Tapan Misra to head Isro’s Space Applications Centre

Scientist Tapan Misra Friday took over as director of the Indian space agency’s application centre at Ahmedabad in Gujarat. He will succeed A S Kiran Kumar, who was appointed as the Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in January 2015. Later, he became the lead member of the team which designed and developed C-band Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR).

Two tropical cyclones Marcia and Lam hit Australia

Two tropical cyclones Marcia and Lam hit Australia on 20 February 2015. This is the first time that two cyclones have hit Australia at one time. Tropical cyclone Marcia is a category five storm and it made the landfall at central Queensland and left a trail of destruction over Yeppoon and Rockhampton. On the other hand Cyclone Lam is a category four storm which made landfall in the Northern Territory.

PM Modi flags off Arunachal-Delhi train

Prime Minister Narendra Modi  flagged off the first express train from Naharlagun in Arunachal Pradesh to New Delhi on the occasion of the 29th Statehood Day function of Arunachal Pradesh. Naharlagun is situated 10 km from Itanagar, the capital of Arunachal Pradesh. This weekly train (Train No. 22411 Naharlagun-New Delhi AC Express) will cover the 2142 km in about 38 hours.

Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi resign

Nitish Kumar will return as chief minister of Bihar for a fourth time on Sunday. Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi invited the Janata Dal (United) leader to take over hours after Jitan Ram Manjhi submitted his resignation as chief minister without taking the trust vote on Friday. Jitan Ram Manjhi was 23rd CM of Bihar, elected in May 2014 by the Janata Dal (United) Party legislators.

Viswanathan Anand loses to Hikaru Nakamura at last hurdle, finishes 2nd in Zurich

Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand went down to Hikaru Nakamura of United States in the Armageddon game and had to be content with a second place finish in the Zurich Chess Classic that concluded on Friday. A sudden change in rules during the final stages of rapid competition paved the way for a final game even though it was not stipulated in the initial regulations. For Nakamura, it was the second big win in the year after he had won the just-concluded Gibraltar Masters.