March 10, seats in the recently concluded assembly elections. Former CM of Tripura Manik Sarkar, Senior

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1 March 10, 2018 Biplab Deb Kumar sworn in as Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb was sworn in as the chief minister of Tripura on 9th March. The ceremony officially marked BJP's entry into the left bastion, ending 25 years of uninterrupted rule of the CPM-led Left Front. 48-year-old Deb had met governor Tathagata Roy on March 6 to stake claim to form the government after BJP along with its ally IPFT won 43 seats in the recently concluded assembly elections. Former CM of Tripura Manik Sarkar, Senior BJP leaders LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi & HM Rajnath Singh were also present in swearing in ceremony. The BJP under its state chief Biplab Kumar Deb and along with its ally Indigenous People's Front of Tripura won 43 seats. CPI(M) leader and Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, who has been in power for 20 years, has reached the end, with the party getting 16 seats. Prakriti to be first ITBP woman combat officer In another first for women, 25-year-old Prakriti has been inducted as the first direct-entry combat officer in the Indo-Tibetan Border Police. The ITBP is the last of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) to induct women officers in combat roles after the government first allowed it to enroll them in Prakriti had cleared the UPSC exam for officers recruitment in CAPFs in her first 1

2 attempt. I always had a desire to don the uniform. My father, who is in the Air Force, has always been an inspiration. I opted for ITBP as my first choice, she said. Prakriti, who hails from Bihar s Samastipur, has completed her BE and is currently based in an ITBP unit at Uttarakhand s Pithoragarh. She will soon join the Officers Training Academy of the force in Dehradun. She is expected to be commissioned as an Assistant Commandant next year after she completes her training, a senior ITBP officer said. The force already has women in combat roles but only in the constable rank. Pyarelal Wadali, Sufi singer, passes away Pyarelal Wadali, the younger of the famous Punjabi Sufi singing duo Wadali brothers, died of heart attack today at a private hospital in Amritsar. He was 75 and is survived by his wife, two sons and three daughters. Ustad Pyarelal, as he was fondly known in music circles, and his brother Puran Chand Wadali sang several hits, including Tu mane ya na mane dildaara, asaan tey tainu rabb maneya. Wadali brothers were like rabb (God) of Sufi music and one of them today left us bereaved, shared theatre person Kewal Dhaliwal. Born into the fifth generation of musicians given to singing the messages of Sufi saints, the Wadali brothers were hailed as one of the best in the industry. While Puran Chand studied music under stalwarts like Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan of Patiala Gharana and Pandit Durga Das, Pyarelal, known to be an introvert, was trained by his elder brother, whom he called his mentor. 2

3 Union Govt launches 100% biodegradable sanitary napkins The Union Government on 8th March has launched a biodegradable sanitary napkin called Suvidha under the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP). Union minister for chemicals & fertilizers Ananthkumar, while launching the affordable sanitary napkin, said, it will be available for Rs.2.50 per pad at over 3,200 Janaushadhi Kendras across India by 28 May, 2018 which is also the World Menstrual Hygiene Day. This is one of the most important requirements in ensuring health security to that section of women in India which still uses unhygienic aids during menstrual period due to non-affordability of some of the popular brands of sanitary napkins available in the market today, Ananthkumar said. EEPC signs MoU with the Czech Republic SME association Engineering Export Promotion Council India is seeking a global alliance for enabling the country's small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to reach out to the pan-european industries. The council has signed an MoU with the Association of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and Crafts of the Czech Republic to promote bilateral trade and investment. It was signed at the ongoing International Engineering Sourcing Show (IESS) March 8. As the partner country, the Czech Republic with a strong manufacturing base, has a predominant presence of at least 50 companies at the IESS. EEPC India chairman Ravi Sehgal said, "Alliances are a must to connect with the global 3

4 businesses." Under the MoU, the two sides would exchange market information pertaining to the engineering sector and would assist each other in organisation of the exhibitions, trade fairs and buyer-seller meets. They would also encourage institutional partnerships in research and development, consultancy, besides technology transfer. Forex reserves jump by $168 million to $421 billion The country's foreign exchange reserves rose by USD million to USD billion in the week to March 2 on an increase in core currency assets, the Reserve Bank of India said. In the previous reporting week, the reserves had declined by USD 1.13 billion to USD billion. The reserves had touched a life-time high of USD billion on February 9. It had crossed the USD 400-billion mark for the first time in the week to September 8 last year, but has been fluctuating since then. In the week to March 2, the foreign currency assets, a major component of the overall reserves, rose by USD million to USD billion, the apex bank said. Expressed in the US dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of the non-us currencies such as the euro, the pound and the yen held in the reserves. The value of gold reserves increased by USD 8.1 million to USD billion, the central bank said. The special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund declined by USD 7.4 million to USD billion. The country's reserve position with IMF also declined by USD 10.1 million to USD billion, the RBI said. 4

5 RBI slaps Rs 5 cr penalty on Airtel Payments Bank for violation of norms The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a penalty of Rs 5 crore on Airtel Payments Bank for violating operating guidelines and Know Your Customer (KYC) norms. The fine was imposed after RBI scrutinized the bank's documents relating to opening of accounts without any specific or clear consent from the customers. "The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed, on March 7, 2018, a monetary penalty of Rs 50 million on Airtel Payments Bank Limited (the bank) for contravening the 'Operating Guidelines for Payments Banks' and directions issued by RBI on Know Your Customer (KYC) norms," the central bank said in a statement. Based on the complaints and adverse media reports alleging that the bank had opened customer accounts without a clear/specific consent of the customers, RBI conducted a supervisory visit to the bank from November 20-22, According to reports, more than 23 lakh customers had reportedly received as many as Rs 47 crores in their Airtel bank accounts, which they did not know had been opened. Tribal boy wonder Gora Ho shoots gold at Asia Cup A modern day Ekalavya story looks to be taking shape, but unlike the legendary mythological archer, 17-year-old Gora Ho will not have to part with his thumb. Part of the gold-medal winning team at the Asia Cup Stage I archery meet at Bangkok, Gora partnered Akash and Gaurav Lambe to beat 5

6 Mongolia to the top spot in the recurve event. A tribal from Balijhudi village in Rajnagar, the wiry Gora is considered something of a prodigy with the bow and arrow. With more than 100 medals in sub-junior and junior events at the state and national levels, he has swiftly become the state's brightest talent in a short span of six years, earning the sobriquet, Golden Boy. The next natural step is the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, says everyone who has seen him in action. Currently, Gora is enlisted as a cadet at Army Boys Club in Pune but keeps shuttling to the Steel City for his sport. 6