Those who use high speed Internet tend to sleep 25 minutes less than their counterparts without such access. They are also significantly less likely to sleep between the prescribed seven to nine hours.” —Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organization Source : https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/healthline-ritesh-kumar/article24606172.ece

Basic nutrition:World Breastfeeding Week (August 1-7) is celebrated every year to encourage breastfeeding and improve the health of babies around the world. It commemorates the Innocenti Declaration signed in August 1990 by government policymakers, the World Health Organisation (WHO), UNICEF and other organisations to protect, promote and support breastfeeding. Breastfeeding, …

In 1859, when Charles Darwin presented his famed theory of evolution by natural selection, inherent in its essence was the abiding notion of survival of the fittest. To evolve, compete and do better has been the cornerstone of the survival of any species. This has also helped ensure that countries …

The use of disposable diapers in baby care is becoming common in urban areas. Diapers are also increasingly being used by the elderly who experience uncontrolled urination due to certain geriatric health problems. But there is a downside to all this. Diapers contain super-absorbing polymers, or SAPs, which can absorb …

Before you start vomiting your liberal prejudices about human rights, let me tell you something: there are more than 10 million people in the world who don’t have any citizenship. In today’s day and age, citizenship itself is a great privilege. And Indian citizenship, needless to say, is the greatest …

A walk through one of the largest rock-cut temples in the world According to a legend cited in the 10th century book Katha Kalpa Taru, some time in the 8th century, the queen of the Rashtrakuta ruler Elu made a vow that she would not eat till a magnificent temple …

Just as religious rituals move the practitioner away from the immensity of faith, secular rituals move citizens’ attention away from real issues Serious religious thinkers have tended to distinguish between ritual and religion. Some, of course, have distinguished between spirituality and religion too, mostly because they have associated religion with …

It is to experience the worst imaginable nightmare, not a natural disaster but a man-made malaise It is frightfully disturbing to learn that 40 lakh people, currently living in Assam, find no place in the draft of the National Register of Citizens. Therefore, they could be deprived of their Indian …

At the height of summer, naps at the beach can be alluring and many of us may find ourselves tempted to take prolonged vacations from exercise. But two new admonitory studies involving both older and younger adults (who temporarily cut back on their physical activity) indicate that the metabolic consequences …

Increased prevalence of mcr-1 gene that confers multidrug-resistance has now been reported in Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteria, increasing the fear of infection by pan drug-resistant bugs. This gene endows resistance against last hope antibiotic — colistin. A study published in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy found that about 10% of the K. …

The fishing industry along a portion of India’s east coast could be on the brink of a collapse. This dire warning comes as scientists find that fisheries in coastal Tamil Nadu and Puducherry use destructive methods and do not comply with existing regulations, which could stress the already over-exploited fish …

Neurons transport cargo of various sizes constantly, and many times, this can lead to traffic jams. A new study of the roundworm (Caenorhabditis elegans) and fruitfly (Drosophila) shows that such traffic jams can be due to purely physical constraints, not involving any chemical signalling processes. Such stalling of cargo can …

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Bhopal have found that depleting the production of a specific protein kinase (p21-activated kinase 2 or PAK2), which is normally produced in excess in head and neck cancer, affects a chain of events that finally reduces the growth of …

Invasive species are normally considered to come from outside a given ecosystem. But a study by researchers from the Indian Institute of Science Research and Education (IISER) Pune have shown that selection process for dispersal in fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) can lead to evolution of traits related to invasive potential. …

Emphasising that corporate governance standards being followed by public sector banks are much better than ever before, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said the government has stopped the “phone-call thing” coming in from Delhi to the banks. In an apparent dig at the previous UPA regime, Mr. Goyal said that not …

Foreign exchange reserves declined by $951 million to $404.2 billion in the week to July 27, on account of a fall in the foreign currency assets, the RBI said. In the previous week, the reserves rose by a marginal $67.7 million to $405.1 billion. The forex kitty is an indicator …

The textile industry has urged the Centre to push for negotiations with China to provide duty-free access to Indian cotton textiles. Sanjay Jain, chairman of the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry, said in a release that in 2017-2018, India exported textile goods worth $1,362 million to China. The Indian textile …

EIH Ltd., the flagship company of The Oberoi Group, is planning to mark major footprints in managing resorts at wildlife sanctuaries and national parks. By 2020, three resorts to be opened at Maasai Mara (Kenya), Gir and Bandhavgarh will be managed by EIH, which is planning to increase the share …

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai has called for the rebuilding of 11 schools torched by suspected Islamic extremists in northern Pakistan. She tweeted about the attack, saying “extremists have shown what frightens them most: a girl with a book.” She was shot and injured by the Pakistani Taliban in …

Asian countries have voiced concern about the potentially devastating impact of a U.S.-China trade war, with Ministers calling for the acceleration of talks for a gigantic Beijing-backed free-trade deal that excludes the United States. Fear that a simmering trade spat between the world’s top two economies could spiral into a …