Healthy nation can be a wealthy nation: Naidu
Hyderabad, Oct 7 : Vice PresidentM Venkaiah Naidu Sunday urged doctors to create awareness among people on the dangers posed by lifestyle diseases, saying a healthy nation can become a wealthy nation but not vice-versa.
Speaking after inaugurating a free medical camp here, Naidu stressed on the need to pay greater attention towards one's health and wellness as prevention was better than cure, an official release said.
Naidu noted that the country's spending on healthcare would naturally come down if people were healthy.
He lauded the Centre for launching 'Ayushman Bharat' to provide health insurance cover to five crore families in rural and 2.5 crore families in urban areas.
The scheme would provide coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year.
Later, giving away 'Rythu Nestham' awards, Naidu warned that farmers would give up agriculture unless farming was made profitable and viable.
He also suggested that the focus should be on bringing down the input costs and not on increasing productivity alone.
"The indiscriminate use of fertilisers, pesticides, electricity and water also need to be curbed," the release quoted theVice-Presidentas saying.
On the initiative taken by him to conduct national consultations on making agriculture profitable, Naidu said scientists must ensure that research outcome directly reaches farmers (Lab to Land).
Noting that zero budget natural farming promoted by eminent agriculturist Subhash Palekar was beneficial, the Vice President pointed out that it would help reduce costs and provide a stable income to farmers.
"It would also protect the consumers from ill-effects of pesticides. As a matter of fact, only 10 per cent of water and electricity would be required for natural farming when compared to normal farming," he claimed.
The Vice President also emphasised the importance of creating awareness among farmers to diversify to allied activities to increase their income.
Hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi for increasing the Minimum Support Price of various crops and launching farmer-friendly schemes such as soil health cards and PM Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, the Vice President appealed to the private sector to step up investments in agriculture.
Observing that the Government, Parliament and the Media must accord the highest priority to health, education and agriculture, the Vice President said that scientists, agricultural research centres and Krishi Vigyan Kendras must make concerted efforts to make agriculture sustainable and profitable, the release added.
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'Ab kya hoga, ye rab jane...': Tharoor takes dig at failed US-Iran talks in Pakistan
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New Delhi (PTI): Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday took a swipe at the "failed" US-Iran peace talks in Pakistan with an Urdu couplet, saying only god knows now what will happen.
"Ab kya hoga, ye rab jane; Na woh mane, na ye mane (only god knows what will happen now as both sides did not agree)," Tharoor said on X, tagging a post-talks video clip of US Vice President J D Vance, who led the American delegation at the negotiations in Islamabad.
The United States and Iran failed to reach a peace deal at their historic 21-hour talks in Pakistan, leaving the fate of a tenuous two-week ceasefire in doubt, with both sides attempting to hold each other responsible for the collapse of the negotiations.
अब क्या होगा, ये रब जाने
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) April 13, 2026
ना वो माने, ना ये माने https://t.co/DYrXpa7C8h
Vance said the Iranian side did not accept Washington's terms for ending the war even as the US presented its "final and best offer".
Hours after the talks collapsed, US President Donald Trump said on social media that the negotiations with Tehran failed as "Iran is unwilling to give up its nuclear ambitions".
Trump said the US Navy will actively interdict any vessel in international waters found to have paid tolls to Iran for transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping route that handles roughly 20 per cent of global oil and LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas).
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the head of the Iranian negotiation team, said it is for the US to decide whether it can "earn our trust or not".
The Iranian foreign ministry, without elaborating, said the US side resorted to "excessive" and "illegal demands".
The failure to reach an agreement has dimmed the prospect of reopening the Strait of Hormuz to stabilise the global energy marke
