PM Narendra Modi speech | Centre deposited Rs 31,000 crore in 20 crore Jan Dhan accounts, says PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also extended the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojna till November 30

Moneycontrol News

June 30, 2020 / 04:55 PM IST

In his June 30 national address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed the host of initiatives that were taken by the Centre to fight the novel coronavirus pandemic in the country and its adverse economic impact.

In his sixth televised national address since the outbreak, which comes on the eve of Unlock 2.0, the Prime Minister reminded that the Centre has been invested in ensuring that no poor person sleeps with an empty stomach.

He said: “During the lockdown, the top priority of the country was to make sure that no person remains hungry. The central government, the state governments, and even the civil society came together to ensure none of our poor brothers and sisters went hungry.”

He then said the Centre has deposited Rs 31,000 crore in the Jan Dhan accounts of 20 crore poor families over the past three months. The PM added: “Under PM Garib Kalyan Yojana, we announced a package of Rs. 1.75 lakh crore... During this time, Rs 18,000 crore has been deposited in the bank accounts of more than nine crore farmers."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also extended the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojna till November 30.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

Show