The Government has appointed Lieutenant General Anil Chauhan (Retired) as the next Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). Lieutenant General Chauhan will also function as Secretary, Department of Military Affairs with effect from the date of his assumption of charge.

In a career spanning over nearly 40 years, Lieutenant General Anil Chauhan held several command, staff and instrumental appointments and had extensive experience in counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir and North-East India.

The post of Chief of Defence Staff has been lying vacant since death of General Bipin Rawat in a helicopter crash on 8th December last year.

Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Anurag Thakur will launch Clean India 2.0 Programme on 1st of next month. This month-long nationwide programme will be launched to collect waste material mainly single-use plastic and create awareness among people.

Briefing media in New Delhi yesterday, Secretary of Youth Affairs and Sports Ministry Sanjay Kumar said, one crore kilogram waste material including plastic and e-waste will be collected and disposed off with the support and voluntary participation of citizens.

He said, the programme is being organised in all the villages across the country through the network of Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan, affiliated Youth Clubs and National Service Scheme Affiliated Institutions. 

Senior advocate R Venkataramani has been appointed as the new Attorney General of India. The Ministry of Law and Justice in a notification said, the President has appointed Mr Venkataramani as the new Attorney General for a period of three years from 1st of October. He will succeed Mr K K Venugopal, whose term will be ending tomorrow.

After being appointed as the next Attorney General of India, Mr Venkataramani thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju for reposing confidence in him to take up this sensitive assignment.

Defence Research and Development Organization has conducted two successful test flights of Very Short Range Air Defence System missiles. The test flight was conducted at the Integrated Test Range in Chandipur, Odisha yesterday. The Very Short Range Air Defence System is a Man Portable Air Defence System, designed and developed by DRDO in collaboration with Indian industry partners. The missile is designed to neutralize low-altitude aerial threats at short ranges. The design of the missile including the launcher has been highly optimized to ensure easy portability.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has complimented and appreciated the efforts of DRDO and industry partners. He said, the new missile equipped with modern technologies will give a further technological boost to the Armed Forces. Chairman of DRDO Dr Samir V Kamatal also congratulated the entire team for this tremendous success. 

The nation celebrates sixth anniversary of surgical strike today. On this day in 2016, the Indian Army launched surgical strikes against terrorist camps situated in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Eleven days after the Uri attack that claimed the lives of 18 soldiers, the Indian Army carried out Surgical Strikes on the night of 28 and 29 September 2016, inflicting heavy casualties on terrorists.  Indian Army including the commandos from various units of the Para (Special Forces) units deployed in Jammu and Kashmir carried out raids across the border on multiple targets. All these targets were launch pads for terrorists for infiltrating into Jammu and Kashmir to carry out attacks against military and civilian targets. With this action, India gave the befitting message that it can strike on terror launchpad by crossing the border if the need arises.

Recalling the night of the surgical strike, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an interview said that the strike was planned as there was a rage building up within him after the Uri attack.

Chandigarh airport will be named after Shaheed Bhagat Singh on his birth anniversary today. In his Mann ki Baat Programme on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced this while paying rich tributes to freedom fighters. Mr Modi has said that the decision has been taken as a tribute to Shaheed Bhagat Singh. Prime Minister had also congratulated the people of Chandigarh, Punjab, and Haryana and of the entire country for this decision.

Union Culture Ministry organized the celebration of Bathukamma festival at Kartavyapath, India Gate in New Delhi yesterday. Bathukamma Festival is an annual celebration in Telangana that goes on for nine days. The festival is celebrated with colourful exotic flowers of the region and symbolizes the collective spirit of the people of Telangana. This year Bathukamma celebrations are taking place from the 25th of this month till the 3rd of next month. 

A new series of digital comic books of Motu-Patlu has been released to create awareness among the young generation about importance of taxes in a fun manner. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman released the digital comic books on the occasion of the Finance Minister’s Award Ceremony 2022 in New Delhi yesterday. The comic book was released in five languages - English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Gujarati developed by Income Tax Department.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged people to take part in three exciting contests on MyGov on Cheetahs. In a tweet. PM Modi said, while we eagerly await seeing the Cheetahs, there are three exciting contests on MyGov.

The contests are to suggest a name for the Cheetah Reintroduction project, suggest names for the Cheetahs, and tell about the importance of treating animals well. People can participate and stand a chance to win a trip to see the Cheetahs. 

President Droupadi Murmu will inaugurate the Integrated Cryogenic Engines Manufacturing Facility of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Bengaluru today. The Cryogenic engines are used by ISRO for its satellite launch operations. At HAL, the President will also lay the foundation stone of the South Zonal Institute of Virology virtually. Ms Murmu will also inaugurate St Joseph University and in the evening attend a Civic reception hosted by the State Government in her honour.

Yesterday, President inaugurated the new campus of  Indian Institute of Information Technology in Dharwad, Karnataka. Speaking on the occasion, the President laid emphasis on the role knowledge society can play in making India a vishwa guru when the new India will emerge. She said institutions like Triple IT can mold youngsters to be leaders who can drive research and innovation in the areas of computer science, data analytics, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, data science, digitalisation, nano technology and biotechnology.