India's second lunar mission Chandrayaan-2 will be launched on a day between 9 and 16 July this year. 

In a release, the Indian Space Research Organisation said, Chandrayaan-2’s lander will touch down near the Moon's south pole on 6th September. 

The National space agency said, Chandrayaan-2 will have three modules in it, an orbiter, a lander named Vikram and a rover known as Pragyan.

Chandrayaan-2 will be launched using India's most powerful rocket GSLV-Mark-3.

Ace India goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh has been nominated for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award by Hockey India while the names of three other players have been proposed for the Arjuna Award.
   
Midfielder Chinglensana Singh Kangujam and forward Akashdeep Singh and women's team defender Deepika have been nominated for the Arjuna Award.
 
Hockey India has also nominated R.P. Singh and Sandeep Kaur for Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime Achievement, while coaches Baljeet Singh, B.S. Chauhan and Romesh Pathania have been proposed for Dronacharya Award.

Indian shooting ace Apurvi Chandela today attained the world number one position in the women's 10 metres air rifle event while compatriot Anjum Moudgil rose to number two after consistent performances in recent years.

 The rifle ace from Jaipur is among the five Indian shooters to have already secured 2020 Olympics quotas for the country. 

Meanwhile, Moudgil attained the world number two rank in 10 metres Air Rifle after her mixed team gold at the ISSF World Cup in Beijing. Manu Bhaker is the world number 10 in 25 metres pistol women category.

Among men, Divyansh Singh Panwar's World Cup exploits in Beijing helped him reach world number four spot in 10 metres air rifle category. Divyansh won two gold medals at Beijing -- 10 metres air rifle and 10 metres air rifle mixed team - and also secured his quota at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Air Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria took over as Vice Chief of the Air Staff today. 

An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Air Marshal Bhadauria was commissioned in the fighter stream of Indian Air Force in 1980 and won the coveted ‘Sword of Honour’ for standing first in the overall order of merit. 

He has over 4250 hours of experience on twenty-six types of fighters and transport aircraft with the unique distinction of being an Experimental Test Pilot, a Cat ‘A’ Qualified Flying Instructor and a Pilot Attack Instructor. He completed his Masters in Defence Studies from Command and Staff College, Bangladesh. 

The Air Marshal has held a number of important appointments, which include, Command of a Jaguar Squadron and a premier Air Force Station, Commanding Officer of Flight Test Squadron at Aircraft and System Testing Establishment, Chief Test Pilot and Project Director of National Flight Test Centre on Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) project. 

Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has directed the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Tuesday to pay Rs 1,100 crore for favoring a few brokers to make gains using unauthorized trading software, networks and servers in the same room where the main trading servers of the exchange were located.

The market regulator has also banned both the former managing directors (MD) of the exchange- Ravi Narain and Chitra Ramkrishna from the market for the period of five years each. It has directed them to disgorge part of their salaries for the period when the co-lo scam was in operation, according to a ToI report.  

The exchange can not come out with its IPO during this period. It has asked NSE not to introduce any new derivatives contracts for the next six months. Through five different orders, apart from banning three brokers for up to five years from the market, it has also asked them to disgorge the illegal gains and interest, aggregating about Rs 51 crore.

India Ratings and Research Tuesday marginally lowered country's GDP growth projection for 2019-20 fiscal to 7.3 per cent mainly due to below normal monsoon prediction and loss of momentum in industrial output.

The Fitch group company had earlier projected India's gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 7.5 per cent.

The key reasons for the downward revision are the prediction of lower-than-normal monsoon for 2019 and continued agrarian distress, and the loss of momentum in the industrial output growth, especially manufacturing and electricity.

Besides, the slow progress on cases referred to the National Company Law Tribunal under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, was another reason cited by the company for lowering the growth forecast.

"Inability to bring the stuck capital back into the production process will have implications for investment recovery," India Ratings and Research said in a release.

Bharti AXA General Insurance Tuesday said it will sell policies through social media messaging platform WhatsApp and has tied up with web aggregator Wishfin Insurance for speedy delivery of two-wheeler cover.

Bharti AXA General Insurance, a joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and global insurance firm AXA, will sell the policies on the website of Wishfin's insurance arm Wishpolicy.

"Wishfin has launched 'Buy Two-Wheeler Insurance on WhatsApp' through web aggregator Wishfin Insurance, which is available on (Wishpolicy's) site, provided by Bharti AXA General Insurance," the company said in a release Tuesday.

This is an instant and additional customer service option for the policyholders, apart from the company's multiple channels, including its vast network of branches, robust customer care and contact centre, dynamic portal and intelligent chatbot, it said.

Japan's new emperor, Naruhito, has formally ascended the Chrysanthemum Throne, replacing his father, Akihito, who had abdicated a day earlier. 

In a morning ceremony at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, today, Naruhito became the 126th Emperor of Japan. 

A new imperial era called Reiwa, which means order and harmony, has now begun.

The emperor in Japan holds no political power but serves as a national symbol.

The  Met  Department has said that the severe Cyclonic storm Fani in the Bay of Bengal intensified into a very severe cyclonic storm in the last six hours. 

It is likely to cross Odisha coast around Friday afternoon. 

The Bhubaneswar Met centre said under the impact of the cyclonic storm, heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely to occur in the districts of Gajapati, Ganjam, Puri, Khordha, Rayagada and Kandhamal districts tomorrow. 

It also said heavy to extremely heavy rainfall is likely to occur in the coastal areas and some isolated places including southern districts Sambalpur, Deoghar, and Kalahandi on Friday. 

Odisha Chief Secretary Aditya Padhi who reviewed the cyclone preparedness in a high-level meeting at Bhubaneswar yesterday said as many as 879 cyclone shelters have been kept ready for sheltering the evacuated people; adding that 28 NDRF, 20 ODRAF teams, and fire services are positioned for the emergency situation. 

Today is International Labour Day, also known as International Worker's Day or May Day. 

The day is celebrated to honour the contribution of working men and women. The theme of Labour Day this year is - Uniting Workers for Social and Economic Advancement. 

Labour Day aims to pay tribute to workers sacrifices in achieving economic and social rights all over the world. 

During industrialization at the beginning of the 19th Century, the industrialists used to exploit the labour class and made them work up to 15 hours a day. The workers rose against this exploitation and demanded paid leaves, proper wages and breaks for the workforce.

The day marks the victory of the workers' movement for eight hours of work. In India, the first Labour day or May Day was celebrated in 1923 in Chennai.