Category: Life & Style

Senior BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani will be honoured with India’s highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna, becoming its 50th recipient and the 7th during the Modi government.

PM Modi tweeted, “I am pleased to share that Shri LK Advani Ji will be conferred the Bharat Ratna. His contributions to India’s development are monumental. From grassroots activism to serving as Deputy Prime Minister, his journey exemplifies dedication. He notably served as Home Minister and I&B Minister, with profound insights in Parliament.”

Advani, a key figure in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government, held various ministerial positions and was a member of both Houses of Parliament from 1970 to 2019.

Born on November 8, 1927, in Karachi, Pakistan, Advani has held the position of BJP President since 1980. He served as Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister under Vajpayee’s leadership (1999–2004), concluding a nearly three-decade parliamentary tenure.

Despite enduring India’s partition tragedy in 1947, Advani’s commitment to a more secular India remained unwavering. As an RSS pracharak, he pursued this vision diligently, particularly in Rajasthan.

Last month, former Bihar Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, 35 years after his demise.

France has emerged as the first European nation to embrace digital transactions from India. Recently, India unveiled its Unified Payments Interface (UPI) at the iconic Eiffel Tower in Paris, marking a significant milestone. Indian tourists visiting the Eiffel Tower can seamlessly purchase tickets using UPI by simply scanning a QR code on the tower’s official website.

The Indian Embassy in France proudly announced the formal launch of UPI during the grand Republic Day Reception at the Eiffel Tower, echoing Prime Minister Modi’s vision of globalising UPI. In 2016, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) established a UPI as an instant payment system. UPI revolutionised banking by consolidating multiple bank accounts into a single mobile application, facilitating effortless fund transfers and commercial payments.

NPCI’s subsidiary, NPCI International Payments (NIPL), collaborated with Lyra, a distinguished French e-commerce and proximity payments provider, to ensure the widespread acceptance of UPI in France.

India is home to the second-largest group of foreign visitors to the Eiffel Tower. With ambitious plans to extend this service to various merchants in the retail and tourism sectors across France and Europe, the Eiffel Tower emerges as the trailblazer, setting the precedent as the first establishment in France to embrace UPI payments.

Indians now have the opportunity to explore 62 countries without the need for a visa. This development is particularly exciting for globetrotters, as Indian passport holders can now travel to destinations such as the Maldives, Oman, Qatar, Zimbabwe, and Jamaica without undergoing the often arduous visa application process. This increased accessibility to global travel reflects India’s growing influence on the world stage.

The recent release of the Henley Passport Index 2024 (HPI) underscores India’s evolving passport landscape, with its global rank reaching 80th place. The HPI, a widely used tool for comparing and ranking passports worldwide, relies on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to generate its rankings.

Six countries—France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore, and Spain—share this year’s coveted title of having the most powerful visa in the world. Passport holders from these countries enjoy visa-free entry into 194 other nations. The United States of America follows closely in seventh place, with visa-free access to 188 countries.

Conversely, Afghanistan finds itself at the bottom of the list, with only 28 nations granting visa-free entry, while Syria closely trails with access to 29 nations. Iraq and Pakistan round out the list with 31 and 34 visa-free destinations, respectively.

On Wednesday, Sri Lanka’s lawmakers passed a bill to regulate online content. The move has sparked fears among opposition politicians and activities of free speech crackdowns.

With 108-62 votes in favour, the Online Safety Bill was passed. Its objectives are to “prevent the use of online accounts and inauthentic online accounts for prohibited purposes” and “make provisions to prohibit online communication of certain statements of fact in Sri Lanka.”

The bill also calls for the establishment of an “Online Safety Commission,” a five-person committee that the president will appoint, whose responsibility it will be to “direct all persons who communicate prohibited statements under this Act to stop communicating any such statements.”

The Sri Lankan government asserts that the proposed bill aims to safeguard citizens from online harassment. However, human rights groups have raised doubts about this assertion, contending that the bill is designed to stifle dissent and criticism.

Meenakshi Ganguly, Deputy Asia Director at Human Rights Watch, stated, “Sri Lanka continues to grapple with an economic crisis exacerbated by government actions and a lack of accountability. In 2022, prolonged protests calling for reform led to the removal of the Prime Minister and President. Since assuming power in that year, President Wickremesinghe has taken steps to suppress dissent.”

In a bid to combat the ongoing cholera crisis, Zimbabwe initiated a door-to-door vaccination campaign on Monday, aiming to immunize more than 2 million individuals. The initiative is particularly crucial in densely populated urban areas with inadequate sanitation facilities.

As of January 24, the waterborne disease has claimed 452 lives and infected a total of 20,446 people in the southern African nation. Zimbabwe has been grappling with the cholera outbreak since February of the preceding year, with reports indicating that half of the cases involve children, according to the health ministry.

The country has secured 2.3 million vaccine doses from UNICEF, with 892,000 doses already dispatched. The vaccination effort relies on the Euvichol-Plus vaccine, manufactured by EuBiologics (206650.KQ). Administered orally, this vaccine provides at least six months of protection against cholera infections.

Furthermore, the World Health Organization (WHO) will deploy teams to 29 severely affected districts to support the vaccination campaign.

