Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch five National Highways projects worth around three thousand crore rupees in Kanniyakumari, Tamil Nadu today. He will also launch a Road Safety Park and Transport Museum. 

Mr Modi will dedicate to the nation the two and four laning of the Madurai-Ramnathpuram section of NH-87. 

The Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone for four-laning of Madurai-Chettikulam-Natham section of NH-785. 

These projects will benefit the local populace by way of reduced pollution, fast and safe journey, reduced travel time and fuel saving.

The Union Cabinet has approved the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Amendment Order, 2019. 

Briefing media after the Cabinet meeting, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said it will serve the purpose of application of relevant provision of the constitution as amended through the constitution (77th Amendment) act, 2019 for Jammu and Kashmir by issuing the constitution Amendment order. 

He said, once notified, this will pave the way for giving the benefit of promotion in service to the SCs, STs and also extend the reservation of up to 10 per cent for the economically weaker section in educational institution and public employment in addition to the existing reservation in the state.

The Cabinet has approved the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019. Mr Jaitley said, the ordinance provides for amendment in the Jammu and Kashmir reservation act 2004 to bringing persons residing in the areas adjoining International Border within the ambit of reservation at par with persons living in areas adjoining actual line of control. 

In another decision, the Cabinet also approved Agra and Kanpur Metro Rail Projects. 

The Cabinet also approved the promulgation of an Ordinance to make amendments to the Aadhaar Act 2016, Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2005 and the Indian Telegraph Act 1885. 

Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary ended India’s campaign at the ISSF World Cup 2019 on a high note with a gold medal, third for the hosts, as they finished top in the 10m air pistol mixed team final with 483.4 points on the final day of the tournament on Wednesday.

India did not had an ideal start to the final as they took the second spot with 99.1 points, trailing the Republic of Korea at the top after the first series of shots. With the 17-year old Manu managing to have only one shot above 10, Saurabh made up for it with three shots above 10.

Manu had a better series 2 with the scores 10.3, 10.4, 10.5, 10.3 and 9.8 and the 16-year old Saurabh going for above 10 in all the five shots. Korea, however, maintained their lead, even though both the sides finished with the same score.

The third series of the final saw the Indian pair coming up with 99.4, slightly higher than Korea but maintained their position at the second spot. It was after the third series that the teenage-pair took the lead, staying clear of elimination till the end. Manu and Bhaker ended the final at the top with a lead of 5.7 points to second-placed China.

Reliance Industries chairman and the country's richest man Mukesh Ambani has achieved a new feat by breaking into the top 10 richest list globally with a net worth of $54 billion or Rs 3.8 lakh crore.

The Hurun Global Rich List 2019, which was topped by Amazon boss Jeff Bezos for a second year in a row, placed Mukesh Amabni in the 10th place globally with a net worth of Rs 3.83 lakh crore.

The growth in Ambani's wealth was led by  RIL shares, which had a stellar run over the last one year. RIL's market value has crossed Rs 8 lakh crore last month. Nearly 52% of RIL's shares are owned by Mukesh Ambani.

Meanwhile, his younger brother Anil Ambani, chairman of the ADAG Group, lost 65% of his wealth in last one year after his telecom company Reliance Communications turned bankrupt as it could not sustain the cutthroat competition in the telecom sector which was started by ultra-cheap data and free voice calls offered by  Reliance Jio, a company owned by his elder brother Mukesh Ambani.

Both the Ambani brothers started with similar wealth after the division of their family wealth in 2005. Over the last 14 years, Mukesh's wealth grew multifold while Anil saw his fortune shrunk ever since. 

Union minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday launched a scheme for providing industry apprenticeship opportunities to fresh graduates.

The Scheme for Higher Education Youth in Apprenticeship and Skills (SHREYAS) is a programme basket comprising the initiatives of three central ministries, including the HRD, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Javadekar said.

"The education with skills is the need of the hour and the SHREYAS will be a major effort in this direction to make our degree students more skilled, capable, employable and aligned to the needs of our economy so that they contribute to country's progress and also obtain gainful employment," he said.

"The education with skills is the need of the hour and the SHREYAS will be a major effort in this direction to make our degree students more skilled, capable, employable and aligned to the needs of our economy so that they contribute to country's progress and also obtain gainful employment," he said.

Southern Coast Railway will be a new zone of the Indian Railways. Railway Minister Piyush Goyal told this to reporters in New Delhi yesterday. This new 18th railway zone of the country will be headquartered at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. The new zone will comprise the existing Guntakal, Guntur and Vijayawada divisions that currently fall under the South Central Railway.Mr. Goyal said the South Central Railway will then consist of the Hyderabad, Secunderabad and Nanded divisions.

The cost of creating infrastructure for a new zone, according to an internal assessment of the Railways, is more than 205 crore rupees. 

The Indian Railways' operations are currently divided into 17 zones, which are further sub-divided into divisions, each having a divisional headquarter. There are a total of 73 divisions at present.

In 2002-2003, seven new zones and eight new divisions were created.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will confer the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prizes for Science and Technology to the awardess in New Delhi today. The award will be conferred for the years 2016, 2017 and 2018. Mr Modi will also address the gathering on the occassion. 

The Prize is named after the founder Director of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Dr. Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar. The Prize is given each year to recognize outstanding Indian work in various disciplines of Science and Technology.

The United States, Britain and France have asked the United Nations Security Council to blacklist Masood Azhar, the head of Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). 

The three countries, in a proposal, have asked the sanctions committee of the 15-member Council to subject Azhar to an arms embargo, global travel ban and asset freeze. 

The committee operates by consensus and members have until 13th of next month to raise objections if any. 

New Delhi also demanded immediate and safe return of an Indian Air Force pilot who is in the custody of Pakistan following an aerial engagement by air forces of the two countries. It has been made clear to Pakistan that no harm comes to the Indian defence personnel.

Earlier, India foiled Pakistan's attempt to target its military installations and shot down one Pakistan Air Force fighter aircraft. Briefing media in New Delhi, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said, after India's air strikes in Balakot, Pakistan responded this morning by using its Air Force but due to India's high state of readiness and ness, the attempts were foiled successfully. 

He said the Pakistani aircraft was seen by ground forces falling from the sky on the Pakistan side. The spokesman said, in this engagement, the country, unfortunately, lost one MiG 21 and one Indian Air Force pilot is in Pakistan's custody.

New Delhi has lodged a strong protest with Islamabad at the unprovoked act of aggression, including violation of air space by the Pakistan Air Force and targeting of Indian military posts. The External Affairs Ministry, said in a statement, yesterday that the Acting High Commissioner of Pakistan was summoned and a strong protest was lodged. 

It said Pakistan's act was in contrast to India's non-military anti-terror pre-emptive strike at a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) camp at Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It was conveyed that India reserves the right to take firm and decisive action to protect its national security, sovereignty and territorial integrity against any act of aggression or cross-border terrorism.

India said it is unfortunate that Pakistan has acted with aggression instead of fulfilling its international obligation and bilateral commitment to take credible action against terrorist entities and individuals operating from its soil. India demanded that Pakistan take immediate and verifiable action against terrorism. 

A dossier was handed over to Islamabad with specific details of JeM complicity in Pulwama terror attack and the presence of its camps and leadership in Pakistan.