The Centre has reconstituted an advisory committee to chalk out a plan for studying the mythical Sarasvati river for the next two years, after the earlier panel’s term ended in 2019. About: The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on March 10 issued a notification for “reconstitution of the Advisory Committee …

The Minister of Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Health & Family Welfare, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, has said that CSIR-AMPRI has been successfully adopting ‘Waste to Wealth’ strategy as the institute has developed radiation shielding materials utilizing industrial wastes as raw materials. Significantly , a novel process for making lead free and …

THE INDUS Indus Commissioners of India and Pakistan are set to meet on March 23-24 in New Delhi. Indians are committed towards full utilisation of India’s rights under the treaty and believe in amicable solution of issues through discussion. This will be the first meeting of Indus Commissioners after a gap of two and …

HAVING EMBARKED on an ambitious asset monetisation drive to raise additional resources, and hoping to raise Rs 20,000 crore through sale of assets under the Ministry of Civil Aviation in 2021-22, the Government is looking to divest the remaining equity stake held by Airports Authority of India (AAI) in the Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and …

The India – Uzbekistan joint military exercise “DUSTLIK II” commenced today in Foreign Training Node Chaubatia, Ranikhet (Uttarakhand). This is the Second Edition of annual bilateral joint exercise of both armies. It will continue till 19thMarch 2021. The first edition of the exercise was held at Uzbekistan in Nov 2019. …

Ahead of the hearing of a petition by Haryana government seeking permission for mining in Aravalis in Gurugram and Faridabad in the Supreme Court, environmentalists and the residents are strongly opposed to mining being legalised and demand that forest cover be increased in the State. In an email campaign to the Chief Justice of …

Important points The Centre will allow residents to fill the National Population Register (NPR) form on their own, through the online mode, a month before the door-to-door enumeration by Census officials starts. After filling the form online, residents will get a reference code that they can mention to the field enumerator at …

Context: Technology for the Production of important radiopharmaceuticals, like 18F-FDB for various cancer imaging and 18F-NaF for bone cancer imaging is available through Technology Transfer As a part of Atma Nirbhar Bharat the following initiatives have been taken by DAE: The 30 MeV Medical Cyclotron at Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre …

The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has recently published a Climate Change report entitled “Assessment of Climate Change over the Indian Region” which covers all the aspects of regional climate change including the climatic extremes across India. The preparation of this report was led by the Centre for Climate Change …

The Indian Army is in the process of procuring Mobile Integrated Network Terminal (MINT) systems under Make II Category of DAP 2020.  Important points: The system is envisaged as a lightweight, portable, state of art integrated communication solution with satellite backhaul and wireless access system to support voice, video and …

India collaborates with Norway and Japan in Antarctic Research. A major Indo-Norweigian collaborative field campaign, near Indian Maitri station, was undertaken during 2016–2019 to understand the ice shelf dynamics, mass balance and reconstruct past changes in atmospheric and sea ice dynamics under the joint project “Mass balance, dynamics, and climate …

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has launched the sounding rocket called RH-560 on March 12, 2021. The rocket was launched in order to study “attitudinal variations” in the neutral winds and plasma dynamics. Important points: The RH-560 rocket was launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) Sriharikota Range (SHAR). …

The Supreme Court held that independent persons and not bureaucrats should be appointed State Election Commissioners. Important points: It said that giving government employees the additional charge of State Election Commissioners is a “mockery of the Constitution”. The top court directed that the States should appoint independent persons as Election …

The foreign secretary of India stated on March 12, 2020 that the Leaders of the United States, India, Australia and Japan have agreed to pool finance, manufacture and distribute the capacity in order to send 1 billion coronavirus vaccines across Asia and in the Indo-Pacific region to assist them by …

The National Academy of Letters have announced the names for the “Sahitya Akademi Award 2020 on March 12, 2021. The names were announced during the opening of annual “Festival of Letters” event. Highlights The award will be bestowed upon the politician-writer M Veerappa Moily, poet Arundhathi Subramaniam along with other …

The study by a group of researchers in Italy published recently in the journal Nature Food draws on a new global database that provides estimates of food system greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 to 2015. Important points: One third of global greenhouse gas emissions caused by humans are linked to …

The Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru now has India’s first dedicated Express Cargo Terminal exclusively for export and import of international couriers. It has a dedicated space for customs offices with direct access to both Landside and Airside wing of the airport. The exclusive Terminal for express couriers at south …

According to the Minister of Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Health & Family Welfare, exceedingly high concentration of air emissions with respect to particulate matter, and other harmful gases have been measured in regions around the crematoria. To address the high localized toxic emissions from crematoria, CSIR-National Environmental Engineering …

With the Prime Minister flagging off the ‘Padyatra’ (Freedom March) from Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad and inaugurating the curtain raiser activities of the ‘Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav’ – a series of events will be organised by the Government of India to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of India’s Independence launched 75 weeks before 15 …

On 21 March 2021, the largest asteroid predicted to pass by Earth will be at its closest. It won’t come closer than 2 million km to Earth, but it will present a valuable scientific opportunity for astronomers who can get a good look at a rocky relic that formed at …