India will host next year’s World Junior Badminton Championships at the National Centre of Excellence in Guwahati, the sport’s global governing body BWF said on Tuesday.

It will be the first time since 2008 that the prestigious Badminton World Federation (BWF) event will be held in India.

“Both the team and individual events will be held at the Badminton Association of India’s (BAI) National Centre of Excellence in the northeast region of the country,” the BWF said in a release.

India last hosted the event in Pune.

“The Sri Lankan Cabinet has decided to implement the renovation of the Kankesanthurai Port in the Northern Province with India agreeing to grant the entire cost of the project,” a statement said on April 30.

Situated in the northern region of Sri Lanka, the Kankesanthurai Port or the KKS Port, with an area of approximately 16 acres, is located at a distance of 104 km (56 nautical miles) from Karaikal Port in Puducherry.

The direct passenger ship service connecting Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu to Kankesanthurai port near Jaffna covers a distance of 111 km (60 nautical miles) in approximately three and a half hours.

Alok Shukla, convenor of the Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan and founding member of the Hasdeo Aranya Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, has been awarded the 2024 Goldman Prize from Asia, a statement on April 29 said.

Shukla has been declared winner for his efforts to save the forests of Hasdeo Aranya in Chhattisgarh.

“Alok Shukla led a successful community campaign that saved 445,000 acres of biodiversity-rich forests from 21 planned coal mines in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh. In July 2022, the government cancelled the 21 proposed coal mines in Hasdeo Aranya, whose pristine forests—popularly known as the lungs of Chhattisgarh—are one of the largest intact forest areas in India,” the statement noted.

The Goldman Environmental Foundation, which gives away the prize, recognised that the Hasdeo movement’s “ability to successfully influence policy has made it a model for environmental justice in India and generated an unprecedented amount of national and regional solidarity”.

NHPC Limited, the largest organization for hydropower development in India, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with M/s Ocean Sun, a Norwegian company operating as a technology provider to the floating solar industry. As per the MoU, NHPC and Ocean Sun will explore key areas of cooperation for demonstration of Ocean Sun’s floating solar energy technology based on photovoltaic panels. The panels would be mounted on hydro-elastic membranes, at relevant sites to be identified by NHPC.

The agreement is in continuation of efforts towards sustainable development and addition of renewable energy capacity by NHPC, which is engaged not only in hydro power development but also in various renewable energy projects such as solar, wind and green hydrogen projects.

The MoU was signed in hybrid mode on 29th April, 2024, by Executive Director (Renewable Energy and Green Hydrogen), NHPC, Shri V.R. Shrivastava and CEO, Ocean Sun, Mr. Kristian Tørvold. Ambassador of Norway to India, H.E. Ms. May-Elin Stener; Director (Technical), NHPC, Shri Raj Kumar Chaudhary and Executive Director (Strategy Business Development & Consultancy), NHPC, Shri Rajat Gupta joined the signing ceremony from Embassy of Norway, New Delhi and Ambassador of India to Norway, H.E. Dr. Acquino Vimal joined from Oslo.

REC Ltd, which is one of the leading non-banking financial companies (NBFC) in the energy sector, has registered its highest ever annual profit during the financial year 2023-24, owing to a reduction in stressed assets and diversification into newer business areas.

During the financial year 2023-24, REC clocked a net profit of Rs 14,019 crore as against Rs 11,055 crore in FY23, showing growth of 27 per cent. In the same period, its net income was up by 49 per cent to Rs 15,063 crore.

"Owing to the improving asset quality and effective resolution of stressed assets, resetting of the lending rates, and effective management of finance cost, REC is able to record its highest ever annual profit after tax," said the company in a statement.

After the third Nepal Investment Summit in Kathmandu Valley, Post Investment Summit India-Nepal B2B Meet was organised by the Embassy of India, Kathmandu in collaboration with the Investment Board of Nepal (IBN) and Nepal India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NICCI).

The B2B meeting was attended by 35 delegates from the Millenium India International Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MICCIA) and Nepal India Chamber of Commerce and Industry covering energy, agriculture, construction, tourism, cold chain, medical devices, finance, consultancy and law sectors.

Speaking at the event, Shreejana Rana, President, NICCI identified hydropower, tourism and agriculture as potential areas for cooperation between Indian and Nepali businesses. Ambassador Anil Trigunayat, President, MICCIA appreciated the recent bilateral connectivity initiatives and the importance of B2B connections in taking the India-Nepal Economic Partnership forward.

Maharashtra Day, also known as Maharashtra Divas, is celebrated every year on May 1. The day celebrates the formation of the state in 1960. Maharashtra was carved out of the Bombay Presidency and was declared a separate state on May 1, 1960. Present-day Gujarat is the other part of the Bombay state. The states were divided based on language after massive protests. Every year people of the state celebrate this day with great pomp and fervour.

International Labour Day 2024 Wishes and Images: International Labour Day, also known as Workers Day or May Day, is a global event that takes place annually on May 1st. It is a day dedicated to honouring the efforts and achievements of workers and the labour movement.

The origins of this day can be traced back to the late 19th century when workers in the United States organised to fight for better working conditions, shorter hours, and fair wages. It is celebrated in many countries with parades, speeches, and other events that emphasise the importance of workers and their contributions to society.

In a significant step towards strengthening military ties with India the UK’s Littoral Response Group (LRG) arrived in Chennai on Tuesday as the first engagement of its deployment to the Indian Pacific region. These are part of the plans to raise the complexity of the exercises.

In a statement British High Commission said, “The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) Argus and RFA Lyme Bay conducted maritime exercises with the Indian Navy as they entered the Arabian Sea and will now undergo essential maintenance at the Larsen & Toubro shipyard in Kattupalli near Chennai.”

This is the first time a Royal Navy vessel will undergo maintenance at an Indian shipyard – a direct result of the logistics-sharing agreement signed between the UK and India in 2022.

Telecom industry body COAI has sought a ban on the sale of wifi 6E routers which utilise 6 Ghz spectrum band for data transmission as the government is yet to decide on the use of these frequencies. The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has alleged that such routers are being sold through various e-commerce platforms like Amazon, Flipkart and Moglix and by offline traders. The COAI, whose members include Reliance Jio, Airtel, and Vodafone Idea, in a letter to the Department of Telecom on April 15 said the sale of equipment for 6 GHz band utilization, which has not yet been assigned for this purpose or has not been declared as licence-exempt by the government, is illegal and should be banned immediately in the country.

"We would like to submit that DoT is yet to take a policy decision related to the 6 GHz band utilization. Therefore, any sale of such Wi-Fi 6E products, which utilizes the 6 GHz spectrum band in delicensed manner, is illegal and such sale would only result in unauthorized transmissions in our country," COAI Director General SP Kochhar said in the letter.