The prelude to the International Water Conclave 2024 concluded on Wednesday with a successful Curtain Raiser event at the State Convention Centre, Shillong. Attended by esteemed dignitaries, experts, and stakeholders, the event set the stage for meaningful discussions and collaborations aimed at addressing water challenges in hill states.

The Curtain Raiser event commenced with fervor as it was graced by the presence of esteemed dignitaries, including the State Minister of the Water Resources Department Coming One Ymbon, Additional Chief Secretary Dr. Shakil P. Ahammed, Commissioner & Secretary, Soil & Water Conservation Department Dr. Joram Beda, and SC Sadhu, Secretary Water Resources, along with other officials, experts, and stakeholders from the water conservation sector.

Maharashtra Government has decided to introduce ‘Chief Minister Vayoshree Yojana’ that is likely to benefit 15 lakh senior citizens who suffer from some physical or mental disability. These citizens, above the age of 65 years, will be screened and those found eligible will be paid three thousand rupees. The scheme will be implemented across all districts at an approximate cost of 480 crore rupees.

With an aim to boost the confidence of depositors in cooperative societies, the government has announced an assistance scheme. According to an official press release, the government will form an independent entity that will pay back deposits of upto one lakh rupees in case a non-agricultural cooperative society goes bankrupt. While the government has announced an initial corpus of hundred crore rupees as its contribution for this entity, the cooperatives too will have to contribute ten paise for every hundred rupees of deposits that they receive. About three crore depositors are expected to benefit from this decision.

Union Culture Minister G. Kishan Reddy on Monday laid the foundation stone for India's digital National Museum of Epigraphy at the Salar Jung Museum. Spearheaded by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), this museum will house approximately one lakh ancient writings spanning various times and languages.

This initiative follows the announcement made last year by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman regarding the establishment of the Bharat Shared Repository of Inscriptions (BharatSHRI), with the goal of digitizing one lakh ancient inscriptions.

During the ceremony, Reddy hailed the development as a significant step forward in the Modi government's commitment to "Vikas Bhi Virasat Bhi" (Development and Heritage). He emphasized the administration's dedication to utilizing technology to ensure universal access to art and heritage.

As Earth continues to extinguish its limited years and resources, scientists have been trying to find a habitable place for humanity to flourish and not get extinct if the blue planet becomes inhabitable. 

Now, in a remarkable finding, NASA has said it has discovered a "super-Earth” which has potential conditions and temperature for sustaining life.

The newly discovered exoplanet, which is 137 light years away from Earth, has been orbiting within a "habitable zone," as per NASA.

As per the astronomers, the exoplanet dubbed TOI-715b is around one and half times the Earth’s width and has been orbiting a small, reddish star. 

A small but powerful Chinese rocket capable of sending payloads at competitive costs delivered nine satellites into orbit on Saturday, Chinese state media reported, in what is gearing up to be another busy year for Chinese commercial launches.

The Jielong-3, or Smart Dragon-3, blasted off from a floating barge off the coast of Yangjiang in southern Guangdong province. It was the third launch of the rocket, developed by China Rocket Co, a commercial offshoot of a state-owned launch vehicle manufacturer, since December 2022.

President Xi Jinping has called for the expansion of strategic industries including the commercial space sector, deemed key to building constellations of satellites for communications, remote sensing and navigation.

Following the inauguration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has designed a comprehensive tour program based on places of pilgrim importance as cited in the Ramayana.

The first of such tours began on February 4, and a group of 122 tourists from United Kingdom (60), Portugal (52), and India (10) are touring multiple sites including the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple in Ayodhya, the Bharat-Hanuman temple in Nandigram, the Janaki Mandir in Nepal’s Janakpur, the Punaura Dham in Sitamarhi, the Rameshwar Nath Temple in Buxar, the Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi and so on.

An IRCTC official said that such tours are done on special request by groups of tourists.

Call it a smart acronym or a bid to keep Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in good humour, the Bihar State Disaster Management Authority has introduced a device matching the CM’s name for farmers and common people to alert them on lightning, floods, heatwaves, and coldwaves.

Termed Novel Initiative Technological Intervention for Safety of Humanlives (NITISH), the disaster management authority, in collaboration with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Patna, has come up with a pendant-shaped device that will sound alert to its users through voice message on lightning, floods, heatwaves and coldwaves. The device is synced with the Bihar meteorological service centre.

The device was recently launched in presence of the CM in Patna earlier this week. When the CM learnt about the name of the device, he smiled and said the state government has its eyes fixed on strengthening its disaster management system.

The authorities in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro have declared a health emergency as they try to contain the spread of dengue fever.

The incidents of the mosquito-borne disease quadrupled in Brazil in January compared to the same month last year.

Rio has registered 10,000 cases so far this year, compared to 23,000 for the whole of 2023.

Dengue can cause a fever, severe headache, pain behind the eyes, muscle and joint pain, and a blotchy rash.

In a surprise move, Tata Digital, the superapp from Tata Sons, on Tuesday announced the appointment of Naveen Tahilyani, as chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director (MD).

Tahilyani replaces Pratik Pal, who was at the helm since the Tata group announced its foray into digital commerce and the creation of the Tata Neu supperapp.

Tahilyani is currently the CEO and MD of Tata AIA Life Insurance Company.

Tata Digital said Tahilyani comes with a strong understanding of the Indian consumer landscape and extensive experience in the financial services sector. He has a proven track record of driving innovation, fostering collaboration, and achieving operational excellence.

In a significant diplomatic event, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to address the World Government Summit (WGS) in Dubai as the “guest of honour” on February 14. This marks the second time PM Modi has been invited to speak at the prestigious summit, the first being in 2018. 

The WGS is an annual global gathering that brings together world leaders, policymakers, experts, and thought leaders from various fields to discuss and address pressing global issues.

The summit, scheduled from February 12 to 14, has been a staple in Dubai since 2013, attracting participants from governments, international organisations, academia, and the private sector. The development comes just a month after UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan graced the 10th Vibrant Gujarat edition in January as the chief guest.