The banned Punjabi poem ‘Khooni Vaisakhi’ on the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre which was written by Punjabi writer Nanak Singh in 1919, will be published next month by Harper Collins in English. The poem was presented at Jallianwala Bagh on 13th April, 1919 by Nanak Singh also known as ‘Father of Punjabi Novels’ But this poem was banned by the British after its publication in 1920 as this poem was a blasting critique of the British. After so many years, this poem was rediscovered and was translated to English by Navdeep Suri. To mark the centenary of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, this poem will be published by Harper Collins.

The chief minister also released Rs 15,000 each to 11,122 women self-help groups as seed money, Rs 25 lakh each to 14 block-level Mahasanghs, Rs 3000 each to 9836 SHGs as digital empowerment assistance under the ongoing Mission Shakti programme.

Arthur van Doren, 24, won the Male Player of the Year award for the second year in a row. He was one of four Belgian winners in the FIH Hockey Stars Awards for 2018.Last year, van Doren won both the Player and Rising Star of the Year Awards.

Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi laid foundation stone of Road Project worth Rs 500 crore funded by Central Road Fund in Yavatmal, Maharashtra.The project includes 10 road construction projects under which 176 km of roads will be constructed in Yavatmal at a cost of Rs. 456 crore.

US Space Agency NASA has unveiled a new space telescope,SPHEREx, that would begin a two-year mission in 2023 to look for life’s ingredients and probe how the universe evolved.

World Sustainable Development Summit 2019,the flagship event of “The Energy and Resource Institute(TERI)”, was inaugurated by Vice President Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu at New Delhi.The theme was “Attaining the 2030 Agenda:delivering on our promise”.

Lance Naik Nazir Ahmad Wani has been posthumously awarded ‘Ashok Chakra’, India’s highest peace time gallantry award for his role in a counter-insurgency operation in Kashmir in 2018.

‘This is America’ music video won Grammy Awards 2019 under Best Music Video category.

In Tennis, France’s Corentin Moutet has clinched the Chennai Open ATP Challenger tournament title after beating Andrew Harris of Australia in the singles final. It was the second Challenger title for Moutet.

The poem ‘Khooni Vaisakhi’ was written by acclaimed Punjabi writer Nanak Singh on the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, which was banned by the British after its publication in 1920. The poem was a scathing critique of the British Raj. Singh was present at Jallianwala Bagh on April 13, 1919. He was 22 years old at the time. As the British troops opened fire on the unarmed gathering protesting against the Rowlatt Act, killing hundreds, Singh fainted and his unconscious body was piled up among the corpses. After going through the traumatic experience, he proceeded to write “Khooni Vaisakhi”, a long poem that narrates the political events in the run-up to the massacre and its immediate aftermath. Its manuscript was subsequently lost. After long years, the poem has been rediscovered and now translated into English by the author’s grandson and diplomat, Navdeep Suri. It will be published by HarperCollins India next month to mark the centenary of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Nanak Singh (1897-1971) is widely regarded as the father of the Punjabi novel. With little formal education beyond the fourth grade, he wrote an astounding 59 books and received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1962.

Flight Lieutenant Hina Jaiswal from Chandigarh has scripted history by becoming the first woman to be inducted as a flight engineer in the Indian Air Force (IAF) in Bengaluru. In a field dominated by men, Flt Lt Hina successfully completed the course at the 112 Helicopter Unit, Air Force Station, Yelahanka. She will now be posted to a helicopter squadron where she will monitor and operate IAF’s complex aircraft in various conditions, right from Siachen Glacier to Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Meghalaya’s state animal – Clouded Leopard will be the official mascot for the 39th National Games 2022, which is coinciding with the 50th year of the creation of the state. This decision was taken at the first National Games 2022 executive committee meeting chaired by Meghalaya Sports and Youth Affairs Minister . Meghalaya will be the third northeastern state after Manipur and Assam hosted the National Games in 1999 and 2007, respectively. It had co-hosted the 2016 South Asian Games with its neighbouring state Assam. An estimated 14,450 athletes and officials are expected to visit Meghalaya during the 2022 National Games. Clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) is one of the wild cats that live throughout the forests of Garo, Khasi and Jaintia Hills. Since 2008, it is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

Professor Faizel Ismail, an Indian-origin global negotiator, has been appointed as the director of a renowned academic institution in South Africa. He will take charge as the director of the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance from Professor Alan Hirsch in July 2019. Ismail is known for his role in negotiating major agreements for South Africa, including with the Southern African Customs Union as well as the Trade and Development Agreement with the European Union. He chaired the International Trade and Administration Commission from 2015 to 2018, and was reappointed for a five-year term till 2023. Ismail, a professor at the UCT’s School of Economics, has in the past served as an ambassador to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and a senior advisor to the Minister of Trade and Industry.

