Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the Grand Finale of Smart India Hackathon 2020 on Saturday via video conferencing.

He will also be interacting with students on the occasion.

The Smart India Hackathon is a nationwide initiative to provide students with a platform to solve some of the pressing problems we face in our daily lives, and thus inculcate a culture of product innovation and a mindset of problem-solving. It has proved to be extremely successful in promoting out-of-the-box thinking in young minds

The first edition of Smart India Hackathon 2017 saw participation of 42,000 students which increased to 1 lakh in 2018 and to 2 lakh in 2019.

The first round of Smart India Hackathon 2020 saw participation of more than 4.5 lakh students. The Grand Finale of the software edition this year is being organized online by connecting all the participants throughout the nation together over a specially-built advanced platform.

More than 10,000 students will be competing to solve 243 problem statements from 37 central government departments, 17 state governments and 20 industries.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu has said that the new National Education Policy is a major step forward to enhance access to quality education to all the children and youth. In a series of tweets, Me Naidu expressed happiness that the new education policy has been approved by the government. He said, the Policy’s emphasis on mother tongue and multilingualism, for diversity and respect for the local context as well as a recognition of the importance of India’s classical languages. It will give learners a holistic world view. Mr Naidu said, the focus of education policy on ethics and human and Constitutional values will go a long way in the creation of an enlightened citizenship essential for deepening our democratic roots.

The Vice President said, the vision of new education policy is truly global and essentially Indian. It exemplifies India’s timeless quest for welcoming noble thoughts from all over the world. He said, setting up a National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy is a much needed, timely step to improve the quality of education at the primary level. Mr Naidu said, the policy's sharp focus on research, multidisciplinary approaches and use of technology as well as professional upgradation of teachers’ competence has the potential to qualitatively transform the education landscape of the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Mauritian counterpart Pravind Jugnauth will jointly inaugurate the new Supreme Court building of Mauritius today.

The inauguration is scheduled to take place through video conference in presence of senior members of Judiciary from Mauritius and other dignitaries from both the countries. The building has been constructed with Indian grant assistance and will be the first India-assisted infrastructure project within the capital city of Port Louis after the outbreak of Coronavirus pandemic.

The new Supreme Court building project is one of the five projects being implemented under the Special Economic Package of 353 million dollars extended by Government of India to Mauritius in 2016. The project has been completed within schedule and below expected costs. The building is spread over an area of more than 4,700 square metres with over 10 floors and a built up area of around 25 square metres.

In October 2019, Mr Modi and Prime Minister of Mauritius had jointly inaugurated the Phase-I of the Metro Express Project and the new ENT Hospital project in Mauritius, also built under the Special Economic Package. Under Phase-I of Metro Express project, construction of 12 kilometres of metro-line was completed in September last year, while work on its Phase-2 envisaging 14 kilometres of metro-line is ongoing. Through the ENT Hospital project, India assisted in construction of a 100-bed state of the art ENT hospital in Mauritius.

Union Home Ministry has issued new guidelines for opening up of more activities in areas outside the Containment Zones. The process of phased re-opening of activities has been extended further in Unlock 3, which will come into effect from 1st of August. The new guidelines issued yesterday are based on feedback received from States and Union Territories and extensive consultations held with related Central Ministries and Departments.

AIR correspondent reports, restrictions on movement of individuals during night have been removed. Yoga institutes and gymnasiums will be allowed to open from 5th of August.

In this regard, Standard Operating Procedure will be issued by Health Ministry for ensuring social distancing. Independence Day functions will be allowed with social distancing and by following other health protocols. Schools, colleges and coaching institutions will remain closed till 31st of August.

International air travel of passengers has been permitted in a limited manner under the Vande Bharat Mission.  Further opening up will take place in a calibrated manner. All activities except Metro Rail, Cinema halls, swimming pools, entertainment parks, theatres, bars shall be permitted outside containment zones.

The first batch of five Rafale fighter jets will arrive in Ambala airbase today.

The fleet, comprising three single seater and two twin seater aircraft, will be inducted into the Indian Air Force at the Ambala airbase in Haryana. The fighter jets, built by French aviation firm Dassault, took off from the Merignac airbase in southern France's Bordeaux on Monday.

The five aircraft are part of 36 planes bought by India from France in a 59,000-crore rupees inter-governmental deal in 2016. The aircraft is covering a distance of nearly 7,000 km from France to India with mid-air refuelling and a single stop at a French airbase in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Indian Embassy in France in a statement said, delivery of 10 aircraft has been completed on schedule but five will stay back in France for training Mission. The delivery of all thirty six aircraft will be completed on schedule by the end of 2021.

