The 35th edition of the annual Gandhi Walk in Johannesburg, South Africa took place yesterday. The event was organised after three years of delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 2,000 people joined the new format of a fun six-kilometre walk that ended with a wide range of entertainment. This walk started as a small fundraiser to complete the Gandhi Hall in Lenasia, which has since become a major venue for all Indian-community events.

Olympic and world champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra was unable to retain his Diamond League champion's title, settling for second place with a modest performance of 83.80m on a blustery Saturday.

The 25-year-old Chopra faced challenging windy conditions during the grand finale at the Hayward Field, resulting in two fouled attempts. His best throw of the day occurred on his second attempt. His series consisted of fouls, 83.80m, 81.37m, fouls, 80.74m, and 80.90m.

The government will launch a series of transformative initiatives, aimed at revolutionizing agriculture in the country in New Delhi today. The transformative initiatives include Kisan Rin Portal (KRP), Door to Door KCC Campaign and Weather Information Network Data Systems (WINDS) Manual. These initiatives will be launched by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar. 

According to the Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare,  these initiatives aims to amplify financial inclusion, streamline data utilization, harness technology, and enhance the livelihoods of the agricultural community. It said these initiatives will focus on agri-credit and crop insurance, keeping the welfare of farmers at their core. It added that these efforts and innovations will help in furthering the goal of agricultural transformation and sustainable economic growth for the farming community of the country.

With top honours in two prestigious categories and another accolade in one of the festival’s most popular sections, Indian productions had a banner year at the 48th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival or TIFF.

Director Tarsem Singh Dhandwar’s first feature in eight years, Dear Jassi, set mainly in Punjab, captured TIFF’s juried competition section, Platform Award. Debutant director Jayesh Digambar Somalkar’s Marathi feature, A Match (Sthal), won the Network for the Promotion of Asian Pacific Cinema or NETPAC Award, also selected by a jury. Meanwhile, the mainstream Bollywood thriller KILL emerged as first runner up for the People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award.

The Punjab government has undertaken a pilot project under which residue-free basmati has been cultivated in Chogawan block of Amritsar district in a bid to promote organic farming. Residue-free practices entail minimal or no usage of chemicals. The Chogawan block falls in the basin of the Ravi River and has favourable climatic conditions to nurture the most aromatic long-grain Basmati rice making it export quality produce.

The state Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian said that an awareness campaign has also been launched in the area to sensitise farmers about the judicious use of pesticides and nearly 10 insecticides /fungicides have been banned for application on Basmati crops. AIR correspondent reports that the Chogawan block has around a total 32,000 hectares cultivated area, of which 28,753 hectares is covered under the paddy crop. Out of the total 102 villages, 42 villages of the block have been selected under this pilot project.

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu has announced the rollout of a new scheme titled ‘Mukhya Mantri Shramik Kalyan Yojana’ for the welfare of the labour force of the state. He made this announcement while addressing a function in Itanagar yesterday. Mr. Khandu said that incentives for workers registered with the Arunachal Pradesh Building and other Construction Workers Welfare Board have been revised in this scheme.
Under the scheme, maternity benefit for families of workers has been enhanced from 1,000 rupees to 6,000 rupees; natural death compensation from 50,000 rupees to 2 lakhs rupees and accidental death compensation from 1 lakh rupees to 4 lakh rupees.

NovelVox, a prominent player in the contact center solutions industry, achieved yet another milestone by winning the prestigious 'Best Digital CX Platform' award at the 5th Annual India CX Summit & Awards 2023, held at Novotel Juhu, Mumbai. This recognition reflects NovelVox's commitment to delivering an exceptional digital experience that truly delights customers. The award was graciously accepted by Mr. Amit Gandhi on behalf of NovelVox.

The event was abuzz with networking activities and it brilliantly highlighted some of the best products and services from different verticals. It attracted a diverse range of attendees, including CTOs, CMOs, VPs, Directors, IT Heads, Contact Center Heads, Stakeholders, Managers, and CDOs from various sectors, all of whom actively participated and made their presence felt.

This is the very first track of the country built at an altitude of 8000 feet. The SAI centre in Shilaroo also houses the high altitude Hockey Synthetic Track. 

“This state-of-the-art track is a significant addition to the facility, poised to boost the region's and the nation’s sporting landscape. It will enable athletes to acclimatise to high-altitude conditions and enhance their endurance, stamina, and quick recovery after intense training sessions. Our government is committed to making sports accessible and fostering an environment for athletes to thrive in a more competitive setting,” mentioned Thakur at the event.

The SAI High Altitude Training Centre in Shilaroo already has Hostels which can accommodate 100 male athletes and 50 female athletes. It has 2 Multipurpose halls, an astro-turf hockey field, 13 Staff Quarters and a guest house. The launch of the Synthetic Athletics tracks is also complete. 

Indian shooter Elavenil Valarivan has won the gold medal in the women’s 10 metre air rifle event at the ISSF World Cup 2023 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Olympian Elavenil Valarivan shot 252.2 from her series of 24 shots in the final and narrowly beat France’s Oceanne Muller. A total of eight shooters qualified for the final. This was Elavenil Valarivan’s second individual ISSF World Cup medal.

Earlier, Elavenil Valarivan finished 9th in the qualification round with 630.5. The Rio meet is the last rifle and pistol ISSF World Cup of 2023. The ongoing event in the Brazilian city will be followed by the finals in Doha, Qatar, scheduled from November 18 to 27. India have sent a 16-member squad for the ISSF World Cup.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government will offer up to 8 per cent subsidy for loans given to artisans under the PM Vishwakarma scheme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday. Ms Sitharaman, during the launch event of the scheme, said the government has already made a provision of 13,000 crore rupees in the Budget 2023-24.

Sharing the details of PM Vishwakarma scheme, the finance minister said collateral-free loans to artisans would be provided at a very affordable interest rate of 5 per cent. The scheme covers 18 activities including carpenter, goldsmith, blacksmith, mason, stone sculpture, barber and boatmakers. The government will provide up to 3 lakh rupees loan. She said, one lakh rupees loan will be given and the beneficiary would be eligible for an additional two lakh rupees after a repayment schedule of 18 months. Yesterday, Prime Minister Modi launched the scheme at the International Convention and Expo Centre, Yashobhoomi, in New Delhi on the occasion of Vishwakarma Jayanti. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Modi said, the scheme is a ray of hope for lakhs of artisans and craftspeople who work with hands and tools.