The working results of scheduled commercial banks for the first six months of 1969 are yet to be published by many banks as there has been some delay in finalising the accounts. But the earnings of two major institutions, which have been published, seem to indicate that even with a …
Read More »Daily Archives: July 19, 2019
Hockey at Madras. Y.M.C.A. vs. Y.M.I.A.
A rather tame game was witnessed in this match, which came off last evening [July 17] on the Y.M.C.A. grounds, the visitors eventually scoring an easy win by 4 goals to 1. They no doubt proved a bit too good for their rivals, but it was by no means a …
Read More »Rising above sports fandom
Wimbledon ensures that reporters conceal their loyalty towards a player To be a Rafael Nadal fan is to be an underdog. It feels unreasonable, for Nadal is an 18-time Grand Slam champion and a serial winner. But in a universe full of Roger Federer supporters, I have often felt like …
Read More »A reprieve
Wimbledon ensures that reporters conceal their loyalty towards a player To be a Rafael Nadal fan is to be an underdog. It feels unreasonable, for Nadal is an 18-time Grand Slam champion and a serial winner. But in a universe full of Roger Federer supporters, I have often felt like …
Read More »The threat of Ebola
The health emergency declared by the WHO can counter the risk of a global spread After holding itself back on three occasions, the World Health Organization has declared the Ebola virus disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. The outbreak in …
Read More »A journalist’s right to loiter
The intent of the Finance Ministry seems to be to know which official met which journalist and when Any reporter worth her beat will tell you that the fine art of loitering is a very useful tool in journalism. It is cultivated with patience and honed with experience. Even before …
Read More »OIC’s curious record on Xinjiang
While the bloc has made repeated references to Kashmir, it has been ambivalent about China’s treatment of Uighurs In an epochal development, India became the ‘Guest of Honour’ at the 46th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) held in Abu Dhabi in …
Read More »Inappropriate template for a legitimate target
The Economic Survey, while rightly calling for a rise in private investment, incongruously invokes the East Asian model The recently-released Economic Survey either glosses over or ignores many acute challenges faced by the Indian economy — like the severe agrarian crisis; the troubles of loss-making and debt-ridden public sector units; …
Read More »Does the anti-defection law serve any purpose?
The law is against the principles of representative democracy and needs to be reformed The Supreme Court has held that it is the Speaker’s discretion to decide on the resignations of the 15 dissident MLAs belonging to the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition government of Karnataka as and when he considers …
Read More »U.S. senator seeks probe into FaceApp
Russian-made FaceApp is caught in a political storm The chart-topping Russian-made FaceApp, which allows users to see how they will look as they age, is in the eye of a political storm in the U.S., with one senator urging an FBI investigation into its “national security and privacy risks”. A …
Read More »Mosquitoes wiped out on two islands
Scientists have used a new technique to wipe out a population of mosquito species on two islands in China. The results of the pilot trial, published in the journal Nature , show that combining incompatible and sterile insect techniques enabled near elimination of Aedes albopictus , or the Asian tiger …
Read More »Punjab prison cell where Nehru was lodged in 1923 collapses
The structure could not withstand incessant rain A prison cell in Jaitu town of Punjab’s Faridkot district where Jawaharlal Nehru and two other Congress leaders were lodged in 1923 has collapsed due to incessant rains, a senior police official said on Thursday. During the Independence movement, Nehru and his colleagues …
Read More »7,000 species added to IUCN ‘Red List’
Habitat destruction and hunting by humans are reasons for fall in numbers Mankind’s destruction of nature is driving species to the brink of extinction at an “unprecedented” rate, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) warned on Thursday, as it added more than 7,000 animals, fish and plants …
Read More »Oral health given short shrift, says study
Situation is the most bleak in low-income countries, saysLancetreport “Oral diseases present a major global public health burden, affecting 3.5 billion people worldwide, yet oral health has been largely ignored by the global health community,” noted a new Lancet Series on Oral Health . The report warns that with a …
Read More »Bengal’s stately Raj Bhavans tell their stories in new book
They bore witness to many landmark events during British rule in India In a large room in the south of the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata, an oil painting of the Mahatma by Jamini Ray hangs in the Governor’s study. Not many people know that some of the policies that shaped …
Read More »‘Government can prosecute IL&FS auditors’
The NCLT has given a go-ahead to the government to prosecute Deloitte and BSR Associates for their failure to detect and report the scams that took place across the now bankrupt IL&FS Group and 21 other entities, when they were the auditors of IL&FS Financial Services. The NCLT, in an …
Read More »Quick nod for green energy transmission
Power and Renewable Energy Minister R.K. Singh on Thursday approved the proposal for early regulatory approvals of transmission schemes identified for 66.5 GW of renewable energy projects by designating them ‘projects of national importance’. “As the gestation period of renewable energy (RE) projects is much shorter in comparison to the …
Read More »EU fines chipmaker Qualcomm $271 mn for ‘predatory pricing’
‘It sold 3G chipsets at below cost of production’ In yet another European Union (EU) move against a U.S. tech giant, the bloc’s antitrust chief on Thursday fined chipmaker Qualcomm $271 million, accusing it of “predatory pricing” to drive a competitor out of the market. EU Antitrust Commissioner Margrethe Vestager …
Read More »SEBI opposes Centre’s proposal to transfer surplus money to CFI
Regulator says the plan will undermine its autonomy The government’s proposal to transfer surplus money with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to the Consolidated Fund of India (CFI) has met with a strong opposition from the regulatory body. The capital markets regulator feels that the proposal would …
Read More »‘Transmission sector needs Rs. 5 lakh crore investment for future needs’
India likely to consume 1.8 lakh crore units by 2025, says CII One of the key requirements for a $5-trillion economy is an investment of about Rs. 5 lakh crore in the power transmission sector over the next few years, in order to cater to the 1.8 lakh crore units …
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