Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched ‘Swachhata Hi Seva Movement’, saying ‘Swachhata Hi Seva Movement’ aims at fulfilling Bapu’s dream of a Clean India. From today till Gandhi Jayanti, let us re-dedicate ourselves towards fulfilling Bapu’s dream of Clean India. He is interacting with people from different walks of life including Amitabh Bachchan, Sadhguru, Ratan Tata, Army personel through video conferencing.

“I look forward to interacting with those who have worked assiduously on the ground to strengthen the Swachh Bharat Mission after which Swachhata activities will begin,” he had said on Thursday while announcing about the movement. He had asked people to pay tributes to Mahatma Gandhi on his birth anniversary this year by being a part of the Clean India movement. “The ‘Swachhata Hi Seva Movement’ commences on 15th September. This is a great way to pay tributes to Bapu. Come, be a part of this movement and strengthen the efforts to create a Swachh Bharat!” tweeted Modi.

United States (US): United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday said that democracy was under strain and called on people to make democracies more inclusive by bringing in both the young and the marginalised into the political system.

Speaking on International Democracy Day, Guterres said, “That is why this International Day should make us look for ways to invigorate democracy and seek answers for the systemic challenges it faces.” Guterres called on people and asked them to work together for a future that left no one behind and asked them to ponder on all pressing questions such as ‘What impact will migration or climate change have on democracy in the next generation? How do build better governance so that democracy delivers better lives and fully meets the public’s aspirations?’ among many others.

The UN chief said this meant tackling inequality, both economic and political. He added, “It means making our democracies more inclusive, by bringing the young and marginalised into the political system. It means making democracies more innovative and responsive to emerging challenges.”

Fuel prices are continuing to set an all-time high record with each passing day across the country. Today, petrol price touched Rs 81.63 per litre (up by Rs 0.35 per litre) in New Delhi, and in Mumbai people will have to shell out Rs 89.01 per litre (up by Rs 0.34/litre), according to ANI.

Diesel prices, on the other hand, registered a similar surge in both the metropolitan cities. It is retailing at Rs 73.54 per litre (increased by Rs 0.24 per litre) in the national capital and at Rs 78.07 per litre (increased by Rs 0.25 per litre) in the financial capital.

On Friday, petrol prices were Rs 81.28 per litre in New Delhi and Rs 88.67 per litre in Mumbai. While the diesel was sold at Rs 73.30 per litre and Rs 77.82 in Delhi and Mumbai, respectively.

After a day’s lull, the upward march of fuel prices resumed Thursday with petrol price being hiked by 13 paise per litre to Rs 81 per litre and diesel by 11 paise to Rs 73.08 a litre, according to a price notification of state-owned oil marketing companies.

RANCHI: Marking the beginning of e-mobility in the state, Chief Minister Raghubar Das on Wednesday flagged off electric vehicles at Jharkhand Secretariat in the presence of senior government officials. Initially, 20 vehicles were handed over to Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited (JBVNL), with the remaining 30 to be given in the next two weeks.

Twelve charging stations have been set up at four offices of JBVNL, including its corporate office in Ranchi, for creating a supporting infrastructure, which is crucial for the promotion of e-mobility.

"Electric mobility is an attractive, sustainable and profitable solution to mitigate climate change and the threat to public health caused by vehicular emissions. Today's event is an important milestone for ushering in an era of clean, green and future-oriented technologies in Jharkhand. We are glad to join the Government of India's mission of rapid adoption of e-mobility in the country and we would like to see our state at the forefront of this revolution," said the chief minister. This initiative is expected to help JBVNL save more than 1.20 lakh litres of fuel every year and reduce CO2 emissions by over 1,400 tonnes annually. In addition, the JBVNL will make monetary savings in maintenance as the operating cost of the electric vehicles is one-fourth of that of vehicles with an internal combustion engine.

The electric vehicles were provided to JBVNL following an agreement with Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), under the Ministry of Power, Government of India, for the deployment of 50 electric vehicles at various JBVNL offices in Ranchi.

Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi today launched the country's first National Scholarship Portal Mobile App in New Delhi.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Navqi said, this Portal will ensure a smooth, accessible and hassle-free scholarship system for students belonging to poor and weaker sections.

He said all the scholarships are being directly transferred into bank accounts of the needy students under Director Benefit Transfer mode, which has prevented duplication and leakage.

