As part of India’s G20 presidency, Research and Innovation Initiative Gathering (RIIG) Conference on Scientific Challenges and Opportunities for a sustainable blue economy began at Diu on Thursday. 

As part of India’s G20 presidency, Research and Innovation Initiative Gathering (RIIG) Conference on Scientific Challenges and Opportunities for a sustainable blue economy began at Diu on Thursday. The main theme of the conference is “Research and Innovation for an Equitable Society”.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Culture Arjun Ram Meghwal has been assigned the independent charge as Minister of State in the Ministry of Law and Justice in addition to his existing portfolios.

Mr Meghwal will replace Union Minister Kiren Rijiju. According to the Rastrapati Bhavan communique, Mr Rijiju who was serving as Law and Justice Minister will now hold the portfolio of Ministry of Earth Sciences. President Droupadi Murmu allocated the portfolios to these Ministers on the advice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Embassy of India, Kathmandu, and the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration, Government of Nepal signed Memorandums of Understanding for undertaking two High Impact Community Development Projects in Nepal under the grant assistance of Government of India - one each in health care and education sectors, at a total estimated cost of NRs. 80.33 million.

The construction of these two projects aims at providing better health care and education facilities for the local community and improving the quality of life for people in Nepal. The construction of Malagiri Shanti Yogashram, Ramechhap District, and Kedar Jyotipunja Multiple Campus, Doti District of Nepal shall be implemented through Ramechhap Municipality and Badikedar Rural Municipality, respectively.

The seventh Nepal Chamber Expo 2023 kick-started today in local Bhrikutimandap in Kathmandu and will continue till May 22.  The event is organized by the Nepal Chamber of Commerce and showcases stalls of both domestic and international products. Exhibitors from India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan had their products at the Expo. This Expo majorly focuses on trade dialogues, the exchange of export-import information, and the marketing of Nepali goods. 
 
Ajrakh saree, fabrics with kalamkari prints, mulberry and tussar sarees from India, along with toys, kitchen equipment, and many more Made in India products were on sale.  The Nepal Chamber of Commerce expects that this expo will encourage the domestic business community to explore potential competitive abilities in collaboration with the foreign trade community.

Social media platforms Twitter and Google have registered a big win in US Supreme Court as the court ruled that internet companies can not be held accountable for the content posted on their sites. The judges debated two cases in which the families of terrorist attack victims claimed that Google and Twitter should be held accountable for aiding and abetting ISIS, which resulted in the death of their loved ones. 

A family of the deceased filed a lawsuit against Twitter and other tech companies, claiming they did not do enough to combat the terrorist organisation when an ISIS-linked attacker opened fire at a nightclub in Turkey, on 1st of January, 2017, killing at least 38 people. Similar facts were given in the Google case

On the occasion of World Telecom Day, Minister of State for Communications Devusinh Chauhan today launched Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) test bed project for conformance, certification and interoperability testing of O-RAN based solutions at a function in New Delhi.

It will facilitate testing of ORAN elements and will facilitate development of fully indigenous 5G radio network in India. The Minister also released a Postal Stamp to mark the glorious 20 Years of Universal Service Obligation Fund of Ministry of Communications. It provides telecom facilities in rural and remote areas of the country. On the occasion of  World Telecom Day, Mr Chauhan also inaugurated the exhibition, showcasing the innovations in Telecom sector. This will facilitate development of fully indigenous telecom solutions for the citizens.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the International Museum Expo 2023 at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi on 18th May, Thursday. The International Museum Expo is being organised as part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav to celebrate the 47th International Museum Day. 

The theme for this year is ‘Museums, Sustainability and Well Being’. 

Union Minister for AYUSH Sarbananda Sonowal will today  inaugurate  the two-day National Ayush Mission (NAM) Conclave in New Delhi. Along with Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya,  Health and Ayush Ministers from various States including  Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Goa and  Jharkhand will also attend the funciton.The two day conclave will pave way for better coordination among stakeholders and strengthen Ayush Health and Wellness Centres  functioning.
 
National Ayush Mission, launched in 2014,  is the flagship program of Ministry of Ayush and with active cooperation of States and UTs governments, it is changing the Health and wellness landscape in states.

BJP MP from Ambala, Rattan Lal Kataria passed away this morning following prolong illness.
 
He was 71. He was undergoing treatment at PGI Chandigarh. He served as the Union Minister of State in the Ministries of Jal Shakti and Social Justice and Empowerment from May 2019 to July 2021.

Regional News Unit of Akashvani Guwahati has jointly bagged the second rank in the National Water Awards, 2022 in the Best Media category. The award has been given in various categories in the field of water resources, conservation and management.

This is for the first time that Regional News Unit, Guwahati has got this prestigious award. The Unit has carried out various awareness programmes through talks on water conservation and management. They invited minister and senior officials, experts of the concerned departments to take part in live phone in programmes and provided a platform to the radio listeners to interact with them.