Recently, the standing committee of Parliament has criticised the functioning of the development programme for de-notified, nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes. The committee noted that the Scheme for economic empowerment of Denotified Tribes (DNTs) communities has total outlays of Rs 200 crore for the period of five years from 2021-22 and the Department could not spend even a single …

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has launched the Broadcast Seva (BS) Portal. The portal is likely to help 900 satellite TV channels, 70 teleport operators, 1,700 MSOs, 350 Community Radio Stations (CRS) and 380 private FM channels, among others. It is a 360 degree digital solution that will facilitate stakeholders in seeking permissions, applying …

Recently, the Union Minister of State Science & Technology launched a major futuristic PPP (Public Private Participation) mode initiative for ‘Clean Energy’ with the full launch of “Mission Integrated Bio-refineries”. Material Acceleration Platforms (MAP) set up by the Department of Science and Technology (DST)were also launched which will leverage emerging capabilities in next-generation computing, Artificial Intelligence …

Google Pay has recently launched a new feature in India, ‘Tap to pay for UPI’, in collaboration with Pine Labs. The feature makes use of Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. The functionality will allow users with NFC-enabled Android smartphones and UPI (Unified Payments Interface) accounts linked to Google Pay to carry out transactions …

The Prime Minister of Nepal visited India and held a summit meeting with the Indian Prime Minister. Earlier, the Union Cabinet had cleared a plan to build a new bridge connecting India and Nepal over the Mahakaliriver and link Dharchula in Uttarakhand with Nepal’s Dharchula. Highlights: Launched the 35-km cross-border railway line linking Jaynagar in …

Ahead of the World Health Day (7th April), the World Health Organisation (WHO) has released Air Quality Database 2022, which shows that Almost the entire global population (99 %) breathes air that exceeds WHO’s air quality limits. The WHO for the first time has taken ground measurements of annual mean concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2). It also includes measurements of Particulate …

Recently, the United Nations’ climate science body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published the third part of its Sixth Assessment Report (AR6). This second part of the report was published in March 2022 which was about climate change impacts, risks and vulnerabilities, and adaptation options. The first part of this report, on the physical science of climate change was …

Recently, Railway Protection Force (RPF) conducted a Pan India Drive against the alleged black marketeers under Operation Upalabdh. Earlier in February 2022, the RPF had launched a nationwide operation to curb human trafficking named Operation AAHT. Operation Upalabdh The month-long drive under Operation Upalabdh has been able to curb the activities of touts substantially and make railway tickets available …

Recently, the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare in a written reply in Rajya Sabha informed about the various initiatives taken by the government for adopting technology in Agriculture. In 2021, a consultation paper on the India Digital Ecosystem of Agriculture (IDEA) from the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare (MoA&FW) was released, which talks about a …

Recently released United Nations Environment Programme report titled Annual Frontiers Report 2022 became controversial on account of the mention of a single city, Moradabad of Uttar Pradesh. The Frontiers report identifies and offers solutions to three environmental issues: urban noise pollution, wildfires and phenological shifts that merit attention and action from governments and the public at large to address …