An unusually bright meteor was seen at 7-15 P.M. yesterday [August 1, in Calcutta]. Its direction as observed from the eastern end of the Curzon Gardens was nearly S.S.W. and it appeared to fall vertically first coming into view at an altitude of about 50 degrees, increasing in brilliancy until …

A clampdown on the sale of oxytocin will have severe public health consequences The Union Health Ministry’s ban on the retail sale and private manufacture of oxytocin, expected to kick off on September 1, is an extremely ill-thought-out one. The drug, a synthetic version of a human hormone, is a …

The RBI’s decision to raise benchmark rates spotlights concerns about inflation The decision by the Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee to raise benchmark interest rates again by 25 basis points is a prudent one. This is the second successive rate increase in as many months, a response to …

The polio endgame is proving to be challenging. On June 29, 28 children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) were paralysed by the circulating vaccine-derived polio virus Type 2 (cVDPV). The World Health Organisation (WHO) has assessed the overall public health risk at the “national level to be …

On why the Clean Ganga project has a long way to go It is a registered trust that runs the ‘Namami Gange’ mission — India’s most ambitious endeavour to clean the Ganga river. The NMCG has a Rs. 20,000-crore, centrally-funded, non-lapsable corpus and consists of nearly 288 projects. The NMCG’s …

Two recent legislative interventions are short-sighted The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has attracted much attention in recent weeks for two reasons. First, it put out for public consultation the draft Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) Bill, which seeks to replace the University Grants Commission. In response, it …

Precious evolutionary living resources, natural infrastructure, are going extinct. While we thoughtlessly build artificial infrastructure, we forget that this kills natural infrastructure which took evolution aeons to create and cannot be engineered. We are missing the essential point that this is our lifeline on the planet. Forests, rivers, mountains, aquifers …

The differences in the size and share of population across States in India in 2011 as against that in 1971 have raised widespread apprehension regarding the disadvantage of States that have performed better in population stabilisation efforts while working out their share of funds. Such apprehension sounds premature because the …

South Asia has seen many crises over citizenship. The Supreme Court must ensure there isn’t another one in Assam The ongoing crisis in Assam over the National Register of Citizens (NRC) is largely the creation of the Supreme Court. The final draft list of citizens, published on July 30, leaves …

Drug firm Zydus Cadila said it had received approval from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration to market Azithromycin for Oral Suspension USP, used to treat bacterial infections, in the American market. The medication is used to treat respiratory infections, skin infections, ear infections and sexually transmitted diseases. The drug …

“The total gross GST revenue collected in July 2018 is Rs. 96,483 crore, of which CGST is Rs. 15,877 crore, SGST is Rs. 22,293 crore, IGST is Rs. 49,951 crore (including Rs. 24,852 crore collected on imports) and cess is Rs. 8,362 crore (including Rs. 794 crore collected on imports),” …

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday gave its approval to the government’s decision to reduce its stake in IDBI Bank below 50%, with Life Insurance Corporation raising stake in the bank to 51%. The boards of IDBI Bank and LIC have both given their approval for the deal. This policy will …

An IRDAI working group on InsurTech has indicated support for the use of technology that aids in more scientific pricing of insurance policies and facilitates ease of business for both the insurer and the insured. On the use of wearable and portable devices, the group said the devices must be …

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Urjit Patel has flagged the risks to macroeconomic stability from a potential ‘currency war’ in the wake of rising global trade tensions and said the central bank’s decision on Wednesday to raise interest rates was aimed at firmly anchoring inflation expectations. “RBI’s statements on …

The Matua Mahasangha, a pressure group of the Namasudra caste, alleged that out of the about 40 lakh people who did not figure in the NRC, nearly 6 lakh were from the Matua sect. The Matua Mahasangha claimed about five crore Matuas, predominantly from Bangladesh, lived in West Bengal. 52 …

With this, a five-judge Constitution Bench, led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, began examining whether the pre-Independence provision of adultery (Section 497) treats a married woman as a commodity owned by her husband and violates the constitutional concepts of gender equality. The petition filed by Kerala-based Joseph Shine, …

Former Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur on Wednesday said people getting killed by lynch mobs is a “complete failure of the principle of rule of law” and an independent judiciary is essential to protect the Constitution and the rule of law. The former CJI also hinted at the churn …

The government told the social media platforms that fake news or abusive news could not be circulated and re-circulated to “create crimes”, Mr. Prasad said. “Therefore, the origin of those news should also be technologically answered. I have made it clear to them that it does not need rocket science …

While the focus of the NRC has been on the exclusion of Bengali Muslims and Hindus — two communities often suspected to be illegal migrants — an estimated 100,000 of some 2.5 million Gorkhas in Assam have not found their names in the updated draft. “Data collected from the districts …

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Tuesday that any reservation extended in a hurry to the Maratha community will not stand up in court, while the BJP ally Shiv Sena stirred the quota pot further by asking the State government to extend reservation to Dhangars and Kolis as well. …