The December 1978 Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) might sound obscure, but its global repercussions were of seismic proportions. Deng Xiaoping’s series of economic policies, termed “reform and opening up”, went on to catapult China from an agricultural backwater into …

Last week, a Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) notification authorising 10 Central agencies to intercept, monitor, and decrypt online communications and data caused a furore in both Parliament and the wider civil society. The notification was described as an incremental step towards a surveillance state. The government’s defence was equally …

A NASA spacecraft is hurtling toward a historic New Year’s Day flyby of the most distant planetary object ever studied, a frozen relic of the early solar system called Ultima Thule. The unmanned spaceship New Horizons, 6.4 billion km away, is poised to zoom past Ultima Thule at a distance …

It all started in 2016 with a bronze statue commemorating the tragic day in November 1963 when a giant octopus upended the Staten Island ferry, killing nearly 400 people in New York. Wait, what — a giant octopus? Artist Joseph Reginella smiles. Yes, you read that right. In 2017, another …

Scientists have successfully used sound waves to levitate and manipulate multiple objects simultaneously for the first time, using the system to “sew” a thread into a piece of fabric. The system could be use to acoustically stitch up internal injuries or deliver drugs to target organs. Sound exerts a small …

About 97.5% of goods are already in the 18% or lower Goods and Services Tax bracket, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley wrote in a blog post on Monday, adding that though the GST revenue targets set are ‘very stiff’, several States are already achieving those targets. Mr. Jaitley also wrote that …

Lupin Ltd. on Monday announced a partnership with global pharmaceutical giant AbbVie for the development and commercialisation of its novel oncology drug to treat hematological cancers. AbbVie has entered into a licensing agreement with Lupin for its MALT1 (Mucosa-Associated Lymphoid Tissue Lymphoma Translocation Protein 1) inhibitor programme and taken the …

The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan has not received orders to pull forces out of the war-torn country, NATO confirmed on Monday, days after it was revealed that President Donald Trump plans to withdraw 7,000 troops. General Scott Miller’s remarks on Sunday capped a tumultuous few days for Afghanistan as …

Experts warn that more deadly waves could slam the devastated region near Sunda strait Dozens of filled body bags were hauled away from buildings flattened by Indonesia’s volcano-triggered tsunami on Monday, as the death toll climbed to 373 and search teams pushed on with the grim hunt for corpses. Rescue …

The agencies investigating the alleged bribery in AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal are of the view that Italian authorities did not properly pursue the international dimensions of money laundering involved in the transactions under scrutiny. “In any bribery case, the consideration originates from somewhere, can be routed through entities or individuals …