President Murmu to be on 2-day visit to UP from Monday
Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra achieves commendable milestone by covering 158 Panchayats in Pulwama district
Youth power is the greatest asset of our country, says J&K LG Manoj Sinha
26th Eastern Zonal Council Meeting concludes in Patna
Voting begins for presidential election in Egypt
Women's Cricket: 3rd T20I between India and England underway at Wankhede Stadium
Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra reaches urban and rural areas of MP
COP28 Nature, Land Use, and Ocean Day Yields Over 186 Million in Climate Action Commitments
Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra concludes successfully in two more far-flung Panchayats of Block Inderwal of district Kishtwar
Ladakh: Special programs organized at Lhalung and Silmo Panchayats under Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra
NAMASKAR! A warm welcome to 'World News: an Indian perspective on All India Radio. This is R.S RAGHU 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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THE HEADLINES:
⦁ India names 21 islands of Andaman and Nicobar after country's highest gallantry award winners on birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.
⦁ President of India Droupadi Murmu confers National Bravery awards upon 11 children.
⦁ Indian Army to showcase indigenously developed equipment at Republic Day parade.
⦁ Fifth Kalvari class submarine INS Vagir inducted into Indian Navy.
⦁ US launches new initiative to speed up visa processing for Indians.
⦁ Russia and Estonia expel the ambassadors from each other’s countries.
⦁ In Australian Open Tennis, Indian pair of Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna advance to mixed doubles quarter-finals.
⦁ And, in Men's Cricket, third and final ODI between India and New Zealand to be played at Indore tomorrow.
PM-PARAKRAM DIWAS
India observed Parakram Diwas on Monday to mark the 126th Birth anniversary of country's great freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
India's President Droupadi Murmu paid homage to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on the occasion of Parakram Diwas. In a message, she said Netaji epitomises exceptional courage and patriotism and his leadership encouraged millions to join the country's freedom struggle. Vice President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar also paid tribute to Netaji. He appealed to recommit to build an India that Netaji envisioned.
On the occasion, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi named the 21 largest unnamed islands of Andaman and Nicobar after country's highest gallantry award winners. The Prime Minister attended the event held at Port blair through video conferencing. He also unveiled the model of the National Memorial dedicated to Netaji. The memorial will be built on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Dweep in Port Blair. It will consist of Netaji's Museum, Heritage trail, ropeway connected to Port Blair and a children's park. Speaking on the occasion, the Indian Prime Minister stated that, a new history is being written today, as the nation celebrates Parakram Diwas marking 126th birth anniversary of country's great freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Mr. Modi said, it will be an inspiration for the coming generations. The Prime Minister said, the Goverment recognised the great valour and supreme sacrifices of India's brave soldiers, for whom nation first is the only motto. The naming of islands have deep messages like Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat, eternity of sacrifices made by Indian soldiers and great valour of Indian Army.
Home Minister Amit Shah was also present at the event. Speaking on the occasion, he said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's initiative to name islands after Param Vir Chakra awardees will ensure they are remembered forever. Andman and Nicobar Lt. Governor Admiral D K Joshi and Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan were also present at the event.
PRESIDENT AWARDS
President of India Droupadi Murmu on Monday conferred this year's National Bravery Awards on 11 children at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi. The awards wee given to children for their exceptional achievement in six categories, which include Art, Culture, Bravery, Innovation, Social Service, and Sports. Each awardee has received a medal, a cash prize of one lakh rupees, and a certificate from the President. Speaking at the event, President Murmu said, these awards are a recognition of their contribution and dedication to the country. The President said that, she is amazed to see the remarkable work done by these children at this tender age. She added, these children are a source of inspiration to many others as well.
Speaking on the occasion, India's Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani lauded the children for their exceptional abilities and outstanding achievements. The Minister said, today the chidren who have got these awards, represent a new way of social upliftment. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar awardees on Tuesday at his residence in New Delhi.
REPUBLIC DAY-INDIAN ARMY
The Indian Army has said that indigenously developed equipment like Arjun Tank, Nag Missile System, K9 Vajra, and Akash Weapon System under the Self-reliant India initiative will be showcased during the Republic Day parade on the 26th of January at Kartavya Path. While briefing the media in New Delhi on Monday, the Indian Army said, eight marching contingents including six from the Indian Army, one from Indian Air Force and one from Indian Navy will take part in the Republic Day parade. It said, Mechanised Infantry, Dogra Regiment, Punjab Regiment, Maratha Light Infantry, Bihar Regiment and Gorkha Brigade will participate in the parade.
