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‘The Naga narrative’ fashion show to be organized in Surajkund Mela

New Delhi (NVI): Tribal cooperative TRIFED, in association with iconic fashion designer Ritu Beri, is organising a first-of-its-kind fashion show ‘Naturally North East- The Naga Narrative’ during the Surajkund Crafts Mela being held in Haryana’s Faridabad, on the outskirts of Delhi.

This fashion show will showcase the Naga weave with modern touch and various other products from Northeast states. The North Eastern part of India has a rich crafts tradition of its own. It is a place where the personality of every tribe lies in its design style

The tribes constitute over 8% of the country’s population. This is a very significant number. In real terms it corresponds to over 10 crore Indians. The national object of inclusive development (sabka vikas) includes the development of tribes as an important component, according to TRIFED (Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited).

TRIFED is a tribal cooperative which aims to serve the interest of tribes through socio-economic betterment. The tribes of India have a wide range of handicrafts. These include handwoven cotton, wool and silk fabrics, woodcrafts, metal craft, terracotta, beadwork, masques and other objects paintings and so on.
TRIFED has set up a retail chain known as Tribes India to buy the products from tribal and sell the same in market. This in turn is making tribal self-sufficient and providing them with better livelihood opportunities.
‘Surajkund Mela’ attracts more than a million visitors every year, thousands of which are tourists. Spread across 40 acres with about 1010 work huts, the mela provides a rare opportunity to showcase handicrafts, handlooms, architecture, performing arts, cuisine etc. to an enormous cross-section of the population in an impressive manner.

The event highlights the culture of Nagaland through fusion attire mixed with their local beaded jewellery. This will showcase a variety of special designed apparels by Ritu Beri, highlighting the tribal weaves & motives, accessories, jewellery etc. of the North Eastern States.   

Auto Expo: New Tata Harrier launched at Rs 13. 69 lakh

New Delhi (NVI): Tata Motors today launched the new Harrier in India at a starting price of Rs 13. 69 lakh on the first day of Auto Expo-2020.

The new Harrier is powered by a new BS6-compliant 2.0-litre Kryotec diesel engine that develops 170PS and 350Nm of peak torque.

The SUV’s engine is mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox, with an option for a 6-speed automatic transmission. The car also gets much-awaited automation transmission.

The SUV comes with three drive modes — Normal, Rough and Wet — that are paired with ESP terrain response modes.

Tata Harrier is available in five variants — XE, XM, XT, XZ and XZ+. The automatic option is available with XM, XZ and XZ+ trim only.

It will also be available in a dual-tone option and the ‘Dark Trim’ prices for which start at Rs 17.60 lakh going all the way up to Rs 18.95 lakh.

The auto major is also offering a panoramic sunroof on the SUV.

India-Sri Lanka Alliance Air flights approved

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New Delhi (NVI): The Union Cabinet has granted ex-post facto dispensation to Alliance Air, a subsidiary of Air India, to commence international flights between India and Sri Lanka.

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the decision in this regard today.

A special dispensation is allowed for the interim period till Alliance Air deploys a minimum of 20 aircraft or 20 per cent of total capacity, whichever is higher for domestic operations, the government said in a statement today.

The Cabinet observed that India has close bilateral ties with Sri Lanka and India’s interest is to increase connectivity and to expand people to people contacts between the two countries.

Prior to this approval, there was no commercial operation scheduled from Palaly and Batticaloa airports.

Cabinet nod to all-weather port at Vadhavan in Maharashtra

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New Delhi (NVI): The Union Cabinet today gave its “in-principle” approval for setting up of a new major port at Vadhavan near Dahanu in Maharashtra.

The total cost of the project is likely to be Rs 65,544.54 crore and it will be developed on “land lord model”, the government said in a statement today.

The all-weather port at Vadhavan, around 140 km north of Mumbai will be one of the top 10 container ports in the world. The Shipping Ministry may start the work for development of the port in the next financial year, 2020-21.

