India and the five Central Asia nations have backed an inclusive peace process in Afghanistan that is Afghan-owned and Afghan-led. The understanding was reached at the first ever India-Central Asia Dialogue in Uzbekistan capital Samarkand yesterday. 

The Dialogue was chaired by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Uzbek counterpart Abdulaziz Kamilov. It was attended by the Foreign Ministers of Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan and the First Deputy Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan.

After the meeting, Ms Swaraj reiterated India's commitment to the economic reconstruction of war-torn Afghanistan. She pointed out that no business development, no investment can take place in a country suffering from terrorism. The External Affairs Minister said, to promote business development in the region, India agreed to fight the scourge of terrorism together. She offered to extend this partnership to Central Asia as well.

A joint statement issued at the end of the Dialogue said, India and the Central Asian countries, along with Afghanistan, condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

Heads of state of Denmark, Czech Republic, Uzbekistan, Rwanda and Republic of Malta are expected to arrive in Gandhinagar for the 9th edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit on January 18. Prime Minister Narendra Modi who will inaugurate the event will hold one-on-one meetings with the leaders on the sidelines of the summit along with hosting them on a dinner.

“Uzbekistan president Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Rwandan president Paul Kagame, Denmark’s prime minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, Prime Minister of Czech Republic Andrej Babis and Prime Minister of Malta Joseph Muscat will be coming for the inauguration of the summit on January 18. PM Modi will be holding one-on-one meetings with them later in the day. The Ministry of External Affairs is organising the meetings at the Prime Minister’s lounge at Mahatma Mandir,” said JN Singh, Chief Secretary of Gujarat government while briefing mediapersons about the final phase of preparations for the summit.

Later in the evening, PM Modi will meet the head of Sovereign and Wealth Funds who will be coming for the “global investors round table” at the same venue. This meeting with PM is expected to last for 60 minutes. According to the state government official, PM Modi might stay back in Gujarat on January 18.

Kerala now has the tallest Shiva lingam in the country after the India Book of Records certified the 111.2-feet structure of Maheshwaram Sri Shiva Parvathy Temple at Chenkal in Thiruvananthapuram district.

The cylindrical structure has eight floors, six of which represent chakras or energy centres of the human body. Temple authorities are now hoping the shiva lingam will enter the Limca and Guinness Book of Records.

Pilgrims would be able to see a ‘kailasam’, a replica of Himalayas, and idols of Shiva and Parvati from the top of the shiva lingam. The pathway is adorned with murals and statues with 108 shiva lingams on the base floor.

It is the only temple in the world, where devotees can worship 12 Jyothirlingam of Lord Shiva and 32 forms of Lord Ganesha at one place.

The Odisha government on Friday launched a scheme to distribute free LED bulbs among the poor, with an aim to reduce household expenditure on electricity.

“The Chief Minister has started Ama Ghare LED Bulb programme. Through this scheme, existing 95 lakh beneficiaries enrolled in either NFSA (National Food Security Act) or SFS (State Food Security scheme) will receive four (9 watt) LED bulbs per family so that household electricity charges come down,” said state Energy Secretary Hemant Sharma in a press statement.

The scheme goes a step ahead of the Centre’s zero subsidy scheme, Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA), whose primary aim is to promote energy efficiency. In this scheme, the central government distributes LED bulbs through a state-run company, Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL). EESL procures the appliances and provides them to consumers at the rate of Rs 70 per LED bulb, Rs 220 per LED tube light and Rs 1,110 per fan. EESL’s website claims the rates are “much below the market price”.

“We have distributed 1.85 crore bulbs across Odisha since 2016. Sometimes, we have also distributed bulbs at a subsidised cost of Rs 50-60 in Gram Swaraj Abhiyaan programmes,” said Anil Sahoo, DGM, EESL Odisha.

Yes Bank, India’s fourth-largest private sector bank, on Saturday announced the appointment of Brahm Dutt as non-executive part-time chairman. “The Reserve Bank of India, pursuant to the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, and basis Mr Brahm Dutt’s outstanding credentials and experience, has approved his appointment...up till July 4, 2020,” Yes Bank said in a regulatory filing.

Brahm Dutt has been on Yes Bank’s board since July 2013 as an independent director, and contributed to almost all the sub-committees of the board over the past five and a half years, it added.

He is currently also the chairman of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee.

During his career of 37 years as an IAS officer, he held several posts in the Karnataka government as well as in the central government. Before retirement, he worked as secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat and in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways for over three and half years.

