THE HEADLINES:-
- India achieves significant milestone in its fight against TB; Records 38 percent decline in TB mortality and 94 percent treatment success rate.
- President Droupadi Murmu to confer National Sports Awards 2025 at Rashtrapati Bhavan this morning.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi to launch various development projects worth over 15 thousand crore rupees in Karnataka today.
- Government proposes reforms to simplify rules for governing cab rental businesses, promote ease of doing business and strengthen passenger safety.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin agrees to let European representatives join next round of Ukraine peace talks.
- And in Cricket, fourth One-Day International between India and New Zealand underway in Mount Maunganui.
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India has achieved a significant milestone in its fight against tuberculosis (TB), recording a 38 percent reduction in TB mortality since 2015. This is higher than the global reduction of 35 per cent, reflecting the country’s sustained efforts towards eliminating the disease.
India’s reduction in tuberculosis (TB) mortality highlights the country’s strong performance in reducing TB-related deaths. According to the World Health Organization’s Global Tuberculosis Report 2026, released yesterday, India has also achieved an impressive 94 per cent treatment success rate among patients suffering from tuberculosis. Health and Family Welfare Ministry said that the progress reflects the impact of intensified interventions under the National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP), including proactive case finding including use of AI enabled X-rays, rapid diagnostics, prompt treatment initiation, differentiated TB care and nutritional support. WITH SHIVANG, NITIKA GUPTA AKASHVANI NEWS DELHI.
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President Droupadi Murmu will confer the National Sports Awards 2025 at a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan this morning. India’s premier women’s badminton doubles pair, Treesa Jolly and Pullela Gayatri Gopichand, along with fifteen other sportspersons from various disciplines, will be conferred the Arjuna Award for outstanding performance in Sports and Games. Veteran Indian footballer Isaiah Arumainayagam will receive the Arjuna Award (Lifetime). Athletics coach Parveer Singh, boxing coach Chhote Lal Yadav and shooting coach Neha Nandkumar Chavan will be honoured with the Dronacharya Award.
Meanwhile, the Army Paralympic Node, Pune, will receive the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a two day visit to Karnataka and Gujarat beginning today. Mr Modi will inaugurate, dedicate to the nation, lay the foundation stone and flag off various development projects worth over 15 thousand 600 crore rupees in Bengaluru this morning. These projects span key sectors including urban mobility, power transmission, renewable energy, petroleum infrastructure, waste management and railways.The Prime Minister will inaugurate the much awaited Metro Pink Line from Kalena Agrahara to S G Palya station and flag off the Bengaluru-Mangaluru-Madgaon Vande Bharat Express, providing faster and modern rail connectivity between Bengaluru, Coastal Karnataka and Goa.
After arriving today morning, the Prime Minister will participate in the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of Prashanti Kutiram, the campus of Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana. Thereafter the Prime Minister will travel in the new Metro Pink line and launch various development projects at IIM Bengaluru. These include, inauguration of and foundation stone laying for various power transmission schemes in the state. He will dedicate India’s largest underground LPG storage cavern in Mangaluru, dedicate to the nation the Devangonthi marketing terminal of MRPL refinery and lay the foundation stone for GAIL Compressed Biogas Plant. Mr Modi will also inaugurate four redeveloped railway stations under the Amrit Bharat Station scheme at Chamarajanagar, Chikkamagaluru, Sakleshpur and Subramanya Road. PONNUMON AKASHVANI NEWS BENGALURU.
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The Prime Minister will also flag off the Bengaluru-Mangaluru-Madgaon Vande Bharat Express today. Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw will be present on the occasion.
Talking to reporters in Mangaluru last night, Mr Vaishnaw said that the important service will connect coastal Karnataka with Bengaluru.
“The 16-coach Bengaluru-Mangaluru-Madgaon Vande Bharat Express will comprise Executive Chair coaches and Chair Car coaches, offering passengers a modern and comfortable travel experience. The service will benefit passengers across Bengaluru Urban, Hassan, Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada districts, as well as South Goa. Its key features include bio-vacuum toilets with touch-free amenities, automatic doors, onboard infotainment systems, and revolving seats in Executive Class. The train will also have specially designed lavatories for Divyangjan passengers and can reach 100 kilometres per hour in just 52 seconds. The new Vande Bharat is also equipped with Kavach safety system, which is an indigenous Train Collision Avoidance System. RISHU JAISWAL, AKASHVANI NEWS, MANGALURU.”
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The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has proposed reforms to simplify the rules for governing cab rental businesses, promote ease of doing business and strengthen passenger safety. Under the proposed reforms, operators will be allowed to offer cabs with or without drivers. The minimum fleet requirement will be reduced from 50 to five vehicles, with at least 2 cabs per place of operation. The requirement for branches in five tourist cities is removed. The reforms also include a single electronic licence, valid across the State or Union Territory for a uniform fee. Approved places of operation may include airports, stations and bus terminals. It further added that licence grants and renewals have a proposed 60-day timeline. Adding or removing cabs or places of operation has a 30 day deemed-approval mechanism.
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The 45th India International Trade Fair (IITF) 2026 will be inaugurated at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi today. Talking to media, Chairman of India Trade Promotion Organisation, Jawed Ashraf said that this year the focus is on three key aspects that are enhancing the visitor experience, showcasing innovations and highlighting India’s rich heritage. He said that visitors can book tickets online through the IITF 2026 mobile application, which is integrated with the DMRC’s Sarthi app. Mr Ashraf informed that shuttle bus services will operate from several metro stations, including Mandi House, connecting visitors to all entry gates of the venue.
