In the first set of bilateral meetings on activating the Kartarpur corridor, a Pakistani delegation will visit India on March 13 to discuss the modalities for the cross-border pilgrimage. Pakistan has also proposed a reciprocal visit by an Indian delegation 15 days later to “finalise the draft agreement”.

The meetings will be held to facilitate the travel of Sikh pilgrims to Darbar Sahib Kartarpur Gurudwara in Narowal, nearly 4 km from the Gurdaspur border.

“In a spirit of constructive engagement #Pakistan has proposed to India that the Pakistan delegation may visit #India on 13 March followed by the return visit of the Indian delegation to Pakistan on 28 March to finalise the draft agreement for the #kartarpur corridor,” Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mohammad Faisal posted on Twitter.

Ministry of External Affairs official spokesperson Raveesh Kumar posted on Twitter: “We welcome the visit of #Pakistan team to discuss and finalise modalities for facilitating visit of pilgrims through #Kartarpur Sahib Corridor on 13 March 2019 to India. Follow up meeting can be held in Pakistan, as required.”

India has also asked Pakistan to hold “technical level discussions between engineers on both sides without waiting for discussion on the modalities”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that crores of new jobs have been created in the country in formal and unorganised sectors including transport, hotels and infrastructure. 

Replying to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address in the Lok Sabha yesterday, Mr Modi rejected the opposition's allegations of rising unemployment. He said, jobs have been created both in informal and formal sectors in last four and half years. 

He said, informal sector accounts for 85 to 90 per cent while the formal sector provides only 10 to 15 per cent employment in the country. The Prime Minister said in 15 months till November 2018, 1.8 crore people got enrolled in the Employees Provident Fund for the first time. 

Of these 64 per cent were below 28 years of age. He said, about 6 lakh 35 thousand new professionals have filed income tax returns in the last four years. Mr Modi said, the government has launched several initiatives like Skill India, Stand-Up India and Digital India aimed at promoting self employment in the country.

Taking on Congress over its criticism on Rafale deal, Mr Modi said, the opposition party does not want the Air Force to be strong and questioned whether it was bidding for a company. 

He said, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has answered all questions on Rafale deal but the Congress is still misleading the nation. Mr Modi also accused the Congress of rendering the Army handicapped. 

The Prime Minister said that the armed forces were adversely affected due to delay in procurements under the Congress rule and its personnel did not have bullet-proof jackets, proper shoes, communication equipment or even helmets. 

He wondered why advanced jets were not procured for 30 years when India's neighbours were equipping themselves with latest weaponry. He said, the nation will not forgive the Congress party for this sin. 

Taking a swipe, Mr Modi said, Congress party is surprised that there can be a defence deal without kickbacks. He said, they assume that a defence deal cannot happen without commission. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Chhattisgarh and West Bengal today. 

In Chhatisgarh, he will address a public rally at Kodatarai village in Raigarh district at 11 am. 

Former Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh Raman Singh and Union minister of state for steel Vishnudeo Sai are among the senior leaders, who will be present on the occasion. 

After this, Prime Minister will go to West Bengal and lay the foundation stone of the four laning of the 41.7 KM long Falakata-Salsalabari section of NH -31 in the Jalpaigudi district. It will be constructed at a cost of about 1938 crore rupees.

An official statement said that the project will reduce the distance from Salsalabari and Alipurduar to Siliguri by nearly 50 kilometre. 

The National Highway will facilitate better movement of tea and other agricultural produce from the region to markets and lead to an increase in tourism in the region. 

Prime Minister will also inaugurate New Circuit bench of Calcutta High Court at Jalpaiguri. 

Mr Modi said, various development projects will be initiated in Jalpaiguri today and it will greatly benefit the people of West Bengal. 

Mr Modi said, in the afternoon, he will address a public meeting in Mainaguri. 

The Prime Minister said, during his recent visits to West Bengal, he have been seeing the massive support for BJP. 

He said, the people of West Bengal realize that only BJP can fulfil their dreams and aspiration. 

The Cabinet has approved the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between India and Malaysia for Mutual Cooperation to raise the status and prestige of the Practicing Company Secretary in both countries and to facilitate the movement of the Company Secretaries across borders in the Asia-Pacific Region.

Cabinet also approved the proposal for a MoU between India and the Electoral Commission of Namibia and with Electoral Tribunal of Panama on cooperation in the field of electoral management and administration.

Cabinet also gave its nod to the Memorandum of Understanding between India and Norway on India-Norway Ocean Dialogue. The MoU will promote cooperation in the areas of mutual interest pertaining to the development of the blue economy. 

