Indian and Japanese space agencies recently reviewed cooperation in earth observation, lunar cooperation and satellite navigation, and also agreed to explore opportunities for cooperation in “space situational awareness and professional exchange programme”. Space collaboration: This was agreed during a bilateral meeting between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Japan …

Recently, India has been classified as an “electoral autocracy” in the annual report named Autocratisation Goes Viral of Sweden-based Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Institute. This report comes just after the US watchdog Freedom House downgraded India’s status to “partly free” in its ‘Freedom in the World 2021’ report. About V-Dem: The V-Dem Institute, an independent research organisation founded in 2014 …

In a written reply in Rajya Sabha, the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment stated that a Development and Welfare Board for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Communities (DWBDNCs) was constituted for development and welfare of Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Communities in 2019. The welfare board was constituted for a period of three years …

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has amended licensing conditions for telecom companies. The new norms will be implemented from 15th June 2021. In March 2021, the Union Cabinet approved the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for the telecom sector to reduce imports and move towards self-reliance. New Licensing Conditions: To include defence and national security as parameters when purchasing ‘trusted telecom products’ and sourcing equipment from ‘trusted …

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully carried out a flight demonstration based on Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet (SFDR) technology from Integrated Test Range Chandipur off the coast of Odisha at around 1030 hrs on March 05, 2021. All the subsystems, including the booster motor and nozzle-less motor, performed as …

India and Norway have agreed to jointly work in the area of marine spatial planning in the oceanic space for the next five years. In this regard, the first project steering committee meeting with representatives from both the countries was successfully conducted virtually recently, after which the two countries have …

According to the National Weather Forecasting Centre of the India Meteorological Department (IMD): Seasonal Outlook for the Temperatures during March to May, 2021 Highlights During the upcoming hot weather season (March to May), above normal seasonal maximum temperatures are likely over most of the subdivisions of north, northwest and northeast …

An environmental regulator can work only if governments see the value of nature. The Supreme Court’s notice to the Centre government on a public interest litigation (PIL) plea to set up a national environmental regulator under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. To Oversee And Give Directions Related Environmental Clearances For Projects and …

About: IN LESS than six weeks since Finance Minister announced major financial sector reforms in the Budget for 2021-22, the Union Cabinet has approved a proposal to amend the Insurance Act, 1938, paving the way for increasing the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in the sector to 74% from 49%. A Bill …

About: The scheduling of the first-ever Quad leaders’ summit-level meeting within 50 days of the Biden administration signified the importance the administration places on the Indo-Pacific, the White House said recently. President Biden has made this one of his earliest multilateral engagements speaks to the importance we place on close cooperation with our allies …