Beating the Retreat ceremony, marking the culmination of four day long Republic Day celebrations, will be held at the historic Vijay Chowk in New Delhi today. This year, Indian tunes will be the flavour of ‘Beating the Retreat’ ceremony. 
 
As many as 27 performances on the historic Vijay Chowk will enthrall the spectators with captivating and foot-tapping music of the bands from the Army, the Navy, the Air Force and the State Police and Central Armed Police Force (CAPF). Out of the 27 performances, 19 tunes have been composed by Indian musicians, which include Indian Star, Paharon ki Rani, Jai Janam Bhumi, Queen of Satpura, Vijay Bharat, Aakash Ganga, Gangotri, Namaste India, Samudrika, Jai Bharat, Young India, and Veerta Ki Misal. Eight western tunes like Sound Barrie’, Twilight,  Space Flight, Drummers Call will be part of Beating the Retreat.
 
The event will come to a close with the ever-popular tune of Sare Jahan Se Acha. This year, 15 Military Bands, 15 Pipes and Drums Bands from Regimental Centres and Battalions are participating in Beating the Retreat ceremony. Besides one each of Indian Navy and Indian Air Force band will also form part of the event. Another band of the State Police and CAPF comprising Central Industrial Security Force, Central Reserve Police Force and Delhi Police will also take part.
 
Meanwhile, entry and exit will not be available today at Central Secretariat and Udyog Bhawan Metro Stations between 2 PM to 6.30 PM due to Beating the Retreat ceremony. According to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, the entry and exit will be allowed at Central Secretariat Station from Gate No. 1 only from  2 PM to 4 PM while rest of the gates will remain closed during this period.  Normal services at these stations will be restored at 6.30 PM.

Afghan president Ashraf Ghani called on the Taliban to "enter serious talks" with the government in Kabul on Monday, following unprecedented marathon negotiations between the insurgents and the US in Qatar last week.

"I call on the Taliban to show their Afghan will, and accept Afghans' demand for peace, and enter serious talks with the Afghan government," he said in a nationally televised address from the presidential palace in Kabul.

Afghan authorities have previously complained of being excluded from the discussions in Qatar and warned that any deal between the US and the Taliban would require Kabul's endorsement. However, the Taliban have long refused to speak directly to Ghani's government, branding them "puppets".

Human Resources Development Ministry has issued orders on revision of allowances and special allowances for teachers and equivalent academic cadre, Registrars, Finance Officers and Controller of Examinations in Central Universities and Colleges. This also includes centrally funded Deemed to be Universities. The order has come into force with immediate effect.
 
The revised special allowance per month for Vice Chancellor will be 11,250 rupees, for  Pro-Vice Chancellor it will be 9,000 rupees, for Principal in PG College it will be  6,750 rupees and for Principal in UG College, it will be 4,500 rupees per month.
 
The Ministry in a statement said, this is likely to benefit 30 thousand  teaching and equivalent staff in Central Universities and 5500 in Deemed to be Universities. This will serve as a bench mark for 7 lakh teachers in State Universities.

Finance Minister Piyush Goyal has  exhorted state-run banks to step up lending to micro, small and medium enterprises, agriculture and housing sectors. He was talking to media after his first meeting with the heads of Public Sector Banks (PSBs) yesterday. He said the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) has helped the PSBs recover over Rs 1 lakh crore in the three quarters of the current fiscal.  
 
Talking about the review meeting, Goyal said banks under Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework were advised to maintain the trend of improvement in performance, with a view to bringing them out of the PCA framework at the earliest. 
 
Citing a number of positives, the finance minister highlighted the need for each and every PSB to ensure that recent gains are sustained and better service delivered to all stakeholders.
He said, Banks also committed to step up their efforts for financing under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana which is aimed at securing Housing for All by 2022.  Earlier, RBI Governor Das highlighted importance of PSBs for the economy at all times and especially at the present juncture in helping meet broader economic goals. 

Just a week before the board examinations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with around 2,000 students at New Delhi’s Talkatora Stadium on Tuesday, January 29, 2019. This is the first time, students from all over India and abroad will attend the programme. The participants belong to countries including Russia, Nigeria, Iran, Nepal, Doha, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore.

The programme will be live telecast in all government and CBSE schools, colleges and higher education institutions of the country and abroad. This year, a cultural programme of 10 minutes has also been included in which the bright student winners (e.g. Dancers/Singers etc) from Kala Utsav contest, their parents and teachers will be performing. A short film will be telecast on steps taken to reduce exam pressure since last years’ ‘Pariksha Par Charcha’

The event started last year to discuss issues related to exams and the stress connected to that. The session comes days after HRD Ministry released the book ‘Exam Warriors’ authored by the PM focusing to help them cope with the stress.

Former Defence Minister and Samata Party leader George Fernandes passed away on Tuesday following a prolonged illness. Fernandes was the Defence Minister during Atal Bihari Vajpayee led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Cabinet. He was a convenor of the NDA. the Defence Ministry is likely to issue a statement in a short while. 'Former Defence Minister George Fernandes passes away at the age of 88'- news agency ANI confirmed. Later, news agency PTI confirmed his death citing family sources. 

Fernandes, a Rajya Sabha MP from Bihar was a key member of the Janata Dal and the founder of Samata Party. Besides Defence, he also held industries portfolio during a different tenure. PM Narendra Modi condoled the passing away of the former Defence Minister. "George Sahab represented the best of India’s political leadership. Frank and fearless, forthright and farsighted, he made a valuable contribution to our country. He was among the most effective voices for the rights of the poor and marginalised," he said in a tweet.

West Indies skipper Jason Holder emulated Sir Garfield Sobers to become world’s No 1 all-rounder in the ICC’s latest Test rankings. Gary Sobers was the last cricketer from Caribbean islands to top the list in March 1974.

Holder joined him in the elite list with his commanding 202 not out off 229 balls which helped West Indies beat England by 381 runs in the first Test at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados. The 27-year-old also picked up two wickets with the ball.

Holder leapfrogged Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan and India’s Ravindra Jadeja to grab the top spot for the first time in his career.

Holder was also awarded the Man of the Match for his stellar performance. Reflecting on his knock, the Windies skipper said, “A really good match for me personally.”

“The Test series against Bangladesh was very tough, we have worked very hard in the last two months and good to see the result. I had a moment there to express myself a bit.”

“To score a double hundred in front of your home crowd is a very pleasing feeling,” ICC quoted Holder as saying. “I was ecstatic. It was a dream come true. My friends and family were here to enjoy it, as I really wanted to achieve this from the very start of my career,” he added.

India's Kartik Sharma won the New South Wales men's Amateur Golf Championship in Australia.

Kartik notched up a magnificent win over Australia's Nathan Barberie in the scheduled 36-hole final to emerge as champion.

The Gurgaon golfer has been playing for India since the age of 10 as part of the National Squad. 

He had been selected to represent Indian Golf Union for three events in Australia.

Kartik had also won the Indian golf union western India amateur golf championship 2018.

Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal claimed her first BWF title in two years after three-time world champion Carolina Marin of Spain limped out of the Indonesia Masters final due to a leg injury, here Sunday.

The London Olympics bronze medallist was trailing 4-10 in the opening game when Marin decided to withdraw from the contest.

"It is important year for all of us. This was not good at all. She is a tough competitor, she started off well and it is unfortunate what happened today," said Saina, who last won a BWF title in 2017 in Malaysia.

It is a creditable performance for the Indian, who had suffered a shin injury late last year.

"I just came out of injury. I played this events to see how good is this. and I'm happy I could play the semifinals at Malaysia and final here. Looking forward to get back to shape and play next tournament," she said.

Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal to win his 7th Australian Open Men's Singles title at Melbourne today. 

The resurgent world No.1 outplayed the second-ranked Nadal 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 in a largely one-sided match. With this, Djokovic has surpassed American legend Pete Sampras to elevate himself to outright third on the all-time Grand Slam title leaderboard. 

Earlier, In Women's Singles, Japan's Naomi Osaka clinched her maiden Australian Open Grand Slam Singles title in Melbourne yesterday. Osaka defeated Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 in the summit clash. With this, Osaka became the first Asian player to achieve the world number one ranking.