The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of three IAS officers on Additional Secretary level on Thursday.

Rakesh Kumar Verma (IAS) has been appointed as Additional Secretary in the Department of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation under the Ministry of Jal Shakti.

Rakesh is a 1993-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Punjab cadre. Presently, he is serving as Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism.

Hindustan Zinc Limited, a Vedanta group company, became the third-largest silver producer globally, according to the World Silver Survey 2024 conducted by ‘The Silver Institute’, USA.

The survey also mentioned the company’s Sindesar Khurd Mine was now the world’s second-largest silver-producing mine, moving up from last year’s fourth position.

Priya Agarwal Hebbar, Chairperson of Hindustan Zinc, attributed to increased ore production and enhanced grades, reinforcing its status as a key player in the global silver market. “Silver plays a pivotal role in the global energy transition and our recent record silver production of 746 MT paves the way for Atmanirbhar Bharat.

In a pivotal move towards accelerating India's transition to a sustainable and eco-friendly energy landscape, the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd. (IREDA) has inaugurated a specialized office in GIFT City, Gandhinagar, to bolster the financing of Green Hydrogen and Renewable Energy Manufacturing projects by offering debt options denominated in foreign currencies.

According to a press release by the Ministry of New and Renewable energy, the establishment of this office heralds a step towards realizing the nation's aspirations for a greener future.

State-owned Power Grid Corporation of India board on Wednesday approved a proposal to raise up to Rs 12,000 through the issuance of bonds in one or more tranches in 2024-25.

"Committee of Directors for Bonds in their meeting held on today i.e. on 17th April 2024 has approved the raising of Bonds as Unsecured, Non-convertible, Non-cumulative, Redeemable, Taxable Powergrid Bonds Issue(s) during FY 2024-25 in one or more tranches/series up to Rs 12,000 crore," a BSE filing said.

Power Grid Corporation is the country's largest electric power transmission utility. It operates 86 per cent of Inter-Regional networks.

The oldest living pilot of the Indian Air Force, Squadron Leader Dalip Singh Majithia, died at the age of 103 at his farm in Uttarakhand on Monday night.

The cremation will take place on Tuesday noon at his farm in Rudrapur, Majithia’s daughter Kiran told The Indian Express. “The bhog ceremony will be held in New Delhi and we shall inform the date later,” she said.

Born on July 27, 1920 at Shimla, Squadron Leader Majithia joined the Indian Air Force (IAF) volunteer reserve in 1940 during World War-II, following in the footsteps of his uncle Surjeet Singh Majithia (grandfather of Akali politician Bikramjit Singh Majithia).

Actor Ram Charan has received an honorary doctorate from Vels University at the institute’s 14th Annual Convocation which was held at its Pallavaram campus in Chennai.

Along with Ram Charan, the university also awarded Dr P Veeramuthuvel, the Project Coordinator at Chandrayaan, Dr GSK Velu, the Founder and CMD of Trivitron Healthcare, and table tennis player and Padma Shri awardee Achanta Sharath Kamal. TG Sitharam, the Chairman of the All India Council for Technical Education, was also present at the event as its chief guest.

Thousands of people gathered in Ayodhya on Wednesday to celebrate the first Ram Navami after the consecration of the Ram Temple on January 22 this year and watch the “Surya Tilak” on the forehead of Ram Lalla idol for six minutes at noon.

Officials said that as the sun rays illuminated the forehead of the Lord Ram Lalla idol at the newly built temple on Wednesday, scores of devotees turned euphoric”. “Devotees at the temple were engrossed in capturing this magical and memorable moment. Similarly, those watching on large LED screens and from the comfort of their homes were equally captivated,” said a statement issued by the UP government.

A state-of-the-art Submersible Platform for Acoustic Characterisation and Evaluation (SPACE) was inaugurated by Secretary, Department of Defence (R&D) and Chairman DRDO Dr Samir V Kamat at Underwater Acoustic Research Facility, Kulamavu in Idukki, Kerala on April 17, 2024. The SPACE, set up by the Naval Physical & Oceanographic Laboratory of DRDO, has been designed as a premier testing and evaluation hub for sonar systems destined for Indian Navy onboard various platforms including ships, submarines and helicopters.

The SPACE marks a milestone in naval technology advancement. It will consist of two distinct assemblages - a platform which floats on the water surface, and a submersible platform which can be lowered to any depth upto 100 m using winch systems. Upon completion of operations, the submersible platform can be winched up and docked with the floating platform.

A musical dance programme on “Tagore on the Padma Boat” was organised on Wednesday evening at Rabindra Kuthibari, Kushtia, Bangladesh.

Renowned Tagore scholar and singer from the United Kingdom Dr Anand Gupta directed the musical dance programme on the theme ” Tagore on the Padma Boat”. Music and dance artists trained in Rabindra Sangeet and Dance from Bangladesh gave delicate performances on the theme. Many of the artists were alumni of the Vishwa Bharati, Shantiniketan.

Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre, High Commission of India, Dhaka in collaboration with the Department of Archaeology, People’s Republic of Bangladesh organised the event to commemorate Kaviguru Rabindranath Tagore’s memories on the bank of river Padma in Bangladesh.

Indian team has secured 2 Silver and 2 Bronze medals in the 13th European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad (EGMO) 2024 held in Tskaltubo, Georgia from April 11 – 17, 2024.

Gunjan Agarwal of Gurgaon and Sanjana Philo Chacko of Thiruvananthapuram won Silver medals while Larissa from Hissar and Pune’s Saee Patil won Bronze medals. All four contestants secured medals at EGMO.