In a significant development, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was renewed for five years between the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Department of Posts for the continued accessibility of passport services through the Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSKs).
Launched in 2017, the Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSKs) service has been instrumental in facilitating passport-related services to over 1.52 Crore citizens, particularly in rural and underserved areas, ensuring wider accessibility to passport services for citizens across India.
The network of Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSKs) has grown significantly over the years, with 442 centres currently operational nationwide.
As part of this initiative, the number of Passport Seva Kendra’s is planned to be extended to 600 centres across the country by 2028-29,
ensuring greater accessibility and convenience for citizens expanding the annual customer base from 35 lakh to 1 crore over the next five years. This initiative reflects the collaborative effort of both ministries to improving the citizen experience by ensuring a seamless, accessible, and efficient passport issuance process.
The Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and New & Renewable Energy, Shri Pralhad Joshi launched ‘Anna Chakra’, the Public Distribution System (PDS) Supply chain optimisation tool and SCAN (Subsidy Claim Application for NFSA) portal a significant step towards modernizing the Public Distribution System and subsidy claim mechanisms of the States.
“Anna Chakra” PDS Supply Chain optimization, spearheaded by Department of Food Public Distribution, is a landmark initiative to enhance the efficiency of the PDS logistics network across the country. Developed in collaboration with the World Food Programme (WFP) and Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT), IIT-Delhi,
the project leverages advanced algorithms to identify optimal routes and ensure seamless movement of food grains across supply chain nodes. An operation of this magnitude involves a complex supply chain, relying on multiple stakeholders starting from farmers to Fair Price Shops.
SCAN (Subsidy Claim Application for NFSA) portal will provide for a single window submission of subsidy claims by states, claim scrutiny and approval by DFPD facilitating expeditious settlement process. The portal will ensure end-to-end workflow automation of all the processes for release and settlement of food subsidy using rule-based processing.
The Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a $50 million loan aimed at enhancing water security by constructing water-harvesting systems to improve access to water and reducing community vulnerability against climate change impacts in Meghalaya.
The signatories to the loan agreement for the Climate-Adaptative Community-Based Water-Harvesting Project in Meghalaya were Ms. Juhi Mukherjee, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, for the Government of India, and Ms. Mio Oka, Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission, for ADB.
The project will support the construction of 532 small water-storage facilities across 12 districts. These facilities will incorporate climate-resilient designs to capture and manage heavy rainfall and flash floods during monsoon season. The stored water shall improve water security during the dry season.
The project will develop 3,000 hectares of command area to provide reliable irrigation areas for farmers. It will establish 50 weather stations for climate data gathering and monitoring, and micro-irrigation systems in Garo, Jaintia, and Khasi regions. The project will also pilot-test renewable energy micro-hydropower in three WHSs.
ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 69 members—49 from the region.
Secretary, Ministry of Textiles chaired the 09th Empowered Programme Committee (EPC) meeting under the National Technical Textiles Mission, today. The committee has approved 02 Start-Ups with a grant of approx. INR 50 Lakhs, each, under the ‘Grant for Research & Entrepreneurship across Aspiring Innovators in Technical Textiles (GREAT)’ scheme.
The committee has also approved a grant of approx. INR 14 Cr. to 06 Education Institutes to introduce courses in Technical Textiles under the ‘General Guidelines for Enabling of Academic Institutes in Technical Textiles’.
The approved Start-Up projects are focused on key strategic areas of Sustainable Textiles and Medical Textiles.
The approved Education Institutes have proposed to introduce new B.Tech courses in different fields and applications of technical textiles including Medical Textile, Mobile Textiles, Geotextiles, Geosynthetics, etc.
India and Kuwait decided to set up a joint commission for cooperation (JCC) at the foreign ministers' level, which will act as an umbrella mechanism to comprehensively review and monitor the entire gamut of bilateral ties, officials said.
The decision was taken at a meeting between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Kuwaiti counterpart Abudullah Ali Al Yahya, who arrived here on Tuesday as part of his first official visit to India.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the two ministers reviewed the entire spectrum of India-Kuwait ties in diverse areas,
including trade, investment, energy, food security and people-to-people ties. They also exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual interest.
The two ministers signed an MoU on establishing a joint commission for cooperation (JCC) at the level of foreign ministers, the MEA said.
Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, from the governing South West Africa People's Organisation (Swapo), has been voted in as Namibia's first female president after disputed election.
The electoral commission said she had won more than 57% of vote, with her closest rival Panduleni Itula, getting 26%.
Swapo has been in power in the large but sparsely populated southern African country since independence in 1990.
A party stalwart, Nandi-Ndaitwah, who is currently the vice-president, is a trusted leader having served in high government office for a quarter of a century.
In Men's Junior Asia Cup 2024, the Indian hockey team triumphed over their arch-rivals Pakistan, securing a 5-3 victory to claim their record-extending fifth title. The match, held in Muscat, Oman, was a rollercoaster of emotions as both teams battled fiercely for the prestigious trophy.
The win was a proud moment for Indian hockey, with Araijeet Singh Hundal’s exceptional performance being the highlight of a memorable final. After being 1-3 down,the Indian team showed remarkable resilience, drawing level at 3-3. Araijeet’s clinical finishing played a pivotal role in India's recovery. He scored twice more to ensure India maintained a firm grip on the match.
Morgan Stanley has again cut its GDP growth projection for India to 6.3 percent for this fiscal year, down from its earlier estimate of 6.7 per cent. This come days after India's GDP slowed to a seven quarter low in the July-September quarter. Morgan Stanley had cut India's growth target for FY25 to 6.7% earlier in November and ahead of the Q2 GDP data.
India’s GDP growth slowed to 5.4 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in the July-September quarter of 2024, marking its lowest level since March 2023. This was below the 6.7 per cent growth seen in the previous quarter and also fell short of Morgan Stanley’s forecast of 6.3 per cent, as well as the consensus estimate of 6.5 per cent.
World Soil Day (WSD) is held annually on 5 December as a means to focus attention on the importance of healthy soil and to advocate for the sustainable management of soil resources.
An international day to celebrate soil was recommended by the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) in 2002.
World Soil Day 2024 (WSD) campaign, under the theme Caring for soils: measure, monitor, manage underscores the importance of accurate soil data and information in understanding soils characteristics and supporting informed decision-making on sustainable soil management for food security.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) imposed a Rs.9 lakh monetary penalty on Reliance Securities for “flouting market norms” and stock broker rules.
According to a PTI report,the market regulator's order came after National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) carried out a thematic onsite inspection of the books of accounts,
records and other documents of authorised persons (APs) of Reliance Securities Ltd (RSL).
The inspection was conducted to ascertain whether the same are being maintained in the manner required by RSL, concerning provisions of stock brokers rules, NSEIL Capital Market (CM) regulations and NSE Future & Options (FO) trading norms.
Australian tennis great Neale Fraser, who won 19 Grand Slam titles, has died aged 91, officials said as tributes poured in.
The former world number one lifted three major singles titles, including Wimbledon in 1960, together with 16 Grand Slam doubles crowns.
In 1959 he won all three US titles -- singles, doubles and mixed -- at Forest Hills and led Australia to glory in the Davis Cup, a competition he became synonymous with and captained his country in.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has increased the transaction limit for offline digital payments through UPI Lite. The move can benefit many people, especially those who live in places with poor internet connectivity. UPI Lite transactions are offline in the sense that there is no need to enter a UPI PIN while making payments.
The RBI has hiked the per-transaction limits on UPI Lite from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000. The overall wallet limit of UPI Lite has also been raised from Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000.
UPI Lite is designed to enable instant, low-value offline payments which form the bulk of retail payments made across India.
The initial framework, which was unveiled in January 2022 and revised in August 2023, was designed to make small-value digital payments easier to make offline payments. For low-value purchases, UPI Lite makes it possible to carry out transactions without internet connectivity, making payments quicker and easier.
The Reserve Bank of India's decision to increase the UPI Lite wallet limit to ₹5,000 and enhance the per-transaction limit to Rs 1,000 marks a significant milestone in fostering a more inclusive digital payment ecosystem.This move directly addresses the needs of individuals in regions with inconsistent internet access by enabling faster, more convenient offline transaction.
Outgoing United States (US) President Joe Biden's administration notified the US Congress of its decision to approve the sale of MH-60R multi-mission helicopter equipment and related supplies at an estimated cost of $1.17 billion.
The Biden administration's approval of the sale of major defence equipment to New Delhi comes weeks ahead of the completion of its four-year term, with President-elect Donald Trump slated to be sworn in as the 47th US President on January 20, 2025.
The principal contractor will be Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems. The MH-60R helicopters are manufactured by Sikorsky, a subsidiary of aerospace giant Lockheed Martin.
On March 6, the Indian Navy commissioned its first squadron of the then newly-inducted MH-60R Seahawk multi-role helicopter at INS Garuda, Kochi.
Every year on December 4th, Indian Navy Day is celebrated to honour the brave men and women who serve and protect our nation and its waters. These courageous sailors endure rigorous discipline and face challenging environments yet remain resilient in the face of adversity.
Navy Day is observed in commemoration of ‘Operation Trident’ during the 1971 India-Pakistan war. On this day, the Navy launched a successful attack on Pakistan's key port city, Karachi. This operation not only marked a major military victory but also showcased India's growing naval power and influence.
International Volunteer Day, commonly known as IVD, is celebrated on 5 December every year. It started as an international observance mandated by the United Nations General Assembly in 1985. It is a day where volunteers are acknowledged and the spirit of volunteerism is promoted at the local, national and international levels.
United Nations Volunteers joins IVD celebrations with UN Volunteers and all volunteers around the world—amplifying the importance of people-led solutions to our common challenges.
Volunteers create a richer culture of service within their communities. They help bridge the gap between generations and support sustainable development.
