Cochin Shipyard has signed an MoU with Inland Waterways Authority of India to build the country's first hydrogen fuel cell catamaran vessel for Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. The Shipyard also signed another MoU for the construction of six electric catamaran vessels for Uttar Pradesh and two such vessels for Guwahati.

The MoU was signed at Varanasi in the presence of Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister for Heavy Industry Mahendra Nath Pandey, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and a host of other dignitaries.

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar had a bilateral meeting with the Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on the sidelines of the ongoing ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Saturday. Wide-ranging discussions were held on bilateral ties including human resource, de-mining and development projects.

The leaders witnessed exchange of 4 MoUs signed in areas of culture, wildlife and health. These included one in the field of health and medicine between the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of India and Ministry of Health, Cambodia. 

Addressing the 19th ASEAN-India Summit on Saturday, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar stated that India-ASEAN relationship forms the central pillar of India's ACT-EAST policy. He noted that deep cultural, economic and civilizational ties have existed between India and South East Asia from time immemorial. This connect has provided a foundation to build a strong relationship in the modern times from a central partnership in 1992 to a comprehensive strategic partner in 2022.

Hailing 30 years of ASEAN-INDIA friendship, Vice President said that the 3 decades have seen a multifaceted and multidimensional growth in engagements from connectivity to climate change, security to space, education to ecology and technology to trade which shows the commitment towards a brighter future.

Atal Innovation Mission of NITI Aayog today launched the Women centric challenges under the 2nd edition of Atal New India Challenge (ANIC). The Woman centric challenges address the major issues faced by women from all spheres of life. These include driving women hygiene through innovation, innovations to improve women’s safety, professional networking opportunities for women, innovations that make working mothers’ life better, and easing the life of Rural Women.

Justice D Y Chandrachud today took oath as the new Chief Justice of India. President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office to Justice Chandrachud as the 50th Chief Justice of India at Rashtrapati Bhawan. He succeeded Justice UU Lalit, who retired yesterday.

In his first statement to the media after the swearing-in ceremony, Justice Chandrachud said serving the ordinary citizen is his  priority. He also said he will work for reforms in registry and judicial processes.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has approved the final Sovereign Green Bonds framework of India. Green bonds are financial instruments that generate proceeds for investment in environmentally sustainable and climate-suitable projects.

This approval will further strengthen India’s commitment towards its Nationally Determined Contribution targets, adopted under the Paris Agreement. It will help in attracting global and domestic investments in eligible green projects.

The proceeds generated from the issuance of such bonds will be deployed in Public Sector projects which help in reducing carbon intensity of the economy.

Union Minister of Jal Shakti, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat released the Dynamic Ground Water Resource Assessment Report for the entire country for the year 2022 in New Delhi yesterday.

Jal Shakti Ministry said, as per the 2022 assessment report, the total annual ground water recharge for the entire country is 437.60 billion cubic meters (BCM) and annual ground water extraction for the entire country is 239.16 BCM.

The report further said that, out of the total 7089 assessment units in the country, 1006 units have been categorized as Over-exploited.

Justice D Y Chandrachud today took oath as the new Chief Justice of India. President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office to Justice Chandrachud as the 50th Chief Justice of India at Rashtrapati Bhawan. He succeeded Justice UU Lalit, who retired yesterday.

In his first statement to the media after the swearing-in ceremony, Justice Chandrachud said serving the ordinary citizen is his  priority. He also said he will work for reforms in registry and judicial processes.

India is participating in 26th International Malabar Naval Exercise beginning on Tuesday in Yokosuka of Japan. Australia, Japan and the USA are also participating in the Malabar Naval Exercise. The naval forces of these countries will take part in the exercise till the 18th of next month. Indian Naval Ships Shivalik and Kamorta are ready to demonstrate at the event.

The presence of these indigenously built ships of the Indian Navy at these multi-national events will be an opportunity to showcase the ship-building capabilities of Indian Shipyards. The MALABAR exercise was initiated in 1992 between the navies of India and the United States.

The World Travel Market- WTM- 2022, one of the largest international travel exhibitions, has begun in London.

The Ministry of Tourism is participating in this three-day event, which will conclude on Wednesday. India’s participation is significant to step up the recovery of Inbound tourism to the pre-pandemic level. The theme of this year's exhibition is ‘The Future of Travel Starts Now’.