Prime Minister Modi and Christopher Luxon jointly inaugurated the 10th Raisina Dialogue

1 Prime Minister Modi and Christopher Luxon jointly inaugurated the 10th Raisina Dialogue

Prime Minister  Narendra Modi  and  New Zealand  Prime Minister  Christopher Luxon jointly inaugurated  the 10th edition of the Raisina Dialogue  in  New Delhi   on 17 March 2025.  The 10th edition of the annual Raisina Dialogue is being held in New Delhi from 17-19 March 2025.  New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was the Chief Guest of the 10th edition of the Raisina Dialogue and also delivered the keynote address. Christopher Luxon is on an official visit to India from 16-20 March 2025. The Raisina Dialogue is a flagship conference on geopolitics and geoeconomics with an Indian perspective. It provides a platform for experts in the field of geopolitics and geoeconomics from around the world to discuss the most challenging issues facing the international community and attempt to find solutions to them through dialogue and discussion. The Raisina Dialogue derives its name from the Raisina Hill located in Delhi. The area of ​​Raisina Hill in Delhi was chosen to form the new capital of British India when the capital was moved from Kolkata (Calcutta) in 1911. Raisina symbolically represents the centre of power of the Government of India. The Raisina Dialogue is organised by the Observer Research Foundation in collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. The first Raisina Dialogue was held in 2016 and has been held every year since then.

 The Election Commission  of India (ECI)  on  Tuesday  held a high-level meeting on linking   of  Voter ID (EPIC) with Aadhaar . The meeting was chaired by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar  . The meeting was also attended by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, Union Home Secretary, Secretary of Legislative Department, MeitY Secretary, UIDAI CEO and technical experts. The Commission clarified that the EPIC-Aadhaar linking process  will be in accordance with the provisions of Article 326 of the Constitution  and  the Representation of the People Act, 1950.  The Commission stressed that the Aadhaar card is not a proof of citizenship, but only proves the identity of the person. The Commission said that according to Article 326 of the Constitution, only citizens have the right to vote in India. The Aadhaar card only provides proof of identity, not citizenship. Therefore, EPIC-Aadhaar linking will be fully in accordance with Article 326, Sections 23(4), 23(5) and 23(6) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and the order of the Supreme Court. In this regard, discussions will soon begin between technical experts of UIDAI and ECI. The purpose of this process is to make voter identification accurate and make the electoral system more robust.

 As a testimony to the enduring maritime partnership between  India and France , the 23rd edition   of  the bilateral naval exercise Varuna will be held from 19 to  22 March 2025. Since its inception in 2001  , Exercise Varuna has evolved into a cornerstone of cooperation, reflecting the commitment of both countries to enhance naval cooperation and operational synergy. This year’s edition envisions an exciting series of maritime exercises and complex maneuvers in the surface, surface and air domains.

4 Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman launched the Pradhan Mantri Internship Scheme App in the presence of Minister of State for Corporate Affairs, Shri Harsh Malhotra

5 Lok Sabha and India AI Mission signed an agreement to create a data set called AI Corpus

Lok Sabha and India Artificial Intelligence (AI) Mission  signed  a MoU  in  New Delhi  in the presence of Lok Sabha Speaker  Om Birla  and Information and Technology Minister  Ashwini Vaishnaw . Speaking to the media, Mr Vaishnaw said  a data set called  AI Kosh will be created, which will enable translation of debates in Lok Sabha into any language  . He said this will facilitate researchers, Members of Parliament and academics to access detailed debates of Parliament translated into any language for research purposes. The Minister said the objective of this MoU is to create a comprehensive AI-based linguistic repository using AI technology.

The Ministry of Education (MoE)  and  the National Book Trust of India (NBT)  launched  the third edition of  the Pradhan Mantri Yuva Lekhak Mentorship Scheme ,  known as YUVA 3.0  , on  11 March 2025.  The initiative aims to encourage young writers under the age of 30  and provide them guidance and opportunities to hone their creative writing skills. YUVA 3.0 builds on the success of its predecessors, YUVA 1.0 and YUVA 2.0, continuing the government’s commitment to foster literary talent and promote reading, writing and book culture in India. The themes of PM-YUVA 3.0 are:  Contribution of Overseas Indians in Nation Building; Indian Knowledge Systems; and Makers of Modern India (1950-2025) .

7 Sikkim government imposed tourist fee of Rs 50 per person

The Prem Singh Tamang  government   of  Sikkim  has imposed  an entry fee of Rs 50 for tourists entering the state . This will be implemented from March 15, 2025  The state government has imposed this fee under the provisions of the Sikkim Tourist Business Registration Rules, 2025. Tourists coming to the state will have to pay a fee of Rs 50 per person and it will be valid for a stay of up to 30 days. If the tourist comes to the state again after 30 days, he will have to pay a fee of Rs 50 per person again. Children below five years of age and government officials coming on official duty are exempted from the fee.

8 A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Reserve Bank of India and the Bank of Mauritius

 A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between  the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)  and  the Bank of Mauritius (BOM) for cross border transactions  . According to the RBI, the objective of this agreement is to facilitate the use of Indian Rupee and Mauritius Rupee in bilateral trade. This will facilitate all citizens to make payments in their respective country’s currency. Along with this, trade between India and Mauritius will increase and financial equality will come. Historical, cultural and economic relations between the two countries will also be strengthened.

9 NASA astronaut Sunita Williams and other members of Crew-9 returned to Earth after being stranded in space for 9 months

Space angel Sunita Williams  and  Butch Wilmore  have returned safely to Earth.   SpaceX’s capsule spacecraft has made a successful landing in the sea of  ​​Florida in the USA. It is worth noting that due to technical fault in the spacecraft, Sunita and Butch were stranded on the space station for more than 9 months. On 5 June 2024, they  left for a space mission for 8 days .

10 Saturn finds 128 new moons, taking the total number of moons to 274

The International Astronomical Union (IAU)  has   officially recognised  128 new moons  of  the gas giant planet Saturn , taking the number of moons of the planet to 274.  The number of Saturn’s moons has increased after the IAU recognised the discoveries of a team of astronomers led by Edward Ashton at Academia Sinica in Taiwan. Saturn now officially has the most moons among the eight planets in our solar system. Jupiter has 95 moons, the second highest number of moons in the solar system. The 128 new moons were discovered by combining images taken from the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope. Some of Saturn’s other moons were discovered during the space journeys of Voyager 1 and Cassini spacecraft when they passed near Saturn.