Five Indian states are going to polls in February in what is seen as a bellwether elections. The elections are crucial for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party. They are being watched keenly in India, almost like the midterm elections in the US. In the next two months, elections will also be held in Punjab & Uttarakhand as well as in Goa and the northeastern state of Manipur. VO: Elections would be held for 403 assembly seats in UP, 117 in Punjab, 70 in Uttarakhand, 60 in Manipur and 40 in Goa.

India's mammoth state elections: Why are they significant?

For the second time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi topped the ‘Global Leader Approval’ ratings released by American research firm - Morning Consult, with the highest 70 per cent approval ratings.

World’s most popular leader : PM Modi ahead of Biden, Boris, Merkel

We are getting the first visuals of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with the leaders of the European Union.

Indian PM Narendra Modi holds meet with leaders of EU

Another big boost awaits India's vaccination drive, just days after the country successfully administered 1 billion vaccine doses, the WHO will meet today to consider approving the emergency use of India's indigenously made Covaxin jab.

Covaxin: WHO to meet for emergency use listing

Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen has visited Rashtrapati Bhavan today for the 3-day visit to India. This visit is hopeful for both countries in terms of diplomacy. Watch this report for more details.

Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen visits Rashtrapati Bhavan

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen arrived in New Delhi in the wee hours of Saturday for his 3-day visit to India. Watch this report for more details.

Denmark PM Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen arrives in Delhi

During the visit to India, the Prime Minister of Denmark said that I'm very glad to be working with PM Modi. Watch this report for more details.

I'm very glad to be working with PM Modi, says Danish PM Frederiksen

Young artisans and designers are incorporating new design and techniques into the art of weaving and painting Kashmiri carpets, something that already has worldwide fame. Artists have started using calligraphy art for the first time on these silk carpets. Watch this ground report for more details.

Craftsman uses calligraphy on Kashmiri silk carpets, demand increases

External Affairs Minister of India S Jaishankar will be paying an official visit to Mexico from September 26-28 at the invitation of his Mexican counterpart Marcelo Ebrard Casaubón, the ministry of external affairs said in a statement. Watch this report for more details.

Mexico: External Affairs Minister of India to meet leaders of business community

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday went to the construction site of the new parliament building in New Delhi at around 8.45 pm. Watch this report for more details.

Indian PM Modi inspects construction site of new parliament building

During the 81st edition of Mann Ki Baat, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked about the importance of rivers. He said, "For us, rivers are a living entity."

For us, rivers are a living entity, says Indian PM Modi in 80th edition of Mann Ki Baat

Assam was hit by an earthquake of magnitude 4 on Monday afternoon, an official bulletin said. 
As per the National Center for Seismology, the quake was recorded at 1.13 pm, having its epicentre at Kokrajhar in west Assam at a depth of 10 km. The place of occurrence was 90 km north of Tura in Meghalaya, it said.

People in the districts of western Assam and northern West Bengal ran out of their homes in panic.

There was no immediate report of any injury to anyone or damage to any property, officials said.

Northeast is in the high seismic zone, because of which earthquakes frequently hit the region.

A 6.4 magnitude quake had shaken Assam and parts of Northeast on April 28.

Assam was hit by an earthquake of magnitude 4 on Monday afternoon, an official bulletin said. As per the National Center for Seismology, the quake was recorded at 1.

Assam was hit by an earthquake of magnitude 4 on Monday afternoon, an official bulletin said. As per the National Center for Seismology, the quake was recorded at 1.13 pm, having its epicentre at Kokrajhar in west Assam at a depth of 10 km. The place of occurrence was 90 km north of Tura in Meghalaya, it said. People in the districts of western Assam and northern West Bengal ran out of their homes in panic. There was no immediate report of any injury to anyone or damage to any property, officials said. Northeast is in the high seismic zone, because of which earthquakes frequently hit the region. A 6.4 magnitude quake had shaken Assam and parts of Northeast on April 28.

4-magnitude earthquake hits west Assam, tremors felt in north Bengal

In a bid to bring hundreds of Indians trapped in Taliban-held Afghanistan back home, an evacuation flight from Kabul landed in Delhi this morning. It was the first passenger flight by Air India carrying over 85 Indians. The Air India flight had departed from Tajikistan, assisted and supported by the Indian embassy in Dushanbe. Other flights are also on their way to India bringing Indian nationals.

