Akashvani , National news, All India Radio News

NAMASKAR!A warm welcome to 'World News: an Indian perspective on AKASHVANI.This is RAMYAbringing 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 ofpolitics, economy, sports, entertainment and more.



THE HEADLINES:
⦁ Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Balasore accident site toassess the immediate arrangements; condolences pour in from around the globe.

⦁ Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to hold bilateral talks with DefenceMinisters of the US and Germany next week.
⦁ Sri Lanka celebrates Poson Poya Day today, the second most importantfestival of the nation.
⦁ 3rd G20 Health Working Group meet to begin tomorrow at Hyderabad; aworkshop ahead focuses on the need for global collaboration to face healthchallenges.
⦁ An integrated Command and Control Centre starts in the UT of Jammu& Kashmir, will oversee GIS mapping, digital addresses in the area.
⦁ Recep Tayyip Erdogan swears in as the President of Turkiye, gains ahistoric second term. 
⦁ The UNSC extends the UNITAMS for 6 months, amidst critical groundsituations.
⦁ Ajay Banga replaces David Malpass, becomes the first Indian-American totake over as World Bank President.
⦁ In Sports, India beat Great Britain by 4-2 in the FIH Pro League inLondon.

PM-TRAIN ACCIDENT
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the train mishap site at Bahanaga inBalasore district of Odisha saturday afternoon and took stock of the situation.Mr Modi held a review meeting with senior Railway officials. He also visitedFakir Mohan Medical College and Hospital in Balasore and interacted with theinjured. He was accompanied by Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and UnionEducation Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Mr. Modi interacted with Odisha'sRevenue and Disaster Management Minister Pramila Mallik.

Prime Minister Modi expressed anguish over the incident. Saying that directionshave been given to probe the cause of the accident from every angle, Mr Modisaid those responsible for the mishap will be dealt with stringently. The PrimeMinister praised the Odisha government and common people for lending a helpinghand which resulted in speedy rescue operations.

ACCIDENT
The Prime Minister said the need of the hour is to restore normal trainservices on the track.

PM MODI
Mr Modi also spoke to the Cabinet Secretary and the Health Minister from themishap site and directed them to provide all help to the injured and theirfamilies.

Before visiting the accident site, Mr. Modi chaired a high level meeting in NewDelhi to review the situation. The aspects relating to rescue, relief andmedical attention to those affected were discussed in the meeting. HomeMinister Amit Shah, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba and NDRF Chief S.N. Pradhanwere among those who attended the meeting.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik took stock of the situation this morningat the accident site. He visited Balasore District Hospital to supervise thetreatment of injured persons.

The death toll in the train accident has risen to 288, and around 1000 arefeared critically injured.  Meanwhile, several special and express trainsare being cancelled following the accident.

Odisha and Tamil Nadu governments have announced one-day State mourning onsaturday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ex-gratia of two lakh rupees each tothe next of kin of each deceased. He said each injured will be given 50thousand rupees.

Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw also announced an ex-gratia for the accidentvictims. He said ten lakh rupees will be given to the next of kin of eachkilled, two lakh rupees each to grievously injured and 50 thousand rupees eachfor minor injuries.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K.Stalin has announced an ex-gratia of five lakhrupees each to the families of the deceased and 50 thousand rupees each to theinjured.

Condolences on train accident  
Condolences from across the world have poured in for the victims of the Odishatrain crash. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-Wen, Canadian Prime Minister JustinTrudeau, European Council President Charles Michel,  Australian ForeignMinistry Penny Wong, and American Envoy to India Eric Garcetti sent theircondolences to those affected by the train accident. In a tweet TaiwanPresident Tsai Ing-Wen said, praying for everyone affected by the trainaccident in India and hope that rescue operations can save all those in need.European Council President, Charles Michel said they wish a speedy recovery toall the victims. European Union stands ready to provide assistance in any waythey can. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at this difficult timeCanadians are standing with the people of India. Australian Foreign MinistryPenny Wong also expressed their deepest sympathies for the devastating traincrash. Expressing condolence,  US envoy Eric Garcetti said they stand withIndia and the people of Odisha in this time of grief.

UAE-PRESIDENT CONDOLENCES
President of UAE Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has expressed hiscondolences after the Balasore train accident. In a tweet, Sheikh Mohamedconveyed his heartfelt sympathies to all those affected by the tragic incident.He also mentioned that the people of the United Arab Emirates stand insolidarity with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the citizens of India duringthis difficult time.

WN-BANGLADESH-PM-CONDOLENCES
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has expressed deep shock and sorrow at the casualties in the train accident that took place in Odisha on Fridayin which at least 288 people died and more than 1,000 were injured.

Condition of two Bangladeshi nationals reportedly injured in the train crash isnot known so far. The official news agency BSS quoted the local journalistsfrom the accident site that two Bangladeshi people were rescued from theaccident site with multiple injuries and they were sent to the hospital.However, the Deputy High Commission of Bangladesh in Kolkata has not made anyofficial statement on this issue as yet.

Earlier, the Deputy High Commission of Bangladesh in Kolkata had confirmed toBSS that two Bangladeshi  passengers were travelling to Chennai onCoromandel Express to Chennai from Kolkata.

