THE HEADLINES:
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi to participate in G7 Outreach Summit at Apulia in Italy today; PM to also hold series of bilateral meetings with world leaders.
- Ajit Doval reappointed National Security Advisor and Dr. PK Mishra as Principal Secretary to Prime Minister.
- Election of Lok Sabha Speaker to take place on 26th of this month.
- India to bring back mortal remains of 45 of its nationals killed in Kuwait fire by special flight this morning.
- IMD issues orange alert for heatwave in North-West, North and East India for next 3 to 4 days.
- In sports, India’s Divya Deshmukh wins World Junior Girls’ Chess Championship in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in the G7 Outreach Summit at Apulia in Italy today. He reached Italy last night on a two day visit to the country at the invitation of Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni. India has been invited as an Outreach Country.
On the sidelines of his visit, Prime Minister is also expected to hold bilateral meetings and discussions with the leaders of the G7, as also the Outreach Countries and the international organizations. G7 consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
In his departure statement, the Prime Minister said that the government is committed to consolidate the India-Italy strategic partnership, and bolster cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and the Mediterranean regions. Mr. Modi said he is glad that his first visit in the third consecutive term is to Italy for the G-7 Summit. He highlighted that Italy Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s two visits to India last year were instrumental in infusing momentum and depth in the bilateral agenda.
The Prime Minister said, during the discussions at the Outreach session, the focus would be on artificial intelligence, energy, Africa, and the Mediterranean. He said, it will be an opportunity to bring greater synergy between the outcomes of the G20 Summit held under India’s Presidency and the forthcoming G7 Summit, and deliberate on issues which are crucial for the Global South. Mr. Modi said he is also looking forward to meeting other leaders participating in the Summit.
This will be India’s 11th participation in G7 Summit and Prime Minister Modi’s fifth consecutive participation at the G7 Summit. India’s regular participation at the Summit clearly points to increasing recognition and contribution of the efforts that India has been consistently making in trying to resolve global challenges, including those of peace, security, development, and environment preservation. Prime Minister’s participation in the Summit would also provide a timely opportunity to follow up on outcomes of the G20 Summit held in India last year. Besides India, Italy as G7 presidency has also invited Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, Kenya, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Tunisia, Turkey, UAE, and some international organizations, including the United Nations. Suparna Saikia, Akashvani News, Delhi.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a series of bilateral meetings with world leaders on the sidelines of G7 Summit today. In a video posted on social media, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal gave the details of Mr Modi’s engagements with the world leaders.
Mr Modi is scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italy’s Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, Japanese PM Fumio Kishida and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. This is Prime Minister Modi’s first overseas visit after assuming office for the third consecutive term.
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Ajit Doval has been reappointed as the National Security Advisor and Dr PK Mishra as the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister with effect from June 10. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointments yesterday. The Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions said that the appointments of Former IPS Mr Doval and Former IAS Mr Mishra will be co-terminus with the term of the Prime Minister or until further orders, whichever is earlier. Both Mr Doval and Mr Mishra will be assigned the rank of a cabinet minister in the table of precedence during their term in office.
The committee has also approved the appointment of Retired IAS officers Amit Khare and Tarun Kapoor as advisors to Prime Minister. The appointments of both officers will be in the rank and scale of secretary to Government for a period of two years with effect from 10th of June or until further orders, whichever is earlier. These appointments will be on a contract basis as per usual terms and conditions as applicable.
After the appointment, Mr Doval called on Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi yesterday.
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Election of Lok Sabha Speaker will be held on 26th of June. First Session of 18th Lok Sabha will convene from the 24th of this month. During the session, oath and affirmation of newly elected members will take place. President Droupadi Murmu’s address to the joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha and discussion on her address will also be held in this session. The session of Rajya Sabha will commence on 27th of this month. The Parliament session will conclude on the 3rd of next month.
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Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan Refuted the allegations of rigging, paper leaks and corruption in the NEET Examination, made by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. He said that no concrete evidence of any kind of rigging, corruption or paper leak has been found so far in the NEET exam.
Earlier, The Congress party has demanded a fair investigation under the supervision of the Supreme Court into the NEET examination issue. In a social media post, Mr. Kharge said, after investigation, the culprits should be given the harshest punishment and lakhs of students should be given compensation to save their year from being wasted.
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India will bring back the mortal remains of 45 of its nationals killed in a devastating fire in Kuwait by a special flight today. In a statement, Indian Embassy in Kuwait said, the special flight will land in Kochi this morning, before heading for Delhi. Most of the deceased are from Kerala (23), followed by seven from Tamil Nadu, three each from Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, two from Odisha, and one each from Bihar, Punjab, Karnataka, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Haryana.
