Individual alertness, discipline 'big strength' of country in fight against new Covid variant: PM
New Delhi (PTI): Amid rising Covid cases linked to Omicron, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said individual alertness and discipline are a big strength of the country in the fight against the new variant of coronavirus.
In his Mann Ki Baat radio broadcast, Modi said India has achieved "unprecedented feat" in its inoculation drive but cautioned against the new variant of the virus.
"This new Omicron variant is being constantly reviewed by our scientists. Every day they are getting new data and steps are being taken based on their suggestions," Modi said.
Individual alertness and discipline are a "big strength" of the country in the fight against the new variant of coronavirus, he said.
"It is our collective strength which will defeat corona. We have to enter 2022 with this sense of responsibility," the prime minister said.
Modi on Saturday had announced that vaccination against COVID-19 for children between 15 and 18 years will start from January 3, while "precaution dose" for healthcare and frontline workers would be administered from January 10.
He had also said the precaution dose will also be available for citizens above 60 years of age and those with comorbidities on the advice of their doctor from January 10 next year.
In his Mann Ki Baat address on Sunday, Modi also talked about Group Captain Varun Singh, who succumbed to injuries at a military hospital in Bengaluru last week after sustaining serious injuries in the chopper crash near Coonoor that killed CDS Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 armed forces personnel.
Group Captain Singh was the lone survivor of the December 8 crash.
The prime minister talked about the air warrior's inspiring letter to his school weeks after he was decorated with the Shaurya Chakra award for displaying exemplary composure and skill.
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Melinda French Gates resigns as Gates Foundation co-chair, 3 years after her divorce from Bill Gates
New York, May 13: Melinda French Gates will step down as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the nonprofit she and her ex-husband Bill Gates founded and built into one of the world's largest philanthropic organisations over the past 20 years.
“This is not a decision I came to lightly,” French Gates posted on the X platform on Monday. “I am immensely proud of the foundation that Bill and I built together and of the extraordinary work it is doing to address inequities around the world.”
She praised the foundation's CEO, Mark Suzman, and the foundation's board of trustees, which was significantly expanded after the couple announced their divorce in May 2021.
“The time is right for me to move forward into the next chapter of my philanthropy,” French Gates wrote in her statement. She organises some of her investments and philanthropic gifts through her organisation, Pivotal Ventures, which is not a nonprofit.
Bill Gates thanked French Gates for her “critical” contributions to the foundations in a statement, saying, “I am sorry to see her leave, but I am sure she will have a huge impact in her future philanthropic work.”
French Gates will receive $12.5 billion as part of her agreement with Gates, which she said would commit to future work focused on women and families.
The Gates Foundation did not immediately return a request for comment about whether those assets would come from the foundation itself. In an emailed statement, the foundation said that Suzman announced the decision to employees on Monday.
“After a difficult few years watching women's rights rolled back in the US and around the world, she wants to use this next chapter to focus specifically on altering that trajectory,” Suzman said of French Gates.
Suzman said he knew many had joined the foundation in part because of their admiration for her advocacy, especially around gender equity.
“I know how beloved Melinda is here,” Suzman wrote.
The Gates Foundation holds $75.2 billion in its endowment as of December 2023, and announced in January, it planned to spend $8.6 billion through the course of its work in 2024.
The Associated Press receives financial support for news coverage in Africa from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and for news coverage of women in the workforce from Pivotal Ventures.
