NAMASKAR! A warm welcome to 'World News: an Indian perspective on All India Radio. This is ABHINEET SHUKLA bringing glimpses of the major developments of the day from across the globe. Over the next half an hour, we shall bring to you the latest from the world of politics, economy, sports, entertainment and more.

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HEADLINES:

⦁ The 17th edition of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention to begin in Indore from Sunday.  

⦁ Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal says structural reforms over the past 8 years can propel India among world's top three developed economies.

⦁ The First Global Partnership on Financial Inclusion meeting under Indian G20 Presidency set to begin in Kolkata on Monday

⦁ India will deploy its largest all-women UN Peacekeeping contingent to Sudan.

⦁ Thailand and Germany reinstate covid travel bans and checks for China bound trips and chinese flyers.

⦁ And in Cricket, India won the last match of the series by 91 runs.

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PRAVASI BHARATIYA DIWAS

The 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas(PBD) Convention  will begin  in Indore on Sunday. The three day  convention  will   conclude  on 10 th  January. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will formally inaugurate the  convention on Monday while President  Droupadi Murmu will preside over the valedictory session and present the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman..

The theme of the PBD Convention is “Diaspora: Reliable partners for India’s progress in Amrit Kaal". Over 3,500 diaspora members from nearly 70 different countries have registered for the   Convention.

The PBD Convention will have three segments. The Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas will be  inaugurated on Sunday in collaboration with Ministry of Youth affairs and Sports.There will   be a discussion on the role of youth migrants in innovation and new technology in the plenary session to be chaired by Union Minister Anurag Singh Thakur. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Guest of Honor and Member of Parliament from Australia Ms. Zeneta Mascarenhas and Union Minister for External Affairs Dr. S. Jaishankar will also  address the gathering.

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PIYUSH-IEF

India's Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday expressed confidence over India emerging as one of the  top three developed economies in the world due to the structural reforms taken in the last 8 years.

The Minister also highlighted that due to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention, world economies were able to find an outcome at the G20 meeting in Bali and hoped that it would help in finding solutions to the Russia-Ukraine war.

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G-20 MEET-KOLKATA

Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Port in Kolkata has taken up beautification of Howrah Bridge and adjoining areas in connection with the ensuing G20 Meet in Kolkata from 9th to 11th January, 2023 . The city Port, being the only major riverine port in India has taken multi-pronged steps to make the city and the port cleaner, greener, more environment-friendly and commercially more attractive to the eminent international delegates.

To project the City Port before the investors in the port and the city, trade and commerce in a more effective way riverfront beautification programmes right from Man-o-War Jetty to Howrah Bridge have been taken and quite significantly all the Mooring Buoys of the port are being painted on the Hooghly Riverside. Special Illumination of the Howrah Bridge has also been done to welcome the G20 delegates, said P.L.Haranath, the Chairman,  Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Port, Kolkata.

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FIRST G-20 GPFI

The first G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) meeting under G20 India Presidency gets underway in Kolkata on Monday. During 9-11 January the GPFI member countries, guest countries and international organisations invited by India, will participate in the discussions on the Finance Inclusion agenda under the Indian G20 Presidency.

The meeting starts with a Symposium on “Unlocking the potentials of Digital Public Infrastructure for advancing financial inclusion and productivity gains”. An exhibition on “Digital innovations for Financial Inclusion”has also been organized.

The Exhibition showcases India’s achievements and efforts in advancing digital financial inclusion . It displays the financial system infrastructure, emerging technologies and interactive financial literacy awareness videos. Digital identification process flow for individuals and digital innovations in financial inclusion will be showcased. Innovations and achievements by various stakeholders such as Public Sector Units, Public Sector Banks, Fintech companies, etc will be on display. A Jan Bhagidari initiative with a Seminar on Financial Literacy will be organized  on January 10. This will be aimed at educating about 1800 school students on banking, digital payments, insurance, investment, fraud protection and grievance redressal.

The GPFI Plenary sessions will be held on 10-11 January. Role of Digital Public Infrastructure for advancing financial inclusion and reducing cost of remittances would be discussed. Assessing progress made in implementation of G20 High-Level Principles for Digital Financial Inclusion and advancing financing for MSMEs are also on the agenda.

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ANURAG Y20

Youth Affairs and Sports Minister of India Anurag Singh Thakur has said, the country's youth are emerging as pioneers and fast adopters of new technology. The Minister was speaking at the Y20 India curtain raiser event at Akashwani Rang Bhawan in New Delhi on Friday. On the occasion, Mr Thakur launched the themes, logo and website of Y20 summit. Youth 20 (Y20) is the official youth engagement group of G20. It provides a platform that allows youth to express their vision and ideas on the G20 priorities.

Mr Thakur also elaborated on the five themes of Y20. These include Future of Work, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction, Peacebuilding and Reconciliation, Shared Future and Well-being and Sports.

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HOTSPOT

In today's Hotspot Section, Our foreign affairs editor Dr.Atul Kumar Tiwary takes a look at the major events and developments under India's G20 Presidency this week.

