THE HEADLINES:
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi to formally inaugurate 18th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention at Janata Maidan in Bhubaneswar this morning.
- India and Afghanistan’s Taliban government hold talks in Dubai; New Delhi conveys its readiness to respond to urgent developmental needs of Afghan people.
- ISRO again postpones docking experiment of its two satellites under SpaDeX mission.
- At least six people killed and 40 injured in stampede at Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh.
- Cold wave conditions intensify in North India; IMD warns of further dip in temperature.
- In Hockey India League, Tamil Nadu Dragons beat Team Gonasika 6-5 in Rourkela.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will formally inaugurate the 18th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas Convention at Bhubaneswar this morning. The theme of this year’s Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention is ‘Diaspora’s Contribution to a Viksit Bharat’. A large number of Indian diaspora members from several countries are participating in the Convention. Several Union Ministers including Dr S Jaishankar, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Jual Oram and Chief Minister of Odisha Mohan Charan Majhi will be attending the Convention today. More from our correspondent:
“After inaugurating the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also virtually flag-off the inaugural journey of the Pravasi Bharatiya Express, a special tourist train for the Indian diaspora. The train, conducted under the Pravasi Teertha Darshan Yojana, will depart from the Nizamuddin Railway Station in Delhi and will travel to multiple destinations of tourism and religious importance in India for a period of three weeks. President Droupadi Murmu is also scheduled to arrive in Bhubaneswar today to attend the valedictory function of the convention tomorrow. The President will confer the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman upon members of the Indian diaspora to recognise their achievements in various fields. The three-day Pravasi Bharatiya Divas kicked off yesterday with the inauguration of Yuva Pravasi Bharatiya Divas. Prakash Dash, Akashvani News, Bhubaneswar.”
Akashvani Delhi will broadcast commentary of the inaugural event today. It can be heard on ‘Indraprastha’, ‘FM Gold’ and ‘Akashvani Live News 24×7’ from 9:55 AM onwards. This broadcast will also streamed live on Akashvani’s Youtube channel ‘Akashvani AIR’.
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Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan, Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi, discussed various issues pertaining to bilateral relations as well as regional developments in Dubai yesterday. External Affairs Ministry said in a statement that in the meeting, Foreign Secretary underlined India’s historic friendship with the Afghan people and the strong people to people contacts between the two countries. He conveyed India’s readiness to respond to the urgent developmental needs of the Afghan people.
The two sides evaluated the ongoing Indian humanitarian assistance programmes. The Afghan Minister appreciated and thanked the Indian leadership for continuing to engage and support the people of Afghanistan.
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Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has further postponed the docking experiment of its two satellites rotating in low Earth orbit under the SpaDex mission. The space agency has tweeted that the decision to postpone docking was taken due to the detection of excess drift between the two satellites. The drift was observed when ISRO undertook a manoeuvre to reduce the distance between the satellites to 225 meters. ISRO had earlier scheduled docking of satellites on January 7 and thereafter today. The tweet says that both the satellites SDX01 also known as Chaser and SDX02 also known as Target are safe and functioning normally. The ISRO rocket PSLV C60 had successfully placed the satellites in its intended orbit on December 30th.
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Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari will be on a day-long visit to Madhya Pradesh today. Mr Gadkari will review various ongoing road projects in Indore. More from our correspondent:
“Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari will inspect the construction work of the four-lane Tejaji Nagar Balwada section of Indore-Khandwa National Highway today. Mr Gadkari will inspect the National Automotive Test Tracks Netrax in Pithampur and participate in various events organized here. He will launch BAJA SAE India 2025 competition and inaugurate M BAJA and h BAJA vehicles. He will also hold a meeting of National Highway Authority officers in Indore and review the ongoing works. During his stay in Indore, he will also visit Shri Nath Temple. Sanjeev Sharma, Akashvani News, Bhopal.”
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Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Shivraj Singh Chouhan met with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi to discuss key issues ahead of the upcoming Union Budget. Speaking to the media after the meeting, Mr. Chouhan shared that they reviewed the budgets of four crucial sectors: Agriculture, Rural Development, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, and Land Resources.
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In Andhra Pradesh, six people died and about 40 people injured in a stampede at the token issuing counter in Tirupati last evening ahead of Vaikunta Ekadasi Darshanam scheduled from 10 to 12 January. The injured people have been hospitalized.
The Vaikunta Ekadasi darshan is considered auspicious by the devotees and the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) has organised 94 counters at three different locations in Tirupati for issuing of 1 lakh 20 thousand tokens. The stampede happened at the token issuing counter set up near the Ramanaidu school in Tirupati town.
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu condoled the deaths and directed the officials to provide best medical care to the injured. He will visit Tirupati this afternoon and review the situation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed grief over the stampede in Tirupati. In a social media post, he said his thoughts are with those who have lost their near and dear ones. Mr Modi also prayed speedy recovery of the injured. He added that the State Government is providing all possible assistance to those affected.
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Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has launched a pair of special songs by Akashvani and Doordarshan, dedicated to the Mahakumbh in Delhi. The special composition by Akashvani encapsulates the spiritual, cultural, and religious significance of the Mahakumbh through a harmonious blend of music and lyrical presentation. The song has been sung by the Ratan Prasanna, with the music of Santosh Nahar and Ratan Prasanna.
