Sri Lanka’s Minister of Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs, Vidura Wickremanayake has said that the International Gita Mahotsav will be held in Colombo.

Speaking at the steering committee meeting, the minister said that the purpose of the event is to popularise the timeless teachings of the Shrimad Bhagwad Gita

The three day International Gita Mahotsav will commence from 1st of March. The festival will be held at the Nelum Pokuna Theatre premises with the financial sponsorship of Haryana’s Kurukshetra Development Board. During the recent years the festival has been held in overseas countries. Thousands of delegates from across the world are expected to attend the event. The festival will feature Gita yagna, Gita chanting, shobha yatra, seminar on several topics of contemporary interest and several competitions. On 4th of March, a copy of Srimad Bhagavada Gita will be presented to the Parliament of Sri Lanka.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation two new Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors at Kakrapar Atomic Power Station: KAPS-3 and KAPS-4 for 22,500 crore rupees at Navsari in South Gujarat on Thursday. The Prime Minister also initiated work commencement for the construction of PM MITRA Park in Navsari. During the program, several new projects related to roads, railways, drinking water and health were also launched.

Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister said that PM MITRA Park whose work is starting today is the first such park in the country for the textile sector. He said, this will give a boost to the textile industry and India's share in textile exports will increase.

The Union Minister for Railways, Communications and Electronics and  IT, Ashwini Vaishnaw launched the Annual Capacity Building Plan for his Ministries on Thursday. The annual plan has been crafted to ensure capacity building and holistic development of manpower keeping in mind National Priorities, Emerging Technologies and Citizen Centricity along with the development of organisations, Institutions and Individuals. Staff from Post offices, Railways, BSNL and Common Service Centres (CSC) shared their experiences of iGoT Karmayogi training and how it has helped them develop their capabilities to deliver the government’s services to the masses in a better manner.

Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati in collaboration with EduRade, a brand owned by RC HobbyTech Solutions Pvt. Ltd., and incubated at IIT Guwahati Research Park, we have launched India’s largest Remote Pilot Training Organisation (RPTO), spanning 18 acres and boasting the capability to fly 9 medium-class drones simultaneously. The primary objective of this RPTO is to promote the advancement of drone technology in India. Additionally, it aligns with the vision of the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, to establish India as a global drone hub by 2030, thereby contributing to the recently launched ‘Namo Drone Didi’ initiative.

Turkey’s fifth-generation fighter jet in development conducted its first ever flight on Wednesday, a milestone for the country to deploy domestically produced war planes.

The jet, known as Kaan and developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries with help from the UK’s BAE Systems, took off from an airstrip in capital Ankara for a flight that lasted just over 10 minutes, according to state broadcaster TRT.

The flight marks a landmark moment for Turkey, where authorities have made modernizing the country’s aging air force a top priority. That’s gained urgency since the country’s expulsion from the program to procure and support Lockheed Martin Corp.’s advanced F-35 fighter jets in 2019, following Ankara’s acquisition of Russian S-400 air defense missiles.

To enhance the capability of the Indian Air Force in keeping a watchful eye on the air activity in China and Pakistan and protect its vital assets, the Cabinet Committee on Security has cleared deals worth around Rs 13,000 crore to acquire new high-power radars and close-in weapon systems from Indian manufacturer Larsen and Toubro.

The new radars under a project worth around Rs 6,000 crore have been cleared by the CCS for the Indian Air Force, replacing and augmenting the existing chain of radars along both the borders with China and Pakistan, top government sources told ANI.

The Madhya Pradesh government has announced 'bag less school' day once a week for students in classes 1 to 12, starting from the upcoming academic session in 2024-25. This decision applies to all government and private schools operating in the state.

The state government, aiming to alleviate the burden on students, has issued a notice outlining the maximum permissible weight of school bags for different classes.

According to the notice, students in classes 1 and 2 should carry bags weighing between 1.6-2.2 kg, while those in classes 3 to 5 should limit their bags to 1.7-2.5 kg. For classes 6 and 7, the recommended weight is 2-3 kg, and for classes 8, 2.5-4 kg. Students in classes 9 and 10 are advised to carry bags weighing between 2.5-4.5 kg.

Additionally, the weight of school bags for students in classes 11 and 12 will be determined by the school management committee based on the students' respective streams.

Military powers who have deployed or were left behind in developing or acquiring expensive anti-missile or anti-drone systems are now engaged in a serious race to develop and deploy the next generation of laser weapon systems that can neutralise any missile or fighter aircraft or drone high in the sky or even within enemy airspace. From big powers like the United States or China to countries like Turkey, Iran or for even Pakistan, all are reported to have advanced or initiated work on the highly challenging laser weapon systems to make their skies unimpregnable. The laser laboratory of India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is also reported to have been working on such highly complex laser weapon systems for the last two decades, and is now reported to have achieved a fairly advanced stage of testing a real prototype of a laser weapon that can even destroy a ballistic missile.

Bangladesh is observing the historic Language Day named ‘Amar Ekushey’, paying tribute to the martyrs who laid their lives during the language movement in 1952 demanding Bangla as the official language for then East Pakistan.

Scores of students were killed on this day in 1952 when Pakistani forces fired upon them during the protest leading to widespread civil unrest.

President Mohammed Shahabuddin and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid homage by placing wreaths at the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka after midnight on Tuesday. The Amar Ekushey song ‘Amar Bhaiyer Rakte Rangano Ekushey February’ is played in the background.

India and Greece have agreed to escalate their bilateral trade by two-fold by the year 2030, as affirmed by Prime Minister Modi during Greece Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s visit to India. The two sides have agreed to boost ties in the defence, pharmaceutical, space and shipping sectors as they seek to double their bilateral trade by 2030 from nearly US$2 billion in 2022-23.

The meeting between the two leaders underscored the strengthening of the strategic partnership between their nations, particularly in defense and security sectors, indicative of the deep mutual trust shared by India and Greece.