The 24th Eastern Zonal Council meeting under the chairmanship of Home Minister Amit Shah is underway at the Lokseva Bhavan in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee are participating in the meeting while Finance Minister of Jharkhand Rameswar Oram is attending in the place of Chief Minister Hemanta Soren.

The meeting has discussed several issues including inter-state water issues, power transmission lines, royalty on and operationalization of coals mines, land and forest clearance of rail projects, investigation of heinous offences, cattle smuggling across country’s borders, lack of telecom and banking infrastructure in remote areas, petroleum projects, sharing pattern on centrally collected revenues etc.

Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has postponed Class X and Class XII exams scheduled for today and tomorrow in violence-hit North-East district of Delhi.

In a statement, CBSE said, examinations in the remaining parts of the national capital will be conducted as per the schedule. 

It said, the next date of exam for the affected students will be notified soon.  All examinations in all the centres in the city will be held as per the schedule from 2nd March onwards.

The board also announced that it will conduct fresh exams for the students who have not been able to appear for the papers in other parts of the national capital due to the violence in North East Delhi.

It has  asked school principals to send the details of the students who failed to appear for exams due to the prevailing situation in the city.

National Science Day  is being celebrated today.  It is celebrated every year to commemorate the discovery of the Raman Effect.

On this day, Sir CV Raman had announced the discovery of the Raman Effect for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1930.

Women in science is the focal theme of this year's  National Science Day. This theme has been chosen for the purpose of increasing public appreciation of the scientific issues involved.  

On this occasion, President Ram Nath Kovind will present  awards for science communication as well as for women scientists.

A total of 21 awards will be given which will include National Science and Technology and Communication Awards, Augmenting Writing Skills For Articulating Research  awards and  National Award For Young Woman Showing Excellence Through Application Of Technology For Societal Benefits.   

Savitribai Phule Pune University consolidated their position at the top by claiming three gold medals at the Khelo India University Games in Odisha yesterday.

Mahesh Datta Asawale and Prajkta Ravindra Khalkar won gold in weightlifting competition, while Jyotiba Bajrang Atkale bagged a yellow metal in wrestling for the Pune varsity.

While Panjab University (Chandigarh) in on the second position, Jain University (Bengaluru) is at the third place with eight gold medals each.

Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak won two gold medals in wrestling yesterday. While Vishal Kaliraman clinched the gold medal in the men’s 70 kg freestyle, Ajay won the yellow metal in men’s 92 kg freestyle wrestling.

New Zealand's Minister for Trade and Export Growth, David Parker today congratulated India on the impressive strides it has made in Ease of Doing Business.

Addressing the gathering at the ‘India-New Zealand Business Forum’ organized by FICCI in New Delhi, Mr Parker said India is a dynamic country and it is of increasing importance to New Zealand.

He said India is in the midst of a wonderful transformation and his country wants to be a part of it. He pointed out that India and New Zealand have complimentary economic strengths.

Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Wednesday launched a portal that will forecast wholesale prices of three key vegetables – tomato, onion and potato (TOP) – for three months and enable the government to monitor the supply situation for timely market interventions in case of a price crash during a glut.

The Minister said that the Market Intelligence and Early Warning System (MIEWS) is designed to provide advisories to farmers to avoid cyclical production as well as an early warning in a glut situation. She said the portal will enable the government come up with a rapid response in times of glut and move products to deficit regions. It will also help provide inputs for export and import decisions.

There’s change happening at the top at card issuer Mastercard. The current Chairman Richard Haythornthwaite is taking a retirement and he will be replaced as Chairman by the current CEO, India-born Ajay Banga. Banga has been the CEO of Mastercard for a full decade, taking over in 2008-09. There is going to be smooth transition with an internal candidate, Michael Miebach, Chief Product Officer being elevated to the post of CEO and the formal taking over of Banga as Executive Chairman will be effective March 1 2020.

People who have been observing Mastercard closely say Ajay Banga took over as CEO when there was a virtual crisis and it is to his credit that not only did the company come out of the crisis, it has gone on to post triple the turnover that was there at the time of his taking over.

Ajay Banga had been at Citibank as a general manager and at Barclays Bank as a director before joining Mastercard.

In the ongoing Khelo India University Games in Odisha, Savitribai Phule Pune University was on top with 14 medals including seven gold and two silver medals on the fifth day yesterday.

Punjab University gave a tough competition by winning 18 medals including six gold and seven silver medals while Jain University, Karnataka claimed the third position with total of 12 medals including six gold and five silver medals.
 

Egypt's former President Mohammed Hosni Mubarak, who ruled the country for 30 years, died yesterday. He was 91. A former air force chief, Mubarak became Vice President of Egypt on 14 October 1981, and just eight days later, was sworn in as the President after Islamist militants assassinated his predecessor Anwar Sadat during a military parade.

Within Egypt Mubarak presided over slow but steady economic growth and largely kept the country out of armed conflicts after decades of war with Israel.

As the region was convulsed by one crisis after another, Mubarak was seen as a steady hand and a reliable U.S. partner against Islamic extremism. He sent troops as part of the U.S.-led coalition in the 1990-1991 Gulf war and contributed to efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

India and the United States yesterday finalized defence deals worth three billion dollars and signed three agreements, including in health and oil sectors. 

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed on mental health between the health departments of both the two countries. 

Another MoU on the safety of medical products was signed between the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization with the US Food and Drug Administration.

A Letter of Cooperation was signed between Indian Oil Corporation Limited and Exxon Mobil India LNG Limited and Chart Industries Inc, US.