New Delhi :Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that Earth Day is about expressing gratitude to “Mother Earth” for her kindness and reiterating one’s commitment to care for the planet.
Earth Day is observed on April 22 every year to raise awareness about the need to protect the environment.
Modi also posted a clip of his past remarks about India’s traditional regard for the environment. In the clip, he said it is the responsibility of every generation to conserve the environment.

New Delhi : In the backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine war, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday asked the top commanders of the Army to prepare for every possible security challenge that India may face in the future including that of unconventional and asymmetric warfare.

Singh made the remarks at the biannual Army Commanders’ Conference that began on Monday.

The defence minister also complimented the Army for its operational readiness to deal with any possible eventualities.

The commanders carried out an extensive review of India’s national security challenges along the borders with China and Pakistan as well as assessed possible geopolitical implications of the Russia-Ukraine war for the region.

“Addressed the Army Commanders Conference today. Complimented the Indian Army for their operational preparedness and capabilities. Exhorted the Military leadership to prepare for every possible challenge in future, including the challenge of unconventional & asymmetric warfare,” Singh tweeted.

The Army said the defence minister appreciated the force for “selfless and unflinching” service to the nation and its relentless efforts towards modernisation through indigenisation.

The five-day conference will come to an end on Friday.

The Army Commanders’ Conference is an apex level biannual event that is held in April and October every year. The conference is an institutional platform for conceptual level deliberations, culminating in making important policy decisions for the Indian Army.

Officials said the conference held detailed deliberations on possible implications of the war in Ukraine for regional security as well as various military aspects of the conflict.

The commanders also carried out a comprehensive review of India’s military preparedness along the 3,400-km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC) in view of the lingering military standoff with China in certain friction points in eastern Ladakh, they said.

The anti-terror operation in Jammu and Kashmir as well as the overall situation in the Union Territory was also deliberated upon extensively at the conference, the officials said.

The commanders also delved into infrastructure development along the LAC.  India has been ramping up infrastructure development in the border regions in view of China’s building new bridges, roads and related structures in key sectors along the frontier.

Two militants and a CISF sub-inspector were killed and four security personnel injured in an encounter between the militants and security forces at Jalalabad, Sunjwan in Jammu district early Friday, police said.

“Two #terrorists killed in the encounter at #Sunjwan #Jammmu. 2 JKP personnel and 3 CISF personnel injured out of which one attained #Martyrdom. The killed terrorists were a part of the suicide squad, ” ADGP Jammu Zone, Mukesh Singh said in a statement.

Singh said that they had laid a cordon of the area during night hours following a tip off about the presence of militants who, he said, were planning  a possible fidayeen attack.

The encounter took place  two days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled visit to Samba district in Jammu.

Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) officials said a bus carrying 15 personnel for their morning shift came under attack at 4.25 am near the Chaddha camp in Sunjwan area, reported news agency PTI.

A senior official of the paramilitary force said the militants fired at the bus killing Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) S P Patil and injuring two other occupants of the bus.

In the subsequent encounter, both militants were killed.

New Delhi: Government think tank Niti Aayog on Thursday released a draft battery swapping policy under which all metropolitan cities with a population above 40 lakh will be prioritised for development of battery swapping network under the first phase.

Niti Aayog in its draft policy further said all major cities such as state capitals, UT headquarters and cities with population above 5 lakh will be covered under the second phase, given the importance of the two-wheeler and three-wheeler vehicle segments in growing cities.

According to the draft policy, vehicles with swappable batteries will be sold without a battery, providing the benefit of lower purchase costs to potential EV owners.

It said any individual or entity is free to set up a battery swapping station at any location, provided that the specified technical, safety and performance standards are adhered to.

Considering the constraint of space in urban areas for setting up charging stations at scale, Finance Minister in her Budget speech 2022-23 had announced that the Centre would be introducing a battery swapping policy and interoperability standards in order to improve efficiency in the EV ecosystem.

According to an official statement, in this regard, Niti Aayog held an inter-ministerial discussion to formulate a robust and comprehensive battery swapping policy framework in February 2022.

It also held an extensive pre-draft stakeholder discussion with a wide spectrum of stakeholders representing battery swapping operators, battery manufacturers, vehicle OEMs, financial institutions, think tanks and other experts. The draft is up for consultation, and Niti Aayog has invited comments on it until June 5.

The whole country is indebted to the great Sikh Gurus, said Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday, adding that he feels blessed by attending the 400th Prakash Utsav of Guru Tegh Bahadur.

Speaking at the function to celebrate the Prakash Parv of the Guru Tegh Bahadur at Red fort here, Shah further said “there is no such person in the country who is not overwhelmed by the sacrifice of Guru Tegh Bahadur, everyone has a respect for him”.

“When Kashmiri Pandits spoke about the atrocities committed against them in front of Guru Tegh Bahadur, he sacrificed his life to save Hinduism”.

