1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled three mega flagship schemes with the aim of developing cities and towns as "new engines for growth". The three projects; 100 smart cities, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Housing for All will bring in new and modern urban area with a total investment of over Rs 3 lakh crore in the next five years.
The Smart City project seeks to enhance quality of life in 100 selected cities with 24 hour water and power supply, world class transportation system, better education and recreational facilities, e-governance and environment-friendly atmosphere, among others.
2. Union Cabinet has cleared a proposal to set up National Memorial for Jai Prakash Narayan at his birthplace Bihar. The memorial is to house a virtual museum and an institute to undertake study and research on democracy, enhancing the role of panchayats in nation-building, Gandhian thoughts and centre for Khadi and constructive work.
3. State Bank of India (SBI) has appointed Anshula Kant as its chief financial officer (CFO) who has been designated as the deputy managing director and CFO of the bank. She joined SBI as a probationary officer in 1983 worked under various departments of the bank. She replaced P.K. Gupta who recently moved to SBI Capital as chief executive officer.
4. Justice Subhro Kamal Mukherjee was appointed as acting Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court by Indian President Pranab Mukherjee as per Article 223 of the Indian Constitution.
5. Sahitya Akademi has awarded prestigious ˜Bhasha Samman' to four scholars for their contribution to classical and medieval literature in various languages. The award will be given by the President of the Sahitya Akademi at a special function.
Recipients of Bhasha Samman is K Meenakshi Sundaram for her contributions to Classical and Medieval Literature (Southern) for year 2013 and Acharya Munishwar Jha for his contributions to Classical and Medieval Literature (Eastern) for year 2014.
Charu Chandra Pande and Mathuradutt Mathpal have been jointly recognized for their work towards the enrichment of Kumauni. The award carries a cash prize of 1 lakh rupees which will be equally shared between the winners.
6. Indian spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has been conferred with Colombia's highest civilian award, Orden de la Democracia Simon Bolivar en el grado de cruz Caballero for spreading the message of peace in society, reducing stress, inter-mediation in war and combating violence through yoga and breathing exercises.
He is founder of humanitarian and educational NGO called Art of Living Foundation which was established in 1981. The NGO aims to relieve individual stress, societal problems, and violence. Before that he was awarded with Paraguay's highest civilian award National Order of Merito de Comuneros (2012) and Mongolia's highest civilian award Order of the Pole Star (2006).
7. The Reserve Bank of India has extended the date to exchange pre-2005 bank notes by 6 more months till 31st December 2015. It had earlier set the deadline for public to exchange these notes as June 30, 2015.
The RBI has also urged people to deposit the old design notes in the bank accounts or exchange them at a bank branch. The Apex Bank has stated that the notes can be exchanged for their full value. It has also clarified that all such notes continue to remain legal tender.
8. Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar has been voted as the 'Best Test player' of the 21st century in an online poll conducted by Cricket Australia's website. He got the highest number of votes to secure no 1 position in the list of the 100 best Test players since 2000, in a poll conducted by the website. He was followed by Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara and Australia's Adam Gilchrist.
Tendulkar is the only Indian player to be figuring in the top-10 list along with 4 from Australia, 3 from South Africa and 2 from Sri Lanka.
