On World Fisheries Day, the Centre launched a number of projects for the marine and inland aquaculture sectors on Thursday, November 21, 2024.

Union Minister for Fisheries Rajiv Ranjan Singh said the initiatives are aimed at transforming the fisheries sector and strengthening India’s blue economy.

One of the major schemes is the fifth ‘Marine Fisheries Census 2025’, which the Ministry hopes to complete in 45 days with the help of 3,500 staff.

The census, for the first time, will be fully digital, leveraging mobile apps and virtual servers to collect and process data in real-time, the Centre said, making the process 80% faster than before.

Retirement fund body EPFO logged 9.33 per cent growth in net member additions in September at 18.81 lakh compared to the year-ago month, showed payroll data released on Wednesday.

Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) enrolled around 9.47 lakh new members in September 2024, representing an increase of 6.22 per cent over September 2023, the labour ministry said.

This surge in new memberships can be attributed to growing employment opportunities, increased awareness of employee benefits and EPFO's outreach programmes, it noted.

According to the statement, EPFO has released provisional payroll data for September 2024, revealing a net addition of 18.81 lakh members.

Armenia has became the104th full member of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), Ministry of External Affairs Official Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal announced on Thursday.

Established by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President of France Francois Hollande on November 30, 2015, ISA's objective is to scale up solar energy, reduce the cost of solar power generation through aggregation of demand for solar finance, technologies, innovation, research and development, and capacity building.

Sharing a post on X, Jaiswal wrote, "Armenia becomes the 104th full member of the International Solar Alliance. The Republic of Armenia handed over the @isolaralliance Instrument of Ratification, during the meeting of Amb. Vahagn Afyan of Armenia to India with @Abhishekifs, Joint Secy (ED&MER) and Head of Depository, in New Delhi today."

General Upendra Dwivedi, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) of the Indian Army, has been honoured with the rank of Honorary General of the Nepal Army.

President Ramchandra Paudel conferred upon Dwivedi the rank of Honorary General of the Nepal Army during a special ceremony at President House, Sheetal Niwas.

The Indian Army on Thursday described this "exchange of honorary generalship, a unique and cherished tradition between the Indian and Nepali Armies," which "highlights the deep-rooted historical, cultural, and military ties between the two nations."

As per the Army, this practice reflects the mutual respect and enduring friendship between the two countries, particularly in the realms of military cooperation, defence collaboration, and shared strategic interests.

Union Minister of Culture and Tourism, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat will confer the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar for the years 2022 and 2023 to 82 young artists in a special ceremony, tomorrow, 22nd November, 2024 at 11 A.M. at Dr Ambedkar International Centre, Janpath, New Delhi. The award ceremony will be presided over by Dr Sandhya Purecha, Chairman, Sangeet Natak Akademi, Smt. Uma Nanduri, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Culture, Government of India.

The award ceremony will be followed by the festival of performing arts featuring the recipient of Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar at three different venues Meghdoot Theatre Complex, Rabindra Bhawan, Copernicus Marg, New Delhi; Abhimanch Theatre, National School of Drama, Bhawalpur House, New Delhi and Vivekanand Auditorium, Kathak Kendra, Chanakyapuri from 22 to 26 November, 2024.

The India Women’s Hockey Team clinched their third Asian Champions Trophy title with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over a determined China at the Rajgir Hockey Stadium in Bihar. Deepika emerged as the hero, scoring the sole decisive goal in the third quarter, securing back-to-back Asian Champion's Trophy titles for India and that too, on home soil. The final was a tightly contested affair, with both sides displaying equal tenacity and skill throughout.

India started with an aggressive approach, pressing high from the outset. However, China gradually adapted to the game’s tempo and countered with equal vigour, creating a thrilling back-and-forth battle. The breakthrough came in the third quarter when Deepika’s precise strike broke the deadlock from a penalty corner, much to the delight of the packed home crowd. Despite China’s relentless efforts to level the score, India’s defence held firm, denying any scoring opportunities even from the penalty corner spot.

The Tamil Nadu government has appointed advocate G. Krishnaraja as the Director of Prosecution since State Public Prosecutor Hasan Mohamed Jinnah, who had been hitherto holding additional charge of the post, had requested to be relieved due to the workload.

A Government Order issued by the Home (Courts-VI) department read that a selection committee headed by a retired judge of the Madras High Court was constituted on October 8 to hold interviews with the applicants for the post of Director of Prosecution and make its recommendation.

Acting on the basis of the recommendation, the government appointed Mr. Krishnaraja, who hails from Madurai and got enrolled with the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in 1990. He had served as the Additional Public Prosecutor for Chennai Metropolitan area.

India's monthly intake of Russian oil increased by 3.3 per cent in October to a three-month high of 1.95 million barrels per day (bpd), accounting for about two-fifths of overall imports, data provided by trade sources show.

India, the world's third biggest oil importer and consumer, has been gorging on Russian oil after some nations cut purchases from Moscow and imposed sanctions over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

India's overall imports during the month totalled 4.81 million bpd, up 2 per cent on the previous month, the data showed.
Russia continued to be the top oil supplier to India, followed by Iraq and Saudi Arabia, the data showed.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Thursday said it has signed an Implementation Agreement (IA) with Australian Space Agency (ASA) for further strengthening of cooperation in space activities between the two countries.

The IA enables cooperation between both space agencies on crew and crew module recovery for Gaganyaan missions, the country's first crewed spaceflight program, it said.

The IA was signed by D K Singh, Director, Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC) on ISRO's side at Bengaluru and Jarrod Powell, General Manager, Space Capability Branch, on ASA's side at Canberra on November 20, the space agency said in a statement.

ISRO has embarked on the Human Spaceflight ("Gaganyaan") programme with an objective of demonstrating capability to carryout Low Earth Orbit in an Indian Crew Module with up to three crew members onboard, for up to three days and to safely recover the module.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch on Monday the 'United Nations International Year of Cooperatives 2025' at International Cooperative Alliance's (ICA) global conference to be held in the national capital.

First time in the 130 years long history of the ICA, the premier body for the global cooperative movement, with the initiative of IFFCO, the ICA General Assembly and Global Cooperative Conference will be hosted by India. The event is scheduled to be held during November 25-30 here.

Addressing a press conference, Cooperation Secretary Ashish Kumar Bhutani informed that the prime minister will formally launch the 'United Nations International Year of Cooperatives 2025' during the inaugural session of the event on November 25.