THE HEADLINES :
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi underscores need to develop villages as first step towards building a Viksit Bharat.
- BJP issues whip to its Lok Sabha MPs to be present in Lower House today.
- Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority notifies regulations for operationalisation of Unified Pension Scheme.
- Assam government decides to allow all shops and business establishments to remain open 24 hours in Guwahati, Dibrugarh and Silchar.
- Kirsty Coventry elected first woman President of International Olympic Committee.
- In Squash, India’s Akanksha Salunkhe to lock horns with compatriot Anahat Singh in all Indian Women’s final at SRFI Indian Tour 2025 in Chennai this afternoon.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has underscored the need to develop villages as the first step toward building a Viksit Bharat. He said this during the programme of Bavaliyali Dham related to the Bharwad Samaj of Gujarat through video message. Mr Modi highlighted the importance of collective efforts, reiterating his statement from the Red Fort about “Sabka Prayas” being the nation’s greatest strength.
He emphasised on the importance of education for empowering the community through modernity as the way forward. The Prime Minister urged the community’s children, especially daughters, to excel academically and contribute to a stronger society. He lauded Bharwad community’s dedication to service, love for nature and commitment to cow protection. Mr Modi highlighted the government’s free vaccination program for livestock to combat Foot and Mouth Disease, urging the community to ensure regular vaccinations for their cattle.
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BJP has issued a whip to its Lok Sabha Members directing them to be present in the Lower House today. Sources said, the whip has been issued as the House in scheduled to apply guillotine over demand for grants of different Ministries in respect of the Union Budget.
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The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has notified regulations for operationalisation of the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS). This follows the UPS notification in January this year by the Government of India for Central Government Employees covered under NPS. The regulations will come into effect from 1st of next month.
“These Regulations enable enrolment of three categories of central government employees. The first category includes an existing central government employee in service as on 1st April 2025, who is covered under NPS while the second category includes new recruit in the central government services, who joins service on or after the 1st day of April 2025. The third category includes a central government employee who were part of the NPS and retired on or before March 31, 2025-whether through regular retirement, voluntary retirement, or retirement under Fundamental Rules 56(j) and is eligible for UPS. If such an employee has superannuated retired or passed away before exercising the option for UPS, their legally wedded spouse will be eligible for the scheme. The enrolment and claim forms for all these categories of central government employees will be available online from 1st April on website of Protean CRA – npscra.nsdl.co.in. The employees can also submit the forms physically. With Anupam Mishra, Bhanu Pratap Singh, Akashvani News, Delhi.”
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Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal has called for a collective commitment from the government and the IT sector to achieve a 450 billion dollars services export target. Addressing the inaugural session of NASSCOM Global Confluence 2025 in New Delhi, the Minister expressed confidence that in 2025-26, India’s services exports could surpass merchandise exports, with IT at the forefront. Mr Goyal added that services exports are expected to reach between 380 billion dollars to 385 billion dollars this year, further solidifying India’s global presence. He also recognised the rapid growth of MSMEs in IT, tourism, business accounting, and financial services and emphasized the sector’s high job creation potential.
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Maharashtra government has approved 170 crore rupees for development of Guru Temple pilgrimage site in Karanja city of Washim district. A committee chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also approved 723 crore rupees for Shri Sant Sewalal Maharaj Pohradevi Pilgrimage Development Plan. The meeting of the committee on the development plan of the pilgrimage sites was held at Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai yesterday. Chief Minister said that the Rural Development and Tourism Department should revise regulations for the works in Pilgrimage Development Plan keeping in mind the importance of the region in the state.
“Fadnavis said, the concerned departments, should take action, to expedite the development works and while submitting it, in the pilgrimage development plan, the administration should focus on quality work, at minimum cost, with the future needs and the requirements of the area. He suggested that particularly Rural Development, Tourism Department and other departments related to this subject should issue new guidelines while preparing the pilgrimage development plan. Bhavana, Akashvani News, Mumbai.”
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In Chhattisgarh, 30 Maoists were been killed in two different encounters yesterday. In Bijapur district of Bastar division, the security forces received intelligence inputs that Maoists are present in the forests situated at the border area of the Bijapur and Dantewada districts. After this intelligence input, a joint team of security forces went out on a search operation, which led to an encounter with Maoists. After the encounter, security forces recovered the bodies of 26 Maoists from the spot. A jawan of District Reserve Guard – DRG was also martyred in the encounter.
In another operation in Kanker district of Chhattisgarh, four Maoists were killed in an exchange of fire with security forces.
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Assam government has decided that all shops and business establishments will be allowed to remain open 24 hours in Guwahati, Dibrugarh and Silchar. Addressing a press conference, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, state cabinet has approved a policy allowing shops and business establishments, except liquor outlets, to operate 24 hours a day in the capital city and the two important towns of the state. He said, in other towns, all shops will be allowed to remain open till 2 am, while the limit will be 11 pm in rural areas. However, the workers will work for a maximum of nine hours. So, there has to be three shifts if anyone wants to operate 24 hours. He said the decision will help small businesses and eventually lead to the generation of more jobs due to an increased number of shifts.
