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According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey 2021, India has about 100 million casual workers and 50 million salaried workers with no written job contract. This gives us an estimate of 150 million contract workers — or about 30% of the total labour force in the country. In the Annual …

A month after the 27th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) in Egypt, diplomatic retinue went into a contentious huddle again to save the planet — in Montreal, Canada, this time, and as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). While both these conferences …

The 7th edition of the India Water Impact Summit concluded on 17th December 2022 after 3 days of fruitful deliberations on important aspects of water conservation and river rejuvenation, with special emphasis on revival of small rivers for the protection of large basins. On the third and final day of the 7th India …

The Cyberspace Administration of China, the country’s cyberspace watchdog, is rolling out new regulations, to be effective from January 10, to restrict the use of deep synthesis technology and curb disinformation. Deep synthesis is defined as the use of technologies, including deep learning and augmented reality, to generate text, images, …

India’s net direct tax collections in 2022-23 surpassed the ₹11-lakh crore mark by December 17, reflecting a 19.81% uptick over last year’s, the Central Board of Direct Taxes said on Sunday. Last year, in the corresponding period, it was ₹9,47,959 crore. “The net direct tax collection of ₹11,35,754 crore includes …

In this era of globalisation, almost all nations are dependent on each other in the field of trade and hence rule-based freedom of navigation and security of sea lanes have become more important than ever for stability and economic progress of the world, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Sunday. …

Waste management is now a hot topic and Chennai has a range of private companies that offer unique solutions for different categories. Launched in Chennai in August 2020 with 100 households, Bintix now caters to 2,000+ households and collects 8,500 kg every month, a number that is steadily rising. Bintix …

The results of a trial of an experimental cancer vaccine built on the mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) platform, made by Moderna and MSD (Merck&Co.), have shown promising results, media announcements claimed last week. Patients taking an immunotherapy drug Keytruda for advanced melanoma (a kind of skin cancer) were less likely …

The allure of quantum computers (QC) is their ability to take advantage of quantum physics to solve problems too complex for conventional computers. Several institutes and companies worldwide have invested in developing QC systems, from software to solve specific problems to the science that goes into expanding their hardware capabilities. …

A NASA-led international satellite was launched from Southern California, on a major Earth science project to conduct a comprehensive survey of the world’s oceans, lakes and rivers for the first time. Dubbed as SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography), the advanced radar satellite is designed to give an unprecedented view …

Indian banks are reluctant to lend to electric-bus makers for supply to ailing State transport operators over concerns on recovery of dues, hurting India’s goal of curbing vehicle emissions, said banking, industry and government sources. Lack of funding is limiting the ability of e-bus makers to participate in Central government …

India’s imports of crude oil rose by 52.6% to $146.57 billion during April-November period, according to Commerce Ministry data. Coal and coke imports increased by 97.7% to $37.25 billion in the same period, the data showed. Gold imports, however, dipped by 18.1% to $27.21 billion during the eight-month period. Oher …

Based on current analysis by stakeholders concerned, about 1.3 terabyte data were encrypted in the recent ransomware attack on the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences’ (AIIMS) information technology network by unknown threat actors, according to the government. In a written response to the question of Rajya Sabha member John Brittas, …

As per IMF’s World Economic Outlook (WEO), October 2022, India is projected to grow at 6.8 per cent in the year 2022 which is one of the fastest among major economies. Major steps taken for reducing carbon emission and moving towards sustainable development goals inter-alia include: Permitting Foreign Direct Investment …

The 16th Edition of Indo-Nepal joint training Exercise “SURYA KIRAN-XVI” between India and Nepal will be conducted at Nepal Army Battle School, Saljhandi (Nepal), from 16 – 29 December 2022. Exercise “SURYA KIRAN” is conducted annually between India and Nepal with the aim to enhance interoperability in jungle warfare &counter terrorism …

India has six large airsheds, some of them shared with Pakistan, between which air pollutants move. While existing measures by the government can reduce particulate matter, significant reduction is possible only if the territories spanning the airsheds implement coordinated policies, says a report by the World Bank made public on …

The Tamil Nadu government will establish dedicated space industrial parks in the vicinity of the upcoming spaceport at Kulasekharapatnam, a small town panchayat in Thoothukudi. “Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation Ltd. (TIDCO) is in discussions with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to enhance the efficiency of the spaceport through geographic …

The Defence Secretary, Shri GiridharArmane  has urged the stakeholders of System for Pension Administration Raksha (SPARSH), an one stop solution to all pension related activities of Defence pensioners pioneered by Defence Accounts Department,  to make it more user friendly. He underlined some problems in migration to SPARSH platform and technical …

The 6th Edition of Indo – Kazakhstan joint training exercise “KAZIND-22” is scheduled to be conducted at Umroi (Meghalaya) from 15 to 28 December 2022. Joint annual training exercise with the Kazakhstan Army was instituted in 2016 as Exercise Prabal Dostyk, which was later upgraded to a company level exercise and …

Scientists in the United Kingdom testing a new form of cancer therapy, reported success in a teenaged girl, Alyssia, with a form of cancer called T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. What happens in this form of cancer? In this form of blood cancer, the T-cells, which are a class of white …