The subject of the spiralling costs of cancer medicines and their implications that have frequently been highlighted the world over were dwelled on in a recent report (“Cancer Care Plan and Management”) by the Rajya Sabha’s Standing Committee on Health (bit.ly/3jfmxLG). Alluding to the implications of the high cost of …

In its latest outrageous decision, the Taliban regime has announced a ban on female students studying in universities. The “cabinet” meeting decision is one in a series that wipes out the many societal gains since 2001, the last time the Taliban was in power. These decrees include banning Afghan schoolgirls …

The spurt in coronavirus cases reported out of China has triggered global alarm. India’s Health Ministry has issued a directive to States to send positive samples to the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) to check for new, concerning strains. The Health Minister, too, has called for a review meeting of …

Almost two weeks since its capture and relocation to the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR), the elephant Pandalur Makhna-2 (PM2) is acclimatising to the new habitat, officials said. Since its release into the Congress Mattam in the MTR, PM2 has spent the last 12 days exploring the place. The elephant was …

The BF.7 variant of coronavirus, belived to be linked to the surge in COVID-19 cases in China, was identified in India as far back as July. Four instances of the Omicron subvariant was genome-sequenced in Gujarat and Odisha in the subsequent months, but it was not linked to increased severity …

The Smart Cities Mission, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs won the Platinum Icon in the Digital India Awards 2022 for their initiative “DataSmart Cities: Empowering Cities through Data” under the ‘Data Sharing and Use for Socio Economic Development’ category. The award was announce on 19th December 2022. The DataSmart Cities Initiative is …

NARS coordinated at the apex level by the ICAR/ Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), comprises of 98 Agricultural Research Institutes, 5 Deemed Universities and 3 Central Agricultural Universities besides 63 State Agricultural Universities, 4 Universities with Agriculture Faculties mandated for developing, testing and refining new technologies in agriculture …

Various activities have been taken up by the government, using Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in agriculture. Some of the activitiesare given below: Department of Science & Technology (DST) is implementing a National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber Physical Systems (NM-ICPS). Under the Mission, 25 Technology Innovation Hubs …

The Group of Seven (G7) countries, the European Union and Australia have imposed a price cap on Russian sea-borne oil to make it harder for Russia to fund its war against Ukraine. Under the plan, which took effect on December 5, western companies that dominate the global oil shipping and …

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the United Nations agreement to conserve and sustainably use earth’s biodiversity, got a boost at a conference held in Montreal recently, when 188 of 196 member governments agreed on a new framework to halt the sharp and steady loss of biological species. These governments, …

The balance of risks is increasingly tilted towards a darkening global outlook and emerging market economies (EMEs) appear to be more vulnerable, even though incoming data suggest that global inflation may have peaked, Reserve Bank of India officials led by Deputy Governor Michael D. Patra wrote in an article in …

The Taliban authorities on Tuesday ordered a nationwide ban on university education for girls, as the hardline Islamists continue to crush Afghan women’s right to education and freedom. Despite promising a softer rule when they seized power last year, the Taliban have ratcheted up restrictions on all aspects of women’s …

Gujarat’s Vadnagar town, the iconic Sun Temple at Modhera, and the rock cut sculptures of Unakoti in Tripura have been added to the tentative list of UNCESO World Heritage Sites. The UNESCO tentative list is an “inventory of those properties which each State Party intends to consider for nomination”. “With …

The Centre’s decision to get the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to investigate the recent Bihar hooch tragedy was called into question with Opposition parties in both Houses of Parliament criticising the BJP-led government of misusing constitutional bodies. While the Lok Sabha saw members of the JD(U) and BJP get …

The Union government has not conducted any survey nor is it considering a proposal to conduct one to identify the number of beneficiaries entitled to the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) reservation, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment said in response to a question from Sajda Ahmed of the Trinamool …

As 2022 comes to an end, the world is embracing a ‘new normal’ where new fault lines are being reconfigured in the Indo-Pacific. The Indian Ocean and South Asian regions are at the heart of this contestation, considering their geo-political and geo-economic prominence and India’s emergence as a major power. …

Over the course of November and December, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court of India heard a crucial case about the method by which the Election Commission of India (ECI) is constituted, and Election Commissioners appointed. At the time of writing, the Court has reserved its judgment, which is …

The Forest Department has accused the Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation (IISWC) in Udhagamandalam of illegally allowing the felling of 370 trees on forest land. According to officials, a contractor had worked for around two weeks in September and removed eucalyptus, wattle and acacia trees, estimated to cost …

The 147th international convention of the Theosophical Society will be held between December 31 and January 4 at its headquarters in Adyar. Various programmes, including lectures and concerts, have been scheduled as part of the event. The inauguration is scheduled for December 31 between 8.30 a.m. and 10.30 a.m. Lectures by …

The long queues of air travellers removing their laptops, mobile phones and chargers from their cabin baggage before screening them could soon become history in India. The aviation security regulator, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), is expected to issue technical norms within a month which will pave the …