The 4th Joint Defence Cooperation Committee meeting between India and the Philippines was held in New Delhi yesterday, March 31. The Indian delegation was led by Joint Secretary in Ministry of Defence Amitabh Prasad, while the Philippines delegation was headed by Assistant Secretary for Strategic Assessments and International Affairs, Department of National Defence Pablo M Lorenzo.

During the meeting, both sides reviewed the ongoing bilateral defence cooperation and discussed effective and practical initiatives to further expand the engagements. The co-chairs reaffirmed their commitment to implement the 2006 agreement concerning defence cooperation, based on mutual trust and understanding, common interest and shared values of democracy and the rule of law.

Defence Ministry on Thursday inked a contract with BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited BAPL for procurement of Next Generation Maritime Mobile Coastal Batteries (Long range) and BrahMos Missiles at an approximate cost of over one thousand 700 crore rupees under Buy (Indian) Category.

Defence Ministry said, the delivery is scheduled to commence from 2027. These systems will be equipped with supersonic BrahMos Missiles and will significantly enhance multi-directional maritime strike capability of Indian Navy.

In a huge boost to achieve Aatmanirbharta in defence, Ministry of Defence on Thursday signed contracts with Indian shipyards for acquisition of 11 Next Generation Offshore Patrol Vessels and six Next Generation Missile Vessels at an overall cost of 19 thousand 600 crore rupees.
 
The contract for acquisition of 11 Next Generation Offshore Patrol Vessels under Buy Indian-IDDM category was signed with Goa Shipyard Limited GSL and Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers GRSE Kolkata at a total cost of nine thousand 781 crore rupees. Of the 11 ships, seven will be indigenously designed, developed and manufactured by GSL and four by GRSE. The delivery of the ships is scheduled to commence from September 2026.

The plenary sessions of the second Sherpa Meet under India's G20 Presidency will begin at the KTDC Waterscapes Resort at Kumarakom this morning.

Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan will deliver the special remarks at the inaugural session of the meeting.

Different sessions on Technological Transformation, Accelerated Inclusive and Resilient Growth, Women-led Development and bilateral meetings form part of the deliberations.

The Ministry of Defence yesterday signed contracts for the procurement of an improved Akash Weapon System and 12 Weapon Locating Radars, WLR Swathi (Plains) for the Indian Army at an overall cost of over nine thousand 100 crore rupees.

The contract for procurement of improved Akash Weapon System (AWS) for the 3rd and 4th Regiments of Army Air Defence, comprising live Missiles and Launchers with upgrades, Ground Support Equipment, Vehicles and Infrastructure was signed with Bharat Dynamics Limited, worth over eight thousand 160 crore rupees.

The Government has launched a new Centrally Sponsored Scheme namely, New India Literacy Programme with financial outlay of over one thousand crore rupees for implementation during the financial year 2022-23 to 2026-27.

The scheme aims to cover a target of five crore non-literates in the age group of 15 years and above. Minister of State for Education Annpurna Devi said this in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. She said, the beneficiaries under the scheme are identified through door to door survey on Mobile App by the surveyors in the States and union Territories. The Minister said, the non-literate can also avail the benefit of the scheme through direct registration from any place through mobile app.

Member of Parliament in Lok Sabha and senior Bhartiya Janata Party leader Girish Bapat passed away in Pune today after suffering from a prolonged illness. He was 73.

Girish Bapat was critically ill and had been on life support. He was suffering from breathing problems for the past few months and had been undergoing dialysis at the hospital.

In Uttrakhand, the first meeting of the G20  roundtable conference of Chief Science Advisors was held on the second day of the G20 summit in Ramnagar in the Nainital district on Wednesday. In the meeting held at Dhikuli resort of Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve around 54 chief science advisors from 18 countries participated including America, Argentina, China, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy and Japan.

Addressing the media on Wednesday Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood said that in the meeting four agendas-The One Health opportunity to tackle the pandemic and disease control, Coordination in global efforts enhancing reach to scientific knowledge, diversity, equity inclusiveness and accessibility in the field of science and technology, and inclusive, incessant and action-oriented global policy in regard to science and technology. He said, on One Health topic,  a plan should be made to coordinate work on Human Health, Livestock Health, and Wildlife Health so that we should know in advance which pandemic is coming. He noted that in India a lot of work has been done in this direction.

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar has said that today, India is on the rise, inspired by the surge of aspirations and innovations and validated by the achievements of the citizens.

Addressing the 69th Founders’ Day ceremony of the Indian Institute of Public Administration in New Delhi on Wednesday, Mr Dhankhar said, the next 25 years are going to be crucial for the country. He said, the civil servants who are joining today, will be the Warriors of 2047. The Vice President said, Governance is a dynamic concept and Public administrators have to remain in tune with the changing expectations and requirements of citizens. He said, young talent from remote villages, humble families, from marginalised communities joining the Civil Services.  
Mr Dhankhar expressed happiness that more and more talented young girls are joining Civil Services and are ready to face the challenges of public administration.

Government has identified 1275 railway stations under the Amrit Bharat Station scheme for development of Railway stations. Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said this in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha yesterday. He said, this scheme envisages development of stations on a continuous basis with a long-term approach.
 
It involves preparation of Master Plans and their implementation in phases to improve the amenities at the stations like improvement of station access, waiting halls, toilets, free Wi-Fi, better passenger information systems and executive lounges. The scheme also envisages improvement of building, integrating the station with both sides of the city, multimodal integration, amenities for Divyangjans and creation of city centres at the station in the long term.