New Delhi, April 11: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit his parliamentary constituency Varanasi on Friday, during which he will distribute Geographical Indication (GI) certificates for 21 newly registered products of Uttar Pradesh.

Of the 21 recipients, nine are artisans and producers from Varanasi, underscoring the city’s role as a vibrant hub of traditional craftsmanship and cultural heritage.

Padma Shri awardee and GI expert Rajni Kant, who has been instrumental in advancing GI registrations across India, shared his views ahead of the event.

“I am playing a small role in the progress of GI in Banaras and the whole of India,” he said.

“Since the GI Act came into force in 2003, this is the first time in the country that GI certificates will be distributed for 21 products in one event, and that too by the Prime Minister,” Kant said.

He highlighted that with these new inclusions, the total number of GI-tagged products from Uttar Pradesh will reach 77, placing it among the top states in India in terms of GI recognition.

“It’s a proud moment, Kashi alone has 32 GI-tagged products, supporting around 20 lakh people and generating an annual business of about Rs 25,500 crore,” he said.

Emphasising the national impact of the GI movement, he said: “The journey that started in Kashi has now reached Arunachal Pradesh and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.”

Apart from the GI event, PM Modi’s Varanasi visit includes inaugurating a transit hostel at Police Lines, new police barracks in Ramnagar, four rural roads, and beautification works along Shastri Ghat and Samne Ghat.

Additional urban development projects under the Railways and Varanasi Development Authority will also be launched.

A major portion of the Rs 3,880 crore development push will focus on upgrading the city’s power infrastructure, including the construction of 15 new substations, the installation of transformers, and laying 1,500 km of new power lines.

New Delhi, April 11: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday hailed the rollout of the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (PM-JAY) in Delhi as a “revolutionary step” for the national capital’s healthcare sector, enabled by the “double-engine” BJP government.

As the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM), of which PM-JAY is a component, was officially launched in the national capital on Thursday, 19 residents, including 11 women and 8 men, became the first beneficiaries to receive Ayushman Bharat cards under the scheme.

PM Modi praised the implementation and expressed happiness that the people of Delhi will now benefit from the health scheme.

Taking to X, PM Modi wrote, “A revolutionary step related to Delhi’s health sector! This mission of the double-engine government is going to be extremely beneficial for lakhs of my brothers and sisters here. I am very happy that Delhiites will now also be able to get their treatment under the Ayushman Yojana.”

The PM-JAY rollout in Delhi comes just days after a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed on April 5, enabling the implementation of the Modi government’s flagship health scheme in the national capital.

With this, Delhi has become the 35th state or Union territory to adopt the Ayushman Bharat scheme.

The AB-PMJAY is a key component of the broader PM-ABHIM framework, which aims to boost public health infrastructure and improve access to quality healthcare across the country.

Launched in 2018, PM-JAY provides an annual health coverage of Rs 5 lakh per family for secondary and tertiary hospital care, targeting economically vulnerable populations. The scheme is the world’s largest government-funded healthcare programme.

The inclusion of Delhi in PM-JAY marks a significant milestone in expanding healthcare access to low-income families in the capital and reducing their financial burden for critical medical treatments.

Mumbai, April 10: The youngest-ever world champion Gukesh Dommaraju will take on Magnus Carlsen – the world’s No. 1 player in a high-stakes contest — in the most highly-anticipated contest in the world of chess at this year’s Norway Chess 2025. The tournament will take place in Stavanger from May 26 to June 6.

Addressing an event hosted by the Norway Chess and Sports Journalists Association of Mumbai (SJAM) in Mumbai, five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand put his weight behind the prodigy from Chennai.

“I expect a very exciting battle. Gukesh will not lack motivation or the determination to go after Magnus Carlsen. But Magnus is also highly motivated by the challenge of playing against our young players. I’ve seen him in multiple tournaments whether it’s Kolkata or the World Rapid Blitz, he eagerly looks forward to these match-ups and so we have the perfect storm. I think we have the right to expect some great battles,” Anand said appearing at the event virtually.

Gukesh, 18, has achieved remarkable success in 2024, winning the Tata Steel Masters, leading India to gold at the Chess Olympiad, dominating the Candidates Tournament, and finally claiming the ultimate prize in classical chess: the World Championship title in Singapore last December.

This year’s Norway Chess will see a star-studded line-up featuring world No.1 and defending champion Magnus Carlsen (Norway), Hikaru Nakamura (USA), Gukesh D. (India), Fabiano Caruana (USA), Arjun Erigaisi (India), and Wei Yi (China) among the men.

The Norway Chess Women will feature reigning four-time Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun (China), Lei Tingjie (China), Koneru Humpy (India), Anna Muzychuk (Ukraine), Vaishali Rameshbabu (India), and Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (Spain).

Norway Chess and Norway Chess Women, feature the same format, same prize money, and take place in the same playing hall. Both tournaments follow a 6-player double round-robin format.

From his own experience of playing at the Norway Chess, Anand highlighted the reasons behind Norway Chess being different from any other world event under FIDE’s calendar. This year, with the top 5 in the world participating in Norway Chess, the contest promises to be nail-biting for any chess aficionado following the tournament.

“It is one of the premier events in the sport of chess, and since Norway Chess began in 2013, it has kept on evolving very well. They continue to make the tournament very attractive a demonstration of what chess is all about. They always have some extra tweaks to make it very interesting, whether it’s the confessional booth or now the Armageddon. It’s a very innovative tournament, and the levels of competition are simply outstanding,” Anand said.

He further added, “And for Indian chess, the fact that we have four players, says a lot. On the men’s side, Indian chess is as strong as it’s ever been. Even more so obviously due to the depth we have. But it’s great that Koneru Humpy is still competing so successfully and that she’ll be joined by Vaishali as well, which bodes well for us.”

Visiting India to explore partnerships, Kjell Madland, the Managing Director and visionary behind Norway Chess expressed a keenness to expand further.

“Norway Chess is absolutely honoured to be hosting the Gukesh and Magnus clash, especially on the back of Gukesh’s incredible run of form. Both the champions will have a couple of chances to go after each other which bodes very well for Norway Chess,” he said.

“And hopefully, next year, Norway Chess can host this exact fixture in India as well, where there are so many champions. The quality of chess in India over the last ten years has been, and for sure, the sport would be poorer without the Indian champions,” he added.