President Droupadi Murmu today conferred Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards for the Years 2022 and 2023 to ninety-four eminent artists at a function in New Delhi. The awards were given in the fields of music, dance, drama, folk and tribal arts, puppetry and allied theatre art forms. Besides the Akademi Awards, President Murmu also bestowed the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship (Akademi Ratna) to seven eminent artists in the ceremony. Speaking on the occasion, the President said performing arts hold a significant place in India's culture and tradition and since ancient times, art forms have been given high regard in the country. President  Droupadi Murmu added that art and artists have worked to weave the diversity of India into the thread of unity and by doing this, they have also fulfilled the fundamental duties enshrined in the Constitution. The President appreciated the Sangeet Natak Akademi for promoting various art forms for the last seven decades. She said that the work done by the Akademi in the field of performing arts and intangible heritage is very important.

Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa defeated Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan in the sixth round of Prague International Chess Festival 2024 Masters to retain the fourth spot in the tournament. Abdusattorov remains as the sole leader despite the loss.

On the other hand, India's Vidit Gujrathi went down against Germany's Vincent Keymer from a winning position. Gukesh D also lost his match against Mateusz Bartel of Poland. The Prague Chess Festival is taking place from February 27 to March 7 at Don Giovanni Hotel. Round 7 for Masters, Challengers and Futures will start today at 7:30 p.m. IST. 

Coal India subsidiary South Eastern Coalfield Limited’s Gevra mine is set to become the largest coal-producing mine in Asia.

The coal ministry in a statement on Tuesday said that the mine has been granted environmental clearance to expand production capacity to 70 million tonnes per annum from the current 52.5 million tonnes.

The mine is one of the megaprojects of Chhattisgarh-based SECL and is crucial to meet the production and supply targets of Coal India to meet the energy needs. Gevra became the largest coal mine in the country last year.

The Department of Higher Education (DHE), Assam on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) for the Jal Vidya Programme to educate the college students on water quality, wash practices and the functionality assessment of water supply schemes.

The MoU signing ceremony was held at the Auditorium Hall, Flood and River Erosion Management Agency of Assam (FREMAA), Assam Water Centre, Guwahati.

The convergence between JJM, Assam and the DHE is a watershed moment. Achieving a milestone Functional Household Tap Connection (FHTC) coverage of 75 per cent underscores the effectiveness of collaborative efforts.

The first Bharat Steam Boiler Expo 2024 was inaugurated on Tuesday at Veterinary College Field in Guwahati's Khanapara. The event spread over a duration of three days, started on Tuesday and will conclude on March 7.

The expo was inaugurated by Sanjoy Kishan, Assam Minister of Welfare of Tea Tribes, Labour and Employment; and B Kalyan Chakravarthy, Principal Secretary, Skill, Employment and Entrepreneurship Department, Government of Assam.

The Amazon founder is once again the world’s richest person, eclipsing Elon Musk and jumping atop the Bloomberg Billionaires Index for the first time since the fall of 2021.

Bezos’ net worth was $200 billion on Monday, according to Bloomberg. Musk’s personal wealth was $198 billion and LVMH chief Bernard Arnault’s was $197 billion. Musk, Arnault and Bezos have rotated places in recent years atop the ranking, which measures personal wealth based on changes in markets, the economy and other reporting.

Bezos has amassed much of his wealth from e-commerce giant Amazon, which he started in 1994 out of his garage in the Seattle area. He also founded space company Blue Origin and bought the Washington Post for $250 million.

A joint Egyptian-U.S. archaeological mission has uncovered the upper part of a huge statue of King Ramses II during excavations south of the Egyptian city of Minya, Egypt's tourism and antiquities ministry said on Monday.

The limestone block is about 3.8 metres (12.5 feet) high and depicts a seated Ramses wearing a double crown and a headdress topped with a royal cobra, Bassem Jihad, head of the mission's Egyptian team, said in a statement.

The upper part of the statue's back column shows hieroglyphic writings that glorify the king, one of ancient Egypt's most powerful pharaohs, he said.

Kerala is poised to make waves in the digital entertainment realm with the launch of CSpace, India’s inaugural government-backed OTT platform. Set to debut this Thursday, the platform aims to deliver a unique blend of informative and entertaining content tailored for the masses, an official statement said here on Tuesday.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will launch the OTT platform at Kairali Theatre on March 7 at 9.30 am. Cultural Affairs Minister Saji Cherian will preside.

“CSpace is essentially a response to the growing imbalances and multifarious challenges in the OTT sector in terms of content selection and propagation,” said Shaji N Karun, noted film director and Chairman, Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC), at a press conference here.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren will formally launch the State Widow Remarriage Promotion Scheme today. Under the scheme, an amount of Rs 2 lakh will be given to a widow who remarries.

Giving information about the scheme, the Secretary of Women and Children and Social Welfare Department, Manoj Kumar, said, "This scheme is being introduced so that widows can be brought into the mainstream and they can live with dignity...Any widow who remarries can apply for this; Within one year of her marriage...Rs 2 lakhs will be given to her..."

JM Financial share price declined over 19% in the opening trade on Wednesday after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) barred JM Financial Products Ltd from giving loans against shares and debentures citing regulatory and governance lapses. JM Financial share fell as much as 19.29% to ₹77.10 apiece on the BSE.

The banking regulator has also barred JM Financial Products from sanctioning and disbursing loans against Initial Public Offering (IPO) of shares with immediate effect.

RBI said its action was necessitated due to certain serious deficiencies observed with respect to loans sanctioned by the company for IPO financing as well as (non-convertible debenture) subscriptions.