THE HEADLINES:
- Union Home Minister Amit Shah to chair high level meeting today to review security situation in Jammu and Kashmir and preparations for Amarnath Yatra.
- Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar to inaugurate newly constructed ‘Prerna Sthal’ in Parliament House complex this evening.
- Railways to start trial run of Vande Bharat Sleeper Class train in next two months.
- IMD issues orange alert and red warning for heatwave conditions over North-West, Central and East India today.
- In Tennis, Sumit Nagal advances to Perugia Challenger final with hard-fought victory.
- In T20 World Cup Cricket, India’s last group league game against Canada washed out.
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Union Home Minister Amit Shah will chair a High Level meeting today to review security situation in Jammu and Kashmir and preparedness for Amarnath Yatra. The meeting will be attended by J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Union Home Secretary, senior officers from Army, Police, J&K administration and others. Mr. Shah reviewed Jammu and Kashmir security situation in a meeting with senior officers of Ministry of Home Affairs in New Delhi on Friday.
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Vice President and Chairman of Rajya Sabha, Jagdeep Dhankhar will inaugurate the newly constructed ‘Prerna Sthal’ in the Parliament House complex today. Speaker of Lok Sabha Om Birla, Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha Harivansh Narayan Singh and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju will also attend the inauguration. All the Members of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha have also been invited to the programme.
The ‘Prerna Sthal’ has been built in a way to ensure convenience of dignitaries and other visitors who will be able to see and pay tributes to the statues of great leaders and freedom fighters at one place inside the Parliament House Complex. An action plan has been made to make the life stories and messages of these great personalities available to the visitors through new technology so that they could get inspiration from them. After the unveiling of the ‘Shilapatt’ during the inauguration programme, dignitaries will offer floral tributes to the Statues.
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Union Minister for Rural Development and Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will transfer around 20 thousand crore rupees in Nine crore three lakh farmers’ account on Tuesday from Varanasi under the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi Scheme. Briefing the media in New Delhi, Mr. Chouhan said that three lakh crore rupees have been transferred in 11 crore farmers’ accounts so far in the last ten years.
Mr. Chouhan said that he has written letters to all Chief Minister to join the Prime Minister’s event on Tuesday. He highlighted that after assuming charge as Rural Development and Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister, he has discussed with officials of the ministry and working on every important issue related to the welfare of farmers.
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Government will organise a conference titled India’s Progressive Path in the Administration of Criminal Justice System in Kolkata today. Law and Justice Ministry said, the Conference aims at bringing out the salient features of the three new criminal laws – The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 through interactions and question and answer sessions.
In December last year, the President gave assent to these three laws and it will come to effect from 1st of next month.
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In Odisha, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has allocated portfolios to his council of ministers, keeping home and finance to himself. The other portfolios which are also held by the chief minister are general administration, public grievances, information and public relations, water resources, planning and convergence. Deputy Chief Minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo has been given the charge of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment and Energy.
The other Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida, who is the lone female in the 16-member council of ministers, has been assigned Women and Child Development, Mission Shakti and Tourism.
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In Madhya Pradesh, the government has taken a new initiative towards rehabilitation of prisoners by constructing an open jail. Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav inaugurated this open jail colony Bhairavgarh in Ujjain yesterday.
“Open jail means a jail where prisoners can live with their families. In Bhairavgarh open jail, 20 convicted prisoners will be able to live a social life by living with their families and joining the mainstream of society. Ujjain’s Bhairavgarh open jail has been constructed at a cost of Rs 3 crore 25 lakh. It is the eighth open jail in the state. On this occasion, Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav said that the government is determined to provide complete basic facilities to the prisoners in the state. Sanjeev Sharma, Akashvani News, Bhopal.”
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed delight over the Smritivan Earthquake Memorial Museum in Bhuj, Gujarat making it to World Selection for the UNESCO Prix Versailles Museums 2024. In a social media post, Mr. Modi said that Smritivan in Kutch is a tribute to the lives lost in the tragic Earthquake of 2001. He said that it is a reminder of human resilience and courage as well.
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The trial run of Vande Bharat Sleeper Class train will start in the next two months. Currently, the Railways is running Vande Bharat Express, which has only chair cars. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in New Delhi there were demands from the people to run the vande Bharat sleeper train. Vande Bharat train is the first indigenous Semi High Speed train.
The Minister said in the next five years, the government will further focus on rail infrastructure development and providing comfortable journey to the passengers. He said, in the last ten years, 35 thousand kilometers of rail tracks have been built. The Minister highlighted that the government is focussing on providing comfortable journey to low income groups. He also said, the work is in progress to increase the production of Amrit Bharat trains.
Mr Vaishnaw said, to clear extra rush of passengers during the summer season, Indian Railways has operated around 20 thousand special trains in which around four crore passengers travelled.
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Indian Railways has entered its name into Limca Book of Records for most people at a public service event at multiple venues. Ministry of Railways had organized an event on 26 February this year which was attended by over 40 lakh 19 thousand people at over two thousand venues. The event was organized for the inauguration of road over railway bridges and for laying the foundation stones of railway stations by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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The 18th edition of Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF-2024) for Documentary, Short Fiction, and Animation films was inaugurated yesterday by the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Dr. L. Murugan.
