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The
Government of Japan has agreed to extend to the Government
of India a grant assistance of 2134.00 million yen
(approximately equivalent to Rs.90 crore) for setting
up the Diarrheal Research and Control Centre by the
National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases
(NICED), Kolkata. Notes to this effect were signed
and exchanged between H.E. Mr. Yasukuni Enoki, Ambassador
of Japan to India, and Mr. Vivek Mehrotra, Joint Secretary,
Ministry of Finance, Government of India, at a ceremony
held in the Ministry of Finance today.
Recipient of the Grant and its utilization
NICED, the prominent research institute in the country, was set up
in 1963 for the study of diarrheal disorder by the Indian Council
of Medical Research, and specializes in detection of harmful bacteria
causing cholera and enteric diseases in human beings, and offering
necessary treatment to the patients. The institute is primarily involved
in analysis, prevention and treatment of various kinds of diarrheal
disorders as well as training of healthcare workers. Japan has earlier
extended Technical Cooperation to NICED for their project in Phase
I (1998-2002), and has committed its continuation as well for phase
II (2003-08). The present grant assistance being extended additionally
would enable NICED to vastly improve the research facilities, and
effectively contribute towards its efforts to combat diarrheal disorders.
Japan’s commitment
The amount of grant assistance extended to NICED is the largest ever
to a single project in India by Japan. Earlier, on May 31, 2004,
the Government of Japan signed and exchanged Notes with UNICEF for
extending a grant assistance of 798 million yen for the Intensified
Pulse Polio Immunization (IPPI) campaign to eradicate poliomyelitis
from India. With this, the amount of grant aid extended by Japan
to India during the current fiscal year sums up to approximately
3 billion yen, and India continues to be one of the largest beneficiaries
of Japanese ODA. |
