This year marks the 10th International Day of Yoga with the theme “Yoga for Self and Society.” Yoga, a transformative practice, represents the harmony of mind and body,the balance between thought and action, and the unity of restraint and fulfillment. Recognizing its universal appeal, on 11 December 2014,the United Nations proclaimed 21 June as the International Day of Yoga
The draft resolution establishing the International Day of Yoga was proposed by India and endorsed by a record 175 member states. The proposal was first introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address during the opening of the 69th session of the General Assembly.
A solstice — derived from the Latin sol ("sun") and sistere ("to stand still"), because the seasonal movement of the Sun's daily path (as seen from Earth) appears to "stand still" at a northern or southern limit before reversing direction — is an event that occurrs when the Sun reaches its most northerly or southerly day-arc relative to the equator.
There are two solstices that occur annually: around June 21 (commonly known as "Summer Solstice" for being the first day of summer and the longest day of the year) and December 21 (commonly known as "Winter Solstice" for being the first day of winter and the shortest day of the year).
In order to enhance road safety, NHAI has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (Delhi), a Technical University established by Government of National Capital Territory (NCT) to leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) based solutions for improvement in the availability of road signs on National Highways.
As a part of the agreement, IIIT Delhi will conduct surveys for collecting imagery and other related data related to availability and condition of road signages on selected National Highways stretches. The tentative length to be covered under this project shall be around 25,000 km. The data collected through surveys will be processed by IIIT Delhi through deployment of AI.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das emphasized the transformative potential of advanced and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and big data analytics in financial institutions. Speaking at the second edition of the global conference on financial resilience organized by the College of Supervisors (CoS) of RBI in Mumbai.
Every year, June 21 is marked as the day of the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere of the world. The solstices, which mark the changing of seasons, occur twice a year and indicate the year’s shortest and longest daylight hours, depending on the hemisphere in which one is located, during which the length of day and night differ significantly.
This makes solstice days more noticeable to many observers in comparison to the subtle equality of day and night experienced during equinoxes. After an enduring arctic winter for half a year, the northern hemisphere witnesses the longest day and shortest night of the year, marking the summer solstice, whereas the southern hemisphere experiences summer in December.
India is home to over 3,600 startups in the deeptech space, and ranks sixth in the global deeptech ecosystem, according to a recent Nasscom-Zinnov study.
Of the 3,600 deeptech's over 480 deeptech startups were established in CY23 alone, which is two times higher than 2022, the report titled ‘India's deeptech dawn: forging ahead’.
Notably, 74 per cent of the deeptech startups established in 2023 have concentrated on AI, a significant increase from 62 per cent in the period from 2014 to 2022, the report said. According to the CY23 report, Indian deeptech startups witnessed a dip of 77 per cent in funding compared to the last year and secured $850 million in investments.
The government has appointed Girija Subramanian as chairman and managing director (CMD) of the largest general insurer, New India Assurance, effective from June 19, 2024, until she attains the age of superannuation or until further orders. She is a fellow member of the Insurance Institute of India and also an associate member of the Chartered Insurance Institute, London.
World Music Day or Fête de la Musique is celebrated every year on 21 June. This special day was conceived in 1981 by Jack Lang, the French Minister of Culture, along with music composer Maurice Fleuret and radio producer and music journalist, with the aim of dedicating a day to music and its universal language.
India has been ranked 63rd on a global Energy Transition Index released by the World Economic Forum. European nations dominated the top ranks with Sweden topping the index, followed by Denmark, Finland, Switzerland and France in the top five. China was ranked 20th.
Globally, the report said the energy transition to a more equitable, secure and sustainable energy system is still progressing but has lost momentum in the face of increasing uncertainty worldwide. While 107 of the 120 countries benchmarked in report demonstrated progress on their energy transition journeys in the past decade, the overall pace of the transition has slowed.
Times of India is the most trusted major news media brand in India, according to a 47-country survey conducted by Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ), Oxford University. The survey, released as part of Digital News Report 2024, an annual publication by the institute, found TOI had a trust score of 71. TOI had also topped the survey in 2021 and 2022.
The most trusted brand in the UK, BBC News, had a trust score of 62 and the most trusted paper in that country, Financial Times, scored 57. Similarly, in the US, local TV news had the highest trust score of 62 while New York Times (50), Wall Street Journal (49), CNN (48) and Washington Post (46) scored much lower.