Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid the foundation stone of Ahmedabad Metro Rail Project Phase-II and Surat Metro Rail Project this morning through video conferencing.
 
Speaking on this occasion, Prime Minister Modi said that two economic urban centers of the country, Surat and Ahmedabad have got the gift of more than Rs.17000 crore soon after the Uttarayan. He said that projects like Railway connectivity with Kevadiya and Metro projects of Surat and Ahmedabad will boost the economic development in the region. He said that implementation of these projects shows that the infrastructure development in the country has not stopped despite the Corona pandemic. He said that the biggest feature of these Metro rail projects is that it is being implemented with the future requirements of the people.

Prime Minister Modi said that his government is working with an integrated transport approach in implementing the Metro Rail projects. He said that Metro rail projects are being implemented with the coordination of other modes of transport. He said that before 2014, only 225 kilometres metro was implemented in 10 to 12 years, but during the last 6 years, 450 kilometres metro rail was implemented in the country. Mr. Modi said that the work of more than 1000 kilometres of metro network is in progress in the country. Praising the fast economic development in Surat and Ahmedabad, Prime Minister Modi describes these two cities as the powerhouse of Atmanirbhar Bharat.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said India's COVID 19 vaccination campaign is based on very humane principles and those exposed to maximum risk get priority. Launching the world's largest COVID-19 vaccination program through video conferencing, Mr Modi stressed that this type of large-scale vaccination campaign has never before been run in history. He pointed out that India is vaccinating three crore people in its first phase of vaccination. Mr Modi added that in the second phase, 30 crore people will be vaccinated. He said there are only three countries in the world with a population over 300 million - India, China and the US.

The Prime Minister praised those scientists who had been involved in making the vaccine against Corona for the past several months. He exuded pride how two Made in India vaccines were readied in such a short period. Mr Modi said Indian vaccines are much cheaper than foreign vaccines but are equally good. He said there are some vaccines abroad whose single dose costs up to 5,000 rupees and have to be kept in freeze at minus 70 degree temperature. He said India's vaccines enjoy global credibility because of their track record. The Prime Minister said scientists gave nod to the two made-in-India vaccines after being sure of their effects, and asked people to not heed rumours and propaganda.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the world's largest COVID-19 vaccination program tomorrow morning through video conferencing. This pan India rollout of COVID-19 vaccination drive will cover the entire length and breadth of the country. 
 
A total of three thousand six session sites across all States and Union Territories will be virtually connected during the launch. Around 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinated at each session site on the inaugural day.
 
This vaccination programme is based on the principles of priority groups to be vaccinated and Health Care workers, both in government and private sectors including ICDS workers, will receive the vaccine during this phase.
 
Let's go LIVE to our correspondent who took stock of the vaccination programme scheduled to commence tomorrow at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in the National Capital.

The Third Phase of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana was launched today in 600 districts across the country. Spearheaded by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, this phase will focus on new-age and COVID-related skills.
 
Skill development minister Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey interacted with various students of the skill development centres
 
Skill India Mission-PMKVY 3.0 envisages training of eight lakh candidates over a scheme period of 2020-2021 with an outlay of 949 crore rupees.
 
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Skill India programme in 2015 and it has gained tremendous momentum through the launch of its flagship scheme PMKVY to unlock the vision of making India the Skill Capital of the world.

Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Scientific and Technical Cooperation between National Centre of Meteorology (NCM), United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) India.

The MoU provides for sharing of knowledge, data and operational products for meteorological, seismological and oceanic services, such as Radar, Satellite, Tide gauges, seismic and Meteorological stations. 

1. Exchange of experience/visits in term of scientists, research scholars and specialists, etc. for the purpose of research, training, consultation, focused on climatic information services, satellite data utilization for now casting and tropical cyclones forecasting.
2. Exchange of scientific and technical information related to common interest activities.
3. Organization of bilateral scientific and technical seminars/ workshops/ conferences and training courses on problems related to the fields of cooperation mentioned in the MoU and of interest to both countries.
4. Other fields of cooperation as may be mutually agreed upon by the parties.
5. Deployment of Meteorological observation networks on mutual agreement over Ocean waters.   
6. Cooperation in the development of special capacities of Tsunami models researches for faster and more reliable forecasts of Tsunamis propagating through the Oman Sea and Arabian Sea which affect the coastal areas of India and North East of UAE.
7. Cooperation to support the Tsunami Early Warning Centre (TEWC) in the form of forecast modelling software, specifically designed to support the Tsunami forecasting operations.
8. Sharing the real-time seismic data of some of Seismic stations situated in south and west of India and North of the UAE for monitoring the seismic activities which may generate Tsunami in Arabian Sea and Sea of Oman.
9. Cooperate at the field of Seismology which includes the study of Seismic activities having the potential to generate Tsunami waves in Arabian Sea and Oman Sea.
10. Cooperation in Early warnings of Sand and Dust storms through the exchange of knowledge.

