India has become the first country to make the entire process for pilgrims going on Haj completely digital.

Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi today said this after signing the bilateral agreement for next year's pilgrimage with the Saudi Haj Minister in Jeddah.  Mr Naqvi said, an online application, e-visa, Haj mobile app, 'e-MASIHA' health facility, "e-luggage pre-tagging" providing all information in India itself regarding accommodation and transportation in Mecca and Madina will be provided to 2 lakh Indian Muslims going for Haj in 2020. 

The minister signed the bilateral annual Haj 2020 agreement between India and Saudi Arabia with Haj and Umrah Minister of Saudi Arabia Mohammad Saleh bin Taher Benten. He said, for the first time facilities were provided for digital pre-tagging of pilgrims' baggage. 

For the first time in the history of Hornbill festival, Bureau of Outreach & Communication, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting is organising a Multi Media Exhibition commemorating the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

Nagaland Chief Minister, Neiphiu Rio officially inaugurated the Multi Media Exhibition yesterday at World War II museum, Kisama in Nagaland.

The focus of the event is to present Gandhian values and principles both to the people and through the people in contemporary idiom. The 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi is more than a celebration of a great life and a remembrance of history. It is a moment of renewal, of making a fresh commitment to the goals of a just, honest and fair society- at home and abroad.

Centre will launch the Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) 2.0 across the country today.

The government's flagship scheme is aimed at immunizing children under the age of 2 years and pregnant women against eight vaccine preventable diseases. The IMI covers  vaccines for diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, poliomyelitis, tuberculosis, measles, meningitis and Hepatitis B. Vaccines for Japanese encephalitis and hemophilus influenzal are also being provided in selected areas. The IMI 2.0 aims to achieve targets of full immunization coverage in 272 districts spread over 27 States. The IMI 2.0 will be carried out between December 2019 and March 2020.

In October 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the IMI. The IMI was built on Mission Indradhanush, using additional strategies to reach populations at high risk, by involving sectors other than health. It was an effort to shift routine immunization into a peoples movement.

In Madhya Pradesh, the Indian Army has successfully test fired two Spike long-range anti-tank missiles at Mhow.

Army Chief General Bipin Rawat and several commanders witnessed the firing of the newly acquired missiles on Wednesday.

Spike is a fourth generation missile which can engage any target with precision at ranges up to 4 kilo metres. The Spike long-range anti-tank missiles will bolster the Army's fire power capability.

Stage is all set for the three-day long Military Literature Festival (MLF) with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurating the gala event on December 13 at the Lake Club of the City Beautiful.

Talking to media persons here, Senior Advisor to Punjab Chief Minister Lt Gen (Retd) T S Shergill said the prestigious event to be held from December 13 to 15 would present an international level forum to foster and preserve exchange of knowledge related to military literature and associated works besides acquainting the youth with our glorious military heritage.

“Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will inaugurate the event, while Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh will preside over the closing ceremony and honour the descendants and units of Victoria Cross winners of the Burma Campaign of the Second World War,” said Shergill.

The screening of renowned Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s Italy-set refugee drama Marghe and Her Mother closed the golden jubilee edition of the International Festival of India (IFFI) on Thursday in Panaji. Close to 250 films from various countries were screened at the premier movie extravaganza, which opened on November 20.

The spectacular, star-studded closing ceremony brought the eight day festivities of screenings, master classes, in-conversation sessions to a fitting climax. The closing ceremony brought a stellar line-up of both the national and international and regional industry’s leading names.

Legendary music composer Ilaiyaraaja, director Manju Borah, veteran actor Prem Chopra, actor Arvind Swami, Kathak doyen Pandit Birju Maharaj, dancer Tanusree Shankar, among others were felicitated. Also present at the ceremony were Goa Governor Satyapal Malik, who was the chief guest for the evening, Information and Broadcasting Secretary Amit Khare, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, actor-BJP MPs Rupa Ganguly and Ravi Kishan, Union minister Babul Supriyo, among others.

Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy has said that there is a need to develop multi-pronged approach to anticipate landslide disasters to minimize the environmental and infrastructural damages caused by them. He said, landslide disaster can be prevented and extensive collaboration in various disaster-related programmes, involving international communities will be instrumental in reducing the impacts.  Mr Reddy was speaking at the inaugural function of 1st International Conference on Landslide Risk Reduction and Resilience - 2019 in New Delhi today. Mr Reddy said, since the adoption of disaster management act 2005, the Centre has taken several initiatives to strengthen the resilience capacity of all stakeholders aiming to make India disaster resilient nation and reduce landslide losses.

AIR correspondent reports that this first-of-its-kind conference aims to bring together all the stakeholders including relevant Ministries and experts to discuss, debate and disseminate information, experiences and innovations for landslides risk reduction and resilience at national and international levels. The conference will develop a road map towards landslide risk reduction and resilience through networking, collaboration and coordination amongst different stakeholders.

India wins bid to host 2023 Men's Hockey World Cup; Kalinga Hockey Stadium in Bhubaneswar and Biju Patnaik Hockey Stadium Stadium in Rourkela to be the venues for the tournament.

India won the  bid to host 2023 Men's Hockey World Cup. Kalinga Hockey Stadium in Bhubaneswar and Biju Patnaik Hockey Stadium Stadium in Rourkela will be the venues for the tournament.The tournament will be held from January 13 to 29.

    Kalinga Stadium will host the game's showpiece tournament for the second consecutive time after successfully conducting the event in 2018, which was won by Belgium. The state capital is also one of the venues for the 2020 FIFA Women's U-17 World Cup.

Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has called upon the auto industry to think about future technologies as skilled man-power, cheap labour and technology are available in the auto sector.

He said, Ethanol, Methanol, Bio-diesel and Bio-CNG will support the future technology to be utilized in the auto sector.

The Minister was speaking at the NuGen Mobility Summit 2019 at International Centre for Automotive Technology Centre, ICAT in Gurugram today.  

He said, new motor vehicle act will encourage new innovation and research.

The three-day Summit is being attended by experts from the automotive industry, system and technology companies, experts in technology domains, researchers, policymakers, test houses and agencies, associations and academia from all around the world.

Clive James, the Australian writer and broadcaster known around the world for his dry wit, has died at the age of 80.

Diagnosed with leukaemia in 2010, the author and critic had movingly written about his terminal illness during the final years of his life.

Born Vivian James in 1939, he moved to England in 1961 and rose to prominence as a literary critic and TV columnist.

He went on to deliver wry commentary on international programming in such shows as Clive James On Television.