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  • Abhijeet Dipke of CJP gave a call for 'jaqil bharo andolan' from Mumbai's Shivaji Park to protest electoral irregularities
  • The BJP government in Bengal is likely to remove the Urban Land Ceiling Act to facilitate development
  • Supreme Court ruled ferrying cattle is not a crime and cannot be equated with slaughter
  • CJP held a well-attended protest rally at Shivaji Park, Mumbai. Celebrities like Shabana Azami and Naseeruddin Shah were also present
  • More than 500 protesters, including former Delhi chief minister Atishi, were detained in Delhi as police moved to prevent a demonstration against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Election Commission's handling of electoral-roll revision. Police had denied permission for the Jantar Mantar protest and imposed restrictions in central Delhi
  • US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said an India-US trade agreement is not imminent, despite negotiations having entered their final phase, citing a range of unresolved sticking points. His remarks came after talks with Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal during the G20 Trade Ministers' meeting in Milwaukee
  • The Education Ministry reviewed preparations for upcoming national examinations with the NTA, focusing on exam security, candidate convenience and computer-based testing infrastructure amid discussions over a possible shift of NEET-UG from pen-and-paper to online examination
  • Delhi Police said it had busted an alleged India-Dubai extortion network linked to the Goldy Brar gang and arrested three operatives, who allegedly demanded ₹1 crore from a Delhi businessman and planned to open fire at his residence. Police said the threats were made through UAE-based communications infrastructure
  • Mumbai Police's Economic Offences Wing arrested actor Dino Morea in connection with the alleged ₹65.54-crore Mithi River desilting scam after questioning him for several hours at his Bandra residence. The investigation concerns alleged financial irregularities in contracts linked to the river's desilting and rejuvenation
  • Bengaluru police busted an interstate counterfeit-currency network and arrested seven people after recovering 4,337 fake ₹500 notes with a face value of about ₹21.7 lakh, along with printing equipment, computers, phones and other material allegedly used in the operation
  • India produced a record six-gold haul at the Asian Games, winning titles in women's hockey, boxing, wrestling and archery and adding two silver and two bronze medals. The day's results lifted India's overall tally to 76 medals, including 16 golds, putting the country fifth in the standings
  • Lovlina Borgohain won her first Asian Games gold, defeating China's Bao Ziyi by unanimous decision in the women's 75kg boxing final on her 29th birthday. Parveen Hooda and Ankush Panghal also won boxing golds, completing India's first Asian Games boxing gold sweep in 12 years
  • India's women's hockey team defeated China 1-0 in the Asian Games final to win the country's first women's hockey gold at the Games since 1982. Lalremsiami scored the decisive goal and goalkeeper Savita Punia saved a penalty stroke, while the victory also secured India's qualification for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics
  • Worldwide praise continued to pour in for Captain Smit Machchhar, the flydubai pilot who fought an assailant in the cockpit and saved the lives of 180 passengers
  • Supreme Court judges decline to meet ONOP parliamentary panel due to reasons of propriety as they said that the matter might later be a subject of court review
Asian Games: October 3 gold medallists: Kumkum Mohod (Archery), Pranavi Urs (Golf), Aman Sehrawat (Wrestling), India men’s cricket team (Cricket), and India men’s hockey team (Hockey) /////// India finishes its campaign in 4th position in the Asian Games medal table: 21 gold, 27 silver, 37 bronze; 85 medals.
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Booster Dose For Health & Tourism

By Ashwini Agarwal
First publised on 2021-06-29 06:17:39

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharman unveiled another booster package for the Covid-ravaged sectors with emphasis on health care and tourism. These are immediate and short term measures to augment capacity or to enable stakeholders tide over the funds crunch due to reduced business.

In the heath sector, the government announced an additional allocation of Rs 23220 crore to boost public healthcare facilities by March, with special emphasis on children and paediatric care. A loan scheme that will be guaranteed by the government has also been put in place for the private sector to augment capacity or create new facilities.

This will enable medical facilities to increase ICU beds, oxygen supply, adequete availability of equipment, medicines, ambulance services, testing and diagnostic services and access to tele-consultation. This will help smaller cities and towns as they will be able to add to their infrastructure. The credit guarantee scheme of Rs 50000 crore for the private sector in cities other than the eight metropolitan cities will boost health infrastructure in these smaller cities and towns. The idea is to be ready in case of future waves.

For the tourism sector, the government has announced that it will issue 5 lakh free visas to tourists till March 2021. More than 1000 government recognized travel agents will be eligible for a loan of Rs 10 lakh guaranteed by the government. 10700 regional-level tourist guides will also be given a loan of Rs 1 lakh. These loans will come without a processing fee and additional collateral. Although industry watchers said that these measures will have limited impact as foreign tourists are unlikely to come to India unless the Covid situation improves, it will help the tourist agencies and tour guides tide over financial difficulties.

The focus on health and tourism is welcome. Tourism is the worst affected sector in the pandemic due to lockdowns and restrictions on travel. As for health, the second wave clearly showed that the existing infrastructure in incapable of catering to even 2X of the usual patients they get, let alone the rush of the pandemic. Several small cities and towns do not even have the basic facilities. Hence, the focus on these smaller cities will serve India well in the long run. 

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