26th OCTOBER 2014

Pakistan has said that it will continue trade with India despite tensions along the border as no country can improve its external relations without doing business with others. “The vision of our government is that we must trade with our neighbours, including India, despite border tensions,” Commerce Minister Khurram Dastagir said addressing a consultative trade meeting on Friday.

GSAT-16, the next national communications satellite, reached French Guiana this week and is on its way to the space port near Kourou ahead of an early December flight, European launch service company Arianespace has said. The 3,150-kg satellite is scheduled to be flown on an Ariane-5 launcher numbered Flight VA221. Built at the ISRO Satellite Centre in Bangalore, GSAT-16 was sent on a chartered cargo plane to the French Guiana capital of Cayenne.

The Darjeeling Zoo, the highest altitude zoological garden in India, housing rare Himalayan animals such as red panda and snow leopard, has over 200 species of trees, shrubs, climbers, medicinal herbs, fungi and micro flora, says a study.

In a major boost to the Navy, grappling with dwindling submarine strength, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has approved of a proposal to build six conventional diesel-electric submarines indigenously. The project cost has been estimated at Rs. 50,000 crore.

Technology giant Google is teaming up with Oxford University to advance research on artificial intelligence to ultimately enable machines to better understand human users. The partnership will focus specifically on the fields of image recognition and natural language, Demis Hassabis, vice president of engineering at Google, wrote on the Google Europe Blog. Hassabis is also the co-founder of DeepMind, a UK-based company that Google acquired in January. Google DeepMind will be working with two of Oxford’s cutting edge artificial intelligence research teams. Google has also hired seven co-founders of the two artificial-intelligence groups, which had also formed startups, ‘cnet.com’ reported.

Ace India shuttler Saina Nehwal crashed out of the French Open Super Series after going down to World No. 2 Shixian Wang of China in a hard-fought quarterfinal contest on Friday. Seeded fifth, Saina posed quite a challenge to her Chinese rival but in the end it was a case of so near yet so far for the Indian who lost 19-21, 21-19, 15-21. The battle lasted an hour and 10 minutes.

25th OCTOBER 2014

China led 21 Asian nations, including India, in forming a multilateral financial front in the form of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), being seen as a challenger to the U.S.-backed Bretton Woods institutions.

Acknowledging that private investment is stifled in India by “lots of regulations” and also scarcity of coal and power, new Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian has said that removing these bottlenecks will be key to kick-starting growth. “The Indian economy needs a couple of big things, better governance, a stronger state delivering security of contract, protecting property rights, and providing infrastructure,” Mr. Subramanian said in a podcast interview to the International Monetary Fund.

The Union Urban Development Ministry is putting together a management information systems (MIS) that will enable the Prime Minister’s Office to monitor various activities under the Swachh Bharat Mission.

Students of Super 30, the Patna-based coaching institute for IIT-JEE, celebrated Diwali on Thursday with a team of professors from Tokyo University. The visiting team also announced that one student of the Super 30 would be given a scholarship for pursuing higher education in Japan.

Bangladeshi war criminal Ghulam Azam, who led the Jamaat-e-Islami during the country’s liberation war in 1971, died at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University here on Thursday.

U.S. President Barack Obama has nominated a major fundraiser for his presidential campaign, Indian-American Azita Raji, as the U.S. Ambassador to Sweden. A former investment banker, Raji served as national vice-chair of finance for Obama’s presidential campaign in 2012. Considered as a top bundler, he had helped raise more than $500,000 for the campaign. Raji’s nomination was announced along with several other key administrative positions by White House.

The Commerce and Industry Ministry on Friday constituted a six-member think tank to draft the National Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) policy. The panel, to be chaired by retired Justice Prabha Sridevan, will identifies areas in IPRs where study needs to be conducted and furnish recommendations in this regard to the Ministry, an official statement said. The expert group, set up by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), will also advise the government on best practices to be followed in trademark offices, patent offices and other government offices dealing with IPRs to create an efficient and transparent system of functioning in the said offices.

