Nepal celebrates 161st Birth Anniversary of Bharat Ratna Mahamana Madan Mohan Malviya in Green House in Kathmandu. Vice-President of Nepal Nanda Bahadur Pun Pasang Pandit graced the occasion as chief guest of the program organised by Mahamana Malviya Mission, Nepal. In the program there was talk on shrimad Bhagwad Geeta and Malviya Thought in Today’s Context.

Madan Mohan Malaviya was born on 25th December,1861 in Allahabad. He was a great Indian educationist and freedom fighter, distinguished from others for his significant role in Indian independence and his support of Hindu nationalism. In his later life, he was addressed as a Mahamana for his great works. He became the Indian National Congress President four times. He is remembered in the world as the founder of Asia’s largest residential university at Varanasi, the Banaras Hindu University in 1916. The University has around 12,000 students all across the field such as the arts, sciences, engineering and technology. He was the Vice Chancellor of BHU from 1919 to 1938. He was also the founder of Scouting in India as well as a highly influential English newspaper, “The Leader” which was published from Allahabad in 1909.

Home Minister Amit Shah has said that former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's patriotism, dutifulness and dedication will always inspire people to serve the nation.

Mr Shah on Sunday paid tributes to Vajpayee on his Birth Anniversary at the Sadaiv Atal Memorial in New Delhi. He said, the life of Vajpayee is the pinnacle of Indian politics and was dedicated to taking the country back to its ultimate glory. Mr Shah said, he made the world aware of India's potential and instilled a sense of national pride in the public.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' on being elected as the Prime Minister of Nepal. 

In a tweet, Mr. Modi said, the unique relationship between India and Nepal is based on deep cultural connect and warm people-to-people ties. Mr. Modi said, he is looking forward to working together with the Nepalese Prime Minister to further strengthen this friendship.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in a historic programme marking Veer Bal Diwas at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in Delhi today. On the day of the Prakash Purab of Sri Guru Gobind Singh on 9th January this year, Prime Minister had announced that 26th December will be observed as Veer Bal Diwas to mark the martyrdom of Sri Guru Gobind Singh’s sons Sahibzadas Baba Zorawar Singh and Baba Fateh Singh. 

During the programme, the Prime Minister will attend a Shabad Kirtan performed by about three hundred Baal Kirtanis. Our Correspondent reports that Mr Modi will also flag off a march-past by about three thousand children in Delhi.

Culture Ministry is organizing an essay writing competition with an aim of introducing children to the historical acts of courage and patriotism of Sahibzaades and inspiring them. It has invited citizens to submit their essay on the topic "Bravery and martyrdom of Guru Gobind ji's sons" in English, Hindi, and Punjabi language within limit of 500 words. The last date of submission of essay is 5th of next month.

Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has won Data Security Council of India's (DSCI) Best Security Practices in Government Sector award.

The award was given to UIDAI during DSCI's three-day Annual Information Security Summit (AISS) in New Delhi for its significant role in securing national critical Aadhaar infrastructure that provides digital identity-based welfare services to residents. Speaking at the inaugural session of the summit, UIDAI CEO Dr. Saurabh Garg said that several economies are reaching out to UIDAI for consultation on digital identity programs and the country can play a lead role in guiding them through the Digital Public Goods. He also invited start-ups and tech companies to collaborate and to do research on indigenized digital technology products with UIDAI.

The Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today approved revision of pension of Defence Forces Personnel and family pensioners under One Rank One Pension. Addressing media after the Cabinet Meeting in New Delhi, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Singh Thakur said that after the revision, the number of beneficiaries of Defence Forces personnel and family pensioners will go up to over 25 lakh 13 thousand from 20 lakh 60 thousand personnel at present.  He informed me that the total annual cost of this will be 8 thousand 450 crore rupees. He said, the revision will be effective from 1st of July 2019.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, CCEA,  today approved Minimum Support Prices for copra for 2023 season. Addressing media after the Cabinet Meeting,  Information and Broadcasting Minister  Anurag Singh  Thakur said , the MSP for fair average quality of milling copra has been fixed at 10 thousand 860 rupees per quintal. He said, MSP for ball copra has been fixed at 11 thousand 750 rupees per quintal. He said, this is an increase of  270 rupees per quintal for milling copra and 750 rupees per quintal for ball copra over the previous season. 

Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Anurag Singh Thakur has launched Khelo India’s new Dashboard. 

The Dashboard is inclusive of all the statistical data related to the Khelo India Scheme and the Khelo India events. It will be updated in real-time and it aims to be a unique one-stop platform for the citizens to access all the information regarding various offerings of the Khelo India Scheme. 

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Thakur said that easy accessibility and transparency has always been the top priority of the government and the dashboard is a step taken towards the same. He stated that information about playgrounds with geotagging is available on this dashboard as well.

Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Anurag Singh Thakur will inaugurate the National level Kabaddi championship in Udupi in Karnataka today, December 24. 

The National level Kabaddi tournament will be held under the floodlights on MGM grounds where 12 teams from different states will take part. The winner will get the Atal trophy and a prize money of one lakh rupees.