Author: Jyotismita Maitra

India’s Education Ministry issued an advisory on education technology (edtech) platforms, stating that some firms target families by getting their consent on Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) mandate or activating the auto-debit feature. “Given the pervasive impact of technology in education, many Ed-tech companies have started offering courses, coaching, tutorials for competitive exams, etc., in an online mode. The Department of School Education and Literacy had received several complaints regarding such offers. In this background, the parents, students and all stakeholders in school education have to be very much careful while deciding on opting for online content and coaching being offered…

Omicron cases in South Africa sees a noticeable drop in recent days may signal that the country’s dramatic Omicron-driven surge has passed its peak, medical experts say. South Africa is at the forefront of the Omicron wave, and the world is eagerly watching for any signs of how it may play out there to try to understand what may be in store for the future.   After hitting a high of nearly 27,000 new cases nationwide on December 12, the numbers dropped to about 15,424 on December 17. In Gauteng province of South Africa’s, one of the most populous provinces of…

When athletes choose their discipline in India, there’s very little science involved. Mirabai Chanu, a silver medallist in women’s 49kg weightlifting at Tokyo Olympics 2021, was not a different case. “This journey has been good for me. It wasn’t easy in the beginning. I worked for the Tokyo Olympics for five years. After failing at the Rio Olympics, my only aim was to win a medal at the Tokyo Games,” Mirabai told to media.   Being the youngest of the six siblings living in Nongpok Kakching, a village 45 km south of Manipur’s capital Imphal, Mirabai, portrayed great strength as a kid. While…

Vickat’s wedding, the most private yet the most talked about wedding of B’town. The VicKat wedding is the only topic running around in B’town and everyone’s feeds. Actors Katrina Kaif and Vicky Kaushal’s big fat Indian wedding took place on December 9, 2021. The duo had managed to keep all the details undercover, but still, all eyes were on the big fat starry Indian wedding. The couple got married at the Six Senses Fort Barwara, a luxury resort in Rajasthan.  Their couple is termed as Vickat’s wedding and it’s been popular on social media nad all as the same. Vickat’s…

The Perseverance rover robot of the American space agency Nasa to explore Mars’ surface has made a surprising discovery. Scientists who look after the mission say the discovery was “completely unexpected”. The scientists believed that the layered rocks that Perseverance took photos of were sedimentary.    NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) said that this discovery could accurately date important events in the history of the Red Planet. JPL noted that where the Perseverance rover is carrying out its findings on the rocks of Jezero Crater. There has been proper evidence of the presence of water.  It suggested that some rocks also contain organic molecules. The results were declared at a news briefing at the American Geophysical Union Fall Science Meeting in New Orleans. Scientists were always looking at the composition of the…

According to the recent estimate by the Reserve Bank of India, over 1,100 online loaning apps are available in India on various internet platforms. Surprisingly, over 600 of these apps are for Android users in India, which were utterly unlawful, and they were distributed across over 80 app stores. The Telangana police Friday stated that at least 60 such loan applications available on the Google Play Store are not recognised or registered by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as an NBFC, and their operations were unlawful. The response from the Telangana police comes in the incident of a jobless techie’s…

On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated to the people the first phase of the mega-project — Shri Kashi Vishwanath Dham, which is constructed at the cost of around Rs 339 crore. This project connects the temple premises to the river Ganga besides providing several facilities to devotees. Varanasi has been the home constituency of Modi since 2014. On the first day of his two-day visit to the temple town, Modi first paid obeisance at Kal Bhairav Mandir, fondly called ‘Kashi ke Kotwal’, and after officially opening the corridor in the presence of a larger number of seers and saints.…

India updates travel rules for the international travellers As the Indian Government declared, all international passengers must submit 14 days’ travel history and upload negative Covid test results on the Air Suvidha portal. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) have announced this updated rule. With the new fears over a new Covid variant, ‘Omicron’, the Government has issued new rules for international travellers arriving in India. These were announced following a high-level meeting to review public health preparedness with states and UTs. All international travellers must submit 14 days’ travel history and…

On December 6, India and Russia underlined that Afghanistan should not be used for sheltering, planning, training or financing any terrorist groups, including ISIS, the Al-Qaeda and the Lashkar-e-Taiba, and decided to provide humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people. The annual summit between India and Russia happened after two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Last time, Modi had visited Vladivostok to attend the conference in September 2019. In their meet up, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin pitched for forming a genuinely inclusive government in Kabul. According to a joint statement, they reiterated their strong support…

Fats are considered harmful even though they are nutrients we all need in our diets. The biggest concern is making sure we don’t have too much fat. Dietary fats are essential to give our body energy and support cell function. These fats also help protect our organs and help keep our bodies warm. Fats help our body to absorb nutrients and produce vital hormones, too. Excessive fat in the body can lead to weight gain, but skipping it from the diet is not a good move. Hence, if we cut out all the fat from the diet, we deprive our body of what it needs the most.  The fats our body gets from our…