Vodafone Idea on Monday said Balesh Sharma has stepped down from the position of chief executive officer (CEO) citing personal reasons. Ravinder Takkar, currently Vodafone Group's representative in India, will be appointed as the new MD and CEO with immediate effect, the telecom major said in a statement.

"The Board of Vodafone Idea Limited today announced that it has accepted Balesh Sharma's request for personal reasons to step down as CEO of Vodafone Idea," the company said in a press release. Sharma will be taking up a new role with Vodafone Group, which will be announced in due course.

Sharma has been the CEO of Vodafone Idea since the completion of the merger. He was Chief Operating Officer of Vodafone India prior to that. "Balesh has driven the strategy of the combined business since its formation and he has also spearheaded the largest-ever equity raise in India," Vodafone Idea said.

Indian Space Research Organisation has successfully placed  Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft into lunar orbit this morning as planned. After this ion into the lunar orbit, four more orbit maneuvers will be carried out till September 1st to bring it closer to Moon’s surface in the proximity of 100 km of lunar orbit. 

Chandrayaan 2 was launched on July 22 by GSLV Mark III-M1 launch vehicle. Its ion into lunar orbit today is another milestone for ISRO, before Lander Vikram and rover Pragyan soft-land on the south pole of the moon on September 7.

Veteran composer Khayyam, best known for his music in classic films such as Umrao Jaan and Kabhi Kabhie, passed away after a prolonged illnesses at a hospital here on Monday. He was 92.

Mohammed Zahur Hashmi, popularly known as Khayyam, was admitted to Sujay Hospital in suburban Juhu a few days ago owing to breathing issues and other age-related illnesses. “He died at Sujay Hospital around 9.30 p.m.,” a family friend said.

According to the composer’s spokesperson, Khayyam’s mortal remains will be kept at his residential complex from 10 a.m. onwards for people to pay their last respect. Thereafter, his funeral will take place with full state honours, the spokesperson said.

Paytm has elevated its CFO Madhu Deora as President of the company on Monday. Madhur joined the digital payment firm in October 2016. Earlier, Deora has served as Managing Director in Citigroup's investment banking business in New York, London and Mumbai.

"We have grown over 20x in the last 3 years by creating a payments-led lifestyle and financial services app in our country. The next phase of our journey is to expand our offerings in consumer internet and financial services," said Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma. "As we expand our business, we are promoting Madhur to the role of President. Madhur has been a key partner in this success".

I-League champion Chennai City FC on Sunday announced a strategic partnership with German sports goods supplier uhlsport to develop grassroots football in Tamil Nadu and across India.

The German company, established in 1948, sells football products under the uhlsport brand and handball products under the Kempa brand, and is the official supplier of the Bundesliga teams 1. FC Koln and Fortuna Dusseldorf.

In France, uhlsport is the official supplier and official ball sponsor of the top division Ligue 1, where teams such as Paris Saint Germain, Monaco, Marseille and others play, and the second division Ligue 2.

Former Bihar Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra on Monday passed away at a hospital in New Delhi. He was 82 and unwell for several months.

Mishra was a three-time Chief Minister of the State. He was also the last Congress Chief Minister of the State. He was a Cabinet Minister at the Centre as well.

His brother Lalit Narayan Mishra was Railway Minister at the Centre during Indira Gandhi’s regime as Prime Minister.

Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Saturday launched a scheme to improve infrastructure of government schools in the state.

The scheme named “School Fagadaba” (Make education bettter) was launched at the cabinet hall of Chief Minister’s Secretariat, where the CM interacted with dignitaries and officials present at seven different schools through video conferencing.

He said the objective of the scheme was to ensure better infrastructure, quality education and overall improvement of government schools to make them model schools.

The state government is mulling installation of biometric attendance machines in government schools to ensure the presence of teachers at their posting places, he added.

The 5th Meeting of India-Nepal Joint Commission will be held in Kathmandu on 21- 22 August. Minister for External Affairs of Dr S. Jaishankar and Nepal’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali will co-chair the meeting and lead their respective delegations. 

According to Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Joint Commission Meeting will review the overall state of bilateral relations and various areas of cooperation such as connectivity and economic partnership, trade and transit, power and water resources, culture, education and other matters of mutual interest.
India-Nepal Joint Commission was established in June 1987. Its meetings are held alternately in Nepal and India. The last meeting of the Commission was held in New Delhi on October 2016.

India have won gold at the Under 12 Asian Tennis Team championship held in Kazakhstan. India defeated Chinese Taipei 2-1 in the summit clash to win the title. 

The final was a tie of three matches - 2 singles and one doubles and India won both the singles matches while lost the doubles encounter.

The team comprised Manas Dhamme, Arnav Paprakar and Tamil Nadu's Pranav Rethin. Manas and Rethin won their singles matches. Manas and Arnav, however, lost their doubles encounter. 12-year-old Manas remained unbeaten in the entire tournament.

Top Indian sprinters Hima Das and Mohammad Anas have won a gold each in 300m races at the Athleticky Mitink Reiter event in Czech Republic. While Hima won the gold in women's event yesterday, Mohammad Anas claimed the yellow metal in men's category today. This was Hima's sixth gold in 2019 in European races since last month. 

Mohammad Anas won the gold clocking 32.41 seconds. India’s Nirmal Tom clinched a bronze medal in the same event by clocking a timing of 33.03 seconds.

National record holder Anas has already qualified for 400m event for the World Championships to be held in Doha in September-October while Hima is yet to achieve it.