HOTSPOT
In today's Hotspot Section, we bring you a news commentary on India's journey as a Republic.
VAGIR-SUBMARINE
The fifth Kalvari class submarine Vagir was commissioned into the Indian Navy today. Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar was the Chief Guest at a ceremony held at Naval Dockyard in Mumbai. The submarine has been built by the Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) Mumbai, under collaboration with Naval Group of France. Four of the Kalvari class of submarines have already been commissioned into the Indian Navy. Speaking on the occasion, the Navy Chief said, Vagir will boost the Indian Navy’s capability to further India’s maritime interests.
Vagir is capable of undertaking diverse missions including anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, intelligence gathering, mine laying and surveillance missions.
JAISHANKAR - VAJPAYEE
India's External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar has said that former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had a very nuanced and developed understanding of the contemporary world and helped India transform its relationship with the United States. Dr Jaishankar said this at the 3rd Atal Bihari Vajpayee Memorial Lecture in New Delhi on Monday. He said, Vajpayee transformed India's relationship with the United States in the post-cold war environment after recognizing how important that relationship had become for India nationally and internationally. Dr Jaishankar said that everybody knows Vajpayee as one of the country's great prime ministers. He said, Vajpayee imparted continuity and stability to India's ties with Russia.
US-VISA
The United States has launched several new initiatives and schemes to reduce delays in visa processing in India. In order to reduce the wait time for all Indian applicants for the country, the US has decided to increase visa processing capacity across India through initiatives such as scheduling special interviews for first-time applicants and increasing the strength of consular staff in the country. The US in a statement said, as part of the multi-pronged approach to cut the visa backlog, the US embassy in Delhi and the consulates in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, and Hyderabad on the 21st of this month conducted the first in a series of special Saturday interview days, as part of a larger effort to reduce wait times for first-time visa applicants. The mission will continue to open additional slots for appointments to take place on select Saturdays in the coming months to address the backlog in visa processing caused by COVID-19. The official release said, remote interview waivers will be conducted for those Indians who are not first-time US visa applicants. Further, additional slots will also be set up in several areas to speed up the process of the allocation of the visa. Between January and March this year, dozens of temporary consular officers from Washington and other embassies will arrive in India to increase visa processing capacity. Apart from this, the US mission has decided to release more than two lakh fifty thousand additional B1/B2 appointments, with B1 being a business visa and B2 being a tourism visa.
CEC-POLLS TECHNOLOGY
India's Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar has said that a disturbing trend of deep fake narratives have become a common feature in elections worldwide. He said the disruptive elements attempt to alter public perception and mislead the user by repetitively presenting the deep fakes as fact. Mr. Kumar was speaking at inauguration of a two-day international conference on the theme Use of Technology and Elections Integrity in New Delhi today.
IRANI-WEF GENDER
The World Economic Forum (WEF) has recognised the need to enumerate women’s participation in local government bodies in the Gender Gap Report. In a tweet, India's Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani, who pressed for it during the recent WEF meeting at Davos said, this is a big victory for 1.4 million grassroots women locally elected at the Panchayat level in India. She said, the WEF also confirmed its willingness to study India’s Gender Budget System. The Minister added that it is a huge acknowledgement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts to ensure women-led development. Sources said India has made an economic case for gender justice by implementing various welfare measures for women.
GUJ-B20
The Business 20 or B20 inception meeting, which is being held as part of the G20, began at Gandhinagar in Gujarat on Monday. Indian Ministers Piyush Goyal and Ashwini Vaishnaw, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, India's Sherpa for the G20, Amitabh Kant, Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran and a host of national and international business leaders attended the inaugural meeting. Addressing the session, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said the Indian economy has groby 12 times during the last three decades. He said, India is among the top five best performing nations in achieving the climate targets, and is the only G20 country to get this place. The Minister reiterated India’s commitment to create a sustainable and inclusive growth environment. He urged global businesses and industries to adopt green and sustainable business practices. Mr. Goyal said that India wishes to inspire the world to have greater degrees of dialogue and concern for the planet and the future of our children.
