National:

Fatehpur Sikri monuments bag Tourism Award The Fatehpur Sikri group of monuments in Agra has bagged the prestigious National Tourism Award 2011-12 for “the best maintained and disabled-friendly monument”. The award was given away by President Pranab Mukherjee and presided over by Minister of State for Tourism K. Chiranjeevi.

Poetess chosen for Samman poetess Sugathakumari has been selected for the Saraswati Samman 2012 for her poetry collection Manalezhuthu (Writing on the Sand). The award, instituted by the K.K. Birla Foundation, carries a cash component of Rs. 10 lakh, a citation and a plaque. The 79-year-old writer was selected for the honour by a 13-member jury headed by the former Chief Justice of India, R.C. Lahoti. The award is given annually to an outstanding literary work written in any Indian language during the last 10 years.

Paan Singh Tomar adjudged best film For its ‘powerful presentation’ of a true life story which highlights the urgent need for a ‘social support system for sportspersons especially in rural India,’ Paan Singh Tomar has bagged the 60th National Award for the best feature film. The film, Vicky Donor , shared the award for the best “popular film providing wholesome entertainment” with the Malayalam film, Ustad Hotel . Shepherds of Paradise , portraying the life of a nomadic shepherd family in Kashmir, was awarded the best non-feature film. Bedabrata Pain’s Hindi film, Chittagong , and the Siddhartha Siva-directed Malayalam film, 101 Chodiyangal , shared the Indira Gandhi award for the best debut film of a director. The jury for feature films was headed by Basu Chatterjee, while Aruna Raje headed the non-feature films jury.

Saudi restricts Haj for private pilgrims to once in five years Saudi Arabia has restricted the Haj undertaken by pilgrims through private tour operators to only once in five years. On January 18, 2013, the Ministry of External Affairs directed the Haj Committee of India (HCOI) to restrict the number of pilgrimage for an applicant going through it to “once in a life time” as against the earlier norm of “once in five years.” “This will ensure that a Haj pilgrim will benefit from Government of India subsidy only once in his/her lifetime. It will also ensure that priority is given to those who have never performed Haj. This is a major change introduced by the Government of India. Accordingly, only pilgrims who have never performed Haj earlier through the Haj Committee of India will be allowed to apply for Haj 2013. Now, a circular issued by Saudi Arabia, also posted on the HCOI website, adopted a similar policy, introducing a five-year restriction for private pilgrims worldwide.

Copyright Rules notified The government has enhanced the registration and license fee for copyrights issued by the Registrar of Copyrights. This follows an amendment in the Copyrights Act, 1957. Under the new Copyright Rules, 2013, the minimum fee for registration has been increased from Rs. 50 per work to Rs. 500 and the maximum fee from Rs. 600 to Rs. 5,000. The minimum fee for licences has been increased from Rs. 200 to Rs. 2,000 per work and the maximum fee from Rs. 400 to Rs. 40,000. The new fee structure provided under Second Schedule of the Rules is applicable from March 14. The Copyright Rules, 2013, have been notified by the Copyright Division, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development.

International

China shoots into top arms exporters club China has become the world’s fifth largest weapons exporter on the back of a rapid increase in sales to Pakistan. China, accounting for five per cent of global arms sales, replaced Britain in the exclusive club of five biggest weapons sellers, according to report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri). An increase in supplies to Pakistan, which now account for more than half of China’s arms exports, and a booming domestic arms manufacturing sector have enabled China’s rise as a global weapons player. The United States is the biggest exporter, accounting for 30 per cent of global exports. Russia with 26 per cent, Germany with seven per cent and France with six per cent exceed China’s sales. India, in contrast, remains the biggest importer, accounting for 12 per cent of the world’s imports and continuing to rely on countries such as Russia for its defence needs. China is the second biggest importer, even with its domestic industry that supplies the People’s Liberation Army, accounting for six per cent.

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Business

Mahindra launches electric car, e2o Mahindra and Mahindra launched its all-electric four-seater passenger car, the e2o, with price starting at Rs.5.96 lakh.The car is developed by Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicles (formerly Reva Electric Car Company), and will replace its predecessor Reva, India’s first electric car.

Kelkar to head panel on energy security The Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry, constituted a committee headed by economist Vijay Kelkar to put in place a policy on energy security and prepare a roadmap for enhancing domestic oil and gas production to reduce dependence on exports by 2030. Dr. Kelkar, who had also prepared a roadmap for deregulation of the retail oil and gas sector, has been asked to submit his report within six months.

Technology

International meet on nanoscience A three-day international conference on nanoscience and nanotechnology was inaugurated at SRM university campus in Kattankulathur . Delivering a special address on the occasion, G.V.Ramaraju, group coordinator - R and D in IT and Head of Nanotechnology Initiatives Division, Department of Electronics and Information Technology in the Union government, said the department was developing nanosensors in IIT, Bombay with Tata.

Sport:

Rafael Nadal won Indian Wells ATP Rafael Nadal defeated Juan Martin del Potro 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to win his third Indian Wells ATP Masters title. The 11-time Grand Slam champion from Spain claimed his first hard court title since 2010 and a record 22nd title in an elite Masters event. He had previously shared the record of 21 with Roger Federer.

Shixian Wang wins Swiss Open title China’s Shixian Wang breezed past Thai sensation Ratchanok Intanon 21-16, 21-12 to win the Swiss Open badminton championship. In the final, fourth seed Shixian Wang, who had the measure of India’s Saina Nehwal in the semifinal, had a battle on hand initially in the first game when Intanon kept pace with her.

Indian won Test series against Australia India won the four match test series 3-0 against Australia at Mohali. For the first time India won three tests against Australia. Dhoni became the first Indian wicket-keeper batsman to reach the 4000 run mark in Tests. By winning of this match Dhoni became the first Indian Captain to win 7 matches against Australia.

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