Recently, the Justice Department commemorated the milestone of crossing 9 lakh beneficiaries under its Tele-Law programme through Common Service Centres. Common Services Centre (CSC) programme is an initiative of the Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY), that serves as the access points for delivery of various electronic services to villages in India, thereby contributing to …

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has issued orders appointing an advisory committee for its Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) project that is aimed at curbing “digital monopolies”. This is in the direction of making e-commerce processes open source, thus creating a platform that can be utilised by all online retailers. Earlier, the Ministry …

Recently, a separate ‘Ministry of Co-operation’ has been created by the Central Government for realizing the vision of ‘Sahkar se Samriddhi’ (Prosperity through Cooperation) and to give a new push to the cooperative movement. The Government has signaled its deep commitment to community based developmental partnership. It also fulfils the budget announcement made by the …

Recently, Ethiopia has started the second phase of filling a Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam’s (GERD) reservoir on the upper Blue Nile, which raised tensions from Sudan and Egypt ahead of an upcoming UN Security Council meeting on the issue. Ethiopia had previously announced it would proceed to the second stage of filling in July, with …

According to the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) Annual Report on Implementing the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, the plastic waste generated in 2018-19 was 3.3 million tonnes per year (roughly 9,200 tonnes per day). Important points: Plastic is a synthetic organic polymer made from petroleum with properties ideally suited for a wide variety of applications, …

The UK India Business Council (UKIBC) has released a report titled ‘Road to a UK-India Free Trade Agreement: Enhancing the Partnership and Achieving Self-reliance’. According to the UKIBC annual Survey on Doing Business in India, 77% of UK companies believe that the Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign is an “opportunity” rather than a challenge. …

Every year, 4th July is observed as the death anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, who is regarded as a one of the finest spiritual leaders and intellects India has produced. Important points: He was born as Narendranath Datta on 12th January, 1863. National Youth Day is held every year to observe the birth anniversary of Swami …

Recently, the UAE’s Hope spacecraft  has captured images of glowing atmospheric lights in the Mars night sky, known as discrete auroras. The Hope Probe, the Arab world’s first mission to Mars, took off from Earth in July 2020, and has been orbiting the Red Planet (Mars) since February 2021. It is expected to …

Recently, the government has decided not to impose Anti-Dumping Duty (ADD) on imports of certain copper products, from China, Thailand, Korea and three other countries. Important points: In April, Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) recommended imposing the duty on “copper and copper alloy flat-rolled products” from China, Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand, …

India and the majority of the members of OECD-G20 Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) have joined a new two-pillar plan to reform international taxation rules. The two-pillar plan – inclusive framework tax deal on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS)- seeks to reform international tax rules and ensure that multinational enterprises pay their fair …