In Cricket, in the Vijay Hazare Trophy one-day championship, two semi-final matches will be played today in Delhi. The first match will be between Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh team won 4 of their 5 league matches and beat Delhi in the Quarter-finals by 46 runs. While Gujarat won all their league matches and beat Andhra by 117 runs in the quarter-finals. 

In another semi-final, Mumbai will take on Karnataka. It will be an intersting tussle between two talented openers Prithvi Shaw and Devdutt Padikkal. Both youngsters would be keen to score big and push their teams into the final. The final match will be played on 14th March.

The US House of Representatives today gave final approval to the landmark 1.9 trillion dollar COVID-19 relief bill that gives President Joe Biden his first major victory in office.
 
The Congress has cleared the massive economic aid plan 220-211 along partisan lines, with no Republicans voting in favour. After the vote, in a tweet Mr.Biden wrote, help is here. The White House said he plans to sign the bill on Friday. The Senate has already passed the bill. Republicans in both chambers opposed the bill unanimously.

The festival of Maha Shivratri is being celebrated across the country with full religious fervour and gaiety.

On this occasion, the devotees worship Lord Shiva, the destroyer of evil. The devotees also visit Shiva temples to pay their obeisance to seek God’s blessings.

It is believed that worship of Lord Shiva on Shivratri absolves a devotee of past sins. The worship is said to liberate a soul from the cycle of birth and death and helps attain moksha or salvation.

President Ram Nath Kovind has extended greetings  to all the countrymen on the auspicious occasion of Mahashivaratri. In a tweet, Mr Kovind wished that the festival be celebrated as a sacred remembrance of the marriage of Goddess Parvati with Lord Shiva.

Similarly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi too has extended his greetings to the people on the special occasion of Mahashivratri. 

In Uttar Pradesh, on the occasion of Mahashivratri, lakhs of devotees are taking holy dip in various rivers and worshipping Lord Shiva in temples. Administration has made elaborate arrangements for today’s snan at Sangam which will also mark the end of Magh Mela 2021.
 
In Andhra Pradesh, devotees thronged to various Shiva temples on the occasion of Maha Shivaratri. The highly revered temples like Sri Kalahasteshwara Temple in Kalahasti and the Bharamarambha Malikarjunaswamy Temple in Srisailam are witnessing devotees in big numbers.

In  Vijayawada, devotees take holy dip in river Krishna and have a darshan of lord Shiva at the famous Mallikharjuna Swamy temple atop the hill. Devotees from across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh also make a beeline to the hill shrine of Kotappakonda Shiva temple and Amaralingeswara temple, located on the banks of the River Krishna at Amaravathi in Guntur district.

The Pancharama temples of Amaravathi, Samarlakota, Draksharamam, Palkollu and Bhimavaram also witnessed a surge in pilgrims during Shivaratri.

Hindus consider it auspicious to worship Lord Shiva on a Shivaratri as it is believed that worship of Lord Shiva absolves a devotee of past sins. The worship is said to liberate a soul from the cycle of birth and death and attains moksha or salvation.

President Ramnath Kovind who is on a three day visit to Tamilnadu  will be the chief guest at the 41st convocation of the prestigious Anna University today.
 
Sixty nine students who topped in various undergraduate programs will receive the gold medal from the President according to the University. A few of the selected first rank holders of full time Engineering Courses and Architecture will receive the degrees in person.
 
The Anna University has the potential for excellence in Bio Medical Engineering and Instrumentation. Named after former Chief Minister C.N.Annadurai  on September 4th 1978,the university was formed by bringing together and integrating four well known technical institutions in the city of Madras.
 
The College of Engineering established in 1794, Alagappa College of Technology established in 1944, Madras Institute of Technology established in 1949 and School of Architecture and planning established in 1957. The main campus of the University extends over 189 acres abutting the Adyar River.
 
The Madras Institute of Technology at Chrompet constitutes the second campus of the University which extends over 52 acres and a third campus is located at Taramani in over five acres of land. It offers 29 UG and 90 PG programs in various disciplines in the University departments and 41 UG and 57 PG programs in affiliated Institutions. About 16000 students are pursuing their degree in the campuses of the University and more than seven lakh students are pursuing their degree in the affiliated institutions.
 
The University is proud of having more than 14 thousand Ph.D. scholars in Science, engineering and technology.

The Parliament gave its nod to the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2021 with Rajya Sabha passing it yesterday.

The Upper House cleared the bill amid protest by Opposition parties including Congress, DMK and NCP over the issue of farm laws.

The Lok Sabha has already passed the bill last month.

The legislation seeks to amend the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. 

The Act contains provisions to deal with domestic and international arbitration and defines the law for conducting conciliation proceedings.

The Bill replaces an Ordinance with the same provisions promulgated on 4th November, 2020.

It contains provisions to deal with domestic and international arbitration.

Replying to the discussion on the Bill, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that India wants to be an excellent hub for the arbitration and the Narendra Modi government will make India a big hub for domestic and international arbitration.

He said, freedom must be given to the domestic and international arbitrators to make the process easier so that the country can move towards the path of economic development.

He asserted that India respects the honest process and the government is committed to bring transparent mechanisms in every sphere of governance.

