Chairperson of IT services firm HCLTech, Roshni Nadar Malhotra, was on Monday conferred with the "Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur" (Knight of the Legion of Honour), the highest civilian award of France.

“It is my privilege to receive this honour, and it underscores the strategic relationship between India and France. HCLTech has a longstanding presence in France, which is a strategic market for us. We are committed to scaling our operations in the country and supporting the digital transformation of French businesses through our differentiated portfolio of services,” said Roshni Nadar Malhotra, chairperson, HCLTech, in a statement.

India’s Avinash Sable bettered his own 3000m steeplechase national record at the Paris Diamond League meet on Sunday.

Sable finished with a timing of 8:09.91, improving his personal best (8:11:20) by more than a second. Abrham Sime of Ethiopia managed to ward off Kenyan Amos Serem’s attempt to overtake him and placed first clocking a personal best of 8:02.36.

His compatriot, Kishore Jena finished eighth in the men’s javelin throw event with his first attempt of 78.10m being the best. Germany Julian Weber placed first with his fifth throw of 85.91m, followed by Grenada’s Anderson Peters and Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic.

NDTV organized the MSMES summit in Bhopal where Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav honored renowned homeopathic practitioner Dr. Arpit Chopra with the Excellence Award.

The event took place at the Marriott Hotel in Bhopal. Alongside Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav, Deputy CM Rajendra Shukla and MSMES Minister Chaitanya Kashyap from Madhya Pradesh were also present. More than 15 distinguished individuals from the state were recognized by the Chief Minister during the program.

Dr. Arpit Chopra, founder of Aarogya Homeopathic, has been working tirelessly in the field of homeopathy to cure people of complex diseases for a long time. Recognizing his contribution to society, Dr. Mohan Yadav conferred him with the Excellence Award. Anurag dwari , Head of NDTV Channel, was also present at the occasion.

In a major initiative, the Yogi Adityanath government has announced the establishment of 'Mitra Van' under Vriksharopan Jan Abhiyan-2024 along the borders of Uttar Pradesh and the neighbouring country of Nepal.

Locations have been selected by 35 forest divisions for this purpose.

On the instructions of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the Forest Department is coordinating with the neighbouring country and states to enhance greenery through the plantation of 35 crore saplings.

Additionally, alongside planting saplings on UP's land at the borders, the Forest Department will also involve dignitaries from other states in this mega campaign.

The prototype of the country’s indigenous light tank Zorawar is ready and will soon be subjected to extensive trials, Defence officials said. The tank was unveiled on July 6. It was jointly developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) along with Larsen & Toubro (L&T) as the lead integrator. The tank is currently powered by a Cummins engine and DRDO has taken up a project to develop a new engine domestically, officials said.

“It has been developed from the drawing board within shortest possible time and capable of operation in the most challenging environment on the earth, i.e. extreme weather and extreme height with minimal logistic support in high altitude area along the northern border of India,” a Defence official said. First prototype is ready after factory acceptance. Shortly, it will be subjected to internal trials in the field area and thereafter handed over to the users for trials, the source stated.

Non-banking finance company Indiabulls Housing Finance on Wednesday announced that it has officially changed its name to ‘Sammaan Capital Limited’, following the receipt for Certificate of Incorporation issued by the Registrar of Companies (RoC), and Certificate of Registration (CoR) as an NBFC-ICC from the RBI.

The company had announced its plans to rebrand the company on May 22, 2023 and January 25, 2024.

In a regulatory filing, the company said that it will shortly submit the requisite applications with the stock exchanges for effecting change of name and trading in the shares of the company in its new name and a new symbol. It also informed that the company will operationalize the change in name across branches, its website, stationery, etc. within this month. Further, customer outreach would be undertaken through appropriate campaigns across various media channels, within this fiscal quarter, it added.

In an effort to uphold consumer rights and respond to evolving concerns regarding hassle-free product repairs, the Department of Consumer Affairs held a meeting with Automobile Associations to onboard companies onto the Right to Repair Portal India.

Speaking at the meeting, Department of Consumer Affairs, Secretary, Nidhi Khare emphasized the need to enhance efforts towards democratization of repair manuals and videos, foster a robust ecosystem for third-party repair services, and establish standards for them. All companies were urged to join the unified Right to Repair Portal India, which aims to facilitate and work as a catalyst for providing relevant repair-associated information between consumers and companies.

The Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA), under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution, Government of India, has launched the Right to Repair Portal India. It provides consumers with easy access to information for repairing their products and enabling them to reuse it, thereby contributing to the circular economy as well as reduction of e-waste in a hassle-free manner.

ICICI Lombard, a leading private general insurer in India, proudly announces the launch of its revolutionary health insurance product, ‘Elevate’. Powered with AI, the first-of-its-kind health product is loaded with cutting-edge features and add-ons, offering personalised solutions to meet the needs of dynamic lifestyles, unforeseen medical emergencies and medical inflation. This significant launch underscores ICICI Lombard’s commitment to pioneering advancements in the insurance industry, delivering exceptional value to its customers.

Anand Singhi, Chief of Retail and Government at ICICI Lombard, stated, “‘Elevate’ embodies our steadfast dedication to pioneering innovation and customer-centricity. As a ground-breaking industry first, powered by an AI engine, ‘Elevate’ will redefine health insurance, ensuring a deeply personalised experience tailored to customers’ needs. With add-ons such as ‘Infinite Care’ and ‘Power Booster,’ we have set a new standard in health insurance, empowering our customers with unparalleled peace of mind in an increasingly dynamic world."

The Government has re-constituted 8 Cabinet Committees with Prime Minister heading six of them. Out of remaining two, one will be headed by the Home Minister and other by the Defence Minister.

The most powerful Appointment Committee of the Cabinet, responsible for appointment of bureaucrats, will be headed by the Prime Minister.

Home Minister Amit Shah will be only member of the Committee. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), responsible for taking key economic decisions, will be a 10-member committee.

Apart from Defence, Home, Finance, Surface Transport and Agriculture Ministers, four other Ministers – Commerce & Industry, Education, Heavy Industries and Panchayati Raj – are part of the Committee.

Noted Tamil writer Sivashankari, who has created a wealth of literature in Tamil, has been selected for Dr. C. Narayana Reddy National Literary Award.

Ms. Sivashankari will be honoured with a cash prize of ₹5 lakh, a memento and a shawl in recognition of her contribution to the field of literature, according to a press release issued by Sushila Narayana Reddy Trust president C. Ganga and general secretary J. Chennaiah here on Thursday.

A recipient of the Saraswati Samman Award, Ms. Sivashankari will receive the ‘Vishwambhara’ award during Dr. C. Narayana Reddy’s 93rd birth anniversary celebrations at Ravindra Bharati in Hyderabad on July 29.