Noting that those who beheaded him are lost in history, he further said that even after 400 years, crores of people bow down to the sacrifice of Guru Tegh Bahadur. “Today I unquestionably believe that due to the sacrifice of Guru Tegh Bahadur ji and Guru Gobind Singh ji, today the country is progressing so much, breathing freedom and celebrating 75th Independence Day. Not only India but the whole world, even after 400 years, people bow down to his works, life and message with respect and devotion.”

“Narendra Modi is the most fortunate Prime Minister of the country because he has an opportunity to celebrate the 550th Prakash Parv of Guru Nanak Dev Ji Maharaj, 400th Prakash Parv of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji and 350th Prakash Parv of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, ” Shah said.

He also said that Prime Minister Modi conveyed the message of sacrifice, equality, valour of the great Sikh Gurus not only in India but to the whole world by celebrating these three Prakash Parvs with full devotion.

Describing that it was a matter of great fortune for all of us, he also said that when this programme is being organised, the country is also celebrating 75th year of Independence. “Gurusaheb’s life is exemplary for all of us and an inspiration to every person of all age groups.”

The Home Minister also said that he had mastered many languages like Sanskrit, Hindi, Gurmukhi and worked to spread the message of all the Gurus in all languages throughout the country. “Also, he founded the great Anandpur Sahib”.

Informing the gathering he said that the Prime Minister will release a commemorative coin and postage stamp, a translation of the book of poetry on the life of Guru Tegh Bahadur, a poem will also be presented, a prose book on his life will also be released on April 21.

Shah also said that a big essay competition was organised by the Ministry of Education in which 18,00,000 children from about 85,000 schools wrote essays on the life of the ninth guru, describing his qualities. “When 18,00,000 children write essays on Guru Tegh Bahadur ji in every corner of the country, those children have also got an opportunity to imbibe the Guru ji’s message.”

New Delhi: With 2380 new coronavirus infections being reported in a day, India’s total tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 4,30,49,974, while the active cases increased to 13,433, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday morning at 8 am

As per the data with Union Health Ministry death toll climbed to 5,22,062 with 56 fresh fatalities. The active cases comprise 0.03 % of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate remained at 98.76 %.

An increase of 1,093 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

The daily positivity rate was recorded as 0.53 % and the weekly positivity rate as 0.43 %, according to the health ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,25,14,479, while the case fatality rate was 1.21 per cent.

The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 187.07 crore.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.

The country crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23 last year.
The 56 new fatalities include 53 from Kerala and one each from Delhi, Mizoram and Odisha.

A total of 5,22,062 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,47,830 from Maharashtra, 68,702 from Kerala, 40,057 from Karnataka, 38,025 from Tamil Nadu, 26,161 from Delhi, 23,502 from Uttar Pradesh and 21,200 from West Bengal.

The ministry stressed that more than 70 % of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

“Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday made a strong case for regulating cryprocurrencies at a global level to mitigate the risk of money laundering and terror funding.
Participating at a high-level panel discussion organised by the IMF, the Finance Minister said that as long as the non-governmental activity of the crypto assets was through unhosted wallets, the regulation was going to be very difficult.

However, she said, cross border payments between countries will become very effective through Central Bank-driven digital currencies.

“The risk which worries me more on the non-governmental domain is essentially you’re looking at unhosted wallets across the borders, across the globe… So, regulation cannot be done by a single country within its terrain through some effective method and for doing it across the borders, technology doesn’t have a solution which will be acceptable to various sovereigns at the same time applicable within each of the territory,” she said.

The risks involved will have to be differentially approached, because for each user case, the risks can also be different, depending on the economy, she said during a panel discussion on the topic ‘Money at a Crossroad: Public or Private Digital Money?’

Citing an example, Sitharaman said application of regulation and risk involved for Nigeria would be different from a tourism or investment rich Bahamas.

Stressing that regulation using technology will have to be so adept and nimble that it should not be behind the curve. It has to be ahead and this is not possible if any one country thinks that it can handle it, she said.

Pointing out that unless there’s going to be a global approach at regulating and understanding of the technology on cryptocurrencies there is a risk of money laundering.

“I harp on that very much because I think the biggest risk for all countries across the board will be on the money laundering aspect, and also on the aspect of currency being used for financing terror,” she said.

With regard to taxing income generated from transactions in crypto assets, Sitharaman said it is a means to check the source and trail but not to legitimise them.

“We haven’t said that this is currency. We haven’t said that this has intrinsic value, but certain operations are taxable for the sovereign and that is why we have taxed,” she said.

Budget 2022-23 proposed a 30 per cent tax on income from transactions in crypto assets and also imposed a 1 per cent TDS (tax deducted at source) on transactions in such asset classes above a certain threshold.

“We did announce that on the income that was generated out of the transactions of these crypto assets will be taxed at 30 per cent and over and above that, there is a 1 per cent tax deduction at source which is also imposed on every transaction. So through that we will be able to know who’s buying and who’s selling it,” she said.

On the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), she said, it is going to happen sometime this year.  RBI is planning to come out with a central bank-backed digital currency using blockchain technology in 2022-23.