THE HEADLINES:

• Winter Session of Parliament begins tomorrow; Government ready to discuss any issue, says Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasizes millets as a food choice for the future.

• World Bank expects India to remain one of the fastest growing major economies of the World; Upgrades GDP growth forecast for 2022-23 from 6.5 to 6.9 percent.

• Government free telemedicine service E-Sanjeevani achieves eight crore teleconsultations mark.

• 34 dead as landslide buries vehicles in Colombia, South America.

• And, in FIFA World Cup, pre-quarter final match between Morocco and Spain underway; Portugal to lock horns with Switzerland later tonight.

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The Winter Session of the Parliament begins tomorrow. Ahead of the Session an all party meeting was held in the Parliament Complex in New Delhi today.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal and V. Muraleedharan attended the meeting. Congress Leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, DMK Leaders T.R. Balu and Tiruchi Shiva, TMC Leaders Derek O'Brien and Sudeep Bandyopadhyay, CPI Leader Binoy Vishwam and Leaders of other political parties also attended the meeting.

After the meeting Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said that the government is ready to discuss any issue allowed by the chair in parliament.

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury urged the government for extensive debates on various issues during the winter session. He demanded that issues like unemployment, inflation, situation on Indo-China border, and MSP for farmers may be discussed during the winter session.

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The Election Commission is taking all necessary steps for a smooth and peaceful counting of votes for Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh Assembly on Thursday. Official sources said that in Gujarat there would be a total of 37 counting centres across the State covering 182 Assembly seats. Ahmedabad district has the maximum of three counting centres. In Himachal Pradesh all preprations have been completed counting of will take place in 68 centres. 

The News Services Divison of All India Radio will broadcast special programmes on the counting day on Thursday. 

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The counting of votes for election to the 250 wards of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi will take place tomorrow. The counting will begin at 8 AM at all 42 counting centres. Talking to AIR News, Delhi State Election Commissioner Vijay Dev said, elaborate security arrangements have been made at all counting centres to ensure the smooth counting of votes.

A total of over one thousand three hundred forty-nine candidates including 709 women are in the fray whose political fate will be decided tomorrow. The polling for the MCD election was held on Sunday, which saw a voter turnout of 50.48 per cent.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emphasised making millets a food choice for the future. He said, millets are among the earliest crops grown by humans and have been an important source of nutrients. Mr. Modi said this in his message during the opening ceremony of the International Year of Millets at the Food and Agricultural Organization FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy today. Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shobha Karandlaje represented India at the opening ceremony and read out the Prime Minister’s message.

Saying that a global movement related to millets is an important step in the direction of food security, the Prime Minister informed that millets are easy to grow, climate resilient, and drought resistant. He further added that millets are a rich source of balanced nutrition, compatible with natural ways of farming, and need less water. Mr. Modi remarked that millets are good for the consumer, cultivator, and climate. While concluding, the Prime Minister highlighted the tremendous role that institutions and individuals can play.

Prime Minister congratulated the United Nations and the Food and Agriculture Organisation for the launch of the International Year of Millets 2023 and expressed appreciation to member nations for their support.

Our correspondent reports that it is the Prime Minister’s vision and initiative that led to the United Nations General Assembly declaring the year 2023 as the International Year of Millets with support from more than 70 nations across the globe.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed grief over the demise of eminent economist and former Union Minister Professor Y K Alagh. Mr. Modi said, he was a distinguished scholar who was passionate about various aspects of public policy, particularly rural development, the environment, and economics.

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The World Bank today said that the Indian economy is set to grow at 6.9 per cent in 2022-23, raising its forecast of 6.5 per cent growth made in October. It said India has demonstrated resilience despite a challenging external environment. In a statement, the World Bank said, India is expected to register strong GDP growth and remain one of the fastest growing major economies in the world, due to robust domestic demand. It noted that India’s economy is relatively insulated from global spillovers compared to other emerging markets.

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Government-free telemedicine service, eSanjeevani has crossed another milestone by clocking eight crore teleconsultations. The Health Ministry said, the last one crore consultations were recorded in around five weeks, signaling a wider adoption of telemedicine. eSanjeevani is a national telemedicine service that strives to provide an alternative to conventional physical consultations through a digital platform.

The Ministry said, in less than three years, this initiative has garnered the distinction of being the world’s largest government-owned telemedicine platform. This model has been successfully implemented in over one lakh nine thousand Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres. eSanjeevani OPD has trained and onboarded over two lakh twenty-two thousand specialists, doctors, and health workers.

