Bollywood film producer and father of filmmaker Sooraj Barjatya, Rajkumar Barjatya, has passed away in Mumbai. The news was tweeted by his production house Rajshri Films’ official handle. He is survived by son Sooraj and wife Sudha.

Associated with some of the biggest hits in the history of Hindi films, Rajkumar Barjatya inherited the baton of Rajshri Films from his father Tarachand Barjatya and passed it on to son Sooraj. Films like Prem Ratan Dhan Paayo (2015), Hum Saath Saath Hain (1999), Hum Aapke Hain Koun (1994) and Maine Pyar Kiya (1989) are among some of the ventures he produced. 

The Supreme Court Thursday appointed its former judge, Justice D K Jain as the first ombudsman for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

A bench comprising Justices S A Bobde and A M Sapre said: "We are happy that by consent of the parties and the suggestions, the name of retired Justice D K Jain has been agreed to be appointed as the ombudsman in the BCCI.

"We accordingly appoint Justice (retired) D K Jain as first ombudsman in the BCCI

Shares of public sector banks (PSBs) jumped up to 19 per cent on Thursday after the finance ministry announced infusion of Rs 48,239 crore in 12 such lenders in this fiscal to help them maintain regulatory capital requirements and finance growth plans.

Corporation Bank zoomed 18.82 per cent, United Bank 14.88 per cent, UCO Bank 13.70 per cent, Bank of Maharashtra 10.84 per cent, Allahabad Bank by 10 per cent, Central Bank of India 10 per cent and Indian Overseas Bank 9.84 per cent on BSE. 

Andhra Bank jumped 8.76 per cent, Punjab National Bank 7.94 per cent, Syndicate Bank 6 per cent, Bank of India 5.13 per cent and Union Bank of India gained 4.96 per cent.

Corporation Bank is the biggest beneficiary of this round of capital infusion with Rs 9,086 crore of funding, followed by Allahabad Bank with Rs 6,896 crore.

Further, Rs 4,638 crore and Rs 205 crore will be provided to Bank of India and Bank of Maharashtra, respectively.

Punjab National Bank will get Rs 5,908 crore, Union Bank of India Rs 4,112 crore, Andhra Bank Rs 3,256 crore and Syndicate Bank Rs 1,603 crore.

Saudi Arabia will invest 100 billion dollars in India in range of areas including energy, refining, petrochemicals, infrastructure, agriculture and manufacturing. 

Briefing media Wednesday in New Delhi on the visit of Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs T S Tirumurti said, it is a clear reflection of the confidence of Saudi Arabia in the vibrancy of Indian economy and the tremendous opportunities available in India for investment. 

He said, the two sides expressed satisfaction at the positive trend in the bilateral ties and stressed on the need to tap the untapped potential in trade particularly in Non-Oil trade. 

Mr Tirumurti said, the two leaders condemned in the strongest terms the recent terror attack in Pulwama. He said, the complicity of Pakistan in Pulwama terror attack was very much underlined during talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Crown Prince. 

He said, both leaders called on all states to reject the use of terrorism against other countries, dismantle terrorist infrastructure, cut off any kind of support and financing to terrorists and bring perpetrators to justice. 

Both leaders called upon all countries to renounce the use of terrorism as an instrument of state policy. 

He said, the Prime Minister and Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud underlined the importance of comprehensive sanctioning of terrorists and terror organisations by the United Nations.

International Mother Language Day is being celebrated today. The day is observed on the 21st of February every year to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. 

Since 2019 is also the International Year of Indigenous Languages, the theme of this year’s Mother Language Day is Indigenous Languages as a factor in development, peace and reconciliation. 

At least 43 per cent of the estimated 6000 languages spoken in the world are endangered. Only a few hundred languages have genuinely been given a place in education systems and the public domain. According to UN data, a language disappears every two weeks taking with it an entire cultural and intellectual heritage.

Vice President Venkaiah Naidu today urged the people of the country to speak in their mother languages in order to enrich different languages. In his message on the occasion of International Mother Language Day, he said only the mother tongue allows people to truly express their feelings. Mr Naidu said a language expresses the creative experience of generations and hence, the degradation of a language is a loss of heritage.

Union Minister for Science and Technology Dr Harsh Vardhan will visit the Aero India show in Bengaluru today. He will witness the finale of the Drone Olympics and present awards to the winners. Around 58 teams from India, Germany, Israel, UK and Ukraine contested in the Olympics. The finals will be held at the Air Force base in the city today. 

Addressing a seminar on Indian Aerospace yesterday Defence Minister Nirmala Sitaraman announced that three dedicated ideation groups will be set up. The groups will promote sustained interaction with the trade and industry on aircraft Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul sector, Defence R&D and Drones. 

Memorandum of Understanding was signed by a Russian Helicopter company yesterday with Indian companies to explore the production of assemblies and components for Ka-226T helicopter under the Make in India programme. 

President Ram Nath Kovind will be on a two-day visit to Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh today. In Tamil Nadu, Mr Kovind will unveil the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at the Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha in Chennai. 

The President will attend the 18th-anniversary celebrations of the Swarna Bharat Trust at Venkatachalam in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh tomorrow. He will also visit Akshara Vidyalaya in Venkatachalam.

Saudi Arabis' Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on February 20 ordered the release of 850 Indian prisoners lodged in his country's jails on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's request as the two leaders held extensive talks here, according to the Ministry of External Affairs.

After the talks, it was also announced that India has decided to extend e-Visa facility to Saudi nationals.

In an important development, Saudi Arabia also joined the International Solar Alliance, a move welcomed by the prime minister, MEA officials said.

Eight-time world champion Nicol David has announced she will retire at the end of the 2018-19 squash season, bringing down the curtain on the Malaysian's illustrious career.

The 35-year-old is the most successful woman squash player of all time and spent an unprecedented nine years as world number one between 2006-2015.

David said she had thought long and hard about calling it a day.

"This decision has been thought through for quite some time and I do know that this is my last season," David said in a statement posted late Monday on the website of the Professional Squash Association, the sport's governing body.

"My mind and body have battled it out to stay at the very top of my game for such a long time that I feel that I only have this last big push left for the final season to give it all I have before I enter the next phase of my life."

Noted Hindi writer Namvar Singh passed away in New Delhi last night. He was 92. Prof. Namvar Singh was ill for some time and was being treated at All India Institute of Medical Sciences. 

His last rites will be performed in Delhi today. Born on 28th July, 1926 in a village in Varanasi, Singh was the first chairman of JNU's Centre of Indian Languages. 

He has authored over dozen books including 'Kavita Ke Naye Pratiman', 'Chhayavad' and 'Dusri Parampara Ki Khoj' among others. He received Sahitya Academy Award for literary criticism in 1971 for 'Kavita Ke Naye Pratiman'. 

He had also unsuccessfully contested Lok Sabha election as a candidate of Communist Party of India in 1959 from Chandauli in Uttar Pradesh.