THE HEADLINES:

• Stage set for the first phase of assembly polls to be held tomorrow in Gujarat.

• President Droupadi Murmu interacts with ASHA workers in Chandigarh.

• India witnesses a significant decline in the Maternal Mortality Ratio in 2018-20. 

• President to confer the National Sports Awards 2022 and National Adventure Awards 2021 at Rashtrapati Bhawan this evening.

• 100 monuments across the country to be illuminated tomorrow on day one of India's Presidency of G-20.

• In sports, rain stops play in the third and final ODI between India and New Zealand at Hagley Oval in Christchurch.

• And, in FIFA World Cup 2022 Tunisia to face France while Australia to lock horns with Denmark today.

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Stage has been set for the first phase of assembly polls to be held in Gujarat tomorrow. A total of 788 candidates are in the fray for 89 seats in the first phase. South Gujarat, Saurastra and Kachchh region will be covered tomorrow.

Polling will start at 8 am and conclude at 5 pm. Nearly 2.4 crore voters are eligible to exercise their voting rights tomorrow. Polling parties with poll materials have reached the voting stations. All necessary security arrangements have been put in place to ensure peaceful polling in the state.

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On the concluding day of her two day visit to Haryana, President Droupadi Murmu interacted with ASHA workers and girl students as well as women wrestlers, Olympians and other sports persons in Chandigarh.

The President also attended the civic reception hosted in her honour by the Haryana Government at Raj Bhavan last evening. Addressing the gathering, the President said that Haryana has been contributing immensely in the overall development of the country.

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India has witnessed a significant decline in the Maternal Mortality Rate, MMR from 130 per lakh live births in 2014-16 to 97 per lakh live births in 2018-20.  As per the Special Bulletin released by the Registrar General of India, the MMR has improved further by a spectacular six points and now stands at 97 per lakh live births. The MMR is defined as the number of maternal deaths during a given time period per one lakh live births.

Upon achieving this, the country has accomplished the National Health Policy  target for MMR of less than 100 per lakh live births and is on the right track to achieve the Sustainable Develoment Goal  target of MMR less than 70 per lakh live births by 2030. The  number of states which have achieved Sustainable Development Goal target  has now risen from six to eight leading with Kerala, followed by Maharashtra , Telangana, Andhra  Pradesh and  Tamil Nadu.

Reacting to new milestone in MMR, Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya credited it to the various healthcare initiatives of  government  to ensure quality maternal and  reproductive care.

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Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw has said that the country has witnessed major development in technology over the last eight years and it is becoming a technology producer, from being a technology consumer. Speaking at the Start-Up National Conclave in New Delhi, Mr Vaishnaw said that there are 7 to 8 thousand start - Ups in the defence sector which are providing technological solution at very cheaper rate. He informed that the country has become the second largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world. He said, manufacturing  is emerging as a major sunrise industry and in every sector be it automobile,  defence, power, electronics , fertilizers and pharmaceuticals, manufacturing is touching new heights. The Union Minister further informed that direct jobs in the electronics manufacturing have reached 25 to 30 lakh mark which was earlier negligible before eight to nine years.

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Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has  started consultation  to put in place a mechanism to display the name of the caller on mobile phones to check pesky and fraud calls.  It has released a consultation paper on Introduction of Calling Name Presentation (CNAP) facility in telecommunication network and sought inputs from the stakeholders. Currently, mobile apps  including truecaller and Bharat Caller ID  provide such facility in which people can identify calling party names as well as  spam calls which are not  reliable enough.

Earlier, the Department of Telecommunications  had asked  TRAI to provide its recommendation on CNAP. The Department said that the introduction of CNAP facility in telecommunication networks aims at empowering  subscribers to take an informed decision while receiving an incoming call and to reduce the harassment of subscribers from spam callers. People can send their comments on the CNAP paper by 27th of next month and counter comments by 10th January next year.

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President  Droupadi Murmu will confer the National Sports Awards 2022 and National Adventure Awards 2021 to the awardees  at a function at  Rashtrapati Bhawan this evening. Table Tennis player Sharath Kamal Achanta has been chosen for Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award for 2022. National Sports Awards are given every year to recognize and reward excellence in sports. More details from our correspondent:

This year Arjuna Awards for outstanding performance in Sports and Games  will be given to 25 sportspersons. They  include athletes  Seema Punia and Eldhose Paul, shuttlers Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy, woman boxer Nikhat Zareen, Hockey player Deep Grace Ekka, weightlifter Vikash Thakur, Wrestlers Anshu and Sarita and Para Badminton player Tarun Dhillon. Five coaches have been chosen for the Dronacharya Award in the regular category and three other coaches in the lifetime category.  Ashwini Akkunji  and  Dharamvir Singh are among the four sportsperson who have been chosen for Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime achievement in Sports Games. Three entities have been recommended for the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar. This year Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy  will be given to Guru Nanak Dev University of Amritsar. Anand Kumar, AIR News Delhi.

