Akashvani , National news, All India Radio News

THE HEADLINES:

• President Droupadi Murmu calls upon technical institutions to become 'future-ready in view of rapid changes in the field of technology.

• RBI to launch first pilot for retail digital Rupee.

• Campaigning ends for first phase of Gujarat assembly elections; Polling on Thursday for 89 assembly seats.

• British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reiterates his country's commitment to Free Trade Agreement with India.

• And, in FIFA World Cup, match between Ecuador and Senegal underway; In another match, the Netherlands and Qatar face each other.

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President Droupadi Murmu has called upon technical institutions to become 'future-ready in view of the rapid changes in the field of technology. The President was addressing the 18th convocation of the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Kurukshetra today.

"आज पूरा विश्व तेज़ी से हो रहे परिवर्तन के दौर से गुज़र रहा है। इस टेक्नोलोजी के रेव्युलेशन से नेचर ऑफ जोश में बदलाव हो रहा है। लोगों की बुनियादी ज़रूरतों में भी बदलाव आ रहा है। इससे इंजीनियरिंग की अब तक की पद्धतियों को भी चुनौतियां मिल रही हैं। इस टेक्नोलोजी के----की वजह से हो रहे बदलाव के कारण यह अत्यंत महत्वपूर्ण हो जाता है कि एनआईटी कुरुक्षेत्र सहित हमारे टेक्नीकल इंस्टीट्यूशन् फीचर रेडी बनें।"

Pointing to the trend of making salary packages as the criteria for success in education, the President advised students not to judge their success on the basis of the package. She urged students to choose a career that gives them satisfaction and a sense of meaning in life. She also urged parents to motivate  children to achieve  excellence. The President said that it is a matter of pride that NIT Kurukshetra is the first NIT in North India and second in the country to establish a state-of-the-art Centre of Excellence'.

Earlier in the day, the President addressed the International Gita Seminar organised as a part of the International Gita Festival-2022 at Kurukshetra University.

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The Reserve Bank of India has announced the first pilot for the retail digital Rupee which will be launched on Thursday. Eight banks have been identified for phase-wise participation in this pilot. The pilot will initially cover Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru and Bhubaneswar and later extend to Ahmedabad, Gangtok, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Kochi, Lucknow, Patna and Shimla. The scope of the pilot may be expanded gradually to include more banks, users and locations as needed. More from our correspondent:

"The first phase will begin with four banks including State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank and IDFC First Bank in four cities across the country. Four more banks, including Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank will join this pilot subsequently. The digital Rupee would be in the form of a digital token that represents legal tender. Users will be able to transact with digital Rupee through a digital wallet offered by the participating banks and stored on mobile phones. Transactions can be both Person to Person and Person to Merchant. The digital Rupee would offer features of physical cash like trust, safety and settlement finality. Different features and applications of the digital Rupee token and architecture will be tested in future pilots. Madhuri Pange, AIR News, Mumbai."

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Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur has said that maintaining public trust should be the highest guiding principle for responsible media organization. The Minister was speaking at the inaugural session of the 59th Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) General Assembly and Associated Meeting 2022 in New Delhi today.

Mr Thakur credited public broadcasters Doordarshan and All India Radio for having always stood by the truth and having won the people’s trust for their truthful reporting.

Speaking on the occasion, Prasar Bharati, CEO, Gaurav Dwivedi, said  this year's theme of the ABU General Assembly, "Serving the People: Media’s Role in Times of Crisis " is apt, especially after the world faced a crisis like COVID.

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In Gujarat, high voltage campaigning for the first phase of assembly elections ended this evening. Leaders from all political parties made last-ditch efforts to woo  voters. Polling in first phase will take place on Thursday. Our correspondent has the details: 

"After the first phase of campaigning is over, the party workers and candidates have started door-to-door campaigning. Under this phase, voting will be held for 89 seats of 19 districts of Saurashtra, South Gujarat and Kutch. The Election Commission has completed all the preparations for the polling. A total of 788 candidates including 70 women are in the fray in this phase. The Election commission has set up 25 thousand 430 polling booths for voting. More than 2 crore 39 lakh voters will be able to use the franchise in this phase.- with Jitendra Dwivedi Aparna Khunt, AIR News Ahmedabad."

The political parties have now shifted their focus to central and North Gujarat which will go to polls in the second phase on the 5th of December.

Today, BJP National President JP Nadda and Senior BJP leaders Amit Shah, Smriti Irani and Parshottam Rupala addressed rallies at several places in the state. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath held a roadshow at Panchmahal and addressed a rally at Lunawada. Congress Spokesperson Alok Sharma held a press conference in Ahmedabad while other leaders of the party including State President Jagdish Thakor campaigned at different places. Aam Aadmi Party leader and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Maan held road shows at various places in Saurashtra region.

Counting of votes for the two phases will take place on the 8th of December.

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Campaigning for elections of the Delhi Municipal Corporation is in full swing for 250 Wards which will go to polls on the 4th of next month. Counting of votes will take place on the 7th December. 

