Sports entrepreneur Vita Dani has become the first Indian to be inducted as a governing board member of the International Table Tennis Federation's (ITTF) Foundation. The Foundation was established in 2018 by the ITTF to attract more people to the sport.

Commenting on her new role, Vita said, “It is a great feeling to be inducted into an organisation that aligns perfectly with my vision for the growth of table tennis and its impact on the community.

"Table tennis is a sport that anybody can play. It has great mental and physical benefits, and our aim is to spread that message and make the game accessible to everyone.”

ITTF and ITTF Foundation President Petra Sorling said, “I am delighted to welcome Ms Vita Dani to the ITTF family as a new member of the ITTF Foundation Governing Board. Her passion for growing our sport and using it as a catalyst for development makes her a valuable member."

The sixth edition of the Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize was awarded to poet-critic Sukrita Paul Kumar for her book, 'Salt & Pepper: Selected Poems'. An amount of USD 5,000, a Tagore statue and a certificate for contribution to literature was given to Kumar at the award ceremony on Monday.

"Receiving the sixth Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize is a deeply humbling experience. This recognition not only validates my artistic journey but also emphasizes the universality of storytelling in connecting diverse cultures. I am profoundly thankful for this acknowledgement," said the 74-year-old poet.

India's new High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Santosh Jha has assumed charge and presented his credentials to President Ranil Wickremesinghe in Colombo on Friday. Jha replaces Gopal Baglay, who has been appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to Australia.

Jha, a senior diplomat, was India's Ambassador to the European Union, Belgium & Luxembourg before taking up his assignment in Colombo.

He has earlier served as Ambassador of India to Uzbekistan from 2019-2020 and as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the Indian Embassy in Washington DC from 2017-2019.

NASA may look like a space agency that just keeps its lenses pointed at the sky to click pictures of distant galaxies. But the agency keeps on testing and developing new engines and space vehicles. And it successfully tested a 3D-printed engine on Wednesday (Dec 20). The innovation system of propulsion is called the Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine (RDRE).

'In fall 2023' as NASA put it, the RDRE was tested at the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The engine successfully completed a 251-second 'hot fire test,' said NASA. The engine generated more than 5800 pounds of thrust.

Renowned women’s rights activist Dr V Mohini Giri died Tuesday following a brief illness. She was 86.

Dr Giri was the former Chair of the National Commission for Women (NCW) (1995–1998) and of the Central Social Welfare Board. She was also the Chairperson of the Guild of Service, a New Delhi–based social service organisation, which provides advocacy for women’s and children’s rights for education, employment, and financial security.

She founded the War Widows Association in 1972. For her efforts in the field of women’s rights, she was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2007.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has been awarded the prestigious Leif Erikson Lunar Prize by the Husavik Museum in recognition of the space agency's unwavering commitment and significant contributions to lunar exploration.

The award celebrates Isro's successful Chandrayaan-3 mission, which has played a pivotal role in enhancing our understanding of celestial mysteries.

Chandrayaan-3, India's latest lunar mission, marked a historic achievement as it successfully landed near the Moon's South Pole on August 23, 2023, making India the first country to accomplish this feat.

The state government will host a pre-Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit seminar on chemicals and petrochemicals in Bharuch on Saturday, Additional Chief Secretary to the chief minister, Pankaj Joshi, told mediapersons on Thursday in Gandhinagar.

This comes ahead of the three-day Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, scheduled to begin on January 10 in Gandhinagar.

The seminar, centered around the theme ‘FutureChem Gujarat: Shaping Tomorrow’s Chemicals and Petrochemicals Industry’, aims to bring together policymakers, practitioners, academics and industry experts from around the world to formulate a roadmap for the future of sustainable chemicals and petrochemicals industry.

AP Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy formally launched the distribution of tabs to Class VIII students at Chintapalli on Thursday.

The distribution of tabs, worth ₹620 crore to 4,34,285 students, will take place for the next ten days across the State and MLAs, school teachers and Education Department officials will oversee the distribution in every mandal.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said each tab is worth ₹33,000 including Byju’s content worth ₹15,500 and reiterated that investment on education is productive investment on future human resources.

The Sabarmati Multi-Modal Transit Hub building in Gujarat's Ahmedabad has installed a 700 kWp (kilowatt peak) solar power plant under the Renewable Energy Service Company (RESCO) mode.

The Sabarmati hub is a multi-modal transit building that will provide seamless connectivity to other modes of transport like railway station, metro, BRT and road transport with HSR system, a press release said on Thursday.

The National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL), the company that is executing the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor, has become the first entity in the state of Gujarat to secure approval for Net-Metering in RESCO mode and received registration from the Gujarat Energy Development Agency (GEDA).

India’s Hardik Singh and Savita won the 2023 FIH Players of the Year and FIH Goalkeeper of the year award, announced the International Hockey Federation on Tuesday.

Following a vote by an Expert Panel, National Associations - represented by their respective national teams’ captains and coaches - fans and media, Xan de Waard (Netherlands) also won the FIH Players of the Year.

While Dutch goalkeeper Pirmin Blaak also won the FIH Goalkeepers of the Year award, the awards for FIH Rising Stars went to Teresa Lima (ESP) and Gaspard Xavier (FRA).