THE HEADLINES::
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi says India is setting new benchmarks in governance, transparency and innovation; Urges civil servants to work with extraordinary speed to fulfill aspirations of youth, farmers and women.
- US Vice President JD Vance arrives in India on a four-day visit; Scheduled to meet Prime Minister Modi this evening.
- 8 Naxals killed in an encounter with security forces in Bokaro district of Jharkhand.
- Pope Francis passes away following prolonged illness.
- Domestic Markets surge for the fifth consecutive session.
- And, In IPL Cricket, Kolkata Knight Riders to lock horns with Gujarat Titans at the Eden Gardens this evening.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi today asserted that India is setting new benchmarks in governance, transparency, and innovation. He noted that the country has undergone transformative changes over the past decade and is no longer solely focused on growth, but is also establishing new standards in these areas. Mr. Modi made these remarks while addressing civil servants on the occasion of the 17th Civil Services Day in New Delhi.
The Prime Minister underlined the need for extraordinary speed in fulfilling the aspirations of the country’s youth, farmers, and women, stating that their dreams are soaring to unprecedented heights.
Talking about the aspirational districts programme, the Prime Minister said through this initiative unprecedented changes are being witnessed in key indicators of health, social development and basic infrastructure in different parts of the country. He stated that the quality in governance is determined by how deeply schemes reach the people and their real impact on the ground. He also highlighted that in the age of technology, governance is not about managing systems, it is about multiplying possibilities.
In his speech, Mr Modi emphasized the need to keep a close eye on global challenges in this rapidly changing time. He said food, water and energy security still remains a big challenge particularly for the global south.
On the occasion, Mr. Modi conferred the Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Administration in the categories of Holistic Development of Districts, Aspirational Blocks Programme, and Innovation to civil servants. He also released two eBooks during the event. Our correspondent spoke to some of the awardees.
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US Vice President J. D. Vance arrived in New Delhi today on a four-day visit to India. He was received by the Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. This is Vice President Vance’s first visit to India. He is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi this evening.
The visit of US Vice President J D Vance to India will provide an opportunity for both sides to review the progress in bilateral relations and the implementation of the outcomes of the India-U.S. Joint Statement issued on 13th February this year during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US. The two sides will also exchange views on regional and global developments of mutual interest.
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In Jharkhand, around 8 naxals have been killed in an encounter between Naxalites and a joint team of police and paramilitary forces in the foothills of Lugu hill in Bokaro district since early morning today.
DGP Jharkhand Anurag Gupta talking to Akashvani News said that our security forces have neutralised 8 Maoists. Mr Gupta said that the operation which lasted for around 2 hours, was carried out by Jharkhand Jaguar, police and CRPF. More from our correspondent.
Eight maoists including top three naxalites Prayag Manjhi alias Vivek, a maoist with a reward of Rs 1 crore, Arvind Yadav alias Avinash Da from Bihar and Sahebram Majhi have been killed during the encounter held between security forces and maoists in Lugu Hills in Bokaro district today morning. The forces area conducting Search operations in all possible maoist hideouts. DGP Anurag Gupta has warned the maoists to surrender themselves at the earliest under Jharkhand Police surrender policy. In a social media post, Home Ministry has also applauded significant success of the forces to uproot naxalism. Mentioning about todays Bokaro encounter, the Ministry reiterated its commitment to eliminate naxalism by next year. Shilpi, Akashvani News, Ranchi.
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The Supreme Court today declined to pass any directions on a plea seeking deployment of paramilitary forces in West Bengal in light of the violence that broke out in Murshidabad over the Waqf (Amendment) Act. The matter seeking urgent listing and directions was mentioned before a Bench of Justices BR Gavai and Augustine George Masih.
The petitioner sought the immediate deployment of paramilitary forces and the implementation of Article 355 of the Constitution. Justice Gavai remarked that the Court is already being accused of overstepping into executive and legislative functions. His comments appeared to refer to the recent controversy surrounding the Supreme Court’s direction to the Governor and the President to clear bills passed by the State Legislature within specific timelines.
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The BJP today hit out at senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his comments against the Election Commission during his US visit and accused him of trying to defame Indian democracy abroad. Briefing media in New Delhi, party spokesperson Sambit Patra attacked Mr Gandhi for his remarks on the last Maharashtra assembly polls saying the Congress leader should answer whether the Jharkhand assembly polls, where Congress and its allies won, was also compromised.
