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- Shurhozelie Liezietsu took oath as the 11th Chief Minister of Nagaland. Mr. Liezietsu, who heads a 12-member Democratic Alliance of Nagaland Ministry, was administered the oath by Governor P.B. Acharya.
- Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Wednesday visited the headquarters of Southern Command where he was briefed on operational readiness and other administrative aspects of the key defence establishment. This was General Rawat’s first visit to the HQ of Southern Command after taking charge in December-end.
- A visiting delegation of members of the European Parliament have said that human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir must be resolved internally in India, accepting that the conflict in the State is an internal Indian matter. While giving India its full support on the human rights issue, the delegation, however, will take up two other thorny issues: India’s denial of a visa to a member of their delegation, and recent Home Ministry action against NGOs in India.
- The Enforcement Directorate has served a show-cause notice to Angelique International Limited for the transfer of funds to certain African countries allegedly in violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). The alleged violation involved “improper” payments to the tune of 1.06 crore dollars and 70.90 crore in African currencies to certain individuals, according to the agency.
- The Delhi Graminn Khel Mahotsav will be organised by the Union Sports Ministry in collaboration with the Delhi Government from March 25 to 31, with an aim to nurture sports culture among the rural populace. The Union Sports Minister Vijay Goel said the involvement of rural youth in large number in the sports festival would serve as a catalyst in the promotion of sports. The leading wrestlers of the country, former World champion and double Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar, Olympic bronze medallist Yogeshwar Dutt and Geeta Phogat will have demonstration matches.
- India will be hosting the Combined World Cup for shooting in 2019, a qualifying event for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which will further boost the country’s profile as a global shooting destination.
- U.S. President Donald Trump has laid the groundwork for potentially deporting millions of undocumented immigrants by issuing new guidelines. Nearly three lakh Indian-Americans are likely to be impacted by the sweeping plans that put the nation’s 11 million undocumented immigrants at risk of deportation.
- The playwright who inspired the Oscar-nominated movie Moonlight has won a prize from PEN America, the literary and human rights organization. Tarell Alvin McCraney received an award for best mid-career playwright. McCraney’s In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue is the basis for the acclaimed movie drama, which is up for eight nominations at the Oscars.
- Scientists have spotted seven Earth-sized planets, with mass similar to Earth, orbiting around a dwarf star the size of Jupiter, just 39 light years from the Sun. The planets’ temperature is low enough to make possible the presence of liquid water on their surface. In May last year, scientists found three planets passing in front of TRAPPIST-1, the dwarf star. Based on further monitoring of the star from the ground and space, scientists have found four more ‘exo-planets’ orbiting TRAPPIST-1. The scientists have been able to make precise mass measurement for six of the seven planets. Though the mass measurements are preliminary, they do indicate that the planets are terrestrial with liquid water. Five planets have sizes similar to that of the Earth, while the remaining two are intermediate in size — between Mars and Earth. Based on the mass estimates, the six inner planets may have a rocky composition. The sixth planet has low density suggesting a volatile rich composition. The volatile content could be either an ice layer and/or atmosphere.
- Turkey’s Army is lifting a historic ban on women officers wearing the Islamic headscarf in the officially secular country. The move, ordered by the Defence Ministry, applies to officers working in the general staff and command headquarters and branches.
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