Current Affairs

Former cricketer Madhav Apte passes away

India opener for seven Test matches in the early 1950s Madhav Apte passed away at the Breach Candy Hospital on Monday morning.

He was 86 and would have turned 87 on October 5.“He lived a full life,” said his son Vaman. 

Apte scored 542 runs, that included an unbeaten 163 against the likes of Frank King, Gerry Gomez, Frank Worrell, Alf Valentine and Sonny Ramadin in the Queens Park Oval Test of 1953. 



World Boxing Championship: Amit Panghal settles with historic silver

Amit Panghal becomes first Indian male boxer to settle for silver at World Championships in 52kg category. Panghal lost 0-5 but the score line was hardly a reflection of the fight he put on against Olympic champion Shakhobidin Zoirov.

Amit Panghal settled for silver medal at World Boxing Championships after he lost to Uzbekistan's Shakhobidin Zoirov in the 52kg category final. He became the first Indian male pugilist to win a silver in World Championships.

The southpaw suffered a defeat via a unanimous decision. The second-seeded Panghal became the first Indian male boxer to finish second in the world event and the country achieved its best ever medal haul of two.



Rahul Aware wins bronze in 61 kg free-style category at World C’ship

Indian wrestler Rahul Aware has won a bronze medal in men's 61 kilogram free-style category at the World Championship in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan today.

Rahul beat 17th seeded American Tyler Lee Graff 11-4 to ensure he finished on the podium.

This, however, was not an Olympic category and thus the bronze did not help Aware qualify for the Tokyo Games.

It was India’s fifth medal at this edition of the World Championships with a total haul of 1 silver and 4 bronzes. Earlier today, Deepak Punia  in men's 86 kilogram category was forced to pull out of the final due to an injury and settled for silver.



In a fight against dengue, Delhi CM launches “Champions Campaign”

In a fight against dengue, the Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal initiated “Champions Campaign” in the National Capital. The launch of the campaign comes three weeks after he had launched mega drive against vector-borne disease dengue.

He urged the citizens of Delhi to encourage their friends to inspect their homes and surroundings on every Sunday and get rid of the stagnant water. The campaign envisages that citizens must reach out to 10 of their friends, encouraging them to check their premises for signs of dengue, said an official statement, adding further, “Such a community-driven campaign will ensure the citizens are encouraged to take initiative and responsibility for their fellow citizens.

Delhi CM tweeted, “Lakhs of Delhiites are joining the #10Hafte10Baje10Minute campaign against Dengue. This Sunday, after inspecting your home at 10am, call 10 of your friends and encourage them too to inspect their homes and be a Champion in the fight against Dengue! (sic).”



Transport Ministry issues SOP for transport-related information presented in e-form

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has issued detailed Standard Operating Procedure-SOP for acceptance of Driving License, Registration Certificate and other transport related information presented in electronic form.

According to the amended Central Motor Vehicles Rules, carrying hard copy of relevant documents is not necessary now as they can be carried in electronic form. However, it is necessary that they are available on DigiLocker or mParivahan app to be legally recognized at par with the original documents.

As per the SOP issued by the Ministry, people can download the Driving License or the Registration Certificate through these apps and store on their mobile devices. The enforcement agencies can simultaneously access these details from eChallan app, which has data for on-line verification of vehicle and its license status. Off-line verification of mParivahan QR Code is also available on this platform.



India, Mongolia sign MoUs in areas including space, disaster management & culture

India and Mongolia have exchanged documents in areas including space, disaster management and culture. Two MoUs were signed in the fields of disaster management and space cooperation in the presence of President Ram Nath Kovind and visiting Mongolian President Battulga Khaltma in New Delhi yesterday.

Other documents which were exchanged include Cultural Exchange Protocol and a Comprehensive Work Plan between Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, India and Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry of Mongolia.



Bajrang Punia wins bronze at World Wrestling Championships

Bajrang Punia on Friday won bronze at the 2019 World Wrestling Championships. Facing Mongolian Tulga Tumur Ochir, Bajrang fought back from a 6-0 deficit to win 8-7 in what turned out to be a thrilling bronze medal bout. This is the 25-year-old''s second consecutive senior Worlds medal and third overall.

Ochir started strong, taking two points in the first 15 seconds and then four more with a chest throw. Bajrang responded with a counter and earned two points and at the end of the first period, the score was 6-2 in the Mongolian''s favour.

However, Bajrang came out all guns blazing in the second period. He managed to get Ochir with a leg shot and collected six successive points to lead 8-6. Ochir got another point for step out but that was all he could manage.



Bajrang Punia, Ravi Dahiya qualify for 2020 Tokyo Olympics

Bajrang Punia and Ravi Dahiya today qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics winning their respective quarterfinal matches in World Wrestling Championships at Nur-Sultan in Kazakhstan.

However, they lost their semi-final bouts in the men's freestyle category.  

Bajrang lost the semi-final to the home wrestler Daulet Niyazbekov while  Ravi Dahiya lost his match to reigning world champion Zaur Uguev from Russia.

Vinesh Phogat had already booked an Olympic quota for India in women's 53 kilogram yesterday.



Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana crosses one crore beneficiaries

Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) has achieved a significant milestone by crossing one crore beneficiaries. The PMMVY is a direct benefit transfer scheme under which cash benefits are provided to pregnant women in their bank account directly to meet enhanced nutritional needs and partially compensate for wage loss. Women and Child Development Ministry said, the total amount disbursed to the beneficiaries under the scheme has crossed four thousand crore rupees.

The scheme, under which the beneficiaries receive a cash benefit of five thousand rupees in three installments, was launched on 1st of January in 2017. They eligible beneficiaries also receive cash incentive under Janani Suraksha Yojana. On an average, a woman gets six thousand rupees.



Google announces new AI research lab in India

Google on Thursday announced Google Research India, an artificial intelligence (AI)-based research lab out of Bengaluru. “We look forward to engaging with everything from academic institutions, to government to the industry and startup ecosystem in the country in the field of AI," said Jay Yagnik, vice president and engineering fellow.

The Indian AI lab will be led by Dr. Manish Gupta, a renowned computer scientist in the country and an ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) fellow. “We are making a long term commitment and this will be one of our large investments," Yagnik said, though he didn’t confirm how many people will be employed at the AI research lab in India.