Amit Shah, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat expected to visit Andamans for Savarkar event
Sri Vijaya Puram (PTI): Union Home Minister Amit Shah and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat are expected to visit the Andaman and Nicobar Islands from Thursday, during which they will unveil a statue of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, a senior official said.
Security has been beefed up in view of the high-profile visits, and traffic restrictions may be imposed in some areas, he said.
Bhagwat may have a brief interaction with the workers of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) at Dollygunj in Sri Vijaya Puram. This will be his first visit to the archipelago as a 'sarsanghchalak'.
Nearly two decades ago, Bhagwat had visited the islands as a 'sarkaryavah' (general secretary), while this will be Shah's second visit to the archipelago, which he visited in January 2023 to commemorate the 126th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
On December 12, both will unveil a statue of Savarkar at Beodnabad in South Andaman around 9.30 am, and in the evening, they will release a song on Savarkar in an event scheduled to be held at Dr B R Ambedkar Institute of Technology (DBRAIT), the official said.
On December 13, Bhagwat may address a public gathering at ITF Ground in Sri Vijaya Puram in the evening, and he will leave the archipelago on December 14.
The Union home minister may leave the islands either on the night of December 12 or the next morning, he said.
The entire event will be organised by a Maharashtra-based business group to commemorate the 116th anniversary of the penning of Savarkar's iconic poem, 'Sagara Pran Talamala' (Take me back to my motherland, O sea, my soul yearns). He wrote this poem in 1909.
Savarkar was jailed in the Cellular Jail in Port Blair (now known as Sri Vijaya Puram) by the British in 1911.
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86 nations, two int'l organisations sign AI Impact Summit declaration: IT Min Vaishnaw
New Delhi (PTI): As many as 86 countries and two international organisations have signed the AI Impact Summit declaration, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday said, adding that the US, UK, Canada, China, Denmark, and Germany are among the signatories.
The strong global backing for the declaration comes at the conclusion of the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi.
Vaishnaw told reporters that nations across the world have formalised and upheld principles of 'welfare of all, and happiness of all'.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi's human-centric AI vision been accepted by the world. Democratising Artificial Intelligence resources so AI facilities, services and technology can reach everyone in society has been accepted by all," the minister said.
Balancing economic growth with social good has been prioritised, he added.
"Not just economic growth, even social harmony has to be kept in mind. Safety and trust are at the centre, they have been brought among the main points," Vaishnaw said, adding that a secure, trustworthy and robust AI framework has been focused on.
Other major areas of thrust include innovations and development of human capital, he noted.
"For all these areas, all countries have agreed to work together. Almost all countries that participated, including the US, the UK, Canada, China, Denmark, Egypt, Indonesia, and Germany... everyone has participated," the minister said.
The mega AI Impact Summit secured investment commitments of over USD 250 billion in infrastructure alone, with Vaishnaw on Friday terming it a "grand success".
Vaishnaw had said participation at the summit crossed five lakh visitors, reflecting strong domestic and global engagement with India's AI push.
The India AI Impact Summit brought together global policymakers, industry leaders and technology experts, positioning India as a key player in shaping international AI governance and infrastructure development.
"More than five lakh visitors participated in the exhibition, learnt a lot, and interacted with many experts from around the world. We had practically every major AI player in the world participating in large numbers. We had so many startups getting the opportunity to showcase their work. Overall, the quality of the discussion was phenomenal," he had said.
Be it the ministerial dialogue, the leaders' plenary, the main inauguration function, or the Summit overall, the quality of participation and dialogue was phenomenal, Vaishnaw had pointed out.
The investment pledges have crossed USD 250 billion for infra-related capital and around USD 20 billion on VC/deep tech investments.
Vaishnaw had said that the Summit reflected the world's confidence in India's role in the new AI age.
Delhi played host to a lineup of global tech heavyweights this week - Google's Sundar Pichai, OpenAI's Sam Altman, Microsoft's Brad Smith and Anthropic's Dario Amodei - as discussions spanned most intensely debated global topics in the tech universe, from AI's opportunities and risks, all the way to AGI, governance and the future of jobs.
