Atishi, Raghav Chadha meet Kejriwal in Tihar; get directions to curb water, power crises
New Delhi (PTI): Amidst the persisting water and power crises in Delhi, state minister Atishi and AAP MP Raghav Chadha said on Thursday that they met Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal lodged in the Tihar jail and were directed to take measures to curb the problems as soon as possible.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener is lodged in Tihar jail's number 2 in the excise policy-linked money laundering case.
"Today I met Kejriwal ji, who is lodged in Tihar jail in a fake case by the central government. But, he still worries about the people of Delhi, more than himself.
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"He inquired about the issues related to the power and water and he told me that he watched the water crisis in Delhi on television in Tihar," Atishi told media outside the Tihar jail.
She said Kejriwal has directed them to take all necessary steps and arrangements that could be made to overcome the water crisis as soon as possible.
"He has directed all the AAP legislators to go on the ground and take all possible steps to provide water to the people in their areas," she said.
Atishi further said Kejriwal inquired about the power cuts in Delhi which had occurred due to a fire incident in Uttar Pradesh two days ago.
"He told us to hold the meetings with the concerned department officials to prevent the power crisis from happening in the future," she said.
The education minister further said Kejriwal only thinks about the people of Delhi and their problem, even while staying behind bars, she added.
According to Tihar sources, both Atishi and Chadha met Kejriwal for half-an-hour in the visitor's room (Mulakati Jangla) in Tihar.
On Wednesday, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Kejriwal's wife Sunita visited him in Tihar.
VIDEO | "Today, I came to meet Arvind Kejriwal who is inside the Tihar jail in connection with a fraud case. He said that he has seen on TV how there's a water crisis. He has given me the clear direction to take whatever decisions needed to resolve it," says Delhi Minister Atishi… pic.twitter.com/gMc6LecjP4
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 13, 2024
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Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurates Gems and Jewellery Institute campus in Udupi
Udupi (Karnataka) (PTI): Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday inaugurated the premises of the Indian Institute of Gems and Jewellery here, praising the centre for providing professional training and promoting entrepreneurship among youth.
Speaking at the event, Sitharaman said the centre, established in 2016 with support from the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council and the district administration, has grown steadily despite disruptions during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We started in a very small place, unsure of the response. Today, advanced facilities including CAD and 3D printing are available, enabling students to gain industry-relevant skills,” she said.
Sitharaman highlighted the centre’s reach across Karnataka and beyond.
“Students have come from Karwar, Chitradurga, Raichur, and Tamil Nadu. Some had no prior experience but are now running successful jewellery businesses,” she said, citing examples of trainees who returned to their hometowns to start enterprises.
Emphasising affordability, she noted, “Training abroad is expensive, but here the Indian Institute of Gems and Jewellery offers professional courses at accessible costs, making skill development widely available.”
The minister also underlined the centre’s contribution to India’s jewellery export sector.
“This region, from Ratnagiri to Kerala, has a rich jewellery tradition serving the Indian diaspora. Skilled manpower from such centres strengthens our exports and creates livelihood opportunities,” she said.
Sitharaman commended the collaboration between the government, GJEPC, and local jewellers, noting that around 600 students were trained last year.
She urged greater awareness to attract more youth to the institute, describing it as a model public-private partnership that fosters entrepreneurship and skill development.
The minister also witnessed the signing of an MoU between the Indian Institute of Gems & Jewellery and IIT Madras under the InCent LGD platform for a specialised, industry-oriented certification programme in lab-grown diamond technologies.
The office of the minister said in a post on X that the programme will help bridge critical skill gaps, create job-ready professionals, boost value-added manufacturing, and strengthen India’s position in the global LGD (lab-grown diamond) value chain, aligned with Make in India, Skill India, and the goal of a self-reliant, globally competitive LGD ecosystem.
It further said that the Rs 242 crore grant announced in the Union Budget 2023–24 for lab-grown diamond research at IIT Madras is helping build a world-class ecosystem.
Under the InCent initiative, India’s first indigenously designed scaled prototype of a High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) LGD machine has been developed and installed at IIT Madras, while imported commercial HPHT machines have also been installed for benchmarking.
Sitharaman also witnessed a demonstration of the ‘Design to Manufacturing’ process by students at IIGJ Udupi and interacted with trainees of the institute and entrepreneurs from the gems and jewellery industry, the minister’s office said in another post.
