THE HEADLINES:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi to inaugurate India Energy Week in Bengaluru this morning; To also dedicate to the nation, Asia's largest Helicopter factory at Tumakaru in Karnataka.
First meeting of Youth -20 engagement group to begin in Guwahati today.
Campaigning gains momentum for Assembly Election in Tripura; Filing of nominations for Meghalaya and Nagaland picks up.
Rashtriya Swatantra Party decides to withdraw from Nepal's ruling coalition; Party ministers resign en-masse from Cabinet.
In SAFF Under-20 Women's football championship, India Bangladesh match ends in a goalless draw in Dhaka.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a day long visit to Karnataka today. He will inaugurate the India Energy Week 2023 in Bengaluru. The Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone of various developmental initiatives. He will also dedicate to the nation, Greenfield Helicopter manufacturing plant of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, HAL in Tumkuru. The Greenfield Helicopter factory, spread across 615 acres, the largest in Asia, will manufacture Light Utility Helicopters.
The three day long India Energy Week will be held till Wednesday. It is aimed at showcasing India's rising prowess as an energy transition powerhouse. The event will bring together leaders from traditional and non-traditional energy industry, governments, and academia to discuss the challenges and opportunities that responsible energy transition presents. It will see the presence of more than 30 Ministers from across the world. Over 30 thousand delegates, one thousand exhibitors and 500 speakers will gather to discuss the challenges and opportunities of India's energy future.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch multiple initiatives in the field of green energy. In line with the ethanol blending roadmap, He will launch E20 fuel at 84 retail outlets of Oil Marketing Companies in 11 States/UTs. E20 is a blend of 20% ethanol with petrol. The government aims to achieve a complete 20 per cent blending of ethanol by 2025. In another initiative he will also dedicate the twin-cooktop model of the IndianOil’s Indoor Solar Cooking System and flag-off its commercial roll-out. Prime Minister will launch the uniforms under ‘Unbottled’ initiative of Indian Oil to phase out the single-use plastic. To create public awareness for green fuel, he will also flag off the Green Mobility Rally which will witness participation of vehicles running on green energy sources. Sanjeev Jasrotia, AIR News, Bengaluru."
The first meeting of the Youth -20 engagement group under India's G20 presidency will be held in Guwahati, Assam from today. The Summit will provide an opportunity to the students to voice their opinions for the audience worldwide. Youth Affairs and Sports Ministry said, the three day Y-20 Inception meeting will be held in IIT-Guwahati campus.
More than one hundred 50 Youth delegates from G20 countries are set to participate in the meetings. Over twelve thousand students from colleges and universities students are also expected to participate in these events. Every higher education institution in Assam will also be organising an awareness drive at ten nearby schools to sensitise the schools about G-20 groupings and functioning. Y-20 works with an aim to provide the youth a platform to raise their concerns on contemporary issues.
Earlier, talking to reporters in New Delhi, Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Anurag Singh Thakur had said, the youth -20 engagement group will organise pan India discussions to consult the youth of the nation on ideas for a better tomorrow.
In Tripura, campaigning has gained momentum for Assembly Election with the arrival of star campaigners of various political parties. Union Home minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah will address two election rallies in the state today, while TMC Chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee among other leaders are reaching Tripura for campaigning. Political parties are also making all out efforts to attract the voters through manifesto and declarations. The Congress through of 20 Point Declaration promised to provide 150 unit of free electricity and increase the Minimum Support Price to farmers in paddy procurement if the party comes to power.
"Home Minister Amit Shah will address two rallies at Shantir Bazar and Khowai. He will also do a road show at Banamalipur in the evening in support of party's state President Rajib Bhattacharya. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, CPIM leader Manik Sarkar and state Congress President Birajit Sinha will also do campaigning for their candidates. In the 60 members assembly polls, most of the seats are likely to see triangular or multi cornered contests. On the other hand, the Congress and Left parties have come together through seat sharing arrangment. With Kunal Shinde, Manas Pratim Sarma AIR News, Guwahati."
Meanwhile, with only two days left for filing of nominations for 60 assembly seats of Meghalaya and Nagaland, electioneering is picking up momentum. Both the states will go to polls on the 27th February. Our correspondent reports that the election campaign in Meghalaya has taken a musical upswing with political parties trying their best to connect with the voters by hitting the right notes.
"Rock band performances are regular feature on the streets of Shillong. But as the elections are approaching even the remote villages and towns are witnessing a live soiree with people dancing and singing to some of the liveliest campaign songs of candidates contesting elections. The office of the Chief Electoral Officer is also using music concerts to not only promote voting rights among young voters but to make them aware on no votes for cash. As the song played on loudspeakers in the background and people dancing on its peppy tunes, candidates visit one door to another, seeking votes from the electorates in their respective constituency. SUSHIL CHANDRA TIWARI AIR NEWS SHILLONG."
