An artificial intelligence programme developed in China that combs through test results, health records and even handwritten notes diagnosed childhood diseases as accurately as doctors, researchers have found. From the flu and asthma to life-threatening pneumonia and meningitis, the system consistently matched or out-performed primary care paediatricians, they reported in …

A new species of ‘crying’ snake has been discovered in Lepa-Rada district of Arunachal Pradesh. The discovery of the non-venomous crying keelback, whose zoological name is Hebius lacrima , has been published in Zootaxa , the New Zealand-based scientific mega-journal for animal taxonomy. “The name for this keelback was suggested …

Kerala student Manu Prasad bags design award for his ‘Uni-cast’, which he says addresses multiple hygiene issues Innovation has always been the passion of Manu Prasad and his urge for invention has bagged the prestigious Lexus Design Award for him in the student category this year. Mr. Prasad, 26, an …

India and China are leading the global greening effort, a finding that is quite contrary to the general perception worldwide, a study based on NASA satellite data has said, observing that the world is a greener place than it was 20 years ago. “China and India account for one-third of …

Retail inflation declined marginally to 2.05% in January over the previous month on continued decline in food prices, including vegetables and eggs, government data said on Tuesday. Retail inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for December 2018 has also been revised downward to 2.11% from the earlier estimate …

AIATSL provides passenger and baggage handling services The government has invited interest for 98% stake sale in Air India’s ground handling arm — Air India Air Transport Services Limited (AIATSL). The remaining 2% will be offered to the employees of the subsidiary for a stock ownership plan. The expression of …

‘Plan is to consolidate instead of expanding network’ Air India will focus on making 14 of its snag-ridden aircraft airworthy in the next three months and add more frequencies in order to improve its aircraft utilisation. This is part of the airline’s efforts to make it more attractive to private …

CAG says I-T dept. has no mechanism to ensure all registered companies have PAN and file returns In an audit of assessments made by the Income Tax Department on the real estate sector, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) found that a whopping 95% of the companies registered with the …

Militants include Haqqani leader in it The Taliban announced on Tuesday a 14-member team to meet American negotiators this month in Doha, including five former Guantanamo Bay inmates and a high-profile militant behind bars in Afghanistan. U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has undertaken extensive recent peace talks with the Taliban …

The piece was about denial of rights to the ethnic Pashtuns An opinion piece in the International New York Times criticising Pakistan’s powerful Army was censored by its local publisher on Tuesday, replaced with blank space in a country where it can be dangerous to reprimand the military.The article by …

More than 82% voters want more women in the next Lok Sabha, according to a survey by a citizen’s collective called Shakti. The survey was conducted among 10 lakh voters across 24 States on a mobile application called Neta app. The application has more than two crore verified users and …

The Bench, then, ordered both the officers to “please sit at the corner of the court (till the rising of the Bench).” The court was hearing a contempt case initiated by it on February 7 against Mr. Rao for transferring the joint director. In his apology letter, Mr. Rao said, …

The BJP-led Manipur government on Tuesday imposed restrictions under Section 144 in Imphal East and West districts besides suspending mobile internet services as protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, intensified. The Bill seeks to hasten the process of granting citizenship to six non-Muslim groups from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. …

Relief for expatriates, students and medical patients after 2018 freeze India and Maldives on Tuesday exchanged an agreement to facilitate visas for travel between the two countries in a number of categories, easing a bilateral stand off which had resulted in thousands of Indian job seekers being denied work permits …

No sovereign guarantee in Russian S-400 deal either, say senior officers In the backdrop of revelations that government had waived guarantees and anti-corruption clauses for France in the Rafale fighter jet deal, senior Indian Air Force (IAF) officers said there were no such pacts even in deals with Russia and …

Terms recent hacking claim of EVMs in London a ‘circus’ Amidst Opposition parties often raising doubts over the credibility of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora on Tuesday said “most parties” had reposed their faith in them but some sections made it a part of …

Helplines inundated with calls from worried parents that their children are not focussing on coursework With annual exams scheduled to begin by the end of February, helplines are flooded with calls not just from students trying to cope with stress but also parents desperate to disengage their children from iPads …

Former CBI interim Director and agency’s legal counsel fined and punished The Supreme Court on Tuesday held the former interim Director of the CBI, M. Nageswara Rao, guilty of contempt for disobeying its order not to transfer Joint Director A.K. Sharma, who was probing the Bihar shelter home cases, from …