Kabul: India evacuates 20 Afghan Sikhs, 2 Sikh MPs

India: A Chennai-based musical troupe has organised a unique concert keeping in view the Covid-19 Pandemic norms. The troupe has placed plants as audience in the auditorium. Watch this video

India: Chennai troupe hosts musical concert with plants as audience

The Delhi High Court, in a very revolutionary decision, backed the need for a Uniform Civil Code observing that there is a need for a Code - 'common to all' in the country and asked the central government to take the necessary steps in this matter.

India: What is the uniform civil code?

A third wave in India could hit children hard. In fact, children are already getting infected in large numbers during the second wave. In a district of Maharashtra, more than 9,900 children tested positive.

Gravitas: The virus reaches India's children

The month of June could bring good news for India. New infections are falling, and India's vaccine rollout is getting a booster shot. In June, India will have nearly 120 million doses to use.

Gravitas: India's vaccine rollout gets a booster shot

Union health ministry on Monday said that India reported 1,27,510 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. 2,795 new fatalities were also recorded in this duration, which pushed the death toll to 331,895, the health ministry said.

India reports 1,27,510 new COVID-19 cases, 2,795 deaths in last 24 hours

There are stories that are inspiring even in this difficult time. Two nurses from the Kashmir Valley are setting new standards of dedication to their work. One such story is of Shagufta Khan, Shagufta has managed to deliver more than 100 children in a hospital, caring for COVID positive mothers.

J&K: One nurse deliver 100 babies of COVID-19 patients, while another vaccinates 6,000 people

More than three lakh homes were devastated and one crore people were affected as sea water and rivers swollen and embankments broke off along the Bengal coast, shortly after the cyclone Yaas hit Odisha at 9.30 am on Wednesday.

Cyclone Yaas kills at least 5 people, Indian Navy teams undertake relief operations

Twitter said on Thursday that it was concerned about the safety of its employees in India when Delhi Police personnel visited their offices in South Delhi and Gurugram to "serve notice" in connection with the investigation into the controversial 'toolkit' case.

Twitter responds to new digital rules in India, says concerned about safety of Indian employees

Facebook-owned instant messaging application WhatsApp on Wednesday challenged the Indian government in the Delhi High Court over the traceability clause in the new IT Rule 2021. The Center said that it cannot be denied in cases of mob lynching and riots, same WhatsApp messages are circulated and recirculated.

Indian Govt amidst legal battle over privacy says, "WhatsApp users in India will not be affected"

Temperature control and lighting are regarded the predominant energy-consuming resources in large buildings and office complexes that use conventional glass windows.

Now, researchers from IIT Guwahati claim to have developed smart window materials that can control the amount of light and heat permeating through, when a voltage is passed thought it. They say this can help develop efficient automatic climate control systems in buildings.&nbsp;

Smart window materials developed by the researchers make use of 'noble metals' and their comparatively inexpensive alternatives.

According to Ashish Kumar Chowdhary, a research scholar at IIT Guwahati, their design involved an electro-optical polymer which&nbsp;was sandwiched between ultra-thin metal layers.

The filtering of light would thus be enabled by applying a voltage and changing the refractive index (how light moves through a material) of the electro-optical polymer.&nbsp;

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/india-news/iit-madras-alumnis-startup-3d-prints-600sqft-concrete-home-comprising-hall-kitchen-bedroom-381123" hreflang="en">IIT Madras alumni’s startup 3D prints 600sqft concrete home comprising hall, kitchen, bedroom</a>

While performing simulations, researchers considered using gold and silver as the outer metal layers, but conducted the tests with copper and indium tin oxide.

Researchers claim that under certain conditions, the smart glass was able to selectively filter solar radiation that spans the visible, infrared and shortwave infrared wavelengths, including heat and light reflected from neighbouring buildings and structures.

The results of this study have recently been published in the journal Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells.

The team believes that such smart materials can be applied to obtain efficient automatic climate control in vehicles, locomotives, airplanes and greenhouses of the future.

They claim that the material proposed by their team can easily be fabricated using existing state-of-the-art nanoscale fabrication methods such as e-beam evaporation and graphoepitaxy techniques.

