Author: Shambhavi Sinha

FM Nirmala Sitharaman releases the assessment report of the States and Union Territories under ‘Business Reforms Action Plan (BRAP), 2020’. Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce & Industry and Anurag Jain, Secretary of the DPIIT were also present. According to a report released by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, and Telangana are three of the seven states recognised as topmost achievers in the ranking of states and Union Territories grounded on the execution of the business reform action plan 2020. The other states on the list of top players involve Haryana, Karnataka, Punjab, and Tamil Nadu. The…

As Sweden and Finland set to join NATO, Ukrainian leader push for more support, modern artillery systems and other armaments from the alliance. As the leaders of the alliance met in the midst of what its chief described as its gravest crisis since World War II, Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, rebuked NATO for not supporting his embattled nation more fully and requested more armaments to combat Russia’s invasion. The peace in Europe was disrupted by Russia’s invasion of its neighbour. As a result, NATO sent troops and weapons into eastern Europe on a scale not seen since the Cold War.…

War in Ukraine has triggered Europe’s worst security crisis in decades. Nato leaders meet for a summit, emphasising on boosting defence against the threat. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused a huge transformation in NATO’s approach to defence. The alliance’s leader said on Tuesday that member states will have to spend more on their militaries in an increasingly unstable world. As US Vice President Joe Biden and other NATO leaders arrived in Madrid for a summit that will determine the direction of the alliance for the upcoming years, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg spoke. He said that in order to be able…

On Friday, Zomato announced the acquisition of Blinkit. Many investors don’t approve of adding another loss-making company to its portfolio, leading to a fall of 6.6 percent in the company shares. Following the company’s announcement on Friday after market hours, of the acquisition of quick commerce startup firm Blinkit in an all-stock deal for INR 4,447 Cr, shares of meal delivery startup Zomato plunged 6.6 percent to INR 65.85 on the NSE on Monday, June 27. “While the deal adds long-term value to Zomato, many investors don’t approve of it adding another loss-making company to its portfolio,” analysts revealed in…

Amazon India senior exec Tiwary expressed enthusiasm for the prospects of ONDC. He also shares the pledges made by Amazon for India’s economy by 2025. According to Manish Tiwary, Amazon’s Country Manager for India Consumer Business, the company is “excited” about the Open Network for Digital Commerce’s potential in the country’s still-developing e-commerce market. Tiwary called the network a fascinating concept. The opinions take on relevance in light of the government’s April 2022 launch of India’s own open network for digital commerce, or ONDC pilot programme in five cities. It is a UPI-type protocol, which is part of an ambitious…

In order to recoup payment for GST dues, the finance ministry has given an extension of nearly 4 years for the levy of GST compensation cess, till March 31, 2026. The Ministry of Finance has announced an extension of the levy and collection of compensation cess under the indirect tax regime until March 2026. The notification came days before the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meeting, which is to be held on June 28-29. The GST Council previously approved the repayment of loans intended to compensate states for the five years since the July 2017 rollout. This extension of…

Indian envoy Rawat attends his first meeting with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi ahead of the BRICS summit. They had a discussion on various issues of importance for both the countries. On Wednesday, Indian Ambassador Pradeep Kumar Rawat met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. With the virtual BRICS summit on Thursday, this meeting assumed significance. This year’s virtual BRICS was hosted by President Xi Jinping which Prime Minister Narendra Modi took part in. Rawat emphasised the importance of maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas to realise the full potential of the consensus between the top leaders of…

Tiny self-propelled robot-fish can swim around, latch on to microplastics that are free-floating in the sea, and repair themselves in case of damage. Scientists have designed a tiny self-propelled robot-fish to remove microplastics from water bodies. The material used in the construction of the fish, which is similar to nacre, has regenerative properties and can adsorb microplastics. Currently only functions on water surfaces. Further study will develop advanced models that will be capable of travelling deeper under-water. Scientists have designed a tiny robot-fish that is programmed to clear microplastics from the seas and oceans by swimming around and adsorbing them…

CBI, on Monday, arrested Joint Drugs Controller for accepting Rs. 4 lakh bribe to waive off 3rd phase trial of Biocon’s Insulin Aspart Injection; company denies. JDC Reddy was arrested under charges of accepting a bribe from Biocon Biologics. He was caught accepting a bribe of Rs. 4 lakh from Dinesh Dua on behalf of the company. The bribe was exchanged in return for getting regulatory clearance for their insulin injection and other favors at the SEC meeting. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday detained a Joint Drugs Controller (JDC) of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO).…

The Gaia Data Release 3 (DR3) reported on June 13th transforms our knowledge of the Solar System and the Milky Way and its satellite galaxies. According to a study by the University of Helsinki, the European Gaia space mission has produced an extraordinary amount of new, improved, and detailed data for almost two billion objects in the Milky Way galaxy and the surrounding cosmos. The Gaia space mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) is constructing an ultraprecise three-dimensional map of our Milky Way galaxy. The map observes almost two billion stars (approx. one percent of all). Gaia was launched…