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The Budget session of the Tripura Legislative Assembly will commence today. State finance minister Pranajit Singha Roy will present the budget for fiscal year 2025-26 today itself. Apart from this, some important bills and reports will also be tabled during the session. There will be seven sittings in this budget session and it would conclude on April 1.
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Hamas has launched rockets at Tel Aviv, marking its first known response since Israel resumed military operations in Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said one rocket was intercepted, while the other two landed in uninhabited areas. Meanwhile, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry reported that at least 85 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes since midnight, adding to the 500 fatalities already recorded since Tuesday. The Ministry also stated that 133 people were injured in the latest wave of attacks. Meanwhile, Israeli government claims that Hamas is still holding 59 hostages, with 24 believed to be alive.
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US President Donald Trump has announced that he will soon sign a rare earth minerals deal with Ukraine. While addressing reporters at the White House yesterday, Trump also revealed that he had signed an executive order to boost the production of critical minerals in the United States.
Mr. Trump further expressed optimism about a potential ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. He told reporters that his efforts to achieve a peace deal were going pretty well after his talks this week with the leaders of the warring countries.
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US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order initiating the process of shutting down the Department of Education. The order is designed to shift school policy control almost entirely to states and local boards, a move that has sparked concern among liberal education advocates. Speaking at a signing ceremony in the East Room of the White House yesterday, Trump criticized the department, stating that despite massive spending increases over the past four decades, it had failed to improve the education system.
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Moving on to sports, we have news from the world of Squash, Badminton, and Swimming.
“In Squash, India’s Akanksha Salunkhe will lock horns with compatriot Anahat Singh in an all Indian Women’s final at the SRFI Indian Tour 2025 in Chennai, this afternoon. The match is scheduled to begin at 2.30 PM. In the men’s section, India’s Veer Chotrani will take on sixth seed Melvil Scianimanico of France in the summit clash today.
In badminton, India’s Sankar Subramanian has stormed into the Men’s Singles quarterfinals of the Swiss Open Championship in Basel, Switzerland. Subramanian, ranked 64th in the world, defeated the current World No. 2, Anders Antonsen of Denmark. While in Women’s Doubles, India’s Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand have also entered the quarterfinals.
And, India will host the 11th Asian Swimming Championship in Ahmedabad. The Swimming Federation of India announced that it has received an in-principle approval from both the Gujarat government and Asia Aquatics to organize the championship. The event will take place from October 1st to 15. VISHNU PS, AKASHVANI NEWS, DELHI.”
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Zimbabwe’s Kirsty Coventry has been elected as President of International Olympic Committee (IOC). She has become the first female President in IOC history. The 41-year-old Zimbabwean was elected at the 144th IOC Session in Costa Navarino, Greece yesterday. Coventry received 49 votes in the first round, exactly the number required for a majority from the 97 votes cast. Coventry will succeed the ninth IOC President, Thomas Bach, whose 12-year tenure will officially end after June 23rd. In a statement, She said she will lead this organisation with so much pride.
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India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast thunderstorm accompanied with squally winds, hailstorm and lightning over East Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gangetic West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Vidarbha, Assam, Meghalaya, Telangana and Bihar today. According to the IMD, gusty winds and lightning are also likely over West and East Uttar Pradesh, Marathwada, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram Tripura, Sub Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim today. Similar conditions are expected over South Interior Karnataka, Arunachal Pradesh, Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Yanam, Kerala and Mahe.
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TODAY’S NEWSPAPERS HEADLINE,
- The encounter with Maoists in Bijapur in Chhattisgarh is covered prominently by the dailies. “30 Maoists shot dead in two encounters in Chhattisgarh”, reports The Hindu.
- Amid strain in bilateral ties between India and Bangladesh, Hindustan Times leads “Formal Modi-Yunus meet unlikely at Bimstec Summit”
- “US, India to sign 10-year defence framework” reports The Pioneer.
- “Key India-US trade talks next week to finalise Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) contours”, states Business Standard.
- “Defence purchase proposals worth 54,000 crore rupees cleared”, informs The Statesman.
- “India bids to host 2030 Commonwealth Games”, notes The Asian Age.
- “Woman, African, youngest: Coventry breaks barriers as new International Olympic Committee (IOC) president”, says Hindustan Times.
- And finally, “No more finger pricks, Indian Institute of Science (IISc) invents a painless way to check blood sugar”, reports The Tribune.
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THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN:
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi underscores need to develop villages as first step towards building a Viksit Bharat.
- BJP issues whip to its Lok Sabha MPs to be present in Lower House today.
- Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority notifies regulations for operationalisation of Unified Pension Scheme.
- Assam government decides to allow all shops and business establishments to remain open 24 hours in Guwahati, Dibrugarh and Silchar.
- Kirsty Coventry elected first woman President of International Olympic Committee.
- In Squash, India’s Akanksha Salunkhe to lock horns with compatriot Anahat Singh in all Indian Women’s final at SRFI Indian Tour 2025 in Chennai this afternoon.
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