Month: July 2023

IndianOil & Praj to form JV for building Biofuels production capacities in India

Manish Kumar

Delhi : In a significant development today, Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IndianOil) and Praj Industries Limited (Praj) signed a term sheet to advance plans to strengthen biofuels production capacities in India. Various biofuels covered under this MoU include Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), Ethanol, Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG), Biodiesel and Bio-bitumen among others. Earlier in October 2021, both the Companies had entered into an agreement to form a 50:50 Joint Venture to this end. Talking about the development, Shrikant Madhav Vaidya, Chairman, IndianOil, said, “The collaboration with an Indian biofuel major – Praj, is a remarkable milestone in IndianOil’s green…

Dalai Lama marked his 88th birthday with a message on peace and humanity; the PM wishes ‘long and healthy life’

Manish Kumar

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama celebrated his 88th birthday today. The spiritual leader marked the day with a message on peace and humanity and expressed his gratitude for the support he received from his friends. “For my part, I pray to be able to bring peace to the world by spreading an understanding of the oneness of humanity,” the Dalai Lama said in a statement. “Although I am just one human being, in the short term, I aspire to contribute to world peace in thought, word, and deed,” he…

Domestic automobile retail sales rise 10% in June, but supply challenges hurt: FADA

Manish Kumar

Domestic automobile retail sales rose 10 percent in June driven by sales growth across various segments, including passenger vehicles and two-wheelers, automobile dealers body FADA said. Total retail sales last month rose to 18,63,868 units from 17,01,105 units in the year-ago period. Passenger vehicle retail sales increased 5 percent to 2,95,299 units as against 2,81,811 units in June 2022. Similarly, two-wheeler sales climbed 7 percent to 13,10,186 units last month as compared with 12,27,149 units in the same month last year. Three-wheeler sales surged 75 percent to 86,511 units from…

IN-USN SALVAGE AND EXPLOSIVE ORDNANCE DISPOSAL EXERCISE – SALVEX

Manish Kumar

The Seventh edition of Indian Navy – US Navy (IN – USN) Salvage and Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) exercise, SALVEX was conducted from 26 Jun – 06 Jul 23 at Kochi. IN and USN have been participating in joint Salvage and EOD exercises since 2005. The exercise saw participation from both the navies which included the ships – INS Nireekshak and USNS Salvor in addition to Specialist Diving and EOD teams. Spanning over 10 days, the Diving teams of both the countries shared experiences on Maritime Salvage and trained together in various facets…

Shri Bhupender Yadav says under Prime Minister India has devised a unique biodiversity conservation model through a holistic approach

Manish Kumar

Union Minister for Environment, Forest & Climate Change; and  Labour and Employment Shri Bhupender Yadav  said under the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi India has devised a unique biodiversity conservation model through a holistic approach. Addressing Haryali Mahotsav near Dwarka’s Rukmini Temple in Gujarat today Shri Yadav highlighted the importance of the critical balance between the environment and the dependent beings for which the Government under able leadership of the Prime Minister Shri  Narendra Modi has launched Mission LiFE to spread this message globally.   The  Minister stressed on the need for…

IIT Madras- Zanzibar campus marks a historic beginning towards internationalization of higher education – Shri Dharmendra Pradhan

Manish Kumar

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for setting up of campus of IIT Madras in Zanzibar- Tanzania was signed today between the Ministry of Education (MoE), Govt. of India, IIT Madras and Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MoEVT) Zanzibar- Tanzania, in the  presence of Dr. S. Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister of India and Dr. Hussein Ali Mwinyi, President of Zanzibar. This is the first ever IIT campus to be set up outside India. It is reflective of the longstanding friendship between India and Tanzania and a reminder of the focus India…

Global cooperation and alliances vital to exploration of the outer space, says Dr Jitendra Singh

Manish Kumar

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, MoS PMO, Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space and MoS Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Dr Jitendra Singh said here today that with over 140 Space StartUps within a short span of time, India has gained sound footing and the entire world has begun to acknowledge India’s capabilities and her potential in Space Technology. Addressing the inaugural session of the G20 4th edition of Space Economy Leaders Meeting (SELM) here today, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the credit goes to…

Global Peace Index ranks Iceland as the world’s most peaceful country; check where India stands

Manish Kumar

The 2023 Global Peace Index (GPI) recently released its annual ranking of the most peaceful countries in the world.  The GPI covers 163 countries comprising 99.7 percent of the world’s population, using 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators from highly respected sources.  According to this year’s report, the average level of global peacefulness deteriorated by 0.42 percent.  India has occupied the 126th spot in the rankings, two higher than its previous position.  Over the last 15 years, the world has become less peaceful, with the average country score deteriorating by five…

Threads, Meta’s new platform, saw 5 million sign-ups within just four hours of launch: Will Threads Beat Twitter?

Manish Kumar

Threads, Meta’s new platform that aims to take on Twitter, saw 5 million sign-ups within just four hours of launch. Opinions are sharply divided on whether Threads will outperform Twitter. Some say its links to Instagram, which provides it with a ready user base, will be an advantage, especially at a time when Elon Musk and new Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino try to revive the struggling business. Others, however, feel that Twitter has a news-oriented outlook that Instagram, primarily a visual platform, will find difficult to replace. In fact, Meta…

India can contribute in ending Ukraine-Russia War, says US ambassador to Kyiv

Manish Kumar

US Ambassador to Kyiv Bridget A Brink said India can contribute significantly to bringing an end to the war in Ukraine.  As India’s global profile continues to rise, Ambassador Brink highlighted the country’s leadership as a critical factor in addressing various global challenges.  Bridget A Brink said India’s aspirations for global l leadership and its calls for collective action through its G20 theme of “One Earth, One Family, One Future” reflect the spirit needed to achieve “peace”.  India is yet to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It has been…