Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will inaugurate Advantage Maharashtra expo 2020 in Aurangabad today.

The four-day mega industrial exhibition has been organised by the Marathwada Association of Small Scale Industries and Agriculture (MASSIA).

Growth of Marathwada industries in technology and innovation and the products produced and exported from the region will be showcased in this exhibition.

Convener of the expo Sunil Kirdak informed that over 450 exhibitors from within the state as well as outside the state are participating in this exhibition. He added that conferences and seminars will also be held during the event.

Country's largest public sector bank, State Bank of India has announced a 'residential builder finance with buyer guarantee' (RBBG) scheme. It aims at giving a push to residential sales and improve homebuyers' confidence.

Under this scheme announced yesterday, the SBI will issue a guarantee for completion of select residential projects to customers who have availed home loans from it. The scheme will focus on affordable housing projects priced up to 2.50 crore rupees in 10 cities initially. SBI Chairman said that this will be a win-win situation for homebuyers, builders and the bank. Under RBBG, the guarantee would be given by the bank till the project gets the occupation certificate (OC).

The guarantee will be available for RERA registered projects and a project will be considered stuck after it crosses the RERA deadline.     

The country gears up for the third edition of the Khelo India Youth Games, to be held in Guwahati from tomorrow till 22 of this month.  

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Kiren Rijiju along with a host of star athletes will grace the opening ceremony, to be held at the Indira Gandhi Stadium tomorrow.

Sarbanand Sonowal has said that the state is extremely delighted to host the third edition of the Khelo India Youth Games. He added that the competition has started a sporting revolution in India and expressed pride that the games are being held in Assam. Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju said that the Games have certainly inspired the youth of the country to take up sports.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today approved capital grant as viability gap funding to Indradhanush Gas Grid Limited for setting up the North-East Natural Gas Pipeline Grid.
 
It approved the proposal to provide 5 thousand 559 crore rupees viability gap funding for building a 1 thousand 656 kilometres gas grid. The total cost of the grid is 9 thousand 256 crore rupees. 

Briefing media, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said, the project is critical towards implementing the government's Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 for the North-East.

As per the plan, the Gas Pipeline Grid would be developed in all the eight states of the North-Eastern region.

A special drive has been initiated for removal of all sorts of speed breakers on National Highways. Road Transport and Highways Ministry said, the step comes in a bid to ensure smooth and hassle-free traffic movement, especially at toll plazas.

 With the effective implementation of FASTag on toll plazas, the speed breakers and rumble strips constructed at toll plazas are being removed with immediate effect for smooth vehicular movement.

The Ministry said, the speed breakers result in considerable delay, damage to the vehicles and significant discomfort to vehicle occupants and more fuel consumption due to acceleration and deceleration.

The Cabinet today gave its approval for an Agreement between India and Mongolia on Cooperation in the Exploration and Uses of Outer Space for Peaceful and Civilian Purposes.

The agreement was signed in New Delhi on 20th September last year during the visit of the President of Mongolia to India.

The Cabinet also gave its approval for signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department for International Development Government of the United Kingdom for Enabling Energy Self-Sufficiency for Indian Railways.

The Cabinet was apprised of the Agreement on cooperation in polar science between Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India and Ministry of Education and Research, Sweden.

Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) chief K Sivan detailed the country’s first manned mission to space on Tuesday, saying the four men shortlisted for the programme will receive physical fitness training in Russia for 11 months, but the first spaceflight in December 2021 may carry just one person.

Under the mission, named Gaganyaan and expected to cost ₹10,000 crore, India is expected to send astronauts, all Indian Air Force pilots, to the low earth orbit, an earth-centred orbit with an altitude of 2,000km where most of the manmade objects in outer space are placed.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the space mission from the ramparts of the Red Fort on August 15, 2018, saying that “an Indian son or daughter” will carry the national flag on the trip when the country celebrates its 75th year of Independence in 2022.

A ten day long art exhibition commemorating 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi was inaugurated on Tuesday in Dhaka. The art exhibition has been organised by the Indian High Commission in Bangladesh in association with the Bangladesh Shilpkala Academy.

The exhibition was inaugurated with a floral tribute paid by MP from Noakhali H.M. Ibrahim and MP from Jamalpur Mirza Azam. The two Gandhi Ashrams in Bangladesh are located at Jamalpur and Noakhali. Leading thinker on Gandhian ideals, Syed Abul Maksud was the Special Guests of the Ceremony.

Welcoming the dignitaries and artists on the occasion Deputy High Commissioner to Bangladesh Bishwadip Dey said that the exhibition will promote appreciation of Mahatma Gandhi’s life of simplicity and devotion to truth.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday granted in-principle approval to Uttar Pradesh-based Shivalik Mercantile Co-operative Bank Ltd to convert to a small finance bank (SFB), becoming the first urban cooperative bank (UCB) to make the transition since the guidelines came out nearly two years ago.

“The Reserve Bank of India has today granted in-principle approval to Shivalik Mercantile Co-operative Bank Ltd (the applicant) for transition into a small finance bank under the scheme on voluntary transition of urban co-operative bank into a small finance bank issued on September 27, 2018," an RBI notification said.

India's P Magesh Chandran lifted the title in the 95th edition of the prestigious Hastings International Chess Congress at  Hastings in England.

He remained unbeaten in all the nine rounds. The 36-year old Grand Master with a FIDE rating of 2479, finished in clear first place with 7.5 points from nine games after securing a 33-move draw in the final round yesterday against compatriot G A Stany, also a Grand Master. He beat fellow Indian GM Deep Sengupta in the eighth round.

Stany took the sixth place with 6.5 points while India's woman GM R Vaishali obtained six points to finish 10th. Two other Indians Deep Sengupta finished 13th and Swayam Mishra 14th with identical six points.

France's Romain Edouard, who was the only player to end the tournament a half-point behind Chandran, took the second spot. Four players shared third to sixth places with 6.5 points.