The tamil novelist, who won Sahitya Akademi Award in 1997 for the novel "Saaivu Naarkkali" (The Reclining Chair) passed away recently is;

American military veteran and novelist, William E. Butterworth III, better known as W.E.B. Griffin passed away at the age of 89. He joined the army at the age of 17 and has served in the Korean War. He wrote more than 200 books under the pen name W.E.B. Griffin and various other names and sold millions of copies. His most popular series include "Badge of Honor", "Clandestine Operations" and "Presidential Agent".

Odia singer Chitta Jena died with the illness in Cuttack, Odisha. Chitta Jena was 76 years old. He was popular for his versatility and talent. He made his debut as a playback singer in 1974 in the movie Mana Akasha. He awarded Prafulla Kar Samman for his remarkable achievement in the field of music.

Father of modern legal education in India, NR Madhava Menon passed away recently. He was 84. Menon conceptualised 5-year integrated LLB course, replacing the earlier 3-year course.

Ajoy Mehta (1984-batch I.A.S- Indian Administrative Officer), the municipal commissioner of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) also known as Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai has been appointed as the new Chief Secretary (CS) of Maharashtra. He holds the distinction of being the longest-serving BMC commissioner.

The Union Cabinet approved the 3 MoU's between India and Saudi Arabia. The Union Cabinet approved the MoU between India and Saudi Arabia on establishing a mechanism for Investment Infrastructure in India. The MoU provides for engaging with the institutions of Saudi Arabia to attract potential investment into the infrastructure sector of India. The aim is to boost the infrastructure development in India, creating more jobs, growing ancillary industries and finally lead to the growth in GDP and overall economic prosperity.

The Union Cabinet has approved the Gaganyaan project under which a three-member crew will be sent to space for at least seven days, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad stated. The project will cost INR 10,000 crore. The Gaganyaan project was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech. He had stated that the mission will be undertaken by 2022. India has already inked agreements with Russia and France for assistance in the ambitious project.

India and the European Union made a decision to mutually invest up to 40 Million Euros on 7 Research and Innovation projects to tackle and handle immediate water challenges in the country. The projects which are selected will develop or adapt the most acceptable existing creative and affordable solutions for Indian conditions, both in rural and urban areas, to facilitate solutions to cope up with water challenges. 'Horizon 2020', EU's programme and Indian government will invest together on projects for average duration of 4 years. The main prime areas of the projects are to improve the quality of drinking water, wastewater management system and real-time monitoring and control systems. The project will brace India's Ganga rejuvenation initiative, transfer of European technologies to India to suit Indian needs.

US scientists have unveiled the world's most powerful and smartest scientific supercomputer named "Summit" that can complete over 200,000 trillion calculations per second. This supercomputer called Summit will be eight times more powerful than its previous top-ranked system, Titan.

Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) introduced two new award categories,off Women's goalkeeper of the year and a women's team of the year, to promote women's football across the globe. These additions means and both men and women will be up for receiving accolades in the same categories at the FIFA Best ceremony 2019 in Milan. The Best FIFA Football Awards 2019 ceremony will take place on 23 September 2019 at Teatro alla Scala, Milan, Italy.