NAMASKAR! A warm welcome to 'World News: an Indian perspective on All India Radio. I am SAIRA MUJTABA and with me is ASHISH P. ABRAHAM 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:

⦁ Government of India ensuring, benefits of digital revolution reach all, asserts Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

⦁ India-European Union Free Trade Agreement will be a game changer for India-EU relationship, says, External Affairs Minister of India Dr. S Jaishankar.  

⦁ Two-day G20 Foreign Ministers meeting under India's Presidency to begin in New Delhi from Wednesday.

⦁ Indian Space Research Organisation successfully conducts flight test of cryogenic engine for Chandrayan-3 mission.

⦁ White House asks US federal agencies to remove Chinese social media app TikTok from government devices within 30 days.

⦁ World's longest river cruise Ganga Vilas successfully completes its maiden journey in Indian state of Assam.

⦁ And, in Cricket, third Test of Border Gavaskar trophy between India and Australia to begin in Indore from Wednesday.

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PM-WEBINAR:

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asserted that the government is investing heavily in technology and creating modern digital infrastructure. He said, the government is also ensuring that the benefits of the digital revolution reach every section of the society. Prime Minister Modi said this while addressing a Post-Budget webinar on the theme Unleashing the Potential: Ease of living using Technology on Tuesday. Mr Modi said, every Budget in the last few years has stressed on the ease of living for people with the help of technology. The Prime Minister added that the changing India of the 21st century is empowering its citizens continuously with the power of technology and people are clearly feeling this change.

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SIKKIM-FM VISIT:

India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday reviewed the implementation of central government welfare schemes, public infrastructure and services in border villages of Sikkim at Lachen in Mangan district. The review is aimed at ensuring that the targets proposed under the Vibrant Villages programme are fulfilled. Earlier in the day, Ms Sitharaman attended an outreach programme organized by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development and other banks in Gangtok. Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said, the Vibrant Villages programme aims to ensure the development of all common facilities such as telecom, optic fibre cables, infrastructure, schools, houses, roads, health, internet and common service centres in border villages.

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EVE JAISHANKAR-INDIA-EU FTA:

External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar has said that India-European Union Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will be a game changer for the India-EU relationship. He said, India is looking forward to mutually beneficial and advantageous conclusion of negotiation process within a short timeline. Speaking at the India-EU Business and Sustainability Conclave in New Delhi on Tuesday, Dr. Jaishankar termed the European Union a important trade partner saying that India and EU believes in multi polar global order and share their commitment to promote multilateralism. He said, India and EU are considerate to each other's geo-political, economic, strategic and security concerns. He said, EU is one of India's largest and important trade partners and the bilateral trade has crossed 115 billion US dollars.

Highlighting the steps taken in the last nine years to bring the structural reforms in the various sectors in the country, Dr. Jaishankar said, India is one of the leading country in climate change mitigation. He said, green transition is core in achieving sustainable development goals.

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PREZ-DENMARK PRINCE

Cro Prince Frederik and Cro Princess Mary of Denmark called on President Droupadi Murmu in New Delhi on Tuesday. Welcoming them, the President said, India-Denmark relations have gro in both depth and breadth in the last few years. She expressed confidence that the two countries would see an upward trajectory in bilateral trade and investment. President Murmu said that climate change is an area on which India and Denmark have a convergence of views and interests. She said, India has set itself on a path of climate responsive development. The President said that India has launched a new Mission called 'LiFE - Lifestyles For Sustainable Environment' for sustainable lifestyle and for respecting nature. She expressed confidence that the fight against climate change would unite the world as one family. The Danish Royal Couple arrived in New Delhi on Sunday. They are on four-day visit to India.  

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EAM- DANISH MINISTER:

External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar met his Danish counterpart Lars Løkke Rasmussen in New Delhi on Tuesday and discussed bilateral partnership. In a tweet, Dr Jaishankar said, they discussed bilateral partnership that is growing from strength to strength. He added that they also exchanged views on the state of the world and it calls for intensifying the cooperation.

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INDO DANISH PARTNERSHIP:

Environment Minister of India, Bhupender Yadav has said that India and Denmark can show the world that delivering on ambitious climate and sustainable energy goals is possible. He was addressing the India-Denmark: Partners for Green and Sustainable Progress Conference in New Delhi on Tuesday. He said the Indo-Danish Green Strategic Partnership is an appropriate forum to exchange ideas, knowledge, technology and capacity building to promote sustainable lifestyles. Mr. Yadav said that since the launch of the Partnership in 2020 the bilateral cooperation is focussed on promoting green and sustainable development.

