Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Ro-Pax terminal at Hazira and flag off Ro-Pax service between Hazira and Ghogha in Gujarat on Sunday through video conferencing.

It marks a big step towards the Prime Minister’s vision of harnessing waterways and integrating them with the economic development of the country. Prime Minister will also interact with local users of the service during the event.

Hazira-Ghogha Ro-Pax ferry service will work as a Gateway to South Gujarat and Saurashtra region. It will reduce the distance between Ghogha and Hazira from 370 Kilometres to 90 Kilometres.

The reduced cargo travel time will result in huge savings of fuel approximately 9000 litres per day and will lead to reduction in CO2 emission by approximately 24 million tonnes per day. It will give an impetus to the tourism industry with ease of access to Saurashtra region and lead to creation of new job opportunities.

With the onset of Ferry services, the port sector, furniture and fertilizer industries in Saurashtra and Kutch region will get a big boost. Eco-tourism and religious-tourism in Gujarat, especially in Porbandar, Somnath, Dwarka and Palitana will grow exponentially. The benefits of enhanced connectivity through this ferry service will also result in increased inflow of tourists in the famous Asiatic lion wildlife sanctuary at Gir.

Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha today took oath as the Chief Information Commissioner, CIC. President Ram Nath Kovind administered the oath to Mr Sinha at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

A former diplomat, Mr Sinha has been serving as Information Commissioner since January last year. He will have a tenure of three years as CIC.

India’s latest all-weather earth observation satellite EOS-01 will be launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) this afternoon, using the workhorse rocket PSLV-C49. Nine other customer satellites will also be carried into space by the rocket, in its 51st flight. It will be ignited at 3.02 pm, from the first launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota in southern Andhra Pradesh, close to Chennai. The 26-hour countdown for the launch mission began  at 1.02 pm yesterday and is progressing smoothly.

This will be India’s first mission from her launch pad at Sriharikota this calendar year. The ISRO scientists say the sequence of preparations ahead of the launch, as part of the countdown, is progressing with precision. The earth observation satellite EOS-01 is equipped with the synthetic aperture radar that has an enviable resolution. Coincidentally, the launch of its peer RISAT-2BR1, is the previous mission that took place from the national spaceport in December last year. The intended applications of the satellite include in agriculture, forestry and disaster management support. Its operational life will be five years, providing crucial data, seamlessly. 

The country’s COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 92.41 per cent. During the last 24 hours, more than 53 thousand COVID patients have recovered. The Health Ministry said, the total number of recoveries has gone up to over 78 lakh. The actual caseload currently comprises only 6.11 per cent of the total positive cases. Presently, the total number of active cases in the country is five lakh 16 thousand.

During the past 24 hours, 50 thousand 357 new cases were reported taking the total number of positive cases in the country to over 84 lakh. The Ministry said that effective implementation of the strategic and graded Test, Track and Treat approach has led to higher recoveries and lower fatality. Currently, India’s Case Fatality Rate is at 1.48 per cent, which is one of the lowest globally. During the last 24 hours, 577 deaths were reported taking the toll to one lakh 25 thousand 562.

According to Indian Council of Medical Research, more than 11 lakh 13 thousand tests were conducted during the last 24 hours. The total number of samples tested so far has reached 11 crore 65 lakh.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the 51st Annual Convocation Ceremony of IIT Delhi through video conferencing today. Degrees will be conferred on more than two thousand graduating students including Ph.D, M.Tech, Masters of Design, MBA and B.Tech students.

The Convocation will be conducted in a hybrid mode with a physical in-person ceremony with limited attendance in the Institute  and an online webcast reaching out to all graduating students, their parents, distinguished alumni and invited guests. The Institute will also award the President’s Gold Medal, Director’s Gold Medal, Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma Gold Medal, Perfect Ten Gold Medals and Institute Silver Medals to the graduating students.

Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Minister of State for Education Sanjay Dhotre will also be present on the occasion.

India and Italy signed 15 agreements in various sectors following a Virtual Bilateral Summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Italian counterpart Giuseppe Conte last evening. The agreements signed will provide for cooperation in a diverse range of areas including energy, green energy, shipbuilding and media sector.

The Summit provided an opportunity to the two leaders to comprehensively review the broad framework of the bilateral relationship. The two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen cooperation against common global challenges, including the Covid-19 pandemic. The leaders discussed a wide range of issues including political, economic, scientific & technological, space and defence cooperation.

In his opening remarks, Prime Minister Modi said that COVID-19 pandemic will remain a watershed moment in history like World War II. Mr Modi said, the world will have to adapt to the post-Corona scenario and be ready for the opportunities and challenges arising out of it.

Prime Minister Modi expressed his condolences on behalf of people in India, for the losses due to COVID19 in Italy. He said, Italy swiftly and successfully brought the situation under control. The Prime Minister said, like Mr Conte, he is also committed to deepening the relations between India and Italy. He expressed happiness that after the talks between both in 2018, there has been a lot of momentum in mutual exchanges.

Briefing Media after the Summit, Joint Secretary (Europe-West) in the Ministry of External Affairs Sandeep Chakravorty said it was the fifth interaction between the two leaders in the last three years. He said, the whole focus of the discussion was on economic ties. The Joint Secretary said, the entire gamut of bilateral relationship was discussed along with regional and multilateral issues. He added that Italy is an important partner in New technologies and green technologies.

Mr Chakravorty said a lot of investment decisions have been made between private sector entities. The Joint Secretary said, both sides also decided to work closely on concluding at the earliest the migration and mobility partnership agreement. He said, there was discussion on India-EU FTA and Prime Minister Modi mentioned about 15th EU-India Summit which was held in July this year. He said, Prime Minister of Italy invited Prime Minister Modi to jointly participate and engage in the 700th birth anniversary of supreme poet Dante Alighieri.

The India-Italy virtual bilateral provided an opportunity to the two leaders to comprehensively review the broad framework of the bilateral relationship. Mr Modi and Mr Conte  reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen cooperation against common global challenges, including the Covid-19 pandemic.

The leaders discussed a wide range of issues including political, economic, scientific and technological, space and defence cooperation. On regional and international issues, both sides agreed to coordinate closely at multilateral fora especially G-20. Italy will assume the Presidency of G-20 in December 2021 followed by India in 2022. Together, India and Italy will be part of the G20 Troika from December this year. India welcomed Italy’s decision to join the International Solar Alliance as soon as the ratification process is completed. 15 MoUs and  Agreements in various sectors such as energy, fisheries, ship building, design etc. were signed coinciding with the Summit.

In Bihar an estimated 7.69 percent of voters have exercised their right of franchise till 9 am in the third and last phase of polling of assembly election in the state. Around 7.33 percentage of voting was recorded in by polls of Valmikinagar Lok Sabha seat.

Chief Electoral Officer HR Srinivasa said people are casting votes enthusiastically and without any fear. He said the voting percentage will be more this time. Mr Srinivasa said minor hitches like non functioning of EVMs were reported from some places and they were immediately rectified.

BJP is contesting in 35 seats, Janata Dal (United)- 37, Vikassheel Insaan Party five seats and Hindustani Awam Morcha one seat in this phase. RJD is contesting in 46 seats, Congress in 25 and left parties in seven seats. On the other hand, LJP has fielded 42 candidates, RLSP-23, BSP-19 and NCP-31 candidates. The political fortunes of Assembly Speaker Vijay Kumar Chaudhary and Chief of Vikassheel Insaan Party, Mukesh Sahni, will be decided in this phase. Twelve Ministers including Bijendra Yadav, Bima Bharati, Firoz and Ramesh Rishidev are also in the fray.

Elections are being held in three phases for the 243-member Bihar Legislative Assembly. The first phase of polling was held on 28th of October and the second on the 3rd of November. Counting of votes will take place on the 10th of November.

Repolling in three booths in Hilsa assembly constituency in Nalanda district  is also being held today. The Election Commission has ordered repolling in booth numbers 52,52A and 55 in the constituency as the vehicle carrying EVMs and polling personnel had met with an accident on November 3rd, the day of the  second phase of polling. After inquiry ,the commission found that the EVMs were not functional due to technical reasons.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appealed to people to vote in large numbers today in the 3rd and Final phase of Assembly polls in Bihar. In a tweet,  Mr Modi requested people to participate in the festival of democracy and set a new voting record. He also urged people to wear masks and maintain social distancing.