Search operation continued last night to find out the IAF's AN-32 transport aircraft missing since yesterday afternoon after taking off from Assam's Jorhat with 13 people onboard. 

The aircraft lost contact with ground agencies after taking off from Jorhat airbase at 12:25 PM. Indian Air Force has deployed Sukhoi-30 combat aircraft and C-130 Special Ops aircraft on the search mission for locating the missing Aircraft that last contacted ground sources at 1 PM.

AIR correspondent reports that C-130, AN-32 aircraft, two Mi-17 of IAF and Indian Army ALH helicopters were launched to locate the missing aircraft. Some ground reports were received on possible location of a crash site. 

Helicopters were routed to the location, however, no wreckage has been sighted so far. 

The Kasturirangan committee has revised the Draft New National Education Policy and effected some changes in the three-language formula. 

The committee yesterday informed the government that there had been an inadvertent error in the draft submitted for public feedback. 

The committee said the revised draft has now been uploaded for feedback from states and public for a period of 30 days. 

The government has clarified that the draft was recommendatory and has been revised to say the students be given flexibility over choice of language under the three-language model in the schools. In the revised draft thee choice of available languages has been left to the state boards.

ONGC, India's top oil and gas producer, has toppled Indian Oil Corp (IOC) to regain crown of being the country's most profitable public sector company. According to earnings statements of the listed companies, Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) reported a 34 per cent jump in its 2018-19 fiscal net profit to 26,716 crore rupees.

In comparison, IOC registered a net profit of 17,274 crore rupees for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2019. ONGC, in the previous two financial years, had lost the most profitable PSU tag to IOC.

With its refining margins under pressure due to falling oil prices, IOC had also lost the title of being India's largest company by turnover tag to billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries in FY19.

Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa has left for Sweden tonight on a four day official visit. 

He will visit various operational and training units as well as interact with senior functionaries of the Swedish Air Force amongst others. 

The visit would provide an impetus towards defence cooperation and pave the way for greater interaction and cooperation between the Air Forces. 

This would also strengthen relationships and enable engagement in productive exchanges between the two Air Forces.

Conservative businessman Nayib Bukele took office Saturday as president of El Salvador, tasked with turning around grinding poverty and rampant gang violence that are sending thousands fleeing to the United States.

Bukele was sworn in by the speaker of the National Assembly in a square in downtown San Salvador, as a large, boisterous crowd applauded and shouted "We did it!" The telegenic Bukele, 37, was elected in February to succeed Salvador Sanchez Ceren, a leftist former guerrilla who maintained close relations with his Nicaraguan and Venezuelan counterparts.

Bukele has said he will seek closer ties with the United States, home to 2.5 million Salvadorans.

With only 6.6 million people living in the small Central American country, its fortunes are closely linked to the United States which nearly a third of its citizens call home.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will visit Siachen Glacier today to review the security situation along the borders with Pakistan. Mr Singh will be accompanied by Army Chief General Bipin Rawat. Defence Minister will also be given detailed presentations on functioning of 14 Corps and 15 Corps including the Army's overall preparedness.
 
The Army's 14 Corps guards the Line of Actual Control with China as well as the Line of Control with Pakistan. The Srinagar-based 15 Corps is mainly tasked with carrying out anti-terror operations in the Kashmir valley. 

AIR correspondent reports that during his visit, Mr Rajnath Singh will  interact with the soldiers and officers to know about the issues faced by them during their deployment on the world's highest military posts. He will also lay a wreath at the Siachen war memorial.

Apart from hiking the scholarship amount, now the ambit of the Scholarship Scheme is extended to the wards of State Police officials who are or were martyred during terror or Naxal attacks.

The quota of new scholarships for children of state police officials will be 500 in a year. The rates of scholarship have also been increased from Rs. 2000 per month to Rs. 2500 per month for boys and from Rs. 2250 per month to Rs. 3000 per month for girls.

Under the scheme, every year new scholarships are given for 5500 wards of armed forces controlled by Ministry of Defence, for 2000 wards of paramilitary forces controlled by Ministry of Home Affairs and for 150 wards of forces controlled by Ministry of Railways.

Under National Defence Fund, the major scheme - Prime Minister’s Scholarship Scheme is being implemented to encourage technical and post-graduate education for the widows and wards of the deceased/ex-service personnel of Armed Forces and Para Military Forces and Railway Protection Force.

Indian-origin Anita Bhatia has been the Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) for Resource Management, Sustainability and Partnerships. 

A veteran in strategic partnerships, resource mobilisation and management, she was appointed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in the global body's agency focussed on women empowerment and gender equality. 

She has had a distinguished career at the World Bank Group, serving in various senior leadership and management positions, both at the headquarters and in the field.

Veteran Indian diplomat and a gender equality champion Lakshmi Puri had previously served as the Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Deputy Executive Director of UN Women.

The key appointment comes less than a week after Guterres appointed Indian Army officer Lieutenant General Shailesh Tinaikar as his new Force Commander of the UN Mission in South Sudan.

The new Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her first Union Budget (for FY20) on 5 July, the government decided on Friday.

A day before the Union Budget, Sitharaman will table in Parliament the Economic Survey 2018-19 authored by chief economic adviser Krishnamurthy Subramaniam and his team. The date of presenting full budget for FY20 by the NDA government was finalized at a meeting of the union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, according to an official announcement.

The Parliament session will begin on 17 June and President Ram Nath Kovind will address a joint session of both the Houses on 20 June prior to budget presentation in the first week of July. In February, the previous NDA government had presented an interim budget and Piyush Goyal was entrusted with that job.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has removed all temporary restrictions on all air routes in the Indian airspace. The IAF made the announcement on Twitter. The IAF had imposed restrictions following air strikes on a terror camp at Balakot in Pakistan on 27th February. 

India had imposed restrictions which did not allow any aircraft flying over Pakistan airspace to use entry or exit points into India.

Since February 27, flights on these sectors were taking longer routes leading to an increase in flying time by up to three hours.