The 5th edition of the Dhaka International Folk Festival was inaugurated on Thursday by the Information Minister of Bangladesh Dr Hasan Mahmud at a grand ceremony at Bangladesh Army Stadium. Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen was present as chief guest in the opening ceremony.

More than 200 artistes from 6 countries are be performing in the largest folk festival of Asia.

The event began with performance by artistes of Bhabna Nrityadal, a prominent dance troupe from Bangladesh. Daler Mehendi from India, Shah Alam Sarkar from Bangladesh and Georgian folk band Chveneburebi performed on the first day of the programme.

A day after being appointed as Chief Secretary, senior IAS officer Nilam Sawhney noted that she would work towards development of the state, with the mandate given by the government, giving priority to health, education, agriculture and other sectors.

The 1984-batch bureaucrat is the first woman Chief Secretary of the reorganised Andhra Pradesh.

Speaking to the media after taking over the post from Chief Commissioner of Land Administration (CCLA) and in-charge Chief Secretary Neerabh Kumar Prasad at the Secretariat on Thursday, Nilam Sawhney, who got repatriated to home cadre from Central deputation on November 11, recounted her association with the State.

Turning a new leaf over education sector, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has launched the 'Nadu-Nedu' programme which aims at transforming government schools into vibrant and competitive institutions.

The Chief Minister said that his YSRCP-led state government will overcome all the challenges and clear every hurdle as the goal to meet the requirement of what the fast-changing technology in the world expects from youth, ten years from now.

Renowned mathematician Vashishtha Narayan Singh passed away in Patna, Bihar after prolonged illness on Thursday. Unfortunately, the entire state machinery has failed to provide him with the deserved respect as his body was kept in open while the hospital denied providing an ambulance. 

The 74-year-old Vashishtha Singh was admitted at the Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH) and on Thursday he passed away. But after his death, his body was kept in the open within the hospital premises as the staff refused to provide an ambulance to the family members. 

Singh's brother was with him at the PMCH hospital and told a media person said that the hospital authorities expressed their inability to provide ambulance and that was the reason his body had to be kept in the open for an hour.

Veteran coach Arsene Wenger has been named FIFA's Chief of global football development. FIFA said, the former Arsenal and Monaco coach would be responsible for the growth of the game for both men and women around the world and would also be the leading authority on technical matters, including potential changes to the sport's laws.

It added that Wenger, 70, would also be tasked with coach education and aiding a programme designed to help former players enter management.

The new role brings Wenger back to the game for the first time since 2018, when he left Arsenal after 22 years in charge.

The 39th India International Trade Fair got underway at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi today.

The theme this year is 'Ease of Doing Business'.

Inaugurating the fair, Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Nitin Gadkari expressed happiness that the focus states this year are Jharkhand and Bihar.

He said it is really good thinking of organiser to give more priority to areas which are industrially and economically backward.

He also holds information & broadcasting, and environment, forest and climate change portfolios

Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday took charge as the Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, two days after Shiv Sena leader Arvind Sawant resigned from the Union Cabinet.

Javadekar also holds information & broadcasting, and environment, forest and climate change portfolios.

Speaking to reporters here, Javadekar said he hoped the additional charge was for a temporary period and there will be a regular arrangement in place thereafter.

Justice Muhammad Raffiq today took oath as Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court. Meghalaya Governor Tathagata Roy administered the oath of office and secrecy at Raj Bhavan in Shillong.

Mr. Raffiq succeeds Ajay Kumar Mittal who is now the Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court. He will be the eighth Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court. Justice Rafiq started his law practice in 1984. He practised exclusively in Rajasthan High Court in almost all branches of law.

He has been recognized as an expert on the Indian Constitution, service, land acquisition, tax and company law cases. In 2008, he was appointed as Justice at the Rajasthan High Court. He also served as acting Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court twice.

Preparations for the 50th IFFI gather pace in Goa; Theme song unveiled apart from several other measures that are underway to make it a grand event; 200 quality films from 76 countries will be screened during the festival.

The Information and Broadcasting ministry on Wednesday launched the official anthem and radio jingle for the golden jubilee edition of International Film Festival of India (IFFI), scheduled to take place in Goa from November 20 to 28.

The anthem, inspired by the nine 'rasas' (emotions) of the Natya Shashtra and an amalgamation of scenes from prominent movies and dance 'mudras', has been developed by noted dancer Geeta Chandran and Grammy Award-winning composer Ricky Cage. 

The audio-visuals of the anthem have been directed and produced by National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC) under the guidance of I&B Ministry and the Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF).

Every year, November 13 is celebrated as World Kindness Day. Celebrating this day is an attempt to make the world a better place with acts of kindness and pledging good deeds.

World Kindness Day was first celebrated in 1998 by The World Kindness Movement. This is an organisation formed at a 1997 Tokyo conference by the like-minded kindness organisations from around the world. In 2019, the organization was registered as an official NGO under Swiss law.

“To highlight good deeds in the community focusing on the positive power and the common thread of kindness that binds us,” is the main purpose of the World Kindness movement.