Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) added 18 lakh 23 thousand net members in July this year registering a growth of 24.48 percent in comparison to the same month of the last year, 2021.
 
The provisional payroll data of EPFO reflects that more than 10 lakh new members out of 18.23 lakh members have come under the social security cover of EPFO for the first time. 

According to the data, more than 57 percent are from the age group of 18 to 25 years in the 10.58 lakh new members added in July this year. The data shows that first-time job seekers are joining the organized sector workforce in large numbers. 

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held meeting with his Egyptian counterpart General Mohamed Zaki in Cairo. They had wide-ranging discussions on several initiatives to further expand bilateral Defence engagements. Both Ministers signed MoU on Defence Cooperation.

In a tweet, Mr Singh said, the signing of the MoU adds new impetus and synergy to the India-Egypt relations.

Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh will lead the Joint Indian Ministerial official delegation of the Ministry of Power, New and Renewable Energy and Ministry of Science and Technology on a five-day visit to USA to participate in the Global Clean Energy Action Forum and also to interact with eminent academicians as well as the Indian diaspora.

Dr Singh will be leaving for Washington this evening on the first leg of the American tour and from there he will proceed to Pittsburgh and later New York.

The coveted joint convening of the Clean Energy Ministerial CEM13 and Mission Innovation MI-7 will take place from 21st to 23rd of this month at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, USA. The event is expected to bring together thousands of clean energy leaders from across the world, including CEOs, innovators, young professionals, civil society and ministers from over 30 countries to accelerate clean energy innovation and deployment.

Bangladesh won a historic victory at the SAFF Women’s Championship to lift the maiden title at the Dashrath Rangshala Stadium in Kathmandu yesterday. The Bangladesh team defeated hosts Nepal by 3-1 in the finals before a full stadium watching some brilliant football on display.

Starting with an early injury to one of its star performers Sirat Jahan Swapna in the 10th minute, Bangladesh came on top with the replacement Shamsunnahar Jr scoring a goal only four minutes later. Krishna Rani Sarkar scored the other two goals to secure a resounding victory for Bangladesh to claim the SAFF title.

In the rain-soaked stadium, Krishna Rani Sarkar scored the second goal in the 42nd minute with a brilliant pass from the skipper Sabina Khatun.

A state level institution on the lines of NITI Aayog will be established in Maharashtra.

It will help to bring drastic changes in sectors like agriculture, health, education, employment, environment etc. in the state. Chief executive officer of NITI Aayog and other experts yesterday made a presentation on how Maharashtra will be assisted by the Aayog for bringing about changes in various sectors.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and other Senior officials were present for this meeting. Shinde said that skilled human resource and infrastructural facilities are available in the state and we are also stressing on successful implementation of various schemes of the central government in the state. He expected the co-operation of NITI aayog in establishing this institute and fulfilling expectations of the citizens.

The sixth edition of the Japan India Maritime Exercise 2022, JIMEX 22 hosted by the Indian Navy concluded in the Bay of Bengal with the two sides bidding farewell to each other with a customary steam past on Monday at ENC, Visakhapatnam.

Indian Naval ships led by Rear Adm Sanjay Bhalla, Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet and Japan Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) Ships Izumo and Takanami led by Rear Adm Hirata Toshiyuki, Commander Escort Flotilla Four, participated in the week-long exercise.

JIMEX 22 witnessed some of the most complex exercises undertaken jointly by the two navies. Both sides engaged in advanced level anti-submarine warfare, weapon firings and Air Defence exercises. Shipborne helicopters, fighter aircraft and submarines also participated in the exercise. IN and JMSDF ships replenished each other at sea under the agreement on Reciprocal Provision for Supply and Services (RPSS).

The US Agency for International Development and UNICEF today launched the Doordarshan and YouTube series titled Door Se Namaste at function held in New Delhi. Door Se Namaste is a new television series which promotes healthy behaviours in a post-pandemic world. It is a fictional Hindi series developed in an entertainment education format highlighting the challenges of a post-pandemic world and promotes the adoption of healthy behaviour and practices. The programme will be telecast on every Sunday from 11 AM to 12 noon.

Speaking on the occasion Additional Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Neerja Sekhar said that Information and Broadcasting Ministry, Prasar Bharati, Doordarshan and All India Radio are the major channels through which the government of India reaches out to the people for spreading information regarding its policies and programmes. She informed that Doordarshan has 25 channels and All India Radio has over 400 radio stations. She said, during Covid pandemic, Health Ministry and Ministry of Ayush came out with their protocols to deal with the pandemic and fact check unit was also set up to dispel fake information. She informed that the entire communication mechanism was led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he is the principal communicator and during entire Covid period whenever he spoke, the people listened.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the National Logistics Policy (NLP) in New Delhi today. The need for a national logistics policy was felt since the logistics cost in India is high as compared to other developed economies.

It is imperative to reduce the logistics cost in India for improving the competitiveness of Indian goods both in domestic as well as export markets. Reduced logistics cost improves efficiency cutting across various sectors of the economy, encouraging value addition and enterprise.

AIR correspondent reports, Since 2014, the government has put significant emphasis on improving both Ease of Doing Business and Ease of Living.

Varanasi has been nominated as the first-ever Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Tourism and Cultural Capital during the period 2022-2023 at the 22nd Meeting of SCO Council of Heads of State in Samarkand, Uzbekistan yesterday.

External Affairs Ministry said, the nomination of Varanasi as the first ever SCO Tourism and Cultural Capital will promote tourism, cultural and humanitarian exchanges between India and the SCO member Countries. It also underlines country's ancient civilizational links with Member States of SCO especially the Central Asian Republics.

The e-auction of gifts presented to Prime Minister Narendra Modi will begin today. The auction will go on till 2nd of October. One thousand 222 mementos will be E-auctioned during this period.

The mementos include idols of Ganesh, Swami Vivekanand, Ram Mandir Temple, Netaji statue, painting and sports equipment among others gifted to the Prime Minister.

Briefing reporters in New Delhi, Culture Minister G. Kishan Reddy said, Mr Modi is the first Prime Minister of the country to auction all the gifts he receives for the noble cause of conserving river Ganga through Namami Gange.

Mr Reddy said, the lowest base price of the gift is one hundred rupees and the highest base price is five lakh rupees.