The season is the most busy time for workers, who view their work as ‘spiritual’ In Vietnam’s “incense village”, dozens are hard at work dying, drying and whittling down bamboo bark to make the fragrant sticks ahead of the busy lunar new year holiday. It is the most frantic time …

HD 21749b orbits a dwarf star about 53 light years away in the constellation of Reticulum NASA’s latest planet-hunting probe has discovered a new world outside our solar system, orbiting a dwarf star 53 light years away.This is the third new planet confirmed by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) …

TNA MPs challenge speaker Karu Jayasuriya’s decision Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa was on Tuesday named the Leader of Opposition in the Sri Lankan Parliament, amid pending questions about his eligibility to hold the position. The announcement came as a reaffirmation of Speaker Karu Jayasuriya’s earlier position acknowledging Mr. Rajapaksa as …

‘210 approved, only 62 completed’ Tardy implementation of projects under the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) between 2008-2017 led to an almost threefold jump in the cost of these projects to Rs. 1.20 lakh crore, according to a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), tabled in Parliament on …

PM calls up U.S. President, extends New Year greetings Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump discussed strategic cooperation on Afghanistan and trade issues on Monday. The conversation came days after the American leader argued for greater Indian contribution for ending the civil war in Afghanistan. A White …

CM, Finance Minister welcome move; leaders of communities concerned sniff an ‘election gimmick’ Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Tuesday welcomed the Union Cabinet’s nod for granting Scheduled Tribe status to six communities listed as Other Backward Classes in Assam. Leaders of these communities, however, were more sceptical than happy …

It allows regulated use of genetic information to establish identity of persons The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed a bill that allows regulated use of DNA technology to establish the identity of certain defined categories of persons, including offenders, suspects, and undertrials. The DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill …

Allows U.S. firm to pursue patent suit on Bt cotton variants The Supreme Court on Tuesday set aside a Delhi High Court Division Bench decision that held that U.S. agro major Monsanto did not have patent for its genetically modified BT cotton seed variants and had allowed it to claim …

Protects investigative agency from political interference The Alok Verma divestment case has led the Supreme Court to further protect the tenure of the CBI Director and the independence of the country’s premier investigative agency from interference by political higher-ups. The judgment by the three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of …

If the Supreme Court rejects the idea, the reservation can be provided only by eating into the SC, ST and OBC quota share Who will the new 10% quota apply to? To all those who are not covered in existing quotas and have a family income below Rs. 8 lakh …

Shutdown called by several organisations against Citizenship (Amendment) Bill Violence marked Tuesday’s 11-hour shutdown across States in the northeast, called by several organisations against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016. In Tripura, at least six tribal protesters were injured, two critically, as violence erupted near Agartala during a highway blockade called …

Descibes decision as a ‘political illusion’ and an ‘election stunt’ Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Tuesday welcomed the 10% reservation announced for economically weaker sections of the general category but questioned the timing of the decision by the Narendra Modi government months before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. She …

The Supreme Court on Tuesday notified that a five-judge Bench, consisting of the incumbent Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and the next four future Chief Justices of India in line of seniority, will hear the Ayodhya title dispute appeals on January 10. The Bench, besides Chief Justice Gogoi, will …

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday accused the Janata Dal (S)-Congress coalition government in the State of “indirectly” supporting the bandh by declaring holiday for schools and colleges. Addressing a press conference here, BJP State general secretary N. Ravi Kumar questioned the need for declaring holiday for schools and putting …

Will continue legal battle, says CM The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to stay the decision of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to process the reopening of the Sterlite copper plant at Thoothukudi, which was ordered to be closed down due to environmental pollution. The Supreme Court Bench also stayed …

Rajnath stresses need to shelter persecuted minorities The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, that seeks to provide citizenship to non-Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who introduced the Bill in the Lok Sabha, said the six communities — Hindus, Jains, …

‘We will send further details once joint survey is completed’ The State government has sought Rs. 2,400 crore from the Centre as drought relief, Revenue Minister R.V. Deshpande told presspersons in Chandaragi village in Belagavi district on Tuesday. He said that the State government had identified 156 taluks as drought-hit …

Court asks the PM-led panel to consider the question of his divestment in a week The Supreme Court on Tuesday “reinstated” exiled CBI Director Alok Verma, but ordered him to “cease and desist” from taking any major policy decisions till a high-power committee led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi decides …

East Africa is not willing to be turned into a refugee camp for British citizens of Asian origin, Mr. Tom Mboya, the Kenya Minister for Economic Planning and Development, said here [Nairobi] yesterday [January 6]. Speaking as the Secretary of the Kenya delegation to the Commonwealth conference, Mr. Mboya stated, …

As a journalist in Delhi, I have spent at least a couple of days every month at Jantar Mantar, the premier protest venue since the early 1990s. On some days mega rallies take place under the gaze of dozens of cameras. But even after the crowds have left, the space …