It will be remembered that during the debate on the Press Act resolution in the Imperial Legislative Council the Hon’ble Mr. J.P. Thompson is reported to have said in the course of his speech that the Editor and Proprietor of the ‘Observer’ were interviewed and the Editor had the amazing …

A good measure of progress in a household is inter-generational mobility — an improvement in social status from the previous generation. How has this varied across social groups and geographies across India since liberalisation? A recent paper, “Intergenerational Mobility in India: Estimates from New Methods and Administrative Data” by Sam …

The new climate reality is raising the bar on disaster resilience It is time to stop thinking of the extreme weather events hitting us with increasing frequency as bolts from the blue. Kerala bravely endured the monsoon storms, but it would be a mistake to think that disasters of this …

Budgetary support must be strengthenedto make Ayushman Bharat a success Ayushman Bharat has been rolled out as a health protection scheme that will provide guaranteed access to treatment that is free at the point of delivery to about 40% of the population selected on the basis of censused socio-economic indicators. …

With her Brexit proposal rejected by the EU, the British PM’s position stands weakened The rejection of Prime Minister Theresa May’s post-Brexit blueprint at the Salzburg summit rules out nothing as yet in Britain’s rocky negotiations on withdrawing from the European Union. All the same, the development is a blow …

Including behavioural insights in policymaking is helpful According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, 202 institutions around the world are applying behavioural insights to public policy. While most of them are found in the U.S., the U.K., Europe and Australia, some are found in developing countries in West …

The acrimony over the proposed Foreign Ministers’ meeting has set back India-Pakistan ties That was quick. A quick cool breeze turning into a scorching slap of hot wind of the desert. We had a rocky start when the routine congratulatory letter by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Pakistan’s Prime …

The decision to commemorate the ‘surgical strike’ of 2016 goes against the grain of Indian tradition Observing the politics of his day many years ago a wit in Britain is said to have remarked “Patriotism is the last resort of the scoundrel!” The wag in India would be forgiven if …

The triple talaq ordinance is likely to fail the test of judicial scrutiny on several grounds An ordinance is a constitutionally sanctioned ad hoc mechanism by which critically urgent situations are met when Parliament or a State Assembly (as the case may be) is not in session and the government …

A clean-shaven face may not be necessary for pilots to ensure safety during in-flight emergencies, according to scientists who found that those who sport a full beard can also properly seal on an oxygen mask. Several airlines require pilots to have a clean-shaven face as it is believed to be …

Scientists say they have developed aStar Trek-inspired device that could help make sophisticated medical diagnostics. The ‘multicorder’ created by researchers from the University of Glasgow takes inspiration from Star Trek ’s famous tricorder device, which the show’s medics use to make quick and accurate diagnosis. Source :  https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-life/star-trek-inspired-diagnostic-device-developed/article25032803.ece

The Right Livelihood Award, also known as the Alternative Nobel, was awarded on Monday to three jailed Saudi human rights defenders and two Latin American anti-corruption crusaders. The prize foundation said the 1 million kronor ($113,400) cash award for 2018 would be shared by Abdullah al-Hamid, Mohammad Fahad al-Qahtani and …

The Semana da Cultura Indo Portuguesa, an annual event that features cultural exchanges between Portugal and Goa, will complete a decade with the 10th edition of the event set to begin in Panaji later this week. The event will celebrate and appreciate the richcultural flavours of the two nations – …

For almost two weeks, reports of pins and needles being found in fruit across Australia have delivered a gut punch to industry, keeping grocery-shoppers on edge and leaving police struggling to find needles in a haystack of copycat pranks. But now Australians — adopting a get-on-with-it attitude — have had …

Five years after he was paralysed in a snowmobile accident, a man in the U.S. has learned to walk again, aided by an electrical implant. A team of doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota said the man, using a front-wheeled walker, was able to cover the equivalent of the …

Scientists said on Monday they had succeeded for the first time in wiping out an entire population of malaria-carrying mosquitoes in the lab using a gene editing tool to programme their extinction. So-called gene drive technology works by forcing evolution’s hand, ensuring that an engineered trait is passed down to …

MitraClip, inserted into the heart, sharply reduces death rates in patients: study For people with severe heart failure, even mundane tasks can be extraordinarily difficult. With blood flow impeded throughout their bodies, patients may become breathless simply walking across a room or up stairs. Some must sleep sitting up to …

Tata Steel’s decision to acquire Usha Martin’s one million-tonne steel business for a cash consideration of up to Rs. 4,700 crore would lift the company’s volume of long products by 24% and expand its product mix, analysts say. Usha Martin’s alloy long steel products cater to higher value-added automotive and …

We can assure the government that all data we have stays in the country, says AWS’ Peter Moore The government has the right to ask that sensitive data be stored locally, a senior official of Amazon Web Services (AWS) has said. The statement comes amid opposition from experts and foreign …

The ongoing concerns related to liquidity woes at non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) affected the broader market sentiment on Monday even as both the benchmark indices lost around 1.50% each with the Nifty closing below the psychological 11,000-mark. Interest rate-sensitive sectors such as banking, realty and automobiles bore the maximum brunt …