Former NASA administrator James M. Beggs, who led the agency during the early years of the space shuttle program and resigned after the Challenger disaster killed seven astronauts in 1986, died Thursday at his home in Bethesda, Maryland. He was 94.

Congestive heart failure is suspected to be the cause of his death, according to one of his sons, Charles Beggs.

President Ronald Reagan nominated Beggs to become the sixth administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. He served in the agency’s top position from July 1981 to December 1985.

The King George Medical University in Uttar Pradesh has become the first government hospital in the country to successfully launch the plasma therapy treatment for the COVID-19 patients. AIR correspondent reports that first dose of the plasma therapy was given yesterday to a 58-year old patient.

Vice Chancellor of the KGMU Prof MLB Bhatt termed it a proud moment for university and said that we were preparing for the Plasma Therapy right from the approval from Indian Council of Medical Research. The plasma was already secured from the three recovered COVID-19 patients who were treated at KGMU itself.

Assistant Professor of the medicine department Dr. D Himashu said that the 58-year old COVID-19 patient who was on ventilator has shown signs of recovery and second dose of the plasma transfusion therapy can be given today. If this patient recovers successfully then it will be a great step in treating the serious patients with the help of plasma transfusion therapy. 

16-year-old Iranian refugee, Alireza Firouzja beats World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen in the final of the Banter Blitz Cup 2020 and to claim the $14,000 prize. Firouzja, an Iranian now living in Paris, is is the second-youngest player to reach a rating of 2700 from Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE), the body that governs international chess competition. He is ranked 21st in the world.

Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Nitin Gadkari on Thursday interacted via video conferencing with the representatives of Bharat Chamber of Commerce, enterprises from various sectors, media and other stakeholders on 'Post COVID -19 Challenges and New Opportunities in India'.

Union Minister Gadkari called upon the industries to take necessary measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The minister emphasized on usage of PPEs and advised to maintain social distancing while resuming the offices and business operations.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said, industries should also arrange shelter and food for the labourers at the work site and focus on preventive measures and business activities simultaneously.

The minister further mentioned that the highways and ports have started functioning and over the period of time the operations will be on track.

Recovery rate of COVID-19 patients in the country has improved to 19.89 per cent.

A total of 1,229 fresh COVID cases have been reported in the country in the last 24 hours taking the total number to 21,700. As many as 4325 patients have recovered and discharged from the hospitals, while 686 patients have died.

Health Ministry spokesperson said, there are 78 districts in the country where no new cases of COVID -19 have been reported in the last 14 days. He also said there are 12 districts which have not reported fresh case in the last 28 days.

The Home Ministry Spokesperson informed about the exemptions announced by the government during lockdown. She said the Center has clarified to states that in-house care-givers of senior citizens, prepaid mobile recharge utilities and food processing units in urban areas are exempted from lockdown restrictions.

India reaffirms its commitment towards greater sharing of knowledge, expertise, best practices in joint fight against Coronavirus

India has reaffirmed its strong commitment towards greater sharing of knowledge, expertise and best practices in the joint fight against COVID-19 for the larger regional good. India yesterday participated in a video conference of Health Ministers of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) hosted by Pakistan to promote greater regional cooperation to deal with the Corona virus pandemic.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, India was represented at the conference by Director General of Health Services who was assisted by experts from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). All the SAARC member nations are reeling under adverse social and economic impact of the Corona virus pandemic.

On the occasion of  National Panchayati Raj Day today, Prime Minister Narendra will interact with Sarpanchs from across the nation via video conferencing at 11 A.M. PMO in a tweet said that all Sarpanchs will be able to join this interaction through Doordarshan, from their respective homes adhering to social distancing norms. It said, those Sarpanchs who will be sharing their views with Mr Modi, will do so by joining the interaction at a Common Service Centre close to them.

The Prime Minister will launch a unified e-GramSwaraj Portal and Mobile App on the occasion. The Unified Portal is a new initiative of  Panchayati Raj Ministry which will provide the Gram Panchayats with a single interface to prepare and implement their development plan. Mr Modi will also launch the Swamitva Scheme which provides for an integrated property validation solution for rural India.

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Wednesday named Indian shuttler PV Sindhu as one of the ambassadors for its 'I am badminton' awareness campaign.

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Wednesday named Indian shuttler PV Sindhu as one of the ambassadors for its 'I am badminton' awareness campaign.

The campaign provides a platform for which players are able to express their love and respect for badminton by advocating and committing to clean and honest play.

The Geneva-based International Motorcycle Manufacturers Association (IMMA), which represents the manufacturing industry of powered two-wheelers at the global level, has elected Rakesh Sharma, Executive Director, Bajaj Auto as its President for a two-year mandate.

Sharma was elected from its member organisation, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

Sharma had previously been the Vice-President in IMMA, after being elected in May 2019.

The IMMA Spring Congress originally planned to be held from April 20 to April 24, 2020 in New Delhi, was changed into a series of meetings by conference call and correspondence. The election of the new President took place through a general assembly by correspondence on April 21, 2020 due to the COVID-19 crisis, said the statement.

Sharma joined Bajaj Auto in October 2007 as President (International Business). He is a member of the Board of Commissioners of PT Bajaj Auto Indonesia, a subsidiary of Bajaj Auto Ltd, as well as the Chairman of the Exports Council of SIAM.

In a piece of exciting news for techies in India and around the world, the research team at IIT-Mandi has developed Magnetic Random Access Memory (MRAM), which claims to be faster, more energy-efficient and capable of storing more information in a smaller volume as compared to the existing data storing technologies.

The Spin-transfer torque-based nano spintronic device in which data is represented as a spin of electrons utilises the spinning electrons to transmit and process information. By harnessing this spin of electrons from the magnetic state leads to Spin-Transfer Torque-Magnetic Random Access Memory (STT-MRAM). So, unlike normal electronic devices that are driven by electron charges, the cutting-edge technology promises better storage capabilities than conventional electric charge-based RAM.