In a significant move to enhance India's Science and Technology (S&T) landscape, NITI Aayog today held a pivotal workshop titled “Empowering State S&T Councils: Catalyzing Innovation for India’s Future.” The event was graced by Dr. V.K. Saraswat, Member, NITI Aayog, Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, Dr. Rajesh Gokhale, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Shri S. Krishnan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, and other dignitaries from the various scientific ministries and departments. Representatives from 25+ States/ UTs attended the workshop. It brought together government leaders, policymakers, and industry experts to address critical challenges in the nation’s state S&T councils.

State S&T Councils play a crucial role in bridging the gap between scientific innovation and socio-economic development at the regional level. Despite their significant contributions in areas like R&D, patent facilitation, and technology transfer, these councils continue to face challenges that hinder their transformative potential. The workshop aimed to identify strategic solutions to strengthen these councils and amplify their impact.

During the workshop the participants engaged in comprehensive deliberations on the current status of State S&T councils, examining their governance frameworks, operational efficiencies and resource allocation. Best Practices from various states were highlighted, showcasing successful models. Additionally the role of robus monitoring and evaluation mechanisms were underscored.

From the peaceful mornings in villages to the hustle and bustle of cities, sparrows once filled the air with their cheerful chirps. Flocks of these tiny birds, uninvited yet welcome, created unforgettable memories. But over time, these little friends have vanished from our lives. Once abundant, the house sparrow is now a rare sight and a mystery in many places. To raise awareness and protect these small creatures, World Sparrow Day is celebrated every year on March 20th.

World Sparrow Day was initiated by "Nature Forever," a bird conservation organization in 2010. The aim was to raise awareness about the declining sparrow population. The event has spread to over 50 countries. The goal is to protect sparrows and stop their decline. In 2012, the house sparrow became Delhi's state bird. Since then, the event has gained global attention. People everywhere celebrate sparrows and work to protect them.

Sparrows are small but significant birds that play an essential role in maintaining ecological balance. They help control insect populations by feeding on various bugs and pests. Additionally, sparrows are key players in pollination and seed dispersal. Their presence enhances biodiversity, making them crucial for the health of both rural and urban ecosystems.

Shiksha.com, India’s leading educational portal, has launched ShikshaGPT, an advanced AI-powered chatbot on its mobile app. The new AI tool aims to make searching for reliable education information faster and easier. Designed for students navigating college admissions, courses, and exam options, ShikshaGPT serves as a conversational tool that leverages the latest AI technology to provide accurate, up-to-date answers directly from Shiksha.com’s extensive database. This new feature aims to simplify students' content discovery journeys, empowering them with immediate responses to their inquiries and supporting more informed decision-making.  

'ShikshaGPT' is a large language model (LLM) & RAG based conversational chatbot coupled with NLP layers including Intent Classification, Named Entity Recognition, Spell Check, and Hinglish understanding, tuned to help students get direct answers to their questions related to colleges, course, exam & career. This helps students receive accurate and relevant responses to their natural language queries. Utilizing Shiksha.com's extensive content repository as its reliable source of truth, this innovative tool enhances the accuracy and accessibility of information, providing students with a seamless and intuitive experience as they navigate the platform.  

India and New Zealand on Sunday launched negotiations for a “comprehensive and mutually beneficial” free trade agreement, paving the way for second bilateral trade deal in the Oceania after concluding an FTA pact with Australia in April 2022.

“We are delighted to announce the launch of India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations. This marks a significant milestone in our partnership, reflecting our shared vision to deepen trade ties and expand economic opportunities,” commerce minister Piyush Goyal said in a post on X.

Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Anupriya Patel, inaugurated the India Innovation Summit – “Pioneering Solutions to End TB” at the Bharat Mandapam Convention Centre in Delhi.

The event comes as India’s National TB Elimination Program (NTEP) reaches a major milestone, with 26.07 lakh TB cases notified in 2024, the highest ever recorded. Since 2015, the incidence rate of TB has dropped by 17.7%, from 237 cases per lakh population to 195 in 2023, while TB-related deaths have decreased by 21.4%.

Addressing the summit, Patel highlighted these achievements and praised the transformative role of innovation in India’s TB elimination efforts. “Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has made remarkable strides in TB control,” she said. “The number of missing cases has been reduced from 15 lakh in 2015 to 2.5 lakh in 2023.”

Indore, which has been ranked India’s cleanest city for seven consecutive years, is set to take a major step towards environmental sustainability with the launch of the country’s first Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model-based green waste processing plant under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U).

