India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC-1) INS Vikrant is expected to be commissioned by 2022 as a tribute to the country’s 75 years of Independence.

The Union Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Shri Prakash Javadekar virtually inaugurated a High Speed Track (HST), NATRAX, in Indore on June 29, 2021. NATRAX is the longest high-speed track in Asia, measuring 11.3 km in length, developed in an area of 1000 acres of land.

The US has announced an additional USD 41 million assistance to help India respond to the Covid-19 pandemic and strengthen the country’s preparedness for the future health emergencies, taking the total aid to more than USD 200 million.

The world’s biggest mobile event of the year Mobile World Congress (MWC), began in the hybrid form on June 28 in Barcelona, a city in Spain.
Last year, the event got cancelled due to a high number of cases of Covid-19. Top Brands like Google, Nokia, Xiaomi, Facebook, and Sony are not attending this year’s in-person event. MWC Barcelona, is an annual event focused on innovations in the telecom industry, hosted by GSMA.

Indian drugmaker Zydus Cadila informed on July 1 2021 that it has submitted its application at the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for emergency use approval of its COVID-19 vaccine, ZyCoV-D. The drug manufacturer plans to manufacture up to 120 million doses of the shot annually.

India has been ranked as the 10th best country in the world in the Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) 2020, released by International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on June 29, 2021. The GCI 2020 is the fourth edition of the annual index and ranked 194 countries. India scored 97.5 points from 100 points to rank among the top ten best countries in the world.

Andhra Pradesh has started a programme to transform foundational learning in government schools for which the World Bank has approved a loan of 250 million dollars.

Indian Government’s think tank NITI Aayog released a comprehensive study on the ‘not-for-profit’ hospital model in the country.
It presents research-based findings on not-for-profit hospitals and makes comparisons with private hospitals and health schemes of the Union Government. It also discusses the cost-containment strategies implemented by not-for-profit hospitals.

An expert panel of India’s Central Drug Authority on June 30 2021, recommended against granting permission to the Serum Institute of India (SII) to conduct the phase 2/3 trials of COVAVAX Covid-19 vaccine on children aged 2-17 years.