A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) will be formed with Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) as the lead partner with equity participation equal to or more than 50% to implement the project, the Government said in a statement today after the Cabinet meeting.

The SPV will develop the port infrastructure including reclamation, construction of breakwater, besides establishing connectivity to the hinterland.

All the business activities would be undertaken under PPP mode by private developers. The position of JN Port, the biggest container port in India is 28 thin the world with a traffic of 5.1 million TEUs (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units).

Even after the completion of 4th terminal at JN Port with a capacity increase upto10 million TEUs by 2023, it will stand as the 17th largest container port in the world.

JNPT and Mundra, the two largest container handling ports of the country (for mid size container ships only), have drafts of 15 M and 16 M respectively, while the world’s largest container handling modern deep draft ports require a draft of 18M-20M.

Maharashtra has India’s largest container port at JNPT which caters to the hinterland of Maharashtra, North Karnataka, Telangana and secondary hinterland of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, NCR, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.

The Vadhavan port has a natural draft of about 20 meters close to the shore, making it possible for it to handle bigger vessels at the port.

Development of Vadhavan port will enable call of container vessels of 16,000-25,000 TEUs capacity, giving advantages of economies of scale & reducing logistics cost.

The ever increasing size of container ships makes it imperative that a deep draft container port in West Coast of India is developed, the governmnet said today.

Cabinet approves IIITs Amendment Bill

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar (File)

New Delhi (NVI): The Union Cabinet today approved the Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020.

The Bill declares five IIITs in PPP (Public-Private Partnership) mode at Surat, Bhopal, Bhagalpur, Agartala and Raichur to be declared as Institutions of National Importance (INI). The also grants statutory status to them.

Once the Bill gets parliamentary approval, it will amend the principal Acts of 2014 and 2017 to enable these IIITs to use the nomenclature of Bachelor’s in Technology (B.Tech) or Master’s in Technology (M.Tech) or PhD degree as issued by a university or Institution of National Importance.

It will enable the institutes to attract enough students required to develop a strong research base in the country in the field of information technology, the statement said.

The five IIITs at Surat, Bhopal, Bhagalpur, Agartala and Raichur are already functioning as societies registered under the Societies Registration Act of 1860.

After changes in the existing laws, these institutions will be covered under the IIIT (PPP) Act, 2017, similar to 15 others established under the scheme in the PPP mode.

Further, the Indian Institute of Information Technology Design and Manufacturing at Kurnool has been established as per the IIIT Act, 2014, and is functioning with other four IIITs, namely IIIT-Allahabad, IIITM-Gwalior, IIITDM-Jabalpur and IIITDM- Kancheepuram.

The Bill will also formalise the posts of Director and Registrar already existing in these IIITs, without additional financial outgo.

The IIITs are envisaged to promote higher education and research in the field of Information Technology.

The Indian Institutes of Information Technology Act of 2014 and Indian Institutes of Information Technology (Public-Private Partnership) Act, 2017 are unique initiatives of the government of India to impart knowledge in the field of Information Technology to provide solutions to the challenges faced by the country.

J&K: Sajjad Lone, Waheed Para released from detention

Mubashir Bukhari

Srinagar (NVI): Two more senior Kashmiri politicians –People’s Conference Chairman Sajjad Lone and PDP leader Waheed Parra– were released from detention after six months today.

With their release, 13 political leaders now remain under house arrest at the MLA hostel in Srinagar.

According to the officials, although Sajjad and Para have been released from MLA hostel, they will continue to remain under house arrest at their respective places.

Yesterday, Jammu and Kashmir administration released two leaders — former PDP MLA from Wachi Aijaz Ahmad Mir and former president of the Federation Chamber of Industries, Kashmir, Shakeel Ahmed Qalandar.

Since Sunday, a total of eight leaders have been released from preventive custody.

These leaders were part of preventive detention of mainstream politicians, activists and trade leaders carried out after August 5 last year when the Centre withdrew the special status of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated it into Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

Among the prominent leaders who are still under detention are NC leaders Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti.

