Download
Mobile App

android apple
signal

December 22, 2024 9:58 PM

printer

Evening News

THE HEADLINES:

• India and Kuwait sign several bilateral agreements in the field of Defence and other key areas; Agree to elevate bilateral ties to Strategic Partnership.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi conferred with Kuwait’s highest Honour, the Order of Mubarak Al-Kabeer.

• Government spent 900 crore rupees to resettle Bru inhabitants in different districts of Tripura, says Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

• UAE, Saudi Arabia and several other Gulf countries impose indefinite ban on granting visas to people from 30 cities of Pakistan.

• And, in Women’s Cricket, India defeat the West Indies by 211 runs in first ODI of ICC Championship series at Vadodara.

 

<><><>

India and Kuwait today signed several bilateral agreements in the field of defense cooperation, cultural exchange and sports collaboration. The agreement were signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi two day visit to Kuwait. An important agreement tat was also signed was for Kuwait’s inclusion in the International Solar Alliance. During the talks both sides agreed to elevate their bilateral ties to a Strategic Partnership. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also held a meeting with the Amir of Kuwait, Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al Sabah to discuss cooperation in key sectors like pharmaceuticals, IT, FinTech, Infrastructure and security.

 

The historic two-day visit, the first by an Indian Prime Minister to Kuwait in 43 years, saw the elevation of bilateral ties to a Strategic Partnership. Prime Minister Modi was welcomed with full ceremonial honors by Kuwait’s Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmed Al-Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah at the Bayan Palace, where comprehensive discussions on strengthening bilateral cooperation took place.

The prestigious Order of Mubarak Al-Kabeer, established in 1974 and awarded to select global leaders, symbolizes the deepening diplomatic ties between India and Kuwait. In accepting the honor, Prime Minister dedicated it to the enduring friendship between the two nations, the Indian community in Kuwait, and India’s 1.4 billion citizens.

The visit also yielded significant outcomes, including the signing of several bilateral agreements and memoranda of understanding. Key among these were agreements on defense cooperation, cultural exchange, sports collaboration, and Kuwait’s inclusion in the International Solar Alliance.

The leaders outlined an ambitious roadmap for strengthening their strategic partnership across multiple sectors, including trade, investment, energy, defense, security, health, education, and technology. Prime Minister Modi extended an invitation to the Kuwaiti Investment Authority to explore new opportunities in India across various sectors, including energy, defense, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and food parks.

Both nations acknowledged the importance of their people-to-people ties, with Kuwait expressing appreciation for the contributions of its million-strong Indian community to the country’s development. The establishment of new Joint Working Groups under the Joint Commission for Cooperation framework will further facilitate collaboration in areas such as trade, investment, education, technology, agriculture, security, and culture.

The discussions also touched upon Kuwait’s Vision 2035 initiatives and the recent successful hosting of the GCC Summit. The Amir expressed interest in expanding India’s role in Kuwait’s development vision, while Modi extended an invitation for the Amir to visit India, ensuring continued high-level diplomatic engagement between the two nations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also met with the Crown Prince of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah in Kuwait. During the meeting, the Prime Minister conveyed that India attaches utmost importance to its bilateral relations with Kuwait. He fondly recalled his recent meeting with the Crown Prince on the margins of the UN general assembly session in September this year.

After concluding a historic and successful visit to Kuwait, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has since emplaned for New Delhi.

 

<><><>

Kuwait has bestowed its highest honour the Order of Mubarak Al Kabeer on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The External Affairs Ministry said, this is the 20th international honour given to Prime Minister Modi by a country.

The Order of Mubarak Al Kabeer is a knighthood order of Kuwait. It is awarded to Heads of State and foreign Sovereigns and to members of foreign royal families as a sign of friendship. The Ministry said, the award has been previously awarded to foreign leaders like former US Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush and Prince Charles of the United Kingdoms .

 

<><><>

Union Home Minister Amit Shah today laid foundation stone of 13 projects for Tripura worth 668.39 crore rupees. Speaking at a public meeting at the Masurai Para in Dhalai district of the state, Amit Shah said the foundation of these several projects have shown the government’s commitment towards the North East region.

Mr. Shah criticized the former Communist party government in the state for not addressing the issue of settlement of the Bru community. He said, after the BJP led government came to power in 2018, the settlement of 40 thousand people from the Bru community was taken to its logical end.

<><><>

In a major relief for fliers and air passengers, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has announced the launch of “Udaan Yatri Cafe”, an eatery outlet at the airport for providing basic essentials like food and water at affordable and reasonable rates. The one-of-its kind initiative is being launched at Kolkata airport on a pilot basis and if it is successful, it will be replicated at other airports across the country, managed by the Airports Authority of India.

With the launch of the first “Udaan Yatri Cafe” at Kolkata’s Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, air passengers will have access to essential items like water bottles, tea, coffee, and snacks at reasonable prices.

 

<><><>

Union Minister for Power, Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal who is on a visit to Kerala, today chaired a review meeting on various Power and Urban affairs project being implemented in the state. The Meeting, held at Thiruvananthapuram was attended by Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Suresh Gopi, State Minister for Electricity, K Krishnankutty and several senior officials.

The review meeting evaluated various initiatives being implemented in the power and urban affairs sectors in the state.

Later in the day Mr. Manohar Lal also met Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The Union Minister will visit Kochi tomorrow and will review the functioning of the water metro services

 

<><><>

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will distribute more than 71 thousand appointment letters to newly appointed recruits tomorrow through video conferencing. Mr. Modi will also address the gathering on the occasion. Our Correspondent reports that the Rozgar Mela will be organized at 45 locations across the country.