Pankaj Advani, added yet another jewel to his glowing crown, outplaying former champion Peter Gilchrist in the 150 up points format World billiards championship final and pocket his 11th world title

24th OCTOBER 2014

The proposal for the elevated Light Metro, meant for Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode, will be placed before the board of Kerala Monorail Corporation Ltd. (KMCL) that meets here on Friday. The KMCL board, chaired by Chief Minister Oommen Chandyis all set to give approval for the Detailed Project Report of the Rs.6,728-crore project prepared by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) in place of the scrapped monorail.

The Kerala Police have launched a toll-free helpline (1099) for the public to seek police help in bringing accident victims to hospital. The decision was taken at a meeting convened by Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala on the basis of the huge response to his Facebook post on accidents.

The Sukhoi fleet has been temporarily grounded following the latest crash involving a Su-30MKI near Pune, a Defence Ministry release said. “A Court of Inquiry is in progress.

After first proving his mettle as an IAS officer of the Gujarat cadre and then as the Chief Election Commissioner, N. Gopalaswami will now wear a new hat: that of chairman of the Chennai-based ‘Kalakshetra,’ the institution founded by Rukmini Devi Arundale to nurture India’s artistic traditions.

In 22 October 1964, Jean-Paul Sartre turned down the Nobel prize for literature.

Iran on Saturday hanged a woman (Reyhaneh Jabbari) convicted of murdering a former intelligence officer she claimed had tried to sexually assault her, defying international appeals for a stay on execution.

Google provided a sneak peek into Bhutan on Thursday by unveiling a Street View project for the remote Himalayan kingdom, featuring panoramic views of its majestic mountains, monasteries and crystal-clear rivers. The “Land of the Thunder Dragon” has long been one of the most isolated countries on earth, only lifting its ban on television in 1999.

The Chairman of Tesco, the world’s second-biggest retailer behind Walmart, announced his resignation on Thursday amid an accounting scandal in which the company admitted it had overstated its projected profits. Richard Broadbent said he would step down once a successor was found while the company confirmed its financial troubles continued, with a 99 per cent drop in first-half net income.

23rd OCTOBER 2014

The proposal for the elevated Light Metro, meant for Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode, will be placed before the board of Kerala Monorail Corporation Ltd. (KMCL) that meets here on Friday. The KMCL board, chaired by Chief Minister Oommen Chandyis all set to give approval for the Detailed Project Report of the Rs.6,728-crore project prepared by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) in place of the scrapped monorail.

Two days after show of strength by his supporters in Nagpur, Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday asserted that he would not be a hurdle to the elevation of State BJP president Devendra Fadnavis as Chief Minister. Denying rumours of “differences” between the two, Mr. Gadkari reiterated that he was not in the running for the chief minister’s post. His comments came after Mr. Fadnavis met him twice, once at the former’s residence and later at the party office in Nagpur, in less than four hours.

Development economist Jean Dreze, along with hundreds of protesting MGNREGA workers, observed “Black Diwali” at a village in Muzaffarpur district on Thursday. For over a fortnight, the workers have been organising a dharna demanding payment of dues. Professor Dreze reached Mahant Manihari Panchayat Bhawan under the Kurhani block and sat on the day-long dharna.

A video of a pair of duelling, dancing American priests studying in Rome has gone viral, following the footsteps of a now-famous Italian nunwhose Alicia Keyes-esque voice won her a singing contest and a record contract.

The United States’ supposed grand strategy to thwart the rampaging Islamic State (IS) is seemingly in a shambles. Reports indicate that IS has not only foiled the U.S.-led attacks thus far, but has also perpetrated massive defeats on the Iraqi army. What’s more, the Syrian rebel coalitions that were working closest with the U.S. are also apparently beginning to turn against America.

22nd OCTOBER 2014

First-time legislator Manohar Lal Khattar, 61, is set to become the 21st Chief Minister of Haryana. Mr. Khattar, a Punjabi, pipped other aspirants to the post owing to his RSS background and proximity to top BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah.

