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The Department of Military Affairs is moving towards finalising the “Tour of Duty (ToD)” scheme. Under this scheme, youngsters will be recruited as soldiers only for three years. This is being done in the backdrop of the urgent need to curb the ballooning salary and pension bills that are adversely impacting military modernization.  “Tour …

The Union Minister of Science & Technology said that EOS (Earth Observation Satellite)-02 satellite will be launched in the second quarter of 2022. The launch was delayed due to pandemic and consequent lockdown. Earlier, the Indian Space Research Organisation’s earth observation satellite EOS-04 and two small satellites (INSPIREsat-1 and INS-2TD) were successfully placed into the intended orbit by the PSLV …

The Supreme Court will take up for hearing a pending plea challenging the Electoral Bond Scheme, 2018. Two NGOs — Common Cause and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) — have challenged the scheme, alleging that it is “distorting democracy”. These bonds are issued in multiples of Rs. 1,000, Rs. 10,000, Rs. 1 lakh, Rs. …

Recently, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, has pulled up the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) over a range of issues related to the issuance of Aadhaar cards. The findings are part of the first performance review by the country’s independent auditor of UIDAI, which was carried out over a four-year period between FY2015 …

It is a medicinal mushroom in use for centuries to heal diseases like diabetes, cancerinflammation, ulcer as well as bacterial and skin infections. In India, however, the potential of the fungus is still being explored. It is considered one of the most important medicinal mushrooms in the world since its chemical constituents exhibit numerous medicinal properties. They have …

The Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying has launched a pilot project in the state of Uttarakhand to implement the One Health Framework by One Health Support Unit. The key objective of the Unit is to develop a national One Health roadmap based on the learnings of the pilot project implementation. …

Recently, the President of India presented the prestigious President’s Colour to INS (Indian Naval Ship) Valsura. It is the highest award bestowed on a military unit in India in recognition of its exceptional services to the nation. Out of the three defence forces, the Indian Navywas the first Indian Armed Force to be awarded the President Colour by Dr. …

Recently, the Union Minister of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEFCC) launched the Awareness Mascot ‘Prakriti’& Green Initiatives for Effective Plastic Waste Management. The mascot will spread greater awareness among masses about small changes that can be sustainably adopted in our lifestyle for a better environment. Earlier in February, the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and …

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 …

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 …

Scientists had published the map of the human genome for the first time nearly two decades ago which was hailed as a breakthrough. In 2003, scientists got the breakthrough, but it was incomplete as about 8% of the human DNA was left unsequenced. Now for the first time, a large team has accounted for …

Recently, a massive fire broke out inside the Sariska Tiger Reserve (Rajasthan). The fire spread and destroyed around 10 sq km of forests despite timely satellite warnings and the availability of a real-time mobile application-based fire response system. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) warned in its annual Frontiers report released in February …

The maiden edition of Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) Maritime Exercise 2022 (IMEX-22) was conducted at Goa and in the Arabian Sea. The exercise witnessed participation of 15 out of the 25 member nations of IONS. The aim of the exercise was to enhance interoperability in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations among …

Recently, the Prime Minister inaugurated 5.21 lakh houses of beneficiaries of Pradhan MantriAwasYojna (PMAY)-Gramin in Madhya Pradesh. It was launched by the Ministry of Rural development to achieve the objective of “Housing for All” by 2022, the erstwhile rural housing scheme Indira AwaasYojana (IAY) was restructured to PMAY-G w.e.f 1st April, 2016. Objectives: To provide a pucca …

With space junk posing an increasing threat to Indian assets in space, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is building up its orbital debris tracking capability. In this pursuit, a space debris tracking radar with a range of 1,500 km and an optical telescope will be inducted as part of establishing an effective surveillance and tracking network under the Network …

Recently a few Desert Foxes were spotted in the scrub forests of Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer district, suffering from a loss of fur due to the Mange Skin Disease. There were 8,331 foxes — both Indian and desert foxes — in the state according to the 2019 wildlife census of Rajasthan. Desert Fox White-footed fox Vulpesvulpespusilla Desert …