President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday was honoured with Croatia's highest civilian award -- the Grand Order of the King of Tomislav.

Kovind is in the European country as part of his eight-day three-nation visit to Croatia, Bolivia and Chile to further strengthen bilateral ties between India and the three countries.

"President of India honoured with highest civilian order in #Croatia! During his State Visit to Croatia #Presidentkovind is honoured with Grand Order of the King of Tomislav, the highest award of Croatia. #Presidentkovind dedicated it to India-Croatia friendship! @KolindaGK," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Ravish Kumar tweeted.

The civilian order is awarded to heads of state for their important contribution towards the development of state relations between Croatia and their respective countries.

Kovind, who is the first-ever Indian head of state to visit Croatia, was earlier accorded a ceremonial welcome here. He is in the European nation from March 25 to March 28.

The Reserve Bank of India has slapped a penalty of Rs 2 crore on Punjab National Bank for non-compliance of regulatory directions with regard to SWIFT operations. 

SWIFT is a global messaging software used for sharing information on inter-bank transactions by financial entities. 

In a regulatory filing, the bank said, the Reserve Bank in a letter dated March 25 has informed the bank about the penalty.

Earlier this year, the Reserve Bank had imposed penalties worth 71 crore rupees on 36 public, private and foreign banks for non-compliance with various directions on time-bound implementation and strengthening of SWIFT operations.

In Tennis, India's number one singles player, Prajnesh Gunneswaran, has made it to the main draw of the Miami Open, his second straight Masters appearance. 

Prajnesh defeated Briton beat Jay Clarke, 6-4, 6-4 in the second qualifying round of the ATP-1000 tournament in Miami to progress to the main draw. The Indian will meet Jaume Munar of Spain in the first round tomorrow.

This is Prajnesh's second straight Masters main draw appearance. He had reached the third round at Indian Wells last week.

Prajnesh reached a career-high rank of 84 earlier this week.

Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba inaugurated the Indian Navy's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Training Facility (NBCTF) at INS Shivaji in Lonavala on Monday. 

The NBCTF, christened "Abhedya",  impenetrable in Sanskrit, will help train personnel of naval ships fitted with nuclear, biological and chemical detection and protection systems. 

In a statement, the Navy said the facility will provide realistic training to naval personnel in detection, protection against and decontamination of nuclear, biological and chemical agents.

Admiral Lanba launched the INS Shivaji's website on the Indian Navy portal. He also released the platinum jubilee logo, with the theme "Propelling the Indian Navy since 1945", for the premier technical training establishment. 

INS Shivaji is celebrating its platinum jubilee year in 2019-20.

US President Donald Trump has signed a proclamation recognising Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights and told the visiting Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, that Israel has an absolute right to self-defence. 

Speaking at a White House signing ceremony in Washington, Mr Trump said, the United States recognizes Israel's absolute right to defend itself. He said, the despicable rocket attack yesterday demonstrates significant security challenges that Israel faces every single day. He was referring to the rocket attack by Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs the Gaza Strip, on Tel Aviv in which seven Israelis, including two children, were injured. 

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 war but its sovereignty over the territory is not recognized by the international community. Mr Trump's move reversed more than a half-century of the US policy over the issue. 

He said, aggressive action by Iran, and terrorist groups in southern Syria, including Hezbollah, continued to make the Golan Heights a potential launching ground for attacks against Israel. Mr Netanyahu called the recognition historic and said the Golan Heights would remain permanently under Israeli control.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das has said that the central bank of the country has appointed 5-member committee under the chairmanship of Nandan Nilekani to further deepen digital payments and enhance financial inclusion through Fintech. He said, the RBI has requested the committee to give recommendations in 3 months in this regard. Mr. Das was speaking today at the inaugural event of Financial Technology (Fintech) Conclave being organized by NITI Aayog in New Delhi. 

Mr. Das said, the objective of the conclave is to shape India’s continued ascendancy in FinTech, build the narrative for future strategy and policy efforts, and to deliberate steps for comprehensive financial inclusion. The RBI Governor said as a nation India must move for universal financial inclusion and total retail payment has grown nine folds in last five years. He said a consultation process with payment banks including seven purely digital loan companies will happen soon.

NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said India's ambition is to emerge as a 10 trillion dollar economy and this is not possible without a revolution in the Fintech sector.

A consortium of two Indian oil companies, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and Indian Oil Corporation Limited have been awarded the exploration rights for Abu Dhabi Onshore Block 1. 

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, ADNOC, Monday signed agreements awarding the exploration rights.

The award has been endorsed by Abu Dhabi’s Supreme Petroleum Council. In an exclusive interaction with AIR Ambassador  Navdeep Suri said that the bilateral partnership between India and UAE is growing in many dimensions.

A science teacher from rural Kenya, who gives away most of his salary to support poorer pupils, has won a $1m prize (£760,000) for the world's best teacher.

Peter Tabichi, a member of the Franciscan religious order, won the 2019 Global Teacher Prize.

Brother Peter has been praised for his achievements in a deprived school with crowded classes and few text books.

He wants pupils to see "science is the way to go" for their futures.

The award, announced in a ceremony in Dubai, recognises the "exceptional" teacher's commitment to pupils in a remote part of Kenya's Rift Valley.

He gives away 80% of his pay to support pupils, at the Keriko Mixed Day Secondary School in Pwani Village, Nakuru, who otherwise could not afford uniforms or books.

Health and Family Welfare Ministry have notified the Drugs and Clinical Trials Rules, 2019 with an aim to promote clinical research in the country. The new rules will change the regulatory landscape for the approval of new drugs and conduct of clinical trials in the country.

These rules will apply to all new drugs, investigational new drugs for human use, clinical trial, bioequivalence study and Ethics Committee. It has reduced the time for approving applications to 30 days for drugs manufactured in India and 90 days for those developed outside the country. 

The rules stated that in case of no communication from Drugs Controller General of India, the application will be deemed to have been approved. It said the requirement of a local clinical trial may be waived for approval of a new drug if it is approved and marketed in any of the countries to be specified by the Drugs Controller General with the approval of the government.

The new rules will ensure patient safety, as they would be enlisted for trials with informed consent. The ethics committee will monitor the trials and decide on the amount of compensation in cases of adverse events. 

Jet Airways Founder and Chairman Naresh Goyal and his wife Anita Goyal will step down from the board of the ailing airline, which will also receive an immediate funding of Rs 1,500 crore under a resolution plan piloted by its lenders.

Goyal would also cease to be the Chairman of the full-service carrier, which has been flying for more than 25 years, according to a regulatory filing.

After weeks of speculations and uncertainties over the future course of Jet Airways, which has grounded over 80 planes due to financial woes, the airline's board Monday approved a resolution plan formulated by SBI-led domestic lenders.

Naresh Goyal, his wife Anita Goyal and Etihad Airways PJSC's nominee director Kevin Knight would step down from the board.

Gulf carrier Etihad holds 24 per cent stake in Jet Airways. According to the filing, two nominee directors of the lenders would be inducted.

Further, an immediate funding of up to Rs 1,500 crore would be provided to the cash-strapped airline by "way of issue of appropriate debt instrument", the filing said.