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Estimates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Net Domestic Product (NDP) and National Income, measured as Net National Income (NNI) at current prices and GDP growth rate at constant prices (at base year 2011-12) during last three years are as under: [table id=4 /] What is GDP? Definition:  GDP is the final value of the goods and services produced within the geographic boundaries of a country during a specified period of time, normally a year. GDP growth rate is an important indicator of the economic performance of a country. How to calculate GDP:  It can be measured by three methods, namely, 1. Output Method:  This measures the monetary or market value of all the goods and services produced within the borders of the country. In order to avoid a distorted measure of GDP due to price level changes, GDP at constant prices o real GDP is computed. GDP (as per output method) = Real GDP (GDP at constant prices) - Taxes + Subsidies. 2. Expenditure Method:  This measures the total expenditure incu

Per Capita Income of Indians to Cross Rs 1 lakh in 2016-17. The estimates of national income (measured as net national income) and per capita income (measured as per capita net national income) of the country during the last three years are as under: [table id=3 /] This information was given by Minister for Statistics and Programme Implementation Shri D.V. Sadananda Gowda in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha. What is Per Capita Income? Per capita income  or  average income  measures the  average income  earned  per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total  income  by its total population.

In the United States, the Senate has unanimously confirmed three Indian-Americans to key government positions. The Senate confirmed Neil Chaterjee as a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and Vishal Amin as Intellectual Property (IP) Enforcement Coordinator in the Trump administration. Krishna Urs was confirmed as the US ambassador to Peru. A career foreign service officer since 1986, Urs after Nikki Haley is the second Indian American to have been selected for an ambassadorial position by the administration.

Ethiopia's government says it has lifted a state of emergency imposed in October after hundreds of people were killed in anti-government protests. Lawmakers in the East African country have voted to end the emergency law that restricted a number of rights and led to the arrests of more than 21,000 people. More than 600 people had been killed in the unrest. Defense Minister Siraj Fegessa said the government was able to deal with armed terrorists, anti- peace elements and troublemakers.

The United States has officially informed the United Nations that it will withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement. In a press release issued last night, the US state department said Washington intends to withdraw from the 2015 Paris climate agreement, but would continue to participate in UN climate change meetings during the withdrawal process. President Donald Trump announced his decision to withdraw from the Paris deal in June, saying the accord would have cost America trillions of dollars, killed jobs, and hindered the oil, gas, coal and manufacturing industries. He also said he would be open to renegotiating the deal.

In Rwanda, President Paul Kagame is set for landslide win in the Presidential election. With 80 percent of results counted, Rwanda's long-time president has 99 percent support with nearly half the ballots counted in yesterday's election. Early results announced by the electoral commission indicate a huge margin of victory for Mr Kagame over rivals Frank Habineza and Philippe Mpayimana. Kagame has been in power for 17 years. Rwanda's constitution was amended in 2015, giving Mr Kagame a chance to stay in power until 2034.

India has signed a loan agreement with Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) for financing of 329 million US dollar for Gujarat Rural Roads Project.

NASA's Curiosity rover which found evidence that ancient Mars had the right conditions to support microbial life has marked five years of exploring the red planet. Curiosity, which landed near Mount Sharp five years ago, is examining clues on that mountain about long-ago lakes on Mars. On August 5, 2012, the mission team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, exalted at radio confirmation and first images from Curiosity after the rover's touchdown using a new "sky crane" landing method. NASA said transmissions at the speed of light took nearly 14 minutes to travel from Mars

Maharashtra Government has launched two online portals MahaDBT and MahaVASTU to streamline the process of direct benefit transfer and to bring in more transparency in construction sector. Expanding the DBT ambit from MGNREGA wages, old age pension, gas and food grain subsidies, the MahaDBT portal will enable direct transfer of benefits for over 40 schemes currently implemented by state’s Higher and Technical Education, Tribal Affairs, Social Justice and Women and Child departments. MahaDBT’s design is based on central government's direct transfer benefit scheme and Aadhaar will be mandatory to claim benefits through this portal. On the other hand, MahaVASTU portal is an online building permission management system, through which construction approvals will be sanctioned with full transparency. Speaking to reporters after launching the two portals in Mumbai on Thursday morning, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that Maharashtra is the first state to launch such a system that wil

