Tamils from about 58 countries participated in the two-day World Tamil Diaspora Day celebrations, inaugurated by Minister for Youth Welfare and Sports Development Udhayanidhi Stalin here on Thursday.

Ministers, people’s representatives, industrialists and writers, among others, took part in the event.

During the inauguration ceremony, held at Chennai Trade Centre, Mr. Udhayanidhi underlined the strong link that Tamils living abroad have with the State and the functions of the Commissionerate of Rehabilitation and Welfare of Non-Resident Tamils.

For months on, Indian wrestling’s biggest prodigy, Aman Sehrawat, had to suffer a snippy taunt at his akhara – dheela.

It had nothing to do with his relaxed demeanour. Rather, that was how Sehrawat’s coaches described – at times sarcastically, sometimes in a caustic way but always out of frustration – his wrestling style in the opening few exchanges of a bout. The barb would have perhaps rung in his ears on Wednesday.

While he went on to win the 57kg title at the UWW Ranking Series in Zagreb, beating China’s Wanhao Zou 10-0 in the gold medal bout, Sehrawat was a little slow off the blocks earlier in the day in the opening round.

Hyundai Motor India Ltd, India’s second-largest carmaker, has signed an agreement with IIT- Madras to establish a dedicated ‘Hydrogen Valley Innovation Hub, with an investment of ₹180 crore.

The objective is to help foster a worldwide Hydrogen Society by making hydrogen readily used for everyone, everything and everywhere, according to a statement.

This facility will act as an incubation cell to develop a framework for the localisation of the hydrogen ecosystem. The initiative is also expected to generate employment and support skill development in the region, it said.

The Karnataka High Court has ruled that 100 per cent reservation for women as laid down in Section 6 of the Military Nursing Services Ordinance of 1943 is unconstitutional.

Justice Anant Ramanath Hegde of the court’s Dharwad bench passed the order on January 5 in response to a petition that challenged the reservation provision arguing that Article 15(3) of the Constitution (special provisions for women and children) cannot override Article 16(2) (right against discrimination on grounds such as religion, sex etc).

It was also argued that the reservation in this case was not a reasonable classification, and there was no “rational nexus” between it and the object it seeks to achieve. It was further pointed out that the ordinance was a measure for the emergency of the day (World War II) and had no relevance in the modern context.

On Thursday, as the ‘who is who’ of the sugar industry of Maharashtra gathered at Pune’s Vasantdada Sugar Institute (VSI) to felicitate the best among them, Deepa Bhandare, in a quiet way created history of sorts.

Bhandare, who won the best Environment Officer Award conferred by VSI Chairman Sharad Pawar, is the only woman in the long history of the sugar industry to win the award.

Bhandare, who is associated with Shri Datta Cooperative Sugar Factory (SSK) in Shirol taluka of Kolhapur, is one of the very few women officers associated with the state’s sugar industry.

The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs appointed Maheshwar Rao as the full-time managing director of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) on Thursday. An order from the ministry states that the managing director will not be given any other or additional assignment by the Karnataka government without its consent.

Since former MD Anjum Parvez was given the charge of the additional chief secretary of rural development and panchayat raj last year, the appointment of a full-time MD for BMRCL has been a long-standing demand of mobility activists, especially given that major metro works are to be completed on a war footing in order to decongest Bengaluru traffic, reduce vehicle pollution and boost public transport.

Uttar Pradesh will have five more airports in the next one month that will take the total number of airports in the state to 19, Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Thursday as he flagged off direct flight from Ayodhya to Ahmedabad.

The Maharishi Valmiki International Airport in Ayodhya was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 30.

Scindia said that five new airports will be inaugurated in Uttar Pradesh in one month. The airports will be at Azamgarh, Aligarh, Moradabad, Chitrakoot and Shravasti, taking the total number of airports in the state to 19.

Two cities in Uttar Pradesh - Varanasi and Prayagraj - have got national awards as part of the Swachh Survekshan 2023 Awards instituted by the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry.

Varanasi and Prayagraj won the top two awards among the Cleanest Ganga Towns.

Uttar Pradesh Urban Development Minister AK Sharma termed it a “great achievement”.

Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal will be laying the foundation stone for the permanent campus of the Regional Research Institute for Homoeopathy and Integrated Ayush Wellness Centre at Azara in Assam's Guwahati on January 12, said an official release on Thursday.

According to an official release from the Press Information Bureau (PIB), "A total amount of Rs 53.89 crore has been sanctioned for the Regional Research Institute for Homoeopathy and Integrated Ayush Wellness Centre project."

This institute was established as a Clinical Research Unit of Homoeopathy in 1984 in a rented building at Odalbakra, Guwahati. Presently, it is situated in Bhetapara, Guwahati, in the old building of the Central Ayurveda Research Institute.

India has secured the 80th position in the latest edition of the Henley Passport Index, allowing its citizens visa-free access to 62 countries. This includes popular destinations such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.

India's position is a slight improvement from the previous year when it was ranked 84.

Among India's neighbors, the Maldives leads the pack positioned at 58, followed by China at 62, Bhutan at 87, Myanmar at 92, Sri Lanka at 96, Bangladesh at 97, and Nepal at 98th.

Pakistan trails behind at 101.