Feb 23, 2022 | Business
The Union Minister for Culture,Tourism and DoNER Shri G. Kishan Reddy has congratulated the scientists of India and the world for their contributions especially during the current covid pandemic times. He said that the relentless efforts of our scientists in developing covid vaccine have saved the entire human community.
Shri Kishan Reddy was speaking at the inaugural of week-long festival of science “Vigyan Sarvatra Pujyate” at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi today. The festival was jointly inaugurated by Shri G Kishan Reddy and Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh. Vigyan Sarvatra Pujyata is a pan-India program to celebrate the essence and magnificence of our scientific achievements as part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav on 75 years of Independence.
The Culture Minister, in his address, said that India under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has made a world record of administering more than 175 crore vaccine doses to the population in the country . He further added that India has given vaccines to more than 150 countries.
Shri G. Kishan Reddy said that India is one of the oldest civilizations in the world, and the country has always had a symbiotic relationship with science and technology.
He said that India’s tradition of scientific skepticism and empirical reasoning in philosophies like Charvaka and Ajivika contributed to our scientific temper.
India today is a nation of young, confident citizens and the young members of the Indian science community today possess a unique mix of a scientific temper that challenges and questions with child-like curiosity to see what’s behind the bend and possess a can-do spirit to use the limited resources prudently, the Minister explained.
He said that the Government of India is commemorating 75 years of Indian independence as ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’. The contribution of scientists is priceless and India is proud to have produced eminent Nobel laureates and contributors like Sir C.V. Raman, Sri Har Gobind Khorana, Meghnad Saha, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Venkatraman Ramakrishnan. The contributions of Homi J. Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai have made India stronger.
Shri Kishan Reddy said that our New Education Policy, which came after 34 years, does promote a culture of science and inculcate a scientific temper among students, youth and entrepreneurs. Highlighting the role of Ministry of Culture in promoting science, the Minister disclosed that the Culture Ministry administers 25 Science Museums and Centres, and has developed more than 25 Science Museums and handed them over to states and institutions, and it is developing 18 more new museums.
The initiative will prove to be a milestone in preparing the roadmap for the next 25 years of development of the country through science and technology.
He said that the country should celebrate some recent successes for India in the field of science and technology such as India’s rise to the 46th position featuring within the top 50 innovative economies globally as per Global Innovation Index (GII). The country is among the top 3 countries in scientific publications as per National Science Foundation (NSF) database. And India is in 3rd Position in terms of Doctorate holders and the size of Higher Education System.
India is rising as the second largest startup hub in the world. As we celebrate Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav, the country has 75 unicorns, over 50000 Startups where 10,000 of them have come up in the first 6 months.
He said that the program will also give a new direction to our young scientists which will give a new impetus and give a new inspiration
Principal Scientific Adviser, Govt of India, Dr K Vijaya Raghavan; Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Govt of India, Dr S Chandrasekhar; Scientific Secretary Office of PSA, Mrs (Dr) Parvinder Maini; Director, Vigyan Prasar, Dr Nakul Parashar, Members from the scientific community were among those who participated in the programme.
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(Release ID: 1800415)
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Jan 9, 2022 | Business
Key Highlights
- The long standing demand of the people of Manipur, Tripura and South Assam was fulfilled by inauguration of special trains Jan Shatabdi connecting Agartala – Jiribam – Agartala. The inaugural special trains were flagged off from Agartala and Jiribam railway stations simultaneously.
- The priority that the Prime Minister accords to the North eastern states is evident from the fact that budgetary allocations to the North Eastern states have nearly doubled in the last 7 years Rs. 36,107.56 crore in 2014-2015, to Rs. 68,020 crore in 2020-2021.=
- The government is consistently working towards the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s ‘HIRA’ model of development that prioritizes Highways, Information ways, Railways and Airways.
The first Janshatabdi express trains connecting the states of Manipur and Tripura via Assam was flagged off today by Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Railways, Communications, Electronics and Information Technology and by Shri G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister For Culture, Tourism And Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) through video link from Railway Board in the presence of Chief Minister of Manipur Shri Nongthombam Biren Singh and Chief Minister of Tripura, Shri Biplab Kumar Deb.
The long standing demand of the people of Manipur, Tripura and South Assam was fulfilled by inauguration of special trains Jan Shatabdi connecting Agartala – Jiribam – Agartala. The inaugural special trains were flagged off from Agartala and Jiribam railway stations simultaneously.
— MDoNER India (@MDoNER_India) January 8, 2022
Shri G. Kishan Reddy, Minister for Culture, Tourism and DoNER said that the special trains will be a crucial link to important towns and provide a major boost to passenger connectivity, trade and tourism. He said that under the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s leadership, the North East Region is taking important strides towards development.
“The Prime Minister’s priority towards the Northeastern States is evident from the fact that budgetary allocations have nearly doubled in the last 7 years from Rs. 36,107.56 crore in 2014-2015, to Rs. 68,020 crore in 2020-2021”, he said. The Minister added that with the unprecedented development initiatives and infrastructural growth, the North East Region is set to become the growth engine of the rest of India.
