The government Monday cleared the name of advocate Madhavi Goradia Divan as an Additional Solicitor General for India.

“The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Ms. Madhavi Goradia Divan, Advocate, as Additional Solicitor General of India (ASGI) in the Supreme Court of India with effect from the date of assumption of charge of the post till 30.06.2020 or until further orders,” an official communication said. She will be the third woman law officer to be appointed by the NDA government. Divan will be representing the government in the Supreme Court.

Prior to her, the NDA government had appointed senior woman advocates Pinky Anand and Maninder Acharya as ASGs.

And the first set of awards of 2018 was declared last night by the Star Screen Awards! Goes without saying, the show was a rather glamourous affair with who's who of Bollywood in attendance right from newlyweds Ranveer Singh-Deepika Padukone to Salman Khan, Alia Bhatt, Katrina Kaif, Shraddha Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal, Rajkummar Rao among others. The red carpet was dazzled by some stunning looks and so was the stage lit up with some amazing performances. But of course, the highlight of the night was when the winners were declared...

Considering it was such a productive year in terms of content, it obviously must have been a tough task to pick one best actor, actress, film etc. So who has been awarded with which title and are they deserving enough? Let's find out by scrolling down through this winners list of Star Screen Awards 2018.

India on Monday announced a $1.4 billion financial assistance package for the Maldives, a move seen as aimed at drawing the atoll nation closer into New Delhi’s sphere of influence after a period of estrangement that saw the former leadership of the Maldives leaning closer to China.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the package after talks with visiting Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in New Delhi. Solih who arrived on Sunday, is on his first three-day visit to India, which comes a month after he was sworn into office. Solih, who was backed by the combined Maldivian opposition, defeated the former China-leaning President, Abdulla Yameen, in the 23 September elections and was sworn in on 17 November. According to news reports, the Maldives is weighed down by $3 billion in debt to China and is looking to India and Saudi Arabia, besides others, for help. Maldives owes the money to China for infrastructure projects undertaken by Chinese companies during Yameen’s tenure in office.

New Delhi, which had tense relations with Yameen over the way he dealt with his political opponents as well as the close ties he nurtured with China, is rolling out the red carpet for Solih in its bid to re-embrace Maldives.

In a first for Royal Air Force(RAF) and the British Military, a Sikh and a Muslim padre graduated as RAF Chaplains. Flight Lieutenant Mandeep Kaur and Flight Lieutenant Ali Omar completed their reservist officer training to become a part of the British forces. RAF’s official Twitter account shared a picture of the new officers at the RAF College Cranwell, England.

According to the official RAF website, Kaur and Omar were two out of the total five Chaplains who graduated along with one hundred and forty other Officer Cadets, who will be commissioning into various branches after the Regular and Reserve Officer training after the Regular and Reserve Officer training.

Kaur, who grew up in Punjab, was chosen to be a Chaplain when she was studying for her engineering doctorate in the UK. Whereas Omar, who was born in Mombasa, Kenya, completed a masters degree in translation studies at Portsmouth University. The two will be tasked with providing spiritual and welfare support to soldiers, airmen and women, and their families, according to a report. The news has created quite a buzz on social media, with many cheering the move.

Rajasthan, MP, Chhattisgarh CM oath ceremony LIVE Updates: Congress veteran Kamal Nath Monday was sworn in as Madhya Pradesh chief minister. The nine-time Chhindwara Lok Sabha MP was administered oath of office by Governor Anandiben Patel at the Jamboree Maidan in Bhopal. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, former PM Manmohan Singh were present during the ceremony. In Chhattisgarh, Bhupesh Baghel will be administered the oath at 5 pm.

Earlier this morning, Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot were sworn in as Rajasthan Chief Minister and Deputy CM in Jaipur’s Albert Hall. The swearing-in ceremonies in Jaipur, Raipur and Bhopal are being seen as a platform to showcase the Opposition unity ahead of the Lok Sabha polls 2019. Among those present in Bhopal are former prime minister H D Devegowda, Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, LJD leader Sharad Yadav, Sharad Pawar and TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has said he re-appointed Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister out of respect for democracy and parliamentary tradition though he is personally opposed to him. 

Continuing his tirade against Mr Wickremsinghe after swearing in him yesterday, Mr. Sirisena said his statement on refusing to give premiership to Mr Wickremesinghe even if all 225 in Parliament request him to do so, is his personal political opinion and persists to date. 

President Sirisena stated that he took decisions to prorogue and dissolve parliament based on legal advice and wanted a clean parliament after elections. He reiterated his criticism against Mr Wickremsinghe on several counts including the bond scam and economic policies. His office said in a statement later that Mr Wickremsinghe side assured they would not bring an impeachment motion against President and pledged to cooperate with him.

Belgium became the world champions for the first time when they edged past Netherlands in an high-octane final of the Hockey World Cup 2018 on Sunday.

Belgium won a tense penalty shootout 3-2 against three-time champions Netherlands in the title showdown at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.

It was a great day for Belgium hockey as the country registered its second biggest international title after the Olympics silver in Rio in 2016.

In the last edition of the World Cup at The Hague in Netherlands, Belgium had finished fifth.

The Netherlands, on the other hand, failed to match Pakistan's record of a fourth world title for the second consecutive edition. The Dutch had finished runners-up to Australia four years ago in front of their home crowd. They last won a World Cup title way back in 1998 in Utrecht.

Incidentally, it was the Netherlands' second consecutive match that went to shootout in the tournament after their victory over Australia in the semi-finals on Saturday.

PV Sindhu has well and truly grown! "I have improved a bit [in mental fortitude] because sometimes, couple of times before if I was leading and say she would fight back and take the lead, I would get nervous but now I have been comparatively much more stronger. In that case, I tend to think and lose crucial points," Sindhu had said after her semi-final win on Saturday. She showed that improved mental strength on Sunday to win gold and bring up her 300th career win.

Nozomi Okuhara was threatening at all times to say the least. She was trying to engage Sindhu in longer rallies, tire her out like she always does but the Indian was up for everything that the Japanese threw at her this time.

Sindhu had three match points in the first game of the final, Okuhara saved two. Sindhu, however, showed nerves of steel and converted the last one.

Catriona Gray was crowned as Miss Universe 2018 after a tough contest between 94 contestants in the 67th edition of the beauty pageant competition that was held in Bangkok on Sunday.

Born in Australia, Catriona Gray, 24, entered her first pageant at the age of 5 and moved to the United States to pursue music at the Berklee College of Music, Boston, Massachusetts, according to a report in the Newsweek.

Becoming the fourth Filipino woman to win the crown, the 24-year old received her crown from last year’s winner Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters of South Africa.

This year’s winner was chosen by an all-female panel of judges which included Colombian-American CEO Liliana Gil Valletta, Janaye Ingram, fashion designer Monique Lhuillier, former Miss Universe winners  Michelle McLean and Bui Simon, Iman Oubou, and Richelle Singson-Michael.

Ranil Wickremesinghe is expected to take oath as Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister on Sunday after disputed Premier Mahinda Rajapaksa will resign on Saturday, signalling an end to the nearly two-month power tussle in the island nation.

President Maithripala Sirisena has reportedly agreed to reinstate ousted Prime Minister Wickremesinghe in the post after a discussion with him over the phone on Friday, Colombo Page reported.

Wickremesinghe’s United National Party (UNP) said that it was decided during the discussion that he will take oath as the Prime Minister at 10 am on Sunday.

The President removed Wickremesinghe from the post of Prime Minister on October 26 and appointed former president Rajapaksa as the Premier, plunging the country into an unprecedented crisis.