India received the most number of votes in the Asia-Pacific group of the U.N. Human Rights Council, winning a second consecutive two-year term at the world body. Official sources said this was a reflection of India’s standing in the world. India was a committed supporter of the U.N. human rights system and would continue to work towards strengthening of the Council. 162 of 190 countries voted for India. Three other countries including Indonesia, Bangladesh and Qatar were elected.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has asked the Centre to include the private sector in its ongoing programme for training and preparing the government healthcare sector for Ebola control. The IMA has pointed out that by focussing only on the government sector and leaving out the private healthcare industry from training could prove to be a serious lacuna in tackling Ebola, even though India is considered a low risk country.

A web portal that will contain digitised content from museums across the country was launched on Tuesday by Shripad Naik, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Culture and Tourism. The Ministry of Culture plans to digitise the collections of all museums under its control as well as the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

Calling for a unified global response to the challenges of terrorism, cyber-warfare and maritime security, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval said here on Tuesday that it was time the United Nations passed a comprehensive convention on terror.

The Central Government, to help investors and others hit by the Rs.5,600-crore ‘fraud’ at the National Spot Exchange Ltd. (NSEL) get back their money, on Tuesday ordered merger of the scam-hit firm with its holding company Financial Technologies India Ltd (FTIL). The merger, pursuant to which Jignesh Shah-led Financial Technologies group would need to absorb NSEL along with all its liabilities, including payments due to be paid to brokers, investors and others, has been ordered by the Corporate Affairs Ministry through a rarely-used clause in the Companies Act to intervene in the affairs of private sector entities.

Tata’s Jaguar Land Rover, on Tuesday, rolled out its premium luxury Range Rover Evoque at colourful ceremony here, inaugurating its first overseas factory in China with an investment of over $1.7 billion to consolidate its position in the world’s largest car market.

City-based Voltech group, service provider in testing and commissioning of electrical plants, has floated two more joint ventures one in India and another in Zambia. The group, on Tuesday, signed agreements with Kuwait-based Rank General Trading & Contracting Company (RGTCC), and Goldberg Associates Ltd (GAL), Zambia. RGTCC is a leading electrical and telecom contractor and GAL a global trading company.

Sundaram BNP Paribas Home Finance (SBPHF) is in talks with smaller housing finance companies (HFCs) to buy their portfolio in the affordable housing space. The company is in advanced stages of discussion with a company in this space. The deal size is expected at about Rs.11 crore.

21st OCTOBER 2014

Haryana’s newly elected BJP legislators will meet in Chandigarh on Tuesday to “elect” a leader, who will be the party’s chief ministerial candidate. Indications are that veteran leader and RSS activist Manohar Lal Khattar will be the party’s choice.

The ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival has announced a new annual writing competition for budding authors. Supported by Teamwork Arts, producers of the Festival, the competition is open to applicants across the world.

Making music is all about “digging inside of yourself” for “real gold”, says Neil Diamond, one of the bestselling singer-songwriters of all time. His album Melody Road releases this week."…you have to devote yourself almost entirely to it [music] and remain passionate about it

The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), which insures families of unorganised sector workers for up to Rs. 30,000 of medical care, is expected to be transferred from the Ministry of Labour and Employment to the Union Health Ministry. The RSBY, operationalised in 2008 by the UPA government, will be merged with the Universal Health Assurance Mission (UHAM) proposed by the NDA government.

India and China have agreed to take solid steps to improve border management, including the establishment of a hotline between the two Army headquarters and designating additional border posts for meetings between local commanders. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying disclosed on Monday that both countries have decided to step up military-to military interaction during last week’s Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) held in New Delhi.

  

To popularise Indian system of medicine abroad, the Centre will host a four-day World Ayurveda Congress in the Capital from November 6 to 9. To be inaugurated by the Prime Minister, the conference will be attended by delegates and Health Ministers from 24 countries.

