Marking the 150th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday rolled out his Government’s ambitious ‘Mo Sarkar’ programme which finds its roots in the Gandhian philosophy of giving people their voice in daily governance.

As announced before, Naveen directly interacted with people to understand their experiences in State-run hospitals and police stations. The Chief Minister rang up nine persons randomly selected from ‘Mo Sarkar’ portal and took their feedback on the response they received from hospitals and police stations.

Lakshminarayanan comes with 35 years of experience in a broad range of leadership roles across industries and regions across the world, says Tata Communications
Digital infrastructure provider Tata Communications has named Amur S Lakshminarayanan as Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) designate of the company.

“As MD and CEO Designate, Lakshminarayanan will advise the interim management committee of Tata Communications. Upon receipt of necessary regulatory approvals, the Board of Tata Communications will subsequently appoint Lakshminarayanan as the MD and CEO of Tata Communications,” a company statement said.

President Ram Nath Kovind will today confer the Vayoshreshtha Samman-2019 on the eminent senior citizens and institutions in recognition of their services towards the cause of the elderly persons. The award will be given a function in New Delhi. 

The Vayoshreshtha Samman is a Scheme of awards instituted by the  Social Justice and  Empowerment  Ministry  and gradually upgraded to the status of National Awards for institutions involved in rendering distinguished service for the cause of elderly persons. These awards are presented as part of the celebration of the International Day of Older Persons on 1st October.

Palestine on Tuesday released a commemorative postage stamp on Mahatma Gandhi, honouring his “legacy and values”, to mark the 150 birth anniversary of the world leader on October 2.

Palestinian Authority’s (PA) Minister of Telecommunication and Information Technology Ishaaq Seder released the stamp in the presence of Representative of India in PA Sunil Kumar at a ceremony held at the ministry here.

Underlining the Mahatma’s principles of nonviolence, values, wisdom and vision, Seder said, “Palestine’s issuance of the commemorative stamp comes in honour of Gandhi’s memory, legacy, and values that guided and shall continue to guide the humanity.” Kumar noted that the gesture to honour India’s ‘Father of the Nation’ symbolises the strong historical, political and cultural relations that India and Palestine share. He also highlighted Gandhi’s significant contribution to human development, stressing that his teachings of peace, freedom, respect and tolerance are still felt around the world.

A book authored by India’s Ambassador to the Netherlands, Venu Rajamony titled India and the Netherlands - Past, Present and Future was released on Monday in Amsterdam at an event attended by the King and Queen of the Netherlands. 

The first copy of the book was presented to HM King Willem Alexander during the event at the Rijksmuseum (National Museum) which was attended by Dutch ministers and ambassadors of 26 countries.

Rajamony’s book is an encyclopaedia of the cross-cultural legacy between India and the Netherlands. 

The Rajasthan government on September 2 announced a ban on paan masala containing magnesium carbonate, nicotine, tobacco, mineral oil and flavoured ‘supari’ in the state.

All such products will now be banned in the State under the Food Safety Act. This is an important decision taken to curb addiction among youth, Health Minister Raghu Sharma said.

Production, storage, distribution and sale of these products will not be allowed in the State.

The Reserve Bank of India has superseded the Board of Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank Limited, Mumbai and appointed Jai Bhagwan Bhoria as the bank's administrator with all powers of the board.

According to an official release, the amount of withdrawal from the bank allowed to depositors has been increased from one thousand to ten thousand rupees.

The RBI's directives will remain in force for a period of six months. The depositors can access the website <www.pmcbank.com> for any grievance redressal and call on a toll-free number - 1800223993 - for enquiries.

Top-ranked Kento Momota of Japan clinched the men’s singles title at the Korea Open badminton tournament on Sunday with a win over number two Chou Tien-chen of Taiwan. The 25-year-old downed Chou 21-19, 21-17 in a final that lasted 53 minutes.

Momota, with over 300 wins under his belt, saw his career descend into controversy in 2016 when he was suspended for more than a year for visiting an illegal casino and was denied a spot at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

The Japanese star, who was world number two at the time, has since worked his way back to the top and Sunday’s win raises his Olympic hopes a year ahead of the Tokyo Games.

DRDO conducted the test fire successfully. India successfully test fired a land-attack version of BrahMos supersonic missile from Chandipur coast in Odisha’s Balasore district on Monday.

The test met all flight parameters, a source in the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) said. The missile, with a strike range of 290km, can be fired from land as well as sea-based platforms, he said.

On March 11, 2017 the first extended version of the missile, which had strike range of 450 km, was successfully tested, the source added.

A native of Augusta, Georgia, Norman was one of the rare black singers to reach fame in the opera world.

She established herself in Europe in the 1970s and made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1983.

Norman died in a New York hospital of septic shock and multiple organ failure related to complications from a spinal cord injury in 2015, her family said.

Born on 15 September 1945, Norman grew up in a family of amateur artists and sang in church from the age of four. She earned a scholarship to study music at the historically black college Howard University in Washington DC before going on to the Peabody Conservatory and the University of Michigan.

"I don't remember a moment in my life when I wasn't trying to sing," she told NPR in an interview in 2014.