The Department of Consumer Affairs has launched “Jagriti”, a mascot for empowering consumers and generating awareness towards their rights. Jagriti will be projected as an empowered consumer who is spreading awareness about consumer rights and addressing solutions to the problems faced by the consumers.

The “Jagriti” mascot will be used to generate consumer awareness about various themes of the Department. The Themes include provisions of Consumer Protection Act 2019, Hallmarking, National Consumer Helpline toll-free number 1915, provisions of weights and measures Act, decisions of the Central Consumer Protection Authority and testimonials by consumers on grievance redressal.

The website of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has been ranked first under the Central Ministries Portal in National e-Governance Service Delivery Assessment.

Digital Police portal of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) placed at two in the assessment under the Central Ministries Services Portal.

Part of periodic assessment intended to improve effectiveness of states and Union Territories and Central Government in delivery of online services to citizens.

All Government portals that were evaluated were divided into two main categories, states and Union Territories and Central Ministry service portals.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Friday launched the promo of a new serial 'Swaraj: Bharat Ke Swatantrata Sangram Ki Samagra Gatha' in New Delhi. This serial is going to be telecast on Doordarshan from 14th August 2022. The 75-episode serial will highlight the contribution of the freedom fighters and unsung heroes of the freedom struggle. This serial will also be broadcast on All India Radio.

Mr. Thakur launched the serial logo at the Akashwani Bhawan in New Delhi. Addressing the gathering, Mr. Thakur said, the nation is celebrating the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav and the government has organized several programmes across the country wherein crores of people have participated. Talking about the new docudrama Swaraj: Bharat Ke Swatantrata Sangram Ki Samagra Gatha, he said, the launch of the promo is a reflection of Swaraj which was envisioned during the freedom struggle.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi participates in the First I2U2 (India-Israel-UAE-USA) Leaders’ Virtual Summit on Thursday along with his Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid, UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the US President Joe Biden.

Leaders of India, Israel, UAE, and the US have said that the inaugural I2U2 Summit focussed on the food security crisis and clean energy. In a Joint Statement, I2U2 leaders said, innovative ways were discussed to ensure longer-term, more diversified food production and food delivery systems that can better manage global food shocks.

The UAE has announced to invest two billion dollars to develop a series of Integrated Food Parks across India. These parks will incorporate state-of-the-art climate-smart technologies to reduce food waste and spoilage, conserve fresh water and employ renewable energy sources. India will provide appropriate land for the project and will facilitate farmers’ integration into the food parks. US and Israeli private sectors will be invited to lend their expertise and offer innovative solutions that contribute to the overall sustainability of the project. These investments will help maximize crop yields and help tackle food insecurity in South Asia and the Middle East.

A two-day meeting of the BIMSTEC Expert Group on Cyber Security Cooperation got underway in New Delhi today. The meeting is based on the agreement made during the meeting of the BIMSTEC National Security Chiefs held at Bangkok in March 2019 that the BIMSTEC Expert Group will formulate an Action plan to deal with Cyber Security challenges in the BIMSTEC region. The in-person meeting is being chaired by the National Cyber Security Coordinator Lieutenant General Rajesh Pant and will witness the participation of delegates from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. All the delegates are experts in Cyber Security.
 
India, as a lead Country for Security Sector in BIMSTEC forum, has taken the initiative to organize this meeting on Cyber Security Cooperation and develop a Plan of Action on Cyber Security. The BIMSTEC Member States are being represented by the senior officials of their government organisations that deal with cyber security and incident response.

Phase one of Common University Entrance Test Undergraduate (CUET UG) 2022 will begin today in nearly 500 cities across India and 10 cities outside the country. Under Phase one, CUET UG Exam is scheduled to be conducted on 15th, 16th, 19th, and 20th July 2022.
 
National Testing Agency (NTA) highlighted that all examination centres are under surveillance of CCTV and equipped with Jammers to conduct fair exams. It said, masks will be provided to candidates at the Centre and their personal masks will be disposed of.
Nearly fourteen lakh 90 thousand candidates have registered for CUET UG 2022, out of which eight lakh 10 thousand have been allotted Phase one and six lakh 80 thousand have been taken in  second phase of the CUET-UG 2022 exam. The second Phase of CUET-UG exams will be conducted from 4th to 10th of next month.

The Govt. of Bangladesh has decided to appoint Md. Mustafizur Rahman, as the next High Commissioner of Bangladesh to India. He will be replacing Muhammad Imran in this capacity, said a press release of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) issued on Wednesday.

Md. Mustafizur Rahman is currently serving as the Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations Offices in Geneva and the Ambassador to Switzerland. 

Ambassador Rahman is a career foreign service officer belonging to the 11th batch of Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) Foreign Affairs cadre. In his distinguished diplomatic career, he has served in various capacities in Bangladesh Missions in Paris, New York, Geneva and Kolkata. He has also served as the Bangladesh High Commissioner to Singapore. At the Headquarters, he occupied various positions primarily in the United Nations Wing.

Indian scientists have developed a new class of synthetic peptides that can not only block the entry of the SARS-CoV-2 virus into cells but also clump the virus particles together, reducing their ability to infect the living cell.

This novel mechanism provides an alternative to make viruses like SARS-CoV-2 inactive, promising a new class of peptides as antivirals. Scientists at the Indian Institute of Science in collaboration with researchers from the CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology have exploited this approach to design these peptides. 

Burn and Plastic Surgery Department of AIIMS, Delhi in collaboration with Association of Plastic Surgeons of India (APSI), will organize 'APSI Sushruta Film Festival' (ASFF 2022) to observe 12th National Plastic Surgery Day on 15th of this month.

Department Head of Burn and Plastic Surgery Dr. Professor Maneesh Singhal said that this film festival is on the theme of Changing lives with Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. He highlighted that the film festival is envisioned to promote the best works done by plastic surgeons across the country.

Professor Singhal said that the best films based on plastic surgery will be shown during the festival. He said, the festival will help in changing the public perception of plastic surgery and its various domains.

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will release India Rankings 2022 under National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF) on the 15th of this month. The Education Ministry said the annual exercise outlines a methodology to rank Higher Education Institutions across the country in various categories and subject domains.

The parameters broadly cover teaching, learning and resources, research and professional practice, graduation outcome, outreach and inclusivity, and perception. In last year ranking, the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras had topped in the overall category in National Institutional Ranking Framework. Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru got the second spot and the Indian Institute of Bombay was at third place.