Refrigerants are the major contributors to global warming By 2022, India is expected to have a fourth of the world’s air conditioning units, and the risks to climate from this could be immense, according to a report. The refrigerants used for cooling are the major contributors to global warming, and …

‘NBFCs should explore other options’ Amid growing demand for liquidity support for non-banking finance companies, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is unlikely to provide any special support to the sector, though it will continue to provide funds to the banking system as liquidity deficit in the system is a …

Centre misses internal deadline; analytical data sets not readily available The government will miss its internal deadline for the release of the back series of GDP data, according to NITI Aayog, which on Monday said the data would be released by the end of December. The government had earlier indicated …

Industrial production slows to 4.5%; slowing price growth in food, housing cools inflation to 3.31% Growth in industrial activity as measured by the Index of Industrial Production slowed marginally in September to 4.5% due to slowing growth in the manufacturing and capital goods sectors, official data released on Monday showed. …

Apex court seeks explanation from government on dissolution of Parliament One of Sri Lanka’s independent Election Commissioners joined a host of political parties in challenging President Maithripala Sirisena’s recent dissolution of Parliament, in the country’s Supreme Court on Monday. The court asked the Attorney-General to explain the President’s decision at …

On October 29, the court had clarified that the decision on when to start hearing the appeals would be decided by an “appropriate Bench” before which the matter would come up in January. The ABHM is one of the respondents in the appeal filed by legal heirs of M. Siddiq …

Authorities ready with zone-wise strategy The authorities in Kashmir on Monday geared up to meet any eventuality as the Meteorological Department forecast another spell of wet weather, a week after snowfall inflicted damage worth over Rs. 500 crore on the horticulture sector in the Valley. Sonum Lotus, Director, Meteorological Department, …

General Bipin Rawat says govt. has a clear-cut policy not to allow terrorists to create violence in J&K Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Monday said that the government’s policy in Jammu and Kashmir was that those triggering terrorism in the State should be neutralised, but the Army’s focus was …

People opt for development, says Modi; launches projects for Rs. 2,400 cr. in Varanasi The people of the country are taking decisions based on development and not “politics of vote bank”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said here on Monday.At an official function in his Lok Sabha constituency, the Prime Minister …

Authorities ready with zone-wise strategy The authorities in Kashmir on Monday geared up to meet any eventuality as the Meteorological Department forecast another spell of wet weather, a week after snowfall inflicted damage worth over Rs. 500 crore on the horticulture sector in the Valley. Sonum Lotus, Director, Meteorological Department, …

‘Matching done on 1:1 basis and Aadhaar number is needed’ The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) told the Delhi High Court on Monday that it was technically not possible to match the fingerprints of an unidentified body with the biometrics of 120 crore people stored in its database. The …

Landfall likely on Thursday between Cuddalore and Pamban Cyclone Gaja is likely to cross the Tamil Nadu coast between Cuddalore district and Pamban, in Ramanathapuram district, in the forenoon of Thursday As on Monday evening, the cyclonic storm lay over the Bay of Bengal, about 720 km east-northeast of Chennai …

Cyclone Gaja gathers strength over Bay of Bengal The weather office has issued an yellow alert indicating isolated heavy rainfall for Kottayam, Idukki, and Palakkad districts on November 15 and 16 under the influence of cyclonic storm Gaja gathering strength over the Bay of Bengal. An orange alert indicating isolated …

Tells HC that its concern is the security of pilgrims The State government has never interfered in the religious matters and rituals of the Sabarimala temple. But the security of pilgrims visiting the temple is the concern of the government and the police have to ensure that, the State government …

Bench adjourns hearing on probe into accusations against exiled CBI chief A 24-hour delay by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) in filing its report on the inquiry against exiled CBI Director Alok Kumar Verma led the Supreme Court to adjourn Monday’s crucial hearing to November 16 (Friday). The report was …

Defence procurement procedure was fully followed, SC told The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) approved the procurement of the 36 Rafale jets well over a year after the Indo-French Joint Statement to acquire the aircraft “as quickly as possible” was issued, said a government note in the Supreme Court on …

The Public Accounts Committee of the Lok Sabha has recommended greater recourse to private printers as one of the measures to reduce wasteful expenditure on Government publications. In its report laid on the table of the House to-day [November 11, New Delhi], the committee has also urged that the expenditure …

A forthcoming paper on the detectionof gravitational waves will be illuminating On September 14, 2015, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) made the Nobel prize winning detection of gravitational waves. These waves are ripples in the fabric of space-time, arising from the merger of a pair of black holes in …

Dissolution of Sri Lanka’s Parliament negates the letter and spirit of constitutional reforms Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has dissolved Parliament after it became evident that Mahinda Rajapaksa, who he had appointed Prime Minister two weeks ago, did not enjoy a legislative majority. It is an act of desperation to …

Data on the various themes dealt with in this column Since the release of Akira Kurosawa’s iconic film, Rashomon , in 1950, the term Rashomon effect has come to denote a range of ideas in politics, economics, psychology and the arts. The broad consensus about the meaning of this term …