India will be the official ‘Country of Honour’ at the upcoming Marche’s Du Film which will be organized alongside the Cannes Film Festival 2022 in France.

 

Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shri Anurag Thakur today(5th May 2022) announced that India will be the official Country of Honour at the upcoming Marche’ Du Film, organized alongside the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, in France.

Expounding the decision, the Minister said “It is the first time the Marché du Film has an official Country of Honour, and this special focus will continue annually with different nations in the spotlight at future editions.” Notably, France and India are marking 75 years of their diplomatic ties, and the Prime Ministers’ visit to Paris and meeting with President Macron takes even more significance in this context. It is in this significant diplomatic backdrop that India has been chosen as the ‘Country of Honour’ at Marche’ Du Film at the Cannes Film Festival..

Source : First Post

The Biden administration has announced an automatic extension of expiring work permits for certain categories of immigrants, including those seeking green cards and spouses of H-1B visa holders who get employment authorisation cards (EAD), for a year-and-a-half.

 

The move, announced by the Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday, is likely to benefit thousands of Indian immigrants.

 

The extension period of up to 180 days will automatically be extended to up to 540 days from the expiration date stated on the current EADs, the Department of Homeland Security said.

 

"As USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services) works to address the pending EAD caseloads, the agency has determined that the current 180-day automatic extension for employment authorisation is currently insufficient," said USCIS Director Ur M. Jaddou.

 

According to USCIS, non-citizens with a pending EAD renewal application whose 180-day automatic extension has lapsed and whose EAD has expired, will be granted an additional period of employment authorisation and EAD validity beginning May 4, 2022, and lasting up to 540 days from the expiration date of their EAD. They may resume employment if they are still within the up to 540-day automatic extension period and are otherwise eligible.

 

Non-citizens with a pending renewal application will still be covered under the 180-day automatic extension, and will be granted an additional extension of up to 360 days, for a total of up to 540 days past the expiration of the current EAD.

 

Non-citizens with a pending renewal application and a valid EAD on May 4, 2022, or who file an EAD renewal application before October 27, 2023, will be granted an automatic extension of up to 540 days if their EAD expires before the renewal application is processed..

Source : The Print

"Delhi" Chief Minister "Arvind Kejriwal" on May 5, 2022 announced that subsidised electricity in the national capital will be given only to those who ask for it. The new rule will be implemented from October 1, 2022.

 

"Now cheap electricity will be optional in Delhi. From 1st October 2022, the Delhi government to provide electricity subsidy to only those who ask for it. We will give options to people whether or not they need electricity subsidy," Kejriwal announced in a press conference.

 

He added that "the work of asking people about subsidised electricity will begin soon."

 

At present, consumers in the national capital get ''zero'' power bill up to 200 units of electricity and a subsidy of Rs 800 on consuming 201 to 400 units of power per month..

Source : Business Standard

Jeff Bezos, who established Amazon exactly 27 years ago on July 5, 1994, has stepped down as CEO, and Andy Jassy, a longtime AWS executive, has taken over as the company’s new CEO. Jassy is currently identified as President and CEO of Amazon.com, as well as a member of the Board of Directors, on the Amazon investor relations website.

 

* Bezos said in May that Jassy would take over as CEO of the e-commerce behemoth on 5th July.

* AWS is thought to account for around half of the company’s revenue.

* In the March quarter of this year, AWS, Amazon’s cloud division, posted a $54 billion annualised run rate, up 32% year over year.

* Bezos is also the owner of the Washington Post and the founder of the aerospace business Blue Origin, which is working to reduce the cost and increase the safety of spaceflight. He has founded two charitable organisations.

* On July 20, Bezos and his brother will ride to the edge of space aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard tourism rocket.

* Bezos, who grew an online bookshop into a $1.7 trillion corporate company that reaches into space.

About Andy Jassy : From its founding, Jassy developed and directed Amazon Web Services (AWS), serving as its CEO from April 2016 until July 2021.

Jassy joined Amazon in 1997 and held several leadership positions across the company before developing AWS, including both business-to-business and business-to-consumer.

The Times Higher Education (THE) has released the 2022 edition of its Impact Rankings. 8 Universities from India are placed in the top 300 universities in the world. The ranking is topped by Western Sydney University (Australia); followed by Arizona State University (The US), Western University (Canada). This year, a record 1,524 institutions from 110 countries participated in the rankings. Australia’s Western Sydney University secured the top position globally in the overall ranking.

 

* India is the joint fourth(4th) most-represented nation across the rankings, with 64 universities featuring in total (the same number as Turkey).

