The Union Government has released Fifteenth Finance Commission (XV FC) Grants during Financial Year 2024–25, for the Rural Local Bodies of Bihar, Haryana and Sikkim. Bihar gets the 2nd installment of Untied Grants amounting to Rs.821.8021 crores and withheld portion of 1st installment of Untied Grants amounting to Rs.47.9339 crores. These funds are for the all 38 District Panchayats, 530 eligible Block Panchayats and 8052 eligible Gram Panchayats which fulfilled the mandatory conditions for the release. While Rural Local Bodies in Haryana will get, 2nd installment of Untied Grants amounting to Rs.202.4663 crores and withheld portion of 1st installment of Untied Grants amounting to Rs.7.5993 crores. These funds are for the 18 eligible District Panchayats, 142 eligible Block Panchayats and 6195 eligible Gram Panchayats. Sikkim receives the 2nd installment of Untied Grants amounting to Rs.6.2613 crores during Financial Year 2024–25. These funds are for the 4 eligible District Panchayats and 186 eligible Gram Panchayats which fulfilled the mandatory conditions for release.

The Untied Grants will be utilized by Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs)/ Rural Local Bodies (RLBs) for location-specific felt needs, under the Twenty-Nine (29) Subjects enshrined in the Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution, except for salaries and other establishment costs. The Tied Grants can be used for the basic services of (a) sanitation and maintenance of ODF status, and this should include management and treatment of household waste, and human excreta and fecal sludge management in particular and (b) supply of drinking water, rainwater harvesting and water recycling.

Dr Vivek Joshi on Wednesday assumed charge as the Election Commissioner of India in pursuance of the Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India's Gazette notification dated February 17, 2025.

According to an official release from the ECI, Dr Joshi is a 1989 batch officer of the Indian Administrative Service of the Haryana cadre.

Before this, he served as the Chief Secretary, of the Government of Haryana and Secretary, of the Department of Personnel and Training and the Department of Financial Services in the Government of India.

The Indian Navy’s First Training Squadron (1TS), comprising INS Sujata and ICGS Veera, departed from Sihanoukville, Cambodia on February 17, 2025, after a successful three-day visit. This visit strengthened ties between the Indian Navy and the Royal Cambodian Navy, fostering enhanced maritime cooperation.

During the visit, the Senior Officer of 1TS, along with the Commanding Officers of both ships, engaged in a media interaction highlighting regional cooperation efforts. Capt. Anshul Kishore, Senior Officer of 1TS, also held discussions with Admiral Tea Vinh, Commander of the Royal Cambodian Navy, focusing on bilateral cross-training, joint exercises, and regional security.

A Small Arms Simulator was presented to the Royal Cambodian Army as part of continued defense collaboration. Additionally, friendly sports events between the Indian and Cambodian navies promoted camaraderie, while a reception onboard hosted diplomats, ambassadors, and senior Cambodian military officials.

Mrithinjai Srikanthan (IRS) has been selected for the appointment as Deputy Secretary in the Department of Expenditure under the Ministry of Finance. According to an order issued from the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT), Srikanthan has been selected for the appointment under the Central Staffing Scheme for a period of four years with effect from the date of taking over charge of the post or until further orders whichever is earlier.

Srikanthan is an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer of 2013 batch. He was recommended for the Central Deputation by the Department of Revenue.

The order also directs that Srikanthan be relieved of his current duties immediately to enable him to take up his new assignment in the Department of Expenditure.

Rekha Gupta, a first-time BJP MLA from Shalimar Bagh, will take oath as the Chief Minister of Delhi today, marking a historic day for the party as it returns to power in the national capital after 27 years. She will be the fourth woman Chief Minister of Delhi after Sushma Swaraj, Sheila Dikshit and Atishi.

Gupta, 50, won the Shalimar Bagh seat in the February 5 Delhi Assembly elections by garnering more than 29,000 votes against her Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) rival Bandana Kumari. "Kaam hi Pehchaan" (my work is my identity), is a tagline that she uses on her website for her campaigns.

Gupta and her Council of Ministers comprising Parvesh Verma, Ashish Sood, Pankaj Singh, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, Kapil Mishra and Ravinder Indraj, will take oath at the mega ceremony in the Ramlila Maidan at around noon.

Starting this February, the State government will provide an additional 5 kg of rice to BPL families instead of cash under the Anna Bhagya guarantee scheme.

Announcing this on Wednesday, Food and Civil Supplies Minister K.H. Muniyappa said this decision has been made following the Union government’s commitment to provide the required quantity of rice to Karnataka. An order was issued later in the day.

Unable to procure enough rice in the market at a reasonable cost in time to meet the needs of the Anna Bhagya scheme, the State government had decided to temporarily give ₹170 per person per month at the rate of ₹34 per kg from July 1, 2023, in lieu of the promised 5 kg of free rice.

In its quest for selfreliance within the space sector, Isro has announced the successful development of a 10-tonne ‘vertical planetary mixer’, the largest of its kind for solid propellants globally. This innovative equipment has been designed and manufactured in collaboration with the Central Manufacturing Technology Institute (CMTI) in Bengaluru.

Solid propulsion plays a crucial role in Indian space transportation systems and vertical mixer is one of the critical equipment in production of a solid motor of a rocket. “Solid propellants are the backbone of rocket motors, and their production requires precise mixing of highly sensitive and hazardous ingredients,” Isro said, adding “the 10-tonne vertical mixer is the world’s largest solid propellant mixing equipment”

The 34th edition of the ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup table tennis tournament begins in Shenzhen, China, this morning.

India’s men’s team is led by world No. 42 Sharath Kamal, a five-time Olympian and reigning Commonwealth Games singles champion. The squad also includes world No. 60 Manav Thakkar and world No. 70 Harmeet Desai.

The Indian women’s team features Paris 2024 Olympian Sreeja Akula, Ayhika Mukherjee, and Yashaswini Ghorpade.

The event features men’s and women’s singles competitions, with 32 players in each category. The top four semi-finalists in both events will qualify for the ITTF World Cup 2025, scheduled for April.

The tournament will conclude on Sunday.

Former Mumbai captain Milind Rege passed away on Friday morning at 76 after suffering cardiac arrest. Rege played multiple roles in Mumbai cricket since he retired from the sport, remaining available for Mumbai Cricket Association throughout his cricketing career. He served as a managing committee member, was a selector, commentator and later was appointed as advisor to MCA.

Ahead of the day’s play in Nagpur in the Ranji Trophy semifinal, Mumbai and Vidarbha players observed silence as a mark of respect. The Mumbai players wore blacka armbands as well.

Rege, an offspinner, played 52 first-class matches for Mumbai in the 70s and took 126 wickets. He was also part of the organising committee during ICC-Champions Trophy held in Mumbai in 2006.

The Kerala government is all set to start a programme to collect expired and unused medicine from homes and dispose of them scientifically.

In a first in the country, the State Drugs Control Department is launching a project to scientifically collect expired and unused medicines from homes and dispose them.

The project titled ' nPROUD' (New Programme for Removal of Unused Drugs) will be inaugurated by Health Minister Veena George on February 22 in Kozhikode.

As part of the project, unused medicines will be collected from homes or facilities will be provided for their disposal at designated places. This is the first time such a project has been launched and implemented at the government level in the country. It is being implemented for the first time in the Kozhikode Corporation and Ulliyeri Panchayat of Kozhikode district government is planning to implement it statewide,Veena George said in a press release.