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G20-FOREIGN:

The two-day G20 Foreign Ministers meeting under India's Presidency will begin in New Delhi from Wednesday. Foreign Ministers of member nations have started arriving in the National Capital to attend the meeting. According to the External Affairs Ministry, Foreign Minister of Brazil Mauro Vieira, Foreign Minister of Mauritius Alan Ganoo and International Labour Organisation Sherpa Richard Marc Samans arrived in New Delhi on Tuesday. During the two-day event, India's External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and several dignitaries are scheduled to share their perspectives on the emerging global challenges and international matters.

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W20 MEETING

A two-day inception meeting of W20 (Women 20) under India's Presidency concluded in Maharashtra on Tuesday. W20 is an official engagement group under the G20. Around 150 women dignitaries from member countries, guest countries and special invitees participated in this meeting.

 Briefing media, W-20 chairperson Dr. Sandhya Purecha said, during the inception meeting, discussions were held on five priorities set by India. Dr. Purecha said five priority areas include, Women in Entrepreneurship, Women Leadership at Grassroots, Bridging the Gender Digital Divide, Education & Skill Development and Women and Girls as change makers Climate Resilience Action.

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INDIA-ITALY PM VISIT:

Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni will be on a two day visit to India from Thursday. She will be accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and a high powered business delegation. The Italian Prime Minister will be the Chief Guest and Keynote Speaker at the 8th Raisina Dialogue.

Sri Lanka’s Foreign Affairs Minister M.U.M. Ali Sabry will also be on a three-day official visit to India from 2nd of March to attend the eighth edition of the Raisina Dialogue. The dialogue is India’s premier conference on geopolitics and geo-economics which will be held in New Delhi. The Minister is scheduled to participate in two special panel discussions on the topics “Healing a Divided World” and “Bytes of Promise: How can Technology Lift Communities”.

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HOTSPOT

In today's Hotspot Section, we bring you a News Commentary: India-German Relations in Changing Times.

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ISRO-Chandrayaan-3 mission TEST:

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully conducted the flight acceptance hot test of the CE-20 cryogenic engine. The Engine will power the Cryogenic Upper Stage of the Launch Vehicle Mark 3 for the Chandrayaan-3 mission. The space agency said the test was successfully conducted at the ISRO Propulsion Complex, Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu. ISRO said, the hot test was carried out for a planned duration of 25 seconds at the High Altitude Test Facility. It said, all the propulsion parameters during the test were found satisfactory and closely matched with predictions. The mission is slated to be launched later this year by Launch Vehicle Mark 3 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota.

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NATIONAL-SCIENCE DAY:

India celebrated National Science Day on Tuesday. The theme of this year's Science day is “Global Science for Global Wellbeing”, in light of India’s G20 presidency. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has extended his greetings to all scientists and innovators of the country. We have a report:

"National Science Day is celebrated to mark the discovery of the “Raman Effect” by physicist, Sir CV Raman on this day in 1928. For this discovery, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930. In 1954, he was honoured with India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna. In 1986, the National Council for Science & Technology asked the Government of India to designate February 28 as National Science Day. Since 1987, the event is celebrated all over the country in schools, colleges, universities and other academic, scientific, technical, medical and research institutions. The celebration includes public speeches, radio, TV, science movies, science exhibitions, research demonstration, debates, and many more activities.  PAYAL SHARMA, NEWS DESK."

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ASHWINI-5G:

The Indian Government has said the pan India coverage target of 5G services will be achieved by the end of next year. Briefing media in the national capital, Communication and IT Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw said, 387 districts of the country have been covered by 5G services so far. He said, under phase one of 5G coverage, a deadline was set to cover 200 cities by the end of March this year and the target has been achieved a month before. He said, India has emerged as a leading manufacturer and exporter of telecom equipment and the mobile export is going to be ten billion dollars in the coming years.

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PULWAMA ENCOUNTER:

In Jammu and Kashmir, two terrorists were killed by security forces in an encounter at Padgampora village of Awantipora in Pulwama district in the wee hours of Tuesday. A joint team of security forces, on a specific input, launched a cordon and search operation in the village. During the searches, terrorists hiding inside a mosque opened indiscriminate fire upon search parties. In the exchange of fire, two Army jawans sustained grievous injuries. One of the jawans later succumbed to injuries. Incriminating materials, arms and ammunition were recovered from the site of encounter. The investigation so far revealed that both the terrorists were involved in conspiring and attacking minorities, outsiders, other vulnerable targets and security forces.

