The implementation of the NEP and four-year undergraduate programme were approved by the Standing Committee on Academic Matters and the Academic Council last week.
Initial data has shown immunity triggered by the two mRNA vaccines -- Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna -- lasts for at least six months
The Supreme Court Wednesday refused to entertain pleas seeking time-bound probe, including by an apex court-appointed commission, into the tractor rally violence in the national capital on the Republic Day saying the government is already inquiring the matter and the Prime Minister has stated that law will take its own course.
From NITI Aayog to industry leaders to the Reserve Bank of India, all are apprehensive that any major increase in MSP, following the 2018-19 Budget announcements, would push up prices, if not immediately, in the next six to eight months after the decision is taken.
UltraTech Cement was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising 3.06 per cent, followed by IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Titan, Axis Bank, SBI and Reliance Industries. NSE Nifty advanced 78.35 pointsto close at 14,814.75.
'India finds itself in an unenviable situation today with its prospects diminished by acutely polarised domestic politics and the setbacks suffered during the pandemic,' notes Ambassador Shyam Saran, the former foreign secretary.
Consumption of gold is the highest among middle-income households - those with annual income between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 10 lakh - who account for an average of 56 per cent of gold sales over the last five years, according to a nationwide survey conducted by India Gold Policy Centre (IGPC) at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A). "Per capita consumption is highest among the rich, but total volume still rests with the middle-income group. "With increasing income, there is an increasing propensity to consume gold, although the share of gold in the portfolio does not increase with the same proportion of income," the survey report says.
Seven decades after they became extinct in India, eight Cheetahs arrived in the country from Namibia by a special flight on Saturday morning and were released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park (KNP).
There could be a paucity of isolation and ICU beds, and ventilators, according to a study.
The initiative is being called lateral recruitment to senior positions in the government.
The Union health ministry on Wednesday dismissed media reports claiming there was dissent from technical experts about increasing the gap between two Covishield doses and said the decision was based on scientific reason about the behaviour of adenovector vaccines.
Gold, which lost its sheen to some extent in the second half of 2021, is likely to regain the glitter in the New Year and cross the Rs 55,000-per-10-grams level amid pandemic woes, inflation worries and stronger US dollar. After a stellar run up in 2020 when the yellow metal touched a record high of Rs 56,200 on the MCX in August, the prices are near Rs 48,000 per 10 grams now. This is roughly 14 per cent lower from the all-time highs and 4 per cent lesser compared to January 2021 levels.
More than 1,000 independent directors have quit since January 2017; more could be on their way out
Funding challenges are not limited to just one think tank. Several scholars say that access for conducting research and getting foreign funds has become a major hurdle for think tanks, with the government raising many questions regarding such inflows. As a result, many think tanks are keeping a low profile and becoming less prolific.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the participation of the private sector in the entire range of space activities, including planetary exploration missions, Union minister Jitendra Singh said. The newly-created Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) will provide a level playing field for private companies to use Indian space infrastructure, Singh, who is the minister of state in the Prime Minister's Office, said.
Among the key demands of agitating farmers has been a legal guarantee on minimum support price (MSP). The protest reached a crescendo when thousands of farmers from Punjab and elsewhere marched towards Delhi late last year and decided to block the main entry points once they were denied entry. The Centre, on its part, held 11 rounds of discussions with the protesters and even offered to amend some of the provisions without much success. With now one of their chief demands met, farmers have now moved on to force the government to concede on MSP.
India and Indians can ignore Pakistan, but that cannot be said of other nations in the neighbourhood, where New Delhi's 'Neighbourhood First' policy constantly reverberates. Four of the eight SAARC member-nations are Muslim -- Afghanistan and Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Maldives. The rulers decide the nation's India or anti-India policy in the first two, and street-opinion contributes to the same in the latter two, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
February 6 or 8 likely options; development will be the main theme
The new and highly transmissible Omicron variant of the deadly coronavirus has increased immune escape compared with the Delta variant and appears likely to become the dominant SARS-CoV-2 strain globally in 2022, according to Singapore-based experts.
Pro-growth economist Arvind Panagariya has been appointed as first vice-chairman of the newly announced NITI Aayog, which has replaced the Planning Commission.
