Senior IAS officer Samir Kumar Sinha has been appointed as Additional Secretary and Director General (Acquisition) in the Defence Ministry, as part of a bureaucratic reshuffle effected by the Centre.

Sinha, a 1994-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, is currently working in his Assam-Meghalaya cadre.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved his appointment as Additional Secretary and Director General (Acquisition), Department of Defence, a Union Personnel Ministry order said.

Bharat Harbanslal Khera, a 1995-batch IAS officer of the Himachal Pradesh cadre, has been appointed as Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Monday launched Ugram, a state-of-the-art assault rifle of the 7.62 x 51 mm calibre, which has been indigenously designed, developed and manufactured in collaboration with a private industry partner. The assault rifle has been designed for the operational requirements of armed forces, paramilitary and state police entities.

The first operational prototype of the rifle, which has been named Ugram, which means ferocious, was unveiled at the hands of Dr Shailendra V Gade, Director General, Armament and Combat Engineering Systems of the DRDO on Monday in Pune.

The rifle has an effective range of 500 metres and weighs less than four kilograms and has been developed by DRDO’s Pune-based facility Armament Research and Development Establishments (ARDE) in collaboration with Hyderabad-based Dvipa Armour India Private Limited.

Microsoft has announced the launch of an initiative called AI Odyssey today to train 100,000 developers in India in AI tools and applications. The month-long program is open to all AI enthusiasts regardless of their background or experience in the industry.

Interested participants can register for free on aka.ms/AIOdyssey to access the learning modules and resources online. The program comprises two levels that have to be finished by January 31, 2024.

The first level of the course shows how Azure AI services can be used to build and deploy AI products and solutions for various use-cases. Participants will have access to resources like code samples and guides to develop their practical skills. In the second level, they will be tested via an online assessment with interactive lab tasks that will earn them Microsoft Applied Skills credentials.

India, UAE on Tuesday signed several Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

An MoU was signed between India's Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and UAE's Ministry of Investment on Investment Cooperation in Renewable Energy Sectors

Another MoU was signed between India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and UAE's Ministry of Investment on Investment Cooperation in Innovative Healthcare Projects.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated Malkangiri Airport on Tuesday. "CM Naveen Patnaik visited Malkangiri district and inaugurated Malkangiri Airport on Tuesday. The runway was constructed on 233 acres of land at ₹ 70 crore. Malkangiri got the air services," the Chief Minister's Office said.

The Chief Minister's Office added that CM Patnaik also approved the Govindapally Irrigation Project across the Saptdhara River in Malkangiri District.

"4,000 crore will be spent on this project. 92,815 acres of farmland will be irrigated. During the visit of 5T Chairman Karthik Pandian to Malkangiri in March, he received proposals for the project from the public," the Chief Minister's Office added.

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has said his government has set a target to contribute 10 per cent to India's GDP and become a ₹500 billion economy by 2026-27.

Gujarat contributes 8.3% to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Mr. Patel said in an email interview to PTI ahead of the tenth Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday. "With 5% of the population, Gujarat contributes over 8.3% to the national GDP. In the previous year, the state accounted for a remarkable 33 per cent of India's total merchandise exports," he said.

The summit will showcase Gujarat's futuristic projects and investments (DREAM City, GIFT City, Dholera SIR, Ahmedabad-Mumbai High-Speed Rail), encompassing new and emerging sectors such as semiconductors, renewable energy, electric vehicles, green hydrogen, aerospace and defence, plug-and-play parks, artificial intelligence, smart greenfield cities to name a few, he said.

The Uttar Pradesh government is going to start a high-voltage campaign very soon to install solar rooftops on 25,000 households in Varanasi city in just two months’ time in a groundbreaking initiative aimed at promoting green and sustainable energy practices in PM Narendra Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency.

The campaign, according to officials in the know of things, is being launched after the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) recently wrote a letter to the U.P. government, desiring such an action in Varanasi city. The central and the state governments, it is estimated, will have to shell out a subsidy of ₹150 crore and ₹75 crore respectively to 25,000 households that purchase solar panels.

World Health Organization (WHO) is set to unveil its International Classification of Diseases 11th Edition (ICD-11) with a groundbreaking inclusion: data and terminology relating to diseases based on Ayurveda, Siddha, and Unani systems.

The launch event, scheduled for January 10th, 2024, in New Delhi, signifies a global milestone in healthcare as traditional medicine gains recognition on an international scale. The initiative aims to establish a universal code of vocabulary defining diseases in Ayurveda, Siddha, and Unani (ASU) medicine, fostering global uniformity.

Notably, the effort marks a significant departure from the current ICD series, which primarily relies on healthcare practices associated with modern biomedicine. Diseases rooted in Ayush systems, such as Ayurveda, Siddha, and Unani, have thus far been absent from the WHO's global disease classification.

Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw today unveiled the Indian Railways Construction Manual, 2023 in New Delhi. Speaking on the occasion Mr Vaishnaw said, the construction manual will help in many activities including Land acquisition, forest clearance, bridge design, contract management, construction of tunnels and under bridges. He said, this manual will also help in achieving the world’s fastest growing rail network. The Minister said, this manual is an important milestone in the efforts of Indian Railways to equip the construction officials with the required knowledge for execution of construction projects at a faster pace.

South Korea's Parliament on Tuesday passed a bill to prohibit the consumption and sale of dog meat, marking the end of a centuries-old practice. The move reflects a shift in societal attitudes towards animal welfare, with an increasing number of Koreans viewing dogs as family members.

Traditionally perceived as a means to boost stamina during the humid Korean summer, the consumption of dog meat has dwindled over time, with the practice now primarily associated with older people. Criticism of the methods used in slaughtering dogs, such as electrocution or hanging, has contributed to the decline in the practice.