Budget 2018-19

  ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ boost, will benefit 200 Indian firms, create 8,000 jobs The Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on Thursday that it has placed an order with the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) for 118 indigenous Arjun Mark 1A main battle tanks (MBTs) for the army. The Arjun Mark 1A has been developed by the Central Vehi­cles Research and Develop­ment Establishment (CVRDE) in Chennai — a Defence Rese­arch & Development Organisa­tion (DRDO) laboratory — and will be manufactured in the OFB’s Heavy Vehicles Factory (HVF), Avadi. “This production order to HVF, Avadi opens up a large avenue in defence manu­fact­uring for over 200 Indian ven­dors including MSMEs (micro, small and medium enter­pri­ses), with employment oppor­tunities to around 8,000 peo­ple,” an MoD statement said. “The order, worth Rs 7,523 crore, will provide a further boost to the ‘Make in India’ initiative in the defence sector and is a big step towards achie­ving ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, envisioned by Prime Mini...

  DRL to manufacture oral drug, which reduces oxygen dependency in patients Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday released the first batch of a keenly awaited anti-Covid-19 drug called 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG). It has been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), in partnership with Hyderabad-based private firm Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL). The new drug is not a vaccination, or a preventive measure against being infected by coronavirus. Rather, the 2-DG molecule hastens the recovery of patients who are already suffering from the disease and are, in most cases, facing severe oxygen dependency. The drug is dispensed in powder form in a sachet, and taken orally after being dissolved in water. Rajnath Singh handed over the first batch of the drug in Delhi to the Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Harsh Vardhan. DRL Chairman Kallam Satish Reddy said his company would “increase the production ...