Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing global problem to which the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic may further contribute. With resources deployed away from antimicrobial stewardship, evidence of substantial preemptive antibiotic use in Covid-19 patients and indirectly, with deteriorating economic conditions fuelling poverty potentially impacting on levels of resistance, AMR threat remains …

Recently, a powerful earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter Scale jolted Assam and other parts of Northeast. According to the National Centre for Seismology (NCS) report, the tremors have been attributed to Kopili Fault zone closer to Himalayan Frontal Thrust (HFT). NCS is the nodal agency of the Government of …

The Government of National Capital Territory (GNCT) of Delhi (Amendment) Act, 2021, which gives primacy to the Lieutenant Governor (L-G) over the elected government in the city, has come into force. Important points: Provisions of the GNCT of Delhi (Amendment) Act 2021: It amended the Sections 21, 24, 33 and …

The Trade Ministers of India, Japan and Australia have formally launched the Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI). The SCRI aims to create a virtuous cycle of enhancing supply chain resilience with a view to eventually attaining strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth in the Indo-Pacific region. The trio (India, Japan …

High energy particles are generally lower in number in the cosmic universe. But the excess number of high energy particles of the antimatter counterpart of the electrons, called positrons have intrigued scientists for long. Now they have found an explanation for this mystery.   Image by NASA via Unsplash Over the years astronomers have …

Indian Scientists have developed a high-yielding and pest-resistant variety of soybean. This newly developed variety called MACS 1407 is suitable for cultivation in the states of Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and North-Eastern states and its seeds will be made available to farmers for sowing during the 2022 Kharif season. In 2019, India …

A community service centre has been set up to bring all data on board India’s first dedicated solar space mission to a single web-based interface enabling the users to quickly look at the data and identify the interesting science cases. The service centre called Aditya-L1 Support Cell (AL1SC), a joint effort of Indian Space Research …

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed an Advanced Chaff Technology to safeguard the naval ships against enemy missile attack. It is another step towards Atmanirbhar Bharat. Important points: Chaff is an electronic countermeasure technology used by militaries worldwide to protect naval ships or other sensitive targets from …

The ICMR (Indian Council of medical Research) has decided a single Ct value cut-off for determining whether a patient is positive for Covid-19 Ct is a value that emerges during RT-PCR test. All patients with a Ct value less than 35 may be considered as positive while those with a …

The Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat has operationalised the third Joint Logistics Node (JLN) in Mumbai. Other operationalised JLNs are in Guwahati and Port Blair. Important points: These JLNs will provide integrated logistics cover to the Armed Forces for their small arms ammunition, rations, fuel, general stores, civil …