Delivering his inaugural address, Dr. Murugan, said that considering the growing potential of AVG sector in creating employment and generating growth, the government will soon create a Centre for Excellence in AVGC sector in Mumbai.
“At the opening ceremony of the 18th Mumbai International Film Festival, renowned Wildlife filmmaker Subbiah Nallamuthu, was conferred upon with the coveted V. Shantaram, Lifetime Achievement Award for this year. The mesmerizing opening ceremony included, a cultural performance from Sri-Lanka depicting the journey of Indian animation and screening of the FTII student short Film “Sunflowers were the first ones to know”, which won the La Cinef Award at the 77th Cannes Film Festival this year. Earlier, MIFF festival screenings started with the India premiere of National Geographic’s documentary, “Billy & Molly, an Otter Love Story” directed by Charlie Hamilton James. The gala inaugural ceremony was graced by film celebrities including Madhur Bhandarkar, Richie Mehta, Anand Rai, Divya Dutta, Randeep Hooda, Kailash Kher, Sharad Kelkar and Abhishek Bannerjee, among others.
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In Ladakh, celebration of annual Hemis Monastic Festival, popularly known as Hemis Tseschu begins from today with great religious fervor and gaiety.
Hemis monastic festival is celebrate with grand prayers, performance of sacred mask dances and exhibition of Thanka or mural Painting to mark the occasion of birth anniversary of Guru Padma Sambhava.
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In Sikkim, efforts are underway to evacuate approximately 1,200 tourists stranded in Lachung, Mangan District, due to road blockages caused by heavy rainfall and landslides. Minister Tshering Thendup Bhutia is overseeing the evacuation, utilizing airlifts and roadways depending on weather conditions. District Magistrate Hem Kumar Chettri leads local rescue and restoration efforts with support from various departments and the community.
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Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has announced that its eight soldiers were killed in a blast in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah. The soldiers were all killed inside a Namer combat engineering vehicle (CEV) yesterday.
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India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued orange alert and red warning over North-West, Central and East India today due to the on-going heatwave conditions. The IMD said that heatwave to severe heatwave conditions will prevail over parts of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Bihar and Jharkhand for the next 2 days. Similar conditions will prevail over Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand till the 18th of this month. No significant change in maximum temperatures is expected over rest of the country.
Meanwhile, the IMD has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall over North-East India and West Bengal during the next 6 days.
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In the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Cricket, the match between India and Canada has been abandoned last night without a ball being bowled due to rain. Both teams shared a point with India finishing the group stage on top with 7 points, followed by USA while Canada are eliminated.
The outfield in Broward County Stadium was too wet for play, and the match between India and Canada was called off only an hour after its scheduled start. However, Men in blue have already secured a spot in the Super 8 from Group A. In an another match England defeated Namibia by 41 runs via Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua last night. Chasing the target of 127 runs, Namibia made 84 for three in 10 overs. Earlier, Namibia won the toss and put England into bat. Batting first England made 122 runs in stipulated 10 overs, however due to rain, the target was revised to 127 runs. For England, Harry Brook with unbeaten 47 was the top scorer while Jonny Bairstow made 31 runs. For Namibia, Ruben Trumpelmann scalped two wickets while David Wiese annd Bernard Scholtz took a wicket each. Today Pakistan is clash with Ireland at Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground, Lauderhill, Florida at 8 PM IST.
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In Tennis, Sumit Nagal, India’s top ranked player, advanced to the final of the Perugia Challenger after a hard fought victory over Spain’s Bernabe Zapata Miralles, a former World No. 37, yesterday. In the final, Nagal will take on the winner of Luciano Darderi of Italy and Germany’s Daniel Altmaier.
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TODAY’S NEWSPAPERS HEADLINE
- Prime Minister to release 20,000 crore Rs. under PM-KISAN scheme in Varanasi, is the top story in The Sunday Statesman.
- India Joins Global meet on Ukraine, day after Prime Minister calls for dialogue, diplomacy, headines The Sunday Express.
- Willing to work with India, says Canadian PM Trudeau after meeting PM Modi at G7, writes The Sunday Tribune.
- Home Minister Amit Shah to review J&K and Amarnath Yatra security today, says The Asian Age.
- One STF Jawan Martyred, 8 naxalites killed in encounter in Chhatisgarh, reports The Sunday Pioneer.
- 14 dead as vehicle falls into a gorge in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand is the top story in The Hindu.
- Karnataka Govt. hikes petrol, diesel prices by 3 rs. per litre, says The Business Line.
- Night temperature in Delhi still in 30s, respite likely on Wednesday, reports Hindustan Times.
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THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN
- Union Home Minister Amit Shah to chair high level meeting today to review security situation in Jammu and Kashmir and preparations for Amarnath Yatra.
- Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar to inaugurate newly constructed ‘Prerna Sthal’ in Parliament House complex this evening.
- Railways to start trial run of Vande Bharat Sleeper Class train in next two months.
- IMD issues orange alert and red warning for heatwave conditions over North-West, Central and East India today.
- In Tennis, Sumit Nagal advances to Perugia Challenger final with hard-fought victory.
- In T20 World Cup Cricket, India’s last group league game against Canada washed out.
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