- Anushka Sharma named PETA person of the year
Bollywood superstar and vegetarian Anushka Sharma has been named the PETA 2017 Person of the Year for her wide-reaching work for animals.
Past recipients of PETA’s Person of the Year Award include politician Dr Shashi Tharoor, former Supreme Court Judge K S Radhakrishnan Panicker and actors Kapil Sharma, Hema Malini, R Madhavan, and Jacqueline Fernandez.
- Jai Ram Thakur takes oath as 14th CM of Himachal Pradesh
BJP leader Jai Ram Thakur took oath on as the 14th chief minister of Himachal Pradesh along with 11 other ministers at a ceremony at the historic Ridge Ground in Shimla.
Governor Acharya Devvrat administered the oath of office and secrecy to the 52-year-old Thakur, a five-time MLA from Seraj, and other ministers which included six new faces.
- IIPE to get legal sanctity as Parliament passes bill
Parliament has passed a bill that provides for establishing the Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy (IIPE) in Andhra Pradesh to impart high quality education and conduct advance research in all aspects relating to the conventional hydrocarbons.
The bill was passed by voice-vote in the Rajya Sabha after a two-hour discussion. The Lok Sabha had cleared the bill in August.
The IIPE is being set up at Visakhapatnam at a cost of Rs 650 crore as part of a package promised by the Centre to Andhra Pradesh after Telangana was carved out of it.
- Bihar approves scholarships for meritorious madrasa students
The Bihar government has decided to introduce scholarships for meritorious madrasa students in the state.
Both boys and girls securing first division in Fauqania (Class 10) exams conducted by the Bihar State Madrasa Education Board will be included in the Mukhyamantri Vidyarthi Protsahan Yojana (Chief Minister students’ incentive scheme).
For Molvi (Clas 12) exams, only girl students securing first division will be included under the scheme
- Dabur opens skill development centre for women in Assam
Dabur India Ltd has inaugurated a skill development centre for women, as part of the company’s CSR campaign.
The vocational training centre, set up at Dhekidol Village in Sonitpur district, will start with a six-month course on stitching and tailoring.
The unit will be run by the company’s CSR arm, Jivanti Welfare and Charitable Trust. The programmes that will be offered have been devised after detailed discussions with community members and keeping in mind specific needs and sensitivitie.
The company runs 12 such centres in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, where 510 girls successfully completed training in various courses during 2016-17
- Bengal govt to give 74pc of Tajpur port to Centre for bridge
The West Bengal government will give away 74 per cent share to the Centre to build a new major port in Tajpur as it will build a bridge over the Muriganga river to help pilgrims visiting Sagar Island.
Annually around 20-30 lakh pilgrims pay a visit to the Sagar Island to take a holy dip in the confluence of the Ganga and Bay of Bengal.
People have to take the ferry from Lot no 8 to reach Kachuberia, the landing point on Sagar Island after travelling almost 3.5 km on Muriganga river.
- Indian economy to be 5th largest in 2018: World Economic League
India’s economy is expected to overtake that of Britain and France to become the world’s fifth largest in dollar terms in 2018 and third largest in 2032, the World Economic League Table (WELT).
It would be the first time when the Indian economy will overtake the UK and France in real money dollar terms, the ninth-edition of the report released by London-based Centre for Economics and Business Research showed.
The world economic league table has forecast for 192 countries up to the year 2032.
- Govt cuts small savings interest rate by 0.2 percentage points
The government has cut the interest rate on small savings schemes, including public provident fund (PPF), national savings certificate (NSC) and Kisan Vikas Patra, by 0.2 percentage points for the January-March quarter, a move that will prompt banks to lower deposit rates.
Interest rates in the five-year Senior Citizens Savings Scheme, however has been retained at 8.3%. The interest rate on the senior citizens’ scheme is paid quarterly.
The girl child savings scheme Sukanya Samriddhi Account will offer 8.1 from existing 8.3% annually. Term deposits of 1-5 years will fetch a lower interest rate of 6.6-7.4%, to be paid quarterly, while the five-year recurring deposit is pegged at 6.9%.
- Air corridor linking Mumbai to Kabul inaugurated
The second India-Afghanistan air cargo route linking Kabul to Mumbai was officially at the launched, with officials saying it is expected to boost the export of fresh fruits and medicinal plants from Afghanistan.
The second route follows the success of the Kabul-New Delhi air corridor that was inaugurated by President Ashraf Ghani in mid-June.
- China, Pakistan offer to include Afghanistan in CPEC
China and Pakistan will look at extending their $57 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to Afghanistan. China has tried to position itself as a helpful party to promote talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan, both uneasy neighbors ever since Pakistan’s independence in 1947.
Their ties have been poisoned in recent years by Afghan accusations that Pakistan is supporting Taliban insurgents fighting the U.S.-backed Kabul in order to limit the influence of its old rival, India, in Afghanistan.
- Anisa wins women’s 25m pistol with new national record
Experienced Haryana shooter Anisa Sayyed won the women’s 25m pistol gold with a new record at the ongoing 61st National Shooting Championship Competitions (61st NSCC).
Anisa shot a new finals national record score of 33 to prevail over the Maharashtra duo of Shital Shivaji Thorat and Rahi Sarnobat, who won the silver and bronze medals respectively at the National Games Shooting Range.
