A swallowtail butterfly disappearing from its previously known ranges from Myanmar and southern China to Vietnam has been recorded for the first time in India. Three butterfly enthusiasts — Atanu Bose, Loren Sonowal and Monsoon Jyoti Gogoi — recorded the “extremely rare” Noble’s Helen (Papilio noblei) from three locations in …
Read More »Monthly Archives: January 2023
INDIA’S LARGEST DINOSAURS UNCOVERED
Researchers have uncovered 92 nesting sites containing a total of 256 fossil eggs in central India’s Narmada Valley belonging to titanosaurs, which were among the largest dinosaurs to have ever lived. The finding, published in the journal PLOS ONE, reveals intimate details about the lives of titanosaurs in the Indian subcontinent. …
Read More »BREAST CANCER
Work carried out by researchers from the Integrated Cancer Genomics Laboratory atthe Advanced Centre for Training, Research, and Education in Cancer (ACTREC) in Mumbai’s Tata Memorial Centre has shed more light on the molecular mechanism through which progesterone treatment prior to breast cancer surgery is quite likely to increase the …
Read More »MARRIAGE LAWS FOR MINORS
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court announced that it would examine whether minor girls, as young as 15 years, can marry on the basis of custom or personal law when such marriages are considered an offence in statutory law. The legal age for marriage is 18 years for women and …
Read More »SEBI’S SCRUTINY ON ADANI GROUP TRANSACTIONS
India’s market regulator has increased scrutiny of deals by the Adani Group over the past year and will study a report by short-seller Hindenburg Research to add to its own ongoing initial investigation into the group’s foreign portfolio investors, as per two sources aware of the matter. On Wednesday, the …
Read More »WEST BANK -ISRAEL ISSUES
Israel’s Defence Minister signalled on Friday that the military would stop its air strikes if Palestinian militant groups halted rocket attacks, a day after the deadliest Israeli raid in decades raised the prospect of a major flare-up in fighting. The limited exchange of fire between Gaza militants and the Israeli …
Read More »KASHMIR’S PASHMINA SHAWLS
Kashmir’s famed pashmina shawls, known for centuries for their intricate buta or paisley patterns, got a French touch this week. Artist Maximilien Pellet turned the fabric into a canvas for contemporary art forms at a Parisian exhibition, in a rare bid to cater to Western sensibilities. Mujtaba Qadri, owner of the label …
Read More »CHEETAH PROJECT TO BRING IN 12 BIG CATS FROM SOUTH AFRICA
India and South Africa have finally signed a long-pending agreement to translocate 12 cheetahs to India, the Environment Ministry said in a statement on Friday. The cheetahs will be transported to India by February-end and reintroduced at the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh, where eight such cats were brought …
Read More »INDIA’S GROUNDWATER GOVERNANCE
Data show that India, with nearly 18% of the world’s population, occupies about 2.4% of the total geographical area and consumes 4% of total water resources. A World Bank report says that India is the largest groundwater user. A rapidly growing economy and population are straining the country’s groundwater resources. …
Read More »‘A BILLION FIREFLIES: CRITICAL CONVERSATIONS TO SHAPE A NEW POST-PANDEMIC WORLD’
News from Davos and Delhi in the third week of January has framed the moral and intellectual crises affecting Indian economic policies. In the first instance, speaking at a session at the World Economic Forum in Davos on India’s road to a $10 trillion economy, the Chairman of Tata Sons …
Read More »BUDGET 2023-24 MUST BALANCE ELECTORAL SIGNALLING WITH FISCAL PRUDENCE
In the week ahead, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her fifth and this government’s last full-fledged Budget before the Lok Sabha election in 2024. Although some electoral overtures can be made in an interim Budget next year, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government will also be mindful of the flurry …
Read More »BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THE CONSTITUTION
In her first and customary Republic Day address to the nation, President Draupadi Murmu reiterated the founding ideals of the Republic on the eve of the 74th anniversary of the adoption of its Constitution. As the first tribal woman to occupy the highest office in the country, the 15th President …
Read More »STATE GOVT. MAKES ₹7.5-CRORE EQUITY INVESTMENT IN FIVE SC/ST START-UPS
The Tamil Nadu government has sanctioned ₹7.5 crore in equity investments to five start-ups that were founded and managed by entrepreneurs of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. Chief Minister M.K.Stalin handed over the sanction orders on Friday in the presence of Minister for Finance and Human Resources Management …
Read More »AMENDMENT TO 1960 INDUS PACT
India announced on Friday that it wants to modify the 62-year-old Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) with Pakistan, citing what it called Pakistan’s “intransigence” in resolving disputes over the Kishenganga and Ratle hydropower projects, both in Jammu and Kashmir. India also protested Pakistan’s “unilateral” decision to approach a court of arbitration …
Read More »INTERNATIONAL DAY OF COMMEMORATION IN MEMORY OF THE VICTIMS OF THE HOLOCAUST
Six million Jews were murdered in cold blood — a consequence of the worst form of government-sponsored antisemitism in Nazi-Germany. Today, on International Holocaust Remembrance Day (January 27), we remember those who became the victims of the unprecedented and systematic killings. Remembering the dead is our responsibility, and fighting against …
Read More »THE NATIONAL MISSION FOR A GREEN INDIA
India is lagging behind in the targets to increase the number and quality of tree- and forest-cover plantations set in the Green India Mission, according to data accessed through the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The National Mission for a Green India (GIM) is one of the eight missions under …
Read More »UP TO 1.2 LAKH TECH STAFF MAY FACE LAYOFFS IN INDIA’
Indian technology services firms are currently encountering a ‘problem of plenty’ with staff and may lay off anywhere between 80,000 and 1,20,000 people over the next two quarters, as per HR sources. Google — whose products allow it access to industry insights and market visibility — announcing plans to lay …
Read More »‘INDIA’S FIRST MISSION TO STUDY THE SUN TO BEGIN BY JUNE-JULY’
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to launch the Aditya-L1 mission by June or July this year. Aditya-L1 is the first Indian space mission to observe the Sun and the solar corona. ISRO chairman S. Somanath, speaking at the handover ceremony of the Visible Line Emission Coronagraph (VELC) …
Read More »THE NEXT LEG OF THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
As Russia’s Ukraine invasion enters its 12th month, all sides are gearing up for a major escalation in the conflict. Russia, which suffered some setbacks last year after its initial thrust into Ukraine, is trying to build battlefield momentum with minor advances. Ukraine, whose troops are struggling to defend the …
Read More »INDIA AND EGYPT -‘STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP’
India and Egypt agreed on Wednesday to elevate their bilateral ties to a ‘strategic partnership’ that covers political, security, defence, energy and economic linkages. Welcoming Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, who will be the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the abuse …
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