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US-PAKISTAN TERRORISM:

The United States has said that Pakistan has made meager progress in its pledge to dismantle all terrorist organisations without delay or discrimination. In a report on 'Country Reports on Terrorism 2021: Pakistan', the US Bureau of Counterterrorism says, Pakistan experienced significant terrorist activity in 2021. The reports says, number of attacks and casualties was higher than in 2020, according to Major terrorist groups that focused on conducting attacks in Pakistan. These included Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, the Balochistan Liberation Army, and ISISK.

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WHITE HOUSE-TIKTOK BAN:

The White House has given US federal agencies 30 days to purge Chinese-oed video-snippet sharing app TikTok from all government-issued devices and systems, setting a deadline to comply with a ban ordered by the US Congress. In a bid to keep US data safe, Office of Management and Budget director Shalanda Young in a memorandum called on government agencies to remove and disallow installations of the application on agency-oed or operated IT devices, and to prohibit internet traffic from such devices to the app, within 30 days. The ban does not apply to businesses in the United States not associated with the federal government, or to the millions of private citizens of the country who use the hugely popular app. Oed by Chinese tech giant Byte Dance, TikTok has become a political target due to concerns the globally popular app can be circumvented for spying or propaganda by the Chinese Communist Party. The law signed by US President Joe Biden last month bans the use of TikTok on government-issued devices. The law also bans TikTok use in the US House of Representatives and Senate. National security concerns in the country over alleged China spying have gro over the past month after a Chinese balloon traversed US airspace and was eventually shot do. The Canadian government on Monday banned TikTok from all of its phones and other devices, citing fears about how much access Beijing has to user data.

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GDP:

India's Gross Domestic Production registered a growth of 4.4 percent in the October-December, the third quarter of the current fiscal. India's Ministry of statistics in a release said, GDP in the third quarter of 2022-23 is estimated at 40.19 lakh crore rupees, as against 38.51 lakh crore rupees in third quarter of 2021-22, showing a growth of 4.4 percent. For the 2022-23 fiscal, the real GDP is estimated to grow at 7 percent as compared to 9.1 percent in 2021-22. While Nominal GDP for the year is estimated to grow at 15.9 percent.

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WORLD NEWS CAPSULE

The domestic benchmark indices declined today amid mixed global cues. The rupee appreciated against the dollar. A report from the business desk:

"The Sensex fell 326 points, or 0.6 per cent, to end at 58,962. The Nifty shed 89 points, or 0.5 per cent, to close at 17,304. Among global stock markets, Key Asian markets ended mixed today. Japan's NIKKEI-225 gained 0.1 per cent, South Korea’s KOSPI advanced 0.4 per cent, China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.7 per cent ahead of upcoming economic data to be released tomorrow. Singapore's Straits Times ended flat. But Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.8 per cent. Global crude oil prices rose today. Brent crude oil futures rose 1 dollar 44 cents, to 83.89 dollars per barrel. US crude oil futures gained 1 dollars and 80 cents to 77.48 dollars a barrel. Back Home, at the Multi Commodity Exchange, gold was trading at around 55,200 rupees per 10 gram. Silver declined 160 rupees to trade around 62,800 rupees per kilogram for March Contracts when reports last came in. At the forex market, the rupee appreciated 17 paise against the dollar to end at 82.66. Rajesh Lekh for World News, All India Radio."

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SRI LANKA-MILLETS

India's High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Gopal Baglay held an interaction on importance of millets in Colombo. Sri Lanka’s Minister for Agriculture Mahinda Amaraweera appreciated India’s efforts to promote the use and popularisation of Millets. He said, Sri Lanka can benefit from better varieties of millets from India through collaboration with Indian institutions like Indian Council for Agricultural Research.

Speaking on the occasion, High Commissioner Gopal Baglay said, Millets have been a part of Indian cultural DNA. Remembering the Sri Lanka’s crisis last year, he said that both India and Sri Lanka acknowledged food security as the first pillar of cooperation. He asserted that today’s interaction on millets can help achieve cooperation on food security.

Representative of Food and Agriculture Organisation for Sri Lanka and Maldives Vimlendra Sharan welcomed the interaction organised by the Indian Mission.

