Current Affairs

Nar Singh, Rohini Lokhande win Dilip Bose lifetime achievement award

The All India Tennis Association (AITA) has announced the Dilip Bose award for lifetime achievement to coach Nar Singh. The award along with a cash prize of Rs.50,000 will be presented during the 11th National coaches workshop to be held at the PYC Hindu Gymkhana in Pune on June 7 and 8.

The secretary general of AITA, Anil Dhupar, announced a new lifetime achievement award for women coaches. The first award would be presented to the 69-year-old Rohini Lokhande who was a member of the national team along with Kiran Bedi, Nirupama Mankad, Susan Das and Udaya Kumar, before she took to coaching at a young age.

Rohini was the first woman tennis coach to qualify from the National Institute of Sports. She has trained thousands of players in different age groups and has helped many to qualify as coaches.



India, Qatar Hold First Meeting Of Joint Task Force On Investment In New Delhi

In line with the vision of strengthening investment cooperation between India and Qatar, the first meeting of the Joint Task Force on Investment (JTFI) between the two nations was convened on Thursday (6th June 2024) in New Delhi. The Joint Task Force was co-chaired by Department of Economic Affairs, Secretary, Ajay Seth and the Undersecretary of Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of Qatar Mohamed bin Hassen Al-Malki.

In the spirit of fostering mutual growth and prosperity, the Joint Task Force on investment has reaffirmed the commitment of both the nations to strengthen bilateral relations and to leverage the collective potential for accelerated growth, investment opportunities and synergistic collaboration across diverse sectors ranging from infrastructure, energy to technology and innovation. The JTFI has underscored the significance of the robust economic relationship between India and Qatar rooted in shared values common objectives and a shared vision for inclusive development.



UP govt agrees to raise ?80cr for 2025 edition of MotoGP Bharat

The Uttar Pradesh government officials said the state will sign a contract with Spain headquartered Dorna Sports and its Indian partner, Fairstreet Sports, to organise MotoGP event in Noida next year, and will keep organising the annual event till 2029.

In order to organise the event through its Invest UP department, the state government will raise ₹80 crore to cover Dorna Sports’ one-year licensing fee, officials said.

To be sure, the government has decided to arrange ₹80 crore even as Fairstreet Sports is facing allegations of fund embezzlement in organising the 2023 MotoGP event in Greater Noida’s Formula One Circuit.



Iga Swiatek wins her third consecutive French Open women’s title by defeating Jasmine Paolini

For a few minutes, anyway, it seemed as if Iga Swiatek was a bit off in the French Open final against Jasmine Paolini. Swiatek kept making mistakes early Saturday, got broken in the third game and trailed at Court Philippe Chatrier.

Might a true surprise be in the offing? Could Paolini not only make a match of this, but actually win it? Um, no. Not even close. Not with the way Swiatek can dominate opponents, especially on red clay.

The top-seeded Swiatek quickly recalibrated her wayward strokes and simply overwhelmed Paolini, grabbing 10 games in a row en route to a 6-2, 6-1 victory that gave her a third consecutive championship at Roland Garros and fourth in five years.



Puja Tomar Becomes 1st Indian to Win a Bout in UFC

Indian strawweight Puja Tomar became the first ever Indian to win a bout in the UFC as she defeated Brazil’s Rayanne Amanda dos Santos via split decision at the UFC Louisville on Saturday.

Puja Tomar beat Rayanne Amanda dos Santos 30-27, 30-27, 29-28.

Tomar who hails from Uttar Pradesh, faced Rayanne dos Santos at strawweight in the very first bout of the card. Tomar and dos Santos went all three rounds: 15 minutes of gruelling, fast-paced back-and-forth action. Santos used her height advantage and range to dictate the action, but Tomar went kicking and screaming to the final bell, causing damage in the process. When the scorecards were read, Tomar picked up a split decision win (30-27, 27-30, 29-28).



World Para Athlete Grand Prix: Saurabh Sharma Strikes Twin Gold in Switzerland

Saurabh Sharma, an athlete from Himachal Pradesh’s Hamirpur district, has won two gold medals in the ongoing World Para Athlete Grand Prix in the Nottwil city of Switzerland.

Sharma emerged victorious in 155-metre and 5000-metre races.

Sharma, who hails from Ropa Khayah village of Nadaun area in Hamirpur district, is representing the Indian team in the T12 category. This championship, which started on June 6, will conclude on June 9.

He had earlier won seven gold medals at the national level.



Modi oath-taking ceremony highlights: Narendra Modi takes oath for third consecutive term as PM

Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi took oath today for a third straight term as the head of a coalition government after two full tenures in which the BJP enjoyed a majority on its own. Mr. Modi, 73, equalled the feat of the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who won in the 1952, 1957 and 1962 general elections. After Mr. Modi, Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari were among 35 other Cabinet Ministers who took oath on Sunday. 36 Ministers of State, and five Ministers of State (independent charge) also took oath of office. Click here for the full list of Ministers.

Rewarding the BJP’s coalition partners, Mr. Modi has inducted several MPs from the NDA partners. Two MPs each from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the BJP in Andhra Pradesh, where the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won 21 out of 25 Lok Sabha seats, took oath. Several leaders, including TDP’s Ram Mohan Naidu, Pemmasani Chandrashekhar, JD(S)‘s H.D. Kumaraswamy, BJP’s Sarbananda Sonowal have been inducted into the Cabinet.



18th Mumbai International Film Festival to be held in Mumbai

The 18th edition of the Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) will be held in Mumbai from June 15 to 21, Union Information and Broadcasting Secretary Sanjay Jaju announced on Friday.

Addressing a press conference here at the National Media Centre, Jaju said the film gala, which showcases non-feature films (documentary, short Fiction and animation) will be at the FD-NFDC Complex in Mumbai.

Besides, MIFF screenings will also be held in Delhi at Sirifort Auditorium, Chennai at Tagore Film Centre, Pune at NFAI auditorium and Kolkata at SRFTI Auditorium.



ISSF Munich World Cup: Sift wins bronze in women’s 50m rifle 3P event

Asian Games gold medallist Sift Kaur Samra shot the bronze in women’s rifle 3-position event in the World Cup which concluded in Munich, Germany, on Friday.

Sift missed the chance to win the silver medal by 0.1 point to Han Jiayu of China who had shot a world record equalling 596 in qualification.

The eventual gold medallist Seonaid Mcintosh of Britain was far too ahead to catch as she won with a 5.1 point margin.

In men’s rifle 3-position final, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar finished eighth.

In mixed air pistol, Rhythm Sangwan and Sarabjot Singh (573) and the other pair of Surbhi Rao and Arjun Singh Cheema (572) placed 14th and 18th respectively.

India was joint third with France with one gold and one bronze. China topped with four gold, four silver and three bronze medals. Norway won a gold, silver and bronze for the second place.



Portugal to use golden visa scheme to help migrants, build affordable homes

Portugal plans to adapt its golden visa scheme to allow wealthy foreigners seeking residency rights to invest in affordable housing for locals or accommodation for migrants, the cabinet affairs minister told Reuters on Tuesday.

Antonio Leitao Amaro said the scheme – called a “solidarity visa” – would complement an existing programme, which since 2012 has offered non-EU nationals who invest in Portugal the right to live in the country.

The golden visa scheme has attracted more 7.3 billion euros ($7.94 billion) of funds since its launch. But critics say it has also exacerbated a housing crisis and it has undergone several changes in recent years.