Team News Riveting
New Delhi, August 14
President Ram Nath Kovind said that the CoVID-19 was not yet over and warned against letting the guard down against the disease.
Addressing the Nation on the eve of 75th Independence Day on Saturday, the President said, “Vaccines are the best protection provided by science for all of us at the moment. I urge all the countrymen to get vaccinated as per protocol as soon as possible.”
Like last year, this year too, the scale of Independence Day celebration may have been reduced due to the pandemic. The intensity of the pandemic has come down, but the coronavirus has not yet gone away. “Last year, with exceptional efforts from all, we succeeded in bringing the spread of infections under control. Our scientists had succeeded in developing vaccines in a very short time. Therefore, at the beginning of this year, there was every reason to be hopeful as we launched the largest vaccination exercise in history. Yet, due to the new variants and other unexpected factors, we suffered from a terrible second wave. I am deeply sad that many lives could not be saved and many more suffered immensely in this phase of an unprecedented crisis. I speak for the whole nation when I say that I share the grief of all the affected families with the same intensity,” Kovind added.
Kovind also touched upon India’s “stellar performances” in Tokyo Olympics and hailed the athletes for bringing in the maximum number of medals in the country’s 121 years’ participation in the event. “In the recently concluded Tokyo Olympics, our sports persons have brought laurels to the nation with their stellar performances. India has won the highest number of medals in the 121 years of its participation in the Olympics. Our daughters have achieved world class excellence in playgrounds overcoming many adversities. Along with sports, epoch-making changes are taking place in the participation and success of women in all walks of life. From higher educational institutions to armed forces, from laboratories to playgrounds, our daughters are making their mark. In this success of our daughters, I see a glimpse of a developed India of the future. I urge every parent to learn from the families of such promising daughters and provide opportunities to their daughters also to explore avenues of growth,” the President said.
On the morning of August 15, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will unfurl the Tricolour and address the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort in New Delhi. This will be his eighth Independence Day address after taking the office.