Minister of State for External Affairs, Kirti Vardhan Singh reached Kuwait yesterday to coordinate with the Kuwaiti government for the early repatriation of the mortal remains of the deceased as well as to ensure the well-being of those injured in the tragic fire incident at a labour housing facility in the Mangaf area on Wednesday. Out of the 176 Indian workers in the housing facility, 45 have died, while 33 are hospitalised and the rest are reportedly safe.
Immediately upon his arrival, the Minister visited five hospitals, where the injured Indians are being treated, and interacted with them. According to hospital authorities, all the patients are reportedly safe and will be discharged gradually progressively depending on their medical condition.
Central government will provide 2 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased. NBTC, the company that owns the gutted labor camp in Mangaf, announced an ex-gratia of 8 lakh rupees for each of the affected families. Prominent NRI businessman and Chairman of the UAE-based Lulu Group, MA Yusuffali, pledged 5 lakh rupees for each family that lost a loved one in the fire. The Kerala government has also committed 5 lakh rupees to the families of the deceased and 1 lakh rupees to the injured.
The Indian Embassy in Kuwait has been in constant touch with local authorities, ensuring all necessary assistance to those injured and those who have been safely evacuated from the accident site. The Embassy has been operating a dedicated 24 X 7 helpline +965-65 50 52 46 WhatsApp and regular calls for family members of the deceased as well as those injured.
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NCRB has launched a Mobile App “NCRB Sankalan of Criminal Laws” to serve as a comprehensive guide providing complete information about the new criminal laws at one place. The New criminal laws will come into force from the 1st of next month.
This App is compilation of new criminal laws namely Bharatiya Nayaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam.
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India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued orange alert for heatwave conditions in Northwest, North and Eastern parts of the country. The IMD said that heatwave to severe heatwave conditions will prevail over parts of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha for the next three to four days. Talking to Akashvani News, Senior Scientist at IMD Dr RK Jenamani said that the average temperature is expected to rise by 5 to 6 degrees celsius over these regions in the upcoming days.
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In Chess, India’s Divya Deshmukh won the World Junior Girls’ Chess Championship after beating Bulgaria’s Beloslava Krasteva in the final round at the Gift City Club in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
Top-seeded Divya beat Krasteva in the 10th round with just 26 moves to claim her maiden U-20 title. She finished unbeaten in the championship by winning nine of her games, while drawing the other two.
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In the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Cricket, England defeated Oman by eight wickets to keep alive their hopes of reaching the Super Eight stage.
After being asked to bat first at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium last night, Oman struggled to find any rhythm, and eventually got all out for 47 runs. In reply, skipper Jos Buttler took the responsibility on his shoulders and helped chase the target in just 19 balls. Adil Rashid was declared Player of the Match for his brilliant spell of 4 wickets for 11 runs. In another match, Bangladesh beat the Netherlands by 25 runs at St Vincent in Kingstown. Put into bat first, Bangladesh posted 159 runs for the loss of five wickets in 20 overs. Chasing 160, Netherlands could score only 134 for 8 in the stipulated 20 overs. Shakib Al Hasan won the Player of the Match for his crucial knock of 64 runs from 46 balls.
Today, the spotlight will be on the second match of the day, where the United States will clash with Ireland in Florida. A victory would secure them a coveted spot in the Super 8, while simultaneously dimming Pakistan’s hopes of advancing to the next round. Aishwarya Rai Nigam, Newsdesk Akashvani, Delhi.
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TODAY’S NEWSPAPERS HEADLINE:
- “Modi orders wider operation to combat terror in Jammu” writes Hindustan Times. The Asian Age quotes the Prime Minister as saying “Deploy full spectrum of counter-terror operations.”
- “India slams Pakistan and China for J&K reference” states The Times of India.
- “BJP likely to retain Speaker’s post in 18th Lok Sabha” speculates The Statesman.
- “Agnipath review on cards, but no increase in four-year tenure” reports The Tribune.
- “NEET grace marks nixed; 1,563 students to get re-test option” leads The Hindu Business Line.
- “Pema Khandu sworn in as Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh for the third time” reports The Hindu.
- And finally, Bond producers to receive honorary Oscars. The Economic Times supplement writes that “The producers of James Bond, Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilison will receive honorary Oscar at a ceremony this November, the Academy said, as anticipation swells for the announcement of who will be next to play 007.”
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THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN:
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi to participate in G7 Outreach Summit at Apulia in Italy today; PM to also hold series of bilateral meetings with world leaders.
- Ajit Doval reappointed National Security Advisor and Dr. PK Mishra as Principal Secretary to Prime Minister.
- Election of Lok Sabha Speaker to take place on 26th of this month.
- India to bring back mortal remains of 45 of its nationals killed in Kuwait fire by special flight this morning.
- IMD issues orange alert for heatwave in North-West, North and East India for next 3 to 4 days.
- In sports, India’s Divya Deshmukh wins World Junior Girls’ Chess Championship in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
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