# Digital ocean     Union minister for science and technology Harsh vardhan has launched the “Digital ocean” platform of Indian national centre for oceanic information services (INCOIS).  It is a one stop solution for all data related needs of a wide range of users, includung research institutions, operation agencies, strategic users, academic community, […]

  # Driverless train     PM Modi flagged off India’s first driverless train. This country’s first driverless train will run on the Delhi metro’s magenta line. PM Modi also said that by 2025, metro will be functional in 25 cities from current 7. The national common mobility card was also introduced for use on […]

  # Afghan peace talks     The next round of negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghanistan government will be held in Qatar from 5th jan next month. Afghan peace talks began on September 12 in Doha, but negotiations are currently on a break till jan 5. President Ashraf ghani has requested to shift […]

  # New coronavirus variant     A meeting of the national task force on covid-19 convened by the Indian council of medical research (ICMR), has concluded that while there was no need to change the existing treatment protocol in view of the mutations emerging in the SARS-COV-2 strain. 5% of the positive cases from […]

  # Dry run for vaccine rollout     The centre is gearing up for the roll out of the covid-19 vaccine across the country, with four states to initiate a dry run next week. Andhra pradesh, punjab, assam and gujarat have been selected considering the geographical locations. Each state will plan it in two […]

  # Priority to olympic teams     A parliamentary panel has recommended putting athletes, coaches, and support staff going to the 2021 Tokyo olympics in the priority group for covid-19 vaccination. The standing committee on education, women, children, youth and sports headed by BJP MP Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, submitted its report on “preparation of olympic […]

  # Cairn energy     India has been ordered to return upto $ 1.4 billion to Cairn energy PLC of United Kingdom. India lost the arbitration case at an international arbitration tribunal. The three member tribunal comprised of a nominee of the Indian government. The tribunal uninamously ruled that India’s claim of 10,247 crore […]

  # India-Bangladesh relations   Summit level talks held between India & Bangladesh on thursday, just a day after historic Bangladesh liberation day. PM Modi said in the summit that Bangladesh is a major pillar of India’s “neighbourhood first “policy. The two leaders remotely launched the rail link between Chilahati (Bangladesh) and Haldibari (West bengal), […]

  # Covaxin phase 1 trials   Phase 1 results show that covaxin, a covid-19 vaccine candidate is safe. It was well tolerated in all dose groups and generated a robust immune response. This result is released in a preprint paper titled “A phase 1: safety and immunogenicity trial of an inactivated SARS-COV-2 vaccine namely […]

  # Quotas for IIT faculty     A committee constituted by the union ministry of education to suggest measures for effective implementation of reservation policies in IITs has recommended that the institutions be exempted from following the policies in faculty recruitment. The committee based its recommendations primarily on arguements claiming the need for IITs […]