Maharashtra government will appoint a Lokpal in all universities except agricultural universities to resolve student grievances. 

Education Minister Vinod Tawde yesterday said the appointment of the students' ombudsman would be made in the next two to three months. He said Maharashtra would be the first state in the country to have such a Lokpal for universities. 

The Lokpal will be a person related to the university and someone not below the rank of the retired district judge or a retired vice-chancellor.  He said Maharashtra would be the first state in the country to have such a Lokpal for universities.

India's star wrestler Bajrang Punia has won the gold medal at the Dan Kolov-Nikola Petrov tournament in Ruse, Bulgaria and dedicated the victory to Indian Air Force (IAF) Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman.

Punia, a World Championship silver medallist, overpowered Jordan Oliver of USA 12-3 in the 65kg freestyle final to begin the season on a resounding note in the Bulgarian city. The Indian also secured the maximum ranking points from the tournament.

"I want to dedicate my gold to Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. He has inspired me. I want to meet him one day and also shake hands with him," Punia tweeted after his victory. 

Punia, who bagged the top prize at the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games last year, has won four gold medals and one silver in the last five tournaments.

This was Punia's 10th medal in as many international tournaments since failing to finish at the podium in the 2017 World Championships in Paris.

In the men's freestyle events, Sandeep Tomar had to be content with a silver in 61kg.

India may add to their gold tally as Vinesh Phogat is scheduled to play her final in the 53kg against China's Qianyu Pang of China. Vinesh beat World Championships silver medallist Sarah Hildebrandt in the semifinals on Saturday. This is Vinesh's first tournament since moving to 53kg from 50kg.

President Ram Nath Kovind has given his assent to an ordinance that allows voluntary use of Aadhaar as ID proof for obtaining mobile SIM cards and opening bank accounts.

The ordinance — necessitated because the Rajya Sabha could not approve a Bill after its passage by the Lok Sabha — was promulgated on Saturday.

Last week, the Cabinet approved the promulgation of an ordinance to give effect to changes proposed in Aadhaar and two others legislations. The amendments provide for stiff penalties for violation of norms set for the use of Aadhaar and violation of privacy.

It bans storing of core biometric information as well as Aadhaar number by service providers in cases of individuals who have voluntarily offered the national ID as a means of authentication. The ordinance gives effect to the changes in the Aadhaar Act such as giving a child an option to exit from the biometric ID programme on attaining 18 years of age.

The amendments make it clear that anyone not offering Aadhaar cannot be denied any service, be it opening of a bank account or obtaining a mobile phone SIM card.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a two-day visit to Gujarat from today. During the visit, the Prime Minister will dedicate, inaugurate and lay foundation stones of series of development projects. Mr. Modi will inaugurate the first phase of the Metro Rail Project in Ahmedabad. He will also lay the foundation stone of Phase-2 of the Metro. 

An official release said, the Metro Projects will not only add to connectivity, but also reduce travel time, and enhance the ease of living substantially in the urban areas. 

The Prime Minister will also dedicate to nation various hospitals built in Ahmedabad region. They are Women Children & Super Specialty Hospital, Cancer Hospital, Eye Hospital and Dental Hospital. These hospitals will be a tremendous boost to the health care sector in Ahmedabad. Mr. Modi will distribute Golden Cards to select beneficiaries of PM-JAY- Ayushman Bharat scheme.

The Prime Minister will also will also flag off Bandra- Jamnagar Humsafar Express through video link. He will also lay the foundation stone of Rajkot-Kanalus Railway Line doubling project. The Prime Minister will also hand over keys of 448 houses and 1008 flats to the beneficiaries constructed by Jamnagar Area Development Authority. Prime Minister will address the gathering at the venue.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will release a book titled ‘Mann Ki Baat - A Social Revolution on Radio’ in New Delhi today. The Book is a compendium encompassing 50 editions of the ‘Mann Ki Baat’ by Prime Minister Narendra Modi over All India Radio.

Air Marshal Raghunath Nambiar, who played a prominent role in the Kargil Operations has taken over as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Western Air Command of the Indian Air Force. The Air Marshal  is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and was commissioned in the Flying Branch of the Air Force as a Fighter Pilot in June 1981. 

The Air Marshal reviewed a ceremonial Guard of Honour yesterday and outlined his vision for the Western Air Command. He exhorted all personnel to work with zeal and enthusiasm so as to enable Western Air Command to fulfil the objectives of the IAF and the nation at large.

The Air Marshal is an Experimental Test Pilot and has flown about 42 types of aircraft. He has the distinction of having the highest number of flying hours to his credit on Mirage-2000 in the Air Force. 
 

Union minister for road transport and highways, Nitin Gadkari, laid foundation stone for the six lane, access controlled National Highway that will act as interchange for Delhi-Mumbai expressway.

"Work on the highway will begin within two months and the entire project will be completed in two years' time" Gadkari said, adding that projects worth Rs 5,000 crore are being implemented to decongest the national capital, including 3 km signal free corridor from Dhaula – Kuan to Airport (Rs 280 crore), 22 km elevated corridor on Gurugram-Sohna Road (Rs 2,000 crore), 8-lane Delhi-Panipat highway on NH-1 (Rs 2300 crore), 29 km long Dwarka Expressway (Rs 9,500 crore) and remaining part of Delhi-Meerut Expressway (Rs 5,900 Crore) among other projects.

The project will be 59 kilometers long and will start at ring road-DND junction in Delhi and will pass through Kalindi bypass and Faridabad-Ballabhgarh bypass to finish at the interchange of Delhi-Mumbai Expressway at KMP.

The Rs 3,580 crore project is expected to reduce vehicular pollution by "decongesting Delhi with at Ashram-Badarpur-Faridabad-Ballabhgarh region".

President Ram Nath Kovind issued an order extending the benefits of reservation to economically backward sections in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday night.

A notification in this regard was issued after a meeting of the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, took a decision on Thursday to issue the order, a Home Ministry official said.

With this, the 10 per cent reservation for economically weaker sections has been made applicable in Jammu and Kashmir also.

This would pave the way for reserving state government jobs to the youth of Jammu and Kashmir who are from economically weaker sections belonging to any religion or caste, the official said.

Ten per cent reservation to economically weaker sections was introduced in the rest of the country through the 103rd Constitutional Amendment in January 2019.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Construction Technology India-2019 Expo-cum-Conference in New Delhi this morning. Our correspondent reports that technology providers, researchers, start-ups, developers, academia, public sector agencies and other domain experts will participate in the two-day event. 

The Construction Technology India Conference will provide avenues for stakeholders to open up new areas for collaboration and facilitate conversion of ideas into market-ready products. Proven technologies which are identified during CTI - 2019 will be further invited to design and build lighthouse projects of nearly one thousand housing units each in Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh.The conference will also identify innovative and globally established technologies for use in the Indian context.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the government is committed for welfare of farmers and fishermen. A separate department is being set up with 7,500 crore rupees for fulfilling the various needs of fishermen. 

Speaking at a public meeting in Visakhapatnam last evening, Mr Modi said assistance for buying fishing related tools and other infrastructure will be provided to the fishing community. Explaining other welfare measures taken up by his government, the Prime Minister said that health insurance up to five lacs is provided under the Ayushman Bharath, zero percentage tax to those who have five lakhs annual income and affordable houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

Expressing the NDA government’s commitment for the welfare of the Andhra Pradesh, Mr Modi said long pending demand for separate South Coast Railway Zone has been fulfilled, which will facilitate people and trade of the region.