The 7th Conference of Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) India Region will start today at the legislative assembly building in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will inaugurate the Conference in the presence of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Governor Anandiben Patel will address the Valedictory Session tomorrow.

AIR correspondent reports, around 100 Delegates of 15 state assemblies and representatives of some foreign countries have reached Lucknow to take part in the 7th Conference of CPA India Region.

On the eve of the Conference, the Meeting of the Executive Committee of CPA India Region was chaired by the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Wednesday evening.

Students, teachers and parents across India are eagerly awaiting for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s interaction programme Pariksha Pe Charcha-2020. The event will be held at Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi on the 20th of this month. Over two thousand students, parents and teachers will be participating from all over the country.

Mr. Modi will answer the questions and interact with selected students about how they can beat examination stress.

Last year, in the second edition of Pariksha Pe Charcha programme, Prime Minister had urged students not to succumb to pressure as exam-related stress makes matters worse. He had said that students should focus on acquiring knowledge to enrich their lives, without worrying about examination results.

In Wrestling, twenty-year-old Greco-Roman grappler Sunil Kumar sprung a huge surprise by reaching the gold medal round on his maiden senior level appearance at the first ranking series event of the season in Rome. 

In the 87-kg category, Sunil began with a 2-1 win over American Patrick Anthony Martinez and followed it up with a commanding victory by fall over Venezuala's Luis Eduardo Avendano Rojas in the semifinals.

He will now fight it out with Hungary's Viktor Lorincz for the top prize. Two more Indians are in medal contention with Ashu (67kg) and Sachin Rana (60kg) reaching the bronze play-offs.

India's swashbuckling opener Rohit Sharma has been named the ICC's '2019 ODI Cricketer of the Year' for his incredible run of form through the year. Indian captain Virat Kohli won the 'Spirit of Cricket' award for stopping fans from booing Australia's Steve Smith during their World Cup match at the Oval.

In a statement, ICC said, England's World Cup-winning all-rounder Ben Stokes got the 'Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy' for Player of the Year. The 32-year-old Rohit had a memorable 2019 when he scored 10 hundreds across formats, including five in the World Cup.
 

The 72nd Army Day is being celebrated across the country today. It is celebrated every year to commemorate the day when General KM Carriappa took over the command of Army from General Sir FRR Bucher, the last British Commander-in-Chief in 1949 and became the first Commander-in-Chief of Indian Army after Independence.

Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane has congratulated all ranks, families, veterans and Veer Naris and Armed Forces fraternity on 72nd Army Day. In his message, General Naravane said, the Indian Army has responded to a wide array of national security challenges that are becoming more complex and multi-dimensional and demand utmost dedication, highest level of proficiency and resilience in dealing with them.
He said, whenever confronted, Officers and Soldiers of Indian Army have given befitting response to the adversaries whether in safeguarding the frontiers or in conduct of intense counter terror operations in a highly professional manner. The Chief of the Army Staff said, Indian Army in taking rapid steps with regard to technological embrace and indigenization. He said, Army is developing cogent strategies, acquiring modern capabilities and undergoing structural optimization to enable to fight and win wars of the future. General Naravane said, Indian Army has reaffirmed its dedication to the motherland by being effective responders during calamities and through the contributions to wider nation building. He said, Indian Army enjoys a distinctive pride of place in the national mind space.

The government on Tuesday appointed Michael Debaprata Patra as the deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The appointment of Patra, who is currently an executive director at the central bank, comes nearly six months after former deputy governor Viral Acharya’s pre-mature resignation.

Patra will serve as the deputy governor for three years from the time of his appointment. The date of Patra’s appointment has not been specified yet.

The Reserve Bank currently has three deputy governors--NS Vishwanathan, BP Kanungo and MK Jain. Patra will be the fourth among the deputy governors. Shaktikanta Das is the governor of RBI.

World number one Kento Momota won the Malaysia Masters after easily defeating Denmark's Viktor Axelsen 24-22, 21-11 on Sunday.

The victory in Malaysia lends credence to Momota's drive to win the gold in July's Tokyo Olympics.

The reigning world champion told reporters that he eyes more success in 2020.

Momota currently the best player on the planet, won a record 11 titles last year.

“My condition was not perfect coming into this tournament, but I was focused on this week and was able to play calmly,” said the Japanese star, who pocketed $30,000.

“I do not think I am the strongest, but I am sharp and confident especially after winning the World Tour Finals last year. I know when to focus on attack and defence.”

India's flagship global conference on geopolitics and geo-economics Raisina Dialogue will begin today. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the inaugural session.

Seven former heads of state or government will share their views on important challenges facing the world.

The fifth edition of the prestigious Raisina Dialogue is being jointly organized by the Ministry of External Affairs and the Observer Research Foundation.

AIR Correspondent reports that the participation of Iran Foreign Minister in the meeting assumes significance as it comes amid the standoff between US and Iran.  

The three-day conference will see participation of 12 Foreign Ministers, including from Russia, Iran, Australia, Maldives, South Africa, Denmark, Uzbekistan and the EU. This will bring together 700 international participants from over 100 countries.

The 182-meter tall Statue of Unity in Gujarat has been included in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's '8 Wonders of SCO' list, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar announced on Monday.

Taking to Twitter, Jaishankar appreciated the SCO's efforts towards promoting tourism among member nations and asserted that the statue's inclusion in the list will "surely serve as an inspiration".

"Appreciated the #SCO's efforts to promote tourism among member states. The "8 Wonders of SCO", which includes the #StatueofUnity, will surely serve as an inspiration," Jaishankar tweeted.

Maharastra and Harayana are neck to neck in the medal tally  of Khelo India Youth Games at Guwahati. The defending champions, Maharashtra yesterday picked up five gold to manage a tally of total 76 medal with 17 gold and maninten top spot. Haryana also won 17 gold with total 47 medal. Delhi and Gujarat occupied the third and fourth spots.

AIR  correspondent reports that on day 4 pumped up by four gold in kabaddi, three each in archery and athletics and one each from cycling and gymnastics, Haryana jumped to 2nd spot from Number 6. Haryana's cyclist Anil  secured the most comfortable victory in the road races.

On the other hand Gujarat’s Rushiraj Jadeja, finished sixth in qualification but came into his own to win the Boys Under-21 10m Air Rifle gold .