 

The Rozgar Mela was launched in October 2022 and 13 such melas have been organized at national level in 50 cities so far. Lakhs of appointment letters have been issued to youth in these melas marking a step towards filling the vacant posts in various government departments and Ministries. The new recruits will join Ministries and Departments like Home Affairs, Posts, Higher Education, Health and Family Welfare, Financial Services, among others. Rozgar Mela is a step towards fulfilment of the commitment of the Prime Minister to accord highest priority to employment generation amongst youth. It is providing meaningful opportunities to the youth for their participation in nation building and self-empowerment. Bhupendra Singh, Akashvani News Delhi.

 

<><><>

Minister of State of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Dr. Jitendra Singh, will inaugurate the National Workshop on Good Governance Practices in New Delhi tomorrow. Officials from all ministries and departments will be participating in the workshop. Dr. Singh will also inaugurate an exhibition on best practices of the Swachhata Campaign 4.0 curated by different ministries and departments along with the release of the assessment report.

It has become an integral part of Good Governance Week events celebrated every year from the 19th to the 25th of December.

 

<><><>

The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and several other Gulf countries have imposed an indefinite ban on granting visas to people from at least 30 different cities of Pakistan. This follows an alarming rise in number of cases where Pakistani nationals have been caught begging or being involved in smuggling, drug trafficking, human trafficking and other criminal offences abroad. The Gulf countries and cities, especially Dubai and Abu Dhabi, remain the most preferred destinations for millions of Pakistani travellers and job seekers. However, following the ban and increasing visa rejections, the already dented image of the Pakistani passport – ranked fourth worst in the world for the third consecutive year – will suffer further irreparable damage.

 

<><><>

Acting on secret information, a team of the Special Task Force (STF) of West Bengal Police caught a Pakistan trained militant yesterday, identified as Javed Munshi, near the Indo-Bangladesh border in the Canning area of South 24 Parganas. The person had come to Canning area a few days ago to exfiltrate into Bangladesh under the instructions of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operatives.

Javed Munshi, trained in IEDs and weapons handling, is affiliated with the banned terrorist organization Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen (TuM). He is also wanted by the J&K Police.

 

<><><>

The Information and Broadcasting Secretary Sanjay Jaju today appealed to contractors from across the country and the Vidarbha region to take the initiative in the bidding process for the construction of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) in Amravati. Mr. Jaju reviewed the construction status of the IIMC Amravati campus with the officials of the Central Public Works Department-CPWD and also held a meeting with the heads of the offices of Akashvani, Doordarshan, Press Information Bureau and Central Communications Bureau under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in Nagpur today.

 

<><><>

In Punjab, after 23-hours of constant search for life in the three-story building collapse in Mohali, near Chandigarh, the rescue operation has been called off.

Earlier, the whole operation ascertained two deaths, one of a woman Drishti from Himachal Pradesh and another of Abhishek Dhanwal from Ambala.

Mohali Officiating Deputy Commissioner Viraj Tidkey told our Jalandhar Correspondent that after the NDRF suggested that there was no more possibility of finding person trapped under the debris alive.

A magisterial probe has been ordered in this incident to fix responsibility.

 

<><><>

Foreign investors have pumped in over 26,000 crore rupees into the Indian capital markets so far in December. As per the depositories data, the foreign portfolio investors or FPIs, pumped in 21,789 crore rupees into the Indian equities markets and 4,646 crore rupees into the debt market, taking the total net investment into the Indian capital markets to 26,435 crore rupees.

So far this year, FPIs have made a net investment of 6,770 crore rupees into equities and 1,11,704 crore rupees into the debt markets.

 

<><><>

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend Christmas celebrations in New Delhi tomorrow. The event is being hosted by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India.

The Prime Minister will interact with key leaders from the Christian community, including Cardinals, Bishops and prominent lay leaders of the Church.

 

<><><>

In Women’s Cricket, India defeated the West Indies by 211 runs in the first ODI of the three-match ICC Championship series at Vadodara this evening. Chasing a formidable target of 315 runs, the Caribbeans were bundled out for 103 in 26.2 overs. For India, Renuka Thakur Singh picked up five wickets giving away 29 runs in 10 overs. Priya Mishra captured two wickets, Titas Sadhu and Deepti Sharma accounted for one each. Renuka Thakur Singh was declared as Player of the Match.

Earlier put into bat, India scored 314 runs losing nine wickets in the allotted 50 overs. Smriti Mandhana who smashed 91 off 102 balls, shared a 110-run opening-wicket partnership with debutant Pratika Rawal.

 

<><><>

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast cold wave conditions in parts of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu-Kashmir, Ladakh, Gilgit, Baltistan and Muzaffarabad tomorrow. According to IMD, Dense fog conditions are likely to prevail during late night and early morning hours in Haryana, Odisha, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, Rajasthan, and Manipur tomorrow.

 

<><><>

 

THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN.

• India and Kuwait sign several bilateral agreements in the field of Defence and other key areas; Agree to elevate bilateral ties to Strategic Partnership.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi conferred with Kuwait’s highest Honour, the Order of Mubarak Al-Kabeer.

• Government spent 900 crore rupees to resettle Bru inhabitants in different districts of Tripura, says Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

• UAE, Saudi Arabia and several other Gulf countries impose indefinite ban on granting visas to people from 30 cities of Pakistan.

• And, in Women’s Cricket, India defeat the West Indies by 211 runs in first ODI of ICC Championship series at Vadodara.

<><><>