The first Meeting of the BRICS Contact Group on Economic and Trade Issues (CGETI) was held under India’s Chairship from 9th till 11th of this month. The theme of BRICS this year is -"BRICS at 15: Intra BRICS Cooperation for Continuity, Consolidation, and Consensus”.

India presented the calendar of events for BRICS CGETI 2021, which included the priority areas for deliverables, schedule and scope of the MSME roundtable conference workshop on Services Statistics, and the BRICS Trade Fair.
Till September, inter sessional deliberations will be carried out to reach consensus amongst the BRICS countries.

Prime Minister was addressing a special gathering at Sabarmati Gandhi Ashram after launching Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav- which marks the beginning of the celebrations of 75th anniversary of India's Independence. He also flagged off the re-enact of historic Dandhi March from Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad Gujarat.
 
He said that development of Atmanirbhar Bharat will also boost the development of the world. He said that India is self reliant in developing and manufacturing Covid19 vaccines. 

Mr. Modi said that we are also helping other nations of the world in their fight against the Covid19. Mr. Modi said that people's participation will be the key in the nation wide celebrations of Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav. He appealed the people to come forward with new ideas and contribute in Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav.
 
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also launched a special website for Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav in connection with the 75 years celebration of Indian Independence. People and particularly, the young generation can share their videos and images on Azadi ka Amrit Mahotav on this website. Prime Minister Modi also launched Atmanirbhar Incubator to boost the Atmanirbhar Bharat.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate activities related to Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav tomorrow. The Mahotsav is a series of events to be organised by the Government to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of India’s Independence. It will be celebrated as a Jan-Utsav in the spirit of Jan-Bhagidari. The curtain raiser activities are beginning from tomorrow, 75 weeks prior to 15th August 2022.
 
The Prime Minister will flag off the Padyatra (Freedom March) from Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad tomorrow and inaugurate the curtain raiser activities of the Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav.
 
The Padyatra will be undertaken by 81 marchers from Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad to Dandi in Navsari, a journey of 241 miles that will end on 5th April, lasting for 25 days. The Freedom March will be joined by different groups of people on the way to Dandi. Culture Minister Prahalad Singh Patel will lead the first lap of 75 kilometers of the padyatra.
 
The Prime Minister will also launch various other cultural and digital initiatives for the India@75 celebrations and will also address the gathering at Sabarmati Ashram. A National Implementation Committee headed by the Home Minister has been constituted to chalk out policies and planning of various events to be undertaken under the Commemoration.

President Ramnath Kovind has said that the new education policy seeks to implement a modern education system based on research,skill and acumen relevant to the evolving needs of the present generation.
 
Addressing the 41st Annual Convocation of the Anna university, he told that the policy was focussed on inculcating moral values and promotes understanding of Indian Culture. He expressed confidence that the implementation of the policy would usher in an era of modern learning and education and create a brigade of researchers and professionals who would take the Country to greater heights.
 
The President began in his speech in the Tamil language and praised the language as it has been accorded the status of classical language. He recalled the remarkable personalities like former President Abdul Kalam and Dr.Varghese Kurien, the force behind the white revolution who were alumni of the Anna University.
 
The President congratulated the girl students who were awarded gold medals by him today. He said that he was proud that the daughters of the Country are doing proud and achieving greater heights.

The Government of Bangladesh has launched its national app portal bdapps.com.

The agreement between the ICT division of the government of Bangladesh and the telecom company Robi was signed in Dhaka on Thursday.

Through this agreement, BDApps will be established as the hub of the ICT division for application developers.

Under the agreement, the ICT division will collaborate with bdapps to organise exclusive boot camps and software development events in the country.

Launching the app portal as the national app portal, ICT minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak said that app developers from any organisation can use this platform to upload their apps.

He said that the ICT division will seek exemption on income tax for the developers and the abolition of VAT on apps.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will receive the CERAWeek Global Energy and Environment Leadership Award today. He will also deliver a keynote address at the Cambridge Energy Research Associates Week -2021 via video conferencing.
 
CERAWeek was founded in 1983 by Dr. Daniel Yergin. CERAWeek Global Energy and Environment Leadership Award was instituted in 2016. It recognizes the commitment of leadership on the future of global energy and environment and for offering solutions and policies for energy access, affordability and environmental stewardship.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate ‘Maritime India Summit 2021’ tomorrow through video conferencing. The three-day Summit will be held till 4th of March. The Maritime India Summit is being organized by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways on a virtual platform www.maritimeindiasummit.in

The Summit will visualize a roadmap for India's Maritime sector for next decade and will work to propel India to the forefront of the Global Maritime Sector. Eminent speakers from several countries are expected to attend the Summit and explore the potential business opportunities and investments in Indian Maritime domain. Denmark is the partner country for the three-day summit.

Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat has won the gold medal in the women's 53-kg category at XXIV Outstanding Ukrainian Wrestlers and Coaches Memorial in Kyiv, Ukraine. Vinesh Phogat defeated world number seven Vanesa Kaladzinskaya of Belarus in the finals to win the gold medal and make a winning return to her first competitive outing since the Covid-19 induced lockdown.
 
The Asian Games and Commonwealth Games gold medalist had defeated Romania's Ana A by fall in the semi-final to reach the summit clash. Vinesh has already booked a place in the Tokyo Olympics for the 53kg category. Since the coronavirus halted all competitions last year, it was the first competition for Vinesh, who is the only Indian woman wrestler to have qualified for the Tokyo Games. The 26 year old will be seen in action in the season's first ranking tournament from March 4-7 in Rome.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured that the Central Government will provide all possible support for the development of Puducherry. He was speaking after unveiling and laying the foundation stone for several welfare projects to the value of 3,023 crore rupees in Puducherry today.
 
Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for  four- laning of NH 45-A (56 kms from Sattanathapuram - Karaikal, package of Villippuram to Nagapattinam  project, covering Karaikal  at a cost of 2,426 crore rupees. The Prime Minister laid the foundation stone for the JIPMER Karaikal building to be constructed at a cost of 491 crore rupees and to be completed by August 2022.
 
Under the Sagarmala scheme, the Prime Minister laid the foundation stone for developing a minor port in Puducherry at a cost of 44 crore rupees. This project will give connectivity to Chennai and facilitate Cargo movement for industries in Puducherry. Mr Modi also laid the foundation stone for a synthetic track at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex at an estimated cost of seven crore rupees.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate and lay foundation stone for several development projects in Tamil Nadu today. Prime minister in his tweet today said that he will be leaving for Puducherry and Tamil Nadu to inaugurate development works that will further ease of living and economic growth.
 
AIR correspondent reports that Tamil Nadu Governor Banwari Lal Purohit, Chief Minister Edappadi Palanisamy and the State's top officials and dignitaries are in Coimbatore to render a warm welcome to the Prime Minister who is expected to arrive in Coimbatore in a short while from now. Elaborate arrangements have been made in view of his visit. A local holiday has been declared and tight security arrangements are in place in and around the city.
 
COVID tests have been taken to ensure proper health safety of those who will attend the program at Codissia and also to all the security personnel. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone for multiple infrastructure projects worth over 12 thousand crore rupees. He will dedicate the completed projects to the Nation.