Free vaccine, ration...: Here are the key takeaways from PM Modi’s address to the nation

News Network
June 7, 2021

New Delhi, June 7: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday announced that the central government will provide free coronavirus vaccine to states for inoculation of all above the age of 18 from June 21, and asserted that vaccine supply would be increased significantly in the country in the coming days.

The Centre has decided to buy 75 per cent of jabs from vaccine makers, including 25 per cent of the state quota, and give it for free to state governments, the prime minister said in an address to the nation.

Modi said private sector hospitals can continue to procure 25 per cent of vaccines, but their service charge would be capped at Rs 150 per dose over fixed price of the vaccine.

As several states take cautious steps towards unlocking and easing of restrictions with a decline in Covid-19 cases, the prime minister said vaccination is like a protection shield against the virus and asserted that vaccine supply would be increased significantly in India in coming days.

Modi said seven companies are producing various vaccines against the coronavirus in the country and trial of three more vaccines is at an advanced stage.

The process of procuring vaccines from companies of other countries has also been expedited, the prime minister said.

Amid concerns expressed by experts recently over children being affected by the virus, Modi said that in this direction trials of two vaccines are being carried out.

Modi said research is continuing on a nasal spray vaccine which, if successful, can significantly boost India's vaccination drive, he said.

Asserting that vaccines are like a protection shield against the virus, he also asserted that with the efforts made in the country recently, vaccine supply would be increased significantly in India in coming days.

India proved its mettle by making two made-in-India Covid-19 vaccines in a short time and over 23 crore doses have already been administered, the prime minister said.

Modi asserted that efforts are being made on a war-footing to fight the Covid-19 pandemic at various levels and production of essential medicines was ramped up.

India is fighting against the Covid-19 pandemic on multiple fronts and new health infrastructure has been created across country, he asserted.

India has gone through a lot of pain during this battle and many lost their loved ones, he noted and extended his condolences to the bereaved families.

Modi has addressed the nation a number of times since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic last year, offering suggestions to people and outlining measures his government has been taking to deal with the situation.

Key takeaways 

1. New health infrastructure has been developed in the past one and a half years with Covid-19 hospitals, ventilators beds, to preparing a network of testing labs, PM Modi said. 

2. PM Modi noted that during the second wave in April-May, demand for medical oxygen increased at an unprecedented rate. "India never faced such a huge demand of oxygen ever before, and for this, the country did everything possible to meet the demand," the PM said.

3. He stated that vaccination is the only shield but there are only a few vaccine companies in the world. "The Covid-19 vaccine is a lifesaver," he said. 

4. He lauded the efforts of scientists across the nation for preparing a vaccine against Covid-19 in such a short span. "There were fears that how would India save such a big population from the pandemic. But we managed to launch two made-in-India vaccines in no time. Our scientists proved it that we are not behind any other country," Modi said.
5. "India is fighting against the Covid-19 pandemic on multiple fronts," the prime minister said. 

6. He also said that there is a very low number of vaccine manufacturers in the world compared to its demand. "Imagine what would have happened in India if we didn't have vaccines. If you look at the history of the last 50-60 years, you will know that it used to take decades for India to get vaccines from abroad," PM Modi said.

7. The prime minister said that work on three more Covid-19 vaccines are in the advanced trial stage and research on a nasal vaccine is also being done. 

8. PM Modi announced a centralised vaccination drive where all vaccines will be procured by the Government of India and it will be given to States for free.

9. "Twenty-five per cent of vaccination work with states will now be handled by the Centre, it will be implemented in the coming two weeks. Both State and Centre will work as per new guidelines in the coming two weeks. From June 21, free vaccines will be given to all those who are above 18 years," PM Modi said.

10. "No state government of the country will have to spend anything on the vaccine. Till now, crores of people of the country have got free vaccine. Only the Government of India will provide free vaccine to all the countrymen," the prime minister said.

11. The government has decided to extend Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana till Diwali. About 80 crore beneficiaries will be provided free ration, under the scheme. 

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News Network
November 15,2024

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Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has killed or captured 69 terrorists linked to the Israeli spy agency Mossad during a major counterterrorism drill in the country's southeast, its spokesman says.  

General Ahmad Shafaei, the spokesman for the “Martyrs of Security” drill, said Friday that a total of 23 terrorists have been killed and another 46 arrested in various clean-up operations ever since the IRGC Ground Force launched it in the Sistan and Baluchestan province on November 1.

Seven terrorists have also turned themselves in during the period.

“The undeniable fact about terrorists is that they rely on arrogant powers, particularly the intelligence service of the wicked and vicious Zionist regime," Shafaei said.

“Unfortunately, weapons and munitions at terrorists’ disposal are among the most sophisticated ones in the world. This accounts for their heavy dependence.” 