Indian captain Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri received honorary membership of the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday. India scored 622 for the seven wickets in the first innings of the final Test that was held at the iconic stadium. It was their second-highest total in the stadium and although it was washed out, the match confirmed India’s series win, their first ever on Australian soil in Test cricket.

“The SCG congratulates Team India for securing its first Test series win on Australian soil. It is wonderful to see the world’s largest cricketing nation putting its focus firmly on Test cricket – a step that will reinforce the pre-eminence of Tests in the global cricketing landscape,” SCG Chairman Tony Shepherd was quoted as saying on their official website.

Apart from Kohli and Shastri, the only other international cricketers to be granted the honorary membership of the SCG are iconic Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara of the West Indies.

“Virat and Ravi have been at the forefront of that and Test cricket is well served having both placing such significance on the five-day format,” Shepherd added. Kohli has reiterated his love for Test cricket on various instances throughout India’s tours of England and Australia while Ravi Shastri ranked the series win bigger than the 1983 World Cup and the 1985 World Championship for him on a personal level simply because it came in the longest format of the game.

Nepal's Army Chief Purna Chandra Thapa will arrive in New Delhi today on a four-day official visit. It will be his first official bilateral visit after taking over the command of the Nepal Army.
 
A Defence Ministry release said the visiting dignitary will be conferred with the Honorary Rank of ‘General of Indian Army’ by President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhawan.

General Thapa will interact with senior Indian Army officials. He will also visit defence formations based at Jaipur and Lucknow. 
 
The visit symbolizes the deep-rooted ties between the two armies and will help strengthen defence cooperation.

Vice President of India M Venkaiah Naidu will inaugurate the 25th edition of Partnership Summit 2019 in Mumbai tomorrow. The two-day summit will provide a platform for discussions between Indian and global leaders on economic policy and growth trends in India. It will also offer new partnerships and investment opportunities in sectors like Artificial Intelligence, big data, agri and food processing, defence and aeronautics, renewable energy and tourism. 

The theme of the sessions will vary from reforms and deregulation to infrastructure development as a necessity for growth. Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Suresh Prabhu will deliver the keynote address on the opening day. He will also hold bilateral talks with trade delegations from South Korea, UAE, Ukraine, England and many others. With an aim to showcase a New India, the summit is being organised by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Maharashtra Government and Confederation of Indian Industry.

Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul have been suspended pending an inquiry into their comments during a TV show, ruling them out of the ODI series against Australia starting Saturday. The cricketers, who have been in the eye of a storm following their remarks on ‘Koffee with Karan’, were omitted from the line-up for the opening match in Sydney.

“The CoA in accordance with the BCCI has decided to suspend Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul from playing any form of cricket after their comments on a TV show. The duo will now return to India and an enquiry and proceedings will be made against them for misconduct and indiscipline,” the CoA said in a statement.

It further stated that in accordance to Rule 41(6) of the BCCI Constitution, “the players are hereby suspended with immediate effect from participating in any manner whatsoever in any match or function or event or activity that is authorized, organized, sanctioned, recognized or supported in any way by the BCCI, the ICC or any State Association, until final adjudication of the matter.”

The players were first sent a notice by the CoA to which they responded with an apology. “After considering their reply, it was decided that the BCCI would proceed against both for misconduct and indiscipline,” the statement read. It ended by stating that the selectors will prepare replacements for the two players for the ODI series against Australia and New Zealand.

With several states engaged in a bitter fight over water sharing, Union water resources minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday said there is enough water available in the country but the real issue is effective water management.

He was speaking at an event where the Centre entered into an agreement with six states — Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand — for the construction of the Renukaji Multi-Purpose Dam project in the Upper Yamuna Basin.

The project was conceived as a storage project on the Giri River (a tributary of river Yamuna) in Sirmour District of Himachal Pradesh. It envisages construction of a 148-metre-high rock filled dam for supply of water to Delhi and other basin states. The project will also generate 40 MW of power during peak flow. 

The Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd. (HPPCL) will execute the project and its total live storage is 0.404 MAF. About 1,508 hectares in the territory of Himachal Pradesh will be submerged by the project.
Gadkari, who attended the agreement signing event with chief ministers of all six states that are part of the programme, said the government will try to get Cabinet approval as soon as possible and all proposed dam projects,  once completed will ensure more flow in River Yamuna which is the need of the hour. “A consensus on the Kishau Multi Purpose project on River Yamuna has also been developed and soon an agreement for it will also be signed,” he said.