The Surat district administration on Wednesday acquired 13 hectare of land at Antroli village in Surat district for the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train project, and gave Rs 32 crore as compensation to the land-losing farmers.

According to project officials, the bullet train station for Surat will be built at Antroli village.

“We have to acquire 39 hectare of land at Antroli, out of which we have acquired 12 hectare,and we are slowly working on to convince the remaining farmers to give up their land. In Surat district, a total of 140 hectare is to be acquired for the bullet train project. We are speeding up land acquisition. Till now we have given Rs 77 crore through RTGS to 135 farmers whose land had been acquired. At present, we are giving them 80 per cent of the amount, while the remaining amount will be given after the documentation process gets completed,” said J P Mayatra, land acquisition officer of Surat.

The International Weightlifting Federation has revoked the provisional suspension on two-time Commonwealth Games gold-medallist K. Sanjita Chanu for a failed dope test.

IWF's legal counsel Eva Nyirfa said in an e-mail to the national federation and Sanjita that on the basis of the information at its disposal, it has been decided that the provisional suspension shall be lifted as of 22nd January. 

A final decision on the matter is expected in the coming days.

The 25-year-old weightlifter had tested positive for anabolic steroid testosterone. Her urine sample was taken prior to the World Championships in United States in November 2017, and she was put under provisional suspension from 15th May last year.
Talking to news agency PTI from her native place in Manipur, Sanjita said, she is relieved and happy as she had have never taken any banned substance in her career.

National Girl Child Day is being observed today. The theme this year is 'Empowering Girls for a Brighter Tomorrow'. The Women and Child Development Ministry has organised an event in Delhi to observe the anniversary of 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' scheme. Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi will be the Chief Guest. 

The Minister will felicitate Principal Secretaries and Commissioners of five states for their overall support, guidance and monitoring of the scheme. District Magistrates and Deputy Commissioners of 25 districts covering 21 states and Union Territories will also be felicitated for their exemplary works. 

"Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi  in January  2015 at Panipat in Haryana. Seeing the good progress and improving trend of sex ratio at birth in 161 implementing districts, Mr Modi launched the all India expansion of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao covering all 640 districts last year. 

It is a central sector scheme with 100 per cent financial assistance for district-level component and the funds are directly released to the DC and DM's account. The scheme is a comprehensive programme to address the declining child sex ratio and related issues of empowerment of women. 

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has announced that he is breaking off diplomatic ties with the United States after his American counterpart Donald Trump recognised Opposition leader Juan Guaido as the South American country's interim President. 

Mr Maduro gave all US diplomatic staff in Venezuela 72 hours to leave the country. The Venezuelan President accused the US government of attempting a coup d'etat.

Maduro was sworn-in for a second term earlier this month, following a poll considered a sham by much of the international community.Guaido, the head of the Opposition-controlled legislature, told tens of thousands of his supporters that he was declaring himself as the acting President.

Thousands of Venezuelans are taking to the streets in protest against Maduro. Sixteen people have died during two days of unrest. The Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict said, the deaths were reported in the capital Caracas and across the country.

Guaido said, the protests would continue until Venezuela is liberated. The United Nations has called for reducing tensions in Venezuela. UN Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq said in a press briefing that UN is closely monitoring the situation. He said, UN firmly rejects any kind of political violence, and it will continue to underline the urgent need for all relevant actors to commit to inclusive and credible political negotiations.

The European Union has called for the immediate start of the political process in the South American nation. Venezuela has been in economic freefall for a number of years under Maduro's leadership. Hyperinflation and key shortages, including of food, has forced millions out of the country.

In a bid to smoothen ruffled feathers in North East after the citizenship amendment bill backlash, the Union cabinet on Wednesday approved amendments to the constitution bringing in tribal dominated autonomous district councils of North East under purview of the central finance commission.

The move would mean that close to 1 crore people in 10 autonomous district councils would have more access to funds for local development.

Mizoram CM Conard Sangma called the move historic. In his tweet, Sangma said, "Thank you @narendramodi ji and @rajnathsingh ji for the historic decision to approve constitutional amendment to substantially increase financial resources and other powers of Autonomous Councils in the Sixth Schedule areas of #Northeast."

Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth and the guests of 15th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas will visit Kumbh Mela at Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh today. Mr Jugnauth will return to New Delhi after visiting Sangam and Hanuman temple and Kumbh’s newly-developed Integrated Command, Control Centre. DIG Kumbh Mela KP Singh said elaborate security arrangements have been made in view of the visit. 

"Prayagraj is all set to welcome the nearly 3200 guests of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas including Mauritius Prime Minister. They will reach Prayagraj in 90 bus in three groups from Varanasi. Most of the guests will visit Sangam to take a holy dip and perform rituals like Ganga Puja. They will also visit Akshaya Vat, Samudra Kup, Saraswati Kup and Hanuman Temple. 

During the day-long visit, the guests will stay in tent cities and will also visit Sanskriti Gram and Kala gram to see the Indian artisan and crafts. In the evening all the guests will return to Delhi in three special trains at a different time. This visit will convey the message of Divya Kumbh and Bhavya Kumbh to the Indians living abroad. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said, creating people-friendly systems and mechanisms in the country is one of the main pillars of his government. Mr Modi was interacting with BJP booth-level workers from Baramati, Gadchiroli, Hingoli, Nanded and Nandurbar Parliamentary constituencies through video conferencing last evening. 

The Prime Minister said systems and processes should people-first while also being technologically advanced and effective to address the issues of citizens. He said, his government has taken several steps keeping the common man's interest in mind and to make their lives easier. Mr Modi added that the NDA government is not only completing the projects started by it in a time-bound manner, but also completing those started by previous governments.

In an apparent attack on the Congress, the Prime Minister asserted the BJP is not a party where the decision is taken at the wishes of one individual and family. He said, the BJP takes decisions on its workers' wishes and it is the only party which truly follows democratic traditions. 

Six-year-old Eiha Dixit's excitement knew no bounds when she received the National Award from President Ram Nath Kovind for her contribution towards environment. She alone planted 500 saplings.

She is the youngest among the all award recipients and belongs to Meerut. She planted the saplings in Meerut and surrounding areas inspired by her school teachers and her father.

Like Eiha, 25 more children were awarded with the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar at Rashtrapati Bhawan on Tuesday evening. They achieved remarkable feats in various fields ranging from sports to science and social welfare.

"For a father, this is the proudest moment. I hope the mission that my daughter has undertaken gives a positive message to all," Eiha's father Kuldeep Dixit told IANS.

The award was earlier known as the National Child Award. It was previously organised by an NGO, the Indian Council for Child Welfare (ICCW). From this year, the selection of children for the award has been brought under the Women and Child Development (WCD) Ministry.

The award ceremony was also attended by the Union WCD Minister Maneka Gandhi along with Secretary Rakesh Srivastava and other senior ministry officials.

Children living in Child Care Institutions (CCIs) of Delhi were also a part of the award function.

The government on Tuesday said the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) has become India's only port to get listed among the top 30 global container ports.

"The JNPT, India's premiere container port got listed amongst the top 30 container ports globally, as per the latest Lloyds Report. JNPT notched up five spots, to be 28th on the list, compared to its previous ranking," the shipping ministry said in a statement.

This is a validation of all the efforts and strategic initiatives being implemented at JNPT in order to enhance overall port efficiency, it said.

Various new processes activated under the 'ease of doing business' initiative have not only helped in overall growth of the port business, but also allowed the EXIM (Export–Import) trade to save time and cost which in turn have accentuated the growth story, it said.