Weekly Summary: Top 10 National Headlines Of The Last Week

by Shatakshi Gupta
  • Charanjit Singh Channi, Chamkaur Sahib MLA, was appointed as the new chief minister of Punjab by the Congress party. The choice of Channi as leader of the Punjab, and the head of its government, was confirmed by state-in-charge Harish Rawat.
  • The world’s largest expressway is now being built in India. The Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari on 17 September 2021 announced that the government is building the world’s longest highway, i.e. Delhi-Mumbai Express Highway. Union Minister Gadkari while speaking at the event said that the expressway will be 1,380 km long and will connect Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), but now, the government is planning to extend it up to Nariman Point. According to him, the project will be completed by March 2022 and India will have the world’s longest expressway. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said that earlier it used to take about 48 hours to cover the distance between Mumbai and Delhi by truck and 24-26 hours by car. But now, it will take 18-20 hours by truck and only 12-13 hours by car between Delhi and Mumbai.
  • The central government is going to take a big step for the Indian farmers. At present, about 55 to 60 percent of the population in India is associated with the agriculture sector. Due to this, now the central government is working on a new and different type of project for the benefit of the farmers. In this government will issue a unique ID to every farmer of this country. This unique ID will be given to only those farmers whose name will be included in the database. It is always seen that ineligible people also take advantage of many schemes. In such a situation, this will not only put a check on the incidents, but the government will also have information about what technology, what type of seeds the farmer is using in farming.
  • The central government has taken a big decision regarding the COVID-19 vaccination campaign.  Door-to-door COVID-19 vaccine will be started in the country. People will be vaccinated now door to door. NITI Aayog member Dr. VK Paul said that ‘door to door’ COVID vaccination has been allowed in India.  Guidelines have been issued for this. NITI Aayog member Dr VK Paul said that I am happy to inform that we have made a provision for those people who are handicapped and are not able to reach the vaccination center, they can follow the SOP in a supervised manner. You can get vaccinated from at home.
  • The first in-person meeting of the Heads of State of the QUAD countries, which includes, India, America, Japan and Australia was held at the White House on 24th September. Prime Minister Modi, who attended the meeting, thanked Biden for convening the first in-person meeting of the QUAD. He said that our Vaccine Initiative will be of great help to the Indo-Pacific expressway.According to Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, India raised the issue of Pakistan’s role in Afghanistan and involvement in terrorism in the QUAD meeting. Along with India, the US also emphasized this, because both countries understand the importance of tackling terrorism in Afghanistan. 

Also read: Sports Panorama: Top 10 Sports News Of The Last Week

  •  To promote tourism in Ladakh, the first Himalayan Film Festival was started on 24 September in Leh. It was being inaugurated by Anurag Thakur, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting and Sports and Youth Affairs.  Many producers and directors of Bollywood had participated and made this film festival memorable.
  • UPSC has released the final result of 2020. A total of 761 candidates have been selected. Bihar’s Shubham ranks first, Bhopal’s Jagriti ranks second, Agra’s Ankita ranks third. There are 5 girls in top 10. There are 13 men and 12 women in the top 25. This year, 545 males and 216 females are among those who have cleared the exam. 
  • The Supreme Court has said that girls should be included in the NDA entrance examination from November this year. The court turned down the defence ministry’s request to exempt girls from appearing in the current entrance examination.  “Can’t wait a year to include girls in NDA. We do not want women to be denied their right”, the court said.
  • Farmers called for an All India bandh on September 27. One farmer died during a demonstration at Delhi-Singhu border, police claim that he died due to heart attack.Protesting farmers blocked the road on the Ghazipur border during the Bharat Bandh.Farmers have called a Bharat Bandh today amid the ongoing agitation against the three agricultural laws. Many national and state highways have been blocked due to the Bharat Bandh. Many routes have to be diverted.  Train movement was also affected. Many trains going from Delhi have been cancelled. More impact of this bandh was visible in Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
  • PM Narendra Modi launched the Prime Minister’s Digital Health Mission (PM-DHM) on September 27.  The scheme was launched through video conferencing. The objective of this flagship scheme is to digitize healthcare across the country. Under this scheme, a unique health ID will be created for every Indian citizen, so that a nationwide digital health eco-system can be created. Earlier it was running under the name of National Digital Health Mission (NDHM). It was launched by Prime Minister Modi on August 15, 2020 in Andaman-Nicobar, Chandigarh, Dadra Nagar Haveli, Daman and diu, Ladakh and Lakshadweep.  It has now been started across the country.