Yearly Archives: 2023

NORDIC-INDIA CONNECT TO POWER A GREEN TRANSITION

Over the last decades, Nordic countries have been pioneering green technologies. Together, the Nordics and India can power the green transition the world needs. The thought of the Nordic countries might evoke different things to an Indian. Snow, fjords, lakes, and northern lights are definitely things we have plenty of. …

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COLLEGIUM SYSTEM AND ITS APPOINTMENT

The questionable elevation of advocate L. Victoria Gowri as a judge of the Madras High Court epitomises the problematic nature of the system of judicial appointment. It also portends a government-driven project to take over the Bench through its favourites Earlier, the Union Law Ministry had processed the recommendation concerning …

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KEY TRIALS FOR GAGANYAAN CONDUCTED

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), along with the Indian Navy, has conducted an important trial for the Gaganyaan, human space flight mission. On Tuesday, they carried out initial recovery trials of the Crew Module in the Navy’s Water Survival Test Facility (WSTF) in Kochi. “The trials were part of …

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ASI’S KEELADI REPORT

Keeladi continues to redefine Tamil history. In the latest development, the Sangam age has been pushed to 800 BCE based on the archaeological findings from the first two phases of excavation carried out by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in this sleepy hamlet along the Vaigai river, about 13 …

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PHASE 2 OF PUDUMAI PENN SCHOLARSHIP SCHEME

Chief Minister M.K. Stalin launched phase 2 of the Pudumai Penn scholarship scheme at the Hindu College near Avadi in Chennai on Wednesday. The scheme involves distribution of a scholarship amount of ₹1,000 per month to girls pursuing their higher studies after completing their schooling in government schools. The scholarship is provided …

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COW HUG DAY

Board of India (AWBI) wants to name February 14 as Cow Hug Day and has appealed to the public to embrace cows, claiming that it would bring “emotional richness” and increase “individual and collective happiness”. Dairy farmers, on the other hand, alleged that the Board did not even help them …

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RBI LIFTS LOAN COSTS TO TAME INFLATION

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday raised the benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 6.5% as the RBI targets persistently high core or underlying inflation that it sees as a risk to the improving outlook for the economy. Observing that …

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CAR T-CELL THERAPY

The three major forms of treatment for any cancer are surgery (removing the cancer), radiotherapy (delivering ionising radiation to the tumour), and systemic therapy (administering medicines that act on the tumour). Surgery and radiotherapy have been refined significantly over time whereas advances in systemic therapy have been unparalleled. A new …

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THE SAGA OF A ‘SPY’ BALLOON IN U.S. AIRSPACE

Last week, the U.S. shot down a Chinese ‘spy’ balloon, days after the surveillance device was first spotted over American airspace, bringing the dramatic saga to a climax and dealing yet another blow to the already strained diplomatic relation between the two sides. What happened? Reports of a massive white …

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CLEAN ENERGY SYSTEMS

Despite the impressive growth of wind and solar power, renewable energy by itself will not be sufficient, particularly to transition industries that are entirely dependent on fossil fuel, according to Sultan Al Jaber, the president-designate of the next UN summit on climate change. This year’s Conference of Parties (COP-28) of …

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INDIA, RUSSIA DISCUSSION ON PAYMENT MECHANISM

With bilateral payments still not streamlined against the backdrop of Western sanctions, especially for defence deals, India and Russia are set to hold bilateral financial meetings under the framework of the Inter-Governmental Commission in the second half of February as part of ongoing efforts to iron out a mechanism, officials …

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HEALTH SECTOR AND THE CONSEQUENCES

The stagnant allocations in the Budget for health, education and nutrition reminded me of the film The Last Czars. Emperor Nicholas asks his communist captors why he has been imprisoned despite loving Russia and being loyal to it. Budgets are boring documents if we look at them only in terms of financial …

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PAKISTAN CRISIS

Pakistan is no stranger to crises, In fact, any reading of Pakistan’s history will inform the reader that right from 1947, it was the ‘refugee crisis’ that came into the picture immediately following Partition and Independence. As many as 14 million people crossed the West Pakistan/India border, with Pakistan having …

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INDIA STANDS ON NET-ZERO BY 2070

Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Bhupender Yadav today addressed the Ministerial Session on ‘Adapting to an Uncertain Future: Reshaping of Global Partnerships’ at India Energy Week in Bengaluru. To reshape the global partnership, India has adopted a “whole-of-society” approach with governments engaging at national, sub-national and …

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ONE DISTRICT ONE PRODUCT-DISTRICTS AS EXPORT HUBS

One District One Product-Districts as Export Hubs (ODOP-DEH) has mapped and tagged the overlapping products in Taj Hotels’ in-house luxury store, Khazana. The launch of this initiative was held in New Delhi today. On the occasion the ODOP-DEH launch and appreciated the variety of products on display, from across the …

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PRIMARY AGRICULTURAL CREDIT SOCIETIES (PACS)

PACS are village level cooperative credit societies that serve as the last link in a three-tier cooperative credit structure headed by the State Cooperative Banks (SCB) at the state level. Credit from the SCBs is transferred to the district central cooperative banks, or DCCBs, that operate at the district level. …

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FIGHTER JETS AT NYOMA, LADAKH

India is now all set to kick off the upgrade of the critical Nyoma advance landing ground (ALG) in eastern Ladakh to ensure it can also handle fighter operations, in the backdrop of China having consolidated all its air bases and military positions during the continuing 33-month military confrontation along …

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FORCED VIRGINITY TEST IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL: HC

The Delhi high court on Tuesday held that forced virginity test on persons in police or judicial custody is unconstitutional stating that strangely, though the word “virginity” may not have a definite scientific and medical definition, it has become a mark of purity of a woman. It is declared that …

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