This groundbreaking initiative aims to revolutionise the city’s waste management system by converting green waste into valuable resources, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) said.

Built on 55,000 square feet of land in Bicholi Hapsi, the plant will recycle wood and branches to produce wood pellets, serving as an alternative to coal and promoting energy conservation. The Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) will earn approximately Rs 3,000 per tonne in royalty for supplying wood and branches to the facility.

India & Dallas, TX, United States – Business Wire India

IKS Health, a global leader in care enablement solutions, is honored to be named the 2025 Black Book Research leader in the newly established category of AI-driven Revenue Cycle Management (RCM). This recognition highlights IKS Health’s expertise in harnessing AI’s rapid advancements to develop and enhance its powerful RCM workflow solutions for more than 700 U.S. healthcare organizations. The win also strengthens IKS Health’s position as the leading partner in the industry’s most comprehensive care enablement platform across the patient journey.

Ranked as the No. 1 vendor out of 20 vendors in AI-driven RCM services, the distinction demonstrates IKS Health’s excellence in claims processing optimization, denial prevention, and revenue integrity solutions, as rated by RCM professionals in hospitals, health systems, physician practices, and medical groups. Black Book Research, a highly regarded independent healthcare research firm, conducted its comprehensive annual survey with responses from 1,037 validated RCM professionals.

Vantage Markets participated as a Titanium Sponsor at Money Expo Mexico 2025, held on February 26-27. The event, known as one of the most significant gatherings for traders, investors, and financial experts globally, provided an excellent platform for Vantage to engage with industry professionals and showcase its innovative offerings.

A major highlight of the event was Vantage being honored with the 'Best Global Broker 2025' award. This recognition reaffirms Vantage's commitment to providing cutting-edge trading solutions, transparency, and client-centric services. As a trusted multi-asset CFD broker, Vantage continues to set new industry standards with its advanced trading platforms, deep liquidity, and innovative copy trading solutions.

Ministry of Culture implements “Global Engagement Scheme" to promote India's rich cultural heritage internationally and enhance India's global image.

The key Scheme objectives include strengthening cultural ties with foreign nations, promoting bilateral cultural contacts, projecting India’s cultural identity on the world stage and encouraging inbound tourism. The Global Engagement Scheme is administered through Indian Missions abroad to achieve its objective through following components:

Festival of India:

The artists practicing Indian art forms, are given opportunity to perform abroad under the banner of ‘Festival of India’. The artists from diverse cultural fields such as Folk Art including Folk Music, Folk Dance, Folk Theatre & Puppetry, Classical and Traditional Dance, Experimental/Contemporary Dance, Classical/Semi Classical Music, Theatre etc. perform in the ‘Festivals of India’ abroad.

Grant in aid to Indo Foreign Friendship Cultural Societies:

Grant in aid is released to Indo Foreign Friendship Cultural Societies actively functioning in foreign counties through our Indian Missions with the object of fostering closer friendship and cultural contacts between India and foreign country concerned.

The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), an autonomous organisation under Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), promotes Indian culture (including folk arts & culture) worldwide through its Cultural Centres and Missions/Posts abroad. Activities conducted by them include inter-alia, teaching of Yoga, Dance, Music (vocal and instrumental), Sanskrit and Hindi; organising/supporting Conferences/ Seminars/ Workshops in different fields of Indian culture; supporting Chairs of Indian Studies in foreign universities; gifting of busts/statues of Mahatma Gandhi and other national icons, exchanging visual arts exhibitions, celebrating International Day of Yoga and Indian festivals, hosting visitors under various Visitors Programmes (Academic / Distinguished /Important /Gen. Next Democracy Network); and sponsoring scholarships to foreign students under different scholarship schemes.

Sharjah’s Faya Palaeolandscape, recently nominated for UNESCO World Heritage status, presents compelling evidence of human resilience and adaptation spanning over 210,000 years, while also serving as a crucial link in ancient trade networks connecting Arabia with India.

The 29,085-hectare site, located approximately 55 kilometers from both the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, features the distinctive Faya Range, a 20-kilometer stretch of limestone formations. This natural ridge acts as a barrier between the vast Rub’ al-Khali sand desert and the Dhaid-Madam Plain, forming what UNESCO describes as “an outstanding example of a Stone Age desert landscape.”

“The Faya excavations are significant because we have early evidence for the Out of Africa movement along the southern route,” explains Dr. Knut Bretzke, Head of the German Archaeological Mission in Sharjah. “People reached here about 120,000 years ago, maybe earlier, and they adapted to the desert environment.”