President presents Swachh Sujal Shakti Samman 2023

Water and sanitation hold a special place in the life of every citizen: Murmu

First India Bureau

New Delhi: President Droupadi Murmu presented the Swachh Sujal Shakti Samman 2023 and graced the launch of Jal Shakti Abhiyan:

Catch The Rain -2023 in New Delhi on Saturday.

Speaking on the occasion, the President said that water and sanitation hold a special place in the life of every citizen. But these issues af- fect women the most, as generally it is the responsibility of women to arrange drinking water for their home. In villages, they had to walk long distances to get drinking water. She said that arranging for drinking water not only took a lot of their time but also put their safety and health at risk. Usually, school/college going girls were also engaged in arranging water along with their elders, which hindered their studies. To overcome these problems, the

Government of India has taken special measures.

The President said it is providing clean drinking water and sanitation facilities through initiatives such as Jal Jeevan Mission and Swachh Bharat Mission. She was happy to note that today more than 11.3 crore households are getting potable water from the tap. She said that the women, who earlier used to spend time fetching water, are now utilizing that time in other productive works. Clean tap water has also shown significant improvement in the health of infants who used to fall prey to water-borne diseases like diarrhea and dysentery due to polluted water.

Stressing on the need of water conservation and water management, the President said that it is a wellknown fact that in our country, water resources are limited and its distribution is also uneven. About 18 percent of the world's population resides in India, but only 4 percent of the world's water resources are available here. Moreover, most of this water is received in the form of rain, which drains into rivers and seas. That's why water conservation and its management is a very important topic for us.

She said today we are more dependent on institutional means for water supply than traditional means. But along with using modern techniques for sustainable water supply, revival of the traditional methods of water management and water-harvesting is the need of the hour. All stakeholders should work together for water conservation and its management.

ED RAIDS 14 LOCATIONS, SEIZES DIAMONDS, GOLD WORTH

New Delhi (Agencies):

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday said raids were recently conducted in 14 locations in connection to the Power Bank app fraud case and seized gold, diamonds and other valuables worth Rs 10 crore.

The searches held in premises belonging to Sagar Diamond Limited, a BSE listed company, RHC Global Exports Ltd, their director Vaibhav Dipak Shah and associates in Surat SEZ, Ahmedabad & Mumbai.

Besides the gold and diamonds, the ED also seized Rs 25 lakh in cash, digital devices, documents related to bogus import and export.

The ED launched the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act on the basis of an FIR by Delhi Police against the fraud.

“Thousands of com- mon people have been cheated through this app managed by Chinese nationals in connivance with their associates in India which includes Vaibhav Dipak Shah and Sagar Diamond Ltd,” an official said.

The official said that during the search operation it was learnt that proceeds of crime generated from the fraud was routed and possessed by Sagar Diamond Ltd and others.

“A number of manufacturing units of the entities at Surat SEZ

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