Less than 24 hours after they were selected by a panel led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, retired IAS officers Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu took charge as Election Commissioners on Friday morning.

The committee of the Prime Minister, Home Minister Amit Shah and Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury met on Thursday afternoon to select two candidates for the vacant EC posts. By evening, President Droupadi Murmu appointed the two, issuing a notification under the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023.

The two appointments became the first to be conducted as per the new Act.

World Consumer Rights Day 2024: Consumers have certain rights that are needed for them to be aware of in order to avoid being exploited or misled. The rights also ensure that the consumers get total value for money. In order to ensure that they are not exploited or cheated on, it is important for them to know the rights and practice them all the time. Sometimes people are not aware of their rights, and it can be difficult for them. World Consumer Rights Day is observed to create more awareness about consumer rights. This is different from National Consumer Rights Day. While both speak of similar rights, National Consumer Rights Day is celebrated at a national level while World Consumer Rights Day is observed at a global level with different focus and scope.

India has signed a 181 million dollars loan with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to improve urban livability and mobility in Ahmedabad.

The loan will fund development in areas transitioning from rural to urban, called Peri-urban areas. The Finance Ministry said under the Ahmedabad Peri-urban Livability Improvement Project, 166 km of water distribution network, 126 km of climate-resilient stormwater drainage, 300 km of sewerage systems, and four sewage treatment plants will be constructed. The Project will also support 10 junction improvements along the existing Sardar Patel Ring Road to improve connectivity of peri-urban areas to Ahmedabad. It further added that the peri-urban project will support development of recycling treated sewage for industrial use through a public-private partnership. The Ministry said that this will benefit urban poor, women, and migrant workers through improved urban services and urban governance.

Twenty four writers, including English author Neelum Saran Gaur and Hindi novelist Sanjeev, received the Sahitya Akademi Award for 2023 here on March 12.

The award ceremony coincided with the 70th anniversary celebrations of the National Academy of Letters at the Sahityotsav.

The awards were given for literary works including nine books of poetry, six novels, five of short stories, three essays, and one literary study.

Sanjeev for his novel Mujhe Pehchaano and Gaur for her book Requiem in Raga Janki received the prestigious award.

Sadiqua Nawab Saher received the award for her book Rajdev Ki Amrai in Urdu, while Swarnjit Savi was awarded for his book of poetry Mann Di Chip in Punjabi.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on March 13 said it has imposed monetary penalty on two banks and one non-banking finance company for rule violations. These banks are Bandhan Bank and Bank of India, and the NBFC is Indostar Capital Finance.

The central bank imposed around Rs 1.41 crore (Rs 1,40,76,000) on Bank of India, Rs 29.55 lakh on Bandhan Bank, and Rs 13.60 lakh on Indostar Capital Finance, according to a press release.

Bank of India was penalised as it did not pay interest in certain term deposit accounts as per the schedule of interest rates disclosed in advance, had levied SMS alert charges from customers based on invalid mobile numbers and not on actual usage basis, failed to reset interest rates in MCLR and external benchmark linked advances at prescribed periodicity, the release said.

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi undertook a safari at the Kaziranga National Park, the Assam Cabinet on March 10 decided to de-notify another prime one-horned rhino habitat – the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary about 48km east of Guwahati.

Environment activists said the decision, taken 26 years after the Assam Forest Department notified Pobitora as a wildlife sanctuary on March 17, 1998, is the first of its kind for any protected area in the country.

A rocket that was supposed to become Japan’s first from the private sector to put a satellite into orbit exploded shortly after takeoff on March 13, a livestreamed video showed. Online video showed the rocket called Kairos blasting off from Wakayama Prefecture, in central Japan, a mountainous area filled with trees, but exploding midair within seconds.

A huge plume of smoke engulfed the area, and flames shot up in some spots. The video then showed spurts of water trying to put out the blaze. There were no reports of injuries, and the fire has been brought under control, according to the fire department in Kushimoto city, Wakayama,

Tokyo-based start-up Space One, behind the rocket launch, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday appointed former director general of police (DGP) Rajkumar Vishwakarma as new the Chief Information Commissioner of the state.

Vishwakarma, a 1988-batch IPS officer who retired from service last year, has served as chairperson of the Uttar Pradesh Police Recruitment Board. His appointment was made as an “expert in the matters of administration and governance”, it is learnt.

The state government also appointed 10 Information Commissioners, of which five are from the media background. The five are Mohd Nadeem, editor of Hindi daily Navbharat Times in Lucknow; Virendra Pratap Singh, who worked with Hindustan; senior journalist Rajendra Singh; Swatantra Prakash, a reporter with a local newspaper; and PN Dwivedi.

New Zealand's top order batter Rachin Ravindra became the youngest recipient of the Sir Richard Hadlee Medal on Wednesday after being named the country's outstanding male cricketer of the year. Meanwhile, Amelia Kerr became the year's top female cricketer after winning the Debbie Hockley medal for the second time in a row.

Kane Williamson received the ANZ Test Player of the Year Award and won the Redpath Cup for men's first-class batting. Ravindra, 24, is the youngest winner of the award in its history, following a season in which he has established himself as a key member of New Zealand's red and white teams.

In a significant move towards promoting energy efficiency and conservation, the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Bhutan.

This landmark agreement, signed between the Bureau of Energy Efficiency of India's Ministry of Power and Bhutan's Department of Energy, Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, aims to foster bilateral cooperation in the field of energy efficiency.

Under the MoU, India will extend its support to Bhutan in enhancing energy efficiency within the household sector, notably through the promotion of India's star labeling program spearheaded by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency.