Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday referred to the common cultural heritage of India and Nepal, and said the Nepalese people were “equally happy” that a temple for Lord Ram was under construction in Ayodhya. Addressing a gathering in Lumbini, where he spoke about the commonalities of faith and traditions of both sides, Mr. Modi said stronger friendship between the two countries was necessary to deal with the challenges emerging before the world.
Sweden on Monday officially announced it will apply for NATO membership as a deterrent against Russian aggression, entering a “new era” as it reverses two centuries of military non-alignment.“The government has decided to inform NATO that Sweden wants to become a member of the alliance,” Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson told presspersons a day after neighbouring Finland made a similar announcement.
The Supreme Court has slammed the Kerala government for doing “virtually nothing” for endosulfan pesticide exposure victims. The court said the State’s inaction was “appalling” and amounted to a breach of the top court’s 2017 judgment, which had ordered it to pay ₹5 lakh each to the victims in three months.
What was initially assumed in New Delhi to be a quick confrontation between Russia and Ukraine, the war in Europe is now raging on with no end in sight, and with its long-term implications yet unknown. As for India, the initial phase of diplomatic rush is over and its geopolitical options are shrinking as the war drags on.
In India, the technical higher education sector — dominated by private players — can be best understood only in market terms: be it the exponential growth in institutions or in enrolment as well the dynamics of the decisions made by the regulatory bodies. It is no accident that much of the growth in the technical higher education has been after 1991, when the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) became functional in its present avatar.
The adage ‘every crisis contains the seeds of an opportunity’ could not have been truer for anyone than for Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. The severe economic crisis, which set off indefinite protests against President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother, (now former) Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, has pitchforked Mr. Wickremesinghe to an office that he had no chance of occupying until last week.
Globally, around 80% of wastewater flows back into the ecosystem without being treated or reused, according to the United Nations. This can pose a significant environmental and health threat. In the absence of cost-effective, sustainable, disruptive water management solutions, about 70% of sewage is discharged untreated into India’s water bodies.
NITI Aayog’s 2020-21 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) India Index detailed the implementation of the United Nations’ SDGs in the country, States and Union Territories (UTs). It gave marks, between 0 and 100 points, to each region. In a significant marker of improvement, no State fared in the ‘Aspirant’ category, the lowest in the index. All the States managed to score above 50 points in SDG implementation, with 13 States featuring in the ‘Performer’ category and 15 in the ‘Front Runner’ category (the second-highest position).
The repo rate is the fixed interest rate at which RBI provides overnight liquidity to banks against the collateral of government and other approved securities under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF).The repo rate system allows central banks to control the money supply within economies by increasing or decreasing the availability of funds.It also functions as a monetary tool by helping to regulate the availability of liquidity or funds in the banking system.
In December 2019, the Union Cabinet had given approval to create the post of CDS in the rank of a four-star General and then Army Chief Gen Rawat was appointed for the post. The mandate of the CDS includes bringing about jointness in “operations, logistics, transport, training, support services, communications, repairs and maintenance of the three Services, within three years of the first CDS assuming office.”There is now a dichotomy in the roles and responsibilities with the several hats worn by the CDS and also overlap in responsibilities between the DMA and DoD
Counter-terror officials of Pakistan, Russia, China and four Central Asian countries met in Delhi on Monday at the start of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s Regional Anti-Terror Structure (SCO-RATS) talks, the first such event in India since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s transgressions at the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
The Navies of India and France concluded their second joint patrolling in the southwestern Indian Ocean last week, while an Australian P-8 maritime patrol aircraft is expected in India next month on a reciprocal visit, underscoring India’s continued focus on expanding maritime surveillance and anti-submarine warfare cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).