Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to receive Champion of Change award from Obama

United States (US) President Barack Obama is going to honour Microsoft’s Indian-origin CEO Satya Nadella with the ‘Champions of Change’ award. He will be honoured with this award for bringing change within his company to support working families. Apart from Nadella, 11 other persons were honoured with Champions of Change award for their exemplary leadership.

UN peace envoy to Yemen Jamal Benomar resigns

United Nation (UN) peace envoy to Yemen, Jamal Benomar has resigned, after losing support from Gulf countries for his mission in the conflict-riven nation. Benomar, a Moroccan diplomat, had been the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s special envoy for Yemen since 2012. His resignation came as the war in Yemen intensified, with the Saudi-led coalition continuing its air campaign against Houthi rebels.

World Heritage Day 2015 observed globally

World Heritage Day was observed across the world on 18 April 2015. The day is observed with an aim to create awareness among the people to conserve and protect the valuable assets and cultural heritage across the world. The first world Heritage Day was celebrated on 18 April 1982 by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) in Tunisia and was approved in 1983 by UNESCO.

Six parties from the erstwhile Janata Parivar merge; Mulayam Singh to head the new party

Six parties of Janata Parivar decided to merge and form a new party with Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav as its president. The six parties, which have come together are Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party (SP), Om Prakash Chautala’s Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), Janata Dal (Secular) led by former prime minister HD Deve Gowda and Samajwadi Janata Party (SJP).

Supreme Court appointed Vivek Priyadarshi to lead the probe on IPL scandal

Supreme Court has appointed Vivek Priyadarshi to head an investigating team to further probe the Indian Premier League (IPL) season 6 spot-fixing and betting scandals. The decision was taken by a SC bench headed by Justice TS Thakur. He succeeds BB Mishra as the head of the probing team who was retired on 31 March 2015.

International Paralympic Committee derecognises Paralympic Committee of India

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has suspended the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) for indefinite period. IPC’s this move comes after PCI had provided shoddy treatment to athletes during the National Para-Athletics Championships held in Ghaziabad. This is second time PCI has been suspended by IPC. With this suspension, Indian para-athletes will not be able to participate in any IPC- sanctioned competition, including 2016 Paralympic Games at Rio de Janeiro.

Ashish sets national youth record in hammer throw

Ashish Jakhar from Haryana set a national youth record in boys’ hammer throw event and won gold medal in the 12th National Youth Athletics Championships held in Bambolim, Goa. Ashish had hurled 5kg ball-and-chain at record distance of 72.04 metres in a second throw which made a national youth record. In his opening throw he had hurdled at a distance of 71.92 metres. With this, he broke the previous national record of 70.35 metres which was set by Haryana’s Sukhdev Singh in 2009.