UP set to become a trillion-dollar economy: Kovind
Lucknow, Aug 10 : President Ramnath Kovind on Friday inaugurated the "One District One Product (ODOP)" summit in the state capital and expressed hope that the changing environment in Uttar Pradesh would make the state a trillion-dollar economy sooner than later.
Speaking at the inauguration session, the President said he can feel the excitement among the summit participants, which was reflective of how the mood and atmosphere in the state had changed in the recent past.
After inaugurating the summit the president also inspected the ODOP exhibition of all the 75 districts and by pressing a button gave loan worth Rs 1,006 crore to small-time businessmen.
Lauding the holding of such a summit by the state government, the President also remembered Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stalwart and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Kovind further said that Uttar Pradesh was a state with a lot of talent and added that the need of the hour was to harness it. He also congratulated Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for coming up with the idea of ODOP.
In his address, the Chief Minister said soon after the BJP took over the reins of the government in the state, the atmosphere had changed and now investors were making a beeline to invest here.
Through ODOP, he said, every year 5 lakh persons would be given employment in the state every year.
"We are promoting talent, business and for start-ups have earmarked a fund of Rs 250 crore in our budget," Adityanath stated.
"What we inherited from the preceding government in known to everybody and we have tried out best to turn it around," the Chief Minister said while also claiming a definite change in the law and order situation of the state.
There would be eight sessions in the summit covering sectors, like credit and finance, craft and tourism, agro and foods, and handloom and textiles and would discuss in detail the ways to improve marketing processes and ensure quality through use of technology, an official told IANS.
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MP boat tragedy: Death toll rises to 10 with recovery of one more body; 3 tourists still missing
Jabalpur (PTI): The body of a child was retrieved on Saturday evening from Bargi Dam in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh, raising the death toll in the cruise boat tragedy that took place two days ago to ten, while search continued for three missing tourists.
The boat, operated by the state tourism department, capsized during a storm on Thursday evening with some of the survivors alleging negligence and safety lapses such as life jackets not being distributed in time.
The body recovered on Saturday evening was possibly that of six-year-old Viraj Soni, said Sub-Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) Anjul Ayank Mishra.
"The identity will be confirmed after family members identify the body," he told PTI.
Kamraj, an employee of the Ordnance Factory at Khamaria, his five-year-old son Tamil, and another child Mayuram (5) who had come from southern India were still missing.
Authorities have arranged equipment to search deep waters of the dam and are getting a generator to facilitate diving operations, Mishra added.
Divers and disaster response teams have expanded the search radius to five km, he said.
Of the 41 identified passengers on board the ill-fated vessel, 28 were rescued, police said.
More than 200 rescuers, including around 20 Army divers airlifted from Agra, joined the search operation that resumed at 5 on Saturday morning. The operation, involving the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force and local divers, was briefly affected at around 9 am due to strong winds, officials said.
Post-mortem examinations of nine deceased persons have been completed, Mishra said.
"Our priority is to search for the missing persons. We will also register a First Information Report in the case soon," he said.
Police said CCTV footage near the boarding point showed 43 people heading towards the boat while the identities of 41 passengers have been confirmed so far.
The state government on Friday ordered a probe into the tragedy and dismissed three crew members. It also banned operation of similar vessels in the state.
