Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar will give away Agriculture Infrastructure Fund Awards in New Delhi today. The Agriculture Infrastructure Fund has launched two years ago, under the ambitious Aatmanirbhar Bharat Package, as a dedicated Central Government scheme that provides a medium-long term credit facility for investment in the creation of post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets.

Our correspondent reports that as of now, out of more than 23 thousand applications received on the integrated Portal of Agri Infra Fund, a total of 13 thousand 700 applicants have been sanctioned over ten thousand crore rupees.  The sanctioned infrastructure projects cover warehouses, assaying units, primary processing units, custom hiring centers, sorting and grading units, and cold store, and cold chain projects. 

The Indian Navy received two MH 60R multi-role helicopters from the United States at the Cochin International Airport today. The copters were delivered by the Special Air Assignment Mission Flight of the US Air Force.

The helicopters were part of the 24 MH 60 R Multirole helicopters being procured by India from the United States at a cost of over 14,000 crore rupees. The first three helicopters delivered last year in the US  are being utilized for training the Indian Navy crew.  Another helicopter is scheduled to be delivered on the 22nd of next month.

These helicopters will be initially based at the Naval Air Station INS Garuda in Kochi and will be put through intensive flying trials for integration into the Navy's fleet operations.

Home Minister Amit Shah will launch education-sector-related initiatives in New Delhi today to mark two years of the launch of the National Education Policy. Education and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will also be present on the occasion. The initiatives to be launched will cover the entire spectrum of education and skill development verticals. The programme will also witness a cultural performance by students and the address of the gathering by dignitaries. Deliberations will also center around the journey of implementation of National Education Policy 2020. 

Maritime history was created yesterday with the Indian Navy taking delivery of the prestigious Indigenous Aircraft Carrier Vikrant, built by the Cochin Shipyard. The Commanding Officer Designate of Vikrant, Commodore Vidyadhar Harke and the Chairman and Managing Director of Cochin Shipyard Madhu S Nair signed the documents relating to the delivery of the vessel.

The name of India's first Aircraft Carrier was also INS Vikrant which played a vital role in the 1971 war. It was decommissioned in  1997 after 36 years of glorious service to the Navy. The Defence Ministry said in a release that the reincarnation of Vikrant is a true testimony to the country's zeal and fervor in pursuing capability build-up towards enhanced maritime security. 

An MoU was signed by Andaman Nicobar Command and Airport Authority of India in Port Blair yesterday to boost inter-island connectivity under Udaan Scheme. As per the MoU, naval airfields at Shibpur (in Diglipur) in North Andaman and in Campbell Bay will be utilized for civil operations. Passenger flights will be connecting Port Blair directly to Diglipur and Campbell Bay, the two extreme corners of the archipelago.

The MoU was signed by Jameel Khaliq, Director, Port Blair Airport and Commanding Officers INS Kohasaa and INS Baaz i.e. Capt. Satish Mishra and Capt. Jitendra Navet. Now the bidding process for operating flights will be initiated. This would pave the way for infrastructure development and passenger terminals on these remote islands.

The government has launched Coking Coal Mission to meet the demand for domestic coking coal. Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi said this in a written reply in Lok Sabha today. He said, the government has taken steps to explore new coking coal blocks, auction of new coking coal mines, enhance raw coking coal production, and enhance coking coal washing capacity. The Minister said, Coal India Limited has undertaken constant efforts to enhance coking coal production by capacity addition of existing coking coal producing mines and by opening new coking coal blocks.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla held a bilateral meeting with the Speaker of the Assembly of Mozambique, Esperanca Laurinda Francisco Nhiuane Bias at Parliament House Complex today. A Parliamentary Delegation of Mozambique led by Ms. Bias is on a three-day visit to India. Mr. Birla expressed happiness at Ms. Bais's arrival soon after the election and swearing-in of the new President of the country. Speaking about the bilateral relations between the two countries, Mr Birla said that the visit of the Mozambique Parliamentary Delegation to India has ushered in a new era of Parliamentary cooperation between the two nations. He hoped for developing a closer relationship between the two Parliaments in the future.

On this occasion, Mr Birla and Ms. Bias signed a Memorandum of Cooperation that aims to develop privileged relations between the Parliaments of India and Mozambique based on the principles of equality, reciprocity of benefits and mutual respect.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved an additional investment of about twelve thousand crore rupees by Bharat Petro Resources Limited (BPRL) for the development of BM-SEAL-11 Concession Project in Brazil. BPRL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited. The start of production from BM-SEAL-11 project is expected from 2026-27.

The CCEA has also approved to increase the limit of equity investment by BPCL in BPRL and Authorised Share Capital of the Company from 15 thousand crores to 20 thousand crore rupees. This will help in accessing equity oil to strengthen India’s energy security. BPRL has been associated with the exploration and development of this project in Brazil since 2008.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of multiple projects of Sabar Dairy worth 1,000 crore rupees at Gadhoda Chowki in Sabarkantha, Gujarat today. These projects will empower local farmers and milk producers and increase their income. This will also give a boost to the rural economy in the region. Mr Modi will inaugurate the Powder Plant at Sabar Dairy with a capacity of around 120 metric tonnes per day. The total cost of the entire project is more than 300 crore rupees. Prime Minister will also inaugurate the Aseptic Milk Packaging Plant at Sabar Dairy. It is a state of the art plant having capacity of 3 Lakh Litre per day. The project has been executed with a total investment of around 125 crore rupees. Mr Modi will lay the foundation stone of the Sabar Cheese and Whey Drying Plant Project. The estimated outlay of the project is around 600 crore rupees. The Plant will manufacture Cheddar Cheese, Mozzarella Cheese and Processed Cheese. Whey generated during manufacturing of cheese shall also be dried at Whey Drying Plant, having capacity of 40 metric tonnes per day. Sabar Dairy is a part of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation which makes and markets a whole range of milk and milk products under the Amul brand.

Home Minister Amit Shah has said that connectivity for all is government’s priority. He lauded Cabinet decisions taken under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday. In a series of tweets, Mr Shah said, the cabinet has approved a project for saturation of 4G mobile services in uncovered villages to provide 4G mobile services in 24 thousand 680 uncovered villages in remote and difficult areas. Mr Shah said, in another important decision, the Union Cabinet also approved the revival package of BSNL amounting to one lakh 64 thousand crore rupees. He said, this will help BSNL to improve the quality of their existing services, roll out 4G services and become financially viable.