India and the United States yesterday finalized defence deals worth three billion dollars and signed three agreements, including in health and oil sectors. 

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed on mental health between the health departments of both the two countries. 

Another MoU on the safety of medical products was signed between the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization with the US Food and Drug Administration.

A Letter of Cooperation was signed between Indian Oil Corporation Limited and Exxon Mobil India LNG Limited and Chart Industries Inc, US. 

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned an amount of 400.64 crore rupees to UT of J&K during the current financial year for giving boost to the infrastructure in the rural areas. The funding is a part of the NABARD’s ‘Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) - Trench XXV’ which aims at augmenting rural infrastructure.

"The Bank has sanctioned 209.87 crore rupees for construction of 82 rural roads and 03 bridges earlier this year. A road length of 291 kms will be constructed benefiting 9.15 lakh people in 19 districts of UT of J&K. The construction of roads and bridges would provide all weather improved connectivity to 461 remote villages. An amount of 143.66 crore rupees has been sanctioned for implementation of 38 water supply schemes.  The schemes will benefit over 3.54 lakh people across 86 villages in 17 districts of UT of J&K.  Similarly, the Bank has sanctioned an amount of 47.11 crore rupees towards improving the Animal and Sheep Husbandry sectors.

Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad has resigned in a surprise move that could unravel the ruling coalition.

The resignation of Mr Mahathir, 94, comes amid rumours that he may form a new coalition without his designated successor, Anwar Ibrahim.

The world's oldest elected leader returned to power in 2018.

In a surprise victory, he ousted then-prime minister Najib Razak, who is on trial charged with taking millions of dollars from a government wealth fund.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has banned Oman player Yousuf Abdulrahim Al Balushi from all forms of cricket for seven years for his involvement in trying to fix matches. Al Balushi accepted four charges of breaching the ICC Anti-Corruption Code. The charges are all related to the ICC men's T20 World Cup Qualifiers 2019 held in the United Arab Emirates.

According to an ICC statement, Al Balushi breached Article 2.1.1 of the Anti-Corruption Code - being party to an agreement or effort to fix or contrive in any way the result, progress, conduct or any other aspect of matches. Besides, he also breached Article 2.1.4, Article 2.4.4 and Article 2.4.7 -- all relating to corrupt practices.

Under the provisions of the code, Al Balushi chose to admit the charges and agreed on the sanction with the ICC in lieu of an Anti-Corruption Tribunal hearing.

During a speech at the Namaste Trump event, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump lavished praise on each other and vowed to a better future for people of the two democracies.

Describing India and the US as natural partners, Prime Minister Modi called Mr Trump a special friend of India. Mr Modi said his visit to India has created a new history in Indo-US relations. Prime Minister also asserted that new India has brought many new opportunities for a resurgent America.

The first anniversary of the iconic National War Memorial is being observed today. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in a tweet said that, this War Memorial is a tribute to those fallen soldiers who made supreme sacrifices in the line of duty. He affirmed that India will always remain indebted to their service and sacrifice.

The memorial is a fitting tribute to those heroes who sacrificed their lives in the line of duty during various wars and internal security challenges since Independence. The monument was dedicated to the nation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 25th February last year. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Modi had said, the memorial was built in the memory of those who had laid down their lives for the country.

AIR correspondent reports that a ceremony will be held at war memorial today to mark the first anniversary. Chief of the Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and veterans from the three services will lay wreaths and pay homage to the fallen soldiers.

At the Khelo India University Games (KIUG) in Odisha, the University of Mumbai's twin-sisters Jyoti and Aarti bagged four medals yesterday.

On the opening day of the swimming events at the KIUG yesterday, the twin sisters ended up on the podium in the 200m breaststroke, Jyoti winning a gold and Aarti a bronze, the duo also helped the University of Mumbai to clinch a bronze in the 4x200m freestyle relay.

Meanwhile, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar ended the fourth day of the Games on top with 11 medals, including six gold. Panjab University, Chandigarh gave a tough competition by winning 16 medals with 5 gold. Jain University, Karnataka is in the third spot with 7 medals including 4 gold.

NITI Aayog is organizing Sustainable Development Goals Conclave 2020: Partnerships, Cooperation and Development of North Eastern states- in Guwahati, Assam, from Monday.  The inaugural session will be held on Monday evening in presence all Chief Ministers of North Eastern states among others.

The three-day event will see representations from the North Eastern states, Central Ministries, academia, civil society and international development organizations. Following the inaugural session, the technical sessions would include SDG localization in the North East, economic prosperity and sustainable livelihoods, climate adaptive agriculture, health and nutrition among others. 

NITI Aayog has the mandate of overseeing the adoption and monitoring of SDGs at the national and sub-national level. Progress in the northeast region is crucial in this decade of action for the country to achieve the SDGs by 2030. This conclave is part of the NITI Aayog’s continuous efforts towards fostering partnerships at the sub-national level.

In Chess, India's 13-year old Grandmaster D Gukesh emerged champion in the 34th Cannes Open in France. Gukesh defeated Harutyun Bargseghyan of the host nation in the final round to end with 7.5 points. Gukesh, who last year became the world's second youngest Grandmaster ever, beat the Frenchman in 50 moves to emerge clear winner on Saturday.

The Tamil Nadu player had last week won his first open tournament, bagging top honors in the Hillerod 110th Anniversary Open event in Denmark.
He remained unbeaten in the tournament and posted wins over top-seeded Chongsheng Zeng of China and Bargseghyan among others.

US President Donald Trump will arrive in Ahmedabad today on a two-day visit to India. He will be accompanied by his wife Melania, daughter Ivanka, son-in-law Jared Kushner and top brass of his administration. In Ahmedabad, he will visit Sabarmati Ashram and take part in a roadshow with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two leaders will jointly address over one lakh people at the Namaste Trump event at Motera cricket stadium.

A cultural extravaganza will be organised at the stadium during the Namaste Trump event. AIR correspondent reports that the US president along with PM Modi will participate in roadshows on his way from the airport to Sabarmati Ashram and from there to the newly-built Motera stadium. Huge billboards of the two leaders and replicas of historic places in Gujarat have placed along the roads where people will greet the two leaders.

Dance groups and singers from different parts of the country will perform on stages that are dotting the 22-km route of the the roadshow. Bollywood singers Kailash Kher and Parthiv Gohil, and Gujarati folk singers like Kirtidan Gadhvi, Gita Rabari, Purushottam Upadhyay and Sairam Dave will perform at the Motera cricket stadium.