Water taxi service linking Mumbai and Navi Mumbai begins

Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday laid the foundation stone for 51 National Highway Projects of total length 1380 km with an investment of Rs. 21,559 Crore at Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. Addressing the gathering, he said that  the improved road connectivity in the coastal area will boost tourism, create employment opportunities for urban and rural youth and play a pivotal role in bringing prosperity to the people of Andhra Pradesh. Nitin Gadkari also stated that the construction of ROBs under Setu Bharatam will facilitate hassle-free movement of traffic, ensure the safety of commuters, save time and fuel, and will also reduce pollution. He said the National Highways are the arteries of socio-economic development of the State. Gadkari also said that the 4 Lane road to Visakhapatnam and Kakinada ports of Andhra Pradesh will play a crucial role in improving logistics. The construction of Benz Circle flyover will help decongest the city of Vijayawada, he added. He lauded the Andhrites and their talent and hard-working nature. AP Chief Minister, Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and Union Minister for Tourism, G. Kishan Reddy addressed. 

-The Chief Electoral Officer Manipur said that a net of 13203 voters have been added to the Electoral Rolls during the continuous updation and the total electors on the Final Electoral Roll for ensuing elections now stand at 2048169. Moreover, a total of 600 All Women Polling Stations are to be established in the State of Manipur and it is one out of every five Polling Stations in the upcoming polls in Manipur. The CEO of Manipur Rajesh Agrawal said that 265 candidates are in fray in both phases in the upcoming polls and among them, 56 candidates are having Criminal antecedents. So far 80.53 percent of licensed arms are deposited and law enforcement agencies have seized drugs and cash worth Rupees 102 crores. He said that an adequate number of Central Paramilitary Forces will be deployed in the upcoming General Election to the Manipur Legislative Assembly and around 21817 polling personnel trained are completely vaccinated. It may be mentioned that the election in Manipur will be held in two phases and voting will be held on February 28 and March 5 respectively. 

-The first of its kind, water taxi service linking Mumbai and Navi Mumbai was inaugurated by Union Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday.The water taxi will ply between Domestic Cruise Terminal in South Mumbai and the newly inaugurated Belapur Jetty in Navi Mumbai, reducing the travel time to just 45 minutes, a good fifty percent less than the current time taken via roadways. The water taxi service has been launched with seven-speed boats with a capacity of 10 to 30 passengers each and a Catamaran boat with a capacity of 56 passengers. While the ticket for one-way travel by catamaran will cost 250 rupees, the cost of travel by speed boat will be from 825-1210 rupees.  The route is expected to be extended to Vashi, Airoli, Mandwa, Karanja, Thane, and Kanhoji Angre Island among others. 

-The National Science Week Festival will be held at the Hyderabad-based National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) and the National Institue of Technology, Warangal from 22nd to 28th of this month in Telangana. These two centres are among the 75 prestigious centres chosen from across the country to host the Science Week Festival. Ministry of Culture and the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India are holding the Festival as part of the 75th year of Independence - ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’, under the Science Communication Popularization and Extension (SCoPE) project. Eight major science and technology organizations including ICMR, DRDO have joined hands for the festival which will culminate on the National Science Day on February 28. 

-Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Manoj Joshi on Thursday chaired a virtual interaction session under the initiative of ‘Labharthiyon Se Rubaroo’. During the session, Joshi interacted with Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban), PMAYU beneficiaries from Assam, Jharkhand, and Kerala to know about their life-transforming experiences, empowerment stories after getting a pucca house of their own under the Mission. A virtual tour of their houses was also undertaken. The beneficiaries told that having a home of their own is like a dream come true and if the Scheme was not there, they would have not been able to construct a home for themselves. ‘Labarthiyon Se Rubaroo’ has been planned as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.