India This Week: Top 10 National News Of This Week

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Once again a debate has been started in the country regarding the Hindi language. Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that Hindi should be accepted as an alternative to English and not to local languages. He made this remark during the 37^th meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Official Language in New Delhi. According to a statement issued by the Press Information Bureau (PIB), the Union Home Minister suggested to the committee that it is time to revise the Hindi dictionary. He even said that 70 per cent of the agenda of the Union Cabinet is now being prepared in Hindi. Along with this, the Union Home Minister has emphasized the need for more attention to the elementary knowledge of Hindi and Hindi teaching examinations for students up to class 9^th.

The Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Anurag Singh Thakur and the Governor of Karnataka, TC Gehlot present the logo, jersey of Khelo India University Games 2021 (KIUG 2021) at Sri Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on April 01, 2022. , launched the mascot and anthem. The theme song has been composed by Kannada rapper Chandan Shetty. KIUG 2021 will be held in Karnataka from April 24 to May 3, 2022. This will be the second edition of KIUG. The first edition was organized by Odisha in 2020. KIUG 2021 was postponed to 2022 due to the COVID crisis. Around 4500 athletes representing 20 sports from across the country will participate in KIUG 2021.
Broadcast Services Portal has been developed by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to improve the ease of doing business in the broadcasting industry. It will be an online portal option for broadcasters to quickly file and process applications for various types of licenses, permissions, registrations and other things, the ministry said in a statement.

Meenakshi Lekhi, Minister of State for Culture and External Affairs has launched a website Mandir 360 during an event organized by Ministry of Culture at IGNCA Amphitheater, Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts, New Delhi under the aegis of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. Temple 360 is a digital platform where one can visit 12 Jyotirlingas and Char Dham from any place, thereby keeping people connected as well as making life convenient for everyone. The website also allows a devotee to perform e-darshan, e-prasad, e-aarti and many other services. Temple 360 is a website where one can visit the temple of their choice anytime and from anywhere in India. With the help of this website, one can digitally view the grandeur of some of the most sacred Hindu pilgrimage sites that exist. The website also allows a devotee to perform e-aarti and many other services.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the proposal to distribute fortified rice through ration shops and other means. FCI and state agencies have procured 88.65 LMT of fortified rice for supply and distribution. This scheme will be implemented in three phases by 2024 in all the states and union territories. The scheme will cost the central government Rs 2700 crore annually. Last year, on 15 August i.e. Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that the government would distribute fortified rice to the poor through various schemes like mid-day meals to overcome the problem of malnutrition.
Cardless withdrawal facility will soon be available at all ATMs in the country. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is working on this facility. Customer authorization will be done through Unified Payment Interface (UPI) to facilitate card-less cash withdrawal across all banks and all ATM networks, while such transactions will be settled through the ATM network.

The Vice President, M Venkaiah Naidu has presented Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowships and Sangeet Natak Awards to 43 eminent artistes (4 Fellows and 40 awardees) for the year 2018. Naidu also presented Lalit Kala Akademi Fellowships and National Awards for the year 2021 to 23 people (3 Fellows and 20 National Awards). The awards were presented during the 62^nd National Art Exhibition organized by Lalit Kala Akademi and inaugurated by the Minister of Culture, Shri G.Kishan Reddy in New Delhi on April 09, 2022.

The central government had announced on Friday that from April 10, all citizens of 18+ age will be eligible for the third dose of corona vaccine in private hospitals. The manufacturers of COVISHIELD and COVAXIN on Saturday announced to slash down their prices. Now in private hospitals, a dose of both these vaccines will cost Rs 225. Earlier, in private hospitals, a dose of Covishield was available for Rs 600 and Covaxin for Rs 1,200.

The Ministry of Health has issued a warning to five states amid rising cases of COVID in China and the USA. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan has written a letter to the governments of Delhi, Haryana, Kerala, Maharashtra and Mizoram. In this, the Health Secretary has asked the states to increase vigilance and seriously investigate the reasons for the increase in the rate of infection. In Gujarat, a person has been reported to be infected with the XE variant. According to sources, one case of XM variant has also been detected in the state. Earlier this week, a woman from Mumbai was reported to be infected with the XE variant. However, the Health Ministry denied this.

The six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted unanimously to keep the repo rate unchanged at 4 per cent. The MPC committee kept the reverse repo rate unchanged at 3.35 percent as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine exacerbated the rise in inflation. The Monetary Policy Committee of the Reserve Bank of India, headed by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das, kept the repo rate unchanged for the 11^th time in a row. The repo rate or short term lending rate was the last cut on May 22, 2020. Since then, the rate has remained at a historic low of 4 percent. Apart from this, RBI has also introduced Standing Deposit Facility to fight inflation and absorb excess liquidity in the market.