The year 2023 is being celebrated as International Year of Millets globally, under a proposal sponsored by India and endorsed by United Nations General Assembly.

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INDIA-SAUDI DEFENCE:

In a historic first, eight aircraft of the Indian Air Force landed at a Royal Saudi Air Force base on 26th of February heralding a new chapter in the defence relationship between the two countries. The Indian contingent comprising 145 Air Warriors with its complement of 05 MIRAGE, 02 C17 and 01 IL 78 tankers had an overnight halt in the Kingdom.

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GANGA VILAS:

World's longest river cruise MV Ganga Vilas successfully completed its maiden journey at Bogibeel in Dibrugarh in Assam on Tuesday. ‘MV Ganga Vilas’, a cruise vessel made in India, was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh on the 13th of last month. During the 50-day journey, the river cruise with 28 tourists onboard comprising 26 Swiss and two German nationals, travelled 3200 km through 27 river systems, visiting 50 major tourists sites in several states and neighbouring country Bangladesh. Addressing the welcome ceremony, India's Ports, Shipping & Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said, the journey of the world's longest river cruise has opened up many opportunities for speedy growth of the tourism industry.

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CENTRE HEAT ADVIOSRY

The government of India has issued a heatwave health advisory to the States and Union territories in view of the unusual high temperature at some places of in the country and substantial deviation from expected normal temperature for this time of year. The Health Ministry said that from Wednesday, daily surveillance on heat-related illnesses under National Programme on Climate Change and Human Health (NPCCHH) in all states will be conducted on Integrated Health Information Platform. More from our correspondent:

"In the advisory on heatwave,  people have been suggested to stay hydrated throughout the day and take oral rehydration solutions if required. They should keep their water intake high by taking seasonal fruits and vegetables with high water content. People should consume homemade drinks like lemon water, lassi and fruit juices with some added salt. People have also been advised to wear light, loose, cotton clothing to remain cool and to cover their heads from direct sunlight. Anand Kumar, AIR News Delhi."

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IND-AUS TEST:

In Cricket, the third test between India and Australia of the Border Gavaskar trophy will begin in Indore tomorrow. India have retained the trophy, winning first two Tests. Despite the loss, Australia are currently topping the WTC points table with 136 points. While, India are placed second with 123 points. The fourth Test will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad from  the 9th to the 13th of March.

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CRICKET- NZ BEAT ENG

New Zealand secured a one-run victory over England to draw the Test series 1-1 at Basin Reserve, Wellington on Tuesday. New Zealand bowler Neil Wagner bagged a four-wicket haul, including the decisive wicket of James Anderson, to power his team to a series-levelling win. Chasing a target of 258, England resumed play on Day 5 at 48 for 1 and were bowled out for 256. With England needing two runs to win, Wagner dramatically dismissed James Anderson, sparking massive Kiwi celebrations.

England became just the fourth team in Test history to lose after enforcing the follow-on. The only other previous one-run victory was by the West Indies against Australia in Adelaide in 1993.

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FPR

Now let us take a look at the major developments around the world, as reported in the Foreign Press.

⦁ The Financial Times reports, Chipmakers receiving US federal funds barred from expanding in China for 10 years.

⦁ The Globe and Mail reports, CSIS uncovered Chinese plan to donate to Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation.

⦁ The Financial Times reports, Rising inflation in France and Spain fuels fears of more ECB rate increases.

⦁ The Washington Post writes, Canada is latest country to ban TikTok on government phones.

⦁ The Japan Times reports, Japan health ministry panel endorses nasal flu vaccine for children.

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REPEAT HEADLINES

⦁ Government of India ensuring, benefits of digital revolution reach all, asserts Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

⦁ India-European Union Free Trade Agreement will be a game changer for India-EU relationship, says, External Affairs Minister of India Dr. S Jaishankar.  

⦁ Two-day G20 Foreign Ministers meeting under India's Presidency to begin in New Delhi from Wednesday.

⦁ Indian Space Research Organisation successfully conducts flight test of cryogenic engine for Chandrayan-3 mission.

⦁ White House asks US federal agencies to remove Chinese social media app TikTok from government devices within 30 days.

⦁ World's longest river cruise Ganga Vilas successfully completes its maiden journey in Indian state of Assam.

⦁ And in Cricket, third Test of Border Gavaskar trophy between India and Australia to begin in Indore from Wednesday.

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

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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