Africa’s most populous nation Nigeria was on Monday declared officially Ebola free but warned that it remained vulnerable as long as the virus was raging elsewhere in West Africa.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe suffered a double setback on Monday with the resignations of two woman Cabinet Ministers over claims they misused political funds, dealing a blow to his proclaimed gender reform drive. Industry Minister Yuko Obuchi and Justice Minister Midori Matsushima quit after days of allegations that they had misspent money in what opponents insisted was an attempt to buy votes.

Warburg Pincus on Monday invested Rs. 1,200 crore ($200 million) in Thrissur-headquartered Kalyan Jewellers for an undisclosed minority stake. Kalyan will use the funds for expansion.

20th OCTOBER 2014

K. L. Rao Sagar Project, popularly known as Pulichintala project, which is seen as a boon for A.P. is back in focus with the Telangana government demanding that A.P. release Rs. 40 crore immediately as a pre-condition for impounding 20 tmcft water in the project. TS Irrigation Minister Harish Rao, on Sunday, said the Telangana government did not have any objection to store 20 tmcft if rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) packages were paid. When contacted, Andhra Pradesh Irrigation Minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao said the government would release funds for the R&R packages to be implemented in TS.

President of the State unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Pralhad Joshi, on Sunday, urged the State government to review its decision of rejecting the B.K. Somashekhara Commission of Inquiry report into the 2008 church attacks.

Amid instances of property crimes reported on board trains, the Government Railway Police (GRP) has revamped the train beat system with focus on long-distance trains. The modifications were put in place following a review of the system to bring in some standardization in the train escort pattern and in an effort to curb crimes on board trains across the jurisdiction of GRP, Tiruchi District. The structural changes were brought in taking into account the crime pattern and by identifying important trains passing through the limits of the Tiruchi District that starts from Villupuram and extends up to Kanyakumari in the northwest direction.

For the first time, “a more extensive programme” of Nobel Prize-related events will take place in India in less than a fortnight from now, a posting on the official website of the prestigious prize, Nobelprize.org, said on Sunday.

In the run-up to the lift-off of India’s gigantic Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-Mark III) in November 2014, the unmanned crew module it will put into orbit and the vehicle’s equipment bay were flagged off on October 17 from the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, to Sriharikota.

Spanish wind turbine company, Gamesa, is bullish on India’s wind energy sector. The 2.4-billion euro company expects to sell turbines adding up to 650 MW this year in India which is already its biggest market. In a recent interview with a group of visiting Indian journalists at the company’s headquarters in Pamplona, Spain, Gamesa’s Executive Chairman Ignacio Martin said that the local unit in India could not produce enough to meet domestic demand. Mr. Martin joined Gamesa in May 2012 and has overseen rapid growth in the last couple of years.

19th OCTOBER 2014

India, which has so far not reported a single case of Ebola, is emulating the Senegal-model of tracking every individual who could have been exposed to the virus or come into contact with anyone else who did, to prevent the outbreak of the deadly disease in the country. The World Health Organisation has declared Senegal Ebola-free.

The State government has registered the Farmers Empowerment Corporation by depositing paid up capital of Rs.1 crore. The corporation will be established at the Animal Husbandry Livestock College Complex opposite Gannavaram airport. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is likely to inaugurate the corporation’s office on October 21.

Raising concern over rapid growth of tourism making light of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) regulations in coastal Goa, climate scientist Rajendra K. Pachauri on Saturday highlighted the role of whistle-blowers and activists in ensuring not only strict enforcement of these regulations but also generating public awareness among the people.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is on a trail that could see him become an icon — scripting a message that blends Confucius and Mao, without abandoning the centrality of Deng Xiaoping’s code of reforms.

Prompted by controversy over dangerous research and recent laboratory accidents, the White House announced on Friday that it would temporarily halt all new funding for experiments that seek 

to study certain infectious agents by making them more dangerous.

A field of around 10,000 runners will compete in the inaugural edition of the Shriram Properties Bengaluru Marathon, which will be flagged off from the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Sunday.

18th OCTOBER 2014

The Government of Telangana on Friday formed three separate panels – State Apex Committee, State Empowered Committee and State Mission Team to review progress in the implementation of Crime and Criminal Tracking System (CCTNS) Project. The committees have been formed on the suggestion of the Director General of National Crime Records Bureau for the purpose. The project has been launched by the Government of India and has been approved by the Planning Commission as Mission Mode Project under e-governance plan.

Deputy Commissioner Sasikant S. Senthil, who recently introduced a labour-intensive solid waste management system here with focus on increased people’s participation, has come up with another initiative to put a mechanism in place for addressing the unemployment problem.

Nigeria’s military and presidency on Friday claimed to have reached a deal with Boko Haram militants on a ceasefire but released contradictory statements on whether a deal for the release of more than 219 kidnapped schoolgirls was in place.

President Barack Obama on Friday named attorney Ron Klain to coordinate the U.S. response to the viral disease as it spreads beyond West Africa.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate Sir H N Reliance Foundation Hospital & Research Centre here on October 25, Reliance Foundation said on Friday.

The Reserve Bank of India has signed a pact with the Central Bank of Kenya for exchange of information and supervisory cooperation. With this, the RBI has signed 22 such MoUs and one Letter for Supervisory Co-operation, the central bank said in a release.

A match that looked farcical at the halfway stage was given a decent burial by Marlon Samuels and Andre Russell as they made India work for its 59-run victory in the fourth ODI here on Friday

17th OCTOBER 2014

On October 15, 1994, India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-D2) for the first time successfully placed an Indian Remote-sensing Satellite into orbit. Twenty years later, on October 16, 2014, the PSLV-C26 lobbed the 1,425 kg Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS-1C) satellite into its precise orbit.

With nearly one-fourth of the population of the country malnourished, fish can be a cheap source of protein to alleviate hunger, said Shivakumar Magada, professor of Aquatic Biology, College of Fisheries, during the inauguration of the World Food Day celebrations here on Thursday.

The Indo-Russian BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, whose Block-III variant has perfected a surgical strike capability, is set to further expand its target engagement envelope by attaining a ‘near vertical dive capability’ to shock the enemy hidden behind mountains. “We want to demonstrate a ‘near vertical dive and surround’ capability to take the enemy by surprise. While radars do not have 360 degree coverage in the mountains, we would like to show the missile taking a turn in the horizontal axis and decimating the target around the hill. We hope to do this in a year’s time,” Sudhir Mishra, chief executive officer and managing director of the company, told 

In a relief for over one crore Non-Resident Indians, mostly migrants from Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the Election Commission of India submitted a report in the Supreme Court on Thursday recommending proxy voting and e-postal ballots as alternatives to remove an “unreasonable restriction” requiring overseas electors to be physically present in their electoral constituencies to vote. The 50-page report was prepared by a 12-member committee led by Vinod Zutshi, Deputy Election Commissioner, for ‘Exploring Feasibility of Alternative Options for Voting by Overseas Electors.’

The Central Bureau of Investigation will examine four top management functionaries of Tata group companies, including the then Tata Sons chief Ratan Tata, who were named in the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) report on the Tata-Realty-Unitech land deal, said top agency sources.

Sanjaya Rajaram, an eminent Indian scientist, has been awarded the World Food Prize in recognition of his significant contributions to global wheat production. Mr. Rajaram, currently a Senior Scientific Advisor at the International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), has developed some 480 wheat varieties that have been released in 51 countries across six continents and an estimated 58 million hectares.

  

In just 45 days from now, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) would launch its most ambitious suborbital — less than the usual orbit- test flight — Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark III.

Google on Wednesday ramped up its mobile arsenal, upgrading its Nexus line with a new tablet and smartphone, and unveiling its revamped Android software, to be dubbed ‘Lollipop’.

16th OCTOBER 2014

Blosom, a 6-foot 4-inch cow owned by a U.S. woman, was recently dubbed the world’s tallest and will be included in the 2016 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records.

The World Wide Fund for Nature-India (WWF-I) has cracked the secret codes used for illegal online trade of animals, reptiles and mammals. The breakthrough was made by TRAFFIC, the wildlife crime control wing of the organisation.

Tata Steel has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Klesch Group of Switzerland to undertake a detailed due diligence for a potential sale of its Long Products Europe business and associated distribution activities.

In keeping with its stated plans of aggressive product roll-outs in India, automobile maker Fiat-Chrysler will launch its Avventura, a ‘contemporary urban vehicle’ (CUV), here later this month.

Mobile phone users will soon be able to change their telecom operators and retain their numbers even if they are relocating to areas outside the service providers’ operations. At present, mobile subscribers have restricted facility of changing their telcos while retaining their number within same service area using mobile number portability (MNP). For example, a subscriber in Delhi NCR can switch operators within Delhi NCR only. The Department of Telecom has set a target date of March 31, 2015, to implement the full mobile number portability (MNP), an official source said. The decision will be placed before Telecom Minister for final approval.

Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan has received the Euromoney’s Central Bank Governor of the Year Award 2014 in Washington on October 10, the central bank said in a press release on Wednesday

15th OCTOBER 2014

Inquiry Commissioner and Special Judge S. Soman has ordered a preliminary inquiry against Agriculture Minister K.P. Mohanan and five officials of Kerala State Horticultural Products Development Corporation Ltd. (Hortcorp) in the alleged corruption in the institution.

The government has sent more than one lakh food packets, vegetables, milk and water packets and biscuits to flood-hit areas in north Andhra districts. Besides, several NGOs and philanthropists have come forward to help the flood-affected families. As many as six Deputy Collectors, 44 teams and 220 ‘Mavuru’ teams from Krishna district have been deputed to assist the relief and rescue operations in the Hudhud-affected districts. Apart from Ministers, MPs, MLAs and MLCs and bureaucrats, including the Collector, Joint Collector, Additional Joint Collector, Revenue Divisional Officers and all district officers, are engaged in monitoring relief operations in the devastated areas.

Malala Yousafzai, the youngest Nobel Peace Prize recipient and an icon of education rights, will soon come closer home. Her memoir I am Malala: the girl who stood up for education and was shot by the Taliban , is being translated into four Indian languages — Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam and Marathi. While the Kannada version published by Akruthi Books will be released on Sunday, the book in the other three languages will hit the stands soon.

Australian writer Peter Carey, twice winner of the Booker prize, has criticised the decision to open up the award to Americans for the first time, claiming that the old Commonwealth-only version had a “particular cultural flavour” that would now be lost. The winner of the 2014 Man Booker prize will be unveiled in London on Tuesday night (early Wednesday for India). Two American authors have made the shortlist: Karen Joy Fowler for We are All Completely Beside Ourselves and Joshua Ferris with To Rise Again at a Decent Hour .

Ever since Canada-born Indian actress Lisa Ray battled multiple myeloma, a form of cancer, she has campaigned for the cause and spoken widely of it to spread awareness. Now, she plans to open her own research institute for cancer in India. 

Among the bills up for consideration in the winter session of Parliament is the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment (CLPRA) Bill, pending since December 2012. The proposed amendments to the Act will for the first time ban employment of children below 14 years in any occupation, bringing the law in consistency with the Right to Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009. The Bill prohibits employment of adolescents aged 14-18 years in hazardous occupations. The Ministry had sought public comments on the CLPRA Bill 2012 this June. A majority of the changes in the proposed Bill are the same as those in the Bill introduced in the Rajya Sabha by UPA Minister for Labour and Employment Mallikarjun Kharge in December 2012.

A Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C26) carrying the 1,425-kg Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS-1C) will be launched from Sriharikota at 1.32 a.m. on Thursday. The countdown is progressing smoothly and the vehicle’s fourth stage has been filled with liquid propellants. The PSLV-C26 is a four-stage vehicle, with the first and third stages using solid propellants and the second and fourth, liquid fuel.

Gautham Roy has been appointed as the Managing Director of Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd (CPCL), the company said in a filing to stock exchanges. Mr. Roy assumed charge on Tuesday. He has been appointed in place of A. S. Basu, who retired on May 31. Since then, the charge of Managing Director was with S. Venkataramana, Director (Operations), CPCL.