The Navies of India and Singapore are participating in the annual maritime bilateral exercise SIMBEX in the South China Sea.

Yesterday the sea phase of the bilateral naval drill started and will continue till Wednesday. In a statement in New Delhi, the Indian Navy said, various maritime combat exercises such as firing on aerial or surface targets, advanced aerial tracking, coordinated targeting exercises and tactical exercises on the surface or air scenarios is being conducted during the exercise.

The Indian Navy said, Naval ships INS Kolkata and INS Shakti taking part in the bilateral naval exercise, along with long-range maritime patrol aircraft Poseidon-8I. The Singapore side is being represented by RSN ships Steadfast and Valiant, maritime patrol aircraft Fokker-50  and F-16 fighter aircraft.

The forces of India and Singapore share robust military ties. The South China Sea waters, which are claimed by many littoral states, have been witnessing muscling in of the Chinese navy. Over the years SIMBEX has stood the test of time in demonstrating the nation’s commitment to enhance maritime cooperation between the two navies and bolster bonds of friendship between the two countries. 

In a matter of huge honour for India, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) on Thursday conferred the prestigious Sasakawa Award 2019 for Disaster Risk Reduction to Pramod Kumar Mishra, additional principal secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Mishra was conferred with the honour in recognition of his “long-term dedication to improve the resilience of communities most exposed to disasters and his personal commitment to social inclusion as a critical principle to reduce inequality and poverty, enhancing the safety net of the socially and economically marginalised”, the government said in a statement.

The Sasakawa Award is believed to be the most prestigious international award in disaster risk management and it began over 30 years ago. It is jointly organised by the UNDRR and the Nippon Foundation, with a total grant of $50,000 distributed among the winners. The winners could be either organisations or individuals.

This year’s award theme was “Building Inclusive and Resilient Societies” and the UNDRR got more than 61 nominations from 31 countries.

The Indian Navy has successfully test-fired a Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MRSAM), achieving a significant milestone to enhance its anti-air warfare capability, the defence ministry said Friday.

The test-firing of the missile was undertaken on the western seaboard by Indian naval ships Kochi and Chennai.

"The Indian Navy achieved a significant milestone in enhancing its anti air warfare capability with the maiden cooperative engagement firing of the MRSAM," the defence ministry said in a statement.

The test-firing of the missile was carried out jointly by the Indian Navy, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Israel Aerospace Industries.

The DRDO has jointly developed the missile in collaboration with Israel Aerospace Industries. The MRSAM has been manufactured by Bharat Dynamics Limited.

"These surface to air missiles are fitted onboard the Kolkata class destroyers and would also be fitted on all future major warships of the Indian Navy," the ministry said.

The third meeting of the Advisory Council of the 15th Finance Commission was held in New Delhi today. 

During the meeting, the Council Members were d by the Commission on the progress made in terms of State Visits by the Commission and consultations with the RBI, bankers and financial institutions. 

Besides, issues of Public Sector Borrowing Requirement, issues concerning GST and its implementation, transparency in publishing accounting data related to debt and deficit, interest rates and private investments were also discussed in detail. 

According to an official release, views of the members were sought on the possible scenario for macro variables like GDP projections.

Renowned character actor and one of the most recognisable faces in the Telugu cinema, Rallapalli breathed his last at a corporate hospital, here on Friday.  He was 73 and is survived by a daughter. 

Rallapalli was diagnosed with a liver disease and brought to the hospital about four days ago. His condition remained critical and at about 6 pm on Friday, he was declared dead. Born in Kambadur village in Anantapur district on August 15, 1945, Rallapalli Venkata Narasimha Rao initially dabbled in theatre while working in Song and Drama Division of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting before being introduced as a film actor with Stree. 

Rallapalli, who had acted in about 850 films, essayed a variety of roles and carved a niche for himself with his inimitable and witty style of acting. Rallapalli, who shot to fame with late director Eranki Sharma’s Kukka Katuki Cheppu Debba (1979), won three Nandi awards -- Best Actor for the National Award winning film Oorummadi Brathukulu (1976), Best Male Comedian for Patnam Pilla Palletoori Chinnodu (1986) and Best Supporting Actor - Television for Ganapathi (1998). 

Normal life across Odisha, particularly in western districts, has been paralyzed following an intense heat wave condition, which is prevailing for more than a week. 

As many as 10 places of the state recorded temperature over 40 degree Celsius. Mercury rose to 45.5 degree Celsius in Titilagarh followed by 44.6 degree Celsius in Bolangir and 44 in Sonepur yesterday. 

Most of the Western Odisha towns have crossed 43 degrees Celsius. As per the information, five persons lost their lives reportedly due to sunstroke in different places of the State yesterday. 

The Bhubaneswar Met office has predicted that mercury is likely to be above normal in interior and western Odisha, while hot and humid weather is likely to prevail in coastal parts of the State for next few days. Scorching heat and drinking water crisis have compounded the miseries of people in these areas.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive in Dehradun this morning on a two-day visit to Uttarakhand.

Mr Modi will perform Pooja at the Kedarnath shrine today.

Prime Minister will also review the development works at Kadarpuri.

Mr Modi will visit the Badrinath shrine tomorrow before returning to Delhi. 

Polling is underway in Australia for Parliamentary elections. Voting is taking place for 150 members of the House of Representatives (the lower house) and 76 seats of Senate (the upper house).

Australia, one of the world's oldest continuing democracies, has mandatory voting and a record 16. 5 million enrolled voters.

This is the first general election since political infighting ousted the nation's fourth leader in a decade.

The nation holds elections every three years, but no Prime Minister has succeeded in serving a full term since 2007.

Surveys have shown that the economy, cost of living, environment and health are central concerns for voters.

India has expressed its full support for sustainable peace, economic development and stability in Afghanistan.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj gave this assurance to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's Special Envoy and High Peace Council Secretary Umer Daudzai in New Delhi yesterday.

Mr Daudzai briefed the Minister on the outcome of the recently held Loya Jirga in the country.

Both sides also discussed India’s role in Regional Peace Consensus with regards to Afghanistan, progress in peace talks and bilateral relations.

Mr Daudzai also met National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary Vijay K Gokhale.

Ujjivan Small Finance Bank Limited has appointed Nitin Chugh as its next Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) from December 1, 2019.

The appointment comes at the end of an extensive search undertaken by the board as a part of the succession planning process, pursuant to the upcoming retirement of the bank’s current MD and CEO, Samit Ghosh, on November 30, 2019.

The bank has received the approval of its application for Chugh's appointment, from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on May 14, 2019. Nitin Chugh will join the bank by August 2019 as President and will work closely with Samit Ghosh, existing MD and CEO to ensure a smooth transition.