Scottish writer Douglas Stuart has won the 2020 Booker Prize for fiction with his debut novel Shuggie Bain, which described a boy growing up in Glasgow in the 1980s with a mother battling addiction.

The awards ceremony saw six shortlisted authors joining virtually and included messages from former US President Barack Obama, the Duchess of Cornwall and former Booker winners Kazuo Ishiguro, Margaret Atwood and Bernardine Evaristo.

Stuart, 44, who won the 50,000 Pound prize after being announced the winner by chair of the judges Margaret Busby, delivered an acceptance speech.

Based on his own childhood, Stuart’s book is described as a searing account of the boy growing up in Thatcher’s Glasgow. He dedicated the book to his own mother, who died of alcoholism when he was 16. The Booker Prize shortlist also included Indian-origin writer Avni Doshi’s novel ‘Burnt Sugar’.

First awarded in 1969, The Booker Prize is considered one of the leading prizes for literary fiction written in English. The list of former winners features several of the literary giants of the last five decades: from Iris Murdoch to Salman Rushdie, Kazuo Ishiguro to Hilary Mantel.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has virtually inaugurated five state-of-the-art facilities to mark the eighth convocation of Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University - PDPU at Gandhinagar today.
 
These include 45 MW production of monocrystalline solar photo-voltaic panels set up by GEDA at the cost of Rs. 17 crore. Mr. Modi has also launched the PDPU - technology business incubator with the fund of Rs.22 crore.
 
He has inaugurated the Sports complex set up by Sports of Authority of Gujarat at the cost of Rs. 15 crore. Prime Minister has also inaugurated the Indo-EU bilateral project under horizon 2020 “India-h2o” for industrial waste & desalination and PDPU’s Translational Research Centre.
 
Gujarat Chief Minister  VijaybhaiRupani was present as the Guest of Honour on the occasion. Shri Mukesh Ambani, the President of the Board of Governors of PDPU and Chairman of Reliance Industry presided over the function.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Tech Summit in Bengaluru on Thursday via video conference.

The summit is organised by the Government of Karnataka along with Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society (KITS), Karnataka government’s Vision Group on Information Technology, Biotechnology & StartUp, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) and MM Activ Sci-Tech Communications. The theme of this year’s summit is "Next is Now". Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister of Electronics & IT, Communications and Law & Justice and Chief Minister of Karnataka BS Yeddyrupa were present on the occasion.

The Prime Minister expressed happiness that today Digital India is no longer being seen as any regular Government initiative rather it has become a way of life particularly, for the poor, marginalised and for those in Government.

Addressing the Tech Summit, the Prime Minister said due to Digital India, our nation has witnessed a more human centric approach to development. He said using technology on such a large scale has brought about several changes for the citizens and the benefits are clearly visible. He said the government has not only created a market for digital and tech solutions, but also made it a key part of all schemes. He added his governance model is technology first and through technology human dignity has been enhanced like crores of farmers receiving monetary support in one click and successfully operating the world's largest Healthcare scheme, Ayushman Bharat. He stressed that technology ensured India’s poor received proper & quick assistance even at the peak of the lockdown. He said the scale of this relief has few parallels.

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.