China has successfully tested the world’s largest unmanned transport drone which can carry a payload of 1.5 tonnes, official media reported on Wednesday. A commercial drone Feihong-98 (FH-98) developed and modified by the China Academy of Aerospace Electronics Technology made a test flight in the Baotou site in north China …

The delicate blossoms of the cherry tree might be synonymous with the onset of spring in Japan — except this year they’re also blooming in autumn, a weather forecasting company said on Wednesday. Experts told local media that the rare late blooms could be the result of this year’s unusual …

State-of-the-art sensors that can measure stress levels, mood, posture, performance and even smell took centre stage at Asia’s top high-tech fair in Tokyo. The big-screen TVs and entertainment systems that were all the rage 10 years ago at the CEATEC fair have gradually been replaced by tiny sensors that accurately …

Egyptians practised fish farming more than 3,500 years ago, the earliest evidence of such activity worldwide according to a joint German-Israeli study released on Tuesday. Scientists studied 100 fish teeth found at archaeological sites across modern-day Israel to conclude they had been plucked from a lagoon in Egypt’s Sinai thousands …

After bees and birds, insects and other arthropods have also suffered massive losses, a study from a Puerto Rico forest published on Monday showed, citing the impact of climate change. Measuring the population of arthropods, which includes insects, caterpillars, and spiders, is not simple but one method is to place …

Facebook said on Wednesday that it was reviving the pioneering MTV reality show The Real World as its secret weapon to lure viewers away from YouTube. The social media giant said it was also trying to harness the formidable online power of the “cute kitten” factor with a new show …

Anna Burns has won the prestigious Man Booker Prize for fiction for Milkman , a vibrant, violent story about men, women, conflict and power set during Northern Ireland’s years of Catholic-Protestant violence. Ms. Burns is the first writer from Northern Ireland to win the £50,000 (Rs. 48 lakh) prize, which …

Perched like a vast flying saucer on a central Bulgarian mountainside, Buzludzha is a brutalist concrete monument that was built to glorify communism nearly 40 years ago. The striking circular building has been left to fall victim to vandalism and decay, as Bulgaria has been eager to forget its communist …

Supported by strong performance by its petrochemicals, retail and Jio businesses, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) reported 17.4% growth in consolidated net profit at Rs. 9,516 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2018, as compared to Rs. 8,109 crore for the same period last year. During the period, the …

British MPs are set to hold a debate in Parliament later this month on whether Hindu and Muslim religious occasions such as Deepavali and Id should be made into public holidays, following public calls for change, including through petitions submitted to Parliament. Over 45,000 people have signed a petition on …

A pro-government Turkish newspaper on Wednesday published a gruesome recounting of the alleged slaying of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, just as America’s top diplomat arrived in the country for talks over The Washington Post columnist’s disappearance. The report by Yeni Şafak adds to the …

A petition has been filed in the Delhi High Court seeking a direction to the Centre and the city government to act on starvation deaths, especially of children, in various parts of the country, including the national capital. The plea, moved by a lawyer, said that starvation deaths and malnutrition …

The Zika virus behind the ongoing outbreak in Rajasthan is closely related to the virus that caused the Brazilian outbreak, according to Balram Bhargava, Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Dr. Bhargava told The Hindu that the National Institute of Virology (NIV) had fully sequenced the …

An upper air cyclonic circulation triggered thunderstorm activity across the city on Wednesday. Light rain may continue at a few places across the State till the weekend. Monsoon-like conditions returned to Chennai, which was experiencing a dry spell, on Wednesday afternoon. The weather station at Nungambakkam recorded 2 cm of …

The Supreme Court has barred State governments from diverting money from their Compensatory Afforestation and Management Planning Authority (CAMPA) funds meant for environmental protection, rehabilitation of displaced persons due to issues like depletion of forest, mining, etc. The apex court’s order came after realising that the Punjab government took Rs. …

Indian Coast Guard vessels have prevented apprehension of two Indian fishing boats by the Pakistani agencies. The Coast Guard’s patrol vessel, Rajratan, was alerted after intercepting a VHF communication regarding a “Pakistani warship chasing two fishing boats, reportedly operating in Pakistan waters.” Subsequently, the Coast Guard vessel intercepted two Indian …

India and China will resume the annual joint Army exercise ‘Hand-in-Hand’ in December in China’s Chengdu region, an Army official said. The drill was cancelled last year due to tense relations in the aftermath of the Doklam standoff. “The Exercise Planning Conference is scheduled to be held from November 1-3 …

Kuligod in Karnataka’s Belagavi district is the country’s best developed village, but more than a third of the gram panchayats ranked in the top 10 are in Andhra Pradesh, according to the findings of an ongoing Rural Development Ministry survey. With multiple panchayats assigned the same score – and thus …

The police cane-charged protesters on Wednesday as the Sabarimala temple opened for the first time since the Supreme Court verdict allowing entry to women of all ages to the hill shrine. As many as 13 policemen and 200 protesters from Hindu fringe outfits were injured in the incidents. Nilackal, the …

A bill to provide for the control of dealings in cotton has been published in the Bombay Government Gazette: The crisis in cotton trade which occurred early in the current year created a general demand for action to be taken by the Government to restrict speculation that took place at …