In line with the vision of strengthening investment cooperation between India and Qatar, the first meeting of the Joint Task Force on Investment (JTFI) between the two nations was convened on Thursday (6th June 2024) in New Delhi. The Joint Task Force was co-chaired by Department of Economic Affairs, Secretary, Ajay Seth and the Undersecretary of Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of Qatar Mohamed bin Hassen Al-Malki.

In the spirit of fostering mutual growth and prosperity, the Joint Task Force on investment has reaffirmed the commitment of both the nations to strengthen bilateral relations and to leverage the collective potential for accelerated growth, investment opportunities and synergistic collaboration across diverse sectors ranging from infrastructure, energy to technology and innovation. The JTFI has underscored the significance of the robust economic relationship between India and Qatar rooted in shared values common objectives and a shared vision for inclusive development.

The Uttar Pradesh government officials said the state will sign a contract with Spain headquartered Dorna Sports and its Indian partner, Fairstreet Sports, to organise MotoGP event in Noida next year, and will keep organising the annual event till 2029.

In order to organise the event through its Invest UP department, the state government will raise ₹80 crore to cover Dorna Sports’ one-year licensing fee, officials said.

To be sure, the government has decided to arrange ₹80 crore even as Fairstreet Sports is facing allegations of fund embezzlement in organising the 2023 MotoGP event in Greater Noida’s Formula One Circuit.

For a few minutes, anyway, it seemed as if Iga Swiatek was a bit off in the French Open final against Jasmine Paolini. Swiatek kept making mistakes early Saturday, got broken in the third game and trailed at Court Philippe Chatrier.

Might a true surprise be in the offing? Could Paolini not only make a match of this, but actually win it? Um, no. Not even close. Not with the way Swiatek can dominate opponents, especially on red clay.

The top-seeded Swiatek quickly recalibrated her wayward strokes and simply overwhelmed Paolini, grabbing 10 games in a row en route to a 6-2, 6-1 victory that gave her a third consecutive championship at Roland Garros and fourth in five years.

Indian strawweight Puja Tomar became the first ever Indian to win a bout in the UFC as she defeated Brazil’s Rayanne Amanda dos Santos via split decision at the UFC Louisville on Saturday.

Puja Tomar beat Rayanne Amanda dos Santos 30-27, 30-27, 29-28.

Tomar who hails from Uttar Pradesh, faced Rayanne dos Santos at strawweight in the very first bout of the card. Tomar and dos Santos went all three rounds: 15 minutes of gruelling, fast-paced back-and-forth action. Santos used her height advantage and range to dictate the action, but Tomar went kicking and screaming to the final bell, causing damage in the process. When the scorecards were read, Tomar picked up a split decision win (30-27, 27-30, 29-28).

Saurabh Sharma, an athlete from Himachal Pradesh’s Hamirpur district, has won two gold medals in the ongoing World Para Athlete Grand Prix in the Nottwil city of Switzerland.

Sharma emerged victorious in 155-metre and 5000-metre races.

Sharma, who hails from Ropa Khayah village of Nadaun area in Hamirpur district, is representing the Indian team in the T12 category. This championship, which started on June 6, will conclude on June 9.

He had earlier won seven gold medals at the national level.

Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi took oath today for a third straight term as the head of a coalition government after two full tenures in which the BJP enjoyed a majority on its own. Mr. Modi, 73, equalled the feat of the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who won in the 1952, 1957 and 1962 general elections. After Mr. Modi, Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari were among 35 other Cabinet Ministers who took oath on Sunday. 36 Ministers of State, and five Ministers of State (independent charge) also took oath of office. Click here for the full list of Ministers.

Rewarding the BJP’s coalition partners, Mr. Modi has inducted several MPs from the NDA partners. Two MPs each from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the BJP in Andhra Pradesh, where the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won 21 out of 25 Lok Sabha seats, took oath. Several leaders, including TDP’s Ram Mohan Naidu, Pemmasani Chandrashekhar, JD(S)‘s H.D. Kumaraswamy, BJP’s Sarbananda Sonowal have been inducted into the Cabinet.

The 18th edition of the Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) will be held in Mumbai from June 15 to 21, Union Information and Broadcasting Secretary Sanjay Jaju announced on Friday.

Addressing a press conference here at the National Media Centre, Jaju said the film gala, which showcases non-feature films (documentary, short Fiction and animation) will be at the FD-NFDC Complex in Mumbai.

Besides, MIFF screenings will also be held in Delhi at Sirifort Auditorium, Chennai at Tagore Film Centre, Pune at NFAI auditorium and Kolkata at SRFTI Auditorium.

Asian Games gold medallist Sift Kaur Samra shot the bronze in women’s rifle 3-position event in the World Cup which concluded in Munich, Germany, on Friday.

Sift missed the chance to win the silver medal by 0.1 point to Han Jiayu of China who had shot a world record equalling 596 in qualification.

The eventual gold medallist Seonaid Mcintosh of Britain was far too ahead to catch as she won with a 5.1 point margin.

In men’s rifle 3-position final, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar finished eighth.

In mixed air pistol, Rhythm Sangwan and Sarabjot Singh (573) and the other pair of Surbhi Rao and Arjun Singh Cheema (572) placed 14th and 18th respectively.

India was joint third with France with one gold and one bronze. China topped with four gold, four silver and three bronze medals. Norway won a gold, silver and bronze for the second place.

Portugal plans to adapt its golden visa scheme to allow wealthy foreigners seeking residency rights to invest in affordable housing for locals or accommodation for migrants, the cabinet affairs minister told Reuters on Tuesday.

Antonio Leitao Amaro said the scheme – called a “solidarity visa” – would complement an existing programme, which since 2012 has offered non-EU nationals who invest in Portugal the right to live in the country.

The golden visa scheme has attracted more 7.3 billion euros ($7.94 billion) of funds since its launch. But critics say it has also exacerbated a housing crisis and it has undergone several changes in recent years.

One of the eminent wildlife field biologists and pioneers of wildlife conservation in the Country, A.J.T.Johnsingh passed away in Bengaluru on Friday after a brief illness. He was 78. The family said that he will be buried at Donavur at the foothills of the Western Ghats.

A well known wildlife biologist, Johnsingh started his career as a Zoology lecturer at Sivakasi in the early 1970s. His frequent field trips to the forests made him pursue Ph.D in wildlife studies. His pioneering work in elephants in the early 1980s was instrumental for the Government of India to formulate Project Elephant. He also conducted an international conference bringing elephant experts across the world to Mudhumalai wildlife sanctuary. He was associated with the Bombay Natural History society , the Corbett foundation and the Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysuru. He was also a member of the National wild life Board and Tiger Conservation Authority. He received numerous awards both national and international for his work. He has trained more than 300 wildlife managers and published scientific papers and articles.