The Minister also highlighted the fact that the region is naturally blessed with abundant resources and the Ashtalakshmi States have their own inherent potential to become global hubs in different sectors be it agro-horticulture, organic farming, textiles, tourism etc. He said that good connectivity is the key to achieving progress on all the fronts and realizing the true potential in all the sectors and spoke about the government’s effort in consistently working towards Hon’ble Prime Minister Sri Narendra Modi’s ‘HIRA’ model of development that prioritizes Highways, Information ways (Internet), Railways and Airways.
Dwelling on each of these vital infrastructure elements, the Hon’ble Minister said that the National Highway construction saw more than a 25% increase in road length in the last 7 years and that the impressive pace of work is evident from the fact that road and highway projects worth 85,631 crore are currently ongoing in the eight NE States and another 80,000-crore worth of projects are planned for the next two years.
The Minister also expressed his gratitude to the Railway Minister Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw for the various initiatives that Railways was undertaking in enhancing connectivity in the tough hilly terrain of the region. The Minister highlighted 14 new railway line projects that have been taken up at a total cost of Rs. 56,553 crore and that the Capital connectivity project is opening new doors of opportunities in almost all the sectors and laying the groundwork for further development. The Minister also dwelled on the crucial Agartala-Akhaura project that is currently being developed at a cost of Es. 972.5 crores linking India to the Bangladesh Rail Network holds tremendous economic and strategic significance.
The Minister said that Air Connectivity has also improved on an unprecedented scale. He observed that Guwahati has today become one of the busiest airports of the nation and the two major Capital Green Field Air Connectivity Projects are being undertaken in NER – Holongi-Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh sanctioned with a cost of Rs.955.37 Cr. and the Pakyong Airport, Sikkim sanctioned with a cost of Rs. 553.53 Cr.
The Minister also brought to light the Government’s initiatives in enhancing Digital connectivity in the North eastern region in spite of the hilly and challenging train. 4G mobile connectivity and Wi-Fi Connectivity for village Panchayats is being enhanced at a rapid pace. Almost 6,000 Gram Panchayats are service ready and a total of 9461 FTTH connections have been provided. This digital connection will give wings to the aspiration of the youth and work towards bringing about the 4th Industrial revolution in the region.
After this, the Minister of Railways, Electronics and Information Technology Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw spoke and expressed his gratitude to all stakeholders in collaborating with the Ministry of Railways in ensuring their speedy execution.
He highlighted that the Prime Minister had a special place in his heart for the Northeastern region and always exhorted all stakeholders for the speedy execution of projects in the Northeast region.
The Ministers then flagged off the trains. The scheduled tri-weekly service of train No. 12097/12098 Agartala –Jiribam – Agartala Janshatabdi Express on Monday, Wednesday and Friday will commence w.e.f 10-01-2022 (Monday). The train will leave from Agartala at 06-00 hours to reach Jiribam at 12-00 hours. In return direction, the train will leave from Jiribam at 16-00 hours to reach Agartala at 22-00 hours.
2/3📍THE FIRST JAN SHATABDI EXPRESS TRAINS:
🚆12097 Jiribam-Agartala Express
🚆12098 Agartala-Jiribam Express
Fulfilling the long standing demands of the people of Manipur, Tripura & South Assam, these services will:
📍Connect important historic towns like Silchar, Badarpur pic.twitter.com/2cCHMCuyZt
— MDoNER India (@MDoNER_India) January 8, 2022
The inaugural programme was graced by Shri Nongthombam Biren Singh, Chief Minister of Manipur through video link and Shri Biplab Kumar Deb, Chief Minister of Tripura. Dr. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs, Education; Pratima Bhoumik, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment; Vungzagin Valte, Minister for Transport & GAD, Tribal Affairs & Hills Govt of Manipur; Pranajit Singha Roy, Minister for Transport, Tourism, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Govt of Tripura; MPs Jharna Das Baidya, Maharaja Sanajaoba Leishemba, M.C. Mary Kom, Rebati Tripura, Kripanath Mallah, Dr. Lorho S. Pfoze; MLAs Mimi Majumdar, Rajkumar Imo Singh and Ashab Uddin were also present during the occasion at different inaugural places.
The first Janshatabdi express train from Manipur to Tripura via Arunachal station (Silchar) in Assam will connect some important and historic towns like Silchar, Badarpur, New Karimganj, Dharmanagar and Ambassa apart from Jiribam and Agartala the two terminal stations. The Train journey will minimize the travel time by half as the journey time will be around 06 hours covering a distance of 300 Kms against about 12 hours or so it takes to travel by road.
This service will give an impetus to the trade, tourism and transportation sector in this region including the three states. At present there is no direct train between Manipur and Tripura and only one train runs between Agartala and Silchar that too in the morning hours. The Janshatabdi train will now provide direct connectivity to the people of Manipur going to Tripura for Educational and Health facilities and people of Tripura also get the opportunity to visit Manipur for trade, tourism etc boosting the overall economy of the region.
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(Release ID: 1788600)
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