GS-III

The Indian economy is expected to grow by about 7.5% in 2018 and 2019 as it is largely resilient to external pressures like those from higher oil prices, Moody’s Investors Service said. In its Global Macro Outlook for 2018-19, Moody’s said the run-up in energy prices over the last few …

The National Statistical Commission (NSC) has sought public comments on a panel report which showed that the economy grew at the fastest pace under the Congress rule, amid a political row over the growth numbers. The report of the panel, constituted by the NSC, was made public last week. ‘Unofficial …

Indian companies are investing more on securing their data rather than pumping money into technology as they try to build comprehensive solutions to prevent hackers from attacking their networks, said Sanjai Gangadharan, regional director SAARC, at U.S. cybersecurity firm A10 Networks. “IT budgets are shrinking and security budgets are going …

Odisha aims to leverage its ports as part of a push to develop the State as a manufacturing hub in eastern India that could serve the larger South Asian regional market, according to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. “Odisha is fast emerging as the manufacturing hub of eastern India and we …

Setting aside its ban on the sale of oxytocin, the Health Ministry has allowed private retail stores to sell the life-saving hormone from September 1, an official said on Thursday. State-owned Karnataka Antibiotics Pvt Ltd will be the only company to manufacture and distribute oxytocin in India from September 1. …

The Indian government and WhatsApp appear to be at loggerheads over tracing the origin of fake messages. The messaging platform has said it will not comply with the government’s demand as the move will undermine the privacy of WhatsApp users. “People rely on WhatsApp for all kinds of sensitive conversations, …

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that “each paisa of every rupee released by his government from Delhi” now reaches its beneficiaries because his government had rooted out middlemen and corruption from the system, while taking a dig at former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s remark that “if one rupee …

Rail patrol men, foot soldiers and key men of track maintenance of the Indian Railways, have also gone digital. With smartphones in everyone’s hands these days, the South Central Railway (SCR) has been successfully monitoring the condition of track, overhead power lines etc., making use of a mobile app to …

India has sought renegotiation of the natural gas price it is to source through a proposed $10 billion Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline due to slump in global energy markets, a top source said. The four nations had in 2013 signed a gas sale purchase agreement (GSPA) that bench-marked the price of …

Principal Economic Adviser to the Finance Ministry Sanjeev Sanyal on Wednesday sought to allay concerns over the falling rupee against the U.S. dollar, saying India should not get too swayed by a single bilateral exchange rate. “If you take any broad based basket, you will see that the rupee is …

Residents of West Bengal’s Jhargram district staged a protest on Wednesday against the destruction of crops and damage to houses caused by wild elephants in the area. Hundreds of villagers blocked roads and disrupted traffic in Sankrail area of the district alleging that forest officials were not doing enough to …

Discrepancies in two government-commissioned surveys, both a year apart, submitted in the Supreme Court show that over two lakh children, said to be residing in childcare homes, are “missing.” A 2016-17 survey, commissioned by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development, shows that 4.73 lakh children reside in care …

Under new norms, cities and towns wanting to be declared ODF+ (Open Defecation Free Plus) must also be free of public urination and not just open defecation. This is the first time that the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) is officially including the elimination of public urination in its agenda. The …

State’s longest-serving Chief Minister says the government does not give attention to States that are doing well Sikkim is the most peaceful State and the Centre should consider it for a peace bonus, Pawan Chamling , the State’s longest serving Chief Minister, who has been elected CM five times consecutively …

The deposits are patchily distributed and could possibly be ancient Scientists have confirmed the presence of frozen water deposits in the darkest and coldest parts of the moon’s polar regions using data from the Chandrayaan-I spacecraft, that was launched by India 10 years ago, NASA said on Tuesday. With enough …

Company developing more than 11 electric vehicle projects globally: Bhade Tata Technologies Ltd. has emerged as a leading end-to-end developer of electric vehicles (EVs) for global original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and start-ups, a top executive said.“We reinvented the company to be ready for the EV play,” said Anand Bhade, president, …

Fund inflows into segment plunge to Rs. 22 cr. from Rs. 5,650 cr. The capital markets regulator’s decision last year to reclassify mutual fund schemes to help bring uniformity in investment strategy and asset allocation seems to have made the small cap universe a big casualty, with a bulk of …

Average realisation is more than 50%, says IBBI chairperson M.S. Sahoo , chairperson of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) talks about the success of the IBC process, challenges and the way forward. Edited excerpts: What’s the status of resolution of cases under the IBC in terms of resolution? …

R&M’s Bengaluru unit marks its first Asia Pacific investment R&M (Reichle & De-Massari AG), a Swiss cabling solutions provider, has set up a manufacturing facility in Bengaluru as it aims to tap a surge in demand from communication networks and data centres in the country. The company plans to set …

Scheme will enable States to choose routes, provide subsidy to airlines State governments will be able to encourage tourism on preferred international air routes by offering subsidy to domestic airlines for a period of three years. The Ministry of Civil Aviation has prepared a draft scheme document for “UDAN International” …