Former Defence Minister and Samata Party leader George Fernandes passed away on Tuesday following a prolonged illness. Fernandes was the Defence Minister during Atal Bihari Vajpayee led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Cabinet. He was a convenor of the NDA. the Defence Ministry is likely to issue a statement in a short while. 'Former Defence Minister George Fernandes passes away at the age of 88'- news agency ANI confirmed. Later, news agency PTI confirmed his death citing family sources. 

Fernandes, a Rajya Sabha MP from Bihar was a key member of the Janata Dal and the founder of Samata Party. Besides Defence, he also held industries portfolio during a different tenure. PM Narendra Modi condoled the passing away of the former Defence Minister. "George Sahab represented the best of India’s political leadership. Frank and fearless, forthright and farsighted, he made a valuable contribution to our country. He was among the most effective voices for the rights of the poor and marginalised," he said in a tweet.

West Indies skipper Jason Holder emulated Sir Garfield Sobers to become world’s No 1 all-rounder in the ICC’s latest Test rankings. Gary Sobers was the last cricketer from Caribbean islands to top the list in March 1974.

Holder joined him in the elite list with his commanding 202 not out off 229 balls which helped West Indies beat England by 381 runs in the first Test at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados. The 27-year-old also picked up two wickets with the ball.

Holder leapfrogged Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan and India’s Ravindra Jadeja to grab the top spot for the first time in his career.

Holder was also awarded the Man of the Match for his stellar performance. Reflecting on his knock, the Windies skipper said, “A really good match for me personally.”

“The Test series against Bangladesh was very tough, we have worked very hard in the last two months and good to see the result. I had a moment there to express myself a bit.”

“To score a double hundred in front of your home crowd is a very pleasing feeling,” ICC quoted Holder as saying. “I was ecstatic. It was a dream come true. My friends and family were here to enjoy it, as I really wanted to achieve this from the very start of my career,” he added.

India's Kartik Sharma won the New South Wales men's Amateur Golf Championship in Australia.

Kartik notched up a magnificent win over Australia's Nathan Barberie in the scheduled 36-hole final to emerge as champion.

The Gurgaon golfer has been playing for India since the age of 10 as part of the National Squad. 

He had been selected to represent Indian Golf Union for three events in Australia.

Kartik had also won the Indian golf union western India amateur golf championship 2018.

Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal claimed her first BWF title in two years after three-time world champion Carolina Marin of Spain limped out of the Indonesia Masters final due to a leg injury, here Sunday.

The London Olympics bronze medallist was trailing 4-10 in the opening game when Marin decided to withdraw from the contest.

"It is important year for all of us. This was not good at all. She is a tough competitor, she started off well and it is unfortunate what happened today," said Saina, who last won a BWF title in 2017 in Malaysia.

It is a creditable performance for the Indian, who had suffered a shin injury late last year.

"I just came out of injury. I played this events to see how good is this. and I'm happy I could play the semifinals at Malaysia and final here. Looking forward to get back to shape and play next tournament," she said.

Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal to win his 7th Australian Open Men's Singles title at Melbourne today. 

The resurgent world No.1 outplayed the second-ranked Nadal 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 in a largely one-sided match. With this, Djokovic has surpassed American legend Pete Sampras to elevate himself to outright third on the all-time Grand Slam title leaderboard. 

Earlier, In Women's Singles, Japan's Naomi Osaka clinched her maiden Australian Open Grand Slam Singles title in Melbourne yesterday. Osaka defeated Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 in the summit clash. With this, Osaka became the first Asian player to achieve the world number one ranking. 

President Ram Nath Kovind today paid tributes to freedom fighter Punjab Kesari Lala Lajpat Rai on his birth anniversary. In a tweet, Mr Kovind said, Lala Lajpat Rai inspired the nation to fight colonialism and encouraged social reform and domestic enterprise.

President Ram Nath Kovind also paid tributes to first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa on his birth anniversary. In a tweet, Mr Kovind said,a great son of Kodagu (Coorg), Karnataka and above all India, Field Marshal Cariappa  is cherished as one of India's finest military commanders and remains a much loved national hero.

A Pakistani delegation arrived in India on Sunday to visit the Chenab river basin in Jammu and Kashmir for inspection, as mandated under the Indus Water Treaty, sources said.

"This tour is an obligation imposed on both the countries by the Indus Waters Treaty 1960 between India and Pakistan. Under the treaty, both the commissioners are mandated to inspect sites and works on both the sides of Indus basin in a block of five years," a senior official said.

Since signing of the treaty, a total of 118 such tours on both the sides have been undertaken. The last tours of the commission in Pakistan and India were held in July 2013 and September 2014, respectively.

No tour could be held in the current five years block, which ends in March 2020. This tour will be followed by a visit of India's Indus Commissioner to Pakistan at a mutually convenient date, the official added.

Authorities have issued avalanche warning in Himachal Pradesh. Snow & Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE) Manali has advised people not to venture in avalanche prone slopes for the next two days. This advisory has been issued for Shimla, Chamba, Lahaul- Spiti, Kullu and Kinnaur districts for today and tomorrow. 

Met Department has predicted heavy snowfall and rains in the state from Wednesday. It said, cold wave conditions will continue over the three days north and northwest parts of the country including Delhi and NCR. 

Cold wave conditions continued in most parts of Punjab and Haryana, with Adampur being the coldest place in the region at 1.8 degrees Celsius yesterday.

Finance Minister Piyush Goyal has called the heads of all public sector banks for a meeting on Monday when he is expected to take stock of banking sector's performance and discuss ways to improve their financial health.

According to sources, the meeting is part of a pre-budget exercise and was supposed to take place last week but got delayed after Arun Jaitley, who was handling the Finance portfolio, suddenly left for the US for medical treatment.

Goyal, who was given charge of the Finance and Corporate Affairs ministries on Wednesday till the period of Jaitley's "indisposition", would take the stock-taking meeting which would also be attended by Financial Services Secretary Rajeev Kumar.

Sources said the full-day meeting would be led by Kumar for the most part, with the Finance Minister joining towards the evening to take a broader view of the banking sector and their action plan for near future.

The Minister is expected to discuss ways to improve financial health of state-owned banks, their non-performing assets (NPA) position and improving lending to priority sectors including micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and agriculture, sources said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that Centre aims at making Tamil Nadu a hub for aerospace and defence industries. Addressing a rally in Madurai, Mr Modi said, Tamil Nadu is among the country's most progressive industrial states and also a leading player in the Centre's Make in India initiative. 

Prime Minister said, the Defence Industrial Corridor will also help generate employment. The corridor was launched by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman last week. Addressing another rally at Thrissur in Kerala, Mr Modi reiterated his government's commitment to fight against corruption. 

Mr Modi urged the opposition not to put barriers in the country's progress and stop misleading the people. Prime Minister said, the opposition parties are not having any regard for the constitutional institutions. Referring to the Sabarimala issue, Prime Minister said, the cultural fabric of Kerala is currently under severe attack. 

Mr Modi said, the ruling LDF Government is undermining the cultural heritage of the State and also criticised the Congress-led opposition for its double standards on many issues. Mr Modi said that the opposition parties have no genuine concern for women empowerment as was evident from their varied stand on Triple Talaq and other important issues.