1.President Kovind honours military officers with Gallantry awards; Abhinandan Varthaman awarded Vir Chakra
President Ram Nath Kovind has conferred Gallantry Awards and Distinguished Service Decorations upon Armed Forces Personnel for displaying indomitable courage and extreme devotion to duty at the Defence Investiture Ceremony held in Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Sapper Prakash Jadhav from Corps of Engineers has been accorded the second-highest peacetime gallantry award Kirti Chakra, posthumously, for neutralising terrorists in an operation in Jammu and Kashmir. His wife and mother received the award from the President.
Major Vibhuti Shankar Dhoundiyal was accorded the Shaurya Chakra posthumously for his role in an operation where five terrorists were eliminated and 200 kg explosive material was recovered. His wife Lt Nitika Kaul and mother Saroj Dhoundiyal received the award. Naib Subedar Sombir was accorded Shaurya Chakra posthumously for killing an A category terrorist during an operation in Jammu and Kashmir. His wife and mother received the award.
Group Captain Abhinandan Varthaman who shot down a Pakistani F-16 fighter aircraft aerial combat was honoured with Vir Chakra.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt were present on the occasion along with other dignitaries.
2.Construction of 65,000 km of national highways is being done under Bharatmala Phase 1 and 2, says Nitin Gadkari
Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that construction of 65 thousand Kilometre of national highways is being done under the Bharatmala Phase 1 and 2. He said, government is expeditiously working towards the development of a National highway network of two lakh kilometers by 2025. Mr Gadkari said this while addressing the Annual Session on Bharat@75 Empowering India: Today for Tomorrow through video conferencing yesterday.
The Minister said, under the green highway mission, the Government is carrying out tree plantation and transplantation along the National Highways where larger participation of the local communities, farmers, NGOs, and private sector is expected. He said to utilize the benefits of huge investment in infrastructure, the private sector can invest in building logistics parks, smart cities, and industrial parks along the corridor.
3.Dr Jitendra Singh launches India’s first Virtual Science Lab for Children under CSIR Jigyasa Programme
Science and Technology Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh has launched India’s first Virtual Science Lab for Children under CSIR Jigyasa Programme, which will also connect students with scientists across the country. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Singh said, the main aim of the Virtual Lab is to provide quality research exposure and innovative pedagogy for school students based on an online interactive medium. He said, the new facility will immensely benefit students from Kendriya Vidyalayas, Navodaya Vidyalayas and Government Schools and will help in catching them young.
The Minister said, the target audience for the Virtual Lab platform is students of the Standard six to 12 who would like to explore science using different activities, experienced researchers and faculties on the subjects of Science, Mathematics, Biology and IT. He said, initially the content will be available in English, but has been planned to be made available in Hindi and other regional languages. Dr Singh said, the Virtual Lab will provide a virtual tour of CSIR laboratories and expose students to research infrastructure.
4.PM to lay foundation stone of Noida International Airport on Nov 25
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone of Noida International Airport in Jewar Uttar Pradesh on Thursday. The development of the airport is in line with the vision of the Prime Minister towards boosting connectivity and creating a future-ready aviation sector. A special focus of this grand vision has been on the State of Uttar Pradesh that is witnessing the development of multiple international airports including the recently inaugurated Kushinagar airport and the under construction international airport at Ayodhya. Uttar Pradesh is poised to become the only state in India to have five international airports.
Jewar airport will be the second international airport to come up in Delhi NCR. It will help decongest the Indira Gandhi International Airport. It is strategically located and will serve the people of cities including Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Aligarh, Agra, Faridabad and neighbouring areas. Due to its scale and capacity, the airport will be a game changer for Uttar Pradesh. It will unleash the potential of Uttar Pradesh to the world and help establish the state on the global logistics map. For the first time, an airport in India has been conceptualised with an integrated multi-modal cargo hub, with a focus on reducing the total cost and time for logistics. The dedicated cargo terminal will have a capacity of 20 lakh metric tonnes, which will be expanded to 80 lakh metric tonnes.
5.5th East Asia Summit Conference on Maritime Security Cooperation to begin in Kolkata today
The fifth East Asia Summit, EAS Conference on Maritime Security Cooperation will begin today in Kolkata. The two-day event is being organized by India in partnership with Australia. Apart from the two governments, organizers include the ASEAN-India Centre at Research and Information System for Developing Countries in collaboration with National Maritime Foundation of Australia and the Research Centre for East and North East Regional Studies, Kolkata. Union Government will be represented by Riva Ganguly Das, Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs.
During the conference, experts from both government and academia from the participating countries will deliberate upon various aspects of maritime security cooperation under four thematic sessions. These are Maritime Security, Resource and Information Sharing, Science and Technology Cooperation and Pandemic and Disaster Risk Reduction and Management. The event will conclude with a panel discussion on the Way Forward.
