In Chess, Indian Grandmaster Abhijeet Gupta lifted the Cannes International Open trophy yesterday. He took an easy draw with Pier Luigi Basso of Italy in the ninth and final round. Abhijeet won the tournament with 7.5 points. He started well in the tournament winning the first four rounds. Then two more wins and three draws happened on the way to his first solo International tournament victory.

On to Boxing, three more Indians have assured themselves of medals at the Makran Cup underway at Chabahar in Iran. Commonwealth Games silver-medallist Manish Kaushik in 60 kgs, former national champion Duryodhan Singh Negi in 69 kgs and Rohit Tokas in 64 kgs made their way into the semi-finals. The number of Indians in medals round now stands at eight.

And in women's cricket, the Indian team defeated England by seven wickets in the second ODI at Mumbai yesterday to take an unassailable 2-nil lead. The Indians bundled out England for just 161 runs in 43.3 overs.

The country's goods and services exports during the current financial year would cross USD 500 billion despite challenges being faced on the global trade front, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu said Monday.

Prabhu said that exports are recording healthy growth so far and this financial year, "we will record the highest-ever growth rate".

The country's exports for goods and services will "cross USD 500 billion" this fiscal, he said here at Rising India Summit 2019. He said the ministry is working on identifying new products and new markets to further push the shipments.

During the April-January period of the current financial year, exports grew 9.52 per cent to USD 271.8 billion. India export services worth about USD 130-150 billion per year. Talking about proposed new industrial policy, Prabhu said everything is ready including the implementation part of the policy and "only Cabinet's approval is required".

Union Minister Piyush Goyal Monday launched Rail Drishti Dashboard, an online portal containing information related to passenger and freight trains and links to live feeds of IRCTC kitchens.

At the launch event, Goyal said, “Ours is an accountable government. We hold ourselves accountable to people’s aspirations.”

Goyal also said the NDA government has always given its report card on each of the last five years and now it is time to see people’s mandate.

He said the need for RTI applications has come down drastically due to the increased transparency in the government procedures.

About Rail Drishti, Goyal said the URL of the portal has been made so simple so that it becomes user-friendly. “Those in remote villages can access this and find out everything about Railways,” he said.

The 91st Academy Awards or Oscars ceremony begins in Los Angeles, California. Alfonso Cuaron's 'Roma' creates history by becoming first Mexican movie to win Foreign Language Film Oscar. Cuaron also created history by becoming the first person to win a Cinematography Oscar for "Roma" film that he also directed.

Film 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse has won best Animated Feature Oscar. Produced by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, it has been widely praised both for its fresh story and visual style.

Indian producer Guneet Monga 's film 'Period. End of Sentence' wins Best Documentary Short Subject. 'Period. End of Sentence', an India set film on the taboos around menstruation and featuring the real 'Pad Man',  and emerged the winner.

American Ruth E Carter also made Oscar history by becoming the first woman of colour in history to win in the costume design category for film Black Panther.

American actor Mahershala Ali continued his winning spree as he took home the Oscar for the Best Supporting Actor for his work in Peter Farrelly's biographical comedy-drama 'Green Book', This is his career's second Oscar in the category. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will deliver the keynote address at the Rising India Summit 2019 in New Delhi today. 

Mr Modi is likely to define national priorities at the two-day event beginning today. 

BJP President Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Union Ministers - Nitin Gadkari, Ravi Shankar Prasad, and Piyush Goyal are among those who will speak at the summit. 

Theme for this year's event is "Beyond Politics: Defining National Priorities". 

President Ramnath Kovind will reach Kanpur this morning and participate in various programmes. 

Mr Kovind arrived in Lucknow on Sunday on a two-day visit to Uttar Pradesh. He inaugurated a Multi Speciality Hospital in Lucknow Sunday evening. 

AIR correspondent reports, President Ramnath Kovind  during his stay of more than 7 hours at his native town Kanpur will  participate in several programs at different places. 

After landing  the town  in morning Mr Kovind will first visit to Siddh Shree Balaji Mandir, at Dauri Ghat, in Rooma area and perform Puja there.