BJP leaders Anurag Singh Thakur, Bhupender Yadav and Dr. Jitendra Singh today campaigned in various parts of the city. Aam Aadmi Party's convener and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal held a door-to-door campaign in the Chirag Delhi area. AAP leader Manish Sisodia also held public meetings in Pandav Nagar and Jagat Puri Ward in favour of the Party's candidate.The Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee President Anil Chaudhary participated in a public meeting in Sabha Pur area.

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The Meghalaya Cabinet passed its first-ever Mental Health and Social Care Policy today. Meghalaya has become the first state in the Northeast region and the third state in the country to have such a policy. Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said, the policy will ensure proper attention to mental health, especially for children, adolescents, and youth.

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British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has reiterated his country's commitment to a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India as a part of Britain's wider focus on enhancing ties with the Indo-Pacific region. He was delivering a talk on British foreign policy at an  event in London yesterday. Mr Sunak also pledged to do things differently when it came to China, which he said poses a "systemic challenge" to British values and interests.

The British Prime Minister said, considering the positive aspects of the Indo-Pacific, Britain is joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific trade deal, delivering a new FTA with India and pursuing one with Indonesia.

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India has provided financial assistance of 100 million US dollars to the  Maldives. The assistance is in the form of budgetary support to tide over the difficult economic situation in the archipelago nation. The assistance is being extended without any conditions and the Maldives is free to use it in its economic recovery as it deems fit.

Speaking at the handover ceremony virtually, External Affairs Minister Dr Jaishankar expressed hope that the financial assistance will help Maldives channelise her energies towards  rapid economic growth.

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Vistara airlines, a joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, will be merged with Tata-owned Air India by March 2024. In a press release, Singapore Airlines and Tata Sons said that they have agreed to the merger, subject to regulatory approvals. Singapore Airlines will 2,000 crore rupees in Air India as soon as this integration is completed. Singapore Airlines, which owns a minority share in Vistara, will own around 25 per cent of the enlarged Air India.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited people to participate in the Mann ki Baat Quiz regarding topics covered during this month's episode of Mann Ki Baat. In a tweet, Mr Modi said that people can participate in the Quiz by logging on to the NaMo App and answering 10 questions. The quiz is live till the 11th of December. 

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In another tweet, the Prime Minister expressed happiness over the export of mobile phone having more than doubled from April to October in the current fiscal as compared to last year. Mobile phone exports crossed the 5 billion dollar mark within 7 months which is more than double of 2.2 billion dollar that India clocked in same period, last year. The Prime Minister said that India continues to make strides in the world of manufacturing.

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At the stock markets, both  key indices posted their record highs, today, while the rupee weakened slightly against the dollar. A report from the business desk- 

"At the stock markets, rising for the sixth straight day, the Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange gained 177 points to close at a fresh all time high of 62,682, today. The Nifty at the National Stock Exchange added 55 points, to a new record high of 18,618. At the forex market, the rupee depreciated 5 paise, to 81 rupees and 72 paise, against the dollar. Gold fell 101 rupees, to 52,837 rupees per ten grams in Delhi.And...  The Brent crude futures surged 2 dollar and 50 cents, to trade at 85.69 dollars a barrel. RAJESH LEIKH For AIR News."

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In FIFA World Cup, two Group-A fixtures are underway.

In the clash between Ecuador and Senegal, no goal was scored till reports last came in. In the other encounter between the Netherlands and host Qatar, the Netherlands was leading by one goal, when reports last came in.   

In late night Group B matches, England meets Wales while the US will clash with Iran at 12.30 am tonight.

Meanwhile, Portugal became the third team after France and Brazil to qualify for the Round of 16 stage.

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India will take on New Zealand in the third and final ODI at Hagley Oval in Christchurch tomorrow. The match will start at 7 AM Indian Standard Time. Team India will look to level the three-match series as  visitors lost the opening match by seven wickets while the second match was called off due to rain. There is a recast of scattered showers in Christchurch tomorrow.

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Now, let's have a look at weather forecast for tomorrow.

National capital Delhi is likely to have a foggy morning. The minimum temperature will be seven degree Celsius while the maximum will be around 26 degrees.

Mumbai and Kolkata are expected to have clear sky. In Mumbai, the temperature will vary between 19 and 33 degree Celsius.

 In Kolkata, the temperature will hover between 19 and 30 degree Celsius.

Chennai is expected to have generally cloudy sky with light rain. The minimum temperature will be 22 degree Celsius and maximum will be around 30 degrees.

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AND NOW BEFORE WE END THE BULLETIN,

THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN.

• President Droupadi Murmu calls upon technical institutions to become 'future-ready in view of rapid changes in the field of technology.

• RBI to launch first pilot for retail digital Rupee.

• Campaigning ends for first phase of Gujarat assembly elections; Polling on Thursday for 89 assembly seats.

• British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reiterates his country's commitment to Free Trade Agreement with India.

• And, in FIFA World Cup, match between Ecuador and Senegal underway; In another match, the Netherlands and Qatar face each other.

For details of these stories and more, log on to our website  www.newsonair.gov.in and News On Air App.

THAT IS ALL IN THE NEWS AT NINE

GOOD NIGHT.

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