GS-III

Smart speaker boasts improved sound and design From the kitchen to the car, Amazon is seeking to make its Alexa digital assistant and online services a bigger part of people’s lives with an array of new products and partnerships launched on Thursday. Updates to the Internet giant’s Alexa-infused Echo smart …

The robots are expected to collect minerals that may throw light on the origin of the solar system A Japanese space probe on Friday released a pair of exploring rovers towards an egg-shaped asteroid to collect mineral samples that may shed light on the origin of the solar system. The …

Dickinsonia had oval-shaped bodies and came in a variety of sizes A strange fossil that looks a bit like a giant leaf, or a fingerprint the size of a coffee table, has intrigued scientists for decades. Thousands of the fossils have been found over the past seven decades, revealing that …

‘No benefit from Sterlite unit closure’ The trade friction between the U.S. and China is worrisome and can have an impact on India, said Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman, Aditya Birla Group. Hindalco’s subsidiary Novelis has presence in both the U.S. as well as China and so has Aleris Corporation which …

IRDAI sets uniform Rs. 750 annual premium for the cover The minimum Compulsory Personal Accident (CPA) cover for owner-drivers under the motor insurance policy has been increased to Rs. 15 lakh. The enhanced, mandatory cover that came into force with immediate effect will lead to a higher annual premium of …

NRIs, OCIs, resident Indians allowed to be part of such entities investing in India The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has announced the revised guidelines for know your client (KYC) requirement for foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) allowing non-resident Indians (NRIs), resident Indians (RIs) and overseas citizens of India …

Sensex nosedives intraday before institutional buying in select index stocks restores order; sale of a HFC’s debt paper at discount by a mutual fund seen as the trigger Driven by fears about fresh defaults from non-banking finance companies and regulatory restrictions on housing finance companies, the stock markets went into …

Centre plans randomised monitoring by reputed government institutions The Union Environment Ministry proposes to allow research organisations and accredited agencies to monitor if companies are complying with environmental conditions. “…the Central Government proposes to introduce the concept of randomised third-party compliance monitoring of the environment clearance conditions through national-level reputed …

‘Thousands and lakhs of students want to hear about it’ Union Minister of Human Resource Development (HRD) Prakash Javadekar said on Friday that the celebration of September 29 as Surgical Strike Day in universities was not compulsory, but said such an event was decided on the advice of many students. …

Roadmap to put Indian crew in space The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is setting up a third launch pad at Sriharikota to undertake the Gaganyaan manned space flight programme, an ISRO official said on Friday. In addition, ISRO is scouting for a location on the western sea coast near …