Former Governor of Goa and vetern BJP leader Mridula Sinha passed away in a hospital in Delhi today. She was 77. Born on November 27, 1942, at a village in Chhapra in Bihar, Mridula Sinha was also the first woman Governor of Goa. A renowned Hindi writer, Mridula Sinha also served as the head of the BJP's women's wing and chairperson of Central Social Welfare Board in the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have expressed grief over the demise of the veteran leader. In a tweet, President Kovind said Mridula Sinha who was an excellent writer and teacher, deeply understood the local traditions and cultural life of the country, especially Bihar.

In a tweet, the Prime Minister said, the Veteran leader will be remembered for her efforts towards public service. He said, she was also a prolific writer, making extensive contributions to the world of literature as well as culture.

Home Minister Amit Shah in his condolence message said that Mridula Sinha worked for the nation, society and organization throughout her life. He said, she will always be remembered for her writing. He also conveyed his condolences to her family.

Sudeep Tyagi, who played for the Indian national cricket team in four ODIs and a lone T20I as a fast bowler, announced his retirement from all forms of the game on Tuesday.

The Uttar Pradesh pacer, who was also a part of Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League, thanked his skipper, MS Dhoni.

The 33-year-old also thanked Suresh Raina, RP Singh, and Mohammad Kaif for guiding him.

As a young talent Tyagi never really lived up to the expectations and drifted into the wilderness after losing his place in the team.

The right-arm pacer made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka in December 2009 at the Feroz Shah Kotla. He also picked up a wicket but his debut was cut short when the umpires called off the match midway through the Sri Lankan innings as the pitch was considered unsafe.

The first meeting is to be held on Nov. 22 in Agar Malwa district
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday said the government had decided to set up a ‘Gau Cabinet’ for the protection and promotion of cattle.

In a statement issued by his office, Mr. Chouhan said the Animal Husbandry, Forest, Panchayat and Rural Development, Revenue, Home and Farmers’ Welfare Departments would be part of the Cabinet. The first meeting would be held on November 22 in Agar Malwa district.

The Cabinet would ensure the protection of ‘gau mata’, said Kamal Patel, Agriculture Minister. “The Chief Minister has prioritised their protection. So 4,000 cow shelters will be set up this year,” he added.

The Women’s Under-17 World Cup in India, which was postponed to 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic, was on Tuesday cancelled by the world governing body FIFA and the country was handed the hosting rights of the 2022 edition.

The decision was taken by the Bureau of the FIFA Council which took stock of the current global COVID-19 pandemic and its continuing impact on football.

The FIFA cancelled both the women’s U-17 World Cup and U-20 World Cup which were scheduled to be held in India and Costa Rica respectively but handed both the countries the hosting rights of the 2022 editions.

Nitish Kumar was sworn-in as Chief Minister of Bihar for the seventh time this afternoon. Bihar Governor Phagu Chauhan  administered the oath of office and secrecy to Mr Kumar at Raj Bhavan in Patna. 

14 other ministers were also sworn in along with Mr Kumar. Out of them, seven are from BJP, five from JD (U) and one each from Vikassheel Insaan Party( VIP) and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM).

BJP legislature party leader Tarkishore Prasad and Deputy leader Renu Devi have been made the new Deputy Chief Ministers.

Other ministers from BJP are Mangal Pandey, Ram Surat Kumar, Jivesh Kumar, Rampreet Paswan and Amarendra Pratap Singh.

The ministers from Janta Dal (United) are Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, Sheela Kumari, Ashok Kumar Chaudhary, Bijendra Prasad Yadav and Mewalal Chaudhary.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the 12th BRICS Summit today hosted by Russia, under the theme Global Stability, Shared Security and Innovative Growth. The meeting will be held in a virtual format.
 
During the 12th Summit, held in the backdrop of the 75th Anniversary of UN and in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders would be discussing intra-BRICS cooperation and key issues in the global context, including the reform of the multilateral system, measures to mitigate the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, cooperation in Counter Terrorism, trade, health, energy and people to people exchanges.
 
India will be taking over the Chairship of the BRICS, which would be the third BRICS Presidency for India since its inception after 2012 and 2016. India will host the 13th BRICS Summit next year.

Prime Minister Narendr Modi will dedicate two Ayurveda institutions to the nation on the 5th Ayurveda Day today. These are the Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda (ITRA), Jamnagar and the National Institute of Ayurveda (NIA), Jaipur. The ITRA, Jamnagar is recently created through an Act of Parliament, is poised to emerge as a world class healthcare institution. AIR correspondent reports, potential role of Ayurveda in the management of the Covid-19 pandemic will be the focus of this year’s Ayurveda Day observation.
 
Both the Institutes are premier institutions of Ayurveda in the country and are expected to play global leadership roles in the growth and development of Ayurveda in the 21st Century. The dedication of these institutes to the nation is a historic step not just in the modernization of Ayurveda education, but in the evolution of traditional medicine itself. This will provide them the autonomy to upgrade the standard of Ayurveda education, and frame various courses as per emerging national and international demand. Utilising the immense untapped potential of AYUSH systems of healthcare for providing effective and affordable solutions for public health challenges is a priority of the Government.

India Post Payments Bank, IPPB have successfully launched the initiative of doorstep service for submission of Digital Life Certificate through Postman. The facility to submit life certificate online through Jeevan Pramaan Portal was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November, 2014 with the objective to provide a convenient and transparent facility to pensioners for submission of Life Certificate.

In order to make this facility available across the country, Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare roped in the India Post Payments Bank to utilise its huge network of Postmen and Gramin Dak Sevaks in providing doorstep facility to pensioners for submission of life certificate digitally.

The IPPB is utilising its national network of more than one lakh 36 thousand access points in Post Offices and more than one lakh 89 thousand Postmen and Gramin Dak Sevaks with smart phones and biometric devices to provide Doorstep Banking Services. As a result a huge number of pensioners across the country shall be able to avail doorstep service through Postmen and Gramin Dak Sevak, without visiting to bank branch or standing in a queue outside the bank branches. In order to avail this service, pensioners can get detailed information on ippbonline.com.

Public Service Broadcasting Day is being observed today. The day is celebrated every year to commemorate the only visit of Mahatma Gandhi to the studio of All India Radio, Delhi in 1947. The Father of the Nation addressed the displaced people, who had temporarily settled at Kurukshetra in Haryana after partition.

A special programme is organized in the premises of All India Radio, New Delhi every year to mark the occasion. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will co-chair the 17th ASEAN-India Summit along with Prime Minister of Vietnam Nguyen Xuan Phuc today. The leaders of all ten ASEAN Member States will virtually participate in the Summit.
 
The Summit will review the status of ASEAN-India Strategic Partnership and take stock of progress made in key areas such as connectivity, maritime cooperation, trade and commerce, education and capacity building. The leaders will discuss ways to further strengthen ASEAN-India engagement and in this context will note the adoption of ASEAN-India Plan of Action (2021-2025). COVID-19, post-pandemic economic recovery and important regional and international developments will also be discussed at the Summit.
 
ASEAN-India Summits provide the opportunity for India and ASEAN to engage at the highest level. India’s Act East Policy, underlining ASEAN-centrality, reflects the importance, India attaches to engagement with ASEAN.