Cabinet clears PAN 2.0, card to feature QR code

An Upgrade of the existing Permanent Account Number (PAN) with an additional feature of a QR code on the cards along with a proposal to make PAN "the common identifier for businesses" was approved by the Union Cabinet.

The Cabinet approved the PAN 2.0 Project of the Income Tax Department, with a cost of Rs 1,435 crore, under which the existing system will be upgraded completely, the digital backbone will be revamped and PAN will be made a common business identifier for all digital systems of specified government agencies, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said during the Cabinet briefing. 

Opposition and Govt spar over list of Speakers for Constitution Day event

On the eve of a joint sitting of both the Houses of Parliament, to be addressed by President Droupadi Murmu to mark 75 years of the Constitution, the Government and the Opposition sparred over the list of speakers.

Leaders of various parties wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, urging him to allow leaders of the Opposition in both Houses to speak during the function in the Central Hall of Samvidhan Sadan, the old Parliament building.

We understand that the function will be addressed by the President, Vice President and the Prime Minister. We believe that in the best traditions and interests of Parliamentary democracy, the Leaders of Opposition (Lops) in both Houses should also be allowed to speak on this historic occasion," the letter said.

Kerala wants 8,590 sq km area as eco-sensitive in Western Ghats: Centre

In a revised proposal sent to the Centre, the Kerala government requested the declaration of 8,590.69 sq km across 98 villages and 12 districts as ecologically sensitive areas (ESAs) in the Western Ghats.

"The Government of Kerala has submitted a revised proposal on 02.11.2024, requesting for declaring 8590.69 sq km area in 98 villages spread across 29 talukas in 12 districts as Ecologically Sensitive Area based on the verification of the suggestions received from the Local Self Government Department," Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav informed Lok Sabha in a written statement.

Flagship Atal Innovation Mission to go on, Cabinet allocates 2,750 crore

The Cabinet has approved the continuation of its flagship initiative, the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), and allocated a budget of 2,750 crore to it for the period up to March 31, 2028.

According to an official statement, AIM 2.0 is a step towards "Viksit Bharat" that aims to expand, strengthen and deepen India's already vibrant innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Centre approves new scheme for research journals on one platform

The Union Cabinet approved the 'One Nation One Subscription' (ONOS) scheme, under which all centrally-run and state-run higher education institutions (HEI) will have access to reputed journals published by international publishers on a single platform. The platform is set to become operational on January 1, 2025.

Access will be provided through a national subscription, coordinated by the Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET), an autonomous inter-university centre under the UGC.

Cabinet nod to ₹2,481-cr Natural Farming Mission

The Centre announced the National Mission on Natural Farming (NMNF) as a standalone Centre-sponsored scheme under the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare to promote natural farming among one-crore farmers across the country with a budget outlay of ₹2,481 crore.

The decision, taken in the Cabinet meeting headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, aims to create an ecosystem for sustainable farming.

Time for new, global finance model for co-ops: PM

Underlying that cooperatives can provide "new energy" to global cooperation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for a new collaborative model to finance them on a global level.

He said cooperatives can improve the supply chain by participating in procurement, production and distribution but highlighted those pooling financial resources was "very important" for small and financially weak co-operatives.

Shared financial platforms, he said, can become a means of funding big projects and giving loans to cooperatives.

"In the 21st century, it is time for all of us to decide the direction of the global cooperative movement. We will have to think of a collaborative financial model that makes the financing of cooperatives easy and transparent. 

Jaishankar: Stronger India-Mediterranean relations serve both

Advocating for a closer and stronger relationship between India and the Mediterranean, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that the Mediterranean presents both opportunities and risks in an uncertain and volatile world and the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) can be a "game changer".

Jaishankar, who is in Italy and was speaking at the 10th edition of the MED Mediterranean Dialogue in Rome, said: "Our annual trade with the Mediterranean nations is about USD 80 billion. We have a diaspora of 460,000, and about 40% of that is in Italy. Our key interests are in fertilizers, energy, water, technology, diamonds, defence and cyber."

He said India's political relations with the Mediterranean are strong, and their defence collaboration is growing, including more exercises and exchanges.

SC upholds the inclusion of 'socialist', and 'secular' in the Constitution Preamble

The Supreme Court dismissed petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the 42nd amendment by which the words 'secular' and 'socialist' were added to the Preamble of the Constitution during the Emergency days in 1976, saying "these terms have achieved widespread acceptance, with their meanings understood by 'We, the people of India' without any semblance of doubt".

A bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar said the Parliament's power under Article 368 to amend the Constitution also extends to the Preamble and rejected the argument that the words could not have been added retrospectively in 1976 to the original Preamble which has a cut-off date of November 26, 1949.

'Cautiously optimistic' economic outlook for coming months: FinMin Oct review

While maintaining a "cautiously optimistic" economic outlook for the coming months for the Indian economy, the Finance Ministry in its monthly economic review for October released Monday stated that agriculture is likely to benefit from favourable monsoon conditions, increased minimum support prices and adequate supply of in- puts.

The Ministry also underlined that most countries are loosening monetary policy, with a broad consensus that after a successful disinflationary phase, monetary policy will have to be eased to avoid recession.

These comments come in the backdrop of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stating last week that if Indian industry is to expand and build new capacities, "our bank interest rates will have to be far more affordable". 

Significance of European solar mission, which ISRO will launch

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will launch the European Space Agency's Proba-3 mission on its PSLV rocket to study the solar corona, the outermost and hottest part of the Sun's atmosphere, from Sriharikota on December 4.

The mission will attempt the first-ever "precision formation flying", where two satellites will fly together and maintain a fixed configuration in space.

This is the latest solar mission in ESA's Proba suite of missions. Its predecessors Proba-1 (also launched by ISRO) and Proba-2 were launched in 2001 and 2009, respectively. Teams of scientists from Spain, Belgium, Poland, Italy and Switzerland have worked on Proba-3.

HOW SCIENTISTS DEVELOPED PILLS THAT CAN REPLACE INJECTIONS

A team of researchers has developed ingestible capsules that release a burst of drugs directly inside the stomach or other parts of the digestive system. 

These capsules can offer an alternative method to deliver drugs such as insulin that, thus far, are typically administered via injections. 

To develop them, the researchers took inspiration from the way cephalopods like squids and cuttlefish use jet propulsion mechanisms to move underwater, and shoot ink.

Legal issues in Sambhal

The court's order came in a plea that claimed that Sambhal's Jama Masjid was built on the site of a Hindu temple.

This is similar to claims made in the cases of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, the Shahi Idgah in Mathura, and the Kamal-Maula mosque in Madhya Pradesh's Dhar.

The claims in all of these disputes essentially seek to change the religious character of a place of worship, something that is prohibited by the Place of Worship Act, of 1991. 

Why India's trade deficit reflects the strength of the country's service sector

India’s persistent trade deficit it imports more goods than it exports - is often seen as a sign of weakness of Indian manufacturing. The deficit reflects not a weakness of Indian manufacturing but India's relative strength in services and its attractiveness as an investment destination.

As long as India retains its relative strength in services and attracts foreign investment, this goods trade deficit will remain. These fundamental factors imply that for Indian manufacturing to grow faster, it must be driven by domestic demand, not exports.