New Delhi has welcomed the decision of the UK Home Secretary to sign the order for Vijay Mallya’s extradition to India. 
MEA sources said in New Delhi that it is awaiting the early completion of the legal process for his extradition. 
Reacting to the development, Union Minister Arun Jaitley said, Modi Government has cleared one more step to get Mallya extradited while Opposition rallies around the Saradha Scamsters.   

UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid on Monday ordered the extradition of Vijay Mallya to India, in a major blow to the embattled liquor baron. The 63-year-old businessman had lost a legal challenge against his extradition in a British court in December.

Under the Extradition Treaty procedures, the Chief Magistrate's verdict was sent to the Home Secretary because only he is authorised to order Mallya's extradition. 

Mallya is on bail on an extradition warrant executed by Scotland Yard in April 2017 after the Indian authorities brought fraud and money laundering charges amounting to 9,000 crore rupees against the former Kingfisher Airlines chief. 

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Road Transport and  Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari today flagged off Suraksha Yatra - a motor car rally from Rajghat in New Delhi to commemorate the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The flag off was also part of an event to launch the 30th National Road Safety Week. 

The rally will travel through places historically associated with Gandhiji, both in India, as well as in Bangladesh and Myanmar. It will conclude at Yangon in Myanmar on the 24th of this month, covering a total distance of over seven thousand kilometre. It will take up advocacy on Road Safety concerns along the route.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Gadkari expressed hope that the rally will help in making people aware about the issue and the vital roles they can play in preventing accidents. 
 
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called upon road users to adopt Gandhiji’s principles of Peace, Patience and Tolerance for improving behaviour on road. She referred to the increasing incidents of road-rage, and said that a large number of road accidents occur because people are not mentally at peace while driving, they are impatient and intolerant.

To raise awareness about cancer, especially among the rural population, a Delhi-based hospital has conducted a special drive to reach out to hundreds of village school teachers and sarpanchs. 

In the run up to World Cancer Day on February 4, the BLK Super Specialty Hospital organised a ceremony on Saturday to felicitate sarpanchs each of whom contributed to this campaign by sensitising 100 families in his village and convinced them to attend the Cancer Talks and the cancer screening camps organised by the hospital.

The campaign which started in December, and so far has covered nearly 65 villages. Around 700 teachers in outer Delhi and Haryana actively contributed in spreading awareness about the disease in their villages and schools, a hospital official said.

According to the official, the felicitation ceremony was attended by nearly 50 sarpanches from Jhajjar, Bahadurgarh, Badli, Khorkhoda, Rohtak, Sonipat, Gannaur and outer Delhi villages.

Dr Surender K Dabas, Director of Surgical Oncology and the Chief of Robotic Surgery at BLK Cancer Centre, said, "Much needs to be done to break barriers, including the stigma on cancer, particularly in rural areas where it is a taboo."

Rishi Kumar Shukla, 1983 batch IPS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, was on Saturday appointed as the new chief of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The appointment came almost a day after his name was short-listed during the second meeting of the PM Narendra Modi-led selection committee.

“The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has, based on the panel recommended by the Committee constituted as per Section 4A(1) of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946, approved the appointment of Shri Rishi Kumar Shukla, IPS (MP: 1983) as Director, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) vice Shri Alok Kumar Verma, IPS (AGMU: 1979), for a period of two years from the date of assumption of charge of the office,” read a letter by the Department of Personnel and Training.

Sri Lanka is celebrating its 71st  Independence day today with usual fervor and enthusiasm.

The main function will be held at Galle face grounds in Colombo where President Maithripala Sirisena will be chief guest while Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih will attend the function as guest of honour. 

A total of 545 prisoners have been granted Presidential pardon to mark the occasion and will be released today.

Pope Francis landed in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), on a historic visit, becoming the first pontiff to visit the Arabian peninsula. He was received at the airport by the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed. 

The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi said, they warmly welcome him Holy Father, Pope Francis. The Pope is visiting the UAE on the invitation of the Crown Prince to take part in an interfaith Conference. An estimated 700 participants from different faith are expected to participate in the Human Fraternity Conference, which includes representatives of the Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh faiths. 

Poojya Brahmvihariji of BAPS, who is spearheading the construction of the Hindu Temple in Abu Dhabi is also one of the keynote speakers at the Conference. 

The head of state of Monaco, Prince Albert II will arrive in New Delhi today on a week-long visit to India. Prince Albert will attend the India-Monaco Business Forum today afternoon followed by a round-table on energy and climate. 

He will meet President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi tomorrow. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will also call on Prince Albert tomorrow. The Head of state of Monaco is scheduled to visit Gandhi Smriti tomorrow. Prince Albert II will also visit Udaipur in Rajasthan before heading home on Sunday.
 

PresidentRam Nath Kovind will open the annual Udyanotsav of Rashtrapati Bhavan today.The Mughal Gardens will remain open for the general public from Wednesday to10th of next month between 9 in the morning to 4 in the evening.

Thepeople will also be able to visit the Spiritual Garden, Herbal Garden, BonsaiGarden and Musical Garden. An official release said, from this year, an onlinebooking facility has been introduced under which visitors can plan their visitto the Gardens well in advance.

Itis in addition to the direct walk-in entry like previous years and it is freeof cost. Online Booking can be done by visiting www.presidentofindia.gov.in.

All eyes will be on India's top singles player Prajnesh Gunneswaran in the Chennai Open ATP Challenger tennis tournament, which begins here Monday.

The Chennai left-hander has been given top billing in the 64-player singles draw, which has a fair sprinkling of players in the top-200 and Indians eyeing ATP points.

India's No.2 Ramkumar Ramanathan will not be featuring in the event as he will playing in a Challenger event in Budapest, Hungary.

The 29-year old Gunneswaran is coming off a rather unsuccessful display against Italy in the Davis Cup Qualifier in Kolkata. He would be keen to make amends and head into the long season ahead possibly with a title.

Gunneswaran did well to qualify for the Australian Open before falling to Frances Tiafoe in the first round and with his ranking hovering close to the 100-mark, a title-winning run here would prove to be a huge boost after the disappointing losses in the Davis Cup tie.

Union Minister KJ Alphons has said that the country's tourism sector fetched 234 billion US Dollar revenue last year, registering a growth of over 19%.

Delivering the inaugural speech at the 2nd ASEAN-India Youth Summit in Guwahati yesterday, he said the country is ranked third in the tourism sector, according to the 2018 report of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).

The minister said, this revenue was contributed by 87 per cent domestic and 13 per cent foreign tourists.