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Union Information and Broadcasting at the 17th Asia Media Summit applauded the Indian media for its role during the Covid-19 pandemic. It ensured that awareness messages on Covid-19, important government guidelines and free consultations with doctors reached everyone in the country. It strongly fought against the menace of fake news and misinformation on a real time basis. The media has significantly …

Recently, a petition was filed before Delhi High Court, challenging the exclusion of a single man and a woman having a child from surrogacy and demanded the decriminalization of commercial surrogacy. The petitioners have challenged their exclusion from availing surrogacy under the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021 and Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021. …

Recently, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) released a revised Draft National Data Governance Framework Policy. The new draft, ‘National Data Governance Framework Policy’, is a replacement of the now scrapped ‘India Data accessibility and Use policy’. The objective of the policy is to modernise the government’s data collection, with …

According to the 2020 report on Medical Certification of Cause of Death (MCCD), the first year of Covid-19 lockdown saw the highest incidences of persons dying of respiratory illnesses in a decade. The scheme of Medical Certification of Cause of Death (MCCD) was introduced in the country under the provisions of the Registration of …

Recently, two memorandums of understanding (MoUs) were renewed at the 7th India-Canada Joint Science and Technology Cooperation Committee (JSTCC) meeting. The MoUs were signed by the Indian Ministry of Science and Technology with the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and National Research Council Canada (NRC), respectively, under the 2005 Agreement for Scientific and …

The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) approved the implementation of the Centre’s flagship Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) for the residents in its area. Ayushman Bharat, a flagship scheme of Government of India, was launched as recommended by the National Health Policy 2017, to achieve the vision of Universal Health Coverage …

Recently, International Labour Organisation (ILO) released a document on “Inclusion of LGBTIQ+ persons in the world of work”. It provides certain recommendations to ensure equal opportunities and treatment for LGBTIQ+ persons at work. LGBTIQ stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Inter-sex and Queer. The plus sign represents people with diverse SOGIESC who identify using other terms. …

Recently, in a significant order, Supreme Court has recognised sex work as a “profession” and observed that its practitioners are entitled to dignity and equal protection under law. The court invoked its special powers under Article 142 of the Constitution. Article 142 provides discretionary power to the Supreme Court as it states that the …

World Health Assembly’s 75th session is being held at World Health Organization (WHO) Headquarters (HQ), Geneva from 22nd to 28th May, 2022. Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare emphasized upon India’s commitment towards building a more resilient global health security architecture. Health for peace, peace for health is the theme of the World Health Assembly, 2022. India’s …

Recently, the Inter-State Council(ISC) has been reconstituted with the Prime Minister as Chairman and Chief Ministers of all States and six Union Ministers as members. Ten union ministers will be the permanent invitees to the Inter-State Council. The government has also reconstituted the standing committee of the Inter-State Council with Union Home as Chairman. The …

Recently, India’s Prime Minister participated in an event in Tokyo to launch the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF). This economic initiative came a day before the second in-person summit of the Quad leaders (India, the US, Australia and Japan) in Tokyo. It is the grouping of four democracies –India, Australia, the US, and Japan. All four nations find …

CSIR-National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi in association with Metrology Society of India (MSI) organized the World Metrology Day (May 20th). Metrology is the science of measurement and its application. World Metrology Day is celebrated in commemoration of the anniversary of the signing of the Metre Convention in 1875. This treaty provides the basis for a …

Recently, the Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs and India’s Governor for the New Development Bank (NDB) chaired the 7th Annual Meeting of Board of Governors of NDB (New Development Bank). The meeting was also attended by Governors/Alternate Governors of Brazil, China, Russia, South Africa and the newly joined members Bangladesh …

Recently, Finance Minister participated in the 13th Annual Day commemoration of the Competition Commission of India (CCI). Finance Minister also inaugurated the regional office at Kolkata and launched an upgraded website of CCI. Competition Commission of India (CCI) is a statutory body of the Government of India responsible for enforcing the Competition Act, 2002, it was …

World Bee Day is celebrated annually on 20th May. Earlier, the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) had launched the country’s first Mobile Honey Processing Van at Village in Uttar Pradesh. The day marks the birth anniversary of Anton Janša, a pioneer of modern apiculture. Anton Janša hailed from a family of beekeepers in Slovenia, where beekeeping …

A team of researchers in Australia has identified a biochemical marker in the blood that could help identify newborn babies at risk for the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). The researchers used dried blood spots from newborn infants and screened the samples for BChE (Butyrylcholinesterase) level and total protein content. Sudden infant …

The Government is reassessing the concept of post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) as well as the Department of Military Affairs (DMA) and is looking to streamline the setup. The CDS is a four-star General/Officer who acts as the Principal Military Advisor to the Defence Minister on all tri-services (Army, Navy and Indian Air …

Recently, the Minister of Commerce and Industry launched the NavIC Grand Challenge at National Startup Advisory Council (NSAC) meeting. NavIC Grand Challenge is aimed at promoting adoption of NavIC as geo-positioning solution, a key proponent for digital AtmaNirbharta. It was constituted by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). It advises …

Recently, the President appointed Rajiv Kumar as the Chief Election Commissioner (25th CEC). He replaced Sushil Chandra. The Election Commission of India (ECI)is an autonomous constitutional authority responsible for administering Union and State election processes in India. It was established in accordance with the Constitution on 25th January 1950 (celebrated as national voters’ day). The secretariat of …

Recently, the World Health Organisation (WHO  and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)jointly launched the first Global Report on Assistive Technology (GReAT). This report is the culmination of the 71st World Health Assembly resolution in 2018 to prepare a global report on effective access to assistive technology. The report assumes significance as 90% of those who need assistive …