BRICS-MEETING
Minister of External Affairs Dr. S Jaishankar met with UAE Minister of ForeignAffairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan on the sidelines of the ‘Friends ofBRICS’ meeting in Cape Town, South Africa. The two ministers discussed thestrategic relations and cooperation between India and the UAE, including theComprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). The CEPA was launched in2022 and has already had a significant impact on trade between the twocountries.

In the first year of the agreement, non-oil trade between India and the UAErose to about 51.46 billion US Dollars. The ministers also discussed ways tostrengthen cooperation between India and the UAE in areas such as energy,investment and technology. They also exchanged views on regional andinternational developments, including the situation in Afghanistan and the Ukrainecrisis.

Dr. Jaishankar said that India and the UAE are “natural partners” and that thetwo countries have a “shared vision” for the future. He expressed hope that theCEPA will “further deepen and strengthen” the relationship between India andthe UAE. Sheikh Abdullah said that the UAE is committed to working with Indiato “build a better future” for both countries. He said that the CEPA is a“major milestone” in the relationship between India and the UAE and that itwill “open up new opportunities for cooperation” in a wide range of areas. 

LANKA-POSON POYA FESTIVAL  
Sri Lanka celebrates the Poson Poya Day festival this Saturday. The festivalmarks the arrival of Buddhism in the country over 2,000 years ago and holdsimmense importance for the Buddhist community. Poson Poya Day stands as thesecond most significant Buddhist celebration in Sri Lanka, following Vesak.Poson Poya Day, celebrated on the full moon day of June, commemorates thepivotal moment when Arahat Mahinda, the son of Emperor Ashoka, converted KingDevanampiyatissa to Buddhism. The main centres of celebration are the ancientmonastic complex at Mihintale, and Anuradhapura, which attract large crowds ofpilgrims. Bathed in white attire, devotees embark on a spiritual journey byclimbing the steps to Mihintale Hill. Many pilgrims ascend to the summit of therock, where Arahat Mahinda delivered his profound sermons, honouring theorigins of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. The celebrations across the island featuremass religious observances and illuminations. Streets, homes, and public placesare embellished with intricately designed paper lanterns and pandals depictingepisodes from the Buddha's life. During the Poson period, various religiousactivities are organized across Sri Lanka, including Sil campaigns, BodhiPoojas, and Dansalas, where free food and beverages are distributed to thedevotees.

HOTSPOT
In today's hotspot section, we bring you a commentary on Indian economy on thesunlit upland of sustained recovery.

RAJNATH - US GERMANY BILATERALS  
US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin and German Federal Minister of DefenceBoris Pistorius will visit New Delhi for bilateral talks with Defence MinisterRajnath Singh. Mr. Singh will meet with the US Secretary of Defence on Mondaywhile talks with the German Federal Minister of Defence will take place onTuesday. A host of bilateral defence cooperation issues with a focus onindustrial cooperation are likely to be discussed during the two meetings. TheUS Secretary of Defence will arrive on Sunday for a two-day visit to India. TheGerman Federal Minister of Defence will be on a four-day visit to India beginningMonday.  Apart from his meeting with Raksha Mantri, Mr Boris Pistorius islikely to meet a few defence start-ups during an event organised by Innovationsfor Defence Excellence in New Delhi.

WB-PRESIDENT
Indian American Ajay Banga took over as the President of the World Bank onFriday, making him the first person of colour to head either of the two globalfinancial institutions, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. OnMay 3, the Executive Directors of the World Bank selected Banga, 63, as the14th President of the World Bank for a five-year term. In February, PresidentJoe Biden announced that the US would nominate Banga to lead the World Bank.Banga has become the first-ever Indian-American to head the World Bank. Hereplaces David Malpass, who announced his decision to step down in February. OnThursday, a media release mentioned that Ms. Yellen met with Banga at theTreasury Department. During their engagement, Yellen warmly welcomed Banga'supcoming presidency and conveyed her strong desire for the Treasury to continueclose collaboration with him in building on the strong progress made so far onevolving multilateral development banks.

LADAKH-WORLDBICYCLE DAY
In Ladakh, World Bicycle Day 2023 was observed at different locations bydifferent organizations in Kargil, with the theme “Riding Together for aSustainable Future." Tourism Department, Kargil in collaboration withDownhill Kargil organized a cycle rally in Kargil on the occasion. The cyclerally started from TFC to the main market Kargil and back.

The cycle rally aimed at encouraging a pollution-free environment and promotingsustainable and eco-friendly tourism in Kargil.The NSS unit of Govt. DegreeCollege Kargil organized a walkathon/run to observe the Day under thecelebration of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav and Mission Life Campaign from June 01to June 05, 2023.

J&K-ICCC 
In Jammu and Kashmir, a state-of-the-art Integrated Command and Control Centre(ICCC) has been set up on the outskirts of Srinagar city under the Smart CityMission. The Centre will act as the "brain and nerve" for all SmartCity IT-related interventions. It will be responsible for GIS mapping and willhave a digital address for all the properties in the City.

