Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal inaugurated the third edition of National Public Procurement Conclave in New Delhi today.

The two-day conclave has been organized by Government e-Marketplace, GeM in association with Confederation of Indian Industry.

In his inaugural address, Mr Goyal said, GeM epitomizes the speed, skill and scale which is essential in an e-marketplace platform. He further said that GeM rests on the three pillars of openness, fairness and inclusiveness and is a symbol of a truly transparent e-marketplace.

The Minister hoped that during this conclave, a road map for the future of GeM will be put in place that will unify all government procurement, across all Ministries and Departments.

Indian athletes continued their winning streak today at 13th South Asian Games in Nepal.

On the fifth day of games, India won a gold, four silvers and two bronzes in athletics.

India's Karthik Unnikri clinched gold and Mohammed Salahu won silver in men's triple jump. In the women's section, Bhairabi Roy won bronze.

In 400 meters race, Priya Habbathan won silver in women's, while Jeevan Priyanth begged bronze in men's category. In hurdles, Surendhar Jayak and Aparna Roy won silver each in men and women sections.

New Zealand cricket team have been awarded with the MCC’s Christopher Martin-Jenkins Spirit of Cricket Award for 2019 for their sporting conduct in the aftermath of the World Cup final against England.

After losing to England in a thrilling final held on July 14 at the Lord’s -- regarded as one of the most exciting ODI matches of all time -- Kane Williamson’s team displayed an exceptional level of sportsmanship, humility and selflessness in defeat.

MCC President Kumar Sangakkara said: “The New Zealand team are worthy winners of this award. In the heat of battle they displayed a level of sportsmanship that was fitting for such a fantastic final, and indeed tournament.

Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal and Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju launched the Fit India School Rating System at Kendriya Vidyalaya No. 1, Delhi Cantt here on Wednesday.

They also jointly inaugurated the newly constructed cricket stadium which has been constructed with an estimated cost of Rs 294.41 lakhs and will facilitate around 5,000 children every year.

“Fit India school rating system as per certain parameters will enhance the image of the schools. KVs are ahead of other schools in promoting culture and sports along with education. Only fit people can make the nation fit,” Rijiju said.

At the 13th South Asian Games in Nepal, India topped the medals tally on the fourth day with 70 medals comprising 34 gold, 23 silver and 13 bronze. Indian athletes dominated in most of the competitions yesterday.

On the fourth day of games, India clinched 28 medals including 17 gold. Athletics grabbed maximum 10 medals including 5 Gold. In Tennis, Table Tennis, Kho-Kho, Indian men's and women's teams won gold each. In Taekwondo India clinched six medals, including 3 Gold.

Indian women shooters brought double delight in 25 meter sports pistol by winning team and individual events. In Badminton, 8 Indian shuttlers entered the semi-finals in singles and doubles events assuring themselves of as many medals. All the semi-finals will be played today. In women's football India will take on Sri Lanka this morning match will start at 9.45.

The Mumbai Central Terminus of the Western Railway has been certified as India's first "Eat Right Station" with a 4-Star rating awarded by the FSSAI.

The honour came on the basis of compliance of food safety and hygiene, availability of healthy diet, food handling at preparation, trans-shipment and retail/serving points, food waste management, promotion of local and seasonal foods and creating awareness on food safety and a healthy diet, said Western Railway chief spokesperson Ravinder Bhakar, here on Tuesday.

"The Western Railway, food quality regulator FSSAI, and Indian Railways Catering Tourism Corporation trained food handlers, both in canteens and base kitchens, inspected catering establishments at the station, certified and rated the standards of food," Bhakar said.

India today successfully test-fired its indigenously developed surface-to-surface nuclear-capable Prithvi-II missile off Odisha coast. The Strategic Forces Command of the Indian Army conducted the user trial of the 350 km range missile from a mobile launcher from launch complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur at around 7.50 p.m. Defence sources said the missile weighs about 4,600 kg, is capable of carrying 500 to one thousand kilograms of warheads and is thrust by liquid propulsion twin engines. It also said all parameters within the stipulated time period were achieved. 

AIR correspondent reports, nducted into the 333-missile regiment of the Indian Army in 2003, the nine-meter-tall, single-stage liquid-fueled Prithvi-II is the first missile to have been developed by the DRDO under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme. Today’s trial was a part of regular training exercise by the armed forces which reconfirms the Army’s readiness to fire it at short notice.  Developed under the joint collaboration of Defence Research and Development Organization and Bharat Dynamics Limited, the missile was first test-fired on 27 January 1996. 

After three successful rounds of bidding, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has launched the fourth round of Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) to further enhance the connectivity to remote and regional areas of the country. 

According to a statement released by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the focus of this round would be the priority areas like NER, Hilly States, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, and islands.

Listing out the key features of the scheme, the statement said that the provision of VGF for Category 2/3 aircraft (more than 20 seats) has been enhanced for operation of RCS flights in Priority Areas (Union Territories of Ladakh and Jammu & Kashmir; the States of Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakhand, North Eastern State; UT of Lakshadweep and Andaman & Nicobar). The VGF cap applicable for various stage lengths for operation through category 1/1 A aircraft (below 20 seats) has also been revised to further incentivize the operation of small aircraft under the scheme.

Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have announced that they are stepping down from the leadership role of the parent company Alphabet. Google CEO Indian-American Sundar Pichai (47), will be assuming the role of Alphabet CEO, making him one of the most powerful corporate leaders of the world. Considered as a significant shakeup in the Silicon Valley company, an announcement in this regard was made by Page and Brin in a letter to the company employees, which also included a statement from Pichai.

With Alphabet now well-established, and Google and 'Other Bets' operating effectively as independent companies, it's the natural time to simplify our management structure, wrote the two Google co-founders.

"We've never been ones to hold on to management roles when we think there's a better way to run the company," they said.

Indian maritime forces celebrated Navy Day on 4 December. In case you are wondering why December 4 is celebrated as Navy Day in India, read on.

The day celebrates the strength and bravery of the navy men who brought victory to the country in 1971 Indo-Pak War.
A day before, on December 3, 1971, the attack by Pakistan on our airfields along the border areas led to the war.

Operation Trident, the lethal attack by the Indian Navy sank four Pakistani vessels and completely destroyed fuel fields in Karachi harbour. 500 Pakistani navy men were killed in the attack.

INS Nipat, INS Nirghat and INS Veer were involved in the attack.

The 90-minute long operation began on December 4, 1971. Around 2 pm, the fleet of Indian Navy sailed towards Pakistani waters from Gujarat's Okha Port.