Appointments :
- A.S. Kiran Kumar is the new Secretary of the Department of Space as also Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation and the Space Commission ,succeeds K. Radhakrishnan,and as eight's chief.
- Arvind Panagariya, Vice-Chairman of the newly-created NITI Aayog, is a non-resident India
- Justice S K Sinha was appointed Chief Justice of Bangladesh to become the first Hindu to hold the highest judicial post in the Muslim-majority country
Resignations/Retirements
- Four-month-long impasse between Jadavpur University Vice-Chancellor Abhijit Chakrabarti and the students, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that Mr. Chakrabarti had decided to resign.
- Avinash Chander as chief of the Defence Research and Development Organisation sacked.
- Italian President Giorgio Napolitano handed in his resignation as head of state leaving Prime Minister Matteo Renzi with the politically delicate task of finding a successor.
Obituaries
Awards
Sports
International
- U.S.-India Investment Initiative launched ahead of Barack Obama’s visit.
- Yemen’s al-Qaeda branch claimed responsibility for last week’s deadly attack on a Paris satirical newspaper, with one of its top commanders saying the assault was in revenge for the weekly’s publications of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, considered an insult in Islam.
- Reflecting revival of the U.S. economy, the country’s budget deficit has dropped by USD 72 billion in 2014 than the previous year.In 2014, the U.S. racked up its smallest budget deficit since 2007, marking an economic shift of fortunes
- Japan’s Cabinet has approved the country’ largest defence budget, with plans to buy P-1 surveillance aircraft and F-35 fighter jets to improve defences of disputed islands amid China’s assertiveness in the region.Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Cabinet approved a nearly 5 trillion yen ($42 billion) budget for the year beginning in April, a 2 per cent rise. The budget must still be approved by Parliament.The military outlays were included in a record 96.3 trillion yen ($814 billion) total budget for the coming fiscal year.
- US has designated Maulana Fazlullah, commander of Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
- Kerry announced $250 million money, to Pakistan ,will be given to emergency relief efforts in the tribal areas, mainly North Waziristan. Hundreds of thousands of people fled the area due to the fighting.
- Saudi Arabia is remaining silent in the face of global outrage at the public flogging of the jailed blogger Raif Badawi, who received the first 50 of 1,000 lashes on Friday, part of his punishment for running a liberal website devoted to freedom of speech in the conservative kingdom.
National
- Idukki will be the first district in the country linked to the National Optic Fibre Network (NOFN), which will ensure broadband connection to rural areas of the district. It is being implemented as part of the Digital India project of the Union government. Kerala’s widespread optical fibre network in the country and the high digital literacy rate helped in tipping the scales towards the State
- The country had just two per cent skilled workforce compared to 70 per cent in the U.K., 74 per cent in Germany, 80 per cent in Japan, and 96 per cent in South Korea.
- Sandesh : In this a entrepreneur's network will be setup in all the local bodies of Kerela. It is an entrepreneur driven venture supported by the state government.Entrepreneur will focus on innovative solutions to challenges.In this lead entrepreneur is a woman.
- The NSC Bose International Airport kolkata has now started the facility for Visa on Arrival for tourists of 43 countries.
- The Calicut International Airport at Karipur has passed a historic milestone by becoming the first airport in the country to implement zero waste management effectively.
Polity
- The government decides to accept the Election Commission's recommendation to allow Non-Resident Indians to vote from overseas through e-postal ballots or proxy voting which removes an “unreasonable restriction” posed by Section 20(A) of the Representation of the People (Amendment) Act of 2010, requiring overseas electors to be physically present in their constituencies to cast their votes.
Economics
- Assocham unveils plan to promote industry in Gwalior : Upgradation of connectivity with major commercial hubs, establishment of state of the art training and skill development centres, setting up of knowledge based industries like business process outsourcing and knowledge processing outsourcing and cluster based approach to drive down costs, increase efficiency and speed up production in small and medium enterprises can lead the district on a growth trajectory
Env & Ecology
- Black carbon soot generated by use of cow dung, coal and vehicular pollution is said to be the main cause behind major pollution in Agra.The district administration has banned burning of cow dung cakes in the city while use of coal by small units will also be prohibited soon.
Science & Tech
- Use of the Internet and search engines to promote sex determination technologies in violation of the Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act.Under the 2000 Act, an “intermediary” (search engine) is protected from being held liable for any third party information, data or communication link. But this protection depends on the “due diligence” on the part of the search engine to remove or disable “expeditiously” access to a material used to commit an unlawful act.
- The government excluded comments expressing political dissent, contrarian views and “decent” humour from what constitutes “grossly offensive” or “menacing” on social media, and thus, violative of Section 66 A of the Information Technology Act of 2000.Section 66A uses vague terminologies like “annoyance” and “menacing character”, and the “width of the provision exceeds the permissible restrictions on free speech.”
- Four Silicon Valley companies, including Apple Inc. and Google Inc. have agreed to a new settlement that would resolve an antitrust class action lawsuit by tech workers, who accused the firms of conspiring to avoid poaching each other's employees.