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Now, moving on to G20 in India news segment. As many as 100 monuments in the country will be lit up with the G20 logo tomorrow as India will formally take over the G20 presidency. The logo draws inspiration from the vibrant colours of India’s national flag - saffron, white and green, and blue. It juxtaposes planet Earth with the lotus, India’s national flower that reflects growth amid challenges. The Earth reflects India’s pro-planet approach to life, one in perfect harmony with nature. Below the G20 logo is Bharat, written in the Devanagari script.

The theme of India’s G20 Presidency is Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam or One Earth One Family One Future.  Essentially, the theme affirms the value of all life - human, animal, plant, and microorganisms and their interconnectedness on the planet Earth and in the wider universe. Our correspondent reports that  it will be a  big opportunity for India  as the country will get a global center stage.  During the course of its Presidency, India will be holding about 200 meetings in 32 different sectors in multiple locations across the country.

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President of Sri Lanka India society Mr Kishore Reddy has said that the Indian Presidency of G20 is a great opportunity for the countries not represented in the forum. Speaking exclusively to our Special Correspondent, Mr. Reddy was confident that India will safeguard interests of countries like Sri Lanka also at the forum.

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A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court today dismissed a petition filed by a lawyer challenging the Governor's action of withholding the bills passed by the State Legislative Assembly indefinitely.

The Bench comprising Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chaly said the court cannot fix a time frame for the Governor to act upon the bills.

The lawyer, in his plea said that several bills were pending before the  Governor for his assent for some time. He said the Governor has neither given his  assent,  nor did he send it back for reconsideration. The lawyer also pointed out that the Governor has not acted upon the other option of forwarding the bills  for  the consideration of the President of India.

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NATO allies have promised to send equipments to restore Ukrainian power supply systems which were knocked out by Russian missile strikes. The allies also assured to boost the air defense system capabilities of Ukraine.

Foreign ministers from the NATO alliance, including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, began a two-day meeting in Bucharest yesterday, seeking to sustain Kyiv's military through a coming winter campaign.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that Russian forces were attempting to advance in multiple regions.

Maenwhile, NATO Secretary General chief Jens Stoltenberg also said that the military alliance expects more missile attacks on Ukraine.

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In FIFA World Cup 2022, today Tunisia will face France while Australia will lock horns with Denmark. Both matches will be played at 8.30 PM Indian standard time. More from our sports correspondent :-

Denmark are still paying the price for failing to score against Tunisia in their opening 0-0 draw. France will look to strike the right balance between resting players and keeping their World Cup momentum going when they take on Tunisia in their final Group D game. The defending champions qualified for the knockout rounds with a game to spare after a 4-1 win against Australia and a 2-1 win against Denmark, and a draw with Tunisia would guarantee them top spot. Qatar became the earliest nation to exit from the group stage of the FIFA World Cup in 92 years.  The hosts were defeated by Netherland by 0-2. England will next face Senegal in the round of 16. Wales finished in last place in the group and has been eliminated. In the other group B game, USA defeated Iran by 1-0.  AIR NEWS Sports desk

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Rain has stopped play in the third and final ODI game between India and New Zealand at Hagley Oval in Christchurch. New Zealand need 116 more to win off the remaning 32 over to win the game. Washington Sundar hit his maiden ODI fifty. Adam Milne and Daryl Mitchell claimed three wickets each , while Tim Southee scalped two.  Shreyas Iyer scored 49 runs and the visiting team bundled out for 219. New Zealand skipper  Kane Williamson had won the toss and opted to bowl first against India. New Zealand lead the series 1-0.

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The third  hockey test match  between India and Australia is underway  at the Mate Stadium, Adelaide.  After facing two successive defeats, the Indian Men’s Hockey team led by Harmanpreet Singh will look to clinch victory against World No.1.

The Indian men’s hockey team is likely to address its defensive woes  and hoping to bounce back from back-to-back defeats in the five-match series.  This series is crucial for both the teams as it’s a part of preparations for the World Cup in Odisha, starting 13TH  January.

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The Sensex and the Nifty today extended gains for seventh session in row to hit life time high level in the afternoon trade. Both indices logged modest gains amid positive cues from global share markets. The Sensex was trading above 62,750 while the Nifty was trading above 18,650 points.

The Sensex rose 81 points to trade at 62,763. The Nifty also added 41 points to trade at 18,659.

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THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN

• Stage set for the first phase of assembly polls to be held tomorrow in Gujarat.

• President Droupadi Murmu interacts with ASHA workers in Chandigarh.

• India witnesses a significant decline in the Maternal Mortality Ratio in 2018-20. 

• President to confer the National Sports Awards 2022 and National Adventure Awards 2021 at Rashtrapati Bhawan this evening.

• 100 monuments across the country to be illuminated tomorrow on day one of India's Presidency of G-20.

• In sports, rain stops play in the third and final ODI between India and New Zealand at Hagley Oval in Christchurch.

• And, in FIFA World Cup 2022 Tunisia to face France while Australia to lock horns with Denmark today.

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