The Lok Sabha has passed the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Amendment) Bill, 2017 by voice vote. The Bill seeks to amend the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development Act, 1981. NABARD is responsible for providing and regulating facilities like credit for agricultural and industrial development in the rural areas. The bill allows the central government to increase the authorise capital of the Bank from 5 thousand crore rupees to 30 thousand crore rupees. The capital can be increased further by the government in consultation with the RBI. Currently the Central government is holding 99.6 per cent share of the bank and rest is with RBI. The Bill transfers the share capital held by the RBI to the central government. Replying to a debate on the bill, Minister of State for Finance Santosh Gangwar said, the government is committed to the agricultural growth and welfare of the farmers. He said, the interest subsidy on farm loan which was 6 thousand crore rupees

Aug 3,  9:39 PM Parliament has passed the Indian Institutes of Information Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2017 after the Rajya Sabha approving it on Thursday. The Lok Sabha has already passed it. The bill seeks to declare the Indian Institute of Technology, Design and Manufacturing at Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh as an institution of national importance. The Bill also permits the Board of Governor of Institutes to appoint Assistant Professors and all the posts above that level as well. Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar had moved the Bill for consideration and passing.

Aug 3,  7:28 PM More than 25 crores LEDs bulb has been distributed in 36 States and Union territories across the country under UJALA Scheme. Power Minister Piyush Goyal stated this in a written reply in Lok Sabha on Thursday. He said, Energy Efficiency Services Limited has distributed 25.28 crore LED bulbs and the private sector has also sold more than 41 crore LED bulbs up to June this year. Mr Goyal said, government has set a target to replace 77 crore incandescent bulbs with LED bulbs by March, 2019. He also informed that under the UJALA Scheme, Energy Efficiency Services Limited aggregates the demand and procures LED bulbs through competitive bidding process to get the lowest price compared to retail market.

Aug 3,  8:58 PM The Lok Sabha has passed the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2017 by voice vote. The bill seeks to amend the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 to insert provisions for handling cases related to stressed assets of banks. Stressed assets are loans where the borrower has defaulted in repayment or where the loan has been restructured. The bill will replace the Banking Regulation(Amendment) Ordinance, 2017 which was promulgated on 4th of May this year. The legislation will enable the Central government to authorize the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to direct banking companies to resolve specific stressed assets by initiating insolvency resolution process. The RBI has also been empowered to issue other directions for resolution, and appoint or approve appointment, authorities or committees to advise banking companies for resolution of stressed assets.

United Nations (UN) Recognised International days in August 9 August- International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples. 12 August- International Youth Day. 19 August- World Humanitarian Day. 23 August- International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition. 29 August- International Day against Nuclear Tests. 30 August- International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances August 7- 3rd National Handloom Day August 15-  Independence day of India August -6 -Hiroshima Day August -9 – Nagasaki Day August 12- WORLD ELEPHANT DAY

United Nations (UN) Recognised International days in August 9 August- International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples. 12 August- International Youth Day. 19 August- World Humanitarian Day. 23 August- International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition. 29 August- International Day against Nuclear Tests. 30 August- International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. August 15-  Independence day of India

ICAR-NAARM Technology Business Incubator (TBI), a-IDEA and Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad’s (IIM-A) incubator Center for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) announces “AGRI UDAAN”- Food and Agribusiness Accelerator 2.0. This programme will help to selected innovative startups who will be mentored in to scale up their operations in agri value chain for effective improvement in agriculture. Accelerators are 4-8 month program aiming at scaling up innovative startups with a working prototype and initial market traction. This is done through education, mentorship, and financing. Startups enter accelerators for a fixed-period of time, and as part of a cohort. The cohort is shortlisted by evaluation panel comprising of industry veterans, business experts, R&D scientists. The programme - known as AGRI UDAAN - Food and Agribusiness Accelerator 2.0 - will help select innovative startups to scale up their operations in agri value chain for effective improvement in agr