The theme song “Mahakumbh Hai” produced by Doordarshan is sung by Padma Shri Kailash Kher. The song encapsulates the spirit of devotion, celebration, and the vibrant cultural essence of the Mahakumbh.
Prasar Bharati Chairman Navneet Kumar Sehgal, Prasar Bharati CEO Gaurav Dwivedi, Director General of Doordarshan Kanchan Prasad and Director General of Akashvani, Dr Pragya Paliwal Gaur were also present on the occasion. Mahakumbh 2025 is being held from 13th January to 26th February at Prayagraj.
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Cold wave conditions have intensified in most parts of North India. India Meteorological Department has warned that temperature in the region is likely to dip further. Due to a western disturbance, there is a possibility of rain and snowfall in parts of northwest India later in the week.
According to IMD, cold wave conditions are expected to prevail over Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, West Madhya Pradesh, Jammu-Kashmir, Ladakh, Gilgit, Baltistan and Muzaffarabad for the next two days. Our Srinagar correspondent reports that the Kashmir region is currently reeling under 40 day harshest winter period “Chillai Kalan” since December 21 last year.
Traffic department said subject to fair weather and good roads condition, the vehicular traffic will be allowed to ply on both sides of Srinagar Jammu National Highway. The one way traffic movement from Kargil to Srinagar will be allowed today. The Mughal Road is successively closed for 12th day due to snow accumulation. TARIQ RATHER Akashvani News Srinagar.
In Himachal Pradesh, cold wave continues due to dense fog in the morning and evening in the plains. More from our correspondent :
Due to light snowfall on the high peaks of the state in the past few days and dense fog in the morning and evening in the lower areas, a drop in temperature has been recorded. The minimum temperature is being recorded below the freezing point at most places in the tribal areas of the state. The Meteorological Department has predicted the clear weather till 10th January, while a yellow alert of cold wave has also been issued due to dense fog and frost at different places in lower districts Bilaspur, Mandi, Una and Kangra. Rajkumari Chandel Akaswani News Shimla.
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In Hockey India League, Tamil Nadu Dragons registered a 6-5 win over Team Gonasika at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela yesterday. Dutch drag-flicker Jip Janssen’s hat-trick guided Tamil Nadu Dragons to the second spot on the standings with nine points in four matches. We have a report:
Hyderabad Toofans secured a crucial 3-0 win over UP Rudras.
Jip Janssen scored a memorable hat-trick as Tamil Nadu Dragons edged past Team Gonasika with 6-5 in a 11-goal thriller in Hockey India League on Wednesday.
Jip Janssen from Tamil Nadu Dragons and Dominic Dixon for Hyderabad Toofans became player of the match.
Vedanta Kalinga Lancers will face Team Gonasika today at 08:15 PM. You can listen to daily report on Hockey India League on Aakashvani. This is Pratishtha Jain for Aakashvani news.
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In some more news from the world of sports, New Zealand Cricketer, Matin Guptill announced his retirement from international cricket at the age of 38. We have a detailed report on his career and the Indian Super League’s fixture today:
Guptill’s career spanned around 14 years during which he played a total of 367 matches and smashed 23 international tons. He holds the record for the highest individual score in an ODI World Cup match. Guptill played an innings of 237. This is also the highest individual by a Kiwi batter in ODI cricket. He was also the highest T20I run scorer for New Zealand. Moving on to the world of football, in the Indian Super League, Chennaiyin FC will host Odisha in Chennai today. The match is scheduled to begin at 7:30 PM. With Omvesh Upadhyay, Chirag Jha, Akashvani News, Delhi.
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In Malaysia Open Badminton, India’s Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto faced a setback in mixed doubles’ round of 16 after losing to the seventh-seeded Chinese pair of Xing Cheng and Chi Zhang 13-21, 20-22 in Kuala Lumpur this morning.
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TODAY’S NEWSPAPERS–
- The inauguration of the Youth Pravasi Divas at Bhubaneswar is covered by most of the dailies. The Statesman quoting External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar says “Youth at the core of Vikisit Bharat vision”.
- “Prime Minister unveils projects worth 2 trillion rupees in Andhra Pradesh” reports Business Standard.
- In another story, the paper writes ” India’s AI push gains force amid Prime Minister’s power talks with tech leaders”.
- ” India, Maldives eye defence cooperation as ties improve” states Hindustan Times.
- “India, EU commit to uphold human rights, democracy” reports The Times of India.
- “All hell will break out in West Asia if hostages in Gaza not freed’ by January 20: Trump warns Hamas” notes The Asian Age.
- On V. Narayanan being appointed new chairman of ISRO, The Tribune writes, “Cryogenic tech expert next ISRO Chairman”.
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THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi to formally inaugurate 18th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention at Janata Maidan in Bhubaneswar this morning.
- India and Afghanistan’s Taliban government hold talks in Dubai; New Delhi conveys its readiness to respond to urgent developmental needs of Afghan people.
- ISRO again postpones docking experiment of its two satellites under SpaDeX mission.
- At least six people killed and 40 injured in stampede at Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh.
- Cold wave conditions intensify in North India; IMD warns of further dip in temperature.
- In Hockey India League, Tamil Nadu Dragons beat Team Gonasika 6-5 in Rourkela.
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