Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur today launched the Azadi Quest, a series of online mobile games on the heroes and milestones of Indian freedom in New Delhi. Azadi Quest is a set of online games designed for players of all ages for interactive learning with fun gameplay.

The Initiative is inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call to ‘Engage, Entertain and Educate’ the people through toys and games. On the occasion, Publications Division and Zynga India have signed an  MoU to mark year-long partnership to commemorate ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ through series of mobile games.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Thakur urged people to download Azadi Quest App as it will prove to be a very effective tool in spreading awareness on India's freedom fighters. 

Electronic-Passports will be rolled out by the end of this year or early next year. Secretary External Affairs, Dr. Ausaf Sayeed informed the media in Hyderabad. He said an e-chip and a few more features will be added to the passport book which will provide security upgradation of the Indian passport and enable machine reading.

A team of officials led by the secretary is visiting Hyderabad as part of Videsh Sampark Outreach program and held a series of meetings with Telangana government.  

Stating that the interests of diaspora are important, the secretary said several steps are being taken to facilitate Indian citizens who are migrating to work in other countries and providing legal support.

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.