Tamil Nadu has pipped Maharashtra and Gujarat to emerge as the top state among coastal states in the Niti Aayog's Export Preparedness Index 2022. Tamil Nadu is followed by Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal and Kerala in that order in the ranking of coastal states.
Star Indian Shuttler Satwiksairaj Rankireddy has set the Guinness world record for the fastest shot by a male player in badminton, recording a mindboggling 565 kilometres per hour with his smash during the game. Satwik, who along with his partner Chirag Shetty won the Indonesia Open recently, broke a decade-long record set in May 2013 by Malaysian Tan Boon Heong.
The updated 2023 Henley Passport Index placed Singapore as the world's most powerful passport with visa-free access to 192 travel destinations out of 227 around the world. Three European countries Germany, Italy, and Spain move up one slot with 190 visa-free destinations and shared the second place. Japan was placed 3rd.
Former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has passed away. He was 79. He led the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) ministries in Kerala from August 31, 2004, to May 12, 2006, and from May 18, 2011, to May 20, 2016. He was elected to the Kerala Legislative Assembly for the first time in 1970.
A private Chinese company has launched the world’s first methane-liquid oxygen space rocket into orbit. The Zhuque-2 carrier rocket blasted from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. The first launch attempt of the Zhuqu-2 in December had failed.
The NITI Aayog, released, under the NITI Working Paper series, the Techno-Commercial Readiness and Market Maturity Matrix (TCRM Matrix) framework, a pioneering assessment tool designed to revolutionize technology evaluation, foster innovation, and fuel entrepreneurship in India.
India and the United States also jointly launched a call for proposals on Critical and Emerging Technology: Quantum Technologies and Artificial Intelligence for Transforming Lives. The Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF) and the Secretariat for USISTEF have designed the program.
GAIL (India)Limited and LanzaTech Global, Inc., USA have entered a partnership to explore innovative technology solutions that advance GAIL’s net-zero 2040 goals and have the potential to support wider decarbonization applications globally. The partnership between GAIL and LanzaTech Global Inc. is a milestone achievement in GAIL’s broader energy transition to reach Net Zero
Amazon and Apple were fined a total of 194 million euros (USD 218 million for colluding to box out competitors by favouring sales of Apple products directly from the online retail giant, Spain's antitrust watchdog said. Apple was fined 143.6 million euros (USD 161 million), while Amazon received a fine of 50.5 million euros (USD 56.7 million).
Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority (PFRDA) chairman Deepak Mohanty said that the regulator will allow pension funds to invest in sovereign green bonds when issued. The government is expected to issue sovereign green bonds in the second half of the current financial year (H2FY24) as part of overall market borrowing programme.
Cognizant Technology Solutions announced that it has launched an innovation and development centre in collaboration with Max Life Insurance Co. Ltd (Max Life) in Chennai. The facility aims to bring together teams from both companies to accelerate Max Life’s digital transformation efforts.
Microsoft will release a new version of Meta Platforms’ artificial-intelligence language model in a partnership between the tech giants that will make the software available to companies for the first time. The Meta AI model, dubbed Llama 2, will be free and available to developers building software on Microsoft’s Azure cloud-computing platform.
Two frontline Indian Naval ships INS Sahyadri and INS Kolkata arrived in Indonesia's Jakarta to participate in the Maritime Partnership Exercise (MPX) with the Indonesian Navy. INS Sahyadri is the third indigenously designed and built Project-17 class stealth frigate and INS Kolkata is the first indigenously designed and built stealth destroyer of the Project-15A class.
Both the ships have been built at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd, Mumbai.
OPPO India in collaboration with NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) as its knowledge partner has announced the establishment of an Atal Tinkering Lab (ATL) in Kerala. This collaboration marks the establishment of the first-ever Atal Tinkering Lab, based on the PPP (Public-Private Partnership) model.