Japan to offer India USD 42bn in investments during Fumio Kishida's visit: Report
Tokyo, Mar 19: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is expected to announce a plan to invest 5 trillion yen (USD 42 billion) in India over the next five years during his visit to the country on Saturday, according to a media report.
The 5 trillion yen goal exceeds the 3.5 trillion yen in investment and financing over the five years that the then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced during his 2014 visit to India, Japan's Nikkei newspaper reported.
Japan is currently supporting India's urban infrastructure development as well as a high-speed railway based on Japan's shinkansen bullet train technology.
Prime Minister Kishida is due to reveal the public-private funding during an economic forum. He is expected to pledge growth in direct investment in terms of value, as well as an increase in Japanese companies expanding into India, the prominent business newspaper said.
Kishida is also poised to agree to an approximately 300 billion yen loan during his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. An energy cooperation document concerning carbon reduction is expected to be signed between the two sides, it said.
During Saturday's public-private forum, Kishida is also expected to express his support to further infrastructure development in India with the goal of drawing Japanese companies to build factories, the paper said.
India represents the first leg of Kishida's three-day tour. He is scheduled to visit Cambodia on Sunday to meet with Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Japan and India are party to the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, a security framework known as the Quad that includes the US and Australia. Cambodia serves as this year's chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Kishida plans to confirm the strengthening of security arrangements with Russia's invasion of Ukraine in mind.
In 2020, Japan and India signed an acquisition and cross-servicing agreement, which allows for reciprocal provisions of food, fuel and other supplies between the Indian army and Japan's Self-Defense Forces. Kishida and Modi are to reaffirm that they will push that deal forward, the paper said.
Kishida and Modi are expected to agree to convene a two-plus-two meeting between the two countries' diplomatic and defence chiefs at an early date.
This will be Kishida's first overseas trip as prime minister since he traveled to Great Britain in November.
Kishida, 64, is the president of the Liberal Democratic Party since 2021.
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Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
