NITI Aayog on Thursday said that it has signed a Statement of Intent (SOI) with UNICEF India to support strategic interventions in aspirational districts and aspirational blocks. The objective of this agreement to leverage the strengths of both institutions to advance efforts towards improving maternal and child nutrition outcomes in underserved areas. The SOI was signed by Rohit Kumar, Additional Secretary and Mission Director of the Aspirational Districts and Blocks Programme at NITI Aayog, and Arjan de Wagt, Deputy Representative at UNICEF India, the government think tank said.

“The partnership will support the promotion of multi-stakeholder engagement and strengthen implementation systems for nutrition and health interventions at the block level,” NITI Aayog said.

Korea district in Chhattisgarh has emerged as an example of community-led water conservation through the ‘Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari’ initiative, where farmers voluntarily dedicate a small portion of their land to support groundwater recharge and sustainable water management.

The initiative, carried out under the Aawa Paani Jhoki movement, encourages farmers to set aside five per cent of their agricultural land to create small recharge ponds and terraced pits. These structures capture rainwater directly in the fields, allowing it to seep into the soil and replenish groundwater.

According to official information, the initiative has helped retain rainwater that earlier flowed away during the monsoon season. The structures have improved soil moisture, reduced soil erosion and contributed to steady groundwater recharge in the region.

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, while inaugurating various projects at Gujarat University in Ahmedabad, stated that Gujarat is committed to implementing the vision of women-led development given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

CM Patel was addressing the gathering on the occasion of naming the Gujarat University Convention Centre as Vidyagauri Nilkanth Sabhapuram, the inauguration of the newly built Research Park, and the launch of the fifth edition of herSTART.

The herSTART initiative by the Gujarat University Startup and Entrepreneurship Council (GUSEC) provides incubation, mentorship, and market access support to women-led startups. The fifth edition of the programme has commenced at Gujarat University.

IBM has launched its maiden Infrastructure Innovation Centre within its India Systems Development Lab (ISDL) campus, as it continues to focus on advanced infrastructure engineering and artificial intelligence (AI) innovation in one of its key markets.

Designed as a collaborative engineering hub, the innovation centre will bring together IBM’s systems architects and infrastructure specialists from ISDL to co-create AI solutions with clients, software makers, system integrators and GCCs. By bringing together cutting-edge infrastructure technologies, hybrid cloud capabilities and AI solutions under one roof, the center is designed to accelerate the development and deployment of secure, scalable and responsible enterprise AI systems.

The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) on March 4 launched a moonshot project to develop brain co-processors that combine neuromorphic hardware and AI algorithms to enhance or restore brain function.

The project is funded by the Pratiksha Trust, founded by Senapathy ‘Kris’ Gopalakrishnan and Sudha Gopalakrishnan.

“India is emerging as a global leader in neuroscience by uniting foundational research with clinical applications through collaborative, international partnerships. Supported significantly by the Pratiksha Trust, the Brain Co-Processors Moonshot Project accelerates the development of innovative medical technologies. Ultimately, these innovations aim to provide world-class transformative neurological treatments to the global population,” said Mr. Gopalakrishnan.

The annual Raisina Dialogue begins in the national capital on Thursday, bringing together global leaders, policymakers and technology experts to deliberate on key geopolitical and economic challenges.

Organised by the Observer Research Foundation in partnership with India’s Ministry of External Affairs, the three-day conference will be held from March 5 to 7 under the theme “Samskara: Assertion, Accommodation, Advancement.”

The dialogue will focus on how technological disruptions, strategic competition and economic security are reshaping global politics.

Several international dignitaries have arrived in New Delhi to participate in the event. These include Malta’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism Ian Borg, Bhutan’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and External Trade D. N. Dhungyel, and Mauritius’ Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade Dhananjay Ramful.

Former Indian Ambassador to the United States Taranjit Singh Sandhu has been appointed as the new Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, according to official communiqué issued by President’s Secretariat.

Sandhu will replace Vinai Kumar Saxena, who has served as Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor since May 26, 2022. Saxena has now been appointed as the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, replacing Kavinder Gupta, who will take charge as Governor of Himachal Pradesh.

The appointments are part of a broader reshuffle of Governors and Lieutenant Governors across several states and Union Territories announced by President Droupadi Murmu. The changes will come into effect once the appointees assume charge of their respective offices.

Telangana Chief Secretary K. Ramakrishna Rao has said that the upcoming Census-2027 will mark a historic milestone in the country as it will be the first-ever fully-digital census.

The entire exercise will be conducted through a dedicated mobile application for field data collection, ensuring real time data capture, enhanced accuracy, transparency and faster processing.

House Listing Operations from May 11
The House Listing Operations (HLO) for the Census 2027 will start from May 11 across the State, he said. The Chief Secretary, accompanied by State Census Operations Director Bharathi Holikeri, briefed the district collectors on the modalities and preparedness for the upcoming enumeration process on Tuesday (March 3, 2026). The meeting formed part of the day long district collectors conference that started in Hyderabad in the morning and Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy is slated to explain the district collectors and senior officials about the 99-day action plan Praja Palana – Pragati Pranalika.

India has sought to formalise and strengthen commitments on the transfer of relevant and advanced technologies to developing and least developed countries ahead of the 14th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Yaoundé, Cameroon, from 26-29 March, by circulating a draft ministerial declaration that calls for institutionalising the technology transfer agenda within the multilateral trading system, according to a WTO document reviewed by Mint.

A federal judge has cleared the way for thousands of businesses to receive refunds for tariffs that the US Supreme Court struck down last month.

The US Court of International Trade on Wednesday ordered Customs and Border Protection to issue refunds for levies US President Donald Trump introduced last year under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

"All importers of record whose entries were subject to IEEPA duties are entitled to the benefit" from the high court's ruling, Judge Richard Eaton wrote.

The payment process remains murky. But the trade court decision marks a setback for Trump, who has sought to replace the import taxes and bemoaned the prospect of refunds.