The Rafale fighter jets had mid-air refuelling before reaching the Al-Dhafra air base in UAE. After the layover, the jets will embark on the their final leg of journey to India. The Indian Air Force, appreciated the support provided by French Air Force for the Rafale journey back home. The fighter jets are capable of carrying a range of highly effective weapons, including the Keter air to air missile and scalp cruise missile.

International Tiger Day will be celebrated today. The Day is celebrated on 29th of July every year across the globe to create awareness about tiger conservation. Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar released All India Tiger Estimation Report-2018 yesterday. He also released a poster on small wild cats of India.
 
Mr Javadekar said, India is home to nearly 70 per cent of the global tiger population and it leads the world in showing effective conservation of the wild species. He said, tiger is a precious gem of nature and its presence signifies that the forest is in good condition. He said, in 1973 there were only 9 tiger reserves in the country, which has now gone up to 50. Mr Javadekar said that apart from tigers, India is also home to 30 thousand elephants, 3000 single-horned Rhinos and over 500 lions.
 
He said, the country is ready to provide every assistance to increase the population of tigers in the world. Highlighting the culture of harmonious coexistence with nature in India, the minister noted that despite constraints of physical resources the country sustains nearly 8 per cent of the world diversity. He added by saying that practices like worshipping of trees is what depics unique India's cohesiveness with nature.

After banning 59 mobile applications including TikTok, almost a month ago, the Indian government has cracked down on 47 more mobile apps - most being clones or lite variants of the ones earlier banned.

A month after banning 59 Chinese mobile applications, the government of India has reportedly banned 47 more apps with links to China.

The 47 Chinese apps have been allegedly operating as “clones” of the previously banned apps, which means that they’ve also been banned by the government to ensure the safety and sovereignty of Indian cyberspace.

Last month, the Government has banned 59 apps with links to China for engaging in activities which were prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order.

The list included apps like TikTok, Shareit, UC Browser, Helo, Likee, Cam Scanner and others. The main concern with these apps was the collection of user data and the unauthorised sending of this data to locations outside of India, particularly to China.

Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar will dedicate the Guinness world record to the people on the eve of Global Tiger Day, 2020 on Tuesday. The record recognizes the country’s efforts in monitoring its wild tiger population as the world’s largest camera-trap survey of wildlife.

India now has nearly 70 per cent of the global tiger population. The event is expected to be joined by around 500 participants from across the country. The Minister is likely to launch the new website and Outreach Journal of the National Tiger Conservation Authority.

The Heads of the Governments of Tiger range countries had resolved to double the tiger population by the year 2022. In this regard, Saint Petersburg Declaration on Tiger Conservation was signed by the countries in 2010. It was decided to celebrate 29th of July as Global Tiger Day across the world to create awareness on tiger conservation.

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said that more than 8 lakh 14 thousand Indians stranded abroad have returned to the country through various means under Vande Bharat Mission since May 6, 2020.

He said, Out of these, at least 2 lakh 70 thousand people returned on flights from 53 countries. In a series of tweets, Puri said the fifth Phase of Vande Bharat Mission will begin from August 1 to bring back more stranded Indians. Under the fifth phase, Air India will connect Indian cities with US, Canada, Qatar, Oman, UAE, Singapore, UK, Frankfurt, Paris, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, New Zealand and Philippines among others. Mr Puri said details about ticket bookings will be announced by Air India shortly.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said during the fourth phase of Vande Bharat Mission, India has operated 1,197 flights which includes 945 international flights and 252 feeder flights.

Air travel in India, both domestic and international was suspended when the national lockdown started on March 25 due to a coronavirus pandemic. Only domestic air travel began on May 25.

Haryana will host the 4th Khelo India Youth Games. Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced this through video conferencing. Khelo India Youth Games is scheduled to take place after Tokyo Olympics next year.
 
The Games will be held at Panchkula in Haryana. Mr Rijiju said, usually the Khelo India Youth Games take place in January every year. He said, however, this time owing to the pandemic, we have to postpone it.
 
The Minister has expressed confidence that by the time we host the Games the pandemic will abate and we will be able to host the Games at the same scale, with participation of all states and over 10 thousand participants.
 
Mr Rijiju said, Khelo India Games, envisioned by the Prime Minister, has been instrumental in identifying grassroot level talent from across the country.