India’s first undersea twin tunnels in south Mumbai are close to completion. The tunnels start near Girgaon, extend north under the Arabian Sea, Girgaon Chowpatty and Malabar Hill, and end at Breach Candy’s Priyadarshini Park. It is 2.07-km long which are are a part of the Mumbai Coastal Road Project (MCRP) being built by the Brihanmumbai …

Bangladesh seeks India’s help over Rohingya Bangladesh urged India to take more effective steps in persuading Myanmar to take back the Rohingya who were forced to take refuge in Bangladesh to evade persecution. Who are the Rohingya? The Rohingya are a Muslim ethnic minority group. They have lived for centuries in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar. The Rohingya are not recognized as an …

While countries have tried to dethrone the dollar as the global reserve currency for many decades now for various reasons, of late such attempts have picked up pace in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. What is De-dollarisation? De-dollarisation refers to the replacement of the U.S. dollar by other currencies as the global reserve currency. A reserve …

ECI issues advisory to all Star Campaigners, recognized National & State Political Parties in view of plummeting level of campaign discourse in the ongoing GE to Karnataka Legislative Assembly There is no law that defines who is a star campaigner. There is no law governing who can or cannot be made a star campaigner. A star campaigner …

The Indian Astronomical Observatory located over Mount Saraswati in Hanle, Ladakh, India, captured aurora lights on its camera. An intense geomagnetic storm that hit Earth resulted in mesmerising auroras in several regions of Earth, including Ladakh. It is extremely rare to see auroras at latitudes as low as those of Ladakh. Auroras are seen only in high-latitude regions, near the Arctic and Antarctic …

Researchers have traced a very significant increase in special continuous oscillations with pearl-type structures called Geomagnetic Pc1 pearl oscillations on the surface of the Earth in the recovery phase of geomagnetic storms. This study is significant for investigating of precipitation particles during geomagnetic storms and can help us understand the radiation hazard to satellites and astronauts. Earth’s …

One zoonotic illness where spillover events appear to have increased, resulting in recurring outbreaks, is Kyasanur forest disease (KFD) or monkey fever. The illness is named after Kyasanur forest in the Western Ghats, where it originated. It is a haemorrhagic fever borne by the tick, Haemaphysalis spinigera. It has a fatality rate of 3-5 per cent. It causes acute febrile hemorrhagic illness in humans and monkeys especially …

Since 2019, members of the Kondh tribe in Odisha have added one more event to their calendar of festivals and celebrations called Bihan Mela It is literally the seed festival. It includes both hybrid and indigenous varieties of paddy, millets, maize and sorghum. How is it celebrated? Women, who are at the helm of this festival, carefully collect seeds of the indigenous varieties and store …

Launromat report was released recently. China, India, Turkey, the UAE and Singapore. They buy Russian oil and sell processed products to European countries, thus side-stepping European sanctions against Russia India leads the laundromat countries, according to the report. European Union (EU) countries which are all part of the price cap coalition. The price-cap coalition countries include the European Union, G7 countries, Australia and …

Technological developments have long fascinated humans, not just in terms of how they help make our lives more efficient, but also for the vast potential they hold for influencing society beyond their immediate impact. The idea of self-discovery Self-discovery, as the name suggests, refers to the process by which a person …

Frequent reports of dogs attacking people to death have made the management of stray dogs an administrative and legal issue. Dog bites and poor waste management The carrying capacity, i.e. the ability of a city to support a species, is determined by the availability of food and shelter. Free-ranging dogs, in the absence of …

11 people died due to a gas leak in the Giaspura area of Ludhiana, Punjab, while four people fell ill and were hospitalised. Neurotoxins Neurotoxins are poisonous substances which can directly affect the nervous system. Neurotoxicity occurs when exposure to natural or man-made toxic substances alters the normal activity of the nervous system. These substances …

Researchers recently embarked on a mission after which they claim to have shed new light on Shilabhattarika. The celebrated Sanskrit poetess of ancient India was established as the daughter of the famed Chalukyan emperor Pulakeshin II of Badami (in modern Karnataka). Shila-bhattarika was a Sanskrit poet. One of her poems mentions the Narmada River (Reva) and the Vindhya mountains. The …

The Maharashtra government started conducting soil testing at Rajapur tehsil’s Barsu village in the coastal Ratnagiri district. To know if the site was suitable for the proposed multi-billion dollar Ratnagiri Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited project which is touted as the world’s largest single location refinery complex. India’s oil refining capacity stood at 251.2 million metric tonnes per annum, making …

A constitution or five-judge bench of the Supreme Court held that it can exercise its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to directly grant a decree of divorce to consenting parties, in cases of irretrievable breakdown of marriage, without referring the parties to a family court. Current procedure under …

May Day 2023 marks a hundred years since it was first commemorated in India on May 1, 1923, in the city of Madras. M Singaravelu Chettiar, a nationalist figure, and an early cobmmunist associated with the anti-caste movement introduced May Day in India. By introducing May Day in India, Singaravelu …

PM appreciates success of National SC-ST Hub Scheme The National SC/ST Hub (NSSH) would provide professional support to the SC/ST enterprises enabling them to effectively participate in public procurement process. The Hub would also work towards the development of new entrepreneurs to participate in procurement process leveraging on the ‘Stand up India’ programme. Selected entrepreneurs would be provided with support and mentoring by industry …

Psychedelic drugs, banned in India under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, are emerging in research as promising ways to treat treatment-resistant depression and post-traumatic stress disorder Psychedelics Psychedelics are a group of drugs that alter perception, mood, and thought-processing while a person is still clearly conscious. Psychedelics are non-addictive, non-toxic and compared to illicit drugs, they are less harmful to the …

Some members of the Meitei community in Manipur, which has been seeking Scheduled Tribe (ST) status for decades, have now said that they intend to file contempt proceedings against the Hill Areas Committee (HAC) of the Manipur Assembly, which recently passed a resolution opposing their inclusion. Recently the Manipur High Court ordered …