While Farooq Abdullah has been kept at his Gupkar house, his son and NC vice president Omar Abdullah has been detained at Hari Niwas.

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, who was initially lodged at Chesmashahi huts, has been shifted to a government building in the heart of Srinagar.

Auto Expo 2020: Mahindra launches eKUV100 at Rs 8.25 lakh

New Delhi (NVI): Automobile manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra today launched e-KUV 100 with the starting price of Rs 8.25 lakh on the first day of Auto Expo-2020. The aggressive price by homegrown auto major makes eKUV100 one of the most affordable EVs (Electric Vehicles) in the market today.

Mahindra eKUV100 offers a peak power output of 40kW, a torque of 120 Nm and a range of 147 km. Fast charging can extend the range by 80 per cent within 60 mins.

The car has been equipped with a liquid-cooled battery pack, auto transmission, fast charging and remote connections.

It looks exactly identical to its petrol derivative, and minimal changes are done on the production-spec version including possibly a revised grille, along with reworked headlamps and taillights.

The interior of the EV includes the touchscreen infotainment system, steering-mounted audio controls, a multi-info display, manual AC, as well as remote and central locking.

Coronavirus: 10 people on Japan cruise ship tested positive

File

New Delhi (NVI): A luxury vacation turned into a nightmare for thousands of passengers on a Japan cruise ship as ten of them were tested positive for novel coronavirus, the deadly infection that has claimed over 400 lives in China, the country of its origin.

Initial results have shown that Nine passengers and one crew member have been found infected by the virus, as many others are stuck on the luxury cruise Diamond Prince off the Japanese coast of Yokohama.

The ship, carrying 2,666 passengers and 1,045 crew members, arrived in Yokohama on Wednesday, but the authorities did not allow anyone off, foreign media reports said. An 80-year-old Hong Kong resident, who had disembarked earlier in his home city, was found to be infected.

Princess Cruises, the operator of the vessel, has said that the infected passengers were from Australia, Japan, Hong Kong and the United States, in addition to one crew member from the Philippines.

Apart from this, the death toll from the month-long coronavirus outbreak has continued to climb in China, rising to 490 as per latest reports. New cases have surged by double-digit percentages in the past 11 days.

The new figures from China’s Health Commission today showed that 65 people died on Tuesday and that 3,887 more people had been infected. So far, 24,324 people are known to have been infected.

Countries outside China continue to report more cases, with Hong Kong and the Philippines reporting one death each from the disease.

Officials in the Chinese city of Macau also have asked its 41 casinos to close for half a month as they rush to stop the coronavirus outbreak afflicting China and the region. The decision comes after 10 people in Macau had been sickened by the pneumonialike illness.

PM announces trust for Ram temple

New Delhi (NVI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi today announced the formation of a trust to oversee the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya, as ordered by the Supreme Court.

While announcing the trust’s formation in Lok Sabha today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the Union Cabinet has prepared a detailed plan for the construction of Ram Temple at Ayodhya.

“My government has decided to set up a trust called Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra, which will take decisions independently on the construction of a Ram temple and related issues,” he said.

“Let us all support construction of grand Ram Temple in Ayodhya,” he added.

On November 9, 2019, the Supreme Court in a unanimous verdict decreed the entire 2.77 acre disputed land in favour of deity ‘Ram Lalla’ and also directed the Centre to allot a 5-acre plot to Sunni Waqf Board for building a mosque in Ayodhya.

 

Two militants, CRPF man killed in Srinagar encounter

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Mubashir Bukhari

Srinagar (NVI): Two militants and a CRPF jawan were killed during an encounter at Lawaypora area of Srinagar today, official sources said.

Three bike-borne militants fired on a CRPF patrol party on the outskirts of Srinagar, said force spokesperson Pankaj Singh. “In the gunfight, one CRPF man identified as constable Rajiv Ranjan and two militants were also gunned down,” he said.

The third militant who was injured in the gunfight was taken into custody, Singh said.

Additional troops were rushed to spot soon after the gunfight, he added.

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