Chairing the maiden Cabinet meeting of his third term on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved government assistance for the construction of three crore rural and urban houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY).

Of the three crore houses, two crore will be constructed under PMAY-Gramin, while 1 crore under PMAY-Urban. After the Cabinet meeting an official source said, “It has been decided in the Cabinet meeting today to provide assistance to three crore additional rural and urban households for the construction of houses, to meet the housing requirements arising out of the increase in the number of eligible families.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi commenced his historic third consecutive term on Monday by authorizing the release of the 17th installment of the PM-KISAN scheme, which aims to benefit 9.3 crore farmers with a disbursement of around Rs 20,000 crores.

Arriving at his office in South Block on the first morning after taking oath, PM Modi signed the file pertaining to the flagship scheme’s installment for farmers, underscoring his government’s commitment to their welfare.

After signing the file, PM Modi said, “Ours is a Government fully committed to Kisan Kalyan. It is therefore fitting that the first file signed on taking charge is related to farmer welfare. We want to keep working even more for the farmers and the agriculture sector in the times to come.”

Sebi has been given 'Best Conduct of Business Regulator' award in Asia Pacific by The Asian Banker for its role in enhancing the regulatory framework for securities markets in India.

The award was received by Sebi's Whole Time Member Kamlesh Chandra Varshney in a ceremony held in Hong Kong.

"This authority (Sebi) has been actively working towards instantaneous settlement. In 2021, T+1 settlement was introduced in a phased manner, which was fully implemented from January 2023. This move has provided investors with faster access to their funds following trade execution and settlement, enhancing market efficiency and liquidity," The Asian Banker said in a statement.

Through rigorous enforcement and innovative regulatory practices, Sebi has significantly improved the conduct of business in the country's financial markets, ensuring fair treatment of consumers and robust market integrity, it added.

The All India Tennis Association (AITA) has announced the Dilip Bose award for lifetime achievement to coach Nar Singh. The award along with a cash prize of Rs.50,000 will be presented during the 11th National coaches workshop to be held at the PYC Hindu Gymkhana in Pune on June 7 and 8.

The secretary general of AITA, Anil Dhupar, announced a new lifetime achievement award for women coaches. The first award would be presented to the 69-year-old Rohini Lokhande who was a member of the national team along with Kiran Bedi, Nirupama Mankad, Susan Das and Udaya Kumar, before she took to coaching at a young age.

Rohini was the first woman tennis coach to qualify from the National Institute of Sports. She has trained thousands of players in different age groups and has helped many to qualify as coaches.

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.