Yesterday, while addressing members of the Indian diaspora in Boston, Mr Gandhi had alleged that the Election Commission of India was compromised during the assembly elections in Maharashtra. Mr Patra also criticized Congress over the issue of alleged corruption related to the National Herald case.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to arrive in Jeddah tomorrow, marking the first visit by an Indian leader to Saudi Arabia’s commercial hub in over four decades. During his visit, the Prime Minister will tour a factory and interact with the Indian workers stationed there. More from our correspondent :
Many Indian companies and corporate groups have established a robust presence in Saudi Arabia. Organizations such as L&T, TATA, Wipro, TCS, TCIL, Shapoorji & Pallonji, Air India, Go Air, Indigo, and SpiceJet have all made significant inroads into the Saudi market. Let’s Hear from the Member of Jeddah Chamber of Commerce Shri Ali Mohammed Ali:
The relationship between the two countries has expanded beyond economic cooperation to include cultural exchanges. In alignment with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, bilateral cultural activities have accelerated. Yoga has gained popularity in Saudi Arabia and is now officially recognized as a sporting activity. The Indian Embassy regularly organizes yoga events, including celebrations of the International Day of Yoga. In recognition of her contributions to promoting yoga in Saudi Arabia, Saudi yoga expert Ms. Nouf Marwai was awarded the Padma Shri in 2018. This visit of the Prime Minister is expected to further strengthen the diplomatic, economic, and cultural ties between India and Saudi Arabia, reflecting the growing importance of this strategic partnership in the region. Vinod Kumar, Akashvani News, Dubai
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The second docking of satellites under ISRO’s Space Docking Experiment – SpaDeX Mission has been accomplished today. In a social media post, Science and Technology Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said, further experiments are planned in the next two weeks. Sharing details of the mission, he mentioned that the satellites were successfully docked for the first time on January 16 this year and were undocked on the 13th of last month.
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Pope Francis passed away today at the age of 88, following a prolonged illness. Throughout his 12-year papacy, he endured various health challenges, with severe complications arising in recent weeks.
Widely regarded as a voice for the poor, Pope Francis is credited with reshaping the Catholic Church. He became the first Latin American pontiff in 2013 and was one of the oldest popes in the Church’s history.
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Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi stated that Iran is serious about its indirect negotiations with the United States to reach a new nuclear deal and wants no delay in the diplomatic process. He made these remarks during a meeting with members of the Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee in Tehran. Gharibabadi added that Tehran and Washington discussed and agreed on the overall framework and agenda during their second round of indirect talks, held yesterday in the Italian capital, Rome.
The Deputy Foreign Minister has stressed that all sanctions on Iran should be lifted in a way that benefits the Iranian people economically and emphasised that Tehran would not negotiate on its right to enrich uranium.
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The Benchmark domestic equity indices, Sensex and Nifty, continued their upward trajectory for the fifth consecutive session today. Both the indices were trading around 1.2 per cent up, led by significant gains in banking, financial and renewed optimism following fresh foreign fund inflows. The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 953 points to 79,506 and the NSE Nifty 50 jumped 303 points to 24,154, when reports last came in.
The broader market at the Bombay Stock Exchange was also trading in positive territory. The Mid-Cap index rose two per cent and the Small-Cap index gained over 1.4 per cent, a short while ago.
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The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast Heat wave conditions to prevail over Central India during the next 5 days. According to the IMD, Heat wave conditions will likely be over East Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha and Chhattisgarh till the 25th of this month. Maximum temperatures are expected to rise by 2 degrees Celsius over Central India and Gujarat during the next 3 days and by 4 to 6 degrees Celsius over East India during the next 4 days.
Meanwhile, Heavy to very heavy rainfall spell will continue over Northeast India till the 26th of this month.
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In IPL T20 Cricket, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will lock horns with Gujarat Titans at the Eden Gardens this evening. The match will begin at 7:30 pm. With five wins in seven matches, Gujarat Titans holds top position in the points table with 10 points. KKR, meanwhile, have pocketed three wins and four losses to spot the seventh place in the points table.
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Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja have retained their A+ category contract despite retiring from the T20 international format. The Board of Control for Cricket in India announced the men’s central contracts list for the 2024-25 season today. In a notable change, Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan have returned to the contract list with the former getting B category contract while the latter in C category contract list. The latest additions to the central contracts list, all placed in Grade C, include Nitish Kumar Reddy, Dhruv Jurel, Abhishek Sharma, Sarfaraz Khan, Akash Deep, Varun Chakravarthy and Harshit Rana.
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THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN:
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi says India is setting new benchmarks in governance, transparency and innovation; Urges civil servants to work with extraordinary speed to fulfill aspirations of youth, farmers and women.
- US Vice President JD Vance arrives in India on a four-day visit; Scheduled to meet Prime Minister Modi this evening.
- 8 Naxals killed in an encounter with security forces in Bokaro district of Jharkhand.
- Pope Francis passes away following prolonged illness.
- Domestic Markets surge for the fifth consecutive session.
- And, In IPL Cricket, Kolkata Knight Riders to lock horns with Gujarat Titans at the Eden Gardens this evening.
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