India's Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw briefed about the best economic practices India adopted during the Covid pandemic, which helped the country achieve robust growth with moderate inflation. The Minister stressed on the success of the PPP model in popularising digital payments in India. He said the annual digital transactions in India today stand at 1.5 trillion dollars. More than 500 delegates including more than 200 International business representatives deliberated upon various global issues including climate change, sustainability, digital transformation, and financial inclusion during several plenary sessions organised today. Seven task forces and two action groups have been formed as part of the meet to deliberate upon various global issues including climate change, sustainability, digital transformation and financial inclusion. For the first time, there will be a special task force for Africa in the meet.
WORLD NEWS CAPSULE
The Sensex and the Nifty on Monday witnessed gains of half a per cent. A report from the business desk:
The Sensex climbed 320 points to finish at 60,942. The Nifty-50 also rose 91 point to settle at 18,119.
Among global stock markets, Asian shares ended with gains. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng surged 1.8 percent, Japan's NIKKEI-225 gained 1.3 percent and China’s Shanghai Composite index added 0.8 percent. South Korea’s KOSPI rose 0.6 percent and Singapore’s Straits Times ended half a percent up. European shares were up in intra-day trade.
Oil prices rose to 88 dollar a barrel, extending last week's gains on the back of a stronger outlook due to an expected economic recovery in top oil importer China this year. In intra-day trade, Brent crude was trading at 88 dollars and 35 cents per barrel.
Back Home, At the Multi Commodity Exchange, Gold futures for February was trading at 56,765 rupees per ten grams. Silver futures for March was trading at 68,600 rupees per kilogram when reports last came in V Ravi Kumar for World News, All India Radio.
SRI LANKA-INFLATION
In Sri Lanka, headline inflation based on the National Consumer Price Index remains high at 59.2 per cent for the month of December last year. Sri Lanka’s Department of Census and Statistics reported that the inflation eased from 65 per cent in November 2022. Meanwhile, Food inflation showed a marked decrease by over 10 percentage points to 59.3 per cent. Sri Lanka has been fighting runaway inflation since last year amidst its worst ever economic crisis since its independence.
RUSSIA-ESTONIA ENVOYS
Russia and Estonia on Monday expelled the ambassadors from each other’s countries in a tit-for-tat move, saying that their diplomatic missions will be headed by charges d’affaires.
The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Estonian Ambassador Margus Laidre and ordered him to leave the country by 7th of February. The Ministry in the statement said that Estonia’s diplomatic representation from now on will be downgraded to a charge d’affaires that heads the European Union country’s mission in Moscow. Russia said that the move was made in retaliation to Estonia’s new unfriendly step to radically reduce the size of the Russian Embassy in Tallinn.
In response, Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu said, the Russian ambassador will leave on 7th of next month as well, in accordance with the principle of parity.
The Estonian Foreign Ministry earlier this month ordered Russia to reduce the number of its embassy staff to eight diplomats and 15 administrative, technical and service staff members in order to reach parity in embassy staff by 1st of February.
Estonia has reduced its bilateral relations with Moscow to the absolute minimum” since the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday that the Estonian leadership has purposefully destroyed the entire range of relations with Russia.
PAK-POWER OUTAGE
Pakistan suffered nationwide power outages this morning due to a major breakdoof the national grid. Outages were reported in Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar, affecting factories, hospitals and schools. The power ministry issued a statement saying that work was ongoing to revive the system. Pakistan’s power sector is under heavy debt, and inadequate investment in the infrastructure has resulted in frequent breakdowns in the power grid.
JAPAN PM-BIRTH RATE
Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said, his country is on the brink of not being able to function as a society because of its falling birth rate. He said it was a case of now or never.
Birth rates are slowing in many countries, including Japan's neighbours. But the issue is particularly acute in Japan as life expectancy has risen in recent decades, meaning there are a growing number of older people, and a declining numbers of workers to support them.
According to World Bank data, Japan now has the world's second-highest proportion of people aged 65 years and about 28 percent above 65 years of age, after the tiny state of Monaco.
