The deep depression in the Bay of Bengal has intensified into a cyclonic storm 'Burevi'. The storm on Wednesday, November 2 is likely to cross the coast of Sri Lanka, near Trincomalee hit South Tamil Nadu on December 4, the India Meteorological Department confirmed on Tuesday. 

Tamil Nadu was hit by cyclone Nivar last week. Heavy rains and strong winds were observed in many parts of the state due to the cyclone.

"The deep depression intensified at adjoining the southeast Bay of Bengal into Cyclone storm Burevi at 17:30 hours and lay centred about 400 kilometres of east-southeast Trincomalee. It will cross the Sri Lanka coast close to Trincomalee on December 2 during evening/night and cross south Tamil Nadu between Kanniyakumari and Pamban on the early morning of December 4," The India Meteorological Department (IMD), confirmed on Twitter.

Minister of Environment,Forest and Climate Change  Prakash Javadekar today launched the India Climate Change Knowledge Portal. The portal will have all the major steps the Government is taking at both national and international levels to address  the climate change issues.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Javadekar said,it will be a single-point information resource that provides information on the different climate initiatives taken by various Line Ministries enabling users to access d status on these initiatives.

With regard to climate actions after the Paris Agreement, Mr Javadekar said, India has practically achieved  its  pre-2020 climate action targets. He said, though India is not  responsible for  climate change but  it is taking responsible action to mitigate the challenge. Mr Javadekar also demanded that other countries must commit to  the advance commitments of Kyoto Protocol which has not been followed by the countries that must be done.

Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju today felicitated the participants of ‘Fit India Mission 200 Kilometers’ walkathon in New Delhi. Participants were awarded with special walkathon medals and certificates. 

The walkathon which was first of its kind, was organized by the ITBP in association with the Sports Ministry at Jaisalmer in Rajasthan recently to spread awareness about the ‘Fit India Mission’ of the Government of India. 

Mr. Rijiju praised the efforts being undertaken by ITBP for its initiatives towards the ‘Fit India Mission’ and said that the Force had been instrumental in spreading the message of keeping India fit.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will share his thoughts with the people in the country and abroad in the 'Mann Ki Baat' programme on All India Radio at 11 AM on Sunday. It will be the 71st episode of the monthly radio programme.

It will be broadcast on the entire network of AIR and Doordarshan and also on AIR News website www.newsonair.com and newsonair Mobile App. It will also be streamed live on the YouTube channels of AIR, DD News, PMO and Information and Broadcasting Ministry.

AIR will broadcast the programme in regional languages immediately after the Hindi broadcast. The regional language versions will be repeated at eight in the evening.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari inaugurated and laid the foundation stones of 16 National Highway projects worth 7477 crore rupees in Uttar Pradesh yesterday.
 
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was also present at the virtual function. These road projects worth 505 kilometers will enhance better connectivity, convenience and economic growth in the state.
 
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Gadkari said that National Highways works worth two lakh crore rupees are being undertaken in UP. Thanking the Central government, the Chief Minister said that National Highways works done in the state in the last 6 years is more than what was done in 65 years after independence.

Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju has launched the second edition of Fit India School Week program. To participate in the program the schools have to register themselves on www.fitindia.gov.in/fit-india-school-week.

During the launch ceremony yesterday, Mr Rijiju spoke about the importance of fitness in school life and said students are the driving force behind making India fit. The Minister said, he is happy to see that so many schools have registered for Fit India School Week and the numbers are increasing day by day. He said, this helps in achieving the target to make every Indian fit as the energy for it is generated from these schools itself.

The Fit India School week program was launched in November last year and saw participation from over 15 thousand schools across the country.

Legendary Argentine footballer, Diego Maradona, widely regarded among the greatest football players of all time passed away yesterday following a heart attack. The 60-year-old had been hospitalised at the start of November, days after celebrating his birthday. Maradona was hospitalised after he complained of regularly being fatigued. His tests at the La Plata clinic revealed a blood clot in Maradona's brain, which doctors later revealed was operated on successfully.
 
Maradona was also released from the hospital, but in the early hours yesterday, Maradona suffered cardiac arrest, and paramedics at the scene failed to revive him. Maradona had begun his professional career with Argentinos Juniors at the age of 16 and he went on to become one of the greatest players to ever play the game of football. The ace footballer represented Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla, and Newell's Old Boys as a player. Diego was considered the main player in taking Argentina to their second World Cup title in 1986. Maradona also coached Racing Club, Dorados, Gimnasia and the Argentina national team.
 
Argentina has declared three-day mourning for the legendary footballer.

Argentine striker Lionel Messi has said that the World Cup -winning footballer will always remain in everyone's heart forever. Messi also said that Maradona's demise is a sad day for the entire sports fraternity. The pair of Messi and Maradona had teamed up between 2008 and 2010 as the latter managed Argentina's national team.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually inaugurate the 3rd Global Renewable Energy Investors Meet and Expo (RE-INVEST 2020) today. During the three-day virtual conference, all the leading companies will display their latest technological development in the field of renewable energy and discuss various options available for energy transition.
 
Several world leaders, Energy Ministers of 75 countries and 200 eminent speakers will take part in the event. The summit is organised by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. It aims to accelerate the worldwide effort to scale up development and deployment of renewable energy and connect the global investment community with Indian energy stakeholders. The theme for RE-Invest 2020 is ‘Innovations for Sustainable Energy Transition’.

India has announced the launch of Phase-IV of the High Impact Community Development Projects in Afghanistan. It envisages more than 100 projects worth  80 million dollars that India would undertake in Afghanistan. External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar said this during the  2020 Afghanistan Conference organized in Geneva through video- conference. The two day conference began from yesterday and was co-hosted by the United Nations, the Government of Afghanistan, and the Government of Finland.
 
Dr Jaishankar also announced that India had just concluded with Afghanistan an agreement for the construction of the Shatoot dam, which would provide safe drinking water to two million residents of Kabul city. He said, India had earlier built the 202-kilometer Phul-e-Khumri transmission line that provided electricity to Kabul city.
 
In his statement, Dr Jaishankar emphasized India’s long term commitment to the development of Afghanistan and the benefit of it’s people as a contiguous neighbor and strategic partner. He said, India’s development portfolio in Afghanistan has to-date amounted to over 3 billion US dallars. He highlighted that no part of Afghanistan today is untouched by the 400 plus projects that India has undertaken in all 34 of Afghanistan’s provinces. He said, more than 65 thousand Afghan students have also studied in India.

A two-day All India Presiding Officers' Conference will begin at the Statue of unity in Kevadia Gujarat from today. The theme of this year's conference is Harmonious Coordination of Legislative, Executive and Judiciary - Key to a Vibrant Democracy.
 
The Conference will be inaugurated by the President Ram Nath Kovind this morning. Vice President and Chairman of Rajya Sabha M. Venkaiah Naidu will be present on this occasion. Lok Sabha speaker and Chairperson of the Conference Shri Om Birla will grace the two day conference.
 
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the valedictory session of the conference on 26th to mark the celebration of the constitution day. Governor of Gujarat Acharya Devvrat, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and other dignitaries will also attend the conference. AIR correspondent reports that the Presiding Officers of all State Legislative Assemblies and legislative councils have been invited to the conference. 27 presiding officers have already confirmed their participation. Secretaries of State Legislatures and other senior officials are also expected to participate in the conference.
 
All Presiding Officers and Secretaries of Legislatures shall take a pledge to make legislatures more accountable, while strengthening and empowering them according to constitutional values.The Conference will conclude with the adoption of a Declaration.