Sri Lanka Crisis: After Rajapaksa Quits, Wickremesinghe sworn-in as Acting President
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as Sri Lanka's interim President until Parliament elects a successor to Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who resigned after mass protests over the country's economic collapse forced him from office.
The speaker of Sri Lanka's Parliament said Rajapaksa resigned as president effective Thursday and lawmakers will convene Saturday to choose a new leader. Their choice would serve out the remainder of Rajapaksa's term ending in 2024, said Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana. He expects the process to be done in seven days.
Italian PM Mario Draghi to Quit after 5-Star Mutiny
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said that he would resign after the 5-Star Movement, a party in his ruling coalition failed to support a confidence vote, plunging Italy into political chaos.
The confidence vote had become a focal point for tensions within Draghi's government as its parties prepare to fight each other in a national election due by early 2023.
The decision by the 5-Star party to boycott the confidence vote triggered the sequence of events that prompted the 74-year-old Draghi to say he would quit.
Draghi said that he would not want to lead a government without 5-Star, which emerged as the largest party in the previous election in 2018 but has since suffered defections and a loss of public support.
TCS Launches TCS Pace Port Toronto, its Global Research & Co-innovation Centre
Tata Consultancy Services launched TCS Pace Port™ Toronto, its fifth global research and co-innovation centre, to help Canadian companies bring digital innovations to life faster.
Pace Port Toronto provides companies with access to the latest technologies and breakthrough thinking from TCS Research labs, start-ups, VCs, entrepreneurs, and academia - including the University of Toronto - as well as TCS' network of Pace Ports in New York, Pittsburgh, Amsterdam, and Tokyo.
Pace Port Toronto features an agile workspace, training space, academic research lab, and innovation showcase to encourage rapid prototyping, research, and commercialising of advanced technologies.
Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance Launches ABSLI Fixed Maturity Plan
Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance (ABSLI), the life insurance subsidiary of Aditya Birla Capital Limited (ABCL), announced the launch of a savings solution ABSLI Fixed Maturity Plan, a non-linked, non-participating endowment product providing fully guaranteed benefits as a lump-sum on maturity. This plan offers policyholders short- and long-term financial security and provides returns of up to 6.41% along with a life cover.
The plan is a single-pay proposition (premium payment term) and allows the policyholder to choose from a wide range of policy terms (5-10 years) to fit individual needs.
Through its new offering, ASBLI intends to cater to investors who prefer simplified products like fixed deposits.
HDFC Bank Partners with NIIT, Launches PG Programme in Data Engineering
National Institute of Information Technology, Institute of Finance, Banking and Insurance (IFBI), a subsidiary of NIIT Limited, announced a partnership with HDFC Bank to build digital talent for the banking industry. The partnership aims to nurture talent in tech field of data science and empower them to leverage data meaningfully and deliver useful business insights.
The first learning program to be launched is the HDFC Bank Data Digits-Post Graduate Program in Data Engineering. The learning programs will be delivered through live, instructor-led sessions, and guest lectures from senior executives of HDFC Bank. Through this program the bank aims to hire close to 100 data scientists in one year.
Samsung Develops World's Fastest Graphics DRAM Chip
Samsung developed a new graphics dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chip with a faster speed and improved power efficiency.
The 24-gigabit Graphics Double Data Rate 6 (GDDR6) adopts third-generation, 10-nanometer technology and boasts a data processing speed that is over 30 per cent faster than existing products.
The new DRAM chip can process graphic images at a rate of up to 1.1 terabytes per second, which Samsung claims is the fastest in the world and equivalent to processing 275 full HD movies in a second.
Graphics DRAMs are widely used in high-powered 3D games, personal computers, notebooks or devices that play videos with a high resolution.
Surya Shekhar Ganguly Wins Fischer Random Event at 55th Biel Chess Festival
Indian Grandmaster Surya Sekhar Ganguly emerged winner in the Fischer Random event at Biel Chess Festival with compatriot S.P. Sethuraman finishing in second place.
GM Gabguly scored 6.5 points from 7 rounds to take the top prize ahead of Sethuraman (5.5 points) and French Woman Grandmaster Vera Nebolsina (5.5 points).
Ganguly remained unbeaten through the seven rounds, securing six wins and drawing one game with Alexandra Kosteniuk.
Gabguly's wins came against Arashavir Musaelyan (Switzerland) Sai Kalluri Hari Charan (India), Robin Angst (Switzerland), Jose Antonio Herrera Reyes (Spain), Sethuraman and Konstantinos Ragios (Greece).
AFI and RIL Sign Long Term Partnership to Support Talented Athletes
Athletics Federation of India (AFI) and Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) announced a long-term partnership to provide world class facilities to talented athletes, with special focus on women.
The partnership aims to nurture and develop Indian athletes from across the country and provide them with world-class facilities, coaching and sports science support.
As AFI's principal partner, the Reliance brand will appear across the national team's jerseys and training kits at key national, international competitions and training camps.
Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said that the Mopa International Airport, which is expected to double the number of flights landing in the state, will be commissioned after August 15.
After the commissioning of the Mopa Airport, the existing Dabolim Airport in the coastal state will not be closed and flight operations will continue there.
U.S. President Joe Biden received Israel's Presidential Medal of Honour in recognition of 50 years of support for the country in his career as a politician.
Israeli Prime Minister Isaac Herzog praised Biden's uncompromising decades long commitment to Israel's security as he presented Biden with the award. Biden called the award a great honour.
Biden assured Herzog that America's commitment to Israel's security remains ironclad, today and in the future.
Film-makers Aparna Sen, Nandita Das Win Icon Awards at London Indian Film Festival
Filmmakers Aparna Sen and Nandita Das were awarded the Icon Award at this year's London Indian Film Festival for their contribution to Indian and global cinema.
Running over two weeks and across four cities of London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, the London Indian Film Festival (LIFF) concluded with a series of screenings, in conversation sessions, cinema discussions and an awards ceremony.
Women and Child Development Ministry Issues Guidelines for Mission Shakti Scheme
Women and Child Development Ministry issued guidelines for Mission Shakti Scheme. This scheme was launched for the safety, security and empowerment of women. It seeks to realise the government's commitment to women-led development by making them equal partners in nation-building. The key objectives of the mission are to provide care, support and assistance to women and to put in place quality mechanisms for the rescue, protection and rehabilitation of women who are victims of crime and violence. The scheme is also aimed at improving accessibility to various government services available for women at various levels.
Mission Shakti has two sub-schemes - Sambal and Samarthya. While the Sambal stresses on safety and security of women, the Samarthya focuses on the empowerment of women. The components of the Sambal sub-scheme consist of schemes including One Stop Centre, Women Helpline, Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao and Nari Adalats. The components of the Samarthya sub-scheme consist of schemes of Ujjwala, Swadhar Greh and Working Women Hostel. In addition, the existing schemes of the National Creche Scheme for children of working mothers and Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana have now been included in Samarthya.
The first phase of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) began and was conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA). The second biggest entrance exam in the country, which conducted for the first time, began in test centres in more than 500 cities across the country and 10 cities abroad.
The exam is being conducted in two phases, with the first phase set to take place on July 15, 16, 19 and 20 and the second phase will be held on August 4-8, and 10. Candidates who have opted to sit for CUET in Physics, Chemistry or Biology will give the exam in phase two after the NEET exam to be held on July 17.
CUET was the second biggest all India exam after NEET with 14.9 lakh registrations. It surpassed JEE-Mains' average registration of nine lakh. NEET usually has an average of 18 lakh registrations.
India's First Case of Monkeypox Reported from Kerala
India reported its first monkeypox case in Kollam, Kerala, with the Ministry of Health deploying a high-level multi-disciplinary team to the state and the Union Health Secretary flagging the necessary precautions in a letter to all states.
The 35-year-old man, who returned to the southern state from abroad and was hospitalised after showing signs of monkeypox, had tested positive for the disease.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), monkeypox is a viral zoonosis (a virus transmitted to humans from animals) with symptoms similar to those seen in the past in smallpox patients, although it is clinically less severe.
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