Nripendra Misra and PK Mishra were on Tuesday re-appointed as Principal Secretary and Additional Principal Secretary, respectively, to Prime Minister Narendra Modi with cabinet minister rank.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved both the appointments with effect from May 31, according to orders issued by the Personnel Ministry.

During the term of their office, they will be assigned the rank of Cabinet minister, the ministry said.

Nripendra Misra was on May 28, 2014 appointed the Principal Secretary to Modi. He is a 1967-batch retired IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre.

Nripendra Misra, who has served in various capacities in the government, retired as the chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in 2009.

The Jnanpith award for the year 2018 will be given to the noted English writer Amitav Ghosh. Former Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi will present the award to him at a function in New Delhi today. The award is given for outstanding contribution in literature.

The new Cabinet of Andhra Pradesh, under the leadership of Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy, met for the first time on Monday and approved several key decisions taken by him during the past ten to eleven days after he took charge as the Chief Minister.

It was decided to hike the monthly pension for the aged from ₹2,000 to ₹2,250 and to hike the salaries of Aasha workers (health workers in rural areas) from ₹3,000 to 10,000 per month. It was decided to pay interim relief of 27 per cent to the Government employees and to set up a committee for making appropriate recommendations for doing away with the contributory pension scheme (CPS) for State government employees.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has accepted an invitation from French President to attend the outreach session of the G7 Summit in Biarritz as a special invitee.

The MEA Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said that the Prime Minister has received an invitation from the President of France Emmanuel Macron to attend the outreach session at the G-7 Summit in Biarritz as a special invitee. He was responding to queries relating to comments of the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of France Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne regarding the invitation extended to India.

The MEA Spokesperson further said that the invitation is a reflection of the personal chemistry between the two leaders, a demonstration of our deepening strategic partnership and recognition of India as a major economic power. The 45th summit of the G7 group of countries is going to take place from August 24 to August 26 in Biarritz in France.

IV Subba Rao will continue as secretary to Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu as per an order issued by the Ministry of Personnel on Tuesday.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the continuation of Rao, a retired IAS officer, as secretary to the vice president on a contract basis in the rank and pay of a secretary of the Government of India, it said.

His tenure will be co-terminus with the tenure of the Vice President, the ministry said.

International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT) has released India’s first Type Approval Certificate (TAC) for BS VI emission norms for the two-wheeler segment. The aforementioned certificate was awarded to Hero MotoCorp for the Hero Splendor iSmart. Here's an interesting fact: Hero designed and developed the Splendor iSmart bike at its Centre for Innovation and Technology (CIT) in Jaipur, Rajasthan.

For those who do not know, in order for an automobile manufacturer to receive BS6 certification for their vehicles, first a prototype must be tested and approved by government agencies like ARAI (Automotive Research Association of India), GARC (Global Automotive Research Center), ICAT, etc.

A memorandum of understanding was signed between the V.O. Chidambaranar Port Trust and the Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) to facilitate direct port entry (DPE) of cargo on Monday, which would help cut down on dwell time and costs.

Chairman of V.O.C Port Trust T.K. Ramachandran and Managing Director of CWC Arun Kumar Shrivastava signed the MoU that would allow the CWC to operate and manage the truck terminal located opposite to the Fisheries College and Research Institute on an annual lease rental basis for 30 years. The terminal has an area of 18,357 sqm.

The DPE facility would be created at the terminal to enable direct movement of containers from factories without intermediate handling at any container freight station, allowing shippers to bring their factory-stuffed (self-sealed) goods directly to the container terminal round the clock.

Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd (ABFRL), which retails brands such as Louis Philippe, Peter England and Van Heusen, has acquired ethnic apparel and lifestyle retailer Jaypore for 110 crore, the company said in a filing to the stock exchange on Monday.

The deal will help ABFRL that also retails men and women’s western wear to tap into the fast-growing ethnic apparel market.

“Ethnic wear is the largest segment in the Indian fashion apparel market. While ABFRL has built a diversified portfolio of brands across different segments, ethnic wear space is currently under-represented in our bouquet of offerings to consumers," Ashish Dikshit, managing director, ABFRL said in a media statement.

Rafael Nadal might have won a 12th Roland Garros title on the weekend, but he remains well behind Novak Djokovic, a semi-finalist in Paris, in ATP rankings released today.
 
Austrian Dominic Thiem, whom Nadal beat in yesterday's final, keeps his fourth place behind Switzerland's Roger Federer, who went down to the Spaniard in the last-four on his first appearance in Paris since 2015.

Russian Karen Khachanov jumped two spots into a personal best of ninth thanks to his achievement in reaching the French Open quarter-finals.

Italy's Fabio Fognini, also a quarter-finalist at Roland Garros and winner in Monte-Carlo in April, also moved up two places to 10th.

The biggest mover in the top 20 was Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka, whose quarter-final defeat by Federer in Paris was enough to see him go up nine places into 19th.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked top bureaucrats to prepare a  five-year plan document for each Ministry with well-defined targets and a significant impactful decision in each Ministry for which approvals will be taken within 100 days.  

Interacting with all Secretaries to the Union Government at his residence in New Delhi yesterday Mr Modi said all departments of the government must seek to leverage the upcoming milestone of 75 years of independence.  He said it can inspire people to make a contribution to the betterment of the country.

During the interaction, the Prime Minister said, the recent General Elections mandate reflects the will and aspirations of the people to change the status quo and seek a better life for themselves. He said, the huge expectations of the people should not be viewed as a challenge, but an opportunity.