1.Andhra Pradesh Vijayawada Airport becomes International Airpor.

Unified Andhra Pradesh`s international airport in Hyderabad was transferred to Telangana after bifucration.

The union cabinet on 04-05-2017 has announced that international status for Vijayawada airport in Andhra Pradesh. This is as per provisions of Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, Union minister Arun Jaitley said at a media briefing.

The act bifurcated the state into Telangana and residual Andhra Pradesh. As a result, the capital Hyderabad as well as the states lone international airport situated in the city were transferred to the new state of Telangana.

The decision is in keeping with "passenger traffic growth and demands from airlines and Andhra Pradesh government," an official statement said.

The government hopes that the international tag for the airport at Gannavaram near Vijayawada will help improve connectivity to Andhra Pradesh and attract more domestic and international tourists.

"Airports Authority of India has undertaken upgrade of requisite infrastructure  and facilities for international operations," the statement added. Earlier this year, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu inaugurated the new transit terminal building at the airport.

 1. India Mobile Congress (IMC 2017) to be held in September.

India Mobile Congress 2017 (IMC 2017) is scheduled to be held as a three day event from 27th to 29th September 2017 in New Delhi. 

This was announced by the Union Minister for Communications Manoj Sinha. This is the first time India is all set to host its own mobile mega show. 

The Indian telecom market is the second-largest in the world after China. India has a total subscriber base of over 1.18 billion subscribers.

2. Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar for Satyabrata Rout.

Satyabrata Rout has been awarded Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar for the year 2016. He is a professor from the Department of Theatre Arts, S N School of Arts and Communication, University of Hyderabad (UoH).

 He has been awarded for developing a unique method of teaching and practicing direction and design achieved from his experience working with eminent theatre practitioners and scholars. Satyabrata Rout is considered as one of the pioneers  of ‘visual theatre’ in India. 

He has a rich experience of directing a number of plays, participating in national and international theatre festivals and conducting a numerous theatre workshops across the globe. The Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar (Akademi Award) is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi. 

The award is the highest Indian recognition given to practicing artists. The award includes a purse of Rs 50000, besides a Tamrapatra and Angavastram. The awards are being presented in the categories of music, dance, theatre, other traditional arts and puppetry.

3. India to Organise Cultural Festival in Egypt to mark Tagore’s 156th Birth Anniversary.

India will organise Tagore cultural  Festival in Egypt to mark the 156th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore from May 8-12. 

Tagore Festival will be organised by the Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture (MACIC), which is the cultural wing of the Indian Embassy in Cairo. The fest will be organised in cooperation with the Egyptian Ministry of Culture, Cairo Opera House, Cultural Production Sector, Dancers’ Guild and the Indian Community Association in Egypt. 

The festival will feature a dance show, film screening, a play and painting competition.  As a part of the festival, a dance drama based on Tagore’s work called ‘Chitrangada‘ will be performed by the Kolkata-based Dancers’ Guild. Chitrangada is the warrior princess in the epic, Mahabharata.

1. International Conference on Dara Shikoh to be held.

The international conference on “Dara Shikoh: Reclaiming Spiritual Legacy of India” will be held on April 27 and 28. 

The conference will be organised by the Indian Council Of Cultural Relations (ICCR). The conference will see the participation of eminent scholars from the US, Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and India. 

The objective of the conference is to highlight Dara Shikoh’s contributions to bring about spiritual homogenisation of Hinduism and Islam and his initiatives in building a cohesive social and cultural edifice in India.