PM Modi held a meeting with CMs & Deputy CMs of BJP ruled states at party headquarters in New Delhi
Toss of IPL Final Match between CSK & GT delayed due to heavy rains
Badminton: India’s ace shuttler HS Prannoy clinches Men's Singles title of Malaysia Masters 2023 at Kuala Lumpur
I&B Minister Anurag Thakur on a 2-day visit to Gujarat
Turkiye Presidential Election: Voting held today for 2nd time in two weeks
Mann Ki Baat : PM Modi highlights unique efforts of Yuva Sangam in strengthening spirit of EK Bharat, Shrestha Bharat among the youth
Inauguration of New Parliament building will be written in golden words in country's history: Prez Droupadi Murmu
Manipur: Security forces gun down around 40 suspected Kuki terrorists; 9 people including 2 police personnel also killed
India gets a New Parliament Building; PM Modi says, its is a shining example of country's vision
Bharat Sanskriti Yatra Celebrates India's Cultural Riches at Consulate General of India
THE HEADLINES:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi to inaugurate new International Telecommunication Union Area office and Innovation Centre in New Delhi today.
President Droupadi Murmu to confer Padma Awards for 2023 at Rashtrapati Bhavan this evening.
6.6 magnitude earthquake hits Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan; Strong tremors felt in North India including Delhi.
Festivals of Navratri, Chaitra Sukladi, Ugadi, Gudi Padwa, Cheti Chand, Navreh and Sajibu Cheiraoba being celebrated today.
US President Joe Biden signs a bipartisan bill to declassify intelligence about the origins of Covid-19.
Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth to begin their campaign at Swiss Open Badminton tournament in Basel today.
And in cricket, third and final ODI between India and Australia to be played in Chennai this afternoon.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the new International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Area office and Innovation Centre in India in New Delhi today afternoon. ITU is the United Nations specialised agency for information and communication technologies and its Headquarters are in Geneva. India had signed a Host Country Agreement in March last year with ITU for establishment of an Area Office. The Area Office in India also envisaged to have an Innovation Centre, making it unique among other area offices of ITU. The Area Office, which is fully funded by India, is located on the second floor of the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT) building at Mehrauli in the national capital. The programme will witness participation of IT and Telecom Ministers of various Area Offices of ITU, Secretary General and other senior officials of ITU, Heads of United Nations and other international bodies in India, Ambassadors, Industry Leaders, Start-up and MSME, leaders Academia, students and other stakeholders.
The ITU Area Office will serve India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Afghanistan and Iran, enhancing coordination among nations and fostering mutually beneficial economic cooperation in the region. During the programme, the Prime Minister will also unveil Bharat 6G Vision Document and launch 6G Research and Development Test Bed. Bharat 6G vision document is prepared by Technology Innovation Group that was constituted in November 2021 with members from various Ministries and Departments, research and development institutions, academia and Telecom Service Providers and industry to develop roadmap and action plans for 6G in India. 6G Test bed will provide academic institutions, industry, start-ups, MSMEs and industry a platform to test and validate the evolving ICT technologies. The Bharat 6G Vision Document and 6G Test bed will provide an enabling environment for innovation, capacity building and faster technology adoption in the country. With Dipendra Kumar, Anupam Mishra, AIR News, Delhi.
President Droupadi Murmu will confer the Padma Awards for the year 2023, at a Civil Investiture Ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan this evening. Of the 106 Padma awards that were announced, six are Padma Vibhushan, nine are Padma Bhushan and 91 are Padma Shri. Nineteen of the awardees are women. Oral Rehydration Solution, ORS pioneer Dilip Mahalanobis will be awarded the Padma Vibhushan posthumously in the field of Medicine (Pediatrics). He pioneered the wide use of ORS, believed to have saved over five crore lives globally. Former Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav will be awarded the Padma Vibhushan posthumously in the field of public affairs. Tabla Maestro Zakir Hussain will also be awarded the Padma Vibhushan. Those who will be honoured with Padma Bhushan include Kannada novelist and screenwriter S L Bhyrappa, Industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla and Author and Philanthropist Sudha Murthy.
An earthquake of 6.6 magnitude hit the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan at 10:17 PM last night. As per the National Center for Seismology, the tremors struck at a depth of 156 kilometres. The affected countries include India, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, China, Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan. Strong tremors were felt in North India including Delhi-NCR, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
The tremors triggered panic among the people as they came out of their homes. So far, no loss of life or property has been reported in India.
Festivals of Navratri, Chaitra Sukladi, Ugadi, Gudi Padwa, Cheti Chand, Navreh and Sajibu Cheiraoba are being celebrated today. The 9-day long Navratri began today in different parts of the country. The first day is dedicated to Maa Shailputri, the daughter of Himalaya.
Telugu speaking people across the world are celebrating their Telugu New Year, Ugaadi today with traditional fervour and gaiety. People are observing the customary festivities as the festival marks the beginning of the Hindu Lunar calendar. People across Telangana, both in rural and urban areas are celebrating the Sri ‘Shobhakritu Nama Ugadi of the Telugu Calendar.
In Karnataka, Ugadi is being celebrated with traditional fervour and enthusiasm. The festival heralds the beginning of spring season, when mother nature wakes up to new shoots, leaves and plants.
"Ugadi is the new year for Kannadigas. On this special day, people wake up before sunrise and take a ceremonial oil bath. The idols worshipped at home and temples are also given oil bath. Mango leaves adorn the entrance of the homes and temples. Flower decorations and colourful rangolis at the entrance give a festive look. A special ritual is to distribute Bevu-Bella, a dish consisting of Neem flowers and Jaggery. It is meant to signify that we must accept bitterness and sweetness in life with equanimity. The day is also known for Panchanga Shravana that is the reading of the Panchang consisting of forecasts for the coming year. Sudhindra, AIR News, Bengaluru."
President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have greeted the people on the occasion.
In a special series, All India Radio brings you excerpts from the Prime Minister's Mann ki Baat.
The special Mann Ki Baat series can be heard everyday in the Morning and Evening bulletins.
US President Joe Biden has signed a bipartisan bill that directs the federal government to declassify intelligence about the origins of Covid-19. In a statement, he said, US needs to get to the bottom of COVID-19's origins including potential links to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The legislation, which passed both the House and Senate without dissent, cites potential links between the research that was done in the Wuhan lab and the outbreak of Covid-19, which the World Health Organisation declared a pandemic on March 11th, 2020.
The 2023 Swiss Open badminton tournament started in Basel, Switzerland yesterday. The tournament will be played till the 26th of this month. Indian shuttler PV Sindhu will begin her campaign today against local wildcard Jenjira Stadelmann. In men’s singles, H S Prannoy will face China's Shi Yu Qi in his opening-round fixture. While, Lakshya Sen takes on Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong and former silver medallist Kidambi Srikanth will be up against China’s Weng Hong Yang in their first-round matches.
In cricket, the third and final ODI between India and Australia will be played today in Chennai. The match will start at 1:30 pm. The three-match series is now level 1-1. While India won the first ODI in Mumbai by five wickets, Australia defeated the hosts by 10 wickets in the second ODI at Vishakhapatnam.
In the International Shooting Sports Federation-ISSF World Cup Shooting Championship, the official competitions will start today. In this championship, 208 athletes from 31 countries will compete for the medals.
"Shooters from all over the world who have been practicing at various shooting ranges over the past two days will exhibit their accuracy and focus from today. Today's 10m air pistol competition will feature both male and female shooters. Moreover, mixed team matches in this category will be played tomorrow. Meanwhile, inaugurating the World Cup Shooting Competition yesterday, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is working continuously to incorporate sports into everyday life because life is incomplete without sports. Sanjeev Sharma, AIR News, Bhopal."
Indian boxers Nikhat Zareen, Nitu Ghanghas and Manisha Moun have stormed into the quarterfinals of the Women's World Championships in New Delhi. Nikhat in 50kg, Nitu in 48kg and Manisha in 57kg categories recorded victories in the first session to advance to the quarterfinals of the tournament yesterday. Defending champion Nikhat defeated Mexican pugilist Fatima Herrera comfortably by a unanimous decision. She will face Thai boxer Chuthamat Rakshat in the quarterfinals today.
Today is World Water Day. It is an annual United Nations Observance, started in 1993, that celebrates the importance of water and raises awareness of the 2 billion people currently living without access to safe water. A core focus of World Water Day is to inspire action towards Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6: Water and Sanitation for all by 2030.
TODAY'S NEWSPAPERS HEADLINE:
Papers have widely noticed the logjam in Parliament; Punjab police getting a rap by High Court for being unable to nab Amritpal Singh and the 6.6 magnitude earthquake jolting northern India.
The Asian Age headlines, "No end to Parliament logjam in sight as BJP, Opposition intensify protests."
"While The Pioneer says, "Where are 80 thousand cops, HC slams Punjab for Amritpal's escape." adding "US raps Khalistani vandals; diaspora in UK stands by Indian High Commission."
"Supreme Court Bench seeks data on alternatives to hanging," writes The Hindu while Hindustan Times writes, "Explore less painful ways to give death penalty says Supreme Court."
And Hindustan Times carries a picture of the skyline of iconic Connaught Place in the capital with the caption, "Delhi breathes its cleanest air in five months."
THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN.