The ex-head of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, will be sworn in as Italian Prime Minister today. He has secured the support of almost all the main political parties, following the collapse of the previous administration last month. He has already named his cabinet after meeting the Italian president yesterday.

Italy is still grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic and is also facing its worst economic crisis in decades. In this regard, Draghi, an economist with experience at the highest levels of the European Union and as governor of the Bank of Italy is being seen as a safe pair of hands.

World Radio Day (WRD) is being celebrated across the Globe today. The day was proclaimed by the member states of UNESCO in 2011 and subsequently adopted by the United Nations General Assembly as an International Day.  According to UNESCO, radio is a powerful medium for celebrating humanity and constitutes a platform for democratic discourse.
 
Radio has the ability to reach out to the widest audience, in the process having the ability to shape a society's experience of diversity and providing a platform for everyone to be represented and heard. The theme of World Radio Day 2021, "New World, New Radio", will highlight the services rendered by the radio medium throughout the crisis.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the World Sustainable Development Summit-2021 at 6.30 this evening through video conferencing. The theme of the summit is ‘Redefining Our Common Future: Safe and Secure Environment for All’.

President of Guyana Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, James Marape, Speaker of the People’s Majlis of Maldives,  Mohamed Nasheed,  Deputy Secretary General, United Nations, Amina J. Mohammed and Union Minister of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar will take part in the summit.

Leaders around the world have offered condolences to the families of the victims of a glacial burst in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand that led to massive flooding in the state.
 
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed solidarity with India over the flash floods leading to the disappearance of several people. In a tweet, President Macron said, their thoughts are with the people who have been affected by the glacier burst and their families.
 
The US State Department has also offered condolence to the families of victims. In a tweet, it said, they grieve with the family and friends of the deceased and extend their hopes for a speedy and full recovery for the injured.
 
Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it is saddened by the news of death and missing of many individuals due to the flash floods in Uttarakhand.

Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India celebrated its 23rd Foundation Day on 3rd February.

On this occasion, Dr. Vladimir Ryabinin, Executive Secretary, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO and Assistant Director-General of UNESCO delivered the prestigious ‘INCOIS Foundation Day Lecture’ on "United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (Ocean Decade)". Dr. M. Rajeevan, Secretary, MoES and Chairman, INCOIS Governing Council presided over the events. Dr. Srinivasa Kumar, Director, INCOIS welcomed the dignitaries and the attendees and introduced the distinguished guests Dr. Rajeevan and Dr. Ryabinin in his opening remarks.

He also outlined the major achievements of INCOIS in the past one year which helped INCOIS to remain as one of the world leaders in the field of operational oceanography .
In the presidential address, Dr. M. Rajeevan congratulated INCOIS on its 23rd Foundation day and appreciated the services and research and development activities of INCOIS, which are benefiting millions of common people directly and indirectly. Dr. Rajeevan also suggested that INCOIS should strive constantly to improve the quality and out-reach of its services and spearhead the ocean modeling activities in the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that Chauri Chaura incident was not a single incident of setting fire to a Police Station, but it was the collective manifestation of the angst against the British rule. Mr Modi said that martyrs of Chauri Chaura may not have been given the desired place in history but their sacrifice is immortal. He said that their blood is in the soil of our country and will keep inspiring us.
 
Inaugurating the Chauri Chaura centenary celebrations in Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, Mr Modi said that we are entering into 75 years of our freedom and this centenary is an occasion to pay homage to our great freedom fighters.
 
The Prime Minister also released a postal stamp dedicated to the Chauri Chaura Centenary. The day marks the 100 years of historic Chauri Chaura incident in our freedom struggle.
 
The Prime Minister said that Centenary Celebration is a commendable initiative by Uttar Pradesh Government to register the Chauri Chaura incident in the history of our country. He said that the attempts to connect the year-long celebrations with local art, culture and self-reliance will be a tribute to our freedom fighters.

India’s trajectory of leaping across landmarks in its fight against the global pandemic continues. In a significant achievement, India has become the fastest country in the world to reach the four million COVID-19 vaccination mark. The country has achieved this feat in 18 days. As on 1st February, India was among the top five countries in terms of number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered to people. India continues to undertake its vaccination drive at a fast pace.

India’s fight against COVID is bringing daily successes on other fronts as well. Fourteen States and UTs have not reported any death in the last 24 hours. With a high number of COVID patients recovering every day and the sustained fall in the mortality rate, India’s steady trend of registering dipping active cases continues.      

The gap between active cases and recovered cases is continuously increasing and stands at one crore three lakh two thousand five hundred 74. Thirty one States and UTs have less than five thousand active cases. Eight States and UTs have a weekly positivity rate higher than the national average. Kerala has the highest weekly positivity rate of 12 per cent followed by Chhattisgarh with seven per cent.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Chauri Chaura Centenary Celebrations at Chauri Chaura, Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, on 4th February 2021 at 11 AM via video conferencing.

The day marks 100 years of the ‘Chauri Chaura’ incident, a landmark event in the country’s fight for independence.

Prime Minister will also release a postal stamp dedicated to the Chauri Chaura centenary during the event. Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh will also be present on the occasion.

The centenary celebrations and various events planned by the State government will begin in all 75 districts of the State from 4th February 2021 and will continue till 4th February 2022.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented Union Budget 2021-22 with a wish to lay a vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat. She said, AtmaNirbharta is not a new idea. Ancient India was largely self-reliant, and equally, a business epicentre of the world. AtmaNirbhar Bharat is an expression of 130 crore Indians who have full confidence in their capabilities and skills.
 
 The proposals will further strengthen the sankalp of Nation First, Doubling Farmers' Income, Strong Infrastructure, Healthy India, Good Governance, Opportunities for Youth, Education for All, Women Empowerment, and Inclusive Development, among others.

Senior citizens of 75 years of age and having only pension income are exempted from filing their income tax returns.

In Dubai, the International Cricket Council (ICC) today announced the introduction of the ICC Player of the Month awards. The award will recognise and celebrate the best performances of both male and female cricketers across all forms of international cricket throughout the year.
 
In a statement, ICC said, an independent ICC Voting Academy comprising former players, broadcasters, and journalists from around the world, will team up with fans to vote for the ICC Men’s Player of the Month and ICC Women’s Player of the Month.
 
From performances by youngsters such as Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, T. Natarajan, Rishabh Pant and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (Afghanistan) to established players such as Ravichandran Ashwin, Joe Root (England), Steve Smith (Australia), Marizanne Kapp and Nadine de Klerk of South Africa and Nida Dar (Pakistan), there will be no shortage of candidates for the month of January.