1) Odisha to have first automatic coastal warning for disasters in India
•Odisha is the first State in India to have developed an automatic public address system that can be activated along its entire coast.
•The State government is all set to commission the ambitious Early Warning Dissemination System (EWDS) that would enable loud sirens go off simultaneously from towers at 122 locations by July 2017.
•Odisha can now warn the vast population residing along its 480 km-long coast by pressing a single button from a control room in the State capital in the event of the occurrence of natural disasters like a tsunami or a cyclone.
2) Shashi Shekar Vempati is new Prasar Bharati CEO
•Shashi Shekar Vempati has been appointed as the CEO of Prasar Bharati on the recommendation of the three-member committee headed by the Vice-President, and consisting of the Chairman, Press Council of India, and the President’s nominee.
•Vempati has been a part-time member of the Prasar Bharati board since February 2016. He will replace Rajeev Singh, who has been serving as interim CEO since February 2017. Shashi Shekar Vempati will be the first non-Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer to head the public broadcaster.
3) Leo Varadkar to be next Ireland PM
•Indian-Origin Leo Varadkar is set to become the Republic of Ireland's next Prime Minister after winning the leadership of the Fine Gael party.
•The 38-year-old will become the first gay Prime Minister and will also be the country's youngest ever leader. He will succeed Enda Kenny as leader of the centre-right party within weeks.
4) Indian-American Amul Thapar appointed as Judge in US Court of Appeals
•Amul Thapar, an Indian-American legal luminary, has been appointed a judge on the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit by President Donald Trump.
•Before his appointment to the Court of Appeals, Judge Thapar served on the District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.
5) Airtel-Telenor India merger plan gets Sebi,BSE,NSE nod
•Bharti Airtel has received approvals from the Securities & Exchange Board of India, BSE and the National Stock Exchange of India for its proposed merger with Telenor India.
•Airtel entered into an agreement with Telenor South Asia Investments in February, 2017 to buy Telenor India’s operations in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat, UP (East), UP (West) and Assam. These seven circles contribute about 35% to Airtel’s total revenue.
6) West Indies cricket team’s official name changed to WINDIES
•The cricket board for West Indies, on its 91st anniversary, has re-branded themselves as Cricket West Indies from the former West Indies Cricket board.
•The board also announced in a media release on their official website that the cricket team from now on will be officially known as ‘WINDIES.’
