Current Affairs

PM Modi to inaugurate Global Investors’ Meet at Dharamshala

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate global investors meet at Dharamshala today. The two day Global Investors’ Meet will be attended by diplomats, leaders from the corporate sector, senior policymakers, development agencies, entrepreneurs and investors from across the world.

AIR correspondent reports, in view of the Prime Minister’s visit, elaborate security arrangements have been made. All the roads leading to Dharmshala have been smoothened. The city has been decorated with colourful lights and Kangra painting on walls. The state government is organizing this summit in order to tap the vast potential of the State in attracting investment in different sectors. The two-day mega event will be graced by the presence of top heads of Indian industry and business besides foreign delegations and Union minister and senior government officials. A large business delegation from UAE and Ambassadors of at least 16 countries would be participating in the meet. 



Tech Mahindra acquires New York-based BORN Group for $95 million

IT services firm Tech Mahindra Ltd (Tech M) has acquired BORN Group, a New York-based digital content and production agency, for $95 million in an all-cash deal.

BORN’s services include consulting, content creation, maintenance and hosting services, digital and social marketing, among others. It has clients such as Google, Tata, Red Bull and TAG Heuer.

BORN has offices in New York City, London, Hong Kong, Singapore and India and employs over 1,100 people.

The firm is owned by private equity firm True North and Zodius Capital. True North acquired a controlling stake in the firm in 2011, when it was known as Group FMG.



Asian Shooting: Manu Bhaker bags gold medal in women's 10m air pistol event

Manu Bhaker won gold in women's 10m air pistol event while Vivaan Kapoor and Manisha Keer won the yellow metal in junior trap mixed event at the Asian Shooting Championships.

Manu and any other Indian shooter were ineligible to win an Olympic quota as the country has already exhausted them in earlier competitions.

She put up a dominant showing, shooting 584 in qualification and 244.3 in the final to take gold.

Chinese Asian Games champion Wang Qian took the silver.



Asian Shooting Championships: Deepak Kumar wins Bronze; bags 10th Olympic quota for India

Deepak Kumar secured India's 10th Tokyo Olympic quota in shooting after winning the men's 10m air rifle bronze medal at the 14th Asian Championships.

Deepak shot 145 in the final of the event. Deepak, who won a bronze medal at the 2018 ISSF World Cup last year, qualified for the eight-man final in third place with a score of 626.8.

India has already secured nine Tokyo quotas in rifle and pistol and lies behind China who have 25 quotas and Korea's 12 in the Asian region, besides the host-country Japan, in terms of quotas won.

The most experienced of the three Indian shooters participating in the event, Deepak lived up to the expectations by managing to win a quota.



Kolkata students create Guinness World Records with largest astrophysics assemble

The Guinness World Records for the largest astrophysics lesson (45 minutes) and assembly of spectroscopes was successfully achieved at the Science City, Kolkata on the first day of India International Science Festival (IISF) 2019 today with the participation of over 1,598 students.

Astronomers use spectroscopes to know details like temperature, chemical composition, etc. of celestial objects hundreds or millions of light years away from us.

A small personal model of advanced spectroscopes can easily be made by anyone using a box made of cardboard that has a very narrow window used to channel light into the spectroscope.



Nepal's President appoints new governors in all seven provinces

Nepal's President Bidya Devi Bhandari has appointed new governors in all seven provinces of the country. According to a press release issued by the Office of President, new governors have been appointed on the recommendation of cabinet. Somnath Adhikari ‘Pyasi’ will be the new governor of Province 1, Tilak Pariyar for Province 2, Bishnu Prasad Prasai for Province 3, Amik Sherchan for Gandaki Province, Dharmanath Yadav for Province 5, Govinda Kalauni for Karnali Province and Sharmila Kumari Panta for Sudur Paschim Province. They are likely to be administered oath of office and secrecy today.
 



IPS Officer Aditya Mishra Appointed Chairman of Land Ports Authority of India

Senior IPS officer Aditya Mishra was on Monday appointed as the chairman of the Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI), according to an order issued by the personnel ministry.

Mishra is a 1989 batch IPS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Mishra as the chairman of the LPAI on the recommendations of a search-cum-selection panel, the order said.

Mishra has been appointed for a period of five years from the date of assumption of the charge, it said.

LPAI develops, sanitises and manage the facilities for cross-border movement of passengers and goods at designated points along the international borders of India.



Finance Minister launches IT initiatives ICEDASH, ATITHI for improved customs clearance

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today unveiled two new IT Initiatives - ICEDASH and ATITHI for improved monitoring and pace of customs clearance of imported goods and facilitating arriving international passengers.

ICEDASH is an Ease of Doing Business monitoring dashboard of the Indian Customs helping the public see the daily Customs clearance times of import cargo at various ports and airports.

The ATITHI app will facilitate hassle-free and faster clearance by Customs at the airports and enhance the experience of international tourists and other visitors at the airports. 



RBI issues compensation norms for foreign, private banks

The Reserve Bank of India has issued compensation guidelines for whole-time directors and chief executives of foreign, private, small finance, payments banks and local area banks, mandating the cash component of variable pay at 67 per cent.

The RBI said if the variable pay is up to 200 per cent of the fixed pay, at least 50 percent of it should be in non-cash. If the variable pay is above 200 per cent, 67 per cent of it should be paid via non-cash instruments.
  In a notification, the RBI said that banks should continue to formulate and adopt a comprehensive compensation policy covering all their employees and conduct annual reviews. It added that the new guidelines will be effective from April next year.



Documentary on Real Kashmir Football Club bags BAFTA & Scotland Awards

A documentary on Real Kashmir Football Club has bagged the prestigious British Academy of Film and Television Awards (BAFTA) and Scotland Awards at a glittering ceremony in Glasgow, Scotland.

The documentary narrates the journey of former Rangers ace David Robertson as the coach of Real Kashmir FC, which in its first season finished third in the I-League, which is currently India's second tier football league. The hour-long film won in the 'Single Documentary' category.

Real Kashmir had a fairytale journey in their debut I-League season in 2017-18 as the team ed some memorable wins against top sides including East Bengal and Mohun Bagan as they finished with 36 points from 19 games.