New Delhi [India], March 4 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will receive the CERAWeek Global Energy and Environment Leadership Award on March 5, said the Prime Minister’s office on Thursday.
Prime Minister Modi will also deliver the keynote address at the Cambridge Energy Research Associates Week (CERAWeek) 2021 on Friday at around 7 pm via video conferencing, according to an official release by the PMO.
Notably, CERAWeek was founded in 1983 by Dr Daniel Yergin. It has been organized in Houston in March every year since 1983 and is considered the world’s premier annual energy platform. CERAWeek 2021 is being convened virtually from March 1 to March 5.
CERAWeek Global Energy and Environment Leadership Award was instituted in 2016. It recognizes the commitment of leadership towards the future of global energy and environment, and for offering solutions and policies for energy access, affordability and environmental stewardship. (ANI)

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 4 (ANI): Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Thursday accepted the resignation of the state Forest Minister Sanjay Rathod, who had tendered his resignation over his alleged connection with the Pooja Chavan suicide case.
Rathod had tendered his resignation on February 28. The resignation was immediately accepted by Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
He had submitted his resignation to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray during a meeting at the Chief Ministers’ residence where Urban Development and Public Works Minister Eknath Shinde was also present.
On February 8, Chavan had allegedly jumped off a building in Pune to end her life. Hailing from Parli town in Beed, Pooja had gone to Pune for an English speaking course.
A couple of days after her death, some of her audio clips went viral on social media which the opposition took up and pointed fingers at the Maharashtra Forest Minister Sanjay Rathod, demanding an investigation into the case.
The BJP has alleged that Rathod is connected with the mysterious death of the woman in Pune. However, Rathod had denied all allegations.
As per procedure, an accidental death (AD) case was registered with the Wanawadi police station in Pune. No complaint has so far been registered by Chavan’s family. (ANI)

Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], March 4 (ANI): The Punjab Cabinet led by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday approved several key recommendations of the sixth Punjab Finance Commission, including compensation against revenue losses on certain counts.
The Commission had submitted 7 recommendations for 2021-22 to Punjab Governor VP Singh Badnore on January 29, 2021, read the press note by the state government.
While six have been approved by the Cabinet today, one relating to the continuation of devolution of 4 pc own share of state taxes to Local Bodies for the year 2021-22 will be examined by a Group of Ministers (GoM), an official spokesperson said after the Cabinet meeting. The GoM shall comprise the state’s Finance Minister, Local Government Minister, Rural Development and Panchayats Minister and Water Supply and Sanitation Minister.
Key recommendations accepted by the Cabinet include continuation of compensatory payments in case of loss of revenue from the abolition of octroi on power and liquor to local bodies for the year 2021-22; continuation of 16 per cent share of excise duty on IMFL and 10 per cent share on auction money from liquor vends to be devolved to the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).
The sixth State Finance Commission was constituted by Punjab Government under section 3(1) of the Punjab Finance Commission for Panchayats and Municipalities Act, 1994 vide notification on July 3, 2018, under the chairmanship of former Chief Secretary KR Lakhanpal.
It included VC Punjabi University Patiala Dr BS Ghuman as expert member besides financial commissioner rural development and panchayats and Principal Secretary Local Government as Ex-Officio Members. Former Principal Secretary Science Technology and Environment Dr Roshan Sunkaria was appointed Member Secretary. (ANI)

New Delhi [India], March 4 (ANI): The 29th edition of the annual New Delhi World Book Fair, organized by the National Book Trust (NBT), India will be held virtually from March 6 to 12.
The event will be inaugurated by Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, the Union Education Minister, at a virtual ceremony on March 5. in the presence of Professor Govind Prasad Sharma, NBT Chairman and Yuvraj Malik, NBT Director, according to an official statement.
The e-press conference for the book fair is scheduled to be held at the NBT Headquarters on March 4, 2021.
While addressing a conference, Professor Govind Prasad Sharma announced that it is the first virtual edition of the New Delhi World Book Fair which is being organised as such due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions in the place but assured that will be a memorable experience for the visitors.
This year, the theme of the book fair is ‘National Education Policy (NEP) 2020’. The policy is a vision document that aims to universalise the Indian Education system from pre-primary levels to higher education. The policy endeavours to enhance the quality of education equally for all and move in the direction of strengthening India as a global superpower, read the statement.
During the fair, discussions on education and pedagogy, conversation with the authors,
scholars, book release functions, cultural programs, etc will be organised.
Over 15 plus countries including the UK, US, UAE, China, France, Iran, Nepal, Spain, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, Italy are participating in the Foreign Publishers Hall at the Fair.
The book fair will also provide a platform for B2B activities for publishers from India and abroad. A publisher’s forum organized by NBT and FICCI, CEOSpeak will focus on challenges and opportunities for publishers in the light of the NEP 2020.
Over 160 publishers and exhibitors from India and abroad will participate in the fair through e-stalls, acquainting the visitors with books in all major Indian and foreign languages. The visitors will be able to visit the websites of the exhibitor/publisher directly from the e-stalls to view more products. (ANI)

By Joymala Bagchi
Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], March 4 (ANI): The Election Commission of India (ECI) is likely to appoint around 500 observers in West Bengal for strict monitoring of the forthcoming Assembly polls.
“Discussions are underway for the appointment of around 500 observers in poll-bound West Bengal, details are yet to come,” an ECI official told ANI.
According to ECI official, Ajay V Nayek, a 1984 batch retired IAS officer is appointed as the special general observer. Vivek Dubey, a 1981 batch officer from Andhra Pradesh cadre and Mrinal Kanti Das, a retired 1977 batch IPS officer of Manipur-Tripura cadre have been appointed as special police observers. B Murli Kumar, a 1983 batch retired IRS officer has been appointed as special expenditure observer.
These special observers will come to West Bengal on Friday to review and take stock of the situation. They will hold a series of meetings with police officers and expenditure observers deployed in the fields.
“The vehicles of all sector officers in West Bengal will be laced with GPS-based applications. These vehicles can be tracked by observers and the office of District Electoral Officer (DEO) and Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) for immediate intervention in case any law and order problem arises,” an official from West Bengal CEO told ANI.
According to ECI, around 7,32,94,980 voters electors will cast their vote in 1,01,916 polling booths in West Bengal. In the 2016 Assembly polls, the booth numbers were 77,413.
West Bengal Assembly elections will be held in eight phases starting from March 27 with the final round of voting taking place on April 29. The counting of votes will take place on May 2.
Notably, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) comes into force immediately after the announcement of the election dates. The commission has made adequate arrangements to ensure effective implementation of MCC guideline. (ANI)

Vikasnagar (Dehradun) [India], March 4 (ANI): A case was registered against secretaries of Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA), Doon Valley Special Area Development Authority (SADA), along with the district forest officer, horticulture officer and the land mafia in Vikasnagar police station for illegally cutting trees and converting the land into residential plots.
The case was registered under the Uttar Pradesh Tree Protection Act and several Sections of IPC, according to a press note.
It was alleged that several trees were cut by the land mafia on 400 bigha land without the authorisation of the government and plots of land were sold to various people.
According to the press note, no action was taken against the land mafia by the Secretary of the Doon Valley SADA, Divisional Forest Officer of the Forest Department, Kalsi and District Horticulture Officer of the Horticulture Department and the subordinate officer of the above department, nor did they perform their duties as public servants.
A PIL was filed by Anuj Kansal in Nainital High Court, after which the court issued an order to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the case. (ANI)