1) 'Numbers Do Lie by former cricketer Akash Chopra released
Cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra released his latest book 'Numbers Do Lie' at an event in Delhi
Present at the launch was former India captain and champion all-rounder Kapil Dev, who gave his two bits on the book and also enthralled the gathering with anecdotes and stories from his playing days.
The book shares 61 stories about cricketers from across the ages, based on the findings of Impact Index, an analytics system for cricket devised by Jaideep Varma.
The book has been authored by Aakash in collaboration with the team from Impact Index.
2) President Pranab Mukharjee honours helicopter unit
The Hon’ble President of India and Supreme Commander of Indian Armed Forces, Shri Pranab Mukherjee awarded the Prestigious President’s Standard and Colours to 125 Helicopter Squadron and Mechanical Training Institute (MTI) respectively, during a grand ceremonial parade held at Air Force Station Tambaram.
The Commanding Officer of 125 Helicopter Squadron Group Captain VD Badoni and Commanding Officer of MTI Group Captain A Arunachaleswaran received the President’s Standard and Colours respectively.
The ceremonial parade was commanded by Group Captain A Arunachaleswaran. The President also released First Day Covers of 125 Helicopter Squadron and Mechanical Training Institute at the function.
There was a spectacular display of precision and daredevilry by the Air Warriors drill team. Fly past consisting of Mi-35 and Mi-17 Helicopters, Pilatus and Kiran trainer aircraft was synchronized with significant events of the parade.
The grand ceremony concluded with a breathtaking air show demonstrated by Surya Kiran Aerobatic Team (SKAT), which won the admiration of one and all.
3) WCCB Conducts Operation Thunderbird & Operation Save Kurma to Combat Wildlife Crime
The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) under the Ministry of Environment and Forests coordinated nationwide ‘Operation Thunder Bird’ from January 30 to February 19, 2017 to combat illegal trade of wildlife animals in the country.
The operation was undertaken in coordination with International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL).
WCCB also convened a turtle specific operation code-named as ‘Operation Save Kurma’ from December 15, 2016 to January 30, 2017.
The operation brought about an awareness among the enforcement agencies to focus on the existing trade routes and major trade hubs in the country so as to deal with the menace of wildlife crime.
4) Mamata Banerjee grants official status to two tribal languages
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee granted official status to the Kurukh language spoken by Oraon and Kisan tribes, and the Rajbanshi-Kamtapuri language spoken by the Koch Rajbanshi community, to mark International Mother Language Day
The Oraon tribe in West Bengal speaks Kurukh, which was declared an endangered language by UNESCO, and there is no written script for Rajbanshi-Kamtapuri.
From now on, these two languages will be officially recognised
the state government has set up a committee, headed by Indologist Nrisingha Prasad Bhaduri, which would help create a written form for Rajbanshi-Kamtapuri.
5) Assam Makes Sanskrit Compulsory Subject Upto Class 8
The Assam government led by Sarbananda Sonowal decided to make Sanskrit along with computer education, a permanent subject in the state schools.
Teachers will also be appointed for this purpose.
Assam Information Technology Minister Keshab Mahanta said in the state assembly that government is also planning to connect each panchayat of the state with Internet facility by the end of next financial year.
To increase computer literacy, the government has taken a cabinet decision yesterday that all schools will have computer education and Sanskrit as permanent subjects.
Accordingly, teachers will also be appointed
Teachers will be appointed in high schools under Swachh Bharat Mission and they will be made responsible in maintaining cleanliness in schools in Assam state.
6) Airtel, Millicom ink pact to merge in Ghana
Bharti Airtel and Millicom International Cellular have entered into an agreement to merge their respective units in Ghana to create the second-largest mobile carrier in the African country.
Under the terms of the agreement, “Airtel and Millicom will have equal ownership and governance rights in the combined entity,
The Airtel-Millicom combined entity will replace Vodafone to become a strong No 2 operator with nearly 10 million customers (including 5.6 million data users) in the fiercely competitive Ghana mobile turf, behind South Africa’s MTN, the market leader.
The combined revenue of the merged entity will be at nearly $300 million.
Ghana, with a population of around 30 million, is a relatively big market in Africa and among Airtel’s top markets after Nigeria. AirtelBSE -0.22 % Ghana contributes 6-7% to Bharti’s overall Africa revenue, which stood at $919 million in the fiscal third quarter to December.
