AWARDS AND HONOURS

Akshaykumar Kale elected President of 90th Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan

Writer and scholar Akshaykumar M Kale, a critic of modern Marathi poetry, was today elected President of the 90th Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan to be held here from February 3 to 5.  Kale is also a member of the General Council of Sahitya Akademi.

US vivek pamaswamy Appoorva Mehta included in Forbes under 40 rich list

Two Indian-origin men have figured in Forbes magazine’s second annual list of wealthiest entrepreneurs under the age of 40 which is topped by Facebook founder Mark Zuckeberg.

Vivek Ramaswamy, a successful biotech entrepreneur has been ranked 24th on ‘America’s Richest Entrepreneurs Under 40 2016‘ list with a networth of 600 million dollars and Apoorva Mehta stands at 31st spot with a 360 million dollars networth.

Cristiano Ronaldo voted best Footballer in the World for 4th time

Cristiano Ronaldo has been voted the best player in the world for a fourth time, taking home the Ballon d’Or award in a year in which he led Portugal to its first European Championship title and Real Madrid to another Champions League trophy.It is Ronaldo’s third Ballon d’Or award, which this year is being handed out by magazine France Football separately from FIFA.

APPOINTMENTS

Pulkit Trivedi Facebook India’s new Industry Director

Facebook has announced the appointment of Pulkit Trivedi as Industry Director for e-commerce, retail, travel and financial services verticals. Pulkit comes to Facebook with over 18 years of extensive industry experience covering sales, business development and partnerships for Indian and multinational technology companies such as Google, Intel, Microsoft, IBM and HCL.

Lt Gen Naveed Mukhtar appointed new ISI chief

Lt. Gen. Naveed Mukhtar has been appointed as the new Director General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).He replaces Lt. Gen. Rizwan Akhtar who has been appointed as president of the National Defence University (NDU) in Islamabad. He was commissioned in the Armored Corps regiment in 1983. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General and posted to the army’s Corps V in September 2014.

INDIAN AFFAIRS

Dipa Karmakar’s autobiography to be co-authored by her coach Bishweshwar Nandi

The incredible story of Dipa Karmakar, who with one death-defying vault of faith in the Rio Olympics, won a billion hearts to become the queen of Indian gymnastics, will be told in a memoir to be co-authored by her coach Bishweshwar Nandi. Tentatively titled “Dipa Karmakar: The Small Wonder”, the book will have many untold stories of struggle and triumph besides rare archival photos from the Karmakars’ private album as well as competition photos from the Olympics and Commonwealth Games.

MP organises India’s biggest and first ever crop insurance claim distribution programme

In Madhya Pradesh, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will kick start the Narmada Sewa Yatra at Amarkantak. The Narmada Sewa Yatra will create awareness about the conservation of the river. It will cover nearly 1900 kilometres in 16 districts. All the villages along the river will have Narmada Sewa Samiti to take follow up action on measures to be undertaken for its preservation. Trees will be planted along the banks of the Narmada and sewage water will be treated before it flows into the river.

PM inaugurates India’s largest cheese plant in Banaskantha district

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, has attended a programme organized by the Banaskantha Cooperative Milk Producers Union (Banas Dairy) at Deesa in Gujarat.  The event marked the launch of the celebration of the Golden Jubilee year of Banas Dairy.  On this occasion, the Prime Minister unveiled a plaque to mark the inauguration of a cheese plant and whey drying plant at Palanpur by remote control.

Rajiv Gandhi airport Achieves carbon neutral status

  The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA), Hyderabad has achieved carbon neutral status. It is the first in the Asia-Pacific region in the 5-15 million passengers per annum category to attain this status.

• GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd, a GMR Group-led consortium, which manages and operates the airport, also claimed that it is the second airport among all categories in the Asia-Pacific region to achieve carbon neutral status.
• Earlier in September, 2016 GMR Group-led Delhi Airport had become the first airport in Asia-Pacific to achieve carbon neutral status among all categories.

Nitin gadkari lays foundation stones for Rs.1152 cr projects in Manipur

Union Minister of Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari has laid the foundation stones for 17 road projects at a cost of Rs 1152 cr in two functions held at Jiribam and Imphal.

He announced the government has decided to hand over responsibility of Imphal Jiribam highway to National highways and infrastructure development corporation Limited (NHIDCL) by taking it over from Border Roads Organisation of Indian Army.

Punjab government launches country’s 1st amphibious bus project

The Punjab government has launched its ambitious amphibious bus project at the Harike wetland near Amritsar. Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal launched the bus and took the inaugural ride with officials and media.

• The bus project has cost the state government over Rs 11 crore. The bus will be run by the Punjab Tourism department and tourists coming to the wetland will be able to enjoy its 4-km ride in water and on land.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

ISRO signs deal for first privately built satellite

The Indian Space Research Organisation has roped in a consortium of six companies to deliver the country’s first industry-built spacecraft by late 2017. The contract has signed includes assembly, integration and testing (AIT) of two spare navigation satellites consecutively in around 18 months. It was signed between M. Annadurai, Director of ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), and the consortium lead; Alpha Design Technologies P Ltd. ISAC assembles the country’s satellites for communication, remote sensing and navigation.

FOREIGN RELATIONS

India, Indonesia sign three agreement

India and Indonesia have signed three agreements following delegation-level talks here headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

• A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed on cooperation in the area of youth and sports. Another MoU was signed on cooperation in the area of standardisation.
• A joint communique was also signed on voluntary international cooperation to combat illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing and to promote sustainable fisheries governance.

EU, Cuba sign First agreement on political cooperation

The European Union and Cuba signed a political accord that the heads of the EU member states signed a historic deal with Cuba on political dialogue and cooperation.

• Brussels and Havana finished the negotiations on the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement on March 11. The agreement included a number of issues, aimed at improving political and economic cooperation.

SPORTS

Pankaj Advani beats Peter Gilchrist in final to win his 11th World Billiards Championship. 

Ace Indian cueist Pankaj Advani has won his 11th World Billiards (150-Up format) Championships title by beating Peter Gilchrist of Singapore in the summit clash in Bengaluru. Advani beat multiple world champion Gilchrist by six games to three in a gripping final contest to wrap up his 16th world title overall.