NPCI Unveils An Innovative AI-based Chatbot ‘PAi’ For Its Product Awareness on a real-time basis
PAi will be available round the clock to help the users with accurate information about NPCI products. National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) has launched AI-based chatbot, PAi, to create awareness around its products like FASTag, RuPay, UPI, AePS on a real-time...
Lok Sabha Speaker nominates 15 MPs to delimitation panel on J&K, four north-eastern states
Fifteen Members of Parliament have been nominated by the Lok Sabha Speaker as ‘associate members’ of the Delimitation Commission on Jammu and Kashmir, and four north-eastern states. The nominated members are from Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Manipur, Nagaland, and...
Direct Fertiliser Subsidy Transfer to Farmers
As per a news report of August 2019, the government is preparing to give direct cash transfer (DCT) of a limited fertiliser subsidy amount to farmers’ bank accounts under the second phase of implementation of direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme. This is a...
Kaleshwaram Irrigation Project: The Making of an Engineering Marvel
The Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP), the world’s largest multi-stage lift irrigation scheme, is aimed at making Telangana drought-proof.
Integrated Watershed Management Project
The Swan River Integrated Watershed Management Project, implemented by the Himachal Pradesh Forest Department in 2011–13
SRS Data on Infant Mortality, Birth Rate and Death Rate
In May 2020, the Registrar General of India released its Sample Registration System (SRS) bulletin based on data collected for 2018 providing information on infant mortality rate (IMR),birth rate, and death rate at the national and sub-national levels.
One Nation One Ration Card – ONORC
The finance minister recently announced the national roll out of a one nation one ration card system in all states and union territories by March 2021. It was initially proposed to nationally roll out the ONORC scheme by June 2020.
India Nepal Border Dispute
The latest crisis began with Nepal’s aggressive response to India’s inauguration of the road that connects with the Lipulekh Pass
Indian Economy post-COVID-19
The world seems to be getting ready for new BC-AD analysis (Before Corona and After Destruction) of all spheres- from public to private affairs. The world is going to redefine and realign every sector- from diplomacy to technology to trade practices. Most of the...
RBI Monetary Policy Measures May 2020
On the basis of an assessment of the current and evolving macroeconomic situation, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India at its meeting on May 22, 2020 announced a set of monetary policy measures in order to help the Indian economy overcome...
New Images Reveal More about Thunderstorms
Researchers have observed millisecond pulses of gamma-rays produced by thunderstorms using instruments onboard the International Space Station (ISS), which may reveal more about the process by which these terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs) are made. This was stated...
Illegal Sand Mining in India and China: UN Report
The growing scarcity of sand in parts of the world is a serious issue that has been linked with everything from organised crime to natural disasters. China and India top the list of critical hotspots for sand extraction resulting in major environmental degradation....
India’s Wind Power Potential Declining due to Global Warming: Study
The warming of the Indian Ocean due to global climate change is leading to decline in India’s wind power potential, as noted by a study that appeared in Science Advances. This is because of the weakening of the monsoon as a result of warming of Waters. As reported in...
Plogging when You Pick up Trash while Jogging
‘Plogging’ can be defined as jogging combined with picking up litter. Started as an organised activity in Sweden around 2016, the phenomenon of plogging is going global as both environment and fitness fanatics benefit from the new trend. It spread to other parts of...
Central Banks Push Green Finance as Global Warming Losses Rise to $160 billion
Viewing climate-related losses that have risen up to 160 billion dollars from 2018 alone, insurers, including 30 central banks, have called for measures to enhance green finance and better assessments of risks from increasing global temperature. For this purpose, a...
Great Indian Hornbills can Adapt to Modified Habitat
In recent times, the natural homes of birds have been depleted due to environmental changes, as natural forests are replaced by plantations and other such modified terrain. In this context, the birds’ adaption to their severely-affected habitats is important. A bird...
New Human Species Discovered in Philippines
Researchers in Philippines have announced that they have discovered a species of ancient human previously unknown to science. It has been named as Homo luzonensis. The discovery, reported in Nature on April 10, 2019, is likely to reignite debates over when ancient...
Tool to Monitor Fake News on Social Media
Researchers from the University of Michigan in the US, in October 2018, developed a web-based tool to monitor fake news on social networking services such as Twitter and Facebook. The tool uses ‘Iffy Quotient’, a Platform Health Metric, which draws data from two...
Price Capping of Rare Disease Drugs Raises Controversy
The issue of high-priced life saving drugs is a major concern in India. The issue has raised serious concerns from different sections of Indian society. It was reported that on January 7, 2019, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare took a concrete decision to...
NGT Forms Central Monitoring Committee to Check River Pollution
In April 2019, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) formed a Central Monitoring Committee to monitor pollution of rivers, prepare, and enforce a national plan so that the serious threat to safety of water and environment over 350 river stretches across the country may be...