NATIONAL NEWS

1. PM HAILS MEGA EXERCISE OF SALUTING CORONA WARRIORS'. [ORANGE ZONE]

On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the mega exercise in which fly-pasts was
done over many cities and towns and showering of petals by military choppers on leading
hospitals to pay gratitude to the front-line workers engaged in the battle against COVID-19.

PM Modi tweeted, “Saluting those who are at the forefront, bravely fighting COVID-19. Great
gesture by our armed forces”.

Highlights:

• The prime minister also posted a short video of military aircraft, choppers and bands
engaged in expressing gratitude to the health professionals and others.
• C-130J Super Hercules are flying from Srinagar in J&K to Trivandrum in Kerala as part of
the operation.
• IAF's Su-30 aircraft flew past Marine Drive in Mumbai on Sunday.
• Air force choppers showered petals over hospitals across India.
• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also thanked the armed forces for paying tributes to
frontline workers battling the novel coronavirus outbreak in India.
• Other than this, Indian Navy ship INS Vikramaditya also symbolically punches coronavirus
on its lit deck as armed forces pay tribute to the corona warriors.

2. 430 FLIGHTS OPERATED UNDER LIFELINE UDAN. [RED ZONE]

430 flights are operating under Lifeline Udan by Air India, Alliance Air, IAF and private
carriers while 252 of these flights have been operated by Air India and Alliance Air. ‘Lifeline
Udan’ flights are being operated by Ministry of Civil Aviation to transport essential medical
cargo to remote parts of the country to support India’s war against COVID-19.

Highlights:

• Helicopter services including Pawan Hans Ltd are operating in J&K, Ladakh, Islands and
North East region transporting critical medical cargo and patients.
• Special focus has been on the North East Region, island territories and the hill states. Air
India and IAF collaborated primarily for J&K, Ladakh, North-East and other island regions.
• Domestic Cargo Operators SpiceJet, Blue Dart, Indigo and Vistara are operating cargo
flights on a commercial basis.
• Aerial distance covered by Lifeline Udan flights till date is over 4,13,538.
• This also includes medical supplies carried free of cost for the government.
• A cargo air-bridge was established with East Asia for transportation of pharmaceuticals,
medical equipment and Covid-19 relief material.
• 899 tons of medical cargo was brought in by Air India from East Asia.
• SpiceJet operated 760 cargo flights, out of these, 279 were international cargo flights.
• Blue Dart operated 253 cargo flights, in which 12 were international cargo flights.
• Indigo has operated 87 cargo flights including 32 international flights.
• Blue Dart and SpiceJet has also uplifted medical supplies from Guangzhou and Shanghai.
SpiceJet has uplifted medical supplies from Hong Kong and Singapore.

3. COMMERCE MINISTRY IDENTIFYING KEY SECTORS FOR MAKING INDIA A

MANUFACTURING HUB. [GREEN ZONE]

With a view to establish India as manufacturing hub, Ministry of Commerce and Industry is
working to identify certain key sectors like capital goods, leather and chemicals. Ministry has
conducted various meetings with stakeholders, including industry members chambers, to
identify those sectors which have the potential to make India a strong manufacturing hub.

Sources said, “There are 12 champion sectors which can be looked upon. These include
modular furniture, toys, food processing like ready-to-eat food, agro-chemicals, textiles like
man-made fibres, air conditioners, capital goods, pharma and auto components.”