In a major boost to the country’s infrastructure, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for six key projects worth 28,540 crore rupees at a function in Chennai a short while ago. He also dedicated to the nation five projects that have been completed at a cost of 2,960 crore rupees. The total expenditure on all the eleven projects is around 31,500 crore rupees.

Some of the completed projects include the third broad-gauge line connecting Tambaram and Chengalpattu in the periphery of Chennai. Another is the 75-km long Madurai-Theni Gauge Conversion project that has been executed at a cost of over 500 crore rupees.
He also laid the foundation stone for the ambitious Chennai - Bengaluru Expressway worth 14,870 crore rupees, that covers parts of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

Hindi author Geetanjali Shree’s novel Ret Samadhi, Tomb of Sand has won the International Booker prize, becoming the first novel translated from Hindi to do so.

Geetanjali Shree is not only the award’s first Hindi winner, but also it is for the first time a book originally written in any Indian language has won the booker prize.

Geetanjali Shree said  There is a melancholy satisfaction in the award going to Tomb of Sand. This is an elegy for the world we inhabit, a lasting energy that retains hope in the face of impending doom.

A Report Geetanjali Shree's Tomb of Sand translated from Hindi by Daisy Rockwell has won the prestigious Booker prize, the prize money of 50,000 Pounds will be shared between the author and translator equally.

Shree's book clinched the award, where 135 books competed.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate India's biggest Drone Festival-Bharat Drone Mahotsav 2022 this morning at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi.

Drones have many functions, ranging from monitoring climate change to agriculture, geo mapping,  carrying out search operations after natural disasters, photography, filming, and delivering goods.

Their use  by the security agencies for reconnaissance, surveillance and in some cases targeted attacks is also well known.
The evolution of complementary technologies like 5G, augmented reality and computer vision is expected to drive drone market growth and improve drone communication and intelligence.

They are also used in fertilizer and pestcide spraying, afforestation, Healthcare delivery, telecom tower inspection, VIP security and High altitude surveillance.

Indian Embassy in Beijing, Consulates General of India in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Guangzhou celebrated Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav by reliving the history of India’s struggle for its independence. A play “The Oudh Quatrain”, a musical revolving around Oudh’s last king Nawab Wajid Ali Shah and his wife Begam Hazrat Mahal’s clash with the British East India Company in 1857 was staged on the occasion.

In a diplomatic outreach by India, Ambassadors of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and the deputy chief of mission of Nepal embassy in China also joined in the celebrations and enjoyed the play at the Indian Embassy in Beijing which was live-streamed from Hong Kong. The top envoys could easily correlate with this piece of history and thanked India’s Ambassador for inviting them over. Bangladesh Ambassador to China Mahbub Uz Zaman hailed the shared culture and heritage with India and recalled Indian movies and fine traditions of Indian theatre and dance forms. Nepal’s Deputy Chief of Mission in China, Kaushal Ray said that watching this historic play took him back to his college days while studying Indian literature, theatre, and drama.

A new Quad fellowship programme has been launched today at the QUAD summit in Tokyo. This is a first-of-its-kind scholarship program that will bring together the top minds of Australia, India, Japan, and the United States in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

The Fellowship will sponsor one hundred students per year, 25 from each Quad country, to pursue master's and doctoral degrees at leading STEM graduate universities in the United States.

In his message, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, the Quad fellowship programme is a wonderful and unique initiative. He said, this prestigious fellowship will offer our students great opportunities to pursue graduate and doctorate programmes in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Mr Modi said, it will encourage academic excellence and promote people to people linkages between our countries.

North Korea tested a presumed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in one of three missile tests on Wednesday, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The tests come on the heels of US President Joe Biden's first presidential trip to Asia.
South Korea said the presumed ICBM was fired at about 6 a.m. local time Wednesday with a flight range of about 360 kilometers (223 miles) and altitude of approximately 540 kilometers (335 miles).
At about 6:37 a.m., the North fired a second ballistic missile -- not believed to be an ICBM -- which seems to have disappeared from South Korean tracking at an altitude of 20 kilometers (12 miles), South Korea said.

The 123rd birth anniversary of the national poet of Bangladesh Kazi Nazrul Islam is being celebrated in the country on Wednesday.

Cultural and social organisations across the country are organising programmes on this occasion to pay tribute to poet Kazi Nazrul Islam.

The birth anniversary progamme of the poet started with the Minister of State for Culture KM Khalid laying a wreath on the grave of Kazi Nazrul Islam in the Dhaka University area early in the morning. Other eminent personalities such as Director-General of Bangla Academy, Poet Muhammad Nurul Huda, Director General of National Museum Khondakar Mostafizur Rahman and senior officials from the government also paid floral tribute to the poet. 

The third edition of Indian Navy and Bangladesh Navy Bilateral exercise Bongosagar commenced at Port Mongla, Bangladesh. The Harbour Phase of exercise is underway. It will be followed by a Sea Phase in the Northern Bay of Bengal starting tomorrow.

Exercise Bongosagar is aimed at developing a high degree of interoperability and joint operational skills through the conduct of a wide spectrum of maritime exercises and operations between the two navies.

Indian Naval Ships Kora, an indigenously built Guided Missile Corvette, and Sumedha, an indigenously built Offshore Patrol Vessel are participating in the Exercise. Bangladesh Navy is being represented by BNS Abu Ubaidah and Ali Haider, both Guided Missile Frigates.

The Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum will begin today at Davos in Switzerland. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will lead the Indian delegation at the five-day meet.

The delegation will include Health and Family Welfare Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Chief Ministers and Senior Ministers of six states - Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Telangana. Several industry leaders will also participate in the deliberations of World Economic Forum.

This event would further help reinforce country's position as an important and relevant stakeholder in shaping the global narrative, particularly as India assumes Presidency of the G-20 next year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said that the 'Yes, we can do it' attitude of the sportspersons has become the new strength of India. The Prime Minister said this while interacting with the Indian men's badminton team who scripted history by winning the Thomas Cup and the women's team of the Uber Cup.  Mr Modi lauded the  Indian team, of Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy, doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty for winning the first-ever Thomas Cup for India.

The Prime Minister mentioned that this team has infused tremendous energy in the country by winning the Thomas cup and a long wait of seven decades finally came to an end. He added that whosoever knows Badminton, must have dreamt of this feat and it has been realized by this team.