The number of people in jobs grew nearly 5% to 580 million in the financial year 2022-23, according to estimates being prepared by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), two persons aware of the development said.

The growth numbers, quite likely the outcome of the low base of the pandemic years, will form part of the RBI's KLEMS database, based on an analysis of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) data for the same period.

The KLEMS data, which provides insights into five key inputs in production—capital (K), labour (L), energy (E), materials (M) and services (S)—is expected to be released by the RBI in a couple of months.

Pratima Singh (IRS) has been selected for the appointment as Director in the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) on Wednesday. According to an order issued from the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT).

She has been selected for the appointment under the Central Staffing Scheme for a period of five years from the date of taking over charge of the post or until further orders, whichever event takes place earlier.

Singh is an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer of 2009-batch. She was recommended for the Central deputation by the Department of Revenue. “She may kindly be relieved of her duties immediately with instructions to take up her new assignment in Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade,” the order further reads.

India on May 1 said it looked forward to strengthening bilateral economic cooperation with the Maldives as its envoy held discussions with a senior minister of the archipelagic nation.

Mohamed Saeed, Maldives’ Minister of Economic Development and Trade, met with Munu Mahawar, Indian High Commissioner to the archipelago nation on Tuesday.

The meeting comes weeks after India allowed the export of certain quantities of essential commodities for the year 2024-25 at the request of the Maldivian government and ahead of the May 10 deadline imposed by President Mohamed Muizzu for the complete repatriation of 88 Indian military personnel from his country.

A study has revealed evidence for enhanced possibility of water ice occurrence in the polar craters of the Moon, according to ISRO.

The study was carried out by the scientists of Space Applications Centre (SAC)/ISRO, in collaboration with researchers at IIT Kanpur, University of Southern California, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and IIT (ISM) Dhanbad.

The recent study suggests that the amount of subsurface ice in the first couple of metres is about five to eight times larger than the one at the surface in both poles, an ISRO statement said.

Logistics service provider Delhivery has launched its second all-women's hub in Sikar, Rajasthan. This follows the Moga facility in Punjab, which was transformed into a 100 percent women-managed centre in March this year.

At Sikar, women will be responsible for all the functions, including administration, operations, and security, Delhivery said in a statement, adding that the company provides diversified opportunities for women even in non-traditional roles like driving battery-operated pallet trucks (BOPTs), loading and unloading trucks.

The company claims that it has scaled women's participation at its gateways across locations, including in Tauru, Haryana, and Bhiwandi, Mumbai – women now make up 66 percent of the workforce at the Tauru processing centre.

RITES Limited, a leading engineering consultancy firm in India, celebrated its milestone 50th anniversary on Friday. The month-long Foundation Day celebrations, ‘Marking The Gold’, that were carried across worksites culminated with a cultural evening at Shikhar, RITES’ Corporate Office, Gurugram.

On the occasion, Chairman & Management Director Mr. Rahul Mithal launched RITES’ coffee table book – Atulya, a compilation tracing the organisation’s illustrious journey of becoming ‘The Infrastructure People’. Also, it marked the unveiling of ‘RITES Dharohar’, a novel initiative to treasure the organisation’s legacy and encapsulate the essence of its core values—Integrity, Professionalism and Excellence.

Dubai announced the commencement of construction on a new terminal at Al Maktoum International Airport on Sunday. The ruler of the Gulf emirate said that it will become "the world's largest" terminal, with an estimated cost of nearly $35 billion.

"We approved the designs for the new passenger terminal at Al Maktoum International Airport and (are) commencing construction of the building for AED 128 billion ($34.85 billion)," Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, said on X.

India will host next year’s World Junior Badminton Championships at the National Centre of Excellence in Guwahati, the sport’s global governing body BWF said on Tuesday.

It will be the first time since 2008 that the prestigious Badminton World Federation (BWF) event will be held in India.

“Both the team and individual events will be held at the Badminton Association of India’s (BAI) National Centre of Excellence in the northeast region of the country,” the BWF said in a release.

India last hosted the event in Pune.

“The Sri Lankan Cabinet has decided to implement the renovation of the Kankesanthurai Port in the Northern Province with India agreeing to grant the entire cost of the project,” a statement said on April 30.

Situated in the northern region of Sri Lanka, the Kankesanthurai Port or the KKS Port, with an area of approximately 16 acres, is located at a distance of 104 km (56 nautical miles) from Karaikal Port in Puducherry.

The direct passenger ship service connecting Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu to Kankesanthurai port near Jaffna covers a distance of 111 km (60 nautical miles) in approximately three and a half hours.

Alok Shukla, convenor of the Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan and founding member of the Hasdeo Aranya Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, has been awarded the 2024 Goldman Prize from Asia, a statement on April 29 said.

Shukla has been declared winner for his efforts to save the forests of Hasdeo Aranya in Chhattisgarh.

“Alok Shukla led a successful community campaign that saved 445,000 acres of biodiversity-rich forests from 21 planned coal mines in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh. In July 2022, the government cancelled the 21 proposed coal mines in Hasdeo Aranya, whose pristine forests—popularly known as the lungs of Chhattisgarh—are one of the largest intact forest areas in India,” the statement noted.

The Goldman Environmental Foundation, which gives away the prize, recognised that the Hasdeo movement’s “ability to successfully influence policy has made it a model for environmental justice in India and generated an unprecedented amount of national and regional solidarity”.