According to the researchers, the working of these materials is dependent on the surface smoothness and other physical properties of the layers. The team plans to conduct further studies on the same.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/india-news/iit-madras-incubated-start-up-pi-beam-launches-made-in-india-e-bike-362688" hreflang="en">IIT Madras incubated start-up ‘Pi-beam’ launches 'Made in India' e-bike&nbsp;</a>

“We believe that our smart windows can provide an alternative solution for maintaining ambient indoor temperature and lighting inside a building or a vehicle by integrating those with usual glass windows or walls, thereby reducing the need of air-conditioning systems", said Dr. Debabrata Sikdar, Assistant Professor, Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering.

Temperature control and lighting are regarded the predominant energy-consuming resources in large buildings and office complexes that use conventional glass windows.

Temperature control and lighting are regarded the predominant energy-consuming resources in large buildings and office complexes that use conventional glass windows. Now, researchers from IIT Guwahati claim to have developed smart window materials that can control the amount of light and heat permeating through, when a voltage is passed thought it. They say this can help develop efficient automatic climate control systems in buildings. Smart window materials developed by the researchers make use of 'noble metals' and their comparatively inexpensive alternatives. According to Ashish Kumar Chowdhary, a research scholar at IIT Guwahati, their design involved an electro-optical polymer which was sandwiched between ultra-thin metal layers. The filtering of light would thus be enabled by applying a voltage and changing the refractive index (how light moves through a material) of the electro-optical polymer. Also read: IIT Madras alumni’s startup 3D prints 600sqft concrete home comprising hall, kitchen, bedroom While performing simulations, researchers considered using gold and silver as the outer metal layers, but conducted the tests with copper and indium tin oxide. Researchers claim that under certain conditions, the smart glass was able to selectively filter solar radiation that spans the visible, infrared and shortwave infrared wavelengths, including heat and light reflected from neighbouring buildings and structures. The results of this study have recently been published in the journal Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells. The team believes that such smart materials can be applied to obtain efficient automatic climate control in vehicles, locomotives, airplanes and greenhouses of the future. They claim that the material proposed by their team can easily be fabricated using existing state-of-the-art nanoscale fabrication methods such as e-beam evaporation and graphoepitaxy techniques. According to the researchers, the working of these materials is dependent on the surface smoothness and other physical properties of the layers. The team plans to conduct further studies on the same. Also read: IIT Madras incubated start-up ‘Pi-beam’ launches 'Made in India' e-bike “We believe that our smart windows can provide an alternative solution for maintaining ambient indoor temperature and lighting inside a building or a vehicle by integrating those with usual glass windows or walls, thereby reducing the need of air-conditioning systems", said Dr. Debabrata Sikdar, Assistant Professor, Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering.

India's IIT researchers develop smart windows that regulate light, heat to conserve power in buildings

Black Fungus or Mucormycosis, a rare deadly fungal infection's multiple cases in patients of COVID-19 have been reported in India in the past few days.

COVID-19: Black fungal infections on a rise in India

India's pandemic numbers are going from bad to worse. But, how did other countries fare during the second wave? WION's Palki assesses how the pandemic is playing out around the world.

Gravitas: India reports its worst pandemic numbers yet

Even as India grapples with a deadly second wave, the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Indian government has now warned that a third wave of the pandemic is inevitable. WION's Palki tells you more about India's growing challenges.

Gravitas | India's Covid surge: A third wave is "inevitable"

For two weeks now, dozens of countries have been delivering foreign aid to India. But, patients are still dying due to lack of oxygen and social media remains flooded with SOS appeals. Where is the foreign aid going?

Gravitas: Shortages continue in India despite foreign aid

The country also added 3,980 more fatalities, the deadliest day yet, taking the death toll past 2.3 lakh.

India reports biggest spike of 4.12 lakh new cases

India has become the second country in the world to report more than 20 million cases in this pandemic. Now a new variant has emerged, that is said to be "15 times more virulent".

Gravitas: New Wuhan virus variant found in India

Mutations are exacerbating India's pandemic crisis. More people are getting infected. The condition of patients is deteriorating faster & doctors are getting less time to respond. WION's Palki tells how the task to defeat the virus has got tougher for healthcare workers

Gravitas | India's deadly second wave: Mutants are exacerbating the pandemic crisis

After India registered more than 400,000 new cases- a new record on Saturday last week, there was a decline in daily cases, with the figure reaching 357,229 on Tuesday.

India sees record 3,780 COVID-19 deaths in 1 day

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