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- A unique legislation is being drafted to regulate the Ganga river, and will be called the Ganga Act. The water ministry has announced that it will draw from the National Highways Act and allow the Centre final say over States during disputes over the management of the river’s water. The Union Water Resources Ministry, headed by Uma Bharti, is the nodal agency in charge of implementing the Rs. 20,000-crore National Clean Ganga Mission by 2022.
- Former Union Minister for Minority affairs, Dr. Najma Heptullah has been appointed as the new Governor of Manipur.
- The Home Ministry has announced that the government wants to gradually bring all airports under the security cover of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).
- The Union Government has allowed online authentication using Aadhar for new mobile connections. The project will be called ‘Aadhaar Electronic-Know Your Customer‘ (e-KYC). The e-KYC seeks to make the online process of application and authentication faster and simpler for subscribers.
- Prominent Punjabi writer, novelist and short story writer and Jnanpith awardee Gurdial Singh has passed away. He is known as one of the greatest writers of Punjabi literature and had focused on marginalised people in rural Punjab in his short stories and novels.
- Central Leather Research Institute’s (CLRI) Principal Scientist P Shanmugam received the APJ Abdul Kalam Award for his meritorious services in the Higher Education Department of Tamil Nadu.
- A.R. Rahman has been honoured with the Tamil Ratna Award. The award was presented by New York based Tamil Sangam. Rahman was bestowed with the honour after his concert at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) chamber.
- The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has moved the Supreme Court for a re-look into the Court’s judgment upholding the recommendations of the former Chief Justice R.M. Lodha Committee to overhaul the rules, membership and functioning of the top cricketing body.
- Unilever, the parent company of Hindustan Unilever (HUL), has acquired Swedish firm Blueair. Blueair is a leading company dealing in mobile air purification technology.
- Hike Messenger, a home grown messaging platform, has announced that it had raised $175 million (about Rs.1,169 crore) in a new round of funding led by Chinese Internet giant Tencent Holdings and the Foxconn Technology Group of Taiwan, valuing the company at about $1.4 billion. Hike was founded by Mr. Kavin Mittal, son of Sunil Bharti Mittal, in December 2012.
- P.V. Sindhu has defeated the London Olympics Silver medal winner, Wang Yihan of China, to enter the women’s singles semifinals for badminton at the Rio Olympics. With the memorable win, Sindhu became the second Indian badminton player to reach an Olympic semifinal after Saina Nehwal achieved the feat four years ago.
- India has been ranked No.1 on the World Test Series Rankings. Pakistan is ranked second, followed by Australia.
- Joao Havelange, former president of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the global governing body of football, has passed away. He was 100. He had served as the president of the FIFA for two decades.
- Indian-American Neera Tanden has been named co-chair of the transition team of Hillary Clinton. The transition team usually prepares an incoming President to take over the reins the day he or she is sworn in.
- The first South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Youth Parliamentarians Conference on `Peace and Harmony for Development’ was held in Islamabad, Pakistan. It intends to offer young Parliamentarians’ narrative as a prelude to the 19th SAARC Summit to be hosted by Pakistan in November 2016.
- Google Duo, a ‘one tap’ video calling app on Android and Apple iOS platforms, has been launched. A distinct feature on the app — Knock Knock — allows people to see live video of a caller who is in their phone book, before answering.
- 25 well preserved tiny bones have been found in a coal mine in Gujarat, and appear to be the most primitive primate bones yet discovered, according to an analysis by an international team of researchers. The bones, belonging to ancient rat-sized, tree-dwelling primates, represent a very early stage of primate evolution.
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