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INDIA WOMEN-UN PEACEKEEPERS

India will deploy a platoon of women peacekeepers to UN Mission in Sudan. This will be India's largest single unit of women Peacekeepers in a UN Mission since it deployed the first ever all-women contingent in Liberia in 2007, stated the Permanent Mission of India to the UN. The Indian contingent, comprising two officers and 25 Other Ranks, will form part of an Engagement platoon and specialize in Community outreach, though they will be performing extensive security-related tasks as well.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed pride that Indian Army has deployed its largest contingent of women Peacekeepers in United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) in Sudan. In a tweet, Mr Modi said India has a tradition of active participation in UN peacekeeping missions. He said the participation by India's Nari Shakti is even more gladdening.

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THAILAND COVID

According to the national transport minister of Thailand, the country will reintroduce Covid-19 entry requirements for foreigners flying into the country from Monday, as the Southeast Asian nation prepares for an expected wave of tourists from China. Adults must show proof of at least two vaccinations, or recovery from the virus since July, stated the comments from Saksayam Chidchob published on the minister’s political party’s Website. Unvaccinated visitors will need a medical report justifying their lack of inoculations, while passengers transiting to other destinations are exempt as per the statement of the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand. These rules will be temporarily applicable until Jan. 31. Additionally, visitors from countries that require Covid tests for arrivals from Thailand must have health insurance during their stay, the statement said.    

Among the nations that recently reimposed Covid entry rules, India this month began mandatory Covid-19 tests for fliers from China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand. The reintroduction of entry requirements aimed at stemming the spread of Covid-19 comes as China dismantles its zero-covid policy and reopens to the world also scrapping quarantine for arrivals from Jan. 8. Thailand expects 3,00,000 Chinese visitors in the first quarter of this year, after it reached a target of 10 million foreign arrivals last year in a better-than-expected recovery of its vital tourism sector.

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GERMANY COVID TRAVLES

Germany on Saturday discouraged non-essential trips to China, the world's most populous nation, which is struggling with a surge in Covid cases after relaxing strict virus restrictions. The German Foreign Ministry tweeted, "We currently discourage non-essential trips to China. The reason is a peak in Covid infections and an overwhelmed health system".

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LONGEST RIVER CRUISE-UPDATE

The longest river cruise from river Ganga  to Brahmaputra is all set to embark on its maiden journey from January 13. The Ganga Vilas cruise carrying Swiss, Australian and German tourists reached Ghazipur district in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday. Tourists will stay here overnight and visit the famous places in Ghazipur including the mausoleum of lord Cornwallis. The luxury cruise had its first stoppage at Balia in Uttar Pradesh on Friday. It will reach Varanasi on Sunday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually flag off the cruise, Ganga Vilas, from Varanasi on 13th Jan, 2023 for its journey towards Dibrugarh. Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath and Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal will be present on this occasion.

The Cruise, since its departure will arrive in Patna on its eighth day after stopping in Buxar, Ramnagar and Ghazipur. It will arrive in Kolkata on 20th day passing through Farakka and Murshidabad. On 21st day it will cross into Dhaka, Bangladesh where it will have a fortnight stay. The cruise will return to India via Guwahati and then via Sibsagar it will back to Dibrugarh for the final leg of the journey.

During the course of its journey, the luxury cruise will cover 3,200 km in 50 days. It will pass through 50 different locations including heritage sites, national parks and sanctuaries like the Sundarbans Delta and Kaziranga National Park. The trip will cross through 27 major river systems in India and Bangladesh.

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IRAN HANGING

In Iran, two men named Mohammad Mahdi Karami and Seyed Mohammad Hosseini have been hanged in Iran for allegedly killing a member of the military during nationwide protests. They were found guilty of "corruption on earth" over their alleged involvement in the death of a paramilitary officer. The trials have been described as sham by human rights groups. Even the family members of those men were not permitted to meet before they were punished. Prosecutors claimed paramilitary officer Ruhollah Ajamian was stripped naked and killed by a group of mourners paying their respects to a recently-killed protester. Protests against Iran's clerical establishment erupted in September following the death in custody of a woman who was detained by morality police for allegedly wearing her hijab, or headscarf, improperly.

At least 516 protesters have been killed so far, including 70 children, and 19,262 others arrested, according to the foreign-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA). It has also reported the deaths of 68 security personnel.

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CRICKET

Arshdeep Singh made a strong comeback to take three wickets, after Suryakumar Yadav dazzled with his third T20I century as India thrashed Sri Lanka by 91 runs in the series-decider in Rajkot. Chasing a target of 229, Sri Lanka were skittled out for 137 (16.4 overs) as India won the three-match series 2-1. Earlier, Suryakumar Yadav slammed an unbeaten century to power India to a mammoth total of 228/5 against Sri Lanka in the third and final T20I in Rajkot.

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HEADLINES

⦁ The 17th edition of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention to begin in Indore from Sunday.  

⦁ Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal says structural reforms over the past 8 years can propel India among world's top three developed economies.

⦁ The First Global Partnership on Financial Inclusion meeting under Indian G20 Presidency set to begin in Kolkata on Monday

⦁ India will deploy its largest all-women UN Peacekeeping contingent to Sudan.

⦁ Thailand and Germany reinstate covid travel bans and checks for China bound trips and chinese flyers.

⦁ And in Cricket, India won the last match of the series by 91 runs.

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And now, before we end, let us listen to Mahatma Gandhi's favourite bhajanVaishnav Jan, by artists from SLOVENIA.

AND WITH THAT, WE END THIS BULLETIN. WE'LL BE BACK AT THE SAME TIME TOMORROW WITH THE NEXT EDITION OF WORLD NEWS.

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