Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Vientiane on Thursday, where he is set to participate in the 21st ASEAN-India and the 19th East Asia Summits.

Upon his arrival, PM Modi was warmly welcomed by Laos’ Minister of Home Affairs, Vilayvong Bouddakham, and was accorded a ceremonial Guard of Honour.

The Prime Minister’s two-day visit to Laos comes at the invitation of Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone, as both nations seek to enhance their bilateral relations.

The Ministry of External Affairs confirmed PM Modi’s arrival with a post on X, featuring images of the welcome ceremony: “Sabaidee Laos! PM @narendramodi arrives in Vientiane, Lao PDR to a ceremonial Guard of Honour. Warmly welcomed by Minister of Home Affairs of Laos, Mr. Vilayvong Bouddakham.”

Manoj Kumar Dubey (IRAS) has been appointed as the Chairman & Managing Director (CMD) of IRFC Limited. According to the company, the Ministry of Railways in its order issued on October 9, has appointed him as an Additional Director to be designated as CMD on the Board of IRFC and also designated as CEO of the company.

"Dubey has been appointed to the post a period of five years with effect from the date of his assumption of charge of the post, or until further orders, whichever is earlier," IRFC said in a regulatory filing to the stock exchanges on Wednesday.

Dubey has done graduation and post-graduation from the Hindu College of the University of Delhi. He has done MBA from Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad and was conferred the overall Silver Medal for the batch 2011-13 from the then President of India for topping the batch.

The Himachal Pradesh Government is actively exploring the adoption of several skill development programmes and initiatives from Karnataka.

During a meeting at Vikasa Soudha on Wednesday, Himachal Pradesh’s minister for town planning, housing, and technical education, Rajesh Kumar Dharmani, lauded Karnataka’s efforts to enhance employability skills.

He evinced keen interest in implementing similar strategies in his home state after discussions with his counterpart Sharan Prakash Patil, the latter's office said in a statement.

Former AIIMS director Dr P Venugopal, a pioneer in cardiac surgery, who conducted India’s first heart transplant and over 50,000 heart surgeries in his career, passed away Tuesday.

Hailing from Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh, Venugopal introduced advanced Western concepts of cardiac surgery in the early 1970s in India. In his four-decade-long tenure, he headed the AIIMS cardiothoracic centre and later became its dean and director. The 82-year-old had a ringside view of some of the most impactful medical and political developments of the time.

Dr Venugopal was honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 1998 for his contributions to the field of Medicine. In 2023, he published his memoirs ‘Heartfelt’, co-authored with his wife Priya Sarkar. He will be cremated at Lodhi Road Crematorium at 3 pm on Wednesday.

Anil Kumar Gupta took over the charge of Member (Planning) on the Board of Airports Authority of India, as per a press release.

As Member (Planning), Anil Kumat Gupta will be responsible for the formulation of plans and setting of goals for development of Greenfield and Brownfield airports for modernisation and development of airport infrastructure.

Anil Kumar Gupta has experience in Civil Aviation Sector serving in various capacities with AAI. Prior to this assignment, he has served as Executive Director (Land Management & Business Development) and as Executive Director (Regional Connectivity Scheme). He is also nominated as Director on the Board of Multi Modal International Cargo Hub and Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN).

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Thursday (October 10, 2024) declared Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT) a terrorist organisation under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

“The outfit is involved in various acts of terror, including radicalising the gullible youths to join terrorist organisations and raise funds for terror activities, posing a serious threat to the national security and sovereignty of India. The Modi government is committed to securing Bharat by dealing the forces of terror with an iron fist,” the MHA said in a post on X.

HuT is active in Bangladesh also.

The MHA notification said that HuT aims to establish Islamic state and Caliphate globally, including in India, by overthrowing democratically elected governments through jihad and terrorist activities while involving citizens, which is a grave threat to the democratic setup and internal security of the country.

When Han Kang’s The Vegetarian (her first novel to be translated from Korean into English), won the 2016 Man Booker Prize, a friend gifted me a copy. “What’d you think of it?” I asked, pocketing the book with thanks. “It’s a strange book,” my friend said. “But life is strange,” she added, still in a daze from just having finished reading it.

Han Kang—the 2024 Nobel Laureate for literature—is the author of several novels, short stories, poems, children’s books, and essays. Her novels include Human Acts, Greek Lessons, Your Cold Hands, We Do Not Part, The Wind Blows, Go and The White Book. The Vegetarian, exquisitely translated into English by Deborah Smith, earned the South Korean writer international recognition. The book pushes boundaries, defies classification, and much like everything else Han has written, asks the all-important question: How to live a life in this strange world we occupy?

At the Prize announcement ceremony, the Swedish Academy’s Nobel Committee praised Han’s “intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life” and “her empathy for vulnerable, often female lives…” Han is the first South Korean writer to be awarded the Nobel for Literature. The win makes her the 18th woman to receive the Prize (among 120 literature Laureates). The world clearly remains a biased place and the fictional worlds Han creates mirror the imbalances.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday arrived in Laos on a two-day visit to attend the ASEAN-India and East Asia summits to further deepen engagement with countries in the groupings.

Modi is visiting Lao PDR on the invitation of Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone. Laos is the current chair of the ASEAN.

During the visit, Modi will participate in the 21st ASEAN-India and the 19th East Asia summits.

In his departure statement, Modi noted that India is marking a decade of Act East policy this year.

"I will join the ASEAN leaders to review progress in our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and chart the future direction of our cooperation," the prime minister said.

India, the sixth largest global contributor of core funding to the World Health Organisation (WHO), has now committed to give more than $300 million for the organisation’s core programme of work from 2025 to 2028. The biggest chunk of $250 million will be spent on the Centre of Excellence for Traditional Medicine.

So far, WHO has received contribution pledges for over $2.2 billion towards a $7.1 billion funding gap.

Over the next four years, WHO has the mandate to use these funds to save at least 40 million lives through various programmes, such as increasing the number of vaccines delivered to priority countries, supporting 55 countries in educating and employing 3.2 million health workers, and prequalifying 400 health products per year.

Indian Navy’s stealth frigate, INS Talwar, has docked in Simon’s Town, South Africa, to participate in the eighth edition of the IBSAMAR exercise, a crucial trilateral maritime drill involving the navies of India, Brazil, and South Africa. Set to run from October 6 to 18, 2024, the exercise will focus on Blue Water Naval Warfare, covering Surface and Anti-Air Warfare dimensions.

This year’s IBSAMAR takes on added significance as it precedes the upcoming BRICS Summit in Russia later this month, underlining the growing importance of naval cooperation among these influential nations.