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The mega cultural festival ‘India by the Nile’ has started at the foot of the Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt from March 8 and will continue till March 14, 2017. The event is a special moment as this year India celebrates 70 years of independence and also 70 years of its diplomatic relations with Egypt. The Handicraft Exhibition which runs from March 8-14, is an initiative to promote Indian and Egyptian handicrafts. It is organised by the Embassy of India in partnership with the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India; Export Promotion Council For Handicrafts (India), the Ministry of Social Solidarity (Egypt) and the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI). The festival is a celebration of Indian music, dance, theatre, visual arts, food and wellbeing.

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IDFC Bank has become the India’s first bank to launch the biometric-based digital payment system ‘Aadhaar Pay’ through its network that will allow even those without mobile phones to do cashless transactions. The Aadhar Pay service is for merchants which will enable them to receive Aadhaar-enabled payments by passing credit and debit cards, pin and password.

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Dr. Lalji Singh, who served as dDirector of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) and vice-chancellor of Banaras Hindu University (BHU), has been selected for ‘SERB Distinguished Fellow’ award by the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), a statutory body of Government of India. The SERB has instituted ‘Distinguished SERB Fellowship Award’ to support research of eminent scientists active even after superannuation. The award carries an amount of Rs. 60,000 per month and a research grant of Rs. 5 lakh. The research grant is for three years and is extendable for a further two years. Currently, Lalji Singh runs the ‘Genome Foundation’, a non-profit company in Hyderabad.

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Mahabaleshwar Sail, the noted Konkani writer, has been honoured with the 2017 Saraswati Samman for his novel ‘Hawthan’. The Goa-based Sail is a renowned bi-lingual writer who has four Marathi dramas and seven Konkani novels to his credit. The award carries a cash prize of Rs.15 lakh and a citation.

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The Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TATA Power-DDL) has become the first Indian power utility to successfully implement teleprotection service using Line-Differential Relay (LDR) over an IP/MPLS network because of the deal with Nokia. The Nokia IP/MPLS technology has improved the reliability, scalability, security and efficiency of power distribution. The Nokia’s enhanced system will allow Tata Power-DDL to receive nearly instant updates of any fault in its infrastructure and reroute power through alternative lines to minimize the disruption to the end consumer. The system connects all grid stations and ensures there is tele-protection and in case there is a fault, then it can be addressed immediately. Apart from the network upgradation, Nokia’s system also provides more traditional business applications such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and video surveillance systems.

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The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras has won the 2017 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Spectrum Technology in the Service of Society Award for its solar-Direct Current (DC) inverter system. The system, developed using micro grid technology, converts in-home power distribution from 230V Analog Current to 48V DC to directly power appliances and devices. The system is also equipped to tap rooftop solar power that makes it the most energy efficient solution for homes and offices.The award is presented to the company/institution voted by IEEE Spectrum editors as having developed the technology that has the potential to benefit mankind.

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The Chief minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik has recently launched a 24X7 toll free helpline number 181 for distressed women in all the 30 districts of the state on the occasion on International Women’s Day. The helpline will facilitate quick response of various services including lodging police complaint to provide medical, legal and counselling to women victims.

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The 22nd edition of Asian Athletics Championship will be held in India at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha from July 2017. With this, Bhubaneswar will become the 3rd city in India to host the athletics championship after New Delhi in 1989 and Pune in 2013. Nearly 800 athletes from 45 countries are expected to take part in the tournament.

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The Punjab football team has won the 71st Santosh Trophy football tournament by defeating Railways in the final by 2-1 goals in Goa. It was the 9th Santosh Trophy for Punjab.

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Arun Jaitley, who is the current Finance Minister and Minister of Corporate Affairs in the Cabinet of India, has taken additional charge of the Union Ministry of Defence (MoD) on March 14, 2017. He succeeded Manohar Parrikar, who resigned from the post to take on the new role of Chief Minister of Goa. This is the 2nd time that Jaitley is holding the additional portfolio of Defence Ministry during the present NDA government. He was in-charge of the ministry earlier from 26th May to 9th November in 2014.