Several road projects to start in Himachal Pradesh

Union Minister for Road, Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari performed inaugurations and laid foundation stones of several road projects through video conferencing from Manali in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh on Thursday. On this occasion, Gadkari said that roads are the prerequisite for overall development of any nation. He said, Himachal, being a tourist State, better roads in the State, would go a long way in tourism promotion. He said, within the next two years the travelling distance between Delhi to Kullu would be reduced to seven hours. This would give a big boost to tourism development in the State. He assured that all the roads, foundation stones of which were laid today would be completed within a stipulated time period. Gadkari said, road projects worth Rs 15,000 crore would be awarded to Himachal Pradesh this year. Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur thanked Gadkari for dedicating and laying foundation stones of road projects worth Rs 6155 crore for the State. Union Minister of State for Road, Transport and Highways Gen. V.K. Singh said that road projects worth Rs 2000 crore have been completed in the State and work was in progress on projects worth Rs 7000 crore. He expressed hope that in this Golden Jubilee year of its Statehood, Himachal Pradesh would progress leap and bound to become a Model State of the country.

-Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that tradition and technology is the strength of Aatmanirbhar Bharat. He said, toys and games combine tradition and technology and the country's capabilities in gaming and toys are continuously increasing. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday interacted with participants of Toycathon-2021. It was launched to conceptualize innovative toys based on the Indian value system which will inculcate positive behaviour and good value among the children.During the interaction, Modi has stressed on developing such games and toys which promote Indian value system. He said, today the world wants to understand art, culture, society and the potential of India in a better way. He said, our toys and game industry can play a big role in this. He urged on the need to develop such games and toys which promote human welfare. He said, most of the online or digital games available in the market today are not Indian in concept. He said these games either promote violence or cause mental stress.

-The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered a case against a Mumbai based private company and others including its former CEO and directors and bank officials for causing an alleged loss of around Rs 2435 crore to State Bank of India and other consortium member banks. It was alleged that the accused had cheated SBI, Axis bank, Yes Bank, Barclays Bank, IndusInd Bank and others by way of diversion of bank funds, fabricating books of accounts, entries, vouchers and financial statements. The CBI on Thursday conducted searches at the premises of the accused including said private company at Mumbai, Delhi and Gurugram. 

-Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, DMRC has said that long queues have been observed outside metro stations in recent days as entry is regulated due to restrictions on the number of passengers to be allowed inside the train. As per the current guidelines, only sitting on alternative seats is permitted and standing is not allowed. DMRC said, although it is running a maximum number of trains, passengers have to wait outside the stations because of the restrictions above. At present, the carrying capacity of the Delhi Metro as per existing guidelines is in the range of 10-15 per cent only.The long queues are caused as only single entry points are permitted at most of the Metro stations.The DMRC is running 5100 train trips everyday with a peak frequency of 2.5 min to 5 min on all the major corridors. This was the same frequency at which Metro was operating during the normal pre-COVID times. DMRC said, Metro is operating and running at its full frequency but with reduced carrying capacity owing to restrictions.

-Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister with Higher Education portfolio Dr. Ashwatha Narayana has said that offline classes for college students will begin only after the completion of the first dose of vaccination for the students in July. Speaking to media persons in Bengaluru, the minister said that teaching staff, non teaching staff and all students above the age of 18 will be administered vaccines in July.Dr. Ashwatha Narayana has said that inoculation campaigns will be arranged in the colleges and students will be inoculated based on validation by the respective institutions. Meanwhile the state Health Minister Dr. K Sudhakar has said that vaccines are the only solution for Corona. He urged people not to believe rumours about vaccines in social media and believe the government sources. He emphasised that we must be proud that two vaccines are made available within the country. Foreign vaccines are expensive but the Prime Minister is providing indigenous vaccines at no cost to everyone.