Sri Lankan defence secretary resigned on Thursday taking responsibility for the suicide bomb attacks on Sunday as the country remains tense in the aftermath. 

Hemasiri Fernando said that while there had been no failure on his own part, he was taking responsibility for failures of some institutions he headed as the secretary of defence. 

He was asked to resign yesterday following reports that security agencies failed to act on intelligence inputs about the attacks. 

In a related development, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has confirmed one of the suicide bombers involved spent time in Australia on a student and a graduate skilled visa. 

Meteorological department in Chennai has issued a warning that a low-pressure system over the south Bay of Bengal would turn into a cyclonic storm which has been named Fani. 

The system which is a  low pressure now in the Indian Ocean adjoining the south-east Bay of Bengal is expected to turn into a depression during the next 24 hours.

A weather warning has been issued to the fishermen to return to the coasts immediately as the sea along the coasts of Tamil Nadu and South Andhra are on the predicted areas. 

Tamil Nadu government has taken stock of the situation and has ed the district administrations to keep a vigil.

Rain watchers say that if the cyclone reaches Chennai it might bring water to meet the summer demands.

Anjum Moudgil and Divyansh Singh Panwar won India’s first gold medal at the ongoing ISSF World Cup in Beijing, China on Thursday.

The pair of Moudgil-Panwar won the gold in 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team event with a win over Chinese pair of Liu Ruxuan and Yang Haoran.

The finals happened in a new format where the top two teams went head-to-head for gold and it is in that format that the Indian emerged victorious.

It was a closely contested final with the Chinese leading 13-11. However, Moudgil-Panwar levelled at 15-15 and then won the event by 17-15.

The bronze medal was won by the Russian pair Yulia Karimova and Grigorii Shamakov.

The ongoing World Cup has not been a good one for India with the shooters struggling to even reach the finals at events.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un  began their first-ever talks in the Pacific port city of Vladivostok today. Mr. Putin said he supports ongoing efforts to ease tensions on the Korean peninsula and wants to boost bilateral economic ties. He said the North Korean leader's visit  to Russia  will help the two countries  to better understand how  to resolve the situation on the Korean peninsula. 
  
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reached the Russian Far East yesterday to  seek Moscow's support after failing to reach an agreement with US President Trump on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme at Hanoi earlier this year.
   
Russia has previously been involved in talks to end North Korea's nuclear programme.

India bagged four medals, including a Gold, on the final day of the Asian Athletics Championships at Doha in Qatar yesterday. PU Chitra successfully defended her Women's 1,500 metres Gold she had won in 2017, while Ajay Kumar Saroj in Men's 1,500 metres and the Women's 4x400 metres relay team clinched a silver each. Sprinter Dutee Chand added a bronze in Women's 200 metres race.

In the Men's 4x400 metres relay, India was initially declared to have won a Silver, but the jury later disqualified the team for impeding an athlete after protest by China. India filed an appeal against the jury's decision but it was rejected.

India ended at the fourth spot in the medals tally with 3 Gold, 7 Silver and 7 Bronze. Bahrain topped the table with 11 Gold, 7 Silver and 4 Bronze. China was second with 10 Gold, 13 Silver and 7 Bronze, while Japan was third with 5 Gold, 4 Silver and 9 Bronze.

Indonesia has released a special commemorative stamp on the theme of Ramayana to mark the 70th anniversary of the establishment of its diplomatic ties with India. 

In a statement, the Embassy of India in Jakarta yesterday said the stamp, designed by renowned Indonesian sculptor Padmashri Bapak Nyoman Nuarta, featured a scene from Ramayana in which Jatayu valiantly fought to save Sita. 

A specially signed version of the stamp will be on display at the Philately Museum in Jakarta, it said. 

India's Ambassador Pradeep Kumar Rawat and Indonesia's Vice Foreign Minister Abdurrahman Mohammad Fachir attended the event. 

Indonesia has released a special commemorative stamp on the theme of Ramayana to mark the 70th anniversary of the establishment of its diplomatic ties with India. 

In a statement, the Embassy of India in Jakarta yesterday said the stamp, designed by renowned Indonesian sculptor Padmashri Bapak Nyoman Nuarta, featured a scene from Ramayana in which Jatayu valiantly fought to save Sita. 

A specially signed version of the stamp will be on display at the Philately Museum in Jakarta, it said. 

India's Ambassador Pradeep Kumar Rawat and Indonesia's Vice Foreign Minister Abdurrahman Mohammad Fachir attended the event. 

India clinched one gold, one silver and bronze at the Asian Wrestling Championship in China's Xian on Tuesday. 

World number one Bajrang Punia logged 10 points in a row in the gold medal bout to reclaim his Asian Championship crown. He defeated  Kazakhstan's Sayatbek Okassov 12-7 in a nail-biting 65kg men's freestyle final. 

It is Bajrang's second gold at this championship, having won one in 2017. 

Another Indian Parveen Rana, lost to Bahman Mohammad Teymouri of Iran in the final 0-3 in 79kg category securing a silver medal. In 97 Kg category Satywart Kadian, picked a  bronze medal defeating Haobin Gao of China by 8-2. 

A direct flight between  Delhi and Dhaka will start from the 13th of next month. The state-owned airline of Bangladesh ‘Biman Bangladesh’ will restart its Dhaka-Delhi-Dhaka route after a gap of more than six years. Currently, there are no direct flights between the two cities.

A spokesperson for Biman Bangladesh Shakil Meraj said the national flag carrier will use a 162 seated Boeing 737-800 aircraft on this route which will operate three days a week. The flight will depart at 3 pm from Dhaka and will arrive at Indira Gandhi International Airport around 5:50 pm. 

The return flight from Delhi will take off at 6.20 p.m. in the evening and reach Dhaka at 9.20 p.m.

Biman had been operating flights to Delhi since the 1980s but suspended the service in 2013.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu called upon universities and institutions to constantly reform the system and ensure that higher education institutions deliver high-quality education. Addressing graduates at an event in Chennai yesterday, the Vice President emphasised that higher education is essential for the development of scientific temper. He urged teachers to equip themselves with the latest developments. 

Stating that technology was a great democratic leveller, Mr Naidu asked students and the youth to take care of the technological needs of the villages, agriculture and allied industry. He called for leveraging technology's potential for rural development and bridging the rural-urban divide.