1. President to confer Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2019 at Rashtrapati Bhawan

• The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind will confer the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2019 at Rashtrapati Bhawan.
• The awards will be given to 26 shortlisted awardees including one joint award for National Child Award (now renamed as Bal Shakti Puraskar) under the category of innovation, scholastic, sports, arts & culture, social service and bravery.
• A total of 783 applications were received for the Baal Shakti Puruskar this year. 2 individuals and 3 institutions will also be awarded under National Child Welfare Awards category (now renamed as BalKalyanPuraskar).

2. Aparna Kumar Becomes First Female IPS Officer To Reach South Pole

• Aparna Kumar has become the first woman IPS DIG and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) officer to successfully complete the South Pole expedition.
• Ms Kumar has successfully reached the South Pole after covering 111 kilometres of walking on the snow. She also carried equipment weighing 35 Kilograms along with her.
• She has already scaled the top six mountain peaks of the six continents of the globe.

3. Niramala Sitharaman inaugurates Tamil Nadu Defence Industrial Corridor

• Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurated the Tamil Nadu Defence Industrial Corridor, taking a step forward to boost indigenous production of defence equipment.
• Total investments worth over Rs 3,038 crore in this defence corridor were announced during the inauguration.
• The Tamil Nadu Defence Industrial Corridor — also called the Tamil Nadu Defence Production Quad as the nodal cities form a quadrilateral with one of them at the centre — includes Chennai, Hosur, Salem, Coimbatore and Tiruchirappalli as nodes.

4. India okays Aadhaar as a valid travel document for Nepal and Bhutan

• India’s Ministry of Home Affairs has approved the use of Aadhaar — the 12-digit unique identification number — as an identity proof for Indian citizens under 15 and above the age of 65 while travelling to Nepal and Bhutan
• Indian proofincluding Aadhaar.travellers will not be required to have a visa if they have a passport and valid photo identity
• For families visiting the two countries, only one adult member needs to carry the relevant travel documents, but, are required to have identity proofs.

5. CIA officer who inspired Oscar-winning film Argo dies, aged 78

• A former CIA technical operations officer who helped rescue six US diplomats from Iran in 1980 and was portrayed by Ben Affleck in the film Argo has died at the age of 78.
• He had suffered from Parkinson’s disease, according to the statement.
• Specialising in covert operations, Mendez helped devise the plan under which six diplomats who were in hiding were disguised as a Canadian film crew so they could board a flight and escape the country amid the Iran hostage crisis.

6. Khelo India Youth Games: Maharashtra finish top with 228 medals

• The Khelo India Youth Games concluded in Punewith the hosts Maharashtra walking away with the overall trophy.
• They amassed 228 medals,comprising 85 gold, 62 silver and 81 bronze. Haryana,were second with 62 gold, 56 silver and 60 bronze for a total of 178 medals, while Delhi were third with 48 gold, 37 silver and 51 bronze for a total of 136 medals.
• The glittering Trophy was presented to the Maharashtra sportspersons and officials by Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Prakash Javadekar, andMaharashtra's Minister of Sports and Youth Welfare, Vinod Tawde,at a closing ceremony held at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex.

7. Microsoft launches e-comm platform for handloom weavers

• Microsoft India has launched a new e-commerce platform re-weave.in for handloom weavers under its Project ReWeave, part of its philanthropic initiatives.
• This e-commerce platform will help connect artisans to buyers directly, enabling them to expand to newer customers and markets.
• The new e-commerce website hosts signature collections created by weaver communities and showcases traditional designs and products created from natural dyes.