​The 7th Meeting of BRICS Trade Ministers was held in Shanghai from 1-2 August. A six-member delegation led by Commerce and Industry Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman , along with Ambassador J.S. Deepak, PR to WTO participated in the meetings.Mr. Zhong Shan, Minister of Commerce from China, presided over the meetings. The other delegations were represented by Mr. Rob Davies, Minister of Trade and Industry (South Africa), Mr. Marcelo Maia Tavares de Araujo, Secretary of Commerce and Services of Ministry of Industry (Brazil) and Mr Maxim Oreshkin, Minister of Economic Development (Russia).A collective courtesy call on Vice Premier Wang Yang was also organized for the BRICS Trade Ministers on 2 nd  August forenoon. Separately, a bilateral meeting between Commerce and Industry Minister (CIM) and Chinese Commerce Minister was also held on 1 st  August forenoon.

The government launched a portal e-Rashtriya Kisan Agri Mandi (e-RaKAM) which will provide a platform to sell agricultural produce. e-RaKAM is a first of its kind initiative that leverages technology to connect farmers of the smallest villages to the biggest markets of the world through internet. Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan and Union Minister of Steel Chaudhary Birender Singh jointly launched the portal in New Delhi yesterday. e-RaKAM is a digital initiative bringing together the farmers, PSUs, civil supplies and buyers on a single platform to ease the selling and buying process of agricultural products.

The Lok Sabha has taken up the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2017 for discussion. It seeks to amend the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 to insert provisions for handling cases related to stressed assets of banks. Stressed assets are loans where the borrower has defaulted in repayment or where the loan has been restructured. The bill will replace the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2017 which was promulgated on 4th of May this year. The legislation will enable the Central government to authorize the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to direct banking companies to resolve specific stressed assets by initiating insolvency resolution process.

The Lok Sabha has passed the Central Goods and Services Tax ( Extension to Jammu and Kashmir),Bill,2017 and the Integrated Goods and Services Tax(Extension to Jammu and Kashmir),Bill,2017. The two bills will replace the ordinances promulgated earlier in this regard. The first bill provides for the extension of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act,2017 to Jammu and Kashmir and the other provides for the extension of the Integrated Goods and Services Tax IGST Act,2017 to the State.

Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday in its 3rd bi-monthly monetary policy decision of FY 2017-18 reduced the Repo Rate under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility by 25 basis points from 6.25 percent to 6.0 percent. The reverse repo rate under the LAF stands adjusted to 5.75 per cent, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate to 6.25 per cent. AIR correspondent reports that in the wake of record low retail inflation, the monetary policy committee (MPC) headed by RBI Governor Mr. Urjit Patel slashed policy repo rate by 25 basis points to 6 per cent and reverse repo by a similar proportion to 5.75 per cent in its third Monetary policy review in Mumbai on Wednesday. The MPC also decided to keep the policy stance neutral in consonance with the objective of achieving the medium-term target for consumer price index inflation of 4 per cent. Despite a cut in the benchmark lending rate, RBI retained its GDP forecast to 7.3 per cent. According to RBI governor, the MPC observed t

Los Angeles formally announced its bid for the 2028 Summer Olympics today after agreeing on a deal that paves the way for Paris to host in 2024 . The Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic bid committee in cooperation with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), announced it yesterday. The LA bid committee said in a statement that Los Angeles will host the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games 2028. Los Angeles had been in a race with Paris to host the 2024 Games, with the winner to be named by the IOC on September 13 in Lima.

Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers, Mansukh Mandaviya today informed the Lok Sabha that all India weighted average MRP of urea has decreased by 71 paise per bag after the introduction of GST. In a written reply to a question, the Minister said, in this way, the farmers have directly benefitted from GST. He also said, there is adequate availability of all subsidized chemical fertilizers across the country and there is no report of any shortage. Mr Mandaviya stated that GST being an Indirect Tax, the dealers and manufacturers collect it for Government and deposit it to the Government treasury. Prior to the implementation of GST, the farmers were paying different taxes ranging between one to seven per cent. However, post GST, the farmers are paying a uniform tax of five per cent only.

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan in an oath-taking ceremony held at President House today. Abbasi was sworn in by President Mamnoon Hussain. Earlier today, he was elected Prime Minister by Pakistan's National Assembly, becoming the interim leader of the country after Nawaz Sharif was disqualified by the Supreme Court over the Panama Papers scandal. Abbasi got elected after getting 221 votes in the House of 342. Naveed Qamar of Pakistan Peoples Party got 47 votes, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf got 33 while Jamaat-e-Islami's Sahibzada Tariqullah managed just four votes. After announcing the results amid sloganeering, National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq asked Abbasi to take the seat of the Prime Minister and address the House. The Supreme Court on Friday disqualified 67-year-old Prime Minister Sharif for dishonesty and ruled that corruption cases be filed against him and his children over the Panama Papers scandal, forcing him to r

Aug 1,  8:48 PM Parliament has passed the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill, 2017 with Rajya Sabha approving it today. Lok Sabha had passed it earlier. Replying to the debate on the bill, HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said education is national agenda and all political parties should work together to accomplish it. He said deteriorating standard of education in government schools is a matter of concern and the government has taken several initiatives to improve the quality of education. Mr Javadekar said learning outcomes have been codified and handbooks have been provided to schools. He said parents will also be given copy of the outcomes so that they may know what their wards are expected to know in a particular class. Apart from this, school children will be required to pass examination in fifth and eighth class to move to next class. For this, examination will be held in March and those who are not able to clear this examination will be given anot

Arvind Panagariya has resigned as the Vice-Chairman of National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog and will return to Columbia University in New York to don his academic robes again. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has accepted his resignation and August 31 will be Panagariya’s last working day at Niti Aayog, official sources confirmed. It was not immediately known who will replace Panagariya as the new Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog, which has emerged as the government’s go-to policy think-tank since it was set up in 2015.   NITI Aayog was set up in January 2015 replacing the erstwhile Planning Commission, bringing the curtains down on the 64-year old institution founded on the former Soviet Union's command-style development model. The NITI Aayog is also drafting a 15-year long-term plan that will replace the practice of five-year plans. The five-year plan system will be discontinued after the end of the 12th five year plan in 2017, bringing down the curtains on a six-decad

The Department of Consumer Affairs has launched a portal “Grievance against Misleading Advertisement (GAMA)” where a consumer can lodge a complaint against a misleading advertisement. From March, 2015 till date 4438 complaints have been received through this portal. The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) processes the complaints received through this portal as per ASCI Code, based on an MoU signed between the Department and the ASCI. If a complaint is upheld, ASCI takes up the complaint with the company/agency concerned either for withdrawal or modification of the advertisement. In case of non-compliance of its orders, ASCI forwards the complaints to the regulators concerned for taking appropriate action.

Indian Grand Master Pentala Harikrishna climbed to tied first position, courtesy a draw against Czech Grand Master David Navara in the seventh round of the 50th Biel Chess Festival in Biel, Switzerland.  The World No. 20, playing with black pieces, was wary of the Czech's attacking prowess and started off on a defensive note to lead the game towards neutral territory after a mere 24 moves. As the tournament entered it's business end, Harikrishna is on the pole position tied with three other Grand Masters, courtesy of two wins and five draws, remaining unbeaten after seven rounds. He will take on former two-time FIDE World Chess Champion and Ukranian Grand Master Ruslan Ponomariov, in his second last game of this 10-man round-robin tournament.

India have bagged a rich haul of 24 medals at the Jordan Junior and Cadet Open table tennis tournament. The tally includes seven Gold, seven Silver and 10 Bronze medals. In the event held at Amman, India ended as the second best finishers. In the cadet singles final, Payas Jain had to be satisfied with the silver after going down to Taipei boy Hsu p-Hsuan 4-11, 6-11, 6-11. The team title was denied to India in the cadet section when Payas, Yashansh Malik and Chinmaya Somaiya found the going tough against Hsu Po-Hsuan, Lin Yen-Cun and Peng Chih who claimed the gold. Payas, however, overcame Iran’s Mohammad Amin Samadi to win the boys singles title with a 11-5, 11-9, 12-10 triumph. Anargya Manjunath grabbed the singles crown when she scored a 11-7, 6-11, 11-5, 12-10 victory over Taipei’s Cheng Pu-Syuan in a needle final contest.

Indian boxers packed quite a heavy punch at the 48th Grand Prix Usti Nad Labem, clinching five gold, two silver and one bronze medal at the event in the Czech Republic. World Championships bronze-medallist Shiva Thapa in 60 kg, former Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Manoj Kumar in 69 kg, Amit Phangal in 52 kg, Gaurav Bidhuri in 56 kg and Satish Kumar in +91 kg category claimed gold medals after winning their respective summit clashes last night. Kavinder Bisht in 52 kg and Manish Panwar in 81 kg settled for silver medals. Earlier, Sumit Sangwan had claimed a bronze in 91 kg category after going down in the semifinals.

Commonwealth Champion Abhijeet Gupta came up with a spirited effort to beat Florian Kaczur of Hungary and finish second in the Czech International Open Chess tournament at Pardubidze in Czech Republic. After squandering his sole lead at 5.5/6, Gupta scored 1.5 points in the last three rounds to end with a tally of seven points out of a possible nine. However his superior tiebreak helped him win second place after a four-way tie was resolved. Gupta was beaten by fellow Indian Grandmaster G N Gopal in the seventh round. Twenty-five year old Jan Krejci of Czech Republic won seven games in a row after starting with two draws to win the title by a one point margin. 20 year old International Master Sayantan Das, of Kolkata made a Grand Master norm by remaining undefeated in the Czech Open. The 2399 rated player clocked a rating performance of 2609, gaining 25.5 Elo in the process. Nihal Sarin started as seed 43 and finished 13th scoring 6.5 points but missed the GM norm. He suffered only one

Minister for Steel Chaudhary Birender Singh today said that first time India has become a net export country in Steel. Replying during question hour in Lok Sabha today, Mr Singh said, the steel imports in the country has gone down by 39 per cent and exports has gone up by 102 per cent last year. He said, crude steel production has registered 3.5 per cent growth during April-June 2017-18.

The State Bank of India has slashed interest on savings account deposits by half a per cent to three and a half per cent on balance up to 1 crore rupees. The bank said, for saving deposits balance above 1 crore, the rate of interest has been retained at 4 per cent per annum. The bank is introducing two-tier saving bank interest rate with effect from today itself. The largest public sector bank of the country said, revision of saving bank rate will enable the bank to maintain marginal cost of fund based lending rate at existing rates.

Jul 31,  8:52 PM The Rajya Sabha today passed the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-third Amendment) Bill, 2017 with amendments. The bill seeks to create a new commission with constitutional status for the OBCs at par with the National Commissions for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Replying to the discussion, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thaawar Chand Gehlot allayed Members’ concern that the bill will encroach upon the rights of the states. He said, there is no attempt to reduce the rights of states and attack the federal structure. Earlier, initiating the discussion, B K Hariprasad of the Congress said, the National Commission for Backward Classes should have been given Constitutional status. Bhupender Yadav of the BJP said, the bill provides maximum advantage to backward and neglected classes in the society. He said, this will provide social justice to the people. He thanked Prime Minister for his efforts to bring the amendment. Supporting the bill, Ramgopal Yad

India’s Foreign Trade Policy Statement released in 2015emphasises the need of a branding strategy. The India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF) established by the Department of Commerce works closely with stakeholders across government and industry to promote and create international awareness of the Indian products and services in overseas markets. IBEF has undertaken focused branding activities for sectors namely engineering, pharma, plantations (tea, coffee and spices), services, textiles and leather. This is done through a 360o branding approach including onsite branding, advertising in media, digital marketing including social media, PR, knowledge kits and revamping the websites of many export promotion councils. IBEF actively works with Indian missions abroad for its branding activities in overseas events and also supports them with knowledge works and branding collaterals. Department of Commerce encourages participation of exporters, export promotion councils, trade associations et

Contribution of Tourism to Gross Domestic Product The number of Domestic Tourist Visits to all States/Union Territories (UTs), including the visits for religious and medical purpose, has increased to 161.4 Crore in 2016 from 143.2 Crore in 2015, registering a growth of 12.7% in 2016 over 2015.   The number of Foreign Tourist Visits to all States/UTs, including the visits for religious and medical purpose, has increased to 2.5 Crore in 2016 from 2.3 Crore in 2015, registering a growth of 5.9% in 2016 over 2015.   The number of Foreign Tourist Arrivals, as differentiated from Foreign Tourist Visits, in India has increased to 88.0 lakh in 2016 from 80.3 lakh in 2015, registering a growth of 9.7% in 2016 over 2015.   As per the information available for the current year, the number of Foreign Tourist Arrivals in India during January-June 2017 were 48.8 lakh registering a growth of 17.2% over the same period of 2016.   As per the 2 nd  Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) of India - 2009-10 and

First Pan-India survey to measure citizen connect with sanitation outcomes impacting lives of 40 cr people Thrust on sustainability initiatives and decentralized Solid Waste Management Central Government today launched ‘Swachh Survekshan-2018’ to rank all the 4,041 cities and towns of the country based on infrastructure development for improved sanitation services and their sustainability, outcomes, citizen connect and visible impact on ground. Minister of Housing & Urban Affairs Shri Narendra Singh Tomar launched the survey, the third in the series and released a comprehensive Survey Tool Kit, explaining the methodology, weightages and new features and thrust areas  that helps cities and towns prepare for the field survey over the next six months. Shri Tomar said that this first Pan-India sanitation survey will assess sanitation levels in all the cities and towns of the country impacting the lives of about 40 crore urban people and is the largest of its kind in the world. He said

Former Union Minister Ashwani Kumar was conferred with the Japan’s imperial decoration ‘Order of the Rising Sun’ award for his contribution to fostering Japan-India ties. He served as Special Envoy during the tenure of Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister.

Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor S S Mundra has asked banks to work towards account number portability, as it will be a far-reaching step towards enhancing competition and improving customer service. Speaking at the annual conference of banking ombudsmen in Mumbai , he said banks should look forward to providing more choices to the new generation of customers who are more technology savvy. Mundra said this will be further accentuated with the possibility of portability of accounts and urged the banks to work towards account number portability. Mundra also referred to issue of the rising trend of loss of cheques from drop boxes and the lack of alacrity shown by banks in redressing such complaints. He asked the banks to look at the possibility of setting up a common account and compensate the customers immediately from the pool, without waiting for recovery of the amount from insurance. Referring to the tenets of the Charter of 'Customer Rights', Mundra asked the lenders an

The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is an international event of military music performance undertaken by the Armed Forces. In fact, the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is the largest tattoo performed in the world in the majestic, sprawling stretch of Edinburgh Castle Esplanade, Scotland.  The invitation to the Indian Navy Band to participate and perform in this prestigious event scheduled from 01 to 26 Aug 17 is indeed a matter of pride and befitting recognition of the professional prowess of the Naval band. The participation of the Naval Band would further cement the ties between the two countries, more so, when the Govt of India and UK have announced 2017 as the India-UK Year of Culture to celebrate cultural ties and the 70th year of Indian independence. The Indian Navy Band has been practicing hard in the last few months to further hone their skills to capture the hearts and minds of the music enthusiasts in this international event. The band comprising of 01 officer and 65 musici

Union Minister of State (I/C) Youth Affairs and Sports Shri Vijay Goel here today flagged off The 12th and the final Slum Yuva Daud in Karol Bagh with participation of around 6000 youngsters. The participants were encouraged by Union Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh and Olympian wrestler Sushil Kumar. The Daud started from Jhandenwalan Devi Mandir and concluded at Ajmal Khan Park. Each participant was awarded medal and certificates. The youngsters from various Delhi slums appreciated the Ministry’s efforts to provide them a platform like this. Shri Goel said that slum Yuva Daud was an initiative to motivate the youth to work for a better tomorrow and engage them in constructive activities to deter them from drug abuse, criminal activities and terrorism etc. Shri Goel added that the Ministry would also prepare mini-youth clubs in slums who will work for the development and cleanliness of their respective slums. He said, ‘We will also organize competitions in football, volleyball

Jul 30,  8:43 AM A 24-member India team has departed for Tampere, Finland to take part in the Junior World wrestling championship. The tournament will be held from 1st to 4th of August. The team comprises eight members each in men's freestyle, women's wrestling and Greco-Roman categories.

Jul 30,  7:37 AM The Indian women's basketball team defeated Kazakhstan 75-73 in a thrilling contest of the FIBA Asia Cup 2017 held at Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru. In the Division B Final yesterday between two undefeated league teams, India and Kazakhstan, it was the home team that came out victorious. In a cliffhanger, trailing at 31-39 at one stage, India rallied back brilliantly to clinch the trophy. Kazakhstan held the size advantage over the Indian team and this was punctuated by the play of Kazakh centre Nadezhda Kondrakova. She was able to score from inside and outside to begin the game. For India, the scoring came from a balanced team effort. Shireen was the aggressive one and held her drives to the basket, while guards Paul Durai and Raspreet created space to knock down their jumpers. Delighted with the victory, Basketball Federation of India president K Govindaraj has announced a cash prize of 10 lakh rupees for the Indian squad. India are now promoted to Divisio

India have bagged a rich haul of 24 medals at the Jordan Junior and Cadet Open table tennis tournament. The tally includes seven Gold, seven Silver and 10 Bronze medals. In the event held at Amman, India ended as the second best finishers. In the cadet singles final, Payas Jain had to be satisfied with the silver after going down to Taipei boy Hsu p-Hsuan 4-11, 6-11, 6-11. The team title was denied to India in the cadet section when Payas, Yashansh Malik and Chinmaya Somaiya found the going tough against Hsu Po-Hsuan, Lin Yen-Cun and Peng Chih who claimed the gold. Payas, however, overcame Iran’s Mohammad Amin Samadi to win the boys singles title with a 11-5, 11-9, 12-10 triumph. Anargya Manjunath grabbed the singles crown when she scored a 11-7, 6-11, 11-5, 12-10 victory over Taipei’s Cheng Pu-Syuan in a needle final contest.

Indian boxers packed quite a heavy punch at the 48th Grand Prix Usti Nad Labem, clinching five gold, two silver and one bronze medal at the event in the Czech Republic. World Championships bronze-medallist Shiva Thapa in 60 kg, former Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Manoj Kumar in 69 kg, Amit Phangal in 52 kg, Gaurav Bidhuri in 56 kg and Satish Kumar in +91 kg category claimed gold medals after winning their respective summit clashes last night. Kavinder Bisht in 52 kg and Manish Panwar in 81 kg settled for silver medals. Earlier, Sumit Sangwan had claimed a bronze in 91 kg category after going down in the semifinals.

India today outclassed Sri Lanka by 304 runs in their opening Test at Galle, biggest overseas win in terms of runs, surpassing 279 run-victory against England at Leeds in 1986. For Sri Lanka, it was their biggest defeat in terms of runs, surpassing their 301-run loss against Pakistan in 1994. Earlier, the hosts finished their second innings at 245 in 76.5 overs. This was after India captain Virat Kohli struck his 17th Test hundred with India declaring their second innings at 240 for three. India took a huge first innings lead of 309 runs when the hosts were all out for 291 in reply to India’s 600 yesterday. Shikhar Dhawan was declared the Man of the Match. Ravichandran Aswin was given a special award for playing his 50th Test.

South Korea today said it will proceed with the deployment of four additional Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) units after North Korea’s latest launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile. The deployment of the additional units of anti ballistic missile defence system THAAD had been delayed after the initial two units, following South Korean President Moon Jae-in ordering an environmental assessment. The South’s presidential Blue House said China has been notified of the move of speeding up the deployment. China has angrily objected to the THAAD deployment, saying it does little to deter the North’s missile threat while destabilizing regional security balance. It believes the THAAD’s radar can penetrate deep into its territory.

Sri Lanka has signed a 1(point)1 billion dollars deal with China for the control and development of the southern deep-sea port of Hambantota. The deal had been delayed by several months over concerns that the port could be used by the Chinese military. The government has given assurances that China will run only commercial operations from the port, on the main shipping route between Asia and Europe.

Former petroleum minister and senior PML-N leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has been elected as interim prime minister of Pakistan. Pakistan media said, the decision was taken during the party's consultative meeting today. Mr Abbasi will run the government as interim prime minister until Nawaz Sharif's brother Shahbaz is elected as member of parliament.