WHO urges countries to invest in health systems, support breastfeeding mothers

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New Delhi, Aug 6 (IANS) The World Health Organization has urged countries to invest in health systems and support breastfeeding mothers to strengthen children’s health, development, and survival in the early stages of life.Breastfeeding is crucial for the babies’ health and well-being. It acts as their first vaccine, protecting against diseases including diarrhoea and pneumonia.World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated every year in the first week of August.“Investing in breastfeeding is an inv…

5G smartphone shipments capture 87 pc of overall India market in April-June

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New Delhi, Aug 6 (IANS) 5G smartphone shipments accounted for 87 per cent of the overall India market in the April-June quarter, marking a 20 per cent yearly increase, a report showed on Wednesday.Notably, 5G smartphones priced between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000 recorded over 600 per cent year-on-year growth, reflecting surging demand for affordable 5G access, according to the report by CyberMedia Research (CMR) India.India’s smartphone market grew 8 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in Q2 2025. The gro…

Nasscom selects 37 startups for 3rd cohort of GenAI Foundry Programme

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New Delhi, Aug 6 (IANS) IT industry’s leading body Nasscom on Wednesday said it has selected 37 innovative Generative AI startups for the third cohort of the GenAI Foundry programme.The latest cohort brings together pioneering startups from across five transformative domains, including HR and Talent-Intelligence Copilots, Finance and FinOps Copilots, Enterprise Workflow and Knowledge Copilots, Defence and Physical Autonomy, and AI Security and TrustTech.According to the firm, over the last two c…

7,200 complaints filed over fake goods sold by e-commerce firms in January-June

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New Delhi, Aug 6 (IANS) As many as 7, 221 grievances related to the sale of spurious, fake and duplicate products in the e-commerce sector have been registered in the 6-month period from Jan to June this year on the National Consumer Helpline, up from 4,997 such complaints registered during the entire year in 2024, the Parliament was informed on Wednesday.During FY 2024-25, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has carried out a total of 22 search and seizure operations at warehouses associated w…

Indian stock market ends a tad lower after RBI keeps repo rate unchanged

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Mumbai, Aug 6 (IANS) The Indian stock market ended slightly lower after witnessing volatile trading on Wednesday, as investors showed mixed reaction to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) decision to keep the repo rate unchanged at 5.5 per cent.Sensex settled at 80,543.99, down 166.26 points or 0.21 per cent. The 30-share index opened in negative territory at 80,694.98 against last session’s closing of 80,710.25 ahead of the RBI’s decision on rate cut in the morning. The index hit an intra-day low…

COAI urges Centre to persistently bind OTT communication apps to SIM cards

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New Delhi, Aug 6 (IANS) Telecom industry body Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) on Wednesday urged the government to bind OTT communication apps with the verified mobile SIM card of the users at all times.Currently, a subscriber’s app-based communication services such as WhatsApp are connected to their mobile SIM card only during installation and verification, after which the app works independently on the device even if the SIM card is removed or deactivated, COAI said.The industry…

FSSAI tested 86,401 food samples for pesticide residues; 2.8pc exceeded limits: Govt

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New Delhi, Aug 6 (IANS) The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) tested 86,401 food samples for pesticide residues between 2022 and 2025, the government informed the Parliament on Wednesday.In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Prataprao Jadhav, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, stated that “2.8 per cent samples” were found to exceed the limits.“FSSAI through its regional offices and State/UT Food Safety authorities undertakes regular surveillance, mon…

Installed solar PV module manufacturing capacity reaches 91.6 GW in India: Centre

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New Delhi, Aug 6 (IANS) India’s installed solar PV module manufacturing capacity has reached 91.6 GW, according to the approved list of models and manufacturers (ALMM), the Parliament was informed on Wednesday. “The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India, has been consistently bringing out policies such as production linked incentive (PLI), domestic content requirement (DCR) and others to encourage domestic solar manufacturing,” Shripad Yesso Naik, Minister of State of …

Over 7 lakh persons rehabilitated from drug de-addiction centres in 2024-25: Union Minister

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New Delhi, Aug 6 (IANS) More than 7 lakh persons have been rehabilitated from drug de-addiction centres in the year 2024-25, said Dr. Virendra Kumar, Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, in the Parliament on Wednesday.Replying to a question in Rajya Sabha, Kumar shared that the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE) has formulated and enacted National Action Plan for Drug Demand for Reduction (2018-2025), which supports rehabilitation and drug-deaddiction centres.“Ove…

BharatGen AI to support all 22 scheduled Indian languages by June 2026: Minister

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New Delhi, Aug 6 (IANS) The government’s BharatGen AI initiative will cover all 22 scheduled Indian languages by June 2026, the Parliament was informed on Wednesday.The move is part of a roadmap to create sovereign foundational AI models tailored to Indian languages and societal contexts.“BharatGen currently supports nine Indian languages — Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Malayalam, Bengali, Punjabi, Gujarati, Telugu, and Kannada,” Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology …