Union Home and Cooperation Minister, Shri Amit Shah has greeted citizens on the 76th Independence Day. In his tweets, Shri Amit Shah said this is a day to be proud of India’s culture, vibrant democratic tradition and achievements over the last 75 years. I pay my homage to our Freedom Fighters who brought us Freedom and our brave soldiers who sacrificed everything for the defence of the Nation.

The Union Home Minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is fulfilling our brave Freedom Fighters’ dream of a strong and self-reliant India, by giving paramount importance to national interest. Everyone should contribute to this continuous journey of development through hard work so as to make India a ‘Vishwaguru’ once again by the time of the Centenary Year of our Independence.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi felicitated the Indian contingent for the Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2022 in New Delhi. The felicitation was attended by both athletes and their coaches. Union Minister for Youth Affairs & Sports and Information & Broadcasting Shri Anurag Singh Thakur and Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Shri Nisith Pramanik were among those present.

The Prime Minister congratulated the players and coaches for their stupendous performance at the Commonwealth Games 2022 held in Birmingham, where India bagged 22 Gold, 16 Silver and 23 Bronze medals in various disciplines. The Prime Minister welcomed the athletes and coaches and expressed immense pride in the accomplishments of India’s athletes at  CWG 2022. The PM said that it is a matter of pride that due to the splendid hard work of the sportspersons, the country is entering into the Azadi ka Amrit Kaal with an inspiring achievement.

The Prime Minister highlighted that in the last few weeks, the country has accomplished two major achievements in the field of sports. Along with the historic performance in the Commonwealth Games, the country has organized the Chess Olympiad for the first time. Addressing the athletes, the Prime Minister said “while all of you were competing in Birmingham, crores of Indians were keeping awake till late night here in India, watching your every action. Many people used to sleep with alarms set up so that they remained updated on the performances.” The Prime Minister said as per his promise at the time of the contingent’s send-off that we are celebrating victory today.

Highlighting the great performance, the Prime Minister remarked that numbers do not reflect the entire story as many medals were missed by the narrowest possible margins which will soon be rectified by the determined players. He said that India has found a new way of winning in 4 new games as compared to last time. From lawn bowls to athletics, the athletes have performed phenomenally. With this performance, the trend of youth towards new sports in the country is going to increase a lot, the Prime Minister said. The Prime Minister also highlighted the achievements of the daughters of India in boxing, judo, wrestling and their domination in the CWG 2022. He said 31 medals came from the players who were making their debut indicating the growing confidence of the youth.

The Prime Minister said that the athletes have strengthened the resolve of ‘Ek Bharat Shreshta Bharat’ not just by gifting a medal to the country, but also by giving the opportunity to celebrate and to be proud. The Prime Minister added the athletes inspire the youth of the country to do better not only in sports but also in other sectors. “You weave the country in unity of thought and goal that was also one the great strength of our freedom struggle”, he said. Mentioning the galaxy of freedom fighters, the Prime Minister said that despite the variance in methods, they all had the common goal of independence. Similarly, our players enter the arena for the prestige of the country. The Prime Minister mentioned that the power of the Tricolour was seen in Ukraine where it had become a protective shield not only for Indians but also for the citizens of other countries in getting out of the battlefield.

The Prime Minister expressed happiness upon the players who emerged out of the Khelo India stage and had done extremely well on the international stage. He also mentioned the positive effect of TOPS (Target Olympic Podium Scheme) which was now being seen. The Prime Minister highlighted the need to intensify our efforts to discover new talent and take them to the podium. “We have a responsibility to create a sports ecosystem that is globally excellent, inclusive, diverse and dynamic. No talent should be left behind”, he stressed. The Prime Minister also acknowledged the role of coaches, sports administrators and support staff in the success of the players.

The Prime Minister urged the athletes to prepare well for the upcoming Asian Games and Olympics. On the occasion of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the Prime Minister requested the athletes and their coaches to encourage children by visiting 75 schools, and educational institutions in the country, last year. The Prime Minister said that a lot of sportspersons had taken up this work and fulfilled it under the ‘Meet the Champion’ campaign. He also urged them to carry this campaign forward as the youth of the nation looks toward the athletes as role models. The Prime Minister said that “your growing recognition, capability and acceptance should be utilised for the younger generation of the country.” The Prime Minister concluded his address by congratulating the athletes on their ‘Vijay Yatra’ and wished them the very best for future endeavours.

The felicitation by the Prime Minister is a part of his continuous endeavour to motivate athletes that represent India in major sporting events. Last year, the Prime Minister interacted with the Indian athletes’ contingent bound for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and the Indian para-athletes’ contingent for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. Even during the Commonwealth Games 2022, the Prime Minister took a keen interest in the athletes’ progress and congratulated them on their success and sincere efforts, while motivating them to do better.

The CWG 2022 was held in Birmingham from 28th July till 08th August 2022. A total of 215 athletes participated in 141 events across 19 sporting disciplines, where India bagged 22 Gold, 16 Silver and 23 Bronze medals in various disciplines.

The Union Home and Cooperation Minister, Shri Amit Shah hoisted the National Tricolour at his residence in New Delhi today on the clarion call of Har Ghar Tiranga by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He also paid tributes to the valorous heroes who sacrificed everything for the Motherland.

In his tweets, Shri Amit Shah said, “Tiranga is our pride. It unites and inspires everyone Indian. On PM Narendra Modi ji’s clarion call of Har Ghar Tiranga, today hoisted a Tiranga at my residence in New Delhi and paid tributes to our valorous heroes who sacrificed everything for the Motherland.”

Union Home Minister said that “I appeal to all countrymen to hoist the Tiranga at your home from 13^th-15^th August and be a part of this campaign of awakening the spirit of patriotism in every heart. Also, upload your photo with the Tiranga on http://harghartiranga.com and inspire others for the same.”

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari today inaugurated  a photo exhibition of freedom fighters and great men of freedom struggle organized by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) at Central Bus Station (Ganeshpeth) in Nagpur.

Shri Gadkari  honored the freedom fighters and their families present on the occasion.

To celebrate 75 years of Independence  “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav” MoRTH is organizing Exhibitions at 75 Bus Stations across the country  to commemorate the people of India who have been instrumental in the glorious journey of Independent India.

These Exhibitions  will portray the freedom struggle and the brave men and women who contributed in making India independent sacrificing their lives. These will also highlight the making of constitution and contributions of all our leaders, men and women from all walks of life .

Union Minister for Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Textile Shri Piyush Goyal today said as we celebrate Har Ghar Tiranga, a campaign to mark Azadi ka Amrit Mohtsav, let us take a pledge to take the message of Swadeshi and self reliant India forward and give priority to goods made in India.

Shri Goyal hoisted the National Flag at Gandhi Darshan, Rajghat, on the occasion of Har Ghar Tiranga Mahotsav, a campaign to mark Azadi ka Amrit Mohtsav, being celebrated from 13-15 August 2022. He visited Rashtriya Swachhta Kendra and watched a digital exhibition chronicling India’s journey to an open defecation free country, a status achieved by India on 2 October 2019.

During the event, the Minister also administered the Har Ghar Tiranga Pledge to the gathering. He felicitated family members of  freedom fighters by presenting a shawl to them.

Minister Goyal said, today it is a moment of immense pride for us that the whole country is giving the message to the world, of entering the next 25 years of Amrit Kaal by uniting and hoisting the Tricolour at home.

Paying Tributes to Mahatma Gandhi, Shri Goyal said the way Gandhiji was instrumental in involving everyone in the Satyagraha in India’s fight for freedom, similarly Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a campaign in 2014 to realise Bapu’s dream of Swachh Bharat, a glimpse of it was seen in the Swachhata Museum today, he added.

Shri Goyal said as we are celebrating Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, let us take a resolve to take India forward at a faster pace and make this country a developed and prosperous country in the next 25 years, AmritKaal.

He expressed confidence that nothing can stop India from becoming a growth engine of the world economy.

Later in the day, Shri Goyal also visited the Exhibition on Horrors of Partition, set up in Vanijya Bhawan.

Union Minister of Ayush Shri Sarbananda Sonowal dedicated two new building of Ayush institutes to the people of India on the occasion of 75^th year of Independence. Shri Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated new building headquarters office of Central Council for Research in Siddha (CCRS) at Tambaram Sanatorium, Chennai and new extension OPD block of Ayothidoss Pandithar Hospital of National Institute of Siddha today.

On this occasion Shri Ma. Subramanian, Minister for Health and Family Welfare Govt. of Tamil Nadu, Prof. (Dr.) K. Kankavalli, Director General, CCRS, Prof. (Dr.) R. Meenakumari, Director, National Institute of Siddha, Shri Pramod Kumar Pathak, Special Secretary, Ministry of Ayush, and other distinguished guests, CCRS officials & Staff, NIS faculty members were present.

Addressing the gathering, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, said, “I am deeply grateful and thankful to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji for giving a special impetus to all the Ayush systems including Siddha nationally as well as globally. I believe that with this new infrastructure, further more innovations and academic developments will blossom in the minds of the scientists, academicians and students. I am expecting better outcomes in both research and academics from CCRS and NIS.”

Central Council for Research in Siddha (CCRS) is an apex organization for Research in Siddha system of medicine. Its prime focus is to scientifically validate the claims of Siddhars for global acceptance. CCRS have recently proved the strength of Siddha formulations during the COVID-19 pandemic through scientific validation by carrying out Randomized Double-Blind Placebo Controlled Trials and has published more than 30 quality research articles in peer reviewed journals.

Whereas, National Institute of Siddha (NIS) is an apex and premier Institute for Siddha system of Medicine with a primary mandate for patient care, teaching and research in higher education for post graduate and doctoral research scholars.

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh felicitated 25 winners of the ‘Veer Gatha’ contest (SUPER-25) in New Delhi on August 12, 2022. Veer Gatha, one of the unique projects launched as a part of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’, was organised to inspire & spread the awareness among children about the gallant deeds and sacrifices of the Armed Forces. In the nation-wide contest, held between October 21-November 20, 2021, over 8.04 lakh students from 4,788 schools were encouraged to share inspirational stories through essays, poems, drawings and multimedia presentations. After several rounds of evaluation, 25 students were selected and declared as ‘SUPER-25’.

In the run up to the Independence Day 2022 celebrations, Shri Rajnath Singh today felicitated these SUPER-25 students with a cash prize of Rs 10,000/- each, a medal and a certificate, in the presence of Education Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan and Raksha Rajya Mantri Shri Ajay Bhatt. Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar, Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar and Vice Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen BS Raju were also present. 300 NCC cadets and students from Army Public Schools & Cantonment Boards were in attendance, with students and teachers from over 400 schools participating virtually.

Congratulating the ‘SUPER-25’, the Raksha Mantri commended their creativity, zeal & enthusiasm and said that their entries for the contest beautifully captured the courage and sacrifices of freedom fighters such as Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad & Khudiram Bose and Gallantry award winners like Major Somnath Sharma, Subedar Sanjay Kumar, Sepoy (Honorary Captain) Baba Harbhajan Singh, Havildar Veer Abdul Hameed, Captain Vikram Batra, Captain Manoj Pandey, Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan & Col Santosh Babu, besides Col Mitali Madhumita, the first woman officer in the Indian Army to receive a gallantry award. “These fearless freedom fighters and Armed Forces personnel, who have served their motherland, come from different parts of the country and belong to different religions. But, one thing that is common among them is their love for India. They are bound by the common thread of patriotism,” he said.

Shri Rajnath Singh added that the same feeling of patriotism is common in all the children, and not just the SUPER-25, who despite being from different religions and places, whole-heartedly participated in the ‘Veer Gatha’ contest and made it a grand success. The overwhelming response to the competition is a testament to the fact that the country’s bravehearts and their inspiring stories will forever remain engraved in the hearts of every Indian and motivate the younger generation to contribute to Nation Building, he said.

The Raksha Mantri cited the examples of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi, founder of Maratha empire Chhatrapati Shivaji, freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh & Ashfaqulla Khan and former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, urging the students to take inspiration from the lives of these eminent personalities. He exhorted the students to understand, through the stories of these personalities, the importance of striking a balance between bravery and wisdom.

Shri Rajnath Singh called upon the children to move towards their goals in unison with right intention and without the fear of facing failures or setbacks. “No defeat is final until we stop trying,” he said, emphasising on the need to learn from the past and create a new path in the future.

The Raksha Mantri lauded the efforts of Education Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan in taking forward Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of providing quality and affordable education to children under the new ‘National Education Policy’.

Thanking the Raksha Mantri for initiating the ‘Veer Gatha’ project, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, in his address, said there can be no better celebration of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ than honouring India’s bravehearts. He added that the project has brought out young India’s patriotism and respect for the bravehearts in the most creative ways. He assured that the Education Ministry will soon develop an institutional mechanism for awarding academic credits for certificates received under this initiative.

The Education Minister further said that to strengthen the sense of ‘responsibility towards the nation’ from an early age, Education Ministry in consultation with Defence Ministry will work to include the valour of soldiers and India’s Veer Gatha in the last 75 years into the school curriculum and textbooks. He suggested renaming the contest to ‘Sena Super 25’ in the honor of the soldiers.

On the occasion, Subedar Major (Honorary Captain) Yogendra Yadav narrated his real-life story of the Kargil war where he overcame all odds and played a central role in capturing Tiger Hill, which was one of the turning points in India’s historic victory. He encouraged the children to take inspiration from the courageous soldiers who selflessly serve the motherland without caring for personal safety.

Union Home and Cooperation Minister Shri Amit Shah addressed the National Conference of Rural Co-operative Banks in New Delhi today. Shri Amit Shah also presented awards to outstanding State Co-operative Banks, District Central Co-operative Banks and Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS). Several dignitaries including the Minister of State for Cooperation, Shri B.L. Verma were present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Amit Shah said national conferences  help create a common thrust area between PACS and cooperative banks running on the principle of co-operation in different areas, and the cooperative movement will only expand when everyone’s thrust area will be common. He said many banks, District Cooperative Banks and PACS are working in different ways on the basis of cooperative principle in different sectors. If their thrust area is not common in trying to expand the cooperative sector and also its reach and to increase farmers’ prosperity and that of the agriculture sector and the Nation, then proper results will not be visible.

The Union Minister of Cooperation, said the cooperative movement in India has many achievements to its credit during its almost 120 years old history. He said in some States the cooperative movement has progressed in every field, in some other States the cooperative movement is struggling while in yet in some other States the the cooperative movement has remained only in the books. If the cooperative movement is to develop uniformly and increase its scope, then a different strategy will have to be devised. Shri Shah said under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Government of India has taken a very important decision by creating the Ministry of Cooperation. He said keeping in mind the cooperative picture of the entire country, the Ministry of Cooperation can do much by taking the States along in the spirit of cooperatives.

Shri Amit Shah said along with strengthening the agriculture credit framework, it also needs to be reformed. There is need to work on taking cooperatives to every sector and agricultural credit should only be available through this. Today Shri Narendra Modi is the Prime Minister and there can be no better time than now to expand the cooperative sector and make it prosperous. Shri Shah said the vision of the Prime Minister is to bring inclusive economic growth by involving the poorest person and the economic development of the poorest person and this can only be undertaken by the cooperative sector.

The Union Home and Cooperation Minister said there are about 8.5 lakh cooperative societies in the country, out of which there are 1.78 lakh different types of credit societies. In the field of agricultural credit, there are 34 state cooperative banks with more than 2,000 branches, 351 district cooperative banks with 14,000 branches and about 95,000 PACS. If we look at all these together, then we can see that those whole built the cooperative sector have left a strong base and there should be a resolve to build a strong structure on this foundation in the year of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.

Shri Amit Shah said PACS are the soul of the cooperative agricultural credit system and under the leadership of Shri Narendra Modi, PACS are being made more transparent and empowered by computerization and till this work is not completed, the system of agricultural credit will not work well and along with this it is also very important to increase their scope. There are three lakh panchayats in the country and out of the total 95,000 PACS, 65,000 are functioning well, yet there are about two lakh panchayats where PACS does not exist. The first task of all state and district co-operative banks should be to prepare a five-year strategy of having a PACS in every panchayat. Every district cooperative bank should have a five-year strategy on how PACS can be formed in their areas, in every panchayat and every state cooperative bank should monitor this strategy and NABARD should also confirm this strategy with its various schemes. After the formation of the Ministry of Cooperation, the first plan brought by the Government of India is that PACS should be computerized, and PACS, District and State Cooperative Banks should be linked online. Computerization of PACS will automatically upgrade their human resource, prudential norms of finance will automatically be applied to PACS, audit arrangements will be automatically integrated into the accounting system and alerts will be issued automatically. Computerization can be successful only when District Cooperative Banks take it to the very bottom most level. He said many States have completed computerization, but there is no uniformity. It is very important to bring the agriculture credit system in the country under a common software. He said reforms have to start from within cooperatives and if there is improvement and transparency in their administration, then there will be no injustice done to cooperative banks or PACS.

The Union Minister of Cooperation said the scope of work of PACS will have to be increased, efforts will have to be made to bring more farmers under the purview of PACS. PACS work with the philosophy of providing finance to farmers through a humane approach, therefore there should be an effort to increasingly connect farmers with PACS.

The farmer needs finance with a humane approach. He said professionalism will also have to be brought into PACS, today there is no village where there are no educated children, where there is no computer savvy youth. We also have to strengthen the Human Resource policy for upgradation of skills of employees of PACS. Shri Shah said the government led by Shri Narendra Modi is strengthening PACS by bringing a Model By-Laws as well as making PACS multipurpose by increasing their viability. The Government of India has prepared and sent its model By-laws to the States and suggestions were sought from almost all State Cooperative Banks, District Cooperative Banks and many cooperative institutions and State governments, on which decisions will be taken in the next fortnight. The model bylaws of PACS are available on the website of the Ministry of Cooperation, has asked those gathered at the conference to study them and send suggestions to the Ministry of Cooperation. Such an initiative has been taken after a long time to ensure that all PACS have the same model By-laws. Cooperative representatives should both participate and cooperate in this initiative, only then will the By-laws become perfect. Many types of arrangements will be automatically done in these By-laws. With the introduction of these new By-laws, the PACS will not just finance agriculture, but many new areas will be opened to make them more viable. For example, gas, water distribution, PCOs, storage and FPO work can be done by PACS. By including 22 such new works in the new bylaws of PACS, the Government of India has sent them to everyone for suggestions. If these arrangements are properly undertaken, then making 3 lakh PACS viable will not be a challenge. As the PACS grow and become stronger, District and State Cooperative Banks will automatically become stronger. He said if a base of 3 lakh PACS is created, then no one can stop the cooperative sector from expanding.

Shri Amit Shah said the Government of India also has a plan to expand rural cooperative banks, which are called ‘Kheti Banks’ in many places. Today, rural cooperative banks provide direct finance to farmers and now it is being considered that rural cooperative banks can also disburse medium and long term finance through PACS. He said much good work in the field of cooperatives has taken place in the last 100 years, but that is not enough. In the year of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, there should be resolve that by doing better than what we have done in the next 100 years, the cooperative movement should be strengthened to last for years to come. There are about 13 crore members in PACS, out of which 5 crore members take loans and PACS disburse loans of over Rs 2 lakh crore every year. He said if PACS increase 5 fold, then Rs. 2 lakh crore figure can reach Rs. 10 lakh crore. The aime should be disbursal of Rs. 10 lakh crore agricultural finance through cooperatives. He said a provision for sick PACS has also been suggested to the States in the By-laws. New PACS should be created by liquidating the sick PACS. Farmers should not be deprived of the benefits of cooperatives and provision will have to be made in the By-laws and cooperative laws of States for creation of new PACS, only then will the figure of three lakh PACS be achieved.

The Union Cooperation Minister said that from 1992 to 2022 finances of cooperatives have declined and it is a matter of concern for all that agriculture finance through cooperatives is decreasing. He said that the Ministry of Cooperation has taken many initiatives. A cooperative university will be set-up, a database is being created so that it can show where the cooperative movement has room to expand. An export house which will give a good platform to export the products of various types of co-operative societies from PACS to APACS is also being envisaged. Thought is also being given to making arrangements for marketing of agricultural organic products under the brand name of Amul. Along with this, a platform is also being prepared for arranging a new type of dialogue in cooperatives. A strong communication platform will also be built from village to district and State to Delhi. Recently it has also been decided to purchase from GeM through PACS. This will facilitate transparency in PACS. A Cooperative Policy is also being drafted, on which work is in progress. Norms and a work culture should be developed to make conferences such as the one being held today result oriented. He said all stakeholders have done much for the cooperative movement so far and there is a strong foundation of cooperatives and the task of building a strong building on this foundation will be undertaken over the next 25 years from the year of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav to the Centenary of our Independence, as well as to fulfill our goal of three lakh PACS, work should begin from today.

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh interacted, in New Delhi on August 12, 2022, with the Armed Forces personnel who brought laurels to the country in the recently-concluded Commonwealth Games at Birmingham, United Kingdom. It is a commendable feat that 15 sportspersons from the three services bagged six Gold, four Silver and five Bronze medals for India, out of the total 31 personnel who participated in the Games held between July 28 – August 08, 2022.

Gold medalists Naib Subedar Jeremy Lalrinnunga, Havildar Achinta Sheuli, Subedar Amit, Subedar Deepak Punia, Ag PO PT Naveen and Ag PO Com (Tel) Eldhose Paul attended the felicitation ceremony along with Silver and Bronze medal winners as well as other participants. Shri Rajnath Singh lauded the contingent for their superlative performance, encouraging them to excel in all future sporting events and bring glory to the nation. Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar, Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar, Vice Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen BS Raju were present on the occasion.

India ranks globally 3rd in Start-Up ecosystem and also in terms of number of Unicorns. As per the latest data, there are currently 105 unicorns, out of which 44 were born in 2021 and 19 in 2022.

This was stated today by 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 while delivering keynote address at “DST StartUp Utsav” at Dr Ambedkar International Centre here.

The Minister said, the decade 2021-30 is expected to bring transformational changes for Indian Science, Technology and Innovation (STI).

Dr Jitendra Singh said, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has increased the Gross Expenditure on R&D (GERD) more than three times in the last few years. He said, as per the latest data, India has over 5 lakh R&D personnel, the number that has shown a 40-50% increase in the last 8 years.

In the last 8 years, Dr Jitendra Singh said, women’s participation in extramural R&D has also doubled and now India occupies 3rd rank in terms of number of PhDs awarded in Science and Engineering (S&E) after the USA and China. With the shifting global powers and technology becoming the epicentre of international engagements and rulemaking, India under Modi is living up to global benchmarks.

Referring to Prime Minister Modi’s launch of StartUp India from the ramparts of Red Fort in 2015, Dr Jitendra Singh said, India in its 75th year of Independence is now home to as many as 75,000 StartUps. The Minister said, Modi’s special focus on Science, Technology and Innovation has fired the imagination of the youth in the country to innovate and solve problems with new ideas. He also pointed out that India’s startups today are not limited to only metros or big cities and added that 49 per cent of the start-ups are from tier-2 and tier-3 cities. He said, we have startups emerging in the fields like IT, agriculture, aviation, education, energy, health and space sectors.

Dr Jitendra Singh also released 4 publications featuring promising Start-ups under various components of NIDHI including flagship program of Technology Business Incubator (TBI) and a coffee table book of 51 CAWACH funded start-ups.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, India ranks third among the most attractive investment destinations for technology transactions in the world as it has a strong focus on science and technology. He said, India is among the topmost countries in the world in the field of scientific research, positioned as one of the top five nations in the field for space exploration and also actively engaged in emerging technologies such as quantum technologies, artificial intelligence etc.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, that the Centre for Augmenting WAR with COVID-19 Health Crisis (CAWACH) program carved out in a record time by DST just when Covid hit, was the first program by any department of Government of India to support Startups working on Covid products and solutions. He said, overall, the impact and outcome of DST’s program on innovation and entrepreneurship has been significant: promoting 160 incubators, nurturing 12,000 startups including 1627 women led Startups, generating 1,31, 648 jobs.

Dr Jitendra Singh informed that India has created a massive jump in its global ranking of Global Innovation Index (GII) from 81^st in the year 2015 to 46^th in 2021 among 130 economies of the world. India ranks 2^nd among 34 lower middle-income economies and 1^st among 10 Central and Southern Asian economies in terms of GII. The consistent improvement in the GII ranking is owing to the immense knowledge capital, the vibrant start-up ecosystem, and some outstanding work done by the public and private research organisations, the Minister added.

Secretary, DST, Dr. S. Chandrasekhar said, India in recent 7-8 years made some unprecedented progress in STI areas and there has been a significant rise in the country’s overall performance in terms of a number of publications (globally ranked 3^rd now from 6^th in 2013 based on National Science Foundation database), patents (globally ranked 9th in terms of resident patent filing) and quality of research publications (globally ranked 9^th now from 13^th in 2013) during the last 7 years. He pointed out that the NIDHI program of DST has swiftly processed the much-needed support to start-ups, catalysing the active support of Business Incubators and other business support providers.

75 impactful incubated startups supported under NIDHI from across the country from various sectors were showcased in 50 physical as well as 25 digital mode in the DST Startup Expo (5 Startups from NM-ICPS Technology Innovation Hubs were also part of 50 Stalls of Startups).

Dr Jitendra Singh congratulated the organisers, Team DST, Champions of innovation from all over the country – Startups, Incubators, Incubator Association ISBA and wish them a grand success for their ongoing efforts to catalyse the growth story of our great country and making the DST Startup Utsav a great success.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has lauded the efforts of Elephant conservationists on the occasion of World Elephant Day. The Prime Minister also expressed happiness upon rise in the number of elephant reserves in the last 8 years.

In a series of tweets, the Prime Minister said;

“On #WorldElephantDay, reiterating our commitment to protect the elephant. You would be happy to know that India houses about 60% of all Asian elephants. The number of elephant reserves has risen in the last 8 years. I also laud all those involved in protecting elephants.”

“The successes in elephant conservation must be viewed in context of the larger efforts underway in India to minimise human-animal conflict, and integrating local communities and their traditional wisdom in furthering environmental consciousness.”