The IITF 2026 is being organised under the theme ‘Vikas aur Virasat’. The fair will host business days from the 14th to 18th of this month, offering opportunities for trade visitors and business-to-business networking. From 19th to 27th November, the fair will open its doors to the general public, families and cultural visitors.
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The four-day long Chhath Puja will begin today with the ‘Nahay-Khay’ ritual in different parts of the country. Dedicated to Surya Dev or the Sun God and Chhathi Maiya, the festival is observed with strict purity, fasting, and rituals along riverbanks and ghats. The Nahay-Khay’ is marked by ritual bathing and preparation of food while observing strict cleanliness and purity. Traditionally, devotees prepare Kaddubhaat as prasad, marking the beginning of the four-day festival.
The second day will be observed as ‘Kharna’. Devotees will observe a day-long fast and break it in the evening after offering prayers and consuming prasad. This will be followed by the rigorous ‘nirjala’ fast.
On the third day, devotees will gather at rivers, ponds and other Chhath ghats in the evening to worship Chhathi Maiya and offer ‘arghya’ to the setting sun.
The festival will conclude on Monday morning with devotees offering ‘arghya’ to the rising sun.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi today extended his greetings to fellow citizens on the commencement of the four-day Chhath Mahaparv, a festival of popular faith and worship of the Sun God. In a social media post, Mr Modi said that today marks Nahay-Khay, the first day of the festival. He extended his greetings to all devotees observing the fast and wished that everyone receives the blessings of Chhathi Maiya.
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The countdown to the 57th International Film Festival of India, IFFI 2026, begins in Goa today, with the curtain raiser press conference scheduled this morning. The nine-day festival will be held from November 20 to 28 in Goa. Chief Minister Dr. Pramod Sawant will grace the curtain raiser programme.
The curtain raiser press conference will be held at 9:30 AM at Dona Paula in Goa. Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Chanchal Kumar, and IFFI Festival Director Ashutosh Gowariker will also attend the programme. The press conference is expected to unveil the festival’s major attractions, special programmes and key highlights, setting the stage for the 57th edition of IFFI. NIKHIL UPADHYAY, AKASHVANI NEWS, PANAJI.
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The SPARSH Outreach Programme, aimed at resolving all grievances of defence pensioners under a single roof, will be held today in Thiruvananthapuram. The programme is being organised by the Controller of Defence Accounts, Chennai.
“The initiative aims to ensure immediate resolution of pension related complaints, irrespective of how long they have been pending. Officials from banks and record offices will be present with all the necessary official documents to settle grievances on the spot.
The arrangement is expected to spare defence pensioners the inconvenience of visiting multiple offices and banks to resolve their complaints.
Defence Ministry sources informed that the facilities for issuing pension payment orders, annual identification of pensioners and updating their profiles will also be available at the venue. SMITHY M PALLURUTHY, AKASHVANI NEWS, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM.”
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to let European representatives join the next round of Ukraine peace talks. US envoy Steve Witkoff informed this to reporters after the talks. Witkoff told Russian state TV after meeting Putin in the Kremlin that the move to give Europe a seat at the negotiating table at the next round of talks is a breakthrough.
But Putin’s comments that Washington must work with its European allies to understand if they want peace or war in Ukraine, underlined how difficult the negotiations could become, given sharp differences between Moscow and European capitals. Kyiv and Moscow said after two days of trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi this week that there had been some progress but that major differences remained, including on territorial issues.
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In Men’s Cricket, hosts New Zealand were 85 for 1 in 12 overs against India in the fourth One Day International of the five-match series in Mount Maunganui when reports last came in. Earlier, India won the toss and elected to field first.
India, led by Shreyas Iyer, will look to continue their winning momentum after taking an unassailable 2-nil lead in the five-match series. The third ODI in Hamilton was abandoned due to rain. New Zealand will aim to bounce back and register their first win in the series.
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TODAY’S NEWSPAPERS HEADLINES:-
- THE ASIAN AGE headlines Media key to keeping India’s democracy vibrant, says PM Modi, also hails BJP govt’s achievements, urges focus on ‘India story’ Reiterates ‘Viksit Bharat’ push: will achieve goals before 2047.
- The Pioneer highlights Home Minister Amit Shah’s four-hour security huddle at Delhi Police Headquarters.
- Retail inflation goes past RBI’s limit to 6.1% in October reports The Hindu.
- In major reboot, the pre-eminent face of the AI infrastructure Jensen Huang ousted as Nvidia CEO, leads The Hindu Businessline. CFO Colette Kress named the interim CEO.
- And finally, Wars energy security reshape global climate debate at COP31 informs The Economic Times. The paper adds the two-day Leaders’ summit at the UN Climate change Conference has underscored how climate action is increasingly being framed as an issue of economic and energy security rather than an environmental one.
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THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN:-
- India achieves significant milestone in its fight against TB; Records 38 percent decline in TB mortality and 94 percent treatment success rate.
- President Droupadi Murmu to confer National Sports Awards 2025 at Rashtrapati Bhavan this morning.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi to launch various development projects worth over 15 thousand crore rupees in Karnataka today.
- Government proposes reforms to simplify rules for governing cab rental businesses, promote ease of doing business and strengthen passenger safety.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin agrees to let European representatives join next round of Ukraine peace talks.
- And in Cricket, fourth One-Day International between India and New Zealand underway in Mount Maunganui.
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