1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates the restored North-South Rail link of Sri Lanka
i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the first train from
Thalaimannar to Madhu Road in North Sri Lanka.
ii. It marks the completion and restoration of the prestigious project
of Indian Railways to restore the North-South Rail link of Sri Lanka after
decades of civil war.
iii. The North-South Rail link was completely destroyed by the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) militants during the civil war in
1980s.
iv. The rail project connects the Sri Lanka’s Jaffna province to
capital Colombo and a branch line connects Thalaimannar to the main rail line.
v. The project has been implemented by Indian Railway Construction
Company Limited (IRCON) International, a subsidiary of Indian Railways.
2. Former Maldives President Nasheed jailed for 13 years
i. Former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed was convicted and
sentenced to 13 years in prison after a quick and disputed trial for allegedly
ordering a senior judge arrested while in office.
ii. Nasheed has denied ordering the arrest. His supporters said the
charges are aimed at eliminating him as a challenger against incumbent
President Yameen Abdul Gayoom in the 2018 presidential election.
iii. Nasheed was the country’s first democratically elected President.
3. TCS appoints Aarthi Subramanian to board of directors
i. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Limited, India’s largest software
services exporter has appointed Aarthi Subramanian as an executive director on
the board of directors.
ii. Subramanian has been appointed for period of three-years and with
her appointment the TCS Board strength has become eleven, of which six are
independent Directors.
iii. Prior to this appointment, Subramanian was the
global head of the company’s delivery excellence group and was responsible for
governance of service delivery, compliance and risk management.
4. Historic bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi unveiled at Britain's Parliament Square
i. A historic bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi was unveiled today at
the Parliament Square here, standing adjacent to iconic leaders like Britain's
war-time Prime Minister Winston Churchill and anti-apartheid icon Nelson
Mandela.
ii. A galaxy of political leaders led by British Prime Minister David
Cameron and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley were joined by Bollywood legend
Amitabh Bachchan and the Mahatma Gandhi's grandson Gopalkrishna Gandhi at the
ceremony to unveil the 9-foot statue of India's Father of the Nation.
iii. Gandhi is the first Indian and the only person never to have been
in a public office to be honoured with a statue at the Square.
iv. The statue was unveiled jointly by Cameron and Jaitley as chants
of "Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram", a popular bhajan that was Gandhi's
favourite, reverberated in the air.
5. Japan, France sign defence pact to boost cooperation, joint development
i. Japan and France signed a deal on military equipment and technology
transfers, in a move to drive cooperation and joint development of defence
gear, as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe strengthens security ties with major powers.
ii. The agreement will also pave the way for Japan to develop drones
and other unmanned equipment together as it seeks to play a greater
international military role.
iii. It will also promote joint projects in several fields including
unmanned technologies for underwater search missions or surveillance.
6. Government cuts import tariff on gold and silver
i. The government has slashed import tariff value on gold to $375 per
10 grams and silver to $512 per kg following weak global price trends.
ii. The tariff value on imported gold was fixed at $393 per 10 grams
and on silver at $549 per kg.
iii. Gold is the second-largest import item for India after petroleum.
Higher gold import bill adversely affects the country's current account deficit
(CAD).
iv. The government has been repeatedly asking people to desist from
buying gold and instead invest in other saving instruments.