A Chinese scientist who stoked criticism over his claim that he had created the world’s first genetically-edited babies faced mounting pressure Thursday as China ordered a halt to his scientific activities and warned he may have broken the law. China’s National Health Commission has ordered an investigation into He Jiankui’s …
Read More »Monthly Archives: November 2018
Electric vehicles send data to Chinese govt
When Shan Junhua bought his white Tesla Model X, he knew it was a fast, beautiful car. What he didn’t know is that Tesla constantly sends information about the precise location of his car to the Chinese government. Tesla is not alone. China has called upon all electric vehicle manufacturers …
Read More »Reggae gets into heritage list
Reggae music, whose chill, lilting grooves won international fame thanks to artists like Bob Marley, on Thursday secured a coveted spot on the United Nations’ list of global cultural treasures. UNESCO, the world body’s cultural and scientific agency, added the genre that originated in Jamaica to its collection of “intangible …
Read More »Govt. to move nearly half of Air India’s Rs. 55,000-cr. debt to SPV
The government has decided to transfer more than half of Air India’s nearly Rs. 55,000-crore debt into a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to help the airline cut expenditure on servicing the huge loan, R.N. Chaubey, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, said. “More than Rs. 29,000 crore will be moved from …
Read More »Note ban, a massive and draconian monetary shock, writes former CEA
Attempts to reason why it was popular and did not affect economic growth more It’s not convincing to argue that the poor were willing to ignore their own hardship during demonetisation, since the rich and the corrupt were undergoing greater hardship, former Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian writes in his …
Read More »RBI moves to ease liquidity for non-banking finance firms
Relaxes holding period for securitisation of loans to six months from one year In a move to make more liquidity available to non-banking finance firms, the Reserve Bank of India has relaxed the securitisation norms by relaxing the minimum holding period requirement. The move follows a demand from the government …
Read More »U.S. Senate vote rebukes Trump’s pro-Saudi policies
In a blow to the Trump administration, the U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly (63-37) to move forward a bipartisan resolution ending U.S. support to the Saudi Arabia-led war in Yemen. The resolution, which essentially directs President Donald Trump to remove U.S. troops from Yemen, will be discussed on the full Senate …
Read More »Plan to make Gaganyaan indigenous
The Indian Space Research Organisation wants to make the ambitious manned mission Gaganyaan “more and more” indigenous by utilising the facilities available in the country, ISRO Chairman K. Sivan said here on Thursday. “In order to meet the Prime Minister’s (Narendra Modi) vision (of sending humans to space) by 2022, …
Read More »520 captive elephants in Kerala, reveals census
The Forest and Wildlife Department on Thursday conducted a State-wide census to enumerate the State’s captive elephant population. Over 520 elephants were counted. The final figures were yet to be ascertained. The survey was necessitated by an order issued by the Supreme Court that directed Chief Wildlife Wardens to identify …
Read More »Imran looks for fresh start in bilateral ties
“I tried to reach out to India from the very first day of my term. But I got a bad response when the meeting at the UN was cancelled. We decided that we could wait for a response until elections in India,” Mr. Khan said, maintaining that the resolution of …
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