Pib

Pib

1. We must respect, preserve and propagate mother tongues: Vice President

The Vice President quoted Mahatma Gandhi as saying, “A nation’s culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people”. He further said that similarly, literature not only encapsulates the fertile imagination of the writers and poets, but also reflects the realities of a society. It holds a mirror to the social mores, culture, ills and all that is good in a society, he added.

The Vice President complimented the Sabha for having published more than 10,000 books since its formation and also for playing a key role in the publication of Assamese dictionary ‘Chandrakanta Abhidan’.

The Vice President expressed happiness that Asam Sahitya Sabha has taken up the initiative to set up Assam Cultural University as an ambitious project to conduct studies on the cultural traits of various communities in India and South East Asia. He complimented the Sabha for working on ‘Encyclopedia of the Writers of Assam’ and ‘Encyclopedia of Tea & Tea Communities of Assam’.

2. Vice President Inaugurates 21st International Conference on Small and Medium Enterprises

The Vice President said that the SMEs contribute up to 45 per cent of India’s GDP and employs nearly 46 crore people, which is the second largest workforce in the country after the agricultural sector, and is growing at 11.5 per cent annually. The theme of the conference - “Achieving inclusive and sustainable industrialization by promoting SMEs” was aptly chosen as climate change and global warming are stark realities affecting the people, fauna and flora all over the world, he added.

The Vice President said that in sustaining this planet and ensuring a greener future for posterity, the SMEs can play a crucial role by adopting practices that will not impact the environment and harm the present and future generations. Countries will have to strengthen their capabilities and explore new ways to solve development challenges, by involving various actors, processes and types of governance, source of finance and encouraging collaboration and cooperation across stakeholders, sectors and regions, he added.

The Vice President expressed his confidence that this global convention will serve as an important platform for various stakeholders to network, share their experiences and more importantly to highlight and emulate good practices. He further said that this conference in India has great significance for both India and other participating countries as India has achieved a remarkable improvement in “Ease of Doing Business” ranking from 130 to 100. India is also focusing on creating an ecosystem for promoting entrepreneurship SME sector, he added.

3. PM congratulates Pankaj Advani on winning IBSF World Snooker Championship

4. Cabinet approves MoU between India and Italy for cooperation in Agriculture and Phytosanitary issues

5. Cabinet approves investment cooperation and facilitation treaty between India and Brazil

6. MoS Home Shri Kiren Rijiju to inaugurate three-day Kathakar: International Storytellers Festival tomorrow

Kathakar is the only oral storytelling festival in India and is a part of Ghummakkad Narain- the Travelling Literature Festival which was started under the aegis of UNESCO in 2010. Kathakar is an attempt to not just preserve the art form but also create new audiences for the same.

Another highlight of the inaugural session is the launch of the book 'Curious Tales from the Himalayas' co-authored by Shaguna Gahilote and Prarthana Gahilote. For the first time, the festival in Delhi will also have a circus Act performed by children from the slums trained by Sweedish Circus master Andreo. There will also be stories of Deendayal Upadhyay and Nanaji Deshmukh, celebrated by the Government of India. Vishal Bharadwaj and Mohit Chauhan will be coming together for the first time to share folk stories through music. Adding to that will be the two puppeteers from Italy and Andhra Pradesh who are not just master of their work but also the last ones promoting and practicing the art.

Kathakar is a special initiative within the bigger festival, Ghummakkad Narain, to promote the oral storytelling tradition which has existed across the world. Though performance storytelling has seen a revival in Europe, in India only few efforts have been made to contemporize the art form. The festival this year will be hosted in the cities of Delhi, Gurugram, Noida and Mumbai. The partners for this year’s festival are the IGNCA of Union Ministry of Culture in Delhi, Heritage Transport Museum in Gurugram and the NCPA in Mumbai.

7. Cyclonic Storm ‘OCKHI’ over Comorin area & Cyclone Warning for South Kerala, adjoining districts of south Tamil Nadu and Lakshadweep Islands- ORANGE message

(i) Heavy Rainfall warning:

• Rainfall at most places with heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places very likely over south Tamil Nadu & south Kerala during next 24 hours and isolated heavy falls over interior Tamil Nadu and Kerala during subsequent 24 hours.

• Rainfall at most places with heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places and isolated extremely heavy falls very likely over Lakshadweep area during next 48 hours.

(ii) Wind warning:

• Gale wind speed reaching 65-75 kmph gusting to 85 kmph very likely along & off South Kerala during next 48 hours and along & off south Tamilnadu during next 24 hours.

• Squally winds speed reaching 55-65 kmph gusting to 75 kmph very likely along & around Lakshadweep Islands during next 12 hours and increase thereafter with wind speeds becoming 80-90 kmph gusting to 100 kmph from tonight, the 30th November 2017.