The Nation is celebrating birth anniversary of youth Icon Swami Vivekananda today.

One of the greatest spiritual leaders of India, Swami Vivekananda introduced the world to the Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga. He became popular in the western world after his famous speech at the World's Parliament of Religions held in Chicago in 1893. Vivekananda was the chief disciple of the 19th-century mystic Ramakrishna Paramhansa. He was the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission.

Swami Vivekananda’s birth anniversary is also celebrated as National Youth Day in the country.

President, Vice President and Prime Minister today paid tributes to Swami Vivekananda on his Birth Anniversary. 

President Ram Nath Kovind said, an inspiration for the entire humanity, for the youth in particular, Swami Vivekananda revitalized India's spiritual heritage and brought it centre-stage at the global arena. The President said, Swami Vivekananda's teachings continue to inspire everyone.

Jigmet Dolma from India secured fourth position in the Dhaka Marathon 2021 organised on Sunday. Jigmet Dolma is an SPO of Ladakh police. 

The marathon was organized to commemorate the return of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from Pakistan jail to Bangladesh in 1972. Two more women runners from India and a total of 8 athletes participated in the marathon. In the full marathon, among the SAARC and local runners, Bahadur Singh of India became the champion in the men's category and Pushpa Bhandari of Nepal became the champion in the women's category.

In the marathon, Hicham Lakohi of Morocco came first in the elite competition of the marathon in men’s category while Angela Jim Asunde from Kenya won the women's category in the same event.

The full marathon covered 42.19 kilometres while the half marathon covered 21.09 kilometers. Athletes from all over the world including India, Morocco, Kenya, France, Nepal, Ethiopia among others participated in various categories of the event. 

Bangladesh will be the Country in Focus for the 51st edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI). The Country in Focus is a special segment that recognizes the cinematic excellence and contributions of the country. The festival will be held in Goa from 16th to 24th January. Taking into account the Corona pandemic, IFFI is holding its first ever hybrid film festival.
 
A special film section on the Country of Focus-Bangladesh will showcase four films - Jibondhuli by Tanvir Mokammel, Meghmallar by Zahidur Rahim Anjan, Under Construction by Rubaiyat Hossain and Sincerely Yours, Dhaka by 11 individual directors. Jibondhuli by Tanvir Mokammel is a story of a drummer and his family during the Liberation War of Bangladesh against Pakistan in 1971.
 
Meghmallar which is directed by Zahidur Rahim Anjan is an adaption of writer Akhtaruzzaman Elias's story-Raincoat. It is a touching story of a simple man caught up in the terror of 1971 Bangladesh.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that Coal Sector has the potential to be the biggest contributor towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of making India a 5 trillion dollar economy by 2024.
 
Speaking at the launch of single window clearing system for coal mines in the country today, Mr. Shah said, the production of coal in the country has increased manifold in the last six years. He asserted that the sector also has the potential to boost Prime Minister's idea of Atmanirbhar Bharat.
 
Making reference to series of path breaking reforms introduced by the NDA government in last six years, Mr. Shah affirmed that the impediments in the coal sector which included transparency and ease of business have been addressed. He said, the policy of commercial mining will provide additional financial impetus to states and will help create nearly 70 thousand jobs. Mr. Shah urged the mining companies to spur coal production so that the dependency on coal imports could be reduced further and energy demands of emerging sectors could be met.
 
Speaking on the occasion, Union Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi lauded the historic reforms of the centre and said that the single window clearance system in mining will drastically reduce the time taken to grant approvals in the sector. He said, the centre is committed towards ease of doing business and asserted that self dependency in the coal sector will provide a remarkable thrust to the idea of self reliant India.

A High Level Committee, headed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been constituted to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in a befitting manner. A gazette notification to this effect was issued today.

Union Culture Ministry has said that the High Level Committee will decide on the activities for a one year long commemoration, beginning 23rd January 2021.    

The Members of the Committee include distinguished citizens, historians, authors, experts, family members of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, as well as eminent persons associated with Azad Hind Fauj. The Committee will lend guidance to the commemoration activities in Delhi, Kolkata and other places associated with Netaji and Azad Hind Fauj, both in India as well as overseas.