The Makar Sankranti festival is being observed across the country today. This day is dedicated to Lord Surya. It is the day when Sun travels from Sagittarius to Capricorn. Makar Sankranti is also known as Uttarayan which means that the Sun moves towards the north.

With the onset of Uttarayan, the effect of cold also starts reducing gradually. The festival has different names in different parts of the country. It is celebrated as Pongal in Karnataka, Lohri in Punjab and Uttaryan, Maghi and Khichdi in some other parts of the country.

The country is observing 7th Armed Forces Veterans Day today. Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Lieutenant General Anil Chauhan, three service chiefs paid tributes at National War Memorial in New Delhi. The Armed Forces Veterans Day is being celebrated at nine locations across the country including Juhunjhunu, Jalandhar, Panagarh, New Delhi, Dehradun, Chennai, Chandigarh, Bhubaneshwar and Mumbai. 

Congress MP from Jalandhar Santokh Singh Chaudhary passed away today in Ludhiana after suffering a cardiac arrest while participating at the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Mr. Chaudhary was 76. He had been representing the Jalandhar Lok Sabha constituency from 2014 and had held a position as a minister in the Punjab cabinet previously. He was rushed to the hospital and there he breathed his last. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off World’s Longest River Cruise-MV Ganga Vilas and will inaugurate Tent City at Varanasi on Friday at 10.30 AM via video conferencing. He will also inaugurate and lay the foundation stones for several other inland waterways projects worth more than 1000 crore rupees during the event. AIR correspondent reports, MV Ganga Vilas will begin its journey from Varanasi today and travel around 3,200 km in 51 days to reach Dibrugarh in Assam via Bangladesh, sailing across 27 river systems in India and Bangladesh.

Former Union Minister and RJD leader Sharad Yadav passed away on Thursday.  His daughter confirmed the news through a social media post. The 75-year-old veteran politician was ailing for sometime and breathed his last at a private hospital in Gurugram.

President Droupadi Murmu expressed sadness at his passing away. In her message, President said Sharad Yadav was a student leader of the seventies who fought for democratic values.

The festival of Lohri is being celebrated with traditional fervour and gaiety on Friday. It is celebrated in North India especially in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu and Chandigarh. The festival is mostly associated with crop harvesting and happiness.

President Droupadi Murmu and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar have greeted citizens for Lohri, Makar Sankranti, Magha Bihu, Pongal and other festivals. Ms. Murmu said these festivals are symbols of India’s unity in diversity and are the carriers of culture.

The Union Cabinet today gave its nod to the incentive scheme for the promotion of RuPay Debit Cards and low-value BHIM-UPI transactions. The scheme has a financial outlay of two thousand six hundred crore rupees. The decision will help in building a robust digital payment system.

Besides, the Cabinet also gave ex-post facto approval of renaming the National Centre for Drinking Water, Sanitation, and Quality at Joka, Kolkata as Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee National Institution of Water and Sanitation.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Mansukh Mandaviya today officially launched the book titled Braving A Viral Storm: India’s Covid-19 Vaccine Story in New Delhi.

The book is co-authored by Aashish Chandorkar and Suraj Sudhir. The book launch comes ahead of India's second anniversary of starting its COVID-19 vaccination drive in January 2021. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Mandaviya said that the book is a transcription of the country's success story and will be New India's history.

The Centre has named the new Integrated Food Security Scheme as Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana, PMGKAY. Earlier, the Union Cabinet had approved new integrated food security scheme for providing free foodgrains to Antodaya Ann Yojna (AAY) and Primary Household (PHH)   beneficiaries. Implementation of the new scheme has started from 1st of January this year, benefiting more than 80 crore poor and poorest of poor people.

Home Minister Amit Shah today released a book titled Revolutionaries- The Other Story of How India Won Its Freedom at a function in New Delhi.

The Author of the book is  Economist Sanjeev Sanyal who is also a member of Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Shah said that the country is celebrating Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav and the Prime Minister has given a call of Panch Pran of which the two important resolves are - to remove any trace of colonial mindset and take pride in our roots.

Mr Shah said that the present and new generation youth who do not take pride in the rich cultural heritage of the country can not make their country great.