Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh has  claimed that India is on way to become a global bio-manufacturing hub and one of the 5 top countries in it.

Speaking at the 37th Foundation day of Department of Biotechnology (DBT) as chief guest at National Institute of Immunology (NII), Dr Singh claimed, "India is poised to become a Global Bio-manufacturing hub and figure among the top 5 countries of the world by 2025."

He assured that there would be no dearth of fund under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to promote the 'Innovation Eco-System' in the country as the BJP-led NDA government  is  committed to promote the ‘Industry-driven Start-Ups’ to create a huge avenue of jobs and wealth.

Moving closer to achieve the target of Net Zero Carbon Emission by 2030, the Indian Railways has fully electrified 6 out of 17 zonal railways, setting a milestone in electrifications.

Uttar Pradesh has become the first state in the country with its entire broad gauge railway network electrified. Impressed at this significant achievement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi appreciated railways for this notable feat towards the net zero goal.

DG PR Railway, Yogesh Baweja recently said that the six zonal railways namely the East Coast Railway( ECor), North Central Railway(NCR) North Eastern Railway(NER), Eastern Railway( ER), South Eastern railway(SER) and West Central Railway(WCR) have been fully electrified. He said that with the completion of electrification of Subhagpur-Pachperwa broad gauge route under the North Eastern Railway, the Indian Railway has completed the electrification of all BG routes in UP.

He also added that the railway is also taking all-out effort to maximise scarp material mobilization.  The railway is also working to make all stations as green railway stations gradually and as part of this, Vishakhapatnam railway station of East Coast Railway has been awarded the 'Green Railway Station 'certification recently. In the same, the Kevadia railway station in Gujarat has become India's first railway station with a green building certification.

The Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, manufactured in India, will make its maiden appearance in an international exercise as part of the Indian Air Force team at a multinational exercise in the UAE.

The IAF in a statement said, “An Indian Air Force contingent comprising 110 Air Warriors has arrived at Al Dhafra air base of United Arab Emirates for participating in exercise Desert Flag VIII. The IAF would be participating with five LCA Tejas and two C-17 Globemaster III aircraft.”

Adding that this is the first occasion when the LCA Tejas shall participate in an international flying exercise outside India

Exercise Desert Flag is a multilateral air exercise in which Air Forces from UAE, France, Kuwait, Australia, the UK, Bahrain, Morocco, Spain, the Republic of Korea, and the USA would also be participating. It was in February 2022 that India had planned to pitch LCA Tejas to join an exercise called ‘Ex Cobra Warrior 22’ at Waddington, UK, from March 6-27. But it had to be cancelled due to the events of the time including the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

Before that, in February 2022, the IAF showcased Tejas jets at the Singapore AirShow with an eye on the possible export potential of the jet to friendly countries in years to come. Three Tejas fighter jets and a 44-member contingent of the Indian Air Force (IAF) had participated in the Air Show from February 15 to 18.

Manufactured by state-run aerospace behemoth Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), the Tejas aircraft is a potent platform for air combat and offensive air support missions while reconnaissance and anti-ship operations are its secondary roles.

Following the sensational shoot-out killing of Umesh Pal, the prime witness in the 2005 murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal, along with one of his gunners on Feb 24 , Prayagraj police have lodged an FIR against gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad, his wife Shaista Parveen, brother Khalid Azeem alias Ashraf, his two sons and several others on the basis of the complaint submitted by victim’s family .

Significantly, Atiq Ahmad is now incarcerated in Sabarmati jail in Gujarat with around 100 criminal cases pending against him including loot, murder, extortion, abduction, intimidation, and illegal arms racket.

The AAP led Punjab government faces an additional financial burdern of Rs 2,550 crore per year due to the 300 units of pwer subsidy being given to domestic consumers.

The total electricity subsidy bill stands at Rs 27,420 crore as the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has revised its subsidy estimates for the year 2022-23.

