Former vice president Venkaiah Naidu has been conferred with the 25th  Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswathi National Eminence Award (SIES). Other awardees in various categories included the Governor of Kerala Arif Mohammed Khan, eminent industrialist Ratan Tata, renowned cardiologist and Padma Vibhushan awardee Dr Marthanda Varma Sankaran Valianathan, Scientific Advisor to the Government of India Ajay Sood and famous Harikatha artiste Vishakha Hari. The awards are given in the fields of public leadership, community leadership, science and technology, and social thinkers who have made outstanding contributions in their respective fields.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Mopa International Airport in Goa, which has been named after former Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar. The new airport, which is about 35 km from capital city Panaji, can handle 44 lakh passengers annually. Its capacity can be raised to over 3 crore passengers per year after expansion plans in the future.

The new airport is capable of handling large aircraft such as the Airbus A380. It also has rapid exit taxiways and six cross taxiways for quicker aircraft movement. The Manohar International Airport, situated near Mopa village in North Goa, has been built at a cost of 2,870 crore rupees. The commercial flights from the new airport will start from January 5. Speaking on the occasion, Prime Minister said, the new airport will further boost tourism in Goa.

Delhi metro honoured with the prestigious certificate of commendation by the Japanese embassy

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has been honoured with a Certificate of Commendation by the Japanese Embassy in India, in recognition of its distinguished contribution to the enhancement of mutual understanding and friendship between Japan and India.
Vikas Kumar, Managing Director, Delhi Metro has received the Certificate of Commendation from His Excellency, SUZUKI Hiroshi, Ambassador of Japan to India at a ceremony organised today at the Japanese Embassy, New Delhi.

Union Minister of State for Culture Meenakshi Lekhi inaugurated a light and sound show at Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya in New Delhi yesterday. The first episode of the show presented the journey of the nation's space programme since independence. The 30-minute long episode depicted how the country has secured a prominent place globally on space technology.

Briefing media, Ms Lekhi said, the world must recognise India's history of scientific mindset and our next generation also should be familiar with it.

Union Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya has said that the central government has brought various reforms and ensured that fertilizers are made available at affordable prices to farmers. He said this while inaugurating the Fertiliser Association of India Annual Seminar 2022 in New Delhi on Wednesday. Dr Mandaviya said, one of the important components for ensuring food security is fertilizers.

The Minister said, the world today faces severe challenges in the rising costs and availability of fertilizers. Dr Mandaviya said, the government has increased the amount of fertilizer subsidy from 10 Billion US dollars for the pre-pandemic year 2019-20 to almost 27 Billion US dollars in the current year. By 2025, India will become self-sufficient in urea, he added.

The National Zoological Park, New Delhi (Delhi Zoo) celebrated “International Cheetah Day” and “Wildlife Conservation Day” in collaboration with Central Zoo Authority.

The purpose behind the celebration of “International Cheetah Day” and “Wildlife Conservation Day” is to spread awareness among present generation about the Wildlife Conservation.

Information and Broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur today inaugurated the Virtual Drone E learning platform at Agni College of Technology at Chengalpet near Chennai .The Minister also flagged off the drone yatra.

Speaking at the event, Mr.Thakur said that drone technology is essential for defence, agriculture, horticulture, cinema and could substitute for many areas.

The Winter Session of the Parliament will begin today and continue till 29th of this month. In a tweet, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said, there will be 17 sittings spread over 23 days. He said, government is looking forward to discussions on legislative business and other items in constructive manner. This will be the first session during which Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar, the chairman of the Rajya Sabha, will officiate proceedings in the Upper House.

Reserve Bank of India will announce its bi-monthly monetary policy today. Experts expect a moderate interest rate hike of 25 to 35 basis points as inflation has started showing signs of easing. State Bank of India Group Chief Economic Advisor Soumya Kanti Ghosh said, we expect the RBI to hike rates in smaller magnitude. He said, a 35 basis points repo rate hike looks imminent.

The current policy repo rate is 5.9 per cent. RBI has hiked key benchmark lending rate by 50 basis points thrice since June with an aim to check inflation. Retail inflation is showing signs of modertaion but still remains above the central bank's upper tolerance level of 6 per cent since January this year. The inflation dropped to 6.77 per cent in October, mainly due to easing prices in the food basket.

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh will inaugurate a conference titled, “Women Leading Change in Health and Science in India” in New Delhi tomorrow.

Dr. Bharti Pravin Pawar, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Ms. Melinda French Gates, Co-chair and Trustee Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Ms. Amie Batson, Executive Director, WomenLift Health will also address the conference.