In response to the surge in cases, the Zimbabwean government implemented measures in November to restrict public gatherings, regulate food vendors, and manage burials in cholera-affected districts. Health Minister Douglas Mombeshora confirmed that the vaccines procured are the same ones used during the cholera outbreaks in 2018 and 2020.

The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has started a research study to develop lab-grown fish meat. In this groundbreaking initiative, India will soon have its first lab-grown fish meat, meticulously designed to emulate the original flavour, texture, and nutritional value of natural fish.

The Kochi-based CMFRI has partnered with a start-up, Neat Meatt Biotech, which is working on cultivated meat. CMFRI will be responsible for conducting research on the early cell line development of valuable marine fish species, including the isolation and culture of fish cells. It will also manage the project’s analytical, biochemical, and genetic tasks.

The anticipated lab-grown fish meat will be crafted by isolating specific cells from fish specimens and nurturing them within laboratory confines, utilising animal component-free media. Meanwhile, Neat Meatt will assume the responsibility for crafting scaffolds or microcarriers, refining optimal cell growth conditions, and amplifying production through bioreactors.

India’s determination to meet rising seafood demand while reducing pressure on wild resources led to the creation of this innovative initiative. Additionally, it aims to position India alongside trailblazing countries like Singapore, Israel, and the US in the realm of cultured seafood research.

French President Emmanuel Macron will attend India’s Republic Day as a chief guest on Friday. This visit is seen as a significant milestone in strengthening the strategic partnership between the two countries ahead of a multi-billion-dollar deal to buy French fighter jets and submarines for the Indian military.

On January 25, he will first visit Jaipur to see the Amber Fort and later meet PM Modi to take a tour of the pink city together.

According to reports, Macron’s visit will be more ceremonial than substantial, and he will meet many business leaders from the pharmaceutical, auto, space, energy, and hydrogen industries. India-France ties have been one of the oldest among European nations. Additionally, it has been India’s second-largest arms supplier, and India has been relying on French fighter jets for more than 40 years now.

PM Modi’s last visit to France was for the Bastille Day celebration in July. During his visit, the Indian government first authorised the acquisition of 26 Rafale aircraft, and the two countries collaborated to build three 800 billion rupee Scorpene-class submarines.

However, the deal was not finalised then. France further looks forward to enhancing cooperation in the space and nuclear sectors.

A prominent socialist leader and former Bihar chief minister, Karpoori Thakur, will be awarded the highest civilian award in the country, ‘Bharat Ratna.’ Along with him, 49 other people have been granted the Bharat Ratna award, including 17 posthumously.

Thakur was dubbed the Jan Nayak despite serving for a short while. He served as the Bihar CM from December 1970 to June 1971 and from December 1977 to April 1979. The award was presented 35 years after he passed away on February 17, 1988.

Bihar’s chief minister, Nitish Kumar, and his party, JDU, have long demanded the award from the Centre for the state’s first non-Congress Chief Minister. Kumar stated, “This highest honour to the late Karpoori Thakur ji on his 100th birth anniversary will create positive sentiments among the Dalit, deprived, and neglected sections.”

Upon the award being given posthumously, it is seen as a BJP masterstroke ahead of the general election as Thakur belonged to OBC and BJP aims to gain allegiance of this group as they are still loyal to Nitish Kumar. Bihar has forty parliamentary seats and it is yet to be seen how this move will impact the upcoming elections.

The silvery-white element is set to put Thailand on the global stage as one of the key sources of lithium mines, as it has discovered nearly 15 million tonnes of lithium deposits. The latest discovery has positioned Thailand as the third-largest lithium resource in the world. However, it is unclear about the amount to be commercially exploited.

Meanwhile, Thailand aims to start producing lithium mines in its southwest in about two years. Government deputy spokeswoman Rudklao Intawong Suwankiri said, “We are trying to find out how much we can use from the resources we found. It will take time.”

According to government officials and companies involved in lithium production, it will boost Thailand’s ambition to become a regional electric vehicle production hub. Along with lithium mines, it will develop an EV production industry, which will include $1.44 billion in investment commitments from Chinese carmakers.

The 14.8 million tonnes of lithium are distributed between two separate sites in the southern province of Phang Nga. Miner Pan Asia Metals is gearing up to file mining permits in March. It will be filed for the Phang-Nga, which includes the prospective Reung Kiet and Bang I Tum sites.

On Tuesday, a massive crowd poured in to seek the blessings of Lord Ram in Ayodhya’s Ram Mandir Temple. After the spectacle inauguration of the Ram Janmabhoomi by PM Modi on Monday, the gates were swung open to the general public on Tuesday.

However, tens of thousands of devotees flocked to the temple on Tuesday morning, which compelled the temple management to temporarily stop the people from darshan. The gates were re-opened at 2 p.m. With the massive influx, separate gates for entry and exit were introduced, and a separate line for women was added.

Many devotees had been lining up since 4 a.m. in temperatures below 8 degrees. It became difficult for security personnel to manage the crowd, with at least one person fainting in the commotion. The historic occurrence of the public inauguration of the temple, which continues to attract devotees, represents profound devotion and the culmination of a journey spanning centuries.

According to reports, more than 100,000 devotees are expected to visit the temple each day for the next few months. The police urged people to avoid overcrowding the temple for the next few days.