Since April 2016, all oral polio vaccines (OPV) across the world contain only two of the three polio serotypes — Type 1 and Type 3. Type 2 is banned because the wild, disease-causing version of this virus was eradicated globally by 1999, and because OPV itself can cause polio in …

The killing of five Bengalis in eastern Assam’s Sadiya on November 1 has led to an uneasy calm in a State divided over language amid a bid by the Central government to pass the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016. Why the controversy? The Assamese and the Bengali, the two largest linguistic …

Late on Friday, President Maithripala Sirisena dissolved the Sri Lankan Parliament and called a snap general election for January 5. The announcement came within hours of his party spokesman publicly admitting to lacking a majority in Parliament. Mr. Sirisena’s front was aiming for a majority to push its controversially installed …

A National Monogenic Diabetes Study Group has been formed to identify cases of monogenic diabetes across the country. Supported by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation (MDRF) and Dr. Mohan’s Diabetes Specialities Centre (DMDSC) will be the national coordinating centre for the study group. …

Seeks experiment ideas from space agencies, universities and researchers An 18-month-old pitch for what could be the first Indian orbiter mission to Venus has just been refreshed and relaunched, opening it up now for international experiments. Tentatively marking the yet to be named ‘Mission Venus’ for mid-2023, the Indian Space …

After changing the names of Mughalsarai, Allahabad and Faizabad, BJP leaders in Uttar Pradesh are demanding renaming of more places associated with Mughal and Islamic rulers. While many names are being whispered about, Muzaffarnagar, Agra and Sultanpur are among those being discussed openly. Sangeet Som, Meerut MLA, has said Muzaffarnagar …

From the time President Maithripala Sirisena sacked Mr. Wickremesinghe on October 26, till he dissolved parliament exactly two weeks later, doubts about the constitutional validity of his moves have been a recurring theme. The dissolution of the House in particular, shortly after Mr. Sirisena’s party declared it lacked numbers for …

Devastated orchard owners try to mend trees felled by untimely snowfall, say compensation announced is just a speck in comparison to the losses November is the peak wedding season in south Kashmir’s ‘apple bowl’ Shopian. But Riyaz Dar, an orchard owner from Hirpora village in the district, has decided to …

Two years after demonetisation, the fake currency notes seized so far are not of a high quality, a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has found. Another Home Ministry official said the network of same fake currency operators was still intact as two years ago, that pushed fake notes …

The 24th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF), which opened in the city on Saturday, will not only celebrate 100 years of Bengali cinema but also cinema from the faraway land of Australia that is more than a hundred years old. Cinema in Australia goes back to 1906, much before Bengali …