Embassy of India in Beijing celebrated the Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas today.

The event saw huge participation by enthusiastic Indian diaspora in China. Addressing the gathering, Ambassador Vikram Misri said there are various initiatives put in place by government to connect Pravasis more closely with their motherland to get benefitted from their knowledge and expertise.

He urged the Indian community in China to be in touch with the Embassy by registering themselves. Indian community also presented some cultural programs durign the event and showcased the activities taken up by them round the year.

The gathering also listened to the live address by the External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar through video conferencing from New Delhi.

Today is World Hindi Day. The day is commemorated every year with the objective to promote use of Hindi language abroad. Special functions are being organized to mark the occasion. On this day in 2006, the First World Hindi Conference was organized in Nagpur to promote the language worldwide. Since then 10th January is being observed as World Hindi Day.

Ministry of External Affairs and Indian Missions abroad are observing the day annually. Extending his best wishes to citizens on the occasion, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said, Hindi and Indian languages are very beautiful. He said, their use on web and mobile is increasing.

The RBI on Thursday amended the KYC norms allowing banks and other lending institutions regulated by it to use Video based Customer Identification Process (V-CIP), a move which will help them onboard customers remotely.

The V-CIP, which will be consent-based, will make it easier for banks and other regulated entities to adhere to the RBI's Know Your Customer (KYC) norms by leveraging the digital technology.

"… with a view to leveraging the digital channels for Customer Identification Process (CIP) by Regulated Entities (REs), the Reserve Bank has decided to permit V-CIP as a consent based alternate method of establishing the customer's identity, for customer onboarding," the RBI said in a circular.

The stage has been set for the grand inauguration of the third Khelo India youth games at Guwahati in Assam today. Chief Executive Officer of the games, Avinash Joshi said, all preparations have been made for the inaugural ceremony.

Chief Minister Sarbanand Sonowal, Union Sports minister Kiren Rijjju and several star players would grace the opening ceremony. Entries are free for the entire event including the opening and closing ceremonies. 

Census India-2021 will begin on 1st of April this year and will end on 30th of September. Census India-2021 will be conducted through a mobile phone application, moving away from the traditional pen and paper.  

Enumerators of the census will seek the information of mobile number of the head of the family, information related to toilets, TV, Internet, vehicles owned, source of drinking water besides asking other questions during the house listing phase of the exercise.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved a Capital Grant as the Viability Gap Funding to Indradhanush Gas Grid Ltd for setting up the North East Natural Gas Pipeline Grid.

This viability gap funding would be capped at 60 per cent of the estimated cost of 9,265 crore (including interest during construction) for the project. “The quantum of VGF would be capped at 60 per cent of the estimated project cost and would not be linked with upward capital cost variation,” an official statement said.

“A total of 5,559 crore has been earmarked as VGF. As per the plan, a 1,656-km gas pipeline grid would connect the eight states of the North-Eastern region, namely, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura,” Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan said.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will inaugurate Advantage Maharashtra expo 2020 in Aurangabad today.

The four-day mega industrial exhibition has been organised by the Marathwada Association of Small Scale Industries and Agriculture (MASSIA).

Growth of Marathwada industries in technology and innovation and the products produced and exported from the region will be showcased in this exhibition.

Convener of the expo Sunil Kirdak informed that over 450 exhibitors from within the state as well as outside the state are participating in this exhibition. He added that conferences and seminars will also be held during the event.

Country's largest public sector bank, State Bank of India has announced a 'residential builder finance with buyer guarantee' (RBBG) scheme. It aims at giving a push to residential sales and improve homebuyers' confidence.

Under this scheme announced yesterday, the SBI will issue a guarantee for completion of select residential projects to customers who have availed home loans from it. The scheme will focus on affordable housing projects priced up to 2.50 crore rupees in 10 cities initially. SBI Chairman said that this will be a win-win situation for homebuyers, builders and the bank. Under RBBG, the guarantee would be given by the bank till the project gets the occupation certificate (OC).

The guarantee will be available for RERA registered projects and a project will be considered stuck after it crosses the RERA deadline.     

The country gears up for the third edition of the Khelo India Youth Games, to be held in Guwahati from tomorrow till 22 of this month.  

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Kiren Rijiju along with a host of star athletes will grace the opening ceremony, to be held at the Indira Gandhi Stadium tomorrow.

Sarbanand Sonowal has said that the state is extremely delighted to host the third edition of the Khelo India Youth Games. He added that the competition has started a sporting revolution in India and expressed pride that the games are being held in Assam. Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju said that the Games have certainly inspired the youth of the country to take up sports.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today approved capital grant as viability gap funding to Indradhanush Gas Grid Limited for setting up the North-East Natural Gas Pipeline Grid.
 
It approved the proposal to provide 5 thousand 559 crore rupees viability gap funding for building a 1 thousand 656 kilometres gas grid. The total cost of the grid is 9 thousand 256 crore rupees. 

Briefing media, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said, the project is critical towards implementing the government's Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 for the North-East.

As per the plan, the Gas Pipeline Grid would be developed in all the eight states of the North-Eastern region.