In long and verse sweetness has through the ages been equated with goodness but some hard-hearted research scientists have now found that one of the sweetest substances in existence, the cyclamate, spells danger for the consumer. Cyclamates are hydrocarbon compounds 30 times sweeter than sugar and since they are also …

The onus on closure of abandoned wells should be on the local body, and not the owner As with several such incidents in the past, the intensive operation in Tamil Nadu to rescue a child who slipped into an abandoned borewell in Manapparai, Tiruchi district, ended in spectacular failure. Hopes …

Sena’s brinkmanship in talks with BJP is unlikely to fetch it dividends in Maharashtra The protracted bargaining for power sharing between two pre-poll allies, the BJP and the Shiv Sena, is holding up government formation in Maharashtra, despite their victory in the Assembly election. The irony is starker when compared …

The U.S.’s current policy in Afghanistan puts India in a tough spot and Pakistan in a good placeLess than two months after U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly called off talks with the Taliban, Washington is laying the ground to resume them. That this is happening before Afghanistan has a new …

Rajputs appear in history roughly 1,200 years ago in regions now known as Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana, the Western Gangetic plains and Bundelkhand. For generations they have skilfully used bards, ballads and epic poetry to turn defeats at the northern frontiers of India into moral victories. Raputs lost to Ghazni about …

Development economics has changed a lot during the last two decades or so, mostly due to the extensive use of ‘randomised control trials’ (RCT). ‘Randomistas’ are proponents of RCTs to assess long-run economic productivity and living standards in poor countries. Three randomistas, Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer, were …

In Jose Paulo Coutinho v. Maria Luiza Valentina Pereira (2019) , the Supreme Court has yet again revived the debate on a uniform civil code (UCC) and referred to Goa as “a shining example of an Indian State which has a uniform civil code applicable to all…”. There are rumours …

The Legislative Assembly elections in Maharashtra this year took place in the shadow of the Lok Sabha election held less than six months ago. The alliance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiv Sena swept the Lok Sabha election, with the Indian National Congress being practically decimated and …

The U.K.’s Royal Mint plans to melt down and recycle the commemorative coins minted to mark Brexit on October 31, after the U.K.’s exit from the European Union (EU) was delayed by three months until January 31, 2020. The concept of a new 50-pence coin, featuring the U.K.’s scheduled departure …

India has emerged as the least active country among 18 countries including the U.S., the U.K., Japan and Singapore, according to a report by fitness solutions firm Fitbit. It said an Indian user walked an average of 6,533 steps daily. Indians were also the second-most sleep deprived after Japan, getting …

Change could not have happened without an exercise some biologists call “extreme conservation”, which has entailed monitoring every single ape in the rainforest Deep in the rainforest of Volcanoes National Park, a 23-year-old female gorilla named Kurudi feeds on a strand of wild celery. She bends the green stalks and, …

Almost 500 years after saint-reformer Srimanta Sankardeva experimented with the literary language of Brajavali, Assam’s Bhaona has now reached foreign shores in an English avatar. Entertainment played a major role in the neo-Vaishnavite movement that Sankardeva started in Assam. He wrote his prose in Sanskrit but used Assamese and Brajavali …

Industrialist Mukesh Ambani on Tuesday said the slowdown in the Indian economy was temporary and the recent measures taken by the government would help reverse the trend in the coming quarters. Speaking at Saudi Arabia’s annual investment forum, also known as ‘Davos in the desert’, he said the reforms undertaken …

Industry stares at over Rs. 1.4 lakh-crore payout to exchequer The government has constituted a Committee of Secretaries (CoS), headed by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, to work out a relief package for the telecom sector, a move that may help mitigate the impact of the more than Rs. 1.4 lakh …

The festive season has brought some relief to automakers, with passenger vehicle makers witnessing up to a 50% jump in retail sales during the Diwali period — driven mainly by high discounts — as compared to the festive season last year. Even though this growth comes on a low base …

His death is a blow to IS, but insurgency is likely to continue The death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the founder leader of the Islamic State (IS), is a signal moment in the fight against terrorism. Baghdadi blew himself up in an underground tunnel in a Syrian village where he …

In a change in strategy, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, announced that the House will hold a formal vote on the impeachment inquiry. The vote, which is planned for Thursday, comes some five weeks after House Democrats launched an inquiry into whether President Donald Trump …

A prolonged south west monsoon, the onset of the north east monsoon, and cyclone Kyarr have resulted in a wet October across the State. October to December is considered the post-monsoon period, which includes the north east monsoon. Source : https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/post-monsoon-season-sees-excess-rainfall/article29828073.ece

The most senior judge of the Supreme Court will take charge on November 18 from Ranjan Gogoi Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde was appointed the next Chief Justice of India (CJI) on Tuesday after President Ram Nath Kovind signed the warrant of his appointment. The 63-year-old judge will take oath as …

Delhi’s air quality deteriorated further on Tuesday and remained one notch short of the ‘severe’ category (AQI 401), the worst for this season so far. The Air Quality Index on Tuesday was recorded at 400, ‘very poor’ category, at 4 p.m., which is the average of the past 24 hours, …