The official stated that several members of the disbanded terror teams were non-Iranian nationals, who had been hired by foreign intelligence agencies to carry out acts of sabotage and terror inside Iran.

In a most recent operation, six terrorists were arrested and four others were eliminated, three of whom were non-Iranians, he added. 

On October 26, ten members of Iran's law enforcement forces were killed in a terrorist attack in the Gohar Kuh district of Taftan in the Sistan and Baluchestan province.

The so-called Jaish al-Adl terrorist group claimed responsibility for the assault, which was one of the deadliest in the province in recent months.

The group has carried out numerous terrorist attacks in Iran, primarily in Sistan and Baluchestan.

Its tactics include the abduction of border guards as well as targeting civilians and police stations within the province to incite chaos and disorder.

In January, Iran launched a military operation during which the headquarters of the Pakistan-based terrorist group was targeted in missile strikes, destroying its infrastructure.

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News Network
November 11,2024

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The Manipur Kuki MLAs have released a statement calling out Solicitor General Tushar Mehta's 'lies' in the Supreme Court. In a joint statement, the MLAs, including those from the Bharatiya Janata Party, said they had not had any meeting with the Chief Minister since May 3, 2023, nor did they intend to meet him in the future as “he was the mastermind behind the violence”.

As per the MLAs, the SG lied about state CM N Biren Singh speaking to Kuki MLAs to control the situation there, in order to halt a Supreme Court probe into the leaked tapes which allege that Singh has been complicit in the violence that broke out between Kukis and Meitis there.

"We...clarify that we have never had any meeting with Chief Minister, Shri N. Biren Singh since May 3, 2023, nor have any intention to meet him in future as he is the mastermind behind the violence and ethnic cleansing of our people from the Imphal valley, which is continuing till today, the latest being the brutal killing and burning of Mrs Zosangkim Hmar on November 7, 2024," the letter read, while condemning the recent 'barbaric' killing of the woman there, and noting the SG's assertion is 'tantamount' to misleading the top court.

“We, the undersigned ten MLAs, have come to know that during the Supreme Court hearing held on November 8, 2024, the Solicitor General of India submitted that ‘CM is meeting all Kuki MLAs and trying to bring the situation down to get peace’. In this connection, we hereby categorically state that this submission is a blatant lie and tantamount to misleading the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India,” the statement said.

The Supreme Court, while hearing a petition by a Kuki organisation, asked that it submit audio tapes to substantiate its claim that the Chief Minister was instrumental in inciting and organising violence in the northeastern State.

Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta orally informed the court that the Chief Minister was meeting all the Kuki-Zo MLAs and that peace in the State had come at a huge cost.

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News Network
November 18,2024

Advisors to US President-elect Donald Trump have instructed his allies and associates to refrain from using the inflammatory language they previously employed when discussing issues related to migrants and the deportation of asylum seekers, in a bid to avoid “looking like Nazis.”

US media reports said that Trump’s associates had been asked to stop using the word “camps” to describe potential facilities that would be used to accommodate migrants rounded up in deportation operations across the country.

The reports said the US president-elect’s allies had been ordered to stave off such charged terms as they would bring to mind “Nazis,” and be used against Trump.

“I have received some guidance to avoid terms, like ‘camps,’ that can be twisted and used against the president, yes,” one Trump ally told American monthly magazine Rolling Stone.

“Apparently, some people think it makes us look like Nazis.”

The presidential advisers also cautioned surrogates and allies to keep racist terms, which have dogged Trump’s campaign, out of their remarks.

They said with Trump’s heated rhetoric that used to compare undocumented immigrants to “animals” and his slight that they are “poisoning the blood of our country,” detractors did not need to reach too far to find parallels to Nazi Germany.

Stephen Miller, who Trump tapped to be his deputy chief of staff of policy, specifically used the word “camps” to describe holding facilities that he hoped the military could put together for immigrants.

Tom Homan, who served as the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and is chosen by Trump to be in charge of the US borders, was no stranger to such language.

“It’s not gonna be a mass sweep of neighborhoods,” he said in an interview earlier this week. “It’s not gonna be building concentration camps. I’ve read it all. It’s ridiculous.”

Becoming a little more forthright about the new government’s aggressive deportation plans, Homan likened the early days of the Trump administration to the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003.

“I got three words for them – shock and awe,” he said. “You’re going to see us take this country back.”

Trump made immigration a central element of his 2024 presidential campaign but unlike his first run, which was mainly focused on building a border wall, he has shifted his attention to interior enforcement and the removal of undocumented immigrants already in the United States.

People close to the US president and his aides are laying the groundwork for expanding detention facilities to fulfill his mass deportation campaign promise.

The businessman-turned-politician deported more than 1.5 million people during his first term.

The figure do not include the millions of people turned away at the border under a Covid-era policy enacted by Trump and used during most of Biden’s term.

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