* In South Asia, India breaks through into the world’s top 50, with Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham claiming 41st place in the overall table. Lovely Professional University makes the top 100 at joint 74th place in the overall table.

* Calcutta University has been ranked first among all the central and state-aided public universities in the country by Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings 2022. Calcutta University grabbed 14th position globally in the ‘Decent Work and Economic Growth’ sub-category.

Doordarshan has won ENBA Award 2021 for the best in-depth Hindi series. TV series based on pet care ‘Best Friend Forever’ on Doordarshan has won big at the 14th edition of the Exchange4media News Broadcasting Awards (ENBA).

 

Best Friend Forever is half-an-hour weekly live phone-in show on DD National, wherein two pet experts guide people on how to take care of their pets, about their food, nutrition, routine health check-ups, vaccination and other pet related issues.

The show is aired every Sunday at 7 pm and is also available on the YouTube channel of DD National..

Source : PIB

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Bombay) has tied up with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) to develop climate solutions for the stakeholder at village, city and district level. The collaboration will help the institute to develop sensors and drone-based smart monitoring systems, climate-smart agriculture technology for water and food security, intelligent and automated early warning systems, climate and health, smart power grid management, wind energy and heat wave forecasts.

 

Given the country's ambitious target of reaching net zero by 2070, IIT Bombay is aiming to establish a Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Climate Services and Solutions within the Interdisciplinary Program in Climate Studies (IDPCS). "IDPCS at IIT Bombay was set up in 2012 and has completed its 10-year journey with major financial support from the Department of Science and Technology," the release mentioned..

Source : NDTV

National Coal Miners’ Day, celebrated on May 4th annually, highlights the contributions of coal miners in meeting our energy demands. Below, we share a bit of the history of coal mining, the current energy scenario, and the role of coal miners in India.

 

COAL MINERS’ DAY HISTORY : While the first-ever coal mine was opened in 1575 by one George Bruce of Carnock, Scotland. India, however, got its first coal mine in the year 1774, notes the Ministry of Coal website. This mine is the Raniganj Coalfield, at the banks of the river Damodar, which functioned under the erstwhile East India company’s John Summer and Suetonius Grant Heaty. Following Independence, India’s coal usage climbed with the 5-year development roadmap laid down by the new government.

 

COAL MINERS’ DAY - INDIAN LAWS THAT PROTECT MINER : The Mines Act 1952, Mine Rules 1955, Coal Mine Regulation-1957, among others, lay down the provisions for the health, safety and welfare of workers in coal, oil and metal mines..

Source : News18

* The RailTel Corporation of India Ltd had designed and established a “Health Cloud" at Visakhapatnam premises of Andhra Pradesh Med Tech Zone (AMTZ).

 

* AMTZ is the world’s first integrated medical device manufacturing hub.

 

* The “Health Cloud" has been inaugurated by Louise Agersnap (Head of WHO Innovation Hub).

 

* Health Cloud can also be operationalised on wheels and can dispense the medicines by Health ATM through Mobile App having a digital payment interface..

Source : Live Mint

* Railway Protection Force(RPF) has launched a focused effort under “Operation Satark” from 5th April to 30th April 2022.

 

* Focused effort under “Operation Satark” was launched from 5th April to 30th April 2022 wherein 26 cases of transportation of illegal tobacco products were detected with seizure of tobacco products worth more than Rs 44 Lakhs and arrest of 14 persons involved. 177 cases of transportation of illicit liquor were intercepted with arrest of 97 persons and seizure of illicit liquor worth about Rs 18 Lakhs. 

 

* Unaccounted gold/silver jewellery and unaccounted cash is transported through rail for the purpose of tax evasion. RPF detected 23 such cases of tax evasion and handed over unaccounted cash/gold/silver worth about Rs 2.60 Crores to the respective tax authorities.

 

* Being aware of its responsibility as the first responder in cases of smuggling through rail, RPF took concerted action in such cases and seized smuggled items worth about Rs. 3.18 Crores during the period mentioned above.

 

* Arms, ammunition and explosives are sometimes transported by forces inimical to the nation in order to commit crime or realize nefarious design in different parts of the country. RPF has been conducting intensive checks in stations, trains and railway area under “Operation Satark” to thwart the design of such elements. In course of such an effort across the nation, RPF nabbed 17 persons and recovered one AK 47 rifle, one pipe gun, one Double Barrel Gun, one pistol, 06 country made pistols, 3 daggers, 10 pieces of 12 bore ammunition, 140 pieces of .315” bullet, 404 pieces of 7.62 mm bullets and 9 pieces of different caliber ammunition..

Source : PIB