Earlier, the total subsidy due to PSPCL was Rs 24,865.63 crore which included subsidy estimate of Rs 15,845.63 crore.

Now, the estimated subsidy has been increased by Rs 4,354.37 crore and now stands at Rs 18,396 crore for financial year 2022-23 in view of the free power of 300 units.

The revised amount includes Rs 2,550 crore against freebies. It is to be mentioned that recently the state government had decided to clear the carry forward of Rs 9,020 crore in five equal installments to the power utility.

Terming India as the biggest trading partner, US Treasury Secretary Janet L Yellen on Feb 25 pitched for advancing an approach called "friend-shoring" to bolster the resilience of supply chains.

As President Biden has said, India is an indispensable partner to the United States, Yellen said while addressing a roundtable with US and Indian tech business leaders on the sidelines of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Bengaluru

"The US is India's biggest trading partner. In 2021, our bilateral trade was over USD 150 billion. Our people-to-people ties affirm the closeness of our relationship. 200,000 Indians are studying in America and enriching our schools and universities. We depend on each other on a daily basis: Indians use WhatsApp to communicate and many American companies rely on Infosys to operate," she said.

The roundtable was attended by top tech honchos, including Infosys chairman Nandan Nilekani, IBM India managing director Sandip Patel, Intel India country head Nivruti Rai, Foxconn India Country Head Josh Foulger and Wipro chairman Rishad Premji.

The US in its new 'friend-shoring' approach is diversifying away from countries that present geopolitical and security risks to our supply chain.

The friend-shoring approach involves partnering with developing countries to grow local industries and connect them to the global supply chain.

Through the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment or PGII, she said, the US is investing in digital technologies that will drive inclusive, resilient growth in India.

Under PGII, she said, the United States has announced investments in agri-tech to enable climate-smart agricultural production, and in digital payments systems for microentrepreneurs.

These stand alongside investments in renewable energy, health, and other infrastructure sectors in India, she said, adding, the United States aims to mobilise USD 200 billion through 2027 for PGII and looks forward to partnering with India to continue investing in its future.

During the roundtable, Nilekani said Infosys has opened new centres in six different American states in the last few years and hired 25,000 workers there in the last six years.

Infosys runs India's tax systems, he said, adding, the back end of the entire direct and indirect tax system is run by the company.

India files 79 million income tax returns, refunds happen in a matter of days all in a paperless manner.

At least 59 migrants, including a baby just a few months old, died after their overloaded boat sank early on  Feb 26 in stormy seas off Italy's southern Calabria region.

Far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the leader of the post-fascist Brothers of Italy party, won power in October vowing to stem the flow of migrants reaching Italian shores.

President Sergio Mattarella said: "A large number of these migrants came from Afghanistan and Iran, fleeing very harsh conditions."

He urged the international community "to make a strong commitment to eradicate the causes of these migrations -- wars, persecution, terrorism, poverty."

The government in Rome has accused its European Union partners of not taking in sufficient numbers of migrants seeking to enter the bloc, even though many who arrive in Italy then travel on to other EU states.

This week Meloni's hard-right coalition government pushed through parliament a controversial new law that forces migrant aid charities to perform only one life-saving rescue mission at a time.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for progress on a stalled reform of EU rules on providing asylum for those in need.

According to the interior ministry, nearly 14,000 migrants have arrived in Italy by sea so far this year, up from 5,200 over the same period last year.

Publisher Penguin Random House announced that  it will publish “classic” unexpurgated versions of Roald Dahl’s children’s novels after it received criticism for cuts and rewrites that were intended to make the books suitable for modern readers.

Along with the new editions, the company said 17 of Dahl’s books would be published in their original form later this year as “The Roald Dahl Classic Collection” so “readers will be free to choose which version of Dahl’s stories they prefer.”

The move comes after criticism of changes made to “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and other much-loved classics for recent editions published under the company’s Puffin children’s label, in which passages relating to weight, mental health, gender and race were altered.