In Nagaland, many political parties which have not been in the forefront in the state politics are making an entry in this election. Rising People’s Party, North East Democratic Front, RupublicPI(A) and LJP (Ram Vilas) will be entering the arena for the first time.
The Republican Party of India (A) and the Janata Dal (United) released the list of candidates yesterday for the upcoming assembly elections.
Naga People’s Front (NPF) has announced names of six more candidates, taking the total to 21 candidates.
Congress also added four more names to the candidates list making the total number to 25.
Aam Aadmi Party said, it will announce the intending candidates on February 7 the morning, which is also the last date for filing of nominations.
Nepal's Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RSP) has decided to withdraw from the newly-formed government led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' with ministers resigning en-masse as the rift widened in the ruling coalition. The announcement to this effect was made by the RSP President Rabi Lamichhane yesterday after a meeting of the party leaders. The Rift inside the ruling coalition appearing last month after the Supreme Court invalidated the MP post of Mr Lamichhane after his citizenship was termed "invalid" by the court. Mr Lamichhane was aslo the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs at the time the court delivered the verdict. Mr Lamichhane had held multiple rounds of meeting with PM Prachanda demanding his reinstatement and had threatened to walk out if the demands were not met.
National Investigation Agency, NIA has arrested two persons from Motihari, Bihar in the Phulwarisharif Patna case linked to Popular Front of India (PFI). In a statement, NIA said, the arrests were made after conducting raids at eight locations to disrupt a conspiracy hatched by PFI cadres to carry out targeted killing in East Champaran District in Bihar. The arrested individuals are accused of arranging weapons and ammunition to carry out the killings. The arms and ammunition were handed over to a PFI Trainer, Yakoob, who had been conducting Training Sessions for PFI cadres. Earlier, four persons were arrested in this case and incriminating documents related to PFI were seized.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) is hosting the 6th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) SAI Leaders’ Meeting to begin in Lucknow today. Out of the eight SCO Supreme Audit Institutions (SAI) member country delegations participating in the event, the heads of SAIs from four countries - Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, alongside the CAG of India, are expected to take part in the three-day multilateral event.
Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Girish Chandra Murmu will lead the discussions on the theme “Integrating Emerging Technologies in Audit”.
Science and Technology Minister Dr Jitendra Singh has said that the number of Start-Ups in India has grown to about 90 thousand from nearly four hundred in the last eight years. He said, the National Education Policy -2020 supplements Start-Up ecosystem with the promise to open new career and entrepreneurship opportunities for students and youth. Dr Singh was addressing a DAV United Festival at Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi yesterday. He said, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s National Education Policy is in line with India’s global ascent.
At least eight people were killed in avalanches this weekend in the west of Austria. Authorities in Tyrol and Vorarlberg regions have said avalanche risks are high due to wind and snowfall. Police said, there was a plea for caution on the slopes after the avalanche alert level reached four on a scale of five following several days of intense snow and wind. Authorities said, despite the high alert level, many holidaymakers have ventured off the marked slopes.
In SAFF Under 20 Women's football championship, the match between India and Bangladesh ended in a draw at Dhaka last evening. It was a close contest from the opening exchanges, with many chances created by visitors that could not be converted into goals due to brilliant defensive performances by the host. Both teams got a point each. In its next match, India will take on Nepal tomorrow.
At the Khelo India Youth Games in Madhya Pradesh, two national youth records were created in athletics yesterday. Delhi's Sonam created a new record in 200 metre steeple chase with a timing of 6.45.71 minutes. While, Siddharth Chaudhary of Rajasthan set a new record of 21.04 meters in shot put.
In athletics, the overall championship in the boys' category has been won by Madhya Pradesh and in the girls' category by Maharashtra. In the medals tally, Maharashtra is at the top with 79 medals including 26 golds. Haryana is at the second spot with a total of 53 medals including 22 gold and host Madhya Pradesh is third with 53 medals including 21 gold.
In our bilingual live phone-in programme “Public Speak” at 9.30 tonight, we will bring you a discussion on "Digi Health" with Additional CEO, National Health Authority, Dr. Basant Garg.
Listeners can ask questions to the expert on issues and concerns related to creation of digital health records, Ayushman Bharat Health Accounts and other queries related to the topic.
TODAY'S NEWSPAPERS HEADLINE:
All papers have widely noticed US shooting down a Chinese balloon in its airspace suspected of being a surveillance balloon. The Hindu, headlines, "U.S shoots down balloon, Beijing warns of response,"
Dailies have widely noticed the banning of Chinese apps by the Centre. The Tribune informs, "Centre blocks 232 betting loan apps with China links," adding "Action after security agencies flag data leak, extortion."
The Statesman quotes the Prime Minister while he was addressing the participants of Jaipur Mahakhel : "Sports Budget hiked three times since 2014." The Asian Age quotes the PM too in its headline, "Nothing is impossible for India's youngsters."
And finally, some good news for those who love visiting historical monuments. The Hindu writes, "ASI decides to form special panel to trace and certify 24 'missing' monuments."
THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN.