By: D.K Chaudhary
1. Conrad Sangma Takes Oath as New CM of Meghalaya
i. National People’s Party President Conrad Sangma takes oath as the Chief Minister of Meghalaya.
ii. Meghalaya threw up a fractured mandate recently. The Congress, which has been in power in the state for the last 10 years, has won 21 seats.
- Conrad Sangma is currently Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Tura Parliamentary constituency.
- Mr Sangma was the state’s youngest Finance Minister in 2008.
- Meghalaya Capital- Shillong, Governor- Ganga Prasad.
2. Smriti Irani Inaugurated FICCI Frames 2018 in Mumbai
i. The Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting and Textiles, Smriti Zubin Irani inaugurated the FICCI Frames 2018, in Mumbai. She has also released the FICCI-EY Media & Entertainment Report 2018 named ‘Re-imagining India’s M&E Sector’.
ii. As per the report, the Indian M&E sector hit Rs 1.5 trillion ($22.7 billion) in 2017, growth of around 13% over 2016. With its current trajectory, it is expected to cross Rs 2 trillion ($31 billion) by 2020, at a CAGR of 11.6%.
- FICCI stands for Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
- President of FICCI- Rashesh Shah.
3. International Yoga Festival Held in Rishikesh
i. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat inaugurated the week-long 29th annual, world-famous International Yoga Festival (IYF) in Rishikesh’s Parmarth Niketan.
ii. The IYF offers daily classes from 4 a.m. until 9:30 p.m. with more than 80 revered saints, yogacharyas, presenters and experts from nearly 20 countries around the world.
4. Biplab Deb to be Tripura’s New Chief Minister
i. The Bharatiya Janata Party has named the party’ State president Biplab Kumar Deb as the chief ministerial candidate for Tripura. He will replace Manik Sarkar. Jishnu Devvarma has been named for Deputy Chief Minister.
ii. The decision was announced after the meeting of BJP Legislature Party in Agartala. The swearing-in ceremony is likely to be held on March 8.
- Tripura Capital- Agartala, Governor- Tathagata Roy.
5. India’s 1st Helicopter Taxi Service Launched in Bengaluru
i. India’s first helicopter taxi service was launched in Bengaluru to fly passengers from Kempegowda International Airport to Electronic City.
ii. The service is expected to reduce the time taken to cover the distance from 2 hours to 15 minutes. The helicopter will seat up to six people apart from the pilot and the service will cost Rs3,500 plus GST.
