GDP grows 6.2% on rising govt., consumer spending

India's real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 6.2% in the October to December 2024 period, the third quarter of the fiscal year, picking up pace from the 5.6% growth recorded in the previous quarter, according to data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) on Friday. However, this was considerably slower than the 9.5% growth over the same period in 2023. Third quarter growth trailed the Reserve Bank of India's estimates by 0.2 percentage points. 

India, EU set year-end deadline for trade deal, security, defence pact

India and the European Union are working towards concluding their long-pending bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) by the end of 2025. They are also discussing a new strategic security and defence partnership agreement, to replace the current Strategic Roadmap for 2020-2025, ahead of the next EU-India summit expected later this year.

ISRO's Aditya-L1 mission unlocks solar flare secrets with new image

India's first dedicated space-based solar mission, Aditya-L1, has made a ground-breaking observation as one of its scientific payloads has captured the first-ever image of a solar flare 'kernel'.

The Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT) payload has captured the image in the lower solar atmosphere - the photosphere and chromosphere. 

The necessity of mainstreaming wetland conservation

The suo motu public interest litigation by the Meghalaya High Court very recently, to monitor the conservation of wetlands in the State brings the focus back on this important ecosystem. Since 1971, February 2 is observed every year as 'World Wetland Day' to mark the adoption of the Ramsar Convention, an international treaty for the conservation of wetlands, which was signed in the Iranian city of Ramsar. The theme this year was 'Protecting Wetlands for Our Common Future". It is a theme that has appropriately positioned wetlands in the sustainable development perspective, as espoused in the Brundtland report, 'Our Common Future', and published by the UN World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987. 

The steps that will shape India's Al ambition

In the heart of Bengaluru, software developers find themselves racing against time to outbid Chinese rivals for major Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven projects with international clients. Despite being part of a skilled workforce, deals often slip away due to capabilities Indian firms struggle to match. This is not just a single developer's dilemma. It is a glimpse into India's crossroads.

India to go past U.S. in scientific publications by 2029, says Minister

India will overtake the U.S. in the number of scientific publications by 2029, Un-ion Minister for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh said at a public function on Friday to commemorate National Science Day.

SEBI unveils centralised portal for corporate bonds

Markets regulator SEBI has launched a centralised database portal - Bond Central – for corporate bonds in a bid to create a single, authentic source of information on such securities.

Indian digital economy ranked 28th on user spending: report

Even as India is the third largest economy in the world, its 'user' economy ranks 28th in the world, according to a report.

"This means while India as a country has achieved high level digitalisation at the aggregate level, the level of digitalisation for the average Indian remains fairly modest," the report by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations' (ICRIER) Prosus Centre for Internet and Digital Economy (CIDE) said. 

India must hasten reforms to speed up growth: World Bank

India would need to grow by 7.8% on an average over the next 22 years to achieve the country's aspirations of reaching high-income status by 2047, said the World Bank in a report released on Friday.