After that he will Inaugurate  the newly constructed Block of Dhamma Kalyana International Vipassana Meditation Centre .

The president will than go to DAV college ground and   inaugurate the centenary celebrations of the College where from the attained his higher education. 

This is the same famous college where from  former Prime Minister late  Atal Vihari Bajpayee got his education.

The President  will also grace the alumni association conference and annual day function of the BNSD Inter College and Shiksha Niketan in the city in afternoon.

Afghanistan has begun exports to India through Iran’s Chabahar port, as the landlocked country turns to overseas markets to improve its economy. 

At the inauguration of the new export route on Sunday in Zaranj city in western Nimroz province,  President Ashraf Ghani said Chabahar port is the result of healthy cooperation between India, Iran and Afghanistan. 

He said, with the opening of the Chabahar route, Afghanistan’s exports will increase to two billion dollar from the current one billion dollar in the next year.

Speaking at the ceremony, Indian ambassador Vinay Kumar said Afghanistan’s exports to India have increased by 40 percent after the launch of air corridor between Kabul and New Delhi.

Officials said 23 trucks carrying 57 tonnes of dried fruits, textiles, carpets and mineral products were dispatched from Zaranj to Chabahar port to be shipped to Mumbai.

The Iranian port provides easy access to the sea to Afghanistan and India has helped developed this route to allow both countries to engage in trade bypassing Pakistan.

Various trade bodies have lauded the GST Council decision on Goods and Services Tax rate cut on real estate. 

Director General of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Chandrajit Banerjee said the GST Council's decision will address the needs of home buyers and boost offtake of housing. 

National Real Estate Development Council President Niranjan Hiranandani lauding the decision, said this will give big relief to the home buyers. 
Terming the decision as revolutionary, CREDAI President Jaxay Shah said, this move is a significant triumph for home buyers and will play a huge hand in boosting their sentiments.

In a big relief to home buyers, the GST Council has slashed tax rates on under-construction housing properties to 5 per cent without input tax credit, from the existing 12 per cent. 

Briefing reporters after GST council meeting in New Delhi on Sunday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, the Council also cut GST rates on affordable housing to one per cent from the current 8 per cent. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate the National War Memorial near India Gate in New Delhi today. 

The memorial will honour soldiers who have laid down their lives in the service for the country since Independence. 

More than 25,000 soldiers of the Indian Armed Forces have made the supreme sacrifice to defend the country's sovereignty and integrity. 

In his Mann Ki Baat Programme on All India Radio, Prime Minister asserted that it will be a small step towards repaying a great debt of country's Armed Forces. 

Mr Modi said, the Memorial, which is in close vicinity of India Gate and Amar Jawan Jyoti, is a symbol of the nation's gratitude to those who made the supreme sacrifice after the country gained Independence.

Prime Minister expressed hope that for the countrymen a visit to the Memorial will be akin to a pilgrimage to a holy place, where people will throng, to get information on the great martyrs, to express their gratitude and to conduct further research on them. 

NEW DELHI: Dr Divya Karnad has grow to be the second Indian and the first girl to obtain the 'Global Future of Nature Award' for her paintings on marine conservation. 

The handiest different Indian to obtain the award is Dr Charudutt Mishra. The award is given to three folks each and every year and this year aside from Karnad, Olivier Nsengimana and Fernanda Abra also gained it.

The 'Future For Nature Award' is a prestigious international award that celebrates tangible achievements in protecting wild animal and plant species. 

Karnad, 33, who teaches on the Ashoka Universty is also a Wipro Sustainable Fellow. 

Speaking with IdealNews about the award, she stated, "I did not expect it coming. It is definitely amazing." 

On the involved spaces in marine conservation and the way she plans to manner it, Karnad stated that during India, it's tough to focus on one aspect. "The present concern is over-fishing and non-sustainable techniques of fishing. So, my approach is broader and not limited to sharks or just the fishermen. I am working on sustainable fisheries and to change the practice of fishing for better."