Cities are setting the rules that now carry life and death implications for their residents, and most of these rules are sought to be set by the municipal authorities who have never wielded such power, reports Subhomoy Bhattacharjee.
"It is unrealistic to expect that COVID-19 pandemic can be eliminated at this stage given that community transmission is already well-established across large sections or sub-populations in the country," the report said.
'Antibodies remain in the blood for at least seven to nine months.'
'People always short-change the resilience of the economy.'
The 77 ministers have been divided into eight groups to develop technology-based resources, create a pool of professionals for recruiting in their teams and other similar initiatives to be adopted in the offices of all ministers' offices to bring more transparency and further improve and efficiency of the Modi government, the sources said.
'Better to prevent than to wait for evidence. Protection delayed can also mean protection denied'
Earlier this month, the Central government said in a reply in Parliament it had taken measures to double farmers' income by the end of FY23 and the progress made so far indicated it was "on the right track". However, a close look at the data and at the assumptions made shows that as of now, it appears the country is unlikely to achieve the goal in real terms.
'Rahul inspired Indian industry with an ethos, an ethos of being more confident, more independent, more thorough, more competitive, more generous, more public-spirited, and more national and more international all at once,' remembers Naushad Forbes.
'There is fear that the president and prime minister are dragging their feet and won't resign.'
Shankar Prajapati, a 57-year-old potter in Dharavi, has given up hope of getting a bigger house for his family. He lives cheek by jowl in a hutment measuring 200 square (sq.) feet (ft) in the nondescript shanty town. "We have surrendered to our fate. We cannot wait forever for better accommodation. "Perhaps we are not meant to dream big," despairs Prajapati. Raju Korde, president, Dharavi Redevelopment Committee, and a local resident, agrees with Prajapati.
'I have personally been very keen on investing in lithium ion battery technology for some time.'
'The government is doing away with crucial laws such as the Forest Conservation Act and the Environment Protection Act which had helped safeguard our forests.' 'The President has to show that she will stand in favour of tribal rights.'
IT spending in India is projected to rise 6 per cent to $81.9 billion in 2021 compared to this year on the back of growth across segments like enterprise software and IT services, research firm Gartner said on Monday. IT spending in 2020 is expected to total $79.3 billion, down 8.4 per cent from 2019. "The COVID-19 pandemic stalled many digital transformation projects for Indian enterprises, mainly because of the market uncertainties and reduced cash flows," Gartner research vice president Arup Roy said.
The recent report in the New York Times that China had brought India's financial capital - Mumbai - to a halt by hacking the electricity supply grid has not come as a surprise to the CTOs (chief technology officers) and cyber security experts. Indian companies, including critical infrastructure providers such as power grids, ports and radar systems, lack the IT infrastructure to prevent hacking from hostile state actors like China and North Korea, warn security experts. Recently, the United States government warned of yet another breach of critical systems tied to Microsoft Exchange email systems that the company has blamed on China. The breach has impacted thousands of organisations in the US and its impact on India is still unknown.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered a stay of the implementation of the contentious three new farm laws hoping this will end the prolonged protests by the farmers and also constituted a four-member panel of agri experts to resolve the impasse between their leaders and the Centre.
'The term 'pro-growth' must be qualified somewhat because, while a rising tide will lift all boats, it will not necessarily do so equally.'
Mid- and small-cap indices have outperformed the frontline benchmarks - the S&P BSE Sensex (up around 10 per cent) and the Nifty50 (13 per cent) - in the first half of calendar year 2021 (H1-CY21) by rallying 26 per cent and 39 per cent, respectively. The trend, analysts believe, is likely to continue in H2-CY21 as well. The outperformance in H1-CY21 comes on the back of improved earnings and strong inflows from the foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) in Indian equities. However, good monsoon so far, gradual opening up of the economy and the pick-up in the pace of vaccination provides support to the market.
'By not even acknowledging China's occupation of Indian territory Modi signalled to Beijing that he was not prepared to used forceful means to vacate the Chinese occupation, and that his government was reconciled to this loss of territory and accepted the fait accompli engineered by the PLA.'
'Imagine taking care of a patient who is infected with Covid. A human nurse is unable to do that due to fear of infection. The robot can do that task, while it is controlled or supervised by the human nurse. So the robot becomes an extension of the nurse.'
The NEET was conducted on September 13 amid strict precautions in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.