Prime Minister Narendra Modi today gave a clarion call of making Bay of Bengal the bridge of connectivity, prosperity, and security and stressed that regional cooperation has become a greater priority in the present scenario.

Attending BIMSTEC Summit virtually, the Prime Minister said recent developments in Europe have raised questions about the stability of the international order. He said it has become important to make BIMSTEC regional cooperation more active. He pointed out that the region has not remained untouched by today's challenging global scenario.

Mr. Modi said BIMSTEC charter is being adopted to develop institution architecture for BIMSTEC group. This is the 25th year of the establishment of BIMSTEC. He said the outcome of this landmark summit will write a golden chapter in the history of BIMSTEC.

The transaction is for a consideration of Rs. 171 crore on debt-free cash-free basis. The transaction comes into effect from April 1, 2022 and expected to close by May 2022. This acquisition vehicle will greatly help Aurobindo as a launch pad for marketing biosimilar and other products in India.

Hyderabad-headquartered Aurobindo Pharma on Monday, March 28th announced the acquisition of domestic formulation business of Veritaz Healthcare on a slump sale basis. According to a note issued by the company, “with this acquisition, Aurobindo marks its 1st step to set its footprint in the Indian Domestic Market.”

President Ram Nath Kovind presented Padma Awards at the Civil Investiture Ceremony-II held at Rashtrapati Bhavan this evening. Mr Kovind presented Padma Vibhushan to veteran Hindustani Classical vocalist Dr Prabha Atre. Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh was given the second highest civilian award posthoumously.  

Nine Padma Bhushan awards were presented today. Krishna Murthy Ella and Suchitra Ella of Bharat Biotech which produced Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin, Odia Littérateur Dr Pratibha Ray, veteran jurisprudence scholar Acharya Vashistha Tripathi and Actor Victor Banerjee got the award. India-born Mexican scientist Dr Sanjaya Rajaram was given the award posthumously.  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address Matua Dharma Maha Mela 2022 at Shreedham Thakurnagar, Thakurbari in West Bengal at 4:30 PM today through video conferencing on the occasion of 211th birth anniversary of Shree Shree Harichand Thakur.

Shree Shree Harichand Thakur ji devoted his life for the cause of betterment of the oppressed, downtrodden and deprived persons in undivided Bengal during the pre-independence era. The social and religious movement started by him originated from Orakandi which is now in Bangladesh in 1860 and led to the formation of the Matua Dharma.

Matua Dharma Maha Mela 2022 is being organised by All India Matua Mahasangha from 29th March to 5th April 2022.

The 5th India-Bahrain Foreign Office Consultation held in New Delhi yesterday. It was co-chaired by Secretary (Consular, Passport, Visa and Overseas Indian Affairs) in Ministry of External Affairs Dr Ausaf Sayeed and Under Secretary for Political Affairs in Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dr. Sheikh Abdullah bin Ahmed Al Khalifa.

Both sides appreciated the momentum in the multifaceted ties between the two countries. They also discussed regional and multilateral issues.

President Ram Nath Kovind will felicitate the winners of the 3rd National Water Awards at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi today. During the event, the President will also launch the Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain campaign 2022 which will continue to be implemented this year till 30th of November.

Ministry of Jal Shakti is giving 57 awards to States, Organizations and Individuals in 11 different categories including  Best State, Best District, Best Village Panchayat and Best Urban Local Body. The award winners in different categories will be given a citation, trophy and cash prize. AIR correspondent reports, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu will get the first, second and third prize in the Best State category.  

Some of the winners have done exemplary work in the field of water management. The Awards are expected to usher in a water consciousness in the minds of people of India and will help in bringing a behavioral change.

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is committed for the betterment of Indian Agriculture. Mr Tomar said, Prime Minister has always encouraged the farmers and scientists of the country to compete at the global level.

The Agriculture Minister said, this has led to the steady increase in the export of agricultural products from India. He was addressing the 93rd Annual General Meeting of the ICAR Society in New Delhi yesterday.

Mr Tomar said that the Prime Minister holds regular dialogues with the people associated with the agriculture sector of the country including farmers and scientists and ensuring the better quality of the agricultural products has always been the main concern of the Prime Minister.

Union Minister for Education, Dharmendra Pradhan today said that 21st century is going to be an era of knowledge and exhorted IIT Bombay to play a major role in it. Addressing the gathering after inaugurating a newly constructed hostel in the IIT Bombay campus, he said, knowledge-based economy and service sector-based economy is a reality now. He said, students who have passed out from IIT Bombay should strive to become employers and entrepreneurs rather than employees.

He said, it will be heartening for him to read that IIT Bombay has created job opportunities for 25 million employees which in real sense would bore the fruit.

National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) has urged People to Join hands to clean Yamuna. NMCG is providing 2300 crore rupees funding for construction of sewerage infrastructure for cleaning Yamuna.

As part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations, the NMCG today organized Yamunotsav in association with a group of NGOs at ITO Bridge to celebrate the glory of Yamuna. All took a pledge to keep it clean.

NMCG Director General G. Asok Kumar urged people to join hands to clean Yamuna and reiterated commitment to complete three big Sewage Treatment Plants, STPs on Yamuna by end of this year.

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) today conducted two successful flight tests of Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MRSAM) at Integrated Test Range, Chandipur off the coast of Odisha. The flight tests were carried out as part of the live firing trials against high-speed aerial targets. The missiles intercepted the aerial targets and destroyed them completely, registering direct hits at both the ranges. 

The first launch was to intercept a medium altitude long range target and second launch was for proving the capability of a low altitude short range target.

This MRSAM version is a Surface-to-Air Missile developed jointly by DRDO and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Israel for use by the Indian Army. The MRSAM Army weapon system comprises multi-function radar, mobile launcher system and other vehicles.