US President Barack Obama’s 3-day visit to India

US President Barack Obama arrived in India on Sunday morning on a three-day state visit during which he will attend the Republic Day parade as chief guest and also hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He is first American President to be Chief Guest of India’s Republic Day celebrations 2015 as well as he became the first sitting U.S. president to visit India twice.

Pooja Thakur- first woman officer to lead guard of honour at Rashtrapati Bhavan

Wing Commander Pooja Thakur has become the first woman officer to lead the ceremonial Guard of Honour at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Wing Commander Pooja Thakur belongs to the administrative branch of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and is currently posted at ‘Disha’, the publicity cell under the Directorate of Personnel Officers at the Air Force Headquarters.

India, U.S. sign three Memoranda of Understandings (MoUs) on smart cities

The U.S. has agreed to partner with Indian in developing three smart cities in Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh), Ajmer (Rajasthan), and Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh). Three MoUs were signed by the representatives of United States Trade and Development Agency and the respective Chief Secretaries of State Governments.

Union Government announced 104 Padma awards

Nine personalities were named for Padma Vibhushan, which is country’s second highest civilian award after Bharat Ratna. These nine Padma Vibhushan awardees include BJP patriarch Lal Krishna Advani, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, senior advocate K.K. Venugopal, nuclear scientist M.R. Srinivasan, philanthropist Veerendra Heggade, Sanskrit scholar Swami Rambhadracharya, actors Amitabh Bachchan and Dilip Kumar and Karim Al Hussaini Aga Khan (the spiritual leader of the world’s Ismaili Muslims). 20 Padma Bhushan and 74 Padma Shri awards were also announced. Among the 20 names to be awarded the Padma Bhushan are senior advocate Harish Salve, journalists Swapan Dasgupta, Rajat Sharma, former Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his wife Melinda Gates, constitutional expert Subhash Kashyap and Carnatic vocalist Sudha Raghunathan.

Saina Nehwal beats Carolina Marin to retain Syed Modi Grand Prix title

World number three Saina Nehwal staged a scintillating comeback to defeat reigning world champion Carolina Marin of Spain and retain the women’s singles title by score of 19-21, 25-23, 21-16 held at Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. With the gruelling win, Saina maintained her 100 per cent win record against Carolina in three career meetings.

Parupalli Kashyap Wins Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold Title 2015

India’s Parupalli Kashyap has won $120,000 Syed Modi India Grand Prix Gold badminton title 2015. In the final match he defeated Kidambi Srikanth to win the men’s singles title held at the Babu Banarasi Das Indoor Stadium, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Kashyap won the final match by score of 23-21, 23-21.