External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will today co-chair the 9th Meeting of India-Lao PDR Joint Commission on Bilateral Co-operation with her counterpart Saleumxay Kommasith in Vientiane today.

External Affairs Ministry said, the two sides will review the entire gamut of bilateral relations covering areas of Defence, Agriculture, Trade and Investment, Science and IT, Energy and Mining among others.

The Minister will also call on the Prime Minister of Lao PDR Thongloun Sisoulith.

Mrs Swaraj attended an Indian community event held at Vientiane after arriving in Lao PDR last evening.

MEA Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a tweet that Mrs Swaraj appreciated the role of the Indian community in acting as a bridge to strengthen India-Lao PDR relations.

New Delhi: Facebook Inc.-owned messaging service WhatsApp on Wednesday said it has appointed Abhijit Bose as head of WhatsApp India, the local entity that is expected to begin operations next year amid calls to check the spread of fake messages. Bose, who was the co-founder and chief executive officer of enterprise payments solutions firm Ezetap, will be based in Gurugram, and join the messaging app early next year.

The move marks the first step by WhatsApp towards meeting the union government’s demand to curb the spread of fake news on the platform.

It comes less than a month after a meeting between information technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Chris Daniels, vice-president of WhatsApp. Daniels had told Prasad in the meeting that WhatsApp has incorporated a local unit in India whose operations would begin soon.

This is crucial as the government and the messaging app are trying to find common ground to ensure traceability of fake messages. Rumours circulated on social media apps have led to more than a dozen killings across India this year in mob lynchings.

Prasad, in an earlier meeting with Daniels, had requested him to devise ways to trace the origins of fake messages, set up a local corporate entity and appoint a grievance officer to address complaints to curb the spread of rumours.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday and sought central assistance of Rs 15,000 crore for relief and rehabilitation work after destruction caused by Cyclone Gaja in the state. He urged the Prime Minister for an immediate release of Rs 1,500 crore towards “temporary renovation” work.

“I have submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister detailing the extent of the damage caused by the cyclone,” he told reporters. According to the memorandum, the state government has sought Rs 14,910 crore towards permanent renovation activities, including in the power sector which lost crucial infrastructure in the cyclone.

Palaniswami said that Modi, responding to his request, deputed a central team to assess the damage caused by the cyclone. The team is expected to reach Tamil Nadu on Friday.

NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet approved on Thursday a draft bill for the establishment of national and state-level councils for regulation and standardisation of education and services provided by allied healthcare professionals such as physiotherapists and nutritionists.

Currently, allied and healthcare professionals remain unidentified, unregulated and under-utilised, the statement added.

Health Minister J P Nadda said he is grateful to the prime minister for approving a landmark legislation -- the Allied and Healthcare Professions Bill -- which will provide employment opportunities to millions of youths in the country and will help standardise allied healthcare.

"Our system is highly focused on efforts towards strengthening limited categories of professionals such as doctors, nurses and frontline workers (like accredited social health activist or ASHAs, Auxiliary Nurse Midwife or ANMs).

India and Australia signed five agreements on Thursday to boost investments and enhance cooperation in key sectors like disability, agricultural research and education as President Ram Nath Kovind met Australian Prime minister Scott Morrison in Sydney.

Kovind, the first-ever Indian head of state to visit Australia, arrived in Sydney on Wednesday on the second leg of his two-nation trip.

President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday unveiled a bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the Australian city of Sydney and said his powerful message of non-violence and peaceful coexistence is relevant in these times of strife.

Marking the ongoing celebrations of the 150th anniversary year of the Mahatma along with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Kovind said it was an honour for him to unveil the statue as the legend belonged to the entire world.

Kovind, the first-ever Indian head of state to visit Australia, arrived in Sydney on Wednesday on the second leg of his two-nation trip. During the first leg, he visited Vietnam.

Two photographs posted by the official Twitter handle of the President of India showed the striking bronze statue garlanded with flowers.

International Space Station (ISS) has been in the space for 20 years now and while the space station was launched on a Russian rocket, the ISS has been part of quite a lot of memorable moments in the history of mankind’s journey into space. The International space station was launched a single cargo module in 1998, however, it has now become an expansive as well as one-of-a-kind research facility placed orbiting the Earth.

The International Space Station (ISS) was launched on November 20, 1998, and it is still the largest human-made object in low Earth orbit which can often be seen with the naked eye from Earth. Coming to its components, the ISS consists of pressurised modules, solar arrays, external trusses, among others while these components were launched with help of Russian Proton and Soyuz rockets as well as American Space Shuttles.

The HRD Ministry Wednesday established an innovation cell at the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) with an aim to brainstorm new ideas about promoting innovation in all higher education institutions (HEIs) across the country. The innovation cell was launched at the AICTE headquarters by Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar through video conferencing.

“This will be a significant step in institutionalising innovation and developing a scientific temperament in the country. The purpose of formation of network of Institution’s Innovation Councils (IICs) is to encourage, inspire and nurture young students by exposing them to new ideas and processes resulting in innovative activities in their formative years,” Javadekar said.

“More than 1,000 HEIs have already formed IICs in their campuses and enrolled for the IIC network managed by MHRD’s innovation cell to promote innovation through multitudinous modes leading to an innovation promotion eco-system in their campuses,” he said.

The Union minister said varsities are the main research centers of developed countries and because of their research they are at the top in global innovation ranking.

India and Nepal have decided to set up a hotline to ensure effective coordination between them to check smuggling, officials said Wednesday.

In a meeting, various matters of mutual cooperation were discussed with the chief of India’s Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, D P Dash and Director General, Customs, Nepal, Toyam Raya, they said.

The two top officials had met in Kathmandu on Monday and Tuesday for the 19th annual Indo-Nepal Director General-level talks, the officials said.

Both sides discussed measures to increase cooperation along the borders to combat smuggling, improve border management and facilitate trade, they said.

They also agreed to establish a hotline between the two countries for effective coordination, the officials said.

India’s crude oil import surged 10.5 per cent to 21 million tonnes (MT) in October 2018-a seven-year high — compared with 19 MT a year ago, in turn pulling up the country’s crude oil import dependency to 83.5 per cent, according to data from Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell.

At the same, the country imported 20 per cent less petroleum products during the month and exports, too, fell 4 per cent.

India’s increased dependence on oil imports is in contradiction with the country’s planned roadmap to increase self-sufficiency. In March 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called for a time-bound reduction in India’s onerous import dependence for oil and gas.