Sri Lanka is celebrating its 71st Independence day today with usual fervor and enthusiasm.
The main function will be held at Galle face grounds in Colombo where President Maithripala Sirisena will be chief guest while Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih will attend the function as guest of honour.
A total of 545 prisoners have been granted Presidential pardon to mark the occasion and will be released today.
Pope Francis landed in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), on a historic visit, becoming the first pontiff to visit the Arabian peninsula. He was received at the airport by the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed.
The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi said, they warmly welcome him Holy Father, Pope Francis. The Pope is visiting the UAE on the invitation of the Crown Prince to take part in an interfaith Conference. An estimated 700 participants from different faith are expected to participate in the Human Fraternity Conference, which includes representatives of the Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh faiths.
Poojya Brahmvihariji of BAPS, who is spearheading the construction of the Hindu Temple in Abu Dhabi is also one of the keynote speakers at the Conference.
The head of state of Monaco, Prince Albert II will arrive in New Delhi today on a week-long visit to India. Prince Albert will attend the India-Monaco Business Forum today afternoon followed by a round-table on energy and climate.
He will meet President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi tomorrow. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will also call on Prince Albert tomorrow. The Head of state of Monaco is scheduled to visit Gandhi Smriti tomorrow. Prince Albert II will also visit Udaipur in Rajasthan before heading home on Sunday.
PresidentRam Nath Kovind will open the annual Udyanotsav of Rashtrapati Bhavan today.The Mughal Gardens will remain open for the general public from Wednesday to10th of next month between 9 in the morning to 4 in the evening.
Thepeople will also be able to visit the Spiritual Garden, Herbal Garden, BonsaiGarden and Musical Garden. An official release said, from this year, an onlinebooking facility has been introduced under which visitors can plan their visitto the Gardens well in advance.
Itis in addition to the direct walk-in entry like previous years and it is freeof cost. Online Booking can be done by visiting www.presidentofindia.gov.in.
All eyes will be on India's top singles player Prajnesh Gunneswaran in the Chennai Open ATP Challenger tennis tournament, which begins here Monday.
The Chennai left-hander has been given top billing in the 64-player singles draw, which has a fair sprinkling of players in the top-200 and Indians eyeing ATP points.
India's No.2 Ramkumar Ramanathan will not be featuring in the event as he will playing in a Challenger event in Budapest, Hungary.
The 29-year old Gunneswaran is coming off a rather unsuccessful display against Italy in the Davis Cup Qualifier in Kolkata. He would be keen to make amends and head into the long season ahead possibly with a title.
Gunneswaran did well to qualify for the Australian Open before falling to Frances Tiafoe in the first round and with his ranking hovering close to the 100-mark, a title-winning run here would prove to be a huge boost after the disappointing losses in the Davis Cup tie.
Union Minister KJ Alphons has said that the country's tourism sector fetched 234 billion US Dollar revenue last year, registering a growth of over 19%.
Delivering the inaugural speech at the 2nd ASEAN-India Youth Summit in Guwahati yesterday, he said the country is ranked third in the tourism sector, according to the 2018 report of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).
The minister said, this revenue was contributed by 87 per cent domestic and 13 per cent foreign tourists.
The budget sessions of the Himachal Pradesh and Odisha assemblies will begin today. Speaker Rajeev Bindal of Himachal assembly said the session will commence with the governor's address, which will be followed by obituary references the same day.
He said the discussion on the governor's address will be held from tomorrow till Thursday. Speaker said the Jai Ram Thakur government will present its budget for 2019-20 on Saturday.
In Odisha assembly, Finance Minister Sashi Bhusan Behera will present interim budget on 7th of February in the house. The session, which will have 7 working days, will end on the 12th of this month.
Private sector lender Yes Bank on February 1 announced that its senior group president and head (retail and business banking) resigned on January 31.
The bank added that he will serve notice till close of business hours on March 31. Mondal has been with the bank since 2012.
"Yes Bank thanks Mondal for his commitment, leadership and contribution to the bank and wishes him all the success in his future endeavours," said the bank in a statement.
The bank recently named Ravneet Gill as its new MD and CEO. Former CEO Rana Kapoor demitted office on January 31 and Ajai Kumar will be the interim chief till Gill takes over.
At 12.04pm, Yes Bank's stock was down 1.83 percent on BSE and was trading at Rs 190.75 a piece.
Qatar won its first major soccer title by beating four-time champion Japan 3-1 in the Asian Cup final on Friday, completing an improbable run to glory for the Gulf nation as it prepares to host the 2022 World Cup. After upsetting one of the tournament favorites, players wrapped themselves in Qatari flags in a display of patriotic furor that will have resonated far beyond the field in Abu Dhabi.
Since joining other Arab countries in cutting ties with Doha in 2017, the United Arab Emirates warned residents that expressing sympathy for Qatar could lead to fines and imprisonment. The UAE is among a quartet of nations accusing its regional foe of supporting extremists, which Qatar denies.
There was even an attempt by the UAE to get Qatar disqualified after losing their semifinal. Tournament organizers confirmed only hours before the final they dismissed a challenge by the UAE against the eligibility of two Qatar players who were born outside Qatar.
Vani Kapoor became the first Indian to earn a card for the Australian Ladies PGA Tour (LPGA) after coming through its first-ever Qualifying Tournament at the Ballarat Golf Club in Ballarat, Australia.
Vani shot rounds of 71, 78 and 69 to finish at two-over 218 and was tied-12th with three others. The top-20 from a field of 81 earned playing rights on the Australian LPGA but there were many other benefits and spots available too.
Other Indian girls in the Australian LPGA Qualifying were Diksha Dagar (tied-30th with round of 79-73-72); Astha Madan (tied-37th with cards of 75-78-73) and Ridhima Dilawari (tied-57th with cards of 76-79-76).