Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke on telephone with Russian President Vladimir Putin last night. President Putin briefed Prime Minister Modi about the recent developments regarding Ukraine. In a release, Prime Minister's Office said, the Prime Minister reiterated his long-standing conviction that the differences between Russia and the NATO group can only be resolved through honest and sincere dialogue. The Prime Minister appealed for an immediate cessation of violence, and called for concerted efforts from all sides to return to the path of diplomatic negotiations and dialogue.

Prime Minister Modi also sensitized the Russian President about India's concerns regarding the safety of the Indian citizens in Ukraine, especially students, and conveyed that India attaches the highest priority to their safe exit and return to India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a webinar titled Aatmanirbharta in Defence - Call to Action today. The objective of the webinar is to involve all the stakeholders in taking forward the various initiatives of the Government in the defence sector. Defence Ministry is organising the post-budget webinar on the announcements made in the Union budget 2022-23.

AIR correspondent reports that The webinar will have panel discussions with eminent speakers and experts from the Ministry of Defence, defence industry, startups and academia. The valedictory session will be chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. The webinar will have breakout sessions on the four themes, Progressive increase in the capital procurement budget for domestic industry Opportunities and Challenges, Developing All round Defence Research and Development ecosystem in the country, Special Purpose Vehicles by Industries with DRDO and other organisations and meet wide-ranging testing and certification requirements - Setting up an independent nodal umbrella body. The sessions are planned in a manner to allow for ample interaction with stakeholders, with a view to evolve a participative approach for time-bound implementation of announcements. 

The National War Memorial is celebrating its third anniversary today. Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar and Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari and Vice Chief of Indian Army Lieutenant General Manoj Pande laid wreaths at the memorial to mark the occasion. Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar also laid a wreath and paid homage to the fallen Bravehearts of the Nation.

Today Inter-Services Band along with students’ band of VSPK International School, Rohini, New Delhi will enthral the audience at the memorial.
 

The Indian Air Force (IAF) will participate in a three-week multilateral air exercise at Waddington in the United Kingdoom from March 6 with a fleet of five Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA).

The IAF said on Wednesday that 'Cobra Warrior 22' exercise is aimed at providing operational exposure and sharing best practices amongst the participating air forces.

It said the exercise from March 6 to 27 will be a platform for the indigenously developed Tejas aircraft to demonstrate their manoeuvrability and operational capability.

A teenage superstar in the making! 16-year-old Indian Chess Grandmaster R Praggnanaddha stunned the world as he defeated the World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in the 8th round of the Airthings Masters, battling it out in the online rapid chess format.

The teenager defeated Carlsen with black pieces to put an end to the Carlsen's 3-match winning streak in the competition. It took Carlsen about 19 moves to undo the World No. 1.

What's interesting to note is the fact that Praggnanandha was on a 3-game losing streak when he met Carlsen. The Indian prodigy went on to beat the Norwegian to eventually finish at 5th place in the tournament.

A joint team of scientists from Defence Research and Development Organisation DRDO and Indian Institute of Technology IIT Delhi, for the first time in the country successfully demonstrated Quantum Key Distribution link between Prayagraj and Vindhyachal in Uttar Pradesh, a distance of more than 100 kilometres.

This technological breakthrough was achieved over a commercial-grade optical fibre already available in field. With this success, the country has demonstrated indigenous technology of secure key transfer for bootstrapping military-grade communication security key hierarchy. The performance parameters have been measured and have been found to be repetitively within the reported international standards at sifted key rates of up to 10 Kilohertz. This technology will enable security agencies to plan a suitable quantum communication network with indigenous technology backbone.

Ministry of External Affairs celebrated Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav today by inaugurating projects reflecting Buddhist linkages with ASEAN and East Asian countries. Minister of State for External Affairs Dr. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh joined the celebrations.

The dignitaries unveiled books of Jataka Tales translated into Thai, Korean, Vietnamese, and Chinese languages. A comprehensive video of e-ITEC courses offered by the Ministry on Buddhist teachings was shown during the event. The Minister inaugurated the interactive Coffee Table E-Book on Buddhist linkages with ASEAN and East Asian countries.

The digital exhibition titled " Bodhicitta: Interweaving Buddhist Art Traditions from India Across Asia” curated by National Museum was displayed. The Ministry presented an Interactive Template for use by Missions for orientation visits by school or college students to Cultural centers or Missions for a better understanding of India's Buddhist linkages.

New Delhi [India], February 22 (ANI/NewsVoir): Recognizing the contribution of farmers towards strengthening the entire ecosystem of organic farming, Organic India Private Limited (“Organic India”), in association with the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival felicitated the top 5 organic farmers with Dharti Mitr Awards while celebrating the grandeur of Indian Cinema and commemorating 75 years of Independence (Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav).

As part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, a week-long commemoration event titled Vigyan Sarvatra Pujyate was launched today. The event which will continue till 28th of February was inaugurated digitally by Union Minister of Science and Technology Dr Jitendra Singh and Union Minister of Culture G Kishan Reddy at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi. The event is being held simultaneously at 75 locations across the country. The week-long event will display the country’s scientific legacy and technology prowess that has helped find solutions to defence, space, health, agriculture, astronomy, and other sectors. The event is being held in various Indian languages, including Kashmiri, Dogri, Punjabi, Gujarati, Marathi, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telegu, Odia, Bengali, Assamese, Nepali, Maithili, and Manipur, and will include the screening of 75 films.

Speaking on the occasion, Science and Technology Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said, in the last seven years, the Narendra Modi government has taken several steps to promote science and innovations in the country. He said, the penetration of science and technology is being seen in every sector as it is the basis of development.Dr. Singh said, science has become an important tool for bringing ease of living in people's life and meeting future challenges.

Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Ministry under its SANKALP programme has brought an initiative to fund a stipend for one thousand apprentices across Central Ministries for one year. The initiative has been developed so that the youth of the country benefit by learning hands-on skills by way of domain-specific apprenticeship opportunities. After one year of engagement, the Ministries are expected to continue these positions utilizing their own funds.  National Skill Development Corporation has been entrusted with the overall responsibility of coordination for the project.

AIR correspondent reports government has laid great emphasis on apprenticeship promotion and seeks to mainstream apprenticeship across Central, State, and Private organizations.