India has submitted TBT notification - G/TBT/N/IND/218” related to 8517 - Telephone sets, including telephones for cellular networks or for other wireless networks “ to the World Trade Organization (WTO)  for protection of human safety and Quality. This TBT was filed by the Telecom Engineering Centre (TEC), under the Department of Telecommunications to notify Mandatory Testing and Certification of Telecommunication Systems (MTCTE) – Phase III & IV.

A National Intellectual Property Awareness Mission (NIPAM) under the initiative of the Government's "Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav", has been launched by Shri Anurag Jain, Secretary, DPIIT on 8/12/2021. The pan-India ambitious mission aims to provide awareness on intellectual property and its rights to 1 million students. It aims to inculcate the spirit of creativity and innovation to students of higher education (classes 8 to 12) and ignite and inspire the students at college/Universities to innovate and protect their creations. During the launch, Govt. emphasized the importance of the role of a strong IPR ecosystem in the advancement of a country and how IPR is an important tool for the IP holder to become a "Job giver rather than job seeker".

Commerce and Industry Minister called for waiver of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in World Trade Organization (WTO) and dismantling new trade barriers in the global fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. In October 2020, India and South Africa had submitted the first proposal, suggesting a waiver for all WTO members on the implementation of certain provisions of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) in relation to the prevention, containment, or treatment of Covid-19. In May, a revised proposal was submitted by 62 co-sponsors, including India, South Africa, and Indonesia. The TRIPS agreement came into effect in January 1995.

The Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry has extended the timeline for the implementation of Smart Cities Mission to June 2023 due to the Covid pandemic and other reasons, a senior official said on Thursday. According to an earlier deadline, the cities were expected to complete their projects within five years of being selected under the Smart Cities Mission. The official said all the 100 smart cities selected under the mission will now have to complete their projects by June 2023. The official said all the 100 smart cities selected under the mission will now have to complete their projects by June 2023.  Hundred smart cities had been selected through four rounds of competition from January 2016 to June 2018. The ministry had launched the Smart Cities Mission on 25 June 2015.

Four greenfield industrial cities or nodes are being developed in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh under the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), and major trunk infrastructure works have been completed there, the commerce and industry said. In these cities, 138 plots (754 acres) have been allotted to companies with investment to the tune of more than Rs 16,750 crore, it said in a statement. Anchor investors in these cities/nodes include companies like HYOSUNG (South Korea), NLMK (Russia), HAIER (China), TATA Chemicals and AMUL.

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee won the Smart Move Innovative Urban Mobility Challenge held on November 8 by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) in collaboration with Smart Cities Mission, National Institute of Urban Affairs and GIZ India. The team from IIT Roorkee developed an interactive passenger information system to predict the crowding levels in the public transit system.

The union authorities’ s efforts to hurry up electric vehicle adoption within the nation will get an enormous push with the standardization of charging infrastructure which is scheduled to be launched by the top of 2022. The unbiased organization Automotive Research Foundation of India (ARAI), Pune, is engaged on this. “For quick charging, the prototype is prepared and by December 2022, we’ll carry this to the market. However, we hope this may be achieved even earlier than that,” Minister for Heavy Industries, stated. He invited the industry stakeholders and policymakers from the important thing states to push electrical automobile adoption within the quick lane.

NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog and the World Bank (WB) are working together to facilitate a program for faster and easier financing of electric vehicles (EVs). NITI Aayog and World Bank are setting up a $300 million ‘first loss risk sharing instrument’, with the State Bank of India (SBI) as its program manager. The current rate of interest for electric two-wheelers & electric 3 Wheelers, which is in the range of 20-25 per cent is expected to be reduced to 10-12 per cent.

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay has joined hands with Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL) in a bid to implement electric vehicle charging facilities across the country. CESL is a subsidiary of state-owned Energy Efficiency Services Ltd. This pact will help both parties collaborate on technological advancements to set up electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure that includes developing flagship products, standardizing technical specifications and customizing solutions for the Indian EV charging ecosystem.

India is working on reducing vehicular pollution in its metros, with the government encouraging startups to innovate on technology to make electric vehicles affordable for the masses. Several states have also formed their various EV policies and are encouraging people to adopt EVs with various subsidy schemes in a bid to reduce the carbon footprint.

E-Amrit is a one-stop destination for all information on electric vehicles–busting myths around the adoption of EVs. The Central government launched ‘E-Amrit’, a web portal on electric vehicles (EVs), at the ongoing COP26 Summit in United Kingdom’s Glasgow. According to a statement issued by the NITI Aayog, E-Amrit is a one-stop destination for all information on electric vehicles–busting myths around the adoption of EVs, their purchase, investment opportunities, policies, and subsidies. “The portal has been developed and hosted by NITI Aayog under a collaborative knowledge exchange programme with the UK government and as part of the UK-India Joint Roadmap 2030, signed by the Prime Ministers of the two countries,” the statement said.

E-Amrit intends to complement initiatives of the government on raising awareness on EVs and sensitizing consumers on the benefits of switching to electric vehicles. In the recent past, India has taken many initiatives to accelerate the decarbonization of transport and the adoption of electric mobility in the country. Schemes such as FAME and PLI are especially important in creating an ecosystem for the early adoption of EVs. NITI Aayog intends to add more features and introduce innovative tools to make the portal more interactive and user-friendly.