Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has said that the government's aim is to achieve the defence export target of 35,000 crore rupees by 2024-25. Mr Singh said, promoting Indian exports is the topmost priority of the Government. He said, India should become a net exporter instead of a net importer.

Speaking at the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers, Mr Singh said, Defence Ministry has approved a central sector scheme for iDEX with a 500 crore rupees budget for the next five years from 2021-22 to 2025-26, which will provide financial aid to 300 start-ups, MSMEs and individual innovators and 20 partner incubators.

The Minister said, request for proposal will be issued to avail such schemes for all MSMEs and projects under Make categories where purchasing cost is not more than 100 crores a year or the total value is less than 150 crores to encourage Start-ups and MSMEs.

Union Minister for Home and Cooperation Amit Shah is embarking on a two-day tour of Rajasthan this afternoon. He will be reaching Jaisalmer and will spend a night with BSF personnel at a Border Outpost near the international border.

AIR correspondent reports, The Home Minister will offer prayers at Tanot Mateshwari temple and then will go to the Border Outpost.  Mr. Shah will meet with BSF personnel guarding the International Border in the region and will review the security situation.

The Home Minister will closely watch night patrolling being done by BSF personnel and also spend a night with them. Mr Shah will be Chief Guest in the 57th Raising Day Parade of the BSF to be celebrated tomorrow morning in Jaisalmer for the first time outside Delhi.

After the event, Home Minister will fly to Jaipur, where he will address two functions organized by State BJP.

President Ram Nath Kovind has said that the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) upholds prudence, wisdom and propriety in the Parliamentary system. Addressing the Centenary Celebration of Public Accounts Committee of Parliament, Mr Kovind said, Gandhiji considered account keeping is essential for clean public life. Mr Kovind underlined that the philosophy of public accounts has not been changed from the time of Kautilya.
                               
Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu said, PAC reports always strive improvement in the system. PAC has detected many financial lapses in its glorious work traditions. Mr Naidu also suggested that Parliament should meet 100 days in a year.

Speaker Om Birla said, this is one of the most important Committees of Parliament and complimented the PAC members for their dedication to the cause.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for multiple projects worth around 18,000 crore rupees in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. Prime Minister will also address a rally in Dehradun. Mr Modi will lay the foundation stone of eleven development projects. This includes the Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor which will be built at a cost of around 8300 crore rupees. It will significantly reduce the travel time from Delhi to Dehradun from six hours to around 2 and a half hours.

It will have Asia’s largest wildlife elevated corridor of 12 km for unrestricted wildlife movement. The Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor will also have arrangements for rainwater harvesting at intervals of 500 metres and over 400 water recharge points.

The greenfield alignment project from Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor, connecting Halgoa, Saharanpur to Bhadrabad, Haridwar will be constructed at a cost of over 2000 crore rupees. It will provide seamless connectivity and reduce travel time from Delhi to Haridwar as well.

Parliament has passed the Dam Safety Bill, 2019 with the Rajya Sabha approving it today. The House also approved the amendments moved by the government to the bill. The Lok Sabha had given its nod to the Bill in 2019.  The bill provides for surveillance, inspection, operation and maintenance of the specified dam for prevention of dam failure related disasters and for institutional mechanism to ensure their safe functioning. The bill was moved by Union Minister for Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.The Rajya Sabha also negated the motion moved by DMK’s Tiruchi Shiva  regarding referring the Dam Safety Bill to Select Committee. Twenty six members voted in favour of it while 80 against the motion.

Replying to a debate on the Bill,  Mr Shekhawat said that the legislation has been brought with and intention of putting in place a protocol for dam safety.  He informed that of the total existing dams in different parts of the country,92 per cent of them are located on interstate rivers and their safety must be taken care of. He said, the damage to dams may cause huge harm to human lives as well as on whole riverine structure and ecosystem. Mr Shekhwat said, as per the Central Water Commission report, so far as many as 42 dams have breached and steps must be taken to ensure that such incidents do not occur in future and the bill is in that direction. He also informed that there are  14 such dams which are located in those states where the ownership lies with other States and added that  Central government will also ensure their safety.  

Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu has paid tribute to the first President of India, Dr Rajendra Prasad on his birth anniversary. In a tweet today, Mr. Naidu said, Rajendra Prasad was a visionary statesman, accomplished lawyer, devout patriot and a true Gandhian. He will always be remembered for his sterling contribution to nation-building.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has paid tribute to the first President of independent India and Bharat Ratna Rajendra Prasad on his birth anniversary.

In a tweet today, Mr. Modi said, Rajendra Prasad made a special contribution to the freedom struggle of the country. He said, Rajendra Prasad's life dedicated in the interest of the nation will always remain a source of inspiration for the countrymen.

Today is International Day of Persons with Disabilities. President Ram Nath Kovind will confer the annual National Awards on individuals, institutions, organizations and states and districts for their outstanding achievements and work towards the empowerment of Persons with Disabilities today.

Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Dr. Virendra Kumar will preside over the function. The event is being organized by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Divyangjan under Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

Ministers of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale, A. Narayanaswamy and Pratima Bhoumik will also be present on the occasion.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India has proved to the world that it is second to none when it comes to adopting technology or innovating around it. He said, transformational initiatives under Digital India have opened doors for innovative Fintech solutions to be applied in governance.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today inaugurated InFinity Forum through video conferencing. The event is being hosted by International Financial Services Centres Authority under the aegis of Government of India in collaboration with GIFT City and Bloomberg. Indonesia, South Africa and the U.K. are partner countries in the first edition of the Forum.

Highlighting the importance of fintech, Mr. Modi said, fintech has immense oportunity in the country and now it is a time to convert these fintech initiatives into a fintech revolution. He said, this revolution will help to achieve financial empowerment of every single citizen of the country.

India’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage has crossed 125 crore doses. Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said this is another proud moment for every Indian. He said as India intensifies the Har Ghar Dastak campaign, the country is marching ahead with a new zeal and new energy in its fight against COVID19.

Around 125 crore doses of COVID vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the Nationwide Vaccination Drive. Union Health Ministry said, more than 80 lakh 35 thousand vaccine doses were administered in the last 24 hours. The Ministry said, eight thousand 548 COVID patients recovered during the last 24 hours and the national recovery rate stands at 98.35 percent. Till now, more than three crore 40 lakh 37 thousand people have recovered from COVID-19.

The country reported nine thousand 765 new Covid cases in last 24 hours. Currently, India's active caseload is around 99 thousand. Presently the active cases constitute 0.29 percent of the country's total Positive Cases, which is lowest since March last year.

The Ministry said, the testing capacity across the country continues to be expanded and more than 64 crore 35 lakh COVID-19 tests have been conducted so far.

The Centre has said the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi has been adjudged the ‘Best Airport in India and Central Asia’ this year by Skytrax. In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Gen VK Singh said the Delhi airport along with the others in Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Bengaluru feature in the World To 100 airports list published by Skytrax.

Replying to another question, Gen VK Singh said the Government is taking several steps to strengthen the basic air service infrastructure in the country. He said 36-thousand crore rupees worth investments are being planned to develop new greenfield airports across the country under the Public-Private Partnership mode.