Talking to lawmakers in a policy address, marking the start of a new Parliament session, Prime Minister Kishida said, Japan with a population 125 million people is estimated to have had fewer than eight lakh births last year. In the 1970s, that figure was more than two million. Japan Prime Minister said, focusing attention on policies regarding children and child-rearing is an issue that cannot wait and cannot be postponed. He said that he eventually wants the government to double its spending on child-related programmes. He pledge to address the issue by establishing a new government agency in April.
DR CONGO-KILLING
In Democratic Republic of Congo, terrorists from the notorious Allied Democratic Forces group killed at least 23 people in a raid on a village on Sunday night
The customary chief of the area said, they were attacked last night in the village of Mukungwe in Beni territory by the Allied Democratic Forces.
CRICKET
In Men's Cricket, the third and final final One Day Intenational between India and New Zealand takes place at Indore on Tuesday. The match will be played in Holkar Cricket Stadium from 1.30 p.m. India will look to clean sweep the series, having already won two ODIs. India secured a comprehensive eight wicket win in the second ODI in Raipur on Saturday to clinch their seventh consecutive ODI series at home.
HOCKEY
In the FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup, in a massive upset, South Korea thrashed Argentina 3-2 in penalty shootout after a 5-5 draw in regulation time in the second crossover match of the day at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. With the win, South Korea ensured that there will be at least one Asian team in the quarterfinals of the tournament. Korea will take on the Netherlands in the final-eight fixture on Wednesday.
In the first crossover match of the day, Germany entered the quaterfinals, defeating France, 5-1 at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.
In Germany will meet England in the Last-Eight on Wednesday.
AUS OPEN
In Australian Open Tennis, Indian pair of Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna advanced to the mixed doubles quarter-finals on Monday. The Indian pair defeated the Uruguayan and Japanese pair of Ariel Behar and Makato Ninomiya 6-4, 7-6 on Court 7. Mirza and Bopanna will now lock horns with Latvian and Spanish duo of Jelena Ostapenko and David Vega Hernandez in their Last eight fixture on Tuesday. In Men's Singles, fourth seed Novak Djokovic sailed into the quaterfinals, brushing past home favourite 22nd seed Alex de Minaur to 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena. With the win, the Serbian moved a step closer to a 10th title at Melbourne Park, and 22 major crown. Djokovic will meet fifth seed Andrey Rublev for a semi-final berth after the Russian toppled Danish teen Holger Rune after a tense 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 contest in the fourth round. In the other matches of the day, Debutant Ben Shelton pulled out a 6-7, 6-2, 6-7, 7-6, 6-2 victory over J.J. Wolf in an all-American matchup in John Cain Arena. 89th-ranked Shelton meets yet another unseeded American, 35th-ranked Tommy Paul, who eliminated 24th seed Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 on Monday.
SCO-FILM FESTIVAL
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Film Festival will be held from the 27th to the 31st of this month in Mumbai. Addressing a press conference in New Delhi today, Additional Secretary in Information and Broadcasting Ministry Neerja Shekhar said, 57 films will be screened during the SCO Film Festival. She said, the film festival aims to build cinematic partnerships and act as a bridge between the cultures of various countries in the SCO. It will also create synergies in the film fraternity of SCO Members by way of collective cinematic experience.
FPR
Now let us take a look at the major developments around the world, as reported in the Foreign Press.
⦁ The Strait Times writes, Biden to name Jeff Zients as chief of staff.
⦁ The Global Times writes, Chinese submersible reaches deepest point of Diamantina Trench, making history.
⦁ The Financial Times writes, EU to examine seizing confiscated Russian assets for reconstruction.
⦁ The Guardian also writes, Kenya declares war on millions of birds after they raid crops.
⦁ The New York Times writes, Germany’s Reluctance on Tanks Stems From Its History and Its Politics.
⦁ Le Monde writes, Poland to ask Germany for permission to send tanks to Ukraine.
⦁ Japan Times writes, Despite crackdown, Iran protesters still challenging regime.
REPEAT HEADLINES
And now, before we end, let us listen to Mahatma Gandhi's favourite bhajanVaishnav Jan, by artists from Sri Lanka.
AND WITH THAT, WE END THIS BULLETIN. WE'LL BE BACK AT THE SAME TIME TOMORROW WITH THE NEXT EDITION OF WORLD NEWS.