22 March 2015: Rajendra Singh conferred Stockholm Water Prize; Proud moment for India

Ø  A Chinese airline on Saturday completed the country’s first commercial flight using bio-fuel, made from waste cooking oil, as the government seeks to promote greater environmental sustainability. A Hainan Airlines flight from commercial hub Shanghai to Beijing used bio-fuel supplied by China National Aviation Fuel company and energy giant Sinopec, according to a statement from US aircraft giant Boeing. The world's first flight powered entirely by bio-fuel took place in 2012 when a plane took off from the Canadian capital Ottawa, but several commercial aircraft have used bio-fuels mixed with traditional petroleum-based jet fuel. Boeing announced it would co-operate with the Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China to develop aviation bio-fuel. It has a similar project with a research institute under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. China is a key market for Boeing, which estimates the country will need 6,020 planes worth $870 billion through 2033.

Ø  Eminent environment activist Rajendra Singh, has been conferred the prestigious Stockholm Water Prize this year for his innovative water restoration efforts and extraordinary courage to empower communities in Indian villages. Mr Singh, who is widely popular as the ‘Water Man’, was named the 2015 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate for improving water security in rural India, and for showing extraordinary courage and determination in his quest to improve the living conditions for those most in need. Born in 1959, Rajasthan-based Singh for several decades have dedicated himself to defeating drought and empowering communities. Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf, Patron of the Stockholm Water Prize, will present the prize to Mr Singh at a Royal Award Ceremony during 2015 World Water Week here on August 26, it added. He has already won Ramon Magsaysay award in 2001 for his work on community-based water harvesting and water management.The Stockholm Water Prize is a global award founded in 1991 and presented annually by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) to an individual, organisation or institution for outstanding water-related achievements. The Stockholm Water Prize Laureate receives USD 150,000 and a specially designed sculpture.

Ø  Katharine Viner will be the next editor-in-chief ofThe Guardian . She will be the first woman to run the paper and the 12th editor of the publication that was founded in 1882. Ms. Viner’s appointment by the Scott Trust, which owns TheGuardian , was greeted warmly by her colleagues and peers. She takes over from Alan Rusbridger, who will take over as Chair of the Scott Trust .

Ø  The Foreign Ministers of South Korea, China and Japan pledged to set up a trilateral leadership summit at “the earliest” opportunity as they met in Seoul on Saturday for the first time in nearly three years. The talks were an effort to calm regional tensions stoked by territorial disputes and historical rows with roots in Japan’s colonisation of the Korean peninsula and occupation of parts of China before and during World War II. They also declared their “firm opposition” to the development of nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula — a clear reference to North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.