External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar inaugurated the newly opened Indian Embassy in Asuncion o Tuesday during his official visit to Paraguay. On this occasion, Dr. Jaishankar said, this is a reiteration of India-Paraguay's strong bilateral relationship and long-standing multilateral cooperation.

External Affairs Minister's visit started with inauguration of a bust of Mahatma Gandhi at a waterfront of Asuncion. He paid homage at the National Pantheon of Heroes and remembered the sacrifices of Paraguayan national heroes. During his visit, Dr. Jaishankar called on President of Paraguay Mario Abdo Benitez at the presidential palace. He also held a meeting with Foreign Minister of Paraguay Julio Cesar Arriola.

Mr. Vikram Doraiswami has been appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom. Mr. Doraiswami is presently the High Commissioner of India to the Bangladesh. 

The External Affairs Ministry of India in a statement said that he is expected to take up the assignment shortly. Mr. Doraiswami is an Indian Foreign Service officer of the 1992 batch. Earlier, the ministry had announced the appointment of Mr. Pranay Kumar Verma,  an IFS officer of 1994 batch as India’s next High Commissioner to Bangladesh. He is currently serving as India’s Ambassador to Vietnam. 

The government has terminated the service of three Indian Air Force officers in the matter of accidental firing of a BrahMos missile into Pakistan. The incident happened in March this year.

In a statement, the Indian Air Force said, a BrahMos missile was accidentally fired on 9th March this year. It said, a Court of Inquiry was set up to establish the facts of the case including fixing responsibility for the incident.

 The Court of Inquiry found deviation from the Standard Operating Procedures by three officers which led to the accidental firing of the missile. In the Court of Inquiry, three officers have primarily been held responsible for the incident and their services have been terminated by the Central government with immediate effect.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate medical facilities at Faridabad in Haryana and at Mullanpur in SAS Nagar district of Punjab to the nation today.

In the morning, he will inaugurate the Amrita Hospital built in an area of 133 acres with an estimated expenditure of six thousand crore rupees in Faridabad. Many dignitaries including Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal will be present on the occasion.

The hospital, founded by Mata Amritanandamayi 'Amma', is the largest and state-of-the-art hospital in the region.  Haryana Chief Minister said that with the opening of this hospital, not only the health facilities available to the people of the state will increase but people from neighbouring states will also be benefited.  

The Union Government has launched Rashtriya Puruskar Portal to bring together all the awards of the various Ministries, Departments and agencies of the government under one platform. This has been done to ensure transparency and public partnership.

Home Ministry in a statement said that this common portal facilitates every citizen or organization to nominate individuals or organizations for various awards instituted by the government. It informed that the nominations or recommendations for the Padma Awards are open till 15th of next month, while nominations or recommendations for Jeevan Raksha Padak will be invited till 30th of next month.

Individuals and organizations can visit Rashtriya Puruskar Portal WWW.AWARDS
GOV.IN
in for making their nominations or recommendations for various awards constituted by the government.

India has nominated the dance form Garba to be inscribed on UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list. UNESCO( United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Director Eric Falt said that after the inclusion of 'Durga Puja' on the UNESCO intangible cultural heritage representative last year, India has now nominated 'Garba' for 2022.

He said, the next meeting of UNESCO is in November & hopefully there will be yet another beautiful Indian festival Garba inscribed on UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list. India was elected by UNESCO to serve on the distinguished Intergovernmental Committee of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in July. India garnered a whopping 110 votes from 155 State Parties that finalised its selection. 

National Skill Development Corporation, NSDC in partnership with Seva Bharti and Yuva Vikas Society on Saturday launched the second phase of Grameen Udyami Project to augment skill training in tribal communities for their inclusive and sustainable growth. Under the initiative, the endeavour is to multiskill India’s youth and impart functional skills to them for enabling livelihoods.

Launching the programme, Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda said, Central Government's complete focus is on strengthening sustainable livelihood for tribal population and it has sanctioned a budget of 85 thousand crore rupees exclusively for tribal areas. He said, there is so much potential and ability in the tribal youth that all we need to do is lay down the right avenues for them to use their talent in the right places.

Former Governor of Jharkhand, Syed Sibtey Razi passed away on Saturday in Lucknow. He was suffering from heart disease and was under treatment at King George’s Medical College. He breathed his last at the Trauma Centre in Lucknow. He served as the Governor of Jharkhand from the year 2004- 2009.

Razi was associated with the Congress. He was a member of Rajya Sabha thrice. Later he was made the Governor of Jharkhand and Assam.

Jharkhand Governor Ramesh Bais expressed grief over Razi’s death and prayed for the peace of departed soul. Chief Minister Hemant Soren also prayed for the departed soul.

An Indian Air Force contingent has reached Australia to participate in Exercise Pitch Black 2022. The exercise is being held in Darwin till the 8th of next month. This is a biennial, multi-national exercise hosted by the Royal Australian Air Force.

The Defence Ministry said that the exercise will see the participation of over one hundred aircraft and two thousand 500 military personnel from various air forces.

The Indian Air Force contingent comprises over 100 air warriors, deployed with four Su-30 MKI fighters and two C-17 aircraft. They will undertake multi-domain air combat missions in a complex environment and will exchange best practices with the participating air forces.

The 17th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas 2023 will be held at Indore in January next year. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi in a tweet said that Secretary, Consular, Passport and Visa Division, Ausaf Sayeed  and Chief Secretary of Madhya Pradesh Iqbal Singh Bains signed a Memorandum of Understanding for hosting the Pravasi Bhartiya Divas. On the occasion, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was also present.

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is celebrated every year on 9th Januray to mark the contribution of the overseas Indian community in the development of India. It also commemorates the return of Mahatma Gandhi from South Africa to India on 9th January 1915.