Mr. Prasad said, the legislation seeks to ensure that all stakeholders get an opportunity to seek an unconditional stay on enforcement of arbitral awards where the arbitration agreement or contract is induced by fraud or corruption.

He said, the bill also aims at giving greater flexibility to the Arbitration Council of India and helping in promotion of institutional arbitration.

The Parliament gave its nod to the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2021 with Rajya Sabha passing it yesterday.

The Upper House cleared the bill amid protest by Opposition parties including Congress, DMK and NCP over the issue of farm laws.

The Lok Sabha has already passed the bill last month.

The legislation seeks to amend the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. 

The Act contains provisions to deal with domestic and international arbitration and defines the law for conducting conciliation proceedings.

The Bill replaces an Ordinance with the same provisions promulgated on 4th November, 2020.

It contains provisions to deal with domestic and international arbitration.

Replying to the discussion on the Bill, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that India wants to be an excellent hub for the arbitration and the Narendra Modi government will make India a big hub for domestic and international arbitration.

He said, freedom must be given to the domestic and international arbitrators to make the process easier so that the country can move towards the path of economic development.

He asserted that India respects the honest process and the government is committed to bring transparent mechanisms in every sphere of governance.

Mr. Prasad said, the legislation seeks to ensure that all stakeholders get an opportunity to seek an unconditional stay on enforcement of arbitral awards where the arbitration agreement or contract is induced by fraud or corruption.

He said, the bill also aims at giving greater flexibility to the Arbitration Council of India and helping in promotion of institutional arbitration.

In Kerala, the ruling CPI-M announced its list of 83 candidates for the upcoming Legislative Assembly Election, yesterday. According to reports, 33 sitting MLAs including five ministers in the present cabinet are not contesting this time as the party strictly follows a two-term policy. Due to this policy, some prominent leaders were left out of the list.
 
In the ruling LDF, CPM published the list of its candidates for 83 constituencies last day.The list includes 74 party candidates and 9 independents supported by the party.
 
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will contest from Dharmadom. In UDF, as selection talks in Congress is progressing in New Delhi, the primary list is expected to be published today.
 
In NDA the candidate selection process in BJP is in the final phase. Declaration may follow the electoral committee meeting to be held today.
 
Meanwhile, the official notification of assembly polls in Kerala will be out tomorrow. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the Kindle version of Swami Chidbhavananda’s Bhagavad Gita and also address the occasion today through virtual mode. The event has been organised to commemorate the sale of over five lakh copies of the Swami Chidbhavananda’s Bhagavad Gita.
 
Swami Chidbhavananda is the founder of Sri Ramakrishna Tapovanam Ashram at Thirupparaaythuray situated near Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu. Swami Chidbhavananda, a man of letters, has authored 186 books. His scholarly work on the Gita is one of the most extensive books on the subject.
 
Tamil version of the Gita with his commentary was published in 1951 and became an instant hit. It was translated into English in 1965. The translations of the epic literary work into Telugu, Odia, German and Japanese were undertaken by the devotees of Swami Chidbhavananda.

Vaccine passports are digital documents that are supposed to function as proof that the holder has been vaccinated against Covid-19 and is, therefore, ‘safe.’ The idea is modelled on the proof of vaccination that several countries required even before the pandemic – travelers from many African countries to the US or India are required to submit proof that they have been vaccinated against diseases such as yellow fever. Another key function that vaccine passports will perform is that of digitizing vaccination records across countries. 

Last month, Israel became the first country to introduce a certification system that allows those who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 to access certain facilities and events. Vaccination against the novel coronavirus has been considered to be the inflection point at which life would start to get back to normal. Israel’s “vaccine passport” is meant for public facilities such as restaurants, gyms, and hotels in the country — but certification of this kind has a bearing on the full resumption of international air travel as well. 

In addition to those like the ones issued by the Israeli government, several associations and non-profits have been issuing their own versions for international travel. The International Air Transport Association — the global trade body representing airlines — is developing an app called IATA Travel Pass that will provide airlines and other aviation industry stakeholders with a common platform to check for the proof of vaccination and its validity. Non-profit Commons Project has been trying out an app called CommonPass, which contains a passenger’s vaccination record. 

The primary benefit will be to the tourism and the hospitality industries, which are both seen as being at the heart of Covid-19 spread and are the worst hit by the pandemic. This includes international air travel, which suffered massively because of the outbreak. However, a major difficulty in implementation will be the lack of uniformity across jurisdictions in requirement and issuance of proofs of vaccination, and the fact that no common vaccine passport has been designed yet.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) opposed the introduction of Covid-19 vaccination proofs as a requirement for international travel, ‘given that there are still critical unknowns regarding the efficacy of vaccination in reducing transmission.’ It also said that preferential vaccination of travelers could result in inadequate supplies of vaccines for priority populations considered at high risk of severe Covid-19 disease, and that the introduction of a requirement of vaccination as a condition for travel has the potential to hinder equitable global access to a limited vaccine supply and would be unlikely to maximize the benefits of vaccination for individual societies and overall global health. In addition, several experts have raised privacy concerns as there is a possibility that the passports would be used by authorities to track the movement of their holders.