TheCentre is also tasked to lay a 175 KM long fibre net for uninterrupted servicesto the locals. The ICCC will also have a traffic management system, earlywarning system, location-based targetted surveillance and messaging service.The system will also provide a monitoring traffic system to keep a check onviolations and also provide other traffic-related services. A portal, as wellas an app, have been set up that will serve as a platform for the people toavail of the services provided by the Srinagar Municipal Corporation, saidofficials. Additional Director General, PIB and spokesman of the Ministry ofHousing and Urban Affairs, Rajeev Jain, while deliberating the servicesprovided by the ICCC said, that besides providing citizen-centric services, thesurveillance mechanism provided by the centre will be helpful in curbing thecrimes. He, however, maintained that there will be no privacy breach and lawenforcement agencies can use it only under the provision provided by the law.

G20-MANSUKHMANDAVIYA
Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Mansukha L Mandaviya emphasised theneed for global collaborations for ensuring access to vaccines to all and theneed for building capacities to face challenges in situations like pandemiclike Covid 19. He was addressing G20 representatives at a workshop on Saturdayahead of the G20 Third Health Working Group meeting starting from Sunday inHyderabad. He mentioned how the government took measures to increase thevaccine production and carried out a massive awareness campaign about the Covidvaccine. Telangana Industries Principal Secretary, Jayesh Ranjan informed onthe occasion that the Malaria vaccine will be produced in Hyderabad very soonand the vaccine has got WHO approval. He also said Hyderabad is producingone-third of the global vaccine doses and the production will be increased fromthe current 9 billion doses to 14 billion doses by next year.

G20 ROUNDUP
The month of May witnessed a host of G20 meetings which brought forth somedecisive conclusions for the global community to follow. With the G20 Summitabout 3 and half months away, India gears up to hosting the final meetings inthe series of events as well as Ministers' meetings at various locations ofcultural importance and heritage. Let's have a look at the events concludedthis week and a sneak-peek into the upcoming month.

ERDOGAN SWEARING-IN
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan took the oath of office for a new presidentialterm on Saturday in a ceremony at the parliament in Ankara, which was broadcastlive, after winning re-election last weekend, extending his rule into a thirddecade.

Erdogan received his mandate from the interim parliament speaker before takingthe oath.
Turkey's longest-serving leader, Erdogan won 52.2 percent support in a May 28runoff vote. His election victory defied most opinion polls and came despite acost-of-living crisis that was seen to have hurt his prospects.

His new five-year mandate allows Erdogan to pursue the increasingly authoritarianpolicies that have polarised the country, a NATO member, but strengthened itsposition as a regional military power.

SUDAN
The UN Security Council,  in a press statement, expressed its deep concernover the continued clashes, attacks on civilians, and called for rapid, safeand unhindered humanitarian access throughout Sudan. The statement urged themission’s continued engagement, in full accordance with the principles ofnational ownership.

The UNSC which is a 15-member council, pushed for an immediate ceasefire, andreaffirmed its backing for the UN transition mission in Sudan, UNITAMS, tocontinue its work, despite the collapse of political momentum towards thecivilian rule that could bring in a host of positive changes.

On the afternoon of Friday, the Council unanimously adopted a resolutionrenewing the UN transition mission for six months. Since the beginning of theconflict, more than 1.2 million people have been displaced within the alreadyimpoverished country, and hundreds of thousands have fled across neighbouringborders.

UN agencies have warned time and again that a rising death toll, rampantlooting of humanitarian aid, and rising needs for health and other kinds ofassistance are the growing concerns.

HOCKEY-FIH PRO LEAGUE
India beat Great Britain 4-2 after a penalty shootout in the FIH Pro League inLondon on Saturday.

The shootout triumph, courtesy of misses from Britain’s Rupert Shipperly andPhil Roper, handed India the bonus point after an exhilarating 4-4 draw.

The bonus point ensured India cut the gap to Great Britain at the top of theFIH Pro League standings. India sits second with 24 points after 11 games whileBritain has 26 from 10.

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

⦁ The Washington Post reports, Use of NATO arms for attack in Russiaraises doubts about Kyiv’s controls.


THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN:
.Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Balasore accident site toassess the immediate arrangements; condolences pour in from around the globe.

⦁ Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to hold bilateral talks with DefenceMinisters of the US and Germany next week.
⦁ Sri Lanka celebrates Poson Poya Day today, the second most importantfestival of the nation.
⦁ 3rd G20 Health Working Group meet to begin tomorrow at Hyderabad; aworkshop ahead focuses on the need for global collaboration to face healthchallenges.
⦁ An integrated Command and Control Centre starts in the UT of Jammu& Kashmir, will oversee GIS mapping, digital addresses in the area.
⦁ Recep Tayyip Erdogan swears in as the President of Turkiye, gains ahistoric second term. 
⦁ The UNSC extends the UNITAMS for 6 months, amidst critical groundsituations.
⦁ Ajay Banga replaces David Malpass, becomes the first Indian-American totake over as World Bank President.
⦁ In Sports, India beat Great Britain by 4-2 in the FIH Pro League inLondon.