With approval from the Defence Minister, it has been decided that disability or war injury pension for armed forces personnel shall be minimum Rs 18,000 per month, the ministry said Thursday.

"With approval from Smt @nsitharaman, it has been decided that the disability/war injury pension, special family pension and liberalised family pension shall be minimum Rs 18,000 per month for Defence Forces pensioners/family pensioners, with effect from 1/1/2016," the Defence Ministry said in a tweet.

The Defence Ministry last July had said armed forces personnel would continue to get disability pension based on percentage system till the Anomaly Committee came out with a report on the issue.

There was widespread criticism from opposition parties and the military establishment over a letter issued prior to that which had introduced a slab-based system, as recommended by the 7th Pay Commission, for determining the disability pension for defence forces.

Following this, the ministry had referred the matter to the Anomaly Committee.

The Indian Space Research Organisation successfully launched the PSLV C 44 carrying kalam sat and Microsat R last night at 11.37 precisely. 

Speaking after the launch, ISRO chairman, Dr.K.Sivan termed the mission as a grand success. 

He said that the rocket precisely injected the Microsat R in its designated orbit. He said that Kalamsat was a great gift on the Republic Day for the Nation.
AIR correspondent reports, the midnight sky with a bright shining moon at the backdrop was a spectacular sight to those gathered at the Sathish Dhawan Space Centre Sriharikota. 

Whistles and applause reached a crescendo even as the vehicle took off with a roar into the skies pushed by orange flames. 

The scientists patted each other even as the successful separation stages took place as per the scheduled time. 

Kalamsat is a ten cm cube weighing one kilogram communication satellite with a life span of two months. 
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated the space scientists for another successful launch of PSLV. 

In a tweet, Mr Modi said, this launch has put in orbit Kalamsat, built by India's talented students. 

He said, with this launch, India also becomes the first country to use the fourth stage of a space rocket as an orbital platform for micro-gravity experiments. 

Home Minister Rajnath Singh has said that the Centre has issued an advisory to release undertrial prisoners who have served half of their maximum punishment provided under the law. 

He said, some state governments have started with the compliance on the advisory. There are about four lakh prisoners in jails and out of them about half are undertrials. 

He was speaking at a function at the district court in Lucknow yesterday to administer oath to newly elected office bearers of the Central Bar Association. 

The minister said, centre has abolished nearly 1,500 obsolete laws which have lost their efficacy.

India and Maldives have agreed to continue their traditionally close cooperation on issues of maritime security, counter-terrorism and medical cooperation. 

This was decided during the meeting between Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her Maldivian counterpart  Mariya Ahmed Didi in New Delhi on Thursday. 

Both sides held substantive discussions on further strengthening bilateral defence cooperation. 

Ms  Sitharaman reiterated India’s commitment to contribute towards capacity building and training requirements of the Maldives National Defence Forces.

Ms  Didi is in India on an official visit and she will witness the 70th Republic Day Parade at Rajpath. 

She will also visit various Indian defence institutions such as the Indian Maritime Analysis Centre in Gurugram and Army Training Command in Shimla. 

She will also interact with National Cadet Corps (NCC) cadets, including those from the Maldives, at the NCC Republic Day Camp. 

President Ram Nath Kovind will address the nation today on the eve of the 70th Republic Day. 

The address will be broadcast from 7 PM on the entire national network of All India Radio and telecast over all channels of Doordarshan in Hindi followed by the English version. 

Broadcast of the address in Hindi and English on Doordarshan will be followed by broadcast in regional languages by regional channels of Doordarshan. 

AIR will broadcast regional language versions from 9:30 PM onwards on its respective regional networks.

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.