Black smoke rises from the chimney on the Sistine Chapel indicating no decision has been made after the first voting session on the second day of the election of a new pope, at the Vatican

It has been decided by the Government of India and the RBI to introduce one billion pieces of Rs. 10 notes in polymer/plastic on a field trial basis. The field trial will be conducted in five cities viz. Kochi, Mysore, Jaipur, Bhubaneswar and Shimla with varied geographical locations and climatic conditions. The primary objective of introduction of polymer notes is to increase its life, it could also help in combating counterfeiting.

This was stated by Minister of State for Finance, Shri Namo Marian Meena in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha (the Upper House) today

 15^th edition of VKS produced a lively literary event

Vichar Kala Sangam (VKS), a literary platform for the aspiring youths, completed its 15^th episode with the commingling of literary dialogue, recitation of poems and songs by literary and art aspirants. The programme was chaired by Arjun Piyush (Senior Journalist) and had the presence of Deepa Rai (noted Artist/poet) as the Chief Guest. The programme was also attended by the President of Press Club of Sikkim, Bhim Rawat and General Secretary, Joseph Lepcha.

The programme started with poetry recitation in English and by Samir Hang Limboo as he metaphorically narrated an English poem on the beauty of a lady laying stress on “Art for Art’s sake”. Dweep Mustang recited a translated English poem from Prabin Khaling’s sequence of Nepali poems. The Chief Guest of the event Deepa Rai also read an untitled Nepali poem which portrayed the dogma of women in the present society. The poetry presentation ended with the Nepali poetry recitation by Prabin Khaling entitled Jhari and others which exposed the bucolic life in the country side, quest for salvation and the mentality of our society. Menuka Pandey and Senior Journalist Neeta Nirash refreshed the crowd, the former with her songs and the latter with her recital of jokes.

This also led to an intense discussion on Language and the gradual decrease in the quality of Nepali language used in Radio, FM, Television and Media. Rupesh Sharma and Arjun Piyush (both senior journalists) stressed on the usage of proper Nepali terminology and linguistic nuances in order to protect the nature of word from getting diminished.