PTIPrime Minister Narendra Modi has said that his government has set a defence export target of 5 billion dollars in the next five years.

Inaugurating the DefExpo, Mr Modi said, in 2014, the export of defence equipment from India was about 2,000 crore rupees. In the last 2 years, it has gone up to 17,000 crore rupees. In the next five years, our target is export of 5 billion US dollars, which is about 35,000 crore rupees, Prime Minister said. Mr Modi said, our mantra is Make in India, for India, for world. The eleventh edition of the mega defence event is being held in Lucknow with the theme "India: The Emerging Defence Manufacturing Hub". The five-day DefExpo - India's biennial exhibition of military platforms and weapons - is being attended by 38 defence ministers and top executives of 172 foreign defence majors and 856 Indian companies.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in Parliament on Wednesday the formation of a trust for the construction of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya as directed by the Supreme Court in its landmark verdict in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case last November.

“I am happy to announce that in the cabinet meeting today morning, we took significant decisions on the Ayodhya trust. As per the orders of the Supreme Court, we have set up a trust. The Sri Ram Janma Bhumi Tirtha Shetra will be the name of the trust. It will be an independent body,” Modi said.

In India, everyone is a part of one "broad family", be it Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Parsis or Jains, Modi said.

Services lifter Sambo Lapung scripted a new National record of 188kg in clean and jerk on his way to take the gold medal in men’s 89kg in the National weightlifting championships at the Khudiram Anusilan Kendra here on Wednesday.

Lapung, who had secured the silver medal in 81kg last year, hoisted 145kg to take a one kg lead over R.V. Rahul in snatch. Later, he broke the clean and jerk record of 187kg in his final attempt to aggregate 333kg.

Hailing from Arunachal Pradesh, Lapung – a former National champion in 69kg – won a National title after four years.

“I switched to 89kg immediately after the last Nationals. I was getting injured for lowering my body weight too much. I am happy to create a new record,” said Lapung.

Railways’ Rahul was second with 323kg, while Ram Karan Prajapati – another Services lifter representing Uttarakhand – got the third place with 314kg.

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved introduction of the Indian Institutes of Information Technology Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020. It also gave ex-post facto approval for creation of 21 posts of Directors and Registrars, one each in 20 IIITs (PPP) and one in IIITDM Kurnool (IIIT-CFTI).

Institutes of Information Technology Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020 will declare the remaining 5 IIITs-PPP along with the existing 15 Indian Institutes of Information Technology in public private partnership mode as ‘Institutions of National Importance’ with powers to award degrees.

This will entitle them to use the nomenclature of Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) or Master of Technology (M.Tech) or Ph.D degree as issued by a University or Institution of National Importance. It will also enable the Institutes to attract enough students required to develop a strong research base in the country in the field of information technology.

The government on Wednesday approved setting up a new major port at Vadhavan near Dahanu in Maharashtra at a cost of ₹65,544.54 crore.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Cabinet gives in-principle approval for setting up a new Major Port at Vadhavan in Maharashtra. Total cost of the project is likely to be ₹65,544.54 crore,” an official statement said.

Vadhavan port will be developed on landlord model, it said, adding that a special purpose vehicle (SPV) will also be formed with Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) as the lead partner with equity participation equal to or more than 50% to implement the project.

The 11th edition of the biennial mega defence exhibition, DefExpo 2020, kick starts on Wednesday at Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates the 5 day event.

In addition to exhibiting products and technologies and live demonstrations by the Services, Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) and industry will showcase the land, naval, air and internal security systems during the Defexpo 2020. There will be special focus on ‘Digital Transformation of Defence’ In the exhibition which is also a sub theme and aligns with the concept of the future battlefield.

Manufacturing for the aerospace and defence sector through application of newer technologies will also be focused upon. The ‘India Pavilion’ will exclusively showcase the jointness between the public and private sector, including Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)/Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and innovation eco-system, which is the key to the way forward.

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has asserted that he has the vision to serve the country looking after all citizens rather than serve as a political leader concerned only about a particular community.

Addressing the main function in Colombo to mark 72nd Independence day celebrations this morning, Rajapaksa said when the leader is elected following a legitimate process, he becomes the President of all and is not bound to serve only the interests of the people who voted for him.  He added that as the President, he represents the entire Sri Lankan nation irrespective of ethnicity, religion, party affiliation or other differences.

President comments came as national anthem at the main ceremony was sung only in Sinhala and not in Tamil, as has been the tradition since 2016. Tamil political parties had demanded to keep both versions of national anthem. Mano Ganesan, a Tamil politician and former minister of national integration said the national anthem in Tamil is not just another song but the Sri Lankan identity of the Tamil speaking community.

Insurance cover on bank deposits has been increased to five lakh rupees from one lakh rupees. The decision came into effect from yesterday.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in a statement that the cover is provided by the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the RBI. This, the RBI said, has been done with a view to providing a greater measure of protection to depositors.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday had made the announcement regarding increasing insurance cover to five lakh rupees in her Budget Speech.

The 11th edition of the DefExpo-2020, a flagship biennial event of the Ministry of Defence, will kick start in Lucknow today. The five-day event will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the presence of Union Defence Minister and Local MP Rajnath Singh.

One of the largest mega defence exhibition of its kind is being held for the first time in Lucknow and it will cover the entire spectrum of the country's aerospace, defence and security interests.

This edition of DefExpo promises to bring new technologies, technological solutions, where Defence manufacturing companies from India and abroad showcase their products and services in Defence arena, on a single platform.