Cabinet also approved Memorandum of Understanding between India and Brazil on cooperation in the field of Traditional Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy.
The Union Cabinet accorded ex post facto approval to the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, India and the Ministry of Fisheries, Marine Resource and Agriculture, Maldives signed on 17th of December during the State visit of President of Maldives to India. 

The Union Cabinet approved the proposal of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to introduce the Cinematograph Amendment Bill, 2019 and amend the Cinematograph Act, 1952. The Bill aims to tackle film piracy by instituting penal provisions for unauthorized camcording and duplication of films by making it a legal offence and punishing the offender with a three-year jail term and a fine of Rs. 10 lakh. The Cinematograph Act, 1952 deals with provisions for the certification of cinematograph films for exhibition and for regulating exhibitions by means of cinematographs.

The Bill requires the insertion of a new Section 6AA in the Cinematograph Act to ensure the prohibition of unauthorized recording.

“Notwithstanding any law for the time being in force, no person shall without the written authorization of the author be permitted to use any audio visual recording device to knowingly make or transmit or attempt to make or transmit or abet the making or transmission of a copy of a film or a part thereof," the section says.

Another section requires the introduction of penal provisions for violating provisions of section 6AA. “If any person contravenes the provisions of section 6AA, he shall be punishable with an imprisonment for a term which may extend to 3 years or with fine which may extend to 10 lakh rupees or with both," it says.

Union Minister of Textiles Smriti Irani launched the India Size project in Mumbai yesterday.  A first-of-its-kind project in the history of the country, India Size aims to arrive at a standard Indian Size for the ready-to-wear clothing industry, on the lines of the standardized sizes available in countries such as the USA and the UK.

Addressing the gathering the Minister said that India size project will benefit manufacturers, consumers and generate data which will help tap into the potential of the sector. The Minister also launched a Study of Apparel Consumption in India. The report of this study would be ready for release by July 2019.

Bureau of Police Research and Development, BPRD will organize the 2nd National Conference of Micro Missions of National Police Mission in New Delhi today.

The two day Conference will discuss the issues of Skills and Competence at the grass-root level, Attitudinal Changes in Police, Gender Sensitization, harnessing technology and Community Policing. Former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir N. N.Vohra will inaugurate the conference.

A mega-d version of National Police Mission Compendium on the projects developed by the Mission will also be released. National Police Mission Awards will be given to 09 officers for their contribution in Micro Missions and successful preparation of the implementable projects.

In Tennis, four Indians led by Prajnesh Gunneswaran have stormed into the Singles pre-quarterfinals of the ATP Chennai Open Challenger tournament. In the second round yesterday, Prajnesh, who is the top seed, defeated Daniel Altmaier of Germany in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.

Eleventh-seeded Saketh Myneni beat compatriot Vijay Sundar Prashanth, 6-4, 6-3.
Arjun Khade got the better of 13th seed Jose Hernandez-Fernandes of the Dominican Republic with a 6-3, 6-2 win. Arjun will meet Prajnesh for a place in the quarterfinals today.
  
The fourth Indian to progress to the Round-of-16 is Sasi Kumar Mukund who saw off Germany's Sebastian Fanselow, 6-3, 6-1.

In the Doubles, Sumit Nagal and Vijay Sundar Prashanth, with their team-mates, and the team of Sidharth Rawat and Manish Sureshkumar made it to the quarterfinals.

The Reserve Bank of India will announce the sixth bi-monthly monetary policy statement for 2018-19 this morning. The three-day policy review meeting by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) began in Mumbai on Tuesday. 

The MPC is headed by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das. 

"The RBI's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) began its three-day meet to decide on key rates amid expectations that it would change stance to neutral on low inflation but may not cut rates due to fiscal challenges and rising oil prices. 

In its last bi-monthly monetary policy, the bank had kept the repo rate unchanged at 6.5 percent and the reverse repo rate at 6.25 percent. 

The central bank has maintained status quo on interest rate in its last three bi-monthly monetary policies after hiking the repo rate twice this fiscal by 25 basis points each. 

The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal for the establishment of Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog for conservation, protection and development of cows and their progeny. 

It will lead to the development of the cattle population in the country including the development and conservation of indigenous breeds. It will result in the growth of the livestock sector which is more inclusive, benefit women, and small and marginal farmers. 

The Aayog will work in collaboration with Veterinary, Animal Sciences or Agriculture University or departments or organizations of the Central or State Government engaged in the task of research in the field of breeding and rearing of the cow, organic manure, biogas etc. Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog was announced in the budget on the 1st of this month.