1) Odisha Govt Launches 'Ama Gaon, Ama Vikas' Programme
•The Odisha government has launched a programme Ama Gaon, Ama Vikas (Our Village, our development) to reach out to the people in rural areas and involve themselves in the developmental activities.
•Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has flagged off mobile video vans for ‘Ama Gaon Ama Vikas’ programme that will move across the State to highlight various welfare schemes at villages in the state.
2) US defers termination of H4 visas till June
•US Administration has deferred termination of work authorisation for H4 visa holders till June from the earlier target of February 2018. H-4 visa holders are spouses of H1-B visa holders and received work authorization in 2015 during the Obama administration. It is mostly Indian and Chinese women who benefit from this.
•The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in a court filing on February 28 said that it was reviewing the economic impact of terminating work authorization for H4 visa holders and has postponed the decision on terminating the permit till June.
3) India, Vietnam vow to work together for open & prosperous Indo- Pacific region
•Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said India and Vietnam will work together for an open and prosperous Indo-pacific region where sovereignty and international law are respected and disputes are resolved through dialogue.
•After holding delegation-level talks with President of Vietnam Tran Dai Quang in New Delhi on Saturday, Mr Modi said, both countries will work for strengthening defence, maritime and energy cooperation.
•He said, Vietnam has played important role under the Act East policy and bi-lateral trade between the two nations has grown from six billion dollars to 10 billion dollars despite global slowdown.
4) ISFF World Cup: Indian shooter Shahzar Rizvi clinches gold; Jitu Rai bags bronze in ten metre Air Pistol mens final
•Indian shooter Shahzar Rizvi clinched gold with a world record score while Jitu Rai grabbed bronze in 10m air pistol men's final in the ISSF World Cup at Guadalajara in Mexico on Saturday.
•Striking a score of 242.3, Meerut-based Shahzar made sure that he gave India a taste of gold and kept his cool to achieve his target.
•Earlier, three Indian shooters Shahzar, Jitu and Om Prakash Mitharval had made it to the final round of the competition.
•Mehuli Ghosh added another medal to India's tally as she shot world junior record 228.4 points to win bronze medal in the women's 10m air rifle event.
•A total of 404 athletes from 50 National Olympic Committees are participating in the in the 12-day competition, which will have 15 medal events including three mixed team events. India has fielded a 33-member squad.
