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17 Agreements signed between India and France during PM Narendra Modi’s visit

India and France signed 17 agreements in various fields during Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi’s visit to France. They were signed in presence of Indian PM and his counterpart French President Francois Hollande after they had held wide-ranging talks in Paris.

Some of key agreements signed are

MoU between Larsen and Tubro and AREVA- It aims at improve the financial viability of the Jaitapur Nuclear plant project by reducing cost by increasing localization. It will also enable France to transfer of technology to India for development of indigenous nuclear energy industry in India.

Pre-engineering agreements (PEA) between NPCIL and Areva- It intends to bring clarity on all technical aspects of the plant. It will help all parties including AREVA, Alstom and NPCIL to fix their price and optimise all provisions for risks (still included at this stage) in the costs of the project.

MoU between CNES and ISRO on Megha Tropiques satellite- It extends MoU for two more years of joint project for sharing and use of data from the satellite. The satellite was launched in October 2011 on board of Indian launch vehicle PSLV.

MOU between ISRO, CNES and ONERA- It proposes cooperation in the areas of satellite remote sensing, satellite communications and satellite meteorology and others field.

MoU between Union Sports Ministry and French Ministry of Sports- It envisages cooperation and exchange of experiences in the fields of sports medicine and institutional cooperation.

Railway protocol between Union Railways Ministry and French National Railways (SNCF)- It seeks to establish cooperation between Indian and French Railways for semi-high speed rail and station renovation.

Other agreements signed between both nations in the fields of economy, energy, culture, tourism, conservation, Ayurveda, skill development and science and technology. Note- NPCIL (Nuclear Power Corporation of India), CNES (French National Centre for Space Studies), ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation).

Jitu Rai wins bronze at ISSF World Cup

Ace Indian shooter Jitu Rai on 12 April 2015 won a bronze medal in the 10m air pistol event at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup in Changwon, South Korea. Rai won the bronze medal after he scored 181.1 points in the final and had missed out for the gold medal shoot-out by 0.4 points. In 10m air pistol event, Jin Jongoh of South Korea won gold medal with a score of 206.0 in the gold medal shoot-out. Naung Ye Tun of Myanmar won silver medal with score of 201.0. Earlier, Apurvi Chandela had won bronze in the 10-metre air rifle event in the same tournament and became second Indian shooter after Jitu Rai to qualify for 2016 Rio Olympic Games. Jitu Rai after winning won silver in the 50m Free Pistol event in 2014 at the World Championships in Granada, Spain had qualified for the 2016 Olympics.

Lewis Hamilton wins Chinese Grand Prix of Formula One

Mercedes Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton from Britain won Chinese Grand Prix of Formula One on the Shanghai International Circuit in China. This was his second win of the season and his fourth Chinese Grand Prix win. It was also Lewis Hamilton’s overall 35th Grand Prix win. In Chinese Grand Prix, Hamilton was followed by teammate Nico Rosberg at second place. Other rankings Ferrari drivers Sebastian Vettel (Germany) and Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) took third and fourth places respectively. Williams drivers Felipe Massa (Brazil) and Valtteri Bottas (Finland) took fifth and sixth places. Romain Grosjean (France) of Lotus Team and Felipe Nasr (Brazil) of Sauber team took seventh and eight position. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) of Red Bull Team was placed at ninth position. Marcus Ericsson (Swedan) of Sauber Team finished at tenth position.

Asteroid 316201 named after Malala Yousafzai

Asteroid 316201 was named as ‘316201 Malala’ after the youngest Nobel laureate and girls’ education campaigner Malala Yousafzai. The asteroid was named after her by Amy Mainzer, astronomer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, United States under the International Astronomical Union rules. In 2010, Mr. Mainzer had discovered the asteroid which was known as 316201. As a discoverer of the asteroid he had owned the rights to name it. Asteroid 316201 Malala is located in the Main Belt between Mars and Jupiter. It orbits around the Sun every 5.5 years and is more-than 2 mile wide. Malala Yousafzai was born on 12 July 1997 in Mingora city in Swat province of Pakistan. At the age of 11 she had caught international attention as female education activist after writing for the BBC about life under the Taliban in Pakistan under pseudonym Gul Makai. In 2012, Malala had survived an assassination attempt after she was shot in the head Taliban gunmen.