Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has stressed upon the importance of Agricultural allied businesses for the development of farmers in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra.

He said this while inaugurating the 11th edition of Agro Vision-  2019, an Agricultural exhibition at Reshimbag Ground of Nagpur today.

Emphasizing the need for a permanent venue for training on best practices in agriculture & extension activities for the farmers in Vidarbha, the minister urged the professional and scientific institutes to take initiative in this regard.

Mr Gadkari informed about honey cubes on the lines of sugar cubes being developed by Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore.

He also visited the stalls mounted in the exhibition arena.
The 4-day event will comprise of national Agri exhibition workshop for farmers and seminars.

A Pavilion dedicated to Micro Small Medium Enterprise and display of livestock will be a special attraction in Agro Vision 2019.

In a significant accomplishment, Jammu and Kashmir has achieved the highest PMGSY road length in the country during the current year so far.

During the current fiscal, around 11,400 kilometres of different road projects against the total sanctioned length of 19,700 kilometres.

Consequently, against the sanctioned 2,214 habitations, 1,838 habitations have been provided connectivity as on date which include 101 habitations connected during current fiscal. Similarly, under Central Road Fund, 88 schemes have been completed which include 22 bridges and 66 roads.

As a mark of tribute to one of the most decorated soldiers of Indian Army Late Naib Subedar Chuni Lal, an Army Goodwill Park was dedicated at his native village Bhara in Doda today by GOC-in-C, Northern Command, Lt Gen Ranbir Singh.

Many retired and serving GoCs were present on the occasion. The Army Goodwill Park has a statue of the martyred soldier, beside a Children park and open Gym for the villagers.

Speaking to AIR News, GoC-in-C, Northern Command said that Late Naib Subedar Chuni Lal was a brave soldier who had laid down his life for the motherland following the highest traditions of Indian Army.

Elavenil Valarivan and Divyansh Singh Panwar added two gold medals to India's tally at the ongoing ISSF World Cup Finals after clinching the top honours in their respective 10m Air Rifle event on Thursday.

Divyansh won gold in the men's category after he shot a score of 250.1 in the final round. He was followed by Peni Istvan of Hungary who bagged the silver medal with a score of 250.0. The bronze medal went to Jany Patrik who scored 228.4. Divyansh, 17, has already bagged the Olympic quota after he won a silver medal in the 10m men's air rifle at the World Cup in Beijing earlier this year.

The Film Bazaar, which is being organised by the National Film Development Corporation, was inaugurated by the Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar on the sidelines of the golden jubilee edition of the International Film Festival of India.  

The Film Bazaar encourages creative and financial collaboration between the South Asian and International film communities. Over the years, films such as Lunch Box, Margarita With A Straw, Chauthi Koot, Qissa, Miss Lovely, Dum Lagake Haisha and Thithi have been through one or more programmes of the Bazaar. 

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal released the new Land Policy 2019 in Guwahati yesterday. The Land Policy was approved by Cabinet on 21st October and it has been prepared by the Revenue and Disaster Management Department after 30 years. It was last prepared in 1989.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that the state government has given a lot of emphasis in preparing the Policy to safeguard the interest of the indigenous people. He said, the Policy would remove complications regarding land allotments and settlements.

International Film Festival of India, IFFI features a Country of Focus that brings out the cinematic excellence and contributions of that particular country every year and this year, the country of focus is Russia.

The section will showcase eight movies from Russia.

The inaugural feature film for today is "The Hero". The film speaks about Andrey who had graduated from Secret Service School and later moved to Europe.

Andrey's father warns him to go underground as the Security Forces were looking out for him. The film brings out the thrilling ruthless spy game followed in Russia.

Microsoft’s India-born Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella has occupied the top spot in Fortune’s Businessperson of the Year 2019 list, an annual compilation that also includes Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga and Arista head Jayshree Ullal.

Fortune’s annual Businessperson of the Year list features 20 business leaders “who tackled audacious goals, overcame impossible odds, found creative solutions”.

The list is topped by Nadella, who has been at the helm of the technology giant since 2014.

“In a year dominated by political chaos and bluster, it was a rare brand of steady — even quiet — leadership that won the day in the business world. And no one epitomises that brand of obsessively results-driven, team-based leadership more than our new No. 1 Businessperson of the Year,” Fortune said.

In Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa has been sworn in as the new Prime minister. He was sworn in by President Gotabaya Rajapksa, his younger brother after Ranil Wickremsinghe resigned from his post today.

A 15-member cabinet is also expected to be sworn in by tomorrow.

The changes followed victory of Gotabaya Rajapksa at Saturday’s elections. Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa served as two-term President during 2005 to 2015 and was barred from contesting Presidential elections because of two-term limit. Earlier, Mr. Wickremsinghe said that while his government still has the majority in Parliament, it was decided to respect the mandate given to Gotabaya Rajapaksa and step down.

Kohli’s efforts to improve conditions for animals include sending a letter on PETA India’s behalf to officials calling for the release of Malti, an elephant used for rides at Amer Fort, who was reportedly violently beaten by eight men.

India captain Virat Kohli was on Wednesday named People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India’s ‘Person of the Year for 2019’ for his animal advocacy efforts.

Now a vegetarian, Kohli’s efforts to improve conditions for animals include sending a letter on PETA India’s behalf to officials calling for the release of Malti, an elephant used for rides at Amer Fort, who was reportedly violently beaten by eight men, a PETA India statement said.