said, the States and UTs have been advised to plan their COVID -19 Vaccination sessions based on the availability of the COVID vaccines. The clarification came in the wake of media reports alleging that there was 32 per cent less vaccination in the last one week as compared to the week preceding it. The Ministry said, based on the discussion with the manufacturers, it had communicated to all States that they will receive more than 12 crore doses of COVID vaccine in the month of July, 2021. Till today morning, over 2.19 crore doses have already been supplied to all States and UTs from the supply of July month. The states are also being informed adequately in advance of the supply of COVID vaccines being sent to them. It said, all states have also been requested to share likely indicative demand in case more doses of vaccine are required by them in view of increased coverage.

-The Olympic torch relay has been cancelled on the streets of Tokyo in Japan, as fears over the spread of COVID-19 continue to plague the Games. Starting Friday, public relay events in the city will be replaced with flame-lighting ceremonies streamed online. The officials informed, only the leg in the remote Ogasawara islands, south of Tokyo, will go ahead as planned. Tokyo 2020 is due to begin on the 23rd of this month despite public opposition.People in Japan have taken to the streets in recent months calling for the Olympics to be cancelled or postponed, amid the fear of COVID.