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INDIGENOUS PROJECTS to boost desi defence

Two major indigenous defence projects — the acquisition of 70 basic trainer aircraft for the IAF and three cadet training ships for the Navy — worth almost ₹10,000 crore were cleared by the cabinet committee on security. The 70 Hindustan Turbo Trainer-40 (HTT-40) aircraft will be supplied by defence PSU …

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ROCKS FOUND IN TELANGANA

Rock samples dating back 4. 1 billion years and bearing traces of the weather-proof mineral zircon have been found in Telangana’s Chitrial, around 100km north of Hyderabad. It can shed light on geological events from a dark age when the earth was in its infancy. The latest research from a …

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‘EASE OF LIVING USING TECHNOLOGY’

It is the fifth of a series of 12 post-budget webinars organized by the government to seek ideas and suggestions for the effective implementation of the initiatives announced in the Union Budget 2023. Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister said that India of the 21st century is constantly empowering its …

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‘ORGAN ON A CHIP’

Last year, the U.S. government passed the Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act 2.0. The move is expected to boost the research and development of ‘organ chips’ — small devices containing human cells that are used to mimic the environment in human organs, including blood flow and breathing movements, serving …

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THE NEW START TREATY ON PAUSE

On February 23, on the eve of the first anniversary of his country’s “special military operation” in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow was unilaterally suspending the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty with the U.S., stating that the West was trying to destroy Russia. Making the announcement …

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UNPACKING THE NEW SET OF E-WASTE RULES

The burgeoning problem of managing e-waste is a cross cutting and persisting challenge in an era of rapid urbanisation, digitalisation and population growth. The first set of e-waste Rules was notified in 2011 and came into effect in 2012. An important component of the Rules (2011) was the introduction of …

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MARITIME SECURITY: (IFC-IOR)

In order to further the existing cooperation in the realm of maritime safety and security, IFC-IOR signed an MoU on 21 Feb 2023 with Regional Coordination Operations Centre (RCOC), Seychelles. IFC-IOR, hosted by the Indian Navy, was established by the Government of India at Gurugram on 22 Dec 2018 to …

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IMPORTANCE OF MULTILATERALISM IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The Foundational Literacy and Numeracy report was released by Dr Bibek Debroy, Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM). The report was released at #TheIndiaDialog organised by Institute for Competitiveness and US-Asia Technology Management Center, Stanford University, on February 23 & 24, 2023. The second edition of the State of …

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INDIA’S R&D ESTIMATES ARE AN INCOMPLETE PICTURE

India’s research and development (R&D) expenditure-GDP ratio of 0.7% is very low when compared to major economies and is much below the world average of 1.8%. The main reason is the low investment in R&D by the corporate sector. While the corporate sector accounts for about two-thirds of gross domestic …

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WORKING OF THE ANTI-DEFECTION LAW

A five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court of India is presently hearing a set of cases popularly known as the “Maharashtra political controversy cases”. While questions have been raised about whether the situation is now fait accompli, and whether the Court can “turn the clock back” if it wanted to, the …

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CROSS-BORDER DIGITAL PAYMENT OF INDIA

Transferring money to a relative studying or living in Singapore or receiving remittances from a family member working in the Southeast Asian city-state just got a whole lot simpler. On February 21, the Reserve Bank of India Governor, Shaktikanta Das, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Managing Director, Ravi Menon, …

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THE PAST AND PRESENT OF RUSSIA’S WAR IN UKRAINE

A year after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, there are signs of escalation everywhere. The West has recently announced the supply of more advanced weapons to Ukraine, deepening its involvement in the conflict. In response, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has already reinforced Russian positions along the 1,000-km long …

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THIRD PATIENT IS CURED OF HIV

A man became the third person to have been “cured of HIV” after a bone marrow transplant carrying a specific HIV-resistant mutation. The CCR5-delta 32 mutation prevents the receptors used by the HIV virus from forming on the surface, effectively denying the virus its doorway to the body. It is …

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