The Union Cabinet has approved the introduction of Registration of Marriage of Non-Resident Indian Bill, 2019 to create more accountability and offer protection against the exploitation of Indian citizens, mostly Indian women by their NRI partners. Under the bill’s provisions, a marriage between an NRI and an Indian citizen will have to be registered in India or Indian missions and posts abroad within 30 days from the date of marriage.

Indian historian Sanjay Subrahmanyam on February 10, 2019 won the prestigious Dan David Prize 2019 for his work on inter-cultural encounters between Asians, Europeans and people of North and South America during the early modern era. He won the Israel’s prestigious USD 1 million dollar award in the category of ”Past Time Dimension” for his work in macro history.

Indian army demonstrated its artillery firepower, aviation and surveillance capacity at the annual ‘Exercise Topchi’ at Deolali Camp near Nashik.The latest ultra-light Howitzer M-777, self-propelled gun K-9 Vajra and indigenous Swathi weapon-locating radar was demonstrated.The aviation assets showcased were the indigenous advanced light helicopter, light combat helicopter, Cheetah & Chetak helicopters.

SN Ghormade was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 01 Jan 1984. He is a graduate of National Defence Academy (NDA), Khadakwasla, Pune, United States Naval Staff College at Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island and the Naval War College, Mumbai. His operational appointments include commands of the Guided Missile Frigate INS Brahmaputra, Submarine Rescue Vessel INS Nireekshak and Minesweeper INS Allepey and second in command Guided Missile Frigate INS Ganga

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has penalised various banks for not complying with various norms of RBI. HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Band and IDBI Bank were fined Rs 2 million each for non-compliance with respect to Know Your Customer (KYC) norms and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) standards.Allahabad Bank, Andhra Bank, Indian Overseas bank and Bank of Maharashtra were penalised for not following directions set by RBI on monitoring end use of funds, exchange of information with other banks, classification and reporting of frauds and restructuring of accounts. The penalty was Rs 10 million for Andhra Bank and Rs 15 million each for others.Bank of Baroda and Union Bank of India has imposed a penalty of Rs 1 crore each for violating various banking norms.

Annual Youth Conclave of Confederation of Real Estate Developers Associations of India (CREDAI), CREDAI YouthCon 2019 was held at the Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi. It was the 3rd edition of the YouthCon.Theme: NexGen – Next GenerationGautam Chatterjee, Maharashtra RERA Chief, said that the main objective of RERA (Real Estate Regulatory Authority) is transparency with other objectives being projects to help builders overcome difficulties and improve trust between builders and buyers.

PM Modi chaired Union Cabinet approved extension of tenure of the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK) beyond 31st March 2019 for 3 years.The tenure of the present commission is upto March 31, 2019.Safai Karamcharis and persons engaged in manual scavenging in the country will be the major beneficiaries of the proposal. NCSK was established in 1993 as per the provisions of the NCSK Act 1993 initially for a period upto March 31, 1997.

CBDT Chairman Sushil Chandra was appointed the new Election Commissioner ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, making the poll panel a three-member entity again.

Union Minister of Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal commissioned Godavari Mega Aqua Food Park in Tundurru Village in Bhimavaram Mandal, West Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh through video conferencing.

The Union Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) has recently signed a letter of intent with the Norwegian government to launch the India-Norway Marine Pollution Initiative.

The unorganized sector workers, with income of less than Rs 15,000 per month and who belong to the entry age group of 18-40 years, will be eligible for the scheme.

Minister of State (IC) for AYUSH, Shri Shripad Yesso Naik launched the e-AUSHADHI portal, for online licensing of Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathy drugs and related matters today at New Delhi. Addressing the gathering Shri Naik said that this e-AUSHADHI portal is intended for increased transparency, improved information management facility, improved data usability and increased accountability. The Minister informed that timelines will be fixed for processing of application through this portal with SMS and e-mail status updates at each step of the process. He said that such an initiative of the Ministry of AYUSH is a reflection of our Government’s commitment towards e-governance, ease of doing business and Make in India.