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Information and Broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur today inaugurated the Virtual Drone E learning platform at Agni College of Technology at Chengalpet near Chennai. The Minister also flagged off the drone yatra. Speaking at the event, Mr. Thakur said that drone technology is essential for defence, agriculture, horticulture, cinema and could substitute for many areas. The Minister informed at least one lakh drone pilots will be trained under the make in India scheme in two years time by the Garuda Aerospace Technology in Chengalpet District.

Mr Thakur said that India is making a significant progress in developing cutting edge in drone technology. He told that drone technology can be used to stop illegal mining and can create a massive impact on agriculture.

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Union Public Service Commission, UPSC has declared the results of the Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2022 which was held in September this year. The e-Summon Letters of Personality Tests or Interviews of the candidates qualified in the examination will be made available in due course, which can be downloaded from the Commission’s Website.

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China’s capital Beijing today further relaxed some COVID curbs, doing away with the requirement of negative COVID-19 test to enter supermarkets, commercial buildings, airport, etc., this was the latest in a raft of measures adopted to relax its dreaded “dynamic zero” COVID policy nationwide after historic public protests against it. State media reported at least 19 cities across China, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Wuhan have scrapped negative COVID testing requirement for riding public transport. However, a negative test result is still needed to enter hospitals, schools, restaurants and gyms etc. A report from our Beijing correspondent:

A big shift in China’s “Zero-COVID” policy began on November 30 when southern metropolis of Guangzhou abruptly ended most lockdowns despite reporting high number of daily cases. Same day, a number of major cities also declared an easing of certain Covid controls. This was followed by historic protests nationwide against the lockdowns and stringent “Zero-COVID” policy.On Nov 30, end of lockdown in Guangzhou was followed by China’s Vice Premier Sun Chunlan, saying that China’s battle against the virus “is facing new situation” as the omicron variant becomes less pathogenic. This flurry of announcements and actions and removal of negative COVID test requirement from some places despite high number of daily cases is seen as the significant first step towards a quiet exit from President Xi’s signature Zero-COVID policy even though many challenges still remain. Anshuman Mishra, AIR News, Beijing.

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In Colombia South America, the death toll has gone upto 34 in a rain-fuelled landslide that buried a bus and other vehicles in northwest province of Risaralda. According to late reports the accident happened on Sunday. Colombia's disaster management agency said, the bus was traveling from Cali, Colombia's third largest city, to the municipality of Condoto, in Choco province. Rescuers are digging through the mud for survivors and nine people have been rescued alive.

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The Winter session of Parliament begins tomorrow. On the eve of the session, News Services Division of All India Radio will bring you Special discussions tonight at 9.30 pm on “Issues Before Parliament” in English and  “Sansad Ke Samaksh Mudde” in Hindi.

Members of Parliament and Spokespersons from Recognised National Parties will be participating and sharing with us, the issues the parties want to discuss in the upcoming winter session.

“Issues Before Parliament” programme can be heard on FM Rainbow Channel and “Sansad Ke Samaksh Mudde” programme can be heard on FM Gold,Indraprastha and AIR Live News 24/7 channels from 9.30 p.m. to 10.00 p.m.

This programme will also be available on our website NEWS ON AIR DOT COM and on our YouTube Channel NEWS ON AIR OFFICIAL.

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The Sensex and the Nifty today witnessed modest losses. Both indices fell more than 0.3 per cent amid negative cues from global share markets. The BSE Sensex finished below 62,650 points while the Nifty settled below the 18,650 level.

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In the FIFA World Cup 2022, the match between Morocco and Spain is underway at Al Rayyan Stadium, Doha, Qatar.

No goal was scored when reports last came in.

In another last Round of 16 match, Portugal will face Switzerland at Lusail Stadium at 12.30 tonight.

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AND NOW BEFORE WE END THE BULLETIN, THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN.

• Winter Session of Parliament begins tomorrow; Government ready to discuss any issue, says Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasizes millets as a food choice for the future.

• World Bank expects India to remain one of the fastest growing major economies of the World; Upgrades GDP growth forecast for 2022-23 from 6.5 to 6.9 percent.

• Government free telemedicine service E-Sanjeevani achieves eight crore teleconsultations mark.

• 34 dead as landslide buries vehicles in Colombia, South America.

• And, in FIFA World Cup, pre-quarter final match between Morocco and Spain underway; Portugal to lock horns with Switzerland later tonight.

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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