The Sports Ministry has approved the inclusion of four indigenous Games to be a part of Khelo India Youth Games 2021, scheduled to take place in Haryana. The games include, Gatka, Kalaripayattu, Thang-Ta and Mallakhamba.
 
Speaking about the decision, Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju said, India has a rich heritage of indigenous sports and it is  a priority for the Sports Ministry to preserve, promote and popularise these games. He said, there is no better platform than the Khelo India Games where athletes of these games can compete. The Minister said, the games have huge popularity and is telecast across the country by Star Sports. He expressed confidence that in the 2021 Khelo India Youth Games these four disciplines, along with Yogasana, will get their much deserved attention among sports enthusiasts and youth of the country. Mr Rijiju said, in the coming years we will be able to add more indigenous sports at the Khelo Games.
 
The four selected games represent different parts of the country. Kalaripayattu has its origin from Kerala and has practitioners all over the world. Mallakhamba has been well-known across India and Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra have been the hotspots of this sport. Gatka originates from Punjab and this traditional fighting style of the Nihang Sikh Warriors is used both as self-defense as well as a sport. Thang-Ta, a Manipur marital art has passed into oblivion in the recent decades, but the sport will get national recognition again with the help of the Khelo India Youth Games 2021.

A number of European countries have imposed travel bans on the UK after it reported a more-infectious coronavirus variant. Ireland, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Belgium have decided to halt flights. An European Union meeting today will discuss a more co-ordinated response to the new challenge. The new variant has spread quickly in London and south-east England.
 
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has introduced a new tier four level of restrictions for those areas, scrapping a planned relaxation of rules over the Christmas period. Top health officials said, the new variant is proving to be up to 70 percent more infectious. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said, the new strain is out of control and they have to get it under control.
 
Europe is expected to start a massive vaccination campaign after Christmas following the United States and Britain.

The country’s COVID-19 recovery rate has further improved to 95.53 per cent, as more than 25 thousand COVID patients have recovered during the last 24 hours. Health Ministry said, the total number of recoveries has gone up to over 96 lakh six thousand. The actual caseload currently comprises only 3.02 per cent of the total positive cases.
 
Presently, the total number of active cases in the country is around three lakh three thousand. India has one of the lowest Covid 19 deaths per million population globally, which stands at 105.
 
The Ministry said, focussed measures including targeted testing, early identification, timely isolation and prompt hospitalization and Standard Treatment Protocol have ensured that daily fatalities are under 400.
 
During the past 24 hours, 24 thousand 337 new cases were reported taking the total number of positive cases in the country to over one crore 55 thousand. 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 1.45 per cent, which is one of the lowest globally. During the last 24 hours, 333 deaths were reported taking the toll to one lakh 45 thousand 810.
 
According to Indian Council of Medical Research, more than nine lakh tests were conducted during the last 24 hours. The total number of samples tested so far has reached 16 crore 20 lakh.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold Virtual Summit with his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc today.
 
During the Summit, the two leaders will exchange views on wide-ranging bilateral, regional and global issues and provide guidance for the future development of India-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
 
In 2020, both countries continued high-level exchanges. Vice-President of Vietnam Ms. Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh came to India in February this year on an official visit. Both Prime Ministers had a telephone conversation on 13th April this year to discuss the situation arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 17th edition of the Joint Commission Meeting virtually co-chaired by the two Foreign Ministers was held on 25th August 2020. Defence Minister held an online meeting with his counterpart on the 27th of last month.

The government has asked farmers to choose a date for next round of talks. In a letter to farmer Unions, joint secretary in the Agriculture Ministry Vivek Agrawal urged them for a dialogue to resolve the issue. He said the Centre is making all efforts to find an appropriate solution to resolve all the issues raised by the farmers with an open mind.
 
Mr Agarwal said, government intends to convene the next meeting at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi for resolving the issue. He also mentioned that the government-held meetings with several other farmers’ organisations and sought their suggestions on the matter.
 
The sixth round talk between farmers and government was cancelled after farmers’ leaders rejected the government’s draft proposal to amend certain provisions of the farm laws and declined to participate in the meeting.