Post the resumption of tolling on national highways from April 20, 2020, the movement of commercial vehicles picked up significant pace over the last three months and has reached near 90% of pre-covid levels. However, the movement in passenger vehicles is yet to recover fully.
India and Vietnam on Tuesday agreed to add new momentum to the economic and defence engagement between the two countries and also to explore closer cooperation in emerging areas including civil nuclear energy, space, marine sciences and new technologies.
India’s national security planners are pushing hard to complete an all-weather strategic route to Ladakh that will link Darcha in Himachal Pradesh to Nimu via Padum in Kargil’s Zanskar valley, people familiar with the matter said. Nimu is 35 kilometres from Leh town and headquarters of XIV Corps responsible for the defence of East Ladakh and Siachen Glacier.
Ministry of Shipping has facilitated more than 1,00,000 crew change on Indian ports and through charter flights. It is the highest number of crew changes in the world. Crew change consists of replacing one of the ship’s crew members with another one and involves sign-on the ships and sign-off the ships procedures.
Oil & Gas industry has kick-started economic activities/projects, numbering 8,363 with an anticipated cost of Rs 5.88 lakh crore which resumed progressively since 20.04.2020, following all pandemic related SOP.
Realizing the rapid depletion of petroleum-based fuels, Dr. T. Mathimani from the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, started exploring alternative fuels from renewable and sustainable sources. While different types of biofuels that have been explored recently, the use of microalgae has been strongly considered for the production of biofuels since they present a series of advantages over other biofuel feedstock, and this route to sustainable fuels inspired him.
The Thai ambassador to India lauded India’s Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative by announces the purchase of 600 Tata motors military trucks. Chutintorn Sam Gongsakdi tweeted saying, ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat: The Royal Thai Army is in the process of completing its purchase of over 600 TATA LPTA military trucks…They are rugged & easy to maintain. Fit for purpose. Fit for service of the nation’.
In addition to these, as per the report, the airstrip at Lakshadweep is also set to be upgraded for military operations. While the elevation of the airstrips in Andaman and Nicobar islands into full-fledged fighter bases will secure the Bay of Bengal up to the Malacca Straits, the up-gradation of the airstrip in Lakshadweep will secure the Arabian Sea up to the Gulf of Aden.
Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan today co-chaired the first India-Uzbekistan National Coordination Committee meeting virtually with Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Investments and Foreign Economic Relations Sardor Umurzakov.
The first high-level Indo-US interaction, involving Cabinet Ministers and industry captains, to be held virtually later this week will set the framework for bilateral cooperation in the post-Galwan Valley environment.
