I want to extend my sympathy and sincere condolences to the family of Martin McGuinness at this difficult time.

Martin’s personal journey and the clear influence he had on others in the Republican movement were instrumental in shaping political institutions in Northern Ireland founded on exclusively peaceful and democratic means.

While not forgetting the past, no-one can doubt the essential role he played in helping to secure the power sharing arrangements and political progress in Northern Ireland. Martin’s commitment to reconciliation and understanding across communities was a significant factor.

Whilst passionate and robust in his politics, on a personal level I always found Martin to be thoughtful and reflective and appreciated the personal consideration he showed. The importance of family and his home in Derry shone through.

Martin will be remembered for his contribution to politics in Northern Ireland and particularly during his near ten years as deputy First Minister.

The Fifth ‘RashtriyaSanskritiMahotsav (RSM) – 2017’ is being organized in North Eastern Region of India by Ministry of Culture from 23rd to 31st March, 2017.

The international crude oil price of Indian Basket as computed/published today by Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas was US$ 50.39 per barrel (bbl) on 20.03.2017

A total of 100 pre-school children recently took part in an educational robot contest in Shanghai,with the youngest contestant only 4 years old, according to Shanghai-based newspapers.

More than 1,000 contestants, usually in teams of two or three, competed in the educational robotsmatch. Their ages ranged from 4 to 18 years old, with 100 of them being pre-school children. Clad in uniformed yellow vests, they were seen piecing their robots together or working on computers to do programming to get the robots going.

Yu Shengming, 4, is one of the contestants. He worked with 6-year-old Yi Yang. They had to assemble a machinery vehicle using plastics and metal parts, and afterwards did some programming to get the vehicle along a designated route to hit ping pong balls and then come back. The two accomplished the task easily.

Another kindergarten child, Dai Kuncheng, told the Shanghai Morning Post that he hasn’t learned writing yet but has already learned something about programming and can recognize programming-related and video game-related characters, touting jargon like “main program” and “reference variables.”

The newspaper quoted a judge surnamed Zhang who said such contests used to attract children from 10 to 15 years old, but now an increasing number of younger kids are taking part. A report last year revealed there are about 7,600 robotics educational firms in China, a 15-fold increase over the past five years. Some companies, like Lego, charge nearly 10,000 yuan (about US$1450) per yearfor training and more than 100,000 yuan for the entire learning process.

The newspaper quoted some educators who argued against pre-school children learning programming as they believe young children shouldn’t focus too much on intellectual training, and that long exposure to computers will hurt their eyes. But some educators argue that as times have changed, their interestschange too.

Passengers aboard an Ethiopian Airlines jetliner on Saturday helped subdue a man attempting to break into the cockpit as the aircraft flew to Beijing from Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia.

Aviation Industry Corp of China said on Monday that one of its employees, Cao Hongguo, who was a passenger on board Flight ET604, was the first to restrain the suspect, according to a news release and a video interview of Cao sent to China Daily by the State-owned aviation giant.

More than 200 passengers on the flight have returned safely to Beijing, though they were delayed for several hours as the Boeing 777 had to make a stop at the Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore, Pakistan. The man was transferred to police at the airport.

Ethiopian Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.

Cao, 37, is a senior project manager at AVIC-INTL Project Engineering Co, a subsidiary of AVIC, who oversees a water supply project in Karimenu, Kenya. He was returning to his home in Henan province to take care of his pregnant wife.

Cao said that about five hours into the flight, one of the crew members rushed into the economy class cabin and called for help. Cao followed the stewardess to the first class cabin and saw a strongly built man fiercely hitting the cockpit door, according to the news release from AVIC.

Cao tried to restrain the man, who struggled against him. Two other passengers and four stewardesses then jumped in to help.

The struggle lasted about 20 minutes with the alleged attacker ending up being tied up using headphone wires, Cao said in the video interview.

The video shows Cao with slight facial injuries.

“I don’t think it’s a big deal that should be taken as the action of a ‘hero’. I didn’t think about it at the time. I just took action when I heard someone calling for help,” he said.

Kenneth Pellegrino, captain of the ET604, attached a handwritten letter to the news release from AVIC certifying Cao’s actions, saying “he was instrumental” in helping handle the incident.