Prime Minister Narendra Modi will today address the inaugural function of Grand Challenges Annual Meeting 2020 via video conferencing.
The Grand Challenges Annual Meeting, for the last 15 years, has fostered international innovation collaborations to address the biggest challenges in health and development.
The meeting will convene virtually from October 19 to 21, bringing together policymakers and scientific leaders, calling for deepened scientific collaborations in solving global health problems, with great emphasis on Covid-19 with an “India for the World” framing.
The Grand Challenges Annual Meeting 2020 will be co-hosted by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, the Indian Council of Medical Research and NITI Aayog, along with the Grand Challenges Canada, the United States Agency for International Development and Wellcome.
FOLLOW UPDATES ON PM MODI’S KEYNOTE ADDRESS HERE:
8.18 pm: Ending his address PM Modi hoped, “May we keep using our collaborative spirit for individual empowerment and collective wellbeing.”
8.17 pm: “Now we are ensuring every household gets piped drinking water. This will further ensure disease reduction. We are setting up more medical colleges, especially in rural areas. It brings better healthcare into our villages,” says PM Modi.
8.16 pm: We have made many interventions which are contributing to a better healthcare system. Take sanitation, improved cleanliness as well as more toilet coverage. Who does this help the most?
It helps the poor and underprivileged. It leads to a reduction in diseases and it mostly helps women: PM Modi
8.15 pm: “We want to help other nations enhance their capabilities in vaccine manufacturing and immunisation,” said PM Modi.
8.14 pm: The prime minister added, “Beyond Covid as well, India is known for its proven capacity to produce quality vaccines and medicines at low cost.”
8.13 pm: “India is now at the forefront of Covid vaccine development. Some of them are in advanced stages. We are not stopping here. India is already working on putting a well-established vaccine delivery system in place. This digitised network along with health ID will work to ensure the immunisation of our citizens,” said PM Modi.
8.11 pm: This happened because:
- India was one of the first countries to adopt a flexible lockdown when the total cases were a few hundred.
- India was one of the first to encourage the usage of masks.
- India actively began to work on effective contact-tracing.
- India was one of the earliest to deploy the rapid antigen tests
8.10 pm: “Today, we are seeing a decline in the number of cases per day and the growth rate of cases.
India has one of the highest recovery rates of 88 per cent,” said PM Modi.
8.09 pm: PM Modi said, “India’s size, scale and diversity have always made the global community curious. Our population is almost four times that of the US. Many of our states are as populous as nations in Europe.
Thanks to a people-powered and people-driven approach India kept its death rate very low.”
8.08 pm: Hailing India’s scientific community, PM Modi said, “In India, we have a strong & vibrant scientific community. We also have good scientific institutions. They have been India’s greatest assets, especially during the last few months, while fighting Covid-19. From containment to capacity building, they have achieved wonders.”
8.06 pm: “The journey to these innovations must be shaped by collaboration and public participation. Science will never prosper in silos. The Grand Challenges Programme has understood this ethos well. The scale of this programme is commendable,” PM Modi added.
8.05 pm: “The future will be shaped by societies that invest in science and innovation. But this cannot be done in a short-sighted manner. One has to invest well in advance. That is when we can reap benefits at the right time,” says PM Modi.
7.49 pm: The prime minister added, “We are moving ahead with Phase 3 clinical trials in India and our neighbourhood.”
7.48 pm: “India’s vaccine manufacturing and delivery capacity will help all of mankind in fighting this crisis,” says PM Modi.
7.45 pm: PM Modi begins his address. Hails India’s vaccine-manufacturing capabilities.
7.05 pm: PM Modi to give the keynote address at Grand Challenges Annual Meeting 2020 shortly.
In a short while from now, at 7:30 PM, will be addressing the inaugural function of Grand Challenges Annual Meeting 2020. This programme brings together scientists and innovators in order to deliberate on solving key global challenges. @gatesfoundation
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 19, 2020
WHAT IS GRAND CHALLENGES INDIA?
The Grand Challenges Annual Meeting, for the last 15 years, has fostered international innovation collaborations to address the biggest challenges in health and development.
The Grand Challenges India was set up as a partnership of the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2012, and Wellcome also joined the partnership.
It works across a range of health and developmental priorities ranging from agriculture, nutrition, sanitation, maternal and child health to infectious diseases.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN GRAND CHALLENGES MEETING 2020?
The three-day program will feature leaders talks, panel discussions and virtual informal conversations on topics ranging from scientific interventions for fighting the pandemic, managing the pandemic and accelerating the development and implementation of global solutions to combat this pandemic and prevent the next one.
Approximately 1,600 people from 40 countries will participate in this annual meeting.
“World leaders, eminent scientists and researchers from across the globe will join this annual meeting to discuss key priorities for accelerating progress across the Sustainable Development Goals in the post-pandemic world and elaborate on addressing the challenges to manage Covid-19,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan will deliver the opening remarks.
Bill Gates, Co-Chair, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will present the plenary framing conversation.