Mr Naqvi said this portal will prove beneficial for students and will help in strengthening a transparent mechanism for the scholarships.

The Minister said during the last four years, about three crore students belonging to poor and weaker sections of minorities have been benefited from various scholarship programmes.

The beneficiaries include about one crore 63 lakh girls

Speaking on this occasion Chaudhary Birender Singh said secondary steel sector contributes to more than half of the total steel production in the country. In order to enhance their global competitiveness, the awardhas been constituted. The Minister further added that in the context of India’s aim to create a globally competitive steel industry the secondary steel sector has to play an important role along with integrated steel players in order to achieve 300 million tonne capacity by the year 2030-31. At present India has 134 MT capacity. Secretary Steel, Binoy Kumar, said this recognition will encourage the secondary steel sector to strive for improving performance as well as quality of production. He said the consumption of steel in India has almost touched 70 kg per capita.

The secondary steel sector is a critical and important segment of the market spanning from construction, machine tools, cold rolled products, pipes, stainless steel, galvanized and color coated steel as well as exports. Nearly 150 units had applied for the awards, of which 82 units were inspected by the selection committee and the awardees were selected based on well-defined criteria.

President Ram Nath Kovind Thursday appointed Justice Ranjan Gogoi as the next Chief Justice of India, the law ministry confirmed in a notification. Taking the baton from CJI Dipak Misra, Justice Gogoi will assume office on October 3, 2018, as the 46th CJI. His tenure will end in November 2019.

Read: Challenges for the next CJI

CJI Misra on September 4 had recommended Justice Ranjan Gogoi, the senior most judge present in the Supreme Court, as his successor. The recommendation was processed to President Kovind to issue the warrant of appointment, which was confirmed on Thursday.

Earlier, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar had said that government’s intention on the appointment of the next CJI should not be questioned and that the executive would take a call.

The Haryana Vidhan Sabha has passed the Haryana State Commission for Scheduled Castes Bill, 2018, for development and safeguarding the interests of people belonging to the community.

This Bill was passed Tuesday, which was the last day of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha session.

The Haryana State Commission for Scheduled Castes Bill, 2018, has been passed to provide for the constitution of Commission for Scheduled Castes in the state for the overall development and welfare of scheduled castes and safeguard their interests as per the Bill.

Besides, the commission would also check and curb the trocities being committed on the Scheduled Castes.

The commission will investigate and examine the working of various safeguards provided in the Constitution or under any other law for the time being in force or under any order of the government for the

BENGALURU: Looking to further cement its position in India, South Korean tech major Samsung on Tuesday set up what is arguably the world's largest mobile experience centre in Bengaluru, barely two months after it opened its biggest mobile factory in Noida.
According to Mohandeep Singh, Senior Vice President, Mobile Business, Samsung India, the tech major is looking to become a part of the larger communtiy in Bengaluru and this (experience centre) is an extension of the firm's "Make for India" endeavour.

"We are looking at more number of such experience centres in the country. We are looking at covering all the big cities in India over a period of time with such centres," Mr Singh told news agency IANS.

However, he did not mention a timeline for the launch of other such centres in India.

Bengaluru's iconic Opera House on Brigade Road was given a facelift to turn it into "Samsung Opera House" that brings together technology, lifestyle and innovation to offer unique experience to users and prospective buyers.

The centre would offer Virtual Reality (VR), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) experiences and for the first time in India, enthusiasts would be able to enjoy VR

Padma Bhushan awardee and noted agricultural economist Vijay Shankar Vyas passed away on Wednesday here after a brief illness, a family member said. He was 87. The last rites will be performed at the Lal Kothi crematorium, his elder son Vikram Vyas said. He had held several C, professional and leadership positions in national and international organizations. The economist was the director of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad, and the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), Jaipur.

He was also a senior advisor in the World Bank’s agriculture and rural development department. Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and former chief minister Ashok Gehlot condoled Vyas’s demise. “Deeply saddened by the demise of noted agricultural economist and Padma Bhushan Vijay Shankar Vyas. His work was acclaimed world over.

“With his passing Rajasthan and especially Bikaner has lost one of its leading sources of inspiration. My condolences to the family,” Raje said in a tweet. Gehlot said Vyas contribution in forming the state’s and country’s economic and public welfare policy was immense. He was the vice president of the state planning board during my tenure as CM and will be remembered for his talent, Gehlot said in his condolence message.