The Ministry of Ayush, Government of India and the World Health Organization signed a Donor Agreement during a signing ceremony organized at WHO Headquarters in Geneva on 31st July, 2024. This agreement, which outlines the financial terms for implementing the activities of the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre (GTMC) in Jamnagar, Gujarat was signed by H.E Mr. Arindam Bagchi, Permanent Representative of India to the UN, Geneva and Dr. Bruce Aylward, Assistant Director-General for Universal Health Coverage and Life Course on behalf of Ministry of Ayush and WHO respectively.

Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary of Ayush, joined the event virtually. The event was moderated by Dr. Shyama Kuruvilla, Director a.i. of WHO GTMC and vote of thanks was delivered by Dr. Razia Pendse, Chef de Cabinet, representing the Director-General of WHO.

Through this collaboration, the Government of the Republic of India will donate US$ 85 million over a period of 10 years (2022-2032) to support the operations of the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre (GTMC) in Jamnagar, Gujarat, India. The Donor agreement recognizes the establishment of the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre as a key knowledge hub for evidence-based Traditional Complementary and Integrative Medicine (TCIM) aiming to advance the health and well-being of people and the planet.

In a pioneering move, Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR) in Thekkady has installed a wind turbine to generate power for real-time monitoring cameras and Wi-Fi connectivity within its forests.

The PTR East Division comprises 17 forest sections where mobile network connectivity is currently unavailable. Until now, these sections have relied on solar power for wireless communication andforoperations at the forest section offices. However, the foggy climate and heavy rain often impede efficiency of these solar panels.

Elaborating on the project, Siby K.E., Thekkady range officer said, “We have already installed real-time monitoring cameras throughout the forests to track animal movements and transmit data to Thekkady. A 1-kilowatt wind turbine has been installed at Mangaladevi, a location with strong winds. This turbine charges batteries that power the cameras.”

India and 13 other Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) partners have launched three new supply chain bodies under the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Agreement on Supply Chain Resilience.

The virtual meetings, held on Tuesday, marked the start of the Supply Chain Council (SCC), Crisis Response Network (CRN), and Labor Rights Advisory Board (LRAB), representing a significant step toward strengthening regional supply chains.

These meetings saw the 14 IPEF partners reaffirm their commitment to enhancing the resilience and competitiveness of critical supply chains.

The IPEF Supply Chain Resilience Agreement, signed by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and other IPEF ministers in November 2023 in Washington, D.C., aims to make supply chains more robust and well-integrated. The Agreement, which came into force in February 2024, is intended to support the economic development of the Indo-Pacific region.

Lung cancer is one of the most common types of cancer that claims more than a million lives every year. The early signs of lung cancer include chest pain, cough accompanied by blood, wheezing, shortness of breath and weight loss. One of the predominant causes of lung cancer is tobacco consumption.

Exposure to pollution comes as a close second. In India, lung cancer is very common due to the harmful lifestyle habits, and exposure to polluted air. Every year, World Lung Cancer Day is observed to raise awareness and explore ways to combat it. As we gear up to observe the important day, here are a few things that we must keep in mind.

Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) has partnered with C2treds and UGRO Capital to facilitate loans to the MSME sector.

Sidbi has onboarded C2treds, a platform that offers MSMEs liquidity within 24 hours through an online bidding process, C2FO said in a release.

C2FO is an on-demand working capital platform, providing fast, flexible and equitable access to low-cost capital to nearly 2 million businesses worldwide.

"Through this strategic collaboration, C2treds aims to enhance liquidity for MSMEs at competitive interest rates," it said.

C2treds operates under the Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS) initiative which enables the discounting of invoices and is regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to support the MSME sector in India.

KIIT Deemed to be University (https://kiit.ac.in/) has been granted the distinguished Special Consultative Status by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (UN ECOSOC), recognizing the University's substantial contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). From a pool of 476 applications around the World, only 19 organizations, including KIIT DU, were selected for this prestigious honour. The status was conferred during the UN ECOSOC management segment meeting held on July 23, 2024, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

KIIT Deemed to be University

This recognition underscores KIIT's unwavering commitment to the United Nations' Agenda 2030 and the SDGs. Attaining Special Consultative Status marks a significant milestone, positioning KIIT among a select group of universities globally that have earned this esteemed distinction.

Rapido has become a unicorn as the ride-hailing startup raised around $120 million ( ₹1,000 crore) in its latest Series E funding round led by its existing investor WestBridge Capital. This comes as Rapido may expand its auto and cab offerings in newer cities across India.

A unicorn means a privately owned startup valued at over $1 billion and Rapido which closely competes with players like Ola, Uber and Namma Yatri intends to use the new funding to “develop their tech stack and expand in the newer markets which was previously dominated by Ola and Uber”, Moneycontrol reported citing a venture capital investor in the know.

Veteran Sri Lankan Tamil leader Rajavarothiam Sampanthan, who dedicated his political life to pursuing a just solution to the island nation’s Tamil question, passed away in Colombo late on Sunday. He was 91.

Sampanthan, of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK), was a sitting MP from the eastern Trincomalee district and led the Tamil National Alliance, the main grouping representing Tamils of Sri Lanka’s war-hit north and east. He was Leader of the Opposition between 2015 and 2018.

First elected to parliament almost half a century ago, Sampanthan was a bold and relentless voice in the House. Since the end of the civil war in 2009, he tirelessly demanded equal rights for Tamils, within a ‘united, undivided, indivisible’ country. Trained as a lawyer, he based his arguments for a political solution on Sri Lanka’s constitutional history and the many promises that the southern Sinhalese establishment made in the past but failed to keep.

Indian badminton stalwart Ashwini Ponnappa on July 30 broke down in tears, announcing she played her last Olympics after she and her partner Tanisha Crasto suffered their third straight loss in the women's doubles competition of the Paris Games.

Ashwini and Tanisha lost to Australia's Setyana Mapasa and Angela Yu 15-21 10-21 in their final Group C game on Tuesday. They ended their campaign after losing all their three group matches.

"This will be my last, but Tanisha has a long way to go," said 34-year-old Ashwini, who was playing in her third Olympics, when asked whether she hopes to play in the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

Rohan Bopanna has announced that he is retiring from Indian tennis after bowing out of the Paris 2024 Olympics in the men’s doubles first round alongside N. Sriram Balaji on Monday.

The Indian duo lost 7-5, 6-2 to French duo of Gael Monfils and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.

Bopanna represented India in the Asian Games 2022 in Hangzhou, where he won the gold medal with Rutuja Bhosale in the mixed doubles event.

In September